[Inari Standoff]: Karmic Cycle

Saint was brought to his knees by the might of Inari's bite. Blood dripped from his neck and onto the floor, Inari's teeth the only thing keeping him from bleeding out. As soon as she released him, he'd have no hope of surviving. Osamu too fell down to his knees, exhausted from the battle.

"I should've known." White Saint said, gurgling on his own blood.

"It's over, White Saint." Osamu panted.

White Saint couldn't help but chuckle, even though doing so pained his throat. "No it's not. My death here is meaningless. They'll just send more to fight in my place, and this will go on and on..."

Inari squeezed down harder on his neck, sinking her fangs deeper into his flesh. "Lot of words for a dying man!"

"You've doomed more than just one exorcist tonight, Osamu." White Saint wheezed. "You deserve everything you get."

"How many more of you are there? Tell me." Osamu demanded.

"As many as they need to kill you both." White Saint answered. "Just how many people will you force to fight to the death?"

The shadows of Inari's waving tails stretched down the hallway, elongated by the bright, emergency light shining behind over. The shadows danced over Osamu's face as he clutched his wounded arm, mulling over White Saint's words. He had a point. This wasn't going to end with White Saint. If anything, this was only the beginning of the standoff.

Killing White Saint meant that more people would be ordered to go down to the airport, and in turn, Osamu would be forced to fight and kill them. Everyone would just end up running in circles, and yet no one could stop themselves. If protecting what they held dear meant jumping into this bloody cycle, everyone on both sides would do it.

"You people didn't give us a choice." Osamu said.

"And you did?" White Saint asked.

Inari released her fangs from his neck, plopping his head against the tile floor. She stood up and stepped back, watching his eyes dart across the airport ceiling as he slowly bled to death.

"Inari?" Osamu called out.

"No need to keep him suffering." Inari said.

In a few minutes, White Saint exhaled his final breath and died. Osamu knew all too well what White Saint's death meant for Osamu and Inari. Both sides of the standoff were now on an irreversible collision course, the exorcists being an unstoppable object, and Inari and Osamu being the immovable object.

Inari knelt by White Saint’s body, checking his neck for a pulse to make doubly sure he was gone. "Damn fool. He never had to die, not like this. Maria will want her revenge, I'm sure. This whole thing feels so nostalgic."

A sharp pain made Osamu clutch his chest. "Ah! That's not good!"

"I'm sorry! I'll stop messing around and get his heart." Inari said.

"I'm not...I'm not going to have to eat it myself, right?"

"No, I can eat it and then transfer the blood from my mouth to yours."

"When you say it like that, it sounds a lot more gross than it really is."

"If you ask me, I think it's quite delicious."

Inari ripped open White Saint's robes, stabbing into his chest with her claws to form a hole in his chest. From there, she was able to widen the hole by pulling the two ends of skin and flesh apart, revealing the rib cage beneath.

"Mortal, you might want to look away. This is where it gets gross."

"Oh gosh, really?!" Osamu cried, sarcastically. "Thanks for the early warning!"

After splitting the rib cage in half, Inari carefully pulled out Saint's heart, holding the bloodied organ in her hand as she opened her mouth to devour it. Inari's tails waved in excitement as her tongue coiled out of her mouth towards the heart, her fangs chomping down on it as if it were a fruit. The blood-red glow in her eyes grew brighter as steam rose from her entire body. The black spot on her chest disappeared, ridding her of White Saint's curse. On her feet and filled with joy, she stood up and stretched her legs, then walked over to Osamu for the next crimson kiss.

"Ah! That feels so much better! I finally feel like I'm getting my strength back, a little bit. And look, the curse is gone too!" Inari sang.

"Would you please stop playing around and heal me! I'm friggin' cursed here!" Osamu nagged.

Inari sighed. "Very well. Come on, let's kiss."

(Every one of our kisses, though serving a practical purpose, felt more and more romantic than the last. The first was quick, the second was deeper, and this one, the third...long after the taste of blood had dissipated, our lips were still locked. I was touching her, and she was touching me. Neither of us stopped after the curse was healed. And then...the mark of a kiss that's more than just practical...Inari held my face with her hands, and gave me her tongue.)

Osamu couldn't even bare to look at Inari after such an intense kiss. He averted his eyes and hid his blushing face. "What was that?!"

Inari laughed. Think of it as an extra thank you for sticking with me like this. I hadn't kissed someone like that in a long time. Thank you for putting up with it. "

(That's right...how many centuries has it been since she last loved anyone?)

Inari's eyes looked a bit sorrowful and reminiscent. Osamu could only guess she was thinking the same thing, of how long it had been since she experienced the joy of such a passionate kiss.

"Okay, now for your arm. I should be able to just grow it right back-"

An explosion suddenly punched through the wall ahead of them, knocking them both down the hallway and onto their backs. Smoke clouded the source of the explosion, but Inari knew it could've only been another exorcist.

"Damn it! What the hell was that?!" Osamu shouted, coughing dust out of his throat.

Inari looked towards the window, the mosaic of water drops covering it. "I couldn't smell him because the rain washed way his scent. It seems our final opponent for tonight is here."

A humungous, seven-foot tall man walked in through the hole in the wall. He patted the dust off of the shoulder of his white, silk suit and fixed the crooked, red tie around his neck. He slicked back the stray, black hairs of his top knot bun with his hand as he chuckled softly. Osamu couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man was built like an attack helicopter.

"Showing up in a soaked, expensive suit is rather unstylish of me, eh?" the man quipped. "But hey, when you come for a party, you've got to be prepared for anything! Ain't that right, Inari?"

"Inari? How the hell are we going to beat him?" Osamu asked.

"That's a good question..." Inari responded.

"My name is Heavy Metal." the man bowed. "Well, my nomme de guerre, anyway."

Heavy Metal turned his head, noticing a familiar exorcist lying dead in a pool of his own blood. "Is that the White Saint? Wow, he was no joke. Definitely one of the most talented exorcists out there. I can't believe you really killed him. Black Maria is going to be furious when she hears the blood-crazed fox goddess and her heartless accomplice killed her brother."

Heavy Metal then turned his head to Osamu, cringing in disgust at the sight of his tattered, buttoned top. "Boy, you do not look stylish. Where's your flair, man? Where's your mojo?"

"Wh...what the hell are you talking about?!" Osamu cried, a tad bit offended his style was being called out.

"Well, you're wearing the peace symbol around your neck. I figured someone like you would probably be a bit more like...saaayyy...Austin Powers." Heavy Metal said.

"Austin...who?" Osamu asked.

Inari sighed as she stood up. "So I guess everyone knows who you are, mortal."

"How could we not?" Heavy Metal asked. "There was the whole siege of Heaven thing and then the killing Bishamon thing, to name a few..."

Inari's eyebrows shot up in slight surprise. "So, Bishamon's really dead?"

"Killed by none other than Tsukiakari Senkumo herself." Heavy Metal added. "Quite a twist of fate, isn't it? Being killed by your former pupil."

Inari smirked, chuckling softly. "So she finally did it. Good job, Gekko."

"I wouldn't be so happy, Inari. Your fate won't be so different from his." Heavy Metal said.

Heavy Metal pounded his fist into his hand and smiled. Call him tacky, but he looked like he could crush a watermelon with his chin if he wanted to. Even with Inari's strength, Osamu wondered what any of his punches would do to a man built like a tank.

"Time to kill a fox goddess!”