Duel 3: Will High School END already?!

What Nagato-san told me the night before was playing through my head over and over again. An alien. Not that I believed her or anything, but the simple fact that she told me such a thing was very surprising. It was a wonder that girl wasn't living with her parents, being as mentally unstable as she was.

I did my daily treck to North High up the steepest part of the hill. It had become such a part of my daily routine that it didn't even bother me anymore.

Besides, I had other things to worry about when it came to being bothered, "Kyon! Wait up."

And there was Taniguchi, running as fast as his legs could carry him. "So," he said, almost completely out of breath by the time he had reached me, "What's going on between you and Suzumiya-san?"

Going on?

Let's see, first she kidnapped me from the classroom, then she made me help him form that stupid brigade, then she sexually harrased a girl through the leader of the computer club. What WASN'T going on? Well, obviously not what Taniguchi was thinking, "Nothing Taniguchi, you need to stop watching romantic comedies," I said simply.

"There's something going on. I know it." Taniguchi insisted, "I'm keeping an eye on you. Kyon."

Great... now I had the watchful eye of a guy that was obsessed with romance on me. Please, let this all be a long dream.

Nope, this was definitely real. Haruhi sat in her desk, head resting on her hand, staring out the window. When someone tapped me on the shoulder, I turned to see Ryoko Asakura, resident class polite girl. "Keep up what you're doing," she said gently, "Haruhi hasn't had any friends almost her entire life... until you that is."

Friend? If you'd call being a friend what I've been through, then I guess, but I sure didn't. "I'm not really doing anything," I replied, "I just talked to her."

"Really?" Ryoko said, overtly interested.

Turning around, she walked to her seat.

Later, I was searching the city with Asahina-san (Blame Haruhi), when a thought came to me:

"Asahina-san, what did Haruki do to make you do this?"

She looked confused, but I plowed on, "There are plenty of guys out there for you," I said reassuringly, "This is a path you don't need to go down, no matter what that jerk says. Don't do it Asahina-san, do NOT taint your purity."

An awkward silence followed.

Was my advice really that bad?

It was then I noticed that the girl was the color of a freshly ripe cherry, "It's not that at all!"

It was unlike Asahina-san to shout, so naturally it was surprising to me. It was then that I realized my mistake. If I looked at myself in the mirror right now I'd probably be twice as red as the timid girl standing in front of me. Asahina looked away and frowned deeply, "It's something of extreme importance, recent events have taken place that require you to be informed."

Now she was talking strangely. She walked to a nearby bench and sat down, twiddling her thumbs. I hesitated, but followed, sitting down next to her without a word. It was a good minute before she workedup the courage to speak, "I don't belong here."

Everything was falling into place, what Nagato-san had said the other night came flooding back.

"I'm not supposed to be in this timeline," she said simply.

This had to be some kind of joke the brigade was pulling, right?

"I was sent here to look into a matter of grave importance. It appears that there is an anomoly surrounding Suzumiya-san."

Yet again, the eccentric and crazy high schooler was at the center of things.

"I guess you could call me a Time Traveller," she said softly. "Traversing time is not that difficult of a process, however, the risk that comes with it is substantial."

"So why were you sent here?" I asked.

"Strange things are happening around Suzumiya-san, it all started five years ago."

Again with the five years. What happened five years ago?

"I was sent to investigate these discrepancies, and I was surprised to find Nagato-san there as well. The fact that the Integrated Data Entity takes any interest in Suzumiya-san at all was enough proof that he was the center of all this."

I frowned, "So she's a time-plane anomoly as well? What's my part in all this? Nagato-san said she 'chose' me and I still don't know why. I'm just a normal guy trying to grind his way through High School, there's nothing special about me, and until now there was nothing special about the people around me. Why am I here, talking to a supposed Time Traveller, when I should be at home studying... or dealing with my annoying little sister?"

She turned her head to face me, and with a gentle smile, she brought a finger to her mouth, "That's classified information."

God, she looked cute- STOP IT, Kyon, STOP it! Bad mind!

"I can't believe you two didn't find anything, PENALTY!"

I frowned, "And what exactly did you and Nagato-san find."

Haruhi's face blanked, and then she turned around and found it time wise to stare at the bus stop, with a glare on her face probably, "That's besides the point, we're going to search extra hard tomorrow, and we'll find something, I'm sure of it!"

She stormed off in the other direction, and I walked up to Nagato-san. Her attention was focused on the retreating Haruhi, but when I tugged his sleeve lightly, she turned to look at me, "Yes?"

"About the other night," I said, "I think I'm starting to believe you."

What happened next was unexpected, apparantly the fates had aligned perfectly to have this outcome.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Haruhi slammed the door to the club room open, behind her stood a guy about my age with light brown hair and the most plastic smile I had ever encountered. "This club needs a mystery transfer student, and this guy fits the role perfectly!" shouted Haruhi.

The man immediately looked in my direction. Was I just imagining it or was his smile getting a bit too friendly, "Hello." His voice was sophisticated to say the least, but I had a feeling that if I were forced to listen to it for long periods of time it would drive me insane. "I'm Itsuki Koizumi, nice to meet you all."

He says 'you all' while still staring at me of course. Can he even see when his eyes are squinted like that?

If one thing was for sure, the prescence of Koizumi was an unsettling thing, but it seemed that Haruhi was as happy as ever. "I have to head back," said Haruhi, "But you guys can get to know each other."

The door slammed behind Haruhi.

I had an extremely bad feeling about this.

"Kyon, right?" asked Itsuki, still with that plastic smile.

"Yeah," I said uneasily.

He walked to me and leaned down, holding out her hand for me to shake.

Your face is way too close.

Nevertheless, I shoke his hand and frowned, "Meet me out in the courtyard of the school in twenty minutes, we have certain things that need to be discussed."

Now I had a really bad feeling about this.

The courtyard was completely empty, save for the single soul that sat on a table under the shade of one of the trees, sipping from a cup with a straw. I made my way over to Koizumi and sat down. There was a drink in the center of the table besides the one that he was holding, he pushed it towards me, passing it as an offer. I debated on whether or not to trust her intentions before simply shrugging and taking the cup. I sipped from it.

Hmmm...

Coffee.

"There's a reason I called you out here."

Nah, really?

Koizumi leaned over the table, and I made it a point to scoot back slightly, trying to avoid his stare. This was awkward. "It's about Suzumiya-san."

This again?

He sighed deeply and paused before continuing. "I suppose I might as well just get to the point. I am what you'd call an ESPer."

I bit my tongue at the irony of this situation. Aliens, Time Travellers, and ESPers, three of the things related to what Haruhi was looking for were under the SOS Brigade's roof, and she didn't even know it.

That is, of course, if all three were telling the truth.

"You see, Suzumiya-san is special, in a sense. Three years ago, as our intelligence suggests, her father disappeared from unknown circumstances, leaving his duel deck for Haruhi. The moment she touched it, she somehow gained the ability to alter her surroundings, like a god of sorts. She became our focus ever since."

"So, she's somehow both a step in evolution, a time anomaly, and God at the same time."

"We're not sure what she became, but we believe it has something to do with something that happened five millennia ago, in Egypt."

Egypt again?

"Well, maybe a dramatic explanation would help you out on it. You see, Five Thousand Years ago, Egyptian Kings found a way to access the powers of the soul. using these powers, they set up small rights of passage called, 'Shadow Games.' But they proved unstable, so a brave pharaoh locked them away within seven items that were not to be found for all eternity. But, after Five thousand years, a card game appeared that was based off these shadow games. Duel Monsters. These Items disappeared some time ago. However, another, related prophecy involving the Envoys has unfolded. For the most part, we don't look much into it."

"So what's my part in all this?" Perhaps I could get a straight answer out of this one.

"We're not sure."

Or maybe not.

"Okay, if you're an ESPer, then prove it." I set my cup down and glared at him, "Reheat this cup of coffee."

"I can't do that," he said simply, "You see, in order for us to use our powers certain conditions have to be met. However, I believe these conditions will be met soon." He stood from her seat and smiled that same plastic smile, "Until then, you'll just have to take my word for it, Kyon."

As he walked away my brain was reeling from had had happened over the past few days. Strange occurances were popping up everywhere. Even if they weren't telling the truth, what were the odds of getting three crazy people under one roof? Not exactly astronomical that's for sure. Maybe I should have gone to see a shrink, but then again, that probably wouldn't have helped.

Haruhi Suzumiya, what have you gotten me into?

Next Chapter: Asakura's intentions are revealed, and Kyon... has a ponytail fetish?