When I came home, I found Itsuko waiting by my front door.
"Hi!" Her smile looked a bit fake to me. It was like she was trying to greet an old friend.
"I want to keep the promise I made to you earlier. That’s why I've been waiting for you, but I never thought you would return so quickly!" she said, waving heartily at me.
She was still wearing her uniform and carrying her bag, apparently having just left the school.
Itsuko continued with her ever-present smile. "Can I delay you for a just moment? I'd like to take you to see a certain place."
"Something to do with Suzumiya?" I asked.
Itsuko’s smile grew wider. "Indeed, it is something to do with Suzumiya-san."
I opened my door and placed my bag in the hall. After telling my brother, who had just appeared, that I was going somewhere again tonight, (
“With a guy again?” “Shut up.”) I went back outside to Itsuko.
A few minutes later, we went for a ride.
------
Itsuko flagged down a taxi that had stopped near my place, and we rode off along the main road, heading eastwards. Itsuko told the driver to go to a large city outside the prefecture. It’d be cheaper to go by train, but since Itsuko was the one paying, it didn’t matter to me.
"Right,” I began, “What was the promise you said you were going to keep?"
"My my, didn't you say you wanted to see proof of my esper powers? Well, now’s your chance!" Itsuko said cheerfully.
"Do we really have to travel this far?"
"Yes. I can only use my powers under specific places and conditions. The place we're headed to fits those conditions."
"So, you still believe Haruki is God?"
Itsuko, sitting together with me in the back seat, glanced sideways at me. "Have you ever heard of the Anthropic Principle?"
"Nope."
Itsuko sighed and smiled again, "Basically, it's a theory that states 'If something must be true for us, as humans, to exist, then it is true simply because we exist.'"
Huh? I don't get it.
"The universe exists simply because it is there for us to observe. In other words, the intelligent lifeforms known as humans learned of the existence of the universe through observing how the universe was formed by the discovery of the laws of physics. If humans had not evolved to their present level, then observation would be impossible, and they would never learn of the existence of the universe.
“This means whether the universe exists or not, for a human who hasn't completely evolved, it wouldn't make much of a difference. It is because of the presence of us fully-evolved humans that the existence of the universe is widely accepted. This is the method of thinking from the humans' point of view."
"…That’s an stupid way of thinking. The universe exists regardless of whether humans exist or not!" I retorted.
"You're right, and that's why the Anthropic Principle is not completely scientific, just a philosophical concept. However, from this theory, something interesting comes into view."
The taxi stopped at a red light. The driver just kept staring at the road, and never bothered to turn around to look at us.
"Why did the universe come to be in a state suitable for human habitation? A minor change in the gravitational constant would mean a completely different universe from the one we're in. Other sets of rules such as Planck's Constant or the mass ratio of atomic molecules seem to be designed specifically so that humans can live in this universe. Don't you find this incredible?"
My head hurts. The stuff Itsuko said sounds like one of the rhetorical flyers given out by those newly formed religions whose founding principles are based on scientific theories.
[Editor’s note: Anonymous is really Xenu? No way!]
"Relax! I don't believe in the existence of an ‘Almighty God’, or the ‘Ultimate Creator’ that breathed life into the first human. Many of my companions think the same way as well. Yet, there's one thing that bothers us."
Which would be?
"Are all the things that we do as foolish as a clown doing a handstand by the edge of a cliff?"
The expression on my face right now must have been very strange, or Itsuko wouldn't have laughed as long and loud as she did.
"Oh-hohohohohohohoho! I was kidding, kidding!"
[Editor’s note: Itsuko has a
Noblewoman's Laugh. If one of my editors could transcript it better, that’d be great.]
H-hey, you… "I really don’t know what the hell you’re talking about…"
What I really want to say is, I don't have time to play some stupid jokes with you. Can you let me off? Driver, do you mind turning around? If possible, I'd prefer the latter.
"I was just using the Anthropic Principle as a comparison. We still haven't touched on the subject of Suzumiya-san."
This is just too weird! Why are you, Nagato and Asahina-sempai all so infatuated with Haruki?
"Well, I think that he’s very charming and charismatic, but let’s leave that aside for now. Do you still remember me saying that this world had probably been created by Suzumiya-san?"
I didn’t like what she was saying, but I did remember it having come up..
"He has the ability to realize dreams." Itsuko said.
Can you not be so conclusive for once?
"I can’t, because it’s true. Right now, this world is being guided by Suzumiya-san's wishes."
…How, exactly, is that possible?
"Suzumiya-san has always believed aliens existed, which is why Nagato Yuuki appeared. Similarly, he wanted to meet time travelers, so Asahina Mitsuuru appeared as well. And I appeared before him for the same reasons as well."
Didn’t he have marriage plans in there somewhere…?
"And how do you know that?" I asked.
"It was three years ago..." Itsuko began.
Three years ago again! I'm sick of hearing that already! Why is it always three years ago?
"One day, I suddenly realized I possessed a certain power, and for some reason, I fully understood how to use this power. At the same time, I also discovered others like me had also gained certain powers, and that these powers were granted by Suzumiya Haruki. I can't go into the details. All I can say is that I know these things while not being able to explain them."
"Alright, look. Even if I believe you have these powers, I still can't believe Haruki can have the power to warp reality."
"Neither did I. A mere schoolboy having the ability to change the world -- sorry, I guess it should be more like the ability to create worlds, huh? The scary thing, though, is that this boy now finds the world he's in to be boring."
"Why is that scary?"
"Didn't I say tell you? If he can create worlds at will, then naturally he can make this world disappear without a trace and then restructure it according to his wishes. Then, in a literal sense, the world will have come to an end. We can't determine whether this theory is correct or not; who knows, the world which we believe to be unique has probably been recreated many times before already."
The number of times I have used the word “unbelievable” in the past 10 minutes only proves that I need a thesaurus.
"If that's really the case, why don't you just tell Haruki who you really are? Let him know that espers really do exist. I bet he’d be really happy to hear that.” He’d probably ask you to marry him. “Maybe then, he wouldn't want to try and destroy the world!"
"That would pose an even greater problem. If Suzumiya-san believed the existence of espers to be a very normal thing, then it would become a very normal thing. All the laws of physics would be distorted-- the Molecular Constant, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the rest of the universe would all descend into chaos."
"There's something I don't understand." I said, "I remember you saying it was Haruki's longing to
marrymeet aliens, time travelers and espers that caused you, Nagato-kun, and Asahina-sempai to appear before her?"
"Yes,” she replied.
"Well, then why hasn't Haruki noticed anything yet? Isn’t it a little strange that it’s just you and me who know everything instead?"
"You find it inconsistent? It isn’t, really-- the real inconsistency is within Suzumiya-san's heart."
…Could you say something I can understand for once, please!?
As I was about to respond with some sharp retort, the driver said suddenly, "We're here."
The car came to a stop and the door opened. I stepped into the crowded street with Itsuko. Though the driver then drove off without even charging any fare, I wasn't at all surprised.
If people in this area wanted to go shopping, this would be the place for them to do so. This is the typical local metropolis with the railway interchange, as well as all sorts of department stores and complex architecture. The sunset bathed the bustling street full of pedestrians a glowing orange. When the lights at the intersection ahead turned green, the road became occupied by a sea of people in an instant. We were separated for a while by this wave after we got off by the sidewalk.
"So what were you saying?" I asked, as I caught up to Itsuko.
We headed towards a nearby shopping centre as she talked. "Ah, yes, Suzumiya-san’s inconsistent heart. He does hope for the existence of aliens, time travelers, and espers. His common sense, however, is telling him that these things don't exist, and this creates cognitive dissonance. Though he may be eccentric in his actions and speech, his thinking is still no different from an ordinary person. His stormy enthusiasm has slowly calmed down in the last few months. We were glad to finally see him stabilize, but a tornado-like change has suddenly occurred."
“What change?"
"It's all because of you." As we passed through the doors of the shopping centre, Itsuko stopped walking and turned towards me. "If you hadn't given Suzumiya-san certain… funny ideas, we would still be observing him from behind the scenes right now."
"
What!? What did I do!?” I had nothing to do with anything! It’s all Haruki’s fault.
"It was you who encouraged him to form that weird club. All because of a conversation he had with you, he came up with the idea of forming a club to gather us all together. Therefore, you must carry full responsibility for all of this. It is because of you that the three groups most concerned with Suzumiya Haruki have now gathered in the same place."
Oh.
That. “T-that’s not fair!" I still decided to defend myself unconvincingly
.
Itsuko only smiled and continued, "But that's not the only reason…”
After she said that, however, her head turned towards a stand outside of a clothing store. Giving an uncharacteristic shriek of joy, she dashed towards it.
…What’s this now?
Itsuko turned around, holding a yellow dress. “This would look so~ good on you!” she said, her eyes shining. “Want to go in and try it on?”
I covered my face with my hand. “…Wasn’t there something you wanted to show me?” I asked, exasperated.
At my response, Itsuko looked a bit sheepish. “Ah, yes, that. But after we finish, I want you to come back and try this on, okay?”
“…Fine.”
[Editor’s note: Yes, that is the same dress Mikuru wears in Lone Island Syndrome. Since we already had Kyon-chan wear Mikuru’s clothing in Chapter 4, I figured, why not?]
As we walked towards an open area in the middle of the shopping centre, Itsuko looked at me and said, "There's still time for you to change your mind, you know. It’d probably be simpler just to go back and try on the dress."
"Shut up about the dress. I'm already here anyway, so let’s cut to the chase."
Walking beside me, Itsuko suddenly grabbed hold of my hand. Hey, what do think you're doing!?
"Sorry, but could you please close your eyes for a while? This won't take very long.”
What won’t take long? Hey! I dodged to avoid a consumer from bumping into me.
Fine, fine. I obligingly closed my eyes. I could still hear the many footsteps of the shoppers, the endless chatting, the dull roar from the cars outside, and all sorts of noises.
Under Itsuko's guidance, I walked ahead one step, two steps, three steps, and then I stopped.
"You can open them now."
I slowly opened my eyes.
The whole world fell into a shade of grey.