In the courtyard of Tsunekiyoshi Jingu, even the wind seemed to freeze.
The worship hall, so raucous and clamorous only moments before, had fallen into a stunned, deathly silence. Everyone stood rooted where they were, eyes locked on that silver-red trail of light receding into the distant sky.
The first to break the silence was a low cry, trembling with shock.
"That — that's the one who appeared in Nerima Ward last night… Ultraseven?!"
The speaker was a business tycoon in a kimono, his knuckles white from clenching his folding fan. His usually haughty face was stamped with disbelief.
Most of the dignitaries present had already seen the footage of Ultraseven's first appearance in Nerima Ward, when the hero had driven back a rampaging Eldritch Being with overwhelming, glorious power.
But witnessing Hinako Shimizu transform into Ultraseven right before their eyes, in person, struck them with a shock far greater than any ordinary onlooker's.
Whispered conversations rippled through the crowd, wrapped in astonishment, envy, schadenfreude, and awe, all of it spreading like wildfire.
"The human host of Ultraseven turns out to be the Shimizu family's daughter?"
"What kind of dumb luck did the Tsuneki family stumble into — what unimaginable fortune did they land? Wanting an Ultraman's human host as a daughter-in-law, when they're not even worthy!"
"Well, that's that — a perfectly good wedding, ruined!"
"Maybe the Tsuneki family knew from the start that Hinako Shimizu was Ultraman's human host. Otherwise, why would the illustrious Tsuneki family go to such lengths to marry some country girl? Don't tell me it was true love."
"Ha. You actually believe that?"
"I'd say the Tsuneki family knew all along. Tsuneki — always delighting in calamity and disaster. Now that an Ultraman has appeared in the world, isn't that exactly the sign of calamities and disasters multiplying? Marrying into Ultraman's human host — isn't that just the Tsuneki family's usual way of profiting?"
...
Mockery, astonishment, envy, dread, suspicion — every shade of emotion churned through the crowd.
Those who, only moments ago, had been snickering at the Tsuneki family's loss of face now changed their expressions entirely. Their gazes toward Hinako Shimizu's parents shifted instantly from condescension to flattery.
The dignitaries who had watched the couple coldly a moment before now plastered on obsequious smiles, elbowing each other to get closer.
"Mr. Shimizu, Mrs. Shimizu, congratulations! Your daughter is the human host of the Giant of Light — this is glory for ten thousand generations of your family!"
"We failed to recognize greatness before us. A heroine who saves the world like Miss Hinako — how could a mere mortal of the Tsuneki family ever be worthy of her!"
"Forgive our earlier neglect. From now on, if there's ever anything we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask!"
...
The dignitaries thrust out their business cards one after another, flattering words pouring out in an unbroken stream as they surrounded the Shimizu couple.
These socialites and nobles, who usually looked down on everyone from lofty heights, now scrambled to heap on the sweetest words they could think of.
Everyone understood exactly what it meant to build a connection with the parents of an Ultraman's human host. Ultraman might not interfere in human politics, but no one could afford to ignore the opinion of that human host.
Shimizu Kanta, blindsided by this sudden outpouring of warmth, could only nod stiffly, his mind still a total blank.
His rebellious daughter — how had she suddenly become the world-saving Ultraman?
Most of the Tsuneki family members present had gone deathly pale, exchanging panicked glances with one another.
The Tsuneki family and the fox spirit clan had always been mutually dependent — many of the family's members served as hosts for the fox spirits, who needed their bodies to interfere efficiently with the material world.
Precisely because of this, they understood better than anyone what was happening. Sanctuary, the patriarch was dead, the water dragon had broken its seal, and the fox spirit clan's thousand-year scheme lay in ruins. Ultraseven could return at any moment — staying here meant certain death.
Following the patriarch's final order, they had to flee Tsunekiyoshi Jingu at once, retreat into the mountains and forests to hide, and preserve what remained of the fox spirit clan.
Just as the crowd buzzed with chatter and the Tsuneki family members prepared to slip away unnoticed, a voice rang out across the courtyard — soft and seductive to the bone, yet utterly commanding, issuing a unilateral decree.
"Those of you I've had the pleasure of speaking with just now — you may leave now."
The voice was gentle, almost eerily so. It wasn't raised, yet it reached every ear in the courtyard with perfect clarity, like a soft feather brushing gently against the mind.
At the entrance of the worship hall stood two women of breathtaking, almost unnerving beauty — no one could say when they had arrived.
The one on the left wore a black cocktail dress, her long hair falling over her shoulders, a few strands lifting gently in the night breeze.
Her features were too exquisite to belong to a real person. Her skin glowed with an almost translucent sheen under the warm lantern light. Her lips curved in a faint, ambiguous smile, and her eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, swam with a soul-stealing allure.
Like a black hole, she radiated a terrifying gravitational pull, drawing in every gaze, every ounce of affection, even people's very souls.
The woman on the right was entirely different.
She stood a good half-head taller than her companion, her shoulders broader, the thin fabric of her dress stretched taut over muscle. Beneath her shoulder blades, the outline of well-built back muscles was visible, and the lines of her arms were carved and hard, nothing like the soft roundness typical of most women.
Her features were almost identical to her companion's, but her presence burned like a star — fierce and overwhelming, forcing its way into everyone's world.
In the next instant, something bone-chilling happened.
Among the crowd, dozens of guests who had, just moments before, been eagerly chattering and flattering their way toward the Shimizu couple, fell silent all at once, in perfect unison.
"Oh dear, I have urgent business at home, I really must be going."
"Yes, yes, we've been out far too long, it's time to head back."
"Sorry to have intruded today — I'll pay a proper visit another time."
Their tones were completely ordinary, their expressions natural, as if they had genuinely just remembered some pressing personal matter and needed to leave right away. They nodded to one another and turned, filing out toward the shrine gate in an orderly line.
Even the Shimizu couple and the Tsuneki family's eldest daughter wore the same look of sudden realization, drifting out along with the crowd.
This eerie scene settled a strange hush over the once-boisterous plaza. Many of the remaining guests wore uneasy, bewildered expressions, gripped by an inexplicable chill.
Just a moment ago they'd all been chatting animatedly; now they turned and simply left, wearing a completely different expression, and yet nothing about their faces looked wrong at all.
But the absence of anything wrong was, in itself, the most wrong thing of all!
The guests who sensed that something was off turned to look toward the entrance of the worship hall — toward the beautiful woman whose voice had spoken.
"Kawakami… Tomie?"
Staring at Mara Tomie, a woman in an embroidered gold-thread furisode kimono felt her pupils shrink, and she suddenly let out a shriek.
The words crashed over the courtyard like a thunderclap.
Among the guests who hadn't been hypnotized into leaving, most had, in one way or another, heard that forbidden name before — Kawakami Tomie.
____
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