What this means is that Kyon and Haruhi's classes went alright with Ryoko Asakura getting various questions right in all of the classes while Kyon was trying his best to pay attention and ignore Haruhi's daydreaming about what the SOS Brigade would do next to spread excitement all across the school.
Afterschool of course is a different matter entirely. Ryoko goes to the clubroom of the SOS brigade but before that, her other friends ask her about it.
"Hey Ryoko, why did you join the SOS brigade?" asks one girl.
"Yeah, it isn't like they're exactly a choice club to join if you catch my drift." says another girl.
"Come on now, be nice." scolds Ryoko playfully "Since I've been away a while, I want to make up for my absence by helping out a struggling club in need of assistance, that's all.".
"That's our Ryoko, always putting others ahead of herself!" says the first girl.
"Yep, she's generous to a fault. Just don't get sucked into anything TOO weird like that bunny girl stunt that they pulled last year, ok?" says the second girl.
"Don't worry, I won't. I gotta go meet with them now. I'll see you guys in class!" says a smiling Ryoko before walking to the SOS clubroom.
A few minutes later, Ryoko arrives at the clubroom of the SOS brigade and sees that Haruhi and Kyon are talking/arguing about something while Itsuki and Yuki are playing a game of GO on the clubroom table which means that Mikuru's by herself. Ryoko sees an opportunity to chat with Mikuru so she goes up to her and says "Hello there Miss Asahina.".
"Um.... H..Hi there Miss Asakura. How are you today?" says Mikuru still a bit nervous about being in Ryoko's presence.
"There's no need to be scared, I'm not going to hurt you or anything." says Ryoko concerned that the younger girl might be afraid of her for what happened several months earlier.
"I know," says Mikuru meekly "The others told me about the circumstances behind what you tried to do to Kyon so I know that you're not a bad person or anything it's just that I.....".
"Just what?" says Ryoko out of curiousity while trying to be supportive "It's ok, you can tell me.".
"It's just that since you're a nice person and someone that I feel like I can look up to, I want very much to be your friend but I'm afraid that if I do so, I'll get too close to you and Miss Suzumiya might have her feelings hurt and get jealous as she likes me a great deal....." says Mikuru sadly.
"She certainly has a funny way of showing it but then again, Haruhi Suzumiya's not your typical girl which of course is why she's so interesting to study." Ryoko thinks to herself. Aloud, the Blue haired girl says with a warm smile to Mikuru "It's alright. As long as we're careful and ensure that Miss Suzumiya's included in whatever we do, I'm sure that it'll be ok.".
"I...I hope so because I don't want to get Miss Suzumiya upset for various reasons...." says Mikuru in her sweet but timid voice.
A second later, Haruhi and Kyon finish their little chat/argument and go up to Ryoko and Mikuru. Haruhi then hugs Mikuru from behind and says "So Class Rep, I see that you've taken a liking to Mikuru here. Isn't she such a cutie?!" says Haruhi excitedly while petting Mikuru's head which naturally makes the latter girl nervous.
Seeing Mikuru nervous, Ryoko's newfound emotional side urges her to tell Haruhi to stop as she's starting to upset Mikuru. Luckily, the logical side of Ryoko's mind wins out lest the world might end if Haruhi gets upset and instead, Ryoko decides to take Haruhi's mind off of Mikuru.
"Yes she is and please, call me Ryoko when we're in the clubroom." says Ryoko while winking one eye and smiling which leads Mikuru to be in silent awe of the blue haired girl while Haruhi whose still hugging Mikuru but is no longer focused on her says "Alright then, from now on when we're on SOS activites, I'll just call you Ryoko.".
Seeing all of this, Kyon thinks to himself "Woah, Ryoko managed to get Haruhi to stop harassing Miss Asahina without upsetting her. I see that she's still as cunning as ever.". Sighing, Kyon thinks to himself "Great, just what I need, a female version of Itsuki......:.
Speaking of Itsuki, he then whispers to Kyon "It's kind of interesting to see how much Miss Asakura's changed, isn't it?".
"Changed? What do you mean? She still acts the same as she did before." whispers Kyon puzzled.
"On the surface, yes but in terms of her motives, Ryoko has changed. She told me after our meeting yesterday that her already budding emotions were more throughly developed prior to her returning so now she feels things such as empathy which means that what you just saw was Ryoko's subtle way of getting Haruhi to stop harassing Mikuru.". explains Itsuki.
"Because to do otherwise would upset Haruhi and lead to the creation of a closed space or even the world ending......" says Kyon finishing with Itsuki was going to say.
"Exactly." says Itsuki "Miss Asakura's aware of this hence why she's subtle in how she influences Haruhi's behavior in a positive manner.".
"Well, if anyone can help Haruhi change for the better, it's Miss Asakura." thinks Kyon to himself. A second later, Haruhi lets go of Mikuru and says to everyone "Alright, listen up! After some 'discussion' with Kyon, I've decided what we're going to be doing next! We'll be participating in the upcoming Kanto dodgeball tournament!"
Naturally, Kyon had tried to talk Haruhi out of it but her mind was made up AND she already signed up the SOS brigade for the dodgeball tournament. "This is just like the fiasco with that softball/baseball tournament soon after Miss Asakura left last year....." sighs Kyon to himself.
"So, when's this dodgeball tournament?" says Itsuki knowing full well when it was but deciding to keep Haruhi happy.
"It's next week of course so we'll have to train extra hard at dodgeball until that time especially since the first team that we'll be facing will be the reigning champs of high school dodgeball in the Kanto region, the Mahora Black Lilies!!".
Understandably, Mikuru gives a mouse-like squeak and shakes nervously which causes Kyon to comfort her. "Uh Haruhi, you DO realize that the Black Lilies are the most brutal dodgeball team in Kanto and quite possibly, all of Japan, don't you?!" says Kyon frantically as he's worried about Mikuru's safety and well being.
"Brutal, scmrutal!" says Haruhi energetically "We're the SOS brigade and we'll mop the floor with them! Still, since there's 11 of them and only 6 of us, we'll need to get some additional members. Mikuru, next chance you get, talk to Tsuruya and ask her for help! Kyon, you talk to Taniguchi and Kunikida and get them to help us out. While you're at it, see if your little sister wants to join up with us too. Yuki, you and Ryoko go ask Emiri to see if she wants to join our dodgeball team as well!".
Um...o...ok...." says Mikuru meekly.
Sighing at the inevitable, Kyon says "Fine, I'll go ask them....".
"It shall be done." says Yuki unemotionally.
"Alright then, GGGGOOOOOO SOS BRIGADE!!!" shouts Haruhi dynamically and a moment later, everyone else does the same things with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
After Haruhi leaves the room for the day, Ryoko Asakura sees Kyon and Mikuru worried. "They look deeply troubled." thinks Ryoko to herself "Of course, they should be given who we're up against...". During her time in this world, Ryoko has heard horror stories about the infamous dodgeball team known as the Mahora Black Lilies. The all girl team is legendary for their brutality on the dodgeball court not to mention their habit to openly mock their opponents and take cheap shots at them. Even before she left North High after the incident with Kyon, Ryoko was displeased with their tactics and now, she's flat out disgusted by the whole lot of them.
Returning to reality, Ryoko over to them and says to them reassuringly "It's alright, don't worry about it, things will turn out much better then you think, trust me on this one.".
Smiling weakly at Ryoko's reassurances, Mikuru says "O..Ok Miss Asakura.. I mean Ryoko. I'll try not to worry about it too much then.". which of course causes Ryoko to smile as well.
Worrying that Ryoko might cheat, Kyon says to her "It better not involve cheating. We'd be no better or even worse then them if we did that no matter how much they deserve it.". Like Ryoko, Kyon has also heard of the bad reputation of the Black Lilies and regards them as being a hundred times worse then Haruhi on even her worst day.
Smiling, Ryoko says to him in a pouty tone "Why Kyon, I'm shocked that you'd accuse me of such a thing.... Don't worry though, I promise not to cheat and neither will anyone else on our team.". Slyly smiling, Ryoko says to Kyon "Besides, I have something else in mind that doesn't involve cheating.".
"And what's that?" says Kyon curiously with a hint of uneasiness.
"You'll just have to find out next week, won't you Kyon." says Ryoko with a sly smile on her face.
"I can hardly wait..." thinks Kyon sarcastically.
OOC: Well well, looks like Ryoko Asakura's facing her first big challange, helping the SOS brigade defeat the Kanto Region's top dodgeball team which just happens to be the Black Lilies from Mahora Academy, a blatant Negima reference.
As one would expect, the next chapter is sort of a Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya/Negima crossover. Will the SOS Brigade be victorious? Find out in the next chapter!