AN: Enow, I return from my state of hiatus and that sweet lone island vacation of mine, newly enlightened on the points of interest involving everything to V8. Now, I can finally give this little thingie a proper time-of-the-year setting without messing up continuity. Also, I would like to note that I completed this two days ago, but, thanks to that stupid Document Upload thingie being on the fritz, I have been unable to upload this thing. Then I realized that I had a useless document uploaded onto my account. So I just decided to copy-paste this content on it instead. Brilliant, eh?

Disclaimer: Tanigawa-san may or may not be making royalties right now. He has won several outstanding literary awards. He has inspired something that one of the guys on Anime TV said would forever change the face of 21st Century anime. Why? Simply because he created and owns all this lovely crap that we read. How I envy his genius.

Chapter 3: What's in a Scribe?

"Well, you can say that my parents decided I could live here on my own," Asakura answered, that cheerful expression glued to her face. It seemed far more natural than Koizumi's obviously fake perma-smile.

Of course, I knew that inside, she had just about as much emotion as that stolen computer we kept in the clubroom. I guess she was programmed to be that good at creating impressions of feeling or something. I'll have to ask Nagato about that later. Had Asakura also developed feelings as she had?

"Besides, I guess I missed you guys that much."

Missed us, eh? Oh I'm sure you missed me.

Haruhi seemed unconvinced by this, and sent her gaze drilling into Asakura's own eyes. "Are you absolutely sure that that's the only reason you came back?"

That psychotic knife fetishist of course, reacted the way a normal person would, and leaned back at our crazy commander's visual assault, raising her hands as if that was all the could do to fend off what might appear to be a build-up to homosexual rape. That girl… shook my head. Is this your way of making-up for your lack of an Asahina-san to costume-rape?

"Absolutely. Believe me when I tell you, Suzumiya-san. There's nothing 'mysterious' or 'paranormal' about my moving to and back from Canada. Just simple family issues is all."

Seemingly satisfied for the moment, Haruhi exhaled and released her captive. "Fine. Guess we'll have to settle for other sources then."

"If you're still planning on 'investigation'," Asakura chuckled, apparently portraying that she didn't take this idea seriously, "I suppose I could direct you to a friend of mine who-"

"Never mind." Haruhi? Refusing the offer of a lead? Clearly there's something wrong here! "Information from the suspect could jeopardize the quality of the information gained, not to mention the very integrity of the investigation itself!"

You know, somehow, that makes sense… except for one thing. "When did Asakura-san," I cringed at saying that honorific. Honestly, how can you give honorifics to a psycho who tried killing me twice? "Become a suspect?"

I could have sworn I heard a whiplash sound effect somewhere when Haruhi's neck snapped as she faced me. "The circumstances surrounding both her sudden 'transfers' are absolutely suspicious! First, to Canada in the middle of May due to a 'job offer', then back here in the middle of January because 'she could live on her own'! For the sake of all that is logical and sensible, it doesn't jive at all!"

If there were some rare moments where my own logic could agree with what Haruhi was saying, then this would be one of them. This time around, however, the agreement is only partial. I have a completely logical and sensible explanation of the first one. Of course, I can't possibly give it to you. You wouldn't believe me anyway. The return seems illogical at first, until the conversation with the other Haruhi earlier today came to mind. At that point, it becomes crystal clear on how Asakura got back… the only question is why the case is so. In that event, it would mean of course that I can't agree with her after all, due to some hidden knowledge on my part. Oh well, I guess I should just keep a lookout for other such moments. "I guess so…"

"And this is exactly why she is a suspect!"

For being surrounded by 'suspicious' incidents?

"Why else would she be called a suspect? Jeez, Kyon! Think for a moment, would you?"

Well, that's one moment where I can agree with your logic. I sighed. "So where do we go from here then?"

Haruhi took the time to ignore my question and inform Asakura that she could go. The latter obliged, after oh-so-politely bidding us farewell and proceeding to vacate the classroom with one or two female classmates, perhaps to give the false impression of bonding or something. "Her apartment, of course!"

Our Brigade Commander flipped her phone open, revealing a recent text message from Koizumi, indicating that they had already arrived. Considering that that high-class apartment building was a walking distance from school (in fact it was the spot where the brigade would usually split up if we happened to be walking home together), I wasn't really surprised.

"You know, if we get caught, it'll be trespassing."

"So we don't allow ourselves to get caught! It's that simple!" Haruhi slipped on her fur coat and, not at all waiting for me to don my own protective winter gear, began the usual process of dragging me all the way to the shoe lockers, where I was finally given some time to put on something thick and warm. Before I could grab my outdoor shoes, however, she had already dragged me out of the door.

"I already gave Koizumi the proper instructions on the matter," she continued, as we hurried down the hill, the chilling gusts of the season no obstacle for Haruhi's ironclad determination.

You mind telling me why exactly we're in a rush?

"Isn't it obvious? We can't sort through her stuff if she gets home first!"

Ah, so now we're going to be breaking and entering, as well as rummaging through things that aren't ours… Then again, I've already experienced something like this last summer. That Computer Society President who so habitually checked our site every single day and happened to drop by again at just the wrong moment came to mind. Who would have thought that he would be so afraid of cave crickets, anyway?

We rendezvoused with Nagato and Koizumi, who were waiting for us at the apartment lobby. I momentarily glanced at that caretaker, still behind his usual glass window. Is it just me, or is he smiling deviously at me for some reason? Ah, that's right. Coming here in an increasing frequency to visit Nagato for a variety of reasons… listen, Mister! You got it all wrong! At least, that's what I wanted to say. But even Haruhi suspected me to be involved with that silent bookworm of an alien in a similar manner. Hopefully, that 'transfer issue' ruse stays believable…

"Status report!"

Koiziumi cleared his throat. Not that he really had to, but was he rehearsing his formalities or something? "While we engaged with the standard procedure of posing as concerned friends…"

Wait a minute… posing as concerned friends is now SOP?

"And were somehow miraculously given permission to look through Asakura-san's room and its contents, it is rather unfortunate that we found nothing whatsoever that might give us any hints concerning her mysterious disappearance and return." He glanced at me for a quick moment before bowing at the commander in apology. What are you trying to say? "I apologize for not being able to advance the investigation in any way from our end, Suzumiya-san."

Haruhi pouted and twisted her lips into some kind of weird shape, eyebrows furrowing into deep thought. Really, there's not much to think about here…

"Well, it looks like this case is a dead end… for now…" the pout continued. "We're done for the day. But I want you all to perform your own independent investigations on the matter, and report it to me first thing at the clubroom tomorrow!" And she finally said, with a sense of absolution, "Dismissed!"

As Haruhi marched off into the chilly afternoon, Koizumi looked at me again. Unlike you, I'm not an esper, so don't expect me to be able to read your thoughts. If you're going to say something, say it!

"Of course."

"Took you long enough," I muttered in response. "So what is it?"

"Aren't you as concerned as I?"

"Asakura made a comeback. So? I'm sure Nagato knows what she's up to. Right?" I looked at the humanoid life contact interface in question. Her response was… unexpected. A slight change in the horizontal angle of her face, coupled with minute swaying of her hair. She was saying 'no'.

"The one behind Ryoko Asakura's reconstruction is not the Extremist School," she said blankly. "None of the factions within the Integrated Data Entity take credit for this course of action."

So I was right then. The only other force that could have something to do with this would be Haruhi… well… the other one. That reminds me… "I met her today."

"Asakura-san?"

God, Koizumi! Stop being so intentionally dense! You know who I'm talking about.

"It was a joke," that perfect smile of his was now mocking me. "This 'other' Suzumiya-san that you told us about last Saturday?"

Yeah, that's the one. I remember you said she couldn't possibly exist because if she did, you'd be able to detect her with your connection to Haruhi or something like that… And Nagato? Well, I remember her saying something about subordinating timelines, whatever the hell that means… But that's right. I met her today, when she dragged me into Closed Space.

"Closed Space? Interesting…"

What's that supposed to mean?

"And you say it happened today?"

"That's right."

Koizumi slid his finger down his nose bridge, apparently deep in thought. "The fact is: my colleagues and I have not sensed anything today."

"But I thought you guys were connected to Haruhi's mental state."

"The way I see it, there are several possibilities of just why we failed to sense anything." He raised his index finger in the air, giving the impression of a '1'. Why must you keep up with these hand gestures? "First, the other Suzumiya-san might have rendered that particular incursion of closed space undetectable to us at the 'Agency'."

"She can do that too, huh?" So what're the others?

The index finger was joined by his middle finger, '2'. "Second, which I attribute to be the same reason on why we were unable to sense her presence in the first place, is that since, despite the fact that she is essentially, from your description of her being from an alternate timeline, Suzumiya-san, she is nevertheless from a different continuity than us. Being from a different timeline makes her a different… person, if you would. From that perspective, she would not exactly be Suzumiya-san herself, since Suzumiya-san is already existent here. Rather, she would in that sense, be Suzumiya-san's sister. Using this logic, we therefore have no connection to her mental states, and thus have no ability to detect Closed Spaces created by her."

Such long sentences. Can you repeat that again?

"Would you like me to?"

"Actually, forget it… what's the third one?"

"The next possibility… what did you two talk about?"

Answering a question with a question. Stereotypical confusion-seeding philosophy-speak. "If I remember it correctly," How could I forget something as bizarre as that, after all? "She tried to scare me out of interfering. When that didn't work, well… she challenged me to interfere instead. You know how fickle that girl is."

Koizumi merely chuckled before asking another question. "Now tell me, how do you feel whenever you are alone with Suzumiya-san within Closed Space?"

To be honest? Let's see… Alone with Haruhi in that disturbing gray place… In that kind of situation, where those blue freaks pop up to destroy things, meaning the world would be coming to an end… For the sake of all I love here? I suppose you can say that I feel… a little scared. There was no denying that fact now. To lose my family, Asahina-san, Nagato, hell, even Koizumi and that damned clubroom, I wouldn't know what to do in their absence.

"I see." His ring finger finally rose up to form '3'. "The third possibility is this: you weren't in Closed Space at all, but a different kind of pocket dimension, created by the other Suzumiya-san, and designed to imitate the appearance of Closed Space. This stems from the fact that you are scared of being alone in such a place with her, and thus, the effect of such circumstances amplifies the amount of fear already garnered from whatever she did in her attempt to scare you. It's merely the atmosphere to complement the desired effect. This is similar to the way that a ghost is much more terrifying to encounter when you're alone in a dark, decrepit mansion, than while you're in a bright, open field in the company of Ghostbusters. As it is not Closed Space, but rather, a temporary world tailored to give out a desired effect, then perhaps its properties are negligible enough to remain undetected by my abilities."

The pinkie went up. '4'. "It's also entirely possible that this is a result of the tiredness from my activities during the weekend." I only noticed now, the dark spots beneath his eyes, and his rather unhealthy appearance.

"Yeah… you sort of disappeared a lot back then." But with Haruhi seemingly okay, leaving out the possibility of your usual job, then might I ask what activities those were then?

"I was forced to singlehandedly eliminate a total of…" Koizumi counted the fingers on his left hand several times, right hand still suspended in the air, holding up a '4'. "Twenty-five Closed Spaces over the course of the weekend."

I'm sorry. Did I hear you right? Twenty-five Closed Spaces? How are you still breathing, man? And what about your friends? For all it's worth, Haruhi didn't seem to be pissed enough to create that many… Hell, she didn't even look bad enough to make just one.

"To be honest, I was as clueless as you are right now. Actually, there were far more than those. I sensed a total of about twenty-five for every esper in the Agency." Koizumi tiredly sighed. "Each of them was relatively small, and the Shinjin within were much easier to handle, almost as if those Closed Spaces were created merely for the sake of being sought out by us and subsequently destroyed. I realize now that perhaps the other Suzumiya-san was trying to keep us busy, or maybe wear us out, for some reason."

Haruhi creating multiple Closed Spaces at will… That was an understatement. Haruhi creating a LOT of Closed Spaces at will. Never before had I so strongly believed that I would never envy Koizumi his job.

"Furthermore, she also seems to have been preventing us from reorganizing. Every attempt I have made to contact my colleagues has failed, and every means I have used is now dysfunctional. Cell phone, landline, instant messaging, and even approaching them at designated meeting locations. The office itself was empty when I arrived there. Borrowing somebody's cell phone did no good, as it lost all signal the moment I touched it, and pay phones at several different places and landlines at other friends' houses were no better. As of now, I am completely isolated from the rest of the Agency… Nay, perhaps it's even worse: that all the people working within the Agency are isolated from one another."

This Haruhi really doesn't want these guys to interfere. Not that I have any qualms with that. Even Nagato's boss, that crazy computer up in the sky, has more of my trust than the suits pushing pencils around on desks at wherever the Agency's head office was. Still, I can't help but wonder… what could that Haruhi be thinking? "Say, Nagato… you wouldn't happen to be capable of reading her mind, would you?" I mean, seriously. What can Yuki Nagato not do?

"No."

Well, that's one thing that Yuki Nagato can't do…

Without warning, Nagato opened her mouth for one of her lengthier explanations. Which is pretty good from one perspective or another, considering she has been opening up more recently.

"Haruhi Suzumiya's 738th Temporal Variant has set up measures to protect against any form of mental probing."

Because probing her mind is not fun at all… Images of the totally bizarre thoughts I might stumble across should I try something like that whizzed through my brain. It wouldn't be a pretty sight. "Well, can you at least tell us where she is?"

"I…" Nagato hesitated for a moment, her oozing uncertainty heavily reminiscent of that snowy mountain incident, "I am not sure. Haruhi Suzumiya's 738th Temporal Variant has disabled my abilities to communicate with the Integrated Data Entity. However… during my last contact, it was able to provide me with a fact that was definite at the time: Haruhi Suzumiya's 738th Temporal Variant was not detected in this timeline."

Definite at the time, eh? That seems to be a past-tense statement, meaning, it might no longer be true. And… maybe you could be more specific with that? I mean, surely your boss could have given you more than just that, with you guys loving pinpoint accurate reports and stuff.

"Haruhi Suzumiya's 738th-"

Uh… for the sake of some of us here, could you shorten her name? I mean, even the usual 'Haruhi Suzumiya' will do. We can differentiate one from the other based on the actions of the one currently being referred to. That kind of reasoning uses context clues, I think…

Nagato nodded ever so slightly before continuing. "According to information from my last contact, Haruhi Suzumiya has returned to her timeline of origin, for unknown and unobservable reasons."

Wait… unobservable?

"Haruhi Suzumiya has isolated her timeline of origin from the rest of the Space-Time Continuum and transported it into a newly-constructed Space-Time Continuum of her own design, equipped with security features that prevent any form of external observation, including that of the Integrated Data Entity. Additionally, all copies of Humanoid Life Contact Interfaces existing within that timeline have assumedly been deleted, or have been deprived of their ability to communicate with the Integrated Data Entity in the same way as I have."

Well that's a mouthful… she seems to have taken every measure to get rid of any outside help.

"Despite the differences, she truly is Suzumiya-san." Koizumi, still smiling, nodded to himself at how amazing she was. I too would be admiring her being so meticulous in her endeavor to ensure that we remain clueless, except for one thing she missed. Leonid Brezhnev.

"Ah?" Koizumi's eyebrow shot up. "Your Russian friend?"

He's not my friend. Why would I want to be friends with somebody as crazy as him? The red in that water turned out to be some kind of futuristic super dye or something. Even after the bleach changed my coat from dark green to pure white, the red stain spat out by that toy Makarov was still as solid as when it first dried up! Russian bastard and his practical jokes… anyway, I remember him giving me a clue. "It's not really much, but seeing as how things are right now, it's the only lead we have."

"And that clue would be…?"

"He told me to search for something called 'Scribe'."

"'Scribe', you say?" the esper's perpetual smile broke into that other expression of his that I'd grown familiar with: the overly serious façade.

"That's what he said."

"Nagato-san," he looked at the humanoid life contact interface, who, through all this, remained as cold and statuesque as she had always seemed from the very beginning. I can imagine she must be pretty shaken on the inside despite her programming, considering what Haruhi had done to her. The fact that we didn't need to be in some mysterious mansion (read: weird alternate space) on a snowy mountain for Haruhi to be able to cut off her ability to connect was an even greater testament to her power. "Do you have any idea what this 'Scribe' might be?"

"I reiterate: Contact with the Integrated Data Entity has been severed by Haruhi Suzumiya. It is impossible to make use of its database to search for a definition on 'Scribe'."

Pardon me, Nagato, but… isn't it unusual for you to dodge the question? Is there something you're hiding from us?

"No."

"Ah, I see…" I sighed. "So do you know about 'Scribe'? Was it included in your final contact?" This matter had to be pressed on, if the Russian was convinced it to be our only hope.

"'Scribe' is a pet program created by Haruhi Suzumiya. Every other detail aside from this fact is completely unknown."

"Do you know where we might be able to find it?" Possibly the most important question of all.

"No."

Damn! There goes our only hope! Now I could relate to how the Princess probably felt when she saw the Dark Lord behead the Wise Old Warrior.

"Now Kyon, let's not be so hasty in our actions."

Koizumi grasped my shoulder hard. Okay, you've got my attention. What is it?

"Don't you find it suspicious?"

Hmm?

"The fact that, as your story goes, he appeared immediately after the other Asahina-san vanished?" The serious expression on his face had not left. Whatever this situation was, he certainly didn't like it. None of us did. "Didn't it ever occur to you that he might have been responsible for it in the first place?"

"Actually, no. The way that Asahina-san (big) put it, it seems like the primary suspect would be the other Haruhi."

"Think about it for a moment. He was able to offer a complete explanation, and even had ten minutes to spare. If I were the other Suzumiya-san, I would have eliminated him before he even had a chance to tell you anything. Clearly, the other Suzumiya-san had allowed him to brief you on what's going on."

What's your point?

"What I'm saying, is that we shouldn't be so quick to trust somebody like Brezhnev, who, unlike Asahina-san, Nagato-san, or myself, you don't meet or interact with on a daily basis. Neither has he assisted you in any solid way, unlike we, who are clearly on your side. It's the equivalent of accepting candy from a complete stranger."

You know, now that you mentioned it, that point actually makes sense.

"Exactly. Furthermore, the only person capable of confirming whether or not Brezhnev is on our side, that is, the older version of Asahina-san, is not present. For all we know, he might even be working for the enemy." Koizumi's smile returned. "Of course, this could also be some clever psychological warfare on the other Suzumiya-san's part, making circumstances so that Brezhnev would not be so easy to trust, knowing that we would notice these little suspicious details. Either way, there are equal possibilities of the Russian being a friend, or being a foe. We must treat this matter carefully, lest we wish to fall into the enemy's trap."

The enemy, eh? The enemy that trapped us in that god forsaken snowy mansion for an indeterminate amount of time… the enemy that almost ran over that bespectacled boy who would someday invent time travel and happens to live near Haruhi's place. And now, it's become a possibility that this same enemy was planning to lure us into performing some kind mystery activity involving a program called 'Scribe'. Wait a second… which Haruhi created it, anyway? The statement itself was rather vague, and there weren't enough context clues. Our Haruhi could have created it subconsciously for one reason or another – hell, probably even without a reason to -, and the other could have done so at a whim. I guess I'll have to ask her later.

"As it is our only lead, however, it seems as though we have no other choice but to follow it." Koizumi checked his phone, shaking his head before showing me that on its little LCD screen, there were no signal bars. "It's a risk, but the only other option we have is to sit and wait for the end."

I don't know about you people, but I'm sure as hell not gonna do that.

"Oh, don't worry. Neither of us would like to do that. Am I not right, Nagato-san?"

"…."

I thought I saw Nagato's hair sway slightly, maybe when she tilted her head just a micrometer downward.

"You know, the irony in all this is that it was Haruhi who told me awhile ago, never to trust information from the suspect."

"Yes, that is… kind of ironic."

"So where do we start looking?"

Koizumi thought for a moment. "It seems as though even under different circumstances, the two of them somehow manage to think along the same lines, the same channel, if you would, under a different filtering."

Where did you get that idea?

"The fact that, as you said, our Suzumiya-san warned you to not trust information from the suspect while, on the other hand, the other Suzumiya-san has given us a situation in which the only clue, the only information we have, is from a suspect."

Sounds like another wild speculation to me… and like all your wild speculations, they all make sense. It's just typical of Koizumi to talk about nonsense and somehow convince you that it was a valid argument. You should take up Law when you go to college. You can't possibly lose a case with that skill of yours. The esper bowed at the compliment. Honestly, you don't have to do that! "What does that idea have to do with looking for 'Scribe' anyway?"

"Based on this hypothesis, the only person who can help us now, is Suzumiya-san herself."

And… how the hell do you expect us to get her to help without revealing the whole thing?

"Our Suzumiya-san and the other Suzumiya-san seem to have similar, if not identical, perceptions of the same concept. Perhaps you could just call her up and tell her that you lost something, and would like some advice, or perhaps even some help, on how to find it."

"What are you, nuts?" Haruhi would kill me for asking for something so absurd right out of the blue!

"It's just speculation, really."

Sighing in defeat, since we really didn't have anything else to ride on, I picked up my phone and speed dialed that dreaded number.

"What, did you find anything?" the voice on the other end was expectant on one part, ecstatic on another. She seriously believed that I was calling to give her an update on the Asakura Case… considering that until now, that would have been the only reason for me to call her, then I don't really question such logic.

"Actually, it's more of… I lost something."

"Ehhhh? Well what do you want me to do about it? Do I look like a Lost and Foundry to you?"

"Well uh…"

I heard Haruhi growl in frustration before saying, "Fine! I'll help! But you owe me lunch! Got it?"

"Yeah…" As if I didn't pay for just about all of your expenses whenever I'm with you.

"Okay, so what did you lose?"

"Actually, I don't know what-"

"How can I help you if you don't know what you lost!? Hell, how can you even know that you lost something if you don't know what it is!?" I had to bring the phone away from my ears as the pitch and volume of her voice rose to unbearable levels. And the loudspeaker wasn't even on… "Figure out what you lost first before you ask for my help to find it! That way, you're not wasting my precious time! Speaking of which, for already wasting my time with such a meaningless call, you now owe me two lunches!"

Ever the one to mercilessly dish out penalties, aren't you, Haruhi? "Alright… you got it-" It was only then I realized, that I was hearing the familiar beeping that said she had already put her phone down. "Looks like that's it then. Until we figure out what we 'lost', there's no way we're going to find 'Scribe'."

As it were, the meeting officially ended there. Nagato silently entered the elevator and presumably went up to her room, and Koizumi went… wherever his place is. Myself? In the middle of this winter chill and wearing my school shoes so embarrassingly, I went home.

It was about six when I got home. Apparently, nobody noticed the sorry mess of the meatbag that was me crawl up the stairs and into the nearby room, collapsing on the bed. I didn't bother to remove my coat, since the heater was off.

This 'Scribe' hunt was really starting to get to me. How the hell am I supposed to look for something, if I didn't even know what it looked like? Yet another moment where Haruhi's logic totally coincided with my own. So that would mean that the first thing I have to do tomorrow, is to lose something… on purpose? Then I have to ask Haruhi to help me find it? That's… kind of ridiculous, if you ask me.

Well if I'm going to intentionally lose something, then that would mean it would have to be something important if I'm going to convince Haruhi to help me find it. Yes, she might have said she would help me look for it, but the fact stands that if the lost item isn't significant enough to be 'worth her time', then she'll probably retract those words but still hold me to one of the two lunches I owe her. In the end, a win-lose scenario.

Let's see… I weakly turned to the side, scanning my room for whatever important thing I could just carelessly misplace somewhere and subsequently have to find again. Still, thinking about it this way, if you were to intentionally misplace something, then you would know where to start looking for it. Of course, if some mysterious forces were at work here, and I'm more than certain that there are, then that would mean that the thing would no longer be where I would be looking for it, right? Or at least, that's just another crazy assumption that I'm making over this little issue.

Another thing continued to taunt me. Nagato said that 'Scribe' was a program. But nobody, except possibly the other Haruhi, if she was the one who made it, knew what it was. How then would we be able to use it? Maybe Nagato could figure out what it does when we do find it? Yeah, that has to be it…

As I started to drift off, with these stressful thoughts running through my mind, somebody, I really didn't have the strength left to figure out who it was at once, burst into my room and started shaking me. My mom telling me it was dinner time? No, dinner's at seven. Could that much time have passed already? I mentally shrugged. My dad? No, he's off on a business trip. Shamisen does not have hands that big. Hell, he doesn't have hands at all. Besides, Shamisen would be that furball lying down next to me, all curled up. Just like him to always be asleep, that lazyass cat. That left only one last possibility…

"C'mon, Kyon!" That was my little sister, alright… "Get up! I need your help."

I lazily swatted her hands away. Leave me alone. Can't you see I'm dead tired? And why don't you ask Mom to help you?

"Because it's your responsibility, Kyon!"

The hell are you talking about? I don't have any obligation to help you with whatever silly Monday night homework you have. Sure, I might volunteer sometimes, but now is not one of those moments. I'm too tired to think, anyway, so I'd be about as useful as Shamisen when it comes to assisting you with your take-home assignment.

"Silly Kyon! It's not my homework, it's your jigsaw puzzle!"

Jigsaw puzzle? What jigsaw puzzle? Ah, right… the one my aunt gave me for my fifteenth birthday… that one depicting the sunset skyline of Kobe, complete with the fluffy white clouds and that V-formation of birds flying off into the setting sun. Well guess what. I don't feel like doing any puzzles either. I have enough of those on my hands as it is.

"That's not it either! I'd love to solve your jigsaw puzzle, but I just can't find it!"

Hmm? I opened my left eye to see her sweet little face almost in tears. Honestly, all this ruckus over a missing jigsaw puzzle?

"It's your gift from Oba-san, so you have to help me find it!"

Bah. Mom can help you with that. I can't even move a muscle here. Wait a minute… My sister was disturbing me for a jigsaw puzzle… a missing jigsaw puzzle… a missing jigsaw puzzle that belonged to me. What kind of ridiculously convenient coincidence is this? I lost a jigsaw puzzle, or rather, my sister discovered that I had lost it, just as I was contemplating on losing things. Great! Now I don't have to lose something on purpose anymore!

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of my mind could not keep up with the weakness of my body. As if taking my earlier advice, my little sister snorted and said something about not letting me play it when she and mom did find the jigsaw before running out of my room again. Can you even remove the playing rights of somebody when he owns the damn thing? Ugh… there wasn't really much energy left for me to do anything. With that conclusion, I just let myself slip into a state of slumber, with the quiet hope that I don't suddenly wake up in a gray copy of the school with nobody but a certain girl to keep me company…

TBC…

AN: Aaaaaaaand, that's it for this chappie. I'm really scared about the characterizations here, and I hope that I got them right. Yes, I don't worry too much of the plot, I have most of it worked out. I'm just worrying about how I'm having them act. Isn't everybody afraid of making them act wrong? To make up for leaving you all so badly disappointed with a pathetic little excerpt last time, I leave you with this:

"You forgot your shoes," the voice from the unidentified number said. Despite being unidentified, that voice was pretty familiar. Before I could ask and confirm it though, the call had already ended.

That point stressed out, I only realized now that I had indeed completely forgotten about the fact that my outdoor shoes were still in my shoe locker, ever since I put them there yesterday. Well this is great. I looked over at Koizumi and Nagato, who were still examining the trunk full of toys and games.

"Who was it?"

"Some concerned friend or something," I shrugged.

"I see…" the esper flipped the box of my previously missing jigsaw puzzle, analyzing it as if it were entirely new to him. Isn't that Nagato's job?

"Look, you guys just keep on figuring this problem out. I'll be back as fast as I can." That having been said, I made my run back to the shoe locker to finally switch shoes. Hopefully, I don't make such a scatterbrained mistake again.