Monogatari Series - Volume 13 - Chapter 1.24

024

It wasn’t until well after I descended the mountain, having continued this giggling romp with the stupid, crazy, out of her feeble little mind Nadeko Sengoku until evening came, that I noticed I was being tailed.

The instant I noticed, my legs unconsciously began to carry me away from the station─you could put it down to the fact that I’m a battle-worn veteran, or a sly old fox, or to the muscle memory of evasive action taken in the past.

I often pretend to be the thrill-seeking, self-destructive type, but perhaps my instincts prefer safety. So is Deishu Kaiki just another human being? Does that disappoint you? Well, I’m into that version of myself. I think it’s cute─and while I can’t speak for Nadeko Sengoku, to me “cute” is a compliment.

“…”

Without looking back, I casually, and now consciously, upped my pace. The ground was covered in snow, so I nearly slipped.

Snow country makes it pretty easy to tail someone, when you think about it─the snow creates clear footprints, deadens sound, and even light precipitation will completely mask the form of the person tailing you.

Of course, having noticed that I was being followed, I could exploit corners and blind spots to discover the identity of my tail. If I whirled around and threw down my flat-out adult dash, I might even catch the person─but I also might not, and if I failed, I’d only have succeeded in revealing that I was onto them.

In which case, he or she (or they?) would adopt a new strategy─one that I wouldn’t catch on to so easily. And that would spell trouble.

So I decided to leave it alone. I wouldn’t put an ounce of effort into discovering the identity of the person following me. I’m not trying to sound sage, but not expending effort is actually quite easy. Easier than expending effort, anyway.

I chose a likely spot to hail a cab and asked to be taken to the station rather than to my hotel. Not the station nearest my hotel, but one stop down the line.

Whoever the person tailing me might be, I didn’t think they’d follow me in another taxi at this stage, but I was erring on the side of caution.

It’d be one thing in a big city like Tokyo or Osaka, but a car chase in this nowheresville town might be fun… As I predicted, though, no vehicle followed my taxi.

They seemed to have given up. Too easily. Maybe they’d cut it short for the day─or maybe the little shadow play didn’t mean anything, and they were already staking out my hotel.

At this point, I finally wondered who it might be.

Too many possibilities occurred to me, there were too many people who bore me ill will, and the truth is I had absolutely no clue─a fact that was only compounded by being where I was.

“At the same time…” I muttered.

The most likely possibility was, naturally, some peon of Gaen-senpai’s─though there was no need to call her senpai anymore.

I may have pulled the wool over Ononoki’s eyes, but I had no illusions about doing the same to Gaen-senpai. Once she discovered my betrayal, no, my beautiful decision not to withdraw for the sake of that darling child, she would put me under surveillance─Ononoki, however, had said that she had no means of contacting Gaen-senpai.

In which case Gaen-senpai didn’t know what I was up to─this was her, though, so there was a strong possibility that, anticipating my duplicity, she’d put additional people besides Ononoki in place to watch me.

But after considering the matter for a while, I decided I didn’t have to worry.

I couldn’t rule it out completely, of course, but based on my experience of her in the years since we were at school together, Gaen-senpai herself had already fully withdrawn from the matter at hand.

And withdrawing, for her, meant withdrawing for good─whatever I might do to come in and muck up her beautiful handiwork, she wouldn’t personally set foot in the town again.

So my decision not to worry didn’t stem from the remoteness of the possibility, but purely from the idea that I was good as long as Gaen-senpai herself didn’t show up.

Unless it was Yozuru or Mèmè, I was good─I could even set a trap for Gaen-senpai by manipulating her peons.

Well, whether or not I’d actually go that far, it seemed prudent to find out what the hell she’d been up to in this town a few months back─it might be important for my work going forward.

Then I considered who the most likely candidate would be if the person tailing me wasn’t sent by Gaen-senpai.

One of the middle schoolers who bore me a grudge?

Normally I would have said yes…but if that were the case, why would they go to the trouble of tailing me?

They’d just resort to some violent action, and smash me in the back of the head without warning─though I could also imagine why they might not.

“Are you vacationing here, sir?” the taxi driver asked me.

“Sure, kind of,” I nodded. “More of a business trip, really. Work has provided me with an opportunity to come here.”

“Work, huh? I knew it. You’ve got kind of an urban feel about you, sir, so I thought that might be the case.”

I wasn’t sure if “urban” was a compliment, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t an insult, at least, so I acknowledged it with a “Thanks.”

“So, what do you think of the place?” he asked.

To which I responded, “I’m enjoying myself. It’s a real thrill ride.”