Vol 5 Chapter 32 (2/2)

Satoshi+ pulled the copy of shi+nsou away froe

“When I think of fraud, I can only i that only affects old people in co si, “You passed the Kah School entrance exam Please pay the new student entrance fee” You probably wouldn’t assu duped”

“I could understand that,” said Ibara “If you got ayour bid won at some on-site sale, you wouldn’t really doubt it”

“On-site sale? You mean like a flea market?”

As I interjected with this, Ibara suddenly became quiet

The owner then brought out the house blend coffees at the perfect time Satoshi+ handed the copy of shi+nsou back to Ōhinata and all of us turned to our coffee

I suddenly felt like I somewhat understood the reason behind the rabbits on the decorative relief On both the coffee cup’s handle and the spoon’s grip were little decorations of rabbits with pressed ears Perhaps this meant that the shop owner or “Ayumi-san” liked them a lot Maybe they were just born in the year of the rabbit

Unfortunately, no matter how much I liked coffee, my sense of taste and s the exquisite intricacies of the house blend froood” was the most I could do; when I tried to think of a way to elaborate on that with some sort of comparison or detail, the words couldn’t co those details in the first place, he changed the subject to so our praises

“You add jam and cream to scones, but I have a couple kinds There’s strawberry jam and ht kind or mascarpone What would you like?”

All of us gave our honest preferences, and yet it turned out to be so quite bothersome

I chose strawberry jam and plain cream

Satoshi+ chose marmalade and mascarpone

Ibara chose marmalade and plain cream

Ōhinata chose strawberry jam and mascarpone

We were perfectly divided For a split-second, I noticed shop owner’s previously collected expression turn conflicted

The jam and cream arrived before us, as well as two scones per person Satoshi+ looked at all of us with a serious expression

“Hōtarō, I have quite a lot of pride in s”

“You don’t have to tell e of ”

“It feels weird to hear someone else say it like that Wait, that’s not the point What I’ is that I know the correct land Jam first…”

“So you cover the scone with jam before the cream?”

“Wait, cream first…”

“Well? Which is it?”

Satoshi+ stared at the scone plate and didn’t respond I guess he knew one of theot which one that was

Without waiting for the troubled Satoshi+’s answer, the shop owner casually told us instead

“You put the jam on first If you put the cream first on a warm scone, it’ll easily melt But in the end, it’s completely up to how you like it”

I see It certainly did h he told us we could do whatever anted, none of us started with the crea that As all of us started to eat, I suddenly heard a low noise ringing fro

“Oh, it’s Chi-chan”

Ibara stood up with the phone in her hand and immediately left the shop I didn’t know this because I didn’t have a cellphone, but apparently talking on one in a face-to-face environment like this was really considered bad manners It seemed like quite a hassle to use one

Ibara quickly returned

“She said she’s coht now”

“Does Chitanda-san kno to get here?”

“I told her to follow the path from Kaburaya Middle School until she hits the soba shop next door I didn’t tell her the name of the shop but it should be fine”

The banner outside the shop really stood out, so there was probably no need for concern

After that, we started talking about the weather to kill some time

“They said it was going to start raining in the evening”

Although I said this without thinking much of it, Satoshi+ and Ibara were quick to counter me

“That’s tomorrow isn’t it?”

“They said that the date changed”

Ōhinata grinned broadly fro a side

“I wonder which report is older”

I wasn’t confident inthe most recent one, however I stuck by it because it was the report I had seen

“That’s what it said in thenews…”

“I also watched thenews”

“Me too”

Two versus one The arbiter, Ōhinata, then handed down her ruling

“By majority rule, Oreki-senpai’s memory has been deemed to be incorrect”

To think I would be forced to accept the opposition I thought it ht be nice to see the down their faces as they thought with self-reflection, “Ah, Hōtarō Oreki was truly right that time”

While unintended, all of us took turns going to the restroom, and as I returned as the last one to do so, I saw Chitanda standing near the counter Not even ten minutes had passed since she had talked with Ibara on the phone She arrived pretty quickly As I dried my hands with my handkerchief, I called over to her

“You’re already here?”

She responded with a happy grin

“I was closeby”

Because Ōhinata sat at the furthest end of the counter, the only place Chitanda could sit was in the seat next to mine We had decided to sit at the counter because the tables only had four seats, but having five people sit in a line was probably too long, and it was a somewhat uncomfortable situation to be in I had just realized it, but because there were no other customers, we could have easily just taken a seat from a nearby table and sat with all five of us around the circle

“So ere you doing today?” asked Ibara

“It was one of my relative’s kiju celebration[8] I say relative, but I don’t really know theratulations After we greeted each other, they brought out the alcohol and I went to the kitchen to not cause any proble anyways”

“So happened?”

“Kind of It wasn’t reallydid”

Chitada showed a slightly troubled smile on her face

“When I went to go borrow their phone, it suddenly started to ring Because there was no one around, I decided to take theirterrible It was an old lady with a strong accent and quiet voice so couldn’t understand anything she was telling e or see if I could transfer it soe in itself Had I not had to deal with that, I would have been able to come much more quickly”

“What?”

The one who raised her voice was Ōhinata Even though there were three people in-between her and Chitanda, she leaned over the counter to get as close as she could to ask a question anyways

“You said you were borrowing their phone? You ht? Is there really a place around here that doesn’t get any signals?”

“Signals? Um…”

Chitanda looked confused She likely had no idea what Ōhinata had s became more complicated

“Chitanda doesn’t have a cellphone”

“…What?”

As she was at a loss for words, I suddenly felt like I had awakened some terrible beast Ōhinata leaned even further forwards

“Wait, but then… How can you get by? Like when you need to contact your friends Isn’t it bad when you can’t contact them?”

“I suppose…”

Chitanda had a soft grin on her face

“I deal with it somehow”

I also didn’t have a cellphone, but for some reason I could feel the societal pressure start to creep around us this time Betweenone first

“That aside, a kiju celebration, huh? I suppose Chitanda-san really does have it tough”

As if to tease her, Satoshi+ began to talk

“Really? This kind of thing happens to me once a year”

“I have never been to a distant relative’s place to celebrate their birthday once in my entire life,” e of the counter

Anyways, how old was soain? I felt like it had soave up on rean to speak with the shop owner

“Would you also like the blend? If you’d like, I can heat up a scone for you as well”

“I’ood with caffeine; I’m sorry you went out of your way to call me over like this It's a very wonderful shop, however”

Now that I think about it, I suppose that was the case, wasn’t it Whenever Chitanda drank anything with a lot of caffeine in it, she’d always beco to itup her ability to sleep Certainly

“Thank you very much, but I see”

After he mulled it over in his head for a little bit, he continued

“Maybe it’d be best to have a non-caffeinated menu as well”

No matter how you look at it, Chitanda was a rare case so there probably wasn’t any need to delve into that any further

“At any rate, if that’s the case, I’ I have that you could eat”

“Don’t mind me I’m sorry I arrived late in the first place anyways”

And with that, Chitanda made do with a cup of water As she started to drink it, however, she abruptly raised her head

“This is… This isn’t tap water”

She took another sip

“Nor is it fro from further upstreaher up in the ht?”

The owner broke out into a save the tiniest of nods

“It really is a shame I couldn’t have a customer like you try the blend”

I also took soht the cup to my lips

“I see, it really is mellow”

“Oh, I added lemon to that one, but it’s just tap water”

What a world we live in

As Chitanda held the cup with both hands, she peered around the shop

“I'd be nice if I could drink the coffee as well I' well at least”

“Thank you very much”

“What’s this café called?”

It was an obvious question

And yet it opened the floodgates Thinking about it now, it hadn’t been brought up even once in all of our discussions I looked at Satoshi+, he looked at Ōhinata, and she finally asked the owner in turn

“What’s the name?”

However, even the shop owner clammed up with a “That’s, well…” Ōhinata pressed the question even further

“No way You can’t be telling me that you haven’t decided on it yet”

“That’s not it It’s just, well…”

The owner looked at Ōhinata with a pained expression

“You’re going to laugh if I say it, To it secret”

“It’s soh?”

He thought about it for a bit and then said, “I personally think it’s a good naed to a coffee shop”

You’d think that in the ti, he would want to have the shop nae toit

And, of course, Chitanda wouldn’t let that “strange feeling” pass her by

“Unboard yet because you didn’t want Ōhinata-san to see it?”

Now that she had nboard in front of the shop, was there If there ould have alhly unlikely that he put off the construction sih at him As expected, he shook his head

“The font is pretty elaborate so it’s taking a long time to finish”

“When you say font, do youthe alphabet?”

“No, only kanji”[9]

As she heard this, Ōhinata let out a howl of delight

“Kanji, huh! You’re right, I hable sense for kanji!”

She then turned to face us with an expression full of happiness

“This is the saarāja) and ra (silk) fro others, to make ai ra-bu yuu (I love you)”[10]

Rāgarāja, huh? At any rate, the words she chose to demonstrate her point were beyond terrible Ibara looked like she was torn between laughing and staying silent

“What the heck’s up with those exa, Hina-chan?”

Was there really a first-year in high school that knew about things like Rāgarāja and Rakshasa? As I thought this, Ōhinata’s tanned cheeks started to turn red

“No, I was just born to a lowly salaryman I couldn’t think of any other words, so it doesn’t matter, does it?! I mean, ould you say if it were you, senpai?”

Ibara immediately responded

“The ai from aichi-ken (Aichi Prefecture) and the ra from koura (shell)”

Wow That was a pretty impression selection All of us spoke up in admiration

On the other hand, I could have sworn I heard the shop owner stealthilylike, “You’re close”

“So the shop’s name is still a secret? Hehehe, I’m curious!”

As least she was having fun

“Kanji, huh?”

As he said this, Satoshi+ folded his arms

“If we’re talking about kanji used in coffee shops you often see ‘to wait’ (tai) and ‘dream’ (mu) used in conjunction to make ‘Coffee Time’ (tai + mu)”

“I knohat you mean”

Ōhinata nodded, and the owner also said, “It’s along those lines”

By saying his shop na the lines of that “tai+ he used the same characters? I assumed that was the case, but Ibara had a different idea

“When you say ‘used a lot’, do you mean like the jewel radical in ‘coffee shop’?”

“Jewel radical? Isn’t it the king radical?”

“Although it looks like king, it’s called a jewel radical,” replied Ōhinata tolike that Without thinking, I turned to Satoshi+, but he shook his head in the sa, “I had no idea either”

Ibara’s knowledge ht have been correct in that one instance, but the rest of her ansas off

“That’s not it”

Then, as if in amuse three characters though”

“Then…”

As Satoshi+ said this however, Ōhinata quickly stopped him with her out stretched hand

“That won’t do, senpai Let ure it out”

“Well then, let’s make a competition out of it”

However, Ōhinata was unexpectedly serious

“This is just souess a name as has been the case since ancient times”

Was that so If it was decided in ancient ti we could do about that Satoshi+ started to tilt his head and wonder, “I would be able to understand if it was three days, but…” however he quickly gave up seeing Ōhinata’s resolve

“So give us a hint! A hint!”

For the briefest of moments, I saw the owner look at the noisy Ōhinata with an incredibly kind expression on his face It ht’ve been a hasty deduction on my part, but I started to wonder if he had always played with Ōhinata in this pure, childlike irl Then, al to keep the shop’s naave a hint

“The nanboard is just like it is”

“Signboard… What? Isn’t that obvious though?”

“Since you only get three tries, you should think carefully about it If you end up getting it right, I’ll give you so nice”

Ōhinata’s expression immediately exploded into brilliance

“I’ll definitely get it right Just you wait”

She then ferociously pointed her index finger towards all of us

“You heard ht, so none of you need to say anything from here on”

For the first tiht that this lively first-year in front of me was pretty childlike I didn’t ly juvenile side of her If I had to choose, I would probably say that it was endearing I

A clock was mounted on the wall, and even that had a rabbit on it At some point, the hour hand had already reached five o’clock We had been here for a surprisingly lengthy amount of time

Perhaps because she was thinking, Ōhinata rarely opened her mouth as we talked I had already finished off the coffee and didn’t even have the cup in front of , so I wanted to leave before that happened As everyone was slowly running out of things to say, I decided to take the opportunity to say it then

“Well then, I think it’s about time”

As I said that single line however, Ōhinata seemed to suddenly look nervous She looked up at the clock and had an expression that seeone She quickly reverted to her usual smile

“Oh, by the way!” she exclai I wanted to ask”

Most likely this was just a ploy to give her ure out the shop’s name It appeared that I was the only one who noticed her earlier moment of panic The other three didn’t see quickly out of thin air to distract them

“What is it?”

Ōhinata didn’t look at Ibara, the one who asked this, but rather at Chitanda

“Chitanda-senpai, your face is big, isn’t it”[12]

“My face is…”

As Chitanda muttered this to herself, Ibara quickly interjected

“It’s okay, that’s not what it means You have a thin face, Chi-chan”

“No, I understood what it meant I was just really surprised”

She rested her hand on her chest

“Umm, I wouldn’t say I know that h my family’s official business”

“Then,” Ōhinata gulped and then nervously continued in a awa?”

“Agawa-san?”

Chitanda lowered her head slightly

“Are you talking about the first-year, Sachi Agawa-san?”

“Ah, yes”

Ōhinata’s body sank back like it was sapped of all its strength Satoshi+ and Ibara sat between us so I couldn’t see what kind of expression she was

“Did soawa-san?”

“No… I just wanted to know if you knew her”

Chitanda, who sat on the other side of ht that thereoff about her appearance; she didn’t say “Did soawa-san? I’m curious” Ōhinata remained silent, so the atmosphere became strained around us

“U to everyone around ?”

Everything was on the house, apparently I felt bad leaving it at that because business was just starting for hi yet anyways, so the first customers would be able to enjoy tax free food because it was a pain to calculate it manually I’m fairly certain it was all a façade, however Satoshi+ and Ibara, as well as Ōhinata, were all close to the door I was next to the cash register with the owner, and Chitanda stood next to me

“I’h you went through all this trouble to let us come in early”

The owner only sht he was an e about that Maybe he was somewhat nervous because ere his first customers

“Don’t worry Coffee isn’t so you absolutely need to drink”

“This…”

As she started to speak, Chitanda suddenly tripped over her words It appeared she was about to say the name of the shop However, the na, “Th… this shop… I hope it does well,” as well as other things of that nature

Chitanda then suddenly turned to face me

“Um, Oreki-san I knoe’ll be able to see it when the shop eventually opens, but I… well, you see… just a little, well… um… I’m curious”

Ōhinata didn't want us to solve the mystery behind the name for her, but that didn’t necessarilyabout the unnatural things she had said and done prior, but at least I had a chance of solving this different issue at hand

Fortunately, there were a notepad and ballpoint pen near the register

“Can I borrow those?”

“Oh, sure”

“Thanks If I do it alone, it won’t count against her three tries I’m sure”

I then started to scribble on the notepad Chitanda peeked over my hand”

“…What?”

There were three kanji lined up next to each other

The first one meant “to walk”

The next one side”

And the final one meant “rabbit”

This shop’s name had several conditions

“If Ōhinata heard it, she would laugh”

“Anyone would be able to see it was a coffee shop just by looking at the name”

“It was along the same line as ‘Coffee Time’”

“It wasn’t ‘Coffee Shop’”

“The shop name only consisted of three kanji”

And finally was the hint given by the shop owner: “The nanboard is just like it is”

What exactly was the signboard, then? So far, there was no physical representation of the signboard So as it? There were two possibilities

The first was “the poster girl,” or in other words, “Ayu three kanji, but no matter which ones you used, no one would be able to tell it was a coffee shop

The other option was for it to be a “ that the item he’d choose for it would be coffee He didn’t seeht meals, and it’s not like coffee shops tended to be famous for their scones or sandwiches in the first place On top of that, it seeinal kanji for coffee, either In that case…

“You said the nan itself, didn’t you And the poster item in this shop is the house blend, am I correct?”

“Oh, I see”

Chitanda spoke up

“I also noticed he said ‘it’s a sha ‘our coffee’”

I nodded It see the coffee the house blend

If that was the name of the shop, then hoould you write it in kanji? The ansas similar to the earlier “Coffee Tiinally, there were specific characters used When splitting up the word blend (burendo) into three parts, you can only really do so like this: bu-ren-do It wouldn’t really work any other way

My first thought was the kanji for rabbit, which can be read as do There were pictures of rabbits everywhere in this shop, on the cups, on the spoons, and on the clock Most ie relief with the two rabbits on the wall behind the counter I was almost certain there was a correlation between the a to do with them

My next guess was the kanji ” There weren’t ht have so to do with the coffee shop He“incorrect” or “to despise,” and the ones“to stroke” and “absoluteness” were ht be the one“to dance,” but even that see about it once more, I remembered “Ayumi-san”

I was sinant Ayu to the owner, Ōhinata hadlike Po-chan in front of the customers” If her name was “Ayumi-san” but her nickname was “Po-chan” then her na” Whether or not it was the only character in her name, I had no idea At any rate, the character was co it on the sign

That left the ren This was the most difficult one

The shop owner said that Ōhinata would laugh once she learned the na Ayumi-san’s character in the title, when she herself wasn’t in a relationshi+p? She ht, I suppose, but I personally didn’t think it was that e about the ren as being the e point

On the relief on the wall, there were two rabbits inside the heart

“Ayuside” (ren) the “rabbit” (do) Burendo, or “Blend” The shop owner thought silently about it

He looked down at the notepad and up at me, and then cracked a smile

“That’s nice”

“What do I get?”

However the shop owner sihed as he sh