Later that day, Koizumi, Ms Asahina and I returned to the coffee shop to talk.

Koizumi began by saying that Mr Arakawa, Ms Mori and the staffs at the shop were all okay. The staff were told that there was a gas leak of sort but everything was fine.

I began by saying Nagato's gone. Ms Asahina was in shock. Koizumi said he was in disbelief, but suggested that we shared the details from the start. I agreed.

Koizumi said, 'I contacted Mr Arakawa and Ms Mori as backup support as soon as I heard about the meeting. Mr Arakawa and Mr Mori wore light disguises, came to the coffee shop early and sat near the front. Ms Suzumiya, Ms Asahina and I came to the coffee shop around 3:45 pm, sat at our usual table and each ordered a drink. Since it was a public place, I figured I would spot anything unusual as soon as it happened, which turned out to be a big mistake. Mr Hasegawa showed up shortly and told us he's going to begin the experiment as soon as he had his setup ready. Shortly after everyone got knocked out at the same time. I did not know what happened after that, until you showed up and woke me by slapping my face. I suspect Mr Hasegawa locked the front door and put up the 'closed' sign to prevent people from entering, then carried out his next steps.'

I said, 'Actually the ability to knock people out in an instance was not new, Ms Asahina did it to me before. I have not see that technology applied to multiple people at the same time but I doubt it's not difficult.'

Ms Asahina said, 'I am sorry, that information is classified.'

I said, 'Don't be. It is never your fault to begin with.'

Koizumi said, 'You are implying Mr Hasegawa is from the future?'

I said, 'Mr Hasegawa is Fujiwara. He's gotten much older after serving a long jail sentence, and he had his face changed to one Mr Hasegawa, an author specialized in supernatural in our present time.'

I then told them that despite I could not remember living through 10 minutes over a thousand times, there were memories that were a lot stronger and were retained. I told them about the Subliminal Message Emitter (SME), and how the time loop was created and stopped, how Fujiwara planned to use Asakura to kill me, how Nagato found a way to stop the time loop by sacrificing herself, then a someone from the future arrived and took Fujiwara. I did not think our Ms Asahina should know it was her future self that showed up.

Ms Asahina said, 'Yes, there is a device called the SME in the future, which is the size of a pen. Messages could be programmed into it. Aim it at the intended recipient, push a button or set a timer to deliver the message subliminally. It gets banned for a period of time until a device to block the signal is invented -' It appeared Ms Asahina caught herself for saying too much and she stopped. I would imagine the SME could be a wonderful device to train lazy children to do their homework, eat their broccoli, brush their teeth, etc...

'Ms Asahina, do you know anything about a device that could improve the wearer's self defense capability?'

'No, that I have not heard of.' So it was not an invention from the future?

Koizumi said, 'There was no trace of anything Fujiwara brought with him.'

I said, 'I believe that someone from the future who took Fujiwara dropped by this place and cleaned up before I arrived.'

Ms Asahina said, 'Kyon, do you know who that person is?'

'I'm afraid it's classified.' Sorry to have to give a taste of her own medicine.

She drifted into thoughts.

'What is it?'

She said, 'While I was out, I felt a pull in my right hand. I half-opened my eyes and saw a photo in my hand... a picture of two babies probably... when I looked up, I thought I saw myself before I was out again...'

'Don't think too much about it, Ms Asahina, it's probably just a dream.' That's a pretty close call there, adult Ms Asahina...

'Okay.'

I asked no one in particular, 'How would Nagato know she would succeed if she sacrificed herself?'

Koizumi replied, 'She probably didn't know, but that's the best she could come up with. Fujiwara might not always accept that outcome, but to Ms Nagato's advantage, she could retry if she failed until he accepted it. The timing might be crucial. If Fujiwara killed Ms Nagato too soon and had too much time to think it through, versus only a few seconds, taking into consideration the way you reacted, he might have decided differently. I suppose you have Ms Asakura to thank for, because she's the only person int the time loop that can change the various factors to increase the chance of success.' Good old Koizumi, he could always come up with explanations that almost made sense.

'Tell me how he came back after his timeline was severed by Haruhi. Answer that and I'll buy you another coffee.'

'If you want me to speculate, here it goes… severing a timeline is probably not a sure thing. Timelines diverge and converge. What's severed might eventually reconnect to a non-severed timeline. Consider this man is so much older now, it could happen any time during all those years that had passed. It's even possible that Ms Suzumiya herself reconnects it.'

He was not finished. 'But I would not blame anyone from the future for not warning us about the event before it happened. I believe Fujiwara's return was a new event and no one knew ahead of time.'

Ms Asahina was about to cry.

'Ms Asahina, please, none of this is your fault.'

'I am sorry that I am so useless. There are things I don't understand myself. In the future I came from, Ms Nagato, she... sorry but I shouldn't.'

I placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her and Koizumi placed his on her other shoulder. She calmed down soon enough, just before we looked too weird in front of people around. A love triangle, perhaps?

I turned to Koizumi, 'How do you explain the convention? How could he create an entire event in such short notice?'

'You are assuming he came last week. He probably has been here for at least a couple of weeks.'

'During the time loop, once I figured out I was the one who became an author in the future, who gave him all the clues about the past - why couldn't I swear on my own grave that I would never write those books in the future and stopped the event from happening?'

Ms Asahina chimed in, 'Fujiwara came from a future timeline that you did become an author. If you decide not to write them now, his future timeline still exists; just as there are many possible futures, there are many possible pasts too...'

That's enough explanation about time for my brain for the day.

'What are we going to tell Haruhi about Nagato?' I asked.

'Let's tell her Nagato's out of town visiting relatives. You said before that the past Nagato traveled to the anniversary day to attend the night event, which is coming up in a few days. After that, we will say Nagato decides to leave for good.'

'That's convenient…' It did not do Nagato justice.

Koizumi said, 'Oh, thankfully Ms Asakura staged the "Ms Tsuruya in frog suit entrance" bit and that provided Ms Suzumiya a nice cover up story.'

Apparently Asakura went to Ms Tsuruya's mansion after I left school and dropped off the frog suit and a note for her. The note said I needed her to go to the coffee shop immediately, and I'd explain everything to Haruhi later. Knowing Ms Tsuruya, I knew she would be game for anything we asked of her to do and I didn't have to explain the 'why' to her.

After we woke Haruhi, we made up a story about Ms Tsuruya found out about the convention and recognized Mr Hasegawa in the promotion, who had some shady history with her family before, and Mr Hasegawa might recognize her. She knew Haruhi was interested in the supernatural stuff, so she told me about her concerns, and I suggested that she borrowed the frog suit and secretly watched over Haruhi from a distance, which she loved the undercoveridea and gladly agreed to it. Earlier that day she followed Haruhi and others to the coffee shop and when she noticed everyone became unconscious, she took down Mr Hasegawa with her martial art skills and she dragged him to a nearby police station, which quickly confirmed Mr Hasegawa as a criminal. She came back later to check on us, still in the frog suit. Haruhi was disappointed at how things turned out. She thought Mr Hasegawa was an honest and intelligent man. Intelligent, yes, but honest? Not in a million time loops. Haruhi still defended him by suggesting they were knocked out as a side effect from the telepathic portal he opened, and his criminal history was made up so they could take him away.

We wrapped up the conversation and left the coffee shop. I caught up with Koizumi for I had one more question for him, which I did not want to bring up when Ms Asahina's around.

'Koizumi, what do you think the adult Ms Asahina was saying when she told me "the timeline often corrects itself, and when the opportunity comes, I should trust my instinct?"'

'She said that?'

'Well?'

He looked serious and thought for a long time. 'I know you don't like it when I credit Ms Suzumiya's subconscious for things we cannot explain. The currently timeline we are in now feels highly unstable, as if, it's not the timeline we should be in. Maybe we've done something recently that took us down this timeline, and, perhaps it's Ms Suzumiya's wish that it be corrected. I should stop meddling with your mind though. It's apparent that the adult Ms Asahina trusted you in making the right decision when the time comes, and I trust you as well.'

'Yes, when running out of explanation, call it God's work.'

'Nothing to be upset about if the God's on your side, right?'

I got home and my sister told me there was another package for me. It was delivered by a man from a local store who volunteered to deliver it in person because at the time the girl went to his store and purchased it, he did not have it in stock. It was from Nagato. So… Nagato sent me 2 packages? I opened it up, and found a thermipad with a note that said, 'You asked me for a present suggestion. Here it is.' There's a small drawing of her head with an 'x' on the nose.' The note continued, 'To Haruhi Suzumiya. May this present bring you relief from taking care of the SOS brigade.' Silly Nagato... That horrible accident might actually be one of the sweetest moments in her brief time as a human. I had not decided if I would gift that to Haruhi... she would never understand its significance to me and the human Nagato.

My sister then handed me the package that was delivered 2 days prior but was misplaced and lost. I gave her a hard time when I found out she left it next to Shamisen's litter box. It was postmarked Monday. I opened it and was surprised to find the self-defense device Fujiwara was wearing on his right wrist, except it was glowing bright green. What's this? Fortunately, Nagato had a written note that came with it. It went like this:

'Dear Kyon, by the time you receive this, I will no longer be around. I am relieved of my duties. Please do not try to find me. Someone will take my place. However, It may be best that you are capable of defending yourself. I have created this device that can study and learn from the surroundings and your enemies to help you defend against the danger. The learning is accumulative.

I am sorry I do not come see you one last time. What you told me on the roof of the hospital last Christmas generated a massive amount of output in me that I could not process properly. Perhaps that was what humans called love - I read about it in some of the books. I would prefer to avoid experiencing it again for fear of a last-minute malfunctioning. Please forgive me.

Please do not look for me on the anniversary day.

Sincerely, Yuki Nagato.'

Sorry Nagato, but there's no way in hell I would miss the anniversary day.

Anniversary day

It was the night of the anniversary. I told Koizumi and Ms Asahina earlier that I was not going. I instructed them when to arrive, gave them a present to bring along to rescue the past me who landed on Haruhi's bed - with her on it, which I swore I had no control over it. Koizumi gave me a dirty look.

I arrived and watched the action from a distance. The Nagato that came from over a week or so ago was there with the present time Koizumi and Ms Asahina, quiet and assuring. At one point she turned her head and looked towards my direction. She knew I was here.

The event was over, and I followed the group. Ms Asahina sent my past self back to his time plane. Nagato waved to my other self. Ms Asahina and Koizumi then each gave Nagato a hug, and they left.

Nagato walked towards me. She did not speak. Guess I had to speak first.

'Hello, Yuki.'

Her expression changed slightly from hearing me calling her Yuki instead of Nagato. She then said, ''You should not be here.'

'I know. But we all have our fair share of being at places we should not be. Ms Asahina, you can come out now.'

The Ms Asahina who brought this Nagato to the present time to attend the anniversary event was surprised to see me.

'Kyon, why are you here?'

Nagato interrupted, 'The two of you should not talk to each other, nor speak of this.'

I said, 'Ms Asahina, please give me and Yuki a few minutes. But yes, Yuki's right. Please do not tell my past self that I am here.'

Ms Asahina agreed. She walked past me until I could no longer hear her footsteps.

Nagato and I stood there for about 15 seconds. Her face looked never sadder and lonelier, and I almost cried.

'I have to go,' She finally said.

I just awkwardly stood there, silently. She walked past me, and I knew I had to try - anything. I turned around, reached out and pulled on the sleeve over her left elbow.

'Nagato, please don't go.'

Calm and quiet as always, she said, 'I have to. Do not feel bad for me. I made a choice, and I will stand by it.' She's referring to the time when she protected Ms Asahina despite she had orders not to protect the time traveler and the esper, which led to her being relieved.

Perhaps that's what Koizumi referred to regarding the wrong timeline?

'We need you. We are near defenseless without you. Especially me…. God knows how many times you have saved my life.'

'You are welcome. When I am gone, someone will take my place. They will perform just as -'

'I don't want anyone else but you.'

After a short pause, she said, 'Thank you.'

She saw the self-defense device on my wrist. She pointed at it and said, 'That will protect you from the fiercest enemies for at least 20 to 30 years.'

'What happened after 30 years?'

'The battery died.'

It's a strange line of conversation at the time, perhaps I was trying to delay the inevitable.

'Could I put a new battery in?'

'Human-made battery would be inadequate for it to unleash its true potential.' That explained why Fujiwara's device - the same device but years into the future - was weak and it took a long time to build up to be effective. I still had no idea how he ended up with the device. Probably I mentioned something in one of those stupid books I haven't yet written again...

She turned away and started to walk away as her clothes between my fingers slipped away. She went to where Ms Asahina was waiting. I stood there, lowered my head and I was ready to break down in tears.

Nagato stopped walking and said, 'Kyon, promise me one thing.'

'Anything.'

'Do not ask Haruhi Suzumiya to come look for me.'

'I -'

'I am grateful to you, and I am grateful to everyone in the SOS brigade. However, Haruhi Suzumiya is happier not knowing about her powers right now.'

'I understand. If that is your wish.'

'Kyon.'

'Yes?'

She turned and looked at me. 'I have one favor to ask of you.'

'Yes?.'

Nagato said, 'Call me Yuki one last time.'

My heart hurt even more. Even though we kept thinking that the human interface was incapable of feelings, it could not be true. If a device on the wrist could learn about self-defense, why couldn't a human interface learn about feelings? How did humans learn feelings - didn't it just happen? If she had a preference over how I called her, I was sure that she felt something.

I mustered up all my strength try not to burst into tears and said, 'Yuki, thanks for everything.'

For one brief moment, I thought I saw her face puckered up.

'Kyon, thank you for being here.'

She turned away, and walked to Ms Asahina. I stood there and kept watching. Ms Asahina held Nagato's hands. She closed her eyes, and a soft light surrounded the both of them.

I recalled Ms Asahina talking about this event - the time when Nagato vanished. It's now or never. I had to do something.

'Nagato!'

She turned and looked at me.

I removed the self-defense device from my wrist, and dropped it on the ground. I stepped on it hard and it cracked.

'You will never be replaced,' I said.

I thought I saw Nagato flashed a smile.

The soft light got stronger and stronger until I could no longer see them, then the light faded away. Ms Asahina was gone.

Nagato remained.

'Nagato... Yuki!' I ran towards her. She turned towards me. I was bursting with joy, and I got overwhelmed by my emotion. I gave her a big hug. Thank you God, Buddha, or Data Integration Thought Entity….

'Please… let go,' she said.

'Oh right,' I released and said, 'I am sorry. I am just so happy you are staying. What happened?'

'I just received my orders to resume my original duties.' She looked at the destroyed device on the ground. 'You have corrected the timeline.'

'I did?'

'You did. The original timeline was altered when you and Koizumi took the path to engage in a fight with the Student Council President and I was compromised when I had to disobey the Data Integration Thought Entity to save Mikuru Asahina. That created an altered and unstable timeline where I returned as a human interface with normal human contributes, and you would be using the self-defense device to protect the SOS brigade in place of me. You would write and publish stories about Ms Suzumiya and the SOS brigade, including the events in the altered timeline. While in jail, Fujiwara read the books written under the name Mr Tanigawa and figured out it was you who wrote the books. He worked out the timing, began plotting the revenge and acquired the devices he needed.'

'How did he come back? I thought his timeline was severed?'

'Ms Suzumiya reattached it.'

'She did?'

'It was her desire to return me to my original form. She expanded the closed space during the time loop bit by bit so eventually you and Ms Asakura could reach me. She's the one that sent the human version of me a subliminal message to stay after school.'

'That's impossible... she knew about Asakura and Fujuwara?'

'Not consciously.'

'In other words, her subconsious mind was using Fujiwara to accomplish what she wanted?'

'To be precise, she's depending on everyone to play their roles.'

'Was she the one who gave the human you the ability to sense that I was in danger?'

'That was me.'

'Why couldn't your superiors give you a more humanly personality AND powers?'

'It is actually my choice from the start. We have poor ability to process human emotions so I choose not to deceive you with programmed reactions.'

'What is going to happen to Asakura?'

'She's relieved of her duties.'

'Yes! She's scary.'

'Ms Asakura put in some good words for me, which helped with the Data Integration Thought Entity's decision to reinstate me. They were going to offer her more powers and she refused.'

'Oh. I guess I should be more grateful towards her.'

'You should.'

I looked at Nagato and despite I was happy to see her back, it was bittersweet.

'Sorry Yuki, I hoped you could live a normal human life. I really do.'

'Perhaps someday.'

That's the spirit. I believe Haruhi would want Nagato to one day be happy and live as a human, just not yet. It's too important for the SOS brigade to have Nagato stay this way for now.

'Welcome back.'

'It is good to be back.'

'...By the way, you have kept the memories of your other self, I presume, by syncing?'

She looked away. She said, 'Kyon, do you prefer that version of me, or the me now?'

'I prefer the one you want to be the most right now.'

Nagato nodded, and said, 'And you shall call me the name you prefer.'

'Okay, Nagato.'

The end