On television, the program was reporting on the popularity of fox-themed goods—and it seemed the origin of this boom was none other than Inari herself. Apparently, Fox Phone had also played a role, having released a consumer smartphone in response to demand. Through that, even non-awakener who had not known of Inari before were now becoming familiar with her as a “mascot.”
—They’re super nice, right? They’re really popular in my class too.
—In class? How so?
—Well, since there aren’t that many official goods yet, people wear accessories that kind of look fox-like instead.
—Oh, like that fox-tail keychain?
—Yes, exactly like that.
—So by filling towns with fox goods, others start buying them too, and from there, more and more people discover Kogami Inari. It creates a loop.
So it seemed. In short: because everyone was buying them, fox goods had begun to multiply. For Inari, it was rather difficult to comment on.
“Isn’t this what you’d call a missed business opportunity?”
“Mm. Akai did say she sifteth through suspicious offers and carefully selects.”
“Well, yeah. If you flood the market with goods, you get problems with quality too.”
Indeed, many such goods were proposals brought by vendors themselves. There had been rare cases where the products sold looked nothing like the images or samples, and were downright terrible. It happened rarely, but it did happen. For this reason, Fox Phone tightly managed production of licensed merchandise.
As they talked, the segment ended. Atsuage fiddled with the remote, and a rerun of a tokusatsu show began.
“Oh, I know this one—Kamen Driver X.”
“Ohh?”
“The lead actor’s actually an awakener. That’s why he can pull off real action scenes.”
“Ahh, indeed.”
Kamen Driver, a long-running tokusatsu giant. With the advent of awakener—real superhumans—more realistic action had become possible. It was the rise of true heroes. But of course, real didn’t automatically mean better. Tokusatsu action relied on polished technique; just because an actor could move didn’t mean everything improved.
Naturally, action training was still done, and some awakener even pursued careers in the field. But all that aside, the important part was that action itself had advanced.
—Wise… I’ll stop you! Transform!
—You think you can, X? Transform!
“So, those transformations as well…”
“That’s obviously CG and effects.”
“Disappointing, that…”
“Eh, though I heard lately they’re almost all real now. Don’t know the details though—wait, what?”
Atsuage was staring up at Hikaru, looking oddly expectant.
“You’re not a hero, you’re more like the robot type…”
“Come, Atsuage. The finishing move approacheth, dost thou not think?”
At Inari’s prompting, Atsuage returned to the TV. Hikaru, watching, frowned.
“What direction is it even aiming for…?”
“Who can say. So long as it followeth its own will, it mattereth not.”
Saying that, Inari stood, responding to the sound of rice finishing in the kitchen.
“Well then, it seemeth the rice is ready. Let us prepare lunch.”
“I’ll help. What’re we making?”
“Mm… yaki-meshi.”
“You mean fried rice—chāhan?”
“Those two, methinks, are not quite the same.”
“…Wait, really?”
Thus they began preparing yaki-meshi. A simple dish easily made at home.
First, onions minced fine, sautéed with chopped wiener sausages. Once fragrant, beaten eggs added, then rice, seasoning with salt and pepper to finish.
Served piping hot, alongside cucumber pickles cut into a small dish. Balanced enough—for Inari, at least.
“Mm, good.”
“Aye, aye. Rice truly is wondrous…”
“Rice is expensive. Even rice cookers are expensive. You really love rice, huh.”
“Rice containeth the love of humankind itself.”
“…Uh, sure.”
Hikaru had never thought of it that way, though perhaps it did contain the effort and toil of farmers. Either way, it was comforting. The taste of home cooking. Hikaru had not grown up with such things, so for her, “home cooking” now meant Inari’s food.
“By the by, Hikaru, thou art staying the night today, aye?”
“Yeah. Nothing to do at home anyway… huh?”
Atsuage held out the TV remote. Hikaru accepted it, puzzled, as Atsuage nodded gravely and walked off. Hikaru turned back to Inari.
“Uh… what does that mean?”
“Likely, ‘if thou art so bored, watch whatever thou wilt.’”
“…That’s what that meant? Hey, Atsuage! I didn’t say pick the channel! Where’d you go—hey!”
As Hikaru chased after Atsuage, Inari nodded contentedly.
“Aye, aye. They get along well.”
Whether or not that was true, Inari’s noisy day with Hikaru passed in such fashion.