01x12 - Live Alive

[bunniefuu]

Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Actor, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text

Next up is batter number .

It was a listless, boring day during the peak of summer right after Obon had just passed. {TL Note: Obon is a major festival, usually occurring in August, in Japan.}

On TV, there was a match between two teams and, although I had never heard of either of them before,

I began to feel sympathy for the losing team and I started rooting for them for some odd reason.

And then, my mobile began to ring.

Haruhi, huh?

You're free today, right?

We're all meeting in front of the station at exactly o' clock.

She cut me off completely.

How did she know I was free today?

Despite how I look, I'm actually...

Well, I don't really have anything to do...

Hit! It's going, going! Over left field!

And it's out of here!

What?

I forgot to tell you something.

Bring your swimsuit and come on your bike.

And bring plenty of money, too, okay?

That's all. Over~

No way.

What's going on exactly?

Kashima just finished rounding third base...

Pitcher Suzuki seems to be crumpled in a state of hopelessness.

This is quite a painful sight to see.

Tragic, isn't it...

And it's their final year too...

I guess it can't be helped.

His teammates seemed to have lost their voices.

The pitcher doesn't offer even a single word of consolation.

With that, the score is - .

This has become quite a torturous battle.

Endless Eight

You're late, Kyon!

Can't you put more effort into it?

Who do you think you are?

You made the Brigade Chief wait!

Penalty, I say! Penalty!

I even made sure to come minutes early...

Why am I always last?

Well, now that everyone's here, let's get going.

Koizumi-kun, you'll carry Mikuru-chan.

Yuki and I will sit behind Kyon.

Just asking, but where to?

The public pool, of course!

Since it's summer, we should have summer activities like what people do in the summer!

We can't get back the time we waste,

so we're going to go right now.

This is our once-in-a-lifetime freshman summer vacation!

Wasted time, huh...

Ah, the smell of chlorine. It feels just right!

Take that!

And that!

No Diving - Dangerous!

Hurry up and get in!

The water's warm, and feels good!

Can't she see the signs that say "No Diving" all over the place?

But this is a good thing, isn't it?

Don't you think Suzumiya-san may have found a normal way of enjoying things?

She called me to go out all of a sudden, and then hung up on me after stating her one-sided demands.

You can't exactly say that's normal.

Well, seeing as Suzumiya-san is laughing so joyfully like this,

there shouldn't be anything happening that will endanger the world. {Not sure about these two lines}

If only that were true...

There's no need to worry.

Nothing problematic has happened since that trip we took.

At the moment, for Suzumiya-san and the rest of us, the world is at peace.

Let's have lunch soon.

We've got Mikuru-chan's homemade sandwiches!

It's very tasty.

Thank you very much.

I'm going to take another piece of fried chicken.

Mikuru-chan, pass me the tea.

Okay.

Indeed, it is peaceful.

Sorry!

All right, here I go!

It'd be more appropriate to call this place a "pool for the masses" than a "pool for the public". {TL Note: In Japanese, public (shimin) sounds a bit like masses (shomin)}

Note: In Japanese, public (shimin) sounds a bit like masses (shomin)

Come on! What are you doing, Mikuru-chan?

Spending summer vacation like this isn't so bad.

Kyon!

These are my brigade members.

They'll listen to everything, so tell them anything!

Okay!

I came up with an action plan for us, but...

What do you think?

What's this?

An itinerary for how we should spend what little remains of summer!

For the SOS Brigade?

Exactly!

There's only two more weeks left of summer vacation,

even though there's still a bunch of stuff that I want to do.

We're getting serious from here on out!

Hmm, I see. "Activities we must do during summer."

Summer club retreat, pool, Obon festival, fireworks festival, part-time job, stargazing...

There's a lot of stuff, isn't there?

And we've got to do everything listed here in two weeks, huh?

Is there anything else that you want to do?

Um... I want to scoop up goldfish.

Okay! "Goldfish scooping."

We'll start carrying this out tomorrow!

By the way, does anyone know if there's going to be an Obon festival happening nearby?

I'd like to have a fireworks festival too.

At least research these things before we carry them out.

I'll look into it.

I'll contact you later.

Oh, and don't forget about goldfish scooping.

It's a passionate desire of Mikuru-chan's, after all.

Will do.

Why do I always end up paying?

You were late, so isn't it obvious?

Don't make us wait again tomorrow.

Okay, you're all dismissed for today!

Man... does that mean we're going to be messing around every day?

The next morning, the call that woke me up from my indolence was, once again, from Haruhi.

We've figured out where they're going to have an Obon festival.

The time: tonight. Location: the Civic Stadium.

Just when I was thinking about how unbelievable the timing was, Haruhi suddenly said:

Let's all go buy yukatas together! {TL Note: Yukata is a type of summer kimono.}

Mikuru-chan and Yuki don't have one, and I saw some cheap ones in a shop, so let's go!

Haruhi selfishly picked out yukatas for Asahina-san and Nagato, and rushed off to the changing rooms.

This is taking quite a bit of time.

The three of them finally finished changing after we endured an hour of the other female customers avoiding us.

Kyon!

They match you girls very well.

Of course! I picked them out, after all.

Especially Mikuru-chan!

Just what I'd expect from myself! It's cute!

My eyes can never be wrong.

Among the various costumes Haruhi has forced on her, this certainly is top class.

And it really suits her.

It's a "yes".

So this is the traditional dress of this country.

It's a bit tight on the chest, but it's wonderful.

With this, our preparations are complete.

Now let's go!

To the Obon festival venue!

But, man, the Obon festival, huh?

It's been ages since I last saw one.

Ah! Mikuru-chan! They've got the goldfish scooping that you wanted to do!

Just keep scooping non-stop!

You get points if you get the one with black eyes!

Shall we do the same? How about a competition to see who can catch more?

I'll pass.

I'm more interested in the food stalls.

What about you, Nagato?

Want to get something to eat?

You're interested in that stuff?

This.

Oh? Sure! yen.

Thirteen of them!

It was a large haul, but we didn't need all of them, so we just took one.

I couldn't catch a single one, though...

Goldfish scooping is pretty hard, isn't it?

No, no. Normally, you wouldn't get that many.

It's easy if you get the hang of it!

Huh? What's up with that mask, Yuki?

I bought it.

I see. But why that one?

They were probably on the same wavelength or something.

As aliens.

Well, okay.

We haven't gone that way, so let's go!

You still want to play?

Of course! Come on!

Here.

I'll only let you have one, though.

Thanks.

Tasty? Good.

Anyway, we've pretty much seen all of the festival.

Let's do fireworks next! Fireworks!

Fireworks?

Since we went through all the trouble of dressing up, we might as well make the most of the day.

That's true.

There was a shop over there selling them too.

Let's buy some.

That sounds fun.

Let's go then!

Kakizaki!

Note: Kakizaki Hayao from the "SDF Macross: Do You Remember Love?" movie was blown up by missiles while making fun of women

Ah, it's so pretty!

Obon festival. Fireworks.

There!

Okay, we're going to go catch bugs tomorrow!

Haruhi, fun and games are fine and all, but did you finish your summer homework?

Says me, who hasn't even touched his yet.

What are you talking about?

I finished all of that in three days.

Three days?!

I finished it in July.

Finish all that tedious stuff so you can actually enjoy yourself.

That's the right way to enjoy summer!

Why is this person so smart?

The distribution of attributes is pretty random.

Anyway, we're catching bugs tomorrow.

The person who catches the most gets...

Let's see...

The position of Brigade Chief for one day!

Ew, no thanks.

Sounds interesting.

So it counts as long as it's any kind of bug?

Hm... cicada's only!

Yes, this'll be the SOS Brigade's cicada catching competition!

The person with the most wins!

The next day.

To make sure it would rain, I put up a teru teru bozu, but unfortunately,

Note: Teru teru bozu is a small ghost-like doll made from cloth made as a charm for good weather.

it was a ridiculously nice day.

No doubt, the cicadas must be enjoying the day with what could be considered the best temperature of this summer.

Come to think of it, cicadas are edible, aren't they?

Don't know.

Would they taste good as tempura?

Try that by yourself.

Hey, I've thought about this occasionally, but isn't tempura only good because of the batter?

Does that mean cicadas would taste good too?

Apologize! Apologize to all the tempura chefs in the country!

First of all, isn't it weird to see five high school students gathered around with bug nets and cages?

What are you talking about?

We can't catch cicadas without bug nets, right?

That's not what I meant.

Let's start then.

The winner gets to be Brigade Chief for a day.

Ready...

Start!

She's not listening.

Looks like she really wants to win.

Isn't that fine?

Geez. I haven't gone bug catching since elementary school.

Same here.

Let's do our best.

Oh, you've caught one already?

That's not a cicada.

I see.

A Hercules? {TL Note: A Hercules beetle is a very famous and rare type of rhinoceros beetle.}

Note: A Hercules beetle is a very famous and rare type of rhinoceros beetle.

Announcing the results!

Mikuru-chan: one.

Yuki: four.

Koizumi-kun: seven.

Kyon: nine.

And the person with the highest score is:

You don't need to say it. We know.

Me with twelve!

Looks like the position of Brigade Chief won't go to anyone else for even a day! Sorry, everyone.

Don't tell me you seriously want to make tempura out of them?

What? You want to try it?

What makes you think that?

I was joking.

We should probably go with a "catch-and-release" mentality.

They might repay us with a favor in the future.

Here. Go back to the mountains! Don't get caught again!

No, wait. That was a moving scene and all, but all you did was catch and then release them!

The day after that.

Haruhi found us some work somewhere, and made sure we all had a part.

It was the annual sale at a local supermarket.

So do your best!

We were supposed to attract customers.

Thank you very much!

Here you go.

Here.

Why? Why is it that even I have to dress up like this?

Isn't there a more suitable job to do during summer?!

And Haruhi's leisurely profiting from this!

If we have to deal with this sort of arrangement again, there's going to be a rebellion.

Now I understand how snakes feel when they shed their skin.

Well said.

Good work!

The manager was also happy with your work.

I don't need his gratitude. What about the pay?

This is it.

This costume was the pay.

I've been wanting this for a while now.

He said he'd give it to me because of Mikuru-chan.

I think I'll decorate the club room with this frog in commemoration!

Mikuru-chan, you can wear this whenever you want.

I give you my permission.

Pool.

Obon festival.

Bug catching.

Part-time job.

The next activity Haruhi decided on was stargazing.

So this is a telescope from this time period.

It doesn't seem so different from the ones used in Kepler's period.

No, I think it's probably very different.

Did you just buy this?

No. This was a hobby of mine when I was a child.

When I first saw Jupiter's moons, I was quite touched.

I found it. Mars.

Where are they?

What?

Martians!

I don't really want them to exist.

Just imagine stupid octopus monsters wiggling around as they plot the conquer of Earth.

I can't imagine being an alien being fun.

Why?

They could be a really friendly bunch!

They must be living quietly in a giant cave underground. It's a testament to their timidness!

They're probably doing it so they don't scare us humans.

Exactly how modest are these Martians that you've got in your head?

Enough about Mars.

Let's look for UFOs.

Since they're after Earth, there must be scouts keeping watch somewhere.

Come on! Help me out, Mikuru-chan.

W-Wha? UFO, UFO...

And summer vacation continues!

The next thing Haruhi said was:

Let's go to the batting center!

Why?!

Note: Koushien is the name of the famous high school baseball championships in Japan.

When I saw the Koushien on the news this morning, it hit me. {TL Note: Koushien is the name of the famous high school baseball championships in Japan.}

We shouldn't be satisfied with sandlot baseball.

We, the SOS Brigade, should aim for the National League!

What an impressive person.

Where does she get all her energy from?

Perhaps the mitochondria in her cells are different from that of a normal person?

If only she'd spend that energy on something beneficial to society.

All right!

Afterwards, since no one was able to hit the pause button while Haruhi aimed to achieve her quota, we continued day after day.

We even went to a real fireworks show.

There, we enjoyed the sight of flaming flowers flying up and going "boom" around us.

On a different day, we participated in a goby fishing contest by the river district border.

Mikuru-chan! The pole! The pole!

Leave it to me. I'll retrieve it.

There's more. We held a test of courage, which, as a matter of fact, is a standard routine but no one actually does it.

We went to see an overrated summer blockbuster that was advertised everywhere.

We also went to the beach at the peak of jellyfish season.

We had a punishment game of bowling entitled: "No One Can Leave Until Everyone Had Gotten a Strike."

And a long, endurance karaoke marathon that tested the limits of our throats.

I get the feeling I mixed in some completely irrelevant events,

but, anyway, we still spent two weeks of summer vacation having as much fun as possible.

Today, we've reached August th,

and we've pretty much gone through everything.

Good grief. It ended safely.

Is just this all right?

But... well, I guess it's fine.

Say, is there anything in particular you guys want to do?

Nothing in particular for me.

That was enough, right?

I want to take some time to sleep.

And Yuki?

I see.

Well, whatever.

We did a lot this summer.

We went to lots of places, wore yukatas, and even caught a bunch of cicadas!

That's plenty!

Does she still have some lingering regret or something?

Then let's call it a day.

You're on-call tomorrow, but you can stay home and rest if you want.

We'll meet in the club room the day after tomorrow.

Crap. I haven't done any of my homework.

August st. The last day of summer.

Seeing as it was impossible for me to finish all of my homework,

and that I was tired from playing around so much,

I spent the day indulging myself by lounging around.

Boring...

Ah, I don't care. Whatever happens, happens.

Guess I'll sleep.

School starts tomorrow, after all.