The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (18 page)

… Er, why is Asahina (Small) here? I can understand the adult version of Asahina clinging to my body. She came here with me. But where did the small Asahina come from? Oh, I get it. I was either hallucinating or seeing my life flash before my eyes…

The sensation of blood pouring from my body was scarier than any pain I felt.

Crap, I’m gonna die.

As I lamented over how I hadn’t prepared any last words, I sensed somebody above my head. That person picked up the Nagato-made injector that had fallen next to me.

And then, in a voice that sounded familiar but that I couldn’t recognize…

“Sorry. There’s a reason we couldn’t save you from that. But don’t worry about it. It was a painful experience for me too. Well, we’ll manage to take care of the rest. Or yeah, I already know that we’re going to take care of the rest. You’ll understand soon enough. Just sleep for now.”

What are you talking about? Who’s doing the talking? What’s going on? The images of Asakura’s finishing blow, a spectacled Nagato kneeling with her hands on the ground, two Asahinas, and Haruhi wearing a uniform from a different school mixed into a jumbled mess.

And then I blacked out.

Shari shari
.

I could hear a crisp sound.

As I began to regain consciousness in the darkness, a corner of my mind was thinking in a daze.

It might have been a dream. You know how when you wake up from an incredible dream, you’re all like, wow, for the next five minutes or so, but the details become hazy when you get to brushing your teeth, and by the time you’re eating breakfast you’ve forgotten them entirely. Next thing you know, the impression of an incredible dream is the only thing left. I’ve experienced that a number of times.

And there were a number of instances in which I could clearly remember every last detail of an incredibly dull dream. Or a dreamlike experience. Like the night when I was stuck in closed space with Haruhi, a memory of an experience that had actually happened before it had been negated.

That was the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up.

I could see a white ceiling. This wasn’t my room. It was either morning or dusk, based on the translucent orange glow to the white ceiling and walls.

“Oh!”

That voice sounded as soothing to my still-groggy mind as church bells to devout believers.

“You’re finally awake? You seemed to be sound asleep.”

I turned my head to look for the person talking. That person was sitting in a chair, next to where I was lying horizontally, peeling an apple with a fruit knife.
Shari shari
. A long piece of red skin dangled without snapping.

“I suppose I should say good morning. Although it’s actually evening.”

Itsuki Koizumi was sitting there with a gentle smile on his face.

As I watched, Koizumi finished peeling the entire apple and placed it on a plate, which he set down on a side table. Then he drew a second apple from a paper bag before smiling at me.

“It’s a good thing you woke up. I was at my wits’ end, to be honest. Oh… You seem to be spaced out. Do you recognize me?”

“What about you? Do you know who I am?”

“That’s an odd question. Of course I do.”

I could tell which Koizumi this was by looking at him.

The dark-blue-blazer school uniform. Not the black traditional one.

It was the North High uniform.

I drew one arm from the blanket covering me. There was an IV drip hooked up to my arm. I stared at it.

“What time is it? What day is it?” I asked.

Koizumi had a look of surprise on his face, or whatever passed as a look of surprise for him.

“That’s the first question you have to ask upon waking up? It’s
almost as if you’re aware of your current situation. In any case, the answer would be a little past five
PM
on December twenty-first.”

“The twenty-first, huh…?”

“Yes, three days have passed since you fell unconscious.”

Three days? Unconscious?

“Where are we?”

“A private hospital.”

I looked at my surroundings. A fancy-looking single room. I was lying on the bed. I was given a private room? I didn’t know my family had the money.

“The director of this hospital happens to be an acquaintance of my uncle, so you were provided with special service—that’s the story.”

Which means it isn’t true.

“Yes. I asked the Agency to pull some strings. You’ll be able to stay here for an entire year at a cheap price. Having said that, I’m very relieved that you recovered in three days. No, not because of money. My superiors were on my case for letting something happen to you. I had to write up a report.”

Three days before the twenty-first would be the eighteenth. What happened to me on that day…? Oh, I see. I almost died from losing too much blood, so they took me to the hospital… no, wait. Something’s wrong.

I nervously lifted the hospital gown I was wearing and touched the right side of my body.

Nothing. It didn’t hurt or itch at all. That wasn’t the kind of wound to heal in three days. Not unless somebody patched me up good.

“Why am I here? You said I was unconscious?”

“So you don’t remember? I suppose that’s to be expected. You hit your head pretty hard.”

I put my hand on my head. I could only feel hair. No bandages or hospital mesh hat.

“That’s right. Oddly enough, there wasn’t any external sign of injury. No internal bleeding either. And no sign of anything wrong with your brain functions. The doctor couldn’t determine what was wrong with you.”

Koizumi continued. “However, we all saw you fall down the stairs. That was a dreadful sight. To be honest, it was terrifying to watch. We weren’t sure if you’d ever wake up again after hearing you hit the floor so hard. Would you like me to tell you how it happened?”

“Shoot.”

I had been going down the stairs in the clubhouse when I either slipped or missed a step. Then I tumbled headfirst with the back of my head hitting the floor with a loud
wham
, and I stopped moving.

That was what had happened, according to Koizumi’s explanation.

“It was horrible. We had to call an ambulance and accompany your limp body to the hospital. I’d never seen Suzumiya look so pale before. Oh, Nagato was the one who called for an ambulance. Her ability to keep a cool head may have saved your life.”

“How did Asahina react?”

Koizumi shrugged.

“The way you would expect her to react. She was in tears as she clung to your body and cried out your name.”

“What time on the eighteenth did it happen? Which floor was I on?”

I fired off questions in rapid succession. The eighteenth would be the first day after the world had changed and left me running around in a panic.

“You don’t remember? It was a little after noon. The five of us
had just finished an SOS Brigade meeting and were about to go shopping.”

Shopping?

“You’ve lost your memory of that as well? I assume you aren’t pretending that you can’t remember.”

“Just talk.”

Koizumi’s lips curved into a smile.

“The topic of the meeting that day was, let’s see, there will be a party for the children in Suzumiya’s neighborhood on the twenty-fifth, Christmas Day, and the SOS Brigade is supposed to make a guest appearance. A way to put Asahina’s Santa outfit to good use, I believe. A heartwarming event where she plays Santa and hands out presents to the children. Suzumiya set everything up.”

Deciding everything on her own, just as always.

“However, it wouldn’t be very realistic if Santa showed up alone, so Suzumiya came up with the idea of Asahina’s riding in on somebody in a reindeer costume. We drew lots to determine who would play that role. Well? Are you starting to remember?”

Can’t remember a thing. If a guy was able to remember a memory that didn’t exist, he’d make a fine swindler. He’d need to check into a different kind of hospital. But there wasn’t any point in telling Koizumi this.

“Well, you ended up being picked. So we needed to put together a reindeer costume and we were heading down the stairs of the clubhouse on our way to go buy materials when you fell.”

“Sounds dumb.”

That drew a frown from Koizumi.

“You were walking at the back of the group. That’s why nobody saw what happened. You just came tumbling down,” Koizumi said as he dropped the apple from his right hand before catching it in his left, “and flew right past us. However…”

Koizumi returned to peeling the apple.

“After we raced over to your still body, Suzumiya said that she thought she saw someone at the top of the stairs. That she caught a skirt flutter for a moment before it disappeared beyond the corner of the landing. I was curious, so I asked around, but we were the only ones in the clubhouse at the time, and Nagato also shook her head. A phantom girl. We were waiting for you to tell us if you were pushed off or not…”

Don’t remember. That would be the best response. Just an accident. An unfortunate accident brought about by my carelessness. I’ll go with that.

“Are you the only one who’s come to visit?”

“What about Haruhi?” would have been the next words out of my mouth, but I stopped myself. However, Koizumi still chuckled.

“You keep glancing around. Are you looking for someone in particular? There’s no need to worry. We’ve been taking turns watching over you so there would be someone around when you woke up. Asahina should be coming soon.”

Koizumi gave me a funny look. The look you’d give a friend who completely fell for an April Fools’ joke, while laughing at him on the inside. What was that look for?

“No, I was just feeling a bit jealous. Or envious, if you please.”

Kind of odd for you to feel that way, considering the circumstances.

“The brigade members have been rotating shifts, but it’s apparently part of the brigade chief’s job to worry about the health of her subordinates.”

Koizumi began methodically slicing the peeled apples and shaping the slices into rabbits before placing them on a plate on the table.

“Suzumiya has been here the entire time. The entire three days.”

I looked in the direction he was pointing. The side of the bed opposite Koizumi. On the floor.

“…”

There she was.

Haruhi was sleeping snugly in a sleeping bag with her mouth in an upside-down V.

“We were very worried. Both she and I.”

He was laying it on thick with the mournful tone.

“Suzumiya was especially upset… well, I can tell you about that at a later date. In any case, you have something else to do first, right?”

Everybody likes to boss me around. Asahina (Big), Koizumi… But I’m not going to say anything about that. I didn’t care whom those extra peeled apples were for.

“Right,” I said.

Draw on her face… or no. I can do that some other time. There’ll be plenty of chances for that.

I stretched my arm out from its position on the bed and touched her angry-looking face with my fingertips.

Hair that wasn’t long enough for a ponytail. A painfully familiar sight. Her black hair shook in a teasing way.

Haruhi opened her eyes.

“… Uh?”

Haruhi peered at me with bleary eyes as she groaned before finally realizing who was pinching her cheek.

“Ah!”

She apparently forgot that she was in a sleeping bag. Her attempt to spring up failed as she fell down and wriggled around like an inchworm before somehow managing to stand up and stab a finger in my face while shouting.

“Stupid Kyon! If you’re awake, then tell me that you’re awake before waking me up! I have to prepare myself!”

Don’t be ridiculous. Still, your loud voice is better than any medicine right now.

“Haruhi.”

“What!?”

“Wipe your drool.”

Haruhi rubbed at her mouth as her lips and eyebrows twitched. She rubbed her entire face while glaring at me.

“You didn’t draw on my face, did you?”

I was tempted.

“Hmph. So, don’t you have anything else to say to me?”

I gave her the reply she wanted.

“I guess I gave you all a scare. Sorry about that.”

“A-as long as you understand. Of course. It’s part of the brigade chief’s job to worry about brigade members!”

Haruhi’s yelling was sweet music to my ears. I heard a soft knock on the door. Koizumi stood up tactfully and pulled the sliding door open.

There stood the third visitor, who took one look at me and lost her calm.

“Ah. Ah, ah…”

The short and lovely North High upperclassman, a miraculous fusion of soft hair and doll face, stood in the entrance carrying a vase.

“Hey… Asahina. Hi there.”

I wasn’t exactly sure how long it’d been since we last met.

“Wah…”

Tears began to trickle down Asahina’s face.

“Thank heaven… Really… I’m so glad…”

I would have loved for her to throw herself into my arms again, and Asahina seemed ready to do just that, but she had forgotten to set the vase down, so she just stood there and cried.

“You’re overreacting. He just hit his head and passed out. I knew all along that Kyon would wake up eventually.”

Haruhi sounded a little jittery as she spoke without looking at me.

“Because I already decided that the SOS Brigade runs year-round without any breaks. Every one of us has to be on the job. A hard knock to the head or a coma won’t be an acceptable excuse. Understand? Kyon, going AWOL for three days comes with a heavy price. You get a penalty! A penalty! Plus interest!”

Koizumi was smiling pleasantly as Asahina continued to rain large teardrops onto the floor and Haruhi looked away from me in a huff.

I looked across all of them before nodding and shrugging.

“I know. So, with interest, how much do I owe you?”

Haruhi glared at me before bursting into a surreal smile. She’s so simpleminded.

I was told that I’d be paying for everybody at the café for three days. I’ll probably have to withdraw my savings.

“And…”

There’s more?

“Yep, you have to pay separately for the emotional stress you caused everyone. That’s right, Kyon. At the Christmas party, you have to wear the reindeer costume and perform something for us. You’ll have to keep going until you’ve managed to thoroughly entertain every one of us. I’ll kick you into another dimension if it’s boring! And you’ll have to perform for the children too. Understood!?”