Hello and welcome back! In this chapter: Yato is angry a lot, Rabou is confused a lot, and Kofuku is… Kofuku. Enjoy!
2: ALIVE AGAIN
"Come! Sekki!" Yato snapped; he didn't take his eyes off of Rabou for even one second as Sekki flew to his waiting hand. He clutched the cloth-wrapped grip of the blade, pointing the business end of it right at Rabou.
"You are Yatogami, are you not?" Rabou asked, his tone oddly urgent.
Yato snorted. "Not this bullshit again. Don't tell me you're gonna go off on another boring rant about kami of calamity. We settled this already! I'm done with that stuff, go find a new buddy to chop people up with!"
All Rabou did was stare owlishly at him, as if he didn't understand what Yato was saying. But Yato wasn't about to forget what this asshole had done— he couldn't forget the sight of Rabou's fist gripping Hiyori's scarf, or the fragile sphere of her memories in his grasp, and the cold grin on his face right before he'd turned and hurled it away—and the sight of that shimmering purple orb shattering just inches above the safety of Yato's hand… How could he ever forgive any of that? Attacking Yato himself was one thing, but attacking Hiyori? Unforgivable. Yato tightened his grip on Sekki, seething.
"But you are Yatogami? Do you know who I am? Do you remember me?!" Rabou asked again. He sounded almost frantic.
"Enough already, you bastard!" Yato snapped. "You wanna get cut down again?!"
"Yatogami, please, I beg you to listen to me," Rabou insisted, taking a step closer. Yato raised Sekki warningly.
Hiyori edged even closer to Yato, till her shoulder brushed his arm. He felt her fingers tug at his sleeve. "Hey, something's strange about this, isn't it?" she whispered uneasily.
Yato's scowl deepened even more. "Yeah, it's weird, all right," he muttered. "We watched him crumble into dust, how the hell did he come back again?!"
"Y-yeah, but… doesn't this seem different somehow?" she asked. He paused, glancing at her. Sometimes he forgot about the half-Phantom thing; she had such a strong connection to the Far Shore now. It wouldn't be surprising if she could sense things normal humans couldn't. But she was right, there was something off about this, something indefinable that was different than before. Yato didn't really care, though. Whatever it was, it was probably a trick of some kind.
Yato took a step forward, raising Sekki. "Sorry, but I'm gonna put an end to this quickly. Whatever this is, it can't be anything good. You ready, Sekki?" Yato said, his tone low.
Yeah, Yukine said grimly in his head.
Hefting the blade high, he charged at Rabou with the most bad-ass yell he could manage— which, under any other circumstances, he would've graciously admitted was a pretty high level of bad-ass.
Leaping high into the air, he hurtled towards Rabou with Sekki primed to wreck his shit— this was gonna be a one-hit takedown, he'd make sure of it! But Rabou didn't budge, didn't reach for a hidden weapon or call for a shinki… but then again, he'd always been a showoff anyway. This bastard was gonna do something at the very last second—
Except Yato was mere feet away now and closing in fast, and Rabou was still just staring up at him with that lost, wide-eyed look, and…
Yato, wait! Yukine blurted, and Yato realized it at the same instant that his shinki did. Swearing, Yato pulled Sekki back and his feet hit the dirt, skidding to a stop with the razor-sharp edge of Sekki's blade a hair's-breadth from Rabou's forehead. The kami's silver hair fluttered away from his face with the breeze from Yato's momentum.
The two kami stood there, frozen. Yato's jaw clenched as he stared at Rabou… and he saw two normal, not-possessed eyes gazing back. This… this was not the empty husk that had fought him just a few days ago. This was not the spirit vessel that had crumbled to dust. This person before him now was a kami made whole, fully fledged and exactly as he'd been five hundred years ago.
"How the hell did you come back, huh?" Yato hissed. "What the fuck is happening here?!"
"I… I spoke to the one called… Bishamon," Rabou mumbled. His eyes were slightly glazed as he spoke, and he swayed on his feet. Yato jerked back, stunned at the mention of his number-one enemy's name.
D-did he just say Bishamon?! Yukine gasped. What the…
"She… told me that I… reincarnated," Rabou said, hoarsely, stumbling to the side a bit.
Yato's jaw dropped. "You reincarnated? You did?!" He stepped back, Sekki sagging in his slackened grip. "B-but you haven't had any followers in like five hundred years! Man… that's just not fair." He glared at Rabou, wounded. Pointing Sekki at him, he yelled, "Don't tell me you're more popular than I am!"
"That's what you're worried about here?!" Hiyori exclaimed.
"But you need to have believers to reincarnate, Hiyori!" Yato whined. "He's been dead for hundreds of years! And it's not like he was super popular back then, either! Where is he gonna get that many followers from, huh?!"
"That's not the biggest issue right now!" Hiyori yelled. "What about—"
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground broke off the budding argument before Hiyori could do anything rash, like pinning Yato to the ground and twisting his arm again. Yato turned around, only to see that Rabou had collapsed in a heap of limp limbs and unfashionable clothes. Silence sat over them for a moment, and then Yato had the presence of mind to call Yukine back.
The three of them gaped wordlessly at the unconscious kami. What were they even supposed to say in this situation, anyway? Another sound broke the confused spell hanging over them: small footfalls pattering on the concrete path, cheerful humming. Yato had just enough time to think about how tough this was gonna be to explain before Kofuku skipped into view, coming towards them from the shop.
"There you are, Yato-chan!" Kofuku sang out. "I heard a funny noise so I came to see what you're doing! You're not leaving me out of something fun, are you?"
"Ahahaha… yo, Kofuku!" Yato chimed, a bit too perkily. He tried to step in front of Rabou but it was too late— she spotted Rabou lying at his feet and bounded over, squealing.
"Ooh! Did you bring a friend over?!" Kofuku asked eagerly. "Why's he on the ground?"
"K-Kofuku, uh… this is kind of a weird situation," Yato laughed weakly. "That is, uh… he's…"
Yukine jutted a hand out, pointing at Rabou. "That's the crazy, dead kami that tried to kill us a few days ago," he stated. A heavy silence fell over them again.
"….Oh!" Kofuku said, her smile icing over.
"Like I said," Yato grumbled, "Weird situation."
The minutes ticked by, slowly and awkwardly. At a loss for what to do, they'd dragged the unconscious Rabou into the shop and upstairs, where he now lay in the middle of the room. Yato sat cross-legged a few feet away, elbows on knees and chin on his knuckles, scowling very, very hard. Hiyori was standing anxiously somewhere behind him, and Yukine was sitting next to him, shoulders hunched inside his parka. Yato could feel his tension, but there was no stinging. The kid really had learned something, after all.
Kofuku was hovering nearby, but she'd been forbidden to come too close. Daikoku, the smart man who'd made that call, was leaning against the wall and intensely puffing his cigarette and staunchly refusing to look at the latest uninvited visitor to his home.
Yato had a problem on his hands. Rabou had reincarnated, that much was obvious. When he'd seen Rabou the other day for the first time in five hundred years, standing atop that lamp post, he'd known right away that something was wrong. The mask had been a giveaway, but there had been an aura of wrongness about him, too. That Rabou had been hollow and incomplete; he'd sensed it immediately. But now, this Rabou was in every way a fully reborn kami. Yato may not have had a shrine (yet) or a presence in Takamagahara (yet), but he had the same senses that the more privileged kami did. He knew a real kami when he saw one.
So yes, Rabou was clearly resurrected, but how? A kami who'd been dead for five hundred years shouldn't have had enough supporters to reincarnate.
Rabou's last appearance had been the Stray's doing, and he just knew that Father had been involved somehow. They'd planned to pit Yato against a familiar face and push him to his limits, hoping he'd snap and abandon his newfound principles, hoping he'd call the Stray to his side once more- yet another ploy to bring him home to dear old Dad.
However, when the Stray had brought Rabou back to fight Yato, that hadn't been a real reincarnation. That was a zombie held together with a Stray's curses, like duct tape. That was relatively easy, like gluing a broken vase back together. But this, a full reincarnation, resurrecting a forgotten, dead kami… that was like making it so the vase had never been broken at all. Could the Stray do that? Sure, Strays were powerful, but were they that powerful? Was Father capable of something like that? Even after hundreds of years, Yato still had no idea what his old man's true abilities were. Besides which, even if he could, it was unlike Father to try the same trick twice.
"Yato...?" Hiyori asked tentatively.
"Yeah," he muttered. He didn't have it in him to be cute and perky at the moment. This was serious.
"What's going to happen next?" she asked, voice tremulous.
"That depends on him," Yato said. And it did.
Why and how aside, Rabou was here again and something needed to be done. The only question was what that something might be. And that depended on what Rabou planned to do, and there was the catch. Outside, on the path… Rabou had definitely been different. Why had he just stood there? Why had he not fought back? Yato had been literally a hair's breadth away from killing him right where he'd stood, and he hadn't even tried to dodge or retaliate. Yato had never known Rabou to be so passive.
If he planned on continuing their fight, then why the helpless wounded bird act? That wasn't at all like the kami Yato had fought alongside in centuries past. Rabou has always been far too dramatic for such subterfuge, even though he'd been some kind of spy-assassin in his human life.
The longer he sat there staring at his onetime "friend", becoming increasingly confused, the more Yato kind of wanted to reach over there and strangle the reincarnation right out of the bastard and settle the matter. Whatever was going on here, it'd stop being his problem if Rabou stopped existing, right? That was how the two of them had settled problems in those days, after all. That was what he'd been born to do.
And yet, he was trying to not be like that anymore. That was the whole point of his delivery kami scheme. He glanced sideways at Hiyori, who was regarding Rabou with her forehead furrowed and her lips pursed in puzzlement. He remembered the cold fear on Hiyori's face when he'd told her that kami could do whatever they wanted, because human morality didn't apply to them. But Hiyori was human, and she had a very strong moral compass. If he summoned Sekki and struck Rabou down right now, while he was unconscious and defenseless, would that fear come back to her eyes? Would she fear and despise him, as the zombie-Rabou had said was the fate of a calamity kami?
"I guess we'll find out what happens next once this guy wakes up," Yato declared.
"Y-yeah, I guess so," Hiyori said. She sounded genuinely worried. She too had noticed that something was wrong here, and she wanted to make sure they (meaning Yato) didn't do anything rash. What a sweetheart she was.
He'd hold off on taking any drastic action. For now, at least.
"I'm gonna go make us some tea!" Kofuku announced, and scampered out the door- with Daikoku hot on her heels, protesting frantically.
Yato barely glanced up, his eyes still locked on the vexing individual unconscious before him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hiyori glance back and forth between them. She settled herself down a few feet away, legs tucked under herself and hands on her lap.
And then Rabou's hand moved, and Yato was instantly on alert. Rabou's mouth moved as he murmured something inaudible, and the fingers on his right hand flexed. Hiyori edged close to Yato, and under any other circumstances he might've enjoyed the feeling that she wanted him to protect her. This asshole was already ruining everything.
Rabou shifted again, and his eyelids fluttered open. Yato tensed, his right hand at the ready to receive Sekki at a second's notice.
"Have a nice nap?" Yato asked sharply.
"Yatogami?" Rabou asked, voice barely above a whisper. He looked to the side, then stirred and reached towards Yato. "Yatogami, please, listen to me-"
"Hey! You stay put," Yato warned.
"Please," Rabou insisted. He pushed himself up on shaking forearms. "I ask only that you listen to me, I have no wish to-"
"I said stay put, you-!"
"Yato-chaaaan!" trilled Kofuku, her voice wafting in from the hallway. She trotted into the room with a loaded tea tray balanced precariously in her hands. Daikoku hovered behind her, and on his face was the look of a man questioning all of his life choices as he eyed the tray carried by his kamidess. Then she spotted Rabou and exclaimed, "Ah, your friend's awake!"
"Oi, Kofuku, hold on!" Yato protested, reaching out. But it was too late. It had already been too late, from the moment that Daikoku had let her carry that tray (probably because she had asked him with the big, sad puppy eyes). As Kofuku bounded over to Rabou and leaned over him, the teapot toppled over, rolled off the tray— Rabou had just enough time to glance up at her in alarm before the teapot shattered with a crash against his head. He dropped like a rock, out cold once more.
No one moved. No one even breathed. Yato was pretty sure that for a split second, there wasn't even a heartbeat to be had in the entire room. There was nothing but shocked stares.
"Guess he's gonna sleep more," Yukine muttered. Hiyori let out a startled, choked bark of a laugh and then guiltily pressed her hands to her mouth. Daikoku lifted the tray from Kofuku's hands with a muttered 'pardon me, milady', and Kofuku just gaped at Rabou in astonishment. The only one trying harder than Hiyori to hold back a laugh was Yato, who was struggling very, very hard.
"S-someone should clean that up, right?" Hiyori asked faintly. She pointed to the tea soaking Rabou's face and hair and forming a puddle under his head, and the shards of pottery strewn all over. It had cut his forehead, too; a small trickle of blood slid down his temple. Hiyori was right, but Yato wasn't about to volunteer.
"I'll do it!" Kofuku chimed enthusiastically, thrusting her hand into the air.
"N-no, no no no, no," Daikoku cut in, grabbing her shoulders gently. "I'll take care of it."
"It's fine, Daikoku-san, I'll do it," Yukine offered. "That's part of my job here, isn't it? Cleaning up spills?"
Yato grinned, relieved as the tense mood of the room finally lifted. "Wow, look at how great my kid is! Ain't he responsible?" he crowed. "Offering to clean up a former enemy of ours. I have the best shinki!"
Yukine ducked his head, though not quite fast enough to hide the flush on his face from the praise, and he grumbled, "Just tryin' to help." He shuffled out of the room to fetch some rags.
His head ached. As Rabou woke up, that was the first thing he realized. Bright lights stung at his tired eyes as he slowly opened them, making the dull ache even worse. He tried to reach up and feel his stinging forehead, but found his wrists bound together. He opened his eyes again in spite of the lights, and craned his head up. Sure enough, his hands had been tied. He let his head drop again and squinted against the light, waiting for his eyes to adjust.
As he stared up at the wooden ceiling, he pieced together what he could remember: he'd found the home of the poverty kami… and Yatogami had attacked him. Yes, he remembered the blue-eyed kami charging at him with a sword, but he had held back at the last second. Even so, he'd been ablaze with anger. Did Yatogami expect to continue their recent fight?
Rabou pulled against the ropes on his wrists, jaw set in frustration. He had to find Yatogami and get answers. He had no desire to take up a fight he didn't even remember, he just wanted to know who he was. If he could just explain himself, if he could make Yatogami understand what he wanted…!
"Oi." The low voice that growled from across the room snapped Rabou out of his sudden urgency. He turned his head and saw a tall, dark-haired man, leaning against the wall across the room with his arms crossed over his chest. A white stick that trailed smoke dangled from the fingertips of his right hand. He took a puff of smoke from the stick and said to Rabou, "Settle down, now."
A blur of pink caught his eye and a slim girl with bright, curly hair bounced into view, squatting down next to him. "Ooh, are you awake again?" she exclaimed. She beamed widely. "Sorry about the teapot!"
The girl sat down beside him with her legs tucked under herself. Her pink curls swayed around her face as she moved. Pink hair… Rabou remembered what Bishamon's shinki had said— that the boss of the shop was a pink-haired girl. This girl radiated with the same type of aura as Bishamon and Yatogami, and he could see that same type of shinki bond between her and the dark-haired man.
"Are you the poverty kami?" he asked hoarsely.
"Shh, don't tell anyone! It's bad for business," she said conspiratorially, putting a finger to her lips. He had no idea what that meant. She shifted to lie down on her stomach, chin propped on her knuckles. "So you're Rabou, huh?"
"So it seems," he said bitterly.
"I hope you're not gonna try to hurt Yato-chan again," she remarked, playing with a lock of his hair. "He's my best friend, you know?" Her tone had suddenly gotten more serious.
"I've no interest in harming Yatogami," Rabou said, frustrated. Perhaps if he could convince her, she might convince Yatogami.
"Hmm, really? Well, that's good! It'd be pretty rude if you attacked my best friend in my own house, since I've taken you in and shown you hospitality and all. If you did, I might have to retaliate, you know?" she said. Her fingers tightened on the lock of hair as she tugged a little too sharply, drawing a wince from him. Her eyes glinted in a way that made him uneasy, and he wondered what power this kami possessed.
Just then, the distant sound of voices reached them and the pink-haired one sprang to her feet. "Yato-chan is here!" she trilled, twirling around on her tiptoes. She bounded out of the room. The dark-haired shinki stayed, though. He shoved one hand into the pocket of his pants and raised his other hand, taking a long pull on the white stick. A plume of smoke rose from his mouth as he exhaled. The sharp smell of it tickled in Rabou's throat and he turned his head away— as much to avoid the man's harsh stare as the acrid smoke.
As he lay there in uncomfortable silence, he wondered what would become of him now. Would Yatogami tell him what he wanted to know? And if he wouldn't, what then? He didn't know if they would release him and let him leave.
Even if they did, he had no idea what he would do, or where he ought to go next. Was he going to spend his existence drifting aimlessly with a head full of fog and fragmented memories? No... there was something that he needed to do, something of utmost importance. If he couldn't do it, then... what? The thought made his stomach churn and he shifted again in agitation.
Soon enough, a clamor of voices drew closer to the room and the pink-haired woman returned, with Yatogami and his friends in tow. The three of them fell silent as they stepped into the room. Rabou tilted his head back to see them. They were the same two companions as before: the blond-haired boy and the brown-haired girl. This time, at closer range, he could see the shinki bond between the blond boy and Yatogami.
But the brown-haired girl— there was something peculiar about her. A strange energy radiated from her, but it wasn't a kami's energy; it was… unsettling. A translucent purple tail swished back and forth behind the girl's back, twitching nervously as she eyed him warily. He couldn't put a name to this strangeness, but Yatogami certainly seemed to be keeping unusual company.
"See?" chirped the pink-haired woman, pointing at Rabou. "Told ya he's awake!" No one responded.
Yatogami narrowed his eyes at Rabou. "Oi, Kofuku," he said quietly. "I think I hear some customers downstairs."
"Huh? I don't hear anything," Kofuku said, pouting. Her shinki seemed to pick up the hidden meaning in Yatogami's words, though, because he gently placed a hand on the small of Kofuku's back and steered her out of the room, saying something about how they should go tend to the shop.
"Hiyori, you should go with them," Yatogami added.
The girl's eyes widened. "Why?" she asked, forehead furrowing.
"Y-yeah, Yato, what's gonna happen here?" the shinki boy asked apprehensively. The girl didn't move from where she stood.
"We'll see, won't we?" Yato growled. He was still staring directly at Rabou.
Tied up and drained of energy as he was, Rabou couldn't help but scowl right back at him. What did Yatogami expect him to do in this state?
"I ask only for answers. You are the only one who can tell me of my past self; for days now, I have sought you out. I have no desire to fight you. I merely wish to know who I am," Rabou said urgently. His pulse quickened; he'd stated his purpose, he was so close to the secrets of his past, but it all depended on Yatogami now.
"Oh?" Yatogami's eyes were icy cold. He squatted down next to Rabou, forearms braced against his knees. "Answers, huh? That's a pretty bold ask, considering that you attacked my shinki and me… and you tried to kill Hiyori." The venom in his voice sent a cold chill down Rabou's spine.
The situation had just become much, much clearer. So he had come that close to taking the girl's life? It was no wonder that Yatogami held him in such contempt, if she was that important to him. And it explained why he remained so convinced that Rabou would try to hurt them again.
Yatogami sat down next to Rabou, legs crossed. His eyes were flat and frigid, his face alarmingly impassive. Those eyes brought back something that resonated within Rabou, some echo from the past. He had seen those eyes before, he knew that. Yatogami wanted to kill him, there was no doubt of that. And if he did, Rabou doubted he would reincarnate a second time.
Yato stared down at his old ally for a moment; he hoped the stare would intimidate him a little bit, since Yato was clearly angry and clearly had the upper hand, but he also needed a second to gather his thoughts.
This whole thing was a mess. He was gonna have to sort it out, but where was he supposed to start? He heaved a ragged sigh, leaning his chin on his hand and bracing his elbow on his knee.
"May I sit up?" Rabou asked, and he sounded appropriately tentative.
Yato snorted. "Yeah, sure, whatever." Rabou struggled for a moment with his tied wrists, but he managed to get himself seated upright and cross-legged.
"You've really caused me a whole lot of problems, you know," he grumbled.
"So I have heard," Rabou said, and he sounded way more aggravated than he had any right to be. "I remember almost none of it."
"So you don't remember teaming up with my creepy ex-shinki? That Stray?" Yato asked, and even he was impressed by how calm and not angry he sounded.
"Perhaps if you told me of this Stray, I could tell you if I do," Rabou shot back sourly. "There are no names to accompany the few faces that remain in my memories."
Yato's eyebrows furrowed. So he didn't remember joining forces with the Stray to fight Yato, and he didn't remember the two times he'd nearly killed Hiyori… Rabou had put them through so much trouble and caused so much pain, and here he was, not having to remember any of it. Well now, wasn't he just the luckiest piece of shit? Yato scoffed and glared at Rabou.
"How nice for you, to forget all the shitty stuff you did," he grumbled.
"If I could remember, I would," Rabou shot back. "I did not wish for my mind to be swept clean."
"So what do you remember, then, huh?" Yato growled, leaning forward. "You obviously remember something, if you came looking for me."
Rabou frowned, staring down at his bound hands. "I have seen... visions. Of the past. Blood, and a sword in my hands, and your eyes, full of rage."
Yato's jaw tensed, and he was suddenly keenly aware of Hiyori's and Yukine's presences in the room. They didn't know the whole story of Yato's past, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. But if this guy remembered stuff and blabbed about it...
"How exactly did you find me?" Yato asked, changing the subject.
"By chance, I found my way to the shrine of Bishamon. It was she who gave me your name— and mine, as well," Rabou said pointedly. Yato continued to scowl; he figured it was going to be a while before he stopped scowling, as pissed off as he was.
Now that he thought about it, Rabou had mentioned Bishamon's name before, outside the shop. If he was making that up, it was an awfully weird lie.
"And why would Bishamon help you out, huh?" Yato sneered. "Why would she tell you anything?"
"It was a courtesy to a fellow kami, she said, and then she forbade me to ever return uninvited," Rabou said. Yato snorted; that last part sure sounded like the bikini-wearing demon queen.
And then something terrible occurred to him, and he sat forward sharply.
"Was she the one who told you where to find me?" Yato asked urgently. Shit, if she knew where he was-!
"No, it was her shinki who suggested I might come here," Rabou said. Yato sat up a bit at that; there was only one shinki of Bishamon's who could have told him anything like that.
"Oh, yeah? What did this shinki look like?" Yato challenged, crossing his arms.
"He had short brown hair and green eyes. He wore a device of glass and metal on his face," Rabou said. "He spoke as if he knew you."
Well, that sure sounded like Kazuma. Either Rabou was telling the truth about that part of it, or something very weird was going on here.
He was getting increasingly uneasy about continuing this with Hiyori and Yukine present. If this kept up, the conversation could head into dangerous territory.
Rabou added, "This shinki told me of our battle, if only in passing. He also warned me that you are not the same as you once were, although I know not what he meant by that."
Yato snorted. Yeah, Kazuma would know that, wouldn't he? "Yeah, well, five hundred years is a long time to rethink your existence," he remarked. "Not that you'd know, since you were dead that whole time."
Rabou's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Dead, you say? Bishamon's shinki claimed that we fought recently, yet you say now that my existence ended long ago."
"That Stray I mentioned? She gave you a little vacation from being dead," Yato jeered. "She woke you up so she could pit you against me. It didn't work. And that wasn't a real reincarnation, either, just a shitty imitation."
"Why did this Stray awaken me to fight you? What was her intent?" Rabou asked insistently. "Please, Yatogami, tell me what you know."
Yato bristled at him. "Oi, I should be the one getting answers here! You're the one that attacked us! Why should I tell you anything?!"
Rabou gritted his teeth in frustration, fists clenching and straining against the ropes. Then he lowered his head, his shoulders slumping. "If you will not help me, then I ask you to slay me," he said quietly. "Slay me as you did before, Yatogami."
"Oh? You figured that out, huh?" Yato said coldly.
"Of course. We crossed blades, but only one of us remained. The outcome of that battle is clear- you were the victor, and I was slain by you," he murmured.
"You're damn right, you were," Yato snapped back. He braced his hands on his knees, fingernails digging into the pants of his track suit. "And I'll do it again if I have to."
"Then slay me once more!" Rabou snarled, his head snapping up, eyes blazing. "I have no quarrel with you now! I came here not to continue our fight, but to beg for the secrets that you hold! If you won't believe me, if you won't give me the answers I seek, then end me! I know nothing of my own existence— my own name was lost to me. Have you any idea what that is like? Do you know what it is to lose yourself, Yatogami? I'd rather be slain than survive like this!"
"Oh? You sure are picky. Poor you, not happy with your reincarnation, huh?" he asked coldly. "You'd remember your entire past if you could? Even the worst, most horrible parts? Some of it was pretty unpleasant."
"I couldn't even tell you that much," Rabou snarled. "I cannot remember my past self, neither the darkness nor the light. I know not whether I have gained or lost from this reincarnation."
Yato sat back, hands loosening on his knees; he hadn't expected that answer.
"How can I know what I am now, if I know nothing of what I was then?" Rabou said. "I awoke to this new existence with nothing, not even the truth of my own name. My name is Rabou, I am a kami of calamity. I remember bloodshed. This is all I know, and even those words are strange to me. The meaning of my own existence is unknown to me. Am I to wander like this until my existence ends again?" He leaned towards Yato and his eyes were wide and desperate.
Yato had to admit, that did sound like a pretty terrible fate. Not that Rabou didn't deserve it, but he was right about it being a shitty fate.
Yukine stood behind Yato, hovering anxiously. It'd so so, so easy to summon Sekki and put an end to Rabou again— way easier than it had been last time. It'd be over before Rabou could even register that it was happening. Quick and basically painless, a much nicer end than he had ever earned. He could totally make things easier for himself and just... do it.
Yato heaved another sigh and pressed his palms on his knees. Standing up slowly, Yato stared down at Rabou. "Once again… your wish has been heard loud and clear," he said. "Come, Sekki!"
Rabou watched in astonishment as the blond boy vanished in a flash of light— the boy barely had time to utter a startled sound, and then he materialized as a sword in Yatogami's grasp. The edge of the blade gleamed in the lights from above, and Rabou felt a sudden chill— this was as far as he would go in his new existence. He wasn't entirely surprised.
"So be it, Yatogami," he murmured. He let his eyelids slide shut, waiting for the strike that would end him, and he tried to still his suddenly racing heart. It wasn't even the thought of dying that scared him— he hadn't had enough of this existence to worry that he would miss it. Although, he had so wanted to fill these holes in his memories… but that would hardly matter now. Surely he wouldn't be aware of the dark, empty spaces within himself once he was gone.
He heard the slice of a sword through the air, and then- the ropes binding his wrists fell away. Rabou's eyes snapped open again in shock. He lifted his hands, staring in disbelief. His wrists were red from the ropes where his sleeves hadn't covered his skin, but he was unhurt. Could it really be…?
"Yukine, nice work," Yatogami said. The sword disappeared in a brilliant flash and returned as the boy, who was staring back and forth between the two of them in confusion.
Rabou looked up from his freed hands, stunned. "Yatogami, you…"
"Idiot. I never said which request I was gonna grant," he grumbled. "Oh, and stop calling me that. It's just Yato now. And be grateful, you shitty bastard. I'm about to tell you everything."