Unknown, page 13
Celebrating the first-year anniversary of the formation of the SOS Brigade!
From all brigade members to Her Excellency, our brigade chief, we offer our year-long appreciation.
The irregularity of the letters made it look like each brigade member had written one sentence each. My handwriting, which I have no recollection of putting there, was among them.
No, more than that…
…that's right. It's become this day, exactly a year after Haruhi declared the formation of the SOS Brigade. A year ago, upon receiving a sudden revelation during class, Haruhi pulled the back of my head against her desk, sped up the stairwell during recess, headed straight to the literature clubroom during lunchtime, declared a take-over of the Literature club afterschool, and furthermore proceeded to capture the unfortunate Asahina-san.
From now on, this clubroom is our clubroom!
The SOS Brigade! Saving the world by Overloading it with fun, Haruhi Suzumiya's Brigade.
It was the moment these mysterious members created this club acting as a secret base of systematically secret members who spread trouble of a universal scale within North High. That's right, Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina-san. This should be the reason I'm here, shouldn't it?
"Haruhi?"
Holding the package that looked like it contained a present, I turned towards Haruhi.
"Wh…What is it?" She acted like she didn't know what was going on, but I could tell that she understood the current situation. She let her eyes flutter between looking at my face and the packaged box. She looked like a treasure hunter's assistant who knew he was about to be given a great treasure and was at a loss as to what to do.
At times like this, one is limited to striking head-on. I held out the treasure box with card attached to Haruhi.
"Thank you for your hard work as brigade chief this year. May we continue to be in your favor."
"Idiot."
While saying this, Haruhi received the package in earnest. After she ran her eyes over the writing on the card, she closed her eyes and tightly held the package close to her. For some reason it felt like wet air was flowing by for a moment.
"Kyon, how did you get in here?"
Nope…I couldn't say I came in from the entryway.
"Oh yeah, from the window. I followed the drainpipe and climbed on up. You should make sure to lock everything. It's a good thing that locks don't get tired of being closed."
I had to admire myself for having the nerve to ramble off a string of lies on the spur of the moment.
"Geez, aren't you overdoing it a little? You're bound to be found out if you clamber around so clumsily like that."
Haruhi's expression appeared to be one of smiling and crying. Then her eyes suddenly halted at my feet.
"Why are you wearing our school's indoor shoes? Hurry up and take them off, right now! The floor's gonna get dirty!"
I had forgotten. Up until a little while ago I was at North High…and you were, too. But oh well. Looks like I'm the only victim of a time slip here.
As she watched me promptly take off my shoes, Haruhi approached the window and looked down at the threesome standing there on the private road. I heard her take a deep breath.
"If you're making it a surprise event, I would have liked for you to choose a better time. I was sort of expecting it…that you would do something for me. But it's fine. Getting me out of bed this late at night is beyond anything I would imagine."
"If we hadn't done it like this, then it wouldn't have been a surprise. We wouldn't have been able to surprise you this much if you expected something normal, would we?"
My pretentious advice can be pretty persuasive, huh? I guess it's thanks to all the crazy things Haruhi has done to me up to now. Even if we had made a mess of it, it ended up being a surprise event, so all is well.
Haruhi was still looking downward with a teary face. I'm sure it really didn't matter whether she had locked the window or not. I was really here.
"Kyon." Haruhi came close to my face and whispered in my ear. "I'll show you to the entryway, so try to follow me without making any noise."Her breath tickled me as she spoke, but I dealt with it somehow.
Haruhi tiptoed down the stairs so her family wouldn't suspect anything. With the handwork of a skilled safecracker, she opened the door to her home's entryway.
Finally I was able to meet with the brigade members waiting outside. Since it was the dead of night in a residential area, they were all silent. But I could read their facial expressions. Even now they're impossible for me to understand, but I could tell that everything went well for this.
Nagato presented my favorite outside sneakers to me. This was the standard Nagato. No longer tormented by fever, this was Nagato's indifferent, continually reading, ubiquitous face that has no need for emotion.
Asahina-san, (small) of course, peeked worriedly at me and Haruhi. When I gave her a thumbs-up, she let out a very relieved sigh which quickly turned into a smile.
With all the frankness of someone who had just casually come home from the convenience store, Koizumi said, "I'm sorry it's so late at night, Suzumiya-san. But we’ve had these strong feelings that we just had to whole-heartedly express regardless of time-of-day."
Why are you saying this while looking at me?
Well, it's fine. I get it. I faced Haruhi, and in my most composed tone, "Looks like we got you pretty good. It wouldn't be a surprise if we didn't attack you while you were in bed, huh?"
Whether Haruhi was listening to me or not, she looked over Asahina-san and the others in turn and said, "But…thank you."
She hugged the present in her arms and revealed a smile that would overshadow even the full moon. Her smile, which usually casts off light like some enormous star, looked just like a peaceful moon…I was…how should I put it? No, I can't say anything…I can't do anything but continue to gaze at Haruhi.
I heard the cawing of a crow somewhere. Damn bird of darkness. I don't remember commissioning you to the SE division.
As if that was a signal, Haruhi lifted her face from the package. "It's pretty late. Let's meet up later in the clubroom, okay? By the way, what's in here?"
"That's something I hope you will look forward to when you open it. And incidentally, the one who picked it out is this bedroom invader here," said Koizumi. "He's even the one who wrapped it all up just for you. The rest of us don't want to overdo our role as mere overseers though it probably would have been fine for him to do everything."
I stopped Koizumi's relentless gabbing by stepping on his foot. But now I see…it seems that somehow my past self was the one who decided on the gift. I can at least theorize to that extent.
Haruhi turned around a couple of times, and as she quietly returned to the entryway, "Be careful on your way home. Especially Mikuru-chan and Yuki…I'm counting on you to see them home safely, Kyon and Koizumi-kun. It should be fine because it's an order from brigade chief."
After leaving us these words with a surprisingly sensible voice volume, Haruhi went inside her house. Well, she really is properly considerate of her parents and the people in the neighborhood. Guess she does have a cute side to her.
After we left Haruhi, myself and the three others walked down the local street as the night was fading away. I understood that today is the middle of May. I could also understand that me being called to the clubroom for a confrontation with Fujiwara and Kuyou, and my soft landing together with Haruhi into the palm of a Celestial, were things that happened just a little while ago for me. But I've slipped into a time close to a month after that. Since I've been here and there through different years in time, it's nothing surprising for me, just a new discovery.
"And so that's how it is." The rather careless way Koizumi said this made me a bit ticked. Maybe it's because he's in a strangely good mood.
"Which means that if I don't time travel again…"
"That's right. It will be very troubling if you don't."
"Um…uh…" Asahina-san raised her hand slightly. Just like the (apprentice) expert on time travel that she is, she faltered a bit as she explained the situation for me.
According to what she said, immediately after I was saved by the Celestial, I jumped about a month into the future. That would be now. Therefore, I had to once more go back to that time a month ago to correct the time flow. Asahina-san would take me there…at some point from now…
I looked at Nagato. She stared back at me with the eyes of a nutcracker doll. Thanks to receiving Haruhi's nursing, I couldn't sense even a particle of her former weakened state.
"Am I allowed to go to sleep until the time freeze comes?"
"Not allowed." Nagato replied immediately. "It is unsuitable for solving the problem."
What does that mean, Koizumi?
"The truth is, another you exists in this current time. The one who was returned to your time of exactly a month ago is the you in front of us."
Excuse me, I've been fusing with my other selves quite a bit.
"That case was different. It's simply that your original self split into two, so for the time travel you were both genuinely the same person. You remained here, but neither of your existences was canceled out."
Asahina-san looked up from beside me. "Since it goes against the ‘predetermined event’…if we can't get you to return to that time, it will be very troubling. Your return to the past is already a ‘predetermined event’ for us—"
So that's it. The proof that I properly returned to my original time is actually because I have another self in this time. The "me" that’s here now has to become the "me" who returned to the past from this time period. At any rate…one month, huh? That's trivial compared to three years ago.
"It's also good for the you who exists in this time period that you came, though I must insist that meeting with your other self would be bad for all involved. So reluctantly, only the four of us were able to meet under these circumstances."
Well, I would have it that way, too.
"By the way, I was told to keep the contents of Suzumiya-san's present a secret. Please give it some thought when you return to your original time."
In a mischievous sort of way, Koizumi said, "Please don't forget to tell the 'us' of one month ago about this day. Though one would consider it to be something impossible, isn't it?"
"……"
I was relieved that Nagato had completely returned to being the usual reticent expressionless girl.
"My past self will give you a full explanation. Or should I say he did."
"Ah, then I'll ask you right away. In the clubroom would be fine."
"No, actually we will hold a meeting in a different location. As for where…well…I'll let you decide, no need to give it a lot of thought."
I turned to Nagato.
"……"
The persistently silent girl didn't say anything. At that time, the last thing I saw was the shadows of three people on the roof. There's no doubt that one of them was Nagato. And Koizumi had said that there wasn't any change for the alpha route Nagato. She had even said something about wanting to go rather than summon Yasumi.
So you knew everything, huh? What Yasumi is…even the reason the Celestial appeared…However, Nagato turned her back on me in silence. She walked off together with Koizumi, who was waving goodbye.
Should I believe Koizumi? According to him, he's already given me an explanation. To the me of one month ago that is.
I looked to the other person amongst the two of us left behind. "Well, shall we go then?"
"Let’s go!"
Asahina-san appeared to be delighted that there was something helpful she could do. Maybe. Perhaps for the first time Asahina-san, who's always following orders from her superiors without understanding anything, is trying to independently lead a time travel.
But before that.
"Asahina-san?"
"What is it?"
"Do you have a brother? More specifically, do you have a younger brother?"
"Hmm?"
Asahina-san put her finger to her lips, and as she gave a perfect wink, "Information about my family is high-level classified information."
Oh…of course.
I've done it a few times, but I'm still in the process of getting used to time travel. This weightless, dizzying period will end soon. A time slip to one month ago is shorter than three years ago, so the actual time travel should probably be short.
At any rate, when I next opened my eyes, I was in my own room on top of my bed. Probably startled by my sudden appearance, Shamisen, who had been sleeping on my pillow, jumped to his feet and fell off the bed. As he glared at me for stepping on his tail, I looked around. Of course, I couldn't see Asahina-san anywhere.
First I have to check a clock. I had returned to my room on a day in April, Friday, before 8pm.
Just two hours ago, in the literature clubroom, I was involved in a serious gamble between the fate of the world and the fate of the future. Speaking honestly, excluding my colleagues who are currently at that certain place, the only one left who would believe me would be Sasaki. It's not a story I particularly want to make public, but I suppose it doesn't matter.
I gave a good stretch and muttered a line to congratulate myself on returning to everyday life.
"Well, guess I'll take a bath and go to bed." I decided to spend about one day of the weekend clearing my head.
Epilogue
At the beginning of the following week, the world had regained its peace and quiet.
Seemingly restored to her original state, Nagato had returned to school. There's still separate memories in my head regarding her: One set where Nagato has a fever and is bedridden and another set where she’s silently sitting in the SOS Brigade clubroom reading books during the Brigade application tests. The strange part is that there are no internal inconsistencies when I think about her actions over the past week. Oh well, time still moves forward.
As for the two different timelines and myself, I can't say which one is true and which one is false. Since they occupied the same time, I’d have to admit that both would have to be true. If I were to recall what Koizumi states is the α version, then I have one week’s worth of memories with Yasumi and the other SOS Brigade applicants. But I can also clearly remember another week’s worth of memories where I went around with Sasaki and her group in what he calls the β version.
Though two sets of memories are in my head for that week, they're somehow not confusing. When I think of one side’s memories, that corresponding set comes to mind and the same occurs for the other side’s memories. While they're in the same chronological order throughout the week, their different actions don’t ever intersect.
Just thinking about it is beginning to drive me crazy! I've got to relax more when these things happen.
It's like I’m in a state where I can clearly remember two one week periods that would resemble a double-helix structure similar to DNA; going up the stairs simultaneously and never crossing each other while having the same starting and ending points. I’d say that fits my situation perfectly.
Nothing I could've done would have prevented me from going down this divergence.
After both sets of various things happened during the past week, a new Monday starts the week. When I began my pilgrimage up that hilly road I noticed that nothing had changed. Thank goodness nothing strange like that closed space had taken over the school. I sat down at my seat by the window and let the cool breeze engulf me while I waited for the chime to ring. That would signal the start of classes from the principal's office and begin the usual rush to get to ones seat afterwards.
Today Haruhi had nothing special to say. Skillfully maintaining a half-smile and a half-disappointed look on her face, she took the seat behind me.
When I saw that face the thought "I've not seen Haruhi since we met about a month from now" frantically ran through my mind. A remarkably complex idea, but how to convey that idea isn't on my list of top priorities right now. Much to my relief it would appear that Haruhi isn't thinking about when I broke into her house for some crazy reason late at night and woke her up.
Or so I thought.
"Ah, so something happened." Haruhi placed her elbow on the desk and supported her chin with the back of her hand, "Yesterday Yasumi-chan came over to my house."
…oh.
"She looked so sorry as she told me she had to turn down joining the Brigade."
…oh oh?
"I was shocked. That girl actually is a middle schooler."
…Ah. So that's what happened.
"Well, she lives in my neighborhood. She stole a uniform from her older sister who graduated from North High. She was so desperate to join the SOS Brigade that she snuck into the school after her middle school classes were over. While she wasn't in a panic to join, she just couldn't wait to get into North High to be a Brigade member. Such a mischievous young girl."
Shouldn't you have spotted her when you went around the first years' classes during break? If she wasn't a North High student, you could've discovered that before now. Really now.
Haruhi took her arm off her desk and let it hang loose. She glanced absentmindedly outside the glass window and then murmured, "Yuki's alright now, the Brigade entrance examinations were fun, and today's weather is good. I wonder if even the damned can complain with good events like these. I just can't believe that the one girl who was promising turned out to be someone who isn't even in high school. And I waited so long for someone like her too."
As for whether Yasumi actually met Haruhi, I don't know. That meeting may have been false, but Haruhi tends to tell the truth.
"It'll be tough to do it next year when we'll be in the middle of formal applications to universities, won't it? Ah, this year without exams would've been great."
"How many years ago did I think that sort of thing when I was in middle school? Maybe it might've been two years. No, it was maybe three years ago."
As if she was assessing my reminiscing words, Haruhi raised her eyes and leaned forward to the tip of my nose. "That reminds me. You aren't keeping any secrets from me are you? Did you meet with anyone Saturday? You better not have planed anything strange against me…"
