[FFML] [SHnY] [Lime] The Disappearance of Kyonko

[Henry Cobb]

[SHnY] [Lime]  The Disappearance of Kyonko
By Henry J. Cobb

[The Haruhi Suzumiya characters and situations are the creation of
Nagaru Tanigawa. Other than that, he's blameless for the following.]

I had that strange dream again. It was the one where I was some sort of
giant monster, crushing city buildings. That's not what bothered me when I
woke up on Saturday morning.

I looked down at my hand. I had slapped her last night and told her I
didn't want to see her again. It hadn't been that hard of a slap, but it
was all her fault. She shouldn't make jokes like that. I've got another
year of high school ahead of me, not to mention college. I'm too young to
be a father.

The look she had given me was so serious, as she held her hand to her
cheek. It was like she had something else stupid to say to me. I waited,
but she said nothing and just walked away. The last thing I saw was her
ponytail, as she turned the corner.

I washed up, dressed, and rode my bicycle down to the station. The other
three were already there. Nagato looked like a dork, standing there in his
school uniform with his head in a book. At least Asahina and Koizumi were
dressed sensibly.

Koizumi seemed especially tired. Must be that time of the month for her,
or something.

"You three go sit in the cafe. I'll wait here for Miss always late."

They all nodded and turned away.

There was no sign of her at five minutes to nine, so I sat down on the
edge of the planter. She wasn't there at nine either.

At ten minutes after nine I reached for my phone and called her. The phone
rang six times then went to voicemail. I was pissed enough to leave her a
message. "Hi. This is your brigade leader. We're all waiting for you at
the cafe. Get your lazy ass down here so you can pay the bill."

I sat down next to Nagato and across from Asahina and Koizumi. "Looks like
she's not going to show."

"You sent her away."

Asahina and Koizumi looked over at Nagato aghast. Even Koizumi seemed
shocked into wakefulness at Nagato's comment.

I turned to look at Nagato, but he was still reading his book with his
standard expressionless face. If he knew the world was going to end in an
hour, he'd read a book.

Our server walked up. It was Kimidori, a senior from our school. "Can I
help you?" He was looking at Nagato with barely concealed anger.

"No, I guess this will be all. It looks like the other person we're
waiting for isn't going to show."

Kimidori nodded at my comment and moved to the next table.

"I don't want to give her the satisfaction of messing with brigade
business, but Koizumi you look totally beat. Is that part-time job really
worth it? Just go home, all of you. I'll see you in the clubroom on
Monday."

"Thanks, Suzumiya." Koizumi picked up the bill and stood.

"You don't have to do that."

"No, no, I insist. If my part-time job causes a disruption, then it should
at least pay for this." She made her way to the cashier.

Monday morning when I got to the classroom the chair in front of me was
empty. Well that wasn't that big a deal, she was always running late. She
wasn't there when the bell rang. She wasn't there when the teacher arrived
and she wasn't there when roll was called.

When I returned to the classroom after eating in the cafeteria, her seat
was still empty. She didn't show for any of the afternoon classes either.

I made my way to the clubroom after classes. Nagato was sitting in his
corner, reading another book, while Asahina was standing in his maid outfit
and making tea. Kyonko's nurse outfit was hanging on the clothing rack,
but she wasn't there.

A half hour later Koizumi showed up and silently took her seat.

The entire room was left lifeless, just because she seemed to have better
things to do. I had enough of that. I took out my phone and called her.

After two rings her mother answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me, Suzumiya. Are you with Kyonko?"

"No, I haven't seen her at all. She vanished Friday night. She was there
for dinner, and then in the morning she was gone. It's the strangest
thing. She didn't take her cellphone, purse or even her shoes. You haven't
seen her since then?"

"No, the last time I saw her was Friday afternoon." When I hit her.

"Please call us, as soon as you get word about our daughter."

I assured her I would, then sat there looking at my phone after the
call. "Where is she?"

"She is not here."

I turned to Nagato. He had put his book down and was watching me intently.

"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious." I stood and took a step over to
him. "So where is she?"

"Someplace I cannot see."

I stood there looking down at him. That look in his eyes, was that finally
a tiny show of emotion? Was he blaming me? Who was he to judge me?

"Please, Mr. Nagato." Asahina ran over to us. "Don't make such jokes."

I walked out of the clubroom.

Kyonko was a no-show all week. That weekend I had the brigade out putting
up 'Have you seen this girl?' posters everywhere.

The next week the police took me in for questioning. A clerk had reported
her purchase of a pregnancy test on the day she had vanished. I admitted
to the police that I had fucked her. They let me go, because they had no
evidence linking me to her disappearance, but I was clearly their only
suspect.

Back in the clubroom I sat and thought about the case as I sipped the tea
Asahina had made. Even in his sadness, he still made the best tea I had
ever tasted. I wondered if he was adding his tears to it.

Kyonko had vanished from her bed in her sleep without a trace and without
awaking anybody. Even her cat had slept through it all. It was like she
had been abducted by aliens or something. What was that joke she had made
about the other brigade members?

I put down my teacup, stood and walked to the corner of the room.

Nagato was sitting there reading another book. Why didn't he care at all?

I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. "What did you do
to her?"

The book fell from his fingers. "I did nothing. You sent her away."

"I just said it. I didn't mean it. Where did she run off to?"

"She is not in this universe. Most locations in this universe are
instantly fatal for human life and most other universes are far less
hospitable."

"Nagato, this is the wrong time for you to be quoting science fiction to
me. Don't mess with me. Wait, you're serious. How can you be serious about
this? How crazy are you, man?"

An earthquake started. I dropped him and turned my back against the wall
to try to regain my balance.

Koizumi was running. She wasn't running for the door, she was running
towards me. Why wasn't she evacuating? This old building was without a
doubt, the most likely one in the entire neighborhood to collapse.

She grabbed my arm. "Don't die! Even if this world might continue without
you, I don't want you to die."

"What?"

"Just focus on your breathing. Follow my lead. Take a deep breath in, then
let it out."

In spite of the absurdity of it all, I followed her lead and the
Earthquake stopped. "Did I do that?"

All three of them nodded.

"You've known about this, you've all always known about this all along?"

Koizumi grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "Do you want to go
find her, whatever the odds?"

"Yes."

"The only way is to learn how to control this power of yours. Only you can
follow the path you have sent her on."

Asahina seemed to be listening to something, and then he looked over at
me. "They say I can take you back to the moment she left. You must not try
to stop yourself back then, but it will show you the way to go when we get
back to the present."

"Thanks."

-HJC