Last chapter: Inevitable tragedy brings about the alliance of two great souls. But after all is said and done, what, and at what cost, could they achieve? And did they really intend for the world they knew to slowly fall apart?

Kyon moved at a steady trot.

Breath in then breath out. He had done that a thousand times during physical education classes, but never before had it come to him so naturally. Arms swinging, legs bouncing off the ground, his body, usually full of complaints, had now caught second wind and led him obediently ever forward. And just as this busied the fine machinery of his organism, the repeated motions set his mind free.

Suzumiya Haruhi was God. Or the potential of evolution. Or a time distortion phenomenon. It didn't really matter which one. He had told her, and she had believed.

Air was air. Ground was ground. Up was up and down was down, ten-headed alien monsters did not appear, people didn't change into iridescent jelly, the world did not end – after all the wishy-washy lecturing, hypothesizing, nagging and worrying nothing changed just because Haruhi knew.

If that thought was not liberating – like a two and a half tone boulder being taken off his aching back, nothing in this world could be. Even if it all came down to trusting a normal girl to be a normal girl.

Kyon wasn't stupid or blind. He had noticed the sky being replaced by an inferno – an image like the depths of golden-brown tea, when you look too hungrily into them, lost in your thoughts. He didn't forget Itsuki was gone. And he knew Haruhi could be a normal girl and more at the same time.

He had just long ago resolved to retain his sanity in spite of whatever might happen. Everything so that he may take responsibility for the club he had helped create and the girl who had believed in the promise of John Smith.

Ready as he was for anything, it did little to surprise him when the cell phone he had turned off not ten minutes ago started vibrating in his pocket.

He didn't even slow down as he took the device out and read the words flashing weakly on the display.

Bench. Yuki N.

­

Chapter 4

Brilliance lost between the dusk of Winter and the dawn of Spring

When it came to benches, only one had played an outstanding role in his life. It was the one where he had listened to Mikuru's confession of being a time traveler, and thus the first time he allowed himself to think the existence of supernatural powers around him could be more than an elaborate joke.

But, to his knowledge, Nagato wasn't aware of that. And the bench she would most certainly have in mind was a different one altogether. After all, there was the bench where she had waited for him, a whole day when didn't show up, and where they had met out of school for the first time.

He didn't need to think twice about heading there His earlier running was entirely purposeless – he had planned on going to school, hoping to find a message from one of the SOS-dan's members waiting for him there, telling him what to do in this crazy situation.

And now the last bastion of order in his life was within his sight.

He even slowed down to savor the feeling.

The diminutive figure sat at the bench, stoic as ever, with an opened book in her lap. He guessed she had had enough time to read through most of it before he got there, with her considerable reading speed and his mediocre running speed. There was a limit to what adrenaline could do for you, he learned.

"Hey! Nagato!" he yelled with a small distance still separating them. His desire for her attention had won over the wish for the moment to last.

Nagato, as always, seemed initially to ignore him, giving no immediate response. But after a full three seconds, she closed her book, putting an envelope into it as a bookmark. She raised her face towards Kyon, her eyes like orbs of quicksilver burning from within.

Breathing heavily but with a relieved smile on his face, Kyon made it to the bench. His spirits lifted at seeing at least one of his friends in one piece, and he reached out to her.

"Do not touch me."

Kyon froze. There was no one around but them. No matter how much he wished for it, there was no one but Nagato who could have whispered the order.

"It is imperative for the continued functionality of this corporeal frame that you do not touch me."

His breathing had been heavy before and now, now it was shallow and panicked.

"Why?"

And it was as if he was asking for mercy.

"The integrants of this form are not naturally a stable combination," Nagato explained emotionlessly "With my rudimentary data manipulation functions damaged, I cannot sustain this body. Contact with moving air particles has already proved detrimental. It is likely I cannot survive touching objects of higher density."

If Kyon's expression said anything, it was that he was doing his utmost not to believe her.

Unblinkingly, Nagato raised one of her hands in front of her face. Where she had touched the pages of her book to flip them, silvery traces had appeared, and her hand seemed to be leaking glittering dust.

Kyon closed his eyes. Even if he couldn't convince himself it wasn't real, he didn't want to see it.

He had always been internally torn between two visions of Nagato: the invincible alien magician, and a fragile girl who would topple over should a stronger wind blow. But today was the only time when, by her own words, the latter was indeed true.

"What… What can I do to help?"

But if it were that easy, she would have already told him.

"Can't the Entity do something!?"

If she remained cold, he possessed enough fire for both of them.

"The integrated Data Thought Entity is currently under attack and acknowledges no incoming transmissions. However, the Entity's ability to fix this kind of structural deformation is questionable at best."

He was growing angry. And since he was already too angry at himself, the feeling spilled over and he mysteriously became angry at her.

"So, I should just accept it?"

Words turned ideas into reality, fear into pain.

"Accept... that you are gone!?"

Her expression did not change.

"The issue of my survival is not paramount to the acceptability of current events."

But she gave him time for no retort.

"Koizumi Itsuki is now deceased."

He knew that all too well.

"Asahina Mikuru was never existent. You retain memory of her interactions with you only because of the long-term effect of the nullifying space established within the clubroom."

That he would be better of not knowing.

"Is acceptance of either of those facts within your capability?"

Kyon thought he understood her. The minute changes in her expression. Her steadily evolving character, which nevertheless remained genuinely hers. But he never thought it worked In reverse. Nagato was asking the question with full confidence, because she already knew his answer.

And he was reduced to looking at her despairingly, waiting for any advice she may offer.

"Suzumiya Haruhi has the power to reverse any event she wishes."

He caught the bait.

"I told her! She believed me!" he pointed at the fiery sky "Why didn't it stop? She doesn't want it to happen, right?"

Nagato blinked.

"Suzumiya Haruhi's powers are being limited. While no changes may occur in regards to the nature of her power, the possibilities of what action she may take are being sealed off. Suou Kuyou demonstrated a reverse possibility algorithm to create the opposite of possible existence – void. It is prudent to assume that is the truth behind the Canopy Domain's abilities – probability and possibility manipulation, the power to affect the fifth dimension, a match even for Suzumiya Haruhi."

Nagato didn't wait for him to confirm he understood.

"However, that a being this powerful risks confrontation with Suzumiya Haruhi to achieve its goals, rather than using more clandestine methods, proves that its true objective is Suzumiya Haruhi herself."

And Kyon wasn't surprised.

"It attacked Haruhi? What happened there?"

Nagato wouldn't answer his question directly.

"Suzumiya Haruhi faces no risk in the short term. Nevertheless, confrontation between her and the Canopy Domain is inevitable. You must ascertain she is willing to fight back when the time comes, or the possibility of our revival will be lost."

She took the envelope out of her book and handed it to kyon.

"This program contains recorded data of recent and old events, to be viewed directly by the mind of the opener. Do not use it prematurely, and it will aid you in your task."

"He took the envelope, but his hand remained close to hers for one more magical second.

"You'll lose your bookmark," he joked weakly.

"I no longer require it," Nagato deadpanned.

Their arms retreated.

"So… this is goodbye?"

He waited for her answer like he would for his own sentence.

The silence stretched.

"It remains my wish to go to the library with you."

And then she lowered her head back to her book.

He turned and ran. Ran as fast as he could to leave her behind.

Nagato remained sitting, staring endlessly at the same page.

She had no reaction to the arms encircling her from behind and the voice whispering directly into her ear.

"I'm sorry. He should have been the last one to embrace you."

Nagato's body started to collapse due to the physical contact, but she didn't seem bothered.

"It is irrelevant. There will still be time."

XXX

Kyon didn't know where to find Haruhi – it was a matter of getting away from Nagato more than getting to anyone else.

Now he learned he didn't need to know.

Behind him was the city.

Before him was only open space.

And to his left and right were buildings half-open, ending midway, and he could see within some of them from where he stood. A single step, and he was standing within a shallow hole.

The concrete simply ended at that point, like the buildings did. As if a whimsical god had removed everything within a certain perimeter. Kyon suspected that was indeed the case.

And if so, his goal awaited him in the center of the empty circle.

His shoes disturbed the sandy surface, tracing virgin trails. Even the air here was different, he noted absently. It smelled sweet, and filled his mouth with a subtle sugar-like taste whenever he opened it to breathe in.

His mind went to the people and things which had been there before. What had happened to them? Were they in a different world, a different time? Or were they just gone and that was all there was to it? But something so simple didn't seem like the usual Haruhi.

He tripped and barely regained his balance. It was enough motivation for him to regain his focus on the present, and he soon saw the culprit behind his near-fall. Sticking out of the ground was a thin spike, reaching halfway to his knee. Ouch, he thought. Falling on that would hurt, and more.

What was the thing doing there? But than he turned around and the thought died a violent death.

They were everywhere ahead of him. Wherever he looked, a sea of innumerable spikes protruding from the ground at different angles.

They were thin – that was the only explanation he could come up with for why he hadn't seen them earlier, from the distance. But now he couldn't tear his eyes away from them. At first glance, they were strewn around randomly, some closer to and some further away from others. On second glance, though, there was a sense of purpose to their positioning, and Kyon was hard pressed to find space between them where a person could fall without being impaled.

That worried him, somehow. And it was not worry for his own well-being. He wouldn't dare run and risk his life, but he still increased his pace.

Far away, he saw a dot.

As he got close enough to make out the dot's details, his steps among the hedgehog soil became still more daring.

With all the uncertainty that he had gathered within him as he realized his companions were disappearing, Kyon approached the back of Suzumiya Haruhi, the last hope of this world.

For what she was, the kneeling, hunched over girl looked all too frail, and he was happy he couldn't see her face from where he stood.

"Ha-" enough to alert her to his presence but not address her properly. Not because he had planned on pausing for dramatic effect but because his wandering eyes looked past Haruhi and saw what they shouldn't have.

More like a rag doll than a person, indeed, a voodoo doll with all the spikes stuck in, small rivers of blood running down her arms and legs, falling to the ground and coloring the dry soil red. But if anything could convince him it was only some wicked installation, it was the blissful smile on her pale face.

Sasaki.

The probability of alien existence is not negligible only because of the size of the universe allowing it to include any possibility Sasaki. Belief in the supernatural can be considered childish but is as viable a method of maintaining moral as anything else Sasaki. Would thinking it was gods, and not your actions and the world functioning exactly as it should, that brought about friendship make it any more beautiful? Sasaki.

Sasaki.

Mikuru had known the future, and did not warn him. Why?

Koizumi had known when they talked and didn't tell him. Why?

Nagato should have known and she sent him off without saying anything. Why?

Haruhi.

She was right in front of him. His fists clenched, he was already striking her – in his mind. He had raised his fist at her once already, and had he been half as justified back then as he was now? This time it was no joke, Sasaki wouldn't be waking up with a hangover and a little less dignity because she wouldn't be waking up at all.

He made an angry step forward, the sand rustled under his feet and Haruhi let out half a gurgle, half a squeak, like a drowning animal trying to call for help.

That was what the entirety of his rage amounted to – a single step. Unbidden came the thoughts of Mikuru not even knowing of her own terrible fate, Itsuki not having the time to abandon his job for ‑­his true self and Nagato giving up on both her own survival and whatever was left of the world as a whole.

And as for Haruhi, she was the only true victim - a normal high school girl thrown into this horrid maze of truth and delusion without even the time to try to understand what was happening.

"Haruhi."

But by then the girl herself had regained the ability to speak in human tongue.

"…don't…come…near…"

Kyon remembered Nagato telling him something similar not half an hour before. Only the ice in Nagato's words had pushed him away, while Haruhi's weak voice merely drew him closer.

"I… did this to her… There was light, blood… I…" she seemed to swallow "If you come closer, you'll disappear too! It's all my fault!"

Either he didn't believe that or didn't care. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she struggled to break free – but there was no strength left in her body.

"It was John Smith's fault, for not telling you everything he should have four years ago."

Haruhi stopped her struggle, but her body and voice were still trembling.

"I wanted everything gone: the noise, the blood, the people, the whole place. And in a blink it all disappeared, everything except her."

Kyon didn't want to listen, but he didn't show it – Haruhi had to let it out.

"She said that reality vanishing was against logic, and that logic had protected her… I was angry, afraid… and I wished for her to die."

She spoke no more, but the silence was filled in by her sobbing.

"Haruhi."

He turned her around and for the first time saw her face – terrified and broken with anguish. But then again, how much different did his face look?

"The horrible things that happened can be fixed. Take the letter in my pocket, Haruhi. Learn who took away our happiness… and let's get it back."

Her Frightened eyes only widened.

"For Itsuki, Mikuru, Yuki," Kyon insisted.

She nodded.

"For John Smith" he went on, even as Haruhi reached for the envelope "and for us."

Haruhi's fingers touched the white paper for a split-second, and then she fell limp in his arms.

Preview: Despite the effort, her hands remained deathly cold.

That, like everything else, was no longer of use.