A massive thud woke me from slumber and suddenly I was in a panic staring at the door which was rattling on its hinges under the strain. What in the world is going on out there?! Don't tell me I chose the bad ending again!
"Kyon! You awake?"
"Well he's awake now you idiot!"
"Shut up! This doesn't concern you!"
"Yes it does! He's the guy right?"
"Look just back off alright. I'll fetch him. If you crowd around him he won't want to come out."
"He's not a rabbit."
"Oh will you just go away?!"
"Shh, you'll scare him off if you're too loud."
"God I hate you!"
I couldn't help it any more. I had to open the door and end the little skit before it got out of hand. Both girls jumped back at my sudden presence and stared back at me with wide eyes. Haruhi and Ritsu instantly forgot about their petty squabble and tried to remember why they had disturbed my rest in the first place.
"You wanted something?" I asked to Haruhi, then turning to Ritsu I asked, "And who's this? A friend?"
Haruhi grimaced, "You should know! Apparently you're a fan of her band or something. She wouldn't leave us alone at dinner so I brought her here to shut her up and get some peace and quiet!"
"Oh, you're Ritsu Tainaka aren't you?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Damn it I'd forgotten I told Mio I was a fan of her band back when I met her at the music shop. I should have written this stuff down...
Swelling with pride at having been recognised Ritsu puffed up her chest and grinned, "Hm hm, it is I, the greatest drummer in all the world! Bow before my greatness!"
I'll pass.
"Oh yeah that's right, you're a Mio fan boy aren't ya?"
"Kyon what is she rambling about?" Haruhi fumed.
"Look Ritsu here is a drummer for this band called Houkago Tea-Time. There were some videos of their performances online and I kind of got hooked. If you're here then you must be entering the battle of the bands tomorrow right?" I turned to Ritsu and her grin only widened.
"You betcha! We're goin' for gold!"
They don't have medals.
"They will if I ask them!"
I wouldn't get my hopes up.
"Hang on a minute!" Haruhi snapped, "Who is this Mio girl she mentioned back there?"
"She's the bass player," I explained, careful not to spring any land mines. "When I was practising I learned a couple of their songs."
Weighing her irritation at me favouring another band against the fact that my devotion helped our own situation fortunately balanced out and with something of a half-hearted frown she nodded and uncrossed her arms.
"Well that's good I suppose..."
Without the fuel to spurn her anger any more Haruhi rolled her eyes and marched over to her room. With a parting glare she disappeared and left Ritsu and I out in the hall.
"You wanted something?" I asked vainly.
"Yeah! I want to be rich and famous, but that has nothing to do with you. Mio wanted to talk to you, but she's too shy to call you out so I figured I'd do it for her!"
My heart skipped a beat.
"Mio? W-What did she want to talk to me for?"
Ritsu's smile took on a sharp edge. "We know what you did last Tuesday!"
"You mean at the ENOZ concert? You were there?"
"Yup! And we appreciate the shout-out. But ever since Mio's been bugging me about it. She won't stop rambling on about that guy at the concert. I spotted your lady friend down in the restaurant and asked around and now here I am!"
"You're persistent as ever..."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. So where is Mio?"
Ritsu faltered a moment. "Oh right..."
…
"You didn't tell her did you?"
…
Ritsu's cheeks reddened slightly.
"Ah, but it's all good! We're just up the hall! Come, I'll show ya!"
And so Ritsu pointed out where her and Mio's rooms where, then with a devious smile gave instructions to meet there later at night.
Despite sounding so much like a clichéd Hollywood movie trap, the prospect of finally having a talk with Mio was too much to ignore. I returned to my room in higher spirits, but more so than ever, the nerves were getting to me.
Just before I closed the door, I thought I'd noticed a shadow under Haruhi's door, but the moment my eyes fell upon the nameless darkness it vanished. Without a second thought I returned to my room to plan out the most important night of my life.
Night had fallen and Asahina was sleeping soundly beside me. For a moment I marvelled at the startlingly beautiful expression of serenity on her round little face but I hadn't the time to be distracted and so despite an incredibly strong urge to stay I slowly and carefully dragged myself out from under the covers and crept over to the door. I stood right in the doorway, blocking the light seeping through and slipped out into the hall. It was late sure, but not too late. Asahina, as it turns out seemed to just pass out around nine o'clock every night. I suppose time travellers have complicated body clocks.
Taking extra care not to tread heavily I arrived outside the fated room and suddenly felt my legs stiffen.
Don't get nervous now you idiot! You're right there! It's too late to back out. No matter what happens this is the choice you made, so live with it!
And so after a few moments of mental tough love I knocked and waited.
The sound of footsteps and hushed voices brought me out of my reverie and suddenly my heart stopped. This is it! Mio is just behind the door. In a matter of seconds we'll be face to face. For the first time in what has felt like an eternity I'll be able to talk to her...
My heart thundered in my chest, hard enough to be audible and with a constrained sigh I straightened up and took a deep breath.
The door handle turned slowly and through the tiniest crack an eye peered out. On reflex I stared back and heard a shrill squeal as the eye vanished into the darkness like a turtle retreating inside its shell. Well only one person in Houkago Tea-Time could possibly be likened to something like that...Without a doubt it's her.
"Mio?"
"Ah!"
"Shh, don't freak out. I just wanted to meet you."
"H-How did you know I was here?!"
"Ritsu told me. Surely she explained this to you?"
"..."
"She forgot again?"
"Again?"
"Ugh, look it's kind of awkward conversing with a door. Could I please come in?"
"Um...M-M-Mugi is asleep so...Um..."
"Wanna go for a walk then? I missed dinner so I'm kind of craving something to eat."
"I...I guess so. Hold on..."
After a brief silence, intermittently broken by drawers and cupboards opening and closing finally she stepped out into the light and for a moment I was stricken. My mouth was probably agape, eyes wide like an idiot. With a subconscious slap to the face I woke up to reality and smiled.
"It's nice to meet you Mio, I'm-"
"John Smith, right?"
Oh right...Forgot about that...
"Yeah..."
"Sh-Shall we go?"
"Right."
As we walked down the corridor neither of us could find the right words to say and most attempts at conversation failed miserably. Without the familiarity we shared before I was afraid of being too forward with her and frightening the poor girl. With a sinking feeling in my heart I realised that I'd have to earn her trust all over again.
Mio, obviously surprised by all this, seemed too deep in her own thoughts to pay much attention to my scattered small talk and it wasn't until we'd arrived at the restaurant that she finally seemed to wake up.
"I think the restaurant is closed...I'm sorry."
What have you got to apologise for?
"Well, now you can't get something to eat...And you're hungry...And..."
"Well I wasn't planning on eating here anyway. There are plenty of places to eat in Tokyo!"
"Wha?! You mean we're going out?!"
Ok that sentence tugged at my heart-strings for the wrong reasons, but as the butterflies in my stomach either flew away or were simply digested I nodded and shared a soft smile.
"Why not? It's a beautiful night."
She hesitated at first but after giving it some thought she quietly muttered, "Ok."
Whether by some remarkable feat of remembrance or simply muscle memory we backtracked to the little cafe where I'd shared tea and cake with Yui while stuck in Closed Space. The eerie vibe was lost on it when bathed in cheap flashing lights accompanied by the choir of late-night commuters. Perhaps out of habit I glanced around with an undeniable hint of caution before approaching.
"What's wrong? You seem a little on edge."
I whirled around suddenly at Mio's remark only to find her retreating in shock.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright," I dismissed her concerns with a wave, well used to handling her common fits of panic, "I'm just hungry. It's making me all jittery or something..."
"Oh..." she nodded like that made perfect sense. Damn it she's too nice for her own good! How I've missed moments like these. Future be damned I'm not letting go of Mio or even her nutty group of friends. They are just as important in my world as my fellow Brigade members. Besides shifting the scales to one side rather than the other won't solve anything. Surely to make things right I just need to balance those scales evenly?
"John?"
"What?"
"Ah!"
Damn, I'm gonna have to get readjusted to this...
"Uh...Shall we head inside?"
She nodded reluctantly and trailed along from behind. Once again we made little noise waiting in line and even less as we waited for our order. That familiar awkwardness was refreshing in some ways but mostly agonising. We weren't the close friends we had been in the other timeline. Here we were just two strangers, one of whom had just randomly asked the other out to dinner without any real pretence or reason.
Wow when you put it like that no wonder it's so awkward...
"So…I figured we needed to talk."
"Our song..."
"Huh?"
"At that concert the other night. You played one of our songs."
I was so nervous I laughed on reflex. "Well spotted. Truth is I've been a fan of yours for a while now. We'd actually met before. Maybe you remember?"
"The music shop."
"Yeah there was that too, but I meant some other times."
"Maybe. You look so familiar but...I can't recall ever meeting you before. It's so strange."
The waiter arrived with our drinks and I ordered our desserts, picking a Gateau au chocolat for Mio. It had been her favourite if my memory served me right. Judging from the stunned look on her face I was sure I'd hit the home run there.
"M-My favourite...How did you know?"
With a sigh I leaned forward, my smile starting to vanish. "I told you before. We've met plenty of times in the past even though you might not remember it. The thing is...I'm technically from the future."
…
Oh shit!
Did I just say that out loud?!
"...What?"
"..."
Is it too late to restart and try again?
