013
 

"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.

...He seems to believe Nadeko.

i shouldn't be saying this as the person who lied to him, but he's a bit naive.

He's too much of a good boy.

"I was so sure you weren't telling me how some aberration conned you into doing something for it, like searching for a lost object, and how that's why you were digging up that sandbox."

Bingo.

The only thing he didn't get right was that the aberration was taking advantage of Nadeko's weakness, her sense of guilt—Koyomi knows i chopped up and killed lots of snakes, but a serpent coming to complain to Nadeko about it is beyond even his imagination.

He really seems to believe—Nadeko is a decent person.

"N-No... That's not it at all. i-i just had... Well, there's a lot of issues in Nadeko's class right now, and. ..Nadeko is the president, and..

i try to think of an appropriate excuse, but unable to come up with a lie out of thin air, Nadeko ends up telling a story adapted from her reality.

It's still a lie, of course.

"S-So...i've been feeling kind of tired.. .and suddenly felt like wanting to leave the house.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, that kind of thing happens."

Koyomi seems convinced.

It doesn't quite make sense for Nadeko to leave her house in the middle of the night because something bad happened at school, but the excuse seems to do a pretty good job persuading Koyomi, who hasn't had the best relationship with his parents after he started high school, and who even went through times when he didn't come home.

That must be why he's scolding Nadeko like this today, in particular.

He must have lots to say when he looks back on his own life.

"I do understand how you feel, Sengoku. But running away isn't going to fix things."

"Running away...isn't going to fix things."

"In that case, you should have come to me. So.. .what's this classroom trouble? Does it have anything to do with Kaiki's charms?"

“…”

He has such good instincts. He really does.

Yes, i did talk to him about it a little in the past—but he should already consider the case closed. Well, not just Koyomi, but everyone—Nadeko, her whole class. The case was solved as soon as Mister Deishu Kaiki left town.

There problems that come out of solutions—new things to end that come out of endings—but this, too, Big Brother Koyomi would know a lot better than Nadeko.

"Nope," i barely manage to deny.

But even Koyomi won't swallow this one whole. He starts to look unpersuaded.

And—

"Sengoku," he says. "You're in middle school, so I'm sure you have problems and issues to spare—but you know you don't have to take them on alone, right? True, I'm not someone who should be dispensing advice, but I can at least lend you an ear."

He looks serious as he lets this be known.

When he's being serious, he looks kind of trustworthy and a little scary.

Because, usually, he's just messing around.

"Listen, Nadeko. No man is an island."

Now he's starting to say stuff that's making him sound like a school principal.

It's so "buy the book" that i have to gulp—i nearly burst out laughing.

i can't believe someone is saying it unironically in this day and age!

“...If I told you that, some people out there would complain, 'I can't believe someone is saying it unironically in this day and age'!" he turns the argument upside down.

i didn't expect it to go in this direction. A surprise twist.

"Some would even say, 'Sure, but you're talking to an independent woman!’”

“…”

His tone is getting so heated i dare not talk.

If Nadeko were that elementary schooler Hachikuji who's apparently friends with Big Brother, i doubt she'd leave him alone when he's in such a state, but all i can do is watch and listen.

i can't even slip in a comment.

"What a sad interpretation. I bet people who say such things don't read books. That's one of the most famous lines of poetry out there!”

“…”

Technically, it isn't a poem.

"Or what, are we really islands, off on our own sticking our heads in the water instead of at least being peninsulas?!"

What could have happened to him over the last few months? i never knew him as the type to go on in this vein, even as a joke.

No.

That must be just how much Nadeko made him worry.

i feel ashamed.

i feel bad about what i've done.

i'll make sure i don't get caught next time.

Before going out, i'll make sure Nadeko's parents are completely asleep.

"Y-Yeah," i nod and agree as these thoughts go through Nadeko's head. "You're exactly right. From now on, i'll come to you if i'm ever in trouble instead of wrestling with it alone."

"I hope you do. You must be exhausted, so rest for today."

"Rest?"

"Hold on a second," Koyomi says before leaving—and Nadeko finds herself all alone in his room.

Where did he go?

"H-Hey, Mister Serpent... Are we going to be okay? He didn't catch on, did he?" i whisper. "Mister Serpent?"

Hm. There's no reaction.

He's just enwrapped around Nadeko's right wrist, not moving an inch like he really is nothing more than a scrunchy, a plain, tacky scrunchy... i try shaking him, i try smacking him, i try smashing him into things, i try poking at him with the trowel, but he doesn't even twitch.

Why not?

Sure, i want him to act like an accessory when we're around people, and right now there's no telling when Koyomi might return, so maybe the Serpent is being "prewdent" by just staying put...

Eventually—

'Thanks for waiting."

Big Brother Koyomi is back.

In one hand he's holding what looks like a thin kimono —a yukata for women, apparently.

"Here you go."

"You can sleep in this. I borrowed it from Tsukihi."

"What..."

i'm speechless.

i can sleep in it? In other words, pajamas?

Is he sure he didn't mean to say i could weep in it?

It would be strange if he said that, too, but... Is Big Brother Koyomi implying that Nadeko should stay over?!

"Stay the night here. It's late, after all."

Forget implying it, he said it outright.

Directly.

"We have to get our story straight to cover for the lie Tsukihi told, too."

"Tsu, Tsu-Tsu-Tsukihi... You borrowed this from her," i stammer, panicked. "S-So, in the end, you woke her...up?"
 

"Hm? Oh, no. I just barged into her room without asking, fished through her drawers without asking, checked on Karen's and Tsukihi's sleeping faces up close without asking, and borrowed it without asking. I don't think Tsukihi would mind."

i feel like there was a completely unnecessary step in there, but maybe it's Nadeko's imagination. She can't tell. Still, sleeping over.

i can't hide how bewildered i am by the sudden new development crashing down on Nadeko's head.

As i take the pajamas (sleeping in a yukata—it's like i'm at a traditional inn) from Big Brother Koyomi, i'm still panicking.

"Wh-Which room should i sleep in?"

"Huh? Well, it's not like our house has that many rooms. You're just gonna have to sleep in here."

"I-In Big Brother's room...in Big Brother's bed!"

My panic starts to accelerate.

It's not like he said anything about his bed.

i'm getting carried away.

"Hm? Well, yeah. You must be tired, so use the bed."

Nadeko's jumped gun landed a bullseye.

Nadeko is sharp today.

"Wh-What... Y-You use your bed, Koyomi! N, N-N-N, Nadeko can just sleep under the bed!"

"How do you even come up with that?"

That'd be terrifying, Koyomi mutters.

Yeah, i guess anyone, and not just Big Brother, would have trouble getting a good night's sleep knowing that someone is lurking right below.

"Just use the bed. It'd turn into a huge problem if it ever got out that I made a middle school girl sleep under my bed. I'd be marked for the Fire Sisters' terrible retribution."

"B-But Nadeko can't hog Big Brother's bed and enjoy it all by herself..."

"Oh. No, no, it's fine."

While i continue to show as much consideration as possible, Big Brother Koyomi gets a smile on his face like nothing's the matter.

"Two people could sleep in this bed no problem."

---

014
 

That was the moment.

The light in the room has been casting Big Brother Koyomi's shadow onto the carpet, and a young blond girl comes flying out of it.

"Vampire Punch!"

The girl runs her fist straight into Koyomi's chin as she yells the words.

A perfect uppercut.

"Gaah!"

Koyomi bends backwards, then keeps tipping over to fall on the floor face-up.

So weak!

He let himself get defeated like some kind of punching-bag character you'd see at the very beginning of a battle manga. He was so weak you could compare him to a flimsy piece of paper.

"Hmph!" the young girl grunts, twisting in the air to land on the ceiling without a sound.

She's wearing a fluttering dress but does a good job holding its fabric between her thighs so that the hem doesn't flip up.

Her hair looks like it's standing on end, though.

…i believe the girl was wearing a helmet the last time i saw her—but it seems the helmet played out as a fad.

Yes.

It was a vampire who leapt out of Koyomi's shadow, no, the former vampire, Miss Shinobu Oshino.

Even i feel a little strange about calling someone who looks like an eight-year-old girl "Miss," but according to Miss Shinobu, she's actually five hundred years old. Normally, i might need to call her "Mistress" and not just "Miss."

...Right.

She must be the same as Mister Serpent in that sense—and now Nadeko realizes why he's been so quiet all this time.

Not because Koyomi was there, but because Miss Shinobu was close by—that's why he's been staying still.

If you just go by age, Mister Serpent must be the older of the two, and even if no one believes in him now, he's still a god, while Miss Shinobu is a vampire. So you might not see the need—but then, Miss Shinobu is "King of the Aberrations" after all.

The ruler of unlife.

In other words, every aberration is food to her.

The title of "top of the food chain" fits Miss Shinobu better than anyone—she might easily gobble down Mister Serpent (especially at his current size).

Swallowing a snake alive would be a bad joke.

Not something you could laugh about.

"Phew... 'Twas a close call," Miss Shinobu says still stuck to the ceiling and wiping the sweat from her brow.

Like someone who just finished a big job.

"We nearly ran afoul of some Tokyo publishing ordinances...good grief. My master's lack of restraint is enough to drain the blood from even a vampire's cheeks. I thought I might suffer a bout of anemia.

It's such a contemporary subject for her to touch on.

Not something you'd expect from a vampire, but Miss Shinobu seems to be influenced pretty heavily by Koyomi, so maybe it's wrong to seek a level of refinement from her that matches her appearance.

"Now, then."

Miss Shinobu drops from the ceiling.

Agilely, like some rhythmic gymnast, she avoids Koyomi and lands on the floor.

She follows that by rubbing her chin.

Around the same spot where she punched Big Brother.

"As our senses are linked, my master's pain becomes mine as well, yet... Heh, so 'tis not a problem if I knock him unconscious before he has any chance to feel distress."

“…”

What a frightening thing to say.

Koyomi is still on the floor and not moving a finger. Is this "rattling the brain with a punch to the jaw," like in boxing?

Your brain getting rattled sounds pretty serious, though.

i mean, it's your brain.

"Are ye all right, forelocked girl?" Miss Shinobu looks at Nadeko and asks.

Her gaze makes it seem like she's not particularly interested in Nadeko—no.

Not being interested isn't quite it—but in that case, i wouldn't know how to describe her expression.

i can't even read humans.

How would i ever read a vampire?

"What a pinch, 'tis good I made it in time. Ye nearly had to give birth to a child, at thy age."

"W-Was it that kind of situation?"

"Well." Miss Shinobu takes a step toward Nadeko—and i involuntarily flinch. "Looking at thee thus, I suppose I could understand—why my master is so infatuated with thee. Ye've quite the neat form."

It's scary when she stares at Nadeko up close.

i'm dealing with a vampire, after all.

While she might be lacking her bloodsucking ability at the moment.. .she can't hide the fangs peeking from her mouth, and can't seem to be bothered to.

Fangs.

Different from a snake's—fangs.

"I-Im." Taking her eyes off of Nadeko, who's frozen in place, Miss Shinobu then says, "Second cutest after myself!"

Is that praise? She's evaluated Nadeko in a way that i don't understand.

Still, Miss Shinobu coming close to Nadeko meant the opposite, too, and i got a good look at the "moddeling" of Miss Shinobu's face...and she's alluringly cute.

A lot cuter than Nadeko.

"Ah, um...M-M-Miss...Shinobu?"

"Utter not my name with such familiarity.

Having nothing specific to say in mind, i address Miss Shinobu for no reason, with no mind, and she swats Nadeko down.

How do i explain it.

It feels like there's no room for compromise.

"For the more thy kind speaks my name, the tighter I am bound by it—not that I intend on reclaiming my old appellation at this point," Miss Shinobu says as she pulls Koyomi off the floor. He's dead weight, still passed out with no signs of waking up. "Be that as it may, a waif who has not been alive for so much as a decade shan't act familiar with me."

“…”

i have been alive for a decade, though, being in the second year of middle school.

But after how Miss Shinobu shut Nadeko out a moment ago'

i don't have the courage to assert Nadeko's age, naturally. Not an ounce anywhere.

Pointing out a mistake also takes a certain license.

Privately, though, i think that she's become very talkative—when we first met in June (though i'm not sure it's right to say that we "met"), Miss Shinobu didn't speak a word and was even more taciturn of a person than Nadeko. Well, of a demon, not a person.

No, wait. Was she more than half human now?

It's not like i've heard the details.. .and even if i did, i don't think i'd get it.

Regardless, i do feel a tinge of sadness that Miss Shinobu, someone i thought i knew to be a friend in silence, is now on the side of the talkers.

Well, i say that, but it's not like i really believed that we were buddies. .. Even in June, i got plenty of scary stares from her.

There's nothing in common anyway, not a thing, between Miss Shinobu back then, who was quiet because she was mad, and Nadeko now, who's quiet because she's scared and doesn't know what to do...

"Well, forelocked girl. As my master said too, 'twould be best for thee to sleep in that bed this night. Him, I shall take down to the first floor, to lay atop the sofa, so be at ease."

“Th…”

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."