A/N: Zeek72, how could you have possibly guessed that? You sir, are an esper in disguise. :P
Usual Disclaimers: I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. Only Nagaru Tanigawa and Kyon own Haruhi. :D
Chapter 11
While Asakura's threats hung in the air, I immediately turned to Nagato, out of fear and concern. There was no way I could lose her now. It would be a very brutal ending to what would be a promising and wonderful relationship.
Nagato, who was standing behind the central legion of espers, was speaking extremely fast. She's probably altering the basic fabric of reality inside this large, derelict warehouse that was swarming with entities that would baffle the average person. She would probably set some countermeasures against Asakura and her rogue squadron of human purpose organic interfaces. From my hiding place, which was a few tall stacks of empty wooden crates, I snuck another glance at our enemies who were still eerily hovering in midair.
I gasped, and did a double-take.
My initial count of Asakura's fighting force pegged their numbers at around one hundred strong. Looking at them again, I was shocked because I only noticed now that more interfaces were joining the initial group. Now my count indicates that their attacking force had more or less doubled in number.
I sighed loudly. Are we really going to die today? Out of fear and anxiety, I decided to approach Nagato, who was but a few meters away from my hiding place. Before I could take another step though, I was surprised to hear Koizumi's audible voice ring through the air, without a trace of cheerfulness. He must be really serious this time, thank goodness.
"Asakura-san. You will not defeat us, even though you have the upper hand in the numbers game!"
The espers all cried out in unison, their morale bolstered by Itsuki Koizumi's declaration.
"Is that so, Koizumi-kun?" asked Asakura.
Suddenly, Nagato was beside me, gripping my arm very gently. My fear, which she obviously sensed, threatened to consume my very being, causing me to collapse onto the floor. Before that could happen, however, Nagato just lightly caressed my face in her hands and said,
"It will be alright.. Kyon. Do not worry about me. Stay here, with—" she started talking extremely fast once again, and gestured to a spot behind the fire exit that was located near my hiding place, "—Emiri Kimidori."
Coming from the fire exit, according to my reckoning, a wavy-haired girl in a blouse and cardigan appeared beside me. Emiri Kimidori.
Emiri Kimidori? Wasn't she the Computer Club President's alleged girlfriend? Wasn't she the one who approached us to inform us of the president's disappearance? I suspected back then that Nagato orchestrated the entire event just to keep Haruhi busy. I also suspected that somehow, Emiri Kimidori and Nagato were in league in each other. It appears that I was correct in this respect.
I also remembered that Kimidori-san is the secretary of Koizumi's puppet the Student Council President. Perhaps Koizumi's Organization and the Intergrated Data Thought Entity had come to some kind of understanding? Perhaps even understanding to the level of cooperation? That might explain how Koizumi was easily able to muster his colleagues. Who knows?
"Kyon, I am here to help protect you while Nagato-san and the others fight Asakura off," said Kimidori-san.
Nagato spoke very quickly once again to Emiri Kimidori, who seemed to have understood the instructions because she said,
"Understood."
She flashed Nagato a thumbs-up. Nagato just nodded and ran back to her spot behind the central division of espers. All of a sudden, Nagato spoke, her voice as emotionless as ever. However, the message relayed seemed to carry a lot a conviction in its statement.
"Asakura Ryouko, I will permanently nullify your data link to reality. I am going to delete you once and for all."
"You can try, Nagato-san. But, in the end, you will die. Interfaces—" she gestured to the horde of interfaces flanking her, "—ATTACK!"
With Asakura's declaration, I instinctively ducked for cover behind my makeshift hiding place. The sounds of the battle reached my ears, the ferocity eerily indicated by bodies flying all over the interior of the warehouse.
Interfaces darting here and there, trying to take the espers out with brute force; the espers responding by transforming into red balls of energy, their psychic powers being put to full use in this epic battle. I began to feel anxiety for Nagato's safety, and feebly tried to brush those thoughts away, while hiding behind these crates. I remembered the last time Nagato and Asakura fought. I remembered how Nagato had terminated Asakura's data link. We both thought that she was finished, but we were wrong. I felt a small measure of relief, because during that time, it was Nagato who was victorious. I hoped for a repeat performance of the incident, with Nagato coming out on top of Asakura. Then my thoughts turned to the espers and their supernatural psychic powers. If Koizumi and his colleagues could topple a Celestial that was not bound by the realms of physics and logic, then these interfaces were bait for their powers as well.
And oh, how could I forget that very deadly Mikuru Beam? Haruhi even made the Mikuru Beam summon a black hole once. Hopefully, Asahina-san's practice session earlier before the battle began would be enough for the battle itself. She seemed competent in shooting objects earlier, more competent than what I would expect from Mikuru Asahina. I strongly suspected that Nagato had a hand in Asahina-san's sudden competence.
I asked permission from Kimidori-san if I could sneak another look at the battlefield. I frantically searched through the chaos for Asahina-san. Ah, there she was! She just finished disposing of five interfaces with a single bolt from her eyes, a feat that could rival even Scott Summers.
I looked over to where Koizumi was and he was flying all over the place, randomly transforming into a red ball, screaming orders at the lesser espers who responded by hurling bowling-ball-sized clumps of psychic energy at the interfaces.
I looked over to where Nagato was, and apparently, the espers under Nagato's command were going head to head with the small group that defended Ryouko Asakura. A fitting duel, for there was definitely bad blood between Nagato and Asakura. Nagato was deflecting potshots from the interfaces, left and right, while Asakura did the same against the balls of psychic energy that the espers hurled at her.
"Don't worry Kyon-kun. Nagato-san is very competent in fighting, and I'm sure that she'll defeat Asakura. Besides, I can help her if I'm sure you aren't in danger," said Kimidori-san.
Her hands began to glow green, and I saw a clump of what appeared to be pure energy appear in her hands. She ducked from behind our hiding place, and took aim at a cluster of six interfaces that were menacing Asahina-san, who was backed into a corner with only three espers left defending her.
Instantly, there was a huge explosion. After the smoke faded, I saw that the six interfaces were all down, and Asahina-san and the espers were unscathed.
"Huh? Good thing Asahina-san wasn't caught in the explosion," I said.
"That was because I telepathically asked the espers to shield themselves from the impending explosion," answered Kimidori-san.
Her full potential and power finally hit me.
"Kimidori-san, please leave me here and assist Nagato in the battle!" I said. "She needs your help more than I do."
"Kyon-kun, Nagato-san specifically ordered me not to leave you under any circumstances. I can't disobey her in this situation."
"B-but.. Why? She needs help!" I fiercely said.
"Kyon, Nagato-san may not show it too often, but she deeply cares for you. She is the first of our kind to experience these so-called 'emotions.' She even gave me a taste of these emotions just one day ago by authorizing my partial synchronization with her data. These emotions are wonderful and pure, so powerful that if Nagato-san was pushed beyond the breaking point, who knows what could happen? That is why she tasked me to defend you," said Kimidori-san.
Looking sullen, I relented. I guess Nagato knows best.
I snuck another look at the battlefield. Both sides had already suffered casualties. I saw Koizumi's face was bleeding, but he was still shouting orders to the remaining espers. Asahina-san looked relatively unscathed, but was left without any espers to support her against the tide of ten interfaces coming up against her.
In that respect, my fears were needless. In one sweeping motion, I heard her cry,
"Mi-Mi-Mikuru Beam!!"
Her eyes swept across the interfaces, and there was another explosion. When the smoke cleared, all ten of the interfaces were down. She gracefully leapt into the air and landed a few meters back, then she ran off to support Nagato, who was fighting the remnants of Asakura's defense force by herself.
Those two are going to clean house.
However, I noticed something that seemed to be out of the ordinary. Ryouko Asakura was nowhere to be found. I hoped that she would retreat and save us all the trouble of this battle.
Suddenly, I heard a cry that came from my side. It was Kimidori-san who shouted.
"Kyon-kun, look out!" screamed Emiri Kimidori.
She pointed upwards, in front of me. When I looked, I saw three daggers flying at us. I instinctively cringed in fear, but before I could to anything, Kimidori-san jumped in front of me and parried two of the three daggers. But the last dagger found its mark, and Kimidori-san was thrown backwards against the wall, a dagger embedded in her chest.
"Gah!" exclaimed Kimidori-san.
"Kimidori-san! Are you alright!?" I shouted.
"I'm fine, I'm healing myself right now," she answered.
She pulled the dagger from her chest, and all of a sudden, her wounds closed up and healed. She pointed at the source of the daggers, and said,
"There's Asakura."
I looked to where she pointed and indeed, Ryouko Asakura was eerily hovering in the air, with that wide smile on her face.
"You still don't want to die, Kyon-kun? Now you have to di—"
Out of nowhere, a body rammed into Asakura, and she flew into the warehouse wall, which was dented severely by the impact. I looked for my savior, and saw Nagato, who seemed to have done away with her normally emotionless look, and replaced it with a look that could positively kill.
"No," said Nagato.
Asakura had recovered from the impact and said,
"I am still more powerful than you Nagato-san. After you had defeated me last time, I found a program that seemed to protect me from any alterations that you might make. So this time, you can't nullify my data link."
She smiled.
"You can't beat me Nagato-san. Besides, are your friends as powerful as you?" asked Asakura.
With that declaration, I glanced over at the battlefield once again. I saw that Koizumi was lying on the floor, under a pile of interfaces that seemed to be equally knocked out. Oh shit, Koizumi was knocked out.
I looked frantically for Asahina-san and I saw her valiantly fight ten interfaces by herself.
I saw her use the Mikuru Beam once again, and she swept it across the approaching interfaces. I expected a result like the last time, but, to my surprise, one interface was left standing. This interface tackled Asahina-san head-on, and Asahina-san was able to fire a last ditch Mikuru Beam against the interface.
The interface's head exploded, and I saw Asahina-san sitting on the ground, covered in gore, while clutching her arm. She appeared to be very wounded at this point.
I realized that all the espers were down. And there were still around twenty interfaces left. My optimism seems to have failed on me.
I sighed and turned back to Asakura and Nagato, who were dueling in mid-air. I realized that, the last people standing were myself, Nagato, and Kimidori-san.
Suddenly, Asakura found a way through Nagato's defenses, and gave her a powerful punch, which sent Nagato flying towards Kimidori-san and myself. Kimidori-san grabbed me and we dodged to the right to avoid Nagato.
"See Nagato-san. You are defeated. You are the only one left standing."
"Emiri Kimidori is still here," answered Nagato from the wreckage of the crates.
"Really?" said Asakura. She smiled, and said, "The dagger that pierced Kimidori-san's body earlier was laced with a program that I myself created. Commencing system shutdown."
Emiri Kimidori screamed.
"Noooooooooooooooo!"
A moment earlier, she was still holding my wrist. The next thing I knew, she was slumped on the floor.
Shit. It was just me and Nagato against Asakura and twenty interfaces. Asahina-san appears to be taking cover behind the wreckage caused by Nagato, and she was too wounded to help us. Koizumi and Kimidori-san were both down for the count.
God help us.
"Finally, Nagato-san, I will get my revenge on you," said Asakura. "Interfaces. Disable Nagato-san now."
The twenty interfaces all flew at Nagato, who had just recovered from the punch that Asakura had landed on her.
She was pinned to the floor, while I could only helplessly watch.
"No!" I screamed.
"Hello Kyon-kun. This time, you will finally die," said Asakura sweetly.
"N-no," said Nagato. "N-not… Kyon."
I could only look at Asakura while she flew at me. Suddenly, it happened. What people said would happen as you were going to die. My whole life was flashing before my very eyes. Memories of the past. I saw myself meet Haruhi for the first time, I saw myself help Haruhi vandalize the East Junior High school grounds. I saw Haruhi drag Asahina-san into the clubroom, and I saw myself meet Nagato for the first time in my memory, that silent bespectacled Literature Club member who allowed us to use her room for the SOS Brigade.
Then Asakura's hand met my abdomen, and I felt a sharp piercing pain somewhere around my midriff. Damn it, not again. I looked down at the dagger that pierced my body, and said,
"Ouch.."
Asakura smiled smugly, and I looked over at Nagato for what might be the last time. Her face.. It was no longer devoid of emotion. The look of anger that had taken over her earlier was replaced with a look that frightened me, even while I was already on my way to my grave.
Nagato looked scared. Suddenly, she screamed.
"KYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!"
"No! Kyon-kun!" shouted Asahina-san.
"N-Nagato," I coughed.
Blood streamed down my lips, and I knew that I would be smiling, even in death.
"I l-l-love y-you."
"NO! KYON!"
"Run away from here," I managed to cough out. "Leave me and save Asahina-san and yourself."
"KYON!" Nagato screamed.
Then, I heard it.
"I love you Kyon. I'm so sorry."
Suddenly, the world became black, and I knew that no measure of light and sound would pierce me ever again.
A/N: This still isn't the end of my story, don't worry.