While Midori and Mai were struggling to make do with being kidnapped into a remote island, Tokyo was abuzz with curious murmurs.
The tabloids, accustomed to feasting on the Matsumotos' and Yamagatas' every move, found themselves with a new, dramatic chapter to devour.
The latest news they wrote about Kiyoshi Matsumoto's future wife landed across the front pages like a bomb no less, and gave rise to endless talk for days to come.
Thanks to that, the select several people who spoke of Midori after learning about her unfortunate circumstances had expanded into a much larger circle.
Luckily, the tone with which they mentioned Midori's name had tilted in a positive direction tremendously.
The hushed whispers along the line of, "Did you hear that the youngest daughter of the Takigawa family returned home with head bowed in shame and belly swollen with a stranger's child?" had morphed into something a lot more delightful.