Suzumiya Haruhi:Volume1 Chapter5

From Baka-Tsuki

Monday came, and the humidity of the rainy season made itself gradually felt at school, increasing to the point where we were sweating buckets. If some politician had made a campaign promise to install an escalator on the hill road, they'd have been assured of my vote once I become eligible.

I was sitting in the classroom, fanning my neck with a pencilboard as a substitute for a fan, when the bell rang and Haruhi, unusually, was the last to enter.

Throwing her bag on the desk, she said, "I'd like to be fanned, too."

"Do it yourself!"

Haruhi, whom I'd parted with in front of the station, two days previously, twisted her face into a sour look, pouting. Just when I'd thought her expressions were getting cuter these days, she'd reverted back to her usual scowling self today.

"Say, Suzumiya. Do you know the story of the 'Blue Bird of Happiness'?"

"What's that?"

"No, never mind, it's nothing."

"Well, then don't ask."

Haruhi gave me a sideways scowl, then Okabe-sensei arrived and homeroom session began.

In class that day, an aura of sullenness radiated to all sides from Haruhi's downer, emitting a discomforting pressure against my back. Never before had the chime at the end of the day sounded so comforting. Like a field mouse fleeing from a raging bushfire, I evacuated to the clubroom.

The reading figure of Nagato is now the default scenery in the clubroom, to the extent that she seems to be a fixed ornament in the room.

That said, I turned and said to Koizumi Itsuki, who had already arrived,

"Don't tell me you too have something to say to me about Suzumiya?"

It's just the three of us in this place. Haruhi has cleaning duty for today, while Asahina has yet to arrive.

"Ah, judging by your reaction, I guess the other two girls have approached you already."

Koizumi took a quick glance at Nagato, busy reading her book as usual. I found his know-it-all tone quite annoying.

"Let's find another place to talk. It would be troublesome if Suzumiya-san hears us."

Koizumi and I went to the cafeteria and sat at one of the tables. On the way, Koizumi even bought a cup of hot coffee for me. I know it's odd for two guys to share the same cafeteria table, but that can't be helped.

"How much do you know?"

"That Suzumiya isn't an ordinary person, I guess."

"That makes things easy for me. You're correct."

Was this some kind of joke? All of the other three members of the SOS Brigade have told me that Suzumiya isn't human. Has global warming heated their brains so much that they short-circuited?

"First, tell me who you really are."

Since one has told me she's an alien while the other a time traveler, I already had an idea, so I followed,

"You're not gonna tell me that you're an esper, are you?"

"Now there's no need to assume!"

Koizumi shook his cup softly.

"While not exactly accurate, you're more or less correct -- I am what you call an esper. That's right, I possess paranormal powers."

I drank my coffee in silence. Mmm, too sweet, he should've bought it with less sugar.

"I'd have preferred not to transfer to this school so suddenly, but there has been a change in circumstances. I never thought those two girls would have approached Suzumiya Haruhi so quickly already. Before that, they had always been silently observing her."

Stop treating Haruhi like some treasured endangered species!

Noticing that I was frowning, he continued,

"Now calm down. We're trying our best as well! We have no intentions of harming Suzumiya-san, rather, we want to protect her from danger."

"You said we? That means there are other espers like you?"

"Well, there aren't quite as many as you think. Since I am among the lowest-ranked, I don't really know much, I only know there are about ten in this world. All are under the supervision of the 'Organization'".

Great, now we have an 'Organization'!

"I do not know what the 'Organization' consists of, or how many members there are. Everything seems to be run by the bigwigs higher up."

"......So, this secret group, this 'Organization', what does it do anyway?"

Koizumi wet his lips with the cooled coffee.

"Just as you have guessed, the 'Organization' was founded three years ago, and their priority is to observe Suzumiya Haruhi. To put it bluntly, they exist solely to observe Suzumiya Haruhi. I'm sure you understand by now? I'm not the only 'Organization' member here in this school. There have already been a number who have infiltrated here before me; I've just been temporarily transferred here to assist them."

I suddenly thought of Taniguchi's face. He said he's been in the same class as Haruhi since junior high. Could he be an esper like Koizumi as well?

"You're joking, right?"

Koizumi pretended not to hear that and continued,

"However, I can't guarantee that they're all on Suzumiya-san's side."

Why does everyone like Haruhi? She's just an eccentric, crazy girl that creates trouble for other people, not to mention, she's extremely self-centered. Is she really worth having an 'Organization' using all its resources to protect? Though I must admit she is attractive in looks.

"I don't know what really happened three years ago. All I do know is, I suddenly realized I possessed paranormal powers one day three years ago. I was really scared, I didn't know what to do. Luckily for me, it wasn't long before the 'Organization' took me in, or I would've killed myself thinking something is wrong with my brain."

I had already been thinking something must be wrong with your brain ever since that time.

"Well, that's not impossible. Though we're more afraid of the terrible unforeseeable possibilities that exist."

Smiling at his own flaws, Koizumi sipped his cup of coffee, and then started giving me a serious look.

"When do you think this world began its existence?"

He asked quite a shocking question all of a sudden.

"Didn't it begin at the Big Bang?"

"Right now that's what's being said. However, for us there is another possibility - this world came into being three years ago."

I looked at Koizumi's face again and again. What he was saying was too absurd to be true.

"That's impossible! I can still clearly remember what happened three years ago. Besides, my parents are still alive. I still have the three stitches I got from falling into a drain when I was young. And how do you explain all the stuff that I've been memorizing like hell from the history textbooks?"

"OK, then how can you be sure that all humans, including you, are not created with their earlier memories? If that's the case, then there's no need to dwell on three years ago. There is no evidence in this world to disprove that the world didn't begin five minutes ago, and that all life began there."

"......"

"For example, try to imagine a virtual reality. Your brain has been plugged by electric wires, everything that you see, smell and even touch are actually all transmitted by the electric signals from the wires to your brain, yet you yourself believe that what you're experiencing is real. This so called real world is actually surprisingly fragile."

"......Let's say I agree with what you said, it doesn't matter whether the Earth was formed three years ago or five minutes ago. The thing is, what does your 'Organization's' existence have to do with Haruhi?"

"The leader of the 'Organization' believes that this world is really a person's dream. We, no, it should be the whole world itself is all but a dream. Because it's just a dream, for that person, to create and alter this reality we're in is as simple as clockwork. And we all know who this person is."

Perhaps it's his referential use of words, but Koizumi's face looks surprisingly mature.

"Humans have called those who can create and destroy the world at will as God."

......Hey, Haruhi! You've become a god already, oh my god! (Pun intended.)

"That's why the 'Organization' has always been very careful. If God becomes displeased with this world, she could just completely destroy the old world and replace it with a new one. Just like a kid who doesn't like his sandcastle and decides to demolish it and build a new one. Even though I feel there are numerous unresolved conflicts in this world, there's still some good in this world that makes it worth living in. This is why I've assisted the 'Organization' in protecting this world."

"Why don't you just go and directly ask Haruhi? Tell her to stop destroying this world, she might even listen."

"Of course, Suzumiya-san doesn't know that, she's not aware of her own powers. Our job is to make sure she never does, and lives her life peacefully."

Koizumi began smiling once again after saying all that.

"As of right now, she's still an incomplete god, unable to completely control the world at will. Even though she hasn't completely evolved, we've already seen some signs of it."

"How do you know?"

"Think about it, why would espers like me, as well as people like Asahina Mikuru and Nagato Yuki exist? It is because Suzumiya-san wishes for it."

If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, slider, or an esper, then come find me!

I instantly remembered Haruhi's self introduction at the beginning of the semester.

"Since she hasn't discovered them yet, she is unable to completely utilize her powers, she could only subconsciously release them randomly. Yet for the past few months, Suzumiya-san has continuously released powers far beyond what humans can comprehend. As you well know, this resulted in Suzumiya-san having Asahina Mikuru, Nagato Yuki and even me joining her club."

Does that make me the sole outsider?

"Not quite. For us, you're a mysterious presence. I've done quite a lot of background checks on you, I hope you don't mind. And I can assure you, you are just a normal human being without any special powers."

Should I take that as a compliment or should I be disappointed?

"I don't know either, but the fate of the world could very well rest in your hands. Therefore, you need to be careful not to let Suzumiya-san feel any despair for this world."

"Since you think Haruhi is God," I suggested, "Why don't you just abduct her, perform an autopsy on her and see what her brain's made of? You might even learn the secrets of the universe!"

"There do exist some extremists within the 'Organization' who believe the same way as you do."

Koizumi nodded while adding,

"Yet the majority still think it best to leave her alone. After all, if God becomes unhappy because of this, a catastrophe would most likely occur. We hope for the world to remain as it is, so naturally we hope that Suzumiya-san can live peacefully. We have nothing to gain if disaster does strike......"

"......Then what should we do?"

"That I do not know."

"Oh yeah, what would happen to the world if Haruhi suddenly dies?"

"Would the world be destroyed alongside her death? Or would God simply cease to exist? Or a new one would simply come to replace her? Before that happens no one really knows."

The coffee in the paper cup had become cold. I shoved it aside as I didn't want to drink anymore.

"You said you possess paranormal powers?"

"Well, that's not quite precise, but more or less you're correct."

"Then show me some of your powers, then I'll believe you. Let's say, make this coffee warm again."

Koizumi smiled cheerfully. This is the first time I've seen him truly smile.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. My powers aren't that easily comprehensible. Under normal conditions, I don't have any particular powers. I have to satisfy a certain number of conditions before I can use them, but I believe you'll get the chance to see them one day."

"Sorry I've taken your time, I guess I'll go home now." After saying that, Koizumi left with a smile.

I watched Koizumi stroll away until he disappeared, then I thought of grabbing the paper cup.

Just as I thought, the coffee's still cold.

When I returned to the club room, I stumbled upon Asahina standing inside in her bra and panties.

"......"

Asahina, with the maid costume in her hands, stood with her eyes wide open, looking at me frozen to the spot with my hand on the door knob. Slowly her mouth started to open as she prepared to scream.

"I'm sorry."

Before she had the chance to yell, I pulled out the foot that was in the room and shut the door quickly. Thanks to that, I was able to avoid her screaming.

Really, I ought to knock first. No wait, she ought to lock the door if she wanted to change!

Just as I was wondering whether to store that image of her smooth white half-naked body into my long-term memory banks, a soft knock came from the other side of the door, "You can enter now......"

"Sorry about that."

"It doesn't matter......"

I looked at Asahina's lowered head as she opened the door and apologized. She blushed and said,

"Sorry, I always show my embarrassing side......"

I don't really mind at all actually.

She's really quite an obedient girl, wearing her maid costume as Haruhi told her to.

She's just too cute!

I was afraid if I continued to stare at Asahina like that, the image I had just received would begin to tilt towards the dirty side. Mustering all the reason I had to take on those frustrating desires, I swiftly sat in the commander's seat and turned on the computer.

Noticing someone watching me, I lifted my head, I found Nagato Yuki actually looking at me for a change. She pushed her glasses up slightly, then returned to her book. Her moves are quite human.

I opened the net browser and went to the club homepage, trying to edit something out of the ever static page, but I didn't know where to start. I used to think editing webpages was a waste of time, and I would close the window and sigh. Yet here I was bored as hell, I've gotten tired of Othello as well, I needed something to kill time.

As I muttered under my breath with my arms crossed, suddenly someone placed a cup of warm tea in front of me. I glanced upwards and found Asahina in her maid costume smiling while standing with a tray in her hands. She's completely like a real maid.

"Thanks."

I just got treated to a cup of hot coffee by Koizumi, but I still gladly accepted this cup of warm tea.

Asahina then placed another cup by Nagato's side, she then sat beside her and silently sipped her own cup of tea.

In the end, Haruhi never came to the club room that day.

"Why didn't you come yesterday? Didn't you want to hold a debriefing?"

As usual, I turned and spoke to Haruhi behind me before the homeroom session.

Lying flat on the desk, with her chin on the surface, Haruhi said with an annoyed look,

"You're annoying! I've already had the debriefing on my own yesterday already!"

I knew right away that Haruhi must have retraced the places she went last Saturday after school.

"I was afraid I might have missed something, so I thought it safer to go through the places again."

I'd always thought it was only detectives who believed criminals would return to the scene of crime, but I was wrong.

"It's hot as hell! When is the school gonna switch uniforms? I want to wear short sleeves!"

They don't change seasons till June, and there's only one week left till May finishes.

"Suzumiya, maybe I've said this before, but I think you'd better stop looking for those mysterious events, and try to live a normal high school life."

She would lift her head and scowl at me......I was anticipating that kind of reaction, yet Haruhi's head remained stuck on the desk. It seems she's really exhausted.

"A normal high school life? What kind of life is that?"

She doesn't sound interested at all.

"Something like finding a decent boyfriend. You might even stumble upon an alien while you're dating. That'll be two birds with one stone, that's not too bad right?"

I started thinking about Asahina's conversation with me that day while making such a suggestion.

"Besides, there are plenty of guys lining up for you. All you need is to hold back that eccentric behavior of yours and your boyfriend will arrive."

"Hmph, it doesn't matter if I have a boyfriend or not! All this so called love is just a temporary confusion of the mind, a mental illness."

Haruhi said exhaustedly while lying on the desk and looking out the window.

"Actually, I do tend to think about this stuff from time to time. I am an energetic girl after all, plus my body has its needs. But I'm not dumb enough to take on this troublesome stuff just because of a short moment of confusion. And if I'm too busy dating, what happens to the SOS Brigade? I just founded it!"

Technically it's not founded yet.

"Then why not create a club that involves some form of entertainment? That would attract more members for sure."

"No."

Haruhi flatly refused.

"I founded the SOS Brigade because all the other normal clubs were too boring, and I've recruited a cute girl like Asahina and a mysterious transfer student as well! Why hasn't anything happened yet? Sigh, it's about time something strange happened."

This is the first time I've seen Haruhi this depressed, but she's cute like that too. For a cute girl like her, she's pretty enough even when she's not smiling, it's such a pity, the more I think about it.

Haruhi spent the rest of the day sleeping soundly. What's amazing is, the teachers never noticed......No, this has to be a coincidence.

Yet from this moment, strange things were quietly beginning. Since it wasn't a big deal at the beginning, no one else had noticed yet, but I'd been thinking about it all day ever since homeroom session.

While I was speaking to Haruhi, my mind was dwelling on something else. It all began with a note that was left in my shoe locker this morning.

The note said,

"After school when everyone else has left, come to the 1-5 classroom."

It was obviously a girl's handwriting.

What is this all about? An emergency conference was held in my mind between my differing opinions.

The first said, "this has happened before," but the handwriting was different from the one on the bookmark. Nagato, who claims to be a Living Humanoid Interface for the aliens, has handwriting so beautiful it's as though it's printed, yet this note gives the impression of a high school girl's handwriting. Besides, Nagato would not be so direct as to stick a note in my shoe locker.

The second said, "could it be Asahina?" No, if it's Asahina, she wouldn't just randomly tear a piece of paper and scribble down a note without writing any time on it. That's right, she would have placed her well-written letter into an envelope.

Moreover, it was strange that the location is in my classroom. "It can't be Haruhi!?" said the third opinion. That's even more impossible, if it were her, she would have just dragged me to the staircase and told me right away if she wanted me to know something.

Based on the same reasoning, I eliminated Koizumi from the equation as well. Finally, a fourth opinion said, "Could it be a love letter from some stranger?" Let's not worry ourselves whether this is a love letter or not, the thing is I'm being called out by someone, and it doesn't even have to be a girl.

"Don't fall for it! It's most likely a prank by Taniguchi and Kunikida." Yes, that's the most plausible opinion. It's possible that that idiot Taniguchi would play such senseless pranks, but he should've written more.

I walked aimlessly around school while thinking about all these. After class, Haruhi said she was sick and went home. This is a great chance!

I decided to go to the club room first. I'd go crazy if I went too early to the classroom to wait for some unknown stranger. Plus, if all of a sudden Taniguchi suddenly came in and said, "Yo, you still waiting? I can't believe you'd fall for such a small note, how innocent you are!" I'd be mightily pissed. Kill some time first, go and have a peek in the classroom, and then go in after making sure no one is around. Yes, this is the perfect strategy!

I arrived at the club room entrance on my own. This time I remembered to knock.

"Please come in."

Once I confirmed it was Asahina's voice, I opened the door. No matter how many times I look at it, Asahina just looks so adorable in her maid costume!

"Took you awhile to arrive, where's Suzumiya-san?"

Looks like she's brewing tea again.

"She went home, she seems really tired. If you want to exact revenge, now's the chance, right now she seems very weak."

"I'm not going to do any such thing!"

We sat face to face and drank our tea in the room with Nagato reading. We seem to have reverted back to the same aimless association as before.

"Koizumi still hasn't arrived?"

"Koizumi-kun came earlier, he said he's got part-time work today, so he went off first."

What kind of part-time work? But as things stand, I can now confidently cross out Koizumi and Haruhi from my suspect list on who wrote the note.

Since we didn't have anything to do, I played some Othello with Asahina and chatted with her. After winning three games, we stopped playing and went to surf the internet to read the news, and at this moment, Nagato closed her book. Recently, we've taken this action of hers as a sign that it's time to call it a day for club activities (though we don't know what activities there are), and we all began to pack and leave.

"I need to change, so you go on first." Hearing Asahina say that, I rushed out of the club room.

The clock pointed to half past five, there shouldn't be anyone left in the classroom, I guess? Even if it were a prank by Taniguchi, he would have gone home after getting bored from waiting so long. Despite that, I still ran up the two flights of stairs to the top floor, just to make sure.

I breathed deeply in the silent corridor. Since the classroom windows are all stained, there's no way I'd be able to see what's going on inside, just that the sunset has colored the room orange-red. I casually opened the 1-5 classroom door and stuck my head inside.

I wasn't at all surprised that someone was waiting inside the classroom, but I was shocked when I found out who it was. Standing in front of the blackboard is a person who I would not have thought of at all.

"You're late."

Asakura Ryouko smiled.

She flicked her silky long hair and started walking down the aisle. Her smooth thighs under her folded skirt and her white indoor shoes are really distracting.

She stopped in the center of the classroom, and waved towards me with a smile.

"Come in!"

As though I were being sucked in, her action caused me to let go of the door handle and walk towards her.

"So it's you......"

"Yes, surprised?"

Asakura smiled happily, the right side of her face is red from the sunset shining in.

"You looking for me?"

I intentionally asked in a rough tone, Asakura giggled and replied,

"Indeed I was looking for you, I have something to ask you."

Asakura's white face now turns towards me.

"Have you heard of the saying 'It is better to do it and regret than not do it at all'? You think that makes sense?"

"I'm not really sure who said that, but I guess the meaning makes sense."

"If there exists a situation where staying in the status quo would make things worse, and you have no idea how to improve it, what would you do?"

"Improve on what? The economy?"

Ignoring my question, Asakura smiled and continued,

"Wouldn't you have said that you should do it first and face the consequences later? Since nothing's going to change if things continue like this."

"Hmm, I guess so."

"That's what I meant."

Asakura, who had her hands behind her back, leaned slightly forward.

"However, since those above are incapable of thinking laterally, they are out of touch with the rapid changes in this reality, I'm compelled to do something in order to make things run smoothly. That's why, being in this reality, I have decided to act on my own and forcefully make some changes."

What on Earth are you trying to say? Is this some sort of prank? I looked around the room, wondering whether Taniguchi is hiding in the cabinet holding the sweeping tools behind, or whether he's sitting under the teacher's desk.

"I've grown tired of having to observe a changeless environment, that's why......"

I was so busy looking around that I didn't really hear what Asakura was saying.

"I have to kill you, and see what sort of reaction Suzumiya Haruhi would have."

In an instant, Asakura flashed her right hand, a white metallic flash went past where my neck used to be.

Smiling pleasantly, Asakura's right hand now revealed a knife as sharp as an army knife.

I was very lucky to dodge the first strike. Because right now I'm on the ground on my backside, looking palely at Asakura. If I'm trapped, I won't be able to escape! This thought flashed through my mind, and I crawled backwards like a locust.

Why didn't Asakura give chase?

......No, wait! What on Earth's going on? Why is Asakura trying to stab me with a knife? Wait a second, what did Asakura just say? She wants to kill me? Kill me? But, why!?

"Stop joking around!"

I could only say this trademark sentence of mine.

"That was really dangerous! Even if that were a fake knife, I would be scared as well! Put that thing away!"

I was really confounded. If someone knows what's going on, please come out and explain to me!

"You think I'm joking?" Asakura said in a very cheerful tone, not sounding very serious at all. Now that I think about it, a high school girl smiling while threatening your life with a knife is really scary. So now you know how frightened I was.

"Hmph!"

Asakura patted her shoulder with the back of the knife blade.

"You don't like dying? You don't want to die? The death of organic entities means nothing to me."

I slowly stand up. This has to be a joke, I'm only scared because I'm too serious. I kept on telling myself this, because it was just too surreal. Asakura is the serious responsible class monitor, who wouldn't talk when necessary in class, and wouldn't go nuts even when faced with a problem. Why would she carry a knife and say she wants to kill me all of a sudden?

Yet that knife is real, if I wasn't careful I would be bleeding all over the place.

"I don't get what you're saying. This isn't funny anymore, OK? Put that scary thing away!"

"I can't do that," Asakura smiled her usual innocent smile, "Because I really want you dead."

She held her knife by her waist, and started rushing towards me. She's fast! This time I was prepared, because long before Asakura made her move, I had set sights on escaping through the door - yet I ended up hitting a wall.

????

That's strange, where'd the door go? Even the windows are gone! There were supposed to be windows on the wall facing the corridor, now it's just a thick grey wall.

Impossible!

"It's useless."

Asakura's voice grew closer from behind.

"I now have control of this area of space, so all exits have been blocked. It's quite easy actually, all I needed to do was tamper with the molecular structure of the buildings on this planet and I can change its matter at will. This room has now become a sealed room, and there's no way in or out now."

I turned around and noticed that the sunset has gone as well. The whole room is surrounded by concrete walls, leaving only the white lamps shining coldy on the desks.

This can't be!

Asakura's silhouette moved slowly towards me.

"I advise you to stop resisting; you're going to die, anyway."

"......Who exactly are you?"

No matter how I looked, there were walls around me. There's not a single door, a single window, nothing! Is something wrong with my brain?

I frantically moved between the desks, trying to get as far from Asakura as possible. Yet Asakura walked towards me in a straight line, moving the desks and chairs from her path at will. Compared to her, my path was always blocked by the desks.

This cat and mouse chase didn't last long, and eventually I was cornered.

If that's the case......

I decided to take a risk and threw a chair at Asakura, yet the chair turned in the air right in front of Asakura, and flew off to the other end of the room. How can this be possible!?

"Didn't I tell you it's useless? Everything in this room now moves according to my will."

Wait... Wait!

What is going on here? If this isn't a joke or a prank, and neither me nor Asakura were crazy, then what is going on?

I have to kill you, and see what sort of reaction Suzumiya Haruhi would have.

Why is it Haruhi again? Haruhi, my, aren't you getting a bit too popular?

"I should've done this from the beginning."

My body froze after Asakura said that. You can't do that! That's cheating!

My feet are rooted to the ground like a tree, unable to move. My arms are fixed like a wax statue - I can't even move my fingers. My face, stuck pointing towards the ground, could see Asakura's indoor shoes slowly entering my field of vision.

"Once you die, Suzumiya Haruhi is bound to have some sort of reaction. This might create a massive data explosion from which we could salvage something. This could be the chance in a lifetime for us."

I don't really care about that!

"Now die."

I could feel Asakura lifting her knife up. Where would she start? The throat arteries, heart? If I knew how I was going to die, I could at least be prepared. At least let me close my eyes...... No, I can't do that. W... what's this!?

I suddenly felt the air shake. The knife began to fall upon me......

At this moment, the ceiling gave out a loud cracking noise, followed by debris falling down. Some of which fell on my head - that hurts! Dammit! I was covered in white dust by the large amount of continuously falling debris, so I guess Asakura is covered in white as well. I wanted to see what she looked like now, but I couldn't move......no, wait! I can move again!

I lifted my head and discovered......!

A shocked Asakura -- just as she's about to slice my neck. Standing in front catching the blade with her bare hands, is the slim figure of Nagato Yuki.

(Wow, she can catch the blade with just her bare hands.)

"Your programs are too basic." Nagato said in her usual expressionless tone,

"The data lockdown around the ceiling area was incomplete. That is why I was able to discover it and enter."

"You want to get in my way?" Asakura sounded calm. "Once I kill this person, Suzumiya Haruhi is bound to have some sort of reaction. Only then can we obtain more data."

"You are supposed to be my backup." Nagato said in a mantra-like tone, "This sort of insubordination is forbidden; you must obey my commands."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then I will disconnect your data interface."

"Would you like to try? I have the advantage here, since this classroom belongs to the scope of my data control."

"Processing application for data interface disconnection."

As Nagato finished, the knife in her hand started glowing brightly. Then, like the sugar cube being placed into a cup of tea, it slowly crystallized and dissolved and fell towards the floor like powder.

"!!"

Asakura released the knife and jumped five meters away. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but realize - whoa, these two really aren't human.

Opening up the distance in an instant, Asakura landed elegantly and continued smiling as usual.

The space around began to distort - I can only describe it as such. Asakura, the desks, the ceiling and floor all shook vigorously; overall, it had the appearance of what seemed like liquid metal, though I couldn't really see that clearly.

Just as I was wondering how it's just this space that's slowly being turned into what seemed like spears, a crystallized explosion occurred in front of Nagato's raised palms.

The next second, there were continuous crystallized explosions around Nagato, followed by powder dropping onto the ground. The crystallized spear-like objects flew from all directions towards us with lightning fast speed. It was already a moment later when I discovered Nagato facing those spears with the same speed.

"Do not move away."

Nagato dodged Asakura's attacks while pulling my tie so that I would kneel and hide behind her.

"Whoa!"

An unknown object flew over my head and smashed the blackboard to pieces.

Nagato looked upwards a little, and in an instant many icicles grew from the ceiling and fell on Asakura's head. Asakura moved away with a speed that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, and instantly an icicle forest formed from the ground.

"There's no way you can beat me in this area of space." Asakura said calmly. She and Nagato stood a few meters apart, facing each other, while I could only kneel on the ground hopelessly, not daring to stand up.

Nagato stood in front of me with her legs slightly opened, and it's only now that I notice she's so serious that she even wrote her own name on her indoor shoes. Then, as if chanting a prayer, Nagato mumbled softly,

    SELECT serial_code
    FROM database
    WHERE code='data'
    ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data
    HAVING terminate_mode

"Target name Asakura Ryoko, hostility confirmed. Disconnecting target's organic information interface."

Normal space no longer exists in the classroom. Everything has turned into geometric shapes, appearing twisted or cone-like. Seeing this surreal scenery is like entering one of those theme park house of horrors, I'm getting dizzy already from watching.

"You would stop functioning before I would."

I have no idea where Asakura's voice is coming from in all this colorful mirage.

Whoosh, the sound of the wind slicing through the air.

Nagato kicked me hard with the back of her heel.

"What are you......"

Before I could finish, there was a spear so fast, I could just barely see it as it went past the tip of my nose and fell on the ground.

"We'll see how much longer you can protect him. Try this!"

The next second, Nagato stood in front of me, impaled by about twelve brownish looking long spears.

"......"

In other words, Asakura attacked Nagato and me from all directions at the same time. Nagato managed to crystallize some of the spears and smash them, but trying to prevent me from getting hit by the remaining spears, she'd shielded me with her body. But I didn't know that then, since it all happened so quickly.

Nagato's glasses fell from her face and softly bounced as they hit the ground.

"NAGATO!"

"You should not move." Nagato said calmly, pointing to the spears stuck on her chest and stomach. A pool of blood began to form under her feet.

"I'm fine."

God, how can this be fine?

Nagato pulled out the spears from her body without even flinching once. The bloody spears fell onto the ground with an icy sound, and instantly turned into a desk. So that's what the spears are made from!

"Being this injured, I don't suppose you can stop me now. Here's the finishing blow!"

At the other end of the twisted space, Asakura's silhouette faded in and out. I could see a smile from her face, she then slowly raised her hands - if I'm not mistaken, her arms glowed all the way from her fingertips, and then extended to twice as long. No, not just twice as long...

"Please die!"

Asakura's arms kept on extending, wriggling like a bunch of tentacles, and then closing in from both directions. Unable to move, Nagato's small figure shook violently...... The next instant, my face was splattered with blood.

Asakura's left arm clawed into Nagato's right abdomen, while her right arm clawed into Nagato's left chest, piercing through her back and stopping at the classroom wall. Blood spattered from Nagato's mouth and down along her white legs, making the blood pool below even wider.

"It's over." Nagato said softly, then grabbed onto the tentacles. Nothing happened.

"What's over?" Asakura said, sounding as though she'd won. "You mean your three years of life?"

"No." said a seriously wounded Nagato, as though nothing had happened to her. "Commencing data interface disconnection."

Almost instantly, everything in the classroom began glowing brightly, and then crystallized and dissolved within the next second, the desk beside me also turned into sand and collapsed.

"How can this be......"

Crystallized sand fell from the ceiling nonstop, this time it is Asakura's turn to be stunned.

"You truly are outstanding."

The spears within Nagato's body also turned into sand.

"It took me some time to penetrate the program. But, everything will end now."

"......You've already planted destructive factors around long before I penetrated this place, haven't you? No wonder you looked rather weak. It was because you've used attacking data beforehand......" Asakura said despondently as her arms began to crystallize.

"Sigh, it's such a pity, after all I'm just backup. I thought this would be a chance to break free from this deadlock."

Asakura reverted back to her normal classmate self and looked at me cheerfully.

"I lost. It's great that you can survive. But you'd better be careful, the Integrated Data Entity isn't as united as you think, there are quite a number like me with dissenting opinions. It's just like humans, there will be extremists like me next time. And who knows, even those who control Nagato-san might change their thinking and turn to kill you instead."

She's now covered from chest to toe by the glowing crystallized substance.

"Before that happens, I wish you and Suzumiya-san the best of luck. Farewell."

Saying that, Asakura silently dissolved into small sandy dunes. And then, the smaller crystallized sand dunes continued to dissolve until they completely vanished.

Under a rain of crystallized sand, the high school girl known as Asakura Ryouko vanished completely from this school.

There was a loud thud, suddenly. I was quick to find Nagato lying on the floor, so I frantically got up.

"Nagato! Hang in there! I'll call the ambulance!"

"There is no need."

Nagato glanced at the ceiling with her wide open eyes.

"Physical damage doesn't mean anything to me. Our priority is to restore this area of space back to its original state."

The sand crystals around stopped falling.

"Removing impure substances, reconstructing classroom."

As she finished, the familiar 1-5 classroom reappeared before our eyes. It was like a tape rewinding: everything in the room reverted to the way it had been before.

The blackboard, the teacher's desk, the remaining chairs and desks all grew from the white sand and back to their original form as I had seen before school ended today. I can't describe what was going through my mind then. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would've thought all these images were made with state-of-the-art CG special effects.

Windows grew from the walls, with the half-stained glasses intact; the sunset reappeared outside, bathing me and Nagato in an orange-red light. I tried looking inside my desk drawers, all the contents were still there intact, and all the blood that had spattered onto my face had now completely disappeared. This was too amazing. I could only describe it as magic!

"Are you really okay?"

I knelt beside Nagato who remained lying on the floor. I had thought she would have many wounds and holes in her uniform after being impaled by those spears, but they were all gone now.

"As processing power has been converted into data operation, I have just reversed the linking interface for a bit."

"You need me to pick you up?"

Surprisingly, Nagato didn't hesitate and grabbed my hand, just as she was about to stand up -

"Oh!"

She gasped suddenly.

"I forgot to regenerate a new pair of glasses."

"......I actually think you look cuter without glasses. Four-eyed girls are not really my type."

"What does 'Four-eyed girls' mean?"

"It's nothing, just some stupid comment."

"I see."

Now is not the time to say such trivial things. I regret having said that. Even if it meant leaving Nagato behind heartlessly, I should've run out of the classroom at once in embarrassment.

"Yo!"

The classroom door suddenly opened.

"I forgot~ I forgot my stuff~"

Damn, there entering the classroom, humming a stupid song, was Taniguchi.

Taniguchi probably never thought there would still be people in the classroom. When he discovered us, he stood dumbfounded with his mouth wide open like an idiot.

At that moment, I was trying to carry Nagato, but if you had only seen us then, it would have looked like I was slowly laying her down.

"I'm so sorry." Taniguchi said in a serious tone that I had never heard from him before, and fled the classroom at once. I didn't even have time to chase him.

"Such an interesting person." Nagato said.

I sighed heavily.

"What should we do now?"

"Leave it to me." Nagato said while resting on my chest.

"Data manipulation is my specialty, I'll let everyone think that Asakura Ryouko has been transferred away."

So that's how she does it!

Now is not the time to think about such trivial matters when I've just experienced an incredible event. This is no longer an issue of whether or not I should believe what Nagato said to me the other day, I didn't dare admit I was half-convinced. Yet what happened just now has led me to realize how serious things really were. I really thought I was going to die! If Nagato hadn't appeared from the ceiling, I would have been killed by Asakura. The experiences of seeing the classroom distorting, of Asakura's arms extending unnaturally, and Nagato eliminating her emotionlessly have all been etched into my mind.

Is Nagato trying to use this to tell me she really is an alien?

In a way, doesn't that make me an insider to this mysterious event? Just as I said in the beginning, I had wanted to be a bystander that got sucked into these events, content with being a mere sidekick. But as things stood, I was already the protagonist! That's right, I had really wished I was a character in a story involving aliens, but when I'd really become one, it put everything into perspective.

To be honest, I'm quite troubled by it.

What I really want is to be the sort of side character that cheerfully provides helpful advice at the right moment when everyone is facing a difficult situation. I don't want to have my life targeted by my own classmates! I do have my principles when it comes to my life.

My mind wandered aimlessly for some time as I sat in the orange-red classroom. I'd completely forgotten that Nagato was still resting on my chest.

W......what's all this? What was I thinking? Thanks to my spacing out all this time, I didn't notice that Nagato had completed her regeneration and has been staring at me expressionlessly for some time already.

The following day, Asakura Ryouko disappeared from class.

This outcome was inevitable, but I was the only one who thought like that.

"Hmm, I guess it has something to do with Asakura-kun's father's work, that's why she had to transfer all of a sudden. To be frank, the teachers were shocked as well when they heard the news this morning. Because they had to leave the country, they already flew off yesterday."

When Okabe-sensei announced this cover story, most of the girls exclaimed in shock, "What?", "Why?", while the guys also talked amongst themselves about this. Even the teacher had a look of bewilderment. Not surprisingly, the girl behind me could not be silent about this.

Smack! She smacked the back of my head with her fist.

"Kyon, this HAS to be a mysterious event!" Haruhi's eyes shone brightly as she regained her usual vigor.

What should I do? Tell her the truth?

Actually, Asakura-san was created by an unknown entity known as the Integrated Data Sentient Entity, Nagato-san is also her companion, but for some reason their relationship broke down, and in the end Asakura-san had to resort to killing me. As to why it involves me, the reason is actually you. However, Asakura-san got turned into a pile of sand by Nagato-san and disappeared.

Oh please! I'd be ridiculed like hell if I said that, and I don't feel like saying it. I'll just pretend that everything that happened yesterday was just an illusion and leave it as that.

"First a mysterious transfer student coming in, then a girl transferring out mysteriously. There has to be something fishy going on!"

Should I commend her on her brilliant instincts?

"Maybe her dad got a transfer?"

"I'm not buying such a lame excuse."

"Believe it or not, that's the number one reason for having to transfer schools."

"But don't you find it strange? It took them only one day from receiving the job transfer notice to moving out. Just what sort of work is her dad doing?"

"Maybe Asakura's dad didn't tell her beforehand......"

"That's impossible. This requires further investigation."

I had wanted to say the job transfer was just an excuse, they had escaped overnight from their debtors after leaving behind a mountain of debt, but I decided not to. Since the person who knew the real reason was me.

"As a member of the SOS Brigade, I can't leave such a mysterious event lying around unnoticed."

Please stop!

After what happened yesterday, I had a complete changeover overnight. After all, 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.

Besides, I could never admit that the world itself is a virtual reality.

Man! For someone who's just turned 15, having to face a turning point in his life is just a bit too early!

Why does a first year high schooler 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, don't add to my troubles anymore.

Right now I have a whole lot of tricky issues to deal with!

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