Talk about Super Update.

[Superuntitled]

For all we know, Kyon could be a slider and has yet to discover his powers.

Technically, Kyon's already a time traveller and a slider (since he's actually done both). Mikuru's time travel depends on technology, not some biological or mental inner power, so at this point, he's as much of a "time-traveller" as she is.

One decision doesn't really stand for much when there were so many other decisions that were made for him. His decision had nothing to do with the plot of the volume, anyways.

All we can do is speculate about the future.

I think Kyon has been pretty proactive. Yuki seems to trust Kyon's judgement and usually follows his orders at quite a few key moments in the novels. Small Mikuru is getting a lot more of her orders directly from Kyon with full approval from her superiors. Kyon is not in a position to make world shattering decisions because he's deliberately left in the dark by the various organizations.

[typhonsentra]

I finished the book this afternoon, very good stuff. Only problem is I'm getting tired of all the unanswered questions piling up, along with new ones being added. It's like the Japanese version of Lost!

[quigonkenny]

Name one series where the young, otherwise perfectly normal male protagonist is thrust into a world of adventure beyond his imagination and didn't turn out to be the "key" to it all. For every one you can think of, I'll name three that do fit the cliché.

That route is about as predictable as the young girl with magical powers who's heart is split between a young boy in her class and the mysterious masked man, but doesn't know they're actually the same person. In fact, the "nauseating cliché" is the strongest argument for the Kyon theory...
=Smidge=

Haha! I see what you did there...

And for those who don't... (don't read if you haven't read Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, or Vol 4...or parts of any book after Vol 4...or the Haruhi Wikipedia page...)

Spoiler! :

Kyon is John Smith, who is, for all intents and purposes, the "Mysterious Masked Man" of this piece.