The Eccentricities of Haruhi Suzumiya

My Date with Time Pt.1

Things had changed around school after the summer break. Of course the sweltering heat that remained after August caused all my classes and even the SOS Brigade clubroom to become suffocating and sweaty, and we all desperately adjusted in trying new ways to remain cool. But something else had changed. The entire school population as a whole had changed.

Over the past week, students of all year levels demonstrated changes in behaviour. I noticed these every time I made my way down the corridor, no matter where I was headed, I could feel the heavy stares from packs of girls huddled together in groups, and when I reached the classroom, the boys were all grouped in a similar fashion. All men, especially those like Taniguchi, rattled with both high hopes and anxiety.

I'll cut to the chase. The annual School Formal was fast approaching.

It wasn't common for a Japanese school to hold an event like this unless you were attending a prestigious school such as Koyouen Academy, but our boring little public school decided to try something unique and force the students to dress up once a year, find a date of the opposite sex (or the same sex if that's what you were into) and attend a night of dancing and alleged fun. I don't know why it was named a 'School Formal', probably to sound more prestigious, but the types of people that attended this school, along with the nature of the school itself, it was anything but prestigious and took on more of a form of a School Dance, or an American style Prom. As a first year, this would be my first time experiencing the atmosphere leading up to such an event and I was already over it's uncomfortableness.

Needless to say, I didn't intend on going. I didn't have a girlfriend, and I didn't see the worth in just asking a girl along just for the fun of it if I had no intentions to date them or get to know them better. Sorry North High, I'm giving this event a pass.

Despite my opinions, it didn't stop people like Taniguchi and Kunikida stressing over the event. Subconsciously, the entire school had divided itself into two groups; boys and girls, and I was certain it would remain that way until the day itself. The boys, not sure how to approach the girls, formed their own groups where they could share their struggles and receive encouragement from other guys in hopes of overcoming their fears and finding a date. The girls also kept to themselves out of what I imagine to be nervousness and became alarmed and anxiously hopeful whenever a boy remotely passed or came into close distance of them as I had unconsciously been doing.

The strange behaviours aside, I was hoping to ignore the entire thing as much as possible. I couldn't imagine the members of the SOS Brigade becoming involved in such an event. I take that back, perhaps Koizumi and Asahina would be silently intrigued and/or hopeful towards the Formal, but they wouldn't make too much of a fuss about it. Nagato wouldn't have cared for it in the slightest, even if she had noticed everyone's behavioural changes I wasn't entirely sure she would've comprehended the notion of a School Formal and would probably take the path of ignorance as I had done. Knowing Haruhi as well as I did, I pretty much knew her answer already. She had remained silent on the issue completely, but I knew that was because she viewed the whole thing as a massive waste of time. Hell, she even viewed romance itself as a massive waste of time. So naturally, I felt confident going into the clubroom.

"I've decided that the SOS Brigade will be attending the School Formal!"

Haruhi made that exclamation only moments after my arrival at the SOS Brigade clubroom and I instantly could not understand what had manipulated her into making such a choice. Haruhi had done many crazy things in her life but this was unexpected. I thought she would have hated it- there was absolutely nothing strange or out of the ordinary at all about this. She actually wanted to do something.. That a normal high schooler would do? I was briefly intrigued for a moment until I realised the full weight of this declaration. Damn it, it would seem I'd be attending this event too.