I realized I was calling out to the wrong Ms Asahina, the younger version that just arrived to this time plane to start her 'time traveling career'. Fortunately I still had my wig, my sunglasses, and my voice was altered.

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

No worries, I was pretty good at cleaning up my own mess these days.

'Oh yes, Ms Tsuruya told me about you, and said you could use some help with enrolling to the school?'

'Ah, yes, I could… I lost her after I went to the restroom. How do you know it's me?'

'Oh she described you well. Orange-brown long hair, big -', I paused. Bad Kyon. Bad Kyon corrected himself, 'eyes. Anyways, I could take you to the office. Follow me. And welcome to North High.'

She calmed down, possibly because I was wearing the school uniform, which gave me credibility that I was from the school. She gave me a bright smile, and said, 'Thank you.' Cute.

We arrived at the office and I spoke to the staff for Ms Asahina. The staff gave her some forms to fill, and Ms Asahina began to work on them.

'Oh no,' she said after a while.

'What?'

'I don't have a home address.'

'Are you looking a place?'

She nodded. I thought for a while and said, 'How about this? I know of a place that's vacant right now. Use that address for now. That will at least get your school application going. Later on, if you check the place out and don't like it, you can always find some place else, and return to the school and update your address.'

'That is a great idea,' she thanked me and I gave her her future home address. This whole thing was pretty cool.

'Oh, by the way, I notice your handwriting. It is very nice. Perhaps you should consider joining the calligraphy club.'

'That is so sweet,' she thanked me again. This was beyond cool. Should I suggest her to put her hair up in a ponytail? Bad, bad, Kyon…. No, I shouldn't.

As soon as Ms Asahina turned in her forms, Ms Tsuruya showed up.

'Oh, Mikuru, there you are!' Ms Tsuruya said, 'When did you change your clothes again?'

'Me?' Ms Asahina looked confused. It dawned to me that Ms Tsuruya was called away by the Ms Asahina that traveled back in time with me, so I could have my alone time helping the younger Ms Asahina. I should probably get moving before Ms Tsuruya started to ask me questions.

'Ms Asahina,' I said, 'Again, good luck at North High. I should be going.'

She bowed and thanked me for my help. I returned the bow. As I were about to leave, Ms Tsuruya said, 'Hey, young man, what's your name?'

Was she… blushing? The younger version of Ms Tsuruya had a crush on the disguised version of me? I definitely had to remember to burn this costume and never to wear it again...

'Oh yes, I am so sorry, I didn't even know your name,' Ms Asahina chimed in.

Neither Ms Tsuruya nor Ms Asahina of this time plane went to North High at this time yet. I should be safe calling me whatever I wanted.

'Yonkyu Watahashi.'

'Tsuruya.' Ms Tsuruya replied.

Ms Asahina looked confused, then said, 'You haven't told Mr Watahashi your name before?'

'No.' Ms Tsuruya said.

She looked at me, growing suspicious. 'But Mr Watahashi said…'

I put my index finger to my lips, smiled and playfully replied, 'Don't worry about the details. It's classified information.'

It's Ms Tsuruya's turn to be confused - by the way, my attempt of being playful turned her off as she gave me an 'eeew' look. Ms Asahina, on the other hand, realized that I was no ordinary person and was there to assist her, smiled, and thanked me again. 'Mr Watahashi, thanks for everything.' She then turned to Ms Tsuruya and said she would like to check out a place to rent. They left, and Ms Asahina from my time plane met up with me, smiling. She's back in her disguise, with short hair.

I said, 'Well, that was surely interesting. Where are we going next?'

'We're going to a shopping center. You should change back into your casual clothes first.'

After I changed my clothes we headed down the hill and we passed by the future bamboo field earlier. The men had been working hard cleaning up the place, and they were waiting for me to return to speed-grow bamboo trees. I asked Ms Asahina if whatever she used to grow her hair quick would work on bamboo trees... fortunately she said yes. I received the bamboo seeds from one of the men, scattered it across the field. Then Ms Asahina just told us to leave the field. A moment later she came out and told us it's done, and the place was blooming with bamboo trees. The men dropped their jaws.

The stray cats were not very happy about losing their home though. I was apologizing to the cats when one particular cat caught my eyes. It's a calico cat.

Ms Asahina was thinking the same thing as I. She said, 'Could that be Shamisen?' She held it up. The calico cat's body shape did not match Shamisen's.

Ms Asahina said, 'Oh, it's a girl, and she's pregnant.'

It looked like we had uprooted the gang. We agreed we should relocate them. I looked down at the books I was carrying. They felt twice as heavy by now. Ms Asahina noticed my suffering and said, 'Let me call a cab.'

She flagged down a cab and explained to the cab driver of our special need. Fortunately the cab driver was a cat lover and he agreed, provided we paid extra for the cleaning fee. The cats refused to come to us even as I rubbed catnip all over myself. I recalled I got a bag of near-expiring snack from the book store - I opened it and incredibly, it smelled like fish, either it was fish or it had gone bad. It took half a second before all the cat eyes were on me. I asked Ms Asahina to sit in the front passenger seat as the cats began to slowly approach me as if they were hunting - next I jumped in the cab as they charged at me. Once all the cats were inside the cab I closed the door. The cab driver suggested a couple locations where the cats could go; one near a swimming pool near where he lived, and one near some apartment complexes nearby. We decided to let the cab driver choose - as long as it did not take too long as I was slowly turning into a worn out scratching board.

After settling down the cats, the cab continued its way to the shopping mall. Ms Asahina gave me some future medicine which helped me heal from the vicious feline attack. The shopping mall turned out to be the infamous mall which we frequented during the movie shoot. Near the entrance there was some anniversary celebration going on, and Ms Asahina told me we should line up for the draw. She said she didn't know why, but she was told it was important…

It's my turn after 20 minutes of wait. I won a palm-sized Gundam model, which were dispensed from one of those twisted egg vending machines. Well, that was totally not worth the wait.

It was Ms Asahina's turn - and she won second prize as people were screaming and jumping. She was given a certificate for a surprise item at the Ohmori electronics store… Ohmori? That sounded familiar.

'So Ms Asahina, we should…' as I turned to look at her, her disguise was gone again, long hair flowing as before. 'Could you warn me before you do this again?'

We arrived at the store, and just as we suspected, this was the store the owner gave Haruhi a camcorder to shoot the movie with. We did not see the owner so I called for the owner.

'Oh,' Ms Asahina was mesmerized by the anime showing on one of the televisions, 'I love this show.'

'Yeah? Me too. Unfortunately there won't be a season 3.'

'What? Why not? In my time, every anime gets made - oops.'

'Really? How? Does anime software get so advanced even a 7-year-old can make a 20-minute anime on a computer in a day?'

'A day if it's super good quality... anyways, I should not say anymore. Although, you may have recalled I mentioned we no longer rely on physical computers.'

I was jealous. I would love to see the rest of the materials animated.

'Hello?' A voice from the back of the store called to us, 'Would you mind coming inside? I'm a bit tied up for the moment...'

We went inside and the place was dim and fully stocked with things. Suddenly I heard a thump as I apparently had knocked something down, but whatever it was fell to the back of a wall of items and I would probably knock down more stuff if I tried to find it… Mr Ohmori approached. Ms Asahina was stumbling a bit but she's okay.

'Sorry about that, I guess I should have known better than asking you to come to the back. Did you see my roll of tape? Never mind, never mind. And don't worry about looking for what you knocked down. It's probably a heater or something which I have plenty of. So, how may I help you?'

Ms Asahina showed him the certificate. To no surprise, Ms Asahina had won a camcorder, the camcorder Haruhi would think she obtained for free due to her excellent convincing skills. I did not feel so bad for the store owner anymore, as he did not get swindled by Haruhi after all.

He congratulated Ms Asahina, but I had a request for him. I told him that Ms Asahina and her friends would be back to claim the prize at a later time. Ms Asahina would be accompanied by a bossy girl and a handsome fellow. The bossy girl would say something gibberish, then point to Ms Asahina, and that would be the cue. He did not understand why, but he agreed. We thanked him and as we stepped out of the store, a young man dressed in suit carrying a briefcase approached me.

'Excuse me, did you drop this?' He asked politely, handing me the Gundam toy I didn't know I dropped.

'Oh, yes, but you can have it. I don't really want it.'

He stared at the toy as if he's got an epiphany or something.

'Excuse me, are you okay?' I asked.

He said, getting emotional, 'This thing is so poorly made…'

'Oh okay, if it insults you, you can throw it away.'

'No, no… you don't understand.' He sniffed, and began to cry. I was ready to grab Ms Asahina by the arm and dashed, but he regained his composure and said, 'I'm sorry. I have just made up my mind. I am going to quit my dead end job, and called it quit with my no good fiance from our pre-arranged marriage. All she cared was me making enough money to marry her. It's since been 5 years! I hated my job! My passion has always been in models and she hates them, and I was forced to give it up… 5 years! Oh my poor Gundam… daddy's back…'

'Perhaps you can use the wedding money for a store selling models? I saw a vacated lot in the mall earlier…'

He thought for a second, then said, 'Yes! That's right! I'll sell respectably made models, not some China-made meltdown plastic junk.'

Like so many meetings in this trip, I knew this meeting was not a coincidence. I told Mr Yamatsuchi that someday my friend Ms Asahina would be back, and I repeated the bossy girl and handsome fellow story to him; if he could spare a couple model guns we would be very grateful. He thanked us again and left.

'Well, Ms Asahina, that has been fun. Where are we -' There she went again, with her disguise and short hair. I knew why she had to switch around, but it really got my head spinning.

'Kyon, let's have dinner. My treat. Our trip is almost over. Bear with me just a little longer, okay?'

'I would never call hanging out with you something I have to bear,' I said.

'There they are!' She said suddenly.

'Who?' I turned and saw Ms Tsuruya and Ms Asahina of the current time plane walking towards us.

'Let's go into that restaurant.' Ms Asahina suggested. She appeared to want to be spotted by Ms Tsuruya and her younger self and led them into the restaurant.

After we sat down I realized the significance of the place. There were 2 girls serving the tables and they were dressed in uniform that looked extremely cute and familiar. The food they served? Yakisoba.

Ms Tsuruya and Ms Asahina of the current time plane came in, and Ms Tsuruya greeted me jokingly with a 'Hello, we meet again. I could be wrong but did I see you at the cafe too? Have you been following us?' The young Ms Asahina thanked me for the help, and said she rented the place I suggested. They noticed I was with 'another girl' who kept her face behind the menu, so they decided to end the conversation (thank goodness), and sat down a couple tables away.

Ms Tsuruya's voice was pretty loud as usual. It's not difficult to hear what she was saying. We heard she commented about the uniform, the food… she also congratulated Ms Asahina for finding a place to live so quickly, and she had enrolled in school.

'Mikuru, I don't know why a girl, don't mind me saying this, a bit of a klutz, will end up moving to this town all by herself. But it means you are brave and adventurous. I like your personality and I feel I have a strong connection with you. We'll get along just fine. I promise I'll take good care of you. Okay?'

'Thank you.' As I heard the two Ms Asahina saying it at the same time, both of them with their heads down, with a drop of joyful tear to shed.

After dinner, we took a cab and headed towards Nagato's apartment, to finally drop off those books. I asked Ms Asahina, 'Just wondering, is leading the younger you and Ms Tsuruya to the Yakisoba so important, that we risked exposing ourselves to them?'

Ms Asahina shook her head, 'Not really. Two years ago I had met you and me in disguise from the future - I just didn't know who they really were at the time, and nothing chaotic happened, so there was no risk. However, I am very grateful to be able to relive the moment when Ms Tsuruya accepted me as her friend. It was very special to me.'

The cab stopped in front of Nagato's apartment. Well, this was awkward. What should I say if I saw her? We took a day sightseeing in this time plane, saw something I thought you would like so I got them for you? Perhaps I should leave the books with the old man manning the building office. I took out one of the bookmarks, and wrote, 'Nagato, please accept this as a gift. Thank you for everything.'

I felt a tap on my right shoulder.

'What is it, Ms Asa -'

'Oh, you know me?' That's not Ms Asahina's voice.

'Asa -' i repeated myself.

'Yes, I'm talking to you.'

'Asakura...'

'Yes. Who are you?'

All the events that happened from the time we arrived to this time plane flashed before my eyes. Up until now everything went rather smoothly. Until now. This one was a bit tougher to get out of.

I looked for Ms Asahina and she was no help. She did not have a clue what to do.

Nagato, my savior time and time again, were you going to bail me out? Please?

'Come now, mister. You are acting very rude. You are blocking the entrance and you are not answering my question. Who are you and how do you know my name?'

No Nagato timely entrance. If she's not showing up, it probably meant she did not have to. I was suddenly confident that I could get myself out of this. Thanks Nagato, you were helpful even if you weren't here!

'Ms Ryuoko Asakura, right? I'm here to deliver these books to you. They were from an admirer of yours.'

'An admirer? Oh, that's nice! What are they?'

Sorry Nagato, it appeared you would not be getting these books from me after all.

'Is this a joke? Why would I be interested in aliens and Science Fiction? Whoever bought these have no idea what I like. I'll have to ask you to return them. And pleaseet me through.'

She probably would like a subscription for a knife magazine. Should I take a risk and trick Asakura into give the books to Nagato?...

The door opened.

'Oh, good evening, Ms Nagato,' Askura said.

So Nagato made her dramatic entrance after all. Calm as always. In her hands she's holding a portable gaming device.

Asakura continued, 'Have you eaten yet? Do you want to me to bring you something?'

Nagato responded, 'I'm not hungry.'

She looked at me.

She looked at Ms Asahina.

She knew who we were.

'What is happening?' She asked Asakura casually.

'These folks are delivering some books to me from a secret admirer, or so I was told. I have no use for them though.'

'May I have them?'

'Sure!' Asakura and I said at the same time.

I handed the books over to Nagato.

I said, 'Thank you.'

She nodded.

Asakura looked at us strangely, but decided to let it go. She said, 'Okay Ms Nagato, I'll be heading up then. See you later.'

I made way for Ms Asakura to pass. The door finally closed and it's just Nagato, Ms Asahina and me.

I let out a big sigh and said, 'Boy, that was close.' Somehow, she knew I needed rescuing, as always.

'Nagato, did you arrange Koizumi's organization to meet me at the cafe?'

She paused for a while, then said, 'I have been monitoring activities of Haruhi Suzumiya and many people involved with her on a daily basis. When you and Mikuru Asahina came to my place on Tanabata last year, I included the two of you to my watch list. Last night I detected the two of you time traveled to this time so I deduced you were here to enforce the path to the future. I knew Itsuki Koizumi's group was planning to meet today, so I deduced that you would need to meet them. I sought out the person who did the planning early in the morning and suggested the meeting place and time - the cafe where Haruhi Suzumiya had an appointment with a boy, for I deduced that you would be meeting Haruhi Suzumiya there as well.'

I was in awe with her response. Plus who would have thought Haruhi's two-minute date with Tanaguchi would turn out to be significant in some way? I truly wondered if there's anything Nagato didn't know.

That's when I had a very strange idea. This Nagato did not something I knew - she did not know about the endless Summer - should I tell her so to help us break out of it sooner? 600 years of Summer vacation would drive anyone crazy... no one deserved that, even if it was swimming, going to festival... I could say something here...

'Nagato,' I started.

But telling her about it could change the future - the future could be drastically different from the one we knew. Without Nagato changing the world, Nagato would not evolve to be more human, and I would not learn to appreciate Haruhi's world. Furthermore, I would lose Ms Asahina's trust. And what would Nagato think? Despite my good intention, she probably would also lose her trust in me. I felt I was failing Nagato whether I chose to say something or I chose not to.

'Nothing. I'm sorry,' I whispered.

Nagato turned, walked into the building and the door closed.

'Let's go home,' Ms Asahina said.

'Yes. Let's do. Do we leave here?'

She looked around and said, 'Yes, we could.'

As Ms Asahina was preparing, I removed the wig and the sunglasses. What should I do with them? Then the answer presented itself.

'Ms Asahina, what's that under your left shoe?'

There's a bit of a tape sticking out under her left shoe. It came from Mr Ohmori's store room. I helped Ms Asahina and pulled the tape off. It looked like the tape that taped the sunglasses to the wig when they were thrown into my face a day ago. Then that's what I did - I taped the sunglasses to the wig, and held the wig upside down in my left hand.

Ms Asahina asked, 'What are you planning to do with it?'

I smiled, 'I don't know, but somehow I have a feeling it would find its way to my past self.' I closed my eyes and said, 'Ms Asahina, I'm ready when you are.'

'Okay, although I once read about time travel littering... it's strongly discouraged.'

'Maybe I am assuming too much. Could you swing by the Friday morning so I can throw this at myself in that time plane?'

I gave her my best estimates of the time and location.

Ms Asahina then said, 'I can slow down the time jump when we are near the time and place and you can try.'

I was stupid because I forgot when I was time traveling my head spun, even holding my bladder was troublesome enough. When Ms Asahina called out to me and said, 'Now,' all I could think of was to lie down and let me die. I forced myself to open my eyes and I found myself floating in mid-air. I could see my past self 100 feet away on the other side of the street. I threw the wig anyways - and it passed through a barrier and dropped straight on the ground. Mission failed?

My eyes began to close - then I saw someone with purple hair beneath me picked up the wig. A motorcycle went past the person and with precise timing and accuracy, the person threw the wig at the other me, straight on to my face, causing the other me to panick. The spinning sped up again and shortly after I was on the ground - back to my time, in the literary club room. It was a minute past the time we left. I sensed something was not right but luckily Ms Asahina was quicker at identifyin it.

'Oh goodness Kyon, I am so sorry, I messed up, we didn't leave from the literary club room, we left from outside your house! The extra stop got me confused.'

I told her it was no big deal. The only worry was we might have to climb the fence to get out of the school. I asked Ms Asahina would need my help with it and she shyly said no. I told her I needed a little more time to shake off the motion sickness and I would locked the door. She thanked me for accompanying her on the trip, and she left.

As I sat there, staring at the ceiling, I thought about the trip - the whole experience. I felt happy but there was also sadness. To call the experience 'fun' did not give it justice. Instead, I would say that the experience was totally worthwhile, and I was truly grateful. I looked at the book shelf, and immediately I spotted the books I bought. Yes, it was totally worth it.

I exited the literary club room, locked the door behind me.

THE END