Haruhi took a mighty swing, putting all her energy into the kick, her movement an explosion and lacking nothing of the shots of football stars that made humans into legends.
Athletic as she was for a high school girl, it was unlikely her foot connecting with the man's abdomen would cause permanent injury.
Apparently, it didn't need to.
Suzumiya Haruhi, in full glory of her high school uniform, stood victorious over a terrified hobo who, defenseless as he was, made it a point to demonstrate his complete and unconditional submission. It made for a gripping picture.
Some people shared this view - they passed the pair by, feigning disinterest, but turning their eyes to follow the spectacle as it unfolded, pausing, approaching shopkeepers but buying nothing, finding excuses to stay where they were a minute longer.
There were those who didn't want to see this. they turned away, avoided Haruhi's gaze, pulled at their children's arms to drag them away, giving no explanation for their actions and, in their troubled states, had no comfort to spare for the little ones. Oh, they would never admit aloud (if they would, indeed, at all) that they were fleeing. Those were the lucky ones.
Yet others wanted nothing to do with the scene and nevertheless felt compelled to stop and participate, pushed along by an invisible force. As if they had the right disposition, but no fortune on that particular day.
With a last derogatory glance, Haruhi let the hobo be.
"People!" she shouted, and it was at this point that the actors had been decided and all doors (yes they were in open space) mercilessly locked.
"People! You feed your children! You support this country! You work hard every day for the rice you eat at home!" no one dared to interrupt her, and it was almost pointless for her to raise her voice when the sound of a pin dropping would have been clearly heard in the silence. Haruhi paid this no heed. "This man does not! Is he not a parasite!? A disgrace!? Does he not wrong you!?"
Regardless of their previous feelings, all the onlookers were now afraid. They fidgeted, sneaked glances at each other from the corners of their eyes, but no one of them voiced an answer. They acted in the perfect unison only present when everybody expects another to perform an unpleasant duty in their stead.
"Judge him!" Haruhi roared at the dumbstruck crowd in barely contained rage "Weigh his sins and declare his punishment!"
The spell of silence was finally broken with the prostrated man's quiet sobbing. The weaker ones in the crowd broke with him - some even tried escaping. It was as if someone had secretly splashed the road and pavement with water, though. The slippery surface invariably made all would-be escapees fall to the ground and effectively kept them from standing up.
Haruhi waited for a response for a long time. She not only waited, but also let her fury boil.
"What the hell is wrong with you people!? If he has not harmed you, why do you let him go around hungry, homeless, needful?"
Many bodies joined those already on the ground as people fell to their knees in fervent apology.
Disgust evident in every bit of her features, Haruhi snapped her head away from them and towards the crying man at her feet.
"If this is your fear on this world, I make it so that you will never die of hunger."
The man didn't stop trembling.
"But everything has a price. You will be hungry," she snapped her fingers "and thirsty," she repeated the gesture "forevermore."
In mere moments, the man thinned and his face sagged, losing any trace of strength it might have possessed before.
"And when you reach out to satisfy this hunger or quench this thirst, all food and all water will elude your grasp," Haruhi went on, not even a trace of her former passion left in her voice, all replaced with disinterest "This is my judgment."
She left the man lying on the ground without giving him another glance and went into the crowd.
"And you," she pointed at a female trying to pick herself up "Are you free of sin?"
The woman's horrified screams pierced the heavens.
This was but one of many possibilities.
XXX
Haruhi twirled the marker around in her hand.
She held a red armband in her other hand, ready to be labeled with her newest position, tied to whatever the SOS-dan would be doing next.
Of course, it wasn't like they were currently doing anything noteworthy.
"Stupid Kyon."
Even the 'they' amounted only to her and Mikuru. Kyon had cleaning duty (he could have asked her to help him but no). Itsuki had his part-time job. He always did when she was in a bad mood. Yuki wasn't in her corner reading, either (and so unusual an occurrence it was Haruhi had no idea where to look for the girl even if she wanted to).
It was booring.
"Mikuru!"
The tremulous girl gave a jump as she was forcefully dragged away from the happy world of her thoughts and tea-making. How she had managed to drift away to that place with Haruhi radiating restless energy like a leaking reactor in the very same room was a small wonder in itself.
"Um... yes?"
Haruhi twirled the marker once and twice. It was just asking a question, how much could her pride suffer from it? She wasn't hopeful or anything.
"Kyon told me you, Itsuki and Yuki are a time traveler, esper and alien respectively," Haruhi rattled out, much to Mikuru's surprise "Can you tell me more about it?"
"Eh!? Um... no."
It wasn't even a lie, what with both of them understanding the answer differently.
Haruhi looked at her suspiciously, but gave up uncharacteristically quickly.
"Stupid Kyon, making a fool out of me."
Haruhi smashed her elbow into her commander's desk, rested her chin on her fist and turned to the computer screen. Mikuru took it as a sign she was free to relax. She was right - Haruhi paid her no more attention.
The usual lull returned to the clubroom.
Mikuru watched the growing puffs of steam escaping the teapot and started merrily preparing tea leaves. Haruhi, on the other hand, was punishing the mouse buttons with more and more agitation.
"Honestly," and despite Haruhi only half meaning it, it was this word that might have started everything "Will they ever make an internet browser that works?"
Mikuru started pouring hot water into cups for the two.
"Neurodynamic prompting made browsers obsolete before any one of them was perfected, I think."
She picked up the steaming cups.
Haruhi banged her palms onto the desk, her face terse, lips a thin line, eyes burning.
"What did you say!?"
For the second time that day, Mikuru jumped in fright. It was the combination of Haruhi's expression and raised voice that startled her. She barely held onto the cups in her hands.
"I said..."
Now the cups did clutter to the floor, breaking and spilling their contents.
"...neurodynamic prompting made..." Mikuru's voice was between small and entirely inaudible, and her hand went to her mouth as if to confirm it really was her speaking "But that's classified information! I shouldn't even be physically able to..."
Haruhi leapt from behind her desk like a predator springing at its prey. She was in front of Mikuru before either of the girls knew it, hands outstretched and ready to pin the smaller girl down by the shoulders.
And then she faltered, took a step back and withdrew her arms.
"Mikuru-chan can't lie, right? You aren't playing with me, right?"
For the first time in front of Mikuru, Haruhi sounded vulnerable.
Amidst the thousand chaotic thoughts racing in Mikuru's head, two stood out.
Haruhi's power had accidentally removed the limitations placed on her.
And the second one.
After months of helplessness and swimming along with the merciless current, she wanted Haruhi to know. She wanted Haruhi to set her free.
This was something that had almost, but never quite happened.
XXX
Nagato hugged the wall as she limped out of what was left of the building which had borne witness to the greatest inter-interface fight in history.
She was already beginning to notice friction hurt her, especially when in contact with so solid an object. At the same time, she could find no method of allocating the physical strength available to her which would allow her to stand without the additional support.
She needed to stand, to go forward, if only for the childish desire to see her remaining friends for reassurance. She wanted to help them; she couldn't help them, and she knew it. Within the storm of opposing circumstances and thoughts, her cognitive ability seemed to have turned coat against her, causing havoc where it should guard order.
She felt she was outside first by the increased pressure air put on her, it was the wind she was no longer shielded against. The feeling was reminiscent of a handful of burning charcoal being pressed to her face. How would sunlight embracing her feel, if it could pierce the clouds above?
It was the fault of her peculiar state that not all information registered properly in her mind, not all matters were put in order of their priority. She watched the figure closing in from a distance like one does dripping water when the subconsciousness is otherwise occupied.
With hair flowing in the breeze, Tsuruya approached her to within half a stone throw's distance, the expression on her face a perfect mask, not even letting on whether she was smiling honestly or intentionally obscuring some other feeling.
Somehow, at this moment, Nagato knew. Facing the Canopy Domain twice in but a few minutes had taught her enough.
"Don't hold not noticing until now against yourself, Yuki-chi," Tsuruya said in place of a greeting "In the first place, we only met when I was in control and the presence of those fellows was diminished," she gave a chuckle "Not that that applies anymore. I may still be clinging onto my own existence, but I must already reek of their aura, right?"
Nagato didn't get to respond.
For all intents and purposes teleporting, but in fact changing the possibility of the pace at which she had approached the interface to adjust her position, Tsuruya appeared right in front of Nagato and pinned the smaller girl to the wall.
"You don't look too well, Yuki-chi," Tsuruya whispered worriedly "In your current state, what are the odds of you defeating me?"
It didn't take long for Nagato to respond.
"Below two point seven percent. The actual number cannot be calculated without knowledge of the full extent of your probability manipulation abilities."
Nagato was almost happy - this made things easier, in a way. No, she wasn't giving up. She would fight tooth and claw and every inch of what was left of her data manipulation and make it the hardest earned two point seven percent of Tsuruya's life, but it was now clear what use she could be. She would charge forward and-
Tsuruya faltered and detached herself from her captive, as if Nagato's answer had taken all meaning away from the attack.
"I know you can feel fear, Yuki-chi. But still, you say the truth so easily..." Tsuruya looked as if someone had whisked a delicious cookie away right from under her nose "First Sasaki-chan and now you. Do you find it pleasurable to make me feel inferior, sa?"
Nagato's eyes were glued to Tsuruya with a question-like edge to them.
Tsuruya sighed, but clapped her hands twice immediately after. What happened next was like a pot full of boiling water having its lid lifted - green energy flew from Tsuruya in all directions like released steam. Immediately after, the girl looked completely wasted. The skin on her face sagged, her hair lost its shine and her posture slackened, as if she was a deflated balloon losing more and more of its precious air.
Yuki watched on as this happened, seemingly as impassive as ever, but her eyes tried all the harder to look into the other girl's thoughts.
Unperturbed by the gaze, Tsuruya kneeled and bowed to the interface.
"Without probability manipulation, I am even weaker than you right now, Yuki-chi," she smiled "But I will tell you a tale of a lonely girl and her gamble to save the world. Once you are satisfied, I'll have you make a choice: kill me here and delay those fellows for a few months, or risk everything and end it all on this day."
"If I were to help you, what aid is required?"
Nagato took no time at all to ask this.
Tsuruya raised her head.
"I'd need you to... write a very special letter."
This was something which had indeed happened.
XXX
Sasaki's fingers moved mechanically, not against her will, but most certainly without her telling them to.
She had already ran out of living targets to attack as part of her scare tactic and merely directed smaller blasts at the girl cowering before her.
Balls of fire, homing thunderbolts or crushing windstorms, but all failed to reach her, dissipating at the borders of a nonexistent but bafflingly effective barrier. There was no other response, no counterattack, other than this absolute defense.
the conscious mind of Suzumiya Haruhi refused to accept the fight, but even her subconsciousness couldn't be beaten.
Sasaki felt a wave of amazement with just a tinge of frustration. Neither feeling was hers. Apathetic as she was, she didn't even care if the stalemate lasted forever.
But it wouldn't. Down there, Haruhi was grasping in the dirt for her cell phone, the terror on her face instantly giving way to an entirely different, but even more intense expression.
Sasaki's body halted, waited a singly expectant second before renewing the assault. The next salvo didn't dissipate. It flew right back at Sasaki with double the strength.
The reversed blast hit her square on, burning flesh, breaking bone, spilling blood. She couldn't smell the smoke coming off of her own body. The distant, ticklish sensation of pain she could feel, the very first sensation in what seemed an eternity, and her mind whispered in discontent.
There was a good distance between them, just enough for Sasaki to make out the features of Haruhi's face, certainly too far for her to hear the word Haruhi muttered under her breath.
What was distance to Haruhi?
"Vanish."
What pinned Sasaki to the ground was no intricate, godly power. It was just sound waves at ridiculous volumes and frequencies.
Yes, Haruhi's mere whisper shook the world, entering every nook and cranny, but also diving deep into things, pulling in all directions and tearing all apart. If Sasaki only shook like the victim of an electric surge, worse off were the buildings around them which lacked even the small degree of supernatural protection she had. Concrete shattered like glass, a thousand cracks marring the surface of every edifice for the split-second it took for them all to crack and snap in half. the groan of those dying structures could have deafened any sound known to man. What was it, though, compared to Haruhi's divine cacophony, if not a joke?
None of the debris ever reached the ground.
The actual manifestation of Haruhi's will, rather than just the order, was an insatiable aura of light, devouring all existence. Sasaki never got to see the objects around her disappear, it was as if Haruhi's brilliance had outmatched even the sun, swallowing up all of its shine like it did to matter and rendering human sight useless. Sasaki, every tiny particle of her being, was next in line.
Only now, her mind roared.
Released like a previously caged beast had always been ready to pounce, it clawed at the reality around her. First stirred awake by that twinge of pain, now fully unleashed, primal, primitive, based on more chemistry than thought - a human's survival instinct.
Sasaki's consciousness first piggybacked on that instinct, and then it rode on it proudly and victoriously as it broke fetters of soul one by one.
No instant had actually passed. In truth, Haruhi's light had both enveloped and never reached Sasaki at the same time before it was rejected by Sasaki's own - the glow of the absolute embrace of Logic.
The moment the world returned to normal and she could once again see Haruhi, no, maybe even a hundredth of a second before that, Sasaki could already feel the cold hand of apathy trying to grasp her again. She needed to hurry. Hurry she would.
The azure wings on her back were the wings of her courage.
"All existence has a single form, a single state, a single identity in any single instant. Because it is, and because it is defined, it is the privilege of existence to recognize itself."
Sasaki amplified her voice the same way Haruhi had previously, using the stolen shard of the girl's power she now possessed. She never paused, it was imperative that she didn't, never gave Haruhi a chance to interject and, with possibly as little as a single word, finish her off.
"Within Logic, things are or things are not, through the power of their integrity. things that are not cannot be brought about. things that are cannot cease to be. Only within Logic, all things can change. A selfish wish may cast away Logic, but with that it gives up the hope of change. Where no laws, not even laws of change exist, existence recognizing itself, clinging to its own form, state and identity, is enough for it to become immortal."
Sasaki went on and on, and Haruhi could no longer listen. With hands clamped over her ears and tears flowing down her face, she screamed out to the heavens.
"Die! Just die already!"
Inevitably, Sasaki would oblige. That change, from life to death, was ordered by the word of a god. And as she went, the smile on her face was that of pure relief.
This was something which had indeed happened.
XXX
"Speak, Itsuki-kun! I want your answer!"
Haruhi had the attention of everyone in the room. It would be hard to ignore a girl from a different class barging in and shamelessly harassing a well-respected classmate. Her accusatory tone and high-pitched voice convinced everybody this was the real deal and no staged drama. The males listened in because it was the rumored beautiful poison Suzumiya Haruhi taking the stage. The female part of the class paid attention because it was a girl approaching the ever-popular Itsuki (and so boldly!). The true reason behind their perplexed expressions, however, was different. Her question:
"What supernatural powers are you hiding from me?"
Indeed, things like that could gather a lot of unnecessary attention. It could even be said that the only person in the room not gaping openly at Haruhi was Itsuki himself, his eyes half closed, calculating gaze peering at her from behind clasped hands and intertwined fingers, any surprise he might show perfectly disguised.
Only the long-lasting silence that followed instead of a swift and cheerful 'whatever might you be talking about, Suzumiya-san?' was like an open admission to her. he would crumble. He would start talking and, instead of another smart alecky comment, he would tell her in detail about wonders she couldn't have previously imagined. He had to! Her heart was already beating too fast and still it wanted to go faster. Yet another second. It was a simple question, what was he waiting for?
All the other people now decided to ignore them.
Haruhi whipped her head around in shock. It wasn't that Itsuki's classmates had lost interest in them. No, they all simultaneously suffered from a selective memory lapse and forgot the pair even existed in favor of returning to their previous activities. As in, some started nodding their heads along to the tune of a song which had long ago finished playing on the mini-radio, others restarted their conversations mid-sentence or even, Haruhi was sure she heard it right, mid-word without anyone being one bit surprised.
Haruhi's eyes flew back to Itsuki. Too late. In the instant she had lost sight of him, his posture had minutely changed, as if he had slightly relaxed, or maybe it was something else, she couldn't tell without having witnessed the transformation.
"My power, Suzumiya-san, is to make people see whatever it is they wish or expect to see. In me, themselves, or their surroundings," finally, Itsuki lowered his hands to reveal a satisfied smirk "In short, the power of absolutely bullshitting people."
Haruhi was breathless, speechless, and Itsuki reveled in being able to affect her so.
"Admittedly, for fear of being detected by outside parties, I can only rely on it fully in your all-concealing presence."
"You're an esper."
There was more to Haruhi's question-statement than met the eye - a child asking permission to keep a mountain of sweets all to itself, but fearing its parent's anger and punishment. Itsuki knew, the sheer intensity of emotion sent a shiver down his spine.
"Yes."
Haruhi's mouth trembled without producing sound, as if she had trouble catching air. Her next question was only meant as a self-serving distraction.
"You've used that power on me before, right?"
Itsuki hurried to please.
"When you subconsciously allowed it, yes."
"I forbid you to do that anymore! Be honest with me!"
Haruhi attempt at turning her emotion into anger was only half successful and her voice was still shaky as she berated Itsuki.
Itsuki himself didn't seem like he was taking her words to heart.
"I don't think you'd really like that, Suzumiya-san."
Indignant and unwilling to lose face, Haruhi gave her all to convince him otherwise.
"I want that!"
She didn't notice the boy's smile becoming strained.
"I demand that!"
Itsuki snapped.
It was hard to catch Haruhi off-guard. Even now, she saw the actions coming. She just couldn't comprehend them in time. Itsuki's arm snaked around her waist, one of his hands rested gently on the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him just as he lowered his face, his lips mere inches away from hers.
"You have no idea what your smallest desires do to me, Haruhi."
Daringly, he leaned forward.
Flesh on flesh, Itsuki's face met with Haruhi's open hand.
"Idiot!" Haruhi let out, startled, angry and, no matter how much she'd like to hide it, very much embarrassed "Honesty aside, the leader of the SOS-dan won't allow for such lack of discipline!"
Itsuki fell back, the left side of his face a vicious red, but he still managed to laugh in amusement.
"Well, since you've almost ordered me to just do it, it was at least worth a try."
As much as he was making fun of her, his words still sounded good-natured. Maybe because he was also making fun of himself. Haruhi wouldn't let herself stay behind for long.
"You've broken the five minute record quite handily, Itsuki-kun," she cut back, all surprise and embarrassment replaced with her usual beaming energy "It's not like I've ever forbidden anyone to try again, though."
As they remained staring at each other, teasingly and challengingly, the other occupants of the classroom phased out of their weirder activities fluidly, regaining clarity of thought with no one being any wiser that a whole conversation between the two had gone by.
that was one thing Itsuki wouldn't be reporting to his superiors, either. Although the need for any reports whatsoever was temporarily gone. When Haruhi had become aware, they had all realized instinctively it had happened. Now he only had one true leader to obey.
He didn't mind that at all. Seeing Haruhi's grin and her now shining face, he couldn't imagine having anyone else guiding him.
And so he told her.
This was something that had almost, but never quite happened.
XXX
Haruhi pressed her hand down on the man's shoulder.
The air in the room was heavy, the silence thick. It wasn't the first time the pristine office would bear witness to world-shaking actions and decisions. However, this time only, the change would come from the whims of a single person forcefully dragging all humans into a grand and cruel game.
Haruhi was the only female in the room and by far the youngest there. All but one of the others were senior, smartly dressed politicians or military personnel. That also went for the one Haruhi was pinning down as he sat behind the single oaken desk in the room. The only exception was a man a few years Haruhi's elder, bewildered, panicked and completely out of his depth. He threw quick glances at all the other man in turn, risked a look at Haruhi, twitched nervously and then began the cycle anew. His only purpose there was, seemingly, to bring in drinking water when asked to.
"I repeat, we will not retract our previous statement nor will we withdraw any of the activated forces or engage in any treaty talks as of today."
The man at the desk spoke this into a receiver, his face remaining an expressionless mask. Haruhi applied more force to his shoulder, squeezing it painfully.
"For the sake of the Japanese Empire and the All-Sovereign, God-Empress Haruhi," the man added before cutting off the connection.
Haruhi released him, satisfied, and started pacing back and forth across the room, her ecstatic grin hiding who knows what thoughts.
The men trailed her with wary eyes, but none of them dared to do anything more than watch. She had already demonstrated numerous times, with great flare and ease, that armed or unarmed, ordinary men meant nothing to her safety.
Haruhi repeated her fast-paced trip from one corner of the room to another a dozen times when the young assistant jumped in fright. His hand flew to his earpiece transmitting a message from outside the room. When it ended, he looked up to see he had become the center of attention.
"Signals detected coming from the east. Confirmed to be missiles aimed at various locations in our country. Suspected presence of nuclear charges. More intel incoming," to his credit, he managed to relay this without stuttering. But not without sweating. For various reasons.
Haruhi, on the other hand, only grew more delighted.
"That's a nasty crisis we have here gentlemen," she quipped, laughter slipping into in her voice "But fear not, you will learn to depend on me soon enough."
There was, after all, a couple minutes left to make those missiles vanish.
"You assured us there is no limit to your abilities, miss," one of the men addressed her "However, I understand it is not possible to vanquish all our opposition instantly. If there are any conditions or a specific location that would help utilize your talents to their full extent, we'd gladly provide-"
"No." Haruhi broke him off.
She knew where all this was heading - yet another attempt to learn of a weak point of hers or to get her out of Japan so they could scheme in peace.
"I'm not going to learn Russian for the sake of world conquest when I can do it from here," she replied coldly "I could vanquish anything, but I'll only interfere as much as absolutely necessary for the sake of my plan. taking away the free will of people would be an empty victory. I'll slowly convince them to worship me instead."
No one responded, no one objected.
"This should keep me amused for some ten years," Haruhi mused, turning to look out of the window "And once I'm done conquering Earth... well, there's always outer space."
This was but one of many possibilities.
XXX
"Here."
Nagato tipped the kettle in her hands and let the green-colored liquid fill Haruhi's cup.
Haruhi accepted the treat, gaining a few more precious seconds to think about what she was actually there to say.
The tea was good, Haruhi thought. This wasn't the kind Mikuru would make, first surprising with the slight variations in taste, and then capturing you entirely - an invisible net of fragrance, color and light disappearing into the liquid depths. It was something else, warm, simple and with a frankness to it you would be hard pressed to find in any other tea.
"Is it good?"
Wordlessly letting Haruhi in, setting off into the kitchen and soon returning with tea, this was only the second thing Nagato had said that evening.
Haruhi nodded in confirmation. Like she had gained access within the apartment by pointing with her eyes. or how she had gotten past the videophone by selecting Nagato's apartment number and then ringing out SOS in Morse on the pad.
Unlike Nagato, she had said nothing at all.
This was Yuki, after all. The girl who now looked at her from across the table with those brilliant, piercing onyx eyes. The one member of Haruhi's club who never had reason to rebel but never feared to outperform the leader. Beneath the surface, she was untamed.
Haruhi noticed that she had already sipped away all of her tea. She was no wiser on how to break the ice as she set her cup down.
Yuki refilled it instantly.
Once more, Haruhi indulged herself in the momentary excuse of drinking. The problem wasn't Yuki - not the calm, silent bookworm they all had to look out for. But if there was someone else hiding behind that face, cold and calculating, always looking and...
When exactly had Yuki stopped wearing glasses? Back then, when Haruhi had first visited the apartment... but if she didn't need them, why put on the facade? Why drop it later on?
The empty cup clicked on the table a second time.
They leaned forward.
Nagato had wanted to pour Haruhi yet another round of the hot drink. but she hesitated, stopped by a distant memory and the question of how much liquid humans could take in before they had to 'make use of the toilet'. Haruhi, on the other hand, was prepared to block any access to the empty cup, fearing she might burst after a single gulp more.
They must have looked, Haruhi thought, completely absurd. Yuki with the silent question of 'don't you want any more?' in her frank eyes, Haruhi with the silent plea of 'no more please' in hers. Wordless communication pushed to the extreme.
"It's fine, Yuki," the words finally came out. It didn't hurt. Haruhi had to wonder what irrational fear had kept her silent for so long.
Yuki nodded and relaxed, maintaining eye contact with Haruhi.
"You're not from this Earth, are you, Yuki?"
Haruhi blurted this out without giving it much thought. That almost made it sound like a question regarding the weather.
"Correct."
Nagato didn't even blink.
"You possess supernatural powers?"
"Vast."
"You were sent to observe us."
"Correct."
Yuki replied affirmatively to the question which didn't specify who 'us' meant. At the same time, Haruhi ran out of the quarries Mikuru's short exposition had given her inspiration for.
She would wait for the alien's judgment. Would the observation end now that Haruhi was aware of it? Would Yuki simply abandon them or erase their memories first?
Nagato's apartment was no stranger to silence and it welcomed it like one would an old friend.
"Must this affect my membership within the SOS-dan?"
Haruhi blinked. Had she heard that right? Was this what Yuki was worrying about now?
"N-no!"
Haruhi could swear there was the smallest change in the other girl's expression at the answer. She wouldn't go as far as to call it relief, but...
"Come to tomorrow's club meeting like always!"
Slowly, Yuki nodded and stood up, having Haruhi automatically do the same.
They went out in a far better silence than the one that accompanied them as they had gone in.
When Haruhi turned to wave Yuki farewell, the humanoid interface spoke one last time from behind half closed doors.
"When you have a happy world, protect it."
Maybe Haruhi didn't understand, or maybe she did.
This was something that had almost, but never quite happened.
XXX
Kyon walked out of the house, the uniform babble of English news still trailing behind him. It was cold. He was restless and Haruhi was somewhere out there, alone saving the world. He was not in high spirits, certainly not now.
"What do you want?"
Kyon's annoyance was evident in his voice. He demanded an answer, already spotting an oncoming game of deception, one he was unwilling to play along with.
"You had to be the one."
With that ever present smile of hers and long hair flowing in the wind, Tsuruya replied enigmatically.
Enigma was a stupid black box with lots of wires and cylinders changing one letter of the alphabet into another for the single purpose of making texts temporarily incomprehensible. Kyon hated stuff like that. If you didn't want to be understood, you shouldn't have spoken at all.
"Why aren't you with Haruhi?"
He envied that warm-looking coat.
"I am with Haru-nyan. Omnipresence is an ultimately simple, if draining, effect of probability manipulation. I am there; I could be here-sa."
"And what's happening there?"
"With Haru-nyan? Talking-" Tsuruya stopped and her eyes widened "-and she overwhelms me once again. Another wonderful, wonderful person and another piece of this grandiose puzzle. But even more so, time is of the essence!"
Kyon responded to Tsuruya's chaotic speech with his patented weary stare. The urgency in her voice was compelling, telling him to help her for old times' sake. But he wouldn't move unless he knew everything.
"What do you want?"
Kyon repeated his earlier question. he did not expect Tsuruya to launch into a detailed explanation. She did just that.
"You interacted with the brilliant Sasaki-chan. I don't think you formed her, Kyon-kun, that would be taking away from her own character and achievements. No, sa. I think you helped polish her."
Tsuruya smiled at him even as she listed her observations, treating him as a lecture subject to be properly analyzed.
"Whatever you did, sa, she rejected the powers of a god when she had the chance to get them. And then came Haru-nyan, equally as dazzling as Sasaki-chan, but infinitely more cheerfully volatile, and with the abilities to enforce her whims."
Kyon shivered in the cold. His mind fed him the bizarre details his observant eyes had captured. Like how Tsuruya's cheeks didn't redden even as she spoke excitedly in the unforgiving cold, her face like unchanging porcelain.
"And she did! Sa she did! Abandoned this world by starting another. But you were there to firmly say 'no'. You brought her back, not even forcefully."
Kyon recalled that incident with mixed feelings. And whether his actions back then were forceful depended heavily on your definition of the word. One thing was true, it was Haruhi's own will that had returned things to normal.
"That in itself was a pattern-n. But then our fragile Yuki-chi took the gamble of altering the world. And again, it was you who set things back on the right track, and that sealed the deal."
"Hold on." Kyon held up his hands, cutting in uncharacteristically "Nagato made the backup program, I just helped execute it."
"That's just it!" Tsuruya agreed unflinchingly "You are a normal fellow, Kyon-kun. It's not a power or ability, it's a quirk - resilience. It rubs off on others and sooner or later affects their judgment. You are so effective, I had to notice how you were the final piece. You had to be the one."
"The one what?"
As Tsuruya's smile stretched, Kyon knew he wouldn't like where this was going. Tsuruya never disappointed.
"The sane one, sa."
Kyon showed no reaction, but only because he had expected an answer that wouldn't make sense from the start. It was quickly becoming a staple of his everyday conversations.
"I've gone over the edge a long time ago, sa. Haru-nyan would follow, I knew, after she had to kill Sasaki-chan. Sasaki-chan broke because I asked her to. Finally, Yuki-chi needed to confront her sister, sa, and even she would lose her balance."
Kyon listened in with the overbearing feeling that it was the 'between the lines' that counted. Here was a girl orchestrating the doom of all mankind and inviting the gods themselves to stop her if they could. Kyon knew very well how fragile his existence was, insignificant in the face of cosmic powers; he had almost met his end skewered in a momentum-nulled space. But it was not the matter of what Tsuruya could do that made her dangerous - it was the things she alone knew.
"They say it's the mind that's sick when madness strikes, but I think they're a bit mistaken, sa." Tsuruya plowed through her lines resolutely, determined to see things through to the end, whatever Kyon's reaction might be "It's just the image of reality that shatters once more. A replaceable painting of this world that every human has one of. An overvalued commodity."
Even as she was saying this to Kyon, Tsuruya was simultaneously bantering with Haruhi, maybe a minute away from showing the other girl her own way of shattering the world. It was now or never, but Kyon would pull through.
In this cold, cold night, with the daredevil smile that made her truly her, Tsuruya prepared to risk the world.
"But when everything is over, at least one such image is absolutely, desperately needed intact."
It was something that had indeed happened.
XXX
Tsuruya swung her legs in the air.
Balancing precariously at the edge of an elephant-sized mountain of sweets, all clad in a tight-fitting costume of fiery red and yellow, the bells decorating her cap clinging merrily with every her move, the openly laughing girl was a peculiar sight.
"Why does one such as you laugh?"
From the foot of the sweets pile, Haruhi addressed her carefree friend in an over-dramatized fashion. Talking to someone so high above her would normally serve to strain both her neck and voice. But, of course, Tsuruya didn't need to hear anything for them to go on.
That solved one of their problems - the crown on Haruhi's head tended to fall off whenever she raised her head too much.
"I laugh; only in laughter is there flight." Tsuruya rocked her head to jingle in tune with her words "With what little time one has in this world, the choice is but to wait and die, or laugh and fly."
Inexplicably, she reached behind herself and pulled out an oval vial of a light-green liquid, huge letters labeling it as 'POISON', and took a healthy swing out of it. In the next motion, she threw the bottle aside with unrestrained force.
It was probably supposed to land on the pile of sweets somewhere out of sight, but as luck would have it, the vial rolled off the mountain and smashed into the floor with a resounding bang.
Tsuruya threw a quick apologetic smile to whoever would have to clean up the mess.
"And why would you mourn, my lord?" jumping right back into her act, Tsuruya spoke to Haruhi below.
There was a short pause.
"Because as a human, thrice was I to value and thrice to learn the vice of my desires - first, it was 'justice'."
Tsuruya leaned forward in interest, resting her chin on her hands.
"Because judging the world is also hurting it?" she inquired. Haruhi nodded in response.
"Second is 'power'."
Tsuruya let her hands drop and cocked her to the side, jingling as she did so.
"Because power has to be affirmed?"
Haruhi nodded again.
"And the third will be 'control'."
Tsuruya leaned backwards.
"Because control... is just that." this time, it was no longer a question, but an expression of sympathy.
Haruhi nodded a third time nonetheless.
"Much is there good and much evil in a man, both waiting to be realized." Tsuruya acknowledged lightly "But between choosing either and the loss of fulfillment, the path to take remains obvious."
Haruhi's brows furrowed and she opened her mouth to speak. She was silenced by violent jingling. Tsuruya picked up where she had left off once she was certain the attempt at an interruption was quenched.
"You protest, but look at this," just as she had the mysterious vial previously, Tsuruya produced a gun from behind her back with no explanation what it was doing there in the first place "This is a weapon with a purpose more clear-cut than that of a human. Yet no different from us, it can serve both good and evil."
The firearm looked like something from before the previous century. It was large, unwieldy and had a tag with the barely legible caption 'belongs to Chekov' hanging from its end.
"tell me, then, what its existence means when it will not fire at all? When I'm not there to fire it?"
One second, Tsuruya was holding the gun firmly in her grasp. Another, and her grip slackened, sending the weapon plunging down, right in front of Haruhi's nose. For the people who still remembered her drinking from the suspicious bottle, this was a belated effect of poison. For those of the audience who had already gotten lost, it was merely another entirely whimsical action.
Haruhi jumped away from where the heavy prop had nearly conked her on the head, surprise and anger in her eyes.
Ignoring everybody's reactions, Tsuruya took off her cap, threw it away and smiled a devilish smile right at Haruhi.
"Will you be there to fire it for me, Haru-nyan?"
This was absurd and improbable.
But still a possibility.
XXX
Haruhi marched briskly forward, barely giving the automatic door enough time to slide apart.
"Itsuki-kun, Mikuru-chan, do the orders. The rest goes with me."
Filled to brim with restless energy, Haruhi seemed to give out orders in her usual uncompromising way. Nagato saw the slight aberration in their leader's movement patterns, Itsuki could read the girl's aura, and Kyon would just say she appeared somewhat distracted. But whatever it was, it was there.
"We'll make it short today, I have stuff to do." Haruhi announced as they claimed a table.
Nagato had no reaction to this news whatsoever. Kyon wondered what could possibly be so important as to outrank the pleasure of bossing others around on Haruhi's list of priorities. Seeing as his expression was eternally fixed into that of mild annoyance whenever he was around Haruhi, though, he showed no outward reaction either.
Haruhi's impatient eyes went to search for the pair they had left at the counter. There they were, already closing in with the ordered snacks. The cafe's staff knew the group well and served them quickly. Kyon's wallet also knew the cafe better than it wanted to.
Calmly plowing through the crowd on their way, Mikuru and Itsuki joined the rest of the SOS-dan and set down the plates.
Boring. Haruhi's annoyance spiked.
Now Mikuru crashed into an elderly gentleman mid-way, dropping everything in her hands and emitting a tiny screech.
This was interesting! Utensils in the air, people falling over like domino pieces, screams of fright and anger alike. Haruhi's own chaos raged ever further, spiraling out of control.
The contents of a wayward flying coffee cup splashed all over Kyon.
The boy jumped away from the table, announcing his displeasure to the world with some harsh words.
Haruhi didn't mind him getting burned a bit. What doesn't kill you strengthens you. Only, it hit her he would have to go get himself clean. And, on top of that, they would have to make another order. A terrible waste of time for something so entirely pointless.
So Mikuru and Itsuki delivered their lunch safely enough.
"We're going to Australia!"
Haruhi could always be counted on to cut straight to the point.
As usual, the news passed over the assembled SOS-dan members like a wave - Itsuki beginning to formulate plans in his head, Mikuru showing her surprise and worry, Yuki making some slight move implying she had heard. Kyon commenting.
"Why not some more practical place? Like Osaka." he countered Haruhi's enthusiasm with his favored fry tone.
Haruhi grimaced. Couldn't he say something more interesting?
"Fine," Kyon countered Haruhi's enthusiasm with his favored dry tone "If you're the one paying for the tickets."
Haruhi cringed. What was his problem now?
"Have you gotten a sudden interest in cattle?" a spoonful of sarcasm in Kyon's favored dry tone "Visiting a zoo would be faster."
Why did he have to get under her skin so stubbornly?
"It's a nice idea, Haruhi."
Haruhi started.
There he was, smiling amiably and praising her idea. That was Kyon, in face and physique. But not in manner and voice. She... had she gone too far?
Haruhi scanned the faces of her other friends. She didn't find them surprised or concerned. Of course, for them of this world, Kyon must have always been like this - an easygoing yes-man, so different from his true self. Haruhi had been messing with his answer, and now she had what she had wanted.
She felt sick seeing her handiwork.
The table screeched as she pushed it away, trying to escape. Her leg caught onto something on the way and sent her tumbling down.
She reflexively broke the fall with her hands. Only one of her knees got slightly scrapped. She immediately tried to pick herself up.
What interrupted her was the extended, helping hand of the ever-beaming Kyon.
Then, and only then, did Haruhi's eyes fill with tears.
The world she saw blurred, but it was not the fault of water impairing her vision. She just made the abomination disappear.
Haruhi entered the all too familiar sea of all-white once more. She would make another, better, more genuine world. Only the scrapped knee would remind her of this failure.
She had the control to make that happen.
This was but one of many possibilities.
Chapter 7
Those Moments, Akin to a Ten Hundred Thousand Suns Rising to Hail You...
Haruhi's bloodshot eyes snapped open and her body instinctively tried to breathe.
The Canopy Domain lowered its hand and stepped away in satisfaction.
"The free will of humans is based on their inability to foresee the consequences of their actions," the creature hissed venomously "It is enough to show you all the possibilities and already you lose sight of yourself. What are your morals if you've done everything, 'good' or 'bad'? What is your future if you've seen everything there was to see?"
The green glow surrounding Tsuruya's body seemed to grow ever more vicious, outshining the pair of wings on her back.
"Now, human, what do you require?"
It knew, and it would enjoy this moment to its fullest.
Haruhi gawked at open space, her eyes entirely unfocused, a trickle of spit on her chin. She wasn't aware enough to feel it.
But her lips moved. Awkwardly, but they moved.
"I need... orders."
AN: This is, for many reasons, a special chapter. Relationships are defined. Holes filled. Chaos introduced. Also the first one I had to work on from my new college. But, long as it is, I think it's worthwhile. Thank you for reading it.
I've brandished all my tricks. Thus, a special offer. Whoever guesses accurately what happens (and how it happens) in the next one or two chapters gets a reward. Have a go at it.
Preview:
Hand atop hand, and Haruhi placed her own on the two.
It was simple.
But did it need to be complicated?
See you next chapter!