Author's notes: I'm going to have to take another break, so chapter 13 will be here in four weeks, on June 1. I have a few things coming up and, while my inspiration for writing this fic is high, the time available to actually write it is frustratingly low at the moment.

Since I can't directly reply to unsigned-in reviews, I'll use this space to again thank Flame for his review, as well as SomeOldBloke who I've already sent a reply to. I always enjoy reading your thoughts.

- Chapter 12: Time Table -

I was starting to really worry about this Christianity thing with Haruhi. I mean, I still wasn't picking up any signs that she was actually converting, but just the fact that she took the religion somewhat seriously was at best unsettling. Religion is not a subject that I was particularly knowledgeable about or interested in, so the thought of Haruhi going to church and talking to me about being "saved" and all the hundreds of rules she was going to follow as a good Christian made me feel like a very tiresome weight had been dropped onto my shoulders.

It also was now occurring to me that if Haruhi did convert, her powers could make that a real problem. I haven't forgotten what Koizumi warned me concerning Haruhi coming to believe in the everyday existence of aliens, espers, time travelers, and sliders, so I shuddered at the thought of what might happen if she came to believe in the everyday existence of God. I might wake up to a world where Christians go around walking on water and healing the sick with a touch of their hand. And because there would inevitably be a lot of converts if that happened, I would probably have to deal with people asking me why I don't worship the Big Guy on a near-daily basis. And I would have to hold myself back from telling them that not only am I generally unenthusiastic about doing whatever someone says just because they're smarter and more powerful than I am, but I happen to know that their god was created by my 16-year-old classmate!

Not that I'm entirely ruling out the possibility that God exists without Haruhi's help. Only an idiot would rule the existence of anything out after the stuff I've seen. Hell, it's hard to describe the Integrated Data Whatever Thing in a way that doesn't sound like the definition for a God for data-based organisms. But assuming that God doesn't exist, I'd much rather we kept it that way.

More worrisome still were these ongoing time folds. You already got immortality neatly arranged through your aunt's book, Haruhi – what the hell more do you want?

But maybe there's an obvious answer to that. Maybe she isn't just concerned with the fact that we'll die someday, but with the possibility that one or more of us will die young. Koizumi's observation about me repeatedly almost dying in front of Haruhi could be right on the money. I couldn't blame Haruhi for going red alert over that. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't felt a bit more anxious about Haruhi ever since she was seemingly wiped out of existence when Nagato altered the universe. Or if I said that anxiety hadn't worsened after Kuyoh Suoh nearly killed her. And worsened again when that slider sent us to another dimension, in the process making it look like Haruhi was vaporized. I was keeping a cool head and not doing anything world-wrecking about it, but I could see where Haruhi was coming from.

I needed to sit and figure this out. As soon as we got home, my sister settled down for a nap, just as Kanae had anticipated, and Haruhi got right back to giving Kanae notes for her book, this time inviting Ishigaki to fact check. That left me to my own devices, so I sat down with another of Kanae's notebooks to take some notes of my own.

The first thing I needed to do was get down any possible patterns in the time folds, in order to figure out what Haruhi was doing and what her next move might be. After a while of careful thought and recollection, I produced the following chronological list:

(1) College Fold
Time frame: Our late teens/early 20s
Noticeable changes from present: Romantic involvement between "us"
No deaths

(2) Train Fold
Time frame: Our late teens/early 20s
Noticeable changes from present: People trying to kill Haruhi
I die

(3) Ring Fold
Time frame: Our late 20s
Noticeable changes from present: I want to marry someone
No deaths

(4) Medieval Fold
Time frame: Our early 20s
Noticeable changes from present: World has been changed to medieval fantasy, nobody remembers anybody
No deaths (but maybe Haruhi terminally ill?)

(5) Kimidori Fold
Time frame: Pre-graduation from North High
Noticeable changes from present: Haruhi knows about everything, Kimidori has Haruhi's powers, Integrated Data Thought Entity attacking SOS Brigade
I die, probably Nagato dies

I wasn't sure on Nagato dying because I of course fell out of the time fold when I died, but Haruhi was still caught up in it, and that cry of "Yuki!" sounded like Nagato wasn't just hurt.

That brought to mind a potential hole in my information: Was Haruhi experiencing time folds that I wasn't privy to? Were other friends of hers dying in them? Had she experimented with major world alterations that I wasn't aware of?

It was a troubling thought, but there was nothing I could do about it except ask Haruhi herself, and while the thought of ending that wall of secrecy between us and getting her help on this was incredibly appealing, I just didn't feel ready to confront Haruhi over the fact that the two of us were sharing visions. Either I would have to tell her the straight truth – a very dangerous move in Haruhi's current state of mind, and that's assuming she would even believe me – or I would have to allow the idea that she and I were bonded on a psychic level to sit uncomfortably between us. So, for the moment I would just have to assume that the information I had at hand was all there was.

That said, it was logical to assume that Haruhi wouldn't change course with these time folds until her current course resulted in someone dying. No one died in the College Fold, so Haruhi proceeded a little farther down the timeline and ended up with me dying while still in college, in the Train Fold. She changed something that put a stop to people trying to kill her, leading us to the Ring Fold.

But then we move to the Medieval Fold, where Haruhi has very obviously changed things, but without any deaths in the Ring Fold that would prompt it. Granted, if I were to ask why not just stick with the course seen in the Ring Fold, I would have a hard time keeping a straight face. Undoubtedly Haruhi would reject my idiotic marriage proposal, and that rejection would be a major wound in our relationship. I don't understand everything about Haruhi, but I really believe she would want to avoid that just as much as I would.

But that couldn't explain why Haruhi changed course after the Ring Fold, because if she saw a falling out between us in a time fold, then I would have seen it too. There's no way she could have known about that disaster. So clearly, Haruhi experienced a time fold that I missed.

The Kimidori fold is the most informative one – which is bad news, because Haruhi got all that information too. She learned about aliens, espers, and time travelers, and even about her powers. Kimidori even gave us a hint about her creating time folds. If Haruhi puts two and two together...

No, I guess the real issue is, if Haruhi wants to put two and two together. After that adventure where a slider sent the two of us to another dimension, it seemed pretty clear that Haruhi doesn't want to be aware of all the supernatural things in her life just yet. I don't see any reason why that wouldn't still hold true. I guess that's why I'm not more worried about that aspect of this. It is a worry, but I don't think it will end up being an issue.

Famous last words.

What worries me a lot more is Kimidori's implication that I'm repeatedly dying in Haruhi's time folds. Obviously I'm not enthusiastic about dying, but the immediate concern is that if there's one thing Haruhi is slow about, it's giving up. If she's having that much trouble creating a future where I don't meet a bloody death, then she is without a doubt going to resort to more drastic means.

Since we're already at the point where she's dragging chunks of the future into the present and relinquishing her world-altering powers to Nagato's boss, I can't even imagine how she can escalate things any more.

But Haruhi can. And just knowing that makes me sick with fear.

I fought against the notion, but ultimately resigned myself that I needed to talk to Koizumi again. After all, he had experienced parts of the Kimidori Fold which I hadn't. Even if that meant he would inevitably make some remark about how Haruhi had given up control of the Heavens and Earth in order to save me, I needed that information. I called him and broached the subject.

He told me about Nagato's death.

"So..." A heavy sigh escaped me. "...her too."

"It wasn't real," he said, his voice conveying not reassurance, but impatience. "It was just an extrapolation from a course of actions that Miss Suzumiya has not yet taken, and which we can now confidently say she will never take, since she would not want what we witnessed in the time fold to happen any more than you or I would."

I found myself entirely unprepared for such a coldhearted response. "Just because it isn't going to happen doesn't mean it wasn't real! I don't know about you, but everything that's been happening in these time folds has felt as real to me as anything that's ever happened to me. I felt myself die, and believe it or not, that's not a feeling I've gotten used to."

"You expect me to feel sorry for you?"

"I expect you to feel something for Nagato! Even if it's not going to happen, doesn't the possibility of her dying like that bother you at all? Have you wondered how she feels about having experienced something like that in a time fold?"

"Kyon, your failure to consider things from my position is deplorable, even by your standards." His voice was shockingly hard. "I am the one who had to watch her die. I am the one who had to stand there, unable to do anything, while Miss Nagato was reduced to dust. And while I do not envy your dying, at least it brought you the mercy of the end. I had to live on with the knowledge that I had failed to protect you. I had to witness Miss Suzumiya's anguish at your death. And then, I had to let your death be in vain, with the woman you'd died trying to protect being wiped away. Because there was nothing I could do to stop it."

I felt something involuntarily rise up in my voice box, something cheap and worthless from the inside of a greeting card, but it suffocated in my throat.

"I put on as strong a face as I could for Miss Nagato, to at least give her some reassurance in her final moments, but my inability to save her was enough to drive me to despair. Worse, I had no confidence that I would be able to fulfill her last wish, to protect Miss Suzumiya."

Alright, maybe my response had been a bit dickish. "Koizumi, you still can protect her. And Nagato. That was a test run of an impossible situation. The SOS Brigade wouldn't go down that easily in a real fight."

"I would hope not. But if we are not better prepared... then we cannot expect a different outcome."

Actually, it was refreshing to hear Koizumi express his real emotions for once. I really didn't care for that stupid mask he kept them under. But this was painful to talk about, and I felt I was reaching my limit. "Look, let's stop kicking ourselves over our own pain and spare some thought for Nagato. Have you even talked to her since that time fold?"

"I have. However, I am not confident that she shared her true feelings with me. She simply said that she was fine."

That line didn't convince me, either. "I'll give her a call."

"While you have her on the line, inquire as to the likelihood of her race taking action against the SOS Brigade in the manner we witnessed in the time fold. That is a threat I would like to have us prepared against."

"You could have just asked her that yourself."

"She would not have trusted me enough to give me an honest answer."

Great. We still really need to work on that lack of trust among the other SOS Brigade members. What if for one reason or another I wasn't available to relay that information between Nagato and Koizumi? We'd have been killed just because she wouldn't trust him.

"All right," I sighed. "Meanwhile, you and Miss Asahina put your heads together and see if you can figure out why I keep getting killed in these time folds. I'm beginning to feel like I'm the stumblebum in a black comedy."

"Ah. I'm rather doubtful that she would trust me enough to -"

"Oh, for the love of whatever you like," I groaned. "Just give it a try, will you? Our lives may depend on this, and you can't expect me to coordinate everything like I'm Haruhi's secretary or something."

"As you say. I assure you, I am quite concerned with finding a way to prevent your death, or deaths. Preventing them may be the key to stopping the time folds, and allowing them to continue is certainly the key to making Miss Suzumiya do something worse. She has already been forming closed space, you know."

Damn. It's been a while since we've had to worry about that.

"You'll have to run down for me the dates and times when all the time folds in which you die manifested, but I am ready to wager that they coincide perfectly with the appearance of closed space. And of course, I am personally invested in your continued safety."

Yeah, because if I die then Haruhi lets all hell run loose.

But he continued, "It is curious. In that time fold, Miss Suzumiya no longer had her powers, so your death could no longer be an event triggering the end of the world. Yet it felt like no less of a failure and a loss."

"Don't bother agonizing about it. We're not going to let it happen. Right?"

"Of course. But a thought strikes me now. You are right that we should spare more thought for Miss Nagato. Reflecting on that, I think she should not be left alone tonight. We might arrange for her to come join you and Miss Suzumiya, if there is room?"

I informed him that there really wasn't. Haruhi and Ishigaki were sharing a bed in one guest room, and my sister and I had the other, with each of us on a bed too small to feasibly fit two people. I didn't like the thought of asking Nagato to set up a futon on Kanae's hardwood floor, and I was sure that if I offered her up my bed she would tell me not to trouble myself. More importantly, Haruhi was so emphatic about this not being an SOS Brigade trip that I couldn't imagine her agreeing to it unless we made up a good story. All in all, hosting Nagato was far from impossible, but surely there had to be a better option.

"That is as I thought. And from what I understand, it did not go over well when you had Miss Asahina sleep over with Miss Nagato. Unfortunately, Miss Nagato's only other friends are the members of the Computer Research Society, all of them male. Thus, our best option appears to be for me to spend the night with her."

I wondered if he could hear me grind my teeth.

"I realize the situation is rather inappropriate, but I prefer it to Miss Nagato being alone after what happened. Her own kind turned upon her and erased her."

"Wait a minute," I said. "What about Tachibana?"

"Kyoko Tachibana?" His surprise was obvious.

"Why not? You have her number, don't you? And there's no reason not to trust her in this situation, is there?"

"...I suppose not. But if we're going to use someone not allied with one of our factions, why not Miss Tsuruya?"

That wasn't too bad an idea, and I had little doubt that Tsuruya would readily agree to it. She was reliable like that. But I answered: "That would probably be awkward. I mean, putting Nagato with someone as rambunctious as Tsuruya... At least Haruhi has learned to let Nagato have her space."

"True," he sighed. "Very well, but get Miss Nagato's approval first. And make sure she understands that this was all your idea, not mine."

I assured him I would, and we rang off. I couldn't hold in a smirk. I had little fear that Nagato would put up an argument on the point, so it looked like I had found a way to break some of that ice between Koizumi and Tachibana. It was a small step, but if it worked out I might no longer have to deal with Koizumi's grousing over my relationship with Haruhi.

I called Nagato.

Usually, when phoning her, I have to be the first one to speak, but this time she immediately answered, "I thought you would call sooner."

"I'm very sorry," I said, and I was. "If I could have discreetly gotten away sooner, I would have. I have been worried about you."

"You misunderstand. I did not require a call from you. I thought you would be eager to obtain my advice on how to prevent the taking of Haruhi Suzumiya's powers."

"You can't be serious." I got no response to that. "Who cares about Haruhi's powers? Nagato, you were killed in that time fold we just experienced. By your own people, at that."

"That is of little consequence. While the sight of my disintegration would inevitably be distressing to you and Haruhi Suzumiya, my information would have been completely retained. Your own death in the temporal intersection, that which you refer to as a time fold, is a far more serious concern. When the physical substance of a human is rendered inert, their information is dissipated. Is this not why Haruhi Suzumiya is so concerned about death?"

"Wait..." I struggled to process some rudimentary understanding of the technical babble Nagato just spouted out. "...Are you saying that you know for a fact that there is no afterlife?"

"The concept of an afterlife seems to involve paradigms outside the experience of data-based organisms. Some conclude that the concept is a straightforward delusion, a belief formed by the desire to live on after death. Others, such as myself, believe that without understanding the relevant data, it is impossible to form a conclusion on whether the concept has any logical validity. Carbon-based organisms are more qualified to make that determination, though given their individualistic nature, it is likely that no given carbon-based organism can make it with a truly informed and objective basis."

The phone line hung in awkward silence for a few moments while I struggled to process that. "...So... you don't know if there is an afterlife or not, is that it?"

"It is."

Damn. I guess it was hoping for too much, but it would have been nice to have that question settled one way or the other. "Okay, so... I still don't quite understand why dying isn't a big deal to you."

"Death is merely the end of the physical form, and humanoid interfaces are data-based, not physical. Our physical bodies are made strictly for convenient interactions with humans, and can be reconstituted at will." The tone of her voice went up just a quarter step, as if expressing surprise at my lack of understanding. "You have already witnessed this with Ryoko Asakura."

Asakura. ...Of course! How could I have been such an idiot? At the end of her battle with Nagato, Asakura faded away into nothing, but even at the time, I didn't think of her as being gone. She'd just been... removed. Haruhi and Koizumi got me so worked up, with her dismayed cry and his talk of Nagato dying, that I never stopped to think about what exactly they saw. If they saw Nagato fade away like Asakura did, naturally they might jump to the conclusion that she was dead. Honestly, if I had seen it happen, I would probably be too upset to remember that that isn't the end for a humanoid interface.

"Okay, I guess I misunderstood what Koizumi told me. But still, if your boss took away your physical body, that would mean you'd never get to see any of us again, wouldn't it?"

"It is unlikely, in the scenario we experienced, that the Data Integration Thought Entity would ever allow my physical form to be restored."

"So doesn't that upset you?"

"A little. But it is of minor consequence compared to your death, and the death of Haruhi Suzumiya, which would have followed if I had not surrendered."

"That comparison isn't important. Look, Koizumi suggested we get someone to spend the night over at your place, and I think that's a good idea. We were thinking of asking Kyoko Tachibana."

"That is not necessary. I am fine."

"So I've heard," I sighed. "Look, I don't care how you look at it, what you went through in that time fold would deeply upset anyone, and I know for a fact that you have feelings as much as anyone else. When a person is going through an emotionally tough time, they need to be with other people. Okay?"

"I see. This is why you did not call sooner."

"...Um... Could you run that by me again?"

"Dying in the time fold was traumatic for you. However, you did not need to call me for reassurance that the event could be prevented, because you were already engaged in the most necessary approach to the problem: Spending time with people close to you."

"Um, that's not exactly..." A second thought hit me. "Well, maybe you did kind of hit the nail on the head there. But that wasn't what I was thinking about when I, um..."

"I accept your proposal."

"Huh?"

"I do not believe it necessary, but I will trust your advice and welcome Kyoko Tachibana into my apartment for the night. Though I do not believe her to be the optimal choice for this arrangement."

"Yeah? Well, if you have a friend you'd like to invite over..."

"The other members of the Computer Research Society are all male, so having one spend the night would be against social norms, and could cause problems with his family. My favored choice, Tetsuya Yanami, would also most likely be lead to a mistaken assumption that I reciprocate his romantic interest in me."

"Er, yeah, that would be a problem."

"Other humanoid interfaces have had increasing difficulty understanding my information. This makes them unsuited for the purpose you have outlined."

"Um, speaking of whom... Nagato, is it really possible that they would try to erase you like that, because of that threat I made?"

"Uncertain. At the time I transmitted the threat, the matter was put in indefinite debate. Given the standing consensus to do no more than observe Haruhi Suzumiya, there is no chance of a decision to take action against the SOS Brigade until the situation changes. However, Haruhi Suzumiya freely giving her powers to the Data Integration Thought Entity, thereby negating your threat, would likely be a sufficient change to the situation."

Great. "So essentially, by threatening to tell Haruhi about her powers and let her go berserk if they take you away, I made your boss the SOS Brigade's enemy, just with a stalemate in place?"

"From your perspective, yes."

"From my perspective?"

"Data organisms are not burdened with such concepts as 'an uneasy truce'. So long as it is not in their interest to act against us, they hold no ill will towards us, and would not hesitate even slightly to aid us if we were in danger or had a shared goal."

I thought I detected in Nagato's voice a hint of admiration for her fellow aliens, but I may have imagined it. "Then... If Haruhi ever loses her powers, we'll have to fight them for you."

"No. If such an event occurs, I wish for you to surrender me. What I stated in the time fold also holds true in the present: I do not wish for you or Haruhi Suzumiya to sacrifice yourselves for me."

"That's our choice to make, Nagato. We care about you way too much to stand by and let those bastards take you away. Even if they take Haruhi's powers and kill me, like they did in the time fold, Haruhi will tear Heaven and Earth apart until she brings you back safe and sound. I guarantee it."

"I do not wish it," she repeated. "If my physical form is banned, though I will no longer be with you, at least I will retain the knowledge of your continued existence. If you die, I will lose both your presence and that reassurance. I also do not wish for Haruhi Suzumiya to inflict harm upon my conspecifics."

"It's not that simple. You can't just expect me to stand by while you're vaporized – and you certainly can't expect that of Haruhi. Besides, what kind of choice is that, we die or you get 'moved to Canada'?" I could hear the bile and frustration coming out in my voice, and I knew it shouldn't be directed at Nagato, but I couldn't help it. "There has to be a way we can prevent our ever having to make that choice. Hell, we know exactly what the threat is and how it's going to strike. If we can just come up with a good plan, we should be able to make it so that your boss would never even think about taking you away, or -"

I caught myself.

Good grief. How the hell does something like this even happen?

I'm on the same page as Haruhi. I'm trying to find a way to keep us from dying.