Chapter 1

Jinsei's POV

My name is Jinsei Shoko and I am a psychic.

Okay, I know, what a way to introduce myself, right? You probably think I'm crazy, and maybe I am, but try to believe that every story I tell you is true.

I am part of a secret society of psychics who live for one purpose: maintaining the order and balance of the world and seeking out other psychics and making sure that they do the same.

Then Haruhi Suzumiya came along. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. I was found by this group when I started noticing that I was different than most other people. I had always had some…senses, senses that I couldn't explain. I always knew what the weather was, regardless of whether I was indoors or outdoors. I could know if you locked me in a room with no windows for a week. Also, I would get…feelings from buildings, telling whoever was near me that we shouldn't ever go in there.

As I began to get older, I would say strange things, without any conscious thought of them. People began to get scared, concerned, and I was sent to an asylum.

That was when, three years ago, the others found me and arranged it so that I was released and brought under their care. They explained to me who and what I was and what my life mission was to be and helped me develop and hone my powers.

Around that same time, something unprecedented happened, something involving a girl named Haruhi Suzumiya. The power of her mind exploded, causing headaches for all of the psychics and loss of power for about a day. When it died down, a few went to investigate and see if, perhaps, she had developed powers on a very high scale, but to our shock, they revealed that not only was she not one of us, they could not use any of their powers on her. No mindreading, no predicting what she was doing, and no way of injuring her, or even slightly touching her with their minds.

We always had some sort of psychic conveniently located near her for observations, hoping for some sort of clue, but while she didn't reveal anything to us, her huge mind explosion mellowed down and we figured that everything would be fine.

When she started high school, it happened again and we knew that we would need somebody closer to her, somebody who could even be a friend to her. As we observed her activities, the answer became clear: I would be sent to North High to become a member of the SOS Brigade, a club created by Miss Suzumiya that consisted of three others also sent to observe this very curious girl.


On my very first day at North High, she came and found me.

"Jinsei Shoko!" she said as I ate my lunch, surrounded by other girls questioning me about where I was from, how I liked it here, and what I missed most about my home. "Stay in this classroom after school and I'll come get you! Do NOT leave before I show up!"

And just like that, Miss Suzumiya was gone. I couldn't help but smile to myself at the perfect turn of events.


The other girls in my class told me to ignore her. "She's crazy," they said. "It's best if you don't get involved in anything that has to do with her. She probably wants you to join her crazy club!" They shook their heads when they saw Miss Suzumiya grab me by the wrist and drag me out of the building, into another one, and up to the Literary Club Room.

Inside the room, a stoic girl sat silently in the corner, reading a very thick hardcover, a boy with brown hair sat drinking tea, and a maid- yes, a maid- was brewing tea.

"Ta da!" Miss Suzumiya shouted, waving my arm in the air. "Our newest SOS Brigade member!"

"I don't recall joining any clubs," I said, feigning confusion.

"Well, good, because you're a member of this one now!" I opened my mouth protest, trying to keep suspicions about myself down, but she would have none of it. "No arguments! I am Haruhi Suzumiya, Brigade Chief! That cute one is Mikuru Asahina, our mascot and secretary and the other girl is Yuki Nagato. The dumb faced boy is Kyon."

"N-nice to meet you," Asahina said, handing me a cup of tea, before going to pour three more. Odd, considering there were only two people in the room who did not have tea. I followed her as she put tea down for Yuki Nagato.

"My name's Jinsei Shoko," I said to both of them. Nagato showed no signs of acknowledgement other than a very small movement of the head. "It's nice to meet you two. And you as well, Kyon."

I'm not a mindreader, but anyone could tell that this was a nickname he did not prefer going by. He didn't introduce himself as anyone else, though, and I sort of liked the name for him, so I let it go.

"Now that you're a member, I can let you in on all the secret fun and adventures! You're going to help us rid the world of boredom! Seek out the extraordinary! Find aliens, time travelers, psychics, and espers, and have fun with them! Welcome to the SOS Brigade, member number 6!"

Six? There were four other people in the room besides myself, so once again the number confused me.

"Haruhi, is there another member?" I asked. "Because there are only five of us here."

"Duh, of course there is! Do you think I can't count or something? The fifth member is our second in command and he's-"

She didn't need to finish because at that moment, Itsuki Koizumi entered the room, and the chairs Kyon and Yuki were sitting in collapsed.