Chapter 14:

And there it was.

I knew, knew in my heart, that I couldn't keep lying to myself anymore. Haruhi was Haruhi. She was a pill, she was obnoxious and self-centered and cranky, and I liked every single thing about her. There was no substitute. I just wanted her. I wanted her in my arms, in my life, for now, forever.

But there was a problem. She didn't seem too happy to see me right now. Even though I'd sorted everything out in my mind, even though, fighting it all the way, I'd finally said hell to rationality and logic, and given in to the human urges of emotion and passion, it still remained that it took two people to make a relationship, and ours was apparently one short right now.

I stepped forward from where, just seconds before, I had been bending over in agony and ecstasy, and grabbed her shoulders, possibly on the rough side. "We need to talk," I reiterated, my voice lowering and my pulse quickening.

She paled so quickly that I held out my arms lest she faint. But she didn't. Her face turned red as quickly as it had lost color, and she turned on her heel and began stomping down the hall. I could see the faces of left-over students turning apprehensive, and they gave her a wide berth of room. On the other hand, they didn't give me the same benefit, so as I collected my senses and determinedly set off after her, I had to work through the groups that re coalesced in remarkably inconvenient places. Muttering, "Sumimasen, sumimasen" as I shouldered past them, all I could think of was, "She's going, and if I don't speak to her now, I'll lose her forever."

I made it through the worst of the traffic and broke into a trot as I watched her dark hair float around the corner. I didn't know where she was going. I doubt she knew where she was going, either. But we were going there together.

"Haruhi...Haruhi, matte!" I think she could have won the world-championship for speed-walking right then; I couldn't see how I was barely able to keep sight of her while practically running, and she hadn't lifted both feet from the floor yet.

At one point, she must have doubled back, because I stood at the three-way hallway intersection perplexedly, trying to figure out which way she'd gone. Then, somewhere in my brain was the whisper, "I'm over here!" like a taunt, or maybe a plea. I followed the voice and saw her turning yet another corner.

I'd almost caught up to her when the door to my immediate right opened, and Wakayama-san of Asahina's class stepped out with a stern look on his face.

"Kyon, where are you going in such a hurry? I need to talk to you about something."

"Not right now," I panted, attempting to sidestep the teacher, but failing. He gave me a strange look.

"Now listen, I heard that there was an episode over the summer break where Asahina disappeared for a night. Can you explain to me why that is?"

I gritted my teeth. "I'm sorry, but it's important that I go right now. I'll come explain afterward, okay?"

He narrowed his eyes at me with folded arms and asked, suspiciously, "Why?"

Damn honor. Damn appearances, respect, and everything else. Life is more important than tradition. I dashed around the teacher and ignored his protests of, "Kyon! Get back here right now!"

Haruhi...wait for me, please...

I knew where she was without thinking, and sprinted to the now-abandoned music room. As I'd expected, she was sitting at the piano, playing large, loud chords which brought the random name "Rachmaninoff" to mind. When she saw that I entered, she just increased her volume.

I marched over to the piano and stood next to the bench. She ignored me completely and continued playing. Annoyed, I reached over and jerked her hands off of the keyboard, closing the key cover as I did so.

"Haruhi," I said, authoritatively, "Just listen."

Her eyes spake trepidation and anticipation at me, and then, abruptly, she shook off my hands which still held hers captive, and got up from the bench, walking around the opposite side of the piano. Her figure cast a long, fast-moving shadow across the dark-brown wood of the grand from the golden window behind, and I attempted to cut her off before she could get all the way around. I didn't see the amplifier lying innocently on the floor and tripped over it grandly, face-planting on the floor. By the time I'd picked myself up, she'd made good her exit and whisked out the door. I followed.

And it continued like that. I don't know how she managed to walk so fast, but, as the hallways began to empty as a result of the end of club-activities, I finally started to catch up to her.

At a certain point, I decided that the situation had become ridiculous. Not only were we garnering strange looks from the few students and teachers who were left in the halls, but I knew that there was one way to stop her and I didn't want to do it. But I gave in eventually.

Reaching ahead, I caught her wrist in mine and dragged her into a nearby clubroom, ignoring her protests the entire way, slammed the door shut, and pinned her against the wall, the hand that was grasping her wrist crushed against the wall next to her ear, the other firmly planted where her shoulder met her chest to keep her there.

It wasn't the most uncompromising situation, I'll admit. To all intents and purposes, it appeared that I had abducted the poor, innocent girl, and was about to do who-knows-what to her. It didn't help that her eyes were watering from the fact that I was holding her wrist too hard. I released it gently, making a mental note, yet again, that she was more fragile than she looked.

"Haruhi," I began, for-who-knows-what time, "Onegaishimasu. Please, please, please, just listen to me."

She hissed at me from against the wall, and I felt the heat of her seething anger creeping onto my cheeks, or maybe I was just blushing from the close contact. "Why should I, huh? After what you just did with Mikuru-chan, why should I even bother listening to you? What are you, some kind of playboy who just has his way with whomever he wants?"

I cut off her protests suddenly by leaning in and pressing my lips to the corner of her mouth. She stopped talking, maybe even stopped breathing, and I could feel her expression softening at the contact. I wanted desperately to move my mouth over and press it against hers, to amend my mistake from earlier and never let go.

But that would completely negate the purpose, so I pulled back up and looked at her wide eyes. "That's all."

She blinked in astonishment, realizing her mistake. "That's all?" Then the other side hit. "That's ALL? What, you think something like that is so asexual, huh? Do you have any idea what that does to a girl? Even if it's not a real kiss, it's like a promise. Why can't guys get that?"

"Why can't girls figure out that half the time guys push them away, it's because they can't take it anymore?" I bellowed back, and she winced as some of the fly-away spittle hit her on the cheek. I sighed and fiddled around in my pocket, pulling out my handkerchief and gently wiping it away. She closed her eyes at the touch. But I continued.

"Listen, you've got to help me out, Haruhi. Right now, all I can think about is your mouth, and your body, and how you feel pressed up against me." To demonstrate, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her tight to me. Even though I couldn't see her expression, I could hear her ragged breathing against my chest. I myself couldn't help trembling. "Please, just help me out a little. If I don't touch you, that doesn't mean that I don't want to touch you. It's that once I start, I can't stop. I have to have you right then, right there, and damn the consequences. It sucks, it really does, and I'm sorry. But please try to understand. I need you to understand."

Then I heard snickering behind me and closed my eyes. Idiot. I can't believe it.

I let go of her and turned around. Six pairs of amused eyes had been watching our antics the entire time. Sure enough, we had ended up in the Student Council meeting room, and they were holding an extra-long meeting today.

The president cleared his throat, the corners of his mouth twitching, and announced to the rest of the council, "Well, I think that wraps it up for today. Please thank our guests for demonstrating the importance of enforcing the separate-rooms policy for the upcoming second-year class trip." They all began to applaud.

Haruhi looked a peculiar shade of green.

I reached up and smacked my forehead with one hand, taking the opportunity to massage the bridge of my nose while I was at it. I was too busy being embarrassed to note that the thoroughly-humiliated Haruhi had slipped out of the room.

Not again...

I gave chase yet once more. She was heading back to the Literature Club room, angry stomps echoing in the by-now-deserted hallway. I picked up my pace. She broke out into a full run.

I don't know why, but right at that moment, my heart felt like it was going to burst from the pain. The pain of the confession. The pain of her turning her back on me, again. The pain of being separated from her physically. I think that one trumped all the rest.

She reached the room before I caught up to her, and seized her backpack from where she had left it on the table. I blocked the open door with my body, gasping for breath, and refused to move. I didn't want to do what I'd done to her earlier again, but at the same time, I couldn't let her leave without her reply. I just couldn't.

Her eyes were flashing like a brush-fire under a sunset as she stood there, seething, and then abruptly she turned and walked toward the window. I panicked, thinking she actually meant to jump out from the third story floor rather than face me, and I scooted over there as fast as possible to prevent such a thing happening. Of course, it was all a setup; she sidestepped me easily and sprinted for the door.

And here, I will admit, I was absolutely desperate, so I flung myself into midair and actually tackled her to the floor. She fell on her stomach and twisted around under me so that she was able to face me, somehow having the upper hand even while lying on the floor, and began beating on my chest with her fists. I let her. It was more important to get out what I had to say.

"Haruhi," I pleaded, "Go out with me." Shocked, she stopped hitting me, and I continued. "Just once. I don't care if you get tired of me and dump me the next day. Look, I know I'm just a normal, boring guy. I don't have any special powers or anything. I'm not even an esper." I conveniently left off the part where there actually was an attractive guy of her acquaintance who was an esper. "But give me a chance, just once, to show you how to have fun, not like other people, but the way you want to have fun."

I closed my eyes and waited for Armageddon. As in, "I'm armageddon outta here."

To my surprise, all she said was, "Yes."

I couldn't believe my ears as I opened my eyes and stared down at her. "Really?" I asked. Without waiting for a reply, I pushed myself up from the floor and reached down to pull her back up, too.

She flipped her hair as she stood, and folded her arms, scowling. "But I'll probably break up with you after the first date." She swung her backpack over her shoulders and began walking at a brisk pace back down the hallway.

I fell into step with her, not ready to stop speaking with her yet. "I'll just ask you out again, you know. What will you say then?"

"I'll say yes again," she said, not looking at me, though a blush was creeping over her delicate cheekbones.

I let myself smile. Suddenly, she paused, so that I had to take a couple more steps before turning around to face her.

She was glaring very fixedly at a crack at the floor, but she spoke lowly. "Ne, Kyon..."

I took a step forward and pulled her chin up with my hand so that her eyes flickered up to meet mine. She blushed deeper. "Yes?" I asked gently.

She hesitated. "Thank you for not asking me out over the phone."

Of course I hadn't.

In the end, it was Haruhi's story.

Author's Notes: The end! Well, sort of. This is the last chapter chronologically. If it seems a little weird, it's because of the chapters that come before it, still to come. I have to admit, I had my work cut out for me, writing it this way (sigh). But it was challenging, and that's fun =)

The "armageddon outta here" joke is not mine. The honor belongs to Eddie Izzard, bless his cross-dressing, dirty-mouthed soul.

Translations:

Sumimasen: excuse me

Matte: wait

Onegaishimasu: I beg you