Tried my best to write a fantasy AU of Hyouka. It will be through the perspective of the characters, mostly Houtarou. Hope you like it.

Oreki Houtarou

Main characters…what are they? The focus of the story, the one that will overcome problems, the one whose life get handed to on a silver platter.

Some would say everyone is the main character of their own life and some would say that in certain circumstances, you could also be the main character of another person's life.

Even as the sun is beating down, my hand was still busy; scribbling away today's reports. I was not alone however as Fukube Satoshi, one of my friends, was also scribbling away at his reports.

While talking about a new discovery of some hidden temporal temples or something.

I saluted him mentally as I personally knew that he joined a lot of circles. Which means more reports. Compared to the standard one that I was making, Satoshi must had piles of reports to fill out.

Personally, main characters are overrated. Who would want to waste their energy on pointless, trivial problems? Who would want to get entangled into other people's problems?

After all…

"If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick. Right?" I could feel the smirk on Satoshi's face even without looking.

"What are you talking about?" I inquired on how he was able to finish my train of thoughts. Stopping his arm, he crossed both of them.

"You really need to fix that habit of thinking out loud."

"Well sorry that I just want to share my perspective with the world." I made up a quick excuse. Continuing his job of writing down his reports again, Satoshi stayed quiet for a moment before responding.

"Stop lying, Houtarou." His face pulled into a small smile, "The Houtarou I know would be all about conserving energy."

His smile was contagious and I soon found my face plastered with a little grin.

"You know me too well." Putting the finishing touches on my report, I stood up. "Well, I'm going to hand in my report and my application form."

As I turned around, I heard something small crashing onto the wooden table. I quickly turned back and found Satoshi with a face that saw hell itself.

He quickly stood up, almost knocking over the chair that he was sitting in, and grabbed my shoulder. He pulled my face closer to his, as if peering into my soul.

"Personal space…" I muttered, hoping he would get my discomfort.

"Houtarou…You're Houtarou, right? The energy conserving, never do anything, always slacking Houtarou?!"

I should feel offended at those descriptions but I let it slide.

"Yes, I am."

He released my shoulder, which I am grateful of, and hold his face in anguish.

"That's not possible." He looked at me again, "By application form, you mean the application form to join a circle?"

"If by circle, you mean an expedition group, then yes."

"B-But you always decline any invitation to join a circle!" He shouted exasperatedly as if the fate of the world hangs in my joining of a circle or not.

I sighed deeply.

"My sis," I took out a letter from my pocket and handed it to him. "Wants me to join the Classics group so that it won't be discontinued."

Reading the letter briefly, Satoshi's face turned into one of pure bliss. "I see. There's no way Houtarou would join a circle without any threats."

"Now that you understand, I'll be on my way. See you later." I waved at him.

Closing the door of the general room, I slowly walked down the hall. Even if I joined the circle, it would still be discontinued anyway as a circle needs two members at the very least. I was sure that sis would know that beforehand.

So why?

I handed my reports to the guild leader and quickly left towards the Classics Circle headquarter.

I'm sure main characters get tired of being entangled with other people's life and probably their own life as well. Life is unfair, why can't I be the side character of my own life?

Well, if life allowed me to become the side character; I guess it wouldn't be unfair. Then again…

I reached my destination. A wooden board with the "Classics Circle" written on it was pinned above the wooden door. It looked quite old so I carefully pushed the door open into the dusty, unused room that is the headquarter of the Classics Circle.

But not everything there was old.

A figure with moderately long hair was gazing out into the sunset. It appeared that she didn't notice me yet so I set down my bag and decided to introduce myself to her.

I noticed something different around her though. Distortions were around her but I dismissed it as having a migraine.

Before I could walk, I could feel something creeping up my leg. Seconds passed by and the thing was getting tighter and tighter. I looked down and spotted a vine, firmly rooting me to the floor.

No, vine isn't right. It is something akin to flower stems, with variety of colorful flowers growing along it. Nevertheless, I was scared.

The girl finally noticed me and turned around.

"H-Hello." I greeted her nervously, hoping that she would catch on and remove those flowers stem from my legs.

"Ah, hello!" She did a perfect bow, radiating a courteous aura. Seeing as she didn't notice my discomfort, I requested her slowly.

"Excuse me but can you remove the vines or flowers entangling my feet?"

She appeared confused but came to a realization. "S-Sorry! I was just…thinking about my garden. I did not know that my power can reach that far."

The flowers released me and I could feel my leg moving around freely again. I inspected my body more to see if any remains of the flowers are still on me.

"Name?"

"Eh?" A rather straight forward question for a petite girl like her.

"I'm asking what is your name."

"Oreki Houtarou." I extended my hand and she shook it gently.

"Chitanda Eru. Nice to meet you."

I nodded my head and was about to leave until I remembered about the application form.

"Are you by any chance a Classics Circle member?" I asked her.

She firmly nodded "Actually, I only became a member today."

If she was a member then that means I don't have to join, even if the circle will not be completed. Then again, I could always ask Satoshi for a favor.

"Ah, that's nice." I moved towards the door. "It was nice meeting you. Good b-."

Before I could open the door, it was swung right in my face. I stumbled backward and held my nose. Hopefully, it wasn't broken.

I moved to the side and saw the one that did it was none other than Satoshi. He looked around before spotting me and smiling, oblivious to the deeds that he had done.

"What are you doing here, Satoshi?" I was holding my nose so it probably came out as a muffled sound.

"I was thinking on how you would be lonely if you were in the Classics Circle alone so I decided to drop by but…" I saw his eyes darting around to Chitanda. "I see you already have a company. A rather pretty one at that."

I sighed at his attempt to tease and turned to Chitanda, who was quite flustered. I raised my eyebrow on how she could get flustered from a bad tease like that.

"I'm Fukube Satoshi, by the way." He said with a smile.

"I'm Chitanda Eru. Nice to meet you." Another perfect bow.

I grabbed my bag and headed out to the door once more but was firmly stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"What is it this time, Satoshi?"

"Don't be like that." He smirked, making that face. The face which could lead me to wasting my energy. "I just happened to overhear a certain mystery from the guild administration."

"Good for you. Bye." I headed out again but this time, something forcefully pulled me back; almost making me fall.

The perpetrator was Chitanda, surprisingly. I never thought a girl of her size could have that tremendous strength.

"Oreki-san! Please stay, I want to hear what you think of this!" I also did not expect her to be a girl that would invade other people's privacy so easily. Her face was close to mine.

Too close.

I turned to look at Satoshi who still had that smirk on his face. "So, what did you hear ?"

He wagged his finger before pointing to one of the bookcase. "That bookcase. Behind it is a door, completed with a seal."

Chitanda clasped her hands together. "Ooo, is it a sealed door to some treasure?"

"Not quite…" Satoshi decided to trail off, further igniting the curiosity between Chitanda. Seeing as Chitanda was fully immersed in Satoshi's story, I decided to sneak out quietly.

Just as I reached for the door knob, I could feel a pull unlike any other pull before. I swear if I resisted, my arm would be dislocated.

The perpetrator was once again Chitanda, who didn't even face me as she questioned Satoshi even more.

"Then what is it for, Fukube-san?"

I could somehow feel my energy drained in one single blow if Satoshi dared to utter another sentence.

"Behind that door is a room. Inside that room is a shrine." No, stop it Satoshi.

"That shrine was originally dedicated to one of the guild leaders who had passed away a long time ago. He was once using this room so his spirit lingered here."

I looked over to Chitanda and saw her eyes shining. Now I'm even more nervous.

"It is said that anyone who enters the room will be judged by the spirit. If you're good, you'll get a reward. If you're bad, you'll be pulled into the distortion realm to wander there for eternity."

I wasn't convinced and asked him further, "And? I can't believe people still believe in stories like that."

"That wasn't what I'm here for." He pointed to the bookcase. "If we move it to the side, I'm certain the sealed door would be there. Aren't you curious to what's behind it?

"Yes." answered Chitanda.

"No." I replied almost as quickly. "Now that it's over, I'm going home."

And once again, I was held back by Chitanda albeit softly.

"Oreki-san." She stated, her eyes still glowing with that purple hue.

"W-What?" I stuttered as she leaned in closer.

"What could be behind that bookcase? Is there actually a sealed door? Is there actually a spirit?" She looked down a bit before looking back up.

"I am curious!"

I winced at the word 'curious'. Plus, she was getting too close for my comfort so I gently pushed her.

"I am not." And with that statement, I hoped she got what I mean and I attempted to leave the room once and for all.

"Houtarou, I thought 'If I have to do it, I'll make it quick' was your motto." Satoshi shouted from behind my back.

"It still is."

"Then come back here. I'm sure this is what your sister wanted all along." I sighed at the statement and roughly turned around, throwing my bag on to the desk.

"Alright alright. Just push the damn bookshelf and we can get started." I sat down on one of the chair, rubbing my head in frustration.

Satoshi and Chitanda didn't notice this however as they radiated with enthusiasm. So much enthusiasm that it was sickening.

"Yessir!" He faked a salute and moved towards the bookshelves. Surprisingly, he pushed it aside with little to no effort.

And true to his words, a wooden door with a white piece of paper covered by unknown letters. Those letters somehow looked familiar to me but I couldn't figure out what it was.

Chitanda looked shocked while Satoshi looked like he expected this.

"Well…" He made an ominous smile, "Shall we go in…to the distortion world?!"

"B-But we're not ready yet! We need to stock up on materials and some more people. Also we-."

I got quite annoyed at Chitanda's rambling so I posed the question. "Before we go, check if we can actually get in."

"Oh, right." Satoshi moved in front of the door and attempt to twist the doorknob. As I expected, it was locked.

"See what I mean?" I stood up "Now that this is done, can I go home?" I decided to ask first as to not risk another shoulder-dislocating pull.

"Not yet, Oreki-san!" I sat down or rather; I dropped myself down on the chair. Chitanda looked like the stubborn type of girl.

Too much energy to handle.

But what if I made her work for me instead?

"Chitanda, when I first arrived here; you said that you thought of your garden and due to that, the flowers in your garden came here. How?"

Chitanda smiled at my question, "It's because I have control over Space."

What.

"Hmm, I guess you could say I can warp dimension." She smiled once more; delighted with her explanation.

"Eeh?" Satoshi gripped his chin, "Would you mind showing us?"

Nodding, Chitanda took a nearby book and place it on her palm. She used her free palm and place in on a nearby wall. The distortion appeared at both the book's location and the wall where she touched.

In a single moment, the book disappeared; leaving both me and Satoshi bewildered. It wasn't until we heard something dropping that we looked around, finding the book landing where the wall distortion was.

A simple warp spell. Or so it seemed…

It was enough for my plan however.

"If that's the case, why don't you just warp us to the other side of that door?" I waited to see her reaction. She hesitated at first but finally gave in. I thought she had no choice but to oblige, however…

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. I can only warp to a place that I have either seen or touch before."

Tch.

"Ah, it's okay, Chitanda-san." Satoshi assured Chitanda who was looking apologetic. "If we can't find an easy way, we'll just solve how to open that door."

Chitanda perked up "Maybe we can undo the seal on the door."

I looked outside and saw the sun setting. As I thought, this was taking too much of my time. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick.

"Maybe it's one of those 'See it from a different perspective' mystery!" Satoshi suggested eagerly, catching the attention of Chitanda.

A different perspective huh….

Chitanda tilted her head in question, as Satoshi began explaining. "What I was thinking is that we should try to unlock the door by using a different method besides unsealing it."

Different method…Familiar characters…

I twisted a loose strand of hair around my finger. Satoshi noticed this and called out to me.

"Houtarou, you figured out something?" He asked with confidence. I saw no need to lie so I nodded.

Bad move.

The moment I confirmed Satoshi's thoughts, Chitanda literally leaped in front of my face. This girl really needed to learn about personal space.

"Really, Oreki-san?! What is it?" She leaned in even more. I winced at the close contact before dismounting my chair, heading towards the door.

"This seal that you speak of," I pointed at the white paper, "Is nothing more than just a label."

"Label?"

Seeing their confusion, I tore off the white paper; much to their dismay. I flipped the paper over, confirming my suspicion.

"This paper is nothing more than a label, flipped over so that it seemed foreign." I handed it over to them. Sure enough, their reaction was what I expected.

"Storage room…" Satoshi muttered disappointingly. I would be disappointed too if I actually care about the rumors.

After letting them finished digesting the facts, I posed a question. "Now if that's all. Can I go home?" I stressed the last part, hoping they would get my desperation.

"Oreki-san!"

I almost wanted to punch myself at that moment but I faced her nonetheless.

"What is it this time?"

"You came to the Classics Circle to join it, right?" She asked eagerly. I was almost able to decline but Satoshi rudely interrupted me.

"Before you say anything, Houtarou, your sister wants you to join and revive the Classics Circle. Not just join it and leave after." He gave me that all-knowing look to which I sighed at.

"Fine! I'll join the circle…"

I looked around awkwardly until Chitanda lifted her hand up as if asking for something. I gave her a questioning look.

"Your application form, Oreki-san." She added a smile. I dug into my bag and pulled out said application form and handed it to her.

Inspecting the form, she nodded happily. "This is wonderful! I look forward to working with you, Oreki-san."

She bowed quickly, forcing me to bow out of courtesy too. "I look forward to working with you too, Chitanda."

I lifted my head up and assuming that nothing is going on, I went to the door. But due to the already horrible luck that I had today, Satoshi swung his arm over my shoulder and Chitanda's, bringing us under him.

"Guess what, Houtarou, Chitanda-san." I know that look in his eyes…Please no…

"I've decided to join the Classics Circle too!" Satoshi said the dreaded words to which Chitanda reacted cheerfully to.

"Thank you, Fukube-san. I'm sure we'll have tons of fun together!" She bowed again, making me wonder what kind of strict tradition her family had.

"I'll complete the form tomorrow!" Satoshi stated as he lifted his hands from us. He left the room just as quickly and I sighed. Again.

"See you tomorrow then, Chitanda." I waved her a goodbye.

"See you tomorrow too, Oreki-san."

As I walked out of the room and the gate, I began thinking. Why did I agree to joining the circle? Sis wouldn't even know if I joined or not. That circle is basically dead and I don't even think it had a purpose.

Whatever.

That Chitanda girl though. She appeared sweet and innocent but I was sure that she could drain my energy in a single instance. Why did I bring this problem upon myself…

Fate really is a prick.