Author's note: I only recently found out about the "Yato is Tsukuyomi" theory that's been floating around the Noragami fandom, which states that Adachitoka wrote the Bishamon Arc not to resolve Yato and Bishamon's conflict, but to foreshadow Yato being the victim of a succession plot. The theory goes that Yato isn't a minor god, but actually the famous and highly renowned Tsukuyomi, whose reincarnation was kidnapped and brainwashed by Father. This fic came from that, how Yato would react to finding out he's a famous god :)
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1.
"He's the exalted Tsukuyomi?!" Bishamon said.
"Heh heh. Betcha never saw that comin', huh, Bishamon?" Yato said.
"Verily, he speaks the truth," Amaterasu-sama said. She spoke with an air of perfect grace, her long sleeves billowing over her slender arms. "My dear brother had suffered at the hands of a succession plot. He had been brought up as an assassin, denied of his true nature."
"Ano," Hiyori said. "I heard that the great Tsukuyomi killed a goddess before because he didn't like the way she prepared her food." Hiyori knew the legend well: Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto slayed the goddess of food Uke Mochi after she spat out a fish, regurgitated a chicken, and threw up a bowl of rice, which was all used to prepare their meal. Tsukuyomi was so insulted he killed her, which is why he was banished to rule the moon.
"Indeed," Amaterasu-sama said. "Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto slayed the goddess Uke Mochi with his words."
"Gyaaa!" Yato-as-Tsukuyomi said. "What the hell kinda feast is this?! That crazy psycho puked it out of her mouth! I'm not eating this!"
"Oh," Hiyori said. "That sounds more like our Yato."
"Ne, ne, Amaterasu-san," Yato said. "What cool powers do I have? How many wishes do I grant? Do I have the power of the moon?!"
"Your wishes have long gone unanswered, but the humans' faith in you has never wavered," Amaterasu said.
"Ne, Yukine~!" Yato said. "How's it feel to be the moon god's hafuri?" And Yukine tried not to be embarrassed as Yato pranced and did a little twirl.
xXx
.
In Takamagahara, Yato and Yukine went to Tsukuyomi's old manor. Yukine stuck his hands in his pockets, craning his neck upwards. Large, looming towers, crumbling stone and old vines, the manor that Yato's past incarnation lived in was in shambles. "They killed all of Tsukuyomi's old shinki," Yato said. He glanced around, frowning. "Can you believe this, Yukine? So many shinki used to live here."
"Bishamon-sama and Ebisu-sama have a ton of shinki too," Yukine said. There was the sound of wings - a pigeon flapping above them. "I know it's a pain, but with all those wishes, you're probably gonna have to start giving out some names, too."
Yato flopped onto the stone floor and put his hands behind his head, looking upwards. There was a large hole in the ceiling of the mansion, and rays of moonlight and rotting wood drifted into the foyer.
"Whoa," Yato said. He swept his hand across his field of vision, and the rays of moonlight refracted, as if he were sweeping his hand through a pool of water. "Hey, Yukine! Look."
Yukine sat up. Yato lifted his hand again, and made a spinning motion. Moonlight twisted around his arm like spooled thread, and the moon itself seemed closer to the ceiling. "Look at this, Yukine! I can control the moon!"
"Duh," Yukine said. Yato twirled.
"Ha ha! Look at this, Yukine!" Yato said, and he yanked the moon like a kite. "I can drag it across the sky if I wanted to!"
"I don't think the moon's supposed to move like that," Yukine said.
"C'mon Yukine," Yato said. "Let's see what else I can do!"
xXx
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Bishamon was having trouble sleeping. She tossed fitfully in the bed, scrunching her eyes and grimacing, before she finally pushed back the covers, sitting up. There was a bright white light filtering through the drapes of her bed, and when she pushed back the canopy she could see what looked like floodlights shining against her curtains.
Bishamon frowned, then opened the curtains.
A scream tore through the bedroom where Kazuma was reading.
"Veena!" Kazuma threw his book and sprinted toward her room, throwing open the door.
"Veena! What happened?! Is everything o-" Kazuma's eyes widened.
The entire surface of the moon was pushed up against Bishamon's window.
xXx
.
"Ha ha, Yukine! Did you see that stupid psycho's face?!" Yato said. He had a huge lump on his head from where Bishamon had beat him with one of her slippers, and Yukine just sighed, shaking his head. Kazuma pushed inside the bedroom, his glasses shining.
"Yato! Using the moon like that is inappropriate!" Kazuma said. Yato grinned and pranced around him.
"Hey, Kazuma," Yato said. "Didja know I could do this-" and he disappeared in a puff of glittery smoke.
"Ta da!" Yato said, except his face was plastered onto the moon.
"Huh?!" Yukine said. "You shitty jersey, the hell did you get your face up there?!"
"Because I am the moon, Yukine!" He stuck his tongue out and grinned.
"This is the great, the powerful, the exalted Tsukuyomi," Bishamon said, bitterly. She gripped her slipper, glaring. "Kazuma. Please tell me what the heavens are smoking."
"Hey Bishamon!" Yato said, hopping out of the moon. "Didja know I influence gravity too?"
And her breasts started to jiggle a little.
Bishamon threw her arms over her chest. "What the hell are you doing, you idiot Magatsukami?! The moon doesn't even work that way!"
"Don't blame me when your tits are full of water!" Yato said.
Kazuma sighed and tragically pushed up his glasses.
"Yato, as the esteemed brother of Amaterasu-sama and Ebisu-sama, your conduct is most shameful," Kazuma said. "Yukine. As Tsukuyomi's exemplar, it's up to you to point him down the right path. Your master has obviously not had the proper education."
Yukine was staring blankly. Kazuma snapped his fingers.
"Yukine. Yukine."
"Er! Sorry, Kazuma-san!" Yukine grinned and rubbed his neck. "I was just looking at Bishamon-sama's che-" Bishamon glared at him. "...nightgown."
"Don't you two idiots have wishes you need to grant?" Bishamon said. "Or maybe a jobless magatsukami like you has no concept of doing actual work?"
"OI BISHAMON! DON'T MAKE ME USE THE POWER OF MY FULL MOON!"
"Yato please pull up your pants!" Kazuma said.
xXx
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2.
Kofuku couldn't decide how she felt about Yato being Tsukuyomi. On the one hand, Yato-chan was super important now! He was always so worried about no one remembering him and never reincarnating. On the other hand, they were supposed to be the Disaster Duo and she didn't have any other gods to play with.
"Oi," Daikoku said. They were eating hot pot when Daikoku approached Yato with a spatula. "The hell are you still doin' here? Don't you have a fancy-pants mansion in Takamagahara?"
"It's not really fancy, it's pretty run-down," Yato said. "There's holes in the ceiling and there's broken floorboards, too."
"Well boo-hoo, Mr. Big Shot. You ain't moochin' off us for room and board anymore!"
"Yato-chan is leaving us." Kofuku's eyes welled up like shiny marbles. "Who's gonna help me wreck stuff now?"
"Don't worry, Kofuku! We're still the Disastrous Duo!" Yato slung his arm around Kofuku's shoulder. "I just got more power now. Wanna see?"
Kofuku sniffed. "Can I?"
"Yeah! I'll show you somethin' really cool, too!"
xXx
.
Kazuma was getting ready for bed. He switched off the lamp and took off his glasses, setting them quietly on the nightstand.
The night was quiet. There were the sounds of crickets chirping, but otherwise there was nothing else around him. Quietly Kazuma scanned his surroundings, taking care that there were no shinki in the hallway or walking along the garden path below his bedroom window.
There was no one. He glanced at his door to make sure it was locked, carefully pulled open his dresser drawer, then quietly pushed back the secret panel he had installed at the back of his drawer.
The comic he had was an old one but good one; one of TOOYA's best, in Kazuma's opinion. In the soft blue moonlight, he quietly flipped through the pages until he came across his favorite drawing - a two-page spread of Veena arched sensuously beneath a waterfall by the grotto, rivulets of water pooling around her skin.
Veena. Kazuma blushed, smiling. The 2D Veena smiled softly back at him, beckoning him.
Quietly, Kazuma began undoing the button of his pants.
"HA HA, YOU HENTAI HAFURI! I REMEMBER THAT DRAWING! THAT'S MY FAVORITE ONE, TOO!"
Kazuma jumped. "Yato?!"
Kazuma shoved on his glasses and whirled around, frantically. His scanning ability never failed him. There were no signs of life. No shinki. No gods. No sign of Yato anywhere.
"I worked really hard on that picture!" Yato's disembodied voice seemed to come in front of him, but Kazuma couldn't pinpoint where he was. "That was a really dynamic pose, too!"
"Dammit Yato, where the hell are you?!" Kazuma said.
Yato's voice echoed. "I am everywhere and nowhere."
"That doesn't even make sense!" Kazuma said.
"Dumbass, I'm the moonlight!"
Kazuma started. "What?!"
Kazuma searched frantically; his eye glinted. He could see the moonlight shimmering as Yato spoke.
"I recently discovered I can do this!" Moonlight reflected as Yato spoke. "I can see everywhere the moonlight shines, it's friggin' great for spying. Yo Kazuma, I know you're on the second floor and all, but still-"
"Dammit, Yato, get out of here!" Kazuma said, and he yanked his curtains closed.
"Yo Kazuma that was really rude," Yato said, standing in front of him.
"Aggh!" Kazuma jumped. Yato held up his hands.
"O-oi. Don't freak out! I'm not really here," Yato said.
"How- what- why-"
"It's a projection!" Yato said, grinning. He pointed to the trickle of moonlight seeping beneath the curtains. "I just discovered it recently, I can project myself anywhere the moonlight goes! I'm actually sitting here with Kofuku."
"Hi, Kazu-chan!" Kofuku said.
"Kofuku-san?!" Kazuma said.
"I saw everything, Kazu-chan!" Kofuku sang. "That's my favorite picture that Yato-chan drew, too~!"
"Oh my god, get out of my room!" Kazuma said. Daikoku appeared in front of them.
"I'm sorry, Kazuma," Daikoku said. Unlike Yato and Kofuku, his figure was slightly distorted, like a hazy image on a broken TV. "I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen."
"We weren't doing anything bad, Daikoku! We were just talking about Kazu-chan's Bisha-book, he looks at it every night and-"
"WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT UP?!" Kazuma said. Daikoku frowned.
"No one cares," Daikoku said. He crossed his arms. "A man's business is his own business, especially if it takes place in his room."
"SHUT UP!" Kazuma said. He started rummaging through his dresser drawers.
"Oi, Kazuma," Yato said. Kazuma yanked a roll of duct tape and stalked over to the other side of the room. "Oi, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm cutting you off!" Kazuma said, and he duct-taped the sides of the curtains.
"But if you do that I won't be able to see!"
"That's exactly the point!" Kazuma said, and he slapped down another strip of tape. Behind the window, Yato wailed.
"Wait wait wait, Kazuma! I can see into that crazy chick's room! Dontcha wanna know what she's wearing?!"
"She's naked. I already know."
"Kazuma!" Yato said. "You can't keep us out of here forever, dammit! Duct tape is weak and my will is strong!"
"Goodnight, Yato!" Kazuma said, and he slapped the last strip shut.
xXx
.
Moonlight seeped everywhere. It trickled through the cracks in the blinds, puddled through floorboards and leaked under doors. The only place it couldn't go, though, was Kazuma's room. Using his ability, Kazuma ran around and duct-taped every nook and cranny leading to the outside, so that once his door was closed, his room was pitch black. Then he ran into Veena's room, bursting through the doors despite the fact that she was naked ("Kazuma! What the hell are you doing?!" Veena said.
"Protecting you from Yato!" Kazuma said, and he whipped out a roll of duct tape).
His mind's eye worked. There was absolutely no moonlight shining in or around his room or Veena's room anywhere. It was only then that Kazuma sagged, exhausted. Quietly he climbed back into bed and sank into the beddings, hugging a pillow and breathing, deeply.
"Sekki!"
Kazuma's eyes snapped open. There was a small rend in the duct tape by the wall.
"Hey, Kazuma," Yato said, sitting on the bed.
"Didja know Yukine can project his borderlines too?"
xXx
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3.
Increasingly, the denizens of Takamagahara started fawning over him.
First it was just a few furtive glances, a few hushed whispers as Yato and Yukine walked past. But then hushed whispers turned to blatant calls, and soon lesser gods and shinki came clamoring over him, holding out pieces of paper for his autograph and asking for the Great Tsukuyomi's blessing.
"Over here!" Yukine said, and Yato ran toward the back entrance of his temple, avoiding the crowd that had formed near the entrance of his manor. The Heaven's version of paparazzi took to stalking him, snapping pictures and throwing them in the heaven's newspaper.
"My esteemed brother Tsukuyomi," Amaterasu said. She extended one slender arm outwards, godlike rays of sunlight emanating out from her. "Welcome to the Heavens' Court."
"Uh, thanks," Yato said. He scratched his neck. Yukine elbowed him against his ribs.
"Yato-san~~" little Ebisu said. He poked his head behind Amaterasu, smiling.
"Ebisu?!"
"Yato-san!" Ebisu said. He hopped down from the thrown, running toward him. "We're brothers, Yato-san! But I guess I should call you Yato-niisan, huh?"
"Indeed, Ebisu has been one of the caretaker gods taking care of the moon in your absence." Amaterasu tucked her hands primly in her sleeves. "We hope you are ready to take over your duties, esteemed brother of mine."
"Yeah," Yato said. "Of course."
"Don't worry, Yato-niisan!" Ebisu said. "I'll show you what to do!"
xXx
.
As it turned out, controlling the moon took more than hopping back and forth from earth, or pulling it across the sky like a balloon.
If Yato wasn't careful, the tides would rise too high and drown the coastal villages by the surf. And if the tides were too low, the fish and other marine life suffered, getting stranded on the craggy rocks at the bottom of the cliffside.
"See?" Ebisu said, and he kicked his feet, showing him. "All the fish are affected by the tides as well."
During full moons, phantoms rose, endangering the humans surrounding them. "That's why people go crazy during full moons," Ebisu said. "But you're Tsukuyomi, you can control the Ayakashi. Just increase the light of the moon."
"Like this?" Yato said, and the moon showed brighter. Ebisu nodded.
"Yeah yeah, like that, Yato-san! But don't make it too bright, because it'll outshine the sun!"
"Ugh," Yato said. He had spent the last few hours modulating the brightness of the moon and the tides by the shore. It wasn't just in one place - he had to be everywhere the moon was shining, all at once. Even during the daytime, there was always someplace else that was still technically night. "I wonder how Ebisu and Amaterasu did it. They had their own wishes to attend to, too."
"Mmm. They probably used their shinki," Kofuku said. Yato lifted his head.
"Shinki?" Yato said. Kofuku nodded.
"Uh huh," Kofuku said. "Amaterasu-sama always had lots of shinki. Shinki for the clouds, shinki for the sun. And Ebibi-chan has his shinki helping him, too."
It kind of helped. Yato sent Yukine in one direction, while Yato worked in another direction, and while the two of them floundered a little, the moon's light never wavered.
"Yo, Yukine?"
"Yeah?"
"You tired?"
Yukine yawned. "No."
"Well I'm tired," Yato said, and he laid down on the futon and stretched. "How about you and I take a break, tonight? It's a new moon anyway. It's not like anyone can see."
Neither Yato nor Yukine realized that the moon's gravity still affected the tides by the shore, and that they were strongest during both full and new moons.
"What are you doing?!" The heavens guard came to Kofuku's door. "Tsukuyomi-sama! The tides are rising! You must cull the tide before it reaches the shore!"
"What?!" Yato said, and he and Yukine ran forward.
The moon's gravity was strongest during both full and new moons, combining with the sun's and drawing the ocean's waves upwards. "If you don't contain this, there will be nothing but disaster!" the heaven's guard said.
"Sekki!" Yato said, and he sliced through gravity's hold, lowering the tides.
The next day, the headlines in the news all talked about the unusually high spring tides that night, the highest waves recorded in recent memory.
"Sorry, Yato," Yukine said. Yato shook his head.
"It ain't your fault, Yukine. I didn't know, either."
xXx
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4.
The heavens were not amused.
"Tsukuyomi-sama." The voices of the high court rang during the god's colloquy, distorted and filtered by the high columns of glass. "The lower realms were in turmoil thanks to your latest actions. How do you defend yourself."
"I, uh. I didn't know." Yato scratched his head. "I just wanted to take a break-"
"The exalted Tsukuyomi, needing to take a break?" The heaven's court rose, scandalized. "Your one job is to oversee the moon. Surely your latest incarnation can at least see to that, despite your egregious lack of education!"
"It isn't the Yatogami- I beg your pardon, Tsukuyomi-sama's fault," someone said - Bishamon? - and the column of light shimmered. "He was until recently a god of calamity. I believe we should help him, instead of heaping upon him unnecessary criticism."
"I agree," another person, probably Tenjin, said. The silhouette fanned himself, the ribbon of his cap moving, slightly. "Lord Tsukuyomi has quite a bit to learn, but so far no one has come to harm."
"Obviously this is a holdover from Tsukuyomi-sama's more dubious days," someone grumbled. "Our Tsukuyomi-sama has finally returned. And yet he continues to associate with the Binbougami."
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Yato said. The columns of light shimmered.
"We have heard disturbing rumors that our esteemed Tsukuyomi has been parading around with her, abusing his powers for her amusement."
"-using the moon to spy on people, using its influence to spread catastrophe and disaster."
"Indeed, lord Tsukuyomi. The Binbougami is beneath you. Why you continue to grace her with your presence is beyond us here at the High Court. She is clearly a poor influence on you."
"The Binbougami took me in when none of you assholes were here to help!" Yato said. "Also, that shit was on me, not her. So if you wanna get pissed, don't blame her!" The heavens whispered amongst themselves, scandalized.
"It's okay, Yato-chan!" Kofuku said, after the Heaven's Colloquy had ended. "The heavens don't like me anyway! It isn't anything new."
xXx
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5.
There was a pile of wishes stacked up in Tsukuyomi's shrine. Yato frowned as Yukine wandered around the temple grounds, looking at the piles of plaques that had accumulated on the wall.
"Uh," Yukine said, and he picked a plaque. "Where do we start?"
"Hell if I know," Yato said, and he picked at another plaque frowning.
Three-thousand wishes. That's what had accumulated in the past year alone, and it was only a fraction of what Ebisu and Bishamon were used to dealing with. "I think we need to get more shinki," Yukine said.
"Tch," Yato said. He tossed a plaque across from him. "That sounds like a pain. How about we just ignore them like we always do?"
"You shitty jersey! You finally got work and now you wanna be lazy?!"
"I don't even know where to begin," Yato said, and he tossed the plaque onto the pile.
"Ahem." Someone cleared their throat. Yato and Yukine turned.
"Kazuma?" Yato said.
"Veena sent me over to help," Kazuma said. "Seeing as Yukine is unfamiliar with the process of granting wishes and the fact that Tsukuyomi is a rather important god, Veena suggested that I go down to your shrine to help sort things out. I agreed, of course, once I realized the volume your of wishes may be a bit too much for you to handle alone."
"Oi! Kazuma!" Yato said. "The hell do you take me for? Don't you know how long I've been a god?!"
"You've been acting as an extremely minor god answering petty wishes for the price of five yen, I find it highly unlikely you'll be able to adapt to your new role so quickly."
"Dammit, Kazuma! Keep provoking me and I'll show you the force of my full-"
"Pull your pants back up!" Yukine snapped. "Just shut up and let Kazuma-san help!"
Kazuma squatted over the plaques and frowned. "It is as we thought. These wishes are unsorted. We must first sort the ones for which you can take direct action and the ones that only ask for good thoughts and prayers. Only then we can start to answer them."
"Ooh," Yukine said. "Is that what you do with Bishamon-sama's wishes, Kazuma-san?"
"Well. We actually have a team of shinki dedicated to managing the wishes of Veena's shrine. I give final approval, of course. But there are several layers a wish must go through before we bother Veena with it."
"Whoa," Yukine said. "Bishamon-sama is so popular she can turn down wishes?"
"As if," Yato said. "That crazy psycho'd just subcontract the other wishes out."
"Says the guy who took all of Tenjin's subcontracts," Yukine said.
"In any case," Kazuma said. "I will bring along a few of my subordinates to help organize these wishes. Ebisu-sama has also said he'd lend you a few of his men as well. But remember this is only a temporary measure," Kazuma said. "You need to start amassing more regalia as soon as possible."
"Yeah, yeah, tell me somethin' I don't know," Yato said.
xXx
.
Yukine tried his best to be helpful.
"Hey, Yato," Yukine said. "There's an uncorrupted spirit over there, maybe you can name him?"
"His face is weird. I'm gonna call that a 'no.'"
"Oh! How about this one?" Yukine said, and he pointed to another spirit wandering the forest. "She looks nice, right?"
"Tch! She looks even pervier than the psycho nympho herself! No thank you."
It got even worse when a few of Yato's former shinki started showing up. Shinki of all shapes and sizes, some of them still bearing the names of their current masters, came up to Yato, asking to be named.
"Huh?! You said you didn't want to be with me before, what's the big deal, now?" Yato said. His former shinki bowed.
"That was before I knew you were the great, the exalted Tsukuyomi," his old shinki said. Yato glared.
"What? So when I was just a minor god I wasn't good enough, but now I gotta name, and you wanna piece? Give me a break! You're nothin' but a bunch of moochers! I don't wanna see your face!" Yato said.
("Another bad break-up?" Yukine asked Kazuma. Kazuma shook his head.
"They were all pretty bad," Kazuma said, quietly.)
Even Mayu-san came to visit him. "Oi, Tomone!" Yato said. "I ain't takin' you back, that dreamboat's already sailed!"
"I don't want to be your shinki, you stupid jersey! I just wanted to offer my congratulations. I'm very happy with Tenjin."
"Yeah, keep tellin' yourself that, when you're that old geezer's smoking pipe!"
"At least his hands aren't all sweaty!" Mayu said.
"Water is part of my power, Tomone!"
("His hands are pretty sweaty," Yukine said to Kazuma.)
"Ugh, no one is good enough," Yukine said. He sat on his haunches, frowning at him. "Yato. We need to have more shinki. Just having one of me isn't enough."
"I know that." Yato glared. "It's just I want someone loyal, y'know? Just because I'm a friggin' celebrity, everyone wants a piece of me-"
"Your past incarnation was a celebrity. You're just a shitty mooch."
"See?" Yato said. "I want a shinki that can talk to me like that. Not someone who's gonna bow and stick his head up my ass because I'm the esteemed, exalted Tsukuyomi."
"Tch. So annoying," Yukine said. He lay back with his head on his hands.
xXx
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6.
"Hey, Bishamon," Yato said.
"Hm?" Bishamon looked up. Yato was standing in her foyer.
"Oh, Yato," Bishamon said. "Kazuma left with your shinki a few hours ago. I think they might be visiting your shrine."
"Yeah, I know that already." Yato glared at the floor and rubbed his neck. Bishamon lowered her papers. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?" Bishamon said. Yato was glaring and blushing, not making any eye contact. Bishamon frowned.
"Kazuma told me, once...er. He said, it was just the two of you for a really long time." Yato still didn't look at her. "So, uh. How did you manage all your wishes then? It was doable though, right?"
"Not at all," Bishamon said. "Actually, when it was just the two of us, I couldn't grant any wishes at all."
"Huh? So what the hell did you do?" Yato said. Bishamon shrugged.
"I languished," Bishamon said. "My believers in the Near Shore dwindled. I only started naming shinki after Kazuma convinced me...well. After he convinced me it would be the best way to go after you."
"Huh?" Yato said. Bishamon smiled.
"Don't blame him, Yato. I was weakening. He was only doing his best to look out for me."
"So that scrawny four-eyes threw me under the bus?!"
"You threw yourself under the bus, Kazuma just directed me there," Bishamon said.
"So it wasn't...weird? Naming other shinki after it was just the two of you?" Yato looked up at her, frowning. Bishamon smiled.
"I love all my shinki, but Kazuma is still Kazuma," Bishamon said. "Yukine understands, Yato. I've heard he's even doing his best to help you."
"Tch." Yato looked away.
"I just always thought it'd be me and Yukine and Hiyori, you know? Just the three of us. I don't know if I like the idea of being a master to all those shinki."
Bishamon watched as Yato frowned and crossed his arms.
"It's something you grow into," Bishamon said. "Your other shinki left you, right? And you think any new ones will only be loyal to you because of your name. But if you treat them with kindness and respect, you'll find others as loyal as Yukine. But that's besides the point," Bishamon said. "Don't you want to see young Yukine become a fine exemplar?"
Yato didn't answer.
xXx
.
7.
It was nighttime. Hiyori was drying her hair when she caught the moon shining down her window.
"Yato?" Hiyori pushed open the window to see Yato sitting on a tree branch, drinking a can of beer with the light of the full moon circling behind him.
"Tsukuyomi-sama!" Hiyroi said, and she clapped her hands and bowed.
"H-Hiyori! Don't call me that!" Yato blushed and glared. "That ain't my name, okay?"
"But you are Tsukuyomi-sama," Hiyori said. Yato jumped up and pointed.
"I'd rather you call me 'Yaboku' instead of that stupid name!"
"Okay, okay," Hiyori said, and she pushed back the curtains. "Well? Are you coming in or what?"
Yato glanced at the tree branch and glared.
There was a bright light tracing Yato's figure, an icy silver that Hiyori hadn't noticed before. Even the blue of his eyes seemed to gleam brighter in the darkness, and though he was still clad in his fluffy fluff scarf and his scrappy jersey, the ray of moonlight seemed to settle on him like a fine mist. "Wow," Hiyori said. "Yato. When did you get so shiny?"
"Tch." Yato glared. "It's a stupid side effect. The more I control the moon, the shinier I get. It's friggin' annoying."
"Really? Because it looks more like a godly aura to me." Hiyori smiled.
Yato crossed the room and sat cross-legged on her bed. He was glowing and he seemed annoyed. Hiyori sat across from him.
"What's wrong?" Hiyori said.
"It's just..." Yato scratched the back of his neck. "All my old shinki are bothering me."
"Oh?"
"Now that I'm the great Tsukuyomi, they all want to work with me."
"That's great!" Hiyori said. "Kazuma-san said you needed a lot more help!"
"Kazuma and Bishamon managed by themselves for years, I don't see why I need to change that now."
Yato leaned back on the bed, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the ceiling.
"All the other gods in Takamagahara keep fawning over me," Yato said. "It's all, Tsukuyomi this, and Tsukuyomi that, and then they say stuff like hanging out with Kofuku and Daikoku's beneath me. Tch. The hell do they know, anyway? Those two've been my friends longer than any of them have.
And then there's all these wishes," Yato said. "Yukine and I can barely keep up."
"Ano," Hiyori said. "Do you not like being Lord Tsukuyomi?"
"I do, it's just..." Yato frowned. "It just doesn't feel like me, y'know? I mean, I get it. I'm the newest incarnation of the moon god, Tsukuyomi. But I wanted to become a god of fortune as myself."
"Hmm." Hiyori laid next to Yato, glancing back at him. "Isn't this kinda like winning the lottery, though? There's nothing wrong with it. And you can still do lots of good things after this."
"I know," Yato said. "But Tsukuyomi isn't my name."
"'Bishamon' wasn't Vaisravana-sama's name, but eventually everyone acknowledged her as Bishamonten, right?" Hiyori said.
Yato turned to look at her. Hiyori was still looking out into the darkness, the silver rays of moonlight drifting through the shadows.
"Just think of 'Yato' as Tsukuyomi's alternate name," Hiyori said. "Just aim to get your real name more well-known."
Yato's eyes widened.
"HIYORI!" Yato said, and he hugged her. Hiyori blushed and stiffened.
"Y-Yato! Wha-What?"
"You will always be my number one believer, Hiyori!" Yato said. "Waaah! Hiyori! What would I do without you?!"
"Yato I can't breathe!"
Above them, the round moon flickered, beams of moonlight filling the room.