It was mid-September, and I found myself dragging my feet to the club room like I did every day since May of last year. I really didn't like the fact that going there had become a habit. Once again, I was going to sit down with Koizumi and lose at Shogi while listening to Haruhi babble on about finding strange things, when the things she's looking for are right in her face. I sighed as I pushed the thought of my head, since dreading it wasn't going to stop it from happening. Why you ask? Because if I didn't go to the SOS Brigade Clubroom every day after school, lose at whatever board game I played with Koizumi, be bored out of my mind for two hours, and do utterly ridiculous things, I'd risk incurring the wrath of someone who can reshape the world, and me along with it, at will, and not even realize what she had done. That's right, Haruhi.

It had been over a year since I found out that my fellow club members consisted of an alien, a time traveler, and an esper, so the fact that I had to deal with the eccentric teenager that they viewed as God on a daily basis had become normal for me. And that didn't make me any happier to be doing it.

I walked down the hallway after walking up the stairs to the club room building and stopped in front of the first door on my left. I knocked on the door to the Literary Club - which Haruhi had essentially stolen for use by the SOS Brigade - and heard Ms. Asahina's cheerful voice from inside tell me:

"Come in, Kyon." I opened the door to see Koizumi setting up the Shogi board with that same smile on his face - he never seemed to change his facial expression for anything. And Ms. Asahina preparing tea for everyone in her purple and white maid's outfit.

"Ah, Kyon, you're just in time. Would you like to play a few rounds of Shogi with me?" As if I had a choice. I shut the door behind me. If I didn't play Shogi with you I'd be bored out of my mind.

"We should think about getting another game to play, we've been playing Shogi a lot lately." That wasn't the only reason I wanted to stop playing. Koizumi always beat me; I just didn't want to seem like a sore loser. As I walked to my seat, I noticed that Nagato wasn't in the room. I guess since she's so quiet all the time, it took me a while to actually realize she wasn't there. I sat down at the table across from Koizumi and gratefully accepted my tea from Ms. Asahina. "So, no Nagato today?"

"No, I'm afraid Ms. Nagato hasn't shown up today, which is weird since she's usually the first one here." He was right about that. Sometimes, I thought that Nagato just arrived at school every day and went straight to the clubroom to read books without ever attending class. Did Nagato even need to go to class? For that matter, did any Data Entity need to go to class? Nagato's probably the smartest person on the face of the Earth, and technically she's only been alive for 3 years. Since she can receive large amounts of information just by looking at a book, I guess she didn't need to be taught anything by a human.

Suddenly, the door flung open. And there she stood, "God" herself, Haruhi Suzumiya.

"Hi guys, sorry for being late, but I was getting a new outfit for Mikuru to wear!" And with that declaration, she pulled the bunny suit from her bag, which made Ms. Asahina go on the verge of tears. "Now, we have to get this on and- uh, hey where's Yuki at?"

"Nagato hasn't shown up yet."

"Well that sucks! I needed her for what we were going to do today." What exactly did you want to do that absolutely requires the presence of the socially awkward, silent bookworm?

"Well, if we can't do it now, can I go home?" Of course the answer was no.

Two hours, and about 30 straight losses at Shogi, later, Nagato still hadn't shown up. Haruhi had seemed pretty agitated about it, too. Luckily no world ending events happened, at least to the best of my knowledge they didn't.

Eventually, Haruhi left, obviously annoyed since she couldn't accomplish what she wanted to do that day. Then Koizumi left. It was just me and Ms. Asahina left in the clubroom. It was one of the rare, precious moments where Haruhi left us alone together. But I should probably leave so she can change.

"Well, I'll be going now, Ms. Asahina. Make sure you lock up before you leave."

"Ok, Kyon be safe on your way home." As I walked out of the clubroom and back down the stairs, I started to wonder why Nagato hadn't shown up. Since it was her job to observe Haruhi, did that mean not coming to the clubroom was the equivalent of playing hooky for her? And, as far as I know, Nagato doesn't get sick. Does a Data Entity have the ability to get sick? I didn't know, and to be honest, I didn't really care. But I decided to go to Nagato's house to see what had kept her from coming that day anyway.