I am that male friend in the harem story

To find the truth about what happened to Chitanda's uncle 45 years ago, all they needed to do was to read the first volume of the Classic Club's anthology, but—

"Fukube-san, there is no volume one!"

As Chitanda had made up her mind to see the truth behind her uncle and to remember what her uncle had told her ten years ago to make her cry so loudly, they quickly put their attention to the collection of anthologies that they had gotten from the Wall Newspaper Club, but unfortunately, the first volume of the "Hyouka" wasn't there!

"Was it still on the Wall Newspaper Club? We should go back!"

Chitanda thought so and quickly made up her mind to go to the Wall Newspaper Club, but her hand was grasped by Satoshi.

"Wait, there is no first anthology there, too. This is everything."

"If that's the case, then why is there no volume one? If there is no volume one, then I... I can't tell what was happening to my uncle..."

"....."

Satoshi understood that Chitanda was desperate, but even so, if something didn't exist, then it didn't exist. "Sit down first. Let us think about this problem together since even if there is no first volume of the Hyouka, we should be able to find an answer." He pulled her to sit by his side as he tried to think of how to solve this problem.

"Do you know what happened 45 years ago, Fukube-san? Also, do you know what happened to the first volume of Hyouka?"

His words were like a single thread of hope when she was at her most desperate moment.

"....."

Still, Satoshi had to say that everyone was really different during their most desperate moment.

If Kaho was all quiet as she had a breakdown, unable to do anything, Chitanda would lose control and keep moving aimlessly, which in turn might hurt those around him.

"Drink water first. Try to calm yourself."

"T-Thank you."

As Satoshi gave her water, Chitanda quickly drank the water with a gulp as the cold, fresh water spread to her entire body, calming her tense nerves and hot heart before she fell into silence and lowered her head.

'I can't continue like this...' she thought.

She knew it was wrong, but somehow, she kept relying on Satoshi despite knowing how wrong it was. He was the boyfriend of her childhood friend, and she also knew how much Kaho loved him, but even so, she couldn't help but cling to him tightly without any intention of letting him go. Yet, what could she do? In her mind, he was the only one. He was the one who she could rely on and hope to erase the regret that she might have at this moment.

Time might erase this regret, making her forget all the memories of her uncle vanishing like he had never existed. Yet now?

Now, the memory of her uncle and what he had told her ten years ago... she wanted to remember it, and because of that—

"...what should we do, Fukube-san?"

After this, Chitanda would let him go and forget about him, but at the same time, she had made up her mind that if he was in need of help, she would do her best to help him.

"Since there is no first volume, then we can only rely on the second volume." Satoshi looked at Chitanda and asked, "You read this anthology ten years ago, right?"

"Yes." Chitanda nodded. "I found it and asked my uncle to read it for me, then... as I had told you, I cried when I asked what was the meaning of "Hyouka" to my uncle..."

"Hyouka..."

If Satoshi was Oreki, somehow, he could imagine himself trying to search for the mystery, doing research about what had happened 45 years ago by collecting all the critical information with the help of others, but unfortunately, he was too lazy to do that as it would take so long to reveal the mystery of what had happened to her uncle.

"Hyouka..."

Satoshi understood the meaning, and... It might be a pun, but if he didn't know the backstory of what had happened and the reason why the anthology of the Classic Club was given such a title, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Once again, he opened the second volume of Hyouka, then read the preface, which was written by—

"Koriyama Yoko..."

"Do you know her, Fukube-san?"

"No, of course not, and how can I know someone who is about 60 years old except for my grandparents and elderly people around my neighborhood?"

"...." Chitanda.

"But somehow, this name is quite familiar."

"Is it?"

Satoshi could see a hopeful expression in Chitanda's eyes, so he tried to remember it well and said, "I think that I might have an idea who she is..."

"Really, Fukube-san?"

Chitanda couldn't control her emotions, and she became so close that she might kiss him if Satoshi just moved forward. However, he held himself and said, "But let's do a check first. I might be wrong."

Standing up, he tried to maintain a certain distance from Chitanda, who kept clinging to him without letting him go. "Where are we going, Fukube-san? Who are we going to meet?"

'.....'

'This girl is like a puppy,' Satoshi thought inwardly with a sigh.

"Let's go to the library."

"Library?"

While Chitanda was confused, she decided to trust him and followed him to the library, but as expected, when she was curious about something, she couldn't be controlled and tried to pester him, but then again, compared to all of his girlfriends when he lived as Ishigami, she was nothing, and it was easy for him to tame her.

"Here we are."

Satoshi ignored Chitanda, who kept following him closely as if she were a magnet who was attracted to a metal, which was him, but—

"Fuku-chan?"

When his name was called, Satoshi and Chitanda turned around and saw a cute, petite girl with short hair. While Chitanda wondered who this girl was, he knew well who this girl was.

"Yo, Mayaka."

"...."

Watching how casual and callous he was as he greeted her nonchalantly despite knowing her feelings made Ibara, who was in a dilemma about what to do as she saw him going out with another girl than his girlfriend. Then, when she saw him with another girl this time, her voice, which was high despite her petite body, was about to explode, but—

"Wait, let's talk tomorrow."

"...tomorrow? Do you want me to wait for you to talk with you tomorrow after all of that?!"

"Yes."

"..." Ibara.

"I have something to do today, and it's better for you to cool your head first for a night."

"..." Ibara.

"That said, Mayaka, there should be a teacher whose name is Yoko in the library, right?"

"Yoko?" Ibara's focus was quickly distracted, and she thought for a moment and said, "...if I am not wrong, the first name of Itoigawa-sensei is Youko."

"Is she here?"

"She is over there."

"Thanks, let's talk tomorrow."

"Ah, wait, Fuku-chan! I haven't done it yet!"

Yet, Satoshi ignored her and continued to walk, but then again, he could see Chitanda appeared hesitant and wanted to ask him, but once again, he ignored her. Still, this is how a girl was. Despite how cute and nice to hold they were, when they had nothing to do, they were quite troublesome.

Still, before Chitanda could ask him, Satoshi quickly found the teacher that he sought after. "Itoigawa-sensei?"

"Yes?"

An elderly woman with a short stature and glasses turned around and looked at Satoshi with confusion. "You are...?"

Watching her confusion, Satoshi directly introduced himself. "My name is Satoshi Fukube from 1-D, and she is Chitanda Eru from..."

"1-A."

"1-A."

When Satoshi wondered which class Chitanda came from, she quickly reminded him, and he finished their introduction.

Meanwhile, Ibara, who tried to chase after Satoshi, stopped when she saw Satoshi talking with Itoigawa, grumbled for a moment, but she didn't leave and curiously wondered what he planned to do.

'It seems... he isn't cheating on this girl?'

Unlike before, when Ibara saw him with another girl other than his girlfriend and appeared so chummy that they held each other's hands, this time, it appeared that he came to help this girl, whose name should be Chitanda Eru.

Chitanda also noticed Ibara, who was looking at them from a distance, which made her curious about what kind of a relationship Satoshi had with Ibara, and it made her heart uncomfortable that she wanted to voice out her problem until—

"I see... Fukube-san and Chitanda-san, right? Do you need something from me?"

"Yes, truth be told, we're from the Classic Club."

"Classic Club?" Itoigawa appeared surprised, then slowly took off her glasses, and she wiped the lenses softly as she said softly, "It's been so long... how nostalgic..."

"If I am not wrong, you should be the writer of the 2nd volume of Hyouka, right?"

"That's right. Before marriage, my family name was Koriyama, but after I married, it became Itoigawa, so what happened that you came to me? Was it due to Hyouka? If so, then—

"Chitanda-san is Sekitani-senpai's niece."

"Huh?!" Itoigawa was dumbfounded, then looked at Chitanda in surprise.

"Ah, yes, Sekitani Jun is my uncle, Sensei."

"I see... you are her niece..."

"If it isn't a problem, can you tell us what happened to Chitanda-san's uncle 45 years ago in this school?"

"....if it was about that, you should be able to ask that question to Sekinitani-senpai, right?"

"But, my uncle had disappeared in Indonesia seven years ago, and this year, he would be considered as passed away."

"I see..." Itoigawa took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay, let me talk to you about what happened to your uncle 45 years ago in this school..."

As he heard those words, Satoshi sighed in relief since he knew everything was over.

Still, before that—

"Ibara-san, can you take care of the rest?"

"Ah, yes."

"...."

Ibara could only leave unwillingly.