[Inari Standoff]: End of the Line

Not a second was wasted. Shinju went to make sure the metal detectors on the floors below were working. Those would acts as alarms and tip everyone off to incoming enemies. Cyanide made a mental note of the fire alarm switches around ever corner and within every shop in the airport.

The fire alarms could be used as white noise to mask their own footsteps if they needed to get away from the exorcists or outmaneuver them. Kagutsuchi noticed most of the clothes laying around were made of polyester, which would burn easily if she needed to trigger fire alarms or cause a distraction. She could even use the fuel trucks outside as bombs, taking out large clusters of exorcists before they even breached the airport.

Once all the preparations were made, everyone assembled outside the bakery again.

"Everything's ready." Shinju said. "We're really doing this."

"Kagu, I want you to blow up those fuel trucks as the exorcists get close. That alone will take care of a lot of them." Taeko instructed.

"Yes ma'am!" Kagutsuchi saluted

"After that, we'll let them pile into the grand hall on the first floor. Cyanide, will you do the honors of setting off the sprinklers in the ceiling? Kagutsuchi will be able to make steam out of it. It'll be the perfect cover for me." Taeko said. "Shinju and I can swoop in from there and take them out."

"You got it, boss." Cyanide said with a nod.

"Shinju and I won't be able to take them all, so we'll fall back upstairs. Inari, Osamu, it'll be all up to you." Taeko said.

"I usually possess Osamu's body when I fight. Our combined strength makes us really strong and agile." Inari explained. "I also have a bit of an ace up my sleeve, something I might be able to use to turn their numbers in our favor."

"Blood magic, right? You're in complete control of that power?" Taeko questioned.

Inari nodded as she pinched the collar of her dress. "I've been able to restock on flesh and hearts during this standoff. I'm sure I can do it."

"Hell, is that how you get your powers? That's brutal, Inari." Taeko cringed.

"A lot has changed since we last met." Inari sighed.

"...Actually, that reminds me. Since we're all risking life and limb to help you, I think you owe us an answer." Taeko said, prompting everyone in the room to hold their breath. "That was you who initiated the blood moon, wasn't it?"

Inari bowed her head in silence, her lips tucked in. That face was all Taeko needed to see to get her answer.

"We talked about this already." Osamu interjected. "She was in a rough position too. And she didn't know about Rousoku or anything. It was all just a bad turn of events."

Taeko crossed her arms and leaned against the support pillar by her side. "Well, if you forgive her, then it's all squared with me as well. Still, Inari. What was it all for?"

Inari snickered as she scratched her head of white hair, her eyes closed halfway. "Osamu asked me the same question. I didn't tell him. But now that I know that 'Lucrezia' was actually you, Taeko, it all makes sense now. Given that she tried to kill you, I'm assuming you already know that Manami was the one who told me where the Shoku Twins were."

"Yeah. What I want to know is why." Taeko said.

Inari closed her eyes. "That blood moon...was to protect your 'way out', as she called it."

Taeko lips parted and stayed agape. "You can't be serious...That's why she did all of this?"

"Way out? What does that mean?" Osamu questioned.

"The original Lucrezia knew there would be a day when this very standoff would happen." Taeko began. "She knew that the Shinto pantheon would try its hardest to snatch Inari's power for itself, the power to possess and control people. Lucrezia was smart. She foresaw the exact predicament we're all in at this very moment. So, she prepared a 'way out', a Samson Option. In the event the pantheon showed its true colors and threatened to take Inari's power, Lucrezia set things up so that we could ally with the one person who could fight back."

Inari opened her eyes, her lips slowly peeling apart. "Hima Chinagaregawa. Daughter of Lord Dracula. Remember when Gekko went on her rampage against the gods during the Warring States? She had help back then. She wasn't really acting alone. A vampire named Carmilla helped her out. They took sanctuary in Ichiki's temple after Gekko killed Hachiman. Carmilla had originally come to Japan to find a good place for Dracula's wife to give birth. She was ill and needed a place flooded with supernatural energy in order to have a chance in hell of her baby surviving."

"And what better place than smack dab in the middle of Kyoto?" Taeko said. "Dracula's wife gave birth to a baby girl named Hima Chinagaregawa."

"So that's the 'way out'? It's Dracula daughter?!" Osamu recoiled.

"Is that why you were so tight-lipped about what the 'way out' actually was?" Cyanide questioned. "I can't believe you kept something like this a secret, Taeko!"

"I had to." Taeko murmured. "You have to remember that Heaven never even found out that Dracula's heiress was born on Japanese soil. If they had found out about her, the manhunt would've made this standoff look like child's play. We would've lost our ace in the hole."

"That one girl is that much of a threat?" Shinju scoffed. "I get that she's Dracula's daughter, but what can she do by herself? The Vampirical Monarchy folded like a lawn chair after the Second Great Holy War. Vampires are damn near extinct and the few that survived are in hiding. Why would you or Lucrezia put so much faith in her?"

"Like everything, this is a gamble." Taeko said.

"Again with this high-roller casino crap?" Shinju sighed. "The last time we gambled, we blew up a hotel!"

Taeko immediately realized something. She suddenly glared at Inari, her skin turning white as snow. Shinju asked a good question. Just why did Lucrezia have so much faith that Hima Chinagaregawa would be the perfect ace in the hole? With just a bit of thought, Taeko figured out the answer. Taeko wanted to say her thoughts aloud, but she bit her lip and held her tongue.

"Lucrezia...I really underestimated you. You're even more cruel and calculating than I am..." Taeko mumbled.

Cyanide pointed his finger, directing everyone's attention to the view beyond the windows. "Hey guys...it looks like they're here.

Everyone rushed to the windows to see what Cyanide was talking about. Once they saw it, their jaws dropped in shock. Hundreds of exorcists and shrine maidens stood outside the airport, staring Inari and her gaggle of traitors down.

Just as Shinju thought before, the exorcists deliberately set things up so they could ambush Taeko and Inari in one fell swoop. Never before had any of them seen so many exorcists gathered in one place. It was as if every holy man in Kyoto wanted them dead.

The wind whipped and whirled as helicopter blades sliced through the air. Cyanide squinted his eyes, focusing on the white helicopter closing in on the airport. "Holy shit...That's a UH-60JA. A Black hawk. That's JSDF equipment. They're going to kill us with Satori's old toys."

The helicopter hovered sideways in front of the airport. An orange-haired girl flung open the helicopter's side door, holding a black speaker to her lips. Inari and Osamu knew that girl quite well. They had fought her before. It was none other than Black Maria, her camouflage coat draped over her shoulders like a cape. Covered in bloodied bandages, Black Maria shouted through the helicopter's speakers with a rage and blood-thirst in her voice.

"Traitors to the exorcists and the pantheon, hear me now! We have amassed the largest invasion force in the program's history! You are outnumbered and completely surrounded! Give Inari and Taeko Senkumo up now, and we can end this without bloodshed!"

"Oh my god...what do we do?!" Kagutsuchi recoiled.

Cyanide stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So this is how badly they want the both of you dead, huh?"

"This is it, guys. We've got no choice. We're gonna stand and fight." Inari growled.

"It's looks pretty guaranteed to me that we're not gonna make it out of this alive." Shinju said calmly.

"So it seems." Taeko responded.

Osamu's stomach twisted and churned in knots as he looked on at the army of exorcists, racing back and forth through his head about how he could possibly get out of this, how he could possibly protect Inari. He hands and legs shook like branches in the wind. Inari noticed without even needing to look at him. She grabbed his hand and looked into his widened, bloodshot eyes.

"Do not fear, Osamu. One way or another, we'll get out of this." Inari said.

"But..." Osamu murmured.

Inari squeezed Osamu's hand tighter, leaner in closer to him. "Do you trust me?"

"I do..."

"Do you love me?"

"Very much..."

Inari nodded. "Good. My heart will still be beating at the end of this, so don't you worry, all right?"

"We will give you five minutes to make your choice! If you do not comply within that time frame, we will besiege the airport!" Maria declared.

It was six against an army. As robust as their defenses were, it was almost guaranteed that they would all be killed. This was it, the culmination of his 'win together, die together' promise with Inari. If they wouldn't survive this battle, then they'd fight with everything they had and die together. Osamu's eyes flooded with tears, for now that promise wasn't just about him and Inari. It was his dearest friends, Taeko, Shinju, Kagutsuchi, and Cyanide. All of them came to the airport prepared to die.

"If anyone has any reservations about this...you're free to leave and say we kidnapped you." Osamu said.

"No way! I'd never leave you, Osamu! I'm with you on this, and you too, Inari!" Kagutsuchi assured.

"No matter what, we're on your side." Shinju said.

"Yeah, though it's a pain in the ass to try and fight a losing battle, if Shinju and the boss are siding with you, then I will too." Cyanide declared.

"...Osamu..." Taeko mumbled.

"What is it?" Osamu asked.

"We're probably not going to make it out of this, so I should just say it now." Taeko laughed, flashing a radiant smile. "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about what happened to Rousoku."

"...Taeko..."

Taeko wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her floral cardigan. "I was so worried about you, but you wouldn't talk to us for six months. I thought maybe you hated me."

Osamu smiled. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Taeko. I didn't hate you, I was just...not well. If this is really it for us, I just want you to know...I consider you my best friend."

Taeko nodded. "I do too, Osamu. Thank you for telling me that. It means the world to me."

"You guys..." Inari gasped.

Inari laughed as tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away and gave a genuine, heartfelt smile. "In the end, the people who understood us and the most were exorcists. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I will also give you my best. Osamu, let's do this! I've got my reason to live and to die right here!"

"Right!" Osamu hollered. "Everyone, let's get moving!"

(And so, that airport became a fortress where we made our final stand. Us against the exorcists...a battle that would decide our fate.)