'''α-1'''
"Hello."
A completely foreign voice echoed through the handset.
It wasn't Haruhi, Nagato, or any Asahina-san. It wasn't Mori-san or Sakanaka, much less Suou Kuyoh or Tachibana Kyoko. It wasn't even Sasaki, which would have made sense. I could tell from just one word: this did not come from anyone I knew. This was a voice that had never touched my eardrums.
"Ah, are you bathing? Sorry! I apologize. Shall I call back later?"
That isn't necessary, but just before I could say that...
"But, but, it will not be better if I call multiple times as well. I'm really sorry."
That voice poured incessantly through my phone. I stopped her.
"Who is this? At least tell me your name."
"It’s me. Me, just me~"
No, you are not Haruhi, and so that is not considered a formal introduction.
"How can that be..."
The female voice said. Since it was coming from the phone, the voice wasn't very clear either. The owner of the voice spoke in a jovial high pitch.
"But it is alright. I only intended to say hi anyway. Your little sister is really cute. I want one just like her. Arithmetic drills... haha, that’s cute."
Hmm... I sank into deep thought. Even though this voice is new to me, her speech patterns closely resemble someone else's. But no matter how hard I searched the storage in my brain, I couldn't place the voice, except that it sounded relatively young and child-like, a bit like my little sister.
"I simply wished to hear Senpai's[
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senpai] voice," the voice continued. "That’s all, no other reason. If I have to trouble you in the future, please take good care of me. If only we could have more time together."
Wait, did this person just address me as a senior? That makes her younger than me. But I really have no recollection of who the owner of this voice might be. Just when I wanted to tell her to at least give me her full name...
"I am hanging up. Goodbye. Till next time." She giggled.
Click.
Just like that, she hung up.
What is this? Just dealing with my old friend Sasaki, Tachibana Kyoko, Kuyoh and the rest was enough to keep my hands full. I don't want any more new characters in this part of the story.
I had a sudden stroke of inspiration and searched the call list, but all I found out was that she used a private number.
Even after I was out of the bath and in my pajamas, I was still asking myself who this mystery caller could be, but I was just wasting my time.
"What exactly went wrong today?"
Well, no matter how hard I think I won't change anything. I'll just take it as it comes. If that doesn't work, I'll just have to make sure it does. If anything happens, I'll discuss it with Koizumi, then Asahina-san, then Nagato, and then an infinite distance down the list with Haruhi, in that order. Till then, it's none of my business.
"What a pain."
Tomorrow is a precious full day of rest. As long as Haruhi doesn’t come up with any strange ideas before I fall asleep, Sunday is going to be very relaxing.
To make sure I didn't catch a cold after the bath, I hugged Shamisen like a heat bag as I went to my sister's room.
'''β-1'''
"Hello."
A voice I had heard that morning echoed through the handset.
It would've been alright if it was Haruhi, Nagato or Asahina-san (big). Haruhi would be suggesting some naïve plans for tomorrow at the most. Nagato, I'd discuss how we could handle Kuyoh. As for Asahina-san (big), I have many, many questions for her.
"Ah? Are you bathing? Your sister should have told me. I could call you back later, but since you answered this call, you should be more or less done. Am I correct?”
The caller wasn't anyone I'd been expecting. I said her name.
"Sasaki?"
"Yes, it's me. About today, I was planning on chatting a little longer, but Suzumiya-san arrived a bit too early. I guess that was a miscalculation on my part." She giggled. "But your sister hasn't changed a bit. I mentioned my name, but I don't know if she didn't hear that or if she simply forgot about me. But this can't be helped, we have only met twice... no, three times.”
"I guess you shouldn't be my sister's math tutor then." It's one of my rare contributions to the family.
"I understand. How could I take your cute little sister away from you? On Earth, there are billions of people who are strangers to you, and a very few tied to you by blood: your family. The ratio of these two groups is very high. This rarity makes family one of the most precious ties in this world. As they say, blood is thicker than water."
"So, what is it?"
"I will be direct then. I hope we can meet in front of the train station tomorrow at nine in the morning. Remember the place? That should be enough information. As for what's happening, well, I am not actually the one who has any business with you; I think it will be easier if you hear it from Tachibana-san directly. From what I gather, you will understand this better than me."
"They're coming too?"
I felt very irritated when I remembered the quiet and distant Kuyoh.
"He should be there too. What’s his name... well, that self-proclaimed time traveler guy."
That irritated me even more. If that idiot spouts some rubbish about Asahina-san again, I don't think I can hold myself back any more. If I lose control and beat him up, it's up to you to try and stop me.
"So you're coming? Kyon, don't worry. The three of them hope to come to terms without coming to blows. It would be best for all parties if we can keep our exchange of opinions limited to verbal means."
Let's hope that alien understands Earth language. Speaking of that...
"Sasaki, where did you go with them today?"
"Looking for an alibi? We took the train to the city and shopped around. Tachibana-san is fun to hang out with. She talked a lot about her high school life," she said, then calmly added. "And about four years ago." [[Image:Sh_v09_ch02_01.jpg|thumb| A voice I had heard that morning echoed through the handset...'']]
Four years ago.
I had first heard about it when it was three years ago. It's the keyword that everyone has something to say about and no one has any good explanation for. That's when Haruhi unleashed her sadistic superpowers, causing some kind of earth-shattering event. Oh, we can now host the Olympics [
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index ... g_Olympics].
"What did she say?"
"You should ask her yourself. I am still very confused. Kyon, I have this unsettling feeling. I feel like I'm in elementary school and my first swimming lesson is tomorrow, and I'll have to step into the water without knowing how to stay afloat.”
I remembered my middle school days, Sasaki's poise as she waited by the pool. When she mingled with the other girls, she seemed totally normal. The only things out of the ordinary were her above average communication skills and her captivating, glimmering eyes when she talked. Those glimmering eyes... When she isn't talking with the guys, she's just an ordinary middle school, now high school, student.
It was always like that. So why call me about this? This isn't normal at all. There must be a some mistake here. Whose fault is it?
"Sasaki, I know that you're representing that group. I just don't get why you're doing this."
Sasaki was quiet on the other side of the line for a while, then she laughed, the kind she made when she thought deeply.
"It's because I am your good friend. Doesn't that make me more suitable? If someone else were to ask you to come, you wouldn't be so obedient, would you? You're not gullible. Although I must add that you are easily defeated in a verbal debate."
I had never thought of defeating you in a verbal debate.
"You are an excellent listener, with the right amounts of intelligence and innocence. Please don’t be angry, I'm praising you. It may seem meaningless to the speaker to tell the listener things he may not understand, and reporting something you know the other party already knows isn’t much better. But if it's you I have nothing to worry about. You make people feel comfortable sharing things with you.
It really didn't feel like praise, but if Sasaki said it, I could understand. It's always been like this.
"I should let you go. I don't want to disturb your younger sister's study time, or keep you from exercising your fraternal authority. Make sure you arrive punctually tomorrow, or else I wasted my time tearing my room apart for the contact list. It would have be easier if you had left a number on your New Year’s card."
Of course I'm going tomorrow.