“Your breasts…… They’re huge. Hmm, you’re one of a kind. I like it!”
Haruhi said cheerfully as she groped the breasts of an upper classman from another school.
“Kyaa! Wah! Wh… Wha… Eh!?”
Noticing me standing by the door, Asahina-san’s eyes widened even further. She was probably thinking, It’s that pervert from the other day! Asahina-san looked fearfully as well at Koizumi, who had to stand on one foot to keep warm as he was getting frozen while standing in the corridor. Koizumi looked at Asahina-san as though looking at a stranger and said,
“I’m not a bad person, honest.”
Stop trying to act as though you have nothing to do with it. Especially when you’re dressed like that, Koizumi. It won’t work.
Like a mother trying to stop her child from running away once being told she had to go see the dentist, Haruhi carried a struggling Asahina-san up and said,
“Hey, John, that leaves just Nagato-san. Hurry up and take me to her.”
I don’t need you to tell me that.
After all, I have to rush over to that place before some keen-eyed student or teacher who had discovered that I skipped classes finds me.
The place located on the third floor of the complex known as the Old Shack, the headquarters of the SOS Brigade, which is officially known as the club room for the Literature Club.
This time I knocked on the door before opening it.
“Hey, Nagato.”
The bespectacled girl lifted her gaze from the thick hardback library book on the table,
“Ah……”
Seeing it was me, Nagato breathed a sigh of relief,
“Eh?”
When she saw Haruhi following me in, her eyes widened,
“……Eh?”
Seeing Asahina-san being carried in by Haruhi, she opened her jaw,
“……”
When she saw Koizumi entered last, she was speechless.
“Hi there,”
Haruhi smiled brightly. After making sure everyone was in the room, she went and locked the door. Click! Upon hearing this sound, both Nagato and Asahina-san had the same reaction - their bodies stiffened up in fear.
“W… What are you doing?”
It was just like that day, Asahina-san was close to tears.
“W… Where is this place? Why did you bring me here? And, w… Why are you locking the door? What do you want with me?”
It was the exact same response, even I was moved to tears by this nostalgia.
“Shut up!”
Just like that day, Haruhi had the situation forcefully under control, she then inspected the whole room.
“So that four-eyed girl is Nagato-san? Hi there! I’m Suzumiya Haruhi! This one here in PE uniform is Koizumi-kun; while this little girl here with extraordinarily large breasts is Asahina-san. As for that guy, you should know him, right? He’s John Smith!”
“John Smith…?”
Nagato looked stunned as she pushed the rims of her glasses and looked at me in disbelief. I shrugged my shoulders and accepted this stupid name. Both Kyon and John sounded stupid anyway.
“So… This is the SOS Brigade, huh? There’s not a lot in here, but it’s not a bad room. It’s worth bringing some stuff over.”
Like a curious cat being brought to a new residence, Haruhi wandered around the room, looked out of the window, examined the books on the bookshelf looking interested, and then she said to me,
“So, what do we do next?”
Don’t tell me you didn’t think of that before deciding to come over? Man, that was so like Haruhi’s way of thinking.
“I’m for making this room as our headquarters, but it’s so inconvenient to get here. It’ll be a waste of time to come over here after school. I don’t have any connections with anyone from North High. Oh yeah, why don’t we just set a time and meet at the coffee shop in front of the station?”
After saying this, no one besides me and the girl who was talking knew what was going on.
Nagato looked like a doll with a troubled look; Asahina-san acted strangely as she trembled; while Koizumi began his miming act.
I’ve got to say something, however, before I was able to speak…
Ding!
Suddenly, the computer which no one touched made some electronic noises. Nagato turned her head instinctively.
“Huh?”
Asahina-san had to lift her hips in order to see what was going on. All my knowledge about how these machines work has been sucked away by this strange computer.
The ancient cathode ray tube screen made a static noise, and slowly illuminated - I only knew this from the reflection on Nagato’s glasses.
This was supposed to be corresponded by the sound of the hard disk spinning, yet no sound could be heard. I’ve seen this happen before… No, I remember back then I had to turn the machine on first… The OS screen did not appear, instead the screen displayed an odd appearance that looked very familiar…
“Let me have a look,”
My body moved on its own. I pushed Haruhi aside and dashed to the front of the screen.
Silently displayed on the dark gray screen was a line of words.
YUKI.N > If you are reading this, I am probably no longer myself.
…Yes, that’s it, Nagato…
“What’s going on here? No one’s typing anything, this is creepy!”
“Maybe it’s been programmed to turn on at a certain time? But this computer sure looks old. It must’ve been a lot of work for such an old machine.”
I could not listen to anything Haruhi and Koizumi said behind me. I didn’t even dare to blink, for fear of missing a single word or sentence. I could hear my heart thumping in my ears as I stared at the screen.
YUKI.N > When this message appears, it means that you, me, Suzumiya Haruhi, Asahina Mikuru and Koizumi Itsuki have all been gathered here.
It was as if the words were moving to match my reading speed. Without any decorative description, the cursor then typed out the following words:
YUKI.N > This is the key. You have found the answer.
I didn’t exactly find the answer. It was more like me stumbling into it while being forcefully dragged by Haruhi along with Koizumi. This Haruhi sure is quite useful… By the way, Nagato, it’s been a while.
I watched the words on the screen feeling nostalgic. Though the lines were silent, inside my heart I could hear Nagato reading each word monotonously. The cursor continued to move:
YUKI.N > This is the Emergency Escape Program. To activate it, hit the “Enter” key, otherwise, hit any other key. Once activated, you will be given a chance to repair the space-time continuum.
However, neither success nor your safe return can be guaranteed.
Emergency Escape……Program. That’s it! It’s in this computer!
YUKI.N > This program can only be executed once. Once it is executed, it will be deactivated.
Should you choose not to activate it, it will also be deactivated. Are you ready?
This was the last line of words. The cursor at the end flickered non-stop.
Should I hit “Enter”? Or should I hit some other key?
When I came to my senses, I realized Haruhi was peeking over my shoulder.
“What does it all mean? Is it some secret organization? John, stop fooling around and explain already!”
I completely ignored Haruhi, Koizumi and Asahina-san. During this moment, my eyes were neither fixed on Haruhi in her ponytail, Koizumi in my PE uniform, nor the ever-so-cute Asahina-san. I had put all my attention onto this computer and the only other person in this room. I said to the bespectacled girl who was staring at the screen looking stunned:
“Nagato, do you have any recollection of this?”
“…No,”
“Are you sure?”
“Why do you ask?”
Why was she in such a hurry to deny any involvement? It was you who is typing those words……I had wanted to say that, but if I did, this
Nagato would probably freak out.
I decided to examine the last part of the message once again.
This was a message Nagato left for me, it was the Nagato that I had always known that wrote it. To be honest, I didn’t really understand what this Emergency Escape Program meant, and the disclaimer about success not being completely guaranteed unsettled me.
Yet, I’ve come this far, there’s no point fretting about it. I used to place my entire trust on that Nagato, and I could only trust her again now. She rarely makes any mistakes. Besides trusting Nagato, the silent alien-created Living Humanoid Interface who has saved my life numerous times, who else could I trust? If I doubt even what she says, then I really need to doubt what my mind is thinking.
“Hey, John. What’s wrong? You look so strange.”
Haruhi’s voice sounded as if it came from a distance.
“Please leave me alone for a while. I’m trying to organize my thoughts.”
Right now, I really needed to think things over. A Haruhi and Koizumi who study in a different school, an Asahina-san who wasn’t a time traveler, and a Nagato who doesn’t seem to know anything. After thinking about these, I realized that these weren’t the things I should be worrying about now.
The words written by Nagato on the screen were her personal thoughts. The genuineness of that message cannot be doubted.
I stretched my arms and took a deep breath.
That’s it…
The only thing I was sure was that I wanted to get out of this world. I wanted to see the SOS Brigade once again, which I was so familiar with that it has become a part of my daily life, as well as everyone in that world. The Haruhi, Asahina-san, Koizumi and Nagato here weren’t the ones that I knew. There was no ‘Organization’ or Integrated Data Entity here, and the adult version of Asahina-san would never visit this world, since everything’s so messed up.
It didn’t take me long to make up my mind.
I took out a crumpled piece of paper from my jacket…
“I’m sorry, Nagato, but you can have it back.”
Nagato’s pale fingers slowly reached out to receive the blank club application form. Once I let go, the application form flickered about, though there was hardly any wind in here. After missing her grip once, she finally grabbed hold of it the second time around.
“This…”
Nagato’s voice was even shaking, her eyes concealed by her eyelashes.
“However,” I quickly explained, “To tell the truth, I was already a member of this room to begin with. There was no need for me to join the Literature Club, as for the reason…”
Haruhi, Koizumi and Asahina-san all looked and me and thought, What the hell is he talking about? Nagato’s expression was covered by her hair, so I couldn’t see properly. It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, Nagato. No matter what happens next, I’ll definitely return to this room.
“As for the reason, that’s because I’m a member of the SOS Brigade.”
Are you ready?
You bet.
I stretched out my finger and hit the “Enter” key.
In the next moment……
“Whoa!?”
When I stood up, I was hit by a very intense dizziness. I involuntarily grabbed hold of the desk as my vision spun before me. I could feel my ears buzzing as I heard the sounds of people talking coming from afar. Everything went black. I lost all sense of balance, I felt as though I was drifting around, just like a tree leaf that had fallen into a rapid, spinning forever non-stop. The voices calling me started to drift away, what were they trying to say? Was it John or Kyon? I wasn’t sure myself, it didn’t sound like it’s from Haruhi. It’s so dark, am I falling? Where was I falling to? Someone should at least tell me.
My thoughts were in complete chaos. Were my eyes really open? I couldn’t see anything, nor could I hear anything. I could only feel myself floating. Just where was my body? What about Haruhi? Everything’s gone twisted. Koizumi, Asahina-san, where am I? Just where was I going? Just what awaits me in this Emergency Escape Program?
Nagato……
“Whoa!?”
I yelled once again, my ankles were nearly cracked as I barely managed to support myself. It was only then I realized I was still standing.
“What the hell…?”
It was dark everywhere, though not dark enough where you couldn’t see your own fingers. I was relieved I could still see.
“Where am I…”
Looking out at the dim lights shining into the window, I confirmed my position. This looks like a room, and I seem to be holding on to a table. On top of the table was an old computer…
“The Literature Club room!”
It was the Literature Club room from before.
Yet Nagato wasn’t here. Haruhi, Asahina-san and Koizumi had also vanished. Only I remained. The sun seems to have set already, even though sunlight was still shining through the window a while ago. It’s gone dark rather a bit too quick. I looked through the window and into the sparsely populated night skies, seeing the few stars glittering. Time sure flies by quickly.
The room was the same as before. There was a bookshelf, a long table, and an old computer. I understood at once just by seeing these. I didn’t return to my original world, since there wasn’t any stuff from the SOS Brigade. The Commander’s Desk wasn’t here, neither was Asahina-san’s cosplay wardrobe. It was still an empty Literature Club room …but…
The sweat on my forehead dripped into my eyes. I promptly wiped them off with the sleeves of my jacket.
Something’s not right.
Just what was this disorienting feeling? I already knew where I was. This was indeed the Literature Club room. Are you a taiko drum? I suddenly remembered the pun Taniguchi made earlier, but that’s not the problem. Yes, the problem wasn’t about where this place was.
“This is…”
Suddenly, I discovered the truth of why I was feeling so disoriented! At the same time, my body temperature felt as though it has risen sharply, but that wasn’t quite accurate. The truth was that the surrounding temperature was already high, hence my body temperature had risen as well, so it wasn’t an illusion.
I couldn’t take it anymore, and took off my jacket. All the pores in my body opened up at once and sweated. I then took off my sweater and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt, yet the heat accumulated inside the room barely dispersed.
“This is too hot!”
I began to grumble.
“It’s feels as hot as…”
A hot summer’s night.
In that case, there was only one question I should be asking right now,
What season is it right now?
Chapter 4
I believe anyone who has experienced it would know how scary it is to walk alone at school in the dark.
I hung my jacket over my shoulder and walked slowly out of the club room. Like a ninja, I tried not to make any sound when walking down the stairs. Every time I reached a corner, I would always take a look around me before moving any further. It sure was exhausting! I had no idea what date it was in this North High, but it’d be troublesome if I was seen by an on-duty teacher. I wouldn’t even know how to explain this—in fact, I wish someone would explain all this to me instead!
I walked sweatily under the humid air and finally reached the entrance hall.
“Now, what do we have here…”
After saying that, I opened my shoe locker. Inside were someone else’s indoor shoes—I was pretty sure they weren’t mine. I quickly eliminated the possibility of someone opening the wrong locker and taking my shoes by mistake. It was the middle of summer right now, that means I’ve once again leaped into another dimension — I’m quite amazed I could have such an imagination. The current owner of this shoe locker wasn’t me, but someone from this world or dimension. I wasn’t as surprised as I expected myself to be, either because I was already used to this stuff, or because I was already numb to such overwhelming events.
“Can’t be he
lped.”
Obviously it wouldn’t look nice to be wearing indoor shoes outside, but I was left with no other choice. My priority was to leave the school complex. As expected, the entrance door was locked tight at night. So I walked to a nearby window, unlocked it and opened it carefully. I slowly inhaled the fragrant night breeze and leaped out the window and onto the stony steps, where Haruhi had awoken me when we had been inside the Sealed Dimension.
I stopped for about ten seconds. After making sure no one could see me, I continued onward.
It was just as hot outside the school complex. This was a typical, humid Japanese summer heat. I just came over from the freezing cold winter, so all my sweat glands were now opening up like mad. I wiped the sweat off my face with my long sleeved shirt and headed towards the gate.
It was easy once I was outside. I must thank the school’s non-existent security—I only needed to climb over the fence and that was it. After climbing over, I picked up my jacket which I had thrown across beforehand, and looked up at the starry sky as I pondered my next move.
Right now, I need to know what date and what time it is now. After all, there was a huge time difference between the past and the future.
Might as well walk down the hill first. There should be a convenience store along the way. If I walked into a nearby residence and asked, “What year and month is it today?” I’d probably be treated as a demented high school student and locked up by the authorities. Better to go somewhere where I could find out the date without having to ask someone.
“Still, it’s quite hot…”
I was already hot as I was wearing my winter uniform, but now even my trousers were glued to my legs by all the sweat. At that moment, I truly hated the inventor of these synthetic fibers. Not to mention this winter uniform doesn’t even keep one warm in winter; it’s only designed to look nice.
Volume 4 - The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 10