Monogatari Series - Volume 21 - Chapter 0.20

020

Thanks to Ononoki-chan’s work, we at least had an inkling of where this pursuit was going, but not all of this was good news — for Ononoki-chan, this was a strategy of playing a weak hand to advantage.

Or in her case, playing a dead hand. {T}

This approach seemed to be one she least wanted to do; whilst it made our pursuit possible, she paid a price — specifically, her right hand.

Which meant she could not use her dominant hand.

Corpses do not feel any pain, but in terms of an oddity, her combat prowess has taken a big dip.

‘Well, anyway, improvise a prosthetic hand for me. Use the dirt around here. Sengoku Nadeko, I’ve been telling you to hold back your artistic side, but now is time for it to shine.’

This was putting me on the spot.

My artistic side has only worked in two dimensions so far…

But using the dirt in the shrine for a prosthetic (and also to patch up any flesh lost during dismemberment) could prove more effective than ordinary dirt.

It was from the shrine, after all.

Besides, this is an air pocket for oddities-related phenomena, a terrain that encourages ‘impurities’, the stuff that makes up oddities, to coalesce; in reality, when I was being rid of those snakes, their movements, which normally could not be seen, has, thanks to the dust here — wait, what?

No, that’s not right.

That’s not the case.

It was the case when I was being lifted from my curse, but I remember Oshino Meme-san had sealed this air pocket as part of his job; and to avoid any more ‘impurities’ forming here, Oshino Meme-san’s senior, Gaen-san had attempted to install a new god onto the then-derelict Kitashirahebi Shrine.

At first, the candidate for the deity was, as Ononoki-chan calls her, the former Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, i.e. the current Oshino Shinobu, but I stole that role.

Such was the origin story of Divine Nadeko.

With me as a deity, the shrine was renovated, but thinking back on it, Divine Nadeko was there for not that long… after that, a few months passed before a new god took that place.

This is getting long for an introduction, but the point is, it was a shame that the shrine no longer has much ‘impurities’, no ingredients for oddities — Ononoki-chan’s weakening seems unavoidable no matter what.

‘True, that. Shishirui Seishirou is no longer here too.’

‘? — Who’s that?’

‘A poor fella who never became anybody. Anyway, I was joking about your “artistic self”. Balancing left and right whilst on the move is all I need, so keep an eye on the weight.’

That was a great help.

I wetted the dirt with some water from the chōzuya and set to work moulding Ononoki-chan’s right hand. [11]

I cannot believe I’m still playing with dirt at this age… it might not be exactly the same, but it reminds me of looking for Kuchinawa-san’s shintai in a sand pit. Which park was that again?

‘Oh, speaking of, Ononoki-chan.’

‘What is it?’

Except the part below the right wrist, all parts were now connected, but just in case, I had her lie down on the path — if she disintegrated all of a sudden whilst on the move, that would be a great headache. To avoid wasting my time in that urgent hypothetical, I shall wait for her to heal completely.

‘Um… is the new god in this shrine? I might be only in name, but I want to say hi as a predecessor.’

‘No, not now. The backstory means this god likes going on walks… I don’t know whether it’s luck or divine intervention, but thankfully this god is not in the shrine for now. If it wasn’t the case, Divine Nadeko might have leapt straight for that seat.’

‘……’

She put it so simply, but it would be a disaster if that happened.

One can only imagine if Divine Nadeko really wanted the seat back… but if gods switch hands, this will affect the entire town.

Not just me.

The town being gripped with panic doesn’t sound so ridiculous now.

‘But you said the god’s having a walk; is that alright? There could be an encounter with Divine Nadeko in the middle of town, no?’

‘Indeed. Ideally, it’d be best if we find and protect the new god… but that god is often like a lost child; could be harder to find than a shikigami.’

A god who is like a lost child?

Without meaning to be rude, but is this god okay?

‘Can’t we meet with this strolling god and ask for some assistance? You sound like you know this god, Ononoki-chan.’

This really was getting myself out of a pinch with thoughts and prayers.

‘You’re right, we do know of each other, and that’s why it shouldn’t be done. In this case, asking god for help would sow the seeds for misfortune. This wasn’t the preceding god’s fault, this was our fault. If we receive divine assistance without paying any price, then this god might be deemed less trustworthy. For us, it’s natural to expect help, but for the other side, to help is to break impartiality.’

‘……’

Is this what Oshino Meme-san meant by ‘people can only save themselves’ —

From Ononoki-chan willing to model for my dessins, she probably thinks differently than I, but as a specialist, this was probably common sense amongst all of them.

‘To put it lightly, Divine Nadeko is probably trying to first play this game of hide-and-seek to finish you off… and give her successor a coup d’état once in her complete form.’

In her complete form.

After taking my place, and confirming its self-existence.

In this scenario, unlike hating work and letting her emotions take over like Anti-Nadeko, Divine Nadeko was really trying to replace me.

I’m weak at the knees.

Weak little me is weak at the knees.

Can’t two negatives make a positive? — well, that itself is a principle I couldn’t wrap my head around.

I should get Sodachi-onee-chan from the Department of Mathematics to explain it to me so that I can understand, once I get the chance.

‘…Okay, right hand is done.’

This was, in the end, improvised, so it was not really satisfactory, but I reckon I have handled Ononoki-chan’s only request — that is, the weight — quite well.

‘But wouldn’t it just fall apart once you move it?’

‘As long as it’s connected, it’s fine. It’s just conceptual.’

‘Hmmm…’

I don’t know exactly what that meant, but if a specialist says it was fine, then it was fine; that aside, since it was made from dirt, it was not a looker.

‘Mm. Thanks.’

But Ononoki-chan appeared satisfied.

Her face doesn’t show it though.

‘Then Ononoki-chan, where is Divine Nadeko now? Your actual right hand that you have latched onto Divine Nadeko’s back, where is it now?

My thinking was, once we have a location, we may be able to rework our strategy.

‘It’s just a hand; it’s not eyes, so I don’t know the exact place. The only thing that can be known is the direction my finger’s pointing in.’

She answered.

So eyes and hands are conceptual too?

Colour me interested, but now was not the time for delving in.

Direction… she probably meant up, down, left, right, cardinal directions, front and rear… something like that.

That was still enough to go on, but I still felt a bit uneasy.

For instance, even if it was eastwards, there was no sign of how far east that would be. To take an extreme example, Divine Nadeko could be in the Americas.

Being someone of few possessions, I of course don’t have a passport.

‘No, that wouldn’t happen. Even as a god, even as an aberration, they are still shikigami you made, so they wouldn’t stray too far from you.’

Until they take your place.

Whilst she concluded with that petrifying sentence, Ononoki-chan promised me. No matter what, Divine Nadeko’s priority would still be taking over me — then my hikikomori life might be useful for once.

As a middle school girl, my life doesn’t extend far out in the first place; as a hikikomori, I can narrow that even further.

‘Ah, thank goodness I’m a hikikomori!’

‘Isn’t being a hikikomori what brought you into this mess?’

I was met with a rather harsh retort.

Fair enough, ‘thank goodness’ this was not.

But it is true: Sengoku Nadeko’s lifelog has only been limited to Public Middle School #701, the Araragi household, and this Kitashirahebi Shrine — then the temporary duo that is Divine Nadeko and Gentle Nadeko must only be somewhere in this town.

‘Fwee’

Ononoki-chan sprung back up lightly with a flat noise — it may look effortless, but repair work is not something I am used to; I was worried the moment she touched the ground, she would fall back into pieces again, but the wounds healed as if they were never there.

Ononoki-chan has been resurrected.

‘All thanks to you. However, the right hand is ultimately not what it seems, so it’s not going to be stable — it’d be best to avoid using the “Unlimited Rulebook”.’

‘The, uh… good point.’

For me, the ‘Unlimited Rulebook’ is a technique I ask Ononoki-chan to use in modelling for me, but if it is used for offense, it is powerful enough to destroy a front gate; naturally, the recoil is also very powerful.

If it can pulverise her opponents, it poses the same risk for the recently re-joined Ononoki-chan.

‘Indeed. I think I could only use it once.’

‘Once… there’s two of them though.’

‘If I could score two hits with one shot, that’d be for the best, but seeing as Divine Nadeko is using Gentle Nadeko as bait, that would probably be difficult.’

Just as Fawning Nadeko built a ‘human barrier’ with classmates, Divine Nadeko would build a ‘Nadeko barrier’ with Gentle Nadeko.

How cruel you are, Sengoku Nadeko.

How pitiable you are, Sengoku Nadeko.

Of course, they are both Sengoku Nadeko.

All me.

‘So, Sengoku Nadeko. Basically, I’ll be depending on your talents — you confront them, I’ll stay on as support.’

‘Uh… y-you’re putting me on the spot.’

My panicked response was met with Ononoki-chan’s complete indifference (as usual, really);

‘How? You’ve already managed to retrieve two shikigami. You just have to do the same thing again.’

She said.

‘Compared to me who is rendered useless thanks to Araragi Tsukihi, you’ve got what it takes.’

‘I don’t think it’s fair to blame it all on Tsukihi-chan…’

Having borrowed her clothes, I spoke in her defence.

That rebel.

‘Besides, I’ve barely managed to do it one-on-one. Even ignoring that one of them is Divine Nadeko, to go against two shikigami solo at the same time…’

‘Hey, hey, what’re you saying. You’re not going solo now, are you?’

Ononoki-chan replied to my messy words.

How should I put it… it’s a reassuring line, but this is me; I’ve severed myself from everyone and everything. What kind of help could I possibly expect?

Could she be talking about Ougi-san or Tsukihi-chan?

Ononoki-chan pointed with her right hand of dirt towards my clueless self — more accurately, the pocket in my culottes.

Even more accurately, the two used sheets of paper in the pocket of my culottes.

‘Fawning Nadeko and Anti-Nadeko, the two shikigami you’ve sealed — I think you’ll find you have three Nadekos, Present Nadeko.’