Part Two.

Now, I've known Haruhi for quite a while. If you were to count from the very first day I saw her, for me we were soon coming up on a one year anniversary. For her, it was more like four years—not that she had any idea that the mysteriously handsome teenager who called himself John Smith and the ill-fated slave she called Kyon were one and the same, so really it was also one. Now, knowing all this, you might be surprised why I was so terrified by the prospect of being alone with her like this. "But, Kyon," you might say, "this must have happened before."

To which I'd have to answer: "Hell, no."

Sure, there had been that one horrifying foray into closed space and the subsequent conversation and walk with her around town, but nether were events I cared to remember and they were both a long, long time ago. I was more naïve then, and didn't understand the dangerous situations such a thing could bring about. I had learned by now, so after that, I really couldn't say the two of us had ever been alone together; Haruhi never planned activities the whole Brigade couldn't enjoy and being of sound mind and body, it wasn't a request I'd ever make.

And yet, here we are. At least, for now. I mean, if the others weren't coming, surely Haruhi would leave, wouldn't she? I mean, it'll be boring with just the two of us and a sleeping Hazuki!

"What are you, crazy?" she asked with a glare when I pointed this out to her. "Boring or not boring, by the time I get to the train station from your house it'll be dark!"

"Since when are you afraid of the dark?"

Her face jumped a few billion shades on the color wheel to a furious red. "Don't you dare talk to your Chief that way! A Brigade Chief isn't afraid of anything! I'm just not about to get a reprimand from my parents because of your reckless actions! And besides, they're already expecting me to be out for the next few days and the others are completely aware they have to be here at 8:00 AM sharp tomorrow. I might as well just stay here, so you better make it worth it, Kyon! It's not everyday I pay such incredible favors without expecting anything in return!"

What favor? Unless it was to fate, which was still thoroughly committed to the art of screwing me over?

"And anyway, the food will be here at any second."

Food? "You ordered out?"

"Like I was going to trust your cooking!" Fair enough. Though I wonder, who exactly is going to pay for this no doubt highly expensive meal?

"It's your house, so you're good for it, right?"

Like I even had to ask. This time I did console my wallet, before it finally gave up on life and hung itself on a pant thread. However, there was no use fighting it, so I sank down to sit on the steps. Haruhi made diamonds look like jello when it came to hard-headedness. If she had decided to stay, I would just have to focus on survival. I could only pray that Hazuki didn't wake up until she went to bed—I really didn't want to think what would happen if Haruhi realized that there really was a time traveler hiding out in my bedroom, and with Hazuki's unfortunate penchant for honesty, it was bound to happen if the two ended up alone together.

So, what do I do? To be really honest, I wasn't used to hanging out with anyone one to one. I've been alone before with Nagato, Miss Asahina, and Koizumi but for the first two more often then there not there was business involved, and for the last, we mostly just talked about Haruhi. Over a game, admittedly, but still. What do you do when you're with someone that had no idea that the world quivered every time she stepped?

I didn't really have an answer, but I had to choose something. I could already tell she was getting bored, as she had her arms tightly crossed across her chest. So, I said the first thing I could think of:

"Want to play a game?"

"Damn you, Kyon, now I'm on my last balloon!"

"Damn yourself, I've been on mine for the last hour!"

I can only assume that after the events last year with the computer club, Haruhi had brushed up on her gaming abilities, because she was rather scarily good. I mostly played against my sister who, while spirited, lacked the foresight and patience necessary to be a real challenge. After totally annihilating me the first few rounds, I quickly upped my abilities to their full potential—a bad idea, unfortunately, because now we were completely matched. We'd been locked into this battle for hours, only pausing to get the food (but not, as my stomach complained constantly, to really eat it, aside from a few bites here and there). It seemed like most of the time we couldn't even get near each other, always being on a different level or side, and while my hands kept going, my eyes were starting to lose the war.

"Haruhi, it's getting late. Can't we at least call a draw?"

"A draw only happens when the winner wimps out! I'll only accept total victory! Only then is glory worth anything!"

What glory?! It's a video game, not the Battle of Nagashino!

There wasn't any use telling her that though; her million-watt smile was even brighter than usual, enough to make the sun retire from shame, and I knew if I even hoped to sleep tonight, I'd have to lose. I had to make it subtle though; if Haruhi so much as guessed, we'd be here all night until she won the right way.

Suddenly, I remembered a secret bomb. Perfect—Haruhi didn't even have a clue I knew she had planted it, judging by her excited fidgeting every time I drove close. That'd have to be it. All I had to do was veer left rather than right …

Stars spun around my character's green little head as my final balloon floated away.

"YES!"

Oh, brother. Granted, competitiveness was her guiding light, but still. It was just a video game.

And yet, I had to admit, there was something a little charming about seeing her jump up and down like that. Had it been anyone but Haruhi, I might even go so far as to call it adorable.

"Loser does what winner says for the rest of the day!"

Too bad it was Haruhi. "I don't remember agreeing to those rules."

"It's not a rule you agree to, Kyon, it's common courtesy!"

Not common enough for me to have heard of it. I guess when it was late enough to call it early, I called quits on playing nice with Haruhi's strange rules though, as I quickly picked up the excess food to throw into the fridge. "Whatever, I'm going to bed."

I expected a scolding, so you can imagine my surprise when she said, "Well, I guess you're right."

With cracking knees, she bent down to help, stacking all the boxes and resting them on her head with ease, before continuing, "Where's Hazuki sleeping?"

"My bed. I'll probably have to get a futon out and go in there. I don't want her to wake up and start wandering around the house in the dark." And find you awake and eager to chat went unsaid.

She nodded, holding the boxes down flat so as not to fall off. "So where do I sleep?"

I shrugged. "Wherever you want." It was a big enough house, considering we were the only two here (other than the obvious).

"What kind of a host are you?! I can't just sleep in some random little corner by myself. What kind of a sleepover is that?"

"The kind of sleepover you get when you don't tell the host."

I opened the refrigerator quickly, half-expecting her to ram the boxes in like a raging bull. Where did all that excitement go? From happy to pissed off in 30 seconds flat—only Hazuki had a chance of beating that record.

I sighed. As loathe as I am to do Koizumi a favor, I suppose the least I could do was keep him from having to run out at this hour after a bout of closed space. It had been quite a while since it was a concern, but still. You never knew, so it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"Look, just sleep in my room. You can change in the bathroom first."

I slammed the door shut and walked out—not out of anger or anything. I just felt a very sudden urge to get out of there. It was totally reasonable though—I was tired enough that all I really wanted was to go to bed, which I did immediately after snagging a futon from the linen closet. I didn't even bother changing; I'd probably just trip on something and wake Hazuki up with my luck today—or was it yesterday? Was I really going to have two cursed days in a row?

I would say I was just that tired too, but I guess that wasn't true, since no matter how tightly I crammed my eyelids together, I wouldn't sleep. The human body really was amazing. Barely staying awake one moment and completely unable to rest the next. I just felt nervous all of a sudden. Restless.

Haruhi seemed to be in a similar state, because once she finally opened the door and plunked herself down a few feet away, wrapping a cushy sleeping bag I remembered from last winter around her, she didn't sleep either. At least, I hoped that wasn't what she called sleeping—she kept squirming around like a bucket of fire ants had been poured down those lace-trimmed pajama pants of hers. It got to the point that I had to ask, in a low whisper:

"Haruhi, what's wrong?"

There was a long pause as she stilled. Guess she must have thought I was sleeping.

"Your floor's hard," was all she said, as she turned to put her back towards me and didn't so much as wiggle a toe again.

My floor is hard? And just what is my floor supposed to be, a marshmallow cloud? But I let it slide this time as I followed her lead, turning my gaze in the direction of my bed. I guess a girl was entitled to a bit of nervousness when sleeping in a guy's room, and while Haruhi was a great many things in addition to that, she was still, at the core, just a girl. I mean, she didn't have anything to worry about (I knew far too much about her to even dare walk that road), but it was a totally natural thing.

Maybe that was why I was nervous. I mean, again, sure it was only Haruhi … actually, come to think, that only made it worse. What if Haruhi got up before I did and decided to go exploring?

I involuntarily shuddered and turned my head to go facedown into the pillow. Enough of thinking like that. I was going to have nightmares at this rate, if I ever got to sleep at all.

But, now that I started, I couldn't make myself stop, as I suddenly realized:

The Brigade wasn't here.

Haruhi Suzumiya was in my bedroom.

Maybe I just wasn't a trusting person, but come on. You couldn't tell me there wasn't something going on here.

Carefully and slowly, I kicked off the blanket and stood up. Throwing a quick glance to the girls to make sure they were asleep (which apparently Haruhi had managed—guess she just had to put her mind to it), I stepped outside and shut the door with one hand, while pulling out my cell phone with the other.

In two rings, there was an answer, groggy with sleep but definitely sounding like the person I wanted to talk to.

"Hello."

"Koizumi, what the hell is this?!"

In case you're curious, whisper-yelling is surprisingly easy when the situation calls for it. In a way, it was more effective than regular yelling, as Koizumi took a whole beat before replying, "I'm afraid I don't understand. You'll have to forgive me; it's rather late at night—"

"—Yeah! And you know where Haruhi is? In my bedroom!"

… Two beats this time, before: "Well, I can't say I expected that."

For the first time since I left middle school, I wish I was an Esper. At least then I might be able to telekinetically punch you over the phone.

"Kidding. I understand that you're exaggerating."

Well …

"Unless you're not?"

His tone held every bit of slyness three words could carry, and I grimaced. "It's not like that! She's just sleeping in my bedroom. Hazuki's there too." So don't you dare even imagine something is going on here, Koizumi.

"I see." He hesitated again, and there was a faint rustle as I assume he switched ears. "Well, then why are you calling me?"

"Why do you think?!" I wasn't an idiot. My grades in school might lead one to think that I was barely skirting the edge of average, but I made up for my lack of a studious nature through sheer observance skills, I think. And if there was one thing I have yet to observe in almost two years of being involved with this group, they always came running when Haruhi rang.

So, why not now?

"I'm afraid I really was just busy, so if you thought it was an intentional ploy on my part, I do apologize."

Yeah. Right.

I must have scoffed (or maybe Koizumi just knew me well enough to know), because he asked, "You don't believe me?"

"Considering your job is to keep that girl happy, you can't deny me my skepticism when you say your job is what's keeping you from being here."

"And what if I said that I would like nothing more than to be there? That it is in fact my job to not be there?"

I couldn't see him, but then, I didn't have to. I could picture perfectly well that smug china doll smile painted across his face. Too bad for him; I knew better. "Trust me, she was annoyed that you guys weren't here."

"The lack of closed space says otherwise."

"You said it yourself; she doesn't do that anymore."

"Perhaps. It is true that she's matured past that somewhat; largely due to your influence, I'd add." But whatever his words said, his tone made it clear he didn't buy it as the case.

"So then, if she wasn't really annoyed, why did she want to be here without you guys?"

I counted five whole beats this time, before a light chuckle made me tighten my grip on the phone. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Because if I didn't laugh, I'd cry," he finally said, once he finally grabbed hold of himself again. "But it's rather late. Shall we pick this up again tomorrow? I don't know if I have the strength to try to break through to your brain today."

I wasn't finished by any means, but I let him go. I had better luck of getting a straight answer from the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland than I had from that smarmy bastard, though admittedly he was probably just doing it as revenge for being woken up. It would hardly be the first time that he messed with me for fun. But really, it didn't make sense. Haruhi was frustrated, restless, snippy—it had to be because the Brigade for once didn't catapult themselves into the clouds when she called "Jump!". Now, normally I'd be for this decision, because it was certainly a lesson that Haruhi still needed to learn, but why now? For what possible reason?

My mind drifted to the tiny girl no doubt still clutching Shamisen to her stomach. Hazuki was the only variable I could think of right now—at least, there were no hidden ticking bombs lurking about to my knowledge anyway. Yet that still didn't explain anything! I mean, admittedly girls don't typically time travel into the bedrooms of their future fathers, but it was just an accident! Just a harmless little mistake by an overly curious five year old! They couldn't blame this on Haruhi even if they tried!

So, then, was there a bomb? Something they couldn't even tell me about?

The nervousness that rattled me enough for a quick shot of energy burnt up, leaving me helpless against the wave of exhaustion crashing against me. Whatever their reasons, I wasn't going to discover it tonight. I might as well just sleep and figure it out in the morning.

I barely made it to my futon before finally I succumbed, allowing myself to drift away.

Unfortunately, however powerful the wave, my sleep wasn't an ocean. Not even a lake. More like a very small, very shallow puddle, because I knew for a fact that it was only an hour later when Hazuki tripped over my stretched out arm and began to cry.

"Mama …"

Damn it.

I flipped over in seconds, picking her up. "Hey, you okay?"

She blinked up at me, clearly confused. She must have been still half-asleep; probably didn't even fully remember when she was. "Papa?"

I gulped, but nodded, checking her over. She didn't look hurt. Probably more surprised than anything.

"Why're we in gram and grandpa's house?"

"You had an adventure, remember?"

Slowly, she nodded, as she rubbed her eyes. "I gotta pee."

I held her close and stood up. She was starting to make her way towards awareness, but I still didn't trust her to roam the halls. I only set her down when we reached the bathroom, where she did her stuff in mere moments.

Unfortunately, she walked out with a wet face and her usual spark. Farewell, sleep. I'm sorry we couldn't have spent more time together.

She squirmed, clutching her stomach, and I couldn't help but grin a little. "Hungry?"

She bobbed her head furiously and took my hand, pulling with an incredible amount of force.

"I'll take you this time!"

I nodded and let her lead the way. I wonder, was she like this in her time, with her version of me? We clearly have a good relationship; if we didn't she wouldn't be so comfortable with the present me. But I obviously wasn't "Papa" to her; she'd called me it in confusion, but to her, I was "P2", no doubt just a cheap copy.

But I couldn't just ask her …

Could I?

We arrived in the kitchen, a grand moment she expressed with an outstretched hand and a quick yelp, "We're here!". She then climbed up onto the nearest stool and waited patiently at the counter, swinging her legs.

"What're we making?"

"We're reheating."

The excitement dimmed a little. "But that's so boring, P2."

"Maybe so, but cooking's harder than it looks, Hazuki."

She bit her lip, looking down into her lap. The swinging was miniscule now, more like tip toe movements.

"Papa does it all the time."

I didn't have anything to say to that, so I looked away. At this rate, I wouldn't have to ask. Hazuki would probably let slip more than I'd ever want to know. I mean, cooking? Not exactly one of my strong suits, though I'd done it more than once out of necessity. How did 'more than once' become 'all the time'?

The room was still painfully quiet when I crammed a plate into the microwave, so I turned to her and went for it. "Do you help him? Cook, I mean."

She nodded. "Papa says he needs the motivation."

Not entirely sure what that meant, but she was smiling so it must have been a private joke.

The microwave beeped eventually and I had just pulled it out when I remembered:

"You know, I think we have a box of cookie mix around here somewhere. Pretty sure I could manage that."

When I turned around, I knew I had struck gold.

By the time Haruhi woke up and came downstairs, we'd moved past the leftover dinner from last night to the early morning snack cookies to a light breakfast, as Hazuki demanded toast with jam to mark the transition from night to day. We were even dressed, after rooting around in the laundry for some clean clothes. Hazuki's were a bit big, having belonged to my sister, but she didn't seem to mind, judging by how gleefully she punched holes into one of my old belts to make the shorts fit.

This was apparently enough to shock Haruhi, who in her flowing white dress looked like a ghost staring at her murderer.

"When did you get up?"

"Never actually went down."

I offered her some toast but she refused, settling for a banana from the fruit bowl. I shrugged, and continued, "She woke up maybe an hour after we went to bed."

"So you didn't sleep at all?"

"You know, considering that 75% of the reason I didn't sleep was because you kept me up until a ridiculous hour, I don't think you have the right to say that with such a stone solemn face."

She scoffed but kept silent, instead releasing her frustrations by taking a furious chomp out of her fruit. Whatever; she was just mad because she knew it was true. The only reason it wasn't more than that was because Koizumi's trolling certainly counted for something (Hazuki, I decided, was only at 5%, since she couldn't help it).

Almost as if waiting for me to remember him, the doorbell rang. I handed Hazuki another piece and quickly rushed out. I had quite a few choice words for the smiling bastard, and I planned to get them out as quickly and effectively as possible.

But when I got there only Miss Asahina and Nagato were waiting there.

"Eh? No Koizumi?" Haruhi said from behind me. I hadn't even realized she was following.

Miss Asahina shook her head as she waved. "He had some problems at work."

She hesitated, then after stepping inside, looked at me with a pleading sort of intensity. "Actually, he was wondering if you could pick him up. He lost his cell phone, so he won't know where to meet us. It isn't far! He's over by that park downtown!"

She winked. Oh, Miss Asahina, you were trying too hard (though your attempt at duplicity is easily increasing your cuteness tenfold). The minute you said he lost his cell phone, I knew you were lying. Koizumi'd be out of a job without that thing. Clearly, something was up. Well, that's fine. As far as I was concerned, it was about time I finally get dragged into this. As long as it was happening, I felt more comfortable at least knowing about it, considering how they've never been shy about telling me before.

Haruhi, as always, was clueless: "Good thinking! I'd hate for Koizumi to miss this!"

Oh, really? "Miss what, dare I ask?"

"It's a surprise! Just go get him, Kyon!"

And with that she pushed me out the door; never mind that the whole point of this (in her view) was for me to get Koizumi because he didn't know where to go. She must be planning something; I shuddered to think of what, but as long as ...

Wait.

I opened the door and yelled:

"Hazuki!"

In seconds, her head popped out into the entryway. "Yeah?"

"You're coming with me; let's go!"

Haruhi's head soon followed, but she was cut off mid-scowl by Hazuki's excited yelp. It was hard to complain that I was ruining her fun when she practically flew over to me, no doubt.

I pulled out the bike, placed Hazuki in the basket (this time without complaint), and turned toward the park.

"What are we going to do, P2?"

Well, guess there was no harm in telling her.

"We're going to go see a bomb."

Not much to say here. This fic is still enjoyable, though sort of interesting for me. While I've never been a strict outliner, this fic is much more free in a lot of respects. Again, it was meant to be a one-shot so I do know where it's going, but it's one of those experiences where you start writing these details and you go, "Hey, I can do this! And if I do this, I can support this! And if I do that ..." Well, you get the picture.

Anyway, I'm starting college tomorrow, which means I'll be at preorientation and orientation from August 21st till classes start up on September 2nd. Writing time will therefore be nonexistent in that span of time, just to warn you all. Many apologies in advance, but I hope you enjoyed this installment, even though it's shorter than the last by a good few pages—sorry about that!

Also, many waves of gratitude to the amazing Mr. CJ, who moonlights as a superhero and betaed this for me.

Until we meet again.

DISCLAIMER: The Haruhi Suzumiya series belongs to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. This fic is written for pleasure, not profit.