That being said, despite all of Nadeko's calculations, having not just trespassed but burglarized the home, she got caught red-handed anyway by Big Brother and Miss Shinobu.
i don't see Nadeko becoming a pro burglar.
i don't see anything in her future.
She just stares at the ground, after all.
"Uh-uh, you were able to resurrect me, Nadeko. I do see something in your future."
"You do... What?"
"Being a god."
"That's no joke—you're a god now. When I was sealed away in that talisman, that object of worship, you resurrected me in you like this, bodily."
"It wasn't like i..."
It's not like Nadeko was trying to become a god herself...
But you could say it's all Nadeko's fault for getting into "a tizzie” and swallowing the talisman when Miss Ogi said to have a snake gulp it down.
Nadeko really is a bad listener.
"Or is this supposed to be some kind of lesson that only you can make your own wishes come true? You shouldn't rely on any god?"
i try saying that, but it doesn't feel true at all.
i don't believe it one bit. Nadeko is still trapped in a delusional tale of her own making.
i'm still—pretending to have forgotten.
"i suppose Nadeko.. .really played it fast and loose, listening and not listening to people, twisting the truth, tricking herself."
"Well, the same goes for everyone,"
"But there wasn't anything i could do,"
There wasn't, was there? i had to.
"i just—couldn't help it."
“…”
"Don't people find themselves cute, whoever they are? It's just
that Nadeko felt the same way…"
“…Acting like some kind of victim."
"Kakak," i hear.
From where Miss Shinobu has fallen—a faint little laugh.
"Victim, culprit, 'tis easy to switch from one t' the other—positions and situations are all there is. The rights of the victim, the rights of the accused... Truth be told, no such difference—
“…”
Nadeko silently brings down the fang in her left hand.
It's quiet again.
i think she's right, though.
Miss Shinobu is correct—and whether or not she is, the reality is that she's poisoned and flat on the ground.
But now it's clear why Mister Serpent never spoke in front of her—because in this gourmet's presence, the delusion would have been revealed for what it was.
"Um... Okay, was there anything else i didn't understand?"
Nadeko searches for doubts like it's routine business, taking care to go down and snuff out every loose end. "Oh, right. Why did Big Brother return to his room just as Nadeko was rummaging through it to begin with? If it wasn't for that..."
If it wasn't—then what. If it wasn't for that?
"He almost sounded like he knew everything. What Nadeko was doing, what Nadeko was trying to do, the narrative Nadeko fabricated, everything."
"Beats me. This, I don't know either. You're talking about something completely beyond the subject of me or you, dear."
"Even if he did know through Tsukihi that i left school early after saying and doing all those messed-up things—”
Now that i think about it, that unwatchable rampage Nadeko went on, too.
The appearance of Naughtyko—was simply Nadeko being naughty and nothing else
It wasn't the fault of Mister Serpent or any aberration.
It was just the result of a delusion running wild.
"Big Brother couldn't have known that Nadeko went to search his room.
"Who knows, maybe it was a plain old coincidence? Maybe, before heading out to search for you again, he came home to change or otherwise prepare for a minute and just so happened to bump into you."
"Mmh…”
It barely does pass as an explanation... The words "just so happened" actually feel kind of convincing.
Just so happened. Right now, it sounds like such a great phrase.
"Wh-What a convenient line of thought, befitting of the waif...As if it explains why I, a nocturnal being, was active in the middle of the day." It's Miss Shinobu, who's being awfully persistent. "Kakakak—she got me, that would-be niece...I can finally hear the scrunchy's speech, but I suppose this was all part of her plan—
“………”
Swoosh.
With a swing of the fang, i silence her.
No, i swung it a few more times, just to make sure, just to be on the safe side.
Hm?
Uh, that's strange. She's still moving.
Well, i need to stop her.
There. There. There. There. There. There.
She stopped.
She stopped now.
"Whatever. It's fine."
"Are you sure?" asks the Serpent.
"It's fine... Knowing the truth isn't going to change anything. It just means that Big Brother has his own narrative. One that he didn't make up himself, unlike Nadeko's... That's all, it's not enough to make Nadeko want to hear the tale."
"Sounds pretty careless to me."
"And i could care less. i don't know why things turned out like this—but in the end, Nadeko doesn't particularly want to know. She doesn't give a damn, to be honest."
Okay, Nadeko says as she turns.
She goes from leaning more toward Miss Shinobu to leaning in Big Brother's direction.
"So. Guess i'll kill him."
He still seems alive, being a vampire, but i bet he couldn't maintain his form after a few hundred more poison injections.
"Hmmmm? You sure? Seems like you'd be putting the cart before the horse."
cart's been there from the start—or maybe it's more like a
snake eating its own tail? Or a wild snake chase."
“…”
"Mmh, well, i have to, right? If he's alive, he's going to keep on finding girlfriends and lovers. Nadeko's heart breaking every time would be tiring."
“…”
Forget heroes and idols—let's make him someone that no one can ever reach.
"Of course, i'll get rid of his girlfriend, sure... But in terms of a love that's never fulfilled, isn't it a lot more romantic if Big Brother Koyomi dies? Mostly, though, i don't want to cause him any more trouble."
"...So that's how crazy you are," the Serpent says softly. "You're hopeless. I judged wrong, and you're wrong in the head. Yeah... You can't be saved. By anyone."
"Can't help it."
Nadeko raises the fang. Her fully regrown bangs block her vision—but they don't afflict anything.
Nadeko is the affliction now.
She is the serpent, and the truth.
The monstrous aberrance.
"Because Nadeko's an aberration—but...” swinging the fang over her head—putting everything into a blow aimed for the heart—Nadeko says.
I say.
"That's Nadeko, not me—
Swoosh—
moment i start to swing down the fang, an electronic noise fills the shrine grounds. No, it's pouring right now, so the sound itself doesn't seem that loud.
The stone-paved path to the hall.
It carries the vibration—Nadeko can feel it.
Like a snake crawling along the ground, i sense the vibration.
"Dowsing..."
No, it has nothing to do with that.
Mister Serpent has no such skill—that was another illusion on Nadeko's part. There was no malfunction, let alone any function to begin with.
Just a case of phantom vibration syndrome.
A cell phone—but i don't own one.
Crouching by Big Brother Koyomi's side as he ever-so-slowly recovers and regenerates, Nadeko takes it out of his pocket—the still shaking cell phone.
It must be water-resistant, but making an umbrella with her hand anyway so it doesn't get wet from the rain, Nadeko checks it.
i consider just turning it off, but seeing the caller's name, Nadeko changes her mind.
She changes her mind and becomes mindless.
Pressing the talk button with her index finger and pushing her snake-hair to the side, Nadeko gently puts the phone to her ear.
"Hello, Nadeko Sengoku speaking."
"Hello, Hitagi Senjogahara speaking."
Her voice is so calm, so cool.
It's incredibly flat and lacks any intonation.
Or should i say—any drama.
It's a quiet voice, like she doesn't feel anything, like she isn't the least bit surprised—which shouldn't be possible.
After all, Nadeko answered Big Brother's phone without his permission—you'd find it strange if you called and someone else picked up.
But this person stays completely calm.
"Hello, Sengoku," she says. "Is my man still alive?"
“...Right now, just barely."
Not that i'm overwhelmed by her intense calmness, but i answer her honestly.