The story goes back a thousand years.
…Is that too far back?
i guess it is, heheh.
Really, Nadeko doesn't know much about what happened a thousand years ago, either—and what i have heard is from Mister Serpent, so it's hardly demonstrative evidence.
The way that word "demonstrative" starts with "demons" makes it seem somehow aberrationish, but that's a different topic.
You shouldn't swallow anything the Serpent tells you without chewing on it first—since we're dealing with a snake, maybe I should say "swallow whole."
What happened a thousand years ago doesn't really interest Nadeko, anyway.
Um.
So we're just going to go back to something that Nadeko can speak of from her own experience—in other words, back to the day I met the Serpent.
should make the story demonstratively true.
To Nadeko, at least.
There might be a few mistakes in the way I remember it, or actually there must be, but there are a lot of things in this world that can't be forgotten no matter how hard you try, and a lot of things in this world that you can't cover up even with a lie, and for Nadeko, her meeting with Mister Serpent is one example.
After all.
Nadeko was already dragging along snakes from her past—dragging along snakes that used to be wound around her.
Almost audibly dragging...and dragging.
Just like Nadeko has dragged along her feelings from elementary school—almost audibly.
All right. The date was October thirty-first, a Tuesday—I guess that would make it Halloween, but to be honest, I'm not too familiar with that event.
i don't really know what kind of day it is.
According to Mister Mémé Oshino, an authority on monsters and the supernatural who once lived in this town (what does "authority" mean, anyway? Is it like "almighty"?), "Halloween and Thanksgiving ought to take deeper root in Japan. I mean, look at how big Christmas is here now.
That's what he said, but Nadeko doesn't really understand Thanksgiving, either.
But I do think that giving thanks is important.
I’m thankful to Mister Oshino.
And to Miss Kanbaru, and to Big Brother Koyomi.
i’m thankful.
i wouldn't be leading such a calm and peaceful life now if it wasn't for them—wait, calm and peaceful?
No.
What they taught Nadeko in June might be that there's no such thing as a calm and peaceful life in this world.
Peace.
That kind of stuff only exists on TV.
One Peace.
Isn't there a manga called that?
It was fun to read.
While i wish i could live a peaceful life, i don't think it would be possible in Nadeko's reality.
i don't think it would be possible at Nadeko's school.
In fact, i was already "meloncholy" the morning of October thirty-first—no, Nadeko being meloncholy wasn't limited to that day.
Mornings are always meloncholy.
More specifically, the walk to school is always meloncholy—whether it's the thrity-first, the thirtieth, or the first.
Whether it's October, September, or November—yes.
There's never a walk to school that isn't meloncholy.
Not since that day.
Not since June.
It was different in April, you see.
It was probably still different in May, too.
i want to say that the famed fraud Deishu Kaiki came to this town because he was tracking rumors of the vampire known as Miss Shinobu Oshino, and the gears might have already been turning in April or May—but it wasn't until June that they started having an actual effect, including what happened with Nadeko—
"Whoa, watch—"
And then.
Despite her meloncholy, Nadeko decided to head to middle school with lots of time to spare so that she wouldn't be late. But just as i turn a corner, a bike plows toward Nadeko.
A bicycle. Basically a light car. Not a so-called granny bike like what Big Brother Koyomi rides (to judge from it, he isn't particular about bicycles in the least), but a fairly stylish BMX bike.
Nadeko freezes and thinks, Ah, so i”m just going to get run over like this, i 'm probably going to be sent to the hospital with broken bones, it looks like it's going to hurt, but i won't have to go to school for a while, maybe Big Brother will come to visit, Nadeko had better get her best pajamas ready—this "kalaidoscope" of images from the future runs through Nadeko's head, but the rider of the bike continues:
"Watch—me go!" and turns the bike's handlebars in a somewhat unreasonable direction.
Imagine a T created by the bike's front wheel and its frame.
While the brakes may not have been applied in time, this was, structurally speaking, no different from the bike slamming into a wall.
Honestly, i think you could have dodged a person as petite as Nadeko with nothing more than a slight tilt of the handlebars—but i'm sure the rider was desperate.
The front wheel stops, but the back wheel continues on.
It leaps into the air.
The bike ends up clearing Nadeko's head.. .no, grazes it even as it misses her.
One Leap—there's no such manga, though.
After that, both the bike and its rider go sliding along the asphalt like two spinning fireworks—but not only does Nadeko have no broken bones, she isn't even scratched.
Still, i've turned pale.
.While it all happens in a moment, Nadeko's never been more scared in her life—it was a terrifying experience. Yes, monsters and ghosts and those kinds of things are scary, but the real, concrete fear that is a traffic accident instantly outdoes those kinds of psychological scares.
If only for a moment, i forget the meloncholy Nadeko feels on her way to school.
"A-Are you okay?!"
Nadeko suddenly comes to her senses and runs toward where the bike lies sideways on the street—not because i'm worried about any damage to the bike itself, of course, but because i'm trying to get to the girl sandwiched against the ground by her bike.
It's a girl.
While the Road Trafic Act would fault the rider for not looking both ways before speeding forward, it's also true that Nadeko wasn't paying attention when she was walking—no, i'm worried no matter whose fault it is.
Of course i'm worried, someone has fallen to the ground. You could say that she just fell over on her bike, which isn't much of an accident, but it could be a big deal if she hit her head.
It might be a good idea to call an ambulance.
Nadeko doesn't have a cell phone, though.
Pay phones have been disappearing from town lately, too, so in order to call for help, i would have to run into one of the homes around here and—oh, but Nadeko isn't able to talk to people she doesn't know.