Suzumiya Haruki no Seitenkan:Volume1 Chapter5
Monday arrived. And if it wasn't enough that I had to climb the Vinson Massif every single day, the humidity of the rainy season was finally beginning to make itself known. Everybody was sweating buckets, and I was already in dire need of about three showers by the time I got to school. If only they'd give us a shower period instead of useless homeroom... and if some politician had promised to install an escalator on the hill to school, they'd certainly have my vote when I came of age.
I was sitting in the classroom, using a pencil board as a makeshift fan, when the bell rang. Haruki, uncharacteristically, was the last one to enter.
He slammed his bag down on the desk. "Fan me, too!"
"Fan yourself!" I said, irritably. Monday mornings are not the best time to demand things of me, Haruki! Especially not when it’s this hot.
Haruki (who I'd last seen in front of the station two days ago) twisted his face into a sour look, scowling. I thought he'd been getting slightly more pleasant over the last few days, but I guess he'd reverted back to his usual angry self.
"Hey, Suzumiya." I said, shifting my eyes to look at him without moving my head. "Have you ever heard the story of 'The Blue Bird of Happiness'?"
"What's that?"
"…No, never mind. It's nothing."
"Why bother opening your mouth then?!"
As Haruki gave me a sideways scowl, Okabe-sensei arrived and our pointless homeroom session began.
I’m a waste of time, huh?
That day, an aura of resentment and barely-repressed rage radiated out across the classroom from Haruki's downer mood, leaving me with an uncomfortable pressure against my back. The tinny chime that signaled the end of the day had never, ever been so welcome before; like a field mouse fleeing from a raging bushfire, I too evacuated to the clubroom.
I've become so used to seeing Nagato read in the corner that he'd become part of the scenery, an ornament. Like a potted plant. Or something.
Koizumi Itsuko had also just arrived, so it was the three of us in the clubroom that day; Haruki had cleaning duty, and Asahina-senpai apparently hadn't come yet.
I looked at her, sighing a bit.
"I suppose you have something to tell me about Suzumiya?"
"It seems like you’ve already heard it from the others, am I right?"
Itsuko took a quick glance at Nagato, busy reading his book as usual. Her know-it-all tone was getting annoying.
"Let's find some place else to talk. It would be... better if Suzumiya-san didn’t overhear us."
On the way to the cafeteria, Itsuko treated me to a cup of coffee. We sat down at one of the tables set up outside.
"So… what do you know?" she asked, leaning forwards with her hands folded across one another.
I shrugged. "That Suzumiya isn't just an ordinary weirdo, I guess."
She giggled a bit. "Well, that’s certainly true. And I’m glad you understand otherwise I’d have a lot more to explain."
I sighed. Was this some kind of joke? All of the other members of the SOS Brigade had managed to inform me, in their own little ways, that Haruki is not, in fact, human. Had Global Warming managed to fry their brains into bacon crisps or something?
"Fine then. Tell me who you really are."
So far, we have an alien, and a time traveler. What were the other words that came out of Haruki's mouth? I guess we only have two possibilities left...
"Actually, let me guess… You're an esper, right?"
"Well,” Itsuko said, stirring her coffee delicately, "It's probably not the kind you’d imagine, but you’re more or less correct - I am what you call an “esper”. I possess paranormal powers."
I drank my coffee in silence. Bleh, it’s too sweet. She should have ordered less sugar.
"I’ve been a bit troubled having to transfer schools so suddenly, but it seems the circumstances have changed.” She continued to smile calmly. “I would never have thought that those two would have approached Suzumiya Haruki so quickly. Previously, they have always preferred to observe silently, from a distance."
Stop treating Haruki like some treasured, endangered species!
"Don’t get so excited, please. I assure you we have no intentions of harming Suzumiya-san. Quite the opposite, actually; we want to protect him."
I really don't think Haruki requires anybody's protection. "You said, 'we'. I suppose that means there are others out there, like you?"
Itusko smiled elegantly at me, as if pleased. "Well, only a few. I’m one of the lower-ranked members, but I know that there are about ten of us in this world at this time. And we are all supervised by 'The Organization'."
Wonderful. Now we have an 'Organization'.
"I don’t have access to details like how large The Organization is, or who exactly it's made up of. The higher-ups are the only ones who really know."
"So, this 'Organization'," I said, sitting back."What does it do, anyway?"
Itsuko sipped daintily at her cooled coffee.
"It’s probably obvious by now but, The Organization was founded three years ago. And the sole reason it exists is to observe, of course, Suzumiya Haruki." She set the cup back down on the table and folded her hands across one another again. "I'm sure you understand by now. I'm not the only member of The Organization here in this school; we've had sleeper agents here for quite a while. I've merely been transferred here to assist them."
Taniguchi's face suddenly came to mind. She'd been in the same school as Haruki for three years... could she be...?!
No way.
"You're just kidding, right?"
"However, I cannot guarantee that all of them are on Suzumiya-san's side," Itsuko said, acting as if she hadn’t heard me.
Why does everybody seem to like Haruki so much? He's just a crazy, self-centered buffoon who loves creating trouble for other people. Is he really worth so much that an entire organization has to put all its resources into protecting him?
(I gotta admit, though, he is pretty good-looking.)
"I still don’t know the truth to what happened three years ago," Itsuko said quietly, suddenly looking at me seriously and dropping the smile. "It was just… suddenly… I realized I had paranormal powers and unordinary abilities. I had no idea what to do I thought I was going mad or crazy, that there was something wrong with my brain… but then the Organization found me and took me in. If they hadn't... well… I don’t know what I would’ve done."
Did it occur to you that maybe something is wrong with your brain?
Itsuko looked at me painfully for a moment; then she showed me a smile in what she might have thought looked playful. "Well, yes, that is certainly a possibility," she conceded, picking up the cup again. "But we are much more afraid of the other possibilities... the unforeseen possibilities."
Smiling at her own flaws, Itsuko sipped her coffee elegantly. She turned to me, still wearing that smile, and asked:
"So, when do you think this world began its existence?"
Out of nowhere, a big question like that!?
"I guess... at the Big Bang?"
"Yes, that is what most people think. But to us, there is another possibility - that this world came into being three years ago."
I stared at Itsuko in silence.
She smiled contently back at me.
Finally I cried out, "That's completely impossible! I can still clearly remember what happened even further back than three years ago! My parents are still alive, I still have the three stitches I got when I fell into a drain when I was a kid - and how do you explain all this junk that I've been desperately memorizing from our history textbooks?"
"How can you be sure that all humans, including you, are not simply created with these earlier memories? If you accept that as possible, then you don't even need to dwell on 'three years ago'. It might as well be 'five minutes ago' that the universe was born."
She smiled, wider than ever. Her perfect teeth glinted in the sunlight.
I didn’t respond.
"Try to imagine a virtual reality. Everything that you see, smell and touch in that virtual reality is nothing more than electrical impulses acting upon your neural centers in your brain. But you believe that everything that you experience is, well, real. Reality is... fragile."
...was that a reference to something?
I sighed.
"Look, let's just say I agree with you. It doesn't matter whether the Earth was created three years ago or five minutes ago. What's this 'Organization' got to do with Haruki?"
"Our leader believes that the reality we know may be nothing more than a person's dream. We are such stuff as dreams are made of... no, perhaps that should more accurately be: This world is such stuff as dreams are made of. An 'insubstantial pageant', if you will. And for the dreamer, to create and alter this dream... well, there is nothing easier. And we all know who this dreamer, who this person is..."
Maybe it's just all these complex references she's throwing down, but Itsuko’s face looks surprisingly mature right now.
"Humans have always had a name for those who can destroy and remake the world at will. They have called them: God."
…Haruki… You're already being worshipped as a god. Just like you wanted.
"And that is why The Organization must be very careful. If God becomes displeased with this world, he may simply destroy this old world and replace it with a new one, like a kid who doesn't like his sandcastle, and destroys it before making another one. This world has its problems, I know, but it’s not completely terrible, there are definitely some good things in it and it is for this reason that I help the Organization to protect the world."
I put my hand to my head again. "Look, why not simply go up and ask Haruki about all this? Tell him not to destroy the world. If it's this important, he might actually listen for a change."
Itsuko toyed with her cup a little. "Suzumiya-san is unaware of his own powers. And part of our job is to make sure he remains so and lives out his life peacefully." She smiled again. "He’s a bit too… immature to become a fully responsible ‘God’. But though he has not reached full potential yet, we have seen signs of his power."
"Such as?"
"Think about it. Why would time-travelers, aliens, and espers exist in the first place? Because Suzumiya-san wishes for it."
I thought back to that first day. "If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, slider, or an esper, then come! Be my bride!" Was that what brought them all out of hiding? His crazy quest for a worthy bride?
And if that was something he had seriously wished for, why were the alien and the time-traveler guys?
"We hypothesize that he is unable to completely utilize his powers at the moment; he is only able to release them subconsciously, almost randomly. But for the past few months, Suzumiya-san has been continually releasing powers far beyond human comprehension. One side-effect of these random power outbursts has resulted in Suzumiya-san having Asahina Mitsuuru, Nagato Yuuki and myself join his club, without knowledge of who we are."
So I guess that makes me the only person without a secret to hide.
"About that... well… you’re right. You’re a mysterious presence. You have been chosen by Suzumiya Haruki. And I've done quite a lot of background checks on you - it's impolite, I know, but I hope you don't mind - and I assure you, you are a genuine, certified, 100% normal human being. No special powers, nothing."
...is that a compliment? Or should I be disappointed, instead?
"I don’t really know, myself," said Itsuko, spreading her hands and smiling her smile at me. "But the way things are going, I suggest you be very careful so as to not let Suzumiya-san slip into a state of melancholy, or to tire of this reality. The fate of the world may rest in your hands."
"Since you guys believe Haruki is God," I suggested, sarcastically, "Why don't you just abduct him, perform an autopsy on him and see what his brain's made of? Hell, you might just learn the secrets of the universe!"
"There are some extremists within The Organization who feel that way," Itsuko nodded, "but the majority believe it would be best if we were to leave him alone. Who knows what might occur if God were to become... displeased by this situation? We hope for this world to remain as it is, so we must hope that Suzumiya-san never becomes displeased with this world."
"What are we supposed to do, then?"
"Unfortunately… I don’t know."
You talk an awful lot for somebody who doesn't know.
"And what would happen were Haruki to die?"
Itsuko sighed, turning her head away for a moment. "Would the world simply be destroyed upon his death? Or would God simply cease to exist? Perhaps a new God would replace him. Until it occurs, nobody really knows."
"So you have... what, psychic powers or something?"
"Mmm... you could say that."
"Then show me some of your stupendous powers. Make me believe you. Say, for example," – I spotted my coffee which had gone cold a long time ago - "Make this coffee warm again."
Itsuko smiled cheerfully at me. But this time her smile didn't look pre-packaged, made of plastic. I think this might be the first real smile I've ever seen from her.
"I'm sorry, but that's not possible at the moment" she said, pushing back her chair and standing. "My powers are very limited; in reality, I barely qualify as an esper at all. But I do believe you will have the chance to see them one day."
She gave me one last smile. "Sadly, it’s time for our conversation to end. Sorry to take up so much of your time"
I watched her as she strolled away until she disappeared, then I thought of grabbing the paper cup.
...I thought so. The coffee's still cold.
When I returned to the clubroom, I stumbled across Asahina-senpai half-undressed inside.
"..."
I froze, one hand on the door handle. He stared at me, the maid costume in one hand, and slowly opened his mouth to scream.
"Sorry-!"
Before he had the chance to cry out, I pulled the foot that was in the room back and slammed the door shut. Maybe I should've knocked first. No, hang on, if he's changing, then he should've locked the door!
Just as I was wondering whether I should simply just go home, a soft voice came from the other side of the door. "You can come in now..."
"Sorry." I said, wincing a little. Embarrassing.
"No, no, it doesn't matter... I should have locked the door..."
My sentiments exactly.
Asahina-senpai continued to apologize as he opened the door. His head was lowered, and he was blushing. "Sorry, I always show my embarrassing side..."
It's no problem, really. He's really obedient, isn't he? Wearing that maid costume like Haruki ordered, even though he hates it...
But that's what makes him so cute!
I quickly moved to the commander's seat and booted up the computer. Sensing somebody watching me, I lifted my head to find Nagato Yuuki's eyes fixed on me, instead of his book. When he noticed me watching him, he adjusted his glasses ever so slightly and turned his eyes back towards the pages once more.
That's... surprisingly human of him.
I opened the internet browser and went to the club webpage, trying to think of something to add to the site, but I had no idea where to start. This webpage was really just a waste of time... but I was bored. I'd gotten tired of Othello, and I needed to kill time somehow.
As I crossed my arms over my chest and muttered under my breath, somebody placed a cup of warm tea in front of me. I glanced up to find Asahina-senpai in his maid costume smiling nervously at me, carefully balancing a tea tray in one hand.
Wow. Exactly like a real maid.
"Thanks."
Itsuko had just treated me to a cup of coffee, but I will gladly accept this from you, Asahina-senpai!
Asahina-senpai placed another cup next to Nagato (who didn't even look up), and then sat down and began to slowly sip his own cup of tea.
Time passed.
In the end...
...Haruki never came to the clubroom at all that day.
"Hey, where'd you go yesterday? I thought we were going to have some sort of debriefing?"
I was speaking with Haruki before homeroom, as usual. Lying sprawled over the desk, his chin to the table, Haruki flashed me an annoyed look.
"Bah! I already had the debriefing on my own yesterday!"
I guess Haruki must've retraced everywhere we'd gone last Saturday after school instead of coming to the clubroom.
"You guys probably missed something, so I went through those places again by myself." he muttered, avoiding my eyes. Who was it that said “criminals always return to the scene of the crime?” I guess that applies to aliens, time travelers, and espers as well. And Haruki.
“So, did you find anything?” I asked.
“...It's all part of the plan, all part of the plan...” Haruki mumbled into the desk, not lifting his head. Is that a no? Do you even really have a plan?
Haruki suddenly flung himself off the desk and back into his chair. "Arrrgh, it's hot as hell!" he said suddenly. Changing the subject, eh? "When is the school gonna switch uniforms? I wanna wear our short sleeves already!"
I glanced at his rolled up sleeves. They don't change seasonal wear until June, anyway, and there's a week left before the end of May...
"Suzumiya. Look." I said. "I've probably said this before, but have you ever considered just... giving up on all this paranormal stuff and trying to live a normal high school life?"
I thought he'd lift his head and scowl at me, as usual, but he didn't even move. He must be really exhausted. "A normal high school life? What kind of life is that?" he asked the table.
He doesn’t sound interested at all.
"Something like... settling down, finding a nice, normal girlfriend, you know? Although I guess you might stumble across an alien while you're dating. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone." I said, smiling at the thought. "Besides, I bet there's plenty of girls lining up for you right now. You just gotta be patient and that special someone will come 'round eventually."
Haruki lifted his head up from the desk and just looked at me for a few seconds. "Hmph, like it matters!" he said, after a moment of silence. "Love! It's stupid! It's like... like some sort of mental illness!"
Then what about your quest for an alien bride, or whatever, then?
Haruki looked out the window. "I do think about that sorta stuff, though. I’m a healthy guy, after all. But there’s no way I’m just gonna ask some stupid girl out and be saddled with a huge burden forever! ‘Sides, if I’m too busy going on dates, what’s gonna happen to my SOS Brigade? I just founded it!"
Technically, you haven't actually founded it at all.
"Look, why not create a club that involves some form of actual entertainment? That would attract more members for sure."
"No." Haruki flatly refused. "I only founded the SOS Brigade because all the other clubs were too boring, and I've even recruited an interesting experiment like Mitsuuru-kun and a Mysterious Transfer Student, too! Why hasn't anything happened yet?! This is so frustrating…!”
This is the first time I've seen Haruki this depressed. A big guy like that looking so pathetic makes me feel depressed too...
I need to stop letting this get to me.
For the rest of the day and all through class, Haruki was asleep. The weird thing is though, the teachers never noticed.
It's got to be a coincidence. It's just got to be.
Strange things had been set in motion that day. Nobody else had noticed because these events hadn't built up to their shocking climax just yet, but I had been thinking about them all day, ever since homeroom.
You see, while I was talking to Haruki, my mind was dwelling on something else. It all began with a simple note that was left in my shoe locker this morning.
The note said, "After school when everybody else has left, come to the 1-5 classroom".
The handwriting was angular and archaic-looking. It looked like it had been written by a guy. There was no signature.
So, what the hell was this all about? The differing opinions in my mind decided to hold an emergency meeting to debate amongst themselves.
The first thought said, "This has happened before". But the writing was different from the writing on the bookmark. Nagato (the "Living Humanoid Interface" for aliens from outer space) has handwriting so perfect it's like printed text, but this note, although well-written, isn't so flawless. And Nagato probably wouldn't be so direct as to stick a note in my shoe locker.
The second asked, "Could it be Asahina-senpai?" No, if it was Asahina-senpai, I doubted he'd just tear off a piece of paper and throw it into my locker casually. He seemed like the type of person who'd use an envelope for this kind of thing.
It was also kinda weird that the specified meeting location was my classroom.
"It can't be Haruki!?" exclaimed the third. That was even more ridiculous than my first or second thoughts. If Haruki had anything to say to me in private, he'd probably just carry me off over his shoulder and tell me directly - he wasn't the kind of guy to go for subtlety.
Based on that kind of reasoning (although omitting the 'carry over the shoulder' bit), I eliminated Itsuko from all the possible candidates. Finally, my fourth thought, stronger and louder than all the rest, asked the obvious question: "Could it just be a love letter from a stranger?"
I guess it made sense. The writer had specified that I should come "after everyone else is gone", and it had been stuffed into my shoe locker, which is where you'd expect to find a confession note. It’s a big cliché, but an accurate one, I suppose. Still, in all my years of school, I've never, ever gotten one of these. Why would they start coming now? I don't think I'm any better looking now than I was in junior high...
My fifth thought, which were slightly more cynical than the rest of my thoughts, told me that "It's probably a prank". Yeah, Taniguchi and Kunikida would probably do that kind of thing; it certainly sounded more realistic than me having suddenly acquired a mysterious admirer. Taniguchi would play a stupid joke like that on me, though I think she probably would've written more.
I had been drifting aimlessly through my school day while these thoughts had been swirling around in my head. As I was wondering how I could escape from Haruki long enough to get to this meeting spot, he grumpily announced that he was going to go home and "Punch something".
Chance!
I decided to go to the clubroom first because I didn’t want to look like some pining lonely girl who was desperate enough to wait in a classroom all day for some random stranger. If Taniguchi suddenly walked in and said "Oh my God, Kyon! I’m so sorry! I didn’t think you’d take a letter like that so seriously!" while secretly trying to hide her laughter I'd be really pissed. No, it’d be better if I kill some time first and then go peek into the classroom to see if anyone’s there. Yeah, that's the perfect strategy.
I arrived at the clubroom entrance. This time, I remembered to knock.
"Please come in!"
Once I had heard Asahina-senpai's voice, I opened the door and entered the clubroom. Regardless of how wrong it is, he still looks cute in that maid costume.
"You're a little late!" said Asahina-san happily, his back to me. He looked like he was brewing tea again. "Where's Suzumiya-san?"
"He went home. Actually, he seemed pretty tired. If you want to get some revenge, I’d do it now."
Asahina-senpai looked flustered. "I-I wouldn’t d-do anything like that!"
I was only joking, Asahina-senpai!
We sat down, face to face at the table and drank our tea while Nagato read silently in his corner. Without Haruki, I guess we were nothing more than a do-nothing club.
"Itsuko still hasn't arrived?" I asked, eventually.
"Koizumi-san came earlier, but she said she’s got her part time job today, so she already left."
What kind of part-time job, exactly? Well, at least now I can confidently cross out Itsuko and Haruki from my list of suspects.
Since I had nothing to do but wait, I played a few games of Othello with Asahina-senpai while chatting a bit. After three games, I stopped playing and went to surf the internet for a little bit, and eventually, Nagato stopped reading and stiffly closed his book. Recently, we'd taken this action of his as a sign to call it day for our club activities (though what those club activities actually are is still unclear), and we all began to pack our stuff away.
Asahina-senpai turned to me. "I need to change, so you go on out first."
I left the room and proceeded to my classroom. The clock had said half past five when I glanced at it, so there shouldn't be anybody left in the classroom. Even if it were a prank by Taniguchi, she'd probably have gone home by now out of boredom. Despite that, I ran up the two flights of stairs to the top floor, just to be safe. I mean, what if it really was a confession?
I breathed in deeply in the silent corridor. The classroom doors all have slightly tinted windows, so I couldn't see anything clearly inside - only that the sunset had painted the room a wonderful orange-red (though that probably indicated some level of pollution around the town). Casually, I opened the door to classroom 1-5 and stuck my head inside.
It wasn't surprising to find somebody waiting inside the classroom (the note had kind of made that obvious), but it was a shock to find out who exactly it was. Standing in front of the blackboard was someone I would never have even have suspected.
"You're late."
Asakura Ryou smiled gently at me.
He flicked his beautiful silken hair and began to stroll leisurely towards me, between the seats and the tables. His handsome face still wore that serene smile that Asakura was so famous for.
...Is this really a confession, after all? And from Asakura, of all people?
He halted in the middle of the classroom, and gestured towards me with a smile. "Well, come on in!"
I felt like I had no control over my body, as if his little wave had made me let go of the door handle and step fully inside the classroom. "S-so it's you..." I stammered, a little nervously.
"Yes, surprised?"
Asakura smiled warmly at me, the right side of his face red with the light of the sunset shining through the window. My face was red too, although not for the same reason.
"Y-you wanted to talk t-to me?" Dammit, I sound like Asahina-senpai!
Asakura chuckled softly. "Indeed, I was looking for you. I have something... to ask you."
His face, white and pure as the snowy peaks of the alps, turned towards me as he began to ask his question. "Have you ever heard of the saying, 'tis better to have lost and loved, then to never have loved at all'?" he said, still smiling serenely at me. I guess this was some kind of segue? "And do you think that... 'loving', in this context, may refer to... taking action, as well?"
W-what the hell is he talking about? "I-I'm not really sure who said that-" I said, blushing even more, "-but I guess the meaning makes... sense...?"
"If there existed a situation... where staying within the status quo would simply make things worse, and you had no idea how to improve it, what would you do?" he continued.
"U-Um... i-improve what?" I asked, confused. Is there a confession coming, or...?
Asakura smiled and continued, ignoring my question. "Wouldn't you say that it would be better to do anything, anything at all, and face the consequences? Because to do nothing would simply let the situation degrade?"
"Uh... I guess s-so...?" God-damnit! Did I get my hopes up for nothing?
"That's what I meant!"
Asakura (who had his hands behind his back this entire time) smiled widely, and leaned slightly forward.
"But those above are incapable of thinking laterally. They're out of touch with the rapid changes on this plane of reality. So I am... compelled to do something, to make something happen, so that this situation does not degrade any further. That is why I have decided to act without authorization, and force a change upon this situation."
Um, sorry?
What on Earth are you talking about, Asakura? Is this some kind of prank?
I glanced around the room, wondering whether Taniguchi had set me up like this and was now hiding in the cleaning cabinet behind me, or sitting hidden under the teacher's desk, barely suppressing her laughter. I wouldn't put this kind of thing past Taniguchi-
"I've grown tired of having to observe a changeless environment. That is why..."
I was so busy looking around that I didn't really listen to what Asakura was actually saying.
"I have to kill you, and observe the reaction of Suzumiya Haruki."
Some instinct made me throw myself backwards as Asakura moved his hands from behind his back and a silvery metallic flash went straight through where my neck used to me. Through a sudden fog of adrenaline and fear, I watched half of the ribbon on the front of my uniform float slowly towards the ground as I heard the crash of the teacher's desk collapsing a few feet away.
Smiling pleasantly, Asakura's right hand now held a katana nearly half my height.
I was very, very lucky to dodge the first strike. If I hadn’t, I would probably have ended up like that desk. But right then I was on the ground on my backside, looking palely up at Asakura. "Don't let him back me into a corner!" was the thought that flashed through my mind, as (obedient to my hindbrain's wishes) I scuttled desperately backwards.
Why didn't Asakura chase me?
...No, wait! What the hell's going on here? Why is somebody as... as nice and pure as Asakura trying to gut me with a sword? Why the hell does he even have a sword? Wait, what did he just say? He wants to kill me? Kill? But, why?! Why me!?
"S-Stop joking around!" I said, trying to climb to my feet whilst pressing my back against the classroom wall. "T-that's really dangerous! Even if it were a fake, I'd still be really, really scared! Please, put that thing away!"
I was really terrified and confused. Taniguchi, if this is your doing, you've gone way too far! Somebody, please come and help me!"
"You think I'm joking?" Asakura said in his normal, cheerful tone, not sounding very serious at all. There's not much scarier than somebody about to murder you with a sword treating the event like a chat between classmates. "Hmmm..."
Asakura let the back of the katana rest over his shoulders, and stroked his chin. "You don't like dying? You don't want to die? This hesitation of biological life-forms to submit to the inevitable has always been a mystery to me..."
I finally had managed to get to my feet, telling myself that this had to be a joke - just a really bad joke, damnit! This was way too surreal! Asakura is the serious, responsible class president, who only talks when necessary in class, and faces every single problem calmly, without panicking! He's every girl's dream! Why would he wave around a katana and declare that he wants to kill me, all of a sudden?
But that thing is real, and I was going to be in two pieces if I wasn't careful.
"I-I don't understand what you're saying!" I said quickly, an undercurrent of fear audible in my voice, eyes darting around the empty classroom. "This isn't funny anymore, OK? Please, put that scary thing away!"
"I can't do that," Asakura said, smiling his usual perfect smile, "because I really do want you to die!"
He lifted the katana above his head and brought it crashing down in the blink of an eye. Gods, he's fast! But I had just managed to anticipate his movement and threw myself sideways just in time. I heard the desk behind me shatter as I ducked under his arm and ran for the door.
I rushed forwards, the door getting closer with every step - and ran straight into a wall.
W-what?!
Where the heck did the door go? Even the windows were gone! A second ago, the windows and the doors to the corridor - and escape - were there, but now it was just a thick grey wall!
No way!
"Do not attempt to escape."
Asakura's voice grew closer as I scabbled desperately at the blank surface.
"I have gained control over this sub-space. All exits have been blocked. Quite simple, really - all I needed to do was tamper with the molecular structure of the materials at hand. In any case, this room has been sealed. There are no ways in or out."
I turned around, prepared to dive through a window if necessary, only to find that the sunset - or, more to the point, the other windows - had disappeared as well. All that was left were giant concrete walls, and the cold white light of the lamps shining down onto whatever desks remained.
This can't be! This isn’t possible! What the hell is going on?
Asakura's silhouette moved slowly towards me.
"As your class president, I advise you to cease resistance. You're going to die anyway."
"W-what the hell are you?!"
No matter where I looked there was nothing but faceless concrete and featureless walls! There wasn't a single door, a single window, nothing! Was there something wrong with my brain?
I frantically dashed between the desks, trying to get as far from Asakura as possible. But he just moved slowly towards me in a straight line, smiling his gentle smile as he sliced desks and chairs aside like so much kindling. Unlike him, my path was always blocked.
This game of cat and mouse did not last very long. Pretty soon, I was cornered.
If this was how it was going to end, I decided - to hell with it! I hurled a chair at Asakura with all my might. But it slowed and stopped in the air before it got anywhere near Asakura, and then flew off to the other side of the room, landing in a cloud of dust.
This is impossible, completely impossible!
"Impressive strength for a life-form of your characteristics, but resistance is futile. Everything in this room moves according to my will."
Wait... Wait!
“Nothing you do has any meaning. It is useless.” said Asakura, still smiling.
What is going on here? If this isn't a joke or a prank, and neither Asakura nor me were crazy, then what’s going on?
I have to kill you, and see what sort of reaction Suzumiya Haruki will have.
...Haruki, Haruki, it's always bloody Haruki! You're getting way too damn popular, Haruki!
Asakura sighed as I desperately began to tense my legs to try and leap over a table to escape. "Hmm... what did I just say? I should have just done this from the beginning, I suppose."
I couldn't move my body.
The second he said those words, my entire body just - froze - in place. H-hey! No fair! That's cheating, you bastard!
My feet were rooted to the ground like a tree, unable to move even the smallest muscle. My arms were fixed like a wax statue, and I couldn't even blink. All I could do was stare, horrified, at Asakura's face as he slowly approached, bringing the katana around to a ready position.
"Once you die, Suzumiya Haruki is bound to have some sort of reaction. This may result in a massive data explosion from which we may salvage something. This might be the one-in-a-million-chance for us."
I still have no freaking idea what you're on about!
"So please." he smiled. "Die!"
He swung his sword around. This is it, I thought oddly calmly, trying desperately to squeeze my eyes tightly shut as the whistling sound of the sword filled my world.
...swish...
I felt the hairband holding my ponytail up suddenly split in two as it fell to the floor, cloven cleanly in twain. Asakura was still leveling the katana at me, smiling.
"Ah... I suppose, in the end, I couldn't resist." he said, lowering the katana a little. "I have always wondered what you would look like with your hair down, and I have to say, you do look much nicer. More... wild."
Great. The only guy to ever hit on me also happens to be a magical sword-wielding psycho. Just my luck.
"I suppose I have wasted enough time, though." he continued, raising the katana above his head. "Farewell, Kyon-chan! It was quite nice to meet you!"
If I have a magical protector watching over me, now would be a great time for him to appear! Please, someone! Help me!
"Now, die!"
At least let me close my eyes...! No, I couldn't do even that.
As the blade began to descend towards my face, I felt a sudden sense of pressure in the air around me, and-
The ceiling suddenly collapsed in with a massive, loud crack and a protesting groan as debris began to tumble down, raising massive clouds of dust and obscuring my vision. Some of the smaller pieces rained down upon my unlucky head, and I ducked beneath my raised arms to ward off the rubble. Damni- wait, I can use my arms? I can move?
I lifted my head to discover-
Asakura, displaying the only look of surprise I'd ever seen on his beautiful face, katana halfway towards me, uniform and hair covered in just a slight coating of white dust. And in front of me, catching the blade of the sword with just two bare fingers - the slim, silent figure of Nagato Yuuki.
"Your programs were too basic." Nagato said expressionlessly. "The data lockdown on the ceiling was incomplete. It did not withstand an intensive assault."
"You wish to interfere?"
Asakura still sounded perfectly calm. "Once I slaughter this girl, Suzumiya Haruki is bound to have sort of reaction. Only then can we obtain more information."
"You are my backup." Nagato said in a mantra-like tone, still holding the katana blade between two fingers. "Insubordination is forbidden. You must obey my commands."
"Oh? And what if I refuse?"
"I will disconnect your data interface."
Asakura smiled gently. "Would you like to try, Nagato-san? I have the advantage here. This classroom is under my data jurisdiction."
Nagato stiffened for a second. "Processing application for data interface disconnection-"
"What?!"
The second Asakura heard that phrase, he wrenched his katana out of Nagato's grasp and leaped backwards around five meters away. Confronted with this kind of scene, I couldn't help but realize it - these two really aren't human!
Asakura landed gracefully in the distance and rose back to his feet, still smiling. As he strolled forwards towards as once more, the space around us began to distort - that's the only way I could describe it. The desks, the ceiling, the floor - everything began to shake vigorously and (though I couldn't see it clearly) began to take on the appearance of liquid metal.
"Well then," Asakura said, "Let's see how you handle this!"
The liquid metal rose, formed into the shapes of spears, and suddenly hurled themselves at us from every direction with lightning-fast speed. But Nagato blurred before my eyes and suddenly the spears were all embedding themselves by my feet or around the room. Did he just - did he just block them all?
As the dust cleared, Asakura charged forwards, katana at the ready. Panicking, I tried to turn and run, but Nagato leaned backwards and grabbed my arm.
"Do not attempt to move away."
One of his hands was suddenly behind my head as he shoved me downwards whilst dodging a few swings of Asakura's katana. "Aaaah!" I screamed, as something flew over my head and smashed the blackboard to pieces.
Nagato glanced upwards, and icicles instantly sprouted from the ceilings and crashed down towards Asakura, who dodged away at a speed that was incredibly difficult to follow with the naked eye. This is insane! A second later, a forest of stalagtites exploded upwards from the ground.
"This area of space belongs to me." announced Asakura calmly. "There is no way for you to prevail." He and Nagato stood a few meters apart, facing each other, while I could only kneel on the ground shaking, afraid to stand, my hopes scattered to the winds.
Nagato was standing slightly in front of me, his legs slightly spread, and it was only now that I noticed that he had even written his name on his indoor shoes. As if chanting a prayer, Nagato mumbled something quickly.
SELECT serial_code
FROM database
WHERE code='data'
ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data
HAVING terminate_mode
"Target name: Asakura Ryou, hostile intent confirmed. Beginning disconnection of target's organic information interface."
Normal physics must no longer apply in this classroom - everything's turned into crazy geometric shapes, twisting and turning before my eyes! It's like a theme park's house of horrors, illusions and stomach-churning dimensions - I'm getting dizzy!
"You will cease functionality before I do. We'll see how long you can last protecting that pathetic thing." said Asakura quite casually, his voice seemingly coming from everwhere at once. "Take this."
Where is he? I can't locate where his voice is coming from, in this blinding whirlwind of light and colour!
Whoosh... went the sound of something slicing through the air. At that, Nagato suddenly spun, grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me bodily aside.
"H-hey! What are you-"
Before I could finish, I heard the distinctive sound of metal meeting flesh.
Nagato stood above me, impaled straight through the chest by Asakura's katana.
I guessed... that Asakura had thrown his katana at me to try and catch Nagato off-guard and kill me? But Nagato had managed to throw me out of harm's way, yet had been unable to avoid the sword and had thus gotten 3 feet of steel straight through the chest.
Oh, no...
Nagato's glasses fell from his face and tinkled slightly as they hit the ground.
"N-NAGATO!" I screamed, eyes widening in horror. No, you idiot, what did you-
"I told you not to move." Nagato said softly, looking at the sword sticking out of his ribcage. A pool of blood was slowly beginning to form beneath his feet. "Do not worry for my sake; I am fine."
H-how exactly does being impaled make you fine?!?
Without flinching, Nagato pulled the katana out of his body and dropped it on the ground. It fell the ground with a slightly wooden noise as it instantly transformed back into a shinai. Was that what that thing really was?
"I can't see you defending that human very well in your damaged state," announced Asakura calmly from somewhere in the room, "but it would be unwise to leave you still functional. Goodbye, Nagato-san."
On the other side of what had once been the room, Asakura's silhouette began to unfade from the twisted lightshow. I could see his serene smile as he slowly folded his arms over his chest - and giant, black tentacles, tipped with spikes, sprouted violently from his back.
"Now, die."
Asakura's tentacles extended, wriggling like worms, and shot in on Nagato from every direction. Unable to move, his slim figure shook violently - and the next second, my face was splattered with blood.
One tentacle clawed into Nagato's right abdomen, another into the left side of his chest, another through his throat, through his arms, his legs… too many to count. Blood spattered from Nagato's mouth, his wounds, and down along his legs, pooling beneath his legs.
"It's over." Nagato said quietly, reaching one hand out slowly and clutching a spike. Nothing happened.
"What's over?" Asakura asked, sounding deeply satisfied. "You mean the three years of your short life?"
"No." said a seriously wounded Nagato, as though nothing had happened to him. "Commencing data interface disconnection."
Almost instantly, everything in the classroom began to glow brightly, and then crystallized and dissolved, turning into sand.
"H-how... how can thi-?" Asakura's face shifted into the second expression of shock I'd ever seen as crystallized sand drifted down from the ceiling, and then reverted to his normal serene disposition. "Ah, no, I see. Well, well... you really are amazing, you know that?"
"It took me some time to penetrate the firewall program," Nagato said calmly as the tentacles protruding from his body dissolved into sand. "But now, everything ends."
"You had already planted destructive factors around the room long before you entered, correct? No wonder you seemed to be operating at reduced capabilities. You had already used much of your runtime beforehand..." Asakura said, a note of despondency audible beneath his apparently-cheerful voice. He looked at his arms as they began to crystallize, and sighed.
"Such a pity. I suppose I am just the backup, after all. And I thought this would finally be a chance to break free of this stagnation..."
Asakura turned to me with his pearly-white smile.
"Well, I lost! I guess you get to live after all. You'd better be careful, though. I’m not the only one with a dissenting opinion. Just like with humans, eh? The good, and the bad... And who knows, even those who control Nagato-san might change their thinking and decide to kill you instead."
He was by now covered from chest to toe by the glowing, crystalline substance. "Well, even so. I wish you and Suzumiya-san the best of luck. Goodbye!"
As the crystals reached his face, Asakura gave me that eerily calm, serene smile of his, then he was gone. Under a rain of crystallized sand, the high-school student, class president, and kendo club member known as Asakura Ryou vanished forever from the face of this earth.
There was a shadow over my head, suddenly, as Nagato Yuuki collapsed. I tried desperately to catch him, but he was too heavy, so he ended up on top of me on the floor.
"N-N-Nagato! Hang in there! I'll call the ambulance or something!"
"There is no need."
Nagato stared into my eyes, blood still sluggishly flowing from his chest.
"Physical damage is of no consequence. Current priority is the restoration of this sub-space into its original state."
The sand crystals stopped floating down, as Nagato stiffened once again. "Removing impure substances. Reconstructing classroom." he announced, his eyes briefly flashing.
As he finished speaking, the familiar form of the 1-5 classroom reappeared before my eyes. It was like a tape rewinding; everything in the room forming out of the crystal sand which threw itself back into shape and solidified. The blackboard, the teacher's desk, the remaining chairs and desks - I couldn't describe it with mere words. If I had watched a video of it, I would have thought it was state-of-the-art CGI instead.
Windows reappeared from the walls, their half-stained glass intact; the sunset flooded in, bathing Nagato and myself in an orange-red light. All the blood that had splattered onto my face had completely disappeared.
Amazing... the only way I could possible describe it was, magical.
"Um... thanks. Are y-you really okay?"
Nagato, my saviour, was still collapsed on top of me. I thought he'd be bleeding all over me with his open wounds and the damage to his uniform, but they'd vanished along with the blood on me.
"Processing power has been converted into data operation, therefore, the linking interface has been temporarily reversed." he muttered.
"Uh, you want some help up?" Not that I'm in a position to give any, but...
"There is no need." Nagato said, moving his hands and attempting to rise. "I-"
He grunted, suddenly, moving one hand to his face. "My glasses. I forgot to regenerate them."
"...Um, uh, actually, I think you look cooler without them... glasses guys aren't really my type..."
"Pardon?"
"Uh, nothing."
"I... see."
Now's not the time to be saying stupid things like that! If I could have gotten out from underneath Nagato, I would probably have run out of the classroom in utter embarrassment.
"Excuse me!"
The classroom door suddenly shot open.
"I forgot~ I forgot my stuff~" hummed Taniguchi absentmindedly as she wandered into the classroom, fiddling with her cameraphone.
She probably hadn't been expecting anybody to be in the classroom, so when she noticed Nagato sprawled on top of me on the floor, she stood dumbfounded. There was a slight 'click' as she stared at us, and I realized that she had probably accidentally hit the 'record' button in shock.
With Nagato on top of me, and my hair still down, it’s pretty easy to see what conclusion she'd immediately come to.
"I-I'm so sorry-!" she said suddenly, turning bright red and looking flustered, and turned and fled the classroom. "No, Taniguchi - it's not what you-!" I called after her, but she was already too far away.
"Such an interesting person." Nagato said.
I sighed heavily. "What should we do now?"
"Leave it to me." Nagato said, his eyes still looking down at me.
"Data manipulation is my specialty. I shall let everybody think that Asakura Ryou has been transferred out."
That wasn’t what I was talking about, but… data manipulation? Is that how he does it?
I've just experienced an incredible event. This is no longer an issue of whether I believe in all the stuff Nagato told me the other day - what just happened has made me realize how serious this really is. I thought I was going to die! If Nagato hadn't shown up to save me, I would've been killed by Asakura. And the experiences of the classroom distorting, Asakura's deadly spikes, and Nagato eliminating him without a single sign of emotion have all been etched permanently into my memory.
By the way, thank you, Nagato-san.
In a way, though, doesn't this make me a participant in this Mysterious event? Like I said earlier, I had always wanted to be a bystander that would just get drawn into events, a sidekick or something. But it's looking more and more like I'm the main character! I had always wished to be a character in some sort of story involving aliens, but now that I actually was one, well... it really put everything into perspective.
This really isn’t what I had been hoping for…
What I really want is to be the sort of side character that cheerfully provides helpful advice whenever other people are facing their difficulties. I didn’t want my own classmates to go crazy and target me! I have a lot of respect for my own life, thank you very much!
My mind wandered aimlessly as I lay back on the floor of the orange-red classroom. I had forgotten about Nagato, who was still above me, staring down with his usual expressionless face.
H-Hey! Wait a minute! If you're done regenerating, get off me!
The following day, Asakura Ryou disappeared from Class 1-5. And I was the only one who had seen it coming.
“Ehh, I guess it has something to do with Asakura-kun's mother's work, that's why he had to transfer out all of a sudden." shrugged Okabe-sensei, one hand behind her head. "Frankly, all the teachers were shocked as well when they heard the news this morning. They'd already flown off yesterday because they had to leave the country so fast."
When Okabe-sensei announced this cover story, most of the girls exclaimed in shock and horror, "What? Why!?", while the guys started muttering amongst themselves about this. Even Okabe-sensei looked confused. And, of course, the person sitting behind me couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Boink! He rapped the top of my head lightly. Haruki, if you touch me again…
"Kyon, this HAS to be a Mysterious Event!" Haruki's eyes shone brightly. I could almost see the vigor flow back into him.
What should I do? Should I tell him the truth?
"Actually, Haruki, Asakura-kun was created by an alien lifeform known as the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. Nagato-kun was his superior, but for some reason their relationship broke down, and in the end Asakura ended up trying to kill me. As to why it involves me, it’s all your fault. However, Asakura-kun got turned into a pile of sand by Nagato-kun and disappeared, so it’s all better now.’
Hell no. I'd be carted off to the funny farm if I said something like that. I'll just pretend that everything that happened yesterday was just a horrible, horrible nightmare and leave it at that..
"First my Mysterious Transfer Student shows up, then the class president transfers out mysteriously. There’s something going on here, I know it!”
Oh, should I commend you on your brilliant instincts?
"Maybe his mom got a transfer?" I muttered, still exhausted from yesterday.
"Bah! I'm not buying such a lame excuse."
"Believe it or not, that's the number one reason for having to transfer schools."
"Isn’t it strange, though? It was only one day between them receiving the job transfer notification and them moving out. Just what kind of work is his mom doing, anyway?"
"Maybe his parents simply didn’t tell him beforehand…"
"Impossible! It requires further investigation."
I felt vaguely tempted to tell him that the job transfer was merely an excuse and they had left the country to escape from a massive mountain of debt, but I decided not to. Because a) I was talking to Haruki, would would probably take that seriously and invent some crazy sprawling story involving the mafia and the yakuza and treat it like fact, and b) I was the only one who knew the real story.
"As Supremely Manly Commander of the SOS Brigade, I cannot leave such a Mysterious Event uninvestigated!"
Just…. stop, please.
“By the way, what’s with your hair?”
“Don’t ask.”
Haruki looked offended at my response, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t find any hair ties when I looked this morning, so I figured I might as well just come to school without a ponytail. Besides, after what happened yesterday, I really have to re-evaluate how I view my life. Does this new look accurately depict what I’m feeling right now?
Having witnessed all this supernatural stuff firsthand, and trying to tell myself that it never happened, I had to pick one of the following choices: I was either hallucinating; or something was wrong with my brain; or the world is strange enough already; or I'd had a very long dream.
There’s no way I could admit the world is some sort of virtual reality.
Aggh! 15 is too early to face a life-changing crisis!
Why does a first year high school girl like me have to deal with such philosophical questions like whether the world exists or not? Those aren't things I should be thinking about! Please, stop adding to my troubles!
Right now, I have all sorts of other problems to deal with!
| Return to Chapter 4 | Forward to Chapter 6 |
