The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa Page A

home?”
    “Yes. I never heard any specific details about how long she’d been on Earth, but knowing her, she should have been on this world three years ago… probably.”
    I pressed the button for Room 708 on the intercom at the apartment’s entrance. There was a buzzing sound to let us know somebody had picked up on the other side. I could feel the warmth of a trembling Asahina’s hand through my sleeve as I spoke into the mic.
    “Is this Yuki Nagato’s residence?”
    “…” was the response through the intercom.
    “Ah—How should I put this…”
    “…”
    “Would it help if I were to say that I’m an acquaintance of Haruhi Suzumiya?”
    I could feel a chilling presence on the other side of the intercom. There was a brief period of silence. Then…
    “Come in.”
    There was a click as the door unlocked. I got into the elevator with the nervous Asahina in tow. We rode it to the seventh floor as our destination was Room 708, the one I’d previously visited while in the future. As soon as I rang the doorbell, the door opened, albeit slowly.
    Yuki Nagato stood inside. This suddenly felt surreal. Had Asahina and I actually traveled to the past?
    I had to wonder because Nagato looked exactly the same. The fact that she was wearing a North High uniform, the way she impassively stared at me, and even her inorganic appearance, which seemingly had no body warmth or presence, added to the impression that she was exactly the same as the Nagato I knew. However, there was something this Nagato had that the more recent one didn’t. The glasses she had been wearing when I first met her.
    The glasses Nagato had worn before she had stopped being a glasses girl at some point were sitting on this Nagato’s face.
    “Yo,” I said as I raised one hand and gave a friendly smile. Nagato, as always, showed no expression on her face. Asahina was trembling as she hid behind me.
    “Can we step inside?”
    “…”
    Nagato silently walked into the room. I took that as a yes and entered with Asahina. We took off our shoes and headed toward the living room. The room was as empty as it would be in three years. Nagato stood still, waiting for us to enter the room. I had no choice but to remain standing as I attempted to explain our situation. Where do I even begin? From the first day of school when I met Haruhi? That’ll take a while.
    I gave her a general rundown, abridging various spots. I must have spoken for five whole minutes as she impassively stared at me through her glasses. A summary of Haruhi’s story that lacks any real point, if I do say so myself.
    …“And so. The you from three years later gave this to me.”
    Nagato scrutinized the card I presented without batting an eye and traced her finger over the weird characters. Kind of looked like she was reading a bar code.
    “Understood.”
    Nagato simply nodded. Seriously? Wait, hold on. There was something else that bothered me.
    I put my hand on my forehead as I did some thinking.
    “I’ve known Nagato for a while now, but three years ago… Today for you… So in other words, the present you. Today would have been the first time you met us, right?”
    I have to admit that I had no idea what I was saying. Nevertheless, Nagato responded as the edges of her glasses flashed. In a calm and indifferent voice she answered.
    “Yes.”
    “And so…”
    “Requesting permission to access the memory corresponding to my time-divergent variant. I have downloaded reversible border regression data.”
    No idea what you’re talking about.
    “The ‘me’ in three years and the ‘me’ at this time are the same person.”
    “So? Of course you’re the same person. That doesn’t mean the Nagato from three years ago would share memories with the Nagato from three years later.”
    “We do now.”
    “How?”
    “We have synchronized.”
    Yeah, I don’t get it.
    Nagato removed her glasses without any further response. She looked up at me with her emotionless eyes and blinked.