Today again, the members of Parliament were hard at work in Japan's National Diet.
Serious work.
Well—mostly. Some dozed off. Others heckled. One even brought up the price of cup ramen and Twitter's subscription fees.
Still, serious work. Probably.
"Prime Minister, rumors say you're dating Shina the Princess. If that's true, do you realize how serious a problem this is?"
Once again, the opposition went for something trivial yet dangerously delicate.
And yes—if Adachi and Shina were really dating, that would be a problem.
Despite her royal training and calm maturity, Shina was still a minor.
To put it bluntly, it'd be like a high school girl and a middle-aged man walking together through town. The police would have questions. Many.
At that exact moment, somewhere far away, a certain princess crushed her teacup in her hand. Her apprentice summoner trembled beside her.
But that's another story.
"Prime Minister Adachi."
"There's no truth to that whatsoever."
Adachi stayed perfectly calm.
In truth, Shina's affection was one-sided. Adachi saw her as a daughter. That alone explained his composure.
"I still love my late wife."
And with that, he doubled down.
Every reporter in the room fell silent. Even cynics had to admit—he looked like a model statesman.
Somewhere, the princess whispered, "Adachi-san..." and fell for him all over again.
Her apprentice muttered tearfully, "I'll never understand Shina-sama's logic..."
"But still—"
"Ah, sorry to interrupt."
"...Excuse me?"
The opposition member froze mid-sentence as a clear, youthful voice cut across the chamber.
"I was guided by Amaterasu-sama. This is Japan, correct?"
A black-haired girl stood before them, out of nowhere.
Her clothes looked like a kimono, but something felt... off. She wasn't from this world.
She wore a man's robe and carried a sword. A samurai in every sense. Her face was striking, her eyes mismatched—one blue, one gold.
And atop her head, a pair of soft cat ears twitched.
Catgirl samurai detected.
Dog-eared girl... not detected.
(Somewhere, another holy war began. But that's not part of this story.)
"Welcome to Japan. I'm Adachi, the Prime Minister."
Adachi greeted her as if this sort of thing happened every Tuesday.
The chairman raised both hands in a T-shape—an unspoken "time-out."
Reverse summoning protocol.
When something like this happened, all deliberations stopped, and Adachi handled it personally.
"I appreciate your courtesy. I am Yayoi, daughter of a military family from the Homura Kingdom."
A samurai, through and through.
Not just in appearance—spirit, too.
A heterochromatic, cat-eared samurai girl.
Too many traits. No clear direction.
"Yayoi-san, when you say you were guided by Amaterasu-sama, do you mean a Japanese person was summoned to your world, and you followed them back here?"
"Indeed. Despite appearances, I am a samurai. Many of us know the ways of magic, and I, too, studied at the Magic Academy..."
"...What's wrong?"
"Ah, nothing. It's just—there I met Kagato, a young man from Japan."
Yayoi's expression faltered. Her cat ears drooped.
Adachi tilted his head, curious.
She blinked, straightened her back, and continued her tale.
Yayoi straightened her back, her tone proud though her cat ears drooped slightly.
"He was older than me, yet hopelessly unreliable. A man always swept up by those around him. But he faced everything earnestly and tried to improve himself. I respected that."
"The young man could also use magic?" Adachi asked gently.
"Indeed. His latent magical power was strong, and even at the academy he was considered promising."
Yayoi's chest swelled with pride as she spoke—then her cat ears wilted again.
"Well, being that kind of man, he was popular with the girls. But I wasn't interested in romance, so I treated him as a friend."
By the time she finished, her ears were completely flat, her face shadowed.
Ah, here it comes.
Every member of Parliament seemed to realize the same thing.
"But emotions are strange things. Before I knew it, I'd fallen for Kagato. I confessed recently... and was cut down in a single stroke. So cleanly, so firmly—it made me fall for him all over again."
She tried to sound cheerful, but her trembling voice betrayed her. Her ears drooped completely, and tears welled up in her mismatched eyes.
Damn you, Kagato.
Across Japan, curses aimed at another world took flight.
"...You've done well. Please, rest here and heal your heart," Adachi said softly.
"Sniff... I am grateful, degozaru."
Adachi reached out and gently patted her head. Yayoi cried quietly against the Prime Minister's shoulder.
Damn you too, Adachi.
Nationwide, countless men directed their curses toward the Prime Minister.
He ignored them all, of course—leaving lonely men everywhere to metaphorically explode.
Japan remained peaceful.
* * *
"Y-yes... that's right... I'm sorry!"
Meanwhile, in Takamagahara.
Amaterasu-sama—the Supreme Deity of Japan—was bowing toward empty air, teary-eyed.
"...Big brother, what's she doing?"
"Receiving a divine lecture, apparently. A prayer from Prime Minister Adachi reached her directly from Earth."
"...Why directly to her?"
Yes—Amaterasu-sama was apologizing to Adachi himself.
It seemed the Prime Minister took issue with the idea of reverse summoning Yayoi in her emotionally fragile state.
"Honestly, that guy's too much. For a mortal living in the modern era, he's way beyond human. Who is he, anyway?"
"He shows no sign of divine blessing," Tsukuyomi-sama said calmly. "I suspect he might be Father's reincarnation body."
"Our father's?!" Susanoo-sama frowned. "No way. If he were, he'd be way more pathetic."
"...What did you just call our father?"
Tsukuyomi-sama's tone turned cold. But arguing was tricky; even he leaned closer to their mother, Izanami-sama, than to their father.
Amaterasu-sama, still caught in prayer, offered no help.
Right now, no one in Takamagahara stood on Izanagi's side.
"Well, even if he's Father's reincarnation, he's not the original deity. More like an Earth-based terminal. Environment shapes the vessel."
"Brother, I'd keep that theory quiet."
"Why?"
"Because if Mother hears—"
"...!"
Tsukuyomi-sama froze. For once, his usual cool demeanor cracked.
When Izanami-sama held a grudge against her husband, she could curse a thousand humans in passing.
If she learned Adachi was her husband's reincarnation, no one could predict what she might do.
"...Maybe he's just an ordinary human after all. There's precedent."
"Yeah. There sure is."
Both gods fell silent, each picturing the same terrifying image—
that of the dragon-slaying Muscle Onee, the last "ordinary human" who'd shaken the heavens.