Yo people! The newest chapter has arrived. This marks the start of the final arc of this story. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! It was quite the challenge to write. And yes, Eikino-san is my first attempt at a decent OC. Enjoy!
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Someone please tell me something. Exactly why was I doing this again?
At this point, even I didn't know. Some force was driving me toward my destination, which was specifically North High. But allow me backtrack just a little bit so I make a little more sense.
Today was Friday, November 20th. On this very day, Haruhi Suzumiya successfully planned for three classrooms worth of North High's student body to attend a two-day trip to the infamous Mt. Fuji. Well, if you want to be specific, we were actually going to be visiting Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, as well as nearby Tokyo.
Because of her utter success at this year's cultural festival, Haruhi was able to raise about 75% of the funds she would need to make the trip possible. The rest was given by the school, mostly out of thanks, since they'd been flooded with applications for enrollment since the festival.
All in all, everything seemed to be going exactly Haruhi's way, or at least partially. From her success in the cultural festival, to the fact that she's been asked out at least six times since yesterday (from what I've heard in rumors and hearsay). As for me…
I was actually better than I've been for a long time. It's hard to think that I could become so calm and carefree this easily. In fact, I was stressed beyond my limit only yesterday, walking out on Koizumi when he started going on about the possibility that Haruhi could be subconsciously reading my thoughts and desires.
But I decided that I needed to give myself a break. I've been focusing on something so fiercely, and frankly, it's affecting my personality. I was never like this before I met Haruhi. I never dwelt in bouts of apathy and depression like this. I was just your average high school guy, part of the huge storybook that made up the normal world. But as you might have noticed, things radically change when the author of that said book is Haruhi Suzumiya. Things end up changing quite a bit.
But enough about that. The point is that I was currently in the best mood I've been in for weeks. Part of it was because I was kind of actually excited about the upcoming trip.
Initially, I didn't think that Haruhi actually had a plan concerning all the details about this trip of hers. In fact, I figured that she would just assume everyone knew that the destination for everyone to meet was going to be the back parking lot of North High. I was very wrong however, and Haruhi took the time to send out a mass e-mail to all the people belonging to classes signed up for the trip. However, it was no secret that Haruhi had chosen four classes specifically, which were Nagato's, Koizumi's, Asahina-san's, and ours.
Basically, Haruhi informed us all of the meeting time, the meeting place, what exactly we would be doing on this trip, what we needed to bring, and when we would be getting back on Sunday via e-mail. For something related to Haruhi, it was surprisingly clear and concise, and someone could actually read the damn thing and make sense out of it. In short, it kind of scared me a little bit. The Haruhi I once knew was becoming nothing more than a fractured memory.
Straying away from that topic, I figured walking to North High would be a good idea, and it would allow me some relaxation before I had to deal with the physical incarnation of Orochi that was our class representative. I was wrong. I felt like I was being chilled to the bone.
After a few minutes of walking around the school, and feeling like I was pacing through the summit of Everest itself, I spotted a large group of people gathered by the curb of the large faculty parking lot located at the back of North High. Most of them were wearing winter clothes, and I cursed myself for not thinking to wear a warmer jacket.
"Look who decided to finally show up!"
I didn't need to go searching through the crowd to know that unmistakable voice. I guessed Haruhi was in a pissed off mood and figured she would just take it out on me. I don't know what the hell she could be pissed off about though. It's not like life isn't completely going her way.
"Good morning, Suzumiya-san." I said jokingly, not wanting to give Haruhi the satisfaction of seeing me sad. Instead, I feigned happiness and pretended like seeing her was the best part of my day. It was all I could do to keep my sanity around her at this point.
"It's a good thing you got here, Kyon. All Suzumiya's been talking about is how long you were keeping us waiting." Taniguchi commented loudly from within the crowd of waiting people, much to my annoyance. I eyed the empty parking lot in front of me, having already seen the obvious.
"Because I can tell that the buses are already here. I'm sorry I took the extra five minutes in getting here."
It felt good to be this sarcastic. In fact, it felt really good.
"You better be sorry!"
"Now let's settle down, people. The buses should be here soon anyway, so there's no need for us to be at each others' throats before we even get to Tokyo." Okabe-sensei stated in a loud enough voice to catch everyone's attention. The man had ended up being the single adult chaperone for this trip, and I kind of felt sorry for the fact that he had to watch over this many teenagers at once. I would have certainly chickened out, but something tells me that he was "convinced" by Haruhi. There's no doubt she's capable of such a thing.
After that, Haruhi wore nothing but a sour face, and I remained relatively silent for the twenty minutes till the bus finally arrived. I actually tried to find Asahina-san, but her frail little figure must have blended among the rest of the people here. I assumed Nagato was reading in solitude, and I didn't really want to see Koizumi at the moment. The image of his smiling face just really seemed to be bugging me at the moment.
And so, I was happy to finally take a seat in one of the two coach buses that had finally arrived. Having woken myself up early to get to the school, my mind relaxed at the possibility that I might actually be able to take a long and well-deserved nap on this three hour ride to Tokyo. The prefecture the park was located in was far from here, and the only time I can recall ever visiting Tokyo was when I was around four or five. I can't really recall much about it, beyond remembering getting a nice Godzilla toy as a souvenir. I kind of missed my younger days from time to time.
From where I was sitting, I could see that Haruhi had taken a seat farther up in the front. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice me back here, so I guessed that I could just be ignored by her for the majority of the ride. Someone like Taniguchi would be more tolerable than Haruhi, especially for this long of a bus ride.
This was nice. I couldn't hear Haruhi's voice from this distance away, but I could see that she was talking to all the people behind her. Though I didn't spot Asahina-san yet, I felt happy when I realized that people around me were relatively quiet, and as the bus began to lurch to a start, my mind focused on one thought instantly.
Sleep. It's time to get some nice, uninterrupted, sle-
"Ah. There you are, Kyon-kun."
I looked up, and inner rage began to boil from within my soul. Koizumi was looking down at me, with a smile on his face that could put a clown to shame.
You bastard! You are not going to ruin my one chance to get some goddamn rest!
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you. I need to speak with you about some important matters actually. We've got a while till we arrive at out destination."
Goddamn it. Why now? Why not later? You want me to suffer for eternity, don't you Koizumi?
I sighed deeply. Honestly, I wouldn't be able to escape Koizumi's explanation even if I tried. Goodbye, rest and relaxation…
"I just wonder how you're going to be able to talk about this without attracting any attention. You do realize that we're on a full coach bus, right?" I asked the esper, who didn't even ask me if he could take the empty seat in front of him.
Koizumi sat down, and responded with a certainty in his voice.
"The two in front of us are both distracted by their music players, and the two behind us are colleagues of mine. Beyond staying quiet enough that Suzumiya-san wouldn't be able to hear from her seat, I assume that we should be fine with our discussion. And if anyone asks, I'll just tell them we're talking about a new role-playing game."
Both Koizumi's smile and the fact that he was making a bit of sense were bothering me quite a bit. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to listen to what he had to say. I looked out the window, watching the city buildings buzz past.
"Fine. What's wrong this time?"
"Well, quite a few things. Most importantly, I assume that you somewhat understand that the situation concerning Suzumiya-san and the stability of this universe is growing more problematic with each passing day."
I felt the urge to groan, but I held it in.
"Yeah, I know. It's all related to her not wanting to be eccentric anymore."
"You are correct. I've been speaking with some higher-ups in the Organization, and they've come to a conclusion that Suzumiya-san will continue to progressively change into a more normal human being with each day. Unfortunately, this change is more extreme than any of us could have been predicted, and it seems to be greatly affecting her mind."
Of course it is. Why else would she find a reason to bar me from the Brigade?
"The main reason seems to be that she's trying to rebuild the relationship that the two of you used to have. However, being still the Suzumiya-san we know, she's doing it in a way that most normal people wouldn't. And because of this, we've concluded that the many strange occurrences we've observed over the past summer break are proof that the universe is unraveling around her."
I looked at Koizumi, raising an eyebrow.
"So you're saying…that her being not normal is what essentially caused her to want to be normal? That's a huge contradiction, even for Haruhi."
Koizumi chuckled at me, leaning back a in his seat and crossing his arms.
"This is Suzumiya-san. You should have learned by now to expect the unexpected from her. But that's not so much the point. There is going to be a breaking point for her. It will be the point where she won't be able to mentally handle your separation any longer. At that point, we conclude that the universe will collapse on itself, transmuting reality itself into the same white void we encountered those months ago."
I was trying my best to absorb everything Koizumi was telling me. For one thing, it sounded like a lot of this had quite a bit to do with that white void. The same white void Nagato brought a few weeks ago, and the same white void where I confessed love for Haruhi. What the hell was that place?
"I'm guessing you won't tell me much more about this white space…"
"It's not information I can disclose to you at the moment. I apologize, Kyon-kun."
I figured. You know you could also apologize about keeping me awake with this explanation of yours, at least.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Someone had overheard us, or was overhearing us. I looked over Koizumi's shoulder, and I could see the question had come from Kunikida, who was in the window seat across from us. He looked curious all of a sudden. This was not a good thing.
I watched Koizumi smile, and I hoped he knew what he was doing.
"Oh, it's nothing really. I was just telling Kyon-kun here about this role-playing game that I was considering purchasing soon. It's got quite the interesting back-story."
"What's this game called? And what does it have to do with Suzumiya?" Kunikida asked, and I wished that he would just stop with the questions at that point.
"Well, I had asked her a while ago if she wanted to be the person who plays god in this specific game. She was very enthusiastic about it. I would tell you the name of it, but I honestly can't recall it." Koizumi answered, rubbing the back of his head in fake confusion.
Is that supposed to be believable? Nevertheless, Kunikida now looked satisfied, much to my relief.
"Could you tell me what it's called if you remember it? It sounds interesting."
"I will." Koizumi replied with a smile, ending the conversation between them.
After that whole explanation, I felt good in saying that now came the much needed silence.
"Koizumi-kun!"
And there it went with the wind.
Haruhi was standing in front of our seats, looking at Koizumi with a big smile on her face. I might be a little lazy with my school work, but don't mistaken me for an idiot. I could see right through Haruhi's ploy.
"Come sit with me! I need to talk to you about some things!" Haruhi stated, before grabbing Koizumi by the wrist and pulling him out of his seat. He kept the smile on his face as Haruhi dragged him away from me.
"We'll talk later then."
I looked at the window in disinterest.
"I guess we will."
Wow. That was kind of a pathetic attempt making me jealous. Maybe the fact that what Haruhi did is not so much affecting me is telling me something. Maybe I didn't need her as much as I thought I did.
Who the hell am I kidding? It's not so much of a question as it is a fact. I sighed to myself, leaning my head against the back of the seat, and closing my eyes. I deserved some sleep now. For the rest of this bus ride, I'd hopefully be able to forget the trials and tribulations of this crazy world.
It's safe to say that the rest I got on the bus was definitely necessary. And the only reason for that is because of how much walking we'd probably be doing for the rest of the day. It didn't sound like any fun. And that's without even mentioning the long walk that was necessary for just getting to the park from where the buses had dropped us off in the western side of the Yamanashi prefecture.
"Alright. We're all ready for today's hike!" Haruhi announced to the students gathered in front of her. Haruhi stood before all of us, almost as if she was our army general, and we were awaiting her orders. In a way, it was kind of like that. On her right side, Okabe-sensei remained silent, giving me the message that Haruhi was probably running this trip much more than he was.
And left to Haruhi, and elderly man dressed in khaki clothing stood, a strange expression of happiness on his face. He had half-moon glasses, and a head full of stringy gray hair. Behind him, we could see the trees that lay before the great Mt. Fuji, which towered above us in the far distance. I had always heard that this national park was nice, and not much to my surprise, it certainly seemed like it.
As stated in Haruhi's e-mail, most of us were dressed up in appropriate clothing for the outdoors. I didn't have any hiking boots for this trip, so I just put on the most comfortable and hardy shoes I could find. I hoped it was enough, but seeing Haruhi's clothes, and her expensive-looking hiking boots, I felt like it might not be.
"So who is this friend of yours, Haruhi-nyan?" Tsuruya-san asked from the front of the group. Haruhi smiled a little wide, glanced at the old man next to her as he began to speak.
"My name is Dejiaku Eikino-san. This young lady was in need of a guide for your excursion, and since the park is currently on its off-season for hiking, I decided I would volunteer as your group's guide." The old man replied, eyeing all of us as if we were ninjas on the verge of taking our examinations.
"We just had some amazing luck with finding him! I couldn't believe that he was the only one willing to do it during the park's off-season. And he doesn't even want to be paid either!" Haruhi told us enthusiastically, her voice just radiating happiness. I didn't know if it was actually genuine however.
Eikino-san shook his head, and spoke in a quiet, humble tone.
"I don't need the money. I've grown up with the wilderness here, so it's a pleasure for me to be able to trek it with some company. I do warn you however that there is a reason that most of our guides are unavailable. At this time of year, it's quite frigid."
I didn't like the sound of that at all. I wasn't really prepared for the cold. Come to think of it, I wasn't really prepared for any of this. Coming here might have been a mistake.
"But not to worry. It's only a problem at nightfall, and I'm sure that we'll get plenty of hiking in before sunset."
"And when we're done for today, I'll be treating all of you to dinner. There's a very nice restaurant in the Yamanashi prefecture that we'll probably be going to." Haruhi added, rousing up excitement in the formerly silent students. Besides the cold, this hike didn't sound so bad.
I figured that we'd go through the wilderness for awhile, and maybe climb some small hills or something. Eikino-san probably won't be able to do much more. In fact, if I can avoid getting on Haruhi's nerves, then maybe I could take this time to just relax a little.
That sounded like a nice thought already…
"Come on! Just a little farther up, and then we'll take a break. We're only a couple hundred feet above the base of the mountain."
I didn't think I would experience so much pain and exhaustion in one sitting. I had assumed that Eikino-san was a frail old man who would just want to take us on a stroll through the forest. I was very, very wrong with my judgment. He took us up just about every rocky hill he could find in this wilderness until we actually made our way to the base of the massive Mt. Fuji.
I was in a hell of a lot of pain right now, being one of the many people who were trudging up the path high above the ground below. The mountain itself was huge, and after the first two hours of this hiking, I had lost track of how long we've been going upward for.
As I continued hiking towards the higher ground ahead, I could see Eikino-san already standing there, smiling down at us as he put us through an equivalent to the Trail of Tears. I stopped for a moment, catching my breath and wondering why the hell I had decided to trust this man. Clearly, he was not in his right mind.
"This is too much…" Taniguchi said behind me, huffing like he had just run a marathon. I couldn't blame him for being so tired. I was just as exhausted, if not more so.
"It's just a little hiking. I don't see what all the fuss is about." said the old man, his eyes glinting.
Is he really this crazed? I'm starting to see how he and Haruhi could have possibly gotten along. He could be her grandfather at this point.
I looked to my side for a moment, and Nagato just walked past me slowly. She was keeping a perfect pace however, and not much to my surprise, she was reading a novel at the same time, her eyes not leaving the pages of her book despite the fact that she wasn't straying off the rocky path at all. It was quite amazing to watch, but it didn't make me feel any less exhausted.
"How the hell does she do that?" Taniguchi asked with a wheeze in his voice.
Trust me, Taniguchi. You do not want to know.
"That's what I'm talking about. See? It's not so hard." Eikino-san said as he watched Nagato finally walk up to where he was standing. Without a word, she stood next to him, and continued reading her book as she waited for us.
I would agree with you, Eikino-san, if I didn't know that Nagato was a humanoid interface practically immune to pain and discomfort.
I, on the other hand, felt terrible, and the cold bit me like a set of frost-encrusted jaws. Nevertheless, I pressed on, wondering if the same crazy force from earlier in the day was driving me again.
The feeling of drinking water in combination with sitting down was like heaven. I was sitting on large flat rock now, drinking from my water bottle, and enjoying every bit of it. We had been hiking for awhile, and it's safe to say that we were probably a five or six hundred feet above sea level by now. Right now, Eikino-san was allowing us to take a break on a ridge very high above the trees, and I thanked an assortment of gods that I didn't believe in for it.
I didn't think that I liked the idea of this trip anymore. If we were going to be doing this tomorrow as well, then I might want to be catching the next bus out of here.
As I drank from my water bottle, ignoring the cold air that whipped at me from time to time, I spotted Haruhi and Koizumi some distance away, and they were talking with one another in a close enough vicinity that I could clearly hear what they were saying.
"So what do you think, Koizumi-kun? Do you like movies like that?" Haruhi said with an excited tone of voice, and it sounded to me like she was alluding to something, and she was obviously doing it for my ears to hear.
"It depends. I'm not the biggest fan, but I wouldn't mind seeing it." Koizumi replied, and that just seemed to make Haruhi even happier. When I heard this, I almost felt like he needed to be punched for feeding her antics like this.
"So you think you'd want to see it with me when we get back on Sunday?"
Like I said before, I was no idiot. I knew exactly what Haruhi was trying to do, and despite my exhaustion at the moment, I was not going to be cajoled into being jealous. Instead, I turned around on my rock, with my back to them as I finished what was left of my water bottle.
Frankly, I didn't want to hear Koizumi's response. I got the feeling I wouldn't like it.
After finishing my water, I decided that I should go see if I could find Asahina-san now. At a time like this, where I was exhausted as hell, I figured her sweet voice and kind demeanor could rejuvenate my spirits unlike anything else. Tsuruya-san would suffice as well if I couldn't find the time traveler.
However, someone got in my way when I decided to get up from my rock and turn around. That someone was Haruhi, and she did not look happy.
"You're such an idiot, you know that?" she said to me with anger, her eyes glaring right into mine. I felt awkward all of a sudden, mostly because of how close we were to one another.
"What?"
"I said you're an idiot! I saw you eavesdropping on my conversation!" Haruhi shouted in my face, surprising me a little bit.
I backed away slightly as I tried to understand what exactly was going on with her. It seemed that the others were already gathering up near the beginning of one of the two paths that led out of this ridge. It sounded like he could hear the commotion Haruhi was causing, and like many of the students around him, he was looking back us, probably wondering what Haruhi was shouting about.
"What are you talking about? Could you stop making a scene so we can be done with this death march already?" I told Haruhi, but she didn't seem to want to back down. She was partially right when she accused me of eavesdropping, but this fuss she was making about it was a little too much.
"You know what I'm talking about! At least Koizumi-kun isn't so thick-headed like you are, Kyon! Maybe you should be more like him for once!"
Where was this all coming from? Was this the anger Haruhi was feeling towards me? Is this how she truly feels about our separation? Did she really think using Koizumi as a pawn in this game would work?
All these questions seemed to have multiple answers, but something else was on my mind at the moment. Haruhi's voice had gotten progressively louder, and I could have sworn that it felt like it was…a little too loud.
Something felt very wrong. The ground began to rumble slightly, and I could hear rolling thunder in my ears. I looked up, above Haruhi, where the mountainside stretched upwards, far into the summit. There, I saw something that I had a little trouble believing.
"It's a freaking avalanche!" Taniguchi yelled out in complete panic, and for once, he was very right. From above us, about a hundred or so feet away, I could see what looked like a torrential sea of snow coming down at us with the speed of freight train.
We weren't even high enough to constitute it being that cold, so seeing snow at this elevation was just ridiculous, even in November. Nevertheless, everything around me seemed to go a little too fast as the snow approached.
I didn't really see what everyone else was doing, mostly because I had become very preoccupied with the situation in front of me. Haruhi was still looking at me with an angry expression, even as my eyes grew wide at the approaching avalanche. From where we were at the moment, it would spell death for us to be swept away by all this snow.
"Are you listening to me? I said listen to me!" Haruhi shouted at me, finally losing her temper and grabbing me by the collar. The snow continued to barrel towards us, and Haruhi remained oblivious to the situation. It was only about thirty feet away now, and I had to act fast. I did the only thing I could think of for the time I had at hand.
"Run, you idiot!"
I grabbed Haruhi's hand without thinking, and began to move my legs like pistons. The snow was approaching fast, and ahead, I could see that the crowd of people was running away from where the avalanche hit. Haruhi didn't try to pull away from me as we ran, but my heart began to beat rapidly when I saw just how close the snow was. I looked at the spot only thirty feet from us, and realized that there was no way we would make it.
As the sea of cold snow threatened to engulf us, I turned swiftly, catching Haruhi in an embrace. I didn't know what kind of expression Haruhi was wearing when I practically hugged her, but didn't really care. I held Haruhi tight, and then I felt the impact.
When the avalanche hit us, I tried my best to take the brunt of the force with my own body. If it had been a landslide, we would have both been dead at impact. Now, there were only two outcomes of this situation. One was my own death, and the other my continued life. At the moment, I didn't think about which one was going to be the one that occurred.
It's strange. Holding Haruhi like this, be it in a life or death situation, was a nice thing. It felt like something I had been missing for awhile. Even as my vision turned white, and my skin began to feel the sting of cold snow, I still felt a little warm inside. I think I heard someone say my name before I felt the snow cover my head.
Why did I have this sudden urge to protect her? That just becomes yet another unanswered question among many.
You know, when I thought about it, I realized that there was one thing I should have realized awhile ago, and maybe none of this would have ever happened. It's so simple, and I even remember telling myself how bad of an idea it was.
I think I got it completely now, at least before I could feel myself losing consciousness.
Breaking up with Haruhi? Big mistake.