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TSUBASA
This isn't Hanekawa's room?
Big Brother, welcome ho...
There were about six rooms.
But in that house, the Hanekawa household, Tsubasa Hanekawa had no room.
Hanekawa can't take that.
Nothing could be done. Fixing it's impossible. In a word, madness!
That house... That family... That household...
It's already past the point of no return. It's done for!
Gosh, you're a mess, Big Brother. There, there. You were scared, huh?
Go ahead.
That's gross!
Is that any way to treat my devotion?
It's educational guidance! How much are you sisters living in that moment?
It can't be helped! I'm your little sister!
Even so, you worried me.
Because you didn't come home at all.
Huh?
Karen and I were worried you may have run into a ghost or something.
Ghost?
Yeah, more like a monster cat though...
Monster cat?
Yup, it's only a rumor, so I can't say much, but...
...apparently, a cat ghost in the form of a human is assaulting people all over town.
ENERGY DRAIN
When did that story start?
The rumor came my way this afternoon.
That's why I was worried about you and called you like a madman.
When I found out you weren't involved, I felt relieved...
...but in this situation, as avatars of justice, the Fire Sisters can't keep quiet.
Karen's preparing to hunt the monster cat now!
Well...
What's wrong? What do you mean, "Well"?
Well, I was thinking I don't know what to do.
Riding my bike at night was scary enough, but...
...hearing about a scary monster cat has me shivering, and as a chicken, I can't sleep alone.
So I was thinking maybe you and Karen could sleep with me...
...but if you're going out for justice, I guess I'll have to give up.
You were my only hope...
What? We were your only hope? I guess it can't be helped!
You're so scared I feel sorry for you, so I'll convince Karen!
We'll leave the monster-cat hunt to the police!
Thanks.
With the random energy draining, I don't get what the Sawari Neko's after.
But do I have the right to know?
Before that, do I think I want to know about that?
I trespassed on the Hanekawas, discovered their state of affairs, and lost my composure that much.
Maybe there are things in life I don't have to know about.
If I'm going to arbitrarily admire her and get disillusioned, maybe I shouldn't know about it.
Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so deeply involved with Hanekawa back then.
I shouldn't have worried about the gauze. But that's just picking and choosing.
I just want to like, have hope for, and admire her.
She helped me so much during spring break...
I just couldn't understand.
The only thing that was clear was the fact that I didn't know anything about her.
If this is love, it's foolish.
After the talk I had with Tsukihi, I just felt so embarrassed.
But when I think about Hanekawa even now, my heart feels like it's going to be ripped apart.
MAY 2ND
May 1st and also May 2nd...
MAY 1ST May 1st and also May 2nd...
May 1st and also May 2nd...
...Hanekawa didn't come to school.
MAY 2ND SATURDAY ...Hanekawa didn't come to school.
MAY 2ND SATURDAY
MAY 2ND SATURDAY After school on the 2nd, rumors of the monster cat had spread...
After school on the 2nd, rumors of the monster cat had spread...
NAOETSU HIGH SCHOOL After school on the 2nd, rumors of the monster cat had spread...
After school on the 2nd, rumors of the monster cat had spread...
...including a few sightings too.
I could guess the Sawari Neko's activities.
Before vacation started back up the next day on May 3rd, I went to the vacant building Oshino lived in.
O-Oshino?
Hey, Araragi, I was waiting.
I figured you'd be here soon.
I was hoping to be healed by then.
I used these miraculous bandages on you the other day.
Oshino, what happened?
What happened, you ask? Nothing in particular.
I just lost.
Y-You lost? To what?
BLACK SCENE
BLACK SCENE What else?
What else?
To the Sawari Neko.
Counting the night of April 30th, in the past 3 days...
...we battled about 20 times, and I lost about 20 times.
So you completely lost!
A complete loss. I'm a mere shadow of myself.
Man, a high schooler in lingerie is temptation to an old man's eyes.
I was so preoccupied by that, I couldn't really battle.
Man, sucking up the vitality of a middle-aged man whose energy is completely exhausted...
Th-The Sawari Neko is that strong an apparition that a pro like you got overwhelmed?
No, that's not it. I mentioned it the other day too.
They're no match for your vampire attacker.
It's more like they're a lower-class apparition not even worth the comparison.
Huh? You said there was a disparity compared to vampires...
...but not that it was a low-class apparition.
If I had, you would've said you could help too. That's why I didn't tell you that much.
They're actually at a level that depending on how you play your cards, you can easily beat them.
But...
Of course, I didn't go easy on it. I tackled it full force.
But I lost.
Sawari Neko are small fries.
They pretend to be dead on the road and haunt sympathizers.
A substitution-type ghost. The type that takes over bodies.
Then they slam the body's owner to the abyss of sorrow like the god of poverty.
You could say they're like a template of a ghost.
BLACK SCENE
But the fact it was Class Prez who's been haunted was the one irregularity of this situation.
Even though it's usually a small fry, she's pulling the Sawari Neko up to its strongest, rivaling even vampires.
What's not good is it's sharing knowledge more than the body.
My ancient anti-apparition strategies, techniques, and methods...
Everything's completely overturned.
She knows all the professional knowledge that the pros have. She knows everything.
I've never heard of an apparition that attacks humans with strategy and tactics.
I was aware of it from the start, but she really is no ordinary person.
The skills she attacks with aren't an apparition's.
Wait a second. The skills she attacks with?
Oshino, that's like saying Hanekawa is proactively attacking people.
Well, that's most likely it.
They shouldn't be that kind of apparition though.
But, Araragi, it may not be such a bad thing that I'm having this much trouble.
This development shows that Class Prez still exists inside of the Sawari Neko.
That's how I'm taking it. If Class Prez indeed wasn't inside there anymore...
...and her body and knowledge were all taken over, this wouldn't have happened.
A good amount of her consciousness most likely exists inside the Sawari Neko.
That's why it's tough.
While this is terrible information, it also has an element of relief.
Why? Where is there relief?
Because if she'd been completely taken over, then that's the end.
We'd have to kill her.
We have to salvage Class Prez's consciousness while it still exists.
If we don't hunt the monster cat...
...your precious friend named Tsubasa Hanekawa will be completely gone from this world.
There was a dead white cat on the street.
A man who felt bad for the cat buried it and then prayed for it.
Starting that night, he started to act eccentrically.
Those around him couldn't stand it, so they gave up and called a shaman to drive away the monster cat.
But here's the punch line. Sawari Neko's true value.
There never was a cat haunting this good man in the first place.
BLACK SCENE
I don't know if it's an irrational punch line or a surprise one, but this is an apparition story with a moral.
No person exists that is just virtuous, and kindness is only something piled on the outside.
There's always something behind it. If there's light, there's darkness.
If there's white, there's black.
The story itself clearly shows the other side of humans.
But why is it a cat?
Because cats are something you wear.
Meaning Class Prez was wearing a cat's mask.
There are no humans with just virtue and fairness. Rather, they try to be that and just build up stress.
Black as black.
Even then, cats are just masks, but for some reason...
...Class Prez is completely integrated with the Sawari Neko.
If the cat becomes the real form, it's more absorption than integration.
It's seriously a strong enemy. Or maybe more like invincible.
If we don't end this quickly, it'll be bad.
Even to the extent of the punch line where there was no cat haunting her from the beginning.
We have to do something before Class Prez and the cat completely fuse together.
MAY 3RD CONSTITUTIONAL MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY
NAOETSU PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL
RED SCENE
The truth is that Ms. Hanekawa's big *** are always being pressed against this desk.
Are you a pervert without a credit limit?
Scary... Scarier than an apparition.
You were aroused by licking a girl's desk.
N-No!
More importantly, h-how and when did you come in!
More importantly? Human, nothing's more important than you licking my mistress's desk!
I have no idea what you mean! Regardless, I'd never admit anything in court!
NYAHAHAHA
What? That didn't seem like animosity, human.
I can't do anything about you anyway, cat.
Plus, it's not like you'll take my life, right?
Well, we'll see about that.
My energy drain isn't a skill. It's a character setting.
It's not something I can control. Even if I go easy, I can't control the degree.
Even if I don't mean to, there's still a chance I could kill you.
Even so, it's a little better that you didn't immediately bite and scratch me.
If you did that, I'd be helpless.
NYAHAHAHA VAMPIRE A vampire, huh?
A vampire, huh?
Well, they're a superior apparition I couldn't normally fight.
But my mistress's tactics and strategies...
...let me become an entity who can overwhelm even a specialist. I'm grateful for that.
I don't return favors. I'm more the type that returns evil for good...
...but in this case, I thought maybe I should return the favor due to my gratefulness.
VAMPIRE ...but in this case, I thought maybe I should return the favor due to my gratefulness.
BLACK SCENE
Even if we have this energy drain trait, I'm sure a Sawari Neko's and a vampire's are different.
A vampire's energy drain is their meal...
MEAL A vampire's energy drain is their meal...
A vampire's energy drain is their meal...
...while a Sawari Neko's is a curse.
CURSE ...while a Sawari Neko's is a curse.
...while a Sawari Neko's is a curse.
Well, that's right.
But what I don't get is why you're attacking people left and right.
Speaking of types, a Sawari Neko isn't normally the type of apparition that attacks people, right?
Hey, cat, are you...
Well, it's for amusement's sake.
The reason for attacking people. It's just amusement.
Like ding-*** ditch! Like graffiti on a wall! It's the same as those!
It's to relieve stress!
To relieve stress, you say?
That's... Wait, what do you mean?
This meaning, that meaning... It's like you heard.
- You saw the inside of that house, right? - That house?
My mistress's.
I already know. Cats have a pretty good sense of smell.
When I went home to change, the house was filled with your scent.
BLACK SCENE When I went home to change, the house was filled with your scent.
BLACK SCENE
In that house and that family, my mistress spent 15 years there.
Can't you just imagine what kind of pressure was torturing her there?
I am relieving that by playing pranks on those random good citizens.
That's all there is to it. My actions disregard harming or cursing.
Disregard...
Apparitions do that?
I'm a possession-type apparition taking over my mistress's body. Meaning I've taken over her brain...
That's why I know how my mistress spent the last 15 years in that house.
That's why I'm giving her a hand in relieving all that stress.
But if that's the case, you don't have to attack unrelated people.
Unfortunately this is the only way I know.
Evil deeds are fun. It's fun because strangers you don't know are troubled.
It's neither a reason nor a quibble.
At the very least, for a character that's taken a turn for the worse, aren't I a little rounded out now?
Compared to the time I ripped off your arm.
- I've thought about that. - Right?
Which means what I'm doing is working. That's how it is, so relax.
After we attack 500 more people, all her stress should be gone.
If that happens, the apparition that I am will finish my role and repay her, and disappear.
So tell that man in the Hawaiian shirt to not get in my way.
I don't really understand, but he wants to help my mistress, right?
Then just leave that up to me.
Why are you going that far?
You're just an evil spirit that decided to haunt her.
There should be no reason to actively do something for her.
Haven't I said it many times already? It's not like me, but it's to return the favor.
That's actually a lie.
To be honest, I don't feel any reason to return the favor...
...other than being given all that knowledge.
What are you saying? When you were killed by a car, Hanekawa buried you.
Weren't you supposed to be taking advantage of that sympathy?
No, that's not so. As a phenomenon, that is indeed what happened.
My mistress picked me up from the ground, went to a spot with a nice view, and buried me.
I recognize that, no mistake.
THE CAT'S GRAVE
My mistress had absolutely no sympathy towards me.
She held a service on the road for the dead me like it was fixed, routine work.
With no emotion whatsoever... She didn't have any sympathy for me.
There was no space for me to take advantage of.
But Hanekawa is...
To be an ordinary girl is my mistress's one and only wish.
If you see a dead cat on the street, bury them.
Well, you could say that's the right thing. We could call it a rule. A formula.
Meaning my mistress abided by that rule and formula. That's all.
"Ordinarily," rules and formulas won't be adhered to.
Even if people know it's the right and beautiful thing to do, most of them won't bury a dead cat.
TSUBASA HANEKAWA Even if people know it's the right and beautiful thing to do, most of them won't bury a dead cat.
They may think it, but they won't act.
They can't do it emotionally or physically, but Hanekawa managed to.
TSUBASA HANEKAWA WILL
NEVER BE ABLE TO
BE A NORMAL GIRL.
Right, she did. With no emotion.
She's able to be moral like a machine, without thinking.
Even for me, who's had so many services. It made me curious.
IT WAS JUST SO DARK Even for me, who's had so many services. It made me curious.
That's why...
IT WAS JUST SO BLUISH BLACK That's why...
That's why...
...I wanted to help her.
CLASSROOM
In short, it was on a whim. That's like a cat, right?
So make sure to tell that Hawaiian-shirt guy to let some cat's mischief slide...
...if he doesn't want to be sued for animal abuse. Because I'm overlooking it.
What do you mean?
DON'T YOU GET IT?
DON'T YOU GET IT? Don't you get it?
Don't you get it?
IF I WAS If I was...
MORE LIKE IF MY MISTRESS WAS More like if my mistress was...
More like if my mistress was...
SERIOUS
SERIOUS ...serious about causing harm...
ABOUT CAUSING ...serious about causing harm...
HARM ...serious about causing harm...
...serious about causing harm...
...we would've killed him the first time.
Because he's an acquaintance, we're holding back.
You're... Well, you seem to have no intention of doing anything.
Well, you are correct.
If you're thinking of my mistress, not doing anything is correct.
It's not like you want to die or anything, right?
See you. You should, well, work hard and live in happiness, human.
Wait!
If your purpose is Hanekawa's stress relief, then that's impossible.
Why's that?
Because the main cause is Hanekawa's parents, right?
Even if it's all been relieved, once she goes back to that house, it will build up again.
Even if you attack 500 strangers and relieve the stress for a month...
...eventually, it'll happen again.
Yeah, that's right.
Then I'll torture them to the point that they'll never come back.
This time, it won't just be the energy drain. I'll answer domestic violence with domestic violence.
If that's my mistress's wish.
That's...
That's right. That's the answer. The moment you touch, harm will happen.
Hence, "Sawari Neko." Keep away. Not even a finger...
It's best not to have any connection with me, and most likely...
...even with my mistress.
Cat, you're...
See you. You live happily now.
It's no good.
I really do like Hanekawa.
I like her so much that I can't even touch her.
I like her.
I thought, "Maybe I like her." I felt, "Maybe I like her." And I realized.
But it's exactly as Tsukihi said.
I like her so much I can't stand it, but this feeling isn't love.
RED SCENE
It's completely surpassed love.
BLACK SCENE It's completely surpassed love.
NYAHAHAHA VAMPIRE SAWARI NEKO I LIKE HANEKAWA
BLACK SCENE
It's more than "I want to be with her for the rest of my life."
Because I think I would die for Hanekawa.