I guess it was because of the difference in volume between the left leg from the joint and the right leg from the knee down. The transformation of Kissshot who ate her own left leg was dramatic. I was surprised by her growth from the 10 years old looks to the 12 years old looks -- but this time, even if I knew from the beginning her body would have changed, I was still even more surprised.
After she got back her left leg, Kissshot in a single blow grew up to match my age appearance.
17 years old.
She may have even became taller than me.
Obviously, in the interval between 10 years and 17 years, even humans undergo the bigger change in appearance, from 'the period of the secondary sexual characteristics' on to 'the growth period' -- to add a concrete example, the size of her bust became astounding.
If she were to swagger throwing out her chest like she did until now, it would become something terrific.
Even her looks became more adult-like, and at the same time even the design of her dress changed into something more chic. The hair grew further, and was collected in a ponytail.
An impressive result.
Though no matter how she looks, Kissshot is 500 years old from the beginning.
"Hmph"
Kisshot was satisfied.
It seemed so even when I got back her right leg, but somehow Kissshot has this feeling of satisfaction each time, and because she doesn't try to hide her happiness, even I, who practically acted like her 'arms and legs', am happy to see that.
Because it is worth doing it.
"I feel the conditions of my body have greatly improved -- thou could say I almost recovered my immortality"
"I see. ......Then could you be the one in charge of the next battle?"
"Nay, unfortunately it seemeth I still cannot use my vampire skills. It just mean that it is harder for me to die than before. Maybe I could fight Dramaturgie, but with my current status I would not even defeat Episode"
Kissshot, however, said with a prudent tone of voice.
"Not to mention if the opponent was Guillotinecutter"
".................."
You say the same -- I thought.
Since then.
First of all, I sent back home Hanekawa, whose wound recovered -- I deemed best for her to go home while Oshino was watching Episode.
As a matter of fact, somehow it was like Oshino didn't want to meet with Hanekawa (since the first day, Oshino and Hanekawa thanks to miraculous timing never achieved a meeting -- since it would have been impossible for Hanekawa to elude him, it must have been Oshino the one who avoided her) or so I thought -- Hanekawa though seemed to have perceive it, and she consented to go back home.
See you again tomorrow, she said.
And she went home.
After that Episode regain consciousness, and he, Oshino and me took care of the sport field which was visibly a mess. We filled up the holes in the sport field gouged by the gigantic cross with manual labor, and we restored the sand pit to its previous conditions, in addition Hanekawa's pieces of meat scattered around (naturally, no matter how much one waits, they won't evaporate) were disposed of (we had a somewhat lively discussion, but we gathered them up and buried them in a flower bed, 'the tomb of Pii-chan' reads the sign we put. The one who had that idea was the specialist Oshino Meme. I felt putting as a gravemarker a cross made with tree branches was overdoing it even if it was a black joke), well, I can't say things were as before, but the cleaning up good enough to fool people was done.
Oshino and Episode -- left me behind after that, they went together, leaving for somewhere.
"I lost"
Episode said, while leaving.
"Damn, that's hilarious -- I've become senile. I was beaten by an amateur the likes of you--"
"............"
"Don't glare at me like that -- I apologize for that missy. I too got more heated up than necessary. Besides -- speaking frankly, for me fighting the subordinate of the Kaii Killer was a devil of a job. I couldn't afford to overlook not even an ordinary person taking part -- well in the end I still lost, so this won't make me look better. However, don't think you can face Guillotinecutter with that one shot technique. I might be very crazy -- but his craziness is on a whole different level"
Episode in the end, as agreed -- actually, the match lost its meaning since Hanekawa barged in, Episode attacked the barging Hanekawa, and I tried to kill Episode, so you can't say it was genuinely as agreed, however -- he returned Kissshot's left leg.
At April 5th early dawn, like a few days ago, Oshino came back bringing in a travelling bag which contained Kissshot's left leg.
Kissshot ate it at once.
She was already craving to eat it.
She transformed into a 17 years old.
"Guillotinecutter--"
A man with a hedgehog looking hairdo resembling a catholic priest.
He was the only one -- without a weapon.
"--What kind of person is he? Both you and Episode seem to be terribly wary of him"
"Thus I will explain on him"
"Your explanations are somehow vague. There are too many things I understand only afterwards. Give me a more decent briefing. My ears are all open"
The sun of April 5th was already rising.
As long as we stay in this room on the second floor of the cramming school ruins, we don't have to worry about sunlight, but I still want to ask the story from Kissshot before she goes to sleep.
In fact, I'm sleepy too.
By the way, Oshino left the travelling bag and went out again. He went out for the last negotiation -- despite being such a glib bastard, he was comparatively a hard worker.
Well, I pay him money.
He must do his part of work.
However, I really wonder when he sleeps......
"Thou asked me this, yet even if I explained it from minus to plus, it would not have much practical meaning"
"It's not like it's really meaningless. ......Also, in that phrase, it's not 'minus' but '1', and it's not 'plus' but '10'"
It's from 1 to 10. {Japanese for "from A to Z". In kanji "1" looks like "-" and "10" looks like "+"}
I say.
"Guillotinecutter...... can we agree he is a 'human'?"
"Yea. He is not a vampire like Dramaturgie, and not a half vampire like Episode either. He is a completely genuine, ordinary human"
"He doesn't seem an ordinary human, though"
He doesn't seem genuine either.
He doesn't seem a man to whom those words would match.
"Hm. Well, indeed"
Kissshot says.
"He is...... a cleric"
"Hah. Don't tell me he belongs to the special forces of Christianity"
"Close but far from it"
Kissshot shakes her head to my jest.
......When I faced her as a 10 years old or a 12 years old, naturally I didn't feel anything, however if it really comes to be of the same age, somehow she makes me nervous.
Kissshot was as pretty as a doll.
......Somehow she looks like a foreign model.
Or possibly -- a medieval aristocrat seen in a movie.
Maybe it's just the dress that gives me this impression.
"I wonder how I can express it with the words of this country...... well, a literal translation will be enough"
"Literal translation?"
"Guillotincutter is an archbishop of a certain historyless new religion"
"A--Archbishop?"
He is a big-shot.
An archbishop that young -- since he is human, he must have an age in accordance with the appearance, right?
"That religion hath not a name -- It is an organization not even I know well. However, there is something I must make clear -- according to the doctrine of that religion, the existence of Kaii is not acknowledged"
"Oh......"
A historyless new religion, huh.
However Kissshot has been living since 500 years ago, so frankly speaking one shouldn't trust her sense of time. She might call a new religion even one already existing from before the war.
I wonder what is Guillotinecutter's ordinal number as an archbishop.
No way he is a first generation.
"Guillotinecutter is personally enforcing the duties of that religion of eliminating the Kaiis who should not exist. Well, in other words Guillotinecutter, while being an archbishop, is also simultaneously serving as the commander of what thou call special forces"
"I see"
"He is the shadow commander of the black team serving under the umbra fourth group of the dark special duty forces"
"A translation too literal"
Translate it more smoothly.
This is so clichéd.
"However...... in the end he is just a human, right? No matter what tricks he uses, he is no match for a vampire, right?"
"He is a 'human' who is neither a vampire nor a half vampire, and who is contracted for his specialty, vampire exorcism. This is something thou must be careful about -- both of my arms were actually stolen by that guy, is not so?"
"Sure"
Dramaturgie, the right leg.
Episode, the left leg.
Guillotinecutter, the left and right arms --
Simply put, twice the parts.
"Although that time I was careless. Also my physical conditions were somewhat bad"
Kissshot made a subtle excuse.
Well, I won't retort.
"If we take Dramaturgie is hunting vampires for work, and Episode for personal feelings, Guillotinecutter is hunting vampire for beliefs. I speak for myself, but faith is troublesome"
Work. Personal feelings. Beliefs.
Well – beliefs certainly may be more troublesome than personal feelings.
"Hey, what should I do?"
"Be victorious. I will leave it to you"
"............"
She may be the legendary vampire or something, but bulldozing your way through no matter what is going too far, I thought.
However Kissshot, having said just that much, laid on the bunk and fell asleep as she was.
Uhmmm.
Because she looks like a girl of the same age, and she also is fairly pretty, if I'm incautiously exposed to her sleeping figure, it becomes hard for me to do anything.
I even feel like she is tempting me.
I even feel like not doing anything would be rude.
I even feel too much self-conscious about that.
It was an endless delusional spiral.
"......Whatever"
It is time (early morning), I'll try to sleep too.
Anyway, there isn't much meaning in deciding a tactic, I understood it well with the recent Episode case -- a flimsy battle plan will just confuse me when it fails.
I have to be flexible in my fights.
Although this too is asking me for too much.
Even today, after the sunset, Hanekawa will come here -- I have something to say to her. Until then I'll rest and I'll make myself ready. Well, the vampire body is 'always preserving conditions healthy', so even without any sleeping I am always ready, but if I had to say it this is taking care of my spirit.
Today is already April 5th.
Spring Break, if you notice, is already ending.
I really wonder if I would safely be able to return a human before the new school term -- if the new term started, obviously a playful reason like self-searching won't be accepted -- while thinking that I fell asleep.
Thought it seems vampires usually sleep in coffins -- like Kissshot and Oshino, I sleep on a bed made with desks.
And then, when I awoke, it was already evening.
I didn't dream.
Somehow it seems vampires don't dream.
Thinking about it well, I calculated that after I became a vampire I have been sleeping 12 hours a day, but since it's hard to be active while the sun is out, I can't help it.
Sleep brings up a child well.
Kissshot is still sleeping -- it's not like she is really brought up by sleeping, however this state of affairs where the moment I wake up there’s a blonde beauty sleeping next to me, in a sense it was more bewildering than when Kissshot looked like a young girl.
It seemed Hanekawa -- had yet to come.
Even Oshino is not back yet.
Since he understood Hanekawa was coming, if he was really avoiding on purpose a meeting with Hanekawa, for the time being he won't come back.
This is not a rehearsal, but I waited Hanekawa while rereading the Gakuen Inou Batoru manga returned after Oshino briefly finished reading them.
I had finished five volumes when Hanekawa turned up.
I got lost, she said.
As usual -- as Oshino once said, that was the barrier's effect. It's a really troublesome barrier -- well on the other hand, you can say that as a hideout while Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade was regaining her power it was really the best.
Covered by the fee.
Actually, the barrier was something that Oshino did by himself.
The balance -- he said.
"Good morning, Araragi-kun"
Putting aside the flashlight, Hanekawa sat on a chair.
She is wearing the school uniform.
Since her blouse and her school sweater were torn by the attack of Episode last night, I secretly hoped today I could have been able to see Hanekawa in her plain clothes, but somehow it seems my hope was betrayed.
"Betrayer"
"Hmm? What? What is it? Am I betraying Araragi-kun?"
"No, I was talking to myself"
Or rather, it was a selfish talk.
So she has spare uniforms, huh.
I hear girl uniforms can be damaged easily after all.
"Hanekawa, how is the stomach wound?"
"Even if you say wound -- there is no wound left"
"Really. I wonder, let me have a look at it"
"What ‘I wonder'?"
She got angry.
I said it quite seriously though.
However, I confirmed it thoroughly yesterday night, also Hanekawa herself says she is fine, so perhaps it's all right.
She was treated with vampire blood.
I worried afterwards that if I do that, there could be the risk that Hanekawa turns into a vampire, but when asked the specialist Oshino, it seems there is nothing to fear.
Turning into a vampire and immortality appear to be somehow different systems -- or rather, there isn't much connection between them. Neither ability has the other as a byproduct, they are completely separate.
"If it can heal the injuries of others, then the vampire is not so evil, I think -- well, to begin with, if I didn't turn into a vampire, you wouldn't have got that big wound though"
"You're right"
Ahaha, laughs Hanekawa.
After that, she glances towards Kissshot who kept lying around over the lined-up desks,
"Ah, it's really true, she grew up -- Heartunderblade-san"
She said.
"Wow, she has become quite the beauty. Her features remained...... but with this she almost looks like a different person"
"Even a girl thinks so?"
"Everybody would think so...... though the hairdo became a ponytail, even when she sleeps she doesn't untie it"
Hmmm, hums Hanekawa.
It seems she thought of something.
Well, if you think about it a female may be more sensitive to female features.
Hanekawa after this spent some time thinking, however in the end she didn't say nothing, she returned the glance from Kissshot to me, and from inside the bag she was carrying,
"Here, Araragi-kun. Coca-Cola. I bought it for you"
She took out the beverage she had bought from an automatic vending machine in that area, and she offered it to my stretched hand.
I take it.
"Ah -- thank you"
"Incidentally, my share is a Diet Coke"
"Huh"
"Since your muscles grow spontaneously, no matter how many calories you consume now, you shouldn't become fat, I guess? Then as a girl I am envious"
"I don't know. Well, if I had to say it then I feel like I don't have any appetite. Like I am unconcerned with eating"
Even Kissshot doesn't eat much.
I guess it feels like instead of eating because you are hungry, eating because they are delicious luxury groceries.
"The food of vampires is blood, isn't it?"
"Ah, yes it is"
"By the way, do you have something like an impulse to suck blood?"
"Hm? No -- on that subject, I don't"
Although I'm a vampire.
It seems Kissshot now doesn't have the ability to suck blood, said Oshino -- I wonder if I'm like that too?
I never thought about it.
"......Do you know the difference between the taste of Coca-Cola and that of Diet Coke, Hanekawa?"
"I know it"
"I don't know it well"
"Uhmm. ......I have reflected on this thing"
"Hm?"
"A new product development. One beverage company successfully produced a Diet Cola whose taste was perfectly identical to Coca-Cola"
"Oh"
"It's just that the color was blue hawaii"
"That's not Coca-Cola!"
I ended up laughing.
It was a little funny.
And then -- I laugh for a while, and I took a breath.
Class rep of class reps.
Honor student.
Excellent grades.
Only such expressions came out before speaking about Hanekawa Tsubasa, I thought she was a narrow-minded, inflexible person -- I thought she was a self-important class rep, and yet if you try talking with her, she is not like that at all.
The conversation is enjoyable, and she is always thinking about her companions.
And yet yesterday she had to go through that.
She hasn't even blamed me yet.
After April started, she has been meeting with me everyday -- perhaps, if Hanekawa didn't do so, I wonder if my heart would have given in.
The anxiety about whether I can turn back into a human. The anxiety of having to fight vampire exorcism specialists -- if I lower my guard a little, my insecurities will assail me.
For Kissshot, a vampire who basically brags about being the strongest, it may be a feeling difficult to understand, and Oshino to begin with doesn't care about that -- however Hanekawa dissolved my anxiety.
It's not something regarding last night only.
How much I am helped by Hanekawa.
Saved by her.
I believed I knew it, until that stupid accident happened last night -- it was like I couldn't sense how much she has done for me.
Therefore.
I must talk with Hanekawa.
I have something to tell her.
"Hanekawa"
"Hm?"
"It's better if you don't come here anymore"
"......Hmm"
Hanekawa, with a smiling face -- got up from the chair, and came near me.
"Well, I thought you would have told me so"
"Please, don't get hurt -- it's different from the other times. Even the other times of course I didn't want to drag you in...... honestly, I went too far when I didn't restrain my feelings. I regret those outbursts of anger. But now it's different"
"......In which way it's different?"
"Yesterday, when the cross of Episode hollowed your flank......, I lost control of myself. I thought the blood in the head stopped...... like dead"
"Me?"
"Me"
Though I have an immortal body -- I thought I died.
It hurt like it was my own wound.
"Have I talked about the strength of a human?"
"............"
"Your wound hurt me like it was my own. No -- it hurt more than if it was done to me. Hanekawa, I"
I said.
Since last night I have been thinking many ways to say it, however in the end I could only speak straightforwardly.
"I don't think I want to turn back into a human even at the cost of belittling you"
"......Belittling me"
Hanekawa says with some perplexity.
"I won't let you do that to me, though"
"However, are you thinking about what you are doing? This is the precious period of Spring Break, and you are wasting it for the sake of someone like me -- on top of that you were on the verge of death. Are you thinking about what you are doing?"
"At......at all?"
As if being told this was rather unexpected, Hanekawa shook her head fluttering.
"I lost my memory and I don't remember it well, but the fact I was on the verge of death was my fault, right? If I had to say it, you didn't have to save me"
"You are not reflecting upon it in that manner"
I understand Hanekawa is saying this seriously.
I understand she doesn't want me to be concerned.
It's not hypocrisy.
She is really a good person.
However – it is because she is that strong.
For this reason, she is in danger.
"I don't know"
"............"
"If I were in the same situation, I'm not sure I could save you. For example if we switched place, I wouldn't have the confidence to pull off something like that. In front of that dangerous guy, I wouldn't have the confidence to expose a body that is not even immortal -- but you normally do it"
I tried to choose my words, but -- it was in vain.
I can't choose them.
There was only one word to describe Hanekawa.
"You are scary"
"......Scary, you say"
"Frankly, you draw me away"
I say, looking downward.
"Don't get hurt. It's not my intention, but I can't really understand why you do so much for me. I'm just a classmate you got acquainted with recently, I don't understand how you could become so devoted to me -- you are like a saint"
A saint.
Or the mother of one.
"But your self-sacrifice would be too tough for me. I don't even have the capacity to bear it all. It's not a matter of getting healed or not getting healed -- if I think about you getting yourself injured for my sake...... my body won't move. That is what I’m scared of, I can't fight Guillotinecutter like this"
"This isn't self-sacrifice"
Hereupon, Hanekawa --
said with a tone of voice a little angry.
"This is not self-sacrifice"
"Then what is it?"
"It's self-satisfaction"
Hanekawa says with a quiet tone.
"Araragi-kun. You are misunderstanding me -- I'm not such a good person, and I am not strong either. I am just doing what I want to do...... I think that perhaps there isn't a person that thinks only about herself as much as me"
"............"
"If you knew the real me, Araragi-kun, you will surely be disappointed"
It troubles me you have such a false impression of me.
Hanekawa laughs.
"I am deceitful, and unyielding. Enough to repel you, at least"
"......You are bluffing"
"It's not a bluff, it's all true. Even with you, I am just doing things because I want to do them. Therefore there is nothing you should worry about"
"Hanekawa......"
"However"
Hanekawa clapped her hands in front of her chest. And like that, with hands still joined,
"If my presence makes difficult for you to move, then it would be a prime case of getting my priorities wrong"
She said.
"You have already enough Gakuen Inou Batoru manga, it's time for me to retire from my purchase duty. Even if you read some more, it will just go over your head. Indeed, it doesn't seem there anything I can do anymore"
"No, there is something you could do"
I said, gazing firmly at Hanekawa's face.
I said, gazing steadily at her.
"Wait"
"............"
"In the new term, in that school. Wait for me"
That's tough, I think.
I do understand how much agony and anxiety is involved in waiting a person who could never come back.
After this, I will fight the most dangerous vampire extermination specialist among the three, the one who everyone is wary of, and even assuming I will clear the stage, I don't really know if I will be able to turn back into a human -- despite this, I want you to wait for me.
"I will look forward from the bottom of my heart to still be able to talk with you"
"......Oh"
I don't know why, but Hanekawa here moved back one step.
Her eyes seemed somehow happy.
"Pipipi, pipipi, pipipi"
"Hm? What's that sound?"
"The sound of heartbeats"
"Eh? A girl’s heartbeats have that sound effect?"
It's also a sound that resembles an alarm clock!
"That was close, I was about to fall in love"
"You could have dug -- things like a hot spring or oil?" {slightly homophone verbs}
That's grand.
She must be rich.
"You always use that trick to hit on a girl"
"Hm? Oh no. I'm not following you, and to begin with I have almost never talked to girls"
"You talk like a womanizer. And yet you bought that ecchi book"
"Ugh......!"
No, that's because I am a boy.
I couldn't help it.
"My goodness"
Saying so.
Hanekawa tried to stretch herself to the limits, after that her facial expression became resoluted, and in that state she inserted her hands inside the hem of the pleated skirt of her uniform.
I thought she would once again flip up her skirt for me, but, no matter what, Hanekawa didn't do such thing devoid of logical connection.
Instead she took off her panties.
She lowered her pink panties with a lace surrounding the edge, and while taking care that the rubber band part didn't come in contact with the bottom of the shoes, she pull it out from both legs.
There is no need to say I was frozen.
It was a supreme absence of logical connection.
"Er...... Here"
While her face obviously was turning red form the embarrassment, Hanekawa presented that underwear squished into a tiny ball to me.
"To speak like in the scene just before the climax in Gakuen Inou Batoru"
Hanekawa says it bashfully in her state.
"I will lend them to you. You'll return them to me when we'll meet in the new term"
"......Wait a minute. In the first manga you bought me there was certainly that scene, but if I remember well in that occasion the item used was a necklace the heroin wore"
"I don't wear any necklace"
Hanekawa says, fidgeting pinning down her skirt.
"Araragi-kun, you like panties, don't you?"
"............!"
I won't deny it!
I won't deny it!?
Since denying that affects the identity of Araragi Koyomi, I absolutely can’t deny it!?
Araragi Koyomi won't say no!
Hey, wait a second!
"E-Errr"
"Ah, if you don’t want them"
"No, I'm not saying I don't want them. This is not a matter of wanting them or not wanting them. Uh-huh. Let me see, you were saying I can return them when we meet in the new term?"
While I felt slightly surprised that female underwear becomes so small when you take it off, at my wit's end, I took that cloth.
A gentle warmth fills my palm.
"......Sorry. I won't give them back"
"E-Eh?"
"In fact, I will never give them back. They will be inherited by my descendants as an heirloom of the Araragi family"
"Please quit it!"
"These panties parted with your body for good"
"I don't believe this!"
"I won't give the panties back, but in exchange"
I say.
I strike a mighty pose.
"I will absolutely repay my debt. When you need it, even if I won't be able to do anything, I will absolutely be there -- repaying my debt with you from today will be my purpose in life"
"Listen up, return the panties"
No matter how cool were my words, they had no effect.
Hmmmm.
Words are powerless.
Hanekawa says.
"After this I must go back home commando, moreover with this low security skirt...... Araragi-kun, compared to this, defeating the man called Guillotinecutter is not so difficult, is it?"
"You are right"
No matter how hard is the battle --
If I think about that I am outstripped.
Surely it's no different from an easy victory.
"Well then, good luck"
"Good luck"
Let's meet in the new term.
Smiling, we knocked our fists.
The new term after the end of the Spring Break.
I will look forward to meeting Hanekawa.
I will look forward to be in the same class.
I.
I have renewed my resolution to return a human.
While the memory of that farewell of Hanekawa was still lingering, about three hours after she went home, with Kissshot at last going to open her eyes, Oshino came back to the ruins of the cram school -- unusually for him, he had a grave facial expression.
"I'm sorry, I messed up"
And then with a voice suited to that facial expression, Oshino said.
"Class rep-chan has been kidnapped"