Hyouka:Volume 4 Sappy New Year

Story 4 - Those Who Know Something

1

There's this axiom that goes, "What you do over the new year, you repeat all year." When I was young, during the period when I was busy preparing for my high school entry examinations, I was so afraid of that myth that I took a break from studying on New Year's Day itself. That was quite a long time ago... No, that's not true. It was only last year.

Now, in the darkness, I wondered if the alternate saying "What you do on New Year's Day, you repeat all year" was true. As they say, "The whole year's plans are made on New Year's Day." To befall a disaster early in the very first month of the year. This kind of thing should be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and definitely not a yearly event, right? I wouldn't call myself a superstitious person, but if someone said, "Disaster will strike again for the impure", I would probably just go for a purification ritual obediently.

I could sense Chitanda thinking about the question I had just asked her regarding the old saying.

"Well... I don't think that superstitious belief would be true. If it were, then if you didn't do anything on New Year's Day, then you wouldn't do anything all year. That seems too unreasonable."

Accepting that explanation, I heaved a sigh of relief. My worries having disappeared, I felt liberated.

However, although I couldn't see her emotions in this pitch black environment, but I could tell that Chitanda was deadly serious when she added,

"But Oreki-san... I'm more curious about the situation we're in right now, rather than the remaining 364 days ahead of us."

I know.

I understand the serious situation we're in. But Chitanda, couldn't you let me escape reality for a little while more?

The wind blew in through the cracks, so cold that it was as if our cheeks were being cut. At the same time, those small cracks brought in a little light into the darkness. It seems that my eyes have gotten used to the dark.

I could now see a bamboo broom, a metal shovel, a long prole probably used for housekeeping, and a cardboard box of which contents I was unaware of. As well as Chitanda, who was wearing a kimino and a troubled face.

And also, the four walls that surrounded us.

We were currently in the grounds of Arekusu Shrine, which was of prominent scale, even in Kamiyama City. To be precise, we were in a corner of the compound which received hardly any light from the lamp posts and was not easily spotted by people. There was a dilapidated outhouse there, and we were in it.

The problem was not the place being an outhouse or that it was run-down.

A single door was the only exit and entrance of this outhouse. But right now, it was closed, and locked with a bar... from the outside.

On the night of the first of January, Chitanda and I were trapped in an outhouse in a corner of Arekusu Shrine.

The wall and roof had probably gone past their service life a long time ago, but there was just one spot in the outhouse that was brand new and firm. The door, and only the door was sturdy, being made of shiny aluminum. It's a great thing to have, if you're considering from a theft-prevention perspective. No matter how much we pushed or pulled, it would only shake and clatter a little.

A late grumble escaped from my mouth.

"How did we get in this mess?"

"I wonder. Perhaps..."

Even in the darkness, I felt that Chitanda was smiling.

"It was because you drew a bad fortune?"

I sighed deeply.

Could that really be the reason?

2

The incident began when Chitanda gave me a call on some day close to New Year's Eve.

"Oreki-san, do you have any plans for New Year's Day?"

I thought for a while.

When I was an elementary school student, I used to go for a shrine visit every New Year, as my sister like these kinds of annual events. She could have gone by herself, but she always had to drag me along. I was fine with accompanying her to the nearby Hachiman Shrine, but it was terrible when my sister was taking her university entrance examinations. I was ordered to pray for her to pass her exams, and she brought me on a long, arduous journey to Tenmangu Shrine that took us a few hours. As I recall, while my sister asked me to pray for her, she didn't buy a single amulet for herself, and instead amused herself with a game where she would continuously draw fortunes until she obtained an "Great Blessing".

When my sister went to university, she started flying off to a remarkably larger range of places, and thanks to that, she stopped bringing me along, and the need for me to attend annual events disappeared. If I don't have to do it, don't do it. I have have to do it, make it quick. Therefore, I had no plans at all for New Year's Day.

"Nope, not really."

Chitanda's voice became more cheerful.

"I see. Then would you like to visit a shrine with me?"

"...It wouldn't be Tenmangu, would it?"

"Eh? You want to go to Tenmangu Shrine? That's pretty far away."

Yes, quite.

Did I just get mistaken for a Kanke fan? Chitanda lowered her voice, as if she was trying to wait and see how things would go.

"If you're fine with it, would you like to go to Arekusu Shrine?"

Arekusu Shrine isn't far away at all. If it's not snowing, it would only take a few minutes to cycle there. But I wasn't really interested in going there. Arekusu Shrine is the largest shrine in Kamiyama City, so it would be really chaotic during the New Year. I would be betraying my energy-conserving principle if I tried to squeeze into a large crowd in such cold weather. I passed the telephone receiver to my other hand.

"Is there something there?"

"It's not exactly something, but..."

Chitanda said, as her voice became more lively.

"Mayaka-san is working part-time there."

Ibara? I tried to imagine Ibara working in front of the confusing crowd of people at Arekusu Shrine on New Year's Day.

"......"

"Ah, you laughed."

Yes, I did. Working part-time at a shrine during the New Year would mean putting on white clothing and make-up, and Ibara looked inappropriately under-aged for that. I replied,

"I bet she looks bad."

"That's mean, Oreki-san."

While Chitanda was criticizing me, her voice was filled with mirth. If my impoliteness caused Chitanda to laugh, Ibara must have joked about her own appearance earlier.

"Fukube-san will be going too, so I thought you might want to go too."

Satoshi certainly wouldn't want to miss seeing Ibara in that costume.

I see. Making fun of Ibara would be fun in itself. But it would be in bad taste to visit a shrine simply for that purpose. Well, I suppose it would be fine to go there to pray for peace and good health in the coming year.

"And..."

"Is there something else?"

"It's not really something else in particular, but..."

This time, Chitanda lowered her voice, indicating her bashfulness.

"... I would kind of like to show off my kimono too."

Translator's Notes and References

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