I'll spoiler mine as well since I'm long winded myself .
Spoiler for more discussion with Kogetsu Shirogane:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kogetsu Shirogane
And since I'm the only one who seems to find some problem with this whole thing, I guess I get to be the other participant in this little debate.
Well, please continue to poke holes in anything I say. I'm attached to my ideas, having come up with them, so I'm not going to see or admit the flaws easily . That's part of the reason I wanted to put them in the public domain in the first place.
Quote:
...
Now this is mainly just an assumption on my part(as a result, it's probably got more holes than a slice of swiss cheese), but I think that both Nagatos started to open up to Kyon/ko during the library visit.
...
I think you're absolutely right about that. It's not that Nagato develops a personality later on, she's had one the entire time. Its just that after 3 years of existence without human contact, she's completely unsocialized and understanding her is HARD. She learns to express herself through interaction with the SOS-brigade (and especially Kyon). But even though Yuuki may actually be attached to Kyonko at this point, that's not something even Kyonko can discern. I guess that contradicts what I said before...so there may be some romantic entanglement involved in a Kyonko/Nagato trigger after all, just not on Kyonko's part. And I don't think Nagato's feelings are discernable to anyone else until the command prompt conversation in closed space, where only a perceptive Kyon would be able to realize anything.
Quote:
...
That's the main problem. Haruhi doesn't forget things, and neither should Haruki. The situation between Kyon and Mikuru had after-effects lasting long after CHARMED. Meanwhile, Haruhi started noticing something may or may not have been going on between Kyon and Yuki as early as Lone Island Syndrome(I'm referring to the situation with the locked door, just for clarification). Unless you can actually clarify how this could be handled without causing major problems, I can't see how this could work out.
...
I agree, Haruhi is perceptive and doesn't forget things. I don't know, talking this out with you I feel like we're both contradicting ourselves. I know I'm talking myself through circles trying to write a coherent reply here
On my side, I'm saying there's really nothing between Kyonko and Nagato that Haruki would take too seriously later on, but if that's true, then why does the closed space incident occur in the first place? Does it really make a more convincing scenario than using Mitsuru? On your side, you're saying Haruhi is perceptive and is keeping some sort of mental list of strikes Kyon has against him, but then why hasn't she blown her stack already? Does one more early hint of a relationship between Nagato/Kyonko really have to become a tipping point?
I guess my answer to both myself and you is that I think both Suzumiyas are excitable people whose instincts are always to fly off the handle. But they are also very reasonable people that easily internalize logical explanations once they are given. Heck, even not-so-logical explanations...look at how easily Haruhi is convinced that everyone had shared hypnosis during the Snow Mountain incident. All it took was approval from someone she considers an authority (Koizumi), and she's convinced.
I mean, ok. Let me start over. I get your point (I think). If Haruki flies off the handle in this way now, why would he do any less later on when he has even better reasons to believe something's going on between Kyon and Nagato? I'd say it's because in this case he's completely blindsided. And later on, he'll be a lot more confident that he has most of Kyon's attention, due to closed space and everything else that happens between them after, so he'll be a lot more willing to wait for Kyonko's explanation.
Quote:
...
In your scenario, Haruki pretty much has to either already be in the room(which wouldn't be the case, as Kyonko wouldn't risk looking in that folder if he was) or rush over to the computer as soon as he enters(which requires that Kyonko has slower, and worse, reflexes than Kyon, as Mikuru was right next to him when she asked what he was doing).
Well, to be honest, when I came up with this stuff I was working with a "Kyonko has a sprained ankle" angle. I've mentioned that, but I also mentioned that I don't view it as essential to the ideas I've posted so far. So in my original scenario, when she's browsing the computer she's got her foot on a chair, elevated, and being in an awkward position plus panicking makes her clumsy. And yes, I'm saying Haruki storms into the room and gets over there before Kyon can navigate all the way out. But I mean, even disregarding all that, Kyon slipped up in the original. It's not that Kyonko has to be slower or have worse reflexes, it's just a different kind of slipup.
Quote:
Aside from the crush angle(which you have stated doesn't exist with either of them), I see no real need to actually shift everything from Mitsuru to Yuuki, especially since it ends up causing more problems than it solves.
I guess ultimately we just view things differently, and I don't have an answer for that. I just can't believe that Haruki would think Kyon likes Mitsuru (no matter what Kyon actually feels for him or Nagato), but you can. You believe the Nagato/Kyonko trigger introduces serious (inevitable) problems down the line, but I don't. It doesn't help that I probably like the idea of shaking things up a little bit too much.
Yes, but in the original Kyon never feels any real lust for Yuki the way he does Mikuru. In fact he pretty much has a mild crush over her the entire time.
And so far, I think the GB version has already set up some feelings between them, as motherly or innocuous or innocent as they may be while not so much on the Yuuki front. Most importantly, any feelings they MIGHT have for each other is almost always developed in front of Haruki. It's important to note that on many occasions it's always Mitsuru who's between Haruki and Kyonko. ie. numerous dress-up scenes, groping aftermath, etc.
And y'know, if Haruki has this terribly low opinion of Mitsuru as this gutless wussy guy who doesn't deserve to be called a man, won't it make him even angrier or more melancholic if it seems like Kyonko has a better relationship with Mitsuru than him?
Any real lust? Read Vol. 7 again.
Look, the point is that Kyon-chan doesn't really have feelings for either... and I still think the Yuuki thing works better.
It's not about who Kyonko has feelings for, it's who Haruki thinks Kyonko has feelings for. And honestly, I feel like Haruki would be a lot more threatened by the guy who Kyonko is always defending or siding with and who is usually the cause of Kyonko going against Haruki rather than the "weird bookworm kid."
As of yet, Haruki has almost no opinion of Yuuki, he hasn't talked to Yuuki other than that one time asking permission to use the room more importantly he has never actually seen Kyonko or Yuuki interact at all. Having Taniguchi suddenly spring up a photo of them in an awkward position will not have the same impact as Haruki seeing Mitsuru and Kyonko casually flirt and rub off one another.
It doesn't matter what is, it only matters what it seems like to Haruki.
It's not about who Kyonko has feelings for, it's who Haruki thinks Kyonko has feelings for. And honestly, I feel like Haruki would be a lot more threatened by the guy who Kyonko is always defending or siding with and who is usually the cause of Kyonko going against Haruki rather than the "weird bookworm kid."
As of yet, Haruki has almost no opinion of Yuuki, he hasn't talked to Yuuki other than that one time asking permission to use the room more importantly he has never actually seen Kyonko or Yuuki interact at all. Having Taniguchi suddenly spring up a photo of them in an awkward position will not have the same impact as Haruki seeing Mitsuru and Kyonko casually flirt and rub off one another.
It doesn't matter what is, it only matters what it seems like to Haruki.
I'm gonna do the usual and combine all the ideas.
This way Haruki can be jealous of both of them at once.
Location: Near Cincinnati, OH, but actually in Kentucky
Age: 36
Apparently this project is serious business to some people out there. She thinks the animation clip was ridiculous, but that's been one of the biggest and most interesting achievements so far. Ah well, super-opinionated fangirls are a dime per dozen in either direction, so I'd just ignore it. Obviously support for this project is overwhelming if she's complaining about finding it everywhere
Finally, Chapter 5 is done. Man, this one was hard and it's just going to get worse.
Spoiler for Chapter 5, Final: Asakura Fight and Asakura Aftermath:
"Your programs were too basic." Nagato said in his usual expressionless tone. "The data lockdown around the ceiling area was incomplete. That is why I was able to discover it and enter."
"You want to get in my way?" Asakura still sounded perfectly calm. "Once I slaughter this girl, Suzumiya Haruki is bound to have some sort of reaction. Only then can we obtain more data."
"You are supposed to be my backup." Nagato said in a mantra-like tone, "This sort of insubordination is forbidden; you must obey my commands."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then I will disconnect your data interface."
"Would you like to try? I have the advantage here, since this classroom belongs to the scope of my data control."
"Processing application for data interface disconnection."
"What?!"
As Asakura heard this, he wrenched his katana out of Nagato's grasp and jumped five meters away. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but realize it – these two really aren't human.
Opening up the distance in an instant, Asakura landed gracefully and continued smiling as usual.
The space around began to distort – that's the only way I can describe it. The desks, the ceiling and floor all shook vigorously; though I couldn't really see what was happening, they were taking on the appearance of liquid metal.
“Well then,” Asakura said. “Let's see how you handle this!”
[Editor’s note: The next paragraph needs a lot of work... Jintor, if you could help out a bit here, that’d be great.]
Everything in the room slowly started taking on the appearance of spears, and, the next second, crystallized spear-like objects flew from all directions towards us with lightning fast speed. It was already a moment later when I discovered Nagato blocking those spears with the same amazing speed. As the dust cleared, Asakura charged forward, waving his katana widly.
Panicking, I tried to turn and run, but Nagato grabbed my arm.
"Do not move away."
He dodged Asakura's attacks while pushing my head down so that I would kneel and hide behind him.
"Aaaah!" I screamed as an unknown object flew over my head and smashed the blackboard to pieces.
Nagato looked upwards a little, and in an instant, icicles sprouted from the ceiling and fell towards Asakura, who dodged at a speed that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Instantly, a forest of icicles formed on the ground.
"This area of space belongs to me. There’s no way you can win." Asakura said calmly. He and Nagato stood a few meters apart, facing each other, while I could only kneel on the ground, not daring to stand up, all my hope lost.
Nagato stood in front of me with his legs slightly spread, and it’s only now that I notice that he even wrote his name on his indoor shoes. As if chanting a prayer, Nagato mumbled:
SELECT serial_code
FROM database
WHERE code='data'
ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data
HAVING terminate_mode
Normal physics no longer apply in this classroom. Everything has turned into crazy geometric shapes, twisting and turning before my eyes. It’s like a theme park’s house of horrors. This is making me dizzy!
"You’ll stop functioning before I do. We’ll see how long you can last protecting Poor Kyon-chanthat pathetic thing. Take this."
I look around, desperately trying to locate Asakura in this whirlwind of light and color, but I have no idea where his voice is coming from.
‘Whoosh’, went the sound of something slicing through the air.
At that, Nagato grabbed my shoulders and threw me bodily aside.
"H-hey! What are you......"
Before I could finish, I heard the whoosing noise above my head, and the distinctive ‘splurch’ sound of metal hitting flesh.
I looked up. Nagato stood in front of me, impaled through the chest by Asakura’s katana.
"......"
So, to put it simply, Asakura had thrown his katana at me to try and catch Nagato off guard and kill me. Nagato had reacted in time to be able to get me out of the way, but had been unable to move out of the way of the sword, and had gotten impaled as a result. But I didn't know that then, since it all happened so quickly.
Nagato's glasses fell from his face and softly bounced as they hit the ground.
"NAGATO!" I screamed.
"I told you not to move." Nagato said calmly, pointing at the sword going straight through his chest. A pool of blood was slowly beginning to form under his feet.
"I'm fine."
How exactly does being impaled make you fine?!
Without flinching, Nagato pulled the katana out of his body. It fell on the ground with a clanking noise and instantly turned into a shinai. Is that what that thing really was?
"With that injury, I don’t see you stopping me now! Here's my finishing blow! RAZENGANN OVERLOAD!"
At the other end of this twisted space, Asakura's silhouette faded in and out. I could see that smile on his face, as he slowly curled his arms and legs in towards his body – and then, giant, black tentacles, tipped with spikes, sprouted from his back.
"Now, die."
Asakura's tentacles extended, wriggling like worms, and closed in on Nagato from all directions. Unable to move, his slim figure shook violently… and the next second, my face was splattered with blood.
One tentacle clawed into Nagato's right abdomen, another into the left side of his chest, another through his throat, through his arms, his legs… too many to count. Blood spattered from Nagato's mouth, his wounds, and down along his legs, making the blood pool below even wider.
"It's over." Nagato said quietly, as he grabbed onto a tentacle. Nothing happened.
"What's over?" Asakura said, sounding as though he'd already won. "You mean the three years of your pathetically short life?"
"No." said a seriously wounded Nagato, as though nothing had happened to him. "Commencing data interface disconnection."
Almost instantly, everything in the classroom began glowing brightly, and then crystallized and dissolved within the next second, turning into sand.
"How... how can this be…?" As crystallized sand fell from the ceiling nonstop, it’s Asakura's turn to be stunned.
"Well, well. You really are amazing, aren’t you?"
The tentacles protruding from Nagato’s body also turned into sand, as he responded. "It took me some time to penetrate the program. But, everything will end now."
"......You already planted destructive factors around long before I penetrated this place, haven't you? No wonder you looked rather weak. It was because you used attacking data beforehand…" Asakura said despondently, as his arms began to crystallize.
"Sigh… such a pity. I’m just the backup after all. I thought this would finally be a chance to break free of all this stagnation…"
Asakura, reverting back to his old self, looked at me cheerfully.
"Well, I lost. You get to live after all. You'd better be careful, though. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity isn't as united as you think. I’m not the only one with a dissenting opinion. Just like with humans, eh? The good and the bad… And who knows, even those who control Nagato-san might change their thinking and decide to kill you instead."
He's now covered from chest to toe by the glowing crystallized substance.
"Even then, I wish you and Suzumiya-san the best of luck. Well then, goodbye!"
As he said that, Asakura gave me that usual, calm smile of his, and then dissolved into a pile of crystallized sand. The smaller crystallized sand dunes continued to dissolve until they vanished completely.
Under a rain of crystallized sand, the high school student, class president, and member of the kendo club known as Asakura Ryou vanished entirely from the school. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
There was a shadow over my head, suddenly. Nagato Yuuki was collapsing. I tried to catch him, but he was too heavy, so he ended up on top of me on the floor.
"N-Nagato! Hang in there! I'll call the ambulance or something!"
"No need."
Nagato stared at me with his wide open eyes.
"Physical damage means nothing. Currently, the priority is to restore this area of space back to its original state."
As he finished speaking, the familiar 1-5 classroom reappeared before our eyes. It was like a tape rewinding: everything in the room reverted to the way it had been before.
The blackboard, the teacher's desk, the remaining chairs and desks all grew from the white sand and back to their original form as they had been at the end of class today. I can't describe it with mere words. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would've thought all this was made with state-of-the-art CGI effects instead.
Windows grew from the walls, with the half-stained glass intact; the sunset reappeared outside, bathing Nagato and me in an orange-red light. All the blood that had spattered onto my face had now completely disappeared.
It’s so amazing… the only way I can possibly describe it is magic.
"Thank you… Um… are you really okay?"
Nagato, my saviour, remained lying on top of me on the floor. I’d thought she would have many wounds and holes in her uniform after being impaled by those spears, but they were all gone now.
"As processing power has been converted into data operation, the linking interface has been temporarily reversed."
“You want some help up?” Not that I’m in any position to give any, but…
“No need.” Nagato moved his hands and started to get up, but…
"Hm?” He said, suddenly. "My glasses. I forgot to regenerate them."
"…Um, I actually think you look cooler without them. Glasses guys really aren’t my type…"
"What does that mean?"
"…It's nothing, nothing! Nothing at all…”
"I see."
Now really isn’t the time to be saying stupid things like that, and I regret having said it. If I could have gotten out from under Nagato, I probably would have run out of the classroom in utter embarrassment.
“Excuse me!”
At that moment, the classroom door suddenly opened.
"I forgot~ I forgot my stuff~"
There, entering the classroom, humming a stupid song while playing with her cellphone, was Taniguchi.
She probably never thought there would still be people in here, so when she discovered us, she stood dumbfounded, her mouth wide open.
With Nagato on top of me, and my hair still down, it’s pretty easy to see what conclusions she’d immediately come to.
Taniguchi gave me a wide grin, reminding me of Haruki, and, slowly raising her cellphone, started snapping pictures of me and Nagato on the floor.
“Hey! Wait! What the heck are you doing?” I screamed.
“Sorry, Kyon. Have fun!” Taniguchi ran out of the room, laughing manically. I tried to follow, but, of course, Nagato was still on top of me.
"Such an interesting person." Nagato said.
I sighed heavily. "What should we do now?"
"Leave it to me." Nagato said, his eyes still looking down at me.
"Data manipulation is my specialty, I'll let everyone think that Asakura Ryou has been transferred out."
That wasn’t what I was talking about, but… data manipulation? Is that how he does it?
I’ve just experienced an incredible event. Whether I believe what Nagato told me the other day is no longer the issue here, because what happened just now has let me realize just how serious things really are. I really thought I was going to die! If Nagato hadn't shown up to save me, Asakura would have raped and killed me. The experiences of seeing the classroom distorting, of Asakura's black tentacles, and Nagato eliminating him emotionlessly have all been etched into my mind.
Nagato-san, I’m really grateful to you.
In a way, though doesn't that make me an insider to a Mysterious Event? Just as I said in the prologue, I had wanted to be a bystander that got sucked into these events, just a mere sidekick. But the way thing are looking, I’m the main character! I had really wished I was a character in a story involving aliens, but now that I am, it really puts everything into perspective.
This really isn’t what I had been hoping for…
What I really want is to be the sort of side character that cheerfully provides helpful advice at the right moment when everyone is facing a difficult situation. I don’t want my own classmates to go crazy and target me! I have respect for my own life, thank you very much!
My mind wandered without aim for a while as I lay back in the orange-red classroom. Due to my spacing out, I'd completely forgotten about Nagato, who was still above me, staring at me with his usual expressionless face.
H-hey! Wait a minute! If you’re done regenerating, get off me!
------
The following day, Asakura Ryou disappeared from Class 1-5.
I was the only one who had seen it coming.
“Ehh, I guess it has something to do with Asakura-kun's mother's work, that's why he had to transfer all of a sudden. Frankly, the teachers were shocked as well when they heard the news this morning. Because they had to leave the country so quickly, they already flew off yesterday."
When Okabe-sensei announced this cover story, most of the girls exclaimed in shock and horror, "What? Why!?", while the guys talked amongst themselves about this. Even Okabe-sensei looked confused. And, of course, the person sitting behind me couldn’t keep his mouth shut about this.
Boink! He rapped the top of my head lightly. Haruki, if you touch me again…
"Kyon, this HAS to be a Mysterious Event!" Haruki's eyes shone brightly, all his vigor regained.
Should I tell him the truth?
‘Actually, Asakura-kun was created by an alien lifeform known as the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. Nagato-kun was his superior, but for some reason their relationship broke down, and in the end Asakura ended up trying to kill me. As to why it involves me, it’s all your fault. However, Asakura-kun got turned into a pile of sand by Nagato-kun and disappeared, so it’s all better now.’
Oh please! I'd be carted off to the funny farm if I said something like that. I'll just pretend that everything that happened yesterday was just a horrible, horrible nightmare and leave it at that..
"First my Mysterious Transfer Student shows up, then the class president transfers out mysteriously. There’s something going on here, I know it!”
Ooh, should I commend you on your brilliant instincts?
"Maybe his mom got a transfer?"
"Bah! I'm not gonna buy such a lame excuse."
"Believe it or not, that's the number one reason for having to transfer schools."
"Isn’t it strange, though? It took them only one day from receiving the job transfer notice to moving out. Just what sort of work is his mom doing?"
"Maybe his parents just didn’t tell him beforehand…"
"Impossible. It requires further investigation."
I had wanted to say the job transfer was just an excuse, that they had escaped overnight from their debtors, leaving behind a mountain of debt, but I decided not to. After all, I’m the only person here who knows the real story.
"As Supremely Manly Commander of the SOS Brigade, I cannot leave such a Mysterious Event uninvestigated!"
Just…. stop, please.
“By the way, what’s with your hair?”
“Don’t ask.”
Haruki looked offended at my response, but it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t find any hair ties when I looked this morning, so I figured I might as well just come to school without a ponytail. Besides, after what happened yesterday, I really have to re-evaluate how I view my life. Does this new look accurately depict what I’m feeling right now?
Having witnessed all this supernatural stuff firsthand, and trying to tell myself that it never happened, I had to pick one of the following choices: I was either hallucinating; or something was wrong with my brain; or the world is strange enough already; or I'd had a very long dream.
There’s no way I could admit the world is some sort of virtual reality.
Aggh! For someone who's just turned 15, having to face a turning point in her life like this is just a bit too early!
Why does a first year high school girl like me have to deal with such philosophical questions like whether the world exists or not? Those aren't things I should be thinking about! Please, stop adding to my troubles!
Right now, I have all sorts of other problems to deal with!
I find the aftermath rather funny, because, in Higurashi, "transferring out" is used as a creepy euphemism for "dying horribly and mysteriously".
Finally, Chapter 5 is done. Man, this one was hard and it's just going to get worse.
Spoiler for Chapter 5, Final: Asakura Fight and Asakura Aftermath:
"Your programs were too basic." Nagato said in his usual expressionless tone. "The data lockdown around the ceiling area was incomplete. That is why I was able to discover it and enter."
"You want to get in my way?" Asakura still sounded perfectly calm. "Once I slaughter this girl, Suzumiya Haruki is bound to have some sort of reaction. Only then can we obtain more data."
"You are supposed to be my backup." Nagato said in a mantra-like tone, "This sort of insubordination is forbidden; you must obey my commands."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then I will disconnect your data interface."
"Would you like to try? I have the advantage here, since this classroom belongs to the scope of my data control."
"Processing application for data interface disconnection."
"What?!"
As Asakura heard this, he wrenched his katana out of Nagato's grasp and jumped five meters away. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but realize it – these two really aren't human.
Opening up the distance in an instant, Asakura landed gracefully and continued smiling as usual.
The space around began to distort – that's the only way I can describe it. The desks, the ceiling and floor all shook vigorously; though I couldn't really see what was happening, they were taking on the appearance of liquid metal.
“Well then,” Asakura said. “Let's see how you handle this!”
[Editor’s note: The next paragraph needs a lot of work... Jintor, if you could help out a bit here, that’d be great.]
Everything in the room slowly started taking on the appearance of spears, and, the next second, crystallized spear-like objects flew from all directions towards us with lightning fast speed. It was already a moment later when I discovered Nagato blocking those spears with the same amazing speed. As the dust cleared, Asakura charged forward, waving his katana widly.
Panicking, I tried to turn and run, but Nagato grabbed my arm.
"Do not move away."
He dodged Asakura's attacks while pushing my head down so that I would kneel and hide behind him.
"Aaaah!" I screamed as an unknown object flew over my head and smashed the blackboard to pieces.
Nagato looked upwards a little, and in an instant, icicles sprouted from the ceiling and fell towards Asakura, who dodged at a speed that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Instantly, a forest of icicles formed on the ground.
"This area of space belongs to me. There’s no way you can win." Asakura said calmly. He and Nagato stood a few meters apart, facing each other, while I could only kneel on the ground, not daring to stand up, all my hope lost.
Nagato stood in front of me with his legs slightly spread, and it’s only now that I notice that he even wrote his name on his indoor shoes. As if chanting a prayer, Nagato mumbled:
SELECT serial_code
FROM database
WHERE code='data'
ORDER BY aggressive_combat_data
HAVING terminate_mode
Normal physics no longer apply in this classroom. Everything has turned into crazy geometric shapes, twisting and turning before my eyes. It’s like a theme park’s house of horrors. This is making me dizzy!
"You’ll stop functioning before I do. We’ll see how long you can last protecting Poor Kyon-chanthat pathetic thing. Take this."
I look around, desperately trying to locate Asakura in this whirlwind of light and color, but I have no idea where his voice is coming from.
‘Whoosh’, went the sound of something slicing through the air.
At that, Nagato grabbed my shoulders and threw me bodily aside.
"H-hey! What are you......"
Before I could finish, I heard the whoosing noise above my head, and the distinctive ‘splurch’ sound of metal hitting flesh.
I looked up. Nagato stood in front of me, impaled through the chest by Asakura’s katana.
"......"
So, to put it simply, Asakura had thrown his katana at me to try and catch Nagato off guard and kill me. Nagato had reacted in time to be able to get me out of the way, but had been unable to move out of the way of the sword, and had gotten impaled as a result. But I didn't know that then, since it all happened so quickly.
Nagato's glasses fell from his face and softly bounced as they hit the ground.
"NAGATO!" I screamed.
"I told you not to move." Nagato said calmly, pointing at the sword going straight through his chest. A pool of blood was slowly beginning to form under his feet.
"I'm fine."
How exactly does being impaled make you fine?!
Without flinching, Nagato pulled the katana out of his body. It fell on the ground with a clanking noise and instantly turned into a shinai. Is that what that thing really was?
"With that injury, I don’t see you stopping me now! Here's my finishing blow! RAZENGANN OVERLOAD!"
At the other end of this twisted space, Asakura's silhouette faded in and out. I could see that smile on his face, as he slowly curled his arms and legs in towards his body – and then, giant, black tentacles, tipped with spikes, sprouted from his back.
"Now, die."
Asakura's tentacles extended, wriggling like worms, and closed in on Nagato from all directions. Unable to move, his slim figure shook violently… and the next second, my face was splattered with blood.
One tentacle clawed into Nagato's right abdomen, another into the left side of his chest, another through his throat, through his arms, his legs… too many to count. Blood spattered from Nagato's mouth, his wounds, and down along his legs, making the blood pool below even wider.
"It's over." Nagato said quietly, as he grabbed onto a tentacle. Nothing happened.
"What's over?" Asakura said, sounding as though he'd already won. "You mean the three years of your pathetically short life?"
"No." said a seriously wounded Nagato, as though nothing had happened to him. "Commencing data interface disconnection."
Almost instantly, everything in the classroom began glowing brightly, and then crystallized and dissolved within the next second, turning into sand.
"How... how can this be…?" As crystallized sand fell from the ceiling nonstop, it’s Asakura's turn to be stunned.
"Well, well. You really are amazing, aren’t you?"
The tentacles protruding from Nagato’s body also turned into sand, as he responded. "It took me some time to penetrate the program. But, everything will end now."
"......You already planted destructive factors around long before I penetrated this place, haven't you? No wonder you looked rather weak. It was because you used attacking data beforehand…" Asakura said despondently, as his arms began to crystallize.
"Sigh… such a pity. I’m just the backup after all. I thought this would finally be a chance to break free of all this stagnation…"
Asakura, reverting back to his old self, looked at me cheerfully.
"Well, I lost. You get to live after all. You'd better be careful, though. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity isn't as united as you think. I’m not the only one with a dissenting opinion. Just like with humans, eh? The good and the bad… And who knows, even those who control Nagato-san might change their thinking and decide to kill you instead."
He's now covered from chest to toe by the glowing crystallized substance.
"Even then, I wish you and Suzumiya-san the best of luck. Well then, goodbye!"
As he said that, Asakura gave me that usual, calm smile of his, and then dissolved into a pile of crystallized sand. The smaller crystallized sand dunes continued to dissolve until they vanished completely.
Under a rain of crystallized sand, the high school student, class president, and member of the kendo club known as Asakura Ryou vanished entirely from the school. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
There was a shadow over my head, suddenly. Nagato Yuuki was collapsing. I tried to catch him, but he was too heavy, so he ended up on top of me on the floor.
"N-Nagato! Hang in there! I'll call the ambulance or something!"
"No need."
Nagato stared at me with his wide open eyes.
"Physical damage means nothing. Currently, the priority is to restore this area of space back to its original state."
As he finished speaking, the familiar 1-5 classroom reappeared before our eyes. It was like a tape rewinding: everything in the room reverted to the way it had been before.
The blackboard, the teacher's desk, the remaining chairs and desks all grew from the white sand and back to their original form as they had been at the end of class today. I can't describe it with mere words. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would've thought all this was made with state-of-the-art CGI effects instead.
Windows grew from the walls, with the half-stained glasses intact; the sunset reappeared outside, bathing Nagato and me in an orange-red light. All the blood that had spattered onto my face had now completely disappeared.
It’s so amazing… the only way I can possibly describe it is magic.
"Thank you… Um… are you really okay?"
Nagato, my saviour, remained lying on top of me on the floor. I’d thought she would have many wounds and holes in her uniform after being impaled by those spears, but they were all gone now.
"As processing power has been converted into data operation, the linking interface has been temporarily reversed."
“You want some help up?” Not that I’m in any position to give any, but…
“No need.” Nagato moved his hands and started to get up, but…
"Hm?” He said, suddenly. "My glasses. I forgot to regenerate them."
"…Um, I actually think you look better without them. Glasses really aren’t my type…"
"What does that mean?"
"…It's nothing, nothing! Nothing at all…”
"I see."
Now really isn’t the time to be saying stupid things like that, and I regret having said it. If I could have gotten out from under Nagato, I probably would have run out of the classroom in utter embarrassment.
“Excuse me!”
At that moment, the classroom door suddenly opened.
"I forgot~ I forgot my stuff~"
There, entering the classroom, humming a stupid song while playing with her cellphone, was Taniguchi.
She probably never thought there would still be people in here, so when she discovered us, she stood dumbfounded, her mouth wide open.
With Nagato on top of me, and my hair still down, it’s pretty easy to see what conclusions she’d immediately come to.
Taniguchi gave me a wide grin, reminding me of Haruki, and, slowly raising her cellphone, started snapping pictures of me and Nagato on the floor.
“Hey! Wait! What the heck are you doing?” I screamed.
“Sorry, Kyon. Have fun!” Taniguchi ran out of the room, laughing manically. I tried to follow, but, of course, Nagato was still on top of me.
"Such an interesting person." Nagato said.
I sighed heavily. "What should we do now?"
"Leave it to me." Nagato said, his eyes still looking down at me.
"Data manipulation is my specialty, I'll let everyone think that Asakura Ryou has been transferred out."
That wasn’t what I was talking about, but… data manipulation? Is that how he does it?
I’ve just experienced an incredible event. Whether I believe what Nagato told me the other day is no longer the issue here, because what happened just now has let me realize just how serious things really are. I really thought I was going to die! If Nagato hadn't shown up to save me, Asakura would have raped and killed me. The experiences of seeing the classroom distorting, of Asakura's black tentacles, and Nagato eliminating him emotionlessly have all been etched into my mind.
Nagato-san, I’m really grateful to you.
In a way, though doesn't that make me an insider to a Mysterious Event? Just as I said in the prologue, I had wanted to be a bystander that got sucked into these events, just a mere sidekick. But the way thing are looking, I’m the main character! I had really wished I was a character in a story involving aliens, but now that I am, it really puts everything into perspective.
This really isn’t what I had been hoping for…
What I really want is to be the sort of side character that cheerfully provides helpful advice at the right moment when everyone is facing a difficult situation. I don’t want my own classmates to go crazy and target me! I have respect for my own life, thank you very much!
My mind wandered without aim for a while as I lay back in the orange-red classroom. Due to my spacing out, I'd completely forgotten about Nagato, who was still above me, staring at me with his usual expressionless face.
H-hey! Wait a minute! If you’re done regenerating, get off me!
------
The following day, Asakura Ryou disappeared from Class 1-5.
I was the only one who had seen it coming.
“Ehh, I guess it has something to do with Asakura-kun's mother's work, that's why he had to transfer all of a sudden. Frankly, the teachers were shocked as well when they heard the news this morning. Because they had to leave the country so quickly, they already flew off yesterday."
When Okabe-sensei announced this cover story, most of the girls exclaimed in shock and horror, "What? Why!?", while the guys talked amongst themselves about this. Even Okabe-sensei looked confused. And, of course, the person sitting behind me couldn’t keep his mouth shut about this.
Boink! He rapped the top of my head lightly. Haruki, if you touch me again…
"Kyon, this HAS to be a Mysterious Event!" Haruki's eyes shone brightly, all his vigor regained.
Should I tell him the truth?
‘Actually, Asakura-kun was created by an alien lifeform known as the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. Nagato-kun was his superior, but for some reason their relationship broke down, and in the end Asakura ended up trying to kill me. As to why it involves me, it’s all your fault. However, Asakura-kun got turned into a pile of sand by Nagato-kun and disappeared, so it’s all better now.’
Oh please! I'd be carted off to the funny farm if I said something like that. I'll just pretend that everything that happened yesterday was just a horrible, horrible nightmare and leave it at that..
"First my Mysterious Transfer Student shows up, then the class president transfers out mysteriously. There’s something going on here, I know it!”
Ooh, should I commend you on your brilliant instincts?
"Maybe his mom got a transfer?"
"Bah! I'm not gonna buy such a lame excuse."
"Believe it or not, that's the number one reason for having to transfer schools."
"Isn’t it strange, though? It took them only one day from receiving the job transfer notice to moving out. Just what sort of work is his mom doing?"
"Maybe his parents just didn’t tell him beforehand…"
"Impossible. It requires further investigation."
I had wanted to say the job transfer was just an excuse, that they had escaped overnight from their debtors, leaving behind a mountain of debt, but I decided not to. After all, I’m the only person here who knows the real story.
"As Supremely Manly Commander of the SOS Brigade, I cannot leave such a Mysterious Event uninvestigated!"
Just…. stop, please.
“By the way, what’s with your hair?”
“Don’t ask.”
Haruki looked offended at my response, but it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t find any hair ties when I looked this morning, so I figured I might as well just come to school without a ponytail. Besides, after what happened yesterday, I really have to re-evaluate how I view my life. Does this new look accurately depict what I’m feeling right now?
Having witnessed all this supernatural stuff firsthand, and trying to tell myself that it never happened, I had to pick one of the following choices: I was either hallucinating; or something was wrong with my brain; or the world is strange enough already; or I'd had a very long dream.
There’s no way I could admit the world is some sort of virtual reality.
Aggh! For someone who's just turned 15, having to face a turning point in her life like this is just a bit too early!
Why does a first year high school girl like me have to deal with such philosophical questions like whether the world exists or not? Those aren't things I should be thinking about! Please, stop adding to my troubles!
Right now, I have all sorts of other problems to deal with!
I find the aftermath rather funny, because, in Higurashi, "transferring out" is used as a creepy euphemism for "dying horribly and mysteriously".
Fits well, don't it?
Excellent stuff as usual. Although I think Kyon-chan needs to be a little more freaked out in the aftermath of realizing that this was an "incredible event".
Transferring out; curious way to say disappeared forever
I love Higurashi. So much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ_RockmanX
Excellent stuff as usual. Although I think Kyon-chan needs to be a little more freaked out in the aftermath of realizing that this was an "incredible event".
I'm tired. I dun wanna work on that for a while... I'll leave that to Jintor, Beanbag, and the Fascist to fix up a little.
2008-04-12, 15:40
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