Wednesday

Haruhi came to school more excited than ever. She told me to inform all brigade members to meet during lunch break.

'Speaking of which, have you spoken with Ms Tsuruya? She's still watching us yesterday but this time she's poking her frog head out hanging upside down from a tree like 50 feet away. Is she joining a circus for spies or something?'

'Eek! Sorry, I forgot! I promise I'll talk to her today!'

She then sank in her chair and looked out of the window as if she were in deep thoughts.

'What's the matter?' I could not resist.

'Something's strange about Yuki. She is… different… but she is Yuki.'

Oh… that...

She continued, 'She used to be a cool cucumber. Now she's friendly, approachable… Don't get me wrong, I like the new her, but what changed her?'

I did not want to add fuel to her imagination and said, 'Probably it was a phase…'

She scoffed, 'Am I kidding? Me asking men for opinions about how a girl feels, especially you… no wait…' She began to tap her foot and put on her great detective face, then screamed, 'Aha! I get it! What have you done to Yuki, Kyon?' She looked angry and pointed a finger at me.

'What are you talking about -'

'Did you confess to her?'

'What? No! Why would you -'

'Because that could be a sign of...' (cue dramatic short pause) '... being in love!'

Good grief. I imagined Koizumi would be calling me any minute now asking what I had done this time as closed spaced were popping up all over the places or something.

I said, 'I swear I don't know and I did not confess to her or anything.'

She sat back with her arms crossed, staring at me with those judging eyes. 'We shall see.'

At lunch break we met up at the literary club room and Haruhi made us all sit down, then began, 'Well, you all really need to meet this man Mr. Hasegawa. Yesterday he was on the topic of time traveling. The details were insane and the science behind it was solid! He had slides after slides of diagrams and mathematical equations it was breathtaking!'

Only Haruhi would call diagrams and mathematical equations 'breathtaking'.

'He even said he met time travelers from the future before. They have a name for the time machine - what's it called, Yuki? Oh yeah, it's called the T.P.D.D.!' Ms Asahina made a loud gasping noise. She quickly covered her mouth, with her large eyes rolling from one brigade member to another then to the next..

'Mikuru, are you okay?'

Mikuru quickly recovered and said with a nervous giggle, 'Yes, sorry about that. P-please continue.'

'Okay. He described the time was like an animation, with a number of frames per second, which he called time planes, and people punched holes in the time plane to time travel. He then went on details with the quantum physics behind the theory. He's the real deal, guy, I just know it! What do you think?'

Koizumi was not wearing his usual smiling face. Ms Asahina was actually looking a bit pale. Only Nagato was the one smiling and perhaps even slightly excited. The explanation that stranger gave Haruhi was pretty much the same as what Ms Asahina told me a long, long time ago.

'I think he said T.P.D.D. stood for Time Plane Destructive Device.' Haruhi added.

Ms Asahina almost fainted and she dropped her head on the table.

Haruhi joked, 'See? Mikuru agrees with me. She is totally blown away by excitement!'

Totally blown away, yes, but not for Haruhi's reason for sure. I tried to downplay it and said, 'Haruhi, it was just a theory, perhaps even a hypothesis. I mean, has he shown you any proof? Wouldn't it be naive to accept it as truth so easily? By the way, didn't I once come up with something similar to you and you totally ignored me?'

She said, 'Oh Kyon, how can you compare yourself to a certified expert?'

Who certified that guy?

She continued, 'Besides, I was just giving you a quick summary. You have to see the presentation - they were for real, I'm telling you… So, who are coming with me today for his next talk? Yuki?'

'Sure, I will go again.'

This Nagato suspected nothing.

'Great! Mikuru?'

'I… I… am not sure.'

'What do you mean you are not sure? You said you were going to come yesterday.'

'I… want to consult with my… never mind that… I am sorry but I am not feeling too well. Please excuse me.' She got up, bowed politely, and walked out of the room. She was completely caught off guard.

Haruhi gave Koizumi and me a dirty look and said nothing. We both put our right hands behind our heads and bowed our heads. She got our answers.

Haruhi left the room soon after to arrange for someone in our class to swap cleaning duty with. With her out of the way, I told Koizumi about what Asakura told me the day before - which, based on today's big reveal, the person Hasegawa could be dangerous as she said.

Koizumi thought for a moment, then pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to me. He said, 'You probably have figured out that I have not actually been spending quality time with my relatives for the past couple days. The truth is I've been given this cryptic notes a few days ago. Hearing Ms Suzumiya talking about this Mr Hasegawa fellow makes me wonder if they are connected somehow. Forgive me for not bringing this up sooner, but I have honestly been thinking that it's strictly an esper business until now.'

On the paper was a list of 5 dates for the week we're in, starting Monday, then a time and a location. At the bottom it said, 'Be there - it would worth your while.'

I asked, 'What have you found out so far?'

Koizumi said, 'On Monday, at 4:30pm, a small closed space popped up about one mile from the location it listed on the paper. By the time I reached the closed space it had already vanished. On Tuesday, that's yesterday, I was at the mentioned location at 5:30pm as it said, but nothing happened.'

'What does that mean?'

'Unfortunately I currently don't have enough data points to say one thing or another. All I know is that since Ms Suzuimya is attending events at public places during these times, she is fairly safe where she is. I am going to play along with this mysterious notes for one more day, and I hope to get more clues about what's going on. Meanwhile, I'll send someone to tail Mr Hasegawa after the event and find out more about the man.'

'Who do you think he could be? Could he be someone we have met before?'

'All I can think of at the moment is Fujiwara. He has a grudge against us and he has time travel knowledge.'

'Me too. But did you remember what the adult Ms Asahina said before? She said Haruhi severed Fujiwara's timeline and it would not be possible for him to travel back.'

'Still, his knowledge about the T.P.D.D. sounded like it had to be from someone from the future, or at least someone who knows someone from the future.'

'May I ask what you two are talking about?' Nagato asked. That's right, we totally forgot she's in the room. How much did Nagato know about Haruhi, Koizumi and Ms Asahina's 'secrets'?

'Nagato, you were there yesterday. Was it the first time you heard of the T.P.D.D.?'

'Yes.'

'Did you know why Ms Asahina walked out just now?'

'No. Was I supposed to know?'

That confirmed it. She did not know about Ms Asahina being a time traveler. I had yet to confirm if Nagato still had her powers. I saw a book on the table. I said, 'Hey Nagato, catch.' I picked it up and playfully threw it at Nagato. She did not anticipate it and the spine of the book hit her squarely on the nose. I swore I did not throw it that hard…. I leaped out of my chair and took a closer look. Oh man, I should kill myself. What had I done? She looked hurt and she had tears in her eyes.

'I am SO sorry!' I was on my knees and bowing to her repeatedly.

Her right hand gently touched me on my left shoulder and said to me kindly, 'I'm fine. It does not hurt that bad. Why don't you make yourself useful and get me some napkins instead of kissing the floor…' I lifted my head and saw her face. She had an expression of forgiveness that would make anyone who committed an evil act like mine ready to jump out of the building to pay for the sin. The only reason I hadn't yet was because she asked for napkins. I quickly got up and found some napkins to help stop the bleeding. Koizumi suggested I should go get some ice and I ran out and looked for some ice and put inside a clean towel, brought it back and placed it over the bridge of Nagato's nose. There, I was ready to leap out of the building now… she held my hand and said, 'Thanks.' I felt like my heart had melted.

There's no way she had her powers anymore. Her powers were gone, and yet, her influence on me was many times more powerful than before. It's my turn to protect her now, I thought.

We all agreed not to mention the accident to Haruhi, for that would be the death penalty for me. For sure.

After school Nagato recovered quickly enough and she went to the convention with Haruhi again.

I felt really guilty for hitting Nagato. I went home and finished up my sister's science project as fast as humanly could. I then rushed out to buy some expensive sushi and pastries and went to Nagato's apartment, hoping to surprise her. I rang the doorbell. No answer. I tried again. Where could she be?... Then the door opened. It was Asakura.

'Hello Kyon, what brings you here?'

'This… this is Nagato's apartment, and I am here looking for her. How come you are here?'

'I have to be staying somewhere, you know? I still have no full time status so crashing at Ms Nagato's place makes the most sense don't you think? Ooh, I see you brought food. I also cooked. Guess we'll have a big dinner.'

The thought of a defenseless Nagato living together with a psychopath like Asakura worried me.

'Where is she? She should be back from the convention by now, right?'

'Speaking of the devil!'

I looked at the direction Asakura was looking, and there was Nagato, walking towards me.

'Kyon, what are you doing here?'

'Oh, hi Nagato. I brought food. This is my way of apologizing properly for what happened today.'

'Oh you don't have to do this… but that is very kind of you. Thank you.'

Asakura said, 'What happened today?'

Nagato said, 'Ms Asakura, it was nothing. Kyon, come on in. Let's eat, I'm starving!'

Nice cover up from Nagato. I said, 'Yes, let's eat!'

We set up the table and started eating. Luckily Asakura cooked, for I did not buy enough for three. It felt awkward having Asakura joining.

I decided to break the silence, and said, 'Hey Nagato, did the convention run late? You came home pretty late.'

Asakura let out a laugh then said, 'Nothing.' That's right… she was spying on Haruhi at the convention. The fact that she was at Nagato's apartment before Nagato implied Nagato went somewhere else after the convention.

Nagato responded, 'Oh… no, I just happened to have to run an errand, that's all…'

'I see. So how did the convention go today?'

'It went well I guess. The man, Mr Hasegawa was talking about aliens today. Ms Suzumiya was just as excited as yesterday.'

'Did you remember any details?'

'He said something about there were a couple alien entities out there, neither could communicate directly with humans, so they sent humanoid interfaces to Earth, mainly to observe.'

Asakura gave me an I-told-you-so look.

I looked at Nagato. She definitely did not think she had anything to do with aliens.

I said, 'Do you believe him?'

She said, 'I am not sure. It sounds too fascinating.'

'Do you think he can be dangerous?'

'I don't know.'

Asakura said, 'Yes my gut instinct tells me that he is dangerous. Be careful, both of you.'

'Like what?'

'Like, he offered Yuki 2 ice-cream cones yesterday. That's too much junk food.'

Nagato defended herself, 'No, I only had one.'

'Two. I saw it. You love eating I know, you don't have to lie...' Nagato turned red and appeared hurt by those words. Asakura said, 'Uh, never mind. My bad. Sorry about acting like a mom.'

'So Nagato… do you know Asakura well?'

'Yes, she lived in the same apartment before, until she had to move to Canada. She's here for a short stay so I let her stay at my place.'

'Have you asked her why she's here? It's not like she's going to school so what's she doing all day?'

Nagato was a little stumped by that question. I was not sure why I asked, perhaps I was fed up with Asakura butting in this whole time.

Asakura decided to speak for herself, 'Ms Nagato did not know because I didn't tell her, for it was pretty embarrassing actually. I knew a couple helpless kids here who needed babysitting while their babysitter took a sabbatical. Obnoxious troublemakers those two are. I could care less about those two, but it is a living!'

Interesting way to put it.

'You flew all the way back just to babysit?'

'To be honest, "Canada" is boring. I'll kill to come back to do just anything.'

After that I did not feel like talking anymore. I finished my share, I excused myself. Nagato walked me to the door.

'Kyon, thanks for bringing dinner. That was very nice.'

'You are welcome. Sorry again about hitting your nose. I guess I will see you at school tomorrow.'

'...Actually… Kyon, I want to speak with you. If you don't mind, can I meet you somewhere after tomorrow's convention for a drink?'

'Yes, certainly.'

'Okay, great. See you!' She spoke with a smile.

I walked home, wondering what she wanted to talk about. I was looking forward to it.

Thursday

Haruhi again reminded me to gather everyone during lunch break for meeting.

'By the way,' as she said those words, I suddenly got jolted by the memory it was time for our daily frog sighting report. I was supposed to speak with Ms Tsuruya but I totally forgot, again. This was bad.

'I saw Ms Tsuruya yesterday again, poking her frog head from from underneath a parked car.'

'Uh, sorry…'

'So I spoke with her.' Brace for impact!

'She said she's on a secret mission and all would be explained later.'

Good old Asakura, she defused the bomb and tossed it down the road for me to deal with.

During lunch break, Koizumi and Ms Asahina arrived at the clubroom before me.

'Ms Asahina, are you alright from yesterday?' I asked.

'Yes Kyon, I'm fine.'

Koizumi asked the more important question, 'Ms Asahina, did you check with your superiors regarding the mysterious man?'

'I did. No one had heard of a Hasegawa.'

'So he couldn't have come from the future?'

'Not sure, since there is always a chance that he's a time traveler that comes from a time that's after my superiors' time plane.'

I supposed there's the possibility that the history was getting changed as we spoke.

'Koizumi, did your tail find out more about this guy?'

'Nothing out of ordinary it seems. He returned to his hotel after the event and he had not left yet. I'm going to ask someone from my organization to dig deeper.'

'Did you find another closed space yesterday?'

'Yes, I did. I was close enough this time to reach it before it disappeared. It is unusual.'

'What about it?'

'It's sealed.'

'What do you think that means?'

'I don't know, but I have some questions for Ms Nagato when there's a chance.'

'What can she do now that she has lost her powers?'

Nagato came in just moments before Haruhi burst into the club room. It's time for her daily report on the exciting convention. Once again she told us to sit tight, then she began to talk about aliens. She went on to describe things in a fair amount of accuracy. Mr Hasegawa told her the names of the alien entities. He explained they were here to study humans who possessed ability to evolve. The only thing he left out was the fact that they were here to observe you, Haruhi.

It was the last day of the convention, and Koizumi and I decided we needed to go and check out the mysterious man. Ms Asahina and Nagato also agreed to go and that made Haruhi super ecstatic. 'Now that's what the SOS brigade is all about!' she said approvingly.