Okay, enough fooling around. It's time to get to business. I'm sure most of you were eagerly waiting for this update. Now, it's here! Let's get down to business.

Oruki is going down…or not…

Chapter 10

It's times like this that make me think, why can't a real superhero come and take over for me? I could think of numerous heroes from the manga that I have read that would be much better suited to save the world than I could ever hope to be. I'm a regular guy, with not an ounce of any special power. Hell, I don't even have any real talents. It's only through a bizarre series of events that I'm here. For some reason I still don't quite understand, I have a strange relationship with a girl with extraordinary power. I'm the only person able to influence her moods and behavior. One could possibly say that my influence is my power or talent. Personally, I think that I just happened to have been at the right place (or maybe wrong place) and said the right things (or the wrong things) to get me where I am today. I didn't initially want all this to happen, but in time I'd grown to accept it. Whether I liked it or not, I was the only person who had any hope of preventing the destruction of the universe.

Hope…that's about all I have going for me, right now.

For at the bottom of these steps was both my enemy and my objective. What did I have to do? Simple. Convince Haruhi's father not to ban his daughter from her club. How hard could it be right? Oruki is only an ordinary human, too. He didn't possess any special powers that I'd have to contend with. So why am I so scared?

It's simple. Despite the fact that the both of us are ordinary humans, it would be foolish to say that this was an even playing field. Far from it in fact. Physically, I was completely outmatched. That point was made abundantly clear when he first brought me to the dojo and proceeded to pummel me into oblivion. So there was no chance that I could bully Oruki into changing his mind. Mentally, I was not in much better shape. Only minutes ago, I was soundly thrashed in a contest of wits against him. No matter how hard I tried to lie about the SOS Brigade, Oruki easily saw through my deception and countered brutally. So tricking Oruki into changing his mind was equally unreasonable. There only one route to go. I'd have to combat him on the emotional level.

So how the hell do I do that? Do I beg him to change his mind and hope he shows mercy? I'd doubt that'd work. If there was one thing Oruki didn't have a lot of, it was mercy. Maybe I could scare him into changing his mind. How would I do that? Maybe, I'll tell him the truth, that if he didn't change his mind, the universe would end. Ha! He'd never believe that. Nobody would. Maybe I could convince him that if he didn't change his mind that his daughter would likely never forgive him and never love him again. I somehow doubt that'd work, either. He'd probably say "So be it!" and end it right there. Maybe I could convince him that the SOS Brigade is important to the school community and that we've done a lot good things for others. This was definitely a huge stretch mind you. The SOS Brigade has likely done about as much harm to the school community as it has helped. He didn't know that though. Dammit, none of these ideas seemed all that great.

It doesn't matter now. I'm near the bottom of the steps now, and he's almost in view. I sure would've liked to have seen the look on his face if he had known that he inadvertently caused the destruction of the universe. And he's not even some over the top super villain. Sure, he might be a bit of a bastard, but he's not evil. At least I don't think he is…

You know, this day had started off so good, too…

Oruki was sitting on the couch watching TV. His face still had obvious signs of displeasure. Clearly he was still pretty damn pissed off. Great. That'll make this easier… He saw me approach him, and I could see his anger rise even more.

"What the hell do you want?! I don't even want to look at you right now!"

Believe me, that makes the two of us…

"It's about our club," I said.

"I don't want to hear it!" yelled Oruki as he looked at the TV again.

I ignored what he said and continued. "The club is really important to her, and…"

He interrupted me before I could finish. "What part of I don't want to hear about it don't you understand?!" He then moved to the edge of the couch, an obvious non-verbal cue that if I didn't shut up and go that he would get up. I had a pretty good idea that him getting up would be a really bad thing.

Nevertheless, I knew that I had to stay. I'd be lying though if I said I wasn't slightly terrified. "She'd be devastated if her club was taken away from her. You have to let her keep going to it!"

"I don't have to do anything of the sort!" He then got on his feet. Oh boy… "So are you telling me that even though my daughter lied to my face repeatedly for the last year, I'm supposed to pretend it didn't happen and be okay with it?! Well you can #&*ing forget it!" He then began to walk towards in an intimidating manner. "And don't even get me started on you! I know now that you're a disgusting, lying piece of %^#! Did you really think that I wouldn't find out about you stupid club?!"

"I honestly didn't know that you didn't know until today."

"Bull%^#!"

Oruki was now almost up to me. I could see the veins in his forehead bulging. I swallowed hard. My heart was once again beating out of my chest. My fight or flight response was in full gear now. Personally, I really wished I could have chosen flight right at that moment, but what little rationality I still had left ordered me to stay put. The universe depended on it.

Oruki was now right in my face. He now spoke with a soft growl. "You have until the count of five to turn around and get your ass back in your room before I take your head and ram it through the front door."

I hope he's not serious. Please tell me he's not serious.

"One!"

Okay, he's serious. Dammit, I can't give up!

"The students at our school rely on our club for help!" Okay, that's a lie, but I had to try.

"Two!"

He's not listening. He either didn't believe me or didn't care. Either way, I wasn't getting anywhere fast.

"Three!"

"The SOS Brigade needs Haruhi. She's the clubs founder and its leader."

"Four!"

I then noticed that the sky had started turn dark. It was only maybe six o'clock right now, which was way too early for it to be dark during this time of year. It had to be Haruhi's doing. I then saw lighting. No doubt about it. This storm had almost certainly been conjured up by Haruhi's subconscious. A manifestation of her anger and despair. I began to wonder if we were inside closed space itself. No way to know really. Ones things for certain. I could not back down.

"Five!"

I looked at him sternly, ready for the worst. "Do what you must. I'm not backing down."

By now, I'd noticed that Naru-san had entered from the kitchen, a look of deep concern on her face. I then looked at Oruki one last time. A grin had shown itself on his face. I remember hearing a crack of thunder just as I saw it, making the moment all the more ominous.

"Have it your way…"

I was quickly grabbed by my hair and dragged to the door. I tried to ignore the pain in my scalp and braced myself, expecting him to actually ram my head through the door. I could hear Naru-san pleading with her husband to let me go, but she was ignored.

To my slight surprise, Oruki didn't ram my head through the door, but instead opened it and threw me outside. I used my arm to protect my head from landing on the sidewalk. The impact of landing on the concrete was quite painful, and it took a few seconds for me to recover and stand back up. At first I thought that maybe he was just kicking me out of the house, but when I saw him walk outside as well, I realized he had something else in store for me.

"You know, I was starting to think that you were alright, Kyon-kun. But, now I've seen you for what you really are. You're a punk, plain and simple!"

This is bad! Real bad! Was he about to do what I think he's is about to do? I'm so dead!

Before I could see it coming, I felt a tremendous blow land right on my left eye. I don't think I had time to process the pain that I felt when it happened. With what little sense I still had left, I tried to force myself to land on the grass, knowing it would be softer than the concrete. A moment later, I was face first on the ground. It took a few moments for me to recover all of my senses.

"You punks are all the same. You act all tough, but when you actually have to face up to something bigger than you, you always back down. I had hoped that our experiences at the dojo would have been enough for you to know better, but obviously you're not as smart as I thought."

He then picked me up from the ground, literally. He grabbed onto my shirt and belt and hoisted me above his head. The feeling of being lifted like this was incredibly uncomfortable, and I felt an enormous lack of control. He then tossed me several feet. I landed on the grass and bounced at least once before rolling to a stop. Damn, that hurt. I think he's really going to kill me.

I then felt something drip on my hand. What was that? Was it blood? When I opened my eyes, I noticed that it wasn't blood, but water. I felt a few more drops land on me before I realized that it was starting to rain. The wind had suddenly picked up unbelievably. I knew that it wouldn't be long before the rain would come down in a torrent. That sky was pitch black now, and I could see lighting strikes all around us. Was this the beginning of the end?

I struggled to my feet, doing what I could to ignore the pain. "You don't have to do this! Please, listen to me!"

"Why so you can lie to me some more?!"

He then launched another fist directly into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. I fell on my butt a second later, sending a shockwave throughout my body from the impact. In only two blows and two throws, I was already demolished. I had no idea how much more of this I could take.

It took a few seconds for me to regain my breath. I breathed as hard as I could to try and recover before I got up on one knee. The rain had picked up tremendously now and the both of us were now getting soaked. I looked up at him. He looked like some kind of possessed demon. Dammit, I don't want to die!

I finally stood up again and looked him straight in the eye. "You don't know what you're doing! I don't know how to explain it to you, but I mean it when I say that if you don't change you mind about this, you're going to regret it!"

"Shut up!"

I then felt another fist land right on my right cheek. I was on the ground for the fifth time. I soon discovered the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. I moved my tongue around the inside of my mouth to find a small gash on the inside of my cheek. My teeth apparently cut into it when I was punched.

After spitting out a little blood, I used whatever will power I had in me to drive myself back onto my feet. I slipped on the first attempt. The ground was completely saturated with water, and it was starting to get muddy. On my second attempt, I was more successful. Nevertheless, I felt like I'd been through a train wreck.

Oruki looked somewhat surprised that I'd gotten up again. He then went kicked me back down again. "Stay down, kid!"

Fortunately, the ground had softened enough at this point that the impact from the ground was not so bad. Nevertheless I didn't immediately have the strength to get back up. I felt the sensation of thousands of heavy rain drops landing all over me body. I opened my eyes and saw Oruki standing over me, breathing heavily, watching my every move. Eventually, he appeared satisfied that I was down for the count, so he turned around and began to walk away.

I don't know what came over me then. Was it my deep concern for the universe? Was it my desire to live? Or was it something more? I don't know. But I forced myself up once more and called out to Oruki. "Wait! Come back!"

Oruki looked back at me with confusion. "Glutton for punishment? Fine…" He then marched up to me and threw another punch to my gut, and another blow to my solar plexus. I crumbled once again, this time landing near his feet. I gave an audible cry of pain when he did that. I can't remember that last time I'd hurt so badly.

"I know that hurt, kid. Do yourself a favor and don't get back up. Don't make me have to send you to the hospital."

It took a few moments for what he said to register. I started thinking to myself that I'd probably never make it to the hospital before the world would end. Dammit, I have to get up again don't I. It hurts so bad. I just want to pass out. No, I can't! This sucks! Got to get up! Here we go…

By the time I tried to get up again, Oruki was almost to the door. When I finally lifted my head off the ground, I began to cough. I tasted some more blood in my mouth. Great, don't tell me I'm bleeding internally or something. Ignored this and continued to get up. I called out to Oruki once more to prevent him from getting inside. "Stop!"

Oruki turned around and appeared almost bewildered when he looked at me. He stared at me for a good few seconds before speaking. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He then walked towards me once again. The thunder around us had gotten louder than ever and the wind had reached a strong gale. Even Oruki himself appeared to be concerned with the weather outside. "Do you have a death wish or something?!"

When Oruki finally got up to me, I went and grabbed onto the front of his shirt with both hands and held onto it with all of my might. "I won't let you take our club away from her!"

Oruki looked down at me in amazement. He seemed almost at a loss for words. It took what almost seemed like forever before he could respond. "Why are you doing this?"

I didn't have a good answer for him. It wasn't for lack of trying; it's just that I wasn't sure myself. I'd seen in anime and manga where the hero would get the snot beaten out of him to the point of near death and they'd still get up. At some point they would always have something heroic or inspirational to say to the enemy, which would be the pinnacle of absolute awesomeness. The problem was that I never thought I'd be in a similar situation, so I never planned on having anything awesome to say for this kind of moment. So, now what? I need to say something. I guess I'll say whatever is on my mind…

"I'm doing this because I'm a Brigade member! And Haruhi is my Brigade Chief!"

…That was the corniest thing I've ever said in my entire life. I completely blew the moment. I really hoped beyond hope that no one other than Oruki heard that. If this were a story or an anime, I was sure that whoever saw or heard that line would be laughing their asses off at me.

Seconds later, I heard the sound of wet footsteps coming towards us quickly. "Dad, stop it!" Only moments later, Haruhi had come in between the two of us and had pushed her father away from me. She then held her arms out to the sides as if she was trying to protect me. "I won't let you hurt him anymore!"

You're a little too late if you ask me. I'm already plenty hurt.

Oruki stared at the both of us for a few seconds before groaning in frustration. I wondered if he was starting to feel some remorse. Before I could find out, Haruhi grabbed me by my hand and pulled me towards her. She put my arm around her shoulder and helped carry me into the house. It was then that I noticed Naru-san had been standing near the doorway the whole time, looking fairly distraught. "Are you okay?!"

I didn't get a chance to answer since Haruhi carried me right passed her and took me right up the stairs. A minute later, I was in the bathroom while sitting in the toilet. Haruhi began looking at my face and chest to inspect the damage. After about a minute, she sighed deeply.

"Idiot. You didn't have to go and pick a fight with him."

It was more of a thrashing than a fight. I never actually tried to attack him. Although I get the feeling that if I had the result would have been the same. I got the feeling that Haruhi would be a little more receptive to anything I would say right now, so I spoke. "I'm sorry…for telling your dad the truth about the club."

Haruhi stared at the floor looking somewhat ashamed. "It's not your fault…I should have told you that I hid it from them." She then stood up. "I'm going to get you an ice pack. Stay right here." She then walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

While I waited for her, I could feel the water all over my body rapidly absorbing the heat from my skin. Soon I was starting to get goose bumps all over my body as a chill went up my spine. I could also feel my eye and cheek getting puffy too. Man I felt like crap.

Soon Haruhi returned, ice pack in hand. She carefully placed in on my left eye. "Hold it in place for a while." When I placed my hand on the ice pack, my hand briefly touched Haruhi's. She seemed mildly startled when she felt my hand on hers. She then grabbed my other hand. "You're freezing. Why didn't you say anything?" She then went into the linen closet, grabbed the largest towel she could find, and draped it over me. It took a minute for the towel to help warm me up.

"You should get changed after you're done icing your eye. Let me look at it one more time." I took the ice pack off of it so she could look. She inspected my eye carefully. "It's definitely going to bruise."

It was only then that I'd realized that Haruhi's face was really close to mine. I could feel her breath on my face again, and I was quickly reminded of the other night when Haruhi snuck into my room. I felt my heart beginning to race as I continued to look into her amber orbs. For a moment, I'd completely forgotten about my miserable state and began to lose myself in the moment. It wasn't long before Haruhi made the same realization, and her eyes quickly shifted from my left eye to both my eyes. We were both motionless for what seemed like an eternity, our faces only a couple inches away. It could feel my neck tensing up, as if it was at war with itself. It almost felt like some of my muscles wanted to lean in towards her, and the other muscles were resisting. I could feel myself becoming dizzy as my confusion peaked. My eyes then quickly darted to her lips. The same lips that…yeah, I remember so clearly now. I remembered how they felt. So soft. I could feel my neck beginning to move ever so slightly towards her. And it looked like she was about to do the same. My heart continued to race harder and harder as we slowly moved forward until…

…until I heard the sound of someone clearing his throat…

Haruhi and I quickly turned towards the door. We both knew it was Oruki, but all we saw of him was his shoulder and arm. He was leaning against the wall next to the door outside, his back towards us. When I was sure it was him, I looked away, not wanting to look at him. I noticed Haruhi doing the same.

"Listen…about your club…we'll talk about it tomorrow…But for now I think it's best that you two go back to you rooms…"

After he said that, he walked away into was sounded like his room and closed the door. Haruhi stood up as well and began to walk towards the door. She paused before she reached it and looked back at me. "By the way…" She appeared to struggle with her words for a second. She looked almost embarrassed. "Thank you…"

I returned her a smile. I'd gotten an apology and a thank you from her all in one week. I never thought I see the day. "No problem. Did you expect any less from a Brigade member?"

She smiled lightly at me before she started to walk off. "Just be sure to get changed before you catch a cold. That's the last thing we need right now."

After she had gone out of site, I slowly and painfully got off the toilet seat and walked to my room. My school clothes were soaked and muddy. I didn't know what I was going to do tomorrow. Oh well…

After I changed into something considerably dryer, I went and laid on my bed to rest. It wasn't until I had a chance to think that something started to really worry me. Was I about to kiss Haruhi? That moment we had before Oruki showed up...there was no doubt about it. I was really going to kiss her. Why? What was I thinking? Am I losing my mind? No, maybe my brain was knocked out of whack from those blows to my head. That must be it. No way that if I was in my right state of mind would I have done that. Yeah…

Luckily, the ringing from my cell phone had managed to rip me back into reality. I had a pretty good idea it was Koizumi again, hopefully with good news. "Hello?"

"It's me again. I don't know what you did, but I'm glad you did it. The closed space's growth has slowed significantly. Not entirely mind you, but enough that we can handle it from here."

"That's good. In any case, you're likely to find out how I saved the universe soon. It'll be impossible for me to hide the bruises."

Koizumi was silent for a second, as if he wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I see. Well, as long as it worked. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to see you tomorrow, seeing as it'll take a very long time to shut this closed space down." I noticed his voice only barely hid his lack of enthusiasm for his upcoming task.

"Well, have fun Koizumi."

"I'll do my best…" said Koizumi in a tone that obviously already knew fun was not on the menu for him.

I hung up the phone and lied back down. I noticed that the sky had cleared up a bit. I did what I could to fall asleep, but I was pretty wound up after what had happened earlier today. I turned my head and noticed the wooden turtle I had gotten from Oruki. I couldn't help but feel like that it was mocking me somehow. With the way I was feeling, I almost wanted to throw the damn thing out the window.

A small while later, I heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me," said Naru-san. "I thought I'd bring you dinner. Can I come in?"

"Of course," I said. Naru-san was always welcome to come in my room…wait, that came out wrong. Never mind…

Naru-san opened the door, revealing a tray in her hand. It's Japanese night, right? I was starting to miss food I was actually used to. I thanked her after she placed the meal on my bed. She then stood there for a couple minutes watching me eat. She looked somewhat depressed, although she tried to hide it with her honey sweet smile.

"Is something wrong, Naru-san?"

Naru-san sighed heavily before answering. "I'm sorry I didn't stop my husband before. It's hard for me to stand up to him…I don't like confrontation."

I smiled at Naru-san, letting her know that she was forgiven. "I understand. You're definitely not the violent type. As mad as he was, I'm not sure anyone could have stopped him."

"I know it can be hard to believe, but my husband's a good man," said Naru-san with a frown. "It's just sometimes he gets carried away. He used to be a ruffian when he was young. I know I shouldn't make excuses for him, but I'm sure he feels bad for what he did."

It was then that Naru-san appeared to have thought of something. "Oh, before I forget, let go and wash your school clothes for you. I'm sure they're an absolute mess."

"Oh, thank you. I appreciate it."

After grabbing my school clothes, Naru-san politely bowed and left my room. I continued to enjoy my meal, savoring the taste. While I ate, I heard Naru-san knock on the door to Haruhi's room. I could barely make out what they were saying.

"Haru-chan! I've got dinner for you!"

"Go away! I'm not hungry!" Obviously, Haruhi's far from feeling joyous. Seems like she's going to go through one of her bouts of melancholy again. Not that I'd blame her.

"Okay! I'll leave the tray outside your door if you change your mind."

That was last thing I heard from anybody for the rest of the night. After finishing my meal, I put the tray down on the floor and lied down on the bed. With my stomach full of food, it was much easier to fall asleep. It still sucked that my day when from really good to absolute crap. I just hoped that things would get better tomorrow. I still didn't know what's going to happen to the Brigade. I'd like to think that I didn't get the crap beaten out of me for no reason…

Sorry for making the chapter a little shorter than usual, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging. I certainly hoped this chapter wasn't a let down for you.

As for some of you thinking this was the climax, you are wrong. I've still got a lot a great surprises coming your way. I'm actually not even halfway done with the fic (although I am close to halfway).

So, what will happen to SOS Brigade? We'll find out next chapter…