CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5
A new week began. We’d reached the point where the humidity of the rainy season left us sweating early in the morning. If some guy runs for office on the platform of installing an escalator on this hill, I’d be willing to vote for him—once I’m old enough to vote.
I was sitting in the classroom using a pencil board to fan my neck when oddly enough, Haruhi showed up right before the bell rang.
She dropped her bag on her desk with a plop.
“Fan me too.”
“Fan yourself.”
Haruhi was jutting her lips out with the same sour look on her face she had when I last saw her two days ago. And I had just been thinking about how her expressions had started to look normal, but instead, she went back to the way she was.
“Look here, Suzumiya. Have you ever heard the song ‘Bluebird of Happiness’?”
“What about it?”
“Nothing really.”
“Then shut your mouth.”
Haruhi glared in some upward sideways direction, I turned to the front of the room, and teacher-man Okabe walked in and started homeroom.
I spent the class period being pressured from behind by Haruhi’s depressing aura of displeasure. Man, the bell signaling the end of class had never sounded so divine. Like a field mouse sensing an impending bushfire, I scurried to the safety of the club room.
The sight of Nagato reading in the club room had become the default backdrop. It was like she was an irremovable fixture in the room.
Which is why I spoke to Koizumi, who had arrived just before me.
“Don’t you also have something to tell me concerning Suzumiya?”
Only three people are in the room. Haruhi’s on cleaning duty this week and Asahina hasn’t showed up yet.
“Oh? The ‘also’ would imply that the other two ladies have already approached you.”
Koizumi took a glance at Nagato, who had her head buried in the book she borrowed from the library. I really can’t stand how he sounds like he knows everything.
“Let’s move to a different location. We wouldn’t want Suzumiya to walk in on us.”
Koizumi led me to one of the outdoor cafeteria tables. On the way there, he bought coffee from a vending machine and handed it to me. Two guys sitting at a round table is kind of, you know. I guess it couldn’t be helped in this case.
“How much do you know?”
“The fact that Suzumiya isn’t an ordinary person, I guess.”
“That makes things quite simple. That is exactly the case.”
Is this some kind of joke? All three of the other SOS Brigade members are making it sound like Haruhi isn’t human. Maybe the heat from global warming has gotten to their heads?
“Why don’t you start by telling me your true identity?” I asked.
I’m already acquainted with an alien and a time traveler.
“You’re not going to tell me you’re actually an esper, right?”
“I would rather you not preempt my words.”
Koizumi swirled the contents of his paper cup.
“It isn’t quite the same. But yes, I would be closest to what you call an esper. Yes, I am an esper.”
I drank my coffee in silence. I shouldn’t have put in so much sugar. It was too sweet.
“I actually wasn’t intending on a sudden transfer to this school, but the situation changed. Surely, I couldn’t have anticipated that the two of them would join forces with Haruhi Suzumiya so readily. Up until that point, they had merely observed her from a distance.”
Don’t talk about Haruhi like she’s some kind of rare insect.
Maybe he noticed my narrowed eyebrows.
“Please don’t think ill of me. We are doing everything we can. We mean Suzumiya no harm. In fact, we are trying to protect her from possible danger.”
“You say we. Which means there are a lot more like you? Espers or whatever.”
“I wouldn’t say there are a lot, but there are quite a few of us. I’m part of the outer circle so I can’t say for sure, but there are probably ten or so around the world. All of them should belong to the Agency.”
Now we have an Agency, huh?
“Its composition is unknown. Same goes for the number of members. Though it appears that the top people call the shots.”
“… And so, what does this secret organization, the Agency, do?”
Koizumi wet his lips with the lukewarm coffee.
“It’s as you imagine. Ever since the beginning of the Agency three years ago, its top priority has been the observation of Haruhi Suzumiya. To put it simply, it was an organization created for the sole purpose of observing Suzumiya. You’ve probably already guessed as much after hearing what I’ve said, but I am not the only member of the Agency in this school. There are a number of agents planted here. I have merely come as additional personnel.”
Taniguchi’s face suddenly popped up in my mind. He said that he’d been in the same class as Haruhi since middle school. Could he possibly be one of Koizumi’s people, I asked.
Koizumi quickly dodged that question. “Well, I don’t know about that.”
“In any case, I can assure you that a number of people are situated near Suzumiya.”
Why does everyone like Haruhi so much? She’s an eccentric, bossy, self-centered girl who causes trouble for everyone around her. How does she warrant the attention of some grandiose organization? I do have to admit she’s easy on the eyes, though.
“I don’t know what happened three years ago. All I know is that on that day, I discovered within me what could only be described as ESP. I was in a panic at first. And quite frightened as well. The Agency soon took me in and gave me guidance. Otherwise, I might have been left thinking that I had gone insane and killed myself.”
“Sure you haven’t actually been insane this whole time?”
“Yes, that possibility cannot be ruled out. However, we fear a more frightening possibility.” Koizumi swallowed his self-mocking smile with his coffee and looked surprisingly serious. “When do you believe this world came into existence?”
The conversation had just taken a huge leap in scope.
“Didn’t it start with the Big Bang explosion a long time ago?”
“That is the current belief. However, we are unable to discount the hypothesis that the world began three years ago.”
I stared back at Koizumi’s face. He can’t be sane.
“That’s impossible. I remember things that happened over three years ago, and my parents are alive and well. I still have the three stitches from when I fell into a ditch as a kid. And what about all that Japanese history I’m cramming into my head?”
“What if I were to say that all humans, including you, had been born one day with those memories intact? How could you confirm or deny that? It doesn’t have to be three years ago. If I were to say that the entire universe had been predefined and this world was born a mere five minutes ago, you would find it impossible to formulate an argument to prove me wrong.”
“…”
“For example, take virtual reality. Electrodes are placed into your brain. If the images you see, the air you smell, and the table you feel are all just data being directly transmitted to your brain, you would never realize that they weren’t real, would you? In reality, this world is quite fragile.”
“… Let’s assume everything you said is true. The world began three years ago or five seconds ago. How do you twist it so Haruhi’s name comes up?”
“The higher-ups in the Agency believe that this world is but a dream a certain being is having. We—no—the whole world is but a dream to that being. And because it is just a dream, creating and altering this world we call reality is mere child’s play for that being. And we know the name of the being who is capable of such acts.”
Maybe it’s because he’s speaking calmly in formal language, but the expression on his face looks irritatingly mature.
“A being who can create and destroy at will—humans have defined such a being as God.”
Hey, Haruhi. You’ve even got people calling you God now. Whatcha gonna do?
“Which is why the members of the Agency are considerably frightened. If by any chance this world loses the favor of God, it could simply be destroyed and recreated at whim. Like a child who doesn’t like how her sand castle looks. This world may be filled with inconsistencies, but I happen to feel some attachment to it. That is why I am assisting the Agency.”
“Why don’t you just ask Haruhi? Ask her politely not to destroy the world. She might listen to you.”
“Of course, Suzumiya is unaware of what she actually is. She has yet to realize her true potential. In that case, we are of the idea that she would be better off not knowing and living out her life in peace.”
Koizumi finally went back to his usual smile.
“You could consider her an incomplete god. She is still unable to control the world at will. But while her abilities are still undeveloped, we have begun witnessing signs.”
“How can you tell?”
“Why do you think espers such as ourselves and characters such as Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato exist in this world? Because Suzumiya wished for it.”
If there are any aliens, time travelers, sliders, or espers here, come join me.
Haruhi’s words of introduction in the classroom when I first met her replayed in my mind.
“She is still unable to consciously wield her godlike powers. She can only use them unconsciously through coincidence. However, we know that during these past few months, Haruhi has clearly been displaying powers beyond human comprehension. I probably don’t need to tell you the consequences. Suzumiya met Mikuru Asahina and Yuki Nagato, and I was also added to her little group.”
“I’m the only one left out?”
“Not exactly. Quite the contrary, you are the biggest mystery. Although it’s bad form, I investigated a number of things concerning you. I can assure you, you possess no special abilities. You are an ordinary human.”
“Should I be relieved or disappointed?”
“I wouldn’t know. It’s quite possible that you hold the fate of the world in your hands. This is a request from us to you. Please take care not to let Suzumiya lose all hope for this world.”
“If Haruhi is God,” I offered, “why don’t you capture her and dissect her and figure out how her brain is wired? It might be a quick way to figure out how her world works.”
“There are, in fact, diehards within the Agency who advocate such a measure,” Koizumi readily assented. “However, the majority is of the opinion that we should not interfere. If we inadvertently sour her mood, there is a high probability that the situation will become irreparable. We wish to preserve the current state of the world, so our only wish is for Suzumiya to live a peaceful life. If we make a mistake, it would be like trying to take roasted chestnuts off an open fire; you’ll only end up getting burned.”
“So what exactly are we supposed to do?”
“I do not know.”
“If theoretically, just theoretically, Haruhi were to suddenly die, what would happen to the world?”
“Indeed. Perhaps the world would be terminated at the same time. Or perhaps the world would continue Godless. Or perhaps a new God would be born. Nobody knows the answer. Not until it happens.”
The coffee in my paper cup had grown cold. No longer wanting to drink it, I pushed it to the edge of the table.
“You said you were an esper, right?”
“Yes. We call ourselves by a different name, but simply put, that wouldn’t be inaccurate.”
“So show me some kind of power. Then I’ll believe what you say. For example, reheat this cup of coffee.”
Koizumi looked amused as he smiled. I think that was the first time his smile hadn’t looked artificial.
“I’m quite sorry, but that’s impossible. My power cannot be so easily manipulated. Also, I usually hold no power at all. A number of conditions must be met before I can use my power. I’m sure there will be an opportunity to show you.”
He then said, “Sorry to drag on so long. I’ll excuse myself for today,” and cheerfully left the table.
I watched Koizumi’s back until he was out of sight as he lightly walked off. Then I had the sudden idea to pick up the paper cup.
It goes without saying that the contents were cold.
When I returned to the clubroom, I found Asahina standing in her underwear.
“…”
Asahina held the frilly dress and apron in her hands as she looked at me, frozen with my hand on the doorknob, with large, shocked, cat-like eyes. Her mouth slowly widened in a scream.
“Excuse me.”
I stepped back outside and shut the door before she made a sound. Thankfully, I didn’t have to hear her scream.
Damn. I should have knocked. Wait, if you’re going to change, you could at least lock the door, right?
I was considering whether to transfer the image of her white skin from my retinas to my long-term memory when I heard a timid knock from inside. “Come in,” she said in a frail voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“No…”
I stared at the swirl of hair near the middle of Asahina’s head as I apologized. The skin around her eyes became faintly flushed.
“I should apologize for putting you in such embarrassing situations all the time….”
Totally fine with me.
It appeared that she was obediently abiding by Haruhi’s request. Asahina had finished changing into the maid outfit and was blushing.
She really is cute.
If my eyes were to meet hers, my brain would be overcome by the images I’d witnessed a moment earlier, and I would really lose it. As I mobilized all of my reason to suppress my libido, I sat down in the brigade chief chair and turned on the computer.
I sensed someone’s gaze and looked up to see, oddly enough, Nagato staring at me. She pushed up the bridge of her glasses and returned to her book. Her behavior looked strangely human.
I started up the HTML editor and opened the homepage index file. I was trying to think of something to do with this Web site that still hadn’t been updated yet, but I had no idea how or where to start. I just wasted my time as always before closing the file with a sigh. And then I started wondering why I even bothered. Because I was bored and getting pretty sick of Othello.
As I sat groaning with my arms crossed, a teacup was placed before me. Asahina, in her maid outfit, was carrying a tray with a smile on her face. I felt like I was being served by a real maid.
“Thanks.”
I had just been treated to coffee by Koizumi, but obviously, I gratefully accepted the tea.
Asahina then gave Nagato her tea and sat down next to her. She blew on the tea to cool it down as she began sipping.
In the end, Haruhi never showed up in the club room that day.
“Why didn’t you show up yesterday? Weren’t we going to review our behavior on Saturday?”
Same old, same old. I was talking to the occupant of the seat behind me before morning homeroom.
“You sure are annoying. I did the reviewing by myself.” Haruhi, sprawled on her desk with her chin propped up, sounded annoyed.
Upon asking, I learned that after school yesterday, Haruhi had gone back over the course her team had taken on Saturday. “I thought we might have missed something.”
And here I thought that detectives were the only ones with the habit of repeatedly returning to the scene of the crime.
“It’s hot. I’m exhausted. When do we change uniforms? I want to change into the summer uniform as soon as possible.”
“We change in June. There’s only one week left in May.
“Suzumiya, I’ve probably said this already, but how about you give up on looking for mysterious things you’re not going to find and try having fun the way a normal high-schooler does?”
Her head popped up as she glared at me… at least that was how I thought she would react, but contrary to my expectations, Haruhi’s cheek remained glued to the desk. She must really be exhausted.
“How does a normal high-schooler have fun?”
Her voice sounded resigned.
“You know. Find some nice guy and conduct your search around town with him. You could even call it a date. Kill two birds with one stone.”
I offered this suggestion as I recalled my conversation with Asahina from the other day.
“Besides, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a guy. At least, if you suppress that eccentric personality of yours.”
“Hmph. Men are worthless. Feelings of love are just temporary lapses in judgment. Like a kind of mental illness.”
She said this lethargically as she rested her head on her desk and stared out the window.
“Even I get in the mood for that stuff every now and then. I am a healthy young girl, after all. My body has its urges. But you know, I’m not stupid enough to let a momentary slip-up leave me saddled with a huge burden. Besides, if I start shopping around for guys, what will happen to the SOS Brigade? I just made it.”
Technically, you haven’t made it yet.
“You could turn it into some random club that just fools around. You’ll get people to join that way.”
“No way!”
A curt rejection.
“I made the SOS Brigade because that sort of club wouldn’t be any fun. I even recruited an alluring mascot and a mysterious transfer student. Why doesn’t anything exciting happen?! Ahh, I need to know if anything crazy is going to happen!”
It was the first time I’d ever seen Haruhi look so defeated, but her crestfallen face was surprisingly cute. She doesn’t even need to smile. As long as she has an ordinary expression on her face, she’s pretty attractive. Really, it’s such a waste.
Afterward, Haruhi spent the majority of morning classes sound asleep. It’s a miracle she wasn’t caught by any teachers. No, it was just coincidence. Yeah.
However, at the time, some trouble had begun brewing mysteriously in the shadows. It wasn’t quite full-blown, so nobody noticed it starting or ending. But at least, as of morning homeroom, it was the only thing I could think about.
Actually, as I was talking to Haruhi that morning, I had a pending issue on my mind. That pending issue would be the note I found in my locker that morning.
There I found… AFTER SCHOOL WHEN EVERYONE’S GONE, COME TO CLASSROOM 1-5…. in what was obviously a girl’s handwriting.
How to interpret this? I had to round up the personalities in my head and hold a conference. Number one was saying, Something like this has happened before. But the handwriting was clearly different from Nagato’s lettering on the bookmark. The self-proclaimed pseudo-alien had handwriting that was crisp like it was typed. The writing on the note pretty much had high school girl stamped all over it. Besides, Nagato probably wouldn’t employ a method as direct as placing a message in my locker.
And so, number two said, Could it be Asahina? I also doubted that. I couldn’t see her using some ripped-out scrap of paper to call me out without setting a specific time. That’s right. Asahina would use an envelope and proper writing stationery. And specifying 1-5, my classroom, as the location would be odd.
Number three went, What about Haruhi? Even less likely. She’d just drag me up the stairs to the landing to talk again like that other time. Koizumi was out for similar reasons.
Number four finally said, Then it’s a love letter from some unknown person. Setting aside the issue of whether or not this was a love letter, it was certainly a piece of correspondence requesting my presence. Though it wasn’t necessarily from a girl. Don’t let it get to your head. It could just be Taniguchi or Kunikida pulling a prank on me. Indeed. That was the most feasible possibility. This definitely had the markings of a bad joke by that idiot Taniguchi. But if that was the case, I would have expected something more elaborate.
During this sequence of thinking, I paraded around the school interior for no real reason. Haruhi had gone home because she wasn’t feeling well. I suppose that was convenient for me.
I made a brief stop in the club room first. If I went back to the classroom too soon, I’d probably get sick of waiting in an empty room for some unknown person. And while I was waiting, Taniguchi might show up saying, “Yo. How long were you waiting? If that little scrap of paper was enough to make you come running, you’re pretty naive. Gyahaha.” That would be even more aggravating. I’d kill some time, hop over to the classroom, take a peek, make sure no one was there, then head on home. Yeah, the perfect plan.
As I walked along, nodding to myself, I reached the club room. I remembered to knock.
“Yes, come in.”
After confirming Asahina’s permission, I opened the door. No matter how many times I saw Asahina in her maid outfit, she was still the picture of loveliness.
“You were late today. Where’s Suzumiya?”
The sight of Asahina brewing tea is quite becoming.
“She went home. Seemed like she was tired. Now’s your chance to counterattack. She’s weakened right now.”
“I wouldn’t do anything like that!”
With Nagato engrossed in reading, sitting in the background, the two of us drank our tea across from one another. It felt like we were back to being an aimless not quite student association.
“Koizumi hasn’t come yet?”
“Koizumi showed up earlier, but he said that he had to go to work, so he left.”
And what kind of work would that be? Well, at least it looks like the person who sent the letter isn’t one of the two other people in this room.
Having nothing else to do, Asahina and I exchanged scattered bits of conversation as we played Othello. After I racked up three wins, we went on the Internet and surfed around news sites until Nagato closed her book with a thump. That had become the signal for us to get ready to go home. I seriously had no idea what the club was doing anymore.
Asahina said, “I’m going to change, so you can go home first.” So I took Asahina up on her offer and hightailed it out of the club room.
My watch said it was around 5:30. There shouldn’t be anyone left in the classroom.
Even Taniguchi would have gotten sick of waiting and gone home by this point. Regardless, I raced up the stairs past the second floor, heading for the top floor. There’s always a slim chance of something happening there. Right?
I took a deep breath as I stood in the empty hallway. The windows were made of frosted glass so I couldn’t see inside. All I could see was that the sunset has stained the room orange. I slid open the door to 1-5 nonchalantly.
I wasn’t particularly surprised by the fact that someone was inside, but truth be told, I was considerably astonished when I saw the person standing there. Someone completely unexpected stood before the blackboard.
“You’re late.”
Ryoko Asakura smiled at me.
With a flick of her long, clean hair, she stepped away from the podium. My eyes were particularly drawn to her slender, creamy legs and the white socks extending from below her pleated skirt.
After walking halfway across the room, Asakura, still smiling, turned and beckoned to me.
“Why don’t you come in?”
I had been frozen with my hand still on the door. Seeing her motion in my direction, I walked towards her.
“It’s you, huh?”
“Yes. Didn’t expect me, did you?”
Asakura smiled without a care. The right side of her body was tinted red from the setting sun.
“What do you want with me?”
I purposely asked this in a blunt manner. Asakura chuckled before replying.
“There is something I need you for. I want to ask you something.”
Asakura’s pale face appeared directly in front of me.
“You know, humans always say, ‘It’s better to regret something you did than to regret something you didn’t do.’ What’s your opinion on that?”
“I don’t know about it being a common saying, but it probably means what it says.”
“Then, hypothetically speaking, if there were a situation where maintaining the status quo would only make things worse, but nobody knew what course of action would improve circumstances, what would you do?”
“Come again? Are you talking about the Japanese economy?”
Asakura, still smiling, ignored my question.
“Wouldn’t you think that change, any change at all, would be best for now? Nothing will improve the way things currently are.”
“Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
“Right?”
Asakura, arms behind her back, leaned forward a bit.
“But you know, the higher-ups are all stick-in-the-muds who can’t keep up with sudden change. But I can’t afford such complacency out in the field. A lack of action would only allow the situation to grow worse. In that case, it should be OK for me to act on my own accord to assert changes, right?”
What is she trying to say? Is this a prank? I looked across the classroom, wondering if Taniguchi was hiding in the broom closet. The only other place to hide would be under the teacher’s desk.
“I’ve grown quite tired of observing a static subject. So…”
Busily glancing around, I didn’t really hear what Asakura was saying.
“I’ll kill you and see how Haruhi Suzumiya responds.”
There was no time to look confused. Asakura’s hand came from behind her back in a flash and a dull metallic light slashed through where my head had been a moment ago.
Asakura smiled like a cat being patted in someone’s lap. She held a knife in her right hand over her head. It looked like one of those frightening knives used by the military.
Dodging that first strike was pretty much luck. I was now helplessly sitting on the ground and looking up at Asakura with a dumb look on my face. If I let her get on top of me, I wouldn’t be able to escape. I hurriedly leaped up like a grasshopper.
For some reason, Asakura didn’t give chase.
… No, wait. What’s going on here? Why is Asakura trying to stab me with a knife? Hold on a sec. What did Asakura say? Kill me? Why? For what reason?
“Stop joking around.”
I was only able to say clichéd phrases in this situation.
“That’s really dangerous! A fake knife would be enough to scare anyone, so stop!”
I have no idea what’s going on anymore. If somebody does, come here and fill me in.
“You think that this is a joke?”
Asakura asked this with a cheerful expression on her face. She looked anything but serious. Though I suppose a high school girl wielding a knife with a smile on her face is scary enough as it is. Come to think of it, I’m really scared right now.
“Hmm…”
Asakura tapped the dull edge of the knife against her shoulder.
“You don’t want to die? You don’t want to be killed? I really don’t understand the concept of death for organic life forms.”
This is a joke, right? It wouldn’t be too funny if it was serious though. Besides, I was finding this hard to believe. It’s not like she was some girl whose reputation I dragged through the mud or had some ugly break-up with. This was the diligent class president I’d barely ever talked to that was trying to slash me with a piece of military-grade cutlery. I couldn’t possibly believe she was serious.
However, if that knife was real, and I hadn’t made that timely dodge, I would definitely be lying in a pool of my own blood.
“I don’t get it. It’s not funny. Just put that dangerous thing down.”
She paused to think. “Sorry, that’s impossible.”
A picture of innocence, Asakura smiled the same smile she had when she was with the other girls in the classroom.
“Because I truly want you to die.”
She lowered the knife to waist level before charging toward me. Fast! But this time, I was ready. Before she made her move, I shot off at lightning speed to escape from the room—except I crashed into a wall.
?????
There was no door. There were no windows. The classroom wall facing the hallway had become something resembling a gray plaster wall.
Unbelievable.
“It’s no use.”
The voice drew closer behind me.
“This space is now under my data jurisdiction. Escape routes have been blocked. It was trivial to do. The structures on this planet can be altered with some slight tweaking to the data for molecular bonds. The classroom is now sealed. No one can enter or leave.”
I looked behind me. Even the sunset was gone. The windows facing the schoolyard had been replaced by a concrete wall. The florescent lights had turned on while I wasn’t paying attention and were shining hollow light across the desktops.
You’re kidding, right?
Asakura slowly walked toward me, her faint shadow trailing across the floor.
“Come on, just give up. The result will be the same in the end.”
“Who are you?”
I kept looking to make sure, but there was only wall to be seen. No sliding door that didn’t quite close. No frosted glass windows. Nothing at all. Or maybe the problem here was with my head.
I gradually wove through the desks, trying to put some distance between she and myself, but she continued to head straight for me. Desks flew out of her way as Asakura walked toward me unhindered. In contrast, every path I took was blocked by a mass of desks.
This cat and mouse game didn’t last long. I suddenly found myself cornered against the end of the classroom.
In that case…
I picked up a chair and threw it as hard as I could. The chair changed directions right before it hit Asakura and flew to the side before landing. You’ve gotta be kidding me.
“It’s no use. Didn’t I tell you? Right now, everything in this classroom moves according to my will.”
Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.
What? What is this? If this wasn’t a joke, and neither Asakura nor I had gone crazy, then what was going on?
I’ll kill you and see how Haruhi Suzumiya responds.
Haruhi again? You sure are popular, Haruhi.
“I should have done this from the beginning.”
With those words, I became aware of the fact that I couldn’t move my body. You can do that? I cry foul play.
My legs were rooted like a tree to the floor without the slightest movement. I couldn’t lift my arms. It was like they’d been hardened by paraffin. Actually, I couldn’t even move a finger. Frozen in a downward position, I could only watch as Asakura’s shoes entered the top of my field of vision.
“If you die, Suzumiya is certain to take some sort of action. I’ll probably be able to observe a considerable explosion of data. A golden opportunity.”
I don’t care.
“Now die.”
I sense Asakura raising her knife. What will she aim for? My carotid artery? My heart? If I knew where she would aim, I could at least ready myself. At least I could close my eyes… or not. What a riot.
I felt the rush of air. The knife descended toward me.
That was when it happened.
The sound of the ceiling collapsing accompanied a mound of rubble falling down. Fragments of concrete fell on my head. That hurt, damn it! The pouring shower of white stone coated my body. With this much of it, Asakura should also be covered. But when I moved to check, my body wouldn’t… Huh? I can move now.
I raised my head to look. What did I see?
The point of the knife was almost touching the back of my neck. The expression of surprise was stuck on Asakura’s face as she stood frozen, gripping the knife underhand. And there was a small figure of a person holding the blade of the knife with her bare hand—her bare hand, man!—Yuki Nagato.
“Your individual programs were too weak.”
That was Nagato in her usual expressionless tone.
“The spatial lockdown and data blockade in the ceiling sector were too weak. That is why I was able to detect you. Why intrusion was granted.”
“You’re going to get in my way?”
Asakura was every bit as composed.
“If this human is killed, Haruhi Suzumiya is certain to act. That’s the only way to obtain more data.”
“You are supposed to be my backup.”
Nagato spoke in a flat voice, sounding like she was chanting sutra.
“Independent action has not been authorized. You are supposed to obey me.”
“And if I don’t want to?”
“I will nullify your data link.”
“Go ahead and try. I have the advantage in this place. This classroom is now located within space under my data jurisdiction.”
“I am requisitioning the nullification of your data link.”
The second that was out of her mouth, the edge of the knife she was holding began to sparkle. It then fell apart into microscopic crystals, the way a sugar cube dissolves in red tea.
“!”
Asakura released the knife and suddenly jumped about five meters back. As I watched her do that, I silently pondered.
Ah, they really aren’t human. A rather laid-back realization.
After instantly increasing the distance between her and Nagato, Asakura made a soft landing in the back of the classroom. She was still smiling.
There was a soft distortion in space. That’s the only way I can describe it. Asakura, the desks, the ceiling, and the floor all shook and appeared to transfigure like liquid metal. I can’t really explain it.
All I knew was that space seemed to be condensing into what resembled a spear. But the second that thought crossed my mind, a number of crystals began exploding before Nagato’s outstretched palm. At least, that’s all I could see.
In the next instant, explosions of crystallized powder began floating down one after the next. The spears created from frozen space attacked us at imperceptible speeds. I didn’t realize that Nagato was intercepting all of them at a similar speed until a while later.
“Stay close.”
As Nagato fended off Asakura’s attack with one hand, she used the other to pull on my necktie. Nagato leaned down, dragging me with her, and I ended up on my knees, positioned behind her.
“Gah!”
Something I couldn’t see flew past my head and smashed the blackboard.
Nagato glanced up. In that instant, icicles shot out of the ceiling and rained down above Asakura. She moved so fast you could only see afterimages. Dozens of icicles were thrust into the ground, forming a forest.
“You can’t defeat me while we’re in this space,” Nagato stated.
Asakura stood still, looking completely composed. She faced Nagato across a distance of several meters. As for me, sad to say, I was hugging the ground, unable to get up.
Nagato stepped over my head and stood up. It’s just like her to have gone overboard and diligently written her name on her shoes. Nagato was muttering something in the tone someone would use when reading a novel aloud. It sounded like this.
“SELECT serial_code FROM database WHERE code=data ORDER BY offensive_data_combat HAVING terminate_mode = ‘Personal name: Ryoko Asakura’; Judged to be hostile. Nullifying concerned target’s connection to organic life form.”
The interior of the classroom could no longer be considered normal space. It was just a swirl of distorted geometric shapes, characters, and patterns dancing together. Looking at it started making me dizzy. The visual effect made me feel like I was riding through a fun house. I felt faint.
“You’ll cease functioning before that happens.”
I had no idea where Asakura’s voice was coming from, since she was hidden somewhere in that colorful mirage.
A whirring sound cut through the air.
Nagato swung her heel into me hard and sent me flying.
“What are you…”
… doing, was what I was trying to say, but an invisible spear shot past my nose and was swallowed by the floor.
“I wonder how long you can last while protecting that thing. Then how about this?”
The next moment, Nagato was standing in front of me, impaled on a dozen light brown spears.
“…”
Asakura had attacked both Nagato and me at the same time from multiple directions. While some spears had been crystallized and thus disabled, a few that hadn’t been intercepted flew toward me, and Nagato used her own body to protect me. That’s how it happened. Of course, at the time, I had no way of knowing that.
Nagato’s glasses fell from her face and softly bounced to the floor.
“Nagato!”
“There is no need for you to move,” Nagato said softly, after taking one glance at the dense cluster of spears protruding from her chest and abdomen.
A small pool of blood began forming around Nagato’s feet.
“I am fine.”
No, you don’t look fine at all.
Nagato pulled out one of the spears sticking out of her body without batting an eye and dropped it to the floor. The blood-stained spear hit the floor with a muted sound. A few minutes later, it transformed into a desk. So that’s what the spear actually was?
“Now that you’ve suffered so much damage, you won’t be able to interfere with other data. I’ll end this now.”
I could faintly see Asakura hidden on the other side of this shaking space. She was smiling. She silently raised her two arms, if I saw correctly, and her arms, from shoulder to fingertip, became enveloped in a dazzling light that extended two arm lengths. No, not just two arm lengths—
Asakura’s arms extended even further, shooting out like wriggling tentacles, and attacked from both left and right. “Die.”
Unable to move, Nagato’s small body shuddered…. Warm, red liquid splashed against my face.
Asakura’s left arm thrust through Nagato’s right side. Her right arm shot through Nagato’s left upper chest. Her arms then exited through Nagato’s back before finally burying themselves in the classroom wall.
The blood gushing from Nagato’s body flowed down her pale legs to widen the pool of blood.
“Finished,” Nagato said softly as she seized a tentacle. Nothing was happening.
“What’s finished?” Asakura sounded like she was sure of victory. “The three years of your brief life?”
“No.”
Even with all those serious injuries, Nagato sounded like there was nothing wrong at all.
“Commence nullification of data link.”
It happened suddenly.
My first thought was that everything in the room was shining. But a second later, it all began crumbling into glittering sand. The desk next to me also disintegrated into a gathering of tiny particles before collapsing.
“Impossible…”
Asakura stood showered by a rain of crystal grains. This time, she was the one who appeared shocked.
“You are exceptionally skilled,” said Nagato. The spears stuck in her body also turned into sand. “That is why it took so long to force a program into this space. But it is finished now.”
“You prepared entropy factors before you infiltrated this space. That would explain why you seemed too weak. You had already expended your offensive data before we began….” Asakura spoke resignedly as she watched her two arms also begin to crystallize. “Ah, what a pity. I suppose I was only ever a backup. And I thought it would be a good chance to end this stasis.”
Asakura turned to me. She was back to her classroom face.
“I’ve lost. Lucky you. You get to live a while longer. But you’d best be careful. As you can see, the Overmind has its dissenting voices. Well, humans are the same way. Another agent from the radical faction may come one day. Or perhaps Nagato’s master may switch views.”
Asakura was already covered from chest to toe with shining crystals.
“Enjoy your time with Suzumiya until then. Bye.”
Asakura disintegrated into a small sandpit without a sound. The grains of crystal grew finer and finer before finally dissolving, eventually becoming invisible to the eye.
As the crystals rained down like rustling fine glass, the female student known as Ryoko Asakura was eradicated from this school.
There was a soft thud. I twisted my head in its direction. Finding that Nagato had collapsed, I hurriedly stood up.
“Hey! Nagato, hang in there! I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No need.”
Nagato’s eyes were open and staring at the ceiling.
“My body did not suffer significant injury. This space is what must be normalized first.”
The avalanche of sand came to a halt.
“I will remove foreign substances and reconstruct the classroom.”
And before my eyes, classroom 1-5 turned back into the familiar 1-5, back the way it was. Yes. Like watching a tape rewind, it reverted back into the usual classroom.
The blackboard, the teacher’s desk, and the students’ desks were born from the white sand. Everything was arranged the way it had been when I left the room after school. What am I supposed to say after seeing this? If I hadn’t seen it happen with my own eyes, I would think that it was just well-made CGI.
Window frames projected from what was only a wall and sections then turned transparent to become glass windows. The setting sun colored Nagato and me a shade of red. Just to make sure, I checked inside my desk. Everything that was supposed to be in there was, just the way I had left it. And all that blood from Nagato that had splattered onto my body had disappeared while I wasn’t paying attention. Impressive. This had to be magic.
I knelt down next to Nagato, who was still lying on the floor.
“Are you really OK?”
I had to admit that I couldn’t see a single scratch on her. And you would expect her uniform to be riddled with holes after being impaled on all those spears, but there wasn’t a single one.
“Processing power was redirected to data manipulation and transformation. The regeneration of this interface was placed in queue. It is currently running.”
“Need help?” I asked.
Unexpectedly, Nagato obediently accepted my outstretched hand. I helped her sit up when…
“Ah.” Her mouth opened slightly. “I forgot to reconstruct my glasses.”
“I’d say you look cuter without them. And I’m not really a glasses man.”
“What is a glasses man?”
“Nothing. I’m just babbling.”
“I see.”
This wasn’t the time for idle conversation. I would later regret not leaving the room as soon as possible, even if it meant leaving Nagato behind.
The door noisily slid open.
“For-got my stuff, forgot my stuff—”
The person who entered the room, singing some song he had made up, was Taniguchi of all people.
I doubt Taniguchi expected there to be anyone in the classroom at this hour. When he noticed our presence, he froze in his tracks, which was followed by him opening his mouth wide open like an idiot.
At that moment, I had just begun the process of helping Nagato up. If you looked at that particular still-frame, my position would suggest that I was actually pushing her down.
“My bad.”
That was Taniguchi in a serious voice I’d never heard him use before. He then stepped back like a crayfish and ran off without shutting the door. I didn’t even get a chance to chase him.
“An interesting person,” said Nagato.
I let out a huge sigh.
“What do we do…?”
“Leave it to me.” Nagato said this as she rested in my arms, motionless. “I specialize in data manipulation. I have made it so Ryoko Asakura has transferred out of this school.”
That’s your concern?!
This wasn’t the time to be joking around. I suddenly shook in astonishment. Now that I stopped to think about it, I had just gone through an incredible experience, hadn’t I? This was no longer about whether or not I believed that wild story, that winding freak-talk of Nagato’s the other day. Though I still found it hard to believe. I was about ready to piss my pants during the incident just now. I really thought I was going to die. If Nagato hadn’t crashed through the ceiling, Asakura would definitely have sent me to meet my maker. After seeing that distorted classroom, Asakura turning into some kind of monster, and Nagato somehow expressionlessly eradicating her, it had been beaten into my mind that everything was real.
Didn’t that mean that I had no choice but to accept that Nagato was genuinely connected to aliens or whatever?
On top of that, I was going to end up constantly involved in crazy events at that rate. As I said in the beginning, I just wanted to be a bystander who gets caught up in strange situations. A supporting role would be good enough. But didn’t the current situation make me the main character? I can’t deny that I had wanted to be a character in one of those stories where things like aliens show up. But it was different now that I actually was such a character.
I’ll be honest; this is a problem.
I wanted to be one of those side characters who merrily offers occasional advice from the sidelines to the guy who has to directly deal with all the trouble. I wanted this crazy situation, where my life had been targeted by a classmate, to stop at once. I was still quite partial to being alive.
I spent a brief period dazed and confused, paralyzed in the red-tinted classroom. All the while supporting Nagato’s seemingly weightless body.
This is… What is this? What am I supposed to think?
Since I had spaced out for a while, I only now noticed that Nagato had been finished with her regeneration or whatever for quite some time and was currently looking up at me without any expression on her face.
The next day, Ryoko Asakura didn’t show up for class.
I suppose that it should have been obvious, but apparently, I was the only one who thought so since homeroom-man Okabe said…
“Ah—. This concerns Asakura. Due to her father’s work—I also find this rather sudden—she has transferred to another school. I was surprised when I heard this morning. Apparently, they went overseas. Seems like they departed yesterday.”
And when that really sketchy-sounding story was delivered during homeroom, it was met with “What—?” and “Why—?” from what were mostly girls in an uproar. The guys were whispering about something with their heads together. Teacher-man Okabe also looked like he was deep in thought. Naturally, one particular girl wasn’t going to stay quiet.
A fist struck my back with a thud.
“Kyon. Something’s up here.”
Haruhi Suzumiya, who had completely bounced back, looked at me with shining eyes.
What do I do? Tell her the truth?
Actually, Asakura was a colleague of Nagato, who was created by this unknown group called the Data Overmind. And I don’t really know the details, but they had some kind of falling out over whether or not I should be killed. Why kill me? That had something to do with you, Haruhi, and your data or whatever. In the end, she was turned into sand by Nagato. There you have it.
Like hell I can! It’s not like I even want to. I would prefer to think that it was all one massive hallucination.
“First, a mysterious transfer student came. Now we have a girl transferring out for no explicable reason. Something’s up here.”
Should I praise her for her sharp instincts?
“Didn’t he say it was because of her father’s work?”
“I don’t buy that weak explanation.”
“It doesn’t matter if you buy it. That’s the most popular reason people transfer.”
“But it’s odd. It’s only been one day. Less than a day passed between notice of transfer and moving. What kind of job would that be?”
“Maybe he didn’t tell his daughter….”
“That’s impossible. This matter needs some investigation.”
I abandoned the idea of telling her that her father’s job was just an excuse and they were actually making a secret move during the night. I know all too well that it wasn’t true.
“The SOS Brigade can’t sit idly by while a school mystery is waiting to be solved!”
Give me a break.
Yesterday’s events demanded that I make significant changes. After all, I had been witness to actual supernatural phenomena. If I pretend that it hadn’t actually happened, that would mean I would have to decide if there was something wrong with either my eyes or my mind. Or perhaps there was something wrong with the world. Or maybe this was all just a really long dream.
And I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that the world would be unrealistic.
Man. Don’t you think that fifteen years and counting is a bit too early for someone to face a turning point in life?
Why did I, in my first year in high school, have to consider such philosophical questions as to how the world should be? I shouldn’t have had to think about these things. I’d like it if you didn’t give me more work to do. Since I already had another pending issue to deal with.