The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Read Online Free PDF Page A

Koizumi.
    “I’m quite relieved that we aren’t trying to capture an extraterrestrial beast to put in a freak show or shooting down a UFO to exhibit its interior.”
    I felt like I’d heard this before.
    The smiling esper chuckled with his mouth closed.
    “Besides, I am interested in finding out what kind of movie Suzumiya intends to make. Though I can probably guess what she has in mind.”
    Koizumi gave Asahina, putting away the teacups, a sidelong glance.
    “It would appear that this will be a fun cultural festival. Quite fascinating.”
    I also turned to look at Asahina. I watched as her hair band bounced up and down.
    “Ah. Wh-what is it?”
    Asahina realized that we two rascals were staring at her and stopped what she was doing as her cheeks flamed.
    I murmured in my heart.
    No, it’s nothing. Just thinking about what costume Haruhi will bring next. That’s all.
    Once she was done getting ready to go home—well, it just meant putting her book in her bag—Nagato silently stood and silently walked out the open door. Maybe she was reading a book about fortune-telling. It was a foreign book, so I wouldn’t know.
    “But, yeah,” I muttered.
    A movie… A movie, huh.
    To be honest, I was somewhat interested. Not as interested as Koizumi, though. My interest was only at the continental-shelf level, not ocean-floor levels.
    I suppose I could at least look forward to it.
    Since I’m guessing nobody’s expecting much.
    And I was already eating my words. I shouldn’t have bothered looking forward to this.
    It was after school the next day. I had an extremely unhappy look on my face.
    P RESENTED BY : SOS B RIGADE
    E XECUTIVE S UPERVISOR /E XECUTIVE D IRECTOR /
    D IRECTION /S CENARIO : H ARUHI S UZUMIYA
    L EAD A CTRESS : M IKURU A SAHINA
    L EAD A CTOR : I TSUKI K OIZUMI
    S UPPORTING A CTRESS : Y UKI N AGATO
    A SSISTANT D IRECTOR /C AMERAMAN /E DITING /
    C ARRYING T HINGS /M AID /E RRAND B OY /R OUNDSMAN /
    O THER M ENIAL T ASKS : K YON
    Only one thing crossed my mind after I saw what was written on the scrap of paper.
    “So? What’s my role?”
    “Exactly what it says on there.” Haruhi waved the pointer like a conductor. “You’re backstage staff. The cast is as written. Perfect casting, don’t you think?”
    “…”
    “I’m the lead character?” Asahina asked in a small voice. She was dressed in her uniform instead of the maid outfit. Haruhi had told her she didn’t have to wear it. It looked like Haruhi was planning on taking her somewhere.
    “Um, I’d rather not be in a conspicuous role…” Asahina appealed to Haruhi with a distressed look on her face.
    “…”
    “No,” Haruhi replied. “You need to stand out, Mikuru. You’re like the trademark of this brigade. You should start to practice signing autographs. There will probably be a lot of requests from the audience at the premiere.”
    Premiere? Where are you going to have that?
    Asahina sounded quite nervous.
    “… But I can’t act.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll coach you through it perfectly.”
    Asahina looked up at me fearfully and sadly lowered her eyelashes.
    We were the only three people in the room. Nagato and Koizumi were late because of meetings about what their classes are doing. I didn’t see how it could require staying after school. They could just do something random. Guess a lot more classes are serious about this stuff than I thought.
    “Anyway, Yuki and Koizumi aren’t very dependable,” Haruhi said before turning her directionless indignation toward me. “I told them that this should take priority yet they’re late because of class activities. I’ll need to give them a strong warning.”
    It’s just that Nagato and Koizumi actually feel a sense of belonging to their class. The three of us are the strange ones for being in this place at this time of year.
    I suddenly thought of something.
    “Asahina, don’t you need to participate in your class meeting?”
    “Mmm, I’m just a waitress, so the only thing