Chapter 8

In retrospect, this day wasn't been the worst day of my life. I've been able to reaffirm my feelings towards my friends, and towards Haruhi, and for someone like me, that was monumental.

On the other hand though, being charged with crimes against the time stream wasn't exactly something they settle in The People's Court the last time I checked.

Yes, even thought I chose not to interfere with time (thought I totally could have) Asahina (big) - she's officially lost any honorific - apparently saw fit to imprison Fujiwara and me in this tiny one room portable jail. Apparently in the future they have a method of carrying large items (i.e. portable jails) in compressed space - I was almost disappointed by the lack of a comic book "BOM!" when they deployed it. Now we were just waiting for the trial, thought it was no doubt just a formality for whatever they've got planned.

"Of course, we wouldn't have to worry about that if you'd have actually done what you were supposed to do, you soft-hearted moron."

This of course was from my partner in crime, who was less than pleased about the current situation. Although I guess I couldn't really blame him; I doubt that this was the outcome that he predicted, nor the one that he would have picked.

"Aren't you clever. Did you figure that out all by yourself, or did you have to get your 'friend' the high-and-mighty Mikuru's help with that."

And, truth is, it was my fault. Even if presented with the whole plan upfront, it probably would have come to this anyways. I couldn't really say that I was thinking straight at the time, and any solution had seemed like something reasonable then. Really, I had to thank him. This wasn't the solution I wanted, but as I said, I did get something out of it.

Now, whether or not I'll be able to use that resolve was a different matter entirely. For the moment, I had some time to barter with. Asahina (big) was rather tight lipped, but I overheard some of the officers talking before I got shoved in here that apparently that time stopping device that Fujiwara used messed up every single TPDD in the vicinity, which last time I checked, was all of them.

"That's the only reason we aren't in the future right now. As soon as they get the channels of communication back up, they'll just send more people with working TPDD's here, and then it's all over."

"The way you say that makes it sound like we're walking down death row."

"That's because for me it is, you dumbass," he snapped. "I'm a wanted criminal. As for you, who knows. You're too important to just sweep under the carpet and that little interface of yours can probably undo any mental influence they put on you. From their perspective though, they have unlimited amounts of time, so don't worry, I'm sure they'll come up with something."

"This is not doing much for my opinion of time travelers, you know."

"Then how about this: whatever happens to you, for me it'll be far worse. They might jail me, or more likely put me in temporal stasis; or worse, they could program me like a two bit calculator so that I'll be a good little lapdog."

Wait, really? He had mentioned some underhanded methods, but I'd never think they'd go that far.

Did you have to go through the same thing, Asahina-san (small)? Is that why you ended up the way you did?

"Oh, probably," he made the statement far too casually for my taste, "some people get more programming than others, some people barely get any at all, but no one active in time travelling gets away without having some."

"Once again? Not helping."

"I'm just telling it to you straight. We can't have anything slipping out, or have you already forgotten just how many times she annoyingly told you that something was 'classified information'? That's not always deliberate on her part; she literally can't divulge anything they don't want her to. Or, that was the case anyways."

A terrifying thought, and once again I felt a little guilty. As much as this guy rubbed me the wrong way, I didn't want to see his brain turned into swiss cheese. Unfortunately, given that we were both incarcerated, all I could do was take my cue from Dumas and wait and hope. If I tried to apologize he'd probably only blow me off.

But . . .

"Even though you probably don't care, I'm sorry." Curse my soft heart.

I prepared for laughter, or maybe a jeering comeback, but instead I got nothing. When I turned to look at him, he was just staring off into the distance - or, well, rather he would be if there wasn't a wall directly in front of him. Given the close quarters, nothing was really 'distant'. Slowly, he answered:

"Yeah, whatever."

Somehow, his somewhat blasé acceptance of my apology only made me feel worse. I've only ever met Fujiwara a handful of times, but in all those times he's been anything but pensive.

Something about my staring must have upset him, because he quickly spat out, "What? If you want me to say something it's that you have a crappy sense of timing, but what's done is done. Even a rogue time traveler knows that much."

As I looked at him, I couldn't help but think that he left something out. Maybe he was stunned that I didn't go through with it. On the other hand, maybe he was just amazed that someone could care enough about anyone else to put their neck on the line like I have.

"Now, as riveting of a conversation as this is, unless you have any ideas about how to get us out of here, I'd like to spend what with all probability will be my last moments in a semblance of peace.

Then again it was entirely possible that I was just thinking too much about this because I didn't want to think about what would happen when our captors got their equipment repaired. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else to do besides sit and stew, although my aching body didn't have much of a problem with that. Running around being chased like a game animal, just like being trapped in dimensional spaces, being in the middle of a real magical girl fight, getting stabbed, and dealing with the end of the world, was something I would never get used to. While I'm at it, I might as well add time to the list. After all, if you'd have told me four years ago that I'd be meeting a girl who had powers on a grand enough scale to affect the entire universe, and then that I'd fall in love with her enough to do insane stuff like nearly alter all of time space, I probably would have been the one dialing the phone to call in the psychiatrists.

. . . You know, I bet all of this would make interesting reading material, if anyone who read it wouldn't think I was stark raving mad afterwards.

There I go again. As you can see, I wasn't really racking my brain to figure a way out, even though I should have been. But, really, this was one of those situations when my often overridden common sense could really get a chance to kick in. The time travelers were a highly organized and heavily armed military group; Fujiwara and me were two completely unarmed guys, and in my case, all I knew about self-defense came from Shonen Jump. I definitely didn't stand a chance, and as much as Fujiwara might want to literally go out with guns blazing, I'd prefer for the sake of everyone involved if that didn't happen. So unless he came up with any terrifically bright ideas soon, we were, sad to say, pretty much doomed. Reinforcements (for them, not us) were coming soon and from what little I could see through the porthole above us, it was still early night, even though it felt like I'd been thinking about the past, the present, and (as much as I wanted to avoid it) the future for hours.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I woke up with a start, and made some rather quick realizations: first of all, I wasn't in a cramped cell anymore; secondly, it was the middle of the day; and thirdly, I must be dreaming.

That was the only thing that could possibly explain how I was looking at myself sitting on a park bench right now. Well, okay, not the only thing, since time traveling didn't come with an invisibility cloak and my other self didn't seem to be aware of me at all, despite my being directly in front of him, that option just wasn't applicable here. Come to think of it, this entire scene looked familiar, even though I was viewing it from a different perspective than I did the first time. It was almost like watching tv, although who'd want to watch me when I wasn't doing something involving a cave cricket or alien fights is beyond my knowledge.

Then it dawned on me.

This was that day, that very moment. This is when I asked Haruhi out.

Oh man, this was going to be embarrassing.

This was just after everyone left Nagato's place. We had all eaten lunch there after she recovered, and then I fed Haruhi a story about how I found a friend of Nagato who just happened to have a home remedy for the illness Nagato had. It wasn't completely off base, right? Anyways, Haruhi was just happy that Nagato was okay, just like the rest of us were, so she didn't explore it too deeply, and we parted ways. I wandered for a bit and I ended up here, without even thinking about it.

Yeah, there I go, getting out my phone when I realized that when I sat down on the park bench, that it was that park bench. This park bench was a Mecca for time travellers, there was no other explanation, but now it was serving as a backdrop to one of my crazier decisions.

"Haruhi, meet me in the park by the café the Brigade always goes to!"

And then I hung up. I still couldn't believe how impulsive I was. Some of Haruhi must have really rubbed off on me if I did that. At the time I wasn't really thinking about it; because if I had then there's no way I would have done it otherwise. I mean, can you imagine me giving an order to Haruhi? It's ridiculous!

I watched myself get up and start pacing around. I guess that at the time I should have taken the fact that Koizumi hadn't called and said something about a supersized close space as a good sign, but at the time I was nervous that I had really pissed our illustrious chief off, or that she had just shrugged off my call. I guess that I was planning to stand there until she either showed up, or it became obvious she wouldn't. It wasn't actually that long before I saw Haruhi's head in the crowd, heading towards me - er, the other me, dream me.

Even though I thought I'd be above this I couldn't help making a couple of stupid faces while walking around her. I guess being in the situation really does make you want to. Anyways, I grabbed a good seat and watched the comedy unfold.

"You've got some nerve!" she said - she was trying to look angry, but looking at it calmly now, her tone was awfully playful, all things considered. She was still annoyed, but more in the "why the hell did you drag me out here" sort of way, rather than a "I'm going to rip off your head and parade around with it on a stick" sort of way. I guess that we were both in high spirits due to Nagato's recovery.

"What's so important that you, a subordinate and lowest ranking member of the glorious SOS-Brigade, decided that you had the authority to make a demand to your chief without even waiting for a response?"

I stood there for a really long time, looking kind of stupid. For all the wit people claim I have, I certainly didn't have any access to it at that moment. It was almost groan-inducing, although I realized that I was thinking something like how to break this to Haruhi.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Good. Grief. I'm amazed that Haruhi didn't flying dropkick me right that second. Instead both of us just looked kind of dumbfounded.

"That's seriously the best you can come up with? No UFO sightings? No mysterious energy storms popping up? You couldn't have just done this over the phone!"

Yeah, like I'm the kind of guy that asks a woman on a date over the phone.

"Wait, what?"

"Wait, what?"

Cue awkward moment of silence and stupefied glances.

"I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

Yes, yes I did.

I can't believe that it actually happened like this, I was suppressing my urge to laugh, even though I knew no one would hear me. I can't believe that this is how I asked Haruhi out.

Of course, Haruhi's expression and demeanour got immediately serious. She just stood there with her eyes closed and her arms crossed, going over something in her mind. Truth be told this was more the posture that I would have expected out of someone like Nagato if I'd have asked her to calculate pi to a billion decimal points (though she probably would have done it in an instant). Then she opened her eyes, and sized dream-me up like Ali sizing up Glass Joe. I'm surprised I didn't run for my life at that very moment. Even though I knew now what was going to happen, it was all I could do to stand my own ground. Hang in there, me!

"I get what you're trying to do." she said, a devious grin on her face.

At this point, the best that dream me could do was look completely clueless, because he honestly was.

"Don't play coy with me, Kyon! You're trying to get out of the punishment that you know would be coming for some of what you've been doing these past couple of days." The grin grew as she cupped her chin in her hand.

Ah, so that was how I looked when I was completely exasperated. Good to know.

I should explain. To Haruhi, this was a ploy because she was suspicious that I spent time alone with Nagato, which, to Haruhi, obviously meant that I took advantage of her in her delicate state. Of course, I knew that if there was anyone that I couldn't take advantage of, even if I wanted to, Nagato would be second on the list only to Haruhi herself.

"You can't seriously think I'm that kind of person."

"It does seem out of character, but hey, stress does crazy things to a person." was her reply. From my point of view, she was obviously having fun with me, but dream me took this dead seriously.

"Are you trying to give me an excuse for something I didn't do? Is it that strange to think that I might have wanted to ask you out on a date because I like you?"

"This was clever, you almost had me going for a minute there, Kyon. But you should know that it'll be a million, no, a billion years before you can pull the wool over my eyes! As such, your punishment will have to be something really bad." Haruhi purred, with a grin that would have made Fujiwara envious (and possibly make him soil his pants as well).

At this point, dream me was gearing up for just about anything, but little did he know what was coming next.

"Your punishment is to treat me for the rest of the afternoon that you've made me waste by coming out here!"

"Wake up."

An unfamiliar voice jarred me from my slumber. I guess that I had been more tired than I realized, because I was sleeping sitting up (there wasn't nearly enough space to get in any other position, and I wasn't about to stand all night long)

"Wake up!"

All right, all right!

I obeyed the voice, and as my eyes started coming into focus a couple things were immediately obvious: it was nearly daybreak, and the person standing in front of me was indeed no one I knew, because it was one of the TIF officers. I guess that they were finally ready to move us somewhere else, or take us to the future where they'd be able to deal with us more easily. For a brief moment, I contemplated attacking this guy; he seemed rather unprepared in the event of trouble: his gun was slung behind his back, and his manner was just a little too casual. But still, even if I knocked out this guy and took his weapon, there were however many more of them within earshot of the scuffle that it would no doubt cause just waiting to fire. Besides, though my opinion of time travelers had plummeted down to subterranean levels, aside from Asahina (big), I didn't owe any of these people any contempt. They were just doing their job after all. It was then I realized that the officer was just standing there, staring at me. Was there something on my face?

"No, it's just interesting to see the legendary figure after all this time. You are Kyon-kun, after all," the officer replied.

Wait a minute. Did he just call me "Kyon-kun"?

"I'd say it's nice to meet you, and in a way, it wouldn't be a lie, but I don't think that this is the time for reintroductions. It's time to stop just sitting around and being complacent. I think I've done more than enough of both at this point."

At this point, I was pretty much lost in the plot again, until the soldier reached up and took his helmet off, allowing a ponytail of a familiar brown hue to hang loose. Of course, at this point I also realized that I had been using the wrong gender pronoun, and that one of my earlier assumptions had been blatantly false: I knew this person quite well.

"Hello Kyon-kun … it's been a while." Asahina Mikuru said with a smile.

For a moment I wondered whether Asahina (big) was playing some sort of sadistic joke on me, until I realized that this Asahina-san was not quite as tall as Asahina (big), but still taller than Asahina-san (small). I couldn't compare the bust sizes (get your mind out of the gutter; it would have been purely for comparison purposes) since the uniform had hidden her gender so well that I didn't even know it was a girl. The voice even sounded male until she took the helmet off.

Before I could continue that train of thought though, it was completely derailed by the fact that Asahina-san was now hugging me almost with as much force as Haruhi (only on the average day, but that was still a considerable amount).

"It's been so long, and I've missed everyone so much. But I never expected anything like this to happen," she said after letting me go.

She clearly noted my confusion, and was quick to try and address it: "For me, it's been a little over two years since I've seen anyone from the SOS-Brigade."

So I was right. Wait, does this make this Asahina-san Asahina-san (medium)?

Oh, who cares? There would be time to ask such banal questions later. First things first:

"What exactly are you doing here, Asahina-san?"

She collected herself, thinking it over as if she didn't really know the answer herself. "There's not much time to explain," she answered, "We've got to get out of here before anyone else realizes what's going on. I don't want there to be a scene. But I do owe you an explanation, if only for what that other me has put you through.

"To put it in the briefest of terms: I shouldn't actually be here. I wasn't authorized to come on this mission, and I'm actually amazed that I've even gotten this far, but when I saw what was going on, I knew what I needed to do. I can't let you and Suzumiya-san and everyone else suffer for the sake of the future; I can't, no, I won't become like . . . like her!"

At this point Asahina-san was almost shouting, and only when I began to look a little panicked did she realize that she was becoming a little too boisterous and restrained herself again.

"There will hopefully be time for explanations later though; right now I have to get you out of here."

Once again, luck was a literal lady at my side, this time in the form of the slightly older and wiser Asahina-san. But there was one thing that I couldn't leave be.

"Wait Asahina-san. I don't know how you feel about this, but regardless of what has happened or will happen between you two, we have to bring Fujiwara with us."

I didn't know how Asahina-san would react to such a request, and at first I don't think she knew how to take it, but thankfully after thinking it over for a moment she simply smiled that enchanting smile of hers and said that she understood.

Just the look on Fujiwara's face when he saw us as we opened the cell door alone would have made it worth setting him free, but truly, in his own way, he's helped me a lot, even if it was for his own reasons. He quickly collected himself though, and we proceeded to make a quick exit.

Then, for the second time in 24 hours, I heard that sickening noise of a weapon being readied behind us.

"I don't know who you are, but as of right now your little prison break is over," the voice of the leader of this group called out. I say voice, but of course I knew who it was, and Asahina (big), clearly furious that one of her own officers had decided now of all times to stage a coup, soon continued: "Take that weapon off your back, slowly, and then step out to where I can see you."

Once all three of us stepped out of the dimly lit area where the impromptu jail was erected, the anger on her face turned into shock and complete and utter confusion.

"No, this, this can't be right . . ." she stammered, in a way almost reverting back to that meek and defenceless that she once was.

"Why are you here? How are you here? It's not possible!" she shouted, trying to regain her air of authority.

It was this moment, more than any other, that showed me that the two Asahina-sans that stood before each other were different from the girl I knew. I had already known the ways in which Asahina (big) was different. But this Asahina-san that stood beside me right now was greatly changed as well. The Asahina-san that I knew would probably have been a bowl of quivering jelly by now. But this Asahina-san was steadfast, she wasn't giving her former superior officer and future incarnation an inch.

"I'm here because I need to be here" came the reply, said without a hint of nervousness or doubt.

"But, this can't be happening! I don't remember any of this." Asahina (big) exclaimed, at this point the gun in her hand was subtly shaking.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that it is happening right now. I'm returning Kyon-kun to his own time and helping him and Suzumiya-san in any way I can!"

It was at this point that Asahina (big) started to take on the demeanour that was familiar to me, but not because of her. It was the same demeanour that my mother used whenever she was disappointed with me. There was an edge of smugness to it, which made it worse, but there was some genuine sympathy and concern in her tone as well when she replied, in that strangely contradictive tone, "You're so naïve. How can you say that you'll help these people. People that aren't even from your own time. People that have done nothing but hurt you and mistreat you? Do you even understand how terrible that girl is? What she's done to us?"

Asahina-san (medium) simply stared at her older counterpart, her reply coming naturally: "She's is my friend; just like everyone else in the past is. And because they deserve my help more than you or the future ever will."

There was some wavering in her voice, but I could tell this Asahina-san meant every word of what she had said. It was the weight of those words that might have scared her, but not the resolve of what they meant. Obviously, her older self gleaned the same thing, because she was clearly shocked that her younger adversary was still standing her ground.

"I never really got the chance to look back," Asahina (big) almost lamented, "I forgot how idealistic I was in my youth. There was a time when I would have gone this far for my "friends" -" she seemed conflicted when she said the word, as if it still had a meaning that she was trying to deny, "-but this is over. You're outnumbered and outgunned. So please just come quietly, and I promise that we'll sort this all out."

It was a genuine offer, but something about it still made my blood run cold.

I was so focused on the conflict in front of me that I had indeed failed to notice that we were obviously surrounded, and all the other TIF members had their guns at the ready as well. Asahina (big) wasn't trying to come off as smug, but her tone and posture said it all. She had us, not the other way around.

"This came as a surprise, but I realize now that when dealing with her that I should have been prepared for anything. It might take a little time, but you'll understand why you, why I have to do this. These people aren't your friends; they just used you for their own gain."

At this point Asahina-san (medium) was nearly shaking.

"Even though I had to do some things that I regret, you have to realize that I did it all for you. To make sure you'd have a future worth looking forward to." she said as gently as she could.

"If the future means that I'll become a person like you … If that's the sacrifice that I'd have to make … then I don't care about the future!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, some almost invisible tears falling from her eyes as she met the words of her future self head on.

For a moment, I almost wondered if Fujiwara had set off another one of those time stopping devices, because it certainly seemed as if time was standing still. I'm sure that the shock on Fujiwara's face was probably mirrored in my own, but that was nothing compared to the amount that betrayed itself across the face of Asahina (big). Even though I couldn't see the faces of the people surrounding us, it was obvious that even they were amazed that someone had just been so blunt with their commander.

The surprise for her older self quickly turned into frustration though, with some slight rage boiling under the surface. It seemed she knew that she'd been bested in this battle, and even if she knew she'd probably win the war, she wasn't happy about it.

"I have had enough of arguing with this child!" she snapped, jarring the TIF officers back to reality. "Knock them out for a week if need be, I don't care, just put them down!" she ordered.

Even though they were just stun guns (or had a stun setting which I hoped none of them had forgotten to activate) I knew that this was the end either way. I prepared myself to meet whatever maker was waiting for me. Again, if it has to be anyone, please make it Haruhi.

But after a few moments, I met no one, and everyone just looked confused by the rather large amount of nothing happening. Asahina's (big) veneer of calmness disappeared entirely, as she shouted, "I gave you all a direct order to shoot, so shoot!" but all her soldiers could do was give her pleading looks.

"We tried, ma'am, but the weapons have malfunctioned!"

Asahina (big) scoffed. "That's not possible, let alone probable! Something else-"

While she wasn't able to finish her sentence, she was right in a way. Something even less probably was exactly the cause, as Asahina (big) looked on in horror all of her officers fell to the ground, seemingly incapacitated by an unknown force.

"But . . . this can't be . . ." the older woman said, almost trying to will away what was happening as if it were a bad dream.

"I'm not naïve enough to go in here without some insurance," Asahina-san (medium) finally spoke, breaking all of our collective stupor. I would have almost said that Asahina-san wanted to smile, but kept herself in check, not wanting to stoop to the level of smugness that her count part had moments earlier.

Before she could utter another word of disbelief, Asahina (big) fell to the ground. Only then did I understand what had happened.

Or rather, who had happened. Because standing behind where the older Asahina-san had been was the familiar figure of Nagato Yuki.

Author's Notes: Phew, it's been quite a while, hasn't it. I realize that this chapter might read a little short, but that's because this one and the one that's now chapter 9 used to be one gigantic chapter. And Chapter 9 shouldn't be too long in coming. I can also pretty safely say that this will be a 10 chapter story, especially given the way that Chapter 9 is going to end. Until then, I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

I really have to thank everyone that has expressed an interest in this story. From my gifted beta Arty Esbee d'Arc, to all the people that have left reviews and words of encouragement. I honestly didn't think I'd even make 20 reviews, and now I might actually break 100. It's more than I ever expected, and so I can't express my gratitude enough. Thank you.

EDIT: I fixed a slight continuity snarl with the park bench. Thanks to those that pointed it out.

Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own any of the characters of the Haruhi universe, please don't sue me (strangely flattering as it would be).