Haruhi>26. Live Alive

Kyon:
Surreal and incomprehensible, coupled together during an all-night editing session, the movie spawned from a director/producer's wacked-out mind was finished.
The SOS Brigade was now free to spend the peaceful first day at the school arts festival.
Fortunately for me, Haruhi decided she'd handle all the negotiating and promoting stuff by herself.
My job was to drop off the DVD with the film club, who was screening the movie for us.
After that, I wandered around the campus with a cloud-free conscience, enjoying the festival atmosphere despite my sleep-deprived state.
However, there was still one important duty that I had to take care of.



Kyon:
Unlike my class of slackers whose activity was some kind of campus survey thing, Nagato, Koizumi and Miss Asahina were working in the attractions their classes had organized.

Nagato:
You'll buy soft-serve ice-cream five minutes and fifteen seconds from now.
You'll drop it in five minutes and twenty-eight seconds from now.
You'll hit your head on a sign seven minutes and six seconds from now.
And then you'll bump into your girlfriend and fall over.
The items in her bag will scatter, leading to a quarrel with her seven minutes and fifty-one seconds from now.
You two will break up ten minutes and four...

Kyon:
Take it easy, Nagato.
You're telling their fortunes, not predicting the future.

Koizumi:
You and I both know very well that the law of probability governs all of nature in the world around us.
And yet having witnessed this phenomenon, I now find it difficult to believe in such a thing.
Perhaps we should think on this occurrence in a different way, that we are in the midst of something super-natural a far cry from anything we have ever known.
For example, let us say that we have six mice and toss them in the air...

Kyon:
What is this?
Could you just let us know when we're supposed to laugh?

Taniguchi:
Yo!

Girl:
Come on in and check out our stock today, we xxx!

Kyon:
You guys have any luck?

Taniguchi:
Nope, not as much as I expected.
The Table Tennis Club had ping-pong ice-cream though.

Kunikida:
Senior Year Class Three had some good oden.

Taniguchi:
Junior Year Class Five had chocolate covered bananas--they were more bananas than chocolate.

Kyon:
You're kidding.
All you're doing is eating?

Kunikida:
Yeah, we're just sampling the food!

Taniguchi:
Now it's time to get to the real deal though, the cosplay café.

Kunikida:
Man, that bunny girl outfit from a while back was unbelievable.
I wonder what she's gonna wear today.

Taniguchi:
Yeah, well, we acted in your movie for free and I was pushed into the water for free.
You know, all we got to show for it is a coupon for thirty percent off of some fried noodles.
If you ask me, it really wasn't worth it.

Kyon:
If you don't like it, don't come, just go home.

Taniguchi:
Yeah right, not before I sneak a peek at Miss Asahina in all her cosplay glory.

Kunikida:
I wonder if she'll be a waitress in a tight little miniskirt like she was in the movie.

Kyon:
Her sense of style isn't the same as Haruhi's, buddy.
But a waitress outfit handmade by one of her classmates?
I'm so there.

Tsuruya:
Thank you.

Hey, it's Kyon and his buddies! Come on over here, you guys!
Thanks for coming by. Table for three today?
Oh, wait. What do you think about my outfit?
Doesn't this thing look totally awesome on me, Megas?
Aren't they cute, Nyoro?

Kyon:
Oh, absolutely.
You're packing 'em in.

Tsuruya:
Hahaha. The fish always take the bait!
I mean it's just bad fried noodles made with really cheap ingredients.
But look at all those people standing in line!
We're raking in so much money I can't stop laughing!

Kyon:
Yeah, I'm not sure it's just a coincidence that all your customers are guys.

Tsuruya:
Oh, head over there, the end of the line!
Go on, get in line!
Here we are. Please pay in advance.
Oh, and another thing--we've only got fried noodles and tap water.
Now the noodles are 300 yen each, but the water's free so it's all you can drink!

Kyon:
So, what's this get us?

Tsuruya:
Let's see. So, it's just for the three of you.
With these things, we're taking 500 yen, some deal, huh?

Okay, boys, hang out here for a second.
Your turn'll be coming up shortly!

Kunikida:
Wow, she's a hyper girl.

Taniguchi:
Is she a member of you and Suzumiya's bunch of wackos too?

Kyon:
Nope.

Taniguchi:
By the way, don't forget to split the change with us.

Kyon:
He got me.

Kyon:
"Via shortly" that Miss Tsuruya was talking about was thirty minutes.
So, we stood outside and waited until she finally let us in.

Mikuru:
Okay.
Oh, welcome to our café!

Kyon:
She's a dazzling waitress who'd put million-dollar view of the city lights to shame.
She's got a different glimmer here than back at the club.

Mikuru:
Welcome and thank you so much for stopping by to see us today.
Umm...

Taniguchi:
Taniguchi!

Kunikida:
Kunikida!

Mikuru:
Thank you for your help on the movie.

Kyon:
I see. If they let you take pictures, there'd be a riot for sure.
I'd give those customs the award for best design.
Then you got those two, who could be on the cover of a teen fashion magazine.
Putting together, it's a magnificent sight.

Mikuru:
We'll be with you, and just a moment.

Tsuruya:
Mikuru is in charge of collecting the tickets.
She's also the one clearing the empty plates and refilling the water.
If I let her serve the noodles, she'd probably trip and spill them on somebody!

Kyon:
Wow, she really gets it.

Kyon:
In the end, pressured by the super fast customer turnaround, we inhaled the fried noodles in about five minutes, and left the place feeling slightly less than satisfied.

Kunikida:
So, what do you guys wanna do?
I was thinking we could check out the movie you guys made.
I kinda wanna see what I look like on a big screen.

Taniguchi:
Pass--it's probably gonna be lame.

Kyon:
I quite agree.
However, hearing that coming from you really irks me.

Taniguchi:
Man, those fried noodles weren't enough.
Oh yeah, next up is the barbecue hosted by the Science Club.

Kyon:
You still hungry?

Taniguchi:
Before we hit the barbecue, how about we score us some hotties?!

Kunikida:
Hotties?

Taniguchi:
That's right, Mr. Kunikida, hotties.
We find a couple of girls dressed casual, kind of like those two, then we make with the chit-chat and it's on.
It's a tactic I developed over years of experience.

Kyon:
What good is your experience when your success rate is zero?

Thanks, but I'll pass.
You guys are on your own.

Kunikida:
I think I'll pass too.
Good luck.
And if you find a girl to hang out with, you can introduce me to one of her friends.

Taniguchi:
Uh, what? So you guys are just gonna chicken out?

Kyon:
I'm not a coward.
It's just that if a certain someone saw me hitting on a girl, it could be a little bit of a problem, actually a big problem.
Look, just try to enjoy the rest of the arts festival, and do it normally.



Kid:
You don't! Hear I want the red one! Red! Red! Red! Red!

Mom:
Shut up, or I'll leave you here!

Kyon:
Now then, where should I go next?

Girl:
Oh, you did the thing!

Boy:
Don't forget xxx brand-new scooter today!

Kyon:
The Wind Ensemble's performing in the lecture hall.
Then, the Rock Club's hosting the concert with a bunch of bands.
I guess I'll head over there.
After pulling all-nighters, it's the perfect place to rest my sleep-deprived body.

Bandage:
You rock, you're tight!
We're Bandage!
Thank you and good night!

Kyon:
Huh?

Announce:
Next up, we have the Rock Club's very own ENOZ.

Kyon:
You... you kidding.

What the hell is she doing?!

Haruhi:
Blazing on by, there's nothing more that I can do
I'm sorry that I'll never be with you again
Even though my heavy heart is parched with pain
I know somehow your sorrow's something I won't see
It's my life; I'm moving on and never going back there
But you just turn away and leave me on the lonely rail

God knows that I would follow you
If that is what you wanted
Take me into all your darkest shadows
And you'll see that I'm even stronger than you could know
God knows that I am standing here and you could disappear
Slipping right over the edge of the future
If I had my way, we'd be together forever
Eternally god bless

The way you're standing there
I feel as though we're almost one again
And yet we're miles apart in time
Beneath the pale blue moon
I see your eyes are glistening with so much love
It's tearing you apart to be here

You know it
God knows that I would follow you
If that is what you wanted
Take me into all your darkest shadows
And you'll see that I'm even stronger than you could know
God knows that I am standing here and you could disappear
Slipping right over the edge of the future
If I had my way, we'd be together forever
Eternally god bless

Koizumi:
Miss Suzumiya's very good!

Kyon:
Huh?

Koizumi:
So is Miss Nagato.

Kyon:
What's up with the outfit you wear?

Koizumi:
I hurried over here as soon as I heard.
The student council was buzzing with this rumor about how Miss Suzumiya was going to be doing something in the lecture hall today.

Kyon:
This would be that something.

Koizumi:
Hm.

Haruhi:
Uh... Hi, everyone, this is ENOZ.
The name ENOZ comes from using the first letter of the last name of each of the members, Enomoto, Nakanishi, Okajima and Zaizen.
Unfortunately, something happened, and Enomoto and Nakanishi couldn't come up here to perform for you today.
That's Yuki over there.
Well, she and I aren't in the band, we're just filling in. Sorry.

Let me introduce you to the real members of the band.
On drums, we have Mizuki! And that's Mai on bass!
And filling in for Miss Nakanishi on guitar, Yuki!
And I'm filling in for Miss Enomoto today on guitar and vocals.
I don't know if I can play this thing very well.
In fact, I don't know if I'm doing so hard singing either.
What I'm saying is that I got the sheet music about an hour ago, so I'm sort of winging it here.

By the way, if there's anyone out there who wants to hear the real song performed with the real vocalist guitarist, come see us after the show, okay?
Oh, and if you wanna bring a Mini-Disc, we'll make a copy of the songs for you for free.
Is that cool?
Hmm... so that's that.

We're gonna do one more.
I didn't have much time, so I only got two songs down.
This will be the last one.
Sorry if you were expecting more.
We're playing our hearts out to appear for you.
You ready?
This is "Lost my music."

Haruhi:
When I look up at the sky
I can't help wonder why
We can't be here together
HEY!!

And no matter where you are right now
All I want is to be by your side
Every time I think of you
I wish I were there too
Instead of feeling lonely

Since you took me to the cinema
I can't help it, you're always on my mind
'Cause the boy I love has gone so far away
And it hurts so much, I almost lost my music
I can't wait to wake up from this endless dream
And be together everyday till we say good night!

I still, I still, I love you
I'm waiting, waiting forever
I still, I still, I love you
And [I xxx can't make it stop]



Kyon:
Later, I got the whole story.

Haruhi:
I was passing out flyers for our movie, but I ran out.
So I headed back to the clubroom to get some more.
I was walking by the shoe lockers, and I saw the band arguing with the Festival Operations Committee.
I guessed they weren't going to let them on stage to play.
The lead singer, Miss Enomoto had to go to the hospital the night before because she got a case of tonsillitis.
And on the day of the concert, Miss Nakanishi, the guitarist, tripped and sprained her wrist, so neither of them could perform.
Miss Nakanishi is a senior, and this was her last North High Festival.
She wanted to play even if it killed her.
They were going to play new songs.
But in the end, Miss Nakanishi had to be taken away to get her wrist looked at.

Kyon:
And that's when you decided to get involved and help the band out?

Haruhi:
I can really understand how they felt.
Even if my throat was wrecked and my arm went numb, I'd be up on that stage playing on willpower alone.

Kyon:
I don't doubt it.

Haruhi:
But when I saw Miss Nakanishi, I figured there wasn't anything they could do.
I mean, if you saw her, you'd feel bad for the other members of the band, right?
They must have practiced so hard for that show.
So then, this is what I told them; "since you guys are in a jam, you want me to fill in for her?"

Kyon:
I'm kinda surprised that the other two girls agreed to let you do that.

Haruhi:
I told them "all I do is sing."
And both Miss Okajima and Miss Zaizen said "hey, with you, we just might pull it off."
After all, I was in the Rock Club for a little bit, and they probably remembered me from back then.

Kyon:
Stories about Haruhi's eccentricity are pretty well-known.
But she's also famous for being a super utility player.
She can do anything and everything.

Haruhi:
I wanted to play all the guitar stuff too.
But there wasn't enough time to learn it.
I had to go over the sheet music.
All I could do was get the main chords down.

Kyon:
That explains Nagato.

Haruhi:
Yeah. I barged into the fortune-telling racket.
And when I told her what was happening, she decided to join me!
Did you see her play?
I never knew she was so dexterous!
She took one look at the music, and then played it perfectly!
I wonder where the heck that girl learned to play guitar like that.

Kyon:
Probably the moment you brought it up.

Kunikida:
Hey, it looks like we have a couple of guests.
They wanna see Miss Suzumiya.

Haruhi:
Umm...

Kyon:
Well, go talk to them.

Haruhi:
Okay, but you're coming too.

Kyon:
Aw...

Haruhi:
Is your throat any better today?

Enomoto:
Yeah, thanks for asking.

Haruhi:
And how's your wrist doing?

Nakanishi:
It's not a hundred percent yet.
So studying for my exams will be a drag.

Enomoto:
I wanted to thank you, Miss Suzumiya.

Haruhi:
Uh, um...

Okajima:
You won't believe how many requests we got for the original songs after the show.
It's crazy!

Zaizen:
We can't dub our stuff on the Mini-Discs fast enough.

Enomoto:
There're so many people who want it.

Kyon:
Uh...

Nakanishi:
But really, it's all thanks to you.
Because of what you did for us, our songs didn't have to go to waste.
And we really appreciate it.
You're something else, Miss Suzumiya.
This festival was gonna be my last memory with the rock club, so I really wanted to play it.
But this was way better than having us back out of it.

Haruhi:
Yeah...

Nakanishi:
Anyway, we wanna do something for you in return.

Haruhi:
No, it's okay, really.
They were great songs and I had a blast singing them.
I'd feel bad if you guys went and gave me something on top of that experience.
Actually, why don't you tell Yuki?
I want her to hear it, 'cause I kinda forced her to come along and play!

Enomoto:
We already went to her class.
She just nodded once, and then she pointed us to this classroom.

Haruhi:
Oh.

Nakanishi:
Hey, we're gonna play a gig somewhere before we graduate.
So if you want, come check us out, okay?
And you can bring...

Kyon:
Hm?

Nakanishi:
...your friend here with you too.



Kyon:
And after that, Haruhi slipped into one of her moods.
Then when lunch time came around, she rushed out of the classroom.

Taniguchi:
I'm serious! There wasn't a single decent looking girl at the arts festival.
You wanna know what I think?
I think this school is built on a bad location.
We'd get a better crowd if it wasn't on this hill.

Kyon:
After lunch, I took a walk.
I figured it would settle my stomach.
And no, there wasn't any other reason.

Hey!

Haruhi:
Yeah, what is it?

I didn't have time to practice, so we had to make them sound simpler.
People wanna listen to the real thing, though, don't they?

Kyon:
You're talking about all the people that want Mini-Discs?

Haruhi:
Yeah...

Kyon:
That was a heck of a performance for being on the fly, though.
Don't you think it was good publicity for them?

Haruhi:
If I'd just had one more day to practice, I could have nailed it.
Part of me is asking; "was it good enough?", "could it have been better?"
I don't know.
How do I explain it?
When I was up on that stage, I felt like I was really doing something.

This sucks.
I mean, why can't I just forget about it already?

Kyon:
How should I know?

But I do--it's because you're just not used to being appreciated by others.
The things you do aren't things that people usually thank you for.

Haruhi:
What is it now?
If you've got something to say, just say it--spit it out already!
It's probably something stupid, anyway.
But don't just stand there and keep it bottled up!
It's not good for you!

Kyon:
Seriously, it's nothing.


Haruhi:
Hey, do you know how to play any instruments?

Kyon:
I don't.

Haruhi:
It doesn't matter, 'cause we've got a whole year to practice our butts off for the next arts festival!

Kyon:
Oh, come on.

Haruhi:
Our goal is to enter next year's North High Arts Fest as a real band!
I'll be the lead singer and Yuki can play guitar!
And we'll have Mikuru shake the tambourineand be a totally awesome stage decoration!

Kyon:
No...

Haruhi:
And of course we'll have to make a sequel to our movie too!
Next year we'll be super busy.
After all, our goal each year should be to increase the number of goals we set for ourselves.

Kyon:
Hold on!

Haruhi:
Come on, Kyon. Let's get moving!

Kyon:
Where are we moving?

Haruhi:
We're gonna get some instruments!
First, we'll hit the Rock Club's room.
I know I'll find stuff they're not using, just lying around out there.
Then we'll ask the ENOZ chicks to teach us to write music!

Kyon:
Huh?

Haruhi:
Don't sweat it.
I'll write the songs, compose the music, and I'll do the choreography!

Kyon:
But you don't have to do it right now!

Haruhi:
Are you nuts?
A year's gonna go by like that!

Kyon:
And, what do you mean by 'choreography'?
I thought we were gonna be a band!

Haruhi:
We need it.
We're gonna create a new image of what bands should be!

Kyon:
But that's no different from a pop idol!