OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
Do you know about the "most beautiful formula in mathematics history"?
It's eiπ+1=0, what people call Euler's Identity.
The natural logarithmic base e,
the ratio of circumference to diameter pi, the imaginary number i, 1, and 0
all fit into this equation with nothing superfluous, and fit in such a way that it was meant to be.
If there is a god in this world,
this is a piece of evidence that will be listed as one of the most credible.
WHAT'S AMUSING, OR AT LEAST BEAUTIFUL, IS THAT THIS FORMULA WAS "PREDETERMINED."
IT'S BEAUTIFUL, BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, IT'S ALSO SCARY.
And yet, Ougi Oshino - that transfer student - just might throw out some candid advice
even for the beauty of Euler's Identity, just like this:
Yes. It indeed is beautiful, Araragi-senpai.
Beautiful, so beautiful, it just makes me swoon.
The most beautiful part about it is that the answer is zero.
That said, someone like me thinks that if the answer is going to be zero
there's really no need to go out of your way to make the calculation.
Hearing that, I reconfirm my belief;
Ougi Oshino is Ougi Oshino, and there's no way to express it.
Before her, everything is zero.
No matter what she does that may seem out of character,
it always ends up being something characteristic of her.
And so, this time, we have a story about mathematics.
Let's study.
People tend to brace themselves when they hear "mathematics".
So we can break it down and say this is a story about "arithmetic" instead.
While we're at it, we can be more blunt and say this is a story about "numbers."
After all, this is a story where strength in numbers provides a solution.
In other words, it's a story about majority rule.
Majority rule.
The only method that can turn even a mistake into a truth.
A formula of building blocks that pursues conspiring instead of happiness.
Our inequality. Our unfair equation.
INEQUALITY
UNFAIR EQUATION
What can truly be said as something humanity has invented is probably this and only this.
And, this is the ugliest formula in human history.
OUGI FORMULA, PART ONE
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
If you were with an underclassman you've just met,
and you found yourselves trapped within a mysterious classroom, and an hour had already passed...
If you've ever had such an experience, I'd definitely like to seek your advice.
It's no good, Araragi-senpai.
Oh, that just now... I didn't mean that you're no good at all, okay?
I've tried lots of things, but neither the big windows or the upper ones will budge one bit.
That's what I meant.
No...
A misunderstanding where I feel like I'm no good?
I hardly think this is a situation where I could do that.
It's no good on my end either.
It doesn't feel like they're locked or anything...
Somehow, it feels more like they're held in place by something like glue.
Yes. Just like I said before, the window will not budge, even a tiny bit.
As for the locks, the crescent locks that are fixtures of these windows do move.
However, the actual window frames don't move.
Right, so it "feels more like" they're held in place by something like a glue.
We have no choice. Let's wait for help from outside, Ougi.
Fortunately, the fact that we're here is something Kanbaru knows about.
I don't know about that.
You're relying on someone else to help you, Araragi-senpai?
All people can do is save themselves on their own.
Yet...
Excuse me. This was a principle that my uncle used.
It has nothing to do with me or with you, Araragi-senpai.
But in any case, Araragi-senpai, it's not a bad thing to rely on one's comrades.
But fundamentally, I don't think we should give up trying to escape by our own strength.
Because...
The hands of the clock, from the moment we entered this classroom...
They hadn't moved a minute... not even a second.
Out of batteries? I don't think it'd be anything like that.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
Everything began on a certain day at the end of October,
NAOETSU HIGH SCHOOL
roughly six months since spring break,
when I was assaulted by a vampire with blonde hair and golden eyes.
Hey, Araragi-senpai! It's me, Suruga Kanbaru!
Are you alone? Yeah, you're alone!
Actually, there's someone I want to introduce to you, Araragi-senpai!
Isn't she cute?
So, what's with that girl? You said you wanted to introduce her to me...
She said she had something she wanted advice about. From you, Araragi-senpai.
So I want you to go meet her.
So, what's this advice that she wants?
I didn't hear all the details either, but it's apparently some advice about apparitions.
Yeah, it somehow seems like she knows something.
She knew about my left hand, and also about your blood, Araragi-senpai.
She said she heard them all from her uncle.
Uncle...
She's a first-year that transferred into this school just the other day.
Surprisingly enough, she's apparently the niece of old Oshino.
Her name is Ougi Oshino.
This is strange.
Strange.
It is mysterious.
Mysterious.
In other words... It's suspicious.
Suspicious...
...and different.
This is strange...
Um, will you listen to me, Araragi-senpai?
Oh, well...
Too many school buildings, or something like that?
Like how you can save costs enough for one whole building if you think about the total number of students...
That's not it at all. Are you a fool or something?
This is where I'm talking about.
Where?
Here. The layout is a bit odd here.
I guess more unnatural than odd?
See, look at the floors right above and right below it.
Each of them have proper rooms here, right?
Then, this place which is in-between both of them needs to have a room here, or it ends up being strange.
Strange...
But, there is a proper room here on the 3rd floor, too. The audiovisual room.
AUDIOVISUAL ROOM
That's because the floor plan is mistaken.
Instead of mistaken, more like it was drawn based on reality,
but the actual audiovisual room isn't this long.
Compared to the others, it's drawn to be about 1.5 times longer than it actually is. Don't you notice it?
What's this? By any chance, do you doubt me, Araragi-senpai?
It hurts me that you'd doubt me, Araragi-senpai.
No, you don't like me enough to be hurt by me doubting you.
No, no... I do fancy you quite a bit. I fancy the fool that is easily deceived.
In mystery novels, when the floor plan and reality don't match like this...
A majority of the cases ends up having a hidden room at that location.
However, if this is some sort of phenomenon caused by an apparition...
I thought it'd be better to investigate before there's any damage done by it.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
What? I wonder what this classroom is.
When I walked by here to make the floorplan, this place didn't exist.
Such a mystery!
In any case... Let's try going in.
And that's how we got to where we are now.
What do you think about this, Araragi-senpai?
What do I think? Well, nothing of any note, really.
But Ougi, if this was a phenomenon caused by an apparition... what kind of apparition is it?
Who knows? Unlike my uncle, I don't have much quaint knowledge.
I only know about the major apparitions that show up in manga and in movies.
OUGI / KOYOMI
But, Araragi-senpai, there is one thing I can say.
That is, an apparition has a reason befitting it behind it...
WHICH MEANS, UNRAVELING THE REASON WHY WILL LEAD TO OUR ESCAPE FROM HERE.
Even so, what meaning is behind this situation where we can't get out of this classroom?
And about how the clock has stopped, too.
Perhaps the clock being stopped is the key to all this, surprisingly enough?
Because it showing such a random time does give a feeling of wrongness after all, right?
Speaking of 6:00PM, that's when we have to leave this high school campus.
At a time when students must go home from their classrooms,
this phenomenon locks students inside the classroom.
What's the meaning behind it?
It's time to leave school, but not being allowed to go home...
I guess you could call it an overtime class or something?
Overtime...
Have you ever had it before, Araragi-senpai?
An experience of taking overtime supplementary lessons.
I may look like this, but I do have pretty good brains, so I don't recall anything much like that.
Me neither.
Oh, is that so?
In my case, even if I'm told to stay overtime or to take supplementary lessons,
I end up ditching most of them.
But, yeah, last year, or two years ago... especially when I was a first-year.
Back when I was a first-year?
What's wrong, Araragi-senpai?
Your flag color looks a bit off... no wait, your facial color is a bit pale.
Is that so? Sorry, I just had a slight dizzy spell.
No need to apologize. Not at all. You don't have to apologize.
I'm sure that with an unreliable underclassman before you so, your nerves must be strained.
Perhaps you've gotten a bit tired?
How about you sit in one of those chairs?
Why did you sit there?
What? You ask me why, but... Wasn't it because you recommended it, Ougi?
No, no, I mean... There are a lot of chairs in this classroom.
I'm asking why you chose that seat.
I just felt like it.
You just felt like it? That seat was easy to sit at?
It looked like it was going to be comfortable sitting there?
No, how comfortable it is won't change much no matter which chair you pick, I think...
But, well...
But, well?
I'm used to sitting here.
That's how I felt.
Is that true?
What? What was that, Ougi?
No, I am merely going through every single possibility.
One possibility is that perhaps you, Araragi-senpai, sat in that chair in the past.
So once it came time to settle down into a seat, can it be that you chose that seat without hesitation?
No, that's way too wild an idea.
Until just now, I didn't even know that there was a classroom in this location.
As for me, when I investigated around here for the first time,
a classroom like this didn't exist.
However, when I came here with you, Araragi-senpai, this classroom appeared.
Then, to think that this classroom is somehow associated with you is something very natural to me.
I guess that's how it works out.
Besides, you said so yourself, Araragi-senpai...
that you somehow felt like you've seen the scenery from this window.
Did I say such a thing?
You did. Right when we entered the classroom, before we realized we'd been locked in here.
I don't recall saying so... But since she clearly asserts so, I'm sure I did say it.
It's true that somehow...
My memory... is being stimulated.
My oh my. What's wrong, Araragi-senpai?
It doesn't seem like you came up with an idea.
Perhaps I said something without picking up some hint?
Something you didn't want to remember... have you remembered something of that sort?
No, it's not something like that. There's nothing that came back into my memory.
That's right... Nothing has come back into my memory.
Because... I've never forgotten about it at all.
Because there's no way I can forget an incident like that.
CLASS 1-3 / KOYOMI ARARAGI
What? Wasn't that textbook labeled "Araragi"?
That's strange, that's mysterious. Why is that so?
Why is Araragi-senpai's textbook inside this classroom?
Ougi... Do you know something?
I don't know anything.
You're the one that knows.
Ougi, is there anything that can tell today's date around there?
The date, you say?
Yeah, today... No, I mean the date in this classroom. I want to know what it is.
Something like that's written on the blackboard.
Please take a look. See?
JULY 15 (THU)
Whoa. It was July 15th today.
Then, is it adequate to think of it like this?
In this classroom, on Thursday, July 15th, around 6:00PM, something happened...
And I'm sure it was something full of resentment.
And that resentment, like this, has solidified into the form of an apparition.
There's no doubt about it.
That classroom on the fifth floor of the building facing the gym.
Class 1-3 was right in the middle,
and after school on July 15th a class assembly was being held.
A class assembly that you could call a trial.
Concerning a certain incident, we denounced each other.
And I, Koyomi Araragi from class 1-3, was at the center of said trial.
That's right. Wasn't it since that very day that I started to say something of that nature?
"I don't need friends.
If I make friends, my strength as a human decreases."
It was your pet phrase, wasn't it, Araragi-senpai?
Though, ever since you had that experience with Ms. Tsubasa Hanekawa,
you apparently never said it again.
Well, meeting people does change people, I guess.
Then, I shall ask out of curiosity.
In this classroom, in what way, Araragi-senpai, did you change?
The folks in class 1-3... How did they change you?
Change... me...
I heard that the you in middle school and the you in high school
have drastically different personalities, you know?
The reason behind it, perhaps, is right here in this classroom?
What happened, Araragi-senpai? In this classroom, that day, that moment...
Let's just talk about it, Araragi-senpai.
Koyomi Araragi.
You'll feel at ease once you talk about it.
No matter how horrible the memory, after it all comes out it becomes just a story.
A story...
It's fine. I'll listen to it for you.
I may look like this, but I am pretty understanding of things.
We can't get out.
Yes?
We can't get out.
Until we know who the culprit was, we're not allowed to leave this classroom.
What we did... what we forced upon ourselves... was a class assembly of that sort.
It may be a story hard to believe... But there, I was the one presiding over the assembly.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
TWO YEARS AGO
Her name was Sodachi Oikura.
She herself wanted to be called "Euler", but in reality everyone called her "How much".
I'm sure it was a nickname that came from her last name,
but because she looks at others as though appraising them,
I think it was strangely appropriate.
SODACHI OIKURA
Prez Oikura.
Were you the one that called for me?
Hurry up and get in here. Everyone's been waiting for you.
Inside the classroom, the members of class 1-3 were all present.
Not one person was missing.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
So, everyone, huh... So I guess you have full members.
Right now, this is an empty classroom as you can see, but then, every seat had been taken, huh?
I see, I see. Time flies like an arrow. They say ten years can feel like one day.
TEN YEARS (CAN FEEL LIKE) ONE DAY
Yeah... No, but it's not ten years, it's only two years.
TWO YEARS (CAN FEEL LIKE) ONE DAY
Well, if we start talking about details, Oikura was standing at the teacher's desk.
On top of the teacher's desk?
Oikura wasn't that strange a class president.
Anyway, she was standing at the teacher's desk, and made the declaration:
"Now, we will begin our special class assembly."
But that's rather mysterious.
Araragi-senpai, you didn't know that this class assembly was being held
until right before it started, right?
That was simply a mistake in relaying information, apparently.
Everyone in class was supposed to get some kind of a network message that day,
whether it be a folded-up note, a text, or stuff like that going around the class.
But not one of them reached me.
That's... What you would call the lone wolf?
That's somewhat a misunderstanding.
IT'S NOT A COMPLETE MISUNDERSTANDING, THOUGH. KOYOMI ARARAGI = LONE WOLF
Ougi, this is a story of the process
in which someone with no friends ends up not needing any friends.
Then, let me take a proper posture as I listen to it.
To this story about some special class assembly or something like that.
Of today's discussion topic at the class assembly...
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
First off, Oikura brought this subject up:
Today's topic is "figuring out the culprit."
Until we figure out the culprit, or until the culprit speaks up on his own behalf,
I won't allow anyone out of this classroom. Prepare yourselves for that.
I confirmed the seat of Hitagi Senjyogahara.
She was very frail in health,
and my image of her was that she didn't come to school for even half of the first term.
Even she was here like this, so it could be assumed that the situation was very serious.
"Figuring out the culprit"...
That doesn't sound too peaceful. What in the world had happened?
CURRICULUM SCHEDULE
After school on the day before final exams began,
we had asked for volunteers and held a study group for mathematics in the classroom.
TEST SCHEDULE
INFORMATION ABOUT A STUDY GROUP
Apparently Oikura had participated in this study group.
I see, a study group.
TEST RESULTS
But after the exams were over, there was a discrepancy averaging 20 points
between those that participated in this study group, and those that didn't.
Oikura's assertion was that this should be taken as some sort of dishonest act happening.
That someone obtained the math exam questions from the teachers' office
and discreetly used the contents of the exam during the study group.
That was why the scores of the students that joined the study group were all higher.
JULY 15 (THU) DAILY DUTIES: KOUMA/MARIZUMI
If there was someone who disgraced the holy study group, as well as the sacred final exam,
that's something that cannot be forgiven.
Those that did not attend the study group shouldn't feel that this has nothing to do with you, either.
This is an issue involving all of us, the entirety of class 1-3.
I repeat—
Until we figure out the culprit, or until the culprit speaks up on his own behalf,
I won't allow anyone out of this classroom. Prepare yourselves for that.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
That means, after that,
Oikura-senpai handed over the role of presiding over the assembly to you?
The story was that you were the one presiding over the assembly, correct?
Yeah, that's right. That's where the presiding member changed.
PRESIDING MEMBER - KOYOMI ARARAGI
Why were you appointed to do so, Araragi-senpai?
CLASS 1-3 SEATING CHART
You realize that it would be bad for someone who was part of the study group to preside over this, right?
That said, you can't say that just anyone of those that remain can do the job, either.
After all, at the center of the issue was the math exam.
You can't avoid inspecting the exam questions as a topic for the debate.
That would mean that someone who doesn't have a high math score can't preside either, right?
Sure, well... I guess that would be so?
But, those who were absent from the study group;
those who chose not to go to the study group in the first place,
their scores were on average 20 points below those that went, right?
Is there such a person among those that didn't go,
someone who scored well enough to match those that did?
Of course there is.
But, I was the only one that scored better than every single student that was in the study group.
That's why I was chosen to preside over the assembly.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
One hundred percent.
KOYOMI ARARAGI
A score of 100, when the perfect score is 100.
That was my score in mathematics on the final exam.
Now, let's have you move this along quickly, Araragi.
I think it came across already,
but the reason why Class President Oikura hates me to a psychotic extent
is because I was good at math.
SODACHI OIKURA
She had strong conviction that the reason why nobody called her "Euler" was because of me;
because I was always above her when it came to math scores.
KOYOMI ARARAGI
Then...
To start, everyone that was part of the study group, please raise your hand.
As a result, it became clear that there were 19 students that were part of the study group.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
But that means you were able to narrow it down to 19 suspects.
This gets me excited.
Well, saying something like that is imprudent and might need repentance.
I'll say it right now, Ougi.
The culprit will not be determined in this class assembly.
The situation gets as grim as it can get,
and well, everyone gets worn out and it ends without anyone figuring anything out.
And then...
Oh, so that's it!
I figured out how we can escape from this classroom, Araragi-senpai.
In other words, by now solving this incident that remained unsolved two years ago,
we can get out of here.
What do you mean by that?
"Until we figure out the culprit, I won't allow anyone out of this classroom,"
is what Oikura-senpai said, right?
Reversing that, if we can determine the culprit of that incident,
we can escape from this room. That's what this means, right?
The regrets in the hearts of the students in class 1-3 back then
probably materialized in the void within this school.
If anything, I guess you can say this is the ghost of the class assembly.
The ghost of the class assembly...
Are you saying I've been trapped by something as incomprehensible as that? Why me?
Who knows?
It could be that you were the one who took this the most to heart. Perhaps so.
JULY 15 (THU)
Because Araragi-senpai, your life drastically changed on that day.
Drastically changed...
Ever since that day, you've avoided thinking about that incident.
You've been evading it.
There hasn't been a day where you've forgotten about it,
but there also isn't a day where you've thought about it.
But it has finally come - the day to face your past.
The time for you to unravel all the mysteries.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
KEIRI ASHINE
MICHISADA IGAMI
SODACHI OIKURA
ENJI KIKIGOE
HOKA KIJIKIRI
AIZU KUBE
NAGEKI GEKIZAKA
SOUSHO KOUDOU
TSUUMA SHUUI
JUUDO SHUZAWA
KOKUSHI SUUCHI
KIICHIGO DAINO
CHOUKA NAGAGUTSU
ROKA HAGA
SEKIROU HIGUMA
JOURO HISHIGATA
SHIJIMA FUDOU
KABE MADOMURA
SHOUKEI YOKI
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
After that, what happened to the class assembly?
When we figured out the names of the 19 people,
BIWA ARIKURE
someone named Arikure complained that the culprit may not necessarily be one of the 19.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
So even if they weren't part of the study group,
everyone who had a high score should be added to the suspects list.
MIAWA MEBE 95 SEIKO HAYAMACHI 92 HITAGI SENJYOGAHARA 98 OKITADA KOUMA 99 KOYOMI ARARAGI 100
Then, Araragi-senpai, you were tossed into the suspect list as well?
I guess that's what happened.
And, after that?
After that, Marizumi
HYOUI MARIZUMI
objected, saying it was suspect as to whether such a study group happened to begin with.
That's rather fundamental, to say...
STUDY GROUP
But right afterwards, there was a statement that the study group was indeed held.
Sunahama, the one assigned to daily duties on the day of the math exam, came to school early.
RUISE SUNAHAMA
Apparently, she had to clean up after the study group that left the classroom in a disarray.
Clean up?
Like lining the desks back up again, erasing the chalkboard,
taking out the trash from all the snacks, she said.
Tetsujo, who also came to school early helped her out, apparently.
KOMICHI TETSUJO
What other arguments were made?
MATH
Well, if I recall...
If someone were to secretly pass on the model answers to the study group...
FINAL EXAMS
In reality, if someone were to do that, someone would be sure to notice, Higuma said.
SEKIROU HIGUMA
He said that if something like that happened, something somewhere would seem a bit forced.
I see. That is a valid point.
OIKURA DID NOT ALLOW THAT.
And then, Oikura...
SHE WAS PERSISTENT ABOUT CONTINUING THIS "FIGURING OUT THE CULPRIT" ORDEAL.
Then, from here, we can verify the specific contents of the exam questions.
Seeing how much overlap there is
between the problems in the study group and the actual exam questions
should be determined based on the statements from every member of the study group.
AND THEN, WE WILL DETERMINE THE CULPRIT.
I WON'T ALLOW ANYONE OUT OF THE CLASSROOM.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
Being in the center of such ugly arguments, meandering debates, and wasteful exchanges...
Araragi-senpai, you must have gotten sick of organisms called human beings.
That's not it.
Oh?
Ougi. What I felt despair about wasn't the debate, but the outcome.
THE FEELING THAT WE WERE MAKING THE CORRECT DEBATE WAS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE.
Nobody had thought that the outcome would be like that.
In pursuit of the just, we made a definitive mistake.
And at that moment, I had lost sight of my own sense of justice.
The outcome?
But the outcome was that you didn't know who the culprit was, right?
It's true that if the outcome of the debate is such, you'd surely feel that everything was pointless.
But it's not enough to feel despair about it, right?
Yeah. That's right. We never figured out who the culprit was...
But it wasn't that we didn't specify someone as one.
Huh?
That's the cause for despair. The truth that even the unknown can be decided...
That was why I felt despair.
I DON'T NEED ANY FRIENDS.
I see... I see... I see...
Then, Araragi-senpai.
I'd like you to tell me what happened after that.
The time to leave school is coming up soon, isn't it?
You held a debate for over two hours in a locked room, and everyone should be at their mental limits.
And in that critical moment... What kind of conclusion did you all come up with?
Where did you guys end up?
This is staying on my mind. What happened?
Even if there are all sorts of twists and turns,
somehow overcoming the many obstacles and the confusion from rubbish,
if everyone, every single one, fully becomes happy, I'd like that!
IT'S TRUE THAT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO BECOME HAPPY—
IF SO, BACK THEN, WHAT IN THE WORLD HAD WE BECOME?
OUGI FORMULA, PART TWO
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
I've had enough. This is too tedious. Let's just say I did it and end this debate.
You starting to say stuff like that is out of the question. Are you covering for someone?
You must know who the culprit is, then!
In the first place, is there really a culprit?
We started talking on the assumption that there is one. Don't bring that up again.
No, as a real question, is someone that would steal exam questions from the teachers' office really among us?
Before we start talking about ethics, it's more about whether or not that is physically possible.
No, I'm talking about whether or not there's enough guts to do that.
Are you guys stupid?
Is there any meaning to having such a debate? Everyone is just lying.
I can't bear to listen to this.
Nowadays, they make exam questions on computers and stuff, right?
Even if you don't physically walk into the teachers' office,
I'm sorry, can I ask you all to raise your hand before speaking from hereon?
you can hack your way in or something to steal them, can't you?
You've been watching too many dramas.
I'll repeat myself, but I think it was Oikura that was teaching the last problem during the study group.
Though I can't be sure of it.
Don't say anything that you can't be sure of.
Can you hold responsibility if you ruin someone's life because of it?
You've always been like that, too.
Please raise your hand.
You know, I want to go home already.
Can you do debates like this somewhere that I'm not around?
I won't let you go home.
If you go home, they might make you into the culprit, you know?
That's fine with me.
I'm sorry, everyone, can you all please calm down. Let's all regain our cool.
Why are you acting so tough?
Like this is something we can stay cool about!
Please raise your hand to speak—
In the first place, Araragi got 100% so this is a test that can be solved, right?
Why are we talking about cheating or dishonest acts? It's nonsense.
You've been quiet all this time, but what do you think about this, Senjyogahara?
I'm not quite sure.
Hey guys, I have something I want to say.
Save it for later!
Araragi, keep this progressing properly.
You say that, but...
In the first place, why did we hold a study group for just math?
If there was one for history, then I would have joined up.
Of course it's because it looks bad for the math teacher if her homeroom class
had a terrible average score for math.
In other words, it's just for vanity.
It's what you can call Miss Class President racking up brownie points.
That's not the reason at all.
It is because mathematics is the most beautiful subject in all academics.
You're the only one that thinks that.
What's this about beauty? So it really is just your convenience after all.
You can't understand the beauty of mathematics?
Damn you!
Please refrain from fighting.
We're not fighting. It's because he started saying weird stuff...
I have an alibi!
We can't even determine when it was done, how can you have an alibi?
Like it was weird for me to be in this high school.
I have a witness. There is someone that would guarantee that I'd never do such a thing.
I didn't go that far!
We can't keep this going anymore. This has gotten out of control.
Give me a break, Oikura. I can't handle this.
Let's end this before it gets any worse.
What are you whining about?
You got a better score than I did, and you're going to give up?
Yeah, I'm going to give up. It's impossible.
Until we figure out the culprit... I won't allow anyone to go home.
You can't do such a thing.
When the chime to leave campus sounds, we're all going to go home.
You have a proper understanding of that, right?
I had forgotten... just how much Oikura harbored a hatred for me.
I detest you.
Stuff like that is where you're terrible at.
Huh? That's my line!
Then we shouldn't have held a study group to begin with!
Studying is something you—
Everyone!
I think we've done more than enough debating.
So, I would like to take a vote now.
Who is the culprit? We will decide by majority rule.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
Oh, huh... So that's what you meant.
That's when the majority of the class raised their hands,
and Araragi-senpai, you were made out to be the culprit, right?
No.
The only person that raised their hand to vote for me was Oikura.
The majority of the class raised their hands for attendance number 6...
when it was time for Sodachi Oikura.
That look of despair on Oikura's face I saw back then...
It's something I can't ever forget.
And to that despair... I think I got roped in.
Ever since, whether it be for class or for exams, she never once showed up to school.
Her name apparently is listed on one of the rosters for third-years...
But I have no idea which class that is.
Ever since, the tendency to be absent, the tendency to ditch school, ramped up.
To attend the school that Oikura was not attending
started to give me a sticky feeling, similar to that of guilt.
And ever since then, I - to this day - have not gotten a perfect score in mathematics.
Is there a need for you to shoulder so much, though?
In the first place, it was said that Oikura-senpai was the front-runner of all suspects.
That class assembly wasn't something someone suggested to her.
It was something she planned on her own.
If Oikura really was the culprit,
there wouldn't have been a need to create such an assembly.
Just picking up on that one fact, I can declare that Oikura wasn't the culprit.
I see... Declare, huh...
In any case, seeing truth be fabricated right in front of your eyes...
Witnessing a stupid conclusion being drawn, I couldn't contain myself anymore.
Something in me broke.
The moment when over half the class - most of the students -
raised their hands simultaneously,
with no prior concerting or conference, not even making eye contact.
The moment when truth had been decided...
The moment when justice had been settled...
I'd never seen a scary moment like that. I lost sight at that moment.
No... I didn't lose sight. I lost it.
Until that moment, I had believed in something like righteousness.
That there were things that were "right" in the world, and it was about whether or not you could do it. But...
EVEN IF MISTAKEN, EVEN IF CRUEL, EVEN IF STUPID
IF MANY PEOPLE ACKNOWLEDGE IT,
I FOUND OUT THAT IT CAN BECOME THE RIGHT THING.
I found out that righteousness was able to be infinitely mass-produced.
I found out that righteousness was established by the number of people.
I found out that maneuvering for a majority was everything.
That is why I chose solitude over establishment.
I don't need friends, because if I make friends, my strength as a human decreases.
In order to protect my own righteousness, that was the only thing I could do.
This ended up being a long story, but that is the story of Koyomi Araragi.
Thank you for listening, Ougi.
Oh, I guess it really is just like what you said.
Once I told the story, it really was nothing much, and it made me feel at east.
I'm troubled.
I'm troubled if you feel at ease already, Araragi-senpai.
Oikura-senpai wasn't the culprit, and the story ends?
That means we can't leave this classroom after all.
Have you forgotten?
In order to leave this classroom, we need to identify who the culprit is.
The culprit that could not be identified on that day...
Not by majority rule....
We need to determine it ourselves.
The grudge Oikura had that day created this classroom, perhaps?
If so, there is some inevitability in how I became trapped in here like this.
OIKURA PERHAPS
STILL HASN'T FORGIVEN ME?
JUST LIKE THAT DAY
DOES SHE STILL HATE ME?
Well, I think Oikura-senpai has forgotten about you already, maybe?
Things usually end up like that, surprisingly enough.
Then, what in the world is this classroom—
Didn't I tell you?
This was a classroom that your heart created, Araragi-senpai. That's what I think.
That's what I'm going to define this as... a classroom that the heart - a sense of regret - created.
If, on that day, you were able to pin down who the culprit was,
Sodachi Oikura would not have been ruined.
And you wouldn't have lost your righteousness.
The classroom was built on such regrets you have.
You have always pursued after the righteousness you had lost that day.
In order to regain the lost righteousness, you created this classroom.
I did?
Is that possible? Can I create a classroom like this...
But, each apparition has a reason befitting it.
If that's the case, for "me", this is enough reasoning for this case.
I guess we have to do the class assembly over again.
This time for sure, we need to find the culprit, no, the true culprit...
Oh no, we already know who the true culprit is, right?
I mean, Araragi-senpai, you should actually know who it is, too...
Who was supposed to be denounced at that class assembly?
Something like that was obvious after hearing your story, Araragi-senpai.
Araragi-senpai, your feeling of "I feel so guilty" towards Oikura-senpai is needlessly strong
because subconsciously you know who the culprit is.
Otherwise, you'd never tell the story in the way that you did.
The way that I did?
What in the world is this girl talking about?
What does she actually know?
I don't know anything.
You're the one that knows. Araragi-senpai.... Koyomi Araragi.
I...
The great detective gathers everyone and says, "Well..."
Since there is no great detective here, I'll say it in his place.
Well...
Burned by her own karma and falling to ruin, the dull-witted silly fool Sodachi Oikura.
In order to mourn for her, we shall solemnly go through with "figuring out the culprit" that she wished for.
Whoops, this isn't good.
If this is a "figuring out the culprit", this is the one thing that must be said.
Whether it's getting rid of apparitions or solving mysteries, proper etiquette is important.
I challenge all you readers.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
The culprit is Komichi Tetsujo.
Shall I continue?
Yeah.
Why did you think Tetsujo was suspicious?
Right when you entered the classroom, I commented on how all the seats were filled.
You said that if we were to be precise, Oikura-senpai's seat was empty.
That's how you replied.
But, don't you find this strange?
Araragi-senpai, your seat has to be empty as well.
Was someone sitting there?
For instance, the homeroom teacher?
SO, ARARAGI-SENPAI, IT WASN'T THAT YOU WEREN'T PERMITTED TO SIT DOWN BY OIKURA-SENPAI,
BUT PERHAPS YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO SIT DOWN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
But, that said, that doesn't automatically mean that Tetsujo is the culprit.
When the meeting became very complicated, someone had mentioned
that the homeroom teacher for class 1-3 was a math teacher.
That position is not merely someone who knows about the problems beforehand.
She is the one that creates the problems.
If so, she can just create exam problems based on what the study group had covered.
Sunahama-senpai, who had the daily duties the next day,
had whined about having to clean up after the study group early in the morning.
And that Komichi Tetsujo had helped her out with it.
What kind of cleanup work was it?
Hey, hey, Araragi-senpai, what kind of cleanup work was it?
Throwing away snack bags, realigning desks...
The one that's not those!
And erasing the chalkboards and stuff, right?
Of course, they must have been writing and erasing, and writing and erasing.
So not everything could be deciphered.
But I guess you can read through at least a part of it, huh.
Yes.
(WED)
And if Komichi Tetsujo is the homeroom teacher,
(THU)
she can create exam problems that go along with what the study group had studied.
DETAILS: 1. LOCATION - CLASS 1-3 CLASSROOM 2. DATE - JULY 7 (WED) 15:00~18:00 3. SUBJECT - MATH III,C PLEASE CONTACT OIKURA FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO JOIN.
Of course, it's the actual day of the test,
so even if she were able to correct the exam problems, she probably only got a part of the exam fixed.
What else... I guess the motive?
The motivation behind committing the crime. The reason why she did such a thing.
Ougi, you even know that as well?
If the culprit was a student, this would be a crime that makes absolutely no sense.
If the overall scores of the entire class went up,
that means that, relatively speaking, the deviation value for each person will go down.
However, with the entire class getting better scores, there is someone whose assessment becomes better.
That is the math teacher.
KOMICHI TETSUJO
She'll be assessed as having high skills in instruction and guidance.
Is there anything else, Araragi-senpai?
There isn't.
I see. Then, we should probably be on our way.
You can leave now, Araragi-senpai.
Yeah...
What do you mean, I can leave now?
Huh?
Well, I thought that was a weird way to say it, so...
What did you mean?
Oh, you didn't know?
Vampires often are unable to enter buildings or rooms unless the person inside authorizes them to.
Ah... Though I've never had an experience like that.
Well, well... Ms. Shinobu is a special one,
and we had the pattern not where we couldn't go in, but one where we couldn't leave.
That's why I phrased it as "you can leave now."
It was something like a magic spell to ease one's mind.
That's as if you were the one that trapped me in here, Ougi.
That's a misunderstanding. I would never trap you in, Araragi-senpai.
There's no way I would do such a thing.
Araragi-senpai, you were trapped in your own past.
All this time, for two years. Isn't that right?
I do sympathize, though.
A teacher, who is the symbol of righteousness to a student,
was the one behaving dishonestly...
That feels like betrayal,
and you can't help it if you, Araragi-senpai, decided to put a lid on your heart.
Is the fact that Oikura, despite not having attended enough days, keeps moving up to the next class...
Is that something along the lines of atonement from Mrs. Tetsujo?
Atonement? That's not it. It's an excuse. She just wants to believe that she's a decent human.
Why I felt despair...
Now, next. Attendance number 6.
If you think I, Sodachi Oikura, am the culprit, please raise your hand.
Why I felt despair against righteousness,
was that back then, blending into the classmates that designated Oikura as the culprit,
Tetsujo, a teacher, had been holding up her hand straight up as well.
OWARIMONOGATARI OUGI FORMULA
The next day, on a whim, I decided to stop by the audiovisual room on my way to my classroom.
To be precise, to the spot next to the audiovisual room.
As expected, there was no such thing there as an empty classroom.
Moreover, there was no dead space whatsoever along the lines of what Ougi had drawn in her notebook.
There was nothing here.
Nothing had happened here.
The secret room, the locked room, the figuring out the culprit, the unexpected truth...
The class assembly, and the majority rule.
Everything was in the past, and everything was already done and over.
Within this teachers' office, Komichi Tetsujo does not exist.
That said, it's not that she quit being a teacher because she suffered from a guilty conscience,
nor that she was fired after her dishonest act was found out.
It's nothing like that.
KOMICHI TETSUJO - MATERNITY LEAVE
The occasion was that she got pregnant, and was on maternity leave. What a joyous occasion.
She probably won't be back at school before I graduate,
so I'll probably never see Tetsujo again in my life.
And about that, I feel nothing.
In the first place, for me, after seeing her from behind, raising her hand on that day two years ago...
she was no longer a teacher, or an adult.
Oh, morning, Araragi.
Oh, morning, Hanekawa.
Bad timing.
What?
Araragi, I don't think you should enter the classroom right now.
Heave-ho!
Araragi.
Had you noticed that there was an empty seat in our class?
Yeah, I noticed it, or rather, I had thought that it was a spare seat. What of it?
What, are you trying to tell me that a ghost was sitting there today when you arrived?
Is that what this is about?
I'll tell you something. Something like a mere ghost won't scare me one bit.
The one sitting there wasn't a ghost. It was a human.
A classmate who had not come to school for the longest time suddenly came to school today.
Oh, I see.
Then, that seat was... that person's seat, huh?
That's surprising that there was one more classmate in my class.
But, why does that make it so I shouldn't enter the classroom?
Because it's Ms. Oikura.
Sodachi Oikura...
She's apparently been home-schooling for about two years now.
She came to school as if she was switching places with Mrs. Tetsujo.
Araragi, you didn't get along with her, if I recall?