DISCLAIMER #1: I do not OWN any part of the SHnY franchise. I only have a soft copy (MBs in my PC's hard drive) of the anime's fansubs courtesy of a.f.k., and a soft copy (also MB's in my hard drive) of the translated light novels courtesy of Baka-Tsuki…

DISCLAIMER #2: This is a work of fiction. Names are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

We screamed.

In my surprise I jumped out of my bed, placing a considerable amount of distance from it. The girl, on the other hand, hastily wrapped my blanket around her – though she was fully clothed last time I checked – and pressed her back to the wall, also in an attempt to put some distance between us.

I looked at this girl closely, something about her seemed so… familiar, like how ground-up vegetables can be made to look and taste like meat. I couldn't really tell because she was sitting, but I'm guessing she's as tall as Haruhi. Her body build is rather similar to Nagato's, but she had elbow-length hair. By the way, she was dressed in a loose button-down shirt and pajamas. The weird thing about them is that they look very much like a smaller version of what I wear every night.

I looked around my room in a panic, wanting to find anything that would explain the presence of this girl who had just been sleeping with me seconds ago. I honestly don't know if I should feel at ease or worried, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary – this was still the very same room I was in before midnight. With that in mind I checked the alarm clock on the table beside my bookshelf. It read a little past six. When I picked up my clock, apparently she also had it in mind to check the time, so she went to my side to have a look as well. Well, while I was scared senseless by her sudden appearance in my room, I still had enough of my wits about me; I still managed to glance at her from time to time as I checked my whereabouts – it seemed to me she was also completely clueless as to what just happened. I was about to check one last detail, but she managed to beat me to it, heading to the windows before me. The sky was already starting to light up because of the nearing sunrise, but there were still a couple of stars dotting it, in short, it wasn't Closed Space.

I decided it was time to ask this girl…

"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"

Frankly, I was surprised at that, and it looks like she was as well; we managed to ask the same question at the same time. I wasn't really paying attention to detail, but I could tell we opened our mouths the same time, said the same words in unison, and closed our mouths at the same time. This was getting weird, so I decided to say something else.

"What are you doing in my room?"
"What are you doing in my room?"

More surprises… Doing it once is weird enough, going twice is ridiculous. Apparently she thinks this is her room as well, and I have absolutely no idea why she would say that. I give up, this is too much for me.

I facepalmed, letting out a huge sigh in the process.

That was the clincher; I also heard a huge sigh, and looking at her, she also facepalmed. When she noticed I was looking, she started to open her mouth, but I cut her short by holding my hands up.

"I don't know what's happening, but I get the feeling we'll just keep mirroring each other. So let's try again, who are you?"

Her face showed an expression that I think meant she agreed with what I just said.

"Uhm, my name is Tanigawa Nagaru. And you are…?"

The first time – another person mirroring my words and actions – almost took my sanity away. But this one's pushing it; I know a lot of people here in Japan share the same surname, or first name – it doesn't really matter because it's the way it's written that matters, not how you say it. This instance, however, is most unusual; the phrase itself doesn't do it justice.

"… People call me Kyon, but my name is Tanigawa Nagaru…

"You… you're also called Kyon…?" She fell silent after that, for the longest time. I am speechless as well, as the gears in my head started turning. Here's a girl who goes by name, also was burdened by that terrible nickname, and probably thinks the same way as I do… My instincts told me something was WRONG, VERY WRONG with the world, and that there is but one person capable of something to this magnitude…

"You… wouldn't happen to know someone named Suzumiya, do you?"

It's in times like these I wish I never met that girl…

"My answer would be similar to your knowing Nagato, Asahina-san, and Koizumi…"

"Then you're a member of the SOS Dan?"

"The dan that shot a movie for the cultural festival last autumn? The dan that was challenged by the Computer Research Society shortly afterwards?"

"Then you've been to a lone island for summer vacation, and to a snow mountain for winter break?"

"Isn't that already a rhetorical question?"

"Hmm, you're right…" She crossed her arms over her chest, apparently having understood things a bit. That is, if she does think like me.

"So, does that mean you're with female versions of Haruki, Nagato-kun, Asahina-senpai, and a male version of Itsuko?"

I'm guessing Haruki is a rendition of Haruhi, but, Itsuko? What the hell was her parents thinking when they gave her that name? "Yes, and that also probably means you're with male versions of Haruhi, Nagato, Asahina-san, and a female version of Koizumi… Being with Haruki must be a pain…"

"In more ways than I care to remember. You should feel lucky then, that the Haruki here is a girl."

"If you only knew… And no, I might be many things, but lucky isn't one of them. Besides, idiot she may be, I don't think she would REALLY molest you like what she does to Asahina-san, even if she were to become a man."

"You, sir, have obviously not witnessed Haruki's molesting Asahina-senpai! But, you have a point, the only thing Haruki ever did to me was, well… that one time…

She blushed at that, choosing not to continue. But it's not like I don't understand what she was talking about. Though, a male Haruhi molesting a male Asahina-san? I didn't have to imagine anymore, as my mind – in an obvious display of betrayal – chose that instant to bombard me with images that would put mainstream shounen-ai to shame. I really wanted to mentally kick myself.

"You…! Did you really have to say that? I have enough of Koizumi's talking into my face already; you don't have to add to that!"

She shrugged, as if apologizing. It then looked like she wanted to say something, but instead blushed even more. Does that mean… girl-Koizumi also talks to her like that? I know I really shouldn't be thinking this – as she's technically me – but I imagine that scene to be quite… interesting…

"Ne, what do you think really happened? Do you think it's just me who ended up in your world, or could it be you who ended up in my world?"

"How am I even supposed to answer that? If I knew what happened don't you think I would have told you already?" Having said that though, I think there's still a few things that needed to be checked; I headed over to my closet, a few paces from the end of my bed.

I distinctly remember it as not having much in the way of clothes – if I were to put them all together, they would only fill half of my cabinet. But when I opened it, lo and behold, it was filled to the brim with clothes. The right partition had my school uniforms and school bag, and I'm sure the plastic box at the bottom had my boxers and socks.

She followed me to the closet, and opened the left partition. I saw it had sailor uniforms and a school bag. And if its contents were analogous to mine, they should be for her underwear… I tried my best to hide my embarrassment, and for once it seemed I succeeded.

I decided to check the middle partition, and accidentally touched her hand as it made its way to the handle. Frankly, it wasn't really embarrassing, but as I have precious little experience with physical contact with girls my age, this was obviously in better taste than that one time… when I was dragging Haruhi away from the school complex as it was being demolished by the Shinjin. I felt my face heat up a bit, and if my eyes were to be relied on, I think her face reddened a bit as well.

I shrugged, and the weird feeling went away. I opened the middle partition, and as expected, I saw a lot of casual clothing. It seems she doesn't take to wearing skirts and dresses, as I only saw denim pants and jackets, and quite a number of plain shirts; all of them had two sizes, apparently the bigger ones are mine. I guess she really doesn't care for fashion, but it's not like I'm any better off.

After not seeing anything out of the ordinary, she shrugged before asking me this.

"So, what do you think this means? I really don't see anything strange – aside from you, that is."

Argh, where's Koizumi when you need him? When I don't need him it seems like I can't get rid of him, but when I do he isn't around…

"… Well, it doesn't seem like you just sprung out of nowhere, and I would guess I didn't either. Besides, the setting is too handy for both of us. If someone just pulled you to here, you probably won't have your clothes here. The same applies to me as well. I…

Something just fell into place; I really don't know if I should praise or berate myself. I realized it, but I only did just now. Yesterday Haruhi was most thoughtful I felt uncomfortable, and it seems to be related to how her life would be if she was born a guy. It's probably a long shot, but I have to ask.

"The Suzumiya you know – was it Haruki? – did he get all contemplative about how his life would be if he was born a girl?"

"He did, just yesterday. Why'd you ask? Was the Suzumiya you're familiar with also acting weird yesterday?"

I didn't reply, just crossed my arms. Though it would seem she didn't mind, it was just another rhetorical question.

So… it's Haruhi at work again? Or should I say, Haruhi and Haruki? Though I've seen Haruhi make some most weird instances happen, she hasn't done anything out of the ordinary for quite some time now. Besides, Koizumi said a few months ago that Haruhi's power was in the decline, coinciding with her 'normalizing'. Well, I don't really believe Haruhi would ever become something like a normal person, I will admit to the fact that she isn't thinking of living in a world modeled after her desires.

"You don't think… Haruki and his female counterpart did this?"

"I really don't know what to think… Besides, I'm getting quite hungry, I don't think I want to mind this matter anymore, Haruhi will always be beyond me I guess."

"Hmm, you're right. Don't you think we should check who else is in this house?"

"Who would? If this is still my world, my parents and imouto would hound me when they find out about you. The same goes if it's still your world; your parents and otouto would hound you as well."

"So, do we call Suzumiya?"

"Like hell I would do that… And it's not like they can be of help to us either, we're not even sure yet if anyone else you know – or I know, for that matter – is here. Hmm… I guess we should both check whoever else is in this house."

She shrugged. "I guess you're right…"

I headed out of my room, hearing her fall into step behind me as she closed the door. My room was near the end of the second floor's corridor, a room on the end being an attic of sorts. Oh right, before I left the room I checked the time again; it was a little before 6:30. A few paces toward the staircase would find me near my imouto's room, and a spare room across hers that hasn't been used for years. As I stood before her door, I looked over to possible girl-me – we nodded in unison. I tried the door, knocking first, then another a bit louder, and then I went for the doorknob.

Nothing. The door was locked. My eyebrows rising a bit, I pressed my right ear to the door – my imouto hardly ever locks her door, just like me. I expected to hear sounds of breathing, or at least the ticking of her clock; I even held my breath to not make any noise, and it seemed girl-me also did the same.

Absolute silence. Even though I stayed there for well over a minute. I might as well add that though we weren't in Closed Space, it still was very much silent all around; I couldn't even hear any birds singing as it was early morning, just a faint breeze rustling the grass in our garden. I looked over to her, seeing worry and suspicion across her face.

"Right, I don't think my imouto's here – or even your otouto for that matter. I have a feeling we won't even find our parents here, Shamisen wasn't in our room too. We better try just the same.

She nodded at that, and we headed down. The staircase was only wide enough for two children the age of my imouto, therefore we proceeded in a line. A few paces away from it – in the direction of the front door – was the master bedroom. I did the exact same things as with my imouto's room, and was faced with the exact same results. Probably the only difference was the increased amount of worry and suspicion on our faces.

"Well, I guess that means the only people here in this house are us. I don't know enough to warrant this guess, but it seems this isn't 'my' world, and not 'yours' as well. So it's probably some weird dimension, but other than that I don't know…" We were having this conversation as we headed to the living room.

"Ah mou, just what is happening!?" She ruffled her hair in frustration; I almost did the same, but my body had other ideas.

My stomach growled, followed by hers.

"Ma, you did say you were hungry, so it can't be helped. I'll prepare breakfast, why don't you snoop around some more while you wait?"

"You're right." She headed to the kitchen, I continued to the living room. First order would be turning the TV on. I already had an idea of what I would see, but it still didn't make things any better.

Nothing but static. Every station we programmed into the TV channels showed gray fuzz. I also tried the radio – inside one of the cabinets in the TV table. Nothing there too. I swept the dial from right to left, having already pushed the volume to max, only to hear static.

I turned them both off, and went over to the magazine rack near the sofa. Aside from yesterday's paper and a few random manga – my parents read them – I recall there being the family photo album amongst them. None there too.

"Ne, would you come over here for a second? You need to see something." Came a rather loud voice from the kitchen.

"What is it?" I asked, standing beside the door.

She gestured for me towards the cupboard. I noticed there was already rice on the cooker, as well as misoshiro in a pot, and two pieces of fish on a small wire grill.

"Watch at what I'm going to do, and look at the cupboard as well." She opened it and took out a pack of instant misoshiro mix; I should add there was only one there. She closed it, and then opened it again a few seconds later.

Logically there shouldn't be another pack there as she took the only one. But, lo and behold, there was another pack of soup mix, right where the one she took out used to be.

"Looks weird, doesn't it? Wait until you see this…" She returned the pack she took, placing it beside the other one, then she closed it again. After a while she again opened it. There, standing beside the rice bags, was a lone pack of soup mix.

"Kinda reminds you of something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I know…"

Of course I remember, no way would I forget that: the weird mansion in the snow mountain. I personally did not perform a similar experiment, but Koizumi figured it out – we would have everything we need in order to survive, save a means to escape from the mansion.

"And it isn't with this cupboard only; I tried the same thing with the refrigerator's contents, and got the same results. Looks like we won't be running out of food for quite some time."

It was an optimistic statement, but her tone and expression said she didn't see it as so. Seems we've both had our fair share of weirdness for a day… But it doesn't seem it's about to end anytime soon, so I better hold my breath.

"I'll only be a few more minutes here, why don't you set the table?"

"Right…" I drifted to the dish rack. "Oh, by the way, I checked the TV and radio moments ago, there's nothing on but static. The family album's also missing."

"Is that so…?" She replied, absently taking the fish out of the grill and putting them on plates.

We ate in silence. It was a traditional breakfast, and though it was quite well done, something vaguely familiar about it made me go on a trip down memory lane…

I was just out of grade school then, my imouto just starting school. It was summer break back then, and my oka-san – she was probably just thinking sensibly – decided I should learn how to cook. It's not that I'm no good in the kitchen, as I can pull off reasonable jobs of cooked rice and fried eggs 'sunny side up'. The first thing she taught me to make was misoshiro. Well, actually, I didn't make it – as it was just instant mix – but I did learn how to use a knife; that time I chopped onions, and I can confidently say I've never met an incident with knives until, well, Asakura Ryouko set out to killing me, the second time almost successfully.

I've gone quite a ways since then. Though I have yet to learn to do some of the more fancy dishes like hot pot, sukiyaki, sushi platters and such, I'm not like most guys who would rely on instant ramen and dinner bread if decent food's not to be had; actually, I really haven't shown an interest to that part of life, I guess it's enough for me to know the basics.

We finished breakfast uneventfully, meaning she didn't ask awkwardly how the food was, and I didn't stammer with my response.

"I'm going to take care of these, why don't you go prepare?"

"Prepare for what? School?"

"Yeah… though I'm pretty sure there would hardly be any people to see when we get there, I just have this funny feeling we have to go there at some point."

"You're right… and I do have that funny feeling as well." I proceeded to the bathroom, started brushing my teeth as I blankly stared at myself in the mirror.

What I was experiencing right now was most unique, but something about it called previous incidents to mind. The world we're in was made to look normal – like how it was when the SOS Dan experienced and endless two weeks of summer vacation. And yet, obviously something went haywire at some point, leading to male-me and female-me meeting each other – similar to what I witnessed come December last year when Nagato remade the world. Another thing, this world sees to our needs – very much like when we were trapped in that mansion amidst a blizzard. Finally, and I guess most importantly, was that we felt very much alone in this world, somehow parodying that freak Closed Space featuring me and Haruhi.

I finished my business in the bathroom, heading aimlessly to my room.

As I changed into my school uniform, I reminisced the time when Haruhi et al actually gave me chocolates for Valentine's Day. Something welled up from deep inside me when I accepted those packages. No, it had nothing to do with romantic issues! It's just that, Haruhi actually took part in something ordinary people do year by year. Granted, the way with which she gave it to us had 'Suzumiya Haruhi' written all over it – as with similar events such as Tanabata, Christmas Eve, the New Year, and Setsubun – but, with each time she gradually normalized.

While I know that the her a year back would never believe me if I told her how she acted a year from now, I'm confident she has changed, so much so that she isn't as chaotic as she was back in junior high – if Koizumi's words are anything to go by.

So… why? Random thoughts are something you can't live without, but must she really have the desire to witness a world wherein everyone's genders were reversed? And a strong desire too, if ever her reality-warping powers are a fact.

I began wondering who else I would find here in this world…

Very soon I found out…

I was leaning on the front door, waiting for her to finish putting on her shoes, when I heard a faint sound.

(cellular phone's ringtone)

I recognized the tone as belonging to my cellphone's, so I reentered the house, took off my shoes, and walked briskly to the staircase. I belatedly noticed that she followed me, she was probably curious as well.

"So… let me guess, this is your phone? As well?" I asked her.

"Yeah, it is…" I started wondering, what are the odds of another you sharing the same phone number as you? It was all mental rambling, just another rhetorical question, so I decided to pick it up.

On its small LCD screen, a familiar name flashed intently.

Suzumiya H.

I looked over to her, saw her nod, so I fumbled with my phone for a bit, so that whoever was on the line would be audible to us both via the loudspeaker function.

I calmly talked into the receiver, intending to use it like a two-way radio. "Hello?"

I instantly regretted answering that call, as a very loud sound found its way to my ears – and hers as well – and made us wince a bit.

"KYON!! GO TO NORTH HIGH, THE FRONT GATE! LATECOMERS WILL BE FINED!!"
"KYON!! GO TO NORTH HIGH, THE FRONT GATE! LATECOMERS WILL BE FINED!!"

It was Haruhi's voice alright, and it went alongside a vaguely familiar male voice that earned from girl-me a reaction very much similar to mine. I'm guessing that was 'Haruki'. Predictably enough, the call ended as soon as when we received it.

I looked at her, she looked at me, we both said the same words…

"Yare yare…"

We were well on our way to North High by now. As you would expect, we were riding A bicycle – I found there was only one in the small shed a little ways from our front gate. I was pedaling; she rode on pillion, hands lightly grabbing my sports jacket.

I should also note that while we were headed to the base of the hill where North High was, we never came across anything, or anyone. No pedestrians, no vehicles, just us in a bicycle as the wind brushed past us. I wasn't really interested in thinking anymore, so I just settled with thinking my legs into pedaling.

After almost a year of frequenting this hill for twice a day, five days a week, I got used to it that I never broke a sweat the whole way, and if my instincts tell me the truth, she should be used to this as well.

Sadly, that was about the only thing I'll ever get used to in this life of mine – not until I'm involved with Suzumiya Haruhi and the SOS Dan.

Finally, the front gate of North High… As I expected, I saw Haruhi…

… With quite a number of people alongside her…

I really have to say this again – and I believe she thinks the same way.

"Yare yare…"

A/N: Hai, shichinanatsu desu… right, I believe there are few things worth noting.

1. I subscribe to the belief that Tanigawa Nagaru-san (the creator of Suzumiya Haruhi) is also Kyon, or at least, Kyon's character is based on his own – hence my choice of actual name for Kyon-kun and Kyon-chan.

2. I don't know enough of Nihon to warrant this as truth, but the syllable –ru, when seen as suffix to a particular word to be used as a name, MAY mean that the name is unisex in nature. For starters, compare Asahina Mikuru and Hanabishi Kaoru (of Ai Yori Aoshi)… Though I believe the kanji for Tanigawa-san's first name would most likely be masculine in nature, I would hazard a guess that there are other kanji also pronounced "Nagaru" but are written differently, and some of them could be feminine in nature.

3. Lastly, I admit that Kyon-kun seems a little less of a baka than he is in the series. BUT, it is not an intentional OOC setup. I have read the light novels (courtesy of B-T) and have come to the conclusion that Kyon's wits gradually improve as the story progresses. The best proof of this would be in volume 7, Suzumiya Haruhi no Inbou.

So… until I come up with the next chapter, jaa na.