"Huh?"
Hinako Shimizu couldn't even keep her voice steady, and the will of the light wavered along with her bewilderment — her half-kneeling body tilted slightly, nearly knocking against one of the jingū's stone pillars.
Was now really the time for this?! That five hundred yen wasn't the point, was it?! No, wait — why didn't she need to pay it back anymore? She was the one who'd saved Sakuko, so why didn't Sakuko even want the money back anymore?
For a moment, Hinako almost regretted her earlier decision. Should she have just been decisive and blasted the monster apart with the Emerium Beam instead?
"I got here first."
Igarashi Sakuko seemed not to notice Hinako's bewilderment at all. She gripped the kagura suzu in her hand, her eyes reddening further, brimming with a bittersweet ache.
"What do you mean, you got here first?"
Hinako straightened up, staring at Igarashi Sakuko in total confusion, utterly unable to make sense of whatever strange thing was going on in Sakuko's head.
It had always been like this. Sakuko had always had this way of coming out with the most far-fetched things.
Maybe it was the influence of some weird manga, but she'd gotten really annoying about it — one second laughing happily, the next suddenly putting on a serious face to say something solemn. Sakuko herself seemed to think it looked cool, but honestly, it had just been unsettling at first.
"Meeting Mr. Ultraseven, believing in the light, fighting side by side with Mr. Ultraseven — I got to all of it first!"
Igarashi Sakuko's eyes reddened even more — not the crimson from when the evil god had controlled her earlier, but the real kind of red that came from being genuinely on the verge of tears.
"Why did it turn out like this... The first time I met the idol I admired, and I had a chance to save my best friend. Two happy things overlapping. And those two joys should have brought me even more joy. What I should have gotten was a time as blissful as a dream... but why, why did it turn out like this..."
Igarashi Sakuko crouched on the ground, tracing circles on the floor with her finger, murmuring sorrowfully to herself.
Hinako's gaze drifted, unfocused.
No matter how slow she could be, there was no way she couldn't understand what Igarashi Sakuko meant.
The first person to ever know Ultraseven had been Igarashi Sakuko. It was probably Sakuko, too, who had guided Ultraseven, begging him to come to Ebisugaoka to destroy the wicked fox spirit and save her — the one who was about to become the fox spirit's bride.
And yet, because Igarashi Sakuko had suddenly dropped dead, this current situation clearly didn't match what she'd expected in her heart.
"That's just too much, Hinako. Do you know that?"
Igarashi Sakuko lifted her head, looking at Hinako with an accusing stare.
"Wh-what?"
Hinako guiltily looked away.
"The worst part is, I was just now being controlled by that bastard fox spirit and nearly killed you, and then instead, you turned into Ultraseven and saved me. Isn't this the kind of story I'm supposed to be starring in? I should have been the one who turned into the Giant of Light and saved you from the fox spirit's control! That way you'd remember me for the rest of your life! That way you'd owe me five hundred yen forever!"
Igarashi Sakuko raised the kagura suzu and swung it hard, her emotions surging as she spoke with fierce excitement.
The corner of Hinako's mouth twitched.
"So which is it — saving me, or the five hundred yen?"
"Both matter!"
Igarashi Sakuko declared this righteously, then immediately deflated, pouting.
"But now you've turned into Ultraseven, and you saved me, so what am I supposed to do? I'm still just the freak who can only see things and can't do anything about them. From now on you'll be the Giant of Light, you'll definitely go around fighting monsters with Mr. Ultraseven, and me? I'll just be on the sidelines cheering you on, like... like before, always left far behind by you."
Remembering the old days, Igarashi Sakuko couldn't help but sniffle.
She hated gym class. Just the sight of a gym uniform made her miserable. The marathon race had always felt like an event held solely so everyone could laugh at her for coming in dead last.
Because she hadn't wanted to be left behind all alone — being alone like that had felt unbearably lonely — she'd once asked Hinako if she could match her pace and run to the finish line together. But Hinako had refused, claiming she'd joined a sports club and that if she didn't run at full effort, her coach would scold her.
Understandable as that was, it had still left her behind, all alone.
The marriage promise had been the same. They'd sworn to always be together, to get boyfriends at the same time, to hold their weddings together — and yet Hinako had still heartlessly abandoned her, marrying off to Tokyo all by herself.
And today was even worse — Hinako had gone and stolen her chance to become Ultraseven!
"Hinako, do you know? This feeling is a hundred times worse than having to pay you back that five hundred yen!"
The more Igarashi Sakuko thought about it, the more miserable she felt. She rubbed her eyes, wiping away her tears.
Hinako was completely at a loss for words. She let out a deep sigh and asked.
"So..."
"So that five hundred yen doesn't need to be paid back!"
Igarashi Sakuko declared, firm as iron.
"Why on earth not!"
Hinako finally lost her composure — the silver giant nearly leapt into the air.
"What does that have to do with the five hundred yen?! I lent it to you years ago, you should've paid me back ages ago! Not to mention this time I'm the one who saved you — shouldn't the normal response be to sincerely promise to pay me back that 500 yen right away? Isn't this you repaying kindness with spite?"
"Because it's all your fault!"
Igarashi Sakuko's eyes went wide, indignant.
"If you hadn't become the fox spirit's target, I wouldn't have had to rush all this way to save you. If it weren't for saving you, I wouldn't have become the fox spirit's target and gotten killed by it. If I hadn't been killed by the fox spirit, I wouldn't have missed out on becoming Ultraseven's human host and fighting alongside him... so, see, it really is all your fault!"
Hinako had nothing to say to that — where was the logic in any of it? And besides, what was Sakuko even talking about, rushing all this way to save her? They lived in the same village, for heaven's sake.
"Still, as long as I don't have to pay back that five hundred yen, I guess... hmm, it doesn't feel quite so much like a loss after all."
Igarashi Sakuko put her hands on her hips, tilted her head in thought, then nodded to herself in confirmation.
"No way!"
Hinako raised her palm, replying coldly.
"I am not giving up on collecting that 500 yen I lent you. Debts get paid, that's just how it works. I'm the one who lent you the money, I'm the one who saved you — why should you get to feel like it's not a loss? You not feeling like it's a loss means I'm the one taking the huge loss here."
"...Damn it!"
Still unable to shake off the pursuit of that 500 yen debt, Igarashi Sakuko gritted her teeth, even stamping her foot.
"What a nice friendship you two have."
Inside the shell of the Giant of Light, Amamiya Rin silently watched the exchange between Hinako Shimizu and Igarashi Sakuko, the corner of his mouth lifting into a faint, gentle smile.
____
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