Monogatari Series - Volume 25 - Chapter 6.04

004 

Thinking about it, when I went against Dramaturgy, a right leg was also involved. The right leg of the iron-blooded, hot-blooded, cold-blooded vampire, Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade. But now I was stuck fighting this oddity (muscular man?).  

It would have been nice if I had recalled that vampire hunter before being cornered into the gym storage room, but it couldn’t be helped. 

The situation was different after all, this time I was on the hunting side. 

Furthermore, it was not a vampire hunt this time, but a witch hunt. 

How much of a difference there was between oddity phenomena and magical phenomena was a matter of opinion, but I couldn’t help but feel that rather than fate, this situation seemed more like satire. 

In any case, since I’d gotten so involved, it looked as though I was not going to be leaving anytime soon. 

“No, you can go home now, Koyomi.” 

“Oh, come on, don’t be such a downer. Do you really think I’m the kind of person who can leave Risuka-chan all alone and go home?” 

“It’s a shame that it doesn’t seem so.” 

“I’ll be fine. As long as you don’t grow over 150 centimeters tall, I’ll be fine.” 

“I what?” 

However, according to Risuka, this hunt was supposed to be almost complete── the hunt of Chikyuugi Mizore. 

The magic used by the man titled Carousel had the attribute pattern Flesh and was situated in the Multiplication category. In other words, he was able to remodel his body at will. 

A body-modification type of magic. 

I couldn’t really grasp it. Even after receiving such an explanation, it was still difficult for me, someone from a different world, to understand. 

“The point is that he can become multi-legged like a spider.” 

I was able to get a rough idea of what to expect from Risuka-chan’s explanation. The man in question was able to increase the number of parts of his body, not only his legs, but also the number of hands, fingers, nails, hairs, eyes, noses, heads, and other parts of his body; completely unbelievable. 

In terms of enlarging his body, it might be similar to Ononoki, the corpse oddity, but even she couldn’t have gone as far as increasing the number of body parts. 

Honestly, this was an opponent I had no idea how to deal with. 

I would like to see how Risuka-chan (and Kizutaka? and Tsunagi?) hunted such a magician in the past. 

“No. Our hunt wasn’t complete, that’s why he wasn’t fully hunted and one leg managed to remain. I am still immature.” Said Risuka-chan. 

OK, now the mystery is solved as to why she came to this town and why she was scurrying around as if she was looking for something. 

Did she come to take responsibility, so to speak? 

What a splendid thing. I wanted to praise her. 

“Don’t worry about it. Being immature is what makes it so good.” 

“... ‘I don’t want to become an adult’ is a strong belief of mine, but for the first time I’ve revised my thoughts against it.” 

I felt that my careless words had bent her beliefs on what could be said to be the most common theme of other worlds, however, it wasn’t the time to worry about that (“Was the time to worry about my beliefs not now?”). 

After finishing my flashback, my consciousness finally returned to the inside of the gym storage room where the iron door had been broken down—Risuka-chan and I were confronting the right leg of Chikyuugi Mizore. 

What a surreal picture. 

But I can’t laugh—as far as I’m concerned, this was just as lifethreatening as my showdown with Dramaturgy. 

“Risuka-chan, hide behind me.” 

“Are you saying your back is safe when you got kicked earlier?” Nuh-ungh. She stabbed me where it hurt the most. 

Actually, the thigh she stabbed earlier hurt way more. 

Was my femoral artery really OK? 

“I wouldn’t be in this predicament in the first place if you hadn’t held me back before.” 

“Hold you back? By any chance, are you referring back to when I ran away, with you on my back, from that roadside, holding both of your 

legs as you tried to fight wielding a utility knife?” 

“What other meaning is there?” 

At that point in time, when I couldn’t yet believe in magic and magical girls, I thought that was the best course of action—and although I can see how it must’ve been a real drag, I think that the fact that I didn’t run away by myself, leaving Risuka-chan behind, deserves recognition regardless. 

“Come to think of it, you fondled my legs way too much back when we were running away.” 

“Well, I’m planning to continue to use expressions involving the word ‘leg’ and finish with the punch line ‘I’m sorry.’”  

“Your behavior isn’t really good enough to be tied up with such a punch line.” 

In any case, as a result of the phenomenon, as described by Risuka-chan, I held onto her while dodging the attacking right leg that was chasing us, and as a result of our quick escape, we were driven into the gym storage room. 

Since it was Risuka-chan who intended to hunt the right foot of Chikyuugi Mizore in the first place, I guess the current scenario where she ended up being the recipient of a counterattack herself was something unprecedented. 

“I had already made up my mind when I signed up for this. The hunting side is constantly being hunted as well. However, the only thing that I am unwilling to do is to involve you.” 

“Aw, don’t say that Risuka-chan. I’m having a really fun time in this situation, you know?” 

“The only reason why I’ve had such an embarrassing time is because you got involved.” 

Apparently, she didn’t mean what I thought she meant. But either way, there’s no going back—it didn’t take long to figure out the circumstance we were in, and even if we didn’t, this wasn’t a gym storage room either of us could casually escape from anymore, even if we wanted to. 

The situation suddenly felt critical, as if I had burnt my own bridges. 

“Will I be able to fight with this leg while also protecting Risuka-chan...” 

“I honestly want you to be out of the way there. Koyomi is in my way, I can’t see the enemy.” 

“Haha, you sure have grown up. You seem to have developed a lot of nerve, little girl.” 

“Don’t talk to me as if you’ve known me for years. I have no doubt that you would have been torn to pieces along with the enemy if 

Kizutaka were here.” Scary. 

What the hell is that guy? 

I was having a harmonious conversation with Risuka-chan like this, intentionally inviting an inadvertent attack from the other side. But even though the iron door of the gym storage room was now broken, the right foot of Chikyuugi Mizore just stood there. 

Like a runner’s right foot waiting for the gun’s signal. 

Not even moving in the slightest, just standing there. 

… Is it able to sense what I’m planning? A foot? With no eyes to see nor brain to think? 

Is a magician with only a foot remaining still able to plot and scheme? 

“No, Koyomi. That right leg is merely a remnant. It’s already separated from the magician Chikyuugi Mizore. I’m going to have to say that the magic itself is separate from the main body, and it’s automatic—no, impulsive it is.” Hmm. 

Risuka-chan’s explanation was rather incomprehensible, but from what I gathered the right leg is like a mirror, moving in response to our movements. 

Risuka-chan tried to hunt it, so it hunted her back in return (the reason I was kicked in the back was probably due to standing in the course of the kick); I ran away with Risuka-chan in my arms, so it chased us; we hid in the gym storage room, so it found us. 

It looked like a tyrannical move, but it wasn’t. 

It was an afterthought, a riposte, an appendix. 

A reaction, a reflex, a response. 

That’s why, now that I had entered into a waiting position and Risuka-chan had positioned herself behind me where she couldn’t be seen, Chikyuugi Mizore’s right foot also stopped moving. 

“I see. So my efforts so far haven’t been futile. I still have my footing.” 

“Eeh? Just how did you even arrive at that conclusion? Also, I don’t want to hear about ‘footing’ or anything else that’s associated with the word ‘leg’.” 

I tried to take credit for this state of equilibrium, but unfortunately, it wasn’t even a leglock (another shame, I don’t know what a leglock is). But now, what to do? 

This equilibrium state is not a bad thing, but considering that this is the former site of the Naoetsu High School gym storage room, I couldn’t stay in this state forever. 

If a third party witnesses me fighting with a bare right leg, I’m in trouble! 

“What would be even worse is if a third party witnessed you taking a 

10-year-old girl into the gym storage room.” 

“Don’t fret. I do that all the time.” 

“Do you have a criminal record? Or are you a repeat offender?” 

“Hmm. Yes.” 

The heartless term “repeat offender” got me thinking. 

If that leg is a magical body that only responds to Risuka-chan’s movements (physical and emotional), then if she were to go one step further and convert her standby posture to complete passiveness in battle, wouldn’t the right leg lose its will to fight entirely? 

“So if I were to cherish the legs of Risuka-chan, then our enemy would attain Nirvana, Risuka-chan!” 

“I don’t want to respond to that line. And what kind of situation involves you cherishing my legs? In the first place, in that case the leg would react to my bloodthirst of wanting to shred Koyomi to pieces.” She had already decided on shredding me apart. 

It was too big a price to pay. I wish I only had to pay with my legs.  

“And how did this ‘leg-cherishing’ strategy come up to your mind because of hearing the word ‘repeat offender’? What kind of history are you even having? What kind of crimes do you usually commit?” 

“Wow. You’re awfully interested in me, Risuka-chan.” 

“The only thing I am interested in is preventing your crimes.” 

“Then don’t get involved with a guy like me in the first place. Forget about me and go find a better man.” 

“Yeah. One thing I’ve learned the hard way this time is that it was actually Kizutaka who was a good guy.” 

Unexpectedly, I had raised her opinion of Kizutaka, but also unexpectedly, I was able to think up a strategy within this unique exchange. 

When I said earlier, “I wish I only had to pay with my legs” I was just trying to force myself to say something involving the word ‘leg’, as usual, for the sake of a punch line. But instead of ‘sweeping’, how about ‘locking’? 

Locking—one’s legs. 

“Risuka-chan. If anything happens to me, please tell the girl named 

Hachikuji—” 

“There’s nothing to tell, especially if it’s from Koyomi to a child.” 

“Tell her that ‘I died with you in my heart’. “ 

“Disgusting.” 

I was called disgusting. By a girl. 

I guess I should make some minor adjustments. 

“I, who was nurtured by your chest, died with you in my chest, without being able to make yours grow.” 

“Didn’t something already happen to Koyomi’s brain?” “If I come back alive, I’ll ask for my usual reward kiss.”  “What kind of life does Koyomi lead for that to be ‘usual’? I don’t want a kiss to be expressed alphabetically.” 

“I’d love to hear you abuse me again, but I don’t like the sound of this punishment kiss.” 

“The least you can do is to take that abuse you heard and reflect on your actions next.” 

“Welp. Now this is starting to feel like old-school literature.” 

“It’s more like a modern-day equivalent of a perverted text. Are they really going to give these out as a bonus for the movie? I don’t want people to go there because of this creepiness.” 

“Let’s go!” 

With Risuka’s encouragement, I broke into a sprint, aiming at the wizard’s right leg, positioned behind the broken iron door. I rushed towards it in a low posture. 

Single leg takedown. 

A single leg takedown like no other. 

It was a technique that was directly handed down to me by my sister, the martial artist Araragi Karen (more precisely, it was a technique that she often used on me instead), but of course, that wasn’t the end of it— I ended up stumbling and rolling without letting go of the foot I had knocked down on the ground outside the gym storage room. 

After that, as I learned from my sister (more like, as was beaten into me by my sister), I held Chikyuugi Mizore’s right leg upside down, with my body covered in dirt all over, in an embrace (as if I were holding a little girl), and then locked the ankle with both my arms. 

In other words, my plan relied on the so-called Achilles lock. 

Unlike when I fought against Dramaturgy with a makeshift aikido technique, this time I got to use a professional wrestling technique. 

Of course, this wasn’t based on a conclusion as simple-minded as “The opponent is only a leg so the Achilles tendon must be its weak point.” 

I’ve decided that a joint lock must be effective against the counterattack type (or the karma type, to put it in supernatural-related terms) which reacts to the hostile or harmful intent of the attacker. 

If I tried to hunt it, I would be hunted. 

If I tried to exterminate it, I would be exterminated. 

If you try to kill it, it will kill you... but with this kind of grappling hold, even if it ricochets back, it won’t possibly take my life... huh? 

I was trying desperately to hold down the right leg, which was rampaging in an attempt to escape from my Achilles lock, when I was kicked hard on the side of my face. 

No way, was that Risuka-chan?! You want to take revenge at the drop of a hat!? Wait, no, this was not a girl’s leg—looking at it, the leg kicking me was the same right leg I was supposed to be holding. 

The bare right leg—the right leg of Carousel. 

Two legs!? That actually seemed more normal—wait no, they’re both right feet! 

So the guy actually had two right feet!? 

“No—his right leg multiplied!” 

Risuka’s voice resounded from the back of the gym storage room. That’s right, multiplication! The magic of Chikyuugi Mizore—attribute pattern Flesh and category Multiplication! 

But how could such a magical entity, separated from the main body and without a will of its own, be able to multiply? By the time Risuka-chan started looking for it, the only remnants left should have been just a single leg, right!? 

........ Oh, right. 

It’s me. 

My appearance as the helper increased the number of Chikyuugi Mizore’s right legs—in other words, reinforcements gave birth to proliferation. 

“Damn… I thought I was helping Risuka-chan, I didn’t expect things to take such a drastic turn because of me right at the end...” 

“You didn’t help me at all from the start either.” 

The kick to the face was probably a single leg takedown, within the range of what we would call a blow. However, since I hadn’t lost consciousness, my strategy wasn’t too off the mark—that thought didn’t last long. 

The impact of the toe kick by right leg B from my blind spot, coupled with the pain in the thighs, led to an overall poor lock, and right leg A, which had escaped from the Achilles lock, used that opportunity to entangle my neck in a tight fit. 

The movement of right leg B followed the same path. 

Oh no. 

This formation is not good. 

This wasn’t a grapping hold against a grappling hold, it was a chokehold! 

Triangle choke! 

Crap, the grappling hold got interpreted wildly as ground fighting! 

Talk about school grounds! 

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is really really bad. 

A grappling hold won’t kill you, but a chokehold will. 

“Hmph—run away, Risuka-chan! And please relay my final message to Hachikuji!” 

“Are you sure it’s OK to tell her?” 

“Also, there’s something I want you to convey to Hanekawa, Senjougahara, Kanbaru, Oikura, Karen, Tsukihi, Sengoku, and 

Ononoki-chan!” 

“It’s too much for me! Both the messages and your intentions!” 

It may have been due to the last-minute decision that she couldn’t take on such a troublesome task, but instead of escaping, Risuka-chan came to save me, I, who was on the verge of choking. 

It’s not that I wasn’t in support of the idea, it’s just that the sight of her jumping out of the gym storage room brandishing a cutter knife was a bit of a frightening image, but she managed to cut the strangling leg, I don’t know if it was leg A or leg B, but she split it in two regardless. 

Since an ordinary utility knife wouldn’t be capable of such a thing, I figured that it must have been a magic utility knife—like some kind of magic stick? 

But, the right leg that had been cut in half was not simply cut in half. 

When it got cut, it rotated itself vertically and kicked up the cutter knife as if it was football juggling. 

Of course, just juggling wouldn’t make it go that far—it made me doubt my eyes, but the cutter flew over the grounds and landed on the other side of the school building. 

What tremendous power... no, I guess Risuka-chan’s power was tremendous to cause such a counterattack. 

The flight distance was just a result of the reaction. 

“Ah!! Ah, aaaah...” 

Even though she had succeeded in hunting down one of the legs, whose number had gone up from one to two, Risuka-chan was upset by the loss of her cutter knife. She was trembling so much that it looked like she was about to crouch down where she stood—she was listless. 

The color of her lips, which were so red, had also become heartlessly pale—her red eyes were moist and lush, and tears were about to spill out at any moment. 

“...............” 

Anyway, being free from the triangle choke, I got up and started to run, trying to hold Risuka-chan a second time, and even though I knew that if I ran away, the right leg would just react to my actions and start chasing me, I couldn’t control myself due to the state of Risuka-chan was in. 

“What’s the matter, Risuka-chan, are you OK? … No good, she’s not even reacting to me fondling her legs!” 

“.......” 

It’s bad, no response at all! 

Someone would get the impression that I was doing something bad! 

In the meantime, the right leg seemed to be closing in on my back— no matter how fast it was, I could keep my distance. But in any case, this right leg would chase me every time I tried to escape, so it was only a matter of time before it caught up. 

Matter of time, was it? 

The concept of time is problem that is immensely trivial where I am concerned. 

“Risuka-chan, what happened to your confidence! You phrased it as if it would have been a less difficult hunt if I hadn’t interfered as much!” 

“Ah… That was...” 

A feeble voice finally responded. 

“It was at that point that I had a trump card. But, that trump card is something that I cannot use anymore... because I don’t have my cutter knife…” 

It doesn’t make sense. It might not have a meaning in the first place. Trump card? 

However, I felt a sense of déjà vu seeing Risuka-chan like that—as if this wasn’t the first time I’d seen someone I knew in this situation. 

Someone I knew... 

What kind of person was it? 

Was it my foolish self after losing my humanity—or the pathetic vampire who had lost her limbs? 

In other words, for Risuka-chan that cutter knife was not merely a magic item, a magic stick, but a part of her body and soul; letting go of it was like losing a part of herself—which led to a loss of confidence? 

I could be wrong. I might be making excuses. 

It could be a similar situation to when a gambler has only a few chips left and purposefully places them on bets with a low chance to win—but still. 

If that’s the case—there’s still a way. 

I didn’t have an ace up my sleeve, but I had something up my leg. More correctly, though, I should say in my leg. 

I plunged my finger into the wound on my thigh. 

“Guh...” 

It was like tearing the wound out of itself, and as expected, I groaned, but I didn’t stop there—I carefully pinched the desired object that was stuck in the bone deep inside the wound with my thumb and index finger and plucked it out in an instant. 

The item I dug up from the wound, covered in blood, was a blade. 

The blade of a cutter knife. 

The sharpest part of the blade. 

“Risuka-chan! Use this! Although I don’t know what you’re gonna do with it!” 

“..........!” 

There was no need to explain how it all came to be—it was obvious. 

When Risuka-chan stabbed my thigh roughly, and then pulled it out violently, it got caught in the bone and broke off inside the wound. The remnants of a cutter knife. 

No wonder I was in constant pain. 

If I had to say, it was not the knife itself, but rather a remnant of the knife.  

Senjougahara, who is a specialist in stationery, would tell you that the blade of the cutter knife is modeled after a chocolate bar and is designed to be easy to break (in other words, it is easy to replace the blade when it is damaged)—such wisdom and intelligence of our predecessors has saved us. 

And as expected, Risuka-chan smiled and received the blade from me—the smile proof of her recovered spirit, body, and soul. 

Hence, I was caught off guard. 

Risuka-chan closed her eyes and groaned, “Uuuuuuuuugh...!” then plunged the cutter knife deep into her right thigh, and using that momentum, Risuka-chan cut through her femoral artery.

---------------
6  “Oddity” (怪異, kaii) is pronounced the same way as “muscular” (魁偉, kaii). 
7  Here, “I’m sorry” is written as 悪しからず (ashikarazu), where the beginning sounds like the word for “leg” (足, ashi). 
8  The word for “pay” (払う, harau) can also mean “sweep” (one’s legs). 
9  Written in Latin letters in the original. 
10 Normally, the word for “remnants” is 残党 (zantou), but here Araragi switched the second kanji with the character for “blade”, 刀, which can also be pronounced tou.