Perfectly Ordinary: The Disappearance of Kyon

by IronGallAddict

Haruhi is showing her feelings and now it's Kyon's time to vanish. Who is responsible and how will he get back? Kyon finally figures it all out.

ICHI

June had arrived and with it the end of Spring and the start of Summer. School was in full swing and Haruhi's plans for the SOS Brigade were still as crazy as the last year's. True to form our brigade leader was pushing us all to learn musical instruments. Nagato had no problems with her bass and Miss. Asahina's tamborine work was fascinating to watch. Haruhi even had a new costume for her - white platform boots, a pair of tight silver sequence-covered shorts and a blue halter top with laces up the side. So cute! Even Koizumi seemed to pick up playing the drums pretty well, as long as we kept the music slow and our leader didn't expect flashy drum solos.

Haruhi assigned me back-up guitar which was a mistake. I admit the idea of playing a guitar interested me at first, but after Haruhi had me pick up all the instruments downtown and bring them back up the hill and into the Literary Club room, that interest evaporated like dew on Summer grass. Haruhi's guitar, Nagato's bass and Koizomi's drums were all top of the line. Mine was just a student model, not that it mattered. If it was a Stradivarius violin I couldn't make it sound nice. In her usual full-throttle way our chief convinced the owner of a music shop to give her the instruments in return for free advertisements at our concerts.

"What concerts?" I asked

"The ones we'll put on after you've learned to play back up guitar. Come on Kyon. It isn't that hard. I could play songs right away and I only had two lessons."

Of course she could play guitar perfectly from the moment she saw the thing.

"Just practice more. We have to sound perfect in two weeks for the Summer Festival.

"What? Why?"

I panicked. Had Haruhi signed up the SOS Brigade to play at a festival? We couldn't play two songs straight through, and as cute as Miss Asahina was, if she had to tap her tambourine on her hip too many times she fell off her platform heels. Please let Haruhi not have signed us up for...

"We're in the city festival dummy. Haven't you seen the posters down town?"

I looked over at Koizomi who's normally empathic grin slid from his face like a thrown egg down a window pane, and then at Mis Asahina who trembled so hard her tambourine rattled. Only Nagato seemed unaffected, but when I looked at her, fear in my eyes, she shook her head very slowly, letting me know she wouldn't be able to magic-up the instruments. Mikuru whimpered. Haruhi turned on her, then looked at the rest of us.

"I thought you would all be super excited about this. Doesn't this make you all want to do your best to play our music in front of the whole city!"

Miss Asahina started to cry.

"Now just hold on," I said. "We've only been playing for one week. You can't expect us to perform songs in front of the whole city for a festival!"

"Everyone's doing great. Well, everyone except you Kyon."

"I've never played guitar before in my life," I told her. "I don't know a thing about it."

"Yuki never played bass before the Spring Festival and she does okay and Koizumi can at least keep a steady beat. Even Mikuru looks great with the tambourine. You're the only one who doesn't want us to succeed."

"Why don't we take a break?" suggested Koizumi. "I could use a little breather."

Haruhi glared at me.

"Fine!" she shouted without looking away. "But everyone be back here in five minutes!"

I unstrapped my guitar and left with Koizumi right behind. As soon as I was out in the hallway I opened my mouth to let him know what I thought of our fearless leader but he held a finger to his lips and motioned for me to follow him down the steps. Neither of us said a word until we got outside and then looked up to make sure the club room windows were all closed tight before he spoke.

"The organization is very concerned with Miss Suzumiya," he said.

"More closed space?" I asked.

"No. We haven't seen any closed space since you managed to close the last one. We've noticed something strange happening since the Spring Festival, a string of anomalous occurrences across the city all centered on one individual."

"Let me guess. Haruhi is changing specific places so that the Summer Festival has extra cicadas and viewing rocks?"

He checked the windows again and I got a very weird tingle up my spine. It was the sort of thing I felt in the middle of a horror story just before the axe-wielding monster jumped out and cut everyone up into chunks.

"We can't be sure why things have changed, but it looks like it centers around you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"How did you get Miss Suzumiya to delete that last closed space?" he asked.

I'd kissed her. I didn't think it was real. Right afterwards I'd woken up in my own bed and just wrote everything off as a dream. A very strange dream with some gross, odd and very personal side effects, but a dream. I was not about to tell Koizumi, though. That would be creepy.

"I talked to her," I said. It was true enough.

He gave me that grin, the one he used to let me know he knew more than I'd told him. I hated that grin.

"Whatever you did changed the way Miss Suzumiya wants the world to behave."

"Does she want to destroy it?"

That was the thing the Esper organization feared the most so it was natural to assume it.

"My organization doesn't think so. The areas are changing in predictable ways. Tree species are changing to flowering examples. More park benches and shadowy paths along streams are appearing and the street lights themselves are..." He stopped.

What? What was happening to the streetlights? Just say it!

"We've measured the light from the streetlamps and it looks as if the color and intensity has been adjusted to maximize romantic feelings."

I tried to keep my face blank but inside I was shaking with fear. This sort of thing didn't happen to ordinary people like me.

"W-why do you think this is about me?" I asked.

"Because most areas where changes happened are where you and Miss Suzumiya have visited together, and the rest have a greater than 67 percent chance you might meet if you were both out at night."

"Oh come on," I said. "How could you possibly know that?"

"My organization has been tracking all the members of the SOS Brigade since its inception and we have data on 87 percent of the travel habits of the entire city."

Okay. That's a little creepy.

"I know it sounds creepy," he said, "but the data is important. The next closest match for travel has only a 42 percent chance of meeting Miss Suzumiya, and that person is a 92 year old woman."

"Not her grandmother, is it?" I tried.

"No relation," he said in total dead-pan.

I put my hand up to my face, pushing my finger tips into my forehead. This was just like Haruhi. If Koizumi hadn't told me about the changes to the city I might never have known and if I did meet Haruhi some warm Summer night on a perfectly lit path next to a bubbling stream with cherry blossoms cascading to the water I probably wouldn't have noticed and that would have pushed her right over the edge. Maybe even ending the world.

How thoughtless can you get?

"All right. What should I do?"

"Kiss her?" he suggested with the same knowing grin.

This wasn't the first time that he'd had suggested that action. I dropped my hand and stared at him, not smiling.

"Just kidding. For now practice your guitar and try to keep things between you and Miss Suzumiya on a friendly basis."

"And the festival?"

He shrugged. "I admit I was worried at first but it actually sounds fun, even though we won't be very good."

The window of the club room creaked open over head and we both looked up. Haruhi leaned out, still glaring.

"I said five minutes!" she shouted. "Get back up here."

NI

We practiced our two songs seven more times. Nagato and Haruhi carried all the tunes while Koizumi kept a dogged beat and Miss Asahina tapped and shook and rattled her tambourine almost perfectly. I fumbled and twanged my way through the songs as best as I could but by the last song my finger tips were bleeding.

I held my bloody digits up to our brigade chief as proof of our hard work and determination and my lack of skill. She grabbed my hand and held the finger tips close to her eyes, then scowled at them.

"I guess we're done for tonight," she announced. "We'll practice again tomorrow."

I moved to take my hand out of hers but she held tight.

"You stay here," she told me. "What kind of brigade leader would I be if I let one of my members leave with bloody hands? Sit down and I'll get some antiseptic."

I took a seat while Haruhi went out into the hallway, no doubt to pilfer supplies from the medical cabinet. When she came back in she held a bottle of alcohol and a little tube of something. She opened the bottle and handed it to me.

"Dip your fingers into the alcohol. I couldn't get any cotton or bandages."

"Isn't that unhygienic?" I asked.

"It's alcohol, baka. It's self sterilizing."

I dipped in one cut finger and pulled it out, wincing.

"Jeeze! That stings."

"What did you think it would feel like? It's alcohol."

She held up the little tube. "I got this from the anime model club. Now give me your fingers and I'll fix them."

"What is that? I asked.

"Super glue."

"Are you crazy? You want me to stick my fingers to something forever?"

"Relax. This will close the cuts and give you instant calluses so you can practice."

"Really?"

"Sure. I want you to get better on the guitar and that means you need to practice. Now give me your fingers."

I did and she applied a tiny smear to each tip, even the ones I hadn't cut.

"Now don't touch anything for a while, especially me. I want you and me stuck together for the rest of the night."

I cleared my throat. Haruhi blushed.

"I said I don't want anything like that," she said. "Pervert. Just keep your hands on … OFF me. Got it?"

Haruhi glowed red and turned away. She picked up both our bags and went to the door. I carefully grabbed my guitar.

"I'll carry your stuff since you can't touch anything," she said. "I don't want your hands glued to your case."

"Thanks."

"You can buy me a snack when we get down the hill – your punishment for not practicing."

Koizomi, Nagato and Miss Asahina were gone by the time we made it out of the school. I tested my fingertips and found the glue had dried. The tips were tough and hard just like calluses. I moved my guitar to my chest and tried a chord. I felt no pain, just tenderness when I pressed on the strings.

"That works great," I said.

"I told you it would. You get a point off for doubting me. Here's your case."

I slung the guitar across my back once again and took my school bag, brushing her fingers as I did. It was no big deal. The streetlights came on and I looked around wondering if these had been adjusted to cast romantic light. I couldn't tell. The light looked perfectly ordinary to me so I decided to ignore the whole thing. There were no cherry blossoms or tiny brooks or romantic walk ways, just Haruhi and me, side by side on the narrow walk. All perfectly ordinary. No big deal.

I'd grown to like the long climb down the hill from school, as long as I wasn't hauling gear for Haruhi's plans. I got to look out on the houses and shops down below and then descend into them. It felt like entering a hidden valley full of mysteries. There was a little store at the bottom of the hill, lit with a pale blue light. Green moths fluttered near the door and a the store's upbeat music floated out into the street. I knew the shop sold snacks.

"You want to go in here and get something?" I asked.

"Can't we get some tea? That practice made me thirsty."

Now she wanted to go get tea? The closest place was a mile away and I was almost out of money.

She looked down the street, away from me. "It's no big deal. I can get something when I get home."

"No. If you want tea we can go get some tea."

"Not if you don't want to go."

"I said I'd go."

"I can tell you don't really want to."

She turned and walked away.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Somewhere I heard a creek burble. A warm breeze blew. Cherry petals fell in a shower around Haruhi, lit by the pale blue light of the store. All perfectly ordinary.

"I'll see later," I called and turned to go home. Yari yari.

SAN

The next morning I awoke with a headache, which was odd because I expected my fingers to ache instead. When I ran my thumb across the tips I felt nothing unusual and then I remembered the glue. It felt as though the glue might have fallen off. I sat up and reached across for the guitar. It wasn't there. My little sister came in to get me up just then.

"Kyon-kun. Wakey-wakey!"

"Did you take the guitar?"

"You don't have a guitar," she said and laughed as if the idea was funny.

I searched my room but couldn't find it anywhere. Then I looked out in the hall and all the other rooms but it was nowhere in the house. I hoped I hadn't left it outside.

My sister was at the table eating cereal so I went back into my room, dressed and joined her.

"Remember to feed Shami," I told her.

"Who's Shami?"

"You know. Shamisen. The cat?"

"Your'e funny today. We don't have a cat either."

I felt that same shiver up my spine, the same horror story chill that meant there was someone in the corner with an axe.

"Don't you remember Shamisen? Haruhi and Asahina-san and I were making a movie and the cat was in it. He's a tortoise shell."

She stopped eating, her spoon frozen in mid-air and her eyes locked on me.

"Mom!" she shouted. "Kyon is crazy again."

I got up quick, grabbed my toast from the toaster and my bag from the floor and headed out.

Okay. This is weird. I looked around my street. Everything looked perfectly ordinary. My house was the same and the weather was the same. That's one of those things that would change if Yuki zapped the universe again, right? The weather wouldn't be the same? I walked on. The streets were the usual spotless, crowded asphalt parking lots I'd seen every day and the climb up the hill to school. Taniguchi met me halfway up.

"You study for that test?"

Of course there would be a test. Let the fall-out begin.

"What test?"

"Chemistry? Remember? It's worth a quarter of our grade."

Oh crap.

"It slipped my mind."

"You are so dead. Maybe Sonada-san will give you a pass since you hit your head."

I stopped.

"I did what?"

Tanaguchi stopped. He fixed me with the same look my sister gave me.

"You fell off the balcony of your house onto your mom's car and hit your head – and you don't remember."

That explains the headache.

"When did I do this

"Two days ago. You just got out of the hospital last night."

A red car with a dented roof screeched to a halt on the road beside me.

"Get in," my mom shouted. "You can't be up yet. What do you think you're doing?"

I looked at Tanaguchi. He opened the door for me. "You better go home. You don't sound too hot."

I climbed into the passenger seat and seriously doubted my sanity. We didn't go home. Instead we went to the hospital where I spent two hours answering questions from doctors and trying very, very hard to give them the answers they wanted. From the looks on their faces I'd guess I scored a solid 60 on my Kyon's Life test. My mom drove me home and watched as I got undressed and climbed back into bed.

"And stay there," she ordered, then she left.

Shamisen never showed up and neither did my guitar. About an hour after I got back in bed I searched my phone. Not only did I not have Yuki's, Haruhi's, Mikuru's or Koisumi's numbers, but Sasaki's was gone, too and there was no record at all of any phone calls with any of them.

Apparently in this version of the world I had my own computer, which looked suspiciously similar to the one in the SOS club room. I switched it on and ran a short search for people in the area. You guessed it. No one existed. I looked at the SOS brigade web site but it wasn't there either.

I was scared and I didn't mind saying so. If I was right I was stuck in an alternate universe with no way out and a head full of crazy memories, ones I couldn't tell anyone.

Okay Kyon. Think. You've been here before. How did you get out?

Nagato.

But you can't just keep relying on Nagato to get you out.

She's probably the one who put you here.

Fair enough. Then go find her and get out.

It will be at least a day until mom lets me out of bed. If I sneak out and I get caught I could wind up in the hospital – or worse. Do they still have psychiatric hospitals?

What was her number?

I went to my computer and ran a search for local numbers, hoping her apartment had a land line in it.

No Yuki Nagato.

That wasn't surprising. I mean, who has a land line? Who else can I call? The only people I can be sure are still here are my sister, my mom and Tanaguchi, but if Tanaguchi was there that means Kinukada was there, too. Probably. Maybe he could search the school for me and find someone – anyone – who might be able to help. I dialed his number and left a message.

"Kinukada. Sorry to bug you in school but I need a favor. Can you ask the secretary at the school if any of these students are enrolled?"

I gave him Yuki's name and Miss Asahina's because I knew those two would be in school.

"Can you check for Haruhi Suzumiya, too? Thanks."

I hung up and laid down on my bed to wait. It was a long morning.

At the time Kinukada had his lunch break I got a call.

"Kyon. Are you okay? Everyone is asking about you."

"I'm fine," I said. "Just a headache. Did you ask the secretary about the girls?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. "Are you forming a band?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

He laughed. "Haruhi and Yuki are play guitar in The Brigade."

"The Brigade?" There went the chills again.

"You know, that group that played at the Met Rock festival. Are you trying to find girls At North high who have the same name so you can start a group yourself?"

"Ah, yeah. My group." That was so lame I heard it limp from the room. I was in too much shock for a snappy come back.

"Sorry, but the secretary said there weren't any girls with the same names here. You'll just need to start with girls we have. Still, if you can get someone who looks like Mikuru I'd like to meet her. She's super cute."

"Thanks Kinukada. "

"You coming back tomorrow?"

I thought about that. My mom probably wouldn't let me out of bed for another day, and with what I just found out I'm not sure I'd want to go.

"Probably not."

"Well, feel better. I gotta go."

I lay back on my bed, the phone forgotten in my hand. Now I was double screwed. Even thinking that three girls from a famous band would be my friends sounded crazy to me. If I mentioned it to anyone I wouldn't blame them for locking me up.

I had to face it – I was stuck.

SHI

I watched TV for a bit after that. There was a baseball game and a rebroadcast of Met Rock featuring The Brigade. Seeing Haruhi and Miss Asahina made me a little sad, knowing that I wouldn't be able to ever see them again. It felt as if I hadn't seen them in months, which would probably be true in this universe. Had I ever met them?

Wait, if they toured for concerts was there a chance I could meet them?

I went upstairs, ran a quick search for The Brigade and found that apparently I was a groupie. My favorites list in my browser was nothing but links to sites about The Brigade and the search brought up a new site about each member of the band with every letter of the alphabet.

So stuck.

I looked up appearances and found they had no tour dates here until next year! The closest they came was in the fall, but that was a half day's drive away. I'd need to stay overnight. I could do it, but I'd need to save up some money first.

What was I saying? There was no way I'd ever get to meet the The Brigade and even if I did the only person who might believe me was Yuki. If she was the one who set this up she must not want me around any more. Maybe she wouldn't remember me. Even I'd lock me up if I told her this story. I looked around my room and realized something was wrong.

If I was some fanatic where were the posters? Why didn't my phone have a picture of Haruhi on the screen? Did I have any of their music?

I looked over at the computer. I'd probably have pictures of the girls on there. If they really were famous they probably posed for promotions.

My imagination raced. What sort of pictures would they pose for? What sort of pictures do girl groups always pose for? I went to the computer and ran a search. There was a folder, a hidden folder, and of course it was named 'MIKURU'.

The cursor hovered over the selection, my finger over the left mouse button. I moved the cursor away.

Nope. I would not look. There were just some doors you can't close again. If I was able to get those cute photos of Miss Asahina on my own who knew what sort of photos the entire nation of Japan could capture of an idol. I shuddered. There was a folder for 'YUKI", too but nothing for Haruhi. That was disturbing, to say the least. There was nothing for Itsuki, which was a relief, I guess. Was he even in the band? I hadn't checked. Why no Haruhi? Didn't I like her? Wouldn't I have some photo of her? I lay back on my bed. My headache was getting worse and I really did want to rest now. All this thinking was driving me crazy. As usual the bed was a mess so I stretched out my covers. That's when I noticed an extra pillow underneath the bed frame. I yanked on it and a part came out. There was a naked foot printed on it.

Shivers again.

I pulled once more and saw a naked leg and then a naked hip and when I gave a big yank an entire naked Haruhi appeared.

Oh boy. Half my brain screamed to kick it under the bed again, but the other half froze me.

"Soooo cute," I heard myself say.

If Haruhi ever saw this thing in my room the universe would defiantly end right on the spot. Then again, if I really was stuck here, Haruhi would never know.

What was I saying? A pillow Haruhi? Is that what I wanted? No! I wanted them all back. I wanted the SOS Brigade back, not some sick fan boy life where I follow them around. I picked up the pillow and flipped it around. On that side Haruhi wore a bikini. That was better for some reason. At least I'd actually seen her that way a few times.

My head still hurt so I lay down on the bed, bringing the comfort pillow with me. No matter how I told this to anyone I would look like some crazy fan of The Brigade.

But if I was a fan wouldn't I want to play music? Where was the guitar?

Maybe that was it. Maybe if I found the guitar I could get back.

My head pounded. I would need to start right away, after a nap.

GO

I woke up the next day which shook me up more than a little. I was sure that over-sleeping was a symptom of a concussion. Did I really hit my head in this universe? If that happened maybe I was imagining everything else. Maybe The Brigade was real and I was just delusional.

Hold on. If you start doubting yourself you'll never get back. Just find your guitar and then show it to Nagato or Miss Asahina and everything will go back to normal.

I hoped everything will go back to normal.

Since everyone was gone and I was left alone I thought a good place to start would be the music store downtown. I pulled my bike from the garden and went downtown. The music store was still there but the owner didn't recognize me. I checked out all the beginner guitars but mine wasn't on display.

"Hey. Did you have a blue student model. Two knobs?"

He didn't have anything like that. I asked where any other music stores might be. There were two more shops in the area. I biked to the first one but no guitar. I started out for the second but when I got out in the street I started getting dizzy.

So the concussion thing was real. Good to know.

I was halfway across the street when I fell over and passed out.

When I came to I was sitting in an ambulance. A woman in a medical uniform sat next to me and my mom was talking with a second woman. I heard something about taking me to a hospital. I was dizzy and my head hurt.

"I need to find my guitar," I said. I didn't mean to say it but it slipped out.

"Does he have a guitar?" the woman asked my mom.

"No."

"He should definitely go to the emergency room. We can't allow him to go home."

"Please take him there. I'll follow you."

A police officer stepped in next to my mom. "Under the circumstance it would be better if your son remained in custody until a doctor releases him. You can visit him when the hospital says he is stable."

"But he's my son," mom told him.

"You allowed him out with a concussion. It's for his own good. Please."

Time travel, fighting alien robots, stopping the universe from being overwritten: these are apparently perfectly ordinary activities for a high school student. I was being locked up for riding my bike across town. Mom started to cry. The two medical women helped me into the ambulance, closed the doors and sat next to me.

"Everything will be okay," one told me. The other remained silent, staring at her hands.

We drove back to the hospital and I was checked into a room. There was a television and I watched that for a while. Met Rock was being rebroadcast yet again and I watched that, just to pick up on any clues I might have missed. I did catch a glimpse of Koizomi in the background once, but not playing drums. They had digital drum machines and he must have run those.

About ten minutes into the concert a young doctor and a large male nurse came in. The nurse stood by the door and the doctor walked over to the bed. He looked up at the television and then back at me.

"Do you mind if I turn this down?" he asked.

I nodded and he turned the sound down.

"Your mother is very worried about you," he said. "She's called the hospital ten times since you arrived. She wants to know if she can see you."

"Can she?" I asked.

"I'd like to ask some questions first, if that's okay."

"Fine. The sooner I can get out of here the better."

"Is there someplace you need to be?" he asked. "other than school."

I thought about telling about the guitar but stayed quiet. "No. Just school."

"I thought you might like to know that an officer searched your room. It looks like you are a fan of a music group. The Brigade?"

"Yes," is all I said.

"You have pictures of them on your computer and a pillow of the lead singer on your bed. He looked at your emails. You've been sending messages to the group and talking on chat rooms about this band."

"I don't remember that," I said. It was the truth.

He nodded. "Your mother seems to think you jumped off the balcony because of this band. That you were talking about a blue guitar just before you jumped and that you wanted to see them in Tokyo but you had to have this guitar first. Do you remember that?"

I shook my head. On the television Haruhi was on stage. She had on dark eye makeup and a tight green top and jeans. She sang her heart out just as she did at the Spring Arts Festival. Best of all she had a ponytail that flipped and twirled with every move.

The doctor looked up at the screen and then over at the nurse who nodded silently.

"Some of the emails, the ones just before you jumped, said that you thought you were a member of The Brigade and the lead singer was your girlfriend?"

"That's not true," I said turning to the doctor. "Haruhi isn't my girlfriend."

"That's right," said the doctor. "She isn't your girlfriend. How do you feel about that?"

"I'm fine with that. She and I are just friends."

My head throbbed again. That was a mistake.

"I see," said the doctor. "You are friends with the lead singer. What about the other two girls?"

I stayed silent this time. He nodded and smiled.

"I can return later and we can talk. You get some sleep. The nurse will give you something to help you rest."

The nurse came to my bed with a syringe kit.

"Please don't," I said. "I don't belong here. If you let me out I can find Yuki and she can fix this." He held my arm down, swabbed it and injected something, then taped a cotton ball over the top.

As I dropped off to sleep I heard the doctor tell the nurse "Yuki? She's the little blue-haired one? Interesting."

ROKU

I woke up later, obviously. It was dark outside and the last question the doctor asked me echoed in my head: How do you feel about that?

How did I feel about Haruhi just being my friend? What else could she be? According to Koizomi and Miss Asahina she could rip apart the universe if she was bored or sad or angry and that wasn't something I wanted to be responsible for.

I didn't want to be away from her, either. That went for Nagato and Mikuru, too, but especially for Haruhi. Who knows what trouble she could get in to. Talking cats and passenger pigeons would cover the world and cherry trees might blossom all year. Someone had to keep her from doing that. I wish she'd get a boyfriend so I didn't need to work so hard. If she ever did have a boyfriend that guy would always need to keep his eye on what she did. He'd have to like what she liked, too. Movies and baseball and bands and everything else. Whoever that poor guy was would have his hands full. He'd need to like her friends, too. Nagato and Mikuru and even Koizomi. If he got into a fight with Koizomi who knows what would happen. That poor guy wouldn't ever have a day off so he'd really need to like Haruhi a lot.

Would he know about time travel and aliens and espers and all the other things that happened around Haruhi? Maybe it would be better if he didn't. I wondered if she had a boyfriend now. Who was he and was everything still the same? Was he just a replacement for me? God, I was jealous of someone and I didn't even know if he existed. Maybe this was the best place for me.

I went to use the bathroom then came out and sat on the bed without laying down. My head didn't ache now and I felt better. Things seemed to be looking up. I'd still need to find that guitar and talk to Yuki but all that could probably wait. In a few days the hospital would release me and I'd be back at school and then I could start looking again.

The door was open and a nurse came in. It was still the big male nurse who looked as if he could pull my arms off.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better. Fine. When do you think I might be getting out of here?"

He smiled. "You'll need to ask the doctor that."

The nurse pulled out a flashlight and checked my eyes.

"Any headache?"

"None," I said.

"Fine. The doctor will be around in a while if you'd like to talk to him."

"Okay. Can you tell him I'd really like to get back to school?"

"You can tell him when he comes in."

The nurse left and I turned the television on. There was nothing else to do. I planned on getting to the final guitar shop as soon as I was out, maybe skipping school to do it, and then finding out where The Brigade would be. After that I could walk to where they were if I needed to. Anything not to be stuck in this world.

My choice was between an old movie and a baseball game so I watched the game. Eventually another nurse brought me lunch and I ate that while watching French football. The doctor came back in while I was eating. He made the same check of my eyes and asked about my headache.

"When can I get back to school?" I asked.

"I'd like to keep you here for a few days, Kyon. I think you could use the rest, don't you?"

"I feel fine. I'd like to go home."

The doctor signaled to the nurse who stepped outside briefly. In a moment another nurse, just as large, appeared. The doctor then stood a little away from my bed while the nurses both came closer.

"You'll need to stay with us for a while, Kyon. You've had a bad injury and there are some other issues we need to look at."

There came the shivers again.

"What issues?"

"When the police searched your emails they found two messages threatening the lead singer of the Brigade. She was aware that you've been trying to contact the band for a while and she's filed a complaint. The police agreed that if you stayed under my care they wouldn't press the charges.

Oh no. This couldn't be. There was no way. Haruhi would ever let this happen. She'd know, or Yuki would. If they got a message from me they….

It wasn't me though. It was the me here. The me from how many days ago. Was I crazy? I sounded crazy now. If I said the things I was thinking and Yuki and Miss Asahina heard them no wonder Haruhi wanted me in jail. I sat back on the bed and one of the nurses took my arm.

"Up you go," he growled.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I thought you might be more comfortable in another room, and the hospital would like this one for people who need to recover from other injuries. Anyway it's just another hospital a little distance from here.

"Like a psychiatric hospital?"

"It's just a hospital where you can have someone to talk to when you want and we can keep you safe. It's perfectly ordinary."

The nurses lead me out of the room and down the hallway in a line: nurse, me, nurse. This was it. I was going into a room where they would keep me locked away until I forgot about the SOS Brigade or until they thought I wasn't a danger to anyone ever again. Either way I'd be stuck in this universe.

We came to an elevator and the nurses stopped in front, one on each side. When the doors opened one went in while the other guided me in by my elbow. The first nurse put a key into a slot and turned the lock to OVERRIDE and then hit the button for the ground floor. There would be no way out of here.

Just before the elevator shut an arm appeared, shoved between the closing doors. A man forced the doors open once more and stepped inside.

"Sir, please. You can't ride with us," said the first nurse.

The doors were closing. The nurses stepped out out the way for the man. I darted forward and out through the doors, then turned right and down the hallway. Somewhere on the floor there had to be a stairway.

Desperately I searched all the doors until I found one, yanked it open and ran through. The stairs were plain concrete with steel railings and I dashed down as fast as possible. I figured with normal elevator speeds I could probably get to the bottom before they did, then I could dash out the doors and be on my way to the guitar store.

At the bottom I slammed open the door and ran out. I could see the exit just a few yards away and ran for it.

"Stop that kid!" someone shouted.

I looked back and it was one of the nurses followed closely by the other. I ran outside.

It was just after two o'clock and traffic was heavy. The streets were jammed with cars and trucks creeping along between the traffic lights. I sidled between two small cars and crossed the street, then ran down the sidewalk. I looked behind me and the two nurses were right there. I knew they'd catch me before I went more than a few blocks which meant I really had no where to go but I couldn't go back there. I'd never get out again.

Nagato! Mikuru! Koizomi! Get me out of her! Get me back.

One of the nurses was very close to me and he was about to reach out and grab me.

I stepped back out into traffic, dodging a car that honked. I heard brakes.

"Get back here kid!" shouted the nurse.

I spun to look at him.

"Haruhi! Save me!" I shouted and another horn honked and then something slammed into me, I flew away from whatever it was and bounced off the back of a delivery truck. I landed on my feet, still upright and leaning against the truck.

The world wobbled and then it tipped as if I was falling over, but I couldn't be falling over. Why was the world tilting?

Then my shoulder smacked into the pavement. I blinked and when I finished blinking the nurse stood over me.

Then everything went black.

OWARI

I opened my eyes. Everything was still black. I tried to move my hand in front of eyes but I couldn't move my hand. I couldn't feel my hands. I felt something hard against my cheek and raised my head. My neck hurt and I opened my eyes again.

I was in the Literary Club room with my head on the table. My arms lay folded beneath my chin, numb from the shoulders down. I flexed my fingers to bring some feeling back and then looked around.

Nagato!

Oh I could kiss you. Nagato. You wonderful, beautiful….

She sat in her chair, the same chair she always sat in and she read. She read just like she always did.

"Nagato."

She looked up from her book, no emotion in her eyes, and droned "Kyon-kun."

The door opened and both Koizomi and Mikuru came in. Mikuru squealed.

"He's back. He's here."

"I just woke up," I said. "What happened."

"Where were you?" Koizomi asked.

"What do you mean? I was asleep. I was right here."

"Oh Kyon," whined Mikuru. "We didn't know where you were."

It was real. It happened and it was real.

"Did Nagato bring me back or did you?"

Mikuru shook her head.

"We didn't know where you were," repeated Mikuru.

"We didn't know you were gone," said Koizomi.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Didn't Nagato change things?"

"No," Nagato said. "I could not access Mis Suzumiya's powers."

"How did I get back? If you didn't know I was gone how did you find out? How long was I gone?"

Nagato spoke. "The readings showed an anomalous power surge at seven fifty two on the night of June 15 centered around Miss Suzumiya and yourself."

"That was five days ago," said Mikuru.

"How did you know I was gone? Wasn't I here? You were all there."

"There? We never left. We knew something was wrong because Miss Suzumiya was different," said Koizomi. "Very distant. Very quiet. We stopped practicing and she pulled out of the festival."

"On the June 17 at 7:23 am Miss Suzumiya said that she was bored."

"I suggested the SOS brigade start practicing again," said Koizomi.

"She, um, shouted Itsuki-san into a chair," said Mikuru, "and said we couldn't play because we can't have the SOS Brigade without all of its members," Mikuru announced. "I had no idea what she meant."

"That is when we surmised she had changed the universe," said Nagato.

"Since the seventeenth there's been thirty two instances of closed space," said Koizomi. "My organization, and myself, are exhausted."

"There have been one hundred seventeen attempts at reconfiguring parts of this universe to fit a different narrative, all failed," said Nagato. "There have been seven hundred and three additional members recruited and rejected comprising every female and male member of North High as well as a sample of nearby schools.

"I, um, don't remember any…." said Mikuru.

"We experience and additional three hundred twelve days during Kyon's five day absence," she responded.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" squeaked Mikuru. "Are… are you okay, Yuki?"

"I was working towards the goal of returning Kyon to this universe. The time was not wasted."

Miss Asahina turned to me. "Well, um, that's good. Right Kyon?"

"Thanks Nagato," I rubbed the bridge of my nose, suddenly remembering how hard Miss Asahina can punch. "Are you all right?"

"I suffered no ill effects from the time distortion. I did not bring you back. Twenty two minutes and thirty two seconds ago Miss Suzumiya expressed a dissatisfaction with the world. Seventeen minutes and six seconds ago she left this room. Mr. Itsuki followed her out. The readings show an anomalous power surge fifteen minutes and seven seconds ago. There was no correlation with any other activities or any additional time changes."

"I didn't know about the changes until my organization informed me," said Koizomi. "To me – to us all – you had fallen asleep in the chair."

"I restored their memories of the past five days," Nagato said. "Like you, they now possess two memories of a space of time, two paths through time."

"But not the extra year?" asked Mikuru.

"No," said Yuki.

"So why did Haruhi zap me out of the universe?" I asked Koizomi. "I thought she was turning the city into a giant love letter."

"It's possible my organization was wrong about the purpose of the changes. It's possible that Haruhi only wanted to enhance the romantic atmosphere of the city for everyone."

"But why zap me?"

"Miss Suzumiya has only changed those things which interfere with her desires or cause her distress," droned Yuki. "Since she changed this universe to remove you it's likely you were either causing her distress or denying her desires."

"Or both," said Koizomi.

That grin again. I hated that grin.

"And now?" I asked.

"If her desires are not met and her distress continues then there is an 87 percent probability that Miss Suzumiya will attempt to remove you from this universe once more. There is also a 92 percent probability that a closed space incident will occur and destroy this universe."

Great. So I need to do…what? Kiss Haruhi to save the universe? Be her boyfriend or I get removed from existence? Locked away in a nut house for the rest of my life? Why me? What did I do to encourage this? I'm just an ordinary guy trying to lead an ordinary life, not some esper or time traveler or alien super genius with powers to change reality. I know I chose the SOS brigade, but this is too much! No one would put up with just being a … a stupid plot device in someone else's story.

Mikuru coughed a few times. I looked up from my thoughts and saw both Koizomi and Nagato looking at the ceiling. Yeah. That's not creepy at all.

"She's waiting by the lockers," Koizomi said. "You should go down and see her."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked.

He shrugged. Nagato shook her head. Mikuru looked down, away from me.

"That's classified," she said.

I picked up my bag and left the club room, trudging down the stairs to the lockers. I thought I'd made all the decisions already. I thought deciding I wanted to stay with the SOS brigade and all these crazy things was enough. It's never enough, though. There is never an end to the decisions. I want the SOS Brigade and I want the excitement and the fun and my friends. Now I guess I have another decision to make, one that I think I've been coming to since the day I met Haruhi. Do I really want to date her? Do I like her that much?

I could see her leaning against the lockers, arms folded across her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. Was that my girlfriend?

Girlfriend?

Did I think about her that way? Did I really always want Haruhi to be my girlfriend? Was I the one who was too chicken to say it?

She didn't see me yet. I could turn and leave, walk home in my socks and tomorrow, probably, one way or another, all of this would be gone again. Either I'd be wiped away or I'd be back in the universe where none of this ever existed. No Nagato, no Koizomi, no Mikuru.

No Haruhi. Forever.

What was I so afraid of? Boys and girls go out all the time; most of the time they break up. Is that what I was afraid of? Breaking up? Hell, man. You haven't even asked her out yet. Get over yourself. Go and ask her out and if she turns you down well, you can ask someone else out, and if Haruhi goes out with you then…

Then what?

Then more decisions, but that's what life is about. Choose your path. You've done it before, it's time to do it again. This was all perfectly ordinary.

I walked forward and waved. "Hey! Haruhi. I got something I want to ask you."

She turned towards me and stopped tapping her foot. She didn't smile but she shouted at me.

"It's about time!"