Disclaimer: I do not own Haruhi Suzumiya or anything related.

This is dedicated to my friend and partner-in-crime, Patty.

A/N: I had to fix some stuff for this fic. Sorry for the delay.

Warning: This chapter will be very long. I assure you.

Title: The Origin of Koizumi Itsuki

Synopsis:

He was. And that was what he knew. He didn't know why. But he was chosen. Koizumi Itsuki searches for the reason why he was.

The Void

Behind me, the train door closed shut. I looked around, left, right, and found an empty seat.

I feel so tired. Damn, I need to sleep.

Where am I?

It was dark where I found myself after opening my eyes. I couldn't have missed my stop, could I?

That was strange, I wasn't sitting down when I woke up either.

Now I get it. I'm in your memory again, Haruhi Suzumiya.

I pinched myself to wake up and get out of here. Hey, I'm an esper. I'm supposed to be able to get in and out of this whenever I want.

I paced around the void. There was nothing here. Wow, for the creator of this universe, you sure have an empty mind, Suzumiya-san. Now, where'd you put that portal or something to get outta here.

I kept walking.

There was nothing here. I walked some more.

Some more…

Just a bit further…

A little bit further…

I must've walked a good ten minutes by now. Still nothing.

Maybe I was going nowhere. By the way, is there a floor beneath me?

It just hit me. I don't know how I got in here, nor do I know how to get out.

Hey, when I said I want to run away from all that Alliance crap, I didn't mean to somehow get stuck into an endless void!

This is crazy.

Is there anyone out there?

No response. I tried shouting louder.

Can you hear me?

Nothing. Not even an echo.

I frantically looked around. There must be something. Anything.

Wait. There was. There was something glowing dimly in the distance. I squinted my eyes to see it clearly, but to no avail.

Might as well try to get close to it.

With the faintest sense of hope, I quickly dashed towards it.

And with every step I take, the glowing object grew larger. A few more… Just a few more… and…

A pair of pink slippers.

What's this doing here?

Thinking this may be some sort of way out, I bent down to pick up the pair of slippers.

The moment I touched the slippers, something strange happened. Colors, from the slippers themselves, suddenly flowed into the void. Shapes formed, twisting and turning in what was once the darkness of the void I was sent to. In no time, the whole world around me changed, and I found myself inside a house I do not know.

The slippers I tried to pick up were back on the floor, just beside the doormat. To my right was a coat hanger, to my left, a small umbrella rack. Looking forward, I could see the stairs and I could make out some rooms in the corridor to my right.

Suddenly, something behind me clicked. Apparently, I was standing in front of a doorway.

I turned around to see a man, apparently coming home from work. He removed his coat and placed it on the coat hanger.

"I'm sorry for intruding, sir! I'll be off!" I exclaimed.

The man showed no sign of hearing anything I have just said. He continued what he was doing, placing his umbrella in the rack without looking up to meet this stranger who happened to somehow turn up in his house.

Suddenly, I heard a loud squeaky voice coming from the distance.

"Papa! You're home!"

"Ah, Haru-chan... How's my little girl?"

Haru…chan?

What I saw when I turned around completely shocked me.

Here was a little girl, probably a kindergartner, greeting his dad after a hard day's work.

Nothing peculiar about her. She had short dark brown hair and topaz-colored eyes. Her hair was adorned by a yellow headband with ribbons on both sides.

So this was the force that drives the universe. Haruhi Suzumiya.

The man reached out his hands to his daughter. Hands which just passed through the torso of this bystander who watched as his daughter leapt up in joy to hug him back.

It would appear that I am inside a memory, and as such, I am merely a phantom.

"How's school, princess?"

"It was great! Our teacher made us fingerpaint!"

"Oh? Really? I guess they discovered a new Picasso today, huh? What did you draw?"

This seemed like a normal exchange between a father and his daughter, though I couldn't be the judge of that. After all, I never got to know my father that much. He rarely comes home.

Haruhi took her father by her hand, dragging him to the living room.

"Here 'ya go, Dad!" the young Haruhi said, holding up a piece of paper depicting what a normal kindergartner would paint: stick figures of a mother, a father, a daughter, and a house.

"Wow! That's wonderful, Haru-chan! A work of art!"

And with that praise, she grinned.

That was definitely something new. In all my memories of Haruhi Suzumiya, I never once saw her smile. The way she laughed as her father hugged her tight, was something new for me.

"You two, dinner is ready, Haru-chan, clean up!" a woman's voice echoed in the room.

"Coming, mom!" she laughed, dragging her father yet again to the dining table.

I didn't follow the Suzumiyas to dinner. I decided to take a good look around the room. There were pictures on the mantelpiece. Some were of young Haruhi's first steps, one while she rode a tricycle, and the relatively newer silver-colored frame with a picture of her just getting ready to go to school.

Smiling slightly, I tried to pick up the newer picture frame. The room around me faded into black as my hands touched the frame.

Once again, shapes and colors twisted and swirled, and I found myself in yet another memory.

When everything has settled, I looked around. I was still in the same living room. But looking closely, I found that some or more of the pictures in the mantelpiece have changed. The picture frame I touched was no longer silver-colored, but instead, looked faded and worn. Even the picture inside it was already tinged with yellow. Beside it were pictures of an elementary school student participating on her first ever Sports Festival, and a couple of pictures depicting the young girl in a fishing hat, holding up a peace sign with her father.

It's strange that there's no one home. It was also darker than I thought. Perhaps the family went outing? I looked at the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall, and it said half past three PM. Normally, this would be the time grade school students are sent home, so I guess Haruhi's on her way home anytime now.

Right on cue, the front door opened. I rushed to the door and saw her in the doorway.

This Haruhi Suzumiya was older than the one I saw before. She also had longer hair, just enough to keep it in a ponytail.

"Haruhi! Welcome back!" I said, totally forgetting that she could not hear nor see me.

She looked around, slightly bewildered, as the house before her was empty. Shrugging her shoulders, she took off her shoes and put her slippers on.

"Surprise!"

The lights flickered on. Party poppers exploded with a shower of colors, confetti falling on top of her hair.

"Happy Birthday, Haruhi!" her father and mother said in unison.

"Mom.. Dad?" Haruhi said, looking very confused.

But her confusion turned into happiness, as she hugged the two.

"Haruhi, we've got a present for you…" her dad said.

Her mom gave out a long thin package. Haruhi eyed it with anticipation glimmering in her eyes.

"I know you'll like it, Haruhi… come on, open it!" her mom said.

Haruhi practically tore the present apart in enthusiasm. Her eyes widened and an ecstatic smile could be seen on her face.

It was a baseball bat, plain and simple. Yet Haruhi was very happy as she swung it around, missing her dad by about a few inches.

"Whoa! There's the next Babe Ruth!"

They all laughed.

Again, the place swirled, twisted, changed, all except for the baseball bat, which somehow, floated in midair.

Till there was nothing around me but the void.

I was expecting another memory. But all that was in front of me was the bat, hovering in midair.

Suddenly, words echoed, filling my ears.

"Dad, how many people are in this stadium?"

"About 20,000."

At these words, the void was suddenly filled by countless faceless people walking past me. Walking through me.

Was I the intangible one, or are they the intangible ones?

"20,000."

More people.

"That's not even everyone in Japan…"

More people. More. More. More people burying me in this void. Where was I? I couldn't even see myself amongst this crowd.

Faceless people filling the void... Faceless people…

"I do not want to be part of this faceless crowd!"

Just when I thought only I shouted, I heard another voice from the distance. A girl's voice.

Haruhi's voice.

She was somewhere… I need to find her.

Haruhi!

It was no use. I can't see her from this crowd.

Haruhi!

Wait. I'm an esper, aren't I?

I can find her even if she's among this sea of people.

Her topaz eyes, her dark brown hair, the yellow ribbons, her smile, her face.

It was enough. I could recognize her from the crowd. A face I could never forget.

I closed my eyes and thought of her. In my thoughts, I could see where she is. She's among the crowd.

But she stands out to me.

When I opened my eyes, I knew where to go and what to do. Don't ask me how or why. I just knew.

Making my way among the sea of people, I found her alone, sitting on a swing that somehow got there.

Haruhi…

Now what, Itsuki? Now what?

No matter what you say to her now, she won't hear you. In this void, you are nothing but a phantom.

Ah, I'm talking to myself again.

What will you say, what will you do?

My thoughts were interrupted by her words.

"Am I special?"

Haruhi. You are. More than you think.

"Why… why wasn't I given special abilities?"

You can bend reality to your whim. Aren't I here because of you?

"Someone... Someone out there might be living an extraordinary life…"

Yeah. I am. But it's all because of you!

Wait.

Didn't I hate being given powers? I was always complaining. I was always wishing these powers away.

And yet… This girl. This girl wants a life with powers. A life possibly like mine.

"I'm nothing but a tiny drop in that sea of people."

A drop? Haruhi, you, a drop?

If you're just a drop in that sea of people, how come I found you? Are the powers you gave me nothing but a drop-finder?

Yes, you are a drop. An oil drop in this sea of water drops.

"Why?" she cried.

Haruhi.

It had occurred to me. This girl has no idea about what she can do. She's just a young girl oblivious to the fact that she has powers.

She didn't mean to. She didn't mean to do any harm. She's just a young girl. And yet…

The Alliance…

It disgusts me to even think about them treating her as some sort of commodity, a power to be harnessed and observed. She's human too!

But they called her "God".

Can a "God" be "Human" at the same time?

If she is a "God", what would happen if she were to die? Would the world continue to exist without a "God"? But then, "Gods" are immortal, right?

If you are not a "God", Haruhi, what are you?

You are not an ordinary human either.

Tears started to flow from her cheek while I stood there, watching as the girl whose radiant smiles I saw moments ago were replaced by a grave melancholy I would not have thought possible.

Whatever you are, Haruhi…I just couldn't stand to see you like this.

Without thinking, I put my arms around her neck in an embrace, trying to pull her closer to me, even if I knew I couldn't.

Why am I doing this?

I do not know why.

All I know is that I had to.

I woke up to find myself back in the train, just in time for my stop.

Was that…a dream?

A/N: Cheesy chapter, I know. Haha. Oh well, what's life without a little bit of cheese? Or smoked cheese… wait… that's for later… uh, I mean, nyorooo~n!

Also, this chapter was partly inspired by Inception. Dreams and Trains... *sigh*. Where's your totem, Koizumi? :P