ANIME IMAGINES

{Hyouka} - Oreki Houtarou

"Energy Conservation"

"Come on, Houtarou! It's interesting, we should check it out!" Satoshi clasps his palms together, pleading. "I'm really curious about it!"

"You're starting to sound like Chitanda." Oreki says, his right cheek placed on his hand, saying no for the sixth time. "You're so persistent, Satoshi."

"Uh, Fukube-kun?" the two turn to the door where you stood when they heard you speak. "Are you guys not going to eat lunch?"

"Y/N-chan!" Satoshi grins at you politely before shaking his head. "Houtarou and I will eat our lunch here. How about you?"

"I was just coming back because I forgot my bento." you reply, walking towards your seat to grab your lunchbox from your bag. "You guys seemed to be talking about something."

"I was trying to convince Houtarou here to help me solve a case! But he won't agree because he says it's a waste of energy and he's an energy conservationist." Satoshi sighs, pouting.

"An energy what now?" you let out a soft laugh. "That's new. You mentioned solving a case, what's that about?"

"Didn't you hear?" Satoshi asks and you tilt your head, puzzled. "Someone's been stealing stuff in the first year classrooms since last week! The items were returned but they were obviously used up. The teachers tried interrogating but nobody would confess who the culprit was."

"Oh, that." you drag a seat and placed it beside him. You sat down. "Yeah, I heard about the fuss. Most of the missing items were drawing pencils, highlighters and markers. The stolen items would be returned after two days, placed on the owners' desks early in the morning before the morning ceremony starts. The pencils' leads were used up and the highlighters and markers were half-empty."

"Woah. Y/N-chan, where did you get that information?"

"I have a younger sister who's a freshman and she also had her newly bought markers stolen."

"See, Houtarou?" Satoshi turns to the said boy in excitement. "Were you listening? More clues for us! I'm sure you can solve this problem!"

"I told you I'm not interested." Oreki retorts with his usual calm tone, turning to the window beside his seat. He was the most silent boy in class. His sense of fashion was neutral whenever you saw him outside the school premises which was the reason why he doesn't stand out. You never really had a long conversation with him since he was the type who doesn't like to talk much.

"Such a buzzkill." Satoshi mutters with another pout.

"Why don't you try solving the case, Fukube-kun?" you ask him with a small smile. "Since Oreki-san's not going to help you with it."

"I can't do it like Houtarou does!" he replies with a cute frown. "I'm not as good as him when it comes to things like these. And I'm a database! Databases can't come up with conclusions."

"Oreki-san's good at stuff like this? Really?" you question, glancing at the boy who quickly avoids your eyes to not engage in starting a conversation. "Not that I'm trying to be mean or anything but he just doesn't look like the type to put effort with those kind of problems."

"Houtarou's is really clever and has excellent deduction skills which makes him like a high school version of Sherlock Holmes!" Satoshi exclaims once again with a proud look on his face. "Though he never exerts effort on anything unnecessary, making him appear as a lazy person but Houtarou can find a solution to anything if he gives it enough thought!"

"Stop that, Satoshi. I'm still here." Oreki speaks up with a slight irritation in his voice. "Don't say nonsense to random people."

"No no, I really don't mind." you sheepishly chuckle, a bit doubtful of what Satoshi had told you. You were classmates with Oreki since first year and you didn't know much about the boy nor did you bother to find out more. Oreki was an apathetic and cynical guy. He had a calm and passive demeanor which supports the idea of him 'conserving energy'. You took him as the snobbish type based on how he usually looks and he rarely shows any emotion so you were a little surprised to hear that he was that kind of person. You turn back to face Satoshi. "Don't worry, Fukube-kun. The case is already solved."

This makes Oreki turn his head a bit to you while a small gasp escapes Satoshi's lips. "What? Really? When?"

"Just this morning." you reply. "The culprit was also a first year student who was a member of the arts club. He was apprehended and brought to the principal's office earlier."

"For real? How did they find out?"

"He confessed when someone had found out and told him about his wrong doings so he felt guilty." you answer. "He said he did it because he couldn't afford any art materials to support his career as a rising artist. He would take the materials from his classmates' bags every lunch time or when gym class starts and would use them at night when he's working on a piece. He comes to school really early to return them at their desks and would pretend to arrive later on so that no one would suspect him. I feel bad for him though, I heard he's really good at graffiti and sketching."

"Oooohhhh, so that's what happened."

Oreki blinks, a surprised look crosses his asparagus-green colored eyes as he stares at you who was still talking to Satoshi. He was startled when he heard you explain since everything you said complimented the theory he had in his head. He was thinking the same thing but didn't bother to tell Satoshi. He was flustered that he was actually correct.

"I'm gonna go eat lunch now, see ya!" you grin at the boys as you take your leave with your bento in your arms. You walked through the corridors, hoping that your friends won't sulk at you for taking so long.

"Y/N-san!"

You turn around when you heard someone call your name. Your eyes widen when you saw Oreki running after you. He pants, catching his breath while hanging his head low making his short taupe-brown colored hair cover his face. "Oreki... san?"

He stands properly after calming his breathing. "The person who caught the culprit was you, right?"

You send him a surprised look. "H-How did you know?"

"It's obvious because your explanation was descriptive despite you avoiding to insert your own point of view. And you said that you had a sister who was also a victim. You decided to help her and tried to solve the case. You suspected and asked her some first year members of the arts club since you knew that the stolen items were mostly art materials. Your deduction came upon one person and you started to observe him and noticed that he often disappeared at lunch or in gym class. You caught him in the act after you followed him early in the morning when he would return the things he stole." he replies and you couldn't believe that he was actually listening earlier. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's unnecessary since nobody asked. But if someone did, I don't see any reason to not tell them that it was me." you chortle, shrugging sheepishly. "You really are good at things like these, Oreki-san."

"So are you." he says with a serious look on his face and you suddenly acknowledged how good-looking he was. "You should join the classic's club."

"Eh? Really?"

"Mhm. I won't mind a partner." he shrugs. The word 'partner' makes a faint blush cross your cheeks. "Besides, I think I can spare some energy for you."