Afterword.
Or to better say, the story from now on.
The next day, after a long time I was roused out of bed by my two sisters, Karen and Tsukihi, and I headed to school. The older brother returned home after a journey of self-discovery that lasted for two weeks and the parents didn't say anything special, while the sisters only burst into a loud laughter. Since in fact I believe I did something for which there were no words, and that could only be laughed at, I think I can only agree with them.
Anyway, today starts the new school term.
I headed to school riding my bike. It has been two weeks even since the last time I rode my bike. I don’t think you can forget how to ride a bike just because you experienced a little hell.
The arrival.
At the gymnasium the class grouping was posted.
"Ooh"
A miracle happened. My name and that of Hanekawa are within the same board. Well, miracle may be too strong a world for that, but I was a bit elated. It was an emotion I didn't felt at the class change in the second year. I don't know what was the true nature of that emotion, anyway it was wonderful that we got to be in the same class.
From among the crowd of students who raced to confirm their own class, I found out Hanekawa and called her out -- because the very picture of a honor student like her is rare even at Naoetsu High School, I spotted her immediately.
She had changed her hairdo.
That is to say, she had only split her single braid in two to the sides, but just by that her image changed considerably.
"Oh my, it's Araragi-kun......yoo-hoo"
Hanekawa had a tired look on her face.
Her shoulders were dropped, and she was dejected and slouching.
There has never been someone so down because of the new school term.
"I-Is something wrong, Hanekawa-san?"
What could it be?
Does she dislike that we are in the same class?
I was assailed by a persecution complex, however somehow it seems that it wasn't that.
"Ah"
Hanekawa pulled the sleeve of my school uniform, and took me out the gymnasium. And as I thought we reached a point where the two of us could talk,
"I forgot my bra in the PE storehouse!"
She groaned.
"Yeah"
"By now, it would have surely been discovered......"
We wanted to finish cleaning the sports field up all we could, within the limits of the feasible, but there was nothing we could do anymore about the PE storehouse's iron door which was curled up and crumpled like an aluminum foil by vampire eye power, so we left it like that and went back home. Nobody was going yet in the direction of the sports field, but the door completely disappeared, no matter how I look at it there will be a big fuss about it. Naturally, the surroundings of the PE storehouse will be scrupulously examined.
It seems that was distressing Hanekawa.
"Although the circumstances didn't allowed me to be attentive, for me it will be the blunder of a lifetime...... and the embarrassment of a lifetime"
"Don't worry, Hanekawa"
"? Why?"
"I retrieved it"
"What did you say!?"
"I will not let you feel embarrassed"
"In those circumstances when did you have time to do that!?"
"Hey, don't say something so sad. During this Spring Break, I never thought not even once to give priority to anything other than your underwear, you know"
"Don't make me listen to your sad story!"
"And that's why in my room now I have a full set of top and bottom"
"Give them back!"
We chatted.
Since it seemed there was still time until the bell rings, I and Hanekawa talked a little bit in that place. Of course the topic was vampire related. Hanekawa taught me something out of her vast stock of knowledge about vampires.
"Well, it's only a theory"
She premised.
"Vampires suck human blood -- however, the implication changes completely whether they suck blood for a meal or whether they suck it in order to create a subordinate"
"Yeah, I don't know if it was from the person herself or from Oshino, but I think I heard it"
"A meal, well it's a meal, but creating a subordinate somehow seems to be something akin to a sexual act"
"Se-Sexual act?"
"Seriously"
Said Hanekawa.
"They say appetite and sexual desire resemble each other. Besides, following that line of thinking, isn't it clear why a vampire doesn't want that much to create a subordinate? In 500 years -- she had two subordinates. I don't know much about vampire's idea of chastity, but she has been a virtuous woman"
{It is worthy to note that "kizumono", from the title, means not only "damaged goods", but also "a woman who has been deflowered"}
"Virtuous?"
"I think her first subordinate was her lover"
A rule of not creating a subordinate--
That's how they described it to me.
A virtuous -- vampire.
Even if they are about to die, they aren't inclined to save themselves by making a subordinate -- was it?
Then.
In which occasion do they create subordinates?
That was the question.
"......But weren't they human and vampire?"
"That's why she turned him into a subordinate, didn't she? The existence of vampire halves could be said to attest that sort of couplings...... although the circumstances were a bit different, I suppose. At any rate, this was just a conjecture. However, it's for this reason that she tried to redo what she did at that time, I think -- as an atonement"
"An atonement--"
She couldn't turn the first subordinate back into a human.
Therefore she added a second, me, to the first.
Might have been.
"She didn't want to be killed by the three vampire exorcists though -- what she really meant by having found her place to die, maybe was the fact she met with you. When she met -- with the second subordinate"
"A place to die -- huh"
"Thinking about it, at the time when she almost lost her vampire abilities by turning you into a subordinate -- at the time when she lost her bloodsucking ability, perhaps she was already prepared to starve to death. If a vampire can't suck blood, she dies"
"Well......, that's true"
"But in order to turn you back into a human, she couldn't let herself starve to death though"
"......Last night, at the beginning she invited me to live together for eternity...... I don't know what she planned to do if I accepted her invite"
"Well, that's precisely what would have happened, isn't it?"
"Precisely"
"Even if a person cannot live alone, two people can"
"............"
"Two people is better than one, just two of you is better than three -- something like that. That sort of thing"
What could it be, says Hanekawa.
I wonder, I replied.
"A wound"
"Hm?"
"A wound has remained"
Hanekawa said looking at my neck.
At the back of the neck, the marks of two fangs.
"What? The collar doesn't hide it well?"
"Hmm. Perhaps I noticed it because I know about it"
Folding her arms, Hanekawa checked it from various angles.
"Besides, there is also the PE hours...... Araragi-kun, it would be better if you grow your hair a little more"
"I see...... the maintenance will be a pain"
"In the end, how much of a vampire remained in your body?"
"I have to test it later, but......well, it seems my capacity to heal is higher. I have the impression that when I brush my teeth it's more difficult for my gums to bleed"
"So down-to-earth......"
"Something like that. If I look at it positively, I was indeed able to turn back into a human, although in itself side-effects remained -- that's what I'd say"
"Hmmm...... side-effects, huh"
"Well, whether or not I am currently a human -- just by being able to get out under the sun like this, I feel like the world changed considerably"
"You're forward-looking"
Hanekawa was bashful.
Even the smiling face of Hanekawa -- as I thought, seen under the sun looked dazzling all the time.
"Well, if there is something that worries you, just say it. I will let you massage my shoulders as much as you wish"
"That's right. If I want to massage them I will say so. In order to make Hanekawa feel good I will research many things beforehand and I will get my heart ready, and from the next time I will be truly able to massage them"
".....Y-You're talking about my shoulders, right?"
"Hm? Eh, ah, well yeah"
"That's an ambiguous answer......"
Hanekawa made a bitter smile.
In any case.
She offered her right hand to me and said.
"At last I got to be in your same class -- I have to grab the chance to properly rehabilitate you"
"Rehabilitate...... what's that?" {The original Japanese word, "kousei", has many homophones}
"Rehabilitate, it's written like resurrect"
Isn't it fitting for the immortal Araragi-kun? {in Japanese "immortal" means also "undead"}
Said Hanekawa.
"Please take care of me for the next year, Araragi-kun"
"Yeah. Without saying a year, please take care of me forever"
Although surely it will be shorter than eternity.
Still, please take care of me forever.
I shook Hanekawa's right hand.
That was certainly a handshake between friends.
And then we go in the classroom, and we receive from the homeroom teacher a short course on the new school year, and the new school term -- well, it was the usual every year. Tomorrow we will elect the class representatives, so I was told to consider who would be a good candidate. Of course I will vote for Hanekawa -- for the male one, I don't care.
And then after school.
I went to the cram school ruin alone.
I departed after informing Hanekawa. I even thought to go together with her, but this was my responsibility, and mine alone.
Twenty minutes with my bicycle -- and I finally arrive at that place.
I already know this place as if it was not the house of other people but my own home, I pass through a hole in the fence and I enter the premises. Still, if I think about it, I could say this was the very first time I looked carefully at this building from the outside during daytime.
If I looked at it under the sun light -- it was more shabby than expected.
It was rot and decayed.
It was as if the building was dying.
Looking at it with human eyes, that was what was visible.
I cast down my eyes and I enter that abandoned building -- and then I climb the stairs.
Second floor -- I pass beyond it.
I'm headed to the fourth floor.
'She' isn't weak against the sunlight anymore.
Because 'she' is no longer a vampire.
I checked the room that had a hole in the ceiling, but there was nobody there. I open the door of the next classroom -- it seems even that door was broken -- and Oshino was there.
"Yo. You're late Araragi-kun -- I've been waiting for you"
Oshino greeted me with a cheerful tone of voice.
As always he is wearing an aloha shirt.
He is lying down on a bunk bed made with desks, no matter how I look at it he wasn't waiting for me, but even if retorted at every little thing it would be of no use.
"Hahhaa. The school uniform suits you, Araragi-kun. You look very different"
"Despite my appearance, I am a student you know"
"Ah, you're right. I inadvertently forgot. That's right, you were the Gakuen Inou Batoru main character"
"I don't really know if that really happened anymore, it's something from a distant past"
Anyway, it's not in my character to be a main character.
I am not fitted to be a villain, or a monster.
Right now I am a mere high schooler.
As I appear -- As I look, I am a student.
Though for a little while I became superhuman.
"I see. Class rep-chan is not with you, is it?"
"Yeah, I'm alone. Would it have been better if we were together?"
"In fact, in this case it doesn't matter"
Although, Oshino continued.
"If you let me speak out of concern, you must be very careful about class rep-chan. Araragi-kun -- you shouldn't take your eyes off her. That girl is a bit -- too dangerous. This time everybody...... including you and me, we have all been manipulated by that girl. If that girl were to became the center of a problem, honestly, not even I can imagine what in the world would happen"
"Yeah...... you don't need to tell me, I was going to"
I replied.
"Because she's a friend"
"I see. Well, this not an after-sales service, but I was worried about what would happen to you, so I plan to stay in this building for a while -- I searched a lot, but in the end this cram school ruin was the one where it was easiest to pass time. If something happens consult me"
"Consulting you is too expensive"
"It's not expensive. It's an equitable compensation"
He said.
Oshino pointed to a corner of the classroom with his unlit cigarette.
"Well then, let's proceed at once with the first time"
In a corner of the classroom.
There was a blonde girl.
She was sitting hugging her knees.
She looked 8 years old -- a small girl.
Not a 27 years old.
Not a 17 years old, not a 12 years old, not a 10 years old -- an 8 years old blonde girl.
With an insecure expression -- she was staring at me.
"......Really"
What in the world should I call her?
She is not even a shadow of her former self, she doesn't even have a name.
The ruin of what she once was.
The pomace of a beautiful demon.
And--
For me, an existence I can't forget.
"Really..... I'm sorry"
I move close to her.
And then I lower my waist to match the sitting girl, and I hug her.
"If you want to kill me, you can kill me anytime"
She doesn't say anything.
She won't talk to me anymore.
As if she was also peevish, she showed some resistance -- but immediately she became docile, and while still not saying a word she bit my neck.
A little pain.
And then a sense of euphoria spread through my body.
"I still don't think that was the correct thing to do"
Oshino says from behind with a casual tone of voice.
"I guess I should call it human self-centeredness. The disgust you felt for vampire eating humans could be said to be the same as the disillusionment from seeing the scene of a lovely cat eating a mouse. And you chose to keep a vampire as if it were a pet. To remove her fangs, to declaw her nails, to smash her vocal cords, to neuter her -- huh. You, who have been treated as a pet, now treat your master as a pet. This is exactly what happened now. If you think about it -- it's not an impressive tale"
"............"
"The human who wanted to throw away his life for a vampire, and the vampire who wanted to throw away her life for a human, huh. It's like you wash blood with blood -- however, blood will tell. Since this is work, I don't mean to stick my nose into it, but -- well, since I had a part in it, if you were tired of it just tell me, Araragi-kun"
"I will never loathe it"
I reply, while the girl sucks my blood.
"Because I am doing something I like"
"If you liked, then?"
The detached rejoinder from Oshino.
While giving him my back, I -- hug lightly the small and helpless body of the girl who even with all her might would still get crushed by the physical strength of a human.
We, who wounded each other, lick each other wounds.
We, who have become damaged goods, need each other.
"If tomorrow you die my life will last until tomorrow -- if today you live, I too will live today"
So I vowed aloud.
And then the story of the damaged goods begins.
Red when wet and black once dried, a story of blood.
The story of our precious wound which will never heal.
I will not tell it to anybody.