OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
Sodachi Oikura despises me.
To the point that it's like I killed her parents or something.
At the same time, I find it strange...
The fact is, I don't particularly despise Sodachi Oikura at all.
Why she despises me so much.
And why I can't bring myself to despise her.
I ended up finding out the answers.
It was a truth that unfolded two years from its onset.
And at the same time, it was a truth that unfolded five years from its onset as well.
Then, mathematically...
Or perhaps similar to a mystery novel, let's strike a dramatic pose and set up the question.
Prove that when Sodachi Oikura despises Koyomi Araragi,
that Koyomi Araragi cannot bring himself to despise Sodachi Oikura.
However, Ougi Oshino can be left out of any consideration.
OWARIMONOGATARI
SODACHI RIDDLE, PART ONE
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
701 MIDDLE SCHOOL, A PUBLIC SCHOOL FRONT GATES
So this is the middle school you attended, Araragi-senpai?
Now that you mention it, an extraordinary presence can be felt here.
Let's go, Araragi-senpai. It was the shoe locker, right?
Yeah. The shoe locker.
It's such a strange coincidence.
Right after I hear the story about Oikura-senpai from you, Araragi-senpai...
The next day, Araragi-senpai and that very Oikura-senpai are reunited.
It's quite a strange twist of fate.
STRANGE TWIST OF FATE
Well, I was surprised.
As for me, I didn't even know she was in the same class as me.
701 MIDDLE SCHOOL, A PUBLIC SCHOOL ENTRANCEWAY
Oh, so this is it?
Araragi-senpai was changing shoes right here everyday back in 7th grade.
This is very moving.
It's not moving at all...
Why would my changing shoes be so moving?
My, oh my.
So this is a letter addressed to you, Araragi-senpai?
TO: KOYOMI ARARAGI IN 1-3
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
FLASHBACK
NAOETSU HIGH SCHOOL
The recollected memory is still in the middle of chaos...
Therefore, the circumstances should be discussed first.
I mean, the circumstances that caused me to visit my alma mater.
Araragi, you didn't get along with her, if I recall?
So, I thought you should mentally prepare before you enter the classroom.
There's nothing to worry about.
Though we didn't get along,
that's talking about something from two years ago, the distant past.
I don't care about any of that at all.
You sure?
Oikura kept asking me.
"How is Araragi doing right now?"
"What is Araragi doing right now?"
"What kind of person is Araragi now?"
"Has he grown taller?" "What kind of food does he normally eat?"
"Around what time does he arrive at school?"
That's asking way too much...
I thought it'd be strange not to answer,
so I answered the harmless kind of questions.
HARMLESS KIND
And, it seemed a bit threatening, so I didn't tell her about Senjyogahara, either.
Araragi.
Before Senjyogahara arrives at school, you should at least have a goal set for all this.
But just hold on a second, Araragi.
I have to go discuss the matter of Oikura's return to school with Ms. Hoshina right now.
So I have to go to the teacher's office.
You want to come with me, Araragi? After all, you're the class vice-president.
I'll have the matter with Oikura resolved before you come back.
Six months until we graduate.
I'd like to spend my adolescence in comfort.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
Huh?
Aren't you Oikura?
Yeah, you are Oikura!
Man, you surprised me!
If it isn't Oikura, who was in my first-year class,
in the distant past known as two years ago!
Do you remember me? I'm sure you've already forgotten.
You know, I was attendance number 2. I'm Araragi!
ATTENDANCE NUMBER / NAME 1 / KEIRI ASHINE 2 / KOYOMI ARARAGI 3 / BIWA ARIKURE 4 / MICHISADA IGAMI
I do remember.
Of course.
You are someone...
...that I would never forget about.
SODACHI OIKURA
Araragi.
I'm glad you remember me.
As previous attendance number 2, I, Araragi, am happy.
You seem to be doing well, unlike me.
Really, you make me jealous.
While I was cooped up in my own house,
you studied, decided to try for college, got a girlfriend...
Araragi, your life is truly one of smooth sailing.
Thanks to you.
Thanks to me?
I haven't been to school this whole time. What are you saying I did for you?
Well, that's...
Well, I'm sure that you'd be able to go to any college you wanted, Araragi.
If you felt up to doing so.
Th-That's not really true. I'm hard pressed to get in anywhere.
You don't have to be so humble. You still excel at mathematics, aren't you?
You feel the name "Euler" is more fit for you than for me, don't you?
Well, math is more like my only hope, rather than something I'm good at...
You getting a girlfriend... That must be thanks to mathematics as well.
No, of all things, that's—
It is thanks to mathematics.
Someone like you really pisses me off.
No matter how big of a grudge I hold, it can't be enough.
I can't help that feelings of hatred well up, one after another.
It's a bottomless spring of hatred.
For someone like me.... Come on, it can't be that much.
I hate that attitude of yours.
You try to roll anything and everything up in an ambiguous manner.
You compromise.
You round things up nicely.
Back then as well, you—
Don't touch me.
I don't want the likes of you to be worried about me.
There's absolutely nothing special about someone like you being worried about me.
Is that so?
You... You seem to have quite a hatred for people who are happy.
I do like people who are happy.
Looking at them makes me feel happy.
What I despise are people who don't know the reason for their happiness.
Those that don't even think about why they're happy.
I despise water that thinks it boiled itself on its own.
DESPISE
I despise seasons that think they cycle naturally.
DESPISE
I despise the sun that thinks it rose on its own.
DESPISE
Despise, despise, d-d-despise... I despise them.
I despise you.
Oikura...
Because someone like you is influencing others,
no one's reaching out to me, no matter how much time passes.
I despise people who think they're living using only their own power...
People can't be happy unless someone else saves them.
An idiot that can't even understand that...
I despise them, despise them so much I feel like I'm going to die.
WHAT HAD CORNERED HER TO THIS EXTENT?
WAS IT THAT CLASS ASSEMBLY AFTER ALL?
OR WAS IT THE TWO YEARS OF GLOOM SHE SPENT AFTERWARDS?
You're right.
Things like people saving themselves on their own never happen.
I always think about that, too.
I can't forgive the ungrateful that feel like they're living alone—
The one I can't forgive is you, Araragi. I can't think of anyone more ungrateful than you.
It's all self-righteous... That's what your sense of justice is.
Sense of justice?
Or are you saying that you still remember?
About the contents of your shoe locker back in 7th grade?
See, just as I thought.
You don't remember anything, Araragi.
You don't know what you're made up of.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M MADE UP OF.
Oikura, what do you mean by that?
There is no meaning!
I despise meaning!
I despise anything and everything!
I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise, I despise.
I despise!
DESPISE
I despise!
I despise!!
I told you not to touch me!
WHETHER IT WAS BEFORE SHE FINISHED HER BUSINESS, OR AFTER SHE WAS DONE WITH HER BUSINESS, WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS UNCERTAIN.
IN ANY CASE, SHE ENCOUNTERED SENJYOGAHARA, WHO HAD ARRIVED AT SCHOOL.
THERE, HANEKAWA PROBABLY TOLD SENJYOGAHARA THAT OIKURA HAD COME TO SCHOOL.
AND JUST LIKE THE WIND, SHE HAD RUSHED OVER HERE.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
I'll kill you.
I'm the only one who can stab Araragi with stationery.
Even though I've gotten rid of that character trait, I can't stand having it being reused.
S-Senjyogahara, wait...
Senjyogahara.
I see. So that's it.
I get it now.
So, you're dating Araragi.
How you've fallen.
Hanekawa. It's all right now. You can let go of me now.
I'm sorry. It's not worth it.
Is it really all right?
What? What's not worth it?
Are you saying that I'm not worth that much?
QUESTION
How high and mighty you've become.
You were nothing more than a sickly girl that couldn't do anything unless I took care of you.
Well...
It is true that you did often take care of me.
You were always kind to people who were below you.
So I take it you've recovered from your illness, Senjyogahara?
Right. Thanks to you.
Araragi decided to try to get into college because you're taking care of him, I assume?
If so, I suggest you stop doing something so useless.
He's not going to appreciate anything, no matter what you do.
Well, I suppose you might be right.
But, well, something like that doesn't matter at all.
I'm not looking to get something in return for this, after all.
The fact that I want Araragi to attend the same university as I do is my desire to begin with.
So, I wouldn't be wishing for anything more than that.
SLAP
Araragi, I'm going to pass out as well. I trust you with the rest.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
Wait... Huh?
This is strange.
That flashback didn't explain why I'm here at my middle school with you at all, you know?
Oh, brother. What are you talking about, Araragi-senpai?
When I visited you to do the laudable act of thanking you for yesterday's situation,
you told me all about it.
And yours truly, though unworthy,
audaciously suggested maybe it would be good for you to visit your alma mater.
Since I was the one that made the suggestion, I couldn't let you go alone, either.
Though I felt it was meddling in affairs a bit too much, here I am, tagging along on your research trip.
Was that so?
Ougi... The mystery will be solved simply by opening that envelope.
Is that so?
Let's see... What do we have?
THE "B" ENVELOPE IS THE WRONG ONE. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR CHOICE TO THE "C" ENVELOPE?
Araragi-senpai, what's this supposed to mean?
I really can't make anything of it. Is it in code or something?
Rather than a code, that's more like a quiz.
What are you talking about? You haven't even seen it.
It's a very famous quiz, called the "Monty Hall problem."
Monty Hall is the name of a TV show host.
There are three doors labeled "A," "B," and "C,"
and a luxurious prize is hidden behind one of them.
The player is able to pick any door they like of the three.
And after they choose, the host opens one of the other two doors.
By doing so, he informs the player that it was the "wrong" door.
With that information, the player has a second chance to make a decision...
Whether to stick with the door originally chosen, or to choose again and pick the remaining door.
That's a simple summary of this quiz.
Ougi, what would you do?
You chose the "A" envelope just now, but...
if you were now told that the "B" envelope isn't the right one,
would you change you choice to "C"?
Let's see...
Isn't it statistically equal whether or not I choose to change my choice?
Even if the answer was disclosed afterwards,
if one of the three among "A," "B," and "C" is the right choice,
the probability is 1/3 for each of them.
The case where you were told "B" was wrong before you made the first choice aside...
Indeed. But for this case, "changing what you choose" is the correct answer.
To change your answer from "A" to "C."
Then, let's open the "C" envelope.
My, oh my. Is this a map of sorts?
There seems to be some symbol drawn on it.
Next, of course, we're heading to the location that this map shows.
This is a trip retracing Araragi-senpai's memory.
So as a tour group of people following the footsteps of young Araragi...
Yeah... That's right.
Let's go, Ougi. To the location marked on the map.
Wait... Huh?
NADEKO SENGOKU
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
I DESPISE WATER THAT THINKS IT BOILED ITSELF ON ITS OWN. I DESPISE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW THE REASON FOR THEIR HAPPINESS.
Hmph.
Did the ruins of the cram school I hear about, the ones my uncle slept in while he was in this town,
feel anything like this, Araragi-senpai?
Yeah... That's right.
AN UNGRATEFUL ONE LIVING SO CAREFREE.
It's rather rundown and dangerous.
It's not been maintained at all, worn down by the wind and stuff.
In this ruined house, I had an appointment to meet with a certain girl...
I just can't comprehend this.
But, the fact that there are signs a nameplate used to be here
means that this ruined house used to be an ordinary residence?
Who knows... I don't really know much about this area.
Back around 7th grade, I didn't really take note of such things.
HOUSE FOR SALE
In the first place, this sign wasn't here back when I was coming here regularly.
It's probably the case that the caretaker is different than from about five years ago...
Now, let's hurry in, Araragi-senpai.
Hearing that sound just now, the neighbors may report to the police.
If a police officer were to show up, I'll give them the excuse that we got lost.
So Araragi-senpai, please go along with that.
That's fine. I'll make sure to play along with you.
Though, it's a pretty embarrassing excuse for high school students to have lost their way.
But I don't want to find myself out in the cold.
Out in the cold? What do you mean by that?
Well, you see, in my case, both my parents are police officers, so—
So, both your parents are police officers!
Huh? Why did I just say that?
Then that means there's nothing for us to worry about.
If someone files a report, and an officer rushes over here on his bike,
Araragi-senpai, your parents will bail us out.
My parents aren't the type that would help out their little boy in times like that.
More like they'd never forgive injustice, even if their own children were the source.
They're strict parents.
When I misbehaved as a kid,
they disciplined me by dragging me to the local police box.
To the police box? That's pretty scary...
You could be traumatized by that.
The theory that Oikura-senpai resents the kindness
that you showed during the class assembly two years ago.
That can probably be disregarded now.
Why, you ask? It's simple.
It's because Oikura-senpai has come to school.
What do you mean by that?
Hanekawa-senpai already mentioned it.
That Ms. Tetsujo had taken maternity leave,
and Oikura-senpai showed up at school as if she was swapping places.
In other words, because Ms. Tetsujo is no longer at Naoetsu High,
I believe Oikura-senpai is now able to come to school.
Basically, that means she had known who the culprit was back then.
Which means, concerning the class assembly,
there are connections to why her personality turned out the way it did,
but there's no direct link to the reason why she despises me.
That's what this means.
In the first place, if you say that she's despised me
from the day that we first met in the classroom for class 1-3
she's always despised me.
"I despise water that thinks it boiled itself on its own," huh?
In other words, you don't know your own roots.
Because you've forgotten your own roots, Oikura-senpai has serious issues with how you live.
But, as you investigate further, that's a strange story as well.
It's very common to find people who have forgotten about the past.
Even for me.
Most of who I was back in grade school or middle school is far beyond the boundaries of oblivion.
It even feels like I was actually born very recently.
That you were actually born very recently? Is that the "Five-minute hypothesis"?
But still, why does Oikura-senpai despise only Araragi-senpai as if you killed her parents?
This is strange.
This is mysterious.
This is suspicious.
This is scary.
Scary...
Yes, scary. Because...
It's different.
True. When you think about what's scary in this world...
Those that despise you for some incomprehensible reason
and attack you are the scariest.
There's no way to deal with it, because you don't know the opponent's objective.
In order to fight, they say you need to know what the opponent feels is justice.
What does Sodachi Oikura feel is righteous, and what does she believe is justice...
This is a journey to figure that out as well.
Wow, this room is especially terrible.
This place hasn't changed one bit from five years ago. It's unchanging.
It feels like... Time has stopped.
You see that small tea table over there, right? That's what was being used.
Used? For what? As a chair?
No...
In the first place, I'm not understanding this very well.
Why did you keep coming to this ruined house for an entire summer, Araragi-senpai?
Your actions are too mysterious...
Are you an adventurous grade-school boy or something?
Actions you take during childhood are all mysterious.
None of them can be really explained.
I have no idea why I was doing such a thing.
My train of thought was completely different from what it is now.
Geez... When I'm up against Ougi, why does my tongue get so loose?
Even if it's something that I can fudge by making some adequate lie, if she asks, I answer.
By the time I realize it, I'm done answering.
In any case, I started telling the story.
What happened here five years ago.
Who I met... And what I was doing.
What Koyomi Araragi is made up of.
A story explaining that.