[Inari Standoff]: The Silent Traitor

Manami's eyes slowly peeled open. Her ears rang so loudly she couldn't hear her own thoughts. Her dark and fuzzy vision obscured her sight of the doctors rushing in and out of the crowded hospital room. She saw several other people laying in beds across from hers, their faces black with burns and soot, parts of their cheeks and jaws blown off from their faces. Nurses covered a pale, lifeless boy with a white blanket before rolling him out of the room, out of sight from the other patients.

She raised her hand to her face, only to see that her hand wasn't even there. It had been blown off in the explosion. All that was left was a stub wrapped in tight, bloody bandages. She tried raising her feet, only to see her left leg was missing from the knee down.

She couldn't open her right eye, as her upper head and face were wrapped in bandages. Worried, she pressed her finger against the bandage, feeling for her eyeball. The slight touch set off a cluster of scorched, damaged nerves, her right eye socket completely empty.

Just as soon as she woke up, Manami fell unconscious again. The rhythmic beeps of her vital signs monitor woke her from her slumber. It felt like she had only been unconscious for a few seconds, but she was in a completely different hospital than the one before. She lied alone in a small, white room lit by ceiling lights that shined like the sun on her face. The room had no windows and only one exit. Manami recognized it as an exorcist hospital.

So, it was no surprise to her when Amaterasu and Uzume walked through the door. She figured the exorcists must've taken custody of her soon after she fell unconscious.

"Good morning, Manami." Amaterasu said.

"Amaterasu..." Manami groaned, her jaw and throat in pain just from talking.

"I'm glad you're okay." Amaterasu said, standing at the foot of her bed. "That was quite the blast. Frankly, it's a miracle you survived it at all. Your scalp and face were severely burned. You lost part of your arm, a leg, and one of your eyes in the explosion. The right side of your body suffered serious burns as well. Believe it or not, you're the lucky one. Forty-six people were wounded and twenty-two were killed."

"Amaterasu." Uzume interjected. "We shouldn't overwhelm her with information. She's been out cold for nearly three days."

"I suppose you're right. It's just...a lot is happening right now." Amaterasu sighed. "The most important thing for you is rest, Manami. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"...Taeko?" Manami mumbled, the name alone earning Amaterasu's icy glare.

"Taeko made it out, of course. As did Shinju." Amaterasu said. "Everything is a fucking mess because of you, Manami. What compelled you to try and assassinate Taeko?"

"We also interviewed the men stationed across from the Skyline hotel about what happened." Uzume said. "For men who were supposed to be watching over the city for signs of Inari, they all had their eyes glued to the hotel for an awfully long time. We arrested them on suspicion of aiding you in the assassination attempt."

"Not only that, but before we arrested them, their squad leaders reported something very interesting to the shrine maiden branch." Amaterasu said crossing her arms. "They said Lucrezia isn't actually Lucrezia, that the person who's been in charge of Kyoto's exorcist division is an imposter, and that the real Lucrezia died in the Great Hanshin Earthquake."

Manami glanced at Uzume's face, seeing the same, venomous glare bouncing off of her face. In an instant, that room felt less like a hospital and more like a jail cell. Manami quickly realized she wasn't just there to receive medical attention. A room with no windows, one exit, and accessible to both Amaterasu and Uzume could only mean one thing. She was under arrest.

"Now, how would they know something like that, Manami? Hmm?" Amaterasu asked. "If things weren't already fucked as they were, I'd kill you here and now. Leaking extremely confidential information, then attempting to murder one of my agents? The minute you're able to talk, my men will be interrogating you. Thoroughly. Until then, rest up, buttercup. Let's go, Uzume. Time to get back to the Inari operation."

"Yes ma'am." Uzume said, bowing to Manami before leaving the room.

In no condition to move, all Manami could do was lie there, her body ravaged by the blast. Knowing what would happen to her after she healed made her wish Taeko had actually managed to kill her. Amaterasu walked through the dimly lit halls of the underground hospital, their footsteps echoing around them.

"We'll need to do something about the leak, Lady Amaterasu." Uzume suggested. "As soon as the standoff is over, Taeko's life will be in danger. Plus, with Manami's stunt, I wouldn't be surprised if Taeko thought you were the one who ordered the hit."

"Damn it..." Amaterasu groaned. "Why did this have to happen now, of all times?"

"There's also a burning question I have, my lady."

"What's that?"

"We know that Manami wasn't acting on your orders. But that begs the question as to why she tried to kill Taeko. Could it be revenge for Lucrezia?"

"No, that doesn't make any sense. Manami never agreed with Taeko's plan to disguise herself as Lucrezia, but it's not like Taeko killed her. I can't see her trying to pull off an assassination like that over such a stupid reason when Taeko had nothing to do with her death. So, you're right. It does raise the question. Just what the hell is Manami's angle in all of this?"

"Ma'am, we need to focus on the more immediate problem. Taeko."

Suddenly, Taeko's voice echoed from behind them. "Did you mean me?"

Amaterasu was suddenly slammed face first into the wall, her right arm held in a lock by Taeko. Tsukiakari rushed in towards Uzume, pulling her sword from her sheathe and pressing the blade against her throat. Shinju appeared from around the corner as well. She kept her finger gun trained on Uzume while Tsukiakari patted her down for weapons. The three girls ambushed Amaterasu and Uzume so quickly, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Surprised to see me?" Taeko asked.

"Taeko? How did you get here?" Amaterasu asked.

Taeko smirked as she thought back to just a few hours earlier. Amatsuki, Tsukiakari, Taeko, Shinju, and Kagutsuchi stood outside Yoko's house, the eastern horizon slowly turning from black to dark blue. Amatsuki had promised to smuggle them inside exorcist lines, and that morning, she delivered. Parked right outside their house was a white box truck, with Amatsuki's associate quietly waiting in the driver's seat.

"This is your in." Amatsuki said.

"I don't understand..." Kagutsuchi said.

Amatsuki crossed her arms and whipped her silver hair back. "Look, it's like this. You exorcists have underground hospitals built beneath private hospitals, right?"

"How do you even know that?!" Shinju recoiled.

"How many times do I have to remind you, I'm ex-yakuza! We knew how to get around you guys." Amatsuki hissed. "As I was saying, you guys have your own facilities, and facilities need equipment. The Exorcist Program buys medical equipment through the private hospitals, which means they're getting it from the exact same distributors. This strategy takes advantage of the standoff itself."

"I see..." Taeko said, stroking her chin. "We usually buy medical equipment through private hospitals so we can keep our expenses off the books, so to speak. But in a situation like this, the exorcists are expecting casualties."

"Exactly." Amatsuki confirmed. "They've just recently made another bulk order of medical supplies to be delivered to the hospital closest to the airport. This truck is carrying that order. Ride inside of this truck, and it'll take your right inside their lines. That's as close as I can get you to the airport."

"It's not like the hospitals have exorcist security checking shipments." Taeko said. "We could get in without much of a hassle."

"The problem will be getting from that hospital to the airport. I guess that's where you come in, Gekko." Shinju sang.

Tsukiakari nodded. "Right, I know what to do. Don't worry about it."

"Kagutsuchi, while we're working our way through their lines, we'll need you to scout the airport." Taeko ordered. "Flying's no problem for you now, right?"

Kagutsuchi nodded, her eyes beaming with confidence. "Not at all! I practiced a whole bunch and I've got it down now! You guys can count on me!"

"Just be safe, Kagu. Don't make contact with either Inari nor Osamu until you check in with us, okay?" Tsukiakari said, worriedly.

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine!" Kagutsuchi assured.

"Looks like everything's settled." Amatsuki said.

Taeko nodded. "Yeah. Everyone, let's put our best into this."

And there Taeko was, her black feather pointed at Amaterasu's back in the middle of a stuffy, dark, underground hospital. She almost couldn't believe the plan worked as well as it did, and it was all thanks to Amatsuki's network and insight.

"We don't want to hurt you two, but we won't hesitate if you make any sudden moves." Tsukiakari warned.

"Amaterasu, I'm sorry, but we need to get into that airport." Taeko said. "Osamu is there with Inari. When your boys launched their rapture spell, Osamu wasn't caught in it. He swallowed the ashes of a Jikininki six months prior, a supernatural substance. That tricked the spell into thinking he himself was a supernatural entity, so he ended up stuck in that airport when the standoff began."

"What? That was Osamu!?" Uzume gasped.

"What was?" Tsukiakari questioned.

"We've sent three exorcists down there so far. Only one of them has come back." Uzume said. "She mentioned Inari having an accomplice who fought against them. She didn't remember the name, but...it was Osamu?"

"He fought alongside her? Against exorcists? The hell is he thinking?!" Shinju growled.

"He's got no choice. He's unwittingly found himself stuck in the middle of a standoff. Every exorcist you send down is going in with the assumption that all the civilians have been raptured out." Taeko explained.

"Do you have any idea how fucked Osamu is now that he's involved?" Amaterasu asked.

"All of that is more reason why I need to get down there, Amaterasu. Please. He's our friend, he's your daughter's husband, and he's your son-in-law."

Amaterasu sighed. "You mind letting me go? You didn't have to threaten us if that's what you wanted."

"We don't know who in the Exorcist Program we can trust anymore. You did try to have us killed." Shinju scorned.

"Lady Amaterasu did no such thing!" Uzume roared. "If you're talking about what happened at the hotel, we didn't order that! We were just as shocked as you!"

"Why the hell should we believe you?" Tsukiakari asked, pushing her blade further into Uzume's neck.

"Surely, you've thought it was odd." Amaterasu said. "She booked a suite we never use, on a floor we never rent out, and I'd never be late to a meeting that I myself called."

Shinju took a step back, leaning in towards Taeko's ear. "We did think it was odd. You said yourself the suite that was booked defied all logic."

"...It wasn't your order?" Taeko asked. "But if she and the other exorcists weren't following your order..."

"Then whose order were they following?" Tsukiakari finished.

None of them knew the answer to that burning question. The only person who did lied in a hospital bed just a few steps down the hall, and she was in no condition to talk.

"We have her in custody here." Amaterasu admitted. "She's lucky to even be alive."

"So she survived the blast?" Taeko growled.

"Just barely." Uzume interjected. "You killed twenty-two people, Taeko."

"I knew the risks!" Taeko screamed. "I wasn't going to let her kill me and Shinju!"

"Wait, so she's here now?" Shinju asked.

"In that very room, just down the hall." Uzume said.

"Taeko? What's your call?" Tsukiakari questioned.

Taeko closed her eyes tightly, her teeth gnashing together in anger. She wanted nothing more than to go in that room and finish Manami off. Every bone in her body screamed at her, demanded that she kill her. But she couldn't. She thought of how heartbroken Yoko would be, and there was the bigger issue that they needed Manami to talk. She couldn't do that if she was dead.

"...Leave her. We're focusing on Osamu and Inari."

"So, what's your plan now, Taeko?" Amaterasu asked calmly. "There's already another exorcist on the way to that airport. If she doesn't return, the Exorcist Program and the shrine maidens are prepared for a full-scale assault of the airport."

"Assault?!" Tsukiakari recoiled. "Osamu won't survive that!"

"How long until this assault?" Taeko asked.

"That depends. If our exorcist doesn't return by tomorrow, we'll launch the assault the same day. Obviously, I had no idea Osamu was caught up in this when this was finalized. It's too late to stop it now." Amaterasu explained.

"Fuck!" Taeko screamed. "Gekko, tie Uzume up. Rip off her sleeves and use them as rope."

"Got it!" Tsukiakari barked, doing just that.

"What are you planning to do?" Amaterasu asked.

"I need you to play hostage for a little bit." Taeko said. "I have a plan.”