Disclaimer: I don't know why we make these, really. I think it should be obvious that we don't own the franchise, or we wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
A/N: This chapter is subject to future editing and changes. Future chapters are also not guaranteed.
When did I stop believing in Santa Clause? My my... that is certainly a good question.
I suppose I never believed in Santa Clause. The entire idea never really stuck with me. In retrospect, I suppose I should've tried a bit harder to believe in the idea of a jolly old man in a red suit giving out presents to children. After all, such beliefs are harmless, and it's always nice to have something nice and innocent to believe in. Now I'm way past the age where I can still believe in Santa Clause.
Though I did believe in some supernatural things. UFOs, or super powered humans, time travel... those things did strike me as interesting. I did wish that someday I'd be whisked away by some awesome paranormal event. Unfortunately, I too had to abandon these dreams in the face of reality.
And so I became a high school student. An absolutely normal high school student. I didn't really want to be anything different anymore. I just wanted to blend into the background; part of the faceless horde of people, without a sense of individuality or self. To just be a mindless drone, watching the world without judging.
Somehow managing to wake up in the morning and walk up a rather steep climb to my new high school, I was able to attend the opening ceremony on the first day. By the time our class started introductions I managed to make a quick speech meeting the bare minimum requirements; nothing that stood out, but not so short that it attracts attention.
And then, the girl behind me does the exact opposite.
"From Middle East school, I am Haruhi Suzumiya! I have no interest in ordinary people! If you're an alien, time traveler, esper, or slider, come to me! That is all!"
As abruptly as she stood and spoke, she stopped and sat.
Despite every part of my conscious mind advising against it, I naturally gave in to the urge to turn around and look at exactly what sort of person gave such an abrupt self introduction.
That was the first time I met her.
It was sometime between classes, and I was growing bored of merely looking around at random points in the classroom, I decided to strike up conversation.
"Did you really mean that?"
She didn't respond. Perhaps it was because I didn't face her when I was speaking. Maybe she didn't realise I was talking to her. I make an effort to correct this by tilting my head vaguely in her direction.
"That thing about aliens," I clarify.
From the corner of my eyes I notice her scowl at me. "If you're going to talk to me then turn your face to look at me," she practically spat. "And why do you care? Are you an alien?"
Honestly? No, I doubt I'm an alien in the sense you speak of. And to be honest, I don't see your attitude that great either.
Deciding that the conversation has ended, I turn back to facing forward. I've more or less made up my mind that I shan't associate with this sort of person.
For her part Haruhi returned to being silent. I'm certain she was still scowling, and she would remain so until the end of the day.
At lunchtime my middle school friend Kunikida pulled a chair next to my desk, following which Taniguchi followed suit. I didn't mind any of that, since any company was fine by me. I just kept to my own lunch as I listened to Taniguchi shamelessly rate the girls of our class.
"I've already memorised the names of all the girls ranked at A grade," he boasted. "Like Asakura Ryouko in our class, an A plus plus in my book. Perfect personality, perfect looks, highly popular. The ideal woman of any man's dreams."
"What about Suzumiya Haruhi?" asked Kunikida. "She looks pretty attractive too, doesn't she? Weren't you in the same middle school as her?"
Despite not really holding much stake in the conversation I did increase my alertness levels towards it. I suppose any person would be curious about a person who introduces themselves with the line "I'm not interested in ordinary humans" and so forth.
Taniguchi's face, however, made it quite clear that the aforementioned girl did not fit into his 'A grade' list. "Yeah, we were from the same middle school alright," he said, none too happy about it. "And while she may be a good looker with excellent grades and athletic skills she is nothing more than the lowest delinquent. She's done some crazy things in the past. For example, she goes out with any guy that ask her out; and I mean anyone, but none of the guys last more than a week. There was even one guy that only lasted five minutes."
"You?"
The colour of Taniguchi's cheeks said 'yes'. Of course, he'd never admit as much.
"What...? No it wasn't me. It was some other guy. I don't even remember the guy's name, so stop looking at me like that, Kyon!"
Almost immediately after he finished Kunikida elbowed him disapprovingly. The two shared a glance for a moment before Taniguchi's turned back to me, suddenly speaking in a much more diminished tone.
"Hey... sorry about that..." he said. "I got caught in the moment... force of habit..."
There was something about the situation that I didn't like. Maybe it was just Taniguchi's sudden change in attitude. I felt like I was being pitied by the usually comedic and boisterous Taniguchi.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I don't really mind, anyway. You can keep going with that if it suits you. I guess I'm used to it by now." I lean back in my chair, thinking out loud. "Who knows? Maybe hearing that all the time will be good for me."
Taniguchi nodded, but he didn't quite yet return to his talkative self. Sensing the awkwardness of the conversation Kunikida changed the topic.
"Well you did always have a thing for weird girls," he said to me. "Like that girl from our middle school. You two got along really well."
"Really?" Taniguchi looked up in surprise, and quickly began to grin. "See? I always said you could find a girlfriend if you tried. And if weird girls are your thing then you need not look further than Suzumiya Haruhi."
"She wasn't my girlfriend," I said. Truthfully. "And I don't have a thing for weird girls. "
Having felt like I've spoken more than my share for the duration of the lunchtime conversation I went back to shoving rice into my mouth. Taniguchi tried to press further, but I mostly ignored him.
In any case, from my experience so far and the information I've gotten from the conversation, I can tell that it'd be best to avoid Suzumiya.
Over time my decision to not associate with Suzumiya started to seem increasingly valid.
Firstly and most obviously was Suzumiya's changing of hair style on a daily basis. She adds more hair ties as the days of the week goes, and resets on Monday. No hairstyle does she have twice in a row. Everyone notices, but nobody really spoke of this to her.
This is because she generally shot down any attempt at conversation to her. At first, girls would approach her and try to talk about the latest TV show which Suzuimya will either ignore or dismiss rather condescendingly. Enthusiasm for making friends with Suzumiya quickly died down eventually, as the girls start forming their own social groups, of which all of them exclude Suzumiya, and often when she's away, gossip behind her back. Quickly, Suzumiya becomes an outcast among the girls, and the only person that still dares to approach her is the all-perfect class representative Asakura Ryoko, but even she makes little progress if any.
Next is the fact that, for PE classes, Suzumiya seems to completely ignore the fact that there are males in the class, and get changed before we leave. It's as though we don't exist to her, or that our opinions are so unworthy of her attention that she doesn't care if we watch with judging eyes.
And then there's the rumours that she had joined and quit every club in the school. Her perfect scores, athletics and beauty mean that all the clubs keep begging her to rejoin, but she has yet to give anyone a second chance at impressing her.
Within a few weeks she managed to build up more notoriety to become little short of making the local headlines. I wouldn't have minded as much nor paid as much attention if she didn't sit right behind me, but since she does I always feel pressured every time the entire class looks in my direction when Suzumiya walks to her desk.
Originally I was hoping that, after Asakura became class representative, seating rearrangements would mean I would no longer have to worry about being 'the person who sits in front of Suzumiya' as an unofficial title. The universe's random number generator seemed to disagree. Thus, for the rest of the year I find myself fated to sit beside the window, second seat from the back, and with Suzumiya and only Suzumiya seated behind me. Goodbye, normal student life.
Nonetheless, despite having been temporarily stopped at the first hurdle of adapting to my still new high school, I decide to make the most out of the seating arrangement. After all, I'd been toying with the idea of joining a club for a while. I didn't want to just go home and study after school, and joining a club would be something to put down on my CV for my future.
I turn my eyes to glance in the general direction behind me. "They say you've been in all the clubs," I said. "Any recommendations?"
She glares at me for having spoken to her again. "Have we met before?" she asks suddenly.
For the first time in a while I turn to face her. I'm fairly certain my surprise should show on my face. "Did aliens scramble your brain? Or did you forget the fact that I've been sitting in the seat in front of you since school started?"
"Ugh, that's not what I meant!" she growls, disappointed in my answer. "Never mind! I thought you were someone else!"
That's perfectly plausible, I suppose. People, faces, names, they start melding into a grey mush in our minds over time. "I suppose. You still haven't answered my question."
"About the clubs? They're all boring! Nothing supernatural at all! Which is why I quit them!" She folded her arms and turned away, believing herself to have said her fill.
I sighed internally, and likewise sighed externally. A part of my mind had hoped that maybe she could have a constructive conversation just once with someone, but it becomes clear to me now that she doesn't intend that to ever happen.
"You can't expect things to just go your way, you know. There aren't many people that share your brainwaves. You'd be better off just doing as everyone else does, really. It's a lot easier," I say, turning back around. Half talking to her, half talking to myself. Maybe she'll listen, maybe she won't. Regardless, she responds with pure silence.
I, on the other hand, decide that I might as well just try have a look at all the clubs myself.
After the school bell rang, ending classes for the day, I made my way to the door (where Suzumiya stormed out after pushing me aside, bent on getting out the door before me for whatever reason) and started to go around having a look at the different clubs that currently existed in our school.
I kept my mind open for joining a sports club, since some exercise may be good for me, but I wasn't that enthusiastic on the idea either. I take occasional glimpses at all the odd hobby clubs or arts clubs as I go, taking note of them each in kind. None of them seem to jump out at me and say 'hey, this is the club', but I didn't expect them to.
Within half an hour I'd made it into the old building, which are mostly used by smaller clubs. These groups would be less likely to appeal to me, but I didn't want to rule them out just yet. Besides, there's little else to do.
Glancing at the handwritten club signs one by one as I walked, I stopped myself at a room on the second floor, with an old label 'Literature club' on it.
Interesting, I thought to myself. I don't recall hearing the literature club attempting to recruit new members at the start of the year. In fact, I didn't even know there was such a club.
Taking a moment to think about it, I come up with the following hypotheses: Either the club is currently too small to properly operate, or it's already non-existent. In either case, it'd be a nice quiet place to just sit and relax every day after school. Who knows? Maybe I could pick up on my literacy skills, or even publish a novel one day.
Not that I'm holding my breath for it. Regardless, I decide to take a look. Lifting my hand to the door, I knock it twice, waiting for a response.
After five seconds of waiting, I had just checked the room off as 'empty' when I just barely hear "Yes, come in please" cut out from inside the room.
Wondering why it took so long for a reply to come I opened the door and stepped in.
The room itself was quite old, and it had a simple layout. A desk in a middle, a few cheap foldable metal chairs, and a bookshelf at the side. It was more of a closet than a proper clubroom, but I suppose it was enough for a literature club.
As for the literature club itself, it was all down to one person; a girl. Short hair, with a book in her lap, sitting with perfect posture. She stared at me through her glasses with a rather serene expression. I was on the verge of passing this girl as a third year, before I noticed how diminutive she was. Was she one of those people with stunted growth? Or is she a first year with a good upbringing?
"Hello, sorry for intruding," I say. I try to sound genuinely apologetic, but I end up speaking in the dry, weary tone I always speak in.
Taking her time to formulate her response, she spoke in a remarkably tranquil voice. "Yes, good afternoon. And you aren't intruding."
Her tone and her choice of words made me think for a moment that she might read a bit too much and speak too little.
"I'm taking a look at clubs and seeing which ones I might be interested in joining," I explain in full honesty. "Are you the only member here?"
Again, she takes a while think of her answer. After propping up her glasses and brushing aside her hair, she nods (nullifying the effect of the first two actions). "All the members from last year graduated. I was the only person to join this year."
She turns back down to read her book when she visibly has a moment of realisation, doing a double take and asking "Would you like to join? There are absolutely no membership fees required, nor any prerequisites."
"Like I said before, I'm taking a look."
Again, she thinks for a while. "Oh, yes. I suppose you did indeed say that you were taking a look."
She seems to be lost in her own world. Perhaps I should leave her be.
I was just about to turn and leave before the girl suddenly stood up and strode over to the bookshelf, pulling out a white page. With the page in hand she then strode over in front of me, handing it to me with something of a small bow.
"Please, if you are at all interested in joining the literature club, sign this form here," she pointed at the page, which was titled 'literature club membership form'.
"Thanks, but I'm not exactly sure if I'm joining just yet." I didn't want to be forced into something without taking proper considerations of all my options first.
The girl shook her head. "You have only to sign the form. I don't expect you to show up" She tilted her head, quietly adding. "To be honest... I'm just a bit short on members... so..."
I suppose I see her dilemma. Still, I'm hesitant on joining a club just yet, especially one with just one girl as the sole member before. The unfortunate implications of that are things I don't want spreading as rumours about me.
"Alright, I'll think about it."
Furrowing her eyebrows, she nods. She strides back to the bookshelf, picking a book from it, all the while murmuring about how the room was nice and relaxing, like a sales agent set to low volume.
"Anyway," she hands me the book that she grabbed from the shelf. "You can have this book. You're the first person in this room after I joined."
I take the book in hand. It was a book on human anatomy. "Thanks... I suppose..."
Reading my expression, she quickly goes back to the bookshelf. "Ah... you can also have the fiction novels... those were left behind from before and I've already read them..."
"No that's fine..." I say, a moment too late as the girl piles several books into my arms.
Nonetheless, I start to feel like I'm opening up to the idea of joining. I mean, it certainly is a nice and quiet place, and none of the other clubs interest me more than here. The girl even said herself that she doesn't expect attendance, so I'd be doing her a favour just by signing up, even if I end up dropping the club altogether. Besides, I don't see any of the other club presidents welcoming me into their clubroom with open arms and piling bribes to convince me to join.
"Alright. I'll join."
"... and this book is quite old but i..." she stops mid sentence to process my words. "You... you will?"
"Yeah. I just have to sign the form, right?" I set the books down on the desk and take a proper look at the paper.
Evidently surprised that her recruitment attempt succeeded, the girl started to frantically look around. "Oh. A pen... I should have one here..."
As she fumbles to look for a pen, I pull one of my own from my bag and start filling in my name. By the time she's managed to actually find a pen I had already finished and handed her the form.
She stared at the form in disbelief for a while, before she finally managed to calm down to the relaxed expression she had when I first entered.
"Ah. I've forgotten to introduce myself," she said, bowing. "Nagato Yuki. First year. Literature club president."
So she was a first year.
I bowed in return. "My name is on the form. Also a first year. Literature club vice president."
"Oh? Since when did...?" Nagato paused for a moment to think, before she finally let out a small smile. "I see. I hope we may learn from each other, vice president."
For the next half an hour we sit down, and start discussing actual club management; what to add to the room (Nagato says she has wanted a computer for a while now), how to spend club funds, potential future activities, maybe even recruiting future members. Somehow, sitting there and acting like a managing member of an actual club felt good for a while; being able to feel like I achieved something.
This feeling was soon shattered, however, when the door to the room suddenly blasted open. I turned in surprise to look, but I needn't have to know who it was.
"I hereby annex the literature clubroom, all its contents, and all its members!"
It was none other than Suzumiya Haruhi.
A/N: I've had an idea like this in my head for a while now, and I just wanted to finally put it down into words. It's the first time in a while I'm writing a fanfiction from the perspective of the original narrator and the reason I usually avoid it is because I find it hard to captivate the style of the original series. Since this fanfic is set in an alternate universe with changes to personality, though, I hope it will be less of a problem.
As of so far I doubt that many (if any) of you can tell what the core changes behind this is, but it'll be interesting to find out. However, I am having a hard time fitting the idea into proper chapters and a consecutive story, so please bear with the long delays between chapters (which is, on , a common thing anyway).
Open for critique, suggestions, and any sort of feedback or help. Hopefully this story will be able to pull through to the finish line.