She said, and gazed outside the window. The briskness of the streaming clouds showed the strength of the wind.
I don’t want to be lumped in with your brain. The occupant of my head has nothing to do with space-time distortions, information explosions, or that damned grey space. Compared to Haruhi’s unprecedented variety, it is about as cute as a miniature dachshund.
“Listening without understanding is nothing but a waste of time.”
I said instead. Though I said it without any confidence.
“Hmm?”
With Haruhi’s eyes still fixed on the scenery outside, she said to the windowpane,
“If you like, I could help you with your studies. I won’t mind, we’d just be repeating the lessons anyway, and if it’s World Leaders, I’m confident that you’ll get more from my teaching method than class.”
Haruhi muttered to herself, then gave me a glance before quickly looking away.
“They suck, those people,” Haruhi muttered to herself, then gave me a glance before quickly looking away.
While I thought about how I should answer,
“Also, Mikuru-chan has been flapping about, too, hasn’t she? This school, although it’s prefectural and gives a strange impression, acts like a college preparatory school, so this season is hard on the second years as well. They’re real busy with special classes, trial exams, and all that. And the school trip was nothing but a complete disaster. If that was the case, they should just have the trip sometime within the year. They’ll just have to have the school festival in spring instead of autumn. Don’t you think?”
She spoke briskly, then appeared to be watching the streaming clouds again. It seemed like she was waiting for my answer, so I said,
“Yeah.”
I went along and watched the clouds as well.
“I just want to go on to the next year safely.”
If, by chance, I do get held back a year,
“Hiya, Suzumiya-senpai.”
“Ah, stupid Kyon, go buy me a sanshoku bread. I’ll pay you later.”
Resentfully, it ended up like one of our ordinary clubroom conversations. I can avoid the penalty if I could make Haruhi prepare a question guide for the term exams. Wait, it would also be good to add Nagato to the manufacturing staff. I believe we can sell the end-product at five hundred yen per copy. We could make a small fortune. My fellow failure Taniguchi can buy one with a thirty percent special service discount.
“That won’t do.”
Haruhi dismissed my profitable proposal.
“You won’t really learn anything that way. That’s just a short-term thing. You’d go all panicky if the questions were just a little off. If you don’t build up your knowledge by getting a perfect understanding of things, you’ll just end up being tricked by some bad folks. Well, relax. If you seriously keep at it for half a year, even you can be in Kunikida’s level.”
You don’t need to be that fired up about it. An image comes to mind of Haruhi all-too happily letting me have it with a “Wrong! Why can’t you understand such a simple thing? Stupid, stupid, stupid!” through a megaphone every time I bring up an answer that I’ve figured out as I sweated nervously, and while I was telling myself not to picture such a scene,
“Just ask me about the things you don’t understand and I’ll teach you. The rest will take care of itself, somehow.”
“If it’ll just happen somehow, then why hasn’t it happened already?”
Did I just say such an irritating thing out loud? Yes, I sure did.
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
Haruhi turned to the front with lips that seemed like they were about to explode, and boldly thrust her chest forward.
“Because I won’t allow a scandal such as a dropout coming from my SOS Brigade to happen. If it does, the Student Council or whatever might go ‘Oh, look at this!’ and come forward with a complaint. That’s why, so you don’t miss this chance, you must motivate yourself even just a little. Got it?”
After spitting out such unusually sharp lines with a dexterous expression of frowned eyebrows and a smiling mouth, Haruhi kept scowling at me and frowned until I expressed agreement with her demand.
The end of the school day had come.
Having left the classroom, I acted like I was heading off to the staff room and parted with Haruhi, then went directly to the Student Council room. Since it was right beside the staff room, there would be no need to make a detour to hide my destination, and I should arrive without any problems.
Even so, when it comes down to it, some feeling of tension was still coursing through my body.
I had no idea what sort of face the Student Council President had, even though I had seen him somewhat during the Student Council elections after the school festival. Now that I think about it, though I remember hearing every candidate’s speech in the auditorium, as a perfectly non-affiliated voter, I wrote down the most ordinary name on the ballot, and promptly forgot about it. Just what kind of guy became president? In any event, I’m sure it’s a sophomore, since someone you call President is probably a higher year student. Someone with more dignity than the Computer Club’s President, I’d think.
While I was hesitating in front of the Student Council for a moment,
“Oh, Kyon-kun! Whacha doing?”
Coming out of the staff room, a long-haired lady had bumped into me. It was Asahina-san’s classmate and honorary consultant of the SOS Brigade, which made it subsequently clear that she was no ordinary second year girl.
Even if she has to raise her head to somebody, this person would still make him fall.
“Hiya.”
At my varsity group-level enthusiastic greeting, she went,
“A-haha! Hiee!”
Tsuruya-san raised a hand with a hyper-looking smile, and fixed her eyes on the door I was standing next to,
“What have we here! You have some business with the Student Council?”
I went to this place just to hear what this business is. That doesn’t mean I have something to do at the Student Council.
“E-heh?”
Tsuruya-san, who approached in that vigorous way of walking that closely resembled Haruhi’s, drew her mouth close to my ear as I teetered backwards. She then said in voice that was quiet for her,
“Hmm? By any chance, are you spying on the Student Council?”
Tsuruya-san’s face was in point-blank range, like some serious spies were listening in. This person, who is unforgettable for her cheerful giggles no matter what was happening, wore an expression that I could not recognize on her. For some reason or other, I felt that it was necessary to give an explanation.
“Umm, well, you see……”
What can I say, Tsuruya-san. If I were a spy following somebody’s secret order, I shouldn’t be getting into such trouble right now.
“That’s true.”
Tsuruya-san stuck out her tongue,
“Yeah, sorry for being suspicious. I just happened to hear some things. There are rumors of mysterious people creeping around the dark side of the Student Council, working in the shadows, didn’t you know? It also seems like many things happened after the presidential election before. Sounds like a bunch of lies, don’t you think?”
First time I’ve heard of it. It’s hard to imagine that a shabby prefectural high school’s elections for President of the Student Council would have such things happening behind the scenes, so it’s all probably a false rumor. Though Haruhi would love it if there really were such a conspiracy story on our campus.
“Tsuruya-san.”
It was my turn to ask her. There were things I didn’t know that were probably already well-known to her.
“Do you know what kind of person the President is?”
Though I had wished she could tell me something about the guy,
“I don’t know much, myself. We’re not in the same class. He’s an arrogant but good guy, and he seems to have a pretty sharp head on his shoulders. If you talk ab
out the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he gives an impression similar to Shiba Yi. It looks like the slogan he proclaimed was for the improvement of student independence. The previous Student Council had just seemed like hishimochi-in-the-sky.”
It bothered me that I couldn’t immediately picture his real character even with the comparison to a famous historical figure, and I was suspicious about whether her mochi-metaphor was accurate or not.
“Anyway, why were you at the staff room, Tsuruya-san?”
“Hm? I’m on day-duty today. I came here to deliver the daily reports.”
After answering casually, Tsuruya-san patted me on the shoulder and said in a big voice,
“Kyon-kun, keep up the good work! If you get into a fight with the Student Council, I’ll give you a hand! And Haru-nyan and the others are all on your side, of course!”
That’s really encouraging. However, I don’t want it to go that far. I wonder what kinds of tricks Haruhi, who’d be ecstatic at discovering a formidable enemy, will employ; just thinking about it is wearing out my brain. I already feel like thinking of something else.
“Laters”, Tsuruya-san waved, having finished saying all that she had wanted to say, and departed briskly.
Like always, this person gets to the point even without saying anything. She is a match for Haruhi when it comes to the power of conceptualization. She’s probably the only student in North High who could form a combination with Haruhi and show comparable power. Where she differs from our troublesome brigade chief is that she hasn’t completely left behind all common sense.
However, judging from the thinness of the wall and the door, I can’t help but think that Tsuruya-san’s last shout must’ve passed right on through to the inside. Haruhi-like behavior must be lying dormant within her somewhere.
Well, I can’t just go changing my mind now.
To avoid any adverse effects, I knocked politely first.
“You may enter.”
The voice resounded abruptly from inside. You may enter; so there really people who speak like that among the high school students. And it was such a cool voice that it could be used to dub a veteran actor in a foreign movie.
I opened the sliding door, and my body was plunged into the Student Council room for the first time in my life.
Although the Student Council room boasts a somewhat wider area than the Literature Club room, it wasn’t very different from any other clubroom in the old shack. Without an exclusive desk where a triangular pyramid with something like “President” written on it was placed, it looked bare compared to our clubroom. It would be simpler to just call it a meeting room.
Koizumi, who had arrived before me, gave me a greeting,
“Thank you. It’s good that you could come.”
Standing by the entrance, and lined up with Koizumi like she was also waiting for me, was Nagato.
“…………”
Nagato sagely darted her eyes to the windows, and before them was the President.
The President…… huh.
He was a tall student, I realized. He was looking outside the windows for some reason, and he was unmoving as he held his hands together at his back. The setting sun coming in from the south-facing window served as backlighting, making his form ambiguous.
There was another person; this one a shadow sitting in a corner of the long table. It was a female student, her face hidden as she opened a notebook, looking like she was getting ready to take down the minutes with the mechanical pencil in her hand. It seems like this person is the secretary.
The President still hasn’t moved much. What could be so interesting about the scenery outside; the tennis court and the empty pool shouldn’t be visible, but the profound silence stretched on.
“Mister President.”
After a moderate pause, Koizumi called out in his much-too exhilarated voice.
“All the people you have invited are now gathered here. Please proceed with your business.”
“Very well.”
The President turned around slowly, and I was finally able to assess his face. He was an exceptionally slender, glasses-wearing second year student. Though it was in a different way from Koizumi’s budget-idol face, he was a pretty handsome bastard. It seemed like all of his thoughts were focused on a desire for improvement; there was a cold-blooded look in his eyes that made one think of a young career person, and I reflexively thought that he was not here to make any friends.
Expressionless, though in a different way from Nagato, he continued,
“Though I think you may already have heard from Koizumi, I will say it once more. I wanted you all to come here. Regarding the Literature Club’s activities, the Student Council is giving its final notice.”
Final, how? Has there ever been any sort of notice until this moment? Even if there were, it seems Nagato hasn’t been complying meekly to your invitations, which is the reason we were able to make the clubroom our home base.
“…………”
Nagato was without any reaction or concern as the President coldly spoke.
“Currently, you have been reduced to being a Literature Club in name only. Do you agree?”
She’s no good except for reading quietly in the clubroom, as I thought.
“…………”
Nagato was silent.
“You are already at a level of not even functioning as a club.”
“…………”
Nagato looked mutedly at the President.
“I will state it clearly. We, the Student Council, cannot see any reason for the current Literature Club’s existence. These are the findings of our continuous all-aspect investigation.”
“…………”
Nagato was keeping still.
“Therefore, we are announcing the indefinite suspension of the Literature Club. You are to promptly vacate your clubroom.”
“…………”
Nagato was quiet all the same. Though I knew why.
“You are Nagato-kun, huh.”
As the President coolly caught the unyielding Nagato’s eyes,
“You leave non-members in your clubroom, and neglect your duties by doing nothing about it. Besides that, what have you been doing with the Literature Club’s allotted activity budget this year? Are you saying that the filming of that movie was an activity of the Literature Club? According to our investigation, the credits for that movie in question said that it was produced by an illegal group, the SOS Brigade; there was no mention of the Literature Club’s name anywhere. And generally speaking, the film itself was made without the permission of the school festival’s executive committee.”
It pains me to hear you say that. Koizumi and Nagato may have willed it to stop right from the start, but ending Haruhi’s tyranny was my sworn duty. All for the sake of Asahina-san, who had been made the heroine by force.
“…………”
You couldn’t tell what Nagato was thinking to herself from her profile. Though that’s just an amateur’s observation.
Either the President is misunderstanding her non-reaction as a sign of obedience, or he is just not shaking off his arrogant manner.
“Tentatively, as a step in the Literature Club’s suspension, you will be prohibited from entering the clubroom until new members join in the next school year. Are there any objections? If you do, you should speak up. I’m all ears.”
“…………”
Though not even a hair on Nagato was moving, if it were Haruhi, Asahina-san, and Koizumi, they might’ve understood. And, if my colleagues could understand it, then it would already be obvious even to me. I know that much from the atmosphere.
“…………”
Nagato, who had sunk into silence,
“…………”
She seemed to be quietly angry.
“Hm. No objections, then?”
The President moved the tips of his lips in disgust. Though there was no change in his cool expression itself,
“In the Literatu
re Club, Nagato-kun, there are no members other than you. You are the de facto head. If you would consent, for the preservation of the clubroom we will start the immediate removal of all foreign objects by taking out all items unrelated to club activities and disposing of them, or having them stored here. Retrieve the personal effects that you have left there at once.”
“Wait a sec.”
I interrupted the President’s one-sided declaration. Before Nagato’s silent anger reaches the critical point,
“Saying that all of a sudden is too much. Neglecting us until now, and then springing this on us without any warning isn’t fair.”
“You, of all people, should say that.”
The President poured a cold look on me, going “Heh” with his lips in an annoying smile.
“I had the club establishment application you’ve submitted shown to me. It was so bad, it was funny. If we approved every association that gave such random details, this school would see no end of it.”
That despicable, smart-ass upper classman pushed up his glasses in a dramatic gesture,
“You should study your words some more. You, especially, should be working on your studies in general. I don’t think your grades are good enough that you can play around after school doing nothing.”
Just as I thought. The President has been planning to scrap the SOS Brigade from the beginning. That stuff about the Literature Club was a simple ruse. At least Haruhi the ultra-director wrote Nagato into a scenario that was somewhat excusable.
“Saying that you will join the Literature Club is useless now.”
The President said, forestalling me even though I haven’t even thought of it.
“Look. For argument’s sake, even if you could pass the year as official Literature Club members, you couldn’t do even one thing that can be recognized as a Literature Club activity. Just what would you do?”
The President’s glasses were flashing for no reason. Are those special effects?
“We may have appeared tolerant. You were talking about the SOS Brigade? It was formed without authorization, and utterly does whatever it pleases. Not only did you light fireworks on the rooftop, you threatened teachers, loitered on campus in lascivious clothing, inexcusably cooked Nabe within a fire-prohibited building, and just been a big problem otherwise. Just who do you think you people are?”
Volume 8 - The Indignation of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 2