Chitanda-san,
can you defeat this "Mystery Thief Juumoji"?
Yes, we intend to!
With...
With everyone's help, I'm sure we can catch Juumoji-san!
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Be confident
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Strategy Meeting
Stress "everyone"
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Radio Broadcast
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Radio Broadcast
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Stress "everyone"
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Radio Broadcast
Strategy Meeting
Be confident
Radio Broadcast
Be confident
Stress "everyone"
Pumpkins
Strategy Meeting
You sure sound confident!
Now for what's on everyone's mind!
What is Juumoji after?
We have something prepared already!
Our item will be our completed manuscript!
Oh? A completed manuscript?
Yes, the completed manuscript for the Classics Club anthology, "Hyouka".
Huh?
Aren't we missing some?
This anthology is full of content at least as interesting as the Juumoji incident.
On Air
If you're interested, please come by and take a look!
I'm sure everyone will enjoy it!
Advertise Hyouka!
Pumpkins
Oh, that certainly makes me curious!
Please come and check out our anthology, "Hyouka"!
I know you'll like it!
The Classics Club also has a request for everyone, to assist in catching Juumoji.
Oh? A request?
Yes.
We only have four members, so we need more eyes to guard the manuscript,
so we'd like to ask that everyone come to the Classics Club.
We're counting on you!
I see! Fighting by numbers!
Yes!
I have expectations of everyone who will help us!
It's hard to turn down a request like that!
And...
if you could...
buy our anthology?
Please?
It looks like the last target, the Classics Club, is ready for battle!
Chitanda-san, best of luck!
Thank you very much.
I hope you'll all lend us your assistance.
That was Chitanda Eru-san!
Okay, we're off!
You were pretty good!
Thank you very much.
What's up?
Nothing...
I was just wondering if it was the right thing to do.
Every day is set in stone, and we
fukuzatsu ni kamaeta kyou ga
iki wo nonde sumashiteru Just hold our breath and live it through
mi ni oboe arun darou I'm sure you know what I mean
mi ni oboe arun darou
I'm sure you know what I mean
kimi wa dou shitai
What do you really want to do?
nani mo nakatta soburi de
Pretending like nothing happened to you
kabau itami wa mou
The pain inside just builds up
kokorodzuyoi kurai ni
It makes me feel all the more sure
sekasunda
And urges me to go on
tsukande koboshite
Catching on, falling through
fukanzen na bokutachi ga
We've yet to learn who we are
hikatte mienai
It's so bright, we can't see
mirai no jibun wo tsukureru nara
If we can decide the kind of person that we want to be
mezameru no ma hashire
When you wake up, just start running
shinkirou wo oikoshite
Breaking through all the illusions there
kawaritai no ma hashire
When you want to change, just start running
jiyuu na wan kamu dei
Your freedom will come one day
todokisou na kagayaki to ima wo erandeikou
I hope you choose this moment and the light that lies before you
toutatsuten wo shiranai fukai sai
We don't know where we might go, so after the sigh,
kokyuu wo kasanete
Just take another breath
Kudyavka's Order
Kudryavka's Order
Calling all, Kami High students!
Classics Club vs Juumoji
Kudryavka's Order
Be a witness to this incident!
One please.
That'll be 200 yen.
One please.
That'll be 200 yen.
One please.
They're selling...
They're selling!
Just a few more.
A few more, and we'll be sold out.
But is he really coming?
He can't really do anything with everyone here.
Yeah, totally.
I'd say it's impossible.
Geez, how long do we have to wait?
Is this Juumoji thing even real?
Maybe they're doing it themselves?
Now that's just sad!
Come on...
Oh, sorry.
That's my phone.
Shouldn't you answer it?
After we finish—
It's on fire!
It's burning!
Put it out! Quick!
Water?
He got us.
This is...
The Classics Club's completed manuscript has been lost. The ten letters have been achieved.
A note from Juumoji.
A
Classics Club Defeated
They sold out.
I wanted to sell them at full price.
No, this is more than enough!
Thank you...
Thank you so much!
Stop that.
One more thing, though.
Yes?
Should I really tell you?
What is it?
I heard you on the radio show.
Oh, that? Thank you so much for your advice—
About that...
I didn't think it through enough.
To be perfectly frank,
you aren't cut out for it.
When you try to control people using expectations, you sound completely dependent.
Completely dependent?
Is that how I sound?
Only about as much as the tip of my little finger.
But sometimes, pretending can eventually turn into your reality.
I see.
You should stop using that advice for your own plans.
Your weakness is that you only know how to get straight to the point,
but it's also a peerless weapon for you.
Did that make sense to you?
Yes.
I was thinking the same thing.
It didn't feel like something I could do well.
Um... in other words...
I'm tired of it.
Well, looks like you couldn't catch Juumoji either.
I had expectations of you, too.
Well, yeah.
Looks like I couldn't meet those expectations.
Anyway, it was a fun cultural festival.
I'll beat you next time to make us even for the cooking competition.
See you.
Who was that?
Tani-kun.
He's not very good at Japanese.
What's that mean?
He uses the word "expectations" too easily.
I think it's fine. It's not like—
You can't say the word "expectations" when you have confidence in yourself.
"Expectations" are what you have when you've given up.
You can't help it.
Unless you've already given up, it sounds so fake.
Fuku-chan...
A good example of "expectations" would be...
I thought I saw Houtarou go this way...
There he is.
I'll get right to the point.
You're Juumoji, aren't you...
Tanabe-senpai?
Oh?
A wild guess?
No, I have my reasons.
Tanabe-senpai?
First, this card.
Why the word "lost" and not the word "taken"?
Who knows?
Next, "ku".
You skipped "ku".
This would break the theory of "ten letters".
But what if there were something else involving "ku" that we weren't aware of?
Meaning?
What if the Juumoji incident was a message for someone?
A message saying that someone whose name starts with "ku" had already lost something that started with "ku".
That's a rather complicated message.
You wouldn't usually be able to decode it.
But what if the recipient of the message knew how to decode it?
Let me put it this way: I think that was the plot of Kudryavka's Order.
You're wondering why I know that title.
Kudryavka's Order is a variation on Christie's masterpiece, The A.B.C. Murders.
And the Juumoji Incident...
is a variation on Kudryavka's Order.
And the recipient of the message,
the man with a name starting with "ku",
is Kugayama Muneyoshi-the Student Council President,
and the artist for A Corpse by Evening.
Am I right?
I can't see why "ku" would be a person if the other thefts were clubs.
Juumoji never said that he would only strike clubs.
That's a weak assumption.
It's not weak at all.
You gave us a list of potential targets.
But not in imitation of ABC's letters.
This was your list of victims.
All the victims were chosen from this page.
The A Capella Club, the Go Club, the Fortune Telling Society, the Gardening Club,
the Cooking Society, the Wall Newspaper Club, the Magic Club, and...
Kugayama Muneyoshi.
Once I realized that, it wasn't hard to figure out that you were the one behind it.
Having all the victims on this page is a real giveaway.
The only people who could control the names on the page are the Executive Committee members.
But there are 20 members in the Executive Committee.
True. And that's where this manga comes in.
A Corpse by Evening.
President Kugayama worked with the writer, Anjou Haruna.
He would know about Kudryavka's Order.
Which means that President Kugayama could decode the message in Kudryavka's Order.
This is just a theory, but I'm guessing that President Kugayama lost the manuscript for Kudryavka's Order.
And Juumoji started this incident to guilt trip him.
In other words, this is the culprit's message:
"Kugayama's Kudryavka's Order has been lost."
And then, there's this afterword.
a few of
The person in charge of backgrounds wrote it.
the backgrounds
Anjou Haruna.
writer
artist
President Kugayama.
Our next work will be titled "Kudryavka's Order".
The only other person who would know the manuscript for Kudryavka's Order.
This is the only person who could be Juumoji.
And finally, the name.
Ajimu Takuha. What a weird pen name.
You wrote the first letters of each of your names and reordered them.
What do you mean?
Anjou Haruna make up the "a" and "ha".
Kugayama Muneyoshi make up the "ku" and "mu".
Take these from Ajimu Takuha, and you're left with "ji" and "ta".
Someone who participated in last year's festival, a second-year or higher, and on the Executive Committee...
Someone whose first and last names start with "ta" and "ji"...
Furthermore, a friend of President Kugayama who knows that he can draw manga...
Only one person fits this description.
And that would be you,
Tanabe Jirou-senpai.
Well done.
I never thought anyone but Mune and Anjou-san would be able to decode the message.
Seriously...
You exceeded my expectations, Houtarou.
Shuubun
When the light and dark are in balance
Hyouka
The Cooking Society's ladle has been lost
Juumoji
Why did you send the message in such an indirect way like this?
I'm sure you've figured it out.
Keeping the spirit of Anjou Haruna alive after she transferred?
That's one reason.
Another would be wanting to play around a bit with the cultural festival.
But mostly...
because I couldn't tell him directly.
That's the biggest reason.
One last thing then.
There's something I'd like you to do, Tanabe-senpai.
What's that?
I'd like you to buy these.
30 copies of the anthology, Hyouka.
You're telling me to buy these to keep your mouth shut?
Yes.
But the purchaser will be the Executive Committee.
We can't—
Oh, but you can.
Buy Online
You're selling various things from the cultural festival on the school website.
The Executive Committee will buy them from us and sell them on the school website.
I can't submit a purchase order without a valid reason.
It needs to be something popular enough to warrant it.
Of course.
But Hyouka will be popular.
How will that happen?
Because of the Juumoji incident, of course.
You're going to make the Classics Club your final target.
Fukube Satoshi and I will provide you support in the crime.
You'll have insiders in the target.
You won't find a better offer.
A crowd will form at Juumoji's final target, the Classics Club.
The anthology will sell like hotcakes.
That will be enough reason to sell them online.
And you'll finish the incident without a hitch.
What do you think?
True...
It's not a bad offer.
The Juumoji incident will have a good conclusion.
We'll have more products for online sales.
Our interests seem to coincide.
That's good.
So, how will you support Juumoji?
We've prepared a completed manuscript as a target.
It's also being guarded closely.
And?
According to this brochure, the Science Club will be demonstrating what happens when sodium is mixed with water.
I remember seeing in some video that it's quite explosive.
So you're going to use sodium...
Yes. I'd like you to obtain some.
Also, there's a water gun at the Confectionery Society.
Please find some way to trade it from them.
That's a dangerous plan you've got in mind.
It's a festival, after all.
Let's finish it with a bang.
Good grief.
I'll figure out a way to put some sodium between the pages of the manuscript.
When enough of Hyouka has been sold, I'll do this pose as a signal.
When you see it, shoot the manuscript with the water gun.
But won't everyone be watching it?
That's true...
In that case, I'll put Satoshi's phone somewhere near the door.
Before you shoot, call his number.
That should draw everyone's attention away momentarily.
Understood.
What about the note from the culprit?
This'll make quite a scene, so just insert it into one of the anthologies and drop it on the floor.
Sounds good.
I trust that you'll purchase these copies of Hyouka, then.
200 yen each.
You're a shrewd one.
It's been a serious problem for us.
What was your name again?
Oreki Houtarou from class 1-B.
When you say "expectations", are you talking about yourself and Oreki?
Exactly right.
How did you know?
I can tell just by looking.
I know you well enough.
Did you want to beat Oreki?
I didn't want to win.
But when you're always looking up...
Well, I guess it's kind of hard for you to understand.
That's not true...
Man, I wasn't thinking at all.
I totally forgot...
"A database can't draw any conclusions."
This year's Kanya Festival has safely come to an end.
Though, it seems there was a bit of a strange incident.
Nice job!
Anyway, good work everyone!
I hereby declare the 54th annual Kanya Festival closed!
I know I'm late, but I've brought it.
I believe that the person who wrote this will one day write a masterpiece.
You seriously brought it.
Yes...
This isn't my copy, but...
You knew about this manga, didn't you?
Yuasa told you?
That girl...
She told me you were friends with the writer of this manga.
Friends? I guess...
I wonder how Haruna's doing now?
I haven't heard from her in a long time.
Have you read this?
I think I understand your point of view.
Whether something is interesting or not is a matter of how you look at it.
But I don't think that's entirely right.
That would make everything completely pointless!
And that's why you took to A Corpse by Evening?
But that's a serious work.
If I only ever read comedies, I wouldn't read it.
Right?
You'd know it when you read it!
I know it!
There are works out there with that kind of power!
Only to those who understand the difference.
Kouchi-senpai!
I'm joking.
I wouldn't say that kind of thing seriously.
I guess you didn't get it.
Silly Ibara.
Ayako isn't being serious.
It just won't leave me be.
I haven't read it.
I stopped halfway.
Do you know why?
No...
You said that I'd know it when I read it, right?
You're right, I did.
I knew.
But who'd want to admit it?
What would you do?
If you had a friend who didn't really read manga,
and she decided to write one,
and then she comes up with that...
You've got to be kidding.
That's why it's sitting in my closet,
in a box, at the very back.
So I never have to see it,
and so I can say that there are no masterpieces.
But it keeps coming back to haunt me.
I know you went out of your way to find it, but I'm not going to read it.
Because, you know...
Once I read it, I know I'll call her.
And then I'll tell her, "I read it! It was amazing! I want to read your next one!"
There's no way I can say that, right?
This was on Body Talk...
A masterpiece is born a masterpiece.
Body Talk.
It's a good manga too.
Mine's a hundred levels below it!
This is all that's left?
Yeah.
No way...
I never imagined we'd do it!
This is amazing!
That mountain of copies...
This is far better than we expected!
Expected... huh...
Nothing.
I guess I can't tell Chitanda I used blackmail to do it.
Oreki-kun.
You said I did all this because Kugayama lost the manuscript for Kudryavka's Order, right?
It's just a theory.
I didn't find anything that would give you a motive.
Well, that's expected.
The only person who understands my feelings is probably Anjou-san.
You mean President Kugayama doesn't, either?
Right.
You tried to send this message to President Kugayama, right?
That's right.
Then why?
Mune—
I mean, Kugayama hasn't touched the pen since drawing A Corpse by Evening.
Anjou-san is certainly gifted, but I didn't know that Mune was that good.
My pathetic scribbles can't even compare.
There is a manuscript for it.
It was never lost!
If he felt like it, he could make it a story even better than A Corpse by Evening!
But for him, drawing manga was just something he did for fun that year.
That? Just for fun?
It's a waste, right?
It's a loss for everyone!
But he has no intention of drawing anymore.
I'd do anything to make him say, "Yes."
I was afraid of asking him.
I didn't want to believe that he never figured out the message.
Expectations are born from a despairingly large difference in skill.
I've had expectations of him all this time.
So is this what you really wanted to say to him?
"Kugayama,"
"have you read Kudryavka's Order?"
You really are something else.
And his answer was...
That's right.
He never once opened the work which Anjou-san poured her soul into.
He never saw through the code.
My message never reached him.
Oreki.
Thanks for lending this to me.
Thank your sister for me too.
Sure.
What?
Nothing. I'll tell her.
So what should we do with the remaining four?
It feels wrong to leave any, so how about we each buy another copy?
With that...
they're sold out!
Yay!
All that's left is to unravel the Juumoji incident!
Now I can put all my curiosity into this!
W-Well...
Actually, I think Houtarou's figured out one or two things about that.
Really, Oreki-san?
W-Well...
How about we talk about that over a celebratory dinner?
Satoshi!
You owe me this, at the very least.
I'm all for a celebration!
I wasn't able to be here a lot of the time, so I want to hear everything that happened!
How about we hold it at my house, then?
That's decided, then!
It is?!
Alright!
Party time! We're drinking tonight!
We're drinking?!
Yup! Oolong tea!
That was so lame...
Sold Out
joukyou wa hikagaku teki ni
The case seems so irrational
kanjou no monta-ju
A montage of emotions
dare ga dare wo yonderu
Just who's calling who right now?
furimukeba nigeteku shisen kanjiru
When I turn around I don't feel watched anymore
ki no sei ja tsurenai yo
I know it's not just my imagination
antena wa sainou da yuusha
A heroine's antenna is her talent
datte (datte) shiritai (kimi wa chigau no)
I mean (I mean) I want to know (Don't you want to?)
seishun ondosa ima no uchi tadashite ageru yo
I'll fix the difference in how we view our youths right now
ashita kaiketsu suru nara ima demo yokunai
If it'll be fixed tomorrow, then why not fix it right now?
kimi no misuteri-
You are a mystery
toite mitai
Detective I'll try to be
shougen no himitsumeita senaka sagase (kyou mo)
Looking for the person who makes this happen to me (Again today)
kimi wa fantaji-
You are a fantasy
hikareteyukuyo tsumui
You pull me in to see
fukuranda koukishin
I want to launch an investigation
torikku wa nai no ni
Even though there isn't a trick
ki ni naru yo
I'm curious
kyoumibukai
I'm so interested
doushite
Why is that?
Next time: Are the Mountains Sunny?
Are the Mountains Sunny?