Volume 8 - The Indignation of Suzumiya Haruhi

by Tanigawa Nagaru

  “I won’t let you fail and sit for miserable tuition classes and re-examinations during the holidays! I won’t let something so trivial come between you and the SOS Brigade’s activities!”

  Once she started rambling about Brigade Activities, that girl would hear nothing from anyone else. I had originally wanted to ask her what was my hourly pay for contributing to Brigade Activities, but held back after rationalizing that my entire wallet might be confiscated at the mention of that sentence.

  Compared to spending the last few days of school being cooped up in a packed class room being forced by teachers to study, I’d rather sit in the club room and enjoy Asahina-san’s tea while playing board games with Koizumi. That was the sole reason why I had asked Haruhi, who had an armband bearing the words “Supreme Instructor” now, to help me with my homework.

  Haruhi’s method of study was simple, and that was via intuition. She would memorize any questions or topics she deemed important, and likely to appear on the sheet of my question papers. I had a feeling that Haruhi’s intuition would be very accurate, so I listened carefully to her while nodding my head, Of course, if I were to ask Nagato, she would probably recite out the entire question paper for me, complete with the model answers. If I were to ask Koizumi instead, he might use some weird powers to magically whisk the question papers over from the staff room to the club room. Since I possessed no form of ESP, the only thing I could do was study hard.

  It would have been better if I could just sit back and do nothing but watch a happy Haruhi, who had specially prepared a teacher’s cane and a pair of spectacles to look more like a “Supreme Instructor”, waltz around the club room, but I knew that it was impossible. It was for my own good, after all.

  I was pretty sure Haruhi wanted to sit behind me again during the next semester, and every so often poke my back with her mechanical pencil and say, “Hey, Kyon, why don’t we…” before proceeding to spout out some nonsensical idea that gave no consideration whatsoever to how others or I felt. In order to accomplish that, she had to be in the same class as me next semester, and that would mean having me pass the exams and not get retained for another year. Hence it was only natural that she monitored my grades. Why would she go all the way to do that, you ask? Well that’s because she’s the multi-talented, SOS Brigade commander after all. It’s just like how a commanding officer cannot win a war without soldiers, and how soldiers would be disorganized on the battlefield without a reigning commander. Haruhi would be the commanding officer in question here, giving out various orders, while I would be her loyal soldier, faithfully executing each and every one of them.

  That’s basically how things went last semester, and I strongly believe that next semester will be the same too. I have a hunch that’s also what Haruhi has in mind, and in order to accomplish her goal, she would use any methods, including those out of the bounds of logic. Heck, I might even have to spend my entire life repeating my first year, Groundhog Day style.

  I really hoped that nothing like what happened last August would happen again. I’m pretty sure Haruhi doesn’t either. At least, that is what I believe.

  Why? Do you even need to ask? It’s because the creation of the SOS Brigade has given Haruhi many happy and memorable moments, and she wouldn’t want those happy memories to go to waste. This I can definitely confirm.

  I mean, just look at Haruhi’s current state.

  I once again looked at the match before me.

  Haruhi was leading the volleyball team to victory.

  She was attacking savagely, spiking at every chance. And before you ask, let me clarify that I wasn’t peeping at her belly that occasionally showed whenever she made a high jump. I was looking at the expression on her face.

  When I first met her during the month of April a year ago, she was an individual who completely distanced herself from the class. During that time, all she had was a scowl on her face as she sat behind me, never smiling, not even once. Upon seeing this, I began chatting with her in order to liven up the atmosphere. Even though she would occasionally reply to my questions, she still kept a sizable distance from her fellow female classmates. Well, not any more now. Even though she didn’t have a bunch of really good friends in our class, she had nevertheless warmed up to our classmates, instead of rejecting them like she had before.

  It must have been the SOS Brigade’s influence. Before she became the eccentric person she was during high school, I believe that she used to be an active, cheerful and playful person. I don’t think the SOS Brigade changed Haruhi. Rather, I think it reverted her back to her original self, reawakening her cheerful personality that was covered after she entered junior high.

  I don’t think I’ve ever known Haruhi before junior high, seeing that we’ve never met before. I think I heard something about Haruhi from one of my friends who happened to study in the same junior high school as she did, but I can’t really remember.

  Haruhi was enjoying a game of volleyball with her fellow classmates on the volleyball court.

  In the gym, Haruhi was enjoying a game of volleyball with her fellow classmates on the volleyball court. For some reason, I felt as if she was holding herself back. Was that bright, million-watt smile she usually revealed during punishment-games reserved for us brigade members only? It’s a shame then, Haruhi. I’m sure everyone would like to see it.

  Having successfully performed yet another backcourt attack, Haruhi slammed her fist into one of her teammate’s wide opened palms.

  The volleyball game then ended, and as so today’s school activities came to a close.

  Students who had club activities proceeded to head to their respective club rooms, while the others headed home. Being SOS Brigade members, Haruhi and I proceeded to walk to the all too familiar literature club room, with Haruhi looking even more pleased than usual.

  There was no doubt Haruhi was pleased after winning the volleyball match, but that was not all. The reason Haruhi looked even more pleased than usual was because she had successfully thwarted the student council’s plot in overthrowing the SOS Brigade. Having defeated the student council’s president, there was probably nothing that troubled Haruhi anymore, save the promotion to being second year seniors.

  Since Koizumi said that anything Haruhi wished for would become true, Nagato, Koizumi and I had come to the conclusion that there was a very big possibility Haruhi wished for all of us to be in the same class. Even though Koizumi was in “Bookworm” class, defying logic was the least of Haruhi’s powers. After all, there have been even more logic-defying instances of Haruhi’s powers, like for instance Asahina-san shooting laser beams out of her eyes. The main catch was Haruhi didn’t know she had such powers. If she did, it would probably be the undoing of the SOS Brigade.

  That wasn’t the only thing Haruhi didn’t know. Haruhi had no idea Nagato had the ability to manipulate data, or that Koizumi could possibly achieve anything with the ‘Organization’ on his side.

  I’m a very positive guy. Even though I would be entering my second year of high school soon, I would still want to sit in front of Haruhi. And I dare say that if the SOS Brigade was disbanded, I would be very sad, as sad as I was when I found out during December that Haruhi had disappeared.

  But come to think of it, if the SOS Brigade was really disbanded, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, and I don’t think I’ll come to mind so much. Because if the SOS Brigade was really disbanded, it would mean that Haruhi’s powers had finally calmed down, and just like Koizumi said, that was not a bad thing either. I wonder if this is what they mean by triple-crossing.

  It’s just —- If that really happened, I think I’ll be pretty lonely.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Maybe it’s because I had the words “Depressed” plastered all over my face, as the energetic Haruhi looked at me and said:

  “You certainly are acting strange today. For a moment you look silly, and all of a sudden you look serious. What’s up, face muscle cramps? Or is it due to de
pression since losing the soccer match? To be honest, you guys are really pathetic.”

  Well it’s not completely my fault. The teams were decided by drawing lots, and all of the athletic guys were selected to join Team A. I had to play the role of Defender for Team B, along with Taniguchi and Kunikida. We had managed to stop the striker by clinging on to him as if our lives depended on it, but I never expected him to pass the ball to Koizumi, who then kicked the ball into the goal. But what a pity. Class 1-9 lost to class 1-6 in the semi-finals. Although this was nothing to be surprised at, I had a feeling that leaving things half-accomplished wasn’t Koizumi’s style. Perhaps he had lost on purpose?

  “What are you mumbling about?”

  Haruhi said as she suddenly laughed.

  “But since it’s Koizumi-kun we’re talking about, I can’t say that it’s totally impossible. Maybe they just wanted to prove you wrong. The only thing you and Taniguchi perceive them as are a bunch of useless book-worms right? In the end you failed to stop them miserably and in the process made fools out of yourselves. What a bunch of morons. Although they are some pretty cocky students in Class 1-9, I don’t think that they’re that bad as a whole.”

  As I was recalling the match, I found myself before the club room door, having arrived here before I even knew it. Haruhi wrenched open the door and proudly strode inside. Don’t you have any manners at all? And what happened to “knock before you enter”?

  “Mikuru-chan~ How did your matches go? Is there any cold tea? I’ve been playing volleyball ever since this morning, and my throat feels dry, probably due to lack of water.”

  All the brigade members had already assembled in the club room. Nagato and Koizumi had resumed their usual seats, and Asahina-san had once again donned the maid costume as she stood by the door, holding a tea tray in her hands, looking like some elegant maid. I wonder if she plans on becoming Rembrandt or Ruben’s model one day?

  “Erm, I’m sorry, there’s no cold tea.”

  Asahina-san frantically apologized, as if she had done something wrong.

  “I-I’ll cool it down right away by putting it in the fridge… I-Is that okay?”

  Now that you mention it, there was really a fridge in this club room. Even though it was only a small one, it was nevertheless enough to stuff in a few cans of carbonated drinks. But since my main purpose of visiting the club room was to savor Asahina-san’s tea, the fridge was about as useless as the stove after Christmas.

  “There’s no need to.”

  Haruhi generously said.

  “Even though it wouldn’t take long for it to cool in the freezer, freshly brewed tea is still the best.”

  Asahina-san swiftly brought Haruhi and me two cups of steaming tea.

  Asahina-san swiftly brought Haruhi and me two cups of steaming tea. It seems that her tea-brewing skills have improved yet again. Just as I was thinking whether or not to compliment on her skills, Asahina-san suddenly said:

  “Hmm… Cold tea… Should I buy a water cooler next?”

  Sometimes I wonder, did Asahina-san bring anything else from the future other than knowledge on tea leaves? Even though she looked like a cute little maid, she was nevertheless a time traveler from the future.

  Koizumi was playing Othello all by himself.

  “Why bring out this nostalgic relic now?”

  I said to Koizumi as I sipped my tea. Come to think of it, this was the first board game to be brought into the club room, and I was the one who brought it.

  “It’s because the brigade has been around for almost a year now, has it? I was thinking maybe we should go back to where we started.”

  Even though Koizumi was pretty courteous on the soccer field, he had returned to his original smiling state now. Before I had the chance to answer him, he had removed all the pieces from the Othello board and returned it to its original state back on the table.

  Back to where we started, eh?

  Even though I haven’t lived so long as to look back and reminisce on my past, there was something I’ve always wanted to say.

  I picked up the magnetic Othello board and shot a sideways glance. A year ago, I saw a person’s shadow when I entered the club room. That shadow was now sitting in a corner of the club room, quietly reading a book on foreign literature.

  “………”

  It was Nagato Yuki, silently reading a book in the corner. I clearly remember the one time this alien-made interface revealed any signs of emotions. It was when Asahina-san and I were playing Othello.

  Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever played Othello with Nagato before. I don’t think I’d have any chances of winning, though, unless Nagato decided to lose on purpose. Now if my opponent was Koizumi, that’d be another story. Unless Koizumi was also deliberately losing to me all this time.

  I had noticed that after plopping herself down on the commander’s chair, Haruhi would be silent for a short period of time. First, she would turn on the computer and connect herself to the internet. That was a somewhat daily routine to her. The next thing she would do was access the SOS Brigade’s miserable home page. This was the commander’s duty, I suppose? Finally, she would begin surfing the Internet for all sorts of weird and unknown stuff. She would also occasionally download freeware from random sites and install them. I have no idea what’s on the computer and what’s not anymore. If she ran into a problem, Haruhi would simply summon up the Computer Society’s President and have him fix things up immediately. Talk about using a tool to its fullest.

  On this lazy winter’s evening, each and every one of us brigade members felt tired after that silly intramural sports event. All I wanted to do was have my evening pass peacefully.

  Playing Othello was not such a bad idea, and Asahina-san’s tea was even tastier than usual. It seemed that today would pass in peace too, and soon enough we would be able to head back home.

  —- If only that were the case. They say all peaceful days must come to an end some day.

  Back to where it all started.

  Because someone who had hoped for this happened to barge into the SOS Brigade’s club room.

  Yes, a client. This time, it wasn’t one of our prearranged plans, and I highly doubt it’s something Haruhi wished for.

  After knocking on the door, our client politely entered our club room. Perhaps it was due to her politeness, I felt as if I was witnessing a sheep enter a tiger’s den.

  Our client then proceeded to say something that made Haruhi very excited.

  “I think there are spirits wandering around my house. Could you please help me investigate the matter?”

  “Spirits?”

  With eyes sparkling, Haruhi repeated our client’s words like a parrot learning to mimic.

  “Have they appeared before?”

  “Yes.”

  Our client, Sakanaka-san, said as she nodded.

  “There have been plenty of rumors lately about spirits behind everything.”

  Sakanaka who? I’ve already forgotten her given name, all I remember is that she’s in the same class as Haruhi and me. Sakanaka-san sat on the chair specially reserved for clients, looking anxious as she sipped Asahina-san’s tea.

  “It’s happened just recently, about three days ago. I’m also confused about this matter…”

  Sakanaka-san said as she drank her tea. She then stood up and started walking around the club room, looking very much bemused, especially when she approached Asahina-san’s costume rack.

  I suddenly recalled Haruhi’s volleyball match. Standing beside Haruhi, the setter for Girl’s Team (A), was this particular girl —- Sakanaka-san.

  Truthfully speaking, I had a very vague impression of her in class. The only person of Class 1-5 who stood out the most in my memory was the class representative Asakura Ryouko, who had since transferred to Canada. Since then I have no idea who the class representative was, or if her former position was still vacant. The other people I was familiar with would be Kunikida and Taniguchi. If put in terms of
the solar system, Kunikida and Taniguchi would be like what Venus is to Earth, while my other classmates, Sakanaka-san included, would probably be the planet Uranus.

  Haruhi, however, was one who did not care about how distant she was from her classmates.

  “Please tell me everything you know. Spirits, eh… Spirits… Say Sakanaka-san, you’re sure it’s spirits who are behind everything, right? If that’s true, then it should be time for the SOS Brigade to act!”

  From her looks, I was pretty sure she wanted to put on an armband that said “Spirit Detective” and rush straight to the scene of the crime.

  “Erm… Wait… Suzumiya-san…”

  Sakanaka-san said as she frantically waved her hands.

  “I can’t guarantee its really spirits, it’s just something that resembles spirits, that’s all. Or at least that’s what the rumors say… Although I do find that place to be really creepy…”

  When Sakanaka-san found the gazes of all five brigade members, Nagato included, focused on her, she quickly lowered her head, and said:

  “Erm… Was it right for me to come here…”

  “You were absolutely right, Sakanaka-san!”

  Haruhi roared.

  “Be it ghosts, spirits, specters, wandering souls, whatever. As long as they’re supernaturally related I’ve got no problem with them. I can’t sit still after finding out about this kind of incident!”

  You’ve never been able to sit still in the first place.

  “Kyon, I would appreciate it if you’d stop interrupting me with your silly side comments. We’re talking about spirits here, spirits! Don’t you want to see one? Or have you already seen one yourself?”

  I’ve never seen one, and I sure hope I never do.

  Haruhi looked like a kindergartener who had just woken up from her 30 minute nap.

  “Unfortunately we can’t depart now. I’ve still got to work out the details.”

  I’m sorry but I don’t think there’s much to work out.