The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Read Online Free PDF Page B

the top of the dusty stairway.
    “… I didn’t say yes or no yet….”
    No point in talking to a plaster bust. I set off, now thinking about what I would say to my curious classmates when I returned to the classroom.
    Here are the provisions for chartering a “student association.”
    Five or more members. Determine faculty advisor, name, responsible party, and club activities. These must be approved by the student council club administration committee. Club activities must adhere to the policy of leading a productive and active school life. Based on future activities and performance, the administration committee may press a motion for a raise in status to “research society.” Furthermore, as long as the group remains a student association, no funding will be provided.
    There was no need for any real digging. This was all written in the back of the student handbook.
    We could take care of the member requirement by randomly asking people to let us use their names. A faculty advisor might be hard to find, but there was always the option of using deceit. The name just needed to be something inoffensive. The responsible party would obviously be Haruhi.
    But I was willing to bet that her club activities weren’t going to “adhere to the policy of leading a productive and active school life.”
    At least that’s what I told her. However, Haruhi Suzumiya is the kind of person who only hears what she wants to hear.
    Grabbing the sleeve of my blazer with a vise-like grip the moment the bell rang, Haruhi dragged me out of the room the way a kidnapper would and zoomed off. It was all I could do to prevent my bookbag from being left behind in the classroom.
    “Where are we going?” The question any sane person would ask in this scenario.
    “The club room!” was Haruhi’s curt response before she fell silent as she moved forward with enough vigor to bowl over the darting students in front of us. At least let go of my arm!
    We navigated through a passage and descended to the first floor before exiting. Then we entered a different building and headed back upstairs before Haruhi came to a stop in the middle of a dimly lit hallway, forcing me to brake as well.
    A door stood before us.
    Literary Club.
    That’s what it said on the affixed, slanting nameplate.
    “Here.”
    Haruhi opened the door without even knocking and barged in without the slightest hint of reservation. I followed suit, naturally.
    The room was surprisingly large. Maybe because it only contained a long table, metal chairs, and steel bookshelves. The two or three cracks running across the ceiling and walls told the tale of the decrepit state of the building structure.
    And seated in one of the metal chairs, like an addition to the room, was a girl reading a thick hardcover book.
    “This room is now our club room!” Haruhi proclaimed in a dignified fashion, throwing her arms into the air. Her face was painted with a divine smile. I decided not to voice my opinion that seeing such a smile on her face in the classroom every day would be a good thing.
    “Wait a second. Where are we?”
    “The cultural department clubhouse. The art club and wind ensemble have the art room and music room, right? Clubs and societies that don’t have specialized classrooms have rooms in this clubhouse. Also known as the old shack. This is the literary club’s room.”
    “So this belongs to the literary club.”
    “But the third-years all graduated last spring so it has zero members. It was the only club that would have been cut if nobody new joined. And this girl is the first-year who joined.”
    “Then the club wasn’t cut, right?”
    “It might as well have been. It only has one person.”
    Unfreakingbelievable. She planned on taking over the room. I directed my attention toward the girl who was apparently a first-year literary club member, indulging herself in reading at the folding table.
    A girl with short hair and glasses.
    She hadn’t even looked up once during