It had been the night of October 18, the day before Konata would arrive in this world, bringing twelve other people from all across the multiverse with her. Of course, Haruhi hadn't known any of that was about to happen. For her, it had just been Saturday.

Admittedly, it had been a good couple of weeks. The movie was nearly finished, and interest in the SOS Brigade was going to skyrocket once this premiered at the culture festival. They weren't doing anything boring like a cafe as most of the classes and organizations did, the five of them (but mostly Haruhi herself) had produced a real movie that showed just why aliens, time travelers, and espers were so much more fascinating than ordinary humans. It was a shame that Kyon insisted the whole idea of the thing was fake, and Haruhi had grudgingly accepted that, but... People like that did exist, and she knew it. And the Brigade was how she would find them.

Haruhi had stayed for at least an hour, reviewing the movie a few more times. The editing seemed good, the plot played out just how she wanted it... Maybe if they had time they could get a few more scenes of Mikuru in there for good measure. Haruhi had checked the clothes rack, but couldn't find any sexy outfits they hadn't already included in at least one scene.

Before she had even realized it, the sun had set. There would be time for last-minute additions when they met tomorrow, so she had turned out the lights and left the club room until the following Monday.

She walked back in silence, deep in thought, contemplating possible future club activities. At this point, her thoughts mostly involved what would happen on the festival day itself - presenting the film, spreading the word about the true nature of the supernatural that everyone seemed to overlook.

As Haruhi approached the railroad tracks that she crossed every day, the lights came on and the crossbar lowered. She folded her arms impatiently, waiting for the train to cross. Such a pain. Oh well, not like she was in a hurry or anything.

The train sped past, and several minutes later the back end went by and the crossing was opened up again. Somebody else had appeared on the other side of the tracks, also out for a late-night walk, and crossed the tracks coming towards her side. A tall man, long hair, wearing a wrinkled jacket and boots. In this light she could only see the faint outlines of his dark form.

They crossed the tracks at the same time, and as he passed, she heard him say, quite clearly: "Suzumiya Haruhi."

She stopped as well, a little shocked, and turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"

Now that they were right next to each other, she could see his features in much more detail. He was foreign - American, if she had to take a guess. A collection of buttons were on his dark blue, denim jacket - a smiley face, a peace sign, another one that featured a picture of a cartoonish pig in a policeman's cap, with some blood-splattered English letters beneath it. She stared at that one for a while, trying to make sense of it.

"You know just who I am," he said. She waited for him to say something else, but he didn't.

She frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about," Haruhi said. She gave him another glance. "I'm in a hurry." She started walking again, but only made it a few steps.

"You've got somewhere more interesting to be? I wonder, whatever could it be?" he said, not moving from the spot. "I can't believe you'd be in such a hurry just to get home, go to sleep, and get ready to face another day of your boring, normal life. Just stop and think for a moment, Haruhi. You remember me, don't you?"

No... Wait, yes she did. Shreds of the memory were coming back... A dream that Haruhi had just a few nights ago. Those endless red fields stretching out to the horizon in every direction, the monolithic black tower jutting out from the center. And Flagg had been there, and he had explained everything. Once she had woken up, lying in bed for a moment while she stared at the wall and thought it over a few times, she'd considered it just a weird dream, like the one she'd had about the school and that giant, wonderful creature tearing it apart. A good dream, and a vivid one, but nothing more.

"It's really quite terrible, but my original plans didn't exactly go according to schedule." He still faced away from her, but he was grinning. He knew she had turned around and taken interest in him again. "I'm very disappointed about this. I put so much effort into it..."

"What exactly... are you?" she asked. It was hard to put him into a category. He had some kind of special power about him, some kind of a mystical air. What was it? She found that she desperately wanted to know more about him.

"Just a simple traveler. The 'Walkin' Dude,' if you prefer. So how about it? What do you say we hit the road?"

"Of course I want to come," Haruhi said. So everything in the dream was true? "But... I should really tell the others about this, it's exactly what we've been looking for!"

"Nah, sorry, don't think so. It might already be too late," he said, his voice raising hintingly at the end.

"Too late? What's that supposed to mean?"

"The original plans fell through, and looks like the King's working faster than I thought, that old son of a bitch. Besides, do you really think that those friends of yours care?" he said. "They're just along for the ride, they've got nothing better to do and they think you're just about the most entertaining thing to come along in years. You don't seriously think any of them believe in aliens or ghosts, do you? They're just looking for something to get rid of that horrible, gnawing boredom. Besides... you're the only one who'll be any good for what I have in mind. You're something special, my dear Miss Suzumiya."

Haruhi hated to admit it, but looking back... Kyon had argued so much about the movie, saying her plot didn't make sense and she was abusing Mikuru. Nagato just sat there, she never got excited over anything at all. And Koizumi? He was too nice. He just went along with anything, he never had any real ideas of his own to contribute. Mikuru was out of the question, Haruhi knew she hated the club but that was what made her so cute.

And now here... He must be a wizard or something, even if he was kind of shabbily dressed. She had expected something grander, but this was all she had. Something in his eyes intrigued her. He wanted her to come with him right away? That was just fine, then. Really, she wouldn't be missing anything.

"Alright. So we're going to the Tower?"

"Of course we're going to the Tower." He smiled. "So you're all set to go? Got your bags packed, tickets ordered, passport ready?" he said. "Ah, like I even care. We're taking off if you're ready or not."

"I am ready."

"Then that's good. Perfect. We'll make an interesting team, that's for sure. So, one last thing..." He looked directly at her, and she noticed his red eyes. Creepy... yet still very cool. "You trust me, don't you? 'Cause it's all just a simple matter of trust, and I mean that in the most literal sense."

She didn't hesitate at all. This was her moment, something amazing was finally happening to her, and she wished it would never end. She'd gladly leave this old town behind forever. "Yes. I trust you."

The lights flashed, the striped bars came down on either side. Haruhi barely took notice. She had finally figured it out. The Tower didn't exist in this world, and her new friend was obviously a slider. And she was going with him. Maybe what she was looking for didn't exist in this world, but who was to say that the Tower didn't hold the answers? Maybe she was never meant for this universe at all. She was meant for something greater. And now she knew what it was.

By the time the train ran over where they had both stood, the entire area was empty.

Chapter 28

Divided They Can't Stand

Mikuru was frantic now. She could barely move, and it was all Kagami could do to keep a steady hand as she scanned around the area, trying to place the sounds. She held one revolver at the ready in her left hand.

"K-Kagami-san?" Mikuru said.

"Wait..." Neither of them said anything for a moment. The footsteps were getting closer. They had an awkward, limping gait. "Keep going. Maybe we'll lose them."

Kagami started down the street, past a row of cars that had been parked there at some time but now sat empty. When she glanced behind her, Mikuru was still standing there frozen. Kagami muttered something under her breath, and went back to grab onto her. Mikuru jumped at the contact, but reluctantly followed.

Once they had passed all the empty cars, they could see a chain-link fence along the sidewalk in front of a tall brick structure, a new contrast to all the storefronts. Sounds could still be heard beyond all the fog, and at one point the fence rattled as if something had grabbed onto it further down and shook it forcefully. Both of them were startled by that, but a few meters down there was a gate. Once locked, now open, as evidenced by the twisted padlock laying on the ground.

"Where is this..." Kagami said, referring again to the map. She couldn't tell, but this building might be the one here that stretched out to a back alley and connected to Nathan Avenue. A sign was posted, declaring NO TRESPASSING in large letters and naming the building Woodside Apartments underneath in smaller type. "There might be a way through, like a back door or something."

"We're going... inside?" Mikuru said. "I don't like this..."

"I realize it's dangerous. I think just staying around here, in this world or whatever, is probably dangerous. But we still need to find a way out, or else - "

A lumbering form appeared, almost human but with both arms gone like a twisted Venus statue. The flesh was brown and meaty, and where there should have been a face it was just smooth. Still, despite its apparent lack of a face, it groaned as it came towards them. The skin stretched as if it was trying to rip open a mouth for itself.

Mikuru instantly recoiled, looking for any possible exits. Kagami had to stop herself from doing the same, backing up as calmly as she could manage, fumbling around with the bag in an attempt to find one of the revolvers. She pointed it, held the smooth wooden grip with both hands, and pulled the trigger.

The force of the shot - the sound, the explosion, the thrust of the recoil - came as a complete shock to her, as did the way that the creature ripped apart but did not die. Bracing herself for the next one, Kagami fired again, and then a third time. The thing's leg was torn off, and as it stumbled and collapsed its chest ripped open by the next blast. Something viscous and brown was dripping out of it.

Kagami stared at it for a moment. Her breathing had grown heavy. She simultaneously regretted the idea of picking up these weapons and thanked herself for being prepared.

"Come on. We need to move." She turned around, seeing Mikuru standing several meters away. "Are you coming or not?"

"Y-yes..." Mikuru hurried back over to her, casting a nervous glance towards the motionless corpse on the ground.

Unsure of what to expect, Kagami approached the door and gently opened it, shining the flashlight around inside. Her hands were still trembling restlessly, retaining the memories of the gun's force, but she hadn't put the revolver away just yet. Although it was dark inside - like the hospital had been - nothing was inside, save for a wall of small rectangular mailboxes and a stairway leading up. There was a faded floral-patterned wallpaper peeling off the walls. She took a step inside. The floor creaked. It was the only noise.

"I don't like it in here... Can't we find another way?" Mikuru said.

"Look, the back door's just down that hallway. We're not staying here," Kagami reassured her.

When they tried the door, it was locked. Of course it would be.

Kagami sighed. The chances of being able to break it down didn't seem good, and she'd left the axe behind in favor of what seemed like more reliable weapons. "Maybe... There has to be a key to this, right? Let's head upstairs. Maybe there's a closet or an office or something."

"I... I don't want to go up there! We're going to get lost again!" Mikuru was frantic.

Acting as if she didn't hear, Kagami stood at the bottom of the steps and shined the light up, although it didn't reveal anything. She realized she was playing the part of the older sister again, in a sense. She was the leader here for now, like it or not. "You can do whatever you want, but I think we should go up there. You can stay down below if it makes you feel better."

Considering the pros and cons of following her well-armed partner or staying alone in the dark, Mikuru whimpered softly, but followed her to the second floor.

Even considering what was going on right now, it was strange to consider that the girl following her around was a fictional character. In this world she didn't look like the illustrations from the light novel, but she certainly was the same person.

"I can't even keep track of what's real anymore..." Kagami mused aloud.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I'm not trying to be rude or anything here, it's just... I never thought you were a real person. I'm still not sure if I believe you are," Kagami replied. "Sorry... I know you must be worried about your friends just as much as I am. Come to think of it, Kyon's with my sister, isn't he?"

"Um... y-yeah... And they went with those other two..." Mikuru couldn't remember the names, and Kagami just remembered that they had both been insane. Kyon being there had actually given her a small ounce of comfort, if only from Kagami's knowledge of him... as a fictional character. Which also reminded her of why she hated this whole situation.

"I hope they're both okay." She had almost said she hoped Tsukasa was okay, but if Kyon was a real person like Asahina Mikuru had turned out to be, shouldn't he be a concern too?

"Yeah... Th-thank you for... Everything..."

"Heh. Don't thank me until we get out of this alive, alright?"

The ring of the flashlight's beam revealed a depressing hallway of peeling paint and broken beer bottles on the floor. On one of the walls, some graffiti had been sprayed in a loopy, illegible style. Near the top of the stairs was a cramped laundry closet with an old yellow machine that was in need of a wash itself. A quick sweep of the walls and desk didn't reveal anything, keys or anything else of use.

"Can we just go back down?" Mikuru pleaded. "There's nothing here..."

Kagami was about to agree with her. She was getting an uneasy feeling as well. But, as if asking them to stay, the sound of muffled voices drifted in. It was impossible to discern any of the words, or even the age and gender of the speaker. Without a word, Kagami returned to the hallway, searching around with the light and pointing the gun ahead. That had almost become habit in the past couple of minutes.

The sound led her down the hallway, around a turn to the left. She noticed the sound of feet on the aged linoleum behind her, but realized it was only Mikuru, abandoning all her self-preservation instincts to follow Kagami deeper into certain death. This was better than the hospital. She had a light, she had a gun, and best of all, she had a companion. Kagami continued walking. The voices were coming from Room 208 at the end of the hall.

Hiiragi Tsukasa, the quiet, well-mannered aspiring chef from Washimiya, was now in command of a considerable gang of demons, and she found that she really wasn't too happy about that fact.

Kamina had been proud of her. He'd been telling them about how, back where he was from, they stole the enemy's Gunmen, turning them against the original masters, fighting for the survival of the human race, and how all of it was exactly like what was going on right here. She envied his ability to keep a confident smile on his face, seemingly ignorant of how much it annoyed the rest of them. If Tsukasa had even an ounce of that confidence she'd be fine, but she didn't.

"Man, I thought we'd see some more of them today! Are those cowards scared or something?" he said, once it had began to get dark out. The lights didn't come on, apparently the power was cut.

"That's fine with me." Kyon yawned. "Sure, we're more powerful than we were before, after going through those auctions, but it still says we have less than a day left. Let's not go looking for trouble, alright?"

Tsukasa agreed silently. Those Gunmen she'd been hearing about... They were pretty much just robotic vehicles, she'd be willing to trust one of those more than a pack of monsters that could turn on her at any moment. She shuddered. That wasn't a good thought.

The park was filled with people. Schoolkids, office workers, all different ages and occupations, stuck in here together. They all just set up camp in the park. As long as the lockdown was in effect, the outside world might as well be nonexistant, including all those homes that they all wanted to return to. Tsukasa was reminded again of her family, and Kagami... wherever she was.

"Should we stop and rest?" she suggested. "I'm getting really tired..." Even a city bench would look good to her. Even the ground, for that matter.

"Tsukasa! Aren't you the one who can see those little numbers everywhere? You're the one who told us we're all scheduled to die sometime! You really think it's a good idea to sleep?" Kamina said, rather loudly. People turned their attention to him, looking in his direction, but that was all.

"You're not tired? Good, then you can stay up and be our lookout," Dante said.

"For once... I agree with him," Kyon said. "If there's any chance of us surviving, go ahead and wake us up. But if we're doomed, then don't bother."

"Huh?" Tsukasa realized what he was implying, but the opportunity to stop and rest was still too tempting to pass up. "Um... I guess we should find a spot, then..."

She ran her fingers through her blue hair, enjoying its familiarity. Unlike whatever they had just come from, this world looked like home. With any luck, Konata would actually recognize this place... Yes, she could work with this.

Koizumi showed some mild surprise at the change, as it was his first time seeing one of these kinds of worlds. He wasn't very verbal about it, although maybe it affected him deeper than he showed. He simply said, "This is new."

"Hmm... Back in one of these places? Great..." Junpei said. Konata tried to think. He'd been in Lucky Star, then Melancholy, and... that was it, so he had never gotten much of a chance to adapt. Maybe he'd come to enjoy it as much as she did.

The buildings around here were all in muted shades of grey with some dull accents of blue or green, but at least the sky was blue and the sun was pleasantly warm. For the first time in a few days, there was something resembling pavement. The light grey bricks of the road and sidewalks were smooth enough, nothing like the streets of Tokyo, but acceptable. Nothing here was higher than three stories it seemed, giving the impression of... early twentieth century, maybe.

"Wait a minute..." Konata said. It was coming together. The desert had reminded her of something, which she had then made an offhand comment about, but ever since then scenes and flashes had been in the back of her mind. It had been a while since she'd read or watched the series, but it was a classic, one of those franchises that really stuck around. "I think this is Fullmetal Alchemist..."

"You mean like..." Junpei said. "Nevermind. It's just another anime. Honestly, this doesn't surprise me anymore."

Sure, it had been going through her mind a lot, and that was probably why they were here... But it had just been a passing connection she had made. Nothing important. And that meant this was probably a dead end as well. They could ask around about Haruhi, but it was unlikely that anyone had seen her around here. Nope, Konata realized she had just goofed.

Koizumi, on the other hand, still seemed optimistic. Probably because he was uninformed. "Good, then you know exactly where we are, then? What's our next step?"

"All we can do from here is find a way out... I'm sorry, this really isn't any kind of progress. I made a mistake." Konata shrugged. "I doubt we'll find anything important here."

"What do you mean, a mistake?" Jason said. "Do you know how you brought us here?"

"Sure. I've always been a Fullmetal Alchemist fan, it was a good series. I just got to thinking about it back in Tull, and how that place was kind of like certain episodes of this show... And now here we are." Konata let out a sigh. "Sorry. I thought I wanted to go home, but I guess I just can't resist all of these different animes..."

"So there's nothing here," Koizumi said.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah."

"If you got here by thinking about it, what if you tried focusing just on Haruhi? You want to meet her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Konata said. "But it's not that easy. It was about a day and a half before the door to this place showed up after I started thinking about it. I still don't remember anything about creating it, either."

"Of course you wouldn't, it's a subconscious reflex. It'll take conditioning to control it, if that's even possible at all," Koizumi replied.

"Sure... As long as we're here, it wouldn't hurt to go around and visit a few places," Konata said.

"Isn't that them?"

Spike squinted as he looked forward, but the pink hair was difficult to miss. On closer inspection, that Nagato girl was there too. Not surprising, Miyuki hadn't seemed all that capable on her own. It was best for her to stay with someone else. Some little kid was with them too, a boy with spiky brown hair. They were both talking to him, so he must be important... somehow. Spike didn't particularly like kids. He was reluctant even to work with those two high school girls, although they hardly seemed like typical teenagers, so maybe they were alright.

"Shall we regroup?" Alucard said. His voice was laced with intrigue, and since they hadn't found anything remotely important or at least interesting in the past couple of hours, Spike kind of shared the feeling.

"Sure. Let's go ahead." Spike dropped his cigarette, crushing it under his shoe, and walked up to them with his hands in his pockets.

Miyuki took notice immediately. "Oh, um... Spiegal-san! It's good to see you again."

He smiled a little at her impulsive courtesy. He wasn't used to being referred to like that. "Looks like you've had more luck finding clues than we have. So who's the kid?"

"You're a friend of theirs?" the boy said, looking up at Spike, then noticing Alucard strolling forward leisurely. "You all seem so peculiar... What exactly are you? And that thing that we fought... Where did it come from?"

"What thing?" Spike said. "Wait, you didn't tell him about anything, did you? I mean, I guess we're not with the company anymore, but we shouldn't be going around saying anything careless - "

"This world was in severe risk of consumption by closed space created by Suzumiya Haruhi. With the help of Negi Springfield, the threat has been neutralized." The way Nagato spoke, it was as if something like that happened every day. She was a weird one.

"I'm terribly sorry that we took you away from your class," Miyuki said. "We really appreciate your help."

"The universe was actually going to be consumed?" Negi said, taken aback. "That sounds serious... I'm sure the headmaster will understand why I had to help, so it's really no problem." He tried to give a good-natured smile.

"Wait, hold on, the universe was going to be what?" Spike said, forcing his way into the conversation. "This sounds bad. What exactly happened?"

Nagato explained the events of the past few hours, occasionally answering their questions. Miyuki added a few details, explaining them to the best of her ability but often being corrected or just simply ignored.

"It would seem Suzumiya is getting to be a problem... What could make something like this happen, I wonder?" Alucard said, once all was finished. "I might be beginning to enjoy this chase."

"So you guys are going... where, exactly? Are there going to be more of these?" Negi asked. "If there's anything I can do to help..."

Nagato spoke again. "The creation of closed space is caused by certain emotional upsets by Suzumiya Haruhi. Under normal circumstances, they are infrequent, but given her currently unknown status it is difficult to predict the risk of a repeat incident."

Negi seemed to be thinking. Finally, he said, "I'm not sure about this, but... I might be able to do something for you."

"Police are on the search for possible suspects, but as of this report no leads have been found. For the time being, caution is advised when alone at night or in inclement weather until the murderer has been identified."

"The victim, seventeen year old Izumi Konata of Saitama, was a student at Ryoo High School."

The image changed to an interview with a distressed-looking high school girl with long brown hair tied into twin ponytails. She was in front of her house, a reporter's microphone held up to her. She rubbed her arm idly.

"You were a close friend of Konata, yes?"

"Yeah... She was my best friend. I just can't believe that... out of all the people, how could it be her... It doesn't seem real."

"So you don't know of any possible motive for the crime."

"Of course not. Nobody hated her enough to... to kill her..."

"There are rumors that Izumi may have been secretly involved with illegal activity, prompting the murder. Can you give us any information on that?"

"What? No... Of course not. I mean, she was always a little... I don't know, unique, I guess. But she wasn't the type to do anything dangerous like that. She was just... Just an otaku, completely harmless."

The brief interview ended, and it returned to the news room.

"Once again, we ask everyone to exercise caution until more information is found..."

The image flickered, the screen buzzed as the sound was overtaken by static. A flashing pattern of gray replaced the picture.

"Kagami-san? W-what's wrong?" Mikuru said.

Kagami was sitting in a ratty armchair in front of the flickering screen. After they had opened the door to 208 and she had seen the unmistakable layout of her own local news channel, something had come over her. Mikuru's voice had brought her rushing back to the present, back to Silent Hill.

"Huh? Oh... You saw that, didn't you? That was part of the news report... From when Konata was killed," Kagami replied, still unable to take her eyes off the now meaningless TV screen. She remembered volunteering for that interview. Tsukasa hadn't wanted to go through with it, and Konata didn't have many other close friends who could say anything about her. The final video had been cut down a lot, many of the details she had told the reporter were cut for the sake of time.

"On the TV?" Mikuru was looking at it, confused. "Nothing was on there... There wasn't any news report, or anything like that..."

"I don't usually like to do this, but I think you're headed into some dangerous situations, and there's no way to avoid them..."

Miyuki wasn't sure why, but she felt very nervous. Still, Negi seemed so nice, and he definitely seemed to know a lot about magic... "Are you sure you want to do this? I don't know if I'll be any use..."

"I can't come with you. I need to stay here, to carry out all my duties as a wizard and a teacher... But as long as I form a pactio with you, you'll have a small part of my magic power with you," he said. Maybe he was nervous about this too. The pactio system did seem like highly advanced magic from his explanation of it. At best, she could tell that it was a kind gesture, one that would be a great help, and for that sole reason she agreed to it.

Konata had used magic before, hadn't she? Was it different? Miyuki wondered if anything like this had been required, or if she'd gained those abilities through other means. The thought that a classmate of hers was able to do all these things was actually comforting, even if Konata did have those special abilities Jason had talked about.

"Almost done!"

Miyuki looked over for the source of the voice, and found it down on the ground. A white ermine was sketching out an elaborate circle filled with all manner of geometric shapes and runes. The ermine's name was Kamo-kun, and he'd greeted them upon their return to the school. At first the idea of a talking ermine had been surprising, but after seeing all those earlier displays of magic, it didn't seem terribly out of place.

"Gotta say, Aniki, you really picked a good-looking one! She'll make a good partner!" the ermine said, making some final touches on the drawing. "And... done!"

"Partner?" Negi said. "N-no, that's not exactly... I realize this is an unusual setup for a pactio, but there are quite a few unusual circumstances involved here."

"Um, Negi-kun... Are we ready? What do I have to do?" Miyuki asked.

"It's just a simple process, and you'll be able to use enhanced abilities through magic... It affects people differently, so I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but it's harmless."

"Stand right here, please!" Kamo-kun said, stepping out of his circle and directing them to take his place in the center. Negi stood on one half, and nodded towards her to come forward. She obeyed.

"Pactio!" Kamo-kun declared.

There was a flash of pink light, and the lines of the chalk drawing began to glow. It felt as though a strong wind had started to blow. The entire combined effect was intense, but Miyuki stayed planted in place, looking into Negi's determined eyes. He began to move forward, and it seemed as if he was going to...

Miyuki blushed. "You're going t-to kiss me? Um, I'm not sure - A-are we supposed to - ?"

"That's what seals the contract!" Kamo-kun insisted. "And it has to be on the lips! Like you mean it!"

"It's okay, Takara-san," Negi said, and she could realize he felt somewhat awkward as well. "You want me to transfer as much power as possible to you, right?"

She'd never kissed anyone before, let alone a ten-year-old schoolteacher, but even though it was such an odd thing to do she returned the light peck on the lips.