Free The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa Page B

corner of the sports ground, leading me behind the athletic storeroom. A rusty cart, a rickety, wheeled field line marker, and a few bags of lime lay piled on the ground.



“I took this stuff out of the storeroom earlier this evening andhid them here. Great idea, right?” Haruhi bragged as she piled bags of powder, which appeared to weigh as much as she did, onto the cart and lifted the handle. She looked like a child as she struggled to push the cart along. Guess a first-year in middle school might as well be a child.
    I carefully set the slumbering Asahina against the storeroom wall. Please stay asleep for the time being.
    “I’ll take care of it. Hand it over. You take the line marker,” I said.
    Perhaps I shouldn’t have acted in such a cooperative way. Haruhi abused me in such a frenzy that she’d have worked a rampaging robot to the bone if she’d been given the option. Her personality hadn’t changed the least bit. I can see that her inner character didn’t mature over the next three years.
    “Draw the lines exactly the way I tell you to. Yes, I’m talking to you. I have to stand a ways away to supervise your line drawing to make sure you’re doing it right. Ah, that spot’s crooked! What are you doing?!”
    Her ability to scream commands at a high schooler she’d never met before made it clear that Haruhi had always been Haruhi. If this had been my first encounter with this middle school girl, I would have thought that she was genuinely dangerous.
    Before I met Nagato, Asahina, and Koizumi, at least.
    There were no run-ins with teachers on night watch or police cars showing up after some nearby resident called the cops. For thirty minutes, I drew white lines in every direction on the school grounds per Haruhi’s instructions.
    I never would have thought that mysterious message that had suddenly appeared on the school grounds had been drawn by me.
    As I stared in silence at the patterns I had painstakingly drawn,Haruhi walked over next to me and took the field line marker from me. She proceeded to make a number of fine-tuning adjustments by adding a few lines here and there.
    “Say, do you think aliens exist?”
    That came out of nowhere.
    “Why not?”
    Nagato’s face popped into my mind.
    “What about time travelers, then?”
    “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they existed.”
    I’d be considered a time traveler myself right now.
    “And espers?”
    “Walking all over the place, I’d guess.”
    I recalled the countless number of red lights.
    “Sliders?”
    “I haven’t met one of those yet.”
    “Hmm.”
    Haruhi tossed the field line marker aside and used her shoulder to wipe the dust off her face.
    “Oh, well.”
    I was getting nervous. Don’t tell me that I said something wrong. Haruhi looked at me with upturned eyes.
    “That’s a North High uniform, right?”
    “Sure.”
    “What’s your name?”
    “John Smith.”
    “… Are you stupid?”
    “Let’s just say that it’s my desired pseudonym.”
    “Who’s that girl?”
    “My older sister. She suffers from an erratic sleep disorder. It’s a chronic disease. She falls asleep suddenly, so I have to carry her.”
    “Hmm.”
    Haruhi bit her lower lip and turned to the side with a look that said she didn’t believe me. Let’s change the subject.
    “What is this supposed to be?”
    “Can’t you tell? It’s a message.”
    “To whom? Don’t tell me it’s to Orihime and Hikoboshi.”
    Haruhi looked surprised.
    “How’d you know?”
    “Well, it is Tanabata. I just happen to remember someone doing something similar.”
    “Huh? I’d love to meet that person. There’s someone like that at North High?”
    “Sure.”
    You’re the only person now and in the future who’ll ever be like that.
    “Hmm. North High, huh?” Haruhi murmured as she appeared to contemplate something. After staying as silent as a rock for a period of time, she abruptly turned around.
    “I’m going home. I accomplished my objective. See