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.

Haruhi - Chapter 7

Chapter 7
An artificial human who claimed to be created by aliens, a girl who traveled from the future, and
a young esper warrior have all shown me proof of their identities in order to gain my trust. They
revolve around Haruhi for three different reasons. Honestly, it's not too bad at all. No, it is bad.
Because I still can't understand one thing.
Why me?
Koizumi said the reason aliens, time travelers, and espers all gather around Haruhi is because she
wished for it.
Then, what about me?
Why am I involved in all of this? I'm just a human being. One hundred percent normal. I don't
have any sudden memories of a strange past life, or any unspeakable powers. Just a superbly
normal high school student!
Who on earth wrote the script for this story anyway?
Or has someone drugged me and caused me to hallucinate all of this? Or maybe I've been struck
by a toxic electric wave? Who the hell got me stuck in all this?
Is it you, Haruhi?
Just kidding.
I don't really know anything.
Why am I so troubled? It seems all the answers rest with Haruhi. She should be the one
worrying. Why do I have to be frustrated for her as well? This doesn't make sense! I've decided
so! If things are as Nagato, Koizumi and Asahina say, then you guys should just tell Haruhi
herself! Whatever becomes of the world then, that's her responsibility; I have nothing to do with
it.
Just put her on your merry-go-round! Leave me out of this!
As the days counted down to summer, I walked sweatily up the slope, wiping my sweat off with
my jacket, while pulling my tie and opening my third shirt button. It was already this hot in the
morning, and it would become hellish by noon. As I was gritting my teeth and walking on the
slope to school, someone slapped my shoulder. As I yelled "Don't touch me! It's hot!" and turned
around, Taniguchi's face came into view.
"Yo!"
Taniguchi, walking side by side with me now, was also in a sweat. "How annoying, my wellprepared
hairdo is ruined by all this sweat." Though he said that, he still looked so cheerful.
"Say, Taniguchi," I cut in as Taniguchi went on bragging nonsensically about how his dog was
doing, "I'm a normal high schooler, right?"
"What?"
Taniguchi gave a laugh as though he'd heard a very funny joke.
"Maybe you should define what 'normal' is. Otherwise this conversation won't make sense."
"Really?"
I regretted having asked him that question.
"Just kidding! You, normal? I don't think a normal high schooler would push down a girl in an
empty classroom!"
Of course, Taniguchi wouldn't forget such things.
"I'm a guy as well, so I know my limits. Your secret is safe with me, you get what I mean?"
I didn't get it at all.
"When did you and she have such a relationship? Nagato Yuki is what I would grade as an A-!"
So, Nagato is an A- by his grading. I tried to explain to Taniguchi,
"That's because..."
I suppose Taniguchi's mind right now is full of unrealistic desires and fantasies. So, I decided to
use the following explanation.
Poor Nagato is the victim of Haruhi's unreasonable occupation of the Literature Club room. She
was very troubled at not being able to hold activities for her own club, so she came to me for
help. She asked me if there was any way to make Haruhi give up the Literature Club room and
go somewhere else. I was moved by her sincerity, so I decided to help the poor girl, and
discussed it with her in a place where Haruhi wouldn't find out about it. As we talked about what
to do in the classroom after Haruhi had left, Nagato fainted as a result of her anemia. I managed
to catch her before she fell to the floor, and then you came barging in. It's really nothing!
"Yeah right!"
He even kicked me after saying that. Damn it! It took me a long time to come up with such a
perfect cover story! I can't believe I couldn't fool him!
"Let's say I believe that bullshit; I still don't think you're normal. You actually managed to have
the nearly unsociable Nagato Yuki come to you for help, and that's really something."
"Please, is Nagato really that famous?"
"Besides, you're Suzumiya's subordinate. If you're a normal high schooler, then I'm as normal as
a flea."
Then I asked, "Taniguchi, do you have any superpowers?"
"Wha-?"
The already foolish look on his face went up a notch. He looked like a nanpa, the kind young
schoolgirls have to be careful of.
He said, "I see, so even you aren't immune to Suzumiya's toxins... Though we don't spend a lot of
time together, you really are a nice person. So please try not to stick too close to me; I don't want
to be infected with Suzumiya's virus as well."
I punched Taniguchi softly, causing him to laugh uncontrollably. Ha, if this guy's an esper, then
from today, I'm the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
As I reached the stairs leading to the school entrance, I was sort of grateful to Taniguchi for
having a conversation with me, as the heat had cooled down after talking to him.
In such hot weather, even Haruhi could only lie exhausted on her desk, looking sorrowfully at
the hills in the distance.
"Kyon, I'm hot!"
Really? So am I.
"Fan me with your book."
"Instead of fanning someone else, I'd rather fan myself. I don't have enough energy early in the
morning to help you."
Haruhi remained lying lazily on the desk, without her usual pompous and articulate aura.
"What do you think Mikuru-chan should wear next?"
After bunny girl and maid costumes would be......wait a minute, there's going to be another
costume!?
"Should it be cat ears? Or a nurse? Maybe she should dress up as a queen this time?"
Images of Asahina flashed through my mind: of her blushing furiously with her small figure
wriggling and being forced to wear all sorts of costumes. I'm beginning to get dizzy. Ah, she's
just too cute.
Haruhi seemed to guess what I was thinking and scowled at me. She then lightly flipped her hair
behind her ears.
"You look like an idiot," Haruhi decided.
Hey, weren't you the one bringing up the subject? But perhaps she was right, so there's no point
in arguing with her.
While fanning the neck of her uniform with a textbook, she blurts out, "I'm so bored!"
Haruhi's mouth was perfectly like a heno-ji. She looked like a comic book character.
Even under the intense radiation of the sun's rays, we managed to survive the hellish afternoon
PE session. After class, everyone was cursing "Damn that Okabe! Having us run a marathon for
two whole hours!", while taking off our PE uniforms, which had become pieces of wet cloth, in
the Sixth Class room, before returning to the Fifth Class room.
Most of the girls had already changed, but as the last session was homeroom, there were some
who belonged to sports clubs who remained dressed in their PE uniforms for their after-school
activities. Yet what puzzled me was why Haruhi, who was not associated with any sports club,
was also dressed in her PE uniform.
"It's too hot!"
That's right, that's her reason.
"What does it matter? I'm still going to have to change when I get to the club room! Not to
mention I'm on duty this week, and I can move better in this."
Haruhi held her chin with her hand and looked out at the gathering rain clouds outside.
"That's not a bad idea."
Having a PE uniform as the next cosplay theme isn't a bad idea! What? 'Cosplay' isn't the right
word? I don't know what she's up to, but right now she's trying her best cosplaying as a high
school girl!
"Just what on earth are you thinking about?"
Haruhi's accurate guess made me wonder if she could read minds.
"Before I arrive at the club room, I forbid you from doing anything funny to Mikuru-chan."
Does that mean I can do something funny to her after you arrive?
I kept that thought to myself and I raised my arms roughly like a criminal at the point of a
sheriff's gun in a Western movie.
As usual, I knocked first and waited for a reply before entering. Like a doll sitting on a chair, a
cute maid greeted me with the brightest of smiles, like a sunflower greeting the sun. Ah, I feel so
warm!
Nagato sat by the table reading her book, like a Camellia blossoming in spring. Argh, what kind
of comparisons am I making?
"I'll go and make tea."
Putting on her headband, Asahina went to the side of the rusty table and carefully placed the tea
leaves into the teapot.
I sat in the commander's seat, happily watching Asahina busying herself, when I suddenly
thought of something.
I quickly turned on the computer and waited for the hard disk to boot. Once the screen appeared,
I opened a file and entered the password "MIKURU". As expected, the processing speed was
unbelievable on the Computer Study Group's new model. In an instant, Asahina's maid costume
images appeared on the screen.
After I made sure Asahina was busy brewing tea, I enlarged one of the images again and again.
That image was from the time Asahina was being forced into sexy poses by Haruhi. Her
seductive cleavage could be seen, and there on her enticing left breast was a little black mark. I
highlighted that mark and enlarged it further; the image was a bit fuzzy, but sure enough, there
was a star-shaped birthmark.
"So that's the one."
"Did you find something?"
Before Asahina placed the teacup on the desk, I swiftly closed all the image files. I'm pretty
meticulous when it comes to this stuff. Of course, by the time Asahina came by my side, she
would find nothing on the screen.
"Huh, what's this? What's inside this "MIKURU" file?"
Oh no! I was too careless!
"Why does that file have my name? What's inside it? Let me see, c'mon! Let me see!"
"Er, what's inside... huh? I wonder? I don't think there's anything. Yup, that's it, there's nothing
inside."
"Liar!"
Asahina cheerfully stuck out her arm and leaned over me as she tried to grab the mouse from my
right hand. No way, Jose! I held onto the mouse, refusing to let go. Asahina then draped her soft
body over me, trying to crawl over my shoulder. I could smell her sweet scent close to my face.
"Asahina-san, can you please let me go..."
"C'mon, just a peek!"
Asahina, who was placing her left hand on my shoulder while reaching out for the mouse with
her right, was now completely on me; I felt the situation was going from bad to worse.
Her sweet laughter softly trickled into my ear. Unable to resist such temptation, my hand
released its grasp, and at this moment...
"What are you two doing?"
We were frozen by an icy, minus 273 degree Celsius voice. Haruhi, wearing her PE uniform and
carrying her bag, had a scary expression as though she had just witnessed her dad assaulting an
innocent girl.
The next instant, the stunned Asahina began to move. She clumsily got off my back, retreated
slowly, and then sat slowly on the chair like an ASIMO robot whose batteries were nearly dead.
Her pale face was now close to tears.
Haruhi made a "humph", and strode to the desk glancing down at me.
"So, you're interested in maid costumes?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"We need to change."
Suit yourself! I'm just going to quietly sip the tea Asahina brewed for me.
"Didn't I say we need to change?"
So?
"SO GET OUT!!!"
I was pretty much kicked out and fell on the corridor, with the door behind me banging shut.
"What the hell was that for!?"
I didn't even have time to put down my cup. I wiped the spilled tea off my shirt with my fingers
and then leaned on the door.
That's funny. Something's not right.
"Ah, that's right!"
Normally Haruhi would openly change clothes in the classroom, but now she's actually driven
me from the room.
It seems she's begun to change. Perhaps she's reached the age where she becomes embarrassed
by such stuff? Because the guys in Fifth Class would always rush out of the classroom once the
PE session bell rings, no one's really noticed that she's changed. Oh yeah, the person who got the
guys into this habit of rushing out before PE, Asakura, is no longer with us.
I sat outside the door for a while. The sound of clothes slithering had stopped, but I still hadn't
heard anyone calling me in. And so I sat and waited for ten whole minutes.
"Please come in..."
Asahina's small voice came from behind the door. As the impeccable maid opened the door for
me, beyond her shoulders I saw Haruhi sitting gloomily at the desk with her white legs on the
table. She wore a pair of long bunny ears on her head while wearing that nostalgic bunny girl
suit. Maybe she couldn't be bothered because she wasn't wearing her cuffs or necktie. She wasn't
even wearing any stockings.
"Though the arms and the back are a bit cool, this costume is actually quite tight."
Having said that, Haruhi picked up her teacup and drank her tea as though she were enjoying it,
while Nagato went on reading her book.
Being surrounded by a maid and a bunny girl, I didn't know how to react. If I brought these two
girls out to attract customers, I'd definitely make a profit. As I was thinking this...
"Whoa, what's this?"
Koizumi suddenly let out a strange noise as he greeted everyone with his smile.
"Is there a costume party today? Apologies for not wearing one today."
Cut the crap, you don't want to make things any more complicated.
"Mikuru-chan, you sit here."
Haruhi pointed to the chair ahead of her. Asahina sat obediently in front, looking terrified of the
scary Haruhi. I wondered what Haruhi was going to do, only to see her making a ponytail with
Asahina's brown curly hair.
At first glance, it seemed like an elder sister tidying her younger sister's hair. But since Asahina
was petrified while Haruhi's expression was blank, it made what was supposed to be a warm
scene very awkward. Apparently Haruhi was only trying to make a ponytail for Asahina the
maid, and that was all.
I looked at Koizumi, who was smiling the whole time while looking at this scene, and said
finally,
"Wanna play Othello?"
"Sure, I haven't played for ages."
As black and white fought for control of the board, (I never thought that Koizumi, who could
turn into a glowing sphere, would be so lousy at board games) Haruhi tied a ponytail with
Asahina's hair, then loosened it, then tied two ponytails, and a hairbun...
(Each time Haruhi touched Asahina, she would tremble all over) while Nagato continued
indulging herself in her book.
I'm getting more and more confused as to what this gathering is all about!
That's right, that day we conducted our SOS Brigade activities peacefully. Nothing associated
with aliens from a different dimension, time travelers from the future, blue giants, or red glowing
spheres happened at that time. No one wanted to do anything special, nor did anyone know what
they should have been doing. We just allowed ourselves to ride on the flow of time, living our
high school life idly. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
Even though I was dissatisfied with such a normal life, I'd always tell myself, "Why think so
much? You've got so much time." And then I would once again look forward to the next day.
Even then, I was quite happy. I came aimlessly to this club room and watched Asahina work
busily like a real maid, Nagato sit like a Buddha statue, Koizumi with his bright smile, and
Haruhi with her mood swings. All these things gave off an aura of complete normality, yet all
these had become part of my surprisingly satisfying high school life. Though I've had the out-ofreality
experiences of a classmate trying to murder me and seeing fierce monsters appearing in a
gray world, I was not certain that they were not figments of my imagination, a result of
hypnotism, or even some hallucination.
I was still sort of pissed at Haruhi for dragging me into her club, but from a deeper perspective, it
was only because of her that I could hang out peacefully with such interesting people. Putting
aside the question of "Why me?", maybe someday there'd be other normal humans like me who
wanted to join this club.
Yes, I'd been thinking about this problem for some time now.
Anyone would have thought about this, right?
Yet there's still someone who has never thought about this.
That's right, that someone is Suzumiya Haruhi.
That night, after having dinner and a bath, and finishing my revision of tomorrow's English
lesson, I looked at the time and discovered it was time for bed. I lay on my bed and opened the
thick hardback book Nagato had stuffed into my arms. I thought a quick read wouldn't hurt, so I
casually read the first few pages. The story was surprisingly interesting, so I continued page after
page. You really have to read through one to understand how enjoyable a book can be. Reading's
not so bad after all!
Yet it's impossible to finish such a thick book in one night, so I put down the book after reading a
very long monologue by one of the protagonists. Sleep overcame me, and after placing the
bookmark with Nagato's handwriting into the book, I switched off the lights and crept
underneath my blanket. In a few minutes, I was in dreamland.
Do you know why humans have dreams? Sleeping is divided into Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
and Non Rapid Eye Movement (NREM), and they go in periodic cycles. NREM occurs for the
first few hours after a person falls asleep, with the brain usually in a stasis-like state during this
stage. The stage in which the body is unconscious, while the brain becomes slightly active is
known as REM, and dreams will occur in this stage. By morning, REM will have increased in
frequency, meaning almost everyone will dream until they wake up. I dream every night, but as I
usually wake up late every time, I'm in such a hurry to go to school that I usually forget what I've
dreamed. Yet sometimes I'll suddenly remember a long forgotten dream I had years ago. It's
really amazing how a human's memories are structured.
Alright, enough casual talk. Actually, I don't give a damn.
I felt someone slapping my face. Go away! I'm tired! Don't disturb my dreams!
"......Kyon."
The alarm clock hadn't even rung yet. Even if it had, I would have turned it off at once, and it
was still some time before mom would send my sister to drag me out of bed.
"Wake up already."
No! I want to sleep some more. I don't have time for strange dreams.
"I said wake up! Can't you hear me?"
The hands around my neck now shook me ceaselessly. I finally opened my eyes when I felt the
back of my head banging against the hard floor.
Hard floor?
I sat upright, looking confused. Haruhi was looking down at me and backed off to avoid
bumping our heads together.
"You finally awake?"
Kneeling beside me was Haruhi in her sailor uniform. Her white face displayed an expression of
anxiety.
"Do you know where this is?"
Of course I do; we're at North High, the school we go to, and right now we're at the staircase
ahead of the shoe lockers by the school entrance. There were no lights on, and the school at night
appeared gray before us......
No, something's wrong.
There was no night sky above.
Just a wide gray horizon. A monotonous sky. There was no moon or stars, not even a single
cloud. Only a sky as gray as the concrete walls.
The world is covered in silence and darkness.
This is a Sealed Reality.
I slowly got up. I was amazed that I was not wearing my pajamas, but my school uniform.
"When I woke up, I found myself here, then you by my side. What's going on here? Why're we at
school?"
Haruhi asked in an abnormally soft voice. I didn't answer her at once, instead reaching my arms
out to feel my way. From the pain of pinching the back of my hand, to the feel of my uniform on
my body, it didn't feel like a dream. I pulled two of my hairs out. I found out that really hurts.
"Haruhi, are we the only ones here?"
"Yeah, I was supposed to be asleep under my blanket. Why did we appear here? And the sky
looks strange......"
"Have you seen Koizumi?"
"No......why'd you mention him?"
"Nothing, just asking."
If this Sealed Reality was created by a quake in the dimensional faultline or by external factors,
there ought to be a glowing giant and Koizumi in here as well.
"Anyway, let's leave the school now! Maybe we'll run into someone."
"How come you don't look anxious at all?"
I am most certainly anxious, especially seeing that you're here as well. Isn't this a playground for
the giants you create? Or am I being oversensitive and just dreaming all of this? All alone with
Haruhi in an empty Reality......If Sigmund Freud were here, he could have analyzed all this for
me!
I remained at a distance from Haruhi as we walked towards the school entrance, when we were
blocked by an invisible wall. I still remember the elastic feel of this wall. It could be pushed
inwards a bit, but soon after, another harder wall would block any attempts to penetrate further.
"......What is this?"
Haruhi reached her arms out and tried to push this invisible wall, while asking with her eyes
wide open. I walked along the track field and traced the wall.
It seems that we're trapped inside the school.
"There doesn't seem to be a way out of the school."
I couldn't feel any breeze. It was as though even the air had stopped flowing.
"Let's try the back entrance!"
"Oh yeah, is there any way we can contact anyone? Let's look for a phone. I didn't bring my cell
phone."
If this was the Sealed Reality Koizumi told me about, then finding a phone would be useless.
Despite that, we still decided to go inside the school building to have a look. There should be a
phone in the staff room.
The school looked eerie in the dark with all the lights off. We passed by the shoe lockers and
silently entered the school building. Along the way, we turned on the lights for the first floor, and
the ceiling lamps lit up at once. Even though they were cold, artificial lights, they were enough to
elicit a sigh of relief from me and Haruhi.
After making sure there was no one in the classrooms on that floor, we headed to the staff room.
Naturally, the staff room was locked, so I picked up a nearby fire extinguisher, smashed the
window open, and entered through there.
"......Doesn't seem to work."
Haruhi held the phone to her ear, but could hear nothing. She tried to dial some numbers, but
nothing came of it.
We left the staff room, turning on all the lamps along the way, and went up the stairs, since
Haruhi had suggested we return to our classroom. As the Fifth Class room for first years was
located at the top floor, maybe we could figure out something by looking down from above.
Haruhi kept holding onto my jacket as we walked along the corridor. Don't count on me; I don't
have any supernatural powers at all. If you're that scared, then grab onto my arm! It looks more
natural that way!
"Idiot!"
Haruhi scowled at me, but her fingers never let go of my jacket.
There was no change in the Fifth Class room; it was just as we'd left it after school.
"......Kyon, look......"
Haruhi went silent after walking towards the windows. I walked to her side and looked down at
the situation.
All around was a deep gray world. Looking down from the fourth floor at the top of the hill, I
could even see the horizon beyond the shore. It was all darkness within the panorama, without
even a single light on. It was like the end of the world.
"What is this place......"
It wasn't the whole population that disappeared, but rather, we who had disappeared. It seemed
that we had stumbled onto this Sealed Reality by accident.
"This feels strange."
Haruhi touched her shoulder and murmured.
As we didn't know where else to go, we returned to the club room where we had just spent the
afternoon before. As I'd already stolen the keys from the staff room, we were able to unlock the
door and enter.
Both of us breathed a sigh of relief at returning to a familiar, well-lit room.
We turned on the radio, but we couldn't even hear any static. The club room was so quiet that
only the sound of me pouring tea could be heard. I'm not that interested in changing tea leaves,
so I brewed the tea using thoroughly overused and tasteless tea leaves. Haruhi stood beside me
gazing vividly at the gray world outside.
"You want some tea?"
"No."
I took my teacup, pulled out a chair, and sat down. I took a sip. Sigh, the tea brewed by Asahina
is so much better than this.
"Just what is going on here!? I don't get it! What is this place? Why am I here?"
Haruhi stood by the window and faced outside; her silhouette looked very frail.
"And, why am I with you of all people?"
"How the hell should I know!?" Haruhi just flicked her hair and scowled at my response.
"I'm going outside to have a look." She said and proceeded to leave the room. Just as I was about
to stand up as well......
"You stay here, I'll be right back."
She left the room right away after saying that. That is so like Haruhi to do that! While hearing
Haruhi's energetic footsteps disappearing and sipping my tasteless warm tea, that thing appeared.
It was a small glowing red sphere. At first it was the size of a table tennis ball, then slowly the
sphere grew larger, shining like a firefly before finally taking on a humanoid shape.
"Koizumi, is that you?"
Before me was a glowing humanoid, but I could not see Koizumi's appearance clearly, including
his eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Hi there." A relaxed voice came from within the glowing object.
"Took you long enough! I thought you would appear in your human form......"
"Things are getting a bit complicated, so it's going to take some time to explain. I'll be honest;
this is an abnormal event!" The red light flickered a bit. "If it were a normal Sealed Reality, I
could have penetrated easily, but not this time. I had to appear in this incomplete form, and as I
needed some help from my companions before I could finally enter here, I can't even remain in
this state for too long. Our powers are disappearing slowly, even as we speak."
"Just what's going on? Is it just me and Haruhi here?"
"Yes," Koizumi answered.
"This means what we had feared is finally happening. Suzumiya-san has grown tired of this
reality, and she has decided to create a new one."
"......"
"Our superiors are now in total panic. No one knows what the world will become when its god
has disappeared. Though it's possible the world will survive as long as Suzumiya-san decides to
have mercy upon it, it is also possible that it'll vanish in an instant."
"What are you trying to say......?"
"To put it simply," the red light now flickered like a flame, "You and Suzumiya-san have now
disappeared from our world. This world is not a Sealed Reality but rather a brand new reality
created by Suzumiya-san. The Sealed Realities we've seen before were probably just drills before
she decided to re-create the world for real."
Such an interesting joke, but I don't know how to laugh now. Ha ha ha.
"I'm not joking. This world is probably closest to the world which Suzumiya-san desires. We're
still not sure what kind of world she desires, but we should have an answer to that soon."
"Let's leave that aside, the real problem is why am I here?"
"Do you really not know? You are the person chosen by Suzumiya-san. You are the only person
in our world that Suzumiya-san wants to be with. I thought you'd have discovered that by now."
The light around Koizumi now glimmered like a torch running out of batteries, its brightness
clearly diminishing. "I'm close to my limit now. At this rate, I'll never be able to see you again;
on the other hand though, I'm kind of relieved since I no longer have to go hunting for those
Avatars anymore."
"Must I live alone with Haruhi in such a gray world?"
"In this world, you're like Adam and Eve. Just work hard on re-populating the world, and it'll be
fine."
"......I'm so gonna beat the crap out of you."
"Just kidding! Right now this sealed state is probably only temporary, but very soon it'll become
similar to the world you know. Yet this world will be completely different from the world we're
from. As of right now, this world could be considered as the real world, while the original reality
ought to be considered a Sealed Reality. As for what differences there are between these two
worlds, unfortunately we do not know. If I'm fortunate enough to be reborn in the new reality,
I'm counting on you to show me around."
At this moment, Koizumi the glowing humanoid object began to slowly disintegrate and then,
like a star running out of fuel, now shrank to its original table tennis ball size.
"Is it impossible for us to return to the original world?"
"As long as Suzumiya-san wishes for it, it might still be possible. I only knew you for a short
while; it's a pity really, but I did enjoy my time with the SOS Brigade......Ah, yes, I nearly forgot,
I have to relay both Asahina Mikuru and Nagato Yuki's messages to you."
Before Koizumi disappeared completely, he left this message.
"Asahina Mikuru asked me to apologize in her stead: she said, 'I'm sorry, it's all my fault.' Also,
Nagato Yuki tells you to 'Remember to turn on the computer.'"
After the message, he vanished like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
I don't know why Asahina had to apologize to me. Had Asahina done something wrong to me?
But I decided not to think about that now; rather, I followed Nagato's request and switched on
the computer. After the hard disk makes a beep sound, the OS trademark should start appearing
on the screen......That's strange, why is nothing being shown? The OS screen which was
supposed to appear after a few seconds didn't appear; the screen was pitch black with only a
white typing cursor flashing in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, the cursor started
moving silently, and a line of cold words appeared.
YUKI.N > Can you read this?
I was stunned for a moment, and then I pulled the keyboard closer and started typing.
'Yes.'
YUKI.N > Right now I have not completely lost contact with the world you are
in.
But that is only a matter of time, since the disconnection should occur very
soon.
If that is true, this will be our final conversation.
'What should I do?'
YUKI.N > I do not know either. The abnormal data spurt has disappeared
completely over here.
The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is very disappointed with this,
because they will lose the possibility to evolve.
'What do you mean by the possibility to evolve? Just how is Haruhi
evolving?'
YUKI.N > Being highly sentient means being able to process data quickly and
accurately.
Sentient organic lifeforms are limited by the excessive inaccurate and
mixed-up data streams
caused by their physical bodies, and are unable to process data quickly and
accurately.
So after evolving to a certain stage, organic lifeforms will cease to
evolve.
'Is it possible to evolve even without a physical body?'
YUKI.N > The Integrated Data Sentient Entity is also created from data.
They too had believed that their ability to process data would increase
infinitely
until the universe overheated itself. But they were wrong.
As with the universe having an edge, their evolution also has a limit,
at least for sentient entities relying on data to survive.
'What about Suzumiya?'
YUKI.N > Suzumiya Haruhi possesses the ability to create massive amounts of
data out of nothing.
That is the ability that the Integrated Data Sentient Entity doesn't have.
She can release data that could never be processed by a human,
a mere organic lifeform, in its lifetime. The Integrated Data Sentient
Entity believes
if this data-creating ability is analyzed, then they will be able
to find clues to how to auto-evolve.
The cursor flashed momentarily. Perhaps Nagato was hesitating on what words to use. The next
second, the words flowed like water.
YUKI.N > I'm betting everything on you.
'Betting on me for what?'
YUKI.N > I hope that you can both return to this world.
Suzumiya Haruhi is an important observation target,
an important treasure that might only appear once in this universe.
Besides that, I myself also wish for you to return.
The color of the words began to fade as the electricity supply got weaker. The cursor continued
to type out words.
YUKI.N > Let us go to the library again next time.
The words grew darker; even trying to adjust the screen brightness didn't help. Finally, Nagato
typed the following two words.
YUKI.N > sleeping beauty
Brrr The sound of the hard disk spinning had me jumping from my seat. The light on the CPU
flickered, and the familiar OS trademark screen appeared. The sound of the computer fan
spinning was all that could be heard in this world.
"What should I do? Koizumi! Nagato!"
I sighed deeply and turned my head despondently towards the window.
A blue light shone from outside the window.
A glowing giant now stood in the school courtyard. Because it was so close, it looked like a huge
blue wall.
Haruhi rushed into the room.
"Kyon! Something's appeared!"
Haruhi saw that she was about to bump into me, who was standing by the window, and quickly
stopped and stood beside me.
"What is that? It's huge! Is it a monster? It doesn't seem like an illusion."
Haruhi sounded very excited. Her depressed anxiety from a while ago had disappeared. Right
now, her eyes glimmered with enthusiasm. No fear could be found in them.
"You think that's an alien? Or it could be a superweapon created by the ancients, waking up from
its long slumber? Is that thing the reason we can't escape from school?"
The blue wall moved. The image of the giant smashing the buildings with ease flashed through
my mind. I hurriedly grabbed Haruhi's hand and bolted out of the club room.
"Wait! Wait up, what're you doing!?"
As we rushed to the corridor, nearly falling down, a loud tremor vibrated through the air; I
quickly pushed Haruhi down onto the floor and shielded her with my body. The clubs complex
shook violently. The sound and vibration of a hard, heavy object stomping on the ground was
transmitted to my ears. From this I knew the giant's target was not the clubs complex but rather
the school complex opposite.
I grabbed Haruhi, who was so shocked that her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, and
started running. Amazingly, Haruhi obediently followed me and ran.
My palms were getting sweaty. So were Haruhi's.
The old clubs complex was devoid of dust. With all my strength, I ran with Haruhi in tow
towards the staircase. The sound of the giant causing more destruction could be heard.
I ran down the stairs while feeling Haruhi's body heat being transmitted between our palms.
After crossing the courtyard, we headed past the slope and towards the trackfield. At this
moment I took a quick glance at Haruhi. I might have been mistaken, but she seemed quite
happy. It was like seeing a child waking up on Christmas morning and finding out the presents
she had wanted all along were now by her bedside.
After running quite a distance from the school buildings, we turned and looked upwards, and
discovered how huge the giant was. The giant inside the Sealed Reality Koizumi showed me was
just as huge as this, almost as tall as a building.
The giant waved its hand, and the school building collapsed. As the four story complex was
already ripped open from its previous strike, it now fell easily. The debris fell and scattered in all
directions along with the deafening noise it created.
We ran frantically to the center of the two hundred meter trackfield before stopping. An
unbelievable blue giant has now appeared in the dark monotonous school.
If you want to take pictures, you should be taking these, and not pictures of the president of the
Computer Study Group groping Asahina's breasts, and definitely not pictures of Asahina wearing
all sorts of costumes. The website ought to have pictures like what we're seeing now!
As I was thinking about this, Haruhi quickly said in my ear,
"Do you think he'll attack us? I don't think he's evil at all, what do you think?"
"I dunno."
As I answered Haruhi, I was thinking at the same time about what Koizumi told me when he
brought me into that Sealed Reality. If we let these "Avatars" continue their rampage, then after
the destruction, the Sealed Reality will replace the real world, meaning this gray world will
replace the world we came from, and then......
What will become of our world?
According to what Koizumi just told me, Haruhi seems to be creating a brand new world. Will
the Asahina and Nagato I know be in this new world? Or will it be a surreal world where these
"Avatars" walk around freely, and aliens, time travelers, and espers become commonplace?
If the world really becomes like that, what role will I be playing?
Argh, forget it, it's useless trying to think anymore, because I just don't get it. I don't get what
Haruhi's thinking, and I don't possess any telepathic power that allows me to read what others
think.
At this instant, I heard Haruhi speaking to me,
"What exactly is going on here? Whether it's this world or that giant, it's all very strange!"
Those things were all created by you, missy! I should be the one asking, why'd you drag me into
all of this!? What Adam and Eve? That is just stupid! I won't believe in such a crappy story!
Never!
"Don't you want to return to the original world?"
I asked calmly.
"What did you say?"
Haruhi turned towards me. Her face was smoothly white even in this gray world, and her
glimmering eyes were now shrouded in darkness.
"We can't just stay here forever! There's not a single shop, so there's nowhere to eat when we get
hungry. Besides, the school's surrounded by an invisible wall: there's no way out of here. At this
rate we'll starve to death."
"Hmm, it is all strange, but I don't care. Things will eventually get sorted out. For some reason, I
just feel very happy."
"Then what about the SOS Brigade? You created that club! You're just gonna leave it?"
"I really don't give a damn anymore, because I'm already experiencing something exciting now;
there's no need for me to go out and search for mysterious events."
"But, I want to return to the original world."
The giant momentarily stopped its demolition of the school.
"Before we ended up in this strange situation, I didn't realize how much I liked my life the way it
was. There I have the idiot Taniguchi, Kunikida, Koizumi, Nagato, and Asahina, and even the
long-vanished Asakura."
"......What are you talking about?"
"I really want to see those friends again. I have many things I want to tell them."
Haruhi lowered her head, and then continued after a while,
"We'll see them; this world won't be forever covered in darkness. Once morning comes, the sun
will come up. I'm sure of that."
"It's not like that. This world is not what you think it is. I really want to see those friends in the
original world."
"I don't get what you're talking about."
Haruhi scowled at me, like a kid who's had her treasured present snatched away, revealing her
anger and sadness.
"Aren't you sick and tired of that boring world as well? That world is so normal that there's
nothing special at all. Don't you want to experience something interesting as well?"
"I used to think like that."
The giant started moving. He kicked off the remaining parts of the school complex and headed
for the courtyard. On the way, he swiped at the school corridor with his arm, then gave the clubs
complex a huge kick. The school is slowly being flattened, including our club room.
I looked over Haruhi's shoulder and was astonished to find other glowing blue walls around.
One, two, three......when I got to five, I decided to give up counting.
Without the red glowing spheres in the way, the glowing blue giants now began their destruction
of this gray world without delay. I don't get what's so interesting about all this destruction. Every
time they moved their arms and legs, everything that they touched disappeared instantly.
Moments later, half the school was gone.
I couldn't tell how large this Sealed Reality was, and I didn't know if this dimension would
expand and become another reality. At this moment, my mind was full of uncertainty. If at this
instant, an old drunkard sitting beside me in a train had said to me, "Let me tell you something,
but don't tell anyone! I'm actually an alien," I would have believed him right away. Because the
number of mysterious events I've experienced has now tripled compared to a month ago.
What exactly could I do? If it were a month ago maybe I wouldn't have thought of anything, but
right now I believed I could. Because I've already received a few hints.
Once I'd decided, I said the following,
"Haruhi, these last few days, I've gone through some very interesting things. Though you may
not know it, there are all sorts of people who are very concerned about you. It's not ridiculous to
say that the world literally revolves around you. Everyone believes you are a very special person,
and they've tried to back up those beliefs with actions. You may not know it, but the world is
headed in a very interesting direction."
As I grabbed onto Haruhi's shoulders, I realized I was still holding her hand, while Haruhi
looked at me with a face that said, "What's gotten into you?"
And then, she moved her eyes away from me and towards the rampaging blue giants, with a
matter-of-fact expression.
Looking at her young and smooth face, I remembered Nagato's "evolution possibility", Asahina's
"temporal distortion", and Koizumi treating Haruhi as "God". But as for me, what is Haruhi to
me? Just what do I treat her as?
Haruhi is Haruhi, what else is there to say? I didn't intend to just answer like that though. Yet, I
didn't have a definite answer. I knew it'd come to this, right? If you had pointed at the classmate
behind me and asked, "What does she represent to you?" - how do you think I would answer?
......This, I'm sorry. I'm going in circles again! To me, Haruhi's not just an ordinary classmate,
and certainly not any "evolution possibility", "temporal distortion" or even "God".
The giant turned towards the trackfield. He's not supposed to have any eyes, yet I could vividly
feel his vision. He took one step in our direction. His single step was most likely a couple of
meters, or he wouldn't have shortened the distance between us so quickly despite walking so
slowly!
I got it! Didn't Asahina say something about it? That prophecy! And Nagato's last message.
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Please, even I know what Sleeping Beauty means! What is the
similarity between these two stories? In our dire situation, the answer was practically shouting
out loud.
Man, this is so lame.
It's way too lame! Asahina, Nagato. I'll never accept such a development! Never!
My rationality insisted on that. But humans were never a lifeform that relied only on reason to
survive. Maybe they needed a bit of what Nagato called "mixed-up data". I let go of Haruhi's
hand, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her towards me.
"What now......"
"You know, I really like you in a ponytail."
"What?"
"I don't know when, but since then, I can't stop thinking of you in a ponytail. I think that suits
you best."
"What're you trying to pull?"
I ignored Haruhi's protests and kissed her on the lips... I grabbed her hand and held on tightly, not
wanting to let go yet.
Her black eyes resisted me. I ignored Haruhi's protests and kissed her on the lips. It's more polite
to close your eyes at times like this, so I closed mine. And so, I didn't know what expression
Haruhi had. Were her eyes open from the shock? Or did she close her eyes as well? Or did she
try to raise her hand and slap me? But even if she did slap me it didn't matter, since I was betting
everything on this. If anyone else did this to Haruhi, they would know how I felt then. I grabbed
her hand and held on tightly, not wanting to let go yet.
I could still hear the rumbling in the distance; it seemed the giant was still destroying the
campus. Just as I was thinking that, I suddenly lost my balance and fell downwards, and then
everything turned upside down. There was a hard impact upon my left side. No matter what I
did, I couldn't keep my balance. When I tried to sit up and open my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling
above my head and was stunned.
I was in my room, and turning around, I realized I had fallen out of bed onto the floor. Of course,
I was wearing my pajamas. Half of the messed-up blanket lay on the floor. I placed my hand
behind my back, opening my mouth like an idiot.
It was some time before I could think again.
Under a half dreamlike state, I slowly stood up, opened the window, and looked outside. I saw a
few twinkling stars and the shining street lamps. I confirmed there were lights coming from other
people's windows and occasional silhouettes moving behind them.
Was it a dream? Had I been dreaming all of this?
I had a dream where I fell into a surreal world with a girl I knew, and then ended up kissing her!
A dream so easy to understand that even Sigmund Freud would laugh out loud.
Urgh, I really wanted to hang myself right away.
Maybe I should be grateful that this country has outlawed guns, or I would've grabbed a fully
automatic gun and aimed it at my head without hesitation. If it were with Asahina, then I could
have at least gotten some sort of well-detailed personality analysis from this dream, but I had to
dream of myself kissing Haruhi, of all people! What on earth was my subconscious thinking!?
I sat wearily on the floor and held my head, thinking if this were all a dream, why did it feel so
real? The sweaty right hand, and the warmth left on my lips......
......Does this...does this mean that this is no longer the original world? Is this a brand new world
created by Haruhi? Is there a way for me to confirm this?
There isn't, no matter how hard I thought. Or rather, I never wanted to think about such a
problem. If I had to admit that all of that was a dream because my brain was out of order, then I'd
rather believe that the world had been destroyed. Besides, right now I'm in denial.
I looked at my alarm clock. Two thirty in the morning.
......I'm going back to sleep.
I pulled my blanket over my head, asking my already clear mind to give me some deep sleep.
I couldn't sleep.
That's why right now I'm so exhausted that I almost need to crawl in order to climb up the slope.
This is killing me, to be honest. I'm just glad I didn't meet Taniguchi on the way, or I'd be forced
to hear him go on and on. The sun continued to release the heat from its endless nuclear fusion.
Mr Sunshine, I beg of you, can't you occasionally take a break? I'm going to fry to death!
Refusing to come when I needed it, the sleep demon now circled around my head when I least
wanted it. If this goes on, I don't know how long I can stay awake in the first class.
When I saw the school complex, I stopped and looked at the crummy old four story building.
The sweaty students all crawled into the school buildings like a bunch of ants.
I dragged my feet up the stairs, and then into the familiar first year Fifth Class room, stopping
three steps from the window.
There, sitting in the back by the window, I saw the back of Haruhi's head. How should I say this?
She had her chin resting on her hands as usual and stared outside with a wooden expression.
From her back, I could see a small tail hanging from her hair onto her shoulder. Her hair was a
bit too short now to tie a ponytail, so I guess she only tied that randomly?
"Yo, how's it been?"
I placed my bag on the desk.
"Miserable! I just had a terrible nightmare last night."
Haruhi said in a calm tone. Hey, you actually just went through a really incredible event last
night!
"That's why I couldn't sleep all night. I wanted to take sick leave, but then my attendance rate
would have gotten too low."
"I see."
I sat down on the hard chair and studied Haruhi's face. Her hair covered the side of her face from
her ear downwards, so I couldn't clearly see her expression. In any case, she was in a bad mood.
At least her face told me so.
"Say, Haruhi."
"What?"
I said to Haruhi, whose eyes were still staring outside,
"You look great in that ponytail."

Haruhi - Chapter 6

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.