It was getting close to midnight.

She didn't know the exact time that she had entered this universe, but Konata had to guess she was now going on twenty-four hours of being here. In the one place she had always dreamed of visiting, but... It hadn't been as great as she'd hoped. Everything was going wrong. They were stranded, Eclipse might be trying to kill her now, and Haruhi wasn't even here, whatever that might mean.

The apartment was dark and silent. Kagami hadn't moved from the couch, but Miyuki and Tsukasa had taken the futons in the other room. Konata was the only one left awake, and even though she'd been up for so long, and was so exhausted, she couldn't rest, she couldn't even sit down. Her nerves were getting to her. It was about time to go, so she headed out, taking care not to wake anyone.

Whatever Jason had been talking about... If he knew anything about what was going on, why wouldn't he just tell her? He'd always been so open. Well, everything except for telling about his home world, which had been understandable. A memory like that would be painful and hard to share. At least she'd been able to go back to her world, even if that had been when things started to go wrong.

Stepping into the elevator, Konata double-checked Jason's note, and selected Nagato's floor.

Did Jason have some sort of plan on how to leave this universe? That was unlikely, maybe this meeting had something to do with Haruhi... But that didn't seem like it would be it, either. She read the numbers on each door until she came to the right one, and, after pausing for a moment, realizing how anxious she felt, knocked.

The door cracked open. Nagato looked at Konata blankly for a moment, then said, "Come in."

The others were here already. All the brigade members, along with Jason, and they appeared to have already started talking. Jason turned to watch Konata for a moment.

"Good. You're here," he said.

Why did she have such an uneasy feeling? It looked like the others felt the same way, but...

"So there was something you wanted to tell me about?" Konata asked. "Sorry if I was late."

"It's no problem. I was just filling the others in. You're right on time," Jason said. "Konata... you've been okay lately?"

"More or less." This was one of the times when it was less.

"Good... We were just getting to the part that you haven't heard yet, either, so this is new to everyone here. It concerns something different about the Organization." He searched for some point to start out with. "I'm sure you remember I mentioned they have a special interest in people like Haruhi... People with abilities to change reality."

"You said 'people.' You don't mean there are more like her..." Kyon started.

"Eclipse has an entire division dedicated to observing them. There's a lot of potential there."

"And... they took Suzumiya-san with them?" Mikuru said.

"You think that's what happened to her?" Konata said. It almost made sense.

"Once I heard about your Organization, I also considered that possibility," Koizumi said. "Although taking her out of this universe and into another one could have potentially disastrous effects."

"There was a theory going around that having someone with those kinds of powers in Eclipse could... I don't know, exactly, none of us did. But a few different candidates were brought up, people who could be introduced into the Organization... and one of them was Haruhi. For that reason, we should probably assume that Haruhi may be aware to some degree about her powers," Jason added. "Or at least to the fact that alternate dimensions and magic could exist."

"Alright... So what do we do about it?" Konata considered asking something about why nobody else had come, if the purpose of the meeting was to develop a plan. "I mean, how are we supposed to go after her? We don't have any way out of this universe."

Jason picked up a stack of files that were on the table. Konata hadn't noticed them before, the one on top was in a regular-looking manila folder. The ones underneath were just sheets of paper stapled together. He took the first one off the top, glanced at the first page for a moment, and handed it to her. The others he passed out to each of the Brigade members.

"I'm taking a huge risk here, but... I'm hoping for the best," he said.

"Huh? What is this?" Konata said, looking down at her copy. This one was in English, and she recognized Jason's neat handwriting where it said "Izumi Konata, updated 2/28/07*" at the top.

"Konata, this is the most recently revised copy of the file that the Organization has been keeping on you for the past few years," he explained. "Normally even mentioning it to you would be enough to get me fired, but that's already been done. Oh, and I copied those into Japanese for the rest of you."

"So what's this all about?" Kyon said, staring blankly at the first page. "'Alleged date of death'?"

"There's a lot to cover... I figured this would be the easiest way to tell you about it," Jason said. Noticing Konata hadn't opened the file yet, he added, "Go ahead. I don't know what Eclipse is thinking right now, but I trust you enough to tell you the truth now. I think you're capable of taking this the best possible way."

Konata nodded, feeling awkward and unsure, then opened to the first page and began reading.

Chapter 23

Learn to Believe

Eclipse

Division 19 Report

CONFIDENTIAL

Do not reveal to unauthorized personnel without written consent

Name: Izumi Konata

DOB: May 28, 1989*

*All dates hereon will be relative to home universe timeline

Age: 18

Hair: Blue/Originally black

Eyes: Green/Originally brown

Hometown: Saitama Prefecture, Tokyo, Japan

Universe: Lucky Star instance #005230163 (see manga/anime by Yoshimizu Kagami, Kyoto Animation)

Profile: Student attending Ryoo High School. Extremely unmotivated, no career plans after school. Extensive interest in and knowledge of anime, manga, and video games. Part-time job at cosplay cafe.

Lives with father, cousin. Mother is deceased.

Joined Eclipse 2 years ago as of time of publication, has lived away from home universe for nearly one year. Adept in most forms of combat, specializing in swords and magic techniques.

Alleged date of death: May 21, 2006

All of these facts were basic things Konata already knew... The paper on top was clean and white, apparently new. A few photos of her were included with the file. Some of them were recent. Most of them looked like home, but several showed her with her classmates from Gekkokan. A few seemed to be from a long time ago, before she joined the Organization, and taken from camera angles that would suggest the photographer had been avoiding notice.

She turned to the next sheet of paper and continued reading.

Her expression changed partway through the first paragraph, and she looked up at Jason, who remained silent and serious-looking. She thought of asking him something, but decided against it. As she went on she found it impossible to tear herself away from the words printed on the page. There was no way this could all be true... could it?

Activity Report

12/17/03

Massive energy flow first detected from Lucky Star universe, instance #005230163. Center of activity appears to be Izumi Konata. Trigger event, if any, is unknown. According to Eclipse observations conducted shortly after, the subject gained ability to shape reality on this date, coinciding with the date that another subject, Suzumiya Haruhi (Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi universe, instance #015632110) gained the same ability.

Although both subjects appear to have similar levels of power, Izumi is not reported to apply it as liberally. The following phenomena are observed:

Increase in physical ability and fitness noted, despite lack of training or conditioning. Izumi quickly gains reputation as one of the most talented athletes at her school, but refuses to join teams or clubs.

Also observed are boosted grades, starting with her high school entrance exam. Little preparation is shown, amount of study time both in and out of class seems inconsistent with final result. Academic progress shows a similar pattern throughout the year.

New acquaintances made during first weeks of high school seem to mimic patterns Izumi prefers in manga - first contact is made with Hiiragi Tsukasa, then Hiiragi Kagami and Takara Miyuki. These girls seem to exemplify standards of "moe," "tsundere," or "meganekko" characteristics, who Izumi is known to be attracted to in manga or anime works.

Izumi's health starting on date of energy spike improves, no genuine cases of illness are reported. No visits to doctor, dentist, or hospital are made outside of routine checkups, all of which reveal positive results. However, Izumi has stopped growing, instead remaining in a childlike form she seems to take pride in.

Dedication to hobbies reach impressive levels. Izumi shows a strange talent for finding rare prizes in both real-world merchandise and virtual online games. Also noted is frequent winning of mail-in contest events.

Similar minor alterations are witnessed and reported throughout Izumi Konata's first year of high school. Unlike Suzumiya, no explicitly supernatural phenomena are witnessed, instead all activity seems to revolve around Izumi's dislike of work and desire to pursue hobbies.

4/3/05

Shortly before the beginning of Izumi Konata's second high school year, Eclipse member Jason Ellis is deployed in her universe. Ellis was inducted into Division 19 several days before commencing this mission. His goal is to observe Izumi at close range by attending school with her for one year as an exchange student, and reporting any more activity to Eclipse.

4/14/05

By special request of Eclipse Organization leader Rendor Forsythe, original plans regarding Izumi Konata are altered. Jason Ellis reveals the existence of the Organization to her and allows her to join, leading her under the assumption that she is a normal recruit. During an initial training mission, Izumi's skills in combat surpass the average level for a recruit of her experience level. The knowledge that her universe has a manga based upon it is revealed to Izumi after the training is complete, news which she fully embraces.

4/15/05

Izumi Konata first expresses interest in meeting Suzumiya Haruhi face-to-face. Her interest in Suzumiya is suspicious, but it appears that she has no knowledge of her own abilities. Due to unknown results if the two subjects were to meet face-to-face, the request is likely to never be granted.

5/5/05

Training is finished, and Izumi takes her first official mission in the Hellsing universe, instance #095110030. A fatal mistake is made and she is fatally shot, however, she survives long enough to be found and turned into a vampire by Seras Victoria, non-affiliated partner of another Organization member, Alucard. The severity of the wounds suggests that Izumi should have been dead within seconds, yet lasted for over seven minutes until she was found.

5/6/05

After successfully hiding her curse for one day, Jason Ellis provides a potion said to be a cure for vampirism, although in reality it has no such properties. Despite this fact, Izumi Konata is cured after drinking it due to a bizarre placebo effect she unknowingly caused.

6/9/05

Izumi begins working at a cosplay cafe where she portrays Suzumiya Haruhi. Even before being told that she shares a voice actor (Aya Hirano, notably one of her favorite pop singers) with Suzumiya in their respective anime, Izumi has an uncanny ability to mimic her voice, both speaking and singing after some practice.

This connection is unconfirmed as another link between the two subjects, but is under investigation.

7/12/05

Izumi is allowed to go on her first mission alone, a rescue operation to find a lost member, Kamina (origin: Gurren Lagann instance #162051310) after he was stranded during a mission in Cowboy Bebop, instance #000571321. Typical rescue missions are expected to take anywhere from several days to over a year, but Izumi is able to find the missing person within a matter of hours, only minutes after expressing her desire to finish the mission to her temporary partner Spike Spiegel.

After returning Kamina to Eclipse headquarters, Izumi attempted to breach security and enter Division 19's offices, apparently in an attempt to learn more about surveillance of Suzumiya. The security system recognizes her name and she is blocked from entering and potentially discovering her own files, with possibly disastrous results. Several days later a warning is issued to discourage further investigation.

9/19/05

During the Ryoo High School Athletic Festival, Izumi makes an interesting comment, attributing her allegedly natural athletic abilities to "visualization techniques."

1/1/06

Izumi Konata, Hiiragi Tsukasa, and Hiiragi Kagami attend Comiket, along with Jason Ellis. Independently-published titles that Izumi buys and takes interest in often become wildly popular afterwards. In addition, she is frequently able to buy the final remaining copy of certain books before they are completely sold out and become too hard to find otherwise.

1/8/06

After arrangements made at Comiket several days earlier, Izumi Konata and Jason Ellis are requested to join a new recruit, Ayanami Rei, in what is labelled as an "impossible mission." The event was arranged specifically as a test of her ability to turn a situation in her favor.

After infiltrating the NERV base in Evangelion instance #340201730, Izumi mentions the issue of bypassing security cameras. Moments later, the cameras are destroyed with no probable cause.

The mission is not a full success; although EVA Unit 00 is easily taken back to the Eclipse-sponsored NERV in Evangelion instance #203253220, the other aforementioned instance is destroyed as a result of the removal. Jason Ellis returns to personally report the damages, but is allowed to continue his mission.

2/19/06

First reported incident of closed space being created in the Lucky Star universe, instance #005230163. Cause is attributed to Izumi Konata's continued depression after the destruction of Evangelion instance #340201730. Espers newly recruited by Eclipse are taken without Izumi's knowledge into her universe in order to prevent destruction of her universe.

Similar incidents occur afterwards, although isolated.

An analysis of Izumi's version of closed space compared to Suzumiya's version of the same phenomena reveal that Izumi often creates smaller spaces, usually ranging from 1-3 km in diameter, with several smaller "Celestials" as opposed to a single giant one. The Celestials produced by Izumi Konata are approximately 1/3 the size of the beings produced by Suzumiya Haruhi, but use their numbers to cause roughly equal amounts of damage.

3/27/06

After the end of the school year, Jason Ellis is transferred out of Lucky Star instance #005230163, although he will still remain in contact with Izumi Konata. She makes plans to depart from her world as well to pursue a full-time membership with Eclipse. Following her decision, creation of closed space becomes more frequent, and permission is eventually granted for Izumi to leave her universe.

5/21/06*

Izumi Konata carries out the arranged plan, staging her own death under the pretense of a random killing in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Due to a thunderstorm, the "murder" is easily concealed and there are no witnesses.

Her first full-time mission takes place in Fire Emblem instance #000261811 ("Path of Radiance"). After moving into this universe, closed space incidents continue to occur somewhat frequently, although now entirely contained within the universe she is currently stationed in. No further activity is reported in Lucky Star instance #005230163.

Izumi shows the ability to function at an above-average level despite severe sleep deprivation, proving a hypothesis formed prior to her Eclipse membership.

On a training run, she finds the rare weapon "Laevateinn" entirely by chance. It matches one of her favorite weapons from a certain massively multiplayer online game.

1/19/07*

After completing the aforementioned assignment in Fire Emblem, Izumi Konata and Jason Ellis move onto a specially assigned mission in Persona 3 instance #821053401.

Ellis is instructed to tell Izumi that they both possess the ability to use Personas, however, this is an ability that is only found in native residents of the Persona universe. Ellis is deployed into the universe first, and after two days discovers he now has the Persona ability due to Izumi's belief in his suggestion. Izumi also displays this new ability once she enters the universe. It continues to function up to the time of this publication.

Before arriving in Persona 3 a week after Ellis, Izumi is stationed in the Eclipse headquarters for close observation of energy flow. Her level of power has increased significantly from the initial studies three years earlier.

That was the end of the last page, leading all the way up to her most recent mission. Konata was the last one to finish reading. She laid the packet down on the table slowly, her hand trembling, trying to make sense of everything in her mind. She couldn't think of anything to say. Looking up at the Brigade members, they were all watching her. Mikuru had an expression of terror, like Konata could just explode at any moment or something. And maybe she could.

She felt dizzy, lightheaded, almost like she was watching the events in this room from miles away.

"Nagato, I'm sure you noticed the energy readings around Konata as soon as she entered this universe," Jason said.

"Correct." Nagato had her copy of the packet closed and laid back on the table in front of her neatly.

"I'm only speaking for myself here, but I wouldn't trust Haruhi with this kind of knowledge about herself," Jason said. "Konata, on the other hand... I've worked with you for two years now. Your self-control has really improved to the point where I thought this could work."

Everyone was silent until finally Koizumi spoke up. "Konata, you finished reading it, then... And it doesn't seem like you've made any world-altering changes in the past few minutes, so it should be fine." He gave her a good-natured smile.

"What this means is that... I'm the same as Haruhi?" Konata said quietly.

"Potentially," Jason said. "Like it said, you never made any major changes in your world... at least not until I let you join the Organization and you starting finding reasons to. You always seemed safer to work with than Haruhi was. That's why we chose you."

Konata had turned back to the first page, looking at the section describing her academic improvement, and even meeting her friends... No, they had all chosen to be friends with her, she hadn't forced them to... She had always liked that they had been like real-life versions of archetypal anime characters. But what this report suggested was crazy.

"There was a theory passed around that we should tell you everything, once we knew more about how your ability works," Jason said. "It was never officially approved, but this seemed like as good a time as any."

"All of that... You knew everything all along." Konata stared down at the file, examining a photo paperclipped to the front page. It was most likely from her freshman year, and it showed her walking home from school with Kagami and Tsukasa. The picture was slightly out of focus, shot from a distance.

"But you have to understand, nobody knew what would happen if you found out," Jason said. "I thought this was our last hope of getting out of this world, and besides, you'd been acting up to the point where even you were noticing what you were doing, even if you didn't know you caused it. The Brigade has experience dealing with Haruhi, so I decided to tell them about you."

"Um... I was always told that... if Suzumiya-san found out about this... she'd..." Mikuru stammered slightly.

"That she'd destroy the world," Kyon finished. "I've heard that one enough."

"No, I've... seen enough worlds be destroyed, I'd never do something like that..." Konata said. The very idea sounded ridiculous. Being seriously concerned that she might destroy the world by accident? And yet... Maybe that's why this whole situation didn't seem as awesome as it could.

"That file hasn't been updated for a few weeks, but in the past day you've done some more... extreme things, I think that would be the word," Jason said. "First off, the fact that we ended up here..."

How had she not realized that before? Konata realized now that she had been the only one to faint, the only one to have a headache...

"I assume that before all of us ended up in this world, you were probably thinking something along the lines of getting away from all that destruction, running away from what was happening to your world... Returning it to normal. And according to what Rei said about the damage repairing itself, it looks like you were able to do just that," Jason said. "Joining Eclipse was something of a catalyst for your powers, but the destruction of your home universe pushed you even farther... I don't think the effect has worn off yet, either. You're still more powerful than usual."

"All that stuff that happened, then... I did that..." Konata said, simply confirming it to herself. What he had guessed about her thoughts when it had happened had been spot-on, she had been desperate for a way out. For everyone.

"Who else would have brought us here, out of all the possible universes we could end up in? It was the one place you always wanted to come but were never allowed to. You said it was your ultimate goal once," Jason said.

"And what were you saying about that event being a catalyst?" Koizumi asked. "The destruction of your home world..." He consulted the packet in his hand. "'Lucky Star,' it said. Has anything else occurred since you came here?"

"Right. I couldn't forget about that," Jason said, nodding. "Konata, what exactly happened when you were attacked outside the apartment building?"

"I... Well, that guy came up behind me, and he said something about coming back to 'them...' I think he was from Eclipse. He never said that specifically, though." Konata was beginning to put together what the encounter had been about.

"Your organization attacked you?" Mikuru said. "Why?"

"That's what I'm not sure about. When I heard that Konata had been removed from the Organization, along with the rest of us who ended up here, I assumed the experiment had been considered a failure and they had no more interest in her. They must have made some kind of mistake, but I don't know what they're after. That led me to think that Eclipse must have been the ones to take Haruhi away." Jason turned back to Konata, and she took it as a sign to continue her account of what happened.

"Yeah, so the guy held up a gun, but somehow... I guess I was the one who stopped time, wasn't I..." Jason nodded, but let her go on. "I stopped time for just a minute so that I could get away. I didn't have any other choice, he was going to come after us again, so I killed him... Then when we came back an hour later, there was nothing there."

"Great. You used your ability to get away with murder," Kyon said, sounding oddly like Kagami had.

"It was the only way..." Konata said quietly. "So I did all of that? The time stop, getting rid of the evidence... That was all me?"

"It would seem so," Jason said.

Konata was still trying to put everything together... Now that she knew about herself, what was the next step? They were stuck in this universe for now, there was nothing they could - She stopped, realizing what this was all about.

"You said that Eclipse might have taken Haruhi?" Konata said. "Do you know why?"

"From what you said, Konata already had what they wanted," Koizumi said. "So why would they have gotten rid of her, and taken Suzumiya-san instead? And so quickly, as well."

"That's what I can't be sure of. They never told me anything about it except they were 'interested' in Konata's potential, and I was just supposed to report what happened. If they took Haruhi away without warning like that, it would almost seem like they desperately needed her for something... And Konata wasn't able to provide that." Jason rubbed his forehead.

"What would they want Suzumiya-san for?" Mikuru said.

"We don't know enough to assume anything," Jason replied. "But I don't like the way it looks. At least if we have Konata, that gives us something of an advantage."

"I transported all of us out of my universe before. What you're trying to get me to do is repeat that, so that we can find Haruhi... and get back home," Konata said, putting the pieces together. "That's right, isn't it?"

"You catch on quick... You've always been good at that," Jason said. "Now, your power works subconsciously, from what I've observed, but if you can convince yourself you need to leave in order to accomplish those goals, you might be able to do it."

"Izumi's power is currently at 119% of Suzumiya's average level. The plan has a slim chance of success," Nagato said.

"It's risen that much, then... Usually your power would be the same as hers," Jason explained.

"Alright..." Konata said. That was hard to imagine, that right now she was more powerful that Haruhi... who was pretty much God. "But that doesn't change the fact that I really don't know what I'm doing."

Koizumi set his copy of the file down on the table after he finished reviewing it another time. "I'm actually starting to have some faith in this plan, believe it or not. Just take it easy, Konata. It's not likely to have any immediate results. How about we meet again tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. Konata, it would probably be best for you to try and get some sleep," Jason said. "You've been conflicted lately, which hasn't been good. Just focus on what needs to be done."

Konata stood up, and after some consideration took the file with her. Maybe reading it over a few times would help her somehow... Even if it was only a way to come to terms with the facts. But there was something just so uncomfortable about knowing she had that kind of power inside her.

The others handed the copies back to Jason, then headed out. Kyon had a fatigued look on his face.

"Can't believe there's another one like Haruhi out there..." he said.

"Guess you haven't met Sasaki yet, then?" Konata asked.

"Sasaki...? What does she have to do with this?" he said, shocked.

"Uh... Nevermind." Konata turned to Jason. "Hey, you don't mind if I take this with me, do you?" She gestured with the folder in her hand.

"Go ahead."

She stared out the window for a moment, watching the darkened sky and the lights of some cars passing by... Then she headed for the door to go back to their temporary home in this world.

Konata headed back in silence. This was just too much responsibility... If she had these abilities all along, and was using them, why did she have to know about them? She couldn't help the feeling that she could be dangerous now, just by thinking about the wrong things...

And she was expected to somehow get them to a different universe using only her mind. It sounded crazy. But she'd done it once before.

She stopped walking, and looked around. There was nobody out here, the hallway was empty. And suppose she tried to create some sort of a portal, right there in front of her. She focused on a spot about two meters away. Tried to think about Saitama - her Saitama, not this or any other world's. Closing her eyes, she imagined some kind of a gate opening up that would take her and her friends back home...

She opened her eyes.

Of course, nothing was there.

She sighed. Could she really do it? So much for those theories that it was possible to control this kind of power.

Last time, she'd taken all of them out of the city, despite everyone being spread out miles away from each other. And apparently she'd also repaired all the damage to the city... That seemed more impossible than anything else she'd heard. Attempting something major like that was probably the reason she had been knocked unconscious in the process. Maybe at some point, she'd do that again without realizing it, and everyone would go on to some new world without warning... Which would really suck. They needed to prepare.

She felt cold, standing out there by herself. This building really cranked the air conditioning, even at this time of year. She quickened her pace to get back to the room, despite not wanting to face her friends right now. Kagami had said no more secrets, after all.

Maybe it would be best for all of them just to know about it.

Kagami woke up with something purple hanging in front of her face. She stared at it for a while, noting a thin black outline around the edge, how it seemed to come to a sharp point on the end... then realized it was her hair. With that, her final shred of hope vanished. Everything that had happened yesterday was still there, it hadn't been a dream.

Still tired, she managed to pull herself up to a sitting position on the couch, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, Kagami... you're awake." She turned to see Konata standing by the window, looking utterly exhausted. It would take a while to get used to that blue hair... And also the fact that she wasn't dead.

"I guess I am..." Why couldn't this have all been a dream? "You don't look so good, Konata... didn't you get any sleep?"

"No, there's kind of... a lot on my mind right now." She gave a strange, nervous laugh at that. "It's the middle of the afternoon, by the way. You guys really overslept. I expected this from Tsukasa, but you and Miyuki? That's different."

Kagami spotted her hair ribbons on the end table next to the sofa she had been sleeping on. She took one and started trying to tie her hair, but it was more difficult than usual. She clumsily tried to get the ribbons around her hair, but her fingers kept slipping. With everything looking different she could barely manage it. Being in this world. Somehow being in Suzumiya Haruhi's universe, with her friend who had died nearly a year ago. Which reminded her of something. "So how'd that meeting thing go last night? Please tell me you guys figured out how to get us out of here."

"About that... I don't think you're going to like it." Konata had gone back to staring out the window, like she was avoiding eye contact.

Kagami had walked over into the bathroom to find a mirror. She tried to fix her hair the way she usually did, but... She really didn't like seeing her new self in the mirror, and couldn't coordinate herself with her own reflection as long as it was like that. "Konata, anything that gets us out of here is fine by me," she called out. "It's not like it could possibly get any worse."

In the mirror, she saw Konata come in behind her. "Having some trouble there, Kagamin?" She was grinning, but it was a weak attempt, nothing like her usual self.

"Yeah... Could you help me with this?" How embarrassing, she couldn't even tie her own hair. Sleeping with her ponytails tied messed them up, but as long as she was sleeping in her clothes too, it probably wouldn't have hurt. "How did you get to be so comfortable with everything the way it is? I mean, this whole... style, or whatever you'd call it."

Konata started tying the ribbon into a bow. "I guess it's just - " She stopped for a moment, then said quietly, as if this somehow revealed some great truth, "It's just the way I always... wanted things to be. Of course..." She quickly moved on to the next side, finished in a hurry, then said, "So let's wake up the others now. I think everyone needs to hear about this."

"You're what?" Kagami said in disbelief.

"Kona-chan, what does that mean?" Tsukasa said.

"What's most important right now is that I can probably get us out of this universe... I just don't know how to," Konata admitted. "I don't remember what I was thinking when I brought us to this world, but it'll probably be the same thing as that..."

Miyuki was examining Konata's file. They had all been passing it around to read the notes. "This is all so strange... You've been this way ever since the end of middle school, it says?"

"I guess so," Konata said. "It's just... I don't know, it's weird."

"Yeah, kind of," Kagami said. "I always knew you weren't normal. This is more than I can handle."

"Don't look at me like that. I don't want you to act different just because of this... I can barely understand it myself. I promise I'll somehow get us back home, though."

Tsukasa was looking through the collection of photographs, particularly the ones that she or Kagami were in. Those ones were her first glimpse of what their world would look like once they got back. And then there were a few of Konata wearing a black school uniform that Tsukasa didn't recognize, standing with other students in similar attire.

Mi-mi-mirakuru, Mikurunrun, Mi-mi-mirakuru, Mikurunrun!

They looked up at the unexpected bit of music that played. Konata recognized it first, and couldn't help but wonder what Mikuru would think if she heard that ringtone. They'd already filmed the movie it came from, hadn't they? Yeah, they had said it was just recently finished...

"My phone's working again?" She fished in her pockets, trying to find where she had put it. She pulled it out as the first verse began playing. "Hello?"

"Izumi. We need you to meet us in the park. There's something you need to see." The flat, emotionless tone revealed that it was Nagato on the other end.

"The... park? Yeah, I'll head down there."

The phone clicked off before she could say anything else. Konata glanced out the window as she idly put her phone away. The park was right there. She assumed that was the one, anyway.

"Who was that?" Tsukasa asked.

"Nagato said there's something in the park I need to see. You can probably come too, I guess..." Konata said.