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next day.
    The location was the roof of Nagato’s apartment. Koizumi brought a bulky telescope that he mounted on a tripod. It was around eight PM .
    The sky was dark, and so was Asahina’s mood. She just stood there in a dazed stupor. This really wasn’t the time to be looking at the stars. I wasn’t in much better shape myself.
    Koizumi, who seemed to have recovered his composure, busied himself with setting up the telescope with a smile on his face.
    “This was a hobby of mine when I was young. I was deeply moved when I saw the moons of Jupiter for the first time.”
    Nagato was the same as always, just standing there on the roof.
    I looked up at the night sky, but there were only a handful of stars. The polluted air made them difficult to see. You could even say that there was no sky to see. Come winter, the atmosphere would clear and Orion would be visible, at the very least.
    The telescope was pointed at Earth’s neighbor. Haruhi was peering through the finder.
    “I wonder if any exist.”
    “Any what?”
    “Martians.”
    I’d rather they didn’t. I pictured a bunch of octopus-like monsters wriggling around as they plotted world domination, and it certainly didn’t sound entertaining in the slightest.
    “Why? They could be a friendly bunch. Look, there’s nobody on the surface. I’m sure they’re just a really reserved race who live in underground caverns. They’re trying to avoid scaring us Earthlings.”
    The Martians in Haruhi’s head sound like residents of Hollow Earth. Can’t you make up your mind? Are we talking Pellucidar or Mars Attacks! ? You’ll only make things more complicated if you combine them. Think simple, simple.
    “I’m sure they have a plan to pop out and welcome us when the first manned spacecraft lands on Mars. They’ll be like, ‘Welcome to Mars, neighbors, denizens of our neighboring planet!’ I’m sure of it.”
    That’d be a bigger scare. Practically an ambush. I have no idea who’s going to be the first to step on Martian soil, but we should probably warn that person. Do I address the letter to NASA?
    Time passed as we took turns using the telescope to observe the patterns of Mars and lunar craters. I suddenly noticed that someone was missing and began glancing around before I found Asahina sitting against the rooftop railing and hugging her knees. She had her head bowed down and her eyes were shut. Doubt she got much sleep last night, so I’ll let her rest for now.
    Haruhi had apparently grown tired of a night sky that showed no signs of dramatic change.
    “Let’s look for UFOs. They’re probably targeting Earth. There must be alien scouts standing by in orbit.”
    She cheerfully began turning the telescope this way and that but soon lost interest again. She sat down next to Asahina and leaned against her slender shoulder before falling asleep.
    Koizumi turned to me and spoke in a soft voice.
    “She must have worn herself out.”
    “I don’t see how she would be more tired than the rest of us.”
    Haruhi was sound asleep. I was tempted to draw on her face. Still, she looked her best when she was asleep, yeah? If only she would keep her mouth shut. If she swapped personalities with Nagato, that would be perfect. Well, a subdued Haruhi is one thing, but I can’t even begin to imagine a talkative Nagato whose moods swing all over the place.
    A night breeze blew by as I watched Haruhi and Asahina sleeping side by side. Haruhi wasn’t surrendering anything to Asahina in terms of looks at the moment. Some might even rank her above. I guarantee it.
    “What does she want to do?”
    I sighed to myself.
    “Have fun with her friends? Something like that.”
    “I would assume that is the case. And we would be the friends you mentioned.”
    Koizumi looked off into the night sky.
    “So then, which fun activity are we supposed to engage in? This won’t end until we figure that out. We will be forced to repeat this two-week period until we determine what Suzumiya