A/N: My first Haruhi Suzumiya story. This takes place just after the climax of the 11th novel. I'd like to think that this one-shot has hints of the Koizumi/Kyoko pairing in it, but I'm not really the best judge for that, so just enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I lack Nagaru Tanigawa's genius, and as such I don't own the characters of Haruhi Suzumiya.

PS: Forgive the stupid title.

Kyoko Tachibana had never felt more miserable in her life.

To think that I was stupid enough to believe that everything was going so smoothly.

How could things have gone so wrong?

Why hadn't she seen it before? She and Fujiwara had argued plenty of times when it came to transferring Haruhi Suzumiya's powers to Miss Sasaki. Why hadn't she thought, at least once, that he'd deviate from their original plan? That he was the sort of person to kill? His lack of remorse over kidnapping Mikuru Asahina should've given her plenty of insight into his personality. And she didn't see it. Was she blind?

Kyoko would never kill to get what she wanted. Even with her desire to see Miss Sasaki regain what was rightfully hers, the thought of killing had never once entered her mind. She was the sort who hesitated about swatting a fly. Being indirectly responsible for killing a human being would torture her conscience for as long as she lived, and probably even after her death. Kyoko gulped, feeling slightly sick.

Returning Miss Sasaki's powers to her doesn't feel so good anymore, Kyouko reflected gloomily. The recent fiasco had robbed every last desire she had of giving Miss Sasaki the reality-warping powers. Miss Sasaki had said that she hoped that they could remain friends after everything that was supposed to happen had happened. However, the whole thing had gone so badly wrong that Kyoko wondered if the other girl would even look at her again.

She shuddered, not really paying attention to the kindergarteners playing tag in front of her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid and blind. That's what I've been.

The loss of her own powers ought to have been a crushing blow, but the pride she took in them seemed pointless now.

Kyoko didn't want to think about Kuyo Suo. After the recent debacle, even thinking about the Humanoid Interface sent a small chill down her spine. She immediately pushed all thoughts of the ink-haired alien from her mind. There was no need to make herself feel worse than she already was feeling at the moment.

And it was then that a quiet voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Miss Tachibana?"

Kyouko froze momentarily. After what had happened she wasn't in the mood to talk to Itsuki Koizumi of all people. As much as she didn't want to admit why, speaking to the leader of the Competition was nothing short of mortifying.

In a way, I suppose he could be called the day's saviour, she thought. I suppose the least I could do is thank him.

"Hello, Koizumi," she said, thankful that her voice sounded steady.

"Are you doing well?" he queried, sitting next to her on the park bench.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kyoko said, unable to believe that she was actually having a polite conversation with the leader and founder of her faction's competition. The embarrassment was still there, but there was no hatred of jealousy- though Kyoko wasn't sure if the situation called for it.

To be honest, Kyoko had never hated the boy- she'd never even spoken directly to him till now; it was her colleagues who met him and members of his faction for discussions. She couldn't help admiring him for the fact that he could handle the madness of Suzumiya Haruhi's Closed Spaces (and the girl herself) while running his faction and being a student at the same time.

It was ridiculous. At least Miss Sasaki's Closed Spaces were peaceful.

"I…" Kyoko hesitated, and then rushed on, "I suppose I should thank you for intervening like you did earlier."

She could feel the embarrassment heating her face up.

"It was nothing," he said airily, raising an eyebrow as he replied. "It is always a pleasure to be of aid to Miss Suzumiya. Additionally, I'm glad to have helped you in whatever way I did- though I imagine that what I did would probably cause some discomfort with the other members in your faction, would it not?"

"I'm going to quit. I don't want Miss Sasaki to have the reality-warping abilities anymore."

The words left Kyoko's mouth without any forethought, and she was surprised to realize that she meant every word. "I don't think I can handle my colleagues' reaction if I meet them face-to-face, and I don't want to ruin my chances of being Miss Sasaki's friend," she continued, just for the sake of completing her answer.

Coward. They've been so nice to me. Her stomach turned.

"Mm," Koizumi said. If he'd noticed the gap in her logic he didn't comment on it. He tilted his head and looked at her, and his voice was mild when he asked again, "Miss Tachibana, are you all right?"

"I'm fi-" the words came out in incoherent gargle, and Kyoko felt the first tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it off, blinking furiously, but another came. And then another.

I'm just so tired. Tired and scared. And it was that thought that the dam broke.

"I was such an idiot!" she sobbed. "It was my fault the whole thing got messed up so badly! I came close to actually killing a person! Why did things end up like this? If things had gone the way I'd originally intended, I-!"

Every thought that had been the source of Kyoko's misery came pouring out and she didn't want to stop. It felt so good to let everything out to somebody. Right then, Kyoko didn't care that Itsuki Koizumi was supposedly someone she hadn't heard anything good about till less than twenty minutes ago, but right then he was just someone that was listening to her wail and blab out every fear that had been haunting her since the… that incident happened.

She didn't bother with the fact that she was embarrassing herself, though there would've been a time when crying would have mortified her. His silence was comforting, and she never wondered if he had been looking at while she was bawling .

When the sobs had reduced to hiccoughs, he handed her a piece of tissue paper. She took it and blew her nose- hard.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you, Koizumi," she said in a tiny voice.

"It was no bother," he said blithely. "Actually, I guessed that recent events would be taking an unpleasant toll on you, so I came to check if you were doing well." His constant smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of sombre concern. "You aren't a very good liar, Miss Tachibana."

She was taken aback to the sudden earnestness of his tone, and blinked again as he smiled at her and continued speaking, his voice gradually returning to the opaque politeness he was so well known for.

"I don't know if I'm the best person to tell you this, but whatever happened was not your fault. Am I right in assuming that you originally intended for Miss Suzumiya to continue living if Miss Sasaki received her abilities?"

Kyoko couldn't see where he was going, but she nodded.

"Then I can very well infer that you never intended actual harm, can I not? It was the time traveller and Interface you associated with that took the plan and ran away with it, so as to speak."

"Yes, but I should have at least known that Fujiwara would the sort to do what he did- especially after the kidnapping of Mikuru Asahina."

He looked thoughtful. "Don't you find it funny that we, as human beings, try to validate our faults when we wish to be rid of them? It's rather contradictory, isn't it?" He shook his head slightly. "That will be something I can ponder about another time. What I meant to say is that, that is in the past. The time traveller Fujiwara and Kuyo Suo are no longer threats for the time being. I don't think you- who knew little until it was too late- were at fault."

Kyoko blinked. Is he forgiving me? Just like that?

He noticed her surprise and smiled. "As a person, I hold no grudges against you, though we may have disagreed on other aspects." His smile became wry. "A friend tells me that I have a tendency to sound patronising, but I genuinely hope that now, we can at least be on cordial terms, Miss Tachibana."

She wasn't expecting that. She gave him an uncertain smile. "Er, yes… I don't see why not."

"Good. That is all I ask of you." He paused for a moment, and then added, "Well, not quite. Would you mind if we exchanged contact details? It would be useful in negotiations. I'll do my best to make sure that your relationships with Miss Sasaki and your colleagues won't be compromised."

Kyoko hadn't the foggiest idea what Itsuki Koizumi wanted to negotiate with her, but she nodded. There was no point in regarding him as a competitor anymore, so she would take him for for word. It didn't stop her from feeling a little odd as she gave him her phone number and email address, and as he did likewise.

This is so surreal.

She then wondered if the word meant much coming from her.

"Thanks again, Koizumi," Kyoko said as he returned her mobile phone to her. "For… everything."

"It was my pleasure," he said, bowing courteously to her. "I hope to see you very soon, Miss Tachibana."

Kyoko couldn't help feeling slightly reassured as she saw him walk away.

She'd always respected Koizumi, but she'd never been intrigued by him. Now that she had met him, she been disarmed- and pleasantly surprised.

That day later found Kyoko in her bedroom, biting her lip nervously as she typed away on her laptop.

Dear Koizumi,

I just left a telephone message for one of my former colleagues, telling them that I've resigned. I've somewhat changed my mind about not meeting them face-to-face, though- I think they deserve that much. I've fixed a date for our discussion, and it's soon enough that I can't back out of it.

I know I've already blabbed this to you earlier, but I was really sincere when I said that I wanted to be Sasaki-san's friend. I'll be returning to school with her tomorrow. I've already contacted her and filled her in on what happened in that Closed Space. She forgave me without turning a hair, which made me wonder… ah well. I should be grateful she forgave me at all.

Once again, thank you for the help you've given me.

Sincerely,

Kyoko Tachibana

After reading through it a few times, Kyoko hesitantly clicked on the SEND button.

When Itsuki Koizumi checked his email three hours after meeting Kyoko Tachibana, he was unsurprised to see an email from her.

He read it and smiled.

A/N: I realise that there's a debate regarding Koizumi's status in the Organisation, but remember that this oneshot was almost entirely from Kyouko's perspective, and judging from Surprise, she truly believed that Koizumi was the Organisation's leader and founder. Also, I don't buy into the "Koizumi killed Fujiwara" theory- I don't think the series would go that far with the SOS Brigade at this point of the story.