“Oh… It’s all right, I understand…”
So what do I do next?
“There’s another city-wide search on Saturday and Sunday. If memory serves me right, you were acting pretty strange then, Kyon-kun…”
I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that. I’ll probably be really tired after tomorrow, so I don’t think I’ll have enough energy remaining to force myself to act weird.
“We’ll talk about this later. I’ll head over to your place right now. Tsuruya-san should be home any time now.”
After that, I hung up, as I quickened my pace to Tsuruya-san’s residence, ushered on by the piercing cold winter wind.
The person to answer the doorbell today was yet again Tsuruya-san. She was still clad in her sailor uniform, apparently not even bothered to change as she reached home.
“I had a feeling you would come.”
Tsuruya-san said as she waved at me while opening the door, revealing a large grin on her face.
“What are you planning to do? She can’t be staring at my house’s ceiling forever you know.”
Well, I know it sounds weird, but please bear with it for a few more days. Asahina-san should be able to go back to where she came from after that.
“Oh don’t get me wrong. I’m fine with having her in my house. She’s just so cute! Compared to the Mikuru in school, she’s so much cuter! Don’t you think so? She’s so cute that I want to hug her as I sleep ~nyoro.”
Don’t tell me Tsuruya-san already did that. Oh, how I admire her!
“That’s not all. Michiru’s so cute that you just want to bathe together with her. But whenever I say so, all she does is make a pained expression and say ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea…’ That just makes her even cuter than usual! Although you kinda sympathize with her afterwards. But I guess that’s nothing to worry about.”
10 Tsuruya-san lives in a big mansion, so big that it has to be divided into few different parts. There is the main house, omoya, and the guest house, koya. The original romaji were kept in order to maintain a more ‘Japanese’ feel to it.
Tsuruya-san then brought me to the koya[10]. Just like I expected, Asahina-san was inside. What I didn’t expect, though, was her wearing a woven kimono while kneeling down on the tatami mats.
“Kyon-kun…”
Upon seeing me, Asahina-san revealed a relieved expression. Now that’s a pretty cute expression too. As she got up and bowed towards me, I felt that there was nothing more beautiful than that scene in the entire world.
As I tried my best to wrench my eyes away from that sight and close the door behind me, I suddenly heard Tsuruya-san’s evil monomaniacal laughter ring out from behind. From her looks, I knew that she had lots of questions to ask me. So…
“Tsuruya-san, I’m sorry, but could you give the two of us a moment, please? A little while will do.”
“Hmm…?”
Tsuruya-san said as she peered over my shoulders at Asahina-san.
“The both of you? Alone? Together? In such a small space? Hohoho, I’m fine with that ~nyoro.”
Upon hearing Tsuruya-san’s words, Asahina-san’s face blushed bright red. Apparently this was the effect Tsuruya-san was waiting for, as she patted my shoulders and said,
“Well then, I guess I’ll go and change then. Fufufu, have fun chatting ~nyoro.”
And with that, Tsuruya-san strode elegantly towards the main house, leaving the both of us behind. After I had confirmed that she had indeed left, I plopped down on the floor, my body feeling as stiff as the very mats I was sitting on. Come on now, relax.
Now isn’t the time to think of that. For now, let’s just concentrate on what we came here for.
“These are the letters I mentioned earlier on the phone. I just received them this morning.”
I said as I took out the letters #3 and #4. I wouldn’t show her #6 for the time being, since I was the only recipient mentioned in the letter. I’m guessing that #6 is the last letter. There probably wouldn’t be any other letters in the future. Oh and as for #5, let’s just forget about that for the moment.
This is what #3 had to say:
11 Also known as Matthiola Incana, these plants may be white, yellow, red or purple.
“Two days later (Saturday), please head to the footbridge on ** street in ** district before dusk and face south. You should see some common stock[11] growing there. Please pick up the object beneath it and send it to the following address anonymously. Just so you know, that object is a mini transmitter.”
There was a separate paper attached, and on it was an address far away. There was also a drawing of what appeared to be the transmitter in question. By looking at the drawing alone, I wondered exactly what kind of transmitter this was. It didn’t look like something a normal human would draw.
Now for #4:
“Near the stream with the cherry blossom trees, you should recall a very familiar bench. Go there before 10:45 AM on Sunday. Bring along a small turtle with you. Before 10:50 AM, throw the aforementioned turtle into the lake. The turtle’s species doesn’t matter, but smaller ones are preferred.”
There was yet another paper attached with this letter too. This time, there was a picture of a cute little turtle blowing bubbles while waving towards me. On it were the words “Please take good care of me~”. The entire picture was done in a cartoonish style.
There was another thing #3 and #4 had in common: Both of them shared a same postscript. P/S: Remember to bring Asahina Michiru with you, and make sure it’s only the two of you. Finally, there was the line of orders only Asahina-san could understand.
Asahina-san studied both letters carefully. After finishing the second page of #4, she sighed.
“I don’t understand… Why turtles?”
What the heck was throwing a turtle into a stream in such cold weather supposed to mean? Whoever understood that must not be normal. The only thing that I knew was the bench, the one that Asahina-san had confessed to me about being a time traveler.
“But, we’ve got no choice…”
Asahina-san said as she studied the contents carefully again, before raising her head in determination.
“We don’t know what’s going on now, but there has to be a reason we’ve been asked to do this. If we don’t do it…”
For a moment, I detected a glimpse of sadness in Asahina-san’s eyes.
I could guess what came after “If we don’t do it…” That’s right, if we don’t do it, what purpose would sending Asahina-san back in time serve?
I wanted to hug Asahina-san tightly and tell her everything was all right, but in the end I didn’t do it. One of the reasons was due to my conscience. Another was due to Tsuruya-san’s needle-like stares suddenly popping out in my mind.
“Erm, you know, Asahina-san…” I mumbled, trying to drive away all evil intent from my mind.
“There’s another city-wide search this Saturday and Sunday right? If so, how am I supposed to follow these orders?”
Before dusk, huh. What a miserably fuzzy time. No one in the SOS Brigade was weird enough to mention such a time. How was I supposed to excuse myself?
“So should I find an excuse not to go?”
“No, Kyon-kun. You were present that day too.”
Asahina-san said as she folded away the very important letter.
“As usual, we were separated into two teams by drawing lots. I just remembered… Nagato-san, Suzumiya-san and I were paired together on Saturday morning and Kyon-kun with Koizumi-kun, while Suzumiya-san, Koizumi-kun and I were paired together during Saturday afternoon and Kyon-kun with Nagato-san…”
Asahina-san said as she nodded her head gently, as if confirming her memories.
“During Sunday morning, Suzumiya-san, Koizumi-san and I were once again paired up, while Kyon-kun was again paired with Nagato-san. Since we each went our separate ways before noon, there wouldn’t be a second draw… Eh?”
Asahina-san stopped abruptly through her speech, as if sharing the
same thoughts as I did.
It was too perfect to be called a coincidence. What was the possibility of that happening anyway?
If what Asahina-san said was true, then I would be paired together with Nagato twice. Since we had five members, two of us were destined to be paired together in a two-people group. I needed to be paired in one of those two-people groups at least twice in three tries. I’m not going to start calculating the probability of that happening, but even so, I knew that it was pretty low.
Speaking of which, I was sure that Nagato knew a little about the situation. If it’s drawing lots, I’m sure it would be no big deal for Nagato. All I have to do is ask her while she places her order at the café.
“So, what should we do?”
Asahina-san said as she revealed a face that severely lacked confidence.
But if things don’t go according to what Asahina-san said, then I would be in a bigger mess than I was currently in now. Was it really okay to ask Nagato to help me? Or rather, was it really necessary? According to Asahina-san’s memories, a time traveler that came from one week into the future, I would be paired in a two-person group all three times. Would it be possible for things to turn up different than what she said? Or would everything happen naturally? Even if I just sat back and relaxed, would I still be paired together with Nagato in a two-person group? Or did that happen because I requested for it to happen?
Gah, what am I worrying about? Asahina-san probably had no way of knowing if my future self had requested help from Nagato before, so…
“We’ll go ask Nagato for help.” I said. “Even though it’s not fair asking for her assistance while concealing something behind our backs, we have no choice. The slightest mistake may result in large consequences, so it’s better to be on the safe side. I’m sure Nagato understands.”
“That’s what I had in mind too.”
Asahina-san said while agreeing readily.
“During the city-wide patrol, Kyon-kun, you had a weird expression on your face. I think I now know why. You must have been thinking about the drawing of the lots.”
What did “weird” refer to anyway? What expression should I wear then?
“Erm… You know… Weird as in… weird.”
Asahina-san’s answer still left me in the dark, but I don’t blame her. How are you going to describe “What type of weird” anyway?
“I’m sorry, I have no idea how to explain it to you…”
There’s no need to apologize, Asahina-san. Besides, this is a pretty trivial matter.
“But… Oh wait, I just remembered something. During the Sunday search, while Suzumiya-san, Koizumi-kun and I were at the book store…”
Whatever Asahina-san had to say seemed pretty important, as she placed her fingers on her forehead, trying her best to recall the incident.
“Suzumiya-san received a prank call.”
Who called her?
“Kyon-kun, you did.”
I did? During desperate times like this, my future self still had the time to prank call Haruhi?
“Ah, Suzumiya-san said something like, ‘That Kyon, calling me all of a sudden just to tell me a lame joke!’ after she hung up at around 11 AM.”
So I did another weird thing, eh. That is to say after I chucked a poor little turtle into the stream, I would prank call Haruhi and tell her some lousy joke.
“What did the joke sound like? Did Haruhi say anything?”
“She didn’t say anything about it, but as we gathered for lunch, you apologized to her about it, Kyon-kun.”
So I go from performing weird acts to betraying my own moral code, eh? Why in the world would I apologize to Haruhi?
“Kyon-kun, you said, ‘I’m sorry for cracking such a lame joke.’”
This is getting even weirder. Bowing my head, apologizing so sincerely to Haruhi… What could possibly make that happen?
When I tried to press for further information, all Asahina-san did was shake her head. It appeared that Haruhi didn’t continue pressing the matter anymore, as we then proceeded to chat about other events.
I give up. Knowing that I would commit such unthinkable acts in the future was bad enough, but not knowing why I had to do them was even worse. Can someone please piece together the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle and tell me what is going on?
“Now about that turtle…”
I said as I held letter #4.
“During a time like this, it’s practically impossible to find a turtle crawling around on the road or something. How are we supposed to find one?”
I didn’t have the heart to dig up a hibernating turtle from beneath the ground. I would probably have enough digging to do tomorrow. Or did it so happen that we stumbled upon a hibernating turtle instead of buried treasure?
“No. We didn’t find anything that day, be it treasure or turtles.”
So that is to say our merry treasure hunt tomorrow would turn out to be nothing more than a hike, eh.
“We have no other choice but to purchase one.”
I suddenly recalled that there was a pet store in the local supermarket nearby. It was the same pet shop I would frequent to buy Shamisen’s food. I remember seeing turtles that were meant to be used for experiments being sold in there before. Why not purchase one on my way home? But wait, there was no way I could bring a turtle together with me while the SOS Brigade gathers, could I? Oh well, guess that can’t be helped. I’ll just have to leave it in Asahina-san’s care then.
Thinking of the many preparations I would have to do over this weekend, I suddenly felt as if my weekend had vanished into thin air.
After that, Asahina-san and I discussed where and when we should meet on Saturday and Sunday. After all of our basic preparations were complete, I slowly got up.
Asahina-san walked me to the door, which, upon opening, revealed a plain-clothed Tsuruya-san standing outside in the cold waiting for us.
“Ara, ara, that little moment sure was long! Let’s not mince words, shall we? Spit it out, Kyon-kun, did you do anything in there?”
Tsuruya-san said as she laughed madly. She couldn’t have peeped through the doors, could she? It’s a good thing she didn’t continue to press on any further. Hiding things from women is just not my specialty.
I pretended to smile as I quickly made my leave. Asahina-san’s beet red face continued to remain in my mind, even after the Tsuruya Residence had long disappeared from my sight.
Chapter 4
The second morning, I was awakened by my little sister, who came to shut off my alarm.
“It’s noisy, isn’t it Shami?”
My sister seized a curled-up Shamisen, hugged him close, and then put that pile of fur on my nose, asking,
“It’s breakfast~~. Are you gonna eat~?”
This voice, which belongs to a tone-deaf person who constantly practices singing in order to get better at it, irritated my brain more than the alarm did.
“I’m eating.”
I brushed away the claws my sister was playing with and picked myself up. Then I lifted Shamisen from my sister’s wrist and shifted him down off my bed. Being the bothersome cat he is, he ‘hmphed’ and jumped right back onto my bed.
So then I changed, with my sister standing off to the side pinching Shamisen’s furry cheeks. He immediately resisted and started to scamper away with a ‘pata pata’, only to have two hands latch onto his tail. So he let out a complaining ‘gnnyaa!’ and promptly escaped by running out of my room, my sister in pursuit. Since they started this noise first thing in the morning, I was awake in no time at all.
As I walked out of my room and started to wash my face, I saw my sister crooning ‘Kitty scarf~’ while draping Shamisen on the back of her neck. Shamisen clung to my sister’s woolen sweater, trying to defy her as best he could. Accordingly, I decided to calmly ignore them.
I brushed my teeth while looking at my oh-so-lively face in the mirror and wondering what day today was, all the while aimlessly thinking about random stuff, like the
cold wind outside. The freezing gales outside were sort of like omens. I guessed spring was almost here. If possible, I’d like to be a freshman for a while longer, in the year where nobody knows me yet — not if it involves repeating a year, though. Also, I hoped the weather won’t get colder. I don’t mind digging for treasure, or wandering around the city, but I did want it to become warmer. It’s February already. February.
But, if someone had told Haruhi about this activity any other month, we would have had to do it then. Good thing nobody told Haruhi about going diving for sunken treasure or something. Yes, keep it like this.
After eating breakfast, I realized that I would be climbing up that mountain again, so I put on my jacket, then I walked to the station. I didn’t ride my bike, since we’re going to the Tsuruya family’s mountain. It’s just a bus ride, and obviously meeting at the mountain itself would have allowed us to get started earlier. This method of gathering one by one is obviously pointless, as proven by experience.
12 Kyon is refering to the Aesop fable where the Wind and the Sun decide who is stronger.
One side of my head was taking a bath in something that seemed like the North Wind in all its glory doing battle with the sun[12], so I hid my face in my scarf and walked forwards. I didn’t walk especially fast, but this wasn’t because I had lots of time until the deadline, but because even if I’m on time, I’m always the last one to arrive. It usually goes like that. The only time I’ve ever been the person waiting for the others was that one time.
So, when I finally got to the train station, it was already 5 before 9. The other SOS members had assembled already, and were all staring at me.
Haruhi’s face looked like she was going to pass Divine Judgment on me.
“Why are you always late?! I had hoped that when I got here, everybody would be gathered and waiting for me. Don’t you feel ashamed for making the Brigade leader wait?”
One person who understands my pain is obviously not you. You always say something about the other three people arriving before you, leaving me as the only one to arrive after. Some comment along the lines of me not having to pay for everyone’s drinks is just because you said I didn’t have to. So, then you’d say you wish I would reflect on this.
Volume 7 - The Intrigues of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 15
