A/N: I'm in a good mood so I'll be nice and give you this chapter earlier than usual.
Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami
At 11:30 PM, the four were up and three of them were preparing to head out to meet Nora. Yato was saying goodbye to Yukine, whilst Hiyori was changing the cold towel on his head. Daikoku and Kofuku were patiently waiting for Yato to finish up.
When the former god of calamity left the room, he headed over to the other two. "You ready to go?" He asked them.
Daikoku raised an eyebrow. "For your information, we've been waiting for you to get ready to go. So are you ready to go now or do you need another minute?" His question was sarcastic, and Yato answered with a roll of his eyes.
Yato walked past them and went to the door, before opening it and stepping out. He was greeted with a rush of cold air and darkness, with only the lampposts to offer any source of light. His eyes quickly adjusted, however, and he started forward, aware of Kofuku and Daikoku's footsteps behind him.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning round, Yato noticed Kofuku was holding something out to him. Picking it up, he realised it was a torch.
"Oh! Er…thanks, Kofuku." He scratched the back of his head, surprised at how he could have forgotten something as important as a torch, which he would very well need in order not to walk into something or trip over every five seconds.
She smiled. "Don't mention it." Nodding, Yato turned back and started walking again, only for Kofuku to clear her throat.
"Hey, Yato." She called, holding back a chuckle. "You may need to turn the torch on."
Embarrassed, Yato clicked the torch on, and was rewarded with a strong beam of light that stretched out in front of him. It only went about four or five metres, but it was enough.
Continuing down the street, Yato soon thought about something. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the shadowy figures of his two companions.
"Hang on. Why don't you two have torches?" He asked, confused.
Daikoku sighed. "Are you stupid? If Nora sees three lights instead of one, she'll get suspicious. No, we can only rely on your torchlight to find our way."
Kofuku nudged him gently as Yato nodded and turned back to watch where he was going. "You could be a bit nicer, you know." She glanced at Yato's back. "He's got a lot on his mind at the moment."
Daikoku looked at the pink-haired god, before gazing to his right, where there was nothing but darkness. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Kofuku nearly walked into Yato's back as he suddenly stopped.
Just as she was about to ask him why he stopped, he said in a quiet voice, "Okay, we're just about to enter the forest. There'll be a lot of frozen twigs and leaves on the ground, so step carefully, alright? We don't know where Nora is yet, so we don't want to be too loud and draw attention to ourselves. In fact, I think it would be best if we split up."
"But then we can't see." Kofuku pointed out.
"I know, but…" He trailed off uncertainly.
"Why don't we stick together until we're about twenty metres away from the clearing? Then we split up." Daikoku suggested.
"How will we know when we're twenty metres away?" Kofuku asked, frowning.
"Alright then, scratch that idea. Well, it takes about five to ten minutes to reach the clearing from the edge of the forest. We'll be slowed down because we have to step carefully, so just over ten minutes at least. So, when we get to ten minutes, we'll split up, okay? But if we reach the clearing before then, then we'll split up and you two spread out. Got it?" Yato looked at them, and when he received two nods, they entered the forest.
It was easier said than done to avoid the frozen leaves and twigs that were scattered across the forest floor. It was impossible to avoid all of them; not to mention the crunching of the snow under their feet. However, the trio still tried to make as little noise as possible.
Daikoku, who had been timing ten minutes, tapped Kofuku and Yato on the shoulder, and whispered, "Ten minutes is up. Time to split up."
After a synchronised nod from the other two, Daikoku veered off to the right, while Kofuku steered herself to the left and Yato continued straight on.
Yato failed to hide his breath as it appeared in small puffs every time he exhaled. It was very cold out, and a little windy, as well. Walking in a dark forest in the middle of the night with the constant crunching under your foot and a cold air shaking the branches overhead would creep anyone out. It creeped Yato out, that was for sure.
But finally, the trees thinned as he arrived at the edge of the clearing. Sighing with relief, he walked into the middle of the clearing, ignoring - as best as he could – the blood stains that had dried into the snow.
Turning his phone on, he found out that the time was 11:57 PM. Nora should be here round about now, he thought as he scanned the area around him. No sign of her. I am a bit early, though.
A couple minutes passed, and still no sign of Nora. Glancing at his phone again, Yato read 11:59 PM. However, before he turned the screen off, it changed to 00:00 AM. Exactly as it turned, a voice appeared directly behind him.
"Helloooo, Yatoooo~" The voice made the 'o' of each word longer, and the voice itself rose at the end, sending a shiver down Yato's spine.
Whirling round (and nearly dropping his phone), he came face-to-face with Nora, who smiled innocently at him.
"Did you come alone?" Yato asked cautiously, as if expecting an ambush or a trap.
Nora's smile never left her face. "Of course; I'm true to my word." Yato snorted at this, but she ignored him. "Did you come alone?"
Yato nodded. "Yeah." Nora narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She was so close to him that she could hear his heartbeat; and it just quickened.
"Alright then." Nora took a few steps back, her face returning to an innocent expression once more. "So, let me tell you about this little trade."
Yato pocketed his phone and folded his arms, although holding his arm in a position that shone the torch on Nora.
"So, I will give you the antidote to the poison, and in return-"
"We- I already have a team working on creating an antidote." He knew it was a pointless bluff, but he wanted to test her reaction.
Of course, she saw right through it. "Now now, don't bluff, Yato. It won't get you anywhere."
Yato mumbled something inaudible.
"Now will you let me continue?"
Yato hmphed, acting childish although inside, the clogs in his head were turning rapidly, formulating a plan in his mind.
"So, I will give you the antidote, which will save your little boy, and in return, you will sign this."
The god raised an eyebrow. I have to sign something? Like a contract, so I can't go back on my word or something?
Nora pulled out a folded sheet of paper, although Yato couldn't read what was on it due to the lack of light. The torch was simply not enough. She then proceeded to pull out a pen and a hardback book. The book's cover was blank, which lead Yato to believe that its contents were also blank.
"Sign this with this pen. Use this book to lean on." She ordered.
"I can't really see it, so how do I know what I'm signing myself off to?" Although I have a pretty good idea, he added to himself.
"It basically says that you swear not to attack me or try to harm me under any circumstances." She said calmly.
"I find that hard to believe."
"Oh? Then read it." She held the paper closer to the light, and Yato got a good look at it. It was folded into three, like a leaflet. She held it portrait, and lifted the top part of it up (the inside of the 'front cover'), revealing a handwritten paragraph that mentioned what she had said. Underneath, on the blank side of the middle section, there was a line, and just before it, it said 'signature'.
Okay, this might be confusing. You know on an a4 piece of paper, if you organise it into three parts and then fold it, you can make a leaflet? Well, the front cover (left hand side usually) and the back cover (middle usually) are on the same side, and when you open the front cover, you're met with the opposite side of the front cover and the last side (right hand side usually) of the side which has the front cover and the back cover on. If you open this side, you are met with the other two sides which are on the inside. Does this make sense? If it does, great.
Basically, Nora has one side of an a4 piece of paper completely blank. The blank side is the side that usually has the front and back cover. So she's opened the front cover, showing the opposite side of that part, which is where the paragraph is written. Underneath it, is the last blank side of the blank side of the sheet. She's written 'signature' on it, and drawn a line for Yato to write his signature on. If she opened the side which said 'signature', which is part of the blank side, it would reveal the other two sections of the inside. Has this confused you even more? Sorry if it has. But back to the story.
"Can you open the last part so I can see the rest of the inside, Nora?" Yato asked, suspicious as to why she hadn't already.
Nora's smile faltered for a second, before it returned, still with the 'innocent' look. "Why? Don't you trust me, Yato?"
"No."
"Well you should. This paragraph is the only thing you need to read. The signature is the only thing you need to write."
Yato sighed. "Fine. Give me the pen and the book, then." Nora complied, and Yato brought up his knee to balance the book on. The raven-haired girl then placed the paper on top of the book and handed the pen over to him, but not before she took his torch and shone it on the paper.
He then proceeded to write on the line, before dropping his knee, causing the book and the paper to fall onto the ground. He took a couple of steps back, keeping an eye on Nora while he scanned the clearing for Daikoku and Kofuku.
As Nora picked up the paper, she checked the signature and nearly dropped it in shock. It said two simple words:
Fuck you.
She stared at Yato, and her eyes widened as he whistled loudly. Just one long, high note, but it brought two pairs of running footsteps.
Nora barely had time to react before her arms were held away from her body and she was forced to her knees. She wriggled frantically, trying to escape the grip of a brown-haired man and a pink-haired woman, but it was no use.
Yato walked forward, before crouching down and peering at Nora, searching with his eyes for the antidote. A small bulge in one of the folds of her clothing caught his eye, and he reached in and grabbed a long, thin object. Pulling it out, he discovered that it was a syringe, with a glossy gold liquid inside.
"No!" Nora shouted. "Yato, you tricked me! How dare you! You're going to pay for this-"
She was cut off as a menacing aura surrounded Yato, and he towered above her. "You should consider yourself lucky, Nora. I won't ever forgive you for this, but know this; I will never wield you again. I will let you go just this once, but I swear, if you ever mess with me or my fami- friends again, then I will bring heaven's wrath down upon you. Got it?"
Terrified by the threatening tone in Yato's voice, Nora was frozen. But suddenly, a small smile appeared on her face. "You wouldn't ever hurt me, would you, Yato? And I believe I-"
Nora never finished her sentence as Yato brought his knee smashing into her face. Kofuku's eyes widened, and Daikoku raised an eyebrow, but otherwise made no move, still holding her arms.
"Watch me." The former god of calamity spat as he prepared to strike again.
However, before his knee connected with Nora's now bleeding nose, Daikoku stepped in. "That's enough, Yato. I think you broke her nose with that hit."
Yato frowned, lowering his leg to the ground and glared at Nora, whose nose did indeed look broken.
Shrugging, he bent down to pick up the paper, which Nora had dropped, and ripped it in half, not bothering to look at the rest of the contents that remained unread, hidden on the inside. He already knew what they were about. Nora wanted to trick him into signing something that meant he would never harm her. The rest would say that Yato would once again be close partners with Nora and stuff like that.
"You can let her go now. She won't follow us." Yato called to Kofuku and Daikoku, who released Nora. She immediately curled up, holding her nose with both hands.
Yato sighed. "More blood stains the snow."
The other two shared a look, before walking away from Nora. Yato snatched his torch from the snow where it lay after Nora had dropped it (as well as the paper) when she was restrained by Daikoku and Kofuku.
"We better get going. The sooner Yukine gets this antidote, the better." Kofuku pointed out, falling into step with Daikoku.
Yato trailed a few metres behind. "Hey, guys." He said, catching their attention.
"Yeah?" Kofuku tilted her head to the side.
He lowered his gaze to the floor. "Please…don't tell anyone what you saw tonight – especially Yukine or Hiyori. I…don't want them knowing what I-"
He was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Glancing up, he realised that the hand belonged to Kofuku. She smiled. "Don't worry, Yato. No-one knows about this other than us, okay?"
He managed a small smile. "Thanks."
"Sure. Now, we need you to walk in front; after all, you have the torch." She gave him a friendly push.
The trio exited the clearing, heading back home to give Yukine the antidote and put this mess behind them.
A/N: One more chapter left! I think, anyway. This wasn't going to be very long, anyway.
I apologize again if the whole paper thing confused you. In fact, it took me at least twenty minutes to get it right and I had to search for an actual leaflet to help me! Is that bad?
I'm sorry if Yato was OOC in this chapter, especially with the whole 'knee Nora in the face' thing,
Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this story, even if it is drawing to a close.