Editing Hyouka:Volume 6 6 (section)

=== 3. ===

On the first day of summer break, I made myself chilled noodles.

Perhaps due to the ominous clouds lurking in the sky all afternoon, looking as if they’d bring rain at any moment, it was somewhat chilly out as it neared lunchtime despite the summer just beginning. I couldn’t exactly say it was a perfect day for chilled noodles, but I couldn’t really change the menu since the noodles expired today.

I mixed a rough amount of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and mirin to throw together a quick sauce and then cooked and rinsed the noodles. The toppings I chose were tomatoes, ham, and a thinly cooked omelet wrapping that I had accidently forgotten on the stove and let burn a little. I cut the tomato into several chunks and the ham and egg into thin strips. I couldn’t care less about the presentation, so I dried the noodles, piled them on a plate, and then simply dropped a handful of the toppings on top. Finally, I quickly poured the sauce over it and added the finishing touch: a dash of mustard to the edge of the plate.

I took the plate from the kitchen to the living room and prepared some chopsticks and barley tea; with that, the preparations were complete. As I readied myself to enjoy the meal, taking the chopsticks in hand, the phone started to ring.

I stubbornly ignored it as it continued to ring and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. While I was ready to be utterly offended that they had called right in the middle of lunchtime, it had already turned 2:30PM. Since the sun had started to shine in the afternoon, I took the laundry out to dry; it must have taken longer than I thought. I couldn’t exactly claim that the caller had a lack of common sense. I stared intently at the chilled noodles in front of me. Maybe I should be thankful that I chose a noodle dish that wouldn’t go stale. I stood up, swaying back and forth, and picked up the receiver.

“Yes,” I replied in a voice that you couldn’t really blame for being as irritated as it was.

“Hello, my name is Ibara. Is Oreki-san currently home?”

As much as I wanted to tell her that he wasn’t, her voice seemed tense, so I couldn’t bring myself to joke around.

“Ibara?”

“Oh, Oreki. Thank god. What the heck was up with that deep voice just now?”

“I was just about to eat lunch.”

“I see, sorry about that. In that case, don’t worry about—”

The fact that she called me definitely meant that something had happened. I had no choice but to let the chilled noodles sit for a little longer.

“I don’t mind. What is it?”

“The thing is...”

It felt like I could hear hesitation from the other end of the call. She finally asked.

“Do you know any places Chi-chan might go?”

I moved the receiver to my other hand.

“...Why are you asking me?”

Her response carried a harsh tone.

“I called everyone I could think of. You’re the last one.”

“I see.”

I wanted to ask her what had happened, but I could tell her back was up against the wall. The explanation would have to wait until later.

“My first guess would probably be the school.”

“Yeah.”

“After that would be the city library. There’s the place next to Kaburaya Middle School—what’s it called—the café that we went to with Ohinata. There’s also Pineapple Sand, though it moved.”

I continued to offer her names as I thought of places Chitanda might go. In the end, however, my best guess was the library. Even I realized that the possibility of her going to a café on her own was slim.

“Got it, thanks. I didn’t think of the library. Fuku-chan’s doing general committee stuff at the school, so I asked him to look around, but he said her shoes aren’t there.”

“I see... Did anything happen?” I asked, and remembered what we talked about previously, “Wasn’t the choir festival today? Chitanda didn’t show up?”

“No, she hasn’t.”

So that’s why she was in such a rush.

“She goes on stage at 6:00, so we still have time, but she’s nowhere to be found.”

After I heard her say 6:00, somehow I felt the strength leave my body.

“Couldn’t she have just slept in?”

“She’s not like you.”

“Sure, I’ve been late to things here and there, but I’ve never once slept past my alarm. Never mind, that’s beside the point. Doesn’t that mean you just have to delay the preparations a little bit?”

She responded with clear irritation in her voice: “That’s not it. There’s an old lady saying that she rode the bus with Chi-chan all the way from Jinde, where her house is, to the cultural center.”

I guess the choir festival was being held in the city’s cultural center. I could bike there from my house in around 10 minutes.

“So then she disappeared after arriving at the cultural center, huh. Considering you’re calling even me, I guess that means you’ve already searched the building.”

“Many times. She’s nowhere to be found.”

I switched hands once more.

“Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know. I feel like she’ll come in time, but the choir leader ended up getting worried and asked me to call people that know her.”

“It might be a bit late to ask this, but why are you there in the first place?”

“Did I tell you I participated in one of the practices? I just thought I’d come to help out as long as it was just for one day.”

So that’s what it was. “I understand. Well, at any rate, she hasn’t shown up here.”

I had said that as a joke, hoping it would help calm Ibara down a little as she seemed tense, but she responded coldly instead: “I didn’t think she went to your house.”

“Is that so."

“...Well, thanks anyways. I’m hanging up now.”

“Sure.”

The line disconnected. I set the receiver down and turned back to my chilled noodles.

It had one huge advantage that normal soba didn’t: I wouldn't burn myself. I could eat it in however short of a period I’d like.



The Kamiyama City Cultural Center was a four-story tall building covered in red tiles that resembled bricks; it was separated into two areas, one large hall and one small hall, both of which gave a grand impression. I didn’t know how many people each could hold at first, but from looking at the information board, the large hall had around 1200 people and the smaller one 400. A signboard reading “Ejima Choir Festival” stood in the black marble atrium beyond the entranceway with a fair number of people walking about.

The choir festival itself had apparently started at 2:00. The fact that there were still four more hours before Chitanda went on stage was a testament to the sheer number of choir groups that must’ve been participating. Or perhaps there was an afternoon segment and an evening segment. Either way, there was nothing written on the signboard that revealed the answer to me.

I went to the information counter and started speaking to the clerk dressed in a light blue uniform.

“Um...”

The clerk was a woman who, even after seeing I was a student, retained her cheery, polite attitude.

“Yes. How may I help you?”

At that moment, I suddenly had a vicious realization. I didn’t know the name of the choir group that Chitanda belonged to. I thought if I went to the group’s waiting room I’d be able to meet up with Ibara, but because of this I had no way of asking.

“Um...” The clerk’s cheery attitude changed into confusion.

“Oh, sorry.”

I thought for a second about how to construct my question.

Ah! I guess there wasn’t any reason to worry.

“Could you tell me where the waiting room is for the group that performs at 6:00?”

The clerk smiled brightly at me and then started to search through some files in her hands.

“At 6:00 is the Kamiyama Mixed Chorus. Their room is A7, on the second floor.”

As I expected, it was a pretty straightforward name. I thanked her and proceeded to go to the second floor.

I quickly found my destination: the A7 waiting room. Judging by the space between the doors leading to its neighboring rooms, the space inside was probably around 20 square meters. The door was off-white, almost gray, and made of metal. On it, held up by a piece of scotch tape, was a sheet of printer paper reading “Kamiyama Mixed Chorus.” The metal looked as if it would ring like a gong if knocked, so I skipped that and simply opened it.

The person inside looked at me as if someone flicked them in the face. It was Ibara. Once she realized it was me that entered, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Hey.” I held up a hand as I came inside.

As I did that, my foot got caught on an umbrella stand propped up next to the door. It looked rather unsteady, and, even though I didn’t think I put much force into it, it toppled over. The umbrella it held rolled out onto the carpet.

“Whoops.”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

It was supposed to be something along the lines of “the brave reinforcements have arrived,” but I ended up having a terrible first step. An elderly woman sitting in a folding chair nearby said, “Oh dear,” and went to stand up. It guess it was her umbrella.

“Sorry.” I apologized while putting the stand upright and placing the umbrella back in it. My hands ended up getting wet, so I pulled my handkerchief out of my pocket and wiped them off.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

The lady said only this as she sat back down. She wore a black jacket and a black skirt, reminiscent of mourning attire, and the way she sat up straight left a strong impression.

Waiting Room A7 was just as large as I had initially imagined from the hallway, but the room was surprisingly sparse, giving it a deserted feeling. Aside from the ten or so folding chairs set up in the room, there was only a single desk lined up next to the wall bordering the hallway–nothing more. The desk was being used to hold personal belongings; on it was a row of bags. Along the other walls were more folding chairs stacked up against each other in their closed positions. Possibly due to their performance still being some time away, only Ibara and the elderly woman were in the room. Ibara jumped up and came over to me. As if forgiving me for my earlier umbrella mishap, the first thing she said was: “You came. Thanks.”

Although we had discussed this over the phone, I could only think about how intrusive I was. Who am I to recklessly stick my head into problems unrelated to school? And yet, well, I thought it’d be too heartless to simply continue pulling apart strands of chilled noodles while knowing that something this troubling was happening so close by. With that, I decided to come. That said, being appreciated like this gave me a somewhat awkward feeling. For some reason, I averted my eyes from Ibara’s gaze and looked around the room.

“It looks like Chitanda is still missing.”

“That’s right. She doesn’t have a cellphone either...”

“When was she supposed to be here?” As I said this, I briefly glanced at my wristwatch. It was almost 3:30.

“1:00.”

“That’s pretty early, isn’t it?”

“The choir group representatives had to go on stage when the concert started at 2:00. Chi-chan was supposed to go.”

“There was an opening event, huh? So then her real performance is at 6:00. Have the other members arrived?”

“Everyone who was supposed to come in the afternoon came in time—they’re currently listening to the other groups sing. The members that join us in the evening are supposed to show up around 5:00.”

If that was the case, even if Chitanda didn’t show up at 5:00, there shouldn’t be any major effect on the group as a whole. That was a small relief, but the fact that Chitanda suddenly disappeared after coming to the center without telling anybody wasn’t a small issue.

I was worrying a little bit about whether or not I should tell her what was on my mind, but considering Ibara seemed to be almost desperately anxious, I had to ask.

“Do you really need Chitanda?”

“What?”

“In a chorus, a lot of people are singing, right? Of course it’s not ideal, but missing only one person shouldn’t pose any real problems, right?”

Ibara shook her head. “That won’t work.”

“Why not? Are her parents coming or something?”

“They may be coming, but that’s not the problem... Chi-chan has a solo.”

Dear god. I looked up at the ceiling.

I had no idea what kind of song they were singing, but the person who sings the solo is the star. The fact that she was missing was no laughing matter. While Ibara was probably genuinely concerned about Chitanda’s wellbeing, the rest of the choir group was likely anxious that they might not even be able to go up on stage at all.

In order to shake off the negative atmosphere, I tried asking a question.

“What other information do you have about her whereabouts?”

Ibara took out a small notebook that looked like it could fit in the palm of her hand. She rifled through the pages as she answered.

“Juumonji-san told me she didn’t go to her place. Other than the school, she told me Castle Park and Kobundo Bookstore. Irisu-senpai mentioned a clothing store called Houki-ya and Arekusu Shrine.”

I scratched my head.

“I don’t know about Houki-ya, but the rest are really far. If she came here by bus, she would’ve probably had to walk. All of those places would take way too long to walk to.”

“I think she could if she really wanted to, but I can’t imagine why she would.”

“The train station is within walking distance, so you’re saying she could’ve taken a different bus at the bus center in front of the station, huh.”

“But would she do that?”

I couldn’t see it happening... if it was a normal situation of course. There was a fundamental question regarding all of this.

“Hey, did Chitanda go somewhere of her own accord? Or, and I hate to say this, do you think she got wound up in some incident?”

“Don’t ask something that horrible…”

Her voice was terribly faint.

“There’s no way I could answer that. I have no way of knowing.”

That was only to be expected. I continued to scratch my head.

The knob on the door turned with a metallic clanking noise, and the door itself opened shortly after. Ibara and I turned to face the entrance, but the person standing there was not Chitanda; instead, a woman who looked to be somewhere in her forties entered. She had on a beige jacket and in her hair was a shining ornament made from a gem, or maybe a well-crafted piece of glass. She was likely a member of the choir group.

“Danbayashi-san,” called Ibara.

The woman named Danbayashi wore a stiff expression as she walked towards us and asked her question.

“Well? Is she here?”

“No.”

“I see. This isn’t good.”

Her brow furrowed as she muttered this, and then she continued talking to Ibara as if she suddenly noticed me.

“And this is...?”

“Ah, this is Oreki-kun. We’re in the same club. He came to help search.”

To have her call me “Oreki-kun” didn’t make me feel even slightly more comfortable. As I thought this, Ibara turned her head to look at me.

“I can assume that’s what you’re here to do, right?”

Even though this was the start of summer break, I didn’t come here to play around, as one would expect. As I nodded, Danbayashi-san asked me a question out of nowhere.

“Would you happen to know anything?”

Bewildered, I responded: “No, not at the moment.”

She sighed deeply, almost as if doing it on purpose.

“I see...”

Her expression and voice once more began to ooze irritation as she continued.

“I could tell the pressure was getting to her, but to think she’s not even showing up today. I swear, this is unbelievable.”

“What if she’s just getting her thoughts in order?”

“If that was the case then she should’ve told someone. No matter how nervous she was, disappearing without telling anyone is just plain irresponsible.”

Considering their performance was slated for 6:00, I thought she may have been overreacting somewhat, but at the same time, I suppose it was only natural for her to be flustered when the soloist has gone missing.

However, I couldn’t honestly agree with her theory of Chitanda disappearing due to the pressure. It’s not that I thought she wasn’t the type to get nervous; whenever she found herself speaking on the campus radio, she always ended up scared stiff. Even then, she always managed to do what needed to be done. So, especially in this situation, I found it hard to imagine that she would’ve been unable to cope with the stress. If she was, in fact, not here by her own decision, the reason is likely unrelated to the pressure of having the solo part.

“I suppose we should try calling her house after all.”

Danbayashi-san muttered to herself with her hand over her lips. At that moment, the elderly lady sitting on a folding chair nearby started to speak.

“You needn’t worry; I believe she’ll come in due time.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Yokote-san, but I really can’t help but feel anxious about it.”

Although Danbayashi-san was clearly losing her temper, the woman named Yokote never once lost her gentle tone.

“Many things happen to the youthful—many fortunate things. You should give her another hour without punishing her.”

“Again with that... Didn’t you say the same thing earlier?”

“Well then, I suppose I did.”

Yokote-san remained completely calm, so perhaps embarrassed at her own flustered appearance, Danbayashi-san averted her gaze.

“...True enough, we still have some time left. Fine. We’ll wait a little longer.”

She then left the waiting room immediately after saying this, not even glancing at Ibara nor me on the way out. Hearing the door firmly shut, I asked a question, still somewhat taken aback.

“So, who was that?”

“Danbayashi-san. She’s the choir group’s... how should I describe it? The manager?”

“So the leader?”

“She’s not exactly the lead part, nor is she the group head. Umm, she directs the group.”

I think I get the gist of it. You occasionally meet people like that.

“She mentioned something about ‘earlier.’ Is she always like that?”

Ibara scowled and responded, “Yeah, <i>always</i>.”

I glanced over at Yokote-san. If all the other members had gone to the hall, then I suppose she had some reason to stay here, sitting alone on her folding chair. Another thought struck me, so I decided to ask.

“Hey, Ibara, you said that there was a lady who rode together with Chitanda on the bus from Jinde, right? Was it her?”

“That’s right: Yokote-san.”

Just as I had thought. Although I couldn’t be certain since Jinde is a large district, there’s a strong possibility that Yokote-san lived near Chitanda; they may have even known each other prior to the festival. Her covering for Chitanda to Danbayashi-san lent further credence to that theory.

Perhaps unable to keep still, Ibara started to turn around.

“I’m going to go check the building again.”

“I’ll go in a little bit as well.”

“Thanks.”

She hurried off and left the two us—Yokote-san and me—alone in the room.

Since Chitanda had disappeared just after arriving at the cultural center, the woman I next to me was probably the last person to have seen her. Searching for Chitanda on foot was all well and good, but where we stood currently, there was no way to even guess where she might’ve gone. I figured I might as well learn from Yokote-san whatever I could.

“Um, excuse me,” I started.

She placed her hands on her lap and tilted her head only slightly with curiosity. “Yes?”

“I hear you rode the bus here together with Chitanda...-san. I’m trying to come up with ideas to find her; would you mind telling me anything you may have noticed?”

“Oh my, you’re...”

Without acknowledging my question, she looked at my face and then suddenly smiled.

“I thought I recognized you from somewhere! You were the young man who held the Chitanda daughter’s umbrella at this year’s Living Doll Festival. You did a splendid job!”

Yes, that had indeed happened. Considering she was a resident of Jinde, it only makes sense that she would’ve seen the festival. Well, her recognizing my face would only play to my advantage.

“Thank you very much. So? What was Chitanda-san acting like?”

As I gave a hurried reply, Yokote-san began to think with “let’s see...” Finally, she began to speak little by little.

“I was by myself at the Jinde bus station. Chitanda-san dropped off the young lady by car and then opened window to offer us well–wishes.”

‘Chitanda-san’ must have referred to Chitanda’s mother or father. For now, it didn’t really matter which one it was.

“The young lady and I then exchanged greetings. After that, the two of us stood under our umbrellas as we waited for the bus to arrive.”

Something that caught my interest was the fact that Chitanda was driven to the bus stop. Couldn’t she have gone all the way to the cultural center that way? Well, a simple answer could be that the drive to the bus stop was shorter than the drive to the cultural center and the “Chitanda-san” mentioned must have had more pressing matters.

If I was intending on searching for her, there was still something essential that I hadn’t asked yet.

“Do you remember what Chitanda...-san was wearing?”

Once more, Yokote-san muttered: “Let’s see.”

“She had on her stage ensemble, so she was wearing a white shirt with a black skirt. Her shoes were also black, too, and her socks were white. She also had her cream-colored bag—oh, and her umbrella was a striking shade of crimson. An unusual choice, I thought.”

If that was the stage outfit, then I had no idea what was up with the beige jacket that Danbayashi-san was wearing earlier. She’d probably change out of it before going on stage.

At any rate, aside from the things she was carrying, Chitanda was entirely in monochrome. Searching for her inside the cultural center would be difficult, but it seemed like she would stand out if she were outside.

“So the two of you rode the bus together?”

“That is correct—just the two of us.”

“Which bus was it?”

“The 1:00 bus, on the dot.”

“When did it arrive here?”

“Around 1:30.”

Chitanda was supposed to have arrived here at 1:30, so she had ridden the bus just in time as to not be late. Any earlier and it would have probably eaten into her lunchtime, and there was no reason to come earlier anyways; I applaud her efficiency.

“Chitanda also got off at the cultural center bus stop, right?”

“Yes.” Yokote-san nodded and then added: “The two of us came to this waiting room together, but before I realized it, she was gone.”

Even though the person accompanying Yokote-san had vanished from right in front of her, she simply looked like she was peacefully waiting for Chitanda to return. I wonder where her strength of mind comes from, to display no agitation whatsoever in this bizarre situation.

“Do you have any idea where Chitanda might’ve gone?”

As I asked this final question, Yokote-san returned a peaceful smile. “I’m sure she’s just getting some fresh air to calm her nerves. There’s no need to be worried.”