Anime X-overs, Haruhi Suzumiya series 1. Prologue 1-1

**Chronicles of Kyoani Academy**

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Hello readers new and old. So this story is one I've been slowly hatching for quite a while now. It's a big one. Frankly this crossover will involve _a lot _of different series. Originally it was just going to be Kyoto Animation stuff like K-ON! and Nichijou and Haruhi and Lucky Star but there will be plenty from Toradora and Haganai and Azumanga Daioh and Yuru Yuri and pretty much all the other school life anime I've watched so far. But since there are gonna be so many characters this story will be split between quite a few narrators but I'll try and make it as non-confusing as possible. Well that's all for now. Read on, enjoy and review!

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**Prologue 1-1**

Winter is bad enough at the best of times. But throw in the usual (or should I say _un_usual) troubles of your average high-school student and you get a blizzard of strife one cannot simply escape. No, like the bears in the mountains all you can really do is hide in a dark place and wait out the winter chill. Well that's honestly what I'd love to do, but I can't. With the dwindling cold season so too did another school year come drawing to a close. But unlike the other years, this one was different.

We were in our third year.

As much as it pains me to admit it, my grades aren't much to be proud of. I'd not even considered college because...Well my track record wasn't exactly going to lead me very far. Whether that was from a lack of effort, or poor abilities or an absence of motivation, I cannot be sure. But I have a hunch that the main reason for my poor results was from an over-dependence on extra-curricular activities.

You see, early in the first year of high school I joined a club. No, actually I never joined it. Rather I was wrapped up and thrown in like a free gift with some large purchase. Of course I could have left the club, but for various reasons I was obliged to stay. What does this club do you might ask? Well don't look at me. Three years later and I still don't understand the point of anything we'd done.

Although our SOS Brigade (yes, that's really what it's called) has a secret most other clubs don't. Within our club are a couple of extraordinary people. And I don't mean that in the shallow 'they're better than you' kind of way. I mean to say that the other club member's real identities are quite literally out of this world.

Sitting across from me was the ever smiling esper, Itsuki Koizumi. And before you ask, no, it's not the Hollywood style of ESP where you can blow up stuff with your mind. It was much more complicated and strange. So much so that I lack to capacity to explain it. But that didn't stop Koizumi from maintaining the appearance of a Hollywood star.

We were playing shogi, and like every game we played in the club-room, Koizumi was utterly hopeless. But regardless of how stacked our wins and losses were he never stopped smiling that movie star smile, nor wish to stop playing, as if he were eternally optimistic that the next game might be his chance at last.

But it never came.

I won without question and as Koizumi prepared the next game I glanced aside to the window, where perched on a simple folded chair sat the SOS Brigades resident bookworm, Yuki Nagato. With the boundless energy of a plank of wood Nagato was never one to draw attention to herself, seemingly content in absorbing all of Earth's knowledge through sci-fi novels. In fact if I hadn't been aware beforehand that she was there in her usual spot then I may well have looked past her and never noticed. Not only was she quiet, but she seemed to be lacking any kind of aura as if she were more closely related to the chair she sat on than the people she was sitting with. Perhaps her alien behaviour could be attributed to the fact that she was apparently an alien.

But the fun doesn't stop there. Up until our third year, there had always been a beautiful maid brewing and serving us tea. Originally the task had been forced upon her, but somewhere along the way she had gotten accustomed to it and gone about her duties without complaint. With the body of a supermodel but the face of a child she was definitely, as one person had so eloquently put it, 'moe'. I'd never really understood what they had meant at first but it had not taken long to get the gist of it. Oh and in case you were wondering, Mikuru Asahina being a maid wasn't her special secret. That would have been pretty underwhelming wouldn't it? No the bumbling serving girl was actually a time traveller. If I hadn't gone with her various times I might not have believed it either but over the three years I'd been part of this deranged little club I'd uncovered more than enough evidence to say with absolute certainty that all three of these members were exactly what they said they were. An esper, a time traveller and an alien.

Sounds crazy right, but really none of these strange people would even exist without their catalyst. That person was none other than our club president, or should I say, Brigade Leader, Haruhi Suzumiya.

Now Suzumiya was strange in many ways. Too many to list here as it would fill up every single page of this story and we'd never get past this prologue. I'd probably still be adding to the list on my deathbed, or perhaps even yours. So let me make this quick in saying that Haruhi Suzumiya is eccentric not only with a capital 'e', but also the 'ccentric'. Anything weird you can think of she's probably done and even the things you can't think of she's probably done too. Trust me, I'd know.

If I were to go so far as suggesting her weirdness had gotten to a point where organisations across time and space had begun to deify her as some supreme being of unimaginable power, oddly enough I wouldn't be lying.

So yeah, your average student life is just the tip of the iceberg for me. And as you would imagine being in a club with a bunch of otherworldly oddballs is quite taxing. I mean, would you be able to study under such conditions?! I think not!

Especially when Haruhi, who has the power to alter the world through her own subconscious desires, could at any moment destroy the world all because of a bad day. As such our club's more practical activities revolve around keeping our Brigade Leader happy no matter what to ensure mankind's continued survival.

Sounds kind of heroic right? But the reality of playing baseball and making a low budget failure of a movie and going on holidays as missions really dampens the image. Essentially, what Haruhi wants, we all do.

That is where our story begins. You see being in our third year, naturally the topic of college and their subsequent entrance exams arose in conversation more so than usual. So much in fact that I could no longer avoid the inevitable and had to come to a decision.

Considering I'd gone through school just barely keeping my head above water it had never occurred to me to even try to go to college, but a certain someone who I might have mentioned earlier had other plans entirely.

"Hey Kyon!"

Oh right, that's me if you were wondering.

Haruhi had been sitting at her desk on the sole computer in the clubroom. Like any other day she was probably just surfing the net and doing absolutely nothing, but every so often she called upon me for no better reason than to tell me some obscure fact she'd found on a forum or a strange news story like a fish caught with a live frog in its stomach or something stupid like that. I sighed and prepared myself for the worst as she set her fiery gaze upon me.

"Have you heard about that new university opening up next year?"

"No." I might as well be honest.

With a scowl she returned her attention to the page, somehow finding her smile again along the way. "It's so weird. They've built it in the mountains. But there are plenty of universities in the city so why put one in the middle of nowhere?"

How the hell should I know? What does it matter anyway?

"Of course it matters!" she snapped.

"Well, perhaps the fact that there are already a lot of universities around suggests that maybe they need to build more to fit in more students?"

Haruhi seemed to take my answer with a chagrined expression which quickly contorted into anger. "That kind of thinking will get you nowhere in life!"

Oh, I'm sorry. How foolish of me to use common sense.

"There's got to be something up with the location! Maybe they're secretly going to study the effects of some new military weapon on a group of unsuspecting students?!"

Yeah...Or maybe they're gonna train us to pilot giant robots to save the earth. I mean for god's sake, how old are you?!

Haruhi waved her finger at me and frowned, turning her nose up as you would at a foul smell, "You've got a long way to go just yet Kyon. I'd have liked to have promoted you at least once before we graduate but you're still as naive as you were when you joined us here as a first year."

I didn't join you! You abducted me like you did every other member of this screwed up brigade! Oh whatever it's not like you're even listening to me anyway, you're much too busy listening to those broken cogs grinding around inside your head.

"So what about this supposedly mysterious university has you so worked up anyway?" I asked, albeit reluctant to continue on the subject, "Are you thinking of applying?"

I'd guessed that was her intention from the very beginning, but the dumbfounded expression on her face as I let those foolish words spill from my mouth said otherwise. Looking as if I'd just rattled off some deeply profound piece of wisdom Haruhi stared back at me in shock.

On reflex I shrank back in my seat and glanced over to Koizumi to check and see if he was still smiling. He seemed oddly eager for something but I didn't question it, turning back to Haruhi who was attacking the computer with uncalled for aggression.

"Of course! Of course! It's a sign!"

Huh? You get another of those annoying pop-ups again?

For a split second I felt an intense glare, but after blinking I could only see a bright and beaming smile on Haruhi's face.

"No, you idiot! It's a sign! This new university is out in the middle of nowhere, right? It's the perfect place to study if you so happened to be an alien! I bet it'll be full of all kinds of interesting creatures!"

Please use the word 'people' next time. It's a place of learning, not a farm.

"You're missing the point! If I enrol there I'm bound to come across an esper or two. Who knows maybe the staff are all secretly time travellers trying to teach students from the past how to stop the apocalypse a thousand years into the future!" At some point during her rant Haruhi stood up on her chair and spread her arms wide as if she could take flight with a strong enough breeze.

I sighed and tried to return to my game with Koizumi but the sound of hammering fists on a tabletop unfortunately stole my attention.

"What now?"

"I have an announcement to make as leader of the SOS Brigade!" Shooting to her feet, our so called leader skipped up to the whiteboard against the wall and scribbled madly. The words 'Special announcement!' were written unnecessarily large inside a hastily drawn cloud or bubble of whatever the hell it was she was aiming for.

A strong desire to just go home and have a nap suddenly took hold but Haruhi staring directly at me made it difficult to lapse out of concentration. Thus helpless and cornered I simply sat back and waited not so expectantly for her proclamation.

"This is a special day for the SOS Brigade. Thanks to all of you we have come so very far from our humble beginnings as a mere club."

What part of stubbornly creating an officially unrecognised group, hijacking an existing club's room and abducting members is supposed to be humble? Our history is more akin to that of a terrorist cell than an extracurricular club. In the eyes of the other students our 'humble brigade' is as debauched as the Marquis de Sade!

Naturally I said none of the above out loud. I wouldn't live till graduation if I had...

And so Haruhi simply prattled on. "In a few short years we have become famous among our peers and indeed the world! This is only the first step towards something truly great! And as our final year draws to an end I can only look forward to a new beginning! For I will hereby expand the SOS Brigade into this new academy!"

Shall I hold my applause until the end of time?

Haruhi glanced around the room with a creepy smile reminiscent of a mother admiring how much her children had grown. Coming from someone like her, the image was so ill fitting it was painful to watch. But after looking to each of us in turn she once again spread her arms like wings and declared far too loudly, "But to do so, I'll need help! I know I can't force you to enrol at the same Academy, but I would be ever so grateful if you could lend me your time every now and then to assist in managing the new and improved SOS Brigade!"

My jaw dropped. Not because of any kind of implications in her words, but for the mere fact that she used the phrase 'I would be ever so grateful' rather than outright extorting us. In a really sad way that was somehow touching.

Of course when the hype died down Koizumi exchanged a subtle nod and the real message became clear. Just because high school would soon be at an end didn't mean that our job of keeping Haruhi in check would suddenly be over too. Yes, just because she was almost old enough to go to university doesn't mean she isn't too old to be left without a proverbial babysitter.

As much as I tried to hide it, a massive sigh escaped me and a phrase I had not uttered in quite some time found its way to the tip of my tongue, slipping out before I was even aware of its presence.

"Oh brother..."

Haruhi shot a glare my way and frowned, "What? I asked nicely!"

"I know," I groaned, "but what you're asking is ridiculous isn't it? You want us to travel all the way to this Academy of yours just to help manage the Brigade. Wouldn't it just be easier if we all enrolled in the same place?"

The silence that preceded my words was absolute.

Inevitably I realised the gravity of what I'd said but by then it was already too late. The light bulb was already sparking above Haruhi's head and that evil smile was spreading quickly across her face. Without even knowing I'd sentenced myself to a terrible fate.

"Kyon, that's a great idea! But are you sure? Were there any other places you wanted to go to?"

I wasn't even going to try in the first place...

Koizumi seamlessly flicked back his hair and shrugged like some daytime drama star. "To be honest I had not decided yet either. But all universities offer much the same so I see no problem in sticking together."

Everyone turned to Nagato who was still reading unperturbed since the beginning. Feeling eyes upon her she glanced up and without the slightest hint of enthusiasm said, "Very well."

Once again Haruhi surprised me by squealing like a girl half her age and running to embrace everyone but me. I simply got a pat on the shoulder.

"Great! Since we've come so far already why should we split up now? But in order for this to work we all need to give our all for the entrance exams!"

I get the feeling everyone is looking at me...

"What?" I asked, feeling guilty for even trying to play dumb.

Haruhi stabbed a pointed finger my way and she looked angry, "Kyon, what are you doing this Saturday?"

Taken slightly aback I shrugged, "Well I was thinking maybe I could-"

"Don't care!"

Then why did you ask?

"On Saturday we're having a study session to help Kyon pass the exams!"

Koizumi gave a thumbs up as if he were in some toothpaste commercial and Nagato's head bobbed enough to classify it as a nod. There was no backing out of this one...

"Excellent! We'll meet at your place at ten o'clock! Don't be late!"

It's _my_ house! How can I be late?!

With a devious smirk Haruhi said, "We'll see."

And with those ominous words, so began my desperate mission to go to university.


	2. Prologue 2

**Prologue 2**

Four friends sat around a kotatsu, mountains of textbooks and papers scattered about (Isn't that a fire hazard?) You'd be forgiven for thinking such a scene depicted quite a serious study session, serenaded by the scratching of pens on paper and the rhythmic flicking of pages rising above the low electric hum of the kotatsu.

Unfortunately...

"Hey, what's the answer to this one?"

"Oh come on I just told you how to do the last one! Work it out for yourself! It's not like I can give you hints during the actual test you know? You have to learn to do it for yourself!"

"Yeah, I know, but that's the exam. This is now. So tell me the answer!"

"I said no! Honestly do you even care about these exams? Or your future?"

"Of course I do! That's why I want to know the answer to this one."

"All you've been doing is copying my answers! At some point you're gonna have to learn to do it by yourself!"

"That's what the night before is for, right?"

"What?! You can't just cram for an entrance exam! This is serious!"

Two of the friends were uh...'Passionately discussing their coursework' while the others watched on with warm smiles. The scene was a familiar one to them all and though to anyone else it would seem the group couldn't stand one another they had been the best of friends since their first year of high school.

The serious one, a girl with blunt trailing pigtails and narrowed eyes was named Kagami Hiiragi. Taking on the leadership role simply because no-one else would, she tried her best to bring her friends into line, but that wasn't the easiest of tasks considering the calibre of such friends.

Her spaced out twin sister Tsukasa nibbled mouse-like at a muffin while watching the others bickering. Her short neat hair bobbed as she laughed and the oversized ribbon in her hair swayed like a dancing cobra (but much cuter) Having no particularly strong qualities she happily allowed herself to be swept along by her successful twin. And being in a group with one of the few people who could be classed as worse than her at things like academics served some consolation for living in Kagami's shadow.

The reserved and regal looking girl with long fluffy hair and large round glasses was the academic ace, Miyuki Takara. Like most gatherings she quietly went along with the other's childishness, fondly smiling and watching over them like a proud parent. Though she lacked the wild-streak for the others she had plenty of fun just tagging along for the ride.

And of course, like any group, there's always the wild one. The problem child...

Buried under a tangled mop of unkempt knee-length hair there peered wide green eyes which seemed to focus on nothing at all. With much of her tiny, wiry frame wrapped in the blanket of her messy hair she didn't exactly fit the image of the group. In fact there weren't many places she would fit in. Not her... Konata Izumi was something of an enigma. Devoid of passion for anything other than anime and games she led a life her friends could scarcely understand and yet for reason unknown to them they still remained close. A closet otaku if she didn't go around blatantly boasting about her hobbies, Konata seemed to pride herself more on her knowledge of anime than she did on her knowledge of...practical things...

Naturally, her laziness and lack of enthusiasm where it is more often needed made Kagami and Konata appear more like natural enemies. The endless quarrels and quarries only serve as mounting evidence of that. However, defying those natural laws, the two still hang out and stay in touch every day. One of the great mysteries of the world...

This unlikely group were in the midst of studying for their entrance exams. In a fit of constantly recurring Deja Vu, Miyuki and Kagami were the only ones motivated to learn while Tsukasa struggled and Konata simply refused to try.

Sparks flew between the ever fighting pair of Konata and Kagami and the welcome side-show was cathartic to the others. Three long years of this ever-recurring scene suggested that neither would cool down for some time and so it was unanimously declared time for a break.

"Honestly, why are you even doing this test?" Kagami groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. After all, arguing with Konata was like arguing with a brick wall (albeit with a far worse attitude) "It seems pointless to continue your studies when you never actually started to begin with."

"Oh Kagami, it has nothing to do with studying!" Konata explained, nodding to herself.

"Huh? Then why bother?"

The indecipherable young girl stuck out her chest with pride and smiled. Before she had even given her reason Kagami was already burying her head in her hands and grumbling irritably. Any time Konata struck such a pose something profoundly stupid was bound to arise.

"Isn't it obvious? You can't properly finish off a school drama without the tension of college entrance exams! It would be boring if the characters just graduated and got jobs."

…

Times like these made Kagami regret being the straight man.

"Wait, are you telling me the only reason you're applying for university is because that's what they do in anime?"

Konata nodded with a proud smile.

Kagami glared at her, her dark pupils floating in a sea of dull white poison.

Taking the ensuing silence as a chance to join in Tsukasa leaned over onto the table, resting her head on a makeshift pillow of textbooks, "You're right though, they always take the test. And there's always that one person that seems like they would fail, but in the end they always pass! I like that. I'd be sad if they didn't make it..."

"They're not _real _people!" Kagami snapped, still struggling to wrap her head around the previous bombshell. "And of course they all pass, it's a TV show! But this is real life. They don't just let everyone pass because they're all friends! You have to really work hard and study."

Abashed, Tsukasa frowned, her ribbon drooping like a wilting flower. "Sorry sis..."

The other one, however, was much harder to convince.

"Come now Kagamin, being all pessimistic and stuff will just get you demoted to a background character. They won't even give you a back-story."

"What are you talking about?!"

Miyuki hid a giggle behind her soft white hands. As usual the only one getting agitated appeared to be the group's designated older sister. It goes without saying that the study session didn't progress very far. After another hour of arguing in circles the girls called it a day and returned home feeling as lost as they had been before they met to study.

* * *

The last batch of mock exams were returned to the students at Ryouo high. Although it was no surprise, an obligatory array of awed exclamations surrounded the schools undoubted genius, Miyuki. Her results were, as ever at the top of the class and she was given a 90% chance of being accepted to her chosen university. Half-hearted applause and congratulations echoed through the classroom while those on the fringe of the group quietly lamented their own underwhelming results.

Sitting beside Miyuki, Tsukasa anxiously glanced over her own papers. With her head turned aside she squinted out the corner of one eye at the numbers scrawled across the front of the sheet in bright red ink. Although she couldn't quite make them out, the presence of two digits was promising. After taking a deep breath she shot forward, burying her nose in the paper.

"Aww...It says 40%...Is that...Is that good?"

Konata patted her dejected friend on the back and smirked, "Don't worry, they're just numbers. In the end, if you suck you'll fail and that's all there is to it!"

Tsukasa slowly looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. "Wha...?"

"Ah, I didn't mean..." Konata cried, "Look you might be _bad, _but you don't _suck_. See? So you should be fine!"

That pitiful excuse for an excuse miraculously worked. Tsukasa's face lightened up and the ribbon in her hair seemed to puff out a little.

But just as it seemed to have worked, Tsukasa wailed loud enough to garner the attention of the entire class.

"No, don't cry! Tsukasa, it'll be okay! There's always someone worse off than you, remember. All you have to do is beat them and you're sure to make it!"

This managed to stall her tears for the time being. Looking up with little lambs eyes Tsukasa quietly asked, "What did you get?"

Without words, Konata thrust her paper towards her friend and once again revealed a content smirk and an odd sounding laugh. "Read it and weep!"

She'd gotten a 60% chance.

Tsukasa did indeed read it and weep.

While the students mulled over their uncertain futures lunch quickly sprang up and soon mobs of downtrodden students were marching about amidst the jittery chatter of their more optimistic and talented peers.

Tsukasa had gone hoarse from her uncontrollable sobbing and had run out of steam, simply sniffling and making the occasional odd noise while her two close friends stroked her back and said soothing nothings to calm her down.

"Although it might look grim a 40% chance is actually quite good." So sayeth Miyuki the wise one with a reassuring smile. "That's close to a one in two chance of succeeding and so conversely you can look at it this way. You're just as likely to pass as you are to fail."

Tsukasa rubbed at her eyes and let out a trembling whimper. "R-really?"

"Yes. Rather than looking at the glass as half empty, one can see the glass as half full. In fact," Miyuki explained, raising a finger like an elementary school teacher, "studies show that simply being confident and optimistic in these sorts of situations will often stack the results in your favour. So as long as you believe in yourself you should be able to pass."

A trace of a smile returned to the frail girl's face and a faint chuckle escaped her. "I guess I just have to study harder."

"That's the spirit." Miyuki said in her motherly way.

The crisis was averted.

Until...

"Waaaaaaahh!"

The door to the classroom nearly fell of its hinges as a figure barrelled through, stooped over like a footballer making a charge, making a b-line for Konata and the others. She stumbled and fell short, landing sprawled out over a desk, hair cascading about her face like messy streamers.

"Why?! Why?! I did everything right! I studied every night!"

Kagami wasn't in the highest of spirits if it weren't obvious enough to tell from the crying fit. She bawled madly, her test clenched between white-knuckled fingers. Wordlessly Konata snatched the test away from her and backed up a few paces to read in relative peace. A damning 30% adorned the top of the first page under which the words 'Needs improvement. Keep trying.' were scrawled in the same deep red ink.

"Whoa! Kagami bombed!"

Kagami wept quite loudly, all through lunch until inevitably Kuroi-sensei had to escort her back to her own classroom.

That night Kagami organised an emergency study session and this time she swore to ignore Konata's distractions at all costs.


	3. Prologue 1-2

**Prologue 1-2**

She said to meet at 10. That was the plan. I couldn't possibly be late right? We're meeting at my house after all. Well you see...Haruhi has a way of making the impossible possible. It was barely past eight o'clock when I heard a rumble downstairs. I decided to ignore it since it was most likely my little sister being her usual hyperactive self. With a weak shrug I rolled onto my side and stared at the window, or more accurately the curtain covering said window. It was a dull beige colour and it wasn't in any way interesting, but for whatever reason it was keeping me semi-awake.

Then it struck me. There was another sound coming from outside the window. If my ears weren't playing tricks on me then there was something like muffled grumbling and cursing beyond those dull uninteresting curtains. But there are several things wrong with that; the least of which is the fact my room is on the second floor of the house and there is nothing outside the window other than a long unforgiving drop to the ground.

Curiosity got the better of me and I shuffled over to the window, parting the curtains only to come face to face with a figure perched right outside. A pair of round black eyes stared right back and for a moment I was at a loss for words. The person outside struggled to adjust their position, precariously balanced on the windowsill.

The very moment my lips parted to utter a cry of alarm the figure outside raised a finger to their mouth, which was hidden behind a black muffler to look like a ninja mask, and signalled for quiet. Despite every fibre of my being protesting against it I complied with a nod and unlocked the window. With a level of care I'd never seen before, the mad morning visitor slowly opened the window while constantly shifting their weight. The windowsill was barely three inches wide and yet the lunatic appeared perfectly composed as they squatted there, just barely planted on their toes. I silently prayed for the window to open as fast as possible just to let the damn fool in and avoid catastrophe.

When at last there was a sizeable gap I reached out and lent them a hand crawling through into my room. For several seconds there was an absolute silence between us and then Haruhi flashed her 'mission accomplished' smile and said, "Good morning!"

* * *

From what I could gather from the overly pointless explanation given by the maniacal Brigade Chief, she had decided to start the study session early, but not wanting to disturb my family by knocking on the door and causing a fuss, she had climbed up to my room to get me to unlock the front door and let everyone in.

Of course I explained that all she needed to do was send me a message or call but she simply glared at me and said, "That's not fun!"

As usual, she wasn't getting the point at all and so I gave up and led everyone to my room.

Koizumi smiled as ever, unperturbed by the morning chill and Nagato remained reserved and quiet. For the most part the only one talking was Haruhi, spouting a mixture of unhelpful pep talks and hints that were practically common knowledge. I spent more time trying to tune out to her ranting and going through the pile of textbooks that had mounted up around me.

After a while Haruhi took a break and took to the back seat while Koizumi took me through some maths problems. I understood half of what he said and had no choice but to ignore what I didn't just to keep up with his rapid-fire lessons. Whether or not he had even noticed I can't say, but from the look of it he just enjoyed explaining things regardless of whether they be complex equations or the mysteries of the universe.

When he'd gone through enough problems to turn my brain inside out Nagato went over the science part of the exam. There was no hope of picking up even a shred of information there but it was somewhat fascinating to hear Nagato speak so many words in a row. Although she sounded like a bored news reporter as facts simply spilled out of her, there was a barely perceptible sense of passion that was oddly heart-warming. But being an alien I guess it's natural to be interested in science. And considering how many of those brick-sized sci-fi novels she reads it's kind of to be expected. Nonetheless it still came as a nice surprise.

By the end of professor Nagato's lecture even Haruhi was lost. As she fought to comprehend what she'd just heard she eventually just shook her head and announced it time for a break.

Exhausted, I collapsed onto the table and let out a sigh that had been building up since the very start of our little study session. Letting it go free gave a feeling of relief. I couldn't help but wonder about Miss Asahina, the missing member of our club. I wasn't even sure if she was still in this time plane. She might have gone back to her time to wait for us to catch up to college, or maybe she really was studying somewhere, giving her all now that she's free of the maid costumes and manual labour forced upon her in the club room. What would she have taught me if she were here? A shame tea preparation isn't a subject on the entrance exams; she'd be an invaluable tutor for that.

One thing is certain though. If Asahina were here she'd have gone skipping off to the kitchen to make us tea right about now.

"Hey!" Haruhi snapped, "Don't fall asleep yet Kyon! We've only just started!"

I glanced up at the clock and noticed that it was only then ten o'clock, the original time we were supposed to meet up. I didn't mention it to Haruhi but I'm sure she saw me look up at the wall in frustration and got the hint.

She rolled her eyes and sat down across from me, her expression softening from her usual scowl, but not enough to disguise the fact she was still technically scowling. "Look, if we don't all make it then our efforts will have been for nothing. The SOS Brigade just won't be the same."

What about Asahina? She's been gone almost a full year now and you haven't even so much as mentioned her since.

"Oh, I keep in touch with Mikuru. I thought everyone did too." She glanced around at the others. Nagato gave no response but Koizumi's smile perked up a notch or two. Haruhi snapped back to me with a frown. "Haven't you spoken to her at all?"

I tried to stay tight lipped about it, but silence was equally damning. With a groan I shook my head and tried to avoid Haruhi's intense glare.

"I can't believe you'd just cast aside poor little Mikuru like that! You better apologise or I'll never forgive you!"

"But I don't know her phone number or even where she lives..."

"Mere excuses!"

Actually they're pretty valid points. If I don't know where to contact her then-

"Alright! Break over!"

Ugh! I should have seen that one coming. As much as I wished to protest, there was no getting out of this one. My academic misgivings had brought me to this point and I was also the one to feed Haruhi the idea of all of us going to the same university. I'd unconsciously made my bed and so now came the time to lie in it. At the very least I might learn something useful, even if it doesn't apply to any of the exams. And so reluctantly I returned to study knowing full well this would be a long day.

* * *

I certainly wasn't wrong. Haruhi had stayed over much longer than I thought she would. It was only when the sky had turned a vibrant shade of red, playing peek-a-boo from behind distant mountains, that she decided to call it a day. My brain was fried and both legs had cramped up from staying seated for so damn long. It took all the strength of one hand to pry the pen out of the other and even with the writing tool gone the fingers remained locked in place.

Haruhi let out a long yawn and stretched her arms high above her head. The way her eyes clouded over as she did so was unusually absorbing but it took little time at all for them to harden into a cold stare to match the thin line frown of her mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing." I lied, "It's just the first time I've ever seen you yawn. I didn't think you ever actually got tired."

Haruhi grinned, "A true leader doesn't show their fatigue around their subordinates." I neglected to mention what that implied and simply nodded as if learning a profound bit of wisdom. "But even so," she added, "I'm only human..."

…

I laughed.

I laughed louder and harder than I'd ever done in a very long time. So long in fact that I couldn't even remember what had last caused me to absolutely lose it like that. Doubled over and gasping for air, my eyes watered. It took far too long to regain my composure and in that time everyone had turned to stare at me as if I'd voided my bowels in front of them.

Naturally of course, Haruhi was the first to speak.

"Hmph. That's the first time I've ever heard you laugh. I didn't think you had a sense of humour."

The words hit like arrows to the chest and suitably I was put in my place and returned to my usual reserved quietude. Unfortunately that seemed to be Haruhi's cue to laugh and Koizumi, whom had simply been smiling along in the background joined in as well. Nagato didn't even flinch but the air around her seemed to soften a little.

Eventually my smile returned and as if obeying some unspoken rule, enough time had passed for me to laugh at the slight as well, albeit with noticeable warmth in my face. After so many tedious hours of mental strain it felt good to laugh. I'd never concentrated so hard before in my life and at some point the balance needed to be struck. Even if it was at my expense I couldn't care less. Everything usually is in the end anyway and I'd long since gotten accustomed to it. Besides I've been the butt of much more dangerous and terrifying jokes before. Jokes with catastrophic punchlines. This is nothing when you've faced possible extinction before.

A strong sense of relief washed over, knowing that the study session hadn't been a complete waste. Whether or not I'd actually pass the exam was another matter entirely, but this would at least allow me to go out in a blaze of glory. I hadn't been entirely pleased with the prospect of furthering my studies at first. But spending the day with the SOS Brigade like this, without any world-altering madness or time-travelling chaos...It made me realise that as strange as these guys are, they are my closest friends in this world and the next and truth be told, I don't want to part ways so soon.

If it'll grant me another few years of fun with time travellers and aliens and espers then I'll do all I possibly can to pass the entrance exam!

* * *

The SOS Brigade put a hold on its usual activities for a while and each and every day was spent studying for the imminent exams. It had taken up more than half of my day as even at home I'd spend hours reading through textbooks and making notes. Many a time it got boring and even more often it would become quite irritating, but with the blazing cauldron of desire now fuelling my efforts, the pain was considerably worthwhile. Stopping short of burning out each night I managed to double my score in the last mock exam. I still wasn't guaranteed to make it, but there was a chance, a thin flicker of hope and I clung to it for dear life.

In the back of my mind I considered the possibility that Haruhi could simply wish I passed and that would be the end of it, but living with that guilt for the rest of my life would be unimaginably soul crushing. I vowed to do my best and pass on my own.

And failing that, _then _I'd call on Haruhi...

But hopefully it won't come to that...

I knocked on the wooden table just to be sure.


	4. Prologue 3

**Prologue 3**

The noise was deafening. The footpath was so crowded with students, rushing like lemmings towards the school gates. Yui could barely see where she was walking, her nose buried in another students back as she waddled about like a penguin caught in a stampede. She would have backed up a little if it weren't for the fact that someone else was breathing down her neck right behind her. The push of the crowd had quickly led her astray and in a moment of panic Yui burst out to the side, knocking down the poor unfortunate girl herded alongside her. As the two tumbled and fell the wall of bodies around them hardly shifted. Skirt hems fluttered through her hair and coat tails scratched her face. Yui apologised to the girl she'd knocked down but the collective chatter of so many students drowned her out entirely. With a curt bow she helped the girl up and watched her get pulled along by the human current once again. Fighting the waves she waded through until she reached the roadside and at last she leaned against a bike rack to catch her breath.

It was the start of a new year and at last, after months of waiting, the results for the entrance exams were in. Yui had organised to meet up with her friends to check them together, but seeing the vast numbers of students packing the walkway she began to doubt whether she could even find them.

Standing precariously on the bike rack Yui peered over the countless heads in the crowd and spotted a head of luxuriously long blonde hair. With a beaming smile Yui waved her hands and shouted to her friend Mugi, who fortunately overheard the commotion and glanced her way. She smiled back and tried to wave but her arms were tucked in to her side by those surrounding her. Yui observed the titanic struggle as the polite and quiet Mugi tried to squeeze out of her ever moving prison. When at last she was out in the open air she hunched over and let out a deep sigh.

"How exhilarating!" she exclaimed, breathless. "That was so much fun! I couldn't move at all!"

Yui let out a brief chuckle. Mugi had always been a strange one. Being the daughter of a rich family she had lived a sheltered life. As such she had a knack for finding the fun side to things that definitely aren't.

"I can still smell that other girl's perfume..." Yui muttered making a show of dramatically sniffing the air. "There are so many people here, I thought I was lost!"

"I know, I know!" nodded Mugi, "I could have ended up anywhere if you had not called out! But now that we're talking about it, I just want to go back in there again!"

Again Yui let out a short laugh. "Maybe we should wait for the others first."

"We could go find them!" Mugi suggested, her eyes alight with excitement. "We'll go the opposite way to everyone else and track the others down!"

Not used to being the mature one in any situation Yui conceded to what sounded like a fun idea and together they dived back into the throng and made slow progress back the way they had come. It wasn't much of a surprise to find the two girls instantly separated and isolated amongst the mob. With rapid fire apologies streaming in endless succession Yui fought the tide and managed to find a slipstream of empty space. She bolted for it with such speed that the incoming figure of another trying to seize the opportunity had no time to avoid her. Together they clashed heads and tumbled into the fray. Those around them simply stepped over them or treated them as part of the pavement. Several times Yui felt the crushing weight of feet on her fingers and toes and hurriedly curled up in a ball. The other girl similarly huddled up beside her and cautiously peeked out from under overgrown sandy blonde bangs. The one eye visible beneath the mess of hair glared at Yui and from beneath the mop a snarl emerged.

"My headband! Hurry and help me find it!"

Yui hadn't heard her clearly and simply stared back in awe at the mysterious looking girl. With a disgruntled sigh the other girl grabbed a handful of her unruly hair and pulled it up over the top of her head, revealing a wide forehead and narrow eyes.

"Hey!" she snapped.

Seeing that forehead, everything instantly clicked and Yui snapped to attention, scanning the ground for her friend Ritsu's trademark yellow headband. Through the forest of feet she spotted a glimpse of yellow and made her move. Crawling on all fours she lunged for it, but her hand was kicked away by someone tripping over her, leaving Yui to flop to the ground like a beached fish. Once again she tried to make her way over to the stray headband but the marching students cut her off. With a desperate cry she extended her hand, despairing for the poor headband, when at last someone stooped to pick it up. Neat black pigtails trailed across the ground as a small girl reached for the item in question. She let out a yelp as people stepped on her aforementioned pigtails and despite being blameless in the ordeal she frantically apologised to her tormentors. Groping the ground she managed to get a hold of the headband just as a solid leather boot came crunching down upon it. With a terrible crack the headband snapped under the weight of the boot and so the small girl managed to only retrieve one half before fighting her way to the others.

Yui snatched the girl's collar and dragged her into the narrow gap where Ritsu was anxiously fidgeting with her hair. The small girl revealed the fragment of the headband and bowed deeply. Ritsu had to once again pry her hair away from her face to inspect her accessory. When the situation finally dawned on her, something in her eyes faded and an empty sigh escaped her.

The trio escaped back onto the road and waited for Mugi to return.

Azusa, the smallest of the group, once again bowed in shame before her sempai and begged for forgiveness. With a non-committal grunt Ritsu shrugged it off and resumed picking at her bangs. Yui gazed down at her hands, red and sore from being stomped on and kicked. No longer caring for her marks in the exam she desired nothing more than to just go home and sleep away the pain.

After a few minutes Mugi indeed returned, dragging an exhausted friend behind her. Mio quietly patted herself down, mumbling something to herself about how awful her ordeal had been. The others ignored her though they all sympathised with her having braved the crowd themselves.

Together they waited until much of the group had left before daring to make a dash for the ranking board outside the school's main building.

* * *

"I can't see! Mio can you see it?"

"Ah! Stop climbing on me!"

"Am I up there?"

"Aw, those people at the front are way too tall..."

The girls had finally reached the board out the front of the school; however a good dozen or so others still retained a human wall between them and the result listings. Azusa, being the smallest of the group had deigned to simply sit back and wait, however the tension of not knowing her sempais' fate gnawed away at her and inevitably she became restless. Yui, being unable to stay calm and collected in any situation was madly scrambling up Mio's back in a vain attempt to sit on her shoulders and peer over the heads of those in front. For all her efforts though, Mio fought back, shrugging her wild friend off while teetering on the tips of her toes to see the board. Still, Ritsu was stuck playing with her overly long bangs, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment and a decent share of anger. Mugi just stood quietly behind them all, a smile ever present on her face and an air of absolute patience and serenity emanating around her.

After what felt like an eternity the front row peeled to the sides and a space opened up at long last. Yui shot off like a bullet seizing the blank spot and clearing room for her friends to shuffle up alongside. Together they all took deep dramatic breaths before glancing up at the board.

Mio quickly teared up. "I made it...I really did it!"

"Congratulations!" Mugi patted her on the shoulder and craned her neck back to the board. "Looks like we've got another few years together. How wonderful!"

The five eclectic girls were all members of their high school's light music club. Even more so, they were all members of the band Houkagou Tea-Time. Through thick and thin they had managed to cement a name for themselves in the local area. Unfortunately with graduation came the looming fear of having to disband. Their solution had been to all aim for the same university and keep the band running with the light music club there. With Mugi and Mio crossed off the list and Azusa only in her second year of high school, all that was left were the problem children...

Yui and Ritsu. Neither had a knack for academics and throughout the final months of their third year it had been those two that had threatened to ruin their plan. After enough nagging and begging the girls had properly knuckled down and tried their best, though they all feared it might have been too little too late. At last it was time to see if it had paid off.

Ritsu could barely see the board past her overgrown hair but struggled on regardless. Arm in arm with her partner in crime they scanned the list of names, more nervous than they'd ever felt up on stage. Suddenly Yui's body shuddered in Ritsu's arms and an indescribable squeak sounded from her. Losing her footing, Yui collapsed to her knees and continued making strange sounds.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you alright?"

The mature members helped her up and quickly noted the look of disbelief on Yui's face. A long low laugh rippled from the weak-kneed girl and as if given a shot of adrenaline she leapt to her feet and cheered.

"Ahahaha! I did it! I passed! Yay!"

The others joined her, overjoyed to find that the biggest risk factor in their plan had passed the test. A group hug was in order and together they cheered for their success. The girls congratulated one another and then took a photo of themselves standing before the board before rushing to their local cafe for some well overdue tea and cake.

* * *

"I can't believe it's really happening..." Mio muttered, staring down into her cup of tea.

"It was destiny!" Ritsu cried in poorly pronounced English. The others chuckled but Mio gave her idiotic friend a playful smack to the back of the head. Having been together for so long the manzai act between the two had become so natural and seamless neither truly noticed it any more. The others however still got a laugh out of the performance.

"Still I'm glad Ritsu and Yui passed. I was so worried these last couple of days..." Mugi paused to take a bite of cake. "I feel so much better now."

Yui giggled and flashed the peace sign to the others, "Aw, it was nothing!" then, unable to help herself, she added dramatically, "It was destiny!"

This time Azusa played the Tsukkomi and hit her.

Once again laughter gripped the band. When all had calmed down Mio took out her phone, studying the photo they had taken of themselves with the board. Even in the background, she could clearly make out her number. Mugi and Yui's numbers appeared near the bottom of the frame and-

"Huh?"

"What?" Ritsu asked, adjusting the new yellow headband she had bought at a store nearby.

Mio didn't answer. She was absorbed in the picture. "Uh..."

Now everyone was staring at her.

"Mio? You alright?"

Slowly she looked up at her long-time friend, her expression blank. "Ritsu...What number were you again?"

"21145. Why?"

The black haired beauty had gone pale. She refused to look Ritsu in the eyes as she checked the photo again. She stared so hard the screen might break. Her shoulders slumped and as she looked to her friends Mio realised she'd lost her voice. Speechless she showed the others the photo.

Just above Yui's shoulder the numbers 21143 and 21147 stood out as clear as day. Ritsu's number should have been between them but there was nothing at all. Realisation dawned on them all and slowly all eyes turned on the girl who was quietly tugging at her headband pretending to look innocent.

"Ristu..."

Bearing the brunt of their stares she raised her hands in submission. "Uh...Maybe it's an optical illusion or something?" She laughed alone for a long awkward moment then bowed her head. "I'm sorry..."

Ritsu flinched in expectation of the incoming slap, but when none was forthcoming she realised that this was truly serious. Those rare times when Mio didn't hit her where usually when she was far beyond simply being upset or angry. Looking at her expression she was utterly devastated.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" she suddenly exploded, garnering the stares of the other patrons.

"I don't know! I couldn't see because of my hair and-"

"You could have asked one of us to look for you! Why didn't you check?!" Mio was on her feet now, blushing furiously since becoming aware of the stares of other customers.

Ritsu cowered in her seat, as Mio towered over her, "I'm sorry! I thought that if Yui passed then I did too!"

"Hey!" Yui pouted, "I'm not that bad!"

Everyone turned to her in unison and spoke in perfectly harmonized deadpan, "You are."

"Oh..." She quietly sipped her tea.

"Well now what do we do?" Mio asked, frustrated. "What point is there if we don't all go to the same place?"

"What about our back-up choices?" Mugi suggested, the only calm one at the table.

"You mean that silly new place in the mountains that Yui told us about? I thought you were joking when you said that was your second choice?" Mio glanced around noting the blank faces of the others. "Wait...You all put that one down as..." She slumped over the table and groaned.

"We could ask Sawa-chan for help?" Azusa said. She had stayed out of the arguments earlier so now that things had cooled down she thought it best to speak up.

"Will she really let me change my choices this late? The exams are already finished."

"We should ask her anyway. This is our last chance to keep our band together! We must not back down!" Mugi clenched her fist and made an unfittingly stern face. She held the pose for a few seconds before taking a breath and chuckling, "I always wanted to say that!"

* * *

"What?!" Sawako stared at her former students in stunned awe. For starters she wasn't expecting them to barge in during her lunch break and she was definitely not prepared for the 'little favour' they asked of her. "You can't be serious! It's too late to change schools. The exam period is over and the selections have already been made. I'm sorry girls but I can't help you."

"Please! Please Sawa-chan! I'm begging you!"

The bespectacled teacher swatted Yui aside and crossed her arms. "I said no. If you had come to me a little earlier I would be more than happy to sort out this mess but this far down the track there is nothing to be done."

"But...But..." Mio started bawling, right there in the staff room. Other teachers leaned over their desks to see what was going on and even students out in the hall were peeking through the door.

"Come now, it's not that bad. Your first choice is a major university. One of the best in the country! You can get any job you want-"

"I want to be a musician!" Mio screamed. "I don't care about how prestigious the school is...I just...I just want to be with my friends...I want to keep making music with them...Forever..."

Sawako bit her lip and frowned. To be honest she had developed a soft spot for the girls ever since she first met them three years ago. Though they were markedly different from the band she had formed during her time in the Light Music Club, she felt a special connection to the group of misfits she had mentored. She would certainly miss having tea and cake in the club room every day.

"Hmm..."

"Aha! She thought of something!" Ritsu jabbed an accusing finger at her former teacher and smirked.

"What? No! It's just...Well I'll make some calls and see what I can do." The girls made ready to cheer when Sawako cut them off, "But if this works, you girls owe me big time."

Mio was about to protest when Yui leaned past her and cried, "We'll do anything!"

Sawako tried to hide her devilish smile but a demented giggle still escaped her. "Alright then. Why don't you girls go wait in the club room. I'll come find you when I'm done."

* * *

In the end Sawako had ordered them home, having made no progress despite hours of trying. For several days they continued to visit the school, each time finding a tired looking Sawako in her office. On the fourth day, once again holed up in the club room, the girls were having their usual round of tea and cakes when a knock came at the door.

"Yes?" Ritsu called. She had been the club's president and though she had graduated she still acted like it was her room.

Slowly the door opened and a zombie with long brown hair and glasses shuffled into the room, groaning miserably. The girls all screamed as the abomination made its way to their table, snatching up a half empty cup of tea and downing it in one gulp.

Sawako let out a long sigh and smiled weakly. "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

"No!" Mio instantly went into the foetal position.

"I'm sorry to say this...But you girls are no longer students at this school. You're all going to Kyoani Academy!"


	5. Prologue 4

**Prologue 4**

The birds singing somewhere outside the window were the last straw. Any chance of falling back to sleep for those precious few minutes more was all but gone. With a groan I slowly slid out of from under the blankets and shuffled across the short length of my room to the window. The large window led out onto a tiny balcony which was permanently in the shade of the towering apartment complex next door. As usual the specks of mould caused my blood to boil but that morning, like many other mornings lately; I simply couldn't work myself into my usual frenzy.

Staring up at the apartments only brought bitter memories. Not out of any kind of jealousy towards the people who could afford to live in a place like that, but rather because of a former resident I'd once known. Seeing the empty room across the gap only served a constant reminder that person was truly gone.

I'd woken early, well ahead of the alarm. But that wasn't a problem. I figured it would be good to spend an extra hour or so admiring the quaint little shack I called my home. The tatami mats felt rough under my feet like it had when I was younger. Although the itchy feeling had faded with age suddenly the sensation had returned now that I was soon to leave as if to remind me of the past years spent there.

I sighed and got to cleaning my room. I'd already done a thorough job the night before, packing my bags and leaving everything else spotless, but the ritual was a calming one and so even if I was merely brushing away at imaginary dirt it put my mind at ease.

When everything was in order (again) I quietly shuffled out into the living room. Inko-chan, our parrot was making unintelligible noises behind the cloth draped over its cage. Sounding totally unlike a bird Inko-chan continued snoring, or so I envisioned despite sounding more like it was choking.

I made for the kitchen, spotting a bare foot jutting out from the half-closed door to Yasuko's room. She too was snoring in a way that sounded more akin to a medical emergency, but having endured such things for years I'd grown to ignore it. Taking extra care to step over the wayward foot I slipped into the kitchen and assembled all I needed.

Cooking had long been cathartic to me. With a mother like Yasuko it was up to me to learn to cook for the family and so ever since I was little it had been something of a hobby to make food for the two of us. That probably sounds kind of lame, but I can't help it. It's just the way I am.

The pan hissed and a soothing aroma filled the kitchen, which like everything else in our tiny home, was tiny. Seduced by the scent, Yasuko's sluggish padding footsteps approached from behind but lost in the frenzy of cooking I paid no heed, glaring down at the rice as if it were my arch rival. I'd promised to make her omurice for breakfast even though I'd have preferred to do something more extravagant. But Yasuko had said with an impish smile that it was her favourite and chucked a tantrum until I reluctantly agreed.

That very same tantrum throwing Yasuko was in fact my mother; a woman who despite being in her thirties adamantly believed she was still twenty-three. She works at a bar in town and her schedule is rough. Since she usually works until the early hours of the morning I'd normally be gone before she wakes up from her coma, but this being a special day she had managed to stir herself awake. Perched on the counter, she watched with child-like wonder at the way I cooked. Lately I'd been teaching her a few easy meals to keep her away from the convenience store at least a couple of nights a week.

Seeing it as a fine moment to go through some last minute drills I gave her a quiz while cooking, checking to make sure my lessons hadn't all gone to waste. It was fortunate I'd done so since I had to correct a few fatal errors for her.

When all was ready we sat down to eat, a strained silence quickly growing between us. It had been a long time since we'd had breakfast within six hours of each other let alone the exact same time. The suddenness of it all came as more of a surprise than should be necessary.

"Uh..."

"Thanks for the food Ryu-chan!" Yasuko chirped before nibbling away at her omelette. For a while I simply watched her eat before noticing the steam blossoming up from my own plate. With a start I hastily tried to catch up.

It'd be a waste if it got cold...

Somewhere along the line Yasuko stopped eating and carefully laid her chopsticks down, watching me like I'd done only minutes earlier. With a chunk of steaming rice hovering just before my mouth I caught her gaze and froze.

"Hm?"

Yasuko giggled and offered a warm smile. "I'm gonna miss that glare."

Glare? Oh right... Thanks to my father's genes I was given a natural cold stare that had caused me grief for as long as I can remember. Honestly the time I'd spent doing damage control all because of my eyes could have been put towards something much more useful. I could have done twice as well at school if I hadn't wasted so many hours unravelling the constant misunderstandings.

But there's nothing to be done about that. I'd like to say I've accepted it, but it seems more appropriate to say I've just given up resisting.

Yasuko was the only person immune to my gaze. She was also the only person on earth who found it charming. That's why she'd fallen for my father in the first place. It was one of many little things about her that I would never understand...

"I promise I'll come visit during holidays."

"But that's so far away!" Yasuko whined.

"Don't worry. I said I'd call once a week to check in."

"I'm not a child!" she pouted, certainly not earning any favours in this argument.

"You're the one that told me to do it! Anyway it won't be so bad. I'll keep in touch as much as I can."

"But I'll be so lonely!"

I rolled my eyes. "You have Inko-chan too you know."

"But I want Ryu-chan!" she stamped her feet, looking every bit an overgrown child.

"Now now," I muttered, "You'll upset Inko-Chan if you say stuff like that."

My mother sniffled and looked pitifully between me and Inko's cage across the room. "But...But..."

I gave up on the sad little tirade and polished off the last of my breakfast. Yasuko followed my lead, albeit taking her time and picking at her food as she sulked. We sat in silence afterward though for entirely different reasons. While I struggled to find the right words to say, Yasuko seemed to be struggling to stay awake.

Someone had to break the silence and it had to be me...

"Well, I'd better get ready. Don't want to be late for the train..."

Yasuko nodded slowly and quietly finished her breakfast. She seemed to have calmed down so I let her be and left for my room. Just as I passed her she lunged out with lightning speed and latched onto my leg. The surprise alone made me lose my balance and so I stumbled into the flimsy door and fell through it, bringing the whole panel down with me.

"Y-Yasuko?!"

"Don't go! Don't leave me! I promise I'll be good! I promise!"

"Huh?!"

"Ryu-chan!"

"L-let go! Look at this mess! The door snapped in half!"

With trembling hands I tried to piece together what I could from the fragments of my bedroom door. The bamboo frame was in pieces and the paper had torn in just about every single spot. Debris spread across the floor, making those hours of meticulous cleaning earlier entirely worthless. Glancing back at the clock I let out a small cry.

"Yasuko! Get me some tape quickly! I should still be able to fix this before my train comes!"

She let go of my leg at long last but didn't get up off the floor. I unconsciously glared at her with my father's eyes and snarled, "Now!" With a start she scrambled to her feet and ran off.

Hastily, I salvaged what I could but as I picked through the pieces it had dawned on me that we'd need to buy a new door. I turned back to the clock and mentally calculated how long it would take to rush down to the store. There wasn't enough time.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I took out my phone.

"Hello?" A tired voice answered.

"Hey Haruta, I need to ask you a favour."

"Eh?! Taka-chan? Aren't you like, supposed to be starting uni today?"

"Yes, that's exactly why I need your help. You aren't doing anything today are you?"

"Hey! What do you mean by that?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't have time for this! Look I need you to take my mother and go buy a door for me."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Huh? Doors?"

"Yeah."

"You want to me to shop for doors?"

"Yes."

"With Yasuko?"

"That's right."

There was silence again...

"Haruta?"

…

"Wahoo!"

I had to take my phone away from my ear as Haruta let loose a deafening howl of joy. I sighed inwardly and tried my best to subdue the rage boiling up inside.

"So, can you do that for me? I'll leave the money for you as well."

"Sure! Sure! Anything for Taka-chan!"

"Thanks. Well I've got to get ready so-"

"Wait!"

I sighed again, "What?"

"You haven't spoken to Kushieda yet have you?"

That name stung a little. "No, not for a while. Why?"

"Uh...Well I thought you would have. Isn't she going to the same place?"

"What?!"

"Ah, don't yell at me like that! Geez, man..."

"Sorry, but what do you mean she's going to the same place? I thought she applied for that sports school?"

"She didn't get accepted so she had to go with another choice instead. I heard it's that same one you applied for."

"I see..." I put the phone down and walked away. Haruta's voice crackled through the speaker as he called after me but I was in no mind to speak with him anymore. That little bit of news brought with it a sense of panic I hadn't felt in a long time.

Kushieda and I hadn't spoken much in our third year. A lot had happened the previous year, countless moments that simply amounted to more bricks in the wall between us. Despite trying so hard to get closer to her in the end I'd only made things worse.

Fortunately I didn't have the time to dwell on such things and so I took my bags to the front door and hunted down my mother who was sprawled on the table like a corpse. Shaking her arm instilled some life into her but she was groaning like a zombie. After all, Yasuko never usually woke up so early in the morning. She'd have most likely only returned home a few hours before.

"Yasuko, I have to go soon."

She didn't seem to be entirely awake and in her half slumber started mumbling something. "No, don't go...What about our child?"

She was dreaming of course. My father had left while my mother was still pregnant with me. With that in mind I never understood why she could never say a bad word about him. Even when telling stories about the fights he got swept up in and the awful things he'd done, she always spoke with a beaming smile as if they were precious memories. She certainly might have convinced herself that they were; after all she did marry the guy knowing full well he was a thug. But I guess no-one can escape from their dreams.

To spare myself as much as my mother I shook her awake and did something I don't do very often.

I gave her a hug.

Yasuko's eyes shot open and with open mouthed shock she stared up at me as if I were her long lost husband returned at last.

"Ryu-chan...?"

I nodded softly and waved a hand toward the bags near the door. "I've got to go. Sorry." I wasn't sure why I apologised but for some reason it seemed appropriate.

Yasuko bowed her head and frowned, "Oh..."

She returned the embrace and wished me luck. Fighting back exhaustion and sorrow she did her best to show me off with a smile. With a shy wave I stepped out into the morning light and made for the station, only to stop short at the bottom of the stairwell and come crashing back up to our flat.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Do you remember what day is garbage pick-up?"

Disappointed by my less than dramatic question Yasuko grumbled something under her breath before whining, "It's Monday!"

"Good! And remember, the sales at Kanou Mart are-"

"Every Wednesday!" she cried.

"Right. And...Uh..."

"Just go already!" she snapped, her childishly irritable pouting looking horribly out of place on someone who is supposed to be an adult. Figuring I should have left with the teary smiles earlier I showed myself out, but the whole way to the station I couldn't help but remember all the things I wanted to clear with Yasuko. Though she had done a fine enough job raising me, recently I'd taken on the majority of the housekeeping duties. Whether or not she'd actually forget...Well I just prefer to be on the safe side.

The whole 'I'm actually going to university' thing didn't hit until I was outside the train station. Seeing countless other nervous people my age standing around lost and confused did wonders in calming me down. Not that I was incredibly worried, but the news that Kushieda would be going to the same place all of a sudden was plaguing my mind.

Just as I pondered such things I felt eyes boring into the back of my head and nervously shot around, eyes ablaze to catch the culprit. Across a veritable sea of people my best friend, Kitamura was waving like a lunatic and shouting something I couldn't quite hear over the noise of the incoming train. As I strained to catch the exuberant speech of the bespectacled fool, someone else decided to join the shouting match.

"Hey Takasu-kun! Over here! Here! Look! Look! Hey!"

A lively girl with a cheerful grin was doing a strange dance, waving her arms above her head while swaying from side to side like a flower caught in a gale. Usually the sight of her would have sent my heart racing, her loud lyrical voice tickling my ears. But today it simply settled as a black lump in my stomach, my whole body seizing up from a sudden, painful cramp.

It was Kushieda.

At that point I had a strong urge to turn back before it was too late and go door shopping with my mother...


	6. Prologue 1-3

**Prologue 1-3 (The Last One I Swear!)**

The train took off with a lurching start. Fortunately Haruhi had claimed seats for us immediately after charging on-board without a care for any other passengers. While we squeezed our way over she made sure to bark and snarl and glare at anyone who dared to sit near her. Then in a bipolar flash she smiled and waved us over. Part of me was embarrassed at having to associate with her under the judgemental gaze of all the other passengers, but the relief of finally sitting down and no longer carrying my luggage made up the difference to a point where I couldn't care less anymore.

As if she were programmed to do so, Nagato immediately took out a book and started reading as soon as she sat down. Despite the fact we were no longer students at North High Nagato was still wearing the uniform. Haruhi was strangely accepting of that and upon noticing my stares she grabbed my shirt and dragged me in closer so she could whisper, "Don't be rude! From what I can tell Yuki doesn't have a lot of money since her apartment was so expensive. You saw how little furniture was in there and she had barely any food around too."

"Maybe she just likes the uniform?"

"Could be. I offered to take her shopping but she never really wanted anything." Haruhi looked Nagato up and down and sighed. "Maybe I should just buy her some things anyway. She might get in trouble if she wears her uniform on campus."

"I'm sure she'll wear whatever you give her. She seems pretty compliant."

Haruhi chuckled like an old man and patted my shoulder. "How observant of you. I'd be impressed if you didn't just state the obvious."

My pride took a bit of a hit and I sat back while Haruhi gave off an irritating smirk.

The entire time Nagato hadn't looked up from her book.

Koizumi turned back, having spent the previous few minutes gazing out the window. Unsurprisingly he smiled. "It's going to be quite a long ride. Shall we play a game?"

Knowing that even if I refused, Haruhi would agree and inevitably drag me into it too I simply saved myself the time and hassle and nodded. Like a cheap magician a deck of cards slid out from his sleeve and a game of old maid ensued.

Koizumi lost every time, but Haruhi won every time too. After ten consecutive games of the same result we played another game, but every single time Haruhi came first, me second and Koizumi third. I had long since grown bored with the predictable outcome but somehow the others were unfazed by it and relentlessly continued on playing.

I left them to it for a few games and studied the other passengers. Obviously not everyone was going to university, but there were a lot of anxious looking students that pretty much gave themselves away. Despite having no way to tell who was going where it consumed my attention trying to spot potential classmates from the other passengers.

Halfway down the aisle a group of girls were chattering noisily. That in itself wasn't unusual, but the retinue of instrument cases did. The guitar cases took up several seats, much to the annoyance of those who were left standing up around them. From their care-free attitude it was hard to see them as the college type, but a hunch told me they were too old to be high schoolers and too young to be professional musicians. One of the girls jumped up on her seat and shouted something unintelligible only to have her friend drag her down in panic and embarrassment. The others in the group laughed but the one with long black hair seemed to shrink in her seat and hide.

Three rows down a girl with striking red hair was also making plenty of noise. Her smile was infectious but as I caught the gaze of the boy beside her my blood ran cold. The claustrophobic terror of being trapped on a fast moving train with no escape suddenly took hold and unbeknownst to me my whole body shuddered. A molten glare sank through my fragile psyche and took root there, seeding out any number of nameless fears. Hang on; even I don't know what I'm talking about anymore. Why in the hell am I panicking like this?! No! Why is that guy so furious with me? I mean that is a genuine death stare! Seriously, if this train wasn't so busy I'd not be surprised if he decided to have a few words with me. Punctuated by cold steel of course...

I had to look away before that stare alone could bring me to my knees, which is hard to do when seated.

"What's wrong?" Haruhi asked, noticing perhaps the faint scent of urine or more likely my frozen mask of terror.

"Nothing." I stammered quickly, but there was no getting past her. Haruhi leaned out into the aisle and looked around. Needless to say I was gladly preoccupied with the fact that she was leaning over me, the soft scent of perfume wafting through my nostrils.

"Whoa!" she gasped slinking back to her seat. "Someone's not in a good mood!" looking to me she asked, "What do you think has him so angry?" Without a hint of tact she pointed straight at him and on reflex I slid as far back in my seat as possible to avoid being seen.

I didn't have the faintest clue why he was so frighteningly mad, but more concerning was the way the girl beside him didn't bat an eyelid as he glared at her with the contempt of an action movie villain. It was clear that the other people around them were frightened or at least a little put off, but the girl with red hair was still laughing and chatting away, blissfully unaware of the barely contained rage burning behind that boy's narrowed eyes.

I decided to stop looking around for a while after that.

Since Koizumi's card games weren't any fun I took some time to read over Nagato's shoulder. She flipped pages well before I could get past the first paragraph and so the story made little to no sense to me whatsoever. Characters appeared out of nowhere for no particular reason and people who should have been somewhere else were now in the thick of the action. It should have been tiring and irritating but somehow it was entertaining trying to piece the mess together.

"Done." Nagato announced so quietly it was almost drowned out by the rumbling of the train. She calmly closed the book (I didn't get to read the final line...) and carefully packed it back in her bag. Then without a second thought the silent little bookworm drew out another novel much like Koizumi had procured his deck of cards.

Not feeling up to skipping half a book again I simply timed in my head how long it took Nagato to read each page. That game ended quickly and with a mixture of alarm, surprise and for some reason pride I leaned back and let her be.

I figured looking out the window might kill some time, but the morning sunlight was glaring hard across the glass and turning it into a mirror instead. I glanced over my shoulder in my reflection at a group of girls yapping away. From what I could vaguely hear they were talking about some anime or another. I wasn't particularly interested and tuned out before long but their bright soothing laughter constantly echoed in the background like elevator music.

* * *

Several hours of tedious and uninteresting details later our train finally arrived on the outskirts of Tokyo. From there we caught a cramped and uncomfortably hot bus further out of the city and into the mountains. Although the university had chartered buses to go beyond the city limits apparently it was too much of a hassle to get them to drive to the campus itself so after all that time spent in transit we still had to stare down a considerably long walk through the forest.

As we gathered our bags and prepared for the trek we all stopped to take in the sight. Nestled between canopies of green stood a series of large white buildings, though if you weren't looking for them specifically you may never have noticed, so well were they camouflaged, surprising considering the contrast of colour.

"We're really here..." Haruhi muttered under her breath. For a moment the boisterous and bold brigade leader seemed just a tiny bit vulnerable as she gazed into the distance. Unfortunately that brief snapshot of normality was suffocated under another of those devious 'I've got a great idea!' smiles.

"Hey, you know what would be fun?"

"Not what you're thinking?"

"Oh shut up!" she snapped, playfully punching me on the arm. It still kind of hurt though. "Anyway," she said, "how about we have a race to the campus? Last one there has to buy everyone lunch!"

Hypothetically speaking, even if someone else were to come last, I'm the one who will be forking the bill for lunch in the end aren't I?

At that Haruhi laughed and patted my shoulder. With a beaming smile she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Yep!" and skipped off with a bag in each hand towards the far off buildings. With a shrug I followed after though at a much slower pace. No point getting worn out when I've already lost now is there?

Nagato managed to manoeuvre around the rocky mountain path and carry her luggage all the while still reading a book. She was still on that second book she had pulled out on the train, but it looked like she was close to the end of that one too.

With nobody else to talk to, I turned to Koizumi who returned a casual smile.

"Looks like quite the walk to our dorms. Perhaps I shouldn't have packed so much." He made a show of struggling to lift his luggage and I rolled my eyes. From all appearances he'd packed lightly and it wasn't a stretch to say his bags were probably half the weight of my own. I'd half expected him to loft a ridiculously oversized case full of clothes, since he often gave off the vibe of a daytime escort or a low budget movie star.

The topic of clothes returned my attention to Nagato, who, by all accounts shouldn't have had any luggage since she never wore anything other than presumably the one same school uniform day in day out. My best guess was that she'd simply brought with her a portable library, but seeing as how she'd read two books on the train ride over I doubted even a full travel case of books would truly last her any longer than a week. It would be quite a trip to the nearest book store.

"Is something the matter?" Koizumi asked, cutting me off from my daydreaming. "You looked rather troubled earlier."

Well that's probably true. To be fair I never planned to go to a place like this and I guess the finality of me being here is suddenly catching up with me. This must be what it feels like when criminals wake up after their first night in prison.

Koizumi shrugged off my pessimism with a chuckle, "I wouldn't worry too much. Should you struggle in any of your courses I'm sure Miss Suzumiya would be more than happy to tutor you again."

"If she does it often enough then maybe one day she might actually be helpful..."

"Miss Suzumiya may be a little more...enthusiastic than most tutors but her advice certainly works. I dare say I took a few of her tips on-board whilst studying with you and it really paid off."

"Hmph. Why would you need Haruhi's study tips? You're an esper. Couldn't you have just guessed all the right answers?"

Koizumi sighed. "You know I've explained this before. My powers only work under specific conditions and are quite different from those you see in movies and books."

"Okay, then couldn't you have just used your connections in the Agency to 'conveniently' place a friend of your uncle or something on the marking committee?"

Koizumi was silent for a moment. Then, "It's possible."

…

"Wait...You _did_?!"

"I had to make sure. Everything hinged on all of us passing our entrance exams and coming here. It was a fail-safe to ensure even in a worst case scenario we would all still succeed."

"So...Did I actually pass my exam in the end or do I owe you lunch?"

Koizumi didn't answer for a while, but after a brief silence he turned to me with a smirk.

"I won't turn down a free meal."


	7. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Walking alone through the expansive halls of Kyoani Academy, I'd never felt more out of place. Genuinely valid questions struck like arrows in the back of my mind. What am I doing here? Why did I agree to all of this? Am I really that stupid?

The answers weren't very reassuring, I assure you.

But having come this far already, it was too late to turn back. For the next few years these halls would be my new home. That new building smell and the polished marble floors, the windows so fresh they'd yet to be covered in cobwebs. It was like walking into a newly built house, something I'd never actually done before, although Nagato's apartment sort of had the same feeling since she never really _moved in_ despite living there for five years. The walls were yet to be vandalised by a hundred hastily printed, dog-eared notices and would have been totally bare were it not for the simple signs pointing out where the offices, dorms, cafeteria and such were. Following the arrows I headed towards the dorms to drop off my bags and relieve at least a fraction of that great weight off my shoulders.

The campus was fairly simple in its layout. A large central hub sat square in the centre of two outer rings of classrooms and beyond those a further set of dormitories lay towards the back. Viewed from the sky it probably looked something like a rigid concrete target sitting out of place in the middle of the forest. I sincerely hoped no invading aliens ever took notice of that fact.

While thinking such stupid things I rounded a corner somewhere near the cafeteria and found myself standing eye to eye with that same terrifying glare from the train earlier. Instinct took over and I dropped to the floor like a bird shot out of the sky, landing without a hint of grace, spread eagled on my back and hurling my luggage into the wall where it promptly exploded and spilled out across the floor.

A pitiful whimper escaped me as the villainous character took a step forward and extended a hand, most likely to give me the touch of death or something sinister. In a fight or flight reaction I slapped his hand away and bared my fangs, resigning myself to a grisly fight to the bitter end!

That was all until I looked up and met his eyes again. Adrenaline leaked out like water from a burst tap and my bones turned to liquid. Unable to fight back I closed my eyes and curled up into a defensive ball.

"Kyon?! What's wrong?!"

Haruhi's voice boomed out from the cafeteria and her thunderous running footsteps grew deafening as she bore down upon me and my assailant.

"Hey! What did you do to him?!"

"Nothing! I swear! We just bumped into each other and...and...He started doing that..."

"Whoa! I'd remember a mug like that for as long as I live! You're that guy from before!"

"What?"

"We saw you on the train! You were searching for victims with your hunter's gaze."

"Huh?!"

"So you targeted my buddy Kyon eh? Targeting the weak and feeble is a cowardly thing. You wanna throw down so badly, how about taking me on huh?"

"Wait! You've got it all wrong! I never touched your boyfriend! I swear!"

Haruhi screamed. It was a violent sound. Full of rage and hate. A rattling gurgling mess of bestial fury overladen with a touch of madness. Such was a sound that never and I really mean _never _should be uttered by a young woman. And yet Haruhi's roar ripped through the halls like a knife, banging off the bare walls to echo on into the distance.

"How dare you! I'll never forgive you!" she screeched.

That's it Haruhi! Save me-

"He is _not _my boyfriend! Like I'd settle for _that_!"

…

Ow...

And suddenly the situation started to simmer down. Tentatively, I unfurled from my protective ball and glanced up at the two combatants. Haruhi was standing firm by my side, legs spread and braced to pounce. The other guy looked like he wanted nothing more than to run for the hills, or so his stance would suggest, but his eyes were baying for blood. Was it a feint?

"You bastard...First you prey upon my minion and then you dare to insult the likes of me?! You're going down!" roared Haruhi. With a cry straight out of an action movie she made her move, charging across the hall with blinding speed.

"Minorin Missile!"

With a crack of lightning a burst of red splashed across the field of battle and suddenly Haruhi was lying on the ground staring up at the ceiling in blank disbelief. A figure with striking red hair slowly rose from their crouch and took up a crane stance.

A crowd had now gathered and the combined weight of so many stares begun to press down upon me. I turned to my original assailant whose shoulders suddenly sagged. Raising his hands in surrender he said, quite softly, "I can explain..."

* * *

"Boy do I feel stupid..."

"Don't worry about it."

"No, really. That was my fault back there. I behaved like a...Well...You know..."

"I told you, its fine. Let's just forget it ever happened and start again from scratch."

Despite my best efforts to repay my foolishness earlier he seemed more than eager to just repress the memories and sweep the entire incident under the rug. After several minutes of haggling I managed strike a deal. It wasn't much, but I bought him a drink.

We were sitting across from one another in our room. As unbelievable as it sounds, we were assigned as roommates. Fortunately it turned out he wasn't a murderous thug like I had first assumed.

Ryuuji (he even has a delinquent name...) simply looks like a murderous thug. In actual fact the guy is just your run-of-the-mill adolescent if you overlook that terrifying glare. After the 'incident' had died down Ryuuji spent five full minutes professing his innocence. His eyes were apparently a throwback from his father who was the genuine article. Though the violent streak somehow skipped a generation, that stare that could cut through solid steel remained. Poor guy. If I was born with those looks I'd probably cave in and hit someone simply to meet everyone's expectations.

Back in the dorm room we sat facing each other in the midst of an awkward silence. The entire building was unnaturally quiet and so the lack of conversation was only made more poignant by the complete and utter lack of noise save the audible gulping as we drank.

"So...Who was that girl with you earlier?" I asked unable to look past what had happened earlier.

His eyes flashed for a moment as he averted his gaze and studied the back of the door. "Her name is Kushieda Minori. We were...Friends back in high school."

Okay that was weird...

"So you aren't friends anymore?"

He didn't answer. He just looked down into his iced coffee with a frown. Taking that as a hint to move on I desperately fumbled around for another topic, but before I could, Ryuuji cut me off with a quiet sigh.

"It's complicated..."

"Ah...I see..."

I didn't.

"Your friend seemed a lot like her to be honest. I'm sure they'll get along well."

"Oh don't get me started on Haruhi," I laughed, "she's as strange as they come!"

Ryuuji's smile returned, if only a little. "I don't know, Minori's in a league of her own. She might be too much for your friend to handle."

Nope. The stranger they are the more Haruhi will latch onto them. She'd better watch out. She might end up joining our silly little club before long.

"You were in a club?" Ryuuji blinked, looking me up and down, no doubt trying to pinpoint what club a generally non-athletic nor academic person such as myself might belong to. I'm not surprised he came up empty with a perplexed look. "What club was it? No offence, but you look like you'd have been in the go home club."

I smirked at that. "You're not far off. We didn't do much. In fact it's more appropriate to say we didn't do _anything_. We just...gathered in the club room. That's pretty much it."

He looked confused and I didn't blame him. I was confused myself even after three years of membership in the SOS Brigade. I considered explaining Haruhi's true goal but decided against it. It would only make it harder for him to understand.

"So where are you from?" he asked, settling back against the pillow he'd propped up against the wall.

"Nowhere special. North High. You?"

Ryuuji stared back at me with a blank look. Well actually it was a glare, but after talking with him for a while I'd started to learn how to interpret his vast spectrum of death stares.

"I think I've heard of that school before...Didn't something really weird happen there a few years ago?"

You're gonna have to be a little more specific.

"Huh?"

Never mind...

"I'm from Ohashi High by the way."

"Oh, really?"

I'd never heard of it.

And thus the conversation lapsed into a vacuum and we each stared blankly at the walls beside each other's heads. Despite clearing up the worst of that debacle earlier it was still difficult to meet eye to eye just yet. Honestly I felt stupid for acting the way I did. Sure he looks angry, but honestly the kind of clichéd delinquent that I had in mind wouldn't even be allowed to go to university anyway, it's not like they have the grades, let alone the desire to keep studying. If nothing else that little nugget of common sense should have blown a hole in my panic-stricken assumptions.

Seriously, it's wrong to judge people simply for the way they look.

'BAM!'

And just like that a boy staggered into our room, eyes ablaze, hands clenching the door frame to the point of breaking. Looking like he'd been on the run from a crime scene he glanced from Ryuuji to me and smiled a disconcerting and broken smile. His breathing was ragged and sweat plastered his oddly discoloured hair to a pale face. With a rabid, throaty chuckle he limped into the room and slammed the door behind him. Ryuuji and I both cowered in opposite corners of the room as he set his sights on us.

The criminal ran a hand through his greasy hair which ran the gamut from sandy blonde through to muddy brown and snarled. With a glare dripping with malice he smiled at me and with a blood curdling growl uttered, "Yoroshiku!"

It took a moment to recognise that the screaming I heard then was in fact my own.


End file.
