The Repairing Of Haruhi Suzumiya, Chapter 1: Broken

I waited outside for Haruhi's doctor to finish with her. It was the Wednesday after the accident that had claimed her parents and left her hospitalised. She was physically almost fully recovered, but mentally she was still in turmoil. I was very worried about her, all the brigade members were of course, not only for Haruhi, but also for the whole world, but I was especially worried about her. Through all the time of her bullying me into doing things for her and us arguing, a very close friendship had built up between us. She clearly recognised this too, as she refused to let me leave her side for more time than was absolutely necessary.

As the doctor came out, I prepared to go in to Haruhi again. As I went in, I noticed that she was sitting up looking out of the single window with a depressed expression. The room always seemed a bit cramped, and was a little dim due to the lack of light from the solitary, and rather small, window. Haruhi turned to look at me, and smiled slightly. "Hey Kyon."

I sat down in the chair by her bed, "How're you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling better mostly, the doctor said that I could leave here in a few days."

"What're you gonna do when you get out of here?" I asked her, wondering about her plans. I knew that it was possible, likely even, that she would have to move away to live with relatives, and that I might not see her again afterwards. I hoped that it would not happen, but I could not see a way around it.

"I don't know... all my family's gone now..." I saw the traces of tears in her eyes again, and I put an arm round her shoulders. She sniffed a little, then continued, "I don't know of any other family I have, so I don't know what'll happen to me. Social services came in a few days ago, and told me that the nearest relative I have is a fourth cousin or something like that, I that they are sufficiently distant that they don't have to look after me, and so I'm basically on my own. My parents left everything to me, so at least I have money and the house, but I don't know if I can cope by myself."

Doubt and worry filled her expression, things so alien to her before. I was worried about her too: I doubted very much about whether she could effectively look after herself, especially in the state that she was in now, and felt that I needed to find a way to help her somehow.

I held her a little tighter in my arm, "Don't worry Haruhi, you know that we're all here for you whenever you need us."

She lay her head on my shoulder, which surprised me, then she said something that surprised me even more. "Thank you, Kyon."

The accident had really changed her a lot: in the old days, she would have rejected any physical contact between us, and would certainly not say my name without including 'stupid' or something similar. To thank me for anything seemed out of the question. Maybe this Haruhi was a slight improvement, but it was certainly better than the Haruhi from a few days after the accident, the one that was always crying, even seeming to be crying in her sleep. To me, this Haruhi was a vast improvement on that one. I am glad that she stopped crying, it hurts to see her cry like that.

Now some of you may be thinking, 'Aw, how sweet,' or something like that. The more sentimental will be thinking, 'Oh my, he worries so much for the girl he loves,' or some similar nonsense. Let me make it clear here and now, that regardless of how nice I might be being about her, and how I might be describing her as 'beautiful' every other line, I am not in love with her or anything so ridiculous, we are just good friends, and if your friend were in the state that Haruhi was in, I would hope you would be damn worried. As for describing her as 'beautiful,' there's no way any sane man could deny the fact that she is. And NO I am NOT in denial here. That minor rant over, let us return to the story.

It was some time later that I returned home. My parents were by now used to my returning late in the evening, after staying with Haruhi until visiting hours were over. When I entered the kitchen, I saw my mother by the sink washing up after everybody else's dinner. My own sat on the table, with a microwave cover over it. I took it and placed it in the microwave, then my mother turned to me, "How was she today?"

"Physically, fine, she'll be let out in a few days. Mentally, a train wreck. She's really worried because she's got no family to look after her. It's hard enough for Haruhi to deal with the loss, without worrying about how she's going to live. She tries to cover her worries up, but I know that she is very worried. I'm just afraid every time I leave her that she'll cry when I've left."

"The poor thing," Mother said, before looking slightly thoughtful and leaving the room.

The microwave bleeped and I took out my meal. It was just some rice and fish, nothing much, but I did not really care at the time. I was still thinking about Haruhi. I knew all too well that her mind was in turmoil: every day at school Itsuki came in exhausted from dealing with yet another closed space. I almost pitied him, but it was Itsuki, so I never quite got around to pitying. Admittedly the spaces were getting smaller as time went by, but they were still pretty large. I had asked him why Haruhi had not remade the world so that the accident never happened. He had explained back then that she could not believe in such a world at all, and she knew that her parents were dead, plain and simple, so her powers would not activate.

My mother entered again, and sat opposite me, "Dear, I just had a word with your father, and if she wants to, Haruhi can stay with us for as long as she needs to."

Those were just about the best words that I had heard all day. With any luck it would stop Haruhi's worrying, and she would be able to recover from everything. Although the prospect of Haruhi staying with us was a little daunting, I knew that this was the best solution to the situation. I smiled, "Thanks Mum, I'm sure Haruhi will be happy to stay." I mentally made note to tell Haruhi the next day. With any luck it would help cure her present bout of melancholy. I knew that she would still be pretty down for a while, but with time she might return to her normal happy self.

I went to see her again the next day. As I looked through the door's glass panel, I saw that she was sat up in her hospital bed, looking out of the window again, and once again I saw that worried look on her face. It was a little painful to see her like that, it hurts like hell to see a friend go through something like this. I opened the door to her room and entered. When she saw me she smiled. It looked forced as usual, but I just smiled back and did not comment. "Hi Haruhi."

"Hi Kyon. How was school?"

"Pretty boring," I said as I sat down in the chair by her bed, as I had routinely done for the last week or so, "Everybody's been missing you, and hope you can come back soon."

"Well the doctors said I can leave on Saturday," Haruhi replied, "So I should be back to school next week."

"That's good, and speaking of you getting out of here..." I tailed off, unsure exactly how to tell her.

"What is it?"

"Well, if you want to, I'll understand perfectly well if you don't, but if you want to, you can come and stay with my family for as long as you need."

Haruhi looked surprised, very surprised. In fact, scratch that, 'surprised' does not cover it. Let us go instead with the word 'astonished.' So, Haruhi looked astonished, totally astonished. No, that's not strong enough. Let me put it this way, imagine the surprise you feel when somebody you like confesses their love for you. Now multiply that surprise by a few hundred thousand, and apply it to a facial expression. That is roughly the expression Haruhi had on her face at this point.

"I... can stay with you?"

"Yes."

"I don't have to live by myself?"

"No you don't."

"Kyon..."

"Yes."

"Thank you," she said after a pause. Then she gave me something that made me happy beyond words.

She gave me one of her hundred-watt smiles, a genuine one. Maybe helping Haruhi back together will be easier than I thought.

A/N: Well there goes one chapter. This whole idea just sprung on me suddenly the other day, after reading a few Haruhi fics. I may be a little delayed with my updates, as I have loads of exams at the moment, and four other fics to write, but watch this space for updates. Or set this on alert, and while you're doing that, you can review as well.

Bis Bald

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