It had begun to rain. I was completely soaked to the bone. I really wanted to go home but I had no place to go to. The house I was staying in burnt down and I had very little money. It was just me, with no family or friends in this country. There was nowhere I could go, and I didn't know what to do. I was an American in Japan and I wasn't about to bother people with my problems. Just as the rain completely drenched my face I felt it stop. It was as if the rain had stopped in a fraction of a second. As I was pondering what happened I looked up and met eyes with her. She had jet black hair and was in a high school uniform. The thing that was really unusual was the armband that she wore on her left arm. I didn't understand a lot of kanji but I could read it. It said something like, "brigade chief." Much to my surprise she was holding her umbrella over my head.

"I usually don't do this but I've got two umbrellas so you can borrow it." She said.

A lot of things were going through my head but I took the umbrella. I didn't ask for someone's kindness but I still got it. I would never forget it and I would one day like to repay her kindness too. I'll never forget the name I found on the umbrella. It said, "Haruhi Suzumiya."

*One month later*

I managed to find a job working for a store owner and life was beginning to get back to normal. I still didn't have a place to stay so I was still pretty much homeless. I never told the store owner. He had enough to deal with. It didn't take long for him to start asking questions though.

"Hey kid. You've been working for me for full time at least two weeks. You seem like a smart kid, so why aren't you in school?" He was right. I came to this country to study abroad and I still haven't even enrolled in one yet. So I decided to go and find one.

On second thought maybe going out and finding a school wouldn't be as easy as I thought. There were a lot of schools but most of them were private schools. There has to be one school that I can go to. As I mulled it over I walked up to another school. It wasn't a private school judging by the condition it was in so I decided to walk inside. The inside didn't look that bad and truth be told I'm in no position to judge. After a few boring hours1 of me enrolling I was finally a student at North High. North High, why does the name sound so familiar?

"Hold on. Now where am I?" while I was taking a look around the school I guess I wandered too far. I consulted the map I was given and it said I was in one of the side buildings. This building had a few afterschool activities in it. They even had something called a computer society. That was when I saw it. The sign above the door read, "S.O.S Brigade." That sounded interesting. Without really thinking I opened the door.

A cool breeze blew in from the end of the room where the window was open. In front of the window a table and a desk with a computer were present. Besides that there were a few other things that made me think someone lived there. There was even a stove with a teapot ready to make tea. The room itself didn't really look all that remarkable. My footsteps began to inch towards the door when I heard it lock from behind me. Right in front of me stood the figure of the girl I had met a month ago. It was Haruhi Suzumiya.

"Just what do you think you're doing in here? I don't remember inviting you." Her arms were crossed and she looked pretty pissed at me.

"Well you see that's kind of hard to explain." I didn't really know what else I could tell her.

"Oh yeah? Well it looked to me like a guy trying to sneak into my club room right in front of me." Oh! So this must be the thing that she's brigade chief of. "Wait a sec. You look kind of familiar. Have we met before?" so she did remember.

"Actually yeah. We have met before." I motioned to her to sit down because it was going to be a slightly longer story than I thought. The whole time she listened patiently. I left out the part about me being homeless and finished up with the part where I told her that I just enrolled.

"I see. So you came all the way out here so you could go to school? I'll bet your trying to get a really good education. It seems like you got your whole life planed out huh?"

"You're wrong about that," she seemed shocked when she heard me say that. "Where's the excitement? There's no way I'm gonna do things the way anyone else would think to do them. I wanna take the road that's seldom traveled. I know it sounds weird coming from a guy you just met, but don't you think that this way life is more interesting?"

She took a while to respond. It was probably because what I said was too confusing. Then she finally spoke.

"Have you joined any clubs yet?" That was out of the blue. I shook my head.

"Good. Cause now you're not allowed to join any other clubs than this one." That's when I saw her expression for into a giant smile. "Starting today you are going to be the S.O.S brigade's newest member. We'll start you from the bottom but if you work hard I'm sure you'll do great."

"So wait. You're making me to join a club out of the blue without asking me? What does this club even do?" It seemed like that was the question she was waiting for. After I asked that question I felt something strange. It was as if the answer to a question I had always wanted to know would soon be answered.

"That's simple," she quickly stood up from her chair and pumped her fist into the air. "The goal of the S.O.S brigade is to find aliens, time travelers, and espers and hang out with them." That was all I needed to hear.

"You actually believe in that kind of stuff?" her brighter than the sun smile began to dim.

"Huh? Why? Don't you believe in them too?" That's when I gave her my best smile too.

"Of course. What kind of person do you take me for? In fact I think time travelers are my favorite!"

"Then it's settled!" And with that I was the newest member of the S.O.S brigade. "By the way, I don't think you ever told me your name. So tell me now!"

"All right then. My name is a lot longer but you can call me Ryu."

Preview:

Wow I can't believe I'm in a club that likes practically the same things I do. I'm really excited to meet the other members. Wait a sec, is that a maid? There's also a girl who loves to read, a transfer student, and a guy who is just…..normal. Is this really the S.O.S Brigade? Next time: The S.O.S Brigade. I hope to see you in the future!