"Kyon!"
Upon hearing the voice, Kyon stopped in his tracks. So there she is, he thought. She didn't go missing at all. Haruhi must have been sick or something, that's why she wasn't at school. Even she can have something normal like that happen to her. Crisis averted.
She had called a meeting the day before - eliminating any plans Kyon had for a duty-free, relaxing Sunday off. As usual, he hadn't been in any hurry to take part in whatever Haruhi had planned, so he had been surprised when she wasn't even at the meeting spot to reprimand him. In fact, Koizumi, Nagato, and Asahina-san had been waiting alone.
They had stayed together for about a half hour, but she hadn't shown up. Koizumi had started to feel uneasy, convinced that Haruhi had just unknowingly caused something crazy to happen, so he had called her house. Talking to her parents had revealed that nobody had seen Haruhi since the Saturday before, when she had been at school. She hadn't returned home that night. They had feared the worst, Kyon included, but... now she was here.
She had probably just been out there trying in vain to signal another UFO. Nothing dangerous. At least if she was back, that would answer a few questions. It was somewhat of a relief - if Haruhi wasn't ordering the Brigade around, who knows what she might have gotten into? After filming that movie, Kyon himself now grudgingly accepted that there truly was more to Haruhi than met the eye.
But as he turned to face her, Haruhi wasn't there at all. Instead, he saw a group of girls, not wearing the school uniforms but probably around his own age. The one with the long dark hair was trying to flag him down, she had probably been the one who had called his name. One of her friends, a bit taller with brown hair tied in twin tails, quickly grabbed her arm and tried to restrain her.
"Konata, you can't be serious! That couldn't be... He doesn't exist!"
"If you don't mind me asking, who exactly are you?" Kyon's eyes narrowed, inspecting them. What had that girl said about him not existing? He really hated it when people said things like that. More weirdness. It was regrettable that he was used to it.
"You realize he can hear us, right, Kagami?" The girl with the long hair - Konata, her name had been - turned back to face him. So it wasn't an exact match, but her voice sounded so much like Haruhi's that it was truly scary. And now he didn't like the way she was smiling at him. "You are him, though, aren't you? You've gotta be."
"Listen, is there something I can help you with? I'm supposed to be on my way to class right now - " He gestured up the hill towards North High.
"Would you mind getting the rest of the brigade together? We've got a bit of a problem, maybe you could help us with it," Konata said.
Kagami, the other girl, was staring at Konata in shock. "That's your plan?"
"Sure, why not? Actually, it almost makes sense... Maybe Haruhi brought us here, or something..." Was Konata suggesting that she also knew about Haruhi's abilities? And she brought them here... from where?
"Haruhi's been missing since yesterday. I hate to ask, but do you know anything about that?" Kyon glanced around, watching the other students walking to school. He couldn't stay out here much longer or else he'd be late. And why was he getting himself tangled up in... whatever was going on now? "And how do you know who I am?"
She ignored the question. "Haruhi's... gone?" Konata seemed to be lost in thought. Planning something. Her friends were staring at her, perplexed, like they had no idea what was going on. She suddenly snapped back to life, grinning. "Then we'll help you figure out what happened!"
"No way, we don't have time for this, we need to be finding a way back home - " Kagami started to protest, but she was cut off.
"And don't you think the SOS Brigade would have the most information on how to do that? They deal with all sorts of weird stuff like this. Let's give it a shot," Konata said.
Great. The mention of "weird stuff like this" confirmed his worst fears. So what were these girls? Sliders? It was about time for Haruhi to make one of those show up, and the things they were saying seemed to confirm it. And it wasn't just one, but four.
The street was almost entirely cleared of students now. Kyon nervously checked his watch. "Look, it was great meeting you and all. But I really need to get going now." He paused, and let out a sigh. "Whatever's going on... I suppose... Come by the club room after school. You seem to know everything else about us, so I'm sure you know where to find it."
That seemed to be a good enough plan - hand them off to the others. Nagato always gave explanations for whatever phenomena Haruhi apparently triggered. Long, complicated explanations, but Kyon was willing to accept that.
He turned and walked away without hesitation, desperately wishing, as he often did, that he simply could have a normal high school life. It wasn't too much to ask for, was it?
Chapter 22
Come Crashing In
"Wasn't that..." Tsukasa started.
"Don't tell me you didn't recognize him! You've read those books, haven't you?" Konata said. She seemed to be trembling with uncontrollable anticipation. "I can't believe we'd end up here, of all places... I've always wanted to come, but they never let me. It's a restricted area, with Haruhi's powers and everything... I can't wait to meet all of them!"
"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with this... What exactly is going on?" Miyuki asked.
"You remember that Suzumiya Haruhi series that Konata was always so interested in..." Kagami said. "I read the light novels, those were pretty good, actually. But anyway, apparently we're somehow in that story now." She didn't quite share Konata's enthusiasm at the moment. Sure, they had been good stories. But real life wasn't supposed to be like that. It was all just fantasy. Pure entertainment, and never anything more.
"I can't help but wonder, why would Haruhi have disappeared? And right around the time we showed up, too..." Konata thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Let's come back here once the school day's over. Until then - "
"Emiri - I mean, um..." The response to the name was almost instinctive after hearing it for so long. Konata turned around and instantly recognized the navy blue baseball cap. Junpei ran up to them, slowing his pace as he got closer. "Konata... Holy shit." He said the name "Konata" awkwardly, unfamiliar with using it to address anyone real. His eyes darted over each of them, not believing what he saw.
"Junpei? What're you doing here...?" Konata asked.
"Oh, man... I can't believe this. You're all real - I mean, Konata, I was friends with you for months, I never thought you were really - "
"Someone you know, Konata?" Kagami eyed him suspiciously.
"Yeah, he went to school with me. That was my last mission... But never mind that for now. Junpei, how did you get here?" If he had come here, he probably had joined the Organization, and of course he'd have a Talisman and a way out. She hoped.
But there was still the issue of Haruhi missing, and Konata realized she wasn't ready to let that slip past just now. If Kagami and the others really wanted to go home, then they - What was she thinking? Of course she had to go back with them, she couldn't back out now. She had made a promise.
"Well, uh... When nobody saw you this mor - I mean, yesterday morning, I think, before school... Jason told me all about the Organization, and he found out about that mission you went on - "
"You don't mean..." Kagami said, her eyes wide. "Jason Ellis?" She turned back to Konata slowly.
"Um, y-yeah. The same one..." Konata stammered. "We've kinda been... working together for a while."
Kagami was steaming. "Anything else you'd like to share? I thought... he seemed so normal, I actually thought he was a good influence on you!"
"You knew him, too... Kagami?" Junpei said the name hesitantly.
"Yeah - wait, how do you know - "
Konata interrupted. "Please tell me Jason can get us back home."
"Actually... I don't really understand what happened. We went to... your world, and we were looking for you, but then we somehow got stuck here." Junpei's eyes widened as he realized what she had meant in her request. "You're saying they kicked you out, too?"
"Huh? Why would Jason have..." She started to put the pieces together. He had come looking for her, decided to have Junpei help out since he was already supposed to be recruited, and at some point while looking for her had broken a rule somehow... Maybe he'd seen somebody from school who recognized him, and they'd learned the truth. "This is all my fault, isn't it?"
Junpei groaned. "Hey, don't expect me to know how this works. I'm totally new at this whole thing."
Tsukasa was about to add something when they heard another voice, one that Konata recognized from a few missions. "Konata-senpai!" Before Konata could even turn around to see her, Rei was casually leaning on her shoulder with one arm. "Hey, I don't suppose you still have the coordinates for my world, would you?"
"Rei? You're here too?"
"Yeah, I'm glad I found you! So come on. I need to get back home before school." That was when she noticed the four others who were standing there. "Huh? What are your friends doing here...? Wait, don't tell me you went back to your world to deal with those things..."
"Whoa. You're Ayanami Rei, aren't you?" Junpei said. "From Evangelion? But you seem... different."
"So I've been told," she said flatly.
It took Kagami a minute to remember where she knew this girl from, recalling that the last time she had seen Rei, her hair had been white instead of pale blue. "Oh my God... You're that girl I saw at the Comiket festival!"
"Long time no see," Rei said with a smile. "So how's your day been?" Kagami glared at her.
"So Rei, you mean you were back there helping against the demons, too? And let me guess, you're not sure how you ended up here and the Organization kicked you out." Konata had her arms crossed, and was looking downwards.
"Pretty much... But on the bright side, I was able to help Yutaka out! She'll be just fine." Rei gave a wide grin.
"You were with Yutaka?" Konata reacted in shock, but felt relieved. "What happened to her? She's alright, isn't she?" Konata couldn't have looked for Yutaka on her own, not when she had already been helping her other friends... She had desperately wanted someone to help her.
"I'm pretty sure." Rei began listing off the details. "She was with Minami and Hiyori. We had all gotten to Minami's house when all the crazy stuff started happening, and stuff started fixing itself - "
"What stuff?" Tsukasa asked.
"You... didn't see?" Rei said. "Like all the buildings just went back to normal, the tower vanished. Actually, from what I saw the tower was gone first, and it kind of spread out from there. All the damage just disappeared. Once it got to where I was, that was when I ended up in the middle of the street here. But I at least saw it get as far as Minami's house." Everyone was staring at her, so she added, "Nobody else saw it? Really?"
"Goodness..." Miyuki said.
"I - didn't notice anything before we got taken away," Junpei said.
"So Yutaka and the others didn't come with you. They're still back home," Kagami said. "So why were we lucky enough to get caught up in this?"
"Jason actually wanted me to try to find anyone who ended up here, so now that you guys are here..." Junpei was trying his best, but this situation was different from what he was used to with the SEES team. "You haven't seen anyone else around, have you?"
"As a matter of fact, we did see one person," Miyuki said. "You said his name was Dante, if I remember correctly." She looked over at Konata, who nodded in response.
"Dante isn't a member, though. What I mean is that he never was," Konata added. "But he was also in our universe. He was inside the tower, fighting the demons from there. He came with it."
"Whoa..." Rei said.
"So where is Jason? He's been in the Organization longer than any of us have, he should know what's going on," Konata said. Actually, since Junpei had technically never even started, Rei was the only other real member here. Konata had the most experience of this group. "Did he have any idea what this all means?"
"N-no, he... didn't know anything," Junpei said. "We were supposed to meet up in the center of town where the two of us started out. It's still going to be a while, but you guys want to head over there?"
Between the six of them, there was at least enough money to get some fast food. Whatever they got to eat didn't really matter. Tsukasa tried to think back to whatever she had eaten last. They had just arrived at that cafe before those things showed up, and they hadn't even eaten then... She had gotten up late as usual, and hadn't even had any breakfast, expecting to just have lunch an hour or so later.
The man working at the counter had given them a strange look - probably just because we're not wearing uniforms, and we're out at this time of day, like Kona-chan said, Tsukasa reminded herself. Her purple hair was making her self-conscious. The six of them had taken a booth large enough to fit all of them comfortably - besides the four of them, Konata's friends - Rei and Junpei - had come too. Junpei had said this was where he and Jason were planning to meet. Jason was really a part of this, too?
Once they had sat down, Konata turned around and glanced behind them towards the entrance, scanning around for something. She turned back. "Listen, don't make a big deal about this or anything, but... Some guy in a yellow coat has been following us since this morning."
"What?" Tsukasa turned around, trying to see him. There he was, at a table far away, no food on the table in front of him. Konata put a hand on her shoulder and turned her back around.
"Don't stare at him. I'm not sure what he wants." Konata kept her voice low. "I don't think he wants us to see him."
Kagami was sitting across from them, Miyuki next to her, and Rei in the next seat over. "Dressed like that?" she said, eying the garish yellow coat. "Why do I find that hard to believe?"
"How long has he been following you?" Rei asked. She was keeping watch on him.
"About from the time we met up with Kyon. You don't recognize him, do you?"
Rei shook her head. "Never seen him before. Who do you think he is?"
"We can worry about that later, he hasn't tried anything yet..." Konata took a sip of her drink. "Junpei, you know about Haruhi, right? You have to. You can't exactly have seen Lucky Star and not know about her."
Tsukasa glanced over at him. He'd seen that show? That was the one they were in... She realized how strange it must be for him if he thought they weren't real people. Actually, she'd seen Kona-chan today, which had been really weird at first... And Kyon, too.
"So that's seriously where we are right now? In that universe, or whatever?" Junpei said. "How are we supposed to get back? You couldn't have just forgotten about the Shadows. Call me crazy, but I was under the impression I was just playing hooky for a day."
Actually, Konata realized, she had forgotten all about school at Gekkokan, and fighting the Shadows. She didn't say anything about it.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Miyuki said, after a pause, "I don't know very much about what's going on here... I'd appreciate it if you could explain. Who is Haruhi? You mentioned her having... special powers?"
"Basically... Haruhi has the ability to change things just by wishing for it. She doesn't know anything about it, but I still think maybe she had something to do with bringing us here," Konata explained. "She's done all sorts of things in the anime and manga. I remember that she mentioned alternate universes every so often. I guess she wished for someone from a different world to show up here, so..."
"Really? That sounds incredible. Is something like that possible?"
"Don't forget, we're not in the real world anymore. I suppose it is," Kagami said.
"Just because it's not your world doesn't mean it isn't real," Rei said.
"I'm not going to argue specifics." Kagami slowly took a bite of the sandwich she had been staring at for several minutes.
Rei turned back to Miyuki. "By the way, when we got to Minami's house, your mom was there, too. I think the demons knocked down your house, but your family was fine. And now so's your house, probably, like the rest of the city."
"Thank goodness..." Miyuki said. "Those... demons... they really got that far?"
"Even more than that. Those guys were fast." Rei reached over and stole some of Kagami's fries.
The front doors of the restaurant opened, and Jason cut across the maze of tables to join them. He noticed Konata and her friends immediately. "I see you all showed up here, then..." He paused. "At this point I'm sure you already know, but I'm not just an average exchange student." He pulled up an empty chair from one of the tables and sat at the end of their table.
Kagami stared at him, trying to recognize him as the same person she'd gone to school with for a year. "I can't believe you... This is all your fault! I trusted you!"
"I take it you're not happy to see me..." He sighed.
"You really got fired, too, huh?" Konata said. "I thought for sure you'd be the one to get this all sorted out... I'm so sorry I caused all this." She turned to look across the table at Kagami. "It's really not his fault, Kagami, he gave me a choice from the very start... I just went along with it, that's all. I could have said no... I could have at least kept on living at home..."
"But, Jason-kun..." Tsukasa said. "I remember talking to you after Kona-chan... died... and you said you didn't know anything about it..."
"Eclipse policy. It killed me to do it, but I had to keep lying to you."
"You didn't go back to America, then?" Miyuki asked.
"Konata and I were working together that entire time... Most of the times when I got calls from all of you, she was right there with me," he said. "But right now, the only important thing is getting everyone home. Junpei, did you find anything out?"
Junpei looked up, caught off guard. "I found them, that's about it," he replied.
"Oh, and we're in Suzumiya Haruhi's universe. We met Kyon just before Junpei showed up," Konata added.
"We're - ? Of course..." Jason said. "In that case, it's even more urgent that we find a way out."
"But according to Kyon, Haruhi isn't even here. Nobody's seen her for almost two days. Come to think of it... Does anyone have the time? Maybe we should head over there soon." Noticing Jason's confusion, she explained. "Kyon told us to go to the club room once the school day ended. I thought it was a good place to start."
"I guess as long as Haruhi's not here, it's okay to go..." Jason said. "You remember that direct contact with her is against Organization rules. I realize that we don't always have to listen to them anymore, but this one is purely for safety. If Haruhi shows up, you need to avoid contact with her."
"What? Seriously?" Konata frowned.
"Trust me, Eclipse specially selects people to make contact with people like her, and even then it's a huge risk. The potential for things that could happen..."
Konata sighed. "Fine, I get it."
"As long as you're doing that, I think I'll head out and look around some more," Rei said. "What are you guys going to do?" She looked at Junpei, then at Jason.
"I really think I should - No, nevermind. You'll do fine on your own, Konata... Just be careful," Jason said. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see who else we might find. I've already searched this part of the town, so let's try somewhere else."
After finishing their meals, they split into two groups and departed.
When Haruhi wasn't around, Kyon found he actually enjoyed the club room. On these all-too-rare occasions, everyone could just relax. Mikuru wasn't even in one of those degrading outfits which currently hung on the rack, with Haruhi not here to force her into it. She was allowed to wear her normal uniform. It was good to see her happy.
Still, there was the fact that even after arriving in class this morning, Haruhi was still absent. And that reminded him of this morning and how -
"What are you guys waiting for? It's just up ahead!" The voice was muffled and came from outside in the hall. Mikuru glanced up, suddenly afraid. So you think it sounds like her too... Kyon thought. Guess it wasn't my imagination.
"Kona-chan... you're really sure we should go in?"
"Of course!" Now the handle turned, the door swung open, and Konata was surveying the room in front of her with an awestruck expression. Kyon had to wonder, what did she see in a dingy little place like this? What little Haruhi had done in the way of decorating was nothing to write home about. "I can't believe it... We're really here!"
Mikuru seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Huh? Oh, you're not... Who are you?" she said, realizing she had been mistaken.
"You must be the ones Kyon told us about," Koizumi said. "You're right on time. Nice to meet you all."
Konata stepped inside, pulling up a chair for herself at the table in the center. "So Haruhi's still not here? That's too bad... Any idea what happened to her?" Her eyes darted all over the room, a contented grin on her face, like this was the only place she wanted to be right now. What was so impressive about some random stuff thrown into an unused classroom?
"Kyon told you about that, I presume." Koizumi was across from where Konata had sat down, his arms crossed. "She stayed here late on Saturday. I'm not sure how long she was here after the rest left. And yesterday nobody saw her. She was absent today as well. But, first things first. Who are you?"
Starting with the visitors, introductions were exchanged both ways. Although Konata and Kagami at least seemed to already know everyone...
"Thank you for letting us come to you," Miyuki said. "Konata-san told us you might be able to help us."
"Oh, and we already know your secrets, being from the future or anything," Konata said. Mikuru reacted with shock to the statement. "So there's no need to keep anything hidden."
Kyon noticed something unusual. Nagato, who had been sitting and reading quietly like she did every day, had actually torn herself away from the book and hadn't taken her eyes off Konata since the door had opened. She often never made any indication of actively paying attention, despite the fact that she absorbed and remembered everything that was said and done here, but now something was different... She remained silent, but alert. The expression on her face didn't reveal her thoughts.
"So other than some kind of weird fascination with this little club, what brings you here?" Kyon said.
"I can't believe I'm really going to ask you this, but... All we really need to know is if you have any way to get us to an alternate universe." Kagami's voice dropped to a low murmur on the second part.
"Why do you need that?" Mikuru asked. "Is... Suzumiya-san in a different world? Um, I mean... I tried to return to the future, and ask about what happened, but it was classified..."
"We don't know where she is. I guess she could be, but - I can explain this better, probably..." Konata said. "I used to be part of the Eclipse organization. We took out threats in all sorts of different universes."
Kyon had some flashes of memory, hearing about the Integrated Data Thought Entity, some classified group of time travelers from the future, and the Agency that Koizumi once mentioned... whatever that was.
Konata continued. "Our world was attacked by demons just yesterday, and I went back to help everyone... And somehow, we ended up here, and I don't understand how. Usually people don't fall into another world for no reason. Ever since then, I haven't been able to return home. Certain divisions of Eclipse monitor people like Haruhi, but if you're not part of that group then this world is restricted. So now I'm fired."
"And didn't you say that Haruhi might have something to do with us coming here?" Tsukasa asked.
"Yeah, that was our guess," Konata said. Turning to the others, she added, "But you said she was missing yesterday... And we arrived here last night."
"I'm sorry to say that I personally can't give you any help, but Suzumiya-san has expressed interest in alternate worlds before. It seems likely she could be involved," Koizumi said. "And you're already aware that she could have created alternate worlds just by wishing for them. You're aware of the fact that she has such a power. May I ask how you know that?"
"What? But... but our world always existed! Haruhi didn't make it!" Kagami cried, making eye contact with him, the first time Kyon had ever seen her do that with anyone. "I mean, you're the ones who are just characters in a book!"
"Huh?" Mikuru said. "A..."
"Usually we don't tell anyone about this, but... Yeah. Where we come from, this whole thing - Haruhi, the SOS Brigade, your entire world - is a light novel, which later became just about the greatest anime ever made," Konata said, still grinning. "I'm a pretty big fan of you guys, so I know just about everything."
Now what kind of person would enjoy that? Kyon wondered. Anything that happened to him that was worth reading about was likely to be miserable for him. That isn't entertainment at all, it's just cruelty.
"That's how you know so much about us..." he said.
"There are people watching us right now?" Mikuru said. "They know all about us?"
"None of this ever happened in the anime," Konata said. "And our world's the same way, it's got its own anime series too. But without any kind of paranormal stuff going on."
'No paranormal stuff,' says the girl who just admitted to being a trans-dimensional warrior or whatever. An odd claim to make.
"I don't like where this is going. It's too awkward. You can't find a way for us to get back home? Then thanks for your time. We'll be going now." Kagami stood up to leave. Apparently she and the others had been dragged into this by Konata, and didn't understand this whole theory of alternate worlds and... anime. Kyon could sympathize with that. Wasn't he in the same position, more or less?
"I'm sorry that we weren't any help. I don't believe any of us have any experience with fully-developed alternate realities, unless...?" Koizumi looked at Nagato, who shook her head. "No luck. Well, if you come up with anything about Haruhi, you know where to find us. The longer she's missing, the more I feel like something might be developing..."
"Well, um... Thanks," Konata said.
"Hey, Kona-chan, do you think we should go find Jason and the others?" Tsukasa said.
"Others?" Kyon said. "You mean... there are more of you out there. In our world."
"Right now, I know of at least..." Konata counted for a moment. "Four others. There are probably more, we were all split up, so could you keep an eye out?"
Didn't this just keep getting better? Here are your visitors from another dimension, Haruhi, so why aren't you here to greet them? Kyon wondered.
The sun was setting now, the sky turning a bright orange and bathing the room in a dim glow. Konata stood up to leave - a little reluctantly, following the others - and said her farewells. As they were about to leave, Nagato stopped them.
"Here," she said, holding out a sizable stack of bills. It surprised everyone. Had she been walking around with that much, or had she just... generated it, somehow?
"What's this for?" Konata asked, taking it slowly.
"That's quite a lot of money," Miyuki said. "Are you sure?"
"Number 505 is vacant. You need a place to stay."
"You mean... at your apartment building? Thanks... But there are a bunch more of us out there, we still need to figure out what to do," Konata said.
"I'll take care of it." And that was all Nagato had to say about it, apparently.
They left the room, stepping out into the hallway. Kyon felt a desire to just go home, and forget about this whole thing for a while. He checked the clock on the wall. It was already that late? Maybe it would be a good time for him to leave soon, too. Kyon felt like he'd probably go right to sleep as soon as he got there. Haruhi's little break or whatever she had decided to go off and do was turning out to be less fun than he had hoped.
"Nagato, you were acting a little different there. Something about that Izumi girl strike you funny?" he asked.
She had gone back to reading her book, and simply nodded in response.
Included with the money Nagato had given them was an address to the building. Even so, they had to ask some directions before finding their way there. It was a tall red building, plenty of windows on the outside. Konata didn't know how long this rent was for, but it was an expensive place to live, and no doubt it would be strange for them to pay with cash.
"We're just going to pay with all this? Is that okay?" Apparently Tsukasa was thinking the same thing she was.
"It was such a polite gesture, though, and she insisted we take it," Miyuki replied. "Although it feels so strange to accept a gift like that... Number 505, was it?"
"Yeah," Konata said.
They were coming right up to the front doors of the apartment complex when she felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of her head.
"Izumi Konata... If you've been having any second thoughts, now's the time to decide. Come back to us."
Konata remained still, as calm as possible despite being so scared. This had come out of nowhere, she was completely off guard. This wasn't a good position to be in, but she was a professional... Her friends were shocked into silence.
"You're... that guy in yellow..." Tsukasa said, almost in a whisper. It was amazing she could get any words out at all. At least now Konata knew who it was, and somehow she had been expecting something. Not this, though.
"You can make this easy, Konata. Just agree to work with us. We'll get along just fine." The voice was chilling.
"Who are you?" she asked, not making any movements. The gun seemed to push against her a bit harder.
"You know what I'm talking about. You want it all back, don't you?"
The realization struck her. Eclipse had sent him? True, she had wanted to go back with them, but what kind of organization would send someone to hold her at gunpoint? She didn't mean anything against them, this was completely unnecessary... But what could she do? She didn't want to agree to anything this guy said. And being at his mercy now, she couldn't fight him.
"Put the gun down. Let's talk." She waited for a response, but didn't feel it move away. The man still didn't say anything. "Just tell me what you want from me. Go on. I said you could - "
Konata noticed Tsukasa wasn't moving, either... Nobody was. It wasn't from nerves anymore, looking closely at them revealed that they had completely frozen, expressions of terror on their faces. The chilly breeze that had been blowing in her face lightly had stopped. Hesitantly, Konata started tilting her head forward, and not sensing any reaction from the assassin behind her, ducked down quickly and spun around to face him.
Seeing the man in yellow up close for the first time revealed some strange characteristics. Most instantly obvious was a hole in his forehead, about the size of a coin. It was bloody inside, but it wasn't leaking out. Then Konata noticed his eyes, which were pure black, no white around them, like the eyes of a rat. And the hand still holding the gun to where her head had been... wasn't exactly human.
Before anything else, she forced the handgun out of his grip, prying the yellow-nailed fingers out from around it. She glanced around, but nobody else was moving. So who had stopped time for her? Jason was capable of doing it, but if he was around she couldn't see him.
Everything started again in a rush.
The man's grip tightened around his gun, which wasn't there anymore. Konata was now between him and her friends, pointing the gun at his forehead... At the bloody hole which was already there. Now the blood inside was moving, flowing, but still not spilling out...
"Konata? How'd you - " Kagami started.
"How dare you!" the man shrieked, his voice distorted into something inhuman for a moment. He reached inside his coat, and for a split second Konata could see another gun holstered there.
She didn't even think, there wasn't time for that, she just fired the gun three times into his chest. Tsukasa screamed at the sound.
He stumbled backward, staring down at the wounds... Then collapsed backwards. Konata still had the gun aimed at him, waiting for his breathing to stop. Her own was heavy and tense. Finally she lowered the weapon.
"Konata... You just killed somebody!" Kagami said breathlessly.
"I hate to say it, but that's nothing new..." Konata said, devoid of much feeling. The tension had taken it out of her. "He was going to attack, I don't know - There just wasn't anything else I could do."
"Y-You moved so fast..." Tsukasa said. She could barely speak. "H-how... What'd you do?"
"I have no idea... Things have just been so weird lately. We really need to get away." Konata looked down at the corpse. It wasn't going anywhere. At least nobody had been around to witness it. The best plan she could see was to distance herself from the scene. They looked like ordinary teenagers, they were the last people anyone would suspect...
"Somebody had to have heard that," Kagami said. She glanced around frantically, looking at the apartments, the surrounding buildings. It seemed like a ghost town. "They're going to come any moment."
Konata stared at the gun in her hand, an old-fashioned revolver. Better this... creature... to have been killed, rather than her. She couldn't accept that Eclipse had really done that. Sent someone to take her back, or kill her if she refused? Then why even get rid of her in the first place?
She thought for a moment, but it didn't seem to follow any logical pattern. "Let's just get going. Nobody saw us. If we're lucky, we won't even be connected to this. They have no records that we exist... We'll come back to the apartment later. We just need to get out."
Nobody objected to leaving the scene as quickly as possible. Konata considered leaving the gun next to him, but by no stretch of the imagination did this look like a suicide. Instead she took it with her, storing it away with magic. It was the only possible incriminating evidence.
The incident had left them all on edge for at least a half hour afterwards. A few minutes after it had occurred, they had seen some people walking past, but nothing about them suggested they had heard the shots. From a distance it was easy to mistake the sound for something else. As they passed back by the bookstore they had seen early that morning, Tsukasa let out a yawn. It had been a long day, with more excitement than they were used to. Even Konata felt exhausted. Finally someone spoke up.
"You said that man... wasn't human?" Miyuki asked. "What was he?"
"You didn't see it? His eyes? That thing on his forehead?" Konata said. "I don't even want to think about it..."
"I'm with you on that," Kagami said, glancing nervously at a police officer as he passed by.
"Look, it's going to be fine. We'll go back to the apartments later, there'll probably be an investigation, but we'll act like we don't know anything. Maybe nobody saw us there. The only thing that could connect me to it would be fingerprints on the gun, but I took that." Konata worked through it in her mind, rationalizing it. "Forget about it for now... If anyone else like him shows up, I'll take care of it. Somehow." She might not be lucky enough to have someone help her next time. Who had it been, anyway?
"Exactly how many murders have you committed?" Kagami asked, honestly fearing that Konata would be able to provide a number.
"It's not murder. It was self-defense. And I only kill people when they attack me first."
Kagami groaned. "Forget everything I ever said about you. Can you please go back to being a socially inept otaku? I really felt better when that's all you were."
Konata didn't know how to respond. "Hey, let's turn here and circle around back to the apartment."
As they rounded the street corner, they saw Jason walking towards them. When he spotted them, he ran up to join the group.
"Konata. Good to see you. You talked with the brigade, then?" he asked.
"Yep. Nagato gave us some money for an apartment, and we were just headed back there..." Konata considered it for a moment, then asked, "Where were you about an hour ago? You didn't hear gunshots, did you?"
"Gunshots?" His eyes widened. "No, what happened?"
"Someone - Something tried to attack me. This is going to sound crazy, but I think he - it - was from Eclipse. But I don't see why they'd get rid of me, and then try to get me back in. Especially like that..." Konata said. "Oh, and we're fine. Someone caused a time stop, and I was able to get rid of him. Actually I thought maybe you had done it... I never saw who caused it."
Jason was listening with an expression of deep thought on his face, considered his response for some time, and finally said, "So they're desperate to get you back... They must have realized they made a mistake somewhere, but... you're right. There was... no reason for that. Don't let it worry you."
"Huh? What if there's another one? What then?"
"It'll be fine."
"How can you just - " Then Konata realized. "You know something, don't you? You know exactly what's going on and you're not telling me. I can't believe this, I thought I could trust you - "
"Konata - " He was about to say something, but cut himself short. He sighed, and spoke quietly. "Yes... There has been something... But you'll just have to wait."
"Why wouldn't you tell me about this before?"
"Just trust me. I probably should have told you earlier, I don't know... We were going to meet in Nagato's apartment tonight and discuss it. Here, I'll give you the time and the apartment number." He took out a scrap of paper and wrote down some information. He handed it to her.
Konata read it, then turned back to him. "You'll explain - "
"Everything that I've been keeping from you. Yes. But I only want you to come, Konata. Originally this was just going to be to tell the SOS Brigade about it, but... Hm. Maybe this will be best."
"You already met with them, too? And you set something up with them..." She didn't have the strength or the desire to argue anymore. The time on the paper would be in several hours, and it was already beginning to get dark as the evening set in. Konata nodded, and placed the note in her pocket. "I'm the only one who's coming to this? Besides you and the brigade?"
"Once it's out, I'll let you decide if you want to tell anyone else about it... Until then, just take it easy. You've been under a lot of stress lately, I'm sure. Try to clear your mind a little, it'll make you feel better."
What an odd thing for him to say... But it was true, she really felt awful right now. Going back to the apartment to rest sounded like heaven right now. "Alright..." Konata said. "So I'll see you then, I guess. We were on our way back to the apartment. Do you have somewhere to go?"
"Yeah. Nagato's figured out places for everyone. Probably more to conceal us than anything else..."
"Who else have you found, anyway?"
"About an hour ago, I ran into Spike... You remember him, I'm sure. And then Joshua and Alucard were both together. Same story from all of them," Jason said, not needing to explain. "Spike confirmed what Rei said about things repairing themselves just before he was taken away."
"Wait, those are all people I know." It had been well over a year since she had seen Spike, even longer since she had met Alucard that one time.
"Quite a coincidence, isn't it? Spike and Alucard said they didn't even realize it was your world when they took the job. Anyway, I need to be getting back soon. I'll see you later..."
Finally reaching the apartment building as night began to set in, they noticed a few people walking past on the sidewalk. A train could be heard, the warning alarm going off at the crossing as it passed. Everything seemed ordinary enough. Despite the fact that -
"Huh? That's where it happened, isn't it?" Tsukasa said, looking at the sidewalk that was bare of any police warning tape, or even any blood. People walked past, going about their normal lives. "What happened to it?"
Konata stared at it for a while. Someone must have gotten rid of all the evidence... Eclipse? Or somebody else, going against the Organization and helping them instead? Whoever had assisted her escape, probably...
"Let's just forget about it. My feet are killing me," Kagami said. "That's just great for you, though, isn't it, Konata? No criminal charges."
Once they entered the lobby, an old man was tending the front desk. He was sitting down, completely engrossed in a magazine article, and didn't see them as they approached the counter. They looked at each other for a moment, and seemed to silently decide on Konata as leader again. She tried to get his attention.
"Uh... excuse me?" Konata said. The old man didn't respond, so she spoke a little louder. "Excuse me!"
"Ah, yes. What did you need?" He smiled up at her.
"We heard that you had an empty apartment, Room 505? We'd like to take it."
"You're the Izumi girl? It's all ready and waiting for you."
"Wha - " Kagami started to ask, but Konata raised a hand to gesture her to stop. Probably something else Nagato had managed to arrange... Making an apartment reservation was one of the least strange things she knew Nagato to do.
"Thanks." Konata handed over the payment, and took the room key after the old man fished around for it.
"How odd, I remember the last tenant for that particular room paid in full cash as well. Strange..." He chuckled. "Never mind that, you seem like such nice girls."
"Thank you." Miyuki bowed politely.
Crowding into the tiny elevator, they moved up to the fifth floor and found the room. Konata unlocked the door, and upon opening it, they found it was fully furnished. There was a table, some floor mats, a sofa, and an inspection to the second room revealed it had some futons set up for them. All this had been moved in for them in just a few hours... Or at least Nagato had somehow created it. Konata knew from the anime that Nagato was capable of such things.
Kagami, after surveying the room for a moment, immediately headed over to the sofa and collapsed. She buried her face in the pillow, adjusted herself, then laid there still. "Just wake me up once you've got this whole thing figured out. I'll wait." Her voice was slightly muffled.
"You've got that meeting later, Kona-chan, but other than that, we'll just stay here, right?" Tsukasa said.
"Yeah... Go ahead." Konata hadn't needed a reminder about the meeting, it already absorbed all her thoughts. She couldn't believe Jason had been hiding anything from her - other than his home universe, she had always felt that he was open about anything else she wanted to know. But he was going to tell her whatever it was... She couldn't imagine what could possibly be going on, but at least that promise had renewed a little bit of faith in him.
She checked the clock. Two hours. Then she'd find out.