# Kyon: Big Damn Hero

## The Resolution Arc V

### Chapter Sixty One: The Watanagashi Festival

Disclaimer: The novel series of Suzumiya Haruhi that began with 'The
Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa. No
disrespect is intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the
characters or settings involved. I'm merely dabbling with another set of
paints. TVtropes (the website) is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License, and so is every part of this fic
that isn't the property of someone else. For example: Additional characters
are borrowed from Higurashi, which is the creation of Ryukishi07, and Half
Life 2, which is the property of Valve.

Notes: Count the tropes! Save, collect, trade for swell prizes!

* * *

"Third Chorus: Focus"

"Carrier waves projecting memetic information on a wide spectrum abound and
can easily become overwhelming, even with persistent observation. The inherent
limitations of this can be bypassed by restricting attention to harmonic
resonances beyond the most critical elements within the observational scope."

"Perspective" -- LP-MK:SK Memetic String (-working translation-)

* * *

She was still trying to process everything that was going on ... but she was
seeing -- thanks to Kyon's aunts and uncle -- that such an arrangement
evidently _could_ work. Moreover, Sasaki had made the decision that she was
going to be friends with Haruhi, so it seemed at least worth trying.

They were people she enjoyed spending time with, too, though she planned on
getting to know all of them better. Ironically, though she suspected she'd
known Kuyou longer, the mysterious dark-haired girl seemed much closer to Yuki
than herself.

Well, no sense getting jealous. She just needed to learn more about the others
-- and Kuyou as well.

While Kyon was out with Tsuruya, Mikuru went to the kitchen with Kuyou.
Evidently the older girl was an avid baker, and after spending some time
weaving Kuyou's hair into a pair of extraordinarily thick braids, the pair
began work constructing a cake to surprise him with on his return. Haruhi
handled more of the cooking, though Mikuru seemed to be the expert on that as
well, offering her advice, which Haruhi accepted without hesitation.

Not wanting to get in the way, Sasaki found herself waiting in the living room
with Yuki and the diminutive Kanae.

To try and learn a bit more about them, she raised the topic of their common
interest: Kyon.

The younger girl was quite adorable, and unquestionably head-over-heels for
the boy. While she was vague about it, evidently Kyon had rescued her from
some unsavory characters. Sasaki could certainly understand that!

Yuki wasn't very specific either, but as Kanae explained it, Kyon had helped
her substantially with some family problems.

Well, he'd come a long way from middle school, managing to -- in some ways --
fulfill his daydreams about being a hero. She couldn't really look down on it,
though. He'd fought off thugs and kidnappers for her as well!

With Mikuru overseeing the work in the kitchen, they managed to get the cake
and a small mountain of appetizers prepared before Kyon and Tsuruya returned.
Having arranged it with Haruhi beforehand, Tsuruya stalled Kyon in the doorway
so they could all crowd around and cheer, "Surprise!" as soon as he opened it.

Sasaki thought he might have expected it, but he must have been distracted by
other factors -- if his reaction to a kiss was anything _close_ to hers, she
could understand why! Then again, Tsuruya must have had more practice with it
than Sasaki....

She squashed a minor surge of jealousy at that. Really, it was more annoying
that Haruhi had hidden the entire thing from her, but she realized there were
good, logical reasons for it. It might have been embarrassing to have so many
witnesses to her first kiss, but on the other hand, she got to share it with
the one person she most wanted to.

The group of them led Kyon to the living room, where Mikuru and Kuyou had laid
out the cake and appetizers on the kotatsu, Mikuru and Haruhi taking up the
spots at his sides. "That's quite impressive!" he remarked, looking at the
cake in surprise. "Did ... you make this, Mikuru?"

"Ah, no," she insisted, shaking her head quickly. "It was Kuyou-chan -- I just
helped!"

Kuyou smiled, an expression Sasaki realized she hadn't seen her adopt before.
At least ... not quite that _particular_ smile. This one seemed so much more
genuine than the others she'd shown! Kyon nodded, before double-taking at her
braids. "That's an interesting look," he said belatedly.

"That, Mikuru-chan must take full credit for," Haruhi added, smirking. "I
think she likes playing with Kuyou-chan's hair."

Mikuru blushed, and Sasaki smiled with the others -- it was easy to feel
companionable after such an exchange.

"Um-- But Su--" Catching herself at the younger girl's sharp look and raised
eyebrow, Mikuru corrected herself, "Um, Haruhi cooked the rest!"

"Haha, this tastes like Mikuru-chan's handiwork!" Tsuruya exclaimed, after
nibbling a bit of the fare. "She's too modest!"

"Well, Haruhi's not bad by any stretch either," Kyon countered. "In any case
... I'm honored to get this chance to spend time like this with...." He
trailed off and made a face. "Um. I have _no idea_ how to say it respectfully,
so for now I'll say 'all of you'."

"P...perhaps ... girlfriends?" Sasaki posed cautiously.

"I like that one!" Kanae agreed brightly.

Kuyou offered a quiet, "Partners."

"Lovers!" Tsuruya broke in with a laugh.

"Ah!" Kanae yelped, blushing darkly. "Th-that's okay, too!"

"That ... might work," Haruhi allowed, fanning her face as she blushed. "Um --
but that's aside from the point! Kyon, it's your birthday, so ... I made you
something!"

Sasaki started, realizing she hadn't thought to bring anything -- that wasn't
any good.... Haruhi reached beneath the table and proudly produced a small
package, carefully wrapped.

He accepted it with a smile as Kanae produced a small package of her own,
smiling proudly.

"Ah, shoot!" Tsuruya exclaimed with a chuckle. "I forgot!"

"Tsuruya-hime, you give everyone enough that you don't need to," Kyon assured
her, turning his attention to Haruhi's gift.

"Um," Mikuru fretted anxiously. "Oh, oh, dear--"

"You made Kyon that coat," Haruhi reminded the older girl with a grin, before
she could protest. "And you helped Kuyou-chan make this cake, too -- leave the
rest of us some chances to give Kyon nice stuff!"

"It's fine, Mikuru, really," Kyon agreed, giving her a warm smile before
turning his attention to the package before him and unwrapping it. Sasaki was
impressed at what he pulled out -- while it was clearly made by hand, the
scarf was also very well made. "Oh ... that's very thoughtful," he remarked.

"I know it won't be useful for months," Haruhi said, "um, but...." She trailed
off as he lifted it up -- it was wool, and seemed to be striped in a rather
eclectic selection of colors. It was also extremely long. If he didn't loop it
around his neck several times, it was long enough to share with someone next
to him -- possibly more than one person ... and Sasaki belatedly realized that
was probably even the intent of it, as well.

"That's cute!" Sasaki encouraged, once Kyon had managed to run what looked
like six meters of the material through his hands.

"Enough to share!" Kanae added with a giggle, catching the same intent that
Sasaki had.

"Ah," Kyon said slowly in realization as Haruhi's face flushed. "I see!"

"A-anyway, what did you get him, Kanae-chan?" she insisted, trying to shift
focus away from herself.

"Thank you, Haruhi," Kyon said sincerely, which made her blush even more
deeply, before he turned his attention to Kanae. She proudly offered up a very
thin wrapped package. He accepted it curiously, carefully tearing open the
paper and revealing a single sheet of paper.

"Oh, my!" Sasaki couldn't help but exclaim. Kyon's expression suggested he
wasn't sure what to make of a sketch of himself ... well, more than just a
quick sketch. It was quite detailed. The proportions seemed amazing, too;
Kanae's sense of scale was absolutely perfect.

"I ... think this is very impressive work, Kanae-chan," Kyon said after a
moment.

"It's very well done," Sasaki agreed. "I'm quite impressed!"

"I like it too, Kanae-chan," Haruhi chimed in, smirking. "Though, Kyon is
probably a bit confused at why you gave him a drawing of himself wearing only
swimming trunks and his coat."

"Ah!" the smaller girl yelped. "There-- There's more pages!"

Kyon nodded thoughtfully, pulling another page from the package on the table.
There were a dozen pages in all, which seemed to all match the same quality,
and showed Kyon fighting against a giant robot on the beach somewhere in
proper heroic fashion. It struck Sasaki as particularly shounen in nature --
until the ending sequence, where the Kyon on the paper kissed Kanae.

"Aha, I feel like I was there, now!" Tsuruya remarked, looking more thoughtful
than amused. "Though, hum.... That was the first time I met Sasaki-chan, too."

She jolted slightly at how familiar Tsuruya already behaved toward her. "I-- I
recall that day," Sasaki agreed. Kyon had even mentioned ... fighting robots
or something like that, hadn't he? What had actually happened?

"Well, I'm sorry about that," Tsuruya said thoughtfully. "But -- I'm glad we
can all overcome that for this!"

"Right -- we'll have to add that to our archives, Kanae-chan," Haruhi agreed.
"Excellent work!"

"Thank you, Kanae-chan," Kyon agreed, favoring the girl with a smile that made
her duck her head in embarrassment. "This is amazing."

"Come to think of it ... Yuki-chan, did you get a picture of Sasaki-chan and
Kyon's first kiss? You _did_ right? Just like we discussed?"

Yuki nodded slightly, and Sasaki felt her face heat up. The quiet girl had a
camera? She'd been taking _pictures_? "Full video," Yuki said softly.

Sasaki couldn't help but whimper, covering her face. "Goodness!" she
exclaimed, muffled by her own hands.

Haruhi chuckled and put one arm about her. "Is it half as embarrassing as
agreeing to share Kyon?" she chided.

"I'm not certain that helps!" Sasaki laughed, settling slightly. "But, yes,
you're right.... Um, I'm terribly sorry, Kyon, I wasn't prepared and so ... I
have nothing to offer you!" In fact, she couldn't even cook or bake like the
other girls could, and she doubted her knitting could match Haruhi's scarf!

"You-- You didn't really have a chance to prepare, though," Mikuru consoled
her, smiling gently.

"It's not a problem," Kyon agreed, shaking his head. Pausing to indicate
everyone, he added, "Realistically, just by having, uh ... well, _you_, I
can't ask for much more!"

"And yet, Yuki-chan did mention getting something for you," Haruhi prompted,
looking toward the quiet girl.

"This gift was prepared in advance," Yuki said quietly, reaching behind her
and moving a very large box around. She braced to lift it, and Kyon shook his
head quickly.

"Ah-- I'll, I'll move around the table for that, Yuki-chan," he said, rising
curiously and moving around to accept the package.

Sasaki had to wonder where the box came from -- obviously Yuki had hidden it
behind the couch, or something along those lines -- but how had she fit it in
the bags she had brought with them when they first arrived? Then again ...
perhaps it had been moved while she was blindfolded?

Well, that raised a whole slew of uncomfortable questions, which she was
working hard on not thinking about for the moment.

"Hurry and open it!" Haruhi demanded. "I want to see what Yuki-chan got you!"

She shook her head to see Kyon accepting the package with a curious
expression. He moved it to one side as everyone crowded around him to watch.
It was just a plain brown box, with no visible labels or markings on it.
Shrugging, Kyon lifted the lid, prompting Haruhi to gasp quietly, and the rest
to make curious responses of their own.

"Sempai-- Can you play?" Kanae asked in excitement, eyes widening, as Kyon
pulled a guitar case out, and then removed the guitar from within, holding it
aloft and looking at it in astonishment. Sasaki wished she knew more about
them to judge what kind it was, since she was certain there were many, but he
looked quite the figure just holding it.

"He can't, really," Haruhi started, shaking her head. "Still--"

She cut off as Kyon climbed to his feet without hesitation, fingers going to
the strings swiftly, and after a single scale, started began plucking out a
tune. It wasn't connected to an amplifier, but to Sasaki's ears he was playing
an unfamiliar song -- evidently without missing a note.

"...huh?" Haruhi trailed off, blinking.

Not breaking from the tune he was strumming, Kyon gave a short shake of his
head, smiling softly. "Yuki-chan taught me this," he admitted.

"Oh, we are _so_ bringing the band back!" Haruhi exclaimed.

Kyon broke off to give her a flat stare, eyebrows rising.

"Come on!" she complained. "That skill right there--"

"Haru-nyan, wasn't that one of the songs that you wrote?" Tsuruya mused.

"Well, yes! But that's my point! We could be an _awesome_ band!" Turning to
Sasaki, she excitedly asked, "Can you play anything?"

"Ah, I learned how to play piano," she offered cautiously. "I don't know if
I'm very good, though...."

"You'll be fine!" Haruhi declared. "Now--"

"Haruhi," Kyon sighed. "Aren't we a bit wrapped up in other things at the
moment? Becoming a band...."

Sasaki winced sympathetically at the way Haruhi's cheer vanished with a
grimace.

"Why not just be friends and play together when we feel like it?" he offered,
giving her a small smile. "I have a suspicion that Yuki-chan taught me how to
play in the first place so she wouldn't have to," he added.

For her part, Yuki's cheeks turned the slightest bit pink -- almost
undetectably -- as she offered a tiny nod.

Haruhi stared at her in surprise for a moment, and then shook her head. "Okay,
no band," she relented with a grumble.

"And thank you, Yuki-chan -- I really didn't expect this," Kyon added
sincerely.

"But we can still play!" Tsuruya encouraged. "I don't know how to play
anything good for a modern band, but I can sing a little bit! I bet Kanae-chan
can, too! So we can still have fun with it together, Haru-nyan."

"That's true, that's true," Haruhi sighed. Offering an embarrassed smile, she
added, "I got carried away. Now I'll just be jealous of Yuki-chan giving you
something so awesome!"

"And letting you play with Kyon in the future?" Mikuru giggled.

Haruhi made a face. "Okay!" she allowed, laughing. "I'm ... really being
silly, aren't I? Well -- in any case, did anyone else have something for
Kyon?"

After surveying everyone present, as Kyon carefully put the guitar back in its
case, pausing when he realized Kuyou was silently staring. Had been since he'd
started, actually. "Did you like that song?" he asked her belatedly.

"Harmony?" Kuyou replied curiously.

"You ... want to play?" he asked, pulling the instrument out and offering it
toward the frequently silent girl.

"With you," Kuyou answered, her eyes rising to Kyon's.

"What do you play?" Haruhi asked.

"Chorus." After blinking, Kuyou added, "Stringed instruments."

"That's quite a scope to cover!" Sasaki mused. "I hadn't known that side of
you! Or Kyon, either!" She had thought that his younger self wouldn't have
been above boasting over his skills, but it was unlikely he'd learned to play
that well just since middle school. Much like his ability to fight, it must
have been something he was just modest about....

Some small doubt tried to bubble up in the back of her mind, but she quashed
it down. Now wasn't the time for that.

"We can figure that out, then!" Haruhi decided. "Now -- we're all going to
enjoy Watanagashi, but first, a penalty for anyone who didn't get Kyon a
present or help with preparations!" she declared.

"Oh, does distracting Kyon count?" Tsuruya asked.

"It does!"

"Wait -- that's only me!" Sasaki protested.

"Precisely!" Haruhi agreed, nodding. "Therefore ... you will have to be Kyon's
official date!"

Sasaki laughed in surprise, shaking her head. "I thought you said it was a
penalty?"

"Well, we'll have the rest of the weekend with Kyon, after this," Haruhi
explained. "You'll have to go straight back to school tomorrow."

"Ooh," Kuyou noised -- not an exclamation, but a thoughtful sound. "Kimono."

"Hmm?" Mikuru wondered, cocking her head slightly to one side. "Oh, right!
Mion-san left us a box of kimono to wear to the festival! Um, after we eat, we
can change!"

"Ah, we'd better hurry; the festival starts at sunset!" Kanae exclaimed. "Um,
Mikuru-onee, this is delicious!"

Sasaki dazedly wondered ... how had it come to this? She certainly wasn't
going to complain, but an actual _date_ with Kyon? She knew that she should be
more worried about her mother, and school, and the time she was missing ...
but found she was looking forward to it too much to focus on those things!

* * *

Since Nonoko was playing with her cousins, Ryouko had remained in the
background. Even though they were related, the genetic variance was high
enough that the other children couldn't see her without Ryouko making extra
effort to be visible. Thanks to Kuyou and the unexpected presence of Hanyuu,
Ryouko had plenty to occupy her, but she still was glad to see that Nonoko was
having fun.

As Kyon was on a 'date' with Sasaki, and the other girls were watching over
Kyon's cousins, Yuki had quietly ordered Ryouko to 'observe.' Ryouko wasn't
able to determine what precisely she was supposed to be observing, but had
noted some elements.

First, Kyon and Sasaki seemed to blend in with the crowd in their yukata and
kimono, and no one looked at Kuyou suspiciously in her re-used costume from
Haruhi's flash-mob, either. Such costumes seemed very common for the village
festival. Secondly, since she was perched on Kuyou's shoulder, and the dark-
haired entity had taken one of Kyon's arms, the boy in question seemed to have
grown much less concerned with Ryouko's presence.

There was a cautious correlation between factors that started analysis in a
distant subprocess. She had unexpected -- unregulated -- 'feelings' concerning
Nonoko. She was not just made to feel negatively when Nonoko was in danger,
she felt ... positive when Nonoko was happy? Something about this seemed to
make Kyon more comfortable in her presence?

There was also the interplay between Kyon, Sasaki, and Kuyou -- something
Ryouko couldn't experience directly. She could feel it via Kuyou, though. That
was different, but had surprising commonalities with the positive feelings she
felt with regard for Nonoko!

It was initially very frustrating (another unexpected emotion) to deal with
emotions without a convenient 'off' switch of some sort; Ryouko was starting
to suspect that Yuki didn't bother engaging her own at _all_. It made
functioning very different, and she had always judged that sort of existence
to be inherently inferior. Why would someone _choose_ to have that state of
being?

Well, presumably organic beings didn't actually have a choice, did they? In
that sense, Ryouko (and before her, Yuki) were gaining more accurate knowledge
about the organic existence, but something about it ran deeper than just more
accurate data gathering. Clearly, the IDSE knew about this, and that was why
interfaces existed as an insulative measure to protect it from directly
experiencing that sort of thing.

But more than that ... the process of experiencing emotions on their own,
instead of only when she judged it was correct.... There was something to
that. Was _that_ what Yuki had wanted her to observe?

Then again, when Kuyou tugged Kyon's arms, leading him (and therefore Sasaki)
behind a stall, she wondered if it were perhaps simpler.

"My," Sasaki breathed, as Kuyou disengaged the field effect that caused most
people to ignore her. "Um ... I had thought it would be just _us_, Kyon...."

Glancing ruefully at Kuyou, he admitted, "So did I. Um ... sor--"

"Now, don't you dare apologize," Sasaki admonished with a gentle giggle,
waggling a fingertip at him. "As much as I might enjoy the opportunity to have
some time ... alone with you, I have agreed to share what time I do have,
haven't I? And being entirely honest, sometimes I wonder if I'm the sort of
person who would -- alone -- be enough for another, so this isn't entirely
unfitting. In a way, even if I sometimes wish to be more selfish, the thought
of not having to be at the center, but instead enjoying a participatory role
from the sidelines is a comfortable position for me. Also, Suou-san is my
friend, too, though--"

"Kuyou," the other entity corrected, blinking slowly.

"Ah, right," Sasaki agreed, blushing faintly. "W...well, also there is the
fact that it might be ... tempting to push things more quickly than perhaps I
would if it were just the pair of us alone; Haruhi is quite likely to ambush
us with a camera and snap opportune pictures were we to...." She trailed off,
giggling again.

Kyon looked like he would have scratched the back of his head and chuckled,
his face reddening slightly. "You're right," he agreed. "I-- I mean ... this
whole thing is crazy enough. I'm willing to give it a shot, considering how
much effort everyone else is putting into it, but I'm still a bit scared --
it's really overwhelming! Though, I do feel you deserve at least as much as
everyone else. That's the best I can do, though, so that's what I'd like to
give. It probably _is_ for the best that we be a bit more restrained, just
now...."

"Restrained!" Kuyou agreed, smiling softly as she tightened her grip on Kyon's
arm -- and then leaned in to claim a kiss before he could protest.

Sasaki's eyes widened as Ryouko reflexively captured the moment in her
observation. "I-- Oh, my!" she remarked, clinging to Kyon's other arm even
more tightly.

"I-- I don't think that was the plan!" Kyon exclaimed, wincing and dropping
his voice, since they were out of sight of the main group of festival goers at
the moment. He wasn't quite fast enough, and an irate looking man stuck his
head out from the rear flap of the stall they were using for cover -- even in
the darkness Kyon only needed a heartbeat to recognize the man.

Ryouko had a filed reference to him being one of the ones present in
discussion with Kyon's aunts when they had first arrived in Hinamizawa. Well,
it was a small village! The man paled, and silently vanished back into his
stall, deciding not to comment.

While Kuyou was aware, she didn't react, and evidently neither Kyon nor Sasaki
had noticed.

Kyon sighed softly. "Um ... not that I mind that much, but still...."

"Well..." Sasaki started hesitantly, blushing faintly and not meeting his
eyes. "If you're uncertain, but willing to give it your best ... then I'm
reassured you're still the same Kyon that I ... liked so much back then, and
you haven't become some terrible playboy. But ... if you don't mind
anyway...." She firmed her resolve, and since she was still holding one of
Kyon's arms, he couldn't resist very well when she copied the move of the
dark-haired entity.

Ryouko observed that closely, as well. That was probably what Yuki had in
mind!

* * *

While she was still uncertain about the whole 'sharing' idea, she tried to put
up a good front about it. Despite not being wholly convinced, Sasaki had to
admit that she was warming to the concept quite rapidly. She wouldn't have
minded having some time to walk around the festival alone with Kyon on a
'date,' either, but she consoled herself that she'd managed to spoil her
chances for _that_ by being careless with her responses to Kyon's hesitant
confession in middle school.

So getting to enjoy some time with him and Kuyou wasn't actually that bad at
all. While she'd imagined him being a bit more confident about it, he was
astonishingly _cute_ when flustered, too! She wasn't certain she could
actually throw him off on her own, and when he kissed her back, she found she
stopped really caring that much ... but there was no reason to rush. In that
regard, having Kuyou along both smoothed some difficulties over, and acted as
a sort of brake to keep things from escalating too quickly.

She tried to keep her mind away from thoughts of stereotypical romantic
situations regarding festivals, and she _especially_ ignored the idea of
double-teaming Kyon with Haruhi, dragging him off into the woods and--

Anyway, after a few minutes of trying to suffocate Kyon via kissing (he was
giving better than he got, even outnumbered), she finally managed a cough,
ducking her head at the end of the last kiss. "W...we should see your cousin's
ceremony soon, shouldn't we?" she managed, fanning her face with her free
hand.

"R...right!" Kyon agreed, his voice slightly unsteady.

"Harmonious," Kuyou chimed in, as the three returned to the thin crowds
milling around the festival grounds-- Almost instantly, they ran into the
other girls, Kyon's cousins and aunts trailing behind them.

"Ah!" Tsuruya exclaimed as Sasaki and Kuyou both released Kyon's arms, before
the cousins could spot it -- though, Matsuri (the most jealous one) wasn't in
sight. "There you are!"

Haruhi bit back laughter, but wasn't able to keep an amused smirk from her
face. "Having fun?" she pressed.

Holding Yurie's hand, Rena mused, "This atmosphere is so pleasant! Ah, to be
so young again! Kei-chan, aren't you jealous?" She added a gentle elbowing to
the man walking nearby -- Sasaki had somehow missed him earlier.

"Nope!" he exclaimed. "I wouldn't give up my own fortune for anything!"

"Aha," Satoko chuckled. "Mion-chan, what would Rika-chan say if she were here
instead of helping Matsu-chan get ready?"

"I think it would be, 'Doki-doki,'" the green-haired woman replied with a
knowing grin, glancing across the older girls.

At Keiichi's side, his son narrowed his eyes, frowning intently. "Icky," he
judged warningly.

"Er-- Um, is Matsu-chan's performance coming soon?" Mikuru asked anxiously,
clasping her hands together.

"Should be!" Haruhi exclaimed, glancing at the sky. "Hey, hey-- We've got to
get good spots to watch it! Yuki-chan, are you ready to record it? Oh, wait,
is recording allowed?"

"Mm, yeah, as long as you aren't taking pictures of or inside the saiguden, or
flash photography," Keiichi agreed. "Alright, my daughter will send Oyashiro-
sama after me if we miss her on stage -- come on, Kyon-kun, you know it'd mean
the world to her if you were among the first to take a cotton ball down to the
river!"

"Er, right," Kyon managed belatedly, scratching the back of his head nervously
and avoiding meeting Shutaro's suspicious gaze.

It didn't take long for their group to get to the main festival grounds, just
before the nearby booths began shutting down in observance of the ceremony.
Yuki prepared her phone, but after glancing at her thoughtfully, Yurie
suggested, "Nee-chan, can you let me sit on your shoulders, I wonder, I
wonder?"

"Yurie-chan," Rena scolded, "you should be mindful of someone's size before
you ask...." She trailed off, and even Sasaki was a bit surprised at how
little effort Yuki put into lifting the smaller girl to sit atop her
shoulders, able to balance easily and still pass the phone up.

Yurie smirked knowingly. "Girls can be strong too -- like you, Mom!" she said.
"And if I asked Kyon-nii, wouldn't Matsu-chan get jealous?"

"I suppose so," Rena allowed, smiling softly.

"What about me?" Keiichi protested, feigning hurt. "I could have helped!"

"Can't see," Shutaro said, tugging at the legs of his father's pants.

"Oh, right...." He lifted his own son to his shoulders to get a better view as
Yurie stuck her tongue out in concentration and aimed the camera at the stage.

Sasaki giggled at the scene -- though most of the other girls laughed with
her. A hush fell over the area as the ritual music sounded. First was the
eerie flute, punctuated by an almost unnoticeable drumming, and then a more
prominent jingling of bells joined in-- Kuyou's eyebrows rose and she leaned
forward, drawn in by the sound.

On the stage in front of the steps leading up into the shrine, Matsuri stepped
forward, looking _adorable_ in her shrine maiden outfit. Rena bit back a
squeal of delight at her image, obviously struggling to restrain herself from
running forward to hug the small girl mid-ritual. Her steps were surprisingly
sure, her sandals stamping in time with the bells. Her face was a solemn mask,
and if Sasaki hadn't caught the way her eyes anxiously searched out Kyon, she
might have thought she was hypnotized.

Once she spotted her older cousin, she subtly straightened up, perfectly
confident as she wielded a ritual implement. It looked like a wickedly hooked
rake, adorned with folded prayer paper -- shide -- like an exorcist's wand for
a purification. Well, this was related, Sasaki reminded herself as Matsuri
raised it and then brought it down onto the mass of cotton sharing the stage
with her.

With careful deliberation, Matsuri used the rake to hook out bits and balls of
cotton, shifting them to the side-- A line of people was already set to
receive them, carrying them in both hands as they accepted their balls of
cotton. Rika was the first, dressed identically to her daughter, and behind
her was Mion, who had hurried ahead from their group earlier -- as pillars of
the community, Sasaki expected.

Satoko was next, followed by her brother, and then his wife-- Haruhi pushed
Kyon forward before the line could grow too much longer, and he ended up
standing just behind a tall man with gray hair that Sasaki didn't recognize,
and an older woman that she suspected was related. In a stage whisper, Rena
explained, "That's Akasaka-san and his daughter; he's a very, very good friend
of ours. We owe him quite a lot -- he used to be part of the NPA!"

Kyon and the woman ahead of him gave one-another uncertain smiles.... Sasaki
had to wonder what that meant, but had a suspicion, and asked, "Did his
daughter follow in his footsteps?"

"That's right!" Rena agreed.

Well ... Sasaki was a bit anxious about that; in theory the NPA might be the
enemy, considering Kyon's job. But Kyon gave her a cautious smile as he
received his handfuls of cotton from Matsuri, and Akasaka's daughter forced
one in return. Either there was an uneasy truce, or _something_ was going
on.... She was sure it would be alright in the end, though. She glanced to one
side, frowning.

"Where did Kuyou-chan go?" she asked. "Did she get in line?"

Yuki's expression shifted from its normal smooth calm to a very mild
demonstration of irritation and anxiety. Haruhi caught it, and grimaced. "Why
_now_?" she muttered sourly.

"Ah ... what should we...." Sasaki trailed off as Rena looked over curiously,
while Yurie jolted slightly -- though Yuki remained perfectly steady, still
supporting her on her shoulder.

The smaller girl exclaimed, "An early firework!" as she readjusted the camera
phone upward, where a tiny spark of red streaked down, flickering and
brightening in intensity.

"A shooting star!" Keiichi yelped, frowning at the traditionally dark omen.

Sasaki held her breath anxiously ... that _was_ a rare event -- surely it
wasn't aimed toward them, though ... was it? Normally, she wouldn't even
consider the possibility, given reasonable probabilities. But after being the
target of attempted kidnappings -- repeatedly -- and the seemingly impossible
relationship she'd found herself in....

"I...it must have been a larger meteorite that broke into pieces," Sasaki
reasoned, as more bright, fiery streaks joined the first, all of them coming
down -- toward the river, though it was hard to tell how close by. She planned
to count the interval between the flash of impact and the sound of the
explosion ... but it must have been too distant after all; the burning
projectiles seemed to fall and vanish without any fanfare.

That was for the best, wasn't it?

"Where's Kyon?" she asked worriedly, looking around.

Grimacing, Haruhi shook her head. "Something came up," she said unhappily.
"He'll be back, soon." Under her breath, she added, "He'd _better_ be,
anyway...."

* * *

Halfway between the shrine and the river, Ryouko popped into view from
seemingly nowhere, dropping onto Kyon's shoulder with an exclaimed,
"Incoming!"

The world around him exploded into augmented reality vision; wire-frames
overlaid all the trees and bushes around him, allowing for effectively perfect
night vision. He managed a muffled curse at a group of eight rapidly
descending targets. Ryouko had helpfully labeled them 'Sliderbot_005' through
'Sliderbot_012,' along with their range in meters, which was a number counting
down, followed by a different very short countdown reading off the time before
they reached the surface.

More AR tags lit up, showing projected landing sites. "Where's Kuyou?" he
asked, unhesitatingly sprinting through the woods toward the anticipated
battleground.

"Here," Kuyou answered at his side, already shifting to her smaller form and
landing on the shoulder opposite Ryouko.

"Okay -- Haruhi is with my cousins?" he asked, ducking under a branch and
sliding to a halt at the edge of the river, gauging that he likely had enough
distance from the expected impact, while still being close enough to engage
the enemy once they arrived. "Is any of the rest of the Brigade coming?"

"Allies approach," Kuyou answered, blinking.

"Right -- Kuyou, if you can, bring us and the slider robots to your, uh,
shadow song, so we can keep this from reaching the festival," he ordered,
bracing himself, barely even noticing the shifting wave of changing space as
it swept out, grabbing the robotic things even as they fell through the
atmosphere. "Is Wataru coming in, too?"

"It seems they couldn't get a good targeting fix!" Ryouko exclaimed. "They
probably came in at that altitude to avoid any risk of translating in inside
solid matter; once the robots touch down, they'll probably make a portal for
him to cross over!"

"Okay -- let's try and take one or two out before he shows up," Kyon reasoned,
shifting his greatcoat out of the illusion of a yukata. "The more we stop now,
the longer it takes them to rally another full-scale invasion force."

"Seek and destroy!" the small form of Ryouko agreed, seeming happy about the
idea.

He glanced at her curiously, before Kuyou remarked, "Verify enemy weak
points."

Hmm, that was right. He'd used Gungnir before, but other than that, didn't
have a real measure for which attacks would work against the robots. Well,
he'd never really used Altair and Vega that much, anyway, except the time he'd
fought against Ryouko, and sometimes in very low power modes against
Sumiyoshi-rengo.

There was a surreal moment when he jogged around a small bush and took cover
behind a much larger tree as he realized that he didn't think of fights
against large forces of boryokudan as a big deal anymore. Sure, some of them
were stressful, and he'd even gotten hurt a few times. But they somehow didn't
measure up against extra-dimensional invasions--

And just as he thought that, his personal shields flared, soaking up the
debris and heat exploding out from the impact of the first arriving robots,
deafening booms muted by some property of the skinsuit he'd never really
thought about before. That was a nearby one, Kyon deduced, blinded momentarily
by the flash of his shields lighting up. Worse, there was a cloud of steam
from the nearby river, as well as mixed smoke and dust.

Ryouko didn't hesitate, though, and even blinded, her AR overlay continually
updated, showing him wire-frames of the nearby trees, the impact craters
beneath the new arrivals, and most importantly, in vivid red, the targeting
information he needed.

He wasted no further time, lofting Altair into hand and shifting it into one
of the more heavy-hitting configurations that he and Yuki had programmed into
it. The weapon extended and became largely hollow, assuming a tube-like
formation, with a small targeting scope that folded out. He put his eye to it
largely by reflex, hardly needed thanks to Ryouko's targeting aid, and fired a
rail-accelerated needle directly at the nearest slider bot.

The projectile moved so swiftly it appeared to be nothing more than a beam of
energy, lancing instantaneously into the obscuring clouds.

The enemy robot barely had time to unfold from its tight, spindle-shaped entry
posture before the spike passed through its shields and bored completely
through the central carapace. Kyon's actual view was underwhelming; a bright
spot in the cloud of dust and smoke. In augmented reality, the spindly thing
fell over, limbs splaying awkwardly around it as a brilliant jet of energy
sprayed out the far side of it, washing over the shields of the other seven
units.

Surprisingly, Kuyou shot out _after_ the projectile, but at a much more
sedate, sub-sonic speed. Her tiny form acted like some sort of video-game
companion, pausing for a moment after reaching the enemy unit and then
shooting back and landing on his shoulder as though she'd never left -- other
than the brief tunnels bored through the clouds.

"What was that?" he asked, mystified.

Ryouko offered, "'Seeking' negates miss chance due to concealment!"

"Disharmony with the other," Kuyou added answered, holding a tiny, sparkling
point between her hands, blinking at him.

"It's effectively their power core!" Ryouko cheered. "It's a propagated
memetic change from the energy sources the enemy sent, converting it into
something that we can use, and they can't call back! Their system requires
them to reclaim the energy and mass of what they send over, or they lose it,
right? Well, she makes sure they can't recover it without taking it back from
us!"

"That sounds great," Kyon allowed, targeting the next robot -- but not
entirely surprised when the rail-accelerated spike slid off the shield,
blasting into the side of a distant hill across the river and sending up a
massive explosion. Well, unless he was mistaken, his sword was essentially
built out of power cores they'd gotten from other robots of the same type
anyway.

"Their shields have shifted from reentry to combat readiness!" the blue-haired
figure on his shoulder added helpfully. "Also, incoming fire!"

Well, he reasoned, dashing up the hill, as the trees around him exploded into
flame from a concentration of no less than four energy beams, he shouldn't be
that surprised. He shifted the weapon back to neutral form in his coat, mid-
dash, and readied his beam saber, instead. If he had to fight in close
quarters, he'd need cover, and the trees weren't lasting more than a second at
best against the energy coming off the attacking robots.

The blade hummed into life in his hands, nearly weightlessly, his grip
reflexively holding it in a guard stance before him.

The change in shield function wasn't that surprising, though. More
importantly, he still had allies to back him up, and if his friends were
risking being involved, that meant _he_ needed to try and keep the robots
busy.

"Ryouko, activate Vega in ECM mode," he ordered, absently flipping the
cylinder out of his coat and into the air; it shifted into an orb that hovered
over his shoulder, just before the small interface.

"Okay!" she chirped in response, putting her hands on the malmetal, as it
shifted and swiftly began beaming tight lances of electromagnetic interference
directly at the enemy sensors.

"Focus especially on any that might be targeting allies!" he added, wincing as
a beam emerged from the cloud, drawing a long line of molten earth through the
hillside next to him. His shielding glowed dully just from the cast-off heat
of that narrow miss ... between that and the active interference he was
blasting out, there was no chance of going unnoticed. This entire forest would
be destroyed by the time the battle was finished, he had no doubt ... thank
goodness it was inside a pocket dimension, and not the real world!

Thinking that, he steeled himself, charging into the mix. It wasn't the _best_
option, but if Ryouko did a good job on her countermeasures, she might be able
to get the bots to hit one-another. If that failed, well ... throwing things
(with a little help from Kuyou) seemed to bypass their shields, somehow. So
_that_ was an option.

He winced at another near miss, sapping another trace of power from his
defenses as he accelerated himself forward in an arcing leap, the dust being
superheated into what seemed like _plasma_ behind him as he did so.

Well, he'd never gotten to actually _use_ the beam-saber before, so there was
no time like the present, was there? Three of the slider bots were closer, and
the other four would be acting as fire support. He wasted no time throwing
himself under yet another blast -- this one making his shields bleed energy
much, much faster than he would have liked.

With the field below him set to frictionless, he shot forward beneath the
spindly construct, mildly surprised he didn't hit its own force field -- and
even _more_ surprised at how easily his blade sheared straight through the
carapace on the long axis. It sparked and fell apart, internals dripping some
strange blue fluid, and what looked like liquid _sparks_--

He had the strangest idea some terrible reaction was forming before Kuyou
launched herself at it, retrieving another of the sparkling lights. The beam
saber hadn't transfered any effective resistance to him at all; if he'd only
been trained in traditional sword use, that would have thrown him. As it was,
he was surprised, but Yuki had worked hard to hone his reflexes properly--

Before he could really think about it, he was already rolling to his feet and
getting directly tagged by the next nearest slider-bot, even as he charged
into it. Perhaps he'd been a bit too sure of his ability to take the things
on?

He was too close to it for its main beam to track him by the time it had
reached full intensity; he felt overheated and his shoulder was tingling
unpleasantly, but his own shielding held-- And from there he was close enough
to completely bisect the core of the robot's oblong chassis with his beam
saber, yielding another great splash of sparks and fluid.

But Kuyou said he had allies, hadn't she? He wondered at that, actually
reaching out with his empty hand and snagging her tiny form deftly after she
grabbed the spark. He hadn't really thought about it, just acting on reflex as
the nearest remaining robot abruptly compensated for the interference Ryouko
was sending via Vega; he managed to turn and take the blast himself,
protecting the small dark-haired entity, though it completely depleted the
shields remaining, and left him dazed. Even with augmented reality, his vision
was flooded with bright spots and irregular, nonsense shapes.

When the next bolt of energy was about to strike him, and was instead absorbed
by a part of the cloud, he heaved a sigh of relief, not realizing he had even
been holding his breath until then. Somehow, he actually enjoyed fighting
against these things with Koizumi at his side _best_. Koizumi could barely
even be hurt, as far as he could tell, unlike most of their other allies!

Of course, Ryouko's augmented reality objects indicated a vaguely female shape
hiding outside of the cloud, but watching -- Kyouko was a potential vulnerable
point, so _she_ needed to be kept safe.

The captured energy in the cloud swirled around the same robot that had tried
to launch it, scoring the hull as the robot's weapons shifted, uncertain of
where to aim-- Kyon wasn't about to pass up on a chance like that!

* * *

She was still trying to figure out what the wave of nausea she'd been struck
with after she followed Kyon into the woods meant when a group of closely
clustered and nearly deafening explosions rang out-- She'd reflexively thrown
herself flat, waiting until she could make sense of the situation. She wasn't
armed, since she was on _vacation_.

Well, ostensibly on vacation; in reality, she (much like her father before
her) barely ever stopped working. Since she was trying to see what Kyon might
be up to, she supposed she was on the job in some sense.

Once she'd caught her breath and could hear again, there were a series of
high-pitched buzzing noises ringing out -- along with completely _blinding_
lances of light, scoring the surrounding area. She had no idea what that could
be, and as curious as she was, she was close enough for her tastes. The smoke
and dust had only just cleared when Miyuki peeked out, wondering if she'd been
slipped a hallucinogen.

Kyon had found the time to change his outfit, though he looked winded and ...
faintly singed? His face was smudged with ash, and his coat looked
surprisingly ragged. However, the part Miyuki was most trying to process was
the fact that he was evidently facing off against some poorly considered work
of modern art.

The 'legs' of the giant metal insect, or whatever it was supposed to be,
clearly couldn't _actually_ support the weight of that central structure. It
had to be suspended by wire-- Until it moved.

Okay, she reevaluated, it was some kind of _puppet_. Working ... through the
trees.

The glowing tear in space leading into who-knew-what ... that was the reason
to suspect hallucinogens. An unfamiliar boy was glowering at Kyon. "You think
destroying some striders and hunters is going to stop the _Combine_, foolish
monkey?" he sneered.

"Actually, it's been working out pretty well so far," Kyon replied, shrugging.
"Though, which ones are hunters, and which are striders?"

Miyuki squinted when a _third_ voice mused, "I believe the striders are the
ones with energy beams. I haven't seen any hunters personally."

"Oh, look, monkey can _learn_," the ... invader? Miyuki supposed he must have
been, somehow. For all the sense it made to put a teenager in charge of
something like that. Then again, Kyon himself was far too young to be
reasonably capable of the things she'd seen _him_ do. "But not enough to stop
showing us your entire hand!"

And a megalomaniac to boot, evidently. Certainly, he wasn't very good at
keeping information to himself, either. What was this, anime exposition?

"Yeah, you've seen our entire capabilities," Kyon drawled, clearly unimpressed
by the other boy. "What's your point, Wataru? Just thought you'd drop by, have
a few of your slider bots get blasted into junk ... and then what?"

Miyuki winced at the stream of insults that escaped Wataru before he finally
settled down, still seething. "You're still not good enough to protect Kanae
forever," he added ... though she was surprised for all of his temper and
screaming to detect a note of regret in his voice. Without her training and
experience, she would easily have missed it. Kyon shifted very slightly -- she
realized _he_ must have picked it up, too.

"You keep telling yourself that," Kyon retorted, even though his confidence
sounded at least partially feigned, to her.

Wataru spat one last stream of insults before backing through his portal -- a
pair of similar portals swallowing up the two remaining robots.

"Are they gone?" Kyon asked the space over one shoulder.

He nodded, and Miyuki rubbed at her eyes as another girl appeared before Kyon
-- this one with long, very dark hair. If it weren't for the full moon, making
her pale face and hands glow, she would be entirely invisible in the evening.

"Thank you, Kuyou, Koizumi," Kyon said, heaving a sigh as he rubbed at his
temples. After a pause, he added, "And ... you too, Ryouko."

"Think nothing of it," the invisible male voice answered, before a glowing red
mist coalesced into human form. Miyuki noted the names, making a note to
herself to double check her paperwork. There was a missing 'Ryouko' in that
pile, she recalled, but it wasn't an uncommon name, so it could also be a
coincidence.

"Oh, and thanks to Kyouko, too -- on that note, Kuyou, can you take us back?"

The dark-haired figure nodded and waved a hand -- and Miyuki felt that
disconcerting sense pass over her. When it passed, she realized she could hear
the crowds of the festival again. Where had they gone? The lingering traces of
dust and smoke were entirely gone, too -- and she suspected if she were to
look, any traces of high-powered _beams_ would be, too.

She climbed to her feet and rushed back toward the festival crowd, frowning
thoughtfully. She wasn't certain what had happened yet, but getting discovered
didn't seem like a good idea.

What in the world _was_ all of that, anyway? It _seemed_ impossible, but
clearly it wasn't -- since it had actually happened. Well, how did that quote
go?

'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how
improbable, must be the truth'? That certainly seemed to apply here....

* * *

Haruhi wasn't happy about Kyon running off, but if something happened, she was
_probably_ able to help him best by keeping Sasaki uninvolved for the time
being. Yuki seemed to be stuck, too, but at least he'd have Kuyou with him --
Ryouko, too, probably. Realizing she'd run off to play heroine without
hesitation, Haruhi _did_ manage to snare Kyon's little sister before the idea
occurred to her.

She could do that much for Kyon, at least. Mikuru and Kanae both seemed to
have not realized what was happening, just admiring the 'light show' before
the fireworks. Tsuruya had, her smile fading briefly before she shook her head
firmly. "Let's get our cotton!" she cheered, leading the others along.

Yuki lifted Yurie from her shoulders and set the girl carefully on the ground,
nodding in agreement as the group joined the line waiting to get their own
bundle of shredded cotton. In single file, they joined the line slowly weaving
toward the riverbank -- though as they approached the bank, people began
spreading out, wandering up or down stream and joining family. In the light of
the full moon, many pale lumps were bobbing through the river.

Haruhi had to wonder what effect that would have on the river.... Hopefully
that was all real cotton, and biodegradable!

It didn't take them long to carefully set their own little bundles gently on
the water, where they slowly bobbed and spun away through the water.

Not long enough, anyway -- Matsuri had finished parceling out cotton and
immediately dashed down the slope of the riverbank, ignoring her mother's
gentle scolding to keep her uniform clean. "Where's Kyon-nii?" she demanded,
putting her hands on her hips, pouting at Tsuruya firmly, small ritual rake
still in hand.

"Here!" Koizumi remarked cheerfully, as the pair of them emerged from the
woods on one side of the path. Kyon looked tired, but either was just fine, or
hiding anything else beneath the illusion his coat could make.

"What were you doing back there?" Matsuri asked suspiciously, her eyes
narrowing.

"Ah, Kyon-kun remarked that he wanted to wait for you," Koizumi offered. "But
it was a bit awkward standing about and waiting, so we ducked behind the
trees."

"Right," Kyon agreed belatedly, producing his cotton ball from one pocket and
offering a sheepish smile.

"You're not supposed to put it in your pocket," Matsuri said dourly, though
her eyes had lit up at the idea of Kyon waiting for her. "Well -- that's okay!
I'll fix it!"

She held her small rake out, and Kyon obligingly offered out the cotton ball
in both hands. Using the rear of the implement, instead of the sharpened
tines, Matsuri waved it back and forth, the shide strips shaking like an
exorcist's wand.

Looking inordinately pleased with herself, Matsuri bounced on her toes as she
lowered the rake, adding, "O-oh, um, Kyon-nii-- For, um, for extra
purification--"

"Matsu-chan, nothing about Watanagashi involves kissing," Rika said sternly,
looking down at her daughter. Winking, she pursed her lips and blew a kiss at
her own husband. "Chu~!"

"I-- I wasn't--" Matsuri started, her face turning beet red in the darkness.
"I mean--" She stamped a foot and covered her eyes with one hand, protesting,
"_Mo~om_!"

"A direct hit!" Keiichi exclaimed, one hand going over his heart.

"No!" Shutaro cried out. "My own father!"

"Arg ... brain ... turning to mush!" he added, grinning at his children -- all
of his children, other than the Houjou twins, Haruhi reminded herself, and not
just 'Kyon's cousins.' "Save yourselves!"

"Hoho~!" Rika chuckled. "Behold the power of love! You're five or six years
too young to channel such an awesome power, Matsu-chan -- something even
stronger than Oyashiro's curse! Doki, doki~!"

"Called it," Satoko said with an amused roll of her eyes. "That's five more
yen you owe me, Rena-chan."

"I'd pay a million times to see something so cute!" the author insisted.
Leaning toward Mion, she asked conspiratorially, "Aren't they _cute_?"

"Without a doubt!" Mion agreed without hesitation. "Though, Kyon-kun, don't
forget to put your cotton in the river before Matsu-chan recovers from the
debilitating parental mushiness humiliation attack!"

"Er, right," he agreed belatedly, shaking his head. Haruhi snorted, unable to
remain worried around Kyon's extended family -- especially after that little
scene. The nearby villagers certainly didn't seem bothered by their shrine
maidens behaving so, after the ceremony.

Crouching carefully by the riverside, Kyon placed his cotton gently on the
water, among the last to do so -- the others being Sasaki, who had waited for
him (Haruhi wished _she'd_ thought of that) and the woman who had been in
front of Kyon in line. The _very_ last person, Haruhi realized with a jolt of
alarm, was _Fujiwara_. What was _he_ doing here?

He didn't seem to notice her, and she tuned out the crowd around her, focusing
on him for a moment. He seemed ... withdrawn. He was looking out at the river
and appeared more somber than anything else. Haruhi hadn't run into him nearly
as often as Kyon had, but she didn't have a great impression of him.

Well ... Kyon didn't think he was an enemy, and evidently he once _did_ save
Kyon from being erased. Kyouko hadn't noticed him yet, but considering things,
that was probably for the best. She'd only just started coming back out of her
shell after the backlash of.... Haruhi still wasn't thrilled about her almost
erasing Kyon from reality, but she was genuinely remorseful, and ... well,
Koizumi was just about completely ignored since Haruhi (and the other girls)
had collectively set their sights on Kyon. It was only fair for him, wasn't
it?

Shaking her head slightly, she slipped away from the group, approaching
Fujiwara. She wasn't sure how to broach the subject, so just said, "Hey." The
second time traveler she'd gotten to meet ... third if Kyon was counted.

He glanced at her sharply, then nodded, turning his gaze to the reflection of
the moon. Smoothing the kimono that Mion had loaned her down, Haruhi frowned.
That was a bit anticlimactic, wasn't it?

"I need to take Sasaki back," he announced brusquely.

"When?" Haruhi asked, frowning. Why was this guy so intent on acting like a
jerk, anyway? Well, at least he wasn't ignoring her.

"Twenty minutes," he answered. "I'll take her through space, but not time, and
leave her at my classified...." He coughed, scowling, and looked sharply away.
"At Tsuruya's place," he growled.

What about Tsuruya's place was 'his', Haruhi wondered. Well.... He was
behaving, and _she_ was planning on traveling back in time. She had plenty of
time to think about it and talk to him in -- from her perspective -- two days.
"Alright, I'll let her know," she answered. "You'll know where to find us, of
course?"

"Of course," he sighed.

Haruhi nodded doubtfully, then turned around, heading back to the group. When
she glanced behind her, she was half surprised that he hadn't vanished.
Well.... Time to prepare Sasaki for her trip back. Kyon was supposed to teach
Sasaki about the supernatural, but it seemed he hadn't bothered -- then again,
thanks to Fujiwara, she'd realize it when she arrived back in time, wouldn't
she?

School night or not, she made a note to stay at Tsuruya's place on Sunday
night, so she could keep Sasaki company.

"There you are!" Sasaki exclaimed, when she reached Mikuru's side.

"Just going over some travel arrangements," Haruhi assured her, smiling.

"Ah, yes -- if you're going to get back in any kind of reasonable time for
school, you'll have to leave soon, won't you?" Mion mused, frowning.

"Er, that's probably true," Kyon agreed, frowning. "We should probably round
up our things...." He glanced at Mikuru curiously.

The time traveler nodded, her smile faded. "We have, um, a bit more than
fifteen minutes."

"Ah, a pity -- that's just enough time to get back and change," Rena pouted.
"Well -- Sasaki-chan, keep that outfit I loaned you! It fits you better than
me!"

"Oh, keep the kimono, too," Mion added, chuckling. "Consider them gifts!"

"Mion-chan has a hobby of buying outfits for her friends," Keiichi added with
a wink. "When we were in school, she picked out uniforms for most of us, too,
even though the school didn't officially have one!"

"_Now_ I understand why we get along so well!" Haruhi exclaimed. "Auntie Mion,
I have to show you my scrapbook the next time we visit -- I've even gotten
_Kyon_ into some great costumes!"

"Do you have a picture of me as a magical girl?" Kyon's sister asked
excitedly. "I want to share that one next time!"

"...no, but you've just put a new entry in my to-do list for this weekend,"
Haruhi declared. "Okay -- but let's not be late-- We've got to make our
goodbyes and get ready!"

* * *

The festival had been great fun, and visiting with Kyon and his friends was a
great joy. Even if their arrival was unexpected, they were quite welcome, and
organized enough that they managed to finish changing and gathering their
things more quickly than Mion would have thought possible. Matsuri especially
was sad to see them go, but Mion knew it couldn't last ... he was going to be
in enough trouble from his mother once she figured things out!

The fact that she hadn't called any of them, furious about her missing
children, was nothing short of a miracle.

"They didn't mention it," she realized belatedly, once the children were all
gathered together in the front room of her house and caught up in playing
another game, "but Haruka-chan must have gotten a bus for everyone. I suppose
it must be able to get everyone home in time...."

Satoko raised her eyebrows. "I don't think even Kyon's father could _drive_
here fast enough to get here after school would have let out last Friday,
though -- so they must have skipped," she admitted. "I feel a bit bad that
we're all condoning that sort of misbehavior."

"It's not as bad as it seems," Rika demurred, smirking. "Kyon's got some
tricks up his sleeve!"

"Ah, yeah, his father-in-law to be would have a lot of pull with the school,
wouldn't he?" Mion mused speculatively.

Keiichi raised his eyebrows, then shook his head. "The kids are being quiet,"
he remarked, heading toward the living room. "I'll keep an eye on them before
they get into trouble."

"His cute little girlfriends were an interesting bunch, weren't they?" Satoko
added. "But, I wonder what sort of 'tricks' you were talking about, Rika-
chan!"

She offered a mischievous smile and shrugged without giving anything away.

"Well.... Kyon seems strangely strong, even for a healthy young man," Rena
said softly. "Hmm, when I couldn't resist trying to grab that adorable Nagato
Yuki-chan at the book signing, Kyon was strong enough to hold me back!"

"Even if you are very strong, Rena-chan...." Satoko paused, and Mion
considered the fact that Rena did still tend to chop her own firewood, and
also cut firewood for Keiichi's parents, since they were right next door.
"Hmm. Aiko-chan mentioned that Kyon knows martial arts, now. He was practicing
last Golden Week."

"Well, he'd have to," Mion agreed. "From what I've heard, he's had to deal
with some unruly people for his fiancee."

Satoko frowned sharply. "I can't like hearing that ... but anyway, how long
has he been training? He never mentioned it, and it's not like we'd forget to
ask what his hobbies are when he visits."

Mion tapped her chin thoughtfully. That was true.... Something wasn't quite
adding up about the entire thing.

"You know ... when we were wrestling at the book signing, it felt like Kyon
was wearing something invisible, and his costume didn't match what I was
feeling?" Rena wondered. "Why could that be, I wonder, I wonder? I know I
wasn't stressed at the time, and Kei-chan was there, too...."

Rika looked away, her smile fading.

"We can tickle it out of her," Mion suggested, eying the shrine maiden
sternly.

"Hau..." Rika whimpered, backing cautiously away.

"You know, I've been thinking about my next book series?" Rena mused in a
segue. "It's about a young man who's chosen by a number of different kinds of
magical girls-- So a ninja girl, a traditional magical girl, a princess from a
different dimension, a fairy...."

"What gave you that inspiration?" Rika asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously
as Mion and Satoko fanned out on either side of her, wiggling their fingertips
ominously.

"Oh, I just spent some time listening to Nono-chan's stories," Rena explained.
"She's gotten some much, much more interesting tales to share than she did
last time we chatted!"

Satoko and Mion both froze, turning to look at Rena in surprise, while Rika
pouted, muttering, "I should have remembered that she can't keep secrets...."

* * *

After the festival concluded, Miyuki followed her parents, since her father
was driving them back to their home. From there she would take a train back to
Nishinomiya, but she had a lot to think about. Her mother seemed able to tell,
and once they were in the car, she asked, "Something on your mind, dear?"

"Just ... wondering something," she explained hesitantly.

"Not like my little girl to be nervous," her father remarked. "What's
bothering you?"

"Is it because that young man was engaged, and you still haven't given me any
grand-babies yet?" Miyuki's mother teased gently.

The NPA officer rolled her eyes at that, suppressing the mild jealous twinge
she felt at that realization -- though she hadn't considered it before. "No,"
she refuted. "It's just ... a hypothetical situation."

"Well, what?"

"How to put it..." Miyuki sighed. "So the question is this; as a public
officer I'm sworn to do my best for the public good, and by the letter of the
law."

"I took that same oath," her father agreed, nodding.

"Always work-work-working," her mother sighed fondly.

Miyuki frowned, putting her thoughts together. "In what situations would it be
acceptable to let a criminal go unpunished, on the grounds that their freedom
prevents an even greater crime?" she posed. "Let's say ... an order of
magnitude greater -- allowing a suspected yakuza to walk free, as they
prevented a terrorist from acting against the country?"

"Uh, hmm," her father sighed. "Now it's a question of not just national law,
but national security, isn't it?"

"Well, an unorthodox terrorist," she posed.

"You mean, like a secret organization within or even funded by the government
itself?" her father asked, his voice dropping.

She wasn't sure how else to classify 'inter-dimensional invader' without
sounding even sillier, so agreed, "Precisely."

Her father sighed. "I was pretty sure that the statute of limitations had
passed, but Miyuki-chan, you're my daughter, and I love you. And I understand
and respect that you're doing your job to the very best of your abilities -- I
won't make this hard on you."

"Dear..." Miyuki's mother protested, frowning, glancing back at Miyuki briefly
before staring at her husband intently.

She had no idea what her father was talking about, and could only stare
forward in confusion.

"If you have to arrest me, I won't hold it against you or resist," he
concluded, sighing.

"Well, _I_ won't be happy about it!" Miyuki's mother protested. "He was
entirely justified, and you know he's a good man! Miyuki-chan, if you arrest
your father, I'll only make your favorite udon once a year, instead of every
time you visit!"

"What-- What on earth are you talking about?" Miyuki wondered aloud. "I said
_hypothetical_! Wait -- you actually worked with criminals!?"

Her father released a sound midway between an embarrassed chuckle and a laugh.
"Ah ... to be entirely honest ... no," he answered. "They were suspects, but I
never encountered any proof personally. Despite that, I did work with
seemingly suspicious people to prevent a mass murder. Ah ... that's all I can
really say that's not classified."

"If it's classified, then your whole 'if you have to arrest me' line was a
joke," Miyuki realized aloud, sighing as she settled back into her seat. "Dad,
that was _so_ not funny!"

"Ah, I couldn't help it!" he laughed. "You seemed so anxious and upset! I'm
sorry, I'm sorry-- Now, what's really bothering you, without needing to worry
about 'hypothetical' with your old man?"

Blowing out another sigh, Miyuki grumbled, "I think Keiichi-san's nephew,
Kyon, is working with the yakuza in his hometown, fighting off alien invaders,
got the ability to appear two places at once, and can turn invisible. I can't
find anything both plausible _and_ incriminating about him, but frequently
clues that have no business turning up just 'happen' to appear in front of me
and lead me to very suspicious events.

"Every time I find something that leads me closer to having something to
arrest him, I wonder if I _should_, and now that I realize I knew him when he
was just a baby, I have to wonder if it's a conflict of interest anyway!"

It wasn't until she'd let it all out that she realized how much she'd kept it
pent up. What _should_ she do, anyway?

Her father glanced back at her briefly, frowning thoughtfully before turning
his attention to the road.

"Miyuki-chan, you're supposed to uphold the law, and do your utmost to protect
the people of this country from criminal actions," he said slowly. "I'm not
... sure what to make of all that, but if you're distressed, you can always
request a transfer to a new assignment."

"But then ... what if he gets arrested, and it turns out that he can't stop an
invasion, or something, because he's in jail?" she asked in frustration. "And
... anyway ... who'd believe that kind of nonsense."

"Well, since this is all hypothetical," he said slowly, "I'd say that
hypothetically ... I would."

She jolted faintly at that. "Despite how impossible it seems?" she asked
incredulously.

"Did I ever tell you the story about how I learned martial arts?" he posed.

She shook her head, answering, "No, of course not. Long practice, I imagine."

"Nope," her mother countered. "He didn't know them before you were born. He
tripped crossing our living room floor!"

"It's not like you just learned them overnight," Miyuki scoffed. "You studied
them very intensely when I was small, then?"

"Miyuki-chan, let me tell you a story," her father said softly. "About
memories I have that I shouldn't have. If you and your mother weren't already
precious to me, well.... Imagine, if you will, that I lost both of you, and
dedicated my entire life after that point training myself because I had
nothing else to care about."

She couldn't help but fall silent at the seriousness of his voice. As his tale
unfolded, she realized that as implausible as it seemed, it might not be as
unique as she had previously thought. And perhaps, she resolved, the greatest
service she could offer her country ... would be to keep the eyes of the law
_off_ Kyon, after all.

* * *