[Twisted Reality]

Originally Posted by inkyubasu

Me = Fan

Well, first, I have to tell you that, as you already said, there is NO solid evidence on the matter...
But there are little hints and facts... hidden of course, because we can't forget the story is being told by Kyon, who is unaware of everybody else's feelings...

(WARNING: I'm kind of Itsuki-esque... I wrote a lot XD... AND some of my reflexions are fangirlish and DISTURBING X.x)

Oh well... The hints and... stuff:

Spoiler:

- In the anime, the infamous scene of the mole in episode 8, some claim that the mole is a sexy thing... like Asahina's mole... Since it means knowledge of someone's body... Others say that it means Kyon is lying, but I don't see any relation with that and what they were talking about... so I'm more inclined to the first option, since Itsuki was squinting his eyes in a very suggestive way... and, of course the novel wouldn't point that scene! How could Kyon describe it... he wasn't even looking that way

- In the anime and the novels, Itsuki is always getting "a bit TOO near" to Kyon (which annoys him of course) and in the "Charmed at First Sight LOVER" chapter, he even suggested "with a vulgar smile" they could hug each other to be warm...

- Novel, Volume 7, Chapter 5: Itsuki suggests Kyon "certain job"... Kyon thinks he is talking about becoming ESPer... but analyzing it better, and from a cold perspective, I think he is pointing at becoming host... so, of course it is a job that pays highly, and it's not too stressful... now, that doesn't sounds too bad, not all male hosts are up to bad things... the problem lies in the next part:

[“If you ever change your mind, be sure to give me a call. I can teach you the basics, and even go beyond that, if you wish.” For some reason, Koizumi’s choice of words sounded strange and peculiar today. I had a feeling that he would be mentioning something I didn’t like should I play along with him, and for that one reason alone my gut told me to reject his offer all the way till the end, lest I
end up falling into a trap.]

Yes, the basics mean how to talk nicely and be courteous, the advanced part in that kind of job is ... well... having sex with the customers... So, Is he actually suggesting Kyon to have... GULP... sex with him X_X?!

- The infamous comparison: Volume 9 of the novel... Koizumi asks Kyon how he would feel if he (Itsuki) had an old girl friend that he didn't know about, only to be disappointed by his uninterested answer; then he smiled bitterly and used Asahina as a better example... Why did that answer disappoint him?... and more importantly, they were on the topic [old friends unknown to those with romantic feelings for you]

- Also on Volume 9, prologue, Itsuki says he is concerned as how he is seen through Kyon's eyes, and gets clearly annoyed at two points: When he talks about the friend of his sister (notice all he says while he is playing with the petal... that petal means something, I'm sure), and when Kyon compares Sasaki to him

- On the drama CD there are a lot more of hints... for example the "Feel free to call me Icchan"

-And finally, the theme songs... just read the lyrics in english... "Maggaare Spectacle" seems to be dedicated to Kyon (in it, apart from the normal lyrics, he and the girls are explaining their business with Suzumiya, it would be pointless if she were the one he is singing to), while his second song is dedicated to Haruhi and his task

That's certainly a take. It's probably why he disturbs Kyon so much is that Koizumi really has no compunctions about walking into a guy's or girls personal space for his own purposes, and with a smile. He does it with Haruhi anyway.

I always took it to be him teasing Kyon. There are a lot of hints to suggest that Koizumi might actually like Haruhi. Namely, that he openly expresses his jealousy for Kyon's and Haruhi's "unconscious bond of trust." He also admits that he admires Haruhi's energy and finds her attractive. Of course, we're not sure whether to take him all that seriously.

However, he certainly spends a lot of time worrying about Haruhi's mental status and is always constantly encouraging Kyon to look at things from Haruhi's perspective as a person and not just an insane girl to be brushed off. He really does care about her, but he has to look after her from a distance. It might not be surprising for him to be attracted to her, especially if he were to discover that Haruhi, was just in fact, a reasonably normal girl compared to what Haruhi's inner-spaces and powers might otherwise indicate.

But Haruhi picked Kyon. That's the end of that.

If his attraction to Haruhi is real, than it wins me respect points for him. He's such an accommodating character, but it never seems to drive him insane. He deliberately loses games to Kyon (even picks out different types of games). He's Haruhi's toadie. He nudges Kyon in Haruhi's direction when he can. He's Brigade's resident psychologist. He's Haruhi's Ritalin. And he does it all with an pleasant and effete demeanor. He's set himself up to be a facade. A half-person either Kyon's or Haruhi's eyes. He's nonexistent, invisible, as far as Mikuru or Yuki are concerned.

Spoiler for Also. . .:

In the alternate timeline, he's still fiercely protective of Haruhi. However, Haruhi apparently grew rapidly bored of Koizumi. Then Kyon shows up and reveals that he is "John Smith." In either world, Kyon is a man of mystery to Haruhi. Sadly, Koizumi loses again, even in the alternate timeline.

In any case, it's hinting that Koizumi would be attracted to Haruhi even if it weren't his job.

I also look through your examples and a lot of it can be interpreted otherwise.

Spoiler for Sasaki:

I don't remember the petal part, but I'm certain that Koizumi was just a bit offended that he thinks he'd get along with Sasaki just because they're superficially similar. Certainly, they both love philosophizing and going off into the deep end, but relationships are never really all that simple. Koizumi is simply pointing out that a man of facades would be necessarily compatible with Sasaki. Kyon might think he's too dissimilar to Haruhi, but if anything, it makes him perfectly compatible.

For the most part, he is taking this from Haruhi's point of view. Would Haruhi get jealous if Kyon suddenly revealed that he had a relationship with Sasaki in the past? Yes. Koizumi is simply revealing this to Kyon because he's interested in pushing Haruhi and Kyon together. If Kunikida and Taniguchi believed that there was something "special" going on here, why shouldn't Koizumi? Or Haruhi for that matter? This is yet another example of Koizumi forcing Kyon to empathize with Haruhi.

I also suspect that Kyon is actually the "power source," so to speak. Since I think Sasaki's unusual status is a result of Kyon's more-than passing interest in her. I believe Koizumi actually even speculates this.