For the first time this liveblog, I pop in disc 4.
The arts festival and its aftermath are over, the mountain winds are beginning to whip up, and winter is on its way. It's almost December. The building in which the clubroom is located has been there since the school was built, and it has thin walls that let you feel the cold.
("Bouken desho desho?")
In the clubroom, Yuki is reading at the table (instead of the corner), Itsuki and Kyon are playing some sort of card game involving... anime characters? (one card I can see says "huerisu erisu" near the top), and Mikuru is knitting.
While the SOS Brigade — and mostly Kyon at that — always seems to get involved in strange things, it's not like somethings strange happens every day; if it did, his body couldn't take it, and it's be worse for his mood. When Haruhi isn't around, it's really quiet, and kinda nice. We look around at relics of their previous adventures: The computer, the baseball equipment, the bamboo with tanzaku hanging from it (we'll get to that first thing second season), pictures from their island vacation, the nurse outfit, the bunny costume, the frog head (we'll get to that second episode of the second season), laptops. Kyon admits that it may be a bit too quiet. It's been 6 months since he first met Haruhi, Mikuru, and the others, and they've been through a lot together, and while Haruhi has provoked a lot of it, it wasn't necessarily all of it. It was always at times like this when she would bust through the door.
She does so, announcing really good news. Kyon is skeptical of how good it'll actually turn out to be. Turns out, Haruhi's managed to get them a heater. Mikuru gets up to serve her some tea. Haruhi tells them that the appliance store that sponsored their movie has an extra heater from last year that they forgot they had want to get rid of. Kyon finds it hard to believe an appliance store owner would do that, and thinks Haruhi must've somehow forced the deal on him. Haruhi wants Kyon to go pick it up right now. As in, now now. Kyon gives her a Let Me Get This Straight... about it, but she still wants him to do it now, before the store owner changes his mind. After all, he's bored enough to be sitting in that room, so. Kyon asks why she doesn't do it. Apparently, she has something she has to take care of. She grins at Mikuru tellingly. As Itsuki is the deputy chief, she's not going to tell him to do something when she can tell someone lower in the ranks. In every group she's been in, the lowest-ranking members are always the hardest worked, and the SOS Brigade totally supports that policy. Kyon decides her request is, for once, reasonable. He gets up, puts on his jacket, and starts to go. Mikuru puts her pink scarf on him, as she heard it's going to be chilly. Haruhi yells at him to get going, and he leaves.
Now that Kyon is out for now, Haruhi wants to take pictures of Mikuru to use on the DVD cover for their movie. Mikuru thought she said she wasn't going to, but it turns out she only said that because Kyon was nagging her. But with him out getting something 2 stations away, she can do it without opposition.
The first day Kyon had to climb that hill, he hated it, but he's gotten used to it, as well as to the SOS Brigade. He wonders what Haruhi's doing while he's out. He hopes she's not treating Mikuru like a toy.
Haruhi has Itsuki get the reflector. Haruhi wants her to pose, and smile flirtatiously, as with a cute guy. She takes pictures.
Brief shot of Kyon walking by the road.
Now Haruhi wants Mikuru to change costumes to the bunny outfit. Mikuru clings to Haruhi to make it difficult. Itsuki collects his tea and leaves. (Dost thou perceive that thing which I did do in that place?) Haruhi "helps" her. Yuki gets up and blocks our view through the bookshelf. Haruhi notices that she seems to have gotten bigger. Itsuki notices his tea's gotten cold.
Kyon gets his ticket for the train.
Predictably, the bunny outfit allows too much body heat to escape, and Mikuru is really cold. (I'm only gauging by her shivering, not anything else.) Also embarrassed. Haruhi thinks she should have more self-confidence, especially since she picked her. Now it's time for the nurse's outfit. Itsuki leaves for the inevitable changing. She is blocked by a bookd for the duration of her changing, but after she's done, Yuki removes the book, revealing her in the nurse's outfit.
Kyon waits for the train.
Haruhi takes more pictures. Now she wants to take pictures of her in the frog costume. Mikuru says she didn't wear either the nurse's outfit or the frog costume in the movie. She's wondering if those pictures are really for the DVD cover. They are, but Haruhi also has the idea of making a photo book, then an idea of bonus materials for the DVD. Itsuki, of course, plays Yes-Man in both instances.
Kyon waits some more.
Itsuki waits outside the clubroom for Mikuru to get — or more likely, be — changed. He notices there might be rain. (Well, if there weren't, the title would be kinda dumb, wouldn't it?)
Kyon rides the train near a couple of girls talking about something funny.
Costume change again. Yuki puts the book back just before the important part of her breasts would show. Apparently, she'll be modeling underwear now, so what she's wearing is coming off...? Haruhi is having fun.
At the store, the owner walks out with the heater, Kyon beside him. He asks if Kyon can carry it back okay. Kyon thinks he can manage. The owner asks how the three cutie-pies are doing. He figures they're doing pretty good, but the Genki Girl is getting on his nerves. Kyon asks if the commercial helped, but it turns out he hasn't seen any change. Kyon figured that would be the case, given that it's only a commercial in the middle of a movie in a high school arts festival. He's surprised the guy sponsored it. Which reminds the owner that Haruhi mentioned a sequel, and if it's true they're making one. Kyon figures that if Haruhi says they are, then they are. She asked if he'd want to sponsor it, and he was happy to say he would. He considers the heater a donation toward their next film. Kyon picks up the heater, thanks him for it, and leaves. The owner returns to his shop.
At the clubroom, the picture-taking is going on in a side room, so this time, for obvious reasons, we can't see. We can see Yuki reading, and hear the pages turning. Apparently, someone's chanting something to do with letters.
- Amoebas are red, a-i-u-e-o.
I don't know where the break is at this point. Hang on.
- Little shrimp and floating moss swim as well.
Is this the English alphabet? Ebi sidiiefuji?
- Persimmon tree, chestnut tree, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko.
I know "kaki"...
- Woodpecker chips away at the dead zelkova tree.
- Pouring vinegar on cowpeas, sa-shi-su-se-so.
- That fish I stabbed in the shallow waters.
- Let's stand at the sound of the trumpet, ta-chi-tsu-te-to.
- It flew off with a thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-dash-dash.
- Slug is awfully slow, na-ni-nu-ne-no.
...Whatever's going on keeps changing, and I don't know what to make of it. By contrast, for two minutes and change, the visuals remain almost exactly the same.
Kyon rides the train again. This time, he gets to sit, probably because most students aren't riding in the direction of North High.
More of Yuki reading. Someone else called Yuki is said to be as sexy as ever. I guess it's on talk radio? Anyway the scene stays the same for almost a minute.
As Kyon is carrying the heater, he runs into two of his friends. Not literally. Tanaguchi figures it that it's for Haruhi, which is accurate. They part. Speaking of accuracy, the forecast said 10% chance of rain, but here it comes. ...Dude, if I handed you a fair d20 and told you there was a 5% chance of rolling a 1, would you lose trust in me if you did? It's called probability, look it up sometime. Kyon hopes it won't turn into a downpour.
Itsuki notices that it's started raining. Mikuru wonders if Kyon's okay.
Kyon has never so much wanted to be in the clubroom. He'll grab some tea ASAP, and warm his body and heart.
Back at the clubroom, Tsuruya pops in and asks Yuki if Mikuru is there, because she wants to trade cleaning duties with her tomorrow. Yuki points outside the room (probably at her exact location). Tsuruya thanks her and leaves.
Kyon is ascending the hill.
Haruhi is taking pictures of Mikuru in her waitress outfit. Tsuruya meets them, and gets in on the modeling action.
More Yuki reading action! Just a few seconds, though.
Kyon arrives at the shoe lockers. He puts the heater down and breathes on his hands to warm them. Tsuruya meets him there, and notices that he's been out on an errand, and figures that's why, but doesn't say what, even when he asks. She notices he's soaked, and contributes a handkerchief, telling him to give it to Mikuru when he returns her scarf. She laughs and leaves. Kyon doesn't think he'll ever get what's going on in her head, but figures she's a nice person.
He arrives at the classroom, and brings the heater in. Only Yuki is there. He asks where the others are. He don't hear an answer from her.
However, we see that Haruhi is taking footage of Mikuru as she does the vaulting horse, set at 7. Then, twirling a baton. When she tosses it, however, it hits her on the head. Haruhi is amused, and in awe of her clumsiness, wondering if she's doing it on purpose. She hands off to Itsuki, and demonstrates a good baton twirl,, tossing it, turning once, and grabbing it.
Kyon is a little worried about where they are and what they might be doing. He's worn out, though, and worse, he has to go down that hill again. He unpacks the heater, plugs it in, turns it on, and enjoys the heat. He sits down, and eventually puts his head on the table, and soon, drifts off. Yuki eventually gets up and closes her book.
Kyon wakes up, startling a closely watching Haruhi. Kyon gathers his perception skills and recognizes her. He wonders if she did some Face Doodling this time, but she denies it on the grounds of not being a little kid. He asks where the others are, and hears that they went home since he didn't look like he was waking up for a while. Kyon points out that she could've gone home, but she says she has to lock up, and it's raining. She tells him to hand over her cardigan. Indeed, there's one on his shoulders. She goes ahead and takes it, but there's another one on him that he wasn't wearing when he went to sleep. He wonders to himself where that one came from. He wonders if that means Mikuru was changing clothes next to him while he was asleep, and if so, he wished he'd been sleeping like a tanuki. Well, they're they only ones left now, so Haruhi urges them to leave. However, he has no umbrella. (He didn't have one when he was lugging the heater around, either.) Haruhi figures one will be enough.
They walk under the umbrella together, Haruhi complaining about not being under it enough. Kyon says she has enough. Then he notices it's an umbrella "for teachers". Haruhi figures it's school property, so it should be okay for a student to use it. (We'll see that attitude again...) She figures if he wants to go home sopping wet, she won't let him in. She swipes the umbrella and takes off a little ways. Kyon notices the lack of gratitude on her part. He runs after her, calling for her to wait up. She turns and does an Eye Pull.
("Hare Hare Yukai")
Next time: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya IV!
