So according to your theory,
at least one person's high school life was sacrificed for the sake of the Kanya Festival.
I'm rather surprised, though.
About what?
That you would even try to solve a mystery.
That makes two of us.
You've solved quite a few mysteries since you started at Kami High.
And I know why you've gone to all that trouble.
It's for Chitanda-san's sake, right?
It's Chitanda's fault.
That works too.
But not today.
You had your chance to escape, Houtarou.
You were the last in line to give your theory.
No one would have blamed you if you just gave up and went home.
So why did you lock yourself in the bathroom to find the answer?
Was that for Chitanda-san too?
I'm tired of being gray.
Chitanda wastes more energy than I care to imagine.
Club president, writing the anthology, exams, and solving mysteries from the past.
I don't know how she does it.
Same with you and Ibara.
You're wasting plenty of energy in your lives.
Maybe, I guess.
But...
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Sometimes I feel restless when I see you.
I want to rest.
But...
I still can't find anything interesting.
That's why I thought, maybe...
Maybe I'd come up with a theory and waste some energy myself.
Say something.
Houtarou...
Houtarou, did you want a rose-colored life?
Maybe.
taikutsu na madobe ni
Sitting bored by the back window,
fukikomu kaze ni
A breeze blew through the room
kao wo shikameta no wa
The reason I screwed up my eyes
terekusasa no uragaeshi
Was to hide how embarrassed I was
Hyouka
aimai ni unazuku tenohira no kyou
I gave a faint nod from the edge of my palm
egaiteru jibun wa sukoshi oogesa de
The "me" I was trying to be was a bit more than I was
nani ka kawarisou na ki ga shiteiru yo
I get the feeling that something is going to change soon
kokoro ni yobikakeru kimi no sei da ne
You reached out to touch my heart; it must be because of you
kumorizora nozoita yokan
I had a feeling, looking into the clouds
te wo nobasou itsu yori mo chikaradzuyoi yuuki de
I reached out my hand, with a stronger courage than I'd ever had
hikari mo kage mo mada tookute
The light and the dark are still so far away
sore demo bokura wa
But even though they are
yasashisa no riyuu ga shiritai
We still want to know how people could be so kind
ima wa dare no namae demo nai
Now it doesn't matter whose name it may be
kagayaki no kanata he
Beyond the horizon's light,
zenbu kako ni naru mae ni
Before it all becomes the past,
mitsuke ni ikou
The Truth of The Classics Club and Its History
The Truth of the Classics Club and Its History
Rose-colored, huh?
Was that rose-colored?
I don't know.
Chitanda, investigating the past.
Sekitani Jun, defending the Kanya Festival.
Do I want to be like them?
Do I really want to be rose-colored?
I don't know.
And what does it mean to be "rose-colored", anyway?
I don't know.
That reminds me, Sis is like that too.
"I'm sure that I won't regret it 10 years from now."
I wonder what I'll think of myself when I'm 25.
I'm sure Sekitani Jun wouldn't regret it.
Would I?
Oreki residence.
Huh? Houtarou?
Sis? You're still alive?
How rude!
You think a few muggers could kill me?
So that's the trouble you got yourself into.
I just got to Pristina yesterday.
I have cash, and I'm doing fine.
I'll send another letter when I'm in Sarajevo.
That's it for me.
What's up with you?
We're writing the anthology-Hyouka.
Oh, Hyouka?
We looked into stuff about Sekitani Jun.
Sekitani Jun?
I haven't heard that name in ages.
So they're still passing down the story?
So the name "Kanya Festival" is still taboo?
Taboo
What'd you just say?
That was a real tragedy.
It's so depressing.
Taboo? Tragedy?
Depressing?
Wait a second, I'm talking about Sekitani Jun.
I know what I'm talking about.
The "kind hero", right?
Do you know what you're talking about?
No, it looks like I don't.
Could you tell me more about Sekitani Jun?
No time for that!
Later!
Damn you, Sis!
It's not over yet.
The theory I gave to Chitanda...
It must be either incorrect or incomplete.
If he were alive, would Sekitani Jun regret his high school life?
I originally didn't think he would have.
He sacrificed himself for the passion of his fellow students.
How could he have regretted such a thing?
That's what I thought...
But is that true?
He was expelled from school for a cultural festival, and his life was completely turned around.
When you think "high school life", the word "rose-colored" comes to mind.
But what if that rose color is so bright that it cuts that high school life short?
Can you still call that "rose-colored"?
No, you couldn't.
Sacrificing yourself for your fellow students without any regrets?
I can't believe such a hero exists.
And Sis called it a "tragedy".
Was Sekitani Jun's high school life really rose-colored?
I'm going to find out.
Oh, Fuku-chan!
Hey.
Did Houtarou call you here too?
Yeah.
He said to go to the club room after school because he had something to say.
I can't recall a single time when he's ever called anyone out to talk.
And I've got so much work to do for the Manga Society...
Hello.
Thank you so much for coming yesterday.
Don't mention it. It was fun for me, too.
More importantly, where's Houtarou?
Um...
Looks like he's here.
I see everyone's here.
What did you have to say?
I have some holes to fill regarding yesterday's theory.
I think it should close the case.
Huh?
Come on...
Oreki-san, it seems there is more about this case that I should know.
Don't worry.
We should be able to fill most of those today.
Alright.
What's that mean, Oreki?
What do you mean by filling holes?
Filling holes is filling holes.
Work done to complete an incomplete work.
Incomplete? You mean your theory was wrong?
I don't know.
Maybe I was on the wrong track, or maybe I didn't go far enough.
You don't know?
And you still called us out here?
I can't believe this...
Hear me out.
We should have paid more attention to Hyouka.
The preface clearly states that the story of Sekitani Jun was not the story of a hero.
But we decided that wasn't significant yesterday.
Because it was the writer's personal opinion.
Yeah.
But there's a chance that we were misled.
But you could say that about—
And this line, "His conflict, his sacrifice, and even his kind smile."
Should we really take this to mean his own sacrifice?
sacrifice
You could also read it as him being sacrificed.
But then the characters would be different.
sacrifice
It would start with the one for "life".
sacrifice
No, you can read it both ways with these characters.
They originally meant the same thing.
Thank you, top student. Good explanation.
Okay, so we can read it that way.
But we can't know which way it's supposed to be read unless we ask the writer.
Exactly. We just need to ask the writer.
The writer?
The writer who wrote the preface.
Kooriyama Youko.
She was a first-year student 45 years ago, making her 60 or 61 now.
You looked for her? The writer?
I didn't have to look.
She was right under our noses.
Right, volunteer librarian?
It was her?!
Right.
Right?
What's right?
The librarian, Itoigawa-sensei...
Itoigawa Youko-sensei.
Itoigawa Youko
Her maiden name is Kooriyama?
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
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Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
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Right.
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
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"Youko" written with the character for "raise" isn't very common.
Itoigawa Youko
Kooriyama Youko
And Itoigawa-sensei is about the right age, as well.
Also, consider the way she reacted when we told her we were the Classics Club.
You're definitely weird, Oreki.
I work with her all the time and I never noticed.
You really should let Chii-chan open up your head and take a look inside.
I've told you before.
Figuring things like this out is just luck.
I don't think I'd like Chitanda dissecting me over that.
Then if we ask Itoigawa-sensei about it...
She'll know what happened 45 years ago.
Why it wasn't the story of a hero,
why the cover illustration is like that,
why the anthology's name is "Hyouka"...
And she'll also know about your uncle.
Do you have proof that it was really Itoigawa-sensei?
Of course.
I've already asked her.
Directly?
Yeah. She was the club president when she was a second-year.
And I've made an appointment to meet with her.
It's almost time now. Let's go to the library.
Don't you look excited.
I guess.
Geshi
When the sun grows its hottest, or the day seems to reach its longest.
Hyouka
Itoigawa-sensei!
Oh, the Classics Club.
Forgive me, I have a little more work to finish.
Would you mind talking here?
Let me help you.
Thank you, Ibara-san.
Did you have a question for me?
Yes. But before that, I'd like to confirm again with everyone here that your maiden name is Kooriyama.
Yes.
So you wrote this, right?
Yes, I did.
I'm surprised.
There are still copies of that?
I think I know what you're going to ask.
You want to know about the movement 45 years ago.
Bingo.
She knows about it.
But why do you want to know about something so old?
I thought everyone had forgotten about it.
Yes. If Chitanda here weren't a curious mongrel, we would never have known.
A curious mongrel?
Sorry, curiosity monger.
I'm not a monger...
Why are you interested in the movement?
Because Sekitani Jun was my uncle.
Oh, really?
Sekitani Jun-san.
I haven't heard that name in ages.
Is he doing well?
I don't know.
He went missing in India.
I see...
I wish I could have seen him again.
I also wish I could see him again.
Itoigawa-sensei, please tell us.
What happened 45 years ago?
Why wasn't my uncle's story the story of a hero?
Why is the Classics Club anthology named "Hyouka"?
How correct is Oreki-san's theory?
Oreki-kun's theory?
What is that?
Sensei,
Oreki took bits of information and came up with a theory about what happened 45 years ago.
Would you mind listening to it?
Why don't we talk about this in the Librarian's Office then?
Librarian's Office
I see.
So that's how you explained why the expulsion was in October.
Yes. That's my theory.
So you put together this theory with only these bits of information?
I just put together their theories.
I'm amazed.
Were we wrong?
No, it's almost like you were there.
Almost all of your theory is true.
What else do you want to ask me?
I don't know. Houtarou says that it's incomplete, though.
There's just one thing I want to ask.
Did Sekitani Jun sacrifice himself for his fellow students of his own will?
Did he leave this school in pride like a hero, achieving the pinnacle of a rose-colored high school life?
It's like you can see right through us.
It was ages ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Back then, the Kamiyama High School Cultural Festival was like our reason to live.
You could say that the festival was the culmination of the energy that ran rampant throughout Japan at the time.
But the year I enrolled, the student movements grew so intense that it was practically a riot.
That year, the principal stepped on a landmine.
"We mustn't content ourselves with being a deserted village's temple school."
The students took it as an attempt to shut down the cultural festival.
When the date for the cultural festival was announced, it had been shortened from the usual five days to two.
That was the trigger for the protests.
The whole school was filled with tension.
Posters and speeches.
The movement evolved into an expression of the entire student body opinion.
You were really serious about it...
Well, it's a world we couldn't imagine nowadays.
It's not as glamorous as it sounds.
We were more like children deprived of a toy, crying to have it back.
That's not...
Well, it's something I can only say in retrospect.
And so, a movement against shortening the cultural festival was born.
But no one stepped up to take leadership.
They were afraid of punishment.
Shameful, isn't it?
And the one given the shortest straw was your uncle, Sekitani Jun-san.
The movement was actually organized by someone else, but his name was never revealed.
In the end, the plans to shorten the cultural festival were crushed,
but, swept by our passion, we went too far with the movement against them.
During the movement, we boycotted class.
When the protests reached their peak, we held bonfires to show our ardor.
The incident occurred on one of those nights.
A fire started in the Martial Arts Center.
The building was practically destroyed under the fire hoses.
That could never be justified by the student body.
The administration decided not to get the police involved,
but when the incident was brought up again, the students had no rebuttals.
In the end, the administration decided to expel a student as a representative.
The official leader of the movement, Sekitani-san.
Expulsion
The entire student body did nothing but watch as it happened.
And yet, Sekitani-san was calm until the end.
You asked if Sekitani-san sacrificed himself for his fellow students of his own will.
I'm sure you know the answer now.
And after a few years, the cultural festival was shortened anyway.
Now it's three days long.
That's the end of the story.
Do you have any other questions?
So the cover for the anthology symbolizes what happened?
The dog is the administration, and the rabbits are the students.
The rabbit taking the dog down with it is Sekitani Jun.
Is the Martial Arts Center older than all the other buildings at Kami High because it was rebuilt that year?
Yes. Twenty years ago, when the buildings were reconstructed, the Martial Arts Center wasn't nearly as old, so it was left alone.
Excuse me, Sensei.
You don't call the festival the "Kanya Festival".
Are the characters for "Kanya" not "Kamiyama", but "Sekitani"?
Kamiyama
Sekitani
Fuku-chan, what do you mean?
The origin of the name "Kanya Festival".
In honor of the hero, "Sekitani Festival".
Changing how you read the characters, "Kanya Festival".
But that name is deceptive.
Sekitani Jun didn't wish to become a hero.
If people knew that, they wouldn't call it the "Kanya Festival".
Is that true?
Yes. We decided to make that name taboo in the Classics Club.
Sensei, why did my uncle name the Classics Club anthology "Hyouka"?
Do you know?
No.
Sekitani-san had a feeling he was going to be expelled.
It wasn't like him, but he forced the name on us.
He said it was all he could do.
I'm sorry, but I don't really know what he meant.
You don't know?
You really don't know?
No one understood what he meant?
That lame message?
Hyouka
Oreki, what's wrong?
You don't know?
Couldn't you figure it out from the story?
"Hyouka" is a lame pun.
Pun?
Sekitani Jun made sure his feelings would be passed down to the descendants of the Classics Club,
as the name of the anthology.
What do you mean?
Do you know what he meant in naming it "Hyouka"?
Do you really know?
Tell us, Houtarou!
Houtarou?
What does "Hyouka" mean in English?
Ice cream?
Ice cream...
That was his message?
Like I said, it's a pun.
Um... I don't get it...
Um...
This is the real message that Sekitani Jun left behind.
I... remember now...
I asked my uncle what "Hyouka" meant.
So he told me...
That's right... he told me to become stronger.
If I were too weak, I...
Yes, there would come a time when I wouldn't even be able to scream.
And when that happened, I would be...
I was terrified at the thought of being alive, but dead.
I'm so glad I remember now...
I can finally lay my uncle to rest.
Thank you, Oreki-san.
Thank you so much, Oreki-san.
It was nothing.
I was just lucky.
Yes. Just lucky, right?
Ice cream.
"I scream."
So, I put together a layout and a timeline for the anthology.
No. 2 Kamiyama High School
Classics Club
Hyouka
No. 2 Kamiyama High School
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Hyouka
No. 2 Kamiyama High School
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Is this how you do a layout?
It looks great, Mayaka-san!
You think so?
Where did you learn how to do this?
That doesn't matter, does it?
Hey.
This "Kind Hero Incident: A 45-Year-Old Truth Uncovered" special...
What?
Why do I have to write it?
You solved that mystery, so obviously you have to write the story.
It has more pages than anything else!
Of course it does.
It's our cover story, after all.
Is that okay, Oreki-san?
If you don't want to, I can write it for you.
In that case—
Don't do it, Chii-chan!
This is the only way you can use him!
Right, right.
You have to use him as much as you can.
Now stop complaining and think about how you're going to write it.
As for you, Fuku-chan, you'll be...
I'm surprised.
About what?
Your story in the anthology.
You decided to write it in the end.
It's less like deciding to write it and more like I can't get away from writing it.
Well, I guess it'll make a good tribute to Sekitani Jun.
Speaking of surprises...
Yes?
A while ago, I suggested asking Satoshi and Ibara for help as well.
You were reluctant at first. Why did you suddenly decide you would?
Oh, that's because...
You said that even if we don't find the truth, it would become history to me eventually.
It's true that I might not mind not knowing ten years from now.
But to think that what I'm feeling right now won't matter in the future...
I don't want to think that.
I'm alive right now.
That's why...
I'm sorry, I don't really know what I'm saying.
It's fine.
It's the same for me, too.
Well, anyway, see you.
Yes. Goodbye.
Dear Oreki Tomoe,
I'm sending this letter to you with two questions:
How much did you know about the Classics Club?
Why did you make me join the Classics Club?
You know my way of life perfectly well.
Energy conservation.
If I hadn't joined the Classics Club, I would never have given a second thought about my way of life.
Did you anticipate that something would change that if I joined the Classics Club?
Also, about Hyouka.
Since I found the truth behind the Sekitani Jun incident through it,
I've started thinking that my way of life might not be wrong.
Speaking entirely relatively, of course.
But if I put it that way, it's almost as though Sis...
No way.
Consider this letter a status report from me.
Bon voyage.
Thanks for the advice.
Oreki Houtarou.
konya koi ni kawaru
Tonight’s the night we fall in love
shiawase na yume de aou
Let’s meet in our sweet dreams
kitto ne mitsukete ne
Please come and find me
madoromi no yakusoku
A promise for when we sleep
mebaeteta nukumori atatakakute tomadou
I felt a growing warmth; it felt so nice that I couldn’t think
konna kimochi wo mada anata wa wakaranai no
But these feelings I have, you still don’t know they’re here
sono shisen ni wa imi nante betsu ni nai hazu
I don’t think there’s anything special in how you look at me
datte tomodachi ni shiteru no to onaji
It’s the same way you look at your friends
akegata ni kieteku chiisana negaiboshi
Fading into the dawn, my tiny wishing star
yoru no aida de no mahou
Magic that lasts only the night
konya koi ni kawaru
Tonight’s the night we fall in love
shiawase na yume de aou
Let’s meet in our sweet dreams
kitto ne mitsukete ne
Please come and find me
madoromi no yakusoku
A promise for when we sleep
Next time: Commit a Crime.
Commit a Crime