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The receiver slipped from my hand, as I yanked on the cord and catapulted out of the Araragi household.
That was terrifying!
I almost died from shock!
Even a zombie clawing out from the wardrobe would not have scared me as much — one may even say it was a near-death experience.
Am I still actually alive!?
This isn’t the afterlife, right!?
What was with that great adventure of Sengoku Nadeko just now?
I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing; what was I supposed to be doing?
This splash of cold water made me feel like everything up to now was a dream.
Even a ring from a security alarm would have been better than that terrifying phone call. I was afraid of bumping into her whilst searching, but why was Senjougahara-san calling into the Araragi house (via landline!) in the middle of the day?
No, from where she’s standing, she would question why that despicable Sengoku Nadeko was in the Araragi household in the middle of the day. In the end, I guess even she would not want to view a hated figure like me as a monster.
Because those chain of events last year was me causing trouble for Senjougahara-san.
I was the one who entered her radar.
When I was Divine Nadeko, I had even prophesied killing that person — a crime that makes trespassing and unilateral borrowing look like peanuts in comparison.
An apology would not save this.
I did not even apologise.
So I should not have escaped like that — which was easier said than done; terror is terror.
It does not make any sense, not even legal sense.
It was terrifying.
Maybe the guilt multiplied the terror, but even without that, it was already terrifying in the first place — aah, I was so spooked.
I am never picking up a phone ever again.
In any case, I was beginning to relax a little having successfully captured Anti-Nadeko; to be tensed up so compulsorily was a kind of luck.
That sense of being well-dressed had also thoroughly vanished, which I’ll pretend is a good thing.
In order to forget that terrifying experience, I should focus on looking for Nadekos — there was no use denying, my trespassing into the Araragi house was glaring. I will think about cleaning up after this later with Tsukihi-chan.
I’m counting on you, Tsukihi-chan.
After shooting out of the Araragi household, I ran as far as I could (my knees were all wobbly now), but my physique really was inadequate, just from looking where I am; this was no afterlife; I did not even make it that far.
It was territory I was familiar with.
My hometown.
Mm~… how do I put this, this road is one I frequented… I remember that if I continued along this road, I would reach the entrance to the mountain that houses the Kitashirahebi Shrine.
The Kitashirahebi Shrine, huh…
I was going to find the wandering, stimulating Bloomer Nadeko, which has nothing to do with my current destination, but if I changed my sights to Divine Nadeko, then Kitashirahebi Shrine is a central location.
A lead as solid as a rock. {Q}
Just as Fawning Nadeko was in middle school, Divine Nadeko could be in the Shrine — though not technically a homing instinct, a shikigami for the most part moves according to their basic character settings.
Gentle Nadeko not being in the Araragi house and Anti-Nadeko setting up an ambush inside it could be considered exceptions… but even so, there was no reason for me not to search the Kitashirahebi Shrine.
Theories are important.
A place as vital as the Kitashirahebi Shrine might have already been combed through by Ononoki-chan… but it will be better to have a look regardless.
It will be a good thing to do; even if Divine Nadeko is nowhere to be found up there, at least I could send a prayer.
Ever since I descended from that mountain, I heard that the Kitashirahebi Shrine became empty for a while, and then a new god made their arrival.
As the predecessor, it would be nice to say a little hello.
It might not be the time for hellos, but — though for different reasons from the Araragi house — it was otherwise a place I would not visit.
With that, I knew where I was heading next.
Command confirmed.
I will leave Ougi-san with the task of searching Gentle Nadeko; I am going to face Divine Nadeko and attack across the mountains.
Speaking of, though I have gone up this mountain hundreds of times, with my depleted stamina, could I even make it to the end?
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