Volume 9 - The Dissociation of Suzumiya Haruhi Read online

  “He said something about not wanting to do stupid things like this. He should be somewhere. But it seems that he won’t be showing up today.”

  She pronounced the word “today” differently, relaying that bastard’s message.

  I don’t want to see him either. If possible, I don’t want to meet those two mysterious girls in front of me too.

  “It can’t be helped, since no matter how much we delay it, it will happen someday. Besides, we have waited for a long time already, isn’t it about time for us to show up now?”

  Tachibana Kyouko closed her mouth and giggled,

  “He must be thinking about the same thing too. Something that’s meant to be will be. No matter how much you delay it, there’s always something that you can’t get away with. Wouldn’t the wound be lighter if you get it over with quickly?”

  She stressed the pronunciation of the word “he” this time, I thought she was talking about the future guy. But I was wrong.

  Tachibana Kyouko looked behind me, her gaze passed through me like I was invisible. A chilling sensation instantly ran up my spine. I sometimes thought that the expressions like chilling or fear are used often, although the true meaning or feeling that it represents are rarely felt. It’s like a drawing of a mouchi or kamo carrying a leek.

  Everything has been blown away. There is no mistake. This is it. My heart is now filled with a chilling fear that’s impossible for me to describe.

  I turned around slowly.

  Koizumi is standing behind me. He probably got here from the station’s ticket booth. He’s dressed in a casual but faultless outfit with his hands tucked in his pockets, standing there nonchalantly like he’s been waiting for me to notice him.

  It would have been good if it’s just Koizumi. Since he’s the only one I can count on in North High to debate with those three.

  “Uuu………..” Another bead of sweat dropped down from my forehead.

  It’s the worst case scenario imaginable. Haruhi, the absolute person in power of SOS Brigade, is standing beside Koizumi. She’s staring at me with the look of a government official who’s witnessing the wrong doings of a local magistrate, with Nagato and Asahina-san behind her.

  That is to say, the entire SOS Brigade is now present at the meeting point. Furthermore, they seemed to have formed a human wall that’s used to block free kicks to block out me and Sasaki.

  I looked at my watch and found that there’s still 15 more minutes before 9am. I have no idea when they arrived, even though I’m technically not the last one to arrive, it still looks that way with all the others already standing there.

  But now is not the time to be pondering over something so trivial.

  Haruhi has now locked her gaze onto mine and is now stomping towards my way. The other three followed like maids following a princess. Koizumi who always tirelessly dressed faultlessly for every occasion, Nagato who’s always wearing a uniform with no explanation, and Asahina-san who’s wearing a fancy spring outfit.

  I felt like an air traffic controller who has seen an ultra-low atmospheric pressure that’s accompanied by an enormous sea of cloud on my radar screen.

  Haruhi stopped in front of me, with a look like those drug sniffing dogs at the airport who have caught the scent of marijuana.

  “I thought it’s a rare occasion for you to come before us. What? You have another appointment before ours?”

  “We just ran into each other.”

  Sasaki answered. She didn’t look at Haruhi, her eyes were on me.

  “Seems like if you live near here, it would be natural to choose this place as a meeting point. I have promised to meet my acquaintances here. Kyon, just like you, I too make new friends at places you don’t know. Since those that I’ve been waiting for have arrived, it’s time for us to get going.”

  That’s great. I’m sorry, but please hurry up and be on your way. But please don’t go into the coffee house that’s nearby, since that’s where we are going. It would be troublesome if there were no seats left.

  “Ok, I’ll think about it. It would be awkward to meet up again just after we have parted. We’ll take the train and go somewhere away from here.”

  Sasaki answered after understanding my intentions, then bowed toward Haruhi.

  “Suzumiya-san, I’ll leave Kyon to you. He still doesn’t put any effort in studying and extra-curricular activities even in high school, right? Unless he gets back on track before his mother’s patience runs out, he’ll be forced to go to cram schools like in junior high. I think she should reach her limit around the upcoming summer vacation.”

  “Eh. Ah. En.”

  Haruhi squeezed out some random sounds in order to evade not being able to say anything. Her eyes were wide open like a kid who discovered a bug he had never seen before in the mountains.

  If this is all part of someone’s plan to shake me up, then those two really are more than enough. But no, I realize that there really is more on top of everything.

  It’s normal to see high school students stand in front of a busy station on holidays, it’s something that you see all the time.

  But, on a certain corner of this street, something huge has collided. Although it seems to have made no sound at all - but I think I have heard something that should not be audible.

  At the same time as Sasaki was smiling at Haruhi, Tachibana Kyouko and Kuyoh were looking in different directions. The image of our stylish vice commander from head to toe has appeared in Tachibana Kyouko’s eyes.

  They did not talk at all. Itsuki’s smiling pokerface did not change one bit. Even though he is radiating an air of annoyance, it seems I’m the only one who noticed.

  On the other hand, Tachibana Kyouko has a satisfied smile like a female actress being on stage for the first time.

  But those two are not the source of that sound. Such a shockwave can’t be produced by two human beings facing off.

  It’s something that’s causing me to lose my mental footing, like the continent plate and the oceanic plate are colliding far underground. And the source of that sound is-

  “…………”

  “____________”

  Those two that are staring at each other without moving are Nagato and Kuyoh.

  I remember now, that’s right, I have seen Nagato get really angry a couple times already. Like the time when we were having a game showdown with the computer research group or when the student President tried to suspend the Literature Club. At the time when she was fighting Asakura I didn’t have the extra attention to see her expressions, it’s also possible she didn’t have that emotion back then.

  But now, I have finally understood.

  This ability to read Nagato’s emotional changes that I’m so confident in, was still middle-class level.

  That expressionless Nagato’s steely firm and expressionless eyes were now radiating an emptiness that could pulverize your spine. In her transparent like pupils, is the image of the different alien-made android that calls herself Kuyoh.

  The noisy surroundings and the passing pedestrians all seem to be far away from here. It wouldn’t feel weird even if a giant mantis broke the ground and climbed out.

  This loss of reality feels just like being trapped in a different dimension-

  “Ah, uhmm…..”

  The one who dispelled me from that is a fairy who has come down from the heavens, the one who is also the support of my optic and protectiveness nerve-

  “Kyon-kun? What happened? You don’t look so good….”

  Asahina-san looked up at me with a worried look.

  “Did you catch a cold? Ah. You are sweating. Handkerchief, handkerchief.”

  She reached into her pouch, took out a flowery handkerchief and handed it to me.

  She reached into her pouch, took out a flowery handkerchief and handed it to me.

  I snapped out of my trance thanks to that.

  “I’m ok, Asahina-san.”

  I don’t want to dirty your pretty handkerchief. My shir
t sleeve is enough for the job.

  That future bastard has my temporary gratitude. Because he isn’t here, Asahina-san doesn’t need to glare at someone else like Koizumi and Nagato.

  I wiped my sweat, while suppressing the feeling like a reporter being pushed onto a live broadcast of a presidential election support speech without a script.

  “Kyon, I’ll be going now.”

  Sasaki who was talking with Haruhi said.

  “I almost forgot, can you call Sudou when you have time? Looks like he’s officially preparing for the gathering. He called me again a while ago, seems he wants to put you in charge of informing the North High region.”

  Why did he tell you that instead of me? Maybe Sudou’s really interested in Sasaki instead of Okamoto.

  “That’s impossible.”

  Sasaki said that without thinking.

  “I never did anything that may have made anyone like me. I never showed affection to anyone either. You are probably the one who understands that the most, right Kyon?”

  Nope, I got no idea.

  “Is that so?” Sasaki giggled, “Then that’s ok.”

  Sasaki raised her hand after saying that puzzling line.

  “See you later.”

  She walked past me and continued towards the ticket booth, Tachibana Kyouko and Kuyoh started to move silently too. The former had a look of someone who has just finished all of their tasks and the latter was like a dark cloud that’s slowly drifting away.

  Koizumi and Nagato acted like they were meditating and didn’t say anything at all, only Asahina-san bowed nervously. You really are someone who can put people at ease regardless of the location. You are so lovely that it’s making me dizzy! I love you Asahina-san, I want to hold you close in my arms!

  After seeing the three disappearing into the station, Haruhi murmured:

  “She really is a queer character. Hmmm, but she is one of the more interesting people you know. Although she feels a bit artificial.”

  She would probably take what you said as a compliment, Sasaki’s like that.

  “I thought as much, she seems to have more friends than you too.”

  It’s true that she is considerably more sociable than me. But, Sasaki-

  I held back my sighs, and thought:

  You don’t need to go and befriend aliens, time travelers and espers. Even if you want to expand your social circle, there’s still limits.

  I probably shouldn’t be thinking about it. My head isn’t working properly right now.

  Tachibana Kyouko’s opponent is Koizumi. For Suou Kuyoh it would be Nagato, the nameless future guy would be against Asahina-san…….

  Then what about Sasaki? I had completely forgot about her.

  I had never thought about who she would be going against.

  Several minutes later after parting with Sasaki and the two extras, we went to the coffee house like fulfilling some sort of obligation. That would be listening to Haruhi’s rant about what she had planned for today.

  I shouldn’t be treating everybody this time. It’s the second time that I’m the first one to arrive, it’s something I should be celebrating about, but I’m not happy at all. Maybe it’s because it didn’t feel like I was waiting for anyone till now. I still can’t forget about the day that I was waiting for Haruhi by myself when Koizumi, Nagato and Asahina-san were absent. Even though I still paid for her, it’s still memorable.

  “We met at the ticket booth this time right?”

  Haruhi continued while drinking her American Ice Cream Float noisily:

  “Therefore no one is late. You just arrived first. Therefore we’ll just pay for our own things this time.”

  What’s with that “Therefore”? You even used it twice. It makes you sound stupid by repeating the same conjunction twice, and don’t go changing the rules either. Maybe next time I’ll come here while doing the Oklahoma Mixer (! ) dance with Nagato and Asahina-san.

  “That’s a no go.”

  Haruhi shook her straw with her mouth.

  “You can’t plan it beforehand and pretend it’s a coincidence. I’ll say this now, I’m not that easily fooled. You’ll have to pay the ten times fine if you get caught.”

  Who’s going to investigate that? You won’t get caught if you make sure to say the same thing anyway. Haruhi’s probably on top of the Fair Trade Commission’s list. But let’s forget about it, since one will have to pay the ten times fine in a fixed period and need a loan from the bank.

  “About today’s activities-”

  Haruhi finished her cold drink and looked around at every one, I did the same and looked at the other three.

  Asahina-san held her glass of Ceylon tea elegantly with both hands and listened to Haruhi’s words enthusiastically, Nagato stared at the surface of her apricot water and Koizumi had his usual smile with his arms crossed.

  In regard to the appearance, there is no change to the SOS Brigade members. Ignoring Nagato, Koizumi’s unwavering business like smile is really praise worthy. I’ll make sure to mention that when I talk to those two later.

  The following scene would be us drawing lots to decide the groups, is what I thought.

  “I’ve decided to not split into groups.”

  Is what she said.

  “I thought about it before, maybe we can’t find anything because we tend to divide into two groups of two and three. After all, it is easier to discover something when there’s more people searching one spot. Five is over two times more than two.”

  Haruhi give me an interrogatory look:

  “Especially you, Kyon, you weren’t looking for those mysterious things seriously, right? You were asleep in the library before.”

  So you still remember that. I looked at Nagato and Asahina-san from the corner of my eyes, they seemed a bit uncomfortable.

  “Hey, Haruhi, what are those mysterious things again? Sorry, but I forgot most of those things you said before. Can you tell me about those again?”

  “That’s the basic of the basics, so make sure you remember them this time.”

  Haruhi brushed some hair away from her cheek.

  “Any incomprehensible occurrence is ok. Something that can’t be explained or someone who’s mysterious, temporal disturbances, aliens pretending to be human, and many other similar things.”

  Most of what you just said can be explained by these guys here — I thought that to myself and sighed.

  I’ll have to have a good talk with Koizumi and Nagato in another time. It’s too risky to try to talk with those two without Haruhi noticing if we are moving around as one group.

  From Koizumi and Nagato’s complexion, and the fact that Asahina-san is still the normal Asahina-san, plus there isn’t another me that has come back from the future trying to fix things, it seems things shouldn’t be that bad.

  Besides, there’s something that’s more important right now. I peeked at Haruhi.

  Looks like she’s really concentrating on finding those mysterious things. It’s all right then if that’s the case. There’s no need to reassure myself or panic.

  Our raison d’être-less SOS Brigade has already sailed through many storms, it’s now completely out of control and roaming around randomly. As long as the course is still unclear, it’ll just continue to ignore the marine traffic safety code and run all over the place. It’s not unlikely that a voyage which started by aiming for an Indian subcontinent would end on the top of Mt. Ararat.

  Sensing that Haruhi was going to get up soon, I hurriedly gulped down the remaining melted ice in my glass.

  “Ok, let’s go!”

  Just as Haruhi was pushing the receipt towards me out of habit, she seemed to suddenly remember the declaration she made before and acted nonchalantly while picking up the straw in her empty glass with her mouth.

  We walked around near the station for several hours after that.

  Some of the buildings that weren’t here a month ago seemed to have appeared out of nowhere just a bit off the main street,
there are also some buildings that seemed to have evaporated into thin air. Although all of this seems a bit fast, maybe it’s normal in today’s commercialism-infested community. Has the bar near my house that existed before my birth been left behind by time too? The convenience stores that seem to have just opened suddenly close shop, and more take their place, just like Russian roulette. Although that’s a scene that one should already be familiar with, you would still feel strangely at ease if the scenery hadn’t changed at all.

  The thing I’m most thankful about is that we didn’t meet up with Sasaki’s group again. Although I’m prepared for them to pop out from a corner, it seems that they really did get on a train and have gone somewhere else. I’m still not very happy about the fact that she brought the other two here, but it seems that she is still considerate of others. I’ll have to thank her for that.

  The five of us moved around together for the whole day. We had lunch at a curry restaurant with unique dishes that the owner is proud of, looks like he opened the restaurant as a hobby. We did the same activities in the afternoon. I feel like we three are just accompanying Haruhi and Asahina-san for window shopping, it’s probably the same from other people’s perspective.

  Asahina-san who’s looking at the miscellaneous goods corner of a fancy shop with sparkles in her eyes, Haruhi trying out various sunglasses on Nagato in front of a optometric shop, Koizumi who’s been making small talk with topics like the weather or his classmates-

  Today passed so ordinarily, it’s somewhat strange.

  Aah, it was a enjoyable day. There’s nothing to complain about.

  On that night.

  After the new year’s first mystery search tour ended without finding any mysterious phenomenon, I hurried home as soon as Haruhi signaled the end for today. I ate dinner and went idle for a while, then went into the bath after my sister.

  I washed my hair with a shampoo that’s cheaper than the ones for cats, and went into the bath tub after washing off all the dirt and dust, just when I was humming the tone of my sister’s self-composed song that’s known as “Dinner time song”, the bathroom door suddenly opened.

  “Kyon-kun -Phone -”

  My sister who’s already in her pajamas poked her head in.