[Inari Standoff] The Goddess With Nine Tails

It was a hot, muggy day in September, six months after Rousoku Himawari's tragic end. The sun cooked everything in its light as life went on in Kyoto, the streets filled with hordes of pedestrians walking to and fro. It seemed like another ordinary day in the city. But while ordinary people roamed the sun-soaked streets, a team of five, hooded exorcists raced through the darkness of the alleyways, vaulting over trash cans and broken down boxes.

"Don't lose sight of it!" one of the exorcists shouted.

They turned left, reaching a dead end. Their target, a small, white, nine-tailed fox, cowered in the corner of the alleyway, hiding itself behind a black garbage bag.

"I've got this one. Hunt down the others." the exorcists ordered.

The four other exorcists went on their way, hunting down the other nine-tailed foxes. Three foxes remained, all of them fleeing in the same direction. The sound of their paws rapidly beating against the ground filled the alleyways as the black-clad exorcists desperately gave chase.

While the exorcists were on the hunt, Osamu Ashikaga found himself at the airport, sitting among hundreds of people in the waiting area outside several different flight gates. The whole was busy and bursting with activity, chatter, laughter, and the smell of skewered beef and curry from the food courts down the halls.

Osamu was dressed in a sky-blue, button-down shirt, with darker blue oval patches on the elbows of the shirt. The first three buttons were undone, exposing his peace sign necklace against his bare chest. He wore a pair of white, denim jeans fastened with a belt made of bullets. A beaded bracelet adorned his left wrist as he fluffed out his wavy lion's mane.

He was there to pick up Aika, who was returning from a trip to Germany. Each minute that passed by felt like a lifetime. He checked his phone to make sure his ringer was on before leaning back in his seat and shutting his eyes.

The cloaked exorcists continued to chase after the white foxes. Their swiftly weaved kuji-in hand seals as they ran, channeling the power of fire into their palms. One of the exorcists extended his hand outward, launching a scorching fireball from his palm. One of the foxes was struck in its back, crashing into a pile of garbage bags.

In its last moments, the fox tried desperately to get back on its feet, crying and squirming as the flames burned through its fur and muscles, killing it. The other foxes continued to flee as the exorcists checked the fox they killed.

"It's not her." one of the exorcists said.

"Damn it, keep killing them!" the other exorcist barked.

They continued their blood-thirsty hunt, chasing the two remaining foxes. Their pursuit led them outside of the alleyways, across a major street, and right outside the very same airport Osamu was waiting in. The exorcists stopped just outside the airport's entry gate, knowing they'd have a hard time chasing down the foxes with all of the civilians in their way.

The five cloaked men regrouped in the alleyway when they lost the foxes beyond the gates of the airport. They huddled around each other, concealing their faces beneath their dark hoods.

"Damn, looks like they ran in there." one of the exorcists hissed.

"The airport, huh? Damn, she's smart." another exorcist chimed. "Looks like we've got no choice. Amaterasu gave us full Execute Authority. From here on out, mission priority changes to Category One. Time to break out the Cat-One magic, boys."

Osamu got up from his quick slumber, his eyelids snapping apart. He still hadn't heard a word from Aika about her arrival. "And I got here early too..."

Osamu got up from his seat. He walked against the chatty crowd and white noise blaring around him, wading his way towards the closest restroom. Walking in, he quietly thanked the universe for allowing him to be the only one inside of that bathroom. He sauntered over to the urinal and relieved himself in peace and privacy, his head still spinning from the exhaustion of boredom and endless waiting.

Washing his hands, Osamu stared into the mirror, hardly able to recognize the man he saw staring back at him. Dark circles surrounded his baggy eyes. And though it was hard to tell beneath his clothes, Osamu knew he had lost a devastating amount of weight over the past six months, at least thirty pounds.

All it took was the sound of rushing water to bring him back to that tragic day when he stood on the edge of the pier, tilting an urn full of Rousoku's ashes towards the longing sea. But at the last moment, he couldn't bear to scatter her away. Instead, he did the unthinkable and devoured Rousoku's ashes, ensuring that she would forever be with him.

He remembered that day so clearly, the memory flashing before him in an instant. It completely crushed his heart. Tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto his wrists, his throat hot with grief. There wasn't a single day he didn't think of Rousoku and the brutal battle that killed her a second time.

It lived with him everyday and stayed with him every night. It made sleep without nightmares impossible, and drained any joy from cooking and eating. He may as well have still been sitting there on that beach, an ocean of blood at his feet and a blood moon glaring at him from the night sky.

He wiped his tears with his sleeve and slapped himself awake, winding himself up enough to survive until the next bout of tears, the next storm of heartache. As he dried his hands, a strange sensation suddenly overtook him. His body felt heavy, like his legs were filled with sand.

"What...what is..."

Osamu fell to his knees, and then collapsed on his side, falling unconscious in the bathroom. In his slumber, he saw the image of a white, nine-tailed fox, and heard the frantic, desperate voice of a woman in distress.

"Someone! Anyone! Please help me!" the woman sobbed. "Please! Anyone!"

It was not only the sound of a crying woman, but crying foxes as well. The collective sound of agony grew louder and more deafening with every minute until Osamu just couldn't take it anymore. He awoke with a gasp on the bathroom floor, the lights flickering on and off. He rubbed the side of his head as it throbbed with pain, looking in the mirror to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"What happened? How could I have fallen asleep here?" Osamu asked.

A strange, unsettling aura filled the bathroom, as if there were demons whispering within the walls. The hairs on Osamu's arms stood up and goosebumps riddled his skin. Osamu barged out to get some fresh air, soaking in the sunlight pouring in through the huge airport windows. He was sweating, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind him.

That was when he noticed something was terribly off. The entire airport, which was bustling with noise earlier, was now completely and utterly silent. Deathly silent. Osamu looked around, and saw not a single soul in the airport with him.

Osamu walked back out to the waiting area, expecting to see or hear at least someone, but all he found were the clothes of people who were once there, not the people themselves. He looked around with cautious eyes, as he knew something was foul in Kyoto yet again. Then, he heard the woman's voice in his head once more.

"Is anyone still there?! Anyone?! Please! Help me!"

Osamu then heard the cry of a fox, and the rapid, thunderous footsteps of several other people. He took cover behind the wall and was able to catch a glimpse of one of the white, nine-tailed foxes scurrying past him. On the other end of the wall, he saw the black-clad exorcists, the team confused about which direction the fox went.

They ended up going in a different direction from the fox, averted from its trail. When Osamu turned his eyes to the ground, he saw small drops of blood forming a long and intimidating, crimson trail. His heart pounded faster as he decided he would follow the trail. He marched along the drops of blood, following them wherever they took him.

As he walked, he saw more and more of the clothes and baggage that belonged to the people that seemed to suddenly be raptured away from the airport. His heart told him to turn away, to go back home while he still could, but his mind was all too curious, all too brave. The echoing sound of a trash can crashing over prompted Osamu to take cover once more as the cloaked men continued to chase down the white foxes across the way.

As he continued walking, his heartbeat grew more thunderous, but his feet could not stop moving towards danger. As he walked by, dozens of eyes appeared on the walls, watching and blinking. Seeing them in the corner of his eye, he panicked and checked the wall himself, but the eyes had suddenly disappeared.

The trail of blood drops led him down the escalator to the fifth floor, a massive area with open space, potted plants, and food courts. He was shocked and sickened by the sight of a mutilated, dead fox lying on the floor, its remains soaked in a large, circular pool of blood.

Osamu shook and shivered as he laid his eyes on the gruesome, stomach twisting scene. He looked around once more, trying to find who or what could've possibly done this. He noticed, however, that the trail of blood drops did not stop here. They kept going, and so, he too kept going.

Osamu's head throbbed even more as he got closer and closer to finding the source of the blood trail.

"Help me! Please don't let me die!" the woman's voice cried in his head.

Osamu, desperate to find the source of the voice in his head, sprinted through the vacant airport as fast as he could. He stopped in the middle of a massive hallway that bridged one half of the airport with the other half. It was a hall filled with colored, glass panel converting the sunlight shining into a myriad of vibrant colors, from warm reds to frigid blues. The trail of blood led his eyes to a small, wounded fox lying on the floor, its fur soaked red. Osamu slowly approached the fox, noticing it was still alive.

"What on earth are you?" Osamu asked.

"Help me..." the woman's voice rang in his head.

"Is that you talking to me?" Osamu questioned, pointing at the fox before him.

"Yes...please...help me..."

Osamu bent down and picked up the wounded fox. It was small enough for him to cradle in his arms like a small child.

"You there!"

The voices of the pursuers. The five exorcists caught up to them, and now Osamu was in the mix.

"Don't turn around! If you do, they'll see your face!" the woman's voice instructed.

Osamu whispered to the fox, fearing for his life. "What do we do?"

"It's okay, I will protect us."

"Unhand the fox! Now!" one of the exorcists screamed.

The fox suddenly morphed and shifted shape, turning into a woman with long, voluminous, white hair. She held Osamu's head with one hand, and aimed her other hand at the exorcists.. A concussive shockwave pulsated from her palm, shattering the windows and blowing away the exorcists.

"Go, through there!" the woman ordered.

(It was like I had lost control of my body...)

Without even thinking, Osamu jumped through the empty glass frames, landing on the ground of the fifth floor as the colored glass, sparkling in the sunlight, rained down upon him and the woman he carried in his arms. Now that he had a good look at her, he noticed her white hair, red eyes, and long, claw-like nails in detail. She was of light skin, and her naked body was bruised and half-covered in burn scars.

In appearance, she couldn't have been older than thirty. Her hair seemed to glow like heavenly snow in the sunlight. Her teeth too, were white and sharp like that of a fox. The most surprising thing was her thick, white, nine tails that blossomed around herself and Osamu like the petals of a lotus flower.

Osamu gazed into this woman's gorgeous, scarlet eyes, and everything seemed to flow in slow motion.

"Young man...what is your name?" the woman asked.

"It's...Osamu. Osamu Ashikaga. And you?"

"Inari. Inari Okami. Goddess of foxes and fertility.”