Monogatari Series - Volume 25 - Chapter 2.04

004 

The strength of one’s will. That which humanity’s strongest contractor mentioned, was something that I, as well as the vampire that had once visited this city, Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-UnderBlade, lacked. If we were talking about physical strength, that would be one thing, but during the spring break, we were definitely lacking in psychological strength. Definitely and lethally. Or even deadly. 

I have a memory of that time, that I’m almost embarrassed of remembering. One of the nervous breakdowns of the vampire overflowing with an excessive life force and who was in such an awful state I couldn’t bear to watch. Now that I think of it, she wasn’t overflowing with it. She was missing it.  

And thus, we merely failed to die. There was no resolution. There was no determination. Either the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, coldblooded vampire and her second underling, after four hundred years, lacked strong will and firm conviction. It’s not like we couldn’t die because of our firm conviction. If we mention strength, then the class president amongst all class presidents, Hanekawa Tsubasa, has a way stronger will than us... You could say she was involved in the events of the Spring Break. 

She was even more involved than the vampire. 

And obviously, above all else, she said: 

“Oy. I’ll fucking kill you. Why are you getting lost in memories? I’ll fucking kill you. We’ve already arrived at our destination, so hurry up and escort this lady inside that building. I’ll fucking kill you.” 

“..........” 

Sure enough, one would doubt that a lady would say “I’ll fucking kill you” three times in the same line, but in any case, the super-car the lady was driving arrived to the cram school’s ruined building without having run over a single person. 

This is the first time in a while I’ve been here. I spent the spring break here but... Or perhaps I should say, I made this my headquarters and it’s also here where the violent fights, full of slashing and striking, unfolded. Due to the fact that no one would want to come to these ruins unless they had any business here, I was quite curious about it... 

Because the barrier has already filled its purpose, Jun-san was able to easily reach this place. Shit. If I knew this would happen, I would have had Oshino leave the barrier as it was. Oh well, not that there is any barrier in this world that could possibly keep this lady out though. “This is exciting. I wonder what kind of person is this vampire. They’re a demon, to a certain extent. As I thought, they probably have horns and hold a metal club!”  

“Huum... The front gate is this way.” 

After she pulled me out of the assistant’s seat, not with both her hands but a single finger, I led Jun-san, who couldn’t help but to spout some off the mark expectations. However, I can’t keep being the type of guy that gives in to violence. I see. I agree that I might have been a boy lacking in motivation during spring break, but now that time has passed, I’ve gained some experience. After exposing myself to danger a number of times, I might have gained some resistance. One can get used to anything. 

That might just be different phrasing for accepting the current circumstances, as I had the feeling I was probably going to tag along her for the rest of my life. The pain I was feeling when my whole body was covered in asphalt is going away, so now is my turn to counterattack! 

“Hmm. I’m feeling a hostile presence somewhere. Looks like someone wants to get beaten to death.” 

“...........” 

Her intuition is too sharp. Even if she has mind reading abilities, my back is turned right now. I don’t have enough life experiences piled up to be able to express myself through my back. 

Not only that, but beaten to death... I don’t want to die in such a depressing way in an extra story. By the way, putting aside her violent nature, Jun-san gives an elegant and dressy vibe, so I was hoping she would be reluctant to entering that ruin among ruins, but she didn’t feel that way at all. She shows no signs of delicacy, to the very end. 

She stepped on the degraded floor with her high heels and walked like it was a runway. Her way of walking looked like it was excavating the floor, or rather, turning the ruins into an even more ruined state. 

“What a sharp point of view. When I was about your age I was known for collapsing every building I stepped into.” 

What’s up with that urban legend? What kind of youth did she spend? Well, at this point, I have no choice but to carry out the plan I thought of inside the car. I’ll need a lot of courage, not to mention I’ll have to lie to someone with mind reading abilities. Although Jun-san’s mind reading abilities aren’t flawless. The fact that I am (tragically) right here is the proof. If I stay confident it will probably go well. 

“So, shall we finally start looking for that va... What was it again? Ah, right. That vampire thing, Jun-san? I’ll help you find it, to the best of my ability.” 

“What? What has gotten into you, lad? Are you saying you will not only escort me but also help me on my task?” 

“Of course I will. There’s no way I wouldn’t help. After all, working until the bones and flesh erode for the sake of a troubled girl is the world view of Araragi Koyomi.” 

Jun-san doesn’t have the age to be called a girl, but now that I think of it, in the world of athletes, no matter the age they will be separated into the boys’ or girls’ sections, so it shouldn’t be a problem, judging from her tough physical stature. 

“Hmm. What a peaceful view of the world. How idiotic. But, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So I’ll at least consider not silencing you, by completely erasing your existence, taking into account that point of view of yours.” 

“……….” 

Is there a chance I will get erased because you want to silence me? What kind of bloodthirsty world view do you have? I will now put my familiarity with the land as a local to practice. I briefly thought about escaping to the ends of the Earth, but that would only please her. Instead of the ends of the Earth, I can see a future where I chase the ends of the universe. Anyway, it’s time to show my skills! 

The skills with which I have vaguely dealt with all my encountered experiences! 

No. It’s no use. No matter how I try, I can’t show off. The wish of showing off in front of such a stylish person was probably impossible right from the start, so I will quietly and steadily carry out the plan in order. 

If I were to describe what I am about to do, I would say that when we search the various rooms, I’ll stealthily set false clues while she isn’t looking and try to deceive her. 

Those false clues will demonstrate how the vampire has already left the town and went somewhere else. It is a plan to guide humanity’s strongest contractor out of this city. 

That being said, the fact that a vampire is no longer living here is true, so this shouldn’t be considered a total lie... Therefore, I should be able to avoid the mind reading abilities. 

It’s very lamentable that I end up becoming a nuisance instead of helping her, but I have my own circumstances. That said, I obviously do not own the tools or have enough deceiving skills to make a realistic setup. I have no tools or skills, but I have blood. 

It’s the blood that flows through my body, ever since I was transformed into a vampire back in spring break. Now I just need to leave a dying message written in blood somewhere within the building. 

From all the conversations we had up until now, I can assume she has no specialist knowledge concerning oddities but she still has her animal-like instinctive perception. She will most likely notice that the blood is out of the ordinary. 

Because of that, the improvised blood writing will have quite a bit of persuasiveness. The problem is where exactly should those blood letters guide her out of the city? A while ago she saw through my lie when I pointed her to the Nagasaki Prefecture. I think I’ll hint her to somewhere around the Tokushima Prefecture. 

I feel deeply sorry for the people of Shikoku. I promise if someone from Shikoku ever decides to visit our town I will be kind, so I beg of you, please forgive me. 

“So, from which classroom should we start searching, lad?” 

“I think it’s better if we start from the upper floor, in order. They say vampires like tall places.” 

What I said was pretty random, but the fact that the classroom on the top floor was the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire’s property is true. For the sake of making the false clues sound as realistic as possible (to raise the possibility of avoiding her mind reading abilities) I thought that placing the blood writing in that room would be the best choice. 

Now then. This plan’s greatest weakness is that I will at some point need to bleed in one way or another. Thankfully, this problem has already been cleared. I have the countless scratches left on my body after confronting the car accident. 

If I peel off the crust, I will bleed as much as I want. Hehehehe, you dug your own grave, Aikawa Jun! 

I couldn’t stop feeling how it was my own grave she was digging but anyway. After climbing the stairs and reaching the ruins’ fourth floor, we entered one of the three classrooms. 

“Could you start searching from around the blackboard, Jun-san? I’ll look around near the bulletin board. I’m sure there are some clues around here, for example, a message written in blood.” 

“That’s some oddly specific hypothesis you’re stating.” 

“People frequently state how ‘blackboards are green, not black’ but in the old days they were really black, you know?” 

I followed my verbal gaffe with some miscellaneous knowledge Hanekawa taught me (did it work?) and started to walk towards the bulletin board as I had declared. I’ll write on one of those tables stacked with clutter “Oh, that’s right. Let’s go to Tokushima.” and pretend to find it in an exaggerated manner. Just like Newton when he found the universal law of gravitation. I’ll show you an act that would make Newton turn into Oldton! 

While I was writing that blueprint, I started peeling the convenient crusts with my index finger (well, I can’t say that having crusts all over your body is convenient), chose a table and tried to write the line. 

“そうだ 徳島、行こう”  

Wait a second. Wouldn’t it be better if it was written in English? 

What would “そうだ 徳島、行こう” be translated to, in English? 

English is one of my weakest subjects. 

Even though everything was going well (was it?), why did I have to be stuck and extremely worried about such a high school-like problem (I thought this was middle school level of English?). 

And then that happened in a blink of an eye, while I was naturally and nonchalantly making an exaggerated sequence of motions. “Look out!” She said. 

With that loud voice, my body was splendidly sent flying from the side. Accurately speaking, I received a lariat from right beside my neck. With her opposite hand, she firmly locked the back of my head preventing the force from escaping through my back and held my neck while I was getting thrown away. 

And then I was, just like that, mercilessly slammed against the ground. 

By the way, the person that shouted that warning was the same person that gave me that lariat. Needless to say, it was Aikawa Jun. 

What!? Was the sinister intent of my plan revealed? Did she give that lariat because she found me stealthily setting the false clues? 

....... However, unexpectedly that wasn’t it. 

Now that I look at it, the desk I was trying to write the bloody message on was completely crushed. It almost looked like an “invisible force” was applied right above it. If Jun-san had not caught me from beside, the one receiving that invisible blow would’ve been me, not the table... 

“..............” 

No. There’s no doubt that receiving the “invisible blow” head-on would have inflicted less damage than Jun-san’s lariat.... 

I would even go as far as saying that I was livelier when I was run over by the super-car. My head is dizzy... I’m impressed how my head stayed stuck to my body. 

However, a strange occurrence was happening in, more or less, the direction of the crushed desk. The classroom’s floor which had not been cleaned for a long time was covered in dust. 

Moreover, because we went into an outburst in panic, the snow-like piled dust started dancing in the air like fog. 

The dust was giving shape to a human body. 

No. 

Not a human body. It’s rather an oddity’s body. But I could not believe what I was just seeing. That... There’s no way that was right there. There is no way that Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-UnderBlade was right there. That unparalleled monstrous oddity lost its existence for eternity during spring break. There’s no way she’s there. There is no way I’m seeing her. It’s not possible that her silhouette is just before me. 

“It was given form by the dust which was dancing in the air” was an incorrect assertion. I should say that the dust which was dancing in the air was barely depicting “her” appearance. Just as air inside water can turn into bubbles and appear on the surface. 

And thus, as the dust fell on the floor and, thus, that silhouette stopped being visible. 

“An invisible force”. 

Even so, the fact that it was a “force” did not change. 

“She is invisible”. 

Even so, the fact that it was “her” did not change. 

“This way!” 

Jun-san shouts loudly. 

I was expecting a flustered reaction of the contractor right as I was attacked by the “invisible force”, but turns out her expression was sparkling, and more than that, she was smiling with joy. 

“This way!”, she said, while firmly grabbing my head and kicking the floor, not because she was attempting to dodge the “invisible force” but because she was suddenly trying to set-up a counterattack on “her”. 

Unbelievable. The counterattack failed, though. The “invisible force” could not be touched, so Jun-san’s kick with her high heels passed right through “her” tall stature. 

“Hmm... It’s like a ghost, so does that mean I can’t touch it?” 

Jun-san murmurs some words, analyzing as both her legs land. For now, the fight turned “her” silhouette visible once again. Even so, it will all be meaningless if we don’t manage to hit it. 

That said, thanks to Jun-san’s reckless kick (she couldn’t see it so of course it was reckless, but even if that’s the case, it wasn’t that reckless), I could guess “her” true identity. No, that’s probably saying too much. That did not change the fact that the “invisible force” was still unidentifiable. 

Regarding the lack of specialist knowledge, there’s not much of a difference between me and Jun-san. I have some experience, though. I have once seen a similar “snake” and also a fake snake with similar attributes. 

I had already gone through the experience of seeing something invisible. 

That’s why I now had the intuition that the existence which is “her”, and the non-existence which is not there, is Kiss-Shot AcerolaOrion Heart-Under-Blade while not being Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. 

That entity is “will”. Jun-san had mentioned a will which “does not die”... 

If I had to reiterate, “something not good” is in this classroom and “everything but that” has been taken away. 

Or should I call it the “remaining thoughts”. For those are the vampire’s regrets left behind as well as its gruesome legacy, not will. 

If that’s the case, I should rather call it a dying wish.  That’s it. 

How could I not have realized something so simple? 

The vampire is no longer living in this ruined building, so how come was this contractor requested to exterminate a vampire to begin with? I should have thought about it more seriously. 

I initially thought the information given to her was outdated, but that wasn’t it. Turns out a new oddity phenomenon which I wasn’t aware of was occurring here. 

It’s not because it’s outdated, it’s because it’s new. 

It’s very possible that this is a supernatural phenomenon that precedes rumors. 

After all, although for a short period of time, this was the building which the legendary iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire treated like her own daimyō  castle. 

It would be strange to leave out the possibility that the building itself suffered some sort of influence. The desk and the dust are under influence. Under domination. It is possible, just as Araragi Koyomi turned into an oddity by involving himself with them. Following this extreme logic, it’s safe to assume the building itself turned into an oddity. 

Up until now that didn’t cross my mind, probably because this ruined building was used as a barrier arranged by the specialist in Hawaiian clothes. 

I had felt a sense of relief because of it, but now that it has lost its function there is nothing suppressing the vampire’s lost thoughts. They must have manifested upon my arrival. 

I didn’t intend on coming here, but I was abducted. Even so, the fact that I’m here remains. I am Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion HeartUnder-Blade’s minion. Even now I can’t escape from her influence, and of all things, my entire body is full of crusts, letting loose the smell of blood. On top of that, I even stupidly tried to leave a bloody message. 

I doubt that this action didn’t contribute to the revival of those vicious lost thoughts that infest this building, the sinister regret that sticks onto this very classroom. A brand new oddity. 

And I am the one responsible of awakening it. 

“... Jun-san, please step back.” 

I said while she was strangling my neck... 

“An? What did you just say, punk?” 

I impolitely and disrespectfully told that to the strongest human, and just as I thought, Jun-san responded with some sort of an intimidation. 

However, I cannot afford to falter. I have already made my decision. “From here on out, I will take over. I will assume responsibility. This is the only case where I cannot afford to let someone take responsibility for, this is my duty.” 

The thoughts left behind... The dying wish... 

If it is true that her regrets remain here, I have to be the one to solve this problem with my own hands. 

No. I’m not just saying this out of stubbornness and because of my sense of duty. It’s not just a question of feelings. There was once a time when I faced an “invisible snake”, so I’m capable of fighting against “her”. 

The aftereffects of the vampirification. It is something that I did, it is something that can only be dealt by me. 

Aikawa Jun cannot do it. 

I see how she managed to protect me from the first attack (even though she was the one inflicting more damage on me). Because of her animal-like senses, Jun-san might just be able to dodge the opponent’s attacks. 

However, just now when she attempted to strike her high kick, she couldn’t hit the opponent. The match won’t be getting anywhere if she keeps fruitlessly kicking the air. 

That’s why... 

“I’m telling you to stay back, Jun-san... Aikawa-san.” 

“............” 

“ ‘She’ is aiming for my blood. So, please, stay away from me. Stay away from this building. Stay away from this city and... Oh, I know. 

Head to Tokushima.” 

And as I insist on following the already failing plan, I faced “her”, who is invisible for the third time, with the intent of exorcising. 

It’s alright, rest assured. 

I’ll kill you as many times as needed. 

I’ll let you kill me as many times as needed. 

As I renew that determination and killing intent, I faced “her” up front to exorcise. 

“...... I have to praise those guts of yours for trying to make an enemy out of me while I’m holding your neck, I’ll give you that, 

Araragi-kun. So I shall give you a reward.” She said. 

Without letting it go, she forcefully twisted my neck horizontally. For a second I thought she was going to twist it off. It was too extreme to be called a reward, though twisting my neck was not her true intention. Just as I was about to protest, my mouth was shut. 

She put something on top of my lips. 

“!? !? !?” 

Without even having the time to be confused, my consciousness started to drift away. The kiss was so intense I couldn’t protest, let alone breathe. Rather than an intense kiss, it sounded like she was taking a deep breath of the oxygen in my lungs. That’s how ridiculously extreme that deep kiss was. 

“Mu... mugu, gu gu.” 

“Puhaaa. ‘Right. Thanks for the meal. Energy fully replenished.” 

And so, the contractor finally released both her arms that were coiling around my neck, but I couldn’t stand on my feet, my legs lost all their strength because of the lack of oxygen. 

And, just as a vampire sucks blood, she completely drained the oxygen out of me, thus I fell right then and there. At this point, not only I couldn’t see “her”, but also my whole vision went completely blank. I could just barely, in the corner of my field of vision, catch a grasp of Aikawa Jun’s leg kicking the floor, once again. 

This time she will try to land a punch. 

I find it extremely mysterious how she looks like she’s having so much fun no matter if her opponent is a vampire, remaining thoughts or something “not good” that transcends oddities, anyway, an outrageous inhuman nonexistence. However, no matter if you try to kick or punch, what doesn’t hit doesn’t hit. 

Even if you try to build momentum and wave your arm like that, for the invisible force, the attack won’t... 

“Bakkyuuuun!” 

..... It landed a hit. 

Ignoring the onomatopoeia coming directly out of Jun-san’s mouth, her fist, which was just like a bullet being blasted off a gun’s barrel, scattered the materialized “remaining regrets”. I could tell even if I couldn’t see. 

No trace was left, nor a shadow, nor a shape. 

I could tell “she” was extinguished even though I couldn’t see. 

“Happy birthday to you.  If you manage to survive, let’s play some other time, to our heart’s content.” 

And so, the humanity’s strongest contractor bid farewell to the vampire’s dying wishes, with a lively expression on her face.