Vol 5 Chapter 43 (1/2)

Hyouka:Volume 5 Chapter 4-3

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A few Kah School students passed me as I hid in the darkness of the enclosed bus stop While some of them looked as if they had just left the start line on the school grounds, others looked as if they had expended the last of their energy on the vicious uphill and downhill sections as they gasped for air There were even soaya Cup as they casually lu

Truthfully, I wanted to be able to look down at the ground and think in peace If I were to do that, however, I would almost certainly miss Chitanda when she eventually walked by

I planted ht

I was convinced that the reason Ōhinata had decided to quit was hidden somewhere in the 40 or so days between the New Recruit Festival and yesterday If I kept that suspicion in the forefront of my mind and retraced my memories then, I could certainly ree The answer she gave to the question concerning Ibara and Satoshi+ seemed to back up that possibility

But what about Chitanda? Judging by her appearance yesterday, she seemed to have an idea as to why Ōhinata had decided to quit Perhaps she thought that the reason was the result of a gradual accuht that the entire reason was due to that small period of time yesterday after school

If the reason took place somewhere within that 40 or so day span, then that meant this:

Chitanda was convinced that she was the one who drove Ōhinata into a corner It ht have not been inspired by any sort of clear hostility or ill-will, but Chitanda was at least aware of the situation to the point where she had i like, “Because I did what I did to that extent, Ōhinata is going to quit the club” As a fact, she thought she did so to drive Ōhinata away

If the reason took place sometime within the short amount of time after school yesterday, then that meant this:

While I was absorbed by the thrill of reading about the incredible life of a master spy, Chitanda had ry For exa le norlike, “I can’t bear being around a person like you any longer!” and then stor the lines of an explosion of repressed feelings

Which was it, I wonder?

Without a doubt, so inside of Ōhinata for the previous 40 or so days Only that would explain why Ōhinata had criticized Chitanda in such a roundabout“she resembled a bodhisattva on the outside”

But in that case, did that mean Chitanda was actually a yakṣa? Had she actually continued to pressure Ōhinata h to the point where she would quit?

It gradually became clearer and cleared as to what I should have focused on

Waiting was difficult I wasn’t the Ōhinata of yesterday, but hanging

This , but the worst part was the possibility of accidentallyattention If that happened, I would end up re for so to wait, continue waiting even longer in vain, and finally after being found, cold and starving one wintera theatre production entitled Waiting for Chitanda At any rate, I could no longer even try to predict the distance between the two us

I played with a certain idea

If I didn’t return to Kaaya Cup wouldn’t end However, running was still a pain Or perhaps more precisely, I was exhausted On the other hand, I was in a bus stop Busses were certainly a method of transportation

In that case I would really prefer it if a bus could coh school It would be fine; I had soe inthe way What a splendid idea, no? If you aren’t good at mental calculation, you should use a calculator If you aren’t good at English, you should use translation software If you aren’t good at running, you should consider using an alternate foret-go Might this very thing be considered the ? I’ve truly learned sos today

As I was engrossed in these thoughts of mine, Chitanda passed by

For a moment, I wasn’t entirely convinced by what I saw A part of it had to do with the fact that I still wasn’t used to seeing her in the white short-sleeved shi+rt and criy, tied-up hair also left me with a somewhat different impression than usual I had seen her hair put up before, for exaht after New-Year’s Day She did it toYet this was probably the first tih like this It was because I was so familiar with her usual demeanor that I alhtly open

I stood up and broke out into a run My moment of confusion caused me to react late, so I made an effort to hurry

The difficult mountain pass was directly up ahead, but I couldn’t see any signs of fatigue in Chitanda’s running gait Her arms were pressed to her sides as her waist shook up and down, her feet kicked off the asphalt, and her body seemed perfectly in rhyth as she ran

The road continued in a straight line between the dense forests and the approaching, freshly-planted fields It was possible that the road was repaved in recent years as the asphalt was a thick black, looking as if it were brand-new I had thought there was still some time left before it reached noon, but I squinted as I looked up at the dazzling sun already sitting high in the sky As I measured the distance between Chitanda and myself, I continued to run

I considered suddenly rushi+ng to catch up with her While it was true that one was unlikely to be paying attention to others while he/she was running, there were also a lot of classmates in front of and behind us It also felt weird to shadow her like this I wanted to run as fast as I could while at the sa up with her in a natural manner

Keeping in line with this desire, I slowly closed the gap I didn’t need to be close enough to physically reach out to her, sih for my voice to reach her

Even then, however, it was still far

My voice struck injoints see suddenly became more violent

“This is bad”

The mutter barely left my mouth

I didn’t feel like catching up

I didn’t feel like catching up because I simply didn't want to The second I did, I would have to ha and deductions As this thought crossed an to feel explicitly dull Yeah, that ive up

Were there 50 meters between us? Or were 100? Perhaps there were even more than that I remained at a fixed interval behind Chitanda; I could neither shorten nor even extend that distance I couldn’t afford to continue like this, running as I watched her ponytail sway froht

I clenched o either now or never

At around the sa unbelievable happened

Chitanda twisted the upper-half of her body as she ran and looked back

Our eyes met

There was no choice but to go I increased h she had turned to look behind her, Chitanda most likely had no idea that I was there Her eyes widened, and she quickly faced forward once erous to run while looking behind you While Chitanda naturally took the Hoshi+gaya Cup seriously as a part of the school’s physical education and didn’t slon as a result, she also didn’t make any special effort to shake me off

If I at least had the resolve to catch up with her, I’d be able to do it Aside Chitanda

She never once broke her rhyth atbehind a mask of composure

“Sorry I was thinking about calling out to you, but…”

Even though I considered hoeird shadowing her would be, it ended up turning out that way anyways Although she didn’t appear to be very interested in htly as a hint of doubt crept across her face Perhaps in an effort to save her breath, she kept her question brief

“Why’re you here?”

She probably realized I was supposed to be far up ahead by this point I got to the point without a moment’s hesitation

“I want to talk about Ōhinata”

“…”

“To that end, I want to hear your side of the story”

At thatbecahtest As the two of us continued to run, some tens of centimeters apart, I waited for her response

Finally, Chitanda replied with a pained look in her eyes

“It was my fault”

“What happened yesterday, right?”

“That’s between me and Ōhinata”

In the short amount of time it took for her to catch her breath, she continued

“I’m sorry you went out of your way, but I can’t bother you with this”

Although her eyes glistened withtoo dry, Chitanda looked straight ahead regardless, not saying any more I had predicted she would try to pile all of the responsibility onto herself like this, but I now understood that she was even refusing to simply stop and tell me her side of the story

Even then, I didn’t want to give up without first revealing my trump card, so I asked once more

“I want you to tellso”

“I appreciate the thought I really do But…”

Chitanda turned her head slightly and showed me a soft smile

“This isn’t anyone else’s fault”

Had I not been running, I would have hed then She was so utterly convinced that that was the case Even though there was so I knew and wanted to tell her…

I wanted to grab her shoulder to get her to stand still, but was no way I could've done that Putting asthat it would be enough to reach Chitanda, I spoke

“You’re wrong”

I tried to reason with that profile of hers

“That’s not what it was Ōhinata wasn’t angry at you for peeking at her phone That wasn’t the case at all”

For the first tian to crumble apart

The course ran alongside the edge of the forest, but it looked less like a forest andthe local shrine The street in front of Mizunashi+ Shrine led to the riverside as well

There were no traces of anyone else being in the shrine grounds I couldn’t tell exactly what kind it was, but I could hear the sound of a bird chirping in the distance There was a water spout, the kind that didn’t pour into any sort of basin, so Chitanda stood there collecting the water running fro the shrine ladle and then brought it to her mouth

“I’ distances”

Chitanda continued, her gyned on her body

“I was thinking I would try to go through the entire course without walking once”

“Sorry”

“The water here is really cold and delicious You should have some”

Because she moved aside as she said that, I washed my hands and then took soh to sparkle, so I figured it would hurt o I took only a little into my mouth and let it slowly trickle down my throat from there

When looking beyond the shrine's tori, you could see the line of Ka the course[2] None of theh this tori and up the stone stairs to notice us standing here, however Chitanda suggested that we enter Mizunashi+ Shrine because “it wasn’t the kind of story you could tell while running on the roadside Certainly enough, this place was very quiet, and it probably made it easier to calmly tell a story

Chitanda’s head drooped slightly, and she stood gripping her left ar me as I slowly drank the water, she asked me a question in a collected voice

“You saw, right? What I did…”

“No, I didn’t That’s why I want you to tell ”

“You didn’t… see?”

Even as she o on I washed my hands once ood

“I could only see your back That, and I also heard you say ‘Yes’ I could pretty h”

“Did I really say so like that?”

“I guess you did it subconsciously after all”

I showed her a wry smile

When I parsed throughthe word “Yes” I had thought that it was so about it, I assuly

However, when that single word brought , Chitanda and I were the only ones in the Earth Science lecture roo to call for ?”

What was that all about, then? Hypothetically, even had I mistook the sound of the wind for her voice, she should have reacted instantly when I called out to her And yet, the first time I called she didn’t even turn around, and the second time I called she only briefly turned in her seat

I should’ve realized thebehind it then and there Essentially, Chitanda hadn’t directed a single word at me As for why…

It wasn’t like she didn’t like