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Genius Boy Wins Over the Most Popular Girl | Anime Recap Summary in English
He was just a quiet boy, but one small mystery pulled him into a world of hidden secrets.
Now, with a girl whose curiosity never stops, he keeps getting dragged into cases he never asked for.
#anime #animerecap #animeedit #animeedits #animerecommendations
He was just a quiet boy, but one small mystery pulled him into a world of hidden secrets.
Now, with a girl whose curiosity never stops, he keeps getting dragged into cases he never asked for.
#anime #animerecap #animeedit #animeedits #animerecommendations
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00:00Hutoru Oraki walked through the school gates on his first day of high school.
00:04Students crowded the entrance and kept handing out flyers while loudly calling new students to join their clubs.
00:09Hutoru ignored all of them and kept walking straight ahead.
00:12He changed his shoes and went to class.
00:14He had no interest in joining any club.
00:16In fact, he had no interest in doing anything unnecessary at all.
00:20If something did not need to be done, he would not do it.
00:22If it did need to be done, he would finish it quickly and move on.
00:25In class, his friend Satoshi greeted him with his usual energy.
00:29Satoshi was Hutoru's oldest and only friend, and he understood very well how little Hutoru cared about normal school life.
00:35He tried to get Hutoru interested in the new school year, but Hutoru stayed completely expressionless.
00:40Satoshi then asked why Hutoru was still at school, since he usually left as soon as classes ended.
00:45Hutoru gave a tired sigh and handed him a letter.
00:47Satoshi opened it and saw it was from Hutoru's older sister, who was traveling in India.
00:52In the letter, she explained that the Classics Club kept losing members every year and was now close to being
00:57shut down.
00:57Since she had a strong attachment to that club, she begged Hutoru to join and keep it alive.
01:02Hutoru cared enough about his sister to agree.
01:04Satoshi pointed out that it would be easy because the club had no current members, which meant Hutoru could have
01:10the whole room to himself.
01:11That small idea made Hutoru feel a little better.
01:13After that, he left Satoshi and went to the staff room to get the key.
01:17The Classics Club room was in a quiet corner of the school, far away from the busy hallways.
01:21Hutoru liked that right away.
01:22He put the key into the lock, opened the door, and stepped inside.
01:25There, he found a girl with short black hair standing near the window and looking outside.
01:30She turned around and walked toward him.
01:32She introduced herself as Eru Chitanda and said she recognized him from the school entrance orientation.
01:37Hutoru did not remember seeing her there at all.
01:40Eru explained that she had joined the club for personal reasons and asked if he was joining too.
01:44Hutoru told her no.
01:46Since she was already a member, the club no longer needed him to survive.
01:49So he turned around and said she could lock the room when she finished.
01:53Eru stopped him right there.
01:54She said she did not have the key.
01:56Hutoru froze for a moment and looked at the key in his own hand.
01:59If she did not have a key, and the door had been locked when he arrived, then how had she
02:03entered the room?
02:04Eru tilted her head and calmly said the door had been opened when she came in.
02:07She had no idea how it got locked afterward.
02:09Her curiosity immediately grew stronger, and she asked Hutoru to help her solve it.
02:14At that moment, Satoshi appeared at the door and admitted that he had followed Hutoru just to see what was
02:18going on.
02:19Hutoru tried to leave again, but Eru grabbed his hand and leaned in close as she asked for help one
02:24more time.
02:25Something about the look in her eyes hit him in a way he had never felt before.
02:28Because of that, he stayed.
02:30The three of them started thinking about possible explanations.
02:33Eru mentioned that she had heard a strange clinking sound earlier.
02:36They listened carefully and soon heard that same metallic sound coming from below.
02:40So they stepped out into the hallway and saw the school janitor moving from room to room, locking doors with
02:45a master key.
02:46Hutoru quickly figured it out.
02:48The janitor had probably checked the remote club room, assumed no one was inside, and locked it without realizing Eru
02:53was there.
02:54The sound she had heard was the master key turning in the door.
02:57Eru had been so focused on the old school building outside the window that she never noticed.
03:01Now that the mystery was solved, the three of them walked together toward the shoe lockers.
03:06On the way, Satoshi decided to join the Classics Club 2.
03:09Hutoru still insisted he was not joining, but Eru took his hand again and directly asked him to become a
03:14member.
03:15Without saying anything else, Hutoru handed over his application card.
03:18Just like that, he officially joined the club.
03:21The next afternoon, Hutoru stayed after class because he needed to rewrite an essay he had forgotten to bring from
03:26home.
03:27Satoshi sat nearby and started telling him about a strange rumor spreading around school.
03:31That morning, a girl had walked past the music room while rain was falling outside.
03:35She heard classical music coming from inside even though the room was dark and the door was closed.
03:40When she opened it, no one was sitting at the piano, yet the music kept playing.
03:43Then, once the piece ended, a figure slowly rose from the floor with messy hair and red tired eyes.
03:49The girl got terrified, slammed the door and ran away.
03:51Hutoru kept writing like he did not care, but then he asked one thing.
03:55He wanted to know if the story had already spread around the school.
03:58Satoshi said yes.
03:59Hutoru immediately guessed that Eru would show up very soon and asked them to investigate it.
04:04So he grabbed a small piece of paper, quickly wrote something on it and told Satoshi to get ready to
04:08tell a different story.
04:09Just as expected, Eru arrived a moment later, full of curiosity and ready to talk about the music room mystery.
04:15But before she could get into it, Hutoru redirected her toward Satoshi.
04:19Satoshi then told her about a secret group called the Silk Spider Society.
04:23He claimed that no one knew who its members were, but every year they secretly placed a hidden flyer somewhere
04:28on the school bulletin board.
04:29Eru's attention changed immediately.
04:31Her curiosity moved to that new mystery, and she asked both of them to help her find the flyer.
04:35They went to the main notice board on the first floor.
04:37It was covered in colorful club posters from top to bottom.
04:40After carefully checking the board, Hutoru pointed out a small notice hidden behind one of the larger posters.
04:46Eru looked at it closely, but her reaction was not as strong as before.
04:49She said the mystery felt too easy and still had some weak points, but she accepted it for the moment.
04:53After that, the three of them went their separate ways.
04:56While walking home together, Satoshi asked Hutoru when he had made the fake flyer and slipped it behind the poster.
05:01Hutoru calmly admitted that he only did it because he did not want to go all the way to the
05:06music room
05:06on the other side of the building.
05:08Then he explained the real answer.
05:09The student who used the music room often slept there to save time.
05:12She kept the window shut and used a classical music CD as an alarm.
05:16When the music stopped, she would wake up.
05:18So the girl who opened the door had simply seen that pianist getting up from the floor after sleeping there.
05:23Satoshi then asked the real question.
05:25Was Hutoru avoiding the mystery just to save effort?
05:27Or was he unable to refuse Eru the way he refused everyone else?
05:31Hutoru said nothing.
05:32A month passed since Hutoru joined the classics club, and he slowly got used to a quiet routine.
05:37Most afternoons he sat in the club room with a book and a cup of tea, while Eru sat across
05:41from him reading her own book.
05:43Sometimes, she brought homemade sweets and quietly placed them on his desk.
05:47Hutoru liked those peaceful days the most.
05:49One afternoon, Eru closed her book and stood up.
05:52She told Hutoru that the club felt too inactive because they never really did anything together.
05:56Hutoru told her to sit down and reminded her that this was a literature club, not a sports club.
06:01But Eru shook her head and brought up the coming school festival.
06:04Every club had to take part in it.
06:06Hutoru said he did not care, but Eru kept pushing.
06:09She explained that the classics club had a tradition of making an anthology every year for the festival,
06:13and she wanted to keep that tradition alive.
06:15Hutoru refused right away because the work sounded like too much trouble.
06:19Eru did not back down.
06:20She told him clearly that she would ask him about it every single day until he agreed.
06:25Hutoru thought about it and realized that helping her once would take less effort than listening to her daily requests.
06:30So in the end, he gave in.
06:32He then asked if she even knew how to make an anthology.
06:34Eru honestly admitted that she did not.
06:36Her idea was to find older copies and learn from how previous members had done it.
06:41So the two of them searched the club room together, opening drawers and checking shelves, but they found nothing.
06:46Hutoru sat back down, but Eru told him they were not done yet.
06:49She pulled him out of his chair and took him to the school library.
06:52At the front desk sat a short-haired girl named Mayaka.
06:55The moment she saw Hutoru, she recognized him and made an annoyed face.
06:59She warned him not to cause trouble.
07:01Hutoru replied with a dry comment, which only made her more irritated.
07:04Just then, Satoshi appeared from between the shelves, and Mayaka's expression changed right away.
07:10Eru quickly noticed that change.
07:11Hutoru quietly explained that Mayaka had liked Satoshi ever since middle school.
07:16Satoshi greeted everyone warmly and introduced Eru and Mayaka to each other.
07:20Eru wasted no time and asked Mayaka if the library had any old copies of the Classics Club anthology.
07:26Mayaka said she had not seen them on the normal shelves, but they might be in the back archives.
07:31Only the head librarian could allow access there, and that person had not arrived yet, so they had no choice
07:35but to wait.
07:36While they were standing there, Satoshi asked Mayaka to explain the strange pattern she had mentioned earlier.
07:41Hutoru quietly tried to head for the door, but Eru's curiosity was already caught, so he stopped and stayed.
07:47Mayaka then explained what she had noticed over the last few weeks.
07:50Every Friday during lunch break, someone borrowed the same book from the library, and before the day ended, that book
07:55was always returned.
07:56Since students were allowed to keep books for two weeks, returning it the same day made no sense at all.
08:01She brought out the book and placed it on the counter.
08:03It was a thick, leather-bound history book about the school.
08:06The cover looked old and elegant, and Eru picked it up and said it looked beautiful.
08:10Then Mayaka showed them the borrowing record, and that was where it got even stranger.
08:14Every Friday, a different girl had borrowed the same book.
08:16Five different students, over five weeks, all from the same year, all doing the same thing.
08:21Hutoru looked over the record and noticed that the checkout and return times were very close.
08:26No one could possibly read such a thick book that fast, so he said it clearly.
08:30The book was obviously not being borrowed for reading.
08:32For a while, they all threw out different ideas.
08:34Mayaka guessed the heavy book might be useful as something to lean on.
08:38Satoshi joked that it could be used like a shield.
08:40Eru suggested that a book that large could help press pickled vegetables.
08:43Hutoru got tired of hearing them and told everyone to be quiet so he could think.
08:48He looked at the records again and noticed that every borrower was a girl,
08:51and each one came from a different class.
08:53He then suggested that the book might be used as some kind of signal,
08:56but Mayaka explained that return books were placed back on shelves randomly,
09:00so that idea did not work.
09:01Then Eru brought the book close to her face and smelled it.
09:04Mayaka stepped back, surprised by that.
09:06Eru said the book had a faint smell of paint.
09:08Mayaka tried smelling it too, but she noticed nothing.
09:11Hutoru paused for a moment, then asked Eru to come with him.
09:14He led the group out of the library and toward the art room.
09:17On the way, he explained that there was an elective class,
09:19held every Friday, that brought students together from different class sections.
09:23It was the art class.
09:24When they entered the room, easels were lined up everywhere.
09:27Almost every unfinished painting showed the same thing,
09:29a girl holding a book with a dark textured cover.
09:32Hutoru pointed at the canvases.
09:33The leather-bound school history book had the perfect shape and color
09:37to be used as a prop for figure drawing.
09:39Since no one wanted to carry such a heavy book all week,
09:42each student simply borrowed it on Friday and returned it the same day after class.
09:46Mayaka and Eru stared at the paintings,
09:48then turned toward Hutoru with open admiration.
09:51After that, they returned to the library.
09:53Hutoru started heading for the exit,
09:54but Eru reminded him that they still had not found the anthologies.
09:58At last, the head librarian arrived.
10:00Satoshi introduced the group and asked about old issues of the Classics Club anthology.
10:05The librarian checked and then told them that none were left in the archives.
10:08Eru's face immediately fell.
10:10Satoshi told her not to worry because they would find another way to get the anthologies.
10:14After that, everyone went home.
10:16The next morning, which was Sunday,
10:18Hutoru's phone rang early.
10:19It was Eru.
10:20She apologized for calling on his day off and asked him to meet her.
10:23Hutoru tried to refuse, but she kept asking until he finally agreed.
10:27Later, he sat in a small cafe, waiting for her.
10:29When Eru arrived, she was a little out of breath and apologized for being late.
10:33Hutoru asked what she wanted.
10:34Eru hesitated and tried to change the subject.
10:37Hutoru stood up to leave, but she stopped him, made him sit back down,
10:40and told him that she had something important to say.
10:42Something she had struggled to admit.
10:44EP03 Hutoru sat in a small cafe with a cup of coffee in front of him.
10:48He slowly stirred the cream and waited.
10:50After a while, Eru arrived late.
10:52She wore a nice dress and looked slightly out of breath.
10:55She sat across from him and ordered something.
10:58Hutoru asked why, and she looked down at the table before quietly saying that she had something to confess.
11:03Hutoru fell silent at once.
11:04His chest tightened as he waited for her next words.
11:07Eru still circled around the topic for a bit and finally told him the truth.
11:11She wanted this help solving a personal mystery.
11:13Hutoru stared at her in surprise because that was not what he had expected at all.
11:17Eru then told him about her uncle, Sukitani Jun.
11:2045 years earlier, he had gone to the same school and served as the president of the classics club.
11:25But 7 years ago, he traveled to India and disappeared.
11:28People searched for him, but no one ever found any trace of him.
11:31Eru explained that when she was small, she had been very close to him.
11:35He used to spend time with her, take her to parks, and answer all her questions.
11:39He was patient, intelligent, and kind, so she admired him deeply.
11:42She also told Hutoru that he reminded her of her uncle because of the way he could think through problems
11:47and find answers that other people missed.
11:49After that, Eru described the memory that kept troubling her.
11:53When she was still a child, she once asked her uncle something, but now she could no longer remember what
11:57that question was.
11:58Instead of giving his usual gentle answer, he said something that upset her so badly that she started crying.
12:04Her uncle did not comfort her.
12:05He just sat there quietly and looked troubled himself.
12:07In the end, her mother came, carried her to bed, and she cried herself to sleep.
12:11That moment affected her so deeply that her mind sealed it away.
12:14She could not remember what she had asked or what her uncle had said.
12:17Hutoru listened to all of it without interrupting.
12:20When she finished, he refused.
12:22He told her that bringing back this memory might change the way she saw the world, and he did not
12:26want to carry that kind of responsibility.
12:27He suggested that she ask other people or slowly figure it out herself during the next three years of high
12:32school.
12:33But Eru shook her head.
12:34She said she had already gone to the staff room and spoken to every teacher, yet none of them had
12:38worked at the school long enough to know her uncle.
12:41She also said that this matter was too personal for her to discuss with just anyone.
12:45She trusted Hutoru because of the way he thought.
12:47Then she added one last detail.
12:49Her uncle had been missing for seven years, and the family was preparing to hold a funeral soon.
12:53Before saying goodbye to him for the last time, she wanted to remember the words he had once said to
12:57her.
12:58Her voice became softer, and she looked down at the table as she tried to hold back her tears.
13:02Hutoru watched her quietly for a moment.
13:04Then he said he would help, but he made it clear that he would not take responsibility for whatever effect
13:08the truth might have on her.
13:09Eru's face brightened right away, and she thanked him.
13:12Soon after that, midterm exams arrived, and club activities stopped for a while.
13:16Hutoru spent those days studying and going to school, so he barely saw Eru during that period.
13:20When the final exam ended, he went home and dropped onto his bed.
13:24There, on his desk, he found a letter from his older sister.
13:26He opened it and read it.
13:28She wrote that she was currently stuck in Istanbul at the Japanese embassy because of a passport problem.
13:32In the letter, she asked how the club was doing, whether any new members had joined,
13:36and reminded him again about the yearly anthology tradition.
13:40Then she mentioned something important.
13:41The old anthologies were not in the library or the archives at all.
13:44They were stored in a wall safe in the club room.
13:46She also added that the safe was unlocked.
13:48The next day, the club gathered in their room, and by then, Mayaka had officially become the fourth member.
13:54Hutoru shared the contents of the letter with everyone.
13:57At first, they felt relieved, but when they looked around the room, they realized there was no safe anywhere.
14:02Hutoru told them not to panic.
14:03Club rooms changed every year.
14:05Since his sister had graduated two years earlier, the safe would be in the room the club had used back
14:09then.
14:10He had already asked around and learned that the biology lab had served as the classics club room the year
14:14before.
14:15The group walked down the hallway toward that lab.
14:17On the way, Hutoru noticed two small sensor devices attached to the walls on both sides of the corridor,
14:22but the girls did not seem to notice them.
14:24When they reached the door, they found it locked.
14:26They knocked, and after a moment, a long-haired senior stepped out and kept the door mostly shut behind him.
14:31A strong smell of cologne came from him.
14:33He introduced himself and said that the newspaper club now used the room, although he was the only one there
14:38that day.
14:39Eru politely explained that the classics club was looking for a wall safe that should still be inside.
14:44The senior suddenly grew tense and claimed that he had never seen any safe there.
14:48Mayaka reminded him that students were allowed to inspect the room if needed.
14:51The senior hesitated for a moment, but then he let them inside.
14:54Hutoru looked around carefully.
14:56Papers were spread over the table.
14:57A radio sat near the edge.
14:59The window was open and a fan pointed straight at it even though that setup could easily blow the papers
15:03away.
15:04The group searched the room, but found nothing.
15:06Then Hutoru asked the senior if he had moved anything large when the newspaper club moved in.
15:10The senior said he had shifted a few cardboard boxes.
15:13Hutoru then calmly said that if they could not find the safe themselves, he would ask a staff member to
15:18search the room properly.
15:19The senior's face changed at once.
15:21His breathing became heavier and he told them to leave.
15:24Hutoru walked out with the girls and told the senior that if the anthologies appeared, he could just leave them
15:28in the classics club room.
15:30Not long after that, the anthologies were sitting in a neat pile on their table.
15:34Mayaka asked Hutoru how he had figured it out.
15:36He quietly pulled her aside and told her to keep it secret.
15:39Then he explained everything.
15:40The sensors in the hallway, the fresh cologne, the fan aimed at the open window, and the radio on the
15:45desk all pointed to one thing.
15:47The senior had been smoking in the room.
15:49Since he came from a respected family, getting caught would cause serious problems for him.
15:53That meant the safe was most likely where he had hidden his cigarettes and lighter, which was why he refused
15:57to reveal it.
15:58The moment Hutoru mentioned staff, the senior had no choice but to hand over the anthologies himself.
16:03Just then, Satoshi walked into the room dressed in a sunflower costume, and Mayaka showed him the recovered books.
16:09At the same time, Eru pulled Hutoru aside.
16:12She held up one of the volumes.
16:13The title on the cover was Hyuka.
16:15She told him that this was the anthology connected to her uncle.
16:18Inside, a text written one year after he had left school, described him as a hero who sacrificed everything for
16:24the greater good.
16:25Eru pressed her hand to her forehead and said she felt like the answer was close, yet she still could
16:29not reach it.
16:30Hutoru turned to the stack and started looking for the first issue, the one from when her uncle had still
16:35been a student.
16:36Mayaka had checked through the pile and then told them the bad news.
16:39The first volume was missing.
16:41While walking home that evening, Hutoru told Eru that she should also share her uncle's story with Satoshi and Mayaka.
16:47Eru hesitated because she did not want too many people involved.
16:50But Hutoru pointed out that the two of them alone might not be enough to solve it.
16:54Eru stopped walking, thought about it for a moment, and then agreed to tell them the next day.
16:58At the club the following afternoon, Eru explained everything.
17:02She told Satoshi and Mayaka about her uncle Sekitani Jun, his disappearance, the memory she had blocked, and the funeral
17:08that would happen soon.
17:09Both of them listened quietly until she finished.
17:11After hearing everything, they promised to help.
17:13The group then decided that their main goal was to find out what had really happened 45 years ago.
17:19They agreed to meet at Eru's home that weekend, and each of them would bring research and their own theory.
17:23Saturday came with gray skies overhead.
17:25Hutoru stood beside his bicycle and waited until he heard Satoshi calling from down the road.
17:30Satoshi came riding toward him at full speed and almost crashed before stopping at the last second.
17:35Then the two of them set off together, leaving the city behind and heading toward the countryside.
17:39As they rode, the streets grew quieter, and rice fields and low hills stretched along both sides of the road.
17:44During the ride, Hutoru asked to Satoshi if he enjoyed his high school life.
17:48Satoshi slowed down a little and said he had his own problems too, but he preferred to stay cheerful and
17:52focus on the good parts.
17:53Hutoru gave no reply and kept riding in silence.
17:56After a long trip, they arrived at the Chitanda estate.
17:59The property was large, and a tall wooden gate stood at the entrance.
18:03Behind it was an old, spacious house, built in a traditional style and carefully maintained for generations.
18:09Eru welcomed them at the door and led them inside.
18:11They passed through several rooms with polished floors and old screens, and the air carried a faint smell of tatami
18:17and wood polish.
18:18In one of the inner rooms, Maika was already waiting at a low table, with papers spread out in front
18:22of her.
18:23Everyone sat down around the table.
18:24Eru handed them copies of the preface from the second anthology.
18:27It described Sakitani Jun as someone who left the school, not just as a student, but as a hero, and
18:32a legend who gave up everything for the greater good.
18:34The passage had been written one year after he left school.
18:37Eru then shared her theory first.
18:39She believed that during the school festival 45 years ago, outsiders came in, caused trouble, and harassed students.
18:45Her uncle then stood up to them, gathered support, and drove them away.
18:48But in that process, he hit one of the intruders in front of a teacher, and was expelled because of
18:53that violence.
18:54The others listened and thought about it.
18:56Satoshi then pointed out that the kind of youth gangs Eru described did not really appear until about five years
19:02after that event.
19:03Huduru added that the school had long banned any festival stalls that involved money, so there would have been nothing
19:08there for outsiders to steal.
19:09Eru listened to their reasoning, accepted it, and quietly sat back down.
19:13After that, Satoshi stretched his legs and asked if they could move somewhere more comfortable.
19:17Eru suggested the veranda that looked out over the garden pond, so they carried their papers outside.
19:22The pond looked still and dark under the cloudy sky, while frogs croaked somewhere near the reeds.
19:26Next, it was Mayaka's turn.
19:28She handed out several pages of notes and explained her theory.
19:31She believed the whole matter was tied to a political struggle between the government and schools.
19:35In her view, the authorities had tried to control the curriculum, so they could turn students into obedience supporters.
19:41The school resisted that pressure.
19:42Teachers and students then joined together, held protests and strikes, and Sekitani Jun led that resistance.
19:48Because of that, officials targeted him and used their influence to have him removed.
19:52Huduru and Satoshi both admitted that her theory had a strong structure, but they also saw a clear problem.
19:57The protests Mayaka mentioned had taken place in June, while Sekitani left the school in October.
20:02The gap between those dates was too large to ignore, so the theory did not fully fit.
20:06A little later, Satoshi admitted he was hungry.
20:08Eru brought everyone back inside to the kitchen and started making rice balls while the discussion continued.
20:14The smell of fresh rice quickly filled the room.
20:16Once she finished, she placed the onigiri on a plate in the middle of the table.
20:20Then Satoshi spread out old newspaper clippings and school newsletters that he had collected.
20:25His theory was somewhat similar to Mayaka's, but he changed the focus.
20:28He believed the real conflict was between students and teachers, not between the school and the government.
20:33According to him, the school had been trying to reduce the length of the cultural festival, so students would focus
20:38more on academics.
20:40That led to protests.
20:41But the clippings also showed that those protests had stayed mostly peaceful.
20:44There was no record of any physical clash with teachers.
20:47On top of that, the same time gap remained.
20:49The protests had happened months before the expulsion.
20:52Now, all three theories had been presented.
20:54So everyone looked at Huduru.
20:55He shifted awkwardly because everything in his notes overlapped with what the others had already said.
21:00Still, they pushed him to say something.
21:02Huduru stood up and asked where the washroom was.
21:04Erru pointed him down the hall.
21:06As he walked there, he passed an open door and noticed Erru's room.
21:09Her desk and even parts of the floor were covered with handwritten notes.
21:12Charts, copied papers, and timelines were spread everywhere.
21:16Huduru stood there for a brief moment, then kept walking to the washroom.
21:19Once inside, he shut the door, leaned against the wall, and quietly sorted the facts in his mind.
21:24Several minutes later, he came back and told everyone that he had a theory.
21:28The room fell silent at once.
21:29Huduru began by listing the facts they already knew.
21:32The protests had happened in June, but Sekitani left in October.
21:35The conflict clearly involved students and teachers.
21:38The newsletter showed that the main issue was the cultural festival.
21:41Teachers wanted to shorten it, while students wanted to keep it at five days.
21:45Sekitani had stood on the students' side and led them.
21:48In the end, the school gave in and allowed the festival to continue the way the students wanted.
21:52But Huduru believed the school had not forgotten that conflict.
21:55Expelling Sekitani right away would have caused even more trouble, because students saw him as a hero.
22:01So the school waited instead.
22:03Time passed, the tension faded, and once things settled down, they quietly expelled him later, by using some other reason.
22:09That explained why there was a gap between June and October.
22:11It also explained why the second anthology, written the following year, praised him as a legend who had sacrificed himself
22:17for everyone else.
22:17The festival was later reduced to three days, but only after he was already gone.
22:22No one argued with his explanation.
22:24Satoshi and Mayaka both said the theory made sense.
22:27Eru gave a faint smile, but then her eyes dropped to the table.
22:30She quietly asked one question.
22:32If her uncle had left the school as a proud hero, then why had his words made her cry so
22:36badly when she was a child?
22:38Hutaru had no answer to that.
22:40Eru quickly shook her head and thanked everyone.
22:42She said the mystery was solved for now.
22:44By then, rain had started falling outside.
22:46Eru gave Hutaru an umbrella for the ride home, while Satoshi pulled a folded raincoat from his bag.
22:51At the gate, they said goodbye and rode off into the wet evening.
22:55Satoshi and Hutaru rode their bikes through the evening rain.
22:58Water kept dripping from their hoods as they moved down the road.
23:01While riding, Satoshi looked at Hutaru and said that for the first time in a long while, he actually seemed
23:06interested in something.
23:08Hutaru kept looking ahead.
23:09Then Satoshi asked if this change was because of Eru.
23:11Hutaru shook his head and said that he was simply tired of living without caring about anything.
23:16When he looked at Eru, Satoshi, and Mayaka, he felt uneasy in a strange way.
23:20The three of them lived with warmth and purpose, and he wanted a little of that for himself.
23:24At their usual corner, the two of them split up.
23:27Hutaru went home, parked his bike, and entered the quiet house.
23:30Then he sat alone in his room and stared at the ceiling.
23:33He thought about the first time he saw Eru standing by the clubroom window.
23:36He also thought about those afternoons when all of them sat around the low table and talked together.
23:41During those moments, the empty and dull feeling that always stayed with him, seemed to disappear.
23:45Everything felt lighter.
23:46As he sat there, he started wondering if Sekitani Jun had once felt the same way at that school,
23:51while being surrounded by classmates who all believed in something.
23:54Then the phone rang.
23:55Hutaru picked it up and heard his sister's cheerful voice from far away.
23:58She had already moved on to another country and started talking about her latest trip.
24:02After that, she asked what he had been doing lately.
24:04Hutaru told her about the anthology and mentioned that he had read Hyuka.
24:07For a brief moment, the line went quiet.
24:09Then she said that Hyuka had always been one of her favorite works.
24:12After that, she called it a tragedy.
24:14She described Sekitani as a kind person who got caught in a sad story.
24:18Hutaru immediately asked her to explain, but she suddenly said she had to go.
24:22Then the call ended.
24:23After that, Hutaru spread all his notes across the desk and looked at them again.
24:27This time, they felt different.
24:29His theory had painted Sekitani as a proud hero who left school while being respected by everyone.
24:33But his sister had called it a tragedy, and that word did not fit a heroic ending.
24:37If it was truly a tragedy, then something must have gone badly wrong.
24:41Hutaru stayed there for a long time, thinking quietly while the rain tapped against the window.
24:45The next afternoon, he called the others to the club room.
24:47When he arrived, Eru, Satoshi, and Mayaka were already there.
24:51Hutaru told them that his theory was still incomplete.
24:53He explained that the word sacrifice in the forward of the anthology still had not been fully understood.
24:58It could describe a noble act unwillingly, but it could also mean something painful that was forced on someone.
25:03They still needed to know which meaning was true.
25:05Satoshi then said that the only way to know for sure was to find the person who had written that
25:09forward.
25:10Hutaru replied that he had already checked.
25:12The writer was the head librarian, Yauko.
25:14Her age matched the timeline, and she had attended the school 45 years earlier as a member of the classics
25:20club.
25:20So the group gathered their things and headed to the library.
25:23Inside, tall shelves stood in long rows under bright fluorescent lights.
25:27Near the back, Yauko was putting books back in place.
25:29She smiled when she saw them and said she still had a few minutes of work left.
25:33Mayaka stepped forward and started helping her with the books.
25:36Then Hutaru showed Yauko the forward from Yuka and asked if she had written it.
25:40She said yes.
25:41After looking at their faces, she asked why students their age were interested in something that had happened so long
25:47ago.
25:47Eru then told her that Sekitani Jun was her uncle.
25:50Yauko asked how he was doing now.
25:52And Eru quietly replied that he had disappeared in India 7 years ago and no one had heard from him
25:58since.
25:58Yauko then took them to her small office behind the front desk.
26:01She sat down, carefully read through Hutaru's notes, and told him that his work was impressive for something based only
26:07on the anthology.
26:08But then she said that one missing part changed the whole story.
26:11She began explaining what the school had been like 45 years earlier.
26:14Back then, the cultural festival lasted for 5 full days and attracted visitors from all over the city.
26:20The excitement during that week was huge, but in the year she entered school, things went too far.
26:25During the festival, fights broke out among students.
26:27Because of that, the principal announced that the festival will be reduced from 5 days to only 2, and many
26:32heavy restrictions would be added.
26:34The students reacted strongly.
26:36Rallies began, and protest banners covered the hallways.
26:39The movement needed a public leader, but anyone who took that role would later face serious punishment.
26:43So the true planner stayed hidden.
26:45Sekitani, who was actually quiet and did not like conflict, ended up being pushed into that position.
26:50He became the face of the protest, even though he had never chosen that role for himself.
26:54The protests grew larger and stronger.
26:56In the end, the school gave in and allowed the festival to remain 5 days long.
27:00That night, the students gathered on campus and burned their protest banners in a bonfire to celebrate.
27:05But the flames spread too far, and an old building on campus caught fire and burned down.
27:09Firefighters spent the whole night trying to control it.
27:11The next morning, the school needed someone to blame.
27:14They chose Sekitani.
27:15He was expelled, and not one student stepped forward to defend him.
27:18Everyone stayed quiet and let him carry all the blame alone.
27:21When Yauko finished, the room became completely still.
27:24Then Eru stood up and asked one more thing.
27:26She wanted to know why her uncle had chosen the name Hyuka for the anthology.
27:30Yauko answered that Sekitani had picked that title himself, but she had never understood the reason.
27:35At that moment, Hutaru slowly let out a breath and said he understood it now.
27:39The others looked at him.
27:40He explained that Yauko was a kind of wordplay.
27:43It could sound like the word ice cream, but if it was broken apart, it became ice cream.
27:47Sekitani had hidden his true feelings inside that title.
27:50He wanted to scream that he was innocent.
27:51He wanted to scream that no one stood by him.
27:54He wanted to scream because his classmates had watched him get destroyed and stayed silent.
27:58As soon as Hutaru said that, tears filled Eru's eyes.
28:01She said she finally remembered.
28:03Her uncle had once told her that sometimes even the people closest to you would watch you suffer
28:07and do nothing.
28:08In the end, all you could do was scream.
28:11That memory had terrified her when she was little, and it made her cry so hard that she could not
28:15stop.
28:15Eru wiped her tears away and thanked Hutaru.
28:18At last, the mystery was over.
28:19The following day, the group met again in the club room.
28:22Mayaka placed a rough draft of the anthology on the table.
28:25Eru looked through it first, then handed it to Hutaru.
28:28When he opened it, he saw that the main article had been assigned to him.
28:32Mayaka told him that since he had solved the mystery, he should be the one to write it.
28:35Eru offered to write it for him instead, but Mayaka firmly refused.
28:39Hutaru did not argue.
28:40He accepted it and said he would start working on the outline soon.
28:43He planned to write it as a tribute to Sekitani.
28:45Later that afternoon, Hutaru and Eru walked home together.
28:49On the way, Hutaru asked why she had finally agreed to share her uncle's story with the others, after protecting
28:54it so carefully.
28:55Eru answered that her mother once told her that after a few years, these things would start to feel small
28:59and unimportant.
29:00That idea scared her.
29:01She did not want to forget.
29:03After speaking with Hujuru, Satoshi, and Mayaka, she realized that she wanted to keep this memory with her, no matter
29:09what.
29:09She wanted to remember it clearly, with all her heart, for as long as possible.
29:13Epo 6 summer vacation was getting close, and for several days, Eru had been asking Hacharu to join the group
29:19on a trip to the Hot Springs.
29:20Hacharu kept avoiding the answer, but Eru did not stop.
29:23In the end, he finally agreed.
29:26A few days before the break, Hutaru sat at his desk in class.
29:29Sunlight came through the room, and chalk dust drifted near the board while the teacher kept talking in a dull
29:34voice.
29:34Then, a sharp sound came from the classroom next door.
29:37Loud voices followed, and one of them was clearly Eru's.
29:40She was arguing with her teacher in a firm and steady tone.
29:43Some students in Hutaru's class turned toward the wall to listen.
29:46Their own teacher paused for a moment, then continued the lesson.
29:49Later that afternoon, the four of them met in the club room.
29:52The windows were slightly open, and warm air moved the curtains back and forth.
29:55Mayaka sat at the table with both fists pressed against the surface.
29:59Her face was red with anger, and she was shouting at Satoshi about something.
30:02Her voice filled the whole room.
30:04Then Eru came in, quietly placed down her bag, walked over to Mayaka, and sat beside her.
30:09She gently put a hand on the table near Mayaka's, and tried to calm things down, in an even voice.
30:14But Mayaka only got louder.
30:16Hutaru, who was sitting back with a book resting on his knee, looked at her, and simply told her to
30:20stop.
30:21His voice stayed flat and quiet, but it worked.
30:23Mayaka pressed her lips together and dropped back into her seat.
30:26After that, the room fell silent.
30:27Satoshi then spoke first and brought up the idea of how different people deal with anger.
30:31He pointed out that Eru never seemed to lose her calm, no matter what happened around her.
30:36Mayaka folded her arms and stayed quiet.
30:38Then, after a short pause, Hutaru closed the book, and asked Eru what had happened earlier with her teacher.
30:43The words came out before he could stop himself.
30:45Eru straightened at once, and her eyes widened slightly.
30:48She looked at him with that familiar expression she always had when a new mystery appeared.
30:52Hutaru understood immediately that he had made a mistake.
30:55He stood up and reached for his bag, but Eru grabbed the strap before he could leave.
30:58She told him this one really mattered, so Hutaru sat back down.
31:02Eru placed both hands on the table and started explaining.
31:04That morning, her math teacher had walked into class and written a problem on the board,
31:08but it was not part of the material they were studying.
31:11None of the students recognized it.
31:12The teacher then called on several students, one after another,
31:16but each one either said they did not know or gave the wrong answer.
31:19The teacher became more irritated each time, and the way he tapped the chalk against the board grew sharper.
31:24At that point, Eru raised her hand and told him that the class had not studied that topic yet.
31:29The teacher argued back, but Eru did not back down.
31:32The two of them went back and forth for several minutes until the teacher finally checked his notes,
31:36stopped, and realized that he had gone ahead of the lesson plan by mistake.
31:40Satoshi leaned forward and said that this teacher was known for preparing carefully.
31:43His classes always followed a fixed order, so a mistake like that did not match the kind of person he
31:48was.
31:49Eru agreed and said that was exactly why the whole thing kept bothering her.
31:52Then both of them looked toward Houtarou.
31:54Houtarou rubbed the back of his neck and suggested that maybe the teacher had simply skipped a day in his
31:59schedule.
31:59Mayaka clicked her tongue right away and told him that answer was lazy, and everyone there knew it.
32:04Houtarou did not argue.
32:05He just sat quietly and thought.
32:07Then Satoshi casually added something.
32:09He said that his own class, which was Section A, had already studied that same math problem.
32:14He even said he still did not fully understand it, which was why he recognized it when Eru described it.
32:19For a moment, the room became completely still.
32:21Houtarou then reached into a snack bag on the table and pulled out a few small crackers shaped like letters.
32:27He lined them up in front of him and slowly turned some of them around.
32:30Then he pointed at the letters A and D.
32:32Both were lowercase, and their shapes looked very similar.
32:35One had a tail going one way, and the other had it going the other way.
32:38If someone flipped one around, it could easily be mistaken for the other.
32:42Then Houtarou explained everything.
32:44The teacher probably prepared different lesson notes for each class.
32:47Satoshi was in Class A, while Eru was in Class D.
32:50If the class labels on the folders or papers were written in lowercase, then A and D could look almost
32:55the same.
32:56So the teacher must have picked up the wrong notes that morning and accidentally taught Class D, using the material
33:01prepared for Class A.
33:02That was why the problem seemed unfamiliar to Eru's class, but had already been covered in Satoshi's.
33:07As soon as Houtarou finished, Eru leaned toward him across the table.
33:10Her face came close, and she thanked him with a bright and open smile.
33:13Satoshi grinned from the other side of the room, while Mayaka turned her face slightly toward the wall and said
33:18nothing against the answer.
33:19By then, the afternoon light had changed.
33:22Long golden lines stretched across the floor and climbed up the far wall of the club room.
33:26The clock above the door showed that it was already past four.
33:29Houtarou packed his bag.
33:30Satoshi threw his bag over one shoulder.
33:33Mayaka picked up the small stack of manga she had left near the window.
33:36Eru placed her notebook inside her bag and closed it.
33:39Then the four of them left the school building together.
33:41The bus moved along a narrow road that curved through green hills.
33:45Rice fields stretched out on both sides, and the engine kept humming as the trees grew thicker the farther they
33:51got from the city.
33:52Houtarou sat by the window with his forehead against the cool glass.
33:55His face looked pale, and his stomach had been upset since the first sharp turn.
33:59By the time the bus stopped in the countryside, he could barely stand properly.
34:02Mayaka told everyone to wait, because her cousins ran a nearby inn.
34:06The place was closed for maintenance and was not accepting normal guests, but her family had agreed to let them
34:11stay.
34:11After a short time, a van came to pick them up.
34:14They got in, and the road became even rougher.
34:16Dust rose behind the tires as they kept going.
34:18When the van finally stopped in front of a large wooden building, surrounded by trees, Houtarou stepped out with shaky
34:23legs.
34:24Two girls were waiting at the entrance.
34:26Mayaka introduced them as her younger cousins, Rie and Kayo.
34:29The girls bowed and guided the group inside.
34:31The hallway smelled like old wood and fresh tatami.
34:34Houtarou and Satoshi were taken to a room on the second floor.
34:37Satoshi opened the window and leaned out.
34:39Behind the line of dark cedar trees, mountains rose in the distance, and a stream shined far below.
34:44Even Houtarou admitted the view was beautiful.
34:47Later, Mayaka called them downstairs for dinner.
34:49They sat around a low table filled with rice, grilled fish, pickled vegetables, and miso soup.
34:54Steam rose from every dish.
34:56After eating, Houtarou returned to his room and saw that Satoshi was already gone.
35:00He guessed Satoshi had gone to the hot springs.
35:02Houtarou lay on the floor for a while and watched television, but it quickly bored him.
35:06So he picked up a towel and stepped into the hallway.
35:09There, he found Eru standing near the stairs with a towel and a small cloth bag in her hands.
35:14He asked where she was going, and she said she was heading to the hot springs.
35:17The two of them walked together down a stone path lit by small lanterns.
35:21On the way, Eru mentioned that Mayaka had gone to spend time with her cousins, so she was going to
35:25the bath alone.
35:26Houtarou simply nodded.
35:28At the entrance, they separated and went to their own bathing areas.
35:31Houtarou slowly lowered himself into the warm water.
35:34Rocks lined the bath and steam rose into the night air.
35:37Satoshi was already there, soaking nearby.
35:39The two of them talked casually for a while, but then Houtarou's vision started to blur.
35:43The heat pressed hard against his body, and his arms felt heavy.
35:46Satoshi noticed right away and quickly pulled him out.
35:49Then he half-carried him back to the room, where Mayaka helped lay out a mattress and covered him with
35:53a blanket.
35:53Some time later, Eru opened the sliding door and knelt beside him.
35:57She asked if he felt better, and Houtarou said he was fine, as he turned to face her.
36:01Eru then told him that the others were in the next room, sharing ghost stories and said he could join
36:06if he wanted.
36:07After that, she went back and left the door slightly open.
36:10Houtarou stayed where he was and listened to the voices from the next room.
36:13Then he heard Ria begin telling a story about the inn.
36:16Long ago, a man had checked into room 7 in the old building across from the main house.
36:20He paid in advance and told the staff not to disturb him.
36:23He refused every meal.
36:25Then one night, a scream echoed through the inn.
36:27A woman found him hanging from a rope inside the room.
36:30He had taken money from a company, lost it all in a failed business, and ended his life.
36:34After that, guests who stayed there said they saw a dark figure hanging from the ceiling.
36:38One man even became sick and died in that room.
36:41In the end, the family brought in someone to cleanse the place.
36:43A new building was later built in front of the old one, and room 7 was sealed.
36:47No one went near it after that.
36:48After hearing the story, Houtarou got up and walked to the window.
36:51Across the courtyard, the old building stood dark and silent.
36:54A cold feeling ran through his arms.
36:56He reached out to close the window, but just before it shut, he saw a small figure run across
37:01the ground below and disappear behind the corner of the building.
37:03He watched for a moment, then closed the curtain and went to sleep.
37:07The next morning, Houtarou came downstairs and found Mayaka sitting very close to Eru at
37:11the breakfast table.
37:12Her face had gone pale.
37:13She said that during the night, she woke up because of a gust of wind.
37:16When she turned to close the window, she saw a dark shape hanging inside room 7.
37:21Rie laughed and said Mayaka had probably imagined it because of the ghost stories.
37:25But Kaio quietly said that their father had told Rie not to tell that story to guests.
37:29Then Eru leaned closer to Houtarou and quietly told him that Mayaka had woken her during the
37:33night.
37:34When Eru looked toward room 7, she had seen the same shape.
37:37Houtarou said both of them had probably mistaken something normal for a ghost.
37:40Mayaka immediately demanded that he explain what else it could have been.
37:43Eru's eyes sharpened with curiosity, and she asked Houtarou to investigate.
37:48The group went to Houtarou's room and started discussing what Eru remembered.
37:51They also tried to go and inspect room 7, and they asked Kaio to take them there, but
37:55she refused and rushed away.
37:57Outside, Houtarou noticed that the ground was wet.
37:59It had rained during the night.
38:00Before they could continue, Kaio came back and announced that lunch was ready.
38:04During lunch, Rie entered wearing a colorful kimono, and everyone complimented her.
38:08Afterward, Satoshi quietly pulled Houtarou aside and mentioned that Kaio had wanted to
38:13wear the kimono too, but Rie had refused to let her.
38:15Houtarou also noticed something else.
38:17Rie had written her name on both her teacup and her exercise ball.
38:21He noticed it and kept the thought to himself.
38:23Later that day, Houtarou went to the hot springs again.
38:26Satoshi was already there in the water.
38:28While they talked, Satoshi mentioned that late the previous night, drums had been sounding
38:32from a nearby local summer festival.
38:33He seemed surprised that Houtarou had slept through it.
38:36Houtarou then asked if the festival had happened that same evening, and Satoshi said yes.
38:40Houtarou immediately got out of the bath.
38:42Outside, he found Eru waiting for him, and the two of them walked back together along the
38:46stone path.
38:47On the way, Houtarou told her that the hanging shape was not a ghost at all.
38:51It was a kimono left hanging to dry.
38:54Kaio had secretly taken Rie's kimono and worn it to the festival without permission.
38:58The small figure Houtarou saw running outside that night had been Kaio sneaking out.
39:02Then rain started to fall, and she returned with the kimono completely wet.
39:06She had to dry it before Rie noticed, and the only place no one would check was room
39:107.
39:10So she opened the window, hung the kimono from the ceiling, and left it there overnight.
39:14The dark shape that Mayaka and Eru saw in the window had been that soaked kimono swaying
39:19in the dark.
39:20Aru became quiet after hearing the truth.
39:22She said it felt sad that Kaio had to go through all that trouble just to wear a kimono.
39:25Then she looked across the yard.
39:27In the distance, Riei was walking slowly along the path with Kaio riding on her back.
39:31Their laughter carried through the evening air.
39:33Eru smiled and ran toward them.
39:35Houtarou stayed where he was, and quietly watched the four figures grow smaller under
39:40the orange sky.
39:41A few days later, Houtarou and Satoshi dragged themselves to school and found students already
39:46busy with festival preparations.
39:48Everyone was running around, carrying boxes and shouting instructions, and the whole place
39:52felt noisy and chaotic.
39:53Seeing all that activity made them think about how much had changed since the day Houtarou
39:57first got pulled into the classics club by Eru.
39:59Satoshi started feeling strangely nostalgic, but then he remembered they had a meeting
40:03with the girls.
40:04The two of them quickly headed there, only to find that Mayaka had already arrived and
40:08was angrily waving her arms around while complaining about something.
40:12Houtarou barely paid attention until Eru finally showed up and changed the mood.
40:16She explained that a friend of hers had worked on a movie with her class and wanted the club
40:20to come watch it before the festival.
40:21The group then went to the classroom where Fuyumi was waiting for them.
40:24As soon as they arrived, Satoshi tried to act familiar and said they had met before, but
40:29Fuyumi showed no reaction and ignored that completely so she could explain the real reason
40:33she called them.
40:34Houtarou, meanwhile, did not even want to be there and wondered why he had to spend time
40:38watching a student film at all.
40:40But since no one cared what he thought, he sat down and waited for the screening to begin.
40:44The movie started with a group of students going on a trip.
40:47Instead of simply enjoying it, they found an abandoned building and decided to stay there
40:51for the night.
40:51At one point, two of them went off on their own, found some ordinary keys, and left the
40:55master key behind.
40:56After that, everyone split up to look for rooms.
40:59But when they later came back together, they realized that one classmate was missing.
41:02They searched through the creepy building until they found a locked door.
41:05Using the master key from earlier, they opened it and found their missing friend dead inside,
41:10lying in a pool of blood and organs.
41:12Near the door was an arm holding a key.
41:14One of the students then looked out the window for clues, noticed something strange outside
41:18in the corner, and just like that, the movie suddenly ended.
41:21After the screening, Fuyumi turned to them and asked if they could solve the murder mystery.
41:25Huderu was already irritated and could not understand why she was asking other people
41:30to do this instead of solving it herself.
41:32He also wondered why it had to be their club.
41:34Fuyumi then explained that she had heard about the classics club solving the anthology
41:38case, so she believed they were capable of handling this too.
41:41She also admitted that the movie was not even finished because the scriptwriter had fallen
41:45sick right after writing that last scene.
41:47Since the ending had never been completed, she wanted their help figuring it out.
41:50The rest of the group immediately turned toward Huderu and looked at him like he was the only
41:54one who could solve it.
41:55They all tried to persuade him, but Huderu attempted to avoid the responsibility by saying
41:59this was too much for one club to take on.
42:02Fuyumi then added that some of her classmates had already come up with their own theories
42:05and asked if the club could at least listen to them.
42:08That made Huderu's attempt to escape fall apart almost immediately.
42:11Then Eru leaned in with her usual gentle pressure, and in the end, Huderu gave in again.
42:16The next day, the summer heat became so strong that Huderu seriously thought about skipping
42:21school, but Eru was not going to let that happen.
42:24She showed up and practically dragged him out so he would not stay at home.
42:27The two of them reached the club room just in time for their so-called investigation.
42:31Not long after that, a shy boy named Kuroko arrived to guide them to another classroom,
42:35where the other students were already waiting to present their own theories, so they could
42:39begin with Junya, the assistant director.
42:41Before anyone could question him, Eru brought out a box of whiskey-flavored chocolates from
42:46her family.
42:46She offered them to everyone.
42:48The others quickly spat them out because of the strong taste, but Eru surprisingly liked
42:52them and kept eating more.
42:53Soon after, Junya started talking at length about how difficult his job as assistant director
42:58had been.
42:59He went on for a while until the others finally asked him to give his theory.
43:02Junya said the killer entered through the window, committed the murder, and escaped the
43:06same way.
43:07He believed that because the floor plan showed the doors and blocked passages, were not possible
43:12routes.
43:12But Mayaka quickly pointed out a flaw.
43:15If someone had climbed in through the window, there should have been footprints on the grass
43:18outside.
43:19Junya refused to accept that problem, and left anyway, still looking confident in his own
43:23answer.
43:24After Junya was gone, Hutaru called his theory useless and added another problem.
43:28Anyone entering through the window would have been seen by the students upstairs.
43:32Then, Hutaru asked Kuroko to bring him the script.
43:34Not long after that, Tomohiro arrived and confidently began presenting his own theory.
43:39He spread out the floor plans and explained that the victim could not have been killed by
43:44one of his classmates using the master key, because anyone crossing a lobby would have
43:48been seen.
43:48Then, he revealed the main point of his theory.
43:51He brought out a rope and said the scriptwriter had specifically asked for it, so he believed
43:55the culprit came in from above.
43:56Hutaru then asked whether the writer had made any other requests.
44:00Tomohiro proudly showed two bottles of fake blood and explained that the writer had asked
44:04for the small one, but they had used the large one instead.
44:07After giving that explanation, he left as if his theory had solved everything.
44:11But Hutaru quickly pointed out that the idea still did not work.
44:14The old window made that route impossible, because the culprit would have been seen before
44:18even starting to climb in.
44:19A little later, Kuroko came back with the script.
44:22This time, Misaki arrived and presented her own theory.
44:25Unlike the others, she believed none of the victim's friends could have committed the crime.
44:29So she created a story about a hidden character, who slowly killed them, one by one, until only
44:34two people remained, fell in love, and escaped together.
44:37But when Hutaru asked what evidence supported that idea, it became clear that her theory had
44:41no real basis.
44:42After Misaki left, Eru tried to make a point of her own.
44:45But by then, the whiskey chocolates she had kept eating finally caught up with her, and
44:49she suddenly lost her train of thought in the middle of speaking.
44:52After that, the remaining group sat down and compared all the theories with the actual script.
44:57In the end, they told Kuroko that none of the theories were convincing.
45:00Soon after, Mayaka took Eru home.
45:02Later, Hutaru and Satoshi had their usual casual talk for a while, and then the two of them
45:07started heading home as well.
45:08But on the way back, Hutaru ran into Fuyumi, who was already waiting for him.
45:13A little later, Hutaru ended up at a cafe with Fuyumi.
45:16As he sat there, he quietly worried about not having enough money to even order tea.
45:20Fuyumi noticed and told him not to worry about it.
45:22Then she finally explained why she had asked the Classics Club for help in the first place.
45:26She said she had heard about his skill in solving difficult mysteries, and believed he was the
45:31right person to figure out what the scriptwriter was trying to do.
45:34Hearing that shook Hutaru more than he expected, but he still tried to stay calm and not show
45:38it.
45:39Fuyumi then kept talking and carefully guided the conversation in a way that made it even
45:43harder for Hutaru to ignore her request.
45:45By the end of it, he was already pulled in deeper than before.
45:48The next day, Hutaru unexpectedly called Satoshi to the clubroom for a meeting, even though
45:53summer vacation had already started.
45:54Satoshi immediately understood that it had to be something serious if Hutaru was willing
45:59to call him in during the break.
46:00When they arrived, even Mayaka could tell something was different about him, and she quickly guessed
46:05that Fuyumi had influenced him somehow.
46:07Before long, they mentioned that Eru was probably still exhausted after eating too much chocolate.
46:11Then the group rewatched the movie, hoping to find new clues.
46:14But instead of progress, they mostly got frustrated because the film itself was so poorly made.
46:19In the middle of that, one of Satoshi's friends showed up to remind him about a makeup
46:23test he had to take.
46:24Satoshi did not argue and simply handed his notes on the case to Mayaka before leaving
46:29with him.
46:29After Satoshi left, Mayaka said she had no interest in sitting around with Hutaru while
46:34he stayed in such a gloomy mood.
46:36Then she also left, handing the notes over and leaving Hutaru alone.
46:40Now that he was finally by himself, Hutaru started thinking more clearly.
46:43He focused on the movie, went through the details carefully, and at last found the answers
46:48they had all been chasing.
46:49After that, he called for Fuyumi and explained his reasoning.
46:52He told her that none of the theories from the other students worked.
46:56Sneaking in through the old window was too difficult, and using the master key through
47:00the lobby was also impossible because the area was too exposed.
47:03Then he said Misaki had been partly right about one thing.
47:07There really was an extra person involved, but it was not some hidden killer.
47:10It was the cameraman.
47:12That explained why the film looked the way it did.
47:14The cameraman was treated like background staff by the group, so in Hutaru's theory,
47:18he took the master key after everyone entered the building and then killed the victim before
47:23anyone noticed.
47:24Fuyumi praised him for figuring it out and added that the answer made sense, especially
47:28since the cameraman was the only one left in the lobby.
47:31But Hutaru said the scriptwriter probably only wanted to create a small mystery and did not
47:35care that much about making the ending perfect.
47:37Fuyumi thanked him for helping.
47:39A few days later, everyone gathered in her classroom and watched the finished version of the movie
47:43play out.
47:44When it ended, Satoshi and the girls praised Hutaru for solving another case.
47:47But after Eru and Satoshi left, Mayaka quietly pulled him aside and asked about the rope that
47:52Tomohiro said the scriptwriter had requested.
47:54The moment she brought it up, Hutaru realized that something still did not fit.
47:58When Mayaka noticed how badly Hutaru reacted to being wrong, she quickly changed the subject
48:02and said she actually liked the ending of the movie before leaving.
48:06A little later, while Hutaru was heading to the locker room, Satoshi stopped him and said almost
48:10the same thing.
48:11This time, Hutaru tried hard to insist that his theory was still the real ending.
48:15But Satoshi told him to accept that he had been wrong, then walked away.
48:19After that, Hutaru reached the locker room, where Eru appeared.
48:22He immediately understood what she wanted to discuss.
48:25So the two of them went for a walk.
48:26Eru could already tell that Hutaru was blaming himself, so she took him to the river to calm
48:31him down.
48:31There, she gently explained that his theory had missed the point.
48:34She believed the scriptwriter had been aiming for a very different type of ending.
48:38From Fuyumi's description, the writer seemed like a shy girl who disliked violence and was
48:43not even very interested in mystery films to begin with.
48:45Eru then told Hutaru to think about one important thing.
48:49The writer had probably already known the ending she wanted from the beginning, and that explained
48:53a lot.
48:54Hutaru argued that this did not fit because the writer got sick and could not finish the script.
48:58But Eru reminded him that the writer was far too shy to leave everyone hanging without reason.
49:03She pointed out that the fact Fuyumi had gathered everyone together to discuss the ending, showed
49:08that the sickness was probably not even that serious.
49:11At the same time, Eru admitted that she was not focused on whether Hutaru's ending was
49:15bad, because she actually thought his version sounded very good.
49:18What really mattered to her was understanding why the writer could not use the ending she
49:22originally wanted.
49:23After hearing that, Hutaru took a moment to think.
49:26Then he realized W's first mistake had been treating the film like just another mystery
49:30case, instead of paying attention to the feelings behind the story.
49:33A few hours later, back at home, Hutaru kept thinking about what the real ending could be.
49:38He nearly gave up, but then he noticed an old book and started flipping through it for
49:41ideas.
49:42After reading for several minutes and thinking it over, he finally connected everything.
49:46At that moment, he realized that he had been used by someone else from the start.
49:50The next day, Hutaru waited for Fuyumi along her usual route, and asked her to sit down
49:54with him for tea.
49:55This time, he had actually saved enough money to pay for it himself.
49:58Then, he directly asked why she had lied about him being some great detective, when what she
50:03really wanted was someone to write the ending of her script.
50:06By then, he had already figured out that the original story must have been weak, especially
50:10after Tomohiro mentioned how much blood the script called for.
50:13Hutaru then explained his full conclusion.
50:15Fuyumi had made the scriptwriter pretend to be sick, so she could gather the whole class
50:19and even pull Hutaru into a fake mystery contest.
50:22It had never really been about solving the case.
50:24It was simply her way of collecting everyone's ideas, so she could choose the best one, and
50:29use it for the movie.
50:30After laying all of that out, Hutaru asked her why she had tricked him into believing he
50:34had talent, just so she could use him.
50:35But Fuyumi calmly turned it back on him, and said it was his own fault, for being too clueless,
50:40and too naive, to notice that she had been playing him the whole time.
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