Chapter 4

Thursday, December 31st, 2009, 7:27:09 PM

I couldn't get what Tsuruya said out of my head. I agree with her; I have no idea where those feelings for Koizumi came from. Given, she's a teenage girl and Koizumi's not...ugly to look at. Guess it's none of my business, anyway. Also, what did the future version of Asahina-san mean when she said something was gonna happen tonight? I don't think I can deal with anything extravagant anymore after Haruhi disappeared 2 weeks ago. I'm still not fully recovered from that incident.

My mom dropped me off at Tsuruya's house a little early, but I guess it's better to arrive early than to get verbally abused by Haruhi for being late (or arriving last). Thanks, Mom.

I rang her doorbell and waited outside for her, holding the bag of konpeito. I heard someone yell "Coming!" from inside the house, followed by the sound of footsteps. The lock turned and the door opened. Tsuruya opened the door, Koizumi and Asahina-san standing behind her.

"Yay! Kyon-kun's here!" she yelled and hugged me. She's awfully cute. "So that just leaves Harunyan and Nagatocchi, right? Kyon, come inside! It's freakin' freezing out there!"

I walked inside and said hello to Koizumi and Asahina-san. Koizumi had on a white and blue striped shirt and black pants, and Asahina-san was wearing brown dress with a pink ribbon tied across her waist. She had a pink scarf wrapped around her neck. Her hair had these really cute soft curls in them. I honestly don't know which version of her is more angelic.

"Did you guys get here early?" I asked.

"Mikuru-chan and Itsuki-kun got here at the same time, right, nyoro?" Tsuruya commented as she shut the door behind her.

"I saw Koizumi-kun on my way here. We walked the rest of the way together." Asahina-san replied. I glared at Koizumi. "Oh! He was a real gentleman! He made sure I got here safely, right?" Asahina-san said nervously, turning to look at Koizumi.

"Yeah. It was pretty dark out there. Just making sure she was okay!" Koizumi replied.

"Kyon-kun, lemme take your coat" Tsuruya offered.

"I'll take care of it. Where do I hang it up?" I asked, trying to be the gentleman she made me out to be a few hours ago.

"You sure?" she asked. I nodded. "Go down that hall and it's the second door on your right, 'kay?" she said, pointing me in the right direction.

I walked down the hallway and slid open the door to an open room with a table and a vase with roses on the far left of the room. It was really under-decorated besides that; just a room meant to be where you put your coat. Most people just have a closet set aside for that. I walked to the end of the room and slid open the closet door and started to hang up my jacket. As I was doing that, I heard Tsuruya greet someone else and say "You sure? Okay, second door on the right!" Someone else must've just arrived. I finished hanging up my jacket and turned around.

Haruhi was standing in front of me with her coat in her hands. But this was a Haruhi I hadn't seen before. She was all made up and had on a white dress with purple polka dots that went just above the knees. The hem of her dress was purple, and so were the spaghetti straps on he shoulders. A purple ribbon was tied across her waist and she had her hair tied into a messy bun on the right side of her head with a flower in it. The flower was yellow and didn't really match but it didn't change the fact that she looked...gorgeous.

"H-...hey..." was all I could manage. My brain was numb. She tilted her head to the side and smirked at me, sticking her hand on her hip.

"Don't just stand there! Move, so I can hang up my coat" she ordered. I actually followed her order. My brain didn't know what else to do but make my jaw go slack. I'm surprised she hasn't called me a moron or a pervert yet.

As she hung up her coat, my brain kicked back in and learned how to form words again. "You look great." She didn't respond, but I saw her cheeks redden.

My brain remembered something else. About the room we were in. This was the room where the SOS Brigade filmed that scene for our movie. The scene that made me lose my temper and almost whack Haruhi across the face. Hope she doesn't remember...

"Hey, I remember filming in this room a few months ago" she said. Ah, crap.

"Yeah" was all I could say.

She turned to look at me, but I couldn't look her in the eyes. I looked down at my feet. Dammit. Do I say something or not? She looked around the room aimlessly. Yep. She definitely remembers.

"Haruhi."

"Yeah?" she said, looking back at me. Why'd I do that? I have nothing to say! I technically apologized already, but did she consider me saying "We'll make this movie a success" an apology? I mean, she hasn't said anything about it since.

"What is it?" she asked.

"...beat 'cha here."To my surprise, she actually smiled.

"Moron."

Tsuruya then appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, I just got a call from Nagatocchi. She said she can't make it. Bummer, huh?" she said. Didn't know Nagato had Tsuruya-san's phone number. Wait, does her not coming have to do with the fact that something out of the ordinary is going to happen tonight? I mean, aliens don't get sick, do they?

"She probably has a cold", Haruhi said. "I guess there's no helping it. If she's sick, she should rest." If I said I couldn't make it because I was sick, you'd probably punch me.

We went into the living room and I gave Tsuruya the bag of konpeito, which she poured into a huge glass bowl and put on the coffee table.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" Tsuruya said. She grabbed a bag off of the counter and reached into it. She put a yellow party hat onto each of our heads. She handed an extra one to Haruhi.

"Give this to Nagatocchi next time you see her, okay? And I have noise makers for you guys when it get close to midnight!"

The night went on pretty normally. We did karaoke, played a few games, ate food, and listened and danced to music. Despite all the activity, I still can't help but wonder what it is the future Asahina-san warned me about. Then around 10:45, someone took my hand.

"Kyon-kun", it was Asahina-san. "I need to talk to you". She led me away while no one, especially Haruhi, was looking, into the same room with the coat closet.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to tell you something", she said. It's probably not what I hope it is, though.

"I can't...I can't return to the future", she said. Oh, no. "There's been some sort of timequake again, but it's not recognizable to humans yet. Because it hasn't happened yet".

"Do you know when it will occur?" this is probably...

"Classified information. I'm sorry. But I can tell you that it's a major one, and it will be occurring soon. It has a different nature then the past timequakes." This is probably what her future self came to warn me about. But before I could respond-

"What the hell are you two doing in here?" Haurhi burst through the door.

"S-Suzumiya-san" Ashahina-san stuttered.

"Kyon, you pervert! Don't drag Mikuru-chan into a room with you! You cannot be trusted!" she yelled. Technically, she dragged me in here.

Before she could say anything else, Asahina-san ran out of the room, still leaving me without any answers. Then I noticed something else. Haruhi, with her back to me standing in the doorway, took her hair out of the bun and put it into a ponytail. Why would she satisfy my fetish if she's mad at me right now?

"Get out, Kyon!" she yelled. She dragged me out of the room.

The night continued, and before we knew it, there was 5 minutes left until 2010. We put on the TV and prepared to count down. Tsuruya handed out the noise makers.

"Does everyone have someone to kiss at midnight, nyoro?" she burst out laughing. The girl sitting closest to me was Haruhi, and to my right was Koizumi. I honestly don't know which would be better.

11:59:55 PM

Finally, we began to countdown.

5

4

3

2

1

All of a sudden, there was a blinding white light that lasted half a second. The last thing I heard was a high-pitched noise in my ears, and my face hit the ground. The world went black. We never made it to zero.