Volume 4 - The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

by Tanigawa Nagaru

  “But you! If you want to date Nagato-san, you’d better be serious about it. Otherwise, I will never forgive you! Nagato-san might look otherwise, but she is emotionally fragile inside.”

  Why is Asakura paying so much attention to Nagato? In my original world, Asakura was Nagato’s backup — that I would understand. Well, in the end she ran berserk and was deleted though.

  “It is a friendship fostered by living in the same apartment block. Somehow I just cannot leave her alone. Looking at her from afar, I sense her in danger. And somewhere within me grew the desire to protect her, see?”

  I might have gotten her meaning, or I might not have.

  The conversation ended there, and Asakura left the lift on the fifth floor. Room 505, I remember.

  “See you tomorrow.”

  Asakura’s smiling face was shut away behind the closing doors.

  I stepped out of the apartment block, and the dark atmosphere outside was as chilling as a fresh food freezer. The north wind snatched from my body something else along with my body heat.

  I thought about greeting the old caretaker, but then decided not to. The caretaker station’s glass windows were firmly shut, and it was dark inside. He was probably asleep.

  I would just like to return to bed as soon as possible. Even a dream would be fine with me. That girl could just as easily get into others’ dreams subconsciously.

  “You are just trouble whether you are here or not, so just get the hell out here in such a critical moment! Can’t you just listen to my wish for once…?”

  I whispered to the starry sky, and suddenly recognized with a shock what I had been thinking about. I would like to hit myself hard on the head for daring to think such sinister ideas.

  “What on earth…”

  The murmur from my mouth turned to white breath and dispersed into thin air.

  I wanted to see Haruhi.

  Chapter 3

  December 20th.

  It was the morning of the third day since the world had changed as I awoke from my dreamless slumber. As usual, I got out of bed, feeling as though my stomach had been stuffed with a few dozen .300mm bullets. Shamisen, who was sleeping on the blanket, rolled off suddenly onto the ground and laid flat. I stepped softly on his tummy and sighed.

  Sticking her head through the door, my sister looked dismayed when she saw that I had awoken.

  “So, did Shami talk?”

  She had been asking me this ever since the night before last. My answer was always the same.

  “No~pe.”

  As I reminisced about the soft touch of the cat’s fur on my toes, my sister had begun humming her little song as she carried Shamisen out of the room. It’s great being a cat, all they ever do is eat, sleep and lick fur. How I wanted to trade places with him for a day. Who knows, as a cat, I might even find what I was looking for in no time.

  That’s right, I still hadn’t found the key. Nor had I found out what this key meant. Not to mention the system activation program. If I didn’t do something today, the world would continue to remain this way, and it might even become more terrifying. As for the time limit - whose idea was it to have such a limit anyway? Was it already a pain for Nagato to provide a limited time offer?

  I headed to school without making any progress. The gloomy skies looked as though it was about to snow as it loomed above everyone’s heads. Seemed like we’d be getting a white Christmas this year; snow fall could be heavy. There hadn’t been much forecast on the amount of snow, but judging by the frostiness of this year’s winter, it’d probably be big. Haruhi would probably be more excited than a puppy dog as she prepares for the winter field trip… That is, if Haruhi still exists.

  There was nothing worth my attention as I climbed up the slope as usual towards North High and finally arrived at the 1-5 classroom. My exhaustion manifested physically as I walked slowly, so I only managed to sit down on my desk just in time for the first school bell to ring. Like yesterday, there were a lot of sick absentees in class, but what was amazing was that Taniguchi only needed to rest for one day. Though he was still wearing his mask, he came nevertheless. It was only now that I realized that this guy loved going to school.

  By the way, today Asakura, who sat behind me, gave me a rather intriguing smile.

  “Good morning.”

  Asakura greeted me simply like she did everyone else. I merely nodded back.

  As the second bell signalled the beginning of classes, Okabe-sensei entered energetically and began the home room session in earnest.

  I’d lost track of what day of the week it was already. Today’s timetable seemed different from what I remembered, though I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t even sure whether I was having the same subjects on this day last week. Even if yesterday’s and today’s timetables were to be swapped, I’m afraid I would barely notice. Was it just I that had become weird? The girl known as Suzumiya Haruhi never existed, Asakura was the most popular classmate, Asahina-san was the unreachable senpai, while Nagato was the sole member of the Literature Club.

  Just which was the real thing? Was the SOS Brigade and everything I’d been through all a part of my imagination?

  Damn, my thoughts are becoming more and more negative.

  During PE in the first session, I was the absent-minded goalkeeper who was not interested in defending his goal; the next session was math, everything just went in my left ear and out of my right; without even realizing, recess had arrived.

  As I slumped onto my desk to cool my head down…

  “Yo, Kyon,”

  It was Taniguchi. He hung his mask beneath his chin and gave his usual idiotic grin.

  “The next session’s chemistry, today the teacher’s gonna pick my row to answer questions, help me out.”

  Help you out? Are you nuts?! You do realize we both know each others’ strengths and weaknesses inside out already, don’t you? How am I supposed to know something that you wouldn’t know?

  “Hey, Kunikida,”

  I called my other partner, who had just returned from the bathroom,

  “Tell Taniguchi everything you know about sodium hydroxides. He especially wants to know whether they’re on good terms with hydrochloric acids.”

  “Well that’s simple, they get neutralized after being mixed together,”

  Kunikida said as he flicked through Taniguchi’s textbook,

  “Ah, so it’s this question. First calculate in moles and you’ll be able to convert it to kilograms. Let me think…”

  Seeing a knowledgeable person explaining so casually, one feels extremely helpless.

  Taniguchi nodded his head non-stop, yet as Kunikida thought further, he didn’t intend to calculate on his own anymore. He grabbed my mechanical pencil from my desk and scribbled a few numbers and symbols on the blank spaces on Taniguchi’s textbook.

  After it was all settled, Taniguchi gave me a weird smile,

  “Kyon, Kunikida told me everything during the soccer match in PE, you seemed to be up to something the day before yesterday.”

  Weren’t you at school as well that day?

  “I had to take a nap in the clinic during lunch, and I was feeling drowsy that whole afternoon. I only heard about it this morning. I hear you were in a state of frenzy, did you really say Asakura wasn’t supposed to exist?”

  “More or less.”

  I held my hand up and made a sign that read, “You can get lost now!” Yet Taniguchi smirked and continued,

  “How I wished I was there as well. It’s pretty rare to see you yelling around hilariously.”

  Kunikida seemed to remember something from then and said,

  “Kyon’s better today. That day it seems as though he had wanted to pick on Asakura-san. Did she do something to upset you?”

  Even if I said it I’d be treated as a lunatic. So it was pretty natural for me to keep quiet.

  “Oh yeah, you said then that someone had been replaced by Asakura. Did you find that person? Her name’s Haruhi, right? Just who is she?”


  Would you please stop reminding me about this stuff? Right now I would shiver involuntarily every time that name is mentioned, even if it’s being uttered repeatedly by a parrot.

  “Haruhi?”

  You see? Even Taniguchi has bent his head. Not only that, he even said,

  “That Haruhi, you don’t mean Suzumiya Haruhi, do you?”

  Yes, that Suzumiya Haruhi……

  The bones in my neck made a creaking noise. I slowly turned my head up to look at the silly look my classmate was giving me,

  “Taniguchi, what did you just say?”

  “I said Suzumiya, the Savage Girl of East Junior High. I’ve been in the same class as her for three years. Wonder how she’s doing…… And how come you know who she is? You said she was replaced by Asakura, just what was that all about?”

  My eyes went white in an instant……

  “YOU! YOU SMOOTH-HEADED IDIOT!”

  I yelled and leaped up at once. Perhaps intimidated by my sudden outburst, both Taniguchi and Kunikida instinctively backed up a bit.

  “Who are you calling ’smooth-headed!?’ If I’m ‘smooth-headed,’ then you’re ‘barren-headed!’ Besides, my family has been silver-haired for generations, you should be the one more worried about your hairline!”

  That’s none of your business! I grabbed Taniguchi by his collar and pulled him towards my face until both our noses nearly touched each other.

  “You said you know Haruhi!?”

  “How can I not know her? I couldn’t forget her even after fifty years. If there’s anyone from East Junior High that doesn’t know her, they need a check-up to see if they’re suffering from amnesia.”

  “Where?”

  As though chanting a mantra, I fired question after question,

  “Where’s that girl? Where is Haruhi right now? Tell me where!”

  “What’s with you? Are you a taiko drum? Did you see Suzumiya somewhere and fell in love with her at first sight? Give it up! I’m only saying this for your own good. While her looks are the stuff of a guy’s dreams, her attitude is enough to shatter those dreams to oblivion. For example, she……”

  Drew mysterious geometric shapes in the school’s track field with white chalk, right? I knew that already. I’m not interested in her past criminal record, I just want to know where the hell Haruhi is right now!

  “She’s at Kouyouen School,”

  Taniguchi replied as though reciting the atomic sequence of hydrogen,

  “If I’m not mistaken, she’s enrolled in the high school at the bottom of the hill, just in front of the station. She’s already a bright person, so it’s only natural that she would study in such an elite high school.”

  Elite school?

  “Is Kouyouen really that good? I thought they were a girl’s school for the rich and famous.”

  Taniguchi looked at me with pitiable eyes and said,

  “Kyon, I don’t know what they told you in junior high, but that school’s always been co-ed. Not to mention it’s one of the top schools in university entrance rate in this prefecture. To have such a school in our district really pisses me off!”

  As I listened to Taniguchi’s mumblings, I slowly loosened my hands.

  Why did I not realize this before? I should commit seppuku for this.

  Just because Haruhi wasn’t at North High, I assumed that she didn’t exist in this world. As you can see, my imagination was worse than that of a giant cave cricket. When I return to my relatives’ place in the countryside next summer, I should go and have a chat with one of its relatives sitting by the balcony, we’ll probably get along very well.

  “Hey! Get a hold of yourself!” Taniguchi tidied his collar and said, “Kunikida, you’re right. He is nuts, and his condition seems to have worsened.”

  Say whatever you like, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now, because right now there was someone who was pissing me off more than the backstabbing Taniguchi and the ever-nodding Kunikida.

  This series of unfortunate events was truly unbelievable. If someone from East Junior High was sitting nearby that day, or if Taniguchi was in the classroom then, then I would have heard Haruhi’s name loud and clear much earlier. Just whose damn fault is it? Come on out so I can beat the crap out of that bastard! This score can be settled another day, though. Everything that needs answers has been asked, all that’s left is to take action.

  “Where’re you going, Kyon? The bathroom?”

  I turned around while rushing towards the classroom door and said,

  “I’m taking leave early.”

  As early as possible,

  “What about your bag?”

  That’ll just get in the way,

  “Kunikida, if Okabe asks, tell him I’ve got bubonic plague with dysentery, or flu, or something like that and it hurts like hell. Oh and Taniguchi!”

  I gave my sincere gratitude to my wide-jawed classmate, who was seeing me off,

  “Thanks!”

  “Huh? Wha……?”

  I last saw Taniguchi spinning his finger by his head in circles, I then bolted out of the classroom, and within a minute I was out of the school gates.

  It was really difficult to run down a slope at a high speed. Because I was too excited, I ran with all my strength, after about ten minutes, even my legs and lungs were beginning to complain that I was pushing them too hard, let alone my heart. Come to think of it, I could have still made it if I waited for the third session to finish. At this time of year, Kouyouen was probably having a half school-day as well. It would have been fine as long as I arrived there before their last school bell rang. Even if I were to walk from North High, it would still take me less than half an hour.

  By the time I realized how poor my time management skills was, I had already arrived at the private school by the station, the finishing point of my compulsory daily climbing route to school. It was very quiet inside the school, were they still having classes? I took a look at my watch, the lessons were about the same time as our school, they’re probably in the third session right now. In other words, before the school gates open, I have one whole hour of free time. Being empty handed under this cold weather, all I could do was wait.

  “Maybe I should forcefully barge in……”

  If it were Haruhi, she would do exactly that, and she would have handled it beautifully. Sadly I don’t have that confidence, after walking slowly towards the gate, I frantically turned around once again. Standing outside the closed school gates was a stern-faced guard. As expected from a rich private school.

  Actually, I could also infiltrate the school by climbing the fence, the problem was that the top of the fence stood at quite a distance from the ground, and there was barbed wire at the top to boot, it seems to be a better choice to wait for the school gates to open. If I were to forcefully go in, it’d be all over if I were to get caught. I’ve already come this far, I have no intention of letting the game end so easily. After all, unlike Haruhi, I can still control myself when it was necessary.

  And so, I waited for nearly two hours.

  The school bell that rang for the last time sounded like a distant memory, and the opened gates poured with students coming out like a released flood.

  Taniguchi was correct, this was indeed a co-ed school. The girls’ uniform were the same as usual, the typical black suited schoolgirl uniform. Walking amongst them were the guys on their way home, and they were dressed in the traditional gakuran uniform. This was exactly the opposite to North High, with the girls in sailor uniform and the guys in suits. As for the gender ratio, there seems to be more girls……

  “How can this be…… Forget it.”

  There were a few familiar faces among the male students, they were the students from Class 1-9. And I had thought they’d all disappeared, turns out they were here in this high school all along. I don’t know whether it’s coincidence or what, but I’ve yet to see anyone from my junior high. Those that I’ve seen before didn’t take much notice of me, and w
alked quickly past me after taking a quick suspicious look at me. Right now, they probably have a whole new set of memories, most likely a happier school memory, because at least they don’t have to climb up the hill to school every day.

  I continued to wait, and the chances of me hitting the jackpot were 50/50. If that girl had joined some club activity, or was busy planning something and had to stay in school, then I’ve basically become a scarecrow here. Please, just hurry up and be on your way home, and then appear before me.

  What if there is an SOS Brigade in this Kouyouen School, with members other than myself taking part in all sorts of activities……

  When I thought of this, my innards begun to tumble like mad. Wouldn’t that make Asahina-san, Nagato, Koizumi, and me disposable trash? If that were the case, I’m even worse than a side-character, and would become a complete outsider. That’s not what I want! I’ll pray to just about anyone! Be it Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, Mani, Zoroaster, or even Lovecraft! If any of them can ease my discomfort, I’ll believe in any prophecy or legend that they preach. Even if it’s by those doomsday cult preachers, I’ll gladly follow them. Now I finally understand how it feels to be a person who would cling onto any piece of straw and still hopelessly sink down in a mud swamp.

  After being consumed by anxiety and depression for about ten minutes,

  “……Phew,”

  I sighed deeply, not even I knew the meaning behind this sigh. Why was I making such a huge sigh of relief?

  Because she had appeared.

  Buried amongst a sea of suits and gakuran uniforms was a face I would never forget even until the moment I die.

  Just like when she first introduced herself in the first day of school and clotted up the air inside the classroom, she had long hair which reached her waist. I looked stunned for some time, and then I began to count my fingers to figure out what day of the week it was. Today wasn’t the day for her to let her hair down, looks like this Haruhi wasn’t interested in toying around with her hair.

  As though unhappy that I was in the way, the students of Kouyouen School walked past by my left and right side. I had no idea what they thought of this guy standing like an idiot in front of their school gate, but they can think whatever they want, and I don’t have time to worry about what they think either.