Chapter 3: Arrival

It was.. non-existence. Yuki later explained to me what had happened.

To cross between two universes meant that for a moment we literally did not exist in any universe. It wasn't like death. Death was simple in comparison. In death at least your body still existed. And there was still a you that someone could at least point to, even it was only your grave. And you would be remembered. Your loved ones would still hold you in their memory.

Non-existence meant just that. You no longer existed in that universe. You never were, you never are, and you never will be. Until we returned back home to our original universe it would be like that we never existed there at all.

There was never a Haruhi born there, never a.. me there. It chilled my soul.

So our original universe would change during the time we were gone. It would revert when we returned.

Wait, didn't Koizumi have some crazy theory that Haruhi actually created our universe? What would happen if the universe's Creator left it? Could we even return back? Yuki would never have attempted the transfer if that could possibly happen. Or maybe it was a calculated risk she was willing to take. To risk an entire universe.. Dang it, why was this trip so important anyway?

Existence suddenly returned.

And it was cold.

We were standing in the same spot just outside the apartment garage. It was snowing. I didn't have my coat or scarf. Yuki could have at least warned us about the weather.

She walked out of the circle. "Come inside. We need to meet with myself before we can proceed further."

She dialed her apartment number, 708. There was a click and someone was listening on the other end.

"We are here."

There was no response. The door merely buzzed open and we proceeded inside. We went up in the elevator.

It then occurred to me that in a few moments there was going to be two Yukis standing in her apartment. We might not be able to distinguish them.

"Nagato? We might need a way to tell you two apart. Let's call you Nagato A and the other one Nagato B."

"That will not be.. necessary."

"Hmm. Okay."

We walked up to the door and it opened. Yuki and Haruhi went in first. From my angle I wasn't able to see the occupant yet.

I could hear Haruhi inside. She squeeed like a little girl. Oh no, this cannot be good.

I entered the room.

"Welcome."

At this point I really feel that I need to apologize to my readers. My reaction was entirely inappropriate. It was rude. I felt really bad about it afterwards. I later apologized to both Yu.. uh. I mean..

Anyway, I laughed my fool head off.

He was a tall.. man. Very tall for a Japanese person, possibly 6 feet, 185 centimeters. He had the same purple-white hair as Yuki. He was wearing the same reading glasses.

His hands were large. They looked like they could crush coconuts. He was wearing a North High jacket so I couldn't clearly see the rest of his physique, but I guessed he could probably benchpress me one handed.

"I am Yuuki Nagato."

His voice was soft, softer even than Yuki's own quiet monotone. The pitch or register was quite a bit lower, but it was hard to tell exactly because his voice was almost a whisper.

He bowed formally.

His every move was graceful. Despite his imposing size there was a kind of.. gentleness about him. The overall effect was one of quiet but enormous power combined with a peaceful serenity.

I bet this guy has his own fan club with the girls at North High. He probably has to beat the them all off with a stick.

Yuuki turned and faced Yuki.

"There is a time factor. It would be best if we synchronized."

That made sense. Yuki and Yuuki could quickly share information that way.

Yuki turned towards him, "I refuse."

"Reason?"

"You would become unstable."

"I see."

Oops. I forgot about our little shared secret. The last thing we needed was another Humanoid Interface to go wonky and mess up another universe. Even an alternate one. And that kind of information.. what we shared.. uh yeah, let's just let that one drop, shall we?

Feed that kind of data into him and he'd probably crash permanently with the Blue Screen of Death.

Granted, synchronization now would be.. unwise. But Yuki's epiphany, whatever it was, might be helpful for this big guy to learn some day. I mean if he got into a similar situation.. if he someday developed feelings, it would avoid another universe from getting messed up. And it would prevent a lot of grief, both for him and his.. partner?

Wait a second. Who? Partner? Wait..

Yuuki turned in my direction.

"Kyon and Haruhi need to meet with Kyonko as soon as possible. She requires their immediate assistance."

Kyonko..? She?

Haruhi was ready to burst. She clapped her hands and jumped. "This. Is. So. Cool!"

Meanwhile I went dizzy. Haruhi propped me up to prevent my fall. She refused to allow me to ruin her moment of pure joy.

As we headed towards North High, my mind began to furiously review the facts and deductions that I been able to gather during the past 20 minutes.

If the pattern continues then this is a world where our genders have been flipped. That means there's a male Yuki (Yuuki), a female Kyon (Kyonko), and as I quickly learned, a male Haruhi (Haruki).

Haruhi immediately demanded to hear everything there was to know about her male counterpart. Yuuki answered her persistent questions in his soft monotone while we walked quickly towards the school.

It was fairly late in the day and classes would be letting out soon.

Yuuki walked even faster than Yuki, dang it. I really needed to get back in shape. And the snow pouring into my summer loafers didn't help matters. At least my strenuous bodily exertion helped keep me warm sans jacket.

And I needed time to think.