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| ===Пролог=== | | ===Prologue Пролог=== |
| | |
| ===1 страница===
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| |- | | |- |
| |Suzumiya Haruhi has become very pensive lately. | | |Suzumiya Haruhi has become very pensive lately. |
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| Вот уже начало февраля, и зима приближается к своему концу. | | Вот уже начало февраля, и зима приближается к своему концу. |
| | |
| | '''Martin''' отредактировал |
| | '''Lexs''' отредактировал |
| |- | | |- |
| |colspan=2| | | |colspan=2| |
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| "Everyone can get some rest. Tomorrow will be the first time this year we visit the temples and | | "Everyone can get some rest. Tomorrow will be the first time this year we visit the temples and |
| shrines nearby, meet here at nine. Oh, Tsuruya-san, do you have any plans?" | | shrines nearby, meet here at nine. Oh, Tsuruya-san, do you have any plans?" |
| |-
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| |colspan=2|
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|
| |
| ===3 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |The energetic vigor that's already making plans for the next day after the vacation ended is very
| |
| enviable. The problem is, my body, representing that of a normal human’s, doesn't have a
| |
| perpetual motion machine built into it. But Tsuruya-san, the person whose vitality can somehow
| |
| keep up with Haruhi's, said,
| |
|
| |
| "Sorry everyone, I have to go to Switzerland tomorrow. I'll bring some souvenirs back. Please,
| |
| take this change and donate it!"
| |
| After saying this, she dug into her pockets and showed her clinking and clanging change to
| |
| Asahina-san.
| |
|
| |
| "This is New Year's money!"
| |
|
| |
| She said, giving all her change to my sister.
| |
| "See you next semester~"
| |
|
| |
| She waved, leaving the train station with a bright, smiling face. Her posture was relaxed and
| |
| cheerful. How was this girl raised? For future reference, I want to visit her parents and see what
| |
| they say.
| |
|
| |
| Haruhi kept waving until we lost sight of her around the corner of those apartments.
| |
| "Then, let's go home. Everyone be careful on the road. It's still the winter trip until you get
| |
| home."
| |
|
| |
| If anything were to happen on the way home, Koizumi and I physically wouldn't be able to take
| |
| it anymore. Nothing weird should show up on the way home from the station, anyway.
| |
|
| |
| I glanced at Nagato. Her abnormality inside the mysterious hotel on the mountain had vanished
| |
| into thin air; she was now back to her emotionless, impossible-to-read state. As I thought this,
| |
| her eyes moved and met mine. She nodded her head slightly; that wasn't just an illusion, I think.
| |
| I looked over at Asahina-san. She had been relaxed and laid-back during the trip. The carefreeness
| |
| had become nervousness while in the (Hall of Snow Mountain Syndrome), but upon
| |
| reflection, this was for the best. Now is when she really made an entrance. I stared at her, full of
| |
| affection, but sadly, she didn't notice my look at all and continued talking with my sister as if
| |
| they were the same age.
| |
|
| |
| "Well, see you tomorrow! Don't be late. Oh, and don't lose your pochibukuro, there'll be stalls
| |
| everywhere tomorrow."
| |
|
| |
| After Haruhi said that, I took hold of my sister's hand, held onto the box Shamisen was in, said
| |
| farewell to Haruhi and Asahina-san and got on the public bus.
| |
|
| |
| "See you later, Mikuru-chan!"
| |
| |The energetic vigor that's already making plans for the next day after the vacation ended is very
| |
| enviable. The problem is, my body, representing that of a normal human’s, doesn't have a
| |
| perpetual motion machine built into it. But Tsuruya-san, the person whose vitality can somehow
| |
| keep up with Haruhi's, said,
| |
|
| |
| "Sorry everyone, I have to go to Switzerland tomorrow. I'll bring some souvenirs back. Please,
| |
| take this change and donate it!"
| |
| After saying this, she dug into her pockets and showed her clinking and clanging change to
| |
| Asahina-san.
| |
|
| |
| "This is New Year's money!"
| |
|
| |
| She said, giving all her change to my sister.
| |
| "See you next semester~"
| |
|
| |
| She waved, leaving the train station with a bright, smiling face. Her posture was relaxed and
| |
| cheerful. How was this girl raised? For future reference, I want to visit her parents and see what
| |
| they say.
| |
|
| |
| Haruhi kept waving until we lost sight of her around the corner of those apartments.
| |
| "Then, let's go home. Everyone be careful on the road. It's still the winter trip until you get
| |
| home."
| |
|
| |
| If anything were to happen on the way home, Koizumi and I physically wouldn't be able to take
| |
| it anymore. Nothing weird should show up on the way home from the station, anyway.
| |
|
| |
| I glanced at Nagato. Her abnormality inside the mysterious hotel on the mountain had vanished
| |
| into thin air; she was now back to her emotionless, impossible-to-read state. As I thought this,
| |
| her eyes moved and met mine. She nodded her head slightly; that wasn't just an illusion, I think.
| |
| I looked over at Asahina-san. She had been relaxed and laid-back during the trip. The carefreeness
| |
| had become nervousness while in the (Hall of Snow Mountain Syndrome), but upon
| |
| reflection, this was for the best. Now is when she really made an entrance. I stared at her, full of
| |
| affection, but sadly, she didn't notice my look at all and continued talking with my sister as if
| |
| they were the same age.
| |
|
| |
| "Well, see you tomorrow! Don't be late. Oh, and don't lose your pochibukuro, there'll be stalls
| |
| everywhere tomorrow."
| |
|
| |
| After Haruhi said that, I took hold of my sister's hand, held onto the box Shamisen was in, said
| |
| farewell to Haruhi and Asahina-san and got on the public bus.
| |
|
| |
| "See you later, Mikuru-chan!"
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===4 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |While I was pulling my struggling sister to her seat, I saw Asahina-san keep looking over and
| |
| waving to my sister. Sorry, but I don't really feel like waving now. Well, if it were Haruhi or
| |
| Koizumi, I would definitely shout goodbye.
| |
|
| |
| So, as soon as I got home and liberated myself from Shamisen and my sister, after a few minutes,
| |
| I called two particular brigade members I had just left at the stop.
| |
| Why?
| |
|
| |
| Because I wanted to finish what I regret leaving incomplete as soon as possible.
| |
| And since it was because I was lazy that this awkward situation occurred, I'm very sorry, so I
| |
| want to teach the old, lazy me a lesson. We should go to the me from a while before the trip.
| |
| That time at the mysterious mansion on the mountain, it was because Nagato and Koizumi were
| |
| bright that they managed to keep the worst-case scenario from occurring. But no one can
| |
| guarantee that something like that will never happen again. Actually, I think that this had to
| |
| happen someday. The fun at the mountain villa was delayed because of this problem, and the
| |
| surroundings even disappeared along with the members. There was enough time afterwards at
| |
| Tsuruya-san's resort while we played Fukuwarai and Sugoroku for me to make a decision.
| |
| I have to go. I have to return to that time-space with Nagato and Asahina-san.
| |
| Yes, back to the dawn of December the eighteenth...
| |
|
| |
| There's no time to rest off the weariness. First, I phoned Asahina-san, and since we had just
| |
| separated, she was quite surprised.
| |
|
| |
| "What's the matter, Kyon-kun?"
| |
|
| |
| "There's a place I want to go with you. Today, preferably."
| |
|
| |
| "Eh......? Where?"
| |
|
| |
| "December the eighteenth of last year."
| |
|
| |
| She was both shocked and puzzled.
| |
|
| |
| "Ehhh......? Wha- What's happening?"
| |
|
| |
| "Please take me and Nagato into the past, two weeks ago, to be precise. Then we can work
| |
| together to try and reverse time."
| |
|
| |
| "Tha-, me send...... no, that device cannot be used when I feel like it. It requires lots of
| |
| consideration and authorization by many other people."
| |
| |While I was pulling my struggling sister to her seat, I saw Asahina-san keep looking over and
| |
| waving to my sister. Sorry, but I don't really feel like waving now. Well, if it were Haruhi or
| |
| Koizumi, I would definitely shout goodbye.
| |
|
| |
| So, as soon as I got home and liberated myself from Shamisen and my sister, after a few minutes,
| |
| I called two particular brigade members I had just left at the stop.
| |
| Why?
| |
|
| |
| Because I wanted to finish what I regret leaving incomplete as soon as possible.
| |
| And since it was because I was lazy that this awkward situation occurred, I'm very sorry, so I
| |
| want to teach the old, lazy me a lesson. We should go to the me from a while before the trip.
| |
| That time at the mysterious mansion on the mountain, it was because Nagato and Koizumi were
| |
| bright that they managed to keep the worst-case scenario from occurring. But no one can
| |
| guarantee that something like that will never happen again. Actually, I think that this had to
| |
| happen someday. The fun at the mountain villa was delayed because of this problem, and the
| |
| surroundings even disappeared along with the members. There was enough time afterwards at
| |
| Tsuruya-san's resort while we played Fukuwarai and Sugoroku for me to make a decision.
| |
| I have to go. I have to return to that time-space with Nagato and Asahina-san.
| |
| Yes, back to the dawn of December the eighteenth...
| |
|
| |
| There's no time to rest off the weariness. First, I phoned Asahina-san, and since we had just
| |
| separated, she was quite surprised.
| |
|
| |
| "What's the matter, Kyon-kun?"
| |
|
| |
| "There's a place I want to go with you. Today, preferably."
| |
|
| |
| "Eh......? Where?"
| |
|
| |
| "December the eighteenth of last year."
| |
|
| |
| She was both shocked and puzzled.
| |
|
| |
| "Ehhh......? Wha- What's happening?"
| |
|
| |
| "Please take me and Nagato into the past, two weeks ago, to be precise. Then we can work
| |
| together to try and reverse time."
| |
|
| |
| "Tha-, me send...... no, that device cannot be used when I feel like it. It requires lots of
| |
| consideration and authorization by many other people."
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===5 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |I bet that authorization will be easy to get. The vision floating in my mind's eye is of Mikuru
| |
| (Big) winking at me, even blowing me a kiss.
| |
| "Asahina-san, contact your boss or somebody like that right now. Explain it to them, and say that
| |
| I want to take you and Nagato back to the dawn of December the eighteenth."
| |
| I guess since I was brimming with confidence, Asahina-san's sighs that occasionally leaked
| |
| through the phone became silent.
| |
| "Wait, wait a minute."
| |
| Of course I'll wait. I've always wondered how you communicate with the future, but all I'm
| |
| hearing is Asahina-san's quiet breathing. This background music didn't last ten seconds, and was
| |
| quickly replaced by a confused voice.
| |
| "I don't believe it......"
| |
| "It's been authorized. Bu-Why......? It was so easy......"
| |
| That's because the future is now resting on my shoulders — but I didn't say that. How should I
| |
| say this, I don't want to talk for much longer on the phone.
| |
| "Let's meet in front of Nagato's apartment. Can you make it in 30 minutes?"
| |
| "Uhh, wait. Give me an hour. I want to double-check. Oh, and, we should just meet in front of
| |
| Nagato-san's apartment, there's no need to go in."
| |
| I happily agreed and hung up the phone. After thinking of Asahina-san's cute and shocked face
| |
| for a while, I set my face and reined in my feelings. In the time before departure, nothing that
| |
| would make me laugh appeared. That guy should understand me best.
| |
| And another person, who will know what I'm up to even if I don't tell her. But I should make
| |
| sure. I picked up the phone again.
| |
| An hour later......
| |
| I came too early. I was so happy, I rode my bike as fast as I could. I stood in front of the
| |
| luxurious apartment, almost freezing to death. 15 minutes later, a cheerful person ran up to me. It
| |
| looked like she didn't have time to change, and didn't think of changing either. She was still
| |
| wearing the clothes she was wearing when we came back from our trip. Actually, I was too.
| |
| "Kyon-kun."
| |
| Asahina-san looked at me full of wonder.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===6 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |"I still don't get it. Why did your request go through so quickly? Furthermore, my boss even
| |
| commanded me to take Nagato-san too, it has to be the three of us...... and when I asked him
| |
| what the outcome would be, he only said that it was top-secret. And...... he even said I had to
| |
| follow your orders. Why?"
| |
| "I'll tell you in Nagato's room."
| |
| As I said this, I entered Nagato's room number into the machine by the door and rang the
| |
| doorbell. There was a response immediately.
| |
| "......"
| |
| "It's me."
| |
| "Enter."
| |
| The door opened, I walked in. Ah, I can't forget Asahina-san, she's still baffled. After I waved to
| |
| her, she seemed to wake up and hurried to catch up with me. Every single time we come here,
| |
| she's scared. It's almost like it's her habit now. In the elevator, Asahina-san was turning over and
| |
| thinking about many questions. She looked quite nervous, but also puzzled.
| |
| That expression didn't change, even after Nagato opened the door and ushered us in.
| |
| Nagato looked like she not only had time, but was very composed about everything too. She was
| |
| in her apartment, but had already changed into that familiar sailor uniform. Reflecting, I feel that
| |
| this appearance was especially comforting. I think this, not because I secretly have a sailor fetish,
| |
| but because this person could fully understand the feeling of serenity in my heart.
| |
| That time, when I saw a short-haired person wearing a sailor uniform holding a knife, as I was
| |
| losing consciousness.
| |
| If Nagato were to wear something else, I would probably feel very uncomfortable. I know I
| |
| would still recognize her, but this sailor uniform has nearly become her trademark.
| |
| "......"
| |
| Without speaking, Nagato pointed to the room, suggesting that we should sit down. Then she
| |
| walked to the kitchen to make some tea.
| |
| So, I used this time to outline the basic details for Asahina-san.
| |
| "I don't believe it......"
| |
| Asahina-san's eyes were wide as plates as she muttered.
| |
| "What history was changed, how can it be, I didn't feel a thing......"
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===7 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |That's not a surprise. No matter how I look at it, the only one with a clear memory of those three
| |
| days is me. That me could not have done anything if it weren't for Nagato's hints and amazing
| |
| ability to act.
| |
| "A worldwide time-space change and direct interference with the future...... these things
| |
| coincidentally happened at the same time."
| |
| Asahina-san's voice trembled, her gaze drifting away. The table now had three cups of tea. It was
| |
| tea Nagato had steeped for us, and she cut in on my explanations to Asahina-san once in a while.
| |
| "Really."
| |
| Asahina-san was very startled by these comments, and her tea was untouched, it's probably cold
| |
| already.
| |
| "......"
| |
| Nagato expressionlessly stared at Asahina-san, then shifted her unreadable gaze onto me, and
| |
| then turned back to Asahina-san.
| |
| I think I know what Nagato wants to say. I had told Asahina-san that it was because Nagato had
| |
| set things in motion, so the world changed on December the eighteenth. It was lucky that the
| |
| Emergency Escape Program had worked, and I had returned to the Tanabata four years ago. But
| |
| this resulted in Asakura Ryoko attempting to assassinate me, fortunately a failed attempt. Before
| |
| fainting, I saw myself, Nagato and Asahina-san, seemingly from the future, restore the world to
| |
| its original state. Only saying this, she might not understand what the hell is going on, so Nagato
| |
| wants to add some footnotes.
| |
| Considering this wasn't all the information. The Tanabata four years ago also had an Asahina-san
| |
| (Big) waiting for us. I still hadn't told her this, since I don't know if telling her would be good or
| |
| bad. The Asahina-san now doesn't know anything. In other words, Asahina-san (Big) is hiding
| |
| something from her.
| |
| This Asahina-san seems to be communicating with the future on a regular basis, so if it were
| |
| important, someone, even if it wasn't Asahina-san (Big), maybe her boss or someone even higher
| |
| up, someone would probably tell her. Hey, I don't know how time travelers communicate.
| |
| But I can mostly tell what happened. "When I asked him what the outcome is, he only said that it
| |
| was a secret." were her words exactly.
| |
| Asahina-san probably doesn't know anything, because no one is telling her.
| |
| I don't know the reasons for this, but if I think about it, it seems about right. As a time traveler,
| |
| she's kind of unprepared — that’s what I've thought before. Almost falling into an endless
| |
| August, the mysterious mansion...... and if Asahina-san had given advice from the future before
| |
| this kind of event, it would have been avoidable, but she didn't. Why?
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===8 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |Nod. I see.
| |
| If Asahina-san (Big) doesn't know anything, it would be too weird, because she, in the past —
| |
| Asahina-san now — has already done these things. So, if these events and adventures were
| |
| avoided, her future history would change. So it is required that, no matter what, we have to go
| |
| through these things.
| |
| This is all my theory, and the result is that we will all end up helpless to change anything, like
| |
| Nagato.
| |
| But since it's like this, isn't Asahina-san quite pitiable? Every time something happens, she'll
| |
| always be scared to death. The number of times she's been shocked may even surpass the number
| |
| of times I, a person from this time, have been startled. Moreover, Asahina-san's reasons for
| |
| coming to the present are very suspicious. If it was only Haruhi that needed to be under
| |
| surveillance, an anti-theft video camera could do the job.
| |
| There has to be a real reason. Asahina-san herself does not know. But, the her a little while into
| |
| the future does seem to know......
| |
| Lost in thought, I heard a cold, crisp voice.
| |
| "I want you to do something for me."
| |
| Since it's Nagato, I would do almost anything that she asks.
| |
| "Please don't say anything to the me in the time we are visiting."
| |
| Any talk at all? Do "Um" and "Ah" count too?
| |
| "If it's possible."
| |
| Nagato's normally expressionless eyes showed her thoughts, for once. Her black pupils showed
| |
| that this was really a passionate wish. For me to reject this request, it would be akin to trying to
| |
| catch the moon in the lake.
| |
| "Got it. Since you said it like this, I'll find a way."
| |
| The head that always has short hair nodded, slightly.
| |
| Nagato, whose instructions were used to iron out the details of time and space, and Asahina-san,
| |
| who was the faithful executor, made up this team of Aliens and Time Travelers. No matter how
| |
| big Koizumi's Agency is, they have no chance of winning. Except I'm not sure if they even plan
| |
| on fighting.
| |
| Nagato, Asahina-san and I went to the entrance to put on our shoes. In that cramped space, we
| |
| crowded and squeezed together. Last month, when I went with Asahina-san (Big), I had
| |
| forgotten my shoes.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===9 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |That lesson reappeared clearly before me now. Her high heels were in the
| |
| exact same place they were four years ago, obviously the work of Nagato. It's not like I can
| |
| return them to this Asahina-san, so I guess I'll just ignore them.
| |
| "Um, December the eighteenth... what time?"
| |
| Nagato's answer was exact to the second; Asahina-san nodded her head.
| |
| "We're going now. Kyon-kun, close your eyes. "
| |
| And — —
| |
| Time moved. That very familiar dizzy feeling that makes me want to puke. Even though my eyes
| |
| are closed, it feels like something is flashing. It's comparable to staring at the sky and ascending,
| |
| along with that unpleasant feeling of rising fast and losing track of what's up and what's down.
| |
| Just like riding on an out-of-control roller coaster and being thrown around ten times, losing
| |
| focus and feeling very weird, I was almost at my limit...
| |
| My soles finally landed on the ground again. The gravity pulling me down feels so comfortable.
| |
| "We're here."
| |
| Nagato said softly.
| |
| I opened my eyes gingerly, and was startled.
| |
| I found myself standing in front of the school gates.
| |
| I quickly tried to remember what happened before. On Tanabata four years ago, I came through
| |
| time on the direction of the Nagato still in "Standby Mode". Coming back to the eighteenth with
| |
| Asahina-san, I had gazed at the black world Nagato had created and walked under a street
| |
| light......
| |
| ......and we had landed in the middle of all that.
| |
| That "Me", changing himself as the world changed, was saying something to a Nagato with
| |
| glasses on. I can even see the shadow of Asahina-san wearing my jacket. This isn't too good,
| |
| because no matter how you look at it, this is just way too close.
| |
| "Don't worry."
| |
| Our Nagato said in monotone.
| |
| "They can't see us. A soundproof barrier has been set up."
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===10 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |That means, to "Me", Asahina-san and Nagato (with glasses), we're just soundless, transparent
| |
| people. This doesn't need clarification from Nagato, because she's here with us. Pity.
| |
| Asahina-san was blinking non-stop.
| |
| "Um...... who's that girl? It's an adult, why is she here?"
| |
| From here, they're only silhouettes. As expected, Asahina-san doesn't get it. If she could imagine
| |
| that her future self would appear here, it would be too unnerving. As I was contemplating
| |
| whether or not to tell her, something happened that made that thought disappear like dust in the
| |
| wind. Even though I knew it was coming, it still gave me goose bumps watching it as a spectator.
| |
| Suddenly, someone appeared from the shadows. It passed softly by us and by the time I realized
| |
| that it was Asakura Ryoko, she was already running, no, charging at "us". Her knife was at her
| |
| waist as she charged us in a hostile fashion.
| |
| Asahina-san (Big) yelled something, but it was too late, "I" had been stabbed, just like I
| |
| remember.
| |
| "Ohh."
| |
| That looked painful. I didn't notice it before, but when Asakura is waving that knife around, she's
| |
| very detestable. Full of bloodlust, she stuck the knife into "my" body without hesitation. Luckily,
| |
| Asakura Ryoko can only be convicted of attempted murder.
| |
| "I" fell.
| |
| "Eh...... Oh! Kyon-kun!"
| |
| Asahina-san started yelling too, and she started to run to "Me". "Ah......!" as she immediately ran
| |
| into the invisible wall, and she stopped, looking on miserably. I think she's forgotten I'm right
| |
| beside her in the heat of the moment. Her eyes only saw "Me", and I still don't know if I should
| |
| be pleased or jealous.
| |
| "Nagato-san!"
| |
| Looking at Asahina-san, Nagato bobbed her head.
| |
| "The barrier's dissolved...... It ends now."
| |
| Asahina-san ran over, Nagato also started working. Faster than the night wind, she grabbed
| |
| Asakura's knife right away. Asakura's yell rang out, a mixture of hate and fright. I also ran
| |
| towards the old me. Oh, great, now "I" look horrible.
| |
| Asahina-san was crying while she held "Me" in her arms. Since she's worried about me, I'm
| |
| really happy. But hanging there, I wouldn't mind if I died.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===11 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |She tearfully cried for "Me" as if her life depended on it, completely ignoring everyone else. I
| |
| really want to thank her.
| |
| Painfully, Asahina-san (Big) moved her gaze from the ground up and stared at me.
| |
| "You're here."
| |
| But I'm a bit late, not as in time late, but mood-wise.
| |
| "......Hey......"
| |
| This sound was Nagato from my memory. The someone running around that was hurting my
| |
| heart. The Nagato with glasses had fallen down, and was sitting there with a look of alarm on her
| |
| face. Those dark eyes’ gaze moved from the fallen "Me" to Asakura, then to the person wearing
| |
| the same sailor uniform as her, then onto me.
| |
| "Wh...... y......"
| |
| I have an agreement with my Nagato. So, I cannot talk to this other Nagato, the one that just
| |
| finished changing the world. There is only one thing I have to say or do.
| |
| Picking up the gun that Nagato had made three years ago, I looked at "Me". To say what I heard
| |
| before, I opened my mouth and said what I remembered. This should work, because as long as it
| |
| mostly fits, a little bit of difference is allowed. That "Me" completely closed his almost-closed
| |
| eyes, falling to one side. This fainting scene was very exciting, it looked like "I" died. But if no
| |
| one stops the blood, "I" would really die.
| |
| Then, from now on, it's all up to us. Even I don't know what will happen after.
| |
| The first thing I see is my Nagato stopping Asakura.
| |
| "......"
| |
| The knife Nagato was holding onto glowed as it turned to dust. Asakura wanted to run away but
| |
| couldn't move, as if her feet were glued to the ground. Nagato was speaking very fast.
| |
| "Wh, Why? You......"
| |
| Asakura's body was also shining now.
| |
| "Isn't this what you wanted...... Today too...... Why......"
| |
| The unmoving Asakura asked one last question, and then disintegrated like a knife just cut her
| |
| into pieces. At the same time,
| |
| "Ah?......"
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===12 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |Asahina-san (Small) toppled over, looking like she was bending over my body. The softly closed
| |
| eyes and the slightly open mouth said she was asleep.
| |
| Asahina-san's (Big) hand gently caresses the dead-tired senpai's neck.
| |
| "I put her to sleep."
| |
| The adult Asahina-san stroked her young self's hair sadly.
| |
| "I can't let her know I'm here. I had to do this."
| |
| Asahina-san sleeps very cutely, using "my" hand as a pillow.
| |
| "Don't tell her about me."
| |
| This sleeping face is the same as the one from Tanabata three years ago, as the one on the bench
| |
| in the park, the reason is exactly the same too, Asahina-san (Big) doesn't want the her from the
| |
| past see what she looks like. The back is fine, but if she walks closer, Asahina-san is not allowed
| |
| to see Asahina-san (Big).
| |
| I gazed at the unconscious Asahina-san and at "Me".
| |
| "......"
| |
| My Nagato knelt and leaned over, putting her hand to the abdomen of the "Me" that got stabbed.
| |
| It's a good thing she did. Anyway, the blood stopped, and "my" pale face finally looked like a
| |
| normal human's. So, the person who healed me was her.
| |
| Nagato casually stood up and, without wiping the blood off her finger, reached her hand out and
| |
| said,
| |
| "Lend it to me."
| |
| I didn't say anything, and just gave her the gun. I haven't held it in a long time, and was glad to
| |
| give it up. If anything happens, this can be used as a threat I suppose. But no matter what, I won't
| |
| shoot any Nagato with it.
| |
| The gun-wielding Nagato points the gun at the Nagato with glasses sitting on the ground, who
| |
| had been timid all along. She nonchalantly cocks and fires it.
| |
| Nagato (with glasses) started shining as she slowly stood up. That stick-like posture was the
| |
| posture of the Nagato I was familiar with. Completely different from when she gave me an
| |
| application form, or when she awkwardly pulled on my sleeve while crying, different from that
| |
| shy, slightly smiling person.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===13 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |Like she was proving it to me, that Nagato took off her glasses and, after staring at me, locked
| |
| her cold gaze onto the other her and said,
| |
| "Request synchronization."
| |
| The two Nagatos stared at each other. Counting this time, I have already seen "Me" several times
| |
| before. Both Asahina-sans have also been around each other many times. But, this is the first
| |
| time there has been more than one Nagato at a time. It makes me feel odd. Quite a magnificent
| |
| sight.
| |
| "Request synchronization."
| |
| The Nagato that was shot repeated, the Nagato that shot immediately replied.
| |
| "Denied."
| |
| Even I found this odd, let alone the Nagato holding glasses in her hand. Her eyebrows may have
| |
| moved.
| |
| "Why?"
| |
| "Because I don't want to."
| |
| I'm astonished. Completely flabbergasted. Has anything this clear ever come out of Nagato's
| |
| mouth before? This isn't an excuse. This explicit denial proves she has emotions, no doubt about
| |
| it.
| |
| "......"
| |
| The other Nagato, seemingly lost in thought, quieted.
| |
| "......"
| |
| She's as silent as before, as the night wind blows her hair around.
| |
| I gently said to the Nagato from the past,
| |
| "Go change the world back to its former state."
| |
| "Understood."
| |
| That Nagato nodded, and said, in a slightly hesitating voice that only I could understand,
| |
| "Unable to sense the existence of the Integrated Data Sentient Entity."
| |
| "It's not here."
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
| ===14 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |My Nagato faintly said,
| |
| "I am still connected to the time and space I am from, let me do the second adjustment. "
| |
| "Understood." Said the Nagato from the past.
| |
| "After the transformation,"
| |
| My Nagato said,
| |
| "You can move according to your own wishes."
| |
| The Nagato that was just reverted looks at me, her head tilted. Unperceivable data appears in that
| |
| expression and gaze, but I can read it, no one is more clear than I as to what Nagato wants to say.
| |
| This Nagato is that Nagato. The Nagato that appeared at the hospital that night. The one that said
| |
| her own punishment was being debated and annoying the shit out of me.
| |
| I also understand why the Nagato from the future has rejected synchronization. Nagato doesn't
| |
| want that her to tell this her what she has to do.
| |
| Why? — Why ask why, that's something that's not obvious to see.
| |
| Thank you. — That time I heard Nagato say this as the answer.
| |
| "Kyon-kun?"
| |
| Asahina-san spoke cautiously to the still standing me.
| |
| "This child...... Can you take care of her?"
| |
| She started to pick up the heavy-looking, peacefully-sleeping Asahina-san (Small). I
| |
| immediately went to help, and, following her directions, piggy-backed the slender Asahina-san
| |
| like before. She's even as soft and warm as in my memory.
| |
| "A large-scale time-quake will be happening shortly,"
| |
| Asahina-san (Big) said, hugging her arms, her very serious face showing sharp anxiety.
| |
| "Compared with the one Nagato-san did just now, this one is even more complicated and
| |
| significant. Opening your eyes, even if you wanted to, would be extremely hard."
| |
| Since it's you that's saying this, of course I believe you, but what difference does this make?
| |
| "The first change was only meant to start the process. In this one, we need to make time turn
| |
| back to its original flow. Think for a second about where you woke up."
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
|
| |
|
| ===15 страница===
| | Перевод берет '''Капуста''' |
| |-
| |
| |The evening of December the eighteenth, I went into the hospital where I later woke up.
| |
| "Yes. So, we must make this turn into that."
| |
| Barefoot, with my jacket over her shoulder, Asahina-san (Big) slowly and quietly walked over.
| |
| One of Asahina-san's (Big) hands went to Asahina-san's (Small) shoulder as she turned her head
| |
| around and looked at Nagato. The Nagato that came here with me walked over to join us. There
| |
| was still someone remaining like they originally were; the fallen "Me" was still lying there.
| |
| Asahina-san (Big) reached out and grabbed Nagato with her free hand.
| |
| "It's up to you, Nagato-san."
| |
| Nagato lightly nodded her head, then stared at herself, as if they were never going to meet again.
| |
| The other Nagato didn't say a word. It might have been my imagination, but she looked very
| |
| lonely. No worries. I still remember what I said then. That "Me" right there will talk to you soon
| |
| enough. That punk will say this, for certain, so come visit with a clear conscience. Don't forget to
| |
| call your boss a 'bastard' for me.
| |
| "Close your eyes, Kyon-kun,"
| |
| Asahina-san (Big) said softly,
| |
| "Don't get time-sick."
| |
| I followed her advice, closing my eyes tightly.
| |
| The next moment, I feel the world tremble.
| |
| "Uwah — —"
| |
| Falling heads over heels and revolving in a no-gravity zone is something I have experienced
| |
| many times before. Even though I think I'm used to these sensations, this time is vastly different
| |
| from all the other times. If all the other times were like riding a roller-coaster in an amusement
| |
| park, this is a noisy, anarchic space shuttle I'm randomly flying about in without a seat belt. But,
| |
| since my body has no mass, it is actually not being twirled around. This is just dizziness. Despite
| |
| the fact that I want to see what the outside looks like, as soon as I open my eyes, it's really like
| |
| being dead drunk, very scary. The only movie I get to see is the random bits of light that came
| |
| through my eyelids, lighting up the dark. The warmth of Asahina-san (Small) on my back and
| |
| the feeling of Asahina-san's (Big) hand on my shoulder are both very comforting.
| |
| — — I feel a waning light stabbing at my closed eyes.
| |
| Because I can't resist the desire to look, I open my eyes, and see where the red light is, in reality,
| |
| coming from. Revolving red lights are something only emergency vehicles have.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===16 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |What......?
| |
| An ambulance stood directly in front of North High's gates. Students who like action looked on
| |
| from a distance while emergency personnel lifted someone onto a stretcher. There were two
| |
| people following this stretcher at its high speed, two girls in fact, and I will never forget their
| |
| names my entire life. Haruhi's pale face looked frightened, Asahina-san was crying and very sad,
| |
| running after the stretcher. Shortly after, an unsmiling Koizumi chased after them.
| |
| The stretcher was immediately put into the ambulance, and Haruhi, after exchanging a few words
| |
| with the personnel, got in too. The red lights started flashing again, and the ambulance began to
| |
| move. Koizumi, standing beside Asahina-san who was covering her eyes, looked very serious as
| |
| he talked on his cell phone. Nagato wasn't there, but that was obvious.
| |
| My dizziness still hadn't gone away. To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure where my body was at
| |
| the moment.
| |
| Some part of my body felt Asahina-san (Big) let out a huge sigh.
| |
| "Kyon-kun, now we'll return to the original time."
| |
| The movie I was watching gradually disappeared. Has the service been cut? I'll give you
| |
| something to see. Like during my three-day long memory loss, it's a brigade leader's
| |
| responsibility to worry about the members, that's the way it is, Haruhi.
| |
| The dizziness started again, I really want to take some pills. Next time, I must prepare some
| |
| beforehand.
| |
| "Aim at the time you came from. Follow that me. It will take her a while to wake up...... Fufu,
| |
| Maybe I'll let you kiss me."
| |
| And with that joke, I felt Asahina-san (Big) gradually fade away.
| |
| And — —
| |
| When I open my eyes, I'm standing in Nagato's living room with Asahina-san on my back.
| |
| Nagato is standing facing me.
| |
| "Sixty-two seconds have passed since we departed."
| |
| Lifting her head to look at me, she said,
| |
| "We're back."
| |
| Back to our own time and world.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===17 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |I sighed and put Asahina-san down off my shoulders. She's really the best nominee for a 'Makepeople-
| |
| want-to-kiss-your-sleeping-face' contest. The “Me” that believes everything Asahina-san
| |
| said is very impure. If this wasn't Nagato's room, or she wasn't staring at me like she's
| |
| investigating me, it's possible I might throw away feelings of shame. No, I wouldn't do that. I
| |
| wouldn't.
| |
| Picking up the teacup on the table, I downed it in one gulp. Even though when we left the tea
| |
| was already cool, this tasted great. It's kind of like drinking tea after taking a bath. It can also be
| |
| compared to Asahina-san's tea.
| |
| ‘’Sigh’’ "Oh man..."
| |
| Finally, I've finished everything from last year that needed sorting out. There shouldn't be
| |
| anything we haven't finished. With the chapter on the world changing closed at last, the winter
| |
| trip that crossed into this year is definitely finished, the only thing left is going to the temples and
| |
| shrines for the first time this year. Meh, Haruhi will come up with something new in a little bit.
| |
| Before that happens, these days should be quite quiet.
| |
| By the way, the angel-like time traveler is still not awake. I don't know what kind of magic was
| |
| used on her, but she looks just like Shamisen in a warm room after being fed. Being put into this
| |
| sleep that looks very happy, it's actually somewhat pitiable. I asked Nagato to put bedding on the
| |
| ground, and placed Asahina-san down to sleep on it, putting a wool blanket and a quilt on top.
| |
| "Nagato, before Asahina-san wakes up, please take care of her."
| |
| Nagato regarded the sleeping visitor, then shot a look at me and nodded her head.
| |
| Although I woke up ready for action, I am now actually really tired. The accumulated tiredness
| |
| from the vacation and the time travel, if not taken care of with a bath and bed, will prevent me
| |
| from getting up tomorrow at nine. My very limited reserves are slowly disappearing, like an
| |
| ordinary miracle. I want that to stop. You could say what five people do in a month is small in
| |
| comparison with what I've gone through.
| |
| Not unlike the Tanabata when I started being Mr. Sleep-for-Three-Years, I could let her put a
| |
| blanket on me with Asahina-san. But even though I have confidence that I will fall asleep once I
| |
| lie down, I can't help but think that nobody would wish for that to happen.
| |
| A time traveler occasionally sleeping at an alien's house, that's not too bad.
| |
| "See you tomorrow."
| |
| "Understood."
| |
| Using her very calming gaze, Nagato expressionlessly stared at me. Her two serene pupils under
| |
| her bangs stared fixedly at me.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===18 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |"Thanks for your work today. Sorry I made you go through all that."
| |
| Same with Asahina-san. The person who did the most work would be this Nagato and the Nagato
| |
| that was there at the Tanabata four years ago.
| |
| "No problem."
| |
| Her expression unchanged,
| |
| "This all started because of me."
| |
| I stared at the alien until the door closed tightly. Earlier, I had wondered whether a smile would
| |
| show up on her face, regrettably not — or very comforting, since the delicate, fair face is
| |
| impassive as usual. But I thought there was something different from the past, thank my skilled
| |
| eyes for noticing that.
| |
| Coming out of the apartment, I slowly rode my bike home, and fell asleep as soon as I lay on my
| |
| bed after getting there.
| |
| I feel that if you fall asleep when you're really tired, you will have a whole lot of weird, happy
| |
| dreams. Thirty seconds after I woke up, I forgot everything about the dream, but the lingering
| |
| mood told me everything I needed to know.
| |
| A time traveler and an alien peacefully steeping tea together will leave this kind of a mood.
| |
| So, just like putting Asahina-san down off my shoulders, I threw off all worries and lived calmly
| |
| for a month.
| |
| But there was still a problem.
| |
| After seeing that extremely cute face, this problem had slipped my mind; but even though she
| |
| fell asleep, Asahina-san wouldn't forget what Nagato and I, along with Asahina-san (Big) went
| |
| through on December the eighteenth. From her point of view, she had just heard from me that
| |
| time and space had been changed and had not known whether to believe it or not. After going
| |
| back in time to see the horrid scene in which "I" got stabbed, she got put to sleep. After she woke
| |
| up, did she want to go back? — That's the problem.
| |
| From my point of view, she'd already completed her mission very well, since what she did only
| |
| she could do. Except Asahina-san didn't see it like that. Now that I think about it, not long after
| |
| the end of the vacation, Asahina-san became very absent-minded and lost in thought.
| |
| This and that Sunday Asahina-san who called me out melancholically are connected in some
| |
| way. She even saved a kid wearing glasses from an auto accident that day. Actually, Asahinasan's
| |
| (Big) secrecy has an interesting implication. Whoever makes Asahina-san cry deserves to
| |
| be beat to a pulp; this is indisputable. After reflecting for a while, I wondered how many times
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===19 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |I've made Asahina-san cry? Next time I go to a boxing practice ring with Haruhi, I'll practice
| |
| some boxing. I can even enjoy the sensation of hitting people and being hit.
| |
| To cut a long story short, it's a good thing that Sunday when two people went to buy tea
| |
| happened. It got me thinking about the future of the SOS Brigade, and it successfully lifted
| |
| Asahina-san's depression. To tell you the truth, I don't know what she perceived, but we seem to
| |
| have a mutual understanding. There's no point explaining it in detail, especially not to Asahinasan
| |
| now.
| |
| I never mention John Smith in front of Haruhi. This is somewhat like me not telling Asahina-san
| |
| about the adult Asahina-san; it has a similar meaning. This is the emergency trump card.
| |
| If the time comes — —
| |
| Well, I don't want that time to come.
| |
| ...
| |
| ......
| |
| .........
| |
| And as February began, the topic started to show up again.
| |
| As soon as the new year arrived, the atmosphere around the school changed. For example, you
| |
| will almost never see a third-year anymore. Around this time, they are all getting prepared for
| |
| tests and whatnot, maybe this is the reason, but even the mood in homeroom was much more
| |
| tense. As I think back to last year, it obviously does affect me. If the third-years don't work
| |
| attentively, and the marks do not surpass the competitive schools in the district, the principal will
| |
| fretfully request everyone to enroll in extra courses or sacrifice the school cultural festival for
| |
| mock tests and the like. And since I have to do this after two years, it's very depressing.
| |
| Talking about tests, the tests that determine your class number are about to begin. Our school has
| |
| two of them. Actually, class nine, which Koizumi's in, is Math/Physics. I'm not sure whether he
| |
| just has connections or is naturally smart, I'm still amazed he managed to transfer in. I sure don't
| |
| take Math and Physics seriously enough to make them my principle courses.
| |
| Temporarily moving my thoughts from the future to the present hell, University admission tests.
| |
| Why can't the quickly counting down senior days go by slower? I am purposely not looking at
| |
| the calendar. Since I got back from December the eighteenth, I have been carefree and relaxed.
| |
| All in all, I can't think of a more dangerous job than fixing time and space. Since I completed it
| |
| smoothly, just let me rest for a little while. Nagato is now exactly the same as before. Asahinasan's
| |
| smiling face has finally come back. Haruhi is a bit unusual, but she'll be back to her noisy
| |
| self in no time at all.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===20 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |At this point, there shouldn't be any problems at all. I might as well say I don't want to think
| |
| about it. But, in the club room, a selfish person just has to bring up trivial matters and deem it
| |
| important all by himself. He is the only brigade member to be cast aside with Haruhi, the useless
| |
| during a time-space change esper, Koizumi.
| |
| "There are two December the eighteenths you frequently visit, interesting."
| |
| After the incident at the mysterious mansion, Koizumi has enjoyed listening to the experiences
| |
| I've had with time travel. Just like a smart little grandson wanting a story out of his grandparents,
| |
| Koizumi has already asked and inquired many times before. He seems to really want to travel in
| |
| time. I always feel like he envies me. I mean, on the way back from Tsuruya-san's, he was
| |
| heartily asking "Can I go too?" and "I don't even care if I can’t see the past me." and stuff like
| |
| that. Needless to say, I completely ignore him.
| |
| I am embarrassed because of the Nagato thing, so even though everything is over, I still talk
| |
| obscurely about it. Finally, I cannot deter Koizumi any longer and, not wishing to offend him too
| |
| much, told him about the incident.
| |
| So, just as I had expected, he started to explain cheerfully.
| |
| "You see, this all started when Nagato-san changed the world on the dawn of December the
| |
| eighteenth. In that world, I, Suzumiya-san and Asahina-san were all normal people. You spent
| |
| three days there, then you went three years back in Nagato-san's Emergency Escape Program......
| |
| No, wait, four years now...... There you met the normal Nagato-san and went back once again to
| |
| dawn on December the eighteenth."
| |
| Yes I know that. I’ve been there again recently, you know.
| |
| "Okay, think about this. Dawn of December the eighteenth. Let’s label the time that Nagato-san
| |
| changed the world as 'X'. When you went from Tanabata four years ago to 'X', that 'X' already
| |
| wasn't the original 'X'."
| |
| What? That's impossible. There can't be more than one 'time' at a time.
| |
| "No, that's just the way our minds work. It's simple, really. If the world had not changed at 'X',
| |
| Suzumiya-san wouldn't have disappeared and I wouldn't have become a normal person. If that
| |
| were the case, you would have no reason to go back."
| |
| An ontological paradox. Yes, I know of those.
| |
| "But this world requires you to go back in time to fix it. If you didn't go, the world would have
| |
| continued on its wrong path. So you went back to the past, and righted the world. Otherwise this
| |
| time would not exist."
| |
| "Let's draw a diagram. That might help."
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===21 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |Ever since the snow mountain incident, Koizumi likes diagrams a lot. Picking up a whiteboard
| |
| marker, he starts to trace a line down the whiteboard.
| |
| “Let’s say this line is the world going on its original course from the past to the future.”
| |
| The line stops in the middle of the board. He draws a circle on it and labels it 'X'.
| |
| "This is the original time. Here, Nagato-san changed the world she was in and your memories of
| |
| that world begin.
| |
| Koizumi begins drawing again. This time it isn't a straight line. It’s a very rounded line curving
| |
| to the right, making a circle leading back to the 'X' point. The diagram now looks like a budding
| |
| leaf with half ripped off.
| |
| "This circle is the memory you have after the eighteenth. The Emergency Escape Program let
| |
| you return to Tanabata four years ago, and from there you went to the eighteenth. If Nagato-san
| |
| had been reverted right here, everything would have been fine, but it didn't work out like that I
| |
| guess."
| |
| Because Asakura Ryoko was there. But, at that time, it wasn't just Asakura who intervened.
| |
| There was also a "Me" from the future, along with Nagato and Asahina-san (Small). We did
| |
| everything in our power to revert the world to its former state. Now that I think about it, it took
| |
| about a month.
| |
| "That's it. Which means you saved yourself. That is —"
| |
| Koizumi's pen started out from the 'X' point again, this time looping to the left,
| |
| "— this part. The history of this world now. In the memory of Suzumiya-san and myself, you fell
| |
| down the stairs on the eighteenth and lost consciousness, not waking up until the twenty-first.
| |
| This was also two months ago, when you set out to save yourself."
| |
| Even after drawing the left loop, Koizumi didn't stop the pen. He continued the line that ran
| |
| through the 'X', only stopping when the line reached the bottom of the board. He put down the
| |
| pen, took a half-step back, glanced at me and looked at the diagram intently.
| |
| It was just a sideways eight, looking remarkably like an infinity sign ( ? ), with a line down the
| |
| middle. It’s very easy to understand like this. The point all the lines connect is the 'X' time.
| |
| I, who had always earnestly told myself I hated Math and Physics, was slowly beginning to
| |
| understand what Koizumi wanted to say.
| |
| The right loop was the time from my memory. After a series of chaotic events, I managed to
| |
| make it back to 'X' and was there when Nagato changed the world. I even got stabbed by
| |
| Asakura.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===22 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |The left loop was the time I missed. It was the time from when I lost consciousness after being
| |
| stabbed up to when I woke up in the hospital. Those three days were this loop.
| |
| And both circles start from 'X'......
| |
| "Meaning there are two 'X' times."
| |
| Koizumi answered me simply.
| |
| "If the world before the change is 'X', then after the change — We can call it 'X*’".
| |
| Koizumi, who had put down the pen, looked at his graph and was very interested.
| |
| "Without an 'X', there would be no 'X*'. So, the original 'X' did not disappear. We could say the
| |
| two times are superposed. When becoming...... superimposed, it got covered up. The old data
| |
| was overwritten with new data. The first 'X' ran for a while, but it and the changed world that
| |
| stemmed from it were covered up by the 'X*', the second timeline. But it isn't gone altogether,
| |
| it’s still there."
| |
| "I don't get it."
| |
| I pretended I didn't understand, while suddenly remembering Asahina-san's (Big) words.
| |
| Something about a larger and more complicated time quake occurring.
| |
| "It's like looking at two separate overlapping circuits. The intersection looks like it's a 2-D
| |
| connection. If we add another dimension, that's different. Even though in the world of horizontal
| |
| and vertical lines they look like one place, they are at a different depth."
| |
| I rub my temples, pondering what a time traveler would make of this. Or an alien, for the matter.
| |
| “There’s also another possibility I would like to share with you.”
| |
| I'm pretty sure I'll have to listen to anything he says now anyway.
| |
| "The memory we have but you don't have...... when you fell down the stairs on the eighteenth, to
| |
| your awakening on the twenty-first, three days later, maybe it never existed."
| |
| It doesn't really matter if it did or not. Besides, I was just lying there the whole time.
| |
| "Yes, it's just as you say. Do you remember what I said before? We cannot eliminate the
| |
| possibility the world was created five minutes ago. Maybe you being lifted into an ambulance
| |
| and out cold for three days never happened. You could also think, from when the world was
| |
| changed on the eighteenth to when you woke up on the twenty-first, those moments don't exist in
| |
| time. If this were true, then Suzumiya-san's and my own memories are made up and we've been
| |
| made to believe them after everything was reconstructed on the evening of the twenty-first......"
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===23 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |I did say I would listen, but no matter how I looked at it, it was ridiculo — I can't say that. It's
| |
| not completely impossible. The past had been re-written for a year back, and this was only three
| |
| days.
| |
| "Change of topic. Suzumiya-san saw the reality of the shadow girl, she's alert to it now."
| |
| Who? The person who pushed me down the stairs?
| |
| "It was Nagato-san."
| |
| That's hilarious. At the time, wasn't Nagato going down the stairs with you guys? Apparently, I
| |
| was at the back.
| |
| "Yes. That's what we all remember. Nagato-san didn't push you directly. But she was the one
| |
| that made up the story of you being knocked unconscious. And Suzumiya-san intuitively sensed
| |
| that it was no accident. Of course she doesn't really know it was Nagato-san. In reality, the
| |
| perpetrator wasn't at the scene of the crime. But Suzumiya-san doesn't know that. What she does
| |
| know is that for it to become like this, someone had to do something. So the culprit must be
| |
| hiding nearby."
| |
| Koizumi smiled that bright smile.
| |
| "That intuition sort of created the shadow girl. Of course, such a perpetrator does not exist. There
| |
| is no mysterious shadow.”
| |
| You can’t be telling me Haruhi suspects Nagato purely based on intuition. After Nagato's new
| |
| world was fixed, she changed everyone's memories at will. But I can believe that somehow,
| |
| Haruhi has come to realize something was wrong, that there was somebody, somewhere, doing
| |
| something.
| |
| "It's a theory, what I came up with to answer your question.”
| |
| The enlivening rogue sat on the chair and suddenly extended his arms wide.
| |
| "In fact, I don't understand how the timelines are created and paradoxes resolved. But then what
| |
| is Asahina-san doing, coming here from the future? So now I have a question for you. If you
| |
| could go into the past and steer history away from something awful, would you?"
| |
| I suddenly think of Asahina-san (Big) on the night of Tanabata. When Haruhi and Koizumi, who
| |
| had went to a different school, Asahina-san of the Calligraphy Club and Nagato with glasses
| |
| were assembled, I pressed the 'Enter' key on the keyboard, and the second time-quake happened
| |
| right away. The "I" from the past sitting on the long bench in the park. The "I" that helped the
| |
| middle-school Haruhi draw the pictures.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===24 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |If I had ran up at the time, I wonder what would have happened. If I had told him everything that
| |
| was going to happen, don't let Haruhi make that movie, don't give Nagato any trouble, etc, and
| |
| gave him some advice.
| |
| I can only shrug my shoulders, because there's nothing else possible.
| |
| "Yeah, I don't know."
| |
| If I really had the chance to do so, I say do it before you think about it. I know the head will be
| |
| hard to use, so just let the body do it. I always did that before, I'm anticipating doing it this time
| |
| too.
| |
| “But, no matter what people say, you can't just go on time traveling trips, especially if it doesn't
| |
| impact us.”
| |
| That's too bad, I was going to take you with me this time.
| |
| Even if your eyes look like Shamisen’s when he’s hungry in the middle of the night, I don't care.
| |
| Go beg Asahina-san; the adult one, that is. I have no clue where you have to go to find her. The
| |
| only thing I can tell you is, remember to bring some medicine for the dizziness.
| |
| Koizumi, depressed, shook his head and started to play Shogi by himself. I continued reading my
| |
| manga magazine like before, the club room was peaceful once again. I was just thinking, that's
| |
| good, when......
| |
| "Sorry to make you wait!"
| |
| With that, the door is kicked open. The main character in the chaos enters, her sailor uniform
| |
| skirt and hair blowing charmingly and freely in the wind. The master of this room, Haruhi, is
| |
| holding a convenience store bag, her face smiling complacently.
| |
| "The stores in the neighborhood don't have these snacks, so I had to go down the hill to get these.
| |
| Ahh! I'm freezing."
| |
| There was an electric stove in the corner of the room, so she quickly stretched out her hands to
| |
| warm them up. After the Brigade Leader came Nagato and Asahina-san. Both were carrying the
| |
| same type of things as Haruhi.
| |
| "........."
| |
| Nagato silently closed the door.
| |
| "Um, what should we do next?"
| |
| Asahina-san, confused, cocked her head. Haruhi zealously replied,
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===25 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |"Do I even need to tell you? Mikuru-chan, do you know what day today is? You couldn’t have
| |
| bought all this without knowing, right?"
| |
| "February the third. But, what does......?"
| |
| "It's the Spring Setsubun! Spring Setsubun!"
| |
| Haruhi pulled out a vacuum-packed food package out of the convenience store bag.
| |
| "That annoys me, Mikuru-chan. You didn't do this when you were little? It's Setsubun today, and
| |
| if it's Setsubun, you just naturally want to throw roasted soy beans and eat futomaki!"
| |
| Futomaki really is a local tradition. In a nutshell, she's a brigade leader that rigidly follows the
| |
| little traditional festivals of the four seasons. Now, the SOS Brigade isn't the 'Save our world by
| |
| Overloading it with fun: Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade' anymore, it's the 'Save the world by
| |
| celebrating all Obscure festivals: Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade'. This is so not a lie.
| |
| "What's this, a Bernoulli lemniscate?"
| |
| Right away, Haruhi noticed Koizumi's drawing on the white board. She looked at the path I had
| |
| traveled through time, her gaze like somebody stalking their own kid.
| |
| "It can't be. What formula would draw this line?"
| |
| "I just drew it for fun."
| |
| Calmly, Koizumi stood up and erased the path off the white board.
| |
| "I drew it to kill time, you don't need to think too deeply about it."
| |
| Awesome excuse.
| |
| "Oh, I see."
| |
| Haruhi easily believed it, because that thing didn't matter. She threw the bag to me. After flying
| |
| through the air, the bag landed in my hands. It was a bag filled to the brim with roasted soy
| |
| beans.
| |
| It's Setsubun! Because it is Setsubun, we just have to scatter beans — is what Haruhi was
| |
| thinking all through lunch break. At the time, Haruhi had loudly shouted,
| |
| "I kept thinking I was forgetting something. Yeah, It was Setsubun!"
| |
| Maybe she realized it after seeing Taniguchi's lunch, sushi. As soon as Taniguchi opened his
| |
| lunch box, he started to vent, "Oi, oi, what the hell is this? How come this is it?" angrily.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===26 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |"They made it for you with good intentions, don't be picky." I replied. But deep inside me, I
| |
| agreed with this kid, and I do not approve of whoever made such a lunch. At least wrap it up
| |
| after cutting it, don't let Haruhi see.
| |
| "Only worshipping foreign cultures isn't good, you know. You have to respect your own tradition
| |
| and enjoy the activities. It's kind of a pity if you ignore them. Without it, half the fun will be
| |
| gone. People who forget their roots are going down the wrong road!"
| |
| Quiet. Wait. Is it possible she thinks she's traveling down the right road? In my opinion, you
| |
| would even go backwards on a road a wild pig usually goes down.
| |
| "What are you talking about? I always set the king's road as my goal. So, I do everything I can.
| |
| Kyon, you even forgot today was Setsubun, right? That's hard to forgive."
| |
| I'm pretty sure you forgot too. No, as I was about to say this, HR ended, and Haruhi started
| |
| preparing immediately. The only thing she actually needs is soy beans and futomaki. She could
| |
| get it herself. Luckily, I was called by our homeroom teacher Okabe-sensei to run an errand.
| |
| Koizumi was also the cleaning person of the day. So, Haruhi could only get Nagato and Asahinasan
| |
| to go with her. After school, the three of them left. They finally got back now. That's
| |
| basically what happened.
| |
| We can just eat the futomaki facing the lucky direction of the year, but the soy beans have a
| |
| specific function.
| |
| "So, where are we going to scatter the beans?"
| |
| I opened a bag and asked this while shoving beans toward my mouth. This would go well with
| |
| some tea as a snack.
| |
| "If we do it in the clubroom, it would be really hard to clean up, it's best if we don't."
| |
| "Anywhere's fine."
| |
| Haruhi turns her bright eyes and says,
| |
| "Oh, yeah! Dropping them off the highest balcony on the school into the courtyard is a good
| |
| idea, right? The beans that drop onto the ground will become bird food, there's no need to clean
| |
| up."
| |
| Continuing, Haruhi declared,
| |
| "We already have people suitable to be 'lucky daughters', so let's do this on a grand scale."
| |
| The leader of the SOS Brigade was staring at Asahina-san, who was intently reading the
| |
| package, and Nagato, who was already sitting down in front of the table, reading her detective
| |
| novel.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===27 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |If there were a school contest to see who would be the best 'lucky daughters', the ones to win the
| |
| grand prize and special mention would probably be these two. Putting that aside, this type of
| |
| 'scatter the beans and banish the demons' event is right up their alley. Asahina-san could act it
| |
| out; Nagato would do the actual banishing.
| |
| We trailed behind Asahina-san and the person dragging her, Haruhi, finally reaching the highest
| |
| balcony. There, we followed instructions, and start to scatter beans. The scatterers are the three
| |
| girls in the Brigade, this was an order too. Koizumi and I are just responsible for replenishing
| |
| their supply of beans as they scatter them around. Following Haruhi's instructions, oddly enough,
| |
| we actually do this thing well.
| |
| When we first started, the students down there didn't know what was going on, and ran around
| |
| like a group of insects not wanting to die. But before a minute had passed, the guys had come
| |
| back in twos and threes and started to fight for the beans Asahina-san and Nagato were throwing
| |
| down just like it was for money. They generally avoided the beans that Haruhi and her strong
| |
| arms were firing off, considering it was kind of like the beans were fired out of a gun. For this,
| |
| they moved in unison, going left and right at the same time.
| |
| "Stand and fight!"
| |
| Haruhi said, lamenting.
| |
| "Hey, if we had dressed Mikuru-chan up in a shrine maiden costume, we could have used this to
| |
| make some money. Even if we only asked for 100 yen each, we'd still make quite a large sum,
| |
| right?"
| |
| If we had dressed her up in that costume, she would suddenly be very popular, but there's
| |
| nothing to worry about. Cosplay is limited to the clubroom only.
| |
| "Whew, Fuku wa uchi — Umm, Yeah. Fuku wa uchi — "
| |
| I gazed at the frantically throwing Asahina-san and the completely silent Nagato tossing beans
| |
| off the balcony. Of course, a picture of them in shrine maiden costumes went through my head,
| |
| and I replied to Haruhi,
| |
| "500 yen each, I say."
| |
| Anyway, they were yelling 'Fuku wa uchi' (Luck in!), only part of the traditional expression.
| |
| This is because earlier...
| |
| "Well, since I read 'Naita Akaoni', I vowed that if I ever met a demon, I would be nice to it. The
| |
| Red Demon sure cried a lot. If I had seen that note, I would've happily gone to the Red Demons'
| |
| home to drink tea and eat dessert......"
| |
| Haruhi, who was totally on the side of the demons, had stated this with a serious glint in her eye.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===28 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |"Hmm? Listen up. If you ever meet the Blue Demon, you have to be nice to him. Our doors are
| |
| always open to anybody, even people who are not really people."
| |
| If we aren't careful, the luck will continue to come in, and that's good. But if we don't let
| |
| anything out I have the feeling it will inflate and pop, just like a bag. I agree with Haruhi on the
| |
| Blue Demon part, though.
| |
| Perhaps it was because it reminded me I had once cried over this in my childhood. Or because
| |
| Nagato was right there throwing beans with a crude demon mask on the side of her head. I had
| |
| wondered why the half-reading, half-listening-to-Haruhi Nagato had taken an interest in a mask
| |
| made of paper. She had silently picked it up, stared at it like a scanner would and put it on her
| |
| head.
| |
| Maybe Haruhi's phrase 'people who are not really people' touched her heart. — That was just a
| |
| figment of my imagination.
| |
| After Asahina-san and Nagato's service throwing beans ended, we went back to the clubroom,
| |
| and set to finishing off the futomaki. After searching for the lucky direction of the year on the
| |
| internet, Haruhi split the food up.
| |
| "Don't talk before you finish. Here, everyone stand. Face that way and eat."
| |
| Five people stood facing one direction, forming a line, and soundlessly started to devour the futomaki
| |
| Five people stood facing one direction, forming a line, and soundlessly started to devour the futomaki. This took a while; Haruhi and Nagato finished in about two or three bites, but
| |
| Asahina-san, holding the sushi with two hands like a little woodland animal, savored it. I pray
| |
| we won't be having this tonight for dinner too.
| |
| The remaining beans got put on a plate, and ended up in my and Haruhi's stomachs along with
| |
| some tea Asahina-san steeped. Setsubun is actually a holiday for eating, I have a new
| |
| understanding now.
| |
| Now, after all that, Haruhi should be pleased. But oddly, she was reserved again the following
| |
| day. Like I said before, it's not a serious melancholy, Setsubun proved that she was fine. But
| |
| because of that, I didn't know what to make of this, it doesn't feel safe. It also seems that only I
| |
| have noticed this melancholy.
| |
| |
| |
| |-
| |
| |colspan=2|
| |
| | |
| ===29 страница===
| |
| |-
| |
| |I don't even need to talk about the clueless Taniguchi and
| |
| Kunikida, and even the self-proclaimed Haruhi expert Koizumi hasn't noticed.
| |
| It is indeed weird.
| |
| I've racked my brain, but I can't continue to think about it.
| |
| A more straight-forwardly strange thing has occurred, and it didn't stop at being an odd mood
| |
| like Haruhi's, it actually took a shape that you could see with your eyes.
| |
| Like I said before, I told Koizumi I wasn't going to take him time traveling, and I meant it. I don't
| |
| really want to go to the past right now. I have done it lots of times, and there is no real reason to
| |
| go.
| |
| Can I stick to this pathetic wish? Well, I hope so.
| |
| This time, the person who traveled back in time will not be me. I am not leaving this time at all,
| |
| not one step. But even though I hoped otherwise, I was still sucked into this time's time
| |
| disturbance.
| |
| That person appeared in the utility closet in the Literature Club's room.
| |
| |
| |
| |} | | |} |
| __NOTOC__ | | __NOTOC__ |