Hyouka - Volume 03 - The Kudryavka Sequence - Welcome to KANYA FESTA! (1)

A score to settle, huh? It never even crossed my mind. I was hardly
concerned with how satisfied Tani-kun would be with the outcome anyway.
It's true that I often enjoy myself in many things. Indeed, I would have so
much fun that Houtarou would end up staring coldly at me.
But what's most important is for me to experience this personally. I see
enjoyment as basically a give-and-take relationship between the provider and
receiver of the entertainment. This is why I could never be as fanatical in my
interests, be it Sherlock Holmes or herbology, as my best friend (whoa, this is
quite embarrassing for me to actually utter it, but his is the first name I could
think of) Houtarou or the magnificent Mayaka.
I'm rather naive when it comes to things that I like, find interesting or enjoy.
Using a bookshelf as an example, normally a bookshelf would contain
reference books or novels used to kill time, but in comparison, my bookshelf
is not worth showing to other people. (Though if it's Mayaka, she'd probably
want to have a look... But it's unlikely she would ever say it out loud.)
Similarly, my relationship with the provider of entertainment is simply to
quietly have high expectations and taking it easy as I enjoy myself.
So according to my psuedo-Epicureanism, this talk of "settling scores"...
Well, it's inelegant.
But this is all trivial, as I had no intention of giving it my all. To put it
simply, Tani-kun is simply participating in tournaments which I'm
participating in out of his own accord.
I meandered to and fro as I left the now rather empty courtyard.
By the way, enjoying oneself and worrying about one's friends are totally
different matters altogether.
I wonder how Houtarou's doing now?