Hyouka:Volume 4 The Ghost, When Examined

Story 3 - The Ghost, When Examined

1

I've often heard the saying, "All ghosts, when examined, are just withered flowers." However, in this modern era were people are unable to grasp the idea of romanticism even after checking it up in a dictionary, withered flowers are rarely treated as ghosts, and apparitions in this world are revealed in succession to be nothing more than withered flowers. It would probably be difficult for us to notice a real specter if it kept its true form.

I was saying this on a bus that was traversing a mountain path in August, when the lingering summer heat was still severe. Fukube Satoshi, who was sitting next to me, nodded in deep thought.

"Interesting. A metaphysical repudiation of the merit of the idea, in the form of a witticism. It really suits you, Houtarou."

Ibara, who was sitting in front, turned around even though she wasn't called. She raised her eyebrows.

"I don't like that way of thinking. I guess I'm not the type to only use my head for everything."

I listened to their responses, took a short while to digest them, and quickly shouted a denial.

"Hey, I said nothing of the sort!"

I was actually intending to bring up some urban legend similar to UFOs and Nessie, or in other words, an extremely common topic of discussion. Specifically, I wanted to talk about the story on TV yesterday, "Reporters on the scene! The truth behind Hamana Lake's giant eel, Hussie!" My phrasing might have been rather indirect, but I didn't think that my words would be misinterpreted so willfully. Just as I was about to explain myself, Chitanda, who was wearing a dress and sitting next to Ibara, turned around and smiled.

"I'm also curious about the true nature of the withered flowers."

It seems that everyone misunderstood. I didn't really want to force everyone to understand what I was saying, so I shut my mouth.

There are four members in Kamiyama High's Classics Club.

And why were all members of the Classics Club on the bus that was making its bumpy journey on the mountainous road? The answer to that, of course, lies in the bus' destination. The final stop, Zaizen Village, is a village in a ravine famous for mountain hiking and hot springs. I would never go hiking, so by process of elimination, we were heading there for the hot springs.

The groan of the bus' engine became louder as the path grew steeper.

2

It was summer break in August, and actually taking a break during a holiday fits with my personal beliefs. However, thanks to the Classics Club President, Chitanda,I had to go to the hot springs.

During this summer break, all of us in the Classics Club worked together to solve what Satoshi calls "The Hyouka Incident", which was really important for Chitanda. After solving the mystery, she thanked us, and to reward our efforts, she planned a trip to the hot springs. By default, I just wanted to stay at home, so I definitely would not agree with the plan, but somehow my resistance was broken and it was decided that I would participate.

Zaizen Village was one and a half hours from Kamiyama City by bus. We did not have to pay for our accommodations, as Ibara's relatives were running na inn, and since they were currently renovating and were accepting no customers, they were letting us stay for free.

I'm not especially weak in taking transport, but perhaps because the mountain road was too steep, I got car-sick right before we arrived. After that, we were picked up at the bus stop in a van by Ibara's relatives and we finally reached Seizansou. I sat down by the window of my allocated room and enjoyed the amazing scenery, which dissipated my discomfort.

The room was twenty tatami mats in size, which was really large for just me and Satoshi. I opened the large window, and was surprised that we were so close to the mountain, which was covered in a deep foliage. There was white fog rising up here and there, probably steam from the hot spring. Along the winding prefectural road, there were a few inns and private houses. I could see a school a little further away. Since there were few students, the elementary school was combined with the middle school. I'm definitely not a person of plentiful sensitivities, but I'm not so stolid as to not feel anything while traveling.

"This room has a pretty good view, huh?"

Satoshi's voice came from behind. I replied without turning around,

"I guess this kind of thing isn't bad every now and then. I might be asking too much, but it would be more dignified to come here alone."

Satoshi sniggered.

"Houtarou, traveling alone? Stop joking around, you're definitely not the type of person to voluntarily do something elegant like going to the hot springs. Don't forget that you're here because Chitanda planned this trip and Mayaka used her connections."

As Satoshi intended, I was sullen with silence. The one with the most poisonous tongue in the Classics Club was Ibara, but Satoshi's eloquent speeches could be quite insulting, too. What made it worse was that he was right. There was no doubt that I wouldn't even think of going to Zaizen Village on my own.

That's why I should be thankful to Chitanda for causing me to actually go to Zaizen Village and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

I heard footsteps in the corridor, and soon after, there were a few rough knocks on the door.

"Dinner!"

That was Ibara's voice.

Next came Chitanda's voice, which sounded like she was imitating Ibara.

"It's time for dinner!"

"Hear that? Let's go!"

As prompted, I left the area near the window. While it's certainly not a bad thing to be at the hot springs, I somehow felt ill at ease knowing that those guys would be near me all the time. There was the smell of cheese wafting down the corridor. Dinner would probably be stew or gratin, with the dark horse being cheese fondue. Yeah, I guess that would be it. I took a deep breath.

Seizansou consists of two buildings: the annex, which we were currently using, and the main building, which was undergoing renovation.

Both buildings were almost equal in size. They were connected by a passageway, and if you look at the inn from a bird's eye view, it would look like the character コ(ko). Each building had two floors and was made of wood; the floorboards in the corridors creak when stepped on. There was only one staircase in the whole inn. Chitanda and Ibara's room was at the very end of the second floor, while Satoshi and I were one room away. Those large rooms could fit all four of us, or even double that, and have extra space remaining, but that's that.

The stairs were quite steep, so I had to concentrate when going down.

There was supposed to be a dining hall in the first floor of the main building, but it was being renovated, so we were to have dinner in a Japanese-style room on the first floor of the annex. I opened the sliding screen which had Mount Fuji painted on it, and saw that Chitanda, Ibara, as well as the two sisters had already taken their seats.

Chitanda and Ibara were sitting opposite the sisters, and the seats at the head and front of the table were empty. They had not started eating yet; it seems that they were waiting for us, as etiquette dictated. I sat on the floor cushion nearest to me, so Satoshi had the seat of honor. No one was taking any notice of the seating order in this setting, though.

The table was actually quite cramped with all six of us sitting around it. On the table, contrary to my expectations, there was a salad of fresh vegetables, fried shishamo, cold cuts of pork, and a miso soup with tofu and radish. Rice ad already been scooped into wooden rice bowls. There was definitely the fragrance of cheese. What could it be from? I scanned the room and murmured,

"Is a cheesecake being baked?"

"Ah, how did you know?"

A girl with centered hair grinned. The cushion she was sitting on was low, but she was short in stature. With her frameless spectacles, large eyes, and her jubilant smile, she somehow gave off the impression of an excitable person. She wore a thin T-shirt and knee-length denim shorts. When put together with Ibara, they would totally look like siblings, but then again they are related by blood. Furthermore, Ibara was also wearing a shirt and denim pants.

Speaking of which, Ibara's appearance hasn't changed a bit since elementary school. She would look like a younger sister when put together with anyone, but I can't say that to her face.

That recklessly sociable girl was one of the sisters of Seizansou, Zenna Rie.

"Amazing! It's just like what Maya-neechan said!"

What did you tell them, Ibara!

Next to Rie, there was a ponytailed girl sitting well-manneredly. To put it more accurately, she was shy. IT seems that she hasn't gotten used to us yet. I unnecessarily wondered if she could get on with being in a family that was running an inn.

Even without considering her shyness towards strangers and her frail appearance that I could not imagine a smile on, she was not like her older sister. I saw both of them standing up earlier, and noticed that they had around the same height. Although her long sleeves were thin, she looked warm wearing them in the middle of summer. She would be graduating to middle school next year, but her stature was similar to that of Rie, who would be in the second year of middle school next year. She must have grown really fast for her age. Her name was Zenna Kayo.

"Let's eat!"

Ibara, who was acting more like a host than a guest, said. Everyone then separated their chopsticks successively and started on their meal. Chitanda clasped her hands tightly in prayer, which was normal. The sisters' parents weren't in the room; they were probably eating in the main building, for this room definitely couldn't it another two people.

First was the miso soup, which I slurped continuously for a really long time. It was delicious, as expected for a business. Next, I tried the shishamo. It probably wasn't actually shishamo, but I still liked it since it had a nice popping texture.

Rie was really interested about Ibara's high school life and was asking her about it. On the other hand, Kayo was hesitatingly asking Chitanda about her name. Satoshi would occasionally interrupt a conversation with a smile on his face, while I would just move my chopsticks in silence, pleased with the shishamo which I hadn't tasted in a long time.

"...And then it was like this..."

Rie, being immersed in the conversation, started drawing in the air with her chopsticks. That was improper dining etiquette, but I shouldn't worry about the home discipline of another family.

Rie reached out for the bamboo ladle in the salad bowl while Kayo was moving her chopsticks towards the pork. Sine they moved at about the same time, Rie's arm struck Kayo's hand. Kayo's chopsticks, which was holding a slice of pork, jolted a bowl of miso soup. Having witnessed that scene from beginning to end, I wanted to warn them, but it was too late.

Some soup spilled from the bowl. Kayo squeaked.

"Ah!"

"Aah, what are you doing!"

Rie scolded while frowning. From my point of view, they were both at fault, but...

"So-sorry, Onee-chan!"

Kayo apologized, and reached for the tablecloth. Since it was a little far away, Chitanda passed it to her.

"Here you go."

"Th-thank you very much."

Rie told Kayo to be more careful next time. After Kayo had wiped up the spilled miso soup, I extended my chopsticks to get more shishamo. I actually wanted to taste some mountain vegetables, but I suppose that would be asking too much.

Translator's Notes and References

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