"Mystery Solved"--Hyouka fanfic--(M)

[SterlingSilver]

A.N: I don't think I've ever loved a fandom more than I love Hyouka. It's such a happy, simple, mysterious show. I was so sad to see it end, and I pray there will be a second season eventually.

As for background, the main male and female characters are Oreki Houtarou and Chitanda Eru. Chitanda is a very curious person, and once she sets her mind to something, she cannot forget about it until she figures it out. Oreki is an apathetic and somewhat emotionless boy who believes in "conserving energy." His motto is: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I make it quick." Chitanda, however, has a peculiar effect on him. When she asks something of him, he feels compelled to use his incredibly powerful deductive logic skills to aid her.

Satoshi and Ibara are friends of theirs who are also in Chitanda's Classics Club.

Mystery Solved

The day began like any other, and Houtarou endured it like any other. The brightness of the classroom lights, the noise of his classmates' gossip, the life-sucking atmosphere of the busy place. He felt partially exhausted, as he always did, at the end of the day. Last year, he would have been walking home to his house, where he would have curled up with a book in his room and recharged. However, this year he had made an odd promise to a certain purple-eyed girl: he would participate in the Classics Club.

So he went. Houtarou shuffled listlessly to the Geography classroom at the end of the hall, quiet and lonely, and settled into his usual seat by the window. He opened his usual small book, and began to read. He was alone now, but he wouldn't be for long. Satoshi may have been at Sewing club, and Ibara was perhaps at the Manga Society, but Chitanda would come. Oh, would she come. Probably bearing another ridiculous fascination with a mundane mystery. She took longer than usual, and Oreki had become comfortably engrossed in his book by the time she had arrived.

He wouldn't have heard her enter if it hadn't been for a small, but familiar sound. "Hih-!...kttch!"

Her fittish, kitten-like sneezes were just like her: kind of small, polite, unobtrusive. Because of her heightened senses, Chitanda was always sneezing whether because of cold air, a strong scent, or something else in the air. Oreki was used to it and said nothing as she came and sat across from him, where she always sat. When she didn't immediately greet him, Oreki's green eyes drifted up to her face. He flinched when he noticed how intently she was staring at him.

"What?" he asked in his usual flat monotone. But inside, he was reeling. She had that look in her eyes again. That sparkling, keen look. She was curious about something, and he hoped fervently it wasn't anything to do with him.

"Oh," she said, aware of her rude gaze. She redirected her eyes to the table, smile shy. "Forgive me, Oreki-san." She peeped her liquid eyes at him again, the glittering in them too bright to be good. He swallowed. "I am just curious about something."

Going back to his book, Houtarou would attempt to ignore her. True, that never worked before, but he could always try again. He heard her chair squeak on the floor, and jumped when her face appeared in his line of vision. She was leaning across the table, her face quite near his. Face determined, eyes wickedly gleaming, Houtarou sighed in defeat.

"What is it, then?"

"Sneezing."

That gave Houtarou pause. Sneezing? What on earth could she possibly be wondering about? There wasn't anything curious about sneezing at all. It was just a reflex, like any other thing the body does. Giving her a dull look, he opened his mouth to dismiss it, but she interrupted him.

"Or rather, your sneezing, Oreki-san," she said. It was then that he noticed that she had been staring at his nose all this time. His own eyes crossed inward to follow her gaze, and he had to give his head a shake to clear the feeling of strain from his eyes as he refocused.

"Why? What about it?"

"Well," she mused, "I've never heard it." Folding her hands and sitting back in her chair, her smooth, pale face turned skyward. "I sneeze all the time for one reason or another, but I have never heard you sneeze before. After all this time." Chitanda met his guarded expression with a sunny one. "It's curious."

Houtarou didn't like where this was going. Knowing himself, he couldn't refuse her. But this wasn't anything to be solved. There was no mystery here. Or at least, none that he could find.

"What is it that you are curious about, exactly?"

"I want to hear it!" She chirped it as if it were as plain as day, and not strange at all. Oreki wondered, in all her training as an heiress and refined nature, how she could not notice the rude nature of the request. Still, it wasn't impossible. All Oreki had to do was sneeze for her. Though, in all truth, he hadn't sneezed in a long time. Houtarou wasn't one who sneezed often, if at all. His illnesses consisted more of fever and fatigue than anything respiratory, and he had no allergies he knew of.

"Good luck," he said, lowering his eyes to his book. "I never sneeze."

He noted her pout over the pages of his book, and couldn't help but hook a grin at it. It faded when she persisted.

"Everyone sneezes, Oreki-san," she said reasonably. "Just for different reasons, sometimes." It was a logical statement, and perfectly true. Almost everyone probably had the capability to sneeze. Oreki didn't usually sneeze, and because of disinterest and apathy, never tried. Unfortunately, Chitanda looked eager. Her smile was blinding, and Houtarou winced at it.

"Either way, I don't feel like sneezing and we haven't got anything to—" Oreki paused as Chitanda offered him a tissue, already formed into a speared tip for him to use. It was pretty common in Japan to use such means to induce a sneeze, but Houtarou had never tried it. It perturbed him that she was so ready for him to comply that she had s tool prepared for him. Had he become that predictable to her?

Reaching across the table, he avoided brushing the soft skin of her hand as he received the article. While it felt a little awkward to induce a sneeze in front of her, he assumed he had no other choice. The principle was simple enough: push the tissue up your nose and tickle, then sneeze. And he did just that. After sitting his book down with a sigh, he threaded the thin paper up his nostril until it became uncomfortable. Then, he gently started wiggling it in hopes of triggering a sensitive spot.

Chitanda watched avidly, lips slightly parted and eyes wide. Oreki, on the other hand, was squinting from the sensation. It wasn't so much tickling as it was maddening. While he could feel the old, familiar tingling of a forming sneeze somewhere in his nose, the experience was too infuriating to continue. After many seconds of trying, he yanked the tissue out and rubbed his nose hard with the top of his hand, wrinkling it. Even as he tried to scrub away the sensation, it wouldn't leave him. Chitanda wilted in her seat.

"Nothing?"

"Just itches badly," he growled around the nuisance of a buzzing nose. His eyes were glazed with water as a side effect from the itch. Chitanda wouldn't be dissuaded.

"You didn't do it long enough, Oreki-san," she said, picking up the discarded tissue. Oreki eyed it with a suspicious gaze, leaning back in his chair as she chased him forward.

"No, it was long enough," he assured, tilting his chin up as she extended her arm. He didn't want her sticking that thing into his nose again. "I didn't feel a snee—iiyehh.."

They both paused as the annoying tingling in his nose hardened into a provoking tickle, making his breath catch and eyes narrow. But that was all that happened. Just a single, hitching breath, and his nose slowly came down from irritating itchiness back to just a mild annoying feeling where his nose-hairs had been stimulated. He sniffed once to clear the sensation and glared at Chitanda, who was still intent on spearing his nose with the tissue again.

"I think you do feel a sneeze, Oreki-san." The gentle and almost thoughtful tone to her voice gave Houtarou a zing of some feeling he wasn't certain of. Then he turned his head to the side.

"Did."

When silence stretched, he glanced back at Chitanda. Her eyes were wide, face imploring. He felt his hand tighten at his thigh, where it rested. As much as he wanted to tell her no, tell her she was being forward and rude and strange, he couldn't. Houtarou could only sigh and sit forward again, within her reach. She brightened immediately, coming around to table to sit next to him, rather than across. For some reason, nothing of this seemed out of the ordinary to her. Chitanda was perfectly comfortable inducing a sneeze from Oreki. But he wasn't so sure how comfortable he was with her doing it.

They both stared at one another, green eyes on violet. Oreki could see the curious spirit teeming in her eyes, feeling her will overpower his. With a self-resigning breath, he closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly back; he meant to bear his nose to her, as awkward as that sounded. But she took the motion as permission, and carefully guided the tissue back up into his previously-tickled nostril.

The second time was worse, he decided. It took much less time for his nose to ignite with flickering, prickling need. He felt his face crunch up in a snarling expression, but then give way to a more vulnerable and wide open look. Chitanda was fishing the hook-point far up into his sinuses, where it felt unbidden but so much more tickling. Many times a hand flinched up to rub at his face, but each time Chitanda used her free hand to stop him. His toes curled inside his sneakers, his hands gripping the table top as he wrestled with the sensation. It was so close. So very close. But somehow, his nose wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of release.

“Hhiihh.. ighhii—… zdyehh-! HH-!.. gyehh..”

Eventually, his eyes grew so wet they leaked tiny, creasing tears. Oreki could face no more, and he grabbed her wrist, forcing her back. He scrubbed at his abused, sensitive nose, but the itch was too far back to be scratched. Frustrated, Houtarou reached for a tissue, though Chitanda ripped away the box before he could take one.

“No, Oreki-san!” she said, cheeks pink and eyes glowing. “You’ll erase all our progress if you do that.”

Very true, but that was what he wanted. The cloying and sticky feeling up in his sinuses was too irritating to take, and if he couldn’t sneeze it out, he would blow it out instead. His patience was definitely waning; this mystery wasn’t worth solving at this point. He didn’t want to anymore, and was now kicking himself for putting Chitanda in a place of power. By now he should have known there wouldn’t be any negotiation.

“Bud Chitanda,” he said, voice breathy and congested. She blinked and flushed a little deeper when he spoke. “I don’d-huh.. wan-..hyehh-..” It was no good. Oreki had entered that terrible pre-sneeze stage he hated so much. He was beginning to remember why he never sneezed. It required so much of his energy, because it always seemed to take so long. Not only that, but he hated the way his voiced wavered in the upper registers. So embarrassing.

She was already rolling up a new tissue, more determined now than ever. Feebly he tried to look away from her, but he wanted release just as much as she did. Sniffling deeply, Houtarou tried to clear the passages for tissue-reentry. The tickle flared and grew at his efforts, and he grimaced from it. Then she was at it again, her delicate hand guiding that pointed, dry pillar back into right nostril. His nose was tinting red and twitching, nostrils growing and shrinking without too much of his own awareness. He closed his eyes to better focus on the itch, hoping with all he had to bring it on and out.

Chitanda, whether by luck or by sheer persistence, managed to work the tip of the tissue into a special, sensitive little niche at the bridge of his nose. His senses reeled the moment she prodded it, his breath catching, and through her perceptive ability she noticed her discovery. He was both horrified and hopeful as she began to gently grind and poke at that area. The need to sneeze grew suddenly unbearable, and he knifed a gasp when his lungs dragged in air. But still the tender stroking never stopped. The spot was touchy, spasming in warning as he whined with hitching breaths. A few more twirls of the tissue wand and he—… and he—…!

“Chi-..chiiyeh-..” He tried to warn her, distractedly bringing up a hand to ward her back, but it was much too late.

Chitanda was so intent on his nose, she hardly noticed when he had finally had more than enough. Even as he shuddered and tipped his head back, jaw slack and eyes closed, she didn’t stop her constant tickling. It was lucky Houtarou had the sneezy, hazed foresight to bring his hands up to shield her from his mouth and the certain, copious spray. His hands slowly traveled to his parted lips, lungs expanding and chest rising. Chitanda at last seemed to see that her work was finished.

“Ahht~!...’KTSHHUUUU!!”

She jumped, and through slitted, watering eyes, Houtarou could see that she hadn’t been expecting the volume of the sneeze. He was a quiet boy, but for some reason, he always shouted somewhat when he sneezed. It was regretful, but there was little he could do to fight the reflex. When there was seconds of silence after his first sneeze, Chitanda delicately smiled.

“Thank you, Oreki-s-”

“Ahht-KITSCHHUU!!”

She startled again, cheeks deepening in color just as Houtarou’s now did. Oh, no… he had nearly forgotten. As much work as it took to get Houtarou sneezing, it took that much more to get him to stop. The rising, catching, insisting tingle in his nostrils wouldn’t leave him, and it was that moment Houtarou realized he would endure several more expulsions before he slowed down.

It was very regrettable.

“Hhht.. ‘KITSSCHUU!!...N’TCSHU!...hnn-…eht’CHUU!!”

His sister had always teased him about it. They had discovered his sensitivity to paprika one night at dinner, and when he was wading past ten or eleven sneezes, she was howling at the other end of the table. She laughed at his frustrated expression, at his embarrassed defiance, at his attempt to fight himself. Houtarou had long since given up stifling or containing his sneezes; it took more energy to do that than it took to actually sneeze it out.

By now his eyes were blurred with tears, though he no longer bothered to open them. His sneezes came in measured spurts, but there were assuredly many. It was pointless to recover and wipe his face after each one. Houtarou, with much resignation, would have to wait the fit out.

“…Eck’TISSUUU!...’KSCHHUUU!...’KTSHHUU!!..”

He thought he heard something heavy get knocked over. Briefly, he thought it might be the cactus that always sat in the center of the table.

“HHHT-.. G’ISHYYUUU!..”

His voice rose higher, body desperate to have the ticklish feeling out.

“HIISHUUEE!!”

Each breath he took felt deeper than the last, stopping on a cusp and then bowling over into his hands.

“IIT-.. TIISHHUUU!... HIIT-.. KSHHYYUU!”

The tickle grounded at him especially hard, and he lowered his hands to tilt his head back, nostrils flaring and damp.

“Nyehhehh--.. hyehh-.. yehh-!.. YIISHHHYYUUUU!!!”

He doubled over his lap, hair in his eyes, but nose clear for the moment. It felt manageable now, and he sniffled within the cage of his palms. He dared not look at her, nervous and bashful as to what she could be thinking about him. He was disgusting, that much was certain. That wasn’t polite at all, even by normal people’s standards, let alone her high-class family’s rules.

She surprised him with a handkerchief she seemed to have produced from somewhere on her person. it hovered in his line of vision as she bent over him, a hand rubbing gently at his back. He realized that her hand had been patting him for some time now, though he couldn’t specifically remember when it started. His green eyes flashed to her face, and he didn’t lower his hands for fear of revealing something unpleasant to her.

“Oreki-san,” she said, and her voice eased him in a way he couldn’t explain. His cheeks felt hot. She again shook the handkerchief at him again, encouraging him silently to take it. “Maybe you should have told me how sensitive you were.”

It was a very sweet thing to say, given the circumstances. With one hand, he avoided her eyes and took the hanky from her; he was slightly relieved when she gave him space for once. Even Chitanda Eru realized it wasn’t proper to hover around a man blowing his nose. Whatever was left of the all-consuming tickle almost vanished completely after a proper cleaning. Unsure of whether to offer her article back to her or not, he chose instead to hang onto it.

“Thanks,” he grunted. He regretted the scene, since he had misjudged how embarrassing it would be. But Chitanda was at her usual spot across from him, looking pleasant as ever. Her cheeks were still a bit pink, but she was no longer as stunned as she had been.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. Her hands fiddled with the surface of the table. “I should not have persisted-.. I..”

“Was curious, it’s fine,” Houtarou said, finishing it for her. He didn’t mind her curiosity as much as he minded his humiliating display. However, it couldn’t be helped. Best to shrug it off and forget about it as soon as possible. Chitanda smiled brightly, eyes kind and obliging, when Satoshi swept in from the hall.

“Oh! You’re both still here,” he said, grinning. Houtarou ignored him in favor for a view out the window. The feeling in his nose had almost abated, but there was still a cloying, weak itching at the back of his nostrils. He sniffed.

“Satoshi, hello,” Chitanda greeted. She made no effort to mention the previous venture, and for this Houtarou was glad. But he tensed a moment later when Satoshi brought it up himself.

“Did you two hear the sneezing? Sounded like some guy was having a spectacular allergy attack, or something. They echoed all the way down the hall!”

Chitanda blinked twice, looking at Houtarou, who wrinkled his nose with an irritable expression and refused to look at either of them.

“Because of that,” Satoshi continued, “I couldn’t tell where they were coming from. Do you want to go find out, Chitanda?”

“Oh, I don’t think I-”

“EHTT-…TISHHYUUU!!”

The room froze as Houtarou buried his face into the hanky again, groaning at himself. Satoshi laughed outright, hands on his hips.

“Well, I guess that mystery’s solved!”

Chitanda smiled gently in Houtarou’s direction, then down at her lap. “Yes,” she said. “It would appear so.”

[Akahana]

I have no idea what this fandom is but I LOVED THIS. It reminds me a lot of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya XD Awesome job!! <3 <3 <3

[Qwerty77]

Um.

I don't know how to do the explodey-gif, but if I did there'd be one here.

That was beautifully written. I've never heard of the fandom but you wrote it so well it didn't matter!

[EmeraldThread]

Wow. Um. You. This.

I'm not familiar with the fandom at all, but this is so amazing that I think I might have to check it out. Like Akahana said, it reminds me of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and I loved that one. I absolutely love how you wrote everything here, and despite not knowing the fandom, there are times when you can just tell that the person writing the fic knows and accurately depicts the characters and situations. There were moments where I actually assumed that this was a scene in the show, until I remembered that it wasn't. xD

So many favorite parts, too...the whole thing is pretty much my favorite part, but I especially liked when she found the ticklish spot in his nose and from there just all downhill for him. xD And the way Chitanda is so curious and interested in this is funny - she sounds like a pretty interesting character herself. Also, your spellings and the way you described his sneezes aside from that (plus the surprise fact that they turn into insane fits xD) made everything really easy to visualize.

I can't even tell you how awesome this is, but hopefully everything I've said so far gives you some idea, and seeing an anime fic here makes me so happy. X3

[Roxi55555]

I love this fandom! thank for wonderful story

[knightinggale]

I LOVE Hyouka!! Thank you for this

[NameTaken]

Possibly one of the hottest fics I have ever read. Like Yowza.

Your spellings are amazing and your narrative is wonderful. I've never watched the anime but I feel like I just did with how well written this is. Thanks for writing!

[SapphireSong]

Um. So you've broken me out of lurkerdom once again.... this time to comment on this ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC AND BEAUTIFUL THING.

XDDDD DUDE. THIS. I can't even begin to tell you how much I LOVED this, it's like......

<- ...that. xDD;;;

For real, I adored everything about this. First off, your writing style is AWESOME!! You pay such amazing attention to detail~ And, while I've never even heard of this series before, I can tell this is spot-on!! I got such a vivid picture of the characters and their dynamic And then the rest of it... Dude. I can't even. I love the whole concept, like.... goodness yes. xD I've never read such a well-written inducing fic before, this was just wonderful. X3 Your descriptions of his entire experience, and then the FIT asdfghjkl..... yes. I enjoyed this immensely. xDD Thank you soso much for sharing this!!!!

[SterlingSilver]

Not to post bump, but I wanted to say thank you to all the kind commenters :3

It's you guys that keep me writing, haha~!

Akahana: Thank you very much! It's a pretty good series, so maybe you might like to watch it if you have nothing on your plate to watch lately~

Qwerty77: QwQ Thank you!! I'm really glad you enjoyed >w<~

Elements: *glomp* Nice to see you around the forum! I'm honored you like it, since you're one of my favorite writers >w<. I'm so happy you enjoyed it! :3

Roxi & knight: WOO! Hyouka fans, unite!

NameTaken: >///<~! Oh wow, thank you! It's my pleasure!

Smiley: SMILESSS~! *huggle* I've missed seeing you around! I'm so happy my story could pull you from lurkdom ;D xDDD. Thank you so much for reading, and I'm really overjoyed that you enjoyed! <3. Inducing is like, the BEST. So it's really awesome to hear that everyone, including you, liked it x333. Hope to see you around the forum sometime~! <3

[SapphireSong]

*huggles back* hey~!!! It's good to see you around too!! Hahaha, yes, inducing is awesome. xDD Especially the way you write it, like... yeah. X3 I think I may hang around more I just posted the first story I've put up here since January, so... yeah. xDD;;;

[Akahana]

Just started watching it. Loving it so far, especially the unique animations!! It's a beautiful anime and this story is spot on