"Listen to me, Sengoku. If I were anyone else, I would be furious right now."
Our location has changed to Koyomi's house.
Big Brother's room.
i've come here to play a few times since June, and it's clean and tidy like you'd expect of him, but today—this one night, there's no sense of fun and excitement in the air like on Nadeko's other visits.
Just like the first time i came here, there's strong tension.
...Unlike back then, Nadeko is being made to sit up straight on her knees, so you might even say it's worse.
The difference is about as big as an amusement park and solitary confinement.
"Listen to me," he repeats.
He just said something about not being furious, but he's clearly angry.
It might be Nadeko's first time ever seeing the Furious Version Koyomi. So this is how and why he gets mad.
It's quite wonderful.
"Sneaking out of your house in the middle of the night and wandering around town for fun... If you keep that up, you're going to turn out like me or Karen or Tsukihi."
Whaaat.
That's an odd way to put it.
If you're wondering why he's mad at Nadeko, he's scolding her for playing around at night—while i can understand chewing someone out for sneaking away when their parents aren't watching, Nadeko's playing around was just building something resembling Nagoya Castle. It doesn't seem so bad that he has to take her to his room and make her sit on her knees.
Well, i guess as someone with little sisters of a similar age as Nadeko, he couldn't help but feel anxious over her "dalinquent" behavior...
He even made Nadeko take off her cap.
Nadeko feels like she's in her birthday suit.
"I don't want to nag you or anything, but Sengoku, nighttime for sleeping. Unless you're a vampire."
i can't tell him that i was looking for something.
Then again, he was searching, too, for Nadeko—when Nadeko's Mom and Dad noticed she had "runaway," the first person they thought to call was Tsukihi, or Big Brother Koyomi's little sister.
Tsukihi's fame extends to the PTA.
Tsukihi being Tsukihi, her reaction was, "It's fine, what's one night," and she even lied for Nadeko and said i was staying over, but Koyomi happened to pass by his little sister's room (pass by his little sister's room?) and to overhear this.
"What are you, stupid?! What if Sengoku goes extinct?!"
He apparently dashed out of their house to go looking around town for Nadeko.
i wasn't able to find what i was looking for, but Koyomi found Nadeko through his instincts alone. Even if you account for the fact that he used his bike, he has incredible dowsing skills—quite unlike
Mister Serpent, you might say.
On the topic of Mister Serpent, he's been silent for a while—he seems to be "adhearing" to his promise that he won't talk in front of people, but now that i think of it, he knows who Koyomi is.
That's what he said. That day in June.
He was watching from the shrine when Nadeko and Big Brother Koyomi and Miss Kanbaru conducted that richual at Kita-Shirahebi Shrine—so.
So i wonder what he's thinking watching Big Brother Koyomi now.
"Tsu…”
i feel like we're going nowhere at this rate, so i nervously begin to talk.
Nadeko wants to try her best to change the subject.
Not that Nadeko likes trying her best.
'Tsukihi... What's she up to?"
"Hm? Tsukihi? She's such a cold person that she's already getting her fill of sleep next door. Want me to wake her up?"
Swoosh, swoosh, Nadeko shakes her head.
That's not what i want at all... In fact, what a scary thing to say.
Koyomi might not really understand because she's his little sister, but Tsukihi is basically scary.
Tsukihi the Terrible.
They don't call her one of the Fire Sisters for nothing... Some of the stories about her aren't even funny.
She's a good girl, though, And i'm not saying that to smooth things over, she's really, truly a good girl.
It's just that her absolute energy is on a different level from people like Nadeko.
You could even say a different dimension.
Not all good girls are law-abiding, you see.
"Sengoku? You don't need to feel like it'd be a problem. Whether she's awake or asleep, Tsukihi is always gonna have droopy eyes."
"Leave her droopy eyes alone... But no, i already made trouble for Tsukihi. .. i even made her lie."
i'll need to get our stories straight soon—and before that, i need to thank her.
"Right. But first things first, you ought to apologize to your parents, Sengoku. I know I've told you again and again not to be so quick to say 'I'm sorry' since that's your favorite phrase. Still, you need to apology to them properly this time around."
"Y-Yeah... You're right..."
"Sheesh, if i hadn't found you, who knows what might have happened..."
Koyomi shrugs his shoulders like he's both annoyed and relieved.
Um, "who knows what might have happened"? Probably nothing in particular...
i might have finished flattening the sandbox, tidied up the thing resembling Nagoya Castle, gone home...and, well, after getting yelled at by Mom and Dad, gone to sleep, woken up, and headed to school.
This a safe town, anyway, not a big city like Tokyo.
Not much happens here.
Koyomi tends to worry a little too much about girls younger than him as you can tell from his interactions with Tsukihi and Karen.
You could even call him overprotective... i'm glad that he's kind to Nadeko, but i really do think he overdoes it with his attitude toward his little sisters.
He can go past protective and be prying.
What's he being so cautious of, anyway?
"You really need to be more cautious. Not just you, Karen and Tsukihi, too. It's almost like you don't realize that you're kids."
"i-i realize that...i think."
i'm not sure about Tsukihi or Karen—it can feel like they're trying too hard to act older than they are—but Nadeko thinks of herself as a kid.
A kid who doesn't know anything.
All i know is that a sandbox has a bottom.
"Well, no, it's not that you don't realize that you're a kid. You don't realize how indecently the world gazes upon children."
“…”
What an opinion.
i'm at a loss for words.
i have to wonder if Big Brother Koyomi is actually fighting against no one other than himself.
But also thinking that trying to make that point would be wrong, Nadeko apologizes.
"i'm sorry.
Nadeko's favorite phrase. Call it a conditioned reflex—in any case, it's a magical spell that ends conversations.
A magical spell, like one of those charms.
i'm not sure how effective it is, though.
"Well, as long as you realize what you've done... Hm? Wait, so what's going on? Why was a good girl like you walking around in the middle of the night?"
also seems like the wrong time to argue that i'm not a good girl, and it doesn't make the question any easier for Nadeko to answer honestly.
The real reason is that i'm looking for Mister Serpent's object of worship...but i can't tell Koyomi that. If i were going to now, then Nadeko would have asked him for help from the beginning—and not lied on the phone.
This time.
i'm keeping it a secret—from Big Brother Koyomi.
After all—unlike June.
Nadeko isn't the victim.
Nadeko is guilty—of killing lots of Mister Serpent's breathren.
"Sengoku? Don't tell me… Big Brother sounds suspicious that Nadeko has clammed up. "Don't tell me what you said on the phone yesterday was somehow a lie and you've gotten wrapped up in something bad..
Nadeko's mouth turns into a straight line.
He really does have great instincts.
In fact, i feel like they're a little too sharp—i guess it's due to all his experience facing off against aberrations, the result of his long service record.
Well, i didn't get wrapped up in something, this time i've been enwrapped, so to speak.
This is what i think as i look at Nadeko's right wrist.
"N-No, that's...not it," i then say.
i won't claim to have spoken clearly or firmly—anyone would have heard the words as a makeshift excuse, a knee-jerk denial.
"Oh, really, it isn't? Good," Koyomi accepts them, sounding relieved.