Yatogami was, by nature, a contradictory existence.
Born under the name Yaboku, he was foremost a combat god willed into existence for the purpose of killing humans. He murdered people without mercy, with relish, even, and he loved the rush of battle, the focused clarity that came with the natural movements of his body. As a young god, he spread chaos and death as he was bid, and never thought twice about it. It was his purpose, his reason for existing. The act of killing was how he fulfilled the wish that had birthed him, how he brought happiness to his Father, his one believer.
Yaboku didn't understand at the time, but wanting to please those who believed in him was a natural instinct for all gods. Because all deities were born for the sake of fulfilling people's wishes, that desire to please, to be remembered, was stronger than the nature of the wish itself. Even in a state of pure aramitama,1 as Yaboku lived, that longing was impossible to ignore.
As he grew and saw more of the world, he learned to empathize and understand people. He experienced happiness and loss, gentleness and suffering, and as a result, he began to lose his taste for killing. He continued to do as he was asked, but he no longer felt the same euphoria, the same sense of accomplishment. An emptiness formed in his heart. What he wanted most was to be loved, to be needed; it was a wish completely at odds with his calling, and all the stronger for it.
It was that desire to make others happy that helped him overcome Yaboku's aramitama and develop the nigimitama2 that became the god named Yato.
Still, that didn't mean that Yaboku ceased to exist. It would always be difficult for Yato to balance out the naturally conflicting natures that formed his core, no matter what he called himself. He was a god that could bring calamity, but also a god who loved and wanted to be loved. He was capable of great horror and gentle kindness alike, and like all combat gods, his warring nature meant that even as a deity that wanted to bring happiness to others, the violence, chaos, and lust of his aramitama were always lurking near the surface.
In the years since he'd met Hiyori and Yukine, Yato had built himself a life he could be proud of and gained a purpose that went beyond destruction. He had friends, people who accepted him as he was, believed in him when it mattered. Hiyori had found his empty heart and patched it in with her own hands, and Yukine had shown him the way forward. Together they had saved him, and Yato knew that no matter what anyone said about gods and whether or not they could feel human emotions, he loved them with every fiber of his being.
But the more he treasured them, the more he couldn't bear to lose them. Hiyori and Yukine had said they believed in him, that he would never hurt his own family or friends, but Yato knew that the wrath and grief of losing either of them would utterly destroy him. He'd be broken beyond saving, a being full of hate and despair, pure aramitama willing to lash out at anything and anyone around him. Friend or foe wouldn't matter; the depth of his feelings would become a weapon capable of killing even his own family. That scared him far worse than dying, and as Hiyori's pregnancy progressed, his fear only grew worse and harder to keep in check.
He never told anyone, but soon after Hiyori passed safely into her second trimester, Yato developed an anxiety disorder of some kind that gave him late-night panic attacks and made it impossible to sleep. When Hiyori stayed with her parents, he would go with her, only to be violently sick for hours, trembling in a corner of the bathroom while she slept, blissfully unaware in the other room. He constantly checked his phone to see if anything had happened to Yukine, even though he could sense there was nothing out of the ordinary through their bond. Things weren't much better whenever Hiyori stayed at Kofuku's place either. He would stay up long after she and Yukine fell asleep, watching over them with a painful lump in his throat. Every time he tried to reach and touch Yukine's soft hair, or to hold Hiyori's fingers, a nasty, familiar inner voice would remind him that no matter how much he tried to pretend, their deaths would ultimately be his fault. Loving them would not be enough to save them, from Heaven, or from himself.
Please, whatever it is that listens to the wishes of a god... please, don't let Heaven find out about us, he'd pray, shutting his eyes tightly. Protect Hiyori, protect Yukine, and protect the kid too. I don't care what happens to me, just please don't take my family. I will do anything for them. Anything.
It was always dawn before Yato finally drifted off into exhausted sleep, the words still echoing in his mind long after he stopped forming them.
Yasumi's life was quickly spiraling out of her control.
Ever since they'd returned from Uncle Mitsuo's house, Hana had become intensely overprotective, worse even than when Yasumi had been a child. She had wasted no time in contacting the school to let them know that her daughter would be taking a leave of absence despite Yasumi's protests about falling behind, and after warning her that she was not allowed to leave the house under any circumstances, Hana had disappeared into her room, where Yasumi could hear her arguing in what sounded like a video conference with the entire family.
Minus me, of course, she thought, annoyed. It wasn't uncommon for Hana to leave Yasumi out of spiritual discussions, but on the rare occasion that they concerned Yasumi herself, she couldn't suppress the bitterness and anger at being treated like an outsider. Always deciding shit about me on their own, thinking they know better. She trudged moodily into the kitchen, where she opened the fridge and found some leftover stew she could heat up on the stove.
She yawned, watching the saucepan as it came to a gentle simmer, too tired after her sleepless night to think beyond her immediate hunger and exhaustion. A few minutes later, as she poured the stew into a bowl, a text came in and she paused to check her phone, thinking it was Yukine. The young Regalia had tailed them all the way from her uncle's house, careful to stay in Hana's blind spots in case she caught a glimpse of him in her new wariness. Yasumi was privately grateful for his discretion; the last thing she needed after that hellish night was her mother interrogating her about her less than human acquaintances.
She thought maybe he'd forgotten to tell her something, but when she flipped the phone open and navigated to her mail, it was a message from her cousin, Ishimura Noriaki, with a brief inquiry as to what had happened the night before. Yasumi scowled.
Noriaki was actually her mother's cousin, and the son of her grandfather's younger sister. He'd been born relatively late in his parents' lives, so he was only about six years older than Yasumi despite belonging to the generation before hers. The two of them had never gotten along all that well; Noriaki was a rather pompous person, and he always seemed to find fault with Yasumi no matter what she did or said. Being her elder, he had always assumed a smug, self-important air when speaking to her, as though she were too young and stupid to understand him, especially when it came to spiritual matters. The only reason she even had his phone number saved was because he'd been the only person who could drive her to aikido when the station closest to home was temporarily closed down for repairs earlier that year. Yasumi far preferred riding in a packed train (and risking getting groped by strangers) to sitting next to her judgemental snob of a cousin for the twenty minute drive to her dojo. She wasn't sorry when she no longer needed his services.
Dunno, ask Mom, she wrote back briefly, hoping that was the end of it. To her dismay, he replied almost immediately.
I'm asking you, he wrote back.
"The fuck is your problem, asshole?" she muttered to herself as she sat down at the table and began spooning stew into her mouth irritably.
I dunno shit, I can't See, remember?
She thought that would piss him off enough to go bother someone else, but the three dots that showed he was replying flashed for a good minute after.
I'll pretend you didn't just curse at me, he began, and she could just imagine his offended expression at her "uncouth" language, 'cause we both know you're in a really bad situation right now. From what Hana's been telling Rin-onee-san, it sounds like that spirit was after you specifically. Let's not pretend you didn't already know that. Just tell me what happened and what you saw.
Yasumi considered telling him to fuck off directly but decided on a more diplomatic approach.
I told you, I didn't see anything. I'm kinda busy so if there's nothing else, quit bugging me.
She put the phone down with a somewhat satisfied smirk, knowing that her standoffish rudeness would bother him far more than any foul language she could string together. She focused on eating, in a much better mood now that she'd successfully upset him.
Or so she thought.
Her phone went off again a couple of spoonfuls later, and she clicked her tongue angrily.
"I'm gonna fucking block your ass, see if I won't," she growled. But just as she was about to open the menu to do so, she actually read the message and her blood suddenly ran cold.
Fine. Let me ask you a different question, since you're going to be unpleasant about it. Tell me, Yasumi... Seen any gods lately?
"Hiyori! Hey, Hiyori! Wake up!"
With a start, Hiyori sat up at her desk and found Ami and Yama looking down at her with bemused expressions.
"Jeez, your narcolepsy is worse than usual these days, Hiyori," Ami noted, picking up the notebook Hiyori had been writing notes in when she'd dozed off. "You barely got any notes down in Mori-sensei's class."
"Huh? Where... what?" Hiyori asked, confused.
"Fourth period," Yama said casually. "Independent study. Honestly, I don't know why you bothered coming to school, you've been knocking out every ten minutes. Just go home already."
Hiyori yawned and rubbed her eye with her sleeve. "Mm, can't," she said. "Promised my parents."
"Promised what?" Ami asked, raising an eyebrow. "That you'd sleep at school?"
"That I wouldn't dro-" Hiyori suddenly realized what she was saying and blushed.
Right, they don't know, she reminded herself, sinking into her chair nervously. She was now five months along and it was only thanks to her school allowing oversized outerwear during the winter that no one had noticed how much she'd been filling in. She'd gone up an entire bra cup size, and her stomach was definitely rounding out. Thanks to a letter her brother had written, she had been excused from gym for the rest of the year under the pretext of her worsening narcolepsy, so all she needed to worry about was keeping her sweater on and not dropping her body in places where she needed to be picked up, and the school might never find out.
"They can't expel you, but they might make your life really annoying," Masaomi had told her. "Some nosy teacher might even alert your college choices before they send out acceptance letters, and that might make them rescind any offers. Just keep quiet, pretend you're gaining weight cause you're stressed, and if all goes well we can keep you home the last couple of months by telling the school you're hospitalized again."
"I feel bad lying about it," she'd told Yato sadly. "It's like I'm telling this child I don't want them here."
"It's better if less people know about it," Yato had said gently. "If Heaven gets wind of what's happening because someone carelessly let it slip..."
"Mm," she'd agreed reluctantly.
"You wouldn't what?" Yama asked, bringing her back to the present.
"Er, sorry, what were we talking about?" Hiyori said nervously, only partially feigning forgetfulness.
Her friends gave each other concerned looks and shrugged.
"Man, you're such a headcase sometimes, Hiyori," Yama said. "You're never gonna get a boyfriend at this rate, you know? Ami and I are gonna grow up and leave you behind!"
"Hah," Hiyori laughed weakly. I really don't think so, Yama-chan.
"This is the year," Ami said seriously. "I'm gonna get into Tokyo U and find myself a great college guy, and he'll be way better than Abe," she scoffed, referring to Yama's long-time boyfriend.
"No one is better than Abe," Yama insisted. "Just look, he got me this-"
Hiyori let them bicker over some photos on Yama's cell phone and glanced out the window at the falling snow outside.
I wonder what Yukine-kun and Yato are up to right now, she thought. She didn't have as much energy to run around after them these days, and Yato had found himself a weekday job at a restaurant in town anyway, so Hiyori wasn't skipping class much to accompany him on jobs anymore. It would have been lonely, except that he always made it a point to drop her off and pick her up from school, and Hiyori had also negotiated a schedule with her parents so that she could spend several nights a week at Kofuku's place.
"If I'm going to be a mom, I should start learning to be independent," she insisted when they tried to fight her on it. "Eventually I plan to move out and live with him anyway, so I may as well start getting used to it now." It took a lot of arguing and compromise (including the condition that Yato get that job and that under no circumstances was Hiyori to drop out of school) but in the end she'd managed it.
Her parents, of course, had no real memory of Yato's identity, but his constant presence over the last couple of months meant that they at least recognized him as the baby's father when he let them see him. They hated him, of course, and had made him sign away rights to the Iki fortune if he ever married Hiyori formally, but perhaps because they were unconsciously afraid of him, or maybe because he had a clear sense of obligation toward Hiyori and his child, they put up with him out of consideration for her feelings. To prevent her parents from forgetting him or everything they'd discussed completely, Hiyori had written everything out into a neat contract and pinned it to the refrigerator. Next to it she'd pinned a photograph of Yato with his arms around her middle, grinning cheekily as she shyly held up her first ultrasound toward the camera, her face red.
"Mine," he'd murmured against her ear right before Yukine had taken that picture. She could almost feel his lips against her earlobe every time she saw it, but she'd been too embarrassed to take another one. At the very least, it helped her parents face the reality that he wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"Hiyori, you're all red," Yama said, snapping her out of her daydream.
"Huh? Oh..." she murmured, pressing her palms against her cheeks. "Maybe I'm getting a fever," she lied.
Ami stared at her suspiciously.
"Sometimes I think the gods are trying to piss me off," she said, crossing her arms. "When I get sick, I just look all pale and tired, but somehow, even though you're always fainting or down with food poisoning or whatever, I swear you've just gotten prettier, Hiyori."
"What are you saying, Ami-chan?" Hiyori laughed. "I look terrible, don't be silly."
"Hmm, Ami's got a point," Yama said, leaning in to squint at Hiyori's face. "You've gained a bit of weight this winter, but it suits you somehow, like your face is just softer and cuter for it. And I swear your figure is way curvier than it used to be. Life really isn't fair, is it?!"
"Y-yeah, I haven't been well enough to exercise much," Hiyori coughed, fidgeting with her sleeves.
"Whatever it is you're doing, share!" Ami said, pouting.
"I'm really not doing anything!" Hiyori said, leaning onto the table tiredly. "I'm just tired and can't stay awake, so I sleep a lot. Maybe that's it."
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out.
"Who's texting you in the middle of class?" Yama asked, nosily trying to see the name of the sender.
"Jeez, don't read over my shoulder, Yama-chan! It's just a friend!" She shifted in her seat so Yama couldn't see the screen.
How's hot pot for dinner? Yato's gonna work late so I'll come pick you up and we can go shopping if you like. Hiyori smiled at the little emoticons Yukine often added at the end of his messages for her benefit and replied that she'd be happy to go to the store with him.
Yasumi didn't reply to Noriaki's text. Instead, she instantly blocked him and panic-dialed Yukine's phone number. It took a minute before he replied.
"Didn't I just see you like a couple hours ago?" he grumbled sleepily. "What d'you want, Yasumi?"
"My cousin, he just texted me asking me if I've seen any gods," she blurted without any preamble.
"What?"
"My shitty cousin! He's asking if I know any gods!"
There was a faint rustling sound and then a tired sort of sigh.
"I'm not awake enough for this shit, you're gonna have to be more specific," he said drily. "Start at the beginning."
Yasumi told him about her cousin's sudden interest in whether or not she could See what had attacked them. Yukine listened carefully and gave a grunt when she was finished.
"Who exactly is this guy?" he asked, "Like, his specific relation to you?"
"My mom's paternal cousin. My Gramps' sister is his mom."
"Ishimura Reiko?"
Yasumi blinked, surprised that he would know her mother's aunt by name. "Y-yeah, how did you...?"
"Ah, yeah, makes sense he'd ask that then," he yawned nonchalantly. "Reiko-san is your predecessor. Ame's current host. She must have told him about it at some point."
"What?! Aunt Reiko?!" she cried, shocked. She hadn't really thought about the fact that there must be another person in her family connected to Ame.
"Ow, don't yell," he scolded. "We told you, didn't we? That Ame has to change hosts every half century or so. Ishimura Reiko has been bonded with her for almost fifty years, so her time is up."
"You... you mean she's gonna die?!"
"What? No! Don't jump to crazy conclusions, jeez! My master told you, right? Ame doesn't affect your lifespan." He hesitated. "Well... It's kinda more complicated than that, but the end result is the same. Reiko-san will just forget about Ame and go back to her normal life once she's transferred over to you."
"What do you mean it's more complicated than that?" she asked, suspicious.
"...Look, I dunno all the details," he said hastily. "Most likely, Reiko-san asked her son to reach out to you because she suspects you're the successor after what happened yesterday. She probably wants to talk to you."
"Suspects?"
"Ame goes into a sort of... trance a few months before the succession ritual takes place, to keep the barrier up when she can't physically sustain it during the actual ceremony. She's conscious but not really there enough to converse with. I doubt she knows you're the successor any more than Reiko-san did. Yato last spoke to her before we found you."
"So you don't know my Aunt personally?"
"Not really," Yukine admitted. "She probably knows about us, but we only really deal with Ame. I have no idea exactly what it is Reiko-san knows or wants to talk to you about. Just don't do anything stupid like trying to go see her; if something's following you, the last thing we want is to lead it to the shrine before your Sight even finishes coming in."
Yasumi groaned.
"Does that mean I have to unblock my asshole cousin now? I don't think my Aunt knows how to use a cell phone, she's like... almost seventy."
"If Ame's got a phone, chances are your Aunt does too. She probably just thought you'd be more comfortable talking to someone your own age."
"... Ame has a phone?!"
"OF COURSE SHE HAS A PHONE!" he exclaimed. "What fucking century do you think this is?!"
"But... she's a god!"
"And I'm dead, but here we fucking are, aren't we?!" He made a tch noise. "Yato's got a phone too, doesn't he? Most gods do these days, even the oldest ones."
"Oh... right, Yato is a god too," she said without thinking, and Yukine burst into laughter.
"Man, if only he were awake, his face right now would be priceless," he chuckled. "Anyway, it's up to you if you wanna talk with Reiko-san or not. Doesn't really have anything to do with me."
"Is that really the attitude you should have toward a job?" Yasumi said, annoyed at his lack of interest.
"My job is keeping you safe," he scoffed. "S'long as you're a good girl and stay in Ame's barrier where we can find you, do whatever you want. I ain't your babysitter."
She bristled.
"I'm not anyone's good girl," she snarled. "Don't patronize me, brat."
"That's rich, coming from a 15 year old kid," he snapped. "I might've died at fourteen, but I've been around longer than you. Unless you've slain ayakashi and fought gods, or been so fucked up you're constantly watching yourself to make sure you don't hurt your own family, you ain't got shit on me. Call me when you have something important to talk about." He hung up abruptly, leaving Yasumi with half-formed arguments and insults on her tongue.
"Hmm, Kofuku likes this kind, but Yato..."
"Umaibo3, right?" Hiyori asked, picking a couple of the snacks off the shelf. "I've got it," she assured Yukine as he glanced at his wallet.
"You don't have to spoil that idiot, Hiyori," he said, tossing snacks for the others into his basket. "He can eat this stuff with the rest of us."
"I know," she said cheerfully. "But he's been working really hard, I kind of want to give him a reward. That's what you were thinking too, weren't you, Yukine-kun?"
He blushed and turned away from her to hide it.
"As if I'd care," he scoffed. Hiyori giggled.
"That's everything, isn't it?" she asked as they made their way out of the aisle. "For dinner?"
"Mm, yeah just about," Yukine said, sorting through the basket. "You don't need anything do you, Hiyori?"
"Oh, now I think about it, I'm about out of vitamins..." she said thoughtfully.
"You should've said that earlier!" he said, worried. "Those are important!"
"Sorry, Yukine-kun, I forgot," she said sheepishly. He grabbed her hand and led her toward the medicine aisle.
"You have to be careful, idiot," he scolded fiercely. "What were you gonna do if you ran out?!"
"Er... go without until I got more?"
Yukine shot her a glare.
"It's a good thing Yato isn't here right now, he'd probably cry if you said that in front of him." He stopped in front of the prenatal section and picked the right bottles without needing to look it up. "Those are the most important ones at around 18 weeks," he said, handing them to her.
"Wow, you're so knowledgeable, Yukine-kun," she said, surprised. "Even I don't remember everything I'm supposed to be taking without looking at a chart..."
"Hmph," he said churlishly, sticking his hands in his pockets like he always did when he was embarrassed. "You and Yato are so out of it, someone has to pick up the slack."
Hiyori didn't remind him that Yato was actually very good with children, or that she had plenty of people at home to remind her about the little details of her health already; Yukine seemed to have taken the title of older brother to heart, and he had saved up all his part-time wages to buy a small mountain of parenting books, which he'd been reviewing studiously every day. At the beginning of every week, he would announce the size of the fetus in terms of fruit with an air of great seriousness, and Yato would tease him by threatening to name the child after that week's fruit, at least until Hiyori put her foot down and said there was no way in hell she was naming her child "Lemon-chan.4"
"What would we do without you, Yukine-kun?" she smiled, tousling his hair. He fidgeted but didn't pull away.
"Oh, is that- Iki-san! Yukine!"
They both jumped and Yukine hastily snatched the bottles from Hiyori's hands and tossed them into the basket, burying them under the pile of snacks. A tall blonde woman and a gruff older man with an eye patch came down the aisle toward them, and Hiyori tried not to panic as she recognized Bishamonten and her Regalia, Kuraha.
"O-oh, Bishamon-san, Kuraha-san! It's been a while!" she said, clutching her school bag in front of her with both hands and praying that it and the bulk of her sweater would be enough to hide the curve of her belly. "Wh-where's Kazuma-san?"
Bishamon gave Hiyori a disapproving sort of frown, and she remembered that Kazuma had mentioned that his mistress had been worried about the taboo too.
"Ah, Kazuma had something to take care of in Takamagahara," she explained. "We just came to buy some drinks," she added, holding up a pack of beer as Kuraha gestured toward his basket full of snacks and a bottle of sake. "We saw you and came to say hello. Where's your master?" she asked Yukine.
"Oh, he's uh... working," Yukine said stiffly. "We're just buying stuff for dinner."
Bishamon glanced at the shelves around them. "In the medicine aisle?"
Hiyori broke out into a cold sweat. "Uhm, yes, I haven't been feeling well so I was going to buy some energy drinks..."
They seemed satisfied with that answer and both Hiyori and Yukine relaxed slightly.
"Kuraha, I should send Kofuku-dono and Yato a gift since we haven't dropped by in a while. Would you mind taking Yukine to pick out some alcohol they'd like?" Bishamon asked pointedly, and Kuraha nodded.
"Yes, of course, Mistress," he said. "Come, Yukine, let's leave the ladies to it." He took Yukine by the shoulder and steered him away.
"Wait! Hiyori!" Yukine shouted, clearly panicking.
"Yukine-kun!"
"It's alright, Kuraha won't hurt him," Bishamon said kindly as the older man dragged a still-struggling Yukine around the corner. "I just wanted to speak with you alone for a moment, if that's alright, Hiyori-san."
"With me?" Hiyori asked, surprised. She'd only spoken with Bishamonten directly a handful of times.
"Yes... I see you haven't cut your ties with Yatogami, even after I sent Kazuma to warn you," Bishamon said, a gentle sadness in her piercing amethyst eyes. "Do you understand what could happen to you, and to Yato and Yukine, if Heaven decides it's too dangerous to let this continue?"
Hiyori nodded, her eyes cast down. "Y-yes, I'm aware, Bishamon-san. We all are."
"But you still won't change your mind?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to die, or to place them in danger, but... a life without Yato isn't a life I could ever be content with. I forgot him once, you know," she said quietly. "It was like something important was missing, like I would drown without it. A life like that... constantly searching for a shadow of the broken pieces of my heart... that's not a life worth living. Not to me."
"Even though staying at his side is taboo?" Bishamon asked sharply.
"... Yes," Hiyori said resolutely. She straightened her shoulders and looked Bishamon in the eye. "When my grandmother died two years ago, she told me that being with the person I love most is the most precious thing life can offer. For me, that person has always been Yato. Even if I were to lose my life, if I could never see any of my friends or family again... I would still choose him and Yukine-kun. They're my heart, after all." She put a hand to her breast and gave Bishamon a sad, half-smile. "So, now that you know I won't abandon Yato, are you going to kill me, Bishamonten-sama?"
The older woman put her hands on her hips and sighed.
"Of course not," she said seriously. "You know I would never attack Yato's household, not after all the three of you have done for me. I don't understand why you would choose a path that might end in all of your deaths, but it's not a decision I have any right to make for you."
"I think you do understand, Bishamon-san," Hiyori told her earnestly. "Whatever you and Kazuma-san believe about the nature of gods, I know there's some part of you that understands exactly how I feel. And how Yato feels."
Bishamon regarded her curiously, as though she'd never seen anything quite like her.
"You are an enigma, Iki Hiyori," she said. "I have never known a human, dead or alive, to think and act the way you do. I can certainly understand why Yato is so taken with you, if nothing else." She pulled a phone from her pocket and gestured for Hiyori to do the same. "I want you to have my number, in case you ever find yourself in a situation where you and Yato need help. My shinki and I will do whatever we can to protect you, even against Heaven."
"Oh, no, please, I can't ask you to do that!" Hiyori insisted. "This is our problem, there's no reason to get involved..."
"You and yours turned traitor for my sake once; returning the favor is the least we can do after you two saved me at great personal risk. Besides, we're friends aren't we?" Bishamon said, smiling. "Isn't it strange for friends not to know each other's phone numbers?"
Hiyori beamed. "Y-yes, you're right!" she said as she took her phone out of her skirt pocket. The infrared connection5 had just finished exchanging numbers when Yukine and Kuraha returned.
"S-sorry, Hiyori, I couldn't get away," Yukine said, ashamed. "I didn't want to leave you unprotected-"
"It's okay, Yukine-kun," Hiyori assured him with a smile. "Bishamon-san was here, after all. Nothing happened."
"I got a pack of Yato-san's favorite beer," Kuraha told his mistress. "I'll just go pay for these so Yukine and Iki-san can take them."
"Isn't it kinda immoral to just hand two kids under the drinking age a whole pack of beer?" Yukine asked, frowning.
"Are you planning to drink them?" Kuraha asked, raising his eyebrow.
"No, but-"
"If you're just bringing it to your master, it's fine," he chuckled. "And I know Iki-san is too well-behaved to break any rules, so it's safe with her. Consider it a gift to Yato-san and Kofuku-dono from my mistress."
Yukine and Hiyori shared a nervous, meaningful glance but said nothing.
The walk home had never felt as foreboding as it did that evening. It wasn't a particularly gloomy day, but Yato felt as though something heavy and cruel had settled on his shoulders, some cursed premonition that shook him to his core.
He'd gone to work feeling more rested than usual, and he'd been in a pretty good mood for most of the day because it was one of the days that Hiyori would be coming to stay with him for the night. His boss at the restaurant had teased him about his cheerfulness; like Yato, he was also about to become a father and the two of them often swapped family stories while they worked. It'd been shaping up to be a good day, but then a call came in for his boss in the afternoon.
It turned out that his wife had had a miscarriage and was currently in the ICU with life threatening bleeding. The look of utter despair on his boss' face when he heard the news was heartbreaking, and Yato had felt the blow as though it were his own. His boss had left him in charge, but Yato had no idea how he managed to make it to closing time after that. He'd barely been able to focus on customers at all, and it was only the fact that he needed to keep the job that kept him from frantically texting Hiyori and Yukine every five minutes.
He'd checked in twice though, and it was a supreme relief to hear back that they were fine. Still, he was anxious to see their faces, safe and sound back home with Kofuku and Daikoku watching over them.
He was so happy, his wife was only a couple of weeks further along than Hiyori... he thought, fighting the urge to throw up on the street. And just like that, their baby is dead, and the mother might not even make it through the night.
Yato stopped at the corner, leaning against a fence pole for support.
Have I made a mistake? Should I have told Hiyori I didn't want the kid after all?
He took several deep breaths, working through the guilt and pain. It would have been a lie, but if it could protect Hiyori... Was I being selfish insisting I wanted it, then? Or is the selfish thing to ask my own kid to die for its mother's sake?
He clutched at his chest, hurting almost as badly as when Yukine blighted him.
I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose the kid. If only I could go back and stop my stupid asshole self from touching her to begin with!
But even that hurt to think about. Despite all his misgivings, Yato's aramitama manifested itself strongest in his libido. Of the lurking chaos and violence in his inner nature, he'd always struggled most with controlling his sexual inclinations. Even for a combat god, and despite never having any actual lovers besides Hiyori, his interest in matters of the flesh were definitely more shameless than most. Yukine had a lot of choice words to describe his master on the topic, especially because he held himself to an impossibly high standard of abstinence. Yato thought the unfavorable descriptors a little unfair, considering Yukine's past record of sexual misconduct, but since the boy had since cleaned himself up and worked hard to reign them both in, Yato thought it wise not to bring it up too often.
Still, if he'd been anything less than a god, Yato probably would have landed in a lot of trouble for harassment a long time ago. Hiyori alone had enough complaints to send him to jail several times over, so he often had to remind himself that the woman was a fucking saint and that she deserved better from him than all his inappropriate invasions of her privacy and the long, long list of lewd and admittedly stupid pranks.
He at least did have enough self-awareness never to go beyond that, though, especially if he were explicitly told not to. He loved Hiyori too much not to respect her wishes, even if it meant he had to keep his desires in check. Ever since they'd found out she was pregnant, he'd been extra careful not to do anything that might hurt or make her uncomfortable. It was ironic, but now that he actually had a physical relationship with Hiyori, he was more afraid than ever to let his aramitama get the better of him.
It was worth denying himself for her sake, though, for her laugh and her warm, cheerful presence, even if sometimes he felt like he might burn up from the inside with pure, overwhelming desire. It was now unfathomable to him that he'd ever managed to live for centuries without Hiyori, or that he would have to again when she came to the end of her all too short life; when he thought like that, he wanted nothing more than to imprint himself on her skin, on her lips and tongue, in the nape of her neck and the curve of her breast, to make her cry out his name and know that he was all she needed in that moment, just as he only ever needed her. The want ached deep in his bones and marrow, but he fought it; what kind of god of fortune would he be if he couldn't even treasure the woman he loved?
Sometimes he let himself give in a little, just to take the edge off. He'd make a dirty joke, or steal a particularly long kiss, or allow himself a fantasy here or there. If Hiyori let him, he'd hold her as she fell asleep and spend hours committing her form, her scent, her breath, whatever he could to memory. He'd hold on to that feeling afterwards, whenever he needed to. Even then, even when she was sick and tired from carrying his child, he couldn't bring himself to really regret sleeping with her. If he never had her again, it wouldn't matter; he'd given himself fully to her and had meant it in every way he could manage to show her. He wouldn't take that experience back for the world.
But even that's selfish, huh? he thought grimly, hating himself for wanting her even now. He bit the inside of his cheek, letting his aramitama feed off the taste of his own blood. It coated his tongue, turning his thoughts away from Hiyori as it focused instead on the combative nature of the situation.
I won't let them die, I won't, he told himself, repeating the words until he could safely and calmly think about her again.
There was no reason to worry about Hiyori's health just now, he reasoned. She had doctors at home and gods watching over her, and everything about her exam results suggested both she and the baby were perfectly fine. She was happy, happier than he'd ever seen her, even when she had to contend with mood swings and fatigue. Yukine too; he'd grown extremely attached to Hiyori, more than usual, and he followed her around like a lost puppy, fretting over her even more than Yato did. Even Kofuku and Daikoku were excited for them, though Yato knew they had to be conflicted over their friends having a child when they couldn't. He'd offered to move out in consideration of their feelings, but they'd firmly refused.
"Don't even think about taking Hiyorin's baby away from us," Kofuku had threatened. "I'm that kid's Auntie whether you like it or not!"
He chuckled at the memory, and at Daikoku's expression at the thought of being called "Uncle." They'd both been sworn to secrecy, of course, but the mood at home was always warm and hopeful these days.
He took a deep, steadying breath and sighed. Bad things happened sometimes. Life was unpredictable that way. Yato was deeply sorry for his boss and hoped his wife would recover, but he shouldn't worry that the same thing would happen to Hiyori.
Hiyori will be okay. We'll all be okay, he told himself. He just wished he could believe it too.
Yasumi put off calling Noriaki until after she'd had a good, long nap. She woke sometime in the afternoon to the sound of her mother snoring loudly down the hall. Clearly the family discussion was over now, but it would be a while before Yasumi could interrogate Hana about it. She picked up her phone and reluctantly unblocked her cousin. A new message immediately popped up, though it had been sent several hours ago.
You little brat, you blocked me, didn't you?
"Hah," she scoffed, with a pointed sense of satisfaction. It didn't last long, though.
"Yeah?" he answered after a couple of rings. Yasumi grimaced at his nasally, unpleasant voice.
"... You asked about gods," she said without any greeting. "Why?"
"Lovely to hear from you too, Yasumi-chan," he said, stressing the honorific. "Didn't you learn any manners?"
"My manners are irrelevant," she growled. "I don't wanna talk to you longer than I have to, and I know you don't wanna talk to me either. Get to the point."
He clicked his tongue and she knew he was rolling his eyes at her tone.
"Very well." he said. "Mother told me to ask. So, have you?"
Yasumi scratched at her arm, uncertain.
"Maybe," she muttered.
"Amagiri-no-Mikoto6, right?"
She frowned. "Who the fuck is that?"
"Language," he scolded. "He's a war god, though he goes by a few other names. At least that's what Mother says, I just know him by the one. He's supposed to have a sword powerful enough to rend the heavens themselves. That's why he's the Renderer of Heaven."
"... You mean Yukine?" she asked, remembering what he'd said about being a pair of blades.
"What?"
"Never mind," she said; clearly Noriaki didn't know much either. "I met someone who called themselves a god, but I dunno if it was that Heaven guy. He called himself Yatogami."
There was a pause. "Mother, do you know the name Yatogami?"
"Aunt Reiko is there?" she asked, eager to get rid of her cousin. "Can I talk to her?"
"Yeah, sure," he said, sounding slightly put off. "She wants to speak with you, Mother."
"Thank you, dear," a weathered voice replied. There was a crackling noise as the phone was transferred and a second later her Aunt spoke. "Hello, Yasumi-chan. It's been quite a while since we've spoken, hasn't it?"
"Aunt Reiko! Yeah, since... two years ago at New Years? How are you, Auntie?"
"Oh, fine," Reiko chuckled in her deep, gravelly tones. "Just the usual complaints that come with age. But more importantly, I heard from Rin that you and your mother have had quite a scare, dear."
"... Yeah," Yasumi admitted, shivering at the memory. "I couldn't see it but-"
"You sensed it, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"As I thought," Reiko said slowly. "It really is you, isn't it, Yasumi-chan? My successor?"
Yasumi fidgeted with her pillow.
"That's what Yukine and Yato say."
"So you have met him. I don't recall the name Yatogami, but the only god that should know the details about our situation besides Ame-san is Amagiri-no-Mikoto, so it must be him."
"Are you sure, Aunt Reiko? He wasn't particularly impressive enough for a title like that..." Though... he WAS kind of terrifying sometimes.
"My memory of him is very faint, dear. All I remember is that he came for me fifty years ago, just as he's come for you."
Yasumi blinked.
"He... he was there for your bonding?!" she asked, surprised. "He never told me that!"
"Yes, of course. According to the stories, Amagiri-no-Mikoto has always returned to our shrine to protect us in the event that Heaven or ayakashi attack us during the ritual. He was there for my predecessor too. But I, like my grandfather before me, have always had the Sight, so our contact with the war god has been extremely limited. I'm quite sure I only met him once, at the ritual itself. It is unusual for him to keep watch over the successor directly; I suspect the unique circumstances regarding your Sight have made it more prudent for him to warn you against threats you can't see."
"Hmm, well, I've only met him once too," Yasumi admitted. "Most of my contact is with Yukine."
"Pardon?"
"Yukine," Yasumi repeated. "He says he's Yato's Regalia. He's a small boy with blonde hair and a red mark on his collarbone."
"Oh my, no I don't believe I've ever met him. Perhaps he's new. The only Regalia I am familiar with is Toshiya-san."7
"Who?"
"Reikki, Ame-san's Regalia. He's very easy to remember, since we have similar names," her aunt chuckled. "He's an older man, very gentle. He's often wandering the grounds, says he's on patrol. I think he gets bored, since Ame-san can't leave. He's the one who told me that Amagiri-no-Mikoto has always come for us; poor Ame-san retains very little of her memories after each ritual so she relies on him to fill in the gaps."
"Oh, is this the shinki that came up with this whole spell?" Yasumi asked, curious.
"Hmm, I wouldn't really know, dear. I'm afraid I'm getting old, my memory isn't what it used to be. I don't have much in the way of advice either, I apologize. I just wanted to speak to you at least once before I forget all about Ame-san," Reiko admitted sadly.
"Will... will you really forget it all, Auntie?"
"Yes, dear. I will still remember her as our guardian deity, of course, but I will not remember knowing her as a person. That's simply how it is when gods and humans interact. All things come to an end, eventually. Still," she sighed. "One can't help but mourn the loss of someone who has been a part of you for half a century. Even though we're still bonded for now, it's been some time since she went into stasis, so I've not heard her voice since. I doubt I will have any meaningful conversation with her again."
"Aunt Reiko..."
"But that's alright, Yasumi-chan," her aunt said warmly. "Now it will be your turn to know her. She is a very special existence, just like you."
Yasumi fell quiet.
"Auntie... I'm not special at all," she said slowly. "I'm just defective. The only reason I'm getting the Sight now is because Ame needs it."
"That is rubbish, dear," Reiko scolded. "You were chosen by the spell because you have the strength and potential to share your soul with a god. Who ever told you that the Sight is the only thing Ame-san needs? Not just any member of our family can take on a task like this."
"But I've always been normal! I can't even use spells and seals all that well. Doesn't that mean my spiritual power is weak?"
"Silly girl, haven't you ever wondered why you're the only member of this family who cannot See at all? If it were a matter of weakness, you would still sense things from time to time. You have been completely impervious to the Otherworld for fifteen years, despite carrying our blood. That is an impossibility. The ability doesn't dilute with the generations. But you aren't just Hana-chan's child, Yasumi. You're also your father Koichi's daughter. It's not that you don't have spiritual power, or that it's weak; it's that your father's blood carries its own gift, a gift that he's left you despite passing on."
"Dad did?! That's not possible, Dad was completely normal!"
Her aunt laughed in that rough, hearty way only the elderly could. "Certainly, to most everyone else in this family it would seem that way. He was as dense as a brick when it came to the Otherworld, Koichi-san was. I doubt anyone but I noticed the truth, and only because Ame-san noticed it first. Your father possessed a very curious ability, one I don't think he even realized he had himself. On the mainland, they call it a positive constitution.8 You're aware of the old Chinese concept of Yin and Yang?"
"It's the mix of positive and negative energy in all things, isn't it?" Yasumi said, remembering seeing the terms used in a video game at some point.
"Yes. All beings carry both, but sometimes, people are born with rare imbalances in the amount of energy they possess. The excess of Yin, positive energy, is a trait often associated with those of exorcist blood. They have a natural disposition to ward off evil simply by existing, so they must train hard to learn how to See into the Far Shore. Your father possessed such a disposition. You do as well. At some point in the past, it is my belief that the Kobayashi line must have intermarried with an exorcist from the mainland and passed on this gift. Your Sight has always been with you, Yasumi-chan. You've just been protected from it by your father's blood."
"I'm back!"
Hiyori got to her feet with surprising nimbleness and hurried into the hall, her tail flicking excitedly.
"Welcome back, Yato!" she said, stopping in front of him as he settled his boots neatly on the rack. She expected him to pick her up and swing her around in a tight embrace as he usually did, but he only took her hand, his fingers barely brushing against her skin before he let go. He looked exhausted, more so than usual, and gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Mm, hey there," he said. "Something good happen today? You look happy."
"A little, but... are you okay?" she asked, worried at his lack of energy. "You don't look well."
"Yeah, it was a long day," he said, weary. "Where's everyone else?"
"Daikoku and Kofuku went out for a walk earlier, Yukine-kun is making dinner."
"Smells good," he noted.
"It's hot pot. We bought snacks too. And Bishamon sent some beer."
"Bishamon?" he asked, surprised, following her down the hall.
"We met up with her by chance at the market," Hiyori said. "She gave me her phone number and said we were friends! I was really happy."
"You didn't tell her, did you?" he asked, wary.
"No," she said, gently placing a hand over her abdomen. "I'm sure we can trust her, but you're right, we have to keep it as quiet as we can if we don't want Heaven finding out."
He made a strange motion, as though he wanted to reach out and touch her, but changed his mind at the last second. A pang of loneliness cut through Hiyori like a knife.
"Yato..." she began, but she was interrupted as Yukine's voice called from the kitchen.
"Yato, is that you?"
"Yeah, I'm back," Yato replied as Yukine peeked around the doorway to the living room, still wearing his apron. "Hey kid," he said fondly, patting his head.
"You look like shit," Yukine said bluntly. "And I know it ain't my fault, so what the hell have you been up to behind my back, huh?!"
"N-nothing! It was just a long day!"
Yukine glared at him suspiciously.
"You didn't go and get yourself another secret Regalia, did you?"
Yato spluttered, aghast. "What?! Of course not! I promised didn't I?!"
Yukine gave a grunt but looked slightly more at ease. "Just checking," he grumbled. He suddenly noticed Hiyori and her tail. "Hiyori, you dropped your body again?"
"Oh, er, seems like it," she said, abashed. "It's just easier to move around in this form, it's less heavy."
Yukine sighed and shook his head but went back in to lay her body down properly. "At least tell me so I can move you out of the way," he told her.
"Sorry, Yukine-kun. I'll tell you next time."
"Good. Dinner will be ready in about an hour," Yukine announced as he headed back into the kitchen.
"Mm, great," Yato said, intending to sit down at the table, but Hiyori grabbed the back of his jersey, startling him. "Hiyori?"
"Something's wrong," she said without preamble. He blinked at her and that strange, distant look came over him again.
"Nothing's wrong," he said, tugging her fingers off gently. "I'm just tired."
"That's not true," she insisted. "You won't look at me properly, and you've never come home without hugging me like you haven't seen me in a hundred years."
The corner of his mouth trembled slightly. "It's really nothing," he said again, but he didn't let go of her fingers. "Just... it was a rough day, so I'm trying not to do anything stupid."
"Like what?"
He blushed, looking more like his usual self. "I dunno," he muttered. "Let's talk about this later, yeah?"
She clasped his hands tightly.
"I don't like that," she said urgently.
"Don't like what?" he asked, concerned.
"I don't like it when you won't look at me. It scares me, like you're somewhere far away and I can't reach you."
"Hiyori..."
"Whatever it is, I can take it!" she said firmly. "I'm right here, so please don't hide things from me, Yato."
He bit his lip, thinking, and suddenly pulled her into a desperate, tight embrace.
"Sorry, Hiyori," he said in a low voice. "It's not that I'm trying to avoid you, I just... something upsetting happened at work today, and as soon as I saw you, all I wanted to do was carry you upstairs and... well, you know."
She blushed furiously into his shoulder.
"O-oh," she said in a high pitched voice.
"Yeah," Yato said, burying his face in the crook of her neck. "But you're always tired and I know you've been against it all along, so I'm trying my best to behave. It's just a lot harder to do that if I act like I usually do."
Hiyori hesitated for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Idiot," she said. "I haven't been against anything, you've only ever brought it up when I've been tired or preoccupied with something. It's... it's not a bad thing to want," she admitted, hiding her mortification in his scarf. "I... I want it too, sometimes. But when you stopped asking, I thought maybe... I guess I was a little scared that maybe you didn't want me anymore, since I look like this now," she murmured into his jersey. "I didn't want to be rejected so I didn't ask either."
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said, pulling away with a frown. "I've never thought I didn't want you, not in any context. I'm not so shallow I'd stop loving you just because your weight or appearance changed. I just didn't want to pressure you when you have enough to worry about already. Besides," he added slowly, embarrassed. "Maybe it's different for humans, but seeing you like this, knowing you're carrying my kid, it's a serious turn-on for me."
"Jeez, don't say stuff like that out loud!" she said, her face burning with shame. "Yukine-kun is in the other room!"
"He is," Yukine said loudly, his voice strained. "And I'm trying REAL fucking hard to focus only on this food but if you two don't get the hell out of here in the next five seconds I can't be held responsible for stinging the ever-loving shit out of Yato. You're not exactly whispering."
Yato had the presence of mind to look abashed.
"S-sorry, Yukine." He turned back to Hiyori and kissed her palms. "T-Then, if it's okay with you, Hiyori... Permission to carry you off with me?" he asked in a whisper, almost shyly.
She nodded, unable to speak through her heart pounding in her throat, and when he picked her up she immediately hid her face in his shoulder, her arms around his neck.
"You better be back down here in an hour, you stupid couple," Yukine shouted after them. "And keep it the fuck down, at least for my sake if getting stung isn't enough for you! God, I don't know why I put up with this shit," he muttered angrily, chopping as loudly as he could as he began reciting his latest homework assignment from memory. "The chemical formula for ammonium nitrate is NH4NO3..."
Yato knew it would only be a temporary reprieve, but at the moment he didn't care. He couldn't focus on his anxieties while Hiyori was digging her fingernails into his shoulder blades, her small cries a sound so intoxicating he wanted to listen to them forever. He pressed his lips to the pulse point of her throat, savoring the taste of her as her heart beat loudly against his tongue.
"Hiyori," he murmured into her skin as she shivered beneath him.
"You-you're being strange, Yato," she said, her breath catching as his hand ran against her thigh.
"You don't like it?" he asked, kissing his way up the side of her neck. "I can stop, if you really want me to," he said, biting her ear lightly. Her breathy little yelp was enough to send a wave of pleasure down his spine.
"N-no, I don't, but..." she lost her words for a second, overcome. "Y-you're different this time."
"Is that bad?" He paused, worried.
She shook her head frantically, her hair cascading over her shoulders and onto the sheets messily. "It's just, last time was... less," she said, uncertain.
"Less what? Am I hurting you?! The kid?!" He made to pull away from her but she held him in place, her expression strangely determined.
"No, not that," she said, touching his cheek with her fingertips, concerned. "It's like... you're desperate somehow. Like you're afraid of something."
He ran his fingers through her hair gently, pausing to brush her temple with his thumb each time. "I am afraid," he admitted sadly. "One day, I'll wake up to a world where you're no longer here. There's no getting around that. It's just a matter of when. That terrifies me, Hiyori, more than anything."
"Yato..."
He took her hand and kissed each fingertip. "I told you, something bad happened today at work," he said slowly. "My boss... he and his wife, they were going to have a baby too. But today... she had a miscarriage, Hiyori. The doctors didn't know if she was gonna survive either."
"That's... that's horrible," she said, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
"They were so happy, and then, just like that, all of it is gone," he said, shutting his eyes. "It would only take a second for everything to fall apart for us too. When I think that, all I want is to love you as much as I possibly can, enough for a thousand lifetimes. I know it's stupid, and that sex is fleeting, but this is my way of doing that for you. I'm a combat god, after all. All I'm good at is physical action."
"That's not true," she said, pulling him into an embrace. "You're so much more than that, Yato. You're a kind god. That you worry and feel sadness for others, all of that is proof you're a god worth believing in. You've always been my god of fortune, after all." She held him against her shoulder tenderly, as though he might break. "I'm human, so one day, I'll have to leave you... but when that happens, I still want to come home to you. Promise you'll find me so I can?"
He looked up at her, upset.
"Hiyori, I can't make you my shinki," he said, his heart aching. "If I do... you'll forget everything. You won't remember us, you won't even remember our kid. And because of a god's greatest secret, I won't be able to tell you about it. I won't even be able to call your name like this ever again."
She brushed the hair from his face and gave him a small, sad smile.
"I know," she said. "And I'm sorry for asking it of you; I know it's selfish. But... it's a small price to pay to come back to you."
"You wouldn't realize you were coming back to me, you wouldn't love us the way you do now. We would be strangers."
"So make me fall in love with you all over again," she said seriously.
"You say that like it's a given!" he argued, upset that she was taking the whole thing so lightly. Didn't she understand what a miracle it was that he'd found her in the first place?
"Because it is," she insisted. "Even if I can't remember anything, I'll still be myself. And this heart, my heart," she said, taking his hand and pressing it to her chest. "It might not know it, but it's yours. Yours and Yukine-kun's, and this child's too. Promise me you'll come find me and take it back, take me back."
"Hiyori..."
"Please, Yatogami. It's a wish from your most devout believer, won't you grant it?"
He groaned and sunk into her collarbone. "As if I could ignore a wish from you, idiot," he said, slightly cross. "But I'll still need that five yen coin."
"I can get it," she said, meaning to sit up. He stopped her with a kiss, heavy and breathless, the force of his desire coaxing her mouth open with a gasp.
"Later," he murmured. "We're not done here yet."
Notes: Aramitama, or "wild soul", is a concept in Shintoism that describes the original nature of a god as violent and untamed. It's thought that gods are all born as wrathful beings that must be pacified and worshipped to become a proper god. Gods that specialize in combat are generally attributed stronger aramitama than most. Nigimitama is the other half of the Mitama concept. This is the normal, rational state of a god, which can only appear once the wrathful spirit has been pacified. Gods are considered proper deities once they've acquired nigimitama. Umaibo is a japanese puff snack and Yato's favorite treat, according to the manga. Of course, in typical Yato fashion, it's a snack mostly popular with kids. The word for "lemon" in Japanese is literally "lemon" (レモン). Other fruit like strawberries (ichigo) or clementines (mikan) have proper names that can be names for people too, but lemon isn't really one of them. Infrared connection is how most phones in Japan used to exchange numbers and email addresses. I have no idea if this is still a thing, since smartphones are more common these days, but since most of the characters in Noragami still use flip phones, they probably still use infrared. Speaking of flip phones; this might seem old-fashioned to a western audience, but flip phones have generally been considered more intuitive for the Japanese keyboard because it requires cycling through syllables, sort of like how we used to cycle through letters by pressing the number keys. Yeah, I know, I'm old. Literally means "Heaven-rendering lord", this is the title Yato earned after cutting Heaven apart with Yukine. This shinki's character is 齢, (normally pronounced Yowai) which is a measure of time/age/years. As a name, his name is the alternative reading Toshi, as a vessel, Rei, and lastly as a person, Toshiya (齢矢), with the Ya character meaning arrow. The meaning would come to something like "aged arrow." For the record, I do sorta know what I'm doing wrt shinki names... sorta. *sweats* Three guesses what my fave main in Genshin Impact is~ (it's Chongyun and you can pry him from my cold dead hands, just like all three of the Noragami kids). *COUGH* The second-hand embarrassment that comes with writing these two is off the flipping charts. What even am I doing, I DON'T KNOW. As always, thanks so much for sticking with me and I really hope to hear your thoughts on this weird little story of mine!
