OWARIMONOGATARI
SODACHI RIDDLE, PART TWO
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
FIVE YEARS AGO
Five years ago.
In other words, what kind of a person was Koyomi Araragi back in 7th grade?
Straightforward, pure, earnest... what you could say about a normal child.
Young Araragi was mediocre,
but if you still tried to find something special about him, it'd have to be
the fact that both his parents were police officers whose purpose in life was justice, peace, and safety.
Under their influence, the personality known as me had been created.
Young Araragi was, in that sense, a boy who had a fairly strong sense of justice.
The story of five years ago.
This boy, right when first term was finishing, was panicking just a little bit.
Not just a little. He may have been panicking quite a bit.
Because the results of the recently returned final exam weren't all that great.
Especially math.
He thought things would be bad the way he was going.
He thought he wouldn't be able to proceed righteously the way he was going.
More than math, he was embarrassed by the fact that he couldn't fulfill the just cause of "learning."
Back then, I didn't know about the "Monty Hall problem."
But I was interested in the problem that was suddenly thrust at me.
SO YOU DID COME FOR ME, ARARAGI.
THE FACT THAT YOU'RE HERE... YOU WERE ABLE TO SOLVE THE LETTER QUIZ?
Solve... No, it hasn't been solved.
I did change my answer, but I don't know why "C" is correct.
I SEE.
THEN, FIRST OFF, I'LL START BY EXPLAINING THAT PROBLEM IN DETAIL.
COME INSIDE, ARARAGI.
LET'S STUDY.
LET'S BECOME WISER TOGETHER.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
According to the sender's story, the letter was sent to a few others as well.
But apparently I was the only one who received the letter that came here, to this ruined house.
The only one to shamelessly show up.
Shamelessly? Yeah, I guess shamelessly.
THOUGH YOU COULD PROBABLY SAY FALTERINGLY AS WELL.
At the least, if it wasn't for that summer,
I think I would've been bitter about math and probably would've grown to hate it.
Maybe I wouldn't have even been able to enter Naoetsu High.
In any case, let's hear the continuation of the story.
Of one summer aventure for Araragi-senpai.
The continuation of the secret rendezvous between this mysterious girl and Araragi-senpai.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
And so, you call this the "Monty Hall problem."
This is interesting! Are there more problems like this?
There are lots of them.
I'll teach you as many as you want, Araragi, if you come to like math a lot more.
If you'll continue to love math.
I'll love it! I'll make sure to keep loving math!
Then...
Let's keep studying here, starting tomorrow.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
And so, from the end of the first term, until the end of summer break,
I regularly came to this ruined house.
I kept studying together with the mysterious girl.
"The most beautiful equation in human history."
She was the one who taught me about Euler's Identity.
Even now, I can recite from memory what you'd call the "mathematics" that are useless, even at school.
So, for me, it didn't feel like I was studying,
but more like I came to this ruined house every day to play.
If anything, this was like a secret base for me and that girl.
No, more like a secret cram school.
A cram school, huh?
That girl was very particular about this location. She said it was the only place she would study.
The next day, when we met in the room in the ruined house, she made a declaration.
There were conditions for us to continue this study session.
There were three conditions.
One of them was that this would be the location of the study session,
the farthest room on the second floor of this ruined house.
The second condition was that our having study sessions like that
was to be a secret between the two of us. Not to tell anyone about it.
And the third condition was—
"Don't ask me what my name is."
"Don't probe into figuring out who I am."
"Don't ask me anything if it's not about mathematics."
That was it.
Was she a fairy of mathematics or something?
But, on the other hand...
She didn't ask for anything other than that. Really, nothing else.
The three conditions, and the first request she made was it.
The fact she was teaching me without getting anything in return started to bother me.
So one day, I took some sweets with me, but...
I'm not doing this because I want something in return.
I'm happy that I could teach you mathematics.
So please. Please continue to love mathematics forever.
...she said.
She sounds more and more like a fairy of mathematics.
In any case, I went along with all of her conditions,
and from then on, I came to this ruined house every day.
Really, every day, without skipping once?
But...
The study sessions abruptly ended one day.
It was on the last day of summer break.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
The girl who was always there before me,
and had always prepared the study sessions ahead of time,
was not there that one day.
Only that day... On that day, for the first time...
No matter how much time passed, no matter how long I waited,
she never showed up.
AN ENVELOPE?
Somehow, the 7th grader Koyomi Araragi thought.
I will no longer...
...learn mathematics from her in this place ever again.
In order to figure out her identity, I started investigating in other classes.
Not only in my grade, but among the upperclassmen...
There was no sight of the girl I'd been seeing the entire summer.
As if her entire existence had been wiped out,
young Araragi was... right, trembling in fear.
So scary.
For the very first time, at that moment I thought she was scary.
That's why I started to avoid the ruined house...
And that's why I forgot about the girl.
But... The mathematics taught by the girl in the ruined house was never forgotten.
As of the second term, young Araragi's grades started to climb back up, mainly in mathematics.
In a way, his life perhaps went back to the condition he was in
before he started going regularly to the ruined house.
Looking at the long-term effects, perhaps nothing had changed.
But there was one thing that I could feel had changed for sure.
Young Araragi generally took a position that sought justice from then on,
and because of that, he went out of control every so often, only to deal with the repercussions.
But if you were talking purely about mathematics, he was seeking amusement.
If he didn't have that,
NAOETSU HIGH
I'm sure that back at that class assembly, after his sense of righteous was shattered...
...his heart would've had nothing left at all.
That girl taught him how amusing mathematics was.
How amusing life was.
How amusing the world was.
That's why I am who I am now.
I was created back in that summer.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
So to sum up, that mysterious girl is Oikura-senpai, right?
No, wait, Araragi-senpai.
This isn't what you'd call an answer to a riddle.
I'd actually say if, after all of this, that girl wasn't Oikura,
your misdirection was way too strong.
It's what you'd call unfair.
Then, Ougi, how do you explain that after summer break, that girl, young Oikura,
was no longer at 701 Middle School?
She just transferred schools. But there's one hole left in this hypothesis.
In other words, this means Oikura-senpai would've been your classmate at some point.
Araragi-senpai, based on what you've said up to now...
It seemed like you first met Oikura-senpai after entering Naoetsu High School?
I thought that was when I first met her.
In other words, I had completely forgotten about young Oikura.
I'd forgotten who was responsible for me becoming so good at math.
I'd forgotten how much I owed her, and I treated her as a classmate.
She said that everything I had now was all thanks to mathematics.
Even the fact that I'm dating Senjyogahara.
But did she really mean to say, "It was all thanks to me"?
"I do like people who are happy," but...
"What I despise are people who don't know the reason for their happiness," was it?
DESPISE
And what was it?
"I despise people who don't know what they're made up of"?
When you bring back the forgotten memories, those words really have a hidden meaning.
In any case, I need to apologize to Oikura tomorrow.
Though there's no way she'll start liking me, since I'm someone she despises.
Nor will it do anything to put her at ease.
But I need to apologize, so I will.
Oh, you don't seem that enthusiastic.
Of course not.
It's not like I don't have complaints about her as well, you know?
Like transferring schools. Well, even if there were reasons behind it...
At the least, she could've said something before she left.
Giving me nothing but an empty envelope? I really don't get it.
SODACHI OIKURA
Besides, when we were reunited in class 1-3, if she'd told me then,
I should've been able to remember right there.
Even if you tell me now...
If she had told you then?
"That girl from back then was me, Araragi.
It's been so long! What, you've forgotten about me?
My gosh, that's the worst! Geez, you really are cold!
But that's what's so won-der-ful about you!"
Or is something like that what you wish she said?
I've never seen such a magnificent character exist in this world, but, well...
You must be wondering why she didn't tell you.
And you must also be wondering why she left without saying anything.
If you don't think about it, even if you apologize tomorrow, things may get worse.
A superficial apology will irritate the victim more than anything else, you know.
The victim?
Hey now, hold on a second, Ougi. Isn't that saying a bit too much?
Indeed. Of course, it's not that you're at fault, Araragi-senpai.
However, you are a fool, Araragi-senpai. You're helpless. Helplessly so.
Ougi... What in the world are you saying that you know?
I don't know anything.
It's what you know, Araragi-senpai.
Me?
Let's see. Just like when Oikura-senpai was a young girl, I'll quiz you, then?
Question:
Sodachi Oikura despises Koyomi Araragi as if he killed her parents.
That's because Koyomi Araragi hadn't lived up to Sodachi Oikura's expectations.
That's why she transferred to a different school without telling him anything.
Now, what did Sodachi Oikura hope for from Koyomi Araragi?
What did she... hope for?
Hint: it has something to do with the occupation of Araragi-senpai's parents.
Thinking time: 120 seconds.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
ANSWER
In other words, Oikura-senpai,
by teaching Araragi-senpai the, how to put it, "amusement in mathematics,"
she was seeking something in compensation.
COMPENSATION
Speaking from a third-party perspective, that first envelope is very suspicious.
It reeks of a trap.
TRAP
A trap.
A fishhook, perhaps?
Her explanation that she sent letters to other students, but you being the only one that showed up was a lie.
It was a complete fabrication.
In reality, she was aiming to only hook you, Araragi-senpai.
After finding out your math grades were poor, Oikura-senpai decided to take advantage of that
and placed letters inside your shoe locker whose contents would grab your attention.
A mathematical problem delivered to a boy thinking he had to do something about his math grade...
Well, that's as good a lure as any.
That means I really did shamelessly show up at her place...
Hey, Araragi-senpai.
You're familiar with the cram school ruins my uncle Meme Oshino lived while in town, right?
Yeah. Well, like I said, I've even slept there myself.
You also said this: that those ruins and these ruins are rundown by about the same amount. Correct?
I did, so?
Isn't that a bit strange?
Why would a cram school that went out of business a few years ago
and a house that was already in ruins five years ago, be rundown to the same extent?
That's right, Araragi-senpai.
Five years ago... This place was not a ruined house.
The "ruined house" was a misunderstanding on your part...
This used to be the house Sodachi Oikura lived in.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
Oikura's... residence?
Why was she always here before you, Araragi-senpai?
Isn't it strange for someone to arrive first to a meeting point every single time without fail?
You should look at it that because this was her home, Oikura-senpai was always able to wait for you.
But...
Now, Araragi-senpai.
I know you're shocked by this, and I'm sorry I have to whip you even further.
But this is the key point of my sleuthing.
Why did Araragi-senpai think that five years ago, the Oikura residence was a ruined house?
That's an error in my memory, isn't it?
No, just a misunderstanding. Your memory itself is probably correct.
Back then, the window in this room was probably already broken like this.
You specifically stated as such already.
That's why this isn't an error in your memory, but merely a misunderstanding.
Is it what you call domestic violence?
Indeed.
It seems Oikura had to grow up in quite the tragic family environment,
while you grew up all warm and fuzzy in a peaceful family.
Even if you shoved the summer you came here into a corner of your memory...
Even if you had packed it away at the bottom of your memory...
It perhaps isn't something that you can be blamed for.
The reason for her transfer in the second term, in that case, is somewhat imaginable, too.
The family that was falling apart probably fell apart completely.
Perhaps at that point, Oikura's last name had changed?
And that was why when you were reunited with her in class 1-3 of Naoetsu High,
you thought you'd never met her before, Araragi-senpai.
Well, the thing is, you should've recognized her face.
In any case...
There's no doubt that the Oikura household was at a critical point back then.
And she wanted to do something about it.
Something?
Something is literally something. That's why she called you over, Araragi-senpai.
What Oikura-senpai had sought from you as compensation was just that.
No, hold on a sec. A family breakdown...
Resolving a violent family breakdown... That's too much to handle.
What in the world was she expecting from someone in 7th grade?
That's why I said, your parents.
Parents...
They're police officers, right?
The parents who showed the ways of righteous to Araragi-senpai.
You were expected to report to those parents the goings-on of the Oikura household.
Even if so, I was forbidden from saying anything... By Oikura herself.
To not tell anyone I'm seeing Oikura here.
In the end, Oikura-senpai probably didn't want to prosecute her own family.
Whether it was feeling guilt as a daughter to rebuke her own parents,
Or whether she feared retribution... Perhaps it was both?
In the end, she sought me to volunteer the condition of the Oikura household to my parents.
That's what she had intended.
I didn't do anything that Oikura had hoped for.
But I absorbed all of the knowledge that Oikura had given me to my heart's content.
The empty envelope Oikura had taped underneath the tea table
was an accurate depiction of who I was as a man.
Empty and disappointing.
I was a guy she couldn't count on.
Well, that's the gist of it.
Araragi-senpai, if my memory serves me correctly,
you started this investigation to figure out why you were hated
by Oikura-senpai as if you killed her parents.
That objective, at this point in time, has basically been completed.
Therefore, I believe it's about time to start thinking about retreating from here.
If there's something you'd like to say in closing, go ahead. Your final words.
I really am blessed right now.
It's true that everything is great, and I'm happy.
I have friends, I have a lover, and I have underclassmen.
I'm very, very happy.
But...
As happy as I am, I've come to despise myself a little bit.
Then, that little bit is how much I will love you.
Besides, Araragi-senpai.
Another way to look at this is that it's a good thing you haven't grown to despise mathematics.
No doubt.
It's true.
No matter what I grow to despise, even if I lose sight of righteousness...
I will continue to love mathematics.
It's already become a curse of sorts.
OWARIMONOGATARI SODACHI RIDDLE
Ougi Oshino... Oshino's niece?
Oh, yeah. Thanks to her, I figured out all sorts of things.
As expected of Oshino's relative, it was pretty impressive sleuthing.
Without her, I wouldn't have been able to figure out those mysteries yesterday or the day before.
Araragi, It pains me to add to things, considering how you are now...
Araragi, it's not strange to figure out that you hit a wall concerning math
during the finals for your first term in your 7th grade year.
And I think it's also possible to take advantage of that by placing the "Monty Hall problem" in your shoe locker.
But... The key point about that plan, the fact that your parents are police officers...
How did Oikura find out about that?
Wasn't that something you did everything you could to hide?
That's right. When it comes to that, I have a habit of not answering even when asked,
to avoid extra, or unnecessary, troubles.
But why... Why did Oikura know about that? How?
Of course, there's the chance she just happened to know because something caused her to find out.
Perhaps there's something else between you and Oikura.
Some other memory you need to retrace, another door you still need to open.
A memory I need to retrace...
Another door I still need to open...
Is there something else that I've forgotten, on top of everything else?
FOOLISH
If so, just how foolish is Koyomi Araragi?
Is there no end to my foolishness?
"You're someone that I'd never forget about," was what Oikura said.
If that's the case, she's sure to remember.
The fool from two years ago, from five years ago, and from even before that.
I've arrived in front of my classroom.
Beyond this door, whether or not Sodachi Oikura will be there is...
...alas, a completely impossible proof.
ALAS, A COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE PROOF.