Immersed in silence, we entered the library, and then I paused to gaze around looking for someone. As I spotted her sitting on a sofa, Asahina-san stood up and walked towards me, as if wanting to save me the trouble of walking.
Asahina-san was wearing Tsuruya-san’s favorite jacket, a flowery muffler, and a straw hat. Upon seeing who I was with, Asahina-san (Michiru)’s eyes grew large, as she said, “Kyon-kun… A-Ah… Nagato-san…”
Since I was in a library, I mimicked Asahina-san’s actions by placing my finger upon my lips, before toning down my voice and saying, “Tsuruya-san’s not here, is she?”
“No, she’s not,”
Asahina-san said as she glanced nervously behind my back. You don’t have to be that afraid, you know.
“Tsuruya-san said she had something to do today, so she couldn’t come with me here, however…”
Asahina-san nervously twirled her fingers,
“She arranged for a car to transport me here, and even gave me some money to take a cab back home…”
I was slightly disturbed by the fact that Tsuruya-san couldn’t follow her to the library, but was even more disturbed by Asahina-san’s large eyes. I turned around, wondering if there was anything else behind me, like a vengeful spirit or the sort, other than Nagato.
“…”
Nagato looked at Asahina-san, without any trace of expression on her face. I suddenly recalled that when I told Nagato to help me manipulate the outcome of the lot drawing…
I had totally forgotten to tell her why.
Oh crap.
“A-Ah, Nagato, you see…”
“…”
With Asahina-san clad in such an outfit, I don’t think the “She’s her identical twin!” story would fool anyone, never mind Nagato.
“This is another Asahina-san.”
“I know.”
Nagato said without looking the least bit shocked.
“O-Oh, that’s right, I’ve introduced her to you before!”
“E-Erm…”
“…”
“I’m sorry. Really sorry.”
Why was the librarian looking at me, who was sandwiched between an apologizing Asahina-san and an ice-cold Nagato, with such weird eyes? I doubt I’ll forget them even after three days. What was she thinking?
Ten seconds later, Nagato said,
“Is that so?”
I looked at Nagato, as her chin drooped down that millionth of a centimeter for a split second. It seemed that she had approved.
I took this opportunity to briefly explain what I had to do. “I have to head somewhere with this Asahina-san to accomplish something important. After we’re done, I’ll be back for you. Can you wait here?”
“I’ll wait for you,” was all she said, as if understanding my current situation.
After watching Nagato return a book that was as thick as my pillow back to a crammed bookshelf, I turned towards Asahina-san and said,
“Let’s go, Asahina-san.”
I once again turned back to see Nagato disappear within the bookshelves. The clock on the wall read two o’clock.
“…Erm… Kyon-kun…” Asahina-san said with a tone that suggested she was having great difficulty getting her words out, “You brought Nagato-san here without telling her anything, didn’t you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I had completely forgotten about that.”
“No… That’s not it…” Asahina-san said as she shook her head.
“Nagato-san is probably angry at you now.”
Huh? I’m sorry, but how do you put it? From the tone of her voice, it seemed that even Asahina-san was angry at me now! No, that’s not it. Nagato wouldn’t be angry at someone —- Gah, I give up. A sigh escaped my lips.
“I don’t really care, but… Kyon-kun, you have to apologize to Nagato-san after we’re done, okay?”
Asahina-san put her ‘senpai’ charm to full use as she made that statement. After that, as we left the library, Asahina-san glanced at the road without saying anything, leaving a very confused me behind.
Where should we go now, and what should we do, you ask? It would seem that the only logical course of action is to follow the instructions on the letter in my pocket.
As the wind blew through the trees, we both walked in silence. Did my body feel cold due to the coldness of winter? Or was it due to me walking beside Asahina-san and still managing to find time to read every single house number plate we passed by, instead of attempting to talk to her? From Asahina-san’s footsteps, I could tell that she too was pretty anxious.
We were almost at our destination, as the aforementioned bridge loomed close.
I read the letter one last time, confirming that we were at the right bridge. As Asahina-san and I stopped before the bridge, we were amazed by the entire array of blooming flowers.
The flowers were extremely pretty, making the flowers that grew on the path up to North High look like a joke. These were the flowers that bloomed despite the harshness of the winter, and deep inside my heart, I felt proud of them. Some had even blossomed completely, making me wonder if I were to search in this large, 10 meter flower patch, would I end up like yesterday, with nothing much save a face full of dirt?
Careful not to let the wind carry the letter away, I read it again.
“We have to find it within…”
If we were to search every nook and corner of this flower patch, it would be really time consuming, and I hadn’t taken that time into account.
“No, I don’t think it’ll take much time at all,”
Asahina-san said as she pointed at one corner of the flower patch.
“There’s only one area where purple common stock grow.”
I felt highly embarrassed for not even knowing the common name of flowers. As I peered in the direction Asahina-san pointed, all I could see were some small bluish flowers waving in the wind.
18 Also known as Adonis amurensis, a small, yellow flower. They are called fukuju (福寿草)in Japanese.
“Those yellow flowers are Pheasant’s Eyes[18], while the violet ones there are Persian Violets. As for those, erm, I think they’re Hairy Violets.”
I was shocked, and greatly impressed, by Asahina-san’s knowledge of flowers.
“While attending class here, I learned a lot of things. One of them was about botany and the names of flowers.”
I’m saved then. Yesterday’s treasure hunt was like looking for a needle in a haystack. At least now I know specifically where to look.
“Please be careful not to tread on the flowers.”
I took Asahina-san’s request seriously, and proceeded with care towards the patch of common stock. It seemed that Asahina-san cared deeply about these flowers which bloomed in the winter. I peered down from above the patch of flowers.
The letter asked for a transmitter, which would be present here. Purging all doubt from my mind, I began looking. If time travelers from the future said it would be here, then it would definitely be here. If it weren’t for that fact, what I was doing was no different from a servant following his master’s order.
Asahina-san looked at me from the side, as I dived into the patch of common stock, and cautiously turned every stem and leaf. Although there weren’t many cars or people who passed by this place, if someone else saw me, I wouldn’t blame them for thinking that I was ruining the flower patch. All I hoped for while searching in the flower patch was for a patrol car to not pass by.
And so, thirty minutes passed. I brushed off the dirt on my fingertips on my pants, and proceeded to wipe off my sweat with the back of my hand.
That’s strange.
I couldn’t find anything, even after inspecting every single common stock growing there. I even took the liberty of searching beneath the Persian Violets and Hairy Violets.
But aside from rocks, I couldn’t find anything that was man-made, never mind a future transmitter.
While I was searching, Asahina-san also joined me in my search, just in case I missed a spot. Howe
ver, even with four eyes searching, we still couldn’t find anything.
“What’s going on…?” If we didn’t find anything here, Asahina-san (Big) would have surely known of it, no? Since Asahina-san (Michiru) had been searching by my side all this time, it was impossible that Asahina-san (Big) didn’t know about it. There would be no meaning to sending me that letter then.
“What should we do, Kyon-kun?”
Asahina-san looked at me as if she were about to burst into tears any moment now.
“If we don’t find it, it’ll be very troublesome for us. The first of the secret commands was the harshest, stating that it was crucial I find the device. If I don’t do so accordingly…”
Asahina-san’s scarf had already loosened, but she paid no attention to it, or should I say, she didn’t even notice. The look on her face was even more terrified than when she had encountered Nagato with me in the library, and upon seeing her face, I began to panic. Just as I was about to search the flowerbeds again, someone called out from behind my back —- “Is this what you’re looking for?”
The voice definitely didn’t come from someone I knew. It was deep and hoarse, and before I knew it, I had already spun around. Sometimes, the body does react faster than the mind. I stretched both my arms open, as if protecting Asahina-san behind my back, and looked at the source of the voice.
The voice came from someone who was positioned roughly five or six steps away from me. He was almost the same height as I was, and his face was of a complete stranger’s. Although it was the first time we had met, I knew that deep down something was wrong with him. He had an extremely detestable face, one that made you hate him even though you had just met him moments ago.
The stranger held up a board-shaped object by his fingertips, as if picking up something dirty. It was jet black, and resembled the object from the drawings.
The stranger held up a board-shaped object by his fingertips, as if picking up something dirty. It was jet black, and resembled the object from the drawings.
“It looks so boring, waddling in the flowerbeds just for the sake of that girl’s future. I wouldn’t do it if I were you.”
The stranger’s lips curled upwards slightly. Even though I’m pretty dim, I knew that he was making fun of me.
“You’re a strange guy.”
He said as he looked at me with disrespectful eyes.
“I don’t know why are you wasting your time doing useless stuff like this. Don’t you have other, better things to do?”
Due to my experiences this last year, I had developed a sixth sense capable of detecting danger, and right now it told me that things weren’t too good.
Come to think of it, what good was sensing danger if all I would do was smile and think, “Oh this is bad?” Now that I had identified the danger, it was time to think of a suitable course of action.
As expected, I couldn’t think of any. There was no choice, then. The only thing I could do was ask, “Erm, where did you get that from?”
Upon hearing my question, the stranger snickered. “Oh, in that flowerbed you’re standing on, before you guys arrived. It was pretty obvious, and all I had to do was walk over there and pick it up.”
“Give it to me.” I said trying to look as fierce as possible. However, the stranger merely laughed at my feeble attempt.
“Why should I give you something that isn’t even yours? Aren’t we supposed to hand lost items like this to the police?”
“Why don’t I send it over, or even better, why don’t you just give it to me for safekeeping? I’ll hand it back to its original owner for you. Isn’t that even better?”
“Hmm…” The stranger said as he sneered.
“Do you think the owner’s address is written on that letter you have there? How can you be sure? Did you ask that alien friend of yours?”
This guy knows about Nagato? No, wait. How did he know about the letter in the first place? I’m sure the only ones who have seen it are Asahina-san and me!
This can only mean one thing. This guy…
Behind me, Asahina-san had grabbed my wrists and was slowly shaking them. Without turning back, I asked the panicking Asahina-san:
“Do you know this guy, Asahina-san?”
“No…” Asahina-san said while shaking her head. “I haven’t even met him before… I know no such person…”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. It’s not like I’m going to eat the both of you up anyways, although I would greatly like to do so.”
I was getting bad vibes from this guy. His smile was more of a grimace, one that I had never seen on even Koizumi’s face before. From his detestable face and annoying smile, I could clearly feel a sense of malevolence coming from him.
What should I do? Should I fight for the transmitter? If this guy wasn’t a normal human, there was almost no way I could defeat him, even if Asahina-san and I were to attack him two versus one. I should have brought Nagato along, damn it!
I clenched my fists, as two thoughts raced through my brain. Should I fight, or should I call for reinforcements?
“Hmph.”
The stranger’s smile vanished off his face, and was replaced by a look of extreme boredom. With a flick of his finger, he flicked the transmitter towards me, as the small, black, board-like item traveled through the air in a trajectory course. Before it landed on the ground, I quickly shot forward to catch it.
“Take it then. It’s something I have to do after all. Do as you wish with it, and you can follow those silly orders for all I care. Continue to do as the time travelers tell you to, if you really want to.”
I looked at the object in my arms, which resembled a digital camera’s memory card, albeit one which I had never seen before. I couldn’t tell if it was dirty after being placed in the flowerbed, or if that was its original color.
Ah, whatever. Most importantly, it was safely in my hands right now. The thing which I had to worry about was this guy before us now.
“Who the heck are you, and how did you know we would be here?”
“Hmph.”
The guy’s sneer became more apparent.
“Aren’t you the same? What are you doing here? Why have you come all the way here? Why? Aren’t I supposed to ask you that first?”
Seeing someone who was roughly of the same age as I behave so arrogantly made my anger boil. However, I knew that I couldn’t let my anger get the best of me. Now was not the time to do things according to my own feelings.
Plus, Asahina-san was tightly hugging me, apparently very much intimidated by the stranger.
“The person you should be questioning isn’t me.”
The stranger said, as his gaze fell onto the figure by my side.
“Isn’t that so? Asahina Mikuru?”
I tightly held Asahina-san’s hand, as she continued to clutch onto my jacket.
“W-What do you mean? I d-don’t know you… Where have you…”
The stranger’s smile turned into a frown.
“I see… It’s your first time meeting me eh. Treat this as ‘Nice to meet you’ then. But to me, I’ve already met you several times now. You get what I mean Asahina Mikuru?”
I never loathed someone so much in my life before, as I found myself being pushed to the limits. From the malice in this guy’s eyes, it was obvious that he viewed Asahina-san as his enemy.
I may be mistaken, but I definitely felt that he was human. I’ve never met someone who so openly showed his animosity before. I never liked him from the first time I saw him, and it seemed that he had no intentions of hiding his hatred either, as he openly made snide remarks. I hate these type of characters, and I was sure Haruhi did too.
“If you have anything you want to say, just spit it out.”
Whenever someone suspicious appeared before me, I would find myself toughening up. The only person I would allow to babble such crap would be Koizumi. I continued, as my voice became firm, “If there’s anything you need from me, just say it out loud. Do you need me to
relay a message to Haruhi? Or how about I introduce you to her, huh?”
“There’s no need for me to meet with Suzumiya Haruhi.”
Upon hearing his reply, I was initially shocked, but quickly got over it. I thought that this guy had some business with Haruhi. Apparently I was wrong.
“I am different from Asahina Mikuru,”
The stranger said as he shifted his eyes, gazing at the time traveler of the SOS Brigade, then shifting them towards me.
“You should think twice before following her orders so blindly. Reality is not just bound to you only. The same rules used to apply to me. That memory chip is an important artifact to the future. As long as you picked it up with your own hands, the future will not change no matter who obtains it. Isn’t that so?”
No, I’m afraid I don’t agree. I’ve been following my schedule pretty tightly until now, and that schedule clearly doesn’t state the appearance of a stranger like you.
“You’re pretty dim, aren’t you? Don’t you get it? What you’re doing won’t make much difference. Why am I here, you ask? Well, what do you think I’m here for?”
“How the hell would I know,” I responded without thinking. I’m sorry, but I’m not the one who usually does the thinking in the SOS Brigade. If you want a detailed deduction, I’ll just have to refer you to our Vice-Commander instead.
“I decline, seeing as I don’t plan to do so.”
What a cold answer. The stranger retreated, as if being carried by the wind. “The only reason I’m here today is to meet you and play with you. It’s a predetermined event, anyway. I’m not sure which future agenda you follow, but the one thing we time travelers must all adhere to is the prohibition of interfering with the past. Hmph!”
After saying what he had to say, the stranger turned and quickly left. Geez, what an impolite fellow. Not even bothering to introduce himself, all he did was show up and spout some nonsense only he would understand. For a moment I wondered if I should pursue him, but I decided to let it slide.
Asahina-san stood behind me like a statue, her hands were closed tightly around my wrists, and it seemed that she had sprouted roots for legs, as she stood there unmoving. All she did was gaze at the despicable fellow, as he turned a corner and disappeared from sight.
Volume 7 - The Intrigues of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 20