DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, nor do I own ANY of the characters used in this story (and all of its chapters.) All ownership goes to Nagaru Tanigawa and Kadokawa. The only character I own is Sugisaki. Now, let's finish this story!

EDIT: Sorry about the codes stuff earlier guys! It's now updated! 3 Thanks for sticking with me guys! Love you all!

Chapter 19

After a rather tiresome journey, I found myself standing outside Itsuki's door. I stared at it, hoping that my intense gaze would somehow cause this whole situation to disappear and everything would return to normal.

...Well, normal for me anyway.

It of course, changed nothing. I still had to face Itsuki and apologise for what I did. I felt a little pumped up on the way here, mainly because of Haruhi's motivation, however, I found it slowly draining away as I came closer and closer to his house.

I'd seen the outside of his house several times - However, I had never been inside before. I forced a weak smile onto my face. I could imagine how clean it would probably be.

Eventually I gathered my courage and decided to stop being such a wuss. I slowly brought my hand up to his door bell, but I hesitated once more.

"...Come on, Idiot…" I spoke quietly to myself, hoping my words would somehow provide further encouragement.

What would I say to him? ...Apologise right off the bat? ...I was never too good at that sort of stuff, since I'd normally rather be seen dead than admitting that I was wrong.

I suppose that there is only one way I can discover what I'll say. I found myself thinking this as I quickly lowered my finger and pressed the doorbell.

The chime echoed eerily throughout the silent house and I immediately moved my hands down to my sides - Upon placing them on either side of my pants, I discovered that I was sweating.

Gross.

I stood there for a couple of seconds (although it felt like a couple of hours) and found myself starting to wonder whether he was home. He lived alone from what I had heard - So no one apart from him could answer the door.

My question was answered by a light slowly flickering to light in the hallway, and a small, "I'm coming..." Coming from inside the door.

It was Itsuki's voice.

I felt my heart pounding against my chest so hard that I thought it was going to explode out of it.

I quickly moved my hand up to my fringe, brushing it quickly with my fingers despite the fact that it wasn't knotted. I tried to busy myself as much as possible as I waited for him to answer the door.

As I heard the handle move with a dull click, I moved my hand back down to the side again and swallowed hard.

Here we go.

I was expecting to be greeted by Itsuki's look of shock and I wasn't disappointed. He opened the door with a tired expression before his eyes suddenly widened and his mouth went agape.

"...K-Kyon... What- ...How...?"

I didn't give him a chance to say anything else as I quickly moved to a low bow, my face looking down to the ground and my hands by my sides, "I'm so sorry!" I spoke loudly, perhaps a little louder than I wanted to. Haruhi had told me to make him realise I was sorry, so this was the only way I could think of without it becoming even more embarrassing.

After that, there was silence. I stayed in the bowing position, nervous as to whether he would accept my apology. I seriously pissed him off, and I felt dumb for only just realising how much in the wrong I was.

The longer the silence went on, the more I could feel my eyebrows furrowing together. Maybe he wouldn't forgive me? I mean, I was a dick earlier... Causing him to worry like that and then just ignoring that.

Goddammit...Doesn't he realise how embarrassing this apology is for me?!

I shouldn't be apologising to boyfriends... I should be doing things that every other guy is doing, like playing WOW or going out for a couple of drinks...

I was suddenly pulled to my senses when Itsuki spoke again with a small sigh, "Stand up straight again, Kyon... You don't need to bow..."

I looked up at him, hoping to see a positive reaction, but his mouth was in a tight line, and his eyes were hidden by his fringe.

I felt my stomach drop as I slowly stood up again, my back aching a little from being in that position for a while, "I..." I tried to justify myself, "I just wanted you to know that-"

I stopped speaking as I suddenly found my face in Itsuki's shoulder as he hugged me tightly.

"...Itsuki...?" I spoke in a quietened whisper into his shoulder, "...Hey... You idiot... Say something..." I bit my lip nervously, inwardly cursing as I reacted like a shy school girl. My face felt hot.

"...Kyon..." He said simply into my ear. Normally that was just a name, but he said it with so much passion and love that it made my hair stand on end.

"...Kyon..." He said again, his hug becoming tighter. I could smell the smell that I had missed - The smell of him.

Then he whispered another name in my ear in a voice so low that only I could hear. It was a name that I hadn't heard in months.

It was a name that brought an unimaginable wave of happiness to my body.

It was my real name.

Not my dumb nickname.

I stood in stunned silence for a minute or so - taking in what he said. ...My name sounded good in his voice.

"...Y-You... Idiot..." Was all I could say. I was becoming overwhelmed with weird emotions, but you know what? They weren't bad ones. I just didn't know how to react to them.

I moved my hands to his back and returned the hug tightly, "...I'm sorry..." I repeated myself from earlier.

I felt Itsuki shake his head, "No... It's okay... I apologise for losing my temper..." As he spoke, he pulled out of the hug slightly and looked at me, his chocolate brown eyes staring into mine. He had a dumb - but genuine smile across his face and it looked so frikkin' good on him that I wanted to punch a wall.

"Huh?" I replied, "Hey, moron, I lose my temper at you all of the time..." I felt my face moving into the scowl which I so often wore in the clubroom, "You don't need to apologise for anythin-"

I couldn't speak due to the set of soft lips that were on mine.

My eyes went wide for a moment and my hands groped the air for a moment, unsure of where to go. Eventually they found Itsuki's waist and settled there.

Itsuki's soft lips were warm against my own as he moved one of his hands to gently stroke my cheek as though my face was something like a precious jewel. (Although it was far from it.)

When was the last time we kissed like this...?

...Actually, I don't care... All that matters is now.

I felt his tongue up against my lips, begging for entrance - For which I allowed, my own tongue intertwining with his. It felt good - Exhilarating even.

I briefly remembered how a couple of months ago, I would have felt sick even thinking about doing something like this with Itsuki... But now...? ...Boy, do things change.

The kiss became more intense and I felt my back pushed up against the wall, one of his legs between mine and his hands on my arms.

He eventually moved away from my mouth, with both of us breathing heavily from the passionate kiss. I was pretty sure I could feel drool on my lips, but as I went to wipe it I gasped again as he started to move kisses, and gentle bites down my neck.

Shit.

This is seriously starting to turn me on.

"H-Hey… Itsuki, I- ...ngh…" I cut myself off again with an embarrassing groan. Itsuki was the only person who had ever seen me like this.

Itsuki pulled away from my neck a little, and gazed at me with lust-filled eyes. "...Why don't we take this inside…?" His smile spread into a cheeky grin, as he moved to take my hand.

"I-I…" I looked down at our two intertwined hands and blushed even more, if that was even possible. "...Y-Yeah…" Even if I wanted to, there was no way I could leave now. I had too much of a problem in my downstairs area now, after all of that kissing.

Itsuki gave a little nod before kissing me gently on the forehead and leading me inside. As I glanced behind me, watching the door close after us, I found myself thinking.

Who'd have thought that the first time that I visited Itsuki's house would be under these circumstances?

…

"...Kyon…"

I could hear a distant voice calling my name. Huh. It was probably my sister, trying to wake me up because it was morning.

I could still feel the urge to sleep. I had absolutely no intentions of getting up today.

Why the hell was I so tired?

"...Kyon?" The voice sounded closer now - and it definitely wasn't my sister. It was too masculine. ...Maybe Shamisen had started talking again.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my ear - causing my eyes to snap open.

Wait. This wasn't my room. I stared at an unfamiliar bedside table. It was too neat to be my room.

I then felt a pair of hands move around my body, hugging me. I twisted around, trying to look at who it was.

A pair of chocolate brown eyes looked back at me, warm and inviting.

It was Itsuki.

I remember now. Last night, I went to Itsuki's house to apologise, and then we…

I felt my cheeks flushing up from remembering. That would probably go to explain why my back felt sore. Also - Did he just wake me up by biting my ear?

"Good morning, Kyon… Did you sleep well?" He spoke in a quiet voice, that was soothing to listen to this early in the morning. He smiled kindly at me, evidently in a good mood.

He seemed like a morning person. Which I unfortunately wasn't.

"...Yeah, I slept fine."

He looked happy to my response. "Wonderful." He then went a little quieter, a very small blush appearing on his cheeks, "...Last night was great…"

My cheeks went a darker shade of red in return, "...Y-Yeah…" I glanced behind him, seeing the window. It was dark outside still. "...Itsuki, what time is it?"

"6:00 AM."

I stared at him, "Huh?! Why the hell'd you wake me up so goddamn early?!"

"...We have school today." He replied simply.

Oh.

Goddammit.

I sighed, "Right… I'd better get ready to head back to my place then."

No doubt I'd probably have several concerned phone calls from my sister, asking where I was. ...Or maybe she assumed I'd be at Itsuki's.

However, Itsuki just hugged me a little tighter, pushing my head into his chest. "...Let's just stay like this for a little while longer… Okay?"

I blushed a little, but then nodded. "...F-Fine… But if I'm late then I'm blaming it on you…"

...

I felt the breeze running through my hair and messing it up as I cycled to school. I still had 20 minutes left on the clock before school would start, so I thought I could relax and take as much time as I like.

Besides, I earned it. Right?

Itsuki ended up having to leave a little earlier than me - He said that he had class duties or something. So we could just meet in the clubroom after school with the brigade.

To be honest, I was a little relieved. I don't think my heart could handle being around him for any longer this morning. It was embarrassing as hell.

Turning a corner, I ended up at the train tracks with the gate down, meaning that I had to wait for the train to pass. I clicked my tongue in frustration as I stepped off my bike, holding it beside me as I waited for the train that was taking way too long to arrive.

"Kyon!"

I flinched slightly upon hearing my name spoken in that energetic voice that I had become so used to hearing and turned. It was Haruhi, looking bright eyed and enthusiastic as ever.

I'm envious she could have so much energy this early in the morning.

"Yo." I said simply, raising a hand in greeting, which Haruhi grinned at as she walked to the other side of my bike.

"I was just thinking that I wanted to see you…" Haruhi mused to herself. Ah. So this was her doing then.

"Is that so?" Was my quick response. What else could I say?

"So, you're cycling to school then?"

"Yep."

There was a pause.

"...Kyon…"

"No, I'm not giving you a lift." I replied quickly, becoming used to her mindset. She pouted angrily.

"Hey! I wasn't even gonna say that!" She was quiet for a moment before she smirked, "...But now that you mentioned it, why don't you give me a lift?"

"You're heavy."

That comment earned me a smack around the head, causing me to groan in pain.

"Don't be so rude to your brigade chief! You should worship me like a God!"

Yeah, that's never gonna happen.

"...Anyway." Haruhi continued speaking, much to my displeasure, "...How did it go with Koizumi-kun?"

I felt my cheeks become warm at the mention of his name and cursed internally. Goddammit, I only just forgot about the previous night.

I looked away from Haruhi, hoping she wouldn't see my blush, "...Fine… I sorted it all out…"

"Really?" I had no idea what facial expression Haruhi was making, since I was looking away, but she sounded happy, "Good… I hated seeing you all depressed and creepy. It was gross."

I couldn't help but smile weakly and turned to look at her, "It's thanks to you, you know. I'd hate to admit it, but you gave me the courage to speak to him."

Haruhi gave me a smile, "Good! So now… You two are back together…?"

"...Yep…" I felt a little uneasy, since she was speaking so casually about the matter. I thought that she liked me, but maybe I was mistaken.

She was always saying that love is for idiots anyway.

The train passed us at a fast speed, our hair being blown in the wind as we looked at each other. I saw Haruhi's mouth move to say something, however I couldn't hear her.

As the train became a quiet noise in the distance, I spoke again, "...What did you just say, Haruhi?"

Haruhi shook her head quickly, "No, no… Nothing important… I just had to get something off my chest."

I smiled, looking at her, "...Well, if you say so-" I fell silent, looking at her. There were tears piling up in her eyes.

"...Haruhi… You're crying."

"Huh?!" Haruhi looked shocked before moving her hand to one of her eyes, flinching when she felt they were wet with tears. "...T-That's weird… I don't feel like crying…" She quickly started to wipe the tears away, her cheeks becoming pinker as she did so, "D-Don't look at me, you idiot!" She yelled at me, but I didn't look away.

"...Haruhi… I'm sorr-"

She cut me off by smacking me around the head again, except this time with her school bag, which felt like it was filled with bricks. .

"Stupid Kyon! Don't apologise for stuff that isn't your fault!"

After I finished seeing stars, I sighed loudly. "...Fine…" Haruhi had finished wiping her tears, although her eyes were red. I climbed onto the seat of my bike as the gates at the train tracks slowly opened. "...Get on the back, Haruhi."

"Eh?" She sounded surprised for a moment, but I could then tell a smile returned to her face by her tone of voice, "Ah, so you will give your brigade leader a lift! Of course, that was gonna happen either way, but still! Its good to see you're learning, Kyon!"

I felt my bike shift as she climbed on the back, placing her hands on my shoulders as she balanced dangerously off the back. "Onwards!" She yelled triumphantly, gripping my shoulders tightly as she did so.

I pedalled off, a little slowly, but once I got a rhythm going, I started going at a decent speed. We cycled in a comfortable silence. I could tell Haruhi was still thinking about when she cried earlier.

...She really wasn't as heavy as I made her out to be.

…

We arrived in school late, mainly due to Haruhi's insistence that we cycled up the entirety of the hill that led up to the gates, much to my pain. I eventually waddled in to class with her in tow, my legs in agony from cycling up such a steep hill. It didn't help that she was shouting at me the entire way, insisting that I could be going faster. We got in some trouble with our homeroom teacher, but it wasn't as bad as when we Haruhi got caught dressed as a bunny girl.

We then both found ourselves sitting in our usual seats. Me at the window, and Haruhi behind me.

We didn't speak of her crying again. I assumed that she didn't want to. But thanks to her reaction, I managed to line up what Haruhi said at the train tracks earlier.

'I love you' isn't a phase you throw around like it means nothing, especially if it's Haruhi Suzumiya, the girl who claimed that people who fall in love are brain dead idiots who have nothing else better to do with her time, so whenever I thought about what she said to me that time, I felt guilt deep down. But… there was little I could do. I love Itsuki, and I can't help it. ...I think there was a point when I loved Haruhi, however, it was the kind of love you would hold for an annoying little sister or neighbour. Not romantic or anything.

And I think Haruhi understood that too.

Seeing that the world hadn't been destroyed yet.

…

At lunch, I sat with Taniguchi and Kunikida like always. Taniguchi was blabbing on about some girl that he met at the coffee shop the other day, and whom he then proceeded to stalk. Kunikida was nodding and occasionally commenting on what he said as he fiddled with his rice. As much as I disliked these two, it was always entertaining to listen to their idiotic conversations over lunch, if not a little pitiful.

Suddenly my phone vibrated, causing me to jump slightly. Taniguchi snickered at me and muttered something about me being a wuss, which I immediately shot down with a glare.

Taking my phone out of my blazer pocket, I unlocked it and checked the messages. It was from Sugisaki.

'Hello Kyon. How are you? I thought I should say, I'm heading to my hometown for a little while to finish some business, so I won't be around. Again, thank you for everything.' I read the message and smiled. After I finally calmed Itsuki down and we finished… making up for lost time… I convinced him to call up Sugisaki on the way to school and discuss their differences. They finally both decided to get along after a heated discussion, much to my relief.

'That's great. Good luck, and message me if you need anything.' I replied quickly, my fingers gliding over the keys. I was glad that he was finally going about independently without being held back by The Agency. I also didn't have to feel like an asshole for messaging him anymore either. ...I mean, I still didn't trust him, but when he wasn't being all creepy and angry, he was actually a pretty okay guy.

Sliding my phone back into my blazer pocket, I found myself smiling like an idiot. The last time I felt this peaceful was… Probably some time before I met Haruhi.

"Hey Kyon, what you grinning 'bout?" Taniguchi enquired, being as eloquent as always as he spoke with food in his mouth.

I stared at him for a moment, hoping he would bite his tongue, before replying to what he asked, "Nothing much."

"...Hm…" Taniguchi pouted before looking back to Kunikida, "Anyway, as I was saying, so this girl turned around and shouted 'Why are you following me?', so I replied…"

Zoning out from Taniguchi's conversation, I came to a single conclusion about him.

He really is an idiot.

...

After an English lesson that dragged on for way too long, and a History pop-quiz that I blatantly failed, the school day was finally over. I stretched out, yawning as my poor cramped muscles tried to gain some form of relief.

I heard the chair from Haruhi's seat shift behind me, and all relief that I was experiencing disappeared immediately. She moved to stand in front of me, a sunny grin upon her face,

"Kyon! I have an idea!"

Oh no.

"C'mon, follow me!" She started walking, leaving me little choice but to follow her with a glum look upon my face, "So Tsuruya-san gave me this book on possessions and demons…"

I immediately chose to mentally block out the rest of what she was saying. Instead, I only nodded when she looked at me for a response, and occasionally sighed.

Goddammit Tsuruya-san, stop giving her bad ideas!

We eventually headed up the stairs of the block where the club room was located, with Haruhi never once pausing to ask for my opinion or even just to make small talk. Instead, she continued babbling on about how you would go about summoning demons, and how she was going to use Asahina-san as the virgin sacrifice.

Which I wouldn't allow, by the way.

Finding ourselves outside the club room, I glanced to Haruhi before nodding my head in a 'after you' fashion. If Asahina-san was changing in there and had forgotten to lock the door, I wanted Haruhi to take the bullet for me.

Haruhi quickly grabbed onto the door handle without a moments hesitation and threw it open, the door shaking on its old hinges as it did so. "Hey hey, everyone!" She marched into the room, swinging her arms in unnecessarily big strokes as she did so.

I also walked in, a lot more restrained than Haruhi was, "Hey." Looking around, I saw Nagato sitting in the corner of the room as always. She moved her head to look at us for a couple of seconds, blinked twice, before looking away once more.

"I-I'll pour you some tea!" I heard Asahina's lovely voice from the other side of the room and turned to face her. As usual, she was wearing her gorgeous maid outfit, which complimented her figure perfectly.

"So, listen here!" Haruhi exclaimed once more, plopping herself down on the chair in front of the computer, sliding on the 'Brigade Chief' armband onto her sleeve. "Our next plan for our SOS Brigade Club activities is summoning a demon!" I saw Nagato glance up from her book and look at Haruhi, a hint of curiosity glimmering in her eyes.

As Haruhi repeated the speech that she exclaimed to me earlier, I looked around the club room before sitting down. Itsuki wasn't here yet.

I felt an odd twinge of disappointment as I sat in my usual seat. I didn't really understand why, since his classes probably were just overrunning.

Leaning back in the chair, I stared up at the discoloured ceiling. Haruhi was still going on to everyone else about her 'ingenious' idea, which Asahina-san looked terrified about. Nagato continued her unblinking stare at Haruhi. She was either really interested, or super concerned as to the effects that the demon could have on everyones general welfare.

I guess I would find out soon enough which one.

The opening of a door caused everyone to look in the direction of the entrance. Holding the door open with a dumb plastic smile on his face was Itsuki.

"Apologies for being late." He spoke as he walked into the club room, pacing around the table before settling in a seat beside mine. He usually sat there when Haruhi was speaking to us about something, and we weren't just sitting around doing nothing or playing games.

I glanced at him for a moment and was returned with a genuine smile, "Please continue, Brigade Chief." He cast his gaze back over to Haruhi, a look on his face like a dog looking at his owner.

It pissed me off, but apparently pleased Haruhi who continued speaking, "No problem, Koizumi-kun. We were just discussing how we would go about summoning a demon."

"Ah, of course." Was Itsuki's simple response.

Goddammit how can anyone just agree with this idiocy?!

"Would you require materials in order to do this next meeting?" Itsuki spoke again, adding more wood to the fire.

"Ooh, yeah!" Haruhi agreed, causing me to groan loudly. "Oh, but we've already got the virgin sacrifice, so don't worry about that bit." As she spoke, Haruhi put her arm around Asahina-san's shoulder and pulled her dangerously close, like a predator.

"Waah…" Asahina-san wailed, "I-I don't want to be a sacrifice!"

I don't want you to be sacrificed either Asahina-san. Who knows what demon would be summoned if you actually were.

"Good grief…" I muttered under my breath, putting my head in my hand. I then felt my other hand being enveloped in warmth.

Glancing at Itsuki, who was looking at Haruhi with a mischievous smile on his face, I realised that he was holding my hand.

Feeling my cheeks flush up, I quickly looked away from him, casting my gaze back to Haruhi as she seemed to be reenacting some sort of scene from a movie. However, I didn't let go of his hand. Instead, I held it tighter.

It was strangely comforting.

After about 30 seconds, I felt Itsuki tap my hand with his thumb, causing me to look at him. He cast his eyes downwards, indicating to a piece of paper on the table.

I tilted my head, taking it in my free hand and trying to decipher the messy writing, clearly written by his non-dominant hand (Since he was holding my hand with his dominant one.)

'You're cute when you're embarrassed.'

As I stared at the message, I felt my cheeks becoming even hotter, until I was fairly certain that they were bright red. I grabbed the pen that was in front of him and hastily wrote a reply to his message,

'You're an idiot.' I then drew a small frowning face beside it and pushed it over to him.

A small look of surprise on his face, Itsuki took the message and slowly read over it. His eyes widening for a moment before they softened.

He then started to laugh. It was a genuine and… really nice sound.

If I could blush any more, I was. He looked frikkin' good when he laughed, especially when it was because of me. (Even though I hadn't intended to be funny.)

This was probably the first time that I had ever seen him laugh so much. It caused me to start laughing too.

"H-Hey! You two! Stop laughing! What's so funny?!" I could hear Haruhi shouting from the other side of the room, but we couldn't stop.

"I-I'm so sorry, Suzumiya-san… I…" Itsuki breathed in and out slowly several times, trying to regain his previous composure. "I just recalled a funny moment with Kyon. I'm sure you understand."

I wiped any tears that had formed while I was laughing and looked to Haruhi, nodding to confirm his story. Haruhi gave a displeased pout in response.

"...Fine… But when this session is over, you'd better tell me what it was." She was quiet for a moment before muttering under her breath, a small blush on her cheeks, "I want to laugh too…"

I breathed a small sigh of relief at Haruhi's questionably favourable response, nodding in reply before settling down once more into my seat.

I gave a glance to Itsuki, who was still holding my hand. He had an odd smile on his face like he was trying to hold back grinning which looked ridiculous on a stupidly attractive face like his.

Turning away again, I looked back to Haruhi, who was now aggressively drinking the tea given to her by Asahina-san, who looked completely flustered and stressed about the entire situation, asking her to be careful so she doesn't burn her tongue. A quick glance to Nagato showed her returning to reading her book - Her eyes scanning over a page before turning it quickly, seemingly eager to get to the next part. She was reading something with what looked like a French title.

I suddenly felt another gentle tap on my hand. I glanced to Itsuki, who was now looking directly at me, invading my personal space bubble like the idiot he was. He tilted his head and smiled, his light brown hair swaying slightly, his bangs partially covering one of his eyes. I heard a quiet tap on the table, causing me to look towards it. The piece of paper had been flipped and there was now something else written on it.

I didn't even have to pick it up to read what it said.

'I love you.'

It was written in big characters across the small piece, leaving a little bit of space at the bottom. I felt myself slowly smile, a grin spreading on my face from ear to ear. I was blushing like a fool, but I was happy. Who wouldn't be happy in a situation like mine? I mean, sure it was embarrassing, but being told that you were loved by someone you care about is probably one of the best feelings ever.

Carefully picking up the pen, my grip on Itsuki's hand never faltering, I wrote another message in reply.

'I love you too.'

I paused for a moment, my pen slightly raised above the page. I quickly glanced to Itsuki, who also had a goofy smile on his face. I then cast my gaze back to the paper and added on something to what I just wrote.

'...Idiot.'

THE END

Thanks for sticking with me to the end guys! I love you all. Bonus thanks to SakuraDrops141 for always supporting all of my updates! I may write an M rated part based on the middle part of this chapter - but that's only if you all want that!

Again, many thanks. Sorry for the infrequent updates.

-Hazel