Hyouka:Volume 3 Chapter 2-1

Status: Incomplete

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2-1 Has Something Happened With the Classics Club?

005 - ♥02

Saying "I enjoyed this a lot" may sound easy, but is actually a pretty difficult task. Rather than the possibility of the difference in one's level of understanding, a more important factor would be the difference in one's level of interest. When watching a magic performance, a dense person would not even understand even a hundredth of what was going on. On the other hand, if one had the ability to see through a magician's trick, then no matter how much entertainment he may see, while he may try to enjoy to his heart's content, there's no way he could have enjoyed it sufficiently.

It was morning, and I was walking to school earlier than usual, as the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival starts today. Seeing Fukube Satoshi constantly repeating "Ohh, I'm so looking forward to enjoying this," I felt compelled to mischievously tell him the above, to which Satoshi responded with a frightful smile and slowly shook his head.

"An excellent idea, was what I wanted to say, but you're too naive, Houtarou,"

"Oh? How so?"

"For a person like you who was raised on nothing but boorishness to even think of lecturing me on my enjoying, you're too naive," he said as he raised his index finger and swung it left and right as though acting.

"Of course I already knew that it was useless to try to enjoy myself deep within the marrow of my bones. The most important aspect of Epicureanism is to be able to separate one's senses. It's just as important as the day when you finally give up your energy-saving ways and actually work hard on a test."

"Like hell that day would arrive. Anyway, what's this about separation of your senses? What does that have to do with you being able to say you'll enjoy yourself?"

"All right, then let me enlighten you. First, I wouldn't think of saying something like "I'm gonna enjoy a lot," as I'm a fairly easy to please person. You know what I'm good at resigning myself to? Just from the point of view of Houtarou the Boorish."

Do you know? Satoshi gestured as he finished his sentence. Fleeting a glimpse at him, as I had no intention of bursting his bubble, I said nothing. Sensing I had no intention to answer, he lowered his voice as though informing me of a secret and said, "Even if I'm not good at enjoying myself......"

"......"

He gave a broad smile.

"I could still look forward to people giving me their enjoyment!"

Oh boy.

Ignoring my cold expression, Satoshi continued with his talk of how he's still "gonna enjoy this." I could do nothing but keep quiet and smile bitterly.

Fukube Satoshi. I have been hanging out with this fellow since junior high.

From his appearance, Satoshi was a person with brown eyes and a slim figure that might be mistaken as that of a girl when seen from afar. And while he may seem like a weakling, he has developed some amazing leg muscles due to his penchant for cycling.

Though his real features lie with his mental state. You may have caught a glimpse of that from our conversation just now; he can be pretty forceful in abandoning his studies and social life casually. Already a member of the Handicraft Club and the General Committee, he decided to join the Classics Club as well simply because "it sounded interesting."

He is never seen without his drawstring bag in his hand, though I have no idea of its contents. All I can say is that it contains all sorts of stuff.

In the road ahead, we could see Kamiyama High School appearing. The outer walls weren't painted pink due to the Cultural Festival, and seen from afar, it looked no different from any other regular high school. However, within its grounds were flourishing all sorts of activities concerning the Cultural Festival. In order to prepare for the festival, classes were suspended since yesterday.

The body of students heading towards school looked different today. While there were many in their uniforms, there were also many from other clubs in their casual wear. And there were many who did not carry any bag with them, as there was no need to bring any scholastic equipment. Due to such discrepancies, even I could feel the expectation that something different from usual was about to start.

Though Kamiyama High School is a school geared towards students entering university, it didn't have that many supplementary classes, neither did it have a particularly high record of students entering famous universities. If you were to ask the students of Kamiyama High School what its specialty was, only one in ten would have said it specializes in university entrance exams. The other nine would answer "It's a school known for its vibrant Arts-related club activities." There are many kinds of arts-related clubs in Kami High, and its activities too are various. And the highlight of these activities would of course be the Cultural Festival, which was rare amongst high schools for its number of days, with one day for preparation and three whole days for the main event.

Satoshi suddenly raised his voice cheerfully.

"And besides... Why, Houtarou, isn't that Mayaka?"

He pointed to a girl in front of us. She was dressed in casual wear comprising of a red cardigan and white brocade trousers, but I couldn't tell whether she was Ibara Mayaka from behind. Though I've known her since elementary school, I've rarely seen her in casual wear since junior high. But if Satoshi says it's her, then it has to be.

For many times Ibara had confessed her love to Satoshi, yet while Satoshi was not one to fall into self-loathing, he had chosen to evade her advances time and time again. I couldn't figure out why he's done so even if I wanted to.

"I'll be going on ahead."

He turned and said that before running off towards that girl ahead of us.

006 - ♣02

As I moved forward, I was certain that it was indeed Mayaka. Though seeking Houtarou out in a crowd was like trying to see a needle in a haystack, there was no way I could miss Mayaka. I ran up and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Mayaka. Morning!"

Knowing her, she would have stared at me and said "Hey! That hurts!" Which was why I only tapped her softly. Though it seemed Mayaka didn't seem to be in that mood today, as she became stiff and turned her head slowly.

"...Morning."

She muttered only that and turned back forward. Ahh, I see. I exclaimed to myself and smiled (which was what I'm good at; I've long forgotten how to make a serious face), and I answered Mayaka's anxiety.

"Your costume suits you."

"R-really?"

"So, who are you cospla..."

I could not finish my sentence, as I could feel a jab into my stomach. Great aim. Due to that hit, my abdominal muscles quickly lost their strength, so its effect was immediate.

Mayaka murmured with a dangerous glimmer in her eyes, "Don't use that term in front of normal people."

Well, I don't think "costume play" would be considered taboo nowadays. Though I do get that Mayaka's feeling pretty embarrassed about it, so I wouldn't say anything. By the way, I already knew that she was planning to cosplay today. Mayaka's Manga Studies Club had asked for permission from the General Committee to turn up in casual clothing. As there were not enough changing rooms at school, the General Committee granted that permission.

Mayaka wore off-white brocade trousers and a scarlet cardigan. It was a pragmatic costume that was able to withstand the cool autumn winds of early October. Some accessories were attached to her cardigan, and inside she wore a white collared shirt, and a thick looking belt was wrapped around her abdomen. The main point would probably be this belt.

I looked at her costume from top to bottom. Hmm, I just don't have a clue. Guess I'll ask her again.

"So, what costume is this?"

Like a rat trying not to alert the cat, I carefully chose the right words so that Mayaka may accept my question. She quickly looked forward and said in a detached manner,

"Frol,"

"Frol? Frolbericheri Frol? You're wearing her costume?"

"Yeah... I also brought this handbag."

I wouldn't get what she was referring to even if she said so. Well, that's what Mayaka wanted to wear after all. When she learned that her club required her to come in cosplay, being the shy person that she is, she would definitely choose a character that was hard to recognize.

Ibara Mayaka. As I was a guy, she was way shorter than me, but then as a girl she was way shorter than others. If she wasn't dressed in her sailor uniform, she would no doubt be mistaken as an elementary schoolkid. And right now, Mayaka wasn't dressed in her sailor uniform. And it's not just her figure that's small, just observing from the features of her face alone, one could say Mayaka was baby-faced.

Yet it was hard to figure out Mayaka's vigorous sense of justice from her childish expression emanating from her childish face. For example, when she's angry, she would simply bite her lips. Naturally, nothing can replace the smile that she was born with. (On the other hand, from my years of hanging out with him, Houtarou sure has bad eyes for not being able to notice that.)

I'd better stop looking into someone cosplaying a character she didn't feel like cosplaying, so I began spinning my drawstring bag and said, "Well, anyway, good luck with your role. I'll pop in at the Manga Studies Club later."

Mayaka showed some shyness as she nodded softly.

"You have to contribute articles for the Manga Club as well, right?"

"Yeah."

"I read it... Must be tough, to hold similar positions in both the Classics Club and Manga Club."

"It is tough. Since nobody else was willing to contribute."

I was originally planning to congratulate her for her hard work, but all of a sudden her gaze suddenly became sharp. Oops, looks like the conversation is headed in the wrong direction. For the Classics Club manuscript to arrive so late, no matter how one looks at it, I couldn't offer any excuse. So I decided to change the topic.

"Ah... so, Mayaka, you'll be with the Manga Studies Club all day then?"

Though she didn't look pleased that the topic was changed, she nodded.

"Will you be stopping by the Classics Club?"

"Nah, it's probably impossible for me to leave the Manga Club in the morning. And besides, it's not worth it for me to just stop by... I really ought to have followed things through."

I deepened my smile and patted Mayaka on the back.

"Try not to think too much about it! It can't be helped once you wake up from it!"

Mayaka gave an ambiguous smile and nodded at my words. No, this doesn't look right. Such a grey-looking smile wouldn't be what makes Mayaka look great.

Even though Mayaka said she's fine with it, there are occasions when Houtarou expresses doubt at my evasion of her advances. Well, Houtarou was never one to flatter people. I could tell him the reason, but I wasn't sure if he would understand even a tenth of it. To begin with, this is a problem between me and Mayaka alone, so it doesn't matter whether Houtarou understands it or not.

Before we realized, we had arrived at the school gates. I turned to have a look at the gates, which had huge, colourful flowers hanging over them. This was the hard work of the General Committee, made to welcome visitors to the Cultural Festival. A banner hung from the outside of one of the windows of the school building, which read "The 42nd Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival."

And so it begins.

I wonder if I'm making a face that's trying to enjoy all this. As I was in a trance looking at the school grounds, Mayaka suddenly jabbed her elbow at me.

"Fuku-chan... Try not to do anything silly during the Cultural Festival, okay? While you may not find it embarrassing, it'd be embarrassing enough for me."

Heh, guess I'm not trusted at all, eh?

But that doesn't mean I won't do anything!

007 - ♥03

There's this hard object resting in my pocket, and for some time it's been bothering me.

It was the fountain pen, or to be more precise, the trash known as the unusable fountain pen. The ink had long run out, and I was entrusted by my sis to take care of it. Last night, as I didn't want to just toss it on the floor, I brought it to my room, intending to throw it away there. But it seemed I ended up bringing it along with my handkerchief. While it's pretty much useless now, who knows what role it would play as time goes on.

I toyed with the pen by flipping its cap on and off, making a clicking sound as I walked up the stairs. My destination was the Classics Club room on the fourth floor.

Seen from above, Kamiyama High School appears as an H-shape. On one side was the General Block with its regular classrooms, while on the other side would be the Special Block with its arts and science related classrooms. They are joined in the middle by a connecting corridor. When seen from further above, one would see the corridor from the General Block extending towards the Gymnasium.

The Geology Lecture Room, which is used by the Classics Club as their club room, is located in the Special Block. And it's all the way in the corner at the end of the corridor. If Kamiyama High School was the whole world, then this would be its periphery. Normally, we'd curse about how far the club room was while also feeling grateful for how serene it was. Yet with the Cultural Festival upon us, we had to consider another factor, the fact that being located in such a remote corner of the school means we're doubtful of getting any visitors.

In every floor, you would see posters, mascots and advertising boards in all different shades of colour, though that's only up to the third floor. In the fourth floor, all you get is a barren landscape. You won't even see any ads for shopping malls or chain stores. To begin with, there aren't many clubs based up here anyway.

Still, we've put up a few posters in some hard to miss spots promoting the Classics Club, but even that was not enough to enliven the mood of this god-forsaken place. Personally, I prefer this sort of tranquility, but it's troublesome for the Classics Club as an organization, particularly for its president, who sees it as something quite worrying.

I slid open the door of the Geology Room. The girl sitting in the centre of this dreary room stood up upon seeing me enter.

"Good morning, Oreki-san," she said and bowed deeply, her long black hair flowing as she did. This was Chitanda, president of the Classics Club. I reckoned she was probably the first to arrive.

Chitanda Eru is a girl with jet black hair extending all the way to her back as well as pupils of the same colour. Gentle in her demeanor, she was rather tall and well-proportioned for a girl. Her calm way of speaking gives one the impression that she's an elegant lady with a prestigious upbringing. In fact, she is the only daughter of the Chitanda clan, known for being the owners of large tracts of farmland.

However, if you ask me, this elegant Japanese lady image is not Chitanda's true nature.

Amongst her mature features, only her large eyes betray her true character. Possessing a sense of curiosity which has exploded many times before and will continue to explode in the future, this was Chitanda Eru. Ever since I entered school, I and the Classics Club have been involved in many bothersome events thanks to her curiosity. My life motto has always been "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, make it quick." But so far I have been unable to adhere to it, and it's all her fault.

Chitanda lifted her head and made a soft smile. Though she wears her heart on her sleeve, she would rarely express her feelings in an exaggerated way. Rather, she does it in moderation.

"The day has finally arrived."

"So it seems."

"Let's give it our all!"

"Yeah."

I nodded.

Looking at the pile of objects lined up between me and Chitanda, I groaned.

"...You say give it our all, but do you have any idea how we're gonna get this sorted?"

We're talking about none other than the Classics Club essay anthology, "Hyouka." A rather queer name for a title; as for why it had such a queer name, that's a long story. Each volume was bound nicely in a vinyl coating which went through adhesive surface treatment, on its dark brown cover was an illustration of a dog and rabbit biting each other. This cover design was derived from the first ever volume of "Hyouka," which was made in a water-paint style, though this year Ibara decided to draw it in a cute style. Objectively speaking, it didn't look bad at all.

The people working on this anthology included me and Chitanda, and while Satoshi did contribute, he only participated in writing his part of the manuscript. Of course, even after the manuscript was completed, the anthology wouldn't be finished right away. There would still be work involving confirming the of number of pages, choosing the right font and paper type, arranging the manuscripts, placing the page numbers, etc, before submitting to the publisher for printing. All that was left to Ibara, who also worked on the other illustrations as well.

While we were consulted on matters concerning the design of the anthology, we were merely confirming Ibara's choices. Seeing how troublesome it looked for her to have to work on so many details, both Chitanda and I had offered to help her many times.

Yet Ibara had turned our offers down, saying she's used to doing such stuff, so it's no big deal to her, and how she can easily handle this amount of work. Besides, she said it would be quite bothersome to teach an amateur from scratch. Hearing her say that, Chitanda decided to relent on helping.

And so, the anthology "Hyouka" is finally complete. In fact, it was a job well done. Very well done, indeed.

Upon seeing the final product, Ibara went speechless.

When she brought them over to us the day before yesterday, we too became speechless.

...The pile of objects lined up between me and Chitanda were the "Hyouka" anthologies. Rather than "pile," "stack" would be a more appropriate description. Even "mountain" would not sound far-fetched.

Before, we had only planned on making an order to print thirty copies of "Hyouka". Taking one for ourselves, as well as one each for our supervisor and one to keep for archiving, it would leave us with twenty-four left to sell, which was how many we expected to sell.

However, the number of copies somehow ended up being more than we expected.

About seven times more.

I learned that even for a thin anthology like this, two hundred copies of them stacked together was enough to form a "mountain."

To ask us to give our all selling all these is an extremely tall task. Upon hearing my grumble, Chitanda became lost for words as her smile went stiff.

"...Umm, while giving our all may not guarantee everything, I'm sure we'll still achieve something!"

The problem would be how much effort we should be giving then, but...

The door behind us opened; it was Satoshi. Lifting his right arm, he greeted us.

"Hi there, I see you're all worried about our excessive stock!"

Well, so are you.

While still at a loss for words to address the predicament we were in, Chitanda still bowed deeply like she had to me.

"G-good morning, Fukube-san... How is Mayaka-san?"

"Oh, she said she'll try and come, but she probably won't make it."

"I see...," she muttered regretfully. That was to be expected.

While Chitanda and I aren't affiliated with any other club save the Classics Club, Satoshi has his hands tied with the General Committee and Handicraft Club, while Ibara spends time as a librarian and with the Manga Studies Club. During the Cultural Festival, Satoshi would be busy patrolling the grounds as a member of the General Committee, while I hear Ibara is required to stay with the Manga Club for some time.

"Then, shall we begin?"

Satoshi and I nodded. Looking at us one by one, Chitanda slowly spoke.

"There's not much time until the Opening Ceremony starts... So does anyone have any ideas on how we could sell this many copies of 'Hyouka?'"

Translator's notes and references

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