The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya (17 page)

Still stranger was the fact that Koizumi seemed similarly troubled. And when I thought back, I realized that in all the times Tsuruya had popped into the clubroom, she’d never given him a significant look. If Koizumi’s bosses had told him not to interfere
with Tsuruya, then her showing up all the time might put him in a bad position.

Or maybe…

I looked at Koizumi’s excessively mild smile, my mind racing. I didn’t know how much of the conversation we’d had that night was true. Maybe there really was some kind of unwritten agreement between Koizumi’s Agency and the Tsuruya clan. But even so, that was between the Agency and the family, not Koizumi and Tsuruya specifically. Either one or both of them might not give a crap what their organizations said, and it wasn’t as though they had conspired with each other ahead of time.

Tsuruya didn’t seem to know anything about Koizumi’s, Nagato’s, or Asahina’s true natures—she only seemed to sense that something about those three (and Haruhi) was different. It wasn’t her style to pry further. I generally believed what Tsuruya had told me the night before last, and I even believed most of what Koizumi had said—that if the situation involved weighing the Agency against Nagato, I could choose us instead, for once.

“… Kyon! Hey! Are you even listening?”

A sharp voice reached my ears, and I found myself staring at the business end of a pointer. At the other end stood a very severe-looking Haruhi.

“You got that? Like I said, wear comfortable clothes tomorrow! Stuff you don’t mind getting dirty. You and Koizumi don’t have to worry about tools. So as for what we’re gonna need…”

Haruhi gestured to Asahina to fetch a pen.

Asahina, finding herself in the strange situation of being both maid and secretary, took dictation from Haruhi in her charmingly childish handwriting.

“We’ll need two shovels. I’ll take care of those. Also—lunches. Mikuru, that’s your job. Also blankets to sit on, and in case of emergency, a compass, a lantern, and a map. And not this treasure map either, but the real thing. And we’d probably better
have lots of snacks for emergency rations. I wonder what we should do for signal flares…”

Just which mountain did she think we were going to climb? The only ones around here weren’t even as tall as the hill the school was on. So long as we didn’t encounter any unexpected phenomenon, there weren’t going to be any emergencies, and if we
did
encounter something truly dangerous, a compass and a signal flare weren’t going to be of any use—the incident at the end of last year came to mind.

I let a soft sigh slip as I watched Nagato’s dark eyes, which were fixated on Asahina’s clumsy writing.

According to what the Asahina from next week told me, we went safely treasure hunting and came back without incident—completely empty-handed, to boot. If there had been some kind of serious incident on the way, she would’ve given me some kind of warning.

We climbed up, we ate lunch, and we came back. That was nothing more than a picnic, really—at least it was for everybody besides Koizumi and me, who would be doing all the manual labor.

I finally felt like I understood why Nagato had sealed away her own ability to synchronize with her other selves. It really wasn’t any fun at all knowing in advance not just what I was going to do, but what Haruhi was going to say and do as well. I wished I hadn’t asked Asahina what would happen.

I supposed it might all balance out in the end. I knew what weekend activity the SOS Brigade had to execute. However, I didn’t have the slightest idea what the purpose of the instructions Asahina the Elder was handing down to Michiru Asahina and me was—so perhaps the former canceled out the latter.

Although I couldn’t help muttering to myself that it was
all
a loss.

Space on the whiteboard was rapidly disappearing as Haruhi—
now entirely given over to the idea of mountain climbing—rattled off item after item to add to the list, with Asahina being forced to kneel down in order to squeeze “tents” and “Sherpa” onto the bottom of the board in tiny letters.

“C’mon, Haru-nyan, it’s not like we’re crossing the Tian Shan on foot. It’s a pretty tiny mountain, really. It’s got cell phone coverage, so if anything happens we can just call for help. They’ll send a rescue squad,” Tsuruya said, grinning. “I played around on the place all the time as a kid. It’s totally bear-free!”

Haruhi smiled back. “Thanks. We’ll be counting on you if anything bad happens.”

So she hadn’t been serious about the preparations? I wondered. Haruhi waved her pointer around.

“All right, everybody! Tsuruya’s giving us so much support; we’ve
got
to bring that treasure out! Let’s give it our best shot!”

I realized I was feeling strangely calm, which in turn worried me. Haruhi seemed to have returned to her old self, her eyes shining as she looked at me. That alone was enough to push aside all misgivings, and I suppose I felt reassured, or something like that.

In any case, it was always better when people cheered up. Whatever the reason.

After her unilateral decision to go treasure hunting, Haruhi went to the library and got out every Edo-era reference book, map, and historical novel she could find, in an effort to deduce more about Tsuruya’s ancestor (who’d apparently been a headman or merchant), but such deductions were really no more than guesses, and after about an hour of this, our “emergency meeting” was concluded.

Incidentally, Haruhi unreasonably hoped for “something more interesting than boring old coins,” but when Nagato closed the
paperback she was reading, Haruhi followed suit and shut the encyclopedia of matchlock firearms into which she’d been gazing.

At that point, everybody headed home. I was hoping I’d have the chance to talk with Tsuruya on the way down the hill, but the opportunity never arose. She and Haruhi briskly took up the front; behind them followed Asahina and a silent Nagato, while Koizumi and I brought up the rear. I’d wanted to make sure that (Michiru) Asahina was doing okay over at Tsuruya’s place, but I couldn’t risk asking while Haruhi might be able to hear.

Oh well. I could call later. I’d have to, in order to discuss upcoming plans with that Asahina. One of the three letters that had come this morning contained instructions that required a bit of preparation. I’d have to set something up beforehand. I was doing more and more unpaid errand-running.

Still, I had to admit I was impressed with Tsuruya. As I watched her rapid exchanges with Haruhi and Asahina, she wasn’t letting slip for a moment that she was hosting Asahina’s doppelganger at her house—she just seemed like regular old Tsuruya. She was a classmate I could really count on.

“See you tomorrow! Tardiness equals punishment!”

We split into smaller groups within sight of Nagato’s apartment, and after I waved in response to Haruhi’s voice, all I had to do was pretend to head home.

I ambled along toward my house, pretending to be a high school student returning home. Once I was out of sight of all the other members, I ducked down an alleyway just to be safe, then called Tsuruya’s house.

After giving my name to a maid, I was transferred immediately to Asahina.

“Hello? Kyon? It’s me.”

I thought of Asahina sitting politely in her small room. “I got more letters today.”

“Ooh, what are they saying this time?” Her last word trailed off into a sigh.

“That’s what I want to talk to you about. We’ve got free time today and tomorrow, but it looks like things are gonna get busy the day after that.”

“Ah, okay. I think I see what you mean…”

Now how would she see that? I asked.

“I told you we did another city patrol on Saturday, didn’t I? I did my best to remember how it went, and… well, you were acting a little weird, Kyon.”

It was probably better if I didn’t ask for details. Tomorrow was going to be tiring enough without having to act purposefully weird the next day.

“We’ll talk about that later. Tsuruya’s not back yet, is she? I’m heading over, so I’ll probably arrive a bit after she does.”

The weather made me hurry. I hung up and started off at a brisk walk.

It was again Tsuruya who emerged upon my ringing the doorbell. She must have gotten there just a moment before I did, because she was still wearing her school uniform.

“Hey, I thought you’d show up,” said Tsuruya with a smile as she opened the gate and beckoned me inside. “So, what’s up? How long’s that poor Michiru gonna be cooped up here, anyway?”

I wasn’t totally sure, I told her. But it would probably just be for a few more days.

“I like having her over; she can stay as long as she wants. She’s so cute, seriously! It’s like, just seeing her at school I never knew Mikuru—er, I mean, I never knew she was so cute! I just wanna hug her and go to sleep!”

I sincerely hoped she wasn’t actually doing anything so desperately enviable, I told her.

“Oh, no. Only thing we do together is bath time. But Michiru—when she wants to say something, she sorta stops like she’s wondering if she should. I mean, that’s super cute too, but I feel bad for her. She really doesn’t have to worry about it.”

Tsuruya led me to the apartment. Asahina was there on the tatami-mat floor, sitting just as politely as I’d imagined. The short rough-spun jacket she wore over her traditional kimono gave her a fresh quality.

“Oh, Kyon—”

The relief she seemed to feel at my arrival made me feel pretty good. It made me want to get down and give her a traditional bow of greeting.

As I ventured to close the door behind me, I ran right into Tsuruya’s satisfied smile. She seemed to want to ask me something, and there was indeed something I needed to say.

“Tsuruya, if you’ll excuse Michiru and me—we need to speak in private. It will only take a moment.”

“Oh reeeally?” Tsuruya peered over my shoulder at Asahina. “Just the two of you? In this little room? I guess…” She watched Asahina’s reddening face with amusement. “I guess I’ll just go get changed. Hee hee—you two enjoy yourselves!”

Tsuruya strode gracefully back to the main house. I watched her go, then ducked back into the small apartment. Asahina looked tense, and she was staring down as though counting the stitches in the tatami mats. I wanted to tell her not to be so nervous—it made me feel bad.

I swept various carnal desires out of my mind, forcing myself to concentrate on the contents of my school bag.

“I mentioned them on the phone, but here are the letters—the ones that came today.”

I presented the envelopes to Asahina—well, #3 and #4, anyway. I’d keep #6 to myself—it was apparently meant for my eyes
only. And it was probably the last one too. I assumed there wouldn’t be any more. If #5 arrived, that was a separate matter, so I figured we’d just deal with pressing matters within #3 and #4.

First, #3:

On the second sheet, there was a random address that was some distance away, along with a picture of what seemed to be the storage device. It was reminiscent of a memory stick, but I couldn’t be sure. I mean, it wasn’t a great picture, to be honest.

Next, #4:

This note also had a second sheet. On it was a cute little illustration of a turtle, with a speech bubble saying, “Take good care of me!”

Both letters had the same postscript:
“P.S. Bring Mikuru Asahina and no one else with you,”
followed by a single line of the symbols only she could read.

Asahina read the letters with a serious face, and after finishing the second one, she sighed. “I just don’t understand. A turtle…?”

It would’ve been stranger if she
had
understood why now, in the middle of freezing winter, we were throwing a turtle into the river. The only part
I
understood was the bench the second letter
referred to—it was the same bench on which, last year, Asahina had confessed her true identity as a time traveler to me.

“But we must do it.” Asahina traced her finger over the code on the letter, looking up with resolve. “We may not understand the reasons yet, but there is definitely a purpose for all of this. Otherwise…”

Asahina’s eyes trembled in sadness for a moment.

I could guess what she was thinking. Otherwise—there wasn’t any purpose in her being here. And even
less
purpose for there being
two
of her.

I suddenly wanted to hug her close, but I didn’t. I’d been warned off by Tsuruya, for one thing. And I couldn’t just ignore my conscience.

“Anyway, Asahina.” I attempted an attitude adjustment. “You said we were on city patrol Saturday and Sunday, right? Doesn’t that conflict with these directions?”

The Saturday directions were vague, only saying “by dusk,” but about Sunday it was very clear: ten forty-five
AM
. It would be difficult for any SOS Brigade member to pull that off—and I couldn’t just sneak off alone either.

“Did you make some kind of excuse for being absent?” I asked.

“No. You were there, Kyon,” said Asahina, returning the letters to their envelopes like they were precious things. “But we drew straws to split up into groups, like we always do. I was thinking about it before… on Saturday morning I was with Suzumiya and Nagato, and you were with Koizumi, and then in the afternoon it was Suzumiya, Koizumi, and me, and you were with Nagato…” Asahina nodded slightly as though confirming the contents of her memory. “Yes, I’m sure. Then on Sunday morning it was Suzumiya, Koizumi, and me together, and you and Nagato. Then in the afternoon we were dismissed… wait, what?”