Eheheh...new chapter ^^ I know you guys must be pissed, so yeah ; Sorry! Charging on!

Oily Dirty Work

As the weeks went by, Takahashi kept sucking up to Haruhi. He was really starting to grate on my nerves.

That Sunday afternoon I mentioned before turned out to be an ass kissing session. He was constantly on her tail, fanning her and whatnot, giving suggestions and constantly being a total prick.

It was clearly obvious to me that he was definitely hitting on her. She just passed it off as "her aura of being the great leader of the SOS Brigade" – which tended to piss me off. She kept going on and on about her superiority. For a while, it was fun to poke her about it – but, teenage years can play havoc on your emotions…

Calm yourself, I said to myself. You've both been through a lot. Don't let this get you down.

But of course, internal monologues only work in retrospect.

As was the case, I was thus pissed off and angry, not only because she deemed herself Miss Condescending, but also because that guy just would not stop his advances. It was crystal clear to me; everyone else was mired in how awesome he seemed to be.

But I smelled flowers.

Dead flowers.

And as far as I was concerned, I had to stop him.

"Haruhi, seriously, you have to stop treating this as a joke! I really think he likes you. I can see he's actively hitting on you!" Once again, I confronted her inside the clubroom, after everyone had left. Everyone left earlier than usual, since everyone had errands apparently, and it was still late afternoon, the sun yellow, sky azure.

"This again?" She sighed irritably, and tried to calm herself down by fiddling with a pen on the desk. "Look, it's not like I'm going to leave you for someone else, y'know." She put her feet up on the desk as well, letting the chair tip back a bit.

I paused, leaning back in my own chair, and gazing out the window before responding. "That's not the point here," I said finally, after careful deliberation. "The point is that he's blatantly trying to hit on you, and it's pissing me off. I'd like you to tell him to stop it. He'll practically only listen to you anyway." I commented, with an I-give-up hand motion. "There's nothing I can really do."

Her face softened. "Geez, fine." She swung her feet off the table, and moved to make a pot of tea. While the water was heating up, she said thoughtfully, "Well, I don't think he's inherently malevolent or anything. Just...persistent."

"In getting in your pants, maybe." I huffed, stretching.

She giggled, took the water off the portable stove, poured it in the tea pot and spooned in the tea leaves. "Yeah, but you're already in them," She smiled.

"And I'd like to keep it as a Kyon exclusive zone."

She mock rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll talk to him. But, I'm gonna miss all his "ass-kissing", as you put it."

"Pft, you sure you didn't just conjure up a servant?"

"Hey hey, I'm quite self sufficient," She concentrated on pouring the tea into two cups, and then set the teapot in the middle of the table, sliding one of the cups to me. I caught it and sipped.

"Not bad. Could still be better though."

She made a face. "Whatever, like I need your criticism of my tea."

I sniggered. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Oh, by the way, you're coming over tonight, yeah? For a study slash planning session?"

She snapped her fingers. "Yeah, that's right. Almost forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me."

...

It IS for your benefit to come over, anyway...

So it ended up being a relatively peaceful day for the SOS Brigade.

It somewhat irks me that I still don't get enough downtime between each crazy encounter. Sure, it's fun, but...break, please, universe? Something always crops up within a month or two, and although that would normally be enough time, the events just keep getting crazier, and crazier, and harder to deal with. Of course, right now, it's been relatively quiet since Haruhi's last explosion. That explosion tended to be constructive, leading Haruhi and I to be together. But, it was still a hellish experience, seeing the laws of physics and social etiquette literally fall from the face of the earth in about five minutes.

Ah, whatever, I'll deal with it as it comes. Haruhi stood up, and brought her chair next to mine, on the other side of the table. She then snuggled up close to me and laid her head on my shoulder. We both were facing the window of the clubroom, watching the sunset. Eventually, we had to go home anyway. We packed up, and left.

I walked with a spring in my step, my yellow ribbons dancing in the wind. Well, soon as I got home, I'd get everything together and head over to Kyon's after dinner. A cute dress will probably do some good...deep in thought, I almost didn't register the figure in front of me as I turned into my street.

"Takahashi? Why're you here?"

"I'm here simply to serve, Haruhi-sempai."

Kyon was right. This simpering idiot was getting pretty annoying. "I don't need you. Besides, you should stop that. It's not going to do you any good in the SOS Brigade apart from getting you the job of carrying all our stuff."

"Then I will gladly do that, Haruhi-sempai."

"Stop that! Geezus, I like it when you're obedient, but not a door mat. You're not interesting that way."

"Fine, then I'll stop following your every order, Haruhi-sempai." There was a slick, oil undertone, underneath his clear enunciation. Sinister black, with a flame just underneath it. Well, if he was trying to get me annoyed, he was succeeding.

"Stop agreeing with whatever I say! Dear god, at least Kyon verbally protests but still does what I say for him to do..."

"Okay then—"

"Oh, get lost, newbie." I stormed down my street, opened my front door and slammed it shut behind me. Running up the stairs, I kicked off my shoes and headed into my room, dumping my bag. I looked my window to make sure he wasn't in the street.

He still was.

"Go home, Takahashi. For the love of—Oh, whatever."

I flopped onto the bed, pissed off. I turned on the radio to provide some background drone.

"A traffic accident occurred today just outside North High School...some students are believed to be seriously injured, as a bus careened into them around the corner at high speed..."

I kept waiting, dressed in something smart casual. Odd for Haruhi to actually forget something. Then I finally heard the doorbell.

"Finally, about time you show—" Takahashi stood at my doorstep.

"Hello Kyon." He said. His words were dripping with deep hatred. Like oil on fire, scalding and burning. "Time for you to experience the female you."

"What? What the hell are yo—"

He snapped his fingers. The whole world dissolved and warped into nothingness in an instant, and my body fell to the floor.