Limited Paradise

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or any of its characters.

Itsuki sat alone in his room that, although extraordinarily comfortable as far as rooms go, might as well have been a prison cell. A large room with a decent-sized conjoined bathroom, accompanying kitchen, comfortable bed, television, laptop, Wi-Fi, and everything else one could ever need (including a bit of exercise equipment) quickly lost its appeal when he was confined there all day everyday. The only time he was allowed to roam outside was when an enclosed space appeared, which happened every night, which meant Haruhi was unhappy despite that fact that he was no longer there. The brown-haired esper smiled fondly, wondering what his love was doing to anger her this time. Of course, a knife wedged itself deeper into his heart upon every remembrance that it would have nothing to do with him. From snippets of conversation he overheard between Saya and the other espers, Kyon didn't even remember he existed.

Ah. Yes. Saya. She was doing exactly what she was supposed to, fulfilling her role perfectly. When Haruhi wished him gone, he had left a hole too big to go unfilled, so the organization had sent Saya, the esper as unlike Itsuki as anyone could be. With a substitute provided, the power from Haruhi's desire had easily filled in the rest. Saya was loud, open, unrefined, and hated taking orders. She would keep Haruhi entertained in her own way and would act nothing like Itsuki. Board games bored her, and mind games were far from her forte. Half the time, she was later to arrive at events than everyone else, and she couldn't sit still for long periods of time unless it was absolutely necessary. But most importantly of all, she was female, and she would never have a romantic tryst with Kyon. Because that was against the rules, and although she hated being ordered around, she never broke the rules that mattered most.

However, he had broken the most important rules (possibly all of them), so here was his punishment. He lived alone in a comfortable apartment that might as well have been a prison cell for all the freedom he had. Anything he needed was brought to him, because they couldn't risk him running into either Haruhi or Kyon. He was just lucky he was one of the most powerful espers in the organization, or he would have been placed in a much less desirable holding cell. But they made up for it by punishing him in other ways. For one, no matter how tired or injured he was from all the fighting, as long as he could walk, he was sent to every enclosed space.

Yet, for all of that, Itsuki couldn't find it in himself to regret what he'd done. He'd had not one but many wonderfully intimate nights with Kyon, one amazing day filled with the hope that Kyon could truly be his, and one magical hour when Kyon really was his. Kyon had loved him so much that Haruhi couldn't change his feelings. And even though he had been erased and replaced in their memories and lives, Itsuki knew that Kyon would never be Haruhi's lover, even if he could never be as well. Whoever Kyon eventually fell for this time would probably be more acceptable to Haruhi. Even though he'd listened to her every word, she'd never liked him much. Outside of being her mysterious transfer student, Itsuki knew that Haruhi had often thought of him as being boring. And Haruhi, as a general rule of thumb, did not like things that were boring.

Anyway, it was one day just over two months after he was imprisoned that he received two very surprise visitors: Saya and the president of the espers' organization. It was about five o'clock in the morning when they burst into his room unannounced. With eyes wide with surprise, he was about to ask what was going on when something was thrown at him. Confused, he looked down to see he was now holding his old North High uniform.

"Put that on," the president said in an abruptly harsh voice, the one reserved for delivering news he really didn't want to or really didn't like. "You're going back to school. Saya will fill you in on the details." Without another word, he left. Glancing at the green-haired girl, Itsuki noted that she probably wasn't going to leave even if he asked. So, he went to change in his bathroom. When he got back out, Itsuki was going to ask what was going on, but Saya beat him to the punch.

"You're extremely lucky," Saya said in as an unfriendly tone as was possible in civil conversation. "If it weren't for Kyon's stubbornness and Haruhi's favoritism, you'd be in here for the rest of your natural born life. I'm sure you have questions, and I don't care. I'm just telling you what you need to know. No one at school knows or remembers you outside of me, Mikuru, and Yuki. As far as everyone else in concerned, I've always been the fifth member of the S.O.S. Brigade. However, Kyon knew from the very first day I replaced you that he had lost someone important because of Haruhi. So, he's been ignoring her existence ever since then, and last night, she decided to give him what he wants to get him back in her life. You do not talk to, look at, approach, or have any other interaction with Kyon or Haruhi unless they approach you first. You do not tell him about your past unless he specifically asks. You do not come to the clubroom unless he or Haruhi invites you. Do not speak with Yuki or Mikuru unless you are invited to join the club. Never ever give Haruhi any reason to wonder if you've ever been at North High before. You know how essential it is to keep Haruhi Suzumiya happy. This time around, if you break any of the rules, your punishment will be to be sent to every possible enclosed space by yourself until the day when you do not come back alive. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Itsuki said, more than willing to accept the conditions and consequences this time around as well. Even if Kyon didn't remember him and never spoke to him, getting out of this place and seeing Kyon again would be more than enough for him. So, he followed Saya outside without another word.

As fate would have it, Itsuki was placed in the same class as Haruhi and Kyon, but there was no single magical moment during which Kyon suddenly realized his other half had walked into the room, because Kyon was asleep when Itsuki first entered the classroom. No, the realization would happen gradually. Anyway, Itsuki walked into the room upon the teacher's signal, and his eyes surveyed the classroom looking for one particular person. When he saw Kyon's obviously sleeping form, he smiled softly, brown eyes shining with warmth. Predictably, the girls in the classroom instantly became fond of their newest classmate. After a short introduction, Itsuki was assigned to a seat halfway across the classroom from Kyon, and class continued without any other abnormalities. However, the second the homeroom teacher left the classroom, the brown-haired esper was surrounded by girls who thought they had never met him and were eager to get to know this seemingly gentle, very good-looking new student.

And Haruhi, already feeling as though she'd fulfilled her end of the bargain for some reason unknown to her conscious mind, took it upon herself to wake Kyon up and inform him that a second mysterious transfer student had appeared at their school, heavily implying that he should take a look. Kyon was annoyed but complied nonetheless, still not talking to her. Not really caring, he allowed his gaze to follow the path she had pointed out to land on a gaggle of giggling girls. Obviously, the transfer student was sitting at his desk in the middle of the group, and with his attention now occupied by them, Kyon was hearing snatches of their conversation and picked up on a completely unknown yet extremely familiar voice. Every time he heard the voice, it struck a chord within him and temporarily filled a little bit of the emptiness that had been plaguing him for the past few months. Instantly, he wanted to know why and had every intention of going over there, but the next teacher walked in at the very moment he moved to get up.

Periodically throughout the class period, Kyon snuck surreptitious glances at Koizumi, but the mysterious transfer student was always looking away. So, Kyon was unable to see his entire face, but the feeling that he was slowly regaining what he had once lost came again just by a simple glimpse of the other teen. Unfortunately, these feelings were short-lived, fleeting at best, and left him with a more powerful yearning than ever before. Already knowing that a single break would not be enough to explore these newfound, confusing feelings of awful yearning combined with glorious contentment, Kyon decided he would request (probably outright demand) Itsuki Koizumi's presence during lunch. That, too, would not provide him with enough time, but Kyon knew that was as long as he could wait while receiving no answers.

Haruhi, on the other hand, had all the patience of a teaspoon and was racing across the classroom as soon as the next class had ended to shove her way through the crowd of girls so she could command the transfer student's total attention. In a voice that rang clear through the entire classroom and probably down the hall, she said, "You haven't decided on a club yet, right? Of course you haven't; it's still your first day of school. Anyway, that's okay, because you're joining the S.O.S. Brigade."

"Uuuuuh," Itsuki wasn't sure how to respond to that, seriously not expecting an attack from Haruhi so soon. As luck would have it, Saya had come in to make sure Itsuki was following the preset rules; she was going to watch him like a hawk. Of course, the green-haired girl had heard Haruhi's, for lack of a better word, invitation.

"Why do you want Itsuki so badly?" Saya asked sidling up next to Haruhi, wincing at her unintentional use of his first name.

"You know each other?" Haruhi asked in a voice that was both surprised and excited. "Oooh. This is perfect. An unknown connection exists between our two mysterious transfer students."

"We just happen to run into each other every so often during our mutual part-time job," Saya said, sweatdropping. "There's nothing mysterious about that, Haruhi."

"Doesn't matter," Haruhi replied waving her off. "Itsuki Koizumi, you have to join our club."

"Itsuki," Saya said warningly.

"I guess," the brown-haired esper said slowly to give him a bit of extra time to contemplate the situation as his desire to see Kyon daily was warring with his mind that knew how little control he really had. "I wouldn't mind checking it out."

"Perfect," Haruhi said clapping her hands in apparent triumph. "Itsuki, it'll be nice to have another guy in the Brigade. Before now, Kyon was the only one we had. He's the one sitting the back corner over there glaring at us. That's odd. I wonder what's gotten his panties in a bunch." Both Itsuki and Saya turned their heads to see that Kyon was indeed glaring at them and started a bit at the extremely uncharacteristic behavior.

Sitting across the room, Kyon was extraordinarily unhappy as he watched the scene unfolding in front of him. Both girls were acting awfully familiar with the new student. Haruhi was one thing. But Saya? Where did she get off calling Itsuki by his first name? It made Kyon's blood boil. Kyon didn't like it in the least that all those girls were so close to Itsuki either, not when he hadn't even talked to him yet, which made no sense. Why was he getting jealous over a guy he had never even talked to before? Why was he getting jealous of girls over a guy period? So much for the waiting plan, he was going to go over there right then. However, everything was interrupted once again as yet another teacher walked in to start class.

An hour had never seemed to last so long in his entire life. He felt like he was going crazy, his eyes glancing back and forth between Koizumi and the clock every few seconds. Of course, Kyon wasn't paying the least amount of attention toward the teacher or her lesson, instead he was wondering what the hell he was going to say to the new transfer student. All he knew was that he was about to do something very Haruhi-like. Kyon had already decided that he was going to ignore all but his own selfish desires and demand to spend the entirety of the lunch period alone with the transfer student.

And that's exactly what happened. When lunchtime rolled around, Kyon all but leaped out of his own seat and was at Itsuki Koizumi's desk faster than anyone ever would have guessed. However, the transfer student had already gotten up, apparently having plans of his own. Kyon didn't care. He grabbed Koizumi's wrist and pulled him out of the classroom as quickly as possible while saying, "You're coming with me."

Kyon dragged Koizumi all the way up to the rooftop and locked the door with a key he couldn't remember retrieving. This confused him, but at the moment, he really didn't care. Itsuki, on the other hand, was content to follow along silently, reveling in the feeling of Kyon's hand on his skin once more. He was also unsurprised that Kyon had a key. After all, Haruhi had most likely decided to give Kyon anything he felt he needed or wanted to get him to come back to the S.O.S. Brigade. Itsuki just wished he really could join their group again. However, all of that depended on Kyon. What if Kyon didn't recognize Itsuki as what he had been waiting for? If not, all of this would have been for nothing. And even if he did, would Kyon remember him or their time together? And if he didn't remember, could Itsuki bear that pain?

After the door was locked, silence stretched between the two as they stood there unsure of what to say. Kyon stared at the door as Itsuki stared at the point at which their bodies connected. However, as the silence continued, the esper's contentment slowly gave way to unease and worry. He had hopes, but no real ideas, as to why Kyon had dragged him all the way up there, and the other boy didn't seem as though he was going to speak anytime soon. Deciding in a wave of impulsiveness to break the ice, Itsuki pulled away from Kyon, leaned against the nearest railing, and asked a question he already knew the answer to, "Is every member of the of this S.O.S. Brigade extremely pushy or is that just you, Saya, and Haruhi?"

"Don't do that," Kyon growled so softly that Itsuki almost didn't hear him.

"Don't do what?" he asked even more confused than before. What had he done to warrant any measure of anger?

"Don't call girls' names so familiarly," Kyon demanded, turning around and stalking toward Itsuki. "When I haven't even heard you say my name yet!"

"Kyon?" Itsuki really wasn't sure what else to say as he tried to squash the rising hope inside of him that Kyon had been jealous of the two girls.

"Tell me," Kyon demanded, slamming his fists into Itsuki's chest, his forehead following shortly after. His voice cracked with untold desperation. "What the hell did Haruhi do this time? I'm not the type to fall in love at first sight, so I know I've known you before. Tell me why all I have to do is look at you or hear your voice, and the gaping void in my heart and soul feels healed yet at the same time it leaves me yearning for so much more! Tell me why you ever left!"

To say Itsuki was surprised would have been extreme understatement. He wanted to answer Kyon but he couldn't. First, his body and mind had been frozen by the realization that while Kyon still had feelings for him, he had completely forgotten about their time together. And then, his body's reactions went into overdrive as it realized just the position he was in. Kyon was far too distracting for proper thinking. It had been too long since Itsuki had last seen, heard, smelt, touched, tasted the person he loved. He couldn't concentrate on anything else. And so, even though it was nowhere close to the answer Kyon sought, the esper took hold of the other's chin and tilted his head up to capture Kyon's lips in a desperate kiss. Kyon let out a groan which Itsuki couldn't identify as encouragement or protest. Either way, Itsuki couldn't stop himself from nipping violently at Kyon's lips until they parted and forcing his tongue into the other's mouth. As the esper explored the achingly familiar, sweet taste he knew as Kyon, Kyon's tongue moved quickly to entangle with his own, telling Itsuki that the kiss wasn't entirely one-sided.

Encouraged by that thought, Itsuki wrapped an arm around Kyon's waist and pulled him as close as humanly possible. Kyon moved his own hands and entangled them in Itsuki's hair. He didn't know why, but Kyon found himself feeling like everything was right with the world, just because he was kissing this new, mysterious transfer student. He never wanted to let go, and neither did Itsuki for that matter. However, the taller teen soon felt a dangerous twinge in his heart and quickly disentangled from the other with a disappointed sigh.

"Why did you stop?" Kyon asked sounding hurt, confused, wistful, and disappointed all at the same time.

"Because if we hadn't stopped there, I wouldn't have been able to," Itsuki replied, unable to stop himself from pulling Kyon into a comforting hug after hearing the hurt in his tone. His heart was trembling with a growing hope that Itsuki did not want himself to feel. There was just so much both right and wrong with this whole situation that he wanted to cry. Kyon was accepting his actions without zero hesitation, but there was no recollection in his eyes, just relief. So, while the esper's heart trembled with hope, it also clenched with pain of knowing he had been completely forgotten. Such a combination was far worse than the pain by itself would have been.

"Oh," was all Kyon was able to say. The younger teen could see the hope, love, and hopelessness that were in Itsuki's eyes. It was quite obvious that he was in pain, and Kyon desperately wanted to ease the other teen's pain. But, he had no idea how to even begin to do that, and his own heart clenched painfully with the knowledge that he could not help the one he knew without a doubt he loved. But perhaps, if he knew a bit more, an idea would come to him. So, Kyon did the only thing he could, he asked, "What's our story?"

At this question, Itsuki's expression contorted with agony for a brief instant, and he was unable to speak. Kyon's own expression spasmed with concern when he saw this. Their eyes met briefly, and Kyon suddenly understood the cause of Itsuki's pain. However, he couldn't remember what had happened no matter how hard he tried, so the esper was the only one who knew their whole story. And so, even knowing the other was about to refuse because of how agonizing it would be to tell their story, Kyon looked up with a beseeching expression and said, "Please."

"Until a little over two months ago," Itsuki began his story in a hushed, rushed voice that did nothing to mask his pain. "I was the fifth member of the S.O.S. Brigade. But Haruhi became angry and wished me gone. So, I was replaced by Saya both physically and in everyone's memories."

"But she's nothing like you." Kyon may not have remembered their time together, but his heart instinctively knew that he was right.

"That's exactly the point," Itsuki replied with a sad smile, very slightly cheered up by the fact that his love remembered at least that much. "Several weeks before that, Haruhi asked you out, and you turned her down because you loved me. She spent the following weeks looking for a girl based on a description she forced out of you and was beyond livid when she found out the person you loved was me. I would have disappeared from your lives forever if you hadn't felt anything once I was gone."

"Don't say loved as in the past tense," Kyon growled. He may not remember anything from the past, but he knew damn well what he was feeling in the present. "I love you. And I asked for our story, meaning no Haruhi attached."

"I'm sorry," Itsuki said, looking away. "I can't. I know that you love me, but it just feels too different compared to in the past. If I tell you the rest, I'll hope for more, and I don't think I can take it. I don't even know if I can handle the pain of being with you when you don't remember me. This is much harder than I had anticipated, I'd already resigned myself to merely watching you from afar."

"So, basically," Kyon responded with a blunt tone that clashed with the fire in his eyes. "You're saying that you don't think I do or will love you as much now as I did then, because I don't remember our beginning."

"You haven't forgotten just our beginning," Itsuki replied, still not able to look Kyon in the eyes. "You've completely forgotten me, as a person. You say you love me when you don't even know me."

"But I did know you," Kyon argued. "And I will again. And maybe my mind forgot you, but my heart and soul never did, never could. So the only way you can stop me from pursuing you, this, us, is to tell me you don't love me anymore."

"That would obviously be a lie," the esper said, finally looking up again. Another sad smile was gracing his features, but it seemed a bit less sad than the last one. "I'll always love you."

"That's good," Kyon said, and it was his turn to pull Itsuki into a kiss. Soon, they were locked in a position both bodies knew well: pressed together as close as humanly possible, one of the esper's hands tight around the other's waist while the other entangled itself in dark brown hair, Kyon's hands grasping anywhere they could, and mouths together in a hot, fiery, passionate kiss. As their bodies moved closer and their kisses grew longer, Kyon felt something else stir up inside him. It was a need, a need to be closer to Itsuki, to be doing more than just kissing.

"BBBBRRRRRR-IIIIIIIING!" The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the end of their first solitary reunion. With simultaneous sighs, the two disentangled themselves and began heading back to the classroom.

"After school, would you be willing to walk home with me and stay for a bit at my house?" Kyon asked softly when they were about halfway back to the classroom.

"Of course," Itsuki said without hesitation. He may not know if his heart would be able to endure, but he, at the very least, knew he had to try. "May I ask why?"

"Because, I'm going to prove to you that while it may not be the same, the intensity of my feelings have not dulled in the slightest," Kyon answered. "I love you far more than you're willing to let yourself believe."

"Oh," was all Itsuki could reply, and after that, the rest of their walk back to the classroom was spent in silence. After school let out, both males had no real choice but to allow themselves to be dragged to the clubroom by Haruhi. After all, Kyon had a promise to keep, and Itsuki had rules to follow and a god to keep happy. Saya was not happy when she saw the three of them enter the room and trained a glare on her fellow epser. In return, he gave her one of his mischievous smiles that said he was following the rules set for him. The reactions from the last two members of the brigade were considerably different.

"I'm so happy," Mikuru had squealed, tears in her eyes, in the middle of making tea. She'd run over to them and given both of them happy, excited hugs. She had been worried about Kyon and missed Itsuki a very great deal. But now that he was back, she knew the two of them were going to be just fine.

"Don't mess it up this time," Yuki had stated this quietly, not looking up from her book but not missing the understanding nod from Kyon. That one statement was all the concern or opinion she would ever show on the matter. She just hoped, for all their sakes, that Haruhi could accept the relationship this time around. Kyon didn't know why he understood what she meant, but he just accepted it. Apparently, there were a lot of important events that he had forgotten about the developing of his relationship with Itsuki.

"What is going on?" Haruhi asked, hating the fact that she seemed to be the only one in the dark.

"It would seem as though Mikuru and Yuki know Itsuki as well," Saya replied with a derisive snort. Two seconds in the clubroom, and they were already causing Haruhi's mood to fluctuate dangerously. It may not have been much, but any fluctuations in Haruhi's mood were potentially earth shattering.

"We met at the park a while ago," Yuki said bluntly, starting to recite a story that had just appeared for the purpose of explanation. "Mikuru tripped, and Koizumi came over to make sure she was okay. After that, we went to a café and found we got along quite well. Since then, we have been keeping in contact through electronic communication. We were surprised to hear that Koizumi would be transferring to this school."

"But what did you mean by 'don't mess it up this time'?" Haruhi persisted.

Message already having been delivered and understood, Yuki had no problems answering this question with a lie as well. It could also serve well to quickly test how this Haruhi would feel about a relationship between the only two male members of the brigade. "Kyon seems to have fallen for our mysterious new transfer student rather suddenly, and Koizumi is gay. However, he wasn't careful enough, and his last relationship ended horribly. I was warning him not to do the same with Kyon."

"Oh. That makes sense," Haruhi said, sounding only mildly interested. Then, her face took on a frightening expression as she turned on Itsuki. "You damn well better be careful. I just Kyon back here, and I don't want you going and messing it all up. Capiche?"

"Yes, ma'am," Itsuki said with a falsely surprised expression and a mock salute. This seemed to amuse Haruhi, as she laughed when he did so, and the rest of the meeting progressed in peace, Saya holding her tongue all the while only because their ridiculous, teenage god was in a good mood.

After the meeting had ended for the day, Kyon left the clubroom in a hurry, lest Haruhi change her mind, and Itsuki followed silently after. At first, they were merely walking side by side, but that changed soon after they were out of sight of the school. Without thinking, Kyon took ahold of Itsuki's hand and squeezed it lovingly. Shocked, the esper did nothing more than look down at their hands as a blush bloomed on his face. A few seconds later, he looked up again and saw an oddly contented smile on his love's face. And for the first time, he allowed himself to hope just a little more and believe just a little more in Kyon's words of promise.

When they arrived at Kyon's house, his family was at home. So, they had to go through the traditional meet and greet process. Of course, Itsuki was his normal charming self, so Kyon's little sister and parents both wanted to speak with this newly introduced "friend" more than was necessary. However, Itsuki could sense that Kyon was quickly running out of patience, so he politely excused himself with promises to stay until and speak with them during dinner. Then, he followed Kyon up the achingly familiar pathway to his bedroom.

As soon as they were inside, Kyon shut and locked the door to keep his family from interrupting. Then, he stalked over to his closet and began ruffling around inside as Itsuki stood there wondering what the other teen thought could possibly be in there to prove his claims. And then, Kyon stood up holding out something Itsuki had thought he'd lost a long time ago. The esper had never even considered that it might be in Kyon's possession.

"About two months ago, I woke up one morning feeling like the most important thing in my life had been ripped away from me, and after seeing Haruhi, I knew it was her fault," Kyon said. "So, I did the only thing I could think of to punish her enough to make her give it…you back. I took myself out of her life as entirely as I could. But it wasn't easy seeing the distressed looks from Mikuru and Yuki or being persistent in my ignoring of Haruhi. The anguish of losing you was one thing, but fighting Haruhi also meant I had to hope you would somehow return, even though I had no clue what I was fighting for. At times, it seemed hopeless, and I might have given up. But then I found this, and then I knew that I would never, could never give up."

"I see," Itsuki said with a small, seemingly happy smile, unable to calm the hope and love for Kyon that was welling up inside of him, threatening to take control of his entire. "Even though you can be quite stubborn, you were never able to out stubborn Haruhi. And of all things to finally give you the strength to not give up, it was something as stupid as my t-shirt."

"It's not stupid," Kyon said blushing. "It's the one thing I had of you, the only concrete thing that represented what I had lost to Haruhi's selfishness. When I found it, I felt happiness and something else worth fighting for forever. Now, will you believe me when I tell you that I love you and that the intensity of those feelings have never and will never fade?"

"Yeah," Itsuki said, the size of his smile stayed the same, but the intensity of it changed drastically. Suddenly, he was beaming, and his eyes shown with nothing but the love that he felt for Kyon. "It's okay if you don't remember our beginning." And surprisingly, he meant it. Of course, it still hurt that Kyon wouldn't remember, but it was now okay for him not to.

"Will you tell me anyway?" Kyon asked, not quite pleadingly but still imploringly. He put the shirt down then and sat on the bed; Itsuki followed closely after.

"Ungh," the esper couldn't stop himself from groaning or the blush from blossoming brightly on his cheeks as he considered actually granting that request. But then, he thought about it and realized just how bad it would sound once he said it out loud. "It's going to sound really, really bad. Creepy, stalker-pervert sort of bad."

"I figured it wouldn't be a normal sort of story from what I know of our group and what little you told me earlier," Kyon replied comfortingly. "But whatever happened, I still want to know."

Looking everywhere but at Kyon's face, Itsuki began by saying, "Six months ago, Haruhi became obsessed with yaoi."

"I remember that," Kyon said. "She brought practically an entire library of yaoi novels and manga into the clubroom."

"And the part that you don't remember is that she forced us to pose together for pictures," Itsuki replied as the blush burned even brighter as he thought about what else he was about to say, but he knew he owed Kyon the whole truth. "And then two months ago, the day you turned her down, I allowed myself to hope, just a little bit, that maybe you had rejected her because you loved me. The night after that day, I visited your bedroom, and you basically confessed. That night ended with just a kiss, but the subsequent ones did not. We did much more than just kiss. You believed they were dreams, and I wasn't inclined to change that, because Haruhi still wanted you, and I was already treading on a dangerous line. I came to you every night and left before morning, until the night when you finally convinced me to go all the way. That night, I didn't leave. Although, the next morning, I did panic and run away after we had both awoken. That day, you cornered me in the clubroom after school, and I finally gave in completely to my desire for you. But Haruhi caught us, and she wanted me gone. So, I was forced to go. Then, I was erased from everyone's memories, and Saya was sent to replace me, because she's my opposite in almost every way."

"So…we've already had sex?" Kyon asked incredulously. How could he forget something like that?

"Yes," Itsuki answered, blushing even more.

"Mutiple times from the sound of it," Kyon commented, taking this information much better than either of them expected. "But there was actual penetration only the one time."

"Yes," the esper confirmed, the blush blooming further again.

"Who was on top?" Kyon asked with a teasing smile, finally understanding why people liked to tease the people they loved. The blush on Itsuki's face was just too cute for words.

"I was," Itsuki answered with a smirk of his own as he looked straight into Kyon's eyes, finally regaining his own footing. Although, the effect was a bit damaged by the fact that the intense blush was still present on his cheeks.

"Anything else you left out?" Kyon asked, leaning forward toward his lover.

"Only small details," Itsuki answered, also leaning in.

"Good," Kyon said with a smile as he closed the rest of the distance between them. The two began kissing again with passion and feeling even greater than what they had shared on the rooftop during lunchtime. Their kisses quickly evolved to a full on make-out session, but it didn't go farther than that on that particular night. Neither were ready to go that far again, but soon they would be. And in the future, the two were incredibly happy together. Kyon never did remember their beginning, and sometimes that knowledge hurt both of them. But they got through it because both of them knew how much the loved each other, and the loss of those memories was a price that both were more than willing to pay so long as they could stay together forever.

As for Haruhi, she accepted their relationship, because Kyon kept his end of the deal. He returned to her side, not completely in the capacity that she truly wanted, but he attended the brigade meetings and events and listened to most of her orders, though he did complain often enough. That first night after he had returned to the S.O.S. Brigade and for many to come, there were no enclosed spaces. With the two mysterious transfer students and Kyon to entertain her, the brown-haired girl was quite content with her life. Itsuki had become instantly interesting this time around because he provided Haruhi with two very opposite personality people to mess around with. Of course, there were still days when she was bored or had violent mood swings, but it was nothing the esper's organization could not handle. And since the unaware, all-powerful supreme ruler of the world / universe was happy, Itsuki and Kyon were allowed to continue their relationship indefinitely.

A/N: Hello and welcome to the end of not only Chapter 4 of Limited Paradise but the entire fic as well. I thank all readers who have read the whole thing and I apologize for taking so long to update. I did have the whole thing written out, but after rereading it, I really did hate the first ending I had written. So, now I'm much happier with the ending and not ashamed to share it with all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading it. And as I promise, we have a happy ending. And, for the final time for this fanfic…

I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.