The sunset cast an idyllic hue on the lake next to the cherry blossom tree. A gentle breeze flowed through the branches, casting down the weak leaves to levitate on the mirror-smooth water.
Yato couldn't help but notice this same scene every time he came. Everything was perfect. Almost as if Sakura was a tree spirit for her makeshift grave.
Nah, that's impossible, he thought.
It had been hundreds of years... he hadn't bothered to keep track. He'd gotten over the pain long ago, but he could never forget.
"Yukine's doing well. He's... exceeded all my expectations. In only three years we've accomplished so much" Yato paused to formulate his thoughts carefully. Nevermind that she wasn't there. It just wouldn't feel right to speak to her like he spoke to Yukine, or Hiyori.
"He's made me a better person. I don't know what I'd do without him. Probably work for Tenjin" he laughed.
"But no matter what, you'll always be in my memory, Sakura. You'll always be my shinki".
Yato raised his shot of sake, toasting himself and the tree. It was all he could afford.
"Speaking of that kid, you should have taken him with you", said a soft, playful voice.
Yato bristled at the words. He knew the voice all too well.
He turned his head to see the kimono-clad black-haired girl, standing in the tall grass. Her face was expressionless, except for a slight smile, but not warm, or inviting.
Yato felt an adrenalin rush, his body anticipating an attack from masked ayakashi. The fear was soon replaced by his hatred.
"So you decided to show up after two years?" He asked rhetorically. "And I was hoping you were gone for good".
Her dark eyes narrowed. "Wrong."
He surveyed the scene. No sign of ayakashi, or worse, father. "What do you want, Nora?"
She walked out from the grass, with a whimsical gait. "I didn't come with him, if that's what you're thinking." She pouted. "I haven't seen father since you stole his brushes."
"My deepest condolences" he said, dripping with sarcasm. Nora's facade showed a flash of anger, only for a moment. She restored the cold smirk that had so often masked her emotions. "I suppose you're here to steal them from me, huh?" Yato grabbed a large stick on the ground. "I might not have Yukine with me, but you know better than to underestimate my kenjutsu."
"Wrong again." She walked closer to him. "I'm not here to fight." Yato clung to the stick unconvinced.
"I know why you didn't bring him along". She gazed to the Sakura tree. "Such a shame, to waste shinki like that."
Yato clenched his teeth. "YOU should know!" He pointed his stick accusingly. "And you dare show your face here! You killed her!"
She shot him a disappointed look. "No, you did, remember?"
"You don't know what you're talking about. She was a karma, already dead..."
"I know exactly what I'm talking about. She could have been saved."
Yato was genuinely puzzled. Nora had no right to bring up Sakura so flippantly. But it seems like she really believed he killed Sakura?
He knew he couldn't trust Nora. After all she did to him, and Yukine, and Hiyori... But having known someone for hundreds of years, you pick up on their behaviors, you learn their patterns. And it seemed like she was telling the truth.
"Yato, do you remember when you made me your shinki?"
"Huh?"
"What memories did I have?"
"You..." Yato thought back to that time.
"Come, Hiki!" The blade flew into young Yaboki's hands. A strange feeling enveloped him, and his mind went blank.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
He only heard the rhythmic thumping of a heartbeat.
But it wasn't his. Or Nora's. He just knew.
The sound was over quickly, and the experience buried deep in his subconscious. He paid it no mind.
"Well? How did I die?"
"I..." What? I should know! All gods gain their shinki's memories, Yato thought frantically.
"I don't know..." His confusion made him loosen his grip on the stick. He kept searching his mind for details, anything he missed about that time. Nothing stuck out, except that heartbeat. "What was... that noise...?"
Nora's smile grew a tiny bit wider.
"You don't remember. Because I do."
"I remember how I died."