Don't Understand Why (Sakayanagi IF Route)

The afternoon passed quickly.

It was a feeling Houtarou Oreki had never experienced before.

One by one, most of his classmates left.

Only those who wanted to keep studying or had something else to do remained.

Hashimoto Masayoshi was one of them.

At that moment, he was more anxious than anyone else.

He had only just made up his mind to follow Oreki, and now he was facing such a thorny problem?

Though he didn't know why,

Hashimoto still planned to give it a try.

After all, victory was within reach.

As long as Classes A and B worked together, all the tests after this would be much easier.

"Uh... Houtarou."

Hashimoto walked over naturally.

After taking the seat beside Oreki,

"Sorry, I know you're not in a good mood. But... about the leader..."

"...Didn't I tell you to stop bothering me?"

"..."

Oreki's look made Hashimoto freeze for a moment.

It was completely unexpected.

He hadn't thought Oreki would react so strongly.

"All right. Then... let's talk about you. Maybe I can help."

"...What would you know?"

"I'm saying..."

Hashimoto suddenly grabbed Oreki by the shoulders.

He shouted,

"Houtarou Oreki, quit messing around! What's with this attitude?"

"What do you think I was feeling when I joined you?"

"Give me a break!"

Hashimoto swung a fist at Oreki.

But Oreki quickly blocked it.

The force was tremendous.

More than twice what Hashimoto had expected.

"What joke..."

"What Class A..."

"Get lost!"

Oreki's fist slammed into Hashimoto's stomach.

The pain was intense.

So you've been hiding your strength, Houtarou...

Hashimoto thought.

Still, this meant he'd managed to get Oreki to let his anger out.

In that case...

Taking that punch had been worth it.

"Cough, cough... You really don't hold back, Houtarou. But that should do it, right? Don't bottle everything up. You can talk to me about whatever's wrong."

"...Sorry."

"It's fine."

Hashimoto glanced around.

The few people still there were looking their way.

It seemed they'd drawn more attention than they wanted.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go."

"Yeah..."

Oreki walked out, dejected.

He hadn't expected

that he could lose control like that.

This was...

a failure, Houtarou Oreki.

Soon,

Hashimoto led Oreki to a café.

After they took a seat on the second floor,

"Tell me why you've been acting so strangely today."

"...Arisu left."

"Huh? No, wait... Sakayanagi Arisu left Class A? Why?"

"She dropped out."

"She dropped out?!"

"..."

"Sorry, I got carried away. Given what happened, it's no wonder you're like this, Houtarou."

"So? What's your solution?"

Oreki picked up a cup of Americano and took a drink.

It was bitter.

Just like how he felt right now.

"Of course, it's you, Houtarou."

"Another joke?"

"No. I mean, you're the only one who can come up with a solution."

"I can't do anything..."

"It's too soon to say that."

"If you brought me here just to tell me all this, then goodbye."

"Hold on, Houtarou."

Oreki, who had just been about to leave, sat back down.

With some impatience, he listened as Hashimoto continued.

"As far as I know, Ayanokoji might know where the Sakayanagi Family lives. I mean outside the school."

"!"

"I'm sure I don't need to spell out what that means."

"I didn't think of that..."

Oreki returned to his usual way of thinking.

Hashimoto was right.

Things weren't hopeless yet.

He could start with Kiyoko.

Once he got the address, he could come up with a plan to leave school and find Sakayanagi.

"That helps a lot."

Oreki started to go find Kiyoko, but Hashimoto quickly stopped him.

"Hey, that woman won't just tell you. Besides, we had a run-in with her a few days ago."

"But..."

"Houtarou, I know how you feel right now. But panicking won't help."

"...You're right."

He calmed down.

Under normal circumstances, something this simple would have occurred to Oreki right away.

Hashimoto shouldn't have had to point it out to him.

But now...

It was proof that Oreki needed to get some proper rest.

Once he'd completely calmed down, they could discuss a plan.

"I lost control today. Sorry."

"It's fine. You're still Houtarou, and that's what matters."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. By the way, leave the vote-getting to me."

"Yeah."

"I'm curious about your approach, Houtarou, but I'll ask you tomorrow. There's no fun in knowing about something like that ahead of time."

After saying that, Hashimoto said goodbye to Oreki.

He even paid the bill,

including Oreki's share.

--Arisu, I'll be there soon.

Oreki gazed out the window.

At the sea.

But since the school was built on artificial land, it wasn't unusual to see the sea.

Still...

He remembered the red string he'd seen that day.

What was it?

He had a feeling it was something special.

But reason told Oreki that what he'd seen could only have been an illusion.

There was no time to dwell on it anymore.

He should go.

Get some rest, then deal with tomorrow's weekly test.

"Hey, Oreki-kun?"

"...Fat... Honami."

"Hm? If I heard right, were you just about to call me 'Fatty Honami'?"

"..."

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm just joking. I'm not blaming you, Oreki-kun."

Ichinose came over from the store entrance.

It looked like she'd bought something.

"Since we don't get many chances like this, I was thinking of visiting you tonight to talk things over. But little Arisu wouldn't agree, would she?"

"Arisu..."

"Yeah? Did something happen to little Arisu?"

"No... Nothing."

Oreki didn't plan to tell Ichinose about Sakayanagi.

He quickly changed the subject.

"Who are you planning to send?"

"Well... it's a se."

"I see. Goodbye, then."

"Huh? You're leaving already? We just met."

"Sorry, I have something to do."

"No, if you're busy, there's nothing I can do."

Ichinose waved goodbye to Oreki.

Honestly...

He couldn't tell whether she was naturally like that or putting on an act.

He figured the former was more likely?

Maybe not.

It didn't matter.

In the end, whatever happened to this school had nothing to do with him.

Let alone its students.

He only wanted to see Sakayanagi Arisu one more time.

Even if it meant giving up everything.

Because if I didn't go now...

I'd never get another chance, would I?