Kyon: Big Damn Hero

The Laying Low Arc V

Chapter Fifty Five: ...And Into the Foyer

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 Two: Trust"

"Like the previous subject -- faith -- trust is a concept that can have significant impact on your perceptions. Trust is probably easier to establish than faith, as it's something you can apply to people you know instead of vague concepts. At the same time, you can both 'have faith' in someone and 'trust' someone. However, the truth of the matter is that they are not the same thing; you can trust someone you have no faith in. Except ... if you do, and it's rewarded enough ... does that trust become faith?"

"Tending the Flame" -- [The author's name is too faded from age to be read]


Having no idea of what to expect, Kyon tried to keep himself ready. Yuki seemed calm enough, and he wasn't certain that Kuyou could be alarmed, while Koizumi seemed mildly distracted, at the worst. The group of them had gone together to Yuki's apartment, but until the Combine made a move, they were were just sitting at her table, waiting.

Koizumi was opposite him, while the light-haired girl was to his left, and the dark-haired girl was to his right.

The fifth member of their band was Ryouko, no longer in her 'angel' costume. That seemed to be the only way to get Kuyou to give up her matching 'devil' costume. Even if she was remarkably cute (and at her full size had legs to rival Haruhi's), it was ... distracting. To say nothing of how unnerving Ryouko was as an 'angel' ... though, that brought a very unexpected reminder of Yamane Jun back to mind.

Of course, when considering the fact that they were going to deal with a slider, Yamane was a minor foe at best.

Kuyou somehow was able to sense his arrival before it happened and relayed it to Ryouko, who sat on the table looking satisfied with herself. Well, this time she wasn't muted, and Kyon wasn't about to make that mistake again, considering what had happened to his sister!

It didn't hurt that the arrival also matched up with Yuki's prediction-- So they had a very good idea of when and where to expect Wataru. Even better, if everything went well, Yuki would have the ability to help Kuyou actually choose where their portal would open, since they were expecting it. At least, if that worked, they wouldn't need to worry about the slider going after Kanae -- and if it didn't, Yuki was ready to take the fight to him, while Haruhi was busy with Sasaki.

Even as those thoughts went through his head, Yuki and Kuyou seemed unperturbed, just staring at one-another -- it was actually kind of soothing, the way they regarded one another in silence. Kyon was certain they were communicating on a wavelength he just couldn't reach, planning contingencies and preparing for the worst while sipping Yuki's endless supply of tea and nibbling Kuyou's equally endless-seeming supply of cookies.

For himself, he had nothing to do but fidget with his teacup and make small talk with Koizumi. On the other hand, they were able to chat during the club meetings, so there wasn't much new to say -- and the esper seemed distracted anyway.

"Has any progress been made on the plan to inform Michikyuu Kanae about her connection to the sliders?" Koizumi wondered, finally broaching the silence that had settled over the group.

Kyon started at that. For everything he'd been dealing with, that was one item on the list ... but one he hadn't made any progress on. He knew Haruhi was working on keeping the girl reassured and bolstering her confidence. That was a good start, but.....

"Not on my end," he had to concede to the esper. "I've been focused on the Sumiyoshi-rengo and keeping Sasaki safe lately."

"Well, she should be in good hands now, if Suzumiya-san's with her," Koizumi said with a small shake of his head. "Still, I didn't mean to be an annoyance."

"No, it's a good point," Kyon sighed, rubbing at his temples briefly. "I'm a bit lost on that front, but.... I can't help but feel that Haruhi and the others are doing a good job of getting Kanae-chan to rely on others instead of just me, you know?"

"Well, if there's any help on that front I can lend, I'd be willing to," the esper returned, nodding. "Though ... I think modeling would be outside of the bounds I'm comfortable with."

Kyon snorted, recognizing it as a joke -- rare, from Koizumi. Hmm, that time he was spending with Kyouko seemed to be doing him real good.

"I will help too," Kuyou added, swiveling her head, her dark eyes locking onto Kyon's as she smiled.

"Er," Kyon started, a bit surprised. Was that a good idea? Kanae was frightened of the other copy of her, wasn't she?

"Friends help friends," Kuyou added, then pointing at Ryouko.

Kuyou trying to befriend Kanae ... might actually help set her at ease a bit more, as well. She'd adapted so far to her presence, considering she was used to seeing the dark-haired girl as an antagonist, but there was no reason to just stop there. Still....

"Well, I do happen to agree, and I'm glad you told it to Suou-san -- but where did you get that idea?" Kyon wondered, looking at the tiny figure. Ryouko was currently wearing a small version of her school uniform and chewing on a cookie that Kuyou had offered her. It was difficult to take seriously, considering that the cookie was nearly as large as her torso, relatively.

Did she actually even need to eat or drink?

"Nono-chan says so!" Ryouko declared resolutely. "That's why I help Kyon-kun!"

Well, that was ... really an unexpected improvement on the once murderous alien's part. He really didn't know where the fixation on his sister came from, but if she felt bad about endangering his sister.... He supposed that was Haruhi's power at work? Redeeming Ryouko without brain-washing her?

That was one way to do things....

And he supposed Haruhi was right that Ryouko learning to become protective of his sister -- and looking up to her -- was a step in making Kyon more comfortable around her. Really, that was starting to outweigh those more negative memories. He still wasn't completely thrilled about her involving his sister in the slider attack, but all told, Nonoko was the one who had come out of it with the least damage.

And maybe, just a little, he was happy that anything had managed to get his little sister back to calling him 'nii-san' again....

He shook his head sharply, trying to focus on the upcoming confrontation. "So -- what do you think you'll be doing during the encounter?" he posed to Koizumi. "We have a clear advantage in numbers, so my hope is we can just talk."

"My thinking was that I still have no real care to fight sliders, based on what I know of the situation, and their weapons," Koizumi answered with a small nod of his head. "Rather, even though it's a frightening power, if it's used properly.... Well. If my link to Kyouko works across this distance, I should be able to avoid harm. And if we have a chance to speak, then my goal is to see if I can at least discern some additional information from this 'Wataru' fellow."

"Haruhi's instructions?" Kyon wondered. The esper had been reluctant to do that of his own volition before.

"Yes," he agreed. "Thankfully, Kyouko has also allowed me to practice with her instead of only Mori-san, so I am able to sense some things without digging deeper than I'd like." For some reason, the esper couldn't meet Kyon's eyes, his face reddening very slightly, a smile he couldn't hide coming to his lips. A real smile, too.

...well, that was something. First an obvious joke, and then a real smile? Good for Koizumi, then!

He was trying to formulate a reply when Yuki and Kuyou shifted their gazes simultaneously, Ryouko's tiny form dropping her half-eaten cookie and exclaiming, "Incoming!"

By the time her cry had finished, they had already been moved into Kuyou's 'shadow song.'


Fuming about the circumstances, Haruhi growled and let herself be jerked along by the ungentle handlers. While she knew she could put up more of a fight, there was a limit to what she could pull off while cuffed to Sasaki. That was a real limiting factor -- but she hadn't expected anything dangerous from this excursion!

Come to think of it, thanks to her confidence that Kunikida's 'Uncle Hiko' was totally harmless, she was now trapped in the exact position she was trying to avoid!

Well -- no way to run from her fear of Sasaki nullifying her powers now. At the same time, better not to risk anything. Things weren't bad enough to gamble her ability to use powers at all by trying something blatant where Sasaki could see -- and nullify it.

At least, not yet.

As they was roughly pushed into the back of a car, her and Sasaki crammed between a pair of the burly thugs, she reflected that there was some form of therapy where people had to face their fears and overcome them. It was rather like being pushed into a pool when you weren't ready for it, or closed in a dark room, Haruhi thought.

Then again ... if she didn't try and use her powers near Sasaki.... Well, then she had nothing to worry about!

Except for being captured by some burly thugs that smelled of sweat, and not really appreciating the pawing they did shoving her and Sasaki into the back of the car, anyway.

Still ... the thugs hadn't even bothered to take her phone from her. Haruhi wasn't sure she could easily dial without anyone noticing ... but Sasaki would be okay to be in on it. It took a bit of squirming, but she tried to get her left hand into her pocket to reach for her phone.

Sasaki seemed to catch on, and when the thugs glanced over, Sasaki clasped Haruhi's wrist with her left hand, providing a screen for her squirming. With that cover, she was relatively certain they just looked like two scared teenage girls hanging onto one-another awkwardly, thanks to the handcuffs.

The entire Brigade was on speed-dial, but Kyon, Koizumi, and Yuki were busy dealing with the sliders. Mikuru and Kanae couldn't do anything in front of Sasaki either, and Haruhi really didn't like the idea of trying to include the two most moe members of the Brigade in something like this. Surely Kanae would be happy to help, and Haruhi doubted that Mikuru would just leave them in their current situation, but what could they actually do in front of Sasaki?

So, that left Tsuruya.

Tsuruya would be more than willing to help, Haruhi was sure. She was equipped for it, too -- Tsuruya's men were probably the ideal people to look for in this situation anyway, if Kyon and Yuki were occupied. Then again, they probably already realized something was wrong with the way Haruhi and Sasaki had just disappeared, given that they typically watched over the other girl anyway.

One of Sasaki's hands happened to brush against the phone, letting her realize what Haruhi was up to as she found the button to speed-dial Tsuruya by touch alone and pressed it. "Hey," the thug to Haruhi's right growled, looking at her suspiciously. "Keep those hands where we can see them!"

Haruhi obligingly lifted both of her hands, giving the thug in question a rude gesture with her right before -- since she had nothing better to do -- joining Sasaki in clasping hands to cover any light that might escape her pocket. Just in case there was the sound of dialing, or worse, Tsuruya's typical energetic greeting to give them away, she loudly groused, "What the hell is wrong with you, anyway? Bundling us into the back of a car? How cliche can you get?"

"Save it," Hiko remarked from the front passenger seat, hunched over his own phone intently. "I'm not really sure who you are, but our sources say you're important to the Kowa-Keigo."

That took Haruhi slightly aback, and Sasaki's eyebrows rose. He'd used that name before.... So, Kyon had a reputation as some super-powerful guy? It kind of made sense, she supposed....

"So then, as usual," Sasaki deduced, ignoring the nickname, "this was targeted at me?"

"You think I'm some cliche villain who's just going to spill everything in a casual conversation?" Hiko chuckled, shaking his head. "Well -- from your view I may be a villain -- but here's an unpleasant newsflash for you:

"I don't actually know why I was told to get you, just that I was. So, dig all you want -- I don't actually have any information to give up." Taking on a more lecturing tone, he continued, "You see, smart people know better than to entrust critical and -- more importantly -- incriminating information to pawns like me."

Haruhi deflated, scowling. So much for that idea. She had thought about goading him about being a pawn, but if he threw out such a remark casually....

Sasaki gave her wrists a surprisingly reassuring squeeze, glancing toward Haruhi's pocket thoughtfully before turning to regard Hiko, who hadn't bothered turning back to face them. "Then where are you taking us?" she asked. "I'd guess to some point where -- if we're so inexplicably important -- we can be transfered to ... someone who is more than a pawn?"

Hiko snorted, but said nothing.

Sasaki gave a small sigh and turned to give Haruhi as much of a shrug as she could manage, considering how little free space there was between them, as though to say, 'Well, we tried, didn't we?'

Haruhi bit back a wordless growl and nodded sympathetically.

What else could she do? Somehow, the idea of taunting them didn't feel like it would accomplish much, and calling out landmarks would probably be too obvious.

That all turned out to be moot as the car slowed and headed into.... Well, given her other commentary, Haruhi could think of one line that wouldn't arouse too much suspicion:

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed loudly, leaning slightly to ensure the phone had a better chance of picking up what she said. "A run-down warehouse in the harbor district? Could you get any more cliche?"

Hiko's humorless response as the car stopped just inside the roll-up door, which more of their captors immediately began lowering behind them was, "Old tricks are the best tricks. Now keep it shut or I'll have you gagged."

Sasaki winced at that and gave a tiny shake of her head when Haruhi prepared a retort. Well ... fine. She'd bite her tongue -- she'd need to be able to talk to Sasaki later if they were going to be accomplishing anything else.

All she really needed was some way to keep Sasaki from noticing until she'd gotten something done.... But how to pull that off, with them cuffed together?


Kuyou's 'shadow song' felt different from the closed space that Koizumi was used to. It seemed somehow oddly empty, too, but Koizumi vaguely recalled Kyon mentioning that, so wasn't caught off guard by the difference for very long.

He found it interesting that instead of transitioning to the same place -- directly in Yuki's apartment, around the kotatsu -- they were instead shifted to the roof of her building. Well, a copy of it, he supposed.

Though the idea of meeting the slider around a table with a tea set was not without its own (somewhat amusing) appeal, the matter was a bit too serious to leave it at that so easily.

The group of them were arrayed around Kyon, which Koizumi found interesting. Really, wasn't everything arranged around him -- or Haruhi? The esper felt a vague twinge of guilt at the fact that he was standing behind the Brigade's vice-commander, followed by an oddly comforting sense of reassurance from Kyouko across the link.

At least that much still held, though he wasn't confident he'd be able to navigate back to reality proper without the help of Kuyou or Yuki, as Kanae evidently could.

Kuyou stood to Kyon's right, her eyes locked on a point in space before Kyon by around a dozen meters -- Yuki held a mirroring position on his left, and Ryouko's tiny form clung to Kyon's shoulder nearest the alien she seemed to find so much in common with.

He pondered making some observation or witty remark, just to break the silence, but a crack in space formed before he could think of one. Kyon's position shifted, one hand going to an interior greatcoat pocket -- probably to his beam saber, though Koizumi felt they'd all be happier if it didn't come to that.

Wataru stepped through the gap, pausing, then narrowing his eyes. "Shouldn't be surprised," he spat sourly, his gaze locking with Kyon's.

"So nice to see you again," Kyon returned dryly. "Just on schedule, too."

"Well, good for you for figuring that out," the slider replied, rolling his eyes. "It's not going to make that much of a difference in the long run, though."

"It will be enough," Kuyou answered quietly. "I observe your Song through that Noise."

Wataru ignored her without so much as a glance, adding, "I'm here to talk to you, not fight."

"I'd hoped as much," Kyon said mildly, shifting his stance and not really relaxing. "I'm guessing that you're now a sacrificial pawn and ambassador, right? And if we do something to harm you, your bosses will send someone less reasonable?"

"...you're not the same as your other copies," Wataru grudgingly admitted, grimacing. "But is it a divergence in yourself, or something brought in line by your pets?"

"Not pets," Kuyou said quietly. "Symbiotic partnership. We share a barycentric orbit to preserve a harmonious balance of tidal forces. The network is too complex for you to perceive."

Wataru consented to give her a baleful stare, but still didn't deign to answer.

"Would it kill you to be civil, if you're an ambassador?" Kyon asked. "No, never mind-- What matters is that we can communicate. I get that you're ticked off about how things went last time-- So, forget about that for now." He paused, glancing back at Koizumi, who concentrated; no point distracting himself with irrelevancies now.

"I don't think I have much to offer at this point," the esper said, shaking his head slightly. This was the code phrase they'd established to explain what he was doing -- well, one of several, actually, to keep Wataru from understanding what was going on.

The comment still drew a dark glare from the slider. Putting him in a sour and angry mood would help establish a baseline of his emotional state, as uncomfortable as the idea of probing into someone's mind uninvited -- and hopefully undetected -- was.

Regretfully letting go of his connection with Kyouko, feeling her anxiety at his withdrawal, he focused himself. Being able to turn into a cloud of probably-indestructible red energy was useful, but if they weren't fighting, it shouldn't be required. Instead of trying to find her again across the barriers between them, he sent his cautious mental probe at the slider.

He was almost instantly disoriented at what he found-- The rage they'd anticipated, naturally, but it felt like a force that was wrestling against something else. Before digging deeper for information, he kept himself at a more comfortable distance, trying to understand the feelings going through the slider. It didn't feel like indecisiveness or uncertainty.

"That's right," Wataru growled. "I'll talk to ignorant monkeys because I have to -- and you should be pretty damn happy that I agree to do it! If not me, then they'd send an Advisor!" He paused, his rage warring against that other strange force that Koizumi couldn't identify in his psyche; whatever the other force was, it nearly smothered his anger. Whatever an 'Advisor' was, the emphasis on that term was unmistakable.

Almost with ... a weirdly deliberate desperation the slider dug for something that made him angry again:

"Not that it'd do them any good," he spat.

There was a strong temptation to ignore the warring emotions and just dive into whatever fleeting images came to mind at that word, but Koizumi resisted. Not just because he wasn't comfortable rooting through people's minds, even enemies like Wataru, but because he felt somehow certain that there was something important about that mysterious force.

It was trying to calm the slider, he realized -- trying to overwhelm his anger. Some strange defensive mechanism or training to make him keep his calm no matter how angry he was? But why would he actively fight against it?

Oblivious to Koizumi's observations, Kyon suggested, "Why don't you try calming down a bit, and see if we can't reach some sort of peaceful resolution to this entire thing?"

The slider's immediate response was scorn, according to his expression, but in his mind it was actually fear. "Playing right where you want me?" he sneered. "Yeah, right-- So I can trust you and you can try and trick me? I'm sure I'll walk right into that trap!"

Koizumi furrowed his brow, trying to understand. Wataru was working as hard as he could to stay angry for some reason. Like he couldn't afford to give in to the calming influence on him? But ... why would that be?

As an experiment, he could try and incite the slider. Based on what Kyon had said, he had a weak spot of his sister -- but there was no pre-arranged coded message for 'get him angry,' so he would be on his own to accomplish that.

"We're hardly going to get anywhere if you're just spouting insults," Kyon said dryly, looking completely unimpressed with Wataru's temper.

As good a window as any, though-- Koizumi slipped to one side, behind Kyon but between Yuki and the vice-commander. "He's probably just upset about his sister," he remarked, doing his best to appear as though the slider weren't worth his direct attention. "Let him vent for a bit."

Again, Wataru's external reaction seemed to differ from the internal one-- Outwardly, he looked furious, and broke into a long stream of insults at the esper, his mother, and his lineage. Koizumi ignored it, focusing instead on his emotions. There was an undertone of ... gratitude? His fury redoubled, easily overcoming the calming influence that had been on Wataru's mind--

--then it clicked in place for the esper, and it took all of his control to keep his expression smooth, instead of horrified.

Kyon sighed, raising a hand and pinching the bridge of his nose until Wataru was done, breathing heavily and staring at the esper with barely concealed lethal intent-- Except for a single pocket of smug satisfaction, directed firmly at Koizumi behind the rage.

"I don't even know what a 'bullsquid' is," Kyon mumbled, shaking his head. "But if you're done with the childish insults, Wataru--"

"Bah, you call me childish," Wataru overrode him, sneering. He shook his head and began pacing back and forth -- keeping himself within a small handful of steps of the portal. "Stupid monkey," he mumbled. "Look-- You've survived with luck and allies this far, but it won't last forever. You've also done enough damage to seriously piss off the Combine--"

"So, you don't consider yourself part of them?" Kyon interrupted.

The slider's face contorted into a grimace -- he was angry again, but this wasn't something it felt like he'd been reaching for, as much as being read so flatly by Kyon genuinely irritated him.

"Irrelevant," he spat. "It's only a matter of time before the Combine have the power to come back in force -- and they won't be so careless, then." Done delivering that warning, he spun on heel and marched away, through his portal -- which snapped shut behind him, neatly severing Koizumi's temporary link.

An awkward silence overtook the empty space they shared, broken when Kyon finally sighed, shaking his head and turning to Koizumi curiously.

The esper winced, realizing he'd failed to follow through on Haruhi's instructions-- "I ... didn't probe deeply," he admitted. "And I'm not positive, but...." He shook his head a short distance, turning to regard Yuki, who was watching him silently. Kuyou was staring at the place where Wataru had vanished.

Kyon's eyebrows rose, and the esper admitted a grudging respect for how much both he and Yuki could ask without saying anything at all.

"Ah, Nagato-san, were you able to tell if Wataru's mind had been modified?" Koizumi asked.

She blinked at him wordlessly.

"Rather, his brain," Koizumi corrected himself.

Yuki gave a tiny nod, while Kyon's eyebrows rose further. "Like, what ... cybernetic implants?" the vice-commander wondered.

"Bio-synthetic," Yuki said quietly. "Function unknown, but likely increased calculating potential and reaction-speed improvements."

"I think it puts limits on how and what he can think," Koizumi said quietly. "And he can only work around it by being angry."

"Wait," Kyon said slowly, eyes narrowing. "He's not exactly loyal, but instead under their control?"

"I suspect this, but did not dig deeply enough to know for certain -- but then, it's also possible those 'bio-synthetic' components are capable of detecting deeper intrusion. My supposition is that he is a prisoner of their machinations, much as I gather Suou-san's alternate selves were." And hadn't that been a conversation and a half!

He shook his head, dismissing the cryptic, dark-haired girl's explanations about what had happened to the other version of her and how inconclusive it all seemed--

"The gist of it is that he may actually be doing his best to work with us," Koizumi summarized.

"Well," Kyon said after a moment. "What are we supposed to do, then? Keep him angry?"

"To a degree," Koizumi agreed. "But ... we have some time before we meet with him again-- A week, I think?"

"Hopefully," Kyon sighed, shaking his head with a grimace. "He can really come back any time, since they didn't lose their mass and energy investment this time through-- But probably won't because there's a limit to what he can do, and Suou-san is ready to put him here, where he can't really accomplish anything. Still ... I get your point, Koizumi. Suou-san, can you take us back?"

She nodded, and space around them shifted--

"Urgent phone call!" Ryouko yelped upon arrival, simultaneous with the ring-tone that Koizumi was certain Tsuruya had programmed into Kyon's phone.


As much as Sasaki didn't particularly enjoy the kidnapping attempts, she wondered if she was growing a bit too complacent about the entire thing. None of the other attempts had lasted this long, and for once she wasn't alone ... but on one attempt even Kyon had gotten captured. Haruhi being with her was novel, but she mostly felt guilty for getting the other girl involved.

She was still scared, but somehow, that was overshadowed by concern for her friend.

Spending time with Haruhi as a friend was all well and good, but getting her involved.... Well, she supposed that technically, Haruhi was already involved, and part of the group that Sasaki hadn't been invited to join yet. Beyond that, Haruhi had blundered into Hiko, but he'd as much as said he had no idea how important Haruhi was-- If it had just been Sasaki....

Well, nothing to be done about that, then.

Haruhi had managed to reach her phone, since it was in her skirt pocket instead of a purse, like Sasaki's. Not that she was sure what good it would do -- if the audio pickup was good enough for whoever she'd called to hear anything. Presumably it was Kyon on the other end of the line, but how that would help them was unclear at the moment.

Kyon wouldn't have a way to read the GPS signal off Haruhi's phone, after all.

...would he? She supposed it wouldn't matter if the men he worked with had an inkling of where they'd been taken; what was really important was letting him know that it was going on at all.

As it was, Haruhi and Sasaki were left to stand together in roughly the center of the warehouse, while the car had been rolled back against the far wall. Some distance away, Hiko was grumbling and pacing back and forth, having a conversation that didn't seem to be going particularly well with whoever he was speaking to. His abbreviated march was interspersed with occasional glances at the pair--

If he were the only guard, Sasaki wouldn't have hesitated to run.

The other dozen thugs in the room surrounding them in clusters at further distances made that plan of action unlikely. At least they had space, but captivity was captivity.

"Right," Haruhi said under her breath, moving to cross her arms before remembering the link connecting her to Sasaki, then looking apologetic at tugging the other girl's wrist. "Er, sorry."

"It's fine," Sasaki assured her, trying her best to smile encouragingly. "I'm ... sure we'll get out of this somehow."

"Yeah," Haruhi agreed quietly, nodding and surveying the men -- looking for a gap between them where two girls could try and slip out, undoubtedly. There were two potential exits, in Sasaki's mind, and only one of them was actually viable.

"We'll have to stick close together," Sasaki noted quietly. "There's no way either of us could break this chain, and from what I recall, picking locks is very difficult to do quickly -- despite what movies might have us think."

Haruhi's confidence faltered as she gave Sasaki a bleak stare, then huffed a sigh. "Just-- Trust me that it'd help if you tried to keep positive," she grumbled, looking around the warehouse again.

Sasaki tried to mask a wince with another smile; she was trying to be realistic not.... Well, that approach hadn't helped Kyon in middle school, had it? It wasn't doing much good here, either! "Right," she agreed, shaking her head. "S...sorry."

"So ... we need a distraction," Haruhi mused softly, glancing around at their surroundings, finally looking past the thugs lining the large room.

Hiko snorted at something, then waved to one of his men, raising his voice. "Of course they've been searched," he said caustically, jerking his head toward the girls. The two thugs who had been squeezed into the back of the car with them started from where they'd been muttering quietly about something, then exchanged a shrug, crossing the distance toward their captives.

Sasaki tensed, while Haruhi bit back a curse. "Hey!" the other girl snapped, when one of the thugs snatched Sasaki's purse, and the other began patting Haruhi down. "Keep your paws to yourself!"

Shifting the phone around to cover the microphone with one hand, Hiko warned, "Keep struggling, and it'll be a strip-search."

That prompted Haruhi to freeze, looking anxious. Okay, Sasaki thought quickly -- it was a cell phone, right? If someone could hear them through it, and was listening....

"It's not like they'll find a phone with an active connection," she remarked to Haruhi, loudly enough she hoped it could be picked up. If the other end of the line hung up before the phone was pulled out, it wouldn't appear to be active -- right?

"E...eh, right," Haruhi mumbled, shooting the man who patted her down with a dirty look. After a moment he fumbled the phone from her pocket, eliciting an indignant squawk before holding it up for inspection. He only glanced at it for a minute before shrugging, tossing it to one of the men on the side of the warehouse, watching the proceedings with increasing amusement.

Well, that was degrading.... Hopefully this didn't escalate beyond kidnapping!

Sasaki's own phone and personal effects were fumbled through, but surprisingly enough to her, not spilled out across the floor. Then again, that would be an evidence trail, wouldn't it? So she supposed that made them frighteningly competent at what they did.

Satisfied that things were as they anticipated, they also grabbed a small coin-purse from Haruhi's other pocket, and tossed everything to the same man who'd caught Haruhi's phone.

The more cynical corner of Sasaki's mind deduced it was so it could be destroyed, concealing any evidence leading to their current whereabouts. The more hopeful part tried to console herself with the idea of it being intact for the moment, and likely retrievable.

Satisfied with their search, the thugs withdrew, the one that had searched Haruhi pausing to smirk and swat Haruhi's backside, which made the other girl shake with barely restrained rage-- Sasaki reflexively turned toward her and put her free arm around Haruhi. "It's okay," Sasaki soothed. "We'll get through this."

"Yeah, well, come closer," Haruhi mumbled, sounding more calm than she looked, though Sasaki doubted her fury was faked.

It didn't take much work to shift things around -- make it look like they were just comforting one-another from the scary men. Well ... that was more or less what was actually happening anyway. That part of having someone else with her was somewhat comforting.

"If we hold hands, the chain shouldn't get jerked when we run," Haruhi whispered into Sasaki's ear.

"We need a distraction, and to get through the doors, too," she whispered back. The heavy roll-up door had been bolted already, leaving only much smaller doors, both of which had a pair of guards.

"Back door," Haruhi whispered. After a pause, she slowly mumbled, "These lights ... are really old -- one of them could fall and make those two jump away. Other than that ... the back door can't be locked from the inside."

Sasaki wanted to turn to look, but couldn't without being obvious. Still.... "We can't make a light fall," she reminded Haruhi. They didn't have anything to throw at the lamps-- And looking up a bit, Sasaki was certain the other lights were identical throughout the warehouse. Hanging fluorescent bulbs underneath aluminum reflectors, to double the somewhat feeble light they filtered down.

"Well, hurry already," Hiko snapped at his phone, looking irate.

"Er.... But they could fall, right?" Haruhi whispered.

"Well, it's possible," Sasaki agreed. Of course, the odds of it happening in a way convenient for the two of them were ... well, not impossible, but incredibly unlikely. She didn't say that, though she suspected Haruhi could read the skepticism in her tone.

"But if someone on our side were trying to help us without giving away their presence here, say, by peeking in through the skylights and lipreading us, and then make it happen," Haruhi said with building confidence, "that goes from 'possible' to 'plausible,' right?"

Sasaki resisted the urge to jerk back and stare up at the darkened skylights. Who-- Well, that was more possible than the light just falling on its own! "Yes," she agreed. "More than plausible, and on to likely, even."

"Okay-- So, close your eyes," Haruhi warned.

"Hey," Hiko barked, narrowing his eyes as Sasaki closed hers. "What do you think--"

The rest of what he said was cut off by an explosive crash, and Sasaki didn't dare to open her eyes, certain that Haruhi had protected her from a blinding flash or something along those lines until their awkward hug was broken-- Their handcuffed hands clasped, and Sasaki turned toward the door, her eyes opening as she joined Haruhi's hurried dash toward the door.

Sasaki did her best, but Haruhi was clearly the superior athlete-- Those days of letting Kyon pedal and just enjoying the ride hadn't paid off at all! Maybe she should have gone to a school atop a tall hill!

Still, her friend restrained her pace as the pair of them dashed across a fallen lighting rig, barely able to see. Much to Sasaki's surprise, the pair of guards on the door had leaped away in alarm, leaving it unattended and wide open. How had that happened? Maybe ... a rush of air from the light falling down? They'd tripped and sprawled across the floor in their alarm, but then, so had the thug who'd smacked Haruhi's rear.

It seemed odd, but Sasaki chalked it up to their unseen assistant-- If someone had knocked lights down, opening a door seemed well within reason, too, didn't it? Had that person, unseen for the moment, shoved the two out of the way? That meant only one of the men had really fallen -- something that was entirely explicable.

Before she had time to think on it further, they made it out of the building and paused. Haruhi hauled on her wrist before Sasaki could get her bearings, as Hiko -- like some anime villain -- roared, "After them!"

Well, any direction was probably better than none, right? They were in a trash-strewn alley, and even Haruhi had to slow in the dim lighting, none of the buildings providing much help. The stars barely pierced the city's light pollution, and no street-lamps were visible.

Only what little light that spilled out of the open doorway behind them helped, and whatever the dim obstacles the girls were trying to navigate around-- All of which turned out to be moot when the alley was blocked off with a chain-link fence. Given time Sasaki could have clambered over it, maybe even with one hand cuffed to Haruhi. In fact, being linked to Haruhi might have helped, overall!

But while being chased?

Haruhi cursed, then again snapped, "Close your eyes!"

Sasaki obliged, hearing a sound she couldn't ... quite place, before Haruhi tugged her forward into-- Into suddenly clear space, crossing over a toppled chain-link fence? "What-- What just happened?" Sasaki managed, unnerved as her eyes flew wide again. Obstacles didn't just disappear! What had she needed to close her eyes for, anyway?

"Something completely plausible," Haruhi muttered, picking up the pace-- The alley beyond was clearer of trash, and their pursuers hadn't caught them yet. Glancing back -- though she probably shouldn't have -- Sasaki was surprised to see that one of the men had managed to somehow get tangled up in the fallen chain-link. How was it that the alley was strewn with litter, but as the fence had been cut free, there was a clear central aisle through the ... junk?

Perhaps their mysterious benefactor had arranged to clear the fence ahead of time? That was plausible, at least! Some extremely sharp wire, which had then snagged the trash out of the way? Maybe something coated with diamond powder or something along those lines; if it raised a cloud of sparks and dusty particles of cut metal, that would explain the need to close their eyes.

Whatever the case, she'd still been saved by someone else -- but why wasn't their benefactor revealing their presence? It was probably Kyon in any case, wasn't it? This kind of planning seemed circumspect for him, but she'd believe it!

They turned a corner in the alley, heading back toward the street in front of the warehouse, when Haruhi's step began to falter. Ahead of them, a car skidded to an abrupt halt, spilling out a group of men in familiar suits who looked more than ready to intercept them -- and not the ones who worked with Kyon.

Haruhi backpedaled and spun, but all of the doors had keyholes without doorknobs -- no chance of opening any of them. Worse, the men who had searched them were leading the rush, having trampled or leaped over their tangled allies.

"I-it's okay!" Sasaki said, trying to sound confident. "Whoever's helping us...."

But no one appeared before the men reached them; in fact, Haruhi pushed Sasaki to one side, intercepting a hand that was heading for her. The thug didn't strike her, instead just clamping onto Haruhi's shoulder hard enough to make the other girl cry out in pain-- Haruhi's superior athletic ability let her launch one very solid kick at her assailant, but he was more experienced--

Sasaki could only recall the warning she'd gotten about defending herself from Mori and Kasai -- doing enough damage to upset their assailants. He twisted and caught the kick on his thigh, glowering at Haruhi murderously.

Oh, dear....


"Where's Nii-san?" Nonoko wondered, poking her head into the kitchen, where her mother was fussing with pots and pans, but hadn't actually started trying to cook anything yet.

The woman stiffened, her back to Nonoko, then bowed her head and managed, "...working, Nono-chan. He's ... working with his fiancee, like has been most of this week."

Nonoko couldn't help but pout at that. She really liked when she got to do fun stuff, but lately her older brother and adoptive older sisters had been too busy to play with her -- or better, let her train to be a hero of justice. She brightened quickly, though; there was nothing to be gained by moping, anyway.

"It's okay!" she encouraged her mother. "Nii-san's a hero of justice! He's doing his best to take care of Tsuru-nee!"

Her mother sighed, turning around and offering a weak smile of her own. "I just worry about your brother," she admitted. "He's ... well, you and Kyon-kun are both my babies; I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt!"

Nonoko was just about to protest how silly that thought was when her mother set aside the pan she was currently holding and grabbed her in a hug. "A mother can't help but worry about her children," she continued, sighing. "Some day, I expect you'll know that, too!"

Well, she wasn't sure what that was about, but hugged her mother back anyway. Was she that worried about things? "You shouldn't worry about Nii-san so much," she said confidently. "He's a good hero-- He can fight dark generals and turn them into friends, and make even scary people into nice new nee-chans!"

Nonoko's mother held her at arm's length and gave her a funny look. "New nee-chans?" she asked doubtfully, smiling anyway. "I ... suppose, but he's engaged to Tsuruya-chan." She looked speculative suddenly. "Nono-chan, do you suppose if your brother were to spend too much time with other girls...." She trailed off, biting her lower lip.

"Like Yuki-nee or Mikuru-nee?" Nonoko wondered. "Along with Haru-nee, they're Tsuru-nee's best friends! Tsuru-nee doesn't mind at all -- which is great!"

"Of course," her mother sighed, shaking her head. "And.... Well-- I suppose that's actually for the best, isn't it?"

"Yep!" Having awesome big sisters was great! It meant that she could still play with Kyon and his friends, instead of being left behind!

"Though...." Nonoko's mother looked thoughtful, and wondered, "You say ... you know about Kyon fighting 'Dark Generals'?"

"Yep!" Nonoko agreed, nodding. "Hmm, they keep trying to kidnap Sasaki-nee," she mused. "But Nii-san rescues her! He's dependable like that."

The woman blinked silently, her mouth falling open a short distance before she groaned, shaking her head. "I ... see," she sighed, one hand going to her face. "I had no idea that even she.... Well, I suppose there really is nothing for it except to hope for the best!"

"It's not hoping; Nii-san's really good," Nonoko insisted. "Even Haru-nee and Yuki-nee think so, and they work with Nii-san all the time!"

"I'll try and believe in him like you do, then," the woman finally decided, dropping her hand to her side and offering an uneasy smile.

That was better! "What's for dinner tonight, anyway?"

"Tonkatsu," the woman decided, turning to study the cookware she'd already pulled out. "Hmm, Nono-chan, would you like to learn how to make it? That should be something fun -- and safe -- that we can do!"

Cooking wasn't nearly as exciting as being a magical girl, but if it would make her mother happier, and things easier for Kyon ... why not? Anyway, Miyoko was always going on about how 'cooking was a woman's pride' or something -- which didn't make any sense to Nonoko. Her own mother was terrible at that, and she seemed to have plenty of pride!

Well, it might be fun anyway. Oh! Maybe she'd get to serve it to Kyon, later! "Sure thing!" she agreed.


With the thug grabbing her shoulder, Haruhi was trapped -- Sasaki had probably done something to make the handcuffs unbreakable, with her little comment about it not being possible for the pair of them to deal with the things -- thanks to that, Haruhi was actually afraid to even try. She was afraid to try anything while the other girl's eyes were opened because ... well, who knew what the repercussions of that could be?

So as scary as it was, she limited herself to only her own physical strength. Some part of her mind noted that it wasn't nearly as frightening as watching Kyon's sister put herself in danger.

Not that she was happy about things by a long shot-- She couldn't help crying out in pain again when the thug glared at her, his hand squeezing tighter, tears springing to her eyes. Sasaki tried her best to push the man away, but he dismissed her with a casual shove; Haruhi realized belatedly that Sasaki managed to catch herself on one hand and her knees, keeping her other hand stretched toward Haruhi to avoid jerking the chain.

"I don't know how you did that," the man growled, eyes narrowed as his other hand drew back in a fist, "but you're not going to get another chance!"

Time slowed down as the meaty paw slowly zoomed toward her face, growing larger and larger in Haruhi's perception, with her held in place by his painful grip.

Time sped up with a sudden blurring crunch, and Haruhi wavered unsteadily, her shoulder released-- Was she in shock? Stunned and not able to feel the pain?

She blinked furiously, doing her level best to avoid giving the thug more satisfaction than she had to-- But ... he hadn't hit her at all! Someone had caught his fist and yanked him to one side--

She blinked again, mouth falling open as she saw anger on Kyon's face that made her shiver. When he had been angry at her, something she'd never forget, it was hot; this time, the fury was icily cold, his face an almost unreadable mask, except for the shine of rage in his eyes. She'd also never -- really -- seen Kyon fight hand-to-hand before, either.

Hey! Where had he come from?

That thought vanished quickly, though. While Haruhi had always thought a street fighter would do something astounding like just stop the fist entirely, Kyon had instead pulled it forward -- and to one side. Well, she distantly thought, as Kyon continued pulling the thug forward, past her, that was real martial arts, not the showy stuff for movies, right?

He somehow braced himself well enough to crouch and turn one shoulder to the thug, slamming the goon's solar plexus into his shoulder, still pulling the attacker's arm across his own body. Haruhi's mouth fell open in amazement as the Sumiyoshi-rengo man's breath was knocked out of him with a pained grunt -- and Kyon kept pulling him.

This made the thug's body flop onto Kyon's back with one quick twist of Kyon's shoulders, and then in a single motion, momentarily bearing the weight of a much heavier man on his back, the boy brought his opponent crashing down to slam into the unforgiving concrete of the alleyway.

Okay -- that topped the show of strength she would have hoped for!

Sparing only the briefest of glances at her, he looked apologetic before shifting his stance and launching forward with precise, fluid grace. Now that was more like it, she realized! One of the charging thugs tried to skid to a halt, sinking to one knee and sliding forward-- Kyon charged at him and stepped on the raised knee, evidently not doing any damage, but rising high enough to snap-kick the man's chin and vault over his tumbling form in a single, smooth motion.

He landed and appeared to bow to the pair of men behind the thug that was collapsing from the kick -- not actually bowing, Haruhi realized, as their belated punches cleanly missed him. He rose up to full height once more and danced back a half-step, moving to one side. Instead of presenting a unified front, the man on the right -- the closer one -- charged with a guttural roar.

Kyon met his charge by twisting even closer to the alley wall, grabbing the extended fist again.... Well, she supposed that martial arts and skill was all about using someone's strength against themselves, wasn't it? Kyon was certainly doing that! The unbalanced thug was dragged across Kyon's body just in time to intercept a savage body-blow from his partner, both of them looking stunned.

Looking down the alley, Kyon turned his back to the pair with a last disdainful glower as he shoved his held foe into the other, both of them stumbling and collapsing into a pile. The men at the other end of the alley, a cluster surrounding Hiko, began to turn, ready to flee.

Kyon debated for a moment, looking like he was considering chasing them down -- and beating them all senseless. Not that she could fault him! From the looks of things, it would hardly even take him a minute! Instead, though, he gave a curt shake of his head, spitting, "You're surrounded, but I'll deal with you later," before they even rounded the corner.

Turning back to face the pair of girls, Haruhi realized that her jaw was hanging open slightly in shock-- That-- That was really amazing! It wasn't destroying an army of slider robots with a high-energy weapon, but it was something that he could do in front of Sasaki -- that had saved them both!

Sasaki had found her way to her feet, and the admiration on her face was plain as Kyon stalked near them, pausing to glare at the nearest downed thug. He seemed to be conscious, but wise enough to stay down, since more of Tsuruya's men were flooding the alley already.

Stopping a step away from Haruhi and Sasaki, the anger faded from Kyon's face as he worriedly asked, "Are you two ... okay?"

"Ah, heh," Sasaki managed as he frowned at the handcuffs linking them. The other men in the alley were quickly surrounded by Tsuruya's men. "I am ... in your debt again," she said weakly, offering a glum smile.

Haruhi couldn't find any words herself, but couldn't get the images of how awesome he'd been out of her head-- Or how scary he actually was when he was truly upset! That was terrifying, too!

Kyon shook his head quickly, calming himself with visible effort to give an order to one of the men with him. That was enough; the slight warmth and sympathy in his eyes as he looked away, the realization that the concern in his voice was still genuine....

So, as shaken as she was, she tried to grab on to Kyon-- So what if Sasaki was watching? Him still turning away -- and the handcuff -- partially foiled Haruhi's plan.

With his back turned, Haruhi nearly tripped, hauling Sasaki with her, the pair of them grabbing onto his back and then nearly colliding with one-another as they wrapped around him-- "Whoa," he managed, surprised as his arms reflexively wrapped back around the pair, keeping them from falling down and also holding them tightly against himself.

More of his annoyance was washed away by concern -- not just for her, but for Sasaki, too, Haruhi realized.

"Ah, e...er..." he stuttered.

So, okay, she wasn't sure she would have tried to launch right into a group hug on Kyon with Sasaki, but what was done was done-- And, hell, after that ordeal, didn't Sasaki deserve a hug, too? "Forgot about the handcuff," Haruhi mumbled, not making a move to shift away in the slightest.

"Oops," Sasaki agreed, likewise not trying to step away.

"...um," Kyon coughed nervously.


Since Nonoko's mother didn't want her doing any of the dangerous parts of cooking, she didn't have to handle the meat -- which meant she was mostly just rinsing vegetables off to prepare them for cooking. It wasn't quite as much fun as she'd hoped, but it wasn't a bad way to spend the evening.

The only really annoying part was the fact that she couldn't reach the sink or cutting board without a short stepladder.

On the other hand, when the phone rang while Nonoko's mother was preparing the chicken cutlets, that meant only Nonoko's hands were clean enough to answer it. She didn't mind that, so skipped to the phone while her mother washed up, taking it off the hook and brightly greeting, "Hello~!"

"Ah, is this Imouto?" a kind-sounding woman asked.

"Yep!" she agreed. "Who's this?"

"This is Shinobu," the voice answered, reminding Nonoko of the quietly hovering maid that attended Tsuruya.

"Who is it?" Nonoko's mother asked, stepping out of the kitchen and drying her hands with a small towel.

"Ah! Tsuru-nee's maid!" Nonoko exclaimed. "Is this about Nii-san, Shinobu-nee?"

"That's right," Shinobu agreed warmly. "I'm afraid there's been a ... slight buildup of work, and Kyon-dono's assistance will be required until later. As he's indisposed, I thought it would be best to inform you and your mother." After a short paused, she asked, "Would your mother want to speak to me, by chance?"

"Yep!" Nonoko answered, confident that her mother would.

She held the phone out, and the older woman took it with a grave nod, her expression worried as she held the receiver to her ear. "Hello?" she asked, sounding concerned.

Well, that was no good! Her mother worried too much as it was, and this wasn't helping much!

"I see," Akane said slowly.

Shinobu must have said something else, but Nonoko couldn't hear it anymore.

After a pause, Akane's eyebrows rose.

"Well, that sounds fine," she said, looking relieved. "As long as they're all safe-- I mean--"

Another pause.

"Alright ... as long as he eats properly," Akane sighed. "Tell him-- Well ... no, I'm sure.... I'll see him later, so it will be fine. Thank you very much, Shinobu-san."

After a moment, Akane shook her head and disconnected the phone.

Was that it? Kyon must have been busy fighting a dark general, or something -- Nonoko hoped it wasn't too dangerous ... but he had to have all of her other big sisters with him, and that meant he was probably just fine.

"Let's finish dinner!" she cheered. If she could at least distract her mother from worrying so much, well, that would be her effort to fight the dark generals!

"Ah, right," Akane agreed.


As used to being hugged by the girls he was dating as Kyon was becoming, Sasaki being thrown into the mix was entirely unexpected. The handcuff made it entirely explicable, but he couldn't help wincing slightly at the reminder of what he'd hoped for in middle school, and now Sasaki was hugging him, and with Haruhi, too....

Stupid, he told himself, shaking his head a short distance. He had more than enough to worry about without upsetting Haruhi by showing interest in Sasaki! Especially with how many girls he was already 'dating' regularly! To say nothing of their nightly sleeping arrangements....

...though, when he was not thinking of the special hell, he supposed it was also reasonable for Sasaki to want some completely non-romantic reassurance. And with Haruhi there, he was certain that's all it was, right? Being kidnapped was scary, even if Kyon didn't have much in the way of firsthand knowledge about what it felt like.

"I...it's okay," he tried, doing his best to sound confident. "But we should get you two out of here, somewhere safe."

The rest of Tsuruya's men would finish rounding up the Sumiyoshi-rengo, and he was still not certain what to do with them, as angry he was. Still, that could be handled--

"Yes," Tsuruya's voice sounded, surprisingly clear and cold. "Kyon-kun, you can take care of those girls; I will handle these men."

Seeing as he still had Sasaki and Haruhi glomped onto him, probably stuck somehow, since they weren't moving away, he tightened his grip about them. It didn't take much effort to lift them, light as they were, and turn around before setting them down -- though both leaned against him more heavily, neither looking up. "Uh-- This, this is--"

"Fine," Tsuruya said, looking irritated -- but not at him. At the man on the ground. She shook her own head and forced a smile -- it was not nearly as heartwarming as her more genuine ones. "I am tired of this constant interference in our city."

Kyon hesitated, unsure of how to respond. He was angry, too, at seeing his friends in danger, but this....

"It is time to make a more decisive point," she added, shooting an undisguised scowl at the nearest prone man. She turned to Haruhi, asking, "Did they hurt you, Haru-nyan? Sasaki-chan? If so -- they will pay!"

"I-- I'm fine," Sasaki said quickly, releasing her part of the hug and looking between Kyon, Haruhi, and Tsuruya anxiously. "It's-- I don't think anything is necessary on my behalf!"

"Eh-- Kyon already took care of things," Haruhi agreed, letting go just as quickly, her expression worried. "But-- Tsu-chan, you don't have to...." She trailed off there. Well, Tsuruya was in charge of the Yamaguchi-gumi forces, so Haruhi would be out of place trying to tell her to stand down.

Kyon shook his head and turned around, reaching into his coat with one hand as he took Haruhi's wrist in the other, raising it so he could study the handcuffs. He needed something Sasaki would find reasonable, but Ryouko -- invisible to Sasaki -- came up with a solution before he needed to try and figure out how to ask her. Altair shifted in his grasp, emerging as a small bolt-cutter with a ratcheting grip.

A few squeezes of that cut through the chain.

"I...it's good that you thought to bring that with you," Haruhi said with a nervous glance at Sasaki.

"How did you know?" the other girl wondered -- both of them trying to distract themselves from Tsuruya as they rubbed their still-cuffed wrists. They weren't stuck together, but....

"I can fit a lot of tools in this thing," he answered, pocketing Altair, relieved when it shifted back into neutral form out of Sasaki's sight. "We'll get a proper key to unlock those later," he added, eying Ryouko meaningfully before turning his attention back to the other two, "but for now you can at least relax a little."

"Relayed to Yuki-chama!" Ryouko chirped, inaudible to Sasaki.

"Thank you," Sasaki said, ducking her head slightly.

"Um, thanks," Haruhi agreed, though she was frowning, looking like she was struggling to resist the urge to turn toward Tsuruya.

Well.... "What is your plan to deal with the Sumiyoshi-rengo, Tsuruya-hime?" Kyon posed, turning back to face her. Even if it was in front of Sasaki, if it was bothering Haruhi that much, he'd better deal with it sooner instead of later. He didn't like to think of the cheerful girl being angry, any more than he'd been happy to see her upset.

Tsuruya blinked, looking up in surprise, then quickly looked away. "A judgment swifter and less gentle than prison," she muttered. "We cannot allow them to think they can continue to attack us with impunity; we must show our strength in this matter."

"Yeah, but--" Haruhi bit herself off before she could offer more than that token protest.

Sasaki looked nervously uncomfortable, her eyes tracking nervously to Kyon's, silently pleading.

Heaving a small sigh, unpleasantly aware of the men surrounding him, quietly and indirectly waiting for their oyabun and her saiko-komon to come up with a plan, Kyon straightened himself out. This was on him then, wasn't it? Haruhi didn't have enough standing in this circle, and Sasaki would come across as nearly scornful of her protectors if she were to offer her own protest.

"Tsuruya-hime," he said quietly, looking slightly past her at nothing in particular. "How ever you feel we can best follow the kumichou's direction and demonstrate our superiority, then."

The heiress's eyes widened slightly, and she looked up sharply before biting back her retort. "As.... As you say," she mumbled. Regaining some of her strength, she said, "I am displeased that these dogs continue to nip at your heels and distract you from our more important work. How do you feel it should be handled?"

"Let's have whoever's in charge here be dealt with more firmly," Kyon suggested. "Just beating them all up -- again -- doesn't seem to get the point across. A few months in jail might accomplish more." He'd gladly rough them up a bit more, but what was the point of that? He couldn't very well tell Tsuruya she might be thinking about going too far when he was considering pointless violence himself, just to assuage his own annoyance.

Both for his own benefit, and for Tsuruya's, he repeated, "Haruhi and Sasaki are both safe, now."

Tsuruya nodded slowly. "Very well," she agreed. "Let us return home; we've spent enough time here already."

"Understood," he answered, bowing respectfully as both Haruhi and Sasaki allowed relieved sighs to escape.

Behind her, Mori coughed quietly -- he hadn't even noticed she was there! -- and smoothly interjected, "Sir, Tsuruya-san-- I would like to volunteer to handle this group; I've wanted to have a ... discussion ... with someone responsible for these recent events for some time."

"Oh?" Tsuruya asked, off-guard by her interjection. "Hmm-- Kasai-san, too, then?"

"Naturally," the woman agreed, looking surprisingly evasive. "He's just around the corner."

Wait ... had she had another date interrupted by this? Well -- he could completely understand her annoyance on that count. "That's fine by me," Kyon agreed. And then ... as annoyed as he was about the Sumiyoshi-rengo, he addressed the prone man that he'd slammed to the ground. "I almost feel sorry for you, considering that."

When the figure groaned, but didn't move, he added another, "Almost."

Not that he was that vindictive ... but the only thing that kept him calm about this latest attempt was how angry Tsuruya seemed about things.

"I-- I should apologize," Sasaki said, as the four of them walked toward the alley exit. "Um-- Tsuruya-san, for.... Kyon is your fiance, so--"

"That doesn't bother me," the heiress interrupted, managing a small, but genuine smile. "You were in a difficult situations, and Kyon-kun is reliable? Getting upset about him hugging a close friend just because she's a girl would be silly -- something like that will never makes me angry, as long as Kyon-kun still hugs me, too!"

The return of her verbal tic was the most reassuring part of things yet, Kyon realized. He liked when she was happy, just like he liked when Haruhi was happy.... Though, he could take a hint, too.

"Y...yeah, that much...." Haruhi trailed off without completing what she was going to say. "Okay ... there's supposed to be a meeting after this, right?"

"That's right," Kyon agreed, opening the door to the waiting limousine when they reached it. Sasaki and Haruhi climbed in first, but before Tsuruya could follow, he put an arm about her waist, surprising her as he embraced her gently. "Thanks," he whispered, when she belatedly hugged him back. "We can talk more later?"

"Y...yeah," she said, her voice slightly shaky, but sounding comfortingly reassured. "Thankie to you, too, Kyon-kun...."

As pleasant as it was, Sasaki and Haruhi were still waiting; he released her and held her hand as she climbed in.

After the girls had arranged themselves in the limousine -- Sasaki and Haruhi side-by-side on the main bench, and Tsuruya sitting to one side -- he glanced around, then climbed in behind them. Thanks to an update from Ryouko -- which Sasaki wouldn't be able to see -- Kyon noted, "Yuki-chan will have keys for those cuffs waiting once we get back."

"Great," Haruhi answered, not very enthusiastically. "Um, I'm going to skip the debriefing -- Sasaki and I were visiting, and as long as she doesn't want to go home, I'll keep doing that, instead of ditching her."

He blinked, a bit taken aback, and Tsuruya looked surprised as well. "I...is that alright?" Sasaki wondered, though her expression looked faintly relieved to Kyon. "This isn't an important meeting for you?"

"I have complete trust in Kyon to handle those things," Haruhi countered, shaking her head. "And he should get to spend some time with his fiancee, anyway; heck, they might have been on a date before this came up!"

"Ah..." Tsuruya managed, surprised. "That's ... fine with me, then," she agreed.

"But ... I'd also like to talk to Kyon in private for a minute before that," Haruhi added quietly. "I-- If that's alright."

"Of course!" Tsuruya answered without hesitation, smiling warmly at her friend.

They weren't terribly far from Tsuruya's home, so the rest of the trip was completed swiftly. When the car stopped in her driveway, they were met by Yuki and Shinobu. Yuki was holding a key for the cuffs on Haruhi and Sasaki, and removed them wordlessly before either girl could move far from the car.

"Ah, that's a relief," Sasaki chuckled, rubbing her wrist again.

"If you'd like," Shinobu said softly, "Sakura-sensei can take a look at you to treat any chafing. Nagato-san here can show you the way."

Glancing between Haruhi and Kyon, Sasaki nodded, remarking, "That seems reasonable. Well -- I hope I have a chance to thank you again later, Kyon; I truly am still in your debt!"

"I'll go with you, Sasaki-chan," Tsuruya decided. "For now, until I must attend that meeting, you are my guest!" Nodding decisively, she took Sasaki's elbow -- on the arm that hadn't been cuffed, and gently led her away. Yuki gave Kyon a look that was difficult to read, but nodded wordlessly and fell into step with the others, leaving Kyon alone with Haruhi and the maid.

"S...so, what's going on?" Kyon asked, scratching the back of his head. The driver of the limousine had gotten out of the vehicle and headed into the house already, but with Shinobu still there....

Glancing back one last time to make sure Sasaki was outside of earshot, Haruhi eyed Shinobu, then shook her head, explaining, "We can't go on like this, Kyon -- with Sasaki not knowing what's really happening. She means well, but she's a liability. You have to figure out some way to get her to realize that things are different from what she thinks-- I'm her friend, or at least trying to be, but I don't think I can convince her as well as you can, and you can do it with a lot less risk."

He stared, dumbstruck.

"I-- I mean, it'll be a lot easier to protect her if she's in on things!" Haruhi insisted. "And maybe she can use her power as an ally! And...." She paused, biting her lower lip and lowering her gaze to her feet. "And ... the longer we go without telling her, the more we're going to be betraying her trust. So ... I know you're dealing with a lot, and this is a big thing to ask, but ... we need to do what we can, and if you ignore everything else, taking care of this before the sliders figure out she's a vulnerability that they could exploit...."

She trailed off there, and he nodded slowly. That did make sense ... but it was certainly a tall order! He'd never managed to sway Sasaki before, after all. Then again ... he'd never had as much reason to be confident about what he had to convince her of.

"I'll do what I can," he agreed. "Uh ... but in the meantime, as far as taking care of her better--"

"I'm going to ask if she can consider switching schools," Haruhi said with a sigh. "Which is going to make the assignment I just gave you even more important. In an ideal world, she could join us on the Hinamizawa trip, too! After all, those jerks are constantly trying to kidnap her, so.... Well, that might be too much to ask for-- So we'll just have to do what we can."

"Right," he allowed, off-balanced by that, as well. Sasaki going to Kitago? That ... would be different. Still, if half of her walk to and from school was with him.... That should be a significant deterrent to Sumiyoshi-rengo attacks. "It would be even better if we could get the Sumiyoshi-rengo to just back off, but I don't know how to do that without doing something...." He shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid and remembering Tsuruya's ire.

Haruhi nodded, looking up, then pausing with another glance at Shinobu, who still stood to one side. The maid raised her eyebrows the smallest distance, then muffled a tiny cough in her sleeve and pointedly looked away. Though he should have been getting used to being stunned, Haruhi took that moment to grab his head and bring him down for a kiss--

That, he had to admit, he didn't mind nearly as much, though he managed to kiss her back-- Until another quiet, understated 'cough' from Shinobu reminded them both that she was there.

Clearing her throat and blushing, Haruhi stepped away, not meeting his gaze. "S...so, do your best," she managed, before shaking her head and sighing. She turned to regard Shinobu, her face still a bit red. "A...and I'm guessing you want to talk to Kyon, then?"

"Kyon-dono seems to have enough to worry about," the maid said delicately. "And ... I understand your ... arrangement already. I actually wished to speak with you briefly, Suzumiya-dono."

Both Kyon and Haruhi were surprised by that, but then he realized, "I ... should catch up with Tsuruya-hime, then, shouldn't I?"

Haruhi and Shinobu both nodded at that, though Haruhi wasn't able to hide the confusion on her own face. "Y...yeah, like she says, you've got enough to worry about already," the girl agreed. "Oh! But make sure you cheer Tsu-chan up, alright?"

"Please, Kyon-dono," Shinobu added, bowing deeply.

Right-- One thing at a time. He could talk with Tsuruya and help settle her, to start. Maybe she'd welcome the distraction of trying to figure out how to break things to Sasaki? Or maybe he could just focus on her, instead. That might be the easier course of action for the time being.

Yeah -- and Yuki, was still there, too, of course. The whole 'debriefing' thing would need to wait until tomorrow; there was just too much going on to handle that!