Monogatari Series - Volume Ex - Chapter 5

005 

“And so, Oikura-san took that incomprehensibility as a way of saying goodbye from her old friend, she tore the letter to shreds, and thereafter their relationship seems to have permanently ended.” 

“No, Hanekawa-san, you’re trying to be unbiased by speaking about this indifferently, but that hysteric personality is too much of a stretch.” 

Even if you rhythmically say “ripped to shreds”.  

Still, as a pro I couldn’t completely deny Oikura-san’s feelings. I dropped my eyes to the ground—the board state was that absurd. The kind of excitement at wondering whether “P-26” or “R-58” would come next. If this kind of ridiculous board was thrust in front of me, it wouldn’t be strange to feel like I was being made fun of. Breaking off a friendship was also amazing. 

Hmm, Oikura-san is pretty extreme. Although I say that, in some shape or form it’s not that it was a declaration of breaking things off, when she didn’t reply, it seems that there wasn’t any further contact from the other party either. So in her own Oikura-san-ish way, it seems she took it as the other party declaring things over between them.” 

Good grief. Hanekawa-san shrugged her shoulders. 

“—after that, time passed, she became a high school student, and 

Oikura-san changed, too.” 

“She changed? She calmed down?” 

“The opposite. She became even more extreme.” As a result, she even transferred in high school. 

Being told that, I wanted to hold my head even as it was about a stranger. What is with that person? Why do I have to hear about a person that has to be handled with care?  

If this wasn’t so wrapped up in shogi, this would already be the timing to finish this up. 

“So, the transferred Oikura-san and I coincidentally met at my destination. Coincidentally.” 

“Coincidentally... at your destination? Can such a thing happen?” 

“Yeah, well, coincidentally, I’ve been worrying about it for a long time. What happened to Oikura-san after that? So when I just happened to be passing through close by, I visited her. If you ask me what happened, it definitely didn’t go well at all, yeah, maybe she was tougher than when I knew her.” 

I couldn’t tell if that girl being tougher was good or not—tough and passionate, I had a hunch that was the worst state conceivable. It sounds like she heard about that episode from junior high school on the occasion of that “coincidental reunion”. 

“I had solved a puzzle that Oikura-san had been holding onto for years—that was more ‘opening a scroll’ rather than ‘solving’. It was because of that sequence of events that she said ‘Could you explain it to me again with pictures like you did that time?’ ” 

“……” 

“She said it dripping with sarcasm.” 

Heh, heh, Hanekawa-san leaked the chuckle she was trying to hold in. 

I wonder if that’s her way of expressing anger. 

“ ‘Piece of cake, right? I think I might be making a huge mistake like I did with my mother—how about you get full of yourself and correct it? Honor student-san.’ She said.” 

“That person, to a frightening extent, probably doesn’t think of you as a friend, Hanekawa-san? 

“If you say that much, then I can’t stay quiet as a friend.” This person doesn’t waver either, huh. 

You could also say they were a surprisingly well-matched combination. 

“But I’m completely hopeless at shogi. I’ve even forgotten how the pieces move. The gold and silver generals are strange—so at times like this I thought I would go ask a specialist for their opinion.” 

For some reason, Hanekawa-san kept adding an odd intonation to the word “specialist”. Though the part being hopeless at shogi was probably just her being humble, when she realized that something was off with this board state, she came looking for me; but after hearing this much, I don’t think I could be of any help. It wasn’t the kind of confidential talk where one would hope to find some big clue, but even after hearing about the person called Oikura-san, “OK! Well then, come on and I’ll do it!” my motivation didn’t rise up like that at all. It was already so refreshing how I didn’t want to do anything for Oikurasan. 

“In the first place, I don’t get why you, Hanekawa-san, have to go that far for that ‘fabulous friend’.” 

“That far? How far is that far?” 

“Wrapping yourself in a shogi newspaper and ambushing me in front of the Shogi Association. Hanekawa-san, could it be that your hobby is helping people?” 

I would say it’s a way to amuse myself, rather than a hobby. I’ve never thought of it as amusing, but it is my way.” One’s way. 

That was also a pesky game trail. 

It was better than a grave marker, but you shouldn’t hope for a guidepost—alright. 

Bring it on. 

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8  The expression “ripped to shreds” is normally pronounced びりびりに引き裂く(biribiri ni hikisaku). Here, Hanekawa says びっりびり (birribiri), where the insertion of っ for the double consonant makes for a slight pause, which Kiriyama finds rhythmical.