"Back... from school?" Kagami repeated. She shook her head. "No... I've been gone for days, I... Don't you remember what happened?"
Her mother stared at her. Her hair was dark purple, almost a realistic shade of black but not quite. "You left for school just this morning with Tsukasa. And what happened to your uniform?"
Kagami shook her head. "No, that's not possible... What about Konata? What happened to her?"
"I haven't seen her in a few days, not since you invited her over last time. Are you feeling okay? Do I need to call a doctor?"
A year ago, Kagami and Tsukasa had come home with the news. There had been that assembly, where the principal had given a schoolwide announcement about Konata... What had happened to her the night before, offering some brief, generic sentiments, along with a more urgent statement asking all the students to be more careful and to avoid walking alone. They'd come home in shock and told everyone... Their mother had been panic stricken to hear the news, and to know that there was (supposedly) a murderer still out there. Now it was like that had never happened.
Had Konata done this? What had happened, had everything been sent backwards in time when they left?
Kagami's head was swimming. She tried to think of a way out. "Umm... Yeah, I think you're right. I just need to rest a while, I think I'll go to bed for a bit..."
"Alright, then... Just call if you need anything..."
She started heading back out. She looked towards the front door, wondering if she should just leave now and go find the others. Or maybe just head to her room and see if everything was still the same. There would have to be some clues in there, something had definitely changed but it was possible this was still the right universe... wasn't there?
She was in the hallway when she heard it. "Hey, we're home! Konata and Miyuki came over too!"
Kagami's head shot up. Tsukasa? No, it wasn't really... Suddenly she was feeling very scared. She had to get out of here. This wasn't where she was supposed to be at all.
She quickly hurried into the room, even knowing that it was a dead end. It wasn't like she could just go downstairs anyway. But now it was obvious - things were wrong here. The furniture wasn't set up the right way. Her bed wasn't in the same place, it was up against the other wall. And her desk had always been by the window, it was on the adjacent wall. Her bookcase... No, most of these weren't even books she had heard of. This was all wrong, she had to get out -
"Do you guys want any snacks? We should get started on that homework right away." Tsukasa's voice was coming closer. "Sorry, my room's a bit of a mess right now, but we can just use - "
They stopped when they came in and saw her, with her back turned as she looked at the unfamiliar photographs on the bulletin board. All four of them stopped in their tracks. Because Kagami was there too.
"Huh? What..." Miyuki started to say, looking back and forth between both of them.
The Kagami wearing the blue uniform dropped to the ground in a dead faint. The other Kagami, recently graduated from Ryoo and dressed in handmade clothing from Calla Bryn Sturgis, felt like she could have done the same.
Chapter 37
Take Your Chances
This was a different part of the forest... right? Tsukasa had lost track of everything. Not just where they were, but how long they'd been out here too. All the trees were huge evergreens, and after so long they all just looked the same. It was hard to pick out landmarks. There had been the waterfall, which they had passed a long time ago. The tree over there that was split partway up the trunk... had they seen that before? She was worried they had.
Kyon finally said what she'd been thinking out loud. "We've been going in circles, haven't we?"
"That might be the case," Kamina said.
"Would it kill you to go in a straight line? We keep making these turns, I'm almost sure this is the place where we started out - "
"Can we just stop for a while?" Tsukasa said. Her legs were tired of carrying her around, especially the one that was still sore from being dropped out of Kamina's mecha. She didn't wait for an answer to her question, she just sat down on the ground.
She took another look around. Nothing new caught her attention. This place stretched on forever. Maybe this entire world was just one huge evergreen forest. There were no towns, and no people. There weren't any trails, but there was nowhere for them to lead. They might as well just stay here.
It would be getting dark before long. Tsukasa thought it would, at least.
"How long do you think it's been? Three hours, maybe?" Kyon said.
"What a change of pace," Dante said. "We go through two worlds where things are trying to kill us, and now we end up here, where there's literally nothing. What do you think of that? I'm sure you're just ecstatic, aren't you?"
Well... yes. Tsukasa was finding that she did like this world, even if she was tired and it was getting so chilly. She'd been tired in the last two worlds, but then she'd had something to run from.
And that's when she noticed the branches shaking. She thought it was the wind blowing through the needles, waving them up and down, but it wasn't like that. It was like... No. She buried her head into her knees and curled up.
Dante looked up, trying to see what it was. "Shit, that sounds big."
The sound of trees creaking as they were pushed over, or the sounds of them splintering as something tore through them, were enough to make Tsukasa start digging in her pockets for the COMP. Dante was right, it did sound big. Once she had it in her hands, she opened the old battered cover to start it up.
The familiar red and black geometric patterns ran across the screen as the Demon Summoning Program booted up. Tsukasa had almost stopped breathing.
"Where's it coming from?" Kamina said. He whirled around, expecting to see something.
Within seconds he got what he was looking for. It was a bear - a very, very huge brown bear. It looked angry. It also appeared to be several stories tall. At least as tall as most of the trees in these woods. It gave a strangled roar that didn't sound like any normal animal Tsukasa had ever heard.
Kyon tried to get out of the way. "Shit, it's coming right at - "
There was a dark blue blur that wrapped itself around in knots in the air, making twisted patterns around the monster's head. If it paused for a split second you would have enough time to recognize the serpentine form of a Chinese dragon. The bear swiped at it, but its claws were too clumsy.
Tsukasa held the COMP in front of her, watching Seiryu distract the thing that had attacked them.
"Good work, but we need to get the hell away from that thing!" Dante said. He pulled her to the side, and she fumbled to avoid dropping the COMP as she began to run behind him.
The forest floor was covered in a tangle of branches and exposed roots coming up from the ground. It was futile trying to watch where her feet went at the same time she checked if her demon she'd summoned was winning. They came to a stop under a short cliff, where Kyon was already trying to catch his breath.
"Tsukasa, do you have any others you could summon? I can't get the Gurren out if it comes after us!" Kamina said.
There was another rumbling sound from behind them, a roar that turned into an almost humanlike scream. Tsukasa flinched, and checked the COMP again for her list of demons. These were all so small, she just felt they wouldn't be any good... As long as she had Seiryu and he could fly, that would be good enough, she hoped - but didn't really believe.
"You're sure you can't get it out? The Gurren would be fine. Just don't pack the rest of us into it this time," Kyon said.
There was a crackle of electricity - that had to be Seiryu, a bear wouldn't... no. Tsukasa dared to look behind her, to see the blue shape in the air firing bolts of electricity that barely seemed to bother the massive creature.
"What do we do next?" she said.
Dante had stepped out of the side of their cover to get a better look. He examined it top to bottom, following it as it moved. "It seems like it's alive... What is that?"
"It's a bear. They have those in your world, don't they?" Kamina said.
A tree fell towards them as the bear stumbled backwards into it, making another swipe towards the dragon. It moved quickly for something of its size.
"Look at the top of its head," Dante said. "Doesn't look very natural to me."
Tsukasa looked closer - something was up by its head, sitting on top of its head, actually. It glinted silver where the sunlight hit it. Once you really looked at it, it looked like it was made out of some kind of metal.
"I don't think it's a real bear. There's something wrong about it," Dante continued. "That silver part might be where it's weak."
"You're right..." Tsukasa muttered. How did she give orders, again?
Kamina's voice behind them, sounding much louder than usual. "Stand back, everyone, I'm going in!" She glanced behind her and saw why his volume seemed so much higher - he'd managed to summon the Gurren while the bear was distracted. Kamina started charging towards the bear, even though the Gurren only came up to its legs.
"You don't suppose he'll kill himself going out there, do you?" Kyon said.
Dante shrugged. "He might."
A drill burst out from the Gurren's right arm, and expanded several times its original size in the blink of an eye. As it pierced the matted brown fur on the bear's thigh, a spray of blood came out and the creature momentarily forgot about the dragon flying around above its head and focused on the relatively tiny red figure attacking its legs.
"I'd go in there, but it looks like they've got it covered," Dante said.
Kamina dodged a huge paw that came rushing down at the ground towards him and followed up with another rush forward with his drill. The bear's head whipped around trying to see where he went, and it was at just the perfect angle to see -
"That thing's a radar dish," Kyon said. "Why would it have a radar dish on its head?"
"If there's anything I've learned from this little adventure, it's been that alternate universes do not make sense," Dante said. "But yeah, that's a radar dish, alright. Which means..."
"What?"
"I don't know. I was trying to think of something."
"Is it getting signals from something? That's typically what a radar dish does."
"But what kind of signals does a bear need to get?"
There was a flash of light and another roar of pain from the bear - followed by a crash. Tsukasa tore her attention away from Kyon and Dante to see what had happened. A huge brown mass was on the ground, looking like a huge hill that had suddenly appeared there.
"It's dead?" Tsukasa said after a moment.
Kamina returned to the group, and dismounted the Gurren. Tsukasa noticed Seiryu now hovering still in the air, and returned him to the COMP. She turned it off and let out a breath of relief. Pretty soon her heart rate might return to normal.
"Well, it could've been worse. It could've been a camel cricket," Kyon said.
The huge black eyes were still open, and the fanged mouth was open in a snarl. A few sparks shot out from the radar dish on its head that had been fried. All around that was what looked like some kind of white mold growing out of its skull.
"Think that was the only one?" Dante said.
"Somehow I'm worried that it wasn't," Kyon said. "Let's focus on finding the way out of here next."
Kamina approached the huge mass, walking around it to get a better look. "Seems like it was a robot, but it was bleeding... Maybe it was alive, too. Who knows?" He walked over towards one of the rear legs, looking for something. "I thought I saw, when I was fighting it... Here it is!"
Tsukasa hesitantly stepped forward to see the metal plate with its letters stamped into it. Just a square plate set into its flesh.
NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS, LTD.
Granite City
Northeast Corridor
Design 4 GUARDIAN
Serial # AA 24123 CX 755431297 L 14
Type/Species BEAR
SHARDIK
**NR**SUBNUCLEAR CELLS MUST NOT
BE REPLACED**NR**
"What the...?" Kyon said, reading it a second time, attempting to make sense of it.
"Let's not worry about it. The thing's dead. Besides, the door's over there." They all turned around to see Dante pointing towards it, a wooden door standing up over the cover of dead leaves and pine needles on the forest floor.
Something had happened.
Haruhi had been waiting here, surrounded by that perfectly still red sea of flowers around the tower. She'd begun to wonder if that was a natural occurrence. Nothing seemed supernatural about them, and they were so beautiful, but did this ever happen in the normal world? She hoped it didn't. It was another thing she loved about this place.
Something huge had fallen, big enough to shake the foundations of the Tower.
It was like someone had set a charge in the side of the tower and detonated it. Like a huge chunk of the foundation had just been blown up. It hadn't really, the entire structure was still here. But in the metaphysical sense, the Tower had been damaged. Not enough to make the tower fall, but if there was another one...
Flagg had told her to keep the tower standing. Her powers were supposed to make her able to do that, just by staying here and watching over it. Why had this happened? And how? Nobody had gotten inside.
"Flagg... What's going on?" she said. She spoke out loud, which she did every once in a while to lessen the silence. He wasn't here, and he gave her no reply.
She sighed, and paced around. It was strange; nothing happened here, but it wasn't boring. She'd much rather wait for Flagg to come here than go look for him. It wasn't like she had a choice anyway. And it was completely necessary that she stayed in the Tower, especially when it was in danger.
That's what he was doing, wasn't it? Flagg was out there trying to secure whatever was going on. It's just that something had slipped past and damaged it anyway.
Haruhi went to look out a different window, but the view was the same. Nothing but roses, as far as she could see. They must have gone on for miles. Maybe this whole universe.
"I... think I need to lie down..." Kagami said. She stumbled over to the bed and collapsed there. She didn't want to look at the others. She didn't want to look at anything, it was all wrong and she was stuck with it. There was no way out. She stared up blankly at the ceiling.
Everyone was too shocked to say anything for a while. This other Konata tried to help the blue-uniformed Kagami wake up, and she eventually opened her eyes slowly. When she saw herself again, standing across the hall, she backed away quickly, not taking her eyes off the double. She said nothing, just stared at her in confusion.
"No, you're not Kagami," Tsukasa said finally. "There's no way you could be."
Kagami searched for the right words to say, and turned her head slightly to look at her. This was some other universe, a lot like her own, but definitely not the same. "N-no, I guess I'm... I am Kagami, but... Listen, can you just forget this ever happened? This isn't..." She let out a sigh. "I don't know what's going on any more than you do." And on top of it all, she had a headache.
"Is everything alright up there?" The voice came from downstairs.
"Mom? Oh crap..." Tsukasa put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.
Kagami sat up. "Everything's fine! I... tripped, that's all!" Kagami called down before anyone else could respond. That had come from nowhere, really, but she didn't want to bring her alternate-universe mother into all this confusion. She turned back to the others, and looked at the other Kagami still sitting on the floor, backed up against the far wall. "Look, I'm really sorry about this whole misunderstanding."
Miyuki was squinting, then said quietly, "You seem older, Kagami..." She thought for a while, then said, "I think I get it now... You're from the future!"
Time travel was a possibility. Anything was a possibility. "I don't know, maybe that's what... Wait, why are you suggesting that?" she said.
When Konata spoke, it became obvious things weren't right here. "I don't understand... Who are you?" Her voice was softer. Still the same voice, obviously, but the entire manner was different. Polite, reserved.
Tsukasa sat down on the desk chair, not taking her eyes off of Kagami. "This isn't possible... You really are... What's going on here?"
"I don't know what to say to you... I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"Where exactly did you come from?" Tsukasa asked.
Kagami couldn't decide where to start. Maybe she'd just walk out without saying anything - No. Not after what she put them through. They deserved an explanation. "Really, this is all Konata's fault..."
"Me?" Konata said timidly.
"Oh, um, not you. Sorry. The... other Konata, from my world," Kagami corrected herself. She spoke more slowly, trying to think things through despite not having any idea where she was going with it. "I don't know exactly when this all started, since I didn't even know anything was going on at first. But then when she turned up... murdered..."
She started with that. Maybe it was more than they needed to know, since they all stared at her like she was crazy. They were even more confused when she got to the part about how Konata had planned out her own death, and then when she mentioned the part about the demons and how they'd suddenly ended up in Haruhi's world...
"Suzumiya Haruhi? I read those books once..." Konata said. "This... other me... she has the same powers?"
"Yeah. And that's how I ended up here. She's been sending us through different worlds trying to find out where Haruhi went, but we keep on ending up in the wrong ones." Kagami just skipped over the part about this being an anime. They already looked a little doubtful. "I thought I had finally made it home this time, but then I got here and..."
"If there weren't two of you in this room right now, I'd have a lot of trouble believing this." Tsukasa was leaning forward, supporting her chin with one hand.
"I know. It's a lot. But you wanted me to explain, so I did."
"It's pretty cool, though. Alternate worlds and all that," Miyuki said.
"You're going to leave... as soon as possible...?" It was one of the few things she'd heard her other self say since she got here. It was almost quiet enough that she hadn't heard it at all.
"Of course. I probably should've left already, I'm just wasting time..." There was an awkward pause. She didn't know what else to say, so she stood up and went towards the door, then turned around. Something else was coming to her, but she didn't know how to put it into words. "Um... yeah."
Kagami stepped out of the house in a hurry. Now she just wanted out. It didn't matter where they ended up next... Hopefully she'd be able to meet up with the others, because she definitely didn't want to go to another universe all on her own.
"Wait... Kagami?" She heard Tsukasa call after her as she started down the sidewalk.
She stopped to turn around, and saw that Miyuki was standing there too. "What? I get it, I'm going to leave."
"I'm coming with you." Kagami stared at her, but Tsukasa quickly added, "I mean until you find the people you're looking for. I want to make sure you find your way back home okay... Anyways, you're still kind of like my little sister, so I feel like I should."
Little sister? That sounded weird.
"Um... Okay. Thanks," Kagami said. She was completely aware that these people weren't her real friends and family, that she'd technically never met them before in her life. But there was still an odd connection of some sort between herself and them, and she understood on some level why they'd want to help her. No, it didn't make sense... But it made everyone feel better.
They joined her as she headed towards the train station. It seemed likely that the others had gone back into the city. Although those doors never came up anywhere you expected them to, so it could be anywhere... This would all turn out fine, though. As weird as everything was, it still seemed like nothing bad would happen in this world. As far as she knew, this was the way things were meant to be - this world's Konata certainly wasn't going anywhere.
"Konata said she'd stay back home with Kagami," Tsukasa said as they started out. "I mean, the real Kagami. How long do you think this will take, to get you to... whatever this is we're looking for?"
Kagami shrugged. "No clue."
"So how does this alternate universe thing work? I'd like to hear all about it," Miyuki said.
"I wish I could explain it. It doesn't make any sense," Kagami replied. "Konata's the one who's been doing this for two years. Until about a week ago I didn't know anything about this."
None of them spoke as they got to the station and waited for the next one to go into the city.
It was still something around a hundred years or more before Junpei had even been born, and he was still in this old and really rustic version of Tokyo. By the standards he was used to, this would be a small town. Only even less technically advanced.
Jason had suggested splitting up, trying to find their way out of this world. Konata was insisting they had nothing to do here. The theory was that she'd already created the door. They'd meet up near the dojo in a few hours, and hopefully one of the two groups would have found it. Jason had gone with Koizumi. Junpei was with Konata.
He stared out at the river. It was nice here, sitting out on the riverbank. Not doing anything. That had been Konata's idea.
They weren't even looking for the door. She'd wanted to sit down. She said she was already bored here and just wanted to rest. Well, she was the one with godlike abilities, she was the one who decided when they left. There wasn't much of an option here, so Junpei had gone along with it. Sure, why not take a break for a while? Better than wandering around aimlessly.
He stared out over the water. The way it glistened was interesting. It looked almost real, at the same time that everything around it was hand-drawn in kind of a nineties anime style. There was a dirt road going past behind them, but not many people went past. The ones who did were probably staring at them, the two teenagers sitting there in the weird clothes.
Konata was reading one of the Lucky Star volumes. It was strange to see her looking at it, with her own picture right on the cover. She turned the pages slowly, looking over all the pictures.
He decided to say something. "Shouldn't we at least make an effort to look around? Jason said they'd only be taking the other half of town, so..." His voice trailed off as he noticed she didn't look up at him.
"What I really need to do right now is just slow down. I've been thinking a few things over," she said finally.
Junpei nodded slowly, but really it seemed like they should still be making some kind of physical effort. And honestly, he was getting just a little bit tired of this world. Even less modern convenience than the last one.
She was still more focused on the manga than on him. Shouldn't they be... what, exactly? Finding the door. Which she was in charge of, anyway, with those powers that she didn't even know how to control. Maybe it was best to humor her. And if she wanted to read about her old universe for a while, that was just fine.
He was bored.
"You're completely aware that you're a fictional character... You're okay with that?" Junpei asked her.
She looked up at him. "Well, you are too... Persona was a pretty great series. I spent a ton of hours on it."
"Right, those were video games..." Junpei scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Heh. Those exist in your world, but your anime exists in mine... That's a little confusing."
"Yeah." She nodded, and glanced back down at the book again.
"But it never bothered you?"
"Not really. Once I realized that all these worlds are just as real as mine, I kind of understood. When I first found out, I thought it was cool that I had my own series."
"I guess it is." Junpei considered what Persona - the video game - would be like. He'd never be able to play it. That would just be too awkward.
"Most of what's in Lucky Star never really happened to me, though. I was in Eclipse through most of high school. Things went a little differently."
He watched her, not sure what to say next. There was a smile on her face as she read. Junpei tried to imagine what it would be like to play that game about himself, and everyone else in his life... Fighting the Shadows was a life-or-death struggle, but to people outside his world it was all just a video game. Lucky Star, on the other hand, didn't have quite as much tension. That would make it easier to accept as entertainment for sure.
"This is how things were meant to be, though..." Konata muttered. She didn't look up, and Junpei wasn't sure if she was even addressing him or just thinking out loud. "I was supposed to stay home. Get through high school, and do whatever came next. College, I guess. Heh."
"You always seemed better at fighting than at schoolwork, though."
"Yeah. But to be honest, I cared even less about school when I was in your world than I did at home."
"Understandable. You were going to leave at the end of the year, weren't you?" he asked.
"And go on to my next assignment. It did seem like a good job. I'm still not sure what I'll do when I get back home, though."
He sighed. "If you can get us back home..."
"I'm getting the hang of it, though..." The grin was coming back into her face. A mischievous, catlike grin that she usually lost whenever she talked about her godhood. "Hm, this all looks the way it's supposed to. I don't remember this part about..." She scratched her head. "Come to think of it, when was the first time I told Kagami and Tsukasa about my mom? I don't think it went quite like this..."
Junpei looked over her shoulder at the page. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm trying to figure out how this book got here. Did I create it? Or did I pull the book out of some other world? It all looks accurate, but I'm not sure if anything might have changed if I just generated it out of nowhere. My memory's not perfect, there's no way it could all be right if that's the case."
She went back to reading. He stared at her with his mouth hanging open, not sure how to reply. He actually wasn't sure what she had just said.
"I really did want Kagami and the others to read this manga back when we were in Haruhi's world. It would have cleared a lot up for them. The problem is, I didn't have any copies with me," she said.
He was beginning to process what that meant. "Then where'd you get that...?" Junpei asked. He thought he knew already.
"Well, usually I can call up whatever items I put into storage. You've seen the way Eclipse members do it, right? With weapons and stuff like that. We have to put the object in before it comes out, but then it's there whenever we need it... But I called out this book without ever putting it in. I just wanted it to be there, and... I don't know. I had a good feeling about it," she said, shrugging a bit.
"So you could probably also get us out of here if you had a good feeling about that," Junpei said.
"That was the plan, yeah."
"And?"
"The door should appear over by the dojo where we planned on meeting up. With any luck, it should be there already," Konata said, and went back to reading.
"So we're going to just wait here for a while, then go meet up with them and it'll be right there waiting for us?"
She didn't say anything, just gave a barely perceptible nod. But she looked pleased with herself.
Junpei was having his doubts things would go that way, despite what she'd managed to do with the book. Having a copy of a manga suddenly come into your possession seemed a lot simpler than making a door to another universe spontaneously appear out of nowhere. Within a few hours, once they had gone back, he found he was pleasantly surprised.
"Your sister's trying to become a professional chef?" Tsukasa asked. "That's weird. I can't cook anything. I don't even bother trying anymore."
"She's talked about wanting to own a restaurant before. I'd like it if that actually happened, I think she'd be good at it," Kagami said. "There's a lot more difference between this world and mine than I realized..."
They'd made it to the center of town. Now that so many people were out here, Kagami was surprised to notice how few variations there were of hair color. Nobody else had any shade of blue or purple. It had been a few hours of wandering around, and it was gradually becoming easier to open up. They were interested in what Kagami's world was like, what was the same, what was different.
Gamers was on their left. How could she forget that? Konata's favorite store, or at least it had been. It looked about the same as it did back home. There didn't seem to be any unfamiliar brands in this world. She was thinking of Topeka, of that Nozz-A-La keychain that had looked so much like Coca-Cola, of the Takuro Spirit she'd driven. Nothing was like that here.
Still, every once in a while one of them would bring up a detail that just struck Kagami as surreal and dreamlike. Miyuki was in Sakuraba's homeroom, along with Tsukasa, and Kuroi didn't seem to exist. The homeroom teacher in 2-B with Konata and Kagami was named Morioka. The Konata still enjoyed video games and manga, but didn't have her usual exuberant personality. Her dad was a doctor and didn't have any interest in that kind of stuff. Miyuki was something of a science fiction enthusiast, to annoying levels.
"I wish I could go see where you're from," Miyuki said. "This just sounds so interesting."
"No. If you ever get the chance to leave this universe, don't take it. It'll ruin everything," Kagami said. That was definitely true. She suddenly became uncomfortably aware of the guns she still had in the duffel bag at her side. "Anyway... I'd expect it's the same as at home, but what's Japan's gun control policy?"
"Huh? It's illegal to own handguns, I think you're allowed to have rifles with a hunting liscense... Why?" Tsukasa said. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, you're carrying weapons?"
"I didn't have anywhere else to put them. It's fine. I won't even need to take them out, so we'll just find the way out - "
Tsukasa frowned. "Kagami... How do we know what we're looking for?"
"I guess it would be easiest to look for Rei, if you see her. She's got... white hair," Kagami said, remembering what it was supposed to look like. It had been that way at home and in the Calla, but in the other worlds it had been slightly bluish. The white would still be easy to see.
Tsukasa nodded.
"So all four of these people you're with come from different universes? Fascinating..." Miyuki said.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I should even have let you come," Tsukasa replied. "Just help us out, won't you?"
"Of course."
They continued on, past a building Kagami was pretty sure had been Konata's cosplay cafe. Nothing suggested that anything like that was in there now. Kagami slowed down, taking a better look. There were some bad memories associated with the place now. She was pretty sure she wasn't mistaken...
"Uh... Kagami? Is something wrong?" Miyuki stopped to check out the building with her, trying to see what it was.
Kagami didn't turn her head. "Nothing... It's nothing. Let's keep going."
They turned to walk away. A door opened as somebody left the building.
"Well, it was worth a shot. I thought it would be somewhere around here, maybe, since... Hey, aren't those?"
"Huh? You're right..."
Kagami recognized Rei and Mikuru by their voices right away. She turned around to see them coming out of the doorway, Joshua following behind. She broke into a run to meet them.
"Kagami? What're you doing here... and with them? They made it back?" Rei said.
"You left me alone back there!" Kagami said. "You didn't even wait to check if this was the right place!"
Joshua looked puzzled. "But you said that was your house, didn't you?"
Rei had a knowing grin on her face. "Ah, I get it... Yeah, I know how it must feel. Looks like we got the wrong one. But then who are they?" She pointed over at Tsukasa and Miyuki.
"Uh..."
"You're really from a different world?" Miyuki asked. "That's... whoa."
"W-we were just making sure that Kagami found you again... That's all," Tsukasa said. "Come on, let's go..."
"You're not..." Mikuru started, but didn't know how to finish. "You look like Kagami's friends, though..."
"It's difficult to explain. Right, Kagami?" Rei said.
"Yeah, we'll just leave it at that... You still haven't found the door?"
"No, but I guess that's a good thing, if we were about to leave you in the wrong universe. You wouldn't be able to find your way out, would you?" Rei smiled like it was somehow funny to her.
Rei started off in some direction that she was "almost completely sure" they hadn't checked yet. They turned a corner, and suddenly it was right in front of them. As if it had been waiting... An unmarked door of dark, aged wood, just like the others had been.
"That's certainly convenient," Joshua remarked.
"Huh?" Tsukasa said. She stared ahead, looking for something but she didn't know what it was. "What do you mean?"
"This thing... It doesn't look like much, but it's the way out." Kagami walked towards it. She didn't like to make crossing over into a big ceremony or anything. She just wanted it to be over and done.
From Tsukasa's point of view, Kagami's hand closed around thin air. It was apparent that something was there, but it was completely invisible. She could see the fingers closing around something. A doorknob, maybe. She had said it was just a plain wooden door.
"I don't see anything..." Miyuki said.
"Huh?" Kagami said. "Well, I guess it's..." She didn't know how to put it. "We're the only ones who are supposed to go through. I guess it only works for us."
"So you're going back home then?" Tsukasa said.
"I wish. It just doesn't work like that, though..." Kagami said. "Thanks for everything, though. I'm sorry you had to get involved."
The girl with a yellow ribbon in her short purple hair wasn't really her sister. The voice was somewhat similar, more grown up, maybe. She didn't look like Tsukasa. At least, not how Tsukasa was supposed to look, but a resemblance was there. It had been there when this whole mess had started in that park. But Kagami realized that once she did get home, that's what her sister would look like. For the rest of their lives.
"Is something wrong?" Tsukasa asked.
"N-no... I really need to get going. You should probably get home."
"So we're done with the goodbyes? Let's move on, then," Rei said.
Kagami opened the door, seeing the familiar blackness of what was inside. Anything could be in there. It could be dangerous - most likely, it would be, actually. But eventually she would get back to her real universe and start the long process of forgetting this had ever happened. As much as possible, anyway.
All that Tsukasa and Miyuki saw was Kagami's back as she stepped forward and vanished into thin air.
Shana moved quickly, turning her blade away from Alucard and going for Nagato instead, trying to catch her off guard. Her katana seemed to flare out and glow as it cut through the air.
And it stopped. Suddenly Nagato had stepped in the way and caught the blade in her hand, even though it was orange with the heat and razor sharp. She didn't say a word, but looked Shana straight in the eyes. Shana responded by wresting the blade free from Nagato's grip and jumping back, her black cloak flaring out in front of her.
"You," she said, addressing Nagato. "I'm not sure who you are, but if you're with them then I'll have to kill you too."
"You're a confident one, aren't you?" Alucard replied.
He fired a shot towards her, but she rolled to the side before it hit the sidewalk and chunks of the pavement exploded. He fired several more, and Miyuki noticed the smile across his face and almost wondered if he was missing intentionally just to play for a little while longer.
She drew the card from her pocket, and tried to remember the words that Negi had taught her. "Sim Mae Pars! Per Centum Octōgintā Secundās! Ministra Negiī, Tacara Miyuki!"
Three minutes, hopefully that would be enough time to make a difference. Actually, now that her staff had materialized in her hand and she felt the magic power flowing back into her, Miyuki realized she didn't have much of a plan. This girl couldn't be all bad, she thought they were traitors from Konata's organization for some reason and Miyuki knew that wasn't the case. Besides, she was just a high school student, and Miyuki didn't like the idea of hurting anyone at all...
Alucard was leisurely reloading his gun with more of those explosive rounds, pretending he had no interest in watching Shana go after Spike while he dodged each swing of her blade. He followed up with a flurry of shots, but she was too quick for him to take aim.
All the while this was going on, Shana was attempting to keep an eye on Nagato, and now that Miyuki was armed she was identified as a threat too.
Miyuki had to do something, but she was almost frozen to the spot. She reviewed a few of the spells in her mind, cycling through them quickly. The Latin was easy enough to remember, surprisingly...
She saw Alucard raising the gun again, and Shana's back was turned. She was barely more than a bright orange blur in the dark crimson light of this space. Spike's shots were breaking the windows of a building across the street. Alucard had his goggles off for once; the look in his eyes was that of a predator closing in for the kill.
"Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat..."
At the same time that his finger was closing around the trigger, shooting to actually hit the enemy this time, Miyuki had already finished the incantation. "Flagrantia Rubicans!" She was amazed she had remembered the entire thing.
The burst of flame from her staff met the bullets in midair, where they exploded in a blinding flash of light. It caught Shana's attention, and she whirled around to see what had happened. It was just long enough for Spike to aim and fire. With only a split second to react, Shana managed to avoid a more serious wound but her leg was suddenly bleeding.
No good, she wouldn't be able to defend herself like that...
"Tui Gratia Jovis Gratia Sit Cura!"
Shana noticed the gunshot wound closing, and looked up incredulously at Miyuki, who had her staff raised.
"Huh? Why did you - "
"Miyuki! Whose side are you on?" Spike yelled.
How long did she still have to use her magic? Time had slowed down, but it couldn't possibly have been more than a minute or two. It was hard to tell. Once her three minutes were up, Miyuki would be helpless. She was already feeling tired.
Shana shook herself, turning away from Miyuki to jump backward again to where she could keep an eye on both Spike and Alucard. Nagato was standing there completely silent, off to the side near where Spike was. Where did she stand on this whole thing?
"You're good," Shana said. "I should have expected this. So how do you do it? Must be hard destroying an entire universe."
"I've got no idea what you're talking about," Spike said.
"I'd expect you to say that..." Her eyes darted over to Alucard, then back to Miyuki.
Now she was feeling what was left of the time limit expire, there couldn't possibly be any more time left. She had to say something. "Please, I think you have us mistaken with someone else... Can't we just talk this over?"
"You seem to recognize us as a threat to the safety of your universe. Why is this?" Nagato said. It was a simple query, without any emphasis or feeling.
Shana answered her, but didn't lower her guard. She held her sword upright in front of her. "Stop acting like you don't know. Eclipse told me all about you. You've been trying to completely obliterate the worlds, all using our own technology."
"Eclipse's technology?" Spike asked.
"What do you think I was talking about?"
"We don't have anything like that. We got cut off about a week ago."
"I suppose Negi's world was in danger... Didn't we save it, though? I thought that Celestial had been destroyed..." Miyuki said in a quiet voice.
Nagato gave a slight nod. "Correct. The safety of that world was secured."
"How long has this death warrant been out for us, then?" Spike said.
"About a week," Shana replied.
"Really? That's about when it all happened, when they fired everyone... Jesus, they work fast," he said. "Believe me, we have no idea what this is about."
"Are you finished, then?" Alucard said. "If you give up now, you'll survive. If not..."
Shana's eyes went from him, to Nagato, then she lowered the katana slightly. It seemed like she was accepting defeat, but whether she believed them was difficult to tell.
"You are with Eclipse, then," Spike said. "So you still have a functional Talisman. I don't suppose you'd let us use it."
Shana was frowning. She still didn't want to put her trust in them, not after all the stories that had been going around. But they'd spared her life... Of course, the Talisman could be what they were after. It could all be a trick.
"Maybe," she said finally.
Alucard raised his gun, causing Miyuki to raise a hand in silent protest. He didn't fire, he simply pointed the barrel directly at Shana's head and held it, without a hint of a tremble, in place. "It would be in all of our best interest."
"Please don't fight anymore..." Miyuki said quietly.
Shana closed her eyes for a moment and hesitated. She put the katana under her cloak, where it seemed to disappear. Then the Seal vanished, the dark red light lifted, and everything sprang back into motion. Alucard put his gun back into his coat, and people walked by as if they didn't even notice. They had an odd habit of censoring their perception in this world. Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief, as most of the tension lifted along with the Seal.
"I'll only do this for you once, so you better know where you're headed," Shana said. Her voice still had a sharp edge.
Spike gave Alucard a look. "I suppose we should be looking for Haruhi, but now that I think of it..." He turned back to Shana. "You wouldn't know anything about Suzumiya Haruhi, would you?"
"Who? No, I've never heard of her before," Shana said.
"Seriously? What the hell's going on..." Spike sighed. "There's no way to know where to start looking, then. Maybe we should stay on the path. Another door's bound to come up sometime."
"Miyuki." Alucard addressed her without turning his head. "You probably want to go home, correct? I believe I remember the coordinates to your world."
She stared at him, shocked. "Y-yes, that would be... It would be wonderful," she replied.
Nagato didn't offer any input, instead watching a large black raven that had landed nearby. If Miyuki's memory served correctly, those kinds of birds were quite common in Japan. This one was acting a little odd, how it was staying so still, but that was it. After a while it flew away. People were still walking past: businessmen, young children with their mothers, high school students in their uniforms. Yes, there seemed to be a lot that was quite ordinary about this world, even taking Shana into account. But Miyuki's own world was preferable.
Ayanami - that girl who had gone with Kagami - had mentioned going through her neighborhood. According to her account, everyone Miyuki knew hadn't been harmed. And she'd be able to see them again and tell everyone what had happened.
"This sounds as good as anything, I guess," Spike said. "Konata said she wanted us to get you back safely."
"None of you are really trying to... destroy the world, or anything? But why would Eclipse say that?" Shana said.
"A few days ago they cut all of us off from the servers. We all got stuck in one world," Spike explained. "Miyuki here has a friend who was able to find us a way out, and now we're just trying to find our way back home. And also find Suzumiya."
"It seems Eclipse may have taken her, but you insist you know nothing," Alucard said. "You've never heard the name before."
"I haven't. Really," Shana said. "I'm going back to headquarters. Maybe they'll tell me what this is all about." She pulled out a cell phone from her pocket, one that looked a lot like Konata's. As she flipped it open, her expression changed. "What? How would they - ?"
"Is something wrong?" Alucard said, frowning.
She managed to look up from whatever was on her screen. "I-it says I've been... I'm not part of the organization anymore. They must have found out that I'm helping you."
"What? How?" Spike said. "This is exactly like what happened to us back there..."
Shana stared at the screen. "This is all because of you..."
"I'm terribly sorry, we had no idea that this would - "
"I'm sure you didn't," she said, not looking up. Her voice was cold. "Just go, alright?"
"But we don't have anywhere to go... We haven't been able to find the - " Miyuki stopped.
As she had begun speaking, something strange had happened. Miyuki watched as something faded into existence several meters down the sidewalk - taking form as a large rectangle. The brass knob appeared last as the door took shape right before her eyes.
"H-how did that..." she said, pointing ahead at it.
"That's just about the most bizarre thing I've seen..." Spike said.
Shana turned around, searching for what they were talking about. "I don't see anything... What are you talking about?"
"That has to be it, though, doesn't it? It's one of the doors that Konata made. They all must have come from somewhere, I suppose..." Miyuki said. Well, they had to appear, she corrected herself. They weren't made, they simply formed. Why? Did she have some sort of condition for making them, so that they'd materialize whenever they were needed?
"We'll just have to see what's planned for us next, I suppose," Alucard said. He seemed unimpressed by what had just happened. "And... I'd keep my eyes open, if I were you. Maybe you're on their wanted list now too."
Shana couldn't even respond as he led the way through the door that she couldn't see. As the last of them vanished, she was left alone on the street.