Monogatari Series - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.24

024

Gaen.

But before I could search my mind for any memories related to that name, it appeared. Right there.

It “was” right there.

That─Darkness was right there.

In the very center of the abandoned classroom, which we were using as our sanctuary.

The desks I’d tied together to make a bed for Hachikuji had been there just a moment earlier─I was sure of it.

But they were gone.

Gone without a trace─there was only darkness there now.

Deep and black, it was impossible to gauge its distance─present but unclear as to where, seen, without being seen.

The Darkness.

“─gh!”

“…gh!”

“~~~gh!”

“Guh…”

Mayoi Hachikuji, Shinobu Oshino, Yotsugi Ononoki.

And I─shuddered.

We’d been left speechless by it, the way it had appeared so suddenly, without warning, seemingly illogically.

I just kind of had my guard down.

I really mean it when I say “just kind of.”

For some odd reason, I’d convinced myself that this former cram school was safe─I do make the worst assumptions, don’t I?

“Guh, uuugh─”

“It’s time to run, everybody!”

It wasn’t me, in my clear confusion, or Shinobu, who was seeing it in person for the first time in four hundred years, or Ononoki, who stood closest to the Darkness─

But Hachikuji who was the quickest to act.

Her judgment was the swiftest among us all.

“Y-Yeah!”

Run?

But how?

We could have Ononoki activate the Disengagement Edition of her Unlimited Rule book like before─that’d be a good idea.

But as I mentioned, she stood closest to the Darkness─we couldn’t approach her position. Getting any closer to her might make the Darkness engulf her─along with us.

Ononoki was going to need to run toward us, but she didn’t seem to comprehend this sudden development quite yet.

She was probably trying to comprehend it, though.

Which was exactly why─she couldn’t move.

Still, she was the only one with a way to escape at that moment─Shinobu couldn’t run off to the South Pole since she’d mostly lost her vampiric skills.

I was pretty much in normal mode, too.

As for Hachikuji, that went without saying─what were we supposed to do now?

What could we do to get away?

Faced with a “phenomenon” that we weren’t certain was our foe, which seemed to lack a will of its own to say the least, what in the world might we do─to get away from it?

Or maybe not?

Should we be fighting here instead of fleeing?

But we didn’t even have the first clue as to how to fight it.

True, the Darkness had devoured my beloved bicycle. I should have hated it, in other words, but I didn’t know what to think of it.

I didn’t even know if it was our enemy.

How was I supposed to feel any enmity toward it?

“Guh─”

Our stare-down only continued.

This situation, where we were all frozen in place, dragged on and on─it may have been just a few seconds in reality but felt so much longer.

Ononoki was the only one with a way to escape from this place─but with her in a stupor, no one could move.

No.

I was wrong to think that no one could─there was an exception, though it might not have been “someone.”

The Darkness could.

That’s right─it did move─but not toward Ononoki. It could have swallowed her whole just by moving forward a few feet, but that isn’t what it did.

No─instead it moved toward Hachikuji, who stood farthest from it.

Slowly─none of us noticed that it had started to move.

“Hachikuji!─” I yelled, hoping to get to her before the Darkness─but only hoping. I didn’t know if I should really move yet.

We didn’t know what might stimulate the Darkness─it might react to my movement and start to move faster like Ononoki said.

That’d be one thing, but it could also start teleporting around again, engulfing Hachikuji in one go, or possibly even everyone present─

So all I could do was holler.

“─Come this way!”

In any case, the Darkness seemed to be gliding toward Hachikuji─which meant that no matter what, she and she alone had to act. And in that case, I wanted her to come toward me at least.

Shinobu and I were connected by my shadow, so there was no need to do anything about her─once Hachikuji joined me, we could grab right onto Ononoki and have her activate that thing─activate the Disengagement Edition of her Unlimited Rulebook.

If it was too hard to make it out through a window, she could just crash through the ceiling─it didn’t matter where we went, she just needed to put some distance between us and it at an incredible speed, and we should be safe.

Temporarily, at least.

“O-Okay!”

Hachikuji’s fragility in the face of adversity actually seemed to work in her favor… She was usually such a rebellious girl when it came to me, but not only did she not question my words, she obeyed them immediately.

While I might leap onto Hachikuji, it was extremely rare for her to leap onto me. Come to think of it, this made two times in one day, which was even more rare.

The strangest things can happen over the course of a life, I thought, which is precisely why I can’t die here─as I caught Hachikuji in my arms.

The Darkness didn’t stop moving─it passed where Hachikuji had been, engulfing a few more of the desks that had stood behind her.

It really was like a black hole.

Then again, I thought of black holes as something with suction─and while this thing could swallow you up, it didn’t seem to suck you closer. In that case, we could get away. Even if it got to our destination before us, we could get away as long as we were fast enough.

I held Hachikuji tight (a split second)…

I leapt toward Ononoki (a split second)…

I grabbed onto her body (a split second)…

“Ononoki,” I yelled (a split second), “now!”

“Huh? H-Hey, kind monster sir, that’s going too far. Stop it, already. Don’t touch me there. What are you thinking? Consider the situation we’re in.”

“What are YOU thinking?!” I screamed as loud as I could and head-butted her.

I couldn’t put my hands on her because they were holding onto Hachikuji─and Shinobu had already sunk into my shadow. Our feelings weren’t linked for nothing─having secretly worried that she might needle me later saying, Ye abandoned me, I was seriously relieved that she understood me without any verbal exchange.

“We’re escaping, Ononoki! Like before!”

“Oh, so that’s why─”

I even felt anger at how she seemed to have forgotten about the option entirely, but naturally didn’t have the time to pursue the matter.

The Darkness changed direction.

Now it came toward us.

Or at least─looked to be, though it was probably an illusion.

“Unlimited Rulebook: The Disengagement Edition.”