Vol 5 Chapter 43 (2/2)

“That ‘Yes’ was the was the sound you make when you answer a phone”

“Is… that so?”

“Was I right about you answering a phone?”

“Yes, I certainly was answering a phone I don’t really remember, however, if I said “Yes” or “hello” at that time”

It wasn’t an impossible story People don’t often say those kinds of formalities consciously Hypothetically, had I heard her say “hello?” instead, I would have most likely known she was on the phone

“Even when I called you, all you did was briefly turn around without saying anything”

“I remember that But I mean…”

“You couldn’t listen to me because you were on the phone”

Chitanda nodded

Of course, Chitanda wasn’t the one who made the call, she simply received it If that weren’t the case, she probably wouldn’t have only started with a simple “Yes”

Chitanda didn’t own a cellphone, however I didn’t know if there was a reason behind it, but she didn’t have one regardless Whose was it, then?

It may have been left behind by one of the students who had a class in the Earth Sciences lecture roo after classes had ended

Upon further consideration, however, that seemed unlikely

“If that phone was left behind by someone in a place that was difficult to see, I’d expect that the only way you would notice it would be if it e Yet, I didn’t hear a single thing”

Ringing or beeping out loud was one thing, but even someone like me who didn’t have a phone knew that they ainst a hard surface If a sound like that had reachedpulled away from my book After all, that’s’ exactly what happened when I heard the small “Yes”

That meant that there was either no sound, or that the sound was so quiet it couldn’t reach me Why was that?

“If the phone was Ōhinata’s, everything would make sense”

“Ōhinata-san’s phone was silent?”

“No way, that’s not it Try and remember; where was Ōhinata’s cellphone?”

Chitanda quickly responded

“It was on top of the desk Ōhinata-san put it there after she sat down”

Thinking back on it now, sooshi+ around Ōhinata placed her phone on the desk that ti like that when she was in her casual clothes, so maybe it’s solely a sailor uniform custom

“And then yesterday, you had a textbook and notes on top of your desk If you put a cellphone on a soft surface like those, the vibrating sound would have been quieter and I wouldn’t have been able to hear it”

If you were visiting so, ould you do if there was no one around to answer it Si was certainly one option However, the other option was to instead pick up the phone and inform the other party that “no one in the house is currently available” In actuality, ent to Blend earlier as trial custo late precisely because she had stopped to answer the phone at someone else’s house When she realized that the cellphone was vibrating yesterday, she probably answered in order to pass on any es

It didn’t end happily with her good intentions, however

“When you answered the phone yesterday, Ōhinata was o hoo to the bathroo That’s why she quickly returned And that’s when she saw you using her phone”

Chitanda slightly nodded

Yesterday, after hearing that single “Yes,” the strong wind blowing around the classroom had started to make me chilly, so I went to close s The reason the as circulating so much could probably be attributed to the fact that the Earth Sciences lecture room door was open When Ibara came later, however, I distinctly reet in

This meant that someone had to have closed that door at some point

That someone was probably Ōhinata She had probably only briefly left, returned, and then finally left for her house She closed the door behind her at that point, saw Ibara, and then told her she was going to quit

“Ōhinata’s cellphone started to vibrate on top of my dictionary”

Chitanda began to speak

“Ōhinata-san went to go wash her hands so she wasn’t around I thought it ht be bad if I went ahead and answered on my own, but what if it happened to be really ie button and it suddenly stopped vibrating I don’t really reht it connected However, I couldn’t hear any voices co from the other end

“Because it wasn’tit in the pal At any rate, I was desperately thinking of how I could avoid breaking it… I re about it, actually, I should’ve asked you for help”

If she thought that the call went through, I guess it couldn’t have been helped

“You placed it into the palm of your hand, and after that, the person on the other end didn’t say anything”

“That’s correct”

I fear Chitanda may have never used a cellphone before

I’ve seen Satoshi+ use his phone nuuess as to how to use one Ōhinata’s didn’t vibrate because it received a call It most likely simply received a text Chitanda probably didn’t press any strange buttons either The phone vibrated for a predetermined number of seconds and then stopped by itself Or perhaps it really was an incoth had expired, sending the call to voicemail At any rate, Chitanda had held the cellphone in her palh

Ōhinata had no way of knowing that, however

“Ōhinata-san returned to the classroom I had never seen her look at me with those kinds of eyes before, so I couldn’t even speak… She grabbed the phone from my hand and said, “Goodbye,” in a cold voice that it sounded like she was going to disappear forever, and then she immediately left I’m stupid, aren’t I? It was then when I finally realized how much I messed up”

“It was just a cellphone”

“To me it was just a phone, but…”

Chitanda forced a bitter smile

“All of us have so we treasure”

Her voice was almost a whisper

“Because I don’t have one myself, it was impossible for me to know just how much Ōhinata-san treasured her cellphone Now I do know To people who have one, its i like that of a diary No, perhaps evenyou, wouldn’t that already be reason enough to cut ties with theht that I knew that… It only ry at me”

I could see where see was cos like that happened every now and then

“What are you going to do now, then?”

“I planned on going to apologize to her once we returned to the school After all, I couldn’t do even that yesterday”

From Chitanda’s perspective, this was probably the obvious answer If she tried her hardest to sincerely apologize, Ōhinata ive her That was if the cellphone was the only problem, however

What happened yesterday wasn’t everything that had happened between thery when she saw Chitanda touching her phone It ht’ve even been the final straw, but it certainly wasn’t the whole problem I responded

“You should probably give up on that It’s useless”

“Yeah”

Chitanda gave a slight nod

“Oreki-san, you said it wasn’t because of the phone, didn’t you? If that’s true, then it probably will be useless after all But if that’s the case, then…”

She became quiet and started to think for a little bit

For someone often slow on the uptake, Chitanda always see times like these She suddenly lifted her head to look at , her voice dipped in loneliness

“I’ve probably hurt her without realizing it, haven’t I?”

Things so out like this

Yesterday, before entering the clubroo quite peculiar She had been hanging fro In all reality, it probably wasn’t the case that she wanted to do so at all The Earth Sciences lecture room door had been open, so it was possible to see inside Knowing that Chitanda was the only one inside, Ōhinata hesitated Just like when I hesitated while chasing after Chitanda earlier

When I would be called to the Student Guidance Roo why I was called there in the first place, I would slap my cheeks to find the resolution to walk in Whenever I received a letter fro unsavory again, I would look up to the heavens and sigh before I cut the seal These rituals of then ”

In other words, Ōhinata headed towards the classroom yesterday with the resolution of one prepared to settle a battle once-and-for-all She had planned fros with Chitanda This could also possibly explain why she looked so disappointed when I showed up

Chitanda brought both her hands in front of her and gazed doards with , al

“I won’t ask you to believe me”

“Believe what?”

“That whatever I did to her wasn’t ood upperclassman to Ōhinata, I didn’t wish for that to happen That I don’t knohat it was that I did wrong I won’t ask you to believe s”

How could she say that this late in the gas Chitanda said made absolutely no sense whatsoever

“It’s too late for that now”

“Yes, I know”

“If you had truly thought that you did so like stop in the middle of theday like this one”

Chitanda’s head came up in surprise I was the one to turn away this time

This was, above all, a gamble Had Chitanda done it on purpose? Did she truly put on a bea her to quit the club?

None of the evidence denied it

Had this been the o, I probably would have come to that conclusion With my subjectivity out of the picture, a lot of infor to the possibility that Chitanda had indeed pressured Ōhinata There wasn’t anything that could decisively deny that

But this past year had happened Even if it wasn’t everything about her, hell, even if it was nothing ments, I had come to know Chitanda I had heard about the story of her uncle I had been taken to the s inn I had sold the anthologies at the culture festival I had had the pointless discussion after school I had been trapped inside the shed I had held an umbrella up for a doll

That’s why I denied it

Even though Chitanda ht’ve seemed different from other people because of the extraordinary tranquility surrounding her, I didn’t feel like she would have chased away a new recruit

It was a gamble born from an extremely irrational pre on looked so like this: “Ōhinata felt pressured by Chitanda in the 40 or so days that she had spent with us, but not only did Chitanda not intend for that to be the case, she couldn’t even think of anything aside froht have caused Ōhinata to becory with her” And somehow, it looked like I won

Mizunashi+ Shrine lay surrounded by giant cedars The birds around us cried ceaselessly I glanced at Chitanda out of the corner of ht filtered by the branches above, I thought she looked somewhat like a lost child who had finally been found

“Oreki-san, I…”

Unfortunately, however, I had no tiroup was the last of the second-years to start I needed know everything before Ōhinata caught up

“So what kinds of things did you talk about yesterday?”

Chitanda looked like she wanted to say so, but she eventually responded with a resolute nod

“I understand I’ll tell you everything that happened”

Immediately after she said that, however, I heard herelse under her breath

“But no matter how I look at it, it was your normal, everyday after-school conversation…”

Translator's Notes and References

Ju without coating it with anything other than a small layer of flour

Jue, wooden (and often red) arches that are co into shrines