Read Online The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa - Free Book Online

police detective leading away a female perpetrator who had committed a murder for sympathetic reasons, she put her arm around Asahina’s shoulders and walked toward the ticket gate.
    And we were there. We got off at the same station as the other day and headed for the same shopping district. I was beginning to have my suspicions when we really did stop in front of the same store as the other day. The electronics store where Haruhi had haggled for the video camera.
    “We came as promised!” Haruhi shouted as she cheerfully walked in. The middle-aged guy appeared from the store interior and rested his eyes upon Asahina.
    “Ho-ho.”
    The guy stared at our lead actress with a grin on his face that could only be considered sexual harassment. Asahina was completely motionless, like a fighting-game character after using a super-move.
    The guy continued speaking. “Is she the one from yesterday? I didn’t recognize her. Ho-ho. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
    Leave what to us? I was in the process of reflexively moving forward to defend the quivering Asahina when Haruhi pushed me back.
    “Okay. We’re going to have a meeting now, so listen up.”
    And Haruhi made her announcement with the same smile she’d had right after winning the interclub relay.
    “We will now begin shooting the commercial!”
    “Th-this store… um… has a very friendly owner. And he’s a nice guy. This store has been around since when it was owned by the grandfather of the current owner, Eijirou. They carry everything from batteries to refrigerators. Um… Also, um…,” waitress Asahina forcedly recited in a deadpan voice with a twitching smile on her face. Nagato stood next to her holding a placard saying
Ohmori Electronics
as I watched the two of them through the video camera viewfinder.
    Asahina had an impressively awkward smile on her face as she held a mike that wasn’t actually hooked up to anything.
    Koizumi stood next to me holding up cue cards with a faint mocking smile on his face. The cue cards were just a sketchbook Haruhi had scribbled on a moment ago without giving it much thought. Koizumi was flipping through the pages as Asahina went through her lines.
    We were in front of the store, still in the shopping district.
    Haruhi leaned back in her director’s chair with her legs crossed as she watched Asahina’s acting with an intense look of concentration on her face.
    “Okay, cut!”
    She whacked the megaphone against her palm.
    “There isn’t any emotion. I’m not sure why I can’t feel the vibes. It just, like, doesn’t have any
oomph
to it,” she said while biting her nails.
    My reaction as I stopped the video camera was along the lines of “good grief.” Asahina also stopped with her hands clutching the mike. Nagato was stationary to begin with. Koizumi just smiled.
    Behind us, people passing through the shopping district chattered curiously.
    “Mikuru’s expression is too stiff. Your smile needs to be more natural. Think happy thoughts. Yeah, aren’t you feeling happy right now? You’ve been handpicked to be the star of the movie. You’re never going to experience anything happier in your life!”
    I’d really like to tell her to go shove it.
    If I had to summarize Haruhi’s conversation with the manager from yesterday, it would probably go something like this:
    “I’ll stick a commercial for this store in the movie, so give me a video camera.”
    “Sure.”
    I’m pretty sure there’s something wrong with the manager for going along with Haruhi’s sweet-talk, but there is definitely something seriously wrong with Haruhi if she’s planning on screening a homemade movie with commercials. I’ve never heard of a leading actress doing a commercial in the middle of a movie. Maybe if you casually sneak something in the background during a scene of the movie, but this is just a feature-length commercial.
    “I got it!” Haruhi was shouting to herself.
    Could you please stop having these