Kyon: Big Damn Hero

The Open Battle Arc VII

Chapter Fifty: Explosion at the Rumor Mill

Disclaimer: The novel series of Suzumiya Haruhi that began with 'The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa. No disrespect is intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the characters or settings involved. I'm merely dabbling with another set of paints. TVtropes (the website) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License, and so is every part of this fic that isn't the property of someone else. For example: Additional characters are borrowed from Higurashi, which is the creation of Ryukishi07, and Half Life 2, which is the property of Valve.

Notes: Count the tropes! Save, collect, trade for swell prizes!


"Chapter Eight: Information Control

"Careful release of information, both true and false, can be a powerful tool in maneuvering the actions of others, both friend and foe. An important point to remember, however, is that once that information is out of your control, it can turn on you in ways you don't expect."

"Cover" -- Author Unknown


From where he slouched against the closed doorway of a morning pastry shop, Hiko heaved a soft sigh around the cigarette in his mouth. He had no illusions about his appearance -- slightly better dressed than most members of his outfit. But 'slightly' meant a clean, worn suit that fit, neither too good looking nor garishly colored.

That plus the paunch he'd developed from working his way up as an accountant.... To say nothing of the lack of hair that years of stress and poor genes had gifted him with. He didn't fit the appearance of a yakuza, as much as a somewhat disheveled salary-man.

And that suited him just fine, as one of the men he'd marked as a Yamaguchi-gumi member -- from the Tsuruya-tachi -- glanced across him and instantly dismissed him as a non-threat. Well, in a real fight, the rival's analysis would be spot on. Hiko had no ability to beat those men in open confrontation.

Force wasn't his strong suit anyway.

However, he thought, watching a young man break away from the girl Hiko had been waiting for, information gathering was.

Not in any obvious hurry, since the girl's guards were keeping an eye on the boy, Hiko pushed himself away from the surface he was leaning on and tossed his still-burning cigarette into a nearby trashcan. Though he did bear some extra weight, Hiko was actually reasonably proud of the fact that he kept himself in shape despite that.

It wasn't too hard to shadow the boy a few blocks, until he calmed down and turned to brood over a vending machine contemplatively. More importantly, the target's guardians had no interest, so weren't watching any more. She at least seemed aware of her guards; this kid looked clueless.

That was perfect for Hiko's plans, though. Sidling up to the boy, he asked, his voice as tired as his general appearance, "If you can't decide, let me buy something for each of us?"

"Eh," the boy startled in surprise. He turned to face the Sumiyoshi-rengo man. The boy was a little shorter than average; about Hiko's own height. He shook his head and managed a weak smile. "Sorry -- I was just distracted...."

He trailed off when Hiko slipped a step closer, nodding as he put the coins for two drinks in the machine and pressed a button. There were a pair of dull clunks, and he collected two cans of Pocari Sweat, presenting one to the boy.

"Er, thanks," he managed, slightly apologetic.

Hiko rolled his shoulders in a shrug, offering, "Seen a few exhausting days myself, so I can imagine what you're going through."

Looking slightly discomfited, the high school student nodded, accepting the offered drink and opening it.

After a sip, Hiko prompted, "Girl trouble?"

The boy heaved an aggrieved sigh, nodding.

Shaking his head sympathetically, Hiko asked, "Want to talk about it?" In addition to the unassuming, harmless image he'd developed, the Sumiyoshi-rengo had honed his skill at getting information from people. Every trick in the book in terms of subtle manipulations that he could add to his repertoire, he had.

As for why he focused all of that on this lone boy -- all of this could be valuable information, really. Anything that led to the Sumiyoshi-rengo capturing that girl.... Well, he actually wasn't entirely certain why she was so important, but his bosses insisted that they could use her to get to the Yamaguchi-gumi. And were the Sumiyoshi-rengo ever hurting for leverage after the rather expensive loss of their last major operation....

"She likes some other guy," the boy allowed, sighing again. "I mean...."

He hesitated, and Hiko fought down a smile, raising his eyebrows and thinking of a noodle place nearby. Not controlled by the Yamaguchi-gumi, last he'd checked. "I know how that can go -- but I still have to make a late appointment tonight with my boss." he offered sympathetically. "Hey, talk about it over dinner? I still have a little bit of time before I have to meet with him."

The boy allowed a grudging nod, then shook his head and introduced himself formally.

Hiko gave his own greeting, along with one of the business cards that he'd had made to reinforce his image. After that, the pair of them made it into the noodle shop, and after some small talk and a few careful prods at the name of the girl he'd liked, the floodgates had opened.

The information on the target was somewhat interesting, if it wasn't liable to help Hiko capture her. But the payoff he received was not the one he'd actually been hunting for.

After nearly thirty minutes of listening to the boy complain, Hiko was absolutely floored by the announcements. The Sumiyoshi-rengo weren't receiving newsletters from the Yamaguchi-gumi at the moment, but the head of the Tsuruya-tachi had engaged his daughter? That was major news to the entire organization!

More important than that, the plan of capturing the target had encountered one critical obstacle, which was tied to just who the boy that this 'Kunikida' had a grudge against. The same boy who had evidently somehow captured the hearts of both Hiko's current target, and the heir to role of head of the Tsuruya-tachi:

Kowa-Keigo Kyon!

The most staggering thing about the encounter was the fact that he evidently didn't see any reason to use his real name, even at school! It was jarring in the extreme to see an average high school student grousing about the dreaded figure with the same name that Sumiyoshi-rengo whispered only with cautious backward glances over their shoulders.

The same figure that had -- seemingly effortlessly -- out-planned a major Sumiyoshi-rengo offensive (and the last attempt to capture the target). And then, as if that weren't enough, he'd managed to somehow incapacitate an entire strike force of Sumiyoshi-rengo with nothing more than the weapons he took from his opponents?

Sure, the stories said there was some girl there, too, but Hiko didn't put any stock in that. The stories also said that Kowa-Keigo Kyon had summoned a demonic assistant composed of fire from some hellish netherworld. That the only reason Kowa-Keigo Kyon had spared them was because he had something else to attend to that was more important.

Hiko doubted most of that -- but knew that he had no desire to tangle with the rising star of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He didn't think his bosses were keen on it after the last loss, either. Sure, they'd like to see him go down, but considering how much they'd already lost just trying it?

Giving a sigh himself when Kunikida finally fell into a contemplative silence, he muttered, "Information is power, kid. All I can really say is ... use what you know carefully."

He looked up, giving the older man a quizzical look.

Hiko shook his head quickly, saying, "You know -- some time, you may come to me for information of your own. I feel like I owe you after all that ... me listening, not offering up anything of my own, eh?"

Kunikida blinked, looking more confused.

"Heh ... yeah-- Look, if you find yourself ... looking for work in information gathering, just look up your uncle Hiko, alright?" At that, he rose, dropping enough money to cover their meals and hurrying out without waiting to hear a reply from the high school student.

He had superiors to warn.


School had lately started to fit into a much more comfortable pattern for Yanagimoto. She'd originally joked to Haruhi that she was dating Taniguchi out of a self-imposed 'penance' for her part in helping Yamane with his plans. Somehow, though, he'd managed to be a gentleman and show an ability to look forward to the future.

He had a relatively casual demeanor once he'd calmed down a bit, and ... well, she had a boyfriend. A pretty decent looking one, too. He was slightly taller than average, did decently in sports and....

...so, they were studying together, anyway. While his scores in tests could be better, the same was true enough of her; she usually placed ahead of him, but lately, he'd been catching up. So she didn't really have many complaints, other than his occasionally wandering mouth if he didn't watch himself.

Well, maybe she could complain just a little about how he was trying to imply that she should work with him at the job he'd had lined up after high school. The 'voice acting' thing....

She broke off from that thought as she walked into the classroom with her distracted boyfriend. He was going on about that same job when she spotted Kyon, sitting at his desk in uniform and looking a little more worn than she expected.

He had gotten called out by ... someone for some strange thing, hadn't he? She'd wanted to talk about it with Taniguchi, but when they actually met to discuss, there wasn't much to talk about beyond admitting a lack of knowledge. Oh, there was the fact that Kyon hadn't returned to class the previous day to answer questions, but what could she do about that?

She supposed she could actually pitch in her support for Haruhi. She saw that there had been a bond between Kyon and Tsuruya, but if he hadn't said anything, well ... Yanagimoto would be a disgrace to her given name if she didn't see that Haruhi was pretty clearly out for him! Surely, she wasn't just giving Kyon food every day because they were in the same club, right?

Okay -- what she needed to do was corner Haruhi first, she thought, taking her seat. She glanced at Taniguchi, pondering assigning him the task of distracting Kyon. Of course, if they weren't eating lunch together, Taniguchi would be doing that anyway, but still!

Yeah, Taniguchi, Kyon and ... what was his name.... She glanced over, remembering Kunikida's name just as she spotted his somewhat sour expression. Hmm, what did he have to complain about, anyway?

Just as she thought that, she realized that Haruhi was having some whispered conversation with Sakanaka -- complete with a pointed glance at the boy with the sour expression. Never one to be satisfied with behaving normally, Haruhi snorted, giving Kunikida a pointed stare and asking aloud, "What are you moping about, anyway?"

"Moping?" Kunikida returned, so quietly that Yanagimoto almost didn't hear it. The rest of the classroom conversation died down, attention going to Kunikida. He shook his head. "No, I'm just thinking about something I heard recently--" His gaze flicked to Kyon, in the seat in front of Haruhi's. "So, is it true, Kyon? That you and Tsuruya-sempai got engaged?"

Yanagimoto felt her mouth fall open -- something she thought only happened in anime -- and stared, wide-eyed at the accusation. Wait, what? She'd thought Kyon hadn't committed to anyone! When had he-- That couldn't possibly be true, could it?

"How the hell did you find out about that?" Haruhi asked, looking slightly stunned, before Kyon could answer.

At that point, instead of speaking Kyon just groaned softly and covered his face with one hand, sighing wearily.

Yanagimoto blinked in stupefied amazement before shaking her head, shooting Sakanaka a sharp, questioning glance. Even if they hadn't been friendly before, the two of them had a common interest -- and a common understanding. Sakanaka's expression said she didn't know about this, either!

Alright, then-- The two of them would have to corner Haruhi and figure out how she'd let Kyon slip away -- and then help her recover some lost ground, and maybe win the boy back! No way could someone like Haruhi actually be happy about something like this!


Haruhi's energy was running lower than it should have been, considering how comfortably she had gotten to sleep the night before. It didn't help that for all of her plans, the second lunch came around, she was cornered by both Sakanaka and Yanagimoto. While she could have fought them off, they were her friends -- Sakanaka absolutely, and Yanagimoto ... well.... Haruhi didn't think there was any animosity with Yanagimoto ever since they'd busted the photography ring.

The pair of girls immediately started grilling her on how things were with Kyon and the general unfairness of things-- Haruhi nearly stumbled back a step in shock at the realization of what it was! She'd called them friends, but thought of it in a casual way ... when the pair of them were both actually concerned for her because they thought she'd lost out on Kyon?

Her inner tsundere offered a halfhearted protest about how obvious she must have been, if both of them picked up on that. Well, she expected that as obvious as she'd tried to be to Kyon, probably almost everyone knew, now.

But how was she supposed to reconcile that with the fact that everyone knew Kyon was engaged to Tsuruya?

"I...it's not what it seems," she managed to stammer, feeling guilty about being unable to explain more clearly. But even if they were her friends, how would they react to being told that Haruhi was in ... the kind of situation she was in, anyway? While she didn't care what people outside of the Brigade thought of her, she did worry about her friends ... and what people might think of them.

"I'll explain some other time," she added hurriedly, breaking away and dashing to the clubroom before they could protest further.

She got there a few steps ahead of Kyon. In his pocket, Ryouko gave the girl a studying glance, but even with 'good child mode' disabled, she said nothing.

He looked around, seeming to realize with annoyance that he was the last to arrive. The only members of the club who seemed not to be rattled or shaken by the constant chattering of their classmates were Yuki and Koizumi, the pair sitting at the table with a chessboard between them.

That was a bit of a surprise, but Haruhi turned her attention away from the esper and the alien, moving to the back of the clubroom and pacing before the window, arms crossed over her chest. The curtains had been drawn, presumably to keep out anyone who was trying to stare inside, and Haruhi didn't feel like throwing them open. Kanae was slumped over the table, covering her head with both hands while Tsuruya and Mikuru -- on either side of her -- patted her back.

The time traveler looked sympathetic, while the heiress seemed a bit more downcast -- not her usually cheerful self.

"Uh," Kyon managed, when everyone broke from what they were doing to study him and Haruhi. "Hi."

She heaved a sigh and grumbled something, stalking toward him, thinking for a moment about grabbing him in a hug-- But she caught herself; as fun as it would be, she needed to focus. Instead, she turned to the costume rack and stopped there, flipping through the collection of clothes they had amassed, mostly for Mikuru but increasingly of late, for the time traveler's slider understudy.

"Well," Tsuruya said with a chuckle, offering a strained, rueful smile, "it seems there's a rumor going around about our engagement, Kyon-kun."

"Ugh," Haruhi moaned, snatching Yuki's witch hat from the rack and pulling it down over her head, the brim angled to hide her face. "I let it slip," she added a moment later, heaving a sigh. This really was her fault, wasn't it?

Kyon gave a weak shrug of his own and took the seat next to Koizumi. "How bad could it really be, anyway?" he wondered. "It's just a rumor, right?"

"I.... I accidentally said something really embarrassing," Kanae added quietly, her face flushing a shade of red Haruhi had seen on one other person before -- and that was the self-appointed 'elder sister' at the slider's side, after Kyon had walked in on Haruhi helping Mikuru into a different costume.

Haruhi blinked, raising one eyebrow and lifting the brim of her stolen headgear to peer at the embarrassed girl. "Really?" she asked, smiling softly. "How bad could it be? What was it?"

Sitting up, and poking the tips of her index fingers at one-another, Kanae trembled nervously. "W...well, Tohno-san asked me if I really liked, um, 'that sempai,' and I was thinking of Sempai, but then.... Aheh," the slider managed nervously, pausing to flinch slightly. In a very quiet voice she explained, "I said, 'of course.'

"Then Tohno-san said, 'it can't be Sempai, because he's engaged to Tsuruya-sempai, so who is it?' And I said, ummm...." Shrinking in on herself, even beneath the consoling expressions of Tsuruya and Mikuru, the slider's voice had dropped even lower. "I said, 'Suzumiya-sempai,'" Kanae concluded, barely audible.

All eyes had gone from the first year student to her, and Haruhi forced an amused grin from her face, not wanting Kanae to think she was unsympathetic. Even so, she couldn't prevent herself from cheering, "That is so cute!" Shaking her head and trying to force herself to calm a little, she clarified, "They think you've got a crush on me?"

Kanae's response was only to bury her face in her hands. The time traveler was pink from her own sympathetic embarrassment for the slider she was still encouraging, but Tsuruya looked about ready to explode with laughter.

"Hah! That's adorable!" Haruhi crowed, shaking her head. "That's not so bad, is it?"

"Hum, I got asked questions, too," Tsuruya allowed, giving the slider a reassuring grin when she peeked up nervously. "Ah! So many unfamiliar students crowding around! Less well-behaved than my father's men, that's for sure!

"Poor Mikuru-chan got so startled, she let it slip, too, when they asked me," the heiress concluded, shrugging.

"S...sorry," Mikuru managed, her flush deepening. "I-- It was just ... so surprising...."

"Well, I think those boys were just asking to see if you were free," Tsuruya warned, grinning. "Watch yourself, Mikuru-chan!"

Haruhi's smile faded at that. There was one angle she hadn't considered, really. How was she supposed to keep Mikuru from being hit on by annoying guys? It wasn't like Haruhi was trying to fight for the image of Mikuru being together with Kyon -- but she had to admit, the implications of it had kept her favorite time traveler from being bothered by that much.

Of course, according to Mikuru herself, she 'couldn't' have relationships -- at least, before Haruhi had blown such a stupid instruction off.

"Okay--" Haruhi pulled the hat from her head and held it in front of her chest. "Um, what we need is a distraction while we plan," she declared, shaking her head. "Uh, Kanae-chan, can you help Mikuru-chan design and make some costumes for an emergency event this weekend?"

"Eh?" Kanae squeaked, while Mikuru looked up curiously.

"Yeah-- Yeah!" Haruhi cheered, a new smile coming to her face, widening quickly. "I got the idea from stealing Yuki-chan's hat, and Asakura's costume from yesterday! Mikuru-chan, you remember that game I showed you a while back, right? You couldn't beat the first level, but you liked the doujin I showed you? Well, I want you to make costumes for all of us from that! Kanae-chan can help you design them; we just need to keep ourselves busy, right?"

"Okies!" Tsuruya enthused. "I can help out with that parts, too! I love those characters -- I've got tons of figurines at home to use as models~!"

"In that case," Koizumi ventured, looking surprisingly pensive, "following up on last night's debriefing, I'd like to request a meeting with Nagato-san, Kyon-kun, and Suzumiya-san about some questions that occurred to me afterward."

"That's completely fine," Haruhi agreed. "Only, hmm.... There's no good places for it right now, so it'll have to wait until club starts. That should be fine, since the costume team will be busy, right?"

"Asakura Ryouko can assist you in accessing databases and acquiring reference material," Yuki contributed.

"Heh, two teams of equal size!" Tsuruya said, nodding brightly at Kanae.

"Maybe size isn't the right word," Kyon joked weakly, pointing at Ryouko's small form in his coat pocket.

Blinking up at him, she cocked her head to one side, looking mildly puzzled.

"And on the rumor front, it's not a big deal, is it? We can just wait for it to blow over, right?" Haruhi concluded, nodding confidently.

Kyon blinked, raising his eyebrows. "Oh?" he mused. "Maybe -- I hope you're right, Haruhi."

"In the meantime, Kyon," she said, setting the hat atop Tsuruya's head, since she was nearby, "you finally named your weapons?"

"Er, yeah," he managed, looking slightly sheepish. "The guns are Altair and Vega."

"And the sword?" Haruhi pressed. "Named after a legendary magical blade, right? Like, from some ancient legend -- a weapon from the battle of Troy, and featured in the 'Song of Roland'!"

"Somehow, that particular name felt overused," Kyon said, shaking his head.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, surprised he'd considered it already. "Well, what did you name it, then?"

"I didn't yet," Kyon admitted, getting out his lunch as the mood in the room relaxed a little. After finishing a whispered discussion about whatever costume they were working on, Mikuru broke away from Kanae to get a sketchbook out. "Asakura had a suggestion, though."

Blinking, Yuki looked away from the chess game with Koizumi and stared at the tiny figure. "Radiant Buster!" the chibi answered promptly. Reminded of where he'd left her, Kyon broke from eating his lunch long enough to fish her from his pocket and set her on the table.

"I kind of like it," Haruhi allowed.

Tsuruya snickered, straightening the hat on her head out and giving Kanae a final comforting squeeze before setting another sketchbook before her. "Grass cutter!" she teased.

"Not bad -- but you should call it, 'Hakurouken,'" the brigade chief declared, grinning. "How's that sound?"

"I don't...." Kyon trailed off and gave Haruhi a suspicious look. "This is from that crazy game you tried to get me to play last time, is it?"

"You complained, 'Too many bullets,'" Haruhi retorted, unable to keep her grin from widening a little. "It's a magic blade that can banish evil spirits and only causes normal people intense discomfort -- that seems to fit perfectly!"

Slightly surprisingly to Haruhi, Ryouko offered a silent nod of agreement from her spot at the table. "I liked 'sonic screwdriver,'" Kyon sighed, not looking that upset about it.

"Well, it's your choice," she grumbled, sitting at the table after realizing the spots next to Kyon were already full.

He gave her a small smile as she got her lunch out. "I'll go with your suggestion," he allowed.

She recovered her own smile, glad they could move past the brief annoyance of the rumors going around so easily.

"It'll still be a sonic screwdriver in tool mode," he added, prompting a giggle from Kanae, and a snicker from Tsuruya.

Her next scowl was entirely for show.


As embarrassing as it was that her classmates seemed to think that Kanae had a crush on Haruhi, she had to admit that she really did like the Brigade Chief. Between her and Kanae's other favorite sempai, well....

That thought in mind, she'd gotten through classes with little more than a sheepish blush when asked for confirmation, not sure what else to say to her classmates. When class ended and she was rescued by Tsuruya (barging effortlessly through the students who tried to slow her down with questions), she gratefully accepted the escort to the clubroom.

She was a little saddened that Mikuru was there first, and Tsuruya dragged Kanae into the clubroom while the time traveler was changing. Mikuru changing didn't bother Kanae ... other than that little jealous spark at the other girl's ... development.

Tsuruya caught her downcast expression and clicked her tongue. "What's wrong, Kanae-chan?" she asked.

"N-nothing!" she sputtered quickly, shaking her head. Before Tsuruya could press on the issue, she pulled one of her sketchbooks out, quickly checking which one it was. There were a few she'd been working on, lately, and she set them in a neat stack, searching for the single pad she kept costume designs in as Mikuru finished doing up the last bit of her maid's outfit.

The older girl gave Kanae a reassuring smile, then went to make tea as Tsuruya took a seat, nodding at Nagato. They didn't have to wait long before Koizumi, Haruhi, and Kanae's sempai reached the club together, the Brigade chief grumbling mid-tirade as the door opened. "...really, pulling you aside-- Don't they have any respect for privacy these days?"

"Seems like it's what we would expect from high school students, Haruhi," her sempai replied glumly, taking a seat at Kanae's side absently. The slider perked up, glad to be so close to him, unable to keep her cheer down. He nodded his appreciation and flashed Mikuru a quick smile as she set tea before everyone at the table.

"Still, what did Taniguchi think he was going to--" Haruhi realized something and cut herself off, frowning at the boy intently. "Wait, he can drag you off like that?"

"I let him. Foolishly, I thought that would give me less trouble than ignoring him entirely," he sighed.

"My sympathies," Koizumi murmured, shaking his head. "Rumors are dreadful things, aren't they?"

"I can deal with rumors," the other boy disagreed, one hand going to massage his forehead. "That's better than yesterday by a long shot."

"Oh, that's true," Mikuru agreed with a shiver, sitting at the table, where she'd set a small stack of her own sketchbooks. Kanae glanced at Haruhi as Mikuru reached for one of the pads and set it before her, lifting it and studying the image on the first page as Tsuruya glanced over, suddenly snickering.

"What's so funny?" Haruhi asked in curiosity, leaning over Mikuru's shoulder before her eyes widened and she unleashed a loud bark of laughter, a hand shooting out lightning fast as--

Kanae's blood ran cold. Oh, no! Not one of those sketch pads! The time traveler had reached for the wrong stack by mistake!

"Hmm?" Kanae's sempai mused, as Haruhi's eyes widened even further at the sketchbook in her hands, quickly flipping through pages. At her lack of reply, and the way Mikuru began to blush intently, he took a sketchbook of his own.

"N...not that one," Kanae protested weakly, trying to curl in on herself and wishing she could just melt away. Oh.... Why did she think it would be okay to take those to school? Just because she drew them in the clubroom because no one seemed to notice....

Tsuruya's laugh intensified, and she flipped to the next page for Mikuru -- who allowed an alarmed, embarrassed squeak to escape. The time traveler's only movement was to cover her face with both hands, fingers splayed to peek through.

"This is amazing!" Haruhi managed, between giggles. "Haha-- You drew yourself with Mikuru-chan's maid costume! And to fill it, you gave yourself her--"

"Gah!" Kanae's sempai cried, dropping the sketchbook in his hands and moving to stand in the corner in a flash as fast as the use of her own powers, his eyes wide. "W...w...what the hell!?" he managed over the backdrop of Tsuruya's increasing howls of laughter.

"It's not that bad," Haruhi countered him, grinning, one hand clamping down on her shoulder before Kanae could flee in shame. "Only about half of them are ecchi! Here's a great sketch of you in bishounen mode, Kyon! And a nice drawing of Yuki-chan and Mikuru-chan sitting side-by-side, too! So she drew a little naughty doujin of her, me, and you--"

"That's not what I saw," he mumbled in return, his face pale.

The room turned oddly silent as Koizumi hesitantly reached out and picked up the dropped sketchbook. He flipped it open and then held it at arm's length, swallowing uneasily.

"What is it?" Haruhi asked cautiously. Ignoring them and their conversation, Tsuruya and Mikuru were engaged in giggling and pretending not to read further, respectively.

"So, between us, you see Kyon-kun as the aggressor?" he asked finally, his voice only the slightest bit uneasy. "Truly, this hearkens back to an unpleasant encounter in the snow last--"

"And we're done with this line of discussion," Kanae's sempai interrupted, shaking his head fervently. "Forever."

Haruhi sputtered, then broke into laughter matched only by Tsuruya. After a heartbeat, she zipped to Koizumi's side, eagerly staring. "Wah-- Hahah! Kanae-chan, that's too much!"

Tsuruya's laughter finally peaked, culminating in her falling out of her seat and pulling Mikuru with her-- Which was enough of a distraction for Kanae to hide underneath the table, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm sorry!" she shouted. "I-- I didn't mean to--"

"Oh, knock that off," Haruhi said, sounding somewhat cross. "You totally meant to! But that's fine-- These are, um ... surprisingly well done, actually!"

"R...really?" she managed, huddling near one leg of the table, stunned at being praised for what she'd drawn.

"Yes! Kyon, say something nice to your subordinate! She obviously worked long and hard on that!"

For some reason, that line sent Tsuruya into another fit of laughter, clutching onto Mikuru for support and preventing the time traveler from climbing to her feet.

"It was something I'll never forget," he replied earnestly. "Just-- Just-- Augh.... I don't ... like to think of Koizumi that way-- No offense, Koizumi."

"None taken!" the esper returned brightly.

"Y...eah. You drew ... really, really well, Kanae-chan. I just, um ... like your costume designs more."

"Likewise, I hope if we end up needing to share body heat like that--"

"No."

"I simply--"

"Stop."

"Well, if--"

"Koizumi!"

The esper coughed quietly, hiding a smirk behind one hand. "Fair enough," he allowed, regaining control of his expression, but still showing mild amusement. "My apologies, Michikyuu-san; I was impressed by the general quality of the drawing. Certainly, your use of shadow is superb -- the costumes seemed right out of the manga, too."

"Characterization is pretty weak, but judging by the costumes you're just using Kyon and Koizumi-kun as models to stand in for different anime and manga characters in these scenarios, right?" the Brigade Chief asked, kneeling at Kanae's side with a warm smile.

"Y...you're not upset with me?" the slider squeaked out, her face still flaming with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it," Haruhi assured her. "Come on out from under there -- if you're embarrassed, then draw something you'd be proud to show Kyon -- by helping Mikuru-chan with her designs!"

"Y...yes, okay!" Kanae exclaimed, desperate to make it up to her sempai somehow. He seemed to really not like those pictures at all!

Haruhi grabbed her hand and pulled her out from under the desk, then hauled her to her feet, giving her a tight hug. "I think it's cute," she assured the slider. "...but I'm keeping the one you drew of the three of us~! That's your penalty from me for working on such things during Brigade meetings! Honestly, how will that look in the annals? That the youngest one of our members spent her time drawing yaoi hentai doujin of the two male members of the club?"

"It'll look like exactly what you were searching for?" Kanae's sempai asked, calming down and taking a seat at the table, but carefully pushing the nearest scrapbook away from himself, toward Kanae's pile.

Haruhi blinked, then frowned. "Yeah, if you say 'slider' it becomes awesome," she allowed. "Just like Kanae-chan! So! Kyon-- Since this bothered you, what's her penalty? What does she have to do to make it up to you?"

"Eh?" Kyon managed. He opened his mouth, then bit something back, looking thoughtful. After a minute he sighed, admitting, "I'd like to say to tell you not to draw these, but if you've.... How many...." He shook his head, glancing at her stack of sketchbooks. "Actually-- Your penalty is no more of these until you're done helping Asahina-san with her project. Is that alright?"

"F...fine," Mikuru managed from where Tsuruya was only just winding down her laughter. "Um ... your drawing of anatomy is ... impressive," she agreed, sounding a bit dazed. "Er, this one has really good pictures of the scary robot I heard about, too!"

"From the beach?" Tsuruya asked, her laughter trailing off. "Is that what it looked like?"

Haruhi leaned over from where she was still hugging Kanae, then agreed, "That's the one! That really is a good drawing, too-- What's the plot of this one?"

"Koizumi-kun and Kyon-kun are two male characters from HunterxHunter. Kyon-kun rescues Koizumi-kun from a rampaging robot," Tsuruya started. "And afterward, to pay him back, since his swimsuit has a hole in it anyway--"

"I believe we understand," the esper interrupted, allowing a tolerant smile. "Nagato-san, you've seen them before, but out of curiosity, does Michikyuu-san's drawing give you any further insight? It appears to be based off the same one we fought on the beach."

The stoic girl closed her book and rose from her seat. Kanae was taken aback -- there was actually something really useful in there? Her friends weren't just being nice to her because they cared? Not that she was complaining about being surrounded by people who cared, but giving something back....

After moving to Mikuru's side and helping the time traveler to her feet, Yuki quietly judged, "Detailed."

She blinked once, and from Kyon's pocket Ryouko chirped out, "Wow! All kinds of potential attack pattern data from the detail work you did on those articulators! Their design isn't very efficient, though -- these look like they could be a lot more effective! This looks tougher than the ones they tried to use against Magical Radiant Nonoko, too! This is most likely some type of 'elite' unit, and their main military force is composed of the weaker ones we dealt with yesterday!"

"Which brings me to the next item on our agenda," the esper noted. "If I could still have that time from the three of you?"

"Right!" Haruhi agreed, nodding decisively. "Kanae-chan, do a good job helping Mikuru-chan out, understand?"

"Y...yes!" Kanae agreed eagerly, as Haruhi finally released her from the hug, letting her gather up all of her sketchbooks.

"We'll be back in a bit," Kanae's sempai noted, giving her a smile that made her heart skip. She was so dazed she didn't even realize that she was missing two of her sketchbooks until she was left alone with Mikuru, Tsuruya, and (for some reason) Ryouko's tiny form. Well, Haruhi had declared she was keeping one, but what had happened to the other?

She looked around at the table, but there was only the neat stack of Mikuru's sketchbooks, and then her own. She frowned, opening up her design pad, and thinking back to Mikuru's instructions for how to make patterns from sketches. Well ... it would turn up. And since the secret was already out, there was no real reason to worry about it, was there?

For some reason, Tsuruya looked like she was about to burst into laughter again, but before she did, she turned to the tiny alien and asked, "So, what did you think of that kind of doujin?"

"I understand that human males experience a lot of urges like that at Kyon-kun and Koizumi-kun's age," the figure replied, giving a solemn nod. "So it makes perfect sense that they would work together to get rid of them instead of spending time trying to get females to help!"

That was enough to set Tsuruya off anyway, while Mikuru and Kanae both blushed, trying to focus on their assigned task.


Still surprised -- and a little more shaken than he cared to admit -- over the reveal of what the most harmless-looking member of the club had actually been spending her time with.... Those thoughts kept surfacing in the back of Koizumi's mind, and he felt a guilty relief that the images were easily banished with the thought of the earnest discussion he'd had with Kyouko.

Not that he had anything against people who chose the path that the slider had illustrated in painstaking detail, but one 'encounter' with Kyon where he had seemed aggressive in 'that way' in the snow mountain mansion was quite enough for him.

Haruhi led the group to a deserted corner of the school, where they stood on an otherwise abandoned stairwell, gathering a few glances from other students. Even with the rumors flying around, the quartet weren't stopped or asked questions, thankfully.

"I'm not sure how secure this location is--" Koizumi started, before cutting off, realizing with alarm that Kuyou was standing at his side, giving a slow, curious blink.

"I will occult this space," she declared without preamble.

There was a subtle but ... alien sensation in the space around her, resonating just at the edges of Koizumi's powers to detect. More noticeably than when Yuki did things around him, outside of the clubroom, at any rate.

Yuki nodded at Kuyou silently, while Haruhi broke into a grin.

"Perfect," she declared. "Okay! What's going on, Koizumi-kun? Something serious after that pleasant distraction?"

"Some questions that occurred to me after yesterday," he allowed, nodding. "My understanding is incomplete, but I thought on what was said then-- About the 'fundamental damage' to the Combine reality?"

"It's a setback for them, but how long should we rely on it?" Haruhi asked.

Koizumi shook his head, unable to keep the worry from his face. "More a question of ... how severe is that damage to their universe?"

"Significant," Yuki answered. "But the effects will be largely unobservable from the human frame of reference, even within their reality."

"You understand it that well?" Haruhi asked, surprised.

Kuyou gave a short nod. "They destroy the space between spaces," she answered.

"What?" Kyon supplied, running a hand through his hair and looking confused.

"This reality is composed of what humans term a Calabi-Yau manifold," Yuki answered.

"The Chorus," Kuyou interjected.

"The physical existence of this current space is located at a node between two parallel membranes of this meta-dimensional object."

"The Song."

Kyon raised his eyebrows, looking between Koizumi and Haruhi quizzically. "I think I remember this?" he asked questioningly. "It was brought up the last time we discussed the, er, 'Sky Canopy Domain,' but what does it all mean?"

"Within the manifold exist subordinate spaces," Yuki continued, "such as the closed spaces that Suzumiya Haruhi once created, the persistent alternate reality created last December, and more exotic spaces formed by Suou Kuyou, Suzumiya Haruhi, Sasaki Sasaki, or others."

The dark-haired interface supplied, "Shadow songs; overtones; echoing at the fringes of the Chorus."

"There are also hypervolumes within the manifold that are empty, allowing the continued evolution of the Calabi-Yau manifold into different shapes. While all of these spaces and potential spaces exist in a single contained function -- a 'reality' -- this present awareness and existence is an immeasurably insignificant fraction of all that potential and probability."

"Right," Haruhi continued, nodding. "I remember this -- the 'local' and 'distant' realities thing, right? What does that have to do with the Combine?"

"They do not possess this 'empty space,'" Kuyou answered. "Instead, there is a single contiguous Noise."

Koizumi nodded, noting the extra intensity that Kuyou assigned the term.

"The meta-reality occasionally entangles smaller, subordinate existences within the 'Combine' hyper-function -- their relative analog of a Calabi-Yau manifold. The extra-dimensional membranes between the meta-reality and the subordinate realities collapse, merging the subordinate existences into the meta-space."

"Meta-what?" Kyon asked, blinking.

"Er, perhaps we could give it a simpler name?" Koizumi proposed.

"Xen," Kuyou answered. "The Combine perforate their Chorus for transfer of matter/energy and probability -- spin and string -- through this space. Xen is what they have named it."

"How ... do you know that?" Haruhi wondered. "How did you figure that out?"

"The Other was forced to maintain that disruptive, unharmonious noise; this is why she chose not to adapt when I altered state," Kuyou explained. "As that space is composed of subordinate instances of...."

She trailed off and Yuki seamlessly continued, "...other entities which fill roles similar to Suou Kuyou's." She blinked, turning to regard Kuyou curiously and commenting, "There exists both a goal of unity and separation within your ... kind."

"Unified and distinct," Kuyou agreed. "Harmonious yet separate."

"The same way light is both a particle and a wave?" Kyon asked, rolling his eyes.

"Yes," Kuyou and Yuki answered simultaneously, the dark-haired entity's reply significantly more enthusiastic than her counterpart's.

"Er. I was ... kind of ... joking," Kyon said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Stop playing dumb," Haruhi chastised him quietly, giving a shake of her head. "I'm not sure I get all of that either -- but if I follow, that other you wasn't happy about her situation, so used your trick as a way to get out of it?"

"Yes," Kuyou answered again, while Yuki merely looked at her thoughtfully.

"Weird," Kyon muttered, shaking his head and dropping his hands to his side. "So she didn't really want to fight us?"

"Correct," Kuyou agreed.

"This all suggests that their universe has a very different shape and function from ours -- but what kind of damage can we expect them to take from this?" Koizumi pressed, still curious.

"Wait, what are you getting at?" Haruhi asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Instead of digging -- what are you really trying to ask?"

Wincing, Koizumi finally voiced the question that had kept him from getting restful sleep after the conclusion of the meeting: "How many innocent people in this alternate reality did we put at risk or endanger by defending ourselves?"

Kyon and Haruhi both looked suddenly horrified at the thought, exchanging a worried glance before turning their attention to the alien girls.

From being perfectly synced, their responses suddenly diverged. Kuyou's reply was a curious: "What is 'innocent'?"

Yuki's response was a more neutral: "Indeterminate. While yesterday's actions would have caused a breakdown in the membranes separating some subordinate realities within the Combine existence, there is evidence to suggest that this is a continuing state of the meta-reality in any case."

"So ... their universe is already falling apart?" Haruhi wondered quietly, her expression dimming. "It's ... one thing to just think of them as bad guys, but maybe they think they're doing what they have to in order to survive?"

"I don't think we know enough to be sure, but ... I really don't like to think that," Kyon said unhappily. "I ... don't think that Wataru's actually all that bad a guy. Well -- how do we find someone who's actually in charge for them to try and talk things out reasonably? I don't think he's very high on their chain of command -- I'm pretty sure they're lying to him about his sister, anyway."

"We must be careful when we encounter him next time," the esper allowed with a sigh. "While I am leery of the abuses of such power ... perhaps if I can be there for the next confrontation, I can glean more information from Wataru-san directly?"

"If Kyon can't reason with him," Haruhi agreed.

"On the bright side, if this is something they've dealt with before, surely they're used to the side-effects of things like this?" Koizumi suggested.

"Yeah, but there's also not much we can do at this point--" She cut herself off, brightening suddenly. "Well, no, wait! Yuki-chan, what about using my power? We can just find things out and fix them from here, right?"

"Possibly," Yuki allowed after a pause.

Kuyou's response was a more certain, "Unlikely."

"Why not?" Haruhi protested, looking between the two with a deep frown.

"Your powers are entangled with the fabric and substance of this reality," Yuki said slowly. "Even if they were to be transferred from you, they would still be linked to this reality. It is uncertain that this power could be projected across the inter-dimensional divide."

"The Chorus reacts to disharmonious spin and string," Kuyou added more simply. "Foreign elements are rejected."

The Brigade chief's expression soured further. "So we can protect ourselves and can't help them?" she groused. "That sucks! I don't want to win a war like that if we have to hurt people!"

Koizumi blinked, then shook his head.

Kyon looked about to retort something, but bit his tongue. A moment later he allowed, "I don't like to fight, but I know what you mean. It was hard enough thinking I might have destroyed that other reality in December ... so every time Yuki mentions that it's still around I feel a little better-- I really don't want to have to destroy a universe, if I managed to avoid it once before."

"I think that our own safety simply has to be the highest priority," Koizumi contributed with a slight shake of his head. "After that, well, we can try and help them, as you suggest."

"There's not a lot I can do," Haruhi grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay -- Kyon, you can work with Koizumi and our slider experts on this. I'll work on breaking things to Kanae so she doesn't get some nasty surprise from the Combine later -- the last thing I want is that guy managing to land some crazy guilt trip on her--

"If we're this bothered, you know she'd freak out and probably run away again!" She gave a questioning glance to Yuki at the last.

"Dimensional anchor will be on standby," the quiet girl replied.

"Good-- Okay; my job is to focus on her. Hmm, I might get you to help out a little bit, Kyon -- but this means no complaining about her drawings, alright?"

"Y...yeah, that's pretty minor in comparison," Kyon agreed with a sigh.

"Anything else, then?" Haruhi asked, giving Koizumi a curious look.

"Nothing I can think of," he allowed. "Thank you for your patience, Suzumiya-san, Kyon-kun -- and thank you for your information, Nagato-san, Suou-san."

"It is no problem," Yuki replied.

"Next time, bring cookies," Kuyou added.

Slightly confused at the significance of that last, Koizumi allowed a nod.

"It's the leader's job to look after her underlings," Haruhi said, puffing up with pride slightly. "As Kyon's personal assistant, you're doing a pretty awesome job, too!"

Kyon nodded absently, startled when Haruhi suddenly latched onto him with a powerful hug. "And you're not doing too bad yourself," she concluded.

Koizumi frowned. What exactly did Haruhi think of that engagement, anyway?

...something to ask Kyon about later -- there was enough to stress about as it was.


While she had gotten a chance to calm down a little bit over the annoying rumor storm, Haruhi had only been more unsettled by Koizumi's line of questioning. It didn't help to ignore it, but that was uncomfortable weight on top of everything else they were dealing with. The idea of them hurting some other reality while just trying to survive didn't sit well with Haruhi at all.

It was hard to get a solid grasp of which of the numerous factors bearing down on the brigade to be more concerned about, though. It didn't help that she had gotten almost a dozen calls from various classmates, stammering halfway through explanations of something before she had hung up. After that, she'd just turned her phone off.

On the way out of the club room as she turned her phone back on, she was disgusted to see she had almost a dozen waiting voice mails. Probably all about those stupid rumors, too! She was distracted with her phone enough that she didn't see Sakanaka and Yanagimoto waiting for her in the hall until the pair had surrounded her, demanding her presence and then leading her into the nearest girl's bathroom -- away from a stunned, somewhat confused-looking Kyon.

"What's this all about?" she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and looking between the two curiously. She'd hauled Yanagimoto off once without offering an explanation, and Sakanaka was a good friend -- fighting free and ignoring them wouldn't be very nice, so she allowed it.

"You and Kyon!" Yanagimoto blurted out, looking irate.

At her side, looking more concerned and less upset, Sakanaka nodded earnest agreement. "It's not fair to you, Suzumiya-san!" she protested. "I mean ... we know that you liked Kyon, but to have this happen?"

Haruhi blinked, off balance that the pair were still intent on talking to her about things. Well ... they were her friends, right? If she could just tell them the truth, then it would have been simple to handle! But how would that look? If it were just her, Haruhi wouldn't mind, but this would also effect her other friends.

She could just imagine all of the sniping aimed at Kyon by disapproving girls and (undoubtedly) jealous boys. As much as she liked to consider Sakanaka and Yanagimoto as friends, she doubted they'd easily accept it, either.

Certainly, Taniguchi would never speak to Kyon again if he realized what Kyon had with the girls in the Brigade!

"I...it's not what you think," Haruhi said, somewhat lamely, trying to think of an excuse. What could she say to them that would explain all of this, anyway?

"Suzumiya-san, can you visit my place for dinner tonight?" Sakanaka asked anxiously. "Yanagimoto-san will be there, too -- but we're worried, you know? So ... go ahead and walk home with your club as usual-- we don't want to keep you from them, but...."

She trailed off there, and Haruhi forced an awkward smile. That'd buy her some time to figure out an excuse.... "Y...eah, okay," she agreed, surprised by the pair of them becoming such fast friends ... for her? Considering the circumstances....

It wasn't like she didn't enjoy having friends she could talk to -- and not have to think about sharing Kyon with. Still, this was just going to be such a mess.... They'd let her slip away to join the others, and her mood soured even further when she got to the shoe lockers.

She'd given Kyon a scowl when his own locker was crammed full of notes in the aftermath of the photography ring bust. Now she couldn't help but wince when he gave her a much more constrained look -- yes, there was a hint of jealousy there, but Kyon kept such things hidden whenever he could. Other than that, he looked as tired as she felt.

She shook her head in disgust, shoving the notes to the floor and ignoring them -- realizing what the phone calls from classmates must have been. Ugh! She hated being asked out like that! Of course, with her evidently being 'free,' now....

The idea of someone asking her out -- of course now that the school knew she wasn't 'dating' Kyon....

She supposed it was slightly flattering, but it was going to be more of an annoyance than anything else. Doubly so if anyone thought they could be forceful with her! While Kyon could easily solve that problem, it would just spark more rumors and confusion!

"Ugh," she groaned, pulling her shoes out from the nest of notes, then shoving her indoor slippers in and slamming the locker shut, pretending to ignore the somewhat satisfying blast of envelopes exploding away in a dramatic burst just before the top snapped shut.

"Pretty impressive for someone they just found out was free today," Kyon said after watching the last envelope fly out and smack into his chest, bouncing off and then drifting to the floor.

She sighed, shaking her head and trudging out to join the rest of the waiting Brigade -- except for Koizumi, who had said he wanted to return to the hospital. He sure was diligent, keeping such a sharp eye on his rival esper. "I actually expected Mikuru-chan to get bothered before me," she admitted, nodding at the time traveler.

Tsuruya snickered, shaking her head. "Mikuru-chan got cornered," their heiress said with a shrug. "She panicked before I could try to save her!"

"What did you do, Mikuru-onee?" Kanae asked quietly, her face still pink from that afternoon's revelations.

"She told the boy who asked her out -- she already has a boyfriend!" Tsuruya snickered, circling behind the blushing time traveler and putting her arms around her neck, hanging onto her back.

"Wah!" Mikuru moaned, keeping her footing and blushing fervently, unable to meet Kyon's curious glance.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, regarding Mikuru curiously. Having some distant boyfriend in a remote school might make a good excuse, but it'd be hard for Haruhi to try and pull off at this point. Especially since Mikuru came up with it first. "That's a pretty good cover story!" she offered, a little envious. "So, tell us about your mystery man?"

"H...he's from Hinamizawa," Mikuru managed. "Um, um, he's well-behaved, from an upstanding family, gets good grades, um--"

"We know what he's like," Tsuruya interjected. "What's his name~?"

"Sh...Shutaro," Mikuru squeaked out, bowing her head.

Haruhi couldn't help but snicker a little. "So, you described Kyon and gave his cousin's name? The cousin that thinks that 'girls are icky,' specifically?"

The time traveler managed a shaky nod.

"That works!" Haruhi exclaimed, trying not to be jealous of the clear solution. "And Kyon can just use his disguise to look like someone a little different and then you can claim he's 'Shutaro' here to visit you! You can even openly go on dates like that!"

Kanae's eyes widened before she pouted, looking down at her feet. "That's really smart, Mikuru-onee," she sighed. "I wish I thought of that!"

Mikuru shook her head fiercely, trying to make warding gestures with her hands. "I'm-- I'm sorry! I'm so--"

"Enough of that," Haruhi cut her off, before Tsuruya could. "We're all under a lot of pressure to try and figure things out right now. Don't apologize; you didn't hurt anyone else with that, did you?"

"I...I guess not," Mikuru said meekly, giving Kyon an apologetic glance, then looking at all the others with the same concern -- save Tsuruya, who was still latched onto her from behind.

"It is fine," Yuki reassured her quietly.

"Oh-- Hey, did you get bothered at all?" Haruhi wondered, looking at the slighter girl curiously. "Any annoying guys ask you out?"

Yuki blinked, then looked down.

Kanae followed her gaze, then her eyes widened and she hung her head, sighing in commiseration. "Me neither," she mumbled. "I guess that's just our curse, Nagato-san?"

"Wait, what's this about?" Kyon asked, looking confused.

"N...nothing," Kanae managed, blushing darkly.

"Anyway -- I'm going over to visit with Sakanaka-san and Yanagimoto for dinner," Haruhi grumbled as they reached the bottom of the hill. "I'll figure out how to deal with those two -- and Kanae-chan, Yuki-chan ... you should be glad you don't need to deal with this annoyance!"

Haruhi hesitated a moment -- she was still thinking about Koizumi's talk about alternate realities, after all. More importantly, the part about how they needed to explain things to Kanae, and soon. If she didn't have to meet with Yanagimoto and Sakanaka, she would rather have worked on making the slider feel more safe and surrounded by friends.

That and the doujin Kanae had drawn -- Haruhi had acted supportive, and actually thought the doujin Kanae had drawn of her, Kyon, and Kanae was cute. The other ones, though.... She was starting to wonder how much Kanae actually understood the people around her. After all that time running, it made sense that the images of people remained with her more solidly than their personalities.

If different instances of Kyon -- for example -- behaved slightly differently, but all looked the same, what did the slider have to draw on? But the scenarios that she had glimpsed over Koizumi's shoulder -- using the images of Kyon and Koizumi and filling in the blanks with details from her anime and manga.... Kanae needed to spend even more time with her friends in the Brigade -- and how was Haruhi supposed to handle that while also reassuring Yanagimoto and Sakanaka?

As though picking up that thought, Mikuru coughed and then managed, "Um, Kanae-chan, why don't you join Tsuruya-chan and I for dinner tonight?"

"It'll be fun!" Tsuruya chirped, nodding enthusiastically, releasing the time traveler to grab the slider the same way, effortlessly hefting the tiny figure. "We'll even let Mikuru-chan cooks, so you can help her~! Pictures for Haru-nyan's scrapbooks!"

"O...okay," Kanae agreed, managing a sheepish smile.

"How many of those scrapbooks have you filled so far, anyway?" Kyon wondered.

"Three," Haruhi answered, frowning.

Kyon didn't seem to pick up on it, but she supposed Kyon was just squeamish about it. She thought that was a bit silly of him, but given what had happened yesterday, he deserved some significant leeway on that count.

"We'll have to get around to printing more of the recent pictures and putting them into books very soon," Haruhi added, realizing the silence was starting to drag a bit. "We've been great about taking pictures, but not printing them out. For today I just need to meet up with Sakanaka and Yanagimoto. How about you, Kyon?"

"Yeah, I probably have to have a fun conversation with my parents about yesterday," Kyon sighed, shaking his head. "Alright -- see you tomorrow; take care, everyone!" He raised a hand and waved, smiling at all the girls, then leaving them alone.

Mikuru, Tsuruya, and Kanae left next, turning toward the heiress's home and waving as well.

Shaking her head, Haruhi turned to Yuki and wondered aloud, "Did someone really hit on you, and you pretended not so that Kanae-chan wouldn't feel jealous?"

Yuki cocked her head slightly to one side and stared at a point past Haruhi's eyes. "A little," she allowed.

"Let me guess -- the president of the computer club?"

"Two subordinates," Yuki corrected, prompting Haruhi to raise her eyebrows.

Well ... at least it was boys that recognized Yuki's amazing computer skill, not just ones that thought she was cute and didn't know her at all. They were still a little short of being 'good' matches for a girl who happened to be an alien in Haruhi's opinion, though! She'd rather keep someone as amazing as Yuki for herself -- or share her with Kyon.

She shook her head, realizing she was distracting herself, then waved to Yuki. "See you tomorrow," she told the slighter girl. "I think it's your turn and Kanae-chan's turn, isn't it?"

"Mikuru-chan and Michikyuu Kanae," Yuki corrected.

Haruhi nodded at that, turning away to Sakanaka's place and only realizing when she was out of earshot -- 'Mikuru-chan'? Well! Yuki was making great progress on reaching out. She had only to get a little closer to Tsuruya and Kanae!

Those uplifting thoughts were almost crushed when she reached the entrance to Sakanaka's place. She still needed to figure out how to deal with the rumor mill. She didn't want random guys asking her out all the time, and more importantly, she needed to figure out something to help tie Kanae to the group a little more strongly. A 'covert' relationship with Kyon didn't seem quite the thing....

Well, technically, Kanae had that anyway-- All of them did. But there had to be some public recognition she could give the girl that would solve her current predicament. The solution came to her in a sudden flash as she knocked on Sakanaka's door, unable to keep a hopeful smile from her face. Unorthodox, but when had she been a stickler for the rules, anyway?

By the time Yanagimoto and Sakanaka -- now a unified front -- opened the door and dragged her inside, she already had answers to their questions picked out.


As intense as school had been -- nothing compared to the previous day -- Kyon was actually dreading returning home to talk to his parents even more. He was met at the door by his little sister, who flung the door open and then burst through it like a launching ballistic missile, hurtling into his chest with all of the force she could muster.

He reflexively caught her and turned with the impact, spinning around and hugging her to his chest before he set her down. "What have I told you about that?" he chastised, unable to keep a small smile from his face anyway.

"Magical girls get a pass," she said breezily, grinning up at him. "Besides, you're a hero, so you can handle this~! Mom and Dad want to talk to you, but afterward, play with me!"

"We'll see," he said, shaking his head slightly. "Wish me luck."

"You can do it!" she encouraged him insistently, letting go of him to retreat back into the house. She flinched and offered a guilty giggle at being caught coming in from outside wearing only her socks. Their mother gave her a cool, unflinching gaze, then turned her attention to Kyon, her confidence flagging slightly.

"Ah, Kyon-kun -- your father and I would like to speak to you," she said, seeming to struggle for words.

Kyon nodded glumly in response. It had to be serious if his father was home from work ... though, it could have been at Tsuruya's insistence. Their mutual boss did always say he put family first.

He slipped off his shoes and put on his house-slippers, falling into step behind his mother as Nonoko gave him one last encouraging wave before running up to hide in her room. His father was already sitting at the dining room table pensively, his gaze on a folded newspaper he wasn't actively reading.

Clearing his throat quietly, Kyon pulled out his seat and sat down. A moment later, his mother did, as well.

"Ah, Kyon-kun," his father greeted, roused from his contemplating. "Good to see you -- you had a nice day at school?"

"It was a blast," Kyon returned dryly. "Um ... my classmates found out I'm engaged to Tsuruya-kun, so that's going all over the school, now."

His mother winced at that, for some reason. "Y...yes," she said shakily. "Well-- Um, about that, Kyon-kun...."

He waited patiently, wondering what was to happen next. He could imagine his mother demanding that he cut all ties with Tsuruya -- not that he'd do it, at this point. Still, as hectic as his week had been so far.... He steeled himself, prepared for the worst.

"We've decided that we need to let you make active choices yourself," his mother finally said, her voice cracking slightly as she stared at the tabletop. "A...after all, the last time I thought I was doing something 'for your own good,' I engaged you into a family of...." She sighed, one hand rising to her face in what Kyon belatedly realized was the exact same gesture he used when he was at a loss for words.

"We-- We talked about things, and I told your mother what you told me -- that you'd, um, fight anything to be with Tsuruya-chan," Kyon's father contributed, looking faintly nervous. "Well -- you've proved to her and her family that you're worthy, so it seems like it would be foolish of us to suddenly change our minds, right?"

"...can't believe my brother's a criminal," Kyon's mother groused under her breath.

"And I've been telling you that for years," his father grumbled, offering her a soft smile. "But-- And this is an argument I heard from someone wise beyond their years-- Your brother's a good person, Akane-chan. I know you don't ... always get along.... Yakuza--"

"Ninkyo dantai," Kyon couldn't help himself from correcting.

His mother winced again, while his father offered a nervous chuckle, then coughed. "Er, yes, ninkyo dantai or not, Keiichi-kun does good deeds-- He works gratis for villagers on legal matters, and helps advise the town council! Remember that thing you told me about when he was still in high school? When he organized that major protest to help out one of his friends?"

"I was still small then, too," the woman sighed. "We've been over that, though-- So ... if you're taking after my brother in some ways, then I suppose that's fine-- Just make sure that ... like Kei-kun, you're still a good person, too?"

Kyon blinked again, left unbalanced and no longer having the slightest idea of what to say. He'd expected a fight, or a confrontation, not ... resigned acceptance. Not that it was something he could complain about! "Er, y-yeah, I can try that, for certain," Kyon agreed, nodding. "I mean-- I have been trying that."

Kyon's mother heaved a sigh of relief, giving him a weak smile. "That's ... good. That's good-- Then, um.... Your father and I have been talking, and thinking about things.... So, he said he'd teach you to drive if your grades were good enough, right? I know you've been studying diligently, so if you're at the mark -- in the top ten, right?"

"Er, yeah, that's what I'd suggested initially," Kyon's father agreed, frowning. "But--"

"Well, then, if you've made that by Friday next week, your father will teach you how to drive as a reward for being such a well-behaved son! After all, you've ... only ever done the best you could, right? Even if ... you're in a situation that would make any sane mother fear for her child...."

"Akane-chan...." Shaking his head, the man coughed, turning his attention back to Kyon. "So-- I'm sorry that this is all so sudden ... but then, this probably isn't nearly as surprising as being engaged, is it?"

Kyon tried to take this sudden and unexpected good news in stride, but couldn't help grinning. It was about the best news he'd had all week!

"Just ... for both of us, I understand you're in dangerous work and have to do ... things that might scare your parents. Tsuruya-sama assured us it was his responsibility, but as much as we can, we are parents, and we do worry about our children, so...."

"Please, promise me you'll do your best to keep your sister out of all this?" Kyon's mother concluded, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "We know it's not your fault-- And you actually rescued her...."

"I don't ever want to see Nonoko in that kind of situation, either," Kyon agreed, his momentary good mood obliterated by that reminder. He shook his head. "Sorry ... this is kind of heavy. So-- Thank you for trusting me enough to handle this. I'll do my best to make sure you aren't disappointed by me -- and I swear, I will always look out for Nonoko to the best of my ability."

"That ... satisfies me," his mother allowed unsteadily, resting one hand on the table. His father took it in his own, giving it a firm squeeze before turning his attention to Kyon. "Now, you'll be as careful as you can out there, right?"

"Absolutely," he agreed without hesitation. "Still, if there's nothing else, I need to get my homework done as quickly as possible."

He had promised to play with Nonoko afterward, hadn't he?

His father gave a chuckle at that, shaking his head. "Alright--" he declared. "That's my son! Got his priorities in order!"