Monogatari Series - Volume 24 - Chapter 2.28

028

The heights that is ‘Arrangement Flower Manase’ (which sounds less like a residential project and more like a florist) doesn’t have an electronic lock system, so we were able to make our way to Room 307, where Beniguchi Hibari currently resides, fairly easily – in the end, Shinobu returned inside my shadow.

Eh, anybody in their right mind would choose that. Even if they’re an imbecile.

I don’t think there’s any use in shilly-shallying, so I pressed the intercom button as soon as I got there – after having confirmed there’s nobody else on the same floor, and that there aren’t any security cameras installed on any of the other rooms.

The decision to engage the intercom without hesitation was in consideration of Benikujaku-chan, who might be able to escape Ononoki-chan’s ambush if I do things quickly enough.

‘Riiight~ Coming, please wait, please~’

The voice didn’t come from the intercom, but from directly behind the door – an overly polite tone, followed immediately by the door opening.

Of course, I knew as soon as I heard that voice – it was Ononoki-chan waiting on the other side of the door.

‘I even pretended to sound like her. Y’know, her “please”es.’

‘Don’t pretend to sound like her. Even her “please”es.’

Benikujaku-chan’s manner of speech was something I brought up back in the Kitashirahebi Shrine…it was refreshing to hear Ononoki-chan to not speak casually like she usually does, but before we even get to that –

Eh?

Why is Ononoki-chan here?

‘I did say I’m coming in from the veranda, right? I climbed in through the window and had a quick look inside, so I was able to answer Mister Vampy calling from the intercom.’

That was too quick.

She didn’t wait for me at all.

Could she have completely seen through my moment of leniency in trying to let her go…? I really don’t stand a chance against anybody here.

Especially against the pro that is Ononoki-chan.

Ononoki-pro, she is.

Mm…if she’s had a quick look around, that means she can have a quick look around; is Benikujaku-chan not here?

I asked her, fervently hoping it’d be a yes.

‘Mm hmm. Just like the emergency stairwell in the multi-storey car park, Transistor Slender’s made her escape from her safe house.’

Ononoki-chan responded.

‘Come on in, this way. Not that there’s anything much.’

‘You want me in…I can’t, since neither tenant nor her sister are here. I’m a vampire, you see.’

‘Don’t become a good vampire all of a sudden. Look, I don’t want any of the neighbours witnessing some stranger talking to a tween girl through the door.’

‘I’ll grant you, this time of day, it’s real easy for the neighbours to see a guy talking to a tween girl…’

‘It’s the “through the door” part I want you to pay attention to. Looks like you’re ready.’

Ononoki-chan said, as she yanked me into the flat, closed the door, and locked it.

Gauging my readiness by telling me a loli joke makes me feel difficult…dammit, now I’m an accomplice in breaking and entering.

Wait, no, the primary offender?

Even though Ononoki-chan’s in full control, the one who masterminded this scheme was none other than me.

Ononoki-chan is, in the end, a doll, a tool, so it’ll be me who answers ‘yes’ to ‘did you do it?’, even if ‘it’ was pulverising an oddity-possessed small girl.

‘Shouldn’t the window be locked?’

‘I broke it. Get the queen seductress to mend it later.’

‘……’

I don’t want Shinobu’s materialisation powers to be used in a cover-up – maybe it’s better if Ononoki-chan and I don’t split up tonight.

‘Look, Mister Vampy.’

Ignoring my inner thoughts, Ononoki-chan led me from the front door to the living room, and pointed inside – the lights weren’t on, since both of us had excellent night vision, as both of us trespassed inside.

The window was indeed broken.

I was prepared to see both the window and the window frame smashed with her ‘Unlimited Rulebook’, but as it turns out, the damage is minimal, with only a few square centimetres affected near the crescent lock…which gave me a sigh of relief, but on the other hand, isn’t this exactly a burglar’s technique?

We’ll set that aside for now.

What’s more important is the interior – when Ononoki-chan said ‘not that there’s anything much’, she really wasn’t trying to be polite about it.

Not that there’s any purpose to being polite about someone else’s place. Whilst ‘completely empty’ doesn’t describe the living room, it’s pretty close.

It’s an overwhelming emptiness.

It’d make some sense if she just moved in, but the more undeniable possibility was that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and I don’t know what to say to that.

But it wasn’t the ‘nothing’ that Ononoki-chan wanted me to see, it’s the carelessly-thrown recruit suit in the centre of the living room – no, not a recruit suit, the fresher’s suit worn in the entrance ceremony.

It was not broken.

It looked like it was taken off normally, then thrown away.

Let alone folded, it wasn’t even in one piece, as if the parents haven’t taught the kid any manners when it comes to clothing…manners, huh.

‘Manners made mandatory may make misery, so not everybody’s cut out for it – but then, given this family…’

Ononoki-chan said.

And waved me towards the bathroom.

Having met her earlier today – no, I didn’t even meet her today, she’s just a senpai from middle school of a teammate of a junior, and now I’m already in a uni girl’s home; this is a completely different level compared to playing with a young girl, little girl, or a tween girl – a completely different level of pervertedness, that is.

But at least this time, unlike my failings at the emergency staircase, I rolled down my sleeves to act as gloves and stepped in…

Don’t tell me the older sister’s corpse is waiting for me in the bathroom? That’d really make it the beginning of a horror film –

Having set myself up for that, I am once again relieved to not see a naked, dead uni girl in the bathtub – but there seems to be something untoward.

It’s the hair.

Giant clumps of hair slunk down the bathing area – and as expected, the space where you’d see soap and shampoo has been replaced with a pair of scissors.

Not shears, desk scissors – the type of scissors Senjougahara Hitagi once used wrongly, though I can’t say it was used correctly here either.

Though not as eerie as teeth on the floor, this is a plentifully eerie sight…if someone saw this without context, they’d think this was a crime scene.

But consider approaching it as an oddity scene.

This is the long hair that was on Impostor Benihibari when I met her today – well, I can’t say for sure it’s her hair, I’m no forensic scientist, but I’m quite certain.

So after Impostor Benihibari met me, she went back to this flat, took her suit off, and cut her hair.

I guess despite being a small girl inside, she still takes these things into account – not despite, because. She probably saw how I reacted to her in the cafeteria and decided she didn’t ‘look like an adult’. She may have deflected it adroitly in our conversation, but she found out wearing a suit wasn’t quite right…and as for the trimmed hair, could she have thought I would tail her? Could she have decided to do a big makeover after she took the suit off? Or maybe she cut off the hair that grew over the course of one night because it hindered her escaping…escaping?

Where would she escape?

And why would she?

‘Ononoki-chan – eh?’

Ononoki-chan vanished from the bathroom whilst I wasn’t noticing…not that I wanted to jump in the bath with her, but it is a bit discomforting.

The regret from invading the territory of someone I never met is making me even more timid than usual.

‘Here.’

My eyes darted toward where the voice came from, which was next to the living room…the study?

‘Looks like a room you study in. There’s also a bedroom. Which means this flat’s a 2LDK – two rooms plus a living, dining, and kitchen area. Quite roomy for a single person…maybe she wanted to live in a big space because she didn’t have any back home, or maybe she wants her younger sister living with her in the future. Either way, right now it’s a spartan 2LDK flat.’

Ononoki-chan analysed.

As for me, I’m surprised that there can be a separate room for studying – so aspirational uni students can rearrange their own living space like this.

Well, like the living room, there isn’t much to be found here, so it is indeed spartan, but on the bookshelf that’s integrated with the office desk are specialised books I’ll never get to read in my lifetime – there’s even books in foreign languages.

Seems like she doesn’t need a translator to have fun in Australia with her friends; no, it might not be a sightseeing trip, maybe she began her voyage like a working holiday?

Isn’t it just rotten luck – to have gone through all this in preparation to welcome her younger sister, only for her to be away when she came knocking?

‘Sorry, Ononoki-chan, I can’t see myself entering the bedroom.’

‘I don’t see any point in drawing that kind of line right now, but go on, call yourself a gentleman all you like. A gentleman thief.’

Has my Sherlock Holmes gambit accidentally turned into an Arsène Lupin gambit?

‘Don’t worry, I’ve checked the bedroom in advance. There’s only a futon. Oh, and also pyjamas and underwear scattered on it.’

I didn’t need that information.

No, actually, it might not be unnecessary – it reminds me of how the suit was scattered all over the living room; I guess those two stepsisters do have something bringing them together.

– I wonder where Hanekawa’s sleeping right now?

Surely not the corridor, I thought to myself…

Frankly, even with a gagging order in place, I did consider phoning Hanekawa and asking for her opinion…as someone with experience living through that, I’m sure she has some useful, targeted advice.

Even if I didn’t, I wonder if Hanekawa would instantly categorise this as the work of oddities after hearing what Higasa-chan initially had to say.

A ‘Revolver’.

‘I think you’d be giving her too much credit…in snail terms, it’s like you’re shelling out too much for her, or like placing too much cargo on an escargot.’

‘The hell’s that even supposed to mean?’

‘Hanekawa Tsubasa ain’t Mary freakin’ Sue, ain’t she? I reckon Mister Vampy’s more suited for this case, since you know what failure is.’

‘……’

‘With Hanekawa Tsubasa only knowing what she knows, presumably she’d only talk sense to the Beniguchi sisters – that aside, I wasn’t trying to draw your attention to the knickers in the bedroom, but this –’

Ononoki-chan pointed towards the PC on the desk – a laptop so thin I had to make sure it wasn’t a sheet of paper.

‘What about the laptop? This isn’t Benikujaku-chan’s, but Benihibari’s, right?’

‘It could be that Transistor Slender used the computer to look for a new place to hide – so I had a go leafing through any records.’

How thorough…I see, so even if the older sister she’s looking for isn’t there, as long as there’s some way of accessing the internet…for a smartphone-less (presumably) Benikujaku-chan, this item really would be a life saver.

Actually, no, the thing that helped her out the most would be the clothes.

Suits and all else…from what I’ve heard about the bedroom, she’s definitely not short of underwear…with her hair cut off, I wonder where she’s going, in what guise?

‘I don’t have a computer myself, so I can’t say for sure, but don’t those things usually have passwords on them?’

‘There is. But I’ve cracked it.’

‘Holy shit!’

Cracking passwords like how you cracked the window? Are you sure you’re an ancient monstrous tsukumogami and not a cutting-edge hacker?

‘Oh no no no, I’m crap at computers too. I said it, didn’t I? As a tool myself, using tools is difficult for me – but there is a premise here. If this computer was used to aid her escape, then the password must be something even the little sister knows.’

‘Ohhh…so something like the little sister’s name or her birthday?’

‘The real answer’s neither. I’ve already tried them, but both were wrong. Having got it wrong twice, if I got it wrong a third time, the computer’s security protocol would activate and format all its data.’

Must be real risky.

To just do this to another person’s computer.

But, now that it’s cracked –

‘Could it be “Benikujaku”?’

The moment I said it, I knew I was wrong – ‘Benikujaku’ is a nickname coined by Higasa-chan, and Higasa-chan has never been in contact with Benihibari herself.

‘So close, Mister Vampy.’

‘Hm?’

‘The password is “Benishouga”.’

Benishouga.

The nickname Impostor Benihibari accidentally let slip during our rendezvous at the cafeteria – her own nickname.