"Too slow."
At the gates of Imperial Sakura School,
Akiyu Sora still opened with her classic tsundere line.
Akihi Yu and Class Monitor Ai Nao were both already used to it.
"Can't be helped. The subway in Arakawa Ward is still under repair because of the 'terrorist attack,' so we'll have to take a detour for a while."
In response to Akihi Yu's shrugging explanation, the sweet-looking Akiyu Sora pulled out her phone.
"Come with me."
The three of them walked home together. At Sora's lead, they took a deliberate detour to an empty park. Sora, her hair tied into twin tails that hung on either side of her head with black ribbons, held out her phone and showed Akihi Yu the picture.
Uh...
The picture showed a huge, pitch-black creature soaring into the sky. Because it was moving so fast, all that remained in the image was a blurry afterimage.
Even so, it was still possible to make out the catfish's signature flat, oversized head and its two striking whiskers.
"Is that... a catfish?"
Class Monitor Nao, who had leaned in beside them, spoke hesitantly.
No matter how she looked at it, the thing in the picture looked exactly like a plump, stubby catfish.
But compared with the surrounding buildings, this catfish was far too big. It was like something out of a tokusatsu show.
That couldn't be. Ordinary people could be seen fleeing in the image, and there were even figures lying in pools of blood. A scene like that would never appear in a tokusatsu show.
More than thirty years ago, a horrific crime had shocked the entire country in Saitama Prefecture, next to Adachi Ward.
The Miyazaki Tsutomu case!
What that man had done—
The brutality and depravity of it had pushed beyond the limits of human decency.
After his arrest, the police found more than six thousand adult films, anime, tokusatsu shows, and other media in his home.
For a time,
the whole country was in an uproar, and otaku were practically equated with "potential criminals."
The condemnation of anime and tokusatsu shows reached its peak. Genres regressed, fewer works were made, projects were scrapped, companies went bankrupt, and the industry faced prejudice and criticism from every side.
That was also why tokusatsu shows later became almost exclusively aimed at children.
Even today, the "harmful books movement" still existed.
So Class Monitor Nao was certain that such a gruesome image couldn't possibly have been taken on a tokusatsu set.
Then—
"This isn't a doctored image, and it isn't a scene from a movie."
Pointing to a battered sign that had been flung into the air in the picture, Sora quietly revealed the earth-shattering secret. They all knew the shop it belonged to.
"This is what really happened in Arakawa Ward."
"The true culprit was a monster—no, I should say, a supernatural creature."
???
Pushing up her glasses,
the academically gifted Ai Nao fell into thought.
"I see."
Turning to look at Akihi Yu, who seemed to have "suddenly understood," Class Monitor Nao couldn't help speaking up.
"Yu, all you have is one picture."
"If Sora says so, then of course I believe her."
Akihi Yu's face was solemn. The delicate girl holding the phone let the corners of her mouth lift slightly.
"These are photos from the scene, obtained by a member of the Cyber Club I'm in. By now, there isn't a trace of them left anywhere online."
At this elite school, most students at Imperial Sakura Girls' Academy took part in all kinds of clubs. Unless they had special circumstances, they didn't head home early. Sora had joined the Cyber Club—a name that made it obvious it was a gathering place for tech geeks.
That was why Akihi Yu, who came over by car after school, could pick Sora up just as her club activities ended.
"According to the information our club president got..."
Sora continued,
"several supernatural incidents have happened in Tokyo recently, and the number of casualties has already exceeded a hundred."
In short, they should be careful.
"Your club president is amazing. She was able to find out so much online."
At Class Monitor Nao's remark, Sora simply shook her head.
"What are you thinking?"
"Her brother told her. It's a secret."
Connections between people—
Could those count as a kind of "network" too?
At that thought, a flash of insight went through Ai Nao's mind.
"Could it be that Amame is also...?"
That day, they had seen Amame Ei with their own eyes, dressed in full formal attire at the crime scene, surrounded by a crowd of important figures.
If monsters existed, then there would naturally be forces to oppose them: priests, Dharma Monks, psychics.
"Mm."
Sora nodded slightly.
"Although there's no concrete evidence, a saying has already begun circulating quietly around our school:"
"Respect Amame as you would your father."
As high school girls who hadn't started working yet, the young ladies of Imperial Sakura School owed everything they had to their fathers. Few dared to shout at the imposing head of the household.
That also showed, indirectly, just how high Amame Ei's standing was at school.
"I see."
Class Monitor Ai Nao finally understood why Amame Ei had transferred schools so quietly.
"Come on. Whatever this supernatural stuff is, what does it have to do with us?"
Akihi Yu waved a hand, completely unaware of his own "mastermind" status.
"What we should be thinking about now is: what are we having for dinner tonight?"
"That's your problem."
Akiyu Sora put away her phone and replied without the slightest courtesy.
She might have been a sweet, adorable beauty, but cooking... wasn't really her strong suit.
She was pretty good at making pastries, though.
"Sure, sure~~"
Akihi Yu answered casually.
He even had enough energy left to control his many clones as they roamed in all directions.
Toshima Ward, Sugamo Town.
At that moment, the "old friend" the three of them had mentioned, Amame Ei, was being escorted by a motorcade back to the shrine where she lived.
"Hm?"
"Wait a moment."
As soon as Amame Ei spoke, the entire motorcade slowed down and came to a smooth stop.
Amame Ei lowered the window and greeted an elderly woman by the roadside.
"Mrs. Hamasaki, what are you...?"
"Oh, it's little Ei."
The old woman, standing outside her home and directing workers as they carried furniture, answered Amame Ei with a smile.
"That unfilial son of mine suddenly called and asked this old lady to go stay with him."
"Honestly, he's such a bother~~"
She kept complaining, but the smile on her face made it clear she was very happy.
"So I sold this old house and am getting ready to move."
Of course,
that was only the explanation on the surface.
The deeper reason was—
Her son had received a "commission fee" of five million and persuaded his mother to sell the old house for twice its market value.
And it wasn't just her. Many families on this street had received generous offers!
The employees of those "real estate companies" seemed to have lost their minds. Their usual tricks of wearing people down with endless persuasion, gifts, and pleasantries had all disappeared. Every one of them had money to burn and did nothing but "offer more," as if securing a property even one second earlier meant victory.
With prices continuing to soar, most residents had started making arrangements to move.
The few who remained began to smell danger in the employees' growing impatience and increasingly extravagant offers, and they too gave up holding out.
Once the price got high enough, many people stopped caring about playing by the rules!
The yakuza in this country... weren't just in the business of selling bubble tea, despite what the publicity claimed.
It would be more accurate to say the yakuza had gotten into the bubble tea business.
"I see."
Amame Ei had only felt that there were more people moving away than usual today. Nagisa Kazuha, sitting beside her, had already figured it out.
"Someone's buying up the land on this street."
"Hm?"
"What's so special about this old street that would make it worth...?"
"Silly Ei."
Nagisa Kazuha reached out and tapped her older sister on the nose, smiling as she spoke.
"You're the greatest treasure of all, someone countless people look up to."
Just as Nagisa Kazuha had said, by the time their car reached the foot of the mountain where the shrine stood, a group of important figures were already waiting there.
"Divine Child Amame."
"We've taken the liberty of visiting. Please forgive us."
Director Takeya, who led the group, greeted them with a warm smile that made people feel right at home. It was no wonder his name contained the character for "spring."
Of course, if he were dealing with anyone else, he'd have worn a completely different face. Did they really think the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department would be a mild-mannered man?
"It's all right."
"The shrine is a place for people to come and pray."
Amame Ei naturally wouldn't turn away these important figures, who had come together to pay their respects at the shrine.
"Please come up the mountain."
"Please, Divine Child, go on ahead. Don't mind us."
The group waited until Amame Ei and Nagisa Kazuha had started up the mountain steps before following behind them.
Their places in the group made it easy to see their positions and status. The steady Director Takeya walked at the very front, followed by the American male and female consultants, who looked around as they walked. Behind them came senior officials from other departments, and at the very back were several elderly men dressed as priests.
This was the shrine of the Inari God. Even if they were the head priests of Meiji Shrine or the chief priests of Yushima Tenmangu, they still had to lower their heads and show deference here.
There was no helping it. The Inari God had bestowed divine power on the "Divine Child," who had then suppressed the rampaging "Earthquake Catfish" with a wave of her hand. As for their own gods... sigh.
But they weren't the most awkward ones there. The most awkward were the priests of Fushimi Inari Taisha, who had just arrived from Kyoto.
As the head shrine of more than thirty thousand Inari Shrines across the country, they had received no "divine revelation," nor had any "miracle" descended upon them. And now they had to go pay their respects at the place where the Inari God's own divine spirit had bestowed its blessing. How could they not feel awkward?
Still, in this modern society, how many people at shrines were true believers?
Most people treated it as a "job." Compared with people of faith, they were more like staff at a "tourist attraction."
With that, the group, each with their own thoughts, followed the forest path to the mountaintop.
What they saw was—
"Ah, the torii."
Amame Ei scratched her head.
The shrine's torii had disappeared. No—that wasn't quite right. It was on Little Black's back.
Without a torii, what kind of shrine was it?
"Little Black."
Amame Ei took the "Earthquake Catfish," curled up into a tiny ball, out of her schoolbag and quietly asked it,
"Could you grow bigger and act as the torii for a little while?"
"Please~~"
The Earthquake Catfish she had named "Little Black" gave her a "wise" look, then leaped out of her palm.
Once it left the girl, the Earthquake Catfish grew rapidly with the wind!
?!
The senior officials behind the girl stopped in their tracks as they watched the Earthquake Catfish suddenly grow enormous. Fortunately, they were all important figures and managed to stay composed, avoiding any public embarrassment.
Thud.
The enormous Earthquake Catfish landed at the entrance to the shrine without causing any earth-shaking crash.
Instead, it silently merged with the ground and swam to the entrance. Its whole body sank into the earth, leaving only a torii, restored to its original size, standing at the shrine's entrance.
"Well, everyone."
"Please come in."
Amame Ei had already passed through the torii and raised a hand to invite the group into the shrine, but the senior officials all looked at one another in dismay.
They hadn't turned and run when faced with the Earthquake Catfish. That alone showed they had nerves of steel. But now they were expected to step over the Earthquake Catfish and pass through the torii. That...
Before anyone had even taken a step, many in the crowd already felt their legs go weak.
It was like standing beside a tiger in a park. Even knowing it wouldn't attack, they still felt a primal fear!
And the Earthquake Catfish was far more terrifying than a tiger. The Self-Defense Force's disastrous defeat was proof enough.
"Then, please excuse the intrusion."
In the end, Director Takeya was the first to step forward.
As he passed through the torii, the people behind him gritted their teeth and followed. They didn't dare stomp; holding their breath and walking softly, they passed beneath the torii.
Several of the less steady ones felt as though they were walking on cotton, their steps uneven.
"Your shrine is... quite elegant."
After passing through the torii and seeing the little shrine before him, Director Takeya could barely find the words to praise it.
"Heh heh heh~~"
"It may be small, but this is my home!"
Back home, Amame Ei grew lively, introducing everyone to the place with easy confidence:
"I'll show you around."
She stopped halfway through her sentence, her expression gradually turning serious.
"Everyone, my lord wishes to see you."
My lord?
My lord?!
The high-ranking officials were first taken aback, then their expressions changed dramatically.
Only Amame Ei, the Divine Child, lived in this little shrine.
So the only person her words could possibly refer to was:
The Inari God!
God... wanted to see them?
Before you continue