[Inari Standoff]: Coup de Grâce

Having left the escalators, Osamu and Inari fell back to the airport's grand hall, the very heart of the facility. It was a massive, wide open space with dozens of lights shining down from the ceiling and reflecting off of the polished floors. Incredibly wide LCD screens flashed advertisements for various airlines and destinations. It was a hub, so to speak, where you could get to any place in the airport with the hall as your starting point.

Inari held Belle's severed arm like an offering to Osamu. "Pay attention, I only have time to explain this once! There are a few things you should've noticed during the fight, Osamu. First, Belle's regeneration abilities are extraordinary. Second, Belle's cross doesn't affect her the same way it affects you and I. Now, I have a hunch that this is because Belle's cross has a sort of...I suppose...genetic lock on it, or like a...help me out here, what do you humans call it? The security measure where you place your thumb--"

"Fingerprint scanning?" Osamu asked.

Inari snapped as she remembered. "Exactly! I believe Belle's cross has something like that, allowing her to wield it without her being burned by it."

"Isn't that just because it doesn't hurt humans?" Osamu questioned.

"It worked on your body!"

"But that's probably because you were possessing me!"

"No no no, if that was the case, it would only affect me! Belle's cross is a weapon in the same league as Izanami's scythe, except Belle's cross can act on intention, meaning that if she wants to harm a human with it, she can. It wouldn't be a very useful weapon for an exorcist if she couldn't, since they have to deal with humans who break the rules too.

“I figured it out after we fought her on the runway. I saw how the cross was burning us both, and the effect it had on your body. When I assessed that much, it finally occurred to me how we can use Belle's regeneration abilities to our advantage. So, here's the plan, Osamu. I'm going to sever your left arm and temporarily attach Belle's arm to you!"

"Wait, hang on, Inari! I don't know how comfortable I am with this! Besides, will that even work?! I mean, medically, is that even--"

"Yes it's feasible! Belle may be a human, but she gave us a useful bit of information just now. She's the descendant of Oyamatsumi, Amaterasu's elder brother! She has divine lineage, which means that the medical problems that would ensue from attaching somebody's arm to your body won't apply with her arm! At least, not right away..."

"What does that even mean?!"

"If I attach this to you and you manage to take Belle's cross from her, it will be easy for me to kill her! Once I do, we can sever Belle's arm and I'll use her heart and blood to heal you and get your own arm back!

(I have to...wear this girl's severed arm as if it were my own?!)

"Damn it!" Osamu shouted in vexation.

"We don't have a lot of time, Osamu! Unless you have a better idea, Belle is going to kill us at this rate! I promised you I'd try every method before it comes to that, right? I know this is hard for you, but I need you to bear with it! Please accept her arm!"

In the end, what choice did Osamu really have?

"How much will it hurt?" Osamu asked.

"It will be agonizing, but I'll anesthetize your arm so you feel as little of it as possible. It'll also give me a refresh on blood."

"Haha...so you have to sever the arm first and then lick it...damn it..."

Osamu unbuttoned his cardigan, ringing it until he could fit it into his mouth. Inari knew he was bracing himself for the pain, and bowed her head in the utmost gratitude.

"Thank you, Osamu. I'll make this as quick as possible."

Now topless, Osamu waited in suspense to lose his own arm. His breathing got deeper as he imagined Inari just lopping it off, and hearing the fleshy thud as it hit the ground.

"I don't have a swig of alcohol to give you, so just take this. I love you, Osamu." Inari said. "All right. One...two...three!"

Inari's teeth bit down hard on Osamu's arm as she stiffened her hand in a chop gesture. As the hand came down, it completely shattered the bones and joints holding Osamu's arm together. At the same time, she pulled away from Osamu's body with her teeth, ripping the flesh that remained in what was a painfully messy procedure. Osamu's bit down hard on his rung cardigan, screaming through it as he fell to the ground, holding his bleeding and empty arm socket.

Inari quickly threw Osamu's arm to the side and licked his flesh to dull the pain and slow down the bleeding. Her licks were the perfect anesthesia, preventing Osamu from going into shock. At the same time, Osamu's blood was nourishment for Inari, healing whatever small bruises and cuts remained on her body and giving her extra strength for the fight.

"You're doing good, Osamu!"

(Don't say that with my blood all over your mouth!)

"Okay, now I'm going to attach Belle's arm! I was never too skilled with medical kuji-in, so let's hope this goes well."

Inari brought her hands together and formed the Sha, Rin, To, Kai, and Zai seals in rapid succession as if she had done it at least a hundred times. She held the arm in place with one of her tails, and the flesh of Belle and Osamu began to stitch itself together to become one. Her bones became his bones, and her fingers became his fingers. In under a minute, Osamu possessed Belle's arm for himself, and boy, did it look very weird on him.

It was a different skin tone, the nails were much longer, and it was much thinner and less muscular than the rest of Osamu's body. Still, it was more powerful than it looked. He finally opened his eyes to take a look and flex the fingers on the arm as a test drive. He was completely in control of it.

"It's done. Not too bad, right?" Inari laughed.

"That hurt like nothing else I've felt before! Still...thanks, Inari."

"No problem. Ah, here! You can conceal your arm if you wear this! We don't want her catching on!"

Inari picked up a large, black hoodie off the ground, tossing it over to Osamu.

"Do you need help?" Inari asked.

"No, I can do it myself." Osamu panted.

Osamu didn't even bother zipping the hoodie up as he put it on. Time was of the essence. The sleeve concealed most of Belle's arm just as they needed it to. If Inari's insane plan was going to work, they had to maintain the element of surprise.

"All right. We'll split up for now. Go to the psychedelic hall on the east wing. The lights there will make it hard for her to notice we've separated. The proof is in your eyes, after all." Inari ordered.

"Okay, I'll keep her attention. Do whatever you need to do." Osamu said.

The Psychedelic Hall was just that, a long hall fitted with intense, neon lights built into the walls, lighting the entire hall in blue before fading to different colors. Osamu made his way there, stopping to lean against the wall to catch his breath after sprinting all the way to the east wing. Sweat dripped off of his chin as he brushed wet strands of hair away from his eyes.

(The Psychedelic Hall...it wasn't just because of the lights that Inari chose this place. This sound...this hall plays some sort of ambient, sitar droning. It's so loud...)

When the airport was populated, the hall was merely a pleasant surprise and attraction, but in Osamu's dire situation, it had become a useful tool in battle. He took a deep breath and stood tall as Belle appeared all the way at the other end of the hallway, her arm completely regenerated.

"Looks like you found me..." Osamu sighed.

"Je vous ai trouvé, effectivement. Préparez-vous à la mort, mon amour." Belle lamented.

"I don't speak French! Cut it out already!"

Belle smiled as she slammed her cross into the ground. She looked terribly exhausted, tired of more than just the battle. "My apologies. I told you that, indeed, I found you, and to prepare yourself for death, my love."

"My love?! Are the French always this affectionate towards strangers?" Osamu joked.

"No. I just wish I could've met you in any other circumstance but this. Still, I have a duty, and you have already made your position clear."

Belle raised her cross and pointed it Osamu as she prepared to charge him with it and end the fight in blood. "Maybe we can get to know each other in the next life..."

(Here she comes!)

"Sorry, darling, but he's staying here with me!" Inari roared.

Inari rushed in on all fours, leaping at Belle from behind. Inari's ferocious, bone-cracking bite came down upon Belle's right arm, pulverizing the bone to dust and severing it from the body. Osamu ran up to her as Inari kicked the cross, letting it slide over to Osamu. Just as Inari suspected, when Osamu touched picked up the cross with Belle's arm, he wasn't burned by it at all.

Belle tried desperately to knock Inari off of her back, slamming against the wall before Inari's weight and power brought her down to the ground. She screamed for the agonizing bites to stop, to no avail. Inari kept viciously mauling at her flesh, tearing apart her skin and breaking more of her bones. With every bite, blood splattered on the floor and pooled around her body as it tried to regenerate faster than Inari was tearing it apart.

Osamu watched all of this in heartbreak and horror as he held on to her cross. "Inari, that's enough! She's no longer armed, there's no need to continue! She can't fight anymore!"

"That doesn't matter! Whether she lives or dies, more of them will converge on the airport! We may as well kill her so she doesn't pose a threat!" Inari screamed.

Inari mercilessly ripped off Belle's other arm with her bare hands, throwing it down the hall in Osamu's direction. She reached both of her hands in Belle's empty, fleshy, and blood-soaked arm sockets, tearing apart the flesh and remaining bones inside.

"Inari!" Osamu cried.

Inari wouldn't stop. "Shut up, Osamu!"

Belle's regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage being done to her, and its attempts to heal her only made the ordeal that much more painful. Inari went for her legs as Belle continued to cry and scream herself into tearful, bloody exhaustion. The agony she felt was like something people only dream about when they think of going to hell and being ripped apart by demons. Inari's teeth broke bones of her right leg, allowing her to rip it off as easily as the arms.

"Please stop! Have mercy on me!" Belle sobbed.

(This...this can't be right...she's not even armed anymore! Why are we torturing her like this?! Why won't you end it quickly for her, Inari?! What are you doing?!)

"How dare you! You have the gall to try and be a coward now after nearly killing the only person I have left in this world! I won't let you die easily!" Inari raged.

Belle was completely limbless and losing obscene amounts of blood. Inari was so filled with rage that she almost wanted to let Belle regenerate so she could rip her limbs and body apart again and again, plunging her into perpetual agony. However, just as she was about to cave Belle's face in, the golden cross came down upon Belle, cracking her ribs. Osamu had done the deed.

"Osamu?!" Inari recoiled.

"What are you doing, Inari?! Belle has lost the fight! There's no need to make her suffer any more than she's had to!" Osamu shouted.

Inari tucked in her lips, stopping herself from protesting. "You gullible fool..."

Osamu pulled the cross away, throwing it across the hall. The sound of its heavy, metallic surface banging and scraping against the floor echoed through the psychedelic hall as the lights turned red. Osamu knelt and held Belle's head so she could speak and breathe more easily. Now that the fight was over, there was no need to be enemies. Inari calmed down and sat with them as Belle took her last breaths. Her limbless body was no longer regenerating.

Belle gaze slowly met with Inari's eyes. "I...I lost...how did you..."

"We used the first arm that we severed to wield your cross. It seemed the strategy worked." Inari said.

"Inari...you're so clever...I wish...we could've met under different...circumstances..." Belle cried.

Inari smiled and closed her eyes. "Come on, kid. You're breaking my heart. Don't say things like that after we just fought to the death."

"Belle...no, Cecile, do you have any last wishes?" Osamu asked. "Any family or friends we could contact? I can't promise you anything, but...maybe..."

Cecile shook her head. "There's no one, Osamu. They're all gone."

"I see...I'm so sorry..." Osamu lamented.

Cecile whimpered and sobbed, but not a single tear flowed from her sewn eyes. In that moment, Cecile was no longer an enemy, but a frightened girl on the brink of death. She had nothing to do with the conflict between Inari and Amaterasu. She wasn't there to clash with her over Tenji's body. And yet, there she was, paying for it all with her life.

"My parents...when I see them...will they hate me?" Cecile wept.

Inari's eyes widened in shock and gazed upon Cecile as Cecile, not as Belle. The question, so innocent and desperate in nature, spoke to Inari as a mother and caregiver.

"No...Cecile, listen! Your parents could never hate you, all right? Don't say such stupid things! No matter what you became in your life...your parents will always love you! You have to die believing that, because it's true!"

"Yeah, listen to her, Cecile! Your parents will be glad to see you!" Osamu added.

Cecile's frowning and trembling lips turned into a bittersweet smile. "Do you guys...really think so?"

"I know so. A parent's love never, ever dies. They'll welcome you back with open arms. I just know it." Inari assured.

"I...I want to see you two...with my own eyes. " Cecile requested.

Inari nodded. "I understand."

Inari undid the stitches that forced her eyes shut, carefully unraveling so that Cecile wouldn't be hurt. Finally free of the binds that held even her tears hostage, Cecile was able to open her eyes for the first time in years. It was incredibly bright and blurry for her, and she could just faintly make out the faces of Inari and Osamu.

"Wow...I can just barely see it, but...Inari...you're so beautiful...and Osamu...you're incredibly handsome...I'm glad I got to see you...both..." Cecile said. "As Belle, I was supposed to kill you, but...as Cecile...I really looked up...to you...both..."

She fell silent and shut her eyes again. A slight smile blessed her beautiful face as her soul left this world for a better place, where she could be with her parents again.

"Cecile?" Osamu called out.

"She's gone. Cécile Gonçalves is gone." Inari said.

"You...you remembered her name?"

"Yeah...it's a beautiful name, isn't it?"

(I never thought winning could feel so much like losing.)

"Yeah. Yeah, it is..."

Both of them bowed their heads in a long, somber moment of silence for the girl was who cruelly abused by her comrades and forced to fight in such a horrific battle. Under different circumstances, perhaps they all could've been friends. And perhaps, in a better world, they will be.