The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya Read Online Free PDF Page A

vocalist weren’t onstage, that she and Nagato were just stand-ins, and then she introduced the drummer and bassist… right?
    “And that was enough. In that instant, the mystery was solved—the reason for the strange tension in everybody’s chest. ‘So that’s where that strange uncertainty came from,’ they thought.”
    When he put it that way… it did make a certain sense.
    “Suzumiya’s singing and Nagato’s guitar works were by no means bad; far from it, they were well beyond the pop music club’s level, but the audience probably thought about it like this: ‘If they were this good with stand-in vocals and guitar, they must be amazing with the real leader.’ ”
    So that explained why there were so many requests for minidisc copies.
    “Suzumiya’s singing was excellent, almost perfect. But in not being
too
perfect, she created the best possible outcome. I must say, I’m impressed.”
    He might have been right. Haruhi popping up had certainly turned out well for those three girls.
    So what about us?
    “To which ‘us’ do you refer?”
    I’m talking about the SOS Brigade—you know, the people more involved with Haruhi than anyone else at the school! Do you seriously think there’s something good waiting for us too?
    “I suppose we won’t know that until the very end. If we don’t think things went too badly once it’s all over, I’d say you could call that ‘something good.’ ”
    The three older girls left just as the bell announcing fourth period began to ring.
    Bafflingly, Haruhi returned to her seat with a complex expression on her face, and it stayed there as she daydreamed straight through the period. She disappeared from the classroom as soon as lunch started.
    I wolfed down my lunch as I listened to Kunikida and Taniguchi make their excuses (“Yeah, man, there just weren’t any decent chicks at the festival. It’s this school’s crappy location, I’m telling you—it needs to be on flat ground.”), then shoved my lunch box into my school bag and vacated my seat.
    For no particular reason, I just felt like taking a walk to digest.
    After wandering around for a while, my feet brought me to the courtyard in the middle of the school. I veered off the path that would take me to the clubroom building and walked the patchy, balding lawn in the center. And there, who should I happen across but Haruhi, lying there on the grass.
    “Yo,” I said. “What’s up? You’ve been wearing that expression since the last recess.”
    “What of it?”
    Haruhi had replied quickly, staring at the clouds as though she were talking to the sky. I did likewise—that is, I looked up at the sky, saying nothing.
    I wonder how long we stayed that way, quiet. It didn’t feel like more than three minutes, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in my internal clock.
    It was Haruhi who finally broke the pointless silence contest. Her tone was somehow stiff, reluctant.
    “I just can’t seem to calm down. I wonder why.”
    Her tone seemed genuinely puzzled. I felt a sardonic smile coming on.
    “How should I know?” I said. Here’s what I really wanted to say to her:
    It’s because you’re not used to people thanking you. You’re always doing things that no normal person would look you in the eye and say “thank you” for. You were probably secretly wondering if you were butting in when you offered to help them out. If it’d been you, you would’ve dragged yourself onstage even if your vocal cords were blown out or both your arms broken. The people around you telling you to stop would only have given you more energy, and you’d never have thought to turn to anybody else for help.
    So how does it feel to have helped out those girls? Their songs are hits thanks to you arguing with the festival committee people. When they thanked you, they really meant it. It was almost the best thing you could’ve done. So how does it feel, Haruhi? Has this awakened you to the possibilities of good deeds? How about