The season was summer.
And with finals around the corner,
my happy feelings had wandered off to somewhere in the vicinity of Brazil...
...and wouldn't be returning any time soon.
Hey.
Do you know what day it is?
Your birthday?
No.
Asahina-san's birthday?
No.
Koizumi's or Nagato's birthday.
I don't even know when those are!
Incidentally, my birthday is...
I don't care!
You have no idea what an important day it is, do you?
As far as I'm concerned, it's just a really hot weekday.
Tell me what month and day it is.
July 7th.
This seems like a stretch,
but don't tell me you're going to say it's Tanabata.
Of course I am!
It's Tanabata, you know!
Every Japanese person is supposed to remember Tanabata.
Brigade Leader Suzumiya Haruhi
Really now.
I always throw myself into these kind of events.
Starting this year, all the brigade members will be part of a grand Tanabata event!
Here we go.
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
[Sign: Lead a life which is materialistically simple while spiritually rich.]
Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody
A rule had been established in spring...
...that every time Haruhi said something, I had to go from place to place for no real reason at all,
which was now part of my normal lifestyle.
I really hated how I was growing accustomed to this practice.
Come in!
'Sup.
Hello.
Hello. How are you doing?
I've been going insane ever since I started high school.
Here you are.
Thank you very much.
You're very welcome.
How about a game?
Playing Othello all the time grows tiresome.
Unfortunately, I don't know the rules.
What a pity.
This may be our last chance to relax.
She's come up with another stupid idea...
Heya!
Sorriez! Sorriez!
Sorry about being late!
Where did that plant and that greeting come from?
The thicket behind our school!
Pretty sure that's private property, damn bamboo thief.
Look. I even made wish cards, so everybody write yours down!
Wish cards...?
I see.
Today is Tanabata.
But there are conditions.
Who cares about conditions?
We haven't agreed to write down our wishes.
Kyon, do you know who grants wishes on Tanabata?
Orihime or Hikoboshi, right?
Well, that's correct.
10 points.
Then, do you know which stars Orihime and Hikoboshi refer to?
No clue.
Vega and Altair, I believe.
85 points!
In other words, we have to hang the wish cards facing those stars!
What would the remaining 15 points cover?
Ahem!
Allow me to explain.
The special theory of relativity states that it's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light.
By the way, the distances from Earth to Vega and Altair are 25 light-years and 16 light-years, respectively.
Which means that any data sent from Earth will take that long to reach its destination!
Vega
light-years
Earth
Altair
light-years
Vega
light-years
Earth
Altair
You actually bothered to research this stuff?
So it'll take that long before either god can read your wish.
If you put down something like, "I want a boyfriend by next Christmas," it won't be granted in time!
If it takes that long to get there, wouldn't the round trip take 50 years or 32 years?
We're talking about gods here.
They'll work that out somehow.
Like a half-off summer sale.
Hey, you. What happened to your theory of relativity?
The wish cards are divided between those for Vega and those for Altair!
So, write down whatever wishes you want to be granted in 25 or 16 years!
I have no idea what I'll even be doing in 25 or 16 years.
How am I supposed to make any wishes?
Altair
Vega
light-years
Altair
light-years
She always comes up with such pointless ideas.
I wonder what universe her common sense is from.
You can't say that for sure.
Suzumiya-san's actions may be eccentric, but she always has a strong grasp on her common sense.
How can you tell?
Suzumiya-san wishes for the world to become a stranger place.
And she happens to possess the power to reconstruct this world.
However, the world has yet to lose its reason.
Over there.
Cut the chatter!
I wish to get better at cooking
I wish to get better at sewing
I think she's confused about how this works.
Reform
Harmony
The peace and prosperity of my family Koizumi Itsuki
Peace on Earth Koizumi Itsuki
Low class, if I do say so myself.
Give me a house where I could wash a dog
Fork over money
You're such a Philistine.
Shut up.
I wish for the Earth to rotate the other direction
I wish for the world to revolve around me
They still beat the hell out of yours.
It's just a difference in values.
Everybody, make sure you remember what you wrote down!
The first point comes in sixteen years.
We'll compete to see whose wish Hikoboshi grants first!
Sixteen years, huh.
That's a long time.
For the rest of the day, Haruhi was in particularly low spirits and oddly melancholy.
A dejected Haruhi was creepy in its own right.
The fact that she's quiet now just means that we'll be in for a real horror later on.
Would you like a refill?
Yes, I'd like one.
So cute.
Now!
Please wait in the clubroom after we're done - Mikuru
Of course I will!
Time Enough for Love
That's it for today.
The last person out should lock the door.
Then I'll also excuse myself.
Yes. Thank you very much.
Hey...
Then I'll be on my way.
I'm so relieved that we happened to end up alone.
Is this something you don't want the others hearing about?
Um...
There's somewhere I'd like you to come with me.
Sure.
Where are we going?
That would be...
...three years ago.
Thre-
I apologize for making such an odd request out of the blue!
Um...
You can't?
So you're talking about time travel?
Yes, I am.
I don't really have a problem with going...
But why me?
To do what?
I'm sure that...
...you'll find out when you get there...
...Probably.
I beg you!
Please just say, "Yes," without asking anything for now!
Or else I'll...
I'll...
...be in big trouble...
So cute.
Uh...
Okay, then. I guess.
Really?
Thank you so much!
So cute.
What a relief...
Thinking back, Asahina-san's confession that she'd "come from the future" had, quite frankly, been solely based on her own word.
The only proof would be the existence of the grown-up Asahina-san.
Isn't this a perfect chance to confirm if Asahina-san is from the future?
So where's the time machine?
We'll go from here.
Here?
Kyon-kun...
I'm sorry.
Ah, you're awake.
Um...
Could you lift your head soon...?
My legs are getting numb...
Why was I asleep?
I'm sorry.
I didn't want to let you know how we time travel.
Since it's classified information...
Um, are you angry?
No way. Absolutely not.
If Haruhi had been the one responsible, I would have punched her in the face,
but since it was Asahina-san, I'm totally fine with it.
I'm glad to hear that...
Are we already three years in the past?
July 7th, three years ago.
Around 9 P.M., I think.
For real?
For real.
This was the park Nagato called me to that one time.
Is this like a Mecca for weirdos?
Asahina-san?
Excuse me...
Is she giving me permission?
Kyon-kun, good evening.
Asahina-san!
So this was how I looked back then.
It was her role to guide you to this point.
It's my role to guide you from here on.
Were you the one who put Asahina-san to sleep?
I couldn't allow her to see me,
because I didn't run into myself when I was at this point in time.
If you follow those train tracks south, you'll come across a school.
I want you to assist the person you find in front of the entrance.
As for the other me, sorry, but could you carry her there?
This sounds like a quest from a game.
Will I be getting some kind of item in return?
In return...?
Let's see...
I can't personally offer you anything.
However, you can kiss the me that's sleeping over there, but nothing more.
But only while she's asleep, okay?
That's... a bit...
It goes against my policy, both mentally and circumstantially.
But still. Yeah. Y'know.
It's time.
I have to go.
And keep me a secret from her.
Promise, okay?
Want to pinky swear?
Promise made.
Goodbye, Kyon-kun.
Until next time.
I wonder how much time had passed for the adult version of Asahina-san since she'd last seen me.
It didn't seem like she'd changed at all since our previous encounter.
And yeah, am I really three years in the past?
I need a way to make sure.
Guess I could call Information.
East Public Middle
School
East Middle, huh?
Hey.
What do you want?
Looks like I really have gone back three years in time.
Suzumiya Haruhi.
Currently a first-year in middle school.
I asked what you're doing here.
A pervert?
Kidnapper?
What are you doing here, then?
Isn't that obvious?
I'm trespassing.
You don't have to announce your criminal activities to the whole world.
I don't know who you are, but if you've got time, give me a hand.
Or I'll call the cops.
It's Haruhi all right.
Over here.
Good thing it's so dark.
She won't get a clear look at my face or Asahina-san's face this way.
Since Haruhi never showed any sign of remembering Asahina-san or me three years later,
I have a feeling we need to keep it that way.
I took this stuff out of the storeroom earlier this evening and hid it here.
Great idea, right?
I'll take care of it.
You grab the line marker.
So? What do you plan on doing with this?
Draw lines according to my directions.
Me?
Yes, you.
I have to supervise the process.
That spot's crooked!
What are you doing!?
Her ability to scream commands at a high schooler she'd never met before...
...made it clear that Haruhi had always been Haruhi.
If this had been my first encounter with such a middle school girl,
I would have thought that she was genuinely dangerous.
And so, I drew white lines in every direction on the school grounds as per Haruhi's instructions.
Taniguchi had mentioned something about a mysterious message a few months back,
but I never would have dreamed that I was the one who drew it.
So-so, I guess.
So sorry.
Say, do you think aliens really exist?
That came out of nowhere.
Answer the question.
Why not?
What about time travelers, then?
I wouldn't be surprised if they did.
And espers?
Walking all over the place, I'd guess.
Sliders?
I haven't met one of those yet.
That's a North High uniform, right?
Sure.
What's your name?
John Smith.
Are you retarded?
Let's just say that it's my desired pseudonym.
Who's the person you were carrying?
My older sister.
She suffers from an erratic sleep disorder.
She can fall asleep in any place, so I had to carry her.
So?
What's this supposed to be?
Can't you tell?
It's a message.
Don't tell me it's for Orihime and Hikoboshi.
How'd you know?
Well, it is Tanabata.
I just happen to remember someone doing something similar.
I'd love to meet that person.
There's someone like that at North High?
Sure.
North High, huh?
I'm going home.
I accomplished my objective.
See ya.
She didn't even thank me for helping her?
Asahina-san.
Wh-Where am I!?
What-how-when are we right now!?
Uh...
My TPDD is gone.
It's gone!
What's wrong?
What's a TPDD?
That would be considered classified...
But it's like a time machine.
Why is it gone?
I don't know.
It should have been impossible to lose...
Yet I lost it...
Maybe somebody will come save us...
That's impossible!
So in other words, what's going to happen to us?
We're stuck.
We'll be stranded on this time plane, three years in the past,
unable to return to our original time!
Sounds dire.
It is dire...
But I didn't feel nervous at all...
The adult Asahina-san was probably the one who swiped that TPDD thing.
I presume she came to the past for that very purpose.
After all, she'd already experienced the loss of her TPDD at this...
There might be a way.
Is this Nagato Yuki-san's residence?
Ah...
I'm not sure how I should put this...
Would it help if I were to say that I'm an acquaintance of Suzumiya Haruhi?
Yo.
Can we step inside?
That should cover our background and explain why we're here.
And the you from three years later gave this to me.
Understood.
From your perspective, today would be the first time we've ever met, right?
Yes.
Requesting permission to access the memory corresponding to my time-divergent variant.
I have downloaded reversible border regression data.
The "me" on the time plane three years after this time...
...and the "me" at this time are the same person.
Memory is shared.
How?
We have synchronized.
Yeah, I don't get it.
Why are you wearing a North High uniform?
Did you already enroll?
I have not.
I am currently in standby mode.
Standby...?
You're going to stand by for three whole years?
Yes.
That'll take a world of patience.
That is my role.
There is more than one method of time travel.
The TPDD is merely a device for controlling time.
Both unreliable and primitive.
Um... What exactly do you mean...?
When transportation of organic life forms is conducted with the TPDD, an acceptable level of noise may occur.
We believe this to be imperfect.
By we, you mean the Data Overmind?
You're capable of perfect time travel?
The process does not matter.
The transfer of identical data suffices.
I'm pretty sure I've got the wrong idea,
but are you telling us to sleep here?
Yes.
With Asahina-san?
Yes.
Sleep.
Moving too fast!
And nothing more.
Well, that was the idea...
I-I guess we have no choice but to do as she says.
Yes...
Huh?
What? Really?
What's wrong?
Is that the TPDD?
No, this is a self-adjusting watch.
It's wonderful.
We've returned.
It's just past 9 P.M. on July 7th, the day we departed.
How did you do it?
I froze liquefied data within the selected space-time...
...and unfroze the data once there were corresponding points from an already known space-time continuum.
You mean you stopped time!?
Nagato-san stopped time for the entire room we were in for three whole years.
And then she unfroze us today...
...Right?
Yes.
It's unbelievable.
So doesn't that mean...
When I was listening to your spiel about aliens and the like,
Asahina-san and I were sleeping in the next room?
Yes.
I was aware of how capable you were...
But doesn't this mean you're omnipotent?
Not exactly.
This was a special case.
Emergency mode.
Rarely engaged.
Unless drastic measures are required.
Thanks.
Not necessary.
Can you read what the writing on the card says?
"I am here."
That is what it says.
Don't tell me that's actually a language being used by some alien race somewhere?
Nagato didn't respond.
I'm sorry.
I, well...
The truth is that I don't really know...
I'm at the bottom of the chain...
No, a peon...
No, something like an intern...
Yet you're close to Haruhi.
That's because I never expected to be caught by Suzumiya-san.
I just follow orders from my superiors,
or I mean, the people at the top.
So I don't necessarily know the meaning behind my actions.
I wonder if those superiors include the adult version of myself.
The adult version of Asahina-san should have known what would happen to us.
But it doesn't seem that she told anything to this Asahina-san.
Well, time travelers have their own rules and regulations to follow.
Someone will explain it to me one day,
when this is all over.
The next day.
Which would be July 8th.
It feels like the next day to me,
but physically, it's been three years and a day since I've gone to school.
What's wrong?
Did you eat a poisonous mushroom or something?
Not really.
Just remembering something.
The Tanabata season holds some memories for me.
Really, now.
Literary Club
Hey, Nagato.
Asahina-san is actually from the future, right?
Yes.
Still, the whole process of going to the past and coming back to the future didn't seem very consistent...
Your point being...?
Asahina-san once told me that there wasn't any continuity between the past and future.
But in the end, I went back three years in the past and gave Haruhi unnecessary information,
and there's a possibility that information...
...brought Haruhi to North High to look for people...
...who aren't ordinary.
Clearly, there is continuity between the past and the future.
That would contradict the explanation I heard from Asahina-san.
Axiomatic set theory cannot prove the antinomies within itself without antinomies.
You may consider that an adequate explanation...
You will understand, eventually.
It's like this.
My king is currently in check by your rook.
What a quandary.
Where should it escape?
Well, was there anything inconsistent about my actions?
Of course, in our case, the king holds little value.
All that matters in the queen.
Oh, really now?
I have no idea what's going to happen,
but I'd prefer to not have to use my head so much next time.
I personally believe that some peace and quiet would be best,
but you would prefer that something happen?
Jerk.
sora kara ochitekitanda
空から落ちてきたんだ
It fell from the sky,
subete no negai wo nosete
全ての願いを乗せて
carrying everybody's wishes.
hitotsu no hoshi ni wa chotto
ひとつの星にはちょっと
I suppose it was too big a load...
omokatta kana?
重かったかな
...for a single shooting star?
yappari nani ka hen da yo
やっぱり何かヘンだよ
Something's wrong here,
kokoro no kimi ga
心のキミが
as you've vanished...
kieta
消えた
...from my heart.
tashika ni oboeterutte
確かに憶えてるって
Can you truly say that...
ieru no kai?
言えるのかい
...you still remember?
tomare!
止マレ
Stop right there!
kako wa jibun no mono
過去は自分のもの
The past belongs to yourself.
touzen
当然
Naturally...
dare to mo torikaetakunai
誰とも取り替えたくない
I would never trade mine away.
naze nara...
なぜなら...
That is because...
BA-SUDEI datta watashi-tachi ni wa
バースデイだった 私達には
It was a birthday for us.
deai ga umareta toki ni
出会いが生まれたときに
The moment we met...
hajimete no yume ga mieru
初めての夢が見える
...was when I first began to dream.
dou shiyou ka tte nayanda koto mo
どうしようかって 悩んだ事も
Looking back now, we can all laugh about...
ima omoeba waraeru hodo nanda yo ne
いま思えば笑えるほどだったよね
...the times we spent worrying about what to do.
mou wasureteta
もう忘れてた
I've already forgotten.
kimi wo sagasou
キミを探そう
I'll look for you.