Haruhi Suzumiya

Telling

Looking back on it, that was the moment the scary stories really started.

Normally, I wouldn't be surprised to find Nagato-san staring at me in my sleep. She's a little strange in that sense, and I would probably feel good that she was watching over all of us. But instead of wondering where I was, I immediately remembered the details of her story, which had been going through my head since she finished it, so I freaked out.

She really does hate us! I thought.

I opened my mouth to scream or plead, I'm not sure which, though I do feel confident that if Nagato-san truly wanted to hurt us, neither would do much good. But her hand moved and quickly covered my mouth.

She's going to smother me!

But she didn't try to smother me, nor did she make any move to hurt me. She simply raised a single finger to her lips, obviously gesturing for me to be quiet.

It took me a while to calm down. Being woken up so suddenly, combined with the idea of nocturnal-killer-alien Nagato plaguing my thoughts, left me in a bewildered state. It was only after I noticed that Koizumi was just over Nagato-san's shoulder did I realize this was about something else completely.

When my heart stopped racing and my breathing evened out, Nagato-san lifted her hand. I looked around and noticed that Haruhi was still asleep.

But when my eyes focused on Asahina-san's bed, a terrible problem came to light, one which Koizumi confirmed with an airy whisper.

"Asahina-san is missing."

Nagato-san and Koizumi led me to one of the abandoned classrooms, the three of us trying to be as silent as possible not to wake Haruhi.

"I don't know why we need to do this. She's probably just gone to the bathroom," I whispered once we were in the classroom, which still had some old rusty desks strewn about.

"That was our first thought, but it's not likely," Koizumi answered. I was about to follow up, but Nagato-san spoke.

"Asahina Mikuru has been absent from the demarcated area for at least thirty-eight minutes twenty-four seconds. It takes the average human two minutes forty-seven seconds to use the bathroom."

That last part is really not information I need, Nagato-san.

"She's been gone since we've been awake, so we think something else may be going on," Koizumi added.

"She probably just got lost," I said, though now I was beginning to worry a little. We were with Haruhi after all. "Let's just wake up Haruhi and search for her."

Koizumi smiled but shook his head no.

"Normally, that would be the appropriate action, but we have to keep in mind that her absence may be time-traveler-related, which would pose a problem if Suzumiya-san were to find out."

Of course. We're still in protect-Haruhi-from-the-truth mode here.

"Fine," I said, "let's search without her."

We left the camp area after confirming that Haruhi was still asleep and headed deeper into the building. We assumed Asahina-san hadn't gone toward the entrance because she shouldn't have had trouble finding her way back considering how close to the doors we were. We figured she had gotten turned around in the dark and headed deeper into the building, now unable to find her way out.

For some reason, all I could picture was cute Princess Mikuru sprinkling bread crumbs behind her as she walked.

I didn't have a flashlight since Haruhi had decided to toss mine down a flight of stairs, so I had to follow Nagato-san and Koizumi.