A Tale of the Past

Mount Inari was Miketsu's domain. As she gained greater mastery over her divine power, her control over the entire mountain and its surrounding areas grew formidable. She could sense any mortal or supernatural being approaching the vicinity. Within Mount Inari, if Miketsu so desired, even the most powerful spiritual vision would fail to detect her.

"In other words... Lady Uka, you knew of Lord Kou's arrival all along? You were even able to completely hide yourself from him?" Sitting on the ground, Tsuruha looked at Miketsu in shock. Even though she was often by Miketsu’s side, the growth of the goddess's abilities was still staggering.

"Something like that... I was quite puzzled at first as to which orthodox god had come to visit me. Then I realized this visitor's causality was a bit different from a typical god... Originally, I intended to contact him personally, but who would have thought you’d go straight to meet him? Hehe, I thought it was your lover coming to find you, Tsuruha, so I didn't show myself." Miketsu spoke with a teasing smile.

Tsuruha froze, then shouted in a flustered hurry, "Please, please don't say such things, Lady Uka!"

"Haha, just a joke, just a joke. Don't take it to heart, Tsuruha," Miketsu laughed. Tsuruha let out a helpless sigh, her expression turning slightly somber and low.

"Lady Uka... I went to meet someone outside the shrine without informing you, and you watched everything from the shadows without intervening... Do you no longer trust me?"

Hearing Tsuruha's words, Miketsu paused. Her expression softened, and she spoke gently to the Divine Messenger who had been with her from the very beginning.

"If I cannot even trust you, Tsuruha, then who else is left? I know the feelings you held for my past self. I understand that there are things you find difficult to say or do in front of me. I won't blame you for such things. Rest easy."

"Lady Uka..." Tsuruha's voice trembled slightly. Seeing her like this, Miketsu quickly changed the subject.

"Alright, let's set that aside for now and talk business. Tsuruha, that Kou from just now... what exactly is his background? What connection does he have with my past self?" Miketsu asked with a look of curiosity.

Tsuruha sighed softly. Although Kou had asked her to hide his existence from Miketsu, there was no longer any point in doing so. She looked at Miketsu and spoke solemnly.

"To be honest, I am not entirely sure of Lord Kou's specific origins. I only know that he was a mysterious being saved by the previous Lady Uka while she was performing a mission for Takamagahara..."

"What? A mission for Takamagahara?" Miketsu frowned, and Tsuruha began to slowly recount the tale of the past.

...

Centuries ago, before Heian-kyo was even established, the Inari Okami living on Mount Inari received a command from Takamagahara. The order sent her to a certain coastline to investigate an anomaly. Following the command, the goddess traveled to the specified shore, where she found a destroyed fishing village. There, she encountered a youth named Kou.

The boy's expression was cold, and he seemed indifferent to the destruction around him. He possessed a violent, uncontrollable divine power. To the goddess's eyes, he appeared like an incomplete, weakened orthodox god. She could not determine where he came from, nor his connection to the village's destruction. The boy himself seemed to have lost his memory and could not answer many questions.

Afterward, the goddess received further instructions from Takamagahara. She kept the young Kou by her side, both to monitor him and to witness his growth. As a portion of his divine power returned, Kou gradually grew from a boy into a man. He spent a long time by the goddess's side, helping her suppress many disasters.

Until one day, the goddess received a certain command and went to Takamagahara. When she returned, she had become incredibly strange...

What followed was another riot by the Earthquake Catfish. Kou and the goddess went to suppress it once more. However, perhaps due to the influence of her trip to Takamagahara, the goddess's pacification was not as effective as before. In the end, she sacrificed herself and fell into a deep slumber to avert the crisis. Kou, consumed by a profound distrust of Takamagahara, left Heian-kyo.

...

"And so, until thirteen years ago when you woke up again, Lady Uka, he returned here to watch over you in secret. It was just that your power was too small back then to sense his presence. Lord Kou was with you for many years; to me, he is someone worthy of trust. But as for his specific origins, I do not know."

Tsuruha finished her explanation solemnly. Miketsu fell into deep thought after hearing the story. After a moment of reflection, she spoke with a serious face.

"Together for years, even witnessing him grow up? Isn't that a bit of a sister-brother complex? I knew it—that Kou kid definitely had feelings for my past self..."

"Cough... La-Lady Uka! What are you focusing on?! Also, Lord Kou's body was small because of the loss of divine power; he grew back once he recovered. Your current form is also much smaller than it used to be!" Tsuruha choked on her words, exasperatedly correcting her once she caught her breath.

"Haha, sorry, sorry. Since I've completely undergone syncretism with that Dakini-ten fellow, I've been influenced by her a bit... But speaking of which, if the shrinking of the physical age is related to the decay of divine power, why haven't I grown back yet, even though I'm much stronger now?" Miketsu shifted the blame to a certain ghost-god while glancing down at her own body. Over the years, she hadn't shown the slightest sign of growing up.

"Um... I wouldn't know about that..."

"Phew... forget it, there's no use worrying about that. In any case, I have a general grasp of Kou's situation now..." Miketsu nodded, summarizing the information she had gathered.

First, Kou was an orthodox god, likely a powerful one who had fallen into the living world after being heavily injured. In his state of weakened power and fragmented memory, he was found by the previous Inari Okami and kept under surveillance by order of Takamagahara. During their time together, Kou seemed to have developed feelings for her.

The previous Inari Okami's divine power had weakened and her personality had changed because of her summons to Takamagahara. This led to her being heavily injured while pacifying the Earthquake Catfish, forcing her into a slumber. This was also why Kou became resentful toward Takamagahara.

Kou's power seemed related to the Plain of Night. He had likely sensed the power of that immortal person this afternoon and came to Heian-kyo because of it. His main goal was to find that immortal; coming here was just a side trip to see her.

Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, Miketsu couldn't help but wonder: which orthodox god was this Kou, exactly?