Here is chapter 4. Sorry for the delay guys, life has its challenges for everyone and I couldn't really find the time or the dedication in the free time I had available to write much. I'm trying for a comeback nowadays, so expect chapter 5 in the next days!
I'll also put in underlined parenthesis what I was listening to, when writing certain scenes of the chapters. If some of you like to read while listening to OSTS from the show, like me, you can match the scenes with the proper OST.
23rd February. 7 :14 pm
(Theme of the scene: Suteki Meppou )
"I see."
Ononoki Yotsugi. A girl who saved my life many times just finished listening to my explanation of today's events at Naoetsu, including that girl's attitude, and more importantly, Senjougahara's response to it.
"This is just jealousy isn't it? So I said, with a posed look."
Where the hell did that expression come back from? Is this the throwback Thursday trend? First Senjougahara with her stationery weapons, now Ononoki with her old and weird way to conclude her statements?!
"Didn't you drop that off out of embarrassment? Why are you using that again? And no, that's not it! Can't you use your brain more efficiently?!"
This is getting nowhere if specialists aren't taking this seriously. I need to speak to Gaen. A part of me somehow doesn't want to, but I can't be greedy and start being selfish. Why can't the world understand how big the problem is already?! Senjougahara yielded to someone.
She yielded.
Hello?! Isn't this big enough to be on the news?!
Crap. I'm starting to panic. Not good, not good.
"Big brother, I'd appreciate it if you could stop yelling at my doll. What's with this perverted hobby, uh?"
"Shut up, Tsukihi. I'm not in the mood for your childish complaints. Just get rid of your clothes and wait in the bath for me."
My sister, Tsukihi, barged in with a spoon in her mouth and started to harass me once more. It's about time she learns her place and I shall thoroughly pound that knowledge into her. By any means necessary.
Gulp.
I'm getting carried away.
"The hell you think you are? I already bathed anyway, creep! I don't care anymore, die!"
And there goes the annoying sister. Tsukihi disappeared behind the door she slammed shut. My strategy was flawless and worked wonders. Man, I have years of experience honing this incredible technique. I'm proud of myself if I may say so.
Ononoki decided to voice her opinion just after that, in a very noticeable and lasting way.
"Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."
"You shut up too! Aaaaah! You're all getting on my case today, even more than usual!"
Just as I was despairing for someone to be a little more serious about this situation, my phone began to ring. Ononoki was trying to say something else but refrained herself as she heard the ringtone.
"Hello, Koyomin. How are you? Stressed? Irritated? Horny, maybe?"
Ugh. Gaen. She truly knows everything, doesn't she?
"Who would be that despicable to be horny in the presence of a dead corpse and their two sisters?"
I managed to say that while staying quite composed. There you go, me. Well done!
I'm secretly basking in delight while I direct my eyes away from anything in front of me, unaware of the looming retorts to come.
"Why are you averting your gaze from me as if you were speaking to me, devil boy? Instinctively hiding your embarrassment by looking away isn't going to work you know. You are speaking to someone else through the phone."
"Oh, Ononoki is there? Good, good. What were you doing alone with her in a room? Oh well."
Somebody kill me already. Oh wait, I can't die. You know, since I became Shinobu's thrall and all. No use to get a flashback to explain everything again right? Today may be a trip down memory lane to some, but not to me!
"There are further disturbances in town lately. You didn't happen to do anything naughty, Koyomin? Teehee."
Damn this woman. I really can't wrap my head around what she's going about most of the time.
"First things first, Ononoki is there because YOU told her to stay in OUR house. I'm living here so naturally I will end up being in the same room one way or another. Secondly, I don't even know what's happening so even if I did something, that would be without me being conscious about it. Finally, I'm the one who should be shooting questions there!"
"Oh yes, yes. There is quite an aberration running around for a few days already. It's escaping my net by a hair's breadth each time I'm trying to get information. I have my suppositions about what it is, but I can't be sure until…"
Gaen cut her sentence short and continued.
"Anyway, what were you talking about with Ononoki?"
"A strange attitude Senjougahara had at school, and a returning student we met today."
"Tell me more, Koyomin. You got me interested. Come on. Tell me everything about it."
What are you, a high-school girl waiting for love stories to be told?! Anyway, I told Gaen everything I just spoke about with Ononoki a few instants ago.
"Eeeeh. So it IS true then. Thanks, that has been very informative."
I feel like I'm missing the point, because I barely said anything close to being informative. It looks like it was enough for the know-it-all woman.
"Wait, wait, wait! You're not going to hang up on me now Gaen, you're an adult who will properly explain everything to ensure nothing goes wrong, right?"
"Mmmmmh… The only thing I can say is that if you meddle too much, there might be some complications to the case for me, you and your entourage. Then again, it's Koyomin we are talking about so… Whatever. Bye-bi!"
She hung up. Ononoki is still staring at me in her usual deadpan way.
"What is the matter you talked about that an adult needs to explain properly to be sure nothing goes wrong, devil boy?"
…
"Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep."
"Shut it!"
24th February. 8:03 am.
(Theme of the scene: Shikigami )
This is the kind of morning you wake up with a headache so strong, you'd wish to get an anesthesia so you would not feel anything at all anymore. Don't ask me why this is happening, it seems there's too many things I can't explain lately.
I barely said anything at all when I came to meet my sisters in the kitchen. Every word they spoke to me seemed like an irritating noise to my ears and I couldn't even decipher them. It's like my brain was on low-battery mode, having its functions to the bare minimum required to keep me alive. A sensation I'm sympathetic enough to not wish for anyone to experience.
The state I'm currently in makes me irritated, agitated and angry. I'm very well aware of that and I want to go back to being the Araragi Koyomi who skipped classes.
At least just for today.
But be it as it may, I'm still thinking this is a bad idea. One person pops up in the mess my head is in, and it's Senjougahara. She's trying so hard to make me study and make me become a proper student so that I may take my entrance exams and end up going to the same university together. As horrible as I may be feeling right now, I still have a duty to fulfill. Not only as a student, for myself and my future but as a boyfriend too.
Also, why am I thinking so much on the way to school? Especially on the day I'm feeling under the weather and have bells constantly ringing in my head, feeling like it's splitting apart? I usually don't go into such introspection when I feel alright. Is it related to the fact that depressed people are processing way more thoughts than people who aren't? I heard that when you feel really bad, you think more than usual? Anyway, Araragi Koyomi wondering about all this is strange, if I got to be honest.
I want to go home. But I'm not going to. I need to be there and see if anything else happens to Senjougahara. It's the least I could do. As she said not so long ago, I need to keep trying hard so that she doesn't lose interest in me. There is no absolute in terms of human relationships.
A sudden gust of wind cut into my bones, instilling an unpleasant and chilling sensation in my body and putting a halt to my thoughts. I still really can't understand how can Hanekawa enjoy such weather this early in the morning at this time of the year.
Wait. Isn't that-
Yes, it's her. She is standing in front of the gates. Lost in my thoughts, I also lost track of my journey to Naoetsu High. I'm a few meters away from there already and there she is, looking over the tall building which sits behind said gates.
Michiko Yamane.
I get chills. This must be because of the cold wind blowing over us, for sure. Not because of her long hair swaying under the wind's breath, the deep black contrasting with her pearl-like skin void of any imperfection. Her gaze is distant. It's as though she is looking at nothingness, as if she is the only one in the world to distinguish a form out of it.
She sighs. I don't know if it's me, but her sigh held some kind of heaviness I can't explain. I'm not one to decipher these kinds of things usually but for Michiko… for this girl, somehow...
I can tell. Definitely.
There's something pulling me in towards her. I really want to help her, more than anyone else. I know a part of me is pushing me to just go in and check on Senjougahara, but my feelings are telling me I should bring assistance to Michiko. If we take matters from an objective point of view, I'm sure anyone would help their lover before a fellow schoolmate. It's a weird sensation to reverse the importance of these two girls, but...
If I was going to ignore Michiko, I feel like I would lose my identity as Araragi Koyomi. I'm sure Senjougahara would understand. That being said, I can't just walk up to her and straight up ask her to rely on me. I may be an idiot sometimes, I still learn from my mistakes. And I want to correct them whenever I have the possibility to do so.
(Theme of the scene: Kaii no Ou )
"My master. This is unbefitting of a gentleman's expected attitude. I figured I'd stop you before you are caught red handed."
Whoa! Shinobu's voice rings through my ears, or more precisely my mind. Wait… Shinobu…?
"Shinobu?! Aren't you supposed to be asleep by now?"
"I sure am but I had a bad feeling as you got near that girl. It woke me up and I felt like I needed to be there in case you would do something inappropriate. You're truly impossible to tame. And here I thought you had enough activities with the purple haired one..."
"Leave me alone! Go back to sleep, you donuts lover. As if I would do anything remotely close to what you were thinking. Get off my case already!"
Everyone is just assuming I'm a dog in heat or something lately! Give me a break…
"I wonder about that…"
Just as she says these words, I sense her presence diminishing within my shadow and my mind.
Sheesh… Shinobu can be such a handful whenever she's acting like that.
Ah. Michiko already left. This inner argument will make me late if I keep standing here. I'd better go to class. I don't want to be the center of attention this early in the day as the one who came in late. I have other things to think of.
23rd February. 1:06 pm.
(Theme of the scene: Shichigatsu Juugonichi )
Everyone is probably enjoying their meal, happily chatting with their friends or lovers, while I am still sitting alone in the classroom. By the way, Senjougahara is absent today, which makes me worried to some extent. But strangely enough, I'm not focusing on her absence.
Morning periods went by, and I didn't listen to anything that was being said during class. Model student my ass. I'm not even close to being what's expected of me, I'm a failure as Senjougahara's boyfriend. Not to mention a failure as a student, for myself. As you may have expected it by now, the only thing I was thinking of all that time is about the transfer student.
No.
The returning student.
And here is the problem I'm currently facing: The last girl who made such a lasting impression on me was Senjougahara. Are the seeds of doubt sprouting within me…? Does Araragi Koyomi, really questions his love- no, his faithfulness to the one he loves, that same one who loves his pitiful self?
I need to calm down. This can't be something this serious, this grave.
I'm overreacting.
Chill, me. Collect your thoughts and answer logically to this equation.
Prove that Araragi Koyomi isn't in love with Senjougahara Hitagi anymore since the arrival of Michiko Yamane. You may make use of the parameter named Hanekawa Tsubasa.
"The answer is…"
" e^(i*π) + 1 = 0. Remember that, Araragi ? If the final result is zero, in other words, nothing… what's the point in making an equation in the first place?"
The voice of Oshino Meme's niece reaches me, as I look up to her standing in front of the blackboard. It brings me back to last summer.
Oshino Ougi. I had been thinking about her lately, and there she is. Always inviting herself, at the most unexpected moments.
I omit her statement as she showed up.
"Hello, Ougi. It's been a while. Did you already eat?"
I'm trying to change subject here. In other words, I'm trying to run from it. To be frank, I don't want Ougi to be caught in my problems.
"What a mean person you are, Araragi. To think that you would forget you promised me to eat together today… We passed by each other the other day, and you told me 'Let's eat tomorrow, it's been a while since we last talked after all!' I was really looking forward to it, you know? Uwaaaah. Araragi is so mean to me."
Did I really…? Ougi looks dead serious though. I probably forgot. I mean it's not that unbelievable, between my inner turmoil, my headache still not leaving me alone since this morning, and the recent events happening… I can totally see myself forgetting about such a thing. I'm indeed mean. I should apologize.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, Ougi. There's just so much going through my head right now that I forgot about it. Let me make amends for it and buy you lunch."
"Waaaaai. Then I want the deluxe menu."
Oi. There's a limit to what my wallet can afford. I usually only buy the deluxe in January because I got some money from New Year! It's February! Everything's gone, you know?!
But I can't refuse. I'm the one in the wrong to begin with. I'll just eat instant ramen for the next few days…
"There you go."
I give her the sum of money she'd need and stand up so we could get there.
"Stay here, I'll eat later. I'd rather have something else as an apology. You look really tormented, Araragi."
"Do I? I don't-…"
But I get cut off as she butts in.
"You just need to accept my request, you imbecile."
…
"Why do you know about what I'm… No, what do you know exactly?"
"I don't know anything. You are the one who knows, Araragi."
Her smile is making me feel uneasy. She leans on the teacher's desk, right by the blackboard and seems like she's not just looking at me, but right through me.
Oshino Ougi really is a mystery to me.
A dark mystery, as deep as the "darkness".
But this will be a story for another day.
Ayy. Now we all know what's the deal with Ougi right? Owarimonogatari season 2 was amazing.
But at this point in the timeline... he's convinced that she's the "darkness" so I'll make him stay true to himself.
Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter of Yakomonogatari.