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


"Hiirone?" Yukine looked at her in confusion, still trying to make sense of the situation. Nora bunched her yukata in her hand and stared at the ground because she couldn't bring herself to look at either Yukine or her father. How could she face either without betraying the other?

"Come, Mizuchi." Her father suddenly appeared behind them. He placed a cold hand on her shoulder and she stiffened. Yukine raised his hand to attack him but Fujisaki commanded his ayakashi to knock him back. Nora gasped when he fell into the water. She rushed to help him but his hand on her shoulder roughly held her back.

"I'm not going to kill him but you know that there's a lot my pets can do short of killing him. If you don't want to cause any more trouble, you'll come back home with me. Now give me that mask, Mizuchi." He held out his hand to her and she wanted desperately not to. Couldn't he let her leave without revealing her identity to Yukine?

"I'm so sorry, Yukine." Nora whispered since she knew that she couldn't fight her father. With shaking hands, she took off the mask and handed it to her father. He didn't give it a glance before he threw it into the water. Knowing that he had her obedience, he walked away with the expectation that she would follow him. She did so and tried to cover her face as much as possible as she walked away.

"Wait! Nora!" Yukine pushed himself out of the water and grabbed her arm. He turned her so that she would face him. For a moment, neither of them spoke and merely stood in silence. She could see emotions rush through his eyes. First it was confusion but it soon transitioned to betrayal and anger. "What was this? Was this some sick joke to try to get to Yato?"

The accusation and anger in his eyes cut her but she knew that she had no one to blame but herself. From the start, she knew that this could be the only way her mascaraed could end. Nora laughed bitterly to herself but Yukine thought that she was laughing at him. "Was it fun playing me for the fool?"

"It wasn't like that!" Nora yelled even though she knew that it was pointless to try to convince him otherwise. It would've been easy to brush off her claim until he saw the tears on the edge of her eyes. She refused to let them fall and struggled to push his hand off her arm. "I need to go!"

"Come, Sekki!" Someone called and she felt the warmth of Yukine's hand disappear. Yato stepped out from behind a tree and she wondered how long he had been watching them. He held Yukine but the sword shook and she knew that it was because of Yukine's anger. On the other hand, Yato addressed her with a cold calmness. "I told you, I know you Nora. Leave before father comes back and we'll have to fight."

Nora didn't say a word and took the opportunity to leave. She didn't allow herself to look back.


"I can't believe she was Nora! Could I be more stupid? I bet she was laughing at me this entire time." Yukine spent the day fuming as he stared at the letters littering the ground. He had been trying to find what she wanted from him but just thinking of her made him angry again.

"Nora's good at manipulating people so don't be angry with yourself." Yato said in an even tone and Yukine was surprised at how calm he was.

"If you knew the truth all along then why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you stop me?" Yukine asked but Yato only shrugged. He lay on the ground, looking over the letters. "You should know better than anyone how dangerous she is so why did you let me trade letter with her? What if something happened? Who knows what she was planning."

"So what are you going to do the next time we fight her?" Yato asked slowly. He knew that exact moment Yukine's anger turned into hesitation. "We're going to have to fight her. Father won't stop just because you discovered her identity. He'll just make another plan to trick you."

"You still haven't told me why you didn't tell me that Nora was pretending to be Hiirone." Yukine asked pointedly.

"I didn't think that there was a point. You're smart so you would've found out for yourself. I just needed to stay close in case you needed my help to fight." Yato sat up and gathered the letters. He didn't need to be Yukine's god to know that he was hurting. It was painted clearly on his face. "That's the expression I didn't want to see. If I told you, you would've been hurt and I didn't want that."

"Well it's too late for that now. How could she trick me so easily? I really thought that she was… like me. She looked so lost when I first met her and I thought I could help her. Her letters didn't make me think that she was trying to trick me. She seemed guarded but I thought she was a good person. She cheered for me and we were having fun at the festival."

"Yesterday would be the first time she and I got to enjoy the festival."

"So she didn't lie about one thing," Yukine said bitterly to himself. He remembered the tears he saw in her eyes and wondered if they were true as well.

"Yukine, you wanted to help a lost soul and I think you did, even if she didn't turn out who thought she was. I know that you let her experience a lot of things she haven't been able to before. You did all you could and what you do next is up to you." Yato handed him the letters. "You can keep them or burn them but it's up to you. These are your feelings."


"Isn't this precious?" Fujisaki laughed. Nora didn't answer her father as she watched him read the letters Yukine gave her. After he finished reading each one, he tossed it into the fire. She stared into the fire where the stuff animal she and Yukine won burned. If only her feelings could turn to ash as easily as those material things Yukine gave her.

"This is the last letter, right?" He asked her as he tossed the letter into the fire. They both knew that it was a pointless question his ayakashi had already searched her hut for the letters. "Well that was an entertaining distraction but we need to discuss why you would do something like this without me. A good girl like you should know better."

"I'm sorry father." Nora said in a quiet voice to not anger him more than he already was. While most people wouldn't think that he was angry, she knew that the quiet rage in his eyes was much more dangerous than the screams of any madman. "It was only supposed to be one letter but he sent me another one and-"

"I don't want your excuses!" He cut her off and she flinched. He sighed but didn't move towards her. Instead, it was her wolves that gave her a reassuring touch. "I'm sorry I raised my voice, Mizuchi but you should know that I'm only doing this for you. You'll be sadder when we break Yukine if you continued this little game of yours."

"Break Yukine? I thought we were only going to turn him into an ayakashi!" Nora snapped her head up.

"That was my intention but I've changed my mind." He shrugged as if he hadn't a care in the world but Nora felt as if there was a stone in her stomach. "He is powerful but I've thought of another way to get my revenge on the Heavens. With my new plan, I can make their strongest god fall from grace and she'll be the one to do herself in."

"What did you do, Father?" Nora asked in a low voice.

"I just planted the seed of doubt. No matter how strong a blessed vessel is, they all have one weakness: a blind devotion to their god. If a little bird told a certain blessed vessel that our little Yato had a connection to me, what do you think he would do? Would he betray his own student? And poor Yukine would never guess that his teacher would betray him."

Nora knew instantly that he was referring to Kazuma and that her father was right. She saw how Yukine looked up to Kazuma. She lived long enough to know that people's first duty was to their family. "Don't look so sad, Mizuchi. We're not going to kill anyone. We're just going to push them to destroy each other. If Bishamon goes crazy, the gods are going to kill."

"And you're hoping that the gods Yato made friends with will rise to defend her."

"They might be strong but they won't be able to stand against the heavens. Once all of them are killed and reborn, Yato will be all alone again. He'll have to come back to us. Of course we'll need to take care of that girl and Yukine to make sure he has no ties to anyone."

"You can't!" Nora yelled and slammed her hands against the table. Both of them were shocked by her words but Fujisaki was the first to compose himself. She fumbled to say anything to defend herself when her father took out his paintbrush.

"You seemed to have a lot of fun when you played with Yukine. If you want new friends to play with, you only had to tell me. I'll summon so many ayakashi for you to play with that you'll feel the need to go to Yukine again. Isn't father nice?"


Nora's body felt beaten and sore as she pulled herself out of the lake. The water cleansed the impurities caused by the ayakashi's bites but her body still felt heavy. A chill bit her as she collapsed onto the ground but she refused to cry out. She was too tired to stand so merely laid on the ground. Nora knew that it would be better to change out of her wet clothes before she caught a chill but she was too tired to do so.

Something soft fell onto her cheek and it reminded her of Yukine. How long had she been lying on the ground? She had exhausted herself by running and fighting the ayakashi. Nora didn't even know how far she ran. But when she finally sat up, she thought life was playing a cruel joke on her.

In front of her was the Sakura tree where she first spoke to Yukine. Had she run to the tree instinctively or did something else bring her to the tree. The cool air made her shiver and she remembered the jacket he gave her. She touched the petal that have fallen on her and remembered the Sakura flowers he gave her. Within her memories, she remembered all the happiness he gave her.

She owed him so much and Nora wasn't the kind of person to be indebted to anyone. If there was anything she could do to repay him, she would have to betray her father to do so. With that thought in mind, she pushed herself to her feet.

At first she forced her legs to move forward but as she made her way down the forbidden path, she found herself running. Her clothes were still wet but she no longer felt cold because there was a determination in her heart. She was breathing heavily when she stopped in front of the gated house, she felt that determination ebb away.

Nora ran to the house wanting to help Yukine but the entire journey, she couldn't think of a way to do so without angering her father. Even if she told him about her father, would he believe her? She remembered the hatred and distrust in his eyes when he discovered her identity.

She heard the gate open and she looked up to see Yukine walk out. He was muttering something beneath his breathe and wondered why he looked so solemn. She wanted to ask him and comfort him but her words stopped themselves when he their eyes met. The solemn was gone and replace by distrust. It was so potent that the warmth he once looked at her with now seemed like an illusion.

"Nora…" He addressed her with an aloof tone. Yukine began to walk towards her but she knew from the raging blizzard in his eyes that he didn't intend to say anything more.

"I'll give you some advice," Nora forced herself to speak before it was too late. He didn't stop. "Beware of Kazuma."

Still, he didn't stop. He only walked past her and she could feel the rejection shake her. Nora wanted to take his arm and shake him until he believed her but she knew that it was pointless. Why would he believe a liar like her? She turned and watched him walk away from her without looking back. In one last attempt, she whispered to his retreating form. "I'm sorry for tricking you but please believe."

Yukine looked back to her but she was already gone.


I know I haven't updated for a long time but honestly, I update this side project more than my main projects sometimes. Please be grateful that I update this without pressuring me to write when I'm really busy with university.