Reactions from All Sides

Chiyoda Ward,

Outside the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Nagata-cho, crowds had gathered, and countless cameras and microphones stood in rows.

The residence was next to Kasumigaseki, where the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters was located. Although it was called the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Prime Minister usually stayed in the nearby Prime Minister's residence. The Official Residence was where senior Cabinet officials worked and important announcements were made.

At that moment, the government spokesperson, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, was holding a press conference in front of the residence, his expression grave.

"That concludes our account of the major earthquake in Arakawa Ward and the terrorist attack that took place on the seventeenth of this month. The perpetrator was killed on the scene."

"The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, where they received proper care and medical treatment."

"We have arrested the remaining members of the terrorist organization."

The Chief Cabinet Secretary spoke with measured authority. In his account, as in every official statement:

Yesterday's major accident in Nishio-gu Town, Arakawa Ward, was a tragedy caused by a combination of natural disaster and human malice.

First, a shallow "collapse earthquake" had occurred in Arakawa Ward, with a central magnitude of 6.4. Fortunately, it was only a brief "isolated earthquake," and had no impact on other areas outside the quake's epicenter in Arakawa Ward, and so on.

Earthquakes were not caused only by the movement of continental plates. Volcanic eruptions, ground collapses, and meteorite impacts could also trigger them.

There were even man-made earthquakes: underground nuclear explosions, industrial blasting, high-pressure water injection into deep wells, and the filling of large reservoirs could all cause them.

The reporters seemed fairly convinced by this explanation.

After all, when it came to the study of earthquakes, who could claim to know more than this earthquake-prone island nation?

During this earthquake, the yakuza group the Taoka Gang had not only failed to help with rescue efforts, but had taken advantage of the chaos. Their crimes were heinous, and the incident had been classified as a terrorist attack!

These "terrorists" had automatic rifles that ordinary citizens in the country could not obtain. They had also blown up a gas pipeline while being subdued, causing dozens of casualties.

Although dozens of casualties sounded like a lot, in reality:

It was nothing much.

As information became more readily available, every dozen days or so there was news of an earthquake somewhere leaving over a hundred casualties, or a road collapse killing and injuring dozens. Not to mention the Middle East, where people dying had become an everyday occurrence, with hospitals and schools flattened one after another. Compared to that, these casualties were completely insignificant.

They weren't even as bad as the neighboring South Korea, where a single crowd crush had left more than three hundred dead and injured!

After mourning for half a month, wouldn't everything go back to normal, with singing and dancing as usual?

It might even become a popular spot for social media check-ins.

"Hello, I'm a reporter from XXX News."

A reporter with curly hair and brown skin immediately raised his hand after the Chief Cabinet Secretary finished speaking.

"Regarding this attack, why weren't reporters allowed into the scene? And about the rumors online that—"

Faced with the foreign reporter's raised hand, the Chief Cabinet Secretary didn't patiently answer as he would at an ordinary press conference. Instead, he busied himself tidying his speech notes and turned to leave.

Even more interestingly, reporters from countries like America, Canada, and England, which usually seemed eager to stir up trouble, all kept their eyes lowered and their mouths shut. Not one of them questioned the Chief Cabinet Secretary's statement.

It was just an earthquake and a terrorist attack. Nothing more!

"Hey, hey,"

"I just got back from a mission, and something this huge happens?"

Back at the Metropolitan Police Department, Iori Ichika dropped into a sofa, propped her feet on the glass coffee table, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV, unable to resist complaining.

The TV was showing the Chief Cabinet Secretary's press conference, interspersed with footage from surveillance cameras of "terrorists armed with guns attacking a crowd." It was only a dozen or so seconds long, but looked incredibly real: flower-patterned shirts under suits, slicked-back hair, scarred faces, all kinds of rifles and shotguns. And:

"Those guys aren't the bastards from the Organized Crime Division's Third Section?"

The terrorists hadn't shown their "full faces," and the footage had also been blurred to some extent, but Iori Ichika recognized her colleagues by their build.

Even many of the "innocent bystanders" running away were familiar faces from Public Security.

"They even made it look pretty convincing."

No wonder it was the government. They'd arranged everything down to the last detail: what the public should know, and what they shouldn't.

"Chief, the damage was caused by the Earthquake Catfish!"

Teng Seishi, standing rigidly nearby with her hands clasped behind her back and a solemn expression, spoke up.

As the first police officer to encounter the Earthquake Catfish, she remembered the supernatural creature's traits vividly. She also knew perfectly well that the enormous craters that had flashed across the screen were not the result of a natural gas explosion!

"Right."

"That was the culprit."

Lounging on the sofa in a big shot's pose, Iori Ichika spoke without hesitation to the officer who had just been transferred under her command.

"I heard it fought the Self-Defense Force in Nishio-gu Town yesterday. Six armored vehicles were completely wrecked alone, and the damage totaled tens of billions of yen!"

"Damn those supernatural creatures!"

Teng Seishi, the mature policewoman standing as straight as a spear with her chest thrust out, gritted her teeth in anger.

"Ha, that's just how the world is. The strong prey on the weak."

She patted the sofa beside her.

"Don't stand there. Sit down."

"Yes, Chief."

At her superior's words, Teng Seishi sat down beside her.

She kept her legs together, her hands on her knees, and her back straight.

"...You're way too serious."

Iori Ichika shook her head at her new subordinate, though she didn't say much else.

"Write up a report on the experiment with Mrs. Inoue. I'll take it in and answer for it."

"Yes, Chief!"

"A terrorist attack?"

With an umbrella in one hand and his phone in the other, the boy Kishida Jun walked down the corridor. After reading the news, the corner of his mouth twitched.

It was all lies.

Earthquake, terrorist attack—this had actually been a supernatural incident!

The Earthquake Catfish had fought the modern military. The police and the Self-Defense Force couldn't hold it back. In the end, a Divine Child had performed a spell and exorcised it.

That's right. Kishida Jun knew the truth perfectly well,

because he had been there!

His school, Tokyo Metropolitan Koishikawa Secondary Education School, was also in Bunkyo Ward. After sensing the aura of the Sessho-seki, he had quietly hurried over and blended into the crowd, witnessing with his own eyes:

The Earthquake Catfish going on a rampage and slaughtering people after a high-explosive round destroyed the torii on its back!

"Was the torii on the Earthquake Catfish's back the barrier that sealed it?"

Thinking of this, Kishida Jun felt a surge of relief.

He had once hunted the Earthquake Catfish himself, and at the time, he had felt that aside from burrowing underground, it wasn't particularly capable.

Although it was enormous, crushing houses and roads as it moved, it wasn't much of a threat to Kishida Jun, who could control water and move nimbly.

He hadn't realized that this was only its "first form."

After the torii on its back had been destroyed, the Earthquake Catfish's "second form" had been several times stronger, beating the Self-Defense Force until they couldn't fight back.

Of course, that was also because the battle had taken place in Tokyo. Many heavy weapons couldn't be brought to bear.

"What a shame."

There had been quite a few Sessho-seki inside the Earthquake Catfish.

During their earlier pursuit, it had spat out a cluster of Sessho-seki and created Flame Skeletons.

But now that it had been subdued by the shrine's Divine Child—and given the respectful attitude the police and soldiers showed toward the Divine Child—

Kishida Jun had wisely abandoned his plan to obtain Sessho-seki from the Earthquake Catfish, when he would have to deal with the police and military as well as a Divine Child whose other abilities were unknown.

There were no other traces of Sessho-seki nearby. It seemed he would have to expand his "hunting" grounds.

"Kishida."

As the boy walked along, lost in thought, a voice called out to him.

"Teacher Kuryo?"

The person who had called him was a young female teacher wearing a professional, form-fitting skirt suit.

"Kishida, don't look at your phone while you're walking. And also..."

The teacher's gaze fell on the umbrella in Kishida Jun's hand.

"You can't stay immersed in grief forever."

The teacher felt sympathy for what had happened to him, and even a little envy.

After all, in this day and age, there were very few people who could still remember their girlfriends with such devotion.

"You still have a bright future ahead of you, and you have your parents—"

"Teacher, what counts as a successful life?"

Interrupted by Kishida Jun's question, the teacher answered without a moment's thought:

"A life without regrets."

Oh no.

She shouldn't have said that.

"That's right, Teacher."

"I won't regret what I'm doing now."

Kishida Jun wasn't riled by her words. He nodded in agreement instead.

?

"Don't worry, Teacher."

"I won't fall behind in my schoolwork. Well, then—"

Watching the student, who had once again taken the day off on the grounds of "feeling unwell," the young teacher was stunned.

"I actually got overpowered by my student."

"Kuryo, Kuryo. You're a terrible teacher."

"Hm?"

After deliberately circling around several times and finding nothing unusual near his target, Tanimura Wataru finally entered the old danchi apartment building in front of him.

"Danchi apartments" were a product of the last century. As large numbers of people moved from rural areas into the cities and urban populations grew rapidly, there was a shortage of housing. The government had therefore built countless danchi apartment buildings across the country, modeled after the housing corporations of the past.

The meaning of "danchi" could be understood from the words themselves: setting aside a plot of land for people to live on.

When these danchi apartments were first built, the country was in the midst of its economic boom. They had convenient electricity and running water, and their way of life leaned more toward the West.

In those days, danchi apartments represented progress and civilization. That was why labels like "danchi wife" often appeared in Japanese adult films: an educated, refined husband went out to work, while his young wife stayed home and ran into trouble around the house. By chance, a burly, poorly educated plumber came by.

She would then naturally invite him in to unclog the pipes!

But that had been decades ago. As society developed, the people who had once lived there had grown old or moved away, while young people preferred to share apartments.

The Japanese government kept converting old danchi buildings into apartments, but with the economy in a slump, the pace was hardly worth mentioning.

That was why the danchi building in front of him was as quiet as a haunted house!

Even a brief scream would go unnoticed.

"So that's what happened."

Only after leaving the danchi building and looking through the phone in his hand did Tanimura Wataru belatedly understand what was going on.

Terrorist attack?

No, no.

What kind of terrorists could cause such a huge commotion in Tokyo?

As a supernatural being, Tanimura Wataru himself had once slaughtered a unit of American soldiers, and the incident had been covered up as a "traffic accident" caused by heavy fog. Putting himself in someone else's shoes, his first thought was that another supernatural being must have made a move.

Speaking of supernatural beings:

"I wonder what that 'Lord' is doing."

Ever since he had pressed the Sessho-seki into his forehead, that mysterious lord had disappeared without a trace. Tanimura Wataru had even searched online, but hadn't found the slightest hint of anything.

That was only natural. Even now, the streets were still bustling, and everyone was going about their peaceful daily lives. The government had covered up the supernatural so thoroughly that even dozens of casualties could be blamed on a gas explosion.

Thinking of this, Tanimura Wataru couldn't help sneering.

Well, that was fine.

The new supernatural being seemed to have caused a terrifying amount of destruction.

That meant he could take it easy, too.

He'd go get something to eat~~

With that thought, Tanimura Wataru sniffed.

Following the scent he liked most, Tanimura Wataru wandered aimlessly through the streets and eventually stopped outside a restaurant.

"Welcome! Oh?"

"Hm?"

The server holding the menu and Tanimura Wataru both froze as he opened the door.

"—You?!" X2

"What would you like to order?"

"Just bring me one of your signature dishes."

"Sure."

The young woman marked the menu, went to the kitchen to tell the chef what to make, then returned and sat across from Tanimura Wataru. She cautiously looked around before asking in a low voice:

"Is it safe for you to be out here?"

The first time they met, the man had jumped into her "home."

The second time, he had "fought his way through a crowd" to save her.

Either one could have counted as a crime, so the young woman's furtive behavior was understandable.

"What's the problem? What about you?"

Tanimura Wataru asked in return.

"Why are you here?"

"Obviously, I'm working part-time~~"

"I signed up for cram school and am planning to make a final push so I can get into a good university."

The girl answered with a serious expression.

"I don't want to burden Mom and Dad, so I'm earning money to pay for cram school myself."

"That's the spirit."

Watching the girl study hard and support herself by working part-time, Tanimura Wataru smiled.

If only Akemi could be like that...

The Akihi House,

"An earthquake, plus a terrorist attack."

"Why didn't it happen in Minato Ward, Chuo Ward, or Chiyoda?"

Akihi Sora grumbled in annoyance as she browsed the internet on her laptop.

"Even natural disasters avoid the rich?"

"Did you forget that those 'terrorists' made it all the way near your school in the end?"

Akihi Yu answered casually from the sofa, his eyes closed as he rested.

The reason he was resting with his eyes closed was that all his energy—

was over with Amame Ei!