AN: The timeline of Noragami has been changed. So instead of Yato choosing Yukine as his Shinki in the Winter, he chose Geto as his Shinki in the Summer.

It's ironic how Yukine's name means Snow, and Geto's name means Summer lol. Literally works perfectly for this fic

Hiyori's also already a freshman in high school. There might be other changes later on. I'll mention them as we go


Chapter 2 God's Greatest Secret

"God?" Natsune narrowed his already narrow eyes at Yato, eyeing him up and down in blatant disrespect. "And what did you say those were? Curses?"

Yato clenched his fists on his lap.

Breath. In and out. You're the one who chose him, so you have to bear with his lack of manners. Don't worry. You can fix him. Eventually. Hopefully…

"They're called Ayakashi," Yato explained with a steady voice but the annoying smirk on Natsune's face told him his inner rampage of emotions weren't hidden as well as he thought they were. "Why did you call them 'Curses'?"

"It just felt right to call them that." Natsune shrugged and leaned back, stretching his long legs out and dangling them over the edge of the rooftop.

He seemed genuine and honest. Well, it wasn't like he would be this composed if he did remember his past life, so there was no need to worry over this small thing. It was probably muscle memory or something ingrained in his body, or soul, or spirit? Wouldn't it be called spirit memory then? How would that even work?

"Okay, alright. Yeah, they're Ayakashi, creatures from the Far Shore. They can be harmless at times. I usually leave them alone if they leave me alone and aren't about to fatally hurt someone. But if they're causing a problem, then I'd usually get a call from the human who's suffering from them and they'd hire me to exorcize it."

"You don't exorcize them for free?" That got a smile out of Natsune. "So that's why you've been writing your numbers on every single surface you could find."

"Yep! Humans normally can't see what we write until they're overwhelmed with negative emotions, like when they're in distress due to an Ayakashi. Then they'd call me, hire me to take care of it, and I would do so and get paid!" Yato formed a circle with his index and thumb, showing a money symbol while grinning widely.

"In that case, why are you taking up jobs to paint people's houses, or fix their toilet, or find a missing dog?"

All of which were done by Yato only, mind you. Because Natsune insisted he wasn't about to help these monkeys do some manual labor. Why was he calling them monkeys? He didn't know either. It just felt right to call them that, he had said.

"Aren't you a God of Calamity? A Warrior God? Why aren't you killing, or rather, exorcizing more of those…Ayakashi?"

"...I haven't been a Warrior God for a long time now." Yato shook his head, shaking the memories from hundreds of years ago away. "I was desperate back then…desperate to be remembered, to not die, that I'd do anything, take on any jobs, with no regards to how others might see me. But now, I'm just a minor Delivery God doing odd jobs for a living. Maybe one day a dire situation will arise and need me to take on my old role as a killing machine. Who knows."

"Hmm."

Thankfully, Natsune didn't press any further. So he could read the atmosphere and respect personal boundaries. He just didn't want to.

Bastard.

"Anyway! Let's go to sleep." Yato dropped down from the edge of the rooftop and flipped into the open window.

This was the fourth night since meeting Natsune and he'd finally found proper beds for them to sleep in (beds, plural, because Natsune refused to even share the same room as him let alone the same bed. Heck, that guy hadn't even changed out of his white shinishozoku, claiming the clothes Yato found for him in the trash were too smelly and disgraceful for him and he'd rather live and die in his current outfit).

Yato saw the complaint coming and interrupted before Natsune could even say it. "You can sleep on the street if you're not satisfied with this. Weather forecast said it's gonna rain tonight so if you want to be soaked to the bones by all means go ahead."

That did the trick. His Shinki grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "homeless loser God" before following him into the window obediently.

Yato grinned.

Tomone was like this in the beginning, too, yet she still stayed with him for three months before quitting.

Let's hope Natsune stays longer than that.


That night, Yato had trouble sleeping. He had his fair share of trauma from his younger days, but those hadn't bothered him for at least two hundred years now. The last time he couldn't sleep was the first night after turning Tomone into his Shinki. Her memories of her past life and the circumstances of her death haunted him and the feeling of him getting burned to death kept him awake.

Geto Suguru's death was a peaceful and painless one so it wasn't as traumatizing as Tomone's, but his tragic life and the horrors he had witnessed as a Jujutsu sorcerer kept Yato awake nonetheless.

Gods stayed away from human affairs, so naturally they didn't pay close attention to the innergoings of Jujutsu society. Aside from the basics like who created the Jujutsu society, who was the strongest sorcerer, and what were the major clans, Yato was a noob when it came to Jujutsu. Sure, both sides were fighting for the same cause but the powers, jargon, and their existence were all different.

Yato would occasionally see a sorcerer or two exorcizing Ayakashi with their fancy techniques and he'd marvel and might even stand and watch, but he never thought about getting to know them more than the surface-level knowledge he had about them. Throughout his long life, Yato had tried being a mangaka, a pop idol, a doujin artist, a beetle seller…but the thought of using his skills to become a Jujutsu sorcerer never crossed his mind.

Gods and Jujutsu sorcerers didn't belong together, hence why he had never taken a sorcerer as a Shinki. The thought of reading their memories and gaining knowledge on the inner-workings of the Jujutsu society felt like he was overstepping his boundaries and touching what didn't belong to him. Gods could do no wrong, but there were unspoken rules when dealing with humans, the most important of which being "keep their distance."

It was out of pure desperation that Yato took a dead sorcerer as a Shinki and he was already prepared to have his mind blown with whatever crazy shit the Jujutsu society had going on, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. Geto's memories had been flashing in his mind on repeat for the past few days and they wouldn't leave him alone even in his sleep. It wasn't until Natsune kicked the wall from the other room that Yato finally stopped tossing and turning and eventually drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

Yato woke with a sharp gasp of breath, slapping a palm over his nape as the phantom pain of the sting continued to stab at him. He jumped out of bed and barged into Natsune's room. The empty bed that didn't look used at all was telling of what had just happened.

"Shit. It hasn't even been a week. Are you kidding me!?"

He could hear Nora laughing at him and saying, "This is what happens with a new Shinki. Why would you even bother with them when you have me already?"

Panic started to grip at his chest but Yato forced himself to calm down and reach out with his senses to detect Natsune's location.


1:30 AM

Natsune turned the watch around to look at the time.

"It has been thirty minutes since I left the house."

He put the watch on his wrist, grabbed an umbrella, some clothes, and walked right past the cashier who didn't pay him any attention. He still hadn't quite figured out how Gods and Shinki work but he was starting to get it. Gods and Shinki had the advantage of being invisible to humans, which meant he could do whatever he wanted, as long as…

He stood right outside the store under the stolen umbrella with a bundle of clothes hanging on his forearm, breathing in the cool night air and the earthy smell of rain as he waited, waited, and waited.

A minute later, his idiot God landed ten feet away, the wet ground and his momentum carrying him the rest of the way forward.

"You idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Took you long enough." Natsune turned on his heels and marched right back into the store. He returned the watch to its shelf and handed the clothes and umbrella to the cashier who still didn't pay him any attention until he literally threw a pack of gum at the monkey's face. "Paying in cash," he grumbled and dumped out a bag of coins, all in 5 yen.

"Where did you–" Yato began, then he frantically pulled the wine bottle he used as a piggy bank out of his soaked track jacket. It was probably at least two times lighter than when Natsune first tugged it out of a sleeping Yato's grasp. "You stole my money!?"

"You're the one forcing me to wear trashy monkey clothes despite having the money to buy me a decent outfit. Aren't Gods supposed to honor other people's wishes? What about my wish? Does it not matter?"

"Y-You… You…!" Yato paled when realization dawned on him. "You're just…testing me?"

Natsune carried the newly purchased clothes to the restroom.

"This convenience store is only a three minute walk away from the house we're staying in. I've been looking around for thirty minutes yet it wasn't until I decided to walk out without paying that you finally showed up. As I thought, there's some sort of link between us that works against my favor."

Dressed in brand new clothes, he walked out of the restroom with a pleased smile. He had even done his hair, styling it into a neat bun at the back of his head so the Shinki tattoo on the side of his neck is visible. The hairstyle felt familiar, comfortable, like his hair was supposed to look this way.

"C'mon, let's go back to sleep. You'll earn back the money soon enough."

The look on his God's face was enough to make sleeping on the street for the past few days worth it. Natsune was so sick of Yato talking down to him just because he was a God. So what if he was a God? He was still poor, homeless, and a pathetic loser. It felt so fucking good one-upping this midget.


"You're going to spend the day with my friend!"

Yato and Natsune were currently sitting on a bench, the only bench in the vicinity that wasn't covered in morning dew.

"Who is this friend?"

"You'll see." Yato grinned.

A few minutes later, Kazuma arrived in his usual outfit, the common uniform for Bishamon's battle Shinki.

"Sorry I'm late. Veena kept asking where I was going and I couldn't get her off my back." Kazuma struggled to catch his breath. "So this is your new Shinki."

"Yeah! This is Natsune. Natsune, this is Kazuma. He's also a Shinki like you, so get along with him, okay? I'm gonna go on a date with Hiyori so have fun you two!"

And with that, Yato disappeared. Hopefully Natsune would learn a thing or two from a straight-laced Shinki like Kazuma.

For the rest of that morning, Yato advertised his Delivery God service by drawing his name and phone number on every surface he came across. And then he somehow came across Hiyori who had dropped her body on her way to school and was now in her spirit form. She pestered him and even followed him when he got a phone call for a new job, which turned out to be from Tenjin of all people.

While Hiyori fangirled over the fact that she was meeting Tenjin, The Sugawara no Michizane, Yato was suffering from the condition called "seeing your ex with her new boyfriend" except it was "seeing your ex-Shinki with her new master."

"H-How could you betray me like this, Tomone!?"

"It's Mayu now. Tomone is dead," Tomone– Okay, fine, Mayu said, "As my master had said–"

"You never even called me 'master' yet you're calling this old man your master!?"

"As my master had said," Mayu gritted out. "He had put up a barrier around the train tracks but that doesn't stop people with Ayakashi already attached to them from entering and leaving, so it's very difficult to completely purify the area. Two people have already committed suicide here. But as long as we exorcize the Ayakashi clinging to people and driving them over the edge, we should be able to end the tragedy."

Yato rolled his eyes.

"What's wrong, Yato? Don't you want to save them?" Hiyori asked, noticing his lack of interest.

"No, why should I? If they want to die, then they should just go die."

This pissed off both Mayu and Hiyori, but Yato had foreseen this and made himself scarce to save his ears from further abuse.

Yato couldn't stand seeing people disregard their precious life like this when there were so many people who wanted to live but couldn't. Those who willingly took away their own life could never become a Shinki. In other words, Shinki were all people who still wanted to live, who had hopes and dreams for the future, who had regrets and mistakes they wanted to undo, who had so much…so much waiting for them in their life.

Just like Nora who died before she could even breathe her first breath as a newborn, or Tomone who was burned to death, or Geto…who died by his best friend's hands. All of them wanted to live but couldn't, and yet these people have the fortune to keep living but they see their lives as worthless and would throw it away in the blink of an eye. Why should I help them when they don't even want to help themselves?

Yato began walking. He didn't know where he was headed. He just chose a direction and walked.

And as he walked, one of Geto's memories surfaced in his mind.

"I want to be with everyone more! I want to go to more places and see more things with everyone!"

Riko, a girl chosen as a sacrifice in the Jujutsu world. She knew all along that she was a sacrifice and she was mentally prepared to die. But when she met Geto and Gojo and saw what more life had to offer, her resolve waned. Her desire to live overpowered her willingness to die. She wanted to live, to see more, to spend more time with her friends.

If Riko, a girl fully prepared to die, could have a change of heart, why couldn't the other people who thought death was their only option? If Yato exorcized the Ayakashi clinging to them, would they have a change of heart as well?

"Yato?"

Yato stopped when he heard the familiar voice of Kazuma. His feet had somehow led him to Kazuma and Natsune.

"Oh hey, how's it going?"

"It's going well. I just finished teaching him Borderline."

"For real!?" Yato gaped. Natsune even looked proud, a rare show of an emotion that wasn't disgust or disgust or more disgust (oh, he almost forgot about annoyance!) "Nice! Let's test it out on an Ayakashi next time! Come, Kakki! We have a job to do!"

Natsune scowled before turning into his bracelet form and wrapping around Yato's wrist.

"Thanks Kazuma! I'll treat you to lunch next time I have enough money saved up!"

"There's no need," Kazuma turned him down politely. "You've done more than enough for me and Veena, so this is the least I can do."

"Well, if you say so."


Natsune was the strangest Shinki Yato had ever owned. Probably due to him having the Cursed Spirit Manipulation when he was alive, rather than exorcizing the Ayakashi, he would always absorb the Ayakashi.

It was no different this time around.

The Ayakashi that resembled an arm coiling around the train track like a snake was beckoning a school boy to step forward onto the railroad. Standing atop the incoming train, Yato readied Kakki and soothed, "Don't be scared. Wrap around it and yank it away from the boy so its influence stops."

"I'm not scared."

Natsune's voice sounded in his mind.

"Okay, ready."

Unlike any other inexperienced Shinki who'd be new to fighting with their new power and form, Natsune's performance and his composure throughout the fight weren't anything that Yato had ever seen on a newbie. He knew when to attack, when to fall back, how much force to use, how to avoid the surrounding objects and focus solely on the target, and how to do the black ball thingy.

In the split second that took the train to speed past the boy, Natsune had precisely wrapped himself around the Ayakashi arm while avoiding the traffic lights, signs and devices, the lowered gate, and the boy. In no time, the Ayakashi was turned into a black ball and absorbed into the beads.

Natsune never questioned the black ball thingy, probably thinking it was a normal Shinki thing to do, so Yato never asked either. He wondered if there were any other Gods out there who had taken in a dead Jujutsu sorcerer as a Shinki, and if that Shinki had retained their Jujutsu ability as well.

After Hiyori's spirit returned to her unconscious body, she bid them goodbye before continuing her way to school. God knows why she even bothered when school was almost over.

"Let's go get some food. I'm starving!"

"I thought you're broke."

Yato pulled out a wad of cash with a smirk. "I 'borrowed' some from Hiyori."

Natsune threw a distasteful glare at him. "And here I thought you're against stealing."

"I'm against you stealing. There's a difference. Gods can do whatever we please, even if it's maiming or killing others. We aren't tied down by moral obligations or ethical principles, and human laws don't apply to us. Plus, I'm taking this as a down-payment for having to fix her condition."

Hiyori had been texting and calling him more and more often now, questioning him when he planned on fixing her habit of dropping her physical body as he had promised, so it wouldn't hurt to have her pay in advance. That's what doctors do, right? Right!?

"Anyway, Hiyori told me about this really cheap cafe restaurant that has great food. Let's go ch–"

Yato halted his steps as soon as he turned the corner. His jaw dropped.

Not far away was the cafe restaurant he was talking about. And right by the entrance stood…Geto Suguru in all his glory. Along with a few humanoid Ayakashi but that didn't matter! What mattered was Geto! Geto Suguru!? What the heck!?

"Yato?" Natsune said from behind him, also stopping because Yato was blocking the exit of the alley they just walked out of. "What're you looking at?"

"A-Ah! Actually, I don't think these will be enough to pay for a full meal cause I'm feeling rather hungry right now! So let's go somewhere else!"

Yato grabbed Natsune's elbow and dragged him in the opposite direction, hoping his perturbation wasn't so obvious. The fact that Geto's dead body was walking around wasn't what scared him, well, not exactly. He knew from Geto's memories that he didn't have a twin, so the fact that his dead body was walking around was a bit frightening. But what was even more frightening was the thought of what might happen if Natsune were to remember his past life.

"You never wondered about yourself? Like where you were born, what you did, and how you died?"

Hiiro's question had Sakura thinking for the first time. "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I never really thought about it. I wonder why I died."

"Your master knows all about that."

"I-I don't know anything about that!" Yato rushed to his feet and denied it purely on instinct. He didn't know why the thought of Sakura finding out her real name sent a wave of trepidation throughout his body. What would happen if a Shinki were to discover their past? He didn't know. But his existence as a God was telling him to "stop her, don't let her find out, anything but that, that's the one line she can't cross, the God's Greatest Secret."

"Liar. You saw something when you named Sakura, didn't you? Those were Sakura's memories." Hiiro pressed. "You know what Sakura's real name is, right? So tell her. Father said it's okay. It's for her own good."

"Don't," his instinct warned.

"Please, I want to know." Sakura held his smaller hands and begged, looking into his eyes earnestly. "Please, Yato-sama!"

I-It was just a name. It wouldn't hurt.

"S-Sakura's real name is…"

"Don't. Don't say it." His instinct was getting desperate.

But Father said it was fine. And Father was never wrong…right?

"...is…" Yato closed his eyes. "'Tamanone.'"

He recalled Sakura's self when she was alive, her long strands of black hair cascading down her back, kimono pooling behind her as she knelt on the tatami with a content smile on her face.

It was just a name. What could a name do?

Yato opened his eyes.

"Ta…" Squeezing Yato's hands hard enough to hurt, Sakura croaked out. "Tamanone?" Discoloration began to spread from her eyes in veiny strands, rapidly reaching the rest of her body. Beady little eyes emerged on her nose, head, and body. Extra limbs sprouted out of her bloated torso as her form enlarged and distorted into the typical disfigured form of an Ayakashi.

Within seconds, Sakura's beautiful human form had turned into an Ayakashi, a monster.

"Why… Why did I have to become some wretched plaything…? What became of my corpse? Those damned bandits… They even took my mother's life! I won't forgive them. I'll kill…kill…" She opened her maw, a gaping hole that was large enough to swallow Yato whole. "I'll kill them all!"

Sakura's death under his own hand served as a reminder. The "God's Greatest Secret" existed for a reason. His instincts warned him for a reason. A Shinki should never ever discover their past and their real name. If they were to do so, they would turn into a "Karma Ayakashi."

The only solution was for their God to either kill them or relinquish their name. The latter was what Yato did to Tomone after she begged him to fire her because she was sick of living a nomad's life with him. Free from the name Yato gave her, Tomone could then seek out a new master and acquire a new name, which was what she did with Tenjin.

By relinquishing the name of a Karma Ayakashi, it would turn the former Shinki into a being no different from a typical Ayakashi, which would then be slain by whichever party available.

Yato had sworn to grant Geto Suguru a second chance, a second life. He refused to let anyone take it away, not even Natsune himself. He had no doubt that if Natsune were to see his dead body walking around, he would instantly regain his memories, or at least a portion of it. So the only thing he could do now was get Natsune as far away from his body as possible and have someone watch over him while Yato investigated.

"Kofuku! Are you here, Kofuku?"

Yato called when he and Natsune arrived at Kofuku's shop.

"Yato-chan~!" Kofuku flew out of the shop and crashed into Yato in a hug as he spun her around.

"Who…is she?"

Yato interlocked his fingers with Kofuku and pressed his face close to hers, winking at a stunned Natsune. "She's my girlfriend."

"I'm his girlfriend, Kofuku. Nice to meet you~!" And Kofuku played along as always.

"Anyway, Kofuku, I have a request."

"What is it, Yato-chan~?"

"Recently, I've been using him as my new Shinki but…I'm still like this, y'know? I can't even provide him with warm meals and a nice bed to sleep in… So I've brought him here! I want you to let him try some of your delicious food. I'll pay you later!"

"Awww~ It's alright! I'll let him eat as much as he wants!"

"You're a life-saver! Literally! You're the best!" Yato rubbed her head.

Kofuku giggled. "Ehehe, I'm a good girl?"

"The best!"

Kofuku's Shinki, Daikoku, then decided to announce his presence by sending a flying kick to Yato's back, causing him to crash into the ground. But nevertheless, they agreed to let Natsune stay for the afternoon and keep an eye on him, which meant Yato could go stalk Geto's dead body and figure out why it was walking around and who exactly was inhabiting it.


AN: Reviews are appreciated!