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Yes, it's me! I just came back from our Diet friend's place!

Where is Hoshiguma?

The venue?!

What about Mio? Has she dealt with them?

No?! She left?

That traitor!

What about the network? Did you record what's going on inside? What about Hoshiguma?

Dammit! Get the editors on it NOW and make the footage of her fight with Mio look like she's completely lost control—

What do you mean there's no time?! Hacking? Hijacked network?! Can't deal with it?

What good are you?! Cut the signal if you can't deal with it! The power supply too! The only thing left to air tonight is the apology! Who cares if the signal goes out?

We can't have someone babbling on MY channel—

Hello? Hello?!

<i>Chikusho!</i> Lost the signal?

You idiot! You demand I come and give a personal explanation, that just gives my enemies a chance to strike!

Everything's gone to hell while I was humoring that bastard... even Hannya is gone...

(Takes a deep breath)

Calm down.

Clean up the mess and start over. It'll be alright. It's not the first time.

First, go to the venue and stop those insects. The diet has given the nod on Hoshiguma. All that's left is to clean up public opinion...

Came to cause trouble with your dear Hoshiguma<i>-aneki,</i> have you?

Hoshiguma?

Oh my goodness. Should I compliment you for your bravery, or your adorable stupidity?

Look at how beat-up you are. Seems like my men were still playing with you, not knowing that you no longer had any use.

Who did you grab this real sword from? Tell me, and I'll return it to him before he gets angry.

Kinbee... you...

Me?

I don't have time to play with you, Tetsuya.

Your father may have taught you the basics of swordsmanship when you were little, but you have a long, long way to go before you're ready to use it in a real fight.

A father and son who got turned against each other by a mask. How much do you think you actually understood about the swordplay that he taught you?

Turned against?!

Yes... turned against each other...

I've said all I needed to say. Now get lost before I change my mind and reunite you with Tessai.

You're the one who should be reunited with my father!

Deep breath.

I know. Countless people are watching me. I must tell them the truth.

But... does it mean anything?

They love Momoka Hanyuu. They love to watch her panic at all the kaidan that seem to orbit around her.

They love to watch me get scared, not speak the truth, and certainly not the real me...

Yes, I'm afraid of even that.

I'm a coward.

Being afraid is the biggest common denominator between Haruka Shino and Momoka Hanyuu.

Hello everyone, good... good evening.

I... I'm Momoka Hanyuu... the girl who's so afraid of kaidan, but who just couldn't seem to get away from them.

I'm sorry for disturbing you all, after that big accident that just occurred on air...

Momo-cchi?!

Didn't she go missing? How did she suddenly pop up like that?

Was that emergency broadcast really a kaidan?

Is she caught in the middle of a kaidan... and looking for help from us?!

As you can see, I'm standing here before you.

Strange things seem to happen to me all the time. That's how kaidan are: they appear without warning, and disappear the same way.

But what if I told you that all the kaidan were fake, from the very beginning?

Momoka? Kinseki Channel's really throwing money into her, pulling that disappearing act. What's the kaidan this time?

She said they're fake.

What? Is she out of her mind? Does she think we're all stupid? Aren't kaidan all around us all the time?

That's what she said. Don't ask me, watch her yourself.

What if I told you that, with the exception of a handful of kaidan associated with the kami, all the shows that I've been on, all the kaidan that I experienced... all of them were fabricated?

I'm not talking about hypotheticals. I'm talking about true lies.

Kinseki Station and the Kinseki Talent Agency deceived you, and I unknowingly became their accomplice.

I'm sorry.

I won't make any excuses for deceiving you. I'll accept any criticism.

I told you, no TV tonight!

My classmate told me they're airing something really amazing! Look! The kaidan lady spills the beans on fake kaidan!

I've been a part... of countless lies.

For example, the original kaidan, the family home of the Ao-Oni of the Kinsekikai in Kajimachi that killed its residents.

It was no paranormal activity, just actual murder.

I now accuse Kouhei Mifune, president of Kinseki Channel and the Kinseki Talent Agency, and the de facto leader of the Kinsekikai yakuza syndicate, of being the mastermind behind all this.

Without any evidence, he suspected me of being in league with his political opponent, Tessai, and plotted to infect me with Oripathy, when I knew nothing of any of it.

The 'Ao-Oni of Kinsekikai' was exiled from Mitsukue after taking the fall for his crimes, many years ago. She was framed for my kidnapping, when in fact, she had saved my life.

When I accidentally stumbled upon the truth behind the kaidan, he wanted to silence me, spreading rumors that I was retiring...

Detective Koretou! Upstairs is absolutely fuming!

This is the eighth time they're ordering us to cut the signal...

What did we do with the last seven orders?

...Nothing.

You've got it.

I know you've been unhappy about me saying that things will get better. I stopped believing it myself at some point.

Whatever happens tonight is on me. Let there be one night when the police don't have to grovel to anyone. It's my parting gift to you.

...This is what I needed to tell you tonight.

Next, there's something else I want to tell you... about myself.

I know a lot of people think I'm overacting in the shows... you think I'm being dramatic on purpose.

What I want to tell you is that fear has been a constant in Momoka Hanyuu's entire life.

Partly, it's because I was told too many horror stories when I was little, but...

The more important reason is that I grew up in Gokawa, the city infamous for its polluted water.

There, fear is not about serial killers roaming the streets at night, unicycles that bring misfortune, or elevators to hell...

It is about watching your loved ones becoming bedridden all of a sudden, falling while walking on flat ground, and losing the feeling in their hands.

It all happens so naturally, so gradually... and it's too late by the time you realize it.

I was one of the lucky ones. I came to Mitsukue, to be bathed in people's attention, be it adoring, judging, or scornful.

My fear was no longer about pain, illness and death; it was about viewer ratings, losing fans, pressure from the agency, and fabricated kaidan.

It seems such a luxury to fear those things, now that my life is once again under threat.

Isn't it a sort of happiness, to be afraid of kaidan?

We don't need to face true danger. We lie in our beds, screaming at stories we don't know if they're true, and satisfy ourselves with the sensation of our nerves tightening and relaxing again.

But... I'm afraid I can never enjoy it the same way again.

This luxury was lost to me forever when I learned that the kaidan that used to scare me were lies, manifestations of greed, murders, and cover-ups.

From this day forth, kaidan shall no longer be part of Momoka Hanyuu's life.

I hereby announce that I am leaving the Kinseki Talent Agency, and disassociating myself from all Kinsekikai affiliates!

Tetsuya is lying on the ground next to Mifune, wounded but alive.

It is not that the Phidia intended to spare him.

Indeed, Mifune wanted to put an end to this quickly many times, only to be forced back by the suicidal attacks of the young Oni, who seemed to be intentionally aiming himself at the tip of Mifune's sword, just to find a chance to take Mifune down with him.

Momoka's speech coming through the screen beside him only served as a further distraction, and his trembling hands repeatedly missed their mark.

Even as Mifune changed his goal from killing to incapacitation, and then to simply shaking off this maniac in order to deal with the fallout, Tetsuya kept getting up from the ground, in spite of all his injuries.

Meanwhile, Momoka's speech is drawing to a close.