I can't believe this! How could such a fun night end so horribly? I completely lost my high spirits from the concert and no matter how hard I would have tried I just wouldn't be able to get back into it. Haruhi's outrageously childish behaviour is just too much.

I needed a breather.

I feel bad for abandoning Mio, but as long as Ritsu is there she should be fine. As foolish as that girl is she must be a good friend for Mio to have put up with her for so long. I wish I could say the same for Haruhi, but honestly at this point the only thing driving my involvement in Haruhi's overblown scheme is the sheer necessity of it. If she didn't have such unusual potential and was just a normal stuck-up, selfish narcissist I would simply palm her off to the next unfortunate to deal with her.

Shit!

Why am I so angry?

Need to calm down. Catch my breath...

Where is the train station anyway? It was only a few blocks from the venue; surely I should have found it by now?

Unless...

No, that's so stupid it couldn't possibly be true! Don't tell me I stormed off in the wrong direction?! I can't be lost! I mean I'm really not in the mood for this and besides, I'm too exhausted to stumble around the town all night. If I just retrace my steps then...

Hmm, which street did I just come out of?

…

Oh no...

No, no, no, no, no...

I can't be...

Several hours of drifting aimlessly in the dark and I still couldn't find the train station. With uniform buildings in just about every street there were no guiding landmarks to make things any easier. I could have sworn I had entered this very same street three times now but it's impossible to tell.

There were no passers-by at such a late hour and the traffic was minimal. The streets were practically empty.

Worst of all my argument with Haruhi continued to get in the way of any semblance of rational thought leaving me stumbling blind through the unknown streets to further dig my own grave. Rather than whole-heartedly focus on escaping the concrete jungle I became increasingly preoccupied with the confrontation outside the live house.

I don't know how much time had passed, just knowing that I was utterly drained from that concert, the fight and however long I'd been out here wandering unguided through streets I've never heard of.

No more...

I can't go on.

Need to rest...

There, a cosy little street corner tucked away from the road. A cold, yet welcoming park bench. It may not be the most comfortable futon I've ever slept on but none of that will matter when I pass out.

I hug my knees and grit my teeth as the cold air seeps through my clothes to issue its icy breath upon my flesh. The shivering won't stop but I push it from my mind, once again thinking of Haruhi. My mind wanders to her somewhat unusual (More-so than usual) behaviour lately; searching for a cause but coming up empty. I stop thinking too hard when my brain goes numb. No longer able to feel my fingers I tuck them into my stomach and curl my legs up further, but it does little to shield against the cold. Soon enough I see my hands turn blue.

It's frightening but I'm far beyond the point of moving now. I can only lie there and wait for the sun to come up and burn away the frost gathering on my lips.

With a sigh, I close my eyes, hoping to at least get some sleep.

But then it started to rain...

It's warm. Really warm. Is this supposed to be what death feels like? It's actually kind of nice. I could get to like this place of darkness, with its blazing fires to stave away the damned cold which must have killed me in the first place.

Wait...Heat? Fire?

Why am I in Hell?!

Boisterous laughter reverberated through the darkness but I couldn't see anything even with my eyes open wide. It seems perpetual blindness awaits me so I'll have to use my imagination. That's not so bad though, everybody in this place can be Miss Asahina in my mind's eye. Yeah that's pretty good!

Suddenly the laughter got closer and heavenly light spilled across my field of vision. Blinded by the great white brightness I moved to shield my eyes, however the light was obscured by a figure hovering above me.

A warm smiling face, so unlike that person that it only further convinced me that this strange place was the afterlife.

"Haruhi?"

"Huh?"

"You follow me in the afterlife as well? Can I ever find peace?"

She laughed again and sat back, allowing me to take in the surroundings. This was an unusual afterlife; styled after a simple house with adequate furnishings and a kotatsu which I was buried under. Suddenly the dots managed to connect themselves to paint a most unsightly of pictures.

Death had indeed spared me.

Not only that, it was that Ritsu girl who had saved me. Assuming that I owe her for this I can't possibly punish her for her stupid pranks on Mio now! Dammit! But at least the silver lining is the fact I get to stay alive. Despite achieving many things that would be forever uncrossed on most people's bucket lists I wasn't yet ready to be freed from my Earthly bonds.

In fact the Earth kind of depends on me hanging around and wasting my time so...Yeah there's a lot riding on my continued survival.

"Where am I?"

Ritsu blinked, "My house."

"Why?" It seemed Ritsu and Haruhi both failed to understand the importance of hospitals.

"Well you were about ready to kick the bucket when I finally found you. You were sprawled out on a park bench soaked to the bone and about as blue as..." she looked around the room for a moment and pointed to a light blue cardigan sitting atop a pile of clothes on a hamper in the corner, "That. Yeah that's about right! Pretty much that kind of blue!"

You sound very concerned.

"At first I thought you were a goner! But then I heard you whimpering in your sleep and realised you were alive. I brought you to my house since it was close-by and then I nursed you back to health! Impressed?" Ritsu sat cross-legged on the floor, rocking back and forth with a sparkling grin that threatened to blind those who stared directly at it.

"So, you can do nice things. My impression from our past meetings was that you were just an annoying brat."

"Humph! That's how you treat the person who saved you from certain death?"

Well if you gave me the chance I was going to say thank you. I just had to get that off my chest…

"Eh, it doesn't matter. I didn't do it for you." I instinctually checked for my wallet and phone. "I did it for Mio. She was really upset."

Then I blushed.

Oh boy, I don't even want to think about what Haruhi must have done to her after I ran off. In fact right now I don't want to think about Haruhi full stop. She's caused enough madness lately and I could really do with a break. But unfortunately the question had to be asked of what that childish fiend had done so I begrudgingly inquired about her.

"Your friend?" Ritsu placed a finger on her chin and glanced up at the ceiling, focusing on nothing in particular, "She went back inside almost immediately after you walked off. Mio tried to apologise but that stubborn girl just stared daggers at her and hurried off back into the club. Mio begged me to help find you so we ended up splitting up and searching the town. I had already decided to call it off and was on my way home when I eventually found you."

"So Mio knows I'm okay?"

"Yep! She thinks I escorted you to the train station and that you're back home safe!"

"Why did you tell her that?" I tried to rise up from under the kotatsu but fatigue dragged me back down again leaving me feeling worse than before. With a sigh I accepted the fact that I wasn't moving any time soon and reluctantly lay there on the floor of the living room.

"I had to tell her; otherwise she would have come over to see you. I...I didn't want her interrupting us you see?" her cheeks noticeably reddened at that and the unusually high volume of her voice had dropped to adequate indoor levels. "I need to tell you something and I need you to listen, ok?"

Oh Jesus what in the world is going on right now?

Suddenly looking bashful, Ritsu turned her face away from me and slid back a short distance so that her voice was harder to hear.

"I'm sorry."

For what?

"I'm sorry, but I envy you..."

Huh? What part of passing out and almost dying on the streets is there to be enviable about?!

"Not that! I meant to say, I'm jealous...Of the way Mio looks at you."

Somehow I got the feeling this was something I shouldn't be hearing, but there was no escape and no avoiding Ritsu voicing her thoughts out loud. She looked at me then with eyes full of sadness, so totally different from the mischievous glint they usually carried.

"Mio is really fond of you. I've known her longer than anyone and I've never seen that look in her eyes that she gets when she speaks with you, or even just mentioning you in conversation. She gets so happy when she talks about you. You mean so much to her. I hate it!"

Say something, say something say something! Don't just stare at her dumbass, speak! But whatever you do, don't make it awkward or upset her further. This is getting far too unsettling already.

"Wait? If you really wanted to be her favourite friend then why do you keep playing those mean tricks on her? That's just detrimental to your own cause isn't it?"

Ritsu bowed her head and frowned, "Ha...The pranks...Maybe they do go a little too far? But I have to do it..."

I rolled my eyes, "I doubt you were forced at gunpoint to scare Mio in her sleep. There is no excuse for those stupid tricks you pulled!"

"Hmm." With a subdued sigh Ritsu hugged her knees and placed her feet under the kotatsu, "It's because I'm afraid. Afraid that I'll lose Mio...Every time I prank her she always clings to me, whether it's for support or simply to tell me off. Either way, Mio always comes to my side in the end...That's why I do it..."

So…You intentionally frighten Mio as a means to force her to use you as a crutch?

"Weird huh? I just...Mio is more important to me than anything. I don't want her to stray away and leave me behind."

Wow. That was surprisingly profound. A girl who boasts immeasurable confidence only to hide the fact she is insecure and doubtful. Sounds oddly familiar, but Haruhi isn't like that is she? Haruhi just does stupid things because she needs stupid things to entertain her otherwise she might get bored again and try to destroy the world. Unlike Ritsu, Haruhi just needs a dog toy to chew on to keep her happy. Unfortunately I'm the chew toy...

"I don't think Mio would ever leave you. If you're as close of friends as I've heard you are then you shouldn't be at all concerned."

A thin smile appeared but Ritsu still appeared upset. "You don't understand what I'm talking about do you?"

"Well...I may be wrong, but I'm getting the idea that you're jealous of Mio befriending me and you feel that you're losing a companion to someone else. Was I in the ballpark there?"

She shook her head. "It's not that simple. Boy, you really are dumb?"

My grades at school may support that claim but I'd rather maintain my dignity and refute that.

"Look, I'm not gonna spell it out for you, but I'll give you a hint..." With a blur of movement Ritsu was suddenly on her feet, standing tall with a finger pointed high towards the heavens. Performing a strange twirl she landed in an awkwardly leaning position with her finger pointed squarely at me, "If you ever make my Mio cry, you'll be sorry!"

'My Mio'? She's not a pet! More importantly however, how and why would I make Mio cry? Over the time I've known her the only person who has brought her to tears has been you!

With a fit of laughter, Ritsu fell back and stared rolling about on the floor. I was about ready to consider an exorcism when she finally came to, wiped her eyes and offered a beaming 100 watt smile.

"Thanks for hearing me out. I feel a lot better now!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I didn't. Well I nodded at the least and tried to smile but the whole gesture looked rather pathetic and forced. Nonetheless Ritsu clapped her hands and danced about with childlike glee singing an out of tune song.

I decided to take a mental note and research bipolar disorder when I got home.