I returned Nagato’s book to its original position on the table and looked to Koizumi, whose head poked in the door like a Peeping Tom peering into the women’s side of a public bath.
“What were you doing with Haruhi?”
“Nothing.” Koizumi slid into the room like a seal swimming in the ocean, closing the door behind him, his pleasant bearing and smile never changing.
“We just happened to meet up on the first floor, that’s all. It’s not as though we were carrying out some secret mission behind your back.”
“I see.” That was the important thing, then. I didn’t particularly care if he left me out, but I was sure he’d have gone happily along with Haruhi if she’d decided to storm the student council and demand operating funds. And that would’ve been a headache. I wanted to avoid school intrigue for a while, I said.
“Even so, the student council president isn’t completely foolish. If he were going to make trouble with us, he’d find a better opportunity.” Koizumi sat in his usual folding chair, directing a smile at Haruhi. “For example, if we started large-scale advertising to recruit new brigade members, he’d be all over us.”
“I have no intention of doing anything large scale,” said Haruhi from the brigade chief’s desk, with a wave of her finger. “However, it would also be strange if we did nothing. I figured we had to at least infiltrate the club reception event. Reconnaissance by force, I think they call it. And just as I thought, the student council president came by with some nasty words, and there you have it—my observation of the enemy succeeded.”
If she’d done all that just to gauge the student council’s response, I suppose she was a decent tactician—but I was pretty sure she’d made that up just now. It was just ex post facto justification, I said.
“What does it matter? The outcome is the same, so the method is irrelevant. In the end, there’s no difference at all between slaving away at a part-time job to earn a hundred thousand yen and returning a million yen to its rightful owner and getting a ten percent cut for your trouble.”
There was a huge difference, I said. You might meet a special someone on the job (Taniguchi’s theory), but more importantly, people didn’t just drop bundles of big bills by the road.
But our glorious brigade chief only sat down in her creaking chair, ending the conversation.
“The recruitment drive didn’t get us anywhere. However, despite the fact that there weren’t any interesting freshmen, they may yet be hiding somewhere. There may also be those agonizing over whether to join—but having thought about it over the weekend, they should’ve found the answers to any questions they might have had.”
Flashing her pearl-white teeth, Haruhi produced a sheet of paper.
“That’s why I posted this on the bulletin board.”
The following was written in Haruhi’s handwriting on the A4-size sheet of copier paper: NOTICE OF BRIGADE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION. FRESHMEN ONLY.
Beside me, Asahina had paused her tea preparation to read the notice aloud. She blinked rapidly. “Only freshmen?”
“You like things fresh and lively, right? Fresh fish makes for the tastiest sushi. We’re aiming for the liveliest students in this year’s North High catch!”
Was this a fishing port now?
“But, um, it doesn’t say ‘SOS Brigade’ anywhere on this.”
“If we talk openly about the SOS Brigade, it’ll bring the student council president down on us. This is a concession! I don’t like it, but sometimes a deliberate retreat is necessary to defeat your enemy. Writing ‘Brigade Entrance Examination’ should be enough. I mean, there aren’t any other brigades at North High!” replied Haruhi in the face of Asahina’s sharp-eyed observation.
Since there wasn’t a cheering brigade at our school, ours was the sole organization linked to the word “brigade.” If there had been any others, I’d have been shocked.
“Wait, Haruhi.” I had a more fundamental question to ask. “Just what is this exam? Are you actually going to make them pass a test to join the brigade?”
“Yup.”
Don’t say it like it’s obvious, I thought. “What kind of test?”
“That’s a secret.”
“When?”
“When the examinees arrive, obviously.”
I read the notice again. Aside from NOTICE OF BRIGADE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, the only other information was in smaller letters below it, which read, AT THE LITERATURE CLUB ROOM.
Haruhi swiveled her chair around and looked out the window. “Between ‘brigade entrance’ and ‘literature club room,’ if there are any freshmen who can’t figure out what these two keywords mean, they shouldn’t even bother showing up. The SOS Brigade’s name is already well-known among people who know, and if they don’t already know, I don’t want ’em. Ditto for idiots who show up asking what it is we do here.”
I happened to be one of those idiots.
Asahina had a far-off look as she placed the kettle on the burner. “Freshmen… new members…” There was a note of nostalgia in her voice. I wondered if it was because she was realizing that she was a senior now and would graduate in only a year.
I gave the flyer that would only further confuse the non-initiated back to Haruhi. “Well, I hope there are a few people crazy enough to actually want to join the SOS Brigade.”
“We don’t need crazy people, but yes, hopefully a few will show up. Otherwise the brigade exam questions I made will go to waste.”
So that’s what she’d being banging away on the keyboard for this last week. I asked her to show it to me.
“No way.” Haruhi stuck her tongue out. “This is a brigade secret, not something underlings like you get to see. If you want to see it, you’ll need to rise higher in the ranks.”
I had no desire to do that, so I immediately abandoned all plans of advancement.
Having turned on the computer, Haruhi manipulated the mouse pointer. “However, the truth is that the questions cannot yet be said to be finished. I was thinking about them all last night as I made the flyer, and I was so serious about it that I shortchanged my sleep. It’s the brigade chief’s duty, after all. I only just stuck it on the board, so I doubt anybody’s going to show up right away, but if they do, we’ll just start with the practical exam first.”
Just how many phases were there in this test of hers? I asked.
“That’s a secret too.”
For the sake of the as-yet-unseen brigade applicant, I prayed that Haruhi’s preparations would come to naught as I sat down across from Koizumi. I saw that he’d already gotten the Go board out and the pieces ready.
“Care for a game?”
I thought we were going to play Go, but it turned out to be some old game called Renju instead.
“It’s similar to five-in-a-row. It’s simple once you learn it.”
I placed stones on the board as directed by Koizumi, more or less figuring out the rules of play by example.
A cup of Asahina’s tea in one hand, I played two or three rounds against Koizumi, racking up a series of wins. I wasn’t sure whether I was quick to catch on or Koizumi was simply bad at it, but in any case this time-killing activity that did nothing to improve my academics continued for a while.
Haruhi was typing something into the computer, Asahina was lost in reading a book on traditional-style tea, and Koizumi and I were lost in the game.
I raised my head and looked around the room precisely as Haruhi noticed the abnormality, and we both spoke simultaneously.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Our next words overlapped as well.
“Where’s Nagato?”
“Where’s Yuki?”
Asahina straightened. “O-oh, now that you mention it, I made tea for her the way I always do.”
Nagato’s teacup had been placed next to where I’d put her book. The green tea it contained hadn’t been so much as sipped, and it was now cold.
There was a click sound, and when I looked for its source I saw Koizumi putting the Go pieces back in their container. On his handsome face, his eyebrows were minutely raised. That was his only response. The lieutenant brigade chief was silent.
“Maybe she’s visiting the computer club.”
Before I could even stand, Haruhi dashed out of the room.
What was with that impatience? Nagato wasn’t here—that was all; it wasn’t a big deal…
Haruhi returned more quickly than the most skillfully thrown boomerang.
“They said she’s not there.”
“Oh, er, um. Maybe she had a class meeting or had to stay behind for something?” said Asahina with tremulous optimism, but I’d never heard of Nagato serving on any of the student committees—not conduct, beautification, or even library.
They say that things are never as bad as they seem—wasn’t this one of those times? Nevertheless, Haruhi was fastest on the draw with her cell phone, and she immediately placed the call.
Haruhi’s school shoes tapped lightly on the floor.
We waited a few seconds.
“—Ah, Yuki!”
She seemed to have picked up. That was a relief.
“Where are you today?”
The silence continued for about ten seconds. Her phone pressed up against her ear, Haruhi gradually shifted her expression.
“Huh? You’re at home?—No way!” Haruhi frowned. “A fever? Do you have a cold? Did you go see a doctor…? Ah, you didn’t. Do you have medicine?”
Koizumi, Asahina, and I all looked to Haruhi.
Nagato had a fever?
Haruhi furrowed her brow deeply.
“Yuki, you’ve got to contact us when these things happen. We were really worried! Are you sleeping properly?… Oh, I woke you. Really? Sorry… You dummy, of course it’s a big deal. I can tell from your voice. Are you all right?”
Haruhi spoke rapidly into the phone as she pulled her bag closer to her.
“Enough, Yuki. Get back into bed and lie down.” Haruhi give Nagato several quick instructions after that, then hung up and removed her phone from her ear.
Still standing, she chewed her thumbnail. “This isn’t a matter of ‘oops.’ We should’ve noticed sooner. Kyon, did you realize Yuki was home sick today?”
If I’d realized, did she think I’d be killing time looking at her stupid flyer and playing Renju?
“There’s something screwy with Yuki’s homeroom teacher. He should’ve said something! This is a breakdown in communication. He’s a failure as a teacher!”
It was an angry outburst, but for once I agreed with Haruhi.
Why hadn’t I been told?
It didn’t have to be a teacher. Somebody should’ve said something to either Haruhi or me.
Nagato—why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me something as astonishing as you missing school?
“Mikuru, get changed.”
“Ah, yes!”
“And hurry!”
“Yes!”
Asahina started removing her maid outfit without even waiting for Koizumi or me to leave.
Haruhi was fully committed to leaving the school. Evidently she couldn’t even spare time to turn off the computer. Koizumi and I were the same way. We immediately grabbed our bags and headed out of the room.
From the other side of the closed door, I could hear the sounds of Haruhi helping Asahina change, and for once the two of them were silent.
I had to make the most of this chance.
“Koizumi.”
“What is it?”
“Did you know Nagato was missing school?”
“What would you do if I did?”
“I’d blame you for not saying something. I’d take you to task. I might string you up, depending.”
“I swear that I did not know.” Koizumi’s smile was hard-edged, as though he were wearing a glass mask. “Nagato’s fever cannot be caused by Earth-bound pathogens. She is not a Martian from the past. It is probably the same cause as before.”
The events flashed before my eyes, and I felt chilly. A snowy ski slope. A phantom mansion rising out of a blizzard. A closed dimension. The single episode was enough to make me hate winter forever.
And Kuyoh. A doll of a girl with hair like waves on a stormy sea. The humanoid terminal of the Heavenly Canopy Dominion. She hadn’t done anything the previous day. I imagined that was because Kimidori had been there.
“It’s restarted its invasion, this extraterrestrial intelligence that’s not the Data Overmind. And of course, their first target is Nagato, the SOS Brigade’s strongest line of defense.”
Koizumi’s commentary had become suddenly serious.
“If they force Nagato into inoperability, we humans, who call Earth our home, will be all that are left. Unfortunately, the Agency does not have the power to resist non-corporeal attacks. I don’t know about the more powerful time travelers, but the current Asahina will surely be powerless. However…”
The only brigade members left were Haruhi and I, and I was well aware that I was the most powerless of all.
But Haruhi—
If she knew what had caused Nagato to fall ill, Haruhi would beat that person to a pulp. She would upend heaven and earth to save Nagato.
But what to do? Was this the moment? Was this it? Was this the time and place to reveal my joker, the trump card I held?
“I do not think so.” Koizumi’s voice was beyond rational and well into indifference—or was that just because of my psychological state?
“That is probably their goal. A trump card can only be played once. It has its power precisely because it can never be played again. If we act in haste, we may play right into their hands. In addition, this may be an advantageous position. I am unhurt, as is Asahina. If our enemy had committed to a full attack, we probably wouldn’t be able to move with such freedom. There have been no reports of Kyoko Tachibana making any careless moves. By analogy, neither has the opposing faction of time travelers. This is a unilateral move by the Data Overmind’s counterpart. As such, our reaction must be carefully considered.”
The instant I was about to reply, the door slammed open and Haruhi flew through it, pulling Asahina behind her by the arm.
“All right, let’s go! We’re headed straight to Yuki’s place!” were the first words out of her mouth.
Her face was near rage as she ran ahead.
And of course—
Not a single member of the brigade argued with the brigade chief’s order.
—To be continued in
The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya
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