TGOHS Ch.10

"W-welcome home, Master." I winced through gritted teeth at my next customer. On top of being brutally embarrassing and humiliating, being a maid was unexpectedly physically demanding and painful. Having to balance your customer's orders while running from table to table, back to the kitchen, and then around the tables again, smiling all the while, was a harsh task to accomplish. I was afraid that my face would be stuck with a permanent smile!

"That is enough for now. Please take a break for lunch. My employees can handle this until you are all finished." The owner came and instructed just as I was about to reach my limit. Ms. Asahina and Koizumi seemed to be exhausted too. Even Tsuruya-sempai seemed a little tired. If Nagato was tired he was sure doing a great job of hiding it from the rest of us. Does Nagato ever feel physical exhaustion? She has to, right? I mean, she is a humanoid data link inter whatever, but I'm sure she has to get tired sometimes.

Haruki, as expected, was still as boundless and energy filled as ever. I wish some of that hyperactivity would wear off on me sometime. Maybe I'd be able to handle all these crazy situations easier that way.

Ms. Asahina took the liberty to prepare our meals for us that morning. A home cooked meal from Ms. Asahina? Where does the line begin!?

As amazing as the boxed lunches Ms. Asahina made for everyone were, I couldn't help avert my focus to what happened that morning between Tsuruya-sempai and I. A slider? It just didn't seem possible. Even though Tsuruya seemed to know all the details surrounding Haruhi I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that he was yet another supernatural being hiding their identity among normal people. And by people, I mean person. And by person, I mean me. At this point I was beginning to wonder if I was really the light for all weirdness in the world to come to like flies to a bug zapper.

As easy as it would have been for me to just outright believe everything that Tsuruya-sempai had confessed to me, I needed some visual confirmation. Some cold, hard proof like what I had been shown that ended any doubts I might have had about Nagato, Koizumi, and Ms. Asahina. Yup. That would mean asking Tsuruya-sempai to display to me his "abilities".

So, as lunch started to get close to finishing - and by that I mean we had about 20 minutes left until our next shift - I approached Tsuruya-sempai who was conversing with the owner about something or another.

"Tsuruya-sempai…?"

"Oh ho ho? What are you tugging on my sleeve for? You look like you're about to confess your love for me, nyoron!" Tsuruya laughed.

"Can I talk with you for a moment?" I inquired, trying not to get angry at Tsuruya's tendency to joke about little things like that all the time.

"Hmm?"

As we walked out the back door to the restaurant, I couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes peering jealously through my skull from across the room. It sent chills up my spine, but I brushed it away and ignored it. I would come to regret not acknowledging that sensation, but more on that later.

"Oh so you just wanted to talk more about this morning?" Tsuruya clarified to himself.

"There are just some things I need to confirm before I can understand all of this." To be honest, if I had the time, I would have asked Tsuruya-sempai to go over everything with me one last time because I didn't really understand the implications to any of his story. But that kind of investigation would have to wait. I needed as much information as I could possibly get, and I had a very short window to do so. Not just because our shift would start soon, but because it wouldn't be very long before someone noticed we were missing.

"Ask away Ms. Kyonko."

"Ok. First off, have you always been a slider, or is you being a slider a side effect of this new reality being created?" I began to interrogate. That felt like a very good question to open with.

"I guess, to put in to terms you can understand, I am both." That was not put into terms I can understand, just to interject. "I have memories of being a slider from long before this past Wednesday. However, from your perspective, it's possible that I have only been a slider since the day this all started. I can't really tell you if I have been a slider since that time 4 years ago or not. But, to me, I have."

"…" I stared in awe of what Tsuruya-sempai said. It made absolutely no sense to me what so ever. "Could you maybe make that a little more understandable?"

"Ha ha ha! I guess that did sound a little strange!" he laughed, "You know what the Theory of Relativity is, right?"

"Um sure…"

"Well think of it like that. The universe and its laws only apply to the one who observes them. So, if from your perspective I have only been a slider since a few days ago, then that is true to you. This especially applies if you are from a different dimension. You would be observing properties, people, and laws that don't necessarily apply to you, but are true to the world as it is."

I guess I kind of understand what he's saying.

"So you mean that, even if you believe that you have been a slider your entire life or since 4 years ago or whatever, my observations would show that this new reality is actually responsible for you being a slider?"

"Yup, but I choose to believe that my memories are right. It's kind of biased, but it would be like learning that your entire life has been a lie. Dealing with that isn't something I want to put up with."

I guess I could accept that explanation. Though it brought up more questions, and didn't really make figuring out whether this was a new world or if it was us being swapped with people from another dimension any easier, making this whole situation even more annoying. All that would have to wait for another time. There was something that had been at the forefront of my mind for a while that I wanted to see.

"I know you have told me you're a slider, and you know everything about what's going on because of this and that around Haruhi, but I still doubt this whole thing a little."

"I see! You want to see my powers! Well, nyoron, I would love to, but, like Koizumi, my powers have to meet certain conditions. I can't just build links to other dimensions. I have to find them. And if I used any of my other powers without knowing what was going on in this dimension first, the effects could be catastrophic. I'm sure the right time will pop up whenever we need it, so don't worry; I'll give you some visual evidence."

I thought about that for a little while, dissatisfied with that response. But there was nothing I could do. I would have to trust Tsuruya with this one. I mean it wasn't like I could force him to use his powers or anything. So I would just have to wait.

"Ok. One more question for now." I started.

"Go right ahead!" Tsuruya smiled

"Why would you-" just then the back door flung open to reveal a disgruntled Haruki standing like some hero from a boys action manga who is facing his foe for the last time.

"Just what do you two think you are doing out here!?" Haruki hollered.

"I-I-I" I stuttered, scrambling to find some sort of excuse that Haruki wouldn't believe anyway.

"I was just giving Kyonko some advice on waiting tables. She was having a hard time keeping up, so I thought I'd help her." Tsuruya said with a little slap on my back. Little? Actually it almost knocked me over. If I had my old body then it probably wouldn't have been that big a deal, but you should really learn to control your own strength, Tsuruya-sempai.

Haruki just glared disdainfully down on me, judging me for my sins against him by not informing him about this meeting first. He didn't seem too convinced by Tsuruya's lie.

"Hmm. Fine, but don't go off without telling me, you got that?!" he demanded. It was a good thing Tsuruya-sempai stepped in when he did. Even if I had came up with something chances are Haruki wouldn't have believed us. I figured that Haruki had finally listened to some reason.

Compared to the morning, the afternoon after we came back on shift was pretty slow. Not many customers came in, more than likely because many of the adults in the world either were at work or just outright couldn't afford this place. But there were just enough to keep one or two of the staff busy at a time. Haruki continued to sneak disapproving glances my way as the progressed, and I could sense there was sure to be some sort of "Death Penalty" after we finished are work for that day.

"Thank you for all of your fine efforts today." The manager complimented with a smile on his face, "I wish you the best of luck in getting to the bottom of this situation. I feel so bad for having you work here and then go out and investigate. It seems like a lot of work to burden all of you with." Thank you, Mr. Owner sir, for finally understanding my situation!

"Not at all!" Haruki chimed, "This is what the SOS Brigade is for! We handle these types of things all the time!" Isn't that sort of false advertising? I mean, the only real job we have had up until this point was finding the computer club president inside that hyper dimensional space camel cricket. And that was your fault, Haruki.

"These guys can find your employees no sweat! I recommended them didn't I? You can trust them!" Tsuruya-sempai announced, with a little too much praise. Careful, don't let all that get to Haruki's head. I don't want to think about what would happen if he all of a sudden began thinking we could tackle any problem or something like that. Things like world peace, world hunger, war, poverty; I don't think any of us are cut out for that sort of job. And, out of all of us, Haruki is the least qualified.

"Thank you again." The owner spoke, and then we were on our way back to the station. Just thinking that I would have to be doing this every weekend until we found these missing staff members made my body ache. If this disappearance was part of this big situation then it would sure be a long time 'till we found anyone, if ever. Could they have vanished because of this "new world?" Did they realize what had happened to them like we did and run off in terror? Whatever the reason, it was obvious that Haruhi's desire to be some great detective wasn't totally neutralized on that desert island mansion last summer. At least a small part of that was still kicking. And this time it wasn't a fake mystery we were collectively trying to solve. While Haruki played his hand at this little disappearance case, we were forced to divide our efforts between this club activity and the sexual reconfiguration we had all experienced. And to add the jumbled up mass of confusion, Tsuruya decided to throw his hat in the circle with his emphatic entry as a slider. It was troubling to see something like that happen. I didn't know if I could keep this from the other SOS Brigade members for long either. If anything, Nagato was probably alerted of Tsuruya-sempai's identity immediately after the change was triggered, if Nagato hadn't always known. The only real way to know if Tsuruya has been a slider all along, as Tsuruya-sempai himself explained, would be to find someone who can observe both of our reasoning from the outside. That would leave Nagato as the only candidate. I was going to have to consult Nagato about this. Even though Tsuruya-sempai didn't want me to tell the other members, this was a clue into discovering what the heck it was we were going through. It was the first clue we had been given, and I couldn't just ignore it. I could ask Nagato to keep it from the others, too, so Tsuruya-sempai wouldn't be all that upset.

We arrived at the train station and, as we got prepared to get our tickets, "Ok! You are all dismissed from today's activities!" Haruki barked at the turn styles

"I thought we would be investigating." Ms. Asahina commented.

"Don't worry about that. I had some things to do around here anyway, so I'll just do it myself for now. In the meantime I want you to go home, get some rest, and get ready for another hard day at work tomorrow!" Ok, something definitely seemed off about Haruki's behavior. He was just letting us go from an SOS Brigade club activity.

"But-"

"Don't worry about it. I've got everything under control." And with that we started to walk away. However, as with everything that Haruki says, there was a catch.

"Not so fast, Kyonko!" Haruki grabbed and yanked me back by my pony tail.

"W-what!?" I winced, "I thought we were done for today!"

"Not us! We are going to go around town and investigate! It is your penalty!"