Monogatari Series - Volume 22 - Chapter 3.07

007

After dinner, it was time for a shared bath.

Of course, not shared between me and Hanekawa, and not between me and Karen, but between the close sisters Karen and Tsukihi—it seemed my sisters were being considerate of me, who had a lot to catch up on with my old classmate.

Well, those two, being the former “Tsuganoki 2nd Middle School Fire Sisters”, also probably had a lot to catch up on.

“Well, I can’t just eat up without doing anything in return,” said Hanekawa, declaring that she’d wash the dishes. “Will I wash the dishes, or will I get a person to eat?”

That was really something an azukiarai would say. But anyway, I couldn’t just let a visitor do all the work on their own, so I went up to the sink next to Hanekawa to use the sponge and dish soap.

“Ahaha. It almost seems like we could be a married couple.”

That was a dangerous joke.

Even more dangerous when you took into account Hanekawa’s relaxed pajama look.

But, even as she acted jokingly, her skill with the dishes was something that I couldn’t even begin to compare to—though I’d been living independently for a while now, I wouldn’t be able to handle those dishes so swiftly.

It ended up being that for all the dishes I’d washed, Hanekawa would wash them again—so there was basically no reason for me to be there.

What kind of double-checking attitude was this?

“I just remembered after saying ‘married couple’, but are things going well with Hitagi-chan?”

“It’s a little embarrassing to be reminded of us by ‘married couple’, but Hanekawa, don’t you already know about that, too?”

“Yeah. I already heard from Hitagi-chan herself.”

“Of course.”

“Why don’t you go overseas, too, Araragi-kun? I think it would be nice if you spent more time with Hitagi-chan.”

“Well, I am a government official, after all. I pledged allegiance to my country.”

“Oh.”

I was trying to evade the question, but Hanekawa’s response was shorter than I expected… Well, it was true that she was fighting the very concept of countries, so to her, a government official was an enemy among enemies.

It was a little awkward. And because I was essentially doing the same work that I’d been doing, it was a little more awkward.

I’d unconsciously ended up looking for how Hanekawa had changed and hadn’t changed from how she was in the past, with the viewpoint of comparing Hanekawa Tsubasa and “TSUBASA HANEKAWA”—but from Hanekawa’s point of view, it was probably me who’d changed a lot.

Although that was true as well.

When I was in my third year of high school, the only one I pledged allegiance to was Hanekawa herself.

Aside from a vampire.

“…How long do you have until you have to go back to your hotel?”

Since I thought it would be awkward if the silence continued, I changed the subject.

Though I asked how long, I thought it would be good if she could leave even a second earlier, but I couldn’t exactly say to a visitor that I wanted her to leave.

No matter what I’d said, I did feel happy that, when she came back, Hanekawa had slipped through the defenses to come to see me.

The fact that I felt more confusion than happiness was something I could chalk up to me being older, because if Araragi Koyomi had been a high schooler, he’d be jumping up and down with glee.

I guess that could also be what it meant to be a professional.

“It’s not really a matter of ‘how long’. I’m not Cinderella. I’m actually Sleeping Beauty.”

“So you’re a princess? I heard you were a revolutionary.”

Ignoring my attempt to poke fun at her, Hanekawa said, “Actually, it’ll be harder to go back than it was to slip away. Because what I used wasn’t a locked room trick, but an escape room trick,” as she polished the plates until they were squeaking. “Maybe it’s something that I should have Ougi-chan settle for me. Is Ougi-chan doing well?”

“Mm… I guess she’s doing fine. She’s definitely lively.”

“Have you met up with Kanbaru-san? And what happened to Oikura-san after that? And Sengoku-chan? And have you gone to see Mayoi-chan already?”

“Oi, oi. What happened? You’re spouting off all these nostalgic names one by one.”

Since I’d changed the subject first, I couldn’t exactly complain when the subject was changed again, but her rapid-fire questions were a bit weird. She wasn’t waiting for my answers—or maybe she just wanted me to put them all together before answering.

“I’ve met up with Kanbaru. At the hospital by chance… I haven’t kept in touch with Oikura at all… Not since that one case. Sengoku’s not even in town anymore. Although I didn’t see her before she left. For Hachikuji… I was thinking of going for my first shrine visit.”

It kind of felt like I was making my ingratitude distinct by putting it into words.

I was really bad at socializing.

Was I really related to those sisters of mine?

I’m sure that Sengoku would’ve stayed in town if I hadn’t messed up in my interactions with her… Or maybe that was me being overly self-conscious.

But in terms of being overly self-conscious, that was probably the case for me with Hanekawa, too.

If I hadn’t gotten to know Hanekawa during that spring break, let alone seeing her half-naked, would she even have gone as far as being called the Japanese Joan of Arc overseas?

Well, if she’d stayed the “absolutely flawless class representative”, she would’ve fallen to ruin before turning twenty, but it was possible she would’ve been able to get a handle on her talents eventually without having to rely on Black Hanekawa or Kako.

Like Mitome-san and her wolfishness.

That would’ve brought her closer to the “ordinary girl” that she wanted to become—and, though I could be speaking out of ingratitude, the Hanekawa now could hardly be considered that.

Doing something like erasing her past for the sake of the future.

…Well, if it’s living in the future over living in the past, then that was true for me, and true for everyone. Because no matter how much you thought about the answer to “Why did you become like this,” it would end up being either blaming someone else or blaming yourself.

You shouldn’t blame God or oddities.

“Don’t be too concerned over old friends. Or did you suddenly get some lingering attachments when you decided that you were going to erase your past? Even for you…”

“Hmm, I wonder about that. To say it bluntly, I didn’t ask because I was all that curious. Although I am curious about what will happen to everyone ‘afterwards’, my head is full of something else right now.”

Well, perhaps.

Not even I thought that my hometown should be prioritized over all of humanity… World peace, banzai!

“Well, for Karen and me, our jobs are on the line, after all. So it would be great if you could figure out a good way to leave. Find something in that mind of yours.”

It probably seemed like I was just changing the subject again, but I was seriously asking—regardless of me or Karen, I definitely didn’t want to be a bother to my senpai, Mitome-san.

That was how I socialized, now.

“Even if it’s you, it can’t be that easy to erase your history. Or are you trying to become a different person altogether?”

“Um. Mmm. Araragi-kun, it seems like you’re under a pretty big misunderstanding, but this visit isn’t just incidental to my return to Japan, you know?”

“Eh?”

“Erasing my history was just my official stance—I don’t actually care about doing any of that. My origin can become a weak point for my activities, but it’s good to have weaknesses like that. If anything, that’s really what’s incidental,” said Hanekawa. As she continued to wash the dishes.

“The reason I came back was to see you, Araragi-kun.”