Monogatari Series - Volume 16 - Chapter 7.05

005

The epilogue, or maybe, the punch line of this story.

Well, since Tsukihi already took care of the aberration tale, this whole story has been a sort of epilogue─so maybe I should call it the bonus material.

I accepted Kanbaru’s suggestion and persuaded Tsukihi─persuaded, or mollified, or something like that.

Why did the other members of the tea ceremony club─those other six girls, persist in believing in the “eighth member”? Even after the truth was clear, after they were shown reason, why did they let themselves be ruled by emotion and maintain their belief? Basically, if I could explain that, if I could rationalize their irrationality, Tsukihi would be satisfied.

So Kanbaru rationalized it: they all believed in the “eighth member” for Tsukihi’s sake.

Just as she did the other day when she came to me for advice, Tsukihi often made free with the clubroom’s supplies: the tea, the teacakes. Not that big of a deal, but strictly speaking, not aboveboard─if it became public, the club’s activities might even be suspended again.

So everyone affirmed the existence of the “eighth person”─as a kind of camouflage for the liberties Tsukihi was taking.

That’s how we rationalized it. By inventing this “eighth person,” they could explain away the speed with which the supplies were dwindling.

Not that they contrived to get their stories straight beforehand, but to cover for Tsukihi, they all allowed this “eighth member” to join the club─

“So that’s it! They did it for me!”

The dumbass fell for it in a split second.

“And there I was, boorishly blathering about how ghosts don’t exist─when I was the one who was haunting them!”

Nice try.

Well, the truth was probably completely different─but even if this lie were the truth, Tsukihi was accommodating enough to go along with it.

“Okay, I’ll buy it!”

I’ll drink the Kool-Aid.

Or in this case, the tea.

And just like that, she seemed to forget about the whole thing.

“Hm,” Kanbaru wondered when I reported this outcome. “The other members of the club, or you─who was Tsukihi buying it from?”