Haruhi - Epilogue

Epilogue
Let me talk about what happened after that.
That afternoon Haruhi had let her hair down to her shoulders again. She was probably sick of
having to tie her hair up. I guess I'll have to wait until her hair grows longer before trying to
convince her to tie a ponytail.
On my way to the bathroom during lunch break, I met Koizumi on the corridor.
"I should really thank you from the bottom of my heart."
He smiled cheerfully,
"This world has remained unchanged, and Suzumiya-san is here as usual. It seems my work will
have to continue for a while, all thanks to you, and I'm not being sarcastic. On the other hand, it's
also possible that this world was only created last night! In any case, it's an honor to have known
you and Suzumiya-san."
"Maybe we'll get to be together for some time!" Koizumi said while waving his hand towards
me.
"See you after school!"
I went to the Literature Club room to have a look during lunch break, and there sat Nagato
reading her book as usual.
"For two and a half hours this morning, you and Suzumiya Haruhi had disappeared from this
world."
She opened her mouth and said this, and only this. Then she lowered her head and continued
reading.
"I'm reading the book you lent me now. I should be able to return it to you in a week."
"I see."
Her head remained lowered.
"Can you tell me if there are many others like you on this planet?"
"A lot."
"Does that mean there'll be those who might attack me like Asakura did?"
Nagato now lifted her head and looked at me.
"I won't let them."
I decided not to mention the library to her.
After school in the club room, I met Asahina, who was wearing her uniform for once instead of
her maid costume. When she saw me, she ran and embraced me.
"I'm so glad, I can still see you......"
Asahina cried with her face buried in my chest.
"I thought you'd never......(sniff)......return to this (sniff) world......"
Perhaps she just realized she was embracing me because Asahina suddenly pushed me off with
her arms at once.
"No, you can't. If Suzumiya-san sees this, the same thing will happen again!"
"I don't get what you're saying."
Looking at the teary-eyed, adorable Asahina, I really wanted to be reborn. In my opinion, there
wasn't a man in this world who wouldn't fall for such innocent looking eyes.
"Why aren't you wearing your maid costume today?"
"It's being washed."
At this point, I suddenly thought of something, and pointed towards my heart.
"Oh yeah, Asahina, you've got a star-shaped birthmark over here on your chest."
Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Asahina looked as shocked as a dove shot by a stray bullet.
She then slowly turned around and pulled her collar aside to take a look inside her shirt, upon
which her face blushed red very quickly.
"H...how did you know!? I didn't even know myself! When did you find out?"
Asahina waved her fists and hit me nonstop while blushing furiously.
Your future self told me so. I wonder if I should tell Asahina the truth?
"What're you two doing?"
Haruhi stood by the door with an astonished face, while Asahina's fist stopped in mid-air with
her face going pale at once. Haruhi gave an evil smile, like an evil stepmother who knows that
her stepdaughter has eaten the poisoned apple and is about to die, and lifted the paper bag she
was carrying.
"Mikuru-chan! You're tired of maid costumes, right? Come! Time to change!"
Haruhi moved as swiftly as a martial arts master and grabbed Asahina, who was still petrified on
the spot.
"N...nooooo~~!"
Asahina screamed endlessly as Haruhi forcefully pulled off her uniform.
"Stop moving! It's useless resisting. This time it's a nurse uniform! I think they're now called
hospital attendants or something, but it's all the same!"
"A...at least lock the door!"
I had wanted to stay and enjoy the scenery, but finally decided to go outside, shutting the door.
Although I feel sorry for Asahina, I'm really looking forward to what I'll see when the door
reopens.
Ah yes, and Nagato was there as well, sitting in the corner as usual, quietly reading her book.
This time, I finally handed the SOS Brigade application form to the Student Council. If I didn't
bribe the Student Council, there was no way they'd ever allow a club like the "Suzumiya Haruhi
Brigade to Make the World More Exciting" to exist.
That's why I changed the name slightly to the "Assisting the Student Council in Changing the
World Association" (abbreviated as the SOS Brigade), and I altered the club's activities summary
to "providing all sorts of consultation services to any problems people may encounter at school,
and to actively participate in local community services".
I don't know what that exactly means, but I guess it'll be OK as long as it makes sense
grammatically. After that I'll just make some posters about those annoying consultations and
stick them on the board. I have a feeling most of the people that come looking to us for
consultation will probably not be for "something interesting".
On the other hand, Haruhi's "Search for Mysterious Events" in the town continued under her
command for the second memorable time today. According to precedent, today's activities
should have involved wasting a whole weekend wandering around aimlessly, but today Asahina,
Nagato, and even Koizumi all said they couldn't come as they had something important to do, so
I ended up waiting all alone for Haruhi at the station ticket turnstiles.
I don't know what those three were up to, or whether they genuinely had something important.
But since they aren't normal humans in the first place, it's not surprising that they would need to
handle some very important matters in some place I'd never heard of.
I looked at my watch. There were still thirty minutes before the meeting time. I had stood here
for thirty minutes already; in other words, I arrived an hour early. I did this not because I looked
forward to today's activity, but because the SOS Brigade had an unwritten rule that whoever
arrives last, whether they're late or not, has to pay a fine. Besides, there're only two people
involved in today's activity.
I lifted my head and saw a familiar figure, casually dressed. She probably never expected me to
arrive so early, and stood stunned on the spot. She then grumpily walked towards me. I didn't
know whether her frown had to do with today's low attendance rate, or the fact that I arrived
earlier than her. I'll just have to ask her when we get to the cafe. Of course, Haruhi's paying.
By then, I'll have many things I want to talk to her about, like where the SOS Brigade is going
from now on, Asahina's costumes, trying to have her talk to other classmates for once, and
asking her what she thinks of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis.
However, I need a good topic before I can start a conversation with her.
Ah, I've already decided what to say. That's right, I've decided......
......To talk about aliens, time travelers, and espers first, of course.