This is, by far, the best chapter I have written so far. Sorry for being a bit late in uploading this one! Enjoy!
I realized that not everything you see and hear needs to be real. I could be just dreaming everything and I wouldn't know, or say that the idea is stupid. Who knows if I have a mental disorder and I'm crazy, because I don't think hearing voices in my head is normal. Although I hate normal things. This should be fun right? Why am I feeling so uneasy about all that is happening? I'm being influenced by that girl? If that's the case, then I trust in my friends and she is just making me think like that. That's right, I should be having another fun Saturday like any other.
"Kyon, change of plans. We are having another paranormal search!" I won't be tricked so easily.
"You are acting weird today, and more than casual." Don't mock me! Or compliment? Well that!
"I had a lot of plans, and I'm trying to choose the best." He stared at me for a few seconds. He didn't realize, right?
"You didn't have any plans, did you?"
"… Call the rest of the brigade! This must be a fruitful day!" How can he know when I… avoid saying the truth!
"I'm still here, you know."
And then there is that problem. Ignoring her won't change anything… But I can't let her changing my thoughts. I need to stay calm, and think a lot about her lies. She… can't be right.
"We'll do this your way then, but you know that ignoring the truth won't help."
She might be right, IF she was telling the truth. Yes…
"Done. I guess we better get going." Ah yes. I'm in the street. The same street where we met that other girl. Why do all the girls bring me trouble! And why do I care about that Sasaki, Kyon can do whatever he wants with his personal life. Unless it involves the brigade, because then it will be a problem. Duh.
"Are you angry about something?" Damn it, I'm thinking over here!
"Why do you always know- I'm not angry"
"Your face says otherwise." Shut it.
"I'm not having this conversation! We are going to be late!" I started to walk faster when I realized something.
"…Where and when, right?" You are making me frustrated.
"You are acting like a smartass, right now. And do you know what happens when someone acts like that?" He looked at me skeptically, but then he shivered.
"At the usual place, in 30 minutes" Good boy, Kyon. You have won a cookie.
15 minutes later…
"We are going to be late! Hurry up!" They are going to be there, and we will be the last ones. If that happens I can slip the trouble to Kyon. I'm evil!
"We were prepared and closer. I don't think they are going to be there." I guess he is right… But even then, we still need to hurry up, just in case.
"Do you know what is very fun? Having an ally!"
What does that mean? Ah, right. Think about you answer.
"You use your little pawn here to gain their trust and do the dirty work and then dispose of them!"
Like hell I would. She keeps trying to trick me…
"Look at him, if you give him a good reason, I'm sure he would accept. Not like that one time…"
If you put it like that… No! I can't betray him like that.
"You keep protecting Kyon… I guess we care a lot about him."
Don't say 'we'. I'll never accept that you are me. Even if you are in my head, even if you manage to brain wash me, I'll never treat you as part of me.
"Then you'll treat me like yourself. Not someone that is inside your head. We'll be the same being. But I can't allow that yet, I need you to understand the truth! I have done a lot more that your pathetic excuse of friends. Unlike them, I've told you the truth, protected you from those people, we have even play together!"
I have a strong will… You can't influence my actions, whatever you say. I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, leader of the SOS brigade, and I swear that you can't control me.
"Eh, sure… Was I supposed to scream NO! And disappear? Well, if words can't make you react, then actions will. By the way, NOOOOOOOO!" After that she giggle and didn't make a sound. But I knew she was still there, lurking in the shadows and trying to-
"We're here. And I can't see any of them, so we are first." Well, there it goes. I need to forget this… but maybe someone I can trust would be good…
"Kyon… before anyone else arrives… I trust in you." Why did I say that! What if he doesn't? Look, he is just standing there like a dummy.
"Uh…Ok? I guess I do too. Why did you say that anyways?" Why am I feeling happy? Yes, It's just that I thought he wouldn't react to my subconscious question. Subconscious. Did she really?!
"Hello again, Suzumiya-san, Kyon-kun." Mikuru-chan has arrived, and I can see Yuki in the distance. Now we just need Koizumi-kun…
"Sorry for being late, but I was surprised when Kyon-kun called me." But you aren't late…
"Haruhi had a lot of plans, apparently." I'm right here you know… But there is something strange with me, she hadn't influenced me… but…
Itsuki Koizumi. What do I do with you? You are clearly hiding something, but what could it be? You are always very willing to help me, but why? I didn't found anything about your previous school, and I don't even know your hometown. It's like he is a ghost, leaving no trail. Let's do some backtracking. He came to our school around May… If I remember correctly a few days later Ryoko Asakura 'went' to Canada.
"It seems like I'm the last one to arrive. Sorry Suzumiya-san" Always smiling… what could be behind that mask?
"Don't worry, but you know there is a penalty right? You'll show me your part time job! I want to know about my fellow brigade members! Maybe even find some strange artifacts!" Could the disappearance of Asakura and the arrival of Koizumi be related? I wonder… Nagato also changed her appearance after that incident. I'll need to investigate more, but I can't let them know. Maybe Kyon, but I need to ensure that he trusts me more than Koizumi.
"No problem. Maybe we can visit it today, if we have time" Helpful as always Koizumi-kun. I nodded and continued.
"Well, let's get inside the café and we'll split from there!" I noticed that Koizumi had a rather tired look. Maybe he didn't sleep well, or something else…?
"Kyon wait a moment, the rest can enter. I need to talk with him…" For some reason, Mikuru smiled and had a happy look. This is not what it looks!
"What? Any change of plans?" Jerk.
"No… How much do you trust Koizumi? This is part of your punishment, so you better answer honestly" He sighed, and thought for a moment.
"The short or the long answer?" He was actually serious. Good! Something you don't see every day!
"Both" Knowledge is power.
"The short answer is no." Seriously? I thought they were best buddies or something, always playing and all that stuff "He looks like he knows more than he says, and I don't like his smile. But for some reason, I don't know if I want to know what's behind that mask. The best part is that I'm sure he knows what we are talking about, and will ask me about this." I didn't know…
"Why… How do you know that much? Ah, never mind. I guess after a year playing games with him you know more than I thought. And do you think he really knows?" Maybe he is more intelligent than I thought, I need to keep him in touch. I can't let him know what I'm doing, and if what Kyon says is true, he might know about our conversation…
"We can tell him something that didn't happen" For some reason, I don't want to say lie.
"Like what? I mean, I don't like when he acts like he knows everything but… What do you have in mind?" That's my Kyon! I knew I could trust him. But what could work… A boy and a girl talking… T-that might work, but there are more options…
"No… I know what you are thinking Haruhi, and no!"
"Come on, it's the only believable thing… we don't even have to say the word date…" This is embarrassing, but this is for the good of my investigation. Not hers.
"I'm still against it. In fact, weren't you the one who said love is a mental sickness?"Don't make this more difficult!
"W-Who said that I was in love with you?! A date might mean a lot of things! It's like an investigation.
"I don't really care anymore…"
"Ok, just don't talk. They might not even ask about this. By the way, your punishment will be longer" I need him for some time, he might be crucial to distract Koizumi.
After some muttering, we quickly sat down with the rest of my brigade. I was indeed correct when I saw Koizumi before, he was really messed up. But I need him for some time, so bare with your pain.
"Did you all have fun yesterday? Sorry for not being able to go, I didn't really know." Oh… I forgot about that.
"Sorry, but I thought you would be happier sleeping in your home. But I guess it hasn't done that much." Koizumi sighed, he wasn't mad about this right? I was pretty unstable yesterday… I don't want to know what I could have said to him…
"Have you slept well?" He asked out of nowhere. He looked like he knew something… I remember him in my nightmare. There was no way he could know, right?
"What do you mean by that Koizumi?" Kyon leaped forward a bit, but Koizumi smiled calmly.
"I was just wondering. So, what are we going to do?" Straightforward as always. We were going to split in groups as always, if Yuki and Mikuru pulled the same colored stick then that could make things much easier for my investigation. Come on luck, I just need you a bit.
"The same as always, but seeing that for some reason, the pairings are always the same, we'll do something more unusual." I don't really want to rely on luck. I'm getting more bipolar… this doesn't mean anything… "As Kyon almost every weekend gets in the group of only two persons, he will go in the other group. Yuki and Mikuru can go in the same team." Maybe that's why they aren't very friendly?
"So that just leaves Kyon and Koizumi with me. Does anybody disagree?" Kyon looked annoyed, but the others looked fine with the change. I could even say that my vice-commander looked happier than before.
"Then let's roll out!"
The two boys were talking about something, but that didn't bother me. I kept trying to figure out the real Itsuki Koizumi. Maybe there was something else I was missing…
Connections. He has too many to be normal. He looked like he was from a wealthy family, and that could explain his manners. It could even explain his façade but that would bother me. Why does he act like that?
Reputation. He might be trying to keep his family pride with him, but I have never heard about the Koizumi family. Nishinomiya is a town after all, and there aren't a lot of places I don't know. But he is in fact, a transfer student.
Special. Why did I invite Koizumi to SOS brigade? He was mysterious, and I needed a fifth member. He looked to spontaneous to appear out of nowhere, and he accepted to enter my brigade with little knowledge. In fact, he wanted to be in it.
Maybe you are focusing too much in the first day, why don't you think about what happen after he entered our club?
I didn't complain, she might be trying to help me.
Disappearance. Asakura went missing a few days later. I should have searched more about this at that time… Yuki changed her appearance the following day, and she lived in the same building as her. But any clues have been destroyed... maybe a little more search won't hurt.
What do I get of this? The connections, his acting, the time he arrived… If you ask me in this moment, I would say that he is a hired assassin and killed Ryoko Asakura, but why would he stay afterwards? Why would he even want to stay in my club? Maybe is because Yuki?
"Suzumiya-san? We have arrived" A boy spoke to me and there goes my trail of thought.
"Ah yes, I zoned out for a second." We were in some lonely shop in the middle of the commercial district. The exterior looked small and old, like it wasn't cleaned in years. Maybe that's why I haven't seen it before.
"Sorry about the outside, but we think it helps bringing more clients" Koizumi briefly explained. I could see that Kyon was having the same thoughts as me.
"Who is the manager of all this? Another friend of yours?" Kyon asked, with a strange sense of sarcasm in that last sentence. An inside joke perhaps?
"Actually, I wanted to have a job that didn't conflict with school, and I found this store when I was exploring the town." He was looking at his watch too often. Maybe he was waiting for something or someone?
"Well there you have it, do you want to know anymore?" He wanted to leave, or something was telling me that. This could be catalogued by normal behavior any other day, maybe she is influencing me without even realizing?
"Why don't we enter? I want to know how it looks." It wasn't a proposal, because I was already entering.
The insides looked rather clean and there were some old looking bookshelves attached to the walls. To my left, there was a desk and in top of it a cash register. There was a door between two bookshelves, about 6 meters in front of me.
"And what do you say you do?" I said skeptically.
"Cleaning, replenishing the shelves, and bringing new books."He looked again at his watch. "Suzumiya-san, my… boss is having a reunion right now. I thought we were going to arrive much later so, we should be leave for the moment." There was something he was hiding, should I press for more information? No, that would be very suspicious.
I was about to leave the shop when I heard the door behind opening. A girl, about my age, and with twin tails left the inconspicuous door. She had quite a lovely smile, like she had won a tournament. She was a bit stunned when she saw us in the shop, but quickly regained her smile. I couldn't help but realize that Koizumi and Kyon looked in a mix of surprise and anger.
Kyon grabbed my hand and pulled me back, I thought it was to make some room, but it looked more like he was shielding me. Koizumi in the other hand, was trying to keep his usual cool guy appearance, but his tiredness prevented him from doing that.
The girl looked at me for a second and left. Who was she? She had a bag from… I don't know, I've never seen that symbol. Maybe she is an outsider?
"Kyon… you can let me go…" He was still grabbing my hand, and we were a bit close…
"Ah, sorry." He let my hand go, with a bit of embarrassment. We looked at each other for a brief time when a voice brought us back to reality.
"Koizumi! What did I tell about coming at this hour?!" The man was… familiar for some reason. And by the looks of it, he wasn't very happy with Koizumi. I should have listened to Koizumi…
"Sorry sir, it was my fault. Koizumi-kun warned me but I didn't listen to me." I apologized, not wanting to blame Koizumi with all this. The anger that was showed a few moments ago was replaced with kindness.
"Ah, I think we haven't been introduced properly. I'm Akasaka Ichiro, and you could say I'm Koizumi's boss" Akasaka is a tall, muscular young man with black hair and dark brown eyes. You could say that he was a intimidating a few moments ago. Why the sudden change?
"I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, and this is Kyon" I pointed behind me.
"Ah, so you are the leader of the club Koizumi is in? He speaks well of you." He said with a joyful expression.
"Sorry for disturbing you, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" I asked the tall man.
"Sure I don't mind, so what is it?" Good, now I need to distract Koizumi.
"Kyon, talk with Koizumi for a bit. I need some time alone." I whispered to Kyon. He nodded and proceeded to follow my plan.
"So… What does Koizumi do in your shop? You look like you could handle it yourself" I thought the owner would be an old man who needed help lifting books.
"This is a hobby of mine, and I have an actual job. Sometimes I can attend my shop and he comes to do some service." That looks like a weird scenario, but plausible.
"What do you think of Koizumi? Does he do his job well?" The man started to look the shelves, looking for something.
"He is a good boy… reckless some times, but he gets the job done. By the way, do you like books?" He picked up a big looking book, it seemed new for the most part.
"I like to read, but I have a friend who would like it. She reads all kind of stuff." Or at least I think she does.
"Then I'm sure she would love this one." He handed it over to me. 'The demon in your dreams'?
"What is it about?" It had a bit of dust, but it looked fine for the most part.
"It helps getting rid of nightmares, and can help you in getting control of them. And don't worry, for Koizumi's friends it's free the first time." I have already tried to control my dreams. Wait, why does everyone seem to know about her?!
"I'll check it out…" After an awkward moment I decided to ask about that girl
"Who was the girl from before? They didn't look very happy with her." Akasaka stiffened, but then gave a giggle.
"You don't need to worry, I'm sure Koizumi can explain it to you." He said, raising his voice in that last part, to get Koizumi's attention.
"Well, it's been fun but I'm closing for today." I approached Kyon who still had an upset look in his face. The girl must be somebody important… Koizumi didn't seem very fond with her… Could it be his ex-girlfriend?!
"Don't think of something that childish, why would Kyon be upset then? He doesn't really trust Koizumi as he said before, why would he care about her?"
Well I don't know… Since when I'm talking to you?!
"It was just a hypothesis, maybe she was double dating them?!"
What?! I mean… Don't be childish.
We stepped out of the shop, and I still had that book in my hands. There was a lot of time left for our research, so maybe I could investigate about twin tail girl. Who knows? She may be important, and like Kyon isn't one to get mad without a reason… she must have done something bad.
"Kyon grab this." I tossed the book over to him, which he almost missed.
"Give me a warning before throwing stuff around… A book about dreams?" He opened it. Maybe I don't need to give it to Yuki.
"He wanted me to keep it for some reason…" I looked over to Koizumi who looked very relieved. "The girl from before… who was she?" I whispered, so Kyon wouldn't hear the conversation, but he seemed quite emerged in that book.
"You could say she is my rival… She used a dirty trick on Kyon and he didn't appreciate it." A dirty… trick?
"Don't misunderstand it, you could say that he still has a grudge on her." Maybe I wasn't wrong… and she really did something bad.
"Apparently, I have an inner turmoil and I refuse to acknowledge something. I also have the responsibility to protect and I'm lucky that I'm alive right now. Who wrote this? An old shaman?" Kyon looked quite upset, maybe he should talk with Freud.
"We still have a lot to search, let's keep moving!"
Twin tails. What did that girl do to Kyon and Koizumi? She had an unknown academy symbol in his bag, but it may not belong to her. Maybe a classmate? She also looked interested in me. Maybe she has heard about my adventures. Whoever she was, Kyon wasn't so happy with her. I need more data about her.
(A few minutes before.)
Distracting Koizumi. Yeah right, I'm more willing to leave and have a few words with Tachibana.
"This might be very bad… we don't have enough members to protect everyone" Koizumi told me, most likely talking about that girl.
"How many people are in the Agency?" They should have a lot of members, to be able to do a lot of tasks.
"We have a lot of outside help, as well as other esper organizations, but the agency only has ten." Only ten?! Mori-san, Arakawa, the Tamaru brothers and Koizumi. That makes 5… The student council president would be outside help… Mori-san seems to be the leader, but I might be wrong.
"And Tachibana? You say he was a rival of the Agency, what does she want to do with Haruhi?" She has the help of smiling bastard… I hope she doesn't have the help of any alien counterpart of Nagato
"I often consider the desire to protect Suzumiya-san, and my reject of lying. I did consider that if I lied, I could protect the world, sacrificing trust for ignorance."
"So… you aren't going to tell me the truth."
"You are quite sharp sometimes. But right now we have a bigger problem. Until recently, Haruhi was material monism. In case you didn't know, it means that Haruhi only cared about physical things, believing other things to be part of science. You can see this in the form she thinks of love." And here we go… That might explain why she thinks of love as a chemical reaction, and not… something more abstract?
"But something…no, someone has changed her thoughts. Before she thought with hedonism, trying to get the maximum amount of pleasure" Sorry what?
"It means she only was thinking of having fun. But now, unlike before, she has another goal. Happiness. Which would be good if we hadn't avoided the truth with her." So what you mean is that Haruhi before wanted to achieve happiness by having fun, but for some reason she stopped thinking like that. And now she wants the truth. How did she even realize that?
"We think, that Haruhi, or at least part of her, saw how we acted with you and how we acted with her. She has disowned her emotions, fear, frustration, anger, loneliness, she tried to hide them away, without looking back. But if these emotions are not dealt with, they materialize and normally represent the closed spaces, although that only relieves frustration, not the other emotions. The others didn't leave her body, and a few days ago, they became a living nightmare." So she is mentally broken? Is that why she is acting so much different?
"Yes, you need to reassure her and-" A voice cut us off, letting Koizumi's explanation in half.
Haruhi shows her emotions flow a lot of times, but maybe those were only trying pretend that she was all right? I might have been too focused in other tasks, and never realized. This is just what happened with Nagato! She didn't let her emotions escape and she recreated the world. Only that this time Haruhi is the problem. I can't let that happen again!
I realized that somebody threw me something, and went back in active. The object almost fell to the ground, but I was lucky enough to catch it.
"Give me a warning before throwing stuff around… A book about dreams?" This could be a signal to see what did that dream meant. What was it about? I remember fighting someone… pretty sure we were going to kill each other. Maybe there is something in hereThere was a list with the meanings of some dreams. Let's see… Fig leaf, fighter jet, fighting!
What the… I'm refusing knowledge of something? An inner turmoil? Yeah right.
What else was in that dream? I remember a girl… two in fact. Haruhi was one of them but the other seems like a blur. I was protecting her, I think…
Ok… Here is the P… Protecting, here it is. Dream that you are being protected- No thanks. Here: suggests that you are putting up an emotional wall or barrier between you and others around you.Consider who or what you are protecting for clues as to what aspect of your own self you are afraid of letting out and letting others know.
An emotional wall between Haruhi and me? And I'm afraid of letting others know something… I don't want to know.
The last thing I remember was… dying. And that means… An old superstition says that I should be dead. Ok this book is nonsense. Who wrote this? A druid?
"We still have a lot to search, let's keep moving!" Sure… this looks like it will be a long day.
"Ah Kyon, give the book, I think I'll keep it, if you don't mind" I don't even want that thing in my house.
(Haruhi POV)
"So did you two find anything?" I asked to the two girls in front of me. As far as I can see, they still were very cold with each other.
"N-No, we haven't found anything interesting." Was Mikuru still afraid of me, but right now I had better things to do.
"…We still have time for another round. But I think it's better to wrap it up now, or Koizumi might fall to the ground death." I need to go to Yuki's apartment. The book was the perfect excuse, and it would give a boost of confidence.
"Nagato, can we speak for a moment?" Kyon stepped forward, and proceeded to talk with Yuki. What could he possibly want with her?
"I'm going home, have a good day!" Mikuru had left ipso-facto and Koizumi apologized and went home.
"You might be losing him"
Losing what? Kyon? He wouldn't betray me.
"He might not, but the others could make him do it."
What do you mean? As if I cared for that idiot.
"You have a lot of rivals right now, Yuki Nagato and Mikuru Asahina mainly. And Sasaki seemed quite happy to see him, I guess this is already a lost"
Lost? I can't lose him! He is my only friend… I mean, ally.
"Looks like we are advancing a bit! But I'm your only true friend! You should remember that"
I won't, trust me. It was just confusion.
"I'll leave it there, but I suggest that you don't lose this… ally of yours."
She couldn't be right… could she? No! I'm being corrupted by her, he wouldn't betray me, he wouldn't leave me.
"Haruhi… can we talk for a moment too?"
"Eh? Yes, what's the matter?" I don't even know what he was saying, I hope it wasn't important
"How can I say this… Is there something bothering you? You don't look like yourself" He noticed? Maybe he is saying about yesterday, when I was influenced by that.
"Today I'm fine, yesterday I was just a bit sick" He didn't look convinced by it.
"No, I meant today. You were happy two days ago, and yesterday you look like you have entered the lost woods. So I'll ask again, is there something bothering you? I'll believe you whatever you say." I had never seen this face of Kyon. He looked concerned about me, like, a friend. Should I tell him?..
"I…do have a problem" You said it! You can trust him!
"You can tell me, I'll even help you with it" He grabbed my hand, trying to reassure me. Why is he acting like this?
"Something told me to not trust the brigade, because they were lying to me." He flinched back for a second, but quickly regained his composure.
"Then I'll help you to build up your confidence again, I might not be the smartest guy in the world, but this is the least I can do to help you."
He would help me? How could I be so stupid? Of course he will help me! But why is he doing all of this for me? He couldn't possibly be…
So did you like it? It was very fun to write this one. This is one of the last chapters that will have a -Happy- Haruhi. Sh*t is going to hit the fan in the next chapters!
Now, Haruhi has gone into detective mode! In the snowy mountain syndrome and in the island which i forgot the name, she shows that she can deduce things with great detail. There is some Koizumi phisolophy, which i tried to explain in case someone didn't get it. And Tachibana! Apparently Koizumi and Tachibana knew each other, maybe there was something between the both of them, uh? UH?!
The facts I put about the Agency aren't exactly right, but it's most likely that they are set up like that.
So, what do you think that will happen?
A)Haruhi will find the truth
B)Haruhi will find the truth and break
C)Haruhi will go in a rampage and kill everyone
D)None
See you next time, and as always, if you find something that doesn't make sense please point them out and review!
