Disclaimer: The novel series of Suzumiya Haruhi that began with 'The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa. No disrespect is intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the characters or settings involved. I'm merely dabbling with another set of paints. TVtropes (the website) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License (and it's possible that this fic technically is, too; seems fair to me). Additional characters are borrowed from Higurashi, which is the creation of Ryukishi07.
Notes: Count the tropes! Save, collect, trade for swell prizes!
"Chapter Four: Capability"
"Of particular concern is the possibility that you project an image that is too confident for your ability, and then are called upon to do something you are not qualified or capable of doing. It's better to be underestimated than overestimated, in the long term. Otherwise, you're just bluffing, and when the bluff is called...."
"Cover" -- Author Unknown
"Suzumiya-san," Koizumi asked, jogging along at her side without much difficulty, "might I trouble you to ask where we are going?"
"There's a path to the top of those rocks," she answered without hesitation, weaving effortlessly through the beach-towels and umbrellas dotting the beach. Shortly they had reached the stretch beyond desirable campgrounds, drier and somewhat stonier sand. With less obstacles to dodge, and no beach-goers around to get in her way, Haruhi sped up.
He was able to keep the pace she set, but wished it wasn't such a strain.... He had a lot more sympathy for Kyon these days, however. As far as the club went, he'd gone from being the 'mysterious esper transfer student' to just being a liaison between his friends and the Organization he used to serve. It wasn't so bad, but he was starting to realize that, intended or not, he had previously spent a lot of time being condescending to Kyon.
Hah, now he was the closest thing to a 'normal' person in the brigade. Haruhi the reality warper, Yuki the alien interface, Mikuru the time traveler, Kanae the slider, Tsuruya the ninkyo dantai heiress, Kyon the.... Well, he wasn't certain how to classify Kyon, but 'normal person' only qualified for personality at this point. In capability he had become something entirely different, though. In any case, at the end of that list was Koizumi, the esper.
Not that 'esper' meant much more than having a second, very unwelcome screen of Haruhi's feelings crashing through his own thoughts and emotions, now. More and more, Koizumi was becoming confident that his theory of Kyon destroying closed space was the truth. Without any closed space for him to be an esper in, that meant that Koizumi wasn't really much more than a normal person himself.
And at the moment, while he wanted to be friends with Kyon, he was incredibly uncomfortable at Haruhi's emotions when the two were ... intimate. Even though it would ostensibly be for the greater good, he dreaded the thought of their relationship developing further.
He broke from those thoughts when they reached the base of the rock pile, Haruhi turning away from the sea without any hesitation. The high top of the sea-facing cliff sloped gradually down as the land sloped up, and shortly before the beach ended entirely, at the beach-front road, Haruhi leaped without hesitation into the brush. Koizumi followed with slightly more caution, finding that she hadn't leaped into the bushes, but onto a mostly-concealed pathway between the rocky outcrop's unchecked vegetation.
From there, it was a fairly straight path, except where it twisted around a larger tree or copse of some prickly bushes. Koizumi estimated that it took them less than a minute to reach the abrupt end of their trail when Haruhi skidded to a halt, grabbing onto a gnarled tree branch to arrest her momentum. Forewarned, he stopped somewhat more gracefully, still putting one hand out to briefly steady himself against another tree.
Below the pair of them was a steep slope of jagged boulders leading down to the beach proper. A hidden beach, really, nestled between two rocky arms of cliff face, probably some ancient natural feature left intact to segregate the public beach from a private one further on. At the moment, Koizumi could only stare in astonishment, not really able to absorb the natural details.
A good length of the wash, from the shoreline to the further rocky outcropping -- the western side -- had been transformed into a slowly cooling trench of molten sand. The glowing line led from some strange meters-tall construct of shiny metal, connecting it to a glowing, slagged heap of rock at the base of the rock cliffs below. Pushing himself up from the sand, evidently unharmed, Kyon dazedly climbed upright, Kanae shivering and curled into a ball near his feet.
"Enemies!" Haruhi declared, scowling, reaching toward the ... thing with one hand and closing one eye. "Ugh ... I can't grab it; it's animate."
"I should get Nagato-san," Koizumi realized aloud, fumbling for his phone. He hadn't gotten Yuki's cell number yet, but Mori was with the girl, so he could call her, and--
"Don't be an idiot!" Haruhi yelled, growling with effort as she levitated a handful of boulders from the slope below them, sending them crashing into the sand as a low wall to shelter Kanae.
From the beach, Kyon glanced back at the pair of them -- ever so briefly -- then rolled abruptly to one side, narrowly dodging another sand-melting blast of energy. "What shall I do, then?" Koizumi asked, his phone in one hand.
Haruhi grunted with exertion again, sending dozens of stones from below them across the beach, leaving Kyon a whole selection of barriers to hide behind. He wasted no time, immediately diving behind the nearest one and fiddling with his strange morphing weapon.
Done helping for the moment, though keeping most of her attention on the creature, she snapped, "Koizumi, you're an esper! Use your powers to help Kyon out!"
He blinked at her. Did she not understand his limitations? He recalled quite clearly that he had explained it to her in detail -- with Kyon! And then she had just ... forgotten? "Suzumiya-san," he began to protest, before she cut him off, and yet another blast of energy escaped the strange thing on the beach, "my powers cannot be easily--"
"Shut up!" she yelled, turning her full attention to him for just a moment. "Kyon needs help, and I can only float things! You're an esper, so get out there and ESP!" With that, and no more warning, she shoved him off the edge of the cliff.
He windmilled for a frantic instant while he hung in midair before gravity took effect. Had just enough time to realize that if Haruhi hadn't levitated all of the good footholds out onto the beach, he might be able to jog at a (literally) break-neck pace. Instead, he was going to tumble painfully onto the sharp rocks that waited, meters below.
Then he pitched beyond the point of balance and allowed himself the luxury of resentment for his situation as the stone rushed up at him.
Society was never Tsuruya's favorite thing. For all of her trouble allowing people close enough to her to be friends (until recently), she'd had more than enough of attending events involving high-standing social families -- other daughters and sons of government officials, famous authors, generic wealthy people.... The occasional other heirs from ninkyo dantai families, greeting one another with wary nods of solidarity, hidden in the empty social noise around them.
To her, that posturing seemed fake, and lacked the delightful earnestness of interacting with Haruhi, Kyon, and the others. Still, even if she didn't like it, she did know how she was supposed to behave, and more importantly, how to dig for information or subtly interrogate someone in polite conversation. She also didn't know all of the details as to why Mikuru seemed to dislike Kyouko so much, or why Haruhi seemed agitated by Sasaki.
But Kyon and Haruhi were gone, for the moment, and Kyouko was cowed by Mori. Kasai was quietly standing by, his sheer stature unspoken menace by itself.... Even buried as he was beneath a pile of sand, thanks to Nonoko and Miyoko. Aside from that, unless Tsuruya was mistaken, more of her father's men were already scattered across the beach, just waiting for whatever allies Kyouko might have to show themselves.
That meant for the moment, she had the superior position.
Well, even if it weren't her favorite thing, it was something she was skilled at. If she only brought one thing to the brigade that was unique to her, it wouldn't be so bad if it were just that thing. So, while Kyon and Haruhi were off with the club's esper and slider, probably dealing with some other threat, she decided to do her best and occupy Sasaki and Kyouko, and maybe even get some answers from them.
At a glance, for some reason, Nonoko already seemed very distrusting of Sasaki. That seemed the best place to start, so:
"Imouto-kun," Tsuruya asked, smiling brightly at Kyon's sister, "do you know this girl?"
"Nope!" the small girl answered, shaking her head quickly. "But...." She trailed off hesitantly and shrugged.
"But what?" Sasaki asked, smiling curiously at Nonoko. "I suppose then, Kyon never mentioned me at all? That's a bit of a sad thought...."
"Oooh!" Tsuruya gasped, eyes widening at Sasaki. "Could it be, this is Kyon-kun's elusive ex-girlfriends?!"
Sasaki's face colored faintly and she shook her head very quickly. "No, absolutely not," she replied without hesitation, smiling. "Kyon-kun and I are merely very good friends."
Such good friends he never talked about her, evidently. "And, how do you know Kyon-kun?" Tsuruya asked Kyouko.
"W...we've only met a handful of times," the girl with the twin ponytails said, glancing at Mori fearfully. Was the woman so scary to her...? "I don't know him well."
"You're quite interested in him for someone who doesn't know him well," Sasaki jibed, laughing softly at her friend.
"H...he's influential," Kyouko mumbled, shrugging uncomfortably. "I mean ... not that I'm that type of person. It really would be good if somehow Kyon and I could become friends, or at least I could get him to trust me more...." She turned to Sasaki. "If you put in a good word for me, I'm sure that would happen."
Humming thoughtfully, Tsuruya nodded. Evidently Kyouko thought that Sasaki could influence Kyon in some way. At a guess, if they were anything close to friends, Kyon would be able to influence Sasaki in some way, too....
"It becomes difficult when I don't know your true motives," Sasaki replied, shrugging with an apologetic smile. "While I like to think that Kyon trusts me enough to take me at my word, I don't know that I could give it without understanding your own goals better!"
"I have told you!" Kyouko protested. "I've always been honest."
"Kyouko-chan, fantasy stories aren't the truth," Sasaki chided, still smiling. "And if it's a game, well, I don't understand the rules well enough to play, and it seems that you're able to play just fine with me being in the dark."
The twin-tailed girl scowled at that, crossing her arms over her chest and staring out at the sea.
"At any rate," Sasaki continued, turning her attention back to Tsuruya, "I feel it's safe to say that Kyon hasn't told us of one-another simply because we've been out of contact. We went to middle school together, and attended the same cram-school, as well! He came to my house to study a few times, and our parents got along quite well. It seemed quite abrupt that after middle school, he stopped speaking to me!
"For a time, I wondered if he'd dropped out of school entirely, and went straight to work. Maybe he had stopped talking to me because of embarrassment? But evidently, that was a needless worry; it seems he's just been very busy. What a surprise for Kyon! But I'm sure once I get a chance to speak to him and learn this new game he's playing better, we'll be just as good of friends once more!"
"Ah!" Kyon's little sister gasped suddenly, eyes widening. "It was you!" she accused, pointing a finger at Sasaki, frowning sharply. "You were the one!"
Even though he had distantly considered Kanae's words from long ago, once he was actually going toe-to-toe with a giant inter-dimensional slider death 'bot, he really felt that the girl hadn't done the thing justice. From the first narrowly dodged beam, sending clouds of steam and tracing a trench of molten sand across the beach, he wished he'd paid more attention -- or at least asked for more details.
Still, Kanae had also said that the horrible robot things came last, usually. Was this one an exception, possibly related to the other slider retreating after he lost his weapons? He desperately hoped so, as dozens of boulders larger than him suddenly flew free of the steep slope on the north side of the beach, helpfully slamming into the sand and creating barriers.
Kanae was curled into a whimpering ball behind one. With strange insight, he suddenly looked back toward that long-ago day when he only had to watch the cave cricket while Mikuru clung to him. And to think, he had felt powerless, wishing he could do more to fight that monster. Now he realized he wouldn't have terribly minded having the job of reassuring and comforting Kanae, as he was busily scrambling to fresh cover and hoping he was distracting the ... thing. Once he was behind a barrier -- not that he expected it to stop more than a stray shot or two -- he evaluated the situation.
Except to turn the primary cannon feature, which seemed to be a single elongated gun barrel, the end glowing white with heat, the robot hadn't moved much. It was six-limbed, and each limb was incredibly slim -- he guessed a handful of centimeters at the widest point. Each leg was segmented in five places, and the lines were strange, graceful arches. The body itself, probably a meter high and two meters around was an ovoid, shaped somewhat like a teardrop with the pointed end being the glowing weapon barrel.
It was silvery blue, incredibly shiny, and seemed to lack any writing, labels, or insignia. A handful of other spikes and protrusions surrounded the weapon barrel in a band along the thing's circumference on a single plane around the perimeter of the teardrop shape. If he had to guess -- and at the moment, he did have to -- he would assume they were lesser weapons, sensors, and probably a variety of tools designed to help inter-dimensional robot death spiders do ... whatever it was they did.
A glance showed him Haruhi and Koizumi, standing at the top of where the slope of jumbled stones used to be -- in Kyon's mind, dangerously exposed to the horrible robot monstrosity. "Okay, Skynet," he addressed his PDA, hefting the new, larger gun that Kuyou had given him, even as the rocks behind him began to grow uncomfortably warm, "set all weapons to 'distract'."
He'd initially thought the slider's weapon was something he'd never need -- something too powerful for most situations. That thought in mind, he really wished that he'd set options up in advance for disabling robots, instead of a variety of creative electro-net launchers, sonic stun-weaponry, and other general settings that reached a level of power designed to irritate and stun organic beings.
Really, just a solidly dependable cutting laser would be something, but he didn't have time -- or power -- to play with dozens of settings and energy types before finally discovering a vulnerability. Hopefully the 'distract' setting, designed to simply make an overwhelming amount of electrical noise would blind it. He'd initially thought it would be a clever way to disable security cameras ... until Yuki pointed out that an overactive camera was more likely to stand out, and he could turn invisible to conventional electronics anyway.
Well, at least, it wasn't a total loss, now.
If he could keep it busy long enough, hopefully someone who could actually stop the thing would show up. He was just about to break from cover and take a potshot at the thing before rolling behind the next barrier when he glanced to where Koizumi and Haruhi were still standing. He couldn't make out the details, but it looked like they were arguing....
As exposed as they were, that meant he really had to get out into the line of fire and distract the stupid robot thing.
Mikuru finally felt herself get closer to a relaxed stance as she watched the interplay between Tsuruya and Sasaki. She still really didn't like Kyouko, but it was foolish of her to get completely caught up in being afraid, even when she was surrounded by friends and allies. Mori had supposedly been the one to rescue her when she'd been kidnapped, but Yuki was the one who had woken her up after she'd been drugged. And both of those people were with her, now ... so being scared was a waste of time.
She tried to tell herself that, anyway. Tsuruya was taking advantage of the opportunity, and while she was subtle, she could see the heiress digging for answers from Sasaki. The other girl was sharp, too, though, and was likely to catch on. Before Mikuru could contribute, she was startled by Kyon's sister's accusation.
"I was the one?" Sasaki asked Nonoko, cocking her head slightly to one side. "I'm not sure I understand...?"
"In middle school, something happened to Kyon-kun," Kyon's sister said stubbornly, frowning intently at Sasaki. "Someone took away his smile, and he didn't find it until Haru-nee-san brought it back! That was you!"
"I ... made Kyon stop smiling?" Sasaki asked, nearly in a laugh. "Now, now.... Don't be silly! Kyon wouldn't stop smiling just because...." Mikuru watched her eyes closely as she trailed off, and the amusement in her smile drained away, leaving a bitter mask behind. "W...well.... It was probably a coincidence!"
"I think she's with the dark generals," Nonoko judged, nodding.
"Ah, see? That's the kind of stuff you think from watching too many anime, or reading too much manga! Kyon used to be such a dreamer, reading those stories all day and spending his time wishing it were real instead of focusing on the world around us! That's a more positive thing, I think. If I had an effect on Kyon it would be that-- I wouldn't want to make him unhappy and stop smiling!"
For Mikuru, the alignment of facts was almost painful. Suddenly, so much more made sense.... Kyon knew this girl in middle school ... and they had spent time together. Sasaki had made an impression on him, but she was both aware of it, and had actually tried to encourage Kyon to grow in a different way. Mikuru could easily imagine the scene. Kyon enduring all of Sasaki's unwelcome criticism, trying to reshape himself to be her ideal, to get close to her, chipping away at himself and slowly trading away the things he wanted to believe in, and in the end....
Did Sasaki know that Kyon had a crush on her? Realistically, seeing how it played out, and reading Kyon's 'romance' story.... Did Kyon even understand that was what happened? Maybe that was why he was so generally passive, and just let the other girls kiss him with minimal resistance, even though she could tell he felt bad about it. He'd tried to start a relationship with Sasaki, but she hadn't really returned that affection or rejected him ... so he came to the conclusion that it couldn't have been real.
Then again, considering Kyon's own ignorance (or feigned ignorance) ... was that behavior he had learned from Sasaki? Did Sasaki even understand that she had feelings for Kyon? Mikuru could tell that the girl wanted to speak to Kyon desperately. But as someone who didn't believe that time travelers, aliens, or espers were real, how much of the information from that realm could instill her with a sense of urgency?
And that was what Haruhi had picked up on, and why Sasaki agitated her so much! Tsuruya was more correct than Sasaki would admit, asking if the supposed one-time friend were Kyon's ex-girlfriend.
"Um, Sasaki-san," she said, unsure why, but suddenly angry at the idea of the hurt that Sasaki had heaped on Kyon, "I know you're not close any more, but did Kyon-kun tell you the latest?"
"I think we're still close," Sasaki countered, shaking her head. "We just don't talk as much. He still calls me by my first name, after all!"
Mikuru exchanged a glance with Tsuruya, neither girl missing how defensive Sasaki had been. "Well, the thing of it is, he has had a lot on his mind," the time traveler admitted, offering a disingenuous smile. "But then, you wouldn't have known that Kyon-kun is engaged to Tsuruya!"
Sasaki's reaction tore at Mikuru. On the one hand, she wanted to be pleased at the hurt in Sasaki's gaze, and validated that her theory was correct.
But on the other hand....
She cared about Kyon herself, so she didn't have to imagine the pain of seeing Kyon put beyond reach.
"I...is that ... so?" Sasaki managed, still forcing a smile.
"Yep!" Tsuruya confirmed brightly. "Our parents agreed and everything!"
"Tsuru-nee-san is good for Kyon-kun; she makes him laugh," Kyon's sister opined.
After a thoughtful pause, Miyoko nodded her agreement. "I like Mikuru-nee-san and Haruhi-nee-san for Kyon-nii-san, too," she added. "But Tsuru-nee-san is very good for him."
"W...well!" Sasaki exclaimed. "That's ... amazing! Ah, um.... W...well, Kyon seemed to be busy lately, and I suppose I know why, now!" She shook her head, grimacing before she masked it with a smoother false smile. "Sorry, I'm a bit stunned," she allowed, collecting her wits. "Ah ... hum! So ... might I ask how this came about?" Sasaki hesitated the briefest moment, her glance darting to Mikuru before fixing on Tsuruya. "Though, now that I think of it, this engagement is arranged by Kyon's parents, isn't it? He wouldn't make such a choice on his own, I'd think."
Tsuruya laughed good-naturedly, seeming unfazed by Sasaki's verbal barbs.
"You know Kyon really well!" the heiress remarked, settling down a bit, though still chuckling. "Hum, you went to middle school with Kyon-kun ... and cram-school, too! You've known him for almost three years, and I've only gotten so close to him in just under a year.... Since you know him better, tell me about how Kyon-kun was in middle school!"
Mikuru found herself simultaneously stifling a giggle at Tsuruya's counter and blushing sympathetically for the girl with the shorter hair.
Sasaki caught the subtle message, too, and gave a polite smile with a resigned sigh. At her side, Kyouko merely looked uncomfortable, toying with the edge of her towel. "Well, as I mentioned, in middle school Kyon was a dreamer," Sasaki allowed, shrugging. "He was terrible at study, and would gladly spend every free moment he had playing games or reading his shounen manga."
"Kyon-kun's quite intelligent, I think," Mikuru disagreed with a hesitant smile, feeling compelled to speak in his defense. "I...if anything, I think he only lacks strong motivation some times."
"Lately, Kyon-nii-san has been very motivated," Miyoko opined, giggling. "He was a bit mopey when he took me to see that movie last year, but now he seems much more upbeat!" She winced at a sudden memory and amended, "Well, until those boys shot him...."
Sasaki reeled back, blinking. "K...Kyon was ... shot?" she asked, disbelieving. "I read mention of it in the paper, but I thought-- That was Kyon?!"
"That's right," Mikuru agreed, not particularly enjoying the memory either. "Um.... But that.... Well, you read about it, right?"
"Y...yes," Sasaki allowed, nodding uneasily. Rallying, she gave a very bright smile, saying with confidence, "Kyon never did anything to attract such attention when I knew him!"
Tsuruya caught the implication but seemed to dismiss it easily ... Mikuru envied her friend's composure concerning Kyon being injured. Then again, Kyon himself dismissed it, so.... "Mmm, so that's all there was to Kyon, then?" Tsuruya mused. "You saw him as a lazy dreamer, and...?"
"H...he was creative and clever, he just never applied himself practically," Sasaki explained, shrugging. "Naturally, I felt compelled to help him."
Unable to resist, though she worried at the fact she needed her friends around her to have the confidence to say such a thing, Mikuru asked, "Do you help all of your friends, that way?"
"I try," Sasaki allowed, nodding.
"So, then, have you helped Tachibana-san become less of the type of person who would abduct someone off the street?"
Tsuruya raised her eyebrows and turned to study Mikuru. Sasaki looked annoyed, and Kyouko covered her face with her hands. "I really regret that," she grumbled. "Because I never hear the end of it!"
"I have to admit I find the question worthwhile," Mori chipped in, looking vaguely amused.
The essence of Koizumi's power in closed space -- the key to accessing it, at least -- had been to push aside his assured facade and reach for the real emotions he usually hid within. He'd been granted knowledge of the mechanics along with the power; part of the reason he'd wondered, initially, if he were losing his mind. By embracing his own emotionality, separate from the feelings that he picked up from Haruhi, he was able to grasp that ability and slip sideways ... and then, further, to take power and do battle in that strange space.
That space that didn't exist anymore, thanks to Kyon. And lately, he realized, he actually had quite a bit to complain to Kyon about! Granted, Kyon may have had some justification, and their awkward semi-role-reversal had been eye-opening, at least. But if it weren't for Kyon's meddling, Koizumi would still be an esper, would still be placed in the Organization in a role that trusted him with information, and most importantly, wouldn't be plummeting toward the rocks below, now given an eerie red cast, as though foreshadowing the blood that would spill when he impacted.
Until Kyon's actions threw everything into disarray.... As it was, he felt that sometimes he was the only responsible one in the lot, and everyone else was just playing around, not taking things seriously enough!
He glared at the rocks below him, still with their red glow, then up the beach, to where Kyon was alternately blasting the ... enemy ... thing ... with beams of energy.... Well, really, it didn't seem much different from shining a flashlight on the robot, for all the good it did. Okay, so it did seem to distract the robot a bit, but it wasn't proving its value as a weapon.
Koizumi rolled his eyes as Kyon dove to yet another barrier, taking cover just as another blast melted his former hiding place into slag. The boy stole a glance at Koizumi, and for a heartbeat, Koizumi took solace in the fact that Kyon stopped to stare, evidently stunned by Koizumi's pending demise. If Haruhi hadn't just shoved him off a cliff....
The moment of staring dragged on, and Koizumi frowned, realizing that something was very wrong. The distraction grew, and Kyon squinted, as though not believing-- Too long; until that moment, he'd been active, moving from cover to cover.
The hesitation grew, and this time, the beam of rock-melting energy ate through Kyon's protective barrier, making contact with the boy-- Everything happened at once, then. Kyon's entire body illuminated, as though he were glowing within, and he suddenly launched along the beam's path, flying across the beach. From the cliff-top above him, Koizumi heard Haruhi's indignant cry of fury, as more giant boulders tore themselves free from his inevitable impact site, straight below and....
...and....
...and it was taking a very long time to fall, wasn't it? He stared with confusion as the boulders Haruhi had levitated were vaporized by the robot as they shot toward it, one-by-one.
It wasn't until the echo of Haruhi's anger through his connection with her reached him that Koizumi realized he was floating. Wrapped in a dim aura of crimson energy, just hanging in space and feeling sorry for himself while his friends fought--
But he knew how to use his powers; aside from being granted knowledge on how to use them, he'd had years of practice.
With a sense of growing determination, he accelerated directly at the robot, allowing his body to explode into flame and light. As energy, when the next shot from the robot went not toward Haruhi, who had flung the boulders, but directly through him, he ignored it, feeling the surges of power through the red force that was his being.
A sharpening of will and intent; he deflected narrowly to one side of the robot, allowing the thinnest, keenest edge of his emotion to slash at the hulk in passing, almost as though he had banked and skimmed the surface of the splayed legs. With more resistance than a Shinjin, but not enough considering the thing's spindly limbs, he severed the three on the thing's left side and shot past it, curving away. He had already plotted out the next move, smoothly sliding into it; a short, hard arc up into the air before looping back to meet with the robot again.
At the apex of his flight, angling down, he felt joy -- and then a resonance of the same, more intense, from Haruhi. Improbably, despite just being hit with a beam of energy that melted rocks and sand, Kyon emerged from a glowing indentation in the rock wall, his greatcoat smoking as it cast off excess heat energy. The robot awkwardly turned to face Kyon's next barrage of distracting blasts, scrabbling around with the three functioning legs remaining as the bulk of its mass dug into the sand beneath it.
Perfect, Koizumi realized, reshaping his energy into a piercing spike as he bore down toward the center of the thing's carapace.
He felt the thing's innards as the carapace cracked, strange fluids and mechanical parts, glowing structures of pure energy right next to more easily recognized pistons and cables ... but it couldn't run with him tearing through it, crimson energy slashing and shattering as much as possible before Koizumi's awareness broke through the bottom of the defeated robot, spreading his volume out into a cloud and arresting his momentum just above the crashing surf.
Though his greatcoat was still smoking, he limped slightly, and he seemed to have a small nick over one eye, Kyon strode toward the robot with a scowl. Koizumi gathered the scarlet force that comprised his being from where it had billowed out around the fallen robot like a fiery crimson fog and re-assumed his own form. In his own body, he floated to one side of the fallen enemy's unmoving gun-barrel before he allowed himself to drift to the beach and dismissed his aura of power.
"Nice work," Kyon judged, his voice a bit raspy as he gave the esper a grudging nod.
"Thank you," Koizumi replied cheerfully. "I'm glad I can be of service to you." Trite as it might have been, he was, too.
"Hey!" Haruhi shouted, waving from the distant cliff-top. "Heeeeey!"
"I'll check on Kanae-chan, you help Haruhi get down here," Kyon decided, glancing at the network of molten sand channels on the beach.
"Certainly, vice commander!" Koizumi chirped. Somehow, despite all his previous frustration ... he really couldn't help but think that he would be happier with this latest development. Now, maybe, he wouldn't feel like he had been left behind; with that kind of reassurance, maybe he could see why the others didn't seem as concerned.
"I don't believe I'm accountable for the actions of my friends," Sasaki finally decided in answer to Mikuru's question. "I appreciate that Kyouko-chan and Fujiwara-kun believe I'm influential, but to be honest, I don't see myself like that. I'm occasionally told that I have 'vast power and influence', but I find that unlikely; what could I influence that's beyond my reach?"
Nonoko thought that sounded like classic dark general double-talk, a very standard, "I can't be held accountable for things I've caused!" dismissal of responsibility if she ever heard one!
It was confusing, though, because even though she had determined that she didn't like Sasaki's effects on her brother, the older girl didn't feel bad, not genuinely. Then again, the forces of evil liked to prey on borderline cases ... it was possible that Sasaki might be redeemed, somehow, but in order to do that, they would need to find out which dark force had corrupted her.
Then, Kyon could take down that enemy, and Sasaki's potential good could be restored! Of course ... in order to do that, they'd need to investigate. She wasn't certain where to start such a search, herself, but Mikuru and Tsuruya seemed to have a good idea, and Mori was helping, too.
While she and Miyoko were aware of the hidden messages in the older girls' words, neither could decipher them. Whatever they were, they stung Sasaki, though. Even though the mysterious dark-influenced girl smiled and laughed, Nonoko was confident that she wasn't nearly as happy inside.
That worried her, though.... If Kyon were the only one who could redeem her, what if it was a trap? She'd need to think about that and make sure that Tsuruya or someone equally dependable was there to help him out when it happened. As long as she could warn her brother not to face Sasaki alone, he should be okay, she decided. Until they knew more, at least.
"Well, that's a differences between friends and subordinates," Tsuruya remarked, shrugging. "Though, you do considers Tachibana-kun here to be a friend, and not a subordinate, so then, does that mean that while she's your friend, she's a subordinate of Fujiwara-san?" Nonoko noticed Tsuruya's more polite name for the servant of the dark generals; good, the heiress knew that he was more sinister than he even appeared.
Sasaki raised her eyebrows at that, giving Kyouko a contemplative look. For her part, the twin-tailed girl shifted her shoulders and looked very uncomfortable under the scrutiny -- even more so than before.
"Why so nervous?" Mori asked, reaching into one of the nearby picnic baskets. "Hmm, Asahina-chan, shouldn't we offer our guests something to drink? Perhaps we're not being the best company...."
"Ah," Mikuru and Tsuruya breathed together, ducking their heads and giggling awkwardly.
"That's true," the heiress allowed, nodding. "Sorries! This discussions got a bit heavy, didn't it?"
"Y...yes," Mikuru agreed. "Um, I made watermelon tea; would you like some?" She pulled out a thermos, while Mori produced a small stack of disposable cups.
"Certainly," Sasaki allowed. "Thank you. But it only seems natural that as we become older, our discussions must become more serious, though."
Kasai suddenly snorted, then coughed, covering his mouth with one hand and dislodging a good portion of the sand pile he was buried beneath as he tried very hard to hide a grin. "Sand," he said, by way of apology, ducking when everyone turned to glance at him.
"So, how does one make tea from watermelon, anyway?"
Frowning at the distraction, Nonoko tuned out the other girls for the moment, realizing as she turned back that Yuki was missing.
Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was her sempai's face. Her ears rung, and her back was slightly sore, like she had fallen recently. But the sun was behind his head, giving him a brilliant golden halo, and she could smell the sea.
This was easily her favorite dream, despite the less important details being off. He mouthed something at her, looking down in concern, but she only heard the ringing. She shook her head happily, knowing that here, at least, words weren't important.
So, she reached up and kissed him.
It wasn't quite right at first. For one thing, he was wearing his greatcoat, instead of no shirt at all. For another, instead of magically teleporting the pair of them to a shadowy wooded glade surrounded by bunnies and flowers, they stayed on the beach. He was holding her mostly right, but she could feel grains of sand in his hair from where she was holding his head.... But the kiss was the stranger part; it felt firmer, somehow more real, but not nearly as good as she had expected.
Then something happened, as though her sempai were merely surprised at the kiss, and only just then remembered to kiss her back, and everything was starting to feel right -- even better than alright. The outside world with Koizumi staring at her in amazement and Haruhi silently yelling at her began to melt away, and--
She broke the kiss suddenly, crying out, "Bwa~! Uh! Uh! Um, sorry!" She was curled in on herself, or trying to, still held in her sempai's arms. Her hearing abruptly returned, and she cringed even further at Haruhi's tirade.
"--idn't have a camera ready! That demands a do-over, and, and--"
"Wait, what?" her sempai interrupted, giving Haruhi an incredulous stare before suddenly shaking his head with a grimace. "No, actually, never mind that now! We just fought an inter-dimensional ... robot ... thing," he said, still holding Kanae close.
"Right, right," Haruhi grumbled, calming, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head. "Okay, I lost perspective there; the important thing was that you were trying to comfort Kanae-chan, which totally makes sense." She took a very deep breath, then turned to Koizumi, who was frozen at her side with a look of mild horror. "You, snap out of it," she commanded. "We need to hold it together."
"Yes," the esper rasped, shaking his head quickly and straightening his posture. "Yes," he said again, more clearly. "I'll-- Ah, hello, Nagato-san."
He eyed the girl suspiciously. Wait, Yuki had been there, too, able to see Kanae's blunder? Oh, how many witnesses were there?! She had not only embarrassed herself by not pulling it off nearly as impressively as Mikuru, she'd done it with everyone watching!? They should have spied discreetly, with hidden security cameras, or clever use of amazing powers!
Haruhi stood not far away, between Kanae and the beach leading to the steep ramp -- though, those boulders seemed to have been scattered around aimlessly, and many of them had evidently melted, some still faintly glowing. The brigade chief ignored the recent signs of battle, just tapping a foot with poorly concealed impatience and staring at Kyon expectantly. Koizumi was right next to her, recovering his bearings and surrounded with the faintest glimmering halo of crimson flame.
Closer to the tide line, Yuki stood, facing Kanae's sempai, but with her head turned toward the sea. Kanae was the merest instant away from shrieking in alarm and jumping from her sempai's supporting embrace when her eyes caught the remains of one of the strange curved metal constructs she recognized; the target of Yuki's focus.
She gasped in surprise, suddenly remembering; the first of her enemy sliders had appeared.... But the same sempai that was still holding her in his arms had -- somehow -- fought him off. And with the aid of his friends, even beaten one of the horrible machines.
Her face overheating with alarm as everything caught up with her at once, she was strongly tempted to just kiss her sempai again. She managed to resist, barely, squeaking out, "I'm sorry!"
"It's not.... No, that's fine, Kanae-chan," he replied, shaking his head, his face colored. "U...um, as long as you're okay."
"God, she's cute like that, though," Haruhi exclaimed, grabbing Kanae away from her sempai suddenly. Kanae allowed another squeak of alarm to escape as the older girl held her tightly and twirled around. "I want to take her home!"
Kanae couldn't actually bring herself to complain; she knew she should have let go of her sempai, but she was reassured by Haruhi's embrace, too. Even if it was a bit of an embarrassing reminder, what with Haruhi's enviable endowments pressing into her back.
"Yes, that's very cute," Koizumi agreed. As her sempai climbed to his feet and dusted the sand from his greatcoat, the esper added, "Kyon, there's something I'd like to speak with you about when you have a moment."
"Before I forget," Haruhi remarked, settling down, but still clutching the smaller girl to herself, "after you got over your shock, that was some very nice work, Koizumi! As expected of an experienced esper!"
"Thank you," the boy allowed, inclining his head slightly, wearing his usual smile.
"You did alright, Kyon, but as it goes, you let yourself get completely outshone by your sidekick," Haruhi continued, shaking her head. "But, enough of that. Let's prioritize."
"Sidekick," Kyon said flatly, grabbing the edges of his greatcoat flaps and snapping the fabric once -- instantly causing it to seem to shift color and shrink into the shirt Kyon had worn previously, as the skinsuit flowed into his wristwatch almost instantaneously. Improbably, he tucked the weapon he had gotten from the slider into the interior of his shirt. Except, it wasn't really a shirt, she supposed. Haruhi seemed somewhat impressed, too, right until Kyon fumbled the wooden sword handle from his coat pocket, anyway.
"U...um," Kanae murmured.
"Yes, of course," Koizumi said after a moment, nodding. "That only makes sense. So, then, Suzumiya-san, what's the first order of business?"
"Yuki-chan, any good salvage from the enemy?" Haruhi asked swiveling Kanae around to face the quiet girl.
Yuki nodded faintly, gesturing for her sempai to hand her the sword handle before he could tuck it back into his shirt. "Ah," he said sagely, surrendering the item to her. "I think I know where this gets used."
Reaching her hand into the giant remains of the robot on the shore, the small girl grabbed something and twisted-- The mass of the thing folded away like some strange piece of silver origami, until nothing was left but a glimmering shard of light too intense to look at. A heartbeat later it was hidden in Yuki's closed fist. The machine was gone, and Yuki's gaze turned to Haruhi questioningly.
"Yeah, I think we agreed Kyon needed an energy blade of some kind," Haruhi said. Kanae didn't need to look back to see it; she could hear the grin in the other girl's voice.
Yuki nodded faintly in acknowledgment, bringing her closed fist together with the sword handle in her hand; there was another bright surge of light, and the sword handle was restored, now tightly wrapped with a metallic glinting silver cord. The small girl wordlessly offered the thing to Kanae's sempai, who accepted it cautiously.
"I already know how to use a sword, but I'll learn how this thing works tonight," he decided, tucking it away. "But I'm guessing that if we face another one of those, I can also tune some of the other weapons against them?"
"Hold up-- Other weapons?" Haruhi asked, frowning. "I thought you had the gun and the sword! What all equipment have you collected while I wasn't in the party?"
"In a moment," her sempai countered, shaking his head. "First of all, we have to cover this beach up before someone else comes along."
"Good point," Haruhi acquiesced. "So we'll try and restore it to just like it was before the fight."
"Program loaded," Yuki acknowledged.
"Permission granted," Kyon agreed quickly.
Kanae was slowly spun in place by Haruhi as the sand cooled and flowed to its previous shapes, now softly rolling curves and dunes instead of scored trenches and gouges. The boulders rolled back to the slope, silently stacking themselves in their original formation. In the course of half a minute, there was no sign left that the battle had taken place -- save for her sempai's weariness.
"Right," her sempai agreed, adjusting his shirt, flicking it back into a greatcoat. It looked a tiny bit silly with his trunks on beneath, but Kanae could not deny the practicality; he'd needed it earlier, after all. Coughing, and then dropping into a faux movie announcer voice, he declared, "Skynet, my absolutely loyal and trustworthy electronic companion." As he named it, he flicked his PDA out, leaving it to flip in place in the air before him. "First and slightly smaller gun," he boomed, setting out one of the two metal cylinders, then saying in a more normal voice, "I really should name these two."
"Wah! Don't drop character!" Haruhi protested, squeezing Kanae. "That was just getting awesome!"
Her sempai quirked one eyebrow, then readjusted his stance, posing slightly. Suddenly, the bare-chest and open-coat look didn't seem silly at all, and Kanae wondered if Haruhi was holding her more tightly to keep her from trying to rush him. The temptation was very real. Using the announcer voice again, he continued, "Other, newly acquired gun." Now two cylinders floated in the air, the PDA slightly to one side. "Beam-cutter-weapon thing," he added, contributing the sword to the pile.
"Ugh! You do need better names for the rest of your equipment!"
"Just be glad I'm humoring you this far," he warned in his normal voice. "Actually, I think I should be a lot more alarmed by the fact that I was almost vaporized by an alien beam weapon."
Haruhi's embrace tightened the slightest bit. "Well, Kanae-chan helped you get your mind off that, but you look fine considering how much you worried us! Except, you're really blowing the whole inventory. Anyway, what else?"
"The skinsuit and gravity thingies," her sempai grumbled, shaking his head.
"Well, that seems quite sufficient," Koizumi said, spreading his hands in a shrug. "Now, are there any objections to returning to our base of operations for the beach expedition? We've been gone long enough; we can discuss today's battle later with the others."
"Alright," Haruhi agreed reluctantly, while Kyon shifted his outfit out of combat mode, stowing all of his gadgets in the hidden pockets. "You know, Kyon, I did say you'd need a lot of tools, but I didn't intend to turn you into a lombax!"
"I don't have a wise-cracking robotic sidekick," he remarked, as Haruhi finally released Kanae. "I've got Koizumi."
The esper looked slightly puzzled. "I'm not sure I catch the reference?" he asked cautiously, falling into step just behind Kanae's sempai.
Yuki watched the pair in silence, then moved to walk at Kanae's side, Haruhi just behind them. "So, anyway," Haruhi said in a quiet voice while Koizumi listened to the other boy's explanations about some game, "did you manage to record the kiss, Yuki-chan?"
"Yes," Yuki answered without hesitation.
"Perfect!"
Just when things had finally calmed down, and Kanae had a minute to try and sort things out -- Haruhi had brought up that embarrassing not-a-dream again! "Oh..." she whimpered, her face reddening.
She shrugged, still smiling politely, despite the cold reactions of Kyon's friends, and the inexplicable pain in her chest at the announcement of Kyon's engagement. It must be shock, she told herself, shock that something so unusual and unexpected would happen to Kyon, who had always longed for such strange events. She should be happy for him, but somehow ... she couldn't help but feel that something was not right about the green-haired girl.
Aside from a suspicion that she couldn't prove that somehow it was by associating with her that Kyon had gotten embroiled in violence. Her or Haruhi, at any rate. Though they had similar personalities, there was something else she couldn't name that bothered her about Haruhi.
Was Kyon in trouble because of them? He let himself be pushed around so easily, Sasaki thought it was entirely possible he'd been deceived into getting involved with something more dangerous than he could handle.
That made it that much more important that she tried to talk to him. And lately, she'd had such a hard time getting through to Kyon, she had a feeling that if she put it off, he'd be married to Tsuruya, and then they'd never get a chance to talk. She felt uncomfortable at the sense of urgency that inspired within her.
But all of that was allowing herself to be distracted from the current situation. Unfortunately, that mostly seemed to consist of being grilled by Kyon's new associates. Sipping at the cool watermelon 'tea' (really, it was just watermelon juice), she decided to try and change the subject. "So," she said, smiling at Kyon's presumed sibling. Kyon had mentioned having a sister, but Sasaki had never met her. Since Miyoko was a friend, that meant the youngest looking girl with her hair in a side-pony-tail was her. "You are Kyon's sister, is that right?"
"Yeah," the girl agreed, eying her warily. "Have we met?"
"Not yet! But it seems you have a bad impression of me, for some reason. I wouldn't want to come across as unlikeable, so, was it something I did that bothers you?"
"You took away Kyon's smile," she protested, pouting.
"You said that before," Sasaki said slowly, her own smile slipping. "That...." Had she inadvertently hurt Kyon's feelings that much worse than she had realized, with that final deconstruction? "Hmm. If I ever did, then I assure you I never meant to," she swore to the smaller girl. "Obviously I think highly of Kyon, or I wouldn't consider him a friend! I hope he still considers me a friend, as well, so I wouldn't want to do that!"
"But, you said you changed him," the girl countered, shaking her head.
Sasaki considered it, and realized the smaller girl's point of view. "Y...you think that was hurtful to Kyon? But, no," she insisted, shaking her head. "He never.... I...." Ultimately, she would be lying if she hadn't considered the possibility of failing to meet her ideal of being a supportive, encouraging friend.... And that was the same reason she could never accept the claims of her other friends.
Such power as her new friends claimed she had -- it could only be possessed by a truly infallible being. It was inconceivable that it genuinely existed ... unless, somehow, only she had ever been given that power in the history of man. And that was so unlikely that she couldn't really consider it; it was on the level of gravity suddenly reversing for just one object. No, she was just a normal high school girl who had not been the friend she had tried to be, and then gotten entangled in something she shouldn't have.
Still ... even if things were strained, she was confident that with proper time to discuss things with Kyon and explain her side of the situation, she could at the very least apologize to him. If she was lucky, she could make things up to him -- perhaps by helping him out with whatever his present difficulties were.
In the meantime, everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to finish her statement. "Ah, well, as I said, I never intended to have any negative effects on him," she told Kyon's sister. Straightening, but still focused on the little girl -- though the words were more intended for Tsuruya -- she added, "My intent has always been to help Kyon, perhaps protect him from the worst of the world."
Influence over reality indeed.... Lately, Kyouko's strange associates had already given her enough trouble; sometimes, she wished she really did have some power.
"It's always good to mean well," Tsuruya finally said, though it sounded faintly doubtful. "But this is heavy conversations again. So, anyway -- Imouto-kun, don't be so angry at Sasaki-san for Kyon-kun; Kyon-kun isn't mad at her, after all."
"There's that, at least," Sasaki allowed, forcing a weak smile. Kyon was not a person who was prone to anger or violent action, in her experience -- not counting the encounter with Fujiwara earlier that day, but Fujiwara and Kyouko had cooked up a scheme that explained that. Yet, for some reason, she was still afraid that he might be upset or unhappy with her. Surely their friendship hadn't somehow become that badly damaged?
"...and then, the planet blows up," his voice came suddenly, as though to underscore that thought. She managed a more genuine, if awkward smile at the sight of him walking back to the beach towels with his friend, the boy Kyouko had problems with. Kanae, Haruhi and Yuki -- when had she left? -- were walking behind the boys, the younger girl looking very nervously at the cell phone carried in Yuki's hand, for whatever reason.
"I see," Koizumi remarked, frowning. "I'm afraid I don't have enough time to play video games like that often, myself, but perhaps at some point...." He trailed off and shrugged.
"Eh, I've only got a decade old console myself," Kyon answered dourly, before he turned to regard the group still camped out beneath the beach umbrellas, and raised one hand in greeting. "Hey, everyone."
"We're back," Koizumi added, offering a polite wave.
After everyone echoed the greeting, as the returnees were sitting back down, Sasaki asked, "So, how was your mission to find something amazing?"
"I found something!" Koizumi said cheerfully. "But I feel that Kyon has made the greater discoveries."
"What did you find?" Sasaki prompted Kyon, curious, but wishing she could talk about the things she really needed to, instead.
"Got attacked by a slider," he answered, accepting a cup of watermelon tea from Mikuru. "Then a giant alien robot death thingy. Suou-san and your sneering bastard friend teleported in and helped out, and the enemy slider ran off, leaving the robot behind. Then I ran around and dodged like crazy until Koizumi used his esper powers to cut it up."
"Is that all?" Sasaki giggled, as everyone else stared at Kyon, evidently unprepared for his joke.
"Mostly dodged," Haruhi chimed in, suddenly, rolling her eyes. "Our clumsy vice commander let himself get zapped by an energy beam of some kind!"
"And that really stung, too," Kyon agreed, giving a weary shake of his head as he sighed.
"So, you're just a normal person, and your friends all helped out?" Sasaki asked. "Didn't you contribute anything?"
"Well, I distracted the enemy, and claimed spoils of war.... But you know me; I'm the wit. I just stood around and made clever remarks, like mentioning that I did get a weapon that is similar to, but probably legally distinct from a light-saber," he said, nodding solemnly before sipping at his juice. "The melonade is excellent, Asahina-san," he added, turning to give the older girl something very slightly more than a grateful smile.
"Aw," his sister protested, frowning. "Kyon with a sword isn't as cute fighting the forces of darkness!"
"But swords are awesome," Miyoko noted, giggling. "And Kyon-nii-san is still a boy, after all, right?"
"Yes," Kanae added, her face coloring darkly. "Um, but then, that's obvious, and I'll just be quiet now."
"Ah!" Tsuruya exclaimed, eyes opening further, her grin widening. "Good for you, Kanae-chan!"
"What's this, then?" Kyouko asked, giving Tsuruya a doubtful look.
"Nothing, nothing," Tsuruya answered, shaking her head. "Hum, Haru-nyan, do you think anyone will beat Kyon-kun and Kanae-chan's discovery?"
"Probably not today," Haruhi replied after a thoughtful moment. "So, investigations were a success! Great job, everyone! That means the rest of our time is assigned to having fun! So, what should we do?"
"Well, seeing as it's the beach, I think we should at least go swimming," Kyouko suggested quickly.
"Me, I'm worn out from the exploration," Kyon demurred, shaking his head. "I might even try to take a nap."
Sasaki resisted the urge to sigh.... Whatever Kyon had actually been doing, despite his stories of sliders and robots, he really did look worn out. Talking to him today probably wasn't going to happen, especially considering how difficult it would be to arrange time alone with him. Well, she had her appointment with him, at least. "I'll see you around, Kyon," she decided, giving him her best warm smile and adding a tiny bow as she rose. "Kyouko and I are going to find a spot a bit closer to the water, and maybe find Kuyou, so take care!"
"You take care, too," he called, as she and Kyouko were heading away.
At least, despite what his sister had said, he didn't seem upset with her.
She thought that Kyon watched her until she lost sight of him, picking through the other spots on the beach until stumbling across Kuyou, standing in waves that reached to her knees, her expression curiously blank as she stared at a pair of children splashing in the water a few yards up the beach. The children seemed oblivious to Kuyou's scrutiny. Sasaki wondered why it was no one seemed to find Kuyou's behavior strange, or to notice her, really.
"There you are," Sasaki finally called, waving slightly to her friend. Hadn't it seemed that Kyon was on better terms with her? He didn't care for Fujiwara, though that seemed somewhat justified, and he was very wary of Kyouko, which was entirely justified, so.... "You know, Kyon mentioned you being helpful to him in his quest earlier?" she teased, wondering what the quiet girl was thinking.
As Sasaki spoke, Kuyou straightened slowly and turned to face her, eyes darkening, but betraying no emotion, only greater focus.
"Are you at least getting on anyone's good side?" Kyouko asked, somewhat testily. "It seems the lot of them despise us, now, except for you and Sasaki."
"Us," Kuyou echoed, blinking once, very slowly.
Sasaki was slightly alarmed, wondering if that was the first time Kuyou had blinked since turning to look at her. Surely that couldn't be the case? It must simply have seemed that way.... "Well, never mind about that," Sasaki said, striding into the water, gasping at the cold as it rushed up to her ankles and splashed along her legs. "Ah! Cold! Anyway, Kuyou-chan, I should warn you ... Kyon is engaged to that green-haired girl, Tsuruya ... I offer you my consolation!"
"Consolation," Kuyou repeated, tilting her head very slightly, then turning to look past Sasaki, toward where Kyon's friends were all still camped out. Not that she'd be able to see them through the other umbrellas and beach-goers.
"Sometimes I wonder how much she really understands," Kyouko sighed, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest.
Something in Kuyou's eyes changed, and her gaze went back to Sasaki. "Meaning of 'engaged'?" she asked.
"I...it means they're going to get married," Sasaki clarified, wondering what kind of sheltered life Kuyou must lead. "Um ... that they will try to spend the rest of their lives together, and probably have children?"
The focus in Kuyou's gaze seemed to change once more, though Sasaki couldn't quite gauge how. "Sympathy," she remarked.
"Yes, that's right," Sasaki agreed. "I'm sympathetic to you.... You had a crush on Kyon, didn't you?"
"My luminosity curves to the well of his being; his presence quells the voids in the fabric of my awareness," Kuyou said, giving another of her incredibly slow blinks before turning to regard the two children again. Still oblivious to her, they continued splashing, a little boy and a girl, both giggling wildly while parents from the shore chatted and watched over them protectively.
Sasaki was positive that was the longest speech she'd ever heard from her friend, as well as the most elaborate thing she'd tried to put to words. "Um.... Well, as I said, you have my sympathy, but Kyon's engaged to Tsuruya, now. Are you still going to pursue him, though, even in the face of that?"
"You know," Kyouko interrupted, shaking her head and giving Sasaki a wary stare, "I'm not entirely sure that it's a crush that Kuyou's talking about, here."
"His influence," she said, before making one of her strange pauses, "me to him. I am," and another pause, almost identical to the first.
Not for the first time, Sasaki suspected that Kyon could read more out of those silences than she could. Sighing, she said, "Well, as long as you don't mean to hurt him or make him an enemy, then you'll have my full support."
For some reason, Sasaki thought that Kuyou looked the slightest bit doubtful, but her attention shifted so some distant point in the sea, possibly beyond the horizon.