A/N: If you're reading this, I hope you enjoyed chapter one. I'm still working on getting this just right, but I figure it's better to release it into the world than to keep nitpicking for days. That said, I'd appreciate any feedback regarding characters, pacing, inconsistencies, etc. Other than that, I hope you enjoy chapter two. Chapter three should be ready relatively soon.

"Her powers are to be transferred, and I am to be terminated."

Whoa, hold on. Terminated? Are you saying they want to get rid of you like the did with Asakura?

It took her a second to realize I'd stopped walking. She eventually stopped, too, and slowly turned to look at me. "A similar process. The chances of another malfunction are not known. However—"

"I don't care about any of that!" I snapped. If the Data Integration Thought Entity has a problem with my threat, it can talk to me directly. Why would it jump straight to getting rid of Nagato? "We still have time, don't we? Let's just tell Haruhi everything. If we explain what's going on, we can have her remake the world without the Data Whatever."

Koizumi motioned for us to continue walking. "If it were that easy, don't you think we would have already done so? There's still the issue of what Miss Suzumiya might do once she finds out about her abilities."

Koizumi, you're a decent guy, but you don't seem to understand Haruhi at all. If we told her one of her brigade members was in danger, she'd want to do everything in her power to help them out.

"That's not what I meant," he said. "Try to put yourself in her shoes. If one of your brigade members told you that aliens and espers and the like really exist, what would your first thought be?"

I didn't need to guess. I'd tried it once before, and it hadn't gone over well. But this time, we could prove it. Miss Asahina can take her back in time. And you and Nagato can show off your powers, too. There's no way she could deny it if she saw it first-hand.

Koizumi seemed surprised. "Hasn't she already done that, though? For instance, that night when the two of you were trapped in closed space together. Doesn't she believe that was all just a dream?"

Well, yeah, but...

"Even if we showed her undeniable evidence that such phenomenon are real, there's a good chance she'd just assume she's dreaming again. If that were to happen, and she no longer believed that this world was real, I don't want to imagine what might happen to us."

I didn't have anything to say to that. Haruhi wouldn't intentionally do anything to hurt us, but if she believed this was all a dream, things could get out of hand fast. "Shouldn't you be with her, then, Nagato? What if they send someone to attack her right now? I don't think Miss Asahina would be able to stop a humanoid interface."

"I am monitoring the situation. I will intervene if necessary."

Intervene? How? I'd seen Nagato use some sort of teleportation ability before, during the inter-club relay, but Haruhi had still out-performed her. Could she really travel halfway across town fast enough to protect them?

We arrived at my house a few minutes later. Luckily, I was able to pass the sleepover off as an overnight study session, and since it was a school night, there was no way my sister could talk her way into tagging along. If everything Nagato was saying was true, I didn't want to get my family dragged into it.

Come to think of it, I remember asking her how many humanoid interfaces there were, and she'd just said "A lot." Now I wish she'd been more specific. It was safe to assume we were being watched; the question was, by one interface, or dozens?

That was a scary thought.

By the time I'd gathered up my things and headed back outside, a familiar black taxi had pulled up outside my house. I crammed into the back seat with Nagato and Koizumi. Our driver was, of course, Mr. Arakawa, and he'd brought Koizumi some overnight essentials to save us some time.

I finally thought to ask. "Hey, Nagato. You've been sort of slow to respond ever since we left school. Is there a reason why?"

Her eyes gradually shifted over to look at me. "I am currently engaged in a conflict with my superiors. Most of my processing power has been devoted to preventing a behavioral override."

My eyes went wide. A conflict with your superiors? Behavioral override? What are you saying, Nagato? Are you telling me they've been trying to make you take Haruhi's powers away?

Another pause. "...I refused."

She just stared at me after that, but the intensity of the stare spoke volumes of how much effort it was taking for her to stay in control of her own actions. This whole time, she'd been fighting back against the Data Integration Thought Entity, and keeping an eye on Haruhi and Miss Asahina. And on top of that, I'd been distracting her with a bunch of questions. I'm sorry, Nagato. I'll let you focus on what you have to do.

I'd have been lying if I said I didn't feel a strange sense of pride in her, though. The Nagato from a year ago would have probably requested that the Data Integration Thought Entity rethink its position, and nothing more. She'd never have flat-out disobeyed an order. It's a shame Kimidori and the others probably weren't going to follow her lead.

"Which is why I suggested this sleepover," Koizumi said. "It'll allow us to keep an eye on Miss Suzumiya. Miss Nagato, too. If anything happens, we'll be close by."

Sorry, Koizumi, but there's no silver lining to being stuck spending the night with you.

Thanks to Mr. Arakawa, we arrived at Nagato's apartment well before Haruhi and Miss Asahina. I wonder, what sort of outfit is Haruhi forcing her to try on right now? Nagato, if you need help "monitoring the situation," let me know.

"Are you sure it's safe here?" I asked. "It seems like if they wanted to find you, this would be the first place they'd look."

"It is fine."

An immediate response.

"The consensus within the Data Integration Thought Entity is that Haruhi Suzumiya's powers must be transferred to a humanoid interface. I was chosen because I am close to her." Her head lowered slightly. "Because I refused, a new debate has begun to determine the best course of action. There are no signs of a resolution in the immediate future."

Hey, I think I understood that.

"Sit. I will prepare dinner."

Now that she mentioned it, I realized I was getting pretty hungry. I'd have offered to help, but I'd probably just get in her way. Judging from what she'd said, and how quickly she'd said it, it looked like the higher-ups had given up on controlling her for now.

'Atta girl, Nagato.

I sat down at the kotatsu, and to my dismay, Koizumi took the spot to my right. I could still clearly remember the image of the human version of Nagato sitting there back in December, when I'd had that meal with her and Asakura.

A chill ran down my spine. Asakura. She'd been brought back once before, not too long ago. What if the radical faction decided to revive her to stop Nagato? I really don't want to get stabbed again.

"I can't say I blame you. To be honest, I'm actually quite terrified as well. The Data Integration Thought Entity may think it's safe to separate Miss Suzumiya from her powers, but many of us espers still believe she's the god of this world. If possible, we'd like to prevent her from being dethroned."

I still don't think she's a god. There's nothing godlike about the way that girl acts. And please, don't let her hear you say the word "throne". You'll give her ideas.

He laughed. "You may be right. Either way, it would be very bad for us if she were to lose her powers. Especially for Miss Nagato."

That felt like a hit below the belt. If I'd just left Nagato's superiors alone, they might have decided to give her a pass, but my threat had ruined any chances of that. I was ultimately responsible for the situation we were in now.

His expression softened a little. "I'm sure she appreciated it, though."

Your sympathy isn't worth anything to me, Koizumi. But if you'd like, you can tell Miss Asahina that I need some cheering up.

Nagato's phone rang shortly after that. I could hear Haruhi ask her to open the gate, and a few minutes later, they came barging through the door.

"Wow, you guys got here quick. I hope you at least brought a change of clothes."

What are you looking at me for?

The two of them had changed out of their school uniforms, but I was a bit disappointed to see that they weren't wearing anything particularly interesting. Haruhi had made it sound like she had some big plans back at the school. I wonder if she actually listened to Miss Asahina's complaints for once.

After putting their bags in the corner, the two of them headed into the kitchen to help Nagato with the food. Ordinarily, I'd have been thrilled at the thought of three beautiful girls cooking dinner for me, but the weight of the situation was inescapable.

As if he'd read my mind, Koizumi's smile faded. "In all seriousness, I don't think we'll be able to defend ourselves when the other TFEIs get around to making their move. We'd better come up with a plan before that happens."

Although I hated to admit it, he was right. I could only thing of two ways out of this mess, and they both sucked.

One, we somehow convince the Data Integration Thought Entity to just give up and leave both Nagato and Haruhi alone. Aside from the obvious question of "How?", that plan also left us with the dilemma of never knowing if or when it would change its mind. After Nagato's betrayal, I had a feeling it wouldn't be keeping her in the loop anymore.

The other option was to face it head-on, which would pretty much require that we tell Haruhi about her powers. Nagato had mentioned some sort of memory-wiping ability before; there was a chance we could explain everything to Haruhi, have her erase the Data Integration Thought Entity from existence, and then make her forget the whole thing ever happened.

"That's definitely better than letting her remain aware of her powers, but it still carries the risk that she'll assume she's dreaming once she learns the truth. She may want to carry out all of her deepest desires, completely unaware of the consequences. Or worse, this world may actually cease to be real."

I didn't want to imagine what Haruhi's deepest desires might be. There'd be supernatural phenomenon popping up all over the place.

Well, more than usual, anyway.

"I know it's a bad idea," I said, "but it's the best bad idea we've got. It's better than letting delete Nagato and turn Haruhi normal."

Koizumi rested his chin on his hand. "You'd be willing to gamble the fate of the Universe in order to protect Miss Nagato? You'd better be careful, or a certain someone might get jealous."

Shut up, Koizumi.

Despite the danger we were all in, the rest of the evening passed with relative normalcy. We played some video games, took turns telling ghost stories, and discussed what songs we should perform at the culture festival. I tried to act like nothing was bothering me, but Haruhi kept giving me weird looks. Maybe I should ask Koizumi for fake smiling lessons.

Miss Asahina was the first to fall asleep. The original plan was that the girls would sleep in Nagato's room, and Koizumi and I would stay in the living room, but after taking one look at Miss Asahina sleeping peacefully next to the kotatsu, Haruhi decided it'd be easier if they slept there instead.

"So where are we supposed to sleep?"

"You can just take that empty room," she said, pointing to the door. "That's okay, right, Yuki?"

No! That was the room I'd shared with Miss Asahina when we traveled back to Tanabata, four years ago. I don't want to tarnish my memories of this room by spending a night in it with Koizumi!

Of course, I couldn't tell her that. In the end, I begrudgingly rolled out my sleeping bag next to the wall, putting as much space between the two of us as possible. Haruhi had commandeered the spare futons for them to use, even though Nagato had one of her own, and Miss Asahina was already asleep on the kotatsu mat. Was she using them both for herself?

"Oh, you're going to sleep next to the balcony?"

I paused and looked over at the wall. The first time I'd been in this room, my mind had been on other things, so I hadn't really paid attention to the room itself, but he was right. There was a sliding door that led to the balcony, and while it wasn't made of glass like the one in the living room, its translucent paper let the city lights shine through a bit. Not that I need to sleep with a night light or anything, but it was actually kind of nice.

"Actually, we do need to discuss our sleeping arrangements."

We're fine where we are, thank you very much!

"I was referring to when we're going to sleep, not where. If we take shifts, we'll be able to keep an eye on Miss Suzumiya and Miss Nagato throughout the night without interruption."

I really didn't like the idea of only getting half a night's worth of sleep, but he was right. Nagato would probably be keeping her eyes peeled as well, but I'd feel better if she wasn't the only one awake.

"Fine by me. Who's going first?"

He stood. "I don't mind taking the first shift if you'd like to get some sleep. Ninety-minute cycles would be best."

That seems a little short, but I guess it'd be hard to stay awake for hours at a time. "Just wake me up if you start dozing off," I said, climbing into my sleeping bag.

"Duly noted. If you need me, I'll either be in here or on the balcony."

With silent footsteps that made Shamisen seem clumsy, Koizumi walked over to the door and stepped outside. That balcony made me anxious. If Nagato and Asakura both lived in this building, who knew how many other humanoid interfaces were lurking in the other apartments? One of them could appear on the balcony, blast through the door, and...

With those thoughts on my mind, I didn't get much out of my ninety minutes of sleep.

I'd finally dozed off toward the end, but no more than five minutes could have passed before I felt someone shaking me.

"Hey, it's time for your shift."

Huh? Sis, why is your voice so deep?

I cracked an eye open, and upon seeing Koizumi's face about a foot away from my own, I remembered where I was. He had to put a hand over my mouth to keep me quiet.

"Shh. The others are still asleep," he said. "It's your turn to keep watch. I'd really like to get some shuteye, if you don't mind."

Right. My head was still pretty foggy, but I was coherent enough to force myself to my feet. Waking up after an hour and a half of sleep was pretty miserable. Using the light from the balcony as a guide, I shuffled off to the bathroom.

After doing my business (and spending a few seconds watching the sleeping forms of Haruhi and Miss Asahina), I made my way back to the spare room. It was next to impossible to see, but by some miracle, I managed to avoid bumping into anything.

It took me a few seconds for my thoughts to catch up with me. It was dark. Really dark. I couldn't even seen my hand in front of my face. With a growing sense of dread, I looked up at the balcony door.

It was like someone had snuffed out every light in the city. Not even the stars were shining, and if it weren't for my sense of direction, I wouldn't have known I was looking at a door at all.

"Koizumi. Wake up."

He rolled over. "I hadn't even fallen asleep yet. Is something—"

I guess he realized it, too. When I slid the balcony door open, my fears were realized.

The city skyline had been replaced with solid concrete.

"Haruhi!"

I bolted for the glass door that led to the living room, and at the same time, Koizumi came running through the other door. As he turned on the lights, I saw a familiar figure standing over our brigade leader.

Emiri Kimidori. The student council president's secretary, a waitress at our favorite cafe, and a humanoid interface, presumably here to take Haruhi's powers.

"Stop!"

I jerked the sliding glass door open and stepped inside. Nagato was already up, standing across the kotatsu from Kimidori. I realized how vulnerable I was, with the enemy between myself and the others.

She didn't seem hostile, though. In fact, the look she gave me could only be described as remorseful. She turned back to Nagato. "You're malfunctioning. Please, don't put the lives of your friends at risk by resisting. I don't want to have to hurt anyone."

"You will leave this place at once."

The tension between the two of them was borderline tangible.

I took the chance to run over to Nagato and Koizumi's side of the room. I'd seen Kimidori in action once before, and she was just as frighteningly powerful as every other interface I'd encountered. I'll just let the two of you handle this one, okay?

"...nh... Huh? What's going on, you guys?"

Crap! Haruhi was sitting up, rubbing an eye and staring at us. "Is that... the student council secretary? What the heck is going on here?"

Okay, calm down. Maybe this is a good thing. Surely they won't start a fight if Haruhi's watching, right? Nagato?

In the next instant, Nagato had moved across the room. She was gripping Kimidori's wrist, just inches away from Haruhi's face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Koizumi preparing an orb of energy in his palm. You can do that here? I thought that was reserved for closed space. I guess these closed-off 'data space' things count, too.

Haruhi jumped, but she didn't try to run away. She looked more shocked than anything. "Yuki? How did you..."

Koizumi grabbed my shoulder. "This is bad. We need to get her out of here. I'm only at about a tenth of my full power, but I should be able to help. I need you to take the two of them someplace safe."

Right, time to go. Sorry, Haruhi, but the explanations are going to have to wait.

"Wha—"

I grabbed her by the arm, then reached for Miss Asahina and pulled her to her feet.

"Uaah! That hurts!"

She stumbled and clung to me, still half asleep. On a completely unrelated note, they say adrenaline helps you form more vivid memories. I really hope that's true.

The front door had been replaced by a solid wall, but I'd expected that. Without an actual escape route, our only option was to barricade ourselves in Nagato's room.

"Hey, Kyon, hold on! What are you doing?"

I shut the door behind us and locked it, then turned to face Haruhi and a terrified Miss Asahina.

"Did you see that? Koizumi had some kind of ball of light in his hand! You have about three seconds to explain what's going on before I beat it out of you."

I would if you'd just shut up! "Listen. Aliens and time travelers and all that stuff? They're real, okay? And right now, Nagato––"

Before I could finish, the door was blasted off its hinges, and Koizumi came crashing into the room. Nagato stepped back into the doorway, using some sort of forcefield to hold off a barrage of Kimidori's attacks.

Haruhi ran to him. "Koizumi! Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine," he said, struggling to his feet. "But it doesn't look good. Miss Kimidori's surprisingly powerful."

Nagato took another step back, bringing her into the room with us. Dammit! "Haruhi, listen to me." I said, gripping her shoulders. "You need to get us out of here."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. The fear in her voice was becoming more apparent, and her eyes were glued to Nagato.

"There's no time to explain everything! If you don't get us out of here right now, we're going to be in deep trouble!"

"What the heck am I supposed to do?" she snapped. "Why me? I can't get us out of here any more than you can!"

Calm down, Haruhi. You can, you just have to—

Koizumi leapt forward, grabbing me by the collar. "Miss Nagato, come on! Kyon, hang on to the girls!"

Without thinking, I did as he said. Nagato dropped the forcefield and dove for Koizumi's outstretched hand. I held on to Haruhi and Miss Asahina for dear life, watching as a series of metal spikes shot into the room and embedded themselves in the wall.

I'd expected Koizumi to have some sort of plan, but we ended up crashing to the ground in a pile. I scrambled to my feet, ready to start pleading for our lives, but by the time I did, Kimidori was gone.

Actually, everything had gone quiet.

After a few seconds, Haruhi broke the silence. "Okay, someone needs to tell me what's going on, right now. You guys are seriously freaking me out!"

She was a mix of angry and afraid. Now I get it. "And it's really frustrating?" I asked.

She seemed caught off-guard. "Well, of course."

Aha. Koizumi, you're a genius. The eerie silence and dull atmosphere suddenly made sense.

We were in closed space.