[Jintor]

Spoiler for September the First, Day 0, Universe 1: Morning- The End of Eight:

[Scene: Kyon’s Bedroom, Morning]

I awake to find a pair of eyes, staring straight at me.


Kyon: Ah-aaaargh!


Screaming loudly, I scramble backwards onto the edge of my bed.

My... bed? My... bed. That's right. I'm in my room. No... ripples. No stars.

No stars. It's morning. And the person sitting on the edge of my bed is grinning mischiveously at me.


???: Good morning, Kyon-kun!


This is my little sister, who mum usually sends upstairs to wake me up in the mornings. Which means-


Kyon: Today’s a school day, right?

Sister: Yup! It’s the first day back! What, did you forget, Kyon-kun? You’re so weird.


…It looks like August has ended at last. I guess we're finally out of the woods.


[Date: September the First (?), Day Zero: Universe 1]


By the way, Kyon is my nickname, which my little sister - and everybody else in the world - has decided to call me instead of "Onii-chan~" or something more traditionally cute like that. Now that I think about it, wasn't she the one who spread this stupid name around in the first place?

Despite what some of my less observant classmates would tell you, I do have a real name. It’s—


Mother: Breakfast is ready!


You know what? Never mind.


[Scene: Kyon’s Kitchen, Morning.]


As I was saying. I’m an ordinary, 16-year-old first-year high-school student. Nothing strange about me whatsoever.

Well, actually, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I’m an ordinary 610-year-old first-year high-school student.

I’m not lying. I just spent the last 594 years of my life in a perpetual loop comprised of the last two weeks of August.

Or so I’m told. I don’t remember any of it.

Every midnight, on the Thirty-First of August, our world would reset back to dawn of the Seventeenth, taking our memories with it. With one notable exception.

What she must have gone through…

The reason for all of this is, that a certain person didn’t want the summer to end. There were “too many thing she hadn’t done”, apparently.

But since today is September the First, it would appear that my incredibly smart plan to bring summer to an end by doing my homework has succeeded.

Yes, I know that sounds stupid. It certainly doesn't rank up there with other crazy ways I've saved the world, like by making out with... with a certain person, or fighting that giant cave cricket.

Well, ok, that last bit was a lie. I didn't actually physically fight the giant cave cricket. I guess I just kind of cowered in a corner while the SOS Brigade's problem solvers, uh, solved the problem.

And all these strange happenings have... happened... because last spring, I was dragged against my will by a certain person into an insane mockery of a club dedicated towards "Finding aliens, time travelers, and espers, and having adventures with them!"

And because the universe likes a good joke as much as anybody else, the club members (besides myself and that certain person) are comprised of: one alien, one time traveller, and one esper. Not that that certain person knows, of course.

…Hilarious.

Oh, and that certain person? Unbenknownst to her, she’s God.

And so, over the past few months, we've done some weird, weird things. We've experienced the apocalypse. We've played baseball. I've travelled three years back in time, and slept for three more (Hang on, doesn't that make me 613?). We've fought giant cave crickets in other dimensions. We've solved murder mysteries on remote tropical islands.

And most recently, we've had great fun, doing random things over the summer. Correction: over the last fifteen-thousand, four-hundred and ninety-eight summers. In a row.

(They were the same summer, in case you didn't get that. You did? Right. Just testing.)

...anyway, what was I saying? Hmmm.

My nickname is Kyon. I'm a completely ordinary 16-year-old first-year high-school student.

Nothing special about me whatsoever.

---

It's time for this trip down memory lane to end. Today, I have to go to school, and deal with that certain person once more.

It's a brand new day. For the first time, in five-hundred and ninety-four years, it's a brand new day.

I think this is the first time in my life I’ve ever looked forward to going back to school after summer vacation.

Only needed minor edits. I don't know what you're talking about, Kaisos.

Spoiler for September the First, Day Zero, Universe 1: Interlude- Dark People in a Dark Room:

This room is dark, cold, and bathed in shadow. This is because the lights are off.

The shadows are cast by the fluorescent glow of a small CRT television, old and outdated though it is.

The television screen flickers gently, alternating between static and the image of a sleeping, brown-haired teenage boy.

Two people sit here, just outside the unnatural light of the television.

One of them speaks.


Shadow A: So, what number are we up to now? The thirty-seventh?

Shadow B: Yup.

Shadow A: But you're still not satisfied.

Shadow B: Nope.

Shadow A: Maaaaan… I was kinda hoping… Anyway, do we really have to watch him sleep? It's, uh, it's kind of-

Shadow B: Sure we do. He’s cute when he’s sleeping.

Shadow A: Eh, he’s not really my type. Now, the other one, she’s cute. Why can’t we watch her sleep?!

Shadow B: This TV can’t tune into the other side. Besides, in a few days, it won’t matter any more anyway.

Shadow A: You don’t know that. Isn’t half the point of this to figure out if anything different would happen?

Shadow B: …

Shadow A: You're right though... nothing really different has happened at all. Some things have shifted a little, yeah, but it's well within acceptable bounds.

Shadow B: …

Shadow A: Which brings me to my suggestion. Why not just interfere? A little viral manipulation can go a long way, even if it is a little unstable.

Shadow B: …Sorry, were you saying something? I was watching him breathe. It’s just adorable.

Shadow A: Oh, gods... look, I was just saying that we should introduce ourselves into the equation this time around.

Shadow B: Oh, don’t worry about that. Now that I know how everything works, I was planning on doing that anyway.

Shadow A: Sweet. Now, uh, can we please turn on the lights? I can barely find the door.

Shadow B: No! We mustn’t! The Television Room must remain mysterious, Number Two!


As one rises, the other moves to intercept, and then they both burst into happy, raucous laughter that seems, somehow, frighteningly cold.

The TV flickers one last time, and winks out.


DAY ZERO END

Hmmm. I'm beginning to wonder that if, given sufficient direction, I could write a few of these scenes myself. It would certainly speed up production time.