Chapter six
An hour can seem like minutes sometimes, and other times it can seem like days. They say time flies when you're having fun, but I think time flies depending on the whether you're with someone and who you're with. Fun has nothing do with time going anywhere, and that's just an assumption anyway. Time doesn't actually move anywhere, so if one person in one room is having more fun than another person in the next room, does time stay on average or do it speed or slow down? To one person they might say it sped up, the other might say it seemed like forever. Time didn't really move at all. Or did it? Maybe that's too much thought into one thing…
For me, this one hour lasted far too long for comfort. I paced around my room, staring at the little black box wondering who had written the note. It seemed obvious to come from Nagato, but maybe Miss Kimidori had come through. I had no way of knowing for sure, I just had to wait.
I had actually timed myself from the moment the note arrived to the time it was currently. Technically, I still had a good while until my hour was up, but I didn't think it mattered. By the time I would arrive to the park it would be up. I gathered a few things, told my sister not to leave the house and go to bed, then away I went into the night.
The air was warm outside from season change and there was hardly any sign of others lurking. It was almost eerie being alone like this; it really gave the feeling I was the only human on the face of planet Earth. Every once in a while, though, something would make a sound or a voice could be heard in an alley way and I remembered that it wasn't the case; not in this dimension anyway.
I checked my watch the second I got to the park, assuming it was the same one Nagato and I met the first time. I still had five minutes until my hour was up, and I found myself sitting on a park bench waiting impatiently. The wind blew around me carrying voices from couples in the park that I couldn't see. They were probably hidden to avoid public displays of affection, and that was just fine with me. The occasional loner would walk past me, grinning with missing teeth like I was in the same boat as them. Who knows, maybe I would be someday.
An ear shattering beeping sound pierced through my thoughts and I stared down at my watch. At first I was angry with it for ruining the serenity of the night, then remembered why it was making any sound at all. I stood up looking around, wondering if I was suppose to go and find who ever it was. I hardly took a step when someone tapped my shoulder.
I jumped just a bit as I turned, "ah Kyon, I hope you weren't waiting long."
"K…Koizumi?" I stuttered when I saw, sure enough, Itsuki Koizumi standing there. He was practically glowing with a blue tint to show off his esper powers I assumed, a smile on his face like usual, hand up in a half wave. "You are Koizumi right?"
He laughed and that right there was a dead give away; only Koizumi would laugh in the face of danger. "Yes, I assure you, I am who you think I am."
"How is that possible? I thought you were back in the other dimension with the real Haruhi and the others."
"You seem to know much more than I'd hoped, that will certainly make this easier to explain." Koizumi motioned me to sit back down, and I did. Knowing Koizumi, I was in for a long monologue of explanations.
"Alright, just start with how you got here," I said calmly. I knew if I didn't give him a starting point, he'd jump around until I was completely lost.
"After you and Miss Suzumiya got in that fight, the entire space time continuum warped, in a way, leaving the whole planet in a fog. A literal blanket of snow spread all over its surface until everything and everyone in it was frozen. You, myself and our other brigade members were not effected; along with anyone else similar to ourselves." Finally, a straight answer. Kind of.
"So while I was sent here…?"
"We were simply free to move about a petrified world. Miss Nagato got a message from one of her superiors soon after. She wouldn't tell us much, but she said you would be safe for the time being."
"Yeah, if you call almost being murdered by a psychopathic alien killer safe," I muttered with bitter sarcasm.
"Yes, she said there would be some mistakes," Koizumi said with that same smile, "but you are in one piece as of now, and no harm should befall you until you return to your home world." Should? "That is, if you ever get back to your home world."
"Thanks for that vote of confidence," I said. It was strange, talking to Koizumi like in the old days, when things were so simple and yet they really weren't.
"Your welcome," I wasn't being serious, "but you asked how I arrived here, correct? When you managed to freeze everything back home, you caused a chain reaction to occur. Closed space has been spreading at an alarming rate, and I'm afraid no amount of espers or our powers are going to be able to stop it from taking over completely.
"A few colleagues of mine suggested that one of us transfers to this realm and find you. Naturally, I was the one chosen for the duty. I was able to absorb a little bit of each of their powers in hopes of getting here; I'm glad it worked out but I have a very limited amount of time. That being said, I need to tell you as much as I can before I get pulled back to the others back home."
"Great," I said shaking my head, "then what do you have to tell me?"
He sat down this time, which made me dread the lecture awaiting even more. "Miss Kimidori told you the basics, so there really isn't much else to warn you about," he said shrugging, "have you figured out how you're going to get back?"
"No, that's why I've been trying to find you or Nagato. Can't you do something, or at least tell me what to do?"
"I wish we could," he said sighing, but his smile stayed, "unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do. It's all up to you, no pressure though," he added though it didn't help. "If we interfered it could cause an even worse chain reaction than the one already occurring. I can tell you this though, and it is a message from Miss Nagato, she says to think of the looking glass and use that to get back."
Looking glass? What kind of hint was that? A clear 'go here and do this' would be more helpful than another useless fairy tale metaphor. The last time I'd gotten that hint, it was to kiss Haruhi, but obviously that didn't work out this time. "Miss Asahina can't go back in time and stop me from making Haruhi mad?"
"If it was that simple, trust me, we would have done it long ago. Just as Haruhi altered the time stream three years ago, she seems to have accidentally done it again. We can't go back any further than when this dimension was created. Not only that, but things are starting to get worse. I would say we have only a few days, if not several more hours, until the closed space has expanded too greatly or this world becomes permanent. I must say, in light of it all, it is amazing to see Miss Suzumiya's powers at work."
"Forgive me for feeling the total opposite," I said bitterly. I sighed and leaned against the park bench staring up. "The looking glass? That's Alice in Wonderland stuff isn't it?"
"I believe so," Koizumi nodded.
"That whole story was drug induced, how is it suppose to help me? Am I suppose to find a white rabbit or cheshire cat or something?"
"To be honest with you, I have no idea," Koizumi said lifting his shoulders in a half shrug. "That is just what Miss Nagato wanted me to pass on." Helpful Koizumi. "That being said, it would appear my time is almost up," he held up a hand that began to glow a soft shade of blue, different from before, his expression was that of a bitter sweet victory.
"I have a few questions before you go," I said as calmly as I could, not awaiting a reply, "Miss Kimidori talked about that special 'bond' Haruhi and I have."
"As she should have."
"What does that have to do with anything? I understand that, because of that so-called bond, I ended up here and the real world is in danger. For some reason you two continue to think it's a good thing."
"That is correct."
"Why?" I asked frowning only the slightest bit.
"That is hard to explain," as usual, "but try to think of this bond as a bridge. Miss Suzumiya is on one side of the bridge and you are the other. That bond, even from the beginning, was strong enough to with stand many obstacles. Every person builds bridges with everyone they meet, but several of them fall or expand throughout time. Miss Suzumiya, however, has created a very strong bridge with you in the shortest amount of time."
"Haruhi trusts me, I get it," I was getting frustrated with hearing the same things over and over.
"What other questions did you have?" Avoiding the question…
"What are the others doing, right now?"
"Ah yes," Koizumi's playful banter had arisen once more, "Miss Nagato is keeping contact with her superiors, though in private. They seem to be trying to pull her here but there are complications I cannot get into since I don't know the details nor do I have the proper means to do so. Miss Asahina is in a panic, worrying about you mostly. She's been trying to contact her own superiors, but there is a block in the time frame."
"Naturally," I muttered.
"As for myself, well, I believe I already told you that." He looked back down at himself, his whole arm glowing brighter now. "Is there anything else?"
"Haruhi," I found myself saying, "what's she doing?"
Koizumi's long pause of silence didn't make me feel any better. "We aren't entirely sure," he finally said, "when this whole event begun to take place, after you vanished and time stood still, she vanished. Don't be alarmed, she's back in our dimension, we can all sense her presence, we just aren't aware of where."
"You lost her?" I raised my voice with this, having to tell myself to calm down again.
Koizumi found that amusing, his smile returned, "we haven't lost her yet, we just believe she's wrapped herself in a field of protected closed space. Like a child and a safety blanket, you could say." The metaphor suited Haruhi well. "For now, we are trying to repair things in that world. Miss Suzumiya will be fine a little while longer before pulling herself back. That's our theory anyway."
It didn't make me feel any better about how things were going. "How do you know Haruhi is still there with you and not here or somewhere else?" I asked softer than before. I found myself actually worried about the crazy girl, but like hell was I going to admit it to him.
Koizumi's other arm had begun to glow now and his feet were making their way, "like your bond with Miss Suzumiya, we too all share a bond with her. We can feel her there, we just aren't sure where. That's how we knew you weren't with us anymore. You're bond had been completely lost."
"This is a different bond though," I mentioned, "it's not a bridge bond of trust. You're talking about a physical bond aren't you?"
Koizumi did a half laugh as his torso went, "clever way of putting it. If you want to put it in those words then yes. The physical bond between Miss Suzumiya and ourselves is still present, while yours has vanished." The thought of having anything physical with Koizumi made me cringe, but it was still only a figure of speech.
"Then I need to get back soon before any more bonds are broken," I said this with both determination and anguish.
"Please do," Koizumi said standing up, most of him was glowing now, if not all. "Things are getting messy and though I would love to stay and help you, I'm needed back in our world." Figures, "and Kyon?"
"Hm?" I asked as I stood.
"Remember, this world isn't our world. It may look and feel the same, but it's very different." I wanted to ask him more, but with that note he vanished.
I was standing in the park all alone now, like so many times before, a bit more content with myself. I'd gotten enough answers to get me through the night until I found my next plan of action. I turned and walked for my home thinking about what Koizumi said.
'It may look and feel the same, but it's very different.'
I just needed to see things through the looking glass.