Forever Together…

"Yato!"

Every time I hear her voice, I see her smile. That smile that let me know I had someone who believed in me. Someone who had faith in me.

Being a god that can make people happy has been my goal. Did I reach it?

Come on! I'm the god Yato! Of course I did!

After a year of work, plus all the drama with my old man, I finally had the recognition I wanted! And not just with the humans, but the gods started to warm up to me!

Well… Some of them did. Others still hate me and think I'm worthless.

Oh well! They'll be won over soon enough.

I got a shrine built and have bigger land in Takamagahara! Though I have a bigger shrine with people coming to pray on a regular basis, asking for simple things (mostly if they think they have a demon hovering over them, they ask for that to be taken care of), I keep the small shrine she made with me in Takamagahara. She was the first who believed in me. She would be glad she wasn't the last.

"Yato!"

Her smile.

"I want to stay with you longer!"

Her determination.

"Welcome home, Yato."

The warmth of her hug.

These are things that I remember in my dreams… but they're not alone…

"Yato."

I was shaken from my sleep by Yukine.

"You alright?"

The concern in his amber eyes was evident.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as I sat up. I'm not sure I sounded convincing to him because he just stared at me for a moment before deciding to accept my answer.

I haven't been myself since the last battle with my father. We were able to kill him and Nora. Surprisingly when he died, I stayed. At first no one understood why, but we accepted that I could live without him being alive and never questioned it.

"Yatty!"

That was the last thing I heard before being trampled and losing my balance.

"Kofuku, what a surprise," I chuckled. I then realized Yukine and I were outside her home.

When she detached herself, I saw the concern in her eyes as well.

"How've you been?"

"Fine."

Kofuku could tell I was putting on a front, but she didn't push any further.

Yukine and I stayed only for a little while before heading off to my shrine. As a god who wanted to make people happy, I usually spend some time there every day, occasionally taking care of requests as soon as the person left my shrine.

I spent my time sitting in the cherry blossom tree while it blooms. Today it was at it's peak. I leaned my head against the trunk and closed my eyes.

"Yato!"

Her smile.

"I have faith…"

Her loyalty.

"Yato… I…"

The way she made me feel whenever she blushed.

The feeling of having her in my arms is a feeling I loved.

My eyes opened to hear girls giggling just outside my shrine. I look and see three girls, high school age by the looks of their uniforms. They enter my shrine and each stops at the offering box. The one in the middle looked like…

I shake my head. It's not her.

It won't ever be her.

"Yato! It's time to go back home!"

I look down at Yukine.

"Alright," I sigh.

I looked at the sunset. Bright reds and oranges colored the sky. It felt… familiar.

I jumped down from the tree and stood next to Yukine.

"Instead of going home right away, how 'bout we go and see if there are any phantoms we can get rid of."

Yukine nodded. We haven't been phantom slaying in a few days, and besides it was a great way to keep my mind off of… that.

The moon was high in the sky when Yukine and myself were done.

I wrapped my arm around Yukine's shoulder and laughed.

"Oh, Yukine, it felt good to slay some phantoms," I laughed.

"Yeah, it did."

I looked up and stopped in my tracks.

"No… it… it can't be."

Yukine heard me and stopped a little ways ahead of me. He turned to face the direction I was looking at and looked back at me.

"What is it, Yato? Another phantom?"

I shake my head.

"No." I think for a moment before speaking again. "Hey, Yukine, how would you feel if I brought on another regalia?"

"Another… Yato are you… Are you seriously thinking of having another regalia?"

I nod. "Do you think I need another one?"

Yukine hesitates for a moment.

"Yukine, as my exemplar I want your opinion. Do I need another regalia?"

"Depends."

I look over at him in confusion.

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on why you think you need another regalia. Also, it would be nice to have someone else to hang out with."

I look back at the small spirit hiding behind a trashcan.

"Yukine, remember what I said about her."

"I do."

My heart breaks a little as I prepare to repeat it again.

"Especially now, never repeat her name."

"Yato…"

"Just don't!"

I look at Yukine, feeling the tears threatening to fall.

He nods in silence.

I wipe my eyes and turn back to the spirit. I could feel that it was scared and shaking. And yet… I knew who it was. The presence. It was the same.

I point my fingers at the phantom and a white light appears at my fingertips.

"Spirit, you are lost and adrift," I start moving my arm as I begin. "You have nowhere to go and nowhere to return to. Thus I grant you a place to belong. I am the god Yato. Bearing two names, you shall remain here. With these names I make you my servant. With these names I use my life to make thee a regalia fit to be wielded by a god. Thou art Koko. As regalia Kuuki. Come Kuuki!"

I outstretch my arm as my new regalia come to my hand. Expecting another weapon, I was surprised when I looked to see a golden pendant with a long gold chain in my hand.

"A pendant?" Yukine asked.

"You never really know what type of a regalia a spirit will be until they're named."

"So why'd you want this new regalia?"

"You'll see. Let's go home."

Yukine and I sat in our home in Takamagahara. I held the pendant in my hand. It was a beautiful pendant. Engraved in it was the kanji for strength. Was this regalia like Kazuma? The only way to find out was to revert her.

"Well Yukine, ready to meet the newest member of the family?"

He nods.

"Revert, Kokone."

The pendant left my hand and she reverted into her human form. I heard Yukine gasp.

Those eyes. Exactly the same that I fell for.

The hair as long and as beautiful as I remember.

She looks around before her eyes land on me and Yukine.

"Where… where am I?"

I stood and walked over to her.

"Kokone, I am the god Yato. I am your master now. I summoned you from the far shore to be my regalia. This is Yukine, my exemplar. He is my lead regalia."

Kokone looks over at Yukine, who stood to bow his greetings.

"He… hello," she said.

"Right now we are in my house at Takamagahara. As you stay here, you will learn how to be a regalia that works alongside Yukine."

She nods.

Even her voice stayed the same.

Three Months Later

"Yato, there's a phantom at three o'clock, one at four o'clock and two at nine o'clock."

"Alright, Kuuki, help us out!"

I grasped Sekki's handles.

"This is the land of the rising sun. Your desecration shall not be allowed. Hear me! I am the god Yato! I now lay thee waste with the sekki and expel thy vast defilement. I cleanse thee! Rend!"

And with that last stroke of Sekki's blade, all the phantom were cleansed.

"Nice job guys. Those phantoms were, what, at least 20 meters away?"

"26.3 meters away to be exact," Kuuki said.

I chuckled. "Whatever. You both did great. Revert, Yukine, Kokone."

Before me stood my two regalia.

Yukine. My blessed regalia. My exemplar. The regalia who's been there since I met her.

And Kokone. She may be new at being a regalia, but she's been with me since I was hunting down that cat, Milord.

It hurts me that I can never tell her about the times we spent together while she was alive. And it hurts Yukine at times, too. Seeing her so full of life, and yet…

"Come on, let's go home guys."

Seeing the love of my life as my regalia… I still wish I was able to save her that day, but I was able to save her from the far shore.

Even though this wasn't how we wanted to spend forever together, it's still better than life without her.

Kokone is still like how she was in life. I'm still in love with her. It's hard not to, but she remembers nothing of being with me or falling for me.

I guess that's for the best. I have her memories from when she was Hiyori Ikki. Her feelings. And that's all I need right now. Knowing that up until her last breath she believed in me. That she loved me.

Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll fall in love with me all over again as Kokone.

She's still the same through and through. It's like a perfect reincarnation.

You know that there's always that person you will meet. If you reincarnate, you'll always be destined to be with them. A second chance.

I think that this is our second chance.

I just hope I don't mess it up like the first time.

A/N: So this little piece came to me. At first I thought about what would happen if Hiyori did die and she became Yato's regalia. Obviously she wouldn't remember who he was to her or anything from her life because if she did she would become a phantom (thanks to the God's Greatest Secret). So I thought about why Father would try to get Yato to kill Hiyori and make her his regalia. Then it hit me, he wanted to hurt Yato. And having Hiyori as a regalia, not remembering her past and not being able to, would hurt him. But if he came across her spirit after she died, what would he do? This is what I thought would happen.

So in my mind, in order for this story to happen, here's how Hiyori died:

Some time after the current arc in the manga, maybe after Hiyori graduates high school, the gods get into a fight again with Father. Hiyori basically sacrifices herself in order to save Yato from Father. He ends up killing Father, and staying alive in the process. (His ties to Father were cut during the battle thanks to Bishamon, who was convinced to do it by Ebisu and Kofuku, therefore keeping him alive even after Father dies.)

Hiyori becomes a small spirit like Yukine was when Yato found him, trying to stay alive, though not knowing who she was or where she was at. Yato noticed her spirit because her scent and presence was the same as it was in life, so he had to save her before she was destroyed by phantoms.

Hiyori's new name, Koko, means Stork in Japanese. But I chose the full name of Kokone because it means Sound of the Heart.

To me, Hiyori became Yato's reason to exist. He wanted to become a better god. A god of fortune because not only did he want to, he wanted to make Hiyori the happiest girl in the world. Being a god of calamity/war make him feel shameful because of his past. He didn't want to tell Yukine and Hiyori about his past because he was afraid they would leave him. So I see it as Yato strives to become a god of fortune because he wants to become someone not only he could be proud of, but someone Hiyori could be proud of. She became his heart. His reason to change.

So, here's my first Noragami fanfic! The idea came from something that made me sad, but I like how it turned out. I may write more Noragami fics in the future, but for now I need to get back to my Ghost Hunt fics. So, until next time my fellow Noragami peeps!