The Lost Slider
The Transfer Student
That evening
It was a tiring day.
Not only did Yuki come from the parallel world, but Haruhi now knew about her existence, meaning she is now her twin officially.
"Well, it's okay, things will work out somehow."
The phone rang in the distant, and I ignored it, knowing someone else would pick it up. A few seconds later my sister scampered in.
"Kyon-kun!" I glanced at her as she cheekily popped her head into my room, "There's a girl for you."
"Really?" There were only two possibilities it could be.
Taking the phone from her, she winked at me, wishing me luck, though I'm not sure what for.
"Hello?"
"Is this Kyon?"
"Hi Yuki..." My guess was right, "How are you?"
"I'm okay, but it's a bit strange being here."
I can imagine.
"Did Nagato get some furniture in for you?"
"Yes, when we got home, there were already things waiting for us outside, a new futon, cupboard and even food."
Trust Nagato to get everything there, she probably made the order online the second I mentioned it to her.
"So, is everything okay then?"
"Yes, it's just, she scares me..."
"Who, Nagato?"
This was news to me.
"Yes, I don't know what she's thinking, and she keeps talking to herself."
She probably communicating with her boss, or doing some incantations.
"It's nothing, she does that quite often. She is very reliable though, and you've got nothing to be afraid of when you're with her."
"I suppose..." Yuki sounded a little better, "I just wanted to talk to someone a bit more..."
She hesitated, but I knew what she meant.
"Human, right?"
"..."
I was right.
"Well, tomorrow is a big day, but I'll be there to protect you, and this time, for real. I'm not going to leave you like last time in the other world. Besides, it's only school."
Her light giggle was endearing, and made my heart melt a bit, "Okay, Kyon, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Bye..."
Ending the call, I laid down on my bed, wondering what she must have gone through so far to get to this world, and moreover, why she was here.
That moment
Nagato's Apartment
Begin log no. 5952.10, date January 5th 20:23:56, Location 2375.5, 3492.5
Diagnostics Running...
Physical status: Normal
Mental status: Within normal parameters
Security status: IceBarrier Active, increased restrictions to Upper Level Data Manipulation.
Entity Link: Maximum bandwidth of 1000 googolbits/s, no latency.
Diagnostics Complete
Commence Personal Log...
Secondary Subject: Human Nagato Yuki (see newly created datapedia article 'Yuki')
Location: Residing with Human Interface Terminal NY
Species: Human (outward scans indicate as such, see notes)
Designation: Slider (see log 5948.24 for Incursion Date).
Alternate Names: Nagato Yuko, only to be used in presence of Primary Subject Suzumiya Haruhi to corroborate cover story.
Notes: Entered our reality (Current Designation Earth 42, Universe 666, according to data gathered from Dimensional Plain Xen), via Intermediary Dimension (see datapedia article 'Xen'), alone and confused. Located Primary Subject and Unknown Factor (see datapedia article 'Kyon') together whilst on walk (see datapedia article 'Weekly Investigations'). Resided at school for first night, before coming into contact with Club (see datapedia article 'SOS Brigade'). See log 5950.60 for full transcripts. Subject former resident of Artificially Created Reality (Current Designation Earth Beta, Universe Omega, now considered Null and Void) due to corruption of NY databanks. See history regarding IceBarrier Activation for details. Subject now residing with NY. Configuring scans to detect Sliders and/or physical status of Sliders, as current data does not apply.
Commence Monitoring Progress...
Subject has terminated call with Unknown Factor. Call duration 00:03:51. Transcript of call in Call log 341.3. Summary, brief communication with Unknown Factor's Sister, then with Unknown Factor. No major details or concerns. Subject worried about NY.
Subject has requested liquid refreshment from NY. Expression contains a slight increase in skin moistening, shivering, stress lines on forehead and quickness of breath noted.
NY has responded with an indicator to location of fridge.
Subject held up hands, and did not appear to want to move towards there.
Accessing Emotion Circuits indicate Subject's response to be standard procedure for worry, fear, unease, loneliness and rudeness to attempt on own initiative.
Alternate Option Selected: NY moved to kitchen to remove bottle of 100% pure spring water (see datapedia article 'Evian') from fridge.
NY passed bottle to Subject. Acceptance was brief, no physical contact made. Subject returned to kotatsu (see related article).
Silence observed for 00:24:13.
Subject was quietly drinking water during above period. Redness was observed on face, indicating excessive bloodflow. Emotional circuit declares this to be 'Blushing', part of a subcategory of 'Love' and 'Embarrassment' (see related articles).
During above period, NY was reading book number 398174125 (see newly created datapedia article 'The Joy of Sex').
Subject finished water at end of this period.
NY offered another drink to Subject, to which no response was made. Another attempt at communication was issued five minutes later, to which a negative response was received at a low volume.
Subject enquired as to nature of book NY was reading.
NY commenced detailed explanations of all essential information, summaries, and other topics that can be discussed through non-practical means.
00:00:10 passed before Subject made an expression of embarrassment, and an audible exclamation.
NY ended explanation of book 398174125 upon request.
Subject apologised, NY enquired as to why apology was necessary. Subject did not clarify.
Subject asked NY opinion of book, requesting that no details be made of the book itself.
Personal Opinion 1044 expressed. See relevant log.
Subject smiled lightly, faint blush apparent.
Offered book to Subject for her to read. Offer was declined profusely.
Extensive dialogue opened. Switching to script format:
NY: Do you not like this book?
Subject: I-It's not that, I just don't think that young girls should read something like that, not yet anyway.
NY: It is a standard form of pro-creation for humans. Such an act is necessary for the survival of the species.
Subject: Th-That's true, but it doesn't make it any less embarrassing to read about.
NY: ...
Subject: Do you read any other types of books?
NY: Yes, as much data as possible is absorbed via electronic means, or by reading as seen earlier. Whilst at school, particular interest is made for science fiction. Greater time is required for these books.
Subject: Are they harder to read?
NY: No.
Subject: Umm... Why does it take so long then, do you read slower?
NY: … Yes.
Subject: Okay... Do you have any classical literature that I could read now?
NY: Whilst not an extensive library, there are some books available in the spare room within the cupboard.
Subject: Thank you, Nagato-san.
NY: Is there anything else you require?
Subject: N-No... But...
NY: Yes?
Subject: You have a new TV, for me?
NY: That is correct, located in the bedroom.
Subject: Can... Can you join me? I'm a bit...
NY: You require another person to view the programs?
Subject: Y-Yes...
NY: If that is what you would like.
Script format ended, Detailed Dialogue closed.
Subject and NY sat besides each other, distance of 22.5 centimetres maintained between two individuals as accepted distance for colleagues/casual acquaintances.
Infra-red communication with remote display unit activated.
Viewing of Scheduled Programming, duration 01:03:45.
Subject mostly silent during above duration, dispersed with laughter of varying forms (see datapedia article 'Levels of Laughter')
Gradual reduction of distance noted between Subject and NY during above, initiated by the former.
Physical contact made via legs at 00:31:05. Subject made no effort to remove contact. NY did not do so either.
Body temperature of Subject according to physical contact measured 36.8 Centigrade.
Subject closed eyes at end of Scheduled Programming, lost consciousness, leant to one side and resided upon left shoulder palate.
Breathing patterns suggest Subject was sleeping.
Initiated procedures for sleeping arrangements. At slow pace, NY picked up Subject, and removed futon from storage using legs.
Placed Subject into futon and turned off light switch.
Subject displayed small smile and pulled futon covers over neck region.
Subject commenced deeper breathing (see datapedia article 'REM cycle')
NY remained awake in main room for remainder of evening/night/morning on standby.
End Log, January 6th, 07:00:00, Location 2375.5, 3492.5
That morning
I was thinking about poor Yuki, I could have kept her in my house that night.
Wait, what am I saying, Haruhi would have my head, maybe through jealousy, or just plain anger.
Then again, she is Nagato's sister in some way. Hopefully they got on well last night.
Seeing Haruhi already in the classroom, I walked up to her and sat in front of her, my usual seat. She was staring out of the window.
"Hey Kyon, you seen them yet?"
You mean Nagato and Yuko, nope.
"It's just a little too convenient, I talk about brothers and sisters and whatnot, and then a new member of a family is introduced, isn't that weird?"
Oh dear, she's questioning her own judgement and inadvertent creations.
"Yeah, well, stranger things have happened..."
That not a lie anyway, stranger things have indeed happened to me.
"Heh, next thing you know, someone dead will come back to life!" Haruhi laughed, "As if that could happen, eh?"
"Heh, no chance of that..."
I swallowed hard, trying not to think of the person that haunts my nightmares.
"Hey look!" I turn and sure enough, there they are, "Poor Yuko, looks like she's getting a lot of attention."
Indeed, I can see that a plethora of boys are staring at the Nagato clone, obvious by the way she's half clinging and hiding behind the stoic Nagato, who strode confidently into the school.
Somehow, from here, it looks like Nagato is defending her sister? That's difficult to believe, but I'm sure that she would want to protect her somehow.
"Haruhi," I began, "Yuko will probably be really scared by now. Since she's coming to our class, could you somehow protect her from everyone?"
I made sure she was looking at me before I flicked my eyes to Taniguchi for a second, and her face lit up, the fire in her eyes igniting this flame.
"I need to rethink your position, who would have thought that Kyon would be so sentimental?"
That doesn't paint me in a good light, what else does she think about me that I don't know about I wonder?
"The less you know..."
Her grin scared me, those glinting eyes giving me more chills down my spinal column, before her hand slammed down onto the table, scaring everyone.
"Listen here you lot!"
Great, a nice way to refer to the entire class in one derogatory tone, perfect to get them on her side.
"Yuki's got a sister, and she'll be joining this class." She waited for a few murmurs to die down before going on, "She's a little shy, so don't start crowding her and asking tonnes of questions, unless you want your heads to roll!"
I could almost see the sweatdrops forming on peoples' heads, and in some cases, visibly showing on her damp foreheads. She sat down and folded her arms, satisfied with the response.
"Haruhi, you didn't have to be so abrupt..."
"Who would listen otherwise, asking nicely would just get them even more curious, no?"
She's got a point there, Haruhi asking people to kindly not bother someone would only get get them to question what was so special about that person, thus making the rumours worse for poor Yuki.
Instead, Haruhi's idea of invoking fear into people would rightly get the result we wanted, and even more so, since people would be even less likely to become her friend in case Haruhi got angry.
That way, all she would have was the SOS Brigade to turn to.
Speaking of which, the girl in question turned up at the doorway, Nagato beside her. Was Yuki holding her hand? It definitely seemed that way, and Nagato wasn't exactly trying to extract herself from this grip.
Her eyes were scanning the class, over many unfamiliar yet familiar faces, since most of these classmates would have been in that other reality, until they met my own, and presumably Haruhi, who leapt up first to the door, almost in a single bound.
I saw her exchanging words with both Yuki and Nagato, and soon they left the room, Haruhi returning with a victorious smile.
"What was all that about?"
"Transfer students need to be introduced by the teacher, so I told Yuki and Yuko to go to the staff room, and Okabe-sensei will bring her to the classroom properly."
"Yeah, better than to have her blushing like mad in front of everyone, with a real desk."
Ten minutes later
And so she was here, Okabe-sensei was showing her off to the class, her bright red face an instant attraction among the male members of the class, and instant need for protection from the female.
"Nagato Yuko is the twin sister of Nagato Yuki, who as you know also goes to this school. She only recently moved here so please welcome her to our school and city."
"Umm..." She was looking at everyone, who stared back with eager eyes, aside from Haruhi and myself, who were simply warm and accepting, at least I hope they were.
"I-I'm a bit shy and don't know many people here, b-but it's nice to meet you all." Bowing lightly, she received a gentle applause from the class, with one whistle, who Haruhi and I narrowed down to Taniguchi.
"As you are already friends with Suzumiya-kun and -" and loud sneeze from Kunikida shocked everyone as he apologising, blowing his nose on a tissue, "- then you'll sit beside him for the time being."
Smiling, she bowed to Okabe-sensei, "Thank you, sensei."
Walking to her seat, eyes tracing her footsteps, she sat at the empty desk next to me.
"Feeling better, how was your evening after our call?" I asked her quietly as the class prepared for the coming lessons ahead.
"It went well, Nagato-san was good to me." She smiled to herself, "She's completely different to me..."
That's putting it mildly.
"You'll be fine, lessons aren't to different to what you're used to back home." I avoided using certain language in front of Haruhi, "You'll fit right in."
Yuki just smiled again, immediately shattering the impression of which twin this was.
Lunchtime
"Yuko-san, would you like to join us?"
Koizumi and Asahina-san were together outside our class, and Yuki nodded, taking her small lunch with her. Haruhi had run of somewhere, no doubt to find some more interesting things to do. I joined them as they walked to the clubroom.
There was Nagato, still reading a book about some other sort of spaceships. She wasn't moving otherwise.
"She does like a lot of books, doesn't she?"
"Huh?" Yuki spoke to me, I was surprised at her comment, "Yeah, all I see her read is sci-fi really." The blush I got in return was odd, but I chose not to press her further.
"We're here to see what we can do for Yuki-san." Koizumi spoke out, "Can she work as normal in this world?"
"I am getting used to being here, things feel more real to me now..." Yuki answered, "But it's still hard to believe, with what I had before."
Losing your friends you had must be difficult, arriving in a world where everyone looked like someone you knew, but had completely different memories to the ones she had.
"Nagato Yuko is able to function in a standard form as per usual human customs. Aside from a general confusion and anxiety prevalent due to the Slide, she is of sound mind. I am still unable to determine her location and/or physical status without further analysis to classify the Slider definition."
"I haven't got any orders or information about this from the future, so I have to assume that there is nothing wrong with her staying in this time."
They all looked at me, what, did I need to say something?
"Well, Yuki's fine here, but don't you think it's sad to be so alone?" I pointed at myself, "Let's say my sister suddenly found herself in a world without a brother and parents, how do you think she'd feel?"
Everyone got quiet, guess I hit a sore point without meaning to.
"Yuki, what do you know about your family, in the old world?"
"Well, they died when I was just about to enter high school, and then I was left with a family friend, who lived alone. Her own family was in another country, but they supported her with money, like how I had many savings on my own."
I could see tears building up in her eyes, damn, I didn't want her to cry about this.
"It's okay..." I laid my hand on her shoulder, "Your family never died, so don't be sad for them, you now have a real sister of sorts," Nagato nodded at this point, "and you have friends that'll support you for a lifetime." I angled her body to look at everyone around us, "Isn't that the most important part?"
"Everyone..." Okay, now she was crying, "You mean that?"
"Of course I do!" I nodded vigorously, since it wasn't a lie for me.
"I will be happy to help in any way possible." Koizumi chimed in.
"Me too, I don't want Yuki-san to be sad either." Asahina-san winked at her.
"Continued surveillance will be necessary, thus permanent residence with myself, along with financial support, will be a necessity and welcome."
Coming from Nagato, that is a real compliment.
Haruhi burst in at that moment, to see a crying Yuki and the rest of us just looking at her smiling.
"Yuko! What's wrong?" She ran in and held her hands, "Did someone tease you or hurt you?" She glared at me, "Who was it Kyon, was it that moron Tani-whatshisname? I'll see to him this time!"
"Haruhi-san..." Yuki spoke first, "Will you help me live my life here too?"
Thankfully, Yuki was briefed by Nagato, using language I requested her to use to prevent confusion, about Haruhi, who she was and what she was capable of.
"What's this all about? You're worried about your future?" Haruhi sounded calmer, "Are you being silly, you've got us now!" She rubbed the shorted girl's head, "We'll keep you safe from everyone, as long as there is air in my lungs, nothing will hurt you!"
At least those tears from earlier were happy ones, since they now fell, "Thank you, everyone... I... I don't feel alone any more...!"
Just as she was being enveloped in a hug by Haruhi, she pushed her back and held her chest.
"Oww.... It hurts..." She was pulling tighter at her top, then moving one of her hands to her head. "What's happening?"
"Yuko, what's wrong, are you sick?"
What's going on...? Even the others are looking at her with worry.
I stepped in, moving my hands over her shoulders to her back, seeing this pain in her eyes, trying to pull her in to a hug.
"Someone else..." She was mumbling something into my shirt, "Someone else has arrived..." I was certain that no one else could hear what she was saying, as her sobs were shrouding the words outside of my top, "Someone I know..."
I felt her become limp, and realised that she fainted, so I held onto her as she slumped to the ground. I supported her weight and looked to Koizumi, who understood immediately.
"Suzumiya-san, we're going to take her to the nurse's office, I believe all these emotions have overwhelmed her."
"Kyon!" Haruhi held the door open, "Take her there gently, and be careful! Go, full speed ahead!"
I laughed to myself that Haruhi thought that somehow I could move at full speed whilst keeping Yuki stable.
However, she had the right idea, I wanted to get her help as soon as possible.
The nurse's office was empty, and I placed her on the bed, feeling her forehead.
"She appears to be tired. Some rest will help her."
"That's not it..." I waited to see who was coming, and saw Nagato and Asahina-san turn up.
"Suzumiya-san went to find someone in the staff room to get more help."
"So, we don't have much time..." I mumbled, worried about the time we had left before Haruhi came back.
"Why?" Asahina-san asked.
"Yuki told me something before she fainted," I took another breath before going on, "She said that someone else has arrived."
"Another Slider?" Koizumi raised his eyebrow, but he wasn't amused in the least.
I turned to Nagato, "Can you detect anything about a new portal or something as yet?"
"No. I have not quantified the data regarding the nature of a Slider, nor the composition of a portal for sliding."
"My superiors haven't told me anything about this..." Asahina-san held her tiny hands together and shook herself, trying not to believe this was happening.
"There's no choice then." I made a decision there and then for everyone, "We're going back to that old portal, maybe it opened up there."
"Right now?" Asahina-san fidgeted, "Won't Suzumiya-san be angry?"
Koizumi agreed, "She's right, our absence would be bad at a time like this."
"Nagato, can you detect anything strange about that area, like last time?"
She looked at me, angling her head up, before blinking once, "There is a disturbance by way of a partition of air molecules and photons, though it does not resemble a vacuum."
"That settles it..." I laid my hand on Yuki's arm, her face was very peaceful, and it gently squeezed her to remind myself that she was still alive.
I went to the door, trying not to look back at the others, "Nagato, I need your help to close the portal. We don't even know what else could come through."
"Okay." She moved behind me, her body heat a reassuring sign.
"Koizumi, make up some excuse for us, like we're trying to find some medicine, or even her old medical records. Haruhi should buy it if you say it."
"I'll do my best." He replied.
"Good luck, Kyon-kun!" Asahina-san's welcome voice helped my conviction.
I was happy and opened the door, nodding to myself.
"Let's go Nagato... To that place..."
"Yes."
Together, we left the school with only one place in mind.
Well, my mind had an obvious question which I was begging to be answered.
Who is the other Slider?
Author's Notes
Slight delay on this chapter, still, it should be ending fairly soon, this wasn't intended to be another epic like TDoHS.
Till the next time!
- J