The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (5 page)

“Asahina.”

I used the arm that was still free to point to my chest. I must have been really upset considering what I said next.

“There should be a star-shaped mole on your breast around here. There is, right? Would it be possible for you to show me—”

I was socked in the face.

By Asahina. By Asahina’s fist.

My words had left Asahina stupefied: her face gradually turned red, and tears began to well up in her eyes before she clumsily delivered a smack straight to my face.

“… Sob.”

And with that, she ran off in tears.

“Ah, Mikuru. She’s so hopeless. Hey, young man. No more of that funny business. Mikuru’s really shy! If you try something again, I’m gonna lay the smack down.”

After one last painful squeeze to my wrist, Tsuruya picked up the bag and calligraphy set from the floor and ran after Asahina.

“Hold on, Mikuru—!”

“…”

I could only stare in a daze as a gust of cold wind blew through my mind.

It’s all over.

Will I live to see the sun rise tomorrow? I’m pretty sure that once word spreads around school that I made Asahina cry, I’ll be jumped by more guys than I can count. I’d do the same if I were in their shoes. I should probably come up with some last words to say.

I was finally out of ideas. I called Haruhi’s cell phone and got a “number not in use” message from the operator. I couldn’t remember her home phone number, which had been erased from the student directory, along with Haruhi’s name. I considered going to her house, but then I remembered that I’ve never been there. Not very fair when you consider that Haruhi’s been to my place, but it’s too late now.

The missing class 1-9 aside, I went to the faculty office to ask about where Koizumi and Haruhi might be. A miserable experience. There was no student named Haruhi Suzumiya in any class. And there hadn’t been a transfer student named Itsuki Koizumi.

There was nothing I could do.

Where would I find a lead? Was this Haruhi’s attempt at an
elaborate game of hide-and-seek? I have to figure out where she’s disappeared to. But why would she do that?

I continued to think as I walked. Asahina’s blow may have helped, as I’d managed to cool my head down. No point in going crazy right now. This is when you have to stay calm. Calm.

“Please be there,” I muttered as I headed toward the only destination left. The last bastion. The final line of defense. If it’s fallen, this tale is over. Pulled off the air.

The literary club room in the clubhouse, also known as the old shack.

If Nagato isn’t there, I’m completely out of options.

Which is why I was walking slowly and taking my time as I headed to the clubroom. A few minutes later I found myself before the old wooden door with my hand on my chest to check my pulse. My heart was certainly beating at an abnormal rate, but this was a significant improvement over the nervous wreck I had been during lunch. My senses may have grown numb after the chain of bizarre happenings. I’m getting desperate. I’ll have to march on blindly while anticipating the worst possible outcome.

I skipped the knocking and threw the door open.

“…!”

And there I saw…

A small figure sitting in a metal chair at the corner of the long table with a book opened before her.

Yuki Nagato, staring at me through the lenses of her glasses, with her mouth open in surprise.

“You’re here…”

I sighed in relief as I shut the door behind me. Nagato was silent as always, but I was unable to celebrate. I was well aware of the
fact that Nagato had stopped wearing glasses after the incident with Asakura. However, the Nagato in front of me was wearing the same glasses as before. Which reminded me of how much better Nagato looked without glasses. At least, by my standards.

Besides, that expression didn’t look right on her face. That would be the look of a girl in the literary club who had just been surprised by a strange guy barging in. Why are you surprised? Wouldn’t that be the last emotion to expect from your character?

“Nagato.”

I’d learned my lesson from what happened with Asahina, so I suppressed the urge to charge over as I slowly approached the table.

“Yes?” Nagato responded without making a move.

“Answer this for me. Do you know who I am?”

Nagato pursed her lips, pushed the bridge of her glasses up, and remained silent.

I was about ready to give up and search for a monastery to join.

“I do.”

Nagato was staring at a spot in the vicinity of my chest as she responded. There was hope. This Nagato might be the one I know.

“I actually know a fair deal about you. Do you mind if I talk for a bit?”

“…”

“You actually aren’t a human but an alien-made organic android. You can freely use magic-like powers. Such as by making a bat that only hits home runs or infiltrating cave cricket space…”

I was already regretting those words as I spoke them. Nagato clearly had an odd look on her face. Her mouth was wide open,
as were her eyes, which darted between my shoulders. Nagato’s demeanor indicated that she was afraid to look me in the face.

“… That would sum up what I know about you. Was I wrong?”

“I’m sorry.”

Nagato’s response made me question if my ears were functioning properly. Why an apology? Why would Nagato ever say such a thing?

“I wouldn’t know. I only know that you’re from class 1-5. Because I see you from time to time. But I don’t know anything else about you. This would be the first time I’ve ever talked to you in this place.”

My last bastion collapsed like a tall building built on brittle, weathered sand.

“… Which means you aren’t an alien? Do you remember anything about the name Haruhi Suzumiya?”

The word “alien” drew a puzzled tilt of the head from Nagato.

“No,” came her response.

“Wait.”

Who am I supposed to rely on if Nagato’s no good? I’m like a newly born swallow who’s been abandoned by its parents. I need her help to stay sane. The way things are going now, I’m gonna snap.

“That’s impossible.”

No good. I’m about to lose my cool again. My mind was a chaotic mess, with red, yellow, and blue shooting stars flying every which way. I circled around to Nagato’s side of the table.

Her pale fingers shut the book. That thick hardcover. I didn’t have time to catch the title. Nagato stood up from her chair and backed a step away from me. Her eyes, like two polished black Go stones, were quivering hesitantly.

I put my hand on Nagato’s shoulder. I was no longer composed
enough to recall my prior blunder with Asahina. I was completely focused on preventing her from escaping. If I didn’t grab hold of her now, I feared I would find that every person I had ever known had slipped through my fingers. I didn’t want to lose any more people.

I could feel the warmth of her body through her uniform as I spoke to the short-haired girl who was trying to turn away from me.

“Remember. The world changed between yesterday and today. Asakura’s here instead of Haruhi. Who was responsible for the substitution in personnel? The Data Overmind? You have to know something if Asakura’s back. Isn’t Asakura one of your brethren? What’s the big idea? You should be able to give me an explanation, even if I can’t understand it—”

As you always have, I was about to say, but instead I found myself feeling like I had swallowed liquid lead and it was spreading through my stomach.

Why is she reacting like an ordinary human being?

From the side I could see that Nagato’s eyes were shut tight and her pale, porcelain-like cheeks were flushed. Short, staccato pants escaped from her parted lips, and I realized that the slender shoulder I was grabbing was quivering like a freezing little puppy. A trembling voice reached my ears.

“Stop…”

That woke me up. At some point Nagato’s back had been pinned against the wall. Which means I had unconsciously cornered her. What am I doing? I’m practically assaulting her. If there were any witnesses, I’d immediately find myself with my hands cuffed behind my back and receiving my punishment from society. A sick idiot who attacked a timid female literary club member while she was alone in the clubroom. That would be me, from an objective perspective.

“Sorry about that.”

I put my hands in the air.

“I didn’t mean to attack you. I just wanted to check something…”

My legs were about to give out on me. I reached for a nearby metal chair and plopped down like a mollusk. Nagato was still glued to the wall. I suppose I was lucky that she didn’t race out of the room.

I looked around the clubroom again and instantly realized that this wasn’t the SOS Brigade’s secret base. This room only had bookshelves, a few metal chairs, a long folding table, and an old desktop computer that sat on top of said table. It wasn’t the cutting-edge machine Haruhi had swindled from the computer society. This one was at least three generations older. It was like comparing a carriage with a high-speed rail.

Naturally, there wasn’t a brigade chief pyramid or a brigade chief desk for it to sit upon. No fridge and no garment rack with multiple costumes. None of the board games Koizumi had brought in, no maid, and no Santa’s granddaughter. Nothing at all.

“Damn it.”

I buried my head in my arms. Game over. If this was somebody’s idea of a psychological attack, they’d certainly succeeded. A job well done. So, who was behind this experiment? Was it Haruhi, the Data Overmind, or a new enemy of this world…?

Five minutes or so passed. I pretended to pull myself together as I nervously lifted my head.

Nagato was still glued to the wall as she stared at me with her ebony eyes. Her glasses were a little crooked. Though I should probably have thanked the heavens that she no longer looked at me with fear. That face was what you would expect from someone who had just run into her long-dead brother on the street. At least she wouldn’t be calling the cops on me. A small source of relief in this panic.

I was about to ask her to sit down, when I realized that I had
stolen Nagato’s seat. I’ll let her have this chair. Or should I pull out another one for her? Wait, she might not want to sit down next to me.

“Sorry.”

I apologized again as I stood up. I grabbed a folded-up metal chair and moved to the center of the room. After confirming that I was a sufficient distance from Nagato, I sat down in the chair and buried my head in my arms again.

This was just an insignificant literary club. The same room I’d seen on that May day when an industrial-robot-like Haruhi dragged me there for my first encounter with Nagato. At the time the room only had a table, chairs, bookshelves, and Nagato. The rest of the crap came later. After Haruhi’s “This is now our clubroom!” proclamation. Like the portable stove, kettle, pot, fridge, computer…

“Hmm?”

I loosened my grip on my head.

Wait, what was in the room again?

Garment rack, hot water dispenser, teapot, teacups, utensils, an old tape deck…

“No.”

I needed to find something from the SOS Brigade hideout that hadn’t been in this clubroom before the takeover and was in the room now.

“The computer.”

It was certainly a different model. There was only a power cord on the floor, so it probably wasn’t connected to the Internet. However, this was the only item to draw my attention. The only anomaly I could spot.

Nagato was still standing. She must have been really worried, considering how she’d been watching me the entire time. But the second I glanced her way, she looked down. Upon closer
inspection, her cheeks were still faintly flushed. Ah… Nagato. This isn’t you. You would never look away with a flushed face.

I attempted to stand up in a casual fashion so she wouldn’t be so wary, futile as it might have been.

“Nagato.”

I pointed to the back of the computer.

“Do you mind if I use this for a bit?”

Nagato looked surprised before slowly adopting an expression of confusion. After glancing between me and the computer three times, she took a deep breath.

“Wait.”

She awkwardly moved the chair in front of the computer, pressed the power button, and sat down.

A hot cup of coffee would have cooled down to an acceptable temperature for a cat to drink in the time it took for the computer to boot up. After a sound like a squirrel gnawing at a tree trunk came to an end, Nagato began moving the mouse deftly. I would guess that she was moving or deleting files. She probably had stuff she didn’t want other people to see. I could understand the sentiment. I didn’t want anyone else to see my
MIKURU
folder.

“Go ahead,” Nagato said in a barely audible voice, without looking at me, as she left the seat to stand guard against the wall.

“Sorry about that.”

I sat down and stared at the monitor, using every trick I knew to search for the
MIKURU
folder and the SOS Brigade website file, before slouching in defeat.

“… Nothing, huh?”

I couldn’t find a link. There wasn’t any proof that Haruhi had ever been here.

I was curious about the data Nagato had just hidden, but I could feel a watchful gaze on my back. All signs indicated that the plug would be pulled the instant I found something I shouldn’t.

I stood up.

There weren’t any clues on this computer. I wasn’t actually interested in the Asahina photo collection or the SOS Brigade website. I was hoping that a helpful message from Nagato might appear, like what happened when Haruhi and I were trapped in closed space. That hope had been crushed.

“Sorry about bothering you.”

I bid farewell in a weary voice and headed for the door. I’ll go home. And go to sleep.

That was when something unexpected happened.

“Wait.”

Nagato drew a sheet of coarse paper from the bookshelf and hesitantly stepped before me. Her eyes were fixed on my necktie knot.

“If you’d like…”

She extended a hand.

“Please take this.”

I was handed a blank application form.

Well.

It’s a good thing that I’ve been through so many experiences that made no sense at all, or I’d be running around looking for a shrink right now.