'''α-3'''
After I called Koizumi, I debating calling Nagato as well. When I realized I didn't have much to ask about I put the phone back beside my bed.
If Kuyoh were some kind of harbinger of death for Nagato I'm sure she wouldn't be quiet about it. Besides, tomorrow is a normal Sunday our merciful leader has bestowed upon us. I'll just take the chance to rest.
However reluctant I get I'll still meet her at school on Monday. If I visit the clubroom during lunch, I'll be able to listen to alien Nagato's seminar anyway.
I had almost picked up that book I still need to return when a scratching sound came from the door. I opened the door and Shamisen crawled, purring exhaustedly. He climbed onto the bed, rolled into a ball and fell asleep without even thanking the doorman.
Ah, another reminder that the lives of cats are as eternal as the world's[
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index ... _Notes#The lives of the cats are as eternal as the world’s].
'''α-4'''
Next day, Sunday.
I didn't do much; read some books, played some games, savouring my time alone. I made it to evening without anything interesting happening. I value my rare, happy unHaruhi rest days.
Tomorrow is about to start. The melancholy-inducing Sunday night is about to pass, the start of another week, existing only to bring another weekend, a new odd-numbered day of the week.
Monday is almost here.
'''β-4'''
Next day, Sunday.
I was up by seven. Thirty minutes from the ring of the alarm clock to full out-the-door readiness.
I have never as much time wasted by breakfast and washing up. I had enough time for a litte more sleep, but if tried for a tiny nap now I wouldn't wake up for another two hours.
All I can do is read the morning paper in the kitchen. My little sister, so proud of always being first in the family to wake up, stared in disbelief.
"Wow, Kyon woke up before me two days in a row. Why~?"
What is there to 'why' about? I am a high school student, naturally more busy than a sixth grader. When you're older the older you will wistfully reminisce about the present-day you, so take the time to enjoy grade school to its fullest. And don't write things in your graduating speech that make people laugh at you.
"Ohh~ where are you all going today? Will Haruhi be there too?"
If I answered honestly, she'd want to tag along. While Sasaki may be understanding enough, that time traveler would just give us one of his disgusting glares. No, I should let her come along just to get back at them.
"I'm meeting with some middle school friends."
I eventually decided to turn her away. There would be plenty of chances to meet Sasaki later; more than that, I don't want to expose my dear little sister to harsh reality so soon. She has had a pure and innocent upbringing and still believes in Santa Claus. Knowing that aliens are actually extremely clever and time travellers are smug bastards that piss people off... destroying fantasies like would just be cruel.
You stay home with Shamisen instead. If Haruhi calls, go think of some cover-up. You have liberty to come up with any excuse you please. But be careful: you are not to mention the name "Sasaki." Not even "Sa."
"O~kay."
My sister rushed off to wash up, feet thumping across the house.
Now is my chance. It's still really early, but I should set off as soon as possible. If my sister quizzes me later and I end up revealing something important I'll have even more trouble to deal with. I feel uneasy all over waiting at home anyway, with this unbearable urge to wrap up today as soon as possible.
But just as I stepped outside, I found that this rare early bird moment had incurred the wrath of the heavens.
Almost like it wass waiting for me to open the door...
"It's raining already?"
I put the key to my bike back with one hand, stretched the other to grab an umbrella and said the previous sentence.
From a slight drizzle to a pitter-pattering plum rain to a thunderstorm. It took less than thirty seconds.
Like a warning to keep me from stepping out of the house, the close patches of dark clouds along with the volume of rainfall must have obscured at least ten percent of the sky.
There was no thunder.
I endured the pattering rain as I approached the train station, where the trio from yesterday was waiting.
Sasaki carried a blue foldable umbrella, Tachibana Kyoko a name-brand "Fer" or something. Like a genetically-similar replica of Nagato, Suou Kuyoh donned the uniform of her girls' school, with a transparent umbrella that looked like it was from a convenience store. The rain demonstrated the radically different personalities of the three.
Kuyoh's extraordinarily long black hair had already exceeded the surface area protectable by a convenience store umbrella but did not appear to have been drenched in rain. She also seemed transparent to bystanders. To disprove that hypothesis, passers-by would lean away if their umbrellas could come into contact with hers.
Oh yeah, the time traveling Itsuki hasn't shown his face yet. Did he turn into some color-shifting sticky note by any chance?
"No, he's in the coffee shop," Sasaki replied. "I wouldn't stand outside and wait for anyone in this rain, especially if I'm waiting for you... that was what he said. So we had him reserve a seat for all of us away from the rain."
What a self-righteous Itsuki. Seems his character hadn't changed a bit after two months, though I have no idea how many days had passed for him.
"It seems that you both have a deep hatred for each other. I haven't heard anything about the incident from you, but I guess that kind of relationship beats not knowing each other at all." Sasaki laughed her normal laugh. "I am not worried now. If he really had ill intentions, he would not be making things so obvious. I decided to take a similar approach."
Even more unforgivable. If he hates this time frame so much he shouldn’t be here. He should at least learn from Asahina-san. It's not easy to find someone devoting so much of themselves into tea-making in this day and age.
Sasaki laughed softly.
"I want to drink tea brewed by Asahina-san too. Could I if I visit North High? I should have visited your cultural festival last year, what a waste. But I will definitely be there this year."
Of course I won’t say something like "it's better if you don't visit."
"There's nothing wrong if you want to visit. But our cultural festival never has anything very interesting - "
"Hey..."
Tachibana Kyoko darted in between Sasaki and I. She held up her umbrella to keep from hitting us.
"Can we keep the chit-chat to when it's just you two? The reason I called for you today..." She cleared her throat and looked darkly at us. "...is because I have a few very important things to talk about. I should have told Sasaki-san about them earlier."
"Sorry", Sasaki said, smiling. "I didn't forget, I just pretended to. Honestly, I have no idea how to say them out loud."
Kuyoh remained motionless during this interchange like a 1:1 ratio model. Does she have that much of a problem with our kind of language?
Tachibana Kyoko continued. "We need to get going. I have a feeling that our ambassador from the future is in that shop running out of patience. We're close to our agreed meeting time anyway."
As Tachibana Kyoko walked off Kuyoh followed close behind, not showing any sign of acknowledgement, moving slightly faster than an umbrella-wielding Ksitigarbha carrying a heavy sack along a snow-covered path. [
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index ... sitigarbha]. Her face lacked any hint of scarlet and carried a pair of tired eyes that could make you think she's about to fall asleep. I don't know if this alien has low blood pressure or just can't handle the humidity, for her state of being seems to vary on a day-to-day basis. If Nagato is diamond dust, then Kuyoh gives off the feeling of peony snow [
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index ... peony_snow].
Sasaki and Tachibana Kyoko treated Kuyoh like she was transparent. They probably did that because they knew she would follow them. It was a lot like Haruhi and Nagato.
Kuyoh moved in a very predictable manner. Although her steps were close together she wasn't slow-moving, keeping a constant distance from us. And as I walked I discovered...
Coincidentally, we were headed to the usual meeting place of the SOS Brigade, the coffee shop where the tab is picked up by one particular member ninety-nine percent of the time. Me.
Like I thought, the two walking in front paused for a second in front of the automatic sliding door, and a man holding a glass with an unhappy face glared from inside.
He saw us when he raised his head, and curled his lips in a disinterested fashion.
His grin was the same as when I met him by the flower bed last February, a darker version of Koizumi's smile..
Do they need to copy the SOS Brigade that much? It's really making me uneasy. I'm sitting at the exact same spot as yesterday with the exact same member formation, Sasaki beside me and the supernatural trio opposite.
Even when the waitress left after putting our drinks on the table, five mouths, including mine, remained motionless.
I stared at the time traveler, name still unknown, while Sasaki and Tachibana Kyoko showed relieved expressions. Kuyoh was silent and stiff as a clay doll. The atmosphere was like the final council of war in a castle surrounded by a massive enemy army, ready to fall any time...
Automatically taking up emcee duty, Tachibana Kyoko. "I know many things have happened..."
With that as the opening statement.
"But I'm very excited now. Do you all know how long I have been waiting for this day to come? We can finally stand at the starting line together. Thank you for giving me this chance."
She bowed at me. [[Image:Sh_v09_ch02_02.jpg|thumb| He saw us when he raised his head, and curled his lips in a disinterested fashion.'']]
"I would also like to thank Sasaki-san, troubling you so suddenly for this. I really am sorry."
"Hm." Sasaki uttered a syllable, raised her head and looked at me. "Kyon, can you please not wear that scary expression? At least listen to what she has to say. I wish to refer to your conjecture on this. After all, you should be more knowledgeable about such matters. My intuition and analytical skills are not that superior, and thus I often rely on the examples and experiences of others. Because of that, your presence here is reassuring to me, since I have no one to refer to this time."
I adjusted my gaze away from the face of the time-traveling Asahina-san stand-in – the face that would not nourish my eyes no matter how I look at it.
"Make this short and simple."
I tried to sound as serious as I could, but all I got was a cold laugh from the time traveler. Infuriating.
"First, your name."
If you just stay some anonymous time traveler, my opinion of you will just keep circling the drain.
Facing my second round of deadly stares, face full of sarcasm, he spoke up. It was a voice that I had been waiting for for two long months.
"Names are nothing but a sign of acquaintance."
The ridiculing tone was just like I remembered. He shifted his body for a bit, seemed a bit uneasy.
"I don't care what you call me. It wouldn't mean a thing anyway. Just like you people changing Asahina Mikuru to Asahina Michiru. What a joke."
You sure love making negative comments, don’t you. I should have given my sister the ticket of approval to come along. Just a sentence or two from this guy is could bring one's emotions to the bottom of the pit. And how could Asahina-san be pointless?
"Even then," Sasaki said to him, "In this era - even if it isn't a real name - a salutation would make things easier. It doesn't matter if it's an official position or informal status, like an imperial guard or government representative. That would do. Just tell Kyon."
"Fujiwara," The time traveler unexpectedly replied. "Just call me that."
"Well, that’s what he said." Hearing this obviously fake name, Sasaki shrugged at me. "With that, the introductions are over."
I suppose that kind of counts as us knowing each other. But that's not what I came here for. I could call you time traveler dude, Asahina kidnapper, Sky Canopy Dominion alien or whatever suitable nickname, without this concern about salutations.
"Um." Tachibana Kyoko followed. "Next we move to the main agenda." After deliberately clearing her throat a few times, the esper girl flanked by an alien and a time traveler smiled like a door-to-door saleswoman.
"We believe that the real god is not Suzumiya-san, but Sasaki-san here."
It was like she had dropped a bomb.
A sip of my drink was still in my mouth cavity and the thought of spitting it on her face flashed through my mind, but I decided against it. And so I swallowed that mouthful and set the glass on the table before continuing. "What did you say?"
"I meant what I said literally. What don't you understand?" Tachibana Kyoko flashed a bright expression and gave a sigh of relief. "Phew... it's finally out there. I have been wanting to tell you this, but I simply had no chance to. I have kept this buried in my heart for quite some time now. It's good that Koizumi-kun isn't around. I even thought of transferring into your school this spring, but those people are really scary. They reaffirmed that not too long ago. I really don't want to see Mori-san again."
Kyoko’s satisfied expression while she laughed was no different from any normal high school girl.
"That's how it is. Koizumi-kun was given responsiblity for Suzumiya-san's well-being, as we did for Sasaki-san. But both the aliens and time travelers were on Suzumiya-san's side. I was uneasy, lonely and helpless."
She glanced at the two beside her and continued.
"This is my only way to prevent destruction by a similar group. Koizumi-kun may have Asahina Mikuru-san and Nagato Yuki-san but we don't. We needed reinforcements, and I'm glad they're finally assembled."
I seriously cannot take this at face value. If Haruhi is not the kind of god Koizumi's talks about, what have I been doing for the past year?. I was almost killed by Asakura Ryoko (I was actually stabbed once), an endless summer vacation, messing around with time planes, taking orders from the future, and, more than that, being dragged around like a pawn by Haruhi's sudden impulses. Nagato even went on a rampage... if Haruhi isn't a mysterious-events-generating machine, how was all of that possible?
"That represents only one of many, many viewpoints. Why should there only be one reality? The surface is just a façade and the truth is far beneath. Isn't that a common device in detective stories?"
If you want to discuss mysteries, look for Koizumi. If you want to talk about novels, look for Nagato.
"Sasaki," I said. "Do you really believe in all this?"
Sasaki raised her head from the menu.
"Honestly, I've always been intrigued by this. I'm not very interested in myself and I don't have any strong desires. Even if I could achieve deification, I don't think I should. Even when I play American football, I prefer to play as the quarterback. I would be happy just to live a life that doesn't trouble others. I hate attention seekers and I feel offended when I meet them." She waved her hands to catch the waitress's attention. "We haven't ordered anything yet. Has everyone decided?"
That prankster smile is the same as the one she took to our middle-school classroom.
The waitress, casually dressed with a simple apron, bustled over to take our orders. The only order anyone made was Sasaki for four cups of hot coffee.
Time traveler Fujiwara and alien Kuyoh said nothing, snorting a little and exuding an extreme silence respectively. A little part of me wants to know what the people around us think about us. It would be difficult to get the idea that this is just a group of high school kids, even with the power of extra-positive thinking. I had a growing feeling that next to that, the SOS Brigade looked normal.
Tachibana Kyoko, first to speak, broke the ice again.
"So this is it. You have heard it from Koizumi-kun as well? I mean the talk about Suzumiya-san creating this world about four years ago. She unconsciously wields a strange power, one that creates closed spaces corresponding to her mental state. Koizumi-kun and the rest were suddenly enlightened and formed the 'Organization,' extant today. Suzumiya-san's continued to grant her own wishes, bringing aliens and time travelers to her side. But my companions and I believe that that power originally belonged to Sasaki-san."
You and your companions can believe whatever you want. Imagination has no shackles. But it's if something actually happens. This is a country governed by law, and kidnapping is a major crime.
"About that, I'd like to apologize. It was unlikely to succeed from the start, mostly due to strong interference from the future. At least it wasn't completely fruitless, since we brought our existence to your attention. That was a great step forward for us."
If I was the moon, I'd probably be wondering, "Why are you leaving strange footprints on me?"
"Four years ago."
Tachibana Kyoko talked as if she were telling her friends about the drama series she watched yesterday.
"Without any warning, I realized that I had gained some kind of power. I do not know the cause of this phenomenon, or why I was chosen and not someone else. What I do know is that I am not the only one chosen, that there are other companions, and that all of this originated from one person."
That shining pair of eyes cast a glance at me.
"And that person is Sasaki-san. Even before I gave thought to it, I knew she was the source of my powers. I began my quest to find Sasaki-san, meeting my companions along the way. Every one of them shares that same belief."
I thought of the members of the kidnapping syndicate I had seen get out of the van.
"While we were debating whether we should make contact with Sasaki-san, and how to go about that if we did, we found something very strange. Another group very similar to ours already existed; even its members resembled us. Except that they were concentrating on a person that was not Sasaki-san."
The 'Organization.'
"Yes, the ones who view Suzumiya-san as a god. Conflicts broke out between us over that false belief. We met with them many times to gently correct them but they claimed that we were the ones upholding incorrect principles. Nothing we tried could make them believe us. We are unable to accept their views, and it seems impossible for them to accept ours. Eventually we discussed breaking off..."
Tachibana Kyoko seemed to be looking nonchalantly into a great distance for a moment, then she turned her eyes back at me.
"Since then we haven't met at all."
"What happened next?" I said. Could there be any other viewpoints? "What exactly do you want?"
The representative from the faction opposite the 'Organization' let out a huge sigh.
"We firmly believe that the powers Suzumiya-san has at this moment rightfully belong to Sasaki-san. There must have been a mistake somewhere that made them transfer to another person. Therefore, I want to return things back to how they was. Should I succeed, the world will move in a much better direction."
After that, she looked straight at me.
"I hope to enlist your help as well."
"Sasaki." I escaped from that stare. "Whatever she said, what do you think?"