I turned around and there was the younger version of Koizumi with his smiling face, standing there with the other 5 who just came in with him.

He said, 'I'm sorry about that, but in case you didn't note, that someone was in here earlier. We decided to stay outside until she left.'

'You are worrying about her sensing our accumulative ESP awesomeness? Hahaha.'

Everyone sat down. Koizumi was in the chair directly behind me.

I turned around for a quick look and was able to recognize Mr Arakawa and Ms Mori among the 6 that just came in. It's a bit odd to see them in casual clothes rather than the butler and the maid clothing. The two that were here early were the Tamaru brothers, Keiichi and Yutaka.

There's no way I was here with them here being a coincidence. It implied I was meant to say and act in some way to shape the future.

The newcomers each ordered something and after a short silence, a voice which I believed was Keiichi said, 'Thank you everyone for joining us today. As you may know, Mr. Ono, our admirable co-leader, had a little accident, and he was flown to Canada to be cared for. Before he left, he informed some of us that he wanted to retire from his position. Therefore, I will like to motion electing a new leader.'

'Hang on,' said a woman's voice. Since there's only one woman in the group, it had to be Ms Mori. 'Itsuki is young, but he has been a capable co-leader. It has always been Mr Ono's wish to assist Itsuki until he's ready to take over full leadership for the H-group -'

"Haha!' I accidentally laughed out loud.

Silence. I turned around and they were all looking at me.

'Sorry about that… did I hear someone said the H-group? You folks should really rename your group. Your group name sounds like some Korean pop music group… or maybe a bunch nerdy folks that are into H-games.' Dead silence.

'Sorry.' I turned away. More silence followed.

Ms Mori continued, 'Anyways, I think Itsuki is ready to lead on his own now, and he's the logical choice since he has been the co-leader.'

The members were talking softly to each other for a while, then the older Tamaru continued, 'Thank you Ms Mori for your opinion, but I think I speak for those of us here who do not agree to Mr Ono's choice for having Koizumi as our co-leader in the first place. Now Mr Ono is gone, we should do this democratically.'

No one argued his point.

Keniichi continued, 'I would like to nominate Mr Arakawa. He's the oldest and wisest in our group.'

I didn't know if Mr Arakawa were the wisest, but he surely looked the oldest. There seemed to be no resistance to the suggestion.

Silence. Something's not right here... Why was Koizumi not standing his ground and pushing himself as the leader? No disrespect to Mr Arakawa, this was not about him, and it was not time for me to worry about getting into trouble. I should say something.

'Pardon me for saying this, but wouldn't you need someone who looked the role of a leader? Mr Mustache Man looked more like a butler... perhaps a driver... than a leader… Just saying….'

I guessed I really did it… I saw the expressions of some of them - they suddenly saw a man with more resemblance to a butler than a leader.

Keiichi said, 'Should we continue the meeting somewhere else so we would not be interrupted? This boy clearly had no clue how important our jobs were.'

'Like, saving the world?'

'...Why, yes, saving the world!' Yutaka had to calm his brother down.

I should probably speak only as necessary. I said, 'Sorry everyone. It's the coffee talking. Great coffee here... I can write light novels day and night in here with the stimulants offered here...'

Koizumi said, 'Let's continue. Most restaurants are packed at this hour. Most of us have to be somewhere after this. I think this gentleman is nosy, but he's harmless.'

Mr Arakawa said, 'Thank you Keiichi for the nomination, but I personally don't think I am up to the task. While I may fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee when I'm "in there", I am an old man after all and managing you lot of young people will just be too tiresome for me.'

Keiichi said, 'Fine then. In that case I would nominate myself as a candidate for your consideration. As you may know, I recently just inherited a large sum of money from my great-aunt. Unlike my brother, who gambled and spent all his share on women away already, I think I have the finance position to lead and contribute more.'

Ms Mori said, 'Excuse me Mr Tamaru, but your track record on the front line has been weak if I may say so. Most of the time you are a no-show, and when you do show, you usually roll up in a corner with stomach cramps.'

'Hahahaha!' Oh my, why was I doing that? All eyes were on me, again.

'Excuse me, I meant no harm. I am merely giving an outsider opinion which might be helpful to you… just saying. Uh, Mr Rich Man, if I were you, I would buy a mansion on a remote island or something, do something the organization will appreciate you for. Like hosting a get-together to relax, maybe even star in your own murder mystery. Your brother sounds like the perfect suspect with a motive.'

They were dumbfounded on the far fetched stuff I just said. Still, I could tell the older Mr Tamaru liked my suggestion. By living far far away from the rest of the members, he had an excuse to be away from what he obviously did not enjoy - fighting giants in closed space.

Koizumi turned and said to me, 'Well, thank you for your outsider opinion but I would appreciate you not offering any more of them.'

'What, little boy does not know how to handle constructive criticisms? I'm just showing you the ropes.' (Funny - I was using his own words when we first met)

'OK, any more constructive criticism you want to give me right now?', said Koizumi while sticking his face closer in his usual, unwelcome way.

'That's an easy one. Back off, you are too close.'

Mr Tamaru said, 'Itsuki, did you plant this guy here for some reason to side with you?'

Koizumi said, 'No, I have never seen this man in my life. Besides, why would I plant someone to side with me? I was never told that my leadership would be challenged.'

Mr Tamaru was stumped. Although I felt that deep down, his intention was well, and he's not trying to remove Koizumi's leader role because of selfish reasons. He finally said, 'OK, does anyone else want to be considered as leader?'

A boy about my age spoke up, 'I could be the leader.'

Mr Tamaru said, 'Are you kidding me?'

The boy said, 'But I have a leader's look.'

Looking closer, I now recognized the boy - that boy was to become the student council president!

Mr Tamaru said, 'Itsuki, remind me why he was recruited again? He's the only person here without the,' he whispered, 'power'. 'Besides, he likes to complain a lot.'

Koizumi said, 'Running the group is not easy. We need an errand boy.'

Errand boy was not amused, 'Don't call me that. Besides, Mr Ono was the one recruited me. He had to see something special in me? Don't get me wrong, you folks are all awesome, I am still amazed by what you guys can do and I want to be part of the group, but I want to do more than walking dogs, watering bonsai, buying coffee, setting up meeting… I don't know if I can go on like this much longer… I may turn nasty or something. I even pick up smoking recently.'

How old was he?

Koizumi said, 'Speaking of meeting, this is not a good spot to meet.'

Errand boy said, 'Sorry... some girl with a flat voice I ran into suggested this time and place...'

A girl with a flat voice? Could Nagato be the one setting this up? Was she also involved in steering the future?

Koizumi said, 'Lady and gentlemen, to be fair, I don't think we need to get tied up with the titles. We share a common goal and we work together and help each other. I would prefer we all consider each other colleagues of the same level.'

'Koiz-' Ms Asahina just stepped in and caught herself saying something she shouldn't be saying. That's probably my cue to leave as well. I got up and said, 'Oh, let's go, sis. Let's go see some Koi fish, like you've been asking.' I turned to the group and said, 'Pardon the interruptions, but it's a pleasure to meet many of you… for the first time… in the organization.' I grabbed Ms Asahina's arm and was about to dash out of the cafe.

'See you later, stranger,' Koizumi said, and smiled.

Ms Asahina and I left the cafe and stood 30 feet away from the entrance. I did not know what were talked about after that, but I suspected Koizumi, with some help from yours truly, found the confidence needed and became the sole leader. They probably also changed their group's name from the 'H-group' to 'The Organization,' since that bunch was terrible with names and couldn't come up with anything better.

'Ms Asahina,' I said, 'Did you know I would run into Koizumi's group? Was that why you left me alone? If you knew, how come you almost said his name?'

'Sorry Kyon, I did not know. I went to speak to Ms Suzumiya. Oh, they are moving.'

Ms Asahina was referring to her younger version and Ms Tsuruya. That's right, our mission officially began. Mission Tailgate. According to Ms Asahina, we should follow from a far distance, as Ms Tsuruya might be loud and carefree, she could pick up the scent of a stalker from a mile - a skill she sharpened being a Tsuruya. I wouldn't doubt that.

On the way to school, I asked, 'Ms Asahina, what did you talk to Haruhi about?'

'Oh. Remember the boy Ms Suzumiya tutored in our time plane? I told Ms Suzumiya I overheard her conversation with her mother and that she's a very good student, and I knew of a boy who's been looking for a tutor. Then I gave her the boy's phone number.'

'In other words, you're ensuring he's getting the academic help he needed so one day he'll be able to build the time machine...'

'I guess so.' She smiled.

We came to a small dirt field which had been used by people to discard trash and old furniture, and I had a strong urge about needing to do something there. It had also become a breeding ground for stray cats, as catnip was growing unchecked. There were two men standing on the field and looked visibly upset.

'We've got to do something about this place so people stop throwing their trash here. It's too narrow and too small to be used as a playground.'

The other man agreed.

Then it hit me why I felt the place was out of place. I told Ms Asahina to go along as I would like to have a word with the men.

It was when I noticed that Ms Asahina was without her disguise.

'Ms Asahina, why are you not wearing your disguise? And how did your hair grow back so fast?' I asked.

She just smiled embarrassingly and said, 'Don't worry about it. There's something I'll have to do. It's alright, it's part of the plan. I'll be heading up first. By the way, Change into your uniform before arriving at the school. See you soon!'

I agreed and she left. I snapped out of it and turned to the men.

I told the men the area would look great for bamboo trees. This would be the bamboo field where Haruhi would likely steal one for Tanabata. The men liked my idea, but they were concerned it would take too long for the bamboo trees to grow. I told them if they could move the trash out in the next hour or so, and find me some bamboo seeds, I would return and help them grow the trees quickly. They were suspicious but they agreed.

I knew exactly where to change uniform. I went to where Haruhi and Koizumi once put on my gym clothes and pretended to be North High students in the alternate timeline, and changed my clothes. I arrived at North High a few minutes after, and since it's a Saturday, it's pretty quiet. In fact, no one was checking uniform... so why was I in uniform?

I could not find Ms Tsuruya nor the two Ms Asahina's. The books I were carrying were screaming pain down my arm again. So I decided I would leave the books for Nagato at the literary club room and went there. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as the door was locked and there's no way I could get inside. Too bad, as I would love to see what the room looked like before it became our refuge. Refused to make the delivery a complete failure, I pulled out the bookmark with the Sagittarius horoscope design, and slid it under the computer club room's door. Better start programming, you computer nerds... you would need to be on The Day of Sagittarius III by the time the computer club challenged us to a game...

What was I supposed to do next? Where's Ms Asahina? Then I saw Ms Asahina's head as she walked up the stairs, looking lost.

'Ms Asahina!' I called to her.

She looked surprised.

'Where have you been, I-' Her clothes were different. She was the younger version of Ms Asahina, not the one I time-traveled to this time plane with.

'Wh-who are you, an-and… how do you know my name?'

No time for face-palming.