Disclaimer – I don't own The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi franchise, any of the characters, or scenarios. Haruhi and all related characters are the property of Nagaru Tanigawa. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made, thank you.

Kyon woke up on Wednesday wondering how he was going to spend his day. It had been so long since he had any free time, this was entirely new to him. Pulling on yesterdays jeans and shirt, which subsequently were also the jeans and shirt of the day before, Kyon made his way to the kitchen to see if he could coerce his mother into giving him breakfast, even though it was past 11.

His efforts were successful, returning to his room with a piece of toast, ignoring his mother's lectures on the virtues of waking up at a normal hour.

Just after he finished his measly breakfast and had started setting up his console for a morning of gaming accomplishments, his phone went off. Sighing and expecting it to be Haruhi, he answered.

"Hello, Kyon speaking," he said, a habit he had never broken from answering the home phone.

"Hello, we spoke yesterday…" Kyon's attention was now focused on the conversation – it was the shop owner he had given his contact details to, calling him back.

"I was wondering if you would be available this afternoon for a training session? You would mainly be charged with stacking shelves and such, I'm not as young as I used to be and my back can't handle it anymore…"

"Of course, what time would you like me in?" Kyon answered once the voice on the other end of the line trailed off. After confirming that he should come in to start at 12:30, and being assured that this training session was paid, Kyon said his farewells.

"I'm going out for a few hours, mother. I may have found that job you have been asking me to get," Kyon said, heading towards the front door.

"Wait just one moment and come back here!" she snapped, causing him to freeze mid-step. "You are not going to your new job in three day old clothes. Go get changed into something nicer, and don't make me come up there to make sure you are. I have to do that with your sister, I hope that I can trust you to be more responsible," she lectured, pulling at his shirt where he had gotten a stain on it last night. He brushed her hands away, agreeing.

Returning for inspection, his mother nodded at his new clean jeans and button down black shirt.

"Wear a jacket though, it's starting to get cold," she admonished. Kyon took a look outside, noticing the black clouds, and quickly complied. Finally, he managed to get out of the house, easily making it to the shopping complex in time. Checking his watch, he still had 15 minutes to spare, and decided to use them in procuring a better breakfast for himself than the single piece of toast he had earlier.

Checking his watch again at 25 past, Kyon lazily ambled over to the small job, dropping his rubbish into the bin as he did so.

"Kyon-san, you showed up!" the storeowner exclaimed, much to Kyon's befuddlement. "Oh, I'm sorry, we have had a lot of pranks in the past few weeks. I shall show you to the storeroom."

Kyon nodded, following slowly behind the old man. He memorised where everything was kept, and was then showed the shelves that each item belonged to. His job consisted mainly of keeping the shelves nicely stocked and tidy, and keeping the store clean, as well as sorting out new arrivals out the back.

Roughly half an hour into his job, after sweeping up the floors and ensuring everything on display was facing towards the customer, Mikuru once again walked in.

"Ah, Mikuru-chan! Back again I see! Surely your house cannot contain so many things?" the owner asked her. She smiled politely.

"Yes, but everything is just so cute, I can't resist. Oh – Kyon-kun! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, noticing him sitting behind the counter where he and the owner had been engaging in a game of shoji.

"I just got a job. I didn't know you came here often," he answered, looking at her with the unasked question hanging between them. She blushed.

"Oh, uh…I just like collecting things…" she muttered, fiddling with a small stuffed bear behind her. He smirked at her.

Of course. I should have known you would have such a cute habit

"How is Tsuruya-san?" Kyon's thoughts were interrupted.

"She's fine. She had a bit of a cold earlier but I think it's clearing up," Mikuru answered. Kyon wondered how she knew the shop owner so well, only able to accredit it to her constantly being in and out of the store. He half paid attention to their conversation until the phone rang, at which point the owner needed to say goodbye and take the call, but not before telling Kyon to go on a break and buy Mikuru some lunch. Kyon blushed furiously. Why did everybody think they were going out?

I should be happy at that assumption though, right?

Shaking away his thoughts, they decided that instead of going to the food court in the plaza. They would use Kyon's half hour break to go to the melon bread stand near the park and enjoy the cold air after being cooped up in the artificially heated complex for so long.

* * * * *

"How was your new job?" Kyon's mother asked upon his return home. He shrugged noncommittally, dropping his jacket by the front door. At his mother's stern look, he hastily picked it back up and carried it to his room, returning to find his sister setting up the table for dinner, and doing a very haphazard job of it.

"Are you going back tomorrow?"

Kyon shook his head. "The shop is closed over the Christmas weekend. I'll be back on Monday," he answered, correcting his sister's work.

The rest of their dinner was had in relative silence, with his mother throwing in a comment about whom they were visiting tomorrow, and how his sister better be good otherwise she wouldn't get a present under the tree from Santa on Friday. Kyon nodded and agreed when he had to, but apart from that, his mind dwelled on other things. Such as whether he would receive a tenth gift today.

As soon as he was finished, he casually asked his mother if there was any mail, to be met with a negative answer.

Walking down the hall to his room, Kyon doubted there was any other way that the mysterious admirer would be able to give him any more gifts. That was, until, he reached his room, and viewed something sitting outside on the windowsill.

Thinking it was just a large bug or something of the sort, Kyon opened the window to flick it away, and it was then that he noticed what it actually was.

Picking it up, it was now clear that the object was a little brown teddy, holding a heart in his hands. Kyon closed the window, chuckling to himself at how undeniably cute the toy was, before pulling the paper out from behind the heart.

Tenth day

And on the other side;

The

Kyon sighed. 'The' wasn't really going to help him figure out this mystery. Placing the bear on his bedside table and the paper in the card holder, he spent time playing solitaire before retiring to bed.