[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by vivify93

You said it was "trail mix". Is it perhaps entrail mix?

Crunch. Slurp.

Originally Posted by Heatth

I forgot to mention last post, but now I want a good end with Itsuko living in the 'real' world with Kyonko as her sister (and Kyon as her boyfriend?). We are having some good ends right (besides the 'lol reset' end, I mean)? The way you wirte it make me doubt it sometimes.

Um. Esper has a good end! Kind of...

Originally Posted by GDB

I sure hope so. I'd like to see that ending, too.

Itsuko would probably force Kyonko to call her "onee-chan", but I think Kyonko would probably prefer "Aneki" or something like that.


More stuff.

Spoiler for September the Fifth, Day 4, Interlude 09: Awakening:

Awakening

As it so happened, at this moment, Haruki Suzumiya’s restlessness had compelled him to take a midnight walk in the rain.


The rain was pouring so hard that the minute he stepped outside, he was completely soaked.

The rain was pouring so hard that he couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of him.

The storm was raging so hard that many buildings had already been struck by lightning, although he couldn’t see the smoke due to the thick rain.

Every few minutes, a bolt of lighting cut the sky into pieces.


But still, he went for his midnight walk in the rain.

Perhaps he was trying to get himself killed. Or perhaps he thought that if he went off alone in the middle of the night, he would be taken to the place where his Brigade waited for him.

Or perhaps he just wanted to take a midnight walk in the rain.

Who knows?

Haruki Suzumiya certainly didn’t.

No thoughts ran through his head. He only felt the pounding of the rain on his skin matching the rhythm of the pounding of his heart.

That’s strange. There’s no way they should match.

But they do, and the strange becomes normal. This is how Haruki Suzumiya thinks.

This is why his search for the strange is futile.

But he doesn’t know that.


Haruki Suzumiya stands in the middle of the road, looking up at the nonexistent sky that reflects what’s in his heart.

The sparkle that for so long existed in his eyes had almost gone out.

These were the eyes of a dead man. Or the eyes of a man just about to die. Either one would be true.

The lights of a pickup truck suffusing the dark night remind Haruki Suzumiya why taking a midnight walk in the rain was a bad idea.

The screeching of brakes doing nothing to stop the impact.

Haruki Suzumiya’s spine shattered with the same noise a chicken makes breaking out of an egg.

He flew twenty feet away from the site of impact, and hit the ground headfirst. His skull cracked open, also like an eggshell, and brain matter leaked out like porridge.


But that never happened.

Instead of happening, the truck that just killed Haruki Suzumiya swerved to his left, and smashed into a wall instead of his spine.

This would have been a miraculous occurrence, but Haruki Suzumiya remembered the feeling of his spine breaking.

It’s a very strange feeling.


Haruki Suzumiya approached the truck, intending to see if the driver was alright. He could see that the man was sitting inert in the driver’s seat. (The truck was clearly American-made, as the man was sitting on the left side.)

It was only when he got close enough to touch the man, unable to see through the thick bedsheets of rain, that Haruki Suzumiya recoiled, falling on his behind.

The driver had a large shard of glass stuck directly in the middle of his forehead.


I’ve killed someone.

He can’t be dead.

If I wasn’t there, he’d still be alive.

He wouldn’t have had to run me over. He wouldn’t have had to swerve to avoid running me over.

That’s not right.

This guy cannot be dead. I won’t let him be dead. I’m not gonna be responsible for killing anyone. That’s too much.

Too much.

He’s not dead.


The large shard of glass fell to the road, and shattered. The driver, a middle-aged-man, coughed, and looking around, noticed Haruki, and said:

“Hey, aren’t you old enough to know not to stand in the middle of the road on a night like this? You could have gotten y’self killed, kid.”

He’s not dead. (He was only sleeping.)


Haruki Suzumiya got unsteadily to his feet. (What can you trust if not what you see with your own eyes?)

The driver was saying something about him needing an ambulance, and could the kid please use his cellphone to call Emergency, but the kid in question wasn’t listening. He was walking away, also unsteadily.

The driver yelled something, but Haruki Suzumiya didn’t even hear him at all.

The rain got even heavier.


Did I do that?

He was dead. And then he wasn’t.

And I’m almost sure I died. But then I didn’t.

Was that me? Was that something else? Or am I just going a little loopy from loneliness ?

Well, the first step to solving a mystery is testing hypotheses!

Let’s see. ‘I want some Pocky.’


Haruki Suzumiya suddenly heard the ringing of a bell. Through the thick rain, he could see a peddler riding towards him on a bicycle, pulling a trailer of what seemed to be snack foods.

"Hey mon. I heard you wanted some Pocky?"

"Yeah, actually."

"That'll be 100 yen. Special price only for today, mon."

Haruki Suzumiya handed over the money.

"Thanks, mon."

The peddler slowly biked away, ringing his bell.


…That’s… was that really me? I mean, sure, it was convenient, but that's what they call a coincidence.

It couldn’t have been. There’s no way I can summon a pocky merchant out of nowhere or bring people back from the dead.

…But what if I could? Wouldn’t that be cool? I’d be like that one guy, what’s his name… Jesus, right. He was pretty cool.

Still, can't assume stupid things like that. Man, this Pocky tastes terrible... no wonder it was so cheap. I need some Coke to wash it down. And it'd be nice if it was free, since that was my last 100 yen...


The peddler was backpedaling.

"Yo mon. Heard you wanted some free Coke?"

"Yeah, actually."

The peddler threw him a can.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem, mon."

And he peddled away.


Excellent.

Ah. Enjoy~.

Welp, either that peddler is a mind-reader, I'm Jesus, or this is all some crazy coincidence.

I need more empirical evidence. Let's try...


Haruki Suzumiya willed a guy on a motorbike to pass by him. It did.

He then willed a car to pass by. It did.

Two cards.

A red car.

A blue car.

A black car.

Another blue car.

An old car.

A new car.

All of them passed by.


What in the name of...? Well, I guess that counts out the peddler being a mindreader.

More evidence...! Let's try something big, grandiose, and most importantly, impossible.

I'll turn off the clouds.


For a moment, the clouds no longer existed, and while it was still raining, Haruki Suzumiya could see the beautiful stars that twinkled beyond.


Now I'll turn the clouds back on, and make it snow.


The clouds came back, and while it was still raining, white flakes also fell from above.


Gahahaha, no way. This is too great. I'll make the sun rise.


Even though it was still nighttime, it was also sunrise.


Okay, that looks really weird. Let's just put everything back where it was. Except...


Haruki Suzumiya was tired of being wet. So he no longer was.

Haruki Suzumiya was tired of being rained upon. So the rain simply stopped falling on him.


Wow, I was only expecting an umbrella, but man, that’s sweet.

…Hey, I wonder... Are there limits to this power?

If there are limits, let’s find them. And then break those limits. That’s my philosophy.

There are no limits. Beyond the impossible is where I go.

Turning off the clouds is nothing. Any chump can do that if they really wanted.

I'll do something MORE.

I'll show everyone what I can do.


Haruki Suzumiya raised his arms parallel to his shoulders, palms up.

And his feet, ever so slowly, began to leave the ground.


Haruki Suzumiya wanted to fly.


And as though they were eager to follow their master, all around him, red giants were born into the world, raising their triple eyes to the rainy sky in celebration.

A deep crimson light suffused the city, in complement to the inevitable screams.

Apotheosis.

There are no limits.


Haruki Suzumiya's eyes were sparkling more than they ever had before.

The rain on his face looked like tears. (Men don't cry.)

But there was no rain on his face at all.



Haruki Suzumiya has awakened.

Less epic than I had hoped it would be, but this is the sort of scene that music and visuals can really have an effect on.

Poor everyone.