Volume 4 - The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi

by Tanigawa Nagaru

  Nagato’s gaze continues to be fixed on me,

  “To restore the world to its original state, one must travel from here to December 18th three years from now, and activate the Restoration Program just after the temporal converter has executed the alteration.”

  So, we’ll be traveling to three years in the future next, right? The one who’ll be doing the restoration would be you, right?

  “I cannot go.”

  Why not?

  When Nagato pointed to the guest room, I understood at once.

  “I cannot leave them alone.”

  According to Nagato’s explanation, in order to allow the time where my other self and Asahina-san were sleeping to remain frozen, she cannot perform any time travel herself. She then said in a voice as though reporting the time,

  “Activate Emergency Mode.”

  “What does that mean?” I was getting a bit anxious.

  “Harmonization.”

  I still don’t get it.

  Nagato slowly took off her glasses and wrapped them with her hands. As if being hung by an unseen thread, the glasses in her palms began to float. If I saw a normal person doing this, I would have thought there were some invisible strings attached to that person’s fingers. Of course, Nagato wouldn’t do something so normal.

  Distortion.

  The frame and glass both began to twist and form into a strange whirlpool shape, in an instant the pair of glasses has turned into another object. I’ve seen this shape before, it was a shape that would strike fear into the hearts of any human being.

  I hesitantly gave my comment,

  “It looks like a very huge syringe.”

  “That is correct.”

  A colorless liquid was filled up inside the syringe. Just who was going to get jabbed by that thing?

  “This is the Restoration Program used to inject into the temporal converter’s body.”

  Looking at the sharp needle sticking out from the end of the syringe, I instinctively turned away.

  “Um…… Isn’t there a more reliable way. I’m sorry to say this, but I’m an amateur when it comes to this. It’ll be pretty disastrous if it were to stab the wrong place.”

  Nagato’s dark eyes, which glittered like an LCD screen, looked at the syringe she was holding, and said,

  “Is that so?”

  She widened her hands again, the syringe once again formed into a whirlpool before morphing into another shape. Seeing the shape of this new object, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Another object that would create a huge ruckus.”

  This time it’s a gun, though it had a small nozzle while its material was made of stainless steel.

  Nagato placed the shiny metallic pistol, which looked like a brand new toy-gun onto her palm and handed it to me.

  “The chances of this penetrating clothing is very high, but if possible, it is better for you to directly shoot the target’s skin.”

  “What about bullets? Does this thing have real bullets in them?”

  From its appearance, it looked like an aluminum or plastic gun.

  “This is a short-needle gun, the program is infused on the tip of the needle.”

  I felt more at ease psychologically with this thing than with a giant syringe. I received the gun and was amazed at how light it was.

  “Oh yeah,”

  I finally asked the question that I dare not ask a while ago,

  “Who is the culprit? Who’s the one that altered the world? If it isn’t Haruhi, then who is it? Can you tell me?”

  I heard Asahina-san (big) sigh softly.

  Nagato slowly opened her mouth, and without any expression she calmly uttered the name of the culprit to me.

  Chapter 5

  “……”

  I still didn’t know what to say. Nagato now turned towards Asahina-san (big),

  “Let me give you the space-time coordinates of the target.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  Asahina-san (big) stuck out her hand like a loyal dog eager to shake hands with its master.

  “Go ahead…”

  Nagato softly tapped her finger on the back of Asahina-san’s (big) palm, and then retracted it… That’s it? Though Asahina-san (big) looked content with it.

  “I understand now, Nagato-san. All we need to do is to go and mend ‘her’ up, right? That won’t be hard, since ‘she’ wouldn’t have any powers by then…”

  The time traveler seemed determined as she clutched her fists, the alien then said,

  “Please wait.”

  Not wearing any glasses, Nagato said,

  “In this state, you too would be swept into the changes of the space-time continuum. Counteractive measures need to be applied.”

  She then stuck her hand out.

  “Your hand.”

  What for? Does she want to shake hands? I obediently stuck out my right hand. Nagato’s icy cold fingers grabbed my wrist, causing my heartbeat to go faster for a while.

  “…”

  Nagato suddenly moved her sullen-looking face towards my arm.

  “Whoa!”

  Kneeling down, Nagato not only touched my wrist softly with her lips, she even revealed her teeth.

  I yelled involuntarily. It was an unavoidable reaction, I guess. Kneeling down, Nagato not only touched my wrist softly with her lips, she even revealed her teeth. It was like during the making of the movie, when she constantly assaulted Asahina-san and bit her.

  It didn’t hurt, actually. It felt like one of those soft unhostile bites Shamisen would make whenever I caressed him. Though the canine teeth sinking into my skin felt a bit prickly, like being jabbed by something but not hurting at all. Maybe it was because Nagato’s saliva contained some sort of anesthetic to numb the pain. It was more like being bitten by a mosquito.

  After biting my hand for about five to ten seconds, Nagato slowly lifted her head.

  “Your body surface has been applied with a data-manipulating stealth barrier and protective shield,”

  Nagato said without even blushing. On the other hand, cupping her mouth with her hands, Asahina-san (big) looked rather amazed. I felt a bit numb and looked at my wrist. On it were two small holes which looked like vampire bite marks. As I stared at them, the two small holes began to heal and disappeared without a trace. Like with Asahina-san during the making of the movie, my body was also injected with Nagato’s nanomachines.

  “You too.”

  Under Nagato’s request, terrified Asahina-san stuck out her hand.

  “…It’s been a while since you’ve injected me. It must’ve been tough on you, back then…”

  “This is my first time giving you an injection.”

  “Oh, yes, right. I forgot…”

  Shutting her eyes tightly, the time traveler stuck out her wrist and accepted the alien’s kissing baptism. The time it took for her to be injected with nanomachines was shorter than mine. Once it was over, she began to cough dryly.

  “Well, let’s go. Kyon-kun, the real thing starts now.”

  Really? The warm-up this time sure felt quite long! Then again, I was only doing my best to narrate this for everyone, even though I really didn’t want to do this.

  “Thanks.”

  I tried to remain calm as I gave thanks to the mistress of the apartment. The silent Nagato remained unresponsive. I could not find any form of self-awareness through her expression. Yet for some reason, I just felt Nagato, who was standing upright, felt very lonely. Was it really because she was lonely as I had speculated?

  “Nagato, I’ll see you then. Before Haruhi and I arrive, make sure you wait for us in the Literature Club room until then.”

  Like a doll being injected with life, the alien-created organic being mechanically nodded her head.

  “I will wait.”

  Such a sentence was enough to ignite a mysterious flame within my heart. Though it was only as bright as a cigarette butt that someone had forgotten to put out. As I was about to figure out where that little spark
came from, Asahina-san (big) now said,

  “Just to prevent you from getting uncomfortable,”

  She tightly grabbed my shoulders.

  “Can you please close your eyes?”

  I followed as she instructed me to. Asahina-san (big) seemed to be standing right in front of me, holding my hands.

  “Kyon-kun.”

  This soft chanting sounded just too pleasant. Was she going to give me a kiss?

  “Here we go.”

  Please, go ahead. You can kiss as many times as you like, the more passionate the better. Just as I was thinking this…

  The dramatic dizziness had begun. It was good that I had closed my eyes. Even if I had them opened, it would probably be pitch-black as though there was a power shortage. I now felt like sitting in a roller coaster with my seat-belt taken off; I was no longer sure whether the blood in me had left my body or was rushing towards my brain. The sense of floating weightlessness continued. Though I had closed my eyes, I still felt dizzy. The fact that I didn’t lose consciousness was all thanks to the warmth felt through Asahina-san’s (big) hands.

  How many minutes has it been already? Or even how many hours? I lost all awareness of time and space. I can’t hold on much longer. Asahina-san, I feel like throwing up…

  As I was ungraciously trying to look for something that I could puke in…

  “Um… We’ve arrived.”

  The long lost sensation of my feet standing on firm ground was back again. The coldness of the ground passed through my socks and into my body. My sense of gravity was back as well. Like an illusion, the urge to throw up also suddenly disappeared.

  “You can open your eyes now. Thank goodness, this is the place that Nagato-san had directed us… And the time as well.”

  I lifted my head and saw glittering in the night sky a bunch of winter constellations. As the air was cleaner, the stars were much clearer than in the summer. I turned around and instantly recognized the roof of the North High complex looming above the residential housings.

  I looked around me, trying to confirm where I was now. Though it was dark, I couldn’t be mistaken. I was standing here just a few hours ago. I could still remember Haruhi in her ponytail and Koizumi in my PE uniform as well.

  This was where Haruhi and Koizumi had gotten changed. It should be a coincidence, I guess!

  Now then, what time was it?

  Looking at her watch, Asahina-san (big) told me,

  “It’s four forty-eight in the morning on the 18th of December. In about five minutes, the world will be changed.”

  From the moment I hit the “Enter” key on the 20th and traveled back three years in time, the 18th would be two days ago. On that day, I went to school as usual, unaware of what was about to happen, and I fell into a state of pandemonium as a result of seeing a North High that has completely changed. Haruhi has suddenly disappeared, while Asakura had reappeared; and Asahina-san couldn’t recognize me, while Nagato has become a completely different person altogether.

  It all started here, I was now at the time period where the conversion took effect. In other words, I could also prevent it from happening, and that was why I was standing here now.

  As I was getting fired up by the intense anticipation……

  “Oh no! I forgot to bring my shoes!”

  Asahina-san (big) exclaimed softly.

  As we traveled directly from indoors, naturally we weren’t wearing any shoes. As expected from Asahina-san, not even the passage of time could wear away her clumsiness.

  “Would Nagato-san take good care of them for me?”

  Her anxiety briefly relieved me of my own nervousness. I’m sure she’d take good care of them. After all, she managed to preserve a tanzaku for three years. So she won’t lose a pair of shoes so easily. You can always go to her apartment and check her cupboard……

  As I calmly thought about these, an electric-like sensation went through my body all of a sudden.

  That was because I wasn’t wearing any shoes, not to mention having to leap from summer back to the freezing winter, so the cold felt even more intense. I immediately thought of putting back on the jacket I was holding in my arms; that was when I noticed Asahina-san shivering while tightly wrapping herself with her arms. Well, wearing only a long-sleeved blouse and a tight mini-skirt in such low temperatures, I suppose it’s only natural that she would be freezing like hell.

  “Put this on,”

  I placed my jacket over her shivering shoulders. Even I was pleased by my own act of chivalry.

  “Oh, thank you. I’m so sorry about that.”

  There’s no need to apologize, it was nothing. If you hadn’t waited for me three years ago, I’d never be able to return to here. Just this point alone was enough, even if it meant I had to strip all my clothes for you.

  Asahina-san (big) gave me a smile, which perfectly combined sexiness and cuteness, and would soften the legs of more than half of the audience, then said seriously,

  “It’s almost time.”

  Maybe it was good that we forgot to wear our shoes, as we didn’t make any sound while walking. Despite that, Asahina-san (big) and I still didn’t dare to breathe loudly as we walked in small steps towards the entrance of North High. We stopped by the corner and like hunters following their prey, we only stuck our heads out and stared at the path ahead of us in the dark.

  There weren’t a lot of street lamps in this area, though there was one just outside the gate. Only the area under the light was illuminated. Though the light was dim, one could still make out whoever was standing under that lamp.

  “Here she comes……”

  A warm hand landed on my shoulder. I could feel Asahina-san’s (big) intense yet sweet breathing blow into my ears. Normally, I would be spellbound by it, but I wasn’t in the mood right now.

  The space-time converter emerged from the shadows and into the light under the lamp.

  A North High uniform. That was the person Nagato had mentioned. “That person” was the culprit who had altered our world, separated the members of the SOS Brigade and turned everyone into normal human beings. Only my memories remained, while the memories and history of everyone and everything else were totally changed.

  Right now, “that person” had begun making her move.

  I still couldn’t rush out yet, I had to wait till everything has changed. That was the advice Nagato gave me. I must wait till that person had changed the world completely before I could inject the Restoration Program. Otherwise, the history where I activated the Escape Program would never have existed. I didn’t quite understand what Nagato meant, though Nagato and Asahina-san (big) both seemed pretty clear about it. They must be pretty familiar with the flow of time, a person like me would never understand. Since I’ll never get it, I might as well follow the advice of the professionals. That Nagato would never lie, she has always been standing by our side with a serious look on her face……

  I tightly grabbed the short needle pistol Nagato gave me and waited silently.

  Walking in regular strides, “that person” arrived before the gates of North High. She lifted her head to look at the school complex that was shrouded in darkness and stopped.

  Her sailor uniform skirt flickered as the wind blew.

  She didn’t seem to notice us. This was all thanks to the nanomachines Nagato injected into us, creating a stealth barrier and protective shield on the surface of our bodies.

  “That person” suddenly lifted one arm and made a gesture as though grabbing onto something in the air. It didn’t look natural, it’s as though she was being controlled, but I knew that wasn’t the case.

  “Amazing…” Asahina-san (big) exclaimed, “That was a powerful time quake. She actually had such power… I still find it hard to believe even after I’ve seen it with my own eyes,”

  Even with my own eyes, I still don’t see any changes. The night sky was still dark. Yet Asahina-san (big) seemed to have witnessed that person use some method to cause a massive change
to the history of this world. She was from the future after all, so it’s not surprising if she could see it.

  Asahina-san (big) leaned herself tightly onto me. Originally, we too would have been swamped by “that person’s” alteration of the world, but we were protected by having Nagato bite us. Nagato and Asahina-san (big) were indeed helpful, it seems the course of action I’ve taken was correct. What follows next would be the action needed to resolve this matter, I can’t afford to screw up at the last hurdle.

  I held my breath when I saw that person putting down her arm and suddenly turn her head in our direction. At first I thought she had discovered we were peeking on her, but it turns out she was only looking around.

  “Don’t worry, she hasn’t discovered us. Right now she has been ‘reborn.’ The time quake… The alteration of the world has ended. Kyon-kun, it’s our turn to move now,”

  Asahina-san (big) said in a stiff and serious tone and gave me the signal.

  I emerged from the darkness and headed towards the school gate. There was no need to hurry, as she was not going to run away. As expected, when “that person” noticed me standing under the street lamp, she was still standing in front of the school gate. The only change was the expression on her face. When I saw the astonished look on her face, I suddenly felt melancholic all of a sudden.

  “Hi there,”

  I called out to her. As though seeing a friend I haven’t met for a long time, I approached her.

  “It’s me, we meet again,”

  I was able to guess a bit from the tone of Asahina-san’s (big) voice. Of the people that I knew, besides Haruhi, only one person could make her feel so uneasy. Think about it. After the 18th, the secret personal profiles of the SOS Brigade members had suddenly vanished. Yet all their personalities remained intact, all save one, whose actions, expressions and mannerism had changed completely.