“How is it?”
“Today’s the same as yesterday, nothing has changed at all.”
Koizumi answered me with his usual smile.
“Maybe I’ve been inferring too much from this. Nagato-san and Asahina-san didn’t seem to have any special reaction to Sasaki-san either. I just hope this type of Closed space is just a one time thing.”
It’s already been quite a few days since the new year has started, Nagato and Asahina-san haven’t even mentioned my old classmate once. But this is only natural after all, since I’ll go crazy if I have to take precautionary measures every time if i want to talk to an old friend.
“You don’t need to do that, as long as that person isn’t Sasaki-san. It’ll only be a problem if it’s her.”
She’s just someone who’s a little eccentric. Plus, we ran into each other by coincidence.
“I can raise both hands in agreement. That’s what I believe too. It’s a fact that is already clear to us, no further explanation needed. What I’m worried about is the one who misunderstood, and those who’re deliberately using this misunderstanding.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I don’t think Kunikida or Nakagawa have any use for that at all.
“Those two friends of your’s should be ok, but-”
Koizumi took off his bag from his shoulder and shrugged.
“Never mind, let’s just forget about that. I just hope it’s a bad hunch. Oh, you don’t need to worry about Sasaki-san. The “Organization” would never do anything to endanger her safety, there’s no reason to.”
Isn’t that obvious? What the heck are you talking about?
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to eliminate your worries, but it seems like that was unnecessary.”
Koizumi turned his head back to the front, with a melancholic smile on his face. If some junior girl were to see that look, she’ll probably turn to mush. I followed him and turned my eyes back to the front and saw the back of Nagato’s head, Haruhi and Asahina-san are walking in front of her while talking cheerfully.
And so, we followed our normal routine and went our separate ways at Koyoen station.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Haruhi gave me a look that said “Can’t you come early for once?” and left first, with her skirt and ribbon fluttering in the wind. Asahina-san waved goodbye and followed our brigade leader. When I turned back to look for Nagato, I could see her small figure far away in the direction of her apartment.
“I hope nothing happens tomorrow.”
Koizumi said that in a monologue tone. That’s what I thought too…
But Koizumi was too naive, and so was I.
The situation is still advancing steadily, it’s just that no one has noticed it. But the fact is that it already started a long time ago. It’s dragging everybody in one by one, starting from me. It’s not just the SOS brigade either, Kunikida, Taniguchi, Nakagawa, Sasaki, and those who I know and don’t are all being dragged into it.
I still need some time for me to realize what is really going on. Tomorrow? No way it’s that fast. But you can say that something close to an omen happened on that day.
Was it just a coincidence, or was it a fated encounter? Maybe it was a part of someone’s plan….
The next day, that Saturday morning, 9am. I met in front of the station two of my former acquaintances and was, also, introduced to someone who I have never seen before. I was also told that someone else I know is lurking just around the corner…
That day, I was somehow able to wake up earlier than my sister who uses the alarm clock every day. I followed my new daily routine of pushing the sleeping Shamisen off my pillow, and got up myself.
My body felt refreshed; a feeling that I haven’t had for a long time for a holiday’s morning. My feet and hands seem to be lighter too. Seems like not relying on an alarm or my sister to wake up in the morning would be the key to living a long life.
I sneaked out of my bedroom and ate a breakfast absent my sister’s usual ruckus, then got changed and started to ride my bike towards the station. It sure is early, just a little past 8am. I may be able to arrive before Haruhi if I keep this up. Maybe Koizumi would purposely be the last one to arrive and save me the trouble. It’s not too bad for Haruhi to cover the cost for a change, but compared to the measly change in a high school student’s wallet, that “Organization” must have amassed plenty of funds. So Koizumi’s pay should be pretty good.
Just when I was riding along the road in an elated mood, the pink petals that carpeted the road caught my attention. Looks like it’ll only take one more night of rain and it’ll be the end of this year’s cherry blossom season.
I got off my bike near the station and looked around. I got the feeling that Sasaki would pop out of nowhere. But it’s only natural for that self-proclaimed old close friend of mine to be nowhere in sight. I let out a sigh of relief. Koizumi, it doesn’t really make a difference to me, but it seems like you don’t need to be worried about it anymore.
I looked at my watch, it was still more than 30 minutes before 9am. I really did come early today.
I hummed while I parked my bike in a pay parking space, then walked leisurely towards the meeting spot and discovered that no one was there yet.
But there was no time for me to form a satisfied smile. On the contrary, even the sunlight filled morning seemed to have gotten darker.
“Hey, Kyon-”
Sasaki greeted me with the smile of someone who has successfully surprised another.
“We meet again. This really makes me happy. Maybe it’s different for you, but I really hoped something like this would happen. Although rather than happy, I’m actually more intrigued by it.”
I stood there like a piece of rotten wood, unable to say anything.
Sasaki wasn’t alone either, she was accompanied by two other girls. And one of them was someone who had a face that I would never forget. It belongs to someone who’s on my top wanted list. It’s all thanks to the extra self-control I gained in the last year, that I haven’t pounced on top of her and proceeded to beat the daylight out of her.
“You……!”
“Hello.”
She nodded towards me and smiled.
“Long time, no see. How is your time traveler, Asahina-san, doing? Huhum. You don’t need to look at me like that. We have already withdrawn from such activities.”
The month before, those incidents that happened around mid-february started to come back to me.
The Asahina-san from 8 days later, who I named Michiru at that time. We followed the hints of Asahina-san(Big) and solved many problems. The prank with the can and nail, the boulder at Mt.Tsuruya, turtle and the boy. Plus that mysterious memory chip and that other detestable time traveler…..
And the Asahina-san kidnapping incident.
After a series of car chases, the one who appeared with that new time traveler as one of the criminals, was now standing in front of me. She acted like she was the head of the operation and was also the sole female member. She even kept a calm face against Mori-san’s terrifying smile.
That girl is now standing beside Sasaki, right in front of my eyes.
I have no idea if Sasaki knows what’s going on between me and that kidnapper, but she slowly raised her hand in a attempt to cut in and said:
“Allow me to introduce her, Kyon. This is Tachibana Kyouko-san. She’s……. Well, you can call her an acquaintance of mine. We only got to know each other recently, our relationship hasn’t progressed far enough for us to call each other friends. But I’m very interested in the things that Tachibana-san has told me.”
Sasaki cleared her throat and continued:
“Judging from that look on your face, I’d say the you two have already met. Seems like the encounter was a bad one too. Although that was what I expected.”
“Sasaki…..”
I said that in an oldmanish tone.
“You shouldn’t associate yourself with her.
She’s…..”
-Our enemy.
“It looks that way.”
Sasaki didn’t seem to mind at all.
“But it doesn’t seem like she’s an enemy of mine. That’s what’s interesting. She’s told me some incredible things too. Although it’s hard for me to understand, it’s something that feels refreshing to think about. Kinda like mental aerobics. I may not be able to understand it as a whole, but I’m aware of what is going on.”
Tachibana Kyouko, the kidnapper’s lips curled into a smile.
“That won’t do, Sasaki-san. I was hoping that you’d understand the situation, otherwise-”
She looked at me with the begging eyes of a puppy in a pet shop waiting for an owner-
“He would never listen to what I have to say. You wouldn’t listen to what I have to say for more than 3 seconds, right?”
Right. That is correct to the extreme degree. Anyone who kidnaps Asahina-san should be sent to trial without a lawyer. Why isn’t Koizumi here yet? What about Mori-san and Arakawa-san, or the Tamaru brothers?
“Kyon, are you listening?”
Wait a second, Sasaki. I’m looking for someone I can trust right now.
“I’m sorry, but there’s someone else here that I have to introduce to you. Can you please let me go first?”
Who? You can forget about it if it’s that future bastard with attitude problem.
“Although I can guess who you are talking about, you can relax. Since it’s not him.”
Sasaki raised her hand and pointed to the opposite side of Tachibana Kyouko.
“She told me that she wishes to coexist with you within a radius of 2 meters, so I suppose it’s not that bad to introduce you to her. Since it could be troublesome for you if we just let her be. She’s…. I guess she’s someone I know rather than a total stranger.”
I looked towards the direction of Sasaki’s hand.
At first I couldn’t comprehend what I was looking at.
Something that looked like a drop of black ink inside a glass of water, hazy and fog like…… is what I saw. It took me quite a few seconds before I realized that I was looking at a Youkoen girls school’s uniform.
At the same time that I realized what I was looking at, that girl gave me a feeling that she’s been there for more than a hundred years. Just what is this feeling?
This would be the first time I have met someone that I can accurately describe using that ancient phrase “Out of this world”.
“Huh………..?”
It’s our first meeting for sure. There’s no way that anyone could forget a girl like that if they happened to lay their eyes on her.
But why is it that I can feel a chilling sensation like something from snowy mountains in the winter? I feel like I have experienced something similar before……
She slowly raised her head, and I got goosebumps all over me the instant I saw her face and that expression. She must be a ghost, definitely not human. It’s impossible for it to be a human.
“______”
That girl, with a face paler than Nagato’s, has indescribable black glass-like eyes and hair that’s dark like a crow sprayed with a can of dark tainting spray. Her hair extended below her waist, with strange wave-like curls. It resembled a big and heavy mop. Her hair spreads and extends onto both the left and right sides, you can say that it covers the majority of the surface areas. It really stands out, it’s so strange that I wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly grew a pair of wings and flew away. Although it’s impossible to overlook someone like that, why is that I didn’t notice her until Sasaki introduced her? Isn’t that abnormal? Was she invisible before?
I quickly checked my surroundings. The pedestrians only made a passing glance at Sasaki or Tachibana Kyouko occasionally, but no one seemed to notice her existence.
“Who are you?”
“________”
She just stood there without making a sound, she doesn’t even blink. She looked straight at me, with a look like she’s trying to find a specific pigeon out of the flock that’s in front of a shrine. It feels more mechanical than any machine, even the lens of the cheapest camera would look more alive than her eyes.
“________”
That expressionless face somewhat resembles Nagato’s, but it’s a completely different type. The manufacturer and maker are completely different. If Nagato is a piece of ice out in the wilderness, this girl would be dry ice. She won’t even melt, she would just evaporate into nothing.
The pale lips seem to have moved out of obligation.
“_____Ah….”
To my surprise, those heavy lips spit out human speech instead of white smoke. But it moved very slowly, after a while it started to say some things I never expected.
“My mission_____ to observe________ This is______ a place_____ where time…. moves slowly. Temperature____ very humid.”
That voice sounded extremely drowsily it’s almost deathly. The color of that tone is comparable to those old monotone films that are full of sepia flakes by now.
She moved her gaze away from me.
“___ This time…… no mistake…. you…. will____”
I can’t understand anything she said. This situation seems to have overlapped with my memories. But what’s this similar yet different déjà vu like feeling?
“____ I’m ____”
She continued slowly.
“Kuyoh ____”
Just when I wanted to ask how to spell that.
“Suou ___”
“Ah?”
So it’s Kuoh Suyo?
“….___ Suou ____ Kuyoh ____”
What? Which is it? Is her head short of at least 5 gears or something?
The sound of Sasaki’s light giggle brought me back to reality.
“Kyon, she has always been like that. Isn’t she interesting? I just call her Kuyoh-san. What she lacks isn’t gears, but a solid definition of individual. No no, it’s not an illness. That’s just how she is. I can’t think of any other ways to explain it.”
But this Kuyoh woman’s ability to communicate is far worse than the Nagato I met for the first time…… Eh? Nagato?
- Don’t tell me, they are somewhere close?
- It’s possible.
The SOS Brigade’s group lodging of the winter holidays. The snow storm at the ski resort. The hotel that appeared like a mirage.
Nagato fainted in that place because of fever. We were able to escape that place with the help of a hint that Nagato left us combined with Haruhi’s intuition and Koizumi’s knowledge. It feels like a daydream to me now.
An alien life form that’s different from the Integrated Data Sentient Entity- The Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence.
“So that’s it…”
I stared at her like I was trying to carve her face into my brain cells.
“So it’s you. The alien that’s different from Nagato.”
“____ Ali…. en___? What’s___ that___?”
“Drop the act!”
It’s easy to see what is going on even for me. Tachibana Kyouko the kidnapper is the opposition of Koizumi and the “Organization”. That future bastard would be Asahina-san’s opponent. The answer is clear if you use the elimination method. Nagato’s opponent would be her, Suou Kuyoh. I almost said that out aloud.
I remembered what Koizumi told me on the way back from Tsuruya estate.
- Lets use this example. Let’s say there a kingdom called A and another one called B - There’s also C the opposition force against A and D the opposition of B - If C and D become allies -…
So it’s finally here. If Nagato’s IDSE would be F, then she would be part of G’s first wave.
She looked at me, with a look like she was looking at the carvings on a copper clock-
“___ Your ___”
Kuyoh talked in a voice that’s like an old and off tone tape:
“Eyes_____ very _____ pretty.”
And spat out that perfectly meaningless line.
; In conclusion.
She is a interface that’s cruder than Nagato, Kimidori-san or Asakura Ryoko. It’s pointless for me to try and ask her origin, which is meaningless anyway. I have no intention of getting along with her to begin with.
“Kyon, I knew you would say something like that.”
Sasaki held her stomach in a attempt to stop herself from laughing and said:
“All I have is these two. Because no one else would get close to me. Does North High have a lot interesting people like Kuyoh-san? It would be great if that’s the case, but it’s a pity that I’m not a student of North High. No matter how much I complain about it, I still have to stay there for 2 more years. I must play to my heart’s content when I get into the university I’m aiming for. That’s what I have planned.”
“Sasaki-” I said to my old friend. “Do you know what they are?”
“They told me. So I know. It really is something that’s unbelievable. If you had asked me if I believe it or not before, I wouldn’t have a clue on how to answer you.”
The laughing eyes of Sasaki’s that are looking at me have now narrowed into an irregular line.
“But I know now after that reaction of yours. They are the real deal.”
She cast her gaze towards Kuyoh and Tachibana Kyouko.
“A humanoid android made by aliens, an esper with limited powers, and a time traveler right? Although it’s hard to take in those 3 cards all at once, but I’m starting to believe it now.”
Stop mixing around with them, Sasaki. It’s for the best to not get involved with those things. You’ll just turn into another me. Damn it. Leaving that monster Kuyoh aside, I’d probably act differently if this was the first meeting between Tachibana Kyouko and I. But because we have already met each other in a bad situation before, I just can’t soften up my attitude towards her. Even if I try to sway Sasaki now, it would be useless against someone who’s clear-headed and sharp-eyed like her.
The leader of those criminals, Tachibana Kyouko, now has a warm and harmless smile on her face that’s impossible for anyone to think of her as a criminal. Was what she did in February just an act for this moment? If that’s so, then it must be the same for that future bastard too. Where is he?
Just when I was looking around suspiciously, Tachibana Kyouko said:
Volume 9 - The Dissociation of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 9
