Sanctuary

He was in a forest.

"Ah!" Takashi jerked violently, overwhelmed with terror from the sensation of free-falling alongside the bus. He thought he was in the forest at the base of the cliff, but it couldn't be. It was also nighttime there as well, but he couldn't see the bus or its debris anywhere. The only thing he could distinguish, amidst an endless row of trees adorned with lit paper lanterns, was a figure.

"Nao!"

Takashi rushed towards her and turned her over. Her body was covered in bruises, cuts, and scratches, but she seemed to be breathing. However, she wasn't responding.

"Na..."

He stopped; something was different about her – she seemed taller. The differences weren't very noticeable, but for someone who thought about her all day, they were significant. She felt larger in his arms, and her face appeared slightly more mature. Strangely, he couldn't sense her characteristic lavender scent either. Despite that, nothing stopped Takashi from desperately embracing her.

"Nao! Nao, wake up! Nao!"

"She won't respond," said Inari, who was now sitting on her hindquarters with a serious expression, right next to them. It was the same expression she always had, but for some reason, it seemed different now. Her speech was slower as if her voice was broken.

“You are in my sanctuary, my true home. Here, I bring the souls of my protected ones while I can.”

“Sanctuary... souls...”

"What... happened to us?"

Inari, again, didn't say anything, yet at the same time, said everything. Takashi felt like he was emotionally fading, as he recalled the fall from the cliff. His mind couldn't process it or perhaps it didn't want to, and his expression mirrored that of a distressed boy on the verge of losing all hope.

"W-What do you mean..."

"I tried to stop it," Inari interrupted, "I really tried. But it was useless. Amaterasu wouldn't listen to me. Nao's body is still breathing here, but her soul isn't in it. Her soul... is already in Izanami's realm of the dead."

“D...” He couldn't even think that word without trembling. “What are you talking about? Amaterasu? Listen to you? What's happening?” Takashi's mind was a mess.

"Why her? Why not me?" he said, almost voiceless.

"I truly wish I could answer that question, Takashi. But I can't."

Inari looked at Nao intently. With just that eye contact, his brown jewels became a sea of tears. He didn't want to comprehend anything that was happening. He desperately wanted it to be another dream, but this one felt even more real because it wasn't one.

"Nao... Nao... Nao, come back," he said before hugging her tightly, soaking her unresponsive face with his tears. He felt a faint heartbeat, and he closed his eyes. Takashi thought he was shouting, but he only felt his throat tighten. Amidst his screams, he felt a growing warmth, which eventually made him open his eyes.

He was in Takachiho. Alone.

"Eh?" he wondered.

He recognized the place—the stadium, the same stands where they used to watch the matches. Under the sunset sun, it stood empty.

"How did I get here? Inari?"

His cries received no answer. In a state of confusion, he rushed towards the exit, where he found one of those scorecards he used to look at with excitement.

"The champion is..." Takashi's eyes widened. "Nobeoka?"

There was no mistake. It said that Nobeoka was the champion of 2023. And that Tsuno had lost all four matches, with zero points.

“What?” Amidst confusion, Takashi heard the sound of something hollow hitting the wall. A sound like an object filled with air. Its noise was unmistakable.

"A ball..." Takashi leaned to take a look. A lonely boy picked up the ball, which had bounced close to him, and carried it towards the small park's makeshift goal. He tried to control it with his foot but did so clumsily, displaying annoyance and resignation. Finally, he positioned himself far from the goal and took a shot, terribly executed. The ball was struck with force but went off-target, hitting... a girl. Quickly, the boy ran over to her.

"This..."

Takashi felt a strange ringing in his ears, and suddenly, he found himself next to the goal, not understanding what was happening. The boy was attending to the girl on the ground, who fortunately didn't seem hurt. He heard the ringing again and saw the same two standing there, laughing timidly. He took a few steps forward, confused, but neither of the two seemed to notice him.

"So, you live here?" the boy asked.

"Yes. And you're from Tsuno, right?" she replied with a smile.

"That's right."

Takashi opened his eyes wider than never before, witnessing something he deemed impossible. “What's going on?”

He saw Nao... and Takashi. And when the ringing came back, he saw them at night, as the boy went to see the girl standing under a large torii; the one from Inari's shrine.

And then, both holding hands under that torii, looking dumbfounded and joyful.

And then, the boy gazing determinately at the fireworks, a wide smile on his face, and the girl looking at him attentively, as if in love. Takashi thought of them as "the boy" and "the girl", because he refused to believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be them; that had never happened.

And then, the image vanished. Takashi was standing once again in the forest, next to the wounded Nao, looking at Inari with solemn eyes.

"What just happened?"

Inari didn't respond or move. She did nothing.

"What just happened?!" Takashi asked with a mix of anger and fear.

Inari seemed as though she wouldn't speak again. However, after a few seconds, she did.

"There's something I didn't tell you, Takashi. But I can't say more."

Takashi was at a loss for words, each one causing him to tremble more. "What do you mean? H-How is it that you didn't tell me... something?"

He fell to the ground on his knees, feeling his strength leave him. He recalled his entire life in those moments and began to cry, feeling hurt. "You abandoned me. You..."

Takashi was furious with Inari, hurt by those mysterious words and because he hadn't been protected. But there was something that dominated him more than anger: fear.

"Please, help me," he pleaded, tears falling, "help us. I don't want everything to end here. I want to be with her."

Takashi closed his eyes, trying to erase that moment from reality. He felt cold all around, as if everything he had built had indeed fallen. All his fears had become real.

"There's still a way to save you," Inari said calmly, gaining his full attention as he raised his head. She hesitated but resolved to continue. "You must speak to the deities holding your lives and explain your situation. They are Enma Dai-O, Ten-Tei, and Kannon, the guidance of souls. I will intercede for you, and they will allow me to show you what I can't. Only then can you both be saved, you and Nao."

Takashi felt warmth as he realized they could be saved, but he remained skeptical. Who – or what – was this fox in front of him? He no longer knew.

"You said there's something you didn't tell me," he said, frowning. "How do I know I can trust you, Inari?"

“Another good question,” Inari must have thought again. However, she limited herself to a mystical response. "When I show you all this, you'll understand why I kept it from you."

Takashi held back his tears, for he had no other choice. Inside him, in the realm of his chest, there was no longer a stream but an open sea. But even though he was far from reaching the shore, somehow, he kept swimming.

"Nao... hold on."

He caressed her left cheek, wiping away the tears he had transferred with the back of his index finger. He would have changed everything for that moment, for her little brown eyes to open with the life they always held. But for that, he had to leave her behind.

"I'll come back for you, as I promised," his broken voice was a reflection of the situation, but Takashi managed to gather all the willpower he could before standing up.

"Alright, then."

The forest lamps lit up supernaturally until a bright white glow covered Takashi's entire vision. Inari, however, remained fixed in his line of sight, not disappearing.

"You would have wanted me to look determinedly at my fears, Nao," he thought amidst so much confusion.

In a matter of seconds, they found themselves in a large and majestic hall with three towering figures. There, waiting for their arrival, were Enma Dai-O, Ten-Tei, and Kannon. The deities who held their lives in their hands.