Monogatari Series - Volume 31 - Chapter 47

Sodachi Sisterhood

“’Sup, Sodachi-nee-san! Your little-sister-in-spirit Tsukihi-chan has brought emergency supplies to enrich your quarantine life, how about that!?”

I was already struggling with the adjustment to remote classes during this stay-home period mandated by the state of emergency declaration, to the point where I was seriously considering taking time off from school, and my one and only solace was that the resident of the neighboring apartment a.k.a. a rabid dog (or rather, “Ararabid” dog) of a stalker had returned home. Nevertheless, before I had time to relax, the natural enemy that is his little sister had pressed her attack without so much as a call in advance, and was relentlessly knocking on my door—in response I had pretended with all my might to be away from home, and after about an hour of holding out the knocking finally stopped. However, just as my heart stopped racing, I heard the sound of the wooden door being quite literally blasted into smithereens.

“Oh, so you are home, Sodachi-nee-san! I could just tell, you know, from our sisterly bond!”

These fragments look dangerous, so I’ll be coming in with my shoes on—said Araragi Tsukihi as she stepped inside without a speck of hesitation, a bulging shopping bag in one hand and a rock (a rock!?) that she apparently used in place of a battering ram to knock down the door in the other. Just what kind of trauma has she gone through to not think twice about smashing the door to someone’s home?

And “sisterly,” huh. I hate the word “bond” for being so suspect to begin with, and you go and add “sisterly” to it?

“There you go again, getting all embarrassed. It’s fine, I understand, Sodachi-nee-san. Hey, we’re practically like sisters, aren’t we? We were such good friends when we were little. I can give you written evidence of that, if you like.”

It’s true that there was an extremely brief period of time when I was taken into the custody of the Araragi family when I was in elementary school, but she and I were not particularly good friends—at the very least not good enough friends for her to invade my house SWAT-style.

“Staying home is important, but so is proper ventilation. Let’s get rid of this stagnant air, shall we?”

She says, while brandishing a rock… Maybe this is actually a crime scene? A masked intruder did just break into my house wielding a deadly weapon. The sudden appearance of a character who would never appear in “Day to Day”(1) had me trembling with fear. Her gloves started seeming less like a safety measure and more like a way to conceal fingerprints.

“I was rather concerned about the possibility that you had perished in the throes of these turbulent times. As they say, better be a lawbreaker than have to call an undertaker. This was an emergency rescue during the state of emergency. Don’t worry; I’m only a high schooler, they can’t charge me for any crimes.”

Surely no country on Earth grants high schoolers that level of carte blanche. Paying no heed to my comment, however, Tsukihi-chan continued expanding her zone of control, saying, “I’m going to borrow the kitchen, okay? I’m also going to use whatever’s in the fridge, okay?” The fact that she kept asking permission for every little thing annoyed me. Her shopping bag seemed to be primarily full of ingredients, so I supposed the bit about bringing emergency supplies wasn’t just a lie to excuse her breaking and entering. I could make out toilet paper and masks, too. And yet… speaking of high schoolers, hadn’t high school resumed already?

“I took the liberty of skipping school today. Sodachi-nee-san, you’re totes more important.”

How laid-back.

She’s not saying anything about being happy school was back in session, or about how she has a newfound appreciation for the everyday act of attending… Peer pressure must lose all meaning in the face of this girl. I may play at being an independent punk in normal times, but being isolated by this pandemic had my mental health in dire straits—this girl was the opposite. Talk about discovering new modes of living, she wasn’t even following the law. I wanted to ask her what part of being an ally of justice involved breaking so many rules.

“This is justice itself, Sodachi-nee-san. I’m not breaking the rules. What I’m doing transcends the idea of ‘following rules’ altogether.”

Huh? What does that even mean?

“For instance, take this shopping bag I brought with me. These have been scapegoated as part of the microplastics problem, and starting this July we’re going to have to pay for them, right?”

That’s true. Is she trying to say that plastic bags statistically make up less than a few percent of microplastics, so doing away with them won’t help solve the overall issue?

“It’s important to start building from small things—they are “micro”-plastics, after all. But if I had to say something negative about turning down plastic bags to help the environment, it’s that if you think that brand-name bottled water and prepackaged food you stuff into your ecologically friendly personal bag aren’t using any plastic, you’ve got a big misunderstanding on your hands.”

…I see. That is rather negative.

Not something you’d find in a collection of quotes.

I’m not the type who thinks that much about the environment, but speaking of shopping, I feel like those receipts that get automatically printed could have a negative impact when they start piling up, too, regardless of whether you take them or not.

“What would really solve the problem is if someone discovered a cheap plastic that would decompose within a month. It’s natural to be thankful for essential workers and medical staff. But if you want to do something beyond thanking them, then you need to become one yourself. Actually, I’ve taken the opportunity to change my intended course of study to medical school. I want to contribute to vaccine development in the future.”

Scary… She’s talking about going to medical school while skipping classes as naturally as breathing. I hope she changes her mind soon. On the other hand, I could tell that she probably would have barged over here even if I’d been self-isolating due to illness.

“Thinking about what I could do right now, I applied for a job working the register at a convenience store, but I got rejected at the interview. Your other little-sister-in-spirit, Karen-chan, made use of her natural stamina and started working deliveries. She does a hundred in a day.”

In that case, I’d have preferred to receive these emergency supplies from Karen-chan… well, that girl may very well have smashed the door too, let alone the windows; she might have knocked down a wall.

“I considered running for office when I turn 25, but I’m sure the state of emergency will be lifted by then.”

Becoming part of the system that makes laws would certainly “transcend the idea of following rules”—it also transcends the idea of breaking them. In any case, I was glad the interviewer at the convenience store had a sharp eye.

She’s really something, isn’t she. She’d never worry that her own life and existence were nonessential; in a world where the things people can do are getting more and more restricted, she’s finding more things to do than before. Well, Tsukihi-chan’s perspective is a bit extreme, but there are a lot of people like her in the world. So this is no time for me to be depressed—nor should I be coasting on the joy of being free from my stalker for a little while.

There must be something. Something I can do.

“Staying at home and maintaining self-respect are important too. Which is why, until now, I’d been looking after and playing with some elementary schoolers close to where my parents work. But now that schools have reopened, I have some spare time, so I decided to look after you next, Sodachi-nee-san.”

Nadeko-chan’s gone off to the city, so I’ve had motherliness to spare, Tsukihi-chan said. So she came to deliver emergency supplies just to kill time? And, motherliness? That’s not a word I’m very fond of. I had heard Nadeko-chan made it to Tokyo, though… hmph.

So she didn’t come at Araragi’s request.

“Onii-chan seems to be occupied by something on a much larger scale than what I’m doing.”

I would believe it. Both brother and sister are afflicted by an illness where they die if they’re not looking after someone. If there really were such a disease, I hope they spread it.

As we were talking, I cleaned up the fragments of the door using packing tape (I’d rather not mention this, but I’m good at this type of work, thanks to my beloved parents), and was wondering where I might buy an explosion-proof door, when Tsukihi-chan finished making a pleasant-looking dish with the leftovers in my fridge and the ingredients she brought. Dividing her attention between cooking and looking after me, she really is a clever girl.

But, hm? Isn’t this way too much food? She did use up all the leftovers—maybe she’s being environmentally conscious by making so much that I wouldn’t have to go out and buy lunches for a while?

“No, that’s not it. I made enough for four people.”

Four people? Tsukihi-chan and I make two—who are the other two?

“One for Onii-chan, and one for Karen-chan. I’ll be taking theirs and mine home with me. It may be difficult for us to eat together, but it’s important to eat from the same pot regardless.”

We’ll just have to pretend Onii-chan is eating with us, Tsukihi-chan added. As progressive as she is, sometimes she can be rather old-fashioned. Come to think of it, she did like kimono and such, didn’t she.

“That said, Sodachi-nee-san. If you do start feeling unwell, the Araragi house is always open to you. Since we’re family, there’s no need for me to dirty my hands.”

I will await your return with open windows and alcohol-based disinfectant.

Hearing that, I… I smiled wryly. Standing in an apartment that was now much better ventilated.

After all, faced with the blinding light of a high schooler who still had all the rash and wild recklessness that Araragi and I had long since lost, what else could I do but smile?

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Footnotes

(1) “Day to Day” is a series of 100 short stories published by Kodansha on the theme of life during the 2020 quarantine. One story is written by Nisioisin.