The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 1: Origins

Chapter 5: Okami Amaterasu Reborn

[Monday 4th September 2271]

[President's Office, Hero Commission Branch, Darufu Ward, Musutafu]

The Tree Spirit wiped a tear from her eye; "You are Okami Amaterasu Reborn!"

Izumi stared, wide eyed and mouth agape, as she processed the words that Sakuya Konohana had just said. Questions began to rage through her young mind, trying to piece together what was happening. The President of the Hero Commission was claiming that she was some kind of Tree Spirit or Wood Sprite, and that Izumi was somehow the reborn Amaterasu, and all Izumi could do was gape at her. Such a thing wasn't possible! Tree Spirits and Goddesses weren't real!

"Neither were Demons." Her mind helpfully supplied as the image of Roku-Ju flashed through her memory.

The child couldn't help but remember her dreams. The name "Ammy" had cropped up a lot in the first one, and that had apparently been the nickname of Amaterasu, used by the Bug Man, and Amaterasu's name had appeared in all her recent dreams.

What if they hadn't been dreams? Izumi had thought at the time that they felt like half-remembered memories, what if that was true?

Izumi wasn't anything special; she was just a normal girl who had some bad luck, luck that was supposed to be turning around with her quirk!

Maybe that was it? Maybe this was all the work of some sort of quirk, inserting messages and meanings into her dreams to trick her. But what was the point?

A thousand different thoughts and feelings surged through Izumi's mind and heart.

Every logical thought said it was a lie… but deep in her heart, Izumi believed it was true.

"I-I…!" Izumi gripped her head. It was beginning to hurt, "I don't understand!"

Sakuya stopped floating and rushed back to kneel before Izumi, reaching over to stroke the girl's white hair. Izumi was still in her Half-transformed state, and her ears were drooping with pain and frustration. "Oh, my poor dear. You didn't struggle this much the first time I awoke you, but you were still in your own form back then."

"T-The first time?" Izumi winced. Suddenly, the memory of last night's dream flashed through her head; a dream in which she had watched unblinking from atop a hill, until a woman in pink had awoken her with her flaming mirror. "You… you were the woman in my dream?"

Sakuya's eyes widened in genuine surprise; "Dream? Ah, your memories must be slowly returning. Tell me, what was in the dream?"

Izumi shook her head; "No! I don't know if I can trust you! You said you awoke me before? Tell me about that!" Izumi demanded, the pain in her head making her forget her manners. She needed proof that Sakuya was telling the truth, and if she already knew the events that Izumi had seen in her dreams, that would be proof enough for the girl. She did feel a little bad about her rudeness though...

Sakuya wasn't upset though, and carefully led Izumi to one of the couches and sat down before pulling the girl onto her lap; "Alright, my dear, I will tell you of our first meeting. It was over a millennia ago and our country, which we called Nippon back then, was under siege from a plague of demons. My tree, Konohana, was planted atop a hill near a small village called Kamiki. After a previous battle, your first incarnation was entombed there as a statue. To save the country, I returned your weapon; the Divine Retribution, to you and bid you awaken again as your second incarnation. I remember that vividly even now; you were in the form of a wolf, with such beauty and grace… nothing has ever been so wondrous a sight!"

Izumi gasped; "That was the same as my dream! I wasn't able to move, but I knew I was under a big cherry tree and overlooking a village. A woman in pink gave me my mirror, and I could suddenly move again! The woman… she called me beautiful and used the name Amaterasu! It's all true!"

Sakuya nodded with a smile; "You see? Living as a Human has dimmed your light and left you diminished… the world has been exceedingly cruel to you, leaving you weak and frail. But fear not, beloved Amaterasu, for I will help you regain your strength, and then you will save us all once again."

Izumi, feeling her headache fading as she accepted the truth, looked up at Sakuya with shining silver eyes, as they too changed colour with her transformation. "Please Lady Sakuya, tell me everything. I want to understand who I am."

Sakuya nodded; "Very well. I was prepared to tell you this from the very beginning. It is a long story though, so please be patient."

Izumi leaned in, expression full of interest as Sakuya began her tale. The lilac mist that made up her scarf swirled in front of the little girl and began to form images; the first of which was of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun.

"The first part happened before I was born, as my tree had not yet been planted. As such I do not know all of the details, but I do know that you came to Earth from the Celestial Realm in order to seek help in defeating a powerful demon known as Orochi. It had been foreseen by a prophet that you would need help from a Human Chosen One to finally destroy him. Orochi conquered the area around Kamiki Village and for 100 years, he demanded a maiden sacrifice from the village every year. Over those years, you did your best to protect the world from the Eight Headed Serpent Demon, but as your true form was that of a White Wolf, the humans believed you a familiar of the demon and scorned you. They called you Shiranui. On the 100th year, Orochi demanded his 100th sacrifice, a maiden named Nami, whose blood would complete his ritual and turn him into the most fearsome demon to ever live. This was also around the time my tree was planted, and I first came into the world. Unfortunately for Orochi, his choosing of Nami enraged a local warrior named Nagi, who disguised himself as Nami and invaded Orochi's home; the Moon Cave. You assisted him in that battle, and at its end, you howled to make the moon shine down and imbue Nagi's sword; Tsukuyomi, with golden light. Nagi slew Orochi and sealed his spirit within the cave, using his own sword as the lynchpin of the seal. Unfortunately, your physical body was deeply wounded, poisoned by Orochi, and perished. Nagi and the Humans, now knowing your true value, enshrined your body at the base of my tree until such a time that you would awaken again; after all, you cannot truly kill a god."

Izumi watched enraptured as the images in the mist moved to follow Sakuya's story. She watched herself fighting beside a warrior in white armour against a massive eight headed monster, taking wounds to save his life and howling up at the sky to make the moon shine down on his sword.

"100 years after Orochi's defeat, a descendent of Nagi by the name of Susanoo made a foolish mistake and accidentally freed Orochi from the seal, allowing him to regain his physical form and begin conquering the region yet again. I, fearing the plague of darkness, returned your mirror to you so you would awaken. Unfortunately, you awoke in a weakened state, poisoned by the incredible darkness in the world and without the aid of the Twelve Brush Gods that served you. In a repeat of history, you worked with Susanoo and a funny little bug by the name of Issun, to slay Orochi, this time managing to kill the demon completely before he could regain his power. However, in doing so you learned that Nippon had been divided up by other Demon Generals like Orochi, so you set off on a journey with Issun to defeat them, spreading my Divine Saplings across the country as you went. You found your imprisoned Brush Gods, defeated the Demon Generals and restored peace to the land of Nippon. You eventually even managed to find the Ruler of all Demons; the Origin of Darkness, Yami, and slew him in battle. With your powers restored, you returned to the Celestial Realm, ending your second incarnation's activities in our world."

"Wow… I can't believe I was ever able to do stuff like that! I think there must be a huge difference between the me who was Amaterasu and the me who is Izumi..." the little girl said, amazed; "What happened next?"

Sakuya smiled; "Next, the Mortal Realm began to move on. Eventually, your story and the stories of your allies faded into myth and legend, being warped into the Shinto Beliefs. Nippon became known across the world as Japan and the Humans flourished. I grew so powerful that even though my original tree; Konohana, was cut down by industrious humans, I was able to survive and thrive through the years. Every Cherry Blossom Tree across the world is now a part of me, descended from the original Konohana. I'm so strong now that I can even maintain a human form and walk among them. Things with humans were always chaotic, but when they started developing supernatural powers in the form of quirks, a whole new age of chaos began. When Heroes and Villains cropped up, I predicted that soon, you would return to the world to restore order, so I created the Hero Public Safety Commission to groom Japan's Heroes into an army that could stand against the tide of evil. Even now, the upper echelons of the Commission are descendants of those that served you in the past. Then, about six years ago, something catastrophic happened without the humans even noticing..."

"What happened?" Izumi asked.

"The Demons began reviving. An evil force of unknown origin was able to revive Yami and his Demon Generals and now controls them. It has them sending out lesser demons across Japan to gather souls from humans to empower them. With no other choice, you knew you had to come back to Earth, so you boarded the Ark of Yamato, on which you originally returned to the Celestial Realm, and sailed it back here, only to be attacked on the journey. The Ark was destroyed and your original body was lost to the void between realms. The Brush Gods were kidnapped and corrupted, turned into the servants of the Great Evil, while you were forced to abandon your physical form and reincarnate on Earth, taking the form of a Human. The process has stripped you of almost all your power, as well as most of your memories." Sakuya finished.

Izumi slumped against Sakuya, watching these events being played out by the mist in front of her, until it finally receded back into Sakuya's scarf.

"So that's what happened? I'm some kind of God?"

"I know it's hard to believe, seeing as how you've been raised human, but it is the truth. I've known about your existence for five years, but I didn't know exactly who you'd been reborn as. Then, yesterday afternoon, your "quirk" was registered and one of my agents in the registry office alerted me. I had only planned on arranging to meet you, but upon learning of your situation, I decided to foster you. That way, I can protect and train you until you've regained your old power and are ready to destroy the Evil. I hope you don't think me presumptuous, making these decisions for you despite being beneath you in rank." Sakuya said, bowing her head politely.

"N-No! If anything, I want to thank you! Now I understand!" Izumi smiled and stood up, feeling a new sense of purpose and drive.

"I am Izumi Midoriya, but I'm also Amaterasu Reborn. Both those parts are important! I'm going to get stronger, regain all my old powers and be a Hero! My dream has always been to be a Hero, and now I have an even better idea of how to do it! I spent this whole last year thinking I was cursed or worthless, but now I know there's something important that only I can do! So thank you, Lady Sakuya! I promise I'll make you proud!" Izumi declared.

Sakuya smiled happily at the girl; "Excellent! Oh, there is so much to be done! I need to announce you to the others who know the truth, and I need to prepare your tutors and trainers… you'll need a Celestial Envoy as an assistant, and you still need the tour! You're going to be very busy, My Lady. First and foremost, you have two choices to make."

Izumi tilted her head; "Choices? What choices?"

"The first is simple; your name. To the world at large, you will remain Izumi Midoriya, as we cannot reveal the truth to just anyone. Only the spiritually strong can even see Spirits and Demons, if most people walked into this room now, they'd see only you, as I can't be seen in this form, only my human disguise. All of your forms can be seen, since you are half human, but the same can't be said for the rest of us. However, you must decide if you want to be called Izumi or Amaterasu to the people in the know." Sakuya said.

Izumi thought about it for a few minutes, before ultimately deciding; "I want to stay as Izumi. I only have two memories of my life as Ammy, so it would be confusing to suddenly change it."

Sakuya nodded; "Understandable. We'll need to work out what to do about that though… as a God, part of your power comes from the belief and praise of Mortals, and that praise won't be as effective if it isn't given to your true name, and your true name can't really be changed."

"Hmm… Oh! I know! When I become a Hero, my hero name can be Amaterasu! That way, people who praise me for my Hero Work will empower me! I'll be the Okami Hero: Amaterasu!" Izumi declared, puffing her chest up proudly. She'd not put a lot of thought into her eventual hero name; mostly just coming up with variations of All-Might. Calling herself Amaterasu as a Hero would allow her to use both her human and god names!

Sakuya clapped; "An excellent choice! I approve! With a name like that, we'll be able to once again make people across Japan offer their thanks to you! Now, the second issue is more complicated… how should we treat you?"

Izumi blinked; "How should you treat me? I don't get it..."

"My Lady, to me and the others who are informed of the truth, you are a Goddess! But to the humans, you are a little girl. Do you wish for us to treat you with the reverence your station deserves? Or would you rather be treated like the child you currently are. Should you choose the former, you will become the real head of the Hero Commission, and thus the person in charge of the entire Japanese Hero Industry. You could decide who can become a Hero, and even alter the rankings if you wanted. We technically have Government oversight, but it wouldn't be hard for us to circumvent that."

"I don't want that!" Izumi shook her head vehemently; "I'm still getting my head wrapped around this whole Goddess thing! Until I grow up and prove I deserve it, treat me like just a normal child. In fact..." Izumi bowed politely, "Lady Sakuya, you're my foster mother now, so I obey you. Please treat me well."

Sakuya beamed and stroked the girl's head; "I will. As you wish, I will treat you as my own child. Now, since you've been informed of the truth, we should begin getting to work! I'm sorry that you have to miss preschool today, but if you want to keep going to it from tomorrow onward, I won't stop you. But for now, we should start with a proper tour!"

Izumi nodded. She and Sakuya both returned to their full human forms, whereupon Sakuya decided to dub Izumi's half transformed state her "Demi-God Form". Sakuya took Izumi's hand and lead her to the elevator, taking her down to the lobby so she could begin their tour of the building from the ground floor and make their way up.

The Musutafu Branch of the Commission was almost exclusively geared towards dealings with U.A High School, as the school was the only reason the Commission bothered to have a branch in Musutafu, so many of the offices and departments were geared towards supporting young Heroes, managing licensing events and requisitioning items from support companies that worked with the school. The upper floors were for dealing with the local heroes (the office used by those working with Endeavor's Agency took up a floor by itself), and the very top floor consisted of a Training Dojo, Sakuya's and Torikago's local offices and the penthouse apartment that Keigo was currently staying in. The rooftop was, of course, Sakuya's Manor.

"All Commission Branches are modelled this way. Japan became very westernised after that awful war, and while I enjoy these foreign cultures, I often long for a taste of home." Sakuya explained, once they reached the roof top manor.

"It's really cool! You usually live in Tokyo, right?" Izumi asked.

"That's right, but that won't be possible now. I would prefer to take you with me to live in our Tokyo HQ, but I understand you have people you care about here… the Bakugous I believe they were called." Sakuya said.

Izumi gasped; "Oh no! I forgot all about them! I told Kacchan I'd talk to him after school today… and Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru were supposed to foster me soon."

Sakuya sighed sadly; "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow that. Demons are still lurking in Musutafu; I can't risk letting you live anywhere but here until the threat is over or you're strong enough to defeat them. You can probably handle the likes of Roku-Ju now, but Green Imps are extremely low class Demons. If I wasn't afraid of isolating you from your friends, I would insist you be home-schooled. However, I have no problems with the Bakugous coming to visit whenever you like. In fact, you may invite them to live here in the manor, if it pleases you."

"You'd let me just bring people into your house to stay?" Izumi asked, shocked.

Sakuya laughed musically; "My Lady, the manor is yours. I build them atop every branch because it reminds me of home, but I mostly use them as a cover to keep people thinking I'm human. I've had to tell everyone that I'm Sakuya the seventh, and every woman in my family carries the name, otherwise they'd peg that I was immortal. As a spirit, I do not eat or sleep, just like the gods."

"Really? I eat and sleep, but I guess I'm half human. Then again, in my first dream of Ammy, I was being woken up by the bouncing bug, er, I mean Issun." Izumi blushed. Now that she knew Issun's name and that he had been her companion once, she felt a little bad about calling him a bug.

Sakuya didn't seem to mind though; "You always did enjoy sleeping. In your past life, you'd often fall asleep in the middle of conversations if you got bored! And you certainly ate a lot; especially the Cherry Cakes one of the villagers made. You didn't NEED to do those things, but you could if you chose. It might be different now that your part human, but I'm not in a hurry to test that."

"Me neither." Izumi smiled.

From there, they continued the tour by exploring the manor. It was easier to see in the light of day and consisted of three wings; west, south and east, connected to a large central building. The East Wing was solely Izumi's area and had her bedroom, a private workout area, a study, a small library, a private dining area, a lounge and a pair of large rooms without set purposes, which Sakuya suggested Izumi use as a playroom and a hobby room. The West Wing was entirely guest rooms, each with their own bathroom and small lounge. The South Wing was the servants' quarters and also housed the kitchen and storerooms. The large central building housed the more public dining room, a fairly huge dojo and a meeting room, but most of the building was unused.

"Maybe Keigo could stay here too. He seemed to like it when he visited this morning." Izumi mused as she looked in one of the empty rooms.

"He did? That's good to hear. I wasn't too sure about letting Torikago take him in, but once I learned of the conditions he lived in back in Fukuoka, I approved her sponsoring him. I had him transferred here to be your friend, and to help with your training. There's another reason too, but I'll explain it to you both at the same time. Now that the tour is out of the way, you should meet the rest of my, and by extension your household." Sakuya said. She raised her hand and caused a few sakura petals to emerge from her sleeve and blow away, flying off in every direction, "My petals will find them all and let them know to assemble. As a side note my Lady, if you see a Commission Employee wearing a sakura petal tie pin or broach, then they know of my true nature and serve you."

Izumi nodded. Thinking back, the Aide and Bodyguards from yesterday had those tie pins, as had a lot of the employees who had been paying her attention today during the tour. Sakuya led her into the meeting room in the central part of the manor, and sat her down on a seat cushion at the head of the long low table, before taking the seat to her right. Over the next several minutes, several people entered the room, politely bowed to Izumi, and then took positions around the table. Izumi recognised Grandpa and Granny Citrus, as well as the two friendly bodyguards and the nice male aide, as well as the two maids who had served her breakfast this morning, but she hadn't seen the others. Excluding the people Izumi recognised; there was a young man in a cap, another maid in the same dark blue kimono as the other two, a rotund woman, a middle aged man and a portly man.

Once they had all bowed and taken their seats, Sakuya cleared her throat; "Thank you all for joining us today. As you all know, we have finally found Okami Amaterasu's human incarnation; Izumi Midoriya. I have informed her of her past and she has graciously agreed to train and work with us to end the plague of evil that threatens to consume our world."

Granny Citrus smiled warmly; "It is wonderful to have you with us, My Lady. As the head servant, I pledge to serve you well."

Izumi blushed and bowed politely; "Thank you. I'm still getting used to all this, so please forgive me if I mess up. Oh, and please just call me Izumi. I hope we can all be friends."

"You see, I told you all she was a sweet girl! There was no way the Great Amaterasu would reincarnate as a rotten brat!" Grandpa Citrus laughed, "You can put your trust in us, Lady Izumi. We all know how badly you've suffered this past year; we'll make sure you never suffer like that again!"

Izumi beamed, and Sakuya raised her hand; "Please, if you would introduce yourselves in turn." the Tree Spirit requested.

The Aide from yesterday was the first to introduce himself. He was wearing a normal business suit with the sakura tie pin, and his hair and eyes were both sky blue. "My name is Tenji Iida, a cousin of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium. I didn't want to follow my family's footsteps and become a Hero, but I had high spiritual strength, so Lady Konohana hired me as her personal aide. I primarily serve her, but I'll do whatever I can for you as well."

Next was the bodyguards. They were twins; bald and wore sunglasses, as well as identical suits, making it nearly impossible to tell them apart. The only clear difference between them was that one had a red tie and the other had a blue one.

"I'm Aokiji Onikawa." said the blue tie wearer.

"I'm Akainu Onikawa." said the red tie wearer.

"We're your bodyguards."

"We don't talk much."

Izumi nodded to them. They seemed nice, despite being kind of scary looking.

After the bodyguards was the man in the cap. He was wearing a business suit too, but he lacked a tie and instead wore his sakura pin as a hair pin to tie back his very long black hair. His eyes were a dull grey colour, but his expression was open and friendly; "Hey, I'm Kabuto Nazo. I'm your chauffeur. I technically saw you last night, since I drove the limo to bring you here, but Ol' Torikago dragged you off before we could meet."

"Speak more politely, Kabuto! You can't be so flippant about the Commission's Employees, especially in front of Lady Izumi! What if you give her a bad impression of them?" scolded the rotund woman. She had the same hair and eye colour as Kabuto, though her hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a dark blue kimono with an apron over the top. "I apologise for my son, Lady Izumi. My name is Doi Nazo, your head cook! I made your breakfast this morning."

Izumi's eyes lit up; "Oh! That was really tasty!"

Doi beamed with pride; "I'm so happy you enjoyed it! No disrespect to Lady Sakuya, but she doesn't really eat, so it's wonderful to have someone to enjoy my cooking! Be sure to tell me your favourite foods later!"

After the Nazo family was another family working for Sakuya; the Maeda. The portly man, whom had black hair in a top knot, brown eyes and wore a flashy gold kimono with a purple haori smiled broadly as he introduced himself; "I'm Gin Maeda, the accountant of the Konohana Family, though I like to think of myself as a merchant. If you ever want something bought, I'm your man. These three lovely ladies are my daughters!" he grinned, sweeping his hand towards the trio of maids.

Each girl looked to be in their twenties and were fairly similar in appearance. The eldest had black hair and brown eyes like her father, but wore her hair in a ponytail, the middle daughter had black hair with blue eyes, and wore pigtails, and the youngest daughter had chestnut coloured hair, brown eyes and kept her hair cut into a short bob.

"I'm Hitomi." the eldest bowed, "It was I that served Young Master Takami this morning."

"I'm Himori! I got stuck in the kitchens, so I didn't see you..." the middle daughter complained.

"And I'm Hikari. I served you." the youngest added shyly.

"They're good girls." Granny Citrus smiled; "They clean, help cook and do just about everything you expect from a maid. They're reliable too."

That left everyone introduced except the silver haired middle aged man, who had kept his eyes closed and his arms crossed through the entire meeting. His hair was short and neat, and he had a well groomed goatee and moustache. He was wearing a white karate gi with a black belt, and the kanji for Wolf emblazoned on his back and over his heart. "I am Master Onigiri. Your trainer. I come from a long line of warriors bearing that name; one of which even taught you in your past life. I will not dishonour them by doing a bad job; you will never lose so long as you follow my lessons." he opened his eyes, revealing they were red like Katsuki's.

"I'll be sure to work hard, Master Onigiri." Izumi bowed.

Onigiri hmphed; "We shall see. Lady or not, Goddess or not, I won't go easy on you. Do not expect me to spoil you." he said, before promptly reaching into the sleeve of his gi and pulling out a piece of candy and tossing it to Izumi.

Izumi caught it easily, wondering with a bemused expression if Onigiri was a strict as he let on.

"We have one last person who will be joining our Household, but she will not arrive until tonight, as she has to travel from Ponc'tan, Hokkaido. She is Ishiko, a Poncle and Celestial Envoy who has trained for the last five years to become your guide, Lady Izumi. Her great, great, great, great grandfather was Issun, your last incarnation's Celestial Envoy, whose own grandfather was Ishaku; the Envoy for your first incarnation." Sakuya explained.

The Green Haired Girl's eyes widened excitedly; "Does that mean she's a really tiny person too!?"

"Of course, she is a Poncle after all. They're a bit like a cross between a human and spirit. They're all that small and can live for hundreds of years. Now we have a few more arrangements to make to ensure everything goes well. Tenji, I want you to arrange permanent visitors passes for the Bakugou Family, to allow them to come and go as they visit Lady Izumi. Gin, you are to arrange the transport of Inko Midoriya to the manor." Sakuya instructed.

"My Mommy's coming here!?" Izumi exclaimed.

"Of course. We have the resources to better care for her body until her soul is returned. Plus if she's here, you can visit her as you please without leaving the manor. We should really arrange a shopping trip too… I do apologise Lady Izumi, but as I explained earlier, I only discovered your situation yesterday, so we aren't as prepared as we'd have liked." Sakuya frowned, bowing her head contritely.

Izumi smiled brightly; "That's okay! I really appreciate what you're all doing for me. I need to work hard too!"

"Well said." Onigiri nodded approvingly; "Allow us to finish making the arrangements. In the meantime, why don't you go down to the Dojo and get some exercise in with that Takami boy."

Izumi looked to Sakuya for approval, and upon getting a smile and a nod, she jumped up and excused herself, before running to the elevator and taking it down one floor, to the dojo Keigo was using.

She walked in just in time to watch the winged boy effortlessly destroy twelve mannequins with his crimson feathers, which flew at his command just as Izumi's mirror did. Izumi stared in awe at the display of power and control, and her wonder only magnified when she got a good look at Keigo and saw he was wearing a blindfold. Across the room was Torikago, watching the display with a cold expression. The woman took note of Izumi and narrowed her eyes.

"Come to watch Takami's training?" she asked sternly.

Keigo raised his blindfold and smirked, "Not much to see really. I've still got a long way to go before anyone here is satisfied."

"But that was amazing! I've never seen someone do something like that!" Izumi gushed. Keigo grinned at the compliment, but Torikago just rolled her eyes.

"Takami, wait outside for a bit. I want a word with Midoriya." the Vice President ordered. Izumi paled, especially when Keigo looked worriedly at her before leaving the room. Unbeknownst to Izumi or Torikago, he allowed one of his feathers to detach and hide itself in the hem of Izumi's skirt.

Once Keigo was out of the room, Izumi turned nervously to the older woman. "Um, what did you want to talk about?"

Torikago's steely blue eyes narrowed; "I know what you are now. I know why that fool of a spirit had you brought here." she said, walking past Izumi to the dojo door. She locked it, then stowed the key in her suit jacket and turned back to Izumi with an icy glare.

"Y-You know what I am? What do you mean?" Izumi stuttered. She cursed herself; she sounded so obvious! She wasn't very good at lying.

"You are the third incarnation of Okami Amaterasu. Don't think you can hide it from me." Torikago snarled, making Izumi jump in surprise.

Izumi was fully on guard now; she hadn't liked Torikago since learning about Keigo's situation, but now she was sure the woman had bad intentions. "W-What do you want from me?" Izumi demanded, trying to sound brave.

Torikago suddenly chuckled, then her eyes turned entirely blood red; sclera, iris and pupil alike. A foul smelling black and purple fog began to emanate from her body, and she bared her teeth at Izumi.

"I want your life, now die!"

Next Chapter: The Bird and the Cage

To be Released: TOMORROW!

I hope you guys all enjoyed! I rushed some of the set up stuff so we could get to the action and so the rest can be brought up when necessary. As a side note; every character in this chapter (excluding the Maeda Maids and the Onikawa brothers) is a descendant of an Okami character and is based on them too. Those who've played the game, see if you can guess who is who. As a hint, they're all based in Kamiki Village and Shinshu Field.

Next chapter will begin the main battle of this story arc!