Disclaimer: The characters of the Haruhi Suzumiya series of novels are created by Tanigawa Nagaru. No disrespect is intended by borrowing them for the presentation of this work of fan fiction.
This is a novel-length, divergent story depicting events past book 11 of the original series, and as such contains possible spoilers for plot elements up to that point. While reading all the books is certainly recommended, it is not strictly necessary for following this story. With one important exception, characters that are exclusive to the novels do not play a major role here; however, it must be noticed that the members of the SOS Brigade themselves have been growing up after the events covered by the anime series.
This is also an earnest attempt at writing an original flavor novel, i.e., one that imitates the style and motifs of the series as closely as possible. The eventual length of the story will be comparable to the story arc covered in books 9 to 11.
The author of this story has received indispensable support and advice from the members of the Soulriders community.
Prologue (Remembrance Impromptu)
Once again, summer had arrived.
Although spring is my favorite time of the year, summer comes right behind, and not just literally speaking. The long awaited summer vacation was finally so close that it was turning from a distant reverie into a tangible possibility; like peasants enduring the hardship of the rice-planting season, students had been working hard ever since the beginning of the new school year, knowing that the arduous labor will soon be over and there will be a short respite before the fruits of the invested effort can be harvested.
Shousho — the start of the hot season in the solar calendar — was still ahead, but the weather had been fair with ever increasing temperatures for two weeks already. To the teachers' eternal exasperation, the students' last shreds of determination to sit quietly inside reading about mind-numbing topics like function theory, verb conjugation or the power struggles of the Kamakura period were being slowly but surely worn down by the persistent sunshine.
This was my second summer as a high school student, but in a sense it was the first one when I actually felt more or less like an actual student, enjoying the steady and predictable schedule of school activities with normal, everyday thoughts in my mind. Mostly normal thoughts, but those that went beyond what any average person could possibly categorize as normal were, surprisingly, not that unwelcome either.
I realized — to my own mild astonishment — that on the whole I was more satisfied with the current situation than ever since entering high school and meeting the person who turned my entire world upside down like an irresistible force of nature.
Haruhi Suzumiya
It's a name that I won't forget as long as I live. One of the reasons for that was exactly that I had spent a large part of the last summer in a constant state of emergency, trying to avert an impending end-of-the-world disaster that always seemed to be just one poorly chosen word or inadvertent action away. Since that time things had gotten better — so much better in fact that right now I could sit here on the school premises and enjoy the agreeable atmosphere of an early afternoon in July like anybody else. I was completely confident of the fact that any sudden disturbance couldn't take it away from me.
For most people it might be a sign of foolishness to express excessive confidence in future events, but I had a very specific reason for my seemingly bold statement. Having originally been a direct threat to the world as we knew it, Haruhi's ability to subconsciously alter reality had by now become a source of stability instead, guarding us from all external threats.
The last time somebody had tried to divert the course of history from its proper path had been in April; the attempt had been swiftly and decisively thwarted in a manner that underlined the fact that the scheme hadn't had any chance of succeeding in the first place. Maybe such an overwhelming show of force was acting as a deterrent, making any would-be antagonists think twice before they pushed forward with their futile plans. Whatever the reason, the SOS Brigade had enjoyed an extended period of relatively peaceful and untroubled existence for over two months, and I wasn't going to be the one to complain about it.
However, the largest change could be seen in Haruhi herself, if one knew where to look. She was still as energetic and excitable as ever, sometimes coming up with a new idea that temporarily turned her immediate surroundings into a hotbed of more or less questionable activities, but anybody who observed her actions on a merely superficial level would miss the most important development. As much as it strains the definition of the word to say this, Haruhi was undeniably becoming more normal.
The few city-wide mystery searches that we had had after the SOS Brigade anniversary in May had turned into poorly-concealed excuses for window shopping, and Haruhi had apparently been completely content with that. Beyond the brigade activities, she was also interacting with other people on a daily basis, and I was pretty certain that these days she was genuinely enjoying the company of perfectly ordinary students like Sakanaka-san. Actually, when Haruhi was not using her position as the leader of the brigade to push issues in the direction she wanted, she could present an entirely engaging and sociable aspect of herself to others.
In my opinion, it wasn't as much a matter of her growing up into a better person as it was one of her again becoming the nice person she had once been. I had several good reasons for believing this after all the things that I had learned during the incident in April.
Oh, and one more thing. I couldn't remember the last time when Haruhi had openly expressed her desire to find aliens, espers or time travelers.
"The situation is exactly as you describe."
This completely unnecessary comment was provided by the person sitting idly next to me on the stairs leading down to the baseball field. The top team of North High was having a match against a visiting team from another school, and the lunch break had been extended to let the students watch the game. Other than whatever meager pride we could muster to support the home team, neither of us had any personal interest in the current match, and thus we sat there listlessly like two old cormorant fishers, content with the opportunity to just enjoy the scenery and let others do the hard work.
A moment of silent indulgence would have suited me perfectly, but the official mysterious transfer student and vice president of the SOS Brigade felt compelled to keep talking without any further encouragement to do so. He certainly seemed to enjoy the opportunity more than I did.
"Please let me assure you of the fact that my current smile is completely genuine and heartfelt. There hasn't been a single instance of closed space forming after that incident in April, and this state of things has allowed the Organization to lower its readiness level. After four years of living on the edge I finally get to sleep through the night unperturbed. I was not even fully aware of how large a burden the constant pressure had become until this reprieve. Quite honestly, I am feeling refreshed, almost like a different person, and I sincerely hope for things to stay this way."
Koizumi paused momentarily to watch as a fortuitously placed line drive brought in a run for the home team and chuckled before continuing.
"Still, there has been some minor consternation within the Organization concerning the current situation. From a certain point of view, right now we are essentially an agency without a purpose. Speaking of which, I must say that I can completely sympathize with the situation Tachibana-san is facing. I have understood that she's had a hard time after she left her respective faction, and it looks like their whole organization might be on the verge of collapse.
"Then, you know as much about the whereabouts of the other members of that temporary coalition as I do. Ever since the joining of the timelines in April there hasn't been a single sighting of the person known as Fujiwara, so we might have gotten permanently rid of him, although it goes without saying that one can never be completely certain when it comes to time travelers.
"On the other hand, the alien interface of the Sky Canopy Dominion is still attending Kouyouen and seems to be uninterested in communicating with us at the moment. Of course, I am not privy to whatever communications the two alien factions might be having with each other. That is the current situation, and there are no discernible forces acting toward destabilizing it."
To be completely fair, credit must be given for not mentioning Sasaki in that context.
"Certainly, the Organization is keeping an eye on Sasaki-san as well, for obvious reasons. She is definitely … interesting, in more ways than just one. But then again, so are you."
I profess to stay ignorant of whatever that is supposed to mean.
"I thought that I was completely clear with my choice of words. Anyway, it looks like both our assessments of the situation and expectations for the summer are in perfect harmony, and I find the prospects just as auspicious as you do. I am glad to say that there is indeed a stark contrast to the circumstances of just one year ago."
Koizumi stopped talking, and I watched other students around the perimeter of the field for a while before concentrating on the game again. It looked like the match was wrapping up, and unless the visiting team could make an unexpected comeback, the home team would take an easy win after the next half-inning. I wasn't particularly interested in a game with an obvious outcome, so I stood up and headed back to the main building. Koizumi was in no hurry and decided to stay through the end of the match, so as I walked away he just remarked that we'd be seeing each other after school hours again.
Although I hadn't bothered mentioning it when talking with Koizumi, there were other things that I had become aware of recently, and which were harder to assess because they represented some new development I was unfamiliar with. I wasn't really concerned about the situation, but there was this faint, nagging feeling at the back of the mind suggesting that I should be. For a lack of better word to describe it, Haruhi had apparently become absent-minded.
In July it was already way too late to catch May sickness, and in any case Haruhi would never catch such a commonplace disorder, but I was almost certain that there was something in her mind that she was holding back. On occasion, she would abruptly stop talking — even in the middle of a sentence — and stay silent for a good while before continuing with some other, completely unrelated topic. Or, she might suddenly lose all interest in a particular idea that she had only a moment ago pursued like it was her entire raison d'etre and just sit still for ages, contemplating some inner vision she wasn't willing to share with others.
I had previously seen what Haruhi looked like when she was bored, annoyed or just dispirited, and this spell was none of those. It wasn't even the muted aura of a Haruhi who was secretly hatching a new plan for making the world a more interesting place. No, there was something else, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was, and there wouldn't be any point in asking, anyway.
Like people living on the slopes of a dormant volcano, drawn to the spot by the abundantly fertile soil, the SOS Brigade had gathered itself around the imposing Mt. Haruhi because of the vantage point it provided. However, it had gradually started to look like the volcano might be waking up from its slumber. The tremors, while still faint, were arriving at more or less regular intervals, making the population cautious. Would this be just a case of the mountain turning about in its sleep before settling down again, or would the night sky suddenly start raining fire and ash, sweeping away the landmarks of progress that people had managed to build?
I would've wished such visions to be just a case of overeager imagination and misapplied dramatic license; however, with powers far beyond human control or even comprehension, one could only wait and hope for the best.
Then, there was yet another new, more mundane element in the situation. Shortly after the beginning of the school year, and on her own initiative, Haruhi had taken it on herself to help me with studying. It had originally started by Haruhi making me learn the minimal amount of tricks to pass an upcoming math quiz, eventually evolving into full-blown lectures on whichever topic she found pertinent at any given time, usually during breaks when there wasn't anything else to do.
It wasn't exactly a regular or a particularly systematic curriculum, as Haruhi followed her own interests and lines of thought which were as unfathomable as the migration patterns of bluefin tuna in the uncharted depths of the ocean. Sometimes she would press a certain topic for two or three days in a row and then forget the whole thing for just as long; I would start to suspect that she had lost all interest in the undertaking until she picked up the books again.
Whatever I thought in general about being the focus of Haruhi's sporadic efforts to make the world a more learned place — even if only by a vanishingly small amount in total — I had to admit that her approach was working. After a long, depressing downward slope that had dominated my performance record for the entire first year there had recently been a definite turn for the better, and although I wasn't anywhere near the top of the list like Haruhi, it had started to look less likely that I would be doomed to spend time as a ronin after getting out of high school.
Besides having my own grades on the rise, I had also gradually started to understand how Haruhi could always get top scores in every exam without seemingly doing any work at all. It wasn't so much a matter of being able to rapidly pick up new facts, as it was about picking up the right facts and ignoring everything else, something that Haruhi seemed to be able to do intuitively, without even realizing that it was a feat beyond the abilities of most students, myself included. If anything, I felt that on my own I somehow always managed to pick up the exactly wrong facts on any topic, providing me with an endless supply of utterly useless information.
Thus, the situation was slowly undermining my confidence in the entire educational system; what if most of the material that we were required to go through was only there to make it harder to find the few important bits in the middle of all the chaff? Who knows, some day Haruhi might be in a position to revolutionize the entire learning process, and it would probably be something that she would do without even noticing. It would be all in a day's work for her, considering all the other things that she had created inadvertently, like that brigade logo that attracted data beings, or the literature club editorial column that — according to Asahina-san — contained the founding principles of time traveling technology.
Come to think about it, what hidden secrets might still be contained in the movie that we had made for the culture festival? Maybe in a hundred years' time people would be able to decrypt the ultimate answer to life, universe and everything from that movie? In a chance event like that, I wasn't quite certain whether I should feel proud or embarrassed about my part in it all.
Anyway, even my tender and eternally concerned mother had noticed the change, and had tried to find out the specific reason through circumspect and seemingly offhand questions. Evading my mother's inquiries made me feel somewhat conflicted. On one hand, I was receiving undue merit as long as she suspected that I had achieved the results through my own diligent effort; on the other hand the situation would become even more complicated if I told her the real reason behind my improving grades.
For all I knew my mother would probably insist to have Haruhi visiting us, maybe even regularly. Then my mother would get a chance to show her gratitude, but since Haruhi isn't really used to receiving praise for the things she does of her own volition, she might decide to drop the whole project permanently, leaving me to my own devices again.
So, regardless of which option I'd take, a carefree life didn't seem to be among the choices for me. Still, I wish for the sake of my future prospects to stay in your favor, at least concerning this issue, Haruhi-sensei!
At that point my rumination was interrupted by a brisk call that was immediately recognizable.
"Oi! Kyorosuke!"
I raised my gaze and saw an excited upperclassman waving to me at the other end of the corridor. It had been a while since I had seen Tsuruya last and as I walked closer I wondered what she might have in mind. It didn't take too long to find out.
"Hiyas, how are you? Saw you there and remembered that there's something that I must asks about the summer vacation. Are you still intending to come and visit that castle that we've talked about? I would need to know soon to have enough time for the arrangements."
"Now that you mentioned it, you're right. The vacation is almost here already but I still don't know anything about the trip. You should probably talk with Haruhi, although I haven't heard her mention the whole thing lately."
"I'll talk with Haru-nyan later but right now I haven't gots the time. Sorries for not taking care of it before, but I have been megas busy with studies. Teachers don't speak about anything else than what we needs to know for the university exams. It's cramming and cramming day in, day out; you'll soon see yourself!"
Tsuruya put a finger on her cheek as if thinking about something. "Oh right, that reminds me! I hope that everything is well with the brigade?"
"I certainly think so. As well as it has ever been, if you ask me."
"And you haven't done anything that would cause extra troubles for Mikuru, nyoro?"
"For Asahina-san? I can't really think of anything…. Is there something that I should worry about?"
Tsuruya cocked her head to the side and examined me sharply. "In that case you must forget that I even asked about it. Because, if you gots too worried about it then you'd perhaps do something that would cause trouble, for you and Mikuru, and for Haru-nyan as well, and I wouldn't want anything like that to happen. So, no worries, right?"
"If you say so. I don't even know what this is all about."
"Nothing, it's nothing. Say, have I mentioned how many times we've been told how unique the play that you presented during the flower viewing event was? SOS Brigade may soon be a household name all across the country if you continue like that!"
"Well, to be quite honest, I'd rather not talk about it too much, at least right now."
"So, the brigade doesn't have any plans for the upcoming festivals?"
"None that I'm aware of…."
At that moment I remembered something that I had been thinking about a couple of days ago but somehow managed to forget until now. For some unknown reason a seemingly serendipitous idea presented itself and I acted on that impulse, not considering the possible consequences all the way through. My bad, but as the saying goes, things always look clearer with hindsight.
"…or actually, there is something. If it's not too much of a burden, I'd like to ask for a small favor."
"Sure, ask away! I'm only glad to help whichever ways I can."
I described a particular incident that had happened almost exactly one year ago, and Tsuruya giggled when she heard the details. I then explained what I had in mind and she nodded vigorously and clapped her hands together in anticipation.
"But of course, that's a megas fine idea! Come for a visit after the schools today and we'll get you what you need, agreed?"
"I'll be there, then, although I cannot give any exact time at the moment."
"Never mind, just drop by whenever, and if I'm not at home I'll leave a message for the servants so they can help you! And, way to go!"
Tsuruya laughed again and made a victory sign with her free hand while hurrying away like a girl-shaped whirlwind, as full of energy as always. Actually, I was a bit baffled by her reaction. My suggestion wasn't really anything special, but Tsuruya seemed to think otherwise. Oh well, whatever. Tsuruya was the only person I knew who could give even Haruhi a run for her money when it came to lateral, diagonal or just plain old off-the-wall thinking.
I cleared the last stretch to my intended destination and entered class 2-5. After just a few months of the new term the place already felt almost like a second home to me with all its familiar details, especially the one currently sitting on her seat, looking out of the window in apparent contemplation.
The key to autoevolution. A vessel holding divine power. The foundation and arbitrator of the possible futures of the humankind. Who knows what else? As I walked closer I tried to match these theoretical concepts to the girl who just then swiped her shoulder-length dark hair back from her temple with one hand, momentarily revealing a perfectly shaped earlobe. No, it wasn't like that at all. Those concepts only tried to artificially constrain her by shoving the issue into an arbitrary box with a convenient label on it, while missing the most crucial aspects.
Regardless of what anybody else said, the only way to avoid leaving out some essential detail was to admit that Haruhi was Haruhi. I couldn't care less about the fact that there were entire organizations full of people devoted to studying her every whim like ancient oracles predicting fortunes from cracks in scorched turtle shells. None of those people sat next to her in this class and I had to wonder how many of them could see her as an actual person instead of some abstract, supernatural resource to be controlled and possibly exploited for purposes that were deemed worthy by the powers that be.
In the circle of people who were aware of the secret my trust only reached as far as the membership of the SOS Brigade, not to the respective factions behind those members.
I sat down on my own seat and turned around to face the peerless brigade chief who was completely unaware of her position in the eye of this maelstrom of secrecy and shady motivations. Well, she had wished for the world to revolve around herself, but would she really be happy if she ever found out that it was true?
She kept staring through the window in a way that I could only describe as reflective, without acknowledging my presence in any way. It bothered me slightly, although I couldn't pin down the exact reason for the uneasy feeling. I decided to say something to break the silence.
"I didn't see you around on the sports field. Have you been here for the whole time?"
Haruhi didn't seem to mind that I interrupted her thoughts, whatever they were, but she didn't move her gaze away from the window either.
"It's totally boring to just watch as others play."
"Don't tell me that you are planning to sign us up for a baseball tournament again."
"I'm not planning anything of the kind. When it comes down to it, winning every time until you run out of opponents is almost as boring as not playing at all, but on the other hand I really hate losing as well."
"So, you are feeling bored because of a lack of challenge?"
"That's not what I said! It's just that there are more pertinent things to think about than some random game that is so simple that a child could play it."
"I was afraid that you might say something like that."
My latest comment finally made Haruhi turn her attention away from whatever she had been watching on the other side of the window, which only meant that now I found myself under her scrutinizing gaze.
"What do you mean? Isn't it obvious that the world would be a much more interesting place if people used all the energy that they now spend by hitting a little ball across the field by arranging a space race to the moon and planets instead, or by unveiling hitherto unsolved mysteries of the universe?"
Some of those unsolved mysteries might just want to live a frugal life of peace and harmony without any uninvited visitors barging in and forcibly unveiling them.
"Kyon! I'm not asking you to grab a pair of pom-pons and start jumping up and down in excitement, but you should at least be cheering for the home team instead of jeering!"
I guess that for the sake of balance somebody must do the jeering as well. Anyway, it's probably the case that people just do what they can according to their abilities. As you said yourself, it's much easier to catch a little ball than a genuine rokuro-kubi, and I'm not sure that the latter could even be turned into a prime time show if a successful fly-out couldn't be guaranteed in advance.
"That's not an excuse for failing to do your best!"
Haruhi stared me with the unflinching focus of a martial artist who had just issued a formal challenge to an opponent of questionable prowess.
So, humankind as a whole was still falling short of Haruhi's extremely rigorous standards, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Haruhi, on the other hand, certainly could; however, she hadn't attempted anything as drastic as completely rewriting the world after that one fateful night, the details of which I couldn't possibly think about too closely in this situation without risking a radical change in the overall atmosphere.
That incident had happened over a year ago. In spite of several unpleasant and some truly dangerous situations along the way, it was my steadfast opinion that things had been changing for the better.
In the end, I settled for a statement that was undeniably true.
"I rather like things the way they are right now."
I expected to be served a swift retort as I saw that Haruhi was already in full swing like a National League hitter, ready for driving my lazy pitch right out of the field, but then she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She looked me directly in the eyes for a fraction of a second, as if having second thoughts about her intended reply, before snapping her mouth shut without saying a word and turning her head to the side again. I could see that she was muttering something to her reflection in the window, but I couldn't hear what it was because of the general din caused by other students returning to the class.
A year ago I might have been able to witness the unmistakable signs of boredom and annoyance on Haruhi's face following a discussion like this, but now she again lapsed back into that dull, simmering state of contemplation instead. Very few people could tell the difference, but I had a suspicion that she was currently spending almost all her energy internally, processing some thorny problem that posed an appropriate challenge even for Haruhi.
Somehow, I felt relieved that she didn't deem it necessary to burden me with whatever it was she had in mind. If it was something important I would probably find out soon enough, anyway. I didn't have to be a fortune teller to know that much.
Soon thereafter the teacher arrived and the normal afternoon schedule commenced.
During the third year of high school I might indeed have my hands full of work with the preparations for university exams, but that milestone was still too far away to start worrying about, and I spent the afternoon hours in a state of halfhearted indolence, like an old, lazy dog basking in the shadow of the front porch of a country house, paying only a nominal amount of attention to the topic of each lesson.
If her overall demeanor was anything to go by, Haruhi was probably even more absent-minded than me, but at least she didn't sleep during the classes as had been her habit during the first year. Then again, she didn't seem to be inclined to share her current thoughts with me either, and I willingly left it at that.
Eventually, the bell rang to announce the end of the last class of the day, which happened to be physics. I was collecting my belongings when I felt a mechanical pencil poking my back.
"Kyon? I'm sure that the next exam will have a problem or two from these last two pages. Check that you've got them covered and you'll be fine."
It was easy for her to say something like that! I looked at the pages in question and noticed that they were full of formulas. I couldn't possibly learn them all even if I used the whole evening reading nothing but physics!
Haruhi stared me as if I had just expressed a desire to join an underwater trombone band.
"Why would you want to do something like that?"
"Didn't you just say that I should remember them for the exam?"
"You're supposed to remember the principle, not the formulas. Here, let me show you."
Haruhi took the book and turned it around. "See, all these questions are the same. You are given some pieces of the puzzle and you must combine them into the one that is asked for. Since it can only be done in one way you can't go wrong."
I'm willing to bet that I can.
"Really, Kyon, this is totally trivial. All I'm asking is a bit of honest effort on your behalf. For example, look at this one. Energy is an unknown, and because it looks like a human….
Haruhi drew a simple stick figure on the page. Oh boy. Sense is a precious thing but this wasn't making any.
"…and we get two legs and one arm from acceleration, you only have to add the height and mass to complete it. There's your formula."
That's not the way the teacher explained it, for sure.
"But isn't it obvious? Look at the units, they're there just to tell which kind of a creature it is."
The only thing that's obvious is that whatever is obvious to Haruhi isn't so for me.
We spent about ten minutes studying the theory of physics according to Haruhi. Once I was able to get the answers right better than by pure chance, Haruhi closed the book and the lecture was over. Most likely I got at least the basic idea nailed down, but somehow it still felt like cheating. I never figured out what Haruhi's haphazard drawings had to do with the whole issue, either.
I thought that we would be going to the club room next, but in the corridor Haruhi turned in the opposite direction.
"Oh, right … Kyon? I've got some errands to run so there won't be an official meeting today. Tell the others that they can leave whenever they want."
"Since when do you have errands that take priority over a club meeting?"
"It's a personal issue that I must take care of; and anyway, as the leader of the brigade it is my prerogative to decide when a meeting is held and when it isn't. I'm going elsewhere which means that the meeting is canceled, isn't that obvious enough?"
Actually, this turn of events suited me perfectly well but I didn't tell that to Haruhi. She headed to the entrance and shouted one final warning before disappearing down the stairs.
"And remember, this is just for today. Failing to be present tomorrow is totally unacceptable and will incur a heavy penalty without exceptions!"
Well, Haruhi skipping a meeting certainly wasn't something that happened every day. On my way to the club room I wondered whether it was the time to start worrying. Probably not. After all, didn't I have my own personal interests to attend to, as well?
As always, I knocked on the door and opened it only after hearing Asahina-san's welcoming greeting. She had already changed into her maid uniform and was just selecting a suitable blend of tea from her personal storage box. Nagato was also present, reading a book in her corner, but at this point it was such a self-evident fact that it took a conscious effort to even notice it.
Asahina-san gave me a happy, innocent smile that momentarily wiped away all my concerns. "Hi Kyon-kun! Um … are you alone?"
"Yes, Haruhi won't be coming today, so we are on our own."
"Huh, why? That's odd…."
Right then Koizumi arrived at the door. Although he tried to look indifferent, I could tell from his uneven breathing that he had been running just a short while ago.
"Suzumiya-san has left the school area?"
"Yes, she said that she's got some personal business to take care of, and that there won't be a meeting today."
"I wonder…."
"I'm usually not the first person to say this, but if you have something on your mind then spit it out."
"Actually, I am not worried at all. Whatever it is, I am sure that Suzumiya-san has a good reason for this. So, shall we close the club for tonight, or is there something else that we should do first?"
Koizumi was again his calm, composed self, but Asahina-san looked slightly worried. "Well … I'm already preparing tea. Maybe we could stay at least until it's ready?"
That sounded like a good idea. It would be a real pity to let it go to waste, especially since it was made by Asahina-san.
Koizumi picked up a pack of cards. "In that case, how about playing some quick game while we wait? As there are four of us here today, we could try bridge this time."
"Um … what is that?"
Seeing Asahina-san's confused expression, Koizumi chuckled. "I was just joking, please ignore me. I am afraid that it would take too long to go through the rules, anyway."
Asahina-san continued her tea brewing ritual and me and Koizumi ended up playing some rounds of five-card draw without bets. It was such a simple game that I could let my mind wander around while playing. Although Haruhi's recent behavior was one of the issues that I couldn't simply ignore, if for no other reason than the knowledge that the consequences would eventually reach me with the inescapable certainty of the Earth rotating around its axis, it was also a long term concern rather than an acute one. Instead, I kept pondering the casual remark made by Tsuruya today.
I remembered that Asahina-san had been depressed earlier this year. I had noticed it and we had discussed the issue, at least to the extent it was possible to have a meaningful conversation without causing some weird temporal paradox by accidentally revealing information that the other shouldn't have known at that point.
I had thought that the situation had been more or less solved and as far as I could tell, at the moment Asahina-san looked like her usual self, or maybe even a bit more cheerful than before. If that was the case then why would Tsuruya suspect that Asahina-san was having some trouble related to the brigade? I couldn't find any apparent reason but there had to be one since Tsuruya wouldn't say such things unless she had noticed something. On the other hand, I couldn't possibly ask Asahina-san about it directly because Tsuruya had specifically told me not to do anything. I just had to keep my eyes open and wait for any further advancements.
When Asahina-san placed my cup of hot tea to the table I was leading Koizumi by five rounds to his three, and he felt compelled to make an observation.
"I think that you should really be more interested in playing poker with proper bets. It still takes me a lot of effort to keep my easygoing facade up but you are naturally talented. Truth to be told, just by looking at your face, one would never be able to tell that you are even playing a game in the first place!"
"There's nothing to be seen on my face because this game completely fails to evoke any passionate urges in me."
"Undoubtedly, it is just as you say. However, one would expect to see at least some minute sign, an involuntary reaction when a player is dealt a particularly good or bad hand."
"Does that even matter? It's just a simple card game and nobody cares who wins." I put my last hand, a flush of clubs against Koizumi's three jacks, on the table which made the final score six to three.
"I see. Maybe I should have chosen the hanafuda cards instead?"
I couldn't even bother asking what Koizumi was insinuating with the oblique remark that he seemed to find somehow amusing.
I picked up my cup and thanked Asahina-san, who was now serving Koizumi on the other side of the table. It was fairly hot in the club room this late in the afternoon, and I noticed that Asahina-san absent-mindedly wiped sweat from her face after giving Koizumi his cup. Now that I thought about it, it had to be rather uncomfortable to wear the maid uniform in this weather, but I couldn't possibly suggest that she switched to something lighter. Beside the fact that my concern would be all too easy to misinterpret, in the worst case Haruhi might hear about it as well and actually make it happen. The maid uniform was at least a rather respectable choice, so any change would likely be to the worse.
Incidentally, that reminded me about the secret Mikuru folder on the club computer. I had finally gathered enough determination and permanently deleted the folder with its contents in late April. It hadn't been an easy decision, but most certainly the right one. If Yasumi could find the folder so easily, then it would be only a matter of time until Haruhi did the same by accident, and that wasn't a risk I was willing to take at this point. Now, after Tsuruya's remark, I actually felt relieved by the knowledge that the compromising photos couldn't be the cause of Asahina-san's trouble, whatever it was.
There was a moment of silence when everybody concentrated on drinking their tea. While I relished the exquisite blend that Asahina-san had chosen for the occasion, there was also a hint of melancholy transience in the atmosphere. On a normal day, unless Haruhi was specifically pushing forward one of her manic projects, she didn't actually do that much beyond being present and occasionally joining a discussion, but still, it was her presence that gave the SOS Brigade its purpose.
Right now I could see very clearly that without Haruhi we were just a group of four high school students, no matter how extraordinary, idly passing their time by drinking tea after school hours. There was nothing wrong with that in itself, but at the same time it felt lacking, fundamentally incomplete. Serene and comfortable but ultimately … boring.
Undoubtedly, the me from one year ago would have been shocked to hear myself openly admitting that much.
Oh boy. Just as Taniguchi had said in jest at some point, after the most tumultuous year of my life I was now completely and irrevocably infected by the Suzumiya virus. It had found its way to every cell of my body and I knew that I didn't even want to find a cure.
After I had finished my tea I placed the cup back on the table, and when Asahina-san asked if I wanted some more I declined. For a short while everybody just sat there without saying anything until Nagato closed her book, and the sound of it, like a chairman banging his gavel, marked the termination of this shadow meeting of the brigade. With the usual observances we all adjourned to our own directions, except for Asahina-san, who had to stay behind to clean up the tea equipment and change her clothes.
I noticed that Nagato went directly to the next room where the computer club was located. Those guys would probably be beside themselves with joy for the chance of observing her otherworldly programming skills again, and as long as Nagato herself found that particular diversion satisfying I was completely content with the idea. That she was an absurdly powerful alien and the unwavering protector of the whole brigade didn't remove the fact that she also deserved to have some fun on her own time.
When I got out of the schoolyard I took a deep breath and tried to shake off the lingering concerns like a dog dries its fur after a swim. It was still bright and sunny outside, but since my duties for the day weren't over yet, I set my sights on the next destination.
Fortunately, considering the purpose of my current mission, the Tsuruya estate was not located too far away from North High. In fact, parts of it could even be seen from the slope that I climbed up from Kouyouen on my way to school every morning, so it only took me around fifteen minutes until I was standing in front of the imposing wooden gate of the Tsuruya mansion.
I pushed the button of a modern intercom that had been installed in the wall that surrounded the mansion and waited for reply. It was a hot and humid afternoon; the air was standing still without the slightest breeze and I noticed that I was sweating after the walk along the hillside.
For a good while the only noises that I could hear were the distant hum of the city and the incessant chirping of cicadas. I had already started to wonder whether anybody had even heard the doorbell, but then the intercom was turned on and I heard a familiar voice.
"Smileys! You're on the security camera!"
Tsuruya giggled on the other side of the line as I looked up at the small camera almost completely concealed in a recess above the entrance. After a short while a middle-aged female servant opened the gate for me and led me through the front yard to the entrance hall where Tsuruya was waiting, still in her school uniform.
"You're early, I only just arrived myself."
"Haruhi had to go somewhere so we didn't have a meeting today."
"Is that so? Looks like you might not be the only one who gots ideas, then. It pleases me greatly to see that things are going well!"
"I don't know anything about that. I'm only doing this to avoid drawing any unwanted attention."
Hearing this, the high-spirited upperclassman burst into a riotous laughter and gave me a friendly slap on the shoulder.
"Just keep saying that and we'll all be happy, nyoro? Follow me."
She took a pair of outdoor shoes and we walked around the main house to a smaller side building that was more like a shed or garage holding miscellaneous garden tools. Tsuruya introduced me to an elderly man who was currently sorting through the equipment.
"This is Hakase-san, the estate gardener. He already knows what you're looking for and will show you around. I must go and change clothes but if you need anything else just let me know. Laters!"
After I had properly thanked Tsuruya for her courtesy she disappeared into the house and I was left with the gardener, who observed me appraisingly — as if I were a particularly unruly sapling in dire need of some pruning. He hadn't so far said a single word that I'd heard. The contrast to Tsuruya's cheery babbling couldn't have been stronger.
I was starting to feel uncomfortable. Tsuruya seemed to take this idea much more seriously than me, and her comments made me reconsider the wisdom in making the decision in the first place; however, it was too late to back off now as I was here already. The taciturn gardener rummaged through his tools and came up with a small shovel and a squat, unadorned clay pot that he gave to me before heading out with the minimal amount of instruction.
"This way."
I carried the equipment and followed the short man whose head was almost completely bald on the top and glistened in the bright sunlight. We walked in a leisurely pace past the buildings and gardens of the main complex into the forest behind the mansion. I had been on the estate grounds during the treasure hunt in February but as far as I could tell we weren't going in the direction of that mountain now. Instead, we went downhill to a vale between the surrounding hills and once we arrived at a small natural pond surrounded by a thicket I immediately saw that it was the exactly right place.
The gardener made a slight gesture with his hand, indicating that I was free to choose what I wanted. I walked around the pond until I found something that closely matched my preconceived idea, and when I looked at the gardener he gave me a small approving nod. After some digging and manual adjustment the pot was properly filled and I could wash my hands in the pond. We then walked the same route back to the mansion, where I gave the shovel to the gardener and thanked him cordially for his effort.
Well, that wasn't too much trouble after all.
However, I still had to walk all the way back to North High carrying my new trophy, and although the load wasn't terribly heavy I was already tired and sweating profusely by the time I finally reached the club room and could put down the pot and its contents. Oh boy, I didn't need Haruhi to task me with pointless errands any more because after a full year of training I managed to get involved with them all by myself!
I poured some water in the pot and left the club room the second and final time for the day.
Having completed the task that I had heedlessly convinced myself to undertake, I went home for dinner. Nothing worth mentioning happened that evening, at least as far as I was aware of, and I went to bed in a cautiously optimistic mood. On the whole, it hadn't been too bad a day, and if there wasn't anything significantly worse looming in the horizon then this might turn out to be a perfectly fine summer after all.
One can always hope, right?