Thank you seems like the wrong thing to say.
Miss Shinobu probably saw it as having saved Big Brother more than Nadeko...so i pull the half-spoken words back to tell her:
"i'm sorry."
Even i don't know why i'm apologizing in this situation, but if i had to say, my meaning is i'm sorry for making you do all this work for the sake of someone like Nadeko.
"Hmph...what an apologetic girl thou art."
“…”
"But I do wonder. Are ye apologizing because ye feel bad, or because ye've read the mood—this situation would involve an apology—like one would a script?"
"Good morning when ye wake up, good night when ye go to bed, thank thee for the meal when ye eat. Is it the same for thine apologies?"
"Silence, eh. Well, I am in no place to find fault in that—having been quite silent in like manner myself."
“…”
"Kakak."
Whatever it is that she found funny—she laughs at Nadeko, who is now just waiting, her eyes downcast, for Miss Shinobu to carry Koyomi out of the room.
It sounded scornful.
But maybe the best way to describe it would be mocking.
i feel like—she's looking down on Nadeko.
"Kakak—kak. Kakak."
"...? U-Um," i can't help but ask.
i end up asking even though i shouldn't.
But, and maybe it's because the two are linked, being laughed at this way by Miss Shinobu—practically feels like being laughed at by Big Brother.
i know it can't be true—but that's why.
Nadeko can't stop herself from asking.
Also—i feel anxious. Mister Serpent is still pretending to be a scrunchy on Nadeko's right wrist, but there's no guarantee his mimicry is working on Miss Shinobu, no matter how good he is.
i doubt Miss Shinobu would just go ahead and devour Mister Serpent now that she seems to be on good terms with Koyomi... but since an aberration is enwrapping Nadeko's wrist, it wouldn't be surprising if i seemed suspicious.
She might even tell Koyomi about it once he's conscious again precisely because they're on good terms...
"Wh-What's...so funny?"
"Funny? Nay, there's nothing funny. I simply laughed since it all makes sense. Did I not just tell thee? That I understand—why my master should be infatuated?"
i don't have to ask to know that by "master" she means Big Brother...but why is it?
The Koyomi i'm hearing in Miss Shinobu's words sounds like someone very far away from Nadeko.
"'Tis merely that I understood anew. When ye cast down thy face, and thine eyes, timid and frail, and with thy whole body say, 'Aye, I am pitiful as I do seem,' it arouses not just in my master but in a vicious being such as myself, a desire to shelter—
“…”
Pitiful. A pitiful—girl.
“But speaking of vicious—forelocked girl. Shall I explain to thee cuteness too is quite the vicious weapon?" continues Miss Shinobu, in a mean-spirited tone.
Her smile now is different even from her sneer a moment ago. It must be what Koyomi calls her "gruesome smile"—back in June, Miss Shinobu was a vampire who never so much as cracked one, but this smiling face makes her seem only the more frightening.
"A beast's offspring, or a human's for that matter, arousing the desire to shelter it through appearance or manner is a weapon, by use of which the weak survive. Nay, perhaps not just the weak? Even I have seen others grow careless through no act of my own but by dint of my adorable looks—hmph. same would apply for that little Ononoki from the other day."
“…”
"Mimicry—one could call it. The opposite of a warning color, mayhap."
Then.
Miss Shinobu seems to glance at Nadeko's right wrist and smirk—i don't know, it could be Nadeko's imagination.
Maybe i'm being too self-conscious because Nadeko is hiding something...
Still, her body starts to quiver.
Her tongue is tied, and talking is out of the question.
"Cuteness is a weapon rivaling strength—but I am not about to argue that I, as one with both, am therefore the most powerful of all. should go without saying. I simply mean to observe 'tis fortunate that ye can make murderous intent vanish by naught more than quaking thus."
That's—no.
Is that fortunate?
Nadeko is well-behaved, quiet, shy around people—so they just assume she's a serious and good girl—and force her to be class president and do things no one else wants to do—
It's one misfortune after another. Betraying one expectation after another.
Letting people down—is so painful.
“i-I’m not...fortunate."
"Really? Hmm? Are ye not always treated with kindness for merely staying quiet? Are ye not thought of as intelligent for merely staying quiet? Are ye not thought of as thoughtful for merely staying quiet? Do they not smile even when thou art incapable? Is silence not all ye need to avoid anything unpleasant? Are ye not valued more than others for doing the same work? Are ye not admired more than others for uttering the same words? Are ye not spared the world's wrath even in failure? Are ye not forgiven even for thy lies?"
“Th-That’s…” Nadeko shakes her head, "That's what i can't stand. It isn't fortunate... I-It's like discrimination, and N-Nadeko—"
"When thou art troubled." i put everything Nadeko had into her reply, but Miss Shinobu refuses to listen—and just goes on, ignoring Nadeko like she isn't there at all. "Do others not come of their own will to rescue thee—in a quarrel, do others not assume thee to be the victim?”
“…”
"Hm. Perchance 'twas a performance on thy part, but I suppose not. In other words, that cuteness, those mannerisms, are natural, the result of no special exertion. Devoted to my own self-improvement as I am, my envy is boundless," Miss Shinobu deadpans, not sounding the least bit envious.
The sense that she's looking down on Nadeko is as strong as ever.
If anything, it's only growing.
"Do ye know what we call the naturally cute such as thyself."
“…”
"Come now, 'twas a question—answer it if ye wish."
Uh oh.
Nadeko can answer it if she wishes...
"i...i don't know. V...'Vishus'?"
"Devilish," states Miss Shinobu, overruling Nadeko.
Devilish. Devilish?
"Thou art easily more monstrous than any aberration, if ye would—kakak," Miss Shinobu laughs again. "Nay, 'tis fine, 'tis fine.
My apologies, that went too far. What am I, of all creatures, saying to a mere human? Ye need not change. Live as such, 'tis none of my concern. Live as such and die as such. Aye, let Big Brother Koyomi worry over thee for the rest of thy life."
With that, Miss Shinobu finally takes him and leaves the room, not so much carrying as dragging him, like he's a bit heavy.
Out in the hallway, she looks back and opens her mouth again. Her eyes aren't just looking down on Nadeko but brimming with contempt.
"Aren't ye glad ye happen to be cute."