To Our Beloved Readers: Wow, there sure has been a lot of other Haruhi Fics lately. Not even four days have passed and I've been pushed all the way to the bottom. I plan to keep on a 500 word a day writing schedule from now on, so you'll see a new chapter every 5 or 6 days or so. Please cast your votes on the poll on my profile page, and please take a look at my much unappreciated story "Blue". Now don't take the summary seriously, the real story has almost nothing to do with the actual race.
and you all know what it means for the AN to be in the beginning.
I had first thought that Koizumi was expecting someone to appear when he said that Asahina wouldn't leave us hanging here. But he was just as surprised as I was. It was obvious that he hadn't planned on finding a way back so fast. I needed to confirm what I was seeing.
"Hello boys, I've come to take you back to your time." The adult Asahina said in a voice that made the air sweet on my tongue.
I was scanning her frantically with my eyes. Of course there was the seal of authenticity. I could see a star shaped dot on her chest, just visible through her shirt. Here in front of us was the person who I thought was permanently gone when we had arrived. Now she was standing behind us and she was the one who was going to take us back.
"Why?" I said out of many words I wanted to say beginning with W and one starting with an H.
"I know you have many things to ask me Kyon, but don't worry, I'll tell you everything you need to know." Asahina(B) assured me.
She came down a few steps and sat down between Koizumi and me.
"You're probably wondering how I entered this strange space." Asahina(B) said as we both nodded in reply.
"Well, as you both know this world is another form of reality built over the first. Spaces like these are accessible with time travel with the correct coordinates. I knew you guys had no way out of this time, I knew it was best to come and get you out." Asahina(B) explained.
"Didn't you disappear when we came into this time?" I asked.
"That question is something that you will have to answer yourself. What really messes with your mind is that I just might be another illusion created to get you out of this space. Besides what you see in front of you here, I still might be erased from existence.
The very possibility saddened me.
"You're not the same Asahina that brought us here?" I asked.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask." Asahina(B) said. "I won't lie, I am."
"How? You disappeared." Koizumi said.
"Yes I did Koizumi, but I won't spoil anything. I do want you to be surprised when you find out what happened to me. I'm already telling you too much as it is." Asahina(B) giggled.
I don't want to know. I want to find out at this point. It was something that I was greatly looking forward too.
"What you guys did here was very important." Asahina(B) said.
"Is that so?" I said. The suspense was killing me. I was tired from drawing out that huge message on the court and I was planning to go home without finding out why the hell I had to do it.
"Can you please reveal just that to us?" Koizumi implored.
"Ah well, I guess I can." Asahina(B) smiled.
Koizumi and I gathered around her like children listening to an interesting story.
"Three years ago, this Tanabata, Suzumiya Haruhi started something here."
"What was it?" Koizumi asked.
"Even I don't know for sure." Asahina(B) shrugged. "Koizumi, in a few days you would be discovering your new powers, taken in by your organization, am I correct?"
"Why yes." Koizumi said reminiscing.
"Nagato had begun her standby mode." Asahina(B) continued. "And us time travelers were no longer able to travel further back than this date. Don't you think it's something peculiar?"
"So whatever happened that Tanabata, did the same thing happen now? This Tanabata?" I asked.
"Do you remember what meaning that message had?" Asahina(B) asked.
I looked out onto the arrangement of symbols on the dirt.
"I remember Nagato telling me that it meant 'I am here'." Kyon said.
"That was the connection." Asahina(B) said. "Something triggered that night when you helped Suzumiya. You were destined to meet each other after that night. Start the SOS Brigade and even unintentionally cause Suzumiya to create aliens, time travelers, and espers."
"So how will that affect us in the future?" I asked.
"Suzumiya will now be able to see you as well as Koizumi as you two are now significant entities with a purpose even Fujiwara can't block out with his code. You will be on equal grounds with him, free to win back Suzumiya."
"Excellent." Koizumi smiled. "We have done our jobs. If we can see and talk to Suzumiya, you will be free to deliver the code and finally be able to end all realities and get us back to the old world."
"What about Fujiwara?" I asked."What if he tries to stop us again?"
"He won't be able to." Asahina(B) smiled. "You'll see what happens. Technically you've already won the battle. Suzumiya wanted you all along to beat him and so it shall be. Plus, she'll remember you two. I'm pretty sure she'll prefer you guys over Fujiwara."
I was looking forward to see how it all plays out. To my knowledge Asahina dislikes Fujiwara if not utterly loathing him. How exactly he meets his end, I'm not too sure. But knowing that we'll beat him already gives me that overwhelming feeling of uplifting. Best of all I get a chance to be heroic in front of Haruhi.
"So we're almost there huh?" I said.
"Yes, our journey has almost come to an end." Koizumi smiled. "It has been great working with you Kyon."
"You're making it sound like we won't again." I sighed. "If only that were possible, the work I mean…"
"That can only mean this is the start isn't it?" Koizumi said.
"From what I remember, yes." Asahina(B) said. "Let's get ready to go back now."
We all held each other's hands.
"Let's get going, we won't let Nagato's sacrifice be for nothing." I said in a serious tone, wanting to end this fiasco once and for all.
Asahina(B) giggled.
"What?" I asked wondering whatever was so funny about my statement. Before I can get an answer we were flying through time once more. The feeling of queasiness returned and for what could have been a hundred years or a second, we were back on solid ground.
"Phew… where are we now?" I asked.
From what I can tell, we were in front of Tsuruya's house. Koizumi and I were still yet to recover from disorientation. We had to keep our hands on the stone barrier surrounding's Tsuruya's house to keep from falling down.
"Fuijwara should be with Suzumiya right now, at school." Koizumi said. "That's if we've returned right after we left."
"It's been exactly two and a half minutes." Asahina(B) replied.
"The what do we do?" I asked. "Do we just deliver the code? You know what happens don't you Asahina?"
I knew she couldn't tell me the exact order of events that were to come. Asahina(B) gave me a pitiful look.
"I can't tell you everything." Asahina(B) said. "Whatever you do. Don't give up."
There was a sound of running footsteps from behind us. Tsuruya had heard our voices and came out as fast as she could. With a surprised look on her face which immediately changed to a beaming smile she ran full speed at Asahina(B) most likely to give her a hug.
"Good luck guys." Asahina(B) smiled and winked before vanishing. Tsuruya lunged but caught hold of nothing but air.
"Dang it, she got away again…" Tsuruya said like a cat who had just missed a mouse.
"We… better run." I said. "Thanks for having us Tsuruya. We'll have this place back in shape in no time."
Koizumi and I ran full speed ahead towards the school.
"Tsuruya seemed pretty happy considering the mood she was in moments ago for her." I said.
"She saw the adult Asahina. I'm pretty sure that's proof that the present time Asahina still exists." Koizumi said.
"You think we can find her?" I asked. "Where do you think she is?"
"That depends, Asahina still exists but we still do not know how much of a presence she has currently." Koizumi replied. "For all we know, even we might not be able to see her. But don't worry. The adult Asahina appears to be in top condition, so rest assured, she will be back to normal, eventually."
The people around us glanced at us as we passed by. This was great, they could see us.
"These illusions are extremely well detailed." Koizumi smiled as we began the steep uphill climb to the school.
"Illusions? Aren't they real people?" I asked.
"They are not, but honestly speaking, I cannot see the difference." Koizumi answered.
We approached the front gates. Students were wandering around the outside which let us know that it was break period. We looked all over, I admit, I was really nervous. But eventually, we found them, Fujiwara and Haruhi. They were walking outside together, in an area with benches and a few trees. From the looks of it, Fujiwara was forcing himself onto Haruhi once again.
"What's the plan Koizumi?" I asked standing a fair distance away from the two. We had to act before Fujiwara has any more chances of breaking through to her.
"We get her back and away from Fujiwara." Koizumi replied.
"So I move in first?" I asked.
Koizumi nodded.
The two of us walked up to Fujiwara unaware of what was to happen. We didn't know how we were going to get Haruhi form him, we didn't know what Fujiwara might pull if we get too close. Asahina did say we already won the battle didn't she? She's from the future and has seen it all, but kept to the rules and restrained herself from telling me. I'm pretty sure if we were going to do anything, it was going to be head on. Still undecided of what I was to say to Fujiwara I was surprised when he spoke first.
"Who are you people?" he asked politely.
Upon closer inspection, Haruhi was still as lifeless as we left her. She stared blankly at the ground not even noticing us having conversation.
"Get away from Haruhi, Fujiwara." I said. He didn't know us, but we know him, was it just an act?
Apparently not, Fujiwara let out a brief, loud, barking laugh. My muscles tensed, he looked even more disturbing in a North High uniform.
"You guys are just too much! Did you crawl through another rat hole?" Fujiwara asked looking towards Haruhi. "It's over. I already prepared everything to authenticate everything in this reality. Do you see Suzumiya now? She is merely a shell. My world will finally be complete, one without Suzumiya, time travel or anything of that foul sort."
"You have lost," Koizumi said. "Connections have already been made. Suzumiya can no longer be in your control."
"Oh, and how is that?" Fujiwara asked. "Can you trust yourself when you say that? What is to stop me from saying that everything was predetermined? That you have played right into my hands? This is my world after all. It wouldn't be fun to have you think what is completely the opposite?"
What was he saying? Was he saying that everything was set up?
"Hadn't it worked out too well? Feeling ever so confident?" Fujiwara laughed.
There was indeed one patch of time for us to fall back to in our time of desperation. Asahina from the future appeared out of nowhere. She told us that Haruhi would remember us but from the looks of it that seems too far from the truth. Was it really all set up just as he had said? For us to foolishly reveal ourselves to him thinking we already had everything we need. If Asahina from the future was his doing, than that means Asahina from the present is indeed still gone.
I began to lose track of what to say next. If what he says is true that we have lost.
"I'm sorry but I'm the king of the castle. Just who do you think you are?" Fujiwara said with all his cockiness.
"I am the Crimson Superball!" Koizumi affirmed.
That was it. That was to one way to confirm our connection.
"I am the Charming General Person!" I said deceivingly proudly determined not to lose my composure.
Haruhi suddenly looked up and turned to us. Fujiwara wore an expression of confusion and bewilderment, but it quickly turned to rage as soon as he realized that had happened.
"Kyon! Koizumi!" Haruhi said losing all traces of her trance like state. She was just like she was in the first reality.
Suddenly Fujiwara swung his arm at Haruhi. His arm was not like a normal arm, it was several times larger and blue, blue just like a Shinjin. Haruhi was smashed against the school building with enormous force and fell limp onto the floor. Disorientation overtook me, the large, cascading, stain of red on the wall above Haruhi seemed to distort like water color. She wasn't moving clearly broken…
Fujiwara let out a cold high pitched laugh as he ran towards us preparing to swing his blue, club like arm. The last thing I saw before I fainted was Koizumi leaping in front of me to block me from harm.
"We have failed…" Koizumi smiled at me instead of directing his attention at Fujiwara. "We have failed…"
He had nothing, no esper powers, he didn't stand a chance and he knew it.
I couldn't hold on any longer. For what felt like would be the last time. Everything was black.
Thanks For Reading: LordPlagus777