36th "Oh shit..."

[slave_of_suzumiya]

[Today, Kyon has encountered Yuki Nagato who is a lot more lively than usual. ... However, her eyes are dead. The bright spark behind that unreadable mask was gone, leaving nothing but an empty shell behind.]

No... Nagato... It can't be...

Uh... It's Kokutou. Yuki Kokutou, remember? Are you feeling okay?

Just go away!

[A: And Kyon'll leave school, running through the halls. He's not really looking where he's going so he might run into you.]

[B: Upon reaching home at 915 Bilko Boulevard, he'll boot up both his desktop computer and laptop simultaneously and attempt to open a certain program...]

No, no, no, no... Respond dammit!! Ugh...

[And he'll slam his head into the desk.]

[Later, outside the library he may be found...

C: Shouting and beating his fists on the wall.

D: Sitting slumped against the wall, completely despondent, his hands scraped and bleeding...]

... Why her? Why!? Nagato...

Comments

[slave_of_suzumiya]

... Sorry, I'm not making a whole lot of sense right now, am I?

(Of course, trying to collect my thoughts after something like this is pretty difficult. It's like last Christmas, except instead of a practical utopia, I'm actually in a shithole this time.)

[And he'll allow himself to be led by her...]

Fast forward after the treatment?

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Umm...sorry, no. But you can explain it to me later if you want, after we get this seen to.

And I'm Tara, by the way. I just got here a few days ago.

(Gonna take him to the hospital and get someone to look at him.)

Sure!

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Right. Kyon. It's what they all call me.

[And so, he'll get the scrapes on his hands cleaned and bandaged...]

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

(After they're cleared from the hospital, she's going to ask him more questions. But first...)

So, umm, how are you feeling now?

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Like punching whoever is in charge of this place in the face. ... But better than before, I guess.

... It was Tara, right? Thanks.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

No problem. It's the least I could do.

So, umm...you mentioned something about Data Inter-something, and Jack Smith? I know who Jack Smith is, but what' about the Data thing you mentioned?

[slave_of_suzumiya]

It's a long story. And John Smith, completely unrelated to the Smith family here. ... Also a bit of a long story.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Well, I've got lots of time to spare, if you want to talk about it.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

I'd rather not go getting into all the details, but it's a tale of aliens, time travellers, espers and an after school club which is honestly more trouble than it's worth. Maybe one day I'll write a book about it.

(... Or maybe a dozen. I'm sure there's enough nonsense with Haruhi to write a plethora of stories about.)

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Wow, you seem to live an interesting life. Are you a super hero or something?

(Yes, she assumes everyone who doesn't have a normal, average life a superhero or a supervillain. Someone really needs to broaden her horizons.)

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Nothing that exciting, I'm afraid. Just an ordinary high school student.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

That...is the best news I've heard so far!

(Yes, after a few days surrounded by grouchy Australian mercenaries and emotionless pirate hunters who are also students, someone ordinary is a godsend.)

What year are you in? Maybe we have classes together!

[slave_of_suzumiya]

I've never seen anyone so glad to meet an ordinary human before. Anyway, I'm in the eleventh grade right now.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Oh. We're not in the same grade then.

(She sighs. So much for normalcy.)

Well, I'm just an ordinary student back home too. It's just great to know that I'm not the only one here.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

What year are you in then? ... And yeah, this place does tend to draw all kinds of odd folks.

I have no idea how the American system is like...sorry!

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm 15 this year...so maybe the ninth or tenth grade? I lost a year when I was back home, so it's sort of a bit messed up at the moment...

I know what I know from American TV and then kinda just assume the rest to be the same as here.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Ah, well unfortunately time can be confusing like that sometimes. Especially when you're arbitrarily dropped in a place like this.

(I wonder if I can start getting something like frequent flyer miles for time travel and other dimensions or stuff like that?)

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

No, I mean...I think the town has me as a tenth grader, but I'm actually only in the ninth grade back where I come from. I had to lose a year because of an accident. It's been a bit hard, catching up on all the work.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Ah, I see. Well, I suppose that's tough too... Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the effort if I were you. It's not like they actually teach us anything important here.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Really? The teachers seem OK though. Maybe they'll teach us useful stuff instead. The ones who aren't zombified, at least.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Well, it's your decision. But if you just ignore most of the work they give you, it seems you get one less thing to worry about.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I just feel like...like it's something that I can do, you know? It's something from home that I'm used to. Dealing with homework and math and history, instead of homicidal people and kidnappings.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

I suppose that is also a rather valid point there.

[forgotten-titan.livejournal.com]

Where are you from Kyon? Your name sounds Japanese, I think, but I'm not too sure.

[slave_of_suzumiya]

Nishinomiya, it's a town in the Hyogo prefecture. Just a bit north-west from Osaka.