I am that male friend in the harem story-Chapter 219: Mask

"Let's see how I should begin..."

After they moved into the small office within the library, Itoigawa wondered how she should start the story that happened 45 years ago since, despite a long time having passed... she remembered it vividly.

"Can you tell us first what was happening 45 years ago?"

Still, despite understanding and even noticing the uncomfortable emotion that was shown by Itoigawa, Satoshi didn't care about her feelings and just pressed forward. Even if he knew nothing about the story, he knew well what had happened to Chitanda's uncle, Sekitani; it was a tragedy, and, like the cultural phenomenon of this country, when others were in trouble, instead of helping, they would just ignore them and watched the victim fall as they enjoyed their lives, ignoring Sekitani, who had received all the injustice.

Those who hurt others should have prepared to be hurt, so even if Itoigawa was old and appeared pitiful, Satoshi remained cold-hearted.

"Okay... let's see..."

By then, the story started with how Itoigawa was still in high school, a year under Sekitani, Chitanda's uncle. At that time, the school festival of this school, which was known as Kanya Festival, was everything for all the students, including her, but unfortunately, during that time, due to a certain movement and the wish of the headmaster to change the quality of this school into a better school than a small school that was located in the countryside, it made a move to shorten the days for the school festival.

Naturally, the students couldn't accept such a fact, and in the end, they staged a boycott, but—

"Unfortunately, our movement became too much. It got out of control, and in the end—"

With the movement of the students, the school, whether they wanted to or not, decided to stop the decision to shorten the days for the school festival, but everything was too late; they had gone overboard, especially when they started a bonfire and burnt the dojo.

Hearing the word "dojo," Chitanda subconsciously glanced at Satoshi since he had mentioned that the dojo of this school was burnt in the past, yet unexpectedly, she had never expected this would be the reason.

"By then, the school asked for someone to be responsible, and the students couldn't say anything, and... the one that was chosen to be responsible was... Sekitani-senpai... your uncle, Chitanda-san."

"...was... was Uncle responsible for all of that?"

"...no." Itoigawa shook her head softly and said, "The leader of the movement was someone else, and he had never stepped up. It was just your uncle who took the short end of the lottery and became the..."

Scapegoat.

This is how every one of the people that year described Sekitani, and the school did nothing and accepted that fact since no one wanted to continue this tragedy any longer.

By sacrificing one person, everyone gained peace and got everything they wanted.

"But... before he left, he gave us the Classic Club's members a "Hyouka," a title for our anthology."

"I see." Satoshi nodded, then asked, "Do you understand the meaning of Hyouka, Sensei?"

"...I am sorry. No one understands."

"Is that so? So, thank you for your story. Let's go, Chitanda-san."

"Ah, um, yes."

Probably, due to her instinct, Chitanda quickly agreed with Satoshi, but even so, there was something that made her unsatisfied as she still couldn't remember what had made her cry.

"Ah, wait!"

"Yes?"

The two stopped and looked at Itoigawa, who had stopped them. Her expression was filled with hesitation, but as she saw the confusion between the two, she let out a long sigh and said, "I am sorry."

Who did she say sorry to?

Was it Chitanda?

Or was it Sekitani?

Satoshi didn't care and just walked away with Chitanda as he asked, "Are you still unsatisfied?"

"Yes..." Chitanda was helpless because of how easily Satoshi discovered how she felt.

"Then, let's return to the clubroom and talk there."

"Okay."

As the two returned to the Classic Club and sat down, Satoshi said, "You still don't understand why you cried?"

"Yes." Chitanda nodded. "I understood what had happened to my uncle 45 years ago, but even so... why did I cry? Why did I not shed tears when I heard Itoigawa-sensei's story?" The mystery was all solved, and she understood what had happened to her uncle, but even so, she still couldn't remember what had made her cry ten years ago.

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"It is because you still understand the meaning of Hyouka."

"The meaning of Hyouka?" Chitanda was startled and quickly asked, "Do you understand the meaning of "Hyouka," Fukube-san?"

"Yes, I think the meaning of the title of the anthology of Classic Club was the reason why you cried."

"What was the meaning of Hyouka, Fukube-san?!"

"The meaning of Hyouka is "Ice Cream."

"Ice cream...?" Chitanda was dumbfounded, but watching her reaction, Satoshi added, "It is a pun."

"A pun?"

""Ice Cream," it sounds like, "I scream." That is the meaning behind "Hyouka."

"...."

At that moment, Chitanda stopped as tears silently fell from her eyes. "I remember..." The meaning of Hyouka, this was why she cried ten years ago.

Satoshi had understood the meaning of "Hyouka" from the beginning, but when he learned the backstory of how this title came up, he had to say that it was a tragedy.

To be unable to scream when one wanted to... how unreasonable it was?

Being in the sacrifice, being thrown away, and being told to be quiet so everyone could live peacefully and happily.

Even if the form has changed, human sacrifice, a ritual that was practiced in many human societies beginning in prehistoric times, still exists.

"I remembered my uncle told me to become strong since if I was weak, then the day would come when I couldn't even scream. If that were the case... if I lived like that..."

As she said so, Chitanda looked at the cover of the Hyouka, which was pictured of a weak rabbit being bitten by a fierce wolf as it was unable to do anything. Still, at the same time, she realized something. "But... if you understand the meaning of Hyouka... why didn't you tell Itoigawa-sensei about it, Fukube-san?"

"...."

Satoshi didn't expect that Chitanda would realize this, which made him awkward, and he said, "...do I have to say this?"

"You have! Please tell me! I am curious!"

"...you should contain your curiosity. Sooner or later, you might cause trouble with it, you know?"

"I know... but... I want to know, Fukube-san! Please tell me!"

Once again, her bright eyes gleamed toward him, and due to the tears, her expression was slightly mixed with melancholy, yet Satoshi was also glad that she was okay. Still, when he thought of the reason why he didn't say anything to Itogawa, he sighed and said, "It's because I am petty."

"Petty? Are you petty, Fukube-san?"

Chitanda was dumbfounded and quickly said, "But you are not!" Satoshi had helped her so much, so how could he be a petty person?

"I am." Shaking his head, Satoshi said, "Whether she wanted to or not, Itoigawa-sensei was part of the crowd that remained do nothing when your uncle needed someone the most."

"That's..."

"More importantly, when we asked whether she understood the meaning of "Hyouka" or not, she didn't understand, and I am sure that the others didn't understand it either."

"But why did it have to be something that you were petty about even though you weren't?"

Chitanda was confused, but Satoshi smiled annoyedly and said helplessly, "As I had said before, Itoigawa-sensei was part of your uncle's tragedy, so when I thought that she would be relieved knowing the truth when your uncle couldn't even scream despite his misery... I couldn't help but think... you deserve it!"

"..." Chitanda.

"I hope she and the others die as they are filled with endless regret."

Satoshi was a bit awkward as he had expressed what was inside his heart. "See? I am petty, right?"

"...you are right." Chitanda smiled, but her eyes were filled with tears. "You are so petty, Fukube-san." As she said so, she continued to cry as she screamed, then as a gentle arm reached her, she subconsciously clung to him as she cried with all of her might like a child.

Gently caressing her back, the cry of the girl echoed with the class, but it was fortunate the loud sound of the sports clubs made her able to cry with her everything.