Ryoko Asakura's laugh is rather disconcerting. Her giggles are cute and all, but an all out laugh can be terrifying. Haruhi and I just stared at her like she had gone insane. She was doubled over and obviously having trouble breathing because she was laughing so hard.

She stopped and looked up at Haruhi. "I didn't think you'd take it that seriously! She's not dead, silly!" She fell back into laughing. If she tried telling us anything else, it was unintelligible.

Kimidori spoke softly, hardly audible behind Asakura's laughing. "The shop's not really open right now, so we could take you there."

Haruhi shook her head, returning most of the color. She smiled sheepishly at Kimidori. "You driving?"

Asakura stopped laughing and crossed her arms, glaring at Haruhi. "Seriously? Already making fun of the blind girl? What's wrong with you?" Haruhi started stammering out an apology, but Asakura lightly punched her shoulder. "I'm just messing with you. Emiri loves being made fun of. Let's go. I'll drive."

As much as I doubted that Kimidori loved being mocked, she simply smiled warmly and felt her way over to the car. Asakura jumped into the driver's seat and had started the car before anyone else managed to get in. Eventually, I found myself in the back, sitting behind Haruhi and beside Kimidori.

We were on our way down the road when Haruhi turned to Asakura. "Hey, where exactly is Yuki?"

The blunette (that word is and always will be ridiculous) frowned. "Well, I wasn't actually lying. She is at a nearby cemetery, but she's just visiting."

Her frown must have been contagious, as Haruhi now had one as well. "What happened?"

This time, it was Kimidori that spoke. "About eight years ago she got married. Her husband died last year, and she's been visiting him every day since."

Haruhi gave a look that said she was sorry for Yuki... I mean Nagato. After a few seconds of silence she managed to choke out the same question. "What happened?"

When Asakura gave a look that said she was uncomfortable with the question, Kimidori answered again. "He was at work, he was an engineer working on the space elevator, and he just disappeared. They found him a few hours later. Someone had stabbed him repeatedly..."

Asakura pulled the car over to the side of the road rather suddenly. I was about to ask why when she started coughing violently. Haruhi leaned towards her door, her eyes fixed on Asakura. Kimidori leaned forward and reached around the chair in front of her, patting her friend on the back forcefully. This seemed to work. After a short while, Asakura stopped coughing. She paused to catch her breath before pulling the car back onto the road.

There was silence for a considerable length of time before Haruhi finally asked. "What the heck was that?"

Asakura shook her head. "It's nothing. I'll be fine. I'm just feeling a little sick is all."

"Is it contagious?" Maybe that shouldn't have been my first question, but I might as well get to know.

She smile into the rear view mirror. "No, you're all perfectly safe. It can't hurt you at all."

Hiding her face behind Asakura's chair, Kimidori shot me a concerned glance that told me there was more to the situation than Asakura would tell us. The two in the front seat fell silent, so I decided to start up a different line of conversation with Kimidori.

"So what about you? Are you married?" I just pulled a page out of Haruhi's book, I know, but what else is there to talk about?

Kimidori smiled sweetly. "Oh, no... waiting for the right guy can take a while, especially for someone like me."

Haruhi jumped in. "What's more important? Personality or looks?"

Asakura burst out laughing. "You did it again, Haruhi!"

The brunette, not blunette, blushed heavily. "Oh my g- I am so sorry, Kimidori!"

The blind woman just giggled. "Well, to answer your question... looks, of course."

Still blushing, Haruhi smiled nervously. "Okay, so what about you? You married or anything, Asakura?"

The blunette, not brunette, shook her head. "There wouldn't really be much of a point, I don't think."

Haruhi frowned, and I noticed that Kimidori didn't seem happy with the answer either. Haruhi was the one to press further. "Well, why not?"

"I just don't think it's worth my time, is all. It's not a big deal, so forget about it."

She didn't sound like she actually believed it, but I didn't feel like pressing her or waiting for Haruhi to do it for me. I looked back to the woman beside me. "So, Miss Kimidori... what exactly do you do around the shop?"

She smiled at me. "I guess I'm the receptionist. I answer phone calls and write everything down." Haruhi looked like she was about to ask how, but Kimidori kept talking. "I'm very good at remembering things, and I have my workspace set up precisely the way I need it. Asakura makes sure no one tries to move any of my things around."

Haruhi was about to speak again, but I beat her to it. "Who would try and move your stuff around?"

She grimaced. "Nagato, mostly." Haruhi looked like she wanted to object to this concept, but again, Kimidori hadn't finished. "Affectionately, of course. She really does care for me just as much as Asakura."

Haruhi was surprised, and made that known to Kimidori. "You mean she plays tricks on you? She never used to do that."

Asakura interjected. "We did tell you that she's changed a lot. You should hear the music she listens to."

Kimidori hit the back of Asakura's seat hard enough to knock her forward so that her head hit the steering wheel. "If she wants them to know what she listens to, she'll play it while they're around. It's not up to you to tell them."

Having seen what I just did, I have decided to avoid getting on Kimidori's bad side. She looks and acts sweet, and probably really is, but it would appear she has the capability of being rather violent. I suppose that requires her to know where her target is, but it's not like that's a comfort.

Her hand connecting with my face brought me back to reality. She looked concerned. "You're frowning."

Was I? I guess I was too busy realizing that you're actually just as risky to be around as Haruhi. "Sorry. I'll stop." I made a fake smile, but that seemed to upset her more.

"And you've been watching me for a while now."

How did she... "How did you..."

"You hadn't just turned your face when I touched it, so you must have been looking this way already. How long have you been staring?"

Ah, crap. "Who said I was staring?" I was.

Asakura gave a short laugh. "I'll vouch for it. You've been staring at her since we got in the car, at least."

Fine then. "Better view than either of you two." And now either they will kill me or Kimidori will. I should have known better either way, because Haruhi's next words made me feel like I had been set up, though I knew there was no time for them to have planned this.

"I knew you liked her. Why didn't you admit it when we were on the plane?"

Kimidori's head snapped over to look at me, even though she couldn't, her unseeing eyes wide with shock and her mouth agape. I can only wonder what was going through her head at the moment. It couldn't be anything good for me, could it? I place the blame solely on Haruhi for whatever grim demise lies in store for me now.

While I was on this train of thought, I noticed Haruhi had turned around and was waiting for a response from me. How did she expect me to answer that, especially with Kimidori siting right there. I responded in the only way I could; a silent, horrified glare.

Kimidori shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "Well... uh, you call me Emiri, by the way."

"And you can just call me Ryoko." Our driver added. "We're not in Japan anymore, after all."

Any close connection I may have just gotten from Ki... Emiri... It just disappeared. Any further thought I could give it vanished when the car slowed and turned into a parking lot. 'Miss Asakura' quickly found a parking spot and slid in, shutting the engine down.

Then we just sat in the car and waited.

The parking lot was set beside a cemetery, with a path starting from it and winding amongst the rows of tombstones. There were other cars parked around us and a fair number of people in the grave yard itself, but nobody that looked like Nagato, or at least not to me. I'm probably the least qualified person here to decide what she would look like... no, I definitely am.

On the other hand, Haruhi seemed pretty confident she had located her old friend. "Is that her?" She pointed to a lone figure that just stood silently in front of a small plaque.

Asakura nodded. "How'd you guess?"

Haruhi smirked. "She's not moving at all. I guess she hasn't changed as much as you thought."

Indeed, only her hair and open jacket flowing in a light wind denoted the figure as something other than a statue. She wasn't terribly far from where we had parked, but the brim of a cap kept her face out of view.

Of course, Haruhi wasn't about to let Nagato have her peace, and she quickly opened her door and stepped outside. Asakura hurried to follow her and Emiri looked like she wanted to as well. I got out too, helping Emiri so that she didn't hit her head on anything.

Ahead of us, Asakura managed to get a hold of Haruhi. "Look, Haruhi, maybe we shouldn't disturb her."

Haruhi shook her off, but stopped. "I won't disturb her. I'll just be waiting when she's done." She continued walking, her pace slower and more controlled, and stopped a few meters behind Nagato.

I felt Emiri linking our arms together, so I looked down to her and asked. "Do you know what Nagato thinks about Haruhi now? Will she be fine with her showing up like this?"

Emiri smiled up at me like an angel, but her smile quickly disappeared. "Nagato will be fine, I think. It might take a bit for them to get used to each other again, but I doubt they parted on bad terms after high school. Nagato hasn't really had much reason to be angry at anyone until the last two or three years."

Angry? I was just wondering if we might be intruding on her private matters.

I looked down at Emiri again to see that she was giving me a knowing look. I couldn't leave it alone. "There's something you're not telling me."

She just nodded. "Yes, there is."

...And apparently, she didn't plan to tell me any time soon. I shrugged. "I can't help at all if you don't tell me anything."

She led me to a spot next to a tree, a couple meters behind Haruhi and Asakura. We stood and watched, expecting something interesting in this reunion. We stood there for around ten minutes before Nagato finally moved. If she had noticed Haruhi or the rest of us, she hadn't indicated. In fact, she hadn't moved at all since we arrived, but then...

Nagato turned her head slowly until her right eye was visible to us, taking in everyone present. Her mouth wasn't curved in any direction whatsoever, smile or frown, giving her an expression very near emotionless. If I remember correctly, this shouldn't surprise me at all.

She turned all the way around to face us, but I could tell her focus was on Haruhi. Now that I could see her better, I realized that she had actually gotten very tall. For a second I wondered if I'd be looking up to her, but I could see for sure she was taller than the other women. Her hair was longer too, reaching just below her shoulders, and something else had grown significantly as well...

Moving on, I noticed that she was staring at Haruhi pretty intensely, and her face was slowly starting to form some sort of emotion. I haven't seen the girl in over a decade, and she never really showed emotion when we did know each other, but the expression that was rapidly taking over her features looked a little familiar. If I was reading her right, which I very well may not have been, she was wearing a look of complete abject horror.

Her eyes briefly moved over to Asakura, quickly returning to Haruhi before she spoke. "Why did you bring her here?"

Asakura smiled, trying to pretend nothing was wrong. "Yuki, this is Haruhi Suzumi-"

Nagato cut her off, her voice coming out strained and probably a bit louder than she had intended. "I know who she is. Why is she here?"

Asakura glanced over to Haruhi, who answered the question herself. "I'm bringing the brigade back together. If you know where to find any of the others..."

She trailed off when the look on Nagato's face changed. Now she really did look angry. She wasn't fuming or anything, just somewhat cross. She just shook her head. "No."

Haruhi looked uncomfortable with that response, and you can't really blame her when you consider how much plane tickets cost nowadays. She wasn't about to let her efforts go to waste, and she definitely wasn't going to stop trying.

Nagato looked over to Emiri, and without another word, started walking toward the parking lot. When she walked past us, Emiri turned and tugged me to follow her. Nagato obviously didn't mind Haruhi too much, as she wasted no time climbing into the back of the car we had all arrived in.

I looked back and saw that Asakura was right behind us. Haruhi was walking to the car at a much slower speed, and she looked a little depressed, but she would probably be okay.

Asakura walked over to the drivers' side door and opened it, smiling in our direction. "I hope you don't mind, Emiri, but you're going to have to sit in the middle." She called out to the straggler of the group. "We're waiting on you now, Suzumiya."

Haruhi stepped up her pace and made it to the car before Emiri was even inside. I got in last, stuck in the back on Emiri's right, behind Haruhi again. Asakura smiled into the rear view mirror at me and Emiri, as well as Nagato, looking like she was about to say something.

Nagato stopped her in her tracks by punching the back of her headrest, sending her head into the steering wheel and honking the car horn. "Start the car, Ryoko!"

Rubbing her face, Asakura turned the key in the ignition. "Okay, okay, geez. Every single time. Give me a break already."

Nagato shrugged. "Which limb?"

Asakura responded as if she had it rehearsed, rolling down her window and pointing at a nearby tree. "One of those."

Nagato grinned. "You want it to break your neck or your back?"

By now, anyone could tell they were playing. However, Asakura's attention was suddenly taken by the sound of a compact disk sliding into the car's CD player. She glared into the rear view mirror at Nagato, a look of mock fear on her face.

"You didn't."

To which Nagato just nodded triumphantly.

Then the music started playing. I honestly don't know how to even describe that music, so I won't bother trying, but the experience wasn't all bad. While Asakura whined and Nagato laughed, though it was obvious both were just having fun, Emiri leaned away from the purple-haired woman and into me. I refuse to let Haruhi know this, but I'm seriously considering trying for a relationship with Emiri. She seems to have been giving me some sort of indication that she might be willing to try it as well.

The drive back to the auto shop was quiet once we left the parking lot. I could sense that whatever Nagato hadn't liked about Haruhi being at the cemetery, she had at least forgiven Asakura for it. I only hoped we would get a chance to find out what the problem really was, and maybe get a chance to rectify any wrongs.

I found myself in a smoke-filled room with two other people, one seated and one standing. They had their backs to me so I couldn't see their faces, but I was sure I knew one of them. Orange light from the lamps all around us reflected off the bare skin of the seated person's back.

I stepped further into the room until I could see what was happening. The person I didn't know was standing, applying some sort of device to the other person's back. Black tattoos covered the seated person's arms down to just before their wrists, the patterns spiraling over their shoulder and down their front.

I recognized who this was and called their name. They looked at me, a scowl on their lips quickly turned into a friendly smile. I wasn't here to talk them out of the tattoos, so they must have figured I was just going to say hello. Maybe get a tattoo myself...

No, that's not right. They are wrong, of course. I'd never get a tattoo. I do have a very good reason to be here though. I heard what happened, but I don't think they have just yet. That's why I'm here. I need to be the one to tell them.

The tattoo artist says she's done and goes into another room. And that's when I explain what happened. Something bad happened, and it's too late to try and fix it. There's absolutely nothing either of us can do about it, and we both know it.

Tears are filling my friends eyes as I hand them their jacket, which they use to cover themselves. They give me one last tearful look before running out of the room and out of the building, already knowing who is responsible. They think they know who is responsible, but I'm the one who really knows the answer.

Knowing won't change anything though. We can't do anything anymore. We had power once, long ago. Power that could not only let us take revenge, but would let us undo everything that caused the tragedy we now face. It's all gone now. We were left behind, and now we have no more power.

I look over at the side of the room before leaving. A flash of green caught my attention briefly. I see a mirror on the wall that reflects an image of green. Light, pale green that flows around my shoulders. Bright emerald green in my eyes.

It's a reflection of me. Emiri Kimidori.

I exit the building to try and find my friend before they do something they'll regret. I bump into the doorway on my way out, a little painful reminder that my sight is going...

What... just happened?

Was that a dream? If so, why was I temporarily Emiri Kimidori? For a brief moment I could see, hear, smell, and feel a different place. When I looked in the mirror in that... dream... I saw Emiri's face.

And I knew things that I know I don't know. It was almost as if a voice had been telling me what was going on. No... that's not right... it was exactly like that. It was Emiri's voice. She told me what was happening, like she was narrating or something.

I looked down at the woman who was leaning against me, smiling as she tugged at her hair innocently. She snuggled a bit closer, starting to get to far into my personal space. She gave me a look that said she knew what I had just seen. How could she have known? Did she do that? Did she show that to me?

Emiri kept smiling and just nodded to me.