Kyon's POV
You know, I hear that American students get three months off during the summer. How come Japanese students like us can't get that amount of time off?
Ah well. No sense complaining about it. Nothing I can do about it, anyway. No harm in fantasizing, right? Anyway, a longer vacation won't stop the person sitting behind me from planning Brigade activities anyway, so I guess it's just as well.
It was with this thought process that I found myself walking up the hill to school that sunny morning. Now, I have to wonder, who put's a school at the top of a hill. I mean, seriously. And why were we starting classes a week after the principal was murdered in the building? Could that be Haruhi's doing? I guess I'll never know.
While I was walking up the hill to school, I felt someone tug on my shirt. I turned and saw Nagato looking up at me with her neutral purple eyes.
"What is it, Nagato? Something wrong?"
"No." Oh, Nagato, you're answers can sometimes leave something to be desired.
"Then, what is it?" she rarely stops me when I'm going to school. In fact, this is probably the first time.
"Ryouko Asakura has returned."
I dropped my bike and it fell to the pavement with a clank. I felt myself tense up. Nagato, I thought you said nothing was wrong!
"But…I thought…"
"She has been reassigned. And there is no need to worry. She will not try to kill you again."
Well, that was a bit reassuring, but not much.
"Uh, ok. Thanks for telling me, Nagato."
"You're welcome." She then walked off. I picked up my bike and resumed my walk. My thoughts, however, were a mess. Despite Nagato's promise, I was still a bit apprehensive. I mean, can you blame me? The girl did try to kill me. I was so deep in thought I didn't realize that my legs had led me to my shoe locker. As I was changing into my slippers, I heard someone coming up behind me.
"Hey, Kyon! Did you hear?"
It was Taniguchi.
"Ms. Asakura's back!" He had a lust filled look in his eye and was practically beaming with adolescent excitement.
"Yea, I heard," I replied. "So?"
"What do you mean, 'So?' do you have any idea what this means?"
You're gonna try and hit on her with your phony pick up lines? "No, and neither do I care." I am such a liar.
"How can you not be excited? The hottest girl you'll ever see is back, and all you can say is 'So?' Man, I don't know if you have any hope at all, Kyon. She's an A++!"
I groaned and lightly punched Taniguchi on the side of the head. He laughed and we walked to class.
When I got to class, Haruhi was already there. She was in a lively conversation with; you guessed it, Ms. Asakura. She was sitting in the desk next to Haruhi.
"Hey, Kyon! Look who it is!"
"I see who it is," I said as my gaze fell on the blue haired interface. She turned to me and smiled pleasantly. I nodded towards her, and then went to my desk. Haruhi kept pestering her with questions. I really didn't care, but their voices were too loud to tune out. From what I was able to gather, she moved to a small town in Oregon called Quinnville a year ago. She moved back here just recently with her new boyfriend as roommates after her parents died in a car crash a month ago. I could just hear Taniguchi's heartstrings breaking. I smiled slightly. Wait a second, a new boyfriend…?
"So, who's you're new boyfriend?" Haruhi asked, excited.
"That cutie in front of me," she pointed at the person in the desk in front of her. It was the first time I noticed him. He was laying his head on his desk like he was tired. He raised his head and waved lazily at Haruhi. Ms. Asakura's face became one of slight concern. I wasn't sure if it was fake or not.
"Aw! Still tired from last night, huh?"
I heard a bunch of heads swivel towards him. I looked up to see very shocked, and in the case of Taniguchi, very jealous faces.
"Yea," the new student said in a tired voice. "I really need to stop playing video games all night."
I could tell that no one believed him as they slowly returned to their previous conversations. He returned to resting his head on the desk. A few minutes later, I heard the door slide open and in walked Mr. Okabe. "Good morning class," he said. We greeted him back. As he entered, he looked over at Ms. Asakura and the new student.
"Ah, I see we have a new arrival and a returning student. I'm sure everyone knows Ms. Asakura."
She smiled and waved to everyone.
"And we have a transfer student from America," he said, indicating the new student. I heard Haruhi perk up at the mention of transfer student and gasp softly. Oh great.
"Please, stand and introduce yourself," the teacher said, gesturing to the new student. He stood and, after straightening his blazer and clearing his throat, spoke.
"Uh, hello everyone," he began. "My name isn't really important. Everyone I know calls me Midnight." He used the English word, which he then translated for us. Finally, someone with a stranger nickname than mine.
"I'm originally from a little town in the state of Oregon called Quinnville. I recently moved here because I wanted to study abroad, and Ms. Asakura here highly recommended this school. I hope to have fun learning here and getting to know your culture, which is vastly different than mine. Thank you"
He took his seat again, turned and made a questioning gesture to Asakura. She smiled and gave him thumbs up. He then smiled back at her then turned forward. For the rest of the day, he was busy taking notes and generally acting like a normal high school student, but I couldn't help feeling that he wasn't who he seemed to be.
At the end of the day, Asakura went up to him and said, "C'mon! I wanna show you the school!"
He smiled at her and followed her out of the room. After they left, Haruhi grabbed my tie and dragged me out of the room. I caught a glimpse of the strange student looking at me with a slightly confused look on his face. It was only an instant, however. Soon we were in the clubroom. Everyone else was already there, Nagato in her traditional chair, Koizumi at the table with a chess set ready and Ms. Asahina in her maid outfit preparing tea.
"I have a new assignment for the Brigade!" Haruhi said after she let go of my tie and took her place at the desk. "We have a new mystery to solve. It's only been a week since the principal was murdered, and a mysterious transfer student shows up along with Ms. Asakura, who mysteriously transferred to Canada a few years ago, as you all remember! This is too good to be true! There has to be a connection! Nagato, did she move back into your apartment complex?"
Nagato looked up from her book and nodded.
"Excellent! Now, listen up! We're all gonna meet at Nagato's apartment in exactly one hour! If you're late you get a penalty." I was sure that last part was directed at me. And what makes you think there has to be a connection between the murder and the transfer? Well, I guess this is the type of situation you'd create. Not the murder, but the suspicious coincidence. She then ran out, that familiar excited glimmer in her eye.
"So, I assume you heard about what she was talking about," I said as I sat down and moved one of my pawns one space ahead.
"Oh, yes I did," Koizumi replied as he moved one of his pawns two spaces.
I moved my knight to a position to get his pawn. "So, you know anything about this guy, maybe what his real name is, perhaps?"
He moved his bishop to a position to attack my knight if I got his first pawn. "My organization has had a casual interest in him recently, but we don't know all that much about him."
I moved another pawn into an attack position to his first pawn as he continued. "He is from Quinnville, Oregon. His parents were both prominent lawyers who were killed in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Afterwards he moved in with his uncle, who was a local police sheriff in Quinnville. When he was eighteen he moved out of his uncle's house and into an apartment, and that's when our organization lost track of him. We began having an interest in him about a year ago when a rogue interface for the Data Integration Thought Entity named Barlow tried to kill him a year ago in an abandoned warehouse in New York."
Whoa. That was news to me. I had no idea that he had an experience like mine.
"What was he doing in New York?" I asked as Koizumi moved the pawn I had threatened one spot ahead.
"Who knows? In fact, we don't have any records of him ever taking a flight to New York." I moved my knight back to threaten the pawn he just moved. He countered by moving his knight to threaten whatever move I might make on his pawn.
"No record? Really?" By this time, Ms. Asahina had poured us tea. I turned to her.
"Hey, Ms. Asahina?"
"Yes, Kyon?" she said as she turned to me. Ah, what a sweet voice you have. I wish I could record you reading some of my favorite books. I'd listen to you for hours on end. So cute!
"Do you have any idea who this 'Midnight' person is?"
She stared off into space for a second, then her eyes widened. I expected her to say that it was classified or something.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know."
I just sat there, shocked. How can you not know? You're a time traveler! Why won't your superiors tell you about him?
Unless…
No. He couldn't be.
Could he? If he is, we're in deep trouble.
"C'mon, Kyon, it's your move. Something on your mind?"
I looked back at the chessboard, but my mind was far from the game. I still had one last source to check on.
"Nagato, do you know who this mystery guy is?"
Nagato didn't look up from her book as she replied, "No."
Well, then I guess Haruhi was right. This is a mystery. Oh man, why me?
"It's still your move, Kyon."
I sighed, looked back at the board and tipped my king over. He fell slowly until he hit the board.
I stood and picked up my bag, which had somehow made its way down to the clubroom. I heard movement beside me as Koizumi stood up and stretched.
"Well, we might as well go over to Nagato's house now and wait," he said in his annoyingly agreeable tone.
"I'll be out in a minute," Ms. Asahina said sweetly.
"We'll wait," I said as Koizumi and I exited the room. I closed the door and leaned against the wall. Nagato just stood there, staring ahead out the window. Koizumi leaned against the wall uncomfortably close to me.
"I guess the good thing about this is that this mystery of Ms. Suzumiya's will keep her occupied and happy for the time being."
Good for you. Less Closed Spaces for you to deal with, I guess.
He laughed. "Yes, and since it's our job to keep her happy so that she doesn't destroy the world."
I was probably going to regret asking this, but…
"Hey, Koizumi. Is this another ploy of your Organization? Like the whole closed circle thing on the island?"
He turned at me with that persistent smile of his. "Now, why would we actually murder someone just to keep Ms. Suzumiya happy? We wouldn't go that far, Kyon."
I'm not so sure about that. I mean, that smile of yours would make anyone suspicious of you if they knew what you really are.
I heard the door open, and Ms. Asahina walked out back in her school uniform.
"Well, we better go," Koizumi said. I hefted my bag onto my shoulder, and we were off.
We arrived outside Nagato's apartment a half hour later. Not surprisingly, Haruhi was already there.
"Wow. You guys all showed up early. Even you did, Kyon. I'm impressed. Keep this up, and you might move up the ranks."
"Gee, thanks." I replied sarcastically.
"Well, since we're all here early, we may as well get down to business. Yuki, are you sure that Asakura's living in this apartment complex?". Nagato just stood and nodded.
"Cool! Well, do you know her door code?" Another nod. Oh, Nagato, you don't have to cater to her constant demands.
"Well, hurry up and enter it!"
Nagato walked inside to the door. We followed her. She entered the code, and the elevator opened. We all got in and soon I felt the all too familiar movement of the elevator rising. All the while I could see that Haruhi was impatiently tapping her feet, that excited glimmer in her eyes and that smile on her face.
Finally, we got to the fifth floor. Haruhi bounded ahead of everyone else and straight up to room 505. She knocked. By the time the door opened, we were all standing there. Ms. Asakura was the one who opened the door.
"Oh, uh, hi guys," she greeted us pleasantly enough, but I could tell that she was a bit confused. She looked directly at Nagato. Nagato just stared back at her.
"Can we come in? We want to ask you a few questions." Haruhi asked in a completely different tone of voice. It almost seemed…polite. No way. Haruhi? Polite? Ha!
"Sure," she replied. She had apparently regained her composure. She moved aside and we all stepped in. it was reminiscent of Nagato's apartment. In reverse.
"Do you want something to eat or drink?" Ms. Asakura asked.
"Nothing for me," Haruhi replied.
"N…no thanks," Ms. Asahina said.
"I'm fine. Thank you for the offer, though," Koizumi said. I just shook my head.
"Well, then, what's this all about?" Ms. Asakura asked after we had all sat down on the couches.
Haruhi steepled her fingers and stared at Ms. Asakura with a serious face. "We'd like to talk to you…about your new boyfriend."
Next chapter, Midnight officially meets the S.O.S. Brigade! Stay tuned!
morbiusgreen
