Disclaimer: Higurashi was created by Ryukishi07. The novel series begun with 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu'/'The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa. The Bokura no universe, as demonstrated here, was envisioned originally in the manga by Mohiro Kitoh, and then adapted for the anime by Morita Hiroyuki. I'm borrowing their paints (more Morita's than Mohira's).
No disrespect is intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the characters or settings involved. For fans of Bokurano's characters specifically, I'll warn you now that not so many of them show up (apologies).
Note: I was told to keep this style on the back-burner for the day I might use it again. That day has just arrived. Let's see if it still works.
I) Outlier
1.) Boredom
a.) Hinamizawa
b.) Nishinomiya
2.) Meeting
a.) Chance
b.) Fate
c.) Challenges
3.) Invitation
a.) A new game?
b.) Registration
c.) Penalties!
4.) The Path of a Hero
a.) Training
b.) The Chosen
c.) Battleground
5.) Logical Progression
a.) Closed Hearts
b.) Fixed Minds
c.) Speculation
d.) Consequences
6.) I Want to go home
a.) I can fight too!
b.) Re-Organization
c.) Unfamiliar ceilings
7.) The "Best of all Worlds" Club
a.) Dress up
i.) nakama
ii.) strategy meeting
iii.) a best guess
b.) For me...
c.) ...and for you.
8.) I came to terms...
a.) ...long ago, but not so far away
b.) ...a yesterday many tomorrows from now
c.) ...with my friends
9.) Ain't Youth Great?
a.) Spread the joy
b.) Share the love
c.) A borrowed smile
10.) The Masterminds
a.) Brighter than light
b.) Stronger than force
11.) Echoes
a.) Let me borrow him, just a bit!
i.) Recursion
ii.) Gods
b.) Deeper meaning
c.) Inevitability
12.) I don't like this game anymore
a.) Stay with me...
b.) An unlucky day
c.) The last challenger
b.) The prize
e.) The price
f.) The only survivor
13.) The story's end
a.) Boredom
b.) Meeting
c.) Invitation
d.) The path...
~fin
This is the story of a wish for a break from an endless cycle. The desire to have fun. The joy of playing games. The goal of saving the world.
The summer vacation of the second year of school -- snap the timeline off right there.
This is a story of those who wish to escape.
Matsuribayashi-hen -- add a few more weeks to the thread, then snip it.
It is not a happy story. It may not even be the story you've just read.
After the Earth that Ushiro Jun fought so hard to protect -- one more turn of the page.
There; it is the story you are reading now.
It wasn't precisely that the group of people who were closer than merely a club were restless. That would have been too simple.
"It's decided!" Mion announced, slapping one hand on the desk before her, the other holding her cards at her side, out of sight. "I got my family to agree to it."
"What's decided?" Keiichi asked from her side, looking up from his cards with eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I forgot to mention? Oh, well, I've decided that after everything that happened in July we should spend the August vacation at the beach! We're going to relax and unwind!"
Opposite Keiichi, glancing across her own cards demurely, Rena asked, "Who all is 'we'?"
"All of us," Satoko said, glancing around the room. "Obviously."
"Not Hanyuu," Rika murmured quietly.
The room was empty, save for the five of them.
"Hmm, where is she, anyway?" Mion asked, one fingertip tapping the side of her chin absently.
Rika's eyes tracked to one corner of the room, and her smile deepened a tiny bit. "She's with family," she finally answered.
Mion's face fell. "Oh...? Well, I already got the arrangements made for all of us!
Deciding that this matter superseded finishing out the round, Keiichi set his cards down. "What kind of arrangements?"
"Eh ... I got us rooms at a hostel and everything," Mion grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I suppose that's alright.... Shion didn't want to go -- but I'll make her come with us anyway. I'm sure it'll be good for her!"
"Okay! All together -- beach trip!"
In one voice, cheerfully shouted back: "Beach trip!"
"Ah! Keiichi set his cards down? He forfeits! Penalty!"
"UNFAIR!"
"So, in summary, last year's summer vacation was adequate -- ONLY adequate, and obviously we have to have a better one this year!"
"Only adequate?" a tired voice rumbled in response, heard by all; commented by none.
"Oh? Forgive me if I was mistaken, Suzumiya-san, but wasn't the island mystery a success?"
"Oh, that was fine, Koizumi-kun! But it didn't cover the rest of the vacation, so it ended up being somewhat dull in total."
"So, now it's Koizumi's responsibility to keep you entertained the entire summer instead of just most of it?"
"Kyon!" Eyes narrowed in irritation, focusing on the one who uttered such words. "I'm doing this for all of us! It's not just to keep myself entertained -- that type of behavior would be grossly incompetent in a Brigade Chief -- it's to amuse us all!"
"Um.... Um.... What did you have planned already, Suzumiya-san?"
"Hmm? Oh, well, actually, Tsuruya-san decided to help us out! Tsuruya-san, why don't you go ahead and explain it?"
"Okies! So, everyone, for Mikuru-chan and me, this is the last year of summer vacation! So my family has some nice exclusive access; we're going to stay in a nice hostel at the beach! It's supposed to be fun; there'll be fireworks, we can swim in the ocean, and I hear there's a cave by the sea we can explore! We're going to have the best time ever, nyoro!"
"Hey, Haruhi...."
"What?"
"I can't go."
A nickname called out in surprise by three voices simultaneously, but drowned out by the plaintive cry of, "You're kidding me!?"
"We have a family tradition. Just like Golden Week, there's a cousin-gathering, and my parents are too lazy to go. Naturally this means I can't opt-out because I have to take my sister with me. You hardly expect my parents to let her travel alone at her age, do you?"
"The Brigade is more important than that! Kyon, you have to come with us for this trip!"
"I can't go anywhere without my sister! You can argue all you want with me, but as long as she wants to go to meet our cousins, I don't have a vote in the matter! Then again, given that this is you, I don't really have a say in the matter anyway...."
"Okay! Everyone, we have to focus all of our club's power on convincing Kyon's little sister that she wants to come with us!"
A weary sigh sounds, unheard beneath the mostly united cheer that roars out following the proclamation.
The bright summer day reflected off the gleaming beaches and shining waves. Members of two clubs eyed one another sidelong.
"Eh?! What are you doing here? And who are you?"
"Haha! I'm here because my family sent me here! I'm Tsuruya!"
"Eh ... well, be that as it may.... I mean, setting that all aside.... Usually only families of...."
"Hmm? Oh, this is a vacation for us! No family business going on this trip, nyoro!"
"Well, that's good! It's just vacation for us, too! Hey, are you guys a club?"
"Ooh, well, the rest of them, they're the SOS Brigade, but me and little sister over there are just honorary members."
"Um, hello! I'm Ryugu Rena! It's nice to meet you." She kept her hands clasped behind her back, lowering her face and peering upward slightly at him with a smile on her lips.
"Ah, I'm Koizumi Itsuki." He stood straight and bowed low to her, one hand at his chest in a departure from the traditional bow. "I hope we don't trouble you in any way."
"Mmm.... I don't think that will be a problem." One of her hands rose to her lower lip thoughtfully as he straightened. "I suppose that this must be a popular place for people to travel on club vacations?"
"Even though you say that, there's only two clubs present, aren't there?" He had no need to look across to beach again to discern this.
"Hehe...." Her fingers came together before her, and she fidgeted nervously. "Do you by chance like mystery games?"
"A deduction?" At her headshake he laughed softly. "Just a lucky guess, then? But yes, as a matter of fact I do."
"Hiya! Want to play catch with me?"
"Um ... okay, I guess. Who are you here with?"
"My brother's girlfriend wanted him to come on this trip, so she convinced me to come here instead of visiting my family. But that's okay!"
"Brother...."
"Ah, but who needs him; he's just a big dummy. Let's play!"
"...yeah, okay."
"Hey! What's with that funny look?"
"Who are you to ask me that?!"
"Bah! Such impudence!" Standing straight, arms crossed over his chest as he thrust it upwards imperiously, he announced, "I'm the unstoppable magician of words, Mebara Keiichi! Now who are you?"
"Oh, titles, is it?" She could feel her irritation and annoyance rise with proximity to the boy before her. Shorter than her and mouthing off like that? "I'm the mystery-solving, movie-directing, trophy-winning, first-place test scoring commander of the SOS Brigade, Suzumiya Haruhi!"
"Haha! Really sure of yourself for someone who spends so much time staring at the other girls! Sure you didn't make that up?"
"Eh!?" She felt her face heat up. He'd never understand anyway. Logically, she knew that ponytails were a reasonable hairstyle for going to the beach and swimming in the ocean. But even so.... "Who are you to judge a girl? You're just a stupid boy!"
One eyebrow twitched, and she knew she had scored a verbal hit. His grin, if anything, widened. "Heh, trying to distract me from the main point, are you? Well, fine. Your secret's safe with me, Suzumiya-san ... I won't tell your friends that you prefer girls."
An umbrella had been set up, a large beach towel beneath it. The umbrella was a dark green, the towel a dull red. Seated perfectly in the center of the umbrella's shadow, her eyes fixed on a book, was a slight figure with short, light hair.
The very young girl with long purple hair could only stare, wondering at the eerie fascination the reading girl evoked within her. Satoko was happily playing with a brown-haired girl that she didn't recognize. Rena was distracted by talking to an unknown pretty-boy ... though she had thought that Rena was deeper than that. Mion and Shion were talking with a third girl that could have been another long-lost sister.
Keiichi was being Keiichi, picking a fight with some other girl who wouldn't even realize that she wanted to be his friend until the fight was over. Watching warily from the sidelines, another unfamiliar boy just surveyed, his eyes lingering occasionally on a brown-haired girl that she didn't know, then the girl playing in the waves, and more often, on the girl with short hair.
She tried to look away; she really did. But her eyes kept tracking to the girl on the towel, reading the book. She was so distracted that the surveying boy approached her before she even realized it. "Hey," he said softly, unsmiling, but looking at the same girl. "She won't bite. Go say hello."
Even thirty yards away, the girl on the towel turned to look unerringly at him. "Umm..." she answered, slipping on her long-familiar mask of youth.
"Hmm. I can introduce you, if you like. What's your name?"
Bad policy to give your name, when someone else didn't offer theirs first. "Niiii...pah?"
He seemed somehow able to read her expression, even through her mask, and a tiny smile flickered across his face. "My name's probably too much trouble to pronounce for you, but everyone calls me--"
"KYON!"
He shrugged slightly at the call, sighing softly. "And I suppose I can't introduce you yet. But she's my friend; Nagato Yuki. Go say hello." Straightening up, he turned to where the unknown girl who was going to become Keiichi's friend was fuming, stomping one foot repeatedly in the sand.
Even if it was supposed to be a vacation, there was no way Haruhi wasn't also going to find a way to make it trouble for him. Either intentionally, or unintentionally. "What's this, then?" he asked, trying to put less interest than usual in his voice. "I'm supposed to be on vacation."
"There's no time for that! This boy doesn't believe who I am!"
He turned to regard the somewhat shorter boy with the wide grin. Softer than the Sneering Bastard by any stretch. "What's she told you?"
"Pssht!" the other boy said, straightening up and turning his back to the pair. "Resorting to backup already? I'm disappointed, Suzumiya-san, you couldn't even beat one of the lower ranked members of our club, and you say you're the commander?"
His eyes narrowed. "Hey, Kid, ease up," he said dryly. "The commander commands. She doesn't fight on the front lines. I expect plenty of generals could lose a fist fight but still win a war."
He could practically feel the tension around them explode away, Haruhi's eyes widening, the intensity and focus switching from growing anger and frustration to amazed joy. And like that, the switch was thrown. "Exactly right!" she agreed, giving the other boy back his own grin and then some. "Though, I'd win a fist fight anyway. But this is Kyon! We don't even use his real name, and he's our absolutely lowest ranked member!"
He glanced back at the girl, frowning. "Hey, Commander, the troops may be here to support you, but don't you think you could boost morale a bit?"
"Don't need to," she replied flippantly, her eyes locked on her new enemy. "If I tell you to win, you'll win. So, win!"
"Alright, then, 'Kyon'," the other boy said, ignoring Haruhi to focus on his new enemy. "If it's nicknames, then for today, I'm 'K', and I'll be your opponent!"
"Exactly right! Beat him down, Kyon!"
A strange gleam rose in K's eyes, and his smile lessened, hardened.
"Hey. I'm not beating anyone up," he retorted, focusing on the girl at his side. "Especially not someone younger than me, and shorter than you."
"What!?"
The gleam faded, replaced by something sharper, though the grin was much softer. "Challenges. Two of three. You can nominate two games, and I'll nominate two games, then we'll use ladder lottery to see which ones we play."
One hand rose to his forehead and he shook his head sadly. "Agreed," the girl said sharply. "Now let's get things set up!"
"No cheating," Kyon said, just as sharply.
K opened his mouth to retort, and saw that Kyon's eyes were directed elsewhere, somewhere over his shoulder. "No cheating," he agreed.
Her attention was unfocused, initially, haphazardly offline while she used the smallest modicum of herself to examine a minimalist portion of the world around her. Limited to only her organic senses, outside of his voice calling her name, she tried to immerse herself in the book. She had concluded the ending only three chapters in, but many details were still undefined. Even so, she doubted that what she had achieved qualified as 'immersion' in the human sense of the word.
But he had asked, so she tried. When his voice broke through those barriers she had set up, she turned her senses and sensors and etherical data collection arrays and looked at the girl who he was standing next to.
Anomalous.
Many facets were scanned and recorded instantly. Face, height, probable weight, volume. A few more moments staring yielded base genotype information. All within parameters. And yet ... something else was there, too. Something just beyond the range of her abilities to identify. Some other sort of data-entity on another wavelength, slightly out of synchronization with the baseline physical reality?
She probed invisibly and remained physically motionless, only blinking until he went off to tend Suzumiya Haruhi, and the girl hesitantly approached her. In response, she folded her book away and shifted to face the girl.
"I'm Furude Rika," the girl finally said after staring for a long moment.
"Nagato Yuki."
She distantly observed the discussion between him and Haruhi, in the distance, noting his command to avoid 'cheating'. When Rika did nothing more than stare, she finally gestured to the towel. "Sit."
"Um.... Thanks. A...are you okay?"
"I am fine."
"A...are you mad at me?"
She blinked several times. "No."
"Okay," Mion announced happily, reading off the results. "Round one: Poker! Round two: Shogi! Round three: Othello!"
"Ack!" Keiichi groaned. "Only one of our games got in? Well, fine...."
"Just be glad we aren't doing this with rock-paper-scissors," Kyon said. "Anyway. This is a proper challenge, but do we have all those games?"
Keiichi smiled. "Well, I do have a deck of cards--"
"I got an unopened pack of cards!" Tsuruya announced just as cheerfully as Mion had made an announcement earlier. "Perfect for tournament challenges! Koizumi-kun and that girl he was walking with went up to the lodge to get Othello and Shogi!"
"Hmm," Mion mused in an almost leering voice. "Rena-chan seems to be interested in that boy ... you'd better pull a big win to get her attention back!"
"H...hey!" Keiichi protested.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Kyon said dourly. "K-san ... just so you know, it's nothing personal."
"H...how can this be?" Keiichi gasped, falling to his hands and knees, bowing his head. "I've been crushed."
"HAHA!" Haruhi roared proudly, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's what you get! Crushed by our lowliest member!"
"It's okay," the older looking girl with the long brown hair said, comfortingly. "Kyon-kun doesn't lose strategy games.... So, it's not your fault!"
"When was this a standard?" the dour-faced Kyon asked. "I've never been a gaming legend."
"Well, to be fair, Kyon-kun," the pretty-boy said thoughtfully, "I've never managed to beat you at any strategy game more than once. Even when I taught you chess, you beat me the first time!"
"Hmm," Kyon mused, contemplative. "I thought you just sucked."
The pretty-boy didn't seem the tiniest bit cut by the jibe, just chuckling softly. "And as well, your luck is unparalleled at poker. Your only real weakness is Old Maid."
"That all aside," Kyon said, putting a restraining hand on the dancing Haruhi's shoulder, freezing her in place with an alarmed look back at the boy. "That's enough gloating. Haruhi, their club came to this beach to relax, just like us. Be a gracious winner, why don't you?"
"Fine," Haruhi grumbled, shifting her shoulder free of Kyon's grip. "It's not like we settled on any terms, anyway. This was just to see which club was better--"
"It doesn't even count for that," Kyon interrupted. "This was just a match between myself and the mysterious 'K'."
"Eh ... well, you've beaten me," Keiichi allowed, rising to a kneeling position. "I should have known I'd end up picking a fight with a master strategist."
One of Kyon's eyebrows ticced, as though he didn't like the title. "Anyway."
"Okay! Since you accept our defeat gracefully, let's be friends from now on! This beach is big enough for all of us to play on, isn't it?"
"Agreed," Kyon said, before Haruhi could object, offering a hand. Keiichi accepted it, and was pulled to his feet before the two shook on the deal.
"Kyon!" Haruhi protested. "Ah, letting him off so easy!? That's weak! What about cultivating a rivalry?"
"Keiichi," Mion observed, eyes locked on him, her smile hungry. "You fought well and admitted defeat like a man."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Rena asked thoughtfully.
"Only on the surface," Satoko chortled, her smile matching Mion's.
"Because you lost," Rika said, her own smile forming.
And then, in one voice, almost all of girls on the beach:
"PENALTY!"
"Ooh," Tsuruya said suddenly, once the novelty of Keiichi's 'swan' swimming trunks and scribbling more graffiti on Kyon had faded, "hey, before we forget, shouldn't we check out that sea cave? The tide just finished going out, so now would be the best time!"
"You go on ahead," Keiichi and Kyon said simultaneously. "If it's all the same, I'd like to change/wash." The two exchanged a sidelong glance, and Kyon furrowed his brow, while Keiichi grinned.
"Hurry it up," Haruhi snapped. "We don't want to take all day!"
Keiichi quickly added, "We'll hurry and come back with some flashlights."
Ten club members and three honorary members trooped in through the cave, until it suddenly opened up into a square level area with canvas walls. Desks had been set up along the canvas, with overhead lights flickering occasionally, and glowing computer monitors provided further illumination.
"What...?" Keiichi faltered, unable to form the question that should follow the query he'd begun.
"I have a bad feeling," Rika murmured. "I think we should leave."
"What are you talking about?" Haruhi asked excitedly. "This stuff doesn't belong here! Something way, WAY out of the ordinary is happening! Ah, Yuki, stop trying to hide behind Kyon, come out and tell me what these computers are doing! It's not that scary."
The slighter girl broke off, as though she were trying to whisper something to Kyon. Taking a handful of steps into the level area and glancing at the computers, she answered, "Nothing."
"They're just idle? You didn't even try to play with one--"
"Please..." a new voice interrupted. "You don't want to play with that." Everyone turned to face the man that had arrived in surprise. Standing in the tunnel leading back to the surface there was a man in clean looking casual clothes, with a large travel backpack on his back. His expression looked worn, pained. He jolted suddenly, then shook his head. "I mean ... not yet."
"What is this place?" Haruhi demanded.
"Ah ... well...." The man straightened up and set his backpack down. "This is ... a publicity stunt for a ... limited release game. A beta test, actually." He surveyed the room, flinching when his eyes lit on the smallest girls. "Thirteen of you?"
"That's all of us!" Tsuruya called cheerfully. "But this is private land! You can't expect to have people find this hidden in a cave on an exclusive beach like this!"
"Y...yeah," the man agreed. "It's very exclusive."
"Could I ask your name?" Koizumi queried politely. "If you don't mind."
"...for this game, please call me Kokopelli," the man answered, his eyes drifting to the ceiling. "And I can't tell you which company is making the game ... it's a limited beta release, so they need to keep that a secret to avoid the competitors determining what they're doing."
"Well, that all aside," Haruhi said, looking around the room, "I only see three monitors and one keyboard. How are thirteen of us supposed to play?"
"You'll ... take turns. Piloting a giant black robot." The man reached behind one of the canvas walls and pulled a metal stand with a flat face out. "Did you want to play?"
"Setting aside the suspicious circumstances so far-" Kyon began.
"The SOS Brigade is in," Haruhi overrode him without hesitation.
"Humph. Well, do we want to be left out?" Keiichi asked his club mates.
"To register, I need each of you to put your hand on this plate," the man explained, gesturing to the face of the stand. "Then tell me your name. This is the contract to declare yourselves chosen heroes."
When contact with the plate was made, there was a loud chirp. "Suzumiya Haruhi! Kyon, you're next."
"Fine...." Another chirp. "Tadamichi Kyousuke."
"Buwahahaha! That name is way too much for you, nyoro!"
Another chirp. "Koizumi Itsuki, at your service."
Contact, then silence. A blink of her eyes, and the chirp sounded. "Nagato Yuki."
Another chirp. "A...Asahina ... Mikuru."
"Hey, Kyon, you're not going to let your little sister play?"
"Eh? Hmm.... I think if she wants the chance to skip out--"
"Too bad!"
Another chirp. "Tadamichi Nonoko!"
"Haruhi!"
"That's what you get for being a jerk and trying to exclude your little sister from having all the fun! Hah-- Hey, Kokopelli, why the long face?"
"I...it's nothing. Please, continue."
"Hehe, well, if imouto-nyan is going to be playing, then I will too!" Another chirp. "It's Tsuruya Haruka, so hiyas!"
"We're up!" Another chirp. "Sonozaki Mion!"
Another chirp. "I'm Ryugu Rena."
With a sharp salute with his free hand, another chirp. "Mebara Keiichi reporting!"
Another chirp. "Houjuo Satoko."
"Mmm.... Mister, is this safe?"
"The plate is harmless," he answered, giving a weak smile.
"Well ... in any case, so long as I can be with my friends." Another chirp. "Furude Rika, nii~pah!"
"You dragged me all the way out here, so I may as well join in. Right, Satoko?" A final chirp. "Sonozaki Shion!"
Kokopelli rubbed at his eyes. "So ... there are going to be thirteen enemies who will appear to try and destroy your Earth," he said.
His eyes drifted open slowly, then his gaze sharpened abruptly. Even in the darkness that had suddenly come over the beach, he could recognize the faintly luminous glow in the eyes of the girl above him. "Nagato?" he managed, sitting up and looking around. Nearby him, all of the other contractors lay in the sand.
"The others will awaken within five minutes," she answered him softly.
He rubbed at his face with one hand, gritting his eyes when he realized he brushed sand onto himself. Eyes closed while he tried to clean himself off, he asked, "Is this Haruhi's doing?"
"...uncertain."
He opened his eyes and looked at the girl warily. "What the hell is it, anyway? Some game should be fine, even if that cave was totally illogical ... but then, I would expect her assumed common sense to not create something so obviously out of place anyway."
"Agreed."
His gaze sharpened. "Even you can't ascertain what we're involved with?" He hesitated, hating to invoke them, but: "What about the ... entity?"
"Alarm and fear," she answered. "Trans-dimensional aggressors."
"So, not Haruhi's fault."
"...uncertain."
"It came for her?"
"Possible."
"Ech ... alright. We'll need to think about this, I guess. We may as well start waking everyone up and head to the hostel."
As they walked up the path from the beach to the hostel, arguing if the experience had been a dream, a familiar sensation; that slight, almost absent tugging at his shirtsleeve. He stopped and turned, only one of the green-haired twins and his younger sister behind he and Yuki. Haruhi was up the path, unlikely to notice. The unfamiliar girl paused, glancing between him and Yuki in question.
But while she had called for his attention, her gaze was over her shoulder, off the shore. His eyes turned to follow, and he couldn't help the words that escaped his mouth: "Impossible...."
"What is it?" the girl with his sister asked, before the turned and saw it too.
Then everyone saw it, and Kyon's hand was captured in Haruhi's. "It's real!" she shouted, her voice shrill with excitement. "It's real! Something amazing is finally happening!"
"Something," he echoed, staring.
"It's hard to see in this lighting," Rena remarked, peering intently. "But I think it's black. That's ... the robot we have to pilot?"
"So, where's our enemy, then?" Satoko asked, scanning the horizon.
"There," Rika said softly, pointing. A halo of glittering golden sparkles described the outer edges of some strange shape as it descended.
The thirteen of them were in a strange space with a soft floor of some reddish brown material, in the single illuminated circle. Beyond the edges of the circle was darkness, but the space felt small, closed, despite the question of its true size. Within the illuminated ring, fifteen different chairs hovered in a perfect circle a meter or so above the floor.
His glasses were gone, and his clothing had changed to a stark white militaristic uniform. Turning sad eyes over his shoulder at the children, he explained, "We don't have much time. Try to pay attention to the robot's abilities. This is the cockpit."
The blackness around them gave way to a panoramic view of the surroundings -- from the height of the giant robot. Even the floor had been replaced, to all senses, with a sheer drop to the waves below.
"Wow! This looks completely realistic!"
"It is real. This is not a simulation or a game," the man in the floating chair said. Before them, just off the coast, stood a strange four-limbed robot of nearly equal size; the shape that had been forming before they were somehow moved into the cockpit.
One question, in many voices: "What?"
Stepping forward, slightly away from the group, Rena asked, "You mean to say that this isn't a game at all?"
"That's correct." The robot they were in began to lurch forward, towards the four-limbed somewhat spider-shaped robot opposite them. "You don't need any controls. You just will the robot to move, and it does. Before us is one of the enemies."
Even though the man made no visible gestures and didn't call out an attack, a hundred brilliantly glowing lines of light blossomed out from the robot's chest, striking the enemy and staggering it back a handful of meters. "Though, a weak attack like this won't do much. So because of that...."
The group stared in amazement as the four-limbed enemy spat back a brilliant bolt of electricity, only causing the cockpit the mildest of shudders.
The black robot surged forward, quickly overturning the enemy and tearing plates of armor off. "Who are you then?" Koizumi asked. "Did you make all of this?"
"I'm just a pawn in the game, like you," the man answered. "Your enemy is heavily armored -- to defeat it, you must locate and destroy the vital point." After tearing aside some final obstruction, the robot plucked what looked like nothing so much as a giant metal flower bud from the center. A long wire or cable led from the flower to the rest of the enemy robot.
"Don't take too long," he added, "they regenerate. When you crush the vital point ... that's it."
Before them, on the panoramic view, the robot's long needle-like limb had splayed into three tines, wrapped around the metal flower. The grip tightened, until the flower's metal 'petals' had been pressed out of alignment in a sudden burst of smoke and crackling energy. "All that's left is for you to protect the Earth. I'm sor--"
The early morning sun streamed in through the windows of the common dining area, both clubs deciding to eat together in light of the bizarre shared experience. Rika's eyes flickered across all of the newcomers, trying to gauge their reactions.
The older chestnut-haired girl -- Asahina -- seemed a nervous sort anyway, easily startled, but was the most visibly on edge. Suzumiya nearly bounced in her seat excitedly, providing a nearly constant background chatter that everyone had tuned out -- but she was so absorbed in the excitement, she didn't particularly seem to care, except to occasionally shake Kyon (his name was just too complicated to say, even in her head), and demand that he agree with her on some point.
Kyon himself looked pensive and irritated, exchanging knowing glances between the silent Nagato and Koizumi. Koizumi ... she didn't know the boy as well as she'd like to, but could tell by his attitude and posture that he wore a mask -- just like her own, if not nearly as well practiced. It didn't slip enough for her to see the whole truth of his thoughts, but she deduced that he was anxious. The girl who could have been a sister or cousin to the Sonozaki twins looked thoughtful, focusing most of her attention on taking care of Kyon's little sister, who merely looked shell-shocked.
Ultimately, she didn't think any of their reactions were quite what she would have expected from people suddenly thrust into the situation they found themselves in. "We all remember it," Keiichi finally said, breaking the silence once the hostel's serving staff had withdrawn. "So I guess there's no point to trying to pretend it was a dream."
Rika nodded, trying to focus on other people's reactions, and not think about things herself; the situation wasn't that bad, but she'd like to know these new people better. Something about them....
"Of course it wasn't a dream!" Suzumiya snapped. "We're the chosen defenders of the Earth! Who wouldn't want to believe something so wonderful when it finally happened?!"
"Oho, she gets it," a new, unfamiliar voice remarked.
Rena turned to see who had spoken -- though it was not a who ... it was a what. Shaped like a gourd with a rounded base, and a smaller domed cap, eyes and nose appearing drawn on, and comically over-sized perfectly circular ears. Two additional perfect circles marked the thing's cheeks in a permanent flush. The join between the base and the domed cap widened, showing jagged teeth that didn't separate when it spoke, and Rika smiled openly when her friend spoke to the strange new interloper: "So cute! I want to take it home!"
Rika scanned the others again. Nagato stared at the newcomer the same way she had studied Rika herself the day before. Koizumi's mask slipped more and he looked surprised himself. Suzumiya was swept up nearly as much as Rena, leaping to her feet to stare at the creature. Asahina allowed a tiny, alarmed squeak. Kyon's eyes narrowed in irritation.
For all that this was strange, she found his reaction the most unusually understated.
"Oh?" the creature asked, its teeth vanishing, though it seemed to speak without moving its mouth at all. Except for that widening and closing of the gap showing its teeth, it didn't seem capable of expression at all. "Hmm, I like that. I'm not just cute, you know, but it's a good start!"
"Who are you?" Suzumiya demanded. "Another enemy?"
"Enemy?" the creature asked, voice indignant. "I'm your guide!"
"Are you an alien?!"
"Heh. None of your business."
"You are! What's your species called?"
An eyeroll from Kyon. His reaction wasn't pronounced enough to be denial. There was something to the boy. "This one, I don't like as much," it answered, showing Suzumiya its teeth. She looked stung, flinching back slightly. "Show me some respect, hmm? I'm gracious enough to watch over you! Now ... any questions?"
"Of course!" Suzumiya all but exploded. "First of all, where are you from? What's your home-world--" She cut off abruptly when Kyon rose to his feet and clapped one hand onto her shoulder. "K...Kyon?" she asked, bewildered and annoyed. "What the hell are--"
"Who are you?" Kyon asked. "I'm guessing you have our names from registration."
"Ooh, a sharp one," the creature said in a soft, contemplative voice. "You might do very well. I'm Koyemshi."
An explosion of questions from everyone in the room, but Kyon raised his hand, and everyone fell silent. "Let's take turns," he said, mildly, before returning to his seat and reassuming his pensive contemplation. Rika decided she did not agree with Kyon's friends; his name was not too great for him, even if he managed to appear less commanding and notable most of the time. He had a very Keiichi-like quality, she decided, though it seemed that Keiichi might be a better speaker.
Hands rose from around the room, Suzumiya hopping and waving for Koyemshi's attention. The creature ignored her, bobbing slightly before Satoko's raised hand. "Yeah?"
"If ... this gets to be too much, can we withdraw from fighting?"
"Not an option," Koyemshi replied. "You signed the contract, didn't you? Give up, run away, or lose, and your world is destroyed." Rika blinked, unsettled at the transition to the giant robot's cockpit once more. Everyone was standing or sitting in the same arrangement they had originally been in the hostel, except there were no longer any chairs present.
"I hate these monochrome worlds," Kyon muttered, so quietly Rika doubted anyone but herself or Nagato caught it.
"So ... show-time!" Chairs appeared around the room in a new circle, slightly smaller than the original circle. "These should bring back some memories for you!" Rika blinked, somewhat surprised to see her cushion from the house she and Satoko usually shared. There was a cushion she recognized from the Sonozaki house -- flatter than her own, but less faded. A chair for each of them, she guessed, as everyone moved to stand behind their chosen chair contemplatively.
The chairs slowly began moving, rotating in their circle, as a strange pattern of red squiggles appeared on the floor, a single loop stretching out beneath the seats. As though they were on a wheel, they stopped together, a short chair that Rika thought she recognized remaining in the loop.
"Did someone call my name?" Keiichi asked, glancing at her, then back towards the darkness surrounding the lit circle.
"Hmm," Koyemshi mused. "Looks like you're the one, then. You heard the voice?"
"Yeah...."
"Then you'll be the pilot."
"Lame!" Suzumiya grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at the chair directly next to Keiichi's seat.
"Haha, now our club gets a chance to show yours up!" Keiichi said, grinning and striking a pose.
"Dream on!" Suzumiya retorted. "Anyway, Koyemshi, what's this giant robot named?"
"Doesn't have a name," the creature responded.
"Oh? Can we name it then?"
"If you like."
"Hmm.... What's a good name.... Something about defending the Earth, right? Kyon! You watch giant robot anime all the time! What's a good name?"
Kyon stared at her, raising one eyebrow, then shook his head. "I'm drawing a blank," he answered. "And, anyway, there's more than a dozen of us -- why does the choice fall onto you and me?"
"Why don't we think about names together?" Keiichi asked, grinning. "We can put it to a vote and find out what we like!"
She hadn't needed to be a spy for Rika since they had finally broken the time loop. But she agreed with her friend; something was strange about these people, and when some of them had sneaked out, she followed, drifting invisibly behind them. In the hostel, the remaining club members discussed whatever confrontation was upcoming ... why would these three opt out?
Tadamichi rubbed at one temple and turned to the girl who made her nervous. "Anything?" he asked.
"Teleportation of individuals is achieved through folding of space in concentric circular shapes. Mass accumulation is accomplished via direct transmutation of energy to matter. In this way the combat vehicle is assembled."
Koizumi frowned. "Obviously technology far above ours. What about yours?"
The girl blinked, said nothing.
"Anyway," Tadamichi murmured. "That's not the important thing here. The bigger issue is that Nagato told me earlier that this probably wasn't Suzumiya's doing."
"Are you certain?" Koizumi asked.
"No data creation was observed that can be attributed to be responsible for this outcome. Suzumiya Haruhi therefore most likely manipulated probability of being involved in the event, but she is not responsible for the event occurring."
"Are you saying that this situation with the giant robots was going to happen anyway?"
The girl gave a tiny nod, her eyes fixed on Tadamichi.
"It's somewhat beyond our direct control, but I have to admit that I don't like it in the slightest," Tadamichi murmured. "So, it's not the Sky Canopy Domain?"
"Negative."
"Alright. Might be a lot to ask for, but ... can the Entity do anything about it?"
The girl's eyes turned to Koizumi, then back to Tadamichi.
"Mmm. I'm going to take that as a no."
It wasn't quite a nod, but Nagato's head lowered a tiny amount.
Tadamichi cursed softly, then began pacing. "Is there much of anything we can do?"
"I will try."
"Anything on your front, Koizumi?"
"It's early to say, but no closed space yet. It's reaching, but because she's found something that she's looking for, I'm going to guess that she won't -- that frustration no longer has a reason to exist. She's found the fantastic, and she's going to be a part of it."
"And she's going to expect it to be a regular part of the world?"
"I.... Well. You probably know her better than I do, at this point."
Another soft curse, though his pacing stopped. "Alright. I don't like it, but let's see where this goes."
She watched the three troop back into the hostel, wondering what exactly she had actually gleaned. "Hauuu..." she moaned sadly, jolting in alarm when Nagato stopped at her utterance, blinking and looking back over her shoulder. Before the girl could fix on her location, she fled, gliding ghostlike through the air to return to her friend.
"Get it together!" Haruhi snapped, hanging onto her armrests as the robot was jolted by the opponent. "You can fight better than that, can't you?"
"Give me a break!" Keiichi retorted, his face contorted as he concentrated. "The robot moves when I think it, but I'm not that great at punching people!"
"Zearth," Satoko reminded him. "We named it Zearth, not 'the robot'."
The boy grit his teeth and clenched the fist that bore the strange marking on it, but their opponent, a squat, brutish juggernaut continued to assail them, sending Zearth staggering back along the coastline. "Damn it! I won't give up!"
The only ones who hadn't remained in their seats were Rika, Nagato, and Kyon. When the robot was staggered, the chairs jolted, but those on the floor seemed unaffected, except for the boy crouching lower. "Keiichi," Kyon said, watching their opponent, "you might try turning the robot to one side. We'll have a narrower profile."
"Yeah?" Keiichi asked, as Zearth did just that, one of the enemy's punching limbs missing by mere meters as it turned. "Oh! You know how to fight?"
"Not really," Kyon answered, turning to look at the panorama. "But I've read that's what you do in fencing, and the robot-- Sorry, Zearth's arms remind me of fencing swords."
Keiichi spat out a curse as the next intense blow sent Zearth tumbling down the coastline half a kilometer, smashing the robot's left arm off just above the elbow. "Damn it! I can't fence, either!" Improbably, despite being sideways in relation to the panoramic view around them, they all maintained their orientation, the cockpit demonstrating some form of gravity manipulation.
Haruhi rolled her eyes, grumbling, "What the hell are you good at?"
"Baseball!" Rena sang out, grinning triumphantly. "Keiichi, grab that arm that came off!"
"Good thinking!" he cheered, as Zearth rose, seizing the broken-off arm. With the hundreds of meters of extra reach, Zearth slowly stepped back from the other robot's range, smashing at it until it tilted forward.
Once it pitched over, Keiichi piloted the robot forward, crushing it over and over with the makeshift club until Koyemshi finally said, "That's enough. You smashed the vital point."
The chairs lowered to the floor and the panoramic view faded back into the murky brown darkness once more.
"Hahaha!" Keiichi chortled happily, jumping from his seat and dancing victoriously. "Awesome! Koyemshi, can we go to the top of the robot and see it?"
"Hmm. I suppose." Abruptly they found themselves standing atop the giant robot, near a divot in the chassis from the fight. The hulking remains of the enemy across from them slowly began to dissolve from the bottom up without falling in the same brilliant shower of sparks it had arrived with.
"Okay," Haruhi acquiesced, smirking. "We're still going to show you up next time, but you did pretty good after all." So saying, she clapped one hand onto Keiichi's shoulder companionably.
Wordlessly, he pitched forward, silently plummeting the hundreds of meters of darkness to the sea below.
"N...no!"
After assigning Nagato to watch over Haruhi, Kyon went outside to the same spot he had paced the night before.
"Why aren't you with your friend?" someone asked.
He glanced over at the questioner ... Ryugu Rena. Her expression was almost completely blank, her mouth a perfectly flat line. "I wanted some air," he answered. Probably, he thought, he should have been surprised. But lately it seemed the capacity for surprise had gone beyond him.
"Hmm.... You aren't watching her, maybe, because you think she did it?"
He narrowed his eyes. "I know what it looks like," he answered her. "But as long as I've known her, I have a hard time seeing her doing something like that. Even so, what's the point of telling you not to believe what you saw?"
She was silent for a moment, before she nodded. "I appreciate that. So ... you think it was an accident?"
"That's my strongest hope," he sighed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "But you heard what Nagato said, too."
"How could she know his heart had stopped before Suzumiya hit him?"
"Nagato knows a lot of things," he replied. "Then again, I did tell you there was no point in not believing what you saw. Answer me this, then. Is Keiichi the kind of person to fall without making a sound?"
Rena's face tilted slightly upward. "That's one of the only real things in her favor." Some of the blankness had gone out of her expression; her eyes were luminous in the starlight, watery with unshed tears. "That hit wasn't strong enough to knock him down like that. But even so...."
"I didn't know him very well ... but he seemed like a nice guy," he said softly. "I think he and Haruhi would really have gotten along.... I think she was really starting to come around, even though...." He shrugged, turning to stare at the stars when her eyes drifted shut, tears running down her cheeks.
"Yeah," she said softly, her voice on the verge of breaking. "That's the other thing in her favor."
Suzumiya stared fixedly at the floor in the hostel's common area, shifting her shoulders uncomfortably. Mion saw the way she leaned slightly towards Kyon, the way he ignored it, trying to retain an aura of impartiality despite her obvious need of him as an emotional anchor. Part of her raged at that, wanting to make something happen to him, to hurt her. Another part coldly calculated how to make it happen.
The greater part of her, the one that had been chosen as successor to the role of family head, tried to put those things behind her. She was the club president, after all. Even so, everyone was arrayed into neat factions, staring at one another across the room, uncomfortable and silent tension building.
Shion chewed her lower lip, brow furrowed as she kept a glare locked on Haruhi. Satoko looked dazed, occasionally leaning against Shion, snapping the older girl out of her fury long enough to offer a wordless murmur of comfort. Rena's expression was downcast, apparently deep in thought. Rika's face was blank, her eyes focused on some other point.
To one side, Tsuruya sat with Kyon's little sister, her own face distracted, but Nonoko otherwise a perfect mirror of Satoko.
Kyon sat in the central position of his club's side. Suzumiya knelt to one side, Nagato to the other. Behind them, Asahina sat against the wall, more shocked than Suzumiya in appearance, and between Kyon and Asahina, Koizumi paced back and forth.
"First of all," Kyon began, finally breaking the stiff silence, "for good or ill, we were told that we can't back out of our contracts. We were also told it wasn't a game. Are we agreed on these points?"
Mion glanced across her club, then nodded. "That's true," she allowed, struggling to retain her calm, remembering her role.
Kyon nodded back at her. "I think we all know that tensions are high right now. My personal beliefs on what happened aside, I would like to suggest we wait until there's more evidence before acting rashly."
"What kind of evidence can possibly turn up now?" Shion spat.
Improbably, it was Rena who answered: "On the basis of impartiality, the fight went on for a while. We ended up near that coastal town, so plenty of people were able to see it. It seems more than likely that even though Zearth is gone, people will investigate. With even the slightest bit of luck ... K...Keichi will be found. And if he's found...." She trailed off there with a sad shrug. "Then we'll know."
"I didn't...." Suzumiya began, not looking up, but unable to complete the abortive attempt. "I.... That couldn't have...."
"Be that as it may," Mion said, closing her eyes, "for the time being, I think we can agree to keep our distance from one another until we do know for certain."
"Ummm," Tsuruya mumbled, nodding. "I think we might go home ... this is kind of not what we had been hoping for."
"Running away?" Shion growled.
Mion knew she should say something to try and curtail her sister's fury, but couldn't find it in herself to do so. "If you prefer," Koizumi offered quietly, "we can remain here. All the same, if we're unwelcome, we wouldn't want to impose on you...."
"So, a truce, then," Kyon said. "Agreed?"
Shion snarled wordlessly, but when she saw she was the only one opposed, she spat, "For now." Inwardly, Mion thanked her sister for expressing the anger she couldn't. Not right now, though; she had to be the responsible one.
Flatly, she echoed her sister: "For now."
"I don't see how you can be so calm," Shion said through clenched teeth, pacing back and forth.
"Neither do I," Mion murmured back. "But, if it's true, and we have to do this to defend the Earth from destruction...."
"Then, what, we just let a murderer, someone who killed one of our best friends -- the man you love -- walk free!?"
Rika saw the way Mion flinched as though her sister had slapped her at those words, the way that tears flowed from her eyes without even releasing sobs.
"Shion," Rika said quietly, allowing a tiny bit of her mask to slip, projecting some of the force she rarely used on her friends. "We have to be calm. Keiichi always tried to solve problems with words first, not violence."
"And that got him where, exactly?"
"A wound that is picked at will never heal."
"Heal!? He hasn't even been-- Don't you want justice?"
"Calm down," Rena said, her voice dreamlike, unfocused. "Justice comes after judgement. I agree with you, though. If we can prove beyond a doubt that she did it, and it was on purpose ... there will be justice." Her eyes sharpened, pupils dilating. "Nothing will stop that justice, either. But it will be justice, not mindless retribution. If you want to go on your own ... you'll be outnumbered."
"We've defeated worse odds before!"
"Together. You won't get far alone."
Shion trembled with barely restrained rage, then spat out a long stream of curses.
"Did that help?" Rika asked, her mask completely discarded. "Do you feel better now?"
The answer was soft, muted, with almost none of the fury left behind it. "No."
"You've been quiet lately, Kyon-kun. Yen for your thoughts?"
He glanced at Itsuki, then away. "It feels like a good time to watch my mouth. I have whole pages of dry one-liners about my vacation being ruined. But those are bad jokes compared to what those girls are going through right now."
"Which girls?"
"All of them."
Itsuki pursed his lips, then nodded slowly. "You may be right," he allowed. "I believe Sonozaki Mion-san is in charge of the other club. I know this may be difficult, but since you seem to be on the best terms of anyone right now, I would like you to speak with her."
His eyes closed. "What about?"
"Ryugu Rena-san mentioned police investigation. If one comes up, quite logically we will be questioned. It would be ... inconvenient for us not to have a consistent story for them."
"Oh? Well, if you wanted a snarky one-liner: Why is this always my problem?"
"Ahaha.... I could try speaking with Ryugu-san ... but as I said, I'm under the impression they're on best terms with you."
"Even though you may say that, don't you think it's going to be the slightest bit suspicious?"
"Well, I agree on that front. But the issue is more that I don't know if we wish to let the world at large know that we are responsible for piloting Zearth."
"You're brave to come alone," Shion muttered.
Kyon shrugged, then said, "Koizumi pointed something out to me. Obviously, the decision on how you handle this is up to you, but we've decided we don't want the world at large to know we're responsible for piloting the robot. The news already says that during Mebara-san's fight, waves and ground-tremors caused property damage." And worse, but he didn't voice that. Rika nodded internally; it was much easier to imagine the death toll as a distant number that had little to do with the real world.
"I can see the point of that," the other green-haired twin mumbled. "I'm guessing you have a cover story?"
"Koizumi tried to give me one to sell you, but I didn't listen to it."
"And you're the spokesman?"
"Irony," he muttered. More loudly, he added, "It was my thinking that you would be happier deciding what the cover story was. Something that doesn't come from us with our obvious biases. My hope is that it's neutral enough we can find out what happens if the police do question us without committing us to either path."
"Hmm," Rena mused, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. "You're putting a lot of trust in us to be fair."
"You're putting a reasonable amount of trust in us to give us the benefit of the doubt you've shown," he returned. "In any case, we should still work together. I have enough enemies already."
"Like who?"
He blinked, then gave a rueful smile. "Didn't mean to say that aloud," he murmured. "I'll be honest; I doubt you'd believe me. Anyway, it has nothing to do with the situation we're in now. Suffice to say that I'd like us to be at least allies, if we can't be friends."
"Before we even try and come up with a story, answer me one question, and be honest about it," Mion said, staring at him intently.
He took a breath and steeled himself, then gave a sharp nod. "Alright."
"Rena tells me that you don't believe it was ... Suzumiya. If she were chosen as the pilot and positions were reversed, how would you handle the offer you just gave us?"
He blinked several times, then shook his head. "I honestly don't know," he said quietly. "I would like to think that I'd be very reasonable about things, as you've been." He gave a weak, bitter smile, then shrugged. "But even I have a temper."
She sighed, looking away. "We'll get back to you, then."
"That's more than I could reasonably expect right now," he replied, bowing.
"Number ... three hundred sixty two: Mebara Keiichi. What's the report on this one?"
"Most unusual one so far. Found at sea near the area the robot was last seen, no water in his lungs, some post-mortem injuries, and no discernible cause of death."
"Alright, that does sound unusual. Anything else about him?"
"Interviews with the other kids who were at the hostel with him. They were questioned separately, but almost all of them demanded to know how he died before they gave statements."
"But the statements were uniform?"
"Ah ... yes. Evidently he was swept out to sea in one of the waves the giant robots created while fighting."
"Okay, we've got too many more to go through. Release the body to his family. Strange as it is ... well. We've got to finish processing all these others."
"I didn't really expect to see you here," Rena said quietly, eyeing Koizumi. He was wearing a relatively nice suit, one that matched Tadamichi's. The dark outfits of his friends and sister matched, too, and Rena wondered if they'd been gotten just to attend the funeral.
Koizumi nodded at her weakly, glancing to where Suzumiya stood, her eyes constantly going to the boy at her side. "It was Suzumiya-san's request," he said softly. "Even though we've come to an agreement on Mebara-san...."
Rena nodded, raising her handkerchief to her eyes. "One supposes that there is no need to be guilty to feel guilty," she said quietly. "Suzumiya-san doesn't seem the type given to depression."
"I've never seen her this unhappy," he responded. "Kyon and I were against this, thinking you might want more space ... but Suzumiya-san insisted. And ultimately, he is the only one I know who can talk her out of anything."
"But he didn't?"
"Not this time. I believe Kyon could have," he allowed. "Ah, forgive me. I shouldn't be speaking of such things."
"Hmm. If he's your friend, why do you nickname him like a dog?"
Koizumi blinked, his expression genuinely bewildered for a moment before he re-assumed his false smile. "Ah ... well, that's how Suzumiya-san calls him, so...."
"Why bow to her, when it seems he's the one who is actually in charge?"
"You're sharp," he said quietly, turning to look at the front of the Furude shrine. For the day, it had been given over to the Mebara family to host Keiichi's funeral. "It's not that he's in charge, so much as he's the only one who can control Suzumiya-san. But, again, I shouldn't be speaking of these things."
"'No man is an island'," she quoted, shaking her head. "Not you, and not him. Tadamichi-san spoke of alliances, which is well and good. But it takes more than just being an ally to overcome ... some things. No one of us should expect to stand through this alone."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I think if we're to succeed ... if we're to overcome this and win, we'll need to have genuine bonds of trust. If that can't happen...."
She didn't speak to him except when it was an emergency, even now. So when she came to the door of the room and and Koizumi shared at the Hinamizawa inn, he let her in wordlessly, and the esper left just as quietly.
Without preamble, she rolled up the left sleeve of her shirt, revealing the purple cross-hatched marks that appeared there. "I am to be the next pilot," she said.
He sat on the edge of his bed, and she rolled the sleeve back down, sitting next to him. "Did you learn anything more?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered. "The call was a direct memetic transmission. In anticipation of the contact, the Integrated Data Sentience Entity monitored and attempted to trace the source to further discern the motives and methods of the responsible party. The attempt was successful, and we acquired self-motive data that spread via memetic contamination. The Entity was nearly destroyed by this before control was reestablished."
"So it's smarter and more powerful than your bosses?"
She nodded. "The Entity was able to discern little more. The presence of the contract emitted a reality-wide impulse that blocks all temporal transference. We are trapped in time; Asahina Mikuru's situation is identical."
"So they're from ... what, another reality?"
"Or a distant possible future," she agreed. "We have determined that those responsible are not data-entities, though they are more powerful than we are. More may be discerned when I pilot."
"Any idea how long we have?"
"No."
She closed her eyes the second she realized they were in the cockpit again. A familiar looking pipe folding chair was in the indicator on the floor, this time. Her own chair was further away, next to Keiichi's empty seat.
When her eyes opened, Yuki had taken her seat already. Most of the others were sitting, too, only herself, Kyon, and the small purple-haired girl standing. She walked to stand next to him, trying to ignore the feeling of the other girls' eyes on her.
"Looks like it's show-time again, kiddies," Koyemshi said, floating overhead and angling to direct its face at Yuki.
The view came in, quickly showing the city of Nishinomiya below them. "Where is this place?" Ryugu asked in surprise.
"Our town," Haruhi answered, looking for familiar landmarks. Far below them, she could see their highschool, the top of the hill shorter than the robot. Zearth stood just off the coast in the shallower water, while the enemy robot had appeared in the city itself, a strange three-legged bulbous creature.
"It's not moving?" Satoko observed.
"Neither are we," Kyon said. "Maybe it's for the best. How many people are in the town, anyway?"
All around them, oval-shaped viewing portals winked open and shut just as abruptly, each showing flashing images of panicking crowds, people stunned or horrified at the towering monstrosities that had appeared. "Many," Yuki said quietly.
"Let's wait a bit," Koizumi suggested, rubbing his chin. "If the other robot remains idle, there may be enough time for people to evacuate."
"The less people that are hurt the better," Haruhi agreed, turning to look at Kyon. Yuki nodded in agreement behind her, the oval-shaped portals around the image of the enemy robot still flickering quickly.
"Easily distracted?" Koyemshi asked, circling slowly around Yuki. She ignored the creature, her eyes fixed on the enemy robot despite the flickering portals. "Well, don't take too long. If the fight goes on for forty-eight hours, you automatically lose."
"Understood," Yuki said, not otherwise reacting.
"Tsuruya-san," Kyon said, breaking the silence, "the way that thing is built, I don't know if it could move across the city to us without doing a lot of damage. It looks pretty close to your estate. If we have to, might it be possible for Nagato to lure it to your family's land, so we can minimize casualties?"
"Ooh! Good thinking! Yeah, absolutely do that, Nagato-chi!"
"Understood," Yuki said again, blinking. "Please observe my battle closely. There may not be another chance."
"Boring," Koyemshi announced.
Not long after sunset, the enemy robot finally began to move. In the intervening hours, they had all watched SDF forces move in and begin evacuating people en-mass, hordes of helicopters and ground-based searchlights illuminating major portions of both robots. Wordlessly, Yuki sent Zearth into action, the robot swiftly jogging in massive, ground-eating strides through the widest streets, each footstep carefully placed to avoid abandoned vehicles, SDF emergency crews, or the few remaining citizens.
The enemy robot froze its advance, turning in place to watch as she directed Zearth into the wooded area behind the city. "Its behavior is strange," Rena remarked, pensive. "It seems to be trying to avoid damaging buildings, too."
"Good," Haruhi said quietly from where she sat on the floor near Kyon. He remained standing, watching the enemy robot, but offered a silent nod.
Soon enough, the robots were both clear of the city, the enemy moving much more quickly without buildings to slow it down. But it was easily outmatched; Yuki moved Zearth even faster, a single decisive strike reaching in through the carapace and tearing the vital point free. "Wow!" Mion exclaimed, startled. "That easy?"
"Not over yet," Koyemshi said with a chuckle. "You have to crush it, after all."
The enemy robot was still mobile somehow, even with the metal flower-bud exposed in Zearth's grip. As one limb rose to try and free the vital point, Zearth crushed it in the same burst of smoke and crackling energy that they had seen before.
"There you go!"
The chairs lowered to the floor and the view of the outside faded away. Yuki blinked suddenly, her hands rising to her face as the marks on her arms faded away. "I will die in four minutes, fifteen seconds," she announced.
"What!?" the others cried out in alarm.
Ignoring everyone else, Yuki rose from her seat and looked at Kyon. "Suzumiya Haruhi, I wish to borrow him for my remaining lifespan."
"Wh.... I.... O...of course," she managed, bewildered.
Yuki nodded, walking to Kyon's side, though he looked just as stunned as everyone else. After taking his hand, she turned to Koyemshi and added, "I wish to stand on the beach beneath the stars when my life ends."
"Say 'please'," the creature replied, rotating to hang upside down.
"Please."
"Fine, then," it allowed, as the two vanished in a circular column of shifting light, and were gone.
"W...what did she want with him, though?" she asked, turning to look at Koizumi and Mikuru apprehensively.
"Want to see?" Koyemshi asked, baring its teeth once more. "No problem."
Another oval-shaped portal irised open, revealing the pair standing on the beach, not far from where Zearth had originally strode to the shore.
"Why is she going to die?" she managed to ask.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that part," it answered.
The portal either couldn't or didn't carry sound, as she saw Yuki speak something to Kyon and tears shine in his eyes, but she heard nothing. Yuki took his wrist and made as though to kiss it, but he pushed her hands away, seizing her shoulders and yelling something before kissing her fully on the lips. Haruhi screwed her eyes shut, shaking her head and trembling, unwilling to watch.
"No," Mikuru whimpered. "Kyon-kun, no!"
"I don't want to watch anymore," she said, opening her eyes and relieved that the image was gone.
"This robot is powered by your life-force," Koyemshi explained. "When your fight is over, you die."
Haruhi took a shuddering breath and looked around her at the others, who stared at the creature in shock. Finally, her eyes settled on Kyon's sister, and she shook, realizing what that meant.
After she had vanished into sparkling light, leaving him to weep at the loss on the beach, he had remained there. He didn't know how long he had stayed, staring at the tiny, faint impressions that her feet had left in the sand, but the sun was beginning to brighten the horizon when a group of SDF forces finally found him, yelling about evacuation zones and trying to find out if he was injured.
It was hours after that when he finally returned to his home, dropped off by an officer. He stared at the door, then shook his head and opened it, staggered when his sister flung herself at him, sobbing. "Kyon-kun!" she moaned. "I'm so scared!"
"I'm sorry," he managed. It was all he could think to say. "Where's Mom?"
"She hasn't come back yet ... but Koyemshi sent me back here after...." Then she burst into a new round of tears.
He found himself patting her head. "It's okay," he soothed her. "Come on. Take a bath, then we'll get some sleep, alright?"
He wasn't certain how he knew, but he had known. He wanted to strangle someone, find some way or some weapon to destroy Koyemshi ... but Nagato's last warnings to him told him about the futility of trying something so obvious and direct. Her trust in him. The final request that he, somehow, find a way to fix things.
It had always come down on him, as little as he liked it. But even then, until now he'd always managed to keep his sister clear of all true danger.
Not anymore. Six days of peace before she came to him, crying again and pulling up her shirt to show the wavering green grid pattern that wrapped around her lower torso. He spent that time ignoring his cell phone, not answering the door, and trying to grant any request his sister might make of him.
Even his mother had remarked that he paid too much attention to his sister, but the two had decided early on that she didn't need to know the truth. He offered a series of increasingly lame excuses, and at his sister's request, they re-watched every giant robot anime he had ever collected while she stared in sad concentration.
When the mark finally appeared, he asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you, imouto-chan?"
She couldn't meet his eyes. "I just wanted to play with you." Then her eyes did turn to his. "Stand by me. That's all I want now."
As he had decided would be his custom until the day he was chosen, he stood in the center. Rika once again stood at his side, and he forced down his despair. Until his sister was done, he would be the figure she wanted; stoic and strong, someone she could rely on.
The others were utterly silent in their seats, staring at him, or his sister. When the panoramic view banished the hated monochrome surroundings, he saw that Zearth had appeared where it vanished last time, on the hill north of the Tsuruya estate. On another hill, a kilometer or so distant, the enemy robot appeared, this time resembling nothing so much as a giant grasshopper.
Zearth took a trembling step forward, Nonoko's face wrinkled in concentration. "Don't think about moving every part of it," he told her, remembering Nagato's advice. "Just think about it going in the direction you want. Think about what you want to happen, not about how it gets done."
"R...right," she managed, relaxing a tiny bit as Zearth's stride smoothed out and sped up. "It's about ... confidence and will, isn't it?"
He walked to her side, even though the chairs were now a meter above the ground. He reached out and took one of her trembling fists in his hands. "I believe in you, Imouto," he told her.
Tears shone in her eyes, but she gave a weak, false smile. "I can fight too!" she exclaimed, Zearth launching into a sudden dash, not nearly as fast as Nagato's ... but fast enough, he knew. He grinned so wide that his eyes closed into lines, trying to trap his own tears in.
"Koyemshi," she asked tiredly, "what happens to our bodies when we die?"
"Mmm, that's up to you. Want to go back to your family? Or do you want your body to be disposed of? There's a million spaces in this robot to hide it."
Sobbing, she shook her head. "I don't want my mom to know," she rasped. "Hide me somewhere."
"Nonoko," her brother said, his voice shaking with barely maintained control. "I'm so sorry."
"Nii-san," she said quietly, reveling in the tiny joy that bloomed in his eyes at the long-unused title. Then, just before she was gone, "Don't blame Haruhi...."
He didn't have the strength to deliver Koizumi's half-assed explanation on why he was leaving, even with school resuming in a few days, so demanded that the esper do it himself. The normally perfect, plastic smile was strained to the breaking point as Koizumi tried to explain an obscure gift from the Tsuruya foundation, a chance to participate in an advanced studies course at a private mountain retreat. That his sister was already supposed to be gone, sent ahead....
Naturally, there was paperwork from their schools, where Koizumi's Organization had arranged whatever lies they told to appear truthful enough. He couldn't hug his mother goodbye, just nodding sullenly and climbing into the van. If he actually tried to speak with her, he thought he would shatter; his nerves were frayed enough.
He wasn't surprised to see Arakawa as the van's driver, or Mori in the front passenger seat. Kimidori Emiri's presence was less expected. She gave him an apologetic smile as Koizumi climbed in last and shut the door behind them.
"Hello," she said quietly.
"What do you need to read the nanites?" he asked her, looking out the front window as the van surged forward.
"May I hold your hand?" she asked.
He nodded stiffly, holding his left hand out to her. She gently clasped it with hands that were warmer than Nagato's.
"So, what's going on, Koizumi? I've been a bit ... distracted lately."
"Not a problem," the esper assured him quietly. "The Organization is coordinating things with assistance from the TFEIs that were already here. The Sonozaki family has provided some manpower to watch over us, and the Tsuruya family has donated a large swath of private land. It's been determined that Zearth will appear near us, so by staying outside of the cities, we can minimize damage."
"Good," he allowed. "We know at least one new thing."
"Several new things, though few of them bring us enlightenment," Kimidori said. "Nagato-san left a request with me to give you three books which she thought might give you a better picture of the current situation, and our best guess as to who ... or what ... is responsible. However, we must be discreet. Your 'guide' will appear if his name is spoken, and while we cannot be certain he is aware of precisely what we are, he may be capable of destroying us."
"Nagato got past him."
"She was ... more human than we are. In the end, that was a strength we did not forsee working to her advantage."
He shot her a baleful look. "Are you done with my hand?"
"A moment longer," she said, apologetically.
He nodded stiffly and looked away. "What are the books?"
"'Illium', 'Olympos', and 'Lady of Mazes'," Kimidori replied, releasing his hand. "There is one other thing you should be aware of, though I have arranged it so that Koizumi Itsuki and his allies do not hear this."
He blinked, then glanced back at her, unsurprised that her voice continued, even without her moving her lips.
"There is an unknown data-entity that appears to be aligned with Furude Rika. It shifts wavelengths enough so that we are aware of it, but not able to directly observe it."
He drummed his fingertips on his knees, furrowing his brow in contemplation. "Sky Canopy Domain," he murmured.
"What was that?" Koizumi asked.
"Nothing," he answered.
"Negative. It doesn't match their pattern, or the pattern observed to be related to Zearth."
He nodded, furrowing his brow in contemplation. Something to focus on aside from the inevitable.
Haruhi stared at the peaked wooden ceiling of the room she and Tsuruya shared in the mountain retreat, rubbing her sore cheek and thinking back. She knew it was too much to try and apologize for, and she knew she wasn't good at apologizing. Even so, Kyon was still enigmatic, never responding quite the way she had hoped ... or expected.
She'd told him she was sorry. She told him she didn't know what to say. She told him she would try to do anything to make it up to him--
But then he'd slapped her. Struck her so hard she crashed to the floor, everyone else staring in stunned silence. Koizumi either couldn't, or just hadn't stopped him this time. So she lay on the floor, awaiting whatever anger or physical punishment he was going to give her next.
"Don't," he said stiffly. "The Haruhi I know is strong enough to stand on her own. She won't beg for forgiveness, even if she is truly sorry. She might say it, but she's a symbol of confidence, more than anything else. She won't give up or admit defeat."
Then he reached down and grabbed her wrist, hauling her to her feet and clapping a hand on either shoulder. "And that means that she wouldn't just say she'd try to do anything to make up for what went wrong. She'd be willing to tear the universe itself apart to set things right, if that's what she had to do. And she'd let nothing stop her until it was done. But she wouldn't plead or cry -- she'd do something about it."
And then he'd released her and turned around, walking to the room he shared with Koizumi, tossing back the words, "That's something you might want to think about."
She'd wanted to call out to him, to say she was sorry again -- to apologize for never knowing how much he'd cared about Yuki. How difficult was it for him to read that stupid love letter his friend had written her, with his own feelings hidden so carefully...? How did he have the strength to remain so stoic, after she had condemned his sister to die by dragging her into the cave, then standing in his way so Nonoko could register for the game?
But even with all those questions, she was stunned by how right he was. Something amazing had happened. Something terrible, too. But it was something she had wished for, or very near it. To collapse into a weak, sobbing pile....
"Heyas," Tsuruya said cautiously as she entered the room, her habitual smile in place, even if it didn't fully reach her eyes. "You alright? I can thump Kyon-kun pretty good, if you like-"
"No," she said quietly, covering her eyes. "He's right."
"Really? You think so?"
"Yeah. I don't always get him ... though I sometimes think I do. But sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself."
"Hehe ... well, in that case, if you're turning into one of those crazy girls who likes guys who hits her, you better ask him out. No telling how many chances you'll get at this point, nyoro!"
Her slapped cheek stung with the force of her blush. "It's still too soon for that," she whispered.
"That must have been very difficult for you," Koizumi remarked. "I was worried, but I must say ... well done."
"Hey, Koizumi, can you do me a favor?"
"Absolutely! What would you like?"
"Just shut up once in a while."
"Aha.... Yes. Right. I'll leave you to your books, then."
Kyon grunted in response, his eyes shadowed as he stared intently, almost angrily at the first of the novels Kimidori had given him. Silently excusing himself from the room, Koizumi padded into the hallway, the wooden floors creaking as he entered the large common room.
Ryugu and the Sonozaki twins sat at three sides of a low table, shuffling some cards between them idly. The one with her hair in a ponytail glanced at him, then sharply away. "Hello," the other one said quietly.
"May I join you?" he asked. "I appear to have annoyed my roommate."
"Really?" Ryugu asked, a pained smile touching to her lips. "From what I know of him, that must have taken some effort. But go ahead, have a seat."
"I appear to be gifted," he replied, taking the cards he was dealt.
"I'm Mion," one of the sisters said, evidently able to guess he couldn't tell them apart. "We play Old Man, not Old Maid."
"Very well," he agreed, thinking he remembered the rules.
"I'm ... sorry," the other sister -- Shion -- mumbled. "For ... blaming Suzumiya for ... Keiichi."
"At the risk of sounding cliche, perhaps it's best not to dwell," he said, smiling. "This is difficult for all of us."
Ryugu's eyes widened. "I just had a great idea," she said quietly. "Mion, Shion, let's find Tsuruya!"
The maid and butler that Koizumi said he had 'borrowed' from a rich uncle for their mountain retreat spent most of their time in the kitchen, but allowed Rena to haul the trio of green-haired girls into the large pantry behind it. Once she turned on the light and closed the door, the clinking sounds of dishes being washed cut off entirely.
"So, what's the plan, nyoro?" Tsuruya asked, smiling brightly and glancing between the other three.
"We need to make a new club," Rena announced.
"Eh ... is this really the time for that?" Shion asked, pained.
"She's onto something," Mion disagreed. "Think about it; this was a meeting between two clubs and a few honorary members that became ... something more. But this goes back to the idea of.... Remember what Rika said? This summer?"
"It takes everyone working together to make a miracle," Shion repeated, frowning. "But we can't do that now; we don't have everyone anymore."
Tsuruya blinked, then asked, "You want us all to form a new club to make sure we're all together?"
"Yes!" Rena agreed, feeling the first real smile in a long time come to her lips. "But we're going to need some things, first...."
Kyon joined the group in the main room, sprawling on one of the two sofas and staring fixedly at his book. Koizumi sat nearby, and Rika and Satoko shared the other sofa. Suzumiya stood with the other girls, though her attention continued to drift to Kyon.
"What's this all about?" she finally asked, glancing around.
"We're a new club," Tsuruya announced. "And to celebrate it, we've got uniforms for everyone!"
"Uniforms?" Kyon asked, lowering his book. "Really?"
"Yeah! You first! And, heya, this is the last time I call you Kyon on purpose, as long as you agree to try it on, okay?"
He looked doubtful, but nodded and rose from his seat, taking a package from Tsuruya and retreating down the hall.
"What are they?" Suzumiya asked, befuddled. "I don't know that this is the best time for dress-up...."
"Humph! Just you wait and see!"
A few minutes later, he emerged, glancing down at himself with a frown. His new outfit was a clean, perfectly sized and fitted costume that Rika thought was straight out of a samurai drama. "I feel about a thousand years out of date," he said, shifting his shoulders. "It's pretty comfortable, though. Why this?"
"It's based on the kind of clothes worn in Usui no Sadamitsu's time! Sadamitsu's real name was Tadamichi, just like yours, Kyousuke."
He blinked at that, then nodded, giving a small smile. "Alright," he agreed. "If you want me to wear this while we're in Zearth, that's fine, then."
"What's mine?" Suzumiya asked quickly, her attention going back to Tsuruya. Tsuruya's grin widened, and she handed a box to Haruhi.
"Try it on!"
When Suzumiya returned, she was dressed as a shrine maiden, looking down at herself thoughtfully. "Because my last name reads like 'shrine bell', right?" she asked.
"Exactlies!"
"If it's good enough for Kyo...usuke, then it's good enough for me," she affirmed, not looking at Kyon. He seemed startled at the use of his actual name, though his smile didn't lessen.
Not all of the costumes were the same. Rika found herself in another shrine maiden costume, just like the one she wore for Watanagashi. Koizumi's costume was from the Meji period, the lines slightly different from Kyon's, and a deeper blue color. The rest of the girls were in varying kimono from different periods.
It was something to bring them together, Rika decided. Not much, but a good, small step.
"It's not just costumes," Rena continued. "It's a symbol of us working together -- as a team."
"More importantly," Tsuruya added, "this is just the first step. We've all got the same job, right?"
"We basically decided that we'd make a club to try and make sure that whoever gets chosen next, we do everything we can to make that person happy before they have to go," Mion said. "To remember what we're fighting for, and to try not to be sad because.... Well. We can't give in, can we?"
"Who's in charge?" Suzumiya asked cautiously, glancing across the assembled group.
"No one!" Tsuruya cried cheerfully. "And everyone! All of us together, remember?"
"This sounds like a grand idea," Koizumi agreed, straightening the belt on his outfit.
"Yes," Rena said, nodding happily, before she started suddenly. "Did ... someone say my name?" she asked, a series of jagged red rings appearing on one cheek. She blinked, then shook her head, her smile turning wistful. "Ah.... It's me, is it?"
"Rena," Mion whispered softly, the momentary cheer vanishing.
"I...it's okay," Rena said, shaking her head. "I mean ... that's what our plan is all about ... right?"
"Well," Koizumi said. "What can we do to make you happy, then?"
"Um.... Kyou...Kyousuke-san," she began, before he shook his head, raising one hand.
"Kyon is fine," he allowed. "I know people think my name is difficult."
"No, I'll say it. So far you seem to understand what we should do when piloting the best. You gave advice to Keiichi and...." She smiled weakly. "Will you advise me, too? Even though we are without a leader, officially, I think you're our best strategist."
"Don't depend on me too much," he said, though he smiled, too. "I could be next."
"I can still depend on you, like I depend on all my friends," she said. "That's what I'd like."
He nodded, bowing his head. "I'll do it," he agreed.
"There is another thing," she continued, her eyes going to the circle of friends surrounding her. "And ... we may not solve it before I'm gone, but that's fine, too, as long as we can work out the details eventually. I want to know why this is happening."
After a thoughtful moment, Rika said, "I think Kyon knows the most of that, too."
"I don't know much," the boy warned them, standing upright, eyes going to the ceiling. "I have a number of guesses. I do want to point out that thinking isn't my strong suit, despite the reputation I appear to have earned. Nagato left me some books ... which I've been reading. First of all, Zearth and the enemies aren't from our world."
"That seemed somehow very likely," Mion said after a moment.
"What, from another planet?" Satoko asked.
"I believe further than that," Kyon said, somewhat cryptically. "It's hard to say for certain. I really am reaching with this, but ... the books I've been reading are science fiction. They have a common theme of something called 'post humans'."
"Another level of evolution?" Suzumiya asked.
He narrowed his eyes, then shrugged. "Very close to that," he allowed. "But the evolution wasn't natural; it's made with ... machines, genetic engineering ... there's a technological trick behind it. A normal human somehow becomes a post-human; they aren't born that way."
"It sounds almost like magic," Rika mused aloud, her mask fallen off as she considered it. "Paying a price to turn a mortal into something more?"
"Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, isn't it?" Asahina remarked.
"I hadn't heard that before...." But it fit, somehow. Was Hanyuu a post human?
"At any rate, these once-normal humans have achieved a higher state of being through ... some method," Kyon continued. "They exist in a parallel reality, an alternate world maybe very like our own. Maybe different. I can only guess."
"Then what do they want with us? What's their motive?" Rena asked, frowning.
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "There's more I can't figure out."
Koizumi raised a hand and asked, "Have we tried to consider the technology at the disposal of the people who designed this?"
"To be honest, I don't think the technology they use matters very much," Suzumiya said, shaking her head. "The beams that Zearth fires move more slowly than light should. So they're not really lasers. The size of the robots -- each and every one of them -- violates the cube-square law. Even ignoring the fact that it should fall apart, Zearth should sink waist deep or further into solid land given the mass. Instead, there's only tiny divots in the ground where it steps, less than a handful of meters deep."
"I agree," Kyon said, shrugging. "Maybe you could get more out of it, considering ... some sort of gravity control to work around those things. Knowing that may give you some advantage to controlling Zearth, but it really seems that just thinking about what you want done and not focusing on the details is best."
"S...Suzumiya mentioned the other robots being like Zearth," Shion mumbled, not meeting her eyes. "I noticed that, too. Every robot seemed to have one of those crests on it ... almost like a face. Did you notice that they all have glowing lights on them?"
"I've been counting them," Rena allowed quietly. "On Zearth, one goes away after each fight."
"You have amazing eyes," Tsuruya said, blinking. "I never could have seen that!"
"One thing worries me a lot about this," Satoko said in a soft voice. "Those other robots ... with their own lights on their crests...."
"Then, when it's time, I'll solve at least that mystery," Rena swore.
"Why are we in a city?" Rena asked, trying to keep her voice from panic. "We went to the mountains to avoid this!"
"Just something else I forgot to mention," Koyemshi said lazily. "Some games are on your own Earth. Some games are on other Earths. There are infinite Earths, after all. Consider this an 'away' game."
"Even so," she said, glowering at the many-limbed enemy robot, "I don't want to fight here!"
"To our left," Kyousuke said, pointing. "There's a mountain. Unfortunately, the skyline is between us. Otherwise, there's a harbor, but it's full of ships." Even as he remarked on it, the ships in the harbor began to fire, explosions sounding across the robot's hull from the impacts.
"Rena!" Satoko yelped.
"We're okay," she said, trying her best to dash towards the skyline without knocking over too many buildings. "The mountains...."
Kyousuke turned to watch the enemy robot, while she focused on maneuvering Zearth to the wooded area. "This area looks almost like Nishinomiya," he said slowly. "But...."
"An Earth that's minimally divergent from your own," Koyemshi clarified.
"Ryugu-san -- duck!"
Squeaking slightly in fear and alarm, she flinched in her seat, Zearth crouching low as a series of long, narrow spikes shot out from the enemy robot. Zearth's abrupt motion crushed one of the high-rises, sending out a huge plume of dust. Shaking, Rena sent Zearth frantically forward, wincing at the crushed buildings in their wake. The dust provided a brief screen, allowing a tiny break in the incoming, but harmless fire from the battleships.
"Hang in there, Rena," Rika said from Kyousuke's side. While he watched the enemy, she watched her friend.
"It's got a lot of reach," Koizumi remarked.
"That's quite an advantage over us," Satoko said, shaking her head.
"Not so much," Kyousuke disagreed. "It's also much slower. Ryugu-san, once you get to the mountains, see if it follows. If it doesn't, we won't have any choice but to go on the offensive."
"I understand," she said, sitting up straight in her chair and drying her nervously damp palms on the kimono that she was wearing. "How should I attack it?"
"A gambit?" Koizumi asked.
"Traps, huh?" Satoko mused, frowning.
"Exactly," Kyousuke agreed, as Zearth broke free of the city and began picking up speed, moving through the woods more quickly. "When it attacks with those spikes again, they're extended. It won't be able to attack again right away."
"It'll take guts," Suzumiya said. "And good timing. What if it can turn faster than it's acting like? It's trying to move through the city slowly to protect it."
"No plan is flawless," the strategist said after a moment of thought.
Rena allowed herself a small sigh of relief when the enemy robot followed -- she could avoid fighting in the city, at least.
"Anyway. You can either try and dodge the spikes and then run in, or charge directly and then suddenly change direction just as you think you're in its striking range. Either way, if you can close with it without being in range of its spikes, it shouldn't be much of a fight."
"Yes," she breathed. "I knew I was right to put my trust in you."
"There's a reason he's our master strategist," Suzumiya said, a tiny bit of the endless confidence she displayed before Keiichi's death returning.
"The only person to call me that was Mebara-san," Kyousuke said quietly.
Rena slowed Zearth, studying the area around them thoughtfully.
"Up that mountain," Satoko suggested, pointing. "You can use the slope to give you more speed when you charge."
"Right," Rena agreed, directing the robot to the top of the mountain. At a guess, it would take the enemy at least ten minutes to get in range. She let Zearth idle, then wiped her palms on her kimono again. "Kyousuke-san, could I ask you a question?"
He turned around, his stance slightly wider in his formal attire than it had been in his casual clothing. "Of course, Ryugu-san," he said, nodding.
"Why don't you call anyone by their first names?"
He blinked several times, then shifted his shoulders and offered an embarrassed smile. "At a time like this?" he asked.
"He calls me by my name," Suzumiya said, frowning.
"I...if it's too personal, I don't need to know," Rena added, her face coloring slightly. "I just wanted to say that you could call me Rena, if you like. I really don't mind."
"I told him he could call me Mikuru-chan," Asahina said with a sad smile. "But he doesn't."
His own face coloring, Kyousuke scratched the back of his head. "You think I could ignore a request from...." He rubbed his face with both hands and gave a terse nod.
"It's a short enough story," he allowed. "Let me start a bit earlier. Um ... my nickname was Kyon when I was younger. Much younger. The story of how I got it ... not important. But it went away when I was eight or nine years old. It wasn't until I was thirteen or so that I went to visit my aunt and she said, 'Look at how much Kyon has grown!'."
He laughed weakly, shaking his head. "Imouto-chan heard it and remembered. And from that day on, to her, I was 'Kyon-kun', not 'nii-san'."
Turning to watch the approaching enemy robot, he spread his arms in a shrug. "It's no use saying how much I hated it. Eventually, all my middle school friends heard it too, and then I stopped being anything else but 'Kyon'. When I entered high school, I thought for certain that I'd finally escape it ... but I didn't. Even my teachers call that nickname out when it's time for roll call. So I decided that I would try and be more polite to everyone else -- more formal. No use throwing a temper tantrum because I didn't like what I was called. Though in retrospect, I realize now, my behavior was nothing more than passive-aggressive retaliation.
"There was.... I knew two people, ever, who recognized how much I disliked that nickname. One of them told me that they thought my own name was 'too noble' for me, and called me 'Kyon' anyway." He snorted, shaking his head. "The other never commented directly to me about it. That person never said my name, either, though; they just called me 'you' or 'him'." Turning back to face Rena, he added, "But, you're right. It's made me a stiff and formal person. I must seem terribly unapproachable. You use my proper name, after all, so, Rena-san, I should thank you for that."
Suzumiya stared for a moment, then jumped down from her chair, scowling. "Kyousuke!" she snapped, not hesitating over his name this time.
He turned to look at her warily, raising an eyebrow. "Haruhi?"
"You hit me once, and ... I probably deserved it. Maybe I deserved-- Nevermind that now! For this, you will let me apologize!"
He stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughter, echoed instantly by Tsuruya, and then more weakly by the others.
Still scowling, she bowed to him, arms stiff at her side. "I am sorry!" she nearly yelled. "Please forgive me!"
"Y...you're embarrassing me, Haruhi," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I.... I should really be used to it, shouldn't I?"
"Aren't you a cheerful bunch," Koyemshi drawled. "You may have forty eight hours to settle your fight, but are you going to use them all in banter?"
"Thank you, Kyousuke-san," Rena said, smiling. "Everyone ... this is what I want us to have, in whatever precious moments we can find! If you can do this for me ... then I can win this battle."
As the dust was settling, Rena directed Zearth to pluck the vital core from the enemy robot's remains. "There are five lights on the enemy's crest," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Rika-chan, Satoko-chan, y...you might want to close your eyes."
"I am fine," Rika said in a cold voice. Her eyes were hard, though her smile was gentle.
"I'm strong too," Satoko added, her voice quavering only the tiniest bit.
"Good fun! Good fun!" Koyemshi cheered.
"Shut up," Rena told the creature absently.
"Humph," it grumbled, turning away where it hovered.
Zearth's other arm splayed its pointed tip into three sharp manipulative tines, which slowly pierced the top of the flower-bulb like core. She took a deep breath and watched the giant robot spread the hardened metal 'petals' open.
The burst of smoke appeared first, and when it settled ... the view showed a group of five in their own cockpit, their own chairs arrayed in the same circle as they glared upwards with shining eyes.
Rena slumped in her seat, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why?" she asked. "Why do we have to do this!? We've beaten them, so we can stop here, right?"
"Nope," Koyemshi said. "I said it was crushing the vital point, but really ... how you win is by killing the other pilots. Otherwise, if you try and let them get away, then eventually your time will run out and both realities are destroyed."
"What do the post-humans gain from this!?" she cried. "What's the purpose?"
"Who? I've never heard that word. But the purpose is simple; there are too many realities. This weeds useless realities out."
"But, you said there are infinite Earths. This methodology is inherently finite; there can be no meaningful subset of infinity," Koizumi remarked. "I'm sorry, but that seems like a blatant lie."
The boy found himself teleported several meters in the air, to crash to the floor with a jarring impact, clutching one arm and groaning weakly. Rena gawked as Kyousuke and Suzumiya ran to his side.
"Who asked you, stupid ape?" Koyemshi snarled. "I don't question what I'm told, and neither should you!" Turning to Rena, his face still showed his teeth. "Now finish this, or tell me you want to die. I'm fine with either, but this waiting is pissing me off!"
"We will find a way to win," Rena swore, as Zearth's waiting tines snapped together into a single point again, and a brilliant discharge of energy flashed into the enemy cockpit. She could tell by the nods of the others that they understood she didn't mean just this one fight.
"Good!" Koyemshi chortled. "Now you can watch their reality die!"
"I don't want that," Rena said, shaking her head. "Send me back, Koyemshi. I want to die breathing the air of the Earth I killed for."
"Bah," the creature groused. "The smart ones always make me so mad."
Kyousuke hesitated, then said, "I'll stay and watch. The rest of you ... I'll be back. I'm sorry, Rena-san. It's easier for me to watch these people, this world ... than to see another friend vanish before me. Goodbye."
"I understand," she said quietly. "Goodbye, Kyousuke-san."
Then the transition occurred, and she was standing on the slope above their mountain retreat with all of the others, save Kyousuke and Rika. Why Rika, she wondered, before dismissing it. She stared up at the stars in the heavens above, and felt a weak smile. "Keiichi," she murmured. "I'll see you...."
And then there was nothing.
They met in the wooded area a kilometer from the lodge, beneath the light of the stars and the waning moon. "I probably don't need to say a word," he remarked, holding his hand out for Kimidori to take.
"You don't need to," she agreed, clasping the proffered hand in her own. "But if you like, it's fine."
"I don't want to talk," he replied. "Or think. I'll save my energy for your analysis."
She held his hand in silence for long minutes before releasing it with a sigh. "There are gaps in the data," she said quietly. "The destruction of their reality was not fully recorded."
"I thought that might be the case," he mumbled. "Where to even begin.... I can only say what it looked like. The world turned gray, then red. Then it ... shattered, and faded. The stars went out forever, one by one. Then there was nothing until we came back here. I suppose you'll want me to watch it if it happens again?"
"Yes."
"I expected. With everything else, my job is now to watch realities die... If it isn't to destroy them myself."
"We would like to modify your nanites."
"Will you need to bite me?"
"It would be faster."
He thrust his hand towards her once more. "We can do it the slow way," he said.
The call woke her up from a dream of Satoshi. Not one of the old dreams, where he had returned healthy and happy. One of the newer dreams, where she sat at his side in the secret medical ward in Hinamizawa.
She stared at the ceiling of their shared room in the darkness, hearing her sister's soft breathing. She smiled, and decided not to wake her just yet.
He had liked baseball, before things became too stressful for him. She wanted to read him books, stories of more wonderful things than he had endured. But it hurt, and felt like a sad escape.
He remained unconscious anyway, so eventually she had discarded the books and gone to Satoko. Only because of her role as Satoko's 'nee-nee' was she allowed into the hallowed realm of Satoshi's room in the old Houjou home. The pair of them spent the better part of two days cleaning the year and more worth of accumulated dust from his things, then another day carefully picking through his scrapbooks and memorabilia to determine his likes and dislikes.
She wasn't certain what he liked. He had seemed to be a fan of the Fukuaoka Softbank Hawks, but Satoko was certain that he couldn't stand the Hanshin Tigers. So Shion had collected every article of their defeats, and read those to Satoshi's slumbering form.
Kyousuke had a lot to weigh on him, Shion decided. Even so, Shion could recognize him as an emotional anchor -- everyone else relied on him, so she decided she would, too.
The more pragmatic side of her cautioned that Kyousuke could easily be next, so she had a backup, too. Mikuru seemed a gentle soul, though even she had hardened after all they'd seen together. With Mion distracting Suzumiya and Satoko, Shion called the two into her room and outlined her plan:
"It's my job to take care of Satoko for her ... missing brother," she began. Then she raised her skirt to show the deep blue sword-shaped markings that lined her thighs. "Maybe I'm a terrible person, but I almost wish she were chosen first ... just so I could be with her when it was her turn."
Kyousuke bowed his head and covered his eyes with one hand. "I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Oh, no," Mikuru murmured, her eyes watering. "Sonozaki-san...."
"It's fine," she said, forcing a smile. "I'll be okay. I'm lucky ... Kyousuke-kun is going to be able to give me strategy advice, too, right?"
He sighed, but straightened himself up and nodded. "I will do my best for you, absolutely," he agreed. "For all of us."
"I ... know how hard it was," she continued, trying to be delicate, "watching one little sister go."
He said nothing, but offered a stiff nod, tears filling his own eyes.
"B...but even so, I wanted to ask the both of you, when I'm gone, can you watch over her for me?"
"You don't need to ask that," Mikuru said, with a strength Shion didn't know the other girl had. "But if that's what you want to be happy, then I promise you that I'll do my best."
Kyousuke wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and sniffled, nodding. "Sure," he choked out. "I promise, too. It's amazing that this still hurts ... that it never gets any easier. Not the slightest bit." Dropping his arm to his side he gave a bitter laugh. "Sorry. Please ignore me; you don't need to hear that right now."
Shion laughed softly, amazed that she actually felt the tiny bit of amusement. "No," she told him. "That's exactly what I needed. You're a rock and an anchor to us all. But you're still human, just like the rest of us. We all need one another. If you didn't need us ... that's what would scare me and make me feel bad. Is that strange?"
"I don't think so," Mikuru murmured, smiling weakly. "Is there anything else you want?"
"I...I'm going to see a friend in Hinamizawa, before I go," she answered, shaking her head. "Satoko will be coming with me."
Shion's chair in Zearth was not a proper chair, but an adjustable stool. The seat next to Satoshi's bed.
"Did I interrupt something?" Koyemshi drawled, as she allowed the newspaper in her hand to fall to the floor. The teleportation had severed the top third of the sheets anyway.
She smiled brightly, shaking her head. "I'd just finished reading about the Hanshin Tigers being crushed," she answered.
"What do you have against my home team?" Kyousuke jibed with a wry smile from his usual spot at Rika's side, in the middle of the circle.
She giggled, and the others managed their own nervous chuckles and titters, not knowing the joke had been rehearsed.
Zearth's view washed away the surrounding blankness, and Shion shook her head with a frown. Of course; she'd been in Hinamizawa when the battle had been called. She'd hoped somehow for an 'away' battle, but if that wasn't to be the case....
"Damn," she murmured. The enemy robot was a giant cylinder, looking like a massive grinder of some kind, with sharp curved edges on all sides. Zearth stood less than a kilometer away from the clinic, directly opposite the enemy. "Kyousuke-kun, I want to protect that building," she declared, pointing at it. Obligingly, Zearth provided a zoomed-in oval portal showing it in more detail. "What should I do?"
The enemy robot collapsed suddenly onto one side, and Kyousuke's eyes widened. "It rolls. Lure it down a slope away from the building," he said. "Quickly, before it gains momentum."
"Hmm, you're quite the crutch for your team," Koyemshi mused. "It'll be a real pity for everyone else when your time is up."
"Bigger pity for me," Kyousuke returned, not looking at the creature.
"You're an amusing one, though, I'll grant that."
"You're too kind," he said in the same dry voice.
"Nee-nee!" Satoko said suddenly, her eyes widening. "I see it! One side of the enemy is bigger -- I bet it turns faster to our right than to our left! That's perfect -- lead it through the rice paddies and into the swamp, then you can save Irie-sensei's clinic!"
Shion grinned. "You never had a chance against us," she said, eyes fixed on the enemy robot.
When her name was called, she saw the curved golden star-burst appear over her left eye in the mirror. She gave a sad smile and shook her head. Girls smaller and younger than her hadn't run away or given in to defeat. Even Kyon -- Kyousuke, she reminded herself -- even his little sister had fought.
As much as it scared her, she would too. No matter the fact that it violated so many of the rules she had been taught before being sent to this timeplane ... somehow, though she wasn't certain how, this ordeal managed to supersede that tiny little limiting factor of temporal causality. So she went to breakfast that morning with the others as normal.
Kyousuke had become more solemn since the trials began. After Rena, he had decided that once someone was marked, he'd spend every day until the next battle in the 'uniform' that had been picked out for him. She had decided to follow suit, though the lovely ceremonial kimono slowed her pace, preventing her from easily breaking into a run.
"Kyousuke-kun," she began while he paced slowly next to her, through a short wooded path down the hill from the lodge, "have you been angry at me recently?"
"What?" he asked, staring at her in surprise, before realization dawned on his face, and he looked away guiltily. "Ah, sorry. It's ... complicated."
"What is it? I can't imagine--"
"It's classified," he answered, shaking his head. "I know that's a weak answer. I can say this much: It concerns your superior ... the one who gives you orders."
"Y...you know my superior?"
"You always did wonder why my requests went through without delay, didn't you?"
She could only stare at him in amazement. Here she had thought she was an experienced time traveler, sent to observe and occasionally assist, or provoke changes indirectly. Ever since that time she had ended up being kidnapped, he'd seemed oddly more aware of time travel than she had thought possible. Even when he didn't act it.
"I once asked Nagato a question on the nature of paradox," he continued, when she was silent. "Of changes to the past giving rise to different events in the future. Something happened that seemed, to me, to violate the rule of 'not changing' the past. Of course, the event in question ended up being the way things had always been. I'm sorry if this is vague; I don't want it to worry you, even if it confuses me. But the one thing I have learned about time-travel is that it seems it is possible to change the past ... but those changes seem pre-determined to people who don't believe it."
"I might understand," she said, offering a smile. "That reminds me of what ... that unpleasant person who didn't like me said, though."
"To hell with the Sneering Bastard," Kyousuke grumbled. "For all of his bitching and moaning, he believes in pre-determination, too. He just resents it." He shook his head. "Anyway, I spent a stressful week trying my damnedest to make sure I didn't cause a paradox, once. That only happened because I happened to be given knowledge of what should happen. Maybe it seems vague and pointless, so please forgive me if I'm wandering. The point is this:
"What's happening right now violates future knowledge I possess. I'm guessing it goes against yours, too?"
"W...well, that's ... classified," she admitted, unable to keep from smiling. "But I guess you already knew that."
"I did," he admitted. "But all the same, I believe that because I've never seen the future altered, certain things are going to work out. That's the small rock I've been clinging to in this sea of madness. And I won't give up on that belief, because ... hell, everyone is depending on me, these days. I have to keep it together, don't I?"
"It's not just these days," Mikuru said quietly. "We've all always depended on you. And that's ... not fair. I wanted to one day be the one to save you ... to return the favor."
He frowned, some thought occurring to him that he didn't voice, and stopped walking.
"Kyousuke-kun, could you close your eyes for a moment?"
"Sure," he replied, doing as she had asked. "Are we-- Can we travel through time, now?"
She stepped before him and stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "No," she whispered, settling back to her feet and leaning into him as he reflexively embraced her, eyes startled and wide. "I ... know I shouldn't do this, but it's one tiny thing I want to take selfishly ... one small happiness we can share before...."
"The people of this Earth don't want to die, either," Satoko said, sadly. "In a way, I have to admire their dedication ... it must have taken quite a while to make this hole."
"While you're busy being nice to them, you're losing," Koyemshi noted. "Makes no difference to me if you live or die, though." The enemy robot began to fill the pit trap that Zearth had fallen into with corrosive acid.
"Kyo...usuke," Mikuru asked, her voice shaking, "what do I do?"
"It's not a question of strategy," he said, shaking his head. "It's a question of confidence."
"M...maybe I don't have enough confidence," she said weakly.
"Hey," Mion protested. "We can't give up here!"
"Yeah, you've got to get a hold of yourself, Mikuru!" Haruhi added, scowling. "Come on, just like our movie -- blast him with your beam attack and get out of this hole!"
"I can fight," she cried. "But I don't want to kill anyone! I don't want ... to destroy this Earth!"
"If you're content to let your own Earth and all your friends die," Koyemshi chuckled. "That's fine, then. Of course, you'll be dead too."
"It's not fine," Kyousuke countered, turning to face her again. "Come on. The Asahina-san I know is stronger than that."
"I...I'm not that kind of person!" she protested, shaking her head.
"You can be," he insisted. "You're lucky; this isn't our Earth. To you, these people are brief two-dimensional images pasted into the real world; nothing more than paper dolls."
Mikuru's tears shone on her face, but her eyes were suddenly dry. Haruhi wondered how those could be the perfect words for Kyousuke to say, and more that he had known to say them.
But it didn't matter. Raising one hand to the star-burst pattern that had surrounded her left eye, she whispered, as though in a trance, "Just like the movie."
The resultant explosion of beam energy melted through half the enemy robot's upper torso. Zearth surged up from the pit, acid sloughing off. Shaking in her chair at Mikuru's sudden change, Haruhi felt her own eyes tear, but bit her lip and said nothing.
"Asa--" he began, before cutting himself off. "Mikuru," he said more softly. "You may not know it, but you already are the one who saved me." Haruhi swallowed, knowing she hadn't been meant to overhear.
"I'm sorry," Satoko murmured, looking away. "I know you don't like your nickname, but your name is hard for me to say."
"I know," he said, nodding. "I hear that a lot. It's fine. You can call me Kyon."
"I don't want another big brother or sister, just to lose them again," she added. "Or to lose myself. Even if that's what nee-nee thought...."
He glanced to where Mion sat, watching with dull eyes. Rika sat not far away, though she seemed lost in thought herself. "I understand."
"Then, for Rena-san, why don't we just be friends?" Itsuki suggested. "All of us should be that at least."
She smiled wanly, holding up a hand wrapped in faint orange stripes. "Okay," she agreed. "As friends."
Mion roused herself and asked, "Your happiness? What would you like, Satoko-chan?"
"I want to see my brother again," she answered quietly. "Even if he can't wake up ... I want to see him one last time. But if we can't have that ... I want what Rena did. I agree with what Itsuki-san said -- the answer we were given ... I don't like it. I think there's more to it than that." She turned back to Kyousuke. "Have you guessed anything else?"
He looked troubled, then, and shook his head. "I'm trying," he said with a weak smile. "But this is hard." After a heartbeat of thought, he took a pad of paper from the common room table and scribbled something on it, gesturing to Haruhi and Itsuki. He handed the paper over to them, then gave Satoko a nod. "Let's go for a walk."
"Koyemshi," Itsuki called, as she hesitantly accepted Kyousuke's hand.
"Hmm," the creature mused, appearing in the room and watching Satoko and Kyousuke leave. "What is it this time, ape?"
"We had some questions," Haruhi said levelly. "About the circumstances we're in, and...."
But then they were out of earshot, stepping out of the house. Kyousuke led her on a path through the woods a short distance in silence, then called suddenly, "Kimidori-san."
A faint buzz and distortion of light wavered before them, revealing an unfamiliar woman with light-green hair, her lips pursed pensively. "W...what?" Satoko asked, blinking. "How-"
"It's a lot to explain," Kyousuke interrupted, holding one hand towards Kimidori. "I'm sorry, but for now, let's leave it at Kimidori-san being a ... close friend of Nagato's. She's our friend in this matter."
Kimidori's eyes were unreadable, but she offered a genial smile and took Kyousuke's hand. "You were able to observe them destroying another reality?" she asked.
He nodded. "Any closer to answers on your end?"
Satoko's eyes widened in realization. The two spoke of terms that she couldn't follow, complex technical things she didn't think she'd ever be able to understand ... but the meaning was clear. They had a great many more friends helping them out than she'd realized. Finally, Kimidori said something she could understand, but could scarcely believe, just as she finished talking about some sort of change to Kyousuke's 'banana knights' or something like that, and released his hand.
Kimidori turned to her and crouched to be closer to the same height. "Houjou-san, you have a brother, yes?"
Kyousuke crossed his arms over his chest and watched warily.
"Satoshi," she clarified, nodding. "But he's ... not well. Shion took me to see him...."
"He's very unwell indeed," she replied with a sad smile. "I do have something for you, though. Now that ... my friends and I are aware of the situation, we can make him better, should you like it."
"Do you think that was necessary?" Kimidori asked him, once Satoko was out of earshot, running back to the lodge. "Was it truly needful?"
"Is any of this?"
Kimidori nodded slowly. "I suppose minor abuses of what influence you have must be tolerated, given your situation," she allowed. "Was Nagato-san's faith in you well placed?"
"I'm working with an incomplete understanding," he said, turning back to her. "But I've got a plan. And hope."
In a way, after watching the small blonde girl fight so fearlessly, Tsuruya was relieved that she had been chosen next. It was getting harder, instead of easier, to watch friends vanish, even if it was to save the Earth.
"Okay!" Tsuruya chirped, grinning her widest and leaning towards Haruhi in an almost leering manner. "Haru-nyan~!"
"W...what?" Haruhi asked, flinching back and finding herself trapped against the wall behind her. "Tsuruya-san, what's going on?"
"I've been chosen!" she announced, standing perfectly straight and spinning on one toe. "My mark's a blue zig-zag, but it's in a private place, so use your imagination, nyoro~!"
"O...okay?"
"Now! You have to do something to make me happy, right? That's the rules?"
"Yes?"
"Okay! Go make up with Kyousuke-kun!" She suddenly turned stern, though she didn't let her smile slip. "And don't say something that makes him try and smack you, or he's getting thumped. I mean it, Haru-nyan! My last request to you is that you tell him how you feel! Okay?"
Haruhi worked her mouth silently, then finally gave in and nodded weakly.
"Good!"
"S...so, Kyousuke," she said, walking by his side, dressed up in the official 'uniform', as he almost always did, now. "You walk through the woods a lot these days?"
"Walking is mindless," he answered, nodding. "Sometimes I like to not think. Sometimes I do think, and forget where I was going. Once in a while, it makes me think of the hill below our school."
She smirked at that, shaking her head. "I don't really miss the school at all," she murmured. "But I asked you out here because I want to ask you some questions."
He glanced at her sidelong, then sighed. "It always comes down onto me," he groused. "Fine. What is it, Haruhi?"
"How long were you and ... Yuki...." She shrugged, not able to find the words.
"What? What do you mean?"
"When ... Yuki asked to be with you on the beach before she ... died ... the guide-bug thing showed us. Let us see...."
"Ah," he said softly. "Well. Is that all he showed you?"
"What else is there?" she asked, despairing about how to make peace with him, for Tsuruya's sake.
"Eh ... Mikuru kissed me, too, before her fight," he added. "I won't lie about it. But even despite all that, it's not what it had appeared. With Nagato.... I may never be able to explain what Nagato was to me. Sometimes, she was like another sister. After that stupid love-letter debacle, the one you found, I admitted to myself that it wasn't just seeing her as a sister, or something like that. She did shake the bell in my heart. Even then, she was always emotionally distant. She wanted to be ... close with me, before the end. It was my selfishness that made me kiss her, if that's what you saw. I cared about her -- a lot." His voice had grown rough, and he stopped, raising one sleeve over his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm trying to be strong, for everyone."
"You're probably afraid," she mumbled, staring at her feet. "Because ... I always gave you crap about it, didn't I? I'd give you a hard time, make you feel guilty.... Let me admit something here, Kyousuke. I think you know it, because you know me, but I still have to say it. I don't understand you, but I really really l...like you." She heaved a sigh at the sudden weight lifted from her chest when she spoke those words. "I don't get you. But ... you mean a lot to me. And you probably knew I was getting jealous, even when I couldn't admit it. So, don't blame yourself for having your own feelings when I was just being part of the problem."
He lowered his sleeve, though his eyes were red. "This is all so strange," he murmured. "But, you're right. Let's leave blame out of this entirely."
"A...anyway ... I'm not stupid, so I don't expect anything from you. I've come to terms with the fact that you liked someone else. But ... I promised I would tell you. And now that you know, I want to be ... more like you. Strong enough to stand through all of this. Because I do like you, I want to be someone you can rely on. I don't think it's fair that you have to be the strong one. I would just get frustrated, or try and find something else to do.... But there's no opting out of this contract. Is that strange of me, too?"
"A little strange," he agreed, reaching a hand forward to brush his fingertips across her cheek. "But I don't mind."
She shivered at the contact, then smiled, glad she was able to feel it. "S...so, tell me about the girls you liked, Kyousuke. Let's start ... being real friends, and not just making you pick up the pieces when I.... Well."
He shook slightly, his eyes glistening. "I..." he began hesitantly, before shaking his head. "I'm trying to be strong," he repeated, licking his lips nervously.
"Then depend on me, damn it! Or is it my turn to slap you!?"
He burst into laughter at that, tears streaming down his face.
"Koizumi-kun~!" she caroled, once Haruhi had towed Kyousuke outside for a 'talk'. "My time's up, so I need you to do something for me!"
"Ah.... Of course," he said, looking up from one of the books Kyousuke had brought with him, a bit puzzled. "What can I do for you?"
"Mmm, there's six of us. We're going to make sure we can make Rika-chan and Mion-san smile, okies?"
"Right," he agreed, setting the book down and rising from his seat on the bed. "That's ... what you would like for your happiness?"
"Yep! Kyou-nyan and Haru-nyan are going to be okay, so we only need to really worry about the two of them."
He frowned slightly, nodding.
"Oh, that reminds me, you have a girlfriend, Koizumi-kun?"
"Uh, no," he answered, blinking in surprise. "What does that have to do with Sonozaki-san and Furude-san?"
"Don't worry about that!" she said brightly. "Let's go ask them what they want to do!"
Shortly, he had been hauled to the common room, where Rika and Mion sat at the table, playing Othello, and Tsuruya repeated her question.
"I don't know," Mion said slowly, looking around the room, frowning. "Um, you guys mentioned a movie a bunch of times, right?"
"Haru-nyan's movie!" Tsuruya agreed, jumping to her feet. "Almost forgot! Did you want to see it?"
"Yeah, that might be fun," Mion agreed. "Are you in it?"
"Is Kyousuke-san?" Rika asked, still struggling to pronounce his name.
"Haha, yeah, I'm a terrible extra!" she agreed. "Oh! I'm actually two of them! But Kyousuke-kun was the camera-man and narrator, so you don't see him. He did the special effects, though! And Koizumi-kun's an ultra-bishonen male lead, nyoro~!"
Koizumi's face colored as Tsuruya rifled through the drawer beneath the television until she produced a hand-made DVD. "Here it is!"
"You don't understand, though," Kyousuke said, shaking his head. "I had affection for Nagato. I was attracted to Asahina-san. But the girl I liked...."
Haruhi stared, puzzled. Someone she didn't know? Maybe from before high school? Certainly it couldn't be Tsuruya, or one of the girls from Hinamizawa ... could it?
"The girl I liked was too energetic for her own good, and took a long time to learn that other people had feelings. She'd cause trouble recklessly, and occasionally, she'd do things that would drive me utterly mad," he continued, turning his face upwards, towards the late afternoon sky. "And you're right. I was ... no, I am afraid. I want to like her, to tell her how much she actually means to me, but I'm terrified of changing her ... of the wrong word destroying the entire world, as I know it."
"I...it's not too late," she said blinking away the wetness in her eyes. "There's ... plenty of time. After Tsuruya's fight, we can find her, and you can-"
He shook his head, eyes closing. "She already has changed, though," he said. "And our world still could be destroyed."
She frowned, staring at the ground.
"I want to see the glow of entire universes in her eyes. I like her more than her figure, or her intelligence, though those are admirable. I like her despite her rough edges when we first met. When she smiles, I know it means endless pain for me ... but most days, it's worth it. I know I may never see it again, but when her hair was in a ponytail...."
"K...Kyousuke," she said quietly, blinking. "Who is it? Asakura Ryouko? Did you and her ... before...." Was that the start of his impenetrable stoicism? Being separated from his lover, their affair always being hidden.... It did explain so much. Kyousuke would complain about her to his girlfriend, then Asakura would speak to her to try and cheer her up and get her to leave him alone. When it was time to investigate Asakura's disappearance, he didn't care in the slightest -- because he'd already known what happened.
Laughing again, he stared her in the eyes, one hand brushing through her hair. "No," he said adamantly. "I don't think I really hate anyone, but she's about second on my list of people I'd like to never see again. Haruhi, stop playing dumb; it doesn't suit you. It's you, and it always has been."
Her eyes widened as she realized he was right; but she'd been so afraid to hope....
The movie had left Mion and Rika speechless. Kyousuke and Haruhi had returned near the middle, just as it switched genres to a love story. "This ... is amazing," Mion said, struggling to keep from exploding into laughter. "Oh, wow."
"Kyousuke-san's good at telling the story, too," Rika added.
"Oh, that movie?" he asked, incredulous.
"It's high art!" Haruhi said, crossing her arms over her waist and nodding.
"Join us," Mion said, snickering at Nagato's expression during her 'confession' scene. "Bwaahaha!"
"Fine," Kyousuke grumbled, even though he smiled the entire time.
Haruhi sat at his side, leaning into him. "I always wanted to make it a trilogy," she remarked. "But I guess for now I should just be proud of what we accomplished."
"Mmm. Where's Koizumi and Tsuruya-san?"
"Haruka-chan said something about a date-" Mion began, before cutting off into another bout of amazed, hysterical laughter.
Rika looked back to see Kyousuke and Haruhi share a glance and a shrug, then turned her attention back to the movie. It was amusing, she had to admit. "It's nice to remember carefree times, nii~paah! We should all thank Tsuruya-san when she gets back."
"Kyousuke-kun walks this way a lot," Tsuruya remarked. She had decided to follow his example, too; hell, for all she cared, they could wear their uniforms all day. It wasn't like the burden of saving the world at the cost of their own lives shouldn't come with some benefits. "I never took him for the naturey type!"
"Hmm," Koizumi murmured, looking at the trees on either side of the trail. "I can't believe it's already Autumn."
"Ehe. I didn't really ask you to come with me for talking about Kyousuke-kun, or nature ... or even Haru-nyan," Tsuruya said, softly. "But you always seemed pretty sharp anyway. To tell you the truth, my plan was always to just be a bit character in the background. I was satisfied with that."
"A calling such as the one we've received cannot be ignored, though," he returned, shrugging.
She eyed him sidelong, her soft smile shifting to a smirk. "You've had one before, nyoro~?"
"Ah ... well. That's not important-"
"Koizumi-kun, I want to ask you for something. It's just for today, so can I?"
"What's that?"
"Stop pretending. Show me a real smile, huh? I know it's hard, but I want to know the real you."
He stared at her, his smile fading. "Am I so transparent?"
"Nope~! That's why I'm asking!"
The smile he offered her next was much weaker. "I ... will try," he allowed.
"Good," she announced, before sweeping in unexpectedly and giving him a peck on the lips. "Eh-hehe.... There's a real face!"
"Tsuruya's gone," he said flatly, holding his hand out for Kimidori to read once more.
"I'm sorry."
"Eh. Eventually, we're all going to be dead, aren't we? Nothing to apologize for. Sad as it is, I think at this point we've all come to grips with it, pretty much."
"If we can observe one more 'away' battle, it seems likely that we can determine the nature of those who are behind this," she told him. "In that instance, if we were to gain the capability to act against them, wouldn't the inevitability be lessened?"
"You'd think that," he said, grimacing.
Their presences were blinding; not just visibly, but in every spectrum of perception, they flooded his awareness. As the enemy robot was destroyed, and the surroundings blurred to the destruction of yet another world, he tried to look at Mion. Tried to consider her final words and thoughts. Heard her say, "Sorry, Rena ... I'm coming too, so we're going to be competing for him, now."
She said something else, then, something to him, and to Haruhi. He thought he nodded, but his world was being swept away -- not just the world around them, that foreign Earth they had condemned to destruction. But everything was consumed into a singular awareness, surrounding him on every side, with every sense.
He could taste their austerity, feel the disdain they felt towards his daring to spy on them. He couldn't handle it; his mind retreated from their presence, scurried into comforting darkness, chased by their laughter. They weren't afraid ... or alarmed. They weren't surprised ... only amused.
"More ape tricks?" Koyemshi growled. "Really, now."
He blinked several times, coming to his senses, his vision restricted to the comforting view he usually held as he stared up into the concerned eyes of Haruhi and Rika. To one side, Koizumi gazed up at Koyemshi, who was shrouded in shadow as it faced down at him, teeth bared.
"So, was it worth it?"
"What happened?" Haruhi asked him, her face worried.
"They call themselves gods," Rika answered, shaking her head. "Maybe they even believe it."
"Tsst!" Koyemshi hissed, rotating away through the air. "You apes make me really mad! I thought it was you, Kyon, but I see it was the little brat, wasn't it?"
"Who is a brat?" Rika asked, her voice sounding aged beyond her years. "Fighting for life isn't shameful."
"The chairs are already moving," Koizumi murmured. "Why so soon?"
"Don't piss me off any further!" Koyemshi warned. "You're going to be next as it is." Sure enough, when the chairs stopped spinning, it was her mat in the loop.
"Then-"
"Stop," Kyousuke said, climbing to his feet with Haruhi's help. "Furude-san, that's enough," he added, placing one hand on Rika's shoulder. "Koyemshi, we're done here. Please send us back."
Her sign was a blue wheel across her face. It made her eyes look unnaturally shadowed, haunted. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and shook her head. The other three were waiting for her ... she was the last of her original friends, and all she had left were three relatively comforting strangers and the ghostly form of Hanyuu.
A sad smile came to her lips. One way or another, she would try and keep things together; the miracle couldn't occur if they didn't all work as one.
She wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"So," she said, her face slightly pink, "I won't get another chance. I know he's important to you, Suzumiya-san, but can I ask to borrow him, just a bit?"
"Sure," Haruhi answered, her eyes pained. "I don't know how a lug like him got so popular ... everyone always wants to have their last walk with him."
"If I'm chosen next, I would as well," Koizumi added.
"Not exactly comforting," Kyousuke remarked, sliding a worn piece of note paper to the two. "Good luck."
"Ah ... you as well," Koizumi returned.
"On a 'date' with a girl that young!?" Haruhi said, glaring at the pretty-boy.
Rising, Kyousuke offered Rika a hand, and they took a step outside.
"You seem very comfortable in that outfit," he remarked, as they strolled through the trees.
"I've worn one many times before," she assured him, smiling weakly.
"I don't know how long they can keep ... it ... distracted," he added. "So would you like to hear my story, or tell me yours?"
"You're wise beyond your years," she remarked, discarding her mask. "I was trapped in a loop of repeating time ... going through the same endlessly repeating June."
He nodded sagely. "This happened to me the August of last year," he told her. "Two weeks, repeated over and over ... fifteen thousand times. Nearly six hundred years.
She missed a step and tripped, but he caught her, then sat down on the side of the path. Uncertain, she sat beside him. "W...were you murdered at the end of every loop as well?"
He started at that, eyes widening. "No, not once," he said, shaking his head. "That I know of, anyway. I don't remember those loops directly ... there was just a strong sense of deja'vu, until I finally broke it. It sounds like you endured something infinitely worse than I did. In any case, the only one who remembered everything, everything was Nagato. It ... wasn't good for her."
"I believe I've been alive for over one hundred years, repeating that month, until I too broke free," she said quietly.
"I'd like you to meet a friend," he said without preamble.
Rika blinked languidly at the young woman who had appeared before them, giving a sad smile and brushing her pale green hair behind one ear as the wind loosened it. "This is Kimidori Emiri," Kyousuke said, nodding at her. "Sit with us," he added, holding a hand out to the woman.
She nodded, sitting at Kyousuke's side opposite Rika and taking the proffered hand. "Hello," Rika said hesitantly. Bolstering her strength, she shook her head, and said, "Hanyuu, show yourself."
Kyousuke turned to look at the small god when she appeared and bowed his head politely. "You're the 'other data-entity' I've heard about?"
"Wha...wha...what's a data-entity?" Hanyuu asked, eyes flickering nervously between Kyousuke and Kimidori.
"My ... people are scientists," Kimidori said after a moment. "We used that label because it most closely matched what we had known. Nagato was one of us ... probably our most powerful and skilled. Since this began, we've been trying to do what we can to understand the how and why of this situation, in hopes of resolving it."
"You must understand," Kyousuke warned, "Haruhi does not know this. It doesn't work right now, because ... well ... I'm not certain. But Haruhi has the power to change reality. So we hid everything from her. She didn't know that Nagato was an ... alien, or that Asahina-san was a time-traveler. She doesn't know that Koizumi is an esper. We probably shouldn't let her know about ... Hanyuu-san right now, either; that might just be too much stress for her."
"J...just Hanyuu is fine, Tadamichi-san," the horned girl replied, blushing faintly, "it is so."
"Then just Kyousuke is fine, too," he told her. "But we're digressing. Did the nanites reveal anything else, Kimidori?"
"Our information is as complete as it is likely to become," she said, shaking her head. "There are memetic gaps; you were able to observe things that we are not able to record."
"I saw them," he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. "The ones behind it all. Did you, too, Furude-san?"
"Rika," she whispered to him, smiling. "But, yes. Hanyuu and I saw ... with you. They think they are gods."
"They were so remote ... shining ... powerful. They knew we were watching them."
"They thought we were amusing."
"What are you calling me up for?" the creature asked, annoyed, rotating between Haruhi and Itsuki. "It better be important ... I'm still in an unhappy mood!"
"What's this for?" Koizumi asked. "What's this really all about?"
"You want to fall again?"
"We're not saying you've lied to us," Haruhi said quickly, crumpling the note that Kyousuke had left them up in one hand. "We just want to understand ... if there are an infinite number of Earths and you divide that number by thirteen, how many will be left?"
"Spare me your logic puzzles," Koyemshi growled. "And the number isn't always thirteen. Some Earths are lucky ... and it's only eleven. Some are less lucky, and it's fifteen. Or some number between. I've seen more realities than I can count destroyed. We jump through time as well as space. You can say that an infinite number will never be reduced, except when you consider the fact that we have an infinite amount of time to do this.
"Eventually, all realities will be merged into a manageable handful in number. Even those that are more divergent than the ones you went to have their own battles, just like this one. But more importantly, with each reality that's destroyed, we harvest more energy."
"S...so, this is all about getting power?" Haruhi asked, staggered.
"Of course not," the creature returned. "But you've been pushing my buttons long enough. Next I'll show you what you're asking."
Rika sighed, shaking her head, and took her seat, kneeling on her mat.
"Koyemshi," Kyousuke said, frowning. "Who are those shining people I saw? Why are they doing this?"
"Shining people? That sounds familiar. Still don't know! The people who started this, maybe? It doesn't matter! What does matter is that we go about our jobs and do what we're told! Until some stupid apes muck things up. Tell me, do you know how many fights you've been through so far?"
"Nine, not counting Kokopelli's," Koizumi answered.
"His counts," Koyemshi replied. "So, do some math."
"One of us ... will survive?" Haruhi asked, eyes widening.
"Bingo! Except ... not Kyon, because of his stupid messing around! If your precious doll wins this battle, it's his head on the chopping block next! That's what you get for poking your nose where it doesn't belong!"
Kyousuke strode to the center of the circle, walking past the creature. "That's fine," he said mildly. "I am prepared. Rika-chan?"
"I'm not afraid either," she said. "We will win."
"Humph! Well, you two may be condemned. It's a real pity, Kyon! I had high hopes ... I was going to save you for last. I was going to let you win, because I found you amusing!"
"Very kind of you," he said dryly.
"Hah! That's the stuff."
"Are you saying you choose who goes next?" Koizumi asked. "It's not just the chairs that pick us?"
"Of course not.
"What happens to the one who survives, then?"
"They become the next Kokopelli, or whatever they want to call themselves. They recruit the new pilots, show them the rules for the first battle, then get to live the rest of their lives." Turning to face Haruhi, the creature suddenly changed the subject. "I watch you from here when you're not piloting, you know. Say, Haruhi, did you know how many other girls your boyfriend kissed?"
"Yes," she returned mildly. "And that's fine. We aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. We're just good friends. I don't care who he dates, as long as they make him happy."
"AAAUGH! You guys ... REALLY piss me off! I want to see despair and tears! Rage! I hope this next enemy kills you all!" It flew directly before Rika's face. "Give in!" the creature shouted. "Cry! Beg for your life!"
"I won't," Rika returned, smiling, radiating calm and confidence. "And we won't lose, so you don't get that satisfaction, either."
"I hate you!" Koyemshi roared, zipping high overhead before suddenly freezing. "Well. Fine. Do whatever."
After her victory, Rika had given a bright, genuinely happy smile. "I know I'll see you again," she said, before she faded into light.
"I'm tired of being strong," Haruhi said, her voice empty. "I want this to end."
Kyousuke put one hand on her shoulder, flinching slightly. "I've been called," he told her. "And I know you don't like it. None of us do. But we can't give in. Remember what I told you?"
"I ... suppose," she said. "And I said I wanted to be strong for you. But this is so hard...."
"Well, the one who makes the rules probably has the most fun," he said, shrugging. "But that doesn't matter. Listen to me closely, alright?"
"Yeah?"
"More than anything, I believe in you. It may sound stupid, but I'm your strategist, or at least, that's what was decided, right?"
She nodded, brushing his hand off her shoulder and stepping directly into him, leaning her head on his chest. "Keep talking," she murmured. "I don't want to lose another second of being close to you."
"Even when ... I'm gone, I'm going to be with you. But I believe you can make it. This will probably seem crazy, but when things seem darkest, when it seems like there's no way out ... when you win and you're ready to beat this thing once and for all ... when you need me, call for me. I will be there."
She rubbed her face against the front of his uniform robes, wondering how many other tears it had already absorbed from the other pilots. "That is crazy," she said. "And I will. Is that the thing you want to be happy, before you go?"
He didn't answer, just hugging her against him.
"Hey ... Kyousuke.... Stay with me tonight."
He didn't say anything for a long while, just running his fingertips up and down her back. "Are you making that offer just because you think it would make me happy?" he asked.
"It's ... selfish of me. It's for me, too. Because I want it -- want you. And ... maybe a little ... I want to try and make you happy however I can."
"Oh, hell," he finally muttered. "I can't say no to that -- not now."
"A 'home' game," he observed, frowning. Sighing, he shook his head and marched to his seat for what Haruhi thought was the first time he'd ever used it in this space.
"Oh, what a pity," Koyemshi remarked. "It seems to be in your hometown, Kyon, instead of your little mountain hideaway. What a strange quirk of fate!"
"That's for sure," he replied. "A strange coincidence indeed."
"Does anything make you mad?"
"People molesting Mikuru," he said after a moment. "People picking on my sister. Hmm. In another strange coincidence, they're not around, either."
The enemy robot across from them was tall and slender, with four blade-like limbs. Without waiting for civilians to evacuate, the enemy began charging immediately, spinning around and tilting forward to create a cutting wall.
Koizumi and Haruhi both gasped as Kyousuke yawned, Zearth leaping into the air and flipping easily over the enemy. "H...how?" Koizumi asked, baffled.
"Giant robot anime," he answered flippantly. "Too much science fiction."
Then he turned his attention to Koyemshi, as Zearth zipped forward, before the enemy robot could right itself. The enemy robot was seized and flung into the hills behind the Tsuruya estate, still scarred from earlier battles. "More importantly, the realization that all I need to do to win, is want to win. I know what you're thinking, you flying piece of junk. You think you can make me suffer by telling me that before I die, you're going to make Haruhi the next pilot."
"Eh," Koyemshi managed, baring its teeth. "All your tampering, your attitude, and now this? You're going to spend your last moments falling from a long way up!"
"Hehe ... yeah ... but I've realized that you can't touch me while I'm piloting."
The creature's teeth vanished, and it turned away. "Your girlfriend will still be the next pilot."
"And?" he asked, grinning. "She knows as much as I do about piloting this thing. So you've just guaranteed that my reality survives. You lose, little monster; I get to die happy, and after, we'll be together."
"Y...yeah," Haruhi echoed, wiping tears from her eyes. "Together."
"Fine!" the creature roared, turning back and baring its teeth once more. "She DOESN'T! Your pretty-boy pal can easily fail, and your girlfriend has to move on to another reality and start this entire thing over again! She'll live out her life and die in a reality that never touches yours! Maybe she won't teach the other pilots well enough, and she'll die the first time they actually fight!"
"Humph. You're really trying, aren't you? Well, fine. I admit that makes me a little sad." Even as Zearth tore apart the enemy's armor, searching for the vital point, his smile widened. The vital point came into view, clutched in the three crushing tines of one of Zearth's massive arms. "But only a little."
"There's one thing I never told you," Koyemshi added. "Even if your pretty-boy pal wins ... your Earth is going to be forced to sell off its life-force to survive. Not that it'll be hard; your battles play right into our hands."
He snorted, shaking his head. "That's what you think."
"Kyousuke," Haruhi whimpered, as the core was crushed, and he vanished instantly.
He had watched the lights on the robot's face. There had been three, for a while after the creature had teleported Kyousuke away.
He'd held his breath and hoped.... But then there were only two. He tried not to think about the creature's final words, just standing in the middle of the circle with Haruhi -- his place. More-so than his chair in the spinning ring. Eventually it stopped, his own seat in the loop. He felt the call, very different from the awareness of closed space.
"I should be happy," he told her, then. "This is the last fight. If we make it through this...." He shrugged.
She nodded at him dully, and he looked at the last image of Zearth's crest, a smile coming to his lips as he counted the lights again. Then the viewing portal vanished, and both he and Haruhi were teleported away.
"Is there ... anything you want?" she asked him, not meeting his eyes.
Oh, there had been, once. Something she could have given him. But now.... "I'm fine," he said confidently. "I just want you to remember what Kyousuke said."
"So strange," she murmured, shaking her head. "We called him by that nickname for over a year, and he never actually complained to us about it. It took ... his sister.... It took...." She sighed, shaking her head again. "I miss him," she said quietly. "I don't know if I want to go on."
"Have faith in him," he told her. "Absolute confidence. He's our strategist, isn't he?"
"But...."
"It doesn't matter that he's gone, right now. He left us what we needed to win."
"What he needed for me to win," she said, eyes tearing. "In a world without him!"
"Suzumiya-san ... don't think like that. Just remember what he said. In the meantime, hang in there. It may sound a vague and empty assurance ... but I believe in his plan."
"What plan!?"
"I have to admit that I don't know. I never could follow his stratagems in chess. I tried to think seven moves ahead of him, calculating everything in my head, but when we played, he seemed to know the outcome of the entire game within three moves. I got frustrated over not being able to ever do anything to him in Othello ... that's why I kept trying other games.
"Occasionally, maybe he would be distracted, or feel guilty, and he'd let me win. But I knew he was letting me win. Even then, I couldn't grasp his stratagems, and it's no different here. I don't understand his plans. Even so, I know they are good enough. And I know that part of his strategy was that he believed in you. So, I do too."
"Well!" Koyemshi said cheerfully, as Koizumi vanished into light. "That's it! You've won! I gather you always wanted to go to new worlds and meet new people? This should be grand! An entire new alternate Earth awaits you! Assuming you train the pilots well enough that your new Earth isn't destroyed. And that you live through the demonstration battle, anyway."
The viewing portals irised shut.
"A little late for tears now, isn't it?" the creature asked her dryly. "The last trainer took the name of Kokopelli because I told him that's what the trainer before him called himself. His actual name was Seki. But that doesn't matter now. There was quite a lot of trouble with the last Earth before this one! I'll spare you the details, but he crossed me, so he had to die after training you. I'm sure you'll be better behaved, but what nickname will you wear when you gather the new pilots?"
She blinked furiously, her vision wavering. The bobbing creature before her spun idly.
"Quickly now," he said. "We're about to leave your Earth ... this will be the last time you ever see it!"
"Kyon," she called weakly.
"What? That's what you're going to call yourself?"
"No," she said, shaking her head, gathering her will. "Kyousuke!"
"What stupidity is...." But anything else he was going to say was cut off, somehow.
She felt a pair of tiny hands on her shoulders, soft breath on the back of her neck by one ear, and heard a gentle voice whisper, "Time ... STOP!" The creature and circle of chairs around her -- everything but herself, it seemed -- had turned monochrome gray.
"Kyousuke, what do I do?" she asked, shaking. "What's going on?"
She looked up, and he was standing there in the center of the circle as he always had, still wearing the robes that Rena and Tsuruya had picked for him. "This is it," he told her. "The point where the people behind this are most vulnerable. But we can't do this alone; we'll need everyone. Call them, Haruhi."
She nodded numbly, reaching in through the inner emotions she'd accumulated, layered like the skin of an onion. She reached deepest first, guilt compelling her; selfishness had demanded she rely on Kyousuke. Now she'd do things right. "Keiichi!"
Dressed as he had been the day he died, he stepped from behind Kyousuke, near the middle of the circle, an aluminum baseball bat in one hand, cocked over one shoulder. "Hah," he chuckled. "I knew there was a way past it."
"Yuki!"
She stepped from behind Kyousuke as well, standing on the opposite side of Keiichi. She nodded at Haruhi, saying nothing.
"Nonoko!"
The girl appeared directly between herself and Haruhi. "Nii-san!" she squealed, flinging herself at him and latching onto his side. He ruffled her hair with one hand, nodding at Haruhi approvingly.
"Rena!"
"So, this is the answer?" she mused, walking to stand beside Keiichi, holding a double-handed cleaver and narrowing her eyes at the frozen gray image of Koyemshi. "That thing was just a puppet, too."
"Shion!"
She stood next to Nagato, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Mikuru!"
"I'm here!" she called from beside Haruhi, bewildered. "But I don't understand how or why!"
"Satoko!"
She appeared from behind Kyousuke, running to embrace Shion, who knelt to catch her.
"Haruka!"
"I'm back, nyoro~! That's a scary place, but I knew Haru-nyan and Kyou-nyan would put things back together!"
"Mion!"
"Those weapons won't stop me!" she cried, leaping from behind Kyousuke to seize Keiichi in a hug.
"Rika!"
The girl appeared right at Kyousuke's side, where she had always stood when they fought ... until it was her turn. She smiled, wisdom beyond her years shining in her eyes. "With all of us, the miracle can still happen."
"Koizumi!"
He appeared before her as well. "I'm glad you believed," he said, bowing to her.
"But, now what?" she asked, turning to Kyousuke, worried.
"Behind you," he said. "Her name is Hanyuu. She's part of our nakama as well."
Haruhi turned slowly, surprised to see the blushing, floating figure of a girl Rika's size, with violet hair and a pair of deep blue horns. "Hauuu..." she murmured in greeting, ducking her head.
"Together," Kyousuke continued, "we can do this. I know a little about the nature of our enemies -- as much as anyone can know without being destroyed or becoming them, I guess. Remember, there are people, post-human 'masterminds', behind this. They made the rules."
"If the rules aren't right, and you don't like the rules..." Keiichi began.
Shion picked up, yelling, "...use new rules!"
"That's right!" she said, blinking suddenly. "Why did I let myself get stuck following their stupid rules for so long? Something this bad ... in an infinite number of realities it's inevitable that something so horrible is real. But why would I ever let myself become trapped in this? Why would anyone!? Those so-called masterminds...."
"The plot of 'weeding out' realities that we didn't need was obviously a falsehood," Koizumi added.
"Even their ploy to drain all the life force of the worlds that 'won' seems silly," Rena agreed. "Destroying so much? It couldn't be needed!"
"There's better ways to get what you want or need," Mion agreed, nodding as well.
"I don't believe they will succeed," Mikuru cried. "They can't do this everywhere, or every time -- there's a way to avoid them!"
"No, no reason to hide," Shion disagreed. "To let them prey on all those Earths.... But we can get past their defenses!"
"Especially when the only reason they have to prey on others is sadism," Rika whispered. "They find our struggles amusing. To them, we are just a source of entertainment -- everything else we've been told is a lie."
"Even the 'guide' is a part of amusing them; a selected person is turned into that thing to see how it reacts; how its behavior is changed by being given immortality and the responsibility of keeping those who watch amused," Nagato added.
"Kyousuke," Haruhi said, looking across at him. "We have to stop them. Forever."
"That's right," he agreed, nodding. He carefully broke away from both Rika and his sister, then pulled Haruhi closer to the center of the group. "And we're ready to take the battle to them."
"I will forgive no false gods," Hanyuu breathed.
"And yet, we must," he countered, turning to look at the small god. "Even as we stop them, we must forgive them. What else can we do? Go into their world and murder every last one of them? That's what they expect; that's what they're prepared for. Hells, they might even find it entertaining."
"You think we can end this with simple words!?" Haruhi cried, shaking her head. "But--" She cut herself off and smiled. "If it's your plan," she allowed, "then of course it will work. When ... we go ... will you hold me?"
He nodded, one arm going about her as he slipped behind her, pulling her close to him. She wasn't certain why, but the sense of his left hand pressed gently against her belly flooded her with courage. She could do this.
"But I won't be satisfied with just that," she said. "They won't be false gods, when we're done. So you can forgive them too, Hanyuu."
"They killed us!" Mion protested. "We're just letting that go?"
"Of course not," Rika said. "We won't be dead when we're done."
"I see it!" Keiichi shouted. "All of us together -- prepare to see the magician of words cast his strongest spell yet! Great strategist Kouysuke, what do you know about the masterminds?"
"Enough," he said from behind Haruhi. His breath tickled her hair, and she could imagine his eyebrow twitching at the title. Despite herself, she smiled. "They are brighter than light, stronger than force, and..."
Zearth transitioned, guided by the will of all thirteen pilots, arriving in a strange Earth filled with flying islands, ivory towers and crystalline buildings. Everything shone and glittered, colored with a vibrancy that assaulted the senses. Painfully deep blue skies were fleeced with idealized clouds, the optimized sun beaming exactly the right amount of light onto the world, in all of the perfect wavelengths.
"It's beautiful," Mion began slowly.
Rena finished, "But empty."
Abruptly an oval-shaped viewing portal zoomed onto a remote ivory structure, revealing a single male figure in white robes, smiling brightly at them. "You can hear me," he said, "I know this. You are not the first to have come this far. Many others have, too. Your fate will be no different from theirs."
"It will be," Haruhi disagreed. "You think you're gods, but you're not. You're spoiled brats using alternate realities as your playthings -- and that ends here and now!"
"If you wish to contest us-"
"We don't! You don't understand! After everything you've done, everything you've found.... We forgive you."
The man on the viewing portal looked mildly confused, his smile slipping the tiniest amount. "You ... forgive us?"
"Your expanded minds have become contaminated with the concept of infinity," Nagato told him. "It is not a fault of your own that you began to devalue the existence of lives in those other realities. Even though the toll was beyond comprehension, it is easy to understand that you did not realize what you were doing."
The man's face cracked, a dark fracture from the corner of his mouth to one ear. "You do not understand the meaning of the words you utter."
"The most devious master of traps occasionally makes a snare so well designed ... she can fall for it herself," Satoko observed. "It's the same for you."
Another crack appeared on the man's face, splitting it vertically. Within the depths of the crack was a roiling darkness, studded with sparkling lights, infinitely more vast than the man himself. "You believe that all we have done is an oversight? A miscalculation?"
"It's understandable that you think you're knowledgeable enough to avoid making a mistake," Asahina said, shaking her head. "But that's theory, for you; a way to go wrong with confidence."
The man's entire image flickered, distorting with darkness and glittering lights; a crack ran from his face to the sky behind him, shattering one of the distant crystalline cities. "Lies," he said, though the sound was a buzzing whisper.
"Anyone can make a mistake," Keiichi said, dropping his baseball bat on the floor and looking solemn. "In another world ... I went mad and ... slaughtered ... the people I love. The people I love! If simple madness can cause such a horrifying 'oversight', then that's exactly what this is! How else could beings with your power willingly do this to their own cousins and brothers? You came from humanity! Even if you believe yourselves to be something else, now ... you are human, through and through.
"If there's one thing I know, it's that humans make mistakes. And that's why we're able to come here and defeat you. Because we are individual humans, and all of us make mistakes. But as friends -- as nakama -- we work together."
"Love?" Mion and Rena whispered together, turning their eyes to Keiichi.
"Yeah," he said, nodding, eyes fixed on the viewing portal. He only smiled when each of the girls grabbed onto him, turning their attention back on the broken image of the man. "Because of the friends I had -- and the new friends we've made -- I'm here. I shouldn't be, but we all stuck together as a group! We tried to get along and work together, to overcome every obstacle!
"But every other Earth you visit, every life you touch ... you have a chance to make strong bonds, build friendships, raise your fellow man -- your family! -- above their limitations! Instead, you throw that away because you're scared of that responsibility; it's so much easier to just kill and try and laugh it off, convincing yourself that you're superior, when you're no different from us at all! You just want to be normal people, and you're trapped in this terrible cycle that you've created."
"LIES!" the man screamed, his entire body shattering, leaving an outline in the shape of it behind, filled with endless, infinite darkness, and thousands of scattered jewels of shining light, like an entire universe contained within one being. Ivory and crystal structures around him exploded, shattering into dust. "You have no understanding of what we are! We are perfect! Peerless! We are gods!"
"I am a being that has gone beyond man," Hanyuu said, her voice cold, her eyes glowing black. She threw her tiny arms wide. "I hated you once for all that you stood for and did! But listening to these mortals, I see you for what you are! My heart aches fit to burst with compassion for you." Brilliant tears flowed from her unblinking eyes. "Give your sin unto me, and be forgiven!"
"Until then, we're closing off your ability to touch other worlds -- forever," Haruhi added. "And while we're at it, we're going to undo every single connection you've ever made with other realities -- so you can't even blame yourselves for all you've done ... because it won't really have ever happened!"
The thing on the screen screamed. The world cracked, fire and darkness flooding it; the stars wept plasma and radioactive flares; the sun collapsed into a dark mote that absorbed all light; there was nothing.
Tsuruya had hauled Kyousuke's little sister off to the hostel, pleading sleepiness, when the others decided to stay on the beach and talk.
"Kyousuke," Keiichi began, broaching the silence first. "What happened? Was it a dream, or...?"
"It was real enough," he said, glancing to the girl at his side. She shivered a bit, then he smiled. "I'm afraid I'm going to need to start with an explanation to Haruhi, first."
"I chose to remember everything," she said quietly. "I know we all had the choice to forget, but...."
Kyousuke nodded, then turned to the fire pit that he and the other two boys had dug. After a long minute, the fire was started, and just as the sun went down, Tsuruya returned. "Hiyas~!" she said brightly. "Nonoko's asleep. All worn out from swimming!" She dropped several bags of skewers and marshmallows on a nearby towel. "I miss anything important?"
"We were just starting," Kyousuke answered. "So ... Haruhi ... listen to me. This is a lot to take in, but the world was already wilder and more interesting than you knew ... even before Zearth appeared."
"How?" she asked, frowning, grabbing a bag of marshmallows and preparing to roast one over the fire.
"You didn't believe me ... but I told you that time travelers, espers, and aliens exist?"
"Yeah.... I remember. Why?"
"Well ... maybe it's cheating a bit ... but I knew we were going to get through the Zearth trial from the moment Mikuru was chosen."
"What?" she yelped, dropping her marshmallow into the fire. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
"It does seem like the kind of thing that could have been brought up earlier," Rena remarked, smirking.
"I did tell you," he reproved her mildly, handing her his own just-roasted marshmallow. "Just not in those specific words. I had to find out what to say that wouldn't just let us live through this ... but would actually let us resolve this issue and get rid of the 'masterminds', while also finding a way to bring everyone back."
"Truly," Koizumi said, shaking his head, "I fear the man who creates a plan that includes his own death before the final stages."
"Why did I get a penalty for losing strategy and bluffing games to this guy?" Keiichi asked. "I mean, seriously?"
"But even that's not the point," Kyousuke continued. "You have a special gift, Haruhi. A power. And the reason you have an alien, an esper, and a time-traveler watching over you is because of that power."
"Ah, is this really the time for that?" Koizumi asked, suddenly looking nervous.
"I have a power?" she asked, dumbly.
"That's what I wanted you to see," he said, shrugging. "You are ... a being with the ability to manipulate reality around her. What you truly desire -- your subconscious thoughts -- already become reality. Did you know that it almost accidentally killed me when we were filming your movie? Several of your imagined 'Mikuru beams' became real. If it weren't for Nagato, I'd have been cooked--" The marshmallow on his skewer burst into flame suddenly. "Like that!" He flicked the skewer and the flaming marshmallow vanished into the flickering firepit.
"Suddenly," Mion said, shivering, "that movie got a bit less funny."
"Y...you mean ... I am a post-human?" Haruhi asked, the color draining from her face. "Like ... the masterminds? I ... threatened you with my power without ever knowing it!?"
"You saw how terrible a being like that can become," Kyousuke said, shaking his head. "It's not my job or anything, but because...." He coughed, his face coloring, even in the light of the campfire. "W...well, I want you to be better than that -- and I think you've learned a lot about having fun with other people, not at their expense. It's the most extreme example I can imagine, but I wanted you to see them so you'd never become like them. We've been hiding this from you as long as the SOS Brigade has been around, and I think it's time you knew the truth."
"I never want to be like that," she said quietly. "I don't know what you mean, and I'm not certain how this works. But if my desires really become reality, then you'll be able to stop me and make sure I don't do anything I shouldn't."
"Usually, that's about how it's been working so far."
She looked up sharply and narrowed her eyes. "It sounds like you've got a lot of stories to tell me," she remarked. "But stop kidding around! I do believe in you ... even if it's stupid ... I really do."
"So, she's like a god?" Satoko asked doubtfully.
"That's not the way I think of it," Kyousuke said with a shrug. "But I've heard others say that."
"What am I to you, then?" Haruhi asked, shivering slightly.
"You're a girl who had some trouble making friends, but is quickly growing beyond that," he answered. "You're the energetic, unstoppable leader of the SOS Brigade. You've gotten a lot of power, but you're becoming a much more responsible person, so ... you're the one I look out for."
"Okay ... so ... I'll accept that ... for now." Then she turned to Hanyuu, quietly floating at Rika's side. "But I don't understand -- where did you come from, Hanyuu?"
Hanyuu's eyes widened, and she squeaked in alarm.
"If this is a moment for revelations and truths ... then she, too, is a being with the power to manipulate reality, though I doubt it works like yours," Rika answered. She turned to Keiichi and looked apologetic. "I never spoke of this to you ... but before the events last June ... I had relived that June, or one very similar to it, hundreds, maybe even thousands of times. The only companion I had throughout was her.
"She was killed a very long time ago. And it was only when our lives reached a point of crisis that she was able to step in and save us. Specifically, she is an ancestor of mine from over a thousand years ago. We are connected by blood."
"How can you see me?" Hanyuu whimpered. "We're not connected by blood! There's no link!"
"Well," Kyousuke said, frowning, "just before Rika's fight, Kimidori-san modified my genetic code to be within the correct wavelength to see you -- she said it would help keep you here as an observer by anchoring us together. Something like that. Remember?"
Hanyuu nodded hesitantly. "I didn't understand her words," she admitted.
"She's here now?" Rena asked, glancing around.
Hanyuu pouted and made a tiny gesture.
"Ah! Still SO CUTE!"
"Kyousuke's blood was changed so he could see Hanyuu?" Keiichi asked, scratching the back of his head. "So, how did Haruhi get the ability to see her, too?"
Koizumi smiled widely. Nagato stared studiously at her roasting marshmallow. Mikuru's face slowly turned incredibly brilliant red. Kyousuke looked confused. "That's a good question," he said. "How did that work?"
Rena's eyes widened and her jaw dropped before she seemed to teleport directly between Haruhi and the fire. "So cute!" she squealed. Seizing both of Haruhi's hands, she shook them furiously. "Congratulations!"
Instantly, she switched positions and grabbed Kyousuke's hands. "Congratulations!" she cried again. "Ooh! You'll let me see it, right? Once it's here?"
"What..." Kyousuke began.
"I don't..." Haruhi followed.
"Oh!" Rika said in realization. "Kyousuke, if we're related by blood now, that means that we're like brother and sister!"
"Uh ... I guess technically?" he managed.
Rena moved to one side and leaned against Keiichi, both hands balled into fists beneath her chin. "Isn't it romantic?" she purred, batting her eyelashes at Keiichi.
"I don't get what's going on here," Keiichi said, shaking his head quickly.
"Hey!" Mion protested, crawling into Keiichi's lap to try and pry Rena away. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What-- Mion! Watch where you're sitting!"
"Gyah~!"
"Kyousuke-nii-san," Rika said, patting him on the head, then turning and beaming her brightest smile at Haruhi, "I'm going to be an auntie!"
After Haruhi fainted, the joking calmed down a little bit. Nagato spoke, her first contribution to the conversation thus far: "Well done."
He wasn't certain if that was a good thing or not. Haruhi came to her senses quickly enough while he worriedly patted her wrist.
"Kyousuke!" she roared, the second her eyes focused on him. "Who gave you permission to knock me up!?"
"You did!" he babbled, wincing, cringing back from her inevitable wrath. "I mean, you asked -- that is, um, you were just so hot in that miko outfit -- I mean, um, it was -- the world was going to be destroyed -- I said we should find a -- you said we didn't have time to get -- AUUGH! Why didn't I keep my head together and say no?! I really tried to -- Somebody shut me up!"
"Well, it's done now! So ... you'd better take responsibility!"
"Oh my god," he groaned. "My mom is going to kill whatever pieces of me you don't!"
"Wow," Shion said, grinning. "The man stares at robots that can destroy realities without batting an eye, sets a plan in motion to destroy the masterminds behind the sadistic plot even after his own death, and this sends him over the edge?"
"She'd better not!" Haruhi yelled. "I'm going to need you! Do you know how much work it's going to be!? And so embarrassing at school! Great, I'll be lucky to make it to Winter break before I'm showing!"
"Gurk!" Kyousuke gasped.
"Well!? Are you going to do it? Are you willing to take responsibility?"
"Yes!" he yelled back, his face red. "Of course. I am a man -- I'll do the right thing. Whatever your choice, I'm behind it!"
She suddenly lost the fury in her eyes and looked away. "I ... we've all seen too many lives vanish to lose another one. So ... Kyousuke ... since you told me my beliefs can change reality, I'm going to believe that you're going to make a great father!"
He couldn't find any words to say in response to that.
"Okay!" Tsuruya commanded, leaping to her feet. "Ladies, with me! Boys, stay out of the way -- we must plan the wedding immediately!"
This, he could speak against: "But, there are laws, and-"
"Nonsense! The Tsuruya family has connections everywhere it's needed! Ever since we fixed that weird situation in Nerima, we've kept the people in the department of the registry in our pocket -- there'll be no trouble getting the paperwork through! You all enjoy your guy talk for now, nyoro~!"
The girls, as a group, slowly began working their way to the hostel, Haruhi pausing long enough to give Kyousuke a deep, searching kiss, and order Koizumi, "Don't let him run away or you get demoted!"
Once they were out of earshot, Keiichi asked, "Was that part of your strategy, too?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Hmm, so even master strategists can occasionally get tripped up."
"It may be a once in a lifetime event," Koizumi remarked, preparing another marshmallow. "We should count ourselves fortunate to have seen it."
Author's notes: Not nearly as stylistic as Forging. Also, at nearly 180k, this thing weighed in muuuuch larger than intended. Also, totally intentional that it didn't follow the guide in the last few segments -- Haruhi got sick of it and broke the mold. Zearth was probably not a name that Haruhi would have agreed with, but I stuck with the original name anyway for reader recognition; enough trouble seeing 'Kyon' as 'Tadamichi Kyousuke'.
Other departures: I know that the original Koyemshi was killed (but they're all named Koyemshi). Here, this was his chance at 'redemption' to the masterminds. He redeemed them, alright. He redeemed them but GOOD.