Can you guess how many chapters this story will be?

Chapter 4

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I can just imagine the look of confusion on your face: the seeming lack of any plot, the total disregard of story flow like a deranged drunken baby trying to drive a car. Not only is that a completely awkward and disturbing image, but that is pretty much the best way I could describe the inane pace of time as it has happened for me so far.

I mean, I have semester exams coming up, and though as tired as I can be from studying, this just can’t be happening.

One minute, I’m coming back from the Student Council meeting as Haruhi’s unilaterally elected “Ambassador” with my Doppelganger—or Counterpart, as I’ve come to call her—and after being shoved to the side by some random student I come to the SOS Brigade room like I always have done, here I am, in a familiar room standing in front of complete strangers, all of whom are staring at me like I’m the one that’s lost!

And where the hell did my Counterpart disappear to, anyway?

All of the furniture is the same as I remember it; the large table in the middle of the room with three chairs on either side and the Brigade Chief’s desk with the computer Haruhi took from the Computer Research Society at the far end in front of the windows. The laptops were neatly stacked and packed in a box for safe keeping when not in use.

The clothing racks of costumes, the shelves full of things that Haruhi probably finds off of the street and gets on a whim are all there!

However, like a "Spot the differences" brain teaser in a children’s book there are three distinctive things that were different from how I remembered it.

Instead of a small, light haired alien girl sitting in the corner as usual reading a book, I find a tall and handsome boy in the usual chair.

Instead of the demure and cute time traveler filling the room with the scent of brewed tea dressed as a warm and inviting maid, I find a young (almost middle school) looking Butler/Host-wannabe glaring toward me with shock in his babyish face.

Instead of a grinning kiss-ass esper sitting at the table with a game of Othello or chess ready to be played, a beautiful long haired girl stood up and approached me as I stood dumbfounded at the doorway, lending a plastic smile as though I had just walked into the girl’s bathroom, and she had the cruelest of intentions for my fate for happening in.

I should really be more devastated than I am right now, but I’m not! Has all my time with Haruhi and them and the strange events that have happened to me already raised my standards for me to panic?

“This…is the SOS clubroom, isn’t it?” was all I could stammer out with half a breath held in my lungs, as though I wasn’t sure myself if I had only accidently opened the wrong door, despite my practice of coming to this room for the past few months and weeks and days out of habit.

She stared at me without saying anything for a moment.

“Hmm, I see…” the beautiful girl simply nodded her head in response to my question, too similar to a certain esper I knew. “This is quite an interesting turn of events.” Without elaborating on what she meant, the pretty girl continued to smile, though it was a plastic smile that girls often wore not to hurt the feelings of an awkward confessor.

I can pretty much guess who she’s supposed to be.

The long haired brunette offers me a predatory glance in response to my silence. “I suppose you won’t be needing introductions then?”

The fact that they were wearing North High uniforms—with exception to the one Butler/Host in a vest, bowtie and slacks—only served to cement the suspicions that my common sense tried so hard to but ultimately failed to suppress.

At this point, I doubt I would need to explain immediately taking the closest chair to sit down as I practically lost the feeling in my legs. The short-statured Host/Butler immediately placed and poured a cup of tea and offered a warm smile that was highly misplaced.

I mean no offense to the guy, but it pretty much caused me to vomit in my mind as my head strained to recover from the sudden dizziness. At the least the tea—which it pains me to say that it is exceptionally brewed well—helped quell the sickness somewhat, though more as a placebo affect than anything substantial.

The girl, who I would hazard a guess to be Koizumi’s Counterpart in this universe, took the chair next to me with her elbows placed atop the table. “You’re familiar with Newton’s Third Law, I hope?”

She doesn’t really want me to acclimate does she?

Whatever…I think back since this was something that should be basic knowledge to every student, which surprised me that I wasn’t being asked about some obscure theory. “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, right?”

Despite being focused more with studying for the upcoming exams, I can still remember something that was taught in elementary school.

“Well, not exactly. That’s actually a misunderstanding or to be more exact, an incomplete explanation.” she smiled to soften the fact that I was wrong, and even went so far as to comb her hair back with her hand as a follow up.

“Consider a mass hanging at the end of a non-stretchable steel cable attached to the ceiling of a laboratory. The mass is pulled towards the Earth—the action—by its weight. The corresponding reaction is the gravitational force that mass exerts on the planet: this has nothing to do with the steel cable; in fact, the reaction exists even in the absence of the cable. On the other hand, if the tension in the cable is pulling the mass upwards and preventing it from falling, then the mass is simultaneously pulling on the cable, with equal intensity and opposite direction.”

Though as boring as that long explanation was, it seemed that my mind was a bit more forgiving of this Koizumi for reasons that don’t necessarily reflect on any potential gender biases. The Host/Butler Asahina however, seemed quite intrigued in the explanation as he sat down to listen after refilling our tea cups.

“The same can be true with our current situation.” The female Koizumi paused to take a drink before continuing. “A few days ago, our little Kyonko had disappeared and for all intents and purposes, we found that it wasn’t Suzumiya’s doing; at least, not our Suzumiya.”

She took two opposite colored pawns out from the chess set to illustrate her point. It didn’t do much to explain what had happened, since all she did was switch the positions that the pawns were on the table and smiled without saying more.

And what do you mean by “For all intents and purposes…?” That’s code talk, isn’t it? I’m damn sure that she doesn’t want to directly mention that it’s the Agency that told her this…

“Despite your suspicions, her explanation is correct.”

I was very much caught off guard by the soft voice that drew my attention toward my left, and even more surprised that I didn’t notice how such a tall guy could creep up on me like that.

“As of three days, sixteen hours, forty six minutes and twenty-two seconds ago, the Data Integration Thought Entity experienced a tremendous collapse of information. Haruhiko Suzumiya was determined not to be the source of the anomaly. In addition, this collapse had not been equivalently substituted until seven minutes and fifty-nine seconds ago.”

“What do you been by Equivalent Substitution?”

“Well isn’t it obvious at this point?” she gave me a sort of leer and grin combination that could make any man uncomfortable. Aside from that, as forgiving as I was of her behavior at first, I was starting to get irritated as much as I would with the normal Koizumi, if not more so since we’re technically not acquainted enough for me to deserve this kind of teasing.

At least not from a girl who could get an A+ from the Taniguchi scale of rating!

“We’ve tried our best in keeping Haruhiko from getting too frustrated from little Kyonko’s disappearance…” Letting out a sigh, this Koizumi tilted her head slightly and made an accompanying shrug of her shoulders. I could only imagine the kind of grief that my counterpart goes through because of this esper girl.

“It was particularly difficult to persuade Haruhiko that she and her family had suddenly gone away for a trip because of a family grievance. We are definitely lucky that he is rational enough to accept our explanation, if begrudgingly. However as a result, my compatriots and I have had to deal with an ever expanding number of large Closed Spaces appearing.”

Oh, really now? And how did you explain to my Counterpart’s parents about their missing daughter? Or how did you even keep Haruhiko from going to them directly? You recall how suspicious he was when Asakura disappeared, right?

“They are currently in suspended animation in my apartment. Their memories will be adjusted to meet the previously constructed scenario upon Kyonko’s return to this Reality.”

That’s abduction! That’s literally an alien abduction that you’re done!

“Though I can’t say too much, my superiors have generally agreed with the actions that Mr. Nagato and Ms. Koizumi had to take with dealing with this situation; Kyonko’s disappearance was really not supposed to happen and was unexpected, so it’s caused quite a lot of problems that had to be temporarily dealt with…N-not that I’m blaming her or anything!”

I’m sure that she would be happy that you were worried about her. Unfortunately it’s just been a little hard for me to look at this alternate Asahina without being disturbed by the comparisons that I know my mind would make.

“Although it’s not my place, I just wish that I could do something to help, too…”

Please don’t cry. That’s sad! That’s definitely sad for a boy your age to do!

“Nonetheless, I find it odd that this could happen in the first place, curious, even.” Looking back toward Koizumi, I see her in the trademark pose of resting chin between thumb and index finger, much like the detective in any clichéd mystery story. “Why would one Kyonko be suddenly exchanged for the other? This has caused quite the stir with my superiors as well. ”

I don’t mean to change the topic, but you meant “Kyon”, right? Damn, it seems that even I’ve been ingrained with this nickname of mine…

“I apologize, but as that you are from the alternate universe, it would be best for all of us if we thought of you as the Counterpart. I mean no offense.”

With that disarming smile of yours, I’m pretty sure that you could get away with a lot of things.

“It’s never crossed my mind before, but I’ll take that into consideration for the future. Rest assured I’m joking, of course.”

Ignoring that dangerous comment, I thought back to the conclusion that I had already come to with Kyonko the other day. “Well, it made sense to us, me and Kyonko, I mean, that that was just what Haruhi wished for.”

I immediately felt three pairs of eyes settle on me as though I made some terrible faux pas, then a single pair as the alternate Koizumi and Asahina traded glances with each other (as alternate Nagato continued to stare at me as if demanding a clarification).

“What do you mean a wish?” Koizumi asked carefully and purposely.

“By ‘a wish’ I mean the wish. You know, around the time Asahina slipped in the ravine and I went to help her, I remember Haruhi making a wish about wanting me being a girl.”

“Well…” the diminutive Host/Butler began with a shaky voice, as though he were unsure of how I would react. “…I remember falling into the ravine and Kyonko saving me as well, but I don’t remember Haruhiko ever making any wish like that.”

“What are you talking about? If Haruhi had made a wish in my Universe, surely Haruhiko would’ve too, wouldn’t he? They’re alternates and all.”

“As intuitive as that may seem at first thought,” alternate Koizumi began, “would you believe even though he is eccentric, that a rational and healthy male teenager would wish for a boy over a cute girl like Kyonko?”

I’m not going to say it. I’m not going to acknowledge that indirect insult with a response, no matter how unintentional it was.

To my dismay however, my lack of a response had actually ended up serving as one for her now obviously rhetorical question.

“It’s a shame that such a handsome and smart boy like you needs to learn so much about the female mind.”

Another dangerous comment escapes from her lips in the form of a sigh as I now notice that our chairs are actually closer than they originally were. Really now, does my Counterpart have so much to deal with on a daily basis, or am I being treated this way just because I’m from another universe!?

At the very last moment, I’m saved by the sound of a ring tone, which emanated from female Koizumi’s skirt pocket. It’s a shrill quick tempo of beats that I wouldn’t doubt was a theme song for an anime or something.

“This is Koizumi speaking.” The matter of the call itself brings out my more curious side as she glances toward me several times throughout, but more importantly that predatory smile of hers has disappeared and replaced with a semi-serious look. “Yes, I understand.” She nodded before hanging up.

By now tall Nagato had already returned to his seat in the corner and by extension returned to reading his book while Butler/Host Asahina was already collecting our empty tea cups to wash.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I’m surprised that the alternate Suzumiya hasn’t shown up for his own Brigade meeting, but at the same time, it’s a bit of a reprieve. I’ve had enough of a culture shock with seeing the alternates of just three people.

My head would undoubtedly explode if I met my alternate parents or sister, or God forbid alternate Taniguchi or Kunikida. With everything turned upside down for me, Koizumi’s hand on my shoulder managed to bring me back to my senses.

Standing up next to my chair, the long haired girl was already wearing her polite smile again. “Why don’t we take a walk?” With that wink added as a good measure, how could I say no?

--

Following alternate Koizumi’s lead, we hadn’t even walked a few feet past the school gates before stopping.

“Is something wrong?” I ask more to try to satisfy my own anxiousness than anything else.

“Well, yes and no.” Looking back over her shoulder, my guide gave a nervous grin, which didn’t help my anxiety at all. Lifting her hand up to her eye level, the female esper seemed hesitant at first, but then managed to press against what seemed to be an invisible wall, or even possibly glass.

“Just as I feared; It’s already spread this far.”

Without further explaining her words, she grabbed my hand with hers and pulled me through to a familiar drab gray feeling.

“Closed Space.”

“Indeed.” She confirmed my suspicions before walking forward again. “However, this is no ordinary Closed Space.”

That’s redundant, to say the least. There’s nothing ordinary with Closed Spaces in the first place, so why should one be any different that any other?

“I see what you mean, but trust me when I say that this may be the only one of its kind…at the moment, at least.”

Curious after hearing this, I found my gaze suddenly attracted to the monotonous gray environment around us. The sky was overcast and unmoving above an empty and lifeless city. The scattered driverless cars left on the streets brought a chill to my spine whenever I looked at them and the sidewalks were bare of pedestrians. There wasn’t even any wind to give the false sense of movement in this dead area.

I continued to follow closely behind my guide, who kept to the main roads as she led us farther and farther toward the interior of the city. We walked through the park, past the bench where I met with Yuki and Mikuru on different occasions, though both were related to Haruhi.

We passed by the train station where the Brigade would meet up for our city-wide searches, and I even recognized a few of the houses that the Brigade had visited for cases, as well as several spots where we shot for our movie. While I was enraptured that we were literally strolling down memory lane, it was then that Koizumi decided to speak up again.

“Tell me, Kyon…” she began, without so much as looking back toward me as she spoke. “How do you think your Suzumiya thinks of you?”

“That was a bit out of left field, don’t you think?” I really hope that she was able to sense my disapproval from the tone of voice.

“My question pertains with our current situation, I assure you.” She glanced back toward me with a smile this time, before turning to look ahead again. “If you don’t understand it by now, then who knows what may happen next time…”

Are you saying that this is all somehow my fault? It was Haruhi who made the wish, not me! I couldn’t help but ignore her talking as Koizumi began to explain that I should be more wary of Haruhi’s god status, and that I should be more careful of how to treat her. But what’s there to understand?

What’s so bad about treating Haruhi like she was a normal person? Sure, she’s got her eccentricities, but so what?

It’s not like she was born that way, or at least, that’s the conclusion that I’ve come up with...well I mean, I guess she could have been born with that egotistical, demanding, bossy demeanor or developed it at an early age, but her motivations were made very clear to me about a day before the last time I found myself in Closed Space.

That feeling of loneliness that was in her voice, the diluted look in her eyes that could only stem from pure melancholy. I can definitely understand that sense of insignificance, if only because I used to feel like that myself before I, you know, stopped believing in the unbelievable.

I simply accepted my triviality and went along with the flow, coasting through life with as little conflict as I could. That lasted quite a while (at least, until I met Haruhi).

I never could have imagined, on the first day of high school, that I would be dragged around against my will, forcibly hijack a legitimate school club, be involved in sexual harassment, blackmail, more sexual harassment, be stabbed (at), run for my life from giant beings, go back in time, wake up in another reality, be stabbed (again) and so much more…and really, despite all of my complaints, I learned that I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, I chose this life and I chose to go along with that strange girl.

Her sheer sense of determination, meanwhile, as tiring as it is most of the time, is awe inspiring.

“Hmm, you’re getting there, but you’ve still got a little while to go until you really figure it out.”

We had apparently stopped walking and when I got my bearings, I realized that we were around the exact center of the city. Walking all the way from the school, wouldn’t that have taken more than an hour to do? To be honest though, my attention was taken up more by the vague hint to some unknown riddle that the girl standing in front of me has just revealed.

But to be honest, I’m only more confused than before. “Could you try to just say what you mean for once?”

There was a bit of silence until she glanced back at me.

We just looked at each other as though there was an undeclared staring contest between us, until I gave up and had to wipe my watery eyes. When I open them, Koizumi had her hand resting on my shoulder and her arm supporting me up.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I blacked out for a second when Koizumi jumped in to keep me up, until I managed to get my balance back. After stepping back to what I assumed was to give me some breathing room she gave me a smile, and I was surprised to see that this was different than the everyday plastic one I was used to seeing; this one seemed to be genuine.

She sighed. “It seems that it’s already started. We’ll have to hurry up before it becomes permanent.” Her smile lessened to a sad grin while her attention moved away from my direction once again.

What’s started? What are you talking about, Koizumi?

Brushing her hand through her layered hair, she turned her eyes upward as the ground around me began to shake. It was irregular and sputtered at random intervals, definitely not how an earthquake was.

Trust me; being Japanese, I’d know what an earthquake feels like.

The shaking grew louder and louder in slow increments, like a stereo with its bass far beyond its full knob capability. It was almost as if it were turned around three times what a bass should feel like.

“They’re almost like…” I chanced to guess as I was nearly knocked off balance with each shake that astoundingly did not rupture the streets or buildings into rubble. “…footst-”

The tall building ten meters or so ahead of us exploded outwards, tumbling down with the plume of smoke and debris onto the empty street below. An eerie illumination was then cast upon everything around me, as the towering giant of what was known as a Shinjin appeared.

The very manifestations of Suzumiya’s frustration, the lumbering Being was too preoccupied with destroying the peripheral buildings than to notice a small human like me. In fact, looking up, it was impossible not to see one of its towering legs lifting up and bringing its giant feet above me as it stepped forward.

Since I was only a normal human, don’t expect me to have super reflexes or any kind of super strength. No, I could only shut my eyes and aim my face away, as I definitely did not want to have the bottom of a foot to be the last thing that I see. Expecting to be a splat on the ground, I was of course relieved and surprised to only have a blast of wind knock me onto my ass instead.

“You’re a lucky one, aren’t you?” an unfamiliar voice prompted me to open my eyes and see a red large orb descend to the ground near me. “But I’m glad to see that you’re safe.” The light slowly faded to reveal a young man, who looked more or less my age. Though I didn’t recognize him, he seemed to know me, and he was also wearing the male North High Uniform as well.

“Koizumi, wait up, damn it!” Running toward us was a small girl, also apparently a North High student. I immediately felt my face flush at the sight of her, as if some cosmic entity was taunting me by sending her here.

Seriously, what are the chances that a girl would randomly appear in Closed Space wearing a ponytail!?

Stopping to catch her breath right near me, the girl immediately ignored her obvious fatigue to tackle me without warning. “Kyon!”

I felt as though the back of my head crashed against the ground, but when I opened my eyes, I realized that I was stumbling backwards, and I nearly fell over thanks to this stupid Doppelganger of mine.

My face is red hot from our proximity, and given this Freudian situation, I hurriedly pushed her off of me for both of our sakes. “What are you doing here?” the words escape from my mouth before my mind registers the identity of the two arrivals.

“He led me through here.” She directed her gaze toward the ever present Itsuki Koizumi who stood there quietly staring at me in his usual creepy manner. Wait a minute, did he see my reaction to my ponytailed Counterpart!?

He sure as hell better not have!

“I saw nothing of the like.” He answered in a cool manner with that fake plastic smile adorning his face. It was the sudden yelp coming from my left though that garnered my attention away from him.

It was Koizumi’s Counterpart tackling my Counterpart very much like how I was greeted just a moment ago. However my ponytailed self didn’t seem to enjoy it.

Oh, how do I enjoy sweet Karma when it isn’t biting me in the ass.

“Oh little Kyonko, how I missed you so!” the other girl said endearingly, actually more in a teasing manner.

“Get...off…me!”

“They seem quite close.” I practically feel Koizumi breathe against the back of my neck and following my survival instincts, I take a wary step away from him.

The hell you’re doing that to me.

“I never would have thought that you could make such jokes.” Showing an even faker smile to probably make me more uncomfortable, I decide to clear up some of my confusions while I have the chance. For example:

“How did you know that we would be here?”

“I could say it was all planned out,” he began, the usual type of introduction I should have realized would lead to some sort of long drawn out soliloquy of an answer, “but suffice it to say, it was simply intuition.”

What? That’s it? I’m suspicious, now. Are you really Koizumi?

“I will let you off from my answer for today, Kyon, since you’ve been through so much already.”

Despite my complaining, I was honestly happy that I was finally able to see a familiar face. Two if you counted my Counterpart, actually.

“It’s good to see you, again.” The small pony-tailed girl said while struggling against the very affectionate esper practically suffocating her. “You wouldn’t believe how crazy Haruhi went when you suddenly disappeared. I had to tell her that you skipped the meeting in order to go study for exams. She had to vent on Mikuru though, sorry.”

Predictable Haruhi. “Well you won’t believe this, but apparently for the last few days you’ve been out on a family vaca-”

A soft rumble crawled through the ground under us, stopping me mid-sentence. It was then a few seconds later that a second rumble sounded out before an explosion quite a distance away from us erupted. Like an eerie moon rising over the horizon, another Shinjin appeared to swing its lanky arms against skyscrapers and tall buildings. Even as that happened though, the sky-like dome above us began to crack.

“It seems that we’ve run out of time.” The Koizumi next to me said in a calm manner.

Like glass, the pieces of ceiling that shattered revealed parts of the night sky and some dimmed lights beyond it.

“Run out of time? We’re we too late? Is it the end of the world?”

“Kyon!” My head jerks toward the girls standing opposite of us as the fake darkness of the Closed Space soon began to illuminate and sound began to filter in again. My Counterpart struggled to get out of alternate Koizumi’s grasp, as though she were purposely being held back. I hear her yell out against the growing background of traffic, but am unable to hear the whole message. “…to study!”

I couldn't laugh, much less make any sort of response to Kyonko’s desperate last words to me. In a single blink, the wayward Shinjin had disappeared and the destroyed city block around us had reformed; the two girls had vanished amongst the late night crowd of people.

Author's Notes: About two or three times longer than I normally write, this epic finale had been on my mind since I started with the first chapter. I tried a number of ways to divide this up into two but every iteration just irked me. Final explanations will be left for the epilogue, since there are still a few unanswered questions I'm sure you readers are anxious to know.

Despite the modest amount of reviews (the most visible sign of readership for most) I kept on writing this story not only because I actually wanted to finish one up for once, but because of the hit/visitor count I painstakingly obsessed over as I wrote and posted each chapter. The amount of faves and watches I got also cheered me up, not to mention the amount of Kyonko/genderbend fics that have popped up on the site since I started this story in what, 2008? I can't really use "enjoyment" as a reason anymore because really, I wouldn't write anything if I didn't like to do so; my only problem is that I never finish up my ideas, which explains the many stories on my profile that I've left in limbo...

In terms of the story itself, I intend to answer each and every question raised through this fic, whether in the epilogue or an extra submission (hint hint)