Night had fully settled over Itomori Town, painting the sky in deep blues and purples. The moon hung fat and bright overhead, its silver light strong enough to illuminate the roads without assistance. Stars scattered across the heavens like careless brushstrokes, twinkling gently in the moonlight's reflection.
If not for the meteor that would soon fall, Hozuki Nozomi reflected, Itomori Town would be a genuinely pleasant place to retire. Quiet, peaceful, connected to nature. A shame about the whole "impending destruction" thing.
To be safe—and because horror movie logic demanded it—he'd brought an old-fashioned flashlight. It swung at his side as he descended the shrine stairs, a reassuring weight.
He met Natori Sayaka and Teshigawara Katsuhiko at their designated meeting point. The moment he laid eyes on Teshigawara, he had to fight back a laugh.
"What... exactly are you wearing? We're investigating a haunted house, not going mining."
Teshigawara stood proudly in full construction gear: hard hat with attached headlamp, reflective vest, work boots, and a shovel clutched in his gloved hands. He looked like he was about to break ground on a new building project.
"Safety first!" Teshigawara declared, puffing out his chest. "Who knows what we'll encounter? As the only man here, it's my duty to protect you ladies!"
Natori Sayaka stared at him with undisguised disdain. "I think you're just scared. We've got the divine envoy to protect us—your mining outfit is completely unnecessary." She crossed her arms. "Besides, didn't the divine envoy give each of us protective charm cards? You brought yours, right?"
Teshigawara's confident expression crumbled. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... about that... I kind of... used it up. Experimenting."
Sayaka's jaw dropped. "You WHAT?!"
Hozuki Nozomi facepalmed with Mitsuha's delicate hand.
"You used such a precious item on an experiment?!" Sayaka's voice rose with incredulity. "What were you thinking?!"
Teshigawara looked genuinely apologetic, though also a little defensive. "I thought I might be dreaming! I needed to know if the card actually worked!"
Hozuki Nozomi sighed, then waved his hand. A new protective charm materialized between his fingers. "For Mitsuha's sake, I'll give you one more chance. If you waste this one, don't expect another."
Teshigawara's eyes glistened with emotion as he accepted the card with both hands, treating it like the most precious object in existence. "Yes! Divine envoy! Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll treasure this one forever! I'll never waste it! I'll—"
"Alright, alright." Hozuki Nozomi cut off the effusive gratitude with a wave. "Let's move. Where's our client? The little girl who requested this rescue mission?"
As if on cue, a small figure emerged from the shadows at the corner of the street.
A little girl with long black hair, dressed in a simple white outfit, stepped into the moonlight. Her eyes were large and dark, her expression serene.
"Big sister, big brother," she said softly, her voice carrying an odd resonance. "Mioko is already here."
Hozuki Nozomi studied her carefully, activating his Spirit Sight without obvious gesture. The girl glowed with a faint white aura—nothing threatening, but certainly not ordinary. Ordinary humans didn't glow at all.
"So you're the client." He reached out and gently stroked her hair. The gesture was casual, but his spiritual senses probed gently. "Your mother is trapped in a strange house, is that correct?"
The little girl—Mioko—smiled sweetly at the head pat. "Yes, big brother. Can you please help rescue my mother?"
Natori Sayaka and Teshigawara exchanged startled glances.
"Big brother?" Sayaka's voice pitched with confusion. "Divine envoy... are you male?"
Hozuki Nozomi glanced at them calmly, Mitsuha's features arranging themselves into an expression of mild amusement. "Is there a problem?"
"Uh—no! Of course not!" Teshigawara laughed nervously. "Just surprised, that's all. You're just so convincing as Mitsuha."
Hozuki Nozomi dismissed the comment with a wave and refocused on Mioko. "Time is precious. Lead the way."
"Okay, big brother."
The little girl turned and began walking down a narrow path that wound away from the main road. Natori Sayaka and Teshigawara fell into step behind Hozuki Nozomi, who followed close behind their guide.
If anyone had thought to look back, they would have noticed something strange: the path behind them had vanished, replaced by formless gray mist. The familiar landmarks of Itomori Town had simply... ceased to exist.
But neither Sayaka nor Teshigawara noticed. Their attention was fixed ahead, on the mysterious shrine maiden and the even more mysterious child.
"Sayaka, divine envoy," Teshigawara whispered, hugging himself. "Is it just me, or is it getting really cold all of a sudden?"
Sayaka rubbed her arms, suppressing a shiver. "No, it's not just you. I'm freezing. I wish I'd worn a coat."
Strange, Hozuki Nozomi thought, that the thinly dressed Mioko showed no sign of discomfort at all.
He said nothing, merely quickening his pace. Sayaka and Teshigawara hurried to keep up, not wanting to be left behind in this increasingly unsettling environment.
After what felt like both minutes and hours, a structure emerged from the mist ahead.
It was an ancient building—a shrine, by the look of it, but unlike any shrine in modern Itomori. Weathered wood, faded paint, an air of abandonment that spoke of decades, perhaps centuries. In the center stood an altar, and on that altar, an indistinct idol. Squinting, one could just make out the silhouette of a horned figure.
Hozuki Nozomi's eyes narrowed.
This place felt familiar. Very familiar. It was the same shrine where he'd saved the miko and obtained the Bond-Tying Rope. The same shrine where he'd first encountered that malevolent presence.
"Um, Mioko?" Sayaka's voice wavered as she addressed the little girl, who had stopped walking and now stood motionless before the shrine. "Is this the place?"
"Yes," Mioko replied, her voice flat. Toneless. Wrong. "This is the place."
"Then where's your mother?" Teshigawara asked, gripping his shovel so tightly his knuckles went white. He knew something was wrong, could feel it in his bones, but couldn't look away.
The little girl turned to face them.
Her expression was gone. Completely blank. Then her mouth split open—wider than any human mouth should open—stretching ear to ear in a grotesque, impossible grin. Thick black liquid oozed from the corners, dripping onto the ground where it sizzled and smoked.
"AHHH!" Sayaka shrieked and dove behind Hozuki Nozomi, clutching his arm with death-grip intensity.
Teshigawara's legs turned to jelly, only the shovel keeping him upright. His headlamp beam wobbled crazily as he shook.
"Hehehehehe~" The sound that emerged from Mioko's distorted mouth was no longer a child's voice. It was ancient, hungry, wrong. "My mommy is right here."
She rubbed her distended stomach—when had it become distended?—and a foul, fishy stench flooded the air. Sayaka gagged, covering her mouth.
"But mommy hasn't been born yet." The thing that wore Mioko's face smiled wider, impossibly wider. "I need help, big brother, big sister. Can you help Mioko? Can you help mommy?"
Black mist began coalescing in the center of the shrine, taking shape, becoming something massive and terrible.
"Divine envoy?" Sayaka's voice was small, terrified. "What do we do?"
Teshigawara could only nod frantically, eyes fixed on the growing horror.
Hozuki Nozomi stepped forward, placing himself between his companions and the monstrosity. His expression remained calm, almost bored.
"Playing tricks?" He raised his hand, and light gathered in his palm—not the gentle glow of magic, but something sharper, more terrible. "Go to hell."
[Ding! Spirit Sight special attack successfully activated!]
The system notification chimed as a blade of pure white light descended from the heavens, striking the creature directly.
"AHHHHH! IMPOSSIBLE!" The slit-mouthed thing screeched as the holy light consumed it. "This power! You—you are—!"
The black mist evaporated. The oppressive presence shattered. Somewhere behind them, the idol on the altar cracked and fell to pieces.
When the light faded, Mioko lay on the ground, twitching weakly. Her stomach convulsed.
"Ugh!"
A figure emerged from her mouth—soaking wet, gasping, but unmistakably human.
Sayaka's jaw dropped. "Is that... Yamauchi?!"
"Yamauchi Mami!" Teshigawara exclaimed. "How—when did she get eaten?!"
Yamauchi Mami coughed and sputtered on the ground, alive if thoroughly confused and drenched.
Mioko, meanwhile, had returned to her normal appearance. She sat up slowly, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and bowed deeply to Hozuki Nozomi.
"Thank you, Bond-Tying Person."
Sayaka and Teshigawara stared in utter bewilderment. "What's going on?!"
Mioko smiled gently at them—a real smile this time, warm and kind. "You won't be needed for what comes next. Rest now."
She waved her hand.
Instantly, Sayaka, Teshigawara, and the newly expelled Yamauchi Mami vanished. In their own homes, miles away, they collapsed onto their beds and fell into deep, dreamless sleep.
Mioko turned back to Hozuki Nozomi, her expression serious.
"Now then, Bond-Tying Person. Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. This is the key to changing fate."
Hozuki Nozomi waited.
[The Miko is the fulcrum of the barrier. Evil has silently entered the dream. The light of the falling stars will witness a miracle.]
Mioko—or rather, the consciousness of the Miyamizu Shrine God—spoke the words with weight, with meaning that pressed against reality itself.
"Bond-Tying Person." Her eyes locked with his. "You must prevent the descent of the Evil God. When the moment comes, you must recite the incantation."
Hozuki Nozomi's eyebrow twitched. "What incantation? And why do gods always speak in riddles? Can't anyone just give straight answers for once?"
"The incantation is..." Mioko paused, then spoke clearly:
"Eris's chest is padded."
Silence.
Hozuki Nozomi stared at her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Eris's chest is padded," Mioko repeated patiently. "That is the incantation. Please remember it clearly. When to recite it, you will know."
"That's—that's not even a real incantation! That's a meme from—" He stopped himself. "Never mind. Fine. I'll remember your weird chant."
Mioko smiled. "Oh, and don't forget to take the offering. It's in the shrine altar."
Before Hozuki Nozomi could ask anything else, the little girl's form slowly dissolved, fading into mist and moonlight until nothing remained.
He stood alone before the ancient shrine, surrounded by silence.
With a sigh, he approached the altar and opened the compartment where offerings were stored. His hand closed around something soft, fabric—
He pulled it out.
A thin, lacy, triangular piece of cloth. Blue. With a small bow tied at the center.
Hozuki Nozomi stared at it for a long, long moment.
"Who," he said finally, addressing the empty night air, "is so talented that they offer a pair of panties as a shrine offering? Who does that? What kind of person—"
He stopped.
"Eris's chest is padded." The words echoed in his mind. That phrase. That ridiculous, infamous phrase.
It was the declaration of the Axis Church. The sect devoted to Aqua, the Goddess of Water—also known as the Goddess of Wisdom, though her wisdom was... debatable. The declaration that Eris, the rival goddess, padded her chest.
What in the world did any of this have to do with saving Itomori Town?