A/N: Well, this chapter ended up being a bit longer than I anticipated, but I'm fine with that. We're nearing the end of the story, so there was a bit more stuff to pack into this one.

A big thank you to everyone who's been reading/reviewing so far. I really appreciate it. As always, if you see any issues, don't hesitate to let me know. Everything from grammar and punctuation to plot and characterization is fair game. Even now, I still hesitate before submitting each new chapter, as if I'll be executed if any problems are found.

That said, I hope you enjoy chapter nine.

For the first few seconds, I thought I'd lost consciousness. I could remember something exploding, but the blast had been cut off by... whatever black void I was in now. There was no light or sound, and my inner ear couldn't seem to figure out which way was up. It was already starting to make me nauseous.

I'd almost forgotten Haruhi was still holding on to my shirt until she tightened her grip. I still had the cable in my hand as well, which meant we still had a lifeline connecting us to the others. Just in case, though, I reached back and grabbed her arm.

After what felt like an eternity, my ears started working again. Unfortunately, so did gravity, and I found myself slamming face-first into something hard. The world started to spin again, but that was probably less time travel and more blunt force trauma.

It was dark. Too dark to see. I tried to roll over, but something was weighing me down. Judging from the groans all around me, we'd reappeared facing the wrong direction and ended up in a dogpile.

"Ugh, what was that?" Haruhi asked. "I feel like I'm gonna be sick."

She crawled off of my back, allowing me to struggle to my feet. I checked my forehead and didn't find any blood, so at least I have that going for me. Now if only my eyes would cooperate and adjust to the darkness...

"It worked," Tachibana said. "Look."

I couldn't tell which way she was pointing, but it only took me a second to spot Mr. Keiichi's mansion at the top of the hill. The lights were on, which meant our past selves had already arrived and made themselves at home. Lazy bums.

"So it did," Koizumi said, looking around in wonder. "I've been eager to try this for quite some time, but I'll admit was hoping the ride would be a bit less bumpy."

A translucent blue bubble appeared around us, giving off just enough light to see the surrounding area. We were on the pier, right where we'd arrived the first time. The TPDD appeared to be a bit shaken up, but the laptop screen was still glowing, so hopefully it was still functional.

"Protection," Kuyoh said. "Emiri Kimidori will not be able to manipulate the data within this area."

Well that's handy. I guess it's faster than Nagato's biting method, considering how many people we have. Looking down, I realized the concrete around us was scorched, just like it had been when we left earlier that morning.

"It looks like our entry caused a little damage," Koizumi said.

Well, at least that's one mystery solved. Although, if that explosion actually happened, I have to wonder if the Tamaru brothers are alright. There wasn't enough room in that alleyway for them to evacuate the van.

"Are you people done yet?" Fujiwara asked. "We need to hurry. In case you forgot, this time plane is going to start unraveling soon."

We set off for the mansion, Kuyoh's bubble moving along with us. If it was anything like the one Nagato had created when we went back to save my mortally wounded self on December 18th, it probably made us invisible and inaudible, too. I wonder if it can make toast.

"We really did it," Haruhi said. "We traveled back in time. I'm a time traveler!"

Sasaki was almost just as awestruck. "So it would seem," she said. "Did you all really stay here last summer? I need to hang out with your friends more often, Kyon."

Maybe I can use my influence as the Chief First Member of the brigade to get you honorary member status.

We came to a stop in front of the main entrance. The only good thing about walking up that hill—well, it was really more of a mountain—was that it made the daily walk to school seem like nothing. Without any cellular signal, I couldn't tell what time it was, so there was no telling what was going on inside the mansion. "Is Kimidori already in there?" I asked.

"She is. You are currently engaged in combat."

Then... We still had a few minutes before Nagato's data link would be terminated. In that case, isn't it possible for us to just there and stop her before that happens?

"W-We can't!"

Miss Asahina, who had remained mostly silent since we arrived, finally spoke up. "We can't interfere with what we remember happening. If we do, it would..."

"It'd cause a paradox," Fujiwara said. "We'd create a new superposition of time, and... It's just not a good idea, okay? Especially not with the time plane as unstable as it is right now."

So we have to just sit here and let her... And let Nagato die? Just like that?

Koizumi put a hand on my shoulder. "Relax. We're going to save her. We just have to be patient."

My patience has been decreasing for a while now. "Even so, I think..."

Just then, the door opened, and there she was. Emiri Kimidori. The one who'd just terminated Nagato. The one who'd taken Haruhi's powers and become the veritable god of this universe. She was right there, no more than a few arm's lengths away.

She walked right past us.

So I was right about Kuyoh's barrier. It was like she didn't even see us. I wanted to run after her, but I'd only get in the way. Kuyoh was already watching, waiting for any indication that Kimidori was about to do something. I had to watch, too. If I blinked, she could disappear, and we'd never be able to get Nagato back. I wouldn't give her that opportunity.

Once she was about ten meters away from the mansion, Kimidori lifted a hand and held it up in the air as if touching an invisible wall. Then, she stepped forward and disappeared from sight.

To anyone who wasn't familiar with this sort of thing, it would look like she simply vanished into thin air. That's what I could hear Haruhi screaming beside me. But I knew better. Even though I'd only been there a few times myself, I immediately recognized that distinct ripple in the air.

She'd stepped into closed space.

"What do we do now?" Haruhi demanded. "Where did she go? Someone, say something!"

Koizumi wasn't even trying to keep up the smiling act anymore. "It seems Miss Kimidori has entered closed space."

But whose? Haruhi's? Sasaki's? Or did she create one of her own?

Kuyoh stepped forward to examine the spot where Kimidori had disappeared. After inspecting god knows what for a few seconds, she turned back to us. "Her own."

I looked to Koizumi and Tachibana in desperation, but their faces were grim. "I'm afraid we're unable to follow her," Koizumi said. "My powers only allow me to enter Miss Suzumiya's closed space, and the same rule applies for Miss Tachibana."

Then, Kuyoh?

"The inter-dimensional gap is—too wide... Unable to cross."

Can't you at least try?

"Small amounts of data can be transmitted."

Right. That figures. Nagato had said the same thing. Closed space was just too "far away" for interfaces like them to reach. Why espers were able to do it, I hadn't a clue. Without an esper who's specifically linked to Kimidori, we aren't going to be able to follow her. Dammit! We're already out of options, and who knows how long we have before the access point starts to fall apart?

"It's already happening."

Fujiwara had wandered over to the cliff. Where we stood, the pier was out of sight, but the cliff offered a full view.

Maybe if I hurried, I could push him off.

We gathered around the edge to see what he was looking at. I couldn't really make it out myself, but there was a reddish glow coming from the pier. It was shimmering, almost like a mirage. I had no idea what it was, but Miss Asahina was visibly starting to panic.

"Okay, what's that?" Tachibana asked.

"Time and space are curving, and gravity is warping. What you're seeing is the light from the laptop screen being distorted and slowed down. Don't you get it? This whole world is about to start falling apart." His voice was getting more tense, more afraid. "It's exactly what I said would happen. I warned you about this. I warned you."

I wanted to punch him, but there wasn't any time to waste. There had to be some way out of this mess. We always figured something out, right? What we really needed was a slider, someone capable of jumping freely from one dimension to another, but we haven't met any of those yet. The closest thing we have right now is Tachibana, and the only dimension she can enter is Sasaki's closed space.

Wait a second.

"Tachibana. Sasaki's closed space encompasses the entire world, right?"

She cocked her head to the side. "That's right. It's everywhere."

Then we just might have a shot. I turned to Kuyoh. "You may not be able to make the jump from here, but what if we tried from a better location?"

"B-But, this is where she went in, isn't it?" Miss Asahina asked.

Oh, surely you can follow along, can't you?

Koizumi caught on quickly. "I think he's suggesting that Miss Tachibana narrow the gap by taking us all to Miss Sasaki's closed space. From there, it should be much easier for Miss Suoh to break into the closed space Miss Kimidori created. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, you pretty much nailed it," I said. "Does that sound plausible, Kuyoh?"

She lowered her head for a moment, then looked up at me. "A possibility."

Well, that's better than nothing. We'd seen two separate closed spaces start to overlap back when Fujiwara tried to kill Haruhi, so they had to be pretty "close" to one another, right? I think I'm actually starting to understand some of this stuff. I don't know whether that should make me happy or upset.

"Let's hurry," Miss Asahina said, still staring at the distortion in the distance. "It's getting bigger."

Pushing a few middle school-level jokes to the back of my mind, I nodded. "Miss Tachibana, if there was ever a chance for you to earn my trust, this is it."

Her eyes darted from me to the growing distortion to Koizumi. "I don't know if I can carry this many people, though," she said. "Koizumi, would you..."

He smiled. "I'd be happy to lend you my power."

The rest of us stood back and watched as Koizumi placed a hand on Tachibana's shoulder. I'd only heard of espers lending their power to each other once before: in that closed space with Haruhi, it had taken several of them working together just to allow Koizumi to show up in an incomplete form. That had been a different situation entirely, though. In that case, Haruhi had started creating an entirely new world.

Oh god, I hope that's not what Kimidori's trying to do.

After a few tense minutes, Tachibana opened her eyes. "I'm ready," she said, extending her hands. "Everyone, form a chain."

We all began to link hands, not unlike the time she'd first shown me Sasaki's closed space. Back then, the others had said we'd been sitting at the table the entire time. Does that mean our bodies are still going to be here while we look for Kimidori? And if so, can I change places? If the access point expands and rips our bodies apart, I don't want to die holding Koizumi's hand.

"Not this time," she said. "We'll be fully entering closed space. Everyone hold on tight."

The way she said that made me expect some kind of turbulence, or at least a little jolt, but the world simply faded to sepia without much fanfare. I had to squint for a moment, until my eyes adjusted to the brightness. If Haruhi's closed space was an endless night, Sasaki's had to be never-ending daytime.

Haruhi immediately let go and started examining the world around us. "I can't believe it. Now I'm officially a time traveler and a slider! This is so cool!"

Those are pretty loose definitions you're using there.

"It's safe to let go now," Tachibana said. "This world is really stable. Not a Celestial in sight."

"Ease up on the sales pitch," I said, letting go of Koizumi's hand. Other than the discoloration, Sasaki's version of the island was essentially the same. The mansion was still there, and the ocean was as vast as ever, though its surface was smooth and unmoving. To be honest, it was a little creepy.

"This is a little embarrassing," Sasaki said. "I feel exposed with all of you in here. It's like an extension of my mind, isn't it?"

At least yours is somewhat normal. If we're comparing you to Haruhi, hers are a lot more dangerous.

Kuyoh stood perfectly still. "Initiating data transposition."

I've started to get used to it, but there's still something unnerving about the way she doesn't seem to breathe. When she's not moving a muscle, Kuyoh looks like someone hit the pause button on her remote. Maybe if the alien interface thing doesn't work out, she can pursue a career in horror films.

The sepia world began to change again, sepia tones mixing with the dark colors of the regular world. Within seconds, we were back in reality, if that's even the right word to use. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked. "Why are we back in our world?"

"We are not."

Huh?

"This is the space Emiri Kimidori has created. It is what you would call a closed space."

Seriously? It looks so... normal. I've never seen one that's indistinguishable from reality.

"Well, Miss Kimidori has full control over her powers," Koizumi said. "Since she's conscious of what she's doing, I'd imagine she can also control what her closed space looks like. But why would she want an exact mirror of our world?"

That's a good question, but it's not the important one right now. If this is Kimidori's closed space, then where is she?

Kuyoh raised a hand and pointed at the mansion. "Inside."

Kimidori, what's going through your head? You leave the mansion, then turn around and create one of your own? What's the point? And why leave our reality in the first place? Is it because you thought you'd be safe here? Or is that just my own arrogance talking? And, why am I asking myself these questions, again?

I looked over at Haruhi, wondering if she was going to make the first move, but now that we were here, her fear was starting to show. Figures. Even when she'd finally woken up in a strange, interesting world, she'd still been the one holding on to my sleeve.

I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Alright, let's go."

There's a certain tension that arises from holding contradictory feelings. For instance, it's easy to say you're going to leave a love confession in someone's shoe locker, and you can probably even write the note and seal it up without too much hesitation. The hard part is when it's halfway in the slot, and you still have a chance to back out. That's the moment you have to make your decision. Will you let go, or will you pull it back out and tear it up?

I've never been in that particular situation, but as I reached for the handle to open the front door, I'd imagine the tension I felt was comparable. Only, in my case, backing out could very well result in the destruction of all of time and space.

That's okay, though. I can't get motivated without some sort of deadline.

Before I had a chance to talk myself out of it, I tightened my grip and opened the door. When I wasn't immediately disintegrated by Kimidori, I stepped inside.

The mansion's interior had been completely hollowed out. It was as if we were in a video game, and had somehow glitched our way into a building that wasn't meant to be entered. The entire mansion was one enormous room, illuminated by some unseen light source.

About twenty meters away, I spotted Kimidori. Or should I say, Kimidoris. There were four of her standing in a semicircle, with a fifth one materializing out of thin air. Only after Haruhi shouted "There she is!" did she notice we were there.

"Oh! You were able to follow me?"

Great. I guess this bubble stops working if we actively try to get her attention. Or maybe she just saw the door open. Either way, we'll be relying on Kuyoh to protect us from this point on.

The five of them turned to face us. "Ah, I see. It seems I wasn't as thorough as I should have been. Congratulations on managing to travel back in time."

For all the confidence I'd had earlier, I couldn't get my voice to work. Fortunately, Haruhi wasn't nearly as conscious of the danger we were in.

"Give Yuki back!" she demanded. "And my powers while you're at it, or there'll be hell to pay."

I wanted to lecture Haruhi about how she shouldn't threaten dangerous enemies like that, but I'd done the same thing last December. Besides, I'd known her for over a year now. It would have been stupid not to expect her to do something like this.

"I'm afraid this is Miss Nagato's punishment," Kimidori said, looking down at the floor. "It's not up to me. I merely do what my superiors tell me to do."

As much as I hated her, she really did seem to regret what had happened. She wasn't evil. She was just a coward, afraid to rebel against the Data Integration Thought Entity even though she knew what she was doing was wrong. Maybe that still counts as evil, but she still had time to redeem herself.

"Waah! It's shrinking!"

My eyes darted to Miss Asahina, then to the bubble, which had started to contract around us. Crap! Kuyoh, what are you doing?!

"Mobility."

As it shrunk, the bubble started splitting up into several smaller, individual bubbles. Soon, each of us had our own personal barrier, which then condensed even further to conform to the shapes of our bodies. In a span of about thirty seconds, Kuyoh's barrier had transformed into mere glowing outlines around our bodies.

"She will not be able to manipulate our data," Kuyoh said.

Kimidori and her copies began to approach us. "But how will you complete the transfer like that?" she asked. "You can't make direct contact unless you expose yourself, you know."

I see. So it's a stalemate. And in this case, a stalemate means Kimidori wins by default. I hope Kuyoh has a plan for this.

The Kimidori in the center raised her arms up, creating two metal spears in the air above her. She didn't appear to have to mold them out of existing objects like Asakura and Nagato had; they simply materialized out of thin air.

"The ability to create data cannot be replicated without causing massive damage to spacetime," Kuyoh said. "Attempting to do so would be dangerous. Only the original possesses it."

So then the Kimidori in the center was the only one who could create "new" data. The others were just ordinary interfaces, though I wouldn't say that makes them any less of a threat. Any chance these barriers can stop those things?

"You really shouldn't have come here," Kimidori said. "Entering this testing space is being interpreted as an act of hostility. I won't be able to convince my superiors that you don't pose a threat for much longer. For now, I only have permission to defend myself, so I ask that the rest of you please stay back."

Hold on. Am I really supposed to believe she's been defending us this whole time? That's just too convenient an excuse.

Kuyoh readied herself, apparently undeterred by the spikes. I'd known from the very beginning that there wasn't much hope of a peaceful resolution, but things had steered toward violence a bit earlier than I'd expected. Now it was just a matter of who would make the first move.

Kimidori moved her wrists ever so slightly, and the spears shot forward faster than my eye could follow. Kuyoh vanished just as quickly, and the spears dug into the wall behind us.

Okay, time to get somewhere safe.

I turned back to the others. "Let's put some distance between us," I said. "We need to stay out of the way, or we'll get caught in the crossfire." Not that I'm running away, mind you. This fight is just best left to Kuyoh. If the rest of us tried to butt in, we'd get torn apart in seconds.

"No, I'm going to help," Koizumi said, creating an orb of orange light in his palm.

Tachibana did the same. "Me too. We may not be able to do much, but we can at least serve as a distraction for a while."

A thunderous boom echoed throughout the building, and I looked up to see Kuyoh and one of the Kimidoris clashing in the center of the room.

"Okay," I said, "just be careful."

As they charged forward, I turned toward the door. Only, there wasn't a door anymore. I probably should have expected Kimidori to pull something like that. Now what do we do?

"Let's get out of the entryway, for starters," Fujiwara said. "We don't have much room to move around here."

Even if that was a valid point, there's no way I could acknowledge it, coming from you.

A pair of simultaneous explosions went off as Koizumi and Tachibana launched their attacks at the outermost Kimidoris. The ground actually shook from the intensity of the strike. Back when he'd fought the camel cricket, Koizumi had said he was only at ten percent of his power. What was he at now? This isn't Haruhi's closed space, but maybe they all work the same. If he made an explosion like that using only a fraction of his true strength, he might be scarier than I thought.

While the Kimidoris were busy, the girls and I headed for a more distant and open area, where it would be easier to avoid the occasional stray blast. Fujiwara came, too, but I refuse to count him as part of our group. Speaking of which, why isn't anyone sticking around to protect the no-powers club?

"They're amazing," Sasaki said. She and Haruhi were both watching, wide-eyed, as our group's three most powerful representatives fought against five copies of Kimidori. At least, I think that's what was happening behind the screen of smoke and debris. Blasts of energy continued to slam into the ground, and I'm pretty sure I saw a Koizumi-sized orb zip through the air at one point. It was complete chaos.

It didn't last long, though. When the espers took a moment to rest and the smoke began to clear, I saw the silhouettes of two Kimidoris reconstructing their bodies. Then, to our horror, an additional three started cropping up next to them. How many copies can she make? Is there even a limit?

Koizumi and Tachibana retreated next to us. "It's no good," he said. "No matter what we do, she's just going to keep rebuilding them."

There were now eight Kimidoris total. They stood in pairs, back to back, waiting for Kuyoh to reappear. With Koizumi and Tachibana still catching their breath, it was effectively eight versus one. I wondered for a moment if she would try to attack the espers while they were tired, but she didn't seem interested. Maybe she was limited to defending herself after all.

Either Kuyoh was powerful enough to hold her own against multiple interfaces, or Kimidori wasn't taking this fight seriously.

With a sharp crack, Kuyoh reappeared next to one of the Kimidoris and reached out to grab her arm. It all happened fairly quickly, but I could see that Kuyoh's forearm was no longer protected by the faint glow of the barrier. The way she was positioned reminded me of that time in the cafe, when Kimidori had been our waitress. Kuyoh had grabbed her arm without explanation, and it had taken a lot of convincing to get her to let go. Was it some sort of preemptive muscle memory?

Either way, it didn't matter. Kimidori jerked back in the nick of time, and just like that, Kuyoh's forearm was gone.

She vanished again and reappeared a bit closer to us, blood gushing from what was left of her arm.

Sasaki went pale. "Kuyoh! Are you okay?"

"I am fine. Stay back."

The barrier's glow spread down from her stump of an arm, recreating the shape of her missing appendage. Once it was back in place, a new arm formed inside, good as new. What troubled me was that had only taken a split second of exposure for Kuyoh's arm to be erased. What happens she loses her focus, and our barriers fail?

Kuyoh turned back to face us. "In order for transfer to occur, physical contact between Emiri Kimidori and the new host is required."

Yeah, we already know that. That's what you're supposed to be doing right now.

"Contact is required between the hosts. However, I can initiate the process from a distance."

It took me a second to realize what she was trying to say. In order for her to transfer Haruhi's powers to another person, that person has to be touching Kimidori, but that doesn't necessarily mean it has to be Kuyoh. If Koizumi or Tachibana can get close enough to touch her, Kuyoh can trigger the transfer. That's probably helpful to them, but it doesn't really make a difference to us normal humans. Besides, I'm pretty sure Kuyoh's the only one who can tell which Kimidori has Haruhi's powers.

The only person who didn't look surprised was Fujiwara.

"It's useless, no matter what you do," one of the Kimidoris said. "I won't allow that to happen."

In the time we'd been talking, she had created several more copies. It was slowly turning into an army. We were already outnumbered, not to mention outclassed, but this was just getting ridiculous. If she had actually been trying to kill us, we'd have long since been dead.

It was clear that this was a fight we couldn't win.

Kuyoh, Tachibana, and Koizumi rushed forward once again, launching another, more desperate round of attacks.

"Come on, Koizumi!" Haruhi shouted. "Give her hell! Show her what happens when you mess with the SOS Brigade!"

Despite her cheers, the two espers were quickly overwhelmed by the growing interface army and sent flying back to our side. Kuyoh continued to avoid the barrage of projectiles, but even she was starting to look desperate.

Then, as she passed near the entrance, the two spears that had originally fired into the wall pulled free and shot toward her. She narrowly avoided being skewered, and with a quick spin, actually managed to redirect the spears toward one of the Kimidoris. It was a nice move, but still ended up being too slow, and Kimidori vaporized the spears before they made contact.

"That's the real one."

Huh? Fujiwara? What are you—

Without warning, Fujiwara bolted past me, heading straight for the same Kimidori that Kuyoh had just targeted. Was he...?

No. Hell no.

I charged after him. It wasn't that I thought he could make it to Kimidori and actually touch her—she could probably kill him six times before he even got halfway—but I didn't want to take that chance. I dove, grabbing his leg and bringing him crashing to the ground in front of me.

"Get off me," he spat, kicking at me with his other foot. It was all I could do to duck my head down and hold on with all my strength. If he thinks I'd just sit there and watch while he tries to take Haruhi's power for himself, he's got another thing coming.

Well, I say that, but his kicks were really starting to hurt.

"Stop! Stop it!"

As unmanly as it was, I was glad Haruhi was coming to my rescue. I didn't dare look up to see what she was doing to Fujiwara, lest I take a kick to the face, but it sounded pretty brutal. Eventually, he stopped kicking.

I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Kyon, are you okay?"

I cautiously lifted my head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You really are an idiot," she said, helping me up. "Did you actually think she wouldn't notice him?"

Of course I didn't, but still... Oh man, I don't know what's worse: Fujiwara's physical beating, or Haruhi's mental one.

Steadying myself, I stole a glance back at him. There was blood, but not too much, and he still appeared to be at least semi-conscious. Haruhi could really do some damage when she wanted to.

Koizumi put his hands on our shoulders. "I think the two of you need to get back."

He drew my attention back to the fight taking place across the room. Kuyoh was still battling it out with a number of Kimidoris, but one of them had broken away from the others, and was staring at us with a look of regret.

"You really shouldn't have come back here," she said. "It's been determined that you all pose more of a threat to us than we originally estimated. I'm really sorry."

Kimidori, what are you saying? You were the one telling us to stay back earlier. Why are you talking like you're about to—

She swung her arms down, transforming them into the same blades of light Asakura had used against Nagato. No. No, no, no. It was happening all over again. That battle in the classroom had been my first real brush with death, so can you blame me for developing a fear response?

Koizumi and Tachibana prepared their attacks, but it wouldn't do any good. If Kimidori had gotten the order to eliminate us, there was nothing we could do. Kuyoh was having enough trouble as it was, and her opponent hadn't even been going for the kill. Our best option would be to run for it and hope Kuyoh would be able to get us out of here in one piece.

That said, it would take a lot longer to get her attention than it would for Kimidori to tear us to shreds.

"Please, don't hold this against me," she said, raising her arms. "I really did try to help you, honestly."

If she'd been aiming at me, I might have been able to do something. Duck, jump to the side, anything like that. If she'd been aiming at me, I wouldn't have done something so stupid.

But she was aiming at Haruhi.

I didn't get a chance to think. As Kimidori's blade shot forward, I slammed myself into Haruhi with all my strength.

I think I actually lost consciousness for a second. The only reason I say this is because I can distinctly remember being jolted back to reality by the sound of Haruhi screaming beside me.

I was in pain. A lot of pain. But at the same time, a warm numbness was spreading throughout my body. As much as I dreaded what I would probably see, I forced myself to open my eyes.

I was being held up by Kimidori's glowing blades, which had torn through most of my torso. That's probably why it hurt so much. At least, it did at first. Within a few seconds, I lost all feeling entirely. I tried to breathe, but my body wasn't responding anymore. I couldn't even move my arms.

Haruhi, shut up. Stop screaming. You too, Miss Asahina. You're both way too loud.

The light faded, and I felt myself fall to the floor. There was so much blood, more than I can remember seeing in my life. Then again, last time something like this happened, I'd ended up lying face-up, so I didn't really see how bad it had been.

Dammit. I really, really don't want to die. I've come close on more than one occasion, but Nagato wasn't here to save me this time. I wanted to roll over. Maybe if I was looking up, I'd see her standing over me, and she'd heal me up again.

My vision was already starting to fade. I guess this is really it, then. Haruhi, I'm sorry. I hope I at least managed to buy you a little more time.

...So why am I not dead yet?

My whole body is numb, but I'm still aware of my surroundings. Actually, I think I'm getting a bit more conscious of them. Haruhi's saying something. Kimidori, too. Everybody's so loud. Just shut up.

"Wh-... What? Kyon!"

"I said stop being so loud."

It's weird. For a guy who just lost most of his lungs, I feel okay. Actually, I feel great. I feel...

"I don't understand," Kimidori said. "How could you... I don't believe it. You were able to use something like that?"

My body was stiff, but I finally managed to draw in a ragged breath. Nagato, did you really come to save me?

I rolled over and sat up. There was a large hole in my shirt, but my chest had completely healed. If someone knows what's going on, please, explain it to me.

"Your barrier was penetrated," Kuyoh said. "The transfer is complete."

Transfer? You mean—

"Kyon, look out!"

I turned in time to see a green blur rocketing toward me. It was all I could do to brace myself before Kimidori's fist slammed into my gut.

The next few seconds were a confusing mess of rapid spinning and blunt force trauma. I was sent flying through the air by the force of the blow, and I'm pretty sure I crashed into something hard along the way. It wasn't until I came to a stop and felt the grass on my cheek that I realized I'd been sent straight through the mansion wall.

But I wasn't in pain. In fact, I felt more healthy than ever. In the past minute or so, I'd taken several hits that should have each qualified as an instant-kill attack. Had I become invulnerable? As I opened my eyes, I saw that the dim glow still surrounded my body. Kuyoh's barrier. Maybe it could protect me from physical damage after all.

I got to my feet and took in my surroundings. I'd ended up all the way at the bottom of the island, a few meters away from the shore. Had I seriously fallen all the way down that cliff?

Someone was shouting at me. It was hard to tell in the dark, but I could make out the silhouette of a figure running down the path toward me. After a few seconds, I realized it was Haruhi. But what was she screaming?

And more importantly, what exactly had just happened? Kuyoh had said the transfer was complete. Had she finally managed to make direct contact with Kimidori? She'd also said my barrier had been penetrated, but what did that have to do with it?

...no. She couldn't possibly mean...

Crack.

Up in the sky, directly overhead, a new star had been born. At least, that's what it looked like. Then another, and another, until I realized what was happening. Now that Kimidori doesn't have Haruhi's powers anymore, I guess her closed space is going to break down.

Haruhi shouted again, this time a bit closer, but I still couldn't make out what she was saying.

Bright red cracks spread across the sky. I'd already seen it happen once before, but it was still an amazing spectacle to watch closed space start to crumble.

Haruhi's voice reached me again, this time clear enough to tell what she was saying.

"Get away from the pier!"

Huh?

Unfortunately, it took me an instant too long to realize what Haruhi meant. As soon as Kimidori's closed space disintegrated, I felt my body being jerked backward, and for the second time that day, my vision went black.

Ah, right. The access point.

I guess while we were busy in Kimidori's closed space, it had been growing into a full-fledged rip in the time plane. Great. So where am I? It feels the same as it does every time I travel via TPDD, but this time, there's no set destination. Am I drifting? I wonder where I'll end up.

Wait, what am I saying? If I have Haruhi's powers, I should be able to end up wherever I want, shouldn't I? Kuyoh, you should have given me some kind of instruction manual.

As I thought this, my hearing returned. My eyes and inner ear told me I was still lost in the void, but all around me, I could hear voices. Bits of conversations, some in Japanese, but most in languages I didn't understand. As the number of voices increased, they grew into a dull roar.

All I could think was that I needed to find Haruhi.

With a little willpower, I felt myself moving through the void. Not moving in the traditional sense, mind you. It's hard to explain movement in a place where words like "forward" and "backward" don't really apply. It was sort of like swimming, but with more dimensions.

Searching for Haruhi was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I couldn't even pick out individual voices from the crowd anymore, let alone recognize which one was hers. What's worse, I was starting to get timesick, and I really didn't want to find out what would happen if I threw up in this place. Haruhi, you've never been one to fade into the crowd. That's not the brigade leader I know. You do whatever you can to make yourself known, especially when I don't really want you to, but I'm starting to think I'm okay with that. Go ahead and stand out. Anything. Just give me some kind of hint as to how I can find you.

"I am right here."

Her voice was clear, and quite frankly, uncomfortably loud. And it was close. As I hurried toward the source of the sound, the other voices began to vanish.

Then, I hit something.

I know it doesn't make sense. I was alone in the endless void of time and space, but I swear, I hit something. Well, it's more like I tripped over a speed bump. Whatever it was, it made me lose control, and I started tumbling wildly through the time stream. Then, a blinding burst of light hit my eyes, and my sense of equilibrium returned. Unfortunately, the first thing it told me was that I was upside down somewhere in the air.

I slammed into something metal and fell a couple of feet to the ground. It seems like over the past twenty-four hours, I've spent a lot of time crashing into and through things. At least I hadn't been higher up. Although, with my body like this, I probably wouldn't have gotten hurt anyway.

I was in an alley. Not the same one we'd left from earlier, but a smaller one. The bigger question was, when was I? The metal thing that had stopped my momentum turned out to be a typical modern-day dumpster, so I couldn't be too far off from my time.

After getting up and brushing myself off, I stepped out of the alley. The street signs were in Japanese, so that was a good sign, no pun intended. Maybe I was closer to home than I thought. The sun was high in the sky, so it had to be somewhere around noon. Now I just need to find out what day it is. I can't exactly go up to a random stranger and ask for the year, though. If I am in my own time, that wouldn't do my reputation any favors.

Oh well. I've been in this situation more often than I'd like to admit, so I already knew what to do. When in doubt, just find a newspaper. There was a convenience store down the road, so I decided to start there.

The girl behind the counter looked up at me as I entered. "Good afternoon," she said.

"Morning. Hey, I don't suppose you have the time?"

She checked her watch. "It's about a quarter to one."

"Ah, thanks." I reached for a newspaper and scanned the front page. As I read the date, I had to resist the urge to laugh at myself.

Of course. When else would it be?

Four years ago. It wasn't Tanabata this time, though. It was April 1st, the first day of the school year, 1997. Right now, Haruhi still had her powers, and she was just starting seventh grade. By summer, she'll have solidified her reputation as a class-A weirdo. Why did I end up here, though? I'd followed Haruhi's voice, but she wasn't anywhere in sight, and we still had several months to go before the "I am right here" incident would actually occur. It didn't add up.

At any rate, I needed to get back to my time. I'd been dragged into the time rip, and Haruhi hadn't been too far away. I'll probably have to save her as soon as I get back. How does this work, though? Maybe I just have to...

Wait. If I try it here, I could end up making tomorrow's headlines. 'Man Vanishes While Reading Newspaper,' or something like that. I'd better find a secluded place before I try anything.

A few minutes later, I was back in the alley, facing the dumpster. I took a deep breath. "Okay, listen up," I said to no one in particular. "You'll obey me, got it? None of this 'subconscious' stuff. I only want my conscious decisions to have an effect, so don't try anything funny."

If anyone was watching me, they'd think I was crazy. Hell, at this point, I probably was. I had no way of knowing whether or not I could control this power by making demands like that, but it was worth a shot. If I went back without being able to properly control it, I'd just end up making things worse like Haruhi always does.

I raised a hand up toward the dumpster, and to my surprise, it shuddered slightly. As I lifted the hand further, it began to rise up from the ground. It was actually working. The kid inside me was squealing with glee. It was just like something out of one of those shows I used to watch. I snapped my fingers, and the dumpster's color shifted from a dull gray to neon green.

In the next instant, I was standing atop a particular collection of rectangular stones known as the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was still dark, but the sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon. It's not like I'd always wanted to see the pyramids or anything, it was just the first faraway place I could think of. Now that I was here, though, I realized what an incredible sight it was.

Alright, I think I'm getting the hang of this. Now to get back to the future and set things right. July 17th, right? Did I even need to specify the date, or could I just—

I blinked, and I found myself standing on the cliff overlooking Mr. Keiichi's pier. It was where Haruhi and I had braved the storm to see if his boat was still there, back when we thought Mr. Yutaka had killed him. Below, the time rip had already destroyed most of the pier, and was currently consuming all the water that flowed into it. I wonder where it'll all end up.

Haruhi suddenly appeared, running down the hill below. I saw my past self appear as well for a brief moment before being sucked into the vortex. Poor guy. Don't worry, though, you won't be gone long. And when you come back, you'll be an omnipotent god.

Well, sort of.

I extended a hand toward the vortex and closed my fist. Immediately, the rip vanished, leaving only a brief crackle of electricity as proof that it ever existed. Then I turned back toward the mansion, where the sounds of combat were still going strong. Maybe Kuyoh had gotten a second wind?

"Come back! Come back!"

I flinched. Haruhi's pained scream was loud enough to reach my ears, even from this distance. Or maybe my ears were just getting better now that I was all-powerful. Either way, I'd better hurry up and let her know I'm still alive. First and foremost, though, I had to settle things with Kimidori.

Once I was back inside the mansion, I was surprised to see that the fight was now one-on-one. Even more surprising was the fact that the walls had returned; everyone was now gathered in the main foyer, rather than one massive room. Wait, does that mean our past selves are here, too?

Kimidori and Kuyoh weren't moving, but a barrage of projectiles from both sides was clashing between them. To my relief, it looked like no one else had been hurt. Their barriers were gone, too, but I guess they'd only really been necessary to prevent Kimidori from using her godlike powers on them.

This was my chance. Kimidori hadn't noticed me yet, and she didn't appear to have raised any defenses against the kind of power I was now wielding. I could get rid of her and every other interface right now, and never have to worry about the Data Integrated Thought Entity again. Then I would be able to bring Nagato back without worrying about her being deleted.

So why was I hesitating?

Sure, Kimidori was probably just following orders, and she might have even argued in our defense, but that didn't change the fact that she'd personally terminated Nagato's data link. She was the one who hunted us down and killed her, and taken Miss Asahina's TPDD. And then, she'd set her sights on Haruhi. Any one of those would have been completely unforgivable, but put together? Fujiwara didn't even come close.

But Nagato had hesitated. She'd actually looked sad when I talked about erasing the Data Integration Thought Entity from existence. Maybe it was easier for her back in December, when she also removed her memories of her past life, but I couldn't ignore the fact that Nagato didn't seem too eager to orphan herself.

What alternative did I have, though? We were being threatened. And if I didn't do something soon, we might never have another opportunity. Kimidori alone was dangerous enough, but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of other interfaces just like her. Interfaces like Asakura, who could kill normal humans like me without breaking a sweat. We had no other choice but to get rid of them before they got rid of us.

In that moment, something clicked. And I won't lie, as soon as I realized it, I felt like an idiot. All those things I was worried about—being wiped out without warning, never knowing when we might have to defend ourselves—those were things the Data Integration Thought Entity must have been worried about ever since I made that stupid threat last December. To them, it was a matter of kill or be killed. I couldn't blame them for taking action. Here I was with the tables turned, and I was about to do the exact same thing. How hypocritical can you get? This whole time, everything they'd done could be considered self defense. Sure, they wanted to learn from Haruhi's powers, but more than anything, they wanted to get them out of the hands of the guy who was threatening their very existence. A guy who, on his own, was no more dangerous than any other human.

I still can't forgive them, but I'm at least starting to understand them. And I think I just came up with a solution that will allow everyone to walk out of this alive.

As soon as I made my decision, their attacks died out.

Kuyoh and Kimidori looked around for a moment, apparently confused. When they finally noticed me, it was already over.

Miss Asahina wasted no time in running over to me. "Kyon, you're okay! I thought... I was sure that you..."

"What did you do?" Kimidori asked, eyes wide in shock. "I can't... What have you done? And why do I..."

"Let's just call it a compromise," I said. It was honestly something I should have thought of a long time ago. I'm sure when Haruhi hears about it, she'll tell me she'd had the same idea all along.

"What the hell?"

My ears twitched. That voice. It was familiar, yet strangely alien. Not alien in the Nagato sense, but alien in the sense that it really shouldn't have been coming from that far away. When I found its source, I realized why.

Standing in the doorway was the past version of myself, along with his own Haruhi, Koizumi, and Miss Asahina.

A/N: Twist ending: It's a paradox, time falls apart, this was the last chapter.

Nah, but really, I hope you enjoyed chapter nine, and I promise to wrap everything up in the next chapter. If there's one thing I hate, it's dangling plot threads.