kNOw me Chapter 9, a haruhi suzumiya series fanfic

Chapter nine

"The organization told Kyon, Nagato had been to Haruhi; and mentioned Kyon to Koizumi. Haruhi gave Kyon a compliment, but then insulted him. Koizumi sent the organization word, Kyon had not gone, we know this to be true. If Haruhi would push the matter on, what would become of Kyon?

"Kyon gave Haruhi life, but the organization gave Koizumi life as well. Nagato gave life to the three of them, if not more. Life, existence, returned from Koizumi to Nagato, though it belonged Kyon's before. If Nagato or Haruhi should chance to be involved in this affair, Koizumi trusts Kyon to set them free, exactly as we were.

"Kyon's notion was that Nagato had been, before Haruhi had this fit, an obstacle that came between Kyon, and the brigade and it, being life. Don't let Kyon know Haruhi liked him best, for this must ever be, a secret kept from all the rest, between yourself and me." I recited the finished poem as I headed for home.

I had it down now. Miss Kimidori granted me the final piece of the poem. It. Life.

If all that was true though, things were still fairly unclear. 'Kyon gave Haruhi life'? What the hell was that suppose to mean? It could be something literal, or something metaphorical. If 'it' was life and that was all true, what did Koizumi and Nagato have to do with anything? Maybe it really was just a pointless poem after all. I wanted to know exactly what it meant, but I didn't exactly have the time to dwell.

I could feel the change the moment I left the school ground. Half running down the hill to the train station I felt a sensation all around me. My first thought was that it was nothing; but then I realized what exactly I was feeling. Everyone knows about the equinox, right? It happens twice a year, once in late March and then again late September. It's a day in which the amount of moonlight and sunlight are equal.

The days and nights feel longer, and yet they really aren't. It's still twenty-four hours, but it feels much longer. Without knowing it's the day of the equinox, you can still feel it. Human bodies are just programmed to know some changes in the weather and days around us. It all goes back to our early days when clocks and calendars didn't exist.

Right now I was getting that same dragged out feeling but in an opposite way. I felt as though the days were shrinking in on themselves. My days were starting to feel shorter and shorter all the time, but my body kept telling me things were about to return to normal. There was that feeling of normality yet again; that the days would be regular once more. I physically knew my time was running out.

The train station was full, like it usually is on weekends, with people going here and there. It was mid-afternoon time, even after Haruhi and I talked for who knew how long. My mind kept going to the poem. Things were feeling rushed all of a sudden and I wasn't sure why.

I looked up at the sky when I got off the train and headed home. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just a blue sky with white clouds passing through; with the occasional bird or plane. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me though because every now and then I could have sworn I saw the rift go by; like how the northern lights should look if they were anywhere near Japan. Koizumi and Miss Kimidori mentioned this world becoming permanent any day now.

Maybe that day would be tomorrow.

I threw my shoes aside when I opened the door, then went straight for my room. Odd, usually my family was home when I got back from Saturday school. Maybe they were running errands or something.

My bag was discarded on my bedroom floor as I looked around for my notes on the poem. Sure, I had them memorized, but I had to make sure they were correct word for word. My notebooks were all missing. In fact, half the things in my room were missing. A strange tingling feeling ran up my arms and legs, like when they fall asleep for too long. Something was definitely going wrong. I must have waited too long, Haruhi was getting tired of being in her hiding place; she was ready to come to this world.

I was angry with myself for not acting sooner. Playing it safe until this time came. Maybe there were other signs I just wasn't aware of that had been happening right under my nose. I searched my room for some new clue or hint of something good about to happen, but there was nothing there. Everything was changing too fast, that rushed feeling returning yet again. Maybe it had been changing but, since we were at the school, I hadn't notice. Koizumi once mentioned the brigade room was a kind of safe zone; maybe the entire school in this dimension was safe.

I grew frustrated that I had no way to communicate with the others and ask what was going on. "Koizumi," I found myself calling out in desperation. "Nagato? Miss Asahina? Someone," I tried as I looked around my room. The black box was no longer on my desk, like my other things, and I knew it was a bad sign. "I need help," I admitted to no one, I could feel all hope slipping out of me.

You never think about the end of the world, but as I closed my eyes tightly, I realized I wasn't ready for it. It wasn't exactly the end, I had no way of knowing the actual time and date it would occur, but it had to be soon. I squeezed my eyes tighter until it hurt and then reopened them slowly.

I was no longer in my room. Instead I found myself somewhere else entirely. My eyes took a while to adjust, but when they did, I found myself in the familiar brigade room. All it's contents were present and for a brief moment I thought I'd returned. I had a way of teleporting lately, and I wasn't sure where it was coming from. A couple times it had been the organizations, but this far into the end I didn't think they'd care anymore. Maybe Haruhi somewhere was…? "What's going on?" I asked aloud, expecting an answer that wasn't going to come.

"Kyon?" Someone replied. I jerked my head around and spotted Haruhi. She was standing by the window, as though she'd been looking out when I arrived. She seemed confused as she looked me over. "When did you get here?" I wish I knew that myself.

I glanced to the window behind her, the sun was setting. The sky burned in a flame shade of red and golden yellows, that hurt to look at for too long. I turned my gaze back to Haruhi, "what are you doing here?" I asked bemused with everything for the moment.

"I wanted to check out the club room you were talking about," she said still giving me a confused look. They lock the school late on Saturdays, and even if they didn't I was sure she would have snuck her way in somehow. "There's a lot of weird things in it though. I think it's already taken by some other club."

"The brigade," I mumbled looking at Nagato's books. "Haruhi's making it all come here."

"I'm what?" Haruhi asked crossing her arms. I'd managed to annoy her yet again.

"Not you," I said shaking my head, "well kind of. Listen to me, this is going to sound completely crazy but remember when I kissed you?"

"How could I forget?" She said disgusted. It wasn't that bad was it?

"Right, well it wasn't the first time we kissed. You see, you're not the real Haruhi Suzumiya, the real one is back in another dimension and that Haruhi and I know each other. There's this girl Yuki Nagato, who is actually an alien; and Mikuru Asahina is a time traveler. Also, there's another guy besides me. His name is Itsuki Koizumi, and he's-"

"Let me guess," Haruhi rolled her eyes, "an esper."

"Yes!" I said throwing my hands up. "Do you remember them at all? They were part of the SOS brigade."

"No I don't remember, and if this is your weird way of making a joke, it's not funny."

"I'm not," I said shaking my head. No time to argue. "Whenever the real Haruhi gets mad, usually because of something I did I'll admit, she makes this thing called 'closed space'. The espers fight it off, but this one time we got sucked in and it was just us two and the only way to get out was to kiss her. Then we woke up like it was all a bad dream."

She was staring at me, and I couldn't tell if it was a glare or some kind of 'I believe you' gaze. I hoped it was that last one. "This entire world was created because Haruhi wished we'd never met. I thought if I kissed you, things would go back to normal but they didn't."

"That's why you kissed me?" Okay… It was that first one after all.

"Of course it was," I said trying to make sense of it all. I replayed everything I'd said back, no wonder she didn't believe me. I sounded completely insane. "Listen, right now the real world is being destroyed and only Haruhi can fix this."

"You said I wasn't Haruhi," she said narrowing her eyes more, "then who the hell am I Kyon?" I could actually physically feel her anger vibes hitting me.

"It doesn't matter right now. I have this feeling that tomorrow the world might end, and we have to do something about it quick." My voice was practically shaking now. Why was I getting so worked up?

"If any of what you said is true though," she was growing a bit more calm. "Only that other world will be effected. This world won't have any effect right?"

"Well," I started but she was right. "It means this world will become the real world. Everyone back in my world will be erased."

"Everyone you know is here though, aren't they?"

"It's not the same thing!" I raised my voice as Koizumi and Miss Kimidori's words echoed back. This world may look and feel the same, but it's not. It's very different. Even if I thought things were okay here, they weren't. I had to get back. "Haruhi, listen please. I don't care if you think this is a joke or not but I need your help."

"Why should I help you? According to you I don't exist anymore. I'm just a copy of some other Haruhi who is actually god of your world." Man, she nailed it.

"Then you believe me?" I asked with the faintest smile.

"Believe you or not, I'm not helping you." She said starting to head for the brigade door.

This couldn't be happening. If I was stuck here, sure it'd be a lot of the same thing but it wasn't at all. Not only that, but I'd lose the brigade. As much as I hated to say it, and I'd been saying it a lot lately, they were my friends. Without them life was nothing but tests and working until death. Nagato, Miss Asahina, even Koizumi; they'd all just cease to exist and it would be all my fault.

My friends and family, they'd all be replaced with other dimensional clones. Sure they were a lot alike but they weren't the same as the original. This entire world wasn't the same as the original and even Haruhi…!

"Haruhi," I muttered as she passed by me going for the door. "That's it," I said turning to her. "Haruhi wait," I said with the best smile I could muster.

"What?" She hissed glaring back at me.

"I was joking," I said faking a laugh. I reminded myself of Koizumi, freaking myself out in the process. "You didn't actually believe what I said did you?"

She stopped and just kind of stared, as though thinking about it all. Then finally she said a simple, "joking?"

"Yeah," I said shrugging, "you like mysterious stuff like that right? I just thought I'd pull some kind of joke on you."

She stared for a while, but she seemed relaxed now. Her body was no longer as tense as it had been, "it was a lame joke." She said looking to the window once more "anyway, we should get out of here before they lock the doors on us. The sun will be setting and you have a long ways to walk to get home don't you?" I wondered how she knew that, but I nodded either way.

Haruhi motioned me to follow her out and I did so, as obedient as ever to the brigade leader. "Sorry Haruhi," I found myself saying as we left the school ground and walked along the sidewalk. The rift in the air was expanding, like a rubber band; stretched all the way out to the point of showing it's white elastic center until it snapped back and stayed calm until disturbed yet again.

"For what?" She asked, must have heard me, as we walked beside one another.

I shrugged, "I couldn't stop it," I said melancholic.

"Stop what?" She asked not changing her pace at all.

"Anything," I sighed closing my eyes again. The end of the world was nearing. I had a tight feeling it would end even before midnight hit. I wondered how everything was going back in my world. How my friends were doing. How my Haruhi was holding out.

"You're such a depressing person," Haruhi said shaking her head, "a minute ago you were making jokes and now you're talking like it's the end of the world."

If only she knew.

I made no effort to respond, I just kept walking, letting my feet carry me. Maybe this world wouldn't be so bad after all. It was normal, it was boring, but I could always do something to liven things up. Haruhi could start the brigade once more, even if it wouldn't be the same. Not only that, but I knew my mistakes this time. I wouldn't allow myself to repeat the same ones twice.

"It was kind of random you know," Haruhi said after some silence had passed.

"What was?" I asked looking over at her.

"Your joke. It was really random," she explained looking on ahead.

"You know, Haruhi," I said matter-of-factly, "nothing in life is random."

She laughed, "that's a lie."

"No really, it's true." I said forgetting everything for a moment but our conversation. "Think about it, nothing in life is random. Even simple things happen for a reason. If I said the words 'apple pie', well they may seem random to you, but to me they were part of some kind of thought process. Ever play Word Association?"

"That lame grade school game?"

I nodded, "you get together with a bunch of friends, or whatever, and you go in a circle saying the first thing that pops in your head. In just every day conversation it happens too," I pointed out. "You start talking to your friends about what you're eating for lunch and by the end of the conversation you could be talking about the difference between oak and pine trees."

"They don't sound related at all," Haruhi said frowning.

"I know, but somehow they link together right? You could talk about an apple you're eating for lunch. Then talk about apple trees. Then talk about trees that look like apple trees. Keep going and suddenly you're talking about oak and pine."

"That's just one thing. What about in drawings? Those are random." It took a moment to try and think about what she was talking about. Drawings? Oh! For prizes and raffles.

"Not always," I said simply. "Drawing from a hat or something, your hand just goes for a familiar shape it likes. If you're asked to pick a number or name on a list, you're more than likely going to choose a name or number you like, don't like or are at least familiar with, even if you don't realize it right away. Sometimes we don't even think about it when we're doing it."

"Okay mister genius," she grinned wickedly. Like the cheshire cat would. "What about super computers?"

"They have a type of coding in them so even they aren't random. They're designed to be random so in a way, they really aren't. You can't be random if someone is telling you to be random. Then you're purposely trying to be random." Let's count how many times I used the word random in the last five minutes shall we?

"You're dumb," she said as her best come back. I just smiled.

We walked in silence for a while longer until Haruhi was ahead of me looking back, "what's wrong?" She asked. I hadn't even realized I'd stopped walking. My mouth was open, I could feel that, and I was just staring off into space. My thoughts began to wander and I could only describe it as my brain shutting down; but it was actually doing the opposite.

"Random," I muttered turning my unfocused eyes to Haruhi.

"What?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Random," I said again, a little louder "That's it. It's not random."

"I thought we already discussed that," Haruhi said shaking her head. She might have rolled her eyes too, but I wasn't looking that closely.

"No, this," I said looking around. "This world. Me being here. Haruhi wanting it to happen," I started to ramble on.

She got annoyed again, "you're starting that again?"

I would have replied to that, but instead I feverishly continued my train of thought, not wanting to lose it. "It's not all random," I said shaking my head, "it's not. It can't be. I thought I was here because Haruhi was pissed, but maybe not."

"What are you talking about?" She raised her voice to a half yell, half hush.

Again, I ignored her. "The organization told Kyon, Nagato had been to Haruhi; and mentioned Kyon to Koizumi. Haruhi gave Kyon a compliment, but then insulted him. Koizumi sent the organization word, Kyon had not gone, we know this to be true. If Haruhi would push the matter on, what would become of Kyon?

Suddenly, there was a jolt that sent through the ground, like a small earth quake. I thought I was the only one who felt it but Haruhi jumped and looked down also. "What was that?" She asked with surprise.

"Earth quake?" I said looking down as another went. They were small tremors, an aftereffect to the dimension shift I was sure. Another came and Haruhi mumbled something about getting to shelter. She was scared?

I scoffed just a little under my breath. I'd almost forgotten about the end of the world, what with our fascinating conversation about random need-to-know. I wasn't worried though…

Carefully, I reached out taking her hand in mine. She turned a shade of pink I'd seen only a few times, looking back over to me, waiting for an explanation. "Don't worry," I said feeling another tremor run past us. "I know what to do now." I was probably lying to her, and myself, but I didn't care. Not anymore.

Haruhi's eyes seemed different a moment, like a flash went through them. Something was indeed going on. I took in a deep breath and let myself relax fully. Like when you're laying down for a long time and your body feels like it's floating above your bed. I heard Haruhi's voice, saying something in a fearful whisper, but I was too out of it by now.

Maybe the world was permanent now? I was stuck here forever? Maybe my theory was wrong. I might as well get use to it all. I looked around, things did seem different but in a good way. Normality wasn't always a bad thing, one could easily draw out the mysterious side to things. You just had to know how.

There was another tremor, I felt my lips moving but I didn't know what I was saying. Words didn't reach my ears. Maybe I truly had lost my mind. Another tremor went through us when I blanked out…

…and a small jolt when I came to.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A voice was shouting in my ear.

I groaned, stirring around a bit, not even realizing where I was at first. I blinked. My eyes had been closed? A few more blinks until I sat up feeling my spine crack a little. How long had I been hunched over. Had I been asleep? I glanced around trying to figure out where I was. The brigade room? Everything seemed in order. Books, computer, games, outfits, tea set. It was all in order like it always had been.

I yawned rubbing my eyes. Maybe I'd managed to teleport yet again. For not having magical powers in anyway, I seemed to be using them quite often as of late.

"Hello!" The voice screamed again. I jumped before glaring over at Haruhi, arms crossed and looking as pissed as ever. "What do you think you're doing? Sleeping on the job… there is work you could be doing!" She emphasized the words 'is' and 'you'.

No surprise it was just us two. I rolled my eyes rubbing my head now, "like what?" I asked sleepily. Maybe all the lack of sleep was finally catching up to me.

"The lame school dance is coming up, and this will be the perfect chance to show the world what the SOS brigade can do. I volunteered us to be on the decorating committee. Paranormal dates will be the theme," she said as she walked passed me, hanging up an old school umbrella. "We'll have green punch and alien shaped cookies," she said as she plopped down in her usual seat, head of the classroom in front of the master computer.

I stopped, suddenly, thinking about what she'd just said. "Wait, what?" I asked looking over at her, "the brigade?"

She looked back at me, "yes the brigade! We're going to decorate the dance. Don't you pay attention at all?"

I stared dumbfounded for a long time before turning to one wall by the bookshelf. Our calendar hung up beside it and it showed Monday, the clock beside it showed it was sometime after school. The same day I'd vanished. "What?" I breathed standing up looking around. Was I finally back? Had it all been a strange but oddly realistic dream?

"Kyon, are you sick or something?" Haruhi's voice pierced through my thoughts yet again. I turned and looked back at her; she was waiting for something. "You're acting weird again." Again?

"Uh, yeah," I sputtered out before glancing around the room a few more times. I wasn't sure how, but maybe I did manage to get back. "Sorry, I was just…" I had no idea what to say.

"You'll have to forgive Kyon," Koizumi said opening the door and entering the room, Miss Asahina and Nagato right behind him. They all looked cheerful as ever; even Nagato with her emotionless expression. "Finals are coming up so he probably hasn't gotten much sleep. He is a hard worker after all," he said giving me a quick, and creepy, wink before taking his usual seat.

"Would anyone like some tea?" Miss Asahina's angelic voice chimed as she went to the tea center to begin work, whether anyone wanted anything or not. Nagato went to her corner and picked up her last novel, reading as always. Maybe she was just pretending to read. I had the urge to go over and talk to her about what Miss Kimidori had brought up, but it could wait until after Haruhi was gone. I didn't want to give her the wrong idea, heaven forbid I ever speak to a non-Haruhi girl ever again.

"That's no excuse," Haruhi said bitterly, but the smile on her face let me know I was off the hook. I sat back down and waited for things to continue. I hardly listened as Haruhi explained the dance, going on about her brilliant scheme. This time I didn't disagree with anything she had to suggest.

"Now then," she said after a long couple minutes, "we'll split up and go find some things to use for primary decorations. I'm sure the other club rooms have things laying around." Everyone stood up, "Mikuru, Koizumi and Yuki will search the upstairs classrooms while Kyon and I search the downstairs. Bring back whatever you find." No drawing straws today?

I glanced at Koizumi for an explanation and he gave me his usual 'tell you later' kind of stare. I dropped it for the time being. Everyone gave their own version of a 'yes ma'am' and left the room. Haruhi took out a notebook from her bag, opening it to one page, still waiting for something. "What's that for?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my neck. It was still sore from my sleeping position.

"Inventory of course," she said taking a pencil out and writing a few things down.

I just watched her, and her lack of eye contact, for a while. Then I gave a weak smile, "hey Haruhi?"

She didn't look up, "what?" She asked impatiently.

"Want to go to the dance with me?"