I took the first step out of the hotel and was surprised with what I saw. It was raining but the rain made no noise. You could practically hear a pin drop in the dead silence. My footsteps echoed off the buildings as I walked. The rain wasn't as thick as it was. The sky was flashing with lightning. I noticed that I wasn't getting the slightest bit of water on my clothes. I held out my hand and tried to catch some rain. My hand remained dry. I checked the ground, which was also dry. This was by far the most surreal experience that I've had in this reality.

I started my search. Breaking into a run, I went down the street doing a rough scope of the area. My footsteps echoed making it sound like there were other people running around besides me. The town was completely deserted. All lights were off, the only illumination were from the occasional flashes of lightning. Searching the whole town for a single person is no easy task, even if the whole place is deserted. But this reality changes things. I was sure that I was going to find Nagato for sure, if not I was sure she was going to find me. Either way it's going to end one way or another.

As I tried to find my way to the hotel we were originally staying at, I decided to call Koizumi to see if he had left to go search for Nagato. I waited a few suspenseful seconds for him to answer the phone.

*ring*

I turned my head towards the source of the noise. It was only a few blocks away. It was the unmistakable ring of Koizumi's phone. Rather than run all the way to the source I waited a little more for him to answer the phone.

*ring*

Still no answer, I tried tracing the ring right to him. Why isn't this idiot answering at a time like this? Why couldn't he hear me when I was calling for Nagato? He would've at least shouted back in response to let me know he was here. I was almost there. C'mon answer the phone.

I turned the corner and looked up at a building that I recognized to be the hotel we were originally staying in. There he was in front, lying face down on the floor. Something was wrong. His phone continued to ring. I shut my phone, the ringing stopped. Who did this? I kneeled down beside him and tired to shake him awake.

"Hey! Wake up!" I shouted into his ear. He was out cold.

Whoever did this was still out there. Was this the work of Haruhi's powers? Why would Haruhi even want something like this to happen? There was her and… No it can't be Nagato; she's supposed to be lost somewhere in the silent rain. She wouldn't try and return to our hotel when she went out looking for me. Did he collapse on his own? Idiot's don't just lie down and decide to take a nap on the street you know.

I started to worry about Haruhi. What was happening to her in the meanwhile? I had just spoken to Koizumi moments before I left my hotel. That gives the culprit enough time to be done with Koizumi and then…

I started running twice and fast back to the other hotel. Haruhi was in danger as far as I can tell. The faster I get there the better. But how the hell do we get out even if I do get her to safety?

The love hotel building was just visible a few blocks away. What I saw shocked me. There was Nagato walking in the direction of the hotel, glowing pale blue and repelling all the rain around her. I wish I had enough time to think about my answer to her confession. This was too fast…

"Nagato!" I shouted out to her.

I'm not letting her get to the hotel unless know what her intentions are. She slowly turned and faced me.

"Kyon?… Kyon!" She ran and hugged me. This rules out Nagato from being the reason for finding Koizumi on the street. Does this mean Haruhi was the reason? I don't see how Koizumi did anything wrong to provoke Haruhi's powers. Nagato was cold. Like the feeling of putting on a jacket you've left outside in the snow for a little too long.

Despite the hug, she didn't seem to glad to see me. On the other hand she looked worried. I have a good idea why that might be.

"What're you doing outside in this rain? You should've stayed inside the hotel with Koizumi." I said casually as if nothing was wrong.

"I needed to talk to you now." She said.

"About what? I'm sure it could've waited. You didn't have to come all the way out here just to tell me. You could've called me over Koizumi's phone." I tried to pretend not to know what she was talking about.

"What I need to say is nothing that I would've allowed myself to say on the phone. I wanted to talk to you face to face."

This was it. I braced myself for her next words. She didn't say anything for a while. How I should answer her, I do not know. She took off her glasses and tucked them away in her pocket. There was nothing separating direct eye contact between her dark yellow eyes and my own.

"Kyon… I wanted to tell you that-"

"You like me don't you?" I sighed looked to the sky. There was a small hole in the clouds, a familiar light shining through the opening. I felt Nagato take my hand.

"Yeah…" She paused. "What do you think about me?" She asked meekly.

"I…"

If I said no then that would be the end of Nagato… Haruhi's powers would erase her…

All things in this reality are supported by purpose. Without it, nothing can exist. If it loses purpose, it will be erased.

"What happens if I say yes?..."

"Then you leave this place with me!" Nagato said holding my hand even tighter.

What? Leave this place? How is this possible? Can she do something like that?

"Leave this place? You know about the reality?" I was dumbfounded. Was this who I thought it was?

"It's me. Nagato Yuki, you remember don't you? From the old world…"

"I do remember!" My hopes were high. Standing in front of me was the person who had saved my life numerous times before. I was sure that she would be able to help me sort all this out.

"How do I set this reality back to normal Nagato? It's all messed up! You can fix it right?"

Nagato looked disappointed as if this was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

"Can you please give me an answer?..."

"After you fix this place! C'mon we can talk any time we want!"

"No!" She yelled making me jump back in surprise. "I… worked too hard for this…"

"Work?... What do you mean? You're the one who set up this whole trip."

She nodded.

"Why?"

"It was the only way for me to get close enough to you so I could break into this reality. I've been trying to get in for ages! I'm here to save you!" She was on the verge of crying.

"Save?" What did she mean? "You're being silly. I don't need any saving…"

"You're trapped here Kyon. Don't you understand? I can help you get out."

I thought it over. Leaving this place, I would be leaving, Koizumi, Haruhi, Uru, Mori, the possibility of leaving felt too rushed. I felt like I needed to tie up all the loose ends before I can agree with the idea of leaving. Then again, this opportunity just makes all that meaningless. Nagato was hurt that I took my time to think about it.

"If you come with me, we can be together without Haruhi. You can finally have the normal life you wanted. With me!"

No Haruhi?

"Wait… There's no Haruhi?" I took another step back in utter disbelief. What did she mean? No Haruhi? Completely?

"Yes!" She replied desperately as if I thought that was a good thing.

"What happens to Haruhi?"

"If you leave this place it won't have a purpose. Haruhi is this reality, and the reality is Haruhi. If this place disappears, she will too. Don't you see? No more interfaces! No more covering up! It can be just you and me, and the rest of the Brigade!"

Just the thought of leaving this place, I would've taken the offer immediately if she asked me when I first got here. The offer was extremely tempting and I wished i had the resolve to take it, but leaving Haruhi all alone in this place… It was just too sad… She doesn't deserve it…

"I can't… I can't do that. If that's what going to happen then I can't…"

"Please don't think of it that way…" Nagato said. "Please give me a proper answer."

"No… I can't, not while Haruhi's at stake."

This was not fair. The sick logic of this reality keeps me from giving her a proper answer. If I say no she will disappear. She wouldn't really disappear if I said no would she? I mean, even if I did say no and she did disappear, when I return to the old world then it'll be exactly the way it was before, Haruhi and all. 'Yes' was definitely the wrong answer here. This was too much for me to decide. What if she doesn't come back?

Wait… Decide? That was right. If I remember I'm the choice maker in this reality. Whatever choices I make drastically change the way things go down around here. There might be a chance, just a small chance that I could will Haruhi's powers into accepting Nagato. It's decided then. I'll have to say…

"No…"

Nagato didn't reply.

"I just can't, not with Haruhi on the line. I can't just let her disappear, not for this."

"And I thought you were through with her." Nagato said in a quiet voice.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You don't remember? You yelled at her. You left… She put you in here, in this prison. Against your will. She still thinks you belong to her."

I did yell at her didn't I? But that was the old Haruhi. She was a complete jerk. Didn't she understand that this world's Haruhi is different?

"That doesn't mean this world's Haruhi has to pay to pay for the old. She deserves a chance."

"That's not fair…"

"What do you mean? It's completely fair!"

"Why does she get a second chance? I spent every moment trying to save you from this place. If I can't have you now then there won't be a next time!" she yelled. This was the first time I've heard her yell. Nagato yelled at me…

I was too stunned to reply. A feeling of guilt was swelling up from inside. I can't really do much about how this reality, Haruhi, does things. All I can do is make choices and hope that things turn out alright. All this can be over if I just say yes. I never imagined that it'll be as hard as it is to answer or even speak in this situation. Nagato fell to her knees.

"I'm sorry. I was a little selfish wasn't I? I shouldn't be putting this kind of pressure on you. I should've waited. Maybe then you would've said yes." Nagato sighed. "It's not your fault. If that's your answer then I guess there's no fighting it. We had fun didn't we?"

"…"

"Goodbye Kyon…"

I shut my eyes tight and focused all my will in Nagato not disappearing. There was a chance wasn't there? She can leave just because I said no to her confession. Was it really going to end this way? I couldn't even say sorry to Nagato. All this time she had been looking for just one chance just say she liked me. I owe her more than I can pay back in a single life time. If only we weren't in this reality, I just would've said yes… It was hopeless, I knew it was from the start. There's just no going against Haruhi's will is there?...

I didn't know how we were going to get back home, how life would be without Nagato, what Haruhi would say if one of her best friends were gone. What would I say to Asakura? When I would get the next chance to leave this place. If I can convince Haruhi, Nagato will be back with us. I wanted to leave this place with Haruhi, and when I do, everyone else will be getting ready an SOS Brigade welcome back party. I opened my eyes and expected Nagato to be gone.

She was still there.

To Our Beloved Readers: Sorry for taking this down for a while. I've fixed it right up. Most of you will think that this is MUCH better than what I had before. I'm going to put some stuff in the next chapter that i had planned for way later. This won't ever happen again, I have people to look over my work before I post it.

Thanks For Reading: LordPlagus777