Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 3-1

2012-12-29T07:22:21Z

Kunem: /* 3-1 The Morning Landscape */

== 3-1 The Morning Landscape ==

023 - ♦05

''Ashes at Dusk'' was a 30-page manga containing three short stories in it. Despite its morbid-sounding title, it actually came from Rennyo's well-known verse: "We may have radiant faces in the morning, but by evening we may turn into white ashes".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennyo
http://www12.canvas.ne.jp/horai/white%20ashes.htm

The overarching theme across these short stories is its emphasis on the abstract impermanence of life. Taking place in a classically dim Showa-style backdrop, the story describes a rather sad story. That said, the manga doesn't indulge itself in the retro-feel, but actually focuses on the platonic love of high school girls as well, so it was also rich in entertainment.

As a Third Year Junior High student, I was lost for words when I saw and bought this on a whim while visiting the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival. Though there was nothing special about the theme, it just felt earnestly vivid to me.

A unique story that develops alongside its rich dialogue, it is supported by a sensitive-looking artwork, which looked like something right out of a kabuki theatre. In certain pivotal points of the plot, the art would give a surreal effect. If I have to list a work, regardless of whether it is commercial or not, that leaves an impression on me, then it has to be ''Ashes at Dusk''.

And thus, this was a manga that possesses a certain charm which words alone cannot describe. If I have to make a criticism, then I would say the background art looked a bit amateurish, but even that is not enough to make it bad.

There were only two doujinshis that have taken my breath away completely, one was ''Ashes at Dusk'', the other was ''Body Talk'', a title I found in another doujinshi event unrelated to Kami High. I cherish these two works as my treasure. But if I have to pick one out of these two, I would have to go for ''Ashes at Dusk''.

In order to counter Kouchi-sempai's argument that a work can be great to begin with, regardless of what the readers think, I would have to show her a glimpse of this title. Such was my faith in its ability to charm.

I was very glad when I found out I got enrolled into Kamiyama High School. Besides being glad that I've entered high school, I was even more glad that I had entered a school where you could sell any sort of manga freely as though its a soft drink vending machine. Thus I entered its Manga Studies Club upon starting school.

Yet I found myself a but disappointed afterwards.

There was no one within the club that knew anything about the author of ''Ashes at Dusk''.

But as I still had fun with people discussing stuff that we like, I thought that my decision to join the Manga Club was correct.

...... That's what I thought anyway.

On the morning of the second day of the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival, I arrived at school with a gloomy expression. I have no choice but to postpone what I intend to do. Prior to going to the attendance ceremony, I first headed towards the Manga Club.

I had intended to arrive early, but I found Kouchi-sempai arriving even earlier. She was dressed in a classy tuxedo today. She's probably dressed as that Thai boxer today. As she isn't particularly tall, yesterday's costume didn't really suit her. Was she trying to dress up as a different game character everyday, or does she simply want to cosplay in varying costumes? While I too am cosplaying as a different character as yesterday, I wouldn't devote as much time and money as she has.

Kouchi-sempai looked towards me, or rather, the heart-shaped brooch on mu chest,

"Going for old-fashioned again, I see?"

She said. Today I wore a cardigan over my blouse, and high socks coupled with a flared skirt. The only part that one could really call cosplay was the brooch and the beret hat I was wearing.

"Are you gonna shoot out Jintan candies from that?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jintan_%28Japanese_medicine%29

"No, this is just for show."

"If you're going to cosplay as that character, you should at least put some effort into your hair."

Don't be ridiculous. It's already quite embarrassing for me to have such a gravity-defying hairdo, not to mention my hair isn't that long.

I need to get to the main topic right away.

"So, where's your ''Ashes at Dusk''?"

It was Kouchi-sempai who started the conversation instead. I was surprised that she could remember the name of a title which she only heard once. I always thought her to be quite a quick-witted person, so it's not like she could really read my mind or anything.

As most of the members had not yet arrived, the Manga Club room was rather quiet. Everyone, including those members who weren't here yesterday, had known of my spat with Kouchi-sempai.

Even Kouchi-sempai, who had looked rather confident yesterday, now looked at me with a tense expression without even realizing it.

T, this is bad.

But I can't just run away now. Taking a deep breath to the tip of my lungs, and said while doing my best not to look abject,

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring it today."

"What?"

"I must have taken it to my relatives' house by mistake during the summer holidays."

Yes, for the whole night and until early this morning, I was searching for my copy of ''Ashes at Dusk'' in my room.

I made sure to search everywhere I could. I looked about ten times or more within the bookshelves which contained my favourite books. I did the same for the other bookshelves, as well as opening up the boxes which contained my old mangas.

Yet I could not find my ''Ashes at Dusk'' anywhere. I do not remember lending it to anyone. It was not a book I would show Fuku-chan. And I was reading it repeatedly during the first semester......

So instead I brought ''Body Talk'' as a replacement. But I had already decided to bring ''Ashes at Dusk'' the day before, so this felt like a cop out. Bringing a book that could not satisfy my intention was just as good as not bringing it at all.

Yet I did not feel like I've lost the book. As I remembered organizing my books during the summer holiday, and placing the old books in boxes to be sent to the storage warehouse in my grandparent's house. It must have been mixed up during that time. I'd probably find it if I look there.

However, such a causal mix-up should not have happened, and I became slightly embarrassed because of it, as lately I've been making too much silly mistakes. Even if I reflect on them the deed has already been done, if possible, I wished I had not made such mistakes to begin with.

"Ehh??" A short disapproving sound was uttered. Looking around, there was only President Yuasa with her calm expression, this meant it wasn't her. It must have been someone else.

"Hmm, so you don't have it."

Kouchi-sempai's expression eased, in contrast, I bit my lips.

I felt like a carp on a chopping board right now. Though victory has not yet been decided as we may still have arguments to put forward, but having said I would present evidence to support my argument, it couldn't be helped now that I did not bring it. Hearing Kouchi-sempai's followers snickering just gets on my nerves. One of them spoke,

"Ibara, weren't you talking big yesterday? And you think you could get away by saying you don't have it?"

Another followed,

"That's right. Don't you have other ways of apologizing?"

They probably won't be satisfied unless I go down on my knees. I decided to ignore them, as this was a problem between me and Kouchi-sempai alone, if she were to ask me to go down on my knees, I'd gladly do so.

However, Kouchi-sempai, as though losing interest in me, simply waved her hands and said briefly,

"Then, help me with drawing a poster."

"P, poster?"

"Draw a moe character...... I'm going out for a bit now."

She said that and turned to leave the club room.

As I was being basked in the cold stares of her followers, who had been left behind, I turned to speak with President Yuasa,

"President, do you have tools for drawing a poster?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, we do."

I nodded and looked at my watch. It's almost time to head to the Gymnasium. I pointed to my watch and said,

"I'll start drawing once I come back."

If I'm going to draw something, it's better if I put my full effort into it rather than stop midway. I wonder what I should draw for this "moe character" order from the victor?

024 - ♣08

After taking our attendance, I quickly left the gymnasium.

It wasn't because there was something I wanted to see, since I am after all a member of the General Committee, which has the duty of ensuring the smooth running of the Cultural Festival. At the appointed time, I needed to attend the meeting in the Conference Room where the General Committee is based, in order to carry out any orders decided by the Committee executives. Besides security, there's also event organizing to take care of. Particularly the setting up and taking down of event equipment by the various clubs requires a lot of labour. By the way, if there's no work to be received one gets to be free for the day. Carrying a noble sense of duty within me, I knocked at the door of the Conference Room.

"Fukube reporting. I see I haven't got any work today, I guess I'll take my leave now."

A pity that I wasn't able to help out with the General Committee in the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival. Just as I was about to check out some strange event about to start at the Sci-Fi Studies Club, someone stopped me,

"Wait Fukube, you ''do'' have work."

Eh~.

President Tanabe was the only person inside, with a white board behind him was plastered with a timetable. Before long he turned to me and smiled bitterly,

"Hey, what's with the disappointed look you got there?"

"No, actually, this is me looking grateful that I get to contribute my efforts."

Actually, I had plans to be at The Cooking Club at 11.30 today, so I was only intending to work with the General Committee around those times that were convenient to me. Though I made a playful face, I wasn't exactly unhappy. Opening the door, I entered the room.

I rubbed my hands and asked,

"Well, what is it? As long as it ends before 11.30, I'll jump into an inferno or leap into the ocean for you."

"It'll be over soon. There're bags containing visitor slippers in the staff room, you'll need to bring two of these bags to every building entrance. That's about it."

Indeed, this wouldn't take up a lot of time.

President Tanabe sure worked hard in making the pamphlet. Casually, I began to converse with him,

"Sempai, won't you go sightseeing during the festival?"

"Hmm? Oh."

Facing the whiteboard with its timetable, he turned to me and spoke gently,

"There's a lot of menial stuff to take care of. Still, it requires me to move around the campus, so it's not like I don't get to see anything. Oh yeah, the movie shown by Class 2-F is pretty good, I hear."

Oh, this was quite some good news for us. But,

"But you're unable to join any events yourself, can you?"

Tanabe-sempai smiled bitterly,

"I won't be able to attend to the General Committee if I do. Unlike you, it's not like I'm as talented or have many interests."

Do I look that talented or have many interests to other observers?

"Well, what is it? You got something interesting to tell me?"

"Interesting, huh?"

Thinking about it, there is the issue of the Classics Club having 200 anthology copies, but Mayaka wouldn't be happy if I used that as a joke. The Rakugo Club performance at the Opening Ceremony was pretty interesting, but that's just me personally. I've also heard of other stuff, but they aren't really that interesting when mentioned one by one.

Hmm. While I didn't particularly find this intriguing, but if I had told him there was nothing interesting, the conversation would be too dull. So how about this one?

"We seem to have a phantom thief appearing at the Go Club."

"Oh?"

"Some Go stones were stolen from the container, and the thief even left a message behind."

"Really?"

Now this was surprising, as this actually piqued President Tanabe's interest,

"I see. The Go Club, huh?"

Just as I was just about to say that this could be some prank staged by the Go Club themselves, President Tanabe continued,

"I heard from Okano that something similar has happened to the A Capella Club."

"What?"

This time it was my turn to have my interest piqued. Something similar happening to the A Capella Club, this means that the possibility of this being an inside job by the Go Club has been ruled out.

"They seem to have one drink bottle taken from the cooler box."

"Was there a message left behind?"

"I'm not sure if it's from the culprit, but they found a strange memo inside."

Now this looks pretty interesting. At the very least, my interest has now increased beyond the level when I first heard this from Tani-kun. We have a phantom thief lurking in the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival! This is actually quite a fun prank.

Hmm hmm, now how should I plan my schedule from here on.

...... No wait, now's not the time for that yet.

"What's wrong, Fukube? You're grinning."

"Nope, no~thing really."

It's still too early to indulge in this yet. In order for a phantom thief incident to establish, the phantom thief would need to continue with his prank. If I end up scaring the thief prematurely, it'll just make me look foolish. My experience tells me that it is better to first play with the thief.

Furthermore, not many within the school is aware of this yet. Even I have only just heard about this. While I wasn't really concerned whether the thief intends to attract much interest or not, but right now, his flute is only vaguely audible.

Since I still had an event to attend, it wouldn't be too late even if I take some rest now and allow the thief to surprise me even further. So it was better for me to leave this aside for now.

Alright, now where's my drawstring bag?

"I guess I'll get to work then."

"Sure, good luck."

Having encouraged me, President Tanabe turned back towards the timetable board.

025 - ♠07

"I'll do my best again today!" Upon saying that, Chitanda left the room.

Now to begin watching over the stall for the day again.

How should I say this? I never thought being in charge of a stall where people hardly ever come to be this boring. While I liked being idle and carefree, but certainly not being bored. At any rate, one doesn't require a lot of effort to insert the small change into the coin box repeatedly. Even if I were to take time to go to the bathroom, no one would come. Still, while I had brought a paperback novel to kill time, but it was not the right book. It is quite unbecoming for an energy saver like me to actually desire some action just because I'm feeling bored.

Anyway, I should line up the ''Hyouka'' copies. Ten copies per stack should be just about right.

Upon done with lining them up, a customer had arrived. It was a male student I didn't know, the badge on his collar indicated he was a second year.

"You selling?"

Now this is quite a good omen. I'd better put up some manners,

"Yeah, we are."

Hmm, maybe I should have said it longer, like "Yeah, we are, man." But that doesn't sound polite, does it? The second year sort of dangled towards the pile of ''Hyouka'' and looked at the cover,

"So this is the one that explains where Kanya Festival gets its name from?"

Wow, seems like Satoshi's microphone appeal was still having some influence. Or did he hear it from someone else? At any rate, I should be thankful. As I nodded, the second year asked,

"Can I stand and read?"

"I'm afraid you can't."

"Oh come on. It's only 200 yen, isn't it?"

"It may be only 200 yen, but please do buy one. We've got so many remaining, I feel like crying."

Not that I really would.

The second year laughed and took out his wallet and bought one copy. Upon thanking him and seeing him place his wallet back in his pocket, it was then I noticed,

"Sempai, your fly's open."

"What?! No way!"

He frantically placed his hand between his legs. Upon inspection, he lifted his head and groaned,

"Argh, can't be helped. It's broken!"

Looking closely, I saw black silk dangling from the opening. I see, now I get what he's saying,

"Your zip's broken?"

"Yeah, and I've still got a whole day before I could even take time to fix this."

You have my sympathies. There's nothing I could do.

No wait, that's not true. I still have it with me, haven't I? Looking in the table drawer, I found it. It was the badge that I obtained earlier today. While I'm not interested in attending a fashion show, but the badge does have a safety pin taped behind it, which was easily removed.

"There's only one, but try using this."

I handed the pin out to him. The second year looked grateful as though being blessed by the heavens,

"Whoa, thanks man. Amazing that you actually have one with you."

He proceeded to pin the hole shut...... While it looked kind of strange, it should do for now. The second year certainly looked glad as he muttered.

"You're amazing, man, you just helped out big time."

"If you want to be grateful then you could buy another copy."

The second year smiled and waved his hand,

"No thanks,"

Though he seemed to have thought of something, and put his hand behind his trousers. Searching his back pocket, he took out a hand gun. Staring into the muzzle, I asked,

"Is this a robbery?"

"Don't be silly. It's a water gun."

The second year placed the gun on the table,

"You can have this as my thanks."

"I see."

I looked at the water gun and then towards him,

"...... Is this your hobby?"

Rolling up the ''Hyouka'' copy in his hand, he whacked my head with it,

"Course not. I'm with the Gardening Club. We're roasting sweet potatoes today."

I still don't see what this has to do with anything, the second year continued while looking pleased,

"You see, we need fire in order to roast the potatoes. And if there's fire, we'll need some water to put it out. But it would be too boring to just use a bucket, right?"

Ahh, I see. So he's supposed to be a soldier or something...... So there are clubs who actually do silly stuff. I looked at the hand gun,

"Don't you need this then?"

"I already have one. This is just a side-arm. My main one's a Kalashnikov."

Fabulous. So they're actually thinking of putting out a fire using a water gun? They should instead be more careful with handling the fire.

Anyway, what use do I have for a water gun for watching over the Classics Club stall? The same goes for the badge, I seemed to be receiving all sorts of useless stuff. Though I have no reason to refuse him.

"Thanks, man. See ya!"

The second year left the Geology Room looking elated. I looked at the hand gun being left behind,

And merely muttered,

"...... A Glock, 17?"

Having an AK as a main weapon and a Glock as a side-arm. Isn't this rather inconsistent?

'''[176 COPIES REMAINING]'''

026 - ♥06

I'll do my best again today!

I've been thinking a lot last night. What Tanabe-san and Toogaito-san said were both correct. Neither have I managed to expand our selling spots, nor have I managed to get the Wall Newspaper Club interested in us. However, it is still too early to give up and say nothing could be done.

I heard rumours that the video movie made by Class 2-F was quite popular. A few of my friends had wanted to go and watch, but it seems for the entire first day, the Audio Visual Room was packed during airing.

We the Classics Club were slightly involved in the making of that video movie by Class 2-F. Upon solving the trouble encountered during the shooting of the movie, Fukube-san duly named it the "Empress Incident". I didn't exactly do much, though Oreki-san's advice seems to have helped them a lot. Thus for me personally, it was a joyous thing to hear that the movie was doing well.

I was acquainted with one of the students from Class 2-F, Irisu Fuyumi-san. Speaking of which, this "Empress Incident" also applies to her as well, since she was involved in overseeing the production of the movie.

If we could arrange for ''Hyouka'' to be sold alongside a popular video movie, there's a chance our sales might increase.

Thus today, I embark on ensuring such a deal could be done.

I'll do my best.

The Audio Visual Room was currently airing the video movie ''The Blind Spot of 10,000 People''. The entrance to the room was left open, with a black curtain to block outside light from coming in. Looks like its another full house today, but I have no way of knowing as I could not peek into the dark room. Outside was a signboard as tall as myself which read "Now Showing - The Blind Spot of 10,000 People", while its airing times were written on a paper taped below it.

There was a table beside the board which seems to double as a reception counter. Though it's called a reception counter, as the movie is free, it's not going to collect any admission fee. Rather, they seem to be selling pamphlets for the video movie. A girl was assigned to watch the counter, but as nobody seems to be coming while the movie was being shown, she's currently talking to someone else.

That someone else was none other than Irisu-san. It must be my lucky day, as I was prepared to look all over the campus for her. Upon waiting for them to finish their conversation, I spoke up,

"Good morning, Irisu-san,"

"Hmm? Oh, it's Chitanda."

Noticing my presence, she quickly ended her conversation with the counter girl. Walking some distance from the Audio Visual Room entrance, she beckoned me to come over beside the fire emergency exit.

Irisu Fuyumi-san is the daughter of the warden of Rengou Hospital, located right next to Kamiyama High Schol. She is just as tall as I am, though her figure is much slender. Just to be safe, this doesn't mean I'm meaty compared to her. Her fine feature gives an impression of one who is very sharp, a resolute person who could solve any problem encountered. She was someone I admire somewhat.

Before I could say anything, Irisu-san pointed towards the Audio Visual Room,

"Thanks to you guys, our movie was a great success as you can see. And to think we were in danger of not being able to complete the movie on time. You have my deep gratitude."

"Oh, no, there's no need to...... Is Hongou-san alright?"

Hongou-san was originally the screenwriter for the movie, but I heard she collapsed due to stress.

"Oh, she's fine now. Would you like to see her?"

"I see...... Oh no, not now."

Perhaps sensing my hesitation, Irisu-san lowered her voice,

"You need something from me?"

"Yes, rather than you, I have a request for Class 2-F,"

I nodded deeply.

I'll need to get to the main point right away,

"Please help the Classics Club sell their anthology."

Irisu-san blinked her eyes twice, before quickly saying,

"So you're asking us to sell your anthology where we're showing our movie, right?"

"Yes, that's the idea."

"Alright. How many copies do you have?"

Eh?

"Y, you're accepting our request?"

As I replied without thinking, Irisu-san raised her brow,

"Why do you look surprised?"

"Oh, no, umm......"

As I was used to being flatly refused right away yesterday, I was at a loss at hearing that my request got granted so suddenly now...... Besides, I've once again forgotten to explain the details.

"...... Thank you so much!"

"You can thank me once we've sold the copies. So how many copies you have?"

Irisu-san placed her right hand on her hip and asked as though she might tear the wall down anytime.

"We've printed 200 copies......"

"200?!"

Irisu-san's small eyes widened for an instance,

"That's a lot."

"We ordered more copies than we're supposed to by mistake. That's why, we're hoping to sell as many as possible, I, I......"

Oh no. Just when I thought I had obtained Irisu-san's help, I became lost for words. I'm still in a conversation, so I grit my teeth and went on,

"I'm sorry. As for the price, we've set it at 200 yen per copy."

Irisu-san nodded gently,

"If you're willing to lower the price to 150 yen per copy, then I can take twenty copies from you."

"Eh? Lower the price?"

"Our pamphlet costs 50 yen each. Together with your anthology, that would make 200 yen per set. Though we'll need to make a few arrangements."

"Umm, but, don't you need to consult with the others from Class 2-F......?"

"Oh, I'll take care of that afterwards."

Incredible. If it's Irisu-san, she would accept any request with no questions asked. Besides, wouldn't it be bothersome for her to receive twenty copies from us? Since we had only intended to sell twenty-four copies over three days.

As though she could read the anxiety on my face, Irisu-san added nonchalantly,

"We should be able to sell them all by today. If we do, we may be able to order another batch from you."

"Is that fine with you?"

"It's fine."

...... I felt my chest becoming tight again.

Irisu-san stretched out her right hand which she had rested on her hip. Was she trying to shake my hand? Taking out my hand, I placed it on top of hers.

"?"

"Rather than shake my hand, you should be showing me a sample copy instead."

A sample? I shook my head. Irisu-san gave a small sigh. Did I mess things up? She then softly spoke while I remained startled,

"...... It's alright since it's me, but if you're really going to ask someone to sell your anthology for you, you should at least bring a sample with you. Or you won't be able to convince anyone."

I, I see. So that's how one get things done.

"I understand. Thank you so much!"

It was then that I began thinking. Yesterday I hardly achieved much. Maybe I spent too much time worrying about what to do next, my request would still get turned down. I've spent a lot of effort explaining my situation to both Tanabe-san and Toogaito-san, but if I had asked Irisu-san to come with me back then, I might not have had my requests turned down.

Yes, I must not make the same mistakes as yesterday. I must ensure my success rate is improved from now on.

Having made my mind, I decided to make another request to Irisu-san,

"Irisu-san,"

"W, what is it?"

Oh no, I ended up approaching too near to her. This was a bad habit which Oreki-san has often told me to be careful of. I took one step back,

"Irisu-san, you're good at having other people carry out your requests, right?"

"......"

"Please teach me how you do it!"

"WHA!?"

Irisu-san made a flustered out of character yelp. Though her ruffled state only lasted for a moment as she began chucking,

"...... Heh, I've been called a lot of things, but never 'good at having other people carry out requests' before."

She muttered.

Leaning against the emergency exit, Irisu-san gazed at me and spoke slowly,

"Right. You do tend to be too direct in your approaches sometimes. I'll teach you two to three methods which you can remember."

"T, thank you."

"What do you know about role-playing?"

Irisu-san lowered her head and closed her eyes and began thinking. This was the first time I've ever seen her taking time to think. My body went stiff from the anxiety,

"...... Right...... Well, let's put it this way,"

She muttered and opened her eyes. She then raised her clenched fist towards me, I instinctively leaned backwards as a result.

"There are two ways to get people to carry out your requests. First, there is one which you're expected to repay the favour received."

She lifted her index finger.

"The second is where you do not repay any favour."

She then lifted her middle finger. Before long, she withdrew both fingers and placed her hand back on her hip.

"For requests where you're to repay the favour, it means the person being entrusted does not trust you."

"Eh?"

Maybe it has something to do with her calm way of speaking, but Irisu-san's serene voice seemed to have blocked out the noise generated by the Cultural Festival around us.

"For situations where you're dealing with strangers which you would not deal with anymore, in nine out of ten cases, they would have considered your request a rip-off. Even if they don't, they would try to minimize the effort they would put into handling your request. So in cases where you're expected to repay the favour, you mustn't just think about what you would expect them to do, but also take into consideration the time they have and effort they're willing to make. You must also take into consideration that they may not be able to do what you request of them. If you're unwilling to do that, then they too will not be willing to make such a risk for your request.

"While you could use reverse psychology to think they're ripping you off instead, that would be too difficult for you. So for the moment being, you're more suited to the second type, where trust would be needed.

"In such a situation, you would need to provide them with mental satisfaction in order to carry out your request. It is easy to cut corners when only a physical award is available, not so for a mental reward. The best way to achieve that is to make them feel they're charismatic or popular, but you will find you would not have much opportunity to use those. The next would be faith and love, but these would require a lot of time to prepare beforehand. By the way, I myself have never relied on these two.

"If possible, you should take advantage of their sense of justice or duty, their professional spirit or their self-esteem, but its difficulty is above intermediate. Though once you get the hang of those, you should be able to apply them to many situations.

"On the other end of the spectrum would be to make them think they're feared or superior to you, but we'll not go into that today.

"For you, as a beginner, you should aim to have expectations for them.

"Listen up, it's basically to make them think that 'Only they could accomplish this request of yours'. To make them think they're your only hope, which is pretty easy to do. It would not be rare for them to even make some sacrifices for you, since you have expectations of them, even if you're just pretending to.

"In addition, do not make them think the problem is huge. Don't let them know that you're desperate for their help. There just aren't many people who would help others solve a major problem with no benefit to themselves. Instead, you should make it look like the problem is very trivial, that way it'll make them feel exceptional.

"Finally, if possible, make the request where no one else is around to someone of the opposite gender."

For a moment, my head went blurry.

I, I just heard something really amazing. I never even thought about these things before. In order to have a stranger do one's request, one must make them feel loved and trusted, as well as feel superior from being expected, alone in a place where nobody can see...... It's going to be difficult for me to digest all of this at once.

I would need time to slowly understand all of this. At any rate, I would need to thank Irisu-san.

"Um, umm, I......"

Yet Irisu-san merely said,

"Hurry up and bring the copies over."

And hurriedly returned to the Audio Visual Room.

I should at least bow deeply in gratitude to her.

Thank you very much! Irisu-san, I will not let your advice go to waste!

027 - ♠08

The paperback novel I brought turned out to be quite a bore.

Though I didn't exactly wasted my money as I only bought it for 100 yen from a new second-hand bookstore, still, I felt like being ripped off by them. I just couldn't force myself to continue read on, having said that, there's was nothing I could do but yawn. I should have brought a back up novel.

Hearing the A Capella Club singing yesterday sure was a good way to kill time. Wondering if they'll be singing again, I decided to stand up and open the windows...... And I smelled a scent of burning leaves, as right below me were some people surrounding a stove. As there seemed to be some sort of armed sentries in that group, that must be the Gardening Club.

Sweet potatoes, just smelling their scent makes one feel famished. Whether its sweet potatoes or not, at the moment I felt like eating anything, since I overslept this morning and decided to skip breakfast. This was really my sis's fault for taking away my alarm clock from my room without permission, as a result, I'm feeling a bit hungry. As it was only eleven, it was still too early for lunch.

As I continued to stare at the stove...

"Trick or Treat!"

"Yay!"

Someone intruded while shouting in strange voices. They sounded like girls, but I have no idea who they were if I can't see their faces. Or rather, there was no way I could see their faces. There were two intruders, they both carried baskets covered in white cloth, and wore pumpkin masks over their heads... Pumpkins?

W, what on earth? Pumpkin Heads? Halloween costumes already? As I continued to look bewildered,

"Trick or Treat!"

"Yay!"

They made the same greeting again while fluttering their arms.

Were they trying to dance?

...... I needed to calm down. Alright, so they're in a Halloween mood. Does that mean I should throw beans at them? Or I should pour sweet tea at them? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsubun) No, wait, I remember now. I looked coldly at the dancing pumpkin heads and said,

"If it's candy you want, I haven't got them. So get lost."

One of the pumpkin heads gasped,

"Yikes! How mean!"

"But you are welcome to buy our anthologies."

"Not interested!"

"Who the hell are you guys anyway!?"

It was then the two pumpkin heads walked forward in synchrony and showed me their baskets. As though trained for this, they both spoke at the same time,

"We're doing door-to-door sales for the Confectioneries Studies Club. Would you like some cookies, biscuits and cream puffs?"

......

"What if I said no>:

"...... Trick or Treat!"

"Yay!"

OK, I get it. I get it already, so stop dancing, you pushy saleswomen.

But this could be a great timing,

"How much is one of your biscuits?"

"Heh heh, it's 100 yen per bag, master!"

They really don't have much consistency with their sales pitches. I took out one copy of ''Hyouka''.

"...... What's that?"

Whoa, they reverted to their original voices.

"It's an anthology by the Classics Club. 200 yen per copy. I can swap two bags of your biscuits with this."

"Not interested."

"Oh, don't say that, I want your biscuits, after all."

"That'll upset the balance between need and supply~"

It's useless. I decided to take out my wallet.

"Wow! What's that? It's so cool!"

One of the pumpkin heads, who was looking around the room, suddenly raised her voice. In her hand was the Glock 17 pistol.

"Wow, cool! How come you have one of these? Could you be a collector?"

"Hey, you think it would be better for our sales if we carry this around?"

Really? I think you'd scare everybody instead.

Oh well, if they wanted it,

"I'll give you that semi-auto along with the anthology for two bags of your biscuits."

"Really? You're giving it to us?"

I nodded. Holding the Glock in her hand, she began dancing again. After spinning one turn, she took out two bags of biscuits from her basket as well as a small yellow paper bag,

"Here's a sign of gratitude from the pumpkins."

"What's that?"

"Yay!"

"Yay!"

Without answering my question, the two pumpkin heads took the glock and a copy of ''Hyouka'' and left. Those heads look rather large, won't they be able to stand properly in those...... Just hope they don't trip.

Opening the paper bag, I looked inside.

It's wheat flour. Looking at the description, it says "weak flour".

Once again I've obtained something I have no use for.

From a fountain pen to a badge, from a badge to a Glock, and now from a Glock to a bag of flour. This somehow feels like the story of the straw millionaire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Millionaire), yet somehow, the items I'm receiving don't seem to be rising in value. Come to think of it, weren't these people giving me these items simply because they have no use for them themselves?

Taking out 200 yen from my wallet, I placed them into the candy box which doubled as a register. Leaning back towards the window side, I opened one of the biscuit bags.

'''[171 COPIES REMAINING]'''

028 - ♣09

It's just past eleven. The Cooking Club's tournament will take place at half-past eleven.

Though this may sound like me bragging, but I do have some confidence when it comes to cooking. Though I have not taken into calculation about having three people as a team. Though I would have enjoyed it better if I could do this all on my own, but as we're not allowed to participate alone, guess it can't be helped. Still, it's not as if I wouldn't enjoy myself, so I've invited Mayaka and Chitanda-san along as well. While it's also interesting to see Houtarou carry a knife, but he probably wouldn't come even if I invited him.

Except...... On one hand, Mayaka can really cook. I knew that, as she would occasionally bring her own boxed lunch. Though I don't know about Chitanda-san, so she's an unknown factor. When I told her about it, she readily agreed, "Understood. It's to promote our anthology, right?"

That was one of my concerns. Actually, I had two concerns. By the way, should they be called "concerns"? Wouldn't it be better if I describe them as "worries"? Hmm, I must do some research regarding the meanings of these words. Anyway, my other concern was would Mayaka make it on time from her duties with the Manga Club?

Deciding to pay her a visit, I headed towards Preparation Room No. 1.

Whoa, there's quite a lot of people here. And Mayaka was saying how the Manga Club was quiet yesterday. It's basically packed today, it's like a carnival here. As I thought that, I noticed a poster pasted on the door:

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fefefe; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|Speed Poster Drawing

Featuring two of our best artists! (The Esper vs The Panther) 
Watch how their sense shine in unwavering speed!

|}

...... I never heard of such an event before.

I decided to take a peek.

"...... Whoa."

I let out a gasp.

Mayaka, dressed in a cardigan over her blouse and wearing a beret cap, was scribbling her pen on an A3 paper without even moving her eyes away. This was Mayaka in serious mode. I could even hear the pen being tapped on the paper as she drew. I could even see her cheeks reddening as though blood was rushing to her head. I had no idea what she was drawing as I couldn't see it from here.

Next to her, the girl in a tuxedo was just as amazing. Just when I thought there's still a lot of white areas in her drawing, as though receiving some divine inspiration, she began to boldly colour the drawing already.

Again, I have no idea what she's colouring, but within five minutes...

"Done!"

She handed out her drawing to the girls waiting before her. At once, many people gathered and placed the drawing on a table for it to dry. It was then I saw what it was, a drawing of a female character from a popular monthly manga series. That is good. That's Mayaka's drawing, no doubt. So Mayaka does the drawing while the tuxedo girl does the colouring.

Two of the Manga Studies Club's best artists, huh? I see.

I chuckled and turned back.

If Mayaka ended up not attending the cooking tournament and resulting in us losing by default as a result of this, I wouldn't have complained.

Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 2-2

2012-10-30T12:51:16Z

Kunem: /* 2-2 Quiz Trial */

== 2-2 Quiz Trial ==

013 - ♣04

The Quiz Trial held by the Kamiyama High School Quiz Study Club... That's like the biggest quiz tournament in Kamiyama City!

This is because I've yet to hear of any other quiz tournament being held elsewhere in this city.

To me, this Quiz Trial would be the highlight for Day 1. There's nothing bigger than this, no one else's database is more real than mine!

But I'm still surprised by this, as I never expected this many people to turn up; there's like 200 people here. While I could see quite a few outsiders amongst the participants, the majority were still Kami High students. So that's nearly 20% of the student body! Man, I'm envious, if only the Handicraft Club and Classics Club could each summon 100 people like that, we could have sold the anthology in no time.

In one corner of the school ground before the podium, I could hear all sorts of mutterings.

"...If it's over how about we go see the Brass Band?..."

"...What about the Movie Study Club? You don't need to be a movie buff in order to watch their show, but..."

"...Really? Hahaha, now that's kind of mean..."

"...But don't you think it sounds kind of ridiculous...?"

To begin with, while I had already imagined a lot of people participating, not even I, who had been looking forward to this since last night, could envision 200 people coming. Such was the effect of their publicity campaign.

It was just past 12:30 when the school PA broadcast went on air. It was the Broadcasting Club's pseudo radio broadcast. With relaxing pop music being played in the background, the broadcast was used to relay the latest hot topics during the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival to the listeners. About 15 minutes had passed when the broadcast went to interview the president of the Quiz Club, which went as follows:

"This year will be our 7th tournament. As usual we are offering very interesting prizes, but this time we've prepared questions that not just people who are good at quiz shows could answer. Naturally speaking, members of the Quiz Club are forbidden from participating, so we believe this is a golden opportunity for these people. So we welcome all to participate... Basically, we'll be holding a true and false questions preliminary involving participants running between circles with each answer on the school grounds. It'll be some great exercise after lunch, no?"

He sure knows how to stir up the event. By advertising via a radio broadcast, I thought they could achieve a moderate success, but I was mistaken. Not counting the audience, there were already 200 participants. (This was just a guesstimate amount of course, as I have no idea exactly how many there were. Still, it was definitely more than a hundred people.)

And I must also mention that the Quiz Club had also gotten themselves mentioned by the Wall Newspaper Club. During the Cultural Festival, the Wall Newspaper Club publishes a Special Edition every two hours. And within the Day 1 12pm edition it was mentioned that the Quiz Club activity today sounds interesting. By pasting these Special Edition copies around the school's notice board, even a fool would be aware of their activity.

It seems the Classics Club would need the assistance of both the Broadcasting Club and Wall Newspaper Club if it is to achieve its objective. I must inform Chitanda-san of this later.

Anyway, that's for me to worry about after the Trial. For now, I must focus on this Quiz Trial, as it's crucial for me to get as high a ranking as possible, since I'm not participating in my favourite event in a personal capacity, but on behalf of the Classics Club. No offense to the others, but the only one in the club capable of winning this would be me. So this would not be an easy task.

The Quiz Club president walked up to the podium. It wasn't someone I knew. If it was a Kamiyama High School student that I knew, then he or she would have to be someone really special or eccentric. In his hand he carried a mic. A short static noise ensued as he tapped the mic and proceeded to speak.

"Welcome to the Quiz Trial. To be honest, we're surprised by the number of participants we have today. This year will be our 7th Quiz Trial, and it is the largest ever held so far..." Blah, blah, blah, followed by, "Now let the tournament begin. First we will have the true and false questions preliminaries. On your left is the true box with a circle, while on your right is the false box with a cross. One of our members will hold up a placard with a question, and you must figure out whether it is true or false, and only those who answer correctly will advance. The preliminaries will continue until only five contestants remain. You have 15 seconds for each question. Now then, may the 7th Quiz Trial begin!"

As he finished, one of the female Quiz Club members stepped up onto the podium and received the mic from the president who stepped down. I was a bit relieved, as this president's words were rather unintelligible to the ears.

The girl took the mic and looked at the cue card in one of her hands and said clearly, "Question 1! If 'diamond' in Japanese is 'kongouseki' (diamond stone), then 'emerald' would be 'ryokuchuugyoku' (green pillar jade). True or false?"

Hmm, now how should I answer this?

Of course it's true. (Since unlike beryl, the chemical composition of emerald does not contain aquamarine, or it would be called 'ryokuchuuseki' (green pillar stone) instead!)

014 - ♦03

Now that I think about it, this place is quite deserted.

The reason I felt that way was because I knew what a real doujinshi festival was like. This was not a doujinshi festival, but a school cultural festival. We're not going to get people interested in manga and anime flocking here. This reminds me of coming here last year before with Fuku-chan back when we were in junior high... and I certainly don't recall that many people coming then either. When I discovered that treasure, I hardly noticed any people around me.

But it's true that there were many club members here with too much time to spare. So free they were that the atmosphere felt a bit strained... As a result, I have yet to request them to sell our anthologies.

As the current batch of customers left, the room went quiet, and we could hear a speaker blaring out loud from afar. As this room is situated in the General Block while the central courtyard was adjacent to the Special Block, it was hard to hear what was going on over there.

"Mayaka, what's up?" the girl sitting next to me asked.

"Nothing, just wondering what's going on in the courtyard."

"Oh, that's probably the Quiz Club."

It was then that I remembered there was a radio broadcast mentioning about it. A quiz tournament, huh? If that's the case, then Fuku-chan would definitely join in. Listening intently, I could make out the question being asked via the speakers.

"...Next question! The Japanese word "darui" is derived from the English word "dull." True or false?"

Eh?

I didn't even have time to think. Stop asking such silly questions! But if it's true or false questions, then it's probably used to filter out a large number of contestants. So while I was a bit depressed that I didn't know the answer to that question, I guess I was also relieved at not having to answer.

The girl next to me also listened in.

She smiled and asked me, "So, what do you think?"

"Hmm,"

I know "saboru" came from "sabotage," so "darui" is probably the same, as it didn't feel strange to me.

So I said softly, "True, I guess?"

015 - ♣05

As the 15 second time limit passed, a rope was raised surrounding the contestants choosing the "True" and "False" circles. Looking around me, five had chosen "True" while four chose "False." As a preliminary, this would probably be the final round.

"The answer is............"

The announcer held back her voice in order to raise the suspense.

"............"

You're overdoing this already.

"......FALSE! This ends the preliminaries!"

YES! (Actually, I did not really know what the etymology of the word "darui" was, but I do know that if it can be written in kanji 怠い then it's most likely not a foreign loan-word.) The announcer, who upped her tempo of suspense for every question answered, now waved her arms as though dancing and pointed towards us.

"Congratulations to the four who have chosen 'False' for passing the preliminaries! Please proceed toward the podium for the finals."

Aha, here comes my chance to appeal to the crowd. That's what I'm here for. As I walked toward the podium, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

"Yo, Fukube, so you're through as well, huh?

The person who said that was...

...Just hang on a minute, I'm trying to remember his name. I know this guy, honest. For the moment being I'll try replying.

"Of course."

"You don't remember who I am, do you?"

"Haha, guess I was too focused on the quizzes."

Who was he? I know he's a classmate though.

He wasn't from the General Committee nor the Handicraft Club, so he could only be from my class. The only person I could think of who could stand out from my class was Juumonji-san.

No, wait, I remember. I'm sure of it. I've not completely forsaken my ability to remember names.

"So, how's the Go Club, Tani-kun?"

Tani Koreyuki, besides being a member of the Go Club, he was also unique in having a hard to spell name. We would occasionally have small chats like these in class, though I wasn't particularly that close to him, so he could be counted as one of my "acquaintances." Now that I see his face again, he had quite a firm jaw and a rather round nose. But as he didn't leave much of an impression on me besides those, it means his actions until now were nothing out of the ordinary.

I have more interest in people who surprise me. Chitanda-san interests me somewhat, and Houtarou has been surprising me a lot ever since we entered Kami High. As for people who aren't surprising, unless they have interesting features of club activities, I would barely struggle to remember their names.

Yet here was Tani-kun passing the Quiz Trial preliminaries. And those weren't easy questions either. I see now, Tani-kun, my impression of you as a normal person may not be correct. He was here due to possessing either a great amount of knowledge or luck.

Tani-kun showed no attempt to hide his elation.

"The Go Club? I do have something interesting to tell you, wanna hear?"

Something interesting, huh? If it's something that's changed my impression of Tani-kun, it would be that he's never told me something interesting before, as it did not appeal to me.

"Please step forward to the podium!"

The announcer repeated. Oh yes, my chance at making an appeal. I waved the palm of my hand to gesture to Tani-kun to move to the podium.

On the podium were three guys and one girl. I took a quick glance at them; besides Tani-kun, I didn't know any of them. Had they been the "Empress" Irisu Fuyumi-sempai, President Tanabe Jirou-sempai of the General Committee, or the "New Master of the Library" Juumonji Kaho-san, then I would have to hold my hands up in resignation. While I'm confident that my knowledge is as good as theirs, I just can't feel like beating them. That said, I don't think my database would accept such a fact.

The announcer had interviewed and asked the names for three of the contestants already, including Tani-kun. And now it was my turn. The announcer held up her mic and smiled.

"Okay, our fourth finalist! May we have your class and name please?"

I cleared my throat in order to address the 200 participants as well as the hundreds more listening via the speakers,

"I'm Fukube Satoshi of the Classics Club."

"Huh?"

"The Classics Club, as in classical literature."

The announcer looked confused for a moment. She didn't look the type to know how to deal with unexpected events.

She soon nodded deeply and said, "I see! I never knew we had such a club. Guess we have all sorts of strange clubs, right?"

So far so good. I paid attention not to rush myself and allowed the words to come out naturally. Even without being requested to, I was generally good at saying what I wanted to say.

"Though we call ourselves the Classics Club, we don't exactly cover classic literature like 'Tsurezuregusa<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurezuregusa Wikipedia - Tsurezuregusa]</ref>.' To be honest, not even I knew what it is that we do exactly, so it's kind of strange. After all, this was a club that came back from the jaws of abolition as it didn't have any members prior to us joining. You could say we're a club that publishes anthologies. So we've published one, you see. And it's an amazing anthology, since we put a lot of effort into it..."

016 - ♠05

"...we put a lot of effort into it..."

Yeah, sure we have.

In terms of quantity.

'''[185 COPIES REMAINING]'''

017 - ♣06

"At any rate, we've managed to solve a great mystery concerning the Kanya Festival."

"Oh, really? And that is?"

Her interest didn't seem to be faked. This was to be expected, as it would be easy to hook them in if I tell them "there's knowledge not even the Quiz Club is aware of." (No, I wasn't intending to make fun of the Quiz Club here. Since I myself am a natural candidate as a Quiz Club member myself, but I just ended up using them as an example.) Feeling confident, I raised my voice.

"And it's none other than the origin of the name of the Kanya Festival. I'll say it here, it is NOT an abbreviation of the 'Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival.' The Classics Club have discovered the real answer to that."

"Really? And that is?"

"Well..."

I teased a bit.

"Obviously, that's a secret. However, we'll be in trouble if no one buys our anthology. So for only 200 yen, which is a great bargain, you can discover the 33-year-old secret of the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival! It's all recorded in our essay anthology 'Hyouka'! Now on sale at the Geology Room on the fourth floor of the Special Block with rave reviews!"

I glared at the crowd while pumping my right fist in the air.

I wonder if I overdid this? For a moment, an uneasiness crept through me...

A roar of applause thundered across the court. Just like how I felt in the Opening Ceremony, everyone was particularly receptive to the festive atmosphere. My gamble had worked, the appeal was a success!

Remaining in my victory pose, I felt like crying.

It no longer mattered whether I won this quiz tournament anymore.

018 - ♥04

"Now on sale at the Geology Room on the fourth floor of the Special Block with rave reviews!"

Ehh? We're getting rave reviews already?

I-I didn't even know.

This is fantastic. I have hope for the future.

A roar of excitement could be heard from the direction of the courtyard. Thanks to Fukube-san's smooth-speaking, the crowd seems to have been moved somewhat by his words. Though it sounded like he could have gone on further, before long, the quiz tournament had begun as I heard a loud voice announcing its commencement. I pray for your success, Fukube-san.

I must do my best as well.

Come to think of it, it does seem effective to entrust someone else to sell our anthologies on our behalf. However, just placing copies of "Hyouka" at other people's stalls alone will not increase its appeal. So while it's important to seek new venues to sell our anthology, isn't it also important to raise the appeal of "Hyouka" as well?

I went through this thoroughly as I had my lunch. Take my family business for example, we would normally have decided which market to sell our rice to. Though we would like to expand our market, if our quality is below the standards required by the government, nobody is going to buy our rice.

This is because rice isn't a really sensational product, much like our anthology right now, which wasn't exactly a necessary commodity. So the situation the Classics Club is facing is quite similar to this.

In order for rice to be sold in large quantities, it has to be of "very good quality." This "quality" may be based on its "tastiness," its "safety," or its "affordability."

However, "Hyouka" was already a finished product. Though we were extremely diligent in ensuring its quality, there was no way we could further enhance it anymore than it is. The only variable left that we could manipulate would be its "affordability," but we would prefer not to adjust the price so much that it falls below our break-even point.

In order to improve the quality of "Hyouka," I decided to consider it from the standpoint of the public's awareness of it.

And so, my eyes fell on the Special Edition of the wall newspaper, the Kami High Monthly. Upon reading some of its details, it seems to be published once every two hours. If "Hyouka" gets a mention on here, then everyone would become aware of it. Fortunately, I am acquainted with the president of the Wall Newspaper Club. Even I at least know that having connections can take you a long way.

Anyway, as lunch time had already been over for some time, I was busy looking for the Wall Newspaper Club president...

"Hey, Chitanda-san, wanna go see that?"

"Ehh? I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry."

"All right ladies and gentlemen, the second Magic Club performance will begin in five minutes!"

...Oh, yes, I was heading to the Wall Newspaper Club. I heard someone chatting behind me.

"Have you seen the movie made by Class 2-F yet?"

"Yeah, I have. Pretty interesting, wasn't it?"

Ugh.

All these decorations and all this liveliness is just too captivating. It was at this moment that I envied Oreki-san's ability to not get excited by anything.

Before long, I'd come before the Biology Room on the third floor of the Special Block, where the Wall Newspaper Club room was located. Though right now, their members were in the adjacent Preparation Room instead of the Lecture Room, where they had their pens, scissors, glues and instant cameras laying around. Surrounding a table normally used for school experiments were four members, who didn't seem rather busy as they chatted leisurely. One of them, Toogaito Masashi-san, with whom I was acquainted, noticed my presence and stood up.

Though I'm quite tall for a girl, even I had to look up when looking at Toogaito-san. His father was well-acquainted with mine, which was how I knew him. Though it wasn't until this July that we spoke for the first time.

With a smile, Toogaito-san greeted me.

"Hello there,"

I bowed my head. Careful not to make the same mistake I made with Tanabe-san, I chose my words carefully.

"Good afternoon, Toogaito-san. Can the Wall Newspaper Club please write a story about the Classics Club?"

However, even Toogaito-san's eyes went wide after what I said. I wonder what it was that I said wrong? Frantically recalling what I had just said, I couldn't find anything disrespectful about it.

Oh no... I just realized, did I forget to explain my situation properly again?

Toogaito-san turned to glance at the other club members before turning back to me and said in a lowered voice, "...What's with this all of a sudden? It's not really possible."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would it have been better if I had made an appointment first?"

"No, that's not what I meant,"

Toogaito-san rubbed his forehead and said, "I'm no longer with the Wall Newspaper Club."

"Eh?"

"I'm a third year, so I'm retired already."

Oh.

H-how did I not notice that before? This would of course be natural. It's completely obvious.

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, you don't really have to apologize..."

For a moment, I felt like I was of no help, and was feeling a bit depressed. But soon a fine idea came to my head. If Toogaito-san had retired, then this could work.

"Then, could you introduce me to one of your juniors so that I may make my request to him instead?"

However, Toogaito-san looked even more troubled than before.

"Well, I can introduce you, but I don't think it'll make much of a difference."

"Not much of a difference?"

"Our Special Edition goes up every two hours, so we have to get everything prepared before then. So to ask us to write something about the Classics Club now would be a bit too much, you see."

I see. Indeed, while I thought of the possibility of getting mentioned in a Special Edition every two hours, I totally did not consider the fact that they would need to prepare a draft edition beforehand.

So I said in resignation, "So it's impossible?"

I could hear myself sounding depressed.

"Well, I didn't exactly say it's impossible. As we should still have two more days of news to report, it can be done. However," Toogaito-san said with a tense expression, "We won't publish a story just because we've been asked to. There are over 50 clubs being represented in the Kanya Festival; there's no way we could introduce every one of them, so we have to give priority to those whose activities really stand out. That being said, if you could show us that the Classics Club is engaged in activities that stand out, then we'll write something about it."

It was a strict statement concerning the conditions on having a story written.

"T-then, what about the contents of the activities?"

"The club activities that we cover are all serious in their contents, so if we find a story request that is worthy of our interest like an ad-balloon, then we'll publish it."

But we haven't got any ad-balloons.

A while ago, Fukube-san had clearly emphasized about the origin of the term "Kanya Festival." Yet Toogaito-san said he only covers serious club activities. Yet besides its name, there wasn't really much in its contents which "Hyouka" could really be called attractive...

I'm sorry, Oreki-san and Fukube-san, I also do not know how to face Mayaka-san as well. Once again, I found myself unable to be of much help.

"...I see. Sorry for taking your time..."

As though trying to cheer me up, Toogaito-san said, "You can come back if you can find anything interesting, I'll see what I can do to help."

I think I nodded, but I wasn't even sure if I had the strength to move.

As things were not making any progress, it seemed my body had also lost its strength. But it would not be nice to trudge just because of that, so I tried my best to walk as I normally would. Though I wonder if my discouragement would still show on my face. Walking along the decorated corridor, not knowing where to go next, I heard someone calling out to me.

"What's wrong, Eru? You look quite depressed."

Looking up, I saw a small tent set up on top of the staircase. To be more precise, it looked more like a Native American teepee. The voice came from inside the teepee. The inside of the teepee could be seen from the outside.

"You were drooping your shoulders and looking disappointed. Did something happen?"

Inside of the teepee was a regular classroom desk, and seated on the chair was a person I was familiar with.

I smiled at her and said, "Well, a lot has happened..."

"Hmm?"

She tilted her head and smiled as she caressed an elegant looking crystal ball lying on top of a silk cloth on her des

"Then, how about having your fortune told?"

This person is Juumonji Kaho. Within Kamiyama City is a large and rather old shrine called Arekusu Shrine, and Kaho-san is the daughter of its head priest. While the Chitanda family's annual spring and autumn festival ceremonies aren't held at Arekusu Shrine, as I often meet her a lot, we ended up being well acquainted with each other. She was quite an attractive person, with her silky hair and small glasses. I liked the unique way Kaho-san often looked mature and polite.

Kaho-san had liked visiting the library ever since she was little, and so she was very knowledgeable in many things which I was unaware of. So I was quite surprised when I learned which club she had joined. Since Kaho-san wasn't quite good with hanging out with other people.

"Having my fortune told? That means..."

"Yes, this is the Fortune Telling Association stall."

"Where are the other members?"

Upon hearing that, Kaho-san made a rather cynical smile.

"Oh, it's just me at the moment."

"Eh, that's unexpected. But isn't it supposed to be popular?"

"That would be the Charms Association. They're the more popular club."

Speaking of which, I do recall seeing such a club being mentioned in the notice board.

"Well, how about it?"

As she spoke, Kaho-san began lining up objects on her table.

"If the crystal ball isn't to your fancy, then how about bamboo stick or card divination? Though these are just imitations. There's also coffee grounds divination and of course, the standard Tarot cards..."

As she rummaged through the items in a paper bag beside her feet, she suddenly stopped.

"Oh, we can't do Tarot cards today."

"Eh? Why's that?"

Hearing Kaho-san sound troubled for once piqued my interest. This was due to the Classics Club having once discussed Tarot cards back in the summer holidays, so I was thinking maybe we could have our fortunes told with Tarot cards.

Kaho-san saw my expression and understood right away.

"...Of course, you've always liked stuff like this. Here, have a look at this."

She took out a greeting card from her paper bag. Taking a glance at the card she showed me, I saw everything that was written on it, as it was in a rather large font, which read:

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fefefe; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|The Fortune Telling Association has lost its Wheel of Fortune.

Juumoji
|}

"What's this...?"

"It's quite a quick job if this is the work of one person. I only just left for a bit, and when I came back, someone had taken the 'Wheel of Fortune' card from my Tarot deck and left this."

So it was stolen? But the signature at the end of the card...

"It says 'Juumonji'."

"Indeed, I wonder if it's supposed to be addressed to me?"

The Juumonji family has two children, but right now, only Kaho-san is attending Kami High, and I've not heard of any other person called Juumonji in this city besides them. So Kaho-san is the only Juumonji in Kamiyama High. It would be incredible for a thief to use Kaho-san's name to steal her things.

It's all very strange. I decided to ask her something which I had meant to ask just now.

"Have you found the card yet?"

Kaho-san smiled bitterly.

"I wouldn't have said we couldn't use Tarot cards today if I had found it."

Oh, yes, of course.

"That's very worrying."

"Yes, though it's cheap, it's still a fortune-telling tool. I really wouldn't want to have to go through the trouble of acquiring another set as a result."

While saying that, instead of rummaging through her paper bag, Kaho-san took out a small memo paper from her pocket.

"But I wouldn't worry too much about that. I do wonder what the thief is up to, as this was also left behind,"

It was a memo paper torn from a notebook, on which was scribbled, "It will be returned after the Cultural Festival." ...This was indeed a strange thing for a thief to do. I do find it very odd. Looking at my expression, Kaho-san smiled.

"You seem to have cheered up a bit."

"Really?"

"Are you curious about this?"

I tilted my head

"...Yes, a bit."

"A bit, huh? Then let me show you one more thing."

From her paper bag, she took out something which I also had, the "Kanya Festival Guide," the official pamphlet for the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival.

Looking at it placed beside the crystal ball, I asked, "What's special about it?"

Kaho-san opened the pamphlet.

"The contents are exactly the same as any other. Though when I found it, it was open with the card placed on the last page of the club comments."

The participating club comments were printed on the last page of the pamphlet. As its name suggests, it displayed a single line of comment from each participating club mentioned by the pamphlet.

Apart from that, there was nothing strange or special written on the page.

"...I wonder what it all means?"

Kaho-san smiled gently and shrugged her shoulders.

"I wonder. It's the Cultural Festival, someone's bound to come up with some strange ideas, so it's nothing out of the ordinary. Personally, I couldn't care less as long as the 'Wheel of Fortune' is returned safely."

019 - ♣07

The finals consist of contestants racing each other in pushing the answer button, first to win seven points wins the race.

Though I did say it no longer mattered whether I won this quiz tournament anymore, this is an arena where I can put my database to good use. So it's a waste to just throw it away like that.

The Quiz Club president did mention on the radio broadcast that they'd "prepared questions that not just people who are good at quiz shows could answer," and now I see why he said that. Besides the usual quiz-show like questions involving show business, sports, social matters and trendy stuff, they've also included local topics as well as high school education related questions. I am of course well-versed in local topics, though the academic questions were a bit... okay, I know what you're thinking. For questions involving mathematical formulas, I was so pathetically hopeless with them that I could not even move my fingers towards the answer button. How on earth did I manage to weather through all these maths tests all these years?

Of the four contestants, three had taken six points, including me, Tani-kun and another girl. (While Tani-kun couldn't answer the strange questions, he was rather fast in answering the more generic ones.) The remaining person had five points. This was quite a fascinating battle; the contestants were all rather capable. For the Quiz Club this was no doubt a successful tournament.

But now it's time to end this. I'll be taking this last point!

"...Now for the next question. Please name the president of Kamiyama..."

A local question, huh? Concentrate...

"...High School's Student Council..."

I know the answer to this question, but I can't push the button just yet. For she may be asking us to name the president's favourite colour or something like that instead.

"...And give his full name please."

Now! At an instant, a light lit up.

"Yes, Shimizu-san?"

What? It's not me?

Shimizu-san, the girl beside me, answered in a calm voice, "Kugayama Muneyoshi."

"......"

Miss Announcer, you don't need to gasp, she's correct.

After a brief pause, the announcer lifted the girl's right arm and declared, "Correct! And the winner of Quiz Trial 7 is Shimizu Noriko-san of Class 3-E!"

Haha. Oh well, too bad.

Only the winner gets to receive the prizes. And as Shimizu Noriko-san (who didn't even bat an eyelid when answering the more odd questions. She's an interesting person, I must try and remember her name) received hers wrapped in paper, I had no idea what it was. Oh well, I didn't feel bad about losing, and I wasn't interested in the prizes anyway.

As the trophy presentation was finished, the Quiz Club president gave his greetings and wrapped up the Quiz Trial tournament. The crowd then began to disperse to all directions of the school campus. It sure was fun, not only did I raise the Classics Club's appeal, I also managed to have some fun as well. Now, I wonder where I should go next. As I was prepared to return with a smile, someone called out to me.

"Hey, Fukube."

It was Tani-kun. Smiling, I raised my arm to greet him.

"Hey, too bad we didn't win."

"Indeed. Guess it's a draw."

A draw, huh? It's not like I'm competing with Tani-kun... Oh well, whatever.

"Guess so," I replied.

"Well, you need something?"

"I did say I had something interesting to tell you before we were interrupted."

Come to think of it, he did say something like that, but I must have forgotten. As I wasn't really intent on hearing what he wanted to say then, this must mean it's something Tani-kun wants me to hear. Since it's no big deal, I decided to hear what he had to say.

"Seems to be so, did something happened with the Go Club?"

Tani-kun nodded satisfyingly.

"Yeah, some of our Go stones have been stolen."

"Oh?"

I wasn't exactly thinking ''"Is that so?"''

"The stones weren't lost but stolen, you say? But what makes you say that?"

"The thief left a note on the Go stone container,"

Tani-kun smiled as he said, "The note read 'The Go Club has lost its Go stones,' it's all really intriguing, as we have no idea whether any stones were stolen at all. As we don't normally use all the stones in the container, so there's no way of knowing if someone were to take away one or two, or even ten stones."

"Why would someone steal the stones?"

"Maybe he wants to play Gomoku?<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku Wikipedia - Gomoku]</ref>" Tani-kun said in a rather strange way.

While I didn't find it to be a rather high-class joke, I decided to laugh along with him. If that's the end of this "interesting" story, then he didn't really need to go out of his way to tell me.

I said bluntly with a smile, "Maybe it's a prank by someone from the Go Club?"

Perhaps not happy that I didn't seem interested with his story, Tani-kun looked a bit depressed.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well, I'm off for now."

"No, wait."

He called out to me before I could move.

Tani-kun said with a strangely stiff smile, "Fukube, will you be participating in other tournaments as well?"

"...Yeah."

As I nodded, Tani-kun raised his right arm and pointed his finger at me.

"I won't lose to you next time. It's not over since we only drew this time. We'll settle this!"

...I was at a loss for words.

Together with the silence, I could only give him my usual smile as a reply.

Tani-kun looked quite satisfied as he said, "Good. What will you be participating tomorrow?"

Without giving it much thought, I replied in a normal manner, "...The tournament held by The Cooking Club tomorrow, I guess?" 

"Okay, then we'll settle this tomorrow! I'm looking forward to this!"

Tani-kun waved his arms and left looking rather excited.

Phew, that sure was a hard to deal with fellow there.

A score to settle, huh? It never even crossed my mind. I was hardly concerned with how satisfied Tani-kun would be with the outcome anyway.

It's true that I often enjoy myself in many things. Indeed, I would have so much fun that Houtarou would end up staring coldly at me.

But what's most important is for me to experience this personally. I see enjoyment as basically a give-and-take relationship between the provider and receiver of the entertainment. This is why I could never be as fanatical in my interests, be it Sherlock Holmes or herbology, as my best friend (whoa, this is quite embarrassing for me to actually utter it, but his is the first name I could think of) Houtarou or the magnificent Mayaka.

I'm rather naive when it comes to things that I like, find interesting or enjoy. Using a bookshelf as an example, normally a bookshelf would contain reference books or novels used to kill time, but in comparison, my bookshelf is not worth showing to other people. (Though if it's Mayaka, she'd probably want to have a look... But it's unlikely she would ever say it out loud.) Similarly, my relationship with the provider of entertainment is simply to quietly have high expectations and taking it easy as I enjoy myself.

So according to my psuedo-Epicureanism, this talk of "settling scores"...

Well, it's inelegant.

But this is all trivial, as I had no intention of giving it my all. To put it simply, Tani-kun is simply participating in tournaments which I'm participating in out of his own accord.

I meandered to and fro as I left the now rather empty courtyard.

By the way, enjoying oneself and worrying about one's friends are totally different matters altogether.

I wonder how Houtarou's doing now?

And I wonder if Mayaka is doing fine?

==Translator's notes and references==

<references />

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 2-1|2-1 - Has Something Happened With the Classics Club?]]
| Return to [[Hyouka|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 2-3|2-3 - Yet Another Storm]]|-
|}
</noinclude>

Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 7

2012-07-06T07:51:37Z

Kunem: /* 7 - Do Not End the Show */

== 7 - Do Not End the Show ==

For the next three days, I didn't do much besides recollecting what I've done.

As entrusting three fools was inappropriate since they could not produce any results, in the end, it was an outsider like me that accomplished what they couldn't. Though it was true that as an observer, I was able to glean facts from each of their statements, I was the one that had solved it; Irisu's words had prompted me to believe that. This made me realize I had abilities which I could speak of. As a result, I was now immersed in a sense of satisfaction as though intoxicated by too many whiskey bonbons.

To put it in an unassuming way, it was a refreshing feeling.

Ever having Hongou's mystery solved on Friday, the script was prepared by Saturday night (according to some first years who'd seen him, the substitute screenwriter who had to write the rest of the script on such short notice was worked till he looked half dead, though I had no way of finding out). And so Class 2-F's filming was finalized by Sunday evening. It was an epic turnaround from a seemingly desperate situation. I received a phone call on Sunday night from Irisu giving me her gratitude, to which I offered her my heartfelt congratulations.

And so came Monday, three days after the solving of the mystery, when the Kamiyama High School summer vacation came to an end.

As the Classics Club did not meet up during that weekend, until today I was not able to inform Chitanda of what had happened so far. After lessons had ended, as I was running a bit late due to some other errands, I rushed towards the club room. I wasn't interested in showing off my achievements, but I just thought it would be better to let her know as I climbed up the steps of the Special Block. I don't deny my footsteps felt rather light as I walked.

Upon arriving at the doorstep of the Geology Room, I sensed a strange atmosphere. The classroom looked dark, as though the curtains had been drawn. I silently opened the door and noticed the TV was taken out and was playing the movie "The Blind Spot of 10,000 People". Chitanda, Ibara and Satoshi were all watching the TV with their backs toward me.

Though by the time I entered, the movie had already gone into the credits, the names of the cast and crew in a gothic font flowed upwards on a dark background. As filming was only done yesterday along with the editing, this credit roll was probably prepared in advance.

Ibara stood up to stop the video and noticed me.

"Oh, Oreki,"

Chitanda and Satoshi both turned around. Satoshi pointed to the TV.

"Hey, Houtarou. We saw it."

"Class 2-F's?"

"Yup. Eba-sempai came just now to give this to us. So this ending was solved by Houtarou, huh?"

As Satoshi was always showing such a smiling face, I had no way of finding out what he really thought of the movie.

Still, I asked, "So how was it?"

"Not bad. Or rather, it was interesting. To think it was the cameraman of all people."

Pushing the rewind button on the tape player, Ibara said in a criticizing tone, "You'd already thought of that back then, hadn't you? You really hide too many things in your mind."

"I hadn't thought of it when I was with you guys. I'm not that mischievous as to toy around with people until they panic," I said as I placed my shoulder bag on the table and stretched my waist.

Truth be told, this felt like an anticlimax, as these guys were not as surprised as I thought they would be. As I was feeling quite satisfied with how surprising the conclusion was, I was kind of expecting them to look astonished with it. I should have expected nothing less from these fools; it was perhaps good that Satoshi and Ibara were hardly naïve.

Then, what about the naïve Chitanda?

Our eyes met. Chitanda then turned her head to face me.

"Oreki-san,"

"Yeah?"

"I was surprised."

An honest opinion.

She then turned her head back and looked into the distance as she said cautiously, "Besides, I..."

She then noticed something and smiled.

"Umm, maybe later."

A peculiar reaction. Now how should I put this? I couldn't tell whether she was appraising or criticizing.

Clapping his hands, Satoshi said, "Anyway, you did well, Houtarou. 'The Empress' is satisfied, the movie is completed. The audience will also be glad about such a surprising development. The day is fast approaching when Kami High's name spreads far and wide due to the detective Oreki Houtarou. We should raise a toast for this occasion."

And he promptly took out four bottles of Yakult<ref>A Japanese Yogurt-like drink - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult Wikipedia]</ref> from his drawstring bag. He's got all sorts of ridiculous items in that bag. Ibara stood up to put a leash on Satoshi's celebratory mood with a bitter voice.

"Now's not the time to be concerned about other classes' problems, Fuku-chan. Ever since that movie preview, we've not made any progress with 'Hyouka'. I'm gonna to check on your page progress starting today, since you did ask me to help you with your manuscript progress, after all."

Satoshi's smile froze. He placed two bottles of Yakult before Ibara. As if that was going to dissuade her. As expected, Ibara proceeded to get things started by opening the curtains. And so Class 2-F's movie was finally put aside as the Classics Club resumed its activity of compiling its anthology.

As sunset approached, the umpteenth meeting regarding the anthology "Hyouka" came to an end. As I gathered the written notes which were scattered around, Satoshi and Chitanda left the Geology Room. Leaving the rare sight of just me and Ibara behind.

Moving the TV back to where it was, Ibara turned to say something she had just thought of.

"Oh yeah, Oreki. Can I ask you something?"

"If it's the manuscript, don't we not need those until next week?"

Ibara shook her head.

"I'm talking about the movie. What was the title again? Something about 10,000 people."

As it was quite embarrassing for me to utter a title which I myself had thought of, I urged Ibara to continue.

"What about it?"

"You came up with the solution, right?"

I nodded.

What was she trying to say? She seemed to be cautious with her words.

"All of it?" she asked.

As I'd not seen the full version, I gave an ambiguous answer with some vigour.

"Most."

Upon answering, she gave me a sharp look. She then spoke in a strong tone that was different from before.

"In that case, what did you think about Haba-sempai's theory, then? Regardless of whether the trick he mentioned was interesting or not, it was totally not shown in the movie."

She didn't seem convinced. So I asked her, "What about Haba's theory?"

"Aren't you ignoring the intent?"

She murmured and placed her hands on her waist.

"Never once did the movie show any use for a rope."

Rope... The item that Hongou requested Haba to prepare. She even emphasized its importance. Come to think of it, it was mentioned before.

As I was at a loss at how to respond, Ibara went on.

"Having the cameraman as the seventh person is interesting, as you could feel the intensity of all the characters looking straight into the camera. But, that would leave no room for the rope to make its appearance."

Indeed.

No, that's not it. I countered, with my voice raised a bit.

"The use of a rope is probably confined to specific tricks. Maybe the cameraman would use it to hang himself in the end, wouldn't he?"

Ibara looked at me with exasperated eyes.

"What're you talking about, Oreki? If that's the case, why would Hongou emphasize its use? If they were to shoot such a scene using something as robust as a rope, then they wouldn't need to worry about its safety. Since Hongou-sempai specifically asked for a rope strong enough to support a person... I think something's missing here."

The last sentence probably contained some of Ibara's concerns, but I hadn't noticed it. When she said I had missed something, I didn't think of it that way. It was probably just something trivial...

But why had I forgotten such details?

"Well, anyway, I thought your deduction was interesting. But seeing as how strict you were in dismissing the theories of those three people, I was thinking maybe you had thought of something which they had all missed," Ibara said as she covered the TV with a plastic cover and proceeded to pack up her bag. As she said she'd be returning the key, I decided to leave the room ahead of her.

With Ibara's words still ringing in my head, I descended down the steps of the Special Block. My deduction should have taken into consideration all of the facts. While some of the details like the acting and dialogue may be off a bit, overall, it should reflect Hongou's true intention. Yet I'd somehow forgotten something. Or rather, because it did not match my deduction, I had unconsciously ignored it. It can't be, I was not the sort to twist the facts just to get to a right answer... Or at least that's what I wanted to think.

Looking at my feet alone, I realized I was now on the third floor. Just as I thought I was going to walk down to the second floor while still immersed in my thoughts, a voice called out to me.

"Hey, Houtarou,"

I turned to find nobody. It sounded like Satoshi... No, I wasn't imagining things, I clearly heard him. I waited for a bit, and indeed my name was called out once again.

"Over here, Houtarou,"

A hand emerged from the men's room and beckoned me to come over. If this were night time, it would make a fitting horror scene. I smiled bitterly and walked over there, where Satoshi was waiting.

"What is it, Satoshi? I'm not interested in taking a pee with you."

Very quickly, the smile disappeared from his face as he said quite seriously, "I do not have such interests. This place just happens to be convenient."

"Convenient for what? This place stinks."

"I was just thinking of cleaning up this place... Anyway, it's because no girls can come in here."

Ah, I see. Then it must be that.

"So, what is it you don't want the girls to know? You have some porn collection you want to show me?"

Though I was joking, Satoshi didn't smile.

"You sure know how to put things. If that's what you want, I could prepare something that could get us involved with the police. Anyway, just hear me out."

Alright.

"In other words, it's something Ibara and Chitanda can't know?"

"Something like that. They would just wonder what we were talking about if we discussed it openly."

Satoshi then lowered his voice.

"Houtarou, that movie, did you really figure out Hongou-sempai's intention?"

Even he was telling me this. Though he meant well, I realized I was making a bitter expression.

"Yeah."

Hearing that, Satoshi turned his eyes away from mine.

"I see... Is that really her intention?"

Was he trying to make me feel uneasy? Not sure of what to say, Satoshi didn't continue while avoiding my gaze. So I prodded him.

"Is my guess wrong?"

"Well, sort of."

He nodded ambiguously. He then said with all his heart, "Houtarou, this is bad. You've got Hongou-sempai's intention wrong. While I could not figure out how it's wrong, I can tell you it's not that."

...Quite a blunt opinion. Rather than being shocked or unhappy, I was more dumbfounded. If Satoshi wasn't joking then he must be serious, and right now he was dead serious.

Even then I regained my composure and replied, "What basis do you have for saying that?"

"While I'm not too sure myself, can I say something flimsy?"

"If there's some fatal contradiction in my deduction, you think I wouldn't have noticed it?"

Satoshi shook his head clearly.

"There's no contradiction at all. But that's not what I'm looking at. I really meant it when I said your deduction was well-crafted. But that's not what Hongou-sempai had intended."

"In other words?"

He cleared his throat.

"Houtarou, think about Hongou-sempai's understanding of detective fiction. Starting from a blank slate, what has she been reading in order to prep herself for the script?"

Puzzled at what that had to do with all this, I answered, "Sherlock Holmes."

"Exactly. Now listen, Hongou-sempai's experience with detective fiction is only limited to Sherlock Holmes. Though she said she'd stick to the Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction, she would not have read Ronald Knox's works yet. Besides, the trick that you proposed to Irisu-sempai is a type of literary trick. You hear? A literary trick."

Well, I follow you loud and clear.

"It's a trick made to fool the audience, right? By hiding the seventh person from the view of the camera, it may be considered a literary trick as well."

"Right. Now, I'm going to join the dots here,"

As though speaking very solemnly, Satoshi took a deep breath and said in one go, "Such a literary trick did not exist in Conan Doyle's time."

"......"

"With a few exceptions, such a trick of coming out from behind the stages did not appear until at least Agatha Christie's time, in other words, way into the 20th Century. I may not know Hongou-sempai well, but I'm quite certain she's not read any of Christie's work!"

At first, I had no idea what Satoshi was trying to say. Upon digesting the meaning of what he'd just said, I began to waver a bit.

Hongou's understanding of detective fiction was still confined to the 19th Century, the gas-lamp filled streets of London where Sherlock Holmes resided. It was probably so. And Satoshi said such a literary trick did not exist in such times.

For a short while, I stood there like an idiot ruminating on what I'd just heard. I could not reject what Satoshi had observed. Upon receiving a strike from an angle which I did not expect, my mind seemed as though it had stopped working.

Satoshi looked at me in such a state and said sympathetically, "Personally, I would give that movie an A grade. I particularly liked the part where the cameraman emerged into the light. But if you were to say that was Hongou-sempai's intention, then my objection is not completely without merit."

"Wait,"

I somehow spoke.

"We have no idea how much Hongou-sempai read. So we can't say that she did not come across such literary tricks outside of Sherlock Holmes, right?"

It was a stubborn response. Satoshi patted me on my shoulder and said briefly, "...Well, if that's what you think, then it's fine with me as well."

After Ibara's and Satoshi's combo attack, the damage I suffered was quite substantial. I didn't think I was that fragile. But it's not like I was well prepared; normally I would have taken it more easily, but now I was not able to find anything to counter their objections. So it was not unreasonable for me to start doubting whether my deduction was actually wrong. Though of course I wished for it to be right.

Which was why, as I came down the last flight of stairs and saw Chitanda loitering there, my heart skipped a beat. She was clearly waiting for me, yet she lowered her eyes upon seeing me.

"Umm, Oreki-san... I have something to tell you."

Et tu, Chitanda?

As she looked rather apologetic about it, taking into consideration what had just transpired, I had an idea what she was trying to say and sighed in half resignation.

"Something you couldn't say in front of Satoshi and Ibara?"

Chitanda widened her large eyes and looked surprised at me. She then nodded gently.

She led us quietly towards the school gate. Just as I wondered why we couldn't do this in a café, she told me the usual place we went would be too far, while the ones nearby would be frequented by Kami High students. But wouldn't we be surrounded by them as well while we're walking and talking? It's still broad daylight now. I decided to start the conversation.

"You wanted to talk to me about the movie?"

"Yes."

"Something that troubles you?"

"...It would seem so."

Her reply was soft.

Was this how it felt to await a verdict?

Being impatient, I said, "There's no need to hold back. Satoshi and Ibara too thought that that wasn't Hongou's true intention. I... I'm also beginning to think so as well."

Chitanda lifted up her downcast and serious look.

I continued without looking at her, "So what about you?"

"...I, too do not think it is correct."

"Can you tell me why?"

Silence, then Chitanda nodded.

What should I do when she answers? I didn't know as well. The filming's already finished, and any revision would have to wait till after the festivals. When thinking logically, it was a pointless and inefficient action... It seemed some speck of self-respect still remained within me.

"Won't you tell me?"

The traffic light before us turned red, stopping the flow of people, and many Kami High students waited along the traffic crossing as a result. Chitanda was probably hesitant to speak in such a situation as she remained silent. As she turned to look at me, I could see the sorrow within those gentle eyes of hers. It was now that I could notice Chitanda's elegance hidden within her large eyes.

As the signal changed, the wave of people began to move, and Chitanda began to speak slowly.

"Oreki-san, do you understand what it was that bothered me?"

Why'd she have to go in circles? I decided to answer curtly.

"What the ending for Class 2-F's movie was? We already did that."

Yet surprisingly, Chitanda shook her head.

The long hair behind her back flowed to and fro as she did.

"No. For me, it didn't really matter how the movie ended. So I thought Oreki-san's proposal was wonderful."

"Then..."

"I was feeling curious as to what Hongou-san was intending to do."

Saying that, Chitanda glanced at me. I was probably looking like an idiot right now. If she was concerned about Hongou, then it's the same thing as being concerned about the movie's ending.

Sensing my thoughts, Chitanda emphasized, "No matter how we think about it, this whole matter seemed strange. Was it really true that Hongou collapsed due to mental stress? ...It might be, but then, why didn't she entrust it to someone else? Like Eba-san, for example."

She tilted her head. Somehow her meaning was not properly conveyed.

"Aren't you mixing up the subject and object here?"

"Oh... I'm sorry. I mean, why didn't Irisu-san ask one of Hongou-san's close friends, like Eba-san, for example, about whether she had any literary tricks prepared for the story?"

......

That's a presumptuous question. Since Hongou would need some time to be alone in order to rest, it would be better not to stress her further with stuff concerning the script.

Yet Chitanda went on before I could say anything.

"Hongou-san should have possessed the entire script. Even if she had collapsed, I do not think that she would not at least convey the essence of her ending, in other words, the literary trick, to Irisu-san. But she never did.

"At first, I would have thought that Hongou-san had pushed herself to work so hard till she fell ill. Yet from her classmates, it seemed she was compelled by them to write the script rather than doing it of her own will. It felt as though she was too timid when it would have been better to just refuse them.

"In the end, was it because she lacked the confidence? Was it because she felt so embarrassed at not being able to finish the job that she couldn't bring herself to meet everyone? But surely someone would have visited her and learned the truth?

"...But that is not right. I may not be familiar with mystery stories, but I feel that the people involved in the project weren't used to them themselves. Besides, they all seem like nice people... I do not believe they would have criticized her harshly had she not been able to produce a script."

I don't know about them being "nice people", though their opinions were all over the place.

As though speaking to herself, Chitanda went on further.

"Then, what was it that drove Hongou-san to the wall? We just can't tell no matter how we look at it. I've been curious all this time with this peculiarity."

She slowed down her pace and looked straight at me.

"If Oreki-san's deduction was the truth, then Hongou-san should have already told Irisu-san about it. The same would be true if one of the others' deductions was the right one.

"I think I want to understand Hongou-san's feelings about having to give up on something halfway through, about being frustrated at not being able to continue what she started... But that movie we saw did not answer those questions. So I think that was what has been bothering me."

I murmured. All this time that I, Nakajou, Haba and Sawakiguchi were trying to figure out the truth of the case, Chitanda was trying to figure out Hongou.

Indeed, that's it. Take Eba, who called Hongou a good friend, for example. If they had wanted to know whether any literary trick was used, all they needed to do was ask Hongou. But what if Hongou were to get seriously stressed out by being asked? ...Yet the way Eba described Hongou being her good friend was too carefree. When Chitanda asked her what kind of person Hongou was, she seemed rather annoyed and wondered what we could ever learn from her telling us this. But this was her good friend that was seriously ill, was that the way to answer a question concerning her?

Perhaps I was treating this script as a mere literary exercise. From the setting, the characters, the murder, the literary trick, the detective, the killer...

All of these should have reflected the mind of Hongou, someone whom I've not even met. Yet I never realized it at all.

...Some "detective" role I've been given!

Thinking that, I sighed deeply.

Wondering if she was mistaken, Chitanda said frantically, "Oh, but, this wasn't meant as a criticism of you, Oreki-san. I was surprised by that resolution scene as well. While Hongou-san would probably not have thought up such a scene, I thought it was a wonderful improvement."

I smiled bitterly.

As this means I've practically been hired as a substitute screenwriter more or less.

That night, I was thinking in my room. Lying on my bed, I stared at the white ceiling.

Somehow it seemed I was mistaken. Though the shock of learning that has since faded.

Compared to Nakajou, Haba and Sawakiguchi, my failure wasn't too bad. I broke a smile. Some special person I am, huh? Irisu sure knows how to flatter. I felt stupid at believing my own hype. In the end, I was only chosen because my story was better than the other three.

I realized where my thoughts were going... Have I really failed?

Of course, it became clear that my proposal did not match Hongou's true intention. But how did Irisu, or even Class 2-F, view this? From their point of view, it would have been the successful completion of a project, a movie, that was in danger of being abandoned. From that perspective, I was successful. The movie "The Blind Spot of 10,000 People" was a movie that even the annoying Ibara had to acknowledge.

To put it further, it could be argued that my deduction would still be a success, regardless of how it was received. In other words, I do have the skills, which no one else possesses, to make this a success.

Even then, would those words have any meaning? The words that Irisu spoke at the tea house Hifumi: "Everyone ought to recognize their own talents." The words which she spoke as though they were the truth of this world and had an effect on me, did they have any meaning at all?

After she told me that, I lost all reckoning of things besides myself. That feeling turned me upside down, and gave me an inflated image of myself. I imagined the scenario where Nakajou's proposal was adopted, where Haba's proposal was adopted, where Sawakiguchi's proposal was adopted. And I vainly thought how good it felt that mine was adopted.

Yet all these illusions had now disappeared.

At the moment when I wondered what I would gain from this, I had completely forgotten about that person. The next thing that appeared in my mind was the fact that I was not doing it to please Chitanda. I was merely thinking this naturally... In that case, I should give this case a closer look, since I had nothing to lose after all.

Yet, where did I go wrong? Did Irisu know that I'd gotten it wrong?

And then there's the matter which Chitanda was curious about. Why didn't Hongou tell them the true plot? Or could it be that she couldn't? Furthermore, why didn't Irisu inquire about it from Eba?

Lying before me was the data, the stack of papers in my bag which I had forgotten.

...Yet, my thoughts just wouldn't connect. I had no idea whether the flash of inspiration was due to luck or talent, so I decided not to dwell on it any further. I turned around on my bed, shifting my field of vision from the ceiling to the walls of my room.

And my eyes fell upon a strange sight.

I got off my bed and walked towards the bookshelf. While this room was now my room, my sis left some of her stuff in here from back when it was her room. In the corner of that bookshelf was one of her books. As it was full of these strange books, I hadn't taken much notice of it before.

The title of the book was "The Mystery of Tarots". I had no idea my sis was a Kabbalist.

Under the moonlit and streetlamp filled night, I opened the book in amusement. The page I was turning to was of course the chapter covering "The Empress", of which the contents filled up ten pages. I read the first line of it:

III. The Empress

Motherly. Fertility. Sensuality.

Hmm, reading these alone, Irisu sure doesn't match any of these attributes. No matter how I see it, "the Hermit" would have been a better match for her. To begin with, Irisu's "Empress" nickname had nothing to do with Tarot cards. Satoshi was the one that mentioned Tarots.

Come to think of it, he had matched each member of the Classics Club with a specific Tarot card. If I remember correctly, Ibara should be...

VIII. Justice

Equality. Justice. Impartiality.

Well, no mistake about that. Satoshi's explanation that "People of the 'Justice' types tend to be stern with themselves" seemed to be spoken specifically with Ibara in mind.

A change in mood wasn't so bad, so I looked up at "The Magician" for Satoshi and "The Fool" for Chitanda.

I. The Magician

Initiative. Creativity. Focusing.

No Number. The Fool

Adventurism. Curiosity. Impulsive.

Haha, I see. It was just as the definition had put it. I laughed. Though would a Tarot expert also define "The Fool" as someone who "loves to roam", and "The Magician" as someone who's "sociable"?

Now what about me? Let's see, "Strength", was it?

XI. Strength

Inner strength. Determination. Kinship.

What is this?

It totally doesn't match. While I might not be aware of my own personality, even I could tell that this was completely off the mark. Satoshi ought to have known from my motto: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, make it quick."

So why did Satoshi choose this card for me then?

Now that I think about it, Satoshi said he meant it as a joke. If it's Satoshi's joke... then there must be some other meaning which I've not gotten.

...I must have too much free time. Or it was simply me not wanting to admit failure. Yet looking at "The Mystery of Tarots", I suddenly understood what Satoshi's joke meant. As there was one line in the annotations below:

"Strength - Illustration of a ferocious lion being subdued (controlled) by a gentle woman"<ref>See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_%28Tarot_card%29 Strength (Tarot card)] for various illustrations of this card.</ref>

In other words, Satoshi was saying I've always been controlled by women. From my sis, to Chitanda, and now Irisu.

W-Why you, Satoshi, getting all cocky. There's no way I could be controlled by them! At any rate, this was me we're talking about.

I returned to my senses.

Thinking deeper, "Strength" could be right.

Anyway, it's not like it's got any deep meaning. Compared to "Justice", "the Magician" and "the Fool", "Strength" has a different method of interpretation altogether. The interpretation for my card was based not on the card's reading, but on the illustration instead. As expected from a Satoshi-like joke, which had no basis whatsoever.

Well, it was a good distraction, as I felt a sense of satisfaction that I've forgotten about Hongou's case. Guess you could call that energy saving as well, I thought as I headed back to sit on the bed.

......

...?

I quickly got up.

It was purely a coincidence.

The next day, I met the person that I wanted to meet. And I met her at the most convenient time, in other words, after school.

That person was of course, Irisu Fuyumi. Upon seeing me, a smile appeared on her face as she greeted me.

"Oh, it's Oreki-kun. Thank you for all that you did before. Have you seen the movie yet?"

Unable to hide the stiffness in my expression, I said, "No, not yet."

"I see. I thought it was a good movie. It's something that could not have been done without your help, so you should give it a look... Oh yes, we'll be having a party to celebrate the completion of the movie this Saturday, and I think you'll be invited as well."

I shook my head, as the show's not over yet.

Sensing something strange with my attitude, Irisu raised her brows a bit, though her tone remained the same.

"I see. It's your choice, after all. Now then,"

As she turned to walk away, I stopped her.

"Irisu-sempai,"

I then said to the Empress who turned back around, "We need to talk."

We met at Hifumi, the same tea house as the other day.

As Irisu wasn't treating today, I decided to pick some Yunnan tea after some careful consideration of the menu. I thought this tea house was only limited to Japanese tea, but it turns out it also serves Chinese tea, red tea and coffee. Irisu was again having green tea like last time.

After waiting for our drinks to arrive, Irisu spoke first.

"You said we needed to talk?"

I was at a loss at where to start. Though the first place to start naturally was here.

"Sempai, in this tea house, you said that I possess a certain skill, that I was special, right?"

"Indeed."

"...May I ask what skill that is?"

Irisu smiled softly,

"You want to be told what it is? Why, the skill of deduction, of course."

So that's her answer, huh?

Feeling neither angry nor indignant, I refuted her answer in an incredibly calm way,

"You're wrong."

"......"

"I'm no expert in detective fiction. Though I'm familiar with this line: 'You're no detective, but you'd make a fine detective writer.' It was spoken by the culprit upon the conclusion of a fantastical deduction."

Irisu remained silent and sipped her tea. I could feel Irisu had discarded her courteous appearance and had reverted to her true self. So I repeated what I said.

"I'm not a detective, but I make a fine detective writer, huh?"

The sound of a teacup being placed loudly on the table was heard.

Indeed, upon being told this, she said in a nonchalant manner, "Where did you get your hint from?"

So she was responsible for it, huh? Irisu Fuyumi had so very easily shattered my wish which I did not really hope would be shattered.

Rather than being surprised, I replied calmly, "Sherlock Holmes."

"...I see."

"Hongou-sempai seemed to have studied detective fiction via Sherlock Holmes. Chitanda borrowed some of her paperbacks the other day, but due to her getting drunk off those whiskey bonbons, I had completely forgotten about the matter. Only recently have I gone through them."

Irisu smiled. It was a different type of smile from before, more like a smirk.

"And what have you discovered from that?"

"...A connection."

I took out a note from my chest pocket. It was a list from two of the six volumes of Sherlock Holmes short stories (strictly speaking, there are only five volumes, though this is the Nobara translated version we're talking about), namely "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", with each title grouped under "Concentric Circles" or "Crosses".


Concentric Circles

:The Man with the Twisted Lip 
:The Adventure of the Blanched Sailor 
:The Adventure of the Three Garridebs 

Crosses

:A Case of Identity 
:The Five Orange Pips 
:The Adventure of the Speckled Band 
:The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor 
:The Adventure of the Three Gables 
:The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger


Irisu occasionally looked at me with sharp eyes.

"At first, I thought this was merely Hongou sorting out which ideas to use for her story, but I was mistaken. I asked Satoshi, who told me that 'Red-Headed League' and 'Three Garridebs' had the same literary technique, but when I then asked why 'Three Garridebs' was marked with concentric circles while 'Red-Headed League' was marked with a triangle, he was left dumbfounded."

Irisu urged me to continue with her gaze alone.

"I inquired for further details from Satoshi... Irisu-sempai, would you be bothered if you were spoiled on any of the stories of Sherlock Holmes?"

"No, not at all."

"Is that so? But if you do not wish to be spoiled, then please tell me at once, so I can figure out a way to ask you to cover your eyes or ears."

I said that simply as a precaution.

Though it's not like I'm really spoiling anything important.

"First, the concentric circles.

"'Man with Twisted Lip' - Holmes was tasked to find the whereabouts of a man who seemed to have completely vanished. The client was the man's wife.

"'Blanched Sailor' - Holmes tasked by a man to investigate the whereabouts of his friend who had seemingly been quarantined by his family. Though in the end it turns out all was well and the friend didn't need to be quarantined after all.

"'Three Garridebs' - Basically a retelling of 'Red-Headed League', though it was memorable for a scene where the usually calm and reserved Holmes showed signs of distress over Watson getting injured. By the way, Watson was only slightly wounded."

I sipped my Yunnan tea, though the taste was rather bland.

"Now, let's move on to the crosses. As there are more of these here, I'll just pick three to talk about.

"'Five Orange Pips' - A young man seeks the help of Holmes after witnessing many strange deaths around him. Yet Holmes was unable to prevent his death.

"'Speckled Band' - A woman asks Holmes to investigate the strange death of her sister. The killer was none other than her stepfather, who was seeking to obtain the girls' inheritance.

"'Three Gables' - A woman whose son had recently died asks Holmes for advice when she was approached to sell her house and everything in it. The root of the story revolves around the dead man's desire for revenge over the woman who had dumped him."

I stopped and waited for Irisu's reaction.

Irisu waved her front bangs and said, "I see."

"Upon hearing the summaries of these stories, I have a vague idea of what kind of stories Hongou preferred. It was hard to tell that she did not have any prior experience with detective stories from such preferences. Satoshi expressed disbelief upon being told that she put a cross over 'Speckled Band' while marking a circle for 'Blanched Sailor'."

I took a sip.

"Now here's my explanation: perhaps Hongou prefers happy endings over tragic endings. She didn't seem to like any ending where anyone died."

Irisu didn't respond.

Probably a sign of admittance.

"It we think along those lines, then many questions can be answered. Firstly, little fake blood was required. And then there's the results of the questionnaire."

"The results of the questionnaire?"

From my shoulder bag, I took out the notebook which I borrowed from Sawakiguchi, and then opened it and pointed towards the relevant page.


{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fefefe; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
|''No. 32 - How many victims should there be? ''
''- 1 person -- 6 ''
''- 2 people -- 10 ''
''- 3 people -- 3 ''
''- Others: ''
''4 people -- 1 ''
''Everyone -- 2 ''
''About 100 -- 1 ''
''- Invalid vote -- 1 ''
 
''2 people recommended (Hongou retains the right to veto)''
|}
 
 


Upon one glance at the note, and it was only a momentary glance, Irisu said with a sharp look, "...How did you get this?"

"I borrowed it a while ago. Anyway, take a look at this question.

"This was merely asking how many victims there would be, but what does this 'invalid vote' mean? In other questions, if someone was undecided and abstained, it would be marked as 'abstain'. Besides, someone had even voted to have 'about 100' dead, which was more than the number of actors. In that case, what's with this 'invalid vote' then?"

As though amused, Irisu picked up where I left off.

"The vote probably voted for no victims as there was not enough fake blood, and was declared invalid as a result?"

I looked seriously at Irisu, who looked back at me calmly.

I said in a low voice, my conclusion, which was, "Hongou's script contains no victims whatsoever."

Irisu raised her upper lip slightly, or so I thought.

"As expected."

Irisu sure was a calm person, as she sipped her green tea without looking the slightest bit shaken. How could she remain so calm? Could it be she could read my thoughts?

Quietly, she placed her teacup down.

"If you understand that much, then that saves me from having to explain further. It is as you say, Hongou's script has no victims. She said she was unable to think of any mystery that involves death. That's the sort of girl she is."

I continued, "Nevertheless, your classmates did not think of that and continued with their ad-libs in the movie. Even though Hongou did not join in for the shooting of the movie, she would have been informed by Nakajou. Above all, the script never once mentioned Kaitou being dead. He merely suffered a serious injury and collapsed to the point of not being able to respond, which was what we saw in the movie.

"Ibara praised the work put into the fake severed arm, meaning that part was included in the original script.

"And yet Kaitou was suddenly killed off. Without Hongou knowing, the story had turned from a brutal assault into one of murder."

Irisu nodded.

Yet I felt no satisfaction, and my words slowly became frantic.

"This is purely my speculation without any basis whatsoever. Yet, I must say it regardless.

"Hongou did not tell her classmates that the movie had made a serious flaw which deviated from the script. She couldn't bring herself to tell them to abandon the film which they had shot, nor tell the props division to throw away the prop which they had worked so hard to make, since she's a timid and serious person, after all. I think even Hongou herself realized afterwards how illogical it was to have a mystery where no one dies.

"And this is where you come in, Irisu-sempai."

Irisu looked at me without any expression, or rather, she was smiling softly.

I was hardly feeling excited, yet my voice was slightly raised as I said, "This would make it Hongou's fault, as it meant she would have to abandon her script and make drastic changes. And so you arranged for her to 'get sick', thus making the script 'incomplete'. This would lessen the damage considerably. You gathered your classmates, and started a deduction competition."

And I concluded, "And so, you held what was basically a scenario contest. By telling them the script was incomplete, anyone would want to try completing it. That way, you get to preserve Hongou's dignity while they do the deducing. Upon seeing that your classmates were not up to the task, you decided to bring us into this as well. Nobody, including myself, had realized we were actually creating something on our own. You merely arbitrated and decided, based on a reference point, on which was the best story.

"Am I right in saying that my creation was used as a measurement to fill in the gaps left by Hongou so that she would not be hurt?"

"From the beginning, I never once said you were wrong."

"So it's true then!?"

I leaned forward slightly.

"That when you said that I possess certain skills, it was all for Hongou's sake? That's some alternate plan you thought up."

"......"

"You persuaded me in this tea house, using a story about a sports club, right? You told me that those with abilities who weren't conscious of it were a pain to watch for those without. Right now I can tell you this: Surely you're joking, Irisu-sempai. So what about one being self-conscious? So what about them being a pain to watch? I don't think someone with a nickname like 'The Empress' can be so sentimental about these things at all.

"You merely wanted the results, that's all."

When Satoshi said he didn't have what it takes to be a Holmesian, I told him that was not so. So who was right? It didn't really matter. If he could, then good for him. If he couldn't, no harm done either. That's all.

Whether it's passion, confidence, self-righteousness or talent, these things mean nothing from an objective point of view. By praising my talents, Irisu was merely making me dance to her tune. It was effective, as I ended up creating a work that satisfied her.

"When you said everyone ought to recognize their own talents, was that a lie!?"

...Despite my strongly worded question, Irisu didn't move one bit. She looked neither timid nor ashamed.

During the moment of silence, without withdrawing, I quietly thought to myself.

She really does suit her nickname of "the Empress". Recalling what Satoshi had told me, she was good at manipulating those around her. And only an Empress could do so without feeling any sense of shame. She was beautiful.

Devoid of any emotion, Irisu replied sternly, "It was not spoken from the bottom of my heart. But it is up to you to decide whether that counts as a lie."

She then met my gaze.

Silence.

...I realized I was smiling.

I then spoke from the bottom of my heart.

"Hearing you say that, I now feel very relieved."

==Translator's notes and references==

<references />

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 6|6 - "The Blind Spot of 10,000 People"]]
| Return to [[Hyouka|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 8|8 - Credit Roll]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>