Volume 9 - The Dissociation of Suzumiya Haruhi Read online

  “It is difficult to judge whether it will be an advantage or disadvantage. But if possible, I would very much like to forget about it.”

  Why say such strange stuff in the first place. Koizumi would not understand a technique like mind control. Also, even if you have such a power, why not operate on Haruhi’s brain first instead.

  “Just like you said.”

  Don’t put it so seriously. Using your own valuable time to fret over Haruhi’s matters is equal to wasting your life away.

  “You can’t say that either. Suzumiya-san’s problems are my problems too.”

  Koizumi explained in a resigned-to-fate manner and I continued recalling.

  On the day of the visit to the flea market, I obediently woke up after hearing the piercing screams of the alarm clock. The feeling of reluctance is best expressed now. Turning back to take a look at the warm bed, only myself waking up seems pretty miserable. Seeing Shamisen happily sleeping away, I have a sudden urge to pull him out of bed, but that seems kind of unmerciful. So I moved on like a soldier going on a journey of no return and walked down the stairs.

  Taking a peek at the kitchen, I saw my younger sister biting into freshly-toasted bread before running towards me.

  “Ah, good morning, Kyon. Where is Shamisen?”

  My younger sister asked while stuffing the toast into her mouth.

  I opened the fridge and took out the bottle of malt tea, replying only after pouring a portion of it into my mug and gulping it down in irritation.

  “Still sleeping.”

  “Do you want me to toast you bread as well? Oh, and the egg with the sunny side up is in the kitchen.”

  “Sorry to trouble you.”

  After saying that, I walked towards the wash basin. When I returned, my younger sister had already put the bread into the toaster and was putting the plate with the ham into the microwave oven. She wasn’t really intent on helping me but simply found operating these machines interesting.

  I might as well add something here. My eleven year old younger sister, who will be attending her sixth grade starting tomorrow, plans to go to Miyoko’s house to play for the entire day, returning only at nighttime. She had already dressed herself up in her typical outdoor clothes and is now waiting for her friend to pick her up. But that friend of hers with the same age and same education level as my younger sister simply does not have the same figure.

  When I saw Miyokichi on the road three days ago, I was shocked. It had only been a while since I last saw her and yet she looked even more graceful and mature. When my sister and Miyokichi walked together in a line, it looked like the difference between five sisters: Miyokichi as the eldest and my sister the youngest. What exactly did she eat to make her look so different?

  Seriously speaking, if Miyokichi was my younger sister, she definitely would not enter my room without permission, much less take things out without asking. She would also wake me up in a more graceful way and would not chase after Shamisen, who already has a phobia of being stroked by my younger sister, around the house and crashing into things. The more I think about it, the more I want to ask – why was I not born being the brother of Miyokichi……

  “Topics related to the praising of that girl shall end here.”

  Koizumi picked up a fallen petal of the cherry blossoms with his hand and said that matter-of-factly.

  “The person who has Miyoko as a younger sister would be very lucky, this is a fact that cannot be doubted. But if we look at it from a different angle, there should be people who will think that your younger sister has a lot of potential as well. And is this the time to describe a person in such great detail? Just continue from the time when you left the house to your arrival at the meeting place.”

  Don’t you think you are sounding a little uncaring here? This is because you have never seen Miyoko in person before, that is why you are so cold towards this.

  But it is alright, arguing with you over this is useless anyway.

  If you really wanted to know the memoirs of the spring break of my first high school year so much, then I will talk about that first. But Koizumi, you were one of those present there too, shouldn’t you be well aware of what happened as well?

  “I am not interested in my own affairs.”

  Koizumi continued playing with the cherry blossom petal with his fingers while continuing.

  “The person I care about is not there. To put it more directly, while I am a bit mindful of how I am seen through your eyes, but that is only a minute technical detail.”

  He flicked that cherry blossom petal away.

  “Please continue.”

  I cycled speedily towards the train station as usual.

  One of the rules of the SOS Brigade is that the person who is the last to arrive during outings has to pay for lunch. This is effective even till today. Till now, I haven’t been treated by anyone else. Although, once in a while, I get an urge to cycle faster with the hopes that I might secure a treat from Haruhi for the first time. However, as if going against me, Haruhi always manages to beat me to it by a small margin. Is she hidden somewhere, monitoring my every action?

  I thought about this while checking for any available parking spaces at the bicycle park near the train station. Suddenly, a voice boomed behind my back.

  “Yo, Kyon!”

  “Wah~~!”

  This is just like a guerilla attack. The voice literally rang just behind my back, so it cannot be avoided that my legs, which had been propelling the bicycle forward while maintaining balance while I looked around for a parking space, suddenly leapt off the ground. It almost scared the daylights out of me.

  I instinctively turned backwards and, after seeing the face of the owner, immediately shouted in response.

  “Sasaki! It’s you?!”

  “Hey! What is this? Is this how you greet a friend you haven’t seen for so long?”

  Sasaki held onto handles of the bicycle while standing beside me, giving a gentle smile that carried just a little bit of sarcasm.

  “Kyon, I was talking on the phone with Sudou yesterday. Seems he wanted to have a gathering with our classmates from third-year middle school. Although he didn’t mention it, according to my gut feelings as well as various reports from multiple sources, he is still unable to forget her. And from my observations, the girl that Sudou likes seemed to be Okamoto who got into a girls’ school. Do you still remember her? The girl with the curly hair, a rather cute appearance and a member of the sports society. He asked whether it is okay if we held the gathering this coming summer break, and I agreed. Actually anything is okay for me, how about you?”

  If it is held, I would definitely participate. There are a few people with whom I got along with quite well in the past, but we have not met since middle school graduation. As for Okamoto, I am unable to recall who exactly she is at this moment, so I would gladly leave the seat next to her to Sudou.

  Sasaki revealed a unique smile that cannot be described and continued talking.

  “I knew you would say that. But, Kyon, you mentioned those good friends whom you haven’t met since middle school graduation, I guess that includes me right? In fact, I haven’t seen you ever since we picked up the middle school graduation certificate together. It must have been a year already.”

  Sasaki let go of one of the handlebars to the bicycle and ran around it with the free hand, seemingly representing all the time that has past.

  “Kyon got into North High right? Has high school life been great so far?”

  4 A bolt is 50 yards of fabric.

  I cannot decide if it is great or not, at least I am not unhappy about it at this moment. In fact, it may be a bit interesting. If I were to narrate all the amazing events that occurred in this past year, it would be longer than a bolt of cloth[4].

  “Isn’t that good? Unlike me, who can hardly find anything to talk about. I can’t say it’s boring, just that nothing big enough in school happened that defied the laws of physics.”

  Tha
t is good. If incidents like mine happen in every high school nationwide, it would cause panic across the nation before it even becomes interesting.

  I analyzed the facial features on the ex-classmate of mine, trying to spot any changes since middle school.

  “You entered that suburban private high school didn’t you? I heard that the chances of entering a university from there are high…”

  Sasaki once again changed to another smile.

  “Seems you haven’t totally forgotten about me yet, what a relief. Thanks to that, a day of lessons in that school is enough to tire you to death. Look, I even have to study today.”

  Sasaki pointed in the direction of the train station.

  “I will be taking the train to cram school later. Sometimes I really feel that I study just for the sake of studying. I can’t even feel the spring break. And starting tomorrow, I still have to take the train to an even further place to study. There isn’t anything else that turns anyone off more than adapting to a crowded morning train.”

  This can be compared to that miserable slope I have to climb up to reach North High daily.

  “Isn’t that good? It’s good for your health. I should have chosen an urban school back then. I really envy Sudou.”

  I don’t know what exactly is so funny, but suddenly Sasaki let out a hearty laugh that is not easily imitated.

  “Oh yeah Kyon, what did you come to this train station for? If we are travelling in the same direction, we can continue our conversation. I still have plenty to talk about.”

  I checked the time on my watch. Drats, I am only three minutes away from the agreed meeting time.

  “Sorry, Sasaki, I have already agreed to meet my friends. One of them is especially conscious of time and God knows what dire consequences there would be if I were to be late.”

  “Friends? From high school? Oh, I see. Then I have to park the bicycle quickly. Ah, don’t worry, I will be parking my bicycle here daily. I have a season ticket with the operator. As for the location…”

  Sasaki found an empty spot at the bicycle park and parked the bicycle there before turning back to me.

  “…It’s here. Kyon, I wish to follow you to the meeting place. Your friends are my friends after all, I really want to see what they look like.”

  There will be no benefits to meeting them, but since Sasaki wanted to take a look, I don’t really mind either. Although introducing them to Sasaki would not cause any harm to her life, I feel very proud of myself when I am able to introduce the cute and gentle Asahina-san to others.

  After I found an empty parking spot and rushed to make the payment, Sasaki had already come over with the bag slung over one shoulder. We discussed fragments of our middle school life while on our way to the meeting place. When we were about to reach that place…

  Sasaki continued talking while walking.

  “Kyon, you still haven’t changed a bit.”

  Sasaki said in a low voice.

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah, I am relieved now.”

  Why should you be relieved? Now that I look at it, you haven’t changed either, have you?

  “If that were really so, it would have meant that neither of us had grown at all. If the result of my height and weight measurements were anything to go by, the amount of flesh on my body should have changed.”

  Then I must have grown taller by a bit.

  “I apologize, I don’t mean that. A person’s appearance can be changed as and when he or she wants. For example, just leaving the hair to grow longer or cutting it short is enough to make a difference in the image you present to others. The aspect that is harder to change is the character. No matter if it improves or takes a turn for the worse, if humans are interested in material comforts, unless we make massive changes to the concept of material comfort, thought patterns and viewpoints are not easy to change.”

  Listening to this gave me a sense of familiarity. Oh yes, I remember now. Back in middle school, talking to Sasaki had always been quite a challenge to one’s comprehension skills.

  “Also…”

  Sasaki continued talking while walking.

  5 Famous for first theorising that the earth orbited around the sun - at the time a very radical way of seeing the universe. Also introduced coin reform, including the modern copper coin now often seen.

  “…There is the possibility of thoughts suddenly making a 180-degree turn, much like changes introduced by Nicolas Copernicus[5]. Changes in the world are changes in ideologies. This probably represents everything, because it is impossible for humans to correctly understand creatures who have an intelligence exceeding that of themselves. Our eyes cannot see infrared rays, but snakes actually have eyes that work like heat-sensitive goggles, and rays like these are in plain view for them. When sound waves go beyond a certain level, our ears will be unable to pick them up, yet dogs and various other animals are able to hear ultrasound waves. Infrared rays and ultrasound waves produced by Galton’s whistle[6] cannot be seen or heard by humans, but it does not mean they do not exist, just that we cannot feel their existence.”

  6 A whistle used mostly during the training of dogs and cats since its sound waves cannot be caught by the human ears but not so for these animals.

  Sasaki, perhaps you really should have come to North High. We have a guy here who sounds exactly like you. You would definitely get along very well with him. Fortunately, he will be at the meeting place as well. Do you want to use this opportunity to get to know him?

  Just when I was talking about such a meeting, images of every member of the SOS Brigade, with the exception of myself, of course, appeared before me.

  7 Delphi, about a two hours car ride away from Athens, is the most sacred city of ancient Athens as well as the “centre of the world” in ancient times, with the most famous attraction being the ruins of the Temple of Apollo. According to ancient Greek mythologies, as Zeus wanted to confirm the position of the “centre of the world”, released two eagles flying in opposite directions and made the point where they met the “centre of the world” before making his most beloved son, the God of Sun, Apollo, in charge of this area, and bestowed upon him a precious stone that made Delphi the origin of the Oracle.

  “You sure brought an impressive friend along.”

  Koizumi replied in a slightly offended manner.

  “From a particular perspective, we are indeed able to communicate with each other well. But in actual fact, I cannot even be compared to her. Our views are too different. People whom I admire are actually not too many. You are one of them.”

  Even if you try to curry my favor like this, unlike the Priestess of Delphi, I would not tell you the Oracle[7].

  “This I understand. There is nothing scarier than force majeure[8]. Those forces that can be seen by the eyes and heard by the ears yet remain uncontrollable really make people paranoid.”

  You are right, this is what I am referring to. Sasaki is powerful in this way. After all, it’s someone that I had spent the third year of my middle school life with, so of course I would understand that. But the fact that even Koizumi understood this as well made me really surprised.

  8 Usually found in legal contracts, it usually refers to events that one knows exists or occurs but yet not within his or her control, such as acts of nature.

  “This is nothing to be surprised about. The ‘Organization’ had conducted investigations into your life various times. Thus, it is obvious that everything about you since you were born was already analyzed before reaching the conclusion that you are a normal person.”

  Thanks a lot then. I didn’t realize that your ‘Organization’ is able to bestow upon me a Certificate of Guarantee.

  “If you feel there is a need to, I can always give you one. Just joking. But when I knew that you knew Sasaki in third year of your middle school and even became close friends, my mood is no longer that of just joking around.”

  Why?

  Koizumi continued as if he was reciting poetr
y.

  “Because your friend Sasaki, despite looking like a normal person, if observed in another way, could be extraordinary as well. Moving like a particle, each action Sasaki triggers causes disturbances, much like light.”

  9 Koizumi is trying to say that Sasaki’s behaviour resembles the photoelectric effect, basically that every action she takes trigger disturbances, much like light. I don’t care about whatever force majeure. I am already used to having random vocabulary words being thrown at me once in a while. As for the photoelectric behavior of light[9], I hope I would never come across it in my entire life.

  Anyway, Sasaki and I had already reached the front of the train station. Where we were standing now was the usual meeting place of the SOS Brigade.

  I had gotten used to seeing the scenery as well as the people. Explanation: three of them in plain clothes, one in uniform.

  Then, the very appreciative words which the leader must always mention…

  “How dare you arrive late! I have already mentioned it countless times, not only are you the last to arrive, you even arrived later than the agreed meeting time! Don’t become so lazy just because spring has arrived! Kyon, can’t you just appreciate each and every passing second? Your time does not only belong to you, each of us here who has been waiting for you here have a share of it too! So, you should be fined! Although the time that has past can never be gotten back again, you should at least try to make us a little happier.”

  After Haruhi finished the entire paragraph in one breath, she took in a deep breath and looked at the person beside me with a surprised look.

  “Who is this.”

  “Ah, this person here is……”

  Just when I was about to complete the sentence……

  “……a really close friend.”

  Sasaki added quickly.

  “Eh?”

  Looking at Haruhi whose eyes were opened wide, Sasaki continued explaining after shaking the head slightly.

  “Although we were close friends, that only applies to middle school, and even then, only for the third year as well. Maybe it is because of this that Kyon failed to remain in contact with me for the past year. Of course the same applies to me. But, being able to chat without inhibitions despite meeting only after one precarious year, proves that he is my close friend. That is how it is to me. What about you Kyon?”