i was bothered by the thought that he could read Nadeko's mind, just like anyone would be, but i feel a little let down to know that he can't.
Just because Mister Serpent being a mindreader would make things easier for Nadeko since i wouldn't need to talk...
"I-In that case—Mister Serpent."
"Mister Serpent? Well—I would normally want to be called Master Serpent, but I guess it's too much to expect a young, helpless little girl's worship. Yes, my dear? What is it, Nadeko?"
"Wh-What does Nadeko need to do?"
Atonement.
Or the request.
Nadeko hasn't heard—the details of either.
At the shrine, as soon as Nadeko accepted, Mister Serpent quickly shrank his colossal body—and enwrapped her right wrist.
I'll give you the details tonight. I'm spent, he said immediately and went to sleep.
It seems like he used up a lot of his energy making Nadeko see and hear things—and not knowing what to do, Nadeko did nothing and just came back home.
Mister Serpent woke up a little bit after i got home, but before he could tell Nadeko anything, Big Brother Koyomi called her.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh.. ." i have trouble saying the words—but Nadeko gathers her courage. This is something i need to do. "Wh-What kind of dirty things...does Nadeko need to do?"
"Where'd that come from?!"
The aberration plays the straight man for me, his fangs bared.
Nadeko lurches backwards on her cushion.
It's way too scary to be a comedy routine.
"Why would you even think that, Nadeko? You've got quite a future ahead of you."
"N-No? B-But psychologically speaking, snakes are considered sexual motifs, so—"
"Don't you lump me in with dime-store clichés—ugh, maybe you've been a little too influenced by Koyomi or Kanbaru or whomever, hmmmm?"
“…”
i'm left speechless.
i couldn't be any more embarrassed. i feel like blushing.
"Th-Then.. .Nadeko doesn't need to take off her clothes? She doesn't have to wear a school swimsuit or volleyball shorts?"
"Right. That's not what I'm talking about."
"Oh..."
i let out a sigh of relief that Nadeko won't become Nudeko.
Though i also think i can hear Miss Kanbaru's dejected wail.
“...? B-But why do you know about Miss Kanbaru?"
"Like I told you, I know. About her, about Koyomi—hmmmm?"
"S-So you really are reading Nadeko's m—
"Like I also said, I'm not."
"M-Maybe you're reading Nadeko's manga?"
"Why is a middle schooler collecting a comics zine for grade school boys, anyway?”
Why not?
CoroCoro is pretty funny.
"Either way, no. It's just that I was watching—the ritual that all of you performed at the shrine that day."
“...So you—live at that shrine, Mister Serpent?"
Is that it?
Is that how he knows about Big Brother and Miss Kanbaru—
and Nadeko's massacur there?
But in that case. ..
Hm? That means...
"Y-You're.. .'something' to that shrine?"
"Don't be saying that now like it's some great discovery, my dear. The shrine's name alone should have tipped you off."
shrine's name.. ." Kita-Shirahebi, so North Whitesnake Shrine... "What about it?"
'"What about it'... Having seen me, a literal white snake, you still don't have a clue? You really are dense, hmmmm?
“…”
i can't respond because he's not wrong about Nadeko being dense.
What? But then, that...
So, is Mister Serpent a lot more important than Nadeko thinks?
"Mister Serpent, are you the person, ...the snake that shrine is dicated to?"
"I'd like to say you're right—but it's been a long time since that shrine was dedicated to anything. All it is now is a hangout where bad things gather—no, it might be better to call it a dust heap than a hangout."
"Now that you mention it, i think i heard someone say that before..."
It still functions as a place but is done for as an abode for the divine, or something—i've forgotten because it was too complicated.
Or i guess it's more accurate to say that i wasn't listening from the start because it was too complicated.
"Th-Then—still, you're important. E-Er, you're still important, sir. Your Highness is most important."
"It's only going to be awkward if you start acting polite now—and I'm not important anymore. You can be casual around me. Let's you and I be equal partners, Nadeko."
"Partners..."
He used the same word when we first met.
A word to describe our relationship.
"I doubt calling ourselves 'friends' suits either of us," he adds.
“…”
i agree with him there.
But even if he's telling Nadeko not to act polite, it's hard not to—i mean, if Mister Serpent lives at a shrine, that makes him (despite looking nothing like it now) a god.
Really, an actual god.
…Hm?
But i feel like Mister Oshino said at some point that all aberrations, conceptually, are like gods.
No, he argued that ultimately, whether it's a being or a concept, anything that isn't human is a god—that's Japanese polytheism in a nutshell.
They're everywhere,
That's what he taught Nadeko.
Still—just because they're everywhere doesn't mean that i don't need to be respectful to an obvious god... But then, Nadeko isn't able to converse in a way that doesn't seem rude no matter who she's talking to, so her trying to act polite or not is somewhat beside the point.
If i'm hearing it straight from the horse's (snake's) mouth, i guess
i can be "casual" with him.
So Nadeko begins with an Umm.
"In that case, Mister Serpent...if it isn't anything dirty, what does Nadeko have to do? There's nothing else that i can do."
"I see you're a very curious teen, Nadeko..."
And don't be so hard on yourself, the Serpent chides.
As if to raise an eyebrow, he lifts his head from Nadeko's wrist (probably the limit of his reaction whether he's happy or sad) to stick out his tongue.
It does feel like he's stuck his tongue out at me.
"But I'm going to have you do something else—honestly, dear, you're the only one I can rely on. I'm going to be up-front and honest with you. I'm trying to prey on your weakness, to use my dirt on you, to exploit your guilt, in order to make a request—because that's how much I want you to do this."
That's not much of a reaction—hmph, so you understood all of this from the outset? All right—you aren't as dense as you seem, are you?"
“…”
"N-Nadeko is... i mumble, "dense. As a...brick."
"I wonder about that. Whatever—in that case, here's my request. Hsshh, hsshh, hsshh, a god begging a human for something, how times have changed."
"Listen, what I want you to do—is to find something."
For once, the Serpent doesn't sound rough or violent. His words seem oddly direct.
Direct? No.
Maybe i should say—solemn.
'Nadeko, dear. I want you to find my corpse."