After capturing the hearts of everyone in the class in every way, Haruhi was relatively quiet for the next few days, playing the role of a seemingly harmless high school girl.
I now understand very well just what people mean by the calm before a storm.
Well, everyone who came to this particular high school was a student with average grades from one of the four city middle schools, which included East Middle School. This meant that some of these students had gone to middle school with Haruhi, so they realized that her decision to stay in the background was probably an omen of some kind. Unfortunately, I didn’t know anyone from East Middle, and nobody in the class ever bothered to enlighten me. This led to what happened right after morning homeroom started, a few days after her crazy introduction. This was a moment I’ll never forget. I broke the world record for stupidity and spoke to Haruhi Suzumiya.
My domino reaction of misfortune had begun, and I was the one who had knocked the first one down.
But come on. As long as Haruhi Suzumiya sat still with her mouth shut, anyone looking at her would be convinced that she was just a beautiful high school girl. Who’s going to blame me for losing my mind for a moment and assuming that I could use the fact that my seat was right in front of hers to approach her?
Naturally, there was only one topic to talk about.
“Hey,” I said, as I nonchalantly turned around with a casual smile on my face. “About the stuff in your introduction earlier. How much of it was serious?”
With her arms crossed and her mouth forming an upside-down V, Haruhi stared into my eyes unflinchingly.
“What stuff earlier?”
“Well, you know. The stuff about aliens and whatever.”
“Are you an alien?” She asked this with a dead serious look on her face.
“No, but….”
“No, but what?”
“…Just forget it.”
“Don’t talk to me then. You’re wasting my time.”
The tone of her voice and the look she gave me were frigid enough to almost make me apologize out of reflex. Haruhi Suzumiya then stopped staring at me the way one would stare at Brussels sprouts, and with a “hmph,” turned to glare in the direction of the blackboard.
Frozen out of a quick response, I was saved by the timely entrance of our homeroom teacher, Okabe.
As I dejectedly turned to face the front of the room, I noticed a number of people looking curiously towards me. When our eyes met, each person would half-smile in a knowing way, as if to say, “Thought so.” And then nod as if to offer their condolences.
That kind of left me feeling uncomfortable. It was only later that I learned they had all gone to East Middle.
✦ ✦ ✦
So yeah. Given that my first contact with Haruhi would probably fall into the “worst ever” category, I had begun wondering if it would be better not to get involved with her. A week went by without anything happening to prove that idea wrong.
However, there were other people in the class who hadn’t grasped the situation or were just plain blind to their surroundings. Those classmates would approach Haruhi, who was always in a foul mood, brow wrinkled and mouth looking like an upside-down V, and attempt to start a conversation about one thing or another.
They were just some nosy girls who saw this girl who had isolated herself from day one and wanted to bring her into their circle of friends. I’m sure they were well-intentioned, but you have to take into account who they were dealing with.
“Did you watch that TV show last night? The one that starts at nine.”
“No.”
“What—? Why not—?”
“Don’t care.”
“You should try watching an episode. Oh, but you won’t know what’s going on if you start now. That’s right. In that case, I can fill you in on what’s happened so far.”
“Shut up.”
That’s how it went.
It’d be one thing if her response had been devoid of emotion, but Haruhi’s facial expression and tone of voice were clearly broadcasting irritation, leaving the other person feeling like she’d done something wrong. In the end, all the girl could say was, “Um…Well, you know…” before slinking away with drooping shoulders. “Did I say something strange?”
Rest assured, you didn’t. The only thing strange here is Haruhi’s mind.