Disclaimer: I do not own Haruhi Suzumiya or anything related.

A/N: I'm going to post this now, instead of tomorrow since I will be busy with work as concert marshal.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! (Single's Awareness Day in my case, :P)

Chapter 1 is ItsuHaru, chapter 2 is YukiKyon. Enjoy! Oh, and things in here could get cheesy.

Title: Cosmos

Synopsis:

Two stories about wondering what lies beyond the vast sky. Two-shot: Alternate (ItsuHaru) and Alternate (YukiKyon)

Chapter 1: Persistence

Nobody knows the expanse of the universe. Many scientists believe that the universe is constantly expanding. Some believe that there is a limit to this expansion. Others believe that there is none. Indeed, the universe is one of the greatest mysteries man has tried to fathom since the beginning of time.

"Suzumiya-san, please get down from there." A young brown-haired boy in black gakuran called out.

"Make me." Snapped a girl's voice from atop a tree.

Students of Kouyuen High were gathering beneath a tree in the courtyard. The commotion was caused by none other than the infamous Haruhi Suzumiya, who, at this very moment was busy balancing herself on one of the branches of the tree.

"What are you doing up there?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Koizumi-kun? I'm trying to catch a UFO on tape!"

The boy, Itsuki Koizumi, sighed. There really was nothing stopping this girl.

This was the fourth time this month that Haruhi insisted on finding any traces of aliens or anything similar on the planet. Last weekend, she dragged him from place to place in search of "something mysterious and interesting", turning their supposed date into a crazy wild goose chase.

This, however, did not fatigue the young man's spirits at all. While the whole school pointed out that she was not interested in him at all, Itsuki Koizumi believed that this was what made her all the more attractive.

"You could say that he could put up with all the craziness she brings." People whispered behind their backs.

And this situation was no different. As Haruhi climbed slowly atop the tree, bringing along a digital handycam and a tripod with her, Itsuki was circling the grounds beneath the tree, following her every move.

"Suzumiya-san! That's dangerous! Please get down!"

"Just a bit further…" she said.

All his friends told him that he was a very eligible bachelor. The girls in their school have all been fawning over the handsome young man, and yet here he was, playing butler to a hyperactive little girl.

But he didn't mind. He was sure that someday, Haruhi was going to fall for him. Somehow.

He could recall the first time he met her: her eyes twinkled at the sight of this new mysterious transfer student. Though she didn't smile, scrutinizing him from head to foot and back, he knew that she was a bit interested in who he was.

As he got to know her, he felt that his life was somehow entwined to hers. Every day, when they walked home together, he would notice that she always scowled and frowned. Though he found that trait strangely attractive, he vowed to himself that he would do anything to make her smile. He would do anything to keep her happy. The moment he saw her smile would be the happiest of his life.

"There! I think I see something! Koizumi-kun, I think I see—"

Suddenly, there was a loud crack. The branch snapped just as Haruhi was able to set the tripod, and slowly, she fell towards the ground.

If it not for Itsuki who was standing guard beneath the tree.

He caught her just as she was about to hit the ground. The tripod and the handycam followed suit, unfortunately meeting their demise beneath the tree.

"Are you allright, Suzumiya-san?" he asked.

"I'm fine Koizumi-kun…" she turned her head to where the camera and the tripod lay, crushed beyond repair.

She looked sad all of a sudden.

"Is something the matter?" the boy whispered.

"No… nothing is."

She untangled herself from his grasp and puffed her uniform. Not turning to look at him, she made her way through the crowd of onlookers, away from the scene.

The crowd in turn, looked at him.

The smile on his face was replaced by a rather somber and worried look. He turned back to the tree and picked up the broken electronics.

That afternoon, Haruhi remained in a bad mood throughout the class. The teachers didn't even bother to call her attention, for fear of getting the worse off it. Koizumi, on the other hand, felt that he must say something to cheer her up.

In the middle of their Physics class nonetheless, he scribbled a note in paper, and passed it to Haruhi who was seated two rows away from him. The poor boy seated beside her who passed the note from Koizumi, received a cold glare, signaling him to keep his head back down to what he was doing.

Scowling, she opened the note, and was rather surprised with what she saw. Scribbled neatly on the paper was the following:

"The dynamic nature of the universe has led to a great deal of scientific research dedicated to analyzing change. Until recently, it was believed that if the dynamics of a system behaved unpredictably, it was due to random external influences. Therefore, scientists concluded that if random influences could be eliminated, then the behavior of all such deterministic systems could be predicted indefinitely."

"What is he talking about?" she frowned, continuing to read the note.

"Chaos Theory, is a theory describing the complex and unpredictable motion or dynamics of systems that are sensitive to their initial conditions. Chaotic systems are mathematically deterministic-that is, they follow precise laws, but their irregular behavior can appear to be random to the casual observer.

Her eyes widened with a glint of surprise as she read the last line of the note.

Unlike a 'casual observer', I would gladly spend all my time solving your mystery. You're as interesting as the entire universe to me. – Itsuki Koizumi"

She looked up from the note. Koizumi was waving merrily to her. Boy, was he gonna get what was coming to him.

Scarlet-faced, she threw the note, now crumpled back, hitting him in the face. With a flustered smile, he smoothed out the paper, and scribbled underneath it in bold red ink was:

"IDIOT."

He laughed and looked her way. He caught her looking at him, and he smiled. Red streaks appeared on her cheeks and she quickly turned away, apparently going back to her work.

"If indeed that the universe is as unpredictable as it seems… I am glad that I am here, and nowhere else." He muttered to himself, looking out the window beside him.

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A/N: That's it for chapter 1! Frankly, I'd also hit the guy who gives me a love letter with Physics and Math theories in it. Well at least it doesn't involve Greek letters and cardioid graphs.*shudder*

Next up is the YukiKyon chapter 2! By the way, the passages in Koizumi's note are actually from the Chaos Theory article in Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Thought I'd point that out. R/R!