Personal and Impersonal

o o o

Before I became mixed up with aliens and time travelers and everything that came with Haruhi, I always expected that my eventual death would be absolutely ordinary. Surely, I would die of a heart attack at the age of eighty, or something like that.

I certainly didn't expect that anyone would come after me with a knife.

And I certainly didn't expect that "anyone" to me the Ryouko Asakura, the responsible class monitor. And yet, that was precisely what was happening.

"I advise you to stop resisting; you're going to die, anyway."

Call me pessimistic, but I agreed with her at that moment. I was going to die. Asakura had erased all the doors, all the windows, leaving the two of us in a classroom-sized box from which there was no escape.

Even trying to fight back was fruitless--when I threw a chair at her, it simply paused in midair, then flew off in an entirely different direction!

"Didn't I tell you it's useless? Everything in this room now moves according to my will."

And then I was cornered.

o o o

And then, something extraordinary happened.

"Get down."

I ducked--rather, I fell backwards, automatically following the voice's orders. I could feel the air displaced by the knife rush through my hair as the blade barely missed me.

And suddenly, Yuki Nagato was standing above me with the blade caught in her bare hands--

Wait.

That wasn't Nagato.

The figure was similar enough to Nagato for me to make that mistake at first glace. But she was taller, and her hair was darker, and longer.

Even more telling was the fact that she wasn't wearing any glasses. Well, definitely not Nagato.

But then, who was this person who had jumped into the knife's path just in the nick of time? And how had she gotten into the room?

I took a quick glance around the room from where I lay. Yes, the walls were definitely still intact, as where the ceiling and floor. Then…

"Amazing."

Despite her interjection, Asakura sounded as calm as she always had.

"How did you manage to bypass my data lockdown? The only way you could have done so would be if--"

But the mystery girl gave Asakura no time to speculate, as I found myself being grabbed around the waist--and then, the girl and I were rushing headlong towards the far wall.

Hey, wait! It's no good saving me from Asakura if you're just going to smash us to bits!

I may have screamed something like that, and closed my eyes--

--and when I opened them, we were outside, the two of us sitting next to each other on a park bench.

o o o

We sat on that bench for a long time, neither of us saying anything. I noted, absently, that I had sat her, in this spot before--hadn't this been the place where Asahina had told me she was a time traveler?

Finally, the silence became unbearable, and I spoke.

"…You're a Living Humanoid Interface, right?"

"Yes."

Her reply was short and to the point, just like Nagato. Even her voice was similar.

"Ah…" I scratched the side of my face. "In that case, you're also here to observe Haruhi, huh?"

"Incorrect."

What?

You're an alien that hasn't been sent to monitor Haruhi? Well, in that case, why are you here?

"With the exception of my identity as a Living Humanoid Interface, I am unaffiliated with the Integrated Data Sentient Entity. My mission, rather, is to protect you."

Again--what?

And, more importantly, unaffiliated with the Integrated Data Sentient Entity? Then who is it that sent you?

"You did."

What?!

"You are the only factor preventing Haruhi Suzumiya from drastically and irreversibly altering the world. Without your presence, mankind's extinction is an inevitabilty."

Wait, so I'm the savior of the world? I can't help but feel that a profession like that should have more benefits.

"Thus, thirty years from now, you sent me to be your protector against Ryouko Asakura in this time."

For a moment, all I could do was stare at this girl incredulously. Really, a time-traveling alien from the future? How can I believe something like that?

But, actually, I really don't have any reason to disbelieve her story, do I? After all, I've already met an alien and a time traveler, so it really isn't that ludicrous to imagine that someone who's both at the same time should exist.

As for her story--she saved my life, which I admit makes me a bit inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"So, what now?"

"I do not have the authority to carry out a disconnection of a Living Humanoid Interface."

It takes me a little time to understand her words. Wait, you mean you aren't allowed to delete her, even if she's going to try to kill me? That's hardly fair.

She says nothing in response, only stares at the horizon. I follow her sight. The sun is in full set, now. I should have been home some time ago, even allowing for the interlude with Asakura. With that in mind, I stand up from the bench--only to feel a tug on my jacket.

Huh?

"Ryouko Asakura may attempt to ambush you either on your way home or at your house. As your protector, I cannot allow you to proceed alone."

Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying that--

"Yes."

Her expression is neutral as she says the words that will surely make my life much, much more difficult.

"Please come with me if you wish to live."

o o o

The next day, there was a new transfer student.

The homeroom teacher introduced her. "Riyou…"

And then he said a surname.

A surname that was very familiar to me.

Wait--from thirty years in the future--and with a name like that--

You can't be saying that she's--?!

o o o

A/N: Terminator 2: Judgement Day was written by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr., but…you know, I seem to be creating an original character for each new one-shot, and I can't decide whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, I wonder who Riyou's mother is, then…?