“It’s decided, then.” Haruhi reaffirmed the decision she’d obviously already made, then we double-timed it straight over to the Italian place just in time for the lunch rush. By the time we got there my muscles were all aching afresh.
Haruhi was no different from a cat—and there was such a thing as being too mischievous. When she was depressed I’d feel like it was better if she were her usual too-energetic self, but part of me wondered if the day when she was on an even keel would ever come.
I finished the ice water the waiter brought me in about three seconds, and when I looked to see if I’d be able to get a refill—yeah, it looked like it would take about the same amount of time it would take for Asahina the Younger to become Asahina the Elder.
After finishing her reasonably priced lunch—the doria special of the day—Haruhi took out her toothpicks and reshuffled them.
We were approaching the climax of the day. It was a little confusing, since there was Asahina, right in front of me, but the reason I had to worry about what happened here was because of the other Asahina, Michiru Asahina. I hoped she’d be waiting for me.
I looked askance at Nagato, who’d inhaled her lunch and spent the rest of the time silently rereading the menu. Nagato was now watching the five toothpicks dispassionately. I couldn’t imagine she’d forgotten my request, so I calmed myself and immediately drew a toothpick.
It had a mark on it.
Nagato was the next to reach out, and she immediately drew the other marked toothpick, then set it carefully on the table.
“Oh, I guess we don’t have to keep drawing,” said Haruhi.
If she had used some kind of trick, Nagato wasn’t so clumsy as to let Haruhi notice. Haruhi flicked the remaining three toothpicks into the ashtray and stood, our meal check in hand. Which is not to say she treated us—no, we split the check evenly, down to the last yen.
We finished paying and reemerged into the cold wind, again to wander aimlessly across the city like migrating fish. But I would leave that to Haruhi, Asahina, and Koizumi. Nagato and I had a different path to walk—along with another Asahina, from three days in the future.
Whenever I walk alone with Nagato, I can’t help but remember that first spring day. She’d still been wearing her glasses then, her expression as cold as an ice factory. Come to think of it, that’s when Nakagawa had first seen us too.
Nagato followed silently about two steps behind me. She was so quiet that I was constantly checking behind me to make sure she was keeping up. There she was, staring at my muffler, her face as cold and impassive as melting snow.
It was an emotional moment, thanks to our destination. The city library. Nagato went there quite often now, but I was the one who’d first taken her there, back when she’d still had glasses, so it was a memorable place for both of us.
And just like that first time, we’d taken our leave from Haruhi and the others, and I’d brought her here. The only difference was that this time, she already had a library card. And no glasses.
We walked down the street that led to the library, neither of us speaking. It’s rare to have someone you can enjoy such silences with. If Haruhi or Koizumi had been that quiet, I would’ve wondered what they were up to. But with Nagato, it was just the way she was.
Enjoying the companionable silence, I entered the library and surveyed the interior. As though to save me the trouble of looking, a short figure who’d been sitting on one of the couches came trotting over to me.
The figure was wrapped in a long coat and shawl that looked like something Tsuruya would wear, along with a knit cap and white flu mask—her disguise, presumably.
But (Michiru) Asahina couldn’t hide her large eyes, which blinked rapidly.
“Kyon… oh, and Nagato…”
It was the library, so we had to keep quiet. Asahina put her hand in front of her mouth in a “shhh” gesture, so I took the cue from her and spoke quietly. “Tsuruya isn’t here?”
“No.” Asahina hesitantly looked over my shoulder. She really didn’t have anything to be afraid of, but still. “She said she had important plans today, so she didn’t come along. Oh, but”—Asahina waved her hands—“she had a car take me from her house to here. She told me to take a taxi back and gave me the fare…”
I was a little worried about what Tsuruya’s “important plans” were, but Asahina’s saucer-wide eyes were my immediate problem. I looked behind me, just to make sure there wasn’t a ghost of some kind behind me, in addition to Nagato.
“…”
Nagato regarded Asahina with her unwaveringly expressionless gaze. I suddenly remembered that the night before, I’d only asked her to rig the outcome of the toothpick drawing.
I hadn’t told her why.
“Oh, uh, Nagato—”
“…”
Asahina’s disguise would barely fool a normal person, to say nothing of Nagato.
“This is the other Asahina,” I said.
“I know,” came Nagato’s reply, which was hard to follow up.
“Ah, oh, right. You met her a few days ago.”
“…”
“Yeah… that’s right.”
“…”
“I-I’m sorry.”
As I stood there between the inexplicably apologetic Asahina and the inverted icicle of Nagato, the librarian behind the circulation counter stared at me like I was a sleeping panda—I wouldn’t forget her glare for days.
However, Nagato was Nagato. After hearing ten seconds of explanation, she intoned, “I see,” nodding microscopically even as she stood stock-still.
Incidentally, my explanation consisted of me saying, “I have to go do something with Asahina now, so I’m really sorry, but could you wait here until we get back?” Nagato seemed to have understood everything by the time I got to the “could you wait” part.
She walked off toward a bookshelf filled with gigantic science books, not even glancing as Asahina, who took Nagato’s place behind me.
“Shall we go, Asahina?” I said as I watched Nagato’s duffle coat disappear behind the bookshelf. The library’s wall clock indicated two o’clock in the afternoon.
“… Um, Kyon?” said Asahina in a stiff-sounding tone. “Did you bring Nagato here without explaining anything to her?”
“Uh, yeah, it just slipped my mind.”
“That’s not—you can’t just—” Asahina shook her head. “Even Nagato would be angry at that.”
I felt bad. I mean, Asahina seemed like she was angry at me. Not that I thought it was okay if Nagato was angry—
A sigh was directed my way. “I’m… okay. But you should give Nagato a proper apology. Okay?”
Asahina had her older-student vibe at full blast as she turned aside and walked out of the library. For quite some time she stared out at the opposite lane of the street; I didn’t know what to do.
After ten minutes of walking in the winter wind, maybe it was because I’d gotten so cold, or maybe it was the fact that without anyone to talk to I’d resorted to reading the number plates on the telephone poles we passed, but in any case the tense mood between Asahina and me faded.
I opened the letter one last time, making sure that we were on the right path, then we stopped in front of a row of flower boxes that were placed alongside the walk.
“Wow, they’re really blooming.”
The flowers had some serious guts. I wondered if the box that ran along the sidewalk of this north-south prefectural road had been placed by the city government or the prefecture. I was impressed at the blossoms’ resistance to the cold of winter and the passing cars’ exhaust, but they seemed to be blooming a little too much. Having to search for a lost item among the flower boxes that extended for a good ten meters made it feel like it was my fate to continue the previous day.
I looked over the two sheets, careful not to let them blow away in the wind.
“So we’ve got to find it somewhere around here…”
It seemed like it would take quite a while to search every corner of
the flower box. I hadn’t taken that into account.
“I don’t think it will take too long,” said Asahina, pointing at the box. “Look, the only place pansies are blooming is that corner.”
Cursing the fact that I hadn’t paid any attention thus far to flower variety, I looked where Asahina was pointing. There grew some small, pale blue flowers, which fluttered in the wind.
“Those over there are pheasant’s-eyes, and those other flowers are cyclamen. Next to them are… I think they’re violas?”
I had no idea she knew so much about flowers, I told her.
Asahina giggled. “I learned all kinds of things after I came here. Including about plants.”
Thank goodness. She’d saved me from having to go on another needle-in-a-haystack-type treasure hunt. All I had to do now was look near the pansies.
“Oh, please don’t step on the flowers.”
I tried to heed the seriousness in Asahina’s words as I put my foot on the edge of the flower box and looked down through the pansies; she cared very deeply for the flowers.
The object I was looking for was some kind of data medium. I had no idea why something like that would wind up in a place like this, but I decided to ignore those doubts for the moment. A time traveler had told me it had been dropped here, so it had been dropped here. Otherwise this menial errand wasn’t even that.
As Asahina watched over me, I squatted down and gently brushed aside the pansies’ stems, and as their leaves parted, I searched the corner of the flower box. I wanted to get this done as soon as I could. This wasn’t a spot where there was a lot of passing automotive or pedestrian traffic, but I wouldn’t blame anybody for thinking I was vandalizing the flowers. I poked around amid the roots of the pansies, praying a random police car didn’t pass by.
After about thirty minutes of that, I wiped the dirt off of one hand against my pants while I wiped my forehead with the other.
It was strange.
I couldn’t find anything. I’d searched everywhere in the corner with the pansies, with more concentration than I’d ever managed on the sentences for English reading classes. I even gave other groups of flowers the same treatment, searching among the cyclamen and violas as well.
But I didn’t find anything more man-made than a rock, to say nothing of a data storage device.
Asahina had joined me midsearch, but even with her carefully double-checking the spots I’d looked at, the two of us toiled in vain.
“What could this mean…?”
If there wasn’t anything here, there was no way Asahina the Elder wouldn’t know about it. The girl that was kneeling down and hunting around under the flowers, (Michiru) Asahina, was Asahina the Elder’s former self. I couldn’t imagine her telling us to do something that was doomed from the start.
“What should we do, Kyon?” Asahina asked, on the verge of tears. “If we don’t find it, we’re gonna be in big trouble. The coded message said I absolutely had to. If I don’t do what it says, I’ll…”
She hadn’t noticed that her flu mask had come loose and was dangling from one ear. Asahina’s composure had been rattled when we’d met up with Nagato earlier, but now she looked seriously upset. And to be honest, so was I. But just as I’d talked myself into digging up the entire flower bed—
“Is this what you’re looking for?”
I heard an unfamiliar voice behind me. It didn’t belong to anyone I knew, and something about it made me instinctively rise to my feet. There was no hesitation; my body moved without thought.
I spread my arms out to protect Asahina, and I faced the sidewalk.
About five steps away, there stood a man about my age. I’d never seen him before. This was definitely the first time I’d met him—yet something about him made me instantly loathe him. There was something unmistakably negative about his facial expression.
Between his fingers he held a small stick-like object, which he held up as though it were something filthy. It resembled the black data storage device from the letter.
“What a boring scene this is. Rummaging around in the flowers for half an hour—I’m seriously impressed. I’d never be able to do it.” He twisted his cruel lips into a thin sneer—I may be insensitive, but I could tell this guy was mocking me.
“You’re quite commendable.” He gazed at me as though looking down at something very small. “Doing these filthy chores without even knowing why; you just live your obedient little life. I certainly couldn’t do it. Don’t you have anything better to do?”
The past year of crazy events had instilled in me an instinctive sense for dangerous situations, and it was getting into the yellow zone. But there was no point in just knowing when you were in danger—it was only by actually avoiding it that you could later tell the story and say, “Man, that was a close one.” When the danger you expected actually showed up, it could still wind up being the end of you, so you couldn’t take it easy just because you’d expected it. Once you’d perceived the unwelcome arrival of your demise, you had to do something about it—and this was that moment.
“Where’d you get that?” I asked, at which the bastard just grinned.
“Right out of that flower bed. I made sure to grab it just before you two showed up. It was easy, really.”
“Hand it over.” I tried to sound as forceful as I could, but the guy just snickered through his nose.
“It’s not yours, is it, so why should I? Lost items should be turned over to the police.”
“I’ll give it to them. Or better yet, I’ll give it to its owner. That’s faster than giving it to the police.”
“Heh.” His laugh was infuriating. “So you think the name and address that’s on that letter is the person who dropped this? Who told you that? Was it the alien?”
That bastard! So he knew about Nagato? No, wait—how did he know about the letter? I’d only showed it to Asahina.
Which meant he was a…
Asahina held my arm, trembling. “Do you know this guy?” I asked her, my voice a mix of surprise and confusion.
“No!” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know him. He’s not in my… um… he’s not one of the people I know.”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. It’s not like I’m going to just eat you guys up right now. I just thought this would be a nice opportunity.”
He blew on the object he held as though blowing dust off of it, then grinned a loathsome grin. It was the kind of smile an evil version of Koizumi might use. His fine features made it seem even more threatening.
So, what to do? If I went in to slug him, could I get the data storage device back? But if he were some kind of aberration, our chances of victory were slim, even two-on-one. Damn—I should’ve brought Nagato with me.
I agonized over whether to clench my fists in a fighting pose or try to reach my pocketed cell phone.
“Hmph.” He sniffed as though having lost interest, and he snapped his fingers. The small object arced through the air and toward the earth in front of me. I reached out to catch it before it hit the ground. “You can have it. Those’re my orders, anyway. You just keep doing as you’re told—being past puppets for your future masters.”
I looked at the object in my hands. It looked like a memory card for a digital camera, but it was a variety I’d never seen before—I wasn’t an expert, so it was hard to be sure. It was slightly dirty, probably from having been dropped in the flower bed.
We’d gotten what we came for, which, no matter the method, was a good thing. What wasn’t good was the man standing in front of us.
“Who are you? And how did you know we were coming?”
“Hm.” The man’s thin lips became still thinner. “Isn’t there something you should be asking before that? Why did you come here? Why is that? Don’t you need to know that first?”
Being lectured sanctimoniously by a guy my age really ticked me off. But I had to take the long view. I wouldn’t let my feelings get the best of me.
And I had to think of Asah
ina, who directed a terrified gaze at the stranger.
“I’m not the one you should be cross-examining,” he said, his dangerous eyes slipping from me to her. “Isn’t that right, Mikuru Asahina?”
Asahina flinched, her grip suddenly tightening. “Wha—what are you talking about? I don’t know you. Have we…?” she said, clinging to my coat.
The guy’s lips curled into a sneer. “That’s about it. We’ll just leave it that this is the first time you’ve said hello to me. You pass—very good. But I’ll be saying a different sort of hello to you. Do you understand what I’m saying, Mikuru Asahina?”
It would’ve been hard to forgive even a fraction of this, but now he’d definitely crossed the line. There was nothing but malice in his eyes for Asahina. He was her enemy.
It might not have been relevant, but he definitely seemed human to me. It had been a long time since I’d met someone so obviously hostile. He hadn’t even pretended to be nice—he hadn’t tried to hide anything. Everything he said was just as nasty as he was. At least it saved time. Both Haruhi and I hated that kind of sneakiness.
“If you’ve got something to say, just say it.” I always found myself feeling bolder when shady characters showed up. I had enough vague double-talk with Koizumi around. I put a little bit more power into my voice. “If it’s business with me, then I’m listening. Or should I pass a message on to Haruhi? Hell, I’ll introduce you to her for free.”
“No thanks. Haruhi Suzumiya? I’ve no need to see her.”
Now that was unexpected. I’d been sure he was a member of some mysterious organization obsessed with Haruhi.
“I’m not like Mikuru Asahina.” He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the SOS Brigade’s token time traveler who peeked out from behind me, then directing the same glare at me. “You shouldn’t just blindly follow her directions. There’s not just one single reality. Of course, I’ve been under the same restrictions. That memory device is very important for the future. Whether you pick it up or someone gives it to you, the outcome won’t change. You have it. Isn’t that right?”
It wasn’t even close to right. My instructions never said a single word about a guy like him showing up, I said.
The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya Page 18