many bugs turned up in Nagato’s system, and we knew what caused them to accumulate. As a result, she’d restricted herself. No more synchronization. She was trying to avoid bugs of her own free will. Was Asahina really Nagato’s ideal? A person who, unlike herself, takes action without knowledge? A time traveler—her perfect opposite.
It was the ultimate irony. Asahina suffered from her own ignorance, while Nagato knew too much.
I looked up at Nagato’s place. “Yeah…”
Asahina might have been right. When I thought about it, the most perceptive people I’d known had all been female—although Haruhi and Tsuruya were a little
too
perceptive.
Nagato had her own virtues, and they were virtues enough. But when she herself didn’t realize that, it made things difficult. If pressed about it, she’d just feign ignorance.
It was also possible that Asahina was overthinking this. Nagato might be just fine as she was. She might just occasionally run out of books to read and stare at Asahina without any particular intent. But if Asahina was worried, I would just ignore her concerns.
“I understand. I’ll tell Nagato for you. We’ll figure out where you’re going to stay later.”
She could stay at my place as a last resort, but it wasn’t like there weren’t any alternatives.
“Anyway, there’s something else I wanted you to look at. I got another letter in my shoe locker.”
Asahina looked at the letter I gave her as though it were a crib sheet for a test she was about to take. “Oh, this is”—she pointed to the very end of the directions—“an order code. The very highest priority.”
I hadn’t been able to figure out whether the line was a code or a signature of some kind. I asked if it was some kind of future language.
“No, it’s not a word… um, it’s a code. One that has a special priority for us. It means no matter what the order is, it must be carried out.”
“You mean…
this?
” I asked, thinking about the contents of the letter. “What point could there possibly be in a prank like this?”
“That’s…” Asahina began, her head cocked, confusion on her face. “I… have no idea.”
“What would happen if we ignore this and do nothing?”
“We cannot ignore it,” said Asahina flatly. “Having seen that code, I must take action to ensure its execution.” She looked at me uncertainly. “And you’ll do it too, won’t you, Kyon?”
We did as the letter said and proceeded to the location in question. Our method of transportation was a bicycle; it should go without saying that Asahina rode behind me on the luggage rack. In any case, although our target was within the city, it was still some distance on a bicycle.
We killed some time wandering around; by my watch it was now just ten minutes past six. The letter had directed me to set up the materials I now carried between 6:12 and 6:15.
I felt a little lonely, and not just because the sun had already set. The road was a bit removed from the local residences and didn’t see much traffic. Then there was a little side path that branched off it, which was unpaved. It didn’t seem like a private drive, but neither was it a shortcut to anywhere in particular, which made one wonder why anybody would go to the trouble of using it. The
x
on the hand-drawn map was just at the intersection of that little path and the road, a few centimeters away from the edge of the asphalt.
We were lucky there weren’t any pedestrians around. What we were about to do was not exactly upstanding behavior—to put it bluntly, it was a practical joke.
All I needed were three things: a hammer, some nails, and a steel can. You can probably guess what I did.
“All right, I’d better get to it,” I said.
“Yes,” nodded Asahina.
I’d been hiding behind a telephone pole; I jumped out, ran for the spot, and began pounding nails into the ground. The ground was pretty hard. I had to pound them really hard to get them even halfway in—but I
It was the ultimate irony. Asahina suffered from her own ignorance, while Nagato knew too much.
I looked up at Nagato’s place. “Yeah…”
Asahina might have been right. When I thought about it, the most perceptive people I’d known had all been female—although Haruhi and Tsuruya were a little
too
perceptive.
Nagato had her own virtues, and they were virtues enough. But when she herself didn’t realize that, it made things difficult. If pressed about it, she’d just feign ignorance.
It was also possible that Asahina was overthinking this. Nagato might be just fine as she was. She might just occasionally run out of books to read and stare at Asahina without any particular intent. But if Asahina was worried, I would just ignore her concerns.
“I understand. I’ll tell Nagato for you. We’ll figure out where you’re going to stay later.”
She could stay at my place as a last resort, but it wasn’t like there weren’t any alternatives.
“Anyway, there’s something else I wanted you to look at. I got another letter in my shoe locker.”
Asahina looked at the letter I gave her as though it were a crib sheet for a test she was about to take. “Oh, this is”—she pointed to the very end of the directions—“an order code. The very highest priority.”
I hadn’t been able to figure out whether the line was a code or a signature of some kind. I asked if it was some kind of future language.
“No, it’s not a word… um, it’s a code. One that has a special priority for us. It means no matter what the order is, it must be carried out.”
“You mean…
this?
” I asked, thinking about the contents of the letter. “What point could there possibly be in a prank like this?”
“That’s…” Asahina began, her head cocked, confusion on her face. “I… have no idea.”
“What would happen if we ignore this and do nothing?”
“We cannot ignore it,” said Asahina flatly. “Having seen that code, I must take action to ensure its execution.” She looked at me uncertainly. “And you’ll do it too, won’t you, Kyon?”
We did as the letter said and proceeded to the location in question. Our method of transportation was a bicycle; it should go without saying that Asahina rode behind me on the luggage rack. In any case, although our target was within the city, it was still some distance on a bicycle.
We killed some time wandering around; by my watch it was now just ten minutes past six. The letter had directed me to set up the materials I now carried between 6:12 and 6:15.
I felt a little lonely, and not just because the sun had already set. The road was a bit removed from the local residences and didn’t see much traffic. Then there was a little side path that branched off it, which was unpaved. It didn’t seem like a private drive, but neither was it a shortcut to anywhere in particular, which made one wonder why anybody would go to the trouble of using it. The
x
on the hand-drawn map was just at the intersection of that little path and the road, a few centimeters away from the edge of the asphalt.
We were lucky there weren’t any pedestrians around. What we were about to do was not exactly upstanding behavior—to put it bluntly, it was a practical joke.
All I needed were three things: a hammer, some nails, and a steel can. You can probably guess what I did.
“All right, I’d better get to it,” I said.
“Yes,” nodded Asahina.
I’d been hiding behind a telephone pole; I jumped out, ran for the spot, and began pounding nails into the ground. The ground was pretty hard. I had to pound them really hard to get them even halfway in—but I
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