Chapter 5

I could hear Nagato in the kitchen from where I was sitting. I suddenly felt very nervous. I totally forgot about what Haruhi would think if she found out about Nagato and me.

Suddenly, the smell of sukiyaki and jasmine tea drifted over to the dining room, where I was currently located. Hmm. Nagato sure can cook. I then thought about what it would be like living with her. The possibilities of our future together were endless, so long as Haruhi didn't cause everything to come tumbling down.

It all started on that fateful day. It was the day after Koizumi revealed to me his esper powers, via actually coming with him into closed space, watching him and his esper colleagues duel a huge giant, or as the Organization calls it, Celestials. Haruhi was quite irritated that day. It didn't help much when she caught Asahina-san and me fighting over control of the computer's mouse. I remembered with a pang of guilt why that playful tussle for the mouse came about. It was because I was almost caught browsing by Asahina-san through the secret Mikuru folder. Fortunately, I was able to press "Back" in time, however, she saw her name inscribed on the folder, and naturally wanted to see its contents. Thus began the tussle for the mouse, wherein Haruhi walked upon us, already pissed.

Suffice it to say that she got even more pissed off after catching me and Asahina-san in that situation. It was kind of like when Taniguchi caught me and Nagato in that room after she had saved me from Asakura Ryouko. If you had seen us, you'd immediately jump to a conclusion that was far from the truth.

Then it happened. That night, I went to bed, and woke up in what seemed to be North High. To make matters stranger, Haruhi was the one who woke me up. We tried escaping the school, but to no avail, since there was a force field blocking all of North High's entrances and exits. Based on the recently acquired knowledge from Itsuki Koizumi, we were in closed space. Haruhi and myself then proceeded to the SOS Brigade clubroom, to try and get a grip on what was happening.

I remembered it all as though it were yesterday.

She then left the room, with the following words:

"You stay here. I'll be right back."

And with those words, she dashed out of the door, no doubt to explore the rest of the school.

Without warning, Koizumi arrived, in a very incorporeal form. He then gave me the general low-down, which, after I had heard it, almost gave me a heart attack that a Phoenix Down couldn't rescue me from.

He told me that this closed space was an abnormal kind of closed space, since he himself was barred entry to it. He could only enter the closed space after borrowing power from all of his esper colleagues, and even then, only appear in the incorporeal form he is at the moment.

"Why me? Why did Haruhi drag me here" I said.

"Because she chose you, like I had already told you. The only person from the old world she truly wanted to be with."

"But, why me?"

"Do you.. really not know? Adam and Eve. If you reproduce enough, it'll work out, won't it?"

I really wanted to smack Koizumi. Now wasn't the time for jokes. We are on the brink of Armageddon, damn it!

"I'm going to smack you Koizumi."

"I was just kidding Kyon. Anyway, I hope you make it out of this, for our sake, and for the sake of the whole world. Also, I have messages from Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato."

" Mikuru Asahina wanted to apologize. She said, 'I'm sorry. It was all my fault,' and Nagato just said to turn on the computer."

"I'll be going then."

Then, Koizumi just disappeared. I then turned the computer on, and lo and behold, there was Nagato communicating with me.

She said (or rather, typed), "The Integrated Data Thought Entity is despairing. The possibility for evolution has been lost. Haruhi Suzumiya possessed the power to create data from nothing. A power that the Integrated Data Thought Entity does not have. We wanted to analyze her powers in the event that we would find clues regarding autoevolution."

"We wish for the two of you to return to this world. Haruhi Suzumiya is a vital observation subject. I also individually wish for you to return."

"Another trip to the library would…"

The screen momentarily blinked. I screamed in despair.

"Nagato!!"

Then, she typed for the last time, and the following words appeared on the screen.

"sleeping beauty"

I then remembered what the Asahina-san from further into the future had told me. Snow White.

Then Haruhi suddenly returned. With her return, the Celestials began to multiply and rampage inside the closed space. I dragged her out of the clubroom, and ran for our lives across the school grounds.

"Kyon. I'm really happy right now. And I think those things aren't evil either. I just know it!" she said with all the fervor she could muster.

"Don't you want to return to the old world? Doesn't the SOS Brigade matter? You're just gonna ditch them like that?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, since I'm having this happy experience right now."

"I want to see them all again. Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina-san. I feel like there's so much I still have to tell them. You can even include the vanished Asakura in that list. I want to see them all again," I said.

"I'm sure we'll see them again. This world won't be covered in darkness forever. I can tell that the sun will rise tomorrow, and we'll see them again."

"Not in this world. I want to see the old them, from the old world!"

"Weren't you fed up with that boring old world!? Didn't you want something more interesting to happen!?"

"I did. I've experienced a lot during the past few days. I already knew that the world was moving in an interesting direction."

And then, at that moment, Asahina-san and Nagato's hints hit me with the force of a fully loaded truck. I now knew what I had to do.

"Haruhi. Ponytails turn me on."

"T-that ponytail you had back then.. looked so good… it was criminal!"

"What are you, an idiot?" she exclaimed.

And then, I did the unthinkable. I kissed her. And with that, I woke up in my bed, in the old world.

Subsequently, Koizumi made it a point to drive home the fact that Haruhi was quite jealous of other girls who were around me, especially Asahina-san. She didn't bother to consider Nagato as a threat. After all, to her, she was just the SOS Brigade's "indispensable silent character."

And so here I am now, in deep shit. Who would've thought that the largest threat to Haruhi and her jealousy would be the one who was least suspected?

Nagato walked into the dining room, carrying a tray which held two plates, chopsticks, a large bowl of sukiyaki, and a pot of jasmine tea. She set the tray onto the table, arranged everything, and said,

"Eat."

We began to eat in silence. I was very nervous from all this pondering about Haruhi's reaction, but after a few minutes, the nervousness subsided. I found out that simply adoring Nagato's features were enough to calm me down. Who was I kidding? She had once rewritten reality to make Haruhi completely powerless, so I was sure we could find a way to protect our relationship from her wrath.

She met my eyes with a soothing look of her own, and I could feel my heart melt at that sight. Damn, she's really cute. I smiled and said, "The food's delicious."

"…"

She nodded and reached across the table to touch my face. Woah. That was unexpected. Maybe her emotions are becoming more pronounced with this turn of events, pertaining to my reciprocation of her affections.

"Let us eat quickly, for there is still the matter of Haruhi Suzumiya to discuss."

This was most unlike the time when she revealed her identity to me, as she hadn't even bothered to let me finish my tea while telling me what I believed to be impossible at the time. Perhaps she's catching onto niceties now, and the fact that the person she's dealing with is me makes it easier for her to act human.

After thirty minutes of eating in silence, I was finished eating. She had finished fifteen minutes ahead of me, bless that appetite of hers, and politely waited for me to finish my meal.

I then broke the silence. "Nagato, what do we do?"

"…"

"There is a way to prevent Haruhi Suzumiya from repeating what she did on that night the two of you disappeared for two-and-a-half hours. However, it requires me to do something that you may not approve of."

"And what would that be?"I inquired.

"I will have to once again take a portion of Haruhi Suzumiya's power. However, unlike the time that I changed reality, I will only take a much smaller portion, a portion that will be enough for my method to work."

My brain ground to a halt. Haruhi's powers in Nagato's hands.. It's Haruhi's vanishment all over again. This time however, I could probably use our relationship to prevent Nagato from rewriting reality as we know it all over again.

"I approve, under one condition: You musn't rewrite reality the way you did on the morning of December 18th, last year."

"…"

"I have better control of myself now. Not only that, but I also have you now. I do not wish to rewrite reality anymore, since you would not be happy if I did so."

"Wow," was all I could think of.

Without warning, she stood up and said,

"Before I explain the intricate details of our plan, there is something I would like to do."

"What do you want?" I said.

"I would like to kiss you, and see how I would react to this. No other interface has interacted in this way with a human. I am the first, and it would be a good opportunity to gather data. I do not wish to offend you Kyon, but do not worry. I also would want to kiss you because I have feelings of love for you."

Stunned yet again. I could only stammer, while I unsteadily got to my feet, "S-sure."

She walked up to me, stood on her tiptoes, and gently held my face in her hands. I found myself bending down, to make my lips meet hers.

Then contact. All thoughts of Haruhi were lost. My mind was a total blank, every fiber of my being focused on this kiss with Nagato.

After a few minutes, or what might have been a few moonlit nights, we broke apart. I could feel the heat in my face, and, when I stole a look at Nagato, she was looking at the floor, her face ever so slightly colored pink.

"Thank you Kyon. Now, to business," she said.