Vol 1 Chapter 7 (2/2)
”Ah, the Classics Club,”
She looked around the library and said, ”It's a bit crowded here, shall we head to the Librarian Office?”
And led us to an office behind the counter
The Librarian Office was a cozy office big enough for one person to work in, though the air-conditioner was considerably smaller in here As the blinds weren't down, Itoikaent ahead and lowered theuest sofa A soft fragrance could be smelled, as it came from a flower pot placed on the only table in the room It was a very ordinary and easy to uests but for herself to admire
Though the sofa was large, it was still not big enough for the four of us So Itoikawa had to take out a folding chair and place it beside the sofa But as it ot the sofa? Itoikawa sat on her own revolving chair Placing her elbows on the table, she faced us and said, ”Well, what is it that you wish to speak to me about?”
She asked gently As she was asking everyone from the Classics Club, it was natural that I would have to speak on behalf of the club I tried to shrug off this urge to cross s in a situation which I was not used to, and courteously replied, ”Yes, there's so ould like to inquire fro Is your maiden name Kooriyama?”
She nodded
”Then that ht?”
I took out the copy from my pocket and handed to her Itoikawa ently,
”Yes, that's et preserved”
She then seeaze to me
”I think I knohat it is that you wanted to discuss with me To have students from the Classics Club inquire abouton you wish to know about the ht?”
Bingo, so she does know
However, in contrast to the expectation shown on our expressions, Itoikawa hed
”But, ould you ask about such a distant event now? It would have been better to forget about it”
”Well, this isall sorts of curious events like a beast, or I would not have noticed this event to begin with”
”A beast?”
”Sorry, I meant like a feast”[3]
Itoikawa and Satoshi+ both save an exasperated look Chitanda protested softly, though I ignored her Itoikawa smiled softly at Chitanda and asked, ”And ere you interested in that movement back then?”
I noticed Chitanda gripping her fists on her knees She was probably nervous as she answered briefly, ”Sekitani Jun was my uncle”
Itoikawa let out a gasp
”Oh, I see, Sekitani Jun Such a nostalgic name How is he?”
”I have no idea, as he was reportedin India”
She gasped again, ”Oh” Though she didn't see for 50 years meant she'd seen it all?
”I see And I had alished to ain”
”So do I I just wanted to see him one more time”
Was Sekitani Jun a person that orth ain? I couldn't help but wonder perhaps I should meet him as well
As though filled with emotions, Chitanda spoke slowly
”Itoikawa-sensei, please tell o? Why was the incident my uncle was involved in not a heroic tale? Why is the Classics Club anthology titled 'Hyouka'?Are Oreki-san's deductions correct?”
”Deductions?”
Itoikawa asked me, ”What do you mean by that?”
Satoshi+ answered, ”Sensei, Oreki hasthe liathered So perhaps you should hear it from him”
Seeh I had intended to do so anyway, I had not yet realized that it could just be speculation for soh I was confident of otten it wrong I lickedthe same 5W1H method as yesterday
”First, the main character for this incident”
” And so, we concluded that the dropping out occurred in October”
Once I got it all out, I was surprised by hoell Ito any notes, time seemed to pass by even faster
All the time while I spoke, Itoikawa remained silent She spoke to Ibara at once as I finished
”Ibara-san, do you have the notes that you speak of?”
”No, I”
”I got them”
Satoshi+ opened his drawstring bag and took out a stack of notes which was folded in quarters, and handed thelance at them and looked up
”You ed to form a deduction just from all these?”
Chitanda nodded
”Yes, Oreki-san did”
That's not exactly right
”I ether, that's all”
”Still,”
Sigh Itoikawa breathed out a sigh and placed the notes on the table as she crossed her legs
”I'm amazed”
”It wasn't wrong?”
Ibara asked, to which she shook her head
”No, it is just as Oreki-kun said Everything is true It feels uncanny, as though you stood alongsideunfold back then”
I let out a breath
I was indeed relieved that I got it all right
”Well, what else do you wish to ask fro mark if my answers match your speculation”
”Well, I don't know about ”
Yeah, so
There was so that I wanted to ask: Did Sekitani Jun forsake his rose-coloured high school life on his own? I worded my question as follows, ”I have only one question Did Sekitani Jun wish to become a shi+eld for the entire student body?”
Itoikawa's gentle expression suddenly froze at hearing that question She merely looked at me
””
And stared silently
I waited for her to speak, so too did Chitanda, Ibara and Satoshi+ They were probably wondering what that question was all about as they waited
The silence didn't last long Itoikawa , and said reproachfully, ”You really saw through me Then I shall tell you about it I think it's best I start fro tio, I still remember it clearly”
And so, the forle in June” 33 years ago
”Though the Cultural Festival is just as active as it was then, it feels more quiet than it used to be Back then everyone viewed the Kah Cultural Festival as their ultimate objective in life It was a time when people would actively discard the old and welcoy that the Ka
”Just before I enrolled in this school, there was a feeling that a riot would break out Nothing good would coht? Yet compared to the violent school incidents in recent years, the h for the teachers of that time, it was still considered unacceptable”
The recollection that I heard seemed to concern some Modern japanese History I think neither those people overfloith energy in that time nor people born in the saroup
”In April that year, the Principal suddenly had an outburst during a staffI believe it was recorded in one of your notes here, 'We must not allow ourselves to be complacent and become a mere backwater school' Nowadays people would just view Principal Eida's words asexpectation on the students to do well Yet back then, it was perceived as a veiled e to crack down on the Cultural Festival
”When the tireat uproar The usual five day schedule was drastically reduced to only two days, and they were h they were being discarded froether Everyone felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over them and found the decision hard to stomach
”Since that announce tense, as though so was about to happen
”First, all sorts of dirty language was being posted on the school's notice boards Then there were the public speeches, which is where everyone could coetting increasingly passionate and received applause Then the an in earnest when it was proposed to pool the resources of the arts-related clubs together
”However, though the resistance was expected, nobody see response to forcefully carry out the cutting down of the Cultural Festival In order to carry out the moveh everyone was good at talking the talk, pathetically, no one volunteered to come out and become the leader of the club alliance”
Itoikawa shi+fted in her seat, which created a squeaking sound in her chair as she continued, ”So it was decided to draw lots in order to choose the leader, and your uncle, Sekitani Jun, ended up with the short end of the stick The actual operation of the movement was handled by other people, yet their names would never appear in public
”The athered stea their plans to shorten the festival As written in your notes, the festival went on as usual”
Though she described it plainly without any eo, whether it was the passion of the movement or the cowardice of the representatives, they were all in the past now Itoikawa then went on, ”But we overdid it During thelessons Everyone was on the grounds shouting slogans The construction of a caht it happened
”The flames in the campfire went out of control We don't know if someone did it on purpose, but the Martial Arts Dojo was set on fire Though the fire was eventually put out, the considerably old dojo was badly daines”
Chitanda and Ibara's expressions went stiff, I guess so did mine Even we could tell this sounded bad, as indirectly, it nored
”Such a criminal act ay out of the ordinary, and could not be overlooked Fortunately, the school did not wish to s any worse and so decided not to involve the police Though no one could argue against the school finding someone to take responsibility once the Cultural Festival was over Since everyone would be saying they didn't know anything once the festival ended
”And so, while the cause of the fire was unknown, the one that ended up taking the blame was none other than Sekitani-san, the official leader of the movement
”Back then, it was much easier to expel a student Credit to hih I believe your question hether he wished to becoht?”
Itoikawa merely smiled and looked at me
”I think you already know the answer yourself”
After finishi+ng her long story, Itoikawa stood up to pour so it
We said nothing Perhaps we couldn't find anything to say I could only see Chitanda's lips”hoful”, or ”how cruel”, though I have no idea which it was
”Well, that's all I have to say Do you have anything else you wish to ask?”
As she returned to her revolving chair, Itoikawa spoke in her usual tone This was indeed just a story from the past for her
Ibara finally broke the silence and said, ”Then, I'd like to ask about the cover illustration that was drawn back then”
Itoikawa nodded silently
I was re and hare chasing each other, while a nu probably represented the teaching staff while the hares the students And the hare that led the dog around in circles was probably Sekitani Jun
After Itoikawa cauessed, I asked her, ”Of all the buildings in Kah, the Martial Arts Dojo is by far the oldest, so does that mean it's been rebuilt before?”
I noticed how ancient the dojo hen Chitanda showed it to ht to that afterwards
”Yes, that's right Since public school buildings are rarely renovated unless they reach their sell-by date When all the other buildings were renovated ten years ago, only the dojo was left untouched since that was renovated before by itself”
Satoshi+ then said meekly, ”Umm, Sensei, I noticed you never referred to the festival as the Kanya Festival,”
As the topic was changed altogether, Itoikawa ended up s faintly
”Why do you even ask? Surely you ured it out by now?”
”Huh?”
Kanya Festival?
I see I re in our phone call that the terh it was a bit late, I finally understood why that was taboo
”It's because Sekitani Jun did not wish to beco the festival the Kanya Festival”
”fuku-chan, what does he mean by that?”
Though Satoshi+ s, this s for fun
”'Kanya' isn't an abbreviation of 'Kamiyama', but rather it's an alternative kanji pronunciation of 'Sekitani' I o It's probably an alternate name for 'Sekitani Festival', in order to fool the teaching staff while honouring their hero”
Chitanda then asked, ”Sensei, do you know the reason why y?”
However, Itoikawa gently shook her head
”That naht up by Sekitani-san on a hile he had a feeling he was about to be expelled He said itthat he could not do in his current state at that time But otherwise, I don't knohat it means myself”
She doesn't know?
Does she really not know? Or Chitanda, Ibara and Satoshi+, for that matter?
Though I rarely get angry, even noas getting exasperated Right now all I was feeling was a sense of irritation, as no one seee that Sekitani Jun had left behind I was annoyed that no one e
Without realizing, I began to speak up, ”Don't you guys get it? Just what have you guys been listening to? I'll just co but a silly pun”
”Houtarou?”
”Sekitani Jun wanted to relay a e to us, the descendants of the Classics Club, and he placed that within the title of the anthology Chitanda, you're good at English, right?”
Chitanda went flustered at suddenly being called out
”Eh? E-English?”
”Yeah This is actually a secret e No, more like a play on words”
Itoikawa didn't see at us I wondered if she could have realized, no sheus anything While I didn't understand cothat could not be spoken out loud Perhaps this was also one of the traditions of the Classics Club?
”Have you figured so out, Oreki-san?”
”Oreki, stop et it?”
”Tell us already, Houtarou”
How many times has it been that I've been pressed for an answer by these guys? I sighed as I prepared to giveto do with luck or having any flash of inspiration I just felt like conveying Sekitani's regret within his pun to someone
And so I spoke, ”What do you think 'Hyouka' means?”
Chitanda answered, ”That's the title of the Classics Club anthology”
”I' of the word itself”
Satoshi+ followed, ”It's the japanese word for 'ice', right? So 'ice candy'?”
”Try 'ice cream'”
Ibara spoke, ”Ice cream? What's that supposed to mean?”
”Try rearranging the syllables”
Ah, dah soto say!
”'Ice crea That's why I said it's a play on words”
Satoshi+'s expression first read ”I dunno” before his face went pale as though all the blood had been drawn from it Next was Ibara, who muttered ”Ah, that!” with an annoyed expression
Finally, Chitanda see an honours student, I hear she's good at English as well However, it doesn't seee's functions completely I wasn't in the mood to tease her further
I took the copy of the foreword of 'Hyouka Voluht
”This is the e your uncle left behind”
Chitanda nodded while still looking perplexed
When she finally understood, her eyes widened instantly ”Oh!” She gasped and went silent
Everyone's gazes were focused on her
Chitanda's eyes wereIt was then that I realized that hermy help had finally come to fruition
” I remember,” she whispered, ”I rey was called 'Hyouka' He
”It was a e for me to live on whenever I should feel weak, or when I encounter times when I could not scream”
She turned her gaze towards me
”Oreki-san, I reht of living while being dead inside Thank goodness, now I can send my uncle off properly”
A s wet, she ain at the note I was holding On it was the trueof the word that I had written:
I scream
Translator's notes and references
Jump up↑ TL: Hyouka was published in 2000, before Kosovo declared independence
Juain this part is all liberal translations of things having to do with japanese words
Julish (beast and feast are not the original words because if the original words were kept, it wouldn't be a pun anylish)