It was an overcast, frigid morning. Haruhi, in typical fashion, demanded all club members meet early in the club room to discuss details of their next activity. And of course, the last one to show up would get a penalty.

Kyon sighed just thinking about. Haruhi was such a pain, he thought, as he went down the near empty hallways and wrapped his hand around the club room's doorknob.

Bracing himself to get yelled at by the Brigade Leader for being the last one to show up, Kyon was shocked to be met with only silence. No one else was here. Except Nagato, whom, if someone only took a quick glance, would not have noticed her.

"Morning, Nagato." Kyon greeted, taking off his scarf and putting it on the table.

"Good morning." she said flatly, not tearing her eyes away from the book she was reading.

"I'm surprised Haruhi isn't here," he commented, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. The thought of her being late almost made him chuckle. Would be nice if she could be the victim of her own penalty for once.

The room was completely silent. No sound, except for the ticking of the clock and Nagato's occasional page flip. No one else had shown up yet. Only 5 minutes of time had past since he arrived, but the awkward stillness of the cool morning air, absent of the club room's usual bravado, made each minute feel like an hour.

"So, Nagato," Kyon turned on his seat, trying to fill the silent void.

"..."

"When did you get here?"

"Early."

"When's early?"

"..."

A few more seconds of awkward quiet past. It was difficult to make conversation with the pseudo-alien interface. She spoke very little, and in the event she did speak a whole lot, it would be an informational overload.

Kyon sighed, relaxing against his seat and staring up at the ceiling. "I wonder when Miss Asahina will arrive. I could really use some of that tea right about now."

"Do you want some?"

"Huh?"

He turned around to see Nagato look at him, face blank but he could read the subtleties in her expression.

"Yeah, I would, but Miss Asahina isn't-"

Without a word, Nagato got up, setting her book down on the chair and walking up to Mikuru Asahina's tea set. With precise measurements, she boiled just the right amount of water, put in the right amount of tea leaves, letting it simmer for the right amount of time.

"Here."

She held him a cup.

"Thanks."

He received it, taking a sip - it wasn't scolding, but it wasn't cold. The perfect temperature.

Saying nothing else, Nagato sat back down, continuing her reading.

'This... actually tastes pretty nice.' Kyon thought. "Hey Nagato."

"..."

"Your tea is excellent."

"..."

There was that awkward air again. He wasn't sure if Nagato appreciated his words or not, even though he out of all the brigade members, could read her the best.

"That book must be pretty good." he finally said, grasping at the idea that maybe she was too engrossed to answer.

"Yes."

Well, he got a response there.

"What's it about?"

Instead of answering verbally, she pulled another copy from the shelf and dropped it onto his lap.

"I recommend it."

For a moment, Kyon was a bit nervous that this was some sort of code for a plan they needed to execute later regarding Haruhi's mood. But he found no bookmark. No indication that the book contained anything else other than the words of the author who wrote it.

"So, you want me to read it?"

"Yes. If you want."

'If I want, huh.'

He decided, since no one else was here, to engage with Nagato in her morning reading. After all, this was, in truth, the Literary Club, with Yuki Nagato as its leader and sole member.

Time dragged on, but not as agonising as it had before, with Kyon finding himself surprisingly a quarter ways through the book already. It was a science fiction novel with a lot of complexities and a deep plot, but what really surprised him was that it contained a very fleshed out romance side plot. Was Nagato secretly into love novels?

A few minutes later, Koizumi showed up with that plastered smile Kyon always got annoyed by, followed not too long after by a panicking Asahina. When Haruhi finally showed up, yawning and stretching, she took her seat at the computer without so much as a greeting and started typing away.

"Hey! Aren't you going to brief us on whatever crazy idea you had in mind?" Kyon said, a little irritated.

"Huh?" she raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Kyon? I didn't say anything about any crazy ideas. Although..." she started to grin. "We could -"

"Wait, what?! You texted me in the middle of the night, saying to get my ass here in this club room as early as possible or suffer the consequences!"

"Did Miss Suzumiya really send that?" Koizumi tilted his head in confusion, still smiling as he pulled out his phone. "How strange. I never received such a message from Suzumiya either."

"M-Me neither." Asahina nervously agreed.

"You can't be serious..." Kyon whipped out his phone, trying to find the text, but was horrified to find it missing. "No way... it's not here..."

What the hell was going on here? Who sent that text in the first place?

As all the other members either questioned his sanity (Haruhi - of all people), or told him he might have imagined it (Koizumi), or worried for his well being (Asahina), he shifted his gaze over to the quietly reading Nagato. 'Could she have...?' he shook his head at the absurdity of that thought. 'No, that couldn't be it. She'd have no reason to.'

The day went on as it typically did for Brigade Members; Asahina dressed as a maid doing things maids do, Haruhi typing away at the computer and coming up with all sorts of stupid ideas the brigade could engage in, and Koizumi playing a game (this time, checkers) with Kyon just to pass the time. It was as mundane as can be, but at least Haruhi seemed to be in a good mood today.

As everyone left, and Haruhi (for real this time) gave a proclamation to meet at a certain place and time 'lest there be a penalty, Kyon still saw Nagato reading - nearly finished with the thick hardcover sat upon her lap.

"Are you going to pack up soon, Nagato?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Okay."

As Kyon took his scarf and wrapped it around his neck, he heard Nagato speak again.

"Did you like it?"

"Huh?"

She looked up at him, a glint in her eyes he's never seen before. "The book."

"Oh, yeah, it was actually pretty interesting. I might even finish reading it."

Nagato gave a singular nod, grabbing her book bag and slipping the thick hardcover into it - passing Kyon on the way out.

Kyon couldn't quite explain it, but, Nagato seemed... pleased. Happy, even. It was truly a sight to behold, and he thought, he'd sure like to behold it again.