Here's to testing my theory that writing something before the
blockpaste allows the message past some bizzare filter.
The Blunt Force Trauma of Suzumiya Haruhi
Epilogue: In which the story concludes.
A 'Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' fanfic.
Disclaimer: The novel 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu' is the creation of
Nagaru Tanigawa. I do not know the producers yet, but the animation
company responsible is Kyoto Animation. 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.
;)
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I awake in a hospital.
My first thought is to wonder how long it will take me to drown on my
own blood. This is before I realize where I am, of course. Then I
realize I'm fine, and fell asleep in a chair. In a hospital room.
Before a bed. With Haruhi in it.
I rub the sleep from my eyes and stand up. From my perspective, I've
just been through a hell of a day. But Haruhi....
She looks fine when I stand over her. In a hospital gown, her
blankets tucked across her chest. Her arms are on top, and she's got
an IV stuck in her, as well as a number of things which look very
expensive that I don't really know what to call.
I pay them little attention; this is Haruhi we're talking about. She
looks fine, though. No wounds, only a single bandage around her head.
I'm still not sure how she managed to convince herself after the act
that we put on ... but it got us back home, I guess. As I look at
her, she makes a quiet, struggling noise, and her face scrunches up in
concentration. "Nn.... Nnnng." Then her eyes drift open, clouded,
but locking onto mine almost instantly. Two blinks later and those
same eyes narrow. "What are you doing here?"
"Here?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "You come out of a coma, and
that's the first thing you say to me?"
"And that's the first thing you say to me?" she retorts.
I have something in my eyes there. While I rub at them, I say, "Oh.
Well, welcome back, Haruhi. Though I knew you'd get better."
"Did you?" she asks quietly, sitting up. I help her, when she seems
to need it. She doesn't say anything else until she's comfortable,
able to look at me without peering upwards. Then, she says, "I had a
really crazy dream."
"The doctors said you might," I allow, nodding. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"How long was I out? And why _are_ you here?"
"Koizumi's busy running the Brigade," I answer with a shrug. "As far
as how long.... Let's just say that it was too long for me."
She blushes very slightly at that. "What, you missed me?" she challenges.
"Maybe," I say with a shrug. "Now that you're awake, I want to tell
everyone else. But I don't want to leave you alone."
"I'm sleepy," she says with a yawn. "So that's fine. Bring me
something chocolate when you come back. And Koizumi! I need to see
what he's doing with the Brigade."
"Of course," I say with a laugh. "And then you'll need to tell me
all about your dream."
"Let me guess," I say, smirking. "You dreamed you were a princess of
a magical kingdom filled with alien timetravelers."
"No," she says, shaking her head. "I wouldn't have minded that."
"So it was a bad dream?"
"There are no princesses," she says, rolling her eyes. "And if there
were, I'd be the princess of the SOS Brigade."
"A princess in a world of dragons," I say.
She giggles at that. "I guess," she answers, surprisingly shy all of
the sudden. "Did.... You did save me, didn't you?"
"Yeah," I say slowly, looking away. "Though.... Well. Tell me
about your dream. Was I in it?"
She suddenly looks more nervous. "Um.... Maybe later. I'm tired."
"Mmmm. Well, I'll tell a doctor you're awake, I'm sure they'll want
to take a look at you." From a personal experience, which may or may
not ever have happened. She pouts at that. What did I really expect?
"Could you stay a little longer?" she asks me in a very quiet,
un-Haruhi-like voice.
Not that, I suppose.
***
After the doctors and nurses chased me out of the hospital, much
later, I turned my cell phone back on and called up Mikuru, Koizumi,
and Yuki-chan in turn. They agreed without question to meet me, and
we joined up at the train station.
It's really simpler for me that way. Walking to school just for this
... and, anyway, I don't want to look at the buildings that I had
Yuki-chan destroy right away.
Mikuru arrives first. "Hello, Kyon," she says brightly, giving me a
friendly smile. "Is Suzumiya-san doing better?"
"Are you playing with me?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at her. She
looks bewildered. "Or did you.... Well, wait a minute. There's
Koizumi."
"Hello, Kyon," Koizumi says pleasantly. "I hope it's good news,
since you didn't say more on the phone?"
I nod; Yuki-chan arrives last, preceded by a tingle. "Let's go
somewhere we can talk." My stomach rumbles then, and I wince.
"The cafe," Koizumi suggests with a gesture. "My treat this time."
"Good idea." A few minutes later, we're settled into a corner booth,
Mikuru to my left, Yuki-chan to my right, and Koizumi just past her.
Once the waitress is gone, I ask, "How much of the last week did I
manage to undo?"
Koizumi and Mikuru look equally puzzled. Yuki-chan sips at her soda
wordlessly. "Did something happen?" Koizumi ventures.
"If ...it was something, I won't.... That is, until...." Mikuru
trails off and shrugs apologetically.
"I guess that must really help from an observer's standpoint," I
sigh. "Well, that's okay. I made a backup. Yuki-chan?"
She sets her empty glass down -- that girl loves her sugar -- and
looks at me. "Modifications have been made to you," she assesses.
"Don't undo them," I say quickly. "Or.... Well, actually, once you
retrieve the backups, I guess I don't need them anymore."
I haven't noticed much tingling yet anyway. She gives that tiny nod
and says, "Accessing. This may take a few minutes."
It does; we have time to order our meals and make some small-talk
before Yuki-chan abruptly blinks. "Oh," she says quietly.
"Well?" Koizumi asks expectantly.
"I can arrange for memories to be restored to you without damaging
your current function," Yuki-chan tells him. "It may be likened to
dreaming."
Then there's a bit of confusion while she explains things in her way,
and I enjoy a nice bowl of pasta. When all is said and done, Koizumi
shakes his head and says, "It was unnerving just knowing that the
world _could_ have been created just a day ago. Knowing that it's
_happened_.... Well, all I can say is that I'm grateful that Haruhi
has chosen someone so reasonable to focus on."
"I concur," Yuki-chan adds.
Mikuru nods, smiling brightly. "And tomorrow," she adds, "we'll all
visit Suzumiya-san together.
I nod, thinking of bringing Haruhi something. "Anyway," I say, "I
guess because of Yuki-chan, I remember that dream world." It's much
easier to call it a dream; it never happened, now. "What happened
here?"
The explanation plays out almost exactly like Haruhi reasoned it must
have. Taniguchi was a would-be killer, and had planned to trick
Haruhi into writing a suicide letter. Haruhi didn't fall for the
story, which actually made sense -- the aliens who were going to take
her away might not return her for hundreds of years. A suicide note
would keep people from wondering, and aliens had to remain hidden.
But she had the entire Brigade waiting in the stairwell to cover her
should anything go wrong. Which it did. Taniguchi hit her over the
head with a bat, though apparently I managed to save her before he
could do worse, fighting him off while Mikuru called an ambulance and
Yuki-chan administered first aid. Koizumi helped me, and Taniguchi
was with the police....
Not a happy ending for everyone, I suppose, but by the time I was
headed home I felt a little better about it. Yuki-chan assured me
that Taniguchi wasn't a human being sentenced to something terrible.
He was a human-purposed contact interface like herself, and he would
be deleted, like Ryouko. Though, they were also planning on being
more subtle about it this time; his data link had been severed, which
apparently leaves him little more than human.
Unsurprisingly, when I was about to board the train, Koizumi called
me aside. "A moment," he said, nodding. "I suppose I'll dream
tonight about what happened, if Nagato-san is right. And I don't have
a reason to disbelieve her...."
"Of course," I say with a shrug. "But?"
"But.... If this really happened, and it wasn't just a delusion of
Haruhi's that you got dragged into, there's three things I wish to
say."
"Yeah?"
"Firstly ... you're a brilliant liar. I hope we are never enemies,
and am glad to have you on my side."
I snort at that, but unfortunately, he's right. I was a pretty good
liar, to deceive Haruhi like that.
"Secondly, I think you truly are the best for Haruhi ... and not just
to handle situations like this. I think-"
"I'm ahead of you on that one," I say, putting a hand on his
shoulder. "I really am."
"Oh. What are you planning on doing?"
I lick my lips and look away. "I know how she wants to hear it. But
not tomorrow. Later. It will happen, though."
"Of course."
"And that third thing?"
That smile again.... "You're about to miss your train."
Smug, arrogant, egotistical.... I laugh, grinning at him, and back
aboard before the doors shut. He waves. I wave back.
Then I turn and look out the window and think again about chocolates,
and torn pages from notebooks that talk about love. And maybe another
page that talks about love that hasn't been written down yet.
Because, you never really know, do you?
"Haruhi," I whisper to no one in particular, "you're unbelievable.
But I believe in you anyway."
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Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. :)