Chapter 34 - Epilogue: Hatsune Miku, Lynette Bishop, Santiago Miguel Rivera, Sasaki,

Miku: Ronde of Possible World
"Ah, so pretty!" exclaimed Miku as she walked down the main road out of the Human Village in Gensokyo. Stands lined down the sides of the road, all displaying traditional festival products and activities. Red lanterns were hung above the stands. They were not lit, seeing it was just past noon, but looked amazing nonetheless. While only the residents of Gensokyo were around at the moment, there was still a lot of community bustle. To Miku's left was Reimu and Haruhi, all three of them dressed in long yukatas. Miku's was teal green in Yamaha colours.

"We pride ourselves in fast preparation for parties," declared Reimu, with pride. Her yukata was Gensokyo red with white patterns. She had not intended to wear special clothing to the festival but had been convinced by Haruhi to wear one, for public relations sake.

"You don't say," admired Haruhi, with somewhat genuine awe. Unlike the other two, Haruhi's yukata was not North High blue as blue was not her personal colour. Instead, her yukata was yellow with orange flowers across it. They passed stand by stand to look over what the first evening of the festival offered. And to talk about other matters.

As they passed a candy floss store, Miku spoke up, "About the Sonic Barrier..." Reimu slowed down slightly to allow Miku to look directly at Haruhi. "We're working on dismantling all our Sonic Amps but would it be wise to take down all the Sonic Stations? It's a near flawless communication network and it's a good defensive system from space debris." Miku felt awkward for justifying the continuation of a system that is essentially obsolete compared to the person she was talking to.

"Keep it," answered Haruhi, "Newcomers need their own satellite system that doesn't interfere with the natives' network. Your Stations can support the vast newcomer population with ease, without putting native corporations out of business by replacing their's. But don't use the Sonic Barrier unless it's a real emergency. We still want our shooting stars and meteor showers. ...Keep the monitoring network up, so I can keep tabs on it."

"Right," agreed Miku, her wooden sandals clacking along on the ground, "What about our other projects?"

"The Arctic may be necessary in the future. While cold fusion is a much better alternative to fission, it might be unwise to allow natives have access to the technology, for safety concerns and it might be better to let natives follow their own research. About your Append Project though... I am neutral." Haruhi glanced at Miku's square hairbands. Miku had reverted back to the square clips from the Append's circular ones to hide that she had been forced to upgrade. "The Append Project seems to be very militaristic..."

"I'll be the first to admit it is. But our original intentions were just to upgrade our voice banks. Future Appends will not be as advanced. Gumi has chosen to return to her original body."

"What did you need to upgrade voicebanks for?" Reimu interjected, "Weren't your original voicebanks good enough?"

"Isn't it a natural desire to be the best you can be?" asked Miku with honest enthusiasm, slowing to a halt, "To strive to reach your highest potential?"

Haruhi and Reimu stopped in their own tracks. "Umm..." began Reimu, with a look of thought, "While I'd love to be at my complete and full potential, I'd rather just be at the potential I need to be."

"Humans can't be working hard all the time, can we?" discussed Haruhi, with an innocent smile.

Miku looked away with a disappointed look of acceptance on her face, "How lazy..."

Both Haruhi and Reimu looked away with similar looks. "Thanks..." Reimu murmured in a sarcastic response.

"But in all seriousness," continued Miku, "The natives here created us and spread our popularity. Don't you feel the need to return the support of your fans?"

There was awkward silence from the other two. "... No?" answered Reimu, scratching a cheek, "They're also the cause of my suffering."

"I will probably give back at some point in the future," added Haruhi, "But I want to wait until the commotion has died down."

Miku just sighed as they started walking again, "Out of the three of us, I caused the the most damage to my Kingdom. I want to give back, help rebuilding and migration. At the time, I considered a purely militaristic nation was best, given the threats at the time. But now, reversing the changes I made will take time and effort, which Yamaha can help with."

"Your spirit is commendable," noted Haruhi. There was another silence as they carried on. Clearly, neither Reimu nor Haruhi were keen on seconding Miku's notion with their own territory. In Haruhi's case, any infrastructural damage was minimal and easily repaired.

"... How is the world's future looking?" asked Miku.

"Good," answered Haruhi with a hint of anxiety that the others picked up on. "Just fine and dandy."

"That... doesn't sound convincing..."

"There are beings out there that mess with my predictions of the future. Naluri, a friend of her's called Rokaihi, Rulia and probably others that I do not know about." Haruhi did not specifically mention Kyon or the clubroom.

"Are you going to do anything about them?"

"No. We've tread on their freedom enough. I will act if I have to." Haruhi turned to Miku to see Miku looking away from her. "Miku?"

Reimu leaned forward to see what had caught Miku's attention. It was one of the stands, offering food and seats at the counter to eat at. "It's all free, Miku, so feel free to take your pick."

"Really?" cried Miku, in unexpected happiness. She walked up to the stands in large strides and sat on one of the stools by the counter. "Can I have some leeks, sir?" she asked the man behind the counter, failing to hide her excitement.

"Just leeks?" the man responded with humour, "Well, if you're sure." Using chopsticks, he picked up a pile of steaming leeks from their square on the counter and placed them into a bowl. After adding another batch of leeks, he placed the bowl in front of Miku. The bowl looked empty with only leeks in and was visually screaming for soup it be added. But this was exactly what Miku wanted. With her own chopsticks, she gulped down a mouthful and phased out with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Reimu and Haruhi took seats to Miku's left. "Leeks your favourite food?" Reimu inquired with amusement.

Miku nodded, still phased out, "I haven't had leeks in ages. It's so good to be back..."

-

Lynette: Spitfire
"Reimu? Could I ask a question?" The Big Three turned in their seats to see Sora and Lynette, both dressed in yukatas with their own unique patterns.

"Yes?" Reimu replied with curiosity.

"I was wondering about your policy about natives attending this festival..." continued Lynette, timidly, "Would it be possible to invite a native here if they were fundamental to the end of the conflict?"

Reimu did not reply immediately, "Depends, I suppose. Who was it?"

"Melanie Williams. She and her team in the United Kingdom fixed the metal patching system of the HMS Thunder Child."

Again, no immediate response. Haruhi scratched the back of her neck as Miku continued to chew. "Do you have proof?"

"I could phone her if I had her number."

Miku pulled her cellphone out her yukata belt, pressed some buttons and handed it to Lynette as it started to ring, "It's her home number. The UK is currently taking the day off," she noted in a muffled tone with her mouth still full.

As soon as Lynette put the phone to her ear, the other side answered. "Hello?" spoke a familiar female voice on the cellphone's speakerphone.

"Hello, Melanie. It's Lynette speaking. How are you?"

"Ah, Lynette!" gasped Melanie in relief, "It's good to hear from you! I'm good, I'm good. How are you? And Sora?"

"We're both fine," Lynette nodded, looking at Sora, "We wanted to thank you for your help with the HMS Thunder Child."

There was a brief pause on the other side, "Help? What help?"

"You and your team at Computer Associates fixed the patching system of the Thunder Child... didn't you?"

"...No, we didn't."

It was Lynette's and Sora's time to pause. "B- But the regenerating metal patching system of the Thunder Child works!"

"I'm not quite sure what you're referring to but in the IT industry, a patch is to fix errors or improve or add features to an existing piece of software. The patching system we were working on was meant to allow the software on the Thunder Child to be updated remotely from our offices. We had been set this project by Yamaha six months ago and we got nowhere. The programming was like an alien language to us and we could not work on it. It was only until this morning when I was told that Doctor Doom visited our offices last night after curfew that I found out we were working on the HMS Thunder Child. It's now public knowledge that it can break through the Hakurei Barrier." No one corrected her. "Apparently, he tried to remotely control the Thunder Child but was unable to as the patching system was a complete failure, preventing any sort of wireless connection with the ship-"

"Except Vocaloids," mouthed Sora so Melanie couldn't hear.

"-Don't you think it's strange that Yamaha got a large proportion of the native population of Yamaha to work in programming, software or hardware even though the administration, excluding the Black Squad, would be far superior and way more efficient at these?"

"T-That's true," realised Lynette.

"I can offer an explanation," interjected Miku, having finished the leeks she was chewing, "As a militaristic nation, we did not want Yamaha to suffer from a technological failure which would lead to a horrible disadvantage in combat. Therefore, we had natives whose work would have been made obsolete by our potential and had them attempt to bring our system down. No native group succeeded in breaking through any digital security measure we had in place, including defences of the Sonic Barrier, the Arctic, the Monitoring Network and, of course, the HMS Thunder Child. But in the end, all but the Thunder Child was compromised by Doom and Magneto, ultimately exploiting the inclusion of a human friendly security to accommodate the Black Squad and using the connectivity of the Yamaha network from there."

It was at this point where Melanie realised that Miku, at least, was listening in. "Erm... Well, not to be pessimistic about it all though. The time I spent working in Yamaha did earn me more money than I know what to do with. There's fears of inflation but this essentially prompted everyone to start spending or go somewhere on holiday for Christmas. The US, Australia and Japan seem to be popular destinations. I'm personally want to stay at home with the family over the New Year so a vacation will have to wait til next year. What about you, Lynette?"

"Ah, I have a family but the majority of us will need a career change from the military or... unretire to support the family financially. We also haven't found a place to live permanently."

"Arcania City is still looking for residents," pointed out Haruhi, "The physical size of Arcania is rapidly expanding as more and more newcomers decide to permanently move their residences away from natives and don't want to be in the Siberian cold." Haruhi airquoted with her right hand, implying the Siberian community of newcomers had some way of combating the cold there, similar to how Yamaha was countering the Sahara heat with their technology.

"Natives cannot support such a large newcomer population," pointed out Melanie, essentially repeating what they already knew. Her voice was a little shaky, now aware Haruhi was listening in. "From what I've heard, native resources are already stretched by newcomers who insist on living with natives. Everyone is watching what happens over in Japan and what they're doing. Their stock exchange almost crashed this morning from overproduce, narrowly avoided by newcomer consumption. However, if newcomer consumption from the native economy continues there could be an economic depression." It was interesting the natives had the same concerns as the newcomers when it came to the economy.

"Yeah, we know what you mean," continued Lynette, "I was wondering, would you be willing to come to Old Gensokyo for a week-long celebratory festival?"

There was awkward silence on the line. "... Gensokyo? Umm... Perhaps on a later date. This is the first full day that I can spend with my family since Doomsday. Had it not been for you and Sora, I would be hospital with broken limbs so please excuse me when I want to keep my distance from the three kingdoms a little longer."

"O-okay, I understand. Thanks for your time," Lynette hung up, defeated, handing the phone back to Miku.

Sora spoke up towards Reimu, "KITT declined his invitation, didn't he?"

Reimu nodded, "He did not give a reason."

"What about Doc Brown?"

Haruhi answered, leaning back on the counter, "It's best he isn't invited. We don't want people to know the DeLorean was involved. It could get dangerous... And yes, the DeLorean is in a safe place away from misuse," she added before Sora could ask. Haruhi looked at Lynette, "Give your residence a thought, discuss it with your family. As soon as you decide, I'll move you. And please, don't worry so much about native and newcomer relations. They will repair with time and we will learn to collaborate for everyone's benefit. We... just need a little time to recover."

"... I see..." responded Lynette with a little sadness.

-

Santiago: House of Hawk
"Something a problem, Santi?" pointed out Angeline with a smile. Once an assassin aiming for Santiago's life, now his fiancée, Angeline's looks suited the pink yukata she was wearing. They had just passed The Big Three, Sora and Lynette's conversation and were walking further down the street, out of Lynette's and Reimu's hearing distance. Miku's and Sora's were far too large to bother trying to outwalk and Haruhi's was longer still.

"Everyone's talking about natives and newcomers, natives and newcomers," repeated Santiago, with his own dark grey yukata. He was not wearing his trademark hat but his mask was still present. "There is little consideration of ordinary powerless newcomers. People talk about natives and newcomers sharing an economy would be a bad thing as newcomers would take over native jobs. Then what about powered newcomers taking all the jobs of unpowered newcomers? What about them?"

"Like us? Ah well, we can't be assassins anymore can we?" shrugged Angeline, with humour, "Maybe we could hold self-defence classes, no?"

"Hmm... Might not be a bad idea."

"Hmm?" A bemused Angeline leaned forward to look at Santiago's expression, "You're not going to say that someone could take that job from us, like androids?"

"I don't fear our jobs being taken over. Haruhi will have thought of this. She will allow us to follow our natures."

"You're placing a lot of faith in Haruhi."

"She is a goddess who will be, no doubt, monitor the situation. I'm sure she's aware that if anything happens, she'll be blamed, whether if it was directly her fault or not."

"... Isn't that like blackmail?"

"You could say that. But many worlds have been capable of surviving just fine with powered and unpowered people. Marvel's and DC's universe. Gaia Online. Even Gensokyo. All those worlds had powered people and ordinary people without powers. And they did just fine. Without a split economy."

Angeline took hold of Santiago's yukata sleeve and dragged him to a side stand. "Are you sure that would apply here? I'm not sure The Convenience Theory would apply here." She picked up one fake rifle of the many on the stand's counter with a grin towards Santiago. He looked at the stand's back wall, which was covered in prizes on shelves to shoot off with the cork ammunition of the rifles. It was clear Angeline was experienced in keeping her body actions and her speech seperate, a talent honed in the field of assassination.

Santiago picked up another rifle, effectively accepting Angeline's challenge at the shooting game. "It probably doesn't. But there are no newcomers campaigning for change. They'll work as they're used to, with the method they're used to, with the pay they're used to, the way they're used to. Hopefully, they'll continue to live life how it was. You know how much the powerful hate change." He aimed the rifle at a light brown teddy bear and fired. The rifle, especially given the big ammunition, was not that accurate, the cork diverting slightly, hitting the bear in the right shoulder. The bear rocked and turned slightly.

"That's a point." Angeline agreed, aiming her own rifle as Santiago picked up another cork. There was a moment of silence as she steadied her hand and fired. She hit the same bear in the chin, knocking it over backwards, though it remained on the shelf. She sighed with disappointment as Santiago turned the cork loosely into the barrel of his rifle. "So what would you say about Gansokyo's recent international stance?"

"Scared," answered Santiago, raising the gun to his eye, "They fear change. They, or at least the administration, want to return to their version of normality. Owning a kingdom was not what they wanted to do. But it was what they had to do to ensure their freedom." He pulled the trigger, the cork hitting the bear square in the underside, the bear sliding off the shelf. "But now," Santiago continued, lowering the rifle, "They're just running away from their responsibilities. North High left their Kingdom in potential prosperity, Yamaha is working hard on repairing the damage they caused. Gensokyo, however, abandoned their former territory and left it in the hands of others."

"Sorry, for interjecting in your conversation," began the male stand manager, who picked up the fallen bear from the cloth covered table under the shelves, "But Gensokyo has very little experience in the way of politics, infrastructure or economics, especially in this so-called 'modern' era." He handed the bear to Santiago with a smile. "It was best for Reimu to leave Gensokyo's former territory with others, as they have more experience and knowledge in the areas that matter." Both Angeline and Santiago had expected the store owner to give his own opinion. It was unlikely anyone would be fine with bad things being said about their home nation. "I am Marisa's father by the way."

"Really?" inquired Santiago, "How do you feel about what your daughter's been like over the past year?"

"She did her best in the circumstances given to her. As much as people don't like her for keeping guard over Gensokyo this past year, things would have been much worse without her."

"That is probably true," nodded Santiago, taking the bear and looking at it, "It's surprising how Marisa managed to cope with the responsibility as the single member of the Guard."

"No form of Gensokyo authority was well received this past year," continued Marisa's father with a groan, "Marisa opted to be the sole member of the Guard to draw attention away from other groups of the Gensokyo community who were essentially keeping guard and enforcing order in their own way. She was the target of a lot of aggression early on."

"What sort? Physical or verbal?"

"Mostly physical. After The Bad Apple Incident, there was no need to talk about anything. Guns were the most common form of aggression used. It was a technology we were aware of back in our world but we had never realised how powerful and dangerous they were." Angeline couldn't help looking down at the rifle she was holding.

"Guns are very versatile," noted Santiago, "But from my experiences of the past year, good swordsmen are better than good shooters but there are more good shooters than good swordsmen. However, in the end, it's the magic users that get the last laugh."

"Warfare has changed a lot since Doomsday," added Angeline, "Heavy armour like tanks and aircraft are now cannon fodder. Infantry has regained its importance on the battlefield. Not to mention the reemergence of swordplay and archery as viable methods of combat. And then there's technology too. A single person with the right equipment can take on a native army."

Santiago handed Angeline the bear, who accepted it with a smile, "That's why we have to rely on Haruhi and Sasaki to help keep the peace. There are beings out there that are essentially invincible if uncontrolled."

"... Do you think there's a risk of the two of them losing their power somehow?" conjectured Angeline.

"The possibility's there," admitted Santiago, who thought of the Death Note, "But as long as they can monitor the universe, things should be fine." He made no mention of Naluri, Rokiahi or Rulia.

"So there's a chance of an everlasting peace?"

"As it goes in the assassination profession, nothing lasts forever."

-

Sasaki: The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya
It was getting dark, the winter evening setting in early. The festival was now bustling even more as most invitees had now arrived. Sasaki was looking up at the sky, sitting on a bench a fair distance from the main street. Haruhi sat next to her, placing a can of warm coffee on the bench between them.

"Something on your mind?" asked Haruhi, taking a sip from her own can.

"Just a small thing," responded Sasaki, taking the can and looking at the label.

"Want to ask?"

Sasaki paused, "...Why did my future self give you her memories but not to me? Before she disappeared..."

"She only gave me her memories from when they changed from yours," explained Haruhi, who looked at the stars appearing above them, "She warned me not to pass them onto you until at least another year."

"A year? What's going to happen then?"

"No idea. She found something out that would be bad for both of us to know."

"So much for 'Live and learn'..."

"This is serious, Sasaki. We need to listen to her. She also warned against your 'search'." It was clear that Haruhi did not know about what this was about.

Sasaki sighed, "Fine by me. I bet she's glad we're introverts."

"It lets us concentrate on other things," Haruhi lowered her head back down to look around. Even though no one else was directly visible, to Haruhi and Sasaki, the entire festival and beyond was visible to their eyes, with two exceptions with only empty voids in their place. "I'm surprised Naluri and Rokiahi attended the festival."

"They're free now. There's no reason for them to derail peace, right? The Unwritten Law is important to them too."

"About that... Everyone owes you for introducing The Unwritten Law," nodded Haruhi, looking at Sasaki, "You've saved many many lives."

"Hmm..." Sasaki leaned forward with a serious expression, placing her elbows on her knees, "Unlike you, I came into this world fully aware of my powers. Tension flared up immediately worldwide, right after Doomsday, way before The Bad Apple Incident. That's when I decided to plant The Unwritten Law into everyone's minds. Well, at least the ones I could access." Sasaki directed her eyes at Haruhi, one of the few she couldn't change.

"'No one should die,'" recited Haruhi, "Just my opinion but I think it worked out. Though... there are many dangerous things out there that target humans so I changed my genetic makeup."

"That's... a little excessive... Don't you think?"

"For us? Not at all. I recommend you consider changing yours too. Marisa's genes were scrambled too after The Meltdown Directive. The Unwritten Law saved her life."

"The Unwritten Law was meant to apply to natives too," noted Sasaki, "Many natives are not happy with newcomers, especially you, being unable or refusing to prevent old age."

"I will prevent it for newcomers," declared Haruhi, crossing her legs, "This is not our world. Many newcomers have not had time to live their own life without being under control by natives. Also, when we go back to our worlds, we will most likely end up under native control again with our timers ticking down once more. But I will not for natives. It's a fundamental part of human life. What would happen after Anti-Doomsday, once we're gone and our powers negated?

"What if there won't be a Anti-Doomsday?" replied Sasaki, rocking to and fro.

Haruhi did not reply immediately. "... I don't know... I don't know..." She drew a hand down her face. "Sometimes I wish someone else had the responsibility instead of me. I'm scared of sleeping, of letting my guard down. Everyone around the world is crying for my attention. They think I should grant their wishes because I can."

"Speaking of which..." Sasaki nodded her head down the path that passed the bench. Haruhi turned her head to see Sora and Rulia together, walking towards them. Rulia had let her hair down in a proud white yukata. She was staring directly at the two on the bench, holding a drawing pad, with a big smile.

"Hey, how's it going?" greeted Haruhi, with somewhat fake friendliness once Rulia and Sora stopped in front of them.

"It's going great!" bowed Rulia, "I was wondering, would you be alright with signing my book?"

"No problem," grinned Haruhi, as the pad and a black pen was passed to her. She flipped open the first page to see a double page spread of signatures, including residents of the Human Village. Rulia had not discriminated on who to get autographs from. Haruhi signed her full name in an empty space in the centre and handed the pad to Sasaki.

"So you're not planning to sell this at one point?" joked Sasaki as she signed her name, noticeably only her forename.

Rulia laughed, "No, I'm planning to keep a hold of the pad forever. Thanks very much!" Sasaki gave the pad and pen back. Rulia bowed once more and looked at Sora, ready to move on.

"Erm..." began Sora, "Sorry, Rulia, but could I have a little talk alone with Haruhi and Sasaki?"

Rulia looked disappointed, "O-okay..." She walked alone down the path.

Sora watched her best friend walk away until she was comfortably out of earshot. She turned to Haruhi. "I was wondering if Doom still had my data."

"Deleted," answered Haruhi instantly, "I would recommend keeping a backup of yourself somewhere. Just in case."

Sora took a moment to think, "Where would be best?"

"Somewhere even you don't know. Just in case."

"... Makes sense. Could you do that for me?"

"Done," nodded Haruhi, "If you ever need it, I'll direct you to it."

"Thank you very much," bowed Sora. She ran off after Rulia.

Sasaki smirked, "Getting KC permission to keep her data, huh?"

"Just in case." Haruhi did not smile, still observing Rulia and Sora in the distance.

"... Are you still concerned about Rulia? She's not a bad girl."

"A gun doesn't pull its own trigger," Haruhi nodded towards the house in front of them. On the other side of the house was the main street with Black and Dead Master sitting at a hot food stand. "If undisturbed, the Black Squad would not have fought on Doomsday."

"I guess," sighed Sasaki, "Black and Dead Master intend to travel together round the world. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to do that and not have people asking for their wishes granted?"

"Heh, if only." The two of them watched White approach the stand and take a seat next to Black. White said something immediately followed by Black wrapping an arm round White in high spirits. "Hmm... So White's going to follow Black's orders after all."

"White should go with Black and Dead Master. It's always good to have someone by your side." As she said this, Kyon approached them, the two of them diverting their attention to him. His stance was formal and a little too forced. The rest of the SOS Brigade were hiding between another house further up the road. "Looks like they're planning something," whispered Sasaki. Haruhi instinctively straightened her back and adjusted her posture, while Sasaki remained leaning forward. Kyon stopped in front of the two with a grimace on his face. He coughed awkwardly.

"Is there something you wanted?" questionned Haruhi sternly.

Kyon coughed again, ignoring Haruhi's attitude. "I was wondering if you would... if you would be happy to... accompany me for the festival."

Haruhi's expression changed to one of digusted shock, "What?! A subordinate like you asking the brigade leader for such a thing? I-"

"I'll accept your offer, Kyon," grinned Sasaki, who stood up and took hold of Kyon's arm, "Since the leader's busy."

"H-Hey!" protested Haruhi, getting up herself and told hold of Kyon's other arm, "I-I- Fine. It's the brigade leader's duty to make sure the morale of the members is at its maximum level. So- So I'll allow you this time."

Sasaki let go of Kyon, "Ah, fine." She sat back down on the bench. "Suit yourself. Have fun." Haruhi turned red as the two walked off. Sasaki grinned once more, turning up to the stars again. She raised her arm, waving it across her vision. "Making a perfect world isn't impossible after all."

-

???: The Second Coming
"Excuse me, can I talk to you in secret for a moment?"

"Sure. What's the problem?"

"I heard you can work around with memories. Would you be able to work with this?"

"... I can't work with discs. I'm not quite sure what you're planning to do."

"I can tell you soon. Do you know anyone who could work with this?"

"... Most likely Doom. He has a habit of using The Convenience Theory to his advantage."

"That's a good point."

"So... What are you planning?"

"Live. Then learn."

-

Kyon: C. Freeman
A fair distance away from the Human Village, over the river, the two were in silence as they walked in the direction of the levelled Hakurei Shrine. They looked at the moon, once more floating proudly in the sky.

Kyon spoke up, "No one's watching us, right?"

"Who cares? Let them watch," Haruhi waved away.

"Heh, that's the Haruhi I know," smirked Kyon.

"Thanks," Haruhi smiled back. The two looked at each other in silence. Haruhi took hold of the sides Kyon's yukata. It took a moment for him to realise she was tiptoeing, Kyon being noticeably taller than her. "A little lower," she whispered, closing her eyes. Kyon gulped at what Haruhi was attempting to do but after a brief moment of thought, he lowered his head to meet hers.

It was a while before they separated, Haruhi lowering herself, a little red in the face and looking down, "A-are you okay with moving North High here into the Sahara?"

Kyon blinked, "Why?"

"I'm scared of what many of the natives and newcomers think of me. They blame me for any problems they have as I have the power to fix or prevent them. They are cynical of my goodwill, my offers of protection. But Yamaha and Gensokyo understand me. They too fear worldwide attitudes towards them. I would feel much better being here, among them."

"I see... But why are you asking for my permission?"

Haruhi looked at Kyon with an annoyed tsundere scowl on her face, "Do you not want me to include you in my important decisions?"

Taken aback by Haruhi's expression, Kyon paused before smiling, "Anything you want."

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