chapter 1 - Vol 4
Nhãn:
Light Novel
Chapter 1
In the morning, I woke up under my sister's usual killer blanket-strip-away move, together with
the tri-colored cat that wrapped itself in the blanket beside me. This is my sister, the earlymorning
assassin who carried out Mom's orders dutifully.
"Mom said you should eat some breakfast properly."
Smiling, my sister held up the grudging cat from the bed with both arms, and brushed her nose
against the back of its ears.
"Shami too! Time to eat!"
Shamisen, who had become our house pet after the Cultural Festival, yawned with a blank face
and licked its front paw. The originally-talkative tri-colored male cat had completely lost its
voice, and established its status in our home as merely a pet. It had become a nondescript cat
found everywhere – as if I had hallucinated that this cat had ever spoken in human language,
now that I thought about it. The cat is great and not fastidious: its purrs are seldom, close to
absent, as if it has forgotten cat language along with human language. Somehow it made my
room its bed, and thus grew silent to the frequent dropping by of my sister, who is avid in taking
care of Shamisen.
"Shamiiii, Shamiiii. It is time to eat!"
Singing with lyrics that didn't match the rhythm, my sister exited the room while hugging the cat
with apparent effort. Getting goose bumps from the cold morning air, I glared down at the clock
face for a short time. Finally I struggled up, abandoning the lingering affection for my warm bed.
Afterwards, I changed, washed, went down to the dining room, gulped down breakfast in five
minutes, and exited the doorway much earlier than my sister. Today the weather was cold again,
in good progress.
Until now, everything had proceeded normally.
I was climbing the usual slope when the familiar back-of-the-head was within sight. The figure
ten meters or so in front of me was Taniguchi, no doubt. Usually, this guy gleefully bounces and
jumps up the hiking path, but today he was definitely walking slowly. After a moment, I caught
up with him.
"Hey, Taniguchi!"
It would be nice to take the initiative to pat him on the shoulder from time to time, I thought to
myself, and did exactly that.
"...Hmm, Kyon?"
The voice was surely muffled. Of course; Taniguchi was wearing a white mask.
"What's up? Got a cold?"
"Eh...?" Taniguchi looked worn out. "A cold, as you can see. To be honest, I would rather take
absence, but my old man was noisy about it."
He was so full of energy yesterday, but then suddenly caught a cold, I saw.
"What the hell? I was also feeling unwell yesterday! *Cough cough*"
Okay, don't mess up my pace, just because I was not accustomed to seeing Taniguchi coughing
and looking weak. But was he already close to being sick yesterday? I could only see the
scatterbrain as usual.
"Hmm... Really? I did not intend to look well."
Taniguchi tilted his head, and I gave a spiteful smile.
"You had been piping merrily about your Christmas Eve date, hadn't you? Well, get well
quickly, before the date! Such a chance rarely visits your door, you know!"
However, Taniguchi tilted his head even more.
"Date? What the hell? Idiot. I have no plans for Christmas Eve!"
The "What?" question should have come from me. What happened to his girlfriend at Kouyouen
Girls High? Did he get dumped just last night?
"Hey, Kyon, what the hell are you talking about? I know nothing of this!"
Taniguchi grumpily shut his mouth, and turned to walk forward again. Every cold symptom
seemed to be in effect, and his frailty did not look pretended. Moreover, judging from his
condition, his date plans were surely toast, and he would just as surely be exhausted. With his
pompous claims beforehand, it was definitely tearing his heart apart just to meet me face to face.
I see, I see.
"Don't look so grim!"
I pushed Taniguchi's back.
"Why not join the Hotpot Party? We can still count you in now!"
"What hotpot? What party are you talking about? I don't remember hearing such a thing..."
Oh, really? The shock was so great that whatever I said would fall on deaf ears for quite some
time, I guessed. Let me be the one holding his hand then. Everything would be solved by the vast
never-ending flow of time. I would not mention the matter anymore, I promise.
Taniguchi continued to drag himself up, and I also continued my climb slowly besides him.
It was still impossible for me to notice at that moment.
I was caught off guard: the cold had turned into an epidemic within Class 1-5 without me
noticing. I got into the classroom just before the bell rang, but there were still a couple of empty
seats, and one fifth of the whole class had caught the white mask fad. The only explanation was
that all of them had double booked their cold's incubation period and onset period.
I was even more surprised to find that the seat right behind me had been unoccupied since the
first lesson.
"This is unbelievable..."
Was Haruhi taking sick leave? Was the cold that nasty and rampant this year? It is unbelievable
that there are pathogens that exist which are courageous enough to invade her body, not to
mention how unbelievable it is that Haruhi can be struck down by germs or viruses. The more
convincing explanation was that Haruhi was preparing for some new scheme she had just
thought of. Maybe there would be something else besides a hotpot?
The classroom ambiance was bleak, and it was not because there were no air-conditioners. A
sudden increase in absentees. It even looked like the total population in Class 1-5 had somehow
dropped.
It was true that I could not feel the overwhelming presence of Haruhi from behind. But at the
same time, I also felt that the atmosphere had changed inexplicably.
Then came the lessons I took idly, after which, the lunch break smoothly followed.
As I was taking the stone cold lunchbox out of my bag, Kunikida approached with his lunch in
one hand, and sat behind me.
"Seems like you are taking a break. Mind if I sit here?"
Kunikida said as he was unwrapping his Tupperware from its napkin. After becoming classmates
in high school, it turned into half a habit to have lunch with this guy. I searched for my other
lunch mate Taniguchi, but he was not in the classroom; perhaps he went to the school cafeteria.
I turned my chair sideways.
"Somehow the cold has suddenly turned so popular. Thank God I’m not infected, though."
"Hmm?"
Kunikida was putting his Tupperware carefully on the spread out napkin and examining the
contents, and he returned a dumbfounded look at me. Moving his chopsticks like a crab with its
claws, Kunikida spoke.
"Symptoms of the cold spreading were already noticeable a week ago! It doesn’t look like the
flu, but it might be better if it were the flu. Since there are specific remedies nowadays."
"A week ago?"
I stopped cutting up my spinach-laced omelet, and asked again.
I could not think of anyone spreading the cold germs the same time last week. Nobody had been
absent, and nobody was coughing in lessons as far as I could remember. Everyone in Class 1-5
looked healthy, but could it be that the Devil of Ailment had been operating secretly outside my
sight?
"What? There were quite a few people absent. Didn't you notice?"
I didn't at all. Was that for real?
"Sure it is. It turned increasingly worse from the start of this week. Please don't isolate the whole
tenth grade though. Winter break would be chipped off otherwise, I bet."
Kunikida stuffed some more furikake rice into his mouth.
"Taniguchi had also been green to the gills these days. His father's principle was to cure ailment
by vigor, and he could not take leave unless his temperature was over 40 degrees (Celsius). I
hope that he will be doing something before the cold gets worse."
I stopped my chopsticks.
"Kunikida. Sorry, but I thought Taniguchi started being almost dead today."
"Oh no, no way. He has been like that since the beginning of this week, hasn't he? He took a
break from yesterday's physical education time."
I was becoming increasingly confused.
Wait, Kunikida. What on earth are you talking about? As far as I can remember, in yesterday's
physical education lesson, Taniguchi took on a football rival match with vigor, as if he was on
steroids. I could not be mistaken, as I was in the opposing team, and repeatedly slide-tackled
him. I was not being resentful to Taniguchi's getting a girlfriend, but if I had known what would
happen today I would probably have thought twice before tackling him.
"Are you sure? Really? That's strange!"
Kunikida tilted his head as he was picking out the carrots from the Kinpiragobou dish.
"Did I see it wrong?"
He said in an easy-going tone.
"Hmm, well we’ll see when Taniguchi comes back."
What on earth has happened today? Taniguchi and Kunikida are talking as if they were behind
thick fog, and even Haruhi is absent! Don't tell me that this is an omen for happenings that
trouble the whole human race except Haruhi. My usually nonexistent sixth sense began to sound
sirens, and strange creeps suddenly ran up the back of my neck.
I was correct.
My gut feeling was not to be belittled. There was no doubt that it was an omen. What my gut
feeling did not tell me was whom this would trouble. The whole human race except Haruhi…
well, not exactly. Surprisingly as it seems, only one person noticed and was troubled by this turn
of events. Except for this poor person, the entire human race was not at all troubled. It's because
there was no way they could perceive the beginning of this incident itself. There's no way one
could perceive something outside of one's perception. From their shoes, the world had not
changed at all.
So who was the troubled one?
The answer was apparent.
Me!
I stood dumbstruck within the confusion, and ended up being left behind by the world.
Yes, I finally realized.
The lunch break of Dec 18.
The omen came in a physical form, and it opened the classroom door.
Wow! A couple of girls seating at the classroom front near the door burst into shouts of joy. The
shouts were apparently from recognizing the classmate who just entered. From the gaps within
the loose group of sailor clothes, I caught a glimpse of that person at the center of attention.
With a bag dangling in one hand, that person gave a smile to the approaching friends.
"Yes, I'm all right now. I felt much better right after I took the injection at the hospital in the
morning. Having nothing to do at home, I figured I would come back to school, even just for the
afternoon lessons."
A gentle smile answered the question if the cold had been cured. Ending the short lively
conversation, with semi-long hair swaying, that person gradually... walked -- towards -- us.
"Oops, gotta go!"
Kunikida bit on his chopsticks and got up. For me, it was as if my vocal cords' voicing abilities
had all been confiscated, or even as if I had forgotten to suck in oxygen through respiration. I
merely stared at that person. The flow of time seemed infinite, but in fact, she had only walked
a few steps. When the footsteps finally stopped, that person was standing right next to me.
"What's wrong?"
While looking at me, she said hackneyed expressions in a mystified tone.
"You look as if you’ve seen a ghost! Or is there something on my face?"
Then she turned to Kunikida, who was trying to tidy up his Tupperware.
"Oh, just let me hang my bag. Please continue with your lunch. I already ate before I came.
During lunchtime, I will lend my seat to you."
Just as we were told, she hung her bag on the hook at the desk's side, and turned her body
gracefully towards the ring of waiting friends.
"Wait."
I guess my voice must have turned shrill.
"Why are you here?"
That person turned around, and stabbed me with a cool glance.
"What do you mean? Is it strange that I am here? Or do you mean that it would be better if I were
out with a cold for longer? What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Not that. I don't care if you have a cold or not. Not that..."
"Kyon."
Kunikida poked my shoulders worriedly.
"You are so strange today! Kyon has been saying strange things all day."
"Kunikida, don't you think of anything when you see this person?"
Unable to withstand it anymore, I stood up and pointed with my finger to that person, who was
looking at me as if she witnessed an enigma.
"You also know who this is, don't you? This person shouldn't even be here!"
"...Kyon, how rude it is to forget your classmate's face just because she took a brief leave! What
do you mean by that I should not be here? We have always been in the same class, haven't we?"
No way could I forget! This attempted murderer! Even if I were to forget the face of a person
who would like to kill me, half a year was a little too short.
"I see."
That person spread a smile across her face, as if she had just thought of a super prank.
"You took a nap after lunch didn't you? Are you sure you are not having a bad dream? That
should be it. Come on! Wake up!"
"You think so?" With a broad smile on her lovable face, that person turned to Kunikida for
agreement. She took the appearance of the girl whose image had been etched into my brain and
could not be shrugged off.
Flashbacks of various images. A classroom basked in sunset -- shadows extending on the floor --
walls without windows -- distorted space -- the wielding of a knife -- a wisp of a smile -- sandlike
crystals that crumbled down...
Annihilated after defeat in her battle with Nagato, she was the original class representative, who
on the surface, had transferred to a school in Canada.
Standing here was Asakura Ryouko.
"You'll be refreshed if you wash your face. Do you have a handkerchief with you? I can lend you
mine."
Asakura put her hand into her skirt pocket, and I stopped her with my hand. Who would know if
she took out more than her handkerchief?
"No thanks. Rather, tell me what is happening. Everything. In particular, tell me why you are
leaving your bag at Haruhi's seat? This isn’t your seat, it's Haruhi's."
"Haruhi?"
Asakura knitted her eyebrows, and asked Kunikida.
"Who is Haruhi? Is there someone with such a nickname?"
Kunikida returned an answer that ended all hope.
"Doesn’t ring a bell. Haruhi-san... How do you write it?"
"Haruhi is Haruhi!"
I mumbled with a dazzling sensation.
"Have you all forgotten about Suzumiya Haruhi? How can you guys ever forget such a person?"
"Suzumiya Haruhi... Well, Kyon."
With a comforting voice, Kunikida slowly divulged.
"Such a person is not in our class! By the way, since the seating rearrangement earlier, this seat
has already been Asakura-san's. Are you confused with another class? Hmm, I have never heard
of a Suzumiya before. Shouldn't be in the tenth grade..."
"I don't have any idea either."
With the voice of a gentle cat, Asakura spoke as if urging me to receive treatment.
"Kunikida-kun, can you take a look inside my desk? At the corner there should be a class name
book."
I snatched away the notebook that Kunikida took out. I first opened the page of Class 1-5 of the
First year, and ran my finger against the list of girl names.
Saeki, Sakanaka, Suzuki, Seno...
Not a single name was between Suzuki and Seno. The name of Suzumiya Haruhi had
disappeared from the class name book. Who are you searching for? Such a girl does not even
exist in the first place! The page screamed out loud, and I closed the name book and my eyes.
"...Kunikida, I have a request."
"Yes?"
"Pinch me on the cheek. I want to wake up."
"Are you sure?"
He put his whole force in it. It was painful. But I did not wake up. Opening my eyes, I could still
see Asakura standing there, curving her lips into an arc.
What on earth had happened?
I suddenly realized that we had become the center of attention in the class. The eyes were all
focused on me, as if they saw an aging stray dog that suffered from canine distemper. Dammit!
Why? I did not say anything wrong!
"Dammit!"
I asked two questions repeatedly to the people around me.
Where is Suzumiya Haruhi?
Didn't Asakura Ryouko transfer?
"Don't know."
"Nope, she didn't."
The answers I got did not smell good at all. As if on cue, they affected me to the point of
dizziness and nausea. I could only support my body by putting my hand on a nearby table. Some
part of my sanity seemed to be shattered.
Asakura put her hand on my wrist, and peered into me worriedly. The sweet aroma from her hair
was like narcotics to me.
"Seems like you should go to the nurse's office. These kinds of things can happen when you are
not feeling well. It must be so! Are you starting to develop a cold?"
No way!
I would like to scream out loud. I was not the strange one! This situation was strange itself!
"Get your hands off me!"
I pushed away Asakura's hand, and ran for the classroom exit. The slight unpleasant feeling on
my skin was seeping into my brain. The cold that broke out all of a sudden, the gap in
conversation with Taniguchi, the disappearance of Haruhi's name on the name book, the
appearance of Asakura... What? Haruhi was gone? Nobody remembered her? That couldn't be!
Wasn't this world revolving around that girl? Wasn't that girl THE Blacklisted Character on the
Universal Scale?
On the verge of stumbling over, I pumped my legs hard, and stepped forth onto the hallway
almost on all fours.
The first thing that came to mind was Nagato's face. She would definitely explain the situation to
me. After all, it was Nagato Yuki, the silent but omnipotent alien android. Every single time she
would sort things out. It is no exaggeration that I could survive thanks to Nagato.
I have Nagato!
And she would rescue a person like me from this stranded situation!
Nagato's class was in sight. Without needing to run, I arrived a few seconds later. Unable to
think of anything, I opened the door and searched for the petite short-haired figure.
Not there.
But it was too soon to give up. In lunchtime she most probably was in the clubroom reading
books. Even though she wasn't in the classroom, it would be unwise to conclude that even
Nagato had disappeared.
The next guy in mind was Koizumi. The literature clubroom, located in the old wing, was far
from here. The building was even beyond Asahina-san's eleventh grade classroom. It would be
faster to go to Class 1-9 one story below. Koizumi Itsuki, just be there! In no other situation
would I want to see his all-smiley face even more.
I ran at a dogtrot along the hallway, jumped down the stairs skipping three stair steps, and head
towards Class 1-9 at the corner of the school building, while I was praying for that supernaturally
powered dude to be there.
Passed Class 1-7, passed Class 1-8, and there Class 1-9 would...
"What? How come?"
I stopped, finally starting to realize, and checked once again the plates that hung out from the
wall. On the left of Class 1-8 was Class 1-7. On the right of Class 1-8 was…
Only the staircase landing leading to the emergency stairs.
Nothing else. No trace of anything.
"Of all things who could imagine that…?"
Not to mention no Koizumi.
The entire class of 1-9 was gone.
I really had my hands tied now.
Who could have even imagined that the classroom that had existed yesterday would be gone
today? It wasn’t as if just a single person had disappeared, the whole class had been erased, and
the building itself shrunk. No matter how rushed the work was, it would be impossible to finish it
all in just one night. Where had all the Class 1-9 people gone?
The great shock had knocked loose my perception of time. God knew how long I had frozen on
the spot there, before I regained consciousness by a slight jab in my back. In the cloud I heard
the voice of a biology teacher, who looked like a marshmallow hugging some textbooks.
"What are you doing here? Lessons have started! Return to your classroom!"
I must have missed the chime signaling the end of the break. The hallway was already cleared of
people, and echoed only the raised voice of a teacher from the Class 1-7 classroom.
I staggeringly started to move. The time for ascertaining the signs was up. Things had already
been set in motion. Those who should not have existed appeared, and those who should exist
were gone. Exchanging Haruhi, Koizumi and all students in Class 1-9 for just Asakura was not
up to scale!
"What the hell?"
If I wasn’t going nuts, the world had gone nuts.
Who did that?
Was it you, Haruhi?
Thanks to all that, I heard absolutely nothing from the afternoon lessons. All voices and sounds
slipped straight out of my mind, and all information failed to be implanted in my brain cells.
Before I noticed, even homeroom had finished, and time had become after school.
I was frightened, not so much by Asakura who was scribbling with her mechanical pencil behind
me, but rather that both Haruhi and Koizumi were not at school. Even seeking reconfirmation
from other people made me irritated beyond endurable limits. "Doesn't ring a bell." Every time I
heard the line, I sank deeper into a bottomless swamp. I was not even recharged with enough
energy to get my butt out of my seat.
Taniguchi walked straight home with Kunikida, who felt a little anxious about me. Asakura left
the classroom in merry laughter with a couple of girls. She took a look at me before she headed
out, a look showing sincere concern for a depressed classmate, and my head felt dizzy from it.
Fishy. All of them.
Nearly dragged behind by some guys for cleanup duty, I finally managed to step out onto the
hallway, with my bag in one hand.
After all, this wasn't where I belonged after class.
With a heavy heart I walked down the stairs and reached the first floor. Over there, a slit of light
appeared in front of my eyes, and I dashed off towards it.
"Asahina-san!"
Could there be any merrier sight than that? Walking towards me from the other side was my
goddess, my eye-stress relief medicine. What added joy to joy was the figure of Tsuruya-san
beside the glamorous baby-faced beauty. The overwhelming joy busted my sensibility afar.
-- I probably should have been a little more prudent.
I rushed towards the two seniors with amazing speed, and gripped hard the shoulder of Asahinasan,
who widened her eyes at me.
"He-eh!"
The shock was apparent on her face, but my mouth just kept on speaking.
"Haruhi is gone! Koizumi's class has turned into the Drifting Classroom! I haven't found Nagato
yet, but Asakura is here, and the school's become a strange place itself! You're still my Asahinasan,
right!?"
Bang! It was the sound of Asahina-san's bag and calligraphy set dropping onto the floor.
"Eh? Ah, he... Eh. Well...But..."
"So are you Asahina-san from the future?"
"...The future? What do you mean? And, please... let go of me."
The pit of my stomach cringed. Asahina-san looked at me just like a domesticated impala that
had seen a wild jaguar. Her eyes were clearly filled with fright, and that was what I feared most.
Just as I was shocked stiff, I felt my arm twist upwards. Upsetting cracks sounded from my
joints. Ouch!
"Wait a sec, young lad!"
Tsuruya-san grappled my arm using techniques from ancient martial arts.
"Stop jumping on people! Look, my Mikuru is shaking from head to toe!"
The voice was laughing, but the glance from her eyes was sharp as a sword. I looked at Asahina-san. She
was definitely retreating with teary eyes.
The voice was laughing, but the glance from her eyes was sharp as a sword. I looked at Asahina-san. She
was definitely retreating with teary eyes.
"Are you a first-year from the Mikuru Fan Club? There are procedures to everything, young lad.
Rushing things doesn't impress me."
The psychological chill I experienced so many times today ran down my spine.
"Tsuruya-san..." Still locked in a udegarami position, I wriggled out a sound.
Tsuruya-san looked me squarely in the face, as if I were a complete stranger to her.
Tsuruya-san, you too...?
"Hey, how come you know me? By the way, who are you? Mikuru's acquaintance?"
I saw something I least wanted to see. Cringing behind Tsuruya-san, Asahina-san gave me a
closer look, and shook her head furiously.
"D...D...Don't know him at all. E..Eh. He must have confused me with somebody else..."
Feeling as if I received the scorecard of complete failure for this year, just when my tenth year
was drawing to a close, my eyes grew faint. I would be silent to anyone attacking me with any
words, but Asahina-san's words were the biggest shock to me, ever since my cousin, who I had a
crush on when I was young, eloped with another boy.
Surely I did not confuse her with anybody else by calling Asahina-san Asahina-san, unless this
Asahina-san was an Asahina-san from some other time. ... Oh, I got it! There was one way to
find out whether this Asahina-san is actually the Asahina-san I knew, right?
"Asahina-san."
I pointed my free hand to my own chest. I can only say I lost my mind. My mouth moved itself
with the following line,
"There should be a star-like birthmark somewhere around here on your chest. Do you have one?
If you are okay with it, let me check--"
I was hit with a full-force punch.
By Asahina-san's fist.
Asahina-san, dumbfounded by the line I spurt out, turned redder by the second. Tears welled in
her eyes, and in a slow, novice-like motion she blasted a right straight punch to my face.
"...Urgh" a sobbing sound escaped from her throat as she ran off.
"Hey, Mikuru! Ah, whatever. And you, young lad, keep your otaku stench in check! Mikuruchan
is pretty timid, you know! If you dare to do anything to her again, you'll feel my hairstanding
fury!"
Giving me an unwelcomingly tight final grip on my wrist, Tsuruya-san picked up the bag and
calligraphy set on the floor, held them to her chest, and ran off chasing Asahina-san.
"Hey, wait a bit-- Mikuru--"
"..."
Watching them, stupefied, a cold wintery wind blew inside my head.
That's the end to it all, no doubt.
Could I survive tomorrow? If news that I made Asahina-san cry spread around the school, there
would be more than a few guys who would come attack me. If the situation were reversed, I
would do the same as well. Maybe I should prepare my will.
I was gradually pushed to my wit's end. I called Haruhi's cell phone, only to hear the operator's
"the phone number you have dialed is no longer available." I had no record of her home phone
number, and her name was erased completely from the namebook. I considered going off to her
house, but on second thought I hadn't even been there before. It was unfair considering that
Haruhi had been to my house, but it was too late to think of that now.
Disregarding the disappearance of Class 1-9, I went to the staff office to ask whether Koizumi or
Haruhi was taking sick leave somewhere. The result was flat negative. There was no student in
any class with the name Suzumiya Haruhi. There was no transfer student in this school or
coming to this school with the name Koizumi Itsuki. Or so I heard.
I had come to a dead end.
Where could the leads be? Was this a Where's Haruhi game organized by Haruhi? Was it a game
with the goal of reaching where the disappeared Haruhi had gone? But what was this game for?
I thought as I walked. Thanks to Asahina-san's single punch, my head cooled off a little. There
was no use burning my ass off. In such a moment, I needed to be calm. Calm.
"Please, I beg you." I murmured.
There was only one destination now. It was the final foundation, the final absolute defense line.
If this were to fall, then all would end. Game over.
The literature clubroom, located at the clubroom block normally referred to as the Old Block.
If Nagato wasn't there, what could I possibly do?
I slowed my pace deliberately, and inched towards the clubroom taking all the time I needed.
After a few minutes, standing in front of the old and worn wooden door, I put my hand on my
chest, confirming my heart rate. It was far from normal operation, but it was a lot better than at
lunch break. Probably my senses had gradually gone numb after too many hits from the string of
anomalies. I was driven to the corner. There was no path ahead of me except to barge into the
cloud of darkness, with the worst-case scenario in my mind.
I skipped knocking on the door, and threw the door wide open.
"...!"
And then I saw.
A petite figure sitting on a makeshift chair, with a book spread at a corner of the long table in
front of her.
It was Nagato Yuki, staring straight at me through her glasses, with her face written all over with
surprise, her mouth popping open.
"You're here..."
I muttered a sigh of half resignation, half relief, and closed the door behind me. Nagato did not
say anything as usual, but I couldn't loosen myself and rejoice. The Nagato I knew did not wear
glasses, ever since the incident with Asakura. However, the Nagato here had the exact same
glasses she had worn some time ago. I thought about it the second time, but Nagato just looked
cooler without her glasses. That was my preference.
Moreover, that expression just didn't match. What was with her face, like a female Literature
Club member caught off guard by a male student dashing in, someone she didn't recognize at all?
What was with the surprise? Isn't it characteristic of Nagato to be furthest away from such
emotions?
"Nagato..."
With the lesson from Asahina-san fresh in my mind, I managed to suppress my about-to-pounce
upper body, and walked to the table.
"What?"
Nagato replied without moving an inch.
"Tell me. Do you know me?"
She tightened her lips, and pushed the bridge of her glasses. Then came a long period of silence.
I was thinking of giving up, and find myself a monastery to retreat from this world, when a reply
came.
"I know you."
Nagato put her gaze somewhere around my chest. My hope welled. This Nagato might be the
Nagato I knew.
"In fact, I also know a little bit about you. Would you listen to me for a second?"
"..."
"You are not human, but an organic android created by aliens. You had wielded impressive
powers like magic several times, like the homerun-mode bat, and invasion to Cave Cricket
Space..."
As soon as I started talking, a sense of regret gradually crept into me. Nagato was apparently
making a strange face. Her eyes and mouth were open, and her gaze was wandering around my
shoulders. The ambience around her read like she felt frightened to look straight at me.
"...That was you whom I knew all along. Was it correct?"
"I am sorry."
Nagato's reply made me doubt whether my ears were working properly. Why apologize? Why is
Nagato saying this?
"I do not know. I know you are a student in Class 1-5. I see you from time to time. However, I
know nothing except that. To me, this is the first time I've talked to you."
The final foundation turned into a house built on loose, weathered sand, collapsed and crumbled.
"...So you're not an alien? The name Suzumiya Haruhi does not ring a bell to you at all?"
Nagato tilted her head in confusion, savoring the word "alien" on her lips.
"Nope," she replied.
"Wait a sec!"
Except for Nagato, who else could I rely on? I was like an infant swallow being abandoned by its
parents. My only chance of keeping sane was through her doing something. If this went on, I
would go crazy.
"No way!"
Oh no, I was losing my composure once again. My mind was in confusion, with meteor showers
of the three primary colors flying around like crazy, I circled around the table, and approached
Nagato's side.
The pale fingers closed the book. It was a thick hard-cover. I could not catch the title in time.
Nagato stood up from her chair, and shifted one step behind as if to retreat from me. Her two
eyes, like polished black Go stones, were rolling in hesitation.
I put my hands on Nagato's shoulders. I lost my self-composure to look back to my recent failure
with Asahina-san. I was totally focused on not letting Nagato go. If I hadn't grabbed her like that,
all my friends would have slipped through the cracks of my fingers, I feared. I didn't want to lose
anyone anymore.
With my hand feeling her body heat through the school uniform, I talked to her profile framed in
short hair, as she was turning her face away from me.
"Please remember! The world changed when yesterday turned to today. Haruhi's been replaced
by Asakura! Who is behind this player substitution? Information Synthesis Thought Entities?
Asakura was resurrected, so you must know something! You and Asakura are from the same
mold, right? What is this scheme, huh? Even if you use big words, you should still be able to
explain--"
Just like what you have done all along, I was about to continue, but I sensed the feeling of liquid
lead spreading inside my stomach.
What was this reaction... similar to a normal person's?
Nagato's eyes were tightly shut, and a blush of red began spreading on her ceramic-like pale
cheek. Moans, like faint sighs, escaped from her slightly parted lips, and I finally noticed the
quivering of her delicate shoulders under my hands, like a puppy under chilling air. A shivering
voice reached my ears.
"Stop it..."
I recollected. For some time now, Nagato's back was stuck against the wall. In other words, I had
forced Nagato against the wall without noticing. What had I done? I was behaving like a thug,
wasn't I? If anyone had witnessed this, I would immediately have my hands handcuffed behind
my back, and receive judgement from the public. When viewed objectively, I was nothing but a
bastard who attacked a meek female member when there were just the two of us in the literature
club room.
"I'm sorry."
Holding my hands up, I felt strength draining out of me.
"I didn't mean to attack you. I just wanted to confirm something..."
My knees felt weak. I pulled a nearby folding chair to my side, and collapsed in it like some
mollusk straight after landing. Nagato did not move at all, with her back to the wall. It could only
be considered lucky that she hadn't dashed out of the room.
I swept my eyes across the room one more time, and realized in one glance that this was not the
secret base for the SOS Brigade. In this room were lines of bookshelves and folding chairs, and a
desktop computer on top of a long makeshift table. The desktop was not the latest model Haruhi
had snatched from the Computer Society using blackmail, but a model at least three generations
older. Comparatively speaking, the processing power difference was like that between a twohorse
phaeton and a maglev.
The Captain's desk, on which a prism with the word "Captain" was written on it, was nowhere to
be found, as expected. The refrigerator and the rack of various costumes were absent as well. No
board games brought by Koizumi. No maid. No Santa's granddaughter. Nothing at all.
"Damn it!"
I held my head with my hands. Game over! If this is someone's psychological attack,
congratulations on her resounding success! I would give her first honor. So who was behind this
experiment? Haruhi? Information Synthesis Thought Entities? Some undetected new enemy of
this world? ...
It lasted for around five minutes. Struggling to lighten up my mood, I sheepishly lifted up my
head.
Nagato, still plastered to the wall, fixed her ebony-like eyes on me. Her glasses were slightly
tilted. My only thanks to the heavens were that Nagato's eyes did not show fear or horror, but
glistened like those of a sister who was reunited with her supposedly-dead brother on a
downtown street by chance. At least it didn't seem she was going to report the incident. In the
midst of such panic, this was the only tiny source of relief.
Why don't you sit? I started, but realized that I had taken Nagato's chair. Should I give her the
seat, or should I unfold another chair? Oh, and she might not want to sit near me.
"Sorry."
With one more apology, I stood up. Taking one propped up folded chair aside, I moved to the
center of the room. Judging an ample distance from Nagato, I unfolded and sat on the chair, and
continued to hold my head in my hands.
This was just one small literature club. One day in May, Haruhi dragged me here like a berserk
industrial robot, and we met Nagato for the first time. The room I saw at that first encounter was
exactly like this. At that time, this room was only equipped with the tables, the chairs, the
bookshelves and Nagato. Since that time, miscellaneous accessories began to appear, all because
Haruhi had announced, "From now on this will be our club room!" Among the accessories were
a portable heater, a kettle, a clay pot, a fridge, a desktop...
"Wait."
I removed my hands from my head.
Wait. What was here again?
A hanger rack, a water heater, a teapot, teacups, an old radio cassette player...
"Not these."
Search for items that didn't exist in the room before it turned into SOS Brigade's den, existed
afterwards, and exist now in this room!
"The desktop!"
The model was definitely different. Only the power cord crawled on the floor, so most likely it
was not connected to the internet. However this was the only item that caught my attention. It
was the only answer to the "Spot the Difference" game. (translator note: Referring to the game to
catch differences between two pictures.)
Nagato was still standing. Her eyes were fixed on me for a long time, as if I were worthy of full
alert. But when I turned my face towards her, her gaze immediately dropped to the floor. Taking
a better look, I could actually see a blush of red again around her cheeks. Hey... Nagato. This
isn't you! You never let your eyes wander and your face be reddened in confusion!
Maybe it was futile, but I pretended to be unperturbed as I stood up, in an attempt to not alert
her.
"Nagato,"
I pointed to the back of the desktop.
"Could I play with this for a bit?"
Nagato's expression was first shocked, and turned little by little into perplexity, as her eyes
darted between me and the desktop a few times. She inhaled deeply.
"One moment."
Clumsily she brought her chair in front of the desktop, pushed the switch on the main unit and
sat down.
To boot up the operating system, it took as long as it took to cool down a hot can of coffee, just
purchased, to a temperature cats could drink. After a sound resembling a squirrel's nibbling of
tree roots finally came to a stop, Nagato swiftly operated the mouse, which I guessed was to
move or delete files. Maybe there was something she didn't want others to see. I understood her
feelings. I wouldn't want anybody to see the MIKURU folder either.
"Here you go."
In a small voice Nagato said without looking at me, left her seat and stood guard at the wall.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Settled on the seat, I quickly peered into the screen, and used all the techniques I could muster to
search for the MIKURU folder and the SOS Brigade site file. The sense of futility weighed down
my shoulder.
"...Not here."
Despite everything I had done, I couldn't find the connection. The proof of Haruhi's existence
was nowhere to be found.
I wondered what data Nagato had hidden earlier, but I could feel a surveillant gaze shooting from
behind. The atmosphere was like she was poised for pulling the plug immediately as soon as the
not-to-be-seen data was about to be discovered.
I stood up from my seat.
The computer probably didn't contain any hints. What I really wanted to see was neither
Asahina-san's photo gallery nor the SOS Brigade website. I was hoping to see a hint message
from Nagato displayed, just like the time when Haruhi and I were imprisoned in the Sealed
Reality. My hope was shot down mercilessly.
"Sorry for the fuss."
I apologized with a tired voice, and turned to the door. I'm going home. Then I'm going to bed.
Then something surprising happened.
"Wait."
Nagato pulled out a coarse piece of paper from a gap in a bookshelf, and stood in front of me
hesitantly. With her eyes looking around the knot of my necktie, she spoke.
"If it's fine with you..."
She held out a hand.
"Take this."
The paper handed to me was a blank club sign-up form.
Well.
I should at least be thankful that I had already encountered all sorts of absurdity by now.
Otherwise, I would, without a doubt, be running around looking for a counselor.
Examining the situation, either I had become nuttier than a fruitcake, or the world was
completely off its tracks, but now I could almost cross out the former possibility. I am always the
sober one, and I acknowledge myself as the levelheaded tsukkomi commentator towards
everything under the Sun. Hey, I can butt in a comment even to this incomprehensible world,
like this: Nandeyanen?/What the heck?
"..."
I grew silent, Nagato-style. In many ways, it turned a little cold. There was a limit to all my
faked courage.
Nagato had turned into a bespectacled book-loving girl. Asahina-san had turned into a foreign
senior. Koizumi had never transferred to North High, probably still studying somewhere else.
What on earth was this?
Did it mean I was to start over from the very beginning? If so, wasn't the season off? If it were a
reset, it should have returned to the very beginning... which meant returning to the first day of
high school life, didn't it? I had no idea who pressed the reset button, but changing only the
environmental settings while keeping the time flow intact was just plain confusing, you know!
Look at me now, completely disoriented and bewildered. I had thought that role was reserved
only for Asahina-san!
And where was that other girl now? Where was that dumbass, getting away with her comfortable
life, while I was out in the cold, in such a place?
Where is Haruhi?
Where are you?
Show your face, now! Is this unnerving or what?
"...Damn. Why do I need to search for you?"
Or, don't you exist at all here, Haruhi?
Stop the joke, will you!? I don't know why the heck I would think like this, but the story can't go
on without you showing up! It is plain unreasonable to throw such depressing mournful emotions
at just me! What's the matter with you?
With a lingering image of professional slaves carrying gigantic boulders up a slope for
constructing a mausoleum, I looked up at the slightly overcast chilly sky from the connecting
hallway.
The club sign-up form rustled inside my pocket.
When I returned to my bedroom, it was Shamisen and my sister who greeted me. My sister, with
innocent laughter, was wielding a rod with a rumpled furball at the tip. Shamisen, lying flat on
the bed, was repeatedly hit on the head by the rod. Shamisen narrowed its eyes as if it was
annoyed, and sometimes raised its paws against my sister's attacks.
"Oh, welcome back~"
My sister looked up at my face with a smile.
"Dinner is about ready. Dinner-da-nya, Shami~"
Shamisen also lifted up its head, but soon gave a big yawn, and lazily fought back against my
sister's continuous bristle grass attacks.
Ah, there was still one remaining hope in this.
"Hey."
I snatched the bristle grass rod, and hit my sister's forehead lightly.
When I returned to my bedroom, it was Shamisen and my sister who greeted me.
"Do you remember Haruhi? How about Asahina-san? Nagato? Koizumi? Weren't we playing at
the baseball match together, and appearing in the film?"
"What~, Kyon-kun? Not a clue~"
Then I held up Shamisen in my arms.
"When was this cat in this house? Who brought it here?"
My sister's round eyes became even closer to circles.
"Humm... Last month. You brought it back, Kyon-kun, didn't you? Remember? You got it from a
friend who had moved abroad. Right, Shami~?"
Snatching the tri-colored cat from my arms, my sister brushed her cheek against it affectionately.
Shamisen, which sleepily narrowed its eyes, looked at me from afar with an I-give-up
expression.
"Give me that."
I grabbed the cat back. Shamisen's whiskers were shaking, apparently annoyed by being treated
like merchandise. Sorry, I'll reward you with dried food afterwards.
"I need to have a word with it. Just the two of us. So, get out of my room. Now!"
"Hey, I'd like to talk too. That's unfair, Kyon-kun! Eh... You're talking with Shami? Eh? Really?"
Without further answers, I lifted my sister by her waist, and dropped her outside the room. "Don't
open the door! No matter what!" I shut the door after the harsh warning.
"Mom~, Kyon-kun's brain has turned to noodles!"
My sister could be heard walking down the stairs, saying a line which might turn out to be right.
"So, Shamisen."
I sat cross-legged, and started talking to the precious tri-colored cat sitting on the floor.
"Okay, I told you before to stop talking no matter what. But now, never mind that. Rather, it
would comfort me at this moment if you speak up. So, Shamisen. Say something. Whatever is
fine. Philosophy, natural science, your choice. Even if it is difficult to understand. Please speak!"
Shamisen looked up at me with a bored face. As if bored off its ass, Shamisen began to lick its
fur.
"...Do you understand what I said? Do you mean you cannot speak, but you can still listen and
understand? Why not put out your right paw when it's a Yes, and your left paw when it's a No?"
With my palm up, I poked my hand against its nose. Shamisen smelt my fingertips for a moment,
but as expected, it returned to lick its fur, without saying anything or showing any understanding.
Normal, I guess.
This cat spoke only when we shot the film, and it was only for a short moment. At the same time
we stopped shooting the film, this cat turned back to a normal cat. A normal cat that could be
found anywhere, and could only be associated with verbs like eat, sleep and play.
I know one thing. In this world, no cat can speak.
"Isn't that normal?"
Exhausted, I fell flat on my back, and stretched my arms and legs. Cats don't speak. So the
strange time was when Shamisen had opened up to speak, not now. Or was it?
I would just want to be a cat. Then I could quit thinking about anything, and live my life on basic
instincts.
I remained in such a position, until my sister came back telling me dinner was ready.
In the morning, I woke up under my sister's usual killer blanket-strip-away move, together with
the tri-colored cat that wrapped itself in the blanket beside me. This is my sister, the earlymorning
assassin who carried out Mom's orders dutifully.
"Mom said you should eat some breakfast properly."
Smiling, my sister held up the grudging cat from the bed with both arms, and brushed her nose
against the back of its ears.
"Shami too! Time to eat!"
Shamisen, who had become our house pet after the Cultural Festival, yawned with a blank face
and licked its front paw. The originally-talkative tri-colored male cat had completely lost its
voice, and established its status in our home as merely a pet. It had become a nondescript cat
found everywhere – as if I had hallucinated that this cat had ever spoken in human language,
now that I thought about it. The cat is great and not fastidious: its purrs are seldom, close to
absent, as if it has forgotten cat language along with human language. Somehow it made my
room its bed, and thus grew silent to the frequent dropping by of my sister, who is avid in taking
care of Shamisen.
"Shamiiii, Shamiiii. It is time to eat!"
Singing with lyrics that didn't match the rhythm, my sister exited the room while hugging the cat
with apparent effort. Getting goose bumps from the cold morning air, I glared down at the clock
face for a short time. Finally I struggled up, abandoning the lingering affection for my warm bed.
Afterwards, I changed, washed, went down to the dining room, gulped down breakfast in five
minutes, and exited the doorway much earlier than my sister. Today the weather was cold again,
in good progress.
Until now, everything had proceeded normally.
I was climbing the usual slope when the familiar back-of-the-head was within sight. The figure
ten meters or so in front of me was Taniguchi, no doubt. Usually, this guy gleefully bounces and
jumps up the hiking path, but today he was definitely walking slowly. After a moment, I caught
up with him.
"Hey, Taniguchi!"
It would be nice to take the initiative to pat him on the shoulder from time to time, I thought to
myself, and did exactly that.
"...Hmm, Kyon?"
The voice was surely muffled. Of course; Taniguchi was wearing a white mask.
"What's up? Got a cold?"
"Eh...?" Taniguchi looked worn out. "A cold, as you can see. To be honest, I would rather take
absence, but my old man was noisy about it."
He was so full of energy yesterday, but then suddenly caught a cold, I saw.
"What the hell? I was also feeling unwell yesterday! *Cough cough*"
Okay, don't mess up my pace, just because I was not accustomed to seeing Taniguchi coughing
and looking weak. But was he already close to being sick yesterday? I could only see the
scatterbrain as usual.
"Hmm... Really? I did not intend to look well."
Taniguchi tilted his head, and I gave a spiteful smile.
"You had been piping merrily about your Christmas Eve date, hadn't you? Well, get well
quickly, before the date! Such a chance rarely visits your door, you know!"
However, Taniguchi tilted his head even more.
"Date? What the hell? Idiot. I have no plans for Christmas Eve!"
The "What?" question should have come from me. What happened to his girlfriend at Kouyouen
Girls High? Did he get dumped just last night?
"Hey, Kyon, what the hell are you talking about? I know nothing of this!"
Taniguchi grumpily shut his mouth, and turned to walk forward again. Every cold symptom
seemed to be in effect, and his frailty did not look pretended. Moreover, judging from his
condition, his date plans were surely toast, and he would just as surely be exhausted. With his
pompous claims beforehand, it was definitely tearing his heart apart just to meet me face to face.
I see, I see.
"Don't look so grim!"
I pushed Taniguchi's back.
"Why not join the Hotpot Party? We can still count you in now!"
"What hotpot? What party are you talking about? I don't remember hearing such a thing..."
Oh, really? The shock was so great that whatever I said would fall on deaf ears for quite some
time, I guessed. Let me be the one holding his hand then. Everything would be solved by the vast
never-ending flow of time. I would not mention the matter anymore, I promise.
Taniguchi continued to drag himself up, and I also continued my climb slowly besides him.
It was still impossible for me to notice at that moment.
I was caught off guard: the cold had turned into an epidemic within Class 1-5 without me
noticing. I got into the classroom just before the bell rang, but there were still a couple of empty
seats, and one fifth of the whole class had caught the white mask fad. The only explanation was
that all of them had double booked their cold's incubation period and onset period.
I was even more surprised to find that the seat right behind me had been unoccupied since the
first lesson.
"This is unbelievable..."
Was Haruhi taking sick leave? Was the cold that nasty and rampant this year? It is unbelievable
that there are pathogens that exist which are courageous enough to invade her body, not to
mention how unbelievable it is that Haruhi can be struck down by germs or viruses. The more
convincing explanation was that Haruhi was preparing for some new scheme she had just
thought of. Maybe there would be something else besides a hotpot?
The classroom ambiance was bleak, and it was not because there were no air-conditioners. A
sudden increase in absentees. It even looked like the total population in Class 1-5 had somehow
dropped.
It was true that I could not feel the overwhelming presence of Haruhi from behind. But at the
same time, I also felt that the atmosphere had changed inexplicably.
Then came the lessons I took idly, after which, the lunch break smoothly followed.
As I was taking the stone cold lunchbox out of my bag, Kunikida approached with his lunch in
one hand, and sat behind me.
"Seems like you are taking a break. Mind if I sit here?"
Kunikida said as he was unwrapping his Tupperware from its napkin. After becoming classmates
in high school, it turned into half a habit to have lunch with this guy. I searched for my other
lunch mate Taniguchi, but he was not in the classroom; perhaps he went to the school cafeteria.
I turned my chair sideways.
"Somehow the cold has suddenly turned so popular. Thank God I’m not infected, though."
"Hmm?"
Kunikida was putting his Tupperware carefully on the spread out napkin and examining the
contents, and he returned a dumbfounded look at me. Moving his chopsticks like a crab with its
claws, Kunikida spoke.
"Symptoms of the cold spreading were already noticeable a week ago! It doesn’t look like the
flu, but it might be better if it were the flu. Since there are specific remedies nowadays."
"A week ago?"
I stopped cutting up my spinach-laced omelet, and asked again.
I could not think of anyone spreading the cold germs the same time last week. Nobody had been
absent, and nobody was coughing in lessons as far as I could remember. Everyone in Class 1-5
looked healthy, but could it be that the Devil of Ailment had been operating secretly outside my
sight?
"What? There were quite a few people absent. Didn't you notice?"
I didn't at all. Was that for real?
"Sure it is. It turned increasingly worse from the start of this week. Please don't isolate the whole
tenth grade though. Winter break would be chipped off otherwise, I bet."
Kunikida stuffed some more furikake rice into his mouth.
"Taniguchi had also been green to the gills these days. His father's principle was to cure ailment
by vigor, and he could not take leave unless his temperature was over 40 degrees (Celsius). I
hope that he will be doing something before the cold gets worse."
I stopped my chopsticks.
"Kunikida. Sorry, but I thought Taniguchi started being almost dead today."
"Oh no, no way. He has been like that since the beginning of this week, hasn't he? He took a
break from yesterday's physical education time."
I was becoming increasingly confused.
Wait, Kunikida. What on earth are you talking about? As far as I can remember, in yesterday's
physical education lesson, Taniguchi took on a football rival match with vigor, as if he was on
steroids. I could not be mistaken, as I was in the opposing team, and repeatedly slide-tackled
him. I was not being resentful to Taniguchi's getting a girlfriend, but if I had known what would
happen today I would probably have thought twice before tackling him.
"Are you sure? Really? That's strange!"
Kunikida tilted his head as he was picking out the carrots from the Kinpiragobou dish.
"Did I see it wrong?"
He said in an easy-going tone.
"Hmm, well we’ll see when Taniguchi comes back."
What on earth has happened today? Taniguchi and Kunikida are talking as if they were behind
thick fog, and even Haruhi is absent! Don't tell me that this is an omen for happenings that
trouble the whole human race except Haruhi. My usually nonexistent sixth sense began to sound
sirens, and strange creeps suddenly ran up the back of my neck.
I was correct.
My gut feeling was not to be belittled. There was no doubt that it was an omen. What my gut
feeling did not tell me was whom this would trouble. The whole human race except Haruhi…
well, not exactly. Surprisingly as it seems, only one person noticed and was troubled by this turn
of events. Except for this poor person, the entire human race was not at all troubled. It's because
there was no way they could perceive the beginning of this incident itself. There's no way one
could perceive something outside of one's perception. From their shoes, the world had not
changed at all.
So who was the troubled one?
The answer was apparent.
Me!
I stood dumbstruck within the confusion, and ended up being left behind by the world.
Yes, I finally realized.
The lunch break of Dec 18.
The omen came in a physical form, and it opened the classroom door.
Wow! A couple of girls seating at the classroom front near the door burst into shouts of joy. The
shouts were apparently from recognizing the classmate who just entered. From the gaps within
the loose group of sailor clothes, I caught a glimpse of that person at the center of attention.
With a bag dangling in one hand, that person gave a smile to the approaching friends.
"Yes, I'm all right now. I felt much better right after I took the injection at the hospital in the
morning. Having nothing to do at home, I figured I would come back to school, even just for the
afternoon lessons."
A gentle smile answered the question if the cold had been cured. Ending the short lively
conversation, with semi-long hair swaying, that person gradually... walked -- towards -- us.
"Oops, gotta go!"
Kunikida bit on his chopsticks and got up. For me, it was as if my vocal cords' voicing abilities
had all been confiscated, or even as if I had forgotten to suck in oxygen through respiration. I
merely stared at that person. The flow of time seemed infinite, but in fact, she had only walked
a few steps. When the footsteps finally stopped, that person was standing right next to me.
"What's wrong?"
While looking at me, she said hackneyed expressions in a mystified tone.
"You look as if you’ve seen a ghost! Or is there something on my face?"
Then she turned to Kunikida, who was trying to tidy up his Tupperware.
"Oh, just let me hang my bag. Please continue with your lunch. I already ate before I came.
During lunchtime, I will lend my seat to you."
Just as we were told, she hung her bag on the hook at the desk's side, and turned her body
gracefully towards the ring of waiting friends.
"Wait."
I guess my voice must have turned shrill.
"Why are you here?"
That person turned around, and stabbed me with a cool glance.
"What do you mean? Is it strange that I am here? Or do you mean that it would be better if I were
out with a cold for longer? What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Not that. I don't care if you have a cold or not. Not that..."
"Kyon."
Kunikida poked my shoulders worriedly.
"You are so strange today! Kyon has been saying strange things all day."
"Kunikida, don't you think of anything when you see this person?"
Unable to withstand it anymore, I stood up and pointed with my finger to that person, who was
looking at me as if she witnessed an enigma.
"You also know who this is, don't you? This person shouldn't even be here!"
"...Kyon, how rude it is to forget your classmate's face just because she took a brief leave! What
do you mean by that I should not be here? We have always been in the same class, haven't we?"
No way could I forget! This attempted murderer! Even if I were to forget the face of a person
who would like to kill me, half a year was a little too short.
"I see."
That person spread a smile across her face, as if she had just thought of a super prank.
"You took a nap after lunch didn't you? Are you sure you are not having a bad dream? That
should be it. Come on! Wake up!"
"You think so?" With a broad smile on her lovable face, that person turned to Kunikida for
agreement. She took the appearance of the girl whose image had been etched into my brain and
could not be shrugged off.
Flashbacks of various images. A classroom basked in sunset -- shadows extending on the floor --
walls without windows -- distorted space -- the wielding of a knife -- a wisp of a smile -- sandlike
crystals that crumbled down...
Annihilated after defeat in her battle with Nagato, she was the original class representative, who
on the surface, had transferred to a school in Canada.
Standing here was Asakura Ryouko.
"You'll be refreshed if you wash your face. Do you have a handkerchief with you? I can lend you
mine."
Asakura put her hand into her skirt pocket, and I stopped her with my hand. Who would know if
she took out more than her handkerchief?
"No thanks. Rather, tell me what is happening. Everything. In particular, tell me why you are
leaving your bag at Haruhi's seat? This isn’t your seat, it's Haruhi's."
"Haruhi?"
Asakura knitted her eyebrows, and asked Kunikida.
"Who is Haruhi? Is there someone with such a nickname?"
Kunikida returned an answer that ended all hope.
"Doesn’t ring a bell. Haruhi-san... How do you write it?"
"Haruhi is Haruhi!"
I mumbled with a dazzling sensation.
"Have you all forgotten about Suzumiya Haruhi? How can you guys ever forget such a person?"
"Suzumiya Haruhi... Well, Kyon."
With a comforting voice, Kunikida slowly divulged.
"Such a person is not in our class! By the way, since the seating rearrangement earlier, this seat
has already been Asakura-san's. Are you confused with another class? Hmm, I have never heard
of a Suzumiya before. Shouldn't be in the tenth grade..."
"I don't have any idea either."
With the voice of a gentle cat, Asakura spoke as if urging me to receive treatment.
"Kunikida-kun, can you take a look inside my desk? At the corner there should be a class name
book."
I snatched away the notebook that Kunikida took out. I first opened the page of Class 1-5 of the
First year, and ran my finger against the list of girl names.
Saeki, Sakanaka, Suzuki, Seno...
Not a single name was between Suzuki and Seno. The name of Suzumiya Haruhi had
disappeared from the class name book. Who are you searching for? Such a girl does not even
exist in the first place! The page screamed out loud, and I closed the name book and my eyes.
"...Kunikida, I have a request."
"Yes?"
"Pinch me on the cheek. I want to wake up."
"Are you sure?"
He put his whole force in it. It was painful. But I did not wake up. Opening my eyes, I could still
see Asakura standing there, curving her lips into an arc.
What on earth had happened?
I suddenly realized that we had become the center of attention in the class. The eyes were all
focused on me, as if they saw an aging stray dog that suffered from canine distemper. Dammit!
Why? I did not say anything wrong!
"Dammit!"
I asked two questions repeatedly to the people around me.
Where is Suzumiya Haruhi?
Didn't Asakura Ryouko transfer?
"Don't know."
"Nope, she didn't."
The answers I got did not smell good at all. As if on cue, they affected me to the point of
dizziness and nausea. I could only support my body by putting my hand on a nearby table. Some
part of my sanity seemed to be shattered.
Asakura put her hand on my wrist, and peered into me worriedly. The sweet aroma from her hair
was like narcotics to me.
"Seems like you should go to the nurse's office. These kinds of things can happen when you are
not feeling well. It must be so! Are you starting to develop a cold?"
No way!
I would like to scream out loud. I was not the strange one! This situation was strange itself!
"Get your hands off me!"
I pushed away Asakura's hand, and ran for the classroom exit. The slight unpleasant feeling on
my skin was seeping into my brain. The cold that broke out all of a sudden, the gap in
conversation with Taniguchi, the disappearance of Haruhi's name on the name book, the
appearance of Asakura... What? Haruhi was gone? Nobody remembered her? That couldn't be!
Wasn't this world revolving around that girl? Wasn't that girl THE Blacklisted Character on the
Universal Scale?
On the verge of stumbling over, I pumped my legs hard, and stepped forth onto the hallway
almost on all fours.
The first thing that came to mind was Nagato's face. She would definitely explain the situation to
me. After all, it was Nagato Yuki, the silent but omnipotent alien android. Every single time she
would sort things out. It is no exaggeration that I could survive thanks to Nagato.
I have Nagato!
And she would rescue a person like me from this stranded situation!
Nagato's class was in sight. Without needing to run, I arrived a few seconds later. Unable to
think of anything, I opened the door and searched for the petite short-haired figure.
Not there.
But it was too soon to give up. In lunchtime she most probably was in the clubroom reading
books. Even though she wasn't in the classroom, it would be unwise to conclude that even
Nagato had disappeared.
The next guy in mind was Koizumi. The literature clubroom, located in the old wing, was far
from here. The building was even beyond Asahina-san's eleventh grade classroom. It would be
faster to go to Class 1-9 one story below. Koizumi Itsuki, just be there! In no other situation
would I want to see his all-smiley face even more.
I ran at a dogtrot along the hallway, jumped down the stairs skipping three stair steps, and head
towards Class 1-9 at the corner of the school building, while I was praying for that supernaturally
powered dude to be there.
Passed Class 1-7, passed Class 1-8, and there Class 1-9 would...
"What? How come?"
I stopped, finally starting to realize, and checked once again the plates that hung out from the
wall. On the left of Class 1-8 was Class 1-7. On the right of Class 1-8 was…
Only the staircase landing leading to the emergency stairs.
Nothing else. No trace of anything.
"Of all things who could imagine that…?"
Not to mention no Koizumi.
The entire class of 1-9 was gone.
I really had my hands tied now.
Who could have even imagined that the classroom that had existed yesterday would be gone
today? It wasn’t as if just a single person had disappeared, the whole class had been erased, and
the building itself shrunk. No matter how rushed the work was, it would be impossible to finish it
all in just one night. Where had all the Class 1-9 people gone?
The great shock had knocked loose my perception of time. God knew how long I had frozen on
the spot there, before I regained consciousness by a slight jab in my back. In the cloud I heard
the voice of a biology teacher, who looked like a marshmallow hugging some textbooks.
"What are you doing here? Lessons have started! Return to your classroom!"
I must have missed the chime signaling the end of the break. The hallway was already cleared of
people, and echoed only the raised voice of a teacher from the Class 1-7 classroom.
I staggeringly started to move. The time for ascertaining the signs was up. Things had already
been set in motion. Those who should not have existed appeared, and those who should exist
were gone. Exchanging Haruhi, Koizumi and all students in Class 1-9 for just Asakura was not
up to scale!
"What the hell?"
If I wasn’t going nuts, the world had gone nuts.
Who did that?
Was it you, Haruhi?
Thanks to all that, I heard absolutely nothing from the afternoon lessons. All voices and sounds
slipped straight out of my mind, and all information failed to be implanted in my brain cells.
Before I noticed, even homeroom had finished, and time had become after school.
I was frightened, not so much by Asakura who was scribbling with her mechanical pencil behind
me, but rather that both Haruhi and Koizumi were not at school. Even seeking reconfirmation
from other people made me irritated beyond endurable limits. "Doesn't ring a bell." Every time I
heard the line, I sank deeper into a bottomless swamp. I was not even recharged with enough
energy to get my butt out of my seat.
Taniguchi walked straight home with Kunikida, who felt a little anxious about me. Asakura left
the classroom in merry laughter with a couple of girls. She took a look at me before she headed
out, a look showing sincere concern for a depressed classmate, and my head felt dizzy from it.
Fishy. All of them.
Nearly dragged behind by some guys for cleanup duty, I finally managed to step out onto the
hallway, with my bag in one hand.
After all, this wasn't where I belonged after class.
With a heavy heart I walked down the stairs and reached the first floor. Over there, a slit of light
appeared in front of my eyes, and I dashed off towards it.
"Asahina-san!"
Could there be any merrier sight than that? Walking towards me from the other side was my
goddess, my eye-stress relief medicine. What added joy to joy was the figure of Tsuruya-san
beside the glamorous baby-faced beauty. The overwhelming joy busted my sensibility afar.
-- I probably should have been a little more prudent.
I rushed towards the two seniors with amazing speed, and gripped hard the shoulder of Asahinasan,
who widened her eyes at me.
"He-eh!"
The shock was apparent on her face, but my mouth just kept on speaking.
"Haruhi is gone! Koizumi's class has turned into the Drifting Classroom! I haven't found Nagato
yet, but Asakura is here, and the school's become a strange place itself! You're still my Asahinasan,
right!?"
Bang! It was the sound of Asahina-san's bag and calligraphy set dropping onto the floor.
"Eh? Ah, he... Eh. Well...But..."
"So are you Asahina-san from the future?"
"...The future? What do you mean? And, please... let go of me."
The pit of my stomach cringed. Asahina-san looked at me just like a domesticated impala that
had seen a wild jaguar. Her eyes were clearly filled with fright, and that was what I feared most.
Just as I was shocked stiff, I felt my arm twist upwards. Upsetting cracks sounded from my
joints. Ouch!
"Wait a sec, young lad!"
Tsuruya-san grappled my arm using techniques from ancient martial arts.
"Stop jumping on people! Look, my Mikuru is shaking from head to toe!"
The voice was laughing, but the glance from her eyes was sharp as a sword. I looked at Asahina-san. She
was definitely retreating with teary eyes.
The voice was laughing, but the glance from her eyes was sharp as a sword. I looked at Asahina-san. She
was definitely retreating with teary eyes.
"Are you a first-year from the Mikuru Fan Club? There are procedures to everything, young lad.
Rushing things doesn't impress me."
The psychological chill I experienced so many times today ran down my spine.
"Tsuruya-san..." Still locked in a udegarami position, I wriggled out a sound.
Tsuruya-san looked me squarely in the face, as if I were a complete stranger to her.
Tsuruya-san, you too...?
"Hey, how come you know me? By the way, who are you? Mikuru's acquaintance?"
I saw something I least wanted to see. Cringing behind Tsuruya-san, Asahina-san gave me a
closer look, and shook her head furiously.
"D...D...Don't know him at all. E..Eh. He must have confused me with somebody else..."
Feeling as if I received the scorecard of complete failure for this year, just when my tenth year
was drawing to a close, my eyes grew faint. I would be silent to anyone attacking me with any
words, but Asahina-san's words were the biggest shock to me, ever since my cousin, who I had a
crush on when I was young, eloped with another boy.
Surely I did not confuse her with anybody else by calling Asahina-san Asahina-san, unless this
Asahina-san was an Asahina-san from some other time. ... Oh, I got it! There was one way to
find out whether this Asahina-san is actually the Asahina-san I knew, right?
"Asahina-san."
I pointed my free hand to my own chest. I can only say I lost my mind. My mouth moved itself
with the following line,
"There should be a star-like birthmark somewhere around here on your chest. Do you have one?
If you are okay with it, let me check--"
I was hit with a full-force punch.
By Asahina-san's fist.
Asahina-san, dumbfounded by the line I spurt out, turned redder by the second. Tears welled in
her eyes, and in a slow, novice-like motion she blasted a right straight punch to my face.
"...Urgh" a sobbing sound escaped from her throat as she ran off.
"Hey, Mikuru! Ah, whatever. And you, young lad, keep your otaku stench in check! Mikuruchan
is pretty timid, you know! If you dare to do anything to her again, you'll feel my hairstanding
fury!"
Giving me an unwelcomingly tight final grip on my wrist, Tsuruya-san picked up the bag and
calligraphy set on the floor, held them to her chest, and ran off chasing Asahina-san.
"Hey, wait a bit-- Mikuru--"
"..."
Watching them, stupefied, a cold wintery wind blew inside my head.
That's the end to it all, no doubt.
Could I survive tomorrow? If news that I made Asahina-san cry spread around the school, there
would be more than a few guys who would come attack me. If the situation were reversed, I
would do the same as well. Maybe I should prepare my will.
I was gradually pushed to my wit's end. I called Haruhi's cell phone, only to hear the operator's
"the phone number you have dialed is no longer available." I had no record of her home phone
number, and her name was erased completely from the namebook. I considered going off to her
house, but on second thought I hadn't even been there before. It was unfair considering that
Haruhi had been to my house, but it was too late to think of that now.
Disregarding the disappearance of Class 1-9, I went to the staff office to ask whether Koizumi or
Haruhi was taking sick leave somewhere. The result was flat negative. There was no student in
any class with the name Suzumiya Haruhi. There was no transfer student in this school or
coming to this school with the name Koizumi Itsuki. Or so I heard.
I had come to a dead end.
Where could the leads be? Was this a Where's Haruhi game organized by Haruhi? Was it a game
with the goal of reaching where the disappeared Haruhi had gone? But what was this game for?
I thought as I walked. Thanks to Asahina-san's single punch, my head cooled off a little. There
was no use burning my ass off. In such a moment, I needed to be calm. Calm.
"Please, I beg you." I murmured.
There was only one destination now. It was the final foundation, the final absolute defense line.
If this were to fall, then all would end. Game over.
The literature clubroom, located at the clubroom block normally referred to as the Old Block.
If Nagato wasn't there, what could I possibly do?
I slowed my pace deliberately, and inched towards the clubroom taking all the time I needed.
After a few minutes, standing in front of the old and worn wooden door, I put my hand on my
chest, confirming my heart rate. It was far from normal operation, but it was a lot better than at
lunch break. Probably my senses had gradually gone numb after too many hits from the string of
anomalies. I was driven to the corner. There was no path ahead of me except to barge into the
cloud of darkness, with the worst-case scenario in my mind.
I skipped knocking on the door, and threw the door wide open.
"...!"
And then I saw.
A petite figure sitting on a makeshift chair, with a book spread at a corner of the long table in
front of her.
It was Nagato Yuki, staring straight at me through her glasses, with her face written all over with
surprise, her mouth popping open.
"You're here..."
I muttered a sigh of half resignation, half relief, and closed the door behind me. Nagato did not
say anything as usual, but I couldn't loosen myself and rejoice. The Nagato I knew did not wear
glasses, ever since the incident with Asakura. However, the Nagato here had the exact same
glasses she had worn some time ago. I thought about it the second time, but Nagato just looked
cooler without her glasses. That was my preference.
Moreover, that expression just didn't match. What was with her face, like a female Literature
Club member caught off guard by a male student dashing in, someone she didn't recognize at all?
What was with the surprise? Isn't it characteristic of Nagato to be furthest away from such
emotions?
"Nagato..."
With the lesson from Asahina-san fresh in my mind, I managed to suppress my about-to-pounce
upper body, and walked to the table.
"What?"
Nagato replied without moving an inch.
"Tell me. Do you know me?"
She tightened her lips, and pushed the bridge of her glasses. Then came a long period of silence.
I was thinking of giving up, and find myself a monastery to retreat from this world, when a reply
came.
"I know you."
Nagato put her gaze somewhere around my chest. My hope welled. This Nagato might be the
Nagato I knew.
"In fact, I also know a little bit about you. Would you listen to me for a second?"
"..."
"You are not human, but an organic android created by aliens. You had wielded impressive
powers like magic several times, like the homerun-mode bat, and invasion to Cave Cricket
Space..."
As soon as I started talking, a sense of regret gradually crept into me. Nagato was apparently
making a strange face. Her eyes and mouth were open, and her gaze was wandering around my
shoulders. The ambience around her read like she felt frightened to look straight at me.
"...That was you whom I knew all along. Was it correct?"
"I am sorry."
Nagato's reply made me doubt whether my ears were working properly. Why apologize? Why is
Nagato saying this?
"I do not know. I know you are a student in Class 1-5. I see you from time to time. However, I
know nothing except that. To me, this is the first time I've talked to you."
The final foundation turned into a house built on loose, weathered sand, collapsed and crumbled.
"...So you're not an alien? The name Suzumiya Haruhi does not ring a bell to you at all?"
Nagato tilted her head in confusion, savoring the word "alien" on her lips.
"Nope," she replied.
"Wait a sec!"
Except for Nagato, who else could I rely on? I was like an infant swallow being abandoned by its
parents. My only chance of keeping sane was through her doing something. If this went on, I
would go crazy.
"No way!"
Oh no, I was losing my composure once again. My mind was in confusion, with meteor showers
of the three primary colors flying around like crazy, I circled around the table, and approached
Nagato's side.
The pale fingers closed the book. It was a thick hard-cover. I could not catch the title in time.
Nagato stood up from her chair, and shifted one step behind as if to retreat from me. Her two
eyes, like polished black Go stones, were rolling in hesitation.
I put my hands on Nagato's shoulders. I lost my self-composure to look back to my recent failure
with Asahina-san. I was totally focused on not letting Nagato go. If I hadn't grabbed her like that,
all my friends would have slipped through the cracks of my fingers, I feared. I didn't want to lose
anyone anymore.
With my hand feeling her body heat through the school uniform, I talked to her profile framed in
short hair, as she was turning her face away from me.
"Please remember! The world changed when yesterday turned to today. Haruhi's been replaced
by Asakura! Who is behind this player substitution? Information Synthesis Thought Entities?
Asakura was resurrected, so you must know something! You and Asakura are from the same
mold, right? What is this scheme, huh? Even if you use big words, you should still be able to
explain--"
Just like what you have done all along, I was about to continue, but I sensed the feeling of liquid
lead spreading inside my stomach.
What was this reaction... similar to a normal person's?
Nagato's eyes were tightly shut, and a blush of red began spreading on her ceramic-like pale
cheek. Moans, like faint sighs, escaped from her slightly parted lips, and I finally noticed the
quivering of her delicate shoulders under my hands, like a puppy under chilling air. A shivering
voice reached my ears.
"Stop it..."
I recollected. For some time now, Nagato's back was stuck against the wall. In other words, I had
forced Nagato against the wall without noticing. What had I done? I was behaving like a thug,
wasn't I? If anyone had witnessed this, I would immediately have my hands handcuffed behind
my back, and receive judgement from the public. When viewed objectively, I was nothing but a
bastard who attacked a meek female member when there were just the two of us in the literature
club room.
"I'm sorry."
Holding my hands up, I felt strength draining out of me.
"I didn't mean to attack you. I just wanted to confirm something..."
My knees felt weak. I pulled a nearby folding chair to my side, and collapsed in it like some
mollusk straight after landing. Nagato did not move at all, with her back to the wall. It could only
be considered lucky that she hadn't dashed out of the room.
I swept my eyes across the room one more time, and realized in one glance that this was not the
secret base for the SOS Brigade. In this room were lines of bookshelves and folding chairs, and a
desktop computer on top of a long makeshift table. The desktop was not the latest model Haruhi
had snatched from the Computer Society using blackmail, but a model at least three generations
older. Comparatively speaking, the processing power difference was like that between a twohorse
phaeton and a maglev.
The Captain's desk, on which a prism with the word "Captain" was written on it, was nowhere to
be found, as expected. The refrigerator and the rack of various costumes were absent as well. No
board games brought by Koizumi. No maid. No Santa's granddaughter. Nothing at all.
"Damn it!"
I held my head with my hands. Game over! If this is someone's psychological attack,
congratulations on her resounding success! I would give her first honor. So who was behind this
experiment? Haruhi? Information Synthesis Thought Entities? Some undetected new enemy of
this world? ...
It lasted for around five minutes. Struggling to lighten up my mood, I sheepishly lifted up my
head.
Nagato, still plastered to the wall, fixed her ebony-like eyes on me. Her glasses were slightly
tilted. My only thanks to the heavens were that Nagato's eyes did not show fear or horror, but
glistened like those of a sister who was reunited with her supposedly-dead brother on a
downtown street by chance. At least it didn't seem she was going to report the incident. In the
midst of such panic, this was the only tiny source of relief.
Why don't you sit? I started, but realized that I had taken Nagato's chair. Should I give her the
seat, or should I unfold another chair? Oh, and she might not want to sit near me.
"Sorry."
With one more apology, I stood up. Taking one propped up folded chair aside, I moved to the
center of the room. Judging an ample distance from Nagato, I unfolded and sat on the chair, and
continued to hold my head in my hands.
This was just one small literature club. One day in May, Haruhi dragged me here like a berserk
industrial robot, and we met Nagato for the first time. The room I saw at that first encounter was
exactly like this. At that time, this room was only equipped with the tables, the chairs, the
bookshelves and Nagato. Since that time, miscellaneous accessories began to appear, all because
Haruhi had announced, "From now on this will be our club room!" Among the accessories were
a portable heater, a kettle, a clay pot, a fridge, a desktop...
"Wait."
I removed my hands from my head.
Wait. What was here again?
A hanger rack, a water heater, a teapot, teacups, an old radio cassette player...
"Not these."
Search for items that didn't exist in the room before it turned into SOS Brigade's den, existed
afterwards, and exist now in this room!
"The desktop!"
The model was definitely different. Only the power cord crawled on the floor, so most likely it
was not connected to the internet. However this was the only item that caught my attention. It
was the only answer to the "Spot the Difference" game. (translator note: Referring to the game to
catch differences between two pictures.)
Nagato was still standing. Her eyes were fixed on me for a long time, as if I were worthy of full
alert. But when I turned my face towards her, her gaze immediately dropped to the floor. Taking
a better look, I could actually see a blush of red again around her cheeks. Hey... Nagato. This
isn't you! You never let your eyes wander and your face be reddened in confusion!
Maybe it was futile, but I pretended to be unperturbed as I stood up, in an attempt to not alert
her.
"Nagato,"
I pointed to the back of the desktop.
"Could I play with this for a bit?"
Nagato's expression was first shocked, and turned little by little into perplexity, as her eyes
darted between me and the desktop a few times. She inhaled deeply.
"One moment."
Clumsily she brought her chair in front of the desktop, pushed the switch on the main unit and
sat down.
To boot up the operating system, it took as long as it took to cool down a hot can of coffee, just
purchased, to a temperature cats could drink. After a sound resembling a squirrel's nibbling of
tree roots finally came to a stop, Nagato swiftly operated the mouse, which I guessed was to
move or delete files. Maybe there was something she didn't want others to see. I understood her
feelings. I wouldn't want anybody to see the MIKURU folder either.
"Here you go."
In a small voice Nagato said without looking at me, left her seat and stood guard at the wall.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Settled on the seat, I quickly peered into the screen, and used all the techniques I could muster to
search for the MIKURU folder and the SOS Brigade site file. The sense of futility weighed down
my shoulder.
"...Not here."
Despite everything I had done, I couldn't find the connection. The proof of Haruhi's existence
was nowhere to be found.
I wondered what data Nagato had hidden earlier, but I could feel a surveillant gaze shooting from
behind. The atmosphere was like she was poised for pulling the plug immediately as soon as the
not-to-be-seen data was about to be discovered.
I stood up from my seat.
The computer probably didn't contain any hints. What I really wanted to see was neither
Asahina-san's photo gallery nor the SOS Brigade website. I was hoping to see a hint message
from Nagato displayed, just like the time when Haruhi and I were imprisoned in the Sealed
Reality. My hope was shot down mercilessly.
"Sorry for the fuss."
I apologized with a tired voice, and turned to the door. I'm going home. Then I'm going to bed.
Then something surprising happened.
"Wait."
Nagato pulled out a coarse piece of paper from a gap in a bookshelf, and stood in front of me
hesitantly. With her eyes looking around the knot of my necktie, she spoke.
"If it's fine with you..."
She held out a hand.
"Take this."
The paper handed to me was a blank club sign-up form.
Well.
I should at least be thankful that I had already encountered all sorts of absurdity by now.
Otherwise, I would, without a doubt, be running around looking for a counselor.
Examining the situation, either I had become nuttier than a fruitcake, or the world was
completely off its tracks, but now I could almost cross out the former possibility. I am always the
sober one, and I acknowledge myself as the levelheaded tsukkomi commentator towards
everything under the Sun. Hey, I can butt in a comment even to this incomprehensible world,
like this: Nandeyanen?/What the heck?
"..."
I grew silent, Nagato-style. In many ways, it turned a little cold. There was a limit to all my
faked courage.
Nagato had turned into a bespectacled book-loving girl. Asahina-san had turned into a foreign
senior. Koizumi had never transferred to North High, probably still studying somewhere else.
What on earth was this?
Did it mean I was to start over from the very beginning? If so, wasn't the season off? If it were a
reset, it should have returned to the very beginning... which meant returning to the first day of
high school life, didn't it? I had no idea who pressed the reset button, but changing only the
environmental settings while keeping the time flow intact was just plain confusing, you know!
Look at me now, completely disoriented and bewildered. I had thought that role was reserved
only for Asahina-san!
And where was that other girl now? Where was that dumbass, getting away with her comfortable
life, while I was out in the cold, in such a place?
Where is Haruhi?
Where are you?
Show your face, now! Is this unnerving or what?
"...Damn. Why do I need to search for you?"
Or, don't you exist at all here, Haruhi?
Stop the joke, will you!? I don't know why the heck I would think like this, but the story can't go
on without you showing up! It is plain unreasonable to throw such depressing mournful emotions
at just me! What's the matter with you?
With a lingering image of professional slaves carrying gigantic boulders up a slope for
constructing a mausoleum, I looked up at the slightly overcast chilly sky from the connecting
hallway.
The club sign-up form rustled inside my pocket.
When I returned to my bedroom, it was Shamisen and my sister who greeted me. My sister, with
innocent laughter, was wielding a rod with a rumpled furball at the tip. Shamisen, lying flat on
the bed, was repeatedly hit on the head by the rod. Shamisen narrowed its eyes as if it was
annoyed, and sometimes raised its paws against my sister's attacks.
"Oh, welcome back~"
My sister looked up at my face with a smile.
"Dinner is about ready. Dinner-da-nya, Shami~"
Shamisen also lifted up its head, but soon gave a big yawn, and lazily fought back against my
sister's continuous bristle grass attacks.
Ah, there was still one remaining hope in this.
"Hey."
I snatched the bristle grass rod, and hit my sister's forehead lightly.
When I returned to my bedroom, it was Shamisen and my sister who greeted me.
"Do you remember Haruhi? How about Asahina-san? Nagato? Koizumi? Weren't we playing at
the baseball match together, and appearing in the film?"
"What~, Kyon-kun? Not a clue~"
Then I held up Shamisen in my arms.
"When was this cat in this house? Who brought it here?"
My sister's round eyes became even closer to circles.
"Humm... Last month. You brought it back, Kyon-kun, didn't you? Remember? You got it from a
friend who had moved abroad. Right, Shami~?"
Snatching the tri-colored cat from my arms, my sister brushed her cheek against it affectionately.
Shamisen, which sleepily narrowed its eyes, looked at me from afar with an I-give-up
expression.
"Give me that."
I grabbed the cat back. Shamisen's whiskers were shaking, apparently annoyed by being treated
like merchandise. Sorry, I'll reward you with dried food afterwards.
"I need to have a word with it. Just the two of us. So, get out of my room. Now!"
"Hey, I'd like to talk too. That's unfair, Kyon-kun! Eh... You're talking with Shami? Eh? Really?"
Without further answers, I lifted my sister by her waist, and dropped her outside the room. "Don't
open the door! No matter what!" I shut the door after the harsh warning.
"Mom~, Kyon-kun's brain has turned to noodles!"
My sister could be heard walking down the stairs, saying a line which might turn out to be right.
"So, Shamisen."
I sat cross-legged, and started talking to the precious tri-colored cat sitting on the floor.
"Okay, I told you before to stop talking no matter what. But now, never mind that. Rather, it
would comfort me at this moment if you speak up. So, Shamisen. Say something. Whatever is
fine. Philosophy, natural science, your choice. Even if it is difficult to understand. Please speak!"
Shamisen looked up at me with a bored face. As if bored off its ass, Shamisen began to lick its
fur.
"...Do you understand what I said? Do you mean you cannot speak, but you can still listen and
understand? Why not put out your right paw when it's a Yes, and your left paw when it's a No?"
With my palm up, I poked my hand against its nose. Shamisen smelt my fingertips for a moment,
but as expected, it returned to lick its fur, without saying anything or showing any understanding.
Normal, I guess.
This cat spoke only when we shot the film, and it was only for a short moment. At the same time
we stopped shooting the film, this cat turned back to a normal cat. A normal cat that could be
found anywhere, and could only be associated with verbs like eat, sleep and play.
I know one thing. In this world, no cat can speak.
"Isn't that normal?"
Exhausted, I fell flat on my back, and stretched my arms and legs. Cats don't speak. So the
strange time was when Shamisen had opened up to speak, not now. Or was it?
I would just want to be a cat. Then I could quit thinking about anything, and live my life on basic
instincts.
I remained in such a position, until my sister came back telling me dinner was ready.
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