Entry 7
December 14th 2004
I had another nightmare last night, but I do not wish to describe it. The only details I am willing to reveal are that it involved Mikuru Asahina, and its message was far clearer than those of the other nightmares.
Upon getting out of bed, I realize that noon has already passed, and so I hurry downstairs for lunch.
"Nagatochi!" Haruka Tsuruya responds to my appearance with mock surprise. "Are you trying to pull a Rip Van Winkle or something here? Maybe wake up in a couple centuries and grab yourself a hoverboard?"
Although I realize it is impolite, I have no response other than to ignore her. She promptly decides to leave me be, most likely because she sees that I am unable to match her energy today.
After I have finished eating, she announces our plans for today.
"We're going to Old Quebec, which I'm told is the number one tourist place in Québec. We'll be going in about an hour, so you'd better start preparing anything you might want to bring!"
On my way back upstairs, I encounter Kiyoshi, who, as always, knows all too well that something is troubling me.
"Is your journal up to date?" he asks.
I nod, which he recognizes as an invitation to read it, and so he follows me to my bedroom.
Once again, he learns many things from my journal, which means it takes him a while to process all the information. As soon as he has done so, he appears to have many topics he wishes to address, as I expected.
"Well, it's great that Asahina feels the same way about you... right?"
"After what I told her at the graveyard," I say, "I can no longer be certain of that."
He frowns. "I really don't think she'd blame you for that kind of thing. I mean, your other self was the main victim in all of this, and she doesn't blame you."
"Perhaps..." In spite of his encouragement, I am ultimately unable to shake the doubt plaguing my mind, and although he seems to be aware of this, he appears unsure in regards to what to do about it.
Fortunately, the subject changes when Haruka Tsuruya bursts into the room, carrying various items one could never conceivably need in Old Quebec. Were I in a better mood, I might have attempted to list them.
"We're going!" she says. "All aboard the SS Canada Express! It's a train and it's a boat, because in Canada 'a boat' is pronounced 'a boot' and that's a lot easier to combine with a train which is what makes the whole thing possible!"
It appears that she is playing up her eccentricity in an effort to lift my spirits. Her efforts are appreciated, but still futile.
I have little to say about Old Quebec, simply because my mind is elsewhere at the time. I often worry that my lack of enthusiasm is ruining the experience for the others, but if this is the case, then none of them have chosen to comment on the matter. The only event I consider to be worth writing about is an unwelcome encounter with Aya Belgard.
"Yuki Nagato!" She smiles deceivingly. "What are the odds of meeting you here?"
She is obviously counting on me not to attack her in front of all of these people. She does not seem to be aware of the mood I am in, and by extension, the fact that she is treading on thin ice.
"And you must be the rest of... that thing... What was it again? LOL Squad? MSG Crew?"
Haruhi's eyes narrow. "We're the SOS Brigade. And you are?"
"I'm Aya Belgard." She pauses upon hearing Kiyoshi grit his teeth. "I'm in the same class as Nagato, but we don't really talk much. Which is a shame, because if she's in your-" She clears her throat. "-'brigade', then she must be quite an interesting person."
By this point, none of us seem to trust her, with the surprising exception of Mikuru Asahina, who appears to be withholding her judgment until she learns more about her.
Later on Aya Belgard somehow convinces us to have lunch with her, and afterwards, Itsuki Koizumi and Kiyoshi discuss her in private.
"At first, I didn't have any reason to feel strongly about her one way or the other," Itsuki Koizumi says. "But as soon as I felt the mistrust Miss Suzumiya was falling... Well, it felt as though her façade fell apart then and there. I think she may have a sixth sense for this kind of thing."
"If that's the case," Kiyoshi says, "then it may need a little tweaking. I mean, she's right this time, as I'm sure Nagato will tell you if you ask her nicely, but she has no reason to treat Sasaki the way she does."
"Really?" Itsuki Koizumi responds with his trademark 'whatever could you be implying?' smile/shrug. "You may not have noticed, but I think that Miss Suzumiya has been warming up to Miss Sasaki lately. But even when there was hostility, it was little more than baseless jealousy, which even she is slowly admitting to herself. With Miss Belgard, the feeling is far more intense. But now you've got me curious... What happened between her and Miss Nagato?"
Kiyoshi explains the details, concluding with a 'well, she put it better than I did, but I can't recite it word for word'. What makes his explanation particularly difficult is the (incredibly perplexing) fact that kidnapping Mikuru Asahina is no longer a good reason to mistrust somebody after Kyoko Tachibana kidnapped her and ultimately turned out to be a decent person. Regardless, Itsuki Koizumi seems to understand what he is trying to convey and agrees that Aya Belgard is not somebody to be taken lightly.
Upon realizing that their conversation has ended, I shift my attention elsewhere, and immediately regret doing so.
In the corner, Mikuru Asahina is speaking with Aya Belgard, who is subtly positioned so that Mikuru is unable to move from where she is without invading her personal space.
"It can't be easy, being with that brigade all the time. You're welcome to visit the Supernatural Research Society whenever you please."
"I'm not so sure about that," Mikuru says. "Yu-Miss Nagato's an on-and-off member of the Computer Society, and for a while I was tagging along with her, but... Well, it turned out not to be such a good idea."
"That's exactly what I mean," Aya Belgard says. "They're so restrictive there. I'm sure you'd rather be somewhere else, which is why I'm inviting you to spend some time with us. Or just me, if you prefer."
It takes a while for me to realize, but... She is flirting with Mikuru Asahina.
That... bitch.
As I continue to stare, others notice what it is I am looking at, and Haruka Tsuruya is the first to do something about it.
"Say," she says, "when I was looking up places to visit in Québec, they said the recommended visiting time for this place was two to three hours. I don't know how long it's been, but..."
Mikuru Asahina looks at her watch. "It's been an hour and a half..."
"Great!" She laughs nervously. "We're in a different time zone, and it's a leap year, so that means it's been well over three hours! Let's all go back!"
The rest of us agree, and we hastily make our way back to the manor. In the end, I am unable to determine what Aya Belgard was hoping to accomplish here, but it has hopefully gone unaccomplished.
"She was... strange," Mikuru Asahina says to nobody in particular. "Even after all that, I'm not sure what to make of her..."
"She said she was a member of the Supernatural Phenomena Research Society," Haruhi notes. "I'll be honest, I still don't trust those guys. Especially her."
"I don't really think that's fair," Mikuru says, her voice becoming less audible with each word. "But... oh, I don't know."
None of us have anything to do when we reach the manor, and Haruka Tsuruya tries repeatedly to start a conversation to distract us from what happened today, with little success. At one point, she reveals that we will be returning home tomorrow, which I am sure many of us suspect to be a decision she only made very recently.
Eventually, I decide to go to bed, hoping once again that the dreams I experience will be tolerable at the very least.
