Melody of Memory

Disclaimer: I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

September 2007

Haruhi woke up the next morning, feeling a terrible headache striking her head right after she opened her eyes. Ignoring it completely, Haruhi wore her slippers and walked off to the bathroom. She knew the pain would go away later after she took a shower anyway; in most cases it would only bother her the first hour she was awake from slumber. In fact, the headaches occurred almost too often for her to care. After taking a shower and changed her clothes to uniform, she went down the stairs to go eat breakfast in the dining room. Careful not to make any unnecessary noise that would make her dad awoke, Haruhi walked soundlessly to the dining room just to see her mom's figure sitting solely in one of the chair.

Her mom smiled at her as usual, but Haruhi knew better that there was something else hidden underneath all those gestures she was feigning. A sudden surge of sadness filled Haruhi's heart. Suzumiya Shizuno was about to be forty this year, but she already looked like fifty five at this stage. Her almost gray, wavy messy hair hung down weakly from the top of her head, caressing her beautiful heart-shaped face. Her eyes were that of dark brown which no longer shine sharply throughout the years and rather was wearing down with patience Haruhi could seriously understand why. But the most heart-breaking remarks Haruhi always found in her mom was the bruises on her skin. Even when Haruhi tried to avoid looking at it, the bruises were just too visible even underneath all those clothes.

"Good morning, Mom," she greeted her mom and sat herself.

"Morning, Haruhi," the older woman said, "I just feel like eating toast today, so I made it this morning."

Haruhi picked up one of her toast and dumped some strawberry jam on it, "Thanks, mom."

Her Mom smiled. "So.. Is there anything interesting going on in school?"

"..Not really."

"Is that so.."

Mother and daughter enjoyed their morning routine as usual, as the sound of humming birds began engulfing the quiet dining room. Inside, the only sound occupying the room was the soft noises from the movement of putting the tea cups up and down the wooden table. The breakfast might last that way until it finished if only Haruhi did not break the silence in the room.



"Hey, Mom," Haruhi murmured as she put the toast in her hand down and looked at her mom in the eyes. "How.. how much longer are you willing to stay this way?" Haruhi could sense hesitation in her trembling voice.

Her mom's eyes widen in shock at the unexpected topic. "I.. I don't know, Haruhi," she mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Haruhi felt her patience was wearing down in great speed. "Mom," she called, and when the older woman did not respond, she shouted a little bit louder, "Mom!"

"You don't need to shout, Haruhi," the older woman avoided the intense gaze her daughter was giving, and pretended to eat the toast with great interest. "We don't want to make Dad awake, do we?"

"But-"

"Not now, Haruhi. Not today." Her mom's voice was getting more and more nervous.

"SO WHEN?!" Haruhi bellowed. Tolerating the fear reflected in her mother's face when she raised her voice just before, Haruhi lowered her voice and said, "I need your confirmation, Mom."

"Haruhi-"

"Please!" Haruhi pleaded, not forgetting to keep her voice down for her mother's sake.

Unfortunately for Haruhi, the older woman did not answer her back, nor did she look at her for the rest of their time together that morning. Decided that she had lost her appetite right after that moment, Haruhi stood up and left the dining room. She grabbed her school bag and without another word being said to her mom, went off to school.

It was almost ten at night when Haruhi was done with the fight she had alongside with the mysterious girl who claimed to be a new student in her school. After a brief introduction of their names, the two agreed to head home immediately. The weather was pretty windy that night, so Haruhi was determined to get a warm sleep as soon as possible. That fight had somehow exhausted her in a way, too.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!!" Haruhi was right outside of her house when she heard a screaming voice of a female coming from the inside, which, she recalled painfully, was familiar.

Immediately she rushed inside the house and ran her way to where the voice came from. She opened up the door to the living room and as she expected, was deeply angered by the sight of her very Dad threatening the life of his wife – her Mom. He was holding a sheathed black sword on one hand, and broken glass on the other hand. His face was red, most probably because he was drunk rather than mad. His gazes were eerie looking and even showed a resemblance of that of a blood-thirsty killer. His lips were forming a full half-grinning and half-smiling, which somehow emphasized his bad intention. Mom was right in front of him, stepping back with her eyes wide opened, and her lips trembling in fear. Blood 

was starting to drop from her hands, and Haruhi could tell right away that it was the broken glass in her Dad's hand which did it.

Dashing to the middle of the two, Haruhi positioned herself in front of her Mom, and spread her arms open, blocking her Dad's vision. Quietly she muttered, "Please stop." From behind she could hear a soft muttering of her Mom saying her name, "Haruhi.."

Her Dad's black eyes met her brown ones, and they stared at each other for so long in silence. Then finally she heard her Dad's voice commanded menacingly, "Move."

Despite the shiver she got from her Dad's malicious voice , Haruhi answered bravely, "No."

Her Dad swung the sword in his hand in one dangerous gesture at her. "I said, move!"

"Please put those things in your hands down first, then," she retorted. "And let Mom go this time."

"You-"

"She didn't do anything, did she? It's you who always go mad all the time without reason and-"

SNAP! Haruhi felt her head was slammed really hard by a ridiculously heavy, stern thing.

"Haruhi!" she heard her Mom's worried voice.

She felt two hands – none others than her Mom's - were holding her still to keep standing. Determined to protect her Mom, Haruhi forced her knees to keep up, despite how wobbly and dizzy she became. Even though there was no blood, her head was now spinning, and her vision was becoming more and more vague thanks to the direct hit onto her head. This was not the first time she ever got smacked tough, and therefore she was somewhat prepared for this.

"Still standing, eh?" a mocking tone who belonged to none other but her Dad, slipped into her ears. "Pretty good."

And to her surprise, her Dad left the room without saying or doing anything else.

Haruhi was still furious when she remembered all those things she went through yesterday. Yesterday was not that bad compared to the other days, but she could not help but feel annoyed with the ever-lasting threat she lived under one roof with. Fortunately her Dad still got a job in the morning until late night, or Haruhi would not have any other choice but to stay with her Mom all days and nights to avoid her being hit. Regardless, she did not understand why her Mom would not just run away with her. With her crazy Dad being super hectic, - save the night time such as yesterday – the chance was always there for them. She had been persuading her since probably ever, and Haruhi had even gotten a job to support their living in case they decided to move together. Or if her Mom got divorced. So why wouldn't she? And even after all those harsh, human-less treatments she got from his husband, why in the world could she still be willing to live with him?



Deep inside in heart tough, Haruhi knew full well the reason why her Mom did so.

She still loved him.

Haruhi was by now already in school and was getting ready to go to class when she felt somebody tapped her. "Hey, Haruhi!" It was Kyon who greeted her. "Got into a gangster fight yesterday night?"

Haruhi gave him an irritated look. "Yeah.. But don't tell me it's spreading already in school."

"Did you really get into one?!" Kyon's eyes widen. "I was joking!"

This time it was Haruhi's turn to be surprise. "Huh? You didn't know?"

"No! I was just teasing you."

"Well I did get into a fight yesterday."

"Whew.. I guess you beat them up since you are here in school today safe and sound."

"Uh-huh."

"That's not unusual coming from you, though."

"It can't be helped since I'm the never-ending 'celebrity' of this school, right?" Haruhi shrugged. "I'm sure everybody will know about it by the end of our lunch period."

Kyon laughed. "By the way," he said. "There's a school festival coming right next month."

"Really?" Haruhi frowned.

"I think so. I also heard my class is going to make a haunted house," Kyon claimed. "It's definitely going to be a lot of work."

"Ah.."

"So anyway, just wanna tell you. I'll see you later. Bye!" and off he went.

Decided to do the same, Haruhi stepped lazily into class and even managed to keep her eyes opened during all the lessons.

When lunch time – a.k.a Haruhi's favorite activities in school - came, Haruhi strode in amazing pace down the hall to reach the school's roof faster. She climbed the old steps, opened the decrepit door leading to the roof and finally was relieved to be greeted by the welcoming breeze of the outside world. Haruhi approached her usual spot near the fence, and fixed her gaze to the sight ahead. Winds blew her hair lightly, causing it to flicker beautifully in the middle of the gust. The sun was radiating warmly, exposing the soft color of her skin and at the same time embracing it to a comfortable heat. The 

weather was unquestionably nice, and even felt too contradictory to be true in such a foul mood Haruhi was having. Almost instantly, her thoughts switched to her family.

Damn.. Why do I have to have such a troublesome father and a stubborn mother?

Sighing, Haruhi then closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. A couple minutes later when she felt like she had regained her heart's composure, she sang:

A princess came to this world.

Lived, laughed, and was addicted to a man.

The man was everything to her soul,

The air for her breath, the thought of her mind.

They lived together in harmony, until the day his heart was invaded by demons.

There's no longer joy,

There's no longer home.

But love never left the princess' heart,

And persevere was all she did with her might.

Haruhi paused to regain her breath. Singing had always been her thing. When she was a child and often trapped in dark rooms, she often hummed because she felt afraid of the nothingness around her; it just gave sense of her own existence. When she was happy but nobody was there for her to express her feelings, she constructed the words into lyrics. When she found out that music could say so many unspoken things, she even became more eager to have it in her life. A song had always been a way for her to communicate better with herself, and to express the feelings inside her. As a matter of fact, she had even thought of singing to her parents. Tough in the circumstances she was having now, it seemed unlikely that she would get the chance.

"You have a great voice."

Haruhi turned her back to look at the person who just gave her the compliment, and was baffled with who she saw was approaching her. "Nagato-san?"

The person addressed nodded her head a little, trotted her way to the fence, then stared at the blue sky with her pair of amber eyes. "…"

Haruhi felt restless inside; apparently a little nervous for having somebody overheard her stupid song. Haruhi glimpsed at the other girl, curious as to what the girl really intended to do by coming here. 

The purple haired girl sure looked like enjoying sight-seeing, but she could not declare anything for sure from the poker face the shorter girl was wearing.

As the conversation fell, complete silence was thus exchanged between them. Nagato had already moved her gaze from the upper sky to the scenery below, and Haruhi, inwardly worried as to how gloomy and clumsy she must have sounded with her singing, decided to just copy the action. This was the first time somebody in school properly talked to her, too. During her time attending school, the number of people who greeted her first could still be counted with fingers. As the two stood in silence, two pair of amber eyes stared downward, silently observing the activities around.

Haruhi was about to ask what exactly Nagato was doing in the roof, but realizing that it was an open school place for everybody, cancelled the urge. Anybody could just go here as they wished. It was only that just up until now, it had always been Kyon and herself. Or sometimes a gang of troublemakers bully, but that was mostly it.

"Thank you for the compliment," Haruhi said quietly, still concentrating her gaze down.

"…" Nagato looked at her in an observing look, and characteristically fell back mute. To Haruhi's surprise, however, the quiet girl whispered, "Your lack of musical knowledge did not impair your song at all."

Haruhi glanced at the petite girl, and unconsciously raised her eyebrows. That was the longest speech she ever heard the purple haired girl ever said. That was also the most normal, fearless, easing sentence she ever heard being spoken from people in school aside from Kyon. Nevertheless, she was indeed amused with the topic the petite girl had brought up. Music had always been her true, personal interest. "Do you happen to be… a musician?"

Unexpectedly this time, instead of nodding or saying nothing as the reply, Nagato smiled at her, blistering her amusement. "Yes."

And somehow, as if she was dragged along with Nagato's mood, Haruhi returned the smile happily. "You are?! That's really awesome!" she beamed, somewhat excited. "So, what can you do? Can you sing? What can you play?"

Nagato's eyes, under Haruhi's observation, were now gleaming in what she would interpret as passion. "I do not sing well," she halted for a moment when she was rewarded with an "O" look from Haruhi and continued, "My passion lies in guitars."

Haruhi, probably over-excited as to never having this kind of conversation with anybody else before, asked, "That is amazing!! I have never really played an instrument, and all I can do is singing."

"…"

"Have you made any songs by yourself, Nagato-san?" Haruhi asked eagerly.



The person questioned nodded, not even changing the slightest bit of her expression as she did so.

"That's great."

Again, silence stretched between them, but not too long this time.

"So..," Haruhi began. "This is out of the music topic and just popped up in my mind all of the sudden. But if you don't mind me asking, Nagato-san," she paused, and seeing the agreement in Nagato's gesture, continued, "Yersterday.. Why didn't you just beat the heck out of those guys by yourself?"

Seeing the confusion in the person inquired, Haruhi explained, "I saw you were pretty skilled with martial art. And with your skill, I can see that you are capable of turning them down into dust in two minutes."

Nagato blinked once, and murmured, "I was.. attempting to prove a mere theory into actions."

Haruhi was perplexed. "..Excuse me?"

"…" Nagato's response was silence, but she continued her explaining. "I was applying the theory in books into real actions."

Haruhi still did not get it. "Err… I think I still didn't get what you really were trying to say.."

"I think she meant that she was implying what she just learnt from books, Haruhi." Kyon's voice all of the sudden joined their conversation. Slowly he marched toward the two girls, yawning along the way. "She can learn anything mostly from books."

"Learn anything from books? We DO learn from books, Kyon."

Kyon chuckled. "Right. But not as effective as she does. Nagato-san here is a genius who can absorb the materials she got from books or any other learning stuff in a short period of time. Moreover, she can also imply the 'written theory' into actions."

Haruhi urged Kyon to continue.

"For example, if we learn five hundred pages thick biology book in a week, this Nagato-san can do it in probably.. say, 3 days? Or less, maybe," Kyon stated. "Then as if that alone is not beneficial enough, let's take a driving lesson for an example… Nagato-san can learn to drive through a book, and with probably two to four times practicing the information she got from the books into practical actions, she can already drive a car as smooth as what an advanced driver would seem."

"Wow," was all Haruhi managed to say.

"Did I get it right, Nagato-san?" Kyon asked.



"Much or less," Nagato nodded quietly.

"I didn't know such a person exist before," Haruhi mumbled softly.

"Well, you do now," was Kyon's retort.

"Wait a minute," Haruhi glared at Kyon. "How do you know all this? It's not like you to sound so smart. Don't tell me you have been stalking and investigating on her-"

"No." Kyon grinned. "We are classmates. Nagato-san and I."

"Really?" Haruhi sounded her disbelief. She looked at Nagato to find any sign of lies, but did not find any clues whatsoever in the robot-like expression. "That still doesn't explain why you know all about that, tough."

"Actually, it's all over the school now how our new transfer student is such a genius." He gave Haruhi the look of even-you-should-know-by-now. " And just for information, everybody seems to be making up their own theory as well. Mine seems close enough, though."

"But that doesn't explain the whole thing," Haruhi claimed, glancing at Nagato. "What did you do that make them picked on you?"

Nagato gazed sharply at Haruhi, as if determining whether it was necessary for Haruhi to know about her matter. Ten seconds later, she stated emotionlessly, "I spilled my drink."

"That's it?!" Haruhi was bewildered by the answer. The gang always emphasized small things, she knew, but she somehow got the feeling that the petite girl did not get picked on accident. From the way Nagato answered her question with those experimenting-what-the-books-said things, it seemed as if the girl wanted to have a fight from the beginning. "Oh well.."

I don't know why, but I got a feeling that she might have spilled her drink on her purpose. She didn't need me to help beating those idiots yesterday. She might have been planning to kick them all!

"Hold it right there, you two." It was Kyon's voice. "Are you saying that you two met outside of school before?"

"She was there when I got into a fight," Haruhi answered bluntly. "The fight I told you about this morning."

"Ah.. So I see."

Haruhi was about to ask more, but for the first time in her first year of high school, she heard the lunch bell rang herself. She usually needed Kyon to tell her.

"Anyway, it's the bell." Kyon started to walk toward the door. "Let's go down."

The three went down the stairs, and stopped during the intersection of their class.

"See you later, Haruhi."

"See you, Kyon. Nagato-san."

Nagato nodded her head in acknowledgement to her, and turned her back to head the same direction as Kyon.

Along her way to the class as well, Suzumiya Haruhi hummed the melody which all of the sudden flowed into her mind. This time, however, was not a melancholic tone as the one she did before. It was rather a cheerful one.

Again, thank you for reading.. And I hope somebody gives me a review about what they think about this story so far. You can flame as much as you want, that's fine.

I know the characters are all a little out of.. characters. But I am trying to develop them into the characters we usually see in the real anime. Hope you like it.