So now we're back to disc 2 to continue with the story.
Kyon enters the room to to find Haruhi with her head on her desk, and Asakura-san asking if she wants to be taken to see the nurse. He approaches. Asakura greets him, and says that Haruhi doesn't seem to be feeling too well, says to take care of her, winks, and leaves the immediate vicinity. As he sits, he asks Haruhi why she didn't come by, and mentions the review session she said she wanted to have. She says she had one by herself. Kyon tells us that he managed to get her to talk a bit more, saying that she covered the entire area that they went over by herself. It's hot, and she's tired. She wonders when they get to change uniforms; she wants to change to her summer uniform now. Kyon urges her to stop looking for mysteries she's never going to find, and have fun like a normal high school student. Haruhi asks what kind of fun one would have. Kyon suggests finding a nice guy to look for mysteries with. It'd be a date, so she could do two things at once. Haruhi doesn't care about men, and considers romantic emotions nothing but a passing phase, and a form of mental illness. Even she gets in the mood for it, but she doesn't think she's "stupid" enough to get stuck with that grief on account of a momentary urge to get mushy. Also, she wonders what would happen to the SOS Brigade if she went boy-hunting. After all, she just created it. Kyon thinks she could just change it to a random club that has fun, and there'll be a ton of people in it. Haruhi isn't going to do that; she started the SOS Brigade because she considers it boring. She wonders why, since they have a moé girl and a mysterious transfer student, nothing has happened. She wonders why something weird can't happen right now. Asakura is suddenly there, admonishing her not to ask for trouble like that, but then again... she does think something that would come along and turn their everyday lives into something more fun would be kind of neat. No reaction. Kyon tells us he's never seen Haruhi this down. He finds her dejected face cute, though. Asakura leans in way too close and wonders if Suzumiya's in love. Kyon doesn't think it possible. He doesn't think that or her weird fantasies are going to happen anytime soon.
Wrong. As narrator, he lets on that something weird was quietly lurking just around the corner...
(Okay, "Bouken desho desho?" was just abbreviated to the intro and last few seconds.)
While was talking to Haruhi, he was actually thinking about a note he found laying on his Inside Shoes:
"After school, come by class 5 after all students leave."
It's written on notepad (a physical notepad, hence the lack of capitalization) paper, and is unsigned. He wonders if something like that didn't happen before.
He enters the clubroom, where Yuki is, as usual, reading. He remembers her note written on a bookmark. The handwriting on the two notes was different, and she's not the type to put notes in a guy's shoe locker, so probably not her. He considers that it might have been Mikuru, but a moment's reflection dispels that notion. She'd specify a time, and wouldn't just scribble it on memo pad paper. In comes Haruhi, complaining about the heat. Kyon puts that thought immediately out of his mind, as she'd just drag him over to the stairwell. And Koizumi would just say, "Hey, let's talk." Haruhi says they definitely need an air conditioner. Kyon doesn't think the letter is a love letter, but all he knows is that it's asking him to be at a particular place. He considers the possibility that Tanaguchi and Kunikida are playing a joke on him. Kyon would expect more if those two were involved, though.
Haruhi looks at "Mikuru Asahina's Charming Photo Gallery". Kyon suddenly notices it. Haruhi doesn't see what's wrong; they're just pictures, after all. She picks up the monitor (good thing it's not a CRT, huh?) and shows him the "totally cute" shots of Mikuru. Kyon asks that she's doing with them. She's loading them onto the main page of their website, figuring they'll get tons of emails about "cool, weird happenings". (Or, more likely, nearly all the emails they get will be about "happenings" in boys' pants.) And, of course, the counter will go nuttily high. Kyon takes advantage of Haruhi being about a meter away from the keyboard to stand at it and move the pictures out of the upload folder and into the Recycle Bin, over Haruhi's objections. Kyon thinks that if Mikuru found out that the entire world could see those pictures (in stunning poses), she'd pass out on the spot. He feverishly tries to explain why it's such a bad thing, and she relents, though she's clearly steamed about it. Kyon hovers the cursor over the Empty Recycle Bin option... but instead, he makes a folder called "mikuru", moves the pictures there, hides the folder, and makes hidden files and folders invisible.
Haruhi suddenly stands up, and announces her departure. She runs into Mikuru on the way out the door. Well, not quite literally. Mikuru apologizes, and Haruhi walks off. Mikuru asks if something happened, and Kyon says everything's A-OK; an evil conspiracy's been vanquished. He looks at his phone. It's May 25 (hey, it's mm/dd) at 5:35 PM (displayed as 17:35). With nothing to do, he was playing Othello with Mikuru when Koizumi came in, only to say he has to leave early to go to work. And so he does. Kyon wonders what kind of job he has. Kyon and Mikuru get up. Mikuru says she's going to change, so says not to wait for her. He leaves the room, but bows before he closes the door.
At class 5, he opens the door to find Asakura standing there, catching him off guard. She invites him into the classroom. He realizes it was her. She confirms this, and asks if he's surprised. He asks what it is she wants. She wants to talk about something, a question she had about Suzumiya, specifically what Kyon thinks of her. Kyon figures she's onto Suzumiya, as well. Asakura relates that people say it's better to regret something you did than to regret something you didn't do. She asks what he thinks. Kyon isn't sure people always say that, but thinks it means what it means. Asakura posits a hypothetical situation in which you knew that if you kept things the same, you'd be completely broke, but you didn't know how you could make things better. Kyon thinks she's talking about the Japanese economy. She wonders if he wouldn't think about changing something, anything, because nothing's going to change, otherwise. Kyon agrees that he would. Asakura seems delighted that he agrees, but then says that her superiors are stubborn and lack vision, and you can't think like that in the field; if you sit back and do nothing, the situation will only worsen. Given that, she says, wouldn't it be better to force change when it's all for the best. Kyon doesn't know what she's talking about, and wonders if there's a hidden camera there, or if Tanaguchi isn't hiding in the closet, laughing at him. Asakura is getting bored just watching something that doesn't seem to be changing, so she's going to kill him to see how Suzumiya reacts.
(Now there's an interesting shot. Asakura's head is in the lower-left, and her skirt is in the upper-right.)
She suddenly comes at him with a knife drawn, but he falls to the side. There's a closeup of the serrated edge. He wonders to himself if she's serious, what just happened, and why Asakura is coming after him with a knife. He recalls what she said, and wants her to stop kidding around; even if it's rubber, she's scaring him. She questions that he thinks it's a joke, and that he doesn't want to die. She doesn't understand the concept of death regarding organic life forms. Kyon doesn't think it's funny anymore (did he ever?) and pleads with her to stop. She can't, because whether or not he cares, she really does want him to die. She comes at him with a knife again.
Kyon runs to where the door... was, but now, there's just a wall. It briefly shows light blue line segments and arcs, making overlapping quadrilaterals and circles. Asakura has control over the flow of data in this space: nothing can enter, nothing can leave. Kyon doesn't know what's going on, and wants anybody who does to explain it to him. She cheerily asks him to give up; since he's going to die no matter what, so he should just let her do it. He asks what she is. She makes desks and chairs fly at him. Now, portions of the wall have fallen away to reveal freaky white backgrounds with moving black streams of some sort. Throughout the scene, the background changes to other patterns from time to time. Kyon tries throws a desk at her, but Asakura throws up an electric force field and reiterates that everything in the classroom is under her control. The desk disintegrates. Kyon recalls that she said she's going to kill him to see how Haruhi reacts. He thinks Haruhi sure is popular. But if that's the case, why does he have to die? Asakura realizes there's something she can do to make her goal easier to attain, which she should've done from the outset: she paralyzes him. The background isn't moving, either. She feels his death will make Haruhi do something, and then she'll be able to observe a huge explosion of data, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With a cheery "Now you die!", she comes at him with the knife again... but then, part of the wall explodes into the classroom. Apparently, Kyon was hit by a bit of debris or something, which hurt. Then he realizes he can move. Then he realizes the knife has been stopped... by Yuki, who's gripping the blade with her hand.
Yuki informs Asakura that there are flaws in her program, and her data shutdown and spatial blockades are faulty, which is how Yuki was able to detect her and access that space. Asakura questions that Yuki would stop her, and explains what she's trying to accomplish. Yuki reminds Asakura that she's supposed to be her backup unit, and not permitted to act on her own; she is to obey Yuki's orders. Asakura asks what if she says "No". Yuki informs her that her data link will be terminated. Asakura asks if she'd like to try. She has the upper hand, since they're in a space where she controls the data. Yuki commences her request for data link termination. Asakura's knife ceases to exist, and Asakura leaps backward. It was about that time that Kyon realized that neither of them are human. Asakura throws a blast of energy, which Yuki blocks, telling Kyon to stay behind her, and making him drop to the floor. We get a closeup of the back of one of her Inside Shoes. Asakura says Yuki can't defeat her in that space. Yuki does that fast-talking thing that we saw in Mysterique Sign, and identifies Asakura as a hostile interface, and terminates her link. Asakura says she'll stop Yuki's functions before that can happen. Yuki kicks Kyon a couple of meters backwards. Asakura asks how long Yuki will last if she's protecting Kyon while fighting her. (Inorite? That's generally an annoying part of some video games...) She does some fast-talking of her own, and throws several spikes at Kyon. Yuki gets in the way, and is impaled, knocking her glasses off. Kyon says her surname, but she tells him he needs to stay where he is, and that she's fine. Kyon doesn't think she looks it. She removes one of the spikes and drops it. Once on the floor, which looks like a meadow of flowers at the moment, it becomes a desk. Asakura doesn't think Yuki's damage will allow her to interfere with any other data. She impales Yuki with two poles, which she has turned her own arms into.
Yuki says it's over. Asakura thinks Yuki means her own life for the last three years, but what she means is the data link. Things start disintegrating. Asakura says ""It can't be!" Yuki says that Asakura is an advanced interface, which is why it took so long to hack into the space's program, but it's over now. Asakura realizes that Yuki modified her program with a detonation element. She thought Yuki seemed weak, but figures that explains it, as well as why she used all her attack data at the start. Asakura has begun to disintegrate, as well. She considers it a shame, and guesses she really was just a backup. She thought it was her big chance, but she lost. She asks if Kyon isn't happy he gets to keep living. She cautions him that the DITE has more interfaces just like her, so maybe he'll meet another that seeks radical change, or Yuki's superior will change his mind. Until then, she says he should enjoy his life with Haruhi. She gives a goodbye, and with a cute giggle, she disappears fully.
Yuki collapses on the sand dunes. Kyon tells her to hang on, and he'll get help. (From whom? Anybody who looked at her would assume she couldn't possibly survive her injuries.) She says her physical injuries are not critical. She needs to correct the space before she does anything else. She begins removing the corrupt data and rebuilding the classroom. It is done in a few seconds. Kyon asks if she's sure she's okay. Yuki tells him that all processing power is engaged with manipulating and repairing data, and that she'll be repaired shortly after. As she sits up, she suddenly realizes that she forgot to recreate the glasses. Kyon thinks she looks cuter without them. (I agree, but not everyone will.) And he doesn't have a glasses fetish, anyway. She asks what one is. But says it's nothing, and to forget it. Just then, Tanaguchi opens the door, because he 4-4-forgot his bag. Then he is shocked to notice Kyon with Yuki in an easily-misunderstandable position. Kyon is aware of this, and has the unspoken thought that if his mother or father saw how they were positioned, they'd think that they were "getting it on" right now. Tanaguchi straightens his tie, tells them to take their time, and runs away. Yumi calls him an interesting human, and Kyon wonders what they're going to do. Yuki says that she'll make it so that Asakura suddenly transfers. Kyon didn't mean that. But he needs to calm down. He figures the last ten minutes were an extraordinary experience. This isn't about his belief of Yuki's strange ramblings, but what just happened made him realize what real danger felt like. He was five seconds away from dying. He has no more doubts that Yuki is an alien, or is at least involved with aliens.
The next day, the teacher is telling the class about Asakura's transfer, upsetting a number of students, but belighting Haruhi, who considers it a mystery. Kyon notices her boundless energy, and the glimmer in her eye. He considers telling her the truth, but thinks he wouldn't be believed. Besides, he doesn't want to tell her, and is hoping it was all a hallucination. Haruhi thinks it's too good to be true: first, a mysterious transfer in, and then, a mysterious transfer out. They're going to investigate. Kyon, however, has a pending inquiry that he's mulling over. Haruhi asks what's with him, but he says it's nothing.
He found another note — he wonders if it's become a trend — but this time, it's from Mikuru. She'll be waiting in the clubroom during lunch. Kyon has to be careful; he doesn't want another life-or-death situation. It doesn't matter, of course, as he's going, anyway. After all, Mikuru wants to see him in private. Not that he has proof that she sent it, but he has a gut feeling that she did. She's the type to send notes, he feels. (Never mind what he thought yesterday, right?) His mental image of her fits her personality. Also, it's the clubroom, and Yuki will be there. He knocks on the door, and a voice tells him to come in. He opens the door to find... someone who bears a striking resemblance to Mikuru, but definitely looks older, and is wearing a white, long-sleeved, button-up shirt, a blue skirt, a gold bracelet, blue heels, and a bit of lipstick. She greets him, and runs up to him, saying it's been ages. She takes his hands. Kyon thinks she looks like Mikuru, but thinks she definitely isn't. He asks if she's her big sister. She realizes, and explains that she's from the future, a little further down from the one she knows. She then realizes that Kyon doesn't trust her, and decides to prove it by showing him the tiny star-shaped mole on the right side of her left breast. She says it's not fake, and invites him to touch it. He backs off with a thought of "Supersize me!" Whether he believes her or not, he doesn't recall where Mikuru's moles are. The only time he saw that much was when she cosplayed as a bunny girl, and when he peeked in as she changed, which wasn't his fault. He never saw moles, as he never looked for them. Mikuru is confused, as she recalls that it was Kyon who told her about it. She didn't even know about it until... then she realizes that she made a mistake: he hasn't yet told the Mikuru he knows in the present about it, so not only can't it be used as proof, but now, they each only know about it because they told each other. She tells him to forget everything she just said. Easy for her to say, Kyon thinks. He decides to believe her before she proves it any more. That, and with all that's happened, he could believe just about anything. Kyon realizes that this means that there are two Mikurus. Mikuru tells him that Mikuru is having lunch in the classroom. There's something she has to tell him, so she pulled some strings, and they let her come back. She also asked Yuki to step out for a bit. He asks if she knows about Yuki, but that's classified. She realizes it's been a while since she said that. Kyon heard her say it a couple of days ago. She gently hits herself on the head, then gets to what she has to say, as it's important.
She asks if he knows the story of Snow White. He does. Mikuru tells him that if he finds himself in danger, he should remember those words. He iterates a few elements of the story, and she confirms that that's the story she means. Kyon relates that he was just in real danger rather recently, but that's not the incident she means, but something worse. She can't give any details, but when the time comes, Haruhi should be at his side. Kyon asks what's going to happen, even though he should know what her answer will be. Mikuru says that Haruhi probably won't consider it to be all that dangerous, but it will be, for everyone. He asks if she can't give him any more details, or if that's classified. It's the best she can do, which is why she's telling him about Snow White. Kyon will try to remember.
More relaxed, Mikuru looks around the room, and goes over to her "old" maid outfit. She's amazed she (well, the her in Kyon's present) can wear something like that, as it's out of the question for her. Kyon asks her what what other kinds of outfits Haruhi made her wear. (I would have said "will made", but whatever.) She says it's a secret, and too embarrassing, but he'll find out soon enough. She approaches him, and tells him she'd better go. Her eyes shimmer, and she leans against him. She tells him not to get too friendly with her, then starts to run off. He wants to know one more thing, so she stops. What's her current age? That's classified, she says, with a wink and a smile. Kyon tells us it's a smile that would make anyone who saw it fall in love.
Kyon takes her "It's been ages!" to mean that, sometime in the future, the Mikuru he knows from the present will return to her own time. He wonders when that's going to happen, and how many years between the two. He thinks it could be three or even five years, since women change so drastically when they graduate from high school. He figures he'd better get back to the classroom. He finds himself hungry.
Just then, Yuki opens the door. Kyon asks her if she saw someone who looks a lot like Mikuru. She knows it's the one from another time plane, and she met her that morning. Kyon asks if it's possible for Yuki to time-travel like her, or if the data-thing can. She is unable, but time travel is not that difficult to do. Kyon would like tips on how to do it, but Yuki says language can't explain the concept, and Kyon wouldn't be able to understand it. Kyon guesses it's his loss. He thanks her for yesterday, though she says not to, as Asakura's behavior was her responsibility, and she failed. Kyon says she really looks better without glasses.
Next scene, Haruhi is demanding to know where Kyon was; she thought he'd be back, so she waited and didn't eat lunch. Kyon asks her to say it again, but like an old friend who's embarrassed and only acting angry. She tells him to stop being an idiot and came with her. On a deck of some outside stairs, she relates that she looked into Asakura's transfer, and found that they only found out that morning. Someone claiming to be her father called, and said they were moving to Canada. (Boy, the North American continent sure is popular...) She thinks something's fishy. And there's more: they don't have contact information for them, which is odd, because you normally let someone know your new address. She's sure there's something funny going on. Kyon says (though he knows otherwise) that there isn't. She got Asakura's old address, and she's going to go there after school to crack this case wide open. Kyon's not going to stop her, as he thinks he's not going to be the one wasting his time with it. Well, he is. And he calls himself a member of the SOS Brigade. She slaps a notice on the clubroom door: "Do as you please."
("Hare Hare Yukai")
Next time: The Day of Sagittarius!
