Hyouka:Volume 1 Chapter 3
3 - The Activities of the Prestigious Classics Club
Now that I think about it, what does the Classics Club do anyway? The only students that do know what it does are no longer with the school, and I couldn't be bothered asking the teachers about it. While I could ask my sister about it, but unfortunately she's in Beirut. Still, while it's rare to have a club that does not know what it does, there are plenty of clubs whose existence can only be classified as a mystery, so it's not something worth fretting about.
It has been a month since the resurrection of the Classics Club. While the club room - the Geology Room - was no longer a private space, it was still a relaxing spot. It was a place where I could kill some time after school whenever I'm feeling bored. Satoshi might be inside. Or Chitanda might be inside. Or both of them might be inside. Or not. It doesn't really matter either way. We could choose to converse, we could also choose to keep quiet. Satoshi was the sort that could calmly endure silence to begin with, while our lady Chitanda was the sort of graceful lady as befitting of her image, as long as she doesn't let her curiosity explode. Therefore, while unintentional, this club appears more like a leisure club than a school club.
Thus I do not get weary even amidst their company, since I was never apprenhensive of other people to begin with, though Satoshi does sometimes mistake that I am.
Today was a drizzly day, and I was inside with Chitanda. I was leaning back on a chair by the window, reading a cheap paperback; while Chitanda sat at the front of the room and reading a thick book for some reason. One would say this was a sluggish afternoon after school.
Looking at the clock, I noticed only 30 minutes has passed. The time that was spent unconsciously was still short. Although you could say I was feeling quite relaxed, that isn't exactly correct. Rather, it was because I was feeling nervous and stressful that I had to enter into a state of relaxation. I'm really just consciously trying to extend my energy saving mode for as long as possible, that's all.
The silence was only broken by the sound of pages turning and the raindrops outside.
"......"
I'm getting sleepy now. I think I'll go home as soon as the rain stops.
Thud The sound of a book closing was heard, as Chitanda, who sat in front with her back facing towards me, sighed and said,
"How barren."
While she wasn't looking at me, it was clear she was speaking to me rather than to herself. Though I had no idea how to respond to her sudden comment. Anyway, I'll try asking,
"What? The crops in your family farmland?"
"Those have two crops."
Chitanda answered as though reading it out and turned around,
"And they're semi-annual. So it's hardly barren." (TL Note: The last few sentences involved a few complicated puns concerning "barren" 不毛 and "dual crops" 二毛作, so I had to modify them a bit for it to make sense in English. )
"As expected of a lady of a farmland owner."
"No, there's no need to praise me......"
The sound of rain, followed by silence.
"No, that's not what I was saying."
"You were saying something about 'barren'."
"Yes, that. It's barren."
"What is?"
Chitanda looked firmly at me, and then raised her right arm as though showing the whole room,
"All this time spent after lessons. We don't seem to have any purpose or being productive at all."
Of course, this was merely a way to kill time, not to produce anything. I closed my paperback and looked up towards her,
"Well, I'm all ears. Is there something you want the Classics Club to do?"
"Me?"
It was kind of a mean question, as not many people are aware what they themselves would want to do when asked directly. By the way, I'm at least aware that I desire nothing.
However, Chitanda replied without hesitation,
"Yes, there is."
"Hmm."
That's surprising. To answer yes right away. As I was about to ask what was it she was interested in doing.
"Though that's for personal reasons."
She explained. In that case, there was no need to ask further.
Chitanda then continued,
"But we're talking about the Classics Club. So we should be doing something club related. We can't just sit around and do nothing."
"Very well, but we aren't even sure what the club's purpose is."
"No, there is a purpose."
Whether she's speaking with the authority of a club president or the aura of a prestigious clan member, Chitanda declared,
"We will publish an essay anthology this October in the Cultural Festival."
The Cultural Festival?
I had visited the Kamiyama High Cultural Festival before, so I was familiar with it. To put it briefly, it was the essence of youth culture around this area. And according to Satoshi, the Kami High Cultural Festival's Nodate tea ceremony is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning the art, while its breakdancing contest is a hotbed for future professionals. Quite a number of arts-related clubs of various qualities would participate. During her three years in high school, I would remember seeing my sister carrying a boxload of essay anthologies to school.
So to speak, that was the crystallization of the rosy-coloured high school life. As to how I feel about all this, I guess it's better for me not to say anything about it. Let's just say that I hardly feel anything at all, not even once.
However, an essay anthology, huh? I gave some thought to Chitanda's proposal, and asked a question that naturally came to mind,
"Chitanda, making an anthology is just an end result, and not the whole purpose of the club itself, isn't it?"
Chitanda shook her head and replied,
"No, if the purpose of the club is the making of the anthology, then by creating the result we could achieve its purpose."
"What?"
"Like I said, if the result is the purpose itself, then all we have to do is aim for the result, right?"
Hmm, I raised my eyebrows. I think I get what she's trying to say, but isn't that tautology?
Anyway, an anthology just sounds bothersome. While I could not say for sure that anthologies, or anything else that requires me to write something on my own, are bothersome, it would be better if it does not require my participation. Whether it's the purpose or the activity itself, it both requires me to come up with something. Unnecessary activities cost effort, which is a waste of energy.
"Let's not do an antholgy. It's too labour intensive. Besides... right, three authors is a bit too much."
Yet Chitanda was steadfast with her proposal,
"No, it has to be an anthology."
"If you really want to publish something, we can set up an exhibition booth or something like that."
"Kami High's Cultural Festival traditionally forbids exhibition booths. So, no, it has to be an antholgy."
"...... Why?"
"Our club budget specifically refers to 'Anthology Publication', it would be troublesome if we don't publish one."
Chitanda took out a piece of neatly folded paper from her chest pocket and showed it to me. Indeed, for this year's Classics Club annual budget, the tiny amount of money that was allocated was specifically set for the purpose of "Anthology Publication".
"Even so, Ooide-sensei has requested that we publish it, as it's become a tradition for over 30 years for the Classics Club to publish an anthology per year, and he was not going to watch it come to an end."
"......"
As a rule of thumb, reasonable people tend to be smart. Yet it doesn't mean unreasonable people are dumb. Chitanda was definitely not dumb, yet she was clearly being unreasonable. To begin with, she appealed on the sentimental side rather than the financial side, and decided the club's activity based on tradition. Still, I realized it was inefficient to try to argue against something done in the name of tradition, so I smiled bitterly and relented,
"Okay, okay. We'll publish an anthology."
So ends unceremoniously my purposeless carefree days. At least I'm still in fine condition, I guess.
The rain is still falling outside. As it's still not time to go home yet, I decided to ask,
"So, how are you going to publish this anthology?"
"How? What do you mean?"
"What kind of essays were written every year?"
While it's not likely, but I was already resigned to writing academic-like essays along the titles of "Review of 'The Eight Dog Chronicles'", "'Tales of Moonlight and Rain' - With regards to the Emperor's role in 'Shiramine'", or "'The Great Mirror' - Concerning observations of social changes in the novel, as well as counter-argument to last year's essay". Just to be safe, I should include an appendix as well. Though I was prepared to accept that I would probably not produce anything up to the standards of past essays. At any rate, just what kind of tendency does this so-called tradition adopts for its essay, I have no idea of knowing.
(The Eight Dog Chronicles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nans%C5%8D_Satomi_Hakkenden Tales of Moonlight and Rain - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_Moonlight_and_Rain The Great Mirror - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Mirror)
However, the answer I received was in the negative.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. I wonder what should we write?"
It was to be expected. As she was president, it was easy to forget that she too was only in the club for about a month or so.
"I'm sure we could find out if we can find the back issues."
"They should be around. You know where they are?"
"In the clubroom?"
I see.
I suddenly feel pathetic for going along with her pace. I promptly pointed my finger towards the floor for her to see.
"...... Oh! This is the club room."
Exactly.
"Though it hardly feels like a club room......"
She's right though.
This Geology Room had nothing else inside besides standard teaching equipment. All we could see were a blackboard, tables and chairs, as well as cleaning equipment. A typical looking classroom, all in all. There didn't seem to be anyplace which could store books in them.
"The back issues don't seem to be stored here,"
"So it seems,"
"Well then... shall we head to the library?"
That sounds appropriate, so I nodded. Chitanda picked up her handbag and stood up,
"Let's go."
Without waiting for my reply, she opened the door and walked out. She's quite proactive for an elegant lady. Oh well, the library is just along the path to the school entrance, which isn't too far from here.
No, wait. Today's Friday, that means today's librarian on duty is......
"Well, if it isn't Oreki? It's been a while, though I've hardly missed you."
Upon entering the library, I was instantly greeted with sarcasm. As expected, the person sitting behind the counter was none other than Ibara Mayaka.
Ibara and I go a long way, as we've been in the same class for nine years since primary school. Her baby-face features has been in place since childhood, and has only grown-up a bit after becoming a high-school student. You may find her child-like features and short stature cute, but do not be fooled by her appearance, for she carries a hidden weapon with her at all times. If you let your guard down, you would be greeted by her colourful blend of sarcastic wit. I was even told to stay away from her based on stories of guys who were fooled by her pretty looks, only to be sunk instantly. Not to mention as a result of her never admitting her mistakes, most people would mistake her for being a callous person.
Though I personally don't really believe such assessments of her.
I made the most unpleasant expression I could make and replied,
"Hey, I came just to see you."
"This is a sacred ground for cultivation, it's not made for the likes of you to visit."
Ibara sat crossed legged on her chair behind the counter. As all a librarian ever does is to handle the lending and borrowing of books from the library, there doesn't seem much else for her to do. While one of her main responsibilities was to take the box containing the returned books back to their respective shelves, the Return Box was still filled with a whole pile of books. Ibara was not the type to slack off, so she's probably attempting to do them all in one go. In her hand was a large book, no doubt she's reading that to kill time.
The library was quite crowded at this time. There were about ten four-person tables, and each of them was occupied by one or two students reading. There were probably people who were indeed reading for leisure, though I'd also understand if there were people killing time while waiting for the rain to stop. I then noticed one of the boys looking up at us. I recognized him at once, since it's Fukube Satoshi of all people.
Satoshi met my gaze and stood up with his usual smile,
"Hey, Houtarou, didn't expect to see you here."
Ibara looked at us with a sullen face and said,
"Still good buddies as ever, aren't you? As expected from the Best Couple of Kaburaya Junior High."
I knew it was pointless to argue back at her, but still I said,
"Oh, shut up."
Ibara merely replied flatly,
"My, you're quite a crybaby for a gloomy person."
...... A crybaby, huh?
She then turned towards Satoshi with a composed expression,
"Fuku-chan, you know how my feelings are, so you should know I was joking, right?"
"Ahh, don't worry about that, Mayaka. No offence taken."
"What? You're just gonna let her use joking as an excuse to let her off the hook again?"
Satoshi glared at me, and then turned his gaze away. I smiled bitterly, as I knew Ibara has been pursuing him for some time. I have no idea when she started doing so, though Satoshi has been dodging her advances ever since.
Satoshi pretended to cough in an attempt to change the subject,
"Anyway, what business does the Classics Club have in the library?"
Ah, yes, I didn't just come to the library just to see Ibara. I urged Chitanda to say something. As though suffering from stage fright, our lady said nervously to Ibara,
"Uh, umm, hi there. May I inquire something of you?"
"Sure, how may I help you?"
"I'd like to ask if there are any essay anthologies here in the library."
"Yup, they're at those shelves right over there."
"Do they have those for the Classics Club?"
Ibara tilted her head and wondered,
"The Classics Club? ...Hmm, I'm sorry, don't think I'm sure of that. Should I look for them for you?"
Just as Chitanda was about to express her gratitude, Satoshi stopped her,
"You won't find any. I've occasionally looked up on those shelves, so I should know. Mayaka, where else could they be found if they're not on the shelves?"
"Hmm, if they're not in the open shelves, then they must be in the archives."
"The archives, huh?"
Satoshi thought for a while before asking,
"Chitanda-san, why're you looking for essay anthologies anyway?"
"We're going to publish one for the Cultural Festival, so we were wondering if we can have a look at the back issues for reference."
"Oh, so they're for the Kanya Festival, huh? Didn't know you were knowledgeable on such stuff, Houtarou."
Knowledgeable? Rather, I was obliged to work on it. Besides, Chitanda probably doesn't even need me to be knowledgeable.
Wait, what festival again?
"Satoshi, what did you just called the Cultural Festival?"
"The Kanya Festival. Haven't you heard of it before? It's the nickname for the Kami High Cultural Festival."
A nickname, huh? Something like the Sophia Festival for Sophia University, or the Mita Festival for Keio University? Then again, like the story about the four "Digit Clans", I find it hard to believe.
"Sounds suspicious. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true, though it's an unofficial nickname. I heard all my seniors in the Handicraft Club call it the Kanya Festival. Is it the same in the Manga Studies Club, Mayaka?"
So Ibara's in the Manga Studies Club, huh? While it does suit her image, it still feels unbecoming for her.
"Yup, everyone there calls it the Kanya Festival. Even the festival committee calls it that."
"Kanya? How do you spell that in kanji?"
Satoshi placed his hand on his chin and said,
"Dunno. Everybody just calls it that."
Seems like it's true that Kanya Festival is a nickname. However, I just couldn't think of any word that matches with the spelling of "Kanya". Oh well, seeking out the etymology of such a silly name is probably a profession in itself. As I was thinking of that, Satoshi added,
"Perhaps it's abbreviated from 'Kamiyama', turning it into 'Kanyama', and in turn evolving into 'Kanya'."
As expected for an expert of trivial knowledge.
As we were going off topic, Ibara firmly pulled us back,
"Anyhow, anthologies, is it? We'll probably find them if we look up the archives, though the head librarian's in a meeting right now, so we can't go in without her permission. She'll probably be back in half an hour, you wanna wait?"
Half an hour, huh? Not even Chitanda was in a hurry to want to see them at once, so she looked at me and whispered, "What do we do now?" I was fine with whatever decision, but I noticed it's still raining heavily outside. The weather report did say the rain will stop sometime in the afternoon and we'd have a starry night tonight, but as the rain showed no signs of stopping right now, we had no choice but to wait.
"Guess we'll wait."
"Even though you could go back?"
I decided to return to my paperback novel and resume at the page where I was reading, Satoshi tugged at Ibara's sleeve and said,
"Mayaka, why don't you tell Houtarou about the story you were telling me earlier?"
Ibara lifted her eyebrows and thought for a while before nodding,
"Okay. Oreki, do you ever feel like exercising your brains once in a while?"
Nope.
But neither has Ibara.
"What story are you talking about?"
Satoshi answered Chitanda's question with his usual smile on his face,
"The one about the popular book which no one ever reads."
"As you know, my shift is every Friday after school, and I've discovered lately that the same book has been returned during this time every week. This is the fifth week in a row now. Don't you find it strange?"
Ibara began to speak while I was busy looking for a desk where I could sit down and read my book. Unfortunately, there just weren't any available seats in such a crowded place. So I had no choice but to sit on top of the table that Satoshi had occupied.
As the table was close to the counter, we could hear Chitanda and Ibara's voices from here.
"Is it a popular book?"
"Does this look like one?"
Ibara showed us the thick book she was holding.
"Oh, such a beautiful book..."
Chitanda gasped in awe, and then turned her gaze towards me. Our lady's delighted expression was as though I've just bought a splendidly binded book for her. The book was bound in a leather cover decorated with finely detailed patterns on it. Its darkish blue colour emitted an aura of solemnity about it. The title of the book was "Kamiyama High School: Walking Together for 50 Years". Besides being thick, it was also quite a large book in its length and width.
"May I have a look inside?"
"Sure."
Upon taking out my paperback novel from my shoulder bag, I started searching for the page where I last read. Yet my vision of the novel was quickly replaced by that of high quality pages. It was Chitanda, who upon opening the aforementioned book - "Kamiyama High School: Walking Together for 50 Years" - placed it on top of my novel in order to show it to me. While I wasn't exactly interested, I didn't ignore it either, and had a quick look at its contents. It's got nothing else on it besides a description of the school's history, and goes as such:
1972
Events in Japan and the World:
- May 15th: Return of Sovereignty of Okinawa. Establishment of Okinawa Prefecture.
- September 29th: Signing of the Joint Communique of Japan and China. Normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
- Sudden rise in land and commodities prices this year.
Events in Kamiyama High School
○ June 7th: First victory for the Kamiyama High School Archery Club in the Prefectural Newcomers Tournament.
○ July 1st: Cancellation of 1st Year Field Trip due to typhoon.
□ October 10th-14th: Cultural Festival.
□ October 30th: Sports Festival.
□ November 16th-19th: 2nd Year Field Trip - Sasebo, Nagasaki.
□ January 23rd-24th: 1st Year Skiing Course.
○ February 2nd: Memorial service for 1st Year student Ooide Naoto, who died in car accident.
(TL note to editors: DO NOT replace squares and circles)
It was full of such details, it'll take a particular set of skills to actually read through all that. I wouldn't go so far as to borrow the book once a week in order to read it all, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually did that just for its contents.
"Houtarou, you were just thinking 'I wouldn't be surprised if someone actually borrowed that once a week', weren't you?"
Stop reading my mind, you damn telepath.
Seeing as I didn't rebuke him, Ibara puffed up her particularly small chest and said,
"It's not that simple. You rarely come here to borrow books, so you wouldn't know. Listen carefully, the longest period one could borrow books is two weeks. So there was no need for someone to borrow a book and return it just a week later."
"And yet this book was returned here every week."
...... I see. This is indeed a strange occurrence.
"Is there a way to find out who has borrowed that book?"
"Of course. There's a list detailing the borrowing records behind the cover. Have a look."
Chitanda promptly turned to the cover and saw the list,
"Huh?"
She gasped.
"What's wrong?"
The list contained the names of the borrowers as well as the dates that they borrowed the book. We could indeed tell that they had borrowed the book once every week. But that was not the reason Chitanda had gasped, as her finger pointed to the list of names to me.
The borrower this week was Machida Kyouko of Class 2-D. Last week, it was Sawakiguchi Misaki of Class 2-F. Two weeks ago, Yamaguchi Ryouko, Class 2-E. Three weeks ago, Shima Saori, Class 2-E. And four weeks ago, Suzuki Yoshie, Class 2-D.
"In other words, it's borrowed by a different person every week?"
"That's not all."
Chitanda showed me the dates. As I looked carefully, the latest date was today. And the previous borrowed date was exactly seven days ago.
"The book was lent out on Fridays."
"Exactly. The book was borrowed and returned on the same days. This Machida Kyouko had borrowed the book earlier today, only to have it returned later. It's the same for the other borrowers for five consecutive weeks. We could also tell the times that they had borrowed the book, it was all during lunch time in Fridays. To borrow a book during lunch time and then return it after school, where would they even find the time to read it?"
"......"
"So? You curious?"
Upon returning the book to Ibara, Chitanda nodded her head gently,
"Yes...... I'm very curious."
She spoke in a firmer tone than usual. Much like last time, her pupils looked as though they've gone larger, revealing a strong interest within them.
"Why is it?"
Thanks to Ibara's mystery, our lady's flame of curiosity has been ignited. Satoshi was no use as a water source to douse out this fire, as he'll probably play dumb and say "I wouldn't know anything about it." I decided to return to reading my novel.
But I was naive, for I never expected the spear to be pointed right at me. Once again, Chitanda placed the thick book "Kamiyama High School: Walking Together for 50 Years" on top of my novel and said,
"So what do you think, Oreki-san?"
"Huh, me?"
Rather than his usual gentle smile, Satoshi was not smiling teasingly at me. I instantly realized what had happened. He's succeeded in ensnaring me in his traps. Curse him and his evil plans.
"Let's think about this together."
"......"
"Shall we, Oreki-san?"
Why? Why me? While I was fine with Chitanda's vigorous curiosity, and while I might admit that Satoshi may have some positive qualities about him, even if it's as a joke, but why should I be obliged to play with his games and put up with her?
Still, it was true that things have developed to a point where talking out of it would have been bothersome. So I had no choice but to reply as such,
"...... Yeah, I guess it is interesting. I'll think about it."
Ibara stood besides Satoshi and asked,
"Fuku-chan, is Oreki actually smart?"
"Not at all. He's usually not reliable, but occasionally he can be up to the task."
Why you, getting all so cheeky.
And so I began to think.
