The Blunt Force Trauma of Suzumiya Haruhi

Prologue: In which the world ends.

A 'Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' fanfiction.

Note: This fic is probably an AU, since a good chunk of it is based off of speculation. It takes place after episode 13. I haven't read the manga (yet), though I did read the first six chapters of the novel (good stuff!). I'm saying [spoilers] anyway, though, since [exacting speculation] seems a bit presumptuous, even for me.

DannyCat gave me a lecture that didn't make any sense about chronology and some other stuff, I guess in his attempt to emulate Yuki. To make things clearer, this takes place after all we've seen up to episode thirteen, including what's obviously past episode 13 itself.

Disclaimer: The novel 'Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu'/'The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi' is the creation of Nagaru Tanigawa. I do not know the producers yet, but the animation company responsible is Kyoto Animation. No disrespect is intended by the posting of this fanfiction, as I do not own the characters or settings involved. I'm merely dabbling with another set of paints. )

I am running down the hallway connecting the old clubhouse to the school proper. Koizumi is right behind me, and Asahina-san and Yuki-san are following. We are told not to run in the halls, of course, but I think we can get away with it.

We are, after all, saving the world.


Haruhi, why can't you just be satisfied with a normal life? It really would be easier if you were to settle down with a normal boy, go on a few dates, and maybe.... Nah. She's not the type.

It occurs to me that I could be too complacent about these things when Yuki-san announces, "I have finished my analysis."

I could push on after that brief sprint, and then go up the stairs to where Haruhi -- probably -- is, but I've always been the type to see what information could be available first. Especially when Haruhi is involved. So we stop.

"What do you have?" I ask, when Yuki-san simply stands there and says nothing else. Asahina-san tries to catch her breath, fussing with her maid's uniform. Koizumi simply studies his cell-phone, presumably looking for a text message or something from another member of the Agency.

"This notebook is a lure manufactured to induce a reaction in Suzumiya Haruhi which will destabilize the balance between herself and her surroundings," Yuki states. She is holding the notebook that we found in the clubroom after Haruhi abruptly ran away. After an awkward moment of silence, she adds, "By exciting Suzumiya Haruhi, the content of this data transmission is geared to manipulate her reactions to achieve the most chaotic and abrupt, but also flexible formation of data possible. In this way, it is anticipated that the target of the transmission will be able to contain the unique data that are present within both Suzumiya Haruhi-"

"Enough, Nagato," I tell her. Koizumi shakes his phone with a frown. "What now?"

"Well," he says, looking up and offering his familiar, phony grin, "we are seeing a previously unprecedented level of closed-space formation. If Nagato-san's information is accurate, we may already be too late. You may need to resort to that method to resolve this, again."

I look to Asahina-san next, standing there with her eyes darting back and forth between the three of us nervously. "I don't know what it is," she says with a quick shake of her head. "I...I've been good."

Oh, what a silly thing for her to say. 'Good,' she says, doing what Haruhi wants. Then again, it does keep Haruhi from reshaping the world, so that's certainly not a bad thing. Well, I guess she has it right, then. Asahina-san is too cute to be wrong about something like this.

Which, of course, begs the question: "Do you know anything else about this from your superiors?"

She gives me a weak grin, but still a radiant one. "I'm afraid that's classified information."

So, that incident, which Asahina-san herself warned me about ... well, no. It was an Asahina-san from another time-plane. Or the future. I'm not really sure I understood her explanation. I was warned, though.

And when Haruhi thought she found what she was looking for once, she came closer than she thought. Too close, as it turned out. What ended up happening next proved beyond all doubt that Haruhi could be dangerous.

Luckily, she thought the entire thing was a dream, or just her imagination. Though, I had to do something terrible to resolve the situation.

'Snow White,' indeed.

Why can't she settle down with some boy, and just harass him, anyway?

Oh, well.

"So, Nagato, I don't suppose you have a simpler explanation, or maybe just a suggestion?" I ask in irritation.

"It would appear that the other data entity has decided to awaken Haruhi to her data creation faculty," Nagato explains, holding up the notebook again. "It is written in such a way that the transmission of data-"

"Yuki-san, please summarize," I interrupt her.

"Yes." A momentary pause. "The book will grant her the realization of her powers. She may do something irrational."

"Are we in danger?"


"Is the whole school in danger?"


"And I suppose, if I ask about the whole world-"


"She's right," Koizumi says, his expression grim. "I think we need to do something, and soon."

I sigh and hang my head. "Again," I mutter. "Okay, I guess we'd better go in and see what's going on."

Those words are easy to say. After everything else we've been through, it's even easy to believe it will be that simple to resolve.

However, when we get to the rooftop, I see Haruhi on her knees. The other data entity that Nagato warned me about is gone. Haruhi looks up, though her back is turned. From here, I recognize the silhouette of her hair, and her signature (now) yellow headband.

Her hair is shorter than it used to be, but it still waves in the breeze that wafts over the building. I see something that I immediately don't like, and begin thinking of the notebook that Yuki-san has already gone through.

Haruhi is holding extra pages, which appear to have been torn from a notebook. I have the uneasy sensation that something is very wrong when I hear a sob from the girl who has her back turned to us.

'No, Haruhi,' I want to say. 'I don't know what you're doing, but....'

Then the other entity appears. This is none other than Taniguchi, the same one who walked in on Yuki-san and myself after the unfortunate incident with Ryouko. "This is close enough to the clubroom," Koizumi whispers to me suddenly. "I expect that I could draw up to thirty-five percent of my strength here."

Always, of course, it seems that the decisions fall on me. Well, after that island incident, anyway.

"That," Taniguchi says, leaning against a barrier of shimmering light that suddenly appears next to him, "is your current singular limitation." Then his attention shifts to me. "I have learned from the mistakes of Ryouko. An unstoppable chain of events has been set into motion before I appeared to confront you."

"Why aren't you saying anything?" I ask Yuki-san. "Is he a subordinate, also?"

After a pause, Yuki-san's emotionless answer is, "He is from another faction. Violent opposition was always a potential risk. I believe you were aware of that."

Asahina-san swallows and whimpers uneasily. Taniguchi doesn't seem to put any effort into it, but the barrier behind him sweeps around us, enveloping us within walls. I really am getting too complacent, I guess. I didn't even think about it; they shimmer and sparkle, intersected with seemingly randomly etched arcs and lines, smooth and refined. Yuki-san would probably say they were made out of pure data, if I were to ask.

All the more reason not to.

But I'm not panicking; I'm trying to take stock of the situation. Koizumi might be able to stop Taniguchi. Yuki-san almost certainly could, and with both of them together....

I have yet to figure out how to explain this away to Haruhi. Simple facts like Yuki described to me shouldn't have the effect that they do on the girl; she's certainly never been concerned with logic or reason before. I'm certain those pages that Yuki-san has not yet seen contain the real truth of this matter.

There seems to be no choice to avoid revealing Koizumi's powers. And Taniguchi's are already identical to Yuki-san's, so she won't be seeing anything new there.


I glance back to Haruhi, concerned. She's got one hand raised, staring at it, and then looking to the walls of the prison that contains us. Taniguchi is warily watching us, not moving to attack first.

Reasonable, considering that he's outnumbered. And he knew about the fact that Yuki-san deleted Ryouko. As I watch, Haruhi begins to glow faintly, then shuffles around, still on her knees, to look back at us.

Sorry, Haruhi. Hopefully this can be another bad dream, huh?

"Now it's time," Taniguchi says sadly, offering a regretful smile. He raises one hand with a sudden jerk, and bright bolts of force explode from his hands like lightning, raining down on the shuddering shield of power that Yuki-san assembles before me at the last instant.

Asahina unleashes a keening wail of terror and clings to my arm, while Koizumi looks at me expectantly. "Go," I say, nodding at him. Enough is enough; I don't want to be killed by anyone, human or otherwise.

"Fuumofu!" Koizumi exclaims, lobbing a sudden, brilliant sphere of crackling red energy at Taniguchi.

The boy deflects it with one hand; it explodes through a wall, which briefly shows the interior of a distant museum. Then it shows the depths of outer space. I look away from the gap. Yuki-san is moving towards him quickly, apologetically explaining, "I have already requested the nullification of your data link."

"I am aware," Taniguchi replies, smiling sadly as he falls to the defensive, blocking all of Yuki-san's further attacks. The places where their attacks intersect make wavering, brilliantly visible distortions in the air, almost blinding in their intensity.

Koizumi lines up his 'Third Raid,' and an explosion of angry fire blows out another one of the walls, revealing shifting, raw chaos behind it. For a moment, it's the static of a poorly received television screen, then it's a paper-thin scroll of words printed on glass, one atop another. An instant later it's a sprawling field of lilacs.

The very familiar discomfort of my last encounter in this space returns, the more damage we do to the arena. It is very simple to understand Asahina-san's fright, so it's no great surprise that my arm goes around her.

"I will be successful," Taniguchi informs Yuki-san in a polite tone of voice.

"Backups are already being retrieved to overwrite the discrepancies in this sector," Yuki-san replies. "You have only a very slim chance at success."

"And there it is!" Taniguchi exclaims, a slew of bolts flying in every direction. Koizumi raises some kind of shield at the last instant-- I didn't know he could do that!-- but slides backwards looking drained. Yuki-san works furiously, her body going as quickly as her mind, and deflects everything headed towards Haruhi with carefully placed force-walls. She doesn't protect herself, though, and her body is quickly riddled with bloody tears.

Asahina-san shrieks and clings to me even tighter, and then I see a final bolt headed towards her. Wait, that can't be right. Those bolts should be much too fast for me to react to. Even as I throw Asahina-san to safety, taking the bolt myself, I see Haruhi staring at me, her eyes filled with tears.

"Why?" she asks, just before the world goes away.

Notes: This was originally written before the final episode had aired.

Kyon's 'voice' comes from the novel more than the anime, for those who haven't read the novel yet.