I'm just the super-updater right now. Hope I'm not too fast for you guys. I'm just on a roll with writing this story. Enjoy!

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With our recent departure from the island; the days coming ahead looked like they were going to fit right into the norm. Even I had no idea what Haruhi had planned next. Come to think of it; I never have any idea of what Haruhi has planned next.

Our date was shorter than I had expected; even though it had actually been unplanned in the first place. Haruhi made sure to eat her fill after giving me a "reward" for all the time I had taken in putting up with her antics. I could only help but put on a fake smile as I barely paid for the bill at the end of our meal; granted I didn't eat so much myself. Haruhi managed to bring up a sudden craving for octopus and sea urchin that evening; both of which weren't cheap.

So our date had ended with Haruhi giving me a slightly forceful kiss; even though I wasn't actually struggling through it. I doubt you'd be able to struggle with her kisses. A good way to describe them might be that they're sweet, but also undoubtedly rough.

It's an odd thing to describe; I know. But I've stopped questioning such things as this. It's useless to do so anyway.

Walking home wasn't much of a bother; especially since it hadn't even turned into the night yet. The sun was just beginning to set; and the color of the rays that managed to peak through the sky reminded me of Haruhi's eyes. I couldn't help but realize how much she still is on my mind; even after I confessed my true emotions to her just a week ago.

But she is an important factor in my life. She may be God; but she is also my personal variable; the one part of my life that remains unchanging; but changes constantly at the same time. Her inexhaustible optimism, willingness to go impossible lengths, and overall bossy attitude towards everyone; are probably the very things that have attracted me to her like a paper clip attracts to a magnet.

It's strange. I've always been the reasonable one of this bunch. The one who always was supposed to think with his logical mind; and not with his knowledge of classified information, knowledge of obscure theories, or knowledge of being autonomous. I've been the one who always ends up dropping a philosophical anecdote into a conversation; or throwing some witty comment. But Haruhi changed all that.

Did she really change me that much? Has she been morphing my previous attitude this entire time; whether she knows it or not? Or perhaps I'm still the same; but I'm not as critical as I used to be towards Suzumiya-san. That could always be it. Perhaps I've just gotten used to her enough as a friend that going another step after that wasn't really much of a difference. Or maybe I'm not recognizing it the way I should be….

I don't know. And right now; I'd like to just go to sleep. Finally getting home and crawling into this same bed and resting my head down would be the best thing ever right now. Or maybe I could continue thinking for a little while. Maybe I could just think about Haruhi's hair. It's brown, wavy, and she puts orange ribbons in it.

Yeah….orange ribbons….

Ugh. I fall asleep too easily sometimes. Because now I'm waking up; and a groan emanates from my mouth when I realize that it's now a Monday morning. This means multiple things. It means I must go on the same hike to school again; and wait to be pestered by the same sister.

And my fears become realized even as I announce them in my mind. I can already hear the sound of child-sized feet stamping down the hallway towards the door of my room. They were increasing speed with each passing second; and I knew that I wouldn't make it to the door in time; even as I struggled to get out of my covers.

My littler sister ran into my room with the energy of a chimpanzee charged with excessive volts of electricity. The smile on her face always bested whatever Itsuki could come up with on a daily basis; and her high-pitched voice was cute to some; and annoying to others.

Unfortunately; it was always annoying to me.

"Kyon-kun! You're awake! I never got to see you the other night." She said to me; with the sweetest possible voice she could muster as she hugged me tightly; her tiny arms wrapping around my waist.

I looked down; not so much affected by this act of affection. I waited for a few seconds; knowing that she'd probably let go soon enough.

"I had things to do. I'll try not coming back as late next time." I responded; partially lying. I didn't really ever want to come back early; mostly because if my sister did manage to see me; she'd start dragging me into whatever games she wanted to play. And that wasn't my ideal way to spend my evening. It's safe to say most teenage boys don't want to being playing games with a girl; unless that girl is the same age as them. That was a joke; of course….

My little sister gave me another one of her cutesy smiles; before finally unlatching from me and running out of my room. Her energized state was clearly apparent. I just wanted to get to school as quickly as possible; so the chance of running into Taniguchi would be less.

Brushing my teeth, brushing my hair, putting my shoes on and grabbing a quick breakfast were the all the parts of my morning that usually didn't change. I always ended up getting to the start of my usual school route as quickly as possible. Upon the start of my walking; I felt relieved at the sight of no Taniguchi. At least so far.

I was lucky today. There was no sign of that self-deluded boy at all. I had managed to get to school without hearing another of his "What's going on with Suzumiya?" rants.

Now that was certainly a good start to my morning.

As always; Haruhi was situated behind my seat; staring out the window as I entered the classroom. It's been her usual hobby to always do this; and I remember in the first days of me meeting her; she would be doing the same exact thing, even when her seat was all the way in the middle of the room.

"Haruhi." I said, my tone a little more energetic than it usually was. The morning was never my cup of tea.

"Kyon." She responded; her attention no longer on the window; but now on me. Her eyes shimmered as always. I never ceased to be amazed by the fact that this girl had a nearly inexhaustible amount of energy.

We stared at each other for a few moments; and this was mostly because I didn't know what I should say next. Was there really anything to say? I didn't have anything in my mind that might pertain to time travelers, espers or aliens; so that was out. I really didn't want to worry Haruhi by mentioning the crane, and the fact is; she might only get more excited and tenacious if I say anything that would allude to the crane we saw being a suspicious being.

But before I could truly say anything at all, be it about a crane or not, Haruhi leaned forward; giving me a soft peck on the cheek. She didn't move away, while my eyes were just able to catch Taniguchi walking into the room; and he was looking almost tired and worn out. I assume he must have overslept; and that's why I had managed to avoid him this morning.

With Haruhi's face still so close to mine; I watched as Taniguchi's eyes went wide at the sight of us. He put on an expression that looked like extreme shock. It wasn't long before a pointing finger went up; and he exclaimed the following words.

"Look! They are going out! Suzumiya is puckering up for Kyon! It's all true!"

Was this his attempt to embarrass us or something? Because if you ask me; he was just making himself look like more of an idiot than he already was. And it's safe to say he's a big enough idiot already.

The responses I had expected came quick. No one in the rest of the class really gave Taniguchi any attention at all. They had looked back at him once, looked towards me and Haruhi, and then turned their attentions back to whatever they had been originally doing in the first place. Taniguchi's moment had lasted for only a second, and now he just stood there; his finger slowly getting lower as he looked back and forth. He obviously didn't expect to be nearly ignored.

And so; class began shortly after, with the defeated Taniguchi returning to his usual seat. Haruhi had mostly ignored the entire fiasco; burying her head in her arms as usual.

How the hell does she pass this class when she doesn't even pay attention in the first place? I manage to stay awake; and her marks somehow are superior to mine. She is quite an enigma.

And now I'm forced to pay attention to something boring again. I hope this day goes fast….

Whenever I happen to point that out in my mind, the day actually manages to go slow; and I end up having to pay attention through a very sluggish school day. Haruhi gets the luxury of sleeping and still passing with good marks; and I would be lying if I didn't say I was very jealous of her for that.

Lunch involved me eating quickly; mostly because Haruhi had disappeared from behind my seat; having walked off to who knows where. Sometimes she's in the mood to eat; and other times she simply leaves me to the fate of eating with Taniguchi and Kunikida.

Surprisingly; neither one approached me as they usually did. Kunikida was probably sick or something; as I didn't spot him in school at all. Taniguchi didn't so much even have the urge to come over and eat with me. Not that I had really wanted to eat with him. It just surprises me that he was more into just being quiet the entire break period.

Wow. He actually realized himself as saying something outlandish for once. Well that's one thing he's got over Suzumiya-san. He can admit his faults.

After the rest of my school day; the one thing I was now looking forward to was the same thing I managed to look forward to every single day. The time I would spend in the SOS Brigade clubroom; formerly the Literary clubroom.

It felt surprisingly good to turn the doorknob which would always allow me access to the room. I could feel a smile on my face emerge as I entered. But what I saw in front of me were specific sights that I did not expect at all.

The most prominent of them was the state of Yuki Nagato. I had seen her first before anyone; mostly because she was doing something I never thought I would ever see her do in a million years.

Nagato-san was sleeping. She was literally sleeping. This alien had laid her head down on the table in the middle of the clubroom, and like a young child; she was lightly breathing; in equal intervals. Her usually indifferent eyes were now closed; and there was an aura of gentle calm around her as she slept.

I was very confused now. I noticed that Itsuki, Haruhi and Mikuru were all present in the clubroom as usual; but their locations and what they were currently doing wasn't all that important at the moment. I sat down in an available chair; watching in disbelief as Nagato-san continued to sleep in front of my very eyes.

"This is certainly intriguing, is it not?" a voice said from next to me; and the fact it almost made me jump out of my seat wasn't at all surprising. It was none other than Itsuki Koizumi; and he wore his usual plastic smile.

"She's asleep. There's nothing really intriguing about that." I replied; my face going into an expression that alluded to Haruhi being in the room; and that this wasn't the best place to talk about such things. Koizumi smiled again; and when I looked to see what Haruhi was doing, I understood why.

She had a large set of black headphones on, and her face was close to the computer screen. I could only assume that she procured the headphones from the nearby Computer Research Society; because I don't really remember the last time we had something like that just lying around in the clubroom. But whatever Haruhi was watching was keeping her occupied from anything else; and I finally got the notion to relax.

"She's asleep. I didn't think she needed to sleep at all." I said to Koizumi; almost sounding the slightest bit concerned.

"And you are correct. She does not require sleep; unlike human beings and most other living creatures. This is very strange indeed. I watched her reading her book just a moment ago; and she just suddenly started looking drowsy, until she finally put her head down and fell asleep." Koizumi replied; his eyes observing the still sleeping Nagato-san. It was a little creepy, to say the least.

"So why is this happening all of a sudden? What the hell is going on?"

I couldn't help but ask Koizumi a question like that. He was always the one with the information. He was always the one who ended up having an answer to whatever questions I asked; and he even managed to have answers to questions I wouldn't ask. As much as I didn't want to admit it; Itsuki Koizumi was an encyclopedia of information.

He just never tells me everything.

Surprisingly; Mikuru Asahina stepped forward before Koizumi could even utter a single syllable. She was clad in her usual maid outfit; an almost nervous expression on her face. She seemed more nervous than usual.

"It's not just Nagato-san, Kyon. I…I can't remember a lot of things lately. I keep forgetting the classified information I'm supposed to usually know……" she said; her voice shy and quiet.

I might have expected Mikuru to possibly be forgetful of things; but there was something in her voice that sounded very truthful and genuine. I had no choice but to believe her.

"I must admit that I've been forgetful myself. A few important things have slipped my mind recently. It's becoming quite a problem. Not only that, but I've been having trouble controlling my abilities. They seem to go on and off now." Itsuki added; attempting to keep his voice suave and calm. Something was telling me he was trying to hide nervousness.

I wasn't that much of a moron. Even Koizumi couldn't figure out what was going on. I looked behind him for a moment; worried that Suzumiya-san could be listening to us talking.

Nope. She still had those huge headphones on her ears. It was kind of cute to watch her, actually. Her face was intensely focused on whatever action was going on the screen, and she was leaning herself forward as much as possible. She looked like a little girl who was curious about the tiny inhabitants of an ant farm; although the expression on her face was more determined than curious.

"So you're all saying that you've been forgetting things? And the traits that make you different from everyone else aren't as prominent as before?" I asked, and my response was a nod each from both Itsuki and Mikuru.

Just as I had expected.

So the both of them were losing the parts of what made them an esper and a time traveler; respectively. What did this mean? Of course it had something to do with Suzumiya-san. It always had something to do with Haruhi. Was she hiding emotions from us? For all I know; another catastrophe could already be in the making. I had gotten closer to Suzumiya-san these past weeks. I should know more than I already know now!

But I wasn't being affected by whatever was going on. I could only assume that was because of the fact that I was utterly and completely normal. I was the human among God, a time traveler, an esper and an alien. I barely had any idea of the reason that Haruhi had chosen me; save for the fact she had secretly been in love with me. So if I was immune to all this, then that must mean I was capable of doing something to change it.

But how can I change something when I don't even know the source of the problem? Ugh. This was messing with my head.

Something managed to catch my attention however. It was a stirring that was occurring right next to me. Yuki Nagato was slowly beginning to wake up. I watched as her eyes began to open with the speed of hangar doors.

It seemed that Yuki was surprised. Her eyes scanned the surroundings that were closest to her; which happened to be myself and Koizumi. It wasn't long before she brought herself to sit up. She sat in front of us now; fully awake. Her hair looked almost messy; as if she hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

Something was peculiar though. I could see bags under her eyes. She looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep for the past few days. And who's to say she did? As a humanoid interface; I'd expect she wouldn't really need sleep at all. But here she was in front of me; looking as tired as I might look on any given morning.

"Nagato-san?" I said to her, waving my hand in front of her face to make sure she really was fully awake. She didn't physically react to it; but she spoke in her usual autonomous voice.

"I am operational again. My systems needed an unforeseen recharging period. It was not part of the day's quota."

"You mean you didn't intend to sleep? You just fell asleep like human beings usually do?" I asked; now curious. I had never known Yuki to express much similarity to the human beings she was probably created to mimic.

"Yes."

It was surprising to note how much her responses were beginning to sound almost emotional. She was revealing hints of an actual personal voice; and that was highly unexpected. I never thought she had her own voice to begin with.

Before Yuki could say anymore; I heard Haruhi stand up from her seat in front of the computer. She put her headphones down on the chair; and I turned to see an almost melancholic expression on her face. She apparently wasn't satisfied with whatever she had been watching.

"You can all go, I guess. Today is a break day for the Brigade; because I can't think of anything for us to do."

This wasn't something I had expected to hear. Didn't Haruhi mention before how she had plans for us? What happened to all those plans? I was beginning to fear that another case of melancholy was already coming upon Haruhi. And it was now linking itself to all the strange things that Koizumi, Nagato and Asahina-san were experiencing.

I turned to face Yuki for a moment. She blinked in front of me; surprising me again.

"My systems are showing signs of a need of organic sustenance. This is also unforeseeable."

Now Nagato is hungry? This is certainly intriguing; as Koizumi might say.

But it's scary as well. Because now something is going on around me, and I don't know what it is yet. Does this mean that the universe is threatening to end again? What exactly the hell is going on?!?

I sighed. What's the point of asking? Whether I like it or not; these questions answer themselves only when they want to. As always….