Haruhi's Birthday

Chapter 9

Mikuru trudged back to the school. Then she realized the door was locked. She took out her cell phone and texted Kyon. She waited for a while. When the door opened, Mikuru slowly walked inside.

"How was shopping?" Kyon asked.

"Horrible," replied a depressed Mikuru. "I saw Haruhi at the store."

"Aw, bummer."

"Not only that, but she bought all the things that I was going to buy for her."

"Double bummer."

"I wanna cry."

"Well, why don't you just buy something else for Haruhi?" Kyon suggested.

"Because I wanted to get her the perfect thing! All the other stores that I checked didn't meet my standards."

"This is HARUHI we're talking about. Why do you care about her?"

"I don't! It's the fact that I'm on a mission!" There was an awkward silence. Mikuru continued, "And I can only think of lame presents like CDs or clothes. Haruhi won't like that stuff. Will she? But I wanna give her something that she will love! Maybe I should just give up and get her something that is average." She sighed.

"You'll find something Mikuru." Kyon assured.

"In what time?"

"You still have tomorrow before the party. I haven't gotten a gift for her yet."

"Really? You should've came with me."

"I should've. I should've really."

"Too late now huh?" said an unhappy Mikuru. "Bull crap."

Itsuki joined the couple and whispered something into Mikuru's ear. "REALLY?" she replied with wide eyes.

"He's a liar!" Kyon shouted.

"Kyon…" Mikuru said. "Rubber chicken? Really?"

"Ask Yuki! I did not do anything wrong." Kyon snapped, embarrassed.

"Alrighty then, I believe you. But I have a gun. Don't try anything with me."

"…" Kyon was silent.

"The decorations are finished," said Yuki who had joined them.

All eyes turned on her. She stared back, emotionless. "I said the decorations are finished."

"Yeah, cool, okay…" replied the group.

"Then I think that we are done here." Kyon replied.

Itsuki looked outside. Then he looked at his watch. "Its 5:32 right now, so we've got a good to hours of daylight left."

"What else do we need to do?" asked Mikuru.

"Food. Venue. Cake. We have those all taken care of." Kyon said.

"What about the backup cake?" Itsuki asked.

"You do that."

"Fine then, what did she want on the cake?"

"Oh crap."

All was quiet.

"We sure have been having a lot of awkward moments today…" Kyon said as he tried to change the subject.

"Really Kyon?" Itsuki said, as he put his face in his palm.

"Just wing it on the cake dude. It's cake. She will eat it either way. And besides, how many people are coming anyway?"

"Apparently Haruhi believes that number to be high enough to need a backup cake."

"No one is gonna show up." Kyon said.

"I have taken care of that." Yuki said.

"How?" Everyone asked.

"I sent an email to everyone at school about the party, just now."

Never doubt the alien.

"How do you know if they'll come?" Kyon asked.

"They will come. I put a spell on the email that will make them come once they read it, even if they skim the email. I also encouraged them to bring a friend." Yuki answered.

"Fine," Kyon said. "Let's just do whatever. Get a backup cake, see if I care."

Itsuki smiled in his special Itsuki way. "Don't worry Kyon, I'll take care of it. You still need to shop right?" Kyon felt a little suspicious, but he didn't want to go cake shopping.

"Sure then, Mr. Wonderful." Kyon replied. He watched as Itsuki walked away. Then he turned to the ladies. "So, are we going present shopping?" Mikuru nodded.

"Can we stop by my place first so that I can dump these bags first?" Mikuru asked.

"Of course," Kyon replied as he started to follow Mikuru. He noticed that Yuki was just standing there. She seemed lonely (if she could feel lonely), so Kyon invited her to join. The trio walked to the train station and took a short ride uptown. They arrived at Mikuru's apartment complex and Mikuru invited them in.

"Would you like some tea and refreshments?" Mikuru asked as she brought in some cookies. Kyon helped himself to a few while Yuki sat quietly. Mikuru disappeared into another room to set her bags aside. As they waited, Kyon noticed that Yuki didn't eat anything.

"So, Yuki, you're not hungry?" He casually asked.

"I do not have to eat." She replied.

"These are good, try one." He suggested.

"No thank you." She said.

"Come on… you know you want to."

Yuki stared at the plate of cookies and then at Kyon. She grabbed a cookie and nibbled on it slowly, as to access its taste. Then she popped it into her mouth. She turned to Kyon as if to say, There, I did it. Are you satisfied?

"You liked it. You know you did." Kyon said proudly.

Yuki didn't respond.

"Oh, come on you know you wanted it. I knew that you wanted to give it a try. I could see it in your eyes. You should be thanking me."

Yuki still didn't reply.

"What, was it like your first time trying it or something?"

No answer. Yuki looked straight ahead.

Kyon looked up only to see Mikuru staring at him awkwardly.

"Liked…what?" She asked with disbelief. Kyon felt his face get really hot. He thought he knew what Mikuru thought he was talking about. Try explaining this one dumbass. He thought to himself.

"Uh… " He tried. He couldn't form the words. It was embarrassing enough with Itsuki, but this was a whole other level with Mikuru. "It was a cookie…" Kyon finally said.

"So there was no rubber chicken huh?" Mikuru asked still in shock.

"No! Nothing went on. I was asking if she liked the cookie is all! I swear!" Kyon blurted in his defense.

"That is one of the lamest explanations that I have ever heard and I have heard a LOT of explanations."

"Mikuru please, it just sounded bad. How much did you hear?"

"Ever since, 'You liked it. I know you liked it.'" Mikuru repeated in a deep, pedophile-like voice.

"I did not say it like that!" Kyon exclaimed. "I said it boastfully because she looked at me weird! I made her eat a cookie that's it!"

"Is that some type of slang I should know about?"

"NO. AN ACTUAL COOKIE!" Kyon shouted. "Ask her, ask Yuki," Kyon said as he pointed to the girl.

Yuki seemed overwhelmed by the whole situation. She looked around in a confused manner. She didn't say anything and her face was straight. "Why are we yelling?" She asked calmly.

"Did Kyon touch you or anything?" Mikuru asked bluntly.

Yuki shook her head.

"You can tell me Yuki," Mikuru encouraged.

"Kyon did not invade my privacy. If he did, then I would have done something about it," She insisted.

"Okay. Fine. But if you feel offended about anything he does. Just tell me. "

"I can handle myself," Yuki assured. "I am not helpless. If anyone here is helpless, it is Kyon."

"Hey!" The boy interjected.

"I believe the term is no offense?" Yuki said. "I do not see where this conversation even came from. It is unusually unlike you to act this way Mikuru. Is there something personal involved here?"

Mikuru seemed a little frustrated- almost angry. It was unlike her to react so heatedly. She thought for a moment and began to calm down. She sighed. "I…don't know," she finally replied. "I guess, I think it has something to do with Haruhi and how she always treats me…"

"What do you mean?" Kyon asked.

"You know with all the inappropriate costumes and hugging me when it's not necessary and definitely unwanted. I mean, that must be why I get upset if someone takes advantage of someone. It's because I can't defend myself from Haruhi. I'm the helpless one. " Mikuru started to tear up.

"Mikuru," Yuki said, expressing something that seemed like concern.

"I'm happy that I at least have friends like you, Kyon, that don't take advantage of the situation," Mikuru said with a smile. "I mean, do you know how many pervs would just sit there and watch, or take pictures to keep in a secret file?"

"Heh heh, yeah," Kyon laughed in a guilty way.