Chapter one. START!!!

Sorry that I've been inactive for a while. My internet was down for some time and I had a lot of things to do as a student. I promise, however, that I'll be able to write more in the future.

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It's been quite a while since we've decided to go to Hinamizawa. Personally, or to tell the truth, I'd prefer not to. However, it's Haruhi I'm talking about, so no amount of persuasion can sway her. I'm just one of her lowly attendants, much to my disapproval, so I have to follow her wherever she goes. This life really sucks.

Wait. If that was true, then why did Nagato, Koizumi, and Asahina-san refuse to go? I thought their job was to keep Haruhi out of danger in any costs. Everybody said they had something to do or had an appointment. Of course, I didn't believe Nagato would have anything to do other than reading a book on a chair looking like a still painting. Still, I can't help but worry that we might be venturing right in the middle of an unprecedented bloodbath with only our bags, our wallets and Haruhi's godliness to save us.

Us, eh…?

"What're you talking about, Kyon-kun?"

Why the hell is she here? I thought she was banished from this reality… or at least that was what Nagato said. I didn't understand a single particle of what she meant. Does it mean, like, throwing her somewhere far away like Canada perhaps?

"Why're you here again, Asakura-san?"

Maybe I should drop the '-san' as an honorific. She did try to kill me the last time I saw her pretty face. What the hell is Haruhi thinking, bringing her along to such a place? How did she get to contact her, anyway? Did Nagato tell her of Asakura-san's location or cellphone number or something?

"Actually, Nagato-san gave Suzumiya-san my cellphone number, even though I don't have a cellphone. It's actually just a sequence of numerical tidbits I keep for personal reasons."

"And, like, I didn't ask!"

I replied with a face that looked like I just ate an insect sandwich for breakfast. I got to see her billion-dollar smile, at least. I gazed-out of the window and tried to rest my weary eyes and mind. I feel especially tired today. Oh, right. Haruhi forced me to calculate the trip's expense for the several nonsense she wanted to do. What's worse is that I'm paying for the whole trip! I slept at a very comfortable time of 3 in the morning.

"Oh, come on! I paid for half of what she demanded from you, right?"

Well, that is true. I still remember this morning where she magically appeared right on my front door with a smile and a large luggage offering me a big bundle of money. Half is just too nice, you know. You practically paid for the whole trip! And my head still hurts backing-away from seeing you so fast to the wall I almost lost consciousness.

Anyway, what is taking Haruhi so long? I thought she was only going to use the bathroom for a while. This little limo we're riding on sure is a major change of atmosphere for me. Where did she get someone to do this for her? Blackmail again?

"Hey, I'm back! Got some drinks here! We still got three hours until we get to Hinamizawa, so I figured I'd buy some!"

Right on cue, she pops right in front of me in her usual cheery mood. How envious am I for that. I wish I can be as cheery as her; not like Koizumi, whose smile simply looks plain and downright annoying and unnatural. I COULD try smiling for once… but I'm just too used to being pestered by Haruhi to force a smile right now.

"Kyon, here you go. You like these vanilla-flavored coffee, right?"

Ugh...

Oh. My. God. Haruhi just thought about me for once! Has all my hardwork and suffering finally paid-off? Will the world now strive for the world peace that American senators and presidents have always promised but didn't keep? Will poverty be gone from this world forever!? Will that hill I climb up to school everyday finally disappear!?

"I used some of your money to buy that, so no payment is necessary..."

Then, of course, some things are too good to be true...

"Are we good to go, then?"

An unfamiliar voice of a female caught my attention. At the very front of the classy limo was a girl who had long green hair and a sharp stare. Hey! Isn't she the 'guide' Haruhi was talking about!?

"No, I'm not! My name is Shion! I'm not my spoiled sister Mion, so stop comparing us! Geez..."

Oh, so her name is Shion, then? Now, the questions remains is that is she the person Haruhi threatened to give us an escort to Hinamizawa? I held the coffee can gingerly on my two hands and looked at her as if in a staring contest. Haruhi quickly elbowed me afterwards. Ow!

"Kyon! Don't be rude! That girl was kind enough to give us a ride by my and her sister's request!"

So, it was a double-team, eh?

There was a knocking sound on the door on Asakura-san's side. Looking to it, I saw that the girl was outside, requesting for the door to be unlocked. I guess I was too busy minding my life to notice her exit the car.

Asakura-san opened the door after grinding her elbow on my side. Is doing that the new trend these days? Shion looked to be of the same age as Haruhi, but with a bit paler complexion. She was in a business attire that strangely suited her perfectly. And her... uhh... 'assets' as I would put it would be...

"And where are you looking at!?"

"Owowowowowow!!!"

Haruhi playfully (forcefully) pulled my ear. It would seem as if her eyes was fixated on me the whole time I was complaining. I don't see what is wrong with complimenting chest size. I guess it must be because I've never really complimented Haruhi for anything much. But, at least my complains about her has decreased. She changed, perhaps?

No, no, no, no... There's a higher chance of Nagato giving Asahina-san the bad finger than that happening. Besides; a kind, gentle, and caring Haruhi is just too wrong to imagine. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps.

"So, why are you visiting my sister's little town? Don't tell me you guys are going there for the Watanagashi."

"Well, actually, yes. We're planning to go there exactly for that!"

Before I knew it, Haruhi and that girl, Shion, were already in a conversation.

"You do know that people are either disappearing or dying on that day, right? Don't you think you should go another time?"

Haruhi crossed her arms and pretended to be dumb (and did a good job).

"Oh? I thought it was only a coincidence."

"Nothing in this world is coincidence, right?"

"What do you mean?"

There was a short, dramatic pose before she replied. In that time, Asakura-san took her time and wrapped her arms around mine.

What the hell are you doing!?

The car started to move again...

"Every death that happened wasn't a coincidence. Someone or some people were behind it, it tell you..."

At that instant, her eyes screamed of killing intent. It was so sadistic that anyone would be driven to panic in an instant. Maybe the only reason I still kept my sanity was because I was used to seeing even more. But still, her eyes were scary as shit! Glancing at Haruhi, i saw that even she was shaken-up a bit by what had just happened.

Even God gets scared, huh?

"That's so AWESOME!!!"

"Eh!?"

I take that back.

"What is?"

Asakura-san asked.

Haruhi gleamed at us with her sunny-sunshiny smile and declared this exact sentence:

"Because we're gonna search for this someone! We're going to end the Hinamizawa chain murders! We! We~! WE~!!!"

Saying 'we' once is enough, you know. And besides...

"Who said there was a 'we'!?"

"Come on! Don't you study Japanese or English!? There's three of us! Obviously, there's a 'we'!!!"

Ugh... Apparently, even a neutrino can't get past through that head of hers... and she said 'we' in English, so why the hell is she implying a Japanese innuendo?

And wait... weren't we at a gas station?

"You didn't notice that Kasai-san was driving the moment I entered here? You're really ignorant, are you? Ah ha ha ha!!"

Ugh... I'm not going to complain about her remark, but her laugh gets on my nerves.

"Kyon! Saddle-up! There's only thirty minutes left before we get to the village!"

"Huh!? I thought it'd still take us three hours to get there!"

"Oh, Kyon. Were you sleeping the whole time!? A couple of hours has already passed, you know!"

Wait, really!? What the hell? Does 'Time flies when you're having fun' apply here? I'm not even amused, let alone having fun! Maybe I did fall asleep... or maybe I didn't and I was just seeing a wallpaper of a gas station on the limo's window. I looked at the window and, nope, no wallpapers or anything here.

And again, Asakura-san elbowed me.

"What th--"

"Shhh..."

"... What is it...?"

She smiled at me coyly. It gave me the goosebumps. She's just like a beautiful banshee just waiting to wail her way to our demise. Oh, and she just might do that at any given time.

"Haruhi adjusted our time period by two hours forward. We just time travaled two hours and thirty-nine minutes to the future!"

Time travel? Man, Haruhi! Don't you have the slightest grain of patience in you? The least you could've done was to make time traveling more showy than just simply taking us there in an instant. Or a better idea, WE COULD JUST LEAVE!!!

"You said something, Kyon?"

"Not a thing..."

After that, I just let my mind wander-off to the scenery of the village approaching on the horizon. The land was mountaineous and was lush with greenery. It looked very simple. Just at the side of the raod, there was a small wooden stop with a small bench in it. And on the middle of the fields were people working on their farms. I guess this was the simple life, as they would say.

Looking at the peaceful town made me doze-off. I can't believe that such a quiet, peaceful town as this could harbor so many horrifying stories of ogres, yet alone have a curse. I know that this isn't some kind of Detective Conan story, so I should keep watch over Haruhi lest anything happens. I'm sure Asakura-san would do the same - if she's not on her mind to kill me, that is.

"Kyon!"

"What now...?"

"We're here!"

Finally. The door on Asakura-san's side opened and we were greeted by Shion's twin sister, Mion, was it? Along with her seemed to be her friends. Strangely enough, there was only one guy. They all look normal to me.

"The moment we exit this car..."

Asakura-san whispered to my ear...

"I want us to act normally, but be on our guard, okay? Nagato-san and the others refused to come for a reason..."

I simply nod my head. I looked to the group outside waiting. They were all smiles and cheer. But I was told that you should never judge a product by its ads... or was it books by their cover? I dunno. One thing's for sure. This is going to be a long and eventful club vacation...

"Welcome to Hinamizawa! I hope you all enjoy your stay here!"

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A few notes as I close this chapter: Sorry this was late. I was actually gonna post this a couple of weeks earlier but, as luck would have it, my computer suddenly went nuts. Again, I'm sorry. And also, I'm sorry for making this chapter uneventful. My main focus here was a brief intro on Asakura Ryoko-san's opinions on this story and a few hints of what will hapen here and there. I promise to make the following chapters chockful of surprises and amusements!

Now, for the inquiries. A third-person for more detailing, or first-person for dramatics?