Come by Night 3: Kitsune No Yomeiri

Chapter Sixteen - The Longest Game

"Mitsuaki has ever been loyal and true to me, and remains so to this day, though he knows it not. Were he aware of his role, he would make a botch of his mission."

I am shocked by the kami's candor. "What mission is that?" I blurt out.

"To serve me in the shadows. It is a role only a yōkai can fulfill. However, a demon that knows it serves a god does horrible things. Mitsuaki must believe he is a rogue who will be punished if I get my hands on him. And so any and all would take him for. Who would suspect that he operates under my direction? When not even he himself knows it."

My mouth hangs open. I become aware the god has stopped speaking and is looking at me. I close my mouth and swallow. "How can you do that to him?"

"I do so with a heavy heart. I love Mitsuaki. He is doing the most important work of all my sacred shinshi. And you, Hotaru, are my chosen instrument to maintain necessary leverage over him."

My mouth works like a fish. I feel so much rage that I am almost blind.

"Do not be angry," Inari says. "Did you not wish every evening for love to come and spare you from Natsumi's grasp?  What you share with Mitsuaki is rare and beautiful, and your love spares him from dissolving into the worst aspect of himself.  Or did you think his coming to your town was a mere accident?"

I shake my head. Something doesn't feel completely true. I have learned that gods do nothing without several reasons. It occurs to me that if this god sent Mitsuaki to the town, then it sent the priest to seize me. Which means...

"But it wasn't just about me," I say in a sudden rush of insight. "You used me to raze the town on purpose."

"I did."

"W-Why? All those innocents—" My lips tremble.

"You do not know what is good and what is bad. You haven't the sight to see so far ahead. There are reasons for everything we do. Do not think badly of your husband. Mitsuaki had no choice but to go after you that day. He is a demon hopelessly in love with she who is tethered on the other side of his thread of destiny.  There's nothing he wouldn't do for you."

My stomach twists. I feel used. I see why Mitsuaki hates the kami so much. I touch a hand to the obi sash that covers my waist up to the chest. "And the priest?" I ask. "Why did you imprison Mitsuaki and keep us apart for so long? Did you enjoy our suffering?"

"Of course not," the god says serenely. "It was too soon for you two to be together. You could not be with him as weak as you were; he would have smothered you. And from time to time, he needs to be reminded there are consequences for his actions that affect him adversely."

"I-I almost drowned!"

"Yet, you did not. I led the miko to you."

"So that the wrath of the gods can be upon us now?" I choke.

"No one else knows you are here. The one who took Tsukiko was me."

"I don't understand. Why would you harm a little girl by taking her away from her parents!"

"No harm has come to her. For Tsukiko, time has not passed from the moment the light blinded her. I knew you would follow, you see, and I needed you to come here, Hotaru-san."

I stare at the kami in shock and disbelief. I shake my head. "Why?"

"We will get to that. First, I must tell you this." Inari nods to my lower abdomen. "You may keep this child, but he must be the last. You cannot have a third, or only sorrow shall arise from it."  The god smiles sadly and it chills me. Knowing the face is a mask makes me shudder. The kami beckons to one of the attendant shinshi and whispers in her ear. The fox servant reminds me of my husband, and I wonder if they are kin.

"Now, where were we?" Inari addresses me as the shinshi bows and withdraws. "We deva have great powers, yet we are checked from making use of them for our direct benefit. Save in certain circumstances, we cannot act on our own behalf, so we are required to utilize the agency of less advanced beings."

"Humans," I say.

"And yōkai," the kami agrees. "All the myriad creatures, in truth. To maintain the balance, we grant favors when it is neutral or beneficial in the greater scheme. In addition, we protect and govern from afar as much as is possible. If you did not have a will of your own, there would be no stake in the game."

"Is that what we are to you? Pieces in a game?"

"Sometimes. Do not let that dismay you. It is a game we all participate in, no less the divine essence within you. Existence is the original game, and we are all aspects of a single player."

"Why are you telling me these things, kami-sama?"

"You are the mother of two demigods. Do you think I would let you raise them without understanding the truth? Their father must believe as he does, but you are another matter." Inari-sama pauses to let that sink in.

"Where is Mitsuaki?" I ask, tiring of this.

"Mitsuaki is in no danger at present. You require the cover of night to retrieve him. He will be the better for relying on you, for a change. It is time to come into your own."

"How?"

But Inari does not answer — not with words. Instead, the kami lays a hand upon mine and I feel a warm tingle. It is pleasant. "I now bestow upon you my wedding present. I grant you one hundred years of frozen time, after which your natural seasons must continue forward. You may remain in your astral beyul in peace and comfort with your family until you die. It is all I can give you before I must compel him again."

I do not know what to say. It is a generous gift, as is letting me live out my life in peace with Mitsuaki.  I do not think this treatment of my husband is fair, and I wish I could tell him, but it is forbidden, and no words of mine will sway a god.

"It is late enough at last," Inari says, gazing out at the night.

"For what?" I ask, wary.

"For the main purpose I brought you hither. Take this," the kami places a glowing key in my hand. "You will need this to free your husband."

"What happened to him?"

"Mitsuaki was taken captive by the earth dragon who runs the auction house."

I gasp, but I expected it.

"You are a brave and clever woman, Hotaru, worthy of the kitsune you married this day. It is your kindness that distinguishes you, and for which he fell in love. Your goodness of heart and the desire to aid suffering is called upon now. The task I present this night was never meant for him, Hotaru, but for you."

"I do not understand."

"You will," the kami says cryptically. "That is a key to open every lock. Do you understand? Every lock. And you will need this, as well."

A fox servant slips a haori over my shoulders, and I disappear from view. The silk garment is pulled off and draped over my arm, then the servant bows and steps backward to give me space.

"An escort will be waiting for you," Inari continues. "When you have Mitsuaki, take the palanquin. I will have Tsukiko waiting for you."

"Thank you," I say sincerely.

"Thank you, Hotaru. The task you are about to perform will have ripples far into the future. Many lives will be changed for the better. Now go and act quickly before it is too late."