Blatantly ignoring that possibility, I decided to pursue my quest of getting back to my own reality. A few days later, I was able to convince Haruhi and Koizumi to go to the Literature clubroom, per instructions of the Nagato I knew, from my own reality. Haruhi then took it upon herself to pluck Asahina-san from the Calligraphy club, so as to have all the "SOS Brigade" members in the Literature clubroom.

This led to the situation described above. I stole another look at Nagato, and I tried to make my mind up as to whether I really wanted to go back to my own reality.

Nagato saw me look at her, and her troubled features rearranged themselves into a very small, but noticeable smile. "That sailor uniform really does look good on her."

In that instant, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

My hand hovered above the Enter key and….

I pressed the backslash key (\) that was directly above the Enter key.

YUKI.N The Emergency Escape Program has not been executed. It will now be deactivated.

YUKI.N ….

YUKI.N ….

YUKI.N ….

YUKI.N Thank you... Kyon.

And with that last message, the computer suddenly blacked out and shut itself off.

"Yuki Nagato has never called me Kyon before. Perhaps this is what she really wants, to be a normal high school girl."

"What was that all about?" snapped Haruhi.

"It seems my friends, that I was quite delusional. My friends were right. Everything that I was talking about was total and utter nonsense," I told them. "I extend my deepest apologies to all of you, especially to Asahina-san, for that event that happened a few days ago."

Koizumi could only stare at me. Asahina-san looked completely baffled, and, best of all, Nagato was smiling at me. How cute she looked! Though I'd prefer it if she didn't have her glasses on.

The room fell silent. Suddenly, Haruhi broke the silence:

"Delusional? Yeah right John. I bet this was all a prank on us to get back at me for involving you three years ago at that vandalism incident at my old middle school."

Haruhi laughed.

"But the jig is up John. Although I do like your style. Perhaps we could form this 'SOS Brigade' after all? It seems that the five of us here have the chemistry to get along, don't we? Especially you and me, Mikuru-chan," Haruhi said mischievously.

Asahina-san still looked thoroughly confused.

"Ehh.. What's going on here?"

While Koizumi explained to her what had transpired (or at least what I made them think transpired), I had eyes only for the last person in this room.

That person was none other than Yuki Nagato. Our eyes met, and she blushed furiously. I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Obviously, my instincts were right on track. "So this Nagato likes me. Hmm. I could live with that." Knowing this, I cleared my throat and said loudly, "Okay everybody, the show is over. You can all go home now."

"Oh, and one more thing Haruhi," I said. "John Smith is just my alias. My real nickname is Kyon."

"Kyon. Okay. Everybody," she said, "We are to meet at the train station tomorrow after our classes, so we can decide on a club meeting place. The last one there will… Treat everybody to dinner!"

With that, everyone filed out: the laughing Haruhi, the confused-looking Asahina-san, and Koizumi, who was deep in thought.

Everyone except Nagato and me, that is.

The moment Koizumi slammed the door, I immediately stood up. So did Nagato. Without missing a beat, I went over to her and hugged her tightly. Seemingly stunned, she just stood there, while I held this girl who I deemed more important than the reality I had come from.

"In my old reality, this would not have been possible. The Nagato there was a Living Humanoid Interface, sent to Earth by the Data Integration Entity to monitor Haruhi Suzumiya. In this reality however…"

After what seemed like hours, though in reality a few seconds, she put her arms around me as well. We hugged for what seemed like days.

Finally, we broke apart. She looked up at me, and she immediately blushed and hid her face from me. I laughed.

"It's okay Nagato, we'll be like this from now on. I gave everything I knew up just for this chance to be with you," I said. To me, the lines sounded like they had come from a romance novel.

Nagato blushed again, and said, "Thank you very much, Kyon-kun."

I gestured towards the door. She took my hand, and we went outside. Hopefully, if time permitted, we would take a long stroll around the school grounds, before I had to bring her home to her apartment.

"This is the start of what will be a long and very fruitful relationship"

Nagato, as if reading my thoughts, let go of my hand, and tugged my sleeve downwards instead. It was strangely similar to that time, a few days ago, where she tugged my sleeve to give me an application form for the Literature club.

This time however, I could not compare her face now to her face during that time, because when I leaned down towards her, she reached up ever so slightly to kiss my cheek.

She immediately broke the kiss, and blushed some more.

"You know Nagato, I really like you better without glasses."

And with that, I took her glasses off and passionately kissed her back.