Disclaimer: No disrespect is intended with the posting of this story. Situations and characters are property of Nagaru Tanigawa, and are used here without permission. His stuff; we're just borrowing it for a wee bit. Additionally, some tinting (characters and settings) are borrowed from Higurashi, which is the property of Ryukishi07; the gaggle of cousins that appear are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Note: Takes place after novel eight and ignores novels nine through eleven. Welcome to a divergent AU! This is not a proper crossover; just using some established characters due to laziness.
The decorative wall remains resolutely blank, no matter how long I stare at it. The way I see it, if we're going to keep using this place as a base of operations -- and I don't see any good reason why not, at this point -- it makes more sense to give him someplace to arrive that doesn't look completely bizarre. Sure, it's a dream, so anything goes, but still -- a Western-style door standing there in the middle of a bunch of marble columns and frescoes looks pointlessly dumb.
I've already made the rounds looking for Kyon; there was no sign of him in the Brigade room or at the castle, and whether it's just me getting better at this or something else, I get a strong feeling he's not actually in the dream right now.
Dammit, Kyon! How the hell am I supposed to give you your homework if you're not even here?
After a few minutes of pacing back and forth across the mosaic logo in the middle of the floor, I decide that it's pointless to wait any further. I suppose I could try to rig up something like that doll in case he shows up, but honestly I can just give him two days' worth tomorrow instead of just one. It's not like he's going to be short on time to work on things while he's stuck.
That does, however, leave me with the quandary of what I should actually do while I'm here. I know there's got to be more about this place that I haven't figured out yet, but simply making things or people or events strikes me as boring, at least without someone to show them off to. Without Kyon here, that means...
Or does it? I hadn't really thought about it before, but... if I can meet Kyon in dreams, why wouldn't I be able to meet other people, too?
I settle down on the couch for a minute to consider the idea. If the dream I had last year was really me meeting Kyon in a dream -- which I haven't been able to confirm yet, thanks to last night's 'reward' getting interrupted -- then it proves that it's not necessary to be in a lucid dream to meet someone in a dream, since I definitely wasn't in control that time. If that's the case, I could try to find anyone in a dream, although they might not realize what was going on if they're not lucid too.
With that thought in mind, I ponder briefly. The other Brigade members would the the obvious place to start, but which one of them? Yuki... well, I can't imagine her dreams being all that interesting, so I'll pass on that for now. For Koizumi, I'm already paying attention to him during the days anyway while I investigate whatever's going on with him, so expanding my scope of operations to someone else while I'm dreaming seems like a good plan.
That leaves Mikuru, which actually seems like a good option even aside from eliminating the others. She seemed a bit surprised to hear that I was investigating Koizumi today, and while Kyon said I probably wouldn't find anything if I tried doing the same to her, maybe she might give something away in her dreams that I can follow up on.
With that in mind, I close my eyes and focus on finding Mikuru, the same way I did with Kyon when I was first looking for him. Still keeping my eyes closed, I reach out and turn the page, trying to focus on my mental image of the real Mikuru as much as I can. There's a slight feeling of tightness after I lower my hand, but it's fairly quick, and I barely have time to register it before it's gone.
When I finally open my eyes, I'm actually a bit surprised to find that my clothes have changed; I seem to be wearing a copy of Mikuru's maid outfit from the Brigade room. There's no sign of Mikuru that I can see, even though I can hear noise from somewhere nearby that might still be her. The place I'm in, though...
The first impression I have is that this is an apartment, but it's sure not Mikuru's. The times I've been over to visit, her apartment's been pretty tiny, but this place -- at least by apartment standards -- is huge. One entire wall seems to be made of glass, and it's looking out into what seems to be a massive courtyard. I walk over to check it out and my jaw drops as I realize just how far up we are - this place has to be at least a hundred stories up, and there's still more building above us!
I step back, away from the window, and close my mouth as I consider what I'm seeing. This is certainly the kind of place I could imagine in a dream, although it's kind of hard to reconcile it with Mikuru of all people. I was expecting more... well, typical girl stuff. Her real apartment is fairly plain, but feminine where there's something to be noticed -- flowers, lots of pink and pastels, that kind of thing. This place looks like it was built out of stainless steel and glass and not a lot else -- there are a few touches here and there, but they're almost lost in the whole ultra-modern, brushed-metal feel to the place.
Any further musing is cut off as the girl herself enters the room, closely followed by Kyon - or a copy of him at least, since I'm reasonably sure he's not actually in the dream himself tonight. She just glances at me briefly, then takes a seat in the armchair in the center of the room and rests her head in her hands.
Her outfit isn't all that unusual, aside from that same 'feel' -- she's wearing a loose top and shorts, nowhere near the girlish moe-moe look I usually expect to see from Mikuru. Kyon, for his part, is pretty stiff - he's dressed in a long black coat with tails and pinstriped pants - he looks like a fancy butler or something similar.
So, a maid and a butler, huh? I'm about to march over and demand to know what's going on and where we are when it hits me -- she didn't bat an eyelash at seeing me here like this, and since I know that's not the real Kyon...
Mikuru dreaming about putting me in a maid costume and giving orders? Okay, yeah, I guess I can see that -- but if she doesn't realize I'm the real Haruhi, I can use this to spy on her pretty effectively!
For now, though, she doesn't seem to be doing much -- just staring out the window, which in itself seems a little weird. Why dream yourself into a place like this and then not do anything?
"I'm really getting tired of this," she finally says, after a couple of minutes' contemplation, moving to sit up in the chair. "Why can't these stupid orders ever actually make sense for a change?"
That gets my ears to perk up again -- those mysterious 'orders' of hers again. But orders from who?
"First, they spend a month training me on lucid dreaming, then after I get here I'm forbidden to even try it -- until I got ordered to make sure that Suzumiya-san found out about it and got that book." She gives me a dark look at that. "So I'm sure it's got something to do with her, but I have no idea what!"
I can't help but shift in place uncomfortably at the look she's giving me; an angry Mikuru is kind of weird and unnerving to see, sort of like being mauled by a duck. Sure, it can happen, and it'd still hurt, but it's so unexpected you're just kind of dumbfounded until the realization of what's happening really kicks in.
She seems to pick up on it herself, though, and her expression falls. "Not like it's even her fault, though -- she doesn't know anything more about it than I do, I'm sure. It's not like she's following anyone's orders."
With that, she turns away to stare out the window again, and I take the excuse to move over to what I assume is the kitchen -- if I'm in the maid uniform, I guess it's my job to make the tea here, and if I want to keep up my cover I'd better act like the maid. The kitchen's fully stocked with everything I need, although it takes me a bit of hunting and fumbling through cabinets to actually find all the equipment I need and get the hot water going.
Mikuru doesn't seem to find this unusual, although she does turn to Kyon and start talking to him since I'm out of the room. "And then there's you," she huffs. "Not that I can really blame you either, but you would have to be stuck out of town while Suzumiya-san starts acting stranger than usual. Now she's talking about investigating Koizumi-san, and she was definitely asking some hard questions after she overheard me talking about my orders last week -- but then she's been almost too nice to me since then!"
She seems to be moving around now, since I can hear footsteps outside the kitchen. "I want to think she's actually being nice just because, but I still can't help waiting for the other shoe to drop!"
That sends a pang through me... she really trusts me that little? Although, in thinking about it, I'm not sure why she would trust me, either. Even when it comes to being nice to her, I only really started because Kyon said it would be the best way to find out more about her, and before that... well... I definitely haven't treated her all that well. The one time I can remember Kyon getting seriously upset with me was over the way I was playing around with her, and I know that's not the only time he's gotten upset about it. Granted, it's been a while, but I can see where she'd still be a bit hesitant to actually believe the best of me.
I take a deep breath, and almost choke on it when Mikuru suddenly appears at the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe as she looks in at me -- so I put a bit of a hustle on to finish up with the tea.
She doesn't really seem to be paying attention to me directly though, just giving out a sharp sigh before she goes on. "I get so tired of being the one to know the least about everything that's going on -- and I should know more than anyone else! What use is being from the future when I never get any information about what actually happened in this part of the past?"
I'm lucky I'm not actually trying to pour anything yet -- the tea would be all over the counter if I was. I do manage to fumble the cups, though, sending them clattering across the serving tray that's still sitting on the counter.
What the hell?! Mikuru's from the future?
I don't have a lot of time to consider, though; the difficulty I'm having seems to have actually drawn Mikuru's attention away from her troubles and onto me directly. I do my best to school my expression quickly, but all I can really do is hope like hell she doesn't figure out what's different about me right away -- I seriously need a minute to think about what to do next.
I can feel the sweat starting to bead on my forehead before she finally gives up, shaking her head as she heads back out to the main room of the apartment with a sigh. I only just manage to resist letting out a relieved breath myself; the last thing I need to do is give Mikuru another reason to scrutinize me like that again.
Part of me is angry at just the thought of that -- that I should be afraid, and of Mikuru of all people! I should be going out there and shaking her down until she spills the entire story - when she's from, why she's here, why the hell she's hidden this from me!
But then another part of me thinks about what Kyon said about her, and the way she's sounded here, and I stop. Half the reason she's so upset right now is because I have hauled her around and made her do exactly what I want, and it sounds like I'm not the only one -- if she's been getting some kind of orders from the future, and they don't even tell her why she needs to do what she's doing, how much of a jerk move is that? Do I really need to go and pile on her even more?
Thinking about it that way helps to put it in perspective a bit better. Mikuru is my Brigade mascot... but more than just that, I think she's having a hard time, and as her Brigade chief it's my job to watch out for her. With that thought in mind, I change my clothes, switching back to my "Legendary Dreamer" costume -- coat, armband, and all the rest. Grabbing a couple of cups of tea -- no more messing around with making it the old-fashioned way, I just picture them full of the best tea I can imagine -- I head out to the living room, where she's settled down at a kotatsu that she must have dreamed up, since I don't remember it being out here when I arrived.
She's resting across the table with her head down, so she doesn't see me as I set the cup down by her elbow and take a seat across from her. I take a deep breath to help me steady myself before I say anything, since I need to keep my own surprise and excitement reined in a little here.
"Have a drink, Mikuru-chan. You look like you need something to help you relax."
She sits bolt upright in shock at that, obviously not expecting me to talk to her. I can't say I'd react any differently, though, if something like the servant-Mikuru I made in the palace did anything I didn't expect her to. In reply, I just nudge her tea a little closer to her. "Seriously, you look like you need it."
At that, she picks up the cup, taking a long drink from it, although her eyes never actually leave me. She almost seems to be operating on autopilot, though, so I'm guessing we're going to need to get past the initial shock a little more slowly. I frown a bit, wondering exactly how to get through this.
"I assume from what you said earlier that you know you're lucid dreaming, right?" That gets me a curt nod in reply, her expression moving from shock to puzzlement.
It's enough of a confirmation though, so I push ahead, leaning on the edge of the table as I do. "You're not the only one -- I'm the real Suzumiya Haruhi, I'm in a lucid dream too, and I'm actually in your dream. I don't know if you had a copy of me here before or what, but I'm not a copy - I'm the real thing."
I can almost trace this sinking in just by paying attention to Mikuru's face. She starts by nodding slowly in acknowledgement, but as what I actually said registers, her eyes widen and the color drains out of her face. Abruptly, she lets her head collapse back to her folded arms, which I can't help but snort at.
"It's not that bad, Mikuru-chan," I say, shaking my head a bit. "C'mon, sit up and talk to me. I promise not to bite."
She slowly raises her head at that, giving me that slightly hunted, watery-eyed look that I'm used to after I've forcibly re-dressed her in some new costume or other. She still looks too uncertain to actually say anything, and I'm about to lay into her when I bite my tongue.
That's not really going to help much, is it? I just decided not five minutes ago that she'd had enough hassle from me and whoever these people giving her orders are, and even if I'm getting frustrated, taking it out on her isn't going to help matters at all.
Instead, I close my eyes, letting out a tense sigh before I try again. "I'm not... very good at doing things this way, so... sorry in advance if I come across as pushy or mean here -- I'm really trying not to." I open my eyes and fix my gaze on Mikuru's face; she's dropped back to a more wary expression again. "I don't know everything about what's going on with you, but Yuki told me that you couldn't have said anything to me about it if you wanted to."
I look her straight in the eye as I finish. "So-- Just a few minutes ago in the kitchen, I heard you say you're actually from the future. Is that really true?"
She gets that panicked look on her face again, then deflates a bit as she gives me a tiny nod.
It strikes me that she hasn't actually said a word since I announced who I was, but then the same words I just mentioned to Mikuru come back to me - Yuki said she couldn't. Well, hopefully I can reassure her about that much, at least!
"Look-- if what Yuki told me really is true, you can trust me with this, I promise. I don't know what it is that's keeping you from talking to me about this, but whatever it is I'll absolutely help you out with it. Obviously I don't know why this has to be kept such a big secret -- at least not yet -- but I swear I'll keep it that way." I give an impatient huff at that. "Just-- Talk to me! Say something!"
She cringes at that, looking away from me and out the window as she whispers her response. "I-- I don't even think I can. It's not that I don't want to, I just literally can't!"
What, that's it? I grit my teeth and slam my fist down on the table. "Come on, Mikuru-chan!" I bark out... then I catch myself. Not helping, Suzumiya. I clench my fist tighter for just a moment to try to get out my frustration, then let go of my own tension. "I'm-- please, Mikuru-chan. Just try, okay?"
"All right, I'll try," Mikuru replies, taking a deep breath. "Then yes -- I actually am a time traveler. I was sent back to join the Brigade last year, and my mission -- at least the mission I was told about -- was supposed to be to observe you, since you seem to have been involved in a severe temporoclastic fugue event that occurred roughly four years Down from our current date."
She pauses to take a breath, and looks like she's about to go on when her eyes snap open wide. "Wait-- did I really just say all that?"
I shrug. "I have no idea what the hell a 'temporoclastic' whatever is, but I definitely heard you explain things, yes."
She just stares at me, shaking her head. "No no, it's not that -- I shouldn't even be physically capable of saying those things! Part of the equipment that all time travelers are outfitted with is an automatic censoring implant -- it prevents us from actually giving away any kind of details about events that haven't happened yet by altering our speech. Maybe it's because I'm actually in the dreamtime and the brainwave patterns don't match up? But even that should..."
With that, she degenerates into some incomprehensible babbling about alpha states and brain centers that even has me lost, until I hold my hands up in a 'T' pattern to interrupt. "Time out, Mikuru-chan! Take a breath!"
That seems to get her to realize that I'm actually still here; her expression slowly falls from excited to morose. "I'm... in a lot of trouble, aren't I?"
"Maybe," I allow. Her shoulders slump in defeat, and that confirms what I wanted to know -- she does feel bad about having kept her secret from me, at least. "Maybe," I repeat, "but if so it's not going to be from me."
She looks up at me in surprise at that. "Wait-- you're not angry that I didn't tell you I was a time traveler?"
"No, actually I am pretty pissed off about that," I counter, prompting her to wince again. "But from the way you were sounding a few minutes ago -- and what you just told me -- it sounds like you didn't really have much of a choice about whether to tell me or not.
"So yeah, I'm ticked off, but not really at you." I give Mikuru a long look at that. "Would you have told me you were a time traveler if you were able to?"
"I--" she starts, then sighs. "If I'm being honest... I'm not entirely sure. I'd like to say yes, but..."
I scowl a bit at that, then shake my head. "I can't say I'm completely happy with that answer, but it sounds like an honest one, at least. I'd expect a time traveler to keep things secret about the future, so not telling me right away... yeah, I suppose that's reasonable.
"But more than just that, though -- what the hell is going on? You said something about why you're in the past, but why are you here, in the dream? And what's this about orders not making sense?"
"Um... well, this dream state is used for secure communications in my time," Mikuru explains. "Most time travelers call it the 'dreamtime', based on some of the legends of the Aborigines in Australia. You can get here by lucid dreaming -- obviously, you found that out yourself -- but it's not actually the same thing as a lucid dream; there are a bunch of differences between this and a simple dream.
"Anyway, to make a long story short, due to the way this place works you can pass information between people securely -- in the future, there are so many kinds of electronic and cybernetic surveillance out there that you can't guarantee that someone else isn't listening to you in the real world, no matter what you do. But the dreamtime is different -- it uses different parts of your brain than you normally do, so standard neural implants don't work, and no one's ever developed anything that can actually record this place, since everyone's mind interprets it a little differently."
I blink in surprise at the concise -- and pretty technical -- explanation from Mikuru. It's weird to see her rattle something like that off without a pause, but it definitely adds to the impression that she really is a time traveler, like she claims to be.
It's going to take me a minute to collect my thoughts, so I lean back from the table, staring into space just above Mikuru's head. "All right, that explains why you'd be here at all, but it doesn't really tell me much about why you're here now -- and there wasn't anything in there about your orders, either. Orders from who?"
"My superiors in the agency I work for," Mikuru explains, sighing again. "I'd give you a name, but it wouldn't really mean anything -- the agency doesn't exist yet, and none of the people I work for are due to be born for a very long time yet. But the orders that were confusing me... well, it has to do with the rules they pound into your head as someone traveling through time, and what I was told my mission here was going to involve.
"As far as I was told, this was just going to involve observing the past, not actually doing anything while I was there." She starts to look vaguely angry again as she gets into her irritation. "And yet ever since I arrived, I keep getting all these weird orders to do this or that -- mostly having to do with Kyon-kun -- but past that, none of it makes sense! They've got me actually doing things here that I know have to be causing effects further Up, but they won't tell me what or why I have to do them!"
"Then why don't you just tell them to get lost?" I retort. "If the orders suck, don't follow them!"
"I have to," Mikuru replies, closing her eyes wearily. "If I don't, they'll almost certainly recall me to my own time, and the consequences for something like that... well, I don't know exactly what they'd do, but it wouldn't be good at all!"
"So they tricked you into coming here by saying one thing, and now that you're here, they're making you do something else? On pain of some kind of punishment?" I can't help but scowl at that.
Mikuru nods unhappily at that, and I huff in irritation. "That sucks! I absolutely wanted to meet a time traveler, but it was supposed to be to hang out and have fun with them, not because they're going to get in major trouble if they don't!" I fold my arms, turning my glare to the window. "So are you going to get in trouble for telling me this much, even?"
"That..." She actually stops to think for a minute. "You know, I think I actually might not?" she says hesitantly. "I'd definitely get in trouble if my superiors found out that you knew I'm here from the future, but... like I said, the dreamtime is used like this for secure communications because it can't be monitored, specifically. So they aren't going to know that the truth is out."
I turn back to look at her, giving her a considering look. "From the way you put that... if I'd come to you anywhere but here, they'd know about it?"
She nods at that unhappily. "It'd be almost certain," she agrees.
"Then I guess we only talk about this stuff while we're here, then," I aver. "I'm absolutely going to remember this, and I'll try to give you some kind of signal to let you know in the real world... hey, wait - here's an idea! Put your hair up in a ponytail tomorrow, then ask me what I think of it, we can use that as a code phrase!"
"I... guess I can do that?" she replies timidly. "They probably won't care about the way I look unless it's too unusual, so that should be safe, but... what are you going to do, now that you know?"
I frown a bit. "For right now, nothing - from what you've said, if your supervisors find out that I know, you get pulled back to the future and punished - so for now, the first priority is getting you out from under their thumb!" I nod sharply at that. "Going forward, though, keep coming to the dream! Actually... be really sure to come tomorrow night - Kyon's definitely going to need to be brought in for this!"
"Kyon-kun? Wait -- he's found the dreamtime too?" Mikuru looks almost more surprised by that than anything else that's happened tonight.
"Yeah! He..." My excitement is cut short by the world around us pulsing, the walls of the futuristic apartment we're in pulsing in and out like they're made of rubber. "Whoa... what the hell was that?"
"Your footing in the dreamtime is slipping," Mikuru explains, her voice fading in and out as another pulse hits, forcing me to close my eyes. "You're waking up -- but I'll be here tomorrow night, definitely."
"Good -- I..." Anything else I planned on saying is lost, as a final wave of disorientation strikes -- and this time, as the walls bow outward, they puff away like mist and leave me in darkness... which I interrupt by blearily opening my eyes to see the first gray light of dawn starting to peek through my window.
The next day at school is practically torture. I'm almost ready to burst with excitement over my discovery, but there's no one to tell! Kyon would absolutely be getting an earful about this, if he wasn't stuck in Hinamizawa; I briefly consider trying to talk to Sakanaka about it, but decide against it; honestly, if it was someone telling me about all this I'm not sure I'd believe it myself!
Mikuru herself isn't much use for this, either. If what she said about her bosses is right, I can't blow her cover... well, her new cover, I suppose, since she's really had one that she's had to keep from me this whole time. Now, it's the other way around -- she's got a secret from them, and if I screw that up, she gets pulled back to her own time, and I absolutely don't want that to happen!
The constant churning of my thoughts keeps me restless all day long. I'm almost late getting back to class from lunch thanks to that; I've got too much energy to bother eating at lunch, and I'm too busy mulling over my own ideas about how to break the stalemate with Mikuru's superiors to pay any attention to the time.
I've finally managed to settle down a little by the time the club meeting rolls around. Yuki's the first one in the club room -- as usual -- and on seeing her there, I'm half tempted to blurt out what I've found to her! After all, she apparently knew about this, or at least about part of it; she was the one who told me that Mikuru wouldn't be able to say anything directly, and she couldn't either. I squash that idea rather quickly, though; I don't necessarily think Yuki's untrustworthy, but if Mikuru or Koizumi were to come in while I was in the middle of that... no, I don't think it's a good idea, at least not yet.
That proves doubly true when there's a knock on the door, shortly after I've set my bag down and fired up the computer. It's too soon after classes have let out to expect Koizumi, and Mikuru doesn't bother to knock. I frown as I push back my chair and head for the door, wondering who it could be -- everyone else should be in their own clubs or heading for them, shouldn't they?
The answer is a bit of a surprise when it comes, although it shouldn't have been. Sakanaka is waiting outside expectantly, looking a bit nervous as Mikuru comes to a halt behind her.
"Oh, uh, Sakanaka-san!" I stumble a bit over my tongue as I try to gather my thoughts. "Come on in -- something you needed?"
She nods, heading inside along with the upperclassman. "Um... sorry if I'm intruding on your meeting," she starts off. "I would have talked to you during class earlier today, but I wasn't able to catch up to you during break earlier today."
It's only then that I recall that I'd asked her to see if the chorus would be interested in getting involved in the fundraising efforts on Saturday; I was so caught up in thinking about Mikuru all day that I completely forgot about it! "No, it's fine -- I probably should have checked back with you earlier, sorry about that." I shake my head a bit, trying to organize my thoughts a bit better.
"It's all right," Sakanaka smiles. "Anyway, I wanted to give you good news! I talked to the president of the chorus club, and she thought it was a great idea! The only catch is that we'll need some kind of stage to perform on."
"That's no problem!" I retort. Granted, it isn't something I've made plans for, but I know the school's got a stage in the gym; we'll just have to make sure to track down Okabe-sensei and make sure we have access to the gym for the fundraiser. They might need to have things set up so they can sing, but I can probably get the Computer Research Society guys to take care of all of that stuff...
Gradually, I become aware of Sakanaka's slightly worried expression as she tries to get my attention. "Um... Suzumiya-san?"
"It's all taken care of!" I bark, giving her a confident grin. "Just planning out what we'll need to do to get ready!"
"Sorry, I was just going to ask one other thing - how many people are you expecting to come?" She looks a little nervous at that question. "I mean, I've seen the flyers that have started going up around the school, but I don't really know how many of the students will come on a day off for something like this."
I frown a bit as I consider. "I hadn't actually thought of that, but you've got a point. Not a problem, though, it just means we need to expand the scope of our advertising!" I nod sharply at that.
The point is punctuated by another knock on the door; once open, it reveals the timely arrival of Koizumi. "Good afternoon, Suzumiya-san... ah, we have a guest?"
"Sakanaka-san was just letting me know that we've got the cooperation of the chorus for the fundraiser this weekend," I reply. "Speaking of which, you're just in time! I need you to go talk to the Computer Society again - we will need to expand the scope of our advertising!"
"What did you have in mind?" Koizumi replies smoothly, setting down his bag next to the table.
"Get them to print up more flyers, then we'll all go down to the shopping district and leave them with the shopkeepers! I'm sure they won't mind, since it's for a good cause!" As I speak, Sakanaka gives me a quick wave, then ducks out of the room -- makes sense, I suppose, since if her club is going to be performing, they'll probably need to make extra sure they're ready.
"I'll get right on it," Koizumi nods, heading back out the door. Now that the immediate business is taken care of, I turn my attention to Mikuru. I'm pleased to note that the former has her hair up in a ponytail, as suggested.
She stammers for a minute under my gaze before she finally gets a word out. "Uh... g-good afternoon, Suzumiya-san," she starts out. "I, um, decided to try something different with my hair today -- what do you think?"
Mikuru, I could hug you -- you remembered it perfectly! I decide not to get too excited, though, since if her bosses are watching all this I don't need to tip them off that I know about it. "Hmm, looks good -- although I think your regular hairstyle suits you better. Why'd you decide to change things up today?"
That catches her off-guard, and she pauses for a moment before replying. "Um, er... it was... something that came to me last night," she offers, a pleading look in her eyes.
A movement -- or maybe a lack of it -- catches the corner of my eye, and I glance over at Yuki, who's simply watching the entire exchange wordlessly. It doesn't seem that unusual... until I realize that she's watching us, rather than nose down in her book like she usually is. "Interesting," is her only comment, before she returns her attention to her current choice of reading material.
I can't help but raise an eyebrow at that, and Mikuru takes the lapse in attention to scurry away and start changing. I can't help but offer one last shot, though: "You don't have to change today, Mikuru-chan... maybe I should dress up today instead?"
She shoots me a puzzled look at that, halfway into unzipping her skirt.
"Well, it'd only be fair for me to try it once in a while," I grin. "Haven't you ever wondered how I'd look in some of these costumes? Say, maybe, the maid outfit?"
She colors at that and turns away. "I'm... I..."
I can't help but giggle a bit at that. Enough playing around, though -- I've got a fundraiser and a trip to plan!
Most of the rest of the evening is spent in a blur of plans, arrangements, and talking as we get ready for the fundraiser and trip to follow.
Yuki has almost all of the travel arrangements finished at this point; she's even got a credit card -- which was news to me -- but with that, she's even managed to buy the tickets and reserve a hotel room in Aomori for Saturday evening. We'll just need to make sure to get the money from the fundraiser to her so she can pay the bill.
Koizumi managed to get a huge bundle of flyers printed up before club meetings were over for the day, although he mentioned that the computer society is running low on paper; that's something I hadn't considered, but a quick trip to an office supply store after clubs let out solved that problem.
With all the extra leaflets printed up, I gave out a bundle to the rest of the Brigade and told them to visit a few stores and restaurants where they shop regularly; aside from a break for dinner and to get more paper, that chewed up the rest of the evening pretty thoroughly -- and wore me out to boot.
So it's not really a surprise to find myself collapsing into bed early, and ending up in the dream rather quickly. This time, when I make my reality check, it's almost not necessary; there's no way the landscape I'm seeing could be real. It's a mishmash of various shops and sidewalks arranged along a bunch of stairways, and no one direction is up -- it's almost exactly like that famous painting by M.C. Escher. This is one dreamscape I almost want to stop and explore more -- what's it going to do if I get to the top of one of these staircases and everything is sideways? -- but I can't really afford the time tonight.
Reluctantly, I turn the page with Mikuru in mind; I don't know if she'll be back in that same apartment I found her in last night, and I'd rather not waste time searching for her. It's a good thing I didn't go to the apartment, too, since she's not in a place I would have expected -- this looks like the mountain on Tsuruya's estate, near where we had our treasure hunt on Valentine's Day.
Sure enough, though, Mikuru is here; she's sitting on top of a big rock that I vaguely recall being here when we had our picnic. It's an odd place to find her, though.
"Why here?" I fire off without preamble as I walk up the slope behind her.
"Wah!" she yelps, losing her balance and nearly falling off the rock. I find myself having to suppress a snicker at that, watching her windmill her arms as she tries not to fall off.
I can't hide my smirk as she finally turns around to face me. "C'mon, Mikuru-chan, it's a dream. You couldn't fall off that thing if you didn't want to! At least as long as you remember that it's a dream, anyway."
"I'm... I know," she sighs, hopping down and straightening out her skirt; she's wearing a school uniform, but I suppose it doesn't really matter what you're wearing here if you can just change on a whim. "I've always had trouble keeping that in mind, and it's been a long time since I've spent much time here so it's easy to forget."
"Really?" I raise an eyebrow at that. "How long have you been in the past, anyway?"
"Since the beginning of last year," she explains, refusing to meet my eyes. "I 'transferred' just before the beginning of the year, and I started at Kitago at the same time that you and Kyon-kun started."
"So you've been in the past the entire time since then?"
"Not... the whole time," she says hesitantly, hopping off the rock. "But I haven't been back to my own time since then, and I haven't used the dreamtime at all since I arrived."
I can't help but jump on the opening she just gave me, though. "Not the whole time? So you've time traveled since you came back, but not to go home. Where... or I guess a better question is when did you go?"
"I've... had to go on errands a few times," Mikuru explains slowly. "I don't mean to hide anything from you, but they're not really things I like to think about. The first one wasn't so bad -- I had to take Kyon-kun back to a night almost four years ago, but I have no idea what he did there, since I apparently passed out shortly after we arrived. All I know was that I was ordered to take him, and that we needed help to get back to the right time afterwards since I was having trouble with my TPDD.
"The second time I went back by myself, but I had to rely on Kyon-kun quite a bit for help after I got to when I was going," Mikuru huffs. "That was the trip that really got me wondering what my superiors are actually doing, but there's nothing I can actually do about it even if they are breaking the rules."
I'm still wondering what a 'TPDD' is, but it's something I can ask about later -- we need to get going if we're meeting up with Kyon tonight. I grab Mikuru's wrist, but as I'm about to reach up and turn the page to the palace, I pause. "What about the third time?"
Her voice is hoarse as she answers. "I... don't like thinking about that time very much," she manages to get out. "With as much as you know now, I don't really have anything to hide from you, but.... If you want to know, please ask Kyon-kun -- I'd really rather not talk about it."
I frown at that, but she's right about that much at least -- if she really wanted to hide it she wouldn't have mentioned it at all. And it's not like asking Kyon is the worst thing in the world, especially when I'm going to have to do that anyway just to confirm Mikuru's story.
"Fine, but I will find out," I warn, reaching up to turn the page over to the undersea temple that's become our base of operations in the dream.
Mikuru seems slightly surprised at the transition as the moving line of 'here' passes over us, but only a bit; if she was 'trained' to use this place somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if she's seen even stranger things than that! Once the transition is complete, though, her surprise increases.
"This is... Atlantis?" she says, stepping away from me as I let go of her wrist.
I didn't really think of it in those terms, but I guess it sort of fits, doesn't it? "Hmm, I guess so... I just dreamed myself here the other day and was messing around, and Kyon found me here," I explain. No need to explain exactly what did happen at the moment when he did, though. "It was pretty plain when we first got here, but we've been adding some decorations as we go - the mosaic in the floor and some of the friezes and pottery and stuff is fairly new."
Her eyes widen a little at that. "It was... blank?" She stoops to look at the SOS logo that's tiled into the floor, walking around it to get a sense of the scale.
"I just said it was, didn't I?" I grumble. "Kyon and I have played around with it some, figuring out what works and what doesn't. Seems like any place we both put some effort into making sticks around, but if it's just me or just him it tends to fade or fall apart a lot faster. We've probably spent more time here than any other single place, so it's holding together pretty well."
"I-I'm just a little surprised you'd come here, I guess," Mikuru offers hesitantly. "At least in my time, Atlantis is one of the few persistent places in the dreamtime -- a lot of people use it as a meeting place for that reason. It usually takes someone that's been there before to find it, though -- even when you know what you're looking for, it's really hard to find unless you've seen it yourself."
"Really?" I give her a sidelong look. "I just went lucid and found myself here, and was goofing around when Kyon came and found me. I might have gotten lucky finding myself here, but Kyon actually had to find the place -- and it wasn't like I was working to make it easy for him to find!"
"It's just a little strange, that's--" Mikuru's comments are cut off by a flash of light on the wall I made for Kyon's door.
"No time, just duck behind one of the pillars!" I hiss at her, turning to face the doorway as it forms. She scurries to comply as the door starts to open; I may not have any kind of fun activity planned tonight, but we'll see if I can't surprise Kyon all the same!