As Haruhi dragged me out of school, Saito ran up to us. She was a good bodyguard, I'd give her that.

"Kyon-san, Suzumiya-san, where are you going?" she asked.

"To investigate Asakura's disappearance!" Haruhi declared enthusiastically. "Why?"

"Well, Kyon-san was going to show me around the area," Saito said, looking at the ground. "But what you're doing sounds important too."

"You can come with us! Someone as mysterious as you is definitely welcome in the SOS Brigade!"

"Thank you?"

And so, with that, two beautiful girls walked home shoulder to shoulder with me. Ah, that sentence sounds much nicer than I was actually feeling about the situation. I couldn't bring myself to get excited about it at all.

"Did you say something?" asked Haruhi.

"No, nothing at all," I replied.

"Oh, anyway, this way."

Shortly afterwards, we arrived at Nagato's condo building. I see, so they both live here, that makes sense.

"What's that?" Haruhi asked.

Nothing. Anyway, do you know the code?

"I don't, these are a test of endurance."

Just as she said that, a rather angry looking woman emerged from the building. We quickly stepped out of her way and she walked out, Haruhi bowing apologetically to her. After that, Haruhi stuck her foot in the door to keep it from closing, and pulled Saito and I in with her.

We went up to Asakura's apartment, Suzumiya repeating that the situation was suspicious all the way, but the door was locked, so instead we went back downstairs to question the landlord, who wasn't helpful in the slightest, only serving to make the situation even more suspicious. As we left, Nagato was just coming in with some food. So even she eats meals.

"Yuki, you live here too?" Haruhi asked. "What a coincidence."

It's not from any angle.

"We're here investigating Asakura. Did you hear she transferred?"

Nagato shook her head.

"Oh, well, let me know if you hear anything, understood?"

Nagato nodded.

"Oh, Yuki-chan, my beloved cousin!" Saito exclaimed, pulling the purple haired girl into a hug. "It's been a while."

"You two are cousins?" Haruhi interjected.

"Yeah, we were close when we were younger, but in recent years we haven't had much contact."

"I see. Well, let's get going, you two can have a visit if you want."

"No, I should get home too."

After that, we all left.

"Be careful," Nagato said as I passed her.

What am I supposed to be careful of now? We walked in a seemingly random direction for some time, before I spoke.

"Now where are we going?" I asked.

"I don't know," Haruhi replied.

"Can I go home now?"

Haruhi stopped just past a railroad crossing, prompting Saito and I to stop as well.

"Have you ever realized just how small your existence here on Earth is?" Haruhi asked without turning to look at us.

Now what are you talking about.

"I have. It's something I'll never forget. It was when I was in elementary school, as a sixth grader. The whole family went to watch a baseball game at the stadium. I wasn't particularly interested in baseball, but I was shocked when we got there. There were people everywhere I looked. The ones on the opposite side of the stadium looked like squirming grains of rice standing together. I wondered if every last person in Japan had gathered in the stadium. And so, I asked my father how many people there were in the stadium. He answered that a sold out game meant fifty thousand people.

"After the game, the path to the station was flooded with people. The sight stunned me. So many people around me, yet they only made up a tiny fraction of the population of Japan. When I got home, I did the math. We learned in social studies class that the population of Japan was 100 million plus some. Divide fifty thousand by that and you only get one two-thousandth.

"I was stunned again. Not only was I just one little person in that sea of people at the stadium, but that sea of people, was only a drop in the ocean. I had thought myself to be a special person up until that point. I enjoyed being with my family and most of all I thought the people in my class were the most interesting people in the world. But, that was the moment I realized it wasn't like that. The things that happened in what I considered to be the most enjoyable class in the world, could be found happening in any classroom throughout Japan. Every person in Japan would consider them to be ordinary occurrences. Once I realized that, I suddenly found that, all of my surroundings began to lose their color.

"Brush my teeth and go to sleep at night, wake up and eat breakfast. These were things everybody did. When I realized that everybody did those things on a daily basis, everything started to seem to boring. And if there were so many people in the world, there had to be one of them that was living an out-of-the-ordinary life. I was sure of it. So why wasn't that person me?

"That's all I could think about all through elementary school. And in that process, I realized something. Nothing fun will happen if you sit around waiting. So I figured I would change myself in middle school. Let the world know that I wasn't a girl content with sitting around and waiting. And I conducted myself accordingly, but nothing changed. Before I knew it, I was in high school. I thought something would have changed."

A train rushed by, giving me time to think of an opposition or get around it with some philosophical reference, but instead all I said was, "I see."

"Suzumiya-san," Saito said with an unusually strong voice. "Human beings are very special. Every person is different and every person counts. Don't let cynicism and numbers cloud your judgement, you were closer to the truth before that day."

Haruhi turned to look at Saito with wide eyes and renewed interest for a moment, then she scowled.

"I'm going home," Haruhi said, walking back the way we came. I could get home sooner going that way too. But something about Haruhi's back said not to follow her, and so I was at a standstill until I couldn't see her anymore.

"Saito, what exactly are your duties as my bodyguard?" I asked as we walked towards my house together.

"To guard you at all times, and otherwise provide any service you might find useful that doesn't interfere with the first duty," Saito replied in her quiet voice.

"Any service?"

"Yes, please be gentle."

Get your head out of the gutter! I still can't tell when you're joking and serious!

As we neared my house, Koizumi's voice sounded from behind me.

"Good evening. I'd like to fulfill that promise I made you."

Koizumi gave me a ride to a random intersection, spewing philosophical nonsense all the way. Saito, naturally insisted on coming with us. As we crossed, Koizumi had us close our eyes and took our hands, leading us forward. When I opened my eyes, I was in a grey reflection of the normal world, devoid of life.

"So this is the spatial phenomenon Suzumiya-san creates," Saito breathed.

"Yes, we call it enclosed space. It's created when Suzumiya-san is mentally unstable," Koizumi replied. "The show is about to begin."

I gasped and stepped back in fear as a blue giant appeared and started destroying the city.

"Suzumiya-san also creates these giants to work out her frustrations. They destroy here so she doesn't have to destroy in the real world. My comrades fight them. I must join them."

A red aura appeared around Koizumi, and he flew off towards the giant, joining other red lights. They cut off the giant's limbs and head, causing it to dissolve into nothing. Koizumi then returned and the sky began to crack. The space we were in collapsed, leaving us standing back in the intersection. Koizumi gave us a ride back to my place, explaining that the enclosed space would eventually overtake the world if left alone. He warned me like Nagato, but I didn't think anything of it.