Chapter 4:

"We have so much planning to do!" Haruhi exclaimed as she entered the clubroom after school the following day. I grumbled. After the discussion I had yesterday, planning was the last thing I wanted to do.

She listed a bunch of things we needed to do there, which Koizumi took the liberty of typing up on a laptop. From visiting suspicious locations within the city, to trying a bunch of food in strangely placed restaurants, she wanted to do it all. It made me wonder, what was our intended goal of going to Okinawa? To have fun or search for the occult?

"Both, if we can." Haruhi replied. "Obviously the occult is the main priority, but who is to say that we can't have fun while we search for aliens?"

And with that, she continued to list more activities to Koizumi. "Fireworks! We have to buy fireworks!"

Maybe it's because I slept on the couch last night, but I felt really disgruntled for some reason. Stress is quite obviously a factor in that, but I just felt really annoyed. Not even Asahina-san's tea was enough to lift me from my low spirit today.

I kept giving sideways glances to Nagato. She wasn't acting strange like last night, she simply sat motionless at the table with the rest of us and looked at Haruhi, seemingly uninterested. She appeared to operate as normal. Which was good... I don't think I could ever scrub that look on her face from my mind.

Koizumi printed a list and I headed over to the Computer Research Society clubroom to grab it. One of the Research Society members stared at me as I walked in. "Why haven't you guys stolen a printer yet?" I simply shrugged. When I returned, Koizumi was outside the door and Asahina-san was in the middle of changing into yet another costume.

Just the usual, eh Haruhi?

We ended club activities and packed up. I watched as Nagato departed first, presumably headed to my house. Koizumi nudged my shoulder. "Did you ask her?"

I nodded. "She doesn't know anything. She said it's rather worrisome."

"Indeed it is." Koizumi remarked.

Haruhi proceeded to exit the room by cartwheeling out the door with a loud, exuberant, "Yahoo!" She seemed overly excited, something which I wasn't quite fond of. When Haruhi was happy, she was more likely to create incredibly stupid problems. Problems that I would have to fix.

"Haruhi!"

I exited the school grounds and caught up her. I hadn't really planned to chase after her. I just acted on impulse. She seemed to acknowledge my presence and looked at me for a brief moment. Her eyes diverted elsewhere, deep in thought over something Okinawa related. "Kyon, do you have a pen and paper? We can go to the coffee shop near the station and you can write out a few more things-"

"Haruhi, why do you want to go to Okinawa so badly?" I blurted out. It's not like I had anything else to say. And I'll be honest, this was something that was on my mind.

"... hm?" Her face was blank, but she soon smiled a brilliant smile. "Call it a girl's intuition, but I have some strange feeling that something big is going to happen soon. And considering the incredible luck I had just obtaining these tickets, I feel as though it has something to do with this trip! Something big looms on the horizon and when it happens, we have to grab it with all the strength we can muster!"

Well, she's right about one thing... something big is going to happen. But in all honesty, it seems she just wanted a vacation. I also had a sneaking suspicion that her so-called premonition would be about something else. Probably in some different place altogether.

"It won't be!" She shook her head. "Do you know how popular Okinawa is? I'm certain it's even popular in the paranormal world. There's no other place out more perfect for something strange to happen."

"The only strange thing that'll be in Okinawa is your crazy antics." I muttered under my breath.

What Haruhi wants is right in front of her, and even though I've told her about it, she refuses to acknowledge their existence. All the while, the alien, time-traveler, and esper want to know why you're messing with their lives.

"And what if we do find something extraordinary?" Haruhi asked. "To come into contact with something foreign, unknown. It would be so amazing!"

"Why do you care, anyways? You don't even believe in stuff like that, and you're getting a free vacation out of it."

At that moment, a train passed behind me. I turned and remembered the last time I saw this place. It was the spot at the train tracks where Haruhi told me her story about being in a baseball stadium and feeling so insignificant. About losing the appreciation her normal life. I felt really guilty. Haruhi wanted an amazing world and she had the opportunity to get one... but it was me that talked her out of it. I was selfish and wanted life to be normal, a life that I now know I couldn't stand having.

Everything we've done for Haruhi's sake... it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that she wants the life that I currently have and will never get it.

"Kyon!" Haruhi poked my face. We had some way or another reached the coffee shop. "Something on your mind? You know, as Brigade Leader, it's my duty to help my subordinates with their personal matters every now and then."

I rolled my eyes. "It's nothing."

"Kyon." She sent me a knowing look. You know, I believe this is the first time she's actively shown concern for me. "What do you mean by that?"

Whoops, did I just say that out loud? "Nothing, just..." I sighed. How are you supposed to tell somebody that never listens to you that what they want isn't what it seems?

A thought struck me at random.

"Hey, Haruhi... does the name John Smith seem familiar to you?"

She looked at me for a moment, and shook her head. "No. Can't say that it does. Should it?"

She didn't know? She idly stirred her straw as I stared in disbelief. Maybe this Haruhi and the one from December are different... the moment I mentioned that name in December, she practically strangled me. Now she doesn't care?

Well maybe if I explained a bit? No... it's too early for the end of the world.

"No, not at all." I sighed, downing my drink. I watched as Haruhi shot me a questioning gaze. She must have gotten over it because she went back to writing down things for Okinawa. She seemed to completely forget about my alleged personal problems.

"Say, Kyon? Which would you prefer, para-sailing or jet-skiing?"

I'd prefer neither, thank you very much.

The next day, Haruhi acted really strange. I didn't notice it at first, but Haruhi was unusually quiet during the first few periods. By the time Gym class rolled around, she didn't even bother changing. I would usually ignore her because she tends to get pissy on occasion, except this time was different. She wasn't angry.

Usually when she was this quiet, she'd wear a scowl, or exclaim about her boredom. Instead, she was incredibly nonchalant. Her actions weren't wild. She didn't voice any opinions.

I certainly hoped this wasn't something about the John Smith thing yesterday... it couldn't have been anything on a subconscious level, could it?

When school ended, Haruhi did something even weirder. "Hey Kyon, you're in charge of getting all the club members together until I arrive." And with that, she just left. Since when did Haruhi Suzumiya leave anyone in charge of her club?

I met Koizumi at the door of the clubroom. "Where is Suzumiya-san?" Koizumi asked.

I shrugged. "Has Haruhi made a Closed Spaces recently?"

"Closed Spaces?" He blinked. "No. I believe her mental state to be rather calm right now, as we haven't had any Closed Spaces for about a month and a half."

Is that so?

I voiced my growing suspicion of Haruhi being saddened by something, and Koizumi looked rather shocked. Nagato looked like-... well she just looked like Nagato. Asahina-san didn't have anything to say, but she shifted around nervously.

Then Haruhi opened the front door. "Haruhi, are you feeling okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm great! Why?"

"You seem a little... off."

"Oh. Well you don't have to worry your pretty little head." She said, her boisterousness returning in full swing. "After all, what sort of Commander would I be if I let petty things ruin my mood?"

That... makes about as much sense in context as it does out of context. Absolutely zero. None.

Well, at least she's back to normal. But what was she so moody about?

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

We continued planning for our trip to Okinawa. I caught hint of the same uncaring look in Haruhi's eyes. Koizumi saw it too.

"Suzumiya." To our shock, it was Nagato that addressed the problem. "You are troubled."

"Yuki?" Haruhi stared at her. "I'm not-"

"You are." Nagato declared with a gentle voice. She set her book down and stood up. "Why?"

I felt myself panic. If you ignored her monotone, the little alien bookworm sounded like she was concerned for Haruhi's well-being. Which... she always was, but never in such a direct manner. Was it because Nagato was severed from the Data Integrate-whatever-thing?

The clubroom was silent. All eyes were on our great Commander.

"I-... it's not-" She locked eyes with Nagato and sighed. "About a week ago I wanted to give you guys some sort of reward, as a sort of apology..." Apology for what? "And then by some stroke of luck we scored those tickets. I couldn't help but feel that there was some omnipotent presence. It was like there was someone that listened to me and made it so that I would win and reward you all! And I thought that I'd be able to meet that presence if we traveled to Okinawa."

"But then I began thinking," she continued, eyes looking upon bookshelves. "That presence, or whatever it was, that allowed me to win those tickets gave a gift to me, to give to you. And if we went to Okinawa blindly searching for it, it would waste the gift."

That explains the parasailing.

"I really want to find that presence, but it doesn't seem fair to take this gift away from you guys to search for something that might not even be there." Haruhi said to us. "This is supposed to be your vacation, after all."

She didn't seem as sure as she did last night. What happened to that 100% feeling of certainty that the occult would be in Okinawa? Was Haruhi having doubts? And why was she being so generous?

"So that's it?" Koizumi smiled. What was what? "Right now, you're thinking, 'Should I search for the entity that gave me the tickets, or should I let my friends enjoy the vacation?'" Koizumi smiled. "This indecision is what caused you to cram so many things into our schedule."

Haruhi nodded.

"And now, because you've crammed so many things into our schedule, you've become dissatisfied because you're not doing what you want?"

"Bingo." Haruhi said dejectedly, slumping into a heap at her desk.

"Sounds like you were getting confused and upset over nothing." I commented idly. "It's useless to think things like that."

She sent me a look that practically screamed with anger 'Did you just call your Brigade Commander useless?'

"The trip is booked, we have the tickets. You didn't need to worry yourself over whether or not we'd have fun... that's never stopped you before, and it shouldn't have started now." I continued. "Besides-" I paused, mentally slapping myself for what I was about to say, "- we're the SOS Brigade. Having a vacation isn't in our interests. Our goal is to search for unexplainable phenomenon and have fun with them."

Haruhi stared at me for a moment, her head still resting on the desk. She slowly raised herself and smiled. "Hmm... You're absolutely right!" Here we go. "Why did I get worried over nothing? For a moment, I was acting just like you Kyon. An unbelieving, useless attitude is not meant for a Brigade Commander. I'm in charge, so I should make the calls."

Insults aside, I believe that was Haruhi's way of saying Thank You.

"As such, we're going to do triple what we had planned. Koizumi I need you to do some internet searching..." and thus she continued raving on about what to do on our so-called vacation without a worry in the world. (Ah, that was a cliche alliteration... whatever. At least she's happy now.)

You're welcome, Haruhi.