Hyouka:Volume 5 Prologue-2
Prologue-2 "Past: 1 Day"
I was reading a paperback in the clubroom after school. It was period novel about the early days of a man who later became a master spy, and it was so ridiculously interesting that I became uncharacteristically involved in it.
In Kamiyama High School, a place hosting a ton of clubs, several of which disappear and are replaced by newer ones every year, it’s quite common for clubrooms to be switched around at the start of a new academic term. This said, the Classics Club remained in the same Earth Sciences lecture room. I thought I wasn’t particularly attached to it, but being in this room consistently over the course of a year really made it a comfortable habit, something like one’s “usual seat” in a classroom. Next to the three rows of windows behind me that overlooked the school grounds were three chairs in their usual positions.
As I reached the end of one of the chapters and raised my head to exhale, the room’s sliding door suddenly opened. Ibara walked in, her eyebrows furrowed and her face betraying an expression of confusion.
Mayaka Ibara was a second-year now, and she had changed slightly. She quit the Manga Research Society she was once a part of alongside the Classics Club. She herself said it was because she “just got tired.” Judging by Satoshi’s conflicted face, it seemed that there were other circumstances involved as well, but I didn’t ask.
It’s not like I think her appearance changed any. If you tossed Ibara into a group of new students and told a hundred people to pick out the second-year, I doubt a single person would have choosen her. Recently she started wearing hairclips, however had Satoshi and the others not brought it up, I would have never even noticed.
There was only me and one other person in the clubroom. Just until a little bit ago, there had been three. Ibara spoke.
“Hey, did something happen?”
“No...”
The one who muttered that was Chitanda.
Eru Chitanda was the recurring Classics Club president. She hadn’t cut her hair in a while, so it had grown a bit.
Ibara looked back towards the hallway and then spoke with a somewhat concealed voice.
“I just passed by Hina-chan over there. She said she wasn’t going to join.”
“What?”
“Her eyes were kind of red. Was she crying?”
Chitanda was at a loss for words. Without responding to the question, she muttered to herself.
“I see.”
I didn’t know what had happened.
A year passed, and as we became second-years, new first-years arrived. The Classics Club also attempted to recruit new members. There were a lot of complications involved, but in the end, we managed to recruit one member.
Tomoko Ōhinata had turned in a provisional club enrollment form, and all that was left was for her to submit the actual club entry form. Not only had she become extremely attached to Ibara, but she also seemed to be constantly enjoying her discussions with Chitanda. She could be a bit annoying at times, but it’s not like I was cold towards her as a result of that. Everyone thought she would join the club without a problem. Rather, I wonder if in reality we all forgot you were even required to turn in an actual club enrollment form after the provisional one in the first place.
And now we were told that she wouldn’t be joining. Had all of this collapsed in short time I had been reading my book?
Chitanda faced Ibara, and spoke once more with quivering lips.
“”I see,” she repeated as best she could. Even though Ibara did not known what happened, she listened carefully and asked, “Are you okay, Chi-chan?”
“I knew it. Because of me…”
“What do you mean ‘because of you’? If you’re talking about Hina-chan, you’re wrong. Even she said it wasn’t your fault.”
“No, I’m sorry. I have to leave.”
Chitana forcibly ended the conversation, and left the Earth Sciences room with her bag as if she was running.
All I could do was stare.
Ibara watched Chitanda as she left and then turned around to face me. With an expressionless, monotone voice, she spoke.
“So? What happened?”
All I could do was shake my head, mouth wide-open.
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