Author's notes: This takes place between "Wandering Shadow" and The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya, and will probably be the last fic I write to be set pre-The Surprise, at least for the near future. In fact, I've already completed a two-parter called "The Ceremony" which is set during Haruhi's senior year. I felt the urge to do something to bridge the gap between "Love Letter" and my post-Surprise stories, as well as something more "fun" to cleanse the palette after my recent relationship-focused stories. The basic premise for this sprang to mind, and I saw it was an ideal way to follow up on some of the smaller threads introduced in "Love Letter" as well. So, it's ended up being a mix of "fun" stuff and serious stuff. Hope you all enjoy.

The characters and milieu of this fan fiction work are property of Nagaru Tanigawa, Kyoto Animation, and Funimation, with the exceptions of Yui Ishigaki, Shingen Chisuga, Goro Mishima, and Tetsuya Yanami, who are my creations.

Special thanks to Pierce, who did the cover art for this story.


Camping in High Heels

"I'll be camping in high heels tonight, baby!"

- misheard lyric from "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai


- Chapter 1: An Amalgamation of Plans -

"I feel... as though... they're... calling me."

Saying this, Miss Asahina took a step forward.

"I don't hear anything." I looked around with suspicion, but it was too dark to see anything but those mysterious lights shining at us.

"Hey, Mikuru! Don't wander off from the group!" Haruhi yelled.

Our campground angel just kept walking towards the lights, not saying anything.

Oh, boy. Miss Asahina disobeying a direct order from Haruhi? Something is way beyond wrong here.

I strode after her, calling her name, not really sure what I was going to do. I couldn't actually grab her by the arm, could I? Everyone would think I was a pervert or something. But Koizumi was just standing there with his head bowed like he was praying, Nagato was observing, and the others naturally had no clue that Miss Asahina might be in actual peril. Taniguchi was putting his arm around Ishigaki; I guess he thought this was just another opportunity to score. Somebody had to actually do something.

"Kyon! Not you, too! Get back here, both of you!"

"Miss Asahina!" I came within reach of her. She still was ignoring my calls. The lights were so bright at this range, I could barely see a thing. Just her long radiant hair fluttering before me like a signal. I reached out to grab hold of her...

...and my hand grasped empty air. I waved my arms around in the area where I was certain Miss Asahina had been, but there was nothing there.

Before I could even begin to process that, there was a strange roaring sound – like a hundred industrial fans all turned on high, with a constant stream of coins being dropped into them. The lights became even brighter.

And then – they were gone.

Blinking my eyes to readjust to the darkness, I looked around, and saw no sign of Miss Asahina. Just Haruhi and Koizumi, who had run up to stand beside me.

"Kyon..." Haruhi said, and I wouldn't be able to tell you what percentage of her voice was concern and what percentage was excitement. "Do you realize what this means? Mikuru has been abducted by aliens!"


It was a weird trip from the beginning. No, worse than that; it was a weird trip from before it began. The weirdness started during the initial planning, the previous Tuesday.

"I hope you've all kept your weekend plans open," Haruhi announced to the assembled SOS Brigade. "We're going camping!"

"Camping?" I repeated. It didn't sound like a huge pain, like Haruhi's plans usually did. It sounded just... plain. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, when Haruhi would reveal some bizarre twist to what would otherwise be a normal activity.

"Do you have a camping site in mind?" Koizumi questioned.

"I was thinking Lake Tenapa," Haruhi said. "Mikuru, you've been camping there, right?"

"Ah... yes."

This was awkward. Actually, Haruhi and I had gone to Lake Tenapa, on our first date, while Miss Asahina had never been, and Haruhi knew it. But Haruhi had to pretend she thought Miss Asahina went camping there with her family, so Miss Asahina wouldn't know that the two of us had gone there to spy on her, and Miss Asahina had to pretend she didn't know that Haruhi knew she wasn't there that weekend so that Haruhi wouldn't know that I was lying on her behalf.

...Yeah, my life is way too complicated. And don't even ask about Haruhi and me dating. She ended it, and that's that.

"Well, would you recommend it?" Haruhi asked.

"Well, um... Yes, it was fine."

"Beautiful! I want to make this a big trip, too. Everyone can bring one friend. I'm bringing Yui. Mikuru, you'll bring Tsuruya, right?" She said all this without pausing for breath.

"Don't just tell her who to bring," I objected. "Let her choose for herself."

"No no, Kyon, it's okay," Miss Asahina cut in before Haruhi could respond. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather bring along than Miss Tsuruya."

"If you have no particular suggestions for me," Koizumi said, "I have a fellow thespian who I am sure would love to come on an expedition such as this. I believe you will like him."

"That's fine," Haruhi nodded with disinterest. "How about you, Kyon?"

"...Hold on a minute." I held up a hand. "We can't go on a camping trip now. We've got that fashion show planned for Monday. You'll have no time to rehearse." Sometimes Haruhi launches more projects than I can keep track of. We were still doing karate lessons off and on, too. But if you expected me to point out to Haruhi that a fashion show is something fashion designers host to sell their clothing designs, not something high school girls host to show off how they look... well, forget it, because this was one SOS Brigade project I was looking forward to. Struck by inspiration, I added, "Unless you're afraid the Student Council President will shut the show down, and want to quit while you're ahead."

"Seriously? You think I haven't planned for his interference? And the solution for the rehearsal schedule is obvious!" She paused dramatically. Obviously she hadn't thought of the conflict before, and was coming up with the solution now. "We do the rehearsal on the camping trip!"

Oh, of course. How obvious. Not to mention insane.

"All the models are coming on the trip anyway. Maybe we can even recruit Yui to the project this way! We'll have a small, intimate audience to practice in front of before we do the real thing in front of thousands of people. So, who are you bringing, Kyon?"

"I'll have to think about it." I leaned my head on my arm. "Maybe no one."

"And you, Yuki? Who are you going to bring?"

Nagato raised her eyes from her book and gave Haruhi a blank look.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Haruhi pressed.

She gave a slow nod, then looked back to her book.

"Well, who is it?"

There was a pause. "...I am not certain he will want to come."

"He"? He?!

"Alright," Haruhi nodded. "But let me know who you're bringing by Friday! You too, Kyon. All guests must be approved by the Brigade chief!"

That was unusually sensible of her. Back when we assembled the baseball team, she just blindly accepted our recruits, and got stuck with my sister. And who knows who Nagato might bring if Haruhi just gave her carte blanche.

"He"?


"Kyon, buddy, you're bringing me, right?"

"Not so fast, Taniguchi," Kunikada cut in. "I've been Kyon's friend since middle school. You can't just assume he won't bring me."

I chomped down a mouthful of my dull lunch, so familiar as to be tasteless. It was past time I tried something different. "Very funny, guys."

"No, Kyon! I'm serious."

"I'm even more serious!" Taniguchi shouted him down.

Volunteering to go on an SOS Brigade trip was one thing, but their enthusiasm was just plain weird. "Okay, what's the deal?"

"What, I even have to explain?" Taniguchi leaned forward so far across my side of the desk, it felt like I was talking to Koizumi. "You're going camping with Mikuru Asahina, Yuki Nagato, Tsuruya, and Yui Ishigaki, and they're all going to be trying on sexy outfits and strutting around expecting the guys present to stare at them and voice approval, and you have to ask why I would want to come along?"

For the record, all I said was that they were going to be rehearsing the fashion show. The description of what a fashion show rehearsal entails was all Taniguchi's.

"What's so special about Yui Ishigaki?" I asked. Before that moment, I hadn't even known her family name; Haruhi always just called her Yui.

"Well, she doesn't compare to Miss Asahina, of course," Taniguchi shrugged. "But she's a very respectable B, potentially a B+ or even an A- if she does something more interesting with her hair."

Why the hell do I let this guy eat lunch with me? I'm ashamed just to share the same gender as him.

"More importantly, I got her a pretty sweet White Day present. Which she hasn't thanked me for yet, because she's so shy."

Just a guess, but I'm going to say no, it's because you got her love chocolate after getting nothing but obligation chocolates on Valentine's Day, so she thinks you're a creepy stalker. Just an educated guess based on how any girl alive would feel in her situation.

"So you think this camping trip is an opportunity to make a move on her?" Kunikada said.

"Don't be crude. A camping trip is a romantic setting! Blissfully sitting together under the night sky, with no light but the stars above and no sounds but your hearts beating..." Taniguchi's fist was tightening. "It's the perfect place to get to know a girl better. You can't deprive me of that opportunity, Kyon! You owe me for stopping that rumor about the love letter to you being from Suzumiya."

"Like hell I do. You really think rumors can be stopped by one person saying they're not true? The only reason that rumor didn't catch on is because hardly anyone is stupid enough to believe Haruhi would write me a love letter."

Actually, I did feel I owed Taniguchi something for at least making the effort. Haruhi hadn't exactly been kind to him, so it was more believable when he spoke out in defense of her reputation than it would have been coming from me. (Not that she'd been kind to me, either. It was just, we were close.) And even if he was crude in the way he talked about her, I got the feeling he really was interested in Ishigaki. For a guy who valued hotness above all else to be more excited about camping with her than with the incomparable Mikuru Asahina... that said something.

"Alright, if Haruhi approves it, you can come," I said.

"Yes!" Taniguchi pumped his fist triumphantly.

Kunikada just looked away. I have to admit, I'd actually forgotten about him for a moment. "Oh, uh, Kunikada..."

He looked at me and flashed his usual calm smile. "It's okay, Kyon. Really. Taniguchi deserves it."

"Well, if Haruhi says no to him going, you'll be my next choice. Plus, she may be okay with both of you coming. We don't even know for sure that Nagato is bringing anyone yet."

"Sure." He didn't seem too hopeful.

"Hey, are you hot for one of the girls, too?" Taniguchi said. "Which one?"

Kunikada picked at his food. "No one. Really. It just sounded like a fun time."

That didn't sound too convincing to me, or apparently even to Taniguchi. "I'll bet it's Nagato," he winked at me.


Speaking of whom, our resident bibliophile didn't show up at that day's meeting.

"Oh, yeah," Haruhi managed to say while holding a sewing needle between her teeth, lifting the cloth up to examine the stitching. "Theeth writh the compooter thohthiety today. Theeh cleared it writh me."

That was a new practice. It used to be that Nagato simply went to the Computer Society clubroom at will, and if I happened to ask about it she'd tell me. But a couple weeks ago, Haruhi finally decided she needed to put a stop to that after Nagato was absent from a meeting where the agenda was reading books on mythological monsters. She told Nagato in no uncertain terms that if she wasn't going to be at the meeting, she needed to let her know where she would be beforehand.

"She's been going there a lot lately," I pointed out.

"No big deal." She took the needle out of her mouth and finished up the stitch. "She's no good at sewing, and we don't have time to teach her right now. So she'd be useless here today anyway."

That's not the point. Also, you really need to stop calling people useless. Especially since two of those present have no skill at sewing either.

Surprisingly, I wasn't thinking of the two males. "Even if she wouldn't be of help, her company would still be welcome," Koizumi commented, working his own needle back and forth over the top of a skirt like a pro.

"Well, of course it would," Haruhi said. "But she wanted to be with the Computer Society today. End of discussion."

It wasn't like Haruhi to be so brief. I wondered how she really felt about Nagato's absence.

Miss Asahina, meanwhile, was just quivering in her seat. She had nicked herself on her needle a couple of times, which left her traumatized enough that Haruhi permitted her to sit the rest of the sewing session out. I was lucky enough to have not been assigned anything so advanced to begin with; Haruhi had entrusted me with cutting out simple squares of fabric according to designated measurements.

"By the way," I said. "I was thinking of bringing Taniguchi on the camping trip."

"That's fine," Haruhi replied, and reached out her hand.

I had no idea which fabric she wanted, so I just picked a square at random and handed it to her. "Are you ever going to give me any specifics on what supplies I should bring?"

Stupid question. I should have taken advantage of Haruhi's failure to pay attention to detail and just brought whatever camping gear I happened to have lying around.

"Oh, yeah!" She brightened with sudden interest. "You've gotta bring five different cans of bug spray, fishing poles for everyone, plenty of canned food, plates, disposable chopsticks, at least two flashlights with spare batteries, matches, and a big kitchen knife so we can make sashimi!"

"I don't even have most of those things."

"So buy whatever you don't have!"

I groaned, and ruefully went back to cutting. "When you look at me you just see a talking pile of money, is that it?" Even under ordinary circumstances, that bill would be more than I could afford, and I'd recently blown all my money reserves on White Day gifts for the girls of the SOS Brigade. It was a necessary expense, and Haruhi had been in a pretty good mood since, but the consequence was that I was just a hair shy of being broke.

I heard a little murmur come from the back of Haruhi's throat. I glanced up, but she was facing away from me. "Well, I suppose I can handle the shopping. Just give me a list of the stuff you don't have, and I'll pick it up."

Koizumi raised a hand. "Miss Suzumiya, I fear I have been taking on little of the burden of preparations for this trip. I would be happy to -"

"I said I can handle it. You think your brigade chief can't take care of her underlings?"

An uncomfortable silence followed while Haruhi jammed the needle back and froth through the fabric. I dared to speak up: "You were just kidding about the sashimi, right?"

"Hmmph! You doubt me?" But she was smiling. "You guys catch a few fish, and I'll make the sashimi!"

"I look forward to trying it," Koizumi said.

"Ah-ah-ah... um..." Miss Asahina was trembling in her seat. "I don't have to catch fish, do I? When they're flailing about, they... they..." She broke off, covering her eyes with her hands.

I would love to know what sort of strange intuition it was that led Haruhi to bring the five of us together. We're all weirdos, but in completely different ways. Somehow it all works, though.


As the meeting wound down, I finished cutting all the fabric squares that needed to be cut, and Miss Asahina recovered herself enough to take on a different activity, so I got to enjoy some of her marvelous tea. Haruhi eventually became annoyed with the two of us sipping tea and chatting while she and Koizumi were hard at work, so she tossed aside the dress she was working on and headed home, growling that she'd finish it tomorrow.

I met her look of reproof without flinching. Hey, you have only yourself to blame for not giving us more to work on. What do you expect, us to just sit here and silently twiddle our thumbs?

Once she'd left, Koizumi remarked, "Miss Suzumiya certainly seemed to be in a good mood today."

Miss Asahina gave a sweet murmur of affirmation. "I was surprised when she offered to let me have a rest from the sewing. She's been much more patient."

I gulped the last of my tea. "I just wish I could understand why she's launching this camping trip now of all times. We just barely got out that literary magazine in time, and now she seems to be hurling out one project on top of another."

"More patient in some regards, but not in others, perhaps?" Koizumi suggested while Miss Asahina got up to pour more tea. "However, as regards the timing of the camping trip in particular, I believe I may offer a more solid hypothesis. The location for the trip appears significant, does it not?"

"I don't know what you're getting at."

"Hmm." He was still focused on his sewing. "Lake Tenapa was the site of your first date with Miss Suzumiya, was it not? In light of your exceptional White Day gift for her, she may have decided she is willing to make a fresh start on her romantic relationship with you."

Miss Asahina nearly dropped the tea tray. I scowled at Koizumi. "Why do you have to interpret absolutely everything in light of me and Haruhi? The camping location doesn't mean anything; it's not like there are dozens of camping sites around here to choose from. Besides, the whole SOS Brigade and our guests are going. That's hardly a date."

"Of course. This is merely a sign, and Miss Suzumiya is not necessarily looking to reboot your relationship with a date. She may have something more subtle in mind."

"Like what?"

Miss Asahina was pouring me a fresh cup, her hands shaking.

Koizumi shrugged. "We won't know until the trip begins."