Monogatari Series - Volume 2 - Chapter 3.9

009

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

The next day, I was roused awake as usual by my little sisters Karen and Tsukihi, and rubbing my drowsy eyes, I prepared to head to Senjogahara’s house for an all-day Sunday study session as I’d promised, in high spirits, holding out hope that perhaps this was the day I finally got to eat her home cooking, but just as I straddled my commuter bicycle, the only one left in my possession, and opened the gate and left my home, I encountered a bored-looking girl who was stretching in front of a telephone pole for whatever reason. She was in casual clothes, but the combination of the short pleated skirt and the bike shorts peeking out past them made her look mostly the same as she did in her school uniform─it was the star of Naoetsu High, my junior Suruga Kanbaru.

“Good morning, my senior Araragi.”

“…Good morning, Miss Kanbaru.”

“Hm? Oh, I don’t deserve such a formal greeting. Starting with everyday good manners, you’re pure quality. Have your injuries healed?”

“Yeah… If anything, the sun is the tough part for me now, but it’s not as bad as I thought. That and my healing damage are about even. So, Kanbaru, how do you know where I live?”

“Aw, acting like you have no idea. Are you setting up the scene for me? I used to stalk you. Of course I’d have ferreted out your home address.”

“……”

Her cheerful laughter did nothing to dispel my bewilderment.

“And is there something you need?” I asked her.

“Yes. I received a call from her this morning, and she told me to come get you. Oh, let me carry your bag.” Almost as soon as Kanbaru said this, she plucked my backpack out from my bicycle’s front basket and held it in her left hand. She looked at me with a beaming, innocent smile. “I oiled up your bike chain, too. And if there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”

She’d gone past being friends with Senjogahara and was her gofer.

While I had no interest in having the star of the school at my beck and call, if the pathologically jealous Senjogahara had assigned such a task to Kanbaru, then was their relationship mended, and was the Valhalla Duo back together again, or was I reading too much into it? I probably was reading too much into it.

“How about a massage before we leave? You say you’re fine, but you must be tired. I’m pretty good, I’d have you know.”

“…But what about your team? You have practice on Sundays, too, don’t you? With the exam break looming, you need to hustle.”

“No, I can’t play basketball anymore.”

“Huh?”

“It might seem premature, but I’m retiring.”

Still holding my backpack, Kanbaru showed me her left hand. That left arm of hers─was wrapped tight in a long white bandage up to her elbow. You could tell nonetheless that there was something slightly off about its length and shape.

“It was all so half-baked. The devil left, but in the end my arm didn’t go back to normal. There’s no way I could keep playing basketball. Still, it’s powerful, in its own way, and actually feels quite handy.”

“…Give me my bag back. Now.”

What could I say.

If only by half, her wish had been granted.

Then that much was only fair, it seemed.