After ordering us to meet here every day after school, or else, Haruki called it a day. As I left the Old Complex, the sight of Asahina-senpai's trudging lifelessly along the hallway (shoulders drooped) was so sad I just couldn't bear it. I called out to him.
"Senpai"
"Yes?"
Asahina-senpai looked at me with his innocent face. He really didn't seem that much older than me.
"Look, you really don’t have to join a weird club like this if you don’t want to. Don’t worry about Suzumiya; I'll find a way to explain it to him."
"No."
He stopped and smiled at me:
"It's all right. I want to join."
"But I really don't think this will turn out well at all.”
"But you're in it, aren't you?"
Yeah... but not by choice. Why am I even still here?
"This was probably inevitable on the temporal plane..." he said, his eyes staring off into the distance.
"Pardon?"
"And I'm interested in the presence of Nagato-san..."
"Interested?"
"Eh? Oh, no, it's nothing." he said, shaking his head. His hair waved gently as he smiled, looking embarrassed, and gave me a deep bow.
"I may be a little trouble, but please bear with me for now!"
"Uh, look, if you say so, but look, Asahina-senpai-"
"Please just call me Mitsuuru!"
He smiled.
Aww… he’s so cute!
------
The following is a conversation I had with Haruki one day.
"You know what we need next?"
"Beats me."
"We need to get our hands on a Mysterious Transfer Student!"
I sighed.
"Define a 'mysterious' transfer student."
"Well, we're less than two months into the school term, right? Anybody who transfers in at this point is automatically mysterious! Don't you agree?"
"Maybe their parents just got a job transfer and they got dragged along."
"That's abnormal."
"What would you consider abnormal? That's what I'd love to know."
"Mm, A Mysterious Transfer Student… when is one going to show up?"
"Why don’t you ever listen to me!?”
-----
Rumours started to fly that me and Haruki were plotting something.
"What exactly are you up to with Haruki?"
Taniguchi seemed upset.
"You're not..." - she took a deep breath - "GOING OUT, are you?"
Absolutely not! And if there's anybody here who'd like to know exactly what it is we're doing, it's me!
"Well, don't go doing anything too stupid, okay? You're not in middle school anymore. If you vandalize the sports field, you'll get a suspension at the very least."
If it were just Haruki acting up on his lonesome, I could simply ignore him. But he's dragged Nagato Yuuki-kun and Asahina Mikuru-senpai into this mess now - I've got to at least see to it that they don't come to any harm. I'm kind of proud of how considerate I was being.
Problem was, Haruki's strong enough to just carry me off wherever he wants, and I doubted I had much chance of stopping him...
-----
"We need a computer!"
Since the founding of the SOS Brigade, the once-sparse Literature Club room began to accumulate a growing number of items. A portable clothes-rack stood in one corner of the room; an electric kettle and cups for everybody was always on hand, along with a traditional teapot, a single-compartment refridgerator, a portable gas stove, and eating utensils. A stereo system (connected to a CD/MD player/radio) and a PS2 sat nearby. What was this stuff for? Did he plan to live here or something?
Haruki was sitting on a desk he'd stolen from who-knows-where, cross-legged, cross armed and just generally cross. By his side sat a black triangular pyramid across which the worlds "Brigade Commander" had been scrawled in magic marker.
"It's a tragedy! We're living in the information age, and yet a Brigade as important as mine doesn't even have a single computer!"
What are you talking about?
In any case, all the members of Haruki's little gang were here today. Nagato Yuuki sat silently in his usual spot, reading a book about a moon of Saturn falling or something like that. Asahina-senpai had obediently arrived (despite the fact that he didn't really have to be here...) and was seated on a steel chair, looking confused.
Haruki leaped off the desk and marched purposely towards me, flashing me a sinister smile.
"Let's go scrounge one up!"
"Scrounge one up? A PC? From where?" I asked, without any enthusiasm. "You're not going to rob an electronics store, are you?"
"No, no!" he replied, imperiously. "Why go all that way when we can get one somewhere much closer?