Monogatari Series - Volume 8 - Chapter 1.20

020

……

How did that happen?

We skipped three sections at once this time.

What happened while I was asleep?

Everything’s okay, right?

Nothing weird happened, did it?

“Good morning, Miss Hanekawa,” called out Miss Senjogahara, sitting in front of me as I lay too confused even to begin stirring on the futon.

Hm?

Something about her expression seemed absentminded, in complete contrast to the day before─no, maybe not absentminded or sleepy, it was like she was just plain exhausted─

But what kind of condition was she in to be tired as soon as she woke up?

It’s not as if she could’ve had her energy drained by an Afflicting Cat.

“You’re up early, Miss Hanekawa… It’s only six.”

“Yup.”

Today I had really relied on my circadian rhythm─though I could have slept in a little later because Miss Senjogahara’s home was closer to Naoetsu High than mine.

But it’s not like waking up early ever hurt anybody.

“Well, you’re up, too, Miss Senjogahara.”

“I go on a little run in the mornings,” she said, standing up slowly. “It’s not easy for me to keep this figure, you know… I’ve got the kind of body that turns anything I eat straight into flesh.”

“Straight into flesh…”

Was that her roundabout way of saying she put on weight easily?

Then again, she once had some special circumstances relating to her weight, so maybe she was particularly fussy about managing it. It wasn’t as if she was a model, though, and she’d look more charming if she were a little thicker, in my humble opinion.

Was there really a need for her arms and legs to be that skinny?

Looking at them, I got scared that they might snap.

“I’m jealous of you, Miss Hanekawa. You’ve got the kind of body that turns whatever you eat straight into chest…”

“Straight into chest…”

What kind of a body was that?

Listen, it’s not exactly easy for me, either.

It’s tough being a girl.

After washing her face, Miss Senjogahara changed into shorts and a T-shirt and began stretching for her run.

Wow…

She was flexible!

I was doubting my own eyes.

Her body had wobbled around like it was an overdone 3D animation.

It was incredible. Like she was a mollusk.

“Sorry. Can I try touching you?” I requested.

“Hm? Do you mean my right breast? Or my left one?”

“No, I mean your back…”

“My right shoulder blade? Or my left one?”

“I don’t have whatever kind of ultra-specific fetish you’re talking about…”

She was really quick.

That was a skill I didn’t have.

I walked behind her as I thought this and pushed her back as she did a perfect split.

Her torso was now flat on the floor.

Zero resistance, zero friction.

Like there’d been no need to push at all.

“Why is your body this flexible? Should joints have this much motion? Actually, I don’t even know if your joints are connected to begin with…”

“Um, stretching can be addictive… And I mean that in a masochistic way.”

“Did you really need to add that clarification?”

“I can’t get enough of the feeling of everything inside my body creaking and straining.”

“You don’t seem to be straining very much, though.”

“There’s no strain left in it any longer. Stretching is so boring now.”

It was boring for her…

True, you only get more flexible the more you stretch.

The fruits of her training during her time on the track team─or maybe the traces of it.

“Miss Hanekawa, would you like to run with me?”

“No, but I’ll make breakfast in the meantime. We can eat together once you get back.”

“Do you not like to run?”

“That’s not it.”

If anything, I’m someone who likes exercise.

I even have a little habit of running in the mornings, though I don’t do it every day.

It was just that I could imagine the scene after getting back being yet another shower with Miss Senjogahara, and I thought we might not need that much fanservice crammed in.

It’d be indecent, and in more ways than one.

“Actually,” I suggested, “why don’t you also take a break from running today? You look tired to me.”

“I want to run the most when I’m feeling tired.”

“I guess you are a jock, after all.”

A former member of the track team. Her spirit had been tempered, too.

It didn’t seem worth it to try and stop her, so after helping her with her stretches (though I didn’t do anything you could call “helping” in the end), I saw her off and went to the kitchen.