A/N: I decided to retcon a scene I portrayed in this chapter. I'm going to save it up for the climax. Peace guys. ^_____^

Chapter 9

When we arrived at the clubroom, Haruhi and Koizumi were still gone and only Nagato was there, sitting by the window, reading her novel. She looked up as we entered, and gave me a short nod. Beside me, Asahina-san tensed when she saw Nagato's reaction.

"I-I hope that Nagato-san isn't mad that we went somewhere private," she whispered.

"Don't worry, she's not the jealous type, believe me," I chuckled.

With that, Asahina-san and I decided to play a game of Othello while waiting for Haruhi and Koizumi to return. Koizumi tried to teach the two of us to play chess, but neither of us really caught on and eventually, Koizumi just gave up, and resorted to playing out chess tactics by himself. He can get that weird sometimes. No, screw that, he's always weird, the way he smiles, the way he follows Haruhi's commands like a trained lapdog, or the way he doesn't respect my personal space.

Sure, he tried to explain why to me once, but the explanation he gave was either very crappy or very true to the point that it could happen. I remember that he had said,

"Kyon-kun, I am doing this because I believe that Suzumiya-san wants me to act this way. If I didn't do all these things, she might alter reality to make me a true homosexual. And honestly, I don't want that," he chuckled. "You're lucky Kyon," he said.

"Why am I lucky?" I had said.

"Because you and Suzumiya-san have that invisible bond of mutual trust. What I'd give to have that with Suzumiya-san…," he had said.

That was when Koizumi basically admitted to me that he liked Haruhi. Ah, whatever, you can have her. Besides, I have Nagato now. I smiled at the thought.

Asahina-san saw me smile and she smiled back at me. Damn, what was taking Haruhi and Koizumi so long? I want to get this stupid contest over and done with. Obviously, the plan would be for Nagato and me to lose, so as not to alert Haruhi's suspicions about us. Having successfully gotten back in Asahina-san's good books, all that I would have to do now is to wait for Nagato to complete her plan of action.

And when that was done.. Nagato is going to really get it from me. There was so much I could do, that I wanted to do with her, that human purpose organic interface whom I had fallen in love with. Perhaps she would want to see a movie with me. I remembered Transformers had had a replay in our theaters recently. Maybe I'll take her out to watch that movie. Besides, she could perfectly sympathize with the Autobot faction's mission: to help others. She went out of her way to save me from Asakura on that fateful day. She could have just let me meet my death, and then no doubt Haruhi would act.

I remembered what she told me two days ago. No contest. Nagato wouldn't let me die because she loved me. Once again, I smiled at the thought. Asahina-san noticed and whispered to me,

"Are you thinking about Nagato-san right now?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," I sheepishly said.

"As long as you're happy, Kyon-kun~," she hummed.

Without warning, Nagato closed her book and stood up. At the sound of the book closing, Asahina-san and I both jumped.

"What is it Nagato?" I asked, tense.

"Mikuru Asahina, please leave Kyon and I in private for a moment. There is something that I have to inform him of," said Nagato.

"It's okay Nagato, Mikuru-chan knows that we have this thing under control. We do have this thing under control, right?"

"As you wish. Yes, we have everything under control. It is finished. The reprogramming of Haruhi Suzumiya's perception was a complete success," said Nagato.

With that, both of our jaws dropped. Asahina-san just stood there stunned, and said,

"N-Nagato-san. What power…," she stammered in awe.

"I copied a portion of her power into my database. Rest assured that it will only be used for this instance, and in the event of an emergency," said Nagato.

Asahina-san and I just nodded at her words. Suddenly, it, all of it, hit me: I was free to be with Nagato! We didn't need to go into hiding anymore. Finally, I can enjoy myself with her, without having to fear for any repercussions.

I couldn't stand it anymore. Blatantly ignoring the fact that Asahina-san was in the room, I walked over to where Nagato stood, facing the floor, and I tugged her sleeve very gently. She looked up at me with inquisitive eyes.

"Nagato.. Thank you for everything.. I-I love you," I said, and then I leaned towards her face, ready to kiss her.

In the background, Asahina-san gasped, and she immediately ran for the door so that she could lock it. I heard a metallic click that seemed to come from far, far away.

And then, for the second time in two days, our lips came into contact. I caressed the back of her neck, while she wrapped her arms around my chest, which was heaving very heavily at the moment. This is what heaven must be like.. Nothing but bliss.

After what seemed like an hour, we broke apart. I was furiously blushing, and, to my surprise, so was Nagato. She was as red as a tomato! I didn't expect that at all. I wonder what happened.

"Hey Nagato, how come you're so red?" I teased.

"It seems that the more we engage in kissing, my emotions for you become more pronounced," she replied.

Then we both heard a tiny little cough that seemed to come from the door. I almost jumped, but Nagato just turned to the door.

Both of our eyes fell on Asahina-san standing there, looking quite shocked. Who wouldn't be shocked when the silent bookworm you've been spending every single day with, ignoring everything around her, suddenly kisses a guy on the lips with so much passion in front of you?

"Uhm, sorry about that Asahina-san," I said. "I couldn't help it."

I then shrugged my shoulders and remembered what I promised Asahina-san.

"Hey Nagato, I want to go out with Asahina-san sometime, if that's alright with you," I said.

"… Okay," she said. "When that time comes, Mikuru Asahina, please take care of Kyon for me."

"O-of c-course, Nagato-san," Asahina-san replied.

I flashed Asahina-san a thumbs-up, and we just smiled at each other.

"I guess we get to go out sometime after all," I said.

Suddenly, we heard banging on the door, followed by shouts.

"HEY GUYS, OPEN UP OR ELSE THERE'S GONNA BE A PENALTY FOR THE THREE OF YOU!" Haruhi screamed.

"Suzumiya-san, please lower your voice," said Koizumi. "You're going to make my eardrums burst."

Wow, Koizumi actually told Haruhi off? What are the odds of that ever happening?

"Sorry about that, Koizumi-kun," said Haruhi. "Open up guys! We got the plates of spaghetti right here!"

I moved to the door and unlocked it. In burst Haruhi and Koizumi, with two plates of freshly cooked spaghetti. How Haruhi was able to snag newly cooked spaghetti from a high school cafeteria, I do not know. It must have involved some sort of bribery or threats.

I then realized that I would be kissing Nagato at least three times in the past two days. Since she had successfully altered Haruhi's perception, there was no need for me to hold back on Nagato anymore.

While Haruhi and I set the plates up, I looked at Koizumi and Asahina-san from the corner of my eye. It seems that Asahina-san was acquainting Koizumi with the whole situation, because when Koizumi noticed me eyeing them, he just flashed me a thumbs-up. Congratulations Koizumi, Haruhi is all yours, since I got Nagato now.

When the table was fully set, Haruhi then said,

"Okay everybody, let the contest begin. Koizumi-kun, Mikuru-chan, sit over here. Kyon, Yuki, you sit over there," she said while giving directions. "The winner gets two tickets to the Transformers reruns they've been showing lately. I managed to swipe some the other day for a really low price," she smugly said.

She then brought out two tickets from her pocket, and placed them on top of her computer. She then got a notepad and pen, and placed those things on top of the tickets.

Yare yare. No doubt swiping those tickets must have involved some sort of threat from Haruhi.

"Here are the tickets. I want you guys to see them because I want you guys to feel motivated about this whole contest. If you guys end up kissing, then go ahead! Don't be ashamed of it. Maybe something could start from there?" she said mischievously.

Too late Haruhi. Nagato and I started days ago. As for Koizumi and Asahina-san, don't count on anything happening there. Since Koizumi likes you and all.

"What a nice joke Kyon," she said. "Although I don't think it'd be that bad if Koizumi-kun were to like me…"

I looked over at Koizumi, who was sitting at the table across Asahina-san, and he certainly looked happy. I thought that, if I did him a favor by suggesting him to Haruhi, he'd ease up on the acting-like-a-homosexual part of his façade. He returned the look with what seemed to be a very genuine smile.

I took my place at the table across Nagato. We looked at each other and simultaneously smiled. It felt so exhilarating! No more secrecy! No more hiding. It took all of my restraint not to repeat the kissing scene that happened in front of Asahina-san right now. Thankfully, I remembered that to win Haruhi's half-assed spaghetti eating contest, Nagato and I would have to chew on the same strand of spaghetti the most number of times, eating the strand until our mouths would, or would almost meet.

"Is everybody ready guys? Alright! Let the contest begin!" said Haruhi.

As I walked Nagato home to her apartment that evening, I told her that we had plans for the weekend. I pulled two tickets to Transformers from my pocket, and I couldn't help but smile.

My head seemed to be in the clouds today. The happiness that I felt at what seemed to be the end of hiding our relationship from Haruhi simply took over my very being. Which is why I didn't notice that we were already standing outside Nagato's apartment room. I only realized this when she slightly nudged the arm she was clinging onto and said,

"We have arrived Kyon."

I shook myself out of my reverie. Good thing Nagato was holding onto my arm, or else who knows where I may have wandered off to.

"Okay Nagato. I guess this is good night. I'll see you tomorrow," I said. "Take care, and be safe."

The irony. Between the two of us, it is I, and not her, who needs more protection.

"…"

"Good night.. Kyon," she replied.

"Well, I guess I better be going," I said.

"Good bye," she said.

With that, she entered the room. I left her apartment complex, excited for the weekend. Just one more uneventful day of school, then Nagato and I could go out on a date. Then perhaps the library after the movie…

Far, far away, a large horde of human purpose organic interfaces were assembled in what seemed to be a huge warehouse.

"In one hour, we leave for Earth," shouted Asakura Ryouko. "Estimated time of arrival: eleven hours. Nagato-san shall feel my wrath!"

"AHOOM! AHOOM!" shouted the interfaces.

A/N: I really hope that Kyon, Mikuru, and Nagato stayed in character in this chapter, even with all the fluffy stuff going on. Comments are welcome. ^____^