Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami or any of the characters


"It's not like you to go anywhere without your wolves. You know that I expect you to keep them close for your own protection. Their duty is to watch over you and report to me. That's why I gave them to you." Nora could only continue to pet her wolves as her father chastised her. "Why did you send them away?"

"I saw that a god was nearby and I was worried about their safety." Nora told him honestly though she knew that was the extent she could be honest. Her wolves licked her hand as she fed them so she knew that they wouldn't tell him the truth. "I thought I would be okay alone since I can defend myself well enough. I didn't think it would take so long."

"It's okay, Mizuchi." Her father seemed satisfied with her answer and patted her head. He snatched one of her cookies and teasingly bit into it. In reaction, she rolled her eyes since he was always acting childishly. When he sat down, there was no hint of that in his eyes. "We don't know when Yukine's name will be broken so I need you close in case we have to fight."

"I understand that but I don't think he's close to being liberated yet." Nora thought back to the kind smile he had when they spoke only a moment before. There wasn't a hint of pain and torment a shinki would feel if there were close to being liberated. "I have better things to do then wait for your plan to pan out. When it does happen, you can call upon me easily."

"You're right on both points. That's my bright Mizuchi, being able to predict what I wanted to say." Her father clapped. "Even if Yukine isn't close to being liberated, there are things we can do while we wait. Our Yato has found himself some powerful friends and they might get in the way when we try to capture Yukine. We need to find a way to stop them."

"I don't think any of them can cause us any trouble. Kofuku is a god of poverty and only cause more trouble for herself. Ebisu is only a child now. That Bishmonten is strong but-"

"It's not good to underestimate our opponents, Mizuchi. If there's even a small chance of them getting in our way, we must dispose of them." He crushed a cookie and dropped the crumbs on the ground for the wolves to eat. "He only needs three shinki to form a prison to contain Yukine and cleanse him. They have done so before. We cannot allow that to happen or else everything we worked for would be for naught."

"I understand so what would you suggest we do? You wouldn't bring this up unless you already thought of a way to deal with them." Nora wasn't a fool and she knew her father well. He grinned at her knowingly and began to explain his plan to her. Her mind was elsewhere though. Could she really help her father with his plan now that it hurt both Yukine and Yato?


"What are you doing hiding here? This is private property." Nora jumped a little and pulled her hood over her face more. She fashioned the large flour sack into a cloak so she could speak with Yukine as Hiirone without being recognized. But the man staring at her wasn't Yukine.

"Hey, Kazuma, you're supposed to be training me!" Yukine ran up to them and his eyes fell onto her. It took him a moment to recognize her but when he did, he smiled at her. The fact that she was watching them in the shadow of the trees should've made him suspicious but he didn't seem to be. "Is that you Hiirone? If you were here, you should've just greeted us."

"I thought there was an ayakashi nearby so I hid." Nora lied. Her explanation seemed to be enough for Yukine but Kazuma still studied her with distrust. His sharps eyes were as Kugaha described and she knew that was what made him Bishamon's most trusted Shinki. If her father's plan were to succeed, they needed to cut any ties the shinki had to Yato.

"Now that we're here, you don't need to worry about ayakashi. We'll protect you. Actually, Kazuma and I are both blessed vessels so there's no chance that they'll be able to hurt you. Though Kazuma is much more powerful than I am." From the way he spoke of Kazuma, Nora knew that Yukine respected him. "But I'm training hard so I can be powerful enough to help Yato. Come and watch us."

Yukine took her hand and pulled her out of the shrubbery she sat in. At first she was hesitant to follow him since Yato would likely be watching their training. If he saw her, he would be able to recognize her easily. "Are you sure your god would want someone like me to join you? I have never been fond of gods and they aren't fond of me. You can't trust someone that won't even show their own face, after all."

"It would be easier for me if Yato actually had enough sense to think like that. But everyone has their scars and no one here would shame you for yours. Actually, Kazuma's god often takes in spirits that have been attacked by ayakashi." Yukine tried to reassure her. "If you're really worried about Yato, you don't need to be. Yato is taking Ebisu out to eat so they won't be back for a while."

"Then I have no reason to hold back." Nora followed them. It was a good chance to see how strong they two were. She fought Yukine before but it would be good to know how his raw power would compete with Kazuma's experience. She sat on the steps in front of Tenjin's shrine and it felt strange to be able to watch them so openly. "Are you going to practise your spells on each other?"

"Yeah." Kazuma began to explain as he drew a line in the dirt. They stood on opposite sides of the line and both were an equal distance from it. "The goal is to reach that line before the other does. Each round, we can either bind the other and take a step or counter. The key is to predict your opponent's next move. Now let's get started, Yukine."

Before they could start, Nora spoke up. "This seems to be a pointless exercise. A little game like this won't teach anyone how to properly fight. The enemy won't wait their turn before they attack. When I first learned how to fight, Father would make me walk through an ayakashi nest. That trained me both mentally and physically better than any game could."

At first, Yukine was shocked that she would speak so openly against Kazuma but it turned to confusion. She didn't sound sad or bitter. Rather, she stated it like a fact. He didn't know what to say in reply so looked to Kazuma for help. He adjusted his glasses and she could that his eyes were serious. "There is no need to go to such extreme for training. I would never put Yukine through that. Would you?"

Was it an unreasonable extreme? Nora didn't know and thought back to when her father would teach her different skills. At first she was afraid but learned that she needed to endure it to survive. Still confused about their training method, she watched the pair.

Kazuma was able to predict Yukine's movements easily and she knew that his role as Bishamon's most trusted shinki was well earned. It confused her when Yukine's counter would fail against Kazuma's bind even though Yukine's technique seemed to be faster. Her sharp eyes saw that Yukine's form was stiff while Kazuma seemed more relaxed. The power imbalance was obvious.

"You should be able to counter him, Yukine." She muttered to herself but Yukine heard her. Suddenly his eyes were on her and she blushed since his eyes compelled her to say more. "You're a blessed regalia like him so you're just as strong. I saw you protect your friend from that ayakashi and you were really strong. So there should be no reason you can't counter his bind."

Yukine wondered if her face was as hot as his felt. She fumbled with her hood and he could only see her blushing cheeks slightly. Feeling more confident, he faced Kazuma again and prepared to counter him again. At first he failed and looked back to Hiirone who folded her hands as if she was praying. If she believed in him, he wanted to counter Kazuma once for her.

The next time he tried to bind him, he succeeded and Yukine was the most surprised out of the three. Nora couldn't stop herself from jumping to her feet and clapping. "You did it! I- I mean… I knew you could do it so this wasn't much of a surprise. Don't let this make you cocky, Yukine. You haven't won yet but if you keep this up you can win this silly game."

"Don't worry, I'll win this!" Yukine grinned at her and she felt her heart tightened.


"Man, I can't believe I lost in the end." Yukine groaned. He and Nora sat next to each other in front of the sakura tree. After his training finished, he invited her to eat ice cream with him. "But I guess that we should expect since he's so strong. One day, I'm going to be as strong as him."

"I still stand by the fact that you're stronger than him." Nora stated. Usually she didn't enjoy cold treats but she found herself enjoying the Popsicle Yukine bought her. The atmosphere around them was peaceful and Nora wondered how long she would be able to stay next to him today. "The only thing holding you back is yourself. Believe in yourself next time."

"I'll try. And the next time you watch me train, I'll be able to beat him." He promised her and held out his pinky to her. At first she was confused and he had to take her hand. He wrapped his pinky around hers. "This is a pinky promise. I just wished that I was able to beat him in a few more rounds since you were cheering for me so much."

"I wasn't that loud, was I?" Nora thought back and knew that she lost herself at times. Why did she? She didn't understand why but Yukine had a strange effect on her to the point she didn't understand her own actions. He chuckled and she found herself laughing along with him. "I embarrassed myself, didn't I?"

"I don't think so. If anyone embarrassed themselves, it would be me. But I'm really glad that you were there, actually. It was fun but I'm kinda tired now." He was surprised when she pulled at sleeve. She patted her lap and he blushed at the implication. "You want me to lie on your lap?"

"I'm trying to be nice and offer you my lap to rest so you don't need to say it like that." Nora blushed and didn't understand why she made the offer. Her wolves always rested their heads on her lap when they were tired. They seemed to enjoy it. "But if you really don't want to, just forget that I offered."

"Is it really okay?" Yukine asked and she nodded. He made sure to finish his Popsicle so it would drip onto his lap. He hesitated a moment before lying down. "Hey, I won a free ice cream!"

He showed her the stick but she looked confused. She looked at her own stick but it was blank. "You don't know about the promotion? If you finish your ice cream and it was a crown on the stick, you win a free ice cream. All you need to do is go to the store and trade the stick for the ice cream."

"So that means I lost." She pouted. "Well, it doesn't matter."

"Here," Yukine said and held out his stick to her. "You can have mine. I live with a guy that owns a shop so I can get ice cream whenever I want."

Nora took it and slipped it into her sleeve. She made sure to adjust her hood so that he wouldn't be able to see her face when he looked up at her. When he saw that gesture, he reached up and gently placed his hand on her head. "Thanks for letting me borrow your lap. Hopefully one day you'll trust me enough to show me your face."

"But-"

"Look, I already said that I don't care if you have a scar so you don't need to worry about it. Sure you have a sharp tongue but I don't think that you're cruel. You warned me about those two and it's really fun being with you." He grinned up at her but it made her feel guilty. He wouldn't be able to say that so confidently if he knew who she really was.

"Maybe one day, I'll be able to." Nora lied and she wondered if he believed her words. "You said that you were tired so close your eyes and rest."

They stayed like that in silence for a while. She ran her hand through his hair and it felt different from her wolves' fur. His was soft and warm. Nora wanted to slow time to steal a few more moments with him but knew that it was pointless because in the end, they couldn't be together. Her father plan needed him to turn into an ayakashi to control him.

Nora's eyes drifted to his name. It had a crack so small that one would only see it if they were looking for it. Once the name was broken, he would see the god's greatest secret. He would turn into an ayakashi and they wouldn't be able to share moments like these anymore.

She ran her hand through his hand once more and wondered what she should do. She whispered a soft song to make him sleep longer to steal more time with him.


"It's time to wake up." Yukine thought he heard Hiirone's voice waking him but when he sat up, he couldn't see her. The sun was setting and he wondered how long he had been sleeping. There was a pile of Sakura blossoms where she sat and he knew that she put them there to cushion his head. He stood and called her name but no one answered him.

"Where did you go?" He asked no one in particular. Yukine put his hand in his pocket and was shocked when he felt something in one. He pulled it out and saw that it was a letter. "I hope we meet again soon."


Finished all of my mep parts so I can work on this again.