Nadeko only got attention at the beginning of the story, and it only displayed a thin slice of her personality. I thought I could do something more exhaustive and plentiful now that I've read more books with her as the main character and gotten to know her better, so I included a new section that truly characterizes their relationship in Chapter 55:
"Nadeko, being a kami yourself, perhaps you'd like to work at the shrine?" I offered. Though right now she wasn't in her divine form but sporting pleasant normal middle school brown hair.
"I became a great many different things over a short period of time." Nadeko admitted. "A shy girl in love, a scared cursed girl, a brokenhearted girl still in love, a berserk snake God, a manga-ka in training, then a specialist in training, and finally a successful manga-ka and specialist. And because you wished for me to be able to change freely between all those periods of my life, I can choose to be whichever Nadeko suits me at the moment, here in this new world, where I became yet another Nadeko, the Nadeko whose heart was never broken but instead fulfilled."
"It was stupid of me to choose anyone but you, so I went ahead and corrected that decision. How could anyone turn down a beautiful, devoted, intrepid, intelligent, impassioned girl like you?" I explained. I had deserved every single snakebite she had given me in retribution and more for favoring that crazy abusive crab over her.
Nadeko smiled happily to hear acceptance from the lips that had rejected her so many times. "I have no reason to become an evil deity here, in this world you answered my pleas, except that you enjoy all my different forms, so I do like to flirt with you as the full variety. With my drawing talent I could even flirt with you as all the Nadekos at once, though they might be a little one dimensional -- or should I say two dimensional -- though of course they are three dimensional."
"That sounds like the best date plan ever." I vociferously endorsed her offer. "I only thought of people changing ages to change their looks, but does it really change your minds too?"
"I'm an anomaly, my unique situation led to unique results, you could call it my superpower." Nadeko reassured me.
"Are there other anomalies roaming about requiring your attention?" I thought back to Shana's insistence that she was still fighting on the frontlines with a smile.
"We were all transported here with our powers intact, not our problems." Nadeko mocked my concern.
"Good. Heiwa ga ichiban." I squeezed her hands between mine in relief. If anyone deserved peace after all the turmoil she'd had to go through, it was Nadeko.
Nadeko beamed at my loving gesture. "I was right to want this. Everyone belittled me for caring about love so much, but if they actually experienced a love like ours, they wouldn't have. This is the most amazing life I could have ever led, the best I could ever feel, literal eternal bliss! It's not wrong to be desperate for treasures like this. The real sin is to let a dream like that pass you by, to let a guy you know really is that good slip through your fingers. Knowing what I have now, I'm so proud of who I was then. I'm so proud I was loving enough to finally get your attention, that I was desperate enough to earn my ticket to Paradise, as one of your favorite 100. If I hadn't valued love as I had then, I never would have experienced it as I have now." Nadeko bragged.
"Besides, more people read my manga here than they ever did back there, so love doesn't interfere with my career, it empowers it. I can write better romances because I've experienced a romance myself. Shoujo manga are romances for a reason. I'm a shoujo manga-ka for a reason. Romances really are the best experiences, the most interesting, the most compelling moments in life. My instincts were right -- even if I only ever wanted to be the best manga-ka I could be, I still should have aimed for you as my first step down that path of creation. All stories, in the end, are autobiographical."
"After all these years you still have new romances you can write about based on the small amount of attention I can spare you?" I raised my eyebrows, impressed.
"No, but thanks to our love I also have access to the lives of my nine children and their children and their children -- so it never really ends. I get to know people a lot better when they live in the same apartment as me, and you keep providing person after person to live with, so the inspiration never runs out." Nadeko gave a mercenary grin of appreciation for motherhood.
Obviously this was one girl who didn't need a job change.
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