Chapter 25: The Legend of Haruhi Suzumiya

The party had long since passed. After we put the decorations away Haruhi left. The clubroom fell into a state of serene calm; probably something that doesn't happen often. I continued enjoying Mikuru's tea whilst locked in a chess game with Itsuki. I wonder if I was good at chess or if Itsuki was just a horrible player. Either way it was a one-sided battle I knew I was gonna win. Kyon looked like he was getting help from Riku and Alice for our English exam. I was surprised that Riku could speak fluent, understandable English; I honestly thought he could only speak Japanese. Kyon asked if I could help him out too. I told him that all he needed to do was brute force memorization and he would be fine. He shot me an annoyed looked as I continued my game with Itsuki.

With a crash Haruhi returned yelling "Ya-hoo!" carrying a bamboo plant with her. She was like a manifestation of all the madness in the world contained within a pretty high schooler.

"Where'd you get that and what're you planning with it?" I asked as I read the pieces of paper hanging from its spindly branches.

"Why, it's for hanging wishes of course!" she excitedly explained. Reading the papers hanging off it confirmed that.

"Here we go again…" Kyon said as he sighed.

"We've already made our wishes but Alice, Riku and Alan hasn't yet. I figured I may as well let them" she said handing us a piece of paper she called a tanzaku. Before I wrote down my wish she stopped me to explain something. She went on how the wishes are directed at the speed of light to a star x light-years away and that therefore it takes y number of years for the wish to make it there and back to be granted. Despite the ridiculousness of the restriction, her explanation was actually sound, if not a little odd.

After I wrote it and hung it on the bamboo tree, Haruhi placed it on the window ledge. She stared melancholically at it. Somehow it felt odd for her to be quiet for so long. I was gonna remark how cute she looks when she's quiet but it didn't seem right. I kept the comment to myself while I finished my game with Itsuki. As we played I heard her mutter quietly "…sixteen years, huh?"

"Let's call it a day" she said as she picked up her bag and left. She came back and asked "Aren't you coming? You might get lost if you head back by yourself." She gestured me to follow after I picked up my bag. Even I know now's not a good time to talk to her.

As we walked along we passed near Kanata's house. Suddenly Haruhi stopped. She asked if I had any money. I just came from another country, from another dimension. Obviously I don't have any! She explained that she was charging me for staying at her house. As much as I hated to admit it I knew I was going to have to work. I knew she was going to force to look for a part-time job. Before she could do anything I suggested working at Kanata's shop. It can't be that hard. All I have to do is fold clothes and stuff.

"You really want to work? I was hoping you'd resist a bit. Then again you'd probably get fired in the first few hours" she said. In a turn of events I grabbed Haruhi and dragged her along.

I entered Kanata's shop along with Haruhi. I called out for Kanata who immediately showed up. Though reluctant about it at first she agreed to let me have a job. I think Haruhi may have something to do with this. I'd better watch my back. Haruhi had already left so Kanata told me to go after her.

I thought that she was leading me back to her house. Instead we found ourselves in the opposite direction. She ignored me when I asked where we were. Instead she climbed over the wall. I climbed over it after her and she motioned me to follow her further. We ended up on some steps leading down to a huge field. Gesturing me to sit down beside her she told me a story.

"A few years ago a strange event happened here. One night a girl and her accomplice broke into the school. Ordering her accomplice around, he ended up drawing weird patterns on the field for her. He told her that there would be interesting people, in a high school called North High. Of course the next day it caused quite a ruckus. She was reprimanded but she really didn't get much of a punishment" she told me as she looked up at the sky. I already knew about all that. Her accomplice was John Smith aka Kyon.

"Here's a question for you. Why do you think she did that?" she asked me.

"It's going a bit far but it was probably something like a giant tanzaku. She probably had a wish she really wanted to come true. Well even if it didn't come true I'm sure she was just subconsciously wishing for happiness. I know for sure she's found that. What she needs to learn is how to make others around her happy. If she can do that then she probably wouldn't need wishes or other incredible things to be happy" I answered. Whoa did I just have an epiphany for her?

She stared up at the starry sky above. She looks like she's seriously contemplating what I just said. She stood up after a little while. As she walked past me I saw that sparkle in her eyes when she's scheming something. I could've sworn there was also a smile on her face but it was too dark to see. She had nothing to say to me as she climbed over the wall. Knowing I'd get lost I followed after her.

I just knew that Haruhi going ahead without me was a bad idea. Rather than looking for her I decided to go straight to her house. I traced the way back to her house. I did this for a while running faster as I got more worried. Damn it I swear I'm stuck in a dimensional loop. Who knows maybe I did. I did feel really nauseous back there. I continued running until I ran into the fourth person today. The girl fell back and let out a pained whimper. Too bad I ended up on my ass too. I heard a familiar male voice telling me to watch it.

"Kyon, Mikuru! What are you two doing out here?" I asked as I got back on my feet.

"I happened to be walking in the same direction as Mikuru, so we decided to walk together" he said as he helped Mikuru back up onto her feet as well. They didn't exactly look happy to see me. I felt bad for getting Mikuru's uniform dirty. Wait how'd that happen? The road isn't dirty enough and there's no grass anywhere nearby. Where did these two just come back from?

"Do either of you happen to know where Haruhi's house is?" I asked both trying to take opportunity of the situation and to change the topic.

"I know Haruhi's house is pretty close to where I live but I don't know exactly. Shouldn't you know where her house is if you're staying there?" he said.

"Suzumiya has never told us where her house is" replied Mikuru.

"Guess I'll just have to keep searching then. Well goodnight and I'll see you both at school tomorrow!" I said as I continued. After running around for fifteen minutes and another bout with nausea I found Haruhi's house.

"Alan…" said a familiar voice. Guess I found Haruhi too…

"Late! Penalty!" she exclaimed.