# Sympathy

## A 'Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' fanfiction

### Chapter Three -- Close Encounters

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.

* * *

After browsing the internet and studying some sleight-of-hand techniques for
fun, I check the clock and declare our our first brief club meeting over. Now,
I need to corner Yuki-- Since she's officially still in the Literary Club,
she's got the keys for the clubroom. That's not going to do in the future,
since I went through that trouble to get us a computer.

Maybe I can bribe her for the key by letting her use it once in a while? It's
not like I plan on limiting her access -- I just need to make sure I can get
in when I want, too.

I let the others troop out, ready to call her to the side, but she seems to be
waiting for me. Well, maybe it was on her mind, too?

Once the other three are out of earshot, Koizumi going on about yet more
games, and Mikuru asking the occasionally confused, hopeless question, I ask,
"Yuki, is there more than one key for the clubroom?"

"There are three," she answers. "One for the club president, one for the vice
president, and one held by the advisor."

Come to think of it, what teacher is the advisor for the Literary Club? I
haven't gotten one yet for us -- I'm not going to try to ask Okabe, since he's
already given me trouble, either!

Time for that later.

"Well-- In that case, I'd like the extra key, since you don't have a vice
president!" I say. I should probably get one of my own, come to think of it.
Mikuru seems a bit too ditzy, really; I'd go with Yuki, except she's kind of
in another club already. I don't know Koizumi-kun well enough to say he'd be
good at it, and Kyon.....

Yuki stares at me with her unchanging expression, blinking once, then holds up
the book she was reading-- The title is _The Hyperion Cantos: Books One and
Two_. Extending it the slightest distance toward me, she says, "Read it."

"Uh, okay," I agree, taking it and glancing at the cover. Looks like sci-fi--
And it's one of those compendiums. There's two books in it: _Hyperion_ and
_The Fall of Hyperion_. Well, I hope it's at least interesting. "But, the
key?" I press, looking back up at her as I stuff the book in my bag.

Still without any change in expression, she reaches into her pocket and pulls
out a key, handing it over.

Perfect! I take it without hesitation, adding it to my keyring -- I don't plan
on letting _this_ go for a while!

"Wait, you had both keys?" I ask. There's no way she'd give me her only key,
is there?

She blinks once, then says, "I will retrieve the second key tomorrow morning."

Hmm. Or maybe there is. Does that mean she thinks I'm her vice president? I
guess that's alright-- For now, anyway.

Except -- does that mean that she thinks she's giving me an assignment by
handing me the book?

I'm not sure what to think of _that_-- We get to the hall and I turn around to
lock the door. When I turn back, Yuki's gone, though. I guess she can move
faster than she looks like -- a tiny girl like that doesn't weigh enough to
make much noise when she walks, either.

* * *

Once I get home and go through my bag, I toss the book that Yuki gave me onto
my desk. Homework first -- can't do anything if bad grades are slowing me
down. After taking care of that and going downstairs for dinner, I go back up
to my room.

Only ... do I really want to read that book? Putting it off a day probably
wouldn't hurt. It'll take me about a week and a half to get through something
that size, between classes and everything else -- but in the meantime I've got
a project that should be more fun.

The 'bunny-girl' thing didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but Mikuru-chan is
still fun to dress up. Something that's more moe and less focused on sex
appeal should probably work fine, right?

I'd kind of half-heartedly played around with making most of it anyway, and
I've got a pretty fair impression of Mikuru's sizes. Really, other than being
a bit wider in a few places, we're not that far apart, so I spend the rest of
the evening finishing up the maid costume I thought might be fun a while back
with the sewing machine I got for my birthday a few years ago.

After that, I check all the seams and turn it inside out, looking for anything
that's rough or just plain got a hole in it. A few touch-ups take care of
those -- I think this will do!

It's ... a bit loose around the chest for me -- the hips are a bit loose, too.
Then again, it's also roomier around my stomach than I need-- Probably Mikuru-
chan will look better in this. But that's alright; this should be fun anyway!

I yawn, looking at the clock -- even if it was the finishing touches, it took
longer than I thought it would. Yuki's book will need to wait until tomorrow.

* * *

The next day is pretty good, too. I get up early enough to dig out an old
electric kettle from storage, and set it up in the club room during lunch.
Nothing really interesting happens with Kyon, but that's hardly unusual.

After class lets out and we get to the clubroom, I pounce Mikuru-chan
straight-off-- I want to see her in the costume I worked so hard on!

I bet Kyon will love it, too--

Her little moe squeals that she doesn't need help are enough to send Kyon and
Koizumi running before they even set their bags down. Which means more time
for us all to be in the club!

By the time I've got her completely changed into the maid outfit, I'm pleased
to see that I got the sizes just about right-- Except for it maybe being a
little looser across the stomach than I'd expected. That's fine, though; you
can't really tell beneath the apron, anyway.

I let the boys back into the room. "Was today a costume party?" Koizumi jokes.
"That's a rather good VIVIT cosplay!"

...who?

"Oh?" Kyon muses, raising his eyebrows, taking the excuse to keep eyeing
Mikuru-chan's new costume. "I don't follow Seihou as much as Touhou, but
you're right. I agree -- that looks very nice on you, Asahina-san!"

And like Kyon threw a switch, Mikuru-chan suddenly brightens, completely
dropping her fake 'I don't want to wear this!' attitude. "R...really?" she
simpers shyly.

...whatever. That means I did a good job on the costume -- enough to look like
some character from a game I've never heard of -- so I can't get too upset
about it. Before Mikuru-chan can move away, I grab her from behind. "Wear this
every day from now on!" I order, giving her a tight hug, nibbling on the edge
of her ear, looking at Kyon out of the corner of my eyes.

"Eee!" Mikuru squeals cutely. I bet he'd like to play with Mikuru-chan like
this -- and I'm sure she'd love it, too -- but I don't think he's got the guts
to try if he passed up the last invite. She is _so_ adorable ... I guess I
can't _really_ hold it against Kyon that he gets distracted by her. Well,
maybe if I leave her alone, he will too. No good getting distracted all the
time.

"Alright! Now as a proper maid, you should prepare tea for us," I add,
releasing her and indicating the tea set.

Kyon looks at it curiously, then shrugs and takes his seat at the table.
Koizumi sits opposite him and fishes a game out of his bag. I glance at the
white and black tokens on the box -- Reversi? I guess it's a good idea to have
something to do in the clubroom when we're not on assignments.

Sure! Why not? That just means we're making this territory our own!
Headquarters should be comfortable, shouldn't it?

Well -- with Mikuru busy making tea, I sit back at the computer. I don't want
to spend all day just looking up sleight of hand, so I move on to the next
step of planning our weekend trip. I've been around town plenty, but with
extra eyes, we're more likely to find something amazing!

There's not a lot to look at, though-- Well, actually, what we should do is
get a website. We have the computer, after all, right? It shouldn't be too
hard to get the computer club to get that set up for us -- it's pretty trivial
compared to everything else, anyway.

Except, we'll need something to put _on_ it, won't we?

...well, as much as Kyon and Koizumi were admiring Mikuru-chan, why not take a
few pictures? And why stop there? I bet a lot more than just the three of us
would like to look at them!

She keeps making the most annoyingly cute noises and faces the entire time --
I get Yuki into the act too, borrowing her glasses to see if Mikuru-chan's
cuteness goes over the top. And it does! I guess it doesn't do much for Kyon,
but she is ludicrously adorable! I didn't design the costume with 'sexy' in
mind, but can open the top to bare a little bit of chest -- not even that much
cleavage, really.

The effect is more cute than anything else-- and that's perfect! A few of the
pictures I manage to snap while she's leaning forward -- knockout poses for
sure! That's just a bonus on top of everything else!

I bet she could stretch that 'sexy' look, but before I can really try and go
further along that route -- loosen the top of that costume a bit more -- Kyon
finally has enough and pulls me away from Mikuru forcefully.

I don't think he really minds, despite his stern look and muttering-- But he's
right that I'm totally letting myself get sidetracked.

I think I could probably take pictures of Mikuru-chan all day, really. Except,
it's not helping me find something amazing ... or, well, maybe it actually is!
In a way, a cute girl like Mikuru-chan, able to perfectly play up those moe-
moe notes -- that's not bad at all, for a start! A video-game otaku who can
test well, and his mysterious foreign exchange student friend....

Oh, and Yuki.

Huh--

Well, Kyon tries to deliver some half-hearted speech about something, and
Mikuru-chan sniffles along and nods agreement. Koizumi-kun tries to form an
echo chamber and agree, but I've lost interest already. Dresssing Mikuru up
and taking pictures is all well and good, but I've already _done_ that.
There's no reason to do it again.

Unless I come up with another costume later, or something.

Thinking of that, when Kyon and Koizumi leave to let Mikuru-chan change back
into her uniform, I give Yuki her glasses back. Her prescription must be
super-weak -- the lenses look almost like clear glass to me, and losing her
glasses didn't seem to slow down her reading at all. "Thanks!" I tell her,
since she's been pretty helpful so far.

"Did you read it?" she asks in a very quiet voice.

At the same time she asks that, Mikuru-chan stops whimpering. Huh?

When I look over, the upperclassman doesn't look even slightly abashed about
having no top on -- just a cutesy flower-patterned bra and her uniform skirt.
She's staring at Yuki with something like ... cautious interest, I guess.
Where'd the cute act go?

When she realizes I'm looking at her, Mikuru-chan just gives me a slow smile
and shakes her head, redressing with silent efficiency.

...strange. Not sure what's going on there.

Weirds me out a bit, though, so I don't say anything until she's gone. "Er,
not yet," I allow. "It's a bit long -- it'll take me a few--"

"Read it," Yuki returns, before I finish, taking the glasses from my hands as
she rises and leaving without a backward glance.

Is that girl's face carved from stone, or something? I swear it never changes!
If it's such a big deal, then fine!

* * *

Since it's such a big deal to Yuki, and I can't really figure out anything
else about Mikuru-chan for the time being, I grab that door-stopper she handed
me when I get into my room. It's that or sort through Mikuru-chan's pictures,
but I need to get the website up before that's a big deal. A few of them are a
bit sexier -- but something about the calculating way she looked at Yuki still
weirds me out a bit.

I flip through the pages and sip at the glass of milk I brought to my room
with me, frowning when I pass something between the pages. After setting the
glass down and paging back I find it-- Hey, a bookmark!

That's kind of thoughtful, I guess? I pull out the light purple marker and
look at it-- Blank. It might as well be a strip of construction paper. The
other side, though, has a message from Yuki on it!

Crap-- I barely have time to get there! Kouyouen station? She could have just
_asked_ me!

I don't have time to explain things to my parents beyond yelling a quick,
"School related!" over my shoulder as I storm out of the door and run as fast
as I can.

I wish I still had a bicycle, but the last one I had didn't fare too well
through my last experiment, and my father didn't really seem impressed when I
regaled him with the tale of its heroic sacrifice in the name of science. Next
time -- if there is a next time -- I'll say it was stolen. The problem being
that now he says it's my responsibility to save up enough money, and--

Anyway, running is good for your health! When you're young and you've got
energy, that's the thing to do!

A little worn out, I reach the bench about two minutes after seven -- when the
note said to meet. "Hey!" I bark crossly, before pacing back and forth in
front of the bench, letting my muscles cool down. "What's the big idea,
calling me out like this, anyway? You could have just asked me, you know?"

Yuki's expression doesn't change at all. She just gets up from where she was
patiently sitting, her head slightly bowed. Her eyes don't move to meet mine.
"This way," she answers quietly, turning down the path and marching off.

...that's not answering my questions! Well -- I still need to cool down, so I
pace along beside her. "And?" I push.

She says nothing at all, not even really looking at me. We're not far from
what I think is her goal, so before I have a chance to get really annoyed
about it, we're walking through the lobby of a pretty posh, upscale apartment
building. I can bite my tongue here, because who knows who's listening in?

After that we step into the elevator -- straight to the top! Yuki's family
must be really well off -- but when she lets me into her apartment, I'm kind
of taken aback. Why doesn't she have furniture? There's a kotatsu, but the
girl doesn't even have as much as a bookshelf, otherwise?

Where are her family?

"Sit," she says, pointing at the kotatsu while she heads into the kitchen.

Yeah, I'm not a trained dog, so I ignore that and walk over to the huge window
overlooking the city. The view from here is pretty impressive. It's gotten
dark, so I watch the city lights until Yuki returns a few minutes later with
tea.

When she actually sits down, I join her. "Well?" I demand, throwing back the
first cup of tea, and watching her silently refill the cup. I swear, her
movement's so economical, she might as well be a robot.

This time I don't touch it -- I want answers more than a drink. Her tea's
alright, at least -- better than Mikuru-chan's.

"Drink," she says.

"Did that," I return, scowling a little. "You called me out here -- so what is
it that we can't talk about at school, or that you couldn't just give me your
phone number for?"

She pauses for that, her expression not changing, still. After blinking, her
gaze focused on my teacup, she says it's about Kyon.

Wait, Kyon? The same guy I labeled 'Boring-kun'? Yeah -- she uses his real
name, but let's be serious-- "_Him_?" I ask. "What _about_ him?"

"And me," she adds. If I were drinking that tea, this would have resulted in a
spit-take.

"Oh for the love of-- What, you want to ask him _out_?" I snap, scowling. "You
sent a note to the wrong person, then! Why should _I_ care?" I can't believe
she pulled me here for this! I thought it was going to be something important!
Not this big waste of time!

She blinks at that, and for a bit, looks like she's having trouble finding the
right words. She's not blushing, so I don't know what the hell it is -- she
doesn't at all actually look _shy_ about it; her expression's as unchanging as
ever. I guess it's like she can't figure out what the right words to say
whatever are.

"He and I are not ordinary," she finally says.

Yeah, I don't think I agree. He's about as ordinary as they come, academic
oddities aside. She's probably just trying to convince herself she's got some
common ground with him or whatever. "Uh-huh," I say, turning to look out the
window and sipping at the tea again.

Might as well -- I _did_ run all the way to the park.

"We are not ordinary human beings like you," she clarifies.

"Yeah, I kinda got that," I grumble. "He's a savant and you're autistic. And?"

When I glance back, she blinks several times. "I cannot completely convey this
in words," she says in her almost un-modulating voice. "Some data may be
lost."

"You can say _that_ again."

"I cannot completely--"

"Didn't mean it literally," I snap, cutting her off. Does she think that's
funny, or something? This is so annoying....

After another pause, her expression looking a bit lost, "The Integrated Data
Sentience Entity, which oversees this galaxy, has created human-contact-
purposed interfaces -- like me. Our purpose is to communicate with biological
entities."

...whoa. That's a hell of a topic shift. "Say what?"

"My task is to observe him and upload that data to the Integrated Data
Sentience--"

"Hold up! You're telling me you're some kind of _alien_ here to watch _Kyon_?"
I mean, the 'alien' part would be pretty hard to buy on its own, but --
seriously, to watch _him_?

"Correct."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

I roll my eyes at that. "Okay, give me some proof, then," I demand. "I'm
looking for aliens, espers-- Any trace of the supernatural or paranormal!
That's what our club is about! So show me something that can let me know
you're not just screwing around with me!"

After a moment of thought, she answers, "Listen."

So, I do-- She goes on about how the aliens she's with are data, not physical.
She says she's three years old-- Basically, she's got a pretty good story --
it's a great excuse that doesn't leave room for physical evidence.

Well, isn't _that_ convenient.

Evidently, somehow, _Kyon_ created this big interesting data thing that got
the aliens to care. Believe me, if this were plausible for a heartbeat, I'd be
overjoyed! Instead, when she's done with her long-winded and incredibly
awkward explanation, my immediate answer is:

"That's not proof."

She just blinks and stares at me, her hand stopping halfway to her own cup of
tea. Mine's half empty and cold, so I push it away. Her hand returns to her
side as though she were playing her earlier motion backward.

"So," I say, rolling my eyes, "pretending I believed this, if you're not going
to give me any proof, then why did you bother _telling_ me?"

"He has the potential to influence the environment around him with thoughts
alone, regardless of intent. For reasons that we cannot yet determine, he has
chosen you. My goal was to uncover some hint of his reason for choosing you."

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, shaking my head quickly, climbing to my feet and
pacing back and forth. Damn! This is seriously getting on my nerves! "He
'chose' me? What the hell does that even _mean_?"

"We do not yet understand fully. You possess significant importance to him. We
will observe both of you until we can make a determination."

"Sure-- But why tell _me_ and not _him_?"

"The effects of him being aware of his ability cannot be determined. The
Integrated Data Sentience Entity believes that if he is informed or discovers
his abilities, a crisis of unknown magnitude may occur. For the present, they
have elected to continue observation."

"Great-- So I'll tell him," I warn, scowling. "Then what?"

"The probability of him believing you is negligible," she returns, her
expression smoothing from the tiny bits of stress that I could see there
earlier. Hell, until she relaxed right then, I wouldn't even have noticed it.

So ... would Kyon believe this if I told him? I doubt it -- because I don't
believe it, either. So why _would_ he? Still-- That's an insulting thing to
say!

"Right," I say after a moment. Oh, I wish she were telling the truth, not just
being bitchy about this entire thing-- So, she's pissed off about me taking
over her room, or something? Well, if this is her answer, whatever.

As angry as I am about the entire thing -- I still have the clubroom. I still
get to claim her as a member of _my_ club, not the Literary Club.

"I'll give you your book back tomorrow," I add, heading to the door--
Seriously, at this point, screw trying to be nice to her. After _that_?

_Whatever_!

I slam the door to her place on my way out, getting the last, slightly
disappointed look on her face before it vanishes. Well, I guess she can show
hints of emotion after all -- but maybe she should have thought about that
_earlier_!

I don't run, just stalking angrily back to my house. I can't figure out what
Yuki really meant-- The only thing I can come up with is that it's some prank.
I'll give Kyon points over her -- he can be kind of boring, but at least he
doesn't pull crap like that!

I'm not in the best mood when I get back home. You wouldn't be either! It
doesn't help that my mother's waiting for me, still wearing her business
clothes.

And that means _she_ already cooked, so dinner's not going to be very good.

"Oh, Haruhi," she says with a sigh, shaking her head. "'Dating' again?"

That's not-- Well, if she's going to be like that, _fine_. "I gave it a shot,
but she wasn't my type," I growl, brushing past her and stomping up to my
room.

"Haruhi!" she yells in surprise, before I slam that door, too.

I'll just skip dinner tonight -- my head hurts after all that stupidity. I
throw myself onto the bed, almost smacking my face on the book I left on my
pillow.

Bah-- Yuki can have that piece of trash back tomorrow! What do I care about it
_now_? I bet _that's_ where she got those stupid ideas, anyway! Since my mom
knows better than to come after me when I'm in a mood, I get left alone, just
burying my face in my pillow until I finally drift off.

* * *

When I get into class the next day and sink into my seat, it takes a minute
for Kyon to say anything. When he does talk, he actually manages to surprise
me.

"Hey, Suzumiya.... Are you alright?" he asks.

And I bite back anything I might say about him being boring and normal--
Because at least he's not a jerk!

"Slept really badly last night," I admit. I almost go on -- tell him about
Yuki's prank. But the whole thing.... That guy? Able to change reality with
his thoughts? "Some stupid stuff distracted me. Waste of an entire evening."

"That's too bad.... Did you finish your homework, at least?" he asks.

What a question! Yesterday I-- There was--

_Crap_. I think I might start getting really pissed off about Yuki, now!

Before I can really start fuming, Kyon shakes his head a little, then slides
his homework over, across his desk. "Math after homeroom," he says, as though
I'd forget.

I want to shoot him a glower, but when I look at him, I don't actually have
his full attention. He seems to be lost in some thought of his own. With
grades like his, you have to wonder what he's thinking of; his face doesn't
seem _that_ different from when he was griping about Mikuru-chan yesterday.

Ugh, not what I wanted, but I'll take it. I scowl a little, but nod and snatch
the paperwork away. This gets me a glare from Onoki before she looks sharply
away and sniffs.

Hey -- don't get the wrong idea, here!

"Excellent work, subordinate," I mutter, loud enough that Onoki should be able
to hear.

"You're welcome," he says, sounding amused.

Yeah, okay -- he actually _is_ kind of a jerk!

But ... at least he's on my side. "...thanks," I grumble beneath my breath.
Yanagimoto snickers at me, not bothering to conceal her smirk. From her desk
next to Kyon, Sakanaka gives me a wince, followed by an encouraging smile.

I'm too tired to tell them they've got the wrong idea, and anyway, Okabe comes
in next, followed by Asakura Ryouko calling the class to attention, ordering
us to rise and bow to our teacher.

* * *

I don't know if Kyon would have helped me out if I hadn't recruited him for
our club. If any part of what Yuki said was true, that 'choosing' bit kind of
resonates. I guess I'd be lying to myself if I tried to pretend he didn't have
some kind of interest in me.

He hasn't ruined it by asking me out or anything like that-- I guess if he
were letting other people copy off his homework before he probably doesn't
think it's a big deal.

I need a change of scene, so as soon as lunch starts, I run off to the
cafeteria like always. I could let a few assignments slide, so it's not like I
_needed_ Kyon's help. Even if I say that, the last thing I need is my parents
getting on my case about missed assignments, so it's actually really good for
me that I had that backup option.

While I'm elbowing my way through the line to get my lunch -- something a
billion times tastier than my mom's cooking -- I can't help but think about
what Yuki said again.

Not the garbage about being an alien -- that's just stupid. But the part about
Kyon having powers that let him reshape the world around him. At least, if I
understood what she was talking about. I can't help but wonder ... what if
that were true? And ... if those powers were real, sorts of adventures and fun
could we have with them?

Probably it's pointless to dream about things like that, but it makes for a
good distraction.

Thinking about it -- doesn't everyone at some time in their life have the
thought that they might be the only 'real' people, and everyone else is
watching them, studying them? They could be ... robots, or aliens, or, or....

It sounds a bit like solipsism when put that way -- except, Yuki's applying it
to _Kyon_ instead of herself. It's not like I didn't have my own share of
thoughts like that after that baseball game-- How could I be the only one who
recognized the enormity of the situation? How could I be the only one who
realized how many people there were, and how insignificant everyone else was
in comparison to that vast number?

One real person, and a world full of simulations. Isn't that basically what
Yuki's saying Kyon is? Well -- that he's _more_ real.

In order to believe that, though, I'd need to see other people who thought he
was worth paying attention to!

I suppose I can't _really_ disprove it -- but that hardly means it's true.
After all, when you use Occam's Razor, what's the simplest explanation? Until
evidence says otherwise, it's that she's lying.

Augh! That's enough of that-- I need to focus on this weekend, and finding
proof of something _genuinely_ amazing!

* * *