For a moment I believed that I would be once again together with Haruhi, by that I meant sharing a conversation, telling her to see her tomorrow when we part. But I knew that it wasn't over just yet. I only hoped that before I had to end everything, I would at least get a chance to speak with her first.
Haruhi lifted her head and looked around at the full clubroom. If I had to guess the expression after a bewildered one would be her smile, what I've been longing to see for the longest time. However time froze. It wasn't as simple as everything simply stopping, falling object stopping in mid air, people absolutely still like statues as they were making hand motions in mid speech. No, it was not that subtle.
It was as if a strong wave of force blew through the clubroom. It made my body prickle all over as if I was supposed to be frozen too. Whoever stopped time did it with authority, they had done it with exceptional force. The gears of time did not simply halt, it came to a grinding stop, and that pricking feeling was from the sound of the screeching when it did, speaking figuratively.
The only person in the room that had been frozen was Haruhi. The other members were moving, looking around, searching for the source of the voice that rung throughout the entire school campus and beyond.
"I know you're all still alive." Fujiwara's distorted voice rumbled throughout the space. "You may believe that I have been weakened because I you have divided the powers between me and Suzumiya. Well you are incorrect. I have begun absorbing her once again. I no longer need to be in contact with her, we are connected through the powers. In a matter of hours she shall exist no more, and I will be god of the new world."
The school building began to melt away, our surroundings began to change. We soon realized that we were in a completely different area. The furniture of the clubroom were gone and the SOS Brigade were standing in front of the all familiar square before the station where the Brigade gathered to begin and dismiss their weekend searches every week.
"I won't bother asking you to hand her over." Fujiwara's disembodied voice said arrogantly. "I have no patience to negotiate, that time has long passed. However I will give you the inevitable option to run. But keep in mind that you cannot hide."
"The station." Koizumi stated. "Here it began and here it will end.
Just like the time when the first reality ended, Fujiwara was standing in the middle of the road afar, across the street from the square where we were. He was quite far but I clearly saw is blue arm, glowing eerily. His figure now deformed, his oversized, unproportioned arm wasn't the only part of his body that was Shinjin like. He was now a half human half Shinjin being. He was slowly limping towards us, slowly, but covering great distance with each limp. His demented half, half face still had traces of his mad smile. I could no longer sense conscience in him. This monster was simply, just a monster.
"Do we run," Koizumi asked. "or fight?"
"Why are you asking me?" I demanded. "Can we fight something like that?"
"What do you suggest we do?" Koizumi asked.
I thought short but hard. Die on the spot, or die somewhere in a different location, out of breath and unsuccessful in retreat?
"I don't want to give him the satisfaction of the hunt." I said. "Whatever we have, we're giving it all we've got. At most, I'm expecting to land once punch on his face before I go."
Fujiwara was getting ever so closer. I began to plan out as many evasive tactics as I could to dodge that arm. Remembering the meager amount of times I caught glimpses of boxing on T.V. as I flipped through the channels. We all know that doesn't help the least…
"He's finally gone primal hasn't he?" I said.
"That is not the real Fujwiara." Nagato explained.
"That what form has he taken?" Asahina asked curiously. She was clearly disgusted at Fujiwara's currently form.
"This Fujiwara is just a shell." Nagato began. "His former body that he is utilizing as a puppet to stall us. He currently exists in two dimensions, the first, his body, exists in front of us in this dimension. His conscience is currently in the second dimension. One you are all familiar with as being referred to a Closed Space."
"He can create closed spaces?" Koizumi asked hopefully. "How large is this closed space? Can we enter it?"
Koizumi knew that if he entered the Closed Space, he would have some chance of beating the Shinjin Fujiwara with his powers.
"The only way to enter space is through the core in Fujiwara's puppet body that we see before us." Nagato said. "This is currently impossible, Fujiwara is too strong."
I had to focus my eyes to see, but there was a red ball inside Fujiwara's exposed chest, one that I remember seeing in an actual Shinjin when I first went to a Closed Space with Koizumi.
"Then we cannot…" Koizumi said.
I looked back at the rest of the Brigade. Haruhi was standing quite still, staring dreamily ahead of her. We were doing this for her.
"Don't give up!" I said, Koizumi was our only hope now. "What if we could Nagato? What if Koizumi does get through to the Closed Space? What will we find there?"
"We will find a Fujiwara in Shinjin form." Nagato stated. "I will repeat, there is no possible way for any of us to get close enough to pass into the Closed Space that Fujiwara has created. Attempting to do so is not recommended."
"A Shinjin huh?" Like a main character in a shonen manga preparing to rush out at the final boss in the arc. "So all we have to do is take down this puppet body, get to the core and enter the Closed Space. From there we can destroy Fujiwara's conscience, stop his plan for a new world and return Haruhi's powers back to her."
Nagato nodded.
"How ironic." Koizumi said. "Fujiwara, aiming to destroy and recreate the world, has become a Shinjin."
"Asahina, you stay here with Haruhi." I said.
Asahina nodded nervously. We were going to rush head on at this monster Fujiwara, and she knew that was exactly what we were going to do.
"I will have to stay behind as well." Nagato said.
"You're not coming?"
"I am of no use to you." Nagato said in a somewhat apologetic tone.
I wasn't going to argue. I nodded and then faced Koizumi.
"Are you ready?" I asked. "You'll have to get as close as you can while I distract him."
"Indeed." He smiled getting ready to dash at full speed at Fujiwara who was beginning to cross the street. I got into my ready pose as well.
"Charming General Person!"
"Crimson Superball!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAH!" Fujiwara's laughter roared through the space at our feeble attempt.
"Go!" Koizumi and I said at the same time as we began running as fast as we could like idiots at a monster several times bigger, stronger, and possibly faster than we were. The monster Fujiwara knew we were going to try and get as close as possible. It stopped in the middle of the road and raised its arm to strike us as soon as we got in striking range of its long, thick, blue arm.
It was when we had just gotten to the curb and the soles of our shoes were about to touch the black asphalt of the road. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the traffic light that was yellow this whole time turn red. In the fraction of a second I kind of knew what was going to happen afterwards.
A sound of a truck horn blew as louder than any horn that had penetrated my ears in my life.
"Out of the way nyoroo!"
Koizumi and I braked hard, our feet skidding on the road stopping completely. Apparently the monster Fujiwara was slow in exchange for its strength and size. It didn't even get to turn its stupid head in time to see what was coming. Koizumi and I stood lamenting the nullification of our theatric, synchronized, and showy battle entrance as we watched the gigantic hunk of metal blur collide with Fujiwara and fling it like an abused rag doll some distance across the street before it fell onto hard asphalt. The manner in which it fell reminded me of a garbage bag filled with broken glass thrown onto the ground the ground without second thought by the middle aged lady living next door.
The truck came to a skidding halt and was now where we would have been a few seconds later if we had continued running. Good thing both of us had the sense to stop or we would have suffered the same pathetic fate as the Fujiwara puppet monster thingy.
The entire hood of the truck was steaming impacted and melted where it came into contact with Fujiwara's Shinjin arm. I gulped as I realized that could have happened to either one of us if we had continued. But enough worrying about me, I'm more concerned with the person driving the vehicle.
Obviously with the force that went into that collision, virtually there wasn't a part in the entire front half of the truck that wasn't damaged. The windshield was, shattered.
The crumpled doors on both sides on the truck were kicked open at the same time, both doors breaking off its hinges and hitting the ground at each side. Not one, but two people dismounted the ruined vehicle.
"Itsuki-chan!" Asakura waved to Koizumi as she left the shotgun seat. She ran to us stopping in front of Koizumi as he goggled in surprise and utter flabbergastation. "I knew it would have taken a lot more than that loser to take you down!"
I knew that by loser, she meant Fujiwara. But how exactly did she know about him? I haven't seen her since way before the first reality ended.
"Hey there Kyon!" I heard Tsuruya's voice from behind the truck as she came into view after getting out of the driver's seat. She joined us as well. "I see Asahina is alive and well. That's really all I needed. I got to get back at that Fujiwara bastard for hurting Asahina."
I simply gave a big smile in reply. The impossible had just happened, we got past the first obstacle.
"And for hurting you…" Tsuruya added with a slight blush.
"That solves all our problems." Asakura said with a voice many times mature and arousing than her cute face hinted at. "Now that Fujiwara has gotten what he's deserved for hurting Itsuki, I think we're free to continue where we left off ."
"N-not yet!" Kozumi said. "W-we still have a long way to go!"
Koizumi stuttering? This was serious.
Asahina and Nagato were running in our direction as well. They were probably just as surprised as we were at what just happened. Koizumi pulled me away from the gathering of the four girls and we headed in the direction of the presumably immobile, if not dead, Fujiwara monster.
"Where you last left off?" I asked.
"She was with me at the host cub when Fujiwara attacked us." Koizumi shrugged. "I had managed to get Ryoko to safety, but I was 'killed' in the process."
"Ryoko?" I asked.
"Asakura I mean." Koizumi said as his smile bent in weird angles we haven't even touched yet in math class.
It was not too long before everyone present was gathered around the Fujiwara monster's body. Asahina guided the mindless Haruhi to the scene as well. She stood a few steps away from where we were gathered in the enviable care of Asahina. The Shinjin parts of the body were still glowing blue, which was the sign that the real Fujiwara was still alive inside the Closed Space that lies on the other side of the core. There it was, the red, bean shaped core in its chest.
"I sense her." Koizumi said. "I sense Suzumiya in there."
"The core will operate in a matter similar to a bomb." Nagato explained. "When Fujiwara is ready and has completely absorbed Suzumiya Haruhi, it shall explode, rewriting everything. We can stop this by simply destroying the Shinjin Fujiwara."
"Can you do it Koizumi?" I asked.
"Let me go with you!" Asakura requested.
"The only person that I am willing to take is Kyon." Koizumi said. "I cannot afford to endanger anyone else."
The core began to glow. Me, Koizumi, Nagato, Asahina, Asakura, and Tsuruya gathered around to observe. Suddenly the core began to suck everything in the area into it. It felt as if I were being squeezed through a very small tube. I could feel the presence of everyone else around me, anticipating what I will see on the other side in the Closed Space. This was it.
To Our Beloved Readers: It's too damn late! Good night!
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