Choice

Tokyo, daytime. Morning hours.

In the back room of the Inari Shrine on Mount Kagami-oboro, Miketsu—having been forced to take a day off to slowly burn off her demonic power due to the accidental yokai-fication of her appearance—was undergoing her routine periodic report from Tsuruha. As usual, she chatted with her Divine Messenger via remote call.

"I see... So this incident was actually the work of the Slippery Nura..." On the computer screen, Tsuruha nodded slowly.

"That’s about it. In short, this whole mess was the result of me juggling too many fake identities... It caused some unnecessary misunderstandings. I suppose I’m partially to blame, but you all are certainly not without fault for that little performance you put on a thousand years ago." Miketsu shifted her posture, lying sideways on the tatami as she spoke slowly. Hearing this, Tsuruha bowed her head slightly.

"It is our sin for bringing you such trouble..."

"Mmm, forget it. It’s over now. Giving Rihyon and his group a lesson should keep him quiet for a while. Let’s leave it at that. Besides, I didn’t really lose anything. I’ve been having a poor sleep schedule lately anyway, so it’s a good excuse to rest at home." As she spoke, the reclining Miketsu let out a long yawn. The girl stretched her slender, fair arms lazily in her miko outfit. Her fox ears flopped down with her lethargy before twitching back upright. At the sight of this, Tsuruha on the other side of the screen suddenly clapped a hand over her nose. She immediately tilted the camera away, leaving Miketsu unable to see her. All that could be heard was a series of clattering and suspicious thuds.

'It's just an extra pair of ears and a tail. Is such a reaction really necessary?' After finishing her stretch, Miketsu pursed her lips at the noises coming from the screen. Her tail swayed into her field of vision, and she began to mindlessly stroke the fur as she thought.

In truth, as a transformed spirit fox, Tsuruha possessed both human and fox-like aesthetic sensibilities. From Tsuruha's perspective, Miketsu’s semi-fox features were exactly the kind of thing that struck her right in her specific weaknesses. Combined with Miketsu’s original status as the ultimate standard of beauty for all Inari foxes, these two factors had overlapped to deal a devastating blow to Tsuruha’s composure. The Tenko god required a moment to reboot her system.

After a long while, Tsuruha finally managed to compose herself. When she reappeared on the screen, she was back to a posture of bowing in apology.

"My... my deepest apologies, Uka-sama. I was a bit indiscreet. It is mostly that I have not yet adjusted to your current... appearance."

As Tsuruha spoke with sincerity, Miketsu nodded while still playing with her tail.

"...That’s understandable. It was quite sudden for me too. I wasn't exactly prepared." Miketsu glanced at her Divine Messenger, noticing the subtle shifts in her expression and body language. Her own expression tightened as she spoke again.

"But tell me... are you taking screenshots of me right now?"

Using the intuition gained from her vast experience, Miketsu pointedly called her out. Tsuruha jumped visibly, the fur on her ears standing on end.

"Screen... screenshots? Wherever did you get that idea? I am absolutely not taking screenshots of you, Uka-sama! Definitely not, definitely not! I can swear to it!" Tsuruha spoke with obvious agitation. Seeing her so adamant, Miketsu eyed her suspiciously for a moment before continuing.

"Fine. There’s no need to swear. I’ll trust you this once."

"Thank you for your trust, Uka-sama..." Tsuruha breathed a sigh of relief. She stole a glance at the corner of her monitor, where a screen-recording software was silently working away outside the video call window.

Indeed, Tsuruha had not lied. She was no longer performing the inefficient task of taking screenshots; she had switched directly to screen recording. She had to capture every single second of Uka-sama's precious, once-in-a-millennium form!

"That fellow Rihyon... even though he’s always loved acting on his own, he’s ultimately someone meant to be a 'king.' I never intended for him to be a submissive subordinate from the start. But I feel I may have been too indulgent in the past, leading him to think he could ignore my words and go rogue today. If it weren't for our thousand-year acquaintance, I would have at least left him in the hospital for a month."

Miketsu continued to sigh with emotion. Hearing her words, Tsuruha pondered for a moment before asking another question.

"Since you mentioned your thousand-year acquaintances... Uka-sama, since your awakening, how many of those old friends have you met?" Tsuruha asked softly. Miketsu answered honestly.

"I’ve seen quite a few, actually. Both those who survived from a thousand years ago and those who have been reborn through reincarnation."

"Reborn through reincarnation... Then, Uka-sama, what about the reincarnation of the High Priestess who remained with the Inari a thousand years ago—the miko Kikyo?" Tsuruha asked with concern. Compared to the others, Tsuruha was clearly more invested in Kikyo. After all, the woman was arguably the most powerful miko in the official Inari records—a legendary figure in their millennium of history, worshipped by many modern miko. As the one currently managing the operations of the Inari, Tsuruha naturally hoped for the legend's reincarnation to return to their fold.

"Ah... Kikyo’s reincarnation..." At the mention of that name, a complex expression appeared on Miketsu’s face. Seeing this, Tsuruha asked curiously.

"What is it, Uka-sama? Have you perhaps not met her yet?"

In response to Tsuruha's prompt, Miketsu scratched her head and spoke.

"Actually, there is a soul-level connection between Kikyo and me. Not long after I awakened, I found her reincarnation through that link."

"You’ve found her already? Then what was her response? Is she willing to return to the Inari?" Tsuruha pressed. Miketsu thought for a moment before giving a slow response.

"Well... that’s a bit hard to explain..."

A few months ago.

Tokyo, a bright and sunny day. In a quiet corner of a bustling city cafe, a high school girl named Kagome Higurashi sat stiffly in her seat, dressed in a green-trimmed school uniform, glancing around with a nervous expression.

At this moment, the cafe and the surrounding world seemed to have been put on pause. Birds were suspended in mid-air, vehicles and pedestrians were frozen in their tracks, and the terrified expression of a waitress who had accidentally slipped was frozen on her face, with spilled tea hanging in the air like pearls.

"This... what is this? Everyone is..."

"It’s nothing. I just created a slightly better environment for us to talk. After all, if I claim to be a deity without showing even a hint of being special, how could you believe me? Right?"

Opposite Kagome, Miketsu, wearing a black-trimmed high school uniform, sat in her seat, stirring her coffee with a smile.

"You... you’re really a goddess! You stopped everyone around us? Is this the power of a god?" Looking at the scene around her, Kagome gasped in amazement. Not long ago, this girl had suddenly appeared before her and claimed to be a goddess. Kagome had thought it was some kind of prank, but she hadn't expected it to be real.

"In a sense. Though most gods can't do what I just did. This is merely a small proof of my identity and that my words are no lie." After taking a slow sip of her coffee, Miketsu looked at the still-stunned Kagome.

"Now that the proof is complete, you should believe the other things I’ve told you. Make your decision, Kikyo. Are you willing to become my miko once again?"

After Miketsu finished speaking, she waited for the girl's response while sipping her coffee. Kagome slowly recovered from her shock and began to think carefully. After a long while, she spoke up weakly.

"I... I’m sorry, Lord Deity. I’m afraid I still cannot accept your proposal," Kagome said softly. Her tone was cautious, as if afraid of offending the goddess before her.

However, to Kagome's surprise, the young goddess didn't seem angry at all. Kagome's words didn't cause even a ripple in her expression. She continued to savor her coffee as she responded gently.

"Oh? Is that so? Then, may I hear your reason?"

Hearing Miketsu’s words, Kagome blinked in surprise. Then, she summoned her courage and began to speak earnestly.

"It’s like this... although you say my past life, Kikyo, was your miko and that she once prayed to serve you again in her next life... to be honest, I am truly moved by her sincere loyalty. But truthfully, in my view, while she may be my past life, she is she, and I am I."

Miketsu stopped stirring her coffee and set the spoon on the saucer. She looked at Kagome and continued in a gentle tone. "So... in your view, the past life belongs to the past, and this life belongs to the present. You and she are two different people. Her destiny is not your destiny."

"Yes! Exactly! Even though you suddenly told me I have such a past life... I don’t have a single memory related to it! To me, no matter how you tell her story, she will always be a stranger. I’m sorry... it’s hard for me to equate myself with a stranger I have no impression of and let her decisions influence the rest of my life." Kagome looked up and spoke solemnly to Miketsu.

Miketsu’s expression remained unchanged. She continued in a peaceful tone.

"Then... putting Kikyo aside, based purely on your own will as Kagome Higurashi, are you unwilling to become my miko?"

"Yes. I have no plans to enter the religious profession. I’m in high school now, and my grades are decent. I hope to get into a prestigious university. I have my own plans for my life. I’m sorry that those plans are a bit far from the profession of a miko."

Kagome spoke with extreme sincerity. As she did, she couldn't help but stand up and bow apologetically to Miketsu.

Hearing this response, Miketsu fell silent for a short while before answering with a smile.

"I see. You really are an independent and good girl. Such character is rare. Keep it up, and work hard for the life that belongs to you."

"But... the intuition of destiny tells me that your future life won't be as simple as you imagine. We will meet again when the time is right."

As she spoke, Miketsu slowly rose and left her seat, walking toward the door under Kagome’s nervous gaze. In the process, she used an unknown invisible force to push a chair behind the falling waitress. The scattered tea automatically returned to the overturned cup, which righted itself onto the tray in the waitress's hand.

Then, Miketsu pushed the door open. The moment the cafe door closed with a soft click, the entire world resumed its course. Causality flowed once more. Birds took flight, cars roared, and pedestrians bustled. Everything was as ordinary as it had been, save for the waitress who sat stunned on the chair, holding her tray of tea in confusion.

It was so ordinary that Kagome almost wondered if the girl just now had been a hallucination.

In a daze, Kagome walked out of the cafe, but the shout of a waitress who hurriedly ran out behind her snapped her back to reality.

"Wait! Customer! Your friend didn't pay for the coffee she ordered!"

"Huh?" Hearing the waitress, Kagome stood frozen. Once she realized what was happening, she hurriedly fumbled for her wallet and paid the bill.

Looking at the 1,000 yen that was truly missing from her wallet, the sting of the economic loss convinced Kagome that it definitely hadn't been a hallucination.

'Does a goddess not pay for her own things?! And why did the coffee you ordered have to be so expensive?!' Kagome screamed in her heart as she looked at her lightened wallet.