Activities of the prestigious Classics Club (part 4)

Seeing as I didn't rebuke her, Ibara puffed up her particularly small chest and said, "It's not that simple. You rarely come here to borrow books, so you wouldn't know. Listen carefully, the longest period one can borrow a book is two weeks. So there was no need for someone to borrow a book and return it just a week later."

"And yet this book was returned here every week."

... I see. This is indeed a strange occurrence.

"Is there a way to find out who has borrowed that book?"

"Of course. There's a list detailing the borrowing records behind the cover. Have a look." Chitanda promptly turned to the cover and saw the list, "Huh?"

She gasped.

"What's wrong?"

The list contained the names of the borrowers as well as the dates of when they had borrowed the book. We could indeed tell that they'd borrowed the book once every week. But that was not the reason Chitanda had gasped, as her finger pointed out the list of names to me.

The borrower this week was Machida Kyouko of Class 2-D.

Last week, it was Sawakiguchi Misaki of Class 2-F.

Two weeks ago, Yamaguchi Ryouko, Class 2-E.

Three weeks ago, Shima Saori, Class 2-E.

And four weeks ago, Suzuki Yoshie, Class 2-D.

"In other words, it's borrowed by a different person every week?"

"That's not all." Chitanda showed me the dates. As I looked carefully, the latest

date was today. And the previous borrowed date was exactly seven days ago.

"The book was lent out on Fridays."

"Exactly. The book was borrowed and returned on the same day. This Machida Kyouko borrowed the book earlier today, only to return it later. It's the same for the other borrowers for five consecutive weeks.

We can also tell the times that they borrowed the book; it was always during lunch time on a Friday. To borrow a book during lunch time and then return it after school, where would they even find the time to read it?"

"..."

"So? You curious?"

Upon returning the book to Ibara, Chitanda nodded her head gently, "Yes... I'm very curious."

She spoke in a firmer tone than usual. Much like last time, her pupils looked as though they'd gotten larger, revealing a strong

interest within them.

"Why is it?"

Thanks to Ibara's mystery, our lady's flame of curiosity had been ignited. Satoshi was no use as a water source to douse this fire, as he'd probably play dumb and say "I wouldn't know anything about it."

I decided to return to reading my novel. But I was naive, for I never expected the spear to be pointed right at me. Once again, Chitanda placed the thick book 'Kamiyama High School: Walking Together for 50 Years' on top of my novel and said, "So what do you think, Oreki-san?"

"Huh, me?"

Rather than his usual gentle smile, Satoshi was now smiling teasingly at me. I instantly realized what had happened. He'd succeeded in ensnaring me in his trap.

Curse him and his evil

plans...!

"Let's think about this together."

"..."

"Shall we, Oreki-san?"

Why? Why me? While I was fine with Chitanda's vigorous

curiosity, and while I might admit that Satoshi may have some

positive qualities about him, even if it's as a joke, why should I be

obliged to play his games and put up with her?

Still, it was true that things have developed to a point where

talking my way out of it would have been bothersome. So I had no

choice but to reply as such, "... Yeah, I guess it is interesting. I'll

think about it."

Ibara stood beside Satoshi and asked, "Fuku-chan, is Oreki

actually smart?"

"Not at all. He's usually not reliable, but occasionally he can be

up to the task."

Why you, getting all cheeky.

And so I began to think.

For a book to be borrowed and returned on the same day for five consecutive weeks by completely different people, the possibility of a coincidence could not be ruled out, but I wasn't going to believe that it was all due to some God of Coincidence.

Besides, Chitanda wouldn't have accepted that as an explanation. Getting her to accept things was more important than the truth.

So throwing out the theory that it was a coincidence was a no-brainer. It was also clear that the book was not borrowed for the purpose of reading it, as there wouldn't be time to read it between it being borrowed during lunch time and it being returned after lessons.

If you think about it, it would have been

more logical for one to either take it home to read, or just read the book in the library after school. For the latter case, there would

have been no need to borrow the book out of the library at all.

Thus this book was not borrowed for its original intended purpose.

"... So if the book was not borrowed to be read, then what was it being borrowed for?"

Chitanda answered, "It's heavy, so maybe it's used to compress pickled vegetables?"

Satoshi answered, "Maybe it's used as a shield or something?"

Ibara answered, "It's thick, so it's probably used as a pillow."

I should never have asked you guys...

Switching focus was my next move. Why was the book being borrowed by a different person every week? Besides being a coincidence, which was already ruled out,

there were two points for consideration.

First, the girls don't seem to have anything in common, though it's clear that they were using it during Friday afternoons for some sort of ritual, and took turns to borrow it.

As to what ritual, maybe fortune telling?

Something like 'Your lucky item this month is School History. If you borrow it every Friday afternoon and return it on the same day, you shall meet the man of your dreams'?

... Nah, sounds too silly.

That leaves the second point, that the girls do have something in common.

A look at their names reveal that they're clearly all girls. But just that alone is not enough to establish a common trait.

Within Kami High, if five people were randomly picked, there was a high possibility that they could all be girls, but it was already common for people of the same gender to gather together in a co-ed environment anyway.

Their other common trait would be that they're all second years, but their classes are different.

Hmm...?

Now that I think about it...

"What is it? Did you notice something?"