Chapter 1
And so, I entered the senior high school in my area. At first, I regretted this decision as my new school sat on top of a very high hill. Even during spring, students would become hot and sweaty just from climbing the steep road — clearly, my intention of "going to school leisurely" was not going to work. Every time I remembered this, along with the fact that I would have to repeat the same procedure every day for the next three years, I became tired and depressed. I overslept a bit today. Perhaps that's why I walked so much faster, and perhaps that was why I was so tired then. I could have woken up ten minutes earlier, but, as all of you know, you sleep best right before it's time to get up. I didn't want to waste that precious 10 minutes, so I gave up on the thought, which meant that I would need to repeat this early exercise for the next three years. This was just too depressing.
That was the reason for my lone grim face in the time-wasting entrance ceremony. Everyone else had the "starting a new journey" look on their face; you know, the unique "hopeful, yet filled with uncertainty" look that every new student wears when they enter a new school. For me, this was not the case — a lot of old classmates from my old junior high school were also coming to this school. To cap it off, a few of my friends were also here. Thus, I didn't look as worried, or excited, as other people.
The guys were wearing sport jackets, and the girls were wearing the sailor uniform. Wow, that's a pretty weird combination. Maybe the snore-inducing principal giving a speech on the stage had some sort of fetish for sailor uniforms. As I was thinking about these useless things, the idiotic ceremony finally ended. I, along with my not-so-willing new classmates, entered the 1-5 classroom.
Our homeroom teacher, Okabe-sensei, with his practiced-for-an-hour-in-front-of-a-mirror smile, walked to the front of the class and gave a self-introduction. He first said that he was a PE teacher, and was the managing teacher for the handball team. Then he moved on to stuff like how, back when he was in university, he used to play on the handball team, and even won the championship, and that this school seriously lacked handball players, so whoever entered the team would become a regular instantly. And then he said stuff like how handball was the most interesting sport in the world and what-have-you. Just when I thought that he would never finish, he suddenly blurted out:
"Now, let's introduce ourselves!"
This kind of thing was pretty common, though, so I wasn't surprised.
One by one, the people on the left side of the class started to introduce themselves. They raised their hand, then announced their name, the name of their old school, and other trivial stuff, such as a hobby or favorite food. Some people mumbled their way through it, a few had some pretty interesting introductions, while some tried to tell lame jokes that lowered the room's temperature by a substantial degree. As the different people introduced themselves, my turn was approaching. I'm starting to get nervous! Everyone should understand how I'm feeling right now, right?
After I managed to finish my carefully thought-out, minimal-length introduction without stumbling over my words too much, I sat down, feeling the relief you get after having finished something unpleasant but necessary. The person behind me stood up for her turn and?ah, I probably won't forget this for the rest of my life?said the words that would be the topic of conversation for a long time.
"My name is Suzumiya Haruhi. I graduated from East Junior High."
Up to this point the introduction was still normal, so I didn't even bother turning around to look at her. I just stared at the front and listened to her crisp voice.
"Normal humans don't interest me. If anyone here is an alien, a time traveler, slider, or an esper, then come find me! That is all."
Upon hearing that, I couldn't help but turn around.