Origins of Haruhi - Higher Education
- x -
- Foreword
I should preface this volume with some pithy thoughts, since it occurs to me that I wouldn't want the reader to take this material too lightly, or at least to think that I wish for them to take it lightly. And it's not so much because Ryoko Asakura is standing nearby, looking over my shoulder as I write this as much as the fact that I sincerely hope the reader can appreciate how strange and inexplicable this story is for me. With that in mind, allow me to quote the underrated George Santayana (noted Spanish philosopher and poet), and not the saying you're probably thinking. Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily. It's hard for me to disagree.
That said, there's something compelling about rushing into a startling revelation, and that could cause a lot of innocent mayhem, though it's understandable that you'd want to keep the details mostly to yourself. I strained for quite some time to edit this book into a form that I think will be acceptable for everyone involved, given that the reader is willing to be open-minded and not assume that anything they read applies to our own reality.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you remember what led to this story. This is a variation caused by a temporal paradox, a propitious accident that resulted in the fulfillment of many miraculous events. The temporal paradox, in itself, was intended to create a further world where the fulfillment of certain events waited in anticipation of this transitional world's ending. Yuki Nagato pointed out to me the irony of this fifth world: that it ended after a long period of unexpectedly peaceful and joyous achievement, all of which the Data Integration Thought Entity came to despise.
The first version of this book came to me from Miss Asakura's own hands, and it contained a long, detailed account of my experiences through high school. That information has mostly been rendered superfluous by "Improvised High School," a work that I hope to piece together with information supplied by Miss Nagato some time in the near future. It's actually quite interesting, although it doesn't contribute much toward my efforts to explain all the temporal paradoxes that exist in this time plane.
Before you start thinking that this time plane was pointless, I should mention that this was really the first time I was given any real freedom, and this not only set the tone for later time planes, but became a kind of foundation upon which the later time planes were laid. There was a great deal of tension between myself and everyone who tried improving my life, and I later learned that there was almost an all-out war between the radicals and the moderates over what happened between Miss Nagato and myself. If there's one thing I've learned from this story, it's that you can't really trust your perceptions. The things you believe may be very distant from the truth of the matter.
- x -
- Chapter 1: Future In the Past
Let me start this chapter by first saying that I don't really think I'm all that special. I'm a pretty average kind of guy. I have average hair, average clothes, average intellect, average prospects for the future, and a general, overall feeling of being extremely average. I'm not one to linger on it or to get too depressed about it, but it is undeniably true. The only interesting thing about me is how casually everyone treats me, and not just the fact that I let people call me "Kyon." I've noticed that I tolerate a lot of abuse from my friends, my teachers, my parents, and even my little sister has gotten in the habit of walking all over me. This should help you understand how it was that I was instructed to go join the literature club, so I went and did as I was told.
It's not so much that I'm a pushover for Ryoko Asakura or that I like her particularly. I just simply had nothing better to do with my life. Yes. I am just that boring.
Even so, I have to admit that there's a kind of beauty in this simplicity. Asakura told me to go, so I went. Nothing in me discouraged me from wanting to join the club. Indeed, I often wondered whether Asakura had had any ulterior motives for sending me there, but that just seems ridiculous. The most likely explanation for it was that it was a nice, mid-April afternoon. The air was starting to turn warm, and the obligatory cherry blossom rituals were in full swing, so it would be a little weird to not want to join a club. I was in a terrific mood, so I probably would have joined her even had she invited me to go jump off a bridge with her to our deaths.
That said, this wasn't an invitation to join her. This was just a command delivered to me, and it occurred to me that it would be a little strange if I found her waiting at the literature club. So, it was not surprising when I entered the literature club and discovered a perfectly ordinary girl was the only one waiting for me there. She even had that cliched bookworm look to her that bespoke someone who you'd expect to constantly be reading, and I'm not just saying that because I saw her reading at the time.
The room was a pretty average club room: just large enough for one decent-sized table, surrounded by chairs, with windows facing the schoolyard. There was one chair on the far side of the table, and two chairs on each side of the long ends. The glasses-wearing girl was sitting on the far left side (from me), and the door itself swung inward in a typical western manner. I took a moment to notice how the door could lock, between noticing the chalkboard on one side and the selection of books in the shelves on the other side.
"Hello," I said. "Is this the literature club?" The girl nodded, and I added, "Oh, okay. I like to be sure about this kind of thing."
"About what?" she asked.
I answered, "Asakura said to join, but I don't think she's a member, is she?"
"No," the girl replied.
"That's too bad," I said. "Any idea why?"
"No," she replied.
You may be wondering why I haven't introduced myself. That's because it never occurred to me that I should introduce myself. I have a tendency to neglect noticing little things like that, and I often find myself being corrected by others for my tardy manners. This girl, however, did not seem to place etiquette too terribly high on a list of her priorities.
"Okay..." I said. "So, why did she suggest joining this club?"
"Boredom," the girl answered.
"She was bored, you mean?" I asked, to which the girl nodded. I then asked, "Does she know you? I mean, I just had that impression."
"Yes," she answered.
"You knew each other in middle school?"
"We are related."
"Okay. I see..."
I took another look around, and I had a moment to appreciate the way the sunlight was at just the right angle to create a feeling of calm and warmth in the room. It would seem strange to not want to just sit down and read, but something in me wasn't content with the idea, just yet.
"So..." I said, "What happens in this club? I mean, other than reading?"
"Writing," she answered.
"Writing?"
"Writing."
"You mind if I bring in a few games?"
"No."
"I mean, it would get awfully boring if all we did was read and write."
"Yes."
"I imagine the student council would probably frown on it, but what else are you going to do, right? I mean, we can't exactly watch films, listen to music, shoot photos. You know? The kind of thing you might expect for brainstorming."
"Yes."
I then noticed how the girl had stopped reading, and was just waiting for me to continue speaking. It was an odd sensation, and I suddenly felt obligated to offer her back her serenity.
"Am I bothering you?" I asked.
"No," she replied.
I added, "I don't normally go on and on like this, but..."
"I understand," she answered, and I noticed for the first time how flat and monotone her voice was. She then surprised me by pointing to the table. I then noticed a piece of paper, sitting there.
"Oh..." I said, taking a more careful look at it. "A sign-up sheet? I should probably do that, huh?"
"Yes," she answered.
I then sat at the table and started filling out that form.
"What do you like about the literature club?" I asked her.
"Reading," she answered.
"So, you like to read, huh?" I asked.
She replied, "Yes."
"You enjoy that book?"
"Yes."
"What do you like about it?"
"It's unique."
"You like space battles?"
"Science fiction is amusing."
"It is?"
"Nothing is more amusing than what humans think the future holds."
There was something oddly familiar about that, but I then took a moment to notice how this girl and I were the only ones in the room. It gave this situation an odd feeling of expectation, though the girl herself radiated a kind of robotic, thoroughly rational repose that immediately quieted any thought of excitement.
"Shouldn't we have a few more members in the club?" I asked.
"Should we?" she answered.
"Yeah," I replied. "I mean, if we don't have at least five by the deadline, they'll shut us down, right?"
"They could," she admitted.
"Even assuming they don't, I'm not sure I could list this as a club on my college application."
"Why not?"
I had a bit of a pause as I considered that, then agreed, "Yeah, why not?" By then, I had finished filling out this form, and I started, "So, I just..."
"The student council," she answered.
"Oh, okay," I said. "I'll go do that now, while I'm thinking about it."
"Okay," she said.
I took the paper and went to the door, but then it occurred to me that I was neglecting my manners, somehow.
I informed her, "I'm going by the soda machine on the way back. You want anything?"
"A Coke," she answered.
"Coke?"
"Coke."
"Got it," I said. "I'll be right back."
As I left the room, it then suddenly hit me that I didn't even know her name, and I became a little baffled at myself that I had neglected such an obvious thing.
- x -
Yuki Nagato was her name. After I returned with the Coke, we spent some more time speaking, and I discovered a lot of little things about her. Aside from her odd preference in soda, she dislikes conversing with Asakura, though she does rely on Asakura for advice and for speaking to most others on her behalf. She lived in an apartment by herself and seemed to suffer from some weird dissociative disorder. I tried encouraging her to talk about what traumatic incident could have caused that, but she seemed reluctant to talk about it, though she does seem to enjoy talking to me about most things.
It hit me later that Yuki is a somewhat unpleasant person, though I find myself drawn to her. I don't feel as though making her speak to me is some great achievement, but I do feel I've achieved something when I can find out things about her.
Discovery is a marvelous thing, and I find myself gravitating toward it without even thinking. The consequent fancies I have in anticipation make the everyday climb to school a little less taxing, and I think I can even endure the abuses of my friends and family a little better. I mostly find that I like to discover things about myself. For example, this uphill climb to school everyday. It only takes about ten minutes, but I dread the thought of it. I put off going to school for as long as I can, and then I notice the soreness in my feet more than all the other walking around in school put together (which is probably about thirty minutes worth). I hate it, but it gives me a warm feeling inside; much like when I'm nice to my sister, when I clean up my room, or when I end up speaking with Kunikida and Taniguchi over lunch.
"Here's your CD back," Kunikida told me.
"Huh?" I said. I took a moment to remember that I was sitting with them, eating my lunch, and then remembered that I had loaned him a few CDs. "Oh."
Taniguchi then observed, "I didn't know you were a Jeff Beck fan."
"I'm not," I answered. "This is something my mother likes."
Kunikida added, "His mother likes some of that early American music. You know? Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Moody Blues..."
Sometimes Kunikida gets his British invasion confused with American music, but it's mostly their American success that made them famous, so I'm willing to let it go.
I explained, "My father was a much bigger fan, and he kind of infected my mother a little."
"What's your interest?" Taniguchi asked Kunikida.
He replied, "I like a lot of the guitar work. It's interesting stuff."
"You play guitar?" I asked him.
"A little bit," he admitted.
I couldn't picture Kunikida playing guitar. Something about it just seemed weird, but then Kunikida does sometimes pull out these surprises.
"Is that yours?" Asakura asked, suddenly appearing behind me.
"My mother's," I answered.
"You mind if I borrow that?" she asked.
I almost laughed, but then asked, "Sure, but aren't you worried about your reputation?"
"My what?" she said.
Kunikida then added, "Yeah. If you're seen taking things from Kyon, you could lose some charisma points."
"Silly, silly boys," she muttered. "Like I care about my reputation."
I handed her the CD and thought seriously for a moment about what to say about all this. "Anyway," I explained, "people will just naturally assume that Miss Asakura is tutoring me, and that I'm just giving her back some educational material. That's my story, anyway."
"That's pretty good," Taniguchi softly commented. "Yeah. Sounds believable."
"Thanks," Asakura said, taking a moment from inspecting the CD.
"You're welcome," I said.
We then watched as Asakura returned to her usual circle of friends, making some excited-looking comments between giggling or whatever girls like to do.
"That was unusual," Kunikida said.
"Yeah," Taniguchi agreed. "Who knew Asakura was such a big fan? I'll have to make note of what else you lend her."
"Does Miss Nagato like that style of music?" Kunikida then asked me.
"Huh?" I answered. "I don't know."
"Hmm..." he said, suddenly pondering something terribly pithy.
"How should I know, anyway?" I then asked.
"I just assumed..." he started to say.
"Oh," I interrupted him. "I'm just in that club. It ain't like we're dating."
"Yeah, right," Taniguchi said. "You just spend an hour alone together every day after school. What do you think people are going to say?"
"It's more like half an hour," I corrected him, "and I think she's just a nice, friendly person. There's nothing else going on."
"Maybe I should join, then?" Kunikida asked.
"I don't see why not," I answered.
Kunikida considered for a moment, then said, "Nah. I've always been too eccentric to join clubs. You know that."
"Eccentric?" I asked, trying to picture it and failing.
"Yeah," he insisted. "What?"
"Nothing," I answered.
- x -
After Golden Week, I found myself sitting on a pile of homework, and I began to wonder how I'd catch up, but then I remembered Yuki saying something about enjoying her homework. I asked if she could help me out, and she consequently invited me to join her at her place after five. This innocent rendezvous eventually formed into a study group, though I hadn't counted on that the first time over.
I had just finished catching up on that homework, with some assistance from her, when I noticed she had a TV that she apparently never used. I offered to plug it in and make some connections, and we then sat around watching TV for a while. After about an hour, Asakura suddenly entered, carrying a covered pot of something I assumed was food.
"Oh!" she said. "You have company?"
"Hello," I answered.
"I'm not sure I made enough for three," she complained. "You mind if I go back and get some bread?"
I looked at Yuki to see if she would answer, but she just looked like an annoyed teenager who was staring down a doting mother.
"I don't mind," I offered.
Asakura then smoothly delivered the pot to the center of the table and just as smoothly left, smirking at me for a moment before she left.
"Asakura lives nearby?" I asked Yuki.
"Yes," she answered.
"Interesting."
"It's a short trip."
"Oh, right. You two are related. You're close?"
"Yes."
"That would explain why she doesn't like the literature club."
"She has unusual tastes."
An odd remark for someone who lives in an apartment with bare walls and an unplugged TV, but I just assumed that Yuki was a book-obsessed stoic.
I then asked, "And she likes music? Does she like music in general or just...?"
She replied, "Just popular music from the sixties."
"Right," I said, making note of that. "And she obviously likes school."
"She has many surprising likes and dislikes," Yuki added.
"Is that so?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Be careful," Yuki then warned.
"Okay," I answered. "I wouldn't want to start an argument with her, I guess."
"She is surprisingly capricious," Yuki explained.
"Capricious?"
"Yes."
"I had guessed that, but..."
"I don't mean that she's whimsical or impulsive. I mean, she can be surprisingly lubricious."
I have a good vocabulary, but that word was a bit outside my grasp. I could imagine the smile on Asakura's face widening, as I tried to guess in my mind that word's meaning from the syntax Yuki had used it in (having no tone nor special emphasis to work with).
Yuki clarified, "That is to say, prurient."
"Oh, I see," I said, finally recognizing what she was saying. "She's a slut."
Yuki looked a little annoyed that I had reached that conclusion, but she didn't make any objections, either.
"That is surprising," I admitted.
Asakura then suddenly entered again with a loaf of French bread. "Hello!" she said. "You miss me?"
"Hello again," I greeted her.
She then brought over the bread to the table and sat down with us.
"I hope you two weren't talking about me," she said, grinning.
"Why?" I asked. "You have some deep, dark secret?"
She laughed and answered, "Oh, don't be silly. I'm just playing around."
- x -
The next two months went by in what seem to me now like a blur, although I remember quite a few things happening apart from class and the study group. Suffice it to say that I mostly spent my time reading or playing games in the club room, and I would then spend another hour studying with Yuki at her apartment. You might get the impression that we were dating, but it was only beginning to dawn on me that Yuki really was a girl, and she might even be mostly normal in certain respects.
I have to admit, I really dislike homework, and being able to rely on Yuki was a tremendous benefit for me. I don't know if I'm really getting through to her at times, and she has a habit of employing verbiage that bewilders my incommensurate phraseology. It almost seems as though words themselves intimidate her, and she armors herself with the most impressive-sounding words she can use to counteract them. However, I have a hard time believing that, considering how much she reads.
I also discovered that Asakura is an excellent cook, and she doesn't just cook well. She prepares food that is as vividly tasteful as you might imagine she would make. It isn't the smooth mouthful of flavor that my mother can deliver, but it could easily make you forget anyone else's cooking. I got into trouble a lot with my mother, but she slowly began allowing me to stay at Yuki's for dinner more often, as that was surely less expensive and time-consuming for her.
In spite of all this, I didn't hear a word more on the subject from Taniguchi or Kunikida. None of us put much in the way of special importance into my comings and goings at Yuki's apartment, and Taniguchi didn't even press me on the issue of which CDs Asakura continued to borrow from me. Everything had started to become familiar, and I remember sitting in the club room, playing with an old deck of cards, and thinking that something weird really ought to happen. It was then that I suddenly noticed how Yuki had approached me and was holding out a small slip of paper toward me with some weird scribble on it.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Keep it," she said.
I then took it, wondering what it could possibly mean.
"You may need it," she added.
"Okay," I said, putting it into my pocket. Yuki then went back to reading, and I immediately noticed a knocking at the door.
"Yes?" I answered. "Come in."
The door opened, and in walked this astonishingly beautiful girl. I was instantly reminded of the way Asakura has this outlandish beauty that you would assume could only exist in dreams, but this girl's beauty was more like a sudden realization of some obvious truth or like a feeling of being fully awakened by a soft breeze.
"Is this the literature club?" she asked, her voice descending to me like petals from a cherry tree.
"That's right," I answered.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said. "I'm Mikuru Asahina."
"That's okay," I answered her apology. "I wasn't really doing anything. I..."
She then smoothly interrupted, "If it's okay, could we speak outside?"
"Okay..." I said, suddenly thinking of the paper in my pocket and wondering what kind of trouble it foretold.
We then went to the hallway, and Asahina seemed nervous.
"Is this really okay?" she asked. "I could come back another time."
"It's fine," I answered. "I was bored anyway."
She then took a deep breath and bravely stated, "Before we talk about anything else, I need to tell you something very important, and I need you to listen carefully."
"What is it?" I asked.
"The thing is," she answered, "I'm from the future."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Could we go to the stairway?"
"Okay," I said. "Yeah."
As we went toward the stairway, she mentioned her love of books, and she added that although she had read a lot about my "era," she was still surprised at what she was encountering. I asked her about time travel in general and what her purpose was, but she could only give me vague answers, which made me look at her funny. We then came to a landing outside on the stairway, and we stopped to continue this discussion.
"Yeah," she admitted, "it sounds crazy, but I really have no idea. I just now received my orders."
"What am I?" I asked. "A distant ancestor or something?"
She answered, "I really wouldn't be able to tell you if you were."
"So, why do you need me?" I repeated.
"I have no idea," she replied. "I'm sorry."
"Okay. So, we're taking a trip to the past?"
"To three years ago."
"Got it. Anything I need?"
"Just close your eyes."
It suddenly hit me that this could be a really cruel practical joke, but I then wondered whether it would matter so much even if it was. Still, it did bother me a little.
"What for?" I asked
She explained, "Time traveling can be very disconcerting if you see it happening. Keeping your eyes closed will also reduce the nausea you would naturally feel."
"All right," I said. "Got it."
I then closed my eyes, and I felt her hands on my shoulders, as though she were standing behind me, getting ready to push me.
"Here we go..."
- x -
I had a brief sensation of floating, and then I felt like I had softly landed. There was also a feeling like I had just swallowed a rock, so I began to think that maybe there was something to this time travel business. I opened my eyes and discovered that we were suddenly near the top of a hill. The sky was cloudy, and I began to wonder if I should regret not having a raincoat with me. The hill was grassy, and there was a small forest nearby.
"Whoa!" I said, getting a look around. "I didn't expect this much change. This is amazing."
It all seemed familiar to me in spite of not having the school here. I noticed that Asahina seemed a little amazed, as well.
"This is pretty cool," I said. "I kind of recognize this."
"You do?" she asked.
"Yeah," I answered. "This is the site where the school will be built. I didn't know they constructed it in less than three years."
"There's something wrong going on here," she muttered.
"Really?" I said. "Maybe your history books are just off."
"Maybe," she admitted.
"I've never read a reliable history book," I added.
"I suppose you're right," she said.
Just then, I noticed a woman and a young girl walking up the hill. The woman was holding a folded umbrella in one hand, and the girl's hand in her other. In my excitement, I neglected to think about whether they might be significant. They just seemed to me like a pair of perfectly ordinary people.
"I think we should ask, though," I said. "Just to be sure."
"That's okay," Asahina said. "Actually, I should be able to..."
By then, I had already started to greet the woman, "Hello."
"Hello," she answered.
"Which year of Heisei is it?" I asked.
"Oh..." she answered, suddenly lost in thought. "Well, let me think..."
"Six," said the girl.
"Right," the woman stated. "Six. Thanks, little Haruhi."
"Oh, cool," I said. "Thanks."
Haruhi. There's a not-too-uncommon feminine name. Hearing that reassured me that we were safely obscure, although Asahina looked to be frozen stiff.
The woman then asked, "Were you going to wait for the bus?"
"Huh?" I said, thinking quickly. "Oh... Yeah. Is the stop just up here?"
"Yeah," she answered. "It's right there."
She pointed the same direction as I was looking, toward a small bus stop about fifty feet away from our present location. At that moment, a light rain began to fall.
"Oh my," the woman said.
"I think it's starting to rain," I remarked.
"Good thing I have my umbrella," the woman added.
"Hey," I said to Asahina. "You don't want to get wet, do you?"
Once I saw that Asahina was safely under cover, I went ahead and ran to the bus stop. I stood there waiting for a minute, while the others approached.
"Is it really so mysterious?" the woman asked.
Asahina replied, "I've never seen this place before, so..."
"I was just strolling around, myself," the woman added. "I noticed a bus schedule at a nearby coffee shop here, and I asked myself, 'Why not?'"
"Yeah," Asahina agreed. "Why not?"
"Why not what?" I asked.
"Well..." the woman answered, going to sit at the bench. "It's all rather complicated. You don't want to hear about my boring life."
"Oh, okay," I said.
Asahina once again looked stiff and nervous, and I think she was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't recognize her facial gestures. I turned to the woman and commented, "Lovely day, huh?"
"Oh, yeah," she said. "I notice your friend there isn't too talkative."
"She has a nervous condition," I explained.
"Oh?" the woman asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Little sister here has heart problems."
"Oh my," the woman said again.
"It's no problem," I assured her. "My mom knows a doctor who can do the operation. But, you know..."
"It's going to be scary," the woman said.
"You bet," I agreed. "No big deal, though. I mean, this is her life we're talking about. So, you can understand why she wouldn't want to talk about it."
"Umm..." Asahina said. "Maybe we should..."
"It's no big deal," I told her. "Relax."
"Oh, wow," the woman added. "That must be terrible. I hope everything works out okay."
"Me too," I said. "I'm sure it well."
If I hadn't been so bored a little earlier, I'm sure I would have been taken aback at myself for this story, but I was relishing this. Here was an opportunity you don't get every day.
I continued, "I love my mother, so I completely trust her. She has a good instinct about doctors."
"So, where are you headed?" the woman asked.
"Osaka."
"That far?"
"We have relatives there, so it's no problem."
"Oh, okay. I was about to say... This bus I'm waiting for is heading north, not west."
"I know. I'm just going to rendezvous with my aunt."
"Your aunt?"
"She said she'd meet me here. So..."
"Well, we're on our way to little Haruhi's grandmother. It's not all the way in Osaka, but..."
"Far enough, huh?"
"Yeah."
I felt good about that. It seemed to me like I was being rewarded with meeting a couple of nice people who were just on their way to show respect to their elders. It had been quite some time since I had seen my grandmother.
"That's nice," I said. "Yeah. People should visit their folks every now and then."
"What I mean is..." the woman started, but then a bus pulled to a stop in front of us. "Oh... That's for me." She got up and said to the girl, "Come on."
"Goodbye," I said, as they started up into the bus. "Nice meeting you."
"You sure you don't need any money?" the woman asked me.
"We'll be fine," I answered. "Don't worry about it."
"Okay," she said. "Well, goodbye."
They then went to find a seat on the bus, and the bus began pulling away.
"Are you crazy?" Asahina immediately asked me.
"What?" I said.
"I don't have a heart condition," she complained.
"Sorry," I said. "It was the first thing that popped into my head."
"Jeez," she added. "You realize we're all the way back in 1994. We went back nine years, not three years."
"Oops," I said, chuckling. "Oh, well. No harm done, right?"
Asahina then went and sat on the bench, and she seemed weighted down with worry.
"What have I done?" she complained.