“How’s Shamisen? Was he sick because we brought him to a place too cold for him when it was already cold enough outside?”
“Well, no…”
I could finally confirm that this Asahina-san knew nothing about the future, or at least, until… Erm… The evening five days later. After that, she would probably have to face an entire set of ordeals.
How do you put it, it was already meant to be? Gah, this is annoying.
“Shamisen’s already okay. He’s been better since yesterday, seeing that he was already rolling around energetically by that time.”
“Is that so? That’s just great.”
Asahina-san said as she revealed a beautiful smile. Seeing this made me even more uneasy. Shamisen’s illness was just a big fat lie, this I’m sure Asahina-san (Michiru) knew. But since she didn’t say anything, this Asahina-san probably had no clue it was just a lie. I felt as if I had betrayed her trust, and had a sudden sense to apologize to her immediately.
“Let me play with him a little bit more. Shamisen’s just so cute.”
There’s nothing cuter than you. Even if you were locked in some dark corner of the Milky Way for five hundred years, you would still be just as cute. But if you’re going to use Shamisen as an excuse to come visit my home, you’re more than welcome. Besides, Shamisen has been frequently bringing that black cat he calls his girlfriend back home lately. Maybe they were using visiting me as an excuse?
“Ah, well… That’s just fine… Ah!”
Asahina-san yelped as she suddenly jumped.
“The tea spilled…”
Overflowed would be the word. Since she was too busy talking with me about Shamisen, Asahina-san hadn’t noticed that the kettle was already full. However, this seemed to suit Haruhi’s “clumsy maid” idea, as she looked at Asahina-san with her arms crossed, apparently glad at the sight of her cleaning up the spilled tea.
I pulled out one of those steel folding chairs, and took my seat by Koizumi’s side. Haruhi radiated an aura of superiority, but was oddly quiet, as if she had wanted to wait until we had all settled down before making her grand announcement.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Asahina-san said as she placed two steaming cups of tea onto the tray, before handing them to both me and Haruhi. I had a feeling that Haruhi would wait until I had finished drinking my tea before making her announcement, since she had no intention of standing up. After downing her steaming tea, Haruhi leaned back on her chair as she turned the computer on, and while waiting for the computer to boot, flipped some magazines on the table. Both of us locked eyes once in a while, and every time we did so, she would have a different expression on her face. She would sometimes seem strict and sometimes laugh evilly. Talk about having a hundred faces. Was this the dreaded calm before the storm?
Koizumi had an expression that suggested he knew nothing at all, as he reorganized the pieces on the carom board. Nagato had the same expression from the start – which is to say none at all. Asahina-san was busy preparing the second round of tea. Everything seemed like how it used to be, so normal, so… Perfect. That was what made it seem odd. What was it that made Haruhi decide to just let time pass like this? What about the treasure hunt?
After a few minutes of fruitless thinking, I decided to not think about it, and let my mind wander wherever it liked.
Not long afterwards, that brief moment of peace was broken. It wasn’t by Haruhi’s shouting, or by announcements forcing students to go home, but by a series of knocks on the front door. “Yes, here it is! Come in!”
Haruhi yelled in response to the knockings, as she stood up from the chair at bullet speed.
“I’ve been waiting for you! Please, do come in!”
It was rare to see the Brigade Commander open the door for anyone, especially for a guest.
“Aha, it’s Mikuru-chan and the other Brigade members! Long time no see! Oh wait, Kyon, we just met yesterday! Shamisen’s such a playful little thing, next time be sure to bring him over to play!”
Tsuruya-san shouted loudly as she entered. Placing her arms around Haruhi’s shoulders, the both of them began to dance wildly. Here we go again.
“Hmm, that’s it. The map. It should be an ancient treasure around 300 years old, probably some old Genroku period coins. It would be great if we could find it!”
Tsuruya-san announced loudly as she sat by the table and began chewing down the prawn crackers that were served on the table.
“This old, worn out paper is one of my family heirlooms. The buried treasure in question could be anything at all. That day, after cleaning up the store room, I found this priceless piece of treasure buried under a bunch of worthless trash, rattan case still intact ~nyoro!”
After spitting out each and every one of those words at bullet-train speed, Tsuruya-san downed Asahina-san’s tea, stood up, and pointed at the whiteboard.
The old map was pinned down by its edges by four large magnets. Standing nearby the board was Haruhi, who was busy scratching her back with a cane and had a very pleased look on her face.
“This mountain used to be government property before it came into my family’s possession. We shouldn’t take my ancestor’s words lightly! Something must be buried there, right? Oh, great ancestor…”
Tsuruya-san clasped her hands together and bowed towards the setting sun. Haruhi took this opportunity to tap the whiteboard with her cane.
“That is it.”
That is it? Right now, all I’ve heard is Tsuruya-san explaining the map’s history.
“And that’s all. Why her ancestor left this great treasure to her, and what it contains, are up to us to discover. I hereby forbid any one of you to reveal this matter to anyone outside the SOS Brigade, save Tsuruya-san.”
Haruhi said with her mouth opened wide, revealing a row of snow-white teeth.
“Tomorrow we shall set out to search for buried treasure! If we continue dilly-dallying, someone else might just go and dig it all up, so tomorrow we meet at the usual spot at nine sharp! Let’s head for the mountains! And don’t worry, leave the equipment to me.”
Needless to say, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Three days ago, I had heard of the entire treasure hunt from Asahina-san. Yesterday, Tsuruya-san gave me the map for safe keeping. This morning, I had again heard of the treasure hunt from Haruhi. I really have no faith that I’ll be able to pull off a shocked face. I guess it can’t be helped then. Placing the empty teacup by my lips, I pretended to continue drinking my already finished tea.
I guess there wasn’t a need for that, for the only person who was shocked…
“E-Eh, t-treasure hunting? T-Tomorrow? Up a h-hill? T-Then we’ll n-need bentos…”
…was Asahina-san.
Nagato looked up at Haruhi with her book still placed open in her lap.
“Hmm… We might make a great discovery that will further propel the reaches of archeology. I can’t wait!”
As always, Koizumi was the first one to kiss Haruhi’s ass.
If Haruhi wanted looks of extreme shock plastered on everyone’s face, she would have been sorely disappointed. Tell you the truth, I don’t think anyone was surprised, not even Asahina-san.
“That’s the spirit! If we really do find buried treasure, we’ll split everything up into equal portions! Of course, Tsuruya-san who has kindly provided us the map will receive a share of our treasure too.”
“That’s great!!”
Tsuruya-san shouted energetically.
“If we do find gold or the sort, I suppose I could give you guys 90% of the entire loot. Since my great great great great great grand father lived during the Genroku period, the only thing that would be able to make his grand children happy even after a few hundred years would probably be gold. I’d like to make the best of his good intentions, but unfortunately, I have something to attend to tomorrow, so I’ll leave the treasure hunting to you guys.”
For some reason, Tsuruya-san’s gaze seemed oddly weird to me at that moment.
Just after she shifted her gaze from me, Asahina-san looked at me and laughed. It seemed that Tsuruya-san had kept her promise after all. The most she would do was probably communicate with Asahina-san via body language. There was no way she would tell Asahina-san the truth. I can’t go on suspecting Tsuruya-san like this.
However…
For someone that was unrelated to the SOS Brigade, Tsuruya-san seemed oddly involved, be it the baseball tournament or the snow mountain. But that was only because we asked her to. This time, though, she had approached Haruhi willingly, as if wanting to keep close ties with us. There was no way of knowing what was going on in her head. Don’t tell me this is another scheme she cooked up just to make Haruhi happy. But come to think of it, why would she want to make Haruhi happy? Just for fun and laughter?
Let’s first cast my suspicions about Tsuruya-san, who was merrily chewing on the prawn crackers laid on the table while making a face that suggested she had successfully pulled a prank, aside.
The one who was making an even weirder expression was Koizumi. Come to think of it, Tsuruya-san had visited the club room quite often, but I had no memory of Koizumi meeting her there. Tsuruya-san’s wave of a hand could very well equal an order from the “Organization”. To be in such close quarters with someone of such high superiority must be troubling, Koizumi.
And…
I slowly thought of my shadowy conversation with Koizumi that night before, as I stared right into his generic smile. Although I had no idea which parts of his conversation were genuine and which parts weren’t, I had a feeling that the house of Tsuruya and the “Organization” were closely tied. Heck, Tsuruya-san’s mansion may very well be the secret headquarters of Koizumi’s “Organization”. Tsuruya-san and Koizumi may not be working for the same faction, but they were definitely tied to each other, this I could tell. What their relationship was, and how superior Tsuruya-san was to Koizumi, this I had no clue.
Tsuruya-san appeared to have no idea of Koizumi, Nagato and Asahina-san’s true identities. Although she could tell that the three of them —- and Haruhi, for that matter —- were not ordinary humans, she apparently didn’t poke or pry for more information, at least not openly. I strongly believe what Tsuruya-san had said that day before at her mansion, and also bits of what Koizumi had said. “Leave the troublesome things to the Organization”, eh? It’s just like Nagato locking her synchronization abilities.
“… Kyon! Are you listening?!”
A shrill cry pierced my ears, as I found myself staring into the sharp tip of a cane. Glancing up the cane, I found Haruhi’s angry face awaiting me.
“Listen up, tomorrow be sure to dress plainly! All of you should wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. As for Kyon and Koizumi, the both of you can come empty handed. Here’s a list of the things we need.”
Haruhi barked at Asahina-san to fetch a marker.
Still dressed in her maid outfit, Asahina-san hurriedly fetched a marker and began writing down everything Haruhi had said with child-like enthusiasm.
“First we’ll need two steel shovels, but you can leave this to me. Next, we’ll need bentos. Mikuru-chan, you know what to do. Then we’ll require compasses, flashlights and a map. No, not the treasure map, but a real, accurate map of Japan. Oh, and if possible, please remember to prepare emergency canned food, and a flare launcher too.
Which mountain are you planning to climb? This isn’t even a mountain, it’s barely a hill. Unless we run into some strange phenomena again, like a sudden snowstorm, we should be all right. And if by chance we really did run into some strange phenomena, what use would compasses and flare launchers be of? The incident that happened during the end of last year suddenly came into mind.
Nagato’s black pupils were fixed directly on Asahina-san’s neat writing. As I confirmed what was on the board, I couldn’t help but sigh.
From what Asahina-san (Michiru) said, there was no need to bring any flare launchers or emergency canned food, since we would be back peacefully. Heck, there was no need to climb that darned mountain either, since we would come back empty-handed. However, Asahina-san had told me to take care, as something important would happen then. I wonder what it was.
Going up a hill, savoring Asahina-san’s bentos, and going down the hill sounds like a picnic to me. Oh and there would be an extra “workout” session for Koizumi and me too.
I knew without a doubt that it would be boring. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t asked Asahina-san about it. But alas, I had to do it in order to maintain the delicate balance between the past and the future, since it was decided a long time ago that the SOS Brigade would have an activity this weekend.
Now going on that stupid treasure hunt just for the sake of maintaining the balance, this I can understand. What Asahina-san (Big)’s orders were for, however, this I could not fathom. I was sure that Asahina-san (Michiru) didn’t understand them either. Oh whatever. If put in terms of loss and gain, we would probably end up with a neutral zero anyway – the loss would balance out the gain.
Wait a second. I think the loss outweighs the gain.
Trying very hard to keep my emotions in check, I sat at the table without uttering a single word.
Haruhi, who was by now completely obsessed with mountains, was still busy adding items to the already massive list of equipment. The entire white board was so full that Asahina-san was having a hard time squeezing in the items Haruhi mentioned.
“Haruhi, we’re not planning to scale the Himalayas. The most we’d probably need is a GPS tracker. It would enable us to communicate with the outer world in terms of danger, and make rescue operations swifter by pin-pointing our exact location.”
Tsuruya-san laughed as she said, “I remember that I used to run around that mountain when I was young. It’s perfectly safe ~nyoro! There aren’t even grizzly bears there!”
Haruhi flashed Tsuruya-san a smile as she replied: “Thanks a lot, Tsuruya-san. We’ll be counting on you should we run into any trouble.”
So you weren’t serious about all that stuff after all?
Haruhi spun the cane in her hand as she said,
“Everyone, I think that’s all for the preparations. We should definitely work harder for Tsuruya-san’s sake, and unearth the great treasure her great-grand-ancestor left for us!”
For some strange reason, I felt oddly calm. Perhaps it was due to Haruhi’s melancholy disappearing as she once again looked at me with those bright, sparkling eyes. I felt strangely at peace with myself, as if all feelings of anxiety had suddenly evaporated. But was that all? Why in the world would I feel so relaxed even though I knew I would go on a fruitless treasure hunt tomorrow?
Oh well, I can’t afford to put too much thought into it. As long as it makes me feel better, who cares what the reason is.
Haruhi must have decided on this treasure hunt long before the meeting, as she had borrowed an entire lot of books, brochures and even novels about the warring periods. According to Tsuruya-san, her ancestor was also filthy rich (I think he was the village chief or a famous salesman). Having nothing better to do, we all began speculating as to what the buried treasure could have been.
Actually, our “speculation” was no more than simple discussion and guess work, but before we knew it, an hour had already passed, and so today’s emergency meeting came to a close.
And since we’re on the topic of speculations, Haruhi’s speculations were “If it were really some old Genroku period coins, I would be bored beyond belief! Let’s all hope it’s something interesting!” and that kind of mumbo-jumbo.
When Nagato shut her book tight, all of us knew that it was time for today’s activities to come to a close. All of us brigade members, together with Tsuruya-san, then proceeded to make our way back home. As we walked down the hill, I tried valiantly to start a conversation with Tsuruya-san, but to no avail. Haruhi and Tsuruya-san were both walking up front, as they energetically discussed about the mountain. Shortly behind them was Asahina-san, foll
owed by the silent Nagato, before ending with me and Koizumi at the back. I had wanted to ask Tsuruya-san about how Asahina-san (Michiru) was doing, but I didn’t want Haruhi to overhear it.
Ah, forget it. I’ll have to call Asahina-san later anyway. And since none of those three letters could be conveyed fully through speech, it was only logical that I pay her a visit, seeing that one of those letters required us to do a little preparation. Thinking about this, I felt as if acid had burned a large hole through my wallet. It always seemed that there was only cash flowing out; none ever flowed in.
I was really impressed with Tsuruya-san. Her ability to strike up conversations with Haruhi and Asahina-san, while not spilling the beans about how an exact double was sitting right in her house, was just remarkable. I guess that’s to be expected of Tsuruya-san. So that’s what it’s like to be a sempai, huh.
As Nagato’s apartment loomed near, I knew that it was time to say goodbye, seeing that this was the regular spot where SOS Brigade members parted.
“See you guys tomorrow! The last one to arrive will be punished!”
Waving furiously, Haruhi said her goodbyes, as each of us headed in our separate directions. Now all that was left was to fake going home.
I walked until I was far beyond anyone’s sight before I took out my cell phone. Just to be safe, I hid in one of those dark alleys behind houses as I punched in Tsuruya-san’s residence number.
After notifying the maid of my name, Asahina-san was put on the line shortly after.
“Hello, Kyon-kun? It’s me.”
I thought of Asahina-san’s figure as she sat alone in Tsuruya-san’s large residence.
“I got more of those things again. You know, the letters?”
“Umm, yeah… What are we supposed to do this time…?”
From the way she ended her sentence, I could tell that she was very nervous.
“Well, about that, I thought that maybe it would be better if you and I had a little chat about it, since it states that I’ll be free for today and tomorrow. I’m going to be really busy after that, though.”
Volume 7 - The Intrigues of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 14
