clubhouse, a place where we would be considered parasites rather than tenants.
“Ah, hello.”
That greeting came from Mikuru Asahina, who had a bright smileon her face. She’s the source of my peace. An SOS Brigade without her would be as meaningless as curry rice without the curry.
Since it was July, Asahina had switched to a summer version of her maid outfit. Who knew where Haruhi had brought the costume from, but upon receiving it, Asahina had sincerely thanked her by saying, “Ah, thank you very much.” She was serving as the SOS Brigade’s maid again today, earnestly making tea for me. As I drank the tea, I looked across the room.
“Hello, how are you doing?”
Itsuki Koizumi nodded to me from his seat in front of a chessboard at the long table as he moved pieces around with one hand and held a book of chess problems in the other.
“I’ve been going insane ever since I started high school.”
Last week, Koizumi had brought the board after saying something about trying out chess since he was getting tired of Othello. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the rules, and neither did any of the other people here so he was left playing chess by his lonesome, which I supposed was an indication that he had nothing to worry about regarding the upcoming exams.
“I wouldn’t say that I have nothing to worry about. This is merely a means of exercising my brain while taking a break from studying. Every problem solved improves the blood circulation in my brain. Would you care to join me?”
No thanks. I don’t feel like doing any more thinking than I have to. Plus, I have a feeling that if I learn any of this weird stuff, it’ll boot the English vocabulary words I have to remember out of my memory.
“That’s unfortunate. Shall I bring LIFE or Battleship next time? Yes, it would be a good idea to bring something that everyone could play. What would you recommend?”
Anything works. Though at the same time, nothing would really be acceptable. This is the SOS Brigade, not a board gameclub. Incidentally, the objective of the SOS Brigade’s activities remains a mystery to me, so I still have no idea what this enigmatic brigade is supposed to do. Not that I really want to know, and I’m probably safer off not knowing. Which is why I don’t feel like doing anything. My logic is perfect.
Koizumi shrugged and returned to his book of problems. He took a black knight and moved it to a new position.
Next to Koizumi was Yuki Nagato, buried in a book and showing less emotion than an animatronics puppet in some B movie. It appeared that the reticent and curt pseudo-alien had finally developed a taste for reading original texts instead of their translated versions. The book she was currently reading looked like some kind of ancient and heavy spell book with a title scribbled in some kind of Fraktur script I couldn’t decipher. I’m pretty sure it was written in ancient Etruscan or something. Nagato would probably have no problem reading a Linear A inscription on a stone tablet.
I pulled back the metal chair and took a seat. Asahina immediately set a cup down in front of me. It’s really a bad idea to drink hot tea in this sweltering weather—except that I most definitely was not harboring such a wrongful thought. I simply sipped my tea with a heartfelt sense of gratitude. Yep, it’s hot and sweltering.
An electric fan that Haruhi had brought in from who knows where was whirring away in the corner of the room, but it was about as effective as pouring boiling water onto hot stone. She should have just stolen an air conditioner from the faculty office.
I looked up from my English textbook with its pages flipping in the breeze, and leaned back into the metal chair to stretch.
It wasn’t like I was going to study when I got home, so I figured I might as well try to get some studying done after school in the club room, but as I discovered, a change in location isn’t going to make you want to do something you don’t want
“Ah, hello.”
That greeting came from Mikuru Asahina, who had a bright smileon her face. She’s the source of my peace. An SOS Brigade without her would be as meaningless as curry rice without the curry.
Since it was July, Asahina had switched to a summer version of her maid outfit. Who knew where Haruhi had brought the costume from, but upon receiving it, Asahina had sincerely thanked her by saying, “Ah, thank you very much.” She was serving as the SOS Brigade’s maid again today, earnestly making tea for me. As I drank the tea, I looked across the room.
“Hello, how are you doing?”
Itsuki Koizumi nodded to me from his seat in front of a chessboard at the long table as he moved pieces around with one hand and held a book of chess problems in the other.
“I’ve been going insane ever since I started high school.”
Last week, Koizumi had brought the board after saying something about trying out chess since he was getting tired of Othello. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the rules, and neither did any of the other people here so he was left playing chess by his lonesome, which I supposed was an indication that he had nothing to worry about regarding the upcoming exams.
“I wouldn’t say that I have nothing to worry about. This is merely a means of exercising my brain while taking a break from studying. Every problem solved improves the blood circulation in my brain. Would you care to join me?”
No thanks. I don’t feel like doing any more thinking than I have to. Plus, I have a feeling that if I learn any of this weird stuff, it’ll boot the English vocabulary words I have to remember out of my memory.
“That’s unfortunate. Shall I bring LIFE or Battleship next time? Yes, it would be a good idea to bring something that everyone could play. What would you recommend?”
Anything works. Though at the same time, nothing would really be acceptable. This is the SOS Brigade, not a board gameclub. Incidentally, the objective of the SOS Brigade’s activities remains a mystery to me, so I still have no idea what this enigmatic brigade is supposed to do. Not that I really want to know, and I’m probably safer off not knowing. Which is why I don’t feel like doing anything. My logic is perfect.
Koizumi shrugged and returned to his book of problems. He took a black knight and moved it to a new position.
Next to Koizumi was Yuki Nagato, buried in a book and showing less emotion than an animatronics puppet in some B movie. It appeared that the reticent and curt pseudo-alien had finally developed a taste for reading original texts instead of their translated versions. The book she was currently reading looked like some kind of ancient and heavy spell book with a title scribbled in some kind of Fraktur script I couldn’t decipher. I’m pretty sure it was written in ancient Etruscan or something. Nagato would probably have no problem reading a Linear A inscription on a stone tablet.
I pulled back the metal chair and took a seat. Asahina immediately set a cup down in front of me. It’s really a bad idea to drink hot tea in this sweltering weather—except that I most definitely was not harboring such a wrongful thought. I simply sipped my tea with a heartfelt sense of gratitude. Yep, it’s hot and sweltering.
An electric fan that Haruhi had brought in from who knows where was whirring away in the corner of the room, but it was about as effective as pouring boiling water onto hot stone. She should have just stolen an air conditioner from the faculty office.
I looked up from my English textbook with its pages flipping in the breeze, and leaned back into the metal chair to stretch.
It wasn’t like I was going to study when I got home, so I figured I might as well try to get some studying done after school in the club room, but as I discovered, a change in location isn’t going to make you want to do something you don’t want
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