You Always Build It Better the Second Time Around

Chapter 9 - Steady (You Make Me Feel)

While it was early in the morning and Mikaela was still sleeping- he looks too good even while he's sleeping- I decided to explore the floor we were on. I wasn't expecting to run into as many gods as I did, but most were cool with me wandering out, although I did indeed run into Surumi, but thank goodness the goddess from yesterday was there to tell him in the most soft-spoken way to literally "fuck off."

It made me unbearably happy to hear that, as she is shorter than me by a noticeable few inches so she looks like a child. Turns out, she's a very important goddess and has the record most familiars, though seldom does she use them or bring them along with her.

So, recap of what I've learned on this adventure:

One: A lot of gods don't really care for me. By that, I mean they wish I never existed either because I'm a fox, or I'm the fox that caused them a lot of problems when I was still a yōkai. 

Two: The goddess from yesterday is Goddess Inari. She has quite a few fox familiars, and because of her, foxes are greatly respected by most all gods and humans, though there are a few like Surumi who don't give a shit about anything important unless it's their business to be.

Three: The portal to the underworld isn't actually "malfunctioning." Goddess Inari just said that so she could talk to me, although I have a feeling she knew I was here the moment I got here even though she said she didn't.

Four: Goddess Inari doesn't seem to care about my terrible past or the reputation of mine that could've affected her own. She's also "friends" with "Mika" and has been since he first became a god...

Which brings us to our next point...

Five: Mikaela was once a human.

"You've caused a lot of trouble with Koba the other day. He's been acting up on the borders of Japan and in many realms ruled by the gods," Goddess Inari explains as we walk down the long hallway. In all honesty, I'm following her because I have no idea where we are right now. I didn't mean to walk too far from the room Mikaela and I were given, but I somehow managed to do just that...

"I apologize," I reply, eyebrows furrowing with seriousness. "However, I can no longer stand by and watch him do what he pleases any longer. I have my own faults, but nothing was ever supposed to get as far as it did."

"He hurt you, didn't he?" she suddenly asks, a question she already knows the answer to by the sound of it.

I nod my head a bit solemnly. "Yes, but I wish not to tell you what happened," I mutter, hoping she'd understand.

"If you do not wish to tell me, then I wish not to hear." 

By her response, she reminds me a lot of Mikaela. They must've been close when he first became a god. "By the way, is it alright for me to ask how Mikaela became a god, Goddess Inari?"

She smiles lightly. "Please, call me just Inari." I hesitantly agree, though I feel a bit uneasy being so friendly with her. I don't know what happened between her and Mikaela, but it obviously tore them apart. However, despite Mikaela's rudeness toward her, she seems, for the most part, calm and gentle, as if he has every right to be angry with her for whatever happened. "Mikaela was a human, as I've already told you. However, to keep it short and simple considering it's a very long story-"

I'll have to ask him for whatever she left out if I want to know more.

"-He managed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. There were two gods. They were battling in a dimension between the human and the Divine realm upon the Earth, but he could see, somehow, what was happening. One of the gods were struck down, and he rushed to save him. In the end, the god he tried to save died, and because of his quick response and courageous act to protect what happened to be one of the more well known gods because of his line of work, Mikaela was deemed worthy to take his place. That god was of granting wishes, like him. However, different, as Mikaela's predecessor took on the wishes of death as long as it was reasonable and deserving. He was very brutal most the time, as that is what many humans deserved.