Monogatari Series - Volume 24 - Chapter 3.3

Mayoi Snake - Chapter 3
From Yoimonogatari by Nisioisin

“Name’s Yozuru Kagenui. Good to meet ya.”

North Shirahebi Shrine, dead of night.

Arrogantly perched atop the shrine’s offertory box was a beautiful young lady wearing stylish pants—she’s much younger than I’d heard, I thought, before realizing it was a totally different person.

It wasn’t Gaen-san.

It wasn’t the one with the friendly demeanor.

Wherever might Izuko-san be?(1)

Kagenui-san? Yozuru Kagenui-san?

Yozuru Kagenui-san, as I recall, is the onmyouji who uses Ononoki-chan as a shikigami… right? At a glance, she looks like a really scary person…

I didn’t intend to blame her, but when I looked back at Ononoki-chan—who had accompanied me as I climbed the mountain to get here—to ask why she hadn’t told me about this, she seemed to be just as surprised about the sudden appearance of her “master” as I was.

I had observed her in detail for enough sketches that I could read her (lack of) facial expressions.

“Onee-chan—why are you here?”

“Gaen-senpai had some urgent business come up, so I’m somethin’ like a pinch hitter here. People can’t escape their worldly duties. This kinda thing’s happened before, right?”

Ononoki-chan.

Answering the question from her shikigami, Kagenui-san jumped down from the offertory box, nimbly and soundlessly.

No, I shouldn’t say she jumped down.

She jumped from the offertory box onto the stone lantern.

It was shocking to see her jump a distance of several meters without an approach run, and when she landed atop the stone lantern—something it hardly seemed possible to balance on—without so much as a wobble, I couldn’t help but be astonished.

That’s not a landing zone, that’s a vertex.

This must be the curse I’ve heard rumors about, where she’s unable to walk on land; it certainly doesn’t seem like she’s at all impeded by it.

“And you there are Nadeko Sengoku, I imagine? C'mere.”

“……”

She told me to c'mere. Like it was some kind of catchphrase.

She’s really glaring at me. Or maybe she just has a menacing face? Did I do something to this lady…? I know I can do some pretty insensitive things without realizing and end up rubbing people the wrong way, but I doubt I’d have offended someone I’d never met before…

As a hikikomori, I spend all my time in my room wearing a tracksuit, but since I was meeting with someone today—for a ritual, no less—I thought I was dressed properly…

I’m not wearing a school swimsuit.

Just so you know.

“Seems you’ve been lookin’ after Yotsugi. Wanted to meet and greet ya properly at some point. Idiot. Lately I’ve had my hands completely full tryin’ to catch Deathtopia Virtuoso Suicide-Master, so I haven’t had the time to.”

“O-oh…”

She didn’t slip an “idiot” in there, did she?

“Hey, now. Get over here.”

Kagenui-san beckoned to me, like a princess.

“Don’t be so scared. You’ll hurt my feelings.”

“……”

Ah, that’s right.

It would be impolite to get frightened just from her appearance and attitude. My irrational behavior might be rubbing her the wrong way. Above all, I don’t like her thinking I’m scared—I don’t know how it comes across, but I’m no longer the Nadeko Sengoku I was before.

I don’t hide my eyes behind bangs anymore, nor do I use my name “Nadeko” as a first-person pronoun.

I gathered my courage and stepped forward toward Kagenui-san.

She hit me.

She whacked me in the head, utilizing the height difference from atop the stone lantern. Huh?

I was more puzzled than hurt… This lady just hit me without any pretext?

She hit a girl in the face (or rather, close to it; the top of my head?).

She punched me as if it were some kind of greeting. Is her way of greeting people?

You’ve got to be kidding.

Unable to accept the fact that I’d been whacked at the very moment I met someone, I looked at Ononoki-chan for a second time.

“Don’t look to me for help. You’re my friend, but Onee-chan is my master. I can’t back you up. You’ve got to get through this on your own.”

She was expressionless as she responded.

Are you serious?

[spoilers for the previous arc] As the first person to be saved at this shrine, Benikujaku-chan, might say, are you serious, please?(2)

To think that even the trustworthy Ononoki-chan would turn against me, it’s like the climax of a shounen manga!

I won’t lie, this is thrilling!

Well, it does seem like Ononoki-chan hadn’t expected this to happen either, though…

I turned back immediately, as if performing a dance step, and faced Kagenui-san once again.

She was crouching on the stone lantern, readying her fist for another go—but she held it down with her other hand.

“Sorry, sorry, I accidentally hit ya. Was ‘cause I could reach ya.”

“Because you could reach me? You hit me because you could reach me?”

“Yep. I got kinda pissed off.”

…Is “getting kinda pissed off” a plausible reason to hit someone? For an edgy adolescent, maybe… But you are an adult, aren’t you?

“Oh, right. It’s 'cause Oshino-kun and Kaiki-kun are so soft on kids. Thought I ought to hit 'em when I meet 'em. I’m sure Nadeko Sengoku would enjoy getting hit by someone, y'know?”

I don’t enjoy being hit.

Please don’t twist that into a justification for hitting me. With that “Oh, right”.

Give me a break, please; I’m not going to get along with this lady in any way.

Oshino-san, maybe, but I did not get the impression that Kaiki-san was very soft on children (I heard he got kids caught up in his con game and made them his victims—in a way, I was an indirect victim of his); however, anyone would seem kind, compared to this lady.

I began to be overtaken by the feeling that I shouldn’t have come here—but in order to give God-Nadeko proper closure, I had to perform this transfer, even if it’s just a formality.

Speaking of which, where is the girl (goddess?) in question?

“If you’re askin’ about Hachikuji-chan, I’ve already had her start. She’s bathin’ in a waterfall behind the shrine.”

Waterfall bathing?

Did this shrine have a waterfall?

“Seems like she made it as a joke, but I thought we should use it more productively. As the one who’s takin’ over, she’s got to cleanse herself, y'know? As the next goddess, she’s gotta be receptive and passive here, so that’s a good task for her. Now, as for the combative, active Sengoku-chan…”

What shall we do…

Atop the lantern, Kagenui-san crossed her arms. Please don’t be thinking it up right now. I would very much prefer if the content of the serious ritual I’m performing isn’t just thought up on the spot…

Combative, huh.

The opposite of receptive isn’t combative.

So this is a transfer of divinity?

Before, when I wore a school swimsuit to perform a ritual here (Kanbaru-san misunderstood the word “purity”), I can’t say it was much of a success… Circumstances are different, but maybe this will end up being revenge for back then.

“North Shirahebi Shrine… Shirahebi means 'white snake’. And 'Hachikuji’ sounds like 'eight nine ten’… Hmm. Alright, let’s do it.”

Kagenui-san jumped up once again. I thought she might be going back to the offertory box, but this time she didn’t jump very far—it was a small jump, hardly more than a step.

That is to say, Kagenui-san… landed on top of my head.

It was such a flawless, ten-out-of-ten landing that I couldn’t help but think she had whacked me there in order to check how strong it was.

But, she’s light? It’s like she’s not even there?

The sensation was even lighter than wearing a hat.

Is this something from classical Chinese martial arts?

“You’ve got from now 'til mornin’ to gather eighty-nine white snakes from this mountain and hand 'em over to the new goddess. That’ll be the proof of your abdication in favor of the little lost girl.”

Footnotes:
(1) “Izuko” is Gaen’s first name, but it’s also a way of saying “where”.
(2) This is my effort at translating her bizarre vocal quirk of saying “masu” after “desu” and vice versa.