… Or this was no longer the old world. It was the new world Haruhi had created. If that was the case, was there a way for me to confirm that?
No. Maybe, but I couldn’t think of anything. Actually, I didn’t want to think at all. If I was going to have to accept that my brain was capable of coming up with such a stupid dream, I’d rather the world be destroyed. It made me want to pull my hair out.
I picked up my alarm clock and checked the time. 2:30 am.
… I’m going back to bed.
I pulled my covers over my head and attempted to coax my frozen brain into slumber.
Only I didn’t sleep a wink.
Which is why I walked up the hill to school the next day in a foul mood. Quite frankly, it was painful. The only saving grace was that I didn’t run into Taniguchi and have to deal with his stupid blabbering. The blazing sun faithfully engaged in full power nuclear fusion. Would it kill the sun to lower the thermostat every now and then for our sake?
The sleepytime fairies, which hadn’t shown up when I wanted them to, were now circling over my head. I really doubted I’d hear much, if any, of what was said in first period.
Once the school was in sight, I stopped and stared bemusedly at the decrepit four-story building. The front gate, clubhouse, and passageway, sucking in students the way an anthill sucks in ants, were all there. I dragged my legs slowly up the stairs to head for my familiar 1-5 classroom. I stopped moving three steps from the open doorway.
Haruhi was already sitting in the last row next to the window. Why? She had her chin in her hands as she looked out the window. The back of her head was in plain sight.
A tied-off portion of her black hair stuck out like a topknot. It wasn’t really a ponytail. She just tied off a bit of hair, didn’t she? Still…
“Yo. How’s it going?” I asked.
I dropped my bag on my desk.
“I feel miserable. I had a nightmare last night,” Haruhi answered in a flat voice.
Well, isn’t that a coincidence.
“I ended up not getting any sleep. I’ve never wanted to skip school as badly as I do today.”
“Oh, really?”
I sat down in the hard chair and peered at Haruhi’s face. The strands of hair above her ear were covering the side of her face, so I couldn’t really make out her expression. Just as well. I could tell she wasn’t in a good mood. At least, that’s the impression I got.
“Haruhi,” I said.
“What?”
As Haruhi refused to budge from staring out the window, I said to her, “Your hair looks nice today.”