I was grabbed my bicycle and hoisted it from the rail it was attached to. It was another evening at home after this. The same old drag that happened day in day out. Go to school, listen to a teacher drabble on, eat lunch, stare out the window, go home. Nothing interesting had ever taken place in my life.
High School sounded like an adventure, it always did in all the manga and anime I had watched and read, even in those cheesy dramas it had looked half exciting, but not for me, I just went there to be bored somewhere else aside from sitting in my house being bored. Taniguchi would call for me, but I wouldn't care, as nothing he ever asked me to do sounded or ended up being very exciting, he'd be a goof and talk about girls and his 'master plan' for seducing them and then I'd scold him for being a doofus and we'd all go home.
Coming back for the second term was meant to be exciting, a new term would mean change, everything would be fresh and new... turns out not so much. My life was definitely missing something. Something exciting. Something to make me want to get up in the morning. Something to make my heart race whenever I heard about it. Something I could cherish...
"Hey, Kunikida" I spoke to Kunikida as he happily tucked into his bento , he always had a positive head on about things, always smiling for some reason or another. "Why are you always wearing that goofy smile?" I asked him in a manner that sounded jokey, but though the question was serious, I doubt he'd answer it seriously. "Because each new day has something in store for me? I dunno, I just like to enjoy what I have in front of me" He smiled. He obviously did know what I was on about. Maybe I looked too depressed all of the time and he saw straight through it. It was certainly how I felt all of the time.
"Enjoy what I have in front of me" Those words were ringing through my head, maybe I should listen to Kunikida, after all, I have friends and a healthy family. But why? Why did I still feel so incomplete? It could be a lot worse for me, there was people out there starving, unable to earn a decent living and here I was, complaining about things not being exciting. Somehow I just made myself feel even shittier.
"Onee-san?" my sister had been obstructing my view of some lame quiz show I could care less about. "What?" I replied eventually to get her out of the way. "Help me with my homework" She moaned. "Uh okay, bring it here" She brought it to my side, I couldn't be bothered to constructively teach her so I just gave her the answers. Somehow helping people made me feel like I was a bit more worthy. It kinda made me happy knowing that I was doing something to make someone else happy, even if I didn't show it, I was happy. Even if I never got a thank you, as long as I knew that someone ended up happier.
I woke up abruptly that night. I had a weird dream. I would walk through these trees towards a lake and I would drink from the lake then a deity would appear floating on the surface. She was kind of ghostly and hovered gracefully. "What do you want from life?" She asked me abruptly. Why were dream characters always so direct? "I'd need a god to change my mundane life" I shouted out to her speculatively, she was direct, so why the hell couldn't I be. After responding, she'd just float there as the water rose and kept rising until I was underneath the water, I'd struggle as my feet stayed rooted to the ground and the water kept rising. Then I woke up. That was weird.
Go downstairs. Open the refrigerator. Get some juice. Drink said juice. Watch some TV and eat breakfast. Go upstairs. Put on Uniform. Say bye. Leave house. That routine must've been repeated a thousand times in my lifetime, but I still mundanely took part in it. The season was getting cold as I cycled to school, I wrapped a scarf around my face and braved through it.
Taniguchi was in usual spirits as I watched him and Kunikida idly banter to my right. Asakura-san, the class rep came up to them and gave them the usual memos. "Also, a new student will be joining the class next week" Taniguchi seemed interested. "Woah! Is it a girl?" He pried. Asakura laughed, "Yes, it's a girl" "Are you happy now?" I thought to myself whilst putting on my 'Scolding Taniguchi for being a pervert face' Asakura tripped as she turned to return her seat and her panties were in full view. I felt my face brighten up. "WOAH!" Taniguchi roared as he eyes popped out of his head. Asakura immediately scrambled to her feet and hit Taniguchi, who now had a nose bleed round the head. "You're a pervert Taniguchi" I scolded him, basking in superiority. It's not like anyone saw me look. "Kyon, you're a hypocrite" Kunikida interrupted. "Damnit!"
Aside from that incident, nothing had happened. I suppose my day was brightened by the image of Asakura's panties burned into my mind's eye. "Wow" I thought to myself "This day is defined by that. How sad my life has become". As I cycled home, I watched the photographically similar scenery pass me by. It looked exactly like the day before. And the one before that. I thought that it might be different beyond high school, but I made that mistake of thinking High School was going to be better.. Life wasn't going to get exciting at any point and I had to deal with it. That was it. My life was as mundane as everyone else's on this planet and I was all too aware.
The week passed by. Any sane man would be suicidal, but I was extraordinarily good at doing the same thing day in day out, it would seem. Everyone else's lives were exciting because they had exciting friends, not like Taniguchi. I could write the routine down of my exact schedule and follow it through each and every day and it could be followed to an exact tee. I was definitely not happy. Why couldn't something happen out of the ordinary? Something, just anything? I'd long since given up on my childhood dreams of the supernatural, but what the hey, maybe, just maybe it'd change the next day.
Today the new transfer student was to arrive. Apparently she had moved because her dad had changed job blah, blah, I didn't really care, it's not like it'd affect me. I was talking to Taniguchi when she entered the room. Now I'm not saying I was expecting love at first sight or anything, but my bored imagination had apparently come to this conclusion by itself. I was obviously disappointed when she walked in the room, though she was attractive. She had a scornful look on her face, one that looked trapped and bored, much how I felt. I found it hard to imagine her smiling. She sat right behind me. Damn, I'd be forced to make conversation with her at some point.
"Class" The teacher announced "We have a new student in today, I'd like everyone to treat her kindly and with respect. If you would like to introduce yourself to the class, Suzumiya-san"
She shot out of her seat like a bullet. What an oddball. I heard her voice shoot across the room, confident and loud.
"I'm Suzumiya Haruhi, if any of you guys are Aliens, Time Travellers or Espers, step forward"
The room fell completely silent.
"That's all"
W-W-WHAT?
