Haruhi's Birthday

Chapter 19

Everything was not going as planned at all. The birthday cake said Yuki Is the Greatest, the food was late and Haruhi was expecting a fifty pound piñata. Mikuru was lost somewhere in the in the 1970's, Itsuki was battling a monster in closed space and Yuki was stuck, unconscious, in a trapdoor under a stage. "Calm down," Kyon repeated to himself. "Calm down, calm down calm down…" He ran to the backdoor of the auditorium opened it and cursed when he found all the various switches that could possibly control the trapdoor to the stage.

So Kyon tried anything that a desperate kid would do—He pressed all the knobs and buttons and switches in an attempt to make it work. When Kyon heard a weeeeeeeerrrrr sound, he realized that he had raised the stage. He ran onto the stage and found Yuki lying in the middle of it. He grabbed Yuki in his arms and tried to wake her up. After a moment, Yuki came too.

"What is going on?" She asked. "Has the party started?"

"No, everything is a complete disaster." Kyon replied, relieved.

"It seems as if I've hit my head." Kyon noticed the blood trickling down Yuki's face.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and revealed the last person that Kyon wanted to see. "What are you doing?" Haruhi asked the pair. All was silent. A swift breeze brushed past, making everyone's hair rustle. Haruhi was breathing hard. "This isn't happening," she whispered. In a flash, Haruhi ran out of the auditorium.

"Wait! Haruhi!" Kyon yelled. "What's up with her?" Kyon asked Yuki, but she had already drifted off to sleep. "She must be healing herself," Kyon thought aloud. He slowly picked Yuki up and carried her gently in his arms. Kyon went back to the VIP Deck and set Yuki down in a chair. As he did, his phone went off. Kyon answered it.

"What the fudge did you do to Haruhi?" said a voice that belonged to Itsuki on the other line.

"Huh?" Kyon replied puzzled.

"Our situation just got two times as bad here!" Itsuki yelled. "Miss Suzumiya must be really irritated. You need to cheer her up or we may not have a downtown anymore!"

"Listen! I did nothing! There was an accident and the stage fell—"

"Oh my Lord, is Haruhi okay?"

"Yeah! Yuki pushed her out of the way and bam, Yuki got hurt. Oh my God, if I had been under the stage then I could've gotten killed! Oh, woah… I am feeling a little dizzy…"

"Hey, Kyon, can I call you back? One of my partners got smashed into a truck. Just—just don't let anything happen to Haruhi!"

"I know that! I've got everything somewhat under control—did this fool hang up on me?"

There was no voice on the other line.

"The little—okay, focus on Haruhi!"

As if on cue, Haruhi entered the room. "Kyon! What are you doing here?"

"Me? Nothing? Um..?"

"Is Yuki okay? Is she hurt? What happened with the stage?"

"The thing must be old! That's a good reason." Dammit Kyon, nervous lying is not your strong point. What is up with me? I'm usually a good liar. "Okay, let's all be calm. She's fine."

"Nothing's going as planned…"Haruhi complained. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey! It's your birthday! Everything will work out fine! I promise!" He pulled her close. "And I never break a promise!"

"Yes you do! All the time! Why are you trying to sound cool? What movie did you steal that from?"

Dammit, I'm almost out of ideas… And it beeped. Really loud. Kyon had almost forgotten about the item the Future Mikuru gave him. He shouted. Haruhi did too. Then she gave him a crazy look.

"It's my pager," he stated.

"Why did you scream when it beeped?"

"It was loud. Really loud. I didn't expect that." Kyon produced the device and stared at it as it beeped again. "What button do I press again?" He asked himself.

"Just as a guess, I'd say the white one."

"Oh yeah!" Kyon pushed the button and it stopped beeping. "Is that it?" He thought aloud.

"It's your pager!" Haruhi exclaimed.

"It's actually a friend's. She let me borrow it so I have no idea how to work it."

"Why did a friend let you borrow her pager?"

"I don't know! She just—"

A random moaning sound came from outside. Kyon and Haruhi made confused faces and went outside. Mikuru was on the floor. "Where am I?" The redhead asked.

"Mikuru!" Haruhi shouted as she hugged the girl. "So much has gone wrong and there was so much going on and you missed the concert! That's twenty hours of community service!"

She's back to her old self again. Kyon thought.

Haruhi contined. "We have to put you in an outfit and—no! Tell me what happened first!"

"Umm? Ummm? Uhhh?" she replied.

Kyon intervened. "She just got back from being kidnapped by an enemy esper! Give her a moment to relax." He winked at Mikuru.

"Okay, so I have to give her a moment, but you can continue to hit on her? I saw that wink! It's my birthday! No one winks at any one but me! That's fifty hours of community service Kyon! Come on Mikuru, let's change you into a sexy outfit."

"But I don't wanna!"

"Come on!" Haruhi shouted as she pulled off her shirt. "Kyon, get out!"

Kyon was thrown out by Haruhi. He stood outside the door for a moment, and then decided to go back to the main party. As he did, Tanaguchi approached him. "Hey, some guy named Mr. Yumyums wants you to sign off on a piñata."

Kyon was surprised. "Sure… is that food that you're eating?"

"Yes?"

"Whoa. The food's here?"

"Yes? Kyon, are you alright? Haruhi's been drivning you nuts huh?"

"Yeah. It's all been…it's so freaking crazy." Kyon went to sign off on the piñata. No one seemed to care about the little stage accident, but Kyon didn't question why.