HID - Humanity FW + I

Foreword

For those of you seeing this, allow me to introduce myself:  my Name is Darian Hunter.  I am a dimensional traveler.  

Not by choice, mind you.  Not even by fate.  But I digress.

I am a member of a group, a Family of sorts, created to prevent the eradication of all Possibility.

Yeah, no pressure, right?

Recently, I was assigned to the cosm of Haruhi Suzumiya to observe Yuki Nagato, a data collection unit of the Data Overmind that also exists there.  She had used the power of the Darkness Device that had subsumed Miss Suzumiya's human self for her own gain, and we were afraid that she would do so again.  My task was ultimately to keep that from happening and prevent a great evil from conquering the Omniverse.

In so doing, I had unwittingly stepped into a situation much more volatile than advertised.

Ultimately, I was successful in my mission – obviously, since I am commenting on this now.  I had eradicated a bit of malicious data that was implanted in Miss Nagato and ultimately prevented the events that would lead to her ascendance as High Lord from being set into motion.

As an inevitable side effect to my interference in this scenario, I got a bit more than I bargained for: the love of Yuki Nagato, a precious flower that bloomed where no fertile ground for such had existed before my presence.

As this chronicle picks up, I had been assigned a new mission: I was to be a sentry.  

The Nameless One would one day learn of what had happened to its most powerful of Darkness Devices and would seek to claim Haruhi Suzumiya in order to further its goal of the destruction of all of Creation.  When that eventuality would occur, I was to rally the troops, both here and back home, to hold it back or even prevent it from doing so.

How we could possibly do that was at that time still up in the air.  Nonetheless, that was my purpose for remaining there.  As long as I was able to remain with her, I could have gladly faced the Nameless One myself to do so.

Still, that was not something that was in the immediate future, so I began to acclimate to my new existence: full-time member of the SOS Brigade, close friend and sometimes more of Yuki Nagato, and my cover as a bored, perverted American high school student transferred to North High School in Japan.  With no immediate threat, I was able to relax and enjoy life for the first time in a very long time.

Little did I know that my troubles were just beginning.

This tale will be presented to you in a narrative format, recreated from the testimony of all the particulars involved.  There are three parts to the story, each entitled with the factor, and its possessor, that pushed the situation to its resolution.  In order, they are entitled:

The Humanity of Haruhi Suzumiya,
The Intuition of Kyon, and
The Darkness of Yuki Nagato

As the story is presented, I will insert commentary, taken from my unique perspective as the story's main protagonist.  I will add commentary when I feel something needs to be clarified, if something had changed, or not, since the events described, or if I just feel like inserting a smartass comment at that moment.  

Expect to see mostly the latter as you watch this.

I was asked to chronicle this tale both as a cautionary tale about the dangers I and my Family are set to face, and as entertainment for all of you who like to see people at their lowest point in their life.

If you fall into the latter category, I hope you enjoy reading this tale as much as I didn't enjoy experiencing it.

***

Part the First: The Humanity of Haruhi Suzumiya

Two weeks had passed since Yuki and I returned from Center and since I joined the SOS Brigade as a full-time member.  During the first week after our return, according to Koizumi, Kyon had filled in the group on his (or, rather, Yuki's) time-plane misadventure back in December, and went back in time to fix it.

One less thing hanging over the group's head.  

The week following was even more confusing, as Kyon and Mikuru (or was it "Michuru"?) were thrown into time-plane fixing nonsense.  If you want to know the whole story, grab a datapad and load "The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya".  It's a good read, but, trust me, the live version was so much better.

Aside from the extracurricular goings-on, Suzumiya was apparently very excited to have a new member, so she went out of her way to find activities for us at almost every meeting.  She never actually got around to giving me my duties as "propaganda minister", but, I figured, the less known about that, the better.

Outside the Brigade, things were finally starting to settle down.  Without the threat of Omniversal non-existence hanging over our heads, Yuki and I started to ease into our life together.  We, of course, still share the same living space, and still had – and still do, if that sort of thing matters to you – deep and powerful feelings with each other.  There was one problem, though:

Neither of us had any idea what to do with it.

On top of all that, however, there was still one major thing still hanging over the group's head.

Yeah, I still to that point had not told Kyon the truth about me, and as time passed, he became more curious, and more resentful, than ever.  After discussion with Koizumi, who was to remain as my primary mission contact, we decided we would attempt to ease Kyon into my status rather than expect him to digest all of it at once.

That was the plan, anyway.  How it actually happened was a bit... well, just follow along:

I

Darian Hunter lay on his bed, turning pages in a sketchbook.  He sighed as he looked at image after image, all adding up to the pain of his existence not long ago.  

For this sketchbook contained no ordinary pictures: they were the results of clairvoyant visions – pictures of possibilities that, for the most part, never occurred.

He looked over the last page, a very detailed sketch of Yuki Nagato and Haruhi Suzumiya as High Lord and submissive, respectively.  This one sketch was the centerpiece of the entire week of visions he was forced to experience, revealing a world that could have been, and the her she could have been.  

He spent too much time on that image, remembering the pain that that Yuki Nagato's existence brought him, both emotional and physical.  However, through it all, he was very thankful that the future tied to that image did not come to pass – it was locked away in a time plane never to be experienced - and that nothing involved with the events of the previous two months could never affect them again

Even after all that, I was still so goddamned arrogant.

Just as he closed the book, content to let those images remain a memory, he saw a folded piece of paper sticking out the back cover.  Even without opening it, he knew what it contained:

A clairvoyant sketch he drew for Mikuru Asahina several weeks ago, guest starring his brother Jack Power.

Jack Power: professional badass.  If you need badassery done, no matter what flavor or stripe, he's your guy.  He has the innate powers of hyperintuition and intuitive empathy.  

Yeah, the Sylar power.  

And yeah, he could learn any power he wanted to.  And has.  

Cocky sonofabitch too; if there was a contest for most arrogant of the Family, he would definitely have taken the silver.  Difference is, though, he can back it up.

Darian pulled the image out and refreshed his memory: "...keep it.  ... It will be important later." - Mikuru gave those cryptic words when he offered to destroy the picture.  He didn't know or care about what supposed import this sketch had, and regardless of what happens to the rest of the sketchbook, he knew one person who could never see this.  

He eventually would, of course.  I swear, that sketchbook has almost killed reality more times than I care to count.

He didn't know where Jack was, but Darian was sure he wasn't here, so this was as good a place as any to hide it.  He stood up, sketch in hand, and opened his top drawer and slipped the folded paper under one of his phase beamer boxes.

Just as he closed the dresser, he heard someone knock on his door.  He knew in an instant who it was.  Although, given there was only one other person in the apartment, that wasn't difficult.

"It's open."  He sat down on the bed, his head low, muttering, "It's always open."

The door slid open, revealing a short schoolgirl with a similar shade of violet hair as him.  Yuki Nagato looked at him quietly, expectantly.

Darian looked over his shoulder at her.  "You know you don't have to knock, right?  You're always welcome in my bedroom."  Darian blushed a bit  "...wait, that came out wrong... um, you know what I mean..."

Yuki walked up to him, speaking in her usual near-monotone.  "I saw you come in here with the sketchbook.  I knocked so as not to startle you in case you were occupied."

Darian looked at her, confused.  "I'm not even going to ask what you meant by that."

Yuki cocked her head.  "I thought you might be drawing.  What did you think..."

"Nothing!"  Darian blushed deeper and looked away, embarrassed by his assumption.

Despite the abandon showed during the consummation of our relationship that first night, we were still awkward in the beginning.  I was re-learning how to love, and she was learning for the first time.  As a result, we both  were exceptionally timid around each other.

That timidity led to interactions like this one: both wanting to move forward, neither willing to take action.

Darian broke the silence.  "Actually, there's no room left in here to draw.  The sketches for the story and the... other sketches took every single page in here.

"I was just looking at it, contemplating what to do with it.  And it occurred to me that I wouldn't shed a tear if this thing would suddenly fall off the face of the earth."  He looked up into her eyes.  "But that wouldn't sit well with you, would it?"

Yuki froze, then looked down at the sketchbook longingly.

Darian looked at her, incredulous, and spoke with a tone to match.  "You still want this, don't you?  Even after everything we've both been through because of it, you still want to have this!"

Yuki closed her eyes and turned away, ashamed.

Darian put his finger under her chin and turned her face toward him.  "None of that, now.  I didn't mean it as a rebuke.  I was just surprised."

She opened her eyes, blinking away light tears.

Darian smiled at her.  "I didn't mean to upset you.  In fact..."  He closed the book and presented it to her.  "It's yours."

Yuki blinked, but said nothing.  She did not even reach for it.

Darian nudged it toward her again.  "I'm serious.  After all, I did kinda make it for you anyway."

Yuki hesitated, looking up at him, expecting him to change his mind.  After another moment, she reached for it.

At the last second, Darian pulled it away, quickly adding, "Three caveats, though:  First, do not bring this to school.  The last thing the SOS Brigade needs is a scandal like what this thing would evoke.

"Second, under no circumstances are Suzumiya or Kyon to see this.  Koizumi has already seen most of the offending material, and Mikuru would get two pages in, blanch, and faint.  However, Kyon would likely come after me with a tire iron if he saw, and I shudder to think what Suzumiya would do if she ever got her hands on this.

"And third..."  Darian's face became soft as he brought the sketchbook back down to her.  "...when you do read it, don't read it around me."

Yuki nodded and took the book from his hands.  In a flash, she was out of the bedroom and heading to the living room.

Curious, Darian followed her out and watched her go to her bookshelf.  She pulled down a book he knew she had already read.  She slipped the sketchbook inside the book and headed for the door.

Darian, confused, held up a hand.  "Um, where are you going?"

Yuki looked back.  "To the park.  To read."

He looked at her skeptically.  "You sure that's safe?"

"Do not worry."  She looked back at him.  "Nobody will know I am even there."  With that, she walked out and slid the door closed behind her.

Darian went back to his room and slumped down on the bed.  He hoped she was right, but couldn't knock the paranoia about her having that... thing... in public.

In the end, he relaxed, knowing she wouldn't knowingly do anything to jeopardize their current arrangement, both for the Brigade and for them.

...which made what happened next a complete surprise.

Although in retrospect, it shouldn't have been...

***

Yuki Nagato walked through the park nearby her home.  After looking around for a short time, she found a convenient bench and sat, her reading material closed in her lap.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, altering the data around her to subconsciously whisper into the mind of anyone looking in her direction, "This person is of no consequence and is doing nothing of any importance."

"...and she certainly isn't reading pornography."

...I made that last one up.

Satisfied that she would not be disturbed, she opened her book, then the book within the book, and drank deeply from the images inside.

She focused intently on the multi-panel intimacy drawn in the first set of visions.  When she read them the first time, in his presence, she found them exceptionally stimulating.  She was afraid that they would not have the same effect on her now that those events had... come to pass.

To her pleasant surprise, the were every bit as enjoyable now than they were then.  In point of fact, having experienced the images firsthand only intensified the effect on her, both emotionally and physically.

So much so, in fact, she was unaware of a presence that joined her on the bench.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?"  A familiar voice snapped Yuki out of her focus.  She instinctively clutched the book to her chest, then turned her head and saw, to her horror, the last person she expected, or wanted, to see:

Haruhi Suzumiya.

Neither sensing nor caring about Yuki's discomfort, Suzumiya continued.  "You are a strange bird, Yuki Nagato!  You're the only person I know who comes to the park on a nice day like this just to read."  She looked sidewise at her book.  "What are you reading, anyway?"

Yuki, trying to get this encounter over with as quickly as possible, showed Suzumiya the cover to her book.

Suzumiya looked at the cover skeptically.  "Really..."  As she examined the book, she saw a sliver of the corner of another book sticking out.  Her eyes widened and she struck: "Then whaaaaaaaaat's THIS!?"  

Before Yuki could react, Suzumiya yanked the second book from inside the first.  Suzumiya stood in celebration as Yuki's heart sank.  Yuki looked back at her book, intent on keeping her reaction subdued.

Suzumiya held her prize over her head.  "Thought you could hide this from me, eh?  You'll have to do better than that, little girlie!  Now, let's have a look at what's gotten your attention."  She brought the book down and got ready to look at it.  "It's probably bondage yaoi or something, isn't it?  You quiet ones are always into the weird stuff."

She opened the book and looked at the sketches inside the first few pages and recognized them immediately.  "Wait a minute!  This is Darian Hunter's sketchbook!"  She looked at Yuki as an admonishing parent.  "How did you get you grubby little paws on this?"  Even before Yuki could answer, even if she wanted to, Suzumiya brightened.  "Never mind!  I already know!"

Yuki made one last grab at the book, but Suzumiya snatched it away at the last second, giving an mocking, "Ah, ah, ah!"  She grinned at Yuki wickedly.  "This, my dear, is evidence!"  She sneered at Yuki, who decided not to look up from her book.  "I've known something's been going on between you and Darian for months!  This book is just another piece of evidence to throw on the pile.  Once I have it all, I'll spill your little secret to the world... but not yet.  I'll give you two a little more "private time" before I make my big reveal.  See you tomorrow!"  She turned and walked away, reading as she went.  "Now, let's see what's in here that he was so eager to hide..."

As Suzumiya walked away, Yuki sat and watched her walk away, stunned.  She silently wondered what to do next.

...and how to tell Darian...

***

Steam rolled off the top of the bath as Darian turned off the faucet.  The water level was just enough to full the tub when he would slide in.  He had undressed and was ready to step into the bath when he heard the door open.  

It was at that moment that he realized that he didn't have a bathrobe.  Thinking quickly, he phased through the wall to his room and slipped on his night clothes and stepped into the living room.

Yuki stood in front of the door, her head down, holding out a small package wrapped in plain brown paper.  Without looking up, she held it out to him.

Darian, confused, took the paper, untied the string that held it together, and unfolded the paper, revealing...

"A new sketchbook!  Yuki, you didn't have to get this for me just because..."  he looked around her, then at the table.  The book she brought to the park was on the table, alone.  "Where's the other sketchbook?"

"..."  Yuki's head remained down.

Darian put his hands in his hips and spoke in mock admonishment, "What did you do?"

Yuki inhaled deeply, hesitating as long as she possibly could before responding.  "When I sat at the park to read, I altered the data around me to prevent anyone from paying attention to me.  I should have realized that it would not work... on her."

Darian realized what happened even before she finished her sentence:  

Haruhi Suzumiya was in possession of his sketchbook.  He clenched his fists  and paced around the living room.

Yuki stood, head down, unable to look him in the eye.  "I..."

Darian held up his hand.  "Not your fault.  Still, this is very bad."  He exhaled deeply and sat on the couch, putting his head in his fists.

Yuki finally looked up.  "She stated that the book was... "evidence".  Is she aware of..."

Darian shrugged.   "She thinks she is.  She's been on me about you from day one.  Remember the field search we went on a couple months ago?"

Yuki nodded.

"Well, that was set up for the sole purpose of confronting me about"  He blushed and turned away.  "... "fooling around" with you.  She had pictures of me putting in my security code and entering the apartment building.  Now she has my sketchbook."

"..."

Darian stood up, a little calmer.  "I'd say that the best way to remedy this is to go public with our living arrangement, if nothing else, before she reveals it herself.  However, there is one major snag in that idea: Mikuru."

Yuki blinked, then nodded.  "She does not trust me."

Darian shook his head. "I think it's more than that.  I think she thinks you're trying to rope me into something."

"..."

"I'm serious: she's been pushing the issue of you and me the hardest – even harder than Suzumiya, if you can believe it.  She's tried to confront me about it on several occasions, but I've dodged the issue at every turn.  Problem is, I have the feeling I'll only be able to dodge this for so long before she escalates things.

"If we reveal our situation without resolving whatever issues she thinks exist, she'll likely push the issue even harder.  What she'll end up doing, I don't know for sure, but we'll deal with that if and when it occurs.

"In the meantime, the sketchbook: in Suzumiya's hands, it's a ticking timebomb.  I don't know how she's going to react to the images inside... especially the last section."

"..."  Yuki blushed and lowered her head.

Darian sighed and put his arm around her.  "Don't worry too much about it.  Here's what I think may happen as a result of this: best case scenario, she keeps it for her own... personal use, and just gives us knowing looks until she feels she has enough evidence to confront us in public.

"Worst case, she calls us up in front of the rest of the Brigade and has us re-enact the scenes for them.  Unlikely, but, all the same, I wouldn't put it past her."  

Yuki looked up at him.  "Are you certain that that is the worst case?"

Darian looked at her, a little incredulous.  "I hope Suzumiya doesn't come up with something worse than that!  But I guess well both see at the next meeting one way or another."

As it turns out, I had seriously underestimated Suzumiya's resourcefulness.