Unlimited Ambition

Have aliens invaded Earth?!

I whirled my head, and in an instant, the demonic sword in my hand was drawn—then sheathed. The speed was so fast that the girl opposite me only felt a gentle breeze on her face and didn't even see what I had done.

However, if it were her, perhaps even knowing that I had a sword to her neck, she would still smile so gently...

"Long time no see, Kyon."

"You too, it's been a long time, Sasaki..."

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Invitation

Sasaki, why Sasaki? Why is she here?! Is it just a coincidence? Or was it premeditated? What is her purpose? Is it me? Or does she have other plans?

...No, there's just too little information. We can't analyze anything at all—except for one very obvious thing, something I've been exposed to for three years—the power of the planes—half of the power of the planes that Kasuga lost—is now shining on Sasaki.

I can't just leave her like this, no matter what.

At that moment, Sasaki smiled, a smile as beautiful as a blooming flower that instantly captivated me. A year had passed, and she seemed even more beautiful. Slender limbs, fair skin, a flawless face… I even felt a slight regret for not choosing her back then. Why had I chosen Haruhi instead—but only a tiny, very tiny bit.

"Is this how you treat old friends you haven't seen in a long time?" Sasaki reached out and gently tapped my forehead with his finger.

"Ah... um... you..." I was at a loss, just like a young boy being forced to go on a blind date by his parents, extremely nervous.

Sasaki smiled again, seemingly pleased with my expression. Then, somewhat abruptly, she hugged me, pressed her chest against mine, and whispered, "Kyon... I missed you so much."

……

In this situation, I should either push her away and say, "Miss, please have some self-respect," or I should extend my arms and give her a warm hug.

But neither of them did.

I just stood there dumbfounded, like a clay puppet.

Sasaki's hug didn't last long. Just a moment later, she leaned close to my ear and whispered, "We'll meet again." Then she let go of me and ran away.

I instinctively reached out, trying to grab her. But I didn't succeed.

So she ran away. Although I knew she would contact me again after a while, I still couldn't help feeling sad as I watched her walk away.

After that, Chunri walked over happily, carrying the large plush teddy bear.

As usual, the oblivious Chunri didn't notice the hint of disappointment I was trying to hide.

"Alright, let's go back!" Haruhi suddenly said.

"What...we haven't finished exploring yet?" Tsuruya-senpai was slightly surprised. If they went back now, wouldn't all the work done by the organization have been for nothing?

"Because I've found what I wanted." Haruhi smiled and shook the plush toy in her hand, while her younger sister and Mikuru watched with shining eyes, saying things like, "So cute..."

"But...but that..." Tsuruya-senpai suddenly became anxious. It was like a believer praying before a god, hearing the god say, "Ah, can you help me drain the seawater from that ocean?" That kind of helplessness, embarrassment, but unable to find a suitable reason - because if you work hard enough, draining an ocean is indeed possible.

"Let's wander around some more, springtime."

So, this is the time for me to step in.

“But… it’s really inconvenient to carry this…” Haruhi hesitated slightly.

"I'll help you," I said, taking the plush toy from Haruhi's slightly reluctant hands. The SOS Brigade then continued on their way.

"Is that...is that real or fake?!" Haruhi tugged at my sleeve, pointing at the pile of messy, earth-shattering things and asked.

"Finally..." Senior Tsuruya breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she gave a wink to the organization members disguised as vendors.

"Ah, that's a good question, young lady. I'm not really sure whether these things are real or fake. After all, they were left to me by my great-grandfather. They've been here for quite a while..."

“Great-grandfather…that must be very old, right?” Haruhi asked, her eyes shining.

"Of course. Speaking of my great-grandfather, although he had a rather eccentric personality, he knew a lot, as if there was nothing in the world he didn't know. In his youth, he was a famous adventurer who traveled all over the world, and these were his spoils."

“…Huh? Is it really okay to just sell my great-grandfather’s spoils like this?” I asked at just the right moment.

“That’s a good question, young man.” The fake stall owner laughed. “To be honest, I’m not short of money, and as you can see, these things are very cheap.”

"So……"

"It's because... well, how should I put it... apart from my great-grandfather, everyone in my family is an ordinary person, and they're not interested in these things. They just let them gather dust in the attic. As for me... I'm sorry, I also have my own business to run. So I wanted to take this opportunity to find these things a new owner who can make good use of them."

That's a great excuse. You must have memorized it many times before. It would be even better if your facial expressions were more expressive and less stiff.

After that, we returned home with a full load. Once back home, Chunri couldn't wait to start fiddling with these things.

"...What kind of nonsense is written here?" As soon as Haruhi opened the book, her face immediately fell. She started cursing.

That's almost certain. Buddhist scriptures use Sanskrit, Taoist scriptures use ancient seal script, and the Gospels use cuneiform. It would be a miracle if you could understand them.

"Let me take a look," I said, then took the Fallen Angels Bible from Haruhi and pretended to start translating it.

"Eh? Kyon, you can understand it?" Haruhi seemed very excited.

Of course, I wrote these myself.

"Hmm... It's a little difficult. But these things do seem quite plausible—of course, Haruhi, I don't recommend you learn these things casually, because they're too dangerous."

"Is that so—are all of these true?" Haruhi ignored the second half of my sentence.

“I’m probably… not entirely sure either, but we can give it a try.” After saying that, I casually picked up a stainless steel water glass. Then, I pretended to chant an incantation—and then, a miracle happened—the water glass turned golden in an instant—of course, only for an instant.

“This…this is simply—” Haruhi couldn’t find any adjectives, but at this moment she clearly understood one thing: “What she wanted to do has succeeded in a sense—since she can’t find those strange things, she might as well become one of them.”

As for danger? Ha, with a lone, eight-winged fallen angel spirit (whose power has recovered quite well recently, though his soul fragments are almost used up) protecting her, what is there to worry about?

Haruhi accepted my suggestion and entrusted all these things to me for safekeeping and study, while she would learn them under my tutelage.

After that, Chunri happily went home to sleep.

Midnight.

Sasaki called me just as she had promised.

"Kyū?"

"Indeed...although it's a little late."

"Are you angry? There's nothing I can do, because we can't be sure when Haruhi will leave."

"Is that so?" I sighed softly. "How have you been these past year?"

"What do you think?"

"That's why I asked the question, because I don't know."

“Hehe… Kyon, you really haven’t changed at all…” Sasaki laughed like that, then his tone became slightly disappointed: “No, not at all… I thought I could forget you, but in the end I found that I couldn’t.”

"sorry."

"No, you don't need to apologize. Because you didn't do anything wrong."

"...You didn't do anything wrong, which is practically the same as doing nothing...Are you resenting me?"

"Resentment? How could that be... Kyon, I just miss you so much... Can we meet?"

"can."

"How about we set it for tomorrow?"

"So urgent? And isn't tomorrow the first day of school?"

"Are those things really that important to you, Kyon?"

"It's not important." I thought for a moment, then added, "At least not as important as you."

"Still the same as before, very good at lying." Sasaki said cheerfully, "Then it's settled. We'll meet at the ice cream shop we usually meet, and I'll introduce you to a few friends."

"friend?"

"Don't worry, we're just ordinary friends... Well, that's not quite right. Anyway, our relationship isn't that great. We're not even friends yet, we've just met at most."

"……is that so?"

Sasaki laughed heartily again: "It's still the same as before, Kyon, you're so petty—don't worry, most of them are girls."

"What are you talking about? I didn't..."

"It's obvious, but you're just being stubborn—okay, that's about it. Tomorrow at eight o'clock, don't keep me waiting too long."

Sasaki hung up the phone after he finished speaking.

...What is this? Is it cheating? I ran my fingers through my hair and yelled in frustration.

Can you hear me?

I don't know how much time had passed, but Yuki's voice suddenly entered my soul.

"...I can hear you." I grumbled inwardly: What's going on today? One by one, they said, "Can't we call if there's something wrong?"

"Just checking to see what you're doing." As soon as Yuki finished speaking, my phone rang again. I grabbed it and pressed the call button. Sure enough, it was Yuki.

"...It's late, can't we wait until tomorrow to talk about it?"

"Because we can't confirm whether Haruhi Suzumiya is with you," Yuki gave a similar answer to Sasaki.

"Is something the matter?"

"During the daytime... was that person Sasaki?"

Why do you know this name?

"The Information Integration Thought Entity has investigated all information about Haruhi Suzumiya, including those around her, such as you and Sasaki."

"Is that so..."

“She’s dangerous,” Yuki said.

"Danger?"

"Do you remember what happened on the private island provided by Tsuruya?"

"of course I remember."

"She has the same aura. Just like the attacker from that time."

"But Sasaki is indeed a native-born Earthling..."

“It wasn’t her, it must be someone close to her.” Yuki paused for a moment, then added, “Just like the relationship between me and Haruhi Suzumiya.”

I recalled what Sasaki had said: "I'll introduce you to some friends..."