Volume 7 - The Intrigues of Suzumiya Haruhi

by Tanigawa Nagaru

  That can’t be helped, since I don’t want to go on any grand vacations. Taking many things into account, I actually prefer to stay here.

  “That’s a pity. To tell you the truth, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there too.”

  It must feel bad to have so little opportunity to use your long-awaited powers. Maybe you should go to your boss and ask for a little bonus; go on vacation or something.

  “Let’s think about this together. The person who has to tell the boss about this proposal must be extremely brave.”

  Like throwing a baseball around, Koizumi and I tossed words at each other. We were already at the same farm path as the one I saw two days ago. Haruhi, Nagato and Asahina-san, who went down ahead, stood in a line waiting for us. The three of them, standing shoulder to shoulder, were colored gold by the setting sun. If an impressionist artist saw them like that, he would probably start drawing. After gazing at the three of them for not quite long enough,

  “We don’t need to go back to the station. Everybody’s dismissed now.”

  Haruhi took the shovel from me, and a contented smile floated onto her face.

  “That was fun. It’s actually quite good to occasionally come out into the outdoors. Even though there wasn’t any treasure, there’s no need to be depressed. We already found some, since someday in the future, we will look back and love this day. And we have to tell Tsuruya-san. Maybe next time we’ll find a dynasty map.”

  I’d go for treasure any time, but please, no more maps. I’m also going to tell Tsuruya-san that if she ever finds such a thing, don’t give it to Haruhi.

  I gazed at Haruhi’s back as she bounced down the street with the two shovels in her hands. I really couldn’t say anything that expressed anger. Her melancholic stage in the classroom, I still don’t know if that was just my misunderstanding. Anyway, it’s good that she’s back to her normal self. The strange peacefulness was just leading up to her explosion. During that time, she was storing up all her energy inside and, therefore, can never settle her mind. Eh? Why does it seem like I’m talking to myself?

  As we walked down the road that led to North High, we were all still together. Then, just as we got to the place where we usually split up, Haruhi, like she just remembered something, waved towards me.

  “Ah, right. Meet at the station tomorrow too. Same time as today, no problem?”

  Well, it’s not too good, but couldn’t you have said something before?

  Haruhi looked at me and coldly smiled. What, what’s with that smile?

  “We’re going to search the city. You can’t even come for a little while?”

  Even though we obviously can’t reject it, Haruhi pretended to be confirming everyone’s reply and walked around us in a circle.

  “Understood. Don’t be late, everyone. The last person,”

  After she took a deep, cold breath, Haruhi said something she says every time.

  “Will be fined!”

  I returned to my room. First I turned the heating on, then I took out my cell phone.

  Like we had a scheduled meeting, the place I phoned was Tsuruya-san’s house. The maid who answered the phone was very polite. I’ve already gotten used to this switching around. The number of times I’ve called her has already surpassed the number of times I’ve called Koizumi.

  “It’s me.”

  “Ah, yes. It’s me. Michiru……Erm, Mikuru.”

  “Tsuruya-san’s not home right now?”

  “No… She went out today. Said her family had something to take care of.”

  I think it’s probably better not to ask too much about where Tsuruya-san is, or what she’s doing.

  “Asahina-san, it happened today.”

  “Treasure hunt…?”

  “Even though we didn’t find anything.”

  I heard Asahina-san breath a sigh of relief.

  “That’s good. It followed exactly what I remember… I was just worrying that if something different happened, what I was going to do.”

  I put the phone close to my ear and wrinkled my brow like I was thinking about something.

  “What do you mean, something different? If it’s the past, shouldn’t it be the same no matter where you go?”

  “Ah… yeah. That, that, that is true, but……”

  It seemed as though I could see the helpless Asahina-san holding the phone.

  “It’s a very strange thing. Um, I don’t fully understand it, but…”

  As I listened to Asahina-san’s quiet voice, I remembered something. I remembered that I’ve already been to December the eighteenth several times. I remembered the twin circles on the white board. If I think about it, is where something starts and ends always the same? What she doesn’t know is what I don’t know. Nagato changing the world, what really happened there? According to Koizumi, there were two December the eighteenths. If there are two of one time, that’s very troublesome, so then we fixed it back to the way it was before, so this time is the correct one, er, it should be…

  What actually ha-. Last month, I saved an elementary student from getting into a car accident. That event with the glasses wearing elementary student must’ve been fate. But what about the vehicle? They did it to mess up the order of time. Who is it that wanted to kill the kid?

  Who is it that wants to destroy the fabric of time, and pit themselves against the protectors, the time travelers, represented by Asahina-san? Whatever shall I do if that person is a time traveler as well? The only people who will be able to resist him will be time travelers.

  I understand what you’re saying, Asahina-san (Big). Is there anything you wish for me to do?

  “Sorry, Kyon-kun.”

  Asahina-san said listlessly.

  “Because this is Classified Information, there’s lots of things I want to tell you, but can’t. And I don’t know any important details… Kyon-kun, I…”

  As I felt Asahina-san start to cry, I hurriedly said,

  “So, about tomorrow.”

  As Asahina-san said before, Haruhi wants to go on a city search again tomorrow. Tomorrow, Saturday, I must follow exactly what it says in letter #3. I need to find a place where we can meet and Asahina-san (Mikuru) won’t see us.

  “Asahina-san, if it’s possible, can you change your look a little bit?”

  “My look?”

  From hearing her sniffing, I could imagine her crying body.

  “Sunglasses… would be a bit unnatural for this season. You shouldn’t stand out too much if you wear a mask. Can you manage this kind of change?”

  “Ah, yes. I’ll get Tsuruya-san to help me.”

  “Then the time. When do we disperse tomorrow?”

  “Er-m.”

  Asahina-san can remember the time.

  “Exactly five o’clock. We met at around three. Then everyone went to a coffee shop…”

  I took out letter #3 from my desk, and opened it. The place it instructed me to go to was only about ten minutes from the station. Even if I take fifteen minutes, that’s still only half an hour.

  I’ll stay at Tsuruya-san’s in the morning, go searching in the afternoon and then go to the appointed spot to meet Asahina-san. I guess that works.

  After making this extensive schedule for me and Asahina-san, I told her about the place and time she and I would meet.

  “Then, see you tomorrow, look after yourself. Please try not to wear anything too conspicuous. Ah, and,”

  There were dark clouds in my heart as I said this.

  “Also, if it’s possible, can you get Tsuruya-san to come with you? Just tell her I asked for a favor. Um, ah, no, it’s not to get her involved in this. Don’t worry. Just, I want her to escort you there…”

  From Tsuruya-san’s house to the rendezvous point, Asahina-san has to go back and forth all by herself. That will be hard on her. I don’t know why, but I always think there’s danger. It’s best not to let her walk by herself.

  “Yes. I’ll ask her.”

  Since it’s Tsuruya-sa
n, she’ll see through me in an instant. I’m looking forward to her reply.

  I hung up the phone and immediately called Nagato, since there are a couple more things to ask her to do.

  But.

  “Huh?”

  Surprisingly, the line was busy.

  Who is Nagato talking to? Apart from a salesman, I don’t think anyone would phone her. I guess I’ll phone her later. As I felt sorry for myself, who had to phone everyone, I put the cell phone off to the side and changed. I put the pants that were covered in dirt into the washing machine, started it, and then phoned.

  This time someone picked up.

  “It’s me.”

  “…”

  As usual, Nagato’s silence greeted me.

  “About tomorrow, I want to ask for a favor. Tomorrow’s search teams will be chosen by straws, right? Tomorrow and the day after that, I want you to help me do something.”

  “Is that so.”

  Nagato said in a cool, clear voice.

  “It is. Tomorrow afternoon and the day after that’s first pick, can I be in your group?”

  “……………………”

  A long silence.

  “Okay.”

  I’m not sure if she’s agreeing with me, so I tried to confirm it.

  “Can you do it?”

  “I understand.”

  “Thank you, Nagato.”

  “No need.”

  “If I may ask, when I called you a little while ago, the line was busy. Who was the other person?”

  Another of Nagato’s long silences. I am now worried that something is going on with her and someone I know.

  “Suzumiya Haruhi.”

  Maybe it’d be better if I didn’t know the person.

  “You two talked on the phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did she phone you, did she have something to talk to you about?”

  “…………”

  A third silence. My sense of hearing became keen, even the hand holding the phone sensed it. Nagato only said one line in reply.

  “Not telling.”

  What day is today, Nagato shocked me. I never thought Nagato would ever say that. Like I was blocked, I suddenly became silent.

  “It’s better if you don’t know.”

  Don’t say that kind of scary phrase. That’s the most unnerving phrase in the world.

  “…Don’t worry.”

  I can feel the hesitation behind her words. Like she’s contemplating whether or not she should tell me. It’s really worrying me.

  “Did Haruhi tell you not to tell?”

  “Yes.”

  That means Haruhi is planning something, and then forced Nagato to follow along, so they can’t tell me. Even though I don’t know what’s really going on, but if it’s something that requires Nagato to keep a secret, it must be something big. I guess that’s why we’re going on this search.

  I confirmed tomorrow’s actions with Nagato, who wasn’t really listening, and hung up the phone.

  Give me a break. This is a busy week. Even the days before a math, physics or history exam can’t compare to the business of this week.

  “That Haruhi, what’s she up to this time…?”

  If I think of it this way, my only partner left is Koizumi. Haruhi, Nagato and even Asahina-san are doing things I didn’t expect of them. Ah, Tsuruya-san is too. No matter what happens, to all intents and purposes, males cannot win against females. Maybe it’s because of the extra X chromosome. Who taught me this lesson of life?

  I lay on the bed, stretched out my arms and legs, and prayed that the next week would pass calmly.

  Chapter 5

  On the morning of the next day (Saturday)-

  Because I was never really good at manual labor, I found my body aching all over, no thanks to Haruhi. Fortunately, I didn’t dream of anything weird last night, and due to that I had a nice, deep sleep.

  I placed letter #3 into the pocket of my outer coat and proceeded to fetch my bicycle. Cold winds blew through the streets, and it appeared that today would be a cold day too.

  Due to the rising incidents of illegal parking, the authorities had decided to build a whole new parking lot in front of the train station. Anyone could park their bicycles inside if they purchased a ticket. After parking my bicycle, I proceeded towards the station, and found out that, unsurprisingly, I was again the last one to arrive. Asahina-san looked like a new kind of adorable pet, wearing a warm, cozy outfit while waiting for my arrival. Koizumi wore one of those elegant smiles that was bound to get at least one out of five high school girls’ heads turning, and Nagato wore her sailor suit as usual, coupled with her cardigan and a hat, standing there quietly without uttering a word.

  With a scarf wrapped around her neck, Haruhi pointed her finger towards me and said, “We’ve been waiting for a long time, Kyon. Thirty seconds, to be exact.”

  Oh that’s too bad. If only I had parked my bicycle somewhere else instead of in the new parking lot, it would be the first city-wide search where I wasn’t the last one to arrive. Or maybe I just wanted Haruhi to treat us.

  “If that were the case, I would definitely treat all of you. But before that, let me make this clear: I do not like winding up last for anything, be it mock examinations, a race, or a meeting like this! I would rather sleep here overnight than be late.”

  14 The tachi is a Japanese long sword which is slightly longer than a katana. It was used primarily on horseback, where it was able to be drawn efficiently for cutting down enemy footsoldiers. However, on the ground, while it was still an effective weapon, it was nevertheless awkward to use. This is why its companion, the uchigatana (the predecessor of the katana) was developed.

  Haruhi announced this with a big, energetic smile, like a knight eagerly awaiting a challenge. Indeed, the Haruhi before me looked as if she could knock down any foe before her while swinging a tachi[14]. She should really learn to concentrate that overwhelming enthusiasm of hers into more useful endeavors. As I was thinking about what she could have done with her enthusiasm, Haruhi had already forcefully pulled me and the other brigade members to the coffee house.

  “Even though we didn’t find anything yesterday,” Haruhi said while chugging down her hot drink, “We should think about it for a moment. The SOS Brigade’s goal is not to find some ancient relic, but rather extraordinary events, like for instance some mysterious object left behind by a time traveler from the future. This town just reeks of time travelers! I’m sure we’ll be able to find something today!”

  Isn’t the town a little bit too big a scope?

  “It’s not a matter of how big the town is, but rather how advanced, how populated it is that time travelers will mostly take into consideration.”

  “…Just forget it.”

  I give up. What’s this have to do with how advanced a town is, or how heavily populated it is? Haruhi’s “extraordinary events” were those that didn’t appear on a schedule, and nobody knew when they would happen, or what they would be for that matter. Under these circumstances, all we could do was wait for the predetermined events to happen.

  From my point of view, I didn’t “discover” these extraordinary events, but was rather “forced to discover” these events instead. All I could do was do what I was told, and that’s all because… I mean, thanks, to you.

  As I was busy thinking back on what had happened during my past experiences, Haruhi had already marked the toothpicks with a ballpoint pen, and was ushering everyone to make their picks. “In order to speed things up, we’ll divide into two groups. There are two toothpicks with marks, and three without marks.”

  I instinctively looked at the sailor-suit clad Nagato, who was quietly sipping away at her fruit juice, while studying the menu before her. If I couldn’t be grouped together with Nagato, that was all right.

  Everything would be fine as long as I was grouped together with Koizumi.

  “Come on, draw your lot!”

  Haruhi said as she sho
ved five toothpicks in my face.

  “Are you hesitating because you’re not willing to be in a same group with someone? Hohoho. Who’d you like to be with then? You’re so childish!”

  Haruhi’s smile resembled that of my neighbor, who in turn resembled a certain man-eating female ghost who lived in the attic. Thinking back about it, according to Asahina-san (Michiru), I would be grouped together with Koizumi. That means that I would have to pick a marked toothpick, and the probability of doing so was 2 out of 5. According to the basic principles of probability, there was a higher chance of me picking an unmarked toothpick than a marked one. What if the principles of probability overrode Asahina-san’s memory? If I indeed picked an unmarked toothpick, what could I do to tie up the present to Asahina-san’s future?

  Oh well, there was probably nothing I could do about it. Faced with a silent, thinking, unmoving me, Haruhi passed the toothpicks to the other three brigade members. After the others had made their picks, I was left with the final 2 toothpicks. I nervously glanced at the toothpick in Koizumi’s hand. In his hand, Koizumi elegantly grasped a marked toothpick.

  Now only Haruhi and I have yet to draw lots. Since Haruhi had a habit of picking the last lot, it would mean that it was my turn to draw a lot.

  Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I reached for Haruhi’s fist and concentrated for about ten seconds.

  “That’s a bit over the top, no?” Haruhi said with a bewildered expression on her face. That’s what it may seem to you, but to me, it was more like sacred ritual. If everything didn’t go as Asahina-san had said, I would be in trouble.

  “Oh, whatever!” I yelled as my hand flew forward at godlike speed. I can’t remember if it was my left hand or my right, all I remember was that I grabbed a lot based purely on intuition. But apparently that wasn’t a good thing to do, as in my anxiety, I accidentally pulled both toothpicks out of Haruhi’s fist.

  Watching the two toothpicks fly out of Haruhi’s fist, I initially thought, ‘It’s over.’ Suddenly, one of the toothpicks fell on the table and began spinning horizontally. As I searched frantically for the second toothpick, I gazed up, only to see Haruhi grab it in midair.