Hyouka:Volume 2 Chapter 1

1 - Let's Watch a Movie Preview!

There was a saying that all men are created equal. At the same time, it was also said that nobody is born perfect. If both these phrases were valid, then the order of heaven would be unenforceable. As a person'a value would change depending on the region they're from, one cannot just dismiss their values entirely. Let alone being born perfect, just being born with one talent is difficult enough. While the common folk may be envious or jealous of geniuses around them, for me their talents are just a part of our daily lives, so I don't see what the fuzz is all about.

It was the end of the summer vacation . I was having such a conversation with my old mate Fukube Satoshi, who nodded in agreement with my thoughts,

"Exactly. For the past 15 years that I have lived, I don't seem to be the sort to possess any talents at all. Though there's a saying that great talents mature late, but that sounds more like working hard through nurture rather than talent. So guess wishing for some talents is a distant dream for us."

"Well, geniuses are geniuses for a reason. If we common folk can obtain their talents, then we wouldn't need to be envious of them."

"My, longing for the life of a common folk now, aren't you, Houtarou? ...... If it's you, then..."

Satoshi then casually quiped,

"I think you're actually quite talented."

I have no idea what he was talking about. As I gave a puzzled look, Satoshi chuckled and said,

"I know very well that I'm not the talented sort, but the same cannot be said about you, Houtarou."

"Wha?"

As his manner of speaking is usually filled with jokes, I thought a little about accepting the good parts of what he just said at face value. I had two rebuttals to make, firstly,

"If I had to say it, I think it's premature of you to call yourself a normal person. Aren't you pretty good at collecting vast amounts of knowledge?"

Satoshi shrugged his shoulders,

"Well, I guess, even if it sounds like bragging. Though I wouldn't go so far and say that I'm good enough at winning quiz shows. The knowledge I learned isn't that vast."

Really?

Anyway, second rebuttal,

"If I'm not a normal person, then there's no way I could observe people,"

"Then I won't say anything more. Though I'll still have reservations about you not having any talents,"

"Where have you ever seen me using my talents anyway?"

"Hmm, where huh?"

After pretending to think, he pointed his finger towards Kamiyama High School,

"There."

"The school?"

"No, the Geology Room, AKA the Classics Club room...... You were simply amazing in solving the 'Hyouka' incident. Truth be told, I never expected you to be that good. That's why I said I'm having reservations about you not being talented based on that,"

He said while smiling. In contrast, I looked bitter.

The "Hyouka" incident. It was not a criminal incident, neither was it civil. "Hyouka" was the name of a series of essay anthologies published by the Classics Club, a mysterious organization which I and Satoshi belonged to. The reason why the anthologies were named as such cannot be explained in a few sentences, and for very good reason as well. Thanks to such a reason, I was involved in all sorts of bothersome events. And Satoshi was commenting on my role in such events.

He continued,

"The one who solved all that was you."

"Now you're exaggerating. I was just lucky."

"Lucky, huh? I wasn't talking about how you think of yourself, but how I see you,"

He can say such haughty stuff with such a calm tone. As I was used to his manner of speaking, I was hardly annoyed.

Besides being an old mate, Fukube Satoshi is also a good rival. As a guy he was short in stature, and his weak-looking appearance would easily be mistaken as that of a girl if seen from afar. However, he is actually quite spirited, especially when pursuing things that interest him. So much so that he would prioritize that over other things that are considered "necessary" by everyone else. He is always seen carrying a smile and a drawstring bag. As he swung the drawstring bag around, he asked,

"By the way, what time is it now?"

"Check your own watch."

"It's inside my bag, it's too bothersome to take it out."

He tapped at his bag and said. Satoshi considered carrying a wristwatch around too troublesome, and would prefer to check the time via his cellphone.

"I'm the one that's feeling bothersome here."

"'If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, hurry up and finish it.' Right?"

Satoshi smiled while poking fun at my motto. I checked the time on my wristwatch and corrected him,

"It's 'If I have to do it, make it quick.' ...... Anyway, it's just past ten."

"Do you really have to memorize every word of that, it's not like it's some grandiose motto or anything. Wow, is it ten already? We'd better hurry. Chitanda-san may be able to forgive us for being late, but it's Mayaka I'm scared of."

That I agree. Ibara Mayaka can be very scary when she's angry. I don't know if Satoshi knows this or not, but I have a feeling Chitanda Eru's the same as well. As Satoshi picked up his speed, I followed suit.

Crossing the traffic crossing, we came upon the school gates. It was a typical day in Kamiyama High, where there're students everywhere despite being a school vacation.

The courtyard was filled with students either in uniform or casual wear. The music from the musical clubs could be heard playing. Besides the courtyard some sort of large monument was being erected, probably some attraction devised by some club. Even though it's summer vacation, Kamiyama High School was still filled with students with full of energy, as all were preparing for the Cultural Festival.

The total number of students Kamiyama High School numbered about a thousand. The school provides curriculum for university entrance exams as well as having a lively club activity scene. If you exclude the exalting Cultural Festival, Kamiyama High was just a normal school like any other. The campus contained three buildings, the General Block which houses the regular classrooms, the Special Block with their special purposes classrooms, and the Gymnasium. The Classics Club room is located at the Geology Room in the fourth floor of the Special Block.

Amidst the singing of the Chorus Club and A Capella Club from the courtyard, we hastened our pace. As Satoshi said, my motto was "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, make it quick", to put it simply, I was an "energy saver". Such a lifestyle was totally different to those that go all out in these student activities like the Cultural Festival. Though I wasn't in the mood to think of such stuff now.

From the entrance, we headed towards the corridor leading to the Special Block. A long painting from some club was seen placed on the side of the staircase to dry as we climbed them up, taking four steps at a time, which was quite exhausting. As it was the late summer, I took out my handkerchief to wipe my sweat as we entered the Geology Room.

We were at once greeted by someone yelling,

"You're late!"

Standing firmly in the centre of the room like a guardian god was none other than Ibara, the actual person in charge of overseeing the publication of the Classics Club anthology "Hyouka", of whom I have a long acquaintance with.

Ibara Mayaka. While we were not exactly intimate with each other, for some reason we just couldn't avoid seeing each other all the time. While she has grown since primary school, she still had a childish-looking face despite being a high school student. Despite her appearance, she is actually quite strict. Besides being unforgiving to mistakes made by others, she is even more demanding towards herself. The reason of her wrath was simple, as it was agreed that we were supposed to meet up here at ten in the morning.

Maintaining her guardian god stance, Ibara spoke,

"Fuku-chan, explain yourself."

Satoshi's smile became stiff as he said,

"Well, we couldn't use our bikes today......"

"You're supposed to know that already!"

By the way, while people were free to come to Kamiyama High School via bicycle during the summer vacations, as the bicycle park was currently under maintenance, it was unusable.

"Get a grip already, Fuku-chan! You still haven't handed in your manuscripts!"

Satoshi spread out his hands as he struggled to protest,

"W, wait a minute Mayaka! Isn't Houtarou late as well?"

Ibara turned to look at me, and upon meeting my gaze, turned back towards Satoshi,

"Who cares about Oreki?"

...... Different standards, huh?

The reason Ibara paid so much attention to Satoshi was because she had a crush on him. And she herself made no attempts to hide this. On the other hand, Satoshi has been evading her advances to this day. As to when they started all this, I had no idea.

Anyway, the Classics Club was made up of four members: myself, Satoshi, Ibara, as well as the President Chitanda Eru. Though right now Chitanda was nowhere to be seen.

"That's double standards!"

"What're you talking about? There's no double standards."

I interrupted their meaningless exchange and said,

"Hey, Ibara, Chitanda's absent as well."

"How can I have double standards...... Huh? Chi-chan? That's right, she still hasn't arrived. That worries me."

"I see, indeed it's not double standards," Satoshi muttered.

"Yeah, it's triple standards,"

Unusually, Ibara replied while smiling.

As if on cue, a silhouette was seen silently opening the door and entered the room. It was Chitanda.

Chitanda Eru. With her long and dark hair and frail-looking figure, she gave the look of an elegant lady. And that was a fact, as she was the daughter of the Chitanda Clan, which owned vast tracts of farmland within a corner of Kamiyama City. However, in contrast to her graceful nature was her large eyes. To me, those were what represented her the most. If Ibara was a child in appearance, then Chitanda was a child due to her incredible curiosity to every mystery she ever encounters. Yet she was intelligent despite such a childlike nature, which makes it all the more difficult to cope with her.

The clock pointed to half past ten. Chitanda bowed deeply and said,

"I'm very sorry for being late."

Chitanda hardly looked this unkempt. While not strictly punctual, it was rare to see her late. Ibara must be thinking the same thing as she asked Chitanda without blaming her,

"Did something happen?"

"Yes. A little bit, I was having a long conversation just now."

What conversation? We won't know if you don't elaborate. That said, Chitanda continued before I could ask.

"I'll explain later about what conversation I was having."

What's she up to? I have a bad feeling about this.

"Hmm...... Oh well, let's get started then."

The reason the Classics Club is gathered here today was to hold a meeting concerning the publication of the club anthology "Hyouka", which includes what design and fonts to use, how to arrange the articles and what paper to print on. While it would have been better if I had just suggested to let Ibara handle everything, she would probably not allow it, as she reasoned that as we have all contributed our money and manuscripts, it's only fair that we take part in compiling the anthology as well. While I didn't exactly want this, but then I haven't got anything better to do during the summer vacation anyway.

Ibara took out a few paper samples from her bag and began speaking,

"This is the highest quality paper that our budget could allow, while this is the cheapest. They're very different, and not just in appearance, but how the ink appears on them......"

As she began explaining, both Satoshi and Chitanda listened with enthusiasm. While I felt like a piece of rotting wood within the mountain, I still made an effort to listen, or else Ibara might get mad.