"Wh-what's going on?" Asahina-san asked in that quaint, timid manner that just made you want to hug her.

I had faithfully gathered everyone in the clubroom, as per my instructions. Only Haruhi herself was missing.

"Haruhi called an emergency meeting, for whatever crazy reason it is this time."

My only real wish at the moment was that the idiot wouldn't go on to babble about whatever connection she had made up between me and Nagato B's new glasses. I think behaviour like that is usually called apophenia, but unfortunately, that wasn't really the case here, was it? There was a connection, I just hadn't wanted Haruhi to notice it. Or the connection was there because she wanted it to be there… I should really stop thinking about stuff like that, gives me the creeps.

"Nagato-san? Why are you wearing glasses again?" Asahina-san asked shyly.

The silent girl lifted her gaze from her book and hitched up her glasses with her left hand, causing a lens flare effect in the afternoon sun shining through the window.

"Is it not satisfactory?" Nagato B asked.

"No! Not at all! I just thought you didn't wear them anymore. You haven't in such a long time. I-it's almost weird seeing you wear them again."

"…I see."

Nagato B then took off her glasses and carefully, almost lovingly, placed them inside a case she dug out from her bag. She then placed the case back inside her bag, careful not to let anything happen to the glasses or any of the bag's contents.

She then turned to inspect Asahina-san, her hands held in her lap as she innocently asked, "Better?"

"Uhm, uh, that is – uh, yes, I suppose so," Asahina-san answered, flustering over the attention she was receiving from Nagato. She blushed and bit her lower lip gently. Damn it, she is just too damn cute!

Nagato B then shifted her attention to the other two members in the room. She gave me a brief look, before she focused her attention on Koizumi.

"Hmm, excuse me, but is it true, that you are not really the same Nagato we have known for quite a while now?" Koizumi asked with his hands crossed as he leaned against a wall, scrutinizing Nagato B from afar.

"Wh-what?" Asahina-san whimpered in shock.

"Yes, that could be said," Nagato answered dutifully.

"I see…"

"W-waaait! What is going on here?" Asahina-san asked, now visibly scared, holding her arms up to her chest. She pointed a trembling finger at Nagato and asked, "T-t-this isn't Nagato-san?"

"No, it isn't," I answered sorrowfully. I then proceeded to telling her the gist of it. Asahina-san listened to me with wide-eyed shock and awe.

"I… I see," she said after I had finished explaining things to her. She then gave Nagato B a critical look. "A mind swap?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Hmmm…"

It was then that Koizumi stood up straight, arms now at his sides. "Is there any kind of estimate you could give to us as to when the Nagato-san we know will be returning?"

"No."

"I see." Koizumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, assuming the same contemplative posture Haruhi had earlier that day, once again making me wonder if anything deep was actually being considered. With Koizumi, it was probably just as much about putting up a show as it was with Haruhi, but at least with him, I could understand most of his trains of thought.

"Is there any way we can help in speeding up the process?"

"No."

"What was the cause of this… malfunction?"

It seemed Koizumi had hit a nerve or something with Nagato B. Nagato was usually very straightforward with her answers, but now, for B, there seemed to be something she wanted to hold back. She remained silent, staring at Koizumi.

"I see…" Koizumi said thoughtfully, taking back his position leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

As what seemed to be a final thought, he added, "Is there anything you can tell us about the conditions under which the malfunction occurred?"

"Yes. As I told the other one earlier, this unit has observed, processed and saved immense amounts of conflicting data from the target of observation, Suzumiya Haruhi. All this data and whatever…" – pause I found significant, because it usually shouldn't happen during Nagato's info dumps – "individual conclusions made and personal experiences have caused a significant error in the continuing function of said unit."

"Hmm, I see… thank you very much for the answers," Koizumi said, nodding at Nagato in a polite manner.

Nagato B responded in kind and then went to staring at the wall. Apparently there was nothing more worth observing in the room.

And like clockwork, that was when Haruhi decided to bust in through the door.

"Heey~ho!"

Is she trying to make that into her new catchphrase or something?

Haruhi burst in on the scene like Sherlock Holmes, literally. She was wearing that brown overcoat and that weird hat. She even had the pipe stuck in her mouth to complete the iconic image. And she still managed to look endearing.

Just where does she keep getting these outfits anyway?

"The game is afoot, dear Watson!" Haruhi uttered, taking the pipe out of her pursed lips to brandish it in my face.

So now I'm Watson, am I? As if being known as Kyon wasn't demeaning enough.

"Wipe that look off your face, we have a mystery to solve!"

"No, we don't," I said sternly.

"Hmm, I see the glasses have disappeared again…" Haruhi shot Nagato a brief scrutinizing look.

"Seriously, all I did was ask you how you were doing and then you noticed Nagato had her glasses on again. None of that should qualify as a mystery. I mean, we've done these kind of games with Koizumi, with actual fake murders! How could you possibly have jumped to such crazy conclusions over such trivial matters?!"

My protests were in vain of course, most things I say to her fall on deaf ears. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now.

Haruhi scanned the clubroom, critically examining everyone and everything in it. She squinted with strenuous thought at random intervals, putting who knows what together in that crazy thing called her mind. She puffed on her pipe, sending out a stream of pink bubbles.

Sigh. Figures…

"Hmm… Yuki, why aren't you wearing your glasses again?" Haruhi asked, leaping to stand in front of Nagato while pulling out a magnifying glass with which to search for clues on Nagato's face, apparently. Just why does she feel the urge to put on such a show? We've solved 'mysteries' before, with lesser showmanship. Maybe she's just really bored.

"Glasses, Yuki! What happened?"

Nagato B stared at Haruhi, unfazed at all by the loud-voiced, rude girl. She then went to her bag and produced the case in which she'd placed her glasses. "Here."

"Ha!" Haruhi lunged at the case, pried it open roughly and studied the glasses like an alien artefact. She turned them around in her hands, looking at them from every angle imaginable. Then she popped them on herself, blinking as her eyes adjusted. "Hmm, not a very strong prescription. Are you sure you even need glasses?"

"No."

"So that's why you stopped."

"…Yes."

"Then why'd you put them on again?"

Haruhi's funny looking thoughtful squint through Nagato's glasses intensified as her bright eyes bore into the blank ones of Nagato B. Nagato just stared back silently.

"Well?" Haruhi asked keenly.

Oh boy, this is bad. Nagato B obviously had no idea such a mess would be born from merely going about business as Nagato would have at the start of all of this. But that wouldn't be enough anymore, we'd been through so much, all of us. Even Haruhi was starting to pick up on the more subtle changes that had occurred in Nagato.

"You're acting really weirdly, somehow… I don't know how exactly, but…"

And it was then that Koizumi jumped in and saved me from using the lamest excuse I had thought up to protect Nagato's secret. Haruhi already thinks I might have some freaky sexual deviations… Saying I had a thing for glasses would probably have caused more problems in the long run than solved any. She'd probably see through my lie anyway…

"Nagato-san was having a slight headache as she was reading, so I suggested using her glasses again."

Whew, sometimes I just love Koizumi.

"But of course, without Kyon's input on how he would like to see Nagato-san in glasses again, it might not have worked. A little change in scenery, I believe he called it, to liven things up."

And sometimes I just hate him.

Koizumi gave me that signature smirk of his. Sometimes I don't know whether he sincerely thinks he's helping me or just likes to screw with me. The bloody jerk…

"Hmph, I see…" Haruhi said, in that thoughtful pose I resent because of the pretentious air it emits, swapping glances between me and Nagato.

"Y-yes, it is a nice change, once in a while, isn't it?" Asahina-san piped up uncertainly, probably feeling an urge to contribute to the discussion on some level.

"I suppose," Haruhi said pensively. She then gave me an odd glance. I'm not exactly sure what she was thinking, or possibly trying to convey. There was a certain aloofness to the look, a slightly cold feel, as her eyes bore into mine. There was something else as well, but what? Indignation? Hurt? No, went too far. But it certainly had a questioning edge to it.

"Okay, I might have jumped the gun here, sorry, everybody," Haruhi admitted glumly, visibly deflating as she turned her head up to look at the ceiling. Wow, this certainly was some atypically polite behaviour from her. "Mikuru?"

"Y-yes?"

"Take my coat and hat, and put them with the rest of the costumes… leave the pipe…"

"Yes, right away," Asahina-san answered obediently, stepping forth to take Haruhi's clothing.

While Haruhi quietly strode to her desk, puffing out a few bubbles as she went, Asahina-san went about putting her detective's outfit away.

"Should I change then?" Asahina-san asked, eyeing the maid's dress.

"No, not today," Haruhi muttered as she sat down. "You can all go, if you want to, that is."

Koizumi, Asahina-san and I exchanged questioning glances at Haruhi's solemn disposition. Nagato B just stood perfectly still, unfocused eyes not looking at anything in particular.

"Yes," Koizumi said rather uncertainly, "perhaps we should all go home for now."

He then gave me and the two other girls a subtle wink while nudging his head towards the door. Koizumi then opened the door. Asahina-san and Nagato filed out quietly, but I gave Haruhi one last look before exiting. Haruhi's head rested lazily on her supporting palm which in turn was braced against the table, while the other hand flicked at something small on the desk. Her lips were in a small pout, while her tongue moved around in her mouth, occasionally making a slight bulge against her cheeks or lips. Then, suddenly, she raised her head slightly and gave me a long look. Once again, I didn't really know what it meant; it seemed slightly bored, maybe even melancholic, but there it was again, that uncertain questioning edge to it again.

Koizumi coughed politely, breaking the link between me and Haruhi. She turned her focus back to her desk and began to pick at something on it. I turned away and walked out of the room with Koizumi in tow.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" I asked, giving the surroundings a suspicious look. We (the four of us, excluding Haruhi) had gathered in an empty room one floor below our clubroom. From the look of things, it hadn't been used in a long time. Dust was everywhere and there were a few cobwebs in the corners. Surplus desks and chairs were piled up against one of the walls.

"I'm worried," Koizumi stated flatly.

About what? Is it seriously too much to ask for a few specifics?

"About Suzumiya-san."

Then again, who else do our lives revolve around constantly?

"She seems rather down, don't you think?"

Oops, I was confused earlier, you're the Sherlock here.

"And we all know what happens then, don't we? I would rather avoid that, and so would most likely the rest of us," Koizumi said before he gave a sad grin, "And I've been having such a nice and relaxing time without her sealed realities."

Koizumi waved his head with fake gravitas, trying to both convey and hide just how worried he really was. Asahina-san was fidgeting in her cute manner, muttering something inaudible. Nagato B was once again examining a wall. She really didn't seem all that interested in anything we did. That's some observer.

And me, I took a good long moment to myself and sighed deeply. I think I can already see what's going to happen. Why is it always me?

"Suzumiya-san is acting in a manner none of us desire, and as we all know –"

"I'm closest to her. Yeah, yeah, yeah." I sighed.

"Exactly. Which is why, I think it would be in all our interests if you went back up and –"

"Found out what's bugging her." I sighed again.

"My, your practically reading my mind today, aren't you? We've obviously been spending far too much time together haven't we?" Koizumi asked with a furtive smile my way.

Cut it out. It's bad enough I have to deal with one kind of crazy today, please don't add to it.

And I still have no idea what to do about Nagato either.

"Don't worry, I've been meaning to have a more in-depth chat with our new friend anyway. While you are up there, I won't allow the time to pass us in vain. I shall exert my capabilities to the fullest to determine if there is anything we can do about Nagato-san's predicament. I expect you to do likewise with Suzumiya-san."

It can't be healthy for a person to sigh this much.

"Right, I'm off then." I gave everyone a quick look before I departed. Nothing had changed, really: Koizumi still wore that masklike grin of his vigilantly, Asahina-san still looked nervous, even though she'd calmed down a bit and wasn't muttering anymore, and Nagato was… still staring at the wall.

"Why are you staring at the wall anyway, Nagato?" I hazarded the brief question before I would depart.

Koizumi and Asahina-san both turned around to look expectantly at Nagato along with me. Nagato turned her head a perfect 90 degrees slowly, her dark eyes taking all of us in with the precision of a laser.

Nagato raised her hand and pointed it at the wall. We all squinted to see what she was pointing at.

"Mold," she answered in her signature monotone.