Life After the Death of Haruhi Suzumiya

Alternate Ending 2

Normalisation

"Wake up."

Ugh…

My eyelids felt like they were glued together, a side-effect of not getting enough sleep.

Almost needing to peel them apart, I blearily opened them to the harsh brightness of day. As the light refracted and focused into my pupils, my retinas saw the blinking lights on my alarm clock.

Hang on… Blinking?

"Oh shit!"

I flew out of bed and saw that the clock was showing a completely wrong time. As usual, when there's a power cut, the time was erased. The battery inside the clock must have been drained also, since it didn't save the time until the power came back, which leads me to this predicament.

I grabbed the laundry basket in my room and dressed quickly, scanning my bag to ensure I had all my school stuff with me.

That when I recalled the moment I got up, and realised that something was off.

"Hang on… Who woke me?"

I turned to face the bed and saw only Shamisen there. He was snoozing happily at the foot of the bed. Naturally I didn't think the female voice I heard was his, especially since cats don't speak. Checking under the bed quickly to see if my sister was somehow hiding there, I saw the space was too small for her.

Scratching my head, I distinctly heard someone call for me. Perhaps it was part of my dream? Maybe it was my mum from downstairs?

Shrugging it off, I had to finish getting ready and then wolf down breakfast to get to school fast.

Skipping a few steps on the staircase, I landed in the hallway and saw my mum there about to leave the house.

"Were you still here?" She was concerned, the way her face scrunched up, "I would have woken you if I knew..."

"It's okay..." I waved her off, taking a slice of toast and lightly buttering it, "I have time if I run to the hill."

"Okay... If you're sure, see you later, son." She smiled and kissed me on the forehead.

Despite my age, she still liked to be affectionate to me, though she wasn't silly enough to do it outside of the home to that extent. Waving to her as I left, I jogged to the school, taking bites out of the toast as I ran.

Yes, school life was going as normal as can be, well relatively at least. I can't complain, I've been having a lot of fun in my own way, and not being overly taxed in terms of schoolwork.

"Urk..."

That reminded me, yesterday we did a test, one I had time to study for, but somehow the questions were all ones my brain must've missed the answers to during my last minute cramming. They did say these were important too and affected which universities we could think about applying to, hence my fear.

Finally, I reached the top of the hill and saw the schoolyard filled with people.

I made it on time, thank goodness.

There was still a moment or two to catch my breath before walking into the building, dropping off my shoes in the entrance hall, and making my way to the class.

I sat by the window looking over the emptying playground as people began to realise the time, and felt the breeze refresh my mind. Okabe-sensei walked in shortly after and our homeroom began.

As the murmurs went on at an acceptable level while tasks were given for the future cleaning of the room, I leant back stretching my arms, happy for the space. It was odd that our room had an extra empty desk, since they usually only leave out desks for people actually coming to join us. I guess the school never bothered to remove it.

That desk behind me has always been vacant.

Okabe-sensei then left and was replaced by my dreaded nemesis.

"Okay everyone, here's your test results back."

I felt a cold chill in my throat, I honestly couldn't remember what I did during the test, it was all a blur. I couldn't have my life ruined by a simple score being below average.

"Now, now, Kyon, no need to look so glum!"

I looked up at our near perfect class rep. Asakura-san gave me a peaceful smile as she handed me the folded sheets. I thanked her before sweating, feeling my fingers become numb. Peeling the papers open, I stared at my result and had to blink a few times.

"Huh...?"

I scanned the top and saw my name was indeed printed there, and my percentage.

"89 percent?!"

I almost shouted it out, but my embarrassed self merely whispered it. I glanced to the others and saw Taniguchi hold his head like the brace position when you're in a plane. Kunikida breathed a sigh of relief, and combinations of these reactions were reflected throughout the class.

I honestly didn't understand... I know that I did try to study hard, but something tell me my brain was not exactly absorbing the stuff I was reading, which only boggles my thoughts more. How could I have answered so many questions right?

I looked over the choices I made and frowned again.

I don't know these answers.

Really, I had no idea. I was looking at the massive equation that I somehow wrote down along with the final number. Yes, it was my handwriting, that's for sure, but I have never gotten to grips with the full functions and matrices needed to evaluate the conclusion.

This pattern repeated itself as I checked the rest of if, near impossible responses from me turned out to be correct. And yes, that eleven percent were of ones I had honestly no idea on beginning the answer, let alone trying to extrapolate it.

Just another mystery to add to my pile.

The rest of the day went by quickly, Taniguchi was moaning over his results and Kunikida tried to console him, I chatted briefly with them until I decided to take a break outside, finding a small spot beneath the tree in the club area of the school. I felt nature calm my nerves as I saw the sky cloud over slightly, before turning brighter again.

I smiled, thankful for living here. The news was abuzz due to the strange meteorological events resulting in very little rain for this city in particular. There was just enough to fill up the reservoirs and sewage intakes and for the water basin overall, but it was usually at night when no one sane was awake.

So, when it was daytime, the rain would never fall, that was basically it. Clouds would form, providing overcast days when the sun did decide to get a little too hot, but they would always fade away, and we never had to bring umbrellas with us.

Therefore, it was no surprise that people would get far too interested in these odd circumstances.

Once school was finished, I went to the place I visited after each day without fail.

I opened the door to the clubroom, and felt immediately at ease seeing that calm girl sitting in the corner.

"Hey, Nagato."

I walked in and sat opposite her as she flicked a page in her book, doing a barely noticeable nod as a reply.

This was what I considered to be normal; she's always been a quiet girl, never really speaking up more than needed, though I have to say that it can hurt my head when she does talk, with all those long speeches with complicated terminology.

I pulled out my own book and started reading, the only sounds being the paper crinkling slightly as they turned over. A few minutes of peace passed by us before the door opened up slowly.

"Sorry I'm late, the teacher wanted to discuss my results."

No one cares, Koizumi... I sighed and tapped the chair next to me.

"Have a seat; we'll wait for the others before we begin."

He pulled out a game from the wall, a quick game of cards. Within ten minutes I had already beaten him once, before the door opened again.

"Hello everyones!" The booming voice shattered the silence, "Did you all miss me?"

I waved to Asahina-san who was standing behind the exuberant Tsuruya-san.

"Of course we did, how else could we concentrate on our hobbies?"

I smirked at her, which she returned, though the grappling around my neck and light rapping around my forehead was a warning to not be so cheeky in future.

"Okay, to business..." I stood up now as Nagato lowered her book and closed it, "Today again was another cloud event, nothing major but it now increases the number to over two thousand reported sightings from our sources." Everyone nodded, "Have any of you experienced a personal difference?"

They all frowned and shook their heads apart from Nagato, "I have not."

I held up my test, "I have..." I placed it on the desk and showed off my marks, "You all know me, I'm not the best student out there, and I really struggled to study for this one on my own, and yet look at this."

Koizumi read over the answers, "I see. Whilst not trying to insult you, I doubt you would have been able to answer quite a few of these ones." He handed it to Nagato.

She scanned it with her eyes and blinked before looking at me, "I can confirm that it is your own handwriting. There were no out-of-character strokes or hesitations."

"So, Kyon-kun is again the odd persons out?" Tsuruya-san chuckled, "It's getting boring always having weird things happen to you."

"Sorry for being so unlucky then, I guess." I took back my results, "I mean, I'm glad I passed, I really did want to do well, but I don't want this to be a permanent thing." I started to pace, "What if this luck runs out when I'm at university just before the final exams, or even when I'm working and I then get sacked? We need to solve this one, and like Tsuruya-san said, it has been happening to me a lot lately."

Everyone sat in silence, before Asahina-san raised her hand.

"Umm, I think you know what I'm going to say, but we've never found the real reason behind all of this, Kyon-kun." Her sad eyes were apologetic, "This group has not come any closer to figuring out what is going on."

Of course, I knew all this already, but it helped me to voice my frustrations.

"Why...?" I placed my hands on the desk, before sitting back in my seat, "How can it be that we can't get to the bottom of this?"

Koizumi shrugged with a polite smile, "If the country's scientists could not figure out the weather phenomenon, how can we mere high school students do the same?"

I sighed and frowned.

As much as I dislike his face, he was right. We are all just normal teenagers. Sure we may be a little strange, but that's about it...

Nagato is almost robotic in her movements and speech, never showing any emotion. Her obsession with books is why she was only member of the Literature Club when we came here, pushing potential members away. Only once did I catch her speak extremely fast, beyond anything I could have imagined, though a second later she had finished. She does seem very aloof but somehow I felt I could depend on her the most, her knowledge was unparalleled.

Koizumi was, and still is, annoying to me. He likes to get close and say things about work and school, but I push him away. Regardless, he tends to understand what Nagato says a lot, and he has knowledge of complicated subjects that I'm positive I never learnt in this school. His family are a closely knit community from what little I've gathered. He gets calls from them almost daily, and he always looks concerned and serious when answering the messages.

Asahina-san, the self-appointed tea-maid for our club, is naturally very pretty but nervous too. She seems worried all the time and likes to hold her hand up to her ear, I'm not sure if it's an unconscious reflex, she does tend to do that when she thinks I'm not looking. She doesn't understand basic facets of reality like algebra, but she knows almost as much as Koizumi in relation to the complicated matters.

Ah, and she's also scared of Nagato. Why, I do not know.

Tsuruya-san is just as she appears, hyper, energetic, happy, strong and eternally positive. Though she doesn't exactly flaunt it, from the few visits to her mansion, I know now she is sickeningly wealthy. I'm not jealous but she even has maids waiting on her. She stays around Asahina-san often and has fun teasing her, though not maliciously. She does play about with her toys, including a weird large silvery one, but I wouldn't call her odd.

As for me, I'm just a normal human like them. There's nothing special about me.

Regardless of any real results, we at least try to solve the peculiar moments we live in, even if there are no actual conclusions reached.

"Okay, let's leave it here for today. We can meet up at the weekend for the walk to check out specific areas again." I stood up, "Sorry to put you through this. If you want, this can be the last time we meet up here."

The others all looked at each other and soon they reached a silent agreement.

Nagato spoke up for them, "I do not believe that terminating this relationship would be beneficial in any form. Constant communication of ideas and data logging will help us eventually uncover the cause of these occurrences."

I suppose she had a point, if we did find a way to resolve everything, all the collected data would help us in future.

Asahina-san coughed cutely, "I agree with Nagato-san. We don't know what will happen in the future, events could change for the better or worse. By keeping a watch on this, we may detect a pattern for these events which could help fix them."

A well thought out argument, patterns could emerge and may we could use them to our advantage.

Koizumi cleared his throat before beginning, "I'm sure that we're not the only people observing this behaviour. However, that doesn't mean we should stop what we are doing. By gaining more of our personal knowledge here, we can, if needed, forward it to places with greater capabilities to process this for the gain of all mankind."

Yes, that would help too, though I'm loathe to accept the help of his family members, just out of sheer disinterest in his life.

"Nahaha, well, I don't know much about this kind of stuff, but in the end, even if can't fix it all, isn't it good to write it down before we all forget that this is abnormal? Maybe this can be used in some type of terraforming, which can be used when travelling to different worlds, we'll never know."

She stood up and walked over to me, slamming her hand joyously on my shoulder.

"In the end, isn't it just simple, plain fun to be doing all this together?"

As I felt the smarting from her strike cool down, I thought about her final words. My frown deepened, and then vanished as my eyelids slowly slid shut. My clammy skin, brought about by the worry and confusion over everything that has happened to me, chilled down and returned to its normal state. My heart rate also began to pump at a methodical pace, soothing my muscles.

She was right.

It didn't really matter if we could discover the cause, or even get it all sorted out with the help of each other or even the authorities.

The truth was, just hanging out and talking with this group while writing down all these occurrences was purely entertaining for us, and yes, I personally found it fun.

I liked these people, Nagato with her quiet intelligence, Asahina-san for her, well you know, Tsuruya-san for her sheer boisterous positivity, and yes, even Koizumi's calm and simpering personality.

I enjoyed spending time with them, interacting and talking about anything that comes to mind. Only a tiny part of the meetings are to analyse the data we collected, we never talk about how to solve them, given we ran out of ways to do so in the first two weeks. Even now, I wonder how the school allows this club to exist with the lack of results we have provided.

I nodded at the green-haired girl, whose hand was still atop my uniform.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right, Tsuruya-san." I looked at them all and smiled, "I couldn't imagine doing this with just anyone, and to have all of you here, well, it makes me glad to have you as friends."

The reactions were varied, Koizumi smiled again, Asahina-san blushed and shied away behind her hands, Nagato just gave a miniscule nod, and Tsuruya-san laughed.

Why would I want to end this club? I'm surely being stupid in even thinking that. Lightly touching Tsuruya-san's hand, she let go and allowed me to stand up.

"Right, well, the only thing left is to meet up on Saturday for the weekly walk to search for any peculiar happenings." I leaned forward on the table, "Let's leave it at that for today, SOS Brigade."

Nagato closed her book and placed it inside her bag; we then all stood up and gathered our things to go home.

I felt happy. It didn't matter overall how we did as a club. The school allowed it due to the name, the traditional signal for mayday or help, and since we were doing it to protect the city, they were all for us to document this. Perhaps they knew we would not be able to do much else, and yet it was permitted.

Come to think of it, that alone is not considered to be normal. How could the school, which usually frowns upon frivolous clubs that do nothing, give us the freedom to do exactly that?

I don't mean to be egotistical, but a lot of things that happen around me in particular are beyond what I would consider to be preferential.

I once didn't have the money for a train ticket since I left my wallet at home. As I reached the dispenser, the exact amount of change was left in the refund slot which was enough for me to buy the return.

Then I was running late at one point for school, and then there was a sudden fire alarm a few minutes before I was about to arrive. By the time I got there, everyone was outside in the playground being registered by the teachers to make sure they were present, thankfully Okabe-sensei counted me in.

When a school-wide bout of flu made the rounds, almost everyone in my class was ill and complaining of aches and pains. I alone was unaffected, though I did notice that Asakura-san didn't show any symptoms.

My dad's company suffered a massive cost cutting measure two years ago, and whole departments were shut down. Out of everyone from his posting, he was the last remaining employee, and thus was promoted to a manager as the company slowly began to grow again.

Now that I think about it, none of this made any sense to me.

As we reached the bottom of the hill, the others waved to me and said their goodbyes, all walking off in different directions to their respective homes.

I walked back to my own, utterly confused.

Ten minutes later
Nagato's Apartment

The petite girl had sat down and offered tea to the other three guests, who took them quietly and sipped away in silence.

"Have you detected any anomalous readings from your perspective?" Koizumi spoke first.

Nagato lowered her tea and opened her mouth. For the next few seconds, all that could be heard was her hyperspeech in SQL code as her senses opened out further. Stopping suddenly she blinked.

"No readings beyond current background levels."

Koizumi frowned, "And yet, he still is able to notice these events..."

Asahina placed her tea cup on the table, letting it rattle in its saucer for a moment before holding it still, "My superiors don't have anything to add. Kyon-kun is still a special person, they just don't know why."

"Data explosions are infrequent, yet occur sporadically around the subject without his knowledge." Nagato turned to face Asahina, "Variables would dictate that he is the source of these emanations, contrary to the absence of evidence detailing this."

Tsuruya nodded, "Yes, I too think that ways, but this shows me otherwise." Her titanium-caesium alloy of her sliding timer flashed out, "He is the same in other realities, but there are none of these signs. True, there are countless millions of worlds out there, and I haven't checked them all out, but so fars only this version can do these things."

Koizumi frowned, "It is beyond our understanding as well, the Organisation has only got data stating that Kyon is one hundred percent human, all blood tests and scans have shown this to be the case."

"Wh-What should we do then?" Asahina shivered, "He isn't a threat from what I can gather, he seems normal."

"That's the problems, he's too normal, don't you think?" Tsuruya wagged her finger at the time traveller, "Don't you find it odd that a mere human could do this?"

Nagato opened her mouth to speak, "He is not affiliated with any of our respective groups, nor does he work those of the opposing agenda. Therefore, it is possible he may be of a different group unknown to us."

"Doubtful..." Koizumi held his chin, "We would have uncovered something along these lines to show this, and nothing untoward has come up at all. Aside from the SOS Brigade, which he himself decided to setup, there are no other clubs with which he is a member, nor a hidden partnership with another party."

Tsuruya laughed, "And it's not like he's got wealth to hide himself so well, his finances are that of a normal schoolboy."

Asahina bit her lip, "Then, what is going on? If Kyon-kun is human, then why are these things happening around him?"

They were all silent.

"Reality warpers require creation of data and explosions of information. These occur around and from the subject, but none of these are triggered by any specific action. In these instances, nothing is created from his body, but only the area around him is affected. There is one constant with every explosion."

The rest of the Brigade sat in quiet as Nagato finished off her analysis.

"All changes in environment, amendment of scores, reduction in traffic, heightened immune system, all two thousand plus incidents, are to benefit the subject in some form."

Koizumi cocked his head to one side before closing his eyes, "Are you saying that somehow, he is getting preferential treatment of sorts?" Nagato nodded once, "But then, by who?"

Tsuruya swallowed more of her tea, "Wells, it has to be God, no?"

Asahina shook herself, "How can that be?! God isn't real!"

Koizumi interjected, "How can you be so sure?" He waved his hand around the room, "It is true that everything in this room was created during the Big Bang when atoms formed molecules and merged to create different minerals and eventually life forms. Despite what creationists' state, God did not create the Earth, but what if he initiated the Big Bang? What if he is still with us, watching and making subtle changes to our lives?"

"But, such a being..." Asahina pouted, "It would be impossible to calculate even with Nagato-san's abilities. We would never be able to detect where he is or what he is doing."

"True, while the Data Integrated Thought Entity is vast and intelligent, it is not omnipotent." She blinked, "The probability to determine if there is a God, even with all the power of the universe, would be zero percent, with no margin of error."

Tsuruya sighed, "In other words, impossible..." She leaned back, "Then we haves no option. Let's kill Kyon-kun."

The room became eerily quiet for a few seconds for this to sink in.

"Wh-What are you suggesting?" Koizumi started forwards from his seat, "I won't allow this."

"Simple." The green haired girl grinned back, "If we tried to kill him, then as God's chosen one, the almighty would intervene, and then we have proof of his existence."

"I won't be a part of this!" Asahina folded her arms, "I will not kill Kyon-kun to satisfy your curiosity."

Nagato slumped her shoulders, "By making his death painless, it would spare him of any suffering."

Koizumi narrowed his eyelids dangerously, "I will stop you two, even if it costs me my own life."

Tsuruya continued grinning, before she laughed out loud, "I can't believe you three, you actually believed me?!"

Asahina and Koizumi felt cold all of the sudden as her laughter pierced them. Nagato sat there neutrally.

"I'm not going to kill Kyon-kun, that'd be stupid." She made a shooing motion with her hand, "Besides, I'm sure I would have been erased from existence now, way before I got near to Kyon."

"If that's true..." Koizumi gathered himself after her statement, "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation at all, and thus no memory of you."

"I too did not agree with the plan. I only wished to avoid unnecessary pain to the subject." Nagato blinked at Koizumi.

"So… If you were serious, then none of this would have happened. But since you weren't, perhaps God himself knew you were joking and allowed it to play out?"

The foursome stopped talking.

"Are you saying that he allowed this kind of talk because he can read our thoughts and know our true intentions?" Koizumi grumbled, "If something as fantastic as having someone erased from existence could happen, then our memories would need to be wiped, what does this say of free will then? Are our actions pre-determined, or can we make changes as wish so long as it doesn't interfere in his plan?"

Tsuruya clicked her fingers, "Aha, what's to say that some peoples have already been erased, maybe someone from our very group who was serious?"

Nagato blinked, "I have no recollection of anyone disappearing."

Tsuruya tutted, "God wouldn't leave any trace, even with your own infallible memory. Who's to say that our memories of this talk are changed laters, or even as we speak? Perhaps God wants us to know this informations, to learn, and to not mess with the order of things."

Koizumi placed his hands on the table, "I think... we need to take a break for today. This discussion has been most enlightening. We are now talking about the metaphysical and of subjects beyond the realm of our understanding. Perhaps I'm not talking to you now as Koizumi Itsuki, maybe an avatar of God, there is no exact way to know, but in my humble opinion being what it is currently, we can only continue to observe Kyon, since nothing bad will happen to him in his life from the way things stand."

As everyone stood up to go, Asahina mumbled something.

"What was that Mikuru?" Tsuruya approached her closely.

"Umm..." She blushed lightly now that the attention was back on her, "If what you're saying it true, then there's only one question that needs to be asked. One which we may never know the answer to, even at the end of the universe."

She smiled to herself, thinking about the nostalgic times in the club, even those odd occasions when Tsuruya dressed up and encouraged her to do the same, serving tea to Kyon as a maid. Koizumi, always losing at board games, keeping the banter going even though Kyon disliked talking to him in general. Nagato, with the ethereal silence aside from exact observations and results when needed.

She could never look on those club meetings the same way.

"Why?"

Koizumi raised his eyebrow, "Why what?"

Asahina breathed out slowly and asked her unanswerable question.

"Why is Kyon-kun so special to God?"

Meanwhile

It is remarkable how tenacious the Brigade is, even like this, they somehow have uncovered this truth about their world and accepted it despite no evidence.

Of course, Yuki was right; they would never be able to detect this presence, not one iota.

As to Mikuru-chan's question, well, they would have no answer for that either, sadly.

She should be happy though, at least one person knows why Kyon is special.

Me.

My name is Haruhi Suzumiya, and I am the God of reality.

I sighed as I watched my old Brigade leave the room, not before bowing to Nagato politely. She subsequently closed and locked the door, picking up the tea and washing the crockery in the sink before returning to her room, pulling out a futon and laying on it, eyes wide open.

It was quite remarkable to see this change in her. Since her interactions with Kyon and the others, she chose to take this more human style of sleeping, or in her case being put on standby. I know that she has the ability to close her eyes and even curl up inside the futon, but she would only do that if expected to, that is to say when in the company of others.

It's not just because it would much more natural and human, but because it would make those nearby less uneasy by her, thus making her more accepted.

I stroked her hair gently, feeling the locks through my translucent fingers, yet she would not notice anything touching her at all.

It built up more sadness within me, but I quickly quashed that down since this was all my choice.

Walking through the doorway and finding myself downstairs, I watched the three leave together and then separate.

Koizumi-kun was a strange person I found out. I knew before in my old life that he was a sycophant, and it was obvious because of my abilities back then, hence he didn't want to disrupt the status-quo, at least by choice. He felt that by agreeing to my activities he would enable my stability.

I suppose he was right in his own way, but at the same time, I eventually tired of his behaviour, even when I wanted to do more and more outrageous things, just to test his limit. Only Kyon was the one to object to every single one, and for that I was thankful. My abilities were wild and rampant back then, so it would have been terrible to behold whatever I unleashed on the world.

Koizumi-kun got home, and I noted that, like Mikuru-chan, he lives alone. He isn't without wants though, his home is fairly lavish for a schoolboy, I understood that being a part of the Organisation must give benefits, and they wouldn't allow him to starve.

The sad part was I knew so little about him.

He was orphaned at a young age; a car accident took his parents. Thankfully, he was cared for until his esper powers appeared, and the Organisation took over. To this date, he's never told anyone at school, and I doubt he ever would.

Even as I stood in front of him eating his dinner, the smile was still on his face. I could only put a hand on his shoulder to try to help him in future.

I blinked and found myself in Tsuruya-san's mansion, her maids serving her afternoon tea. Sipping it like a proper lady, she was the perfect example of a cultured rich lady. Until she gasped and made a satisfied sigh from the warmth. She pulled out her timer, one created by a past self of from another universe two thousand years ago.

Then she aimed it at me.

I froze, shivering slightly, there is no possible way she could detect me. The glint in her eye said otherwise as she licked her lips.

"Tsuruya-sama." A maid approached her, rather senior too, this was her primary carer when her parents were away, "Please could you desist in wielding that ancient heirloom so frivolously?"

The lady of the house just laughed in her usual manic way, twirling the timer between her fingers. "It's okay, it's been through worse."

I let out my breath, after scanning her brain I found out she was just aiming at random.

Not that a directed portal fired point blank into my face would do anything, just the mere thought of someone acknowledging I exist is a problem.

I smirked as I tapped the timer lightly, but enough for her to lose grip on it and fall on the table. She and I both knew that it would survive, and at the same time that she would be scolded for an hour.

Another blink later and I was now in a room filled with steam. Frowning slightly, I heard the sound of a shower and smiled widely at hearing the cheerful humming from behind the curtain.

Daring a peek, I poked my face through the plastic to be flooded with pink bubbles and the smell of strawberries.

Yes, this is what drove me crazy, I'm not surprised that Kyon could always smell this on her; she uses so much shampoo that even her body is covered with bubbles!

Then again, with my eyes, it's not exactly the most impermeable of shields.

My stupid self back then kidnapped her from her club for a good reason, or should I say a pair?

Reaching out with my hand, I moved the curtain inwards slightly until it touched her leg, the cold plastic barely making a sound.

Her shriek surprised me as she leapt against the wall, bracing herself. Her eyes were shut painfully since the shampoo got into her eyes. Taking pity on her, I encouraged the soap to leave her eyes for her wipe it away easier. She looked around in fear and covered herself.

The light behind the curtain was powerful enough for her to see that no one was hiding there.

"Is that you?"

I folded my arms and tapped my foot at her, waiting for her silly words.

"Are you here, God?"

I rolled my eyes. Naturally, God is omnipresent, so I'm both everywhere and nowhere.

Mikuru-chan laughed to herself, holding her head, "Silly me, even if God was here, why would he listen to me when there's more important prayers out there?"

Now she had my full attention, I waited for her to speak instead of reading her mind.

"I suppose I'll just say it, even though I'm only talking to myself." She relaxed her posture and smiled, "Take care of Kyon-kun. Even if you are helping him, don't let him think about this forever."

I would so love to just move the curtain again in the breezeless room to let her know I received her message, but that's not how God works.

Upon saying her words, she blushed madly and continued with her shower in silence.

Moving away from her, I turned my head to find Kyon lying on his bed now, Shamisen nuzzled at his side.

I didn't need to scan him to know what was going through his thoughts.

I sat on the edge of the bed and observed him resting peacefully.

I had very little choice in my opinion on how I was supposed to leave that world, God's Space.

My Kyon... He took his own life as his final gesture of free will, beyond my control, to show me that without the unexpected, mankind cannot achieve anything. I spent some time deciding on what to do.

After some analysis with my own immense knowledge, there are three sides to being God.

The first and foremost is actually having the power of God.

The second is having the knowledge that you are God.

The third is residing in a living creature.

Nevertheless, there is one catch to this. You can only choose two of the trinity, and the third option would be forever impossible for you to achieve.

My former self had the power of God and was mortal, but I didn't know what I was so I had no idea on how to control it.

In God's Space, I was all three, which was why Kyon rejected this reality, as he was only one to know the difference, and I was unable to exert any pressure on him.

The way I am now, I have the power of God and know I am God, but I can never enter the universe as myself or anything else alive.

There was the final choice, but I still shudder to think of what would happen in that version of myself, believing truly that I was God, and also being a human.

I opened up a window into that sub-universe on the wall of Kyon's bedroom and played out that scenario during some quiet time now, and wasn't surprised by what I saw play out there.

I was always a hyper kid, but in that reality I thought I was better than everyone, invoking the wrath of God if I didn't get my way or even just to get the marks I wanted.

As per each time, nothing supernatural transpired and everyone would look at me with placating smiles, saying I was a precocious child, pandering to my needs. As I grew older though, their reactions became less forgiving.

Then it was that warm summer evening. I never met Kyon since there was no need for him to travel back in time. I finished the intergalactic signal myself and got into major trouble at school.

When I tried to set fire to the school the next night, that's when they took me away.

The years at the asylum were long and arduous, and no matter how much medication I had, nothing ever changed. I still thought I had this power, and died alone and mad, screaming at the padded walls around me.

Shutting off the screen, I lay down next to Kyon, feeling the fluffiness of his pillow as his warmth spread to me.

For me now, I can only influence the universe using natural means such as wind, and altering the people or events I see with only the influence of an observer. I haven't yet tried to communicate using text, though there would be no point to this since it would only draw attention to me, and that's the last thing I want.

Therefore, I would have to live a life of utter loneliness, never being able to speak to someone else as an equal. I would have to live out my eternal existence in silence, seeing the friends I love so much die and wither away, all the way until the eventual oblivion of the universe as a whole.

I smelled his pillow and found the scent comforting to me. This is only way I can get close to him. I can certainly hug him and allow him to feel that hug, but then it would cause untold amounts of confusion and disturb him if he was the only one to get these strange stimuli.

"Can you hear me, Kyon?"

I spoke quietly near his ear, and he didn't react at all.

Perhaps that time earlier when he woke up after hearing me was a fluke incident. I didn't want him to be late, so I nudged him ever so slightly and whispered that line. Though he didn't feel the movement from me, he did distinctly hear my voice.

I can easily change his behaviour if I wanted to, but I refuse to do so.

Kyon was right, God can't eradicate all the evils of the universe; it would leave things unbalanced and deprive everyone of free will and choice. All life makes its own goals, it should be allowed to grow up on its own and make choices, whether they be right or wrong.

However, I couldn't decide to be the same ignorant and impulsive human girl I was before knowing all this. What if I accidentally created another situation whereupon the world was destroyed somehow? I can't guarantee that Kyon would be able to stop me or even do the miraculous and restore the world again through the same convoluted chain of events.

I wrapped my arms around him.

This was enough for me. Just being near him makes me feel less alone.

As God, I love all things equally, be it the smallest atom, to the largest star. Yet, some things are loved more equally than others.

I love Kyon.

That was my truth. He would never know it, that's for sure, but even he is wondering why he gets decent grades, sunshine through his days, and protection from all viruses. He hasn't realised that one or two cars might have had their brakes suddenly activate to prevent a potential incident at the junction. When short on money he finds change in a ticket machine he was using.

When he falls in love with someone else, I won't interfere, it is his life of whom he chooses and I will not question his decisions.

The only thing I can do is allow his life to be comfortable without any worries. Yes, I'll let him struggle for his promotions, mortgage, children's education, pension, and finally his elder years.

What he won't know is that if I can see he has the knowledge for the job, he'll get it over the other candidates. His boss will give him slightly higher raises than other employees, and bonuses would always be achieved when needed so his finances will always be enough for his bills, even a small lottery win. Whichever school the kids go to, they will be assigned the teachers best suited to their needs. Despite the incoming economic collapse, the company which he has staked his income for his pension will be secure thanks to cautious investment.

When Kyon is old and weary, he will still be immune to all the diseases which afflict humans. Naturally, the SOS Brigade will be fine too. I won't allow Kyon to die alone and miserable, his family and friends will be blessed by me.

If it is time for him to depart this world, then it will happen when he is prepared for it, without any pain.

At least then, I can introduce myself to him and let him know what has been happening throughout his life. Inside his own God's Space, I'll meet up with him and share the knowledge I have.

After that, it doesn't matter what he does. I doubt he'll suddenly fall in love with me over his partner and spend eternity with me, though I would like his company.

Whatever his answer is, I'll accept it, and by my grace I will not let that affect me.

Kyon stirred and turned on his side facing away from me. I adjusted myself to nuzzle into the back of his neck, then sniffing as tears formed.

Just because I'm God, it's doesn't mean that I don't have feelings or can get hurt inside.

I tightened my grip on him, drying my tears into the back of his nape.

"Oh, Kyon..."

The boy, with whom I was closely holding, stiffened his limbs and stopped breathing for a scant second.

He reached back and felt his neck, right where my wet cheeks connected with him.

I could only gasp when he spoke next.

"Haruhi?"

Author's Notes

Another alternate ending, had this one in mind for a long time, one where Haruhi was a real God, able to affect everyone, though acting more like an impartial observer. Being God's chosen is important, since that was how Koizumi and some others saw Kyon in the series.

Still, the ending of this story implies that somehow, there is still some sort of link between the two. What that will be, we shall never know.

J