Monogatari Series - Volume 24 - Chapter 3.2

Mayoi Snake - Chapter 2
From Yoimonogatari by Nisioisin

“—And that’s how [spoilers for the previous arc] Ms. Mayoi brilliantly rescued the transistor-slender(1) fifth grader. Quite a difference compared to you, eh, Nadeko?”(2)

The little doll-girl Yotsugi Ononoki-chan told me about it while maintaining the pose from the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, sitting in a chair in the center of my room on the second floor of the Sengoku home. Speaking of which, this little doll-girl cadaver, Yotsugi Ononoki-chan, has a public reputation as an expressionless, monotonal character, but right now she was helping me by serving as a model for my sketches, so there was a thin smile adorning her face.

She was simply stiffening her flesh (rigor mortis?) into that particular shape, though, so she certainly wasn’t really smiling, but I felt like I was bearing sole witness to a rare and precious thing… I wonder why she would do so much to help me of all people while saying nasty stuff like, “Quite a difference compared to you”…

I couldn’t help but think it was odd.

“I mean, Kujaku Beniguchi and Mr. Demon probably have different opinions, but I think you acted much more like a god. She went so far just to save a single human, a human from a neighboring town at that; she overdid it a little. Could even say she abused her power, disregarded her jurisdiction. There’s a line of reasoning that says that a god who reigns while thinking about no one but herself, like you, is much more god-like—all a god needs to do is exist.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“But that also means that it’s okay for different kinds of gods to exist. It’s fine for there to be ‘quite a difference’ between you two. In any case, your successor has accomplished her duty, after a fashion. Could even say that her training period is now over.”

“Training period.”

“Write 'training period’ in kanji, at least.”

How did she know I said that in hiragana?(3)

I’m drawing Ononoki-chan right now, not kanji.

I forgot to mention, I quit being a god, and I’m currently a hikikomori who draws manga.

Ononoki-chan comes over to see me three times a week, and helps me improve my drawing skills—I know why, of course.

She’s not supporting me and my dreams for the future purely out of kindness and affection; she’s monitoring me to make sure I, as something of a former goddess, don’t do anything foolish.

“I think I told you before, and Mr. Demon seems to have it halfway wrong too, but basically, the only person I’m monitoring is Tsukihi Araragi. I just observe you and Mr. Demon while I’m at it. Could even say it’s part of my camouflage. Luckily, Tsukihi Araragi wasn’t involved this time, so I was able to really let myself shine.”

“Hmm… Tsukihi-chan.”

“I’d have been even luckier if Tsukihi Araragi had died, though… I wonder what would make that girl die…”

“Um… I’ll listen to as much grumbling about your roommate as you’d like, but Ononoki-chan, please don’t forget that Tsukihi-chan is kind of a close friend of mine, okay?”

“You have me as a close friend now, so you don’t need her, do you?”

“I don’t suppose I’ll ever make friends with people who aren’t dangerous…”

But, anyway, is that so.

Her training period is over.

Is it alright for me to breathe a sigh of relief?

I was playing at being a god at North Shirahebi Shrine for quite a long time, but that whole era is now completely in the past—well, it’s not as though I’ve thought about anything so outrageous as taking another pass at it.

No matter what Ononoki-chan says, I didn’t do a single thing that could be considered god-like.

Far from bringing peace to this town, I brought about chaos; I couldn’t save a single person. Not even myself.

“But, Nadeko. I think you’ll have to do something 'god-like’ in the near future.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“You’re aiming to become a manga artist, so I’ll put it to you like this: it’s a change of staff. Partly because of that stuff Mr. Kaiki did, the ritual of inheritance was delayed and left unsettled, but I think you’ll have to do it properly soon. And besides, thinking of your future, it’s probably high time you met Gaen-san too.”

“Change of staff”… That phrase fits it perfectly.

I see; the time has finally come for me to meet Gaen-san—she’s Kaiki-san’s senior, and the specialists’ boss.

I’ve heard so much about her.

The argument could be made that she was the one who turned me into a god in the first place… But thinking about my future, it’s true; she’s someone I can’t avoid meeting.

I’ll steel my stomach.

“But Ononoki-chan, can I ask you something? What kind of person is Gaen-san?”

“There are all sorts of legends about her, right? Well, she has a gentle-mannered and friendly demeanor, so I don’t think there’s any reason to be afraid. It’ll be up to her to decide what the ritual of divine inheritance will be, but when all is said and done, she’s kind to children; she won’t do anything to scare you. That’s what’s scary about her, though.”

Well, even if I call her scary.

She’s not as scary as my Onee-chan—Ononoki-chan added, erasing the forced smile from her face.

Footnotes:
(1) The term “transistor slender” is a reference to “transistor glamour”, which means a woman is short but well-proportioned. I honestly don’t know what transistors have to do with it, but I believe Ononoki’s invention means “short and slim”, and she came up with the term to give Koyomi a bit of guff for his lolicon tendencies.
(2) In the original, Ononoki uses the nickname she came up with for Nadeko in Nademonogatari, “Nadekou”, using the character 公 (kou) instead of 子 (ko). It’s kind of a pun, but not really. If you’re curious, wait for Nademonogatari to be translated.
(3) In Japanese words can be written using kanji (Chinese characters), but also phonetically using kana, which is common when kanji are too difficult or when kids haven’t learned them yet. Nadeko repeats the word “training period” in kana after Ononoki says it in kanji.