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"Asakura, what happened to you?"

"I fell and hurt my wrist."

"Let's see if the nurse is still here."

Suzumiya waited for their footsteps to fade in the distance then leaned
over and licked the blood from my neck.

I stood there and watched as she walked over to pick up the knife. She
slid this back in its sheath then turned away from me to lift up her
skirt and presumably clip this onto her own panties.

"So, Kyon, is it obvious?" She twirled around.

"Only if you know what to look for. Why do you want her knife?"

"I'll add it to my trophy case. Come on, I'd best escort you home."

My sister weaseled herself into our homework session that afternoon, but
Suzumiya didn't seem to mind.

My mother was beaming as if she'd won the lottery when she brought snacks
over. "Kyon, Haruhi's been so generous with her time this week, why don't
you treat her to lunch on Saturday?"

"Mom, I don't think I can afford."

"I think you can, Kyon."

"Mother, does he have any plans for Saturday?" Suzumiya used the term so
freely. She had already weaseled her way into my family, right in front of
me.

"No, Haruhi. He just sits around the house on Saturdays and plays video
games."

"Then I'll borrow him for the full day. We can go sightseeing, if you
don't mind?"

"Not at all." My mom decided the issue for me.

I didn't have the heart to tell her about Suzumiya's habit of putting boys
under flowers or her cold blooded reaction to my own near murder an hour
previous.

"I'll come by at nine a.m. to pick you up, Kyon, and I'll have you home
before sunset."

"Can I go along with big sister Haruhi?"

My mom looked between my sister and Suzumiya. She seemed to pick up some
sort of secret message before replying, "No, Dear. You get to see enough
of her every afternoon. They need some time to themselves."

I escorted Suzumiya to the door and leaned in to whisper to her, "Why are
you doing this?"

"Do you feel safe wondering around the city on your own?"

"Not anymore."

My sister greeted Suzumiya at the door on Saturday morning, but found her
insistence for tagging along politely declined.

I waited until we had traveled some distance from my house on my bicycle
before speaking up. "Thanks for not parading my sister around to become a
target."

"I suspect that she'll be used as a hostage against you at some point
anyway. Just give me a call and I'll come running."

"How did you know that I was in trouble on Friday?"

"Let's see if you can't work it out for yourself before the meeting
Monday."

"Will I get a prize?"

"It would certainly impress me if you did."

Suzumiya had me pedal all over the neighborhood that day and then treat
her to lunch using the extra allowance my Mom had given me.

When we got back to my place I had to walk the bicycle the last few blocks,
because my legs were too worn out to pedal anymore.

She made no move to enter my house as I was locking my bicycle up on the
porch so I asked her, "What was the point of all this?"

"This date? It established a pattern. Now you'll be available every
weekend. See you in class Monday, Kyon."

On Monday morning Asakura came to class with her right arm in a cast and
sling. Taniguchi of all people volunteered to pass out the handouts for
her. He even fed her when she had problems using chopsticks left handed.

Haruhi returned from her lunchtime patrol with news of a mysterious
transfer student. She ran off after classes to find this person.

Fifteen minutes later she walked into the clubroom with a puzzled
expression on her face.

This was a new one for me, so I decided to ask, "What happened, Suzumiya?"

"I couldn't find that new transfer student. They said he'd already left
the classroom when I got there." She sat at the table across from me.

Asahina had just brought Suzumiya's teacup over, when there was a knock at
the clubroom door.

"Yes?" Suzumiya paused with the cup half raised.

A boy in a North High uniform entered. I suppose girls would have
considered him handsome, except perhaps for his sleepy expression. "Hello
Miss Suzumiya, sorry for the delay. My dream had been a little unclear as
to the exact route here, so I got a little lost. I'm Itsuki Koizumi, nice
to meet you all. My special power is dreaming, so I hope you won't mind if
I take a nap. Just put the application next to my bookbag and wake me up
when it's time to go." He sat down next to me, and rested his head on his
crossed arms on the table.

"Uh, do you want some tea?"

"Is it decaf, Miss Asahina?"

"Uh, no."

"Never mind then. It just keeps me up." He closed his eyes and was soon
lightly snoring.

"What a diligent worker." Suzumiya beamed at the sleeping newcomer, then
rose and walked to the blackboard. "And now our five man band is
complete."

"A band?" I asked, "Are we supposed to play instruments or something?"

"Each of us has our own instrument. That is how I was able to tell Miss
Suzumiya that you were the one in danger, Kyon."

"What?" I looked over at Nagato, who had put down her book.

"When I heard the piano tempo building up, I knew you had to be in danger
close by and I pointed Miss Suzumiya back towards your classroom. Then her
guitar joined in against Miss Asakura's oboe."

"And these other two?" Suzumiya asked her.

"Mr. Koizumi has a drum set and Miss Asahina uses her own voice, either
humming or singing nonsense syllables. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you
are doing it, Miss Asahina. That's just how it sounds in my head."

"No, that's fine, I think?"

"And yours?" Suzumiya asked.

"The electric bass guitar." Nagato blushed. "I know it sounds silly."

"No, not at all." Suzumiya had written down on the blackboard the names
Haruhi, Kyon, Yuki, Mikuru and Koizumi, along with the instruments Nagato
had named.

"No wonder you found a room all alone. It must be torture sitting in the
classroom each day surrounded by the sounds of all the other students."

"No, Kyon, it's worse than that. Most people don't have music. Miss
Tsuruya has the Shamisen, and there is another sophomore girl who has the
harp, and that's it. When I'm in the classroom I hear only my music and
the rest of yours faintly in the distance. Not even my grandfather has
music."

"So when did this start?" Suzumiya asked.

"When I woke up at the end of the Golden Week of my first year of middle
school. I thought the hospital was playing the music over the intercom,
but it followed me home when my grandfather picked me up to clear out my
parents' things. If only it had started a week earlier, I could have saved
them."

Suzumiya's face went white. She stared at Nagato for half a minute, then
swallowed and said, "You poor thing. But don't worry, you're among friends
now. We'll look after you." She put down the chalk, walked around the
table and shook Koizumi by the shoulder.

"What?" He looked up sleepily.

"Your dreams, did they also start at the same time?"

"Yes." He looked around. "Do you have the application form?"

"Oh! Sorry." Nagato went to the bookshelf and pulled out a form for him.

Suzumiya turned to Asahina. "Mikuru, what were you doing during Golden
Week three years ago?"

"I went with Miss Tsuruya and her family to Paris. I didn't understand
the people or writing there, and nothing happened."

"I see, I see. Well, Brigade dismissed. I'll see you all here tomorrow
after classes."

"Brigade? Is this the army?" I asked.

"Well it's something of a secret army. The Save the World by Overloading
It with Fun Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade or SOS Brigade. But it's all top
secret, so don't tell anybody."

I certainly had no desire to do so, but one thing was bugging me. "Miss
Nagato, how do you know Miss Asakura?"

"She was the only one from my middle school to visit me in the
hospital. She told me about a vacancy in her apartment building and helped
me move in. I've been going over to her place to fix meals since her arm
was injured."

"You don't mind that she tried to kill me?"

"She said that was a misunderstanding, and promised that she wouldn't do it
again."

As she rode on the back of my bicycle, Suzumiya leaned down and said,
"What does Yuki hear in you, that I don't see in you, Kyon?"

"Assuming she has any such power, perhaps she just listens to people
important to her?"

"So why just one other student at our school? Another martial artist? That
could be very useful to know. My trope insight tells me that you will be
important to me, but also that you're nothing special. A plot token, but
not an especially powerful ally."

"If you just want a trophy boyfriend, then how about Koizumi?"

"Fu, fu, fu. You're not getting off the hook that easily, Kyon. The enemy
already has you down on their list."

"So what was the great Earth-shattering event that happened to you during
Golden Week three years ago?"

"I attended a baseball game with my family. There was so many people
there. Fifty thousand people. Then I looked down at the field. I knew
nothing about baseball and even less about the two teams, but suddenly I
saw which players would be important. When I went home I saw a hero in the
mirror. I tried sharing this with some boys in middle school. The ones who
took me seriously, or at least pretended to do so, well you heard what
happened to them. But this time it'll work out better, probably."

I was not reassured. "What about Miss Asakura? On Friday you said that
some sort of organization would do away with her, and yet she returned to
classes, and seems to be on good terms with both Taniguchi and Nagato."

"I said that her organization would deal with her if she failed. What does
it mean that she's still around?"

"It means she hasn't failed."

"You are a smart boy, Kyon. Perhaps you'll last longer than the others."

"Well, what good is she now that she's blown her cover?"

"I was quite aware of her nature, if not her allegiance, when I entered
the classroom at the start of the semester. She's the one who's been
rigging the draw to keep me in the seat behind you. So go on, Kyon. What
additional value does her organization gain from having me know that she
works for them?"

"The only thing I can think of is that now she can speak for them."

"Excellent. An A+ observation. The last question on this pop quiz is why
should they need to send messages to me?"

"Either you have something they want or you can do something for them."

"I knew I made the right choice when I picked you, Kyon. I could tell from
her body language that she was being very careful to not hurt
you. Therefore there was no cost to calling her bluff."

"If you knew it was all fake, then why did you break her wrist?"

"A wrist is the price for pulling a knife on me. A neck is the price for
pointing a gun at me. We've reached your home, so time for your
tutoring. We can discuss this further tomorrow."

-HJC