[Inari Standoff]: The Power of Hatred

Though Osamu had known about the initial attempt on Inari's life, he learned something that not even Izanami or Tsukiakari knew. Amaterasu herself had tried to kill Inari. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't reconcile the Amaterasu that he knew with the cold-hearted murderer Inari painted her as.

These events unfolded centuries ago, and everyone he knows now was a much different person back then. The thought of Tsukiakari going on a murderous rampage now was unthinkable. Picturing Izanami struggling to control her hatred was impossible, for she had been the sweetest woman he'd ever met for as long as he had known her. The more he thought about it, the less of a stretch it was to believe that Amaterasu could've been a cold and calculating queen willing to assassinate one of her fellow goddesses with her own hands.

"I buried the man's body and gave it a proper blessing. That's how much I once loved humanity, mortal." Inari said, staring Osamu dead in the eyes. "Even those that did me wrong and tried to kill me, I still respectfully found them a grave and prayed for their souls. After that, I wandered, and wandered, and wandered. I tried going back to some of my other shrines, but they were all razed and reduced to cinders. Edo was no longer a home for me."

After wandering for days, seeing her shrines destroyed, losing her loyal foxes, Inari slumped against a tree in the woods, the gentle snowfall chilling her skin. She curled her tails around her body and closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't last long in those woods. She didn't even expect to wake up alive. It wouldn't have surprised her at all if she froze to death and died in her sleep. To her, that was okay. She accepted it. There was nothing else to live for, anyway.

A hooded young man traveled through those woods that night, along with his fox. His slick, raven hair was tied into a ponytail beneath his black hood. He carried an oil lantern with him, its flickering, amber light guiding him through the frigid darkness. The man's fox suddenly growled and went sprinting deeper into the woodlands without his master's permission.

"Oi! What are you doing?!" he shouted.

He ran after his fox like it was his best friend, and perhaps it was. Every step he took made a crunch in the snow and caused the leaves to whistle in his ear as he zipped past them. Finally, he spotted his strangely disobedient fox, licking the wounds of a sleeping Inari. The fox was simply chasing after its greater master.

"By the gods...what is this? A woman? With tails? Could it be...Inari Okami?"

The fox cried as Inari failed to wake up, as if begging his lesser master to save the goddess's life.

"She's wounded..."

The man petted the fox's head and smiled. "Let's take her home, give her a meal, and make sure she heals properly. Only good things can come to us if we take care of a god in need."

Inari awoke in a bed she knew wasn't hers, staring up at a wooden ceiling she did not recognize. Her wounds were dressed with gauze, so she knew someone had taken care of her. She slowly got out of bed, hugging the wall to help her walk. She opened the front door, her eyes overwhelmed the the light of the rising sun. The young man who rescued her was chopping wood outside when he realized Inari had gotten up.

Tenji immediately bowed in a fully submissive position. Even his fox bowed its head. "Inari Okami! Thank goodness you're all right. I spotted you out in the woods. You looked like you were about to die. I'm sorry that my home is small, but I hope it sufficed for your recovery, my lord."

"You saved me?" Inari asked.

The young man nodded his head. The two of them returned inside, the young man serving Inari a cup of hot tea at the round table near the front door. They sat down on the hard, wooden floor and sipped from their steaming cups.

"Tenji, is it?" Inari asked.

"Y-yes, that's my name." he stuttered.

"Thank you for saving me. Although I am indebted to you, I'm afraid I do not have much to give you right now. Even worse, I must ask even more from you."

"No, please, ask away!"

"Even if I cannot give you a blessing, as you're probably hoping?"

Tenji sighed. "Well, I guess I'd be lying if I said it's disappointing not to be blessed, but I just wanted to help you. As long as you get help, I'll settle for bragging rights about saving Inari's life. What do you need?"

"Please allow me to stay with you. I have nowhere to go." Inari said. "My shrines have all been burned and given to other gods, and the residents of Edo have tried to kill me. I don't know why. I don't know what I did wrong. All I know is that I cannot go back there. Please, consider taking care of me for the foreseeable future, just until I can get back on my feet."

"Of course! You can stay here if you need to. It would be my honor to have you as a guest."

"Really? Do you mean that?"

Tenji's smile was honest and bright. "Really!"

Remembering Tenji brought a smile upon Inari's face, the first warm, melancholic smile Osamu had ever seen from her. Osamu knew the feeling, of a memory being so precious that you just can't help but smile as it all comes back to you.

"Tenji was the man who saved me. I stayed with him for much longer than I anticipated. Reason being...we fell in love." Inari admitted. "We were married in secret, away from the eyes of other villagers. Just over a year later, I had given birth to three children, triplets. Those three kids were the first demigods in existence. Tenji was sweet, perhaps even too sweet. It would've been wiser to send me on my way. Even if he had still married me, he should've forced me to stay inside, never to venture out into the world again."

"Why's that?" Osamu asked.

Inari closed her eyes, recalling what happened in detail. It all happened while she was out for a stroll.

Though the day itself was peaceful and filled with spring breeze, it would prove a terrible day for Inari to go outside. As she walked, she heard the footsteps of several other people across from her. She quickly hid herself behind a tree and did her best to tuck her tails under her white, cotton cloak.

"The gods want all shrines and households ahead of this forest to be stripped of any homages to Inari." said a distant man. "We'll have to do a door-by-door sweep and make sure the villagers aren't hiding anything."

"Don't forget, they also want any foxes to be taken away as well. They want absolutely no references to Inari anywhere." added a second man.

As if the stars were aligned for a bad omen, Tenji was unfortunate enough to come across the men as he was returning home. Inari recognized his voice, peering from behind the tree to see for herself. It was indeed her husband, greeting the group of eight exorcists.

"Good day, travelers." Tenji greeted.

The men immediately took note of Tenji's fox as the first sign that he may have been a worshiper of Inari. They played it smart, keeping that suspicion to themselves to mask their intentions.

"Good day. You own a fox?" one of the exorcist asked.

"Oh yes, he's my friend out here in the woods." Tenji said. "I hunt game during the spring and sell the meat and fur to the locals."

"I see, so you live near here?"

"Yeah, just ahead of the woods. Would you be interested in buying some game some time?"

"Yeah, we probably would! We've been running low on food, so some fresh meat will serve us well."

As they traded, Inari silently fled back to the house and shut the door behind her. She slouched down on the floor, panting as she caught her breath. She could only pray she wasn't seen and that Tenji wouldn't become the target of suspicion. That day seemed to pass without incident, however. Tenji returned home with a bit of money in his pocket from selling his meats and furs, and they didn't see or hear from those exorcists again.

Still, just to be sure, Inari refrained from leaving the house. Almost a week passed without incident since their encounter with the exorcists. One morning, however, Inari and Tenji awoke to the crackle of flames consuming their home.

"Tenji!" Inari screamed, shaking Tenji awake.

"Get the kids!" Tenji ordered.

Tenji grabbed two of the crying infants, while Inari grabbed one of them. They made a break for the front door and found something much more threatening than a mere fire. A small squad of exorcists stood outside waiting for them. The man who Tenjin sold meat to just days before stood at the center of the squad, his hands behind his back.

"What is this?!" Tenji shouted.

"I see, I was right. Inari really was hiding with you. Harboring a runaway god, Tenji? That is a serious offense against the heavens." the exorcist mocked.

"Inari...run..." Tenji whispered.

"What? No!" Inari protested.

"Inari, just get out of here!" Tenji screamed.

Tenji's eyes suddenly widened with shock as an arrow pierced his neck. His eyes rolled back into his head as he fell forward into the snow, his babies still clutched in his arms.

"Be sure to kill the children too! They probably belong to her!" the exorcist ordered.

Inari rushed to Tenji's side, dragging his body along with her at a snail's pace. She refused to leave him behind. However, the two babies slipped out of his arms as she did so. They were immediately struck through their backs with arrows, killing them instantly.

"No!" Inari screamed.

Inari hurriedly carried Tenji on her back while she clutched their last remaining baby in their arms. It took incredible strength to carry them both, but Inari was determined to save her husband and last child. She sprinted through the forest, arrows flying past her head and striking the trunks of wisteria trees as she turned and weaved to avoid being struck.

However, the exorcists quickly caught up to her. They fired an arrow into her back, bringing Inari down to her knees. She dropped her screaming infant and a near-dead Tenji, her body in too much pain to carry them any further. The footsteps and barbaric cheers of the exorcists were getting closer and closer. Unable to do anything to save her family, Inari cried, hugging her baby as if to shield it from the painful fate awaiting them.

Tenji reached out to his beloved wife, bleeding from the neck and staining the snow red.

"I...Inari..." Tenji cried.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Inari sobbed, tears falling from her eyes and into the snow.

"Inari...you have to escape...I won't...I won't let you die here..." Tenji said, choking on his own blood.

"There's nothing I can do now!" Inari cried.

"Yes there is. You've told me before...eating flesh and the hearts of rabbits helped you stay alive in these woods, right?"

Inari realized what Tenji was trying to say. She shook her head, refusing the mere idea he was trying to put up. "No...I can't do that to you..."

Tenji grabbed Inari's hand, holding it tightly as if to keep his soul anchored to the earth for a little longer. "Inari, you really did end up blessing me. I became a husband and a father because of you. I knew what love was because of you. That's why I cannot let you die here. I cannot let your story end here. That's why...I'm giving to give you my blood, my flesh, and even my heart."

"Tenji, stop!" Inari screamed.

Tenji gave a small blade to Inari, curling her fingers around the handle and smiling. "They were already yours since the day we met. Now that I'm about to die, I no longer need them. Take my heart, Inari. Do it now! If you die here, I'll never forgive you!"

There was no time to hesitate. Inari, with her shaking hands and crying face, pointed the tip of the blade into Tenji's chest.

"Stay alive, my love..." Tenji mumbled, his eyes growing dark.

Tenji exhaled his final breath, dying with his eyes halfway open. Inari released a ferocious scream of grief and anger as she tried to shake Tenji awake. He was already gone. Nothing could be done to save him. However, he was willing to sacrifice his very flesh if it meant Inari could save herself.

The exorcists followed the sounds of Inari's screams for the next several minutes, but just as they were getting near, her cries grew silent. When the soldiers caught up to Inari and surrounded her, their eyes widened in horror. Inari held Tenji's bloodied heart in her hands, having used his blade to cut open his chest and rip it from his body.

Inari consumed Tenji's heart like an apple. Blood stained her lips and hands as her wounds healed instantly, and her eyes glowed a bright red. Her tears of sadness had turned into wails of hatred. She stood up and all of the exorcists fell silent. For a moment, she was still, and the soldiers were unsure whether to run or to attack. Then, suddenly, the clouds covered the sun, casting a shadow over the forest. Inari's tails struck out from behind her and her furious yell filled the forest.

"Shit! Kill her!" one of the exorcists screamed.

They all fired in unison, striking her in the arms, shoulders, chest, and legs with eight arrows. Inari didn't even stagger. She ripped the arrows right out of her flesh and lunged at one of the exorcists, grabbing him by the face and smashing his head against the trunk of one of the wisteria trees. His head exploded into a mess of brain and skull fragment, terrifying the other exorcists.

Inari threw Tenji's blade at one of them, sticking it right between his eyes and killing him instantly. She then lunged at another who tried to run away, landing on his back. She stomped her foot against the back of his head as she pulled on his arms with all of her might, ripping the limbs right out of their sockets. Blood rushed like a red mist out of his empty arm sockets, staining her and the snow in a shower of red.

"R-Run! Go! Get out of here!"

Inari wouldn't let them get away with what they had done. The forest echoed with their screams as Inari brutally murdered them one by one.