THIS IS SO LATE. I'M SO SORRY. AND I WISH NO ONE LEAVES ME. DON'T LEAVE ME. PLEASE. don't leave... (My update had a horrendous over 4 month wait, I apologize profusely. Within that course of time, I was pelted with the non-stop ammunition of school, but now I can update faster, thanks to the blessed invention of shelter, called summer. THIS WILL NEVER END, AS LONG AS AT LEAST SOMEONE WILL READ ON!)

*ECHOECHO* so read on... *ECHOECHO*

Depression was filling her senses as fast as how a faucet of water would fill a pitcher; slowly, albeit annoying to wait by until it was fully replenished. It tortured her to the very core, and the more she thought about it, the deeper the engrossment, the slower the water seemed to fill.

Using water as a simile again, it was like refilling a backyard pool with a garden hose. Mindfulness and contemplation would always have gotten the better, overrun by impatience. Her mind can be described as an underwater paradise with no bottom; a deep abyss with no end, only to darken into a deeper shade of black as the cerulean texture was no longer seen. And she, the epitome of this metaphorical creation, drifting slowly down the water, like there was an overbearing weight pulling her down to a never-ending obscurity.

Her pretentious comparisons were getting deeper, starting from a glass to an ocean.

Eventually, she found herself drowning—submerged in her own realm of despair. She can swim up to the surface—her saving grace—any time she wishes, but if she does, she'll snap out of her conundrums. Of her realizations.

So she continues to sink.

"Shizuka." A voice dares echo in her nothingness. It resounds hollowly against the water. She stops sinking, but remains bound underneath the sea. Her ears now listen to what else the echo has to say.

"Shizuka." Redundancy, mockery. That's all it will say. Her ears close shut, and once more, she drifts lower, slightly slower than her last descent. Persistence intervened her movement. Someone was shaking her ocean. More precisely, her shoulders.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

She opens her eyes. On cue, her reality is restored. Logic mends back into her mind as tightly as knit clothing. Immediately, just as her dad taught her whenever in a panic, she recites the periodic table in her head to recalculate her brain and reboot her system.

Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen...

Oxygen.

Her body momentarily spasms to take a deep breath, doing self-resuscitation. Her face can be that of an uncharacteristic 'fish out of water'. Her hand held over her heart, as if pledging her oath to live, she monitors her signs of life reflexively. A series of inhales and exhales ended her tyranny of paranoia, allowing her to stabilize and focus on her surroundings.

Except, there were no surroundings to focus on. Just empty blackness, bearing into her quite uncomfortably. She adjusted her glasses momentarily before stepping to the side, only to bump into something cold. She looked up hesitantly. Cold and... Holding a puppet?

"Is... Is that you Nekozawa...?" she paused for a moment to hitch her breath. Despite the lack of luminosity, she could visualize him pouting in disappointment at her lack of thanks.

"Of course it's me Tachibana-san." Ughh, now she definitely knew it was him. She rolled her eyes before replying. He always greets her with utmost formality.

"Please senpai, stop with the pleasantries... What was I doing while I was out?" she murmured thoughtfully while looking for a light switch—or at least a wall, for that matter.

"You were outside of the Black Magic Club door. Collapsed and corpse-like, almost that of a nearly revived after-death zombie reincarnation." And there was another sign that pointed to Nekozawa. His colourful language could never be outmatched. His vocabulary was distinguished; particular. It was eerie to say the least, but she managed to prevent her shivered wince when in his presence.

"...I fainted, you mean to say." She tried to simplify his terms into common language, he—yet again—pouted, this time in misunderstanding. "Fine, whatever fancy you take." He retorts in resentment.

"Hey, do you have a light switch here or something? Or at least a candle flame?"

Just as asked, a lit candle was given to her in an instant. She was quite startled at its sudden entrance into her palm. She guessed it was previously behind his back, hiding the whole time. She cradled the small light, nestled in the middle of a small shot-glass looking container. After her initial surprise died down, the warmth soothed rather than frightened her.

"Parched? Famished?" he asked as if a gracious host club member. She looked away from the flickering light to face him.

"No... No I had more than enough of my share in the Host Club." She declined daintily. A genuine, courteous smile caressed her lips, and brightened her face. This type of luminosity was one that Nekozawa did not despise. He found it enlightening.

He began to walk to a table that she didn't know existed, not until she heard the faint, soft clunks of the wooden surface against glass, or in this case, porcelain. While pouring some sort of still unidentified liquid into the porcelain glass, he carried on the conversation. "So you were at the Host Club I take it?" he asked, curiosity piqued. He grabbed a few more porcelain cups at his side, without breaking one even when in the dark. His skill of delicacy in the dark had been practiced since his birth—it would be shameful not to grab the cups without a hundred percent accuracy.

"Yes. I bit off more than I could chew." She chuckled to herself, moving the small candle around the room to find a seat. To no avail, she couldn't find a chair, so she settled with a nearby coffin next to the table Nekozawa was working on. "What are you making?" she added.

"Oh, just so herbal tea. Jasmine. You don't gain infectious rashes or symptoms when drinking Jasmine, right?" he drabbled quite cheerfully, or was engrossed the right word?

"If I get allergies, you mean." She translated once more.

He frowned invisibly underneath his hooded cape, deciding to throw back the insult, "You know Tachibana-san—"

"Call me Shizuka." She corrected him in a sort of nagging way.

"Shizuka. In another time, I may need your services as an acting translator when I converse with future clients." He muttered half-heartedly, losing his enthusiasm after her sudden rebuttal. The dry sarcasm successfully passed through Shizuka.

"Ha-ha, yeah. You'd need one." She gazed into the melting wax with half-lidded eyes, her attitude gaining lethargy by every second counting. Her sleepiness caused by the aroma of fresh tea leaves and the hypnotizing flickers of the candle.

He wordlessly handed her the tea. Shizuka set it beside her on the coffin. Nekozawa followed the teacup's example, taking a seat next to her. His precious puppet was no longer snuggled against his hand, but left on the side of the table.

"So how's your eyesight?" he began, stirring his teabag with warm milk. She looked at him incredulously. "Please, you seriously shouldn't start a conversation with an undesired topic, especially since you of all people would know the answer." She cracked up a joking smirk. He smiled in suite to match, "Why? Still bumping into non-existent walls, I see?"

"Hey! Don't mock my depth perception!" she playfully punched him on the side, giggling a bit. She gingerly brought her tea to her face, smelling the delightful scent before slurping it down in one sitting.

"Ah...And I see you're still quite the glutton as ever. You haven't changed after all." He added silently.

She furrowed her eyebrows and quipped a nasty snarl, and then she softened her eyes after realizing what he meant. She looked down to finger her empty cup on one hand and the candle on the other, both resting on her legs respectively.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" she sombrely said, with a smile out of place. "It's been seven years, if I remember correctly."

"Yes, you remembered right." He answered back.

"What happened to you?" she asked. Her reply was delivered shortly. "Oh... I just developed a bad case of photophobia." He solemnly looked down. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How come you're not the chubby wittle chicken nugget I remembered?" he mused, pinching her cheek in a motherly manner. She pushed his hand away, angered at the nickname.

"I told you to stop calling me that!"

"What did you say, chicken nugget?" he taunted evilly. His efforts were proven effective results, due to the red hot steam that kind of just puffed out of her ears. "Oh, and what happened to you, mister BLONDIE?" she recited, with an unholy glint present in her eyes. Oh no, she was NOT giving that look. He was NOT going to fall for that old trick.

"Mind you, I still have my blonde hair-" He gave back. She grimaced at her failure in luring his anger. Nekozawa grinned once more, "-chicken nuggets." He snickered under his breath.

She bolted upright and lunged at him, catapulting at inhumane velocity. He barely had time to run, but he did manage to dodge her first attack. He stood up just as fast, running across the room, leaving two sets of teacups and one melting candle unattended on the coffin.

The other two had proceeded to run around the dark room starting up a comical wild goose chase.

"GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!"

"So, you're father just told you to monitor her."

"Yes."

"And... He told you not to acquaint yourself with her."

"Yes."

"And you're not in the slightest bit curious what he's planning to do to her."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really, absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"Not in the slightest bit curious?"

"...No."

Haruhi sighed in deep relief. Finally. We were getting somewhere with this nonsense.

Progress: +1

She continued to psychologically persuade him with questions.

"So what are you curious about?"

"When you'll stop asking these questions."

Progress: -1

She hated to admit it at that moment, but she may need Tamaki's charisma in this situation, for once.

Welp everyone, the 'violent reactions' open forum has just opened! ASK A QUESTION.

Next Time: A Dash of Amnesia

I'LL HOP TO IT! Thanks for reading, and until next update!

*ECHOECHO* I love you all~ *ECHOECHO*