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: The Words You Didn't Want to Hear"
"Occasionally, the stability of your environment and circumstances may become compromised by new information that has always been true, simply unknown. Whatever action you take in response, information control and caution are your watchwords. No matter how bad that makes you feel."
"Clearing the Event Horizon: How Close is Too Close?" -- Tadamichi Kyousuke
After finishing classes, Sasaki followed her normal routine, packing her school books and homework away before heading home. She gave polite smiles and nods to the other students around her, but more and more, she was becoming aware of how distant she had become from them.
Still.... That horrific beach encounter with Kyon's friends stung. She hadn't felt like talking to Kyouko, all things considered. Fujiwara had become more elusive than his usual self, vanishing away as he frequently did for days at a time. Kuyou had gone away somewhere, too, and that meant that Sasaki had no one to talk to.
She had thought she had more friends, but then realized, that wasn't precisely true. At least, friends close enough to speak of the issues that bothered her. After all, it had taken more than a week of waiting for her current meeting with Kyon!
And with no one else to speak to, that had loomed large in her mind the entire time, making it difficult to study in cram class. It was so sad, she'd even found herself responding to Kunikida's attempts at striking up a conversation, though she usually didn't pay much attention to the boy; he wasn't nearly as interesting as Kyon, and despite the fact that he was attending cram school, his grades and study habits seemed fine.
On the walk home, she began a recently adopted part of her daily routine -- scanning for the people in the crowd who worked in Kyouko's group, and kept an eye on her. Something, she was sure, Kyon would have been delighted to find out existed.... But as pleased as he might be to uncover a conspiracy, she was sadly sure he'd have no idea what to do with it.
She stifled a sigh, recognizing two people, and surmised from past experiences that there was a third watcher she had either missed or failed to recognize. And Kyouko wondered why Sasaki didn't want to talk to her at the moment....
She reached her small home quickly enough, quiet, thanks to her mother being gone at work.
What would her mother think about her going out to meet Kyon, she wondered, changing out of her school uniform. Well, her mother would approve -- she had liked Kyon, when Sasaki had studied with him. Of course, her mother had mistaken her interest in Kyon as a friend for something else.... Even with that misunderstanding, though, those had been more enjoyable times, she thought sadly. That reflection robbed her of some of her energy, and she forced herself to confront it.
Was that why was she so looking forward to seeing Kyon?
More importantly, why was she worrying so much about what she wore to meet him?
Standing at the foot of her bed before her mirror only half-dressed, she was startled to hear a knock at the door. Forcing back a sigh, she grabbed the shirt she was considering and pulled it on hurriedly, calling out, "I'm coming, just a minute, please!"
When she got to the doorway, her curiosity had become annoyance. Who would be coming by, anyway? But when she slid the door open, she was surprised to see Kuyou there, still in her school uniform, staring at the door Sasaki had just opened as though fascinated. She bit back a sigh and gave the other girl a wary smile. "Kuyou-chan, what brings you by?" she asked.
And come to think of it ... had she ever even told Kuyou where she lived? Kuyou's dark, unreadable eyes went to hers, and she gave one of her seemingly eternal, languid blinks. After Sasaki had begun to think the silence was long, even for Kuyou, she spoke, explaining, "Our ambits coincide. We are sympathetic."
Sasaki offered a much more confused smile, then shook her head. "Come in, then," she decided. "I'm getting ready to meet with someone, so I don't have a lot of time, but if -- as you suggest -- something I don't know about concerns us both, I'd like to know more about how!"
Kuyou drifted into the house on her tiptoes, slipping out of her shoes without missing a step as she glided down the hall. Sasaki followed curiously when Kuyou stopped in the center of Sasaki's room, then turned to regard the mirror, hints in her expression suggesting that -- for some reason -- she found it significant. Her gaze turned back, and she spent a moment looking thoughtful, as though considering how to word her next response.
"Well?" Sasaki prompted, trying to smile gently, but anxious about running late -- and as things stood, she'd done her level best to hide her meeting with Kyon from her other friends anyway. Kuyou seemed trustworthy, but she also seemed close to Fujiwara, and his behavior was something Sasaki was finding increasingly difficult to handle anyway.
"Observation indicates that our trajectories coincide," the dark-haired girl said, more quickly than Sasaki recalled her speaking, except for her cryptic comments at the beach. "There is a point in the local," and then her lips moved, and no sound came, but Kuyou didn't seem to notice, continuing to speak normally a few moments later, "whereupon two instances of him also may exist."
"Him?" Sasaki asked, genuinely confounded, and wondering what had happened to Kuyou on the beach. Was this all fallout from being told what an engagement was? That didn't somehow seem like it.... 'Him' could be Kyon, or Fujiwara, or maybe someone she hadn't even met yet.
Kuyou's face flashed an expression -- something so brief Sasaki wasn't certain she had seen it at all, then it changed to an unexpectedly sincere smile. "He is known to you; we are all within his ambit." Then her smile faded and she wore her normal expression, and words seemed to be a struggle once more, as it took her a long minute to laboriously declare: "Good ... luck."
Even though she wasn't at all certain she understood what the girl was talking about, she appreciated the well-wishing. Sasaki managed a weak but sincere smile for her friend. "Then, thank you, Kuyou-chan," she allowed. "It may not be scientific, but perhaps that's what we really need; I'll wish you luck, as well!"
Kuyou blinked slowly, then turned wordlessly, striding toward the entryway of Sasaki's home. Scowling, Sasaki snatched her purse and phone from her desk, quickly following -- but by the time she made the hallway, the front door was already sliding shut. When she reached the street, Sasaki couldn't find any trace of the other girl.
Unnerved, Sasaki wondered what it might mean. There were just too many possibilities to consider, so she decided to focus on the immediate goal of meeting with Kyon. She spotted two of her watchers again before returning to the train station. They could have asked her where she was going, but they didn't, and she wasn't inclined to tell them, this time. Not that there would be much doubt....
She imagined if she were like Kyon, she would have tried sticking a change of clothes in her purse and changing, outwitting the people following her. Well, she wasn't the type to rely on things she didn't think were likely to actually work out, anyway ... and given time to plan, she could come up with something more effective. She double-checked the schedules, then boarded a train headed toward Himeji.
She gave her watchers ample time to follow her, and exactly according to the schedule, slipped off at the next stop at the last possible second -- leaving her escorts behind. The trains were reliably on-time, so she was able to catch one headed back before she could be followed. Accordingly, only a few moments later, her phone began to ring. Seeing that the call was from Kyouko, she waited for it to get sent to voice mail before turning the phone off.
Her new train took her to a third station, where she picked a final transfer to the cafe where she was planning on meeting Kyon. She smiled forlornly as she stepped out of the station, and the cafe came into view. Her smile froze when she recognized Fujiwara leaning against one of the concrete support columns of the station's canopy, looking irritated as usual, both hands thrust into his pockets.
She pondered -- briefly -- trying to avoid him.... But then, what would the point of that be? Instead, she approached him directly; his gaze picked her out of the crowd almost instantly, though he didn't react except to watch her approach until she was close enough to speak to casually.
"Hello, Fujiwara," she greeted him, before he could speak. "What business brings you here today?"
"A future potential that has yet to be determined," he returned. Raising an eyebrow, he added, "Though, I think a better question might be what your business is."
"Mine," she answered, her smile fading. "And not yours."
He blinked at that, uncrossing his arms and scowling.
"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head, before he could speak. "I think at this point you had better hear me out, Fujiwara -- I don't know what exactly you have against Kyon, but he is my friend. I don't appreciate the way you seem to try and bring him trouble!"
Fujiwara made a face, obviously biting his tongue for a minute. "Are we not friends, Sasaki-san?" he asked.
"We are right now," she allowed. "But let's see that you don't push that!"
"I swear, I'm not planning on doing anything with your friend," Fujiwara sneered, looking half furious and -- strangely -- half dejected.
If Sasaki didn't know any better, she might think that Fujiwara was trying to cover hurt with anger.... But surely that couldn't be the case? "Is that so?" she asked.
"He may be an opposed spanner, but right now he's dealing with that bastard, and he's already slipshanked himself my only good weapon!" the boy yelled, his composure completely gone. "What could I really do to him right now? He's already caused enough damage to my Yet!"
Sasaki stared at Fujiwara for a moment, confounded on his meaning, but upset over his intent. "I don't know what that means, but I don't appreciate the idea that you're only respecting my wishes because you don't have the power to do otherwise!" she snapped.
"You don't understand!" he yelled back, sounding strangely miserable. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone! I just want to make the world free!"
Nearly a quarter of the people in the train station were now watching the pair, she realized, most of them with the decency to be covert about it, but some just staring openly. "It's not my fault I don't understand what you refuse to explain!" she countered loudly, unable to restrain herself. "Now, before you say something you regret, I believe we are done for the day!"
She stalked past him without looking back, upset at the feelings running through her. Why did so much have to be stirred up? Why was it all so soon? She resented being ruled by her emotions; she felt that she was intelligent enough to use them as guidelines and suggestions. When her restraint was overwhelmed, she thought she failed to act intelligently. All the more reason not to let her feelings control her.
On the off chance that Kyon had gotten to the cafe first, she forced herself to slow to a walk as she crossed the street, catching her breath and calming herself down. She stood on the sidewalk for a moment, her eyes closed as she tried to master her inner turmoil.
"Ah, you're a regular here, aren't you?" someone asked, interrupting her reverie.
Startled, she opened her eyes, vaguely recognizing the waitress from the cafe -- a kind looking green-haired girl not much older than herself. "Yes, I suppose I am," she allowed.
The waitress looked thoughtful, pressing a fingertip to her lips. "You know," she remarked, smiling softly, "I only see you here with your friends, but they're not around. Twice in one day must be more than coincidence! Your other friend is waiting for you inside."
Sasaki blinked in surprise, but then realized that she'd run into Kyon headed to the same cafe once before.... Perhaps, he also usually came with his friends? That would explain the waitress figuring things out.... Sasaki was certain she'd have realized how obvious the whole thing was if she weren't so upset emotionally. "Er, yes," she agreed, nodding, when she thought she might be taking too long to answer. "I ... should go see him."
The waitress beamed her a smile and gestured her into the cafe. Sasaki shook her head, irritated that the waitress began to fade from her memory as soon as she stepped through the door. She spotted Kyon almost instantly, and smiled at him when he looked up from his deep study of his empty glass.
"Hello, Kyon," she managed shakily, not losing her smile. What did it mean that for all of her complaints, once she took a seat opposite him, she found her head clearing? That she felt better about her situation?
"Sasaki," he returned, nodding, offering a cautious smile of his own. "Are you alright?"
"Of course," she assured him, looking up as the waitress came by.
Kyon ordered a refill of his glass of milk for himself, and Sasaki decided to get one as well; somehow, she didn't think coffee would settle her enough at the moment. The waitress quickly returned with their drinks, then retreated to give them privacy.
"You've never really tried to deceive me before, but somehow, that seems lacking in conviction," he noted.
"I'll admit that I've been stressed," she acknowledged, smiling in defeat that he could see through her so easily.
"Cram school?" he asked doubtfully, giving her a tiny smirk.
She shook her head, sighing. "I wish that were the only concern," she said softly. "Ah, but never mind that. Kyon, it's been ... over a year since we really properly talked, hasn't it?"
He shifted his shoulders and let his smirk slip away, staring at some point on the table thoughtfully. "Yeah," he answered quietly. "Since middle school."
She bowed her head slightly in recognition of his implications. How could she have forgotten? "Ah.... That is, I suppose ... one of the reasons I wished to talk to you...."
He nodded tersely. "Alright, then."
Her confidence wavered at his anxiety, and she hesitated yet again. Why was this so hard? "I'm sorry," she said again, trying to find her center. "I ... think I need a minute."
"In that case," he said slowly, "may I say something?"
"We wouldn't be very good friends if I wanted you to listen to me without myself offering the same," she replied, wondering what he had to say -- and hoping it wasn't angry recriminations toward her friends.
That cheered him slightly, and he straightened up in his seat, taking a sip of his milk before he began, "I know we used to spend a great deal of time discussing things that I wanted to believe in, and you thought were silly."
Sasaki nodded, not meeting his eyes and struggling to keep her expression clear. Had she really come across that way? As if she didn't even respect him...?
"Well ... I tended to think you were right, you know, more often than not ... but there was one thing I always wanted to believe in, even if you argued against it. It was ... um, well, you probably noticed ... the last thing we really did talk about."
She hadn't forgotten that, of course, and her vision shimmered at the realization. Back then....
"But ... well, things have changed for me recently...."
Logically, she told herself, this wasn't anything she didn't deserve. Realistically, she had even brought it upon herself.... And being engaged, well, that was quite a change. "You said," she managed, pleased with how steady she kept her voice, "that you believed in the idea that love conquered all?"
He startled slightly at that. "I ... guess I did mention that, didn't I?" he asked, mostly to himself. He shook his head, explaining, "That's not the important part, here, though. What I mean to say is, even if you told me it wouldn't last, I do still believe in the power of friendship. That people who believe in one-another and work together can overcome things...."
She giggled in surprise at what he had said. None of the bitter recriminations or hateful invective she had been afraid of.... He'd grown, undoubtedly, and was better spoken than middle school. Somehow, he seemed even more patient than he had already been.... And when she thought he was going to tell her how much better off he was with his fiancee, he instead tried to imply that no matter her troubles, he'd try and help her.
Her instincts told her she should point out the logical flaws in his argument, but she couldn't retain the control for that. Instead, she realized that more than anything else, she wanted to agree with him. The idea that she could tell him, 'Kyon, I've gotten involved with a scary secret conspiracy,' and then he would do everything in his power to help her....
Kyon, the boy who had already managed to somehow get shot by yakuza while working on a movie one of his classmates was producing.... Realistically, that was the most action he could expect to see and survive. Could she embroil him in the affairs she was involved in, with forces beyond his understanding?
Swallowing the rest of her milk, she steeled herself, coming to a decision on what friendship -- Kyon's friendship -- really meant to her.
Not really having much of an idea of why Sasaki wanted to talk to him, Kyon had waited nervously in the cafe. With time to spare, he'd mulled over what he wanted to say to her, but somehow, when he saw her walk hesitantly into the cafe, that had all left him.
He hadn't forgotten that Sasaki -- for some reason -- unsettled Haruhi. And he really didn't want to think about what Koizumi had said about that, considering how confusing things were at the moment. Instead, he decided to backtrack to something he felt more confident that he could understand.
Everything else aside, he and Sasaki had been friends. And what had the brigade shown him lately, aside from how strong friendship could be?
It may not have had the impact of his speech to Haruhi at the end of that repeating summer, but he felt it was a good speech, and he was sure that -- somehow -- he had even reached Sasaki. Done, he leaned back in his chair and finished his glass of milk, looking at her expectantly.
She spent a long minute thinking about what he had said, and he realized with surprise that he was relieved to see that she seemed calmed by what he had said.
"I would like you to be right, too," she finally allowed, smiling. "The idea that ... friendship means more than just another level of familiarity." Her hands wrapped around her empty milk glass and she peered into it. "Though ... I also think that friendship means wanting to keep your friends safe from problems you might cause them ... right?"
He frowned, mulling that over. "What are you getting at?" he asked, shaking his head. "Are you saying my friends are causing me trouble? I don't see it that way at all; it's because they're friends that I've ended up getting involved with them. If being friends with someone means that you might share their burdens, well, then that's fine by me. I'm willing to try and do that for my friends."
She shifted her shoulders in response, giving him a wry smile. "I know," she allowed. "And ... um, if we are still friends, then I'm grateful to you for that."
"So ... what's troubling you, then?" he pressed. She'd gone through too much trouble to try and get a hold of him for it to be anything as simple as wanting to talk to him.
"Just," she said, smiling, but not the assured, confident smile he remembered from her in middle school, "that it's been so long...." She met his eyes for a heartbeat, then looked away, shrugging. "I thought, um, that we should talk properly! So, you're engaged to that Tsuruya girl, are you?"
He blinked, taken aback. Why on earth would Sasaki care about that? "Yeah," he acknowledged, nodding. Perhaps it had been mentioned at the beach? What had they talked about while he was with Kanae?
"An arranged marriage, in this day and age," she mused, pushing her empty glass away from her. She offered a weak smile, shaking her head. "Well, setting the circumstances aside, are you ... um ... happy with her?"
Kyon frowned, rubbing at one temple, wondering at this new facet of Sasaki. Or ... was this her attempt at a front? "Um ... Tsuruya-kun is a good friend," he said. "She's supportive, energetic, and always positive. Honestly, I'm really glad to be spending more time with her, so as sudden as everything is...." He shrugged. "I think so."
"That's ... good," she returned after a moment, nodding, still looking away. She smiled a tiny bit, and it seemed genuine, if weak. "I'm glad to hear that things seem to be working out for you. Even if, um ... I heard that you were somehow injured recently?"
One hand went to the spot on his chest where he had been shot, and he grimaced. In the grand scheme of things, he still felt that Yamane Jun was influenced more by the IDSE than the Sumiyoshi-rengo. Not that it ultimately mattered. If it was trying to help Tsuruya, or because he wanted to try and look out for Yuki as much as she looked after him, he was glad to do what he could. "Yeah," he allowed, more quietly. "That ... wasn't so big a deal."
She turned to study him, for a moment back to her old self. She looked amused and skeptical all at once, not quite condescending. While their eyes met, he thought he saw a hint of melancholy before she hastily shifted her gaze away, the moment fading. "Not so big a deal," she echoed, almost chuckling. "And here I thought you were looking for adventures!"
"Not that much," Kyon countered, shaking his head. At Sasaki's skepticism, he elaborated, "I wanted to get involved, but true adventure finds you; there's no need to go looking for it."
"Maybe that's so," she mused quietly in response, as the waitress came by and quietly asked if they wanted anything else.
Sasaki asked for water, and Kyon decided that he would follow suit. Once she had brought glasses of water out for the pair of them, Sasaki sighed, mustering another smile. "Well ... mostly I wanted a chance to speak with a close friend since it seems that our paths might not cross again. As difficult as it was to get some of your time already...." She shrugged, her expression wistful. "I...it may turn out that we don't speak for a long while ... after this."
"Why?" Kyon asked, confused. "I mean ... well ... okay, I guess I have been difficult to get a hold of lately. But is it so bad you have to act like we may never see one another again?"
Sasaki fidgeted with a napkin and very quietly said, "It ... may be the fault of my friends, as much as anything else...."
Kyon's frown deepened. "Your friends don't want you to talk to me?" he asked. The idea that Fujiwara or Kyouko might be trying to keep Sasaki away from him....
"I feel rather it's more that your friends would like it if I didn't talk to you ... though it doesn't help that some of my friends seem a bit antagonistic...." Sasaki gave a glum smile. "But ... it was good to see you again."
The waitress happened to be passing their table as she called a loud greeting to someone at the doorway. Both Kyon and Sasaki glanced at the cafe entrance, where a woman that he didn't recognize stood. She looked to be in her thirties, a somewhat plain woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a blue skirt and coat; the woman's eyes scanned the room, and for some reason lingered on him with mild concern before turning to Sasaki with greater alarm.
"Ah," Sasaki gasped quietly. "I ... need to go," she said quickly climbing to her feet, looking distressed. "Um, y...you stay out of trouble, okay?" she hastily bowed to him and moved to meet with the woman in the doorway.
He didn't know what was happening, but didn't miss the fact that something was obviously not right. He had risen from his chair, prepared to bolt after her when the waitress's voice stopped him, asking, "Will you settle the check?"
A valuable moment was wasted staring at the waitress in disbelief before he fumbled for his wallet, pressing a two thousand yen bill into her hands. "Keep the change," he called, dashing to the doorway. He didn't care about the people in the cafe staring at him, not now. Sasaki was obviously in trouble, whatever she had said.
By the time he made the street, he just glimpsed Sasaki and the woman with her rounding the corner at the end of the block, beneath a pool of light from the street lamps. He swore to himself, breaking in a run toward where he had seen the pair last. He skidded to a halt at the edge of the corner, narrowly evading a collision with a sour-looking salary-man on his way to the nearby train station. He mumbled an apology he didn't really feel and scanned the street, thinking he had glimpsed Sasaki's hair as she ducked into a car some distance away, which rumbled into motion even as he watched.
He bit off another curse, dashing down the street after the car as it sped up. As he passed an alley on his left, he heard a strange buzzing and hissing noise, turning just in time to glimpse another machine, similar to the one he had last seen on the beach, a week ago. This one was slimmer, and taller, the shape slightly different, but more importantly than anything else, even for his running speed, it was already hurtling toward him unimaginably fast, limbs spinning through the narrow passage of the alley.
Sullenly following the woman that Sasaki had come to identify as one of Kyouko's superiors, the girl allowed herself to be pushed into a car -- away from Kyon. She could acknowledge to herself, at least, that he was probably better off not getting involved in the madness that embroiled her own life. Then again ... he was stubborn and persistent. And she hadn't been at her best; she'd been obvious enough that he would probably still demand an explanation at some point.
She tuned out Kyouko's superior's voice. The woman was named Takahashi something or another, Sasaki honestly couldn't recall. She could really only think that trying to talk to Kyon had been a mistake in the end.
What had she accomplished ... she'd broken her emotional control, she'd nearly admitted things to Kyon that she still wasn't comfortable admitting to herself, and then, she'd been a complete idiot, too busy feeling miserable to adequately cover up that fact to him. If she weren't so busy feeling, then she could have been analytical, logical, and maybe had a chance to solve her problems instead of whimpering like a little girl and telling Kyon that she wanted to believe in friendship.
Friendship, she mused forlornly. That meant making sure Kyon was safe ... that her problems didn't need to become his. She spent most of the ride trying to sort her thoughts out, ignoring the fact that Takahashi was berating her the entire time. The car, driven by one of the woman's lackeys, pulled up before her house, where lights suggested her mother had already come home. A small cluster of men that she recognized as more of Kyouko's associates were standing around uncomfortably outside the door.
Sasaki didn't know what they had come to her house for, and wondered if she had glossed over something that Takahashi might have said that would explain things. "What's going on?" Sasaki asked Takahashi anxiously. "What are these men here for?"
The woman pursed her lips and gave Sasaki a stern stare. "Sasaki-chan," she began in an annoyed, superior tone, "we're here to look out for you. You don't understand all of the risks that surround you; going to visit that boy alone.... Now, listen, we're going to go inside and have a talk with your mother. For your safety, we're going to see about moving you to a more secure location--"
"No!" Sasaki protested, shaking her head. "This is all-- No! This is stupid! Are you treating me like a prisoner, now? I don't think you have so much authority that I can't protest to the police!" She took another breath, but rather than argue the point, she dove for the door handle, managing to lever it up and try to escape from the vehicle. Of course, if she got free, she still had to figure out how to take care of her mother, but--
Takahashi's protesting voice chased her out of the car as she almost slipped on the street, recovering her balance and tottering away on her suddenly uncooperative shoes ... but where could she go? She obviously couldn't go to Kyon for help, not if her plan were to keep him uninvolved. Fujiwara wasn't reliable, and even if he were, he was as difficult to get a hold of as Kuyou. Kyouko would be easier to get a hold of, but these were her allies, after all.
Where else could she go, she wondered, five steps later, when her shoes lost purchase again, and she tumbled forward, the pounding footsteps of Takahashi's goons just behind her. Why couldn't Kyon be right, and friends be amazing, dependable people that you could rely on?
The whirling silvery mass of death was obscured for a moment by a flash of black -- Suou Kuyou, descending from the heavens in her school uniform, her long hair billowing up and behind her in an ominous trail. Improbably, he was able to glimpse her face; impassive as she almost always seemed, unmindful of the fact that her skirt had been flipped up while she descended.
Her heel came into contact with the top of the flashing chrome monstrosity, deflecting it down -- proper time abruptly resumed, and Kyon slammed into an invisible wall, bouncing to the ground of the dark, suddenly deserted street. Behind him, less than a meter away, the slider death bot's mass continued forward, slowed only by plowing through the asphalt and cement below, sending sparks and a hideous crunching noise across the area. The thing's massive limbs clawed through the brick and mortar wall of the store behind him, sending a spray of chips and dust over his head.
Swearing, he belatedly activated his defenses, rolling backward and to his feet, drawing his beam-saber and activating it in one smooth motion. There was a quiet hum as it came to life, shedding soft blue light across the arena. Whatever the invisible barrier was, it was gone, so he was able to edge away from the slider robot's mass as it twitched and writhed.
"Suou-san?" he called waving the dust away and eying the parts of the attacking machine that he could see clearly.
The only response was a sizzle of sparks, something within the dust-cloud shedding a bright blue light briefly. Glancing around, the street -- no, the entire city -- seemed shut off from the rest of the world, somehow, deserted. As though the only beings there were Kyon, the damaged robot, and -- maybe -- Kuyou.
"Hello?" he called more loudly. "Anyone?"
If he didn't know any better, he'd guess he had somehow gotten stuck in closed space, or something very like it. The robot twitched again, suddenly seeming to come back to life. He swore to himself, realizing that he should have hacked it apart while it was stunned or distracted.
Too late, though; now it drew itself upright. Eight splayed silverly limbs emerged from the low dust cloud, and above it, the narrower, spiral-etched disc that made up the center and majority of the thing's mass turned slightly, before another horrendous tear in space exploded behind it. The spindly construct seemed to tip backward into the tear -- and vanished.
A heartbeat later, he spun, sword out, as another, smaller tear formed in the middle of the empty street, and when it vanished, the scowling form of the enemy slider was revealed. "Hey," he said sourly, one hand on one of the silver cylinders at his belt.
Kyon moved his free hand to his side, ready to raise his shields, armor and coat already fully active. "You," he said levelly.
"I have a name," the slider returned in a sneer. "Anyway, let's cut to the chase, Champ."
Reflexive after dealing with as many organized criminals as he had, Kyon simultaneously raised one eyebrow and the point of his beam-saber, as though in invitation. "Really?" he asked doubtfully, unnerved enough at the strange situation.
The slider's lip curled back, his sneer deepening, and he bit back a growl, his knuckles whitening around his weapon. "Let's talk," he hissed, eyes narrowed.
"Really?" Kyon asked again, just as doubtful as before.
"I don't want to fight you here," the slider clarified, his teeth still tightly grit. His eyes flicked to somewhere behind Kyon, and he added, in a growl, "As if that would give me much of a choice."
Kyon blinked, glancing behind him despite his suspicions -- though he hadn't noticed her arrival, Kuyou was just behind him, to the left, her eyes fixed on the other slider's. Kyon did not particularly enjoy the sense of being between the two of them, but it seemed that Kuyou was on his side for the moment. He decided that without any other choice, he'd have to trust her; he already knew he couldn't trust the slider.
"Fine," he allowed curtly, lowering his beam-saber, deactivating the blade against his better judgment. "What's your name, then?"
The slider blinked at the question, then rolled his eyes. "Sure," he replied with a sneer. "If I tell you my name, maybe you'll even understand why I'm doing this. Call me Wataru -- now what do I call you?"
"Kyon," he returned. "Everyone else calls me Kyon." He realized with a sad smile that it was the first time he'd voluntarily introduced himself with the hated nickname ... but somehow, he didn't think that Wataru had been honest with his own name -- just like Fujiwara. Somehow, the tradition seemed reasonable.
"Alright, Kyon," Wataru allowed, nodding. "Now for brass tacks. You're protecting...." He trailed off with a grimace and made a vague, disgusted gesture.
Did Wataru not even know Kanae's name? Kyon doubted that, but if it were the case, he wouldn't be the one to give it away. "Yes, I am protecting her," Kyon affirmed, narrowing his eyes. "What do you have against her?"
Wataru trembled with barely restrained rage, swallowing with visible effort, then drew his hand from his weapon with an obvious display of effort. "Those who I represent," he said stiffly, "require her presence for their own ends."
"And you?" Kyon pressed.
The slider's teeth grit even harder, and he shot Kyon a hateful, murderous stare. "In a world, in a reality far from here, that ... one that you protect came to another world -- my world. You don't understand what it really is!" He shook his head, his eyes sharp, glowing with rage. "It came to our world -- leading the tide...."
This was heavy stuff again -- but he remembered Yuki and Haruhi discussing it. He tried to keep his head clear. He was supposed to be chasing after Sasaki, not getting involved in ... whatever this was!
Wataru was quiet for a minute, lost in his own thoughts. When he spoke again he was slightly calmer, though his voice still shook. "She fled, but the Combine had exhausted themselves reaching my world. How long would her trail of destruction spread, after all? And I was right there ... one of her first victims." He looked up suddenly, menace in his eyes -- but before he could do anything, Kuyou was there again, her hair flaring straight to one side from her momentum for an instant before whipping the other way, a massive jet curtain, almost completely obscuring the slider's presence.
Wataru snarled quiet something as space tore open behind him, then more loudly, directly at the girl between the two of them, "Next time, you worthless piece of junk! Once you're part of the Combine you'll be my pet! Just like the others!" His mad gaze turned to Kyon, as Kuyou's hair began to settle in a wide fan down her back. Distantly, there was the sound of something immense shattering, as the earth began to shake -- the rumbling sensation and sound picked up in volume.
"I told you!" he yelled over the increasing sound of the world around them crumbling. "My name!"
"I know you," Kyon yelled back.
"No, you don't!" the slider countered, as the rumbling intensified so much that Kyon was struggling to maintain his balance. "My name! My reason!" The glow in his eyes reached a new, manic intensity. "I will stop that thing, Kyon! I will rescue my sister! I swear on my good name -- Michikyuu Wataru!"
The world around them exploded, the nearest buildings instantly shattering into monumental piles of rubble, while Kyon reeled as though struck, falling to his knees -- and then further, through the last remnants of the broken world around him.
Sasaki stumbled, throwing her hands out before her, knowing she was going to crash to the ground and be caught-- Except, she didn't even make it that far, stumbling forward and being caught before she even fell. A pair of arms wrapped around her, as her face pressed into someone's sturdy chest.
"Hold up," a far-too familiar, but unfamiliarly angry voice warned, as she was helped back upright. "No, I said--"
But her savior cut off with a growl, and she wobbled unsteadily, turning around in wide-eyed alarm. She was just in time to see her protector duck beneath the fist of the first of the burly men, countering with a cross-punch to his jaw. "B...but," she began to protest, shaking her head, her eyes wide.
Her savior ignored her for the moment, jogging toward the next attacker, leaping forward and kicking him in the face. Like an action movie hero, he planted another foot in the stomach of the man he had kicked even as he was falling, leaping forward and lashing out with a flying kick at the third. Two of them were down, and the first one began to shakily climb to his feet before her guardian spun, pulling something shiny and chrome from inside his coat.
For the merest moment, in the shifting light, it seemed like he might have been holding some other weapon, but it was just a stun-gun. She still couldn't really help but stare in amazement as he pulled the trigger, a pair of tiny darts shooting out before the frighteningly loud chatter of electrical discharge sounded, and the first man went still.
"K...Kyon?" she breathed, disbelieving, as Takahashi and her driver got out of the car, staring at the boy apprehensively, but not moving.
"Sasaki," he said, turning around, frowning. "Is it that hard to believe your friends can look out for you?"
She tried to speak, but words wouldn't come. As much a fool as she'd felt lately, she felt an even bigger idiot, just standing in the street, staring at the boy who had saved her. "Your friends do care, and...." He hesitated, looking slightly away, then admitted, "Your friend Fujiwara told me you needed my help right now."
Already stunned, she felt even further robbed of words.
He studied her, then offered a sad, forlorn smile, unmindful of the figures behind him. "Come on," he said insistently, reaching a hand toward her.
Hesitant, uncertain, but more than anything wanting to believe, she managed to take his warm hand in her own shaking grip. He led her past the prone goons, stopping a few feet from Takahashi and her anxious looking driver. "Hey," he said, frowning, nodding at them, then pulling his phone, or a PDA from his pocket, snapping pictures of each of them.
Takahashi recovered first and scowled, returning, "Can I help you, young man?"
In response he shook his phone, glancing at the screen. "I'll get back to you in my own time," he said, raising his eyebrows in admonishment. "Fujiwara can explain that -- and while you're asking him what it all means, mention that it's predetermined that he sent me here in the first place."
Sasaki still didn't understand what was going on -- just that, her sense of logic and rationality had finally given up. Whatever else was going wrong, she understood that Kyon had been right, and she hadn't. It was much easier to follow his lead, and believe in his friendship for the moment.
Takahashi's lips pressed together into a thin line. "I'm sure I don't--"
"Spare me," Kyon countered, eyes narrowed. "Keeping in mind when I'm from.... Here's the deal. Sasaki's in charge. If I hear one word that she's not happy because of something you do, then I'll come back to help her out -- with friends." He leaned closer to Takahashi, and part of Sasaki wanted to wince at how inappropriately near her Kyon got. The greater part of her noted that the bigger deal would be the three men he'd already knocked down, and that just at the moment, she was glad to watch the woman nervously press herself against the car, looking up at the menace in Kyon's gaze. "And when I say 'friends,' remember who sent me."
Sasaki's sense of rationality and logic was too eroded to prevent her from looking at her middle-school friend without being mildly awed. Here he was, acting a bizarre, insane combination of guardian and thug ... and all she could think was that as much as she didn't want to admit it to herself ... she felt safe when he was nearby. And ... maybe, just a tiny bit ... if it was true, and Fujiwara had gone out of his way to send Kyon to her ... then maybe it wasn't just Kyon that was a dependable friend; maybe there could be others, too. Wasn't that what he was saying earlier? Ultimately, hadn't she been conceited to think that she was the only one who could positively affect her friends?
After lingering a moment longer to ensure that his message was received, Kyon pulled away, shaking his head and leading Sasaki back to the gateway to her home. The three men on the sidewalk had gotten back up, but were wisely avoiding looking at Kyon, one of them sitting on the curb and cupping his jaw tenderly in both hands.
"Now, there's a small catch here," Kyon noted quietly, glancing behind himself to make sure no one could overhear. "Namely, if we don't keep in proper contact, I won't know that I have to help you."
"O...oh," Sasaki realized aloud, blinking. That would mean her entire plan of avoiding contact with Kyon to keep him out of trouble had been for nothing. Some spark of her rationality reasserted itself; it was a positive that she'd been mistaken here, after all. "H...how about a dead-man switch, then?" she asked.
He blinked at her, raising an eyebrow. She managed a smile and shook her head.
"I'll send you a text message at least twice a day," she clarified very quietly. "If you don't get one, you'll know something is wrong! S...so, expect one in the morning before school, and again in the evening, um, maybe just before dinner?"
"Yeah, I thought that was your idea instead of mine," he sighed, nodding. "Alright; that ends up working very well. I'm sorry -- it's really risking a lot, right now, so I can't talk much more. Just ... remember that I'm here for you, because that's what friendship means." Then he smiled at her, and something about it was so genuine that if he hadn't turned away, she wasn't sure what she would have done.
She followed him with her eyes as he walked away, glancing back over his shoulder and giving her a friendly wave before walking down the street.
There were unanswered questions, of course -- like how had Kyon gotten there so quickly from the cafe? Or when had he learned to fight? Had Fujiwara really talked to him? Asked him to help on her behalf?
Stepping into her house, feeling safe in her home once more despite her awareness of Takahashi's minions withdrawing....
Her rational mind began to recover itself, and she pondered doing what seemed reasonable -- calling the police and trying to explain her situation. Naturally, she scolded herself as her mother greeted her at the door, protesting at her disheveled status. She allowed herself to be herded into the bathtub, her mother worriedly chiding her the entire way, until she was soaking in the warm water, finally alone with her thoughts.
Either Kyon had a friend who could drive, or he'd flagged down a taxi to catch up to her. That made sense. If a friend met him, that would explain how he'd gotten the change of clothes, too; he'd probably just put on the coat in the back seat of a car while en route. And his ability to (seemingly effortlessly) beat up the goons from Takahashi's mysterious fanatics?
Well, she thought, swirling one hand in the water, she'd never actually known if Kyon had any kind of practical combat training. She'd never noticed him particularly excelling at physical education in school, outside of games where good strategy had an influence. That was one of the things that had initially made her notice him, in retrospect.... She shook her head, trying to dismiss that part of the thought.
Logically, she asserted, someone who had always seemed to want to be part of some amazing story might actually learn something as basic as martial arts. She'd even had a few classes of her own when she was younger -- Tai Chi at the start of middle school, before she'd dropped it for cram school. He'd never been the type to brag, so that would explain why he'd never brought it up. Add in the fact that the genuine combat skill of the men he'd beaten had been unknown, and what had happened was actually entirely explicable.
The stun-gun was a bit of a question, but easily addressed by that recent shooting.... Why not take some additional self-defense precaution after that? Or, perhaps it had been provided by the same theoretical ally who had provided transportation and the coat?
And thinking further, given what Kyouko had claimed about Tsuruya's family.... That ally might have actually been some person of questionable repute.
She smiled slowly, as her mind logically deduced that thanks to this, she might have underestimated Kyon's ability to help her. And the fact that he'd said he wanted to. Guiltily, she realized that she wasn't giving Fujiwara any credit, but that made sense, too. Based on his behavior, the genuine explanation was simple:
'Time traveler' was a code-word for 'organized criminal'.
Further puzzle pieces began to fit themselves together, her quickly recovering rationality deducing what more of her situation meant. There were still unknown components, and she was still very strongly tempted to involve the police -- as long as she could avoid getting Kyon or Fujiwara in trouble, though.... As much as it bothered her that she might be abetting criminals, she remembered what Kyon had said, and returned logic or not, she'd already made herself accept the fact that she believed he could help her.
Well, at least she hadn't let herself fall completely head-over-heels with him, considering his engagement, like poor Kuyou.... The question remained, however: what had the other girl meant about trajectories aligning? How had their situations become similar? Was Kuyou somehow also dependent on Kyon for help?
But then.... Why not ask him?
Though the entities contacted had established their own name and label for what Kuyou was, that label had been useless for the purposes of communication. Almost all attempts at using the basic-seeming memetic communication string resulted in non-mutual exchanges of spin. Spin was precarious, allowable to fluctuate only within minuscule parameters; exceeding those volumes was unnatural.
Memetics were difficult enough; string and spin exchanges on the scale that Kuyou was more familiar with were broader. Her time and focus was typically among the Chorus, stretching far beyond the rim, to the very edges of the Song. Kuyou's kind's awareness existed only there, the first echoes of physical matter and observable energy, at the edges of what was.
Narrowing that focus from a span the width of all that was, to an area almost as small as existed, Kuyou observed, senses filtering in every vibration in the surrounding corona of atoms: the merest, faintest wisps of oxygen, hydrogen, other trace strings spinning in known chords and notes. Among the entities that Kuyou communicated with -- flimsy, ethereal collections of matter and energy (mostly dihydrogen monoxide and a blend of electro-chemical surges) that none-the-less were aware -- the pattern of vibrations of atoms through that almost imperceptible curtain of gas were particularly important, however.
The great bulk of their communication existed at this level, and Kuyou had exchanged a great deal of both spin and string trying to find meaning above the already difficult-to-perceive layers of energy and matter. Understanding their interactions, and the significance of small chemical collections, or small masses of various shapes that conducted energy in strange ways -- it was all quite a struggle to comprehend.
The only reason the planet (mostly iron and oxygen) had even entered Kuyou's awareness was thanks to a void in the fabric of the all; a disruption of the Song. Kuyou's attention had been drawn away from the Chorus, and Kuyou had tried to investigate.
Fabricating a collection of the general atomic structure of the wispy beings native to the tiny cluster of thicker atoms was the first step. This had taken countless rotations and stressed causality, almost as much as the initial observable disruption. Then came the art of, over further countless rotations, understanding the significance of the movements of the sphere. Because it would not have been efficient to do otherwise, Kuyou observed the entirety of the planet simultaneously, aware of the momentum and position of every particle and energy string within the parent-star's heliopause.
Because it was tedious to process all of those observations, Kuyou only made one observation per rotation, dismissing the vast majority of her findings, as they were known parts of the Song. Kuyou had been pleased to learn about the local entities' comprehension of time, though the scale was still difficult to attune to; she determined that her observations occurred approximately one thousand, one hundred and fifty times per what the local vibrations in atmosphere (within tolerances) called a 'second'.
The next significant thing that Kuyou had learned had been that their vibration-communication was called 'speech'. After that, breakthroughs came at a phenomenal pace, and in the span of the entities' 'days' it had been determined that Kuyou was what the entities called a female. And that the entities were called human. And that Sasaki was Kuyou's friend.
This interested Kuyou; to know what the construct that had been assembled meant to the humans gave meaning to the entity. That meant that now Kuyou was female. Kuyou was both what she had been before (and even in the Song, the Chorus did not have easily explained terms that could convey what they were), and a human girl.
She had learned many other interesting things, too. There had been profound interactions between Kuyou and others; particularly, her awareness and construction had fallen into the influence of a being that the local humans called 'Kyon'. She understood that wasn't his name, in the same way that Kuyou wasn't hers, but understanding the draw to him was not as easily explained. Until Sasaki had helpfully explained that Kuyou was in love with Kyon, at least. That was useful to know.
At some point recently, the Song itself had been broken -- disrupted by the arrival of an Other. The Other did not sing; the Chorus itself expended spin to repair the lack. Something had been lost, then, and the Chorus became aware of another voice, another sound. They were like the Song, and yet, not. Kuyou's kind termed them Noise, from a memetic discharge that she had once observed from the construct that Kuyou had known to be labeled Nagato Yuki. Whatever Nagato Yuki was (and somehow, the composition of her being evaded Kuyou's observations), while it was even more difficult to perceive and communicate with than the humans around her, the Chorus had determined that that force was not responsible for the Noise.
The Chorus had grown concerned; the discordance was not natural. Noise threatened to overwhelm the harmony, but among the Chorus, only Kuyou had observed so closely; only Kuyou had been sanctioned to go beyond the natural limits of spin and string to intercede. Only Kuyou had assembled a construct to investigate the site on the scale the events occurred in.
The human known as 'Kyon' had been endangered by one of the Others. Kuyou had determined that as instructed by Sasaki, it was unacceptable to allow him to be injured by an Other; 'love' seemed to indicate that she would tend to occult him from danger. But interactions with these entities were complex, and sometimes she had immense difficulty understanding what constituted danger to him.
It was exceedingly difficult, manipulating the local space and matter without making some minor change on the incorrect scale -- accidentally splitting all hydrogen atoms, incidentally nudging the Schwarzschild radius of the mostly iron sphere below her beyond the orbit of its moon, or possibly miscalculating the weight of local atoms, converting oxygen to gold. The majority of the Chorus didn't even focus on a small enough span to understand her observations, so could provide no meaningful help, either.
Fortunately, because the Others were unnatural, as was the Noise, her manipulation of local space and matter -- against the Noise, at least -- was accepted by the Chorus as a harmonization of the Song. So, in anticipation of Kyon being attacked, Kuyou had spent many rotations responsibly manipulating the local substance, spinning theoretical strings simultaneous to the existing strings. In other words, to adequately protect Kyon, she had duplicated most known parts of the Song in the area of her observation, intentionally at the barely perceptible edge of the Chorus; occupying the same space, but at a significantly different wavelength.
When Noise occurred, and Others once again began to disrupt the Song, she had changed his vibrational frequency -- and that of the Other -- to match her copy of the Song. Here, with the permissions of the Chorus, she could more easily effect changes as she needed; accidentally destroying her own copy would not affect the Song greatly, but would still help to properly manage the Noise.
She observed the communications between Kyon and the Other ('Wataru'). When she determined that the Others were done projecting Noise, she allowed her local Song to stop, her constructed human form approaching Kyon to allow her easier focus. The constructed form made manipulating local string and spin on a small scale simpler; less risk of accidentally sparking off unwanted reactions between random elements that way.
Back in the Song proper, the Chorus left a void for her to slowly rebuild her shadow song for the next time she might need it -- ideally a few hundred thousand rotations away. As it was, the Chorus was satisfied that her solution had felt harmonic enough, acting to preserve the greater integrity of the Song; her allowances remained.
However, this was an important juncture; the Other was gone. For the moment, her constructed self was alone with Kyon. Her last spare spin went to projecting more of her awareness than usual into an even smaller space.
The universe around her exploded; became vast, painful to contemplate, and larger than her comprehension of the Song should have been. Below her, what had seemed once a faint collection of atoms abruptly became the center of the universe; an inescapably massive sphere of stone, dirt, and iron that she was pinned to. The wispy hints of atmosphere now became an all-encompassing sea, a thick soup of gases, and her crushed beneath an eternity of them.
To either side of her, collections of minerals and metals towered, the vast majority of their construction invisible to her body's normal senses, obscured behind the immensity of what they were. More importantly, instead of just being the entity known as Kyon....
There was Kyon; the one she loved. The only one who returned enough spin for her to determine that he might be able to keep the Song from being forced to harmonize with the Noise.
Kuyou smiled.
Still shaken from what the slider had said, Kyon was only vaguely aware of someone touching him, of being somehow taken away from that strange, empty copy of the battleground, to standing in the alley he had first seen the new slider death-bot hurtling toward him. Suou Kuyou had her elbows on his shoulders, her wrists crossed behind his head. Her body was simultaneously very soft, and also surprisingly solid, pressing him against the wall of the building behind him.
"W...what is this?" he protested, eyes widening. "What's going on?"
Her dark eyes seemed bottomless, eternal, and strangely luminous in the dim alley, sparkling up at him. Her pale face shone in the dim light, allowing him to make out her lips, curved in a soft smile. "I am attracted to you," she said, her voice curiously matter-of-fact, not quite as uncertain as the last time she had tried to talk to him.
His eyes widened, and he looked nervously toward the street, pinned as he was by the small girl. "W...well, um ... that's ... v...very flattering, but I'm engaged...."
She didn't react, just staring up at him and slowly blinking, her smile not fading.
He swallowed, trying, "Thank you, um, Suou-san, for your help with the, uh, weapons, and uh, fighting ... Wataru."
She pursed her lips her brow furrowing the tiniest distance. "Equivalence," she uttered. "Imbalance. There is a void."
Frantically wracking his mind, Kyon had the stray thought to call Kasai, who seemed to have an interest in koans -- before forcing himself to seriously consider what she had said, trying to extract meaning from those words. "I owe you something?" he guessed. "Y...you need me to do something for you?"
"Need," she echoed. Then her smile faded, and the luminosity of her eyes intensified. For a long, awkward minute, she seemed to just think about what he said. Finally, she determined, "I need you."
He felt his face flush red, and his mouth escaped his control. "W...well, y...you're cute," he babbled, looking away from the bottomless wells of her eyes, struggling in vain against her grip, "and I normally wouldn't complain, but, uh, I don't know you that well, and I'm engaged, and it's not you, it's me, but I'm already so condemned to my special hell I really just can't--"
Kuyou abruptly released him, her expression shifting to neutrality as she stepped back, arms falling to her side. There was a flicker of something in her eyes, very briefly. Was it anger? Sadness? He wasn't certain.
"Wait," he said, shaking his head. "S...sorry. Um ... Suou-san, you've helped me, and if I can, I think I might like to help you, but ... uh ... why don't we start out by being friends?"
"Friends," she said slowly, repeating the word. "You are I are friends."
He felt strangely relieved to hear that, and more relieved not to have the girl clinging to him while she said it. "Yes," he agreed, nodding nervously at her. "U...um.... Y-- That is ... Nagato tells me that you have trouble communicating with her?"
Kuyou blinked, some of the luminosity returning to her eyes. "Trouble," she affirmed.
"I...it seems like it might be difficult," he ventured nervously, "but if there is something I can do for you, please let me know. Especially, right now, I'd like to do what I can to help, um, communicate...."
"Yes," she agreed, a faint hint of her smile returning. For a moment, he thought she was done, and would just stand there the rest of the night, but then she said, "Thank you," and turned to one side -- seeming to momentarily compress flat, and then simply not be there anymore.
Kyon grumbled as his PDA chimed -- now, how was he going to find Sasaki, anyway? But the alert was to notify him of an incoming text from the girl in question. The message read: Thank you for your help today, Kyon! And thank you for showing me what a friend you truly are; I'll try and return that friendship, as much as it scares me. I owe you that much! Are you looking out for Kuyou like you're looking out for me?
He squinted at the screen for a moment, then sighed unsteadily, holding the PDA in one hand. "Please," he whispered, "don't be a jerk just this once, future self--"
The next incoming text interrupted his plea, his PDA noting that the source was the PDA itself: "Note to idiotic past self: Nice work. Yuki does not like being left out. The special hell is a small price to pay after all she's done, and you know it."
"Yeah," he sighed at his PDA, utterly defeated. "I thought so."