: Inari

"Hey, time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty."

Kurou tries to open his eyes, but he can't move at all. He feels someone's arms around him, and his head is resting on something that feels like a pillow—but a bit sturdier. After a few more seconds, he finally finds the strength to open his eyes.

He looks around, but his vision soon focuses on a white-haired man holding him close to his chest. It's Inari.

"Took you long enough, Sleeping Beauty," he teases, his tone half-amused, half-impatient. "Thought I was going to have to do it like they wake her up in the movies."

Kurou feels his face go red but doesn't question it. Instead, he asks, "What did I just see? It felt like a flashback to when Kashima Reiko…"

Inari reaches out and softly grabs his wrist. His fingers gently settle on the red-beaded bracelet Kurou is wearing.

"It's because of this bracelet. You were able to see her past. I gave it to you to act as a talisman, but it seems the bracelet has been tampered with. Which begs the question… who did it? Could it have been back with Hachishaku-sama? It could be a possibility, but we have no proof."

Kurou shakes his head. "I don't think so. I didn't get a flashback when we dealt with her."

Inari chuckles dryly. "That's because Hachishaku wasn't human—she was always a yokai. That means she has no backstory to tell. Meanwhile, Kashima Reiko was a human, which is what you just saw."

Kurou sighs. He keeps forgetting about that concept.

"This isn't too bad, though. I just get to see shit go down."

Inari opens his mouth like he's about to say something when the door to the women's bathroom—where they're surprisingly still standing—opens.

"Are you okay, Kurou-kun?!"

The girl from before is standing at the entrance, looking at Kurou, who suddenly jumps to his feet, ears red.

She doesn't notice anything off as she glances from Inari, who is chuckling, to Kurou, who is actively avoiding eye contact with Inari.

"I hope you're doing well. I don't want you to be hurt because of me."

Kurou waves her off. "Don't worry about it."

She walks over to him. "What happened to Kashima Reiko?"

"She was handled. Since you can't do your job properly," Inari answers coldly. "I thought I sent you out to deal with her, yet you acted like a scared fool. You should be ashamed that a human had to take care of your job for you."

The girl turns to look at Inari and immediately bows. "Sorry, Deity Inari."

Inari snickers and taps the top of her head with his fan, the same one he keeps tucked inside his kimono.

"You should be. If it wasn't for my foresight, you could have been kitsune udon."

Kurou watches the scene unfold with wide eyes. He feels like a plot twist just smacked him in the face.

This girl was a kitsune???

Better yet—Inari is the actual deity Inari?!

The girl keeps bowing until Inari is done reprimanding her. Then, she turns to Kurou and bows again.

"My sincere apologies. I took advantage of you, and that isn't right. Especially in front of Deity Inari—he favors you the most."

Kurou just stares at her before holding out his hands in a motion to tell her to stop bowing. She obliges.

"It's alright, I'm alright. But I do need an explanation."

She nods and is about to speak when, out of the corner of her eye, she sees Inari glaring at her.

"Mei, I think you've done enough for today. Why don't you go outside for a while?"

Mei knows that's not a suggestion but a demand. She quickly leaves, and Inari huffs a sigh of relief.

"Meiwaku…" he mutters before turning to Kurou.

"Don't mind her. She's just one of my servants. I had her take care of Kashima, but it seems she was incapable of that." His voice is cold.

"Is she a kitsune, though? And… are you really the deity Inari?"

Inari chuckles and walks over to him. "I thought it was obvious by my name. And yes, she's a kitsune—an incapable one at that."

Kurou's mind reeled. Inari wasn't just some kitsune who was stronger than the others—he was the Inari. The deity of rice, foxes, prosperity… all the stuff he had only ever heard about in myths. He wasn't sure what was crazier—the fact that he had been casually speaking to him this whole time, or the fact that Inari didn't act like the dignified god he expected.

"I just didn't think I would be graced by a deity's presence. Especially not by someone of high status like yourself."

Inari chuckles and fans his face with the same fan he just hit Mei with.

Kurou can't help but wonder if this is the same guy he was talking to earlier or if someone swapped him out for a more savage version.

"You flatter me. But I'm not that great. I'm just here for reasons of my own, and I don't blame you if you think my methods are cruel. But who's going to learn? I had trouble with Mei for months, even when giving her simple yokai to deal with. Like the woman that trips girls when they come out of the bathroom stall. I told her to handle it. Did she? No. She came back with absolutely nothing. I'm supposed to teach the kitsune how to deal with spirits, but they always fail me in the end. Which is why they're only messengers, like in the legends. It doesn't stop me from trying, though. Even if it takes years—centuries—I'll teach them. Because I have nothing else to do. I already have everything I need and want.

In the end, though, I have to deal with the apparitions while also taking care of people's wishes and prayers when they visit my shrines."

Kurou nods, not wanting to say anything to ruin the mood. But Inari's voice seems to carry a hint of sadness and longing, like he's thinking back on the past.

"Don't you get tired of it?"

Inari turns to him, his face reflecting a hint of pain.

"I… I do… but… I kept listening. For something. For anything from the people praying at my shrine, to something from the kitsune. But I found nothing."

Kurou walks over and places a hand on his back in comfort.

"What were you listening for?"

Inari relaxes at the touch.

"For an old friend. I waited for them. And heard nothing. And that lasted for centuries. But I didn't want to give up."

Kurou is curious to learn more, but he doesn't want to push him.

A few minutes later, they exit the bathroom. Mei is still standing outside.

Inari glares at her but doesn't say anything.

Mei hands him two boxes—one containing Teke Teke, the other containing Kashima Reiko.

Inari takes them and looks at Kurou. "Let's get you home. We've been here longer than we need to be."

Kurou nods, and eventually, they arrive at his house.

Kurou opened the door and stepped inside, with Inari following behind him. Mei stayed outside. Kurou had a feeling Inari didn't want her to come, but she did anyway.

As Kurou set the boxes gently on the table, Inari looked around, taking in his home. After a while, he walked beside Kurou and said, "Your house looks nice and cozy."

Kurou smiled and nodded. "I hope so. That's what I was going for."

He thought Inari was just making small talk, but he didn't mind. Then, glancing at Mei, he said, "You can come inside, I don't mind."

Mei's eyes widened slightly in surprise, while Inari's happy expression vanished. Still, Mei stepped inside, knowing Inari couldn't really push her out when it was Kurou's house.

"Thank you," she said. "Is there anything you need?"

Kurou shook his head. "No, but if you guys are hungry, I could make dinner."

Mei looked at Inari, then nodded. "I would like that. I've never had human food before."

Kurou started walking to the kitchen. "I thought you went to school, though. Don't you eat human food there?"

Mei paused and glanced down, as if just remembering she was still wearing her school uniform.

"I do go to school," she admitted, "but I usually don't eat. I just read a book to get through lunch."

Kurou made an understanding sound before continuing to cook. Inari joined him in the kitchen to help, and that night, the three of them sat down to eat dinner together, talking as they shared the meal.

The next morning, Inari was gone.

He had told Kurou that something urgent had come up, but what confused him was why Mei had stayed behind.

She helped him clean around the house, which he appreciated, but he couldn't help wondering why she was still here. So he decided to ask her. "Why did you stay instead of going with Inari?"

Mei stiffened for half a second before shaking her head. "I, um… I figured I should help clean up around here. Since I caused you trouble earlier."

Kurou looks at her for a few seconds before turning back to his work.

After a while, he turned to her with a question. "Hey, do you know anything about your master's old friend?"

Mei stiffened like she had just been caught doing something forbidden. The broom slipped from her grasp, clattering to the floor. For a moment, she didn't even pick it up. Instead, she slowly turned to Kurou, eyes darting to the door—as if afraid someone might be listening.

"Um... I do," she said hesitantly, "but I don't know much. My mom was the one who told me stories about deity Inari. They might not be true, though, so I can't be sure."

Kurou nodded. It seemed like she was going to beat around the bush. Could it be because she was protective of her master's secrets?

If that was the case, he wasn't going to get anywhere with this line of questioning.

"Then can you tell me about Dream School?" he asked instead.

Mei nodded. "I actually visited that place. Inari-sensei sent me there to learn about it and find a way to get rid of it. In the end, nothing good came out of it."

She frowned, as if recalling something unpleasant. "It was only a couple of years ago when I went. I ran into a few kids there—some of them were scared, others were lost. It's not a good place to be."

Kurou suddenly asked, "Have you seen a boy with black hair and green eyes? His name is Minami."

Mei shook her head. "I wish I could tell you yes, but sadly, I haven't."

She sighed before continuing, "The only way to go back there is to have enough spiritual aura. Only yokai and other creatures can visit that place of their own free will, but it doesn't mean they don't have any spiritual aura. It's mostly used for powers. Like deity Inari, for example—he's powerful, but only because he has a lot of spiritual aura. The more people believe in him and pray at his shrine, the more spiritual aura he has. But he can't really give it away of his own free will, which is how you got roped in, isn't it?"

Kurou nodded. If Inari could have given him spiritual aura just like that, then he should have done it long ago.

But how would he even know if he had enough aura to go back to Dream School?

"Do you know a way to tell how much aura you have?" he asked.

Mei nodded and walked over to him. She pulled a talisman from her school bag and handed it to him.

Did she always keep talismans on her, or was this a kitsune thing?

"You place it on your forehead," Mei explained. "If a number ten appears, then you have enough. If you get an eight or a seven, that's still really good. But anything under a five…" She hesitated. "It means you need to defeat some yokai."

Kurou nodded and took the talisman. He placed it on his forehead. The talisman presses cold against his skin and for a moment, Kurou wonders if this whole thing is just a strange joke. 

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the talisman glowed bright red before disappearing.

Kurou blinked. He waited for the number to appear on his forehead—but there was nothing. No mark. No number at all.

Mei's eyes widened.

Kurou turned to her, already fearing the worst. "What did I get? Is it a bad number?"

Mei shook her head slowly. "That… that's not supposed to happen. Even someone with almost no aura should get a number."

Kurou stared at her like she had grown two heads. "What does that mean…? You didn't say anything about there being no number. Does that mean I don't have any spiritual aura to begin with?"

Mei grabbed another talisman and tried again. Nothing. The results were the same.

She sighed. "It doesn't mean you don't have any spiritual aura. Even humans who can't see yokai at all have at least a number one. But you… you're different. You seem to give off a certain aura, but there's no number. It's almost like something is blocking your aura. But that shouldn't be possible… unless it was done on purpose."

Kurou felt like he was losing his mind. So he was doomed, then? Was this how it was going to go?