And Inari

~~~🌟~~~

“Let me start over. I’m Inari, deity of foxes, life, and reincarnation. Nice to meet you, Nao.”

The girl, standing in the middle of the divine shrine, seemed not to comprehend how a floating white fox had appeared in front of her.

"I-it can't be," was all she managed to respond.

"Huh? Well, yes, it can be. Have you wondered about how you ended up here?" the creature looped playfully in the air, just before Nao remembered everything as if a typhoon had swept through her mind. She began to touch her body all over, not feeling any pain.

"What happened to me? I was falling and a-a-"

"Calm down, Nao. I saw it all. In fact, I brought you here."

Just three meters away from the illusionary figures, Takashi stood with the present Inari. "Why?"

"Being a deity who protects life and veils for reincarnation, I embarked on a mission to rescue you, using my celestial powers to make a contract."

Immediately after the real Inari’s mysterious words, the memory Inari spoke to Nao.

"But now a new edition of the festival is about to begin. And that's why I want to send you, Nao Yamamoto, one year into the past."

The hunch was correct, and Takashi's heart skipped a beat.

"There were only two conditions in the contract, which I told her before it began,” the real Inari took the word again. “Naturally, Nao couldn't tell you or your friends about this, at least until the last moment when you'd be together — when she would warn you of the catastrophe. It was a secret that only she and I would know. And also, Nao would have to grow and learn to overcome her fears, while she discovered yours. If any of this were breached, Nao would return to her time without changing anything. Those were the conditions set by the judges of the souls, in exchange for a chance where Izanami couldn't attack them."

"You did…"

"I didn't 'do', I merely helped her do it. I allowed her to decline and wake up that same morning as if nothing had happened. But she didn't."

Takashi noticed Nao, who had turned her gaze back to the fox.

"I want to do it," she said, looking at her with determination. Takashi was drawn by her eyes, both in admiration and disbelief.

"And that's how she, despite her fears...”

The setting shifted, and Takashi appeared beside Nao amid the festival crowd on the first day. The girl stumbled into someone else before clumsily rising and looking towards the stage.

"She decided to come back for you."

The scenery transformed once more, and Takashi relived the moment they first looked at each other after he accidentally hit her with the ball. The girl's eyes sparkled with excitement and emotion, she was amazed to see him, not because of the commotion as everyone assumed.

It was because she saw him alive and in front of her again.

And once again, reality altered, this time to the infirmary when Takashi went to visit her and her eyes filled with tears upon seeing him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, it was my fault!" Takashi pleaded, clasping her hands.

"No, it’s okay... I'm fine," she said, looking at him with a warm, tender smile. "Although, yes, that was a really bad shot."

"That smile..." Takashi turned for just a moment to look at Inari. "You have no idea what it meant to see her smile like that after so long."

Like a slideshow, one after another, the memories between them captured their gazes. The pink umbrella that sheltered them on their walk alone when they had just met. The meditation ended with an embrace. When, in his saddest moment, Nao comforted him by the waterfall...

"Because I'll be by your side, no matter what," she had told him in the moonlight.

"And so, with this divine blessing, I continued guiding Nao on her journey. Every day, when we were alone, Nao overflowed with love to have you by her side again. On the first day."

The surroundings transitioned again to the hallway of her house, as Nao arrived with Takashi's jacket in hand. She couldn't help but smell it, then hug it tightly.

"It's really him," she said, on the verge of tears.

"And on the second day."

Now they were in Nao's room as she paced anxiously, hands entwined. "He invited me to the festival! What am I going to do, what am I going to do?"

The memory Inari, seated on her hindquarters just like the present one, laughed jovially. "Relax, Nao. You just need to be yourself. Do you notice how he looks into your eyes?"

"Was it that obvious that I liked Nao?" Takashi wondered.

"And on the third day."

They didn’t transport, but now Nao wore her yukata, indicating she had returned from the festival.

"Inari, all happened in a way I never thought possible. Now that I know him better, I fell in love with him even more, much more."

"She…" Takashi felt his body heat up. "Nao was really in love with me, long before I ever felt anything for her."

"I can't wait for all of this to end so I can be with him."

"Me too," the memory Inari hovered near a joyful and smiling Nao, allowing her to stroke its head. "Well done, Nao."

A white animal. Takashi was astonished again by this contact.

"The sensations."

"Huh?"

Takashi also recalled what he felt, something he had considered random. Everything was starting to make sense.

"I could perceive her feelings and see images… because you were there with her?"

Inari, true to the conversations they had on the balcony, didn't answer. Takashi learned to take that as a yes.

"Ina…"

"I told you we deities have strange ways of manifesting. For the contract to exist, I formed a bond between the three of us that kept us connected. That allowed me to bring you to my shrine instead of you dying outright, and it also meant we could still rescue her soul."

"A bond." His head was about to explode.

"That bond sometimes sent you a memory of something you didn't experience, or even something that no Takashi had experienced before. You felt them on the walk because you had walked with her. You felt it in the kiss because you had been in the same situation before. And in her room, Nao had felt very sad at some point. You didn't feel it while meditating at the waterfall, or when you were sad, or in any game, simply because none of that had happened before."

Inari looks determined. Takashi felt that because that was how Inari had looked at Nao before she traveled back in time. At a Nao who had always been comfortable with him while afraid of others, because she already knew him.

"She… came back from the future. You knew all along. And you didn't tell me…" Takashi remembered Inari's words. "Because you couldn't."

Takashi turned to Inari, but she didn't look back at him, fixing her eyes on the memory.

"I told you that you'd understand when you saw it. To be fair, she also didn't know I had talked to you. I couldn't tell her. And that's why Nao didn't have it easy either."

The scene of Nao speaking with Inari was replaced by one where she was alone, beside her futon, breathing deeply with her eyes closed.

"Struggling against her own amplified fears, and knowing she couldn't fail again, many times she felt overwhelmed or said something she shouldn't have, as you may have noticed sometimes. For instance, this happened on the second day, before seeing you again."

Nao inhaled and exhaled, as Takashi had taught her, and he felt sorry for her nervousness.

"Nonetheless, she never stopped trying. Every time she saw you smile, your relationship was nurtured with affection and happiness, but also with compassion and tenderness. You could see she wanted to overcome her fears to be with you forever. You also did a lot for her, whether you believe it or not, and that's also why she developed an even stronger feeling for you."

"That's why... when you told me that I was your great and beautiful light..." Nao had told him on the fourth night. Takashi closed his eyes for a few seconds, filled with pain and sorrow.

"Nao…" Takashi tried to reach out to the agitated girl. "You…"

"Yet... everything was a deception."

A new view emerged once more, and they saw Nao entering her room again, looking very sleepy.

"Izanami spoke with Amaterasu to play a trick on me. The deity of the sun compelled me to inform the terms of the contract to her, and that time I was occupied was enough for Izanami to use her sweet scent and force Nao into a deep sleep. And so..."

Another change. It was pouring rain on the road where Nao stood, behind the emergency vehicles that had stopped to aid the fallen bus.

"She had failed again."

Nao could only breathe heavily, terrified, watching as everything she had done had been in vain. Rain fell like shards of glass from a shattered sky, or as if the sky itself sent a thousand knives as punishment.

And the first drop fell. And the second, and the third, before more tears fell from her eyes.

"No!"

The cry was so heart-wrenching that it shook Takashi, who couldn't hold back tears when he saw Nao run desperately into the forest at the side.

"It was all over. You had both grown so much, and Tsuno had even become champion. She had solved her problems, but you were gone anyway."

They were then drawn near her.

"Inari! Help me! Please!"

Nao tried to hug the illusion Inari while crying in despair, but she didn't respond. "I'm sorry, Nao. It's over. I truly am sorry."

Nao's grip tightened as her sobbing lessened. "But... you still have power, right?"

"Yes, but..."

The present Inari took advantage of the silence to speak. "That's when I realized I had said too much."

"Nao, don’t..."

"I'm counting on you."

Nao turned around and began running again toward the road. There was no need for the scene to change again; Takashi followed her.

"Takashi!"

"I also realized that, under no circumstances, Nao was going to let you go."

Amid sobs and heart-rending cries, Nao broke through the police barrier and, before any officer could stop her, she leaped into the void.

"Seeing her determination... I decided to break the rules for her."

Another change placed them back on the same cliff, on the forest side, as a multitude of vehicles approached from behind, chasing the bus.

"I broke the contract and sent her back to the past again, exactly a year before, just by the time you were in the shrine. That prayer of yours, thanking both Nao and me, was what allowed me to bring her back to that point. Then, with the help of the village and the police, she managed to catch up with you."

The bus crashed. The scene changed. And Takashi and Nao were falling.

"But not only could she not save you, but that was also a deception. I never clearly thought about why Izanami accepted so quickly to form a contract where she couldn’t intervene. But then the contract was gone, and Izanami made a final push to the bus, into the void.”

The bus started falling, with the illusion Takashi and Nao inside.

“And then, Izanami finally achieved what she truly wanted. She was able to take my loyal devotee's soul and that of the one who was linked to her. But primarily, by forcing me to break the contract, she got Amaterasu to take away my powers for a long time, and as soon as this current contract ends, she will be able to attack people without restrictions."

Once again, the surroundings transitioned, but this time because the illusion had vanished. The semitransparent Nao lay motionless in front of him once more.

"And so, we arrived here. A Takachiho in 2024, where you became champions, but died. Where, despite all her effort and love, she couldn't do anything. Her worst nightmare."

It would have been interesting for anyone to witness how Takashi's tears halted as they touched the contour of Nao. It wasn't the case for him, as he fell to his knees, embracing her tightly while shouting as far as his lungs would allow.

"Nao! Nao, my dear Nao! Wake up, please!"

As joyful as it had been, as tenderly as she had treated him, he didn't want to let her go. So many caresses, kisses, hugs, and words of affection bound him to a girl who had suffered and was now fading away.

Amidst his sobbing, Takashi felt as if all the Naos from his memories were passing by, overflowing with happiness and warmth as always. A hollow happiness, a warmth that now felt cold. Because deep down, she was suffering. And he, Takashi, not only couldn't see it, but he had been the cause of her pain.

"I'm sorry, Nao," his head rested against the floor, holding the girl tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't see the signs in time. But truly, thank you. That pained Takashi after the tournament; he must have been very fortunate to meet you. Someone so strong, sincere, and brave, who gave everything... to save me again."

But nothing happened.

"Inari made you stronger, Nao, but you were always strong. That's why I know you'll return once more, and I won't leave without you, Nao. You taught me that things will be alright, that everything in the stream always goes away, and that no matter how many stones appear on the path, there's nothing that can knock us down. That's why I know you'll wake up, and you'll come back to me. Because this hasn't ended yet, and it can't end like this. Because, as you told me when I needed it most, I deserve to be happy. And I'm happy with you, Nao."

He lifted his head to look at her, and there was no response. More tears fell as he hugged her again.

"I want to stay by your side forever. I want to laugh with you, celebrate with you, and walk with you. I want you to hug me again and kiss me again. And above all, I want you to be my light again! My beautiful guiding light, the light that came when everything was dark, so I could shine again. If I can ask for something from Inari, from Amaterasu, from all the deities... even from Izanami if it means something... it's to see you by my side again."

He lifted his head again, but there was no response. He didn't lower it; he stared fixedly into her closed eyes.

"I love you so much, Nao. And I want to give you all the light necessary for you to smile again."

Takashi couldn't help but plant a tender kiss on her fading forehead, praying that the cold skin would turn warm.

But still, nothing happened.

"Nao..."

Hope was fading, and Takashi broke down again as he hugged her.

"Nao! Please wake up! Nao!"

Takashi was too consumed by grief, his head buried in Nao's shoulder, to notice that Inari had stopped looking at them in pain. Instead, her gaze turned upward, as if contemplating something.

"Don't leave me! I don't want to let you go, Nao!"

Unnoticed by Takashi, Nao's left hand made contact with Inari's head. Inari nestled her head against Nao's hand, and for the first time, she closed her eyes.

"Nao... Nao..."

Takashi's embrace began to feel warm, infused with emotions that blazed in his soul like a bonfire. So warm that he opened his eyes in surprise. Inari, her head resting against Nao's hand, now glowed with a faint white light. As her kind, coal-black eyes opened, she met Takashi's gaze, gently wagging her radiant tail.

And then, when despair was about to defeat him, Takashi felt movement.