Monogatari Series - Volume 22 - Chapter 3.04

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004

“Hmm. A cat, huh? You even gave her a name like Black Hanekawa. But that cat’s no longer inside Hanekawa Tsubasa anymore, right?”

“Well, it’s not that it’s no longer inside her. It’s more like it’s settled down… Like a stray cat that got adopted by a family—also, there was a tiger, too. That one wasn’t an oddity from long ago like the sawarineko, but a new oddity that Hanekawa herself created.”

“A new oddity? That’s crazy. To think she’d invented something all on her own…”

That said, it was surprising, almost shocking, to hear that Mitome-san was a descendant of werewolves tracing back to the beginning of oddity history.

As for Mitome-san’s appearance, she was wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses, giving off a stylish but rough atmosphere, but what she ordered at the cafe I was taken to was hot milk.

Though she was a wolf, her selection was like that of a puppy.

Also, her leather jacket was fake leather. Though she wasn’t a vegetarian, Mitome-san still supported animal rights.

“But that Kako only lives inside Hanekawa’s head now, too.”

“Kako?”

“Ah, that’s what Hanekawa named that white tiger—for Hanekawa, Kako is one of her cute younger sisters, as is Black Hanekawa. Like entering the tiger’s lair to catch a cub, I guess… At that time, it seemed she’d intended to sacrifice a lot to get both oddities in her care, but looking at the results, it seemed more like she gained more than she lost…”

At that time, Hanekawa had obtained weakness. She’d made those negative feelings and bitter memories her own—and that wasn’t a bad thing. If it weren’t for that, the “absolutely flawless class representative” that Hanekawa was would surely have fallen to ruin in the near future. Instead of becoming charismatic enough to change the world, she’d probably offer up her life to save some inconsequential guy (yes, for example, someone like me) and die a tragic death.

How many times had she nearly died in that spring break alone?

“Becoming stronger by learning what it means to be fragile, huh… Rather than something philosophical, it sounds like some martial arts principle. Although it seems weird that, after finally acquiring some ‘humanness’, she’d come back to try and erase it after all this time.”

Mitome-san seemed suspicious about that, but unfortunately, that wasn’t a question that I had an answer to. Returning to erase your personal history—after going through all that, after finally learning what it meant to be weak as a human, why would she try to make it as if it never happened?

Perhaps the name “Hanekawa Tsubasa” itself had become a hindrance to her activities for peace… Although, putting aside “Tsubasa”, her family name, “Hanekawa”, wasn’t even something that was absolute.

Because it had changed a number of times before.

But that was not what I knew about Hanekawa as a classmate, but something that Hanekawa had told me in confidence under special circumstances. Should I let Mitome-san know about that much as well…? But it wasn’t the time to be mindful of her privacy.

Though it didn’t exactly make me happy to spread rumors about my friend’s secrets, Mitome-san was collecting information not just out of curiosity but for professional use—I probably wasn’t the only one she was asking about this.

Although I was probably the only one who was aware of anything related to oddities like Black Hanekawa and Kako, she’d probably procured all the information about her complex family situation long ago.

…Although Hanekawa was now trying to make sure that information couldn’t be procured.

“Ah, that’s right. Speaking of things related to oddities… There were several times that I had to heal her.”

“Huh? Like, you treated her injuries?”

“You could call it that, but it was healing that utilized my vampire immortality. Thinking about it now, it’s not exactly something to be proud of. Although I don’t regret it.”

“You don’t, huh?” Mitome-san gave me a wry smile. “Well, let’s put that in the past. So speak. Basically, you gave the blood of the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire to Hanekawa Tsubasa, right?”

“Yes. And quite a large amount, for that matter… And I used my spit to heal her at one point, but that’s minor in comparison.”

“Using your spit…? I don’t think that’s something I can put in the past.”

This werewolf’s standards were rather strict, but I moved on with the conversation.

“I feel like healing her with blood had to have affected her negatively after that—she even worked together with a vampire hunter named Dramaturgy at one point. Did you know about that?”

“Nah. But I’ve heard the name Dramaturgy before. He’s first-class at his job—and possibly even above that. Oh, so that’s it. So on top of Oshino Meme, Hanekawa Tsubasa had a second master in that vampire-killing vampire…”

Calling him a second master didn’t seem to fit exactly, but, well, it was true that Dramaturgy’s work etiquette could be seen in the current Hanekawa’s style as well.

The work of a pro.

You never know where something you learn will be useful in life.

But the real question was not about those teachings.

“It seems that Hanekawa got this thorn-like item from Dramaturgy that could dramatically activate immortal powers within her, and she entered into a pseudo-vampire state several times after that. Um… She said it was like hay fever. The vampirism that lay dormant within her from the healing reacted to the vampire-exterminating item and produced an immune response…”

Since I didn’t really understand how it worked, the explanation ended up being awkward. And apparently, she’d already used up that allergy-like factor…

“So it’s pretty likely that, in her third year of high school, she had the experience of becoming a gold-haired, gold-eyed vampire not once, but continuously.”

“So y’think that feeling of almighty power she experienced then is what turned her into the hero ‘Hanekawa Tsubasa’ now?”

“Well, regardless of Dramaturgy’s way of life… I don’t think her vampire experience is really related. If I had to say it, I feel like it seemed more like a tough experience for her.”

She didn’t thoughtlessly use her vampirism like I did.

And that feeling of almighty power as a vampire was linked to a feeling of helplessness when turning back to a human.

“I can’t say that there was no backlash from it, though. It’s possible that the experience of using violence to resolve a problem when something didn’t go her way was what led to her extreme pacifism… Well, the biggest thing is that I know very little about her wandering lifestyle after graduation, and that’s what really matters.”

“That’s true. If anything, what made Hanekawa Tsubasa what she is today is what she experienced after graduatin’ from Naoetsu High—all right. But I can use this as a reference, Koyomi-kun. Very much.”

Mitome-san said that and downed her cup of hot milk in one gulp. Well, the conversation had gotten longer than I expected it to, so it had probably cooled off by then.

“I’m glad to be of help. Please be sure to protect Hanekawa.”

“You can count on me! Since it’s my job. …Though I can’t really say if protectin’ her life and body or her ideology is more important to preserve the world’s current state of affairs.”

I couldn’t say, either.

At the very least, the justice that I was currently pursuing ran counter to her beliefs… Even though it was still at the stage of a pipe dream, if her activities continued to bear fruit, even the country known as Japan would end up ceasing to exist.

It was possible that the reason she came to erase her personal history that was left behind in her country of origin was not to throw away her “humanness”, but in preparation for the above.

“I’m in support of pacifism, but there’s a limit to good deeds, y’know.”

“Yes. Even for me—that’s something I’ve sworn to keep in mind. Although Hanekawa should’ve also learned as much in her high school days.”

There must have been something else she learned after that.

Something that I wasn’t aware of.

And, though this shouldn’t be taken the wrong way, it didn’t mean that what she learned was necessarily wrong.

It would actually be weirder for the “truth” she attained as a teenager to stay true to her after all this time.

Because both your common sense and your environment will change over time—even the way I was evaluating Hanekawa without being around her was weird.

“Oh yeah. It’s reassuring to hear that you’re in charge of her escort, Mitome-san, but wouldn’t Hanekawa herself be bringing along escorts from overseas? Like some sort of secret police, or bodyguards.”

“Hanekawa Tsubasa has no affiliation to any organization or group, after all. For everything she does, she gathers people from here and there, and then breaks them up after she achieves her goal. It sounds like her basis for doing so is because she thinks ‘keeping groups permanent leads them to ruin’, was what a team of psychologists concluded after analyzin’ her—though she’s not anti-authority, she is anti-establishment.”

Well, she was like that even as a high schooler.

While she was an honors student, due to such and such reasons, she barely came to school for the latter half of her third year—and people had blamed her absence on me, the vice-representative.

“Well, she’s not an idiot, so I’m sure she won’t do anything stupid like completely entrust her safety to the local escorts. She’ll probably have some safety measures in place… I’m just takin’ extra precautions by sniffin’ stuff up right now. There isn’t really anything I need to do as a werewolf. If there was, that would mean the entire town was at risk of annihilation.”

“Please don’t say something so scary.”

“Well, if Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade decided to come out of that shadow and assist with the escort, there’d be nothing to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, that’s an impossible request. She’s lost a lot of her power, obviously, but in the first place, vampires and cats aren’t very compatible… I don’t think she’ll even help me with my work until this whole racket is over.”

“You’re talkin’ like she’s allergic to cats or something. Well, don’t worry, in the case of an emergency, this werewolf alone can save the town. But I have something to ask you, not as a police officer, but as a police dog. Is there anything valuable that you got from Hanekawa, like a present or something?”

“Um…”

Despite the intrusiveness of the question, I couldn’t figure out her intentions for asking.

A gift from Hanekawa?

“I know I’m kinda invadin’ your privacy, but I am the ‘canine policewoman’. If there’s anything with her scent on it, that’d be great.”

“For her escort?”

“Just to be sure, y’know. But my position’s really more as support, so I don’t think I’ll get a chance to get close to her, so if I can get her scent, I should be able to track her down if it ever gets to that… Any ideas?”

“Uh, let’s see… I feel like we had to have exchanged presents at one point, but since it’s been five years… And since I’ve moved around a bit, I don’t have any good feelings about it…”

Though I mumbled as such, there was in fact a “present” that came to mind.

However, that went drastically beyond the realm of privacy… Though I didn’t go as far as taking it with me to my lodgings, I was sure they were still in my room at my parents’ house. That is, Hanekawa Tsubasa’s underwear made up of her brassiere and shorts, as well as the braids that she had me cut off before the cultural festival.

I didn’t want to seem like a pervert to the senpai I had managed to speak honestly with.

It was a group of items that I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with anymore, unable to throw them away or move them somewhere else—and since so much time had passed, while it probably could be used for DNA analysis, her scent should certainly have faded. Even though I hadn’t exactly been in my right mind in high school, I certainly hadn’t gone as far as putting them in a Ziploc bag and hiding them in a freezer to preserve them… They had not been very well preserved.

“Is that so?” said Mitome-san.

It didn’t sound like she expected much from the beginning, but her follow-up question sounded more like the question she really wanted to ask.

“Then, Koyomi-kun. Can you tell me one last thing? How much of a chance do you think there is for Hanekawa Tsubasa to try to come visit you during her stay here?”

“I’m prohibited from meeting her directly.”

“Yeah, but that just means that you’re prohibited from goin’ to see her, right? I’m askin’ bout the possibility of her coming to see you.”

Though there had been questions I could answer immediately, this question didn’t seem like one of them, so I decided to take the time to think about it.

And in that time, Mitome-san said, to make sure, “I mean, even though you were pretty vague about it, it wasn’t like you were just friends or just classmates if you don’t count the stuff about oddities, right? Isn’t it possible that she has any particular feelings about you or anything?”