-Haruhi-

Monday.

Normally not exactly a day I look forward too, but today's Monday is different. Today's week is different, in fact. Or at least, the portion of it that has school.

Why? Because most likely, it'll be during school that I- or rather, we- get to do a little time jumping. Kyon and I BOTH got- or get?- sent back, so sure, whoever it is that's gonna help us do that COULD send two different agents/devices/however it might work to us separately, but really, it makes a lot more sense to just send one while we're both in the same place. So, my grin walking through the door is entirely genuine.

Kyon and I didn't get to thinks things over any further over the weekend- my parents had me running around doing chores like the world was going to end come today, and this was their last chance to get the house fully tidied up before the apocalypse hit- but that's alright. Again, school is the time to look forward too right now, so a boring weekend was fine, at least this once.

I'm pretty sure that our collective excitement and anticipation is running high. Both of us have decided to keep on the lookout for anyone who might have a reason to provide us with the means to time travel, random odd items lying around that might be disguised time travel devices, or even just obvious giant portals. Though, I'm hoping for a person- with any luck, that will mean we'll get a little more explanation on the whole "why" behind it too, which I'm very interested in hearing...

I can't wait to tell Mikuru and Yuki this afternoon. A guaranteed supernatural event that pretty much HAS to happen some time soon! What a great way to start the SOS Brigade's early days off!

KHJSKHJS

-Kyon-

Here I am in school again, despite knowing I won't be even remotely able to concentrate on any material presented today. Possibilities have been running furiously through my head all weekend, and it doesn't feel as if that's going to change any time soon. I am buzzed.

I sit down at my desk and start drumming my foot on the floor after a moment. My energy is not dissipating and I REALLY feel like I should be just about anywhere besides this classroom right now. Suzumiya and I agreed that it would probably happen while we're in school, or at least somewhere together, but it probably isn't going to happen in the classroom with everyone else around. Thus, until classes are let out- though admittedly possibly excluding lunch- this is all just filler, stuff that would normally be skipped over in virtually any fictional medium.

If I just had a time machine so I could skip through the day, then... well, no, if I had a time machine at all, I wouldn't be waiting for anything anyways. Hmm.

Suzumiya walks in with a big grin on her face and I can't help but grin back. We don't speak, we're both thinking the same thing. A couple of our classmates glance over at our brief exchange and start whispering to each other, but I can't bring myself to care that much right now.

As suspected, it's impossible for me to focus on class. By the fact that when Suzumiya gets called on, she sounds surprised (though she still answers the question right), I'm guessing I'm not alone.

Lunch ticks around eventually, at which point I glance back at Suzumiya, nod, and we both run out of the room- thankfully without repeating the door incident. We keep going for a minute or so before pausing at the bottom of a staircase.

"Okay, we've got limited time to search for this, so do we split up, or stay together?" I ask hurriedly.

"Stick together. It'll be easier than having to go find each other if one of us finds something." she replies back with equal speed.

"Got it. By the way, if it IS a portal or something, how is it going to go to two different time periods?"

"I don't know, it's time travel, we won't know how any of this works until we find it! Now come on, we're wasting time!"

Suzumiya speeds off down the hallway, and I follow in hot pursuit. As I draw even with her, she keeps talking, as apparently she has the lung power to run and casually converse simultaneously.

"By the way, whether we find it right now or not, I'm gonna tell Mikuru-chan and Yuki-chan about this later today!"

"...Huh?" I pant out. "How come?"

"This is just what the SOS Brigade was founded for! How could I not tell our other two members?"

How can she talk so easily while in a close to full out sprint? I'm gasping for air here even with all the similar running around I do. Is she powered by some sort of internal nuclear engine?

"I suppose- *pant* you've got a point there." I eventually reply.

"Oh, and also because one of them might be coming along!"

...Wait, WHAT?

KHJSKHJS

-Haruhi-

Kyon screeches to a halt behind me for some reason, and I'm halfway down the hall before I can slow down enough to reverse and head back his way.

"What's the hold up? Come on!" I urge, still jogging in place.

"Wait, wait, wait." Kyon says, holding up his hands as if that will somehow convince me to stop. "How did you come to that conclusion again?"

Can't we talk about this on the go?! We have less than 30 minutes to search! Argh, he's not gonna move until I'm finished explaining, is he?!

"Fine! Move while I talk! I didn't remember on Friday, but it came to me over the weekend." I start, grabbing slowpoke prime's arm and dragging him behind me to accommodate his sudden onset of full body paralysis. "Back when I met John, he was carrying someone he said was his sister!"

"Wha- how did you forget to mention THAT?!" Kyon protests as his legs finally start picking up the slack again, letting me loosen my grip on his tie. "And why would that mean she could be Nagato or Asahina-san?"

"It was dark, so I never saw her face, and I never heard her speak because she was asleep the whole time! She didn't seem important, so it slipped my mind! But John must have been lying, and since I don't know any of that girl's features, that means it could have been Mikuru or Yuki-chan. So, one of them might get to come along! I can't be sure, but it's possible!"

Though honestly, if it's either of the two it'll probably be Mikuru. I couldn't see much back then, but I'm pretty sure the girl had longer hair than Yuki does. Unless this actually ends up happening later in the school year, and Yuki's grown her hair out by then, I suppose. Think I'll keep that detail to myself though, because if he gets fixated on the idea of toting around Mikuru-chan... blech, I don't wanna deal with that. Hopefully I can trust him to not be a pig about it if that does end up happening.

"I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself." Kyon tells me. "And not that you asked, but for your information, I do ACTUALLY have a sister."

Wait, what, really?

"Well, yeah, though she's still in primary school."

...then who CARES? If she's that young, she isn't gonna be the girl I'm talking about, unless your sister suddenly ages about-

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!"

Ack, teacher! Run faster!

KHJSKHJS

Luckily, the teacher that almost caught us was too slow to catch up, and only saw us from behind, so we got away safe and unpunished.

For the next 20 minutes, we focus on checking the more isolated parts of the school, like the various janitorial closets and rooftops, hoping our ticket to the past might just -happen- to be in one of them. Unfortunately, our search turns up empty. That's alright though- I mean, we only searched for less than half an hour, and the day's not even over yet.

Our hurried return to the classroom just before the bell, Kyon panting and sweating slightly (he needs to get in better shape...), heralds a new rush of whispers from our classmates. God, do they have nothing better to talk about?! I don't even want to know.

The rest of the day plods by, and at the ring of the final bell, Kyon and I sprint in tandem to the clubroom I commandeered for us. We almost bowl over some guy with what looks to be hair that's going prematurely gray on our way out, which I feel a slight pang of guilt about until I realize that was Taniguchi, which erases all traces of sympathy and newly buoys my steps instead.

Amazingly, Mikuru-chan and Yuki-chan both are already in the room by the time we arrive, though Mikuru-chan looks like she only just got in. Still, it's not like we wasted time, so they must have booked it here. But that's good!

"Everyone's here? Great, I have an announcement!" I exclaim as I bound in to the room.

Mikuru jumps and swivels around, startled, while Yuki placidly looks up from her book, just long enough to acknowledge that I'm talking, before looking back down.

"Not quite so loud that it reaches the club next door, okay Suzumiya?" Kyon cautions from behind me.

Yeah, yeah, just close the door, we'll be fine!

He does, and I begin.

"Alright, Mikuru-chan, sit down! Yuki-chan, you come over here too." I order, pulling out a chair at the main table for our resident bookworm. I'm not gonna be able to see her reaction if she's sitting in that corner after all!

My brigade mascot obediently places herself in the nearest seat, while Yuki slowly gets up and walks over, pulling her eyes away from her book only just long enough to sit back down again. Hmph. Well, let's see if I can't change that.

"Now, you may have noticed that I am in a particularly good mood. Would you like to know why?" I start dramatically, walking slowly towards my desk at the back of the room with a large, knowing smile. You've got to build tension for this sort of reveal, it can't be just put out there like a teacher haphazardly tossing out information en masse.

"U-um... sure?" Mikuru squeaks, sounding adorably confused.

"Because last Friday, we uncovered something amazing." I continue, rounding on the room and crossing my arms, striking up a victorious, triumphant looking pose. "Something supernatural. Which, as you should know, is exactly what I made this club to find!"

Mikuru's eyes go wide, and she holds her arms up to her chest like a turtle drawing in on itself. Yuki still isn't reacting though, at least not that I can see with most of her face still buried in that book. What is she reading that could possibly be so interesting anyways...? No, no, can't get distracted.

"Hey, do I get to do any of this reveal?" Kyon asks dryly from across the room where he's -for some reason- still standing, raising his hand in what I can only assume to be a blatantly sarcastic gesture.

"No, because you talk like that." I reply irritably. "You're not suited for this sort of thing. Now cut it out, you're ruining it!"

He grumbles a little, but sits down and lets me resume.

"Anyways, you two get the privilege of hearing about our discovery first!" I announce, pointing to each of the two not yet in the know as I do so.

Mikuru is paling, presumably with anxiety over what I'm going to say. More excitingly, Yuki peeks her eyes over the cover of her book, and I internally pump my fist at the small victory. Let's see if I can take that a little further...

"We have discovered..."

I pause, letting the silence stretch out.

"W-what? Discovered what?" Mikuru eventually asks, her voice quavering like a plucked harp string.

"TIME TRAVEL!" I yell, as grandly as I possibly can.

I watch with great satisfaction as Mikuru's pupils shrink to pinpricks and her trembles stop as she completely freezes in place, staring at me with her mouth half open. Even more gratifyingly, that even got Yuki to look over at me fully and put down her book, which I've never seen her do before! I have been waiting SO long for something that could prompt this sort of reaction from people!

"Volume!" Kyon reminds me from his seat, prematurely killing my high. Sheesh, even if things are less contentious between us now, he could stand to live a little more.

"W-wait, say again...?" Mikuru stutters out a few seconds later.

"We- that is, me and him-" I gesture offhandedly in Kyon's direction, "are gonna get to go time traveling soon!"

"Most likely, at least." Kyon chimes in. "We figured it out last week- something WAY too bizarre to ignore happened to both of us in the past, and of the possibilities, this is the most likely explanation. It's pretty solid evidence- and it'll have to happen pretty soon, too."

"Uh- um, no, that can't- I..."

"Oh yeah, and it's also possible that one of you will get to come along!" I add, grinning widely.

Yuki's eyes are flickering back and forth between me and Kyon at intervals of roughly one second per flicker, while Mikuru's gone in to what looks like a state of catatonia, probably in either utter disbelief or sheer stunned amazement.

"However!" I continue. "Just because we have confirmation of this does NOT mean the SOS Brigade can afford to slack off! In fact, now that we basically have proof of time travel, we need to work even HARDER to find everything else that's out there hiding from us!"

"Because this club has worked so hard at that thus far." Kyon interjects teasingly.

I roll my eyes. "Fine, we'll have to work hard PERIOD. You know what I mean!"

Yuki raises her hand, in a far less seemingly sarcastic manner than Kyon did a moment ago. It's a way that actually calls for me to acknowledge it.

"Yes, Yuki-chan?"

"Would you explain how it is you 'know' this?" she asks, her voice containing just a hint more emotion- though exactly which I can't tell- than her usual monotone.

"Hmm..." I think on that a moment before replying. "The events that prove it right now are sort of personal... just take our word for it for now, we'll try to bring back some evidence once it actually happens. Then you'll get to see!"

Kyon follows my statement up with a snap of his fingers, apparently having remembered something. "Oh yeah, something I think should be brought up now- if one of them is potentially coming along, won't we need to bring them with us when we go looking for the time travel method? They'd need to be nearby, wouldn't they?"

I almost instinctively open my mouth to overrule him, but close it once I realize that's actually a fair point. Hmm.

"Well, I don't KNOW it was Mikuru-chan or Yuki-chan, I just know there was some girl on John's back. Your back. Whatever." I reason, noting Yuki's eyebrows raise a small fraction at the name "John", most likely since she hasn't heard it before. "So it isn't that they'll necessarily be with us at the same time, it's just a possibility. And I mean, depending on how time actually works, it might be circumstantially guaranteed anyways. But we don't know enough about that girl to really say. For all we know she could have been someone you'll need to pick up from the past, someone you'll have to hunt down and make unconscious before you meet me-"

Kyon grunts disapprovingly at that.

"-heck, maybe she's even the time traveler that'll be taking us back herself!"

Kyon looks like he's about to say something back, but is interrupted by Mikuru breaking from her statue-like stasis and erupting in to a sudden coughing fit, which is still ridiculously cute despite having all the other normal qualities of someone choking on air.

"Ah! Are you alright Asahina-san?!" Kyon cries out in alarm, almost reaching over to pat her on the back before hurriedly running over to the sink and filling up a cup of water instead.

"I'm- *cough* f-fine, I'm fine! *cough* Th-thank you for the *cough!* w-water!" Mikuru sputters, steadily working the cough out of her voice as she greedily gulps down the liquid.

I'm a little disoriented from that interruption, but I'm not gonna let it stop me from continuing.

"So yeah, get excited! After it happens, we'll be sure to lay out all the details to whoever doesn't get to come along." I finish, wrapping up the first order of business for today. "Anyways, Kyon's point about us 'not working hard enough' at searching as a brigade was at least -sort of- valid, and that brings me to my next topic. Starting now, every weekend from now on, we'll be meeting up at..."

The proposed weekly weekend search plan goes over well, with Kyon just interjecting once or twice and otherwise staying silent, alongside my other two brigade members, who stay completely quiet the entire time. I understand though, the fact that time travel is real is a lot to take in, so I end club early and tell them (Kyon included) to go home and ruminate on our new discovery and the implications it has on what we thought we knew about the universe for a while. It'll be good practice for getting over even bigger shocks more quickly when we start finding even more exciting stuff, after all!

KHJSKHJS

-Isn't it obvious?-

"...I am starting to believe I may have been... mistaken in my original assertions."

"I didn't realize that this would... I mean, I knew that at the least, he would be a little... but I didn't think that anything like this would... "

"Brain wave patterns match to approximately 53.6994%. This outcome was unexpected, but is not entirely surprising."

"O... okay, but, then... what now?"

"We toss out our current plan and do something different."

"Wha-?!"

"I concur."

"Bu- but why?"

"To be perfectly honest, we probably should have abandoned this strategy as a valid idea when they began fighting. I had believed that the situation might naturally fall in to place, as it seemed to be doing, at least after the... initial issues... were taken care of. Things were progressing relatively smoothly for a short while, if not exactly how expected- but now..."

"Right... if only- if only I..."

"It isn't your fault. However, the fact remains that if we continue as we originally planned, there will be no guarantee that this will work, or that the state of affairs won't spiral completely out of control. Circumstances are obviously different than we thought- or hoped- they were. But, I do think I have an idea on how we might revise our approach..."

...

"Eh?! Will that even work with them both so... so...?"

"The difference is minimal."

"I know. But, considering our options, I think this is the most likely to succeed. We need to stop this before it goes any further, or we may never even come close to getting the opportunity we need..."

Ah, now that's a MUCH nicer place to leave off, isn't it? :D

I have been waiting a LONG time to drop the little discussion at the end of this chapter. Like, you don't even know. FINALLY, I can get some of the "main" plot going! Good thing the characterization and changed "starting conditions" only took up TEN FREAKING CHAPTERS. Gah. Thanks for being so tolerant of the slow buildup everyone, and apologies to anyone that was scared off by it.

...none of whom are reading this, and thus this apology was pointless. Eheh. ^^;

Side note, yay, Yuki-chan is out! Haven't gotten around to actually WATCHING it yet, but there are signs of life in this fandom! Woo! Now, how much of that life is review giving?

...is the percentage high? Please tell me it's high.