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The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Page 9
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Page 9
Someone, I don’t know who, had helped tidy up my desk. It might have been Asakura. The pencils and notebooks I’d left out had been neatly placed inside the desk, while my bag was hanging from the side. The items I sought were on the other side.
“She comes up with some crazy ideas.”
An expression of admiration for Haruhi as I grabbed my gym clothes. This large bag held the short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and tracksuit I’d used during first period. The plan that Haruhi had told us in the taxi on the way here was to “disguise them as North High students,” a very logical course of action. “Koizumi can wear your gym uniform, while I wear the tracksuit. Then we can just jog straight in. They’ll think that we’re members of a sports team that just returned from a run. Yep, perfect.”
So basically we’re using camouflage, the way insects do. This was obviously a better idea than attacking a boy-girl couple on their way home from school to steal their uniforms.
“That would also have worked.”
Haruhi commented casually from the corner outside school where she was waiting. She took the bag of gym clothes from me.
“In fact, that would make it harder for them to pick us out. You should have told us about your excellent idea earlier.”
That’d be like committing highway robbery.
Haruhi loosened the cord on the bag and dumped the contents without a smidgen of self-restraint. Four articles of clothing plopped onto the asphalt.
“You washed them, right?”
About a week ago.
“By the way, Suzumiya,” Koizumi said.
He was looking at my muddy gym uniform the way a cornered Mongolian gerbil would look at a Mongolian tiger.
“Where do we change? I hope that there’s a walled-off space in the vicinity.”
“We can change here.”
Haruhi replied casually as she picked up the track pants.
“There aren’t any people walking by, though it’s pretty cold. Oh, don’t worry. I’ll turn around. You too, John. You can serve as a wall.”
What was that sidelong glance supposed to mean?
“I don’t mind if you want to watch.”
And with a mischievous grin she stepped into the track pants and pulled them up under her skirt.
“My legs shouldn’t be that long.”
She knelt down to fold up the legs of the pants before standing back up and unfastening her skirt. Then she dropped the skirt without any hesitation, removed her black jacket, and began unbuttoning her blouse, which was when I looked away.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m wearing a T-shirt underneath.”
I caught the blouse being thrown on top of the jacket and skirt out of the corner of my eye and turned back. Haruhi struck a triumphant pose in a plain white T-shirt and my track pants, with her long hair blowing in the wind. As I watched her, I suddenly recalled a certain sight that I kind of wanted to see again.
“Hey, you up for going ponytail?”
Haruhi gave me a blank look.
“Why?”
No real reason. Just an issue of personal preference.
Haruhi snorted, though she didn’t seem to have a problem with the idea.
“It may look simple, but it’s actually difficult to do a ponytail correctly.”
As she talked, Haruhi reached into the pocket of the black jacket on the ground, pulled out a hair rubber band, and began deftly tying her long black hair behind her head.
“Well, I look more like an athlete this way. Is that good enough?”
Perfect. Your charm has gone up thirty-six percent in my eyes.
“Stupid.”
Haruhi always pretends to look angry when she doesn’t know how to react. I’ve learned well.
A short time later Koizumi finished changing. He must be pretty cold wearing a T-shirt and shorts in this weather. And it must feel especially odd to wear someone else’s gym uniform. Koizumi had goose bumps popping up as he spoke.
“Suzumiya, you aren’t going to wear the tracksuit jacket? In that case, may I borrow it?”
Haruhi’s arms were also bare, but she had a smile that appeared to blow the cold away.
“That won’t work. I’m using it to hide our bags. It’d be pretty lame if we were caught because of our bags after going through the trouble to disguise ourselves.”
The Kouyouen Academy book bag was certainly different in appearance from the North High one in a subtle way. Haruhi wrapped the jacket around their bags and ordered me to carry them. Their discarded uniforms went into my gym bag. I was also ordered to carry that.
“Okay then,” Haruhi said.
She placed both hands on her hips.
“We’re going to run like we just returned from a marathon. Got it!?”
Sure, I guess. What about me, though? Why would a member of a sports team be out running in his school uniform and carrying all this stuff?
“We’ll say that you’re the manager. Hey, fight! One, two, fight! One, two…”
I exchanged a glance with Koizumi before shrugging and taking off after the racing ponytail.
This Koizumi and I were both well aware that it was utterly impossible to stop Haruhi once she took off racing, whether literally or figuratively. Which meant that we had no choice but to follow after her.
Right? Isn’t that how it always is?
For better or worse, the North High school gate was always open, unlike at the private school at the bottom of the hill. There wasn’t a security guard in sight. We passed through without any problems as the short staged marathon with Haruhi shouting came to an end and we reached the goal line, the entrance to the building. I had never thought that inviting Haruhi and Koizumi to my school would be such a pain. Until three days ago, you both walked through this doorway on a regular basis.
“Pretty shabby-looking school. Weren’t these walls prefabricated? Are prefectural schools really poor? It’s a good thing I didn’t apply for this school.”
I listened to her reasonable observation as I turned away from the shoe locker. Once I finished changing to my indoor shoes, I began looking around for a pair or two of guest slippers that might happen to be lying around, but Haruhi had no qualms about opening a nearby locker and withdrawing indoor shoes belonging to some unknown North High student.
Her behavior was classic Haruhi, which might have been the reason I had a creepy smile on my face without realizing it.
“What are you smiling about? You look really dumb. I didn’t do anything funny.”
I dropped the smile. She had a point. Haruhi’s craziness was one thing, but this wasn’t the time to be smiling.
I threw Taniguchi’s shoes to Koizumi, since I figured they’d be about the right size.
“I appreciate it.”
Koizumi sure didn’t sound very appreciative as he put the shoes on. I stuffed his discarded sneakers into Taniguchi’s shoe locker.
I readjusted the bundled jacket with their bags under my arm.
“I’ll show you the way. Follow me.”
“Hold on.”
I was about to step forward when Haruhi stopped me. Her fingers were entwined in the tip of her ponytail, unconsciously, I guess.
“The alien known as Nagato is in the literary club?”
At this point she’d be the high school student formerly known to be an alien. Still, she was probably waiting all alone for me to show up.
“That Nagato is unlikely to run away from us. We should secure the time traveler, Asahina, first. Where is she?”
She probably went home already… but then I remembered. I guess I still have some inspiration left in me. I didn’t need to jog my memory much. The Asahina who said she didn’t know me had been carrying a calligraphy set, right? And she had belonged to the calligraphy club before she was abducted into the SOS Brigade. In that case, she should still be there at this very moment.
“Got it. This way.”
Sorry, Nagato. Hold on a little longer. We have to drop by the calligraphy club first.
I prayed for there to be a calligraphy club meeting today as I gradually began to pick up the pace.
Haruhi was the one who opened the door to the clubroom. She didn’t understand concepts like modesty or knocking on the door and I didn’t have the time to instruct her on how to be polite. Koizumi was standing out in the hallway with an uncomfortable look on his face.
There were three girls in the calligraphy club room, and they appeared to be practicing for New Year’s.
“Which one is Asahina?”
The conspicuously smaller member of the three wide-eyed girls answered in an unsure voice. “… Yes? What do you want…?”
Asahina was seated in a chair with a brush in her hand, which was frozen in midair.
I looked over Haruhi’s shoulder to check the room. I was relieved to find that Tsuruya wasn’t around. I guess she wasn’t in the calligraphy club?
Haruhi was whispering into my ear.
“That’s her? Is she really a second-year? She looks like she’s in middle school.”
“I would agree, but that’s her. She is most definitely Mikuru Asahina.”
Upon hearing that, Haruhi stomped over to tell lies to the petite angel who was frozen in place with brush in hand.
“I’m Suzumiya, head of the student council intelligence service. Mikuru Asahina, we have a few questions for you. We’ll need you to come with us for a moment.”
How can you say that with a straight face when you’re wearing a T-shirt and track pants?
Asahina was blinking rapidly as she spoke in an uneasy voice.
“Student council… intelligence service? What is that… I haven’t done anything…”
“Don’t worry. Don’t worry.”
Haruhi grabbed Asahina’s brush and placed it on the sheet of paper before grabbing her arm and pulling her up. The other members were either scared or shocked, since they didn’t say a word. We may have witnessed an epic battle involving different martial arts if Tsuruya had been around, but Haruhi secured her arm around Asahina and took her away without waiting for a response.
“Hmm… You’ve got a great body. Yep, plenty of character. I like you.”
Haruhi sounded pretty happy as she checked out the upperclassman from another school.
“Eep! Wah, um… ah!?”
Asahina’s eyes widened further when she noticed me waiting by the door. She was probably shocked to run into that sicko again. She also looked at Koizumi in surprise as he rubbed his hands together in the hallway to stay warm. Koizumi glanced at Asahina without any sign of recognition.
“I’m actually not a suspicious person. Honestly.”
You can’t pretend that you’re not involved after coming all this way in that getup, Koizumi.
Haruhi was holding on to the struggling Asahina like a mother holding back a child trying to run away from a trip to the dentist.
“Come on, John. Only that Nagato person is left. Take us to her.”
Don’t need you to tell me that.
We needed to make our way there before I got spotted by a sharp-eyed classmate or teacher who knew about my unauthorized escape.
To the third floor of the clubhouse, also known as the old shack, where we would find the SOS Brigade headquarters, officially known as the literary club room.
I knocked on the door before opening it this time.
“Yo, Nagato.”
A spectacled face looked up from the hardcover library book she was reading, which was on the table.
“Ah…”
Nagato sighed in relief when she saw me.
“Huh?”
Then her eyes grew wide upon seeing Haruhi walk in behind me.
“… Eh?”
Her jaw dropped when she saw Haruhi drag Asahina in.
“…”
By the time Koizumi walked through the door, she was speechless.
“Hello,” Haruhi said with a smile as she checked that everyone had entered the room before locking the door. Nagato and Asahina both reacted the same way, jumping in response to the click of the door.
“What is this?”
Asahina was almost in tears, just like before.
“Where are we? Why did you bring me here? Why are you l-locking the door? What are you…?”
Her practically identical reaction almost brought tears to my eyes. Ah, the memories.
“Be quiet.”
Just as before, Haruhi laid down the law as she looked around the room.
“Is the girl with glasses Nagato? Heya! I’m Haruhi Suzumiya! The guy in the gym uniform is Koizumi, and the little girl with a big chest is Asahina. And you know this guy, right? John Smith.”
“John Smith…?”
Nagato pushed her glasses up with a dubious look on her face as she gave me an incredulous glance. I shrugged and accepted the dumb nickname. There wasn’t much difference between Kyon and John.
“Hmm, so this is the place. The SOS Brigade, huh? Room’s pretty empty, but it’s nice. Plenty of space for bringing stuff in.”
Haruhi paced the entire length of the clubroom, like a cat checking out her new digs, as she peeked out the window and studied the contents of the bookshelves before she finally turned to me.
“So, what do we do now?”
You came all the way here without a plan? You really are Haruhi, huh?
“I’m all for making this clubroom our base, but the commute’s inconvenient. It’ll take time to come here after school’s over. Our school and North High don’t have much interaction. Right, why don’t we choose a time to meet up at the café in front of the station?”
Her sudden outburst wasn’t making any sense to the other people in this room, excluding me.
Nagato was frozen like a doll with a look of confusion on her face, Asahina was cowering while making strange motions, and Koizumi was opting for silence.
I was about to say whatever first came to mind when—
Beep.
Out of nowhere, the computer my hand was resting on made a sound. Nagato reflexively turned her head.
“Eep?”
I was barely able to notice Asahina’s legs giving out on her. The rest of my situational awareness was focused wholly on the computer.
The old CRT monitor flickered audibly as it slowly brightened. I could see the light reflected in Nagato’s glasses.
The hard drive began whirring, as though in response to the monitor—but it didn’t last long. This has happened before… No, I actually pressed the power button that time… I’ve been through an experience where the computer failed to boot up, but something still showed up on the monitor…
“Move over a sec.”
My body moved by itself. I pushed Haruhi aside as I circled around at full speed to the front of the monitor.
Words were silently appearing on the dark gray screen.
YUKI.N> By the time you read this message, I will no longer be myself.
… Yeah. That’s right, Nagato…
“Whoa? Nobody turned the power on. This is a real surprise.”
“It may have been set to a timer. Nevertheless, this is quite an ancient computer. It’s virtually an antique.”
I wasn’t listening to Haruhi’s and Koizumi’s conversation behind me. I couldn’t afford to miss a single letter, a single word. No time to blink. I could hear my heart tap dancing as I stared at the screen.
YUKI.N> If this message is on the screen, you, me, Haruhi Suzumiya, Mikuru Asahina, and Itsuki Koizumi must all be standing there.
The cursor scrolled along in a plain font at a speed that almost seemed to match my reading speed.
YUKI.N> Those are the keys. You have found the answer.
I didn’t come up with the answer. Haruhi was the one who came crashing in with Koizumi in tow. This Haruhi can also make herself useful… Still, Nagato, haven’t seen you in a few days.
I felt a little warm and fuzzy as I read the words on the monitor. I didn’t read them out loud, but in my heart I could hear every word in Nagato’s qui
et voice. The cursor continued to scroll.
YUKI.N> This is an emergency escape program. If you wish to execute, press Enter. Otherwise, press any other key. Once the program is executed, you will be given a chance to correct space-time. However, success is not guaranteed. Neither is your safe return.
Emergency escape program. This. This computer.
YUKI.N> This program can only be executed a single time. Once it starts, it will be deleted. If you have chosen not to run the program, it will delete itself without executing. Ready?
That was it. The blinking cursor sat at the end of the line.
Enter key or any other key, huh?
I turned to find Haruhi peeking at the screen from behind me.
“What does this mean? Is there some kind of trick involved? John, were you just teasing me? Explain yourself.”
I ignored Haruhi, Koizumi, and Asahina. I didn’t have time to look at Haruhi with a ponytail or Koizumi in my gym uniform or Asahina, cute as always. My focus was on the computer and one single person in this room. I turned to the spectacled girl with a look of surprise on her face.
“Nagato, do you know anything about this?”
“… No.”
“You really don’t?”
“Why?”
I wanted to reply to her denial of any involvement by saying that she was the one who had typed this message… but that would only confuse this Nagato.
I reread the last part again.
A message left by Nagato. The Nagato I knew. I didn’t understand what an emergency escape program did exactly. The stuff about no guarantee was a little unnerving.
However, it was too late to start worrying about that stuff. Nagato had my full confidence. She still has my full confidence. She would never do anything that was a mistake. I mean, we’re talking about Yuki Nagato, the docile and soft-spoken alien-made organic humanoid interface who’s saved me from danger so many times. I would question my own head before I questioned her words.
“Hey, John. What’s wrong? You have a funny look on your face again.”