AN: Now I'll try to make up for such a crappy plot dump, with perhaps… something better.
Disclaimer: To those of you who even bother to read this, Tanigawa-san would kill me if I said I owned anybody here. Jason belongs to whoever the hell owns Friday 13th, and whoever/whatever else is copyrighted here belongs to their respective owners. So there…
Chapter 2: Return to Sender
As expected, with Asahina-san having mysteriously vanished, the subsequent meetings involving the movie sequel were cancelled. The rest of the weekend wasn't that fruitful either, spent searching for Asahina-san, who of course, pulled no-shows wherever we looked. So now I found myself at home, exhausted on a Sunday night, sitting on the couch.
I watched with nonexistent interest as Jason drowned for the umpteenth time since the first of his cheesy movies. Honestly, why rent such a grisly and outdated home video?
"Wow!" that high-pitched squeal belonged to my little sister, a curious little fifth-grader, who, unlike most children her age, wasn't at all horrified by the blatantly wrong special effects or the fact that this movie wasn't for people her age… or my age, for the matter. She turned to me with a bit of wonder in her eyes, as if asking, "Is that it?"
"Yeah, that's it." My eyes returned to the screen in time to see that time tested foreshadowing scene that hinted he would be back for the next sequel. "Or at least until the next Friday 13th… whenever that'll be."
"The Americans really love their sequels, don't they?"
Just like Godzilla, only with an invincible machete-swinging zombie in a hockey mask terrorizing an all-but-innocent campsite with a semi-alliterated name instead of a man in a rubber suit terrorizing a model of downtown Tokyo. I glanced up at the clock. "Well, show's over. Time for you to get to bed."
"But Kyon!" she started pounding on me with those tiny fists. It tickled more than it hurt, to say the least.
"You heard mom," Ah, yes. I was going for the age-old tactic of referencing the local house authority. "Nothing after the movie. Besides," I looked down at that fur ball at my feet. This same fur ball, that last autumn was temporarily transformed by Haruhi's selfish whims into a philosophy-spouting machine to rival Koizumi, had long since been adopted and was now a member of this household. "Shami needs to sleep on a better place than the living room floor."
That got her. Sometimes, you have to appeal to their weaknesses. Like this cat, for example. I kept my eye on that little girl as she picked up that equally little animal and his matching sleeping Cheshire smile and took him up the stairs.
With my own contemplations on the disappeared Asahina-san and just how we were going to pull off the sequel when the protagonist had been wiped from history, crazy time travelling Russians, infinitely confusing Haruhi's out for universal domination, and a little bit of guilty curiosity about the next Friday 13th movie, I followed suit.
vvvvvvv
"First thing I would like to announce," that would be Okabe-sensei, homeroom teacher and handball enthusiast. "Is that we have an old friend returning from a trip."
Old friend? Considering this year had yet to pass, there aren't many friends in this class that Okabe-sensei might think of as old. Of course, the nuances involving such a term are of great importance, and the fact was, 'old' was relative to the person speaking. How long had he known this 'old' friend of his anyway? Well… ours. I had a few guesses, but the person who stepped into class this morning literally raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
It was HER. AGAIN. As if one comeback in the Nagato-altered world wasn't enough to satisfy her desire for resurrection, THAT GIRL gave the class a gracious bow and greeting before taking seat at that formerly empty desk. What is it with you and coming back from Canada anyway? This was obviously some kind of conspiracy. Why else would a malfunctioning interface with a thing for killing me return for a second time? My thoughts turned to last night's movie. Ryoko Asakura was just like Jason.
Haruhi was also alarmed by this. I don't know how I knew that, I just did. I could feel the waves of uneasiness radiating from that seat behind me.
"We're gonna find out why she went to Canada, Kyon," she told me. "Then maybe we're finally gonna get to the bottom of this mystery."
A mystery that was several months old and assumedly forgotten. "So what're we going to do later then? Split up and search for clues?"
"My thoughts exactly."
"Oh?" It was a joke, silly! I mean, why split up and search for clues when you can just walk up to her and ask, in a very concerned voice, 'Hey! Remember us? We were the only guys who investigated your mysterious disappearance!' Of course, knowing Ryoko "Voorhees" Asakura, she would probably say, 'Oh, nothing really. I was just taking a break from trying to stab your friend over there'. And when Haruhi asks her what the hell that means, she would demonstrate her own words by fishing that Kabar from her pocket and having a third go at me.
"Yes. We could go ask her, while the other two could check out her apartment." Haruhi glanced at the ceiling, as if in thought. "Yuki lives there anyway, so she would know who to ask."
"And… how do you even know if she moved back there?"
"Where else would she be staying?"
Fine. Do whatever you want. "But what about Asahina-san?"
"I'm sure Mikuru's fine!" she answered with full conviction. "Probably just sick or something."
I shook my head at the thought. If only you knew.
My attention returned to that knife fetishist in the first row as she once again started acting like class monitor, answering questions and dishing out meaningful insights like why there were three stars in Orion's Belt or something. Homeroom class droned on for what seemed like a week's worth of things, as I wasn't really paying attention to anything other than Asakura's every move. I mean, I could just as easily fall through the floor and into the next empty classroom to become victim to her next attempt, so it would be best I was prepared.
Her seeming desire to remain inconspicuous, however, was possibly what saved me this time around.
Several classes came and went before the lunch bell rang. As with Class 1-5's status quo, Haruhi catapulted herself out of her chair, and indeed, the room, vanishing down the hallway.
I stooped and reached for my lunch, preparing for the daily session of attending Taniguchi and Kunikida's pitiful excuse for discussion. Just as I rose from that position, I was struck with the impression that there was something different with the room, particularly with the lighting. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I took a gander at what was happening. The lights of daytime were gone. Was this Asakura's doing? Was she now taking her next shot at 'producing results'?
Looking to my left changed my thoughts entirely. The windows were still there, but looking outside wasn't anymore comforting. The world was gray. Now I knew exactly where I was.
Closed Space.
Koizumi, now would be a good time for you to show up. My prayer went unanswered for a few minutes before I gave up on the possibility of something happening so conveniently as that. "Guess I'll just have to look around."
The deafening silence was soon pierced by a soft, rather haunting melody. It was somewhat muffled, as the source was evidently outside the room's shut doors, but it was definitely there. Tones from what could readily be recognized as a piano. So I wasn't alone in here. Whether that fact was good or bad had yet to be decided, as it could have been one of anybody, though some points were already certain. It couldn't have been Koizumi. He would just approach me directly in his magical red sphere form. Haruhi? No. Haruhi would be running around and checking the place out. She wasn't the kind to stay in one place, moreover play a piano while she was at it.
Now Asakura… little miss class monitor and superstar student. She had the skill to play the piano, and perhaps the ability to penetrate the cross dimensional barriers or whatever that kept Closed Space separate from the normal world. As to why, she was obviously playing the piano to either taunt me, or maybe use my wish for a companion to lure me to her location.
Still, the fact of my being alone in such a creepy place was starting to get to me. Against my better judgment, I stood up and departed the room into the hallway. The piece, by now I've heard enough to tell it was Beethoven's Für Elise, was currently in its D minor pedal point section, raising the tension with its ominous melodies as I followed it down the dark gray confines of the hall. Observing my surroundings and heading, I had now concluded that it was coming from the music room. That sort of made sense. I mean, it wasn't like somebody would be stupid enough to drag a piano around or something.
The piece ended and started again to continue haunting me as I made my way down the unlit corridor and across the covered walk to the club building, where the music club held its meetings. One 360 view of the surrounding area gave me a bit of relief. The Shinjin had yet to make their debut. At least this world still had some time. It was rather strange that those monsters and the esper squad that hunted them weren't around. What did this all mean?
I ascended the stairs to the top floor and stopped at the music room's door just as the piece ended again, this time with a sense of finality about it. There wasn't going to be a repeat. Whoever was in there playing that piano knew I had arrived. To whoever might be up there watching me, I swear… if it isn't Asakura's silhouette I can see through the door window and sitting at the piano, then I promise to be good from now on!
I gulped again as I pulled the door open.
My jaw almost dropped.
"Haruhi? What the hell are you doing?"
"What do I look like I'm doing, baka?" her head snapped over from the piano, revealing an intense scowl. "I got bored waiting for you."
You know, you could have just come for me. You do know where our classroom is, right? I wondered why she didn't even find this disturbing, being alone in such a place, just like that 'dream' she had last May.
"Direct approach, eh? That could have worked just as well, but I thought this method would be more interesting."
I sighed. Same old irrational Haruhi.
There was, however, a different quality about her. The blatancy that was staring me in the face like an angry dog with a foaming mouth was her hair… it was as long as the day I first saw her. That nagging sensation of dread that was lingering in the back of my mind intensified. This wasn't the Haruhi who just ten minutes ago zoomed out of the classroom… That crazy Russian's words echoed in my mind.
It is this Haruhi Suzumiya that we must be wary of.
That scowl immediately evaporated, replaced by a mirror image of my own Brigade Commander's predatory smirk.
"It's the end of the world as we know it… and I feel fine."
What? The previous moment was forever scarred by her singing some kind of English one- or two-liner in a way so eerie that I grew goose bumps just listening to it. "I don't know that song, but I guarantee you that I don't like the sound of it."
"Oh don't worry about that, John." She answered, standing up and shoving the piano's chair back in its resting place. A flick of her hair, and the instrument seemingly came to life, keys reviving to once again play Für Elise of their own accord. I jumped some inches back at that. "It's not over… at least, not yet."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm having problems of my own, you see." I instinctively backed up as she approached. This felt just like that foreboding in the moments before Asakura jumped me for the first time. "So I really can't do what I'm supposed to just yet."
"And that would be…"
"Stop playing dumb!" the room shook at that, as though there was an earthquake. This Haruhi really knew how to scare you… my cardiac rhythm was now completely out of tune, skipping beats here and there. I didn't even know how I still managed to stay conscious. "I know that that stupid Russian told you about me, John. And even if he didn't, I thought the hair would be a dead giveaway that I wasn't the Brigade Commander you know from Baseline. I mean, how could she unconsciously make her hair grow longer and not freak out at it, right?"
Oh God… now that makes even less sense. At the waving of her finger, the door slammed shut behind me, and the disembodied playing of the piano intensified. Haruhi quickly closed the gap, and before I knew it, she had me pinned against the door with that inhuman strength I was by now very familiar with.
"I'm only going to tell you this once, John," she whispered into my ear. "Stay out of my way. Because if you don't," she backed off of me and had her arms akimbo for a moment. That smirk evolved into a grin as she brought her finger up to her neck and slit it.
To my horror, blood began to flow from that spot where, I first thought, she only pretended to slit her neck. The living crimson fluid wound its way down her neck, to her chest, under her sailor uniform, until it finally hit rock bottom as it crept off her shoe, almost as if it were alive… It struck me a strange that she wasn't turning pale or anything. Though, that could possibly be attributed to the use of her power, where she could have given herself an unlimited supply of the stuff or something.
The blood (actually, I'm not so sure what it is anymore) continued its journey and… oh hell no… it was headed straight for me! "You've got a really twisted imagination, you know that?"
"I wouldn't really say that. It just seems interesting this way, don't you think?"
Little red tendrils lashed out from the creeping pool of red and wrapped themselves around my ankles. I took a moment to look up at the perpetrator of this whole rehash of that Twilight Zone episode with the little kid named Anthony. So the only way you figure for me to stay out of your way is to kill me?
"Not at all, John."
She ran her finger over that large gash on her neck, wiping away the blood… and that incision. Just like that? Come to think of it, how was she even able to talk with a big hole in her windpipe? Gah, I should stop asking myself such obviously rhetorical questions! Haruhi's powers have always defied logic, consciously or otherwise. By now that blood from the Thing had sprouted segmented legs and was pulling itself up my pants.
"It's a scare tactic." As soon as she said this, that nightmarish pool of red she had spawned from her throat evaporated. "If you wanna see the ending, just try and stop me."
Haruhi and reverse psychology. Where've I seen that combination before? Cautiously, as if caution would be any help at all against a virtually omnipotent nuisance, I straightened my coat. "So you're trying to scare me out of going up against whatever crazy plan you've got in that head of yours?"
"I know. Those things never work," she momentarily shut her eyes and shrugged, "So I suppose you can think of it as a challenge instead. Challenges are a lot more entertaining, anyway." Another sweep of her finger and a montage of all my successful attempts to thwart doom and destruction spun around me in a blur for several seconds, stopping abruptly at the sound of her voice. "You've always stopped her in the past. But can you stop me this time around? Think fast, John. I'll hold you to what you say."
I don't know what demon possessed me to say what I said next. Hell, maybe she wanted me to say it, bringing about the implication that I didn't have a choice in the matter. Whatever the case, I got the distinct feeling that I was going to regret it. "Yeah, that's right. I'm going to stop you this time, Haruhi! I'm going to save the world from your ridiculous plan of taking over!"
That devilish grin that was there only moments before evaporated into a deep, thoughtful pout. "Believe me when I tell you, John. Taking over isn't what it's all about. I told you already three years ago… no wait… that was you from my timeline…" Haruhi closed her eyes and exhaled, as if preparing for a grand speech of some sort. "Some things have to be given up for the sake of others."
Was it Confucius who said that? I wasn't really sure. But seeing Haruhi, even if it was a different one, solemnly smirking there with shut eyes as though she was giving me kudos for successfully pulling a prank on her, was a truly interesting sight for me. "I don't get it."
"That's the same reaction the other one had." Those glistening eyes of hers opened up again, a lot moister compared to the last time I saw them, and stared long and hard at me. "Maybe you'll be able to understand it later on. I'm counting on you to. After all… you're the only one I can rely on, John. Don't forget that." A melancholic smirk found its way to her face, imparting the feeling that this discussion was over.
Wait… what about Asakura?
"Oh, Ryoko?" She thought for a moment. "You'll find out eventually."
Do you have any idea how terrified I am for everybody's sakes whenever you flash that grin? If you're using her to pull something, why don't you admit it already? Now it's pretty obvious that she's working for you.
"I never said that."
"What?"
"Never mind. I won't waste any more of the precious time you're gonna need to face my challenge." That melancholic smirk returned and she gave me a left-handed, one-fingered salute.
The next thing I knew, bells were ringing. What the hell? I looked around to find myself back in Class 1-5's homeroom, with Haruhi, the Haruhi from this timeline or whatever, jumping out of her seat and blazing her way out of the place. It was the lunch bell…
Déjà vu? Or was it one very strange daydream? Couldn't have been. As if having read my mind, a line of music wafted in through the wind, sounding as if it came from everywhere and yet, at the same time, in a most clichéd manner, nowhere. E, D sharp, E, D sharp, E, B, D natural, C, all of these quarter notes, and then an eighth note A. Für Elise.
Normally, I wouldn't be able to label these familiar notes so accurately, but perhaps this weird 'just knowing' is what Koizumi was talking about in reference to his powers… Or maybe the other Haruhi was giving it to me through some weird mental telepathy.
Gah! Whatever! All this thinking is making my head hurt.
Wary eye on Asakura, who was now associating with our classmates, I picked up my lunch pack and headed over to where Taniguchi and Kunikida were sitting.
TBC…
AN: With the other SOSers merely mentioned in passing, I guarantee that the next chappie should include everybody's favorite alien/magician/humanoid interface/fortune teller/statue/witch/rock goddess and gay psychic Philosophy PhD holder. It's high time those two got themselves worked up over this anyway. I just need to get the things in place and such. Any help would be muchly appreciated.