To kill boredom while riding the ferry, Koizumi suggested we played “Old Maid”. The first one to finish turned out to be my little brother.
“I'm done!” He said. “Hey! Did you guys know that Kyon-chan almost left without me?”
That's because I wasn't going to brig you along in the first place.
If you have to ask why this non-brigade member is with us, it was because I was stupid enough to mention the trip to my mom during dinner last night. My brother made a fuss about it on the table all night long. I planned to quietly sneak away but when I was about to leave this morning, I found my luggage way too heavy for me to carry. When I opened it, I found my brother hiding inside. I kicked him out of the bag, quickly stuffed my things back in. Before I could even reach the door thou, he had grabbed my hand and threatened to tell my mom about that night Nagato walked me home. Damn brat!
“It'll be a lot more fun if we have more people coming with us.”
Well if you say so, Asahina-kun.
“Ah! I'm done as well.”
“Third out! The loser will buy everyone drinks! This is the command of the supreme commander! I want 100% apple juice.”
You made that on the spot again, didn't you?
“I want cola!”
“I'll have some coffee then.”
That would be my brother and Asahina-kun.
Yuki picked out a card from me and dropped the cards into the pile.
“Tea...”
That's your order, Nagato?
It was down to me and Koizumi. And I just so happen to be holding the joker.
“Milk tea for me.”
You haven't won yet, so don't give your order.
Koizumi reached out to my pile. Take the joker. The joker!
...
klonk
That would be the sound of cans falling to the floor as I scrambled to hold on all the cans of various drinks. Koizumi was suppose to suck at these games, how come I lost this time? At least Asahina-kun came to help me bring the drinks back.
As we walked back to where everyone was, I looked out to the sea and just couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this lone island awaiting us. Asahina-san seemed to feel the same as well.
Haruhi said after finishing her juice in two gulps,
"Mitsuuru-kun, you look terrible, are you seasick?"
"No......that......ah, maybe."
Asahina-san replied, Haruhi then said,
"That won't do, you'd better get some fresh air. It's great enjoying the sea breeze out on the deck. C'mon, let's go!"
He then grabbed Asahina-san's hand and smiled,
"Don't worry, I won't push you into the sea. Hmm......though that's not a bad idea. The sudden disappearance of a female passenger."
"Eh!?"
“You look like a girl anyway.”
Haruhi slapped Asahina-kun's stiffened shoulders.
"Just kidding! That wouldn't be fun at all. It'd be exciting if the ship were to hit an iceberg or get attacked by a giant squid. I'm not the sort that likes to get everyone in trouble just so I can have fun!"
I think I'd better check where the lifeboats are located. Of course, I don't suppose an iceberg would come that near to the seas of Japan in the middle of summer, but it's possible that unknown marine creatures might attack suddenly. I glared at Koizumi: If a monster attacks, we're counting on you! I don't know how she read my thoughts, but she replied with that annoying smile, while Nagato just stared at the wall.
Haruhi continued endlessly,
"The best events are of course left for the island! Koizumi, will I be disappointed?"
"There's no exact definition of what constitutes an event."
Koizumi said smoothly,
"I, too, am hoping for an enjoyable trip."
Koizumi revealed an enigmatic smile. Though this was her usual expression, I stared hard at the esper, trying to figure out what was behind that smiling mask. I soon gave up. This girl's smile is like Nagato's blank expression - impossible to read anything from. Really, she ought to show more emotion as well. Of course, not as blatantly as Haruki.
Haruhi hummed a song he made up himself while dragging Asahina-kun away from the cabin. Asahina-kun turned around repeatedly, hoping that I would come along; perhaps I was thinking too much then, but I didn't want to ruin Haruki's mood, so I let them go.
No matter how insane Haruki is, just before Asahina-kun fell into the sea, he would save him. I prayed and stared at the ceiling, then used my bag as a pillow and lay down. It's going to be an early morning tomorrow, so I'd better get some sleep.
I dreamed about myself doing something strange, but just as I was about to wonder what it was, I was woken up by the commanding airwaves of Haruki,
"Stop sleeping, you idiot! Get up already! Are you really in the mood for this trip at all? If you're already sleeping on the trip, then what can we expect from you?"
It seems while I was asleep, the ferry had almost arrived at the interchange island. I felt as if I had just suffered an irretrievable loss.
"The first step is the most important! You lack the heart to enjoy things. Look at everyone else. Their expectations for this trip show in the glittering in their eyes!"
I followed the direction of Haruki's finger towards the three servants and my little brother preparing to carry their luggage off the ferry.
The smiling youth said,
"Give her a break, Suzumiya-kun, she's trying to save up energy for the trip. Who knows, she's probably going to spend all night thinking of how to entertain us next!"
I listened to Koizumi's irrelevant explanation, while observing Nagato's puppet like face and Asahina-kun's puppy dog eyes, trying to find the so called glitter within their eyes.
"We're there already?" I muttered.
On a long boat trip, with the SOS Brigade members around...No, let's leave the others aside. I had given in to my desire and taken a long nap. As a result I missed my chance to spend time with Asahina-kun inside the elegant looking cabin.
Damn, this is so frustrating. How could I let my summer vacation be over like that? So far, my only memories of this vacation have been playing old maid and be forced to buy everyone else drinks. Not to mention being black mailed by my little brother so he could join us. Shouldn't I have been doing something more interesting on the ferry? Like sharing each other's thoughts on the deck while the sea wind blew softly? No, my talk with Koizumi doesn't count.
I really felt like slapping my past self in the face for being so sleepy.
I clutched my half-drowsy head as I condemned myself endlessly.
Click!
A bright light made me go dizzy.
I turned my gaze towards the direction of the sound, only to see Asahina-kun holding a camera, with an adorable smile on her angelic face,
"Hee hee! I've taken a picture of you waking up."
She had the face of a pre-school kid who just pulled off a prank.
"I've also taken photos of you sleeping. You must have slept soundly."
“You looked stupid in those pictures, kyon. Hehe.”
Ignoring my brother's comments, I felt revived. Why was Asahina-kun secretly taking pictures of me? Could it be that he wanted my photos that badly? Does he intend to place my photo in a cute frame and put it by his pillow, so he can say 'good night' to me every night? Yes, that's not a bad thought at all. I want a picture of you as well, Asahina-kun. So I can put it beside my bed and kiss it before I go to sleep every night.
Seriously, if you had wanted my photo, I would have gladly posed for you! Even if I had to give you my photo album which I misplaced somewhere, I wouldn't have minded at all.
However, as I was making such a suggestion, Haruki grabbed the camera from Asahina-kun.
"Kyon, what are you grinning at? You look like a moron. Best wipe that off your face."
Haruki started looking as if he wanted to sell some exclusive pictures to a newspaper. He then stuffed the camera into his bag.
"I've had Mitsuru-kun be the stand-in photographer for the SOS Brigade. These photos are not for play! What I want is a record of the SOS Brigade's activities for our descendants to revisit. This silly “girl” just felt like taking useless pictures, so he has to listen to my directions from now on."
“I'm not a girl... i'm a guy...” Asahina-kun meekly protested.
Then, what informational value is there in taking pictures of me sleeping and waking up?
"Since you have no sense of urgency, I'm going to spread pictures of you sleeping like a moron all over as a cautionary tale! Listen! It's immoral and against the brigade rules for the subordinates to sleep soundly when the commander isn't sleeping!"
Haruki stared at me with a face I wasn't sure was laughing or scowling. I knew it was useless asking him when he came up with such rules, it's not going to be written anyway. I might as well play along, even if this still feels like extortion for some reason.
"Alright. What you mean is that if we don't want to have our faces drawn on, we aren't allowed to sleep before you, right? In that case, if I sleep after you, does that mean I can draw anything on your face?"
"What are you saying? Do you actually intend to do such childish acts? Let me put this straight, I can be very alert. I can retaliate even when asleep. Besides, you'll be risking the death penalty if you try to do anything foolish to the commander."
Hey, Haruki, the number of advanced countries still carrying out capital punishment is actually in the minority. What do you think of that?
"Why should I comment on other countries' penalty systems? What matters is not some foreign country, but the island we're going to!"
I prayed that nothing would happen, while pulling my bag over.
The ship shook roughly. Maybe it's about to dock already. The other passengers were already headed to the exit in groups of two and three.
"A mysterious island, huh......?"
What kind of island awaits us? Just don't let it be some island that suddenly appeared on the sea, or one that drifted away suddenly.
"Don't worry."
Koizumi nodded as though he'd just read my mind,
"There's nothing special about the island, just that it's far from land. There're no monsters or mad scientists, that I can guarantee."
This girl's guarantees mean nothing to me. I silently looked at Nagato's pale face questioningly.
"......"
Nagato also silently replied to me. If there were monsters appearing, he would probably help us beat them off. I'm counting on you, alien.
The ship shook abruptly again.
"Kyaa!"
Without even flinching, Nagato caught Asahina-kun, who had lost his balance and nearly fallen over. (writter's note: Asahina Mitsuruu is so feminine...)