Monogatari Series - Volume 22 - Chapter 3.06

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The symbol of peace. The Japanese Joan of Arc. The young champion of the modern era. The anti-war revolutionary. The single flower that bloomed across the nations—as I heard those many catchphrases that described her, I too had earnestly built up the image of “TSUBASA HANEKAWA” in my mind. But suddenly meeting my classmate like this made me see her not as any of those descriptions, but as just a 23-year-old girl.

A dignified atmosphere, or a well-prepared dependability, or a finely honed appearance. If we were talking about those, then the women I worked with fit the description far better—well, it was true that I was first seeing her half-asleep and in sleepwear, but she gave off an even more absentminded impression than she did in high school.

Even after going “Oh, how embarrassing” with a shy chuckle and taking a seat, her eyes seemed drowsy—it could just be that she hadn’t put her contact lenses in, but anyway, if we were speaking of the symbol of peace, then this in itself was very much like a symbol of peace, so to speak.

But her seated posture made me really want to ask, what part of this makes you an international person of importance?

Though she hadn’t grown much compared to high school, almost to the point of making me wonder if she actually got younger, there was naturally still a change in her appearance—the hair she had cut short had grown back long.

It was probably longer than when she had kept her hair in braids.

Although the black and white stripes were the same as when she had a bob cut… Or no, didn’t it somehow feel like there was more black hair? After a certain point, the media had stopped broadcasting any images of “TSUBASA HANEKAWA”, after all—I wouldn’t be able to compare even if I went to the past—so I couldn’t say for sure.

Although it was currently at a state that couldn’t just be dealt with by smoothing it down with her hands.

“What is it, Araragi-kun? Staring at me like that. Ahaha, do I look that charming to you when I wear pajamas? I borrowed these from Karen-chan, though, so they’re a little baggy.”

“No, that’s not it…”

It’s not like it’s the first time I’m seeing it, was what I began to say, before I stopped myself, remembering that my sisters were at the table, too.

Speaking of which, the trend of Araragi Koyomi seeing those of the opposite sex half-naked after just getting to know them started with Hanekawa, didn’t it… But what was different now was that Hanekawa back then wasn’t the type that could’ve stayed calm after being seen in sleepwear by a guy (and there were those of the type that could stay calm—examples: Senjougahara Hitagi, Kanbaru Suruga).

Back then, she’d cover up with a coat or something.

Thinking that, today’s Hanekawa had descended from the second floor (she hadn’t just borrowed Karen’s pajamas, but her bed as well) and had been surprised to see that I’d finished work and come home early, but even as she said that she was embarrassed, she didn’t bother going back to the second floor to change.

Well, no matter what life she led in the past few years, she probably wouldn’t have been able to survive with such a naive and delicate sensitivity—even a shy maiden can turn bold.

But no matter how indispensable boldness was, both overseas and at warfronts, coming here today and wearing Karen’s pajamas, sleeping in Karen’s bed, and eating Karen’s homemade food was just a little too brazen—well, in terms of food, clothing, and shelter, that was just a matter of Hanekawa and Karen’s relationship, so I wouldn’t interfere. The real problem was that this was happening “today”.

My senior was probably pulling an all-nighter for the sake of protecting this girl—how did that escort target end up partaking in dinner at the Araragi household as if it was the most normal thing in the world?

I glared at Tsukihi.

And, as if understanding me just from the mere eye contact we’d made, she said, “What? Didn’t I tell you? I came back with Hanekawa-san,” tilting her head with a blank face.

She didn’t tell me.

We’d only talked about how those braids reminded me of the old Hanekawa—and I hope she didn’t think that that in itself was good enough of a report that she’d returned to this town with Hanekawa.

That kind of nonverbal communication doesn’t exist!

No matter how related we were, that was just impossible.

“Huh? Didn’t I say that I heard from Senjougahara-san that Hanekawa-san was coming back?”

“You did…”

“What about how Senjougahara-san had been entrusted with a message from Hanekawa-san?”

“You didn’t say anything about that.”

I didn’t really get the whole story, but it sounded like she’d actually laid the groundwork in advance—I doubted that I’d make any progress dealing with such a carefree Tsukihi, so I turned my eyes to my still-employed sister who had become a full-fledged member of society.

“Um, no, I was totally sure that this had already gone through you, nii-chan. Since if you knew, you would have gotten in contact with Boss. I mean, I was also forbidden from meeting up with Tsubasa-san, too,” said Karen, as if she was making excuses.

It seemed she called the section chief of the Public Safety Squad “Boss”, but I couldn’t care less about that custom—and the chain of command was different, so it would’ve been weird for me to suddenly put myself in there.

Although, I was in the same boat for not alerting my superiors about Hanekawa Tsubasa’s current location, as well as eating dinner together with her.

I wondered if I should make the report now, at least, but I wasn’t sure… As a policeman, that was something I should’ve done reflexively, but I’d been caught off-guard by her sleepwear-clad form, and I was thinking on an empty stomach, so I’d ended up taking my seat at the table, which was bad.

It meant that I had the time to hesitate.

If it was a problem for such a world-famous celebrity to be in a private home with no escorts and no security measures and nobody aware of it, then it was also a problem that she had managed to slip away from those perfect escort preparations to be here.

It was a huge problem—and a huge failure.

If word got out that Hanekawa Tsubasa had been exposed to danger, then international trust in Japan would plummet—at the very least, the entire Naoetsu Police Department would be destroyed. It wouldn’t stop at just the Rumors Squad. It wouldn’t stop at just the dismissal of me and Karen. The unemployment rate of the prefecture would rise in an instant.

How much of an uproar were they in right now?

“Ah, um. It’s all right, Araragi-kun. You’re such a worrywart as always. But don’t worry, I managed to slip away from them without being noticed. And I plan on leaving without being noticed, too.”

“Really… Then…”

Was that really fine?

To incite an entire country to stand guard over an empty hotel in itself was pretty shameless… What would Mitome-san think if she heard about this?

Seeing as I’d so confidently declared that there was zero possibility that Hanekawa would come to see me, I was nothing but extremely apologetic.

If I had offered Mitome-san the “Hanekawa keepsake items” that were the underwear and braids, she probably would have begun tracking her down… At this point, was it good or bad that I hadn’t?

“I can’t feel at ease in a hotel suite, you see… It’s way more comfortable at a campground. Ah, but of course, Karen-chan’s bed is perfectly comfortable, too. I’ve completely gotten over my jet lag.”

Even though her drowsy atmosphere made me wonder if she had really gotten over it, in any case, it seemed Hanekawa had absolutely no sense of danger—even though this could turn into an international crisis.

Although it was possible the term “international” didn’t even exist for her as she was now.

“I didn’t really want to take my meals in such a stiff setting, either. Rather than room service, I wanted to eat some home cooking like this. Araragi-kun, if you’re not going to eat that, can I have some?”

“Ah… Go ahead.”

“Onii-chan, if you’re not going to eat that, can I have some, too?” asked Tsukihi.

“You can go and starve.”

“Well, nothin’ we can do since she’s already here, nii-chan. Thinking about it, we let Hanekawa-san stay here before—although at that time, you were away for a bit, weren’t you?”

It seemed Karen had gotten over it with that.

A mental strength expected of someone who still went to her dojo three times a week.

It made my hesitation seem shameful.

“Just think about it like this. If I’d gotten rounded up as part of the escort team, then I wouldn’t’ve been able to have dinner like this with Hanekawa-san. So I think I’m pretty lucky!”

If this was supposed to be lucky, then it was some artificial good luck… But I guess that was fine?

Nevertheless, it seemed my sisters—Tsukihi, obviously, but even Karen, though she’d prepared for the worst—did not care that they were in the presence of such an important person.

Or maybe I was the one that had gotten too caught up in my own thoughts? Perhaps, after being in the company of my past acquaintance like I’d done in the past, I didn’t have any confidence in my past self… If that was true, it was just me having an inferiority complex on my own.

“Well, putting aside being forbidden from seeing her… Was there anyone dispatched to help out from your squad, too? One person from my squad went out to help.”

“Saisaki Mitome-san, right?”

“Huh. You know her?”

Then you should’ve told me. It’s already my third month of training, y’know?

“I mean, I don’t know her personally, but she’s pretty famous, and I’ve seen her face a lot at tournaments. Police martial arts tournaments.”

“Oh, really.”

“There are rumors that she got sent down to the Naoetsu Police Department because she caused some scandal, but if she got put in charge of Hanekawa-san’s escort, then it doesn’t sound like she did anything wrong.”

So rumors like that had flown around… The gossip was pretty outrageous.

Though she herself probably didn’t mind, it seemed disgraceful to her as a wolf.

Even though I was only her junior temporarily, I wanted to try and restore her reputation somehow, but then again, there was no worse scandal than allowing such an important person out of her sight.

“It sounds like Gaen-san’s plans are pretty successful, then,” remarked Hanekawa, unprompted.

Since we were in front of Karen and Tsukihi, she didn’t say anything more, but it seemed she had kept herself up-to-date on the details of the Rumors Squad’s foundation. Despite her drowsy expression, she was as quick-witted as ever.

She was really sharp-eyed—and just sharp.

I doubted she was still in contact with Gaen-san even now… Well, regardless, this seemed like the right timing to use that line.

“Hanekawa. You really know everything, don’t you?”

“I don’t know everything. I just know what I know,” responded Hanekawa with a chuckle.

Like she’d done in the past—except today, Hanekawa added one thing more.

“Whenever I come to know something, the number of things I don’t know increases.”

Even someone who knows will someday turn into someone who doesn’t know.