Haruhi - Chapter 6
Nhãn:
Light Novel
Chapter 6
As with yesterday, today I found yet another letter inside my shoe locker. What's with people
delivering letters through shoe lockers these days?
It had a different feeling this time, however. The letter wasn't folded and anonymous like last
time. On the back of the envelope, which looked like one of those elegant envelopes that come
with the shoujo-manga magazines for questionnaires and the sort, was clearly written a name. If
my eyes didn't deceive me, I was sure whose name was written on it.
Asahina Mikuru.
I instantly placed the envelope into the pocket of my jacket, and rushed to the men's room to
open it. There, on a piece of paper with smiley symbols all over it, were written the following
words.
I will be waiting for you in the club room during lunch break.
Mikuru-chan
After the events yesterday, my whole view on life, the world and reality itself went through a
360 degree somersault like an acrobat.
I never want to go through such life-threatening situations again.
Yet I couldn't turn this down. After all, it's Asahina who'd invited me this time! Though I had no
evidence to prove that this letter had been written by Asahina, I never doubted its authenticity,
because she seemed like the sort to go through such indirect means. Furthermore, the image of
her clutching her pen while writing excitedly on a cute piece of paper really suits her. If it's
during lunch, Nagato should be in the club room as well, should anything really happen, I guess
she'd come rescue me.
Please don't call me a hopeless coward. I'm just a normal high school student, after all.
After the fourth session, I was surrounded by: Taniguchi, staring at me with meaningful eyes;
Kunikida, coming over with his lunchbox, trying to invite me to have lunch together; and Haruhi,
asking that I go with her to the staff room to investigate the truth of Asakura's departure. Without
even having eaten from my lunchbox, I left at once for the club room.
It was only May, yet the sun was already shining with the brightness of summer. The sun is like
an extra large fireplace, happily radiating its energy towards the Earth. When summer finally
comes, Japan becomes a natural sauna. I could feel the sweat creeping into my underwear just
from walking a few steps.
In three minutes, I arrived at the club room door. I knocked first.
"Please come in."
It was Asahina's voice, there was no doubt about it. Alright, I could relax and go in!
When I entered, I found Nagato missing, and to my surprise, so was Asahina.
In front of me stood a long-haired girl leaning by the window ledge facing the school courtyard.
She wore a white blouse and a black mini-skirt, while her feet sported a pair of slippers made for
school visitors.
When she saw me, she walked towards me delightedly and took my hands.
"Kyon-kun......it's been a while."
She was not Asahina, yet she resembled Asahina a lot, so much that one would easily mistake
her for Asahina herself. To be honest, even I would have thought she was Asahina.
Yet she wasn't Asahina. The Asahina I knew wasn't that tall, and her face wasn't that fully
grown, not to mention the breasts under her blouse couldn't have possibly grown a third in size
overnight.
No matter how I looked, I was sure the person in front of me, smiling while holding my hands, is
in her twenties, giving off a completely different feeling from the junior high schoolgirl-like
Asahina. But why did she resemble Asahina so much?
"Excuse me......"
I suddenly thought of a reason.
"Are you Asahina-san's......sister?"
She looked surprised for a while, then smiled and winked her eyes, shaking her shoulders. Even
her smile was the same.
"Hee hee, I'm me!" She said.
"I am Asahina Mikuru. Only that, I come from an even further timeline......I've always wanted to
meet you."
I must've looked very stupid then. Indeed, I could easily accept Asahina saying she was from the
future. Looking at the beauty standing ahead of me, I realized how beautiful she'd grown. Plus
she's taller, making her sexier. I never thought she would be so beautiful.
"Oh, you still don't believe me?"
Asahina in a secretary-like outfit said naughtily,
"Then I'll show you proof!"
She then promptly began to unbutton her blouse. When she opened the second button, she
revealed her bust to my astonishment.
"Look, can you see the star-shaped birthmark? It's not stuck on! You want to touch it?"
There was a star-shaped birthmark on her left breast, an attractive highlight on the white skin,
radiating charm.
"So now you believe?"
How should I say this? I don't even remember ever seeing whether Asahina had a birthmark on
her breast. Though I was kinda forced into seeing her change when she dressed as a bunny girl a
while ago, I wouldn't be so focused as to notice such a small area. While I was thinking the
above, the attractive, mature-looking Asahina said,
"That's strange. If you hadn't told me that I had this birthmark, I wouldn't have noticed it
myself."
Asahina confusedly shook her head, and then, as if realizing something, her eyes widened and
she blushed furiously.
"Eh......Oh no, I just......T...that's right! We still haven't......What should I do?"
Asahina put her hands over her face and shook frantically, her collar buttons still opened.
"I got it wrong......I...I'm sorry! Please forget what I just said!"
That's easier said than done. Oh and, could you please button up? I really don't know where my
eyes ought to be aimed anymore!
"Alright, I'll believe you for now. Right now I can believe anything."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh nothing, just talking to myself."
The unknown-aged Asahina was still holding her red face in her hands when she realized what I
was staring at, and quickly buttoned up. After sitting properly, she coughed dryly and said,
"Do you really believe that I've come from the future to this temporal plane?"
"Of course. Hmm, if that's the case, that means right now there are two Asahinas in this world?"
"Yes, the me from the past......right now, she's sitting with her classmates having lunch in the
classroom."
"Does that Asahina know you're here?"
"No, after all, she is my past."
I see.
"Since I wanted to tell you something, I begged the higher-ups to let me come to this timeframe.
Oh yes, I've previously asked Nagato-san to leave us for now."
If it's Nagato, I guess she wouldn't even flinch when seeing this Asahina.
"......Do you know who Nagato-san really is?"
"I'm sorry, but that's classified information. Oh, I realized I haven't said that for a long time
now."
"I just heard you say that only a few days ago."
"You're right." Asahina said while knocking her head and sticking her tongue out. This really
does look like what Asahina would do.
Yet she began to look serious suddenly.
"I can't stay here for too long, so I'll cut to the point."
Just say whatever you want to say!
"Have you heard of Snow White?"
I looked at the slightly taller Asahina. Her black pupils seemed to be a bit moist.
"Well, yeah......"
"No matter what distressing situations you will face from now on, I hope you will remember this
story."
"You mean the one with the seven dwarves, the wicked witch and the poisoned apple?"
"Yes, the story of Snow White."
"I experienced something distressing yesterday already."
"No......it's more serious than that. I can't tell you the details, but all I can say is that Suzumiya
Haruhi will also be by your side."
Haruhi? Also by my side? You mean both she and I will get involved in something troublesome?
When? Where?
"......Maybe Suzumiya-san doesn't think it bothersome......but for you and us all, it is a tricky
problem."
"You can't tell me the details......can you?"
"I'm sorry, I can only give you hints. That's all I can do."
The grown-up Asahina was so apologetic that she was near tears. Yes, that's the expression
Asahina usually shows.
"You mean the story of Snow White?"
"Yes."
"I'll remember it."
After seeing me nod, Asahina said she still had a bit of time left, so she walked around the club
room nostalgically, preciously caressing the maid costume hanging on the clothes rack.
"I used to wear this often. Now I definitely wouldn't dare to wear this."
"You seem to be cosplaying as an office girl now though."
"Hee hee, since I can't enter in my uniform, I have to dress up as a teacher."
Some people are just born to have costumes worn on them.
"Speaking of which, what else did Haruhi make you wear?"
"I'm not telling you, it's too embarrassing. Besides, you'll find out soon enough, isn't that right?"
Asahina walked with her slippers and came towards my face. I discovered her eyes were
unusually moist, and her face a little red.
"Then I'll be going now!"
Asahina looked at me, wanting to continue but decided to stop. Seeing her trembling and
seemingly wanting something, perhaps I should give her a kiss. Just when I was about to
embrace her, she backed off.
Asahina turned around lightly and said,
"Finally, I have one more request. Please don't get too close to me."
She said with a weak sigh.
I quickly shouted to Asahina, who was running to the door, "I have a question for you!"
Asahina stopped just as she was about to open the door.
"Asahina-san, just how old are you?"
Asahina turned and shook her hair out, then gave a seductive smile, "Classified information~."
The door closed just like that. I couldn't have done anything even if I had given chase.
Wow, I could hardly believe that Asahina would look so hot when she grew up. Then I suddenly
thought of the first thing she said. "Kyon-kun......it's been a while." It can only mean one thing:
Asahina hadn't seen me for a long time.
"Yes, that should make sense."
The future Asahina must have probably returned to her not-so-distant future, and then spent a
few years there, before reuniting with me in this age again.
How long has it been for her? From how she has grown, I'd say perhaps five years......or even
three! Girls change a lot when they graduate from high school. My cousin was like that. When
she was in high school, she had always been a quiet, bright schoolgirl that didn't attract any
attention. Then when she entered university, she metamorphosed from an ugly caterpillar into a
beautiful butterfly. Yet since she's grown, I'm even more confused by Asahina's true age; I don't
think she's 17 at all!
Man, I'm hungry, I think I'll go back.
"......"
Just then, Nagato Yuki entered with her usual well-preserved cold face, but as she wasn't
wearing glasses today, her naked glare landed on me.
"Hey, did you just see someone who looked like Asahina passing by?" I half-jokingly said.
"I have seen Asahina Mikuru's differential temporal clone this morning already."
Nagato silently sat on her seat and then placed her book on the desk and opened it.
"She is no longer here now and has departed from this timeframe."
"Can you travel through time as well? With that Data Entity thingy?"
"I cannot. However, temporal movement is not as difficult as one would think; it's just that
humans have yet to grasp its basic principles. Time is like space; moving through it is very
simple."
"Then can you teach me?"
"That is a concept that cannot be conveyed in speech, so you wouldn't understand even if I
explained it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"I guess that's too bad."
"Too bad."
It was pointless trying to talk to such a wooden character, so I decided to go back to the
classroom. Maybe I still have time for lunch?
"Nagato-san, thanks for yesterday."
Her wooden expression moved slightly.
"There is no need to thank me. Asakura Ryouko's actions were my responsibility; I was careless
with my supervision."
Her hair parting swung softly.
Was she trying to bow and apologize to me?
"You definitely look cuter without your glasses."
She didn't reply.
I had wanted to rush back to the classroom to have my lunch, but Haruhi was there waiting for
me at the door, and my plans for having lunch went out of the window at once. Could this be
fate? It seems I've reached the point where I can see through all karma.
Waiting impatiently by the corridor, Haruhi yelled in an annoyed tone,
"Where did you run off to? I thought you'd be back sooner, I haven't even eaten because I was
waiting for you so long!"
She doesn't sound mad at all, rather she sounds like those childhood girlfriends who pout trying
to hide their embarrassment.
"Don't stand there like an idiot! Follow me!"
Haruhi placed a wrestling wristlock over my hand and dragged me to the dark staircase.
I'm really hungry, man!
"I've just asked Okabe in the staff room. The teachers only learned about Asakura transferring
this morning. Early in the morning, someone claiming to be Asakura's dad called, saying they
had to move due to some emergency. And you know where they're moving? Canada! How can
this be possible? It's just too fishy!"
"Oh really?"
"After that, I said I was a good friend of Asakura and wanted to ask the teachers if I could
contact her in Canada."
Please, you hardly ever talked to her when she was still around.
"And you know what the teachers said? They say they didn't know. Normally if someone were to
move, wouldn't they usually leave their contact details? Something is funny here."
"No, there isn't!"
"So I asked for Asakura Ryouko's old address from before she moved. I'm gonna go there and
have a look after school. Maybe we can find something there."
This girl never listens to what other people are saying, as usual.
Forget it, I'm not going to stop her. In the end, the one wasting her time would be Haruhi, not
me.
"You're coming as well."
"Why!?"
Haruhi puffed up her shoulders, and then like a dragon huffing and puffing before firing its
breath, she shouted in at a volume the whole school could hear,
"BECAUSE YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE SOS BRIGADE!!!"
Complying with Haruhi's orders, I retreated frantically. I went to the club room to tell Nagato
about it since neither me nor Haruhi would be having any club activities today, and I had Nagato
relay the message to Asahina and Koizumi as well when they arrived. Yet I didn't know whether
this silent alien would make things even more complicated, so just to be safe, I took a felt-tip pen
and wrote on the back of one of the SOS Brigade flyers,
"There're no activities today for the SOS Brigade. - Haruhi"
and pasted the note on the door.
Leaving Koizumi aside, at least Asahina can save having to change into her maid costume.
Thanks to all this, the school bell for the fifth session chimed before I could eat anything. So it
wasn't till after the next recess before I could eat.
I'd be lying if I said I've never wanted to walk shoulder to shoulder with a girl after school just
like in those idol dramas. But even though this dream has now become a reality, I'm far from
happy. Just what is going on?
"Did you just say something?"
Haruhi asked while walking by my left side, striding with large steps while carrying a piece of
notepaper. I automatically interpreted her question as "You got a problem?"
"Nope, nothing at all."
We walked down the hill and followed the railway line. A little bit further on would be Koyouen
Station.
I had thought we were getting near Nagato's home, yet I never thought Haruhi was also walking
towards that place as well. We then arrived before a familiar, brand-new apartment block.
"Asakura seems to live in Room 505."
"No wonder."
"What do you mean 'no wonder'?"
"No, nothing. Oh yeah, how do you expect to go in? Look, even the gate is locked."
I pointed to the number keypad by the intercom and said,
"You need to enter the correct code to open the door. Do you know it?"
"Nope, we're gonna need to endure a prolonged battle in this situation."
What're you trying to wait for anyway? Just after I thought how long that's going to take, we
didn't wait long. As at this moment a middle-aged lady opened the gate from inside, seemingly
about to go out to buy some grocery. She looked at us for a while with a questioning glance and
then walked off. Haruhi rushed to keep the gate open just before it was about to shut.
This doesn't seem wise at all.
"Hurry along!"
So I was dragged like that into the entrance hall, and then entered the elevator, which happened
to stop at the ground floor. It is basic etiquette to silently look at the floor numbers when riding
an elevator......
"That Asakura......"
But Haruhi doesn't seem to recognize the existence of etiquette.
"......There're many other fishy things about her. She didn't seem to have attended the local junior
high as well."
Well, of course.
"I did some research and found she transferred to North High from another town. This is too
suspicious! North High isn't some famous school or anything, just a normal local high school.
Why would she go through so much effort just to come from another town to attend this school?"
"Dunno."
"Yet she lives near the school, and it's one of those apartments paid by cash and not by rent. The
price must be insanely expensive. Has she been commuting by train all the way to her junior high
out of town all this time?"
"I told you I don't know."
"Looks like there is a need to find out when Asakura started living here."
The elevator stopped at the fifth floor. We silently stood and looked at the door for Room 505.
The name board by the door had been removed, indicating this was an empty apartment. Haruhi
turned the door knob, but as expected, it's locked.
Haruhi crossed her arms, wondering how to get inside the apartment to investigate, while I stood
by trying hard not to yawn. This is a complete waste of my time.
"Let's find the concierge!"
"I don't think he'll lend us the key."
"No, I'm thinking of asking him when Asakura started living here."
"Forget it, let's go home! What can we do even if we did know?"
"No."
We took the elevator and returned to the ground floor, and went to the concierge's post at the
entrance hall. There didn't seem to be anyone behind the glass panel, yet when we pushed the
buzzer by the panel, a little old man with white hair slowly appeared.
Haruhi began to bombard the old man with questions before he could even speak.
"Excuse me, we're friends of Asakura-san. She suddenly said she was moving without even
leaving her new address, and we don't know how to contact her. Could we please ask if you
know where she moved to? And, could we please know when Asakura-san started living here?"
As I was being amazed at how Haruhi can actually use such normal, polite language, the old man
seemed to be hard of hearing as he kept replying with, "What?", "Come again?", and so on.
Despite that, Haruhi still managed to learn from the old man that he too was surprised at Asakura
suddenly moving out. (I didn't even see the movers come, yet all the furniture inside was gone. It
still gives me the creeps.) And that Asakura moved in three years ago. (I remember the pretty lil'
lady giving me a box of treats that day!) Also, instead of paying by installments, the apartment
seems to have been paid for in one single down payment with cash. (I guess they must be very
rich!) Wow! You can be a detective at this rate!
The old man seemed pleased to be able to talk to a young girl like Haruhi.
"Come to think of it, although I've often seen that pretty young lady, I don't recall ever seeing her
parents."
"I remember the lil’ lady's called Ryouko. Such an elegant name for a girl."
"I was hoping she would at least say goodbye......it's such a pity. Oh yeah, you're pretty cute as
well!"
When the old man began to talk about similar stuff, Haruhi determined she could no longer
extract any more data from him, so she decided to bow to him politely and said, "Thank you very
much for your help."
She then urged me to leave. This didn't need any urging at all, since I was already prepared to
follow her and leave this apartment block.
"Hey, kiddo, that missy is gonna grow into a pretty lady, make sure you don't let her out of your
grasp!"
The old man was obviously talking nonsense. What I was worried about was what sort of terrible
reaction Haruhi, who had overheard all that, would have. Yet she silently continued moving
forward, and I remained silent as well. A few steps from the entrance hall, we bumped into
Nagato, carrying her bag and some convenience store plastic bags. For Nagato, who would often
be in the club room reading her book until the school closed, to be here, means she had also left
school after I had.
"Ah! Could it be that you live here as well? Such a coincidence!"
Nagato nodded with her pale white face. Please, how can this be a coincidence?
"Have you heard anything about Asakura?"
She shook her head.
"I see. If you hear anything about Asakura, remember to tell me."
She nodded her head.
I noticed some food cans and vegetables inside her convenience store bags and thought, so she
can eat after all!
"What happened to your glasses?"
Nagato didn't directly answer the question but only silently looked at me. I panicked a bit being
stared at by her like that, while Haruhi, not expecting her to answer at all, simply shrugged her
shoulders and walked off without turning her head. I lifted my arm and waved goodbye to
Nagato.
As we walked past, Nagato whispered, "Be careful."
Be careful of what this time? As I was about to turn and ask her, Nagato had already entered the
apartment block.
I followed Haruhi, who was walking aimlessly along the railway line, remaining two to three
steps behind her. We would be getting farther from home if we continued this way, so I asked
where we were going.
"Nowhere in particular." She replied.
I looked at the back of Haruhi's head and said, "Then can I go home now?"
At this point, Haruhi stopped walking, looking as though she was about to fall forward. Then she
looked at me with a face as pale white as Nagato's.
"Do you ever get the feeling you're just a small nail on this Earth?"
She continued, "I have, and I'll never forget it."
Haruhi stood by the railway tracks, sorry, the railway path, and began to talk.
"When I was in sixth grade, I went with my family to see a baseball game. I wasn't really
interested in baseball, yet when I went there, I was given a shock, since everywhere I looked
there were people all around. The people at the opposite of the stadium were as small as a grain
of rice, in constant motion. I had thought the whole nation had gathered upon this spot then. So I
asked my dad how many people were at the stadium. My dad said as it was full that day, maybe
around fifty thousand?
"After the game, the roads were packed with people. Seeing all this, I was stunned. There were
so many people here, yet they were only a tiny fraction of the whole nation. I read in geography
class that Japan had a population of a hundred million, so I went home and did some math using
a calculator, and I found out that fifty thousand was only one out of two thousand of the total
population. At that time, I was stunned again. I was only a small part of so many people in the
stadium, and this many people were merely one out of two thousand of the whole nation.
"Before that, I had always felt myself to be special. I was happy with my family, and I felt I was
with the world's most interesting people in my class. Yet from that time on, I realized things
weren't like that. The experiences I had in school that I thought were the happiest things in the
world, turned out to exist in every school. For the whole nation, this was nothing special. When I
discovered that, the whole world around me lost its color. I brush my teeth and go to sleep, then
wake up and have breakfast. You see these things everywhere.
"I found it extremely boring when I realized all these things are all part of a person's ordinary
life. I believe that since there're so many people in this world, there has to be someone who's
living an extraordinary, exciting life. But why isn't that person me?
"Before I graduated from elementary school, I thought all about it. So when I entered junior high,
I decided to change myself. I wanted to let the world know, I'm not a girl who will only sit and
wait. I believe I've tried my best, but everything's the same as it's always been. And now I'm in
high school, still hoping for something to change."
When she finished she gave an expression of regretting ever saying all that, and looked at the sky in
anguish.
Haruhi said this without pause, as though giving a speech in a debate. When she finished she gave an
expression of regretting ever saying all that, and looked at the sky in anguish. A train passed rapidly by
us. Thanks to all the rumbling noise, I had time to consider if I should continue asking or whether I
should find something philosophical to please Haruhi.
I watched the train leave behind its Doppler Effect sound and said, "Is that so?"
I felt bad at only coming up with such a simple reply.
Haruhi used her hands to hold down her hair, which was blown up by the draft from the passing
train, and said, "Let's go!"
After that, she went towards whence we came from. Though I could reach home faster if I
followed where Haruhi was headed, it was as though her back was silently telling me "Don't
follow me!", so I stayed where I was and watched Haruhi walk off until she disappeared from
my sight.
Just what the hell have I been doing all along?
When I came home, I found Koizumi waiting by the door.
"Hi."
His smile looked a bit fake for trying to greet an old friend. He waved heartily at me, wearing his
uniform and carrying his bag, apparently having just come home from school.
"I want to keep the promise I made to you earlier. That's why I've been waiting for you. I never
thought you'd return so quickly!"
Koizumi continued with his ever-present smile,
"Can I delay you for a moment? I'd like to take you to see a place."
"Something to do with Suzumiya?"
"It's something to do with Suzumiya-san."
I opened the door and placed my bag by the entrance room. Then after telling my sister, who had
just come out, that I was going to be a bit late tonight, I went back to Koizumi.
A few minutes later, we went on a ride.
Koizumi flagged down a taxi that stopped by my place, then we rode off along the main road
eastwards. Koizumi told the driver to go to a large city outside the prefecture. It would be
cheaper to go by train, but since Koizumi was paying, I didn't really mind.
"Right, what was the promise you said you were going to keep?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to see proof of my esper powers? Now's the chance, that's why I
wanted you to come!"
"Is there any need to travel so far?"
"Yes. I can only use my powers under specific places and conditions. The place we're headed to
fits those conditions."
"You still believe Haruhi is God?"
Koizumi, sitting together with me at the rear, glanced at me sideways.
"Have you ever heard of the Anthropic Principle?"
"Never heard of it."
Koizumi sighed and smiled again,
"Basically, it's the theory that 'if something must be true for us, as humans, to exist, then it is true
simply because we exist.'"
I don't get it.
"The universe exists simply because it is there for us to observe. In other words, the intelligent
lifeform known as humans learned of the existence of the universe through observing how the
universe was formed by the discovery of the laws of physics. If humans had not evolved to the
present level, then observation would be impossible, and they would never learn of the existence
of the universe.
This means whether the universe exists or not, for a human who hasn't completely evolved, it
wouldn't make much of a difference. It is because of the presence of us fully-evolved humans
that the existence of the universe is widely accepted. This is the method of thinking from the
humans' point of view."
"Such a queer way of thinking! I mean the universe exists regardless of whether humans exist or
not."
"You're right. That's why the Anthropic Principle is not completely scientific, just a
philosophical way of thinking. However, something interesting comes out from this theory."
The taxi stopped at the red light, the driver was looking forwards only, and never bothered to
turn around at us.
"Why did the universe come to be in a state suitable for human habitation? A minor change in
the gravitational constant would mean a completely different universe from the one we're in.
Other sets of rules such as Planck's Constant or the mass ratio of atomic molecules seem to be
designed specifically so that humans can live in this universe. Don't you find this incredible?"
I felt my back itch. This is because the stuff Koizumi said sounds like one of the rhetorical flyers
given out by those newly formed religions whose founding principles are based on scientific
theories.
"Relax! I don't believe in the existence of an Almighty God, or the Ultimate Creator that created
humans. Many of my companions think the same way as well. Yet, there's one thing that bothers
us."
Bothered by what?
"The things that we do. Are they as foolish as a clown doing a handstand by the edge of a cliff?"
The expression on my face right now was probably very strange, or Koizumi wouldn't have
laughed so hard like a hen clucking away.
"I was kidding!"
"I really don't know what the hell you're talking about."
I really wanted to tell him, I don't have time to play some stupid jokes with you. Can you let me
off? Driver, do you mind turning around? If possible, I'd prefer the latter choice.
"I'm just using the Anthropic Principle as a comparison. We still haven't touched on the subject
of Suzumiya-san."
This is too strange! Why are you, Nagato and Asahina all so infatuated with Haruhi?
"I believe she is a very charismatic person. Let's leave that aside now, do you still remember me
saying that this world had probably been created by Suzumiya-san?"
I didn't like what he was saying, but I did remember it having been said.
"She has the ability to realize dreams."
Can you not be so conclusive?
"I cannot not think like that, because right now the world is headed towards Suzumiya-san's
wishes."
How is that possible?
"Suzumiya-san always believed aliens existed, that's why Nagato Yuki appeared. Similarly, she
wanted to meet time travelers, so Asahina Mikuru appeared as well. And I appeared before her
for the same reasons as well."
"And how do you know that?"
"It was three years ago......"
Three years ago again! I'm sick of hearing that already!
"One day, I suddenly realized I possessed a specific power, and for some reason, I fully
understood how to use this power. At the same time, I also discovered others like me have also
had their powers awakened and that these powers were granted by Suzumiya Haruhi. I can't go
into the details, so all I can say is that I know these things while not being able to explain them."
"Alright, even if I believe you have these powers, I still can't believe Haruhi can have such
powers."
"Neither did I. A mere schoolgirl having the ability to change the world -- sorry, I guess it should
be more like the ability to create worlds, huh? The scary thing is that this girl now finds the
world she's in to be boring."
"Why's that?"
"Didn't I say it before? If she could create worlds at will, then naturally she can make this world
disappear without a trace and then restructure it according to her wishes. Then, in a literal sense,
the world will have come to an end. We can't determine whether this theory is correct or not;
who knows, the world which we believe to be unique has probably been recreated many times
before already."
I was overusing the word "unbelievable" so much now that I needed a thesaurus.
"If that's the case, why don't you just tell Haruhi who you really are? Let her know espers really
do exist. If she knew, I think she'd be really happy. Maybe then, she wouldn't want to try and
destroy this world!"
"Then it would pose a greater problem. If Suzumiya-san believed the existence of espers to be a
very normal thing, then the whole world would become like that. All the laws of physics would
be distorted: the Molecular Constant, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the rest of the
universe would all descend into chaos."
"There's something I don't understand." I continued, "I remember you saying it was Haruhi's
longing to meet aliens, time travelers and espers that caused you, Nagato-san, and Asahina-san to
appear before her?"
"Yes."
"If that's true, then why hasn't Haruhi discovered that yet? In contrast, it's just you and me who
know everything, isn't that a little strange?"
"You find it inconsistent? It really isn't; the real inconsistency is within Suzumiya-san's heart."
Can't you say something that I can understand please!?
"In other words, she does hope for the existence of aliens, time travelers, and espers. Her
common sense, however, is telling her that these things don't exist, and this creates cognitive
dissonance. Though she may be eccentric in her actions and speech, her thinking is still no
different from the ordinary person. Her stormy enthusiasm has slowly calmed down in the last
few months, and we're glad to see her stabilize, yet a tornado-like change has occurred
suddenly."
"And why is that?"
"It's all because of you."
Koizumi's raised his lips,
"If you hadn't given Suzumiya-san some funny ideas, we would still be observing her from
behind the scenes right now."
"What did I do!?"
"It was you who encouraged her to form that weird club. All because of a conversation she had
with you, she came up with the idea of forming a club to gather all the mysterious characters. So
you must carry full responsibility for all of this. It is because of you that the three groups most
concerned with Suzumiya Haruhi have now gathered together."
"......That's an unfair accusation!" I defended myself unconvincingly.
Koizumi only smiled and continued, "But that's not the only reason."
He stopped talking after saying that. As I was about to say something, the driver said suddenly,
"We're here."
The car came to a stop and the door opened. I stepped into the crowded street with Koizumi.
Though the driver then drove off without even charging any fare, I wasn't at all surprised.
If people in this area wanted to go shopping, this would be the place for them to do so. This is
the typical local metropolis with the railway interchange, as well as all sorts of department stores
and complex architecture. The sunset bathed the bustling street full of pedestrians in a glowing
color. When the lights at the intersection ahead turned green, the road became occupied by a sea
of people in an instant. We were separated for a while by this wave after we got off by the
sidewalk.
"What is it that you wanted to show me by taking me here?"
Walking slowly by the zebra crossing, Koizumi looked ahead and said, "There's still time for you
to change your mind!"
"I'm already here anyway, so cut to the chase."
Walking besides me, Koizumi suddenly grabbed my hand. Hey, what do think you're doing!?
That's gross!
"Excuse me, but can you please close your eyes for a while? This won't take long."
I dodged to avoid a commuter from bumping into me. The green lights started flashing.
Alright! So I obligingly closed my eyes. I could still hear the many footsteps on the street, the car
engines roaring, the endless chatting, and all sorts of noises.
Under Koizumi's guidance, I walked ahead one step, two steps, three steps, and then I stopped.
"You can open them now."
I slowly opened my eyes.
The whole world fell into a shade of grey.
It was really dark. I couldn't help but lift my head towards the sky. The glowing orange sun was
nowhere to be seen, and the sky was covered by gloomy grey clouds. Were those really clouds?
The flawless dark horizon stretched endlessly ahead in every direction. The only thing that
stopped this world from falling completely into darkness was the occasional light that shone
through, replacing that of the bright sun, producing a weak glow in the grey sky.
There were no people at all.
Besides Koizumi and I, standing in the middle of the intersection, the bustling crowd that was
here before had now vanished without a trace. In the vast darkness, only the traffic lights flashed,
changing red, while the other set of traffic lights turned green, yet there was not a single vehicle
on the road. It was so quiet that one might wonder if the Earth had stopped spinning as well.
"We're now in a gap within a cross-dimensional faultline; this is a Sealed Reality, a place that is
completely cut off from the world we live in."
Koizumi's voice became particularly clear in the silence.
"The center of this intersection falls right by the "Wall" of this Sealed Reality. Look, just like
that."
Koizumi's outstretched arm stopped in midair, as though blocked by something. I tried to do the
same and stretched my arm towards that direction; it felt like touching cold washed vegetables.
My hands pushed through the surface of an elastic invisible wall, but I could not extend any
further beyond ten centimeters.
"This Sealed Reality has a radius of five kilometers. Usually, it's impossible to enter using
normal physical means. One of my powers is the ability to enter such spaces."
Like bamboo poles standing, not a single light shone from the buildings around. The shops
within the shopping district were all dark inside, with only the street lamps flickering weakly.
"Where is this place?"
No, the question ought to be "What dimension is this?"
"I'll explain as we move along," said Koizumi casually,
"I'm not too sure about the details, but this is a dimension located not far from ours......Let's put it
this way, a cross-dimensional faultline just appeared right over there, and we have entered
through the gap. At this moment, the outside world is still going on with its everyday life. It's
nearly impossible for normal humans to stumble upon this world by accident."
We crossed the street. Koizumi walked in a direction he had already decided.
"Imagine an inverted bowl-like, egg-shaped dimension, and this place is its interior."
We entered a multi-story apartment complex, but not a single person could be seen, not even a
speck of dust.
"Sealed Realities occur randomly. Sometimes it appears once every other day, and sometimes it
appears once every several months. Yet, one thing's for sure..."
We climbed up the stairs though it was dark inside. If I hadn't been following Koizumi closely, I
would've tripped.
"Whenever Suzumiya-san is in a mentally unstable condition, this space will appear."
We arrived at the rooftop of the apartment block.
"Once a Sealed Reality appears, I will be able to sense it; so too can my companions. How do we
know that? Frankly, even we don't know how. In any case, we just know when and where a
Sealed Reality will appear, and how to penetrate it. I can't describe this feeling in words."
I held the rooftop fence and looked towards the sky; no breeze could be felt.
"You brought me here to see this? There's hardly anyone here!"
"No, the real thing comes after this. It's about to start."
Quit joking around! But Koizumi pretended not to notice my unpleasant expression.
"My abilities are merely to detect Sealed Realities and penetrate them. To be honest, I can even
detect Suzumiya-san's state of mind. This world is like a blister created from the tremors of
Suzumiya-san's unstable emotional state, and I am the medicine designed to cure the blisters."
"Your comparison sure is hard to understand."
"People often tell me that. Anyway, you're pretty amazing! You don't seem freaked out at all by
the sight of all this."
At this moment, images of Asakura vanishing without a trace and a grown-up version of Asahina
flashed before my mind: I've had way too many of such experiences already.
Suddenly, Koizumi lifted his head and glanced afar.
"Seems like it's begun. Turn around and look behind you."
I saw it.
Standing between the tall buildings in the distance was a glowing blue giant.
It was taller than a 30-story building by a head's length. Its slim, deep blue shaded figure seemed
to contain some sort of material which allowed it to glow from within. Since it was too dark, I
could not perceive its outline, and besides the eyes and mouth, which seemed a bit darker, its
face didn't seem to have any other features.
What on earth is that?
The giant slowly lifted its arm and then swung it down like an axe.
The building beside it was smashed in half; then as if in slow-motion, the concrete, wires, and
debris made a deafening noise falling to the ground.
"We believe this to be the manifestation of Suzumiya-san's frustration. Every time her inner
conflict reaches a certain limit, this giant will appear and destroy everything around it to relieve
pressure, but we cannot allow this thing to have its way in our reality, or it'll cause widespread
destruction. That is why this Sealed Reality is created, so that it can wreak its destruction inside.
Does that make sense?"
Every time the glowing blue giant waved its arms, the buildings would be sliced in half and
collapse. The giant would then continue forwards, stepping on the debris. Surprisingly, I could
only hear the sound of the buildings collapsing, but not the footsteps of the giant.
"According to the laws of physics, it should be impossible for a giant like him to be able to stand,
due to its weight. Yet he is able to move around freely in a weightless condition. Though
destroying a building involves a change in molecular structure, these rules don't seem to apply to
him. Not even an army would be able to stop him."
"So we just let him have his way?"
"No, and this is why I exist. Please look over there."
Koizumi pointed towards the giant. I watched where he was pointing and noticed a few glowing
red dots that weren't around before, now flying around the giant. Compared to the large blue
giant, the red dots were like sesame seeds. There were five of them in total, but because they
were flying so fast, my eyes couldn't catch up with them. Like satellites, the red dots orbited
around the giant as though trying to stop the giant from moving further ahead.
"Those are my companions, who, like me, have obtained their powers from Suzumiya-san,
warriors in charge of hunting down these giants."
The red dots skillfully dodged the giant's arm attacks while changing their flight path swiftly and
attacked the giant's body. The giant's body seemed to be made of gas since the red dots simply
flew through it.
However, the giant seemed oblivious to the red dots' attacks and raised its arm again to smash
another department store building.
No matter how the red dots attacked, the giant didn't seem to be stopping. Red laser-like beams
now penetrated the giant's body nonstop, but as I was too far away, I could not figure out the
extent of damage it had sustained. One thing was for certain: the red beams didn't create any
holes in the giant's body.
"Right, I think I should join them now."
Koizumi's body started to glow red, and soon, his glowing body was covered in a red glowing
sphere. Standing before me was no longer a human, but a large glowing ball.
This is getting ridiculous.
As if making a signal, the glowing sphere started to rise and then flew straight towards the giant
at an incredible speed.
Since the red spheres never stopped flying, I couldn't figure out how many there were in total,
but there shouldn't have been more than ten, including Koizumi. They bravely flew towards the
giant's body, but all they could do was fly through it. The giant was barely, if even, hurt. As I
was thinking that way, one of the red spheres suddenly approached the giant's wrist and circled
it.
The next moment, the giant's hand was sliced off. The masterless hand fell towards the ground
and gave out a mosaic glow, started to become transparent, and then disintegrated like snow
melting under the sun. I guess the blue smoke coming out of the giant's severed wrist must have
been its blood. The scene ahead was truly the stuff of fantasy.
The red dots seemed to have changed their attacking style of charging towards the giant. They
approached the giant like a bunch of fleas surrounding a dog. The red beams sliced through the
giant's face, and its head came falling down; after that, its shoulder fell as well, followed by its
upper torso, leaving behind a strange shape. The falling bits began to give out the characteristic
mosaic glow, then disintegrated and vanished.
As the giant was standing in a large piece of land without any obstacles around, I was able to see
the whole process from beginning to end. When the giant's upper torso fell off, its remaining
body also began to disintegrate, finally dissolving into beads smaller than dust and spreading
over the debris.
Once the red dots floating above made sure their work was done, they started flying off in all
directions. Most of them disappeared at once; only one flew towards me, finally landing at the
rooftop of the apartment complex. The red sphere slowly lost its glow, and finally Koizumi stood
before me, waving his hair pretentiously with his usual smile.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
He sounded very calm, and he didn't sound exhausted at all.
"Finally, I'd like to show you something interesting."
Koizumi pointed towards the sky. I half-suspiciously raised my head, and in the gloomy grey
skies, I saw it!
Right above where the giant first appeared was a crack, like that of a hatching bird trying to
break through its eggshell. The crack began to spread rapidly like a spider web.
"Following the blue creature's destruction, the Sealed Reality will also be destroyed. It's like a
magic show!"
As Koizumi finished his explanation, the large cracks now covered the world ahead, like being
covered in a metallic net. The net margins started to narrow until they became as small as black
curvy lines. Then, at this moment, crack!
Actually, I didn't really hear any sound. It was just my brain trying to simulate the sound of glass
cracking. A light penetrated from a spot in the sky, and then spread out in all directions in a
sphere. I felt the light shower downwards. No, that's not the right wording: it was more like the
opening of the retractable roof of the Tokyo Dome stadium, all within a few seconds. The
difference is that this roof covered all the buildings under it.
A loud bustling noise started to rumble in my eardrums, and I covered my ears instinctively. But
that was because I'd stayed in a world of silence for quite some time and couldn't adapt quickly.
When I listened carefully again, it was the usual bustling noise in the streets.
The world reverted back to its original state.
There were no collapsed buildings, no grey skies, and no glowing red spheres flying through the
air. The road was full of vehicles and people. A familiar orange glow could be seen through the
gaps between the buildings. The world seemed grateful at the reception of such warmth and left
long shadows behind.
The breeze blew softly.
"Now do you understand?"
Koizumi asked me as we boarded the taxi, which seemed to magically stop before us after we
left the apartment block. When I looked, I realized it was the same driver as before.
"I don't get it." I answered truthfully.
"I'd knew you'd say that." Koizumi laughed, "Those blue creatures, we call them Avatars, but, as
I've told you before, they are greatly related to Suzumiya-san's mental condition. We're the same,
of course. Once a Sealed Reality appears, once the Avatars begin their movement, we'll be able
to use our powers. We can only use those powers within the Sealed Reality; right now, I'm
powerless."
I silently glanced at the driver's back.
"I don't know why it's just us who have such powers, but I think it has nothing to do with our
identities. It's like winning the lottery: even though the chances may be low, there's bound to be
someone winning. I just happened to be the one to be stabbed by the random spear."
"How unlucky I am!" Koizumi smiled forcefully. I remained silent because I didn't know what I
should have said.
"We cannot allow the Avatars to move freely. Why is that? Because the more these Avatars
damage, the larger the sphere of the Sealed Reality will grow. The one you just saw was a
smaller one. If we leave them unattended, they will continue to grow until they cover the whole
nation, even the whole world, and finally, that alternate grey world will completely replace the
world we're living in."
I finally open my mouth.
"How come you know so much?"
"I told you, I just know, it can't be explained. Everyone associated with the 'Organization' is the
same. One day they just suddenly knew everything about Suzumiya-san and how she could
affect this world, as well as realizing that since they now had supernatural powers, they couldn't
just allow these Sealed Realities to continue untouched. When normal people learn of this kind
of thing, they would normally want to see if they can be of any help. If we hadn't done anything
about it, the world as we know it would have been destroyed."
"And that'd be troublesome." Koizumi fell silent after mumbling these words.
Before I reached home, we just quietly watched the view outside the window.
The car stopped, and as I was stepping out, he spoke again,
"Please pay attention to Suzumiya-san's actions. Her supposedly stable mental state has now
begun to show signs of rapid change. It's been quite a while since something like today has
happened."
Even if I did observe, she had still become like that, isn't that so?
"Frankly, I don't know either. But I find it to be a good idea to leave everything to you, since
some of my companions tend to think about things in a much too complex way."
Before I could reply, Koizumi stuck his head back inside the open door and shut it. As I watched
the legendary phantom taxi drive off into the distance, I suddenly felt very stupid, so I started to
stride back home.
As with yesterday, today I found yet another letter inside my shoe locker. What's with people
delivering letters through shoe lockers these days?
It had a different feeling this time, however. The letter wasn't folded and anonymous like last
time. On the back of the envelope, which looked like one of those elegant envelopes that come
with the shoujo-manga magazines for questionnaires and the sort, was clearly written a name. If
my eyes didn't deceive me, I was sure whose name was written on it.
Asahina Mikuru.
I instantly placed the envelope into the pocket of my jacket, and rushed to the men's room to
open it. There, on a piece of paper with smiley symbols all over it, were written the following
words.
I will be waiting for you in the club room during lunch break.
Mikuru-chan
After the events yesterday, my whole view on life, the world and reality itself went through a
360 degree somersault like an acrobat.
I never want to go through such life-threatening situations again.
Yet I couldn't turn this down. After all, it's Asahina who'd invited me this time! Though I had no
evidence to prove that this letter had been written by Asahina, I never doubted its authenticity,
because she seemed like the sort to go through such indirect means. Furthermore, the image of
her clutching her pen while writing excitedly on a cute piece of paper really suits her. If it's
during lunch, Nagato should be in the club room as well, should anything really happen, I guess
she'd come rescue me.
Please don't call me a hopeless coward. I'm just a normal high school student, after all.
After the fourth session, I was surrounded by: Taniguchi, staring at me with meaningful eyes;
Kunikida, coming over with his lunchbox, trying to invite me to have lunch together; and Haruhi,
asking that I go with her to the staff room to investigate the truth of Asakura's departure. Without
even having eaten from my lunchbox, I left at once for the club room.
It was only May, yet the sun was already shining with the brightness of summer. The sun is like
an extra large fireplace, happily radiating its energy towards the Earth. When summer finally
comes, Japan becomes a natural sauna. I could feel the sweat creeping into my underwear just
from walking a few steps.
In three minutes, I arrived at the club room door. I knocked first.
"Please come in."
It was Asahina's voice, there was no doubt about it. Alright, I could relax and go in!
When I entered, I found Nagato missing, and to my surprise, so was Asahina.
In front of me stood a long-haired girl leaning by the window ledge facing the school courtyard.
She wore a white blouse and a black mini-skirt, while her feet sported a pair of slippers made for
school visitors.
When she saw me, she walked towards me delightedly and took my hands.
"Kyon-kun......it's been a while."
She was not Asahina, yet she resembled Asahina a lot, so much that one would easily mistake
her for Asahina herself. To be honest, even I would have thought she was Asahina.
Yet she wasn't Asahina. The Asahina I knew wasn't that tall, and her face wasn't that fully
grown, not to mention the breasts under her blouse couldn't have possibly grown a third in size
overnight.
No matter how I looked, I was sure the person in front of me, smiling while holding my hands, is
in her twenties, giving off a completely different feeling from the junior high schoolgirl-like
Asahina. But why did she resemble Asahina so much?
"Excuse me......"
I suddenly thought of a reason.
"Are you Asahina-san's......sister?"
She looked surprised for a while, then smiled and winked her eyes, shaking her shoulders. Even
her smile was the same.
"Hee hee, I'm me!" She said.
"I am Asahina Mikuru. Only that, I come from an even further timeline......I've always wanted to
meet you."
I must've looked very stupid then. Indeed, I could easily accept Asahina saying she was from the
future. Looking at the beauty standing ahead of me, I realized how beautiful she'd grown. Plus
she's taller, making her sexier. I never thought she would be so beautiful.
"Oh, you still don't believe me?"
Asahina in a secretary-like outfit said naughtily,
"Then I'll show you proof!"
She then promptly began to unbutton her blouse. When she opened the second button, she
revealed her bust to my astonishment.
"Look, can you see the star-shaped birthmark? It's not stuck on! You want to touch it?"
There was a star-shaped birthmark on her left breast, an attractive highlight on the white skin,
radiating charm.
"So now you believe?"
How should I say this? I don't even remember ever seeing whether Asahina had a birthmark on
her breast. Though I was kinda forced into seeing her change when she dressed as a bunny girl a
while ago, I wouldn't be so focused as to notice such a small area. While I was thinking the
above, the attractive, mature-looking Asahina said,
"That's strange. If you hadn't told me that I had this birthmark, I wouldn't have noticed it
myself."
Asahina confusedly shook her head, and then, as if realizing something, her eyes widened and
she blushed furiously.
"Eh......Oh no, I just......T...that's right! We still haven't......What should I do?"
Asahina put her hands over her face and shook frantically, her collar buttons still opened.
"I got it wrong......I...I'm sorry! Please forget what I just said!"
That's easier said than done. Oh and, could you please button up? I really don't know where my
eyes ought to be aimed anymore!
"Alright, I'll believe you for now. Right now I can believe anything."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh nothing, just talking to myself."
The unknown-aged Asahina was still holding her red face in her hands when she realized what I
was staring at, and quickly buttoned up. After sitting properly, she coughed dryly and said,
"Do you really believe that I've come from the future to this temporal plane?"
"Of course. Hmm, if that's the case, that means right now there are two Asahinas in this world?"
"Yes, the me from the past......right now, she's sitting with her classmates having lunch in the
classroom."
"Does that Asahina know you're here?"
"No, after all, she is my past."
I see.
"Since I wanted to tell you something, I begged the higher-ups to let me come to this timeframe.
Oh yes, I've previously asked Nagato-san to leave us for now."
If it's Nagato, I guess she wouldn't even flinch when seeing this Asahina.
"......Do you know who Nagato-san really is?"
"I'm sorry, but that's classified information. Oh, I realized I haven't said that for a long time
now."
"I just heard you say that only a few days ago."
"You're right." Asahina said while knocking her head and sticking her tongue out. This really
does look like what Asahina would do.
Yet she began to look serious suddenly.
"I can't stay here for too long, so I'll cut to the point."
Just say whatever you want to say!
"Have you heard of Snow White?"
I looked at the slightly taller Asahina. Her black pupils seemed to be a bit moist.
"Well, yeah......"
"No matter what distressing situations you will face from now on, I hope you will remember this
story."
"You mean the one with the seven dwarves, the wicked witch and the poisoned apple?"
"Yes, the story of Snow White."
"I experienced something distressing yesterday already."
"No......it's more serious than that. I can't tell you the details, but all I can say is that Suzumiya
Haruhi will also be by your side."
Haruhi? Also by my side? You mean both she and I will get involved in something troublesome?
When? Where?
"......Maybe Suzumiya-san doesn't think it bothersome......but for you and us all, it is a tricky
problem."
"You can't tell me the details......can you?"
"I'm sorry, I can only give you hints. That's all I can do."
The grown-up Asahina was so apologetic that she was near tears. Yes, that's the expression
Asahina usually shows.
"You mean the story of Snow White?"
"Yes."
"I'll remember it."
After seeing me nod, Asahina said she still had a bit of time left, so she walked around the club
room nostalgically, preciously caressing the maid costume hanging on the clothes rack.
"I used to wear this often. Now I definitely wouldn't dare to wear this."
"You seem to be cosplaying as an office girl now though."
"Hee hee, since I can't enter in my uniform, I have to dress up as a teacher."
Some people are just born to have costumes worn on them.
"Speaking of which, what else did Haruhi make you wear?"
"I'm not telling you, it's too embarrassing. Besides, you'll find out soon enough, isn't that right?"
Asahina walked with her slippers and came towards my face. I discovered her eyes were
unusually moist, and her face a little red.
"Then I'll be going now!"
Asahina looked at me, wanting to continue but decided to stop. Seeing her trembling and
seemingly wanting something, perhaps I should give her a kiss. Just when I was about to
embrace her, she backed off.
Asahina turned around lightly and said,
"Finally, I have one more request. Please don't get too close to me."
She said with a weak sigh.
I quickly shouted to Asahina, who was running to the door, "I have a question for you!"
Asahina stopped just as she was about to open the door.
"Asahina-san, just how old are you?"
Asahina turned and shook her hair out, then gave a seductive smile, "Classified information~."
The door closed just like that. I couldn't have done anything even if I had given chase.
Wow, I could hardly believe that Asahina would look so hot when she grew up. Then I suddenly
thought of the first thing she said. "Kyon-kun......it's been a while." It can only mean one thing:
Asahina hadn't seen me for a long time.
"Yes, that should make sense."
The future Asahina must have probably returned to her not-so-distant future, and then spent a
few years there, before reuniting with me in this age again.
How long has it been for her? From how she has grown, I'd say perhaps five years......or even
three! Girls change a lot when they graduate from high school. My cousin was like that. When
she was in high school, she had always been a quiet, bright schoolgirl that didn't attract any
attention. Then when she entered university, she metamorphosed from an ugly caterpillar into a
beautiful butterfly. Yet since she's grown, I'm even more confused by Asahina's true age; I don't
think she's 17 at all!
Man, I'm hungry, I think I'll go back.
"......"
Just then, Nagato Yuki entered with her usual well-preserved cold face, but as she wasn't
wearing glasses today, her naked glare landed on me.
"Hey, did you just see someone who looked like Asahina passing by?" I half-jokingly said.
"I have seen Asahina Mikuru's differential temporal clone this morning already."
Nagato silently sat on her seat and then placed her book on the desk and opened it.
"She is no longer here now and has departed from this timeframe."
"Can you travel through time as well? With that Data Entity thingy?"
"I cannot. However, temporal movement is not as difficult as one would think; it's just that
humans have yet to grasp its basic principles. Time is like space; moving through it is very
simple."
"Then can you teach me?"
"That is a concept that cannot be conveyed in speech, so you wouldn't understand even if I
explained it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"I guess that's too bad."
"Too bad."
It was pointless trying to talk to such a wooden character, so I decided to go back to the
classroom. Maybe I still have time for lunch?
"Nagato-san, thanks for yesterday."
Her wooden expression moved slightly.
"There is no need to thank me. Asakura Ryouko's actions were my responsibility; I was careless
with my supervision."
Her hair parting swung softly.
Was she trying to bow and apologize to me?
"You definitely look cuter without your glasses."
She didn't reply.
I had wanted to rush back to the classroom to have my lunch, but Haruhi was there waiting for
me at the door, and my plans for having lunch went out of the window at once. Could this be
fate? It seems I've reached the point where I can see through all karma.
Waiting impatiently by the corridor, Haruhi yelled in an annoyed tone,
"Where did you run off to? I thought you'd be back sooner, I haven't even eaten because I was
waiting for you so long!"
She doesn't sound mad at all, rather she sounds like those childhood girlfriends who pout trying
to hide their embarrassment.
"Don't stand there like an idiot! Follow me!"
Haruhi placed a wrestling wristlock over my hand and dragged me to the dark staircase.
I'm really hungry, man!
"I've just asked Okabe in the staff room. The teachers only learned about Asakura transferring
this morning. Early in the morning, someone claiming to be Asakura's dad called, saying they
had to move due to some emergency. And you know where they're moving? Canada! How can
this be possible? It's just too fishy!"
"Oh really?"
"After that, I said I was a good friend of Asakura and wanted to ask the teachers if I could
contact her in Canada."
Please, you hardly ever talked to her when she was still around.
"And you know what the teachers said? They say they didn't know. Normally if someone were to
move, wouldn't they usually leave their contact details? Something is funny here."
"No, there isn't!"
"So I asked for Asakura Ryouko's old address from before she moved. I'm gonna go there and
have a look after school. Maybe we can find something there."
This girl never listens to what other people are saying, as usual.
Forget it, I'm not going to stop her. In the end, the one wasting her time would be Haruhi, not
me.
"You're coming as well."
"Why!?"
Haruhi puffed up her shoulders, and then like a dragon huffing and puffing before firing its
breath, she shouted in at a volume the whole school could hear,
"BECAUSE YOU'RE A MEMBER OF THE SOS BRIGADE!!!"
Complying with Haruhi's orders, I retreated frantically. I went to the club room to tell Nagato
about it since neither me nor Haruhi would be having any club activities today, and I had Nagato
relay the message to Asahina and Koizumi as well when they arrived. Yet I didn't know whether
this silent alien would make things even more complicated, so just to be safe, I took a felt-tip pen
and wrote on the back of one of the SOS Brigade flyers,
"There're no activities today for the SOS Brigade. - Haruhi"
and pasted the note on the door.
Leaving Koizumi aside, at least Asahina can save having to change into her maid costume.
Thanks to all this, the school bell for the fifth session chimed before I could eat anything. So it
wasn't till after the next recess before I could eat.
I'd be lying if I said I've never wanted to walk shoulder to shoulder with a girl after school just
like in those idol dramas. But even though this dream has now become a reality, I'm far from
happy. Just what is going on?
"Did you just say something?"
Haruhi asked while walking by my left side, striding with large steps while carrying a piece of
notepaper. I automatically interpreted her question as "You got a problem?"
"Nope, nothing at all."
We walked down the hill and followed the railway line. A little bit further on would be Koyouen
Station.
I had thought we were getting near Nagato's home, yet I never thought Haruhi was also walking
towards that place as well. We then arrived before a familiar, brand-new apartment block.
"Asakura seems to live in Room 505."
"No wonder."
"What do you mean 'no wonder'?"
"No, nothing. Oh yeah, how do you expect to go in? Look, even the gate is locked."
I pointed to the number keypad by the intercom and said,
"You need to enter the correct code to open the door. Do you know it?"
"Nope, we're gonna need to endure a prolonged battle in this situation."
What're you trying to wait for anyway? Just after I thought how long that's going to take, we
didn't wait long. As at this moment a middle-aged lady opened the gate from inside, seemingly
about to go out to buy some grocery. She looked at us for a while with a questioning glance and
then walked off. Haruhi rushed to keep the gate open just before it was about to shut.
This doesn't seem wise at all.
"Hurry along!"
So I was dragged like that into the entrance hall, and then entered the elevator, which happened
to stop at the ground floor. It is basic etiquette to silently look at the floor numbers when riding
an elevator......
"That Asakura......"
But Haruhi doesn't seem to recognize the existence of etiquette.
"......There're many other fishy things about her. She didn't seem to have attended the local junior
high as well."
Well, of course.
"I did some research and found she transferred to North High from another town. This is too
suspicious! North High isn't some famous school or anything, just a normal local high school.
Why would she go through so much effort just to come from another town to attend this school?"
"Dunno."
"Yet she lives near the school, and it's one of those apartments paid by cash and not by rent. The
price must be insanely expensive. Has she been commuting by train all the way to her junior high
out of town all this time?"
"I told you I don't know."
"Looks like there is a need to find out when Asakura started living here."
The elevator stopped at the fifth floor. We silently stood and looked at the door for Room 505.
The name board by the door had been removed, indicating this was an empty apartment. Haruhi
turned the door knob, but as expected, it's locked.
Haruhi crossed her arms, wondering how to get inside the apartment to investigate, while I stood
by trying hard not to yawn. This is a complete waste of my time.
"Let's find the concierge!"
"I don't think he'll lend us the key."
"No, I'm thinking of asking him when Asakura started living here."
"Forget it, let's go home! What can we do even if we did know?"
"No."
We took the elevator and returned to the ground floor, and went to the concierge's post at the
entrance hall. There didn't seem to be anyone behind the glass panel, yet when we pushed the
buzzer by the panel, a little old man with white hair slowly appeared.
Haruhi began to bombard the old man with questions before he could even speak.
"Excuse me, we're friends of Asakura-san. She suddenly said she was moving without even
leaving her new address, and we don't know how to contact her. Could we please ask if you
know where she moved to? And, could we please know when Asakura-san started living here?"
As I was being amazed at how Haruhi can actually use such normal, polite language, the old man
seemed to be hard of hearing as he kept replying with, "What?", "Come again?", and so on.
Despite that, Haruhi still managed to learn from the old man that he too was surprised at Asakura
suddenly moving out. (I didn't even see the movers come, yet all the furniture inside was gone. It
still gives me the creeps.) And that Asakura moved in three years ago. (I remember the pretty lil'
lady giving me a box of treats that day!) Also, instead of paying by installments, the apartment
seems to have been paid for in one single down payment with cash. (I guess they must be very
rich!) Wow! You can be a detective at this rate!
The old man seemed pleased to be able to talk to a young girl like Haruhi.
"Come to think of it, although I've often seen that pretty young lady, I don't recall ever seeing her
parents."
"I remember the lil’ lady's called Ryouko. Such an elegant name for a girl."
"I was hoping she would at least say goodbye......it's such a pity. Oh yeah, you're pretty cute as
well!"
When the old man began to talk about similar stuff, Haruhi determined she could no longer
extract any more data from him, so she decided to bow to him politely and said, "Thank you very
much for your help."
She then urged me to leave. This didn't need any urging at all, since I was already prepared to
follow her and leave this apartment block.
"Hey, kiddo, that missy is gonna grow into a pretty lady, make sure you don't let her out of your
grasp!"
The old man was obviously talking nonsense. What I was worried about was what sort of terrible
reaction Haruhi, who had overheard all that, would have. Yet she silently continued moving
forward, and I remained silent as well. A few steps from the entrance hall, we bumped into
Nagato, carrying her bag and some convenience store plastic bags. For Nagato, who would often
be in the club room reading her book until the school closed, to be here, means she had also left
school after I had.
"Ah! Could it be that you live here as well? Such a coincidence!"
Nagato nodded with her pale white face. Please, how can this be a coincidence?
"Have you heard anything about Asakura?"
She shook her head.
"I see. If you hear anything about Asakura, remember to tell me."
She nodded her head.
I noticed some food cans and vegetables inside her convenience store bags and thought, so she
can eat after all!
"What happened to your glasses?"
Nagato didn't directly answer the question but only silently looked at me. I panicked a bit being
stared at by her like that, while Haruhi, not expecting her to answer at all, simply shrugged her
shoulders and walked off without turning her head. I lifted my arm and waved goodbye to
Nagato.
As we walked past, Nagato whispered, "Be careful."
Be careful of what this time? As I was about to turn and ask her, Nagato had already entered the
apartment block.
I followed Haruhi, who was walking aimlessly along the railway line, remaining two to three
steps behind her. We would be getting farther from home if we continued this way, so I asked
where we were going.
"Nowhere in particular." She replied.
I looked at the back of Haruhi's head and said, "Then can I go home now?"
At this point, Haruhi stopped walking, looking as though she was about to fall forward. Then she
looked at me with a face as pale white as Nagato's.
"Do you ever get the feeling you're just a small nail on this Earth?"
She continued, "I have, and I'll never forget it."
Haruhi stood by the railway tracks, sorry, the railway path, and began to talk.
"When I was in sixth grade, I went with my family to see a baseball game. I wasn't really
interested in baseball, yet when I went there, I was given a shock, since everywhere I looked
there were people all around. The people at the opposite of the stadium were as small as a grain
of rice, in constant motion. I had thought the whole nation had gathered upon this spot then. So I
asked my dad how many people were at the stadium. My dad said as it was full that day, maybe
around fifty thousand?
"After the game, the roads were packed with people. Seeing all this, I was stunned. There were
so many people here, yet they were only a tiny fraction of the whole nation. I read in geography
class that Japan had a population of a hundred million, so I went home and did some math using
a calculator, and I found out that fifty thousand was only one out of two thousand of the total
population. At that time, I was stunned again. I was only a small part of so many people in the
stadium, and this many people were merely one out of two thousand of the whole nation.
"Before that, I had always felt myself to be special. I was happy with my family, and I felt I was
with the world's most interesting people in my class. Yet from that time on, I realized things
weren't like that. The experiences I had in school that I thought were the happiest things in the
world, turned out to exist in every school. For the whole nation, this was nothing special. When I
discovered that, the whole world around me lost its color. I brush my teeth and go to sleep, then
wake up and have breakfast. You see these things everywhere.
"I found it extremely boring when I realized all these things are all part of a person's ordinary
life. I believe that since there're so many people in this world, there has to be someone who's
living an extraordinary, exciting life. But why isn't that person me?
"Before I graduated from elementary school, I thought all about it. So when I entered junior high,
I decided to change myself. I wanted to let the world know, I'm not a girl who will only sit and
wait. I believe I've tried my best, but everything's the same as it's always been. And now I'm in
high school, still hoping for something to change."
When she finished she gave an expression of regretting ever saying all that, and looked at the sky in
anguish.
Haruhi said this without pause, as though giving a speech in a debate. When she finished she gave an
expression of regretting ever saying all that, and looked at the sky in anguish. A train passed rapidly by
us. Thanks to all the rumbling noise, I had time to consider if I should continue asking or whether I
should find something philosophical to please Haruhi.
I watched the train leave behind its Doppler Effect sound and said, "Is that so?"
I felt bad at only coming up with such a simple reply.
Haruhi used her hands to hold down her hair, which was blown up by the draft from the passing
train, and said, "Let's go!"
After that, she went towards whence we came from. Though I could reach home faster if I
followed where Haruhi was headed, it was as though her back was silently telling me "Don't
follow me!", so I stayed where I was and watched Haruhi walk off until she disappeared from
my sight.
Just what the hell have I been doing all along?
When I came home, I found Koizumi waiting by the door.
"Hi."
His smile looked a bit fake for trying to greet an old friend. He waved heartily at me, wearing his
uniform and carrying his bag, apparently having just come home from school.
"I want to keep the promise I made to you earlier. That's why I've been waiting for you. I never
thought you'd return so quickly!"
Koizumi continued with his ever-present smile,
"Can I delay you for a moment? I'd like to take you to see a place."
"Something to do with Suzumiya?"
"It's something to do with Suzumiya-san."
I opened the door and placed my bag by the entrance room. Then after telling my sister, who had
just come out, that I was going to be a bit late tonight, I went back to Koizumi.
A few minutes later, we went on a ride.
Koizumi flagged down a taxi that stopped by my place, then we rode off along the main road
eastwards. Koizumi told the driver to go to a large city outside the prefecture. It would be
cheaper to go by train, but since Koizumi was paying, I didn't really mind.
"Right, what was the promise you said you were going to keep?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to see proof of my esper powers? Now's the chance, that's why I
wanted you to come!"
"Is there any need to travel so far?"
"Yes. I can only use my powers under specific places and conditions. The place we're headed to
fits those conditions."
"You still believe Haruhi is God?"
Koizumi, sitting together with me at the rear, glanced at me sideways.
"Have you ever heard of the Anthropic Principle?"
"Never heard of it."
Koizumi sighed and smiled again,
"Basically, it's the theory that 'if something must be true for us, as humans, to exist, then it is true
simply because we exist.'"
I don't get it.
"The universe exists simply because it is there for us to observe. In other words, the intelligent
lifeform known as humans learned of the existence of the universe through observing how the
universe was formed by the discovery of the laws of physics. If humans had not evolved to the
present level, then observation would be impossible, and they would never learn of the existence
of the universe.
This means whether the universe exists or not, for a human who hasn't completely evolved, it
wouldn't make much of a difference. It is because of the presence of us fully-evolved humans
that the existence of the universe is widely accepted. This is the method of thinking from the
humans' point of view."
"Such a queer way of thinking! I mean the universe exists regardless of whether humans exist or
not."
"You're right. That's why the Anthropic Principle is not completely scientific, just a
philosophical way of thinking. However, something interesting comes out from this theory."
The taxi stopped at the red light, the driver was looking forwards only, and never bothered to
turn around at us.
"Why did the universe come to be in a state suitable for human habitation? A minor change in
the gravitational constant would mean a completely different universe from the one we're in.
Other sets of rules such as Planck's Constant or the mass ratio of atomic molecules seem to be
designed specifically so that humans can live in this universe. Don't you find this incredible?"
I felt my back itch. This is because the stuff Koizumi said sounds like one of the rhetorical flyers
given out by those newly formed religions whose founding principles are based on scientific
theories.
"Relax! I don't believe in the existence of an Almighty God, or the Ultimate Creator that created
humans. Many of my companions think the same way as well. Yet, there's one thing that bothers
us."
Bothered by what?
"The things that we do. Are they as foolish as a clown doing a handstand by the edge of a cliff?"
The expression on my face right now was probably very strange, or Koizumi wouldn't have
laughed so hard like a hen clucking away.
"I was kidding!"
"I really don't know what the hell you're talking about."
I really wanted to tell him, I don't have time to play some stupid jokes with you. Can you let me
off? Driver, do you mind turning around? If possible, I'd prefer the latter choice.
"I'm just using the Anthropic Principle as a comparison. We still haven't touched on the subject
of Suzumiya-san."
This is too strange! Why are you, Nagato and Asahina all so infatuated with Haruhi?
"I believe she is a very charismatic person. Let's leave that aside now, do you still remember me
saying that this world had probably been created by Suzumiya-san?"
I didn't like what he was saying, but I did remember it having been said.
"She has the ability to realize dreams."
Can you not be so conclusive?
"I cannot not think like that, because right now the world is headed towards Suzumiya-san's
wishes."
How is that possible?
"Suzumiya-san always believed aliens existed, that's why Nagato Yuki appeared. Similarly, she
wanted to meet time travelers, so Asahina Mikuru appeared as well. And I appeared before her
for the same reasons as well."
"And how do you know that?"
"It was three years ago......"
Three years ago again! I'm sick of hearing that already!
"One day, I suddenly realized I possessed a specific power, and for some reason, I fully
understood how to use this power. At the same time, I also discovered others like me have also
had their powers awakened and that these powers were granted by Suzumiya Haruhi. I can't go
into the details, so all I can say is that I know these things while not being able to explain them."
"Alright, even if I believe you have these powers, I still can't believe Haruhi can have such
powers."
"Neither did I. A mere schoolgirl having the ability to change the world -- sorry, I guess it should
be more like the ability to create worlds, huh? The scary thing is that this girl now finds the
world she's in to be boring."
"Why's that?"
"Didn't I say it before? If she could create worlds at will, then naturally she can make this world
disappear without a trace and then restructure it according to her wishes. Then, in a literal sense,
the world will have come to an end. We can't determine whether this theory is correct or not;
who knows, the world which we believe to be unique has probably been recreated many times
before already."
I was overusing the word "unbelievable" so much now that I needed a thesaurus.
"If that's the case, why don't you just tell Haruhi who you really are? Let her know espers really
do exist. If she knew, I think she'd be really happy. Maybe then, she wouldn't want to try and
destroy this world!"
"Then it would pose a greater problem. If Suzumiya-san believed the existence of espers to be a
very normal thing, then the whole world would become like that. All the laws of physics would
be distorted: the Molecular Constant, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the rest of the
universe would all descend into chaos."
"There's something I don't understand." I continued, "I remember you saying it was Haruhi's
longing to meet aliens, time travelers and espers that caused you, Nagato-san, and Asahina-san to
appear before her?"
"Yes."
"If that's true, then why hasn't Haruhi discovered that yet? In contrast, it's just you and me who
know everything, isn't that a little strange?"
"You find it inconsistent? It really isn't; the real inconsistency is within Suzumiya-san's heart."
Can't you say something that I can understand please!?
"In other words, she does hope for the existence of aliens, time travelers, and espers. Her
common sense, however, is telling her that these things don't exist, and this creates cognitive
dissonance. Though she may be eccentric in her actions and speech, her thinking is still no
different from the ordinary person. Her stormy enthusiasm has slowly calmed down in the last
few months, and we're glad to see her stabilize, yet a tornado-like change has occurred
suddenly."
"And why is that?"
"It's all because of you."
Koizumi's raised his lips,
"If you hadn't given Suzumiya-san some funny ideas, we would still be observing her from
behind the scenes right now."
"What did I do!?"
"It was you who encouraged her to form that weird club. All because of a conversation she had
with you, she came up with the idea of forming a club to gather all the mysterious characters. So
you must carry full responsibility for all of this. It is because of you that the three groups most
concerned with Suzumiya Haruhi have now gathered together."
"......That's an unfair accusation!" I defended myself unconvincingly.
Koizumi only smiled and continued, "But that's not the only reason."
He stopped talking after saying that. As I was about to say something, the driver said suddenly,
"We're here."
The car came to a stop and the door opened. I stepped into the crowded street with Koizumi.
Though the driver then drove off without even charging any fare, I wasn't at all surprised.
If people in this area wanted to go shopping, this would be the place for them to do so. This is
the typical local metropolis with the railway interchange, as well as all sorts of department stores
and complex architecture. The sunset bathed the bustling street full of pedestrians in a glowing
color. When the lights at the intersection ahead turned green, the road became occupied by a sea
of people in an instant. We were separated for a while by this wave after we got off by the
sidewalk.
"What is it that you wanted to show me by taking me here?"
Walking slowly by the zebra crossing, Koizumi looked ahead and said, "There's still time for you
to change your mind!"
"I'm already here anyway, so cut to the chase."
Walking besides me, Koizumi suddenly grabbed my hand. Hey, what do think you're doing!?
That's gross!
"Excuse me, but can you please close your eyes for a while? This won't take long."
I dodged to avoid a commuter from bumping into me. The green lights started flashing.
Alright! So I obligingly closed my eyes. I could still hear the many footsteps on the street, the car
engines roaring, the endless chatting, and all sorts of noises.
Under Koizumi's guidance, I walked ahead one step, two steps, three steps, and then I stopped.
"You can open them now."
I slowly opened my eyes.
The whole world fell into a shade of grey.
It was really dark. I couldn't help but lift my head towards the sky. The glowing orange sun was
nowhere to be seen, and the sky was covered by gloomy grey clouds. Were those really clouds?
The flawless dark horizon stretched endlessly ahead in every direction. The only thing that
stopped this world from falling completely into darkness was the occasional light that shone
through, replacing that of the bright sun, producing a weak glow in the grey sky.
There were no people at all.
Besides Koizumi and I, standing in the middle of the intersection, the bustling crowd that was
here before had now vanished without a trace. In the vast darkness, only the traffic lights flashed,
changing red, while the other set of traffic lights turned green, yet there was not a single vehicle
on the road. It was so quiet that one might wonder if the Earth had stopped spinning as well.
"We're now in a gap within a cross-dimensional faultline; this is a Sealed Reality, a place that is
completely cut off from the world we live in."
Koizumi's voice became particularly clear in the silence.
"The center of this intersection falls right by the "Wall" of this Sealed Reality. Look, just like
that."
Koizumi's outstretched arm stopped in midair, as though blocked by something. I tried to do the
same and stretched my arm towards that direction; it felt like touching cold washed vegetables.
My hands pushed through the surface of an elastic invisible wall, but I could not extend any
further beyond ten centimeters.
"This Sealed Reality has a radius of five kilometers. Usually, it's impossible to enter using
normal physical means. One of my powers is the ability to enter such spaces."
Like bamboo poles standing, not a single light shone from the buildings around. The shops
within the shopping district were all dark inside, with only the street lamps flickering weakly.
"Where is this place?"
No, the question ought to be "What dimension is this?"
"I'll explain as we move along," said Koizumi casually,
"I'm not too sure about the details, but this is a dimension located not far from ours......Let's put it
this way, a cross-dimensional faultline just appeared right over there, and we have entered
through the gap. At this moment, the outside world is still going on with its everyday life. It's
nearly impossible for normal humans to stumble upon this world by accident."
We crossed the street. Koizumi walked in a direction he had already decided.
"Imagine an inverted bowl-like, egg-shaped dimension, and this place is its interior."
We entered a multi-story apartment complex, but not a single person could be seen, not even a
speck of dust.
"Sealed Realities occur randomly. Sometimes it appears once every other day, and sometimes it
appears once every several months. Yet, one thing's for sure..."
We climbed up the stairs though it was dark inside. If I hadn't been following Koizumi closely, I
would've tripped.
"Whenever Suzumiya-san is in a mentally unstable condition, this space will appear."
We arrived at the rooftop of the apartment block.
"Once a Sealed Reality appears, I will be able to sense it; so too can my companions. How do we
know that? Frankly, even we don't know how. In any case, we just know when and where a
Sealed Reality will appear, and how to penetrate it. I can't describe this feeling in words."
I held the rooftop fence and looked towards the sky; no breeze could be felt.
"You brought me here to see this? There's hardly anyone here!"
"No, the real thing comes after this. It's about to start."
Quit joking around! But Koizumi pretended not to notice my unpleasant expression.
"My abilities are merely to detect Sealed Realities and penetrate them. To be honest, I can even
detect Suzumiya-san's state of mind. This world is like a blister created from the tremors of
Suzumiya-san's unstable emotional state, and I am the medicine designed to cure the blisters."
"Your comparison sure is hard to understand."
"People often tell me that. Anyway, you're pretty amazing! You don't seem freaked out at all by
the sight of all this."
At this moment, images of Asakura vanishing without a trace and a grown-up version of Asahina
flashed before my mind: I've had way too many of such experiences already.
Suddenly, Koizumi lifted his head and glanced afar.
"Seems like it's begun. Turn around and look behind you."
I saw it.
Standing between the tall buildings in the distance was a glowing blue giant.
It was taller than a 30-story building by a head's length. Its slim, deep blue shaded figure seemed
to contain some sort of material which allowed it to glow from within. Since it was too dark, I
could not perceive its outline, and besides the eyes and mouth, which seemed a bit darker, its
face didn't seem to have any other features.
What on earth is that?
The giant slowly lifted its arm and then swung it down like an axe.
The building beside it was smashed in half; then as if in slow-motion, the concrete, wires, and
debris made a deafening noise falling to the ground.
"We believe this to be the manifestation of Suzumiya-san's frustration. Every time her inner
conflict reaches a certain limit, this giant will appear and destroy everything around it to relieve
pressure, but we cannot allow this thing to have its way in our reality, or it'll cause widespread
destruction. That is why this Sealed Reality is created, so that it can wreak its destruction inside.
Does that make sense?"
Every time the glowing blue giant waved its arms, the buildings would be sliced in half and
collapse. The giant would then continue forwards, stepping on the debris. Surprisingly, I could
only hear the sound of the buildings collapsing, but not the footsteps of the giant.
"According to the laws of physics, it should be impossible for a giant like him to be able to stand,
due to its weight. Yet he is able to move around freely in a weightless condition. Though
destroying a building involves a change in molecular structure, these rules don't seem to apply to
him. Not even an army would be able to stop him."
"So we just let him have his way?"
"No, and this is why I exist. Please look over there."
Koizumi pointed towards the giant. I watched where he was pointing and noticed a few glowing
red dots that weren't around before, now flying around the giant. Compared to the large blue
giant, the red dots were like sesame seeds. There were five of them in total, but because they
were flying so fast, my eyes couldn't catch up with them. Like satellites, the red dots orbited
around the giant as though trying to stop the giant from moving further ahead.
"Those are my companions, who, like me, have obtained their powers from Suzumiya-san,
warriors in charge of hunting down these giants."
The red dots skillfully dodged the giant's arm attacks while changing their flight path swiftly and
attacked the giant's body. The giant's body seemed to be made of gas since the red dots simply
flew through it.
However, the giant seemed oblivious to the red dots' attacks and raised its arm again to smash
another department store building.
No matter how the red dots attacked, the giant didn't seem to be stopping. Red laser-like beams
now penetrated the giant's body nonstop, but as I was too far away, I could not figure out the
extent of damage it had sustained. One thing was for certain: the red beams didn't create any
holes in the giant's body.
"Right, I think I should join them now."
Koizumi's body started to glow red, and soon, his glowing body was covered in a red glowing
sphere. Standing before me was no longer a human, but a large glowing ball.
This is getting ridiculous.
As if making a signal, the glowing sphere started to rise and then flew straight towards the giant
at an incredible speed.
Since the red spheres never stopped flying, I couldn't figure out how many there were in total,
but there shouldn't have been more than ten, including Koizumi. They bravely flew towards the
giant's body, but all they could do was fly through it. The giant was barely, if even, hurt. As I
was thinking that way, one of the red spheres suddenly approached the giant's wrist and circled
it.
The next moment, the giant's hand was sliced off. The masterless hand fell towards the ground
and gave out a mosaic glow, started to become transparent, and then disintegrated like snow
melting under the sun. I guess the blue smoke coming out of the giant's severed wrist must have
been its blood. The scene ahead was truly the stuff of fantasy.
The red dots seemed to have changed their attacking style of charging towards the giant. They
approached the giant like a bunch of fleas surrounding a dog. The red beams sliced through the
giant's face, and its head came falling down; after that, its shoulder fell as well, followed by its
upper torso, leaving behind a strange shape. The falling bits began to give out the characteristic
mosaic glow, then disintegrated and vanished.
As the giant was standing in a large piece of land without any obstacles around, I was able to see
the whole process from beginning to end. When the giant's upper torso fell off, its remaining
body also began to disintegrate, finally dissolving into beads smaller than dust and spreading
over the debris.
Once the red dots floating above made sure their work was done, they started flying off in all
directions. Most of them disappeared at once; only one flew towards me, finally landing at the
rooftop of the apartment complex. The red sphere slowly lost its glow, and finally Koizumi stood
before me, waving his hair pretentiously with his usual smile.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
He sounded very calm, and he didn't sound exhausted at all.
"Finally, I'd like to show you something interesting."
Koizumi pointed towards the sky. I half-suspiciously raised my head, and in the gloomy grey
skies, I saw it!
Right above where the giant first appeared was a crack, like that of a hatching bird trying to
break through its eggshell. The crack began to spread rapidly like a spider web.
"Following the blue creature's destruction, the Sealed Reality will also be destroyed. It's like a
magic show!"
As Koizumi finished his explanation, the large cracks now covered the world ahead, like being
covered in a metallic net. The net margins started to narrow until they became as small as black
curvy lines. Then, at this moment, crack!
Actually, I didn't really hear any sound. It was just my brain trying to simulate the sound of glass
cracking. A light penetrated from a spot in the sky, and then spread out in all directions in a
sphere. I felt the light shower downwards. No, that's not the right wording: it was more like the
opening of the retractable roof of the Tokyo Dome stadium, all within a few seconds. The
difference is that this roof covered all the buildings under it.
A loud bustling noise started to rumble in my eardrums, and I covered my ears instinctively. But
that was because I'd stayed in a world of silence for quite some time and couldn't adapt quickly.
When I listened carefully again, it was the usual bustling noise in the streets.
The world reverted back to its original state.
There were no collapsed buildings, no grey skies, and no glowing red spheres flying through the
air. The road was full of vehicles and people. A familiar orange glow could be seen through the
gaps between the buildings. The world seemed grateful at the reception of such warmth and left
long shadows behind.
The breeze blew softly.
"Now do you understand?"
Koizumi asked me as we boarded the taxi, which seemed to magically stop before us after we
left the apartment block. When I looked, I realized it was the same driver as before.
"I don't get it." I answered truthfully.
"I'd knew you'd say that." Koizumi laughed, "Those blue creatures, we call them Avatars, but, as
I've told you before, they are greatly related to Suzumiya-san's mental condition. We're the same,
of course. Once a Sealed Reality appears, once the Avatars begin their movement, we'll be able
to use our powers. We can only use those powers within the Sealed Reality; right now, I'm
powerless."
I silently glanced at the driver's back.
"I don't know why it's just us who have such powers, but I think it has nothing to do with our
identities. It's like winning the lottery: even though the chances may be low, there's bound to be
someone winning. I just happened to be the one to be stabbed by the random spear."
"How unlucky I am!" Koizumi smiled forcefully. I remained silent because I didn't know what I
should have said.
"We cannot allow the Avatars to move freely. Why is that? Because the more these Avatars
damage, the larger the sphere of the Sealed Reality will grow. The one you just saw was a
smaller one. If we leave them unattended, they will continue to grow until they cover the whole
nation, even the whole world, and finally, that alternate grey world will completely replace the
world we're living in."
I finally open my mouth.
"How come you know so much?"
"I told you, I just know, it can't be explained. Everyone associated with the 'Organization' is the
same. One day they just suddenly knew everything about Suzumiya-san and how she could
affect this world, as well as realizing that since they now had supernatural powers, they couldn't
just allow these Sealed Realities to continue untouched. When normal people learn of this kind
of thing, they would normally want to see if they can be of any help. If we hadn't done anything
about it, the world as we know it would have been destroyed."
"And that'd be troublesome." Koizumi fell silent after mumbling these words.
Before I reached home, we just quietly watched the view outside the window.
The car stopped, and as I was stepping out, he spoke again,
"Please pay attention to Suzumiya-san's actions. Her supposedly stable mental state has now
begun to show signs of rapid change. It's been quite a while since something like today has
happened."
Even if I did observe, she had still become like that, isn't that so?
"Frankly, I don't know either. But I find it to be a good idea to leave everything to you, since
some of my companions tend to think about things in a much too complex way."
Before I could reply, Koizumi stuck his head back inside the open door and shut it. As I watched
the legendary phantom taxi drive off into the distance, I suddenly felt very stupid, so I started to
stride back home.
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