Chapter 2

Anyway, from that point on the day went pretty well. The sun was still beating down, and even Nagato joined us in the shallow end to play some ball games. She didn't actually play, of course, but she was in the pool at least. Asahina-san kept close to me - not that I minded - and I was a little relieved. This gave me another reason to keep Haruhi's behaviour in check. Luckily, she wasn't too crazy.

At least, not until…

"Kyon! Come, now."

As I plodded over, Haruhi pointed to the giant slide behind her. It was one where you went down on a raft, falling into deep water.

"We're going on this."

"What? Why do I have to? Go on your own."

"You have to go in pairs! Idiot."

"Then take -" I remembered Asahina-san, paused, and then allowed myself to be dragged over to the slide.

At the top of the slide, Haruhi grabbed the raft and sat herself in the front part. That meant I would have to sit with my legs around her…

"Uh, Haruhi," I muttered, "You sure you don't want me to go in the front?"

"Don't be stupid!" she spluttered, "I'm the brigade chief, I will go at the head of the raft! Honestly!"

"Uhh… if, if you insist." I grunted, before taking my place behind her.

And before I knew it, we were off, spinning and sliding down the steep slopes, doing full circles, getting soaked in the process. For that moment, Haruhi grinned like a kid, cheering and squealing. I had to smile at that. Sometimes Haruhi had this great smile. I could see it then.

At one point, when we seemed to slide too much to the side, I felt her lean back against me to steer us back on track. I have to admit, although I didn't think of it in a dirty way, it was kinda nice to have Haruhi leaning into my lap like that. But, I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head. What the hell was I thinking? This is Haruhi. Haruhi.

After what seemed like an eternity, we fell out of the slide and into the water. It was much deeper than I'd thought, and we both flew off the raft as we landed.

Man, I gotta tell you, Haruhi under the water is something else.

I opened my eyes to see her floating in the perfect blue water, arm outstretched to take my hand. She was really radiant (although I'd never tell her that). I grasped her hand and we swam up to the surface together.

We got back to the others, who had taken the opportunity to relax and take a break from their chief. Nagato was back in her chair, reunited with her book, Asahina-san was squatting by the poolside looking in, and Koizumi was walking towards us.

"Hey, we were waiting for you to come back," he smirked, "You two want a drink?"

Haruhi made a peace sign at his face before yelping, "Yep. Get me orange juice, will ya?"

"Sure," replied Koizumi, "Kyon, come with me to carry them."

I sighed, but walked off to the other side of the pool to help.

As Koizumi inserted the money into the drinks machine, I was left to my own devices for a few moments. Of course, this gave my chance a mind to wander. Can Koizumi honestly not carry five drinks on his own? It didn't seem likely. So what was the real reason he called me over?

"Be careful."

Huh? I turned to look at Koizumi. He turned and met my eyes. Oh. A serious moment.

"Suzumiya-san's emotions are unstable right now."

"Eh? Really? She seems fine to me."

"Closed space has opened up near to here. I cannot go to help my comrades, but I suppose they want me to clear up the cause of the closed spaces."

"Okay, so what's Haruhi thinking or feeling now to want to create closed space?"

Koizumi looked away for a moment, and his face grew dark.

"I understand that you are not completely honest with yourself about Suzumiya-san's feelings," he muttered, "But it seems that Suzumiya-san is feeling jealousy at the moment."

He paused. What, was he hoping me to understand it myself? Explain, esper.

"Jealousy towards Asahina-san, that is."

I froze for a moment.

"H-Huh?"

He pressed his palm to his forehead.

"Honestly, are you that dense? You had a nice cosy conversation with Asahina-san earlier, right? Suzumiya-san is clearly worried about that."

"Why though? Asahina-san just wanted to make sure that-"

"There's just no reasoning with you, is there? Anyway, you need to do something to show Suzumiya-san that she is your main focus today. And I should warn you to do it quickly. The closed spaces are growing rapidly."

And with that, he stalked off to the others, carrying all five drinks himself.

Sometimes, I gotta say, I feel like hitting that guy.

As I headed back over to the others, I began to wonder about what Koizumi had said. Haruhi was jealous, but why? Because I spoke to Asahina-san? Because the attention wasn't on her for what, 10 seconds? Is this girl mad or something? It's not always about you, Haruhi.

But I paused when I saw what was happening with the others. Nagato was still reading, with a drink beside her. Koizumi and Asahina-san were sitting near Nagato, chatting amongst themselves. And Haruhi… Haruhi was sitting on the side of the pool, feet in the water, looking downright miserable.

Damnit. Now I felt bad.

How could I possibly feel irritated when she pouted like that? Suddenly I was the bad guy.