Haruhi’s eyes flared up brightly in excitement. I avoided her gaze as I looked at Sakanaka-san who was sitting beside me, opening her mouth as if she had something to say, but abruptly closing it all of a sudden.
Why did Sakanaka-san bring up the subject of spirits just as the term was about to end? Speaking of clients, she would probably be our second client so far, the first being Kimidori-san. After Kimidori-san had given us the trouble of locating the missing Computer Society President, I had tore down our advertising poster and tossed it into the bin. That seemed to have worked, because since then no one had bothered to visit the SOS Brigade. I doubt many even knew of an SOS Brigade anyway. Is that to say Sakanaka-san memorized the contents of the poster before I tore it down? If that was the case I felt sorry for her brain cells, for they could have been used to remember even more useful things.
To my surprise, Sakanaka-san shook her head.
“That’s not it. I remembered that I had received something like a flyer for the SOS Brigade some time ago but had forgotten to throw it away on my way home. When I saw the flyer, I suddenly thought that this was the best place to come to.”
Sakanaka-san said as she retrieved a piece of paper from her bag. Upon seeing the old and crumpled paper, Asahina-san backed away like a vampire seeing a cross.
“T-t-t-t-that’s….”
That was the first ever official flyer of the SOS Brigade, which was actually printed using the school’s photocopier.
It was the SOS Brigade’s founding principle.
If I’m not mistaken, this is what was written on the flyer:
“We at the SOS Brigade are currently searching for any paranormal activities in this world. Those who have experienced, are experiencing, or feel that they will experience a paranormal event soon are welcome to come seek us. We will try our best to solve your problem…”
This flyer was written by Haruhi, who wished to seek out all the paranormal activities in the world, and distributed by two bunny girls by the school gates.
Oh boy. It seems that the seed Haruhi had planted a year ago had now sprouted and came back to us. And during the end of the school terms, too. Who had wanted such a thing to happen? I didn’t scream out “encore”. Is this what “back to where we started” meant?
I wonder if Sakanaka-san felt the uneasiness Asahina-san and I radiated, as she too grew uneasy.
“… This is the SOS Brigade, am I right? It’s very famous now… From what I’ve heard, it was Suzumiya-san and you guys who were involved in that scary incident…” [Translator’s note: The word used for scary is ambiguous. It could mean “scary incident” or “act of terrorism”.]
I’m sorry, Sakanaka-san, but I’m afraid we don’t have anyone talented in that field. The only ones we have are a book-loving alien, an esper who likes to deduce and a time traveler that will greatly soothe your tired eyes. We would probably be more talented in the science fiction field instead. Of course, all of this doesn’t apply to good old normal me.
As I sat down quietly without uttering a word, a peculiar expression appeared on Haruhi’s face.
“You see, Kyon, someone did bother to read our flyers. How can you say that it’s a waste of time now? Maybe we should resort to distributing flyers again in the future.”
Honestly. I think that even Haruhi had forgotten about the whole flyer incident as well.
“Well, rest assured, Sakanaka-san! Since we’re classmates, I’ll solve this for you free of charge!”
Truthfully speaking, Haruhi never once charged anyone who came here. After all, the greatest reward Haruhi could ever expect would to be to come in contact with some paranormal event. As long as a client came to visit our club room, Haruhi would be overjoyed. It was the same with Kimidori-san’s kamadouma case as well.
“Spirits eh.”
Haruhi said as a smile creased her lips.
“Our goal is to exterminate those evil spirits, but before that, I’ll have to know each and every detail regarding them! Oh, and we’ll be needing the camera and camcorder too.”
Haruhi said to herself, getting excited over a matter all of us brigade members clearly weren’t. This wasn’t good. If this went on, spirits might really appear… Wait, did Sakanaka-san say spirits?
Ahaha. Those spirits might be nothing more than an optical illusion. If word got out that spirits really did exist, then all the foundations of science that man had spent years to accumulate might very well crumble.
“Erm… I think we’d better wait. I can’t really guarantee that spirits really are behind this. Maybe they aren’t, but I can’t seem to find any other explanation for it…”
Sakanaka-san started to fumble with her words.
“Hey, Haruhi.”
I interrupted. Why, you ask? It’s because that idiot had already began running towards the equipment closet.
“Calm down, would you? Or at least, hear what Sakanaka-san has to say.”
“You’re in my way.”
Haruhi said as she frustratedly sat back down on the commander’s chair, crossing both her arms at the same time. She shot Sakanaka-san and me a look that suggested we should hurry up and finish what we had to say. I ignored her and glanced at Koizumi and Nagato’s expressions, which I had not done since Sakanaka-san had entered the clubroom.
I shouldn’t have looked.
The two of them looked indistinguishable from normal. Koizumi still wore his trademark, foxy smile, and Nagato didn’t display any expression at all, just as usual.
However, they seemed to be taking interest in Sakanaka-san, and for some strange reason, I suddenly felt that the both of them had the same thoughts running in their minds.
—- Spirits? What is she talking about?
That’s what I could read from the looks on their faces.
Since we’re on the subject of spirits, let me first clarify that I don’t believe in ghosts. I had firmly believed that those supernatural shows you’d see on television were no more than cheap entertainment, and were definitely not real.
However, all that I had previously believed in had gone out of the window ever since last year. Do you still have to ask why? It’s because I’ve come into contact with aliens, time travelers, and even an idiotic esper. I’ve even gone through many paranormal events myself.
Due to this, it would come across as no surprise should spirits, demons or angels suddenly materialize before my eyes one day. But just like I’ve never had the chance to meet a slider, I’ve never had a chance to say hello to a wandering spirit either. Seeing that I’ve never come across any spirits before, it would be useless to worry about them. If they really decided to show themselves before me, I guess that I would have little choice then. However, I was not so desperate as to go searching for them myself. I think all of you should understand the current situation I’m stuck in now, no?
Besides, I’m not the only one stuck in this mess.
“Spirits eh… Hmm…”
Haruhi said as she rubbed her chin, appearing to be in deep thought.
“Erm, about this matter… Well…”
Asahina-san said as she looked suspiciously at our client.
“……”
Nagato was quiet, just as usual.
It was as if all of the brigade members had the same thoughts as I did, be it Nagato, Koizumi, or Asahina-san. At the mentioning of the word “spirit”, all of them became dead serious all of a sudden. Haruhi was obviously the only exception. Asahina-san looked as if she had little idea of what the word spirit truly meant, as she stood there with a blank look on her face. Maybe sometime in the far future, religion will be a thing of the past. That’s too bad, Asahina-san. Maybe I should teach you a thing or two about religion. Well, maybe some time in the future.
Even though I wasn’t a very sociable person, at the very least, Haruhi wasn’t the only person that I spoke to in Class 1-5. I would occasionally chat with Taniguchi, Kunikida and some of my other male classmates. Female classmates, though, were another st
ory altogether. I had almost zero experience in socializing with girls. That is, to put it simply, I rarely talked to any of the girls in my class.
Even after racking every single corner of my brain, I could still not recall any incident where I had talked with Sakanaka-san. But even so, from my observations, Sakanaka-san was one of those girls who rarely talked.
“I first started suspecting the presence of spirits thanks to Rousseau.”
Sakanaka-san said to an attentive Haruhi.
“Rousseau?”
Haruhi frowned upon hearing the name.
“Erm… It’s the name of my dog.”
That’s some way to name a dog.
“Every morning and evening, I would bring Rousseau for a walk along the same path. When my family first got Rousseau, we used to take many different paths, but that was no longer the case. I would now take him for a walk on a fixed route, while taking a stroll at the same time.”
You can skip trivial details like that.
“I’m sorry but could you get straight to the point?”
“Kyon, be quiet.” Haruhi snapped at me as she said: “Please continue, Sakanaka-san.”
“Rousseau used to like the path we would take, but one day…”
Sakanaka-san’s voice grew fainter as she gulped, making it sound as if she was about to dictate a horrifying ghost story.
“About a week ago, Rousseau suddenly refused to take the familiar path. Even though I pulled him along his leash, he would not budge.”
Sakanaka-san demonstrated a pose that I was highly familiar with —- With both her hands clawed tightly on the desk, she resembled Shamisen refusing to get off my bed at night.
“How was it possible for me to not be shocked at his reaction? He had been fine all along, it was only after approaching that place that he started acting weird. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after that, so I had no choice but to change our usual route.”
Sakanaka-san paused and drank a cup of tea.
So that’s what happened. A dog, which happened to share the same name with a famous philosopher, suddenly disliked its original route. What did this have to do with spirits?
Haruhi beat me to that question.
“What about spirits?”
Haruhi asked loudly.
“Erm… That’s why…”
Sakanaka-san said as she lowered her tea cup.
“That’s why I said I’m not sure if it involves spirits. It’s just a rumor I’ve heard lately.”
And where did that spirit rumor originate from?
“Lots of places. Many people keep dogs as pets in my area. I would occasionally meet up with them whenever I took Rousseau for a walk and stop by for a chat. The first time I’ve heard the rumor was when I was talking to Minami-san, who kept two Shar Peis as pets. According to Minami-san, both of her dogs also refused to walk along that path, as if they were troubled by it.”
Could it be something we humans can’t sense?
“Yeah, I think so, because I certainly never felt anything when I passed by.”
We’re getting more and more off topic here. What about spirits?
“Well, you see…”
Sakanaka-san said, as if she was deeply troubled by the incident.
“From that day onwards, all dogs in that area refused to approach that place. Soon, it became a hot topic among dog owners, and it seemed like dogs weren’t the only ones who disliked that place either. There used to be a couple of stray cats in that area, but ever since then, even they have disappeared from there.
All this while, Haruhi was listening very carefully. She would occasionally make random notes with her pencil, as if taking down important clues. But when I took a peek, all I saw were a couple of childish drawings of cats and dogs.
“There must be spirits nearby, that’s why animals do not dare to approach that place. It could be a spirit that only appeared before cats and dogs, but not humans. Am I right?”
“Yes, that’s the case.”
Sakanaka-san said as she nodded her head.
“Oh and there’s another thing that’s been bothering me. I have a friend named Higuchi-san who lives in the same area. She owns a lot of dogs, and I’m friends with each and every one of them.”
Sakanaka-san then used a scary tone as she said:
“This morning, I noticed that she didn’t bring one of her dogs out for a walk. When I asked her, she told me that he had fallen sick last night. She didn’t go into the details, but from what I heard, it seems that he was sent to a vet.”
“So do you think spirits have anything to do with this? Suzumiya-san?”
“Hmm… I’d say there are, but…”
Haruhi crossed her arms, lowered her head, shut her eyes and was soon deep in thought. From the expression on her face, I could roughly guess what she was thinking. “But if that’s all that’s happened, then it’d be too boring. Throwing in spirits to the mix makes things seem more interesting.”
“But from our current situation, I can’t confirm anything yet.”
Hearing Haruhi say something as down-to-earth as that definitely surprised me. But shortly after that, she said:
“However, the possibility of this case involving spirits is very high. Maybe it’s some spirit only dogs or cats can see. That girl – what was her name again? Her dog must have seen the spirit and suffered from major shock. That’s why it fell sick.”
I couldn’t say that I completely disagreed with Haruhi. I had seen Shamisen stare at an empty corner of my room for long periods before, as if looking at something I couldn’t see. But apparently cats were different from dogs. Even if they really did see a spirit, they wouldn’t fall ill. As a cat owner, I think I understand this very well.
As I was thinking about Shamisen, Haruhi suddenly stood up, threatening to kick the chair she was previously sitting on high into the air.
“I’ve basically understood the situation we’re in right now.”
The only thing I understand is that there’s some place where dogs and cats can’t enter.
“That’s more than enough. Instead of staying here making pointless deductions, we should hurry to the scene. If we’re lucky, we might run into something that apparently drives fear into an animal’s heart. It could be a spirit, a ghost, or maybe even a monster!
A monster? Isn’t that even scarier than a spirit? Just merely thinking of the various monsters that roamed Europe during the 19th century had made shivers travel up my spine. If it was a wandering spirit we encountered, we could perhaps preach to it and convince it not to harm us in order to be reincarnated into the next life, but if it’s monsters or demons we’re talking about, then you shouldn’t have come here in the first place, Sakanaka-san! What would happen if one of us were to be possessed?
Thinking of this, I suddenly found myself looking at Nagato.
Since the last client we had, Kimidori-san (who was now the student council secretary by the way) was related to Nagato in a way, could Sakanaka-san be related to her too?
I immediately expelled that idea from my mind. That was because Nagato had already put away her book and was keenly listening to Sakanaka-san. On that pale, white face of hers was an expression only I could fathom, something that I was greatly proud of. From what I could tell, Nagato seemed to be in deep thought, meaning that Sakanaka-san’s weird spirit-talk was something totally new for her.
I then turned my head suspiciously towards Koizumi. As we locked sights, Koizumi shrugged, and revealed a sort of pained smile on his face, as if asking what I wanted. “It’s none of my business” —- That was apparently what Koizumi was trying to say, based on his body language. I felt as if I had begun to understand Koizumi a little more.
The only person left would be someone I needn’t look at to know her answer. Asahina-san revealed an expression that plainly said “I know nothing at all”. In fact, I doubt if she even knew what we were talking about, or what was going on.
“Well then, everyone,”
/>
Haruhi said energetically.
“Let’s go now, we have a camera… But we lack a ghost trap. Now if only we had some paper strips with Tangut Inscriptions on them…”
“It’s also important to have maps of the area.”
Koizumi added, as he tossed Sakanaka-san a light smile.
“I would like to start a serious investigation on this. Would you mind if I asked for Rousseau’s help in assisting this investigation?”
Seems like he’s also pretty keen on starting this investigation himself.
It would be pointless searching all over the area for suspicious spots. If we did what Koizumi said and have Rousseau lead the way, we would be able to save a lot of time and head straight to our destination.
“Alright.”
Sakanaka-san said as she nodded towards Koizumi’s handsome face.
“I’ll bring him out for a walk then.”
Asahina-san’s eyes bulged as she said:
“Erm, if we’re really going, then I’ll have to change first…”
All this while Asahina-san was furiously gripping on her maid outfit, looking very anxious, as if she was half expecting herself to be dragged out in that outfit if she did not hurry up and change. That made sense, though, as Haruhi would definitely drag her along in that outfit should she get in the way of her investigation.
“Hmm, that’s right Mikuru-chan, you’d better get changed. You can’t be seen in that outfit outside.”
Haruhi had finally made a logical statement.
“Okay.”
Asahina-san said as she revealed a relaxed expression, and proceeded to reach for her hairclip.
If that was so, Koizumi and I would have to leave.
There was no way I’d let Koizumi taste some free eye candy.
As I turned my back and prepared to leave, Haruhi said something shocking.
“Mikuru-chan, you’re not allowed to wear your uniform.”
“Eh?”
Ignoring Asahina-san’s troubled “Eh”, Haruhi strode towards the costume rack, and smiled sadistically as she withdrew an outfit.
“This is it. It’s perfect for spooky occasions like this!”
Haruhi said as she raised a long white-and-red kimono. It was one which reminded me of ancient Japan, and that is to say…
Volume 8 - The Indignation of Suzumiya Haruhi Page 13