Monogatari Series - Volume 11 - Chapter 1.03

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The story goes back a thousand years.

…Is that too far back?

i guess it is, heheh.

Really, Nadeko doesn’t know much about what happened a thousand years ago, either─and what i have heard is from Mister Serpent, so it’s hardly demonstrative evidence.

The way that word “demonstrative” starts with “demons” makes it seem somehow aberration-ish, but that’s a different topic.

You shouldn’t swallow anything the Serpent tells you without chewing on it first─since we’re dealing with a snake, maybe i should say “swallow whole.”

What happened a thousand years ago doesn’t really interest Nadeko, anyway.

Um.

So we’re just going to go back to something that Nadeko can speak of from her own experience─in other words, back to the day i met the Serpent.

That should make the story demonstratively true.

To Nadeko, at least.

There might be a few mistakes in the way i remember it, or actually there must be, but there are a lot of things in this world that can’t be forgotten no matter how hard you try, and a lot of things in this world that you can’t cover up even with a lie, and for Nadeko, her meeting with Mister Serpent is one example.

After all.

Nadeko was already dragging along snakes from her past─dragging along snakes that used to be wound around her.

Almost audibly dragging…and dragging.

Just like Nadeko has dragged along her feelings from elementary school─almost audibly.

All right. The date was October thirty-first, a Tuesday─i guess that would make it Halloween, but to be honest, i’m not too familiar with that event.

i don’t really know what kind of day it is.

According to Mister Mèmè Oshino, an authority on monsters and the supernatural who once lived in this town (what does “authority” mean, anyway? Is it like “almighty”?), “Halloween and Thanksgiving ought to take deeper root in Japan. I mean, look at how big Christmas is here now.”

That’s what he said, but Nadeko doesn’t really understand Thanksgiving, either.

But i do think that giving thanks is important.

i’m thankful to Mister Oshino.

And to Miss Kanbaru, and to Big Brother Koyomi.

i’m thankful.

i wouldn’t be leading such a calm and peaceful life now if it wasn’t for them─wait, calm and peaceful?

No.

What they taught Nadeko in June might be that there’s no such thing as a calm and peaceful life in this world.

Peace.

That kind of stuff only exists on TV.

One Peace.

Isn’t there a manga called that?

It was fun to read.

While i wish i could live a peaceful life, i don’t think it would be possible in Nadeko’s reality.

i don’t think it would be possible at Nadeko’s school.

In fact, i was already “meloncholy” the morning of October thirty-first─no, Nadeko being meloncholy wasn’t limited to that day.

Mornings are always meloncholy.

More specifically, the walk to school is always meloncholy─whether it’s the thrity-first, the thirtieth, or the first.

Whether it’s October, September, or November─yes.

There’s never a walk to school that isn’t meloncholy.

Not since that day.

Not since June.

It was different in April, you see.

It was probably still different in May, too.

i want to say that the famed fraud Deishu Kaiki came to this town because he was tracking rumors of the vampire known as Miss Shinobu Oshino, and the gears might have already been turning in April or May─but it wasn’t until June that they started having an actual effect, including what happened with Nadeko─

“Whoa, watch─”

And then.

Despite her meloncholy, Nadeko decided to head to middle school with lots of time to spare so that she wouldn’t be late. But just as i turn a corner, a bike plows toward Nadeko.

A bicycle. Basically a light car. Not a so-called granny bike like what Big Brother Koyomi rides (to judge from it, he isn’t particular about bicycles in the least), but a fairly stylish BMX bike.

Nadeko freezes and thinks, Ah, so i’m just going to get run over like this, i’m probably going to be sent to the hospital with broken bones, it looks like it’s going to hurt, but i won’t have to go to school for a while, maybe Big Brother will come to visit, Nadeko had better get her best pajamas ready─this “kalaidoscope” of images from the future runs through Nadeko’s head, but the rider of the bike continues:

“Watch─me go!” and turns the bike’s handlebars in a somewhat unreasonable direction.

Imagine a T created by the bike’s front wheel and its frame.

While the brakes may not have been applied in time, this was, structurally speaking, no different from the bike slamming into a wall.

Honestly, i think you could have dodged a person as petite as Nadeko with nothing more than a slight tilt of the handlebars─but i’m sure the rider was desperate.

The front wheel stops, but the back wheel continues on.

It leaps into the air.

The bike ends up clearing Nadeko’s head…no, grazes it even as it misses her.

One Leap─there’s no such manga, though.

After that, both the bike and its rider go sliding along the asphalt like two spinning fireworks─but not only does Nadeko have no broken bones, she isn’t even scratched.

Still, i’ve turned pale.

…While it all happens in a moment, Nadeko’s never been more scared in her life─it was a terrifying experience. Yes, monsters and ghosts and those kinds of things are scary, but the real, concrete fear that is a traffic accident instantly outdoes those kinds of psychological scares.

If only for a moment, i forget the meloncholy Nadeko feels on her way to school.

“A-Are you okay?!”

Nadeko suddenly comes to her senses and runs toward where the bike lies sideways on the street─not because i’m worried about any damage to the bike itself, of course, but because i’m trying to get to the girl sandwiched against the ground by her bike.

It’s a girl.

While the Road Traffic Act would fault the rider for not looking both ways before speeding forward, it’s also true that Nadeko wasn’t paying attention when she was walking─no, i’m worried no matter whose fault it is.

Of course i’m worried, someone has fallen to the ground. You could say that she just fell over on her bike, which isn’t much of an accident, but it could be a big deal if she hit her head.

It might be a good idea to call an ambulance.

Nadeko doesn’t have a cell phone, though.

Pay phones have been disappearing from town lately, too, so in order to call for help, i would have to run into one of the homes around here and─oh, but Nadeko isn’t able to talk to people she doesn’t know.

In that case, she’d have to go back home first and─

“─I’m good!”

“Aaah!” i scream.

Just as i run over to the girl, she suddenly sits up as if she has a spring-loaded torso. No, while i likened it to a spring mechanism due to the momentum, Nadeko would say she seemed more like a zombie─because the girl was definitely limp and immobile a second earlier.

Yes.

Like─all of the times that Koyomi is dead.

…

i have to say, “all of the times that he’s dead” is a pretty unique phrase.

“Are you hurt, Sengoku?” the girl looks at Nadeko and asks.

She has a pleasant smile on her face. She looks very likable.

But Nadeko can’t help but be anything but afraid of that smile─because.

“Hmm? What’s the matter, Sengoku? I thought I managed to dodge you, but don’t tell me I grazed a hair or two on your head! Well, I’m real sorry if I did, Sengoku.”

“Wh-Why…”

i have a hard time voicing the word. No, Nadeko is reserved and shy and ends up talking to everyone this way… But i have an even harder time saying anything to this person today.

i’m “inordinetly” afraid.

i guess you can put it that way.

“Wh-Why… Nadeko’s name…”

“Hm?”

“Why…do you know…Nadeko’s name?”

“Hmmm?”

The girl’s eyes open wide.

She has on the same likable smile, but─it’s clearly stiff.

It’s like her face is telling you how much she just messed up.

“That’s right!” she exclaims, looking up to the sky. “Agh, I haven’t met you yet, Sengoku!”

“Huh?”

“Sheesh… I got the order all wrong… This is all because I’m having such a tough time finding Hachikuji… There’s something way too irregular about that girl. What a nuisance. Oh, what should I do?” the girl says, getting up and doing the same for her bicycle.

She starts anew.

“Nice to meet you, cute missy!”

She’s too late by any measure.

Though i am “bold over” by her guts.

“My name’s Ogi Oshino!”

“…Oshino?”

Oshino? Oshino…

Mèmè Oshino─Shinobu Oshino.

No, that’s not it.

She said her name was Ogi Oshino.

i haven’t heard it before─could the family name just be a coincidence?

“Uhh, how should I pretend that didn’t happen? I guess I just need to mention Araragi-senpai to her? Okay, then. Um, Sengoku, I heard about you from Araragi-senpai, my senior. You can tell by my uniform, right? That makes me his junior, and Miss Kanbaru’s junior, too. Not his jeweler, his junior. I’m a freshman at Naoetsu High.”

“…”

Her story’s full of holes.

You could even say that she’s lost the plot.

Anyone would find it hard to speak to someone like her, not just Nadeko.

Still, Big Brother’s junior?

Not his jeweler.

And Miss Kanbaru’s junior─true, she’s wearing a Naoetsu High uniform, the same school that Big Brother Koyomi and Miss Kanbaru attend.

Even i think i’m being stupid.

That’s all it takes to make Nadeko relax a little. All i needed to hear is that this Class-A suspicious individual, suspicious as can be, goes to school with Koyomi, and she suddenly seems somewhat trustworthy. That’s what makes Nadeko think that really, i’m stupid.

i doubt the thought brought any visible change in Nadeko’s attitude, though.

i’m just nervously looking at the ground, like always.

Not saying anything.

When i’m quiet like this, most people give up and walk off somewhere, with a Forgeddit. That’s the “president” that’s been set.

That’s the pattern. But.

“Didn’t work, huh?” the girl─Miss Ogi─says, looking back up at the sky.

She won’t give up on me, won’t walk off.

She continues, like she’s “gryping.”

“Look at that, I messed things up from the very start. Whatever. Your case is basically like a side story. I doubt it’ll turn out like it did with Tsubasa of the Hanekawas─um.”

And then.

Miss Ogi extends her right hand to Nadeko.

“You see, I’m Mèmè Oshino’s niece.”

“…”

“I heard about you from my uncle, too─about how you were a victim. I guess it’s because Kaiki was involved, but you know, when it comes to aberrations, a pure victim is pretty rare.”

However, adds Miss Ogi, her tone bright and clear.

“People can’t be victims forever─Sengoku. There are just times when we’re victims and times when we’re victimizers, that’s all. Or do you still think of yourself as a victim?”

“…”

“No reaction, huh?” She shrugs. Almost like she’s having fun. “Yes, maybe you can always be a victim if you act that way, looking at the ground, staying silent, not speaking a word─but how well is that going to go for you this time, I wonder?”

“…”

“This time─just might be an exception.”

“…”

“Yeah, it really is nice and easy being a victim. You get everyone’s sympathy, and they’re all so nice to you. You sometimes hear people talk about how we write off victims, but really, they’re just saying that the victimizers are victims, too─I think my uncle hated that way of thinking, but, well, maybe there are only victims in this world. In which case, if you turn it around again, then from the start, you mightn’t have been a pure victim, either─and who knows, that could come to light in this tale.”

“…T-Tale?”

“Uh huh,” Miss Ogi confirms. “Sengoku, don’t tell me you think your everyday life lacks any sort of narrative.”

See ya.

Miss Ogi gets on her bike─it seems like the fall didn’t cause any particular technical issues─spins the pedals, and rides kind of like she’s doing a stunt to leave the scene.

Like always.

i believe.

Nadeko isn’t good at talking, so people give up on her and leave─always.

She didn’t treat Nadeko to a Forgeddit, but the result was the same as always.

The pattern that’s the “president.”

It’s no surprise.

It shouldn’t be.

But.

“…Hm?”

Although it’s no surprise─i am left with the feeling that something’s a little off, really, only just a little.

So slightly off that i’ll probably forget it by tomorrow and never remember.

But despite my impression that we didn’t talk for that long, i notice that somehow─according to Nadeko’s watch, quite a lot of time seems to have passed.

How do i explain it?

Almost like time has been stolen away.

i don’t think the conversation with Miss Ogi was so much fun that it made Nadeko lose track of time─so why is it?

Why is it─that i feel like i’m going to have to talk to that person again─in time?

No.

To jump ahead, i’ll have as close as possible to no chance at all of doing that after this─because before Nadeko can meet her again.

Big Brother Koyomi and i are going to end up fighting to the death.