It's been too long since I updated quickly, so here I'm going to try and get myself back on track. This chapter is a lot shorter than most, so it didn't take long to write. Sorry about that, but I felt it was necessary to keep the tension up.

Thank you very much for all your reviews and for voting on my poll. I'm happy to see that nobody voted "I think they both suck." I saw that Naru barely squeaked past Oruki at first, but then that bastard shot past her and is in the lead. Damn him…

Oh, and I wanted to explain one last thing before the chapter begins. In this story, I am assuming that Arakawa is not an esper. He is part of the Organization, but has no actual powers. My justification for this is the fact that his full name is never revealed, and so far in the canon, only people who have powers have their full names revealed.

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 27

It goes without saying that my life is completely unfair.

Most heroes that you see on TV, manga or games have to save the world by doing stuff like pulling the Master Sword from the altar before they go off to slay the evil Ganondorf. I, on the other hand, am hardly that kind of hero. There isn't any evil for me to vanquish, and I am armed with nothing more than my wits.

And yet the world is about to end and I'm the only one who can stop it…and I'm failing miserably.

I'm back at the convention center. All those people that had filled up the seats only mere hours ago were now gone, as well as that old fart that we wanted to see. It was empty, dark and bleak. The only other soul in here with me was Koizumi, or what was left of him. His features were quickly fading, and his entire body was covered in a reddish glow.

"It doesn't seem like she will appear," remarked the esper, his voice giving hints of mild gloom.

I was sitting on the edge of the stage at the convention center, my face buried in my hands. I was now the picture of complete despair. I couldn't understand what went wrong. I was so sure that this was the right place.

Why aren't you here, Haruhi?

To understand why it is that I ended up at the convention center with a reddish glowing Koizumi, I need to backtrack to about an hour ago. I was now riding in a limousine along with Asahina-san, Nagato and Koizumi. I had just finished listening to some rather disturbing news.

"Wait, are you saying I'm going to die?"

That was me. I had just been told that Haruhi was on the verge of recreating the universe again, only this time the only change she was going to make was that I would be removed from it entirely.

"It's hard to say what will happen to you when the universe is remade," answered Koizumi. "I can think of two possibilities. Either the universe will be remade so that you merely disappear from our present point in time, or it will be remade so that you never existed in it at all. So to answer your question, you'll either die in the more traditional sense, or you'll never have lived."

What the hell? If Haruhi loves me so damn much, why is she so willing to remove me from existence? It doesn't make any sense, just like everything else involving that girl!

"Perhaps she feels that if she cannot have you then no one else can, or she feels that she was better off never meeting you. In the former case, you'll at least have lived at some point, right?"

You're acting awfully carefree for someone who knows that the universe is about to be destroyed and remade.

Koizumi chuckled lightly upon hearing me say that, his annoying smile ever present. "Am I? If I had to be honest, I'm rather terrified. If you were with Suzumiya-san right now, I might feel secure in the fact that you could do something about the situation, but since you're stuck out here with us…" His voice trailed off after that.

I turned to Nagato for some answers. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Before we are able to assess the situation, we must arrive at the epicenter of the temporal distortion. There are many uncertain factors that will determine the probability of success, but even if all factors work in our favor, probability of success is low."

Thanks for the bode of confidence, Nagato. I feel so much better now.

I turned to Asahina-san for some more answers, even though I suspected I wasn't going to get any.

"I'm sorry, Kyon-kun. I'm afraid I am in the dark myself as to what is happening. Anything I could tell you is classified information. I…I…can't contact…classified information…"

That's really, really bad news. If Asahina-san is unable to contact the people who were her superiors, then that would mean that it is because this universe ceased to exist. Please don't tell me we're doomed.

"In any case," said Koizumi, his hand returning to the folded position in front of his face. "Nagato-san is correct. We must travel to the center of where the alternate universe is being created. Perhaps once we are there, we will be able to enter it, although if things are like they were last time, it would seem unlikely."

The four of us were silent for the next five minutes while the limo continued to drive towards our destination. It wasn't long before I noticed that we were coming upon some familiar scenery within the city. We were coming close to where the hotel we stayed at was.

A minute later, the limousine came to a stop inside an alleyway not far from the hotel. The four of us quickly exited the vehicle and gathered around where Koizumi and Nagato walked to.

"It is here," said Koizumi as he looked up at what appeared to be nothing.

"So you can't just walk in?" I asked, realizing that it was probably a stupid question.

Koizumi put his hand up against what appeared to be air. "I have strong doubts about it. It's worth a try, at least. We have nothing to lose." He then turned to the three of us. "Everyone close their eyes and grab a hold of my shirt. Be sure not to let go."

The three of us complied with his wishes and did as he told. While holding onto his shirt, I could hear the sounds of what appeared to be audible grunting on the part of Koizumi. After about a minute, I heard a loud exhalation from him.

"I'm sorry…I can't do it…"

I opened my eyes to see that we were still in the real world. I hung my head, feeling a strong sense of anguish.

It was then that I heard a female voice from behind me. "Perhaps we can help."

I turned around to find that Mori-san and Arakawa-san were standing near the limo. I also saw the Tamaru brothers as well, their police vehicle parked next to the limo. It should be noted that the brothers were still dressed as police officers, and Mori-san was dressed in the same office-lady attire that she wore when she chased down the kidnappers who nabbed Asahina-san a few months back. The four of them approached us quickly.

"We don't have much time," said Mori-san. "Perhaps if the four of us channel our powers together, we may be able to pierce the barrier and enter the alternate dimension."

"It's worth a try," said Koizumi. "Although we had more of us here the last time we did it."

"It can't be helped," said Mori-san regretfully. "By the time the others reached this location, it would be too late."

"Then I guess we should get started," said Koizumi as he turned around to face the empty space again.

Mori-san gave me an extremely sharp glare. It was almost scary. "You screwed up pretty bad this time. You better hope this works. You're the one who has to fix things."

Hearing her words only further built up the incredible level of anxiety that was inside me. If it wasn't for the fact that she was so scary to look at, I might have screamed at her face to shut up and leave me alone. Dammit, I'm starting to lose it.

Mori-san and the Tamaru brothers positioned themselves around Koizumi, myself and the others as they held their hands forward. We were asked to close our eyes and to hold onto Koizumi's shirt again as the process started. This time we heard grunting noises from all four people as they tried once again to break through. However, during this attempt we heard a light crackling noise that sounded something like arcing electricity.

"I…I don't think it's going to work!" yelled Koizumi.

"Concentrate harder! It has to work!" screamed Mori-san.

The noises around me became considerably louder and louder, tempting me to open my eyes. I resisted the temptation, fearing that perhaps opening my eyes might screw things up. The grunting noises were now very loud, an indication that the four of them were putting everything they had into it.

It was then that I felt Koizumi lurch forward a bit. "Al…almost there…"

A few seconds later, I felt the esper's body leap forward. I almost lost my grip on him as I moved forward to keep hold. I suddenly lost my balance and fell forward, landing on the hard concrete. I instinctively opened my eyes to see where I was.

The three other remaining Brigade members were now all on the ground with me. There were no traces of Mori-san or the other people who were a part of the Organization. The sky had become the familiar dull grey that I had seen several times before. I turned to Koizumi to see him heavily winded. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," answered the esper before taking one last deep breath. "I'm actually surprised that worked. I suspect that we were successful because we acted so quickly. Had we waited a few more minutes, the boundary between the two worlds would've been impassable for the four of us. Let's just be glad that we're in."

After that, the four of us stood up and began to look around at our surroundings. Like the previous closed spaces, this place was devoid of any signs of life, other than ourselves. It was like the entire city of Kyoto had become an oversized ghost-town.

"How large is this space?" I asked.

"By now, it's roughly the size of the entire city, and is still growing," answered Koizumi.

"Th…this place is really scary," said Asahina-san fearfully. I had forgotten that this was likely the first time that either Asahina-san or Nagato had ever been inside anything resembling normal closed space. This place was vastly different from the other spaces we had entered together before.

"We'll be fine," said Koizumi. "I don't think we'll run into any Shinjin in this space. However, we cannot dawdle. Our primary objective is to locate Suzumiya-san."

That sounded easy enough. There's just one major problem. We had an entire city to search. She could be anywhere. It's like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

"We should try and eliminate the most likely locations first," said Koizumi. "We'll start our search at the hotel."

I went and turned to Nagato. "Do you have any idea where Haruhi is?"

Nagato lightly shook her head. "I am unable to detect any data other than what my auditory and optical sensors pick up, nor am I able to manipulate any data in this space."

So in other words, Nagato is about as powerless as an ordinary human right now. Great…

Since the hotel was not far from our location, we were quick to run over to where it was. Getting inside and past security was a non-issue, and I was relieved to find that the elevators still worked. We exited the elevator and made our way immediately to where our rooms were. We knocked on both doors but received no answer. Since we no longer had the keys to our rooms anymore, Koizumi and I were forced to break down both doors, which was rather painful on my shoulder. I wasn't bothered about the destruction of private property. If we succeeded, this space would disappear, and if we failed, I would disappear. Either way, I had no accountability.

We checked the girls' room first, and after finding that room empty, checked the boys' room next. When we managed to open the door, I was frustrated to find it empty as well. I was growing extremely annoyed now as my rage slowly began to boil to the surface. I sat down on what was my bed and rubbed my face.

"We need to keep moving," said Koizumi. "She's not here."

With that being said, the last vestiges of my composure broke down, and I went and grabbed a nearby lamp. Using all my strength, I picked it up and threw it with all my might at the window. Both the lamp and the window shattered, causing some of the pieces to fly outside while some landed onto the carpet of the room.

"Dammit! I can't take this!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "It's…it's too much! Why does it have to be me?! I didn't ask for any of this!"

The other three were silent as they watched me vent my anger. Asahina-san cowered a bit, perhaps worried that I might take my anger out on them.

I sat back down on the bed and put my hand to my face again. "It's not fair. What did I do to deserve this? Everyone says it's my fault, but…but how could I've known that this would happen? I didn't want to leave, but that bastard Oruki was forcing me to. What was I to do? I didn't think things would get this bad."

There was silence in the room for another minute before Koizumi spoke. "Regardless of whose fault this is, we need to keep moving. It's not too late to make things right. You're the only one who can do it though."

I took a deep breath after hearing those words before calming down enough to want to move on. Just as I was about to stand up, I heard the sound of whimpering coming from Asahina-san. I looked up to find a horrible sight. Asahina-san's hands had begun to glow with a strange pink light. The young time-traveler had a look of terror on her face as she watched the light slowly move up her arms.

"Wha…what's happening to me?"

"Not good," said Koizumi, obviously knowing what was happening.

I bolted up to Koizumi and grabbed him by his collar. "What's happening to Asahina-san?"

Nagato was the one to answer my question. "The alternate space is beginning to reject foreign data."

"What does that mean?" I asked fearfully.

"It means," said the esper, "that this space is in the process of removing us from it. I suspect that Suzumiya-san has a great desire to be alone, and anything that might potentially disturb her would be kicked out."

That was really, really bad. If that means what I think it means, then it means that it won't be long before we all are taken away from this alternate reality. If that were to happen before we found Haruhi, then the universe was doomed and I would be sentenced to a life of nonexistence, as ironic as that would be.

Acting as quickly as I could, I grabbed Asahina-san by the hand and began to run out the door. "Follow me! I know another place we can look!"

I then dragged Asahina-san toward the door leading to the stairs where Haruhi and I ran up last night, with the other two chasing us from behind. Pushing myself as hard as I could, I ran up the steps and made it to the roof. I ran out to the edge where Haruhi confessed to me. She was not there. I looked over the edge of the roof and looked around. I had a great view of the streets below, but I didn't see anything that remotely looked like Haruhi. Just for good measure, I called out her name. "Haruhi!"

"Suzumiya-san!" yelled Asahina-san as well. It was a futile effort, though. It was highly doubtful that she was within earshot.

"I have an idea," said Koizumi. "It's a bit risky, but I think I can get away with it for a few minutes." He then began to activate his esper powers, causing that glowing red energy to appear around him. Asahina-san was startled to see him do this and stepped back a bit. A second later, he took off into the sky at lightning speed. My guess was that he was going to search the city from above in order to see if he could find her from above.

It was then that I heard the fearful cry of Asahina-san. "Nagato-san…"

I turned towards Nagato to find that her hands had also begun to glow, this time with a soft, lavender light. By now, the pink glow had completely enveloped Asahina-san. We were running out of time. I took both girls by their hands and bolted down the stairs. We exited the hotel as quickly as we could, and I began to lead them in the direction of the restaurant we had visited for breakfast both today and yesterday morning. Empty.

I was trying to decide where to go to next, but before I could, Koizumi landed right in front of us. After catching his breath a bit, he gave us a brief report. "I'm afraid I didn't see her. I gave a pretty thorough look around the immediate area. I'm quite certain that she's not around here."

"Do you have enough left in you to look again?" I asked.

He shook his head regretfully. "It was all I could do just to return back here. I'm afraid I have to stick with being on foot from here on out."

Dammit! Where the hell is she? Think! If I were an insane high school junior who had just had her heart broken, where would I go?

Before I could have my question answered, Asahina-san collapsed onto the ground.

"Asahina-san!" I screamed as I ran up to her. By now, I could no longer make out any of the features of her face. "Are you okay? Speak to me!"

"I…I'm sorry I wasn't much help," said Asahina-san. "Please don't give up, Kyon-kun. We're counting on you…" It was then that her body shriveled into a ball of pink light before fading into nothing.

"Asahina-san? Asahina-san!" I screamed as I began to freak out.

Koizumi grabbed me by the shoulders. "Calm down. She's fine. She's just been returned to the real world. We have to hurry."

Regaining my composure, I stood and took a deep breath. "Did you check that one restaurant we went to last night?" After seeing Koizumi shake his head, I took the lead. "We'll head there next. It's closer than anywhere else I can think of."

We began to run towards where the restaurant was. It was a good three blocks away, and by the time we got there, I was very winded. Unfortunately, there was no one there as well.

I banged my hand on the glass window in frustration. "Dammit! We're never going to find her!"

I then noticed Nagato collapsing onto the ground next. I rushed to her as well, fearing the worst. "Nagato! Not you too!"

The lavender light completely removed all her features as well by now. She looked up at me and opened what appeared to be the last remnants of her mouth. She spoke only one word. "Book…" She then faded away in the exact same way as Asahina-san.

I didn't have a chance to mourn the loss of Nagato. Her last word hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd been in such a panic in the last hour that I'd completely forgotten about the book of Haikus that Nagato gave me all those weeks ago. What was that Haiku again? How did it go?

When confronting her.

He held on the stage's edge.

He then let it go.

Wait, there's more to this. What was it that the older Asahina-san told me? I think it was…

"I can't tell you any more, except this. There will be a location that will be of great importance to Suzumiya-san out in Kyoto. You won't realize it right away, but I urge you to pay attention during your trip. When the time comes, you'll find her there."

Okay, so let's think. There are two clues here. The older Asahina-san told me that there was a place important to her that she would be at. That much I've figured out. It was Nagato's clue that was harder to figure out. I figured out that it was me confronting Haruhi. What I didn't get were the second and third verses. There was one word that was very confusing, and it was the word stage's. Was that some kind of metaphor? Wait, what if it's not a metaphor? Maybe it's meant to literally mean a stage. Now what stage could possibly be important to Haruhi here in Kyoto? That's it! I know where she is!

I felt an incredible sensation of euphoria hit me when I realized the answer. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. It was so obvious. "She's at the convention center!"

"Are you sure?" asked Koizumi.

"Yes!" I said loudly as I turned to face him. It was then that I noticed that his hands were now glowing red. "Koizumi!"

"Don't worry about me," he said as he began to look about. "The convention center is too far away to run. We'd never make it if we did." His eyes then darted towards a nearby car that was sitting in the middle of the road. "Follow me!"

We then ran up to the car, with Koizumi jumping into the driver's side. I could only assume that his training with the Organization must have involved learning how to drive at some point. The keys were still in the ignition when we got inside, and the car started up right away when Koizumi turned the key.

"There are a lot of cars in the middle of the road, so this is going to be a bumpy ride."

Before I was actually ready, the car sped off at speeds that were definitely not safe on city streets. Since there were numerous cars blocking the roads, most of the driving had to be done on the sidewalk. This made me less than comfortable, and as a result, I decided it was best to try and close my eyes while we made our way there. Damn you, Koizumi! If you get us killed, I'm so going to kick your ass!

It was then that I felt my body suddenly lurch forward, an indication that the car had stopped. I opened my eyes to see that we had finally made it to the convention center. I also noticed that Koizumi's whole body was now glowing red.

Koizumi gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm still hanging in there. Hurry and go inside."

I didn't hesitate to listen to him. I bolted from the car and ran directly inside the convention center. I wasted no time heading straight into the auditorium where we confronted James Randi only mere hours ago.

When I opened the door, I immediately cried out her name. "Haruhi!"

I then looked around the room to find it was empty. Not a soul anywhere to be seen. Confused, I ran up to the stage and climbed up onto it and looked around. "Haruhi!"

My cries were not answered. There was no one in the room except me. I was completely bewildered by this turn of events. Why wasn't she here? This was the place, wasn't it? I looked around the room for at least another minute before I collapsed onto the hard wood floor of the stage. She wasn't here, and I had no idea why. I was so sure this was the place.

And that bring us to where we were now. Koizumi entered the room a minute later and took a seat next to me on the edge of the stage. By now, I could no longer make out his face. It would not be long before he too faded from this world.

"There are two possibilities," said Koizumi. "Either Suzumiya-san will eventually return to this location, or this isn't where Suzumiya-san is at, and she had no intention of coming here."

I didn't respond to what he said. I felt way too defeated to say anything. I was so sure that this was it. Were the clues wrong, or did I make a mistake?

"My time is up," said Koizumi as he began to look up towards the ceiling. "All we can do now is rely on you. I'm counting on you. We all are…"

With that, Koizumi's body shriveled up and faded away as well. I was now alone. This fact was enough to force me to break down into tears of anguish. I was completely sure now that I had failed. I had no idea where Haruhi was, and it was only a matter of time before the world and my life would end. If only I could see her one last time. If only I could explain myself. I had no idea what I'd say to her, but I had to say something.

I went and wiped my tears from my eyes, but when I did so, I noticed a strange blue light that nearly burned my eyes. It was then that I noticed it. My hands…they were starting to glow as well…

Baka Kyon! You really screwed up this time. Will he be able to find Haruhi, or is it too late? The climax to this story is coming up next! I hope you're excited for it!

I have a request to make, though. You all know that I rarely do this, and it's a bit embarrassing to ask but…I'm hoping that as many of you as possible could review this chapter and all the ones that come after. My reasons for asking are kinda stupid and selfish, but the truth is that I really want this fic to reach the 1000 review mark.

I know, it's dumb, but it'd be really awesome if we could work together to do it! I promise to respond to every review if you do so. That'll be my end of the bargain. I'm looking forward to reading some reviews from some new readers or from people who have never reviewed before. I'm counting on all of you!

Thank you very much!