In the SOS Brigade, we don't get weekends off; at this point I'm well aware of that. But you know, would it kill Haruhi to just let me sleep in once or twice? Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly okay with running all over town, wasting my Saturday.I just wish I could stay in bed past 10:00 for once.

And so that morning I got up, scrambled over to my closet still half-asleep, and picked out some clothes for the day. Oh casual jacket, what would I do without you? I skipped eating breakfast because I figured we'd be getting a bite to eat anyway while we planned out the days adventures. It was probably going to be the same adventures as usual, but you know us-creatures of habit for sure.

Eyes filled with sleep, I halfheartedly peddled my bike towards the station we were going to meet up at. I should probably have been going a little faster so as not to upset Haruhi and keep the brigade waiting, but I was already positive I'd be there last, so I may as well have let myself go at a more leisurely pace. So leisurely, in fact, that I nearly fell asleep and swerved into oncoming traffic. Nice going Kyon.…Oh hell, even I'm saying it now.

So after fifteen or so minutes of making sure not to accidentally swerve in front of a semi-truck, I arrived at the station. You could probably guess what Haruhi thought of my fashionable lateness. Her mouth looked like an upside down V as she stared at me with arms crossed. I was looking on at her from across a crowd of people, and I can't say I didn't get the sudden urge to just leave and avoid the conflict. But you know what? I like earth. I wasn't going to possibly doom it by irritating Haruhi. Or at the very least, force Koizumi off to play giant-slaying red pinball.

Man that analogy sucked.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Do you think this is a joke or something?" That was Haruhi. I don't need to tell you that she was mad at me. (I just did anyway, though.)

"No I just-"

"You think this is a joke, don't you?" She sounded like a teacher scolding me for goofing off in the middle of class.

"Haruhi I-" Typical of her, never letting me get a single word in. You know it's hard to make excuses when you're doing that, Haruhi.

"Penalty!"

Having seen that coming a mile away, I was already getting out my wallet. We gathered at a fast food joint because it was the most healthy thing to do (not). After ordering up some 'healthy' food, we (once again) decided to split up into two groups and (once again) decided the best way to do so was by drawing tooth picks the same way as always. Man are we ever going to do things differently? At least it wasn't dangerous.

I reached for a toothpick and accidentally pricked the end of my finger. A small, crimson drop of blood dripped out.
…Funny how that works.

I drew the toothpick that had just attacked me and it was one of the ones Haruhi had marked with a red sharpie. Next, Haruhi drew hers (unmarked), then Miss Asahina (unmarked), Koizumi took his next (marked, wonderful) and finally Nagato drew an unmarked toothpick.

I cocked an eyebrow at Haruhi. "Girls day out, huh?"

"Whatever," she looked off to the side, clearly annoyed with my in no way offending comment. Miss Asahina smiled earnestly at me, and Nagato, well, you can guess what her face looked like.

"So I guess it looks like we're stuck with each other, hm?" You guess? Koizumi was smiling at me-sickeningly white teeth as always. If anybody was to make me feel self conscious about the inside of my mouth, it'd be this guy.

He led me away from the ladies and into a less crowded part of town and towards some random building. I don't think he had an agenda, I think he was just going to lead me around aimlessly. No objections here, just promise no giant-slaying red pinball. (Yeah, I had to use that phrase again. Go ahead and sue me.)

"So where and what exactly are we going to go and do?"

"Well I figured the best thing we could really do is look out for anything strange like Haruhi insists ardently," he kept up his perpetual smile. Come to think of it, everyone in the SOS brigade seems to have their own default facial expression setting. Well, except for me. Probably. Let me know if you notice something, okay?

"Ahuh…And why are you leading me up a building?" That was what he was doing, by the way. It seemed like a big, tall rectangle. Why? Because it was a big tall rectangle. It simply reeked of average, boring office building. It wasn't the first time he'd ever done this same thing, though. I got the feeling of déjà vu. …Ugh, forget, I don't want to hear about déjà vu ever again.

"Well, I figure, what better place to look out for strange things than the roof of a building, you know?" he opened the door to said roof and led me out towards the edge.

"Are we even allowed to be up here?"

"Oh I don't think that that is going to be a problem."

"…Please don't tell me it belongs to your 'colleagues' or something." No really. Don't.

He shrugged at me, looking ever so cheerful and innocent. I'll take that as a yes.

We looked at out at the town below us for a bit. I couldn't tell if Koizumi was actually looking for strange things, but I sure wasn't. I just stared off and my mind wandered. Where did it wander to you ask? I couldn't help but start thinking of a few days ago. Was Nagato seriously following me? Or maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me. It was really hot then. It probably didn't matter, but my brain had a habit of never giving things a rest. Well, it didn't use to have that habit, but after nearly being murdered by a humanoid int-…after nearly being murdered by an alien, you kind of want to know what exactly is really going on.

"Hey, Koizumi," I decided to inquire about the situation with him. Maybe I could attain some insight about Nagato from him. Oh man, I wish this wasn't bothering me so much! It really shouldn't be…things are always like this anyway. Ugh.

"Yes?" he turned his head and smiled at me. I know. Shocking.

"About Nagato. Do you think she's been acting strange lately?"

"Not at all," god damn his cheerful demeanor. "I think that she has been acting the same as she always does. I haven't seen any changes in her behavior. Why? Have you?"

"Well, no. I just…" I tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. She hasn't been acting differently. Talk about phrasing the question wrong…

"Hmm?" He leaned in close to me, totally violating my personal space. I took a step back accordingly.

"I've been trying to talk to her more lately to get to know her better. I always seem to end up alone with her at one point or another lately…"

"Oh?" He looked at me as though I were guilty of something. "I must say Kyon, I always thought Miss Suzumiya was more of your type…"

I jabbed him lightly in the shoulder. "That's not what I mean."

"Only joking," he smirked. " I can't say I can offer any advice on the matter. The best that I can tell you is to treat her like you would anyone else. She seems to like you, have you noticed? Act normal, and she'll probably start to seem more comfortable around you. Learn about her a bit, and act accordingly."

"That's what I've been trying to do, more or less."

"I see," sounds like something I'd say.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This conversation was starting to seem like a failed endeavor. Am I doomed to awkward conversations with all of my friends this month? "I just want to have a normal friendship with her. Is that too much to ask?"

"I wouldn't say so," again, he came a bit too close. "Don't think too hard about it. Just talk to her normally, like you would with anyone else. Maybe then it won't seem like you two have such a strained relationship. Do what you do best and be a normal, ordinary high school student around her." Is it just me or did that sound a bit offensive. Regardless I tried to understand what he was saying best I could. What I gathered was basically 'Do what you were already doing, just be more cool about it.' …Whatever, I'd try my best to take his advice anyway.

Man, something this simple shouldn't feel like an exhausting ordeal.

So after that somewhat awkward and somewhat fruitless talk, we headed back down having seen nothing out of the ordinary to meet back up with the girls at the station. I had a mild headache, didn't help that they had gotten there first and I was once again treating lunch. I asked Koizumi if he'd help with the bill, since we did arrive at the same time and all, he was as guilty of the penalty as I was. But he insisted that he'd left his wallet at home on accident.
My ass.

Much "healthy" food later, we drew some more toothpicks to decide on the groups for the second split up. I'll save you my speech on how this is what always happens during these things.

I drew my toothpick, careful not to prick myself this time, and once again got one of the two marked toothpicks. Haruhi drew next, and also got a marked toothpick.

She suddenly began to stare at me like a crocodile eying it's prey. Her eyes shimmered with elation and she slapped me on the back. "Alright Kyon! You and me are gonna tear this place apart! No rock will go unturned, you can bet on it! We'll have to go double time! Come on!" she pulled me out of my seat and dragged me out of the restaurant before the other three had even drawn their toothpicks. I could hear Miss Asahina and Koizumi laughing as Haruhi whisked me away. At that point I could think of only one thing:

God help me.

This chapter was actually a bit different wasn't it?

Regardless, thanks for reading it!