Vol 5 Prologue (2/2)

“Just because you don’t turn in the actual club entry forht?”

“Of course You can join or quit any Kah School club you want at any time It’s completely up to you”

After he said that, however, Satoshi+ continued with a slight grimace

“The thing is though, a club’s budget is based on its member count at the end of the provisional club entry period, so any es after that point are really looked down upon Anyways, more importantly…”

“I know”

The problem wasn’t the bureaucracy

In all reality, the second we learned that there was some kind of trouble yesterday, we should have tried to resolve it, though I suppose there wasn’t anything we could have done in the first place considering both Ōhinata and Chitanda had left by that point Only one day had passed, and yet it already felt like it was too late If this were to remain unresolved before everyone was separated over the weekend, Ōhinata’s resignation would al her ht be impossible

There were no classes being held today after the Hoshi+gaya Cup ended You had to attend homeroom for a small period, but after that, everyone could meet with their clubs

In other words, though today was the only day we’d be able to pull Ōhinata aside, we had hardly the tiet into contact with her

“That said, I don’t knohat specifically happened,” said Satoshi+ with a hushed voice “It see ry or depressed, but we have no idea what caused that, right?”

“Yeah, I was reading the entire time”

“If that’s the case, then Chitanda had to have been the cause Except now, it contradicts what Mayaka was told”

The upward slope hadn’t yet becoht sides of the road and the hill gently continued forward Soht up beside me as I continued my slow pace He was probably a student from 2-B, the class that started after us, who had faith his legs would carry him to the end like this

I whispered my question

“What did Ibara say?”

Satoshi+ seelance

“Come on, you didn’t hear?”

“She didn't tell ”

“I wonder if she didn’t have any time I wasn’t there either, so the details are a bit fuzzy”

Satoshi+’s eyes darted about, and then he aardly added, “If I remember correctly, Ōhinata said Chitanda was ‘like a Buddha,’ or so that wasn’t insinuating anything mean”[1]

I hadn’t heard anything at all about this I didn’t know anything other than the fact that Ōhinata said she wasn’t going to join the club

“Was this really yesterday?”

“The phrasing ht have been off, but it happened yesterday without a doubt”

Then Ōhinata had said both “I’ to join” and “Chitanda’s like Buddha”? If that was the case, then that would honestly haveto join, but it’s not Chitanda’s fault”

That would therefore mean I was the reason that Ōhinata decided to quit Yet, I truly didn’t do anything yesterday Of course, I would be lying if I said I didn’t re the clubroo, but that was all

“I guess this isn’t going to be simple after all”

However, then Satoshi+ murmured under his breath, “I wonder if that’s the case”

“I think it’s sied her mind She decided to quit This was all that happened”

Even as I continued to sidehishobbyist, his walking was top-notch

Satoshi+ let out a sigh and finally started to talk

“Hey, Hōtarō This ht be a bit cruel, but if Ōhinata quits, I think we should just give up on her Iperson, and Mayaka really seems to like her, but if she herself decided on this, I don’t think we have any right to dispute that”

He looked at me and added

“Although I thought you’d be the one to say that instead of me”

That wasn’t an unreasonable assu distressed, I didn’t really think what had happened was all too important

I’h School, you were allowed to be in up to two clubs at the same time, so if there were three you wanted to join, it would be completely understandable if you dropped the Classics Club In any case, her intentions were unclear Possibly she found a sport she wanted to do, or perhaps she decided to start participating in General Committee activities Maybe she just decided she needed to concentrate on her studies There were any nuht have decided to quit, and the Classics Club didn’t have a single reason to dispute that It was unfortunate, but hts had certainly crossed my mind at one point

I had changed my mind on the matter for a couple of reasons however, but I didn’t feel like explaining the After this, he gets to ride his bike the rest of the way, but I’s I would only tire , so I wanted to limit my speech as much as possible

Probably realizing that I wasn’t going to reply, Satoshi+ casually continued to speak

“But you kno it goes If you’ve decided on trying to dissuade her, I have no reason to stop you So, do you plan on finding her and then begging her to not leave?”

I was iuard

“Begging her?”

“Yeah, lower your head like this and tell her, ‘I know you must have experienced much displeasure at our hands, but I implore you, bear with it just this once’”

Satoshi+ said this while gesturing with his hands, and then continued with a puzzled face

“You weren’t going to do that?”

I hadn’t even thought of that I suppose it was an option, but in the end

“Ōhinata up and said she had a reason as to why she was quitting, right? I wonder if we can truly bring this issue to a close without knowing that reason first”

He responded with a groan

“You’re actually going to try and resolve the issue, huh I suppose begging’s not soh quickly apologizing and begging her by all o about this It o over better than expected”

I wondered if that was how it'd really go I had a hard ti it At the very least, I didn’t think that prostrating in front of her would completely settle the issue at hand

In the first place, it wasn’t that I was doing this because I wanted to dissuade her fro aside so I could beg her to sign the actual club entry for I could even do All that would do would be put off the hassle until later Now, I like avoiding work, and I love being able to o off until later If you see so that looks like a hassle but pretend it isn't there, having to deal with it later becomes even more of a hassle

“I guess I’ her”

“How about persuade her upfront?”

“That’s also a pain Besides, did you think I was even a smooth-talker in the first place?”

“I don’t Rather than gently convincing someone, you’re le piece of sagely wisdom”

He said this and then became quiet

He stared at my face carefully

“Earlier you said that resolving this issue wasn’t going to be siure out the exact reason why Ōhinata wants to leave?”

Calling it ‘figuring out’ was an exaggeration

“I’ that happened up until now As long as I just do that, I can spare myself the effort”

Satoshi+ started thinking for a bit

“Remember, huh? I see In other words, you don’t think whateverthat only happened yesterday after school The cause, or rather the original, underlying proble that happened at a different time”

He was pretty sharp

I knew for a fact that I didn’t do anything yesterday, and when it came to Chitanda, even if you didn’t take into consideration Ibara’s ‘Chitanda is like a Buddha’ account, the idea that Ōhinata would be so hurt and angry after talking to Chitanda ht have played it up a bit

I felt bad saying it, but considering it was Ibara, I could understand that being the case She seeht shank you if you si way, noit was When it came to Chitanda on the other hand, she would have simply tilted her head in confusion

If I were to think about it like that, the causethat had happened prior to yesterday Possibly at so from when Ōhinata joined the club as a provisionalin her head Perhaps yesterday, she had reached her limit

“I said I wasn’t planning on stopping you, but… this is quite convoluted, isn’t it?”

“No kidding”

“No uarantee that you’ll have all the information necessary to crack this one”

“I guess that’s true”

It’s not like the Classics Club o to the clubroos I had neither seen nor heard Had all of it started and ended while I was unaware it was even happening, just thinking would be useless

That said, and I couldn’t tell any of this to Satoshi+ yet, I did have some ideas here and there Ever since Ōhinata joined as a provisional ht seee Maybe if I focusedwould beco, but at least it was somewhere to start Besides, I had 20 kilo

I spoke

“If there’s anything I need to know, I’ll try asking you”

Satoshi+ furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion

“Askingahead of you now”

“I know, but we're bound to pass each other again at soht? See you then”

I smiled at him and continued

“After all, Ibara and Chitanda will be co from behind”

For a second, Satoshi+ stared at me dumbfounded

“You’re terrible! So that’s what you were planning How could you? Think about all the blood and sweat the General Coaya Cup”

“Isn’t it the Marathon Event?”

Without a doubt, I needed to talk with Ibara and Chitanda

On the other hand, I also had to come into contact with Ōhinata by the end of the day

There was only one way I could achieve both of these

In order to prevent congestion in the streets, each of the classes’ start tiered I was in class 2-A If I remembered correctly, Ibara was in 2-C and Chitanda was in the very last one, class 2-H If I ran slowly, eventually Ibara would catch up, and if I went even more slowly than that, Chitanda would as well

“Which class was Ōhinata in?”

“Class 1-B No wonder you were going at such a slow pace No, I’ht, there’s no way you’d seriously try to run all the way through to the end”

Satoshi+ laughed as he said this How rude I properly ran the course last year, even if I stopped around halfway and ended up walking for 10km or so

“Now that I know your evil sche Even lazing around has its limits”

He straddled histo push the pedal and ride away, but he suddenly hesitated for a second He turned back towards me

“I’ to tell you this because we’re friends Make sure you don’t take this all on yourself, Hōtarō You’re the kind of person that doesn’t normally care about another person’s circuet that you aren’t responsible for anything, nowith Ōhinata”

It was ato say He wanted to tell ht or found out, in the end, it was Ōhinata’s decision You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t ood idea to keep that in mind

“I’ain somewhere on the course”

“Yeah”

Satoshi+ finally started to pedal away Even though the slope was getting steeper and steeper, hisHe didn’t even stand up to pedal With his rear planted firmly on the saddle and his body arched forward, he pedaled further and further away

With , I saw him off

Though I said I was going to talk with Ibara and Chitanda, it wasn’t as simple as it sounded

Even when each of them did catch up, I wouldn't be able to talk with the Especially Ibara didn’t seem like she’d slow her pace for me In the time that I had for her to catch up to and then pass me, I could probably only ask her around two questions

I didn’t have enough ti I wanted to If I didn’t decide on what I wanted to ask before she caught up, I was going to ruin my chance

In order to ask the correct questions, I needed to correctly understand the situation Specifically, what I need to understand was just exactly what kind of person the Kah School first-year Tomoko Ōhinata was

…So I tried to remember After Chitanda left yesterday, Ibara asked the only re person, me, a question

“So, what happened?”

When I didn’t answer, she said so else

“You don’t know? Should’ve seen that co After all, you’re not one to pay attention to other people”

A single, nonchalant comment

It almost felt like she was a bit surprised, however

It’s not like I didn’t know because I was reading my book after class yesterday Rather, I just wasn’t very interested in anything Ōhinata had to say It was probably due to things like this that Satoshi+ always liked to call me a “people-hater” It wasn't like that was entirely the case, but it wasn’t very far off either Perhaps fro more and more distant from Ōhinata

For the most part, I came to not really care at all about her personal life, about what made her happy and what had hurt her in the past I was essentially ignoring her I wondered if, even now, I couldthis 20k, however I wondered if even that was enough time for me to try and understand someone

I had to try and think about it, no matter what it took

The slope becaly steeper, and at soht of the road had changed to that of a cedar forest

Another person continued to pass me by as I dawdled forward

I firstthe new-student recruitment week

Translator's Notes and References

Ju

Jump up↑ The japanese version of this idiom features a stubborn, already-hydrated donkey as opposed to a horse