#I really hate what they did to yukine though

[star-shapedfruit]

Alright lets talk about THAT scene

Honestly I'm still processing all of it and I don't even know if this is even gonna be coherent or more like

This is long. LETS GO

So it's still very much up in the air as to whether that was really Hiyori or not because of the whole illusion thing that Father has going on in this domain but I'm going to assume this is actually her. It just seems kinda weird for Adachitoka to pull that and then go 'Haha SIKE! Jk!' in the next update. Like, if you're gonna pull a scene like that- you gotta commit to the bit ya know?

So let's assume it's all real. Cord snapped. Kapow. She's dead. Now what? God I wish I fucking knew because Adachitoka LOVE to throw curve balls at us so no matter what we predict it'll probably be wrong 🙃

But I think this might have something to do with it.

Kofuku was the one to originally tie the plaques together (uh oh) but then Ookunushi was the one to place them back and bless them with happiness. So you've got a disaster god dooming them but a god of fortune blessing them. Those poor plaques are so confused lol. But either way, Yato and Hiyori are bonded for life and that's an already pretty strong bond they've got. They're two idiots in love and call it silly and cliché but perhaps it's that bond that will save them.

Hiyori is a special case. She's a half-Ayakashi with ties to both the Near Shore and the Far-Shore and we have no idea what happens to someone like that when they die. Do they lose their memories? Will she forget Yato, Yukine, and everyone else from the Far Shore? Will she forget her name? Again, a tricky one but since she treads the lines between the two worlds and her soulmate is a god, maybe not. It could be possible that she retains all those Far Shore memories and forgets a lot of the Near. She remembers her name but can't recall her parents or friends faces.

(That then brings up the huge elephant in the room of what other shinki will think of that and then start to ponder their own deaths leading to the GGS (the likes of Daikoku, Bishamon and Ebisu's shinki etc) but let's just put that to one side for a minute. I can only have one panic at a time)

I think one thing is for certain at this point though. Noragami won't exactly have a happy ending. Either Hiyori somehow lives and Yato is forced to cut her ties and she forgets everything or she dies and permanently joins the Far Shore, leaving her life, ambitions, friends and family behind. And yeah, neither of those are good. But it looks like they're the only options. Now shoot me for this but I seem to lean towards the latter. I really hate endings where someone forgets the entire journey they just went on and it ends up in a sort of 'it was all a dream' ending. They just make me angry lol. Person has this amazing story and adventure and it ends with a literal I forgor meme? Lame. It's more impactful if both parties suffer 😈 (Why I always get more emotional watching the S2 finale of Doctor Who than the S4 finale. I hate that Donna had to forget everything to save her. But that's a completely different kettle of fish).

I went on a tangent there oops. ANYWAY. If we go down the route that Hiyori is dead then it seems like only two things can happen; she'll become a shinki or she'll be deified. She can't be dead dead I refuse to believe that 😤 Not only because she's my favourite character but I really can't see Adachitoka killing her off for good.

Now call me a hopeless romantic (and my Yatori brain going ding ding ding) but the immediate answer that came to mind when I saw this passage at the end of the chapter is love. Perhaps it'll be Hiyori's love for Yato (and Yukine of course) that will be the Deus ex machina that will ensure that she can come back and that she comes back with her memories in tact, maybe even bypassing the GGS. With that, she may be the secret weapon to destroying Father (did Ebisu and Take even destroy the shrine? Honestly can't remember). Whether that means Yato will name her and the three of them will completely whoop his ass or something else entirely, but I think that post-death Hiyori will be the final piece needed to end Trash Dad and the crisis on earth.

Horrific as it is, It would be fitting for her character to make that sacrifice. She's always been brave and selfless and if she knew that in order to save everyone she loves on earth and the rest of the population by fighting by Yato's side, even if that meant that she had to die, she'd do it.

Yes this isn't the perfect ending but there is no perfect ending. Hiyori has been doomed ever since she jumped in front of that bus.

[paldogangsaan]

I'm agree with your meta about gods ready to take choice away from the family who worksips Father. And how it's bad and kinda comfirm what father accuses Heaven to do.

But does Father really care for this family, does he really see them as egal? He sees people as tools (Yato, Nora, Yukine, ect..), he abused his own child (Yato, Nora) and manipules them into thinking that that's love, as soon that someone isn't agree with him anymore, he resort to manipulation, abuse and violence and sometime murder. He helped to plot Bishamon murder/forced reincarnation (failed) and planned Ebisu forced reincarnation to take the koto (sucess). He doesn't care how much people, shinkis or gods suffer or die as long he has what he want.

Ebisu and Take face a choice right. But do they have really a choice in the matter? Father can't be stopped otherwhise. He's dangerous. He says that he wanted to strike gods but doesn't care how much humans will suffer in the way. What he did with Yukine and the net was not good (for me it was a kind of brainwashing).

Yes they were ready to took the choice away and that's bad, tht's what Father accuse the gods of. but i think that they didn't see any other choice they weren't happy about it. They come with the idea to destroy a grave only.

It's not like if Father was benevolent, sadly because then this choice woudn't happen. Even if the godness of sun herself treated him a a child doing a tantrum, he's very dangerous.

Yeah all is a matter of choice. A horrible and unfair choice. Yato would have cut the bounds against their will, but Take can't do that.

The gods had the choice to kill the familly and cut the way to come back to life of Father, or leave them and having a dangerous guy causing havoc and destruction, and not only to gods but to humanity too (i mean with what happen in the last chapters, the gods face a even worst choice to protect humanity from Father's plan). What they could have done? It's not like if they had more time to think about it.

And this choice is horrible. And Take and Ebisu weren't happy to have this choice to do. And i'm happy that they didn't need to kill them. Take himself said that he felt bad to have manipuled the old man into make him believe that they would do the soul ritual after his death (they can't since they're gods) but they needed to cut father's way to come back again and again, because nothing else can stop him.

what do you think?

It's not a critic of your meta, i just wanted to share my thougths with you about the whole situation =)

(in reference to this post)

i agree with some of your points, but i don’t think whether father cared specifically for that family or not is pertinent to the situation. he cares (and i use that term lightly) about humanity in general, not specific people, similarly to how gods do (tenjin saying “gods are incapable of loving humans” lives in my brain bc it applies to all gods, but also to father and that could tie into ‘becoming what you hate’ but i digress!). he uses yato, mizuchi and yukine as tools, though i believe he does love them (or at least, he believes he loves them) in his own semi-fucked up way. he holds anger towards gods and their associates for holding up and reinforcing heaven’s system, which father perceives as fundamentally unfair and wrong, so i don’t think him planning the murder/reincarnation of gods really speaks to whether or not he cares about humanity. to father, gods and humans are completely separate entities, and what he does to one isn’t necessarily what he’d do to the other. every ‘wrong’ or ‘morally reprehensible’ or ‘shitty’ thing we’ve seen him do has been to gods, shinki, or associates of gods like hiyori, which likely makes him lump them into a single category. even if hiyori’s human, he still can’t see her as anything more than someone associated with heaven (+ him not caring about specific humans, just humanity in general)

ebisu and takemikazuchi just having and considering the choice of whether or not to kill/sever the ties of that family proves them to be what father believes all gods are, regardless of intentions. and really, i think intent is the least important part of this discussion! it’s the fact that gods are above humans in pretty much every possible way, and they can use that power as they see fit, because “a god’s decision is always the right one”. it’s about the fact that ebisu and takemikazuchi (and any god, for that matter) can takes lives, sever ties, and completely alter the life of humans with zero consequences. it’s about the fact that the humans have no input on a decision that can permanently alter their lives, and how they most likely won’t even realize what was taken away, or will forget, due to the separation of the near and far shore (think hiyori completely forgetting about yato and yukine when yato goes back to father despite the fact that they changed her and her life).

it’s a morally gray situation, and arguments can be made for either side. if gods are so above humanity, why are they incapable of stopping a human like father? if heaven isn’t unjust, why should kind people like that family have to suffer? does heaven not fully take father seriously specifically because he is, or was, human and isn’t on their level? should takemikazuchi and ebisu even be able to consider that choice, and not have to tell the people affected? does them feeling guilty absolve them of the fact that they manipulated a human, a being who is supposed to be beneath them, yet they’re supposed to serve? are the humans in the wrong for calling father again and again? should they even be judged by heaven’s standards if they don’t know the whole situation? does the situation absolve takemikazuchi and ebisu of the cycle, or are they perpetuating it anyway? should ebisu and takemikazuchi be judged for perpetuating the cycle when it’s all they’ve ever known and they’re products of a system? do the ends justify the means? like i wrote in the tags of that post, the immediate dilemma of the situation was the question of whether their needs (killing father) were worth taking a choice (without consent) from someone else, and if it was an okay to do it if the affected party wouldn’t even realize that a choice was taken away. and this, of course, can lead to bigger discussions like this one jaja

it’s a super complicated situation and an argument can be made for either side, and that’s at the core of the manga itself, which i love! thanks for sharing your thoughts! i love discussing noragami <33

[thedeliverygod]

Repostober: Day 3

A fanfic that was supposed to be "post-pain" and an addition to an imagined happy ending. The manga has uh taken different turns than I imagined LOL but uhhh hopefully this still enjoyable! Not to mention the title is a bit ironic...

Like I'm Gonna Lose You

“I’m starting to wonder if my birthday party was even for me.” Yukine commented, his face partially hidden behind his palm as he rested his elbow on the table.

Hiyori let out an annoyed breath, answering, “I’m beginning to have my own doubts as well, Yukine-kun.”

“Of course it was for you, dummy.” Yato commented with a light tousle of the boy’s hair, “But you know Kofuku and Daikoku, they’ll use any excuse to party.”

“Just Kofuku-san and Daikoku-san?” Yukine looked up doubtfully.

“No, it’s definitely him too.” Hiiro added from Yukine’s other side.

“Hey!” He snapped back before giving a pout, “Why do you all have such a poor image of me?”

Yukine quirked an eyebrow before looking at Hiyori, “Shall we list the reasons?”

Yato made a choking noise before he waved his arms to stop them, “Okay, forget I asked.”

“So what’d you come back over here for, anyway? I thought you were too busy having fun with the other adults or whatever.” Yukine’s tone was grumpy as he looked to the older boy for an explanation.

“I came to check in on you.” He answered simply as he leaned against their booth seat.

Hiiro rolled her eyes, leaning forward and pressing, “And?”

“And what?” He repeated with a blink.

“I can tell when you’re not telling the whole truth, you know.” She tapped her fingers against the table.

Hiyori and Yukine looked between Hiiro and Yato in confusion as Yato sucked in an annoyed breath.

“Sometimes I really hate that you know me so well.”

Hiiro gave a knowing smirk and continued to wait for his answer.

“Well, I really didn’t want it to be this… blunt…” He turned his head and looked up towards the sky, sheepish, “But since Hiiro isn’t giving me a choice…” His eyes flickered back to the table and his voice grew quieter, “Hiyori, would you… dance with me?”

“W-what?” She blurted out in surprise, Yukine also echoing her wide eyed gaze.

“I thought it would be fun? And-and-and… Just… please?” He gave a flustered smile, holding out his hand.

The entire table remained silent for a moment before Hiyori hesitantly let out, “Okay…”

Hiiro slid out of the booth and stood off to the side, giving an intrigued look as she watched Hiyori gingerly take his hand.

As Yato moved Hiyori closer to the group of gods, the music quieted and he gave a forced laugh, “And it’s a slow song, so it’s not as awkward.”

“Um, I guess.” She nodded, watching her feet as she let him guide her. As they came to a stop, she only looked up once she heard his voice.

“So, uh,” He motioned towards her waist with his free hand, “Can I…?”

“Um, yes.��� She answered, reaching out for his shoulder with hers, “And I’m supposed to do this?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

As they began to sway slowly, Hiyori asked sheepishly, “So you really just wanted to dance?”

“Well, I kind of wanted to talk to you too. Alone.” He admitted, smiling softly.

“Ooo, Yato-chan and Hiyorin are dancing with each other!”

They heard Kofuku yell out but Daikoku had corralled her before they managed to look over in their direction.

“Though admittedly this may have not been the smartest choice.” Yato shifted so that they both turned away from the group again.

Hiyori shook her head, “Definitely not the most discreet one.” He flashed another smile before she asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh.” He blinked, surprised at her question, “Uh, maybe saying I wanted to talk to you wasn’t the right way to put it. I wanted to spend time with you, just you.” His eyes flickered away, “I know I’ve been a little overbearing with Yukine lately, to say the least. So we haven’t had much time together as just us.”

She flushed and avoided his eyes as well, “I mean, it’s okay. Obviously I’ve been worried about Yukine-kun too.”

“I know. But still, I put you through a lot too. I… never really got to apologize for the way I left, for one.” He looked back to her but his face had fallen into a frown.

Hiyori looked back to him as well, thinking carefully of her response, “It did hurt, but I understand why you did it.”

“Even if you get why I did it, that doesn’t make it okay.” He tilted his head and looked at her more closely as they continued to sway. “I did really believe you wouldn’t forget me, but I’m sorry I sort of put everything on your shoulders. I didn’t want to leave without saying anything and at the time, I guess I just thought that…was the best way to say goodbye. To let you know how much you mean to me.”

Her grip grew tighter on his jersey and her eyes watered, “That was the problem though, you shouldn’t have been saying goodbye.”

Yato furrowed his brows in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“You should have stayed and let us work everything out together, Yato. Not run off to be the hero by sacrificing yourself.” Hiyori’s voice rose as she answered.

“That’s not—”

“It is!” She shot back, almost in a yell, “It’s exactly what you were doing! I know you didn’t want Yukine-kun or me to get hurt, but you should have known your father wouldn’t have just let us be. You should have known that I wasn’t going to just let you die .”

Their dancing stuttered as Yato froze, but after a moment he continued the motions. Taking a breath, he spoke again, “I’m sorry; for everything. I don’t really know what else to say.” Hearing her sniffling continue to get worse, he added, “Just please, don’t cry.”

“I was really scared I was going to lose you.” She slipped her hand out of his and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

He cradled the back of her head and let himself sink into her as well, “I was scared I was gonna lose you, too.”

“So don’t leave me again.” She gripped the fabric of his jacket.

“I won’t.” He shook his head against her.

She inhaled before she quietly asked, “Do you promise?”

“Hiyori, I promise you. I don’t… want to ever feel like that again.” Yato pulled back to lightly press his lips to her forehead, “And I don’t want to be the reason you feel like that, either. I want you to be happy, always. Because I can’t even begin to explain what you do for me. How you make me feel whenever I’m around you.”

She let out a small squeak of surprise in response to his sudden affection, looking up at him in awe before answering, “I could say the same, but I do have words for it.”

He pulled backward and looked over her curiously, his eyes shining brightly, “Oh really?”

Hiyori gripped his jacket tightly again, looking down and taking a breath before she looked back up and let out, “Yeah, it’s ‘I love you’.” She swallowed and blinked before repeating more confidently, “I’m in love with you.”

“Hiyori,” He raised both of his hands to cup both sides of her face, his voice cracking and his eyes wet, “You--I…” Tears slipped down his cheeks and he gave a smile, “Fuck, I’m ruining this aren’t I?”

“Of course not.” She answered honestly, a smile on her lips as well.

He pressed his mouth against hers only briefly, not giving her much of a chance to react. 

“I love you too. So much.”

She answered by pressing her lips to his again, gentle and sweet. As she pulled back, both of them jolted as they were surrounded by loud cheering.

Hiyori hid her face in Yato’s shoulder as he called out to their friends in annoyance, “Hey, this isn’t a show!”

“Everything with you is a show.” Bishamon commented in return, her hand to her forehead.

Kofuku held her camera down at her side, chiming in, “Bisha’s right, there were plenty of places you could have gone to have privacy. Instead you decided to have this conversation in front of everybody. So it’s your fault, Yato-chan.” 

“It’s not like I knew this would happen.” He gestured to Hiyori clinging to him, to which he received a swift elbow to his side, “Ow!”

“I had a feeling.” Hiiro volunteered, waving her hand from over at the table.

It was Yukine who voiced his surprise first, “What? How?”

“Oh, please. Yato’s always been hopeless when it comes to her. And it’s been obvious they were tiptoeing around the subject for a while now.” She gave a shrug.

“I mean, I guess you’re right.” Yukine grumbled in response, “Still, this is gonna be weird as hell.”

“Think of it this way,” Daikoku put a hand on Yukine’s shoulder, “Now he won’t bother you as much.”

“Hmm, that is true.” The younger boy hummed in agreement. “Sorry, Hiyori. Guess he’s mainly your problem now.”

“Why am I a problem ?”

“It’s okay.” She flashed the blonde a smile, “I kind of figured.” 

[threadmonster]

Do you have any hc for (please take your time there's no rush)

Axel (kh)

Saruhiko (k)

Shizuo (drrr)

and my adorable yukine (noragami)

Axel

He's a Sad Boi

Dude had lost all his friends! But it gave him the motivation to break away and be better. Did he believe he was worth having the second chance? Idk, maybe, but he believed in Roxas and Xion.

He had this vague sense of what it was like to have a heart but he would push it aside. Like Roxas would ask about what it'd be like to have a heart and that would trigger the feelings but he had no grasp on them.

It was against his better judgement to be friends with Roxas and Xion and to really care about them

It was essentially his choice to become a Nobody. He and Saix willingly took part in Ansem's experiments. Those two had no choice and we're subjected to the fate decided for them and Axel wasn't able to save them.

He had also decided he was going to save Saix. It wasn't last minute during the battles. He was going to save Saix. And if possible he is going to save the unnamed girl.

He'll help save Sora.

He came back after he had willingly sacrificed himself. He refuses to lose. He wanted to be a keyblade weilder because he won't feel helpless or hopeless ever again.

Fushimi

We know that the way he left Homra and treated Yata was just easier for him. I know his "betrayal" of Scepter 4 was for show, to convince everyone.

However! It hurt him. He willingly went along with it and probably helped come up with the plan but he didn't expect it to hurt.

Both Munakata's words and being labeled a traitor AGAIN.

He had never really been a traitor. Even betraying Yata wasn't about betraying Yata, he was protecting himself the only way he knew how.

Baby boy has such low emotional intelligence and terrible coping skills.

But even if it hurt him and even though he trusted Munakata to save him... part of Fushimi had a bit of doubt. He's still Fushimi after all.

And that part of him with doubt was comforted by the thought that everyone would think of him as a traitor. It's easiest if people hate him. He'd miss them, be sad that he didn't see them, but nobody needs to miss him.

Shizuo

I have a really vague aroace headcanon for him. I've just been making characters aroace lately and for Shizuo I think that's a rather sad/angsty pipeline to acceptance and understanding it doesn't affect his worth as a person.

Separate from that. This is more of an AU idea.

Izaya wasn't so involved with people prior to middle school? I think? He was more withdrawn.

So say they went to the same elementary school instead of Shinra. Maybe Shizuo wouldn't have hated Izaya at first sight. Maybe Izaya didn't have his weird fucked up philosophy of humanity. Maybe they could have been acquaintances even for a short time.

Say they'd be in the same room, like Izaya's just in the library and Shizuo goes there to cool down and avoid people talking about him.

He just looks at Izaya and thinks he looks sad for some reason. Izaya probably just had some melancholy face by default, but Shizuo didn't know that.

So he just keeps glancing at him, wanting to say something but thinking it's better not to. Maybe he's already got some worry about how people are talking about him.

He's embarrassed when Izaya asks if there's something on his face.

They go to different middle schools but are at the same highschool and Izaya's different. Shizuo had missed him but he's different. Suddenly Izaya thinks he's a monster and he looks at Izaya and hates him.

It's the usual canon nonsense, but deep down Shizuo is hurt and doesn't know what to do.

Yukine

I know it's already canon but I just REALLY LIKE that he'd sacrifice himself for Yato and Hiyori and that he's scared of Hiyori forgetting him.

He was such a brat but was able to accept things. He cares about more than just Yato and Hiyori. Because of losing his life so young, even if he accepted it, he still hates things that are unfair.

He has a grudge against Bishimon for how she neglected so many of her shinki, but in order not to blight Yato he talks to him about it.

Like he doesn't want to be mad but for awhile it just rubs him the wrong way and he doesn't know what to do.

If it came down to it and Hiyori's life was truly in danger by being tied to the far shore he'd lose it

He'd be mad at Hiyori for risking her life so much, as if she didn't care about it. He loves that she cares so much, but she should value her life more. Her getting hurt because of him is worse than her forgetting.

He'd decide that they have to cut ties and would only accept parting if it was only between the three of them.

Even Yato would be depressed for days, weeks, maybe longer.

He'd still acknowledge when Yato is being horrible but he'd be defensive for awhile. Insulting the god that Hiyori had believed in, who she had decided was worth his own shrine and built it herself was insulting Hiyori too and no one has the right to do that.

I mean, honestly they are all sad bois.

[nikikikiko]

Goya no Machiawase

 This song is not just the opening for Noragami, it could have predicted/foreshadowed a certain character’s downfall, and it was so well hidden as an opening, nobody wanted to look into it. (p.s. I will be using translations from animelyrics. if the source is not a good source, please tell me!)

That certain character is Yukine, the angel of a 14 year old who’s emotionally messed up right now. and Here’s how I saw this,

I'm carrying a loaded rifle in one hand. I'm heading for you with quickened steps, knowing you're shaking and shivering

Yukine is carrying a ‘loaded rifle’ or rather, his very own powers as a shinki. Shinki’s are known to be able to do spells (Kazuma) if they are powerful enough. Hafuri’s outrank usual Shinkis by default, but if the shinki (Kaguha) is well-versed and gifted for spells, then the shinki is going to outrank the Hafuri. But so far, Yukine has only been outranked by Kazuma, who’s seemed to have fallen to our favorite blondie besides Bisha, after pissing off said blondie.

This could also reference to the fact he’s willing to die for someone he loves (be it Yato, Hiyori, Kazuma, Bishamon, Daikoku, Kofuku, Tenjin, etc. He’s willing to die, or just Yato. Just yato would do probably.) because of the second chance at life they have given him, he doesn’t want them to lose that (if they are a shinki, if they are a God, then to cause the shinki they have pain, especially himself.) life. (I.e. He quite literally risked his life over and over for Yato, he gave up a personal bit of info to Kazuma because trust). Tick tock, tick tock go the hands of the clock. They just spurred my flustered heart on. Tick tock, tick tock go the hands of the clock. They keep moving forward with no sign of stopping.

The God’s Secret is unstoppable. There is no sign of stopping it besides the Shinki accepting the way they died, or the shinki having no fear of death (Nana’s case). Yukine’s name was chipped by Chiki, and therefore he had a time limit before he reached an emotional part of the god’s secret where he can’t trust anything, but Yato. and then Yato breaks this trust by using Kazuma, spurring the fall even faster. (As you could see, Tsuguha spent time with only Bishamon, even if Bishamon didn’t let her shinki see Tsuguha, Tsuguha still saw Bishamon as a sign of trust and help. So it could be that the shinki starts to zero in on the god as a line of trust. Especially since Yukine’s trust was broken 5 or more chapters by Kazuma before breaking.) Sealed in in a room devoid of others' warmth, I'm stretching my cold hand forward. No one else knows where I am. Take a wild guess what this correlates too. Did you think ‘Yukine’s death’? Then ding ding ding! This could possibly mean Yukine remembering his death, since he was beginning to anyway. When he died, only his father knew where he was, after all. He was being suffocated alive in a dark place, and nobody else knew where he was. He died alone with the man he probably both loved and hated most.  “Tick tock, tick tock go the hands of the clock.It's the border-time, the time between end and beginning.Tick tock, tick tock went the hands of the clock. They've all aligned!” Back to what I was saying about time, time is up.  “It’s the border-time” He drew a line against Yato. A line. A border. This is the showing that his time as Yukine is finally coming to a close, and that he’s going to break soon.  I was waiting there speechless for a sorrow so deep it would make me laugh. I was waiting there speechless for a joy so great it would bring me to tears.

Yukine wanted a family that wasn’t dysfunctional, even if he didn’t remember he did, that desire still stayed. So his birthday present was a ‘sorrow so deep it would make me laugh’ because it reminded him of the thing he hated, he was dead. He’d be 14 forever, and there was nothing he could do. But it was also a ‘joy so great it would bring me to tears’ because it was so sweet they all gathered together and gave him a birthday present, and he was so thankful to have Yato and Hiyori in his afterlife.  Sealed in in a room devoid of others' warmth I'm stretching my cold hand forward. No one else knows where I am.

A repeat of what I said earlier, he’s remembering how he died most likely.  Tick tock, tick tock went the hands of the clock. As if to hound me Tick tock, tick tock went the hands of the clock. for not wanting to spend my days Tick tock , tick tock went the hands of the clock. desperately trying to weather the coming storm. Tick tock, tick tock went the hands of the clock. They've all aligned! A probable descent into madness. This could pertain back to Yukine’s time being up .  Also, back to the conversation in the latest chapter, he realized that he was not Yato’s son. He was a tool. Even if Yato doesn’t see it that way, Yukine does. And he regrets thinking that way possibly.

This could also mean his ablutions. “As if to hound me... for not wanting to spend my days... desperately trying to weather the storm... they’ve all aligned” 3 Shinki must be present for an ablution because they’re the one performing the ablution. They make align in a triangle, and desperately try to stop the infected shinki from turning into an ayakashi, in some cases. In Yukine’s case, he didn’t want to spend his days with Yato, so he stung the god, and then his ablution was desperate. I had been waiting speechless, all alone in a dimly lit room. I had been waiting there speechless for the sound of someone kicking the door in. I had been waiting speechless, all alone in a dimly lit room. I had been waiting there speechless.

Remembering his own past. He was alone, possibly, with his abusive and drunk dad. And it’s more than possible, he was waiting for someone, maybe the person he was mailing (letters + mailbox, he was definitely mailing someone), to come save him from his dad. Since he felt trapped possibly.

"You have nothing to fear now. I promise."

This is Yato’s promise to Yukine. That he is safe. Yukine remembers that promise, and tries to do the same for Yato. As said before, the only person he probably trusted more than himself was Yato, so Yato getting another shinki (WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE, mind you. It was done behind his back and he ran into Yato using Rekki, so ofc he’s gonna be sad and confused. The exact same emotions Nora felt.) He possibly feels as if that promise was broken. That’s why it’s here possibly, he’s remembering it and, 

I held my loaded rifle toward the firmly shut door and I kicked it in. The barrel jerked up and pierced the person I was yesterday. "Nighty night." Shouldering his despair, the person I would be tomorrow walked away. Let's meet again tomorrow night.

This could mean he finally let the original Yukine, the Yukine before being a shinki go to rest. He was the original one day, and the shinki the next. And he’s bidding goodbye to his past, instead choosing his second life over his last. Choosing his given name, rather than his original name.

The Blonde 14 year old spirit of a boy who was abused, chooses the name Yukine. 

[kofubisha]

merry christmas @thedeliverygod ~ i got the request from you for happy yatori/trio stuff, and i sincerely hope this delivers ❤

(written for the @noragamisecretsanta 2022 event)

gnome for the holidays

“What do you want for Christmas, H—”

“Nothing! Thank you.”

“Aww. Really? Not even the littlest, tiniest—”

“No gifts, thanks.”

“But I’ve been saving up for months and I think you’d really like this one—”

“Yato.”

Hiyori’s voice, which had started at tepid tolerance, became as hard and cold as diamond. The warning note in it made Yato go a bit pale, which Yukine observed with relish.

“If you deliver another garden gnome to my house,” she said in the same immovable tone, “I will block your number, stop buying you food, unfollow you on Twitter, and tell every liquor licensed shop in the area that you have nineteen DUIs and that selling to you is a danger to the public.”

“They wouldn’t remember me, though—”

“Furthermore...” She cut Yato off seamlessly, and his eyes actually started to well up with tears. Yukine didn’t know if it was at the threats or the tone they were delivered in. This was a girl who had seen one garden gnome too many. This was Hiyori Iki off the leash.

“I will enlist my friends to take down all your posters and cover all graffiti with your number. I will tell them you are a much less cool and edgy Banksy” (“Banksy isn’t really ‘cool’ or ‘edgy’ anymore,” Yukine put in, to no reaction from either) “and, finally, I will take your precious bottle of coins and throw it right off a bridge.”

This final twist of the knife went too far. Yato collapsed beneath the table and commenced a long, whimpering wail of insurmountable heartbreak.

“Who’s strangling a possum in here?” Daikoku poked his head in the door. “Quit caterwauling. Dinner’s ready.”

: : :

The garden gnome situation had begun a month previous when Hiyori mentioned that she was learning from Daikoku how to grow flowers and a few kitchen herbs in a corner of the yard at her own house. Her mistake had been to mention, quite offhandedly, that a little statue or sculpture, perhaps a fountain, might be a nice touch.

“Or a gnome!”

Yato had developed a recent, apparently irreversible fascination with garden gnomes. Yukine wondered what the appeal was, a dark internal voice whispering to him that Yato would reveal that he suffered under the same delusion with the gnomes that he did with the capypers, thinking they were just very small, heavy little men who like to stand silently outside people’s homes.

Hiyori wrinkled her nose at the suggestion.

“I’m leaning more toward a fountain,” she had said feebly, but it was too late.

Three of them arrived within the next week. Hiyori, not wanting to entirely crush his soul, put one in a discreet corner of her little garden, three-quarters-hidden by a clump of thyme. The other two went under her bed, where they stayed for the next day as she thought about how to dispose of them. She didn’t entirely like to put them straight into the trash, but they were so hideous, and she hated them so much, and they simply couldn’t stay under her bed where they would cause night terrors.

She took them to school, depositing one in a dusty, ancient little upstairs closet and the other deep in the shadows underneath the stairs leading down to the boiler room. She felt ridiculous doing this, and nearly took them both straight to the dumpster beforehand, but the thought of Yato finding them there and feeling betrayed…

She rolled the second gnome so deep beneath the bottom step of the boiler room that it wedged there solidly. Better to hide them around the school—to catalyze a future custodian’s heart attack upon discovery—than that.

As it turned out, she had no reason to worry. By the time the eleventh gnome made it to her house, she was piling them happily into the dumpster en masse.

“Can you get him to stop?” she begged Yukine. “This must be absolutely burning through your savings.”

“I think he’s stealing them,” Yukine confessed. “He was cleaning dirt off the bottom of one yesterday before he went to leave it at your doorstep. I tried to stop him…” He trailed off in defeat.

Hiyori shook her head sympathetically. She had already told him outright via several communication channels that the gnomes were unwelcome, but all had fallen on deaf ears. Yato seemed to think this was her cute and coquettish way of requesting more gnomes—because that was what arrived.

By the middle of December, Hiyori had hidden, thrown out, or otherwise disappeared eighteen ugly little statues that had vanished from gardens around the neighborhood. She had been forced to lie to her parents, who had seen a few before she could dispose of them and wondered aloud and at length at their daughter’s new propensity for garden statuary.

“As long as you keep them to your corner, darling,” her mother had said, her uneasy glance resting on the grinning, green-hatted little ceramic man Hiyori had tried to tuck behind her back before the door opened.

“They don’t complement the wisteria.”

: : :

Yukine found Yato outside after dinner, nursing a beer and staring disconsolately at the cloud-choked December sky. Something Yato had said amidst Hiyori’s litany of threats had settled in the back of his brain; it bothered him, and prompted him to speak gently when he might otherwise have scolded.

“You’re leaving breadcrumbs.”

Yato didn’t look at him, which gave Yukine the sinking feeling that he was correct.

“Nope,” said Yato, in a light and throwaway voice. “Breadcrumbs are meant to leave a trail. She doesn’t need to be following me.”

Yukine continued, merciless.

“All right, not breadcrumbs. But you do hope to jog her memory sometimes. Even if she doesn’t remember you, she’ll still be dealing with the traces of your existence. Whenever she sees one of those things, she’ll think ‘Hm…where did that ugly little statue come from? It looks like garbage, so that’s where I’ll put it.’ And eventually they will all be in the trash, forgotten, along with everything she remembers about you. Was that your plan?”

Yato had turned around, keeping both hands flat on the railing. His eyes had flickered with something that wasn’t quite anger, nor sorrow, but had qualities of both. By the time Yukine finished speaking, his face was very quiet.

“You’re a good kid.”

Then he pushed away from the railing and wrapped Yukine in a crushing hug.

Yukine blinked. His arms were pinned to his sides at the elbow; all he could do was bat feebly against Yato’s ribs and squawk with humiliation. As the hug went on, he wondered if he had eaten something off at dinner and was experiencing the most vivid hallucination of anyone in the world, perhaps of all time.

At some point approximately eight million years after it started, Yukine was released. He felt his lungs expand properly again and took a grateful breath.

But he had to admit: the hug had not been, overall, bad.

“I’m glad she’s got you to look out for her,” Yato added. It was said with weight, an enormity of meaning that left Yukine without a response. He was only recently familiar with the concept of “looking out for” someone, or of someone “looking out for” him. The responsibility was great, and strange, and terrible.

When they walked back inside, Kofuku and Hiyori had their heads close together and were watching something on Hiyori’s phone, at which they would occasionally gasp or wince. Daikoku was still in the kitchen, putting away the very last of the dishes. Hiyori was not permitted to help with this as a consequence of being technically a guest, and Kofuku was actively barred from doing as a consequence of having broken not one hundred, not two hundred, but exactly three hundred and sixteen pieces of kitchenware since Daikoku was named.

“What’s so interesting?” Yukine asked, craning his neck to glimpse the small screen. Hiyori and Kofuku each had one earphone in, and they looked up as he approached.

“I’m watching Hiyorin’s future husband crush another man’s head under his armpit,” Kofuku said. “He’s very good at this move, and also the one where he hugs the other man very tight and makes him go to sleep. I’m not sure how that one works,” she said, enormously interested in the brutality taking place on the phone screen.

“Ah.” Yukine was familiar with this subject. “A Touno highlight reel?”

Hiyori blushed to the roots of her hair. “I just wanted to show her some of his best—”

“Muscles?” Daikoku called out from the kitchen.

“—moves, before he comes to the city next month for the championship matchups. I really thought about getting a ticket but they were going so fast, and I can’t exactly afford it—”

She cut herself off at this point, looking ashamed at having said so much already.

“Good thing you have those gnomes,” Yato sagely offered, taking what Yukine thought to be the hugely unnecessary risk of souring her mood for the second time that day.

After several seconds, Hiyori took in a fortifying breath and said with sainted patience:

“Oh? And why is that, Yato?”

“Because one of them has tickets to Touno’s match hidden in the base.”

This response, delivered to a thunderstruck room, didn’t seem to have the effect Yato was expecting.

“I wanted to put something inside each one, but I’m not allowed to spend that much money anymore, so I ended up just with the tickets.”

Yukine thought back to when he saw Yato “cleaning” the bottom of the gnome. Logic began to click into place.

“H-how…” Hiyori’s voice was breathy, her face a frozen mask of tragedy.

“How many gnomes ago—I mean days—was this?”

Yato tapped his cheek thoughtfully. “Not actually sure about that. I think it had a yellow hat, though.”

Her stricken face lost a few more degrees of color.

“Metro station restroom,” she whispered inexplicably.

Springing up from beside Kofuku, she reeled in the earphones and shoved her back in her pocket. By the time anyone else could think of moving, she was already at the doorway and shoving her feet into her shoes.

“Thanks for the meal, Daikoku!” she called over her shoulder.

Before throwing herself out the door, she stopped, one of her shoes still dangling from a hand. Then she whirled back into the room, grabbed the front of Yato’s shirt, and pressed her lips very quickly, very gently, to his cheek.

Seconds later she had darted from the house, and Yukine saw her moving down the street at nearly a sprint.

When he turned back to the others, he saw that Kofuku was so incapacitated at Yato’s expression that she could no longer move, and was rolling around clutching her sides in paroxysms of hilarity.

“He’s broken!” she crowed. “She broke him!!”

~ fin ~

[invertedgoogle]

I tried translating the Vol 24 omakes: Schrö and Dinger are back!

Disclaimer: This was done to the best of my (limited) Japanese ability and by looking up every other word on Weblio, so there may be some references I missed, and I definitely know some that I wasn't able to find. I still hope you guys enjoy it though!

Credits for scans: @kanotototori

A spur of the moment

Box: Mew… mew… mew…

Yukine: … they’re cats!

Yukine: Oh no… who threw you away? Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?

Yato: Wait! Don’t touch them!

Yukine: It’s alright, it’s not like I can get sick or anything.

Yato: First, we need to take a video!

Unnecessary

Yukine: They’ll die if we don’t do anything! Can we please take them home?! I’ll be responsible for taking care of them!

Yato: No no, we can’t keep pets!

Yukine: Well, fine then, I’ll ask Hiyori (hand me your phone)

Yato: Hiyori also can't keep any pets in her home, right?

(Flashback)

Yato: Can we meet up?

Hiyori: Sorry…

(Flashback end)

Yato: And she did say “Maybe we should stop meeting up for a while since there’s Covid going around”...

Yukine: She said she’s coming over!

(Let’s go home!)

Yato: Wait, what?

With Covid

Hiyori: Yato! Long time no see! Where are the cats?

Yato: … on the second floor…

Yato: And I’d even told him that keeping pets while single means that I’d become totally unmarriable... It’s really messed up my life plans! I’m begging you, Hiyori...

Yato: Get Yukine to change his mind—

Daikoku: So she was using Covid as a reason to avoid you, huh…

Yato: … I hate Covid!!

Satori

Yukine: These are Schrö-kun and Dinger-chan

Hiyori: So cute!!

Hiyori: They’re so tiny… <3! They make me want to come here every day… <3

Yato: We can keep them!!

Yato: Well, that’s fine… if anything I can get some cat adoption videos (in the subsequent text there’s a reference here that I can’t for the life of me look up or understand, so I’m moving on to the next speech bubble)

I can increase my likability... getting married isn’t just a pipe dream anymore!

(Not both of them though)

Yukine: His face says it all… (Thanks) but he’s the one being used here!

Narrator: Just as expected from Yato’s Satori… no, wait, hafuri

* Satori is a kind of mind-reading yokai

Side hustle

Yukine: So the cost of raising a single cat is 2.5 million yen… it’s double if we’re raising two. Just my part-time job isn’t enough to cover that. Should I try making videos?

Hiyori: You can try! I’ll help out!

One month later

Yukine: We’ve finally reached 100 subscribers

Hiyori: So there are people who keep up with our videos from time to time

Yato: Well, but my channel has never been doing better!

Hiyori: Wow! Since when were you a Youtuber?

Yato: Would you like me to take you under my wing? Yukine ku~n?

Yukine: No thank you.

Yukine: But none of this has anything to do with cats!

Yato-possessed Hiyori onscreen: For hitting 1 million subscribers, I’ll be giving out free hugs in Shibuya!

(Video title: SchröDinger’s no-makeup no-filter channel, 1.02 mil subscribers)

Hiyori: Wait… since when was I under divine possession?

Yato: Hey, you made a commitment, didn’t you?

Business expertise

Yato: This turned out so profitable!

Yukine: Urgh…! K… kinda regret not joining you, but it’s amazing... if only I had that many subs...

Yato: Now time for my start-up!

Yato: I’ve used all the money to buy a whole load of coffee beans (Kyaa!!)

Yukine: … why coffee…?

(Coffee extracted from the feces of Asian palm civets is said to be a delicacy)

Yato: So we feed the cats these coffee beans, right? And after that they’re gonna poop, right? Then we can take the beans from their poop…

Yato: And make locally produced, all-Japanese Kopi Luwak… (Slap!) guh!

SSR Character

(Store: homemade, home-roasted coffee)

Yukine: It’s hot, so please be careful with it!

Hiyori: Thank you for your patronage!

(Sticker: for Schrö and Dinger)

Hiyori: Good work! The coffee business looks like it’s going swimmingly! Good for you, Yukine-kun!

Yukine: Thanks, if we can just keep this up…

Voice: Oh? I smell something nice…

Ebisu: I smell money~

[kanotototori]

Chapter 97-1 Thoughts (Part 2)

(Continued from Part 1.)

A quick Nora aside: it was validating, in a way, to see Hiyori acknowledge that Nora and Father have a bond - and even she is confused about whether it is a master/servant bond or a parent/child bond. I'd say it's not completely one way or the other - Father's bond with Nora and Yato both crosses between the lines of "tool" and "family" in a lot of confusing and complex ways, and I think Father and Nora's bonding moments in this chapter showed that perfectly: Nora is both a child and a means to an end.

(Now I must bring up this extremely niche meme I made a while ago because yeah that pretty much sums up my entire thoughts on the debate of "what does Father really feel for Mizuchi and Yato?"

The answer: it's complicated.)

Next: finally, we got follow-up on Father saying that he did kill gods in the past, way back from Chapter 87 - which means this puts us pre-Yato timeline wise, Father's first foray into fucking shit up post-Pockmarks death (at least, I'm assuming).

I already said this on Twitter when the leaks dropped but Father's tattered outfit - the sleeveless koromo with the white kosode with the torn sleeves - puts this scene together with Yomi flashback and the below scene from 96-1 outfit-wise.

Also, I was looking at Father laughing here and kept getting the feeling it looked familiar. Well, I think I figured out the reason why: 

The "I'm so glad I took him to that fridge!" scene.

(Put down your pitchforks, I know.)

Though we can't see his face in 97, here he looks similarly ecstatic.

This page came immediately after Father talking about how Mizuchi doesn't hate Heaven but Hagusa split the Heavens, and how maybe now Father can go farther with him than he could with Yato and Mizuchi; if Father's recollection of his first time destroying a god with Chiki was the first time he realized he does have a fighting chance against gods (thus his delight), then the above page must have been a similar moment - less about laughing about Yukine's fate, but more about the fact that, for the first time in centuries after countless years of fruitless destruction, he has a fighting chance against Heaven.

Full circle. 

A really interesting remark that I'm not quite sure what to make of. The word for salvation that Father uses (救 sukui) is part of the word "savior" in the chapter title  (救主 sukuinushi) - is this the sort of liberation that Chiki's Liberation offers? Father has already stated that the beings resulting from the revealing of GGS are a person's karma, giving this power overt Buddhist overtones. 

@nyappytown​ and I talk about this quite a lot: the idea that souls have been trapped in the Far Shore and are prevented from moving on by the shinki system, an artificial roadblock in the natural cycle of reincarnation - in Chapter 81, Father even says that shinkis' disinterest in themselves stems from the way that they are "made".

Is "Liberation" the way in which a soul's karma is processed? Is "salvation" being released from an unnatural state of servitude, back into the cycle? Lots to think about. 

"Even though disaster and conflict are things Heaven can inflict on people."

I have a feeling this quote directly correlates to the scene we saw last chapter (96-1). We've got the disaster (fire) and we've got conflict (corpses, one of them looks like it's been tied to a post or a tree.)

The fact that we still haven't seen Pockmarks's lower half even though we've seen the exact same scene twice already is making me nervous. I am not ready for Adachitoka to drop that bomb on us. 

The fact that Hiyori and Nora had like, the exact same face to Yato/Father putting their neck on the line and going on a suicide mission is killing me. 

Here’s a few more.

"I'll protect you, so come hide with me!" / "Just forget about your father and come home! Don't you go anywhere!"

These two, man, I swear to god.

"Father has grown tired of life outside of the spotlight."

This feels like it's a direct follow up to the end page of Chapter 63: Ecstasy (above), in which Father prompts Bishamon to make herself a target to draw attention away from Yato and "create a shadow in which [they] will lurk."

And who exactly will burn bright until their body evaporates so that all of Heaven will look away from Yato (and his failure to kill Father)?!

GAHHHH. Adachitoka kills me. They are too good!!!!!

Father feels like quite the static character - which he has been, for the most part, because his journey prior to the start of the series has already taken place! - but this...

This.

I believe we are seeing a character progression moment right now.

Because, like Father himself implied, he has been in the shadows the entire time. His line to Bishamon in 63 (above), his line to Mizuchi in Ch 50 about "what makes the man behind the curtain so cool is the fact that he works in the shadows."

Well, not anymore.

And finally, the panel I have been avoiding up until now: 

I admit that I've been following discussion about this panel quite closely and... ehhh. I don't know! Yesterday I was all up in the Discord server like, "am I going crazy? Am I supposed to be thinking Father is worse than Heaven because gods actually care about the Near Shore? Am I seeing a narrative setting up a discussion on systemic violence that's just not there???? Is my entire analysis of Father wrong??? What the hell is going on right now??"

So I guess this is more of a thought coming out of the chapter - and the takes I’ve been seeing floating around - rather than a chapter thought, per se:

What lens are people reading this story through? The answer to this for a lot of people seems to be "Child Abuse: The Manga" which is entirely FAIR because a lot of the manga concerns this, the main protagonist is so deeply affected by it that we, as readers cannot help but examine the manga through that lens of analysis. 

But it feels like that view also puts a weird binary on the narrative - "you are either a victim or you are a the perpetrator of violence, and the latter is the absolute evil" - when Noragami's power dynamics very often blur and cross the line between those two categories, between victim and perpetrator. 

If Noragami in its entirety was "(Child) Abuse: the Manga", where does that put major characters that haven't experienced abuse but are still incredibly important to the plot? Bishamon, Kazuma, Takemikazuchi, Ebisu...? Noragami is more of a "Cycle of Violence: the Manga" or "Trauma Fucks You Up: the Manga", in which the characters' relationship to "victim" vs. "perpetrator" is... complicated. 

Gods hold power over humans, yet humans are the reason why they can exist in the first place; a master holds power over a shinki, yet their shinki shape their existence and teach them right from wrong. I think we are absolutely supposed to feel sympathy for the plight of individuals gods (Kofuku, Bishamon, and now the Execution Squad gods) as victims but also acknowledge that they hold power over humans as well, and the harm that comes from their hand is not something that can be dismissed, ESPECIALLY when it comes about as a result of Heaven's ideology - considering that is the MAIN perpetrator of cycles violence in this series, directly or indirectly being the main catalyst for pretty much every event in the series, starting with whatever happened to Father.

My point is, I think Father should be understood in a similar way when it comes to the broader context of the story.

It was Father, after all, who made the comparison of humanity being like abused children, clinging to their parents (gods) - right on top of the page where Father sets the wolves on Yato, right after a page where we see a skeleton in the grass and Father holding Pockmarks's body. In a story that features abuse so heavily, I don't think Adachitoka would write these two pages for Father so lightly - the constant monologuing about abandonment/the concept of being saved/salvation, Father being human yet comparing gods to abusive parents...

Father (humanity) as the powerless victim, gods as the perpetrators; in the same breath, Yato (gods) as the powerless victim, Father (humanity) as the perpetrator. Father's role as the perpetrator of violence should absolutely not be forgotten, but neither should his role as a victim of Heaven's cycle of violence. What Father does out of anger absolutely makes the cycle go round, but the anger itself is a testament to pain that shouldn't be ignored, because it comes out something much bigger - and it's not as simple as "someone he loved died."

And with that, I will wrap things up! Until next time, folks.

[mokkemusic]

Day in the life of Dana a blog (sick in bed edition)

The comment here could be made “This is the exciting part of your life? How pathetic.” And well.. to counter this statement (that only my awful brain is saying to me) Is well I was sick in bed so YES! I could say absolutely nothing happened to me yesterday but I really don’t take interactions for granted. They are the little things that bring me joy even when I’m sick and they are memorable! So leave me alone brain I’m valid.👌🏻

So here are a few highlights the previous night/last night/ this morning. (These are In no particular order)

1: Erin asking me to explain this Noragami panel about father. Thus starts the “Oh how much I hate father tangent.” I once said that I hate Teru more than father and I “should” check myself on that cause Father is way worse. WAY WORSE. But I still hate Teru more. 😂 (Tbf Father is actually a REALLY GOOD antagonist. I would say one of the best ever. I despise him and what he did to Yukine but I can’t deny that. Like the man literally stole his sons son AND kissed his sons girlfriend WHAT IS THIS MANGA?!) 

Then that led me to explain the insanity which was some of these Noragami plot twists and it was a good time. Erin thank you for indulging me. 🤧

2: Speaking of Noragami- Then late at night there was Ami giving me my medicine Lol (Not suit Amane this time but her Norgami manga reactions) GOLD I SAY PURE GOLD. 👌🏻

I got to explain why we don’t trust Kasuma (never trust the Akane look a likes- IM KIDDING! - sort of 👀)

How once again Father is a son of bitch and I have given Ami permission to do with him as she see’s fit. (I said it so it’s ok 😌)

Also she got me to really appreciate some more of the parallels and art style choices of Adachitoka. Very cool shots in the chapter she was reading! 👌🏻 YOUR ALMOST THERE AMI 5 MORE CHAPTERS! Then you get to hysterically cry with me and Mac next month isn’t it great? 🙂

3: I FOUND THE MOST AMAZING TIKTOKER. Tbf I found her before but I didn’t really know how much she’s done. She’s a JJK content creator that summarizes all of the recent chapters. As someone… like me who has no intention of reading the manga she does all the work for me😌 and In the most entertaining way! Especially about the Yuta arc. (Which you all know is the only reason I want to know lol)

Some of her one liners omg- this is probably a new level of a dork for me to gush over a content creators one liners but you know what screw it! She’s super funny.

It doesn’t do it justice when I say it back but the way she talks I can’t explain it’s just highly entertaining! 2 of my favs cause I can't help myself: 

“Quick side note. Everyone who underestimates Yuta...in my opinion is… an idiot, because they always end up getting their ass beat-” So true so true👌🏻😂

“If a kid is shoving food down his throat do you tell them to stop? and Yuta’s like “yea... what do you tell children?” I wanna know when's the last time Yuta’s had a normal conversation with anybody? Need to know that immediately.” adafljgjalglgaag I have no idea about this ch but this Yuta’s life ok not having normal conversations with anyone and getting thrown into a school under Gojo’s bullshit not telling him and everyone wanting to murder him the first day cause of Rika and Gojo thinking its funny so yea. Just a day in the life for Yuta my poor boy!! 😂

Also love how I am not alone even MANGA readers are not explicitly told what the heck is going on with Yutas cursed technique and the amount of “Rika’s soul” that’s still with Yuta. I love in one of her videos she address that about people talking in her comment section about “A lot of you guys last week kept telling me that Yuta had made a copy of Rika and thats why Rika still exists, even though the text has literally never explicitly said that...” “Stop making stuff up. Stop it! *wags finger at the screen playfully*” 😂 Ah man, it’s just you had to be there ok? You had to be there! Also this gave me a lesson to not take so much at face value about what is said about Rika until I see it in print in spoilers I find because I don’t trust JJK fandom peeps word as law because most of them don’t even like Rika they want to make stuff up anyways lol. Anyway I just love her. I definitely pressed that follow button!

She’s like as cool as Sidney! (Side note: Sidney was at megacon and ah forget Justin (that’s a joke I love Justin Briner) I am so jealous cause man I would LOVE to meet Sidney. Though it would have been like finding a needle in a haystack cause Sidney was just going as a convention go-er making tiktoks like “If you see me come up and say Hi!” - I wish Sidney I wish you’re so cool 🤧🥺)

Anyway back on topic so this JJK TikToker she also loves TBHK! “I actually used to talk about the Toilet-Bound manga before... and then JJK became like my only personality trait-” “Anyways you are not immune to my Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun propaganda READ THE MANGA!” (I feel called out just by quoting this 👀😂) 

But to wrap up. I was really inspired by her genuine enthusiasm for just the stories. Got me thinking about how “damn what’s it like to be a Shounen fan? 🤔 Like an actual Shounen fan! Like imagine only waiting a week? Only a week most times. Like what does that do to your mindset?” Idk It’s just interesting to think about. But even waiting a month no matter what characters… I should really be more excited about just the stories again. I wanna try to be more like her.

Then I had a similar talk with Hana the other day about hyper-fixation on characters, ships and series. About how I’ve been able to to focus and hyper-fixate on 2 or sometimes 3 things at once and not just one which is definitely a new thing for me. But it kinda goes with what I’ll say later about how Ive also been analyzing falling in love with side characters and how that changes things a bit in your mind cause you are not surrounded by content.

This whole discovery just lead to new thought process’s and that’s why it’s a Highlight. (I had a cooler way to say this but it kinda got lost in my ramble but I think that’s good enough) Moving on.

4: I also saw the best fan art on twitter that had me literally going CRAZY! The rest of the night all I could think about (it took up one whole area of my brain) was Rika wearing wearing Yuta’s white uniform Jacket! *just pure screeching* SHES SO TINY (cause you know she's 11)! IT’S SO BIG ON HER!

And I now want to imagine her hands are like lost in the sleeves and she’s flapping them around and wraps herself in a hug. After she puts the collar up to her nose cause it smells like him. I want to imagine this 😭 my brain kinda short circuited after that.

5: Also on that note right after I saw that I had more thoughts to analyze more with Rapid (when I feel better and my brain actually works again) about how if it actually was the “same day she died” or if it was more then one day and REALLY analyze it with factoring in Japan summers and school year and Yuta’s birth date. Cause this is actually driving me crazy. I NEED more insight on this one. (This one is more just a reminder for myself)

6: Then speaking of analyzing- my genius self decided to go for a walk while I was sick and you hear me a bit out of breath and my coat rustling. But I recorded 3 podcasts just for myself lol. Just about “everything” the different manga I’m into and recommends, analyzing more jjk things, analyzing the idea of falling in love with side characters- cause this has been a process for me with Yuta and Rika ok?

And not an easy process at that. I don’t know how people do it! But you don’t chose what characters you fall in love with they chose you. I am on the complete opposite end of the spectrum here with this. Shoe is on the other foot its fascinating! 

7: Cat showed me some pics of the recent con that was really great! They had Yuta and Rika there even speckled in merch 🤧. That made me happy. ❤️

And last (I think its last... but definitely not least)

8: I also woke up this morning from not feeling well for 2 days and Lena made me this adorable little Yuta doodle while he’s holding tea out (it can also look like coffee ☕️ 👀) but I think Yuta would want me not be like him get rest and not look dehydrated so it is tea cause he’s totally the kinda character that would do that for you. Just make you tea when you feel icky. 🤧 My baby!

Really Lena you don’t know this yet (I will find the movie for you today with the captions) but he would! That’s exactly In character for him. He’s a really good boy. To everyone 🤧 and I love it so much that made me smile 😭❤️ waking up to that!

Anyway that’s my exciting 2 days .. I think it’s kinda all a blur now after I wrote this. So it’s a good thing I wrote it down when I did 😂

[yehet-about-it]

I Like Me Better | 28 - A Good Show

~ A Wayv Social Media AU Series ~

< Prev || Series Masterlist || Next >

Synopsis: You’ve just moved into a new apartment with your best friend Yangyang, but you’re immediately faced with a problem: your incredibly noisy upstairs neighbour Xiao Dejun, or to friends, Xiaojun. You spend the first few weeks of your acquaintance hating his guts, but after a sincere apology and a fascinating revelation about his passions and motivations you slowly begin to see past his cold exterior to discover the real him. What will happen as you get closer to this troubled boy and how will those closest to you react?

Pairing: Reader x Xiao Jun

Themes and Warnings: Explicit language, mild sexual content, mild violence and references to drinking/alcohol. Deals with themes of toxic masculinity, insecurity, gaslighting (sort of), and jealousy…

Start Date: 5th Nov 2020

~ Updates now every Monday, Wednesday & Friday @ 9pm GMT/3pm CST

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Word Count: 1.4k Warnings: None

You sat at a table in the corner of the café, nursing your coffee with a happy Bella sitting quietly on your lap as you watched Xiaojun doing one of his weekly sets at the Loft. The place was actually rather crowded today, which put a smile on your face as it meant Xiaojun was getting more attention as an artist.

His singing was accompanied by the soft hum of peoples’ chatter, though not in a rude way, since these evenings were very much a casual affair, and you could tell most people were still enjoying the music whilst they had their conversations. You’d been to these evenings a few times now, and often Ten or Hendery would turn up and sit with you, once even Yangyang, but this time you were alone, watching and listening as your sweetheart sang, catching your gaze once every so often, his eyes smiling softly at you.

You sipped your coffee tentatively as your eyes glanced around the room, happy that there were so many people here who appreciated Xiaojun’s singing, but as you did so, something caught your eye that instantly fouled your mood. Your brows knitted together as the one person you’d rather not see unexpectedly appeared in the crowd wielding a cup of tea, weaving in between the bodies of people stood watching, on his way over to your table. You’d averted your eyes, hoping he might just be here for the drink, but his shadow falling across your table made it very clear that he wasn’t.

“Kun.” You stated curtly, looking up at the older boy with a questioning look. “Hi y/n,” he replied awkwardly, sensing the frostiness in your voice. “What are you doing here?” you sighed, looking away from him, your coffee cup suddenly becoming particularly interesting. “I wanted to say sorry,” Kun replied sincerely, his hand resting anxiously on the back of the chair next to you. “Can I sit?”

Reluctantly you hummed a ‘go ahead’ before Kun pulled the chair out and settled next to you, placing his tea down on the table. You didn’t have the energy to argue and you certainly weren’t going to do it here in front of all these people, Xiaojun included.

“He’s not bad…” Kun said, briefly shifting his eyes to the boy playing the guitar at the front of the café. You followed his line of sight and saw Xiaojun mid-song, looking over to you with concerned eyes. You simply shrugged in response to his puzzled expression before turning back to Kun. “Yeah, he’ really good.” You stated proudly as if to say I told you so. “Did you come here just to comment on Xiaojun’s singing or was there something you wanted to say?” You winced at your own words, them coming out a little harsher than intended. You were still annoyed with Kun but now after all he was here, at Xiaojun’s place of work, about to offer up an apology.

Kun laughed wryly, staring down at his tea. “Right yes.” He replied. You could tell he was a little nervous. Kun wasn’t used to apologies, at least not serious ones, and especially not with you. It was perhaps the first time in 7 years you’d properly fought and he was desperate to make things better, but he was struggling to find the right words, fearing that one wrong word and you’d go on ignoring him for who knows how many more weeks.

“I wanted to apologise,” he began, placing his hands on the table. “I shouldn’t have said those things on the phone. I was just shocked because he’d said all of those awful things to you before and I didn’t want anyone who’d say such awful things to you anywhere near you. But, I really just want you to be happy, so if you really like him, then I’m happy for you.”

Your heart melted at his apology. You’d always known of course that Kun was just looking out for you, as he always did, but Kun was one of your closest friends and you really wanted him to like Xiaojun, and the fact that he refused to even give him a chance upset you far more than you expected. In hindsight, you felt a bit bad for cutting him off like you had. “Thank you Kun,” you said giving him an appreciative smile. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad at you and cut you off like that. I know you’re just looking out for me.” You looked around as you finished speaking, suddenly aware of the many other people around you that may be witness to your rather emotionally open conversation, but thankfully they all seemed to be minding their own business, the hum of their talking and xiaojun’s guitar drowning out your words to everyone but Kun.

“It’s okay, I probably deserved it.” Kun rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, relief washing over him as he saw the smile return to your face. The past few weeks he’d missed your smile – it was one of his favourite things about you and between him working so much and then you falling out with him he was worried he wouldn’t ever be able to see it again – but seeing the way you looked at him with the corners of your mouth stretching up into your soft cheeks, it brought him a bittersweet sense of solace. “Heh no, it was immature of me. You didn’t deserve that,” you affirmed, admitting your guilt. Kun reached out across the table and took one of your hands in his. “Don’t worry about it. Friends?” Your hand squeezed his reassuringly. “Eh, I suppose” You joked, a small chuckle erupting from your throat, echoed by Kun. “He really is good you know.”

You and Kun peacefully watched the rest of Xiaojun’s performance, Kun commenting on it every so often, not being able to help himself as a producer, but you still felt a sense of unease. You hadn’t missed the way Xiaojun’s eyes kept glancing over to you, evidently unsettled by Kun’s presence, particularly when he’d reached out to hold your hand, but for now you were just glad that you’d made up.

When Xiaojun’s set ended and the applause had died down, he set about putting his guitar and equipment away while Kun stood up from his chair, ready to leave. “Well, I should get back to work, I uh, don’t want to make things awkward.” You nodded your head as you followed his actions, setting Bella on the floor and attaching the lead to her collar. As much as you were glad Kun was here, you didn’t think you were quite ready for a stand off between the two men, not yet anyway. “Sure.” You wrapped your arms around Kun in a big hug as a last affirmation that things were okay again before he had to leave, which had Kun’s heart swelling with affection.

“I missed you…” you voiced as Kun’s comparatively big arms wrapped around your back, pulling you to his chest. “And I’m sorry I got so mad at you, I just really like him Kun.” You whimpered into his hoodie, your voice muffled by the material, audible only to Kun as he held you close, accidentally making eye contact with an uncomfortable looking Dejun before looking away. “I know,” he sighed. The lump in Kun’s throat tightened hearing you express your affections for the younger boy out loud, but as much as he didn’t want to Dejun to have you, Kun knew you weren’t his to keep. Although it pained him, you were your own person, and if you were happy, he’d just have to accept it – he wasn’t going to be the one to take away your happiness, not again.

As Kun released you from his embrace, a frowning Xiaojun wandered up to you carrying his guitar. Kun had hoped to make a swift exit before he was faced with Xiaojun, but he’d allowed himself to hold you in his arms a few seconds too long, and now you were faced with a potentially very uncomfortable situation.

You held your breath, anxious to see how the boys would react, but without need. “Good show,” was all Kun said, looking Xiaojun in the eye before taking off. “I’ll see you later y/n”. You stared after Kun as he exited the café, a little bewildered by the brief interaction but nonetheless please that he’d left it at that. “Huh. What was that about?” Xiaojun’s voice brought you out of your thoughts. You looked back at your lover, still a little dazed but not wanting to get into a long, complicated conversation about it you uttered a short reply.

“Oh, he just wanted to say sorry.”

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[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched in Quarantine

With some of the restrictions being lifted, I wanted to make a sort of master post to see just how much I’ve watched in my time off. Plus, I wanted to share something more lighthearted with everyone.

All of these anime will be rated on a 1-10 scale, 10 meaning masterpiece, 1 meaning complete garbage. I’ll also share what I liked/didn’t like about each show. This list will go in chronological order, and will encompass all anime from 3/13 - 6/13. Multiple Seasons will be grouped together. 

1. Beastars - 8/10 

I dig how human and down-to-earth Beastars is. The pacing was a nice and the animation was unexpectedly great! It’s driving force is its characters and their interactions. Felt a little slow at times, and Juno annoys me, but that’s okay. I’ll be watching season 2.

2. Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun - 8/10 

Oh my god! This visuals for this were absolutely wonderful! It did feel a little cliche at times, I won’t lie. But, I still loved all of these characters and the nice balance between creepy and comedy. 

3. Ao No Exorcist - 6/10 

I posted about this one after I finished it. The ending really pissed me off. I feel like if I had watched this when I was 13, I would’ve given it a higher score. Compared to some of the other shounen I’ve watched, this felt a bit basic. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t like it. Still have to get around to watching season 2...

4.  Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 6.5/10

Shoujo usually isn’t my cup of tea. Maid-sama was a nice way to ease into the cliches of shoujo. Misaki is a great protagonist and the ending Maid-sama was so satisfying. I’m only giving it a low score because of its slow pacing and lack of certain character development. 

5.  Violet Evergarden Gaiden: Eien to Jidou Shuki Ningyou  - 7/10

I’m a big Violet Evergarden fan to begin with, so of course I liked this movie. It did not resonate with me as much as the series itself, but I still enjoyed it. Kyoto animation is never disappointing in their visuals and sound design 

6.  Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! - 8/10 

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren - 6.5/10 

Chuunibyou was a breath of fresh air for me. It was so different from all other romance anime I had seen at the time. It for sure has a slice of life vibe to it, but it was still so good! It reminded me of being in middle school and my “chuunibyou” phase. The second season was not as enjoyable as the first. I guess I just had higher expectations for Rikka and Yuuta. 

7. Dr. Stone - 7/10

Dr. Stone is honestly such a perfect shounen for me. I’m a science nerd, and with taking AP Chem this year it was kind of nice to sorta apply my knowledge. This show also has some of the best reaction images ever. The tone, however, is a little inconsistent which made it hard to keep watching. I do love the relationship between Senku and his Dad, that whole sub-plot was so endearing.

8. Oshiete! Galko-chan - 6/10

This one only gets a low score because its so short and the op takes up like half an episode. This show had been in the back of my mind for a while. I decided to watch it after seeing a video essay discussing it. Its masterful subversion of tropes and stereotypes was refreshing. The message of this show is so positive, and everyone can benefit from watching something like this.  

9. Mairimashita Iruma-kun  - 5/10 

The second half of Mairimashita Iruma-kun was so much better. I’m not completely sure why I didn’t like this as much as I should have. Overall, its a really average show. The comedy (and musical numbers???) give this show and charismatic and chaotic vibe. I’m someone who focuses primarily on character-character interactions, and this show definitely had it. It isn’t monogatari levels of dialogue but it’s still nice. For the studio’s low budget, they were able to make a really bright and colorful show. I’ll be watching season 2.  

10. Byousoku 5 Centimeter - 8/10

Very. VERY. Pretty!! This one was another one that didn’t completely resonate with me emotionally. I still loved the story and the way it was told. Its not like Your Name or Tenki no Ko, it’s realistic and grounded.

11. Mob Psycho 100 - 8/10

Mob Psycho 100 II - 9/10 

Style alone made Mob Psycho 100 so impressive. By the second half of each season I was emotional invested in Mob and his whole journey. Season 2 is receiving a higher score because it was able to make me cry. That’s something I NEVER expected. I’m mad I didn’t watch this sooner. It is a great balance of action, comedy, and heart. 

12. Noragami Aragoto - 8/10 

Not sure why I put off Norogami’s second season for so long. I absolutely loved it. The focus on Bishimon was a nice change of pace and it was great to see Yukine develop more as a character and begin to loose his arrogance. Kazuma was my favorite character in all of this. His ability to affect the people around him was presented nicely. I was emotionally invested the whole way through, and I’ll probably pick up the manga. 

13. Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji - 3/10

Ah yes. My least favorite thing on planet earth. This is a wonderful example of Shoujo at its worst. Their relationship was incredibly toxic, and the characters themselves were poorly developed and generic. The whole time all I could think was that I was watching normalized Stockholm Syndrome. Our MC deserves so much better. 

14. Youjo Senki - 6/10

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like Youjo Senki as much as I did. I’m not usually one for iesekai. The action was great, but the use of CGI bogged down scenes. I do NOT really like the protagonist that much because she came across as apathetic. Towards the end, I started to like her more. This was also my first military/warfare-focused anime. If either a movie or second season is made, I will probably not watch it. 

15. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - 6.5/10

I wanted to like Madoka Magica more than I did. I really did. The style was compelling and the story was interesting. Especially in the beginning, a lot of the death and sad stuff didn’t feel all that sad. The last 4 episodes are a solid 8/10, I love time shenanigans. The emotions and character development really shined through in the end. Madoka is such an inherently kind-hearted person, I love her so much! 

16. Yakusoku no Neverland - 8.5/10 

I was expecting Yakusoku no Neverland to be more graphic, but I’m kind of glad it didn’t go that route. Like Madoka, the last four episodes had me really invested. However, the character development was not as rushed. It’s a smart show and welcomed change of pace. Emma is my favorite character and you bet I’ll be watching season 2. The more I think about this show, the more I appreciate it. 

17. Mo Dao Zu Shi - 9/10

Mo Dao Zu Shi 2nd Season - 8/10 

I know that is is technically a donghua, but I’m counting it as an anime because its on MAL. Amazing visuals and an incredibly layered story.  Censorship makes it difficult to fully appreciate this work and its original novel. Even though I was confused for the first 2 episodes, Mo Dao Zu Shi did a great job of developing the time period and character relationships. The second season wasn’t as satisfying as the first but still great! I don’t think I’ll be watching the live action anytime soon, but I believe that a 3rd season is confirmed for 2020.

18. Banana Fish - 8.5/10

I knew nothing about Banana Fish going into it. Although I didn’t cry at the ending, it definitely made me feel some type of way. Kind of... numb. Banana Fish is painfully realistic. So much so that I had to take a break after episode 15 because I felt sick to my stomach. I also praise Banana Fish for it’s healthy, non-fetishized relationship representation. Eiji and Ash have such a complex but healthy relationship. I hope Banana Fish is able to pave the way for better representation in media. 

19. Promare - 5/10 

Why do people praise Promare so much? I hated how predictable it was. The whole movie felt like a 2 hour animation flex for Trigger. The only character in this movie that didn’t manage to piss me off it some way was Lio. The only other thing I’ve seen by studio Trigger is Kill la Kill, so compared to that, this felt like such a step down. :( I was disappointed. 

20. Given - 6/10

Given made me both sad and made me want to start a band. Overall the animation is nothing special, I do like the reactions that some of the characters had. Especially that “It’s Mutual” gif set. I couldn’t get over how much Ritsuka looks like Kageyama. My only complaint was how rushed Mafuyu and Ritsuka’s relationship felt. More time should have been dedicated to Mafuyu dealing with and moving past the loss in his life. All that said, I’m still watching the movie.

21. Enen no Shouboutai - 5/10 

Generic Shounen, bad ending, great animation. Need I say more? I did not watch Soul Eater (made by same creator), but this was enjoyable. Really cool fights, not so cool character development. A lot of the explanations towards the end felt like complete bull shit. Same energy as using fancy sounding science words to explain things. 

22. Hataraku Maou-Sama - 5.5/10

This is another show I felt I would’ve liked more if I watched it when I was younger. The iesekai trope is so beaten down that classics like this don’t really carry as much weight as they originally did. A 24 episode season with more Slice of Life episodes would’ve benefited this series greatly.

23. BNA - 7/10

BNA, in my opinion, was so much better than Promare. Like Hataraku Maou-sama, BNA would’ve benefited from a longer season with more Slice of Life Episodes. Trigger’s newer animation is beautiful and I really hope BNA gets renewed for a second season. The ending was cliche as hell, but still really enjoyed this show!

24. Devilman: Crybaby - 7/10 

A.K.A. The one show I’ve got to watch when I know I’m alone. The use of multiple languages besides Japanese in the sub was a unique take. The animation was also a little jarring at first, but I came to love it. The themes in this are not the most positive. The end left me feeling numb, but also appreciative. Ryo pissed me off as soon as he tried to kill that cat, so it was hard to sympathize with him in the very end. It is a really good show, but also sickening, Watch at your own discretion.  

[nicetomeetmew]

If LU was an anime (VA headcanons)

Okay so! A while back I uploaded a video (which you can find here) giving the LU boys voice actors. And in the description of said video, I promised that I was going to post a list of explanations for my voices and link it. Which I am only doing now.

These choices, bar a few, are my own personal opinion, so I'd love to hear your thoughts about them! I spent far to long working and watching anime for this but I am pretty happy with the end result, bar one (glares at Four). So I hope you enjoy! And prepare yourself. Cause this is LONG.

Legend - Vic Mignoga (Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

So fun fact. Back when I first discovered LU, I almost immediately imaged Leg with this voice. He had strong Ed vibes for me and when I started making this list, he was the only one I immediately knew was perfect. At least to me. It just has that quality; the snark with the capability of being genuine and emotional (I do apologise if the voice clips I included in the video made you sad. That's a hazard of FMA). I didn't consider anyone else for Legend, even though I did briefly consider Vic Mignoga for Warriors (more on that later).

Sky - Aleks Le (Zenitsu Agatsuma from Demon Slayer)

Man, I considered a fair few KnY voices for this list, including the voice of Tanjiro for Wild and the voice of Giyu for Twilight. But this is the one that stuck. I was struck between Sky having a youthful, soft voice or an older, soft voice (I knew his voice had to be soft. I mean. It's Sky.)

I watched the dub of Demon Slayer solely for this and it never would've occurred to me to consider Zenitsu's voice for Sky. But as the show progressed and I heard it when he wasn't... you know... begging some poor lass to marry him, I realised he actually has quite a soft voice. And when I heard it get all serious I thought "Yep. That works." And thus I placed Aleks Le as the Chosen Hero. You could argue that his voice is a bit too youthful for him but I still think it works.

Wind - Amanda Miller (Boruto from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations)

Ugh. Ugh. *increasing sounds of disgust*. I hate this.

But let's start from the beginning. Right off the bat, I was 99.9% sure Wind would be voiced by a woman. Okay so he's not 10 (that will make more sense in a second), but he's still pretty young and I imagine him with quite a youthful voice. For him, I considered Sarah Natochenny, the current voice of Ash Ketchum in Pokémon, and also Colleen Clickenbeard's voice for Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece. But these two voices shared the same problem. They were too raspy. I just cannot see Wind with a raspy voice. I guess if you really, really, really focus on it it could work but I just could get it to work for me hfff.

And then... ugh. I spoke to a mate about. He doesn't know about LU so I just told him I was making voice headcanons and couldn't think of a good one for a 14 year old boy. And he said "have you heard Boruto's English voice?" And I think my response was something along the lines of, "Ben, I have standards." But he insisted it would probably work so I watched a clip of Boruto on YouTube and much to my horror, it did seem to work. But there was problem. None of the clips had lines I could picture Wind saying. And because of that I was struggling to actually give Wind the voice. But something told me that it was the right one so... I... *shudders*... watched Boruto. I watched I think 5 full episodes before I had no more braincells and skipped thorough a bunch more and sure enough, I could finally see Wind with that voice. I think it fits him great and it honestly might be my favourite choice just because I had to watch that nightmare.

Hyrule - Justin Briner (Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia)

Ah. This one is much more pleasant. First of all, I never realised this at first but Midoriya and Hyrule are kind of similar. For one thing, they do kinda look alike. And for another they have the same "I will never give up" kinda thing going on.

Roolie is another one I knew would have a soft voice. I think Justin Briner was always down as a choice for him, except for when I briefly considered him for Four (more on that later *big sigh*). This is another anime I watched the dub for solely for this and there were a ton of lines right from the get go I could instantly imagine Roolie saying. So yeah. Aside from the tiny moment I almost assigned Justin Briner to Four, this was a pretty easy one. Midoriya has a soft voice that I could easily imagine Hyrule having. And when he got angry and his voice got harsher, I could also easily see Roolie like that too. Fun fact: there's another BNHA voice on this list... heh.

Wild - Michael Sinternklaas (Dagger from Black Butler)

AW YEAH. YOU HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH BRITISH BOI.

Ahem. Anyway. Yes Wild is British. Everyone rejoice. I was unsure of how people would react to this but I think this is the only voice on the list everyone agreed on. Which I'm happy about.

As I mentioned, I considered the English voice of Tanjiro (Zach Aguilar) for Wild. There were issues with this; mainly that it was too soft, too young, and made him sound too similar to Sky. Now here's the thing. I WANTED to give Wild a English accent. I am almost certain he would have one, like most people. However the only anime I could think of with decent English accents was Black Butler (and yes I know his final voice is from it, bear with me) and there was a problem with that. Most of the voices from Black Butler are ridiculously posh. Now you may be thinking "But Kai, Zelda has a posh English accent" and to that I would say "Ah yes but she's a princess and Wild is not". And now you might be thinking "But Kai, he's a knight an probably spent a lot of time in a place with posh English accents". To which I would say "But he wasn't always". Two words. Hateno Village.

Let me explain.

I feel like a lot of people hear the words 'English accent' and immediately think of an accent like Zelda's (and no, I am not saying everyone does and I'm also not implying that there aren't people out there who aren't British and know that there are multiple accents). Anyway, English accents are different depending on the place. And, since one can assume Wild is from Hateno Village, I would imagine their accent is different to that of those born in Castle Town. So that's why I was reluctant to give Wild a voice from Black Butler. Because all the voices that weren't insanely fancy were either far too old or did not have the right vibe.

Then one day, taking a break from this, I was watching season 3 of Black Butler (one of the only anime I watch dubbed) and I heard two voices that I suddenly thought, hang on just a second. One of those was the voice of Ronald Knox, who's a grim reaper. And the other, of course, was Dagger. I was leaning towards Dagger and what sold me was one scene in particular, which I chose as the final voice clip for Wild (you cannot tell me that is not exactly something he would say). And that was it. But Wild's was easily one of the most frustrating (not the most *glares at Four again*).

Time - David Matranga (The Father from Wolf Children)

Another tough one and also one I heavily considered for Twilight (for obvious reasons). Time's was kind of tricky because I knew I wanted it to be deep but there's such of variety of deep voices. At one point I even considered dumping the deep voice idea because it was so hard. It was a this time I thought of the voice of space cowboy extraordinaire, Spike Spiegel. But my brain said "hell no". There were other voices I considered for him, loads of which I cannot find the notes for and another one which will likely appear in part two as another character (no spoilers), but when I was picking a voice for Twi, some of the lines the father said just kept ringing big old Time vibes with me. So in the end, I decided to for it. Like I said, I imagine time with a deep voice and while to father's might be a bit more... gravelly (?) than I imagined, I think it fits him pretty well. It's serious and mature but still a certain kindness I'd imagine Time's voice to have.

Warriors - Johnny Yong Bosch (Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach)

Don't lie. You knew Johnny Yong Bosch was gonna be on here and not just because I put his name (albeit spelled incorrectly) in the thumbnail. When I started making this, I knew I wanted to fit JYB into it. In my mind, LU would be an amazing anime and almost all amazing anime have Johnny Yong Bosch in it.

Now, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether he would be better for Wars or Twi. At one point I was convinced he would be best for Twi and that's when I briefly thought about Vic Mignoga for Warriors (his voice for Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club. Don't tell me Tamaki and Wars aren't at least a tiny bit similar). But I could bear to part with Vic for Legend so I decided heck it, Johnny is Warriors and I'll find someone else for Twi later. As for the voice in particular, the two voices I considered for Twi definitely did not fit Wars. And then I remembered Bleach and immediately I thought "Yep. That's the one". I imagine Warriors having an authoritative voice, not too deep and very... uh... I don't know the right word. Clean sounding? Anyway, Ichigo just seemed to fit nicely and thus it was so.

Four - Micah Solusod (Yukine from Noragamai)

Ugh. UGH. Okay. This is my least favourite. Four was, excuse my French, A FUCKING NIGHTMARES. There was not ONE SINGLE VOICE that seemed to work for him at all. I watched a bit of the Noragmai dub because I was thinking about Yato's voice for someone (I can't remember who. It might have been Wild) and I heard Yukine's and decided to put it into reserve. As in, my last resort. And I had to use it. Oh my god Four. I love you but your voice is literally a nightmare. Is it high? Is it low? Is it young sounding? Surprisingly grown up sounding? I DON'T FREAKING KNOW.

I mentioned earlier that I considered Justin Briner for him. I was thinking about his voice for Luck from Black Clover, which may have honestly worked a bit better, but I was pretty attached to Justin as Roolie by this point. So I had to whip out Micah.

Let me be clear. No, I do not think this works well at all. I appreciate the people who tried to see that good in it, but I honestly just don't think it works. The only reason I went for it is because Yukine's voice switches between older sounding and younger sounding throughout the show and since I could decide what Four's would sound like I said to myself "Fine. Four can be the same", found some clips, slapped it together and never looked back.

I am still looking for another voice for Four and if I find a decent one, I will include it in part two.

And last but not least...

Twilight - Aaron Mitchell Dismuke (Tamaki Amajiki - My Hero Academia)

Told ya there was another BHNA voice.

So Twi was another tricky one. As I mentioned, I was seriously considering Johnny Yong Bosch for him. More specifically, his voices for Giyu Tomioka from Demon Slayer and Kiba from Wolf's Rain (for obvious reasons). I did almost go for Kiba but something was stopping me. I'm honestly not sure what.

So I was talking to a mate (and by that I mean I rambled. A lot) about VA's and at one point he suggested Aaron Mitchell Dismuke but not for Twilight. I can't actually remember who he suggested it for but anyway, that didn't work out. But when I was looking through his work, I saw that we played Amajiki and I was curious. I listened to him and I liked it.

Okay to be fair I wanted a country accent for Twi. Of course I did. But I could not a find a decent one. They few I found were absolutely terrible. So I gave up on that and decided that was Amajiki. And that was that.

And that concludes the Links VA headcanons! I am happy with most of them and once more these are my opinion but I would love to hear your own ideas!

As I have said many times, I am working on a part two and as a sneak peak (sort of) I'll tell you two of the characters that will be featured (excluding Four, if I find him another voice).

Dink (even though he hasn't, technically shown up yet) and Malon (which is proving to be a lot tricker than I thought). There a couple more but my lips are sealed heh.

Oh and speaking of Dink, the voice I considered for Time and then thought it would be better for someone else? Yeah that's the voice that's currently in the lead to be Dink's :)

I hope enjoyed my long winded explanations! And thank you for reading/watching!

[oikaw-ugh]

Haikyuu but Noragami AU (not acurr8 but really self-indulging)

a/n: Recently just finished Noragami S2 and am now currently reading the manga and I just can’t get enough so... 

Bokuto x Akashi

Bokuto is definitely a shrineless god before he met Akaashi.

Like Yato's case, he shifted from one regalia to another because divine instruments couldn't handle how laid back of a god he is.

Akaashi, however, is a new spirit and was found by Bokuto (like Yukine) & BOY, IDK HOW AKAASHI ENDURED IT.

He's so laid back that Akaashi's human name and vessel name are both Akaashi (since Bokuto does not stick to one clan name) but just with different pronunciations.

Anyhow, w/ Akaashi's guidance, Bokuto slowly gets recognized by people and the other gods, eventually owning a shrine.

Although prosperous, Akaashi is actually burned out from carrying Bokuto's ass from time to time. As his exemplar and the only regalia, he manages the shrine, checks the wishes, maintains his god's image, keeps in contact with other gods occasionally.

As an easy-going god, oftentimes Bokuto accepts shady or weird mortal wishes in which Akaashi suffers a lot. Although he manages the wishes, odd wishes slips from his sight from time to time.

"Bokuto-kami, how many times did I tell you that we don't take cooking wishes?"

Bokuto: "But she paid for it..." 👉👈

"Bokuto-kami, we don't cook."

Bokuto: 🥺

That damn look of his does not work at Akaashi anymore. It used to when he was still new but NOPE, he's not taking any of his whining stares.

To be fair, Bokuto is a pretty decent god. Happiness of his worshippers matters to him the most (hence, why he accepts wishes no matter how odd they could be).

One time someone wished for him to search for their lost sparrow and this got Akaashi going weak because HOW UNIQUE DOES A SPARROW LOOK FROM ONE ANOTHER?!

As for Bokuto's relationship with Akaashi, it's doing good. Akaashi knows his limits as a spirit, keeping Bokuto healthy.

Bokuto does not forget to check on Akaashi from time to time as well. He believes that telling everything to the master you serve makes a god-regalia relationship very healthy.

Akaashi begs to disagree though (Bokuto once insisted Akaashi to tell him how he poops-)

Kuroo x Kenma x Lev

Why Kenma and Lev? For no particular reason. I just like it.

Well, Kuroo has been a god for the longest time and knows his shit well in contrast with Bokuto.

He's cool and easy-going. Not to mention, he is also a god you can rely on when you need to get rid with Ayakashis (phantoms).

Kenma has been his regalia and exemplar for the longest time as well and is as cool as his god.

Kuroo is usually laid back and at the same time, very serious (depending upon the situation). He can be very cheeky at times and corny with his words.

Kenma is oftentimes composed. Although lazy, he is actually very organized and logical.

Kuroo, being the cool god that he is, thought to his self one day: "Ah, I should probably get another regalia."

Kenma: ??? Excuse me?

The reason why we have Lev!

VERY CHAOTIC. Totally clashes with Kuroo and Kenma's attitude which makes Kenma scowl from time to time.

Kuroo is rather amused though and has decided to keep Lev with his side.

Lev is a new spirit they found in the streets during a request.

He's very energetic and active for a spirit, honestly.

He loves to pester Kenma. He treats him as his senpai which makes Kenma pissed most of the time.

Lev: "Kenma-san, please teach me how to create a borderline-"

Kenma, with fingers pointed at Lev: "Restrain!"

But despite of that, Lev is very useful when it comes to fighting. He's a very strong regalia that compliments well with Kenma.

As for their god-regalia relationship, it's fine. As their god, Kuroo can immediately sense if something is off with his divine instruments and he does not hesitate to confront them about it.

Which does not happen all the time, though. Kenma knows his limits and he teaches Lev all the things he must remember as Kuroo's divine instrument.

But even when it's not needed, Kuroo insists on having this corny open forum where he, Kenma, and Lev share their sentiments with one another.

Kenma calls bullshit. Lev thinks it's actually important for his growth.

Kuroo before starting the open forum: "Remember that we are like blood in our veins, we must-"

Kenma: "This is stupid."

Lev: "INSPIRING, SHOW STOPPING, JAW DROPPING!"

Oikawa x Iwaizumi

God's divine instrument? More like baby sitter.

Oikawa's regalia, Iwaizumi, has been Oikawa's babysitter regalia for the longest of time.

Oikawa, let me tell you, IS A VERY BITCHY GOD.

High maintenance and is consistently attracting drama from time to time!

Oikawa: "Iwa-chan, did you hear what that child said?"

Iwaizumi: "No."

Oikawa: "He said MY HAIR LOOKS NORMAL!"

Iwaizumi: "... because it is?"

Oikawa: "NO!"

Oikawa throws tantrums from time to time, whining about how the flowers didn't bloom at the date their supposed to bloom, how he woke up with his hair ugly, how the worshippers are not praising his beauty, ANYTHING THAT HE SEES, HE SAYS SOMETHING.

This is really stressful for Iwaizumi, honestly. He's been receiving complaints from other gods about how Oikawa bothers them.

Not to mention, some of his worshippers are declining because of rumors.

Worshipper 1: "I heard if Oikawa-kami is not in the mood when you pray, you'd actually get bad luck instead!"

WHICH IS NOT TRUE in most cases

And his approaches with his worshippers wishes could only be lazy or DRAMATIC.

One time, a worshipper asked for his guidance on his first date, Oikawa and Iwaizumi actually tailed that person on his actual date.

Oikawa: "Iwa-chan, they're walking on the street. Push that boy towards his date!"

Iwaizumi: "What? Why?"

Oikawa: KABEDON!

But on a serious note, Oikawa can be very serious when needed and that gives Iwaizumi the chills because who would expect that from a dramatic god?

Iwaizumi at times like that would either keep his mouth shut or just constantly stare at Oikawa, thinking he's sick or something.

Like, Iwaizumi: "Oikawa-kami?"

Oikawa, looking at Iwaizumi with a serious stare: "What is it?"

Iwaizumi: Nothing 👀

As for their god-regalia relationship, it's normal. They're more of like buddies.

Oikawa would surprise Iwaizumi occasionally, asking him to go out of the shrine at night to drink sake he received as a gift at their roof, looking at the stars.

How dramatic

And he occasionally gives advices to Iwaizumi, in which surprises Iwa since Oikawa doesn't really strike as someone who can give decent advices, really.

Oikawa, drinking his sake: "People can be fleeting for us spirits and gods. But you know what's something that will never leave you?"

Iwaizumi: "What?"

Oikawa: "My beauty."

Kageyama x Hinata

PRIDEFUL. PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE.

Kageyama as a god is really prideful to the point that his regalias give up on him.

And even though he has grown attached, his pride forbids him to ask them to stay.

"Fine! It's not like I needed you that much, anyway!"

Kageyama on the outside: 🤬😈💢

Kageyama in the inside: 😭🥺👉👈

And this is where Hinata comes in.

Desperate, Kageyama had no choice but find any spirit he could see to make as his regalia.

He finds Hinata one day just lingering outside his shrine, took him in because he needs one he was an understanding god.

His relationship with Hinata is CHAOTIC.

They just clash all the time! Somehow, the energetic, cheeky, helpful personality of Hinata just don't fit with Kageyama's indifferent, logical, rational personality!

Hinata: Kageyama-kami, it says don't step on the grass!

Kageyama: Nobody's gonna see us. What's your point? It's fastest if we walk here!

Hinata: It says DON'T. STEP. ON. THE. GRASS.

Kageyama: I said WHAT'S. YOUR. POINT?

Hinata just really knows which buttons to press to make Kageyama angry, you know?

He made him so angry that he was glad he made his vessel name 'BOKE' (take note with the caps please) since he accidentally named him BOKE.

Their bickering just don't stop. They keep on fighting that the neighboring gods just decided to nickname them as 'cat and dog'.

On requests, they don't get along as well! Hinata hates how Kageyama deals with wishes which affects his performance as a weapon.

Kageyama: What are you doing? Don't go dull on me.

Hinata: Not until you tell me you won't kill that butterfly!

Kageyama: It's not a butterfly, it's a phantom!

Sadly, their contradiction also affects their relationship. Hinata, feeling oppressed and contradicted from time to time, would unconsciously sting Kageyama.

Even knowing that it's basically an abomination to sting your master, Kageyama still decides to keep him and would talk it out with Hinata.

He'd approach Hinata when he's doing nothing, sitting beside him but still making sure he's meters apart from him, looking somewhere (definitely not Hinata's face)

Kageyama: Tell me what you're feeling... (he says that in a low tone, too embarassed to hear himself talking in this way with Kageyama.)

Hinata would roll his eyes and admit what's it that's bugging him anyway and Kageyama would low key work on it the next day (getting stung is no joke)

That basically explains their god-regalia relationship.

[thedeliverygod]

Repostober: Day 11

Some fluff based around Hiyori having a dream about kissing Yato and then not being able to act natural around him afterwards lol.

Daydreamin'

Hiyori stared up at the ceiling in disbelief, running two fingers across her lips. It was just a dream and yet, she still felt tingly and warm. But now that she was awake, the comfortable feeling had faded away into a flushed face and her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.

‘Yato?’

Her dream had started out innocently enough, with them just walking around the city and talking about something. She couldn’t even remember what it was, now, but she did remember that they were laughing quite a bit. Yukine hadn’t been with them either, which was relatively unusual but not altogether unheard of, so she didn’t linger on that fact for too long.

After a while of walking around, they found themselves in a park and Yato had suddenly kissed her. But in her dream, it felt completely natural; like they had done it a thousand times before even though in reality she’d really only had that one terrible kiss with Fujisaki. The kiss in her dream was everything she thought her first kiss would be like; soft, gentle, even a little bit romantic.

The part that didn’t make sense to her though was that it was with Yato. She had never thought of him that way before, other than the time his father had the audacity to ask if she was in love with him and she was sure that he had only said that to mess with her.

But she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t woke up smiling, almost accepting the dream as real in her half-awake state until reality kicked in. And even now, completely awake, she still found herself curious and she hated herself for it. It had felt so real and she couldn’t stop touching her lips, ghosting a finger across them again before finally tearing herself out of bed with a huff.

She was going to pretend this dream never happened.

“Hiyoriiii! Glad I caught you!” Yato jumped down from a street lamp, both of Sekki’s blades held tightly in one hand.

She jumped backwards and let out a yelp as he landed in front of her, “Y-Yato!”

He reached up to scratch the back of his head, smiling sheepishly, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Revert, Yuki.”

In a bright flash of light, Yukine appeared and gave an apologetic smile as well, “H-hey.”

“Hi, Yukine-kun.” She let out a breathe of air, “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it, Yato.”

Glancing around at their surroundings, Yukine titled his head and asked curiously, “Oh, are you not coming to Kofuku-san’s place today?”

She shook her head, “No, I’m sorry. I’m having a pretty off day. I was going to text you when I got home to apologize for having to skip our studying session.”

“You starting to get sick or something?” Yato leaned in to study her closely, causing her face to start to flush.

“N-no. I mean, I don’t know, it’s possible.” She avoided his eyes and corrected herself, adjusting the sleeve of her blazer, “Maybe I’ve just been working too hard lately.”

She looked back up as Yukine answered, “It’s no big deal if you need to take a day or two off, Hiyori. I understand.”

“Thank you.” She smiled and briefly hesitated before starting to walk forward, “I guess I’ll see you later, then.”

“Hey, wait.” Yato reached out to catch her shoulder and she looked up at him with wide eyes, “Is there anything we can do?”

Hiyori quickly shook her head and flashed another quick smile before hurrying forward again, “I’m okay. Thanks, though.”

Both Yato and Yukine watched her continue walking for a moment before Yato stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down to his regalia with a frown, “Wonder what’s up.”

Yukine gave a wide shrug, “I dunno. She didn’t seem too upset about anything to me, I think you’re overthinking it.”

“Maybe.” He admitted with a blink before turning the other way, “C’mon, let’s go home.”

 After a few days had passed and it had become clear Hiyori was deliberately avoiding him, Yato had turned into a complete whiny mess. Rolling back and forth on his futon, he asked loudly, “Did I do something!?”

Yukine groaned from the other side of his room, where he was trying to do the section Hiyori had suggested to him through text message the day before. “Probably.” He answered honestly, not bothering to look over to the god.

Yato let out a loud sniffle, asking quietly, “Do you know what it was?”

“No.” He flipped to the next page of his notebook, “I don’t have time to monitor everything you say to Hiyori on Twitter and your text messages, so maybe it was one of those. I mean, you say stupid stuff to her out loud all the time too, but I can’t remember anything recently that would have made her more creeped out by you than usual.”

He let out another whine, “Why do you have to be so mean to me, Yukine? But I guess I can look over that stuff…” He pouted as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open.

“I’m just telling the truth.” Yukine sighed and finally looked over to him, “You’re not pestering her about this, are you?”

“No… I mean, I’ve asked a few times if everything’s okay and she keeps saying yes. So I don’t know what to do.” He held his face in his palm as he scrolled through his phone, a genuine frown on his face.

Yukine dropped his pencil and tilted his head back, “If she says she’s fine, then either she is or she doesn’t want to tell us about it. So there’s nothing you really can do unless you want to make her feel even more uncomfortable about whatever it is.”

Yato raised an eyebrow at that and looked up from his phone, “So you do think something’s wrong now, too.”

“I guess.” He groaned again, “But if it was something serious, she’d tell us. Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean she has to tell us literally everything. Maybe this is something she’s better off talking about with her girl friends or her parents, you know.”

“But it doesn’t seem like she’s avoiding you, or Kofuku, or Daikoku—it seems like she’s only avoiding you guys when I’m around… So if it’s something I did, then I want to know how to fix it.” Yato sat up and put his phone back in his pocket before standing up and making his way across the room.

“Wha—where are you going?” Yukine jumped up too, following after him, “Don’t just go to her house unannounced!”

He slipped on his boots, “I’ll knock first, I swear. And if she tells me to go away, I will. But I want to see if she’ll talk to me.” He slid the window open, beginning to crawl out.

“If she kicks your ass, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Yukine slunk back from the window, “I’m not going, that’s for sure.”

He turned his head back, giving a slight glare, “Didn’t want you to, anyway.”

Yukine rolled his eyes before starting to wander back over towards the table, “Whatever.”

With that, Yato stepped out onto the roof and slid the window shut behind him. Already starting to lose his resolve, he took a breath before starting off towards Hiyori’s house. He knew it was a stupid idea, but he was desperate.

Even still, he almost turned around a couple of times; including after he had already made it to her window, so he was thankful he had her curtains were closed as he debated with himself internally. Still, he eventually went through his plan and tapped on her window lightly. He heard a noise, as if Hiyori had spun around in her chair, but only heard silence following that. “…Hiyori?” He called out nervously.

He heard her take a breath, followed by an annoyed tone, “Yato, what are you doing?”

“Can I talk to you?” He rested his hand against her window pane, lightly pressing, “…Please?”

He heard her walking before he heard the sound of her curtains being pulled back, and he took a step backward as she appeared in the window.

Pulling her window open, she gave a concerned look, “Is everything alright?” He noticed she had changed from her school clothes into a loose fitting sweater and sweat pants, her hair pulled back into ponytails. Her hands still resting on the edge of the window, she commented quietly, “You sound pretty upset.”

He took a step forward, straddling her window sill and exhaling loudly as he leaned back, “Well, yeah. I am, cuz it feels like you’re avoiding me.”

Hiyori’s hands immediately fell to her side and she looked down shamefully, her lips parting, “Oh.”

“Just tell me if I did something that upset you.” Yato looked back out the window, “The awkwardness is killing me and it’s not really fair to Yukine, Kofuku, and Daikoku that you’re avoiding them just because you don’t want to see me.”

There were a few seconds of silence before he heard her swallow, stuttering, “I-it’s not, I know. But it’s not that I don’t want to see you… and no, you didn’t do anything.”

“Then why?” His eyes flickered back in her direction and he sat up a little straighter, waiting desperately for her answer.

Hiyori hesitated, taking a step back from the window and asking sheepishly, “Do you want to come in? It’s kind of cold with the window open...”

“I don’t know, are you avoiding the question?” He tilted his head and his eyes narrowed.

She raised her right hand to grip her left forearm, still facing away from him, “I’ll answer, I promise.” She took a small breath, “I’m so sorry for making you feel like this.”

“Just go ahead and explain.” He bent his knee and propped his elbow atop it, resting his chin in his palm, “That’s all I ask.”

Hiyori shifted away from him again, making sure to hide her face, “It’s just that it’s such a ridiculous reason… and I honestly didn’t mean for it to get to this point.”

“Ridiculous or not, it would help a lot if I knew what I was dealing with here.” He gave her a tired stare, even though he knew she couldn’t see it.

“I had a dream about you. And even though it’s something that will probably never happen, I keep thinking of it every time I’m around you and I get a little uncomfortable.” She explained quietly, adding, “I thought I would have gotten over it by now.”

His hand fell into his lap and he sat up straight as he felt a jolt move through him, “O-oh.” His jaw pulled tightly into a frown, “About the sort of stuff I used to do, I’m guessing.”

Hiyori immediately whipped around at his suggestion, “What? No! No, I would never worry about you changing back like that.”

“Why else would you be scared of me?” He muttered in response, his eyes still cast downward.

“I am not scared of you.” She corrected firmly and took another step closer to him.

He reached up to run a hand through his hair out of frustration, “Well, you’re gonna have to spell it out for me, because I’m completely lost.”

She turned her head, but otherwise stayed in place, “I had a dream a-about…” She hesitated and took a breath, her voice lowering even more, “I had a dream that we kissed.”

“And that… made you scared of me?” His voice lowered too, but it was more of a whine in despair, “Was it really that bad?”

Though she was bright red, Hiyori looked back up and growled, “I just said I wasn’t scared of you! Were you not listening?”

“But it was still bad.” He pouted, tracing his finger along the window sill.

“I—I didn’t say that, either.” She answered after a brief pause and he looked up at her curiously.

A grin taking over his face, Yato swung his other leg into the room and turned his entire body towards her, “So it was good, then?”

She turned even darker, stuttering even more as she took a step back again, “I-I’m not sure, I don’t really have a frame of reference s-since my first kiss wasn’t exactly one that I wanted to happen…”

“Did you want this one to happen in your dream?” He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, leaning ever so slightly further into her room.

“I don’t know. It was sort of sudden.” She answered honestly, reaching up to cover her face, “It felt natural, like it wasn’t the first time.”

He slid off his boots quietly, placing them down on the floor below him, intrigued, “Really?”

“Yeah, so that’s why I’ve been avoiding you. Because I start remembering the dream and then I get really embarrassed about it.” She let out a sigh through the small gap between her hands, “But like I said, I didn’t think it would take me this long to get over it… I thought it would just be a day, maybe two at most. So I’m really sorry.”

Yato slipped down into her room, keeping himself a small distance away from her, “Apology accepted. But y’know, you’ve kinda got me curious now.”

Hiyori let out a squeak in response, “What?”

“About us kissing; whether it’d be like in your dream or not.” He folded his arms, staring at her thoughtfully.

“Yato!” She twisted away from him, keeping her hands firmly over her face as her voice quivered, “I shouldn’t have told you…”

He took a breath, sobering up a bit from the distress in her voice. He took another step forward, his voice soft, “Sorry. It was just a stupid comment, but what I meant by that was… are you curious? Is that why you get embarrassed by it?”

 “I-I guess so. But it was something I never considered doing before the dream and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea when it may not really mean anything…” She trailed off, her hands beginning to lower ever so slightly so that he could finally see a little bit of her eyes.

“How long will you keep avoiding me if you keep thinking about this dream without any sort of answer, though?” He sighed heavily, “I mean, the reason I’m here right now is because I pretty much already hit my breaking point with this.” He scratched the back of his head, “Which I know isn’t much, but… I dunno. Would it help if I promised not to take anything personally if you were curious enough to try?”

She lowered her hands more and he could see her face was still bright pink, “Well, considering what you just said and other things you’ve done in the past, that seems a little too risky to me.”

He lowered his head shamefully, regretting his snap decision teasing, “Listen, I don’t like that you’re avoiding me, but I hate seeing you upset even more. And, yeah, I guess we both know I’d be lying if I tried to pretend I didn’t have feelings for you but—seeing you happy again is the thing that’s most important. So I’ll do whatever I can to make that possible.”

Hiyori took a minute, letting all of his words sink in before she finally answered in a voice that was just above a whisper, “Fine, I—I’ll do it.”

“What?” His eyes widened in surprise, not sure he heard her right.

“I’ll do it.” She repeated in a huff, “Just… close your eyes and don’t look.” She tried to say to say it as authoritatively as possible, but her voice still shook as she finished.

Yato blinked and parted his lips, considering saying something before he decided against it and shut his eyes and mouth firmly.

Hiyori tentatively moved closer to him, keeping as quiet as possible so that he wouldn’t know just how close she was yet. She still had her hands partially covering her face and she could feel how warm her cheeks were underneath her fingertips, but she felt a slight relief when she got close enough to see that Yato wasn’t fairing much better. He had been so confident just a minute ago, and now he seemed just as nervous, if not more nervous than her.

It actually brought a smile to her face and the smallest surge of confidence, enough that she reached out to touch him; one hand at his neck and the other cupping the side of his face. He tensed under her touch momentarily and held his breath for a moment before letting it out again, his shoulders falling under the light pressure of her forearm.

Not long after he felt her hands reach out to touch him, he started to occasionally feel her small breaths against his skin in a few different places, as if she were studying his entire face closely. Eventually, he had to ask, “What are you doing…?”

He heard her make another high pitched noise before she commanded, “D-don’t talk either!”

 His lips curled into a small smile at that, though he obeyed her wish. And finally, he felt her hand reach behind his neck and nudged him down towards her. He could feel her hesitate for a moment before she pressed their mouths together lightly, remaining there momentarily until she parted her lips and started to pull away. At least until he reached up and blindly grasped her arm, leaning her back in towards him as he kissed her softly.

This time she stayed, returning the kiss timidly as she tried to imitate his movements. And even though it was nowhere near as smooth or effortless as it was in her dream, it gave her all of the same feelings. It was warm and comfortable, and on top of that she was completely enveloped in his smell, something she hadn’t even imagined in her dream. It was almost overwhelming; all of those sensations at once, it was a miracle she had managed to keep her balance—or maybe that was only because Yato had pulled her closer and held her.

When he finally broke the kiss, she covered her face once again before hiding it against his chest, in immediate disbelief that she allowed herself to do such a thing but still too comfortable to pull away from him.

“So?” He managed to ask, despite being a little bit breathless and somewhat in disbelief as well.

She took a breath before answering against his shirt, “Not quite the same as the dream, but still nice.”

“I’m good for something, at least.” He gave a small laugh before letting his hands fall back to his sides, “What now, though?”

Hiyori raised her head slowly, sheepishly asking, “I guess keep trying? Maybe we should close the window, first…” She took a step back from him and moved to shut it.

“What?” He stood dumbfounded, watching her with wide eyes.

When she turned back around, she answered quietly, “It wasn’t quite like the dream, but it was close, so maybe after a few tries it will be…?” Her voice trailed off as she leaned back in towards him, resting her hands at his shoulders as she looked up at him.

He swallowed, his face growing warm again, “I-if that’s what you want.”

“Only if you want to.” She looked over his face careful, studying his expression.

“I do, I just—you—wow. ” He took a large breath before he concluded, “I think I’m going to go back to not talking, or else I’ll probably ruin this. I think I’m the one who’s dreaming now.”

She giggled, reaching up to touch his cheek, “No, you’re definitely awake.”

[noragami-ru-manga]

Soul summoning and Father’s return from Yomi

For someone who supposedly hates Father, I sure talk a lot about him, huh

While I was flipping through the pages of the manga, I once again came to a stop at the soul summoning scene in chapter 37. Specifically at Nora’s tale about Father escaping from Yomi, which I, apparently, did not pay due attention to.

I’ve never had a single opinion on how Father got in and out of Yomi, so I toyed with a few.

1. When Father was still human, he was already interested in researching ayakashi (like Ebisu, for example), somehow learned about the kotonoha (the Word of Yomi) and decided to get one for himself. He voluntarily ventured into Yomi but asked the pock-marked girl to soul call him beforehand, and she did just that.  

2. The pock-marked girl died, and Father got mad at the gods for being directly or indirectly involved. He went to Yomi to get her back, stumbled upon Izanami, saw the brushes in action, and either stole or wheedled out one of them.

3. Father was the one who died while the pock-marked girl lived. While in Yomi, Father encountered Izanami, learned about the brushes, and got his hands on one of them.

In this post I want to examine the last option – the one in which Father died and was resurrected by that girl of his through soul summoning.

First of all, let me remind you that soul summoning isn’t something Adachitoka came up with specifically for Noragami, but an actual Japanese tradition.

I think it’s reasonable to assume that whatever exists in our world is also a thing in Noragami universe. All the locations that we see in the series, specifically shrines, are real places (with the exception of the characters’ houses, Takamagahara and Yomi, obviously).  This means that the tradition of soul summoning can easily exist in-universe.

Maybe it’s just me (or the translation), but the way Kofuku talks about soul summoning seems to imply that she knows what it is and expects others to know about it, too. Apparently, they just never thought of using it on a god because it’s a human tradition.

And it goes against everything both Father and Amaterasu say.

Amaterasu says humans can’t (mustn’t) come back to life at all, Father implies he is the only one who’s managed to return from Yomi/come back to life. How do we reconcile these statements with people climbing on roofs and staring down wells trying to revive their loved ones? The answer is – people did all that, they just weren’t successful. Except for the pock-marked girl.

I’m absolutely sure she was the one who called Father back from Yomi, thanks to a discussion I stumbled upon here on Tumblr.

@sayaka19fan​ gave an alternate translation of this scene that differs from both the official transalation and the fan scanlation: “Even if he said I was a girl with pock marks I wonder if she was his loved one”. Aka “he was cold to me, even if I had her appearance”. So Father being distant made Izanami question her choice of appearance and wonder if she impersonated the wrong person.

If the girl was alive, then Father not being swayed by Izanami is easily explained, he simply knew that whoever was in front of him couldn’t have been that girl. This rules out her dying first and Father coming to Yomi to retrieve her the way Izanagi came after Izanami (not to mention that this particular scenario would require some other person to call Father’s name). So between the two of them, Father was the only one who got into Yomi.

The thing about Yomi is that it’s unclear whether it’s really a place where people go after their deaths. On the one hand, you have this word “yomigaeru”  - to come back to life = to return from Yomi. On the other hand, there are opinions like this one:

In no ancient Shinto textual source is it explained who exactly goes to Yomi and why. Some historians suggest that the concept of a life after death was not a familiar one to the ancient Japanese and it only took form with the introduction of Buddhism from China in the 6th century CE. Yomi certainly has a very limited place in Shinto thought where a life after death is only vaguely alluded to and where there is an absence of a general concept of punishment and reward for souls in the next life as found in many other religions. The only suffering of souls in Yomi, if indeed there is any at all, is their separation from their living loved ones. The noted Shinto scholar and theologian Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843 CE) explains Yomi and its limited significance thus,

“The old legends that dead souls go to Yomi cannot be proven. Then it may be asked, where do the souls of the Japanese go when they die? It may be clearly seen from the purport of ancient legends and from modern examples that they remain eternally in Japan and serve in the realm of the dead governed by Okuninushi-no-kami. This realm of the dead is not in any one particular place in the visible world, but being a realm of the darkness and separated from the present world, it cannot be seen…

The darkness, however, is only comparative. It should not mistakenly be imagined that this realm is devoid of light. It has food, clothing, and houses of various kinds, similar to those of the visible world. Proof of this may be found in accounts…in which a person has occasionally returned to tell of the realm of the dead.

After death the soul leaves the body and resides in the area of the grave, a fact attested by countless accounts…of both ancient and modern times of miraculous occurrences by spirits in the vicinity of graves…Some say that the soul goes to the filthy realm of Yomi, but there is not a shred of evidence that this is the case”. (Scott Littleton, 94)

Even in the manga itself Yato and Ebisu didn’t encounter a single soul when they were in Yomi, only ayakashi and Izanami’s maidens. Then again, we learned in chapter 86 that where souls go in their afterlife depends on what they believed in when they were alive. So technically, if Father believed that dead souls end up in Yomi, that’s where he could have gone after he died.

Why do I now think that he died and didn’t venture into Yomi as a living person specifically to get the kotonoha? Again, it all comes down to the pock-marked girl. I think that her death could have been, in FMA terms, an “equivalent exchange” for Father’s return from Yomi.

See, gods in Noragami are pretty powerful, I give them that. They can, for example, turn into giant spiders (Ookuninushi) and lightning (Takemikazuchi). And while the series never really explains how exactly Tenjin goes about helping students get better marks, or how Ebisu helps businesses, I’m pretty sure that gods can alter reality to some extent. However, they aren’t all-powerful, and there’s one thing they can do nothing about – death.

Of course, we should take into account that Yato isn’t exactly a god of healing to at least theoretically be able to postpone someone’s death (he can totally do the opposite though). I do think, however, that any other god would have said the same, because this is the one thing the gods cannot change. They can’t postpone death because the circle of life is the nature of things and shouldn’t be meddled with. Not because “Amaterasu said so”, but because that’s how the world is. Who made the world like this is a tricky question to answer, since to extent to which the Japanese cosmogoniс myth is applicable to Noragami, aka what came first, the egg or the hen, is a topic for a discussion of its own.

Bottom line is, if Father came back from the dead, something had to balance that out, and that something was the pock-marked girl’s death. It wasn’t a punishment from the Heavens for his breaking out of Yomi, which the Heavens, apparently, don’t even know about. It wasn’t an injustice that some god committed, ‘cause gods had nothing to do with it all. Father became bitter at the world for taking the pock-marked girl away from him, at the gods who didn’t help him when he needed them, and at humans who created and support those useless gods. The clothes Father was wearing when he was escaping from Izanami are the same ones he was in when he was hugging the girl in chapter 60. If this is how things went, then the effect of his return was immediate – as soon as he came back, the girl died.

There’s one more thing that bothers me about Father – how he’s survived after his return from Yomi, specifically how he changes bodies. It’s hard to tell if he had a body in the scenes from Yato and Nora’s childhood, since Far shore beings can interact with the real-life objects (food, clothes) just fine. All we know is that he’s had the same appearance in Yomi, in Yato and Nora’s childhood, and even now; and also that he doesn’t just possess bodies, but their souls as well. His current “host” Fujisaki is a third year high-school senior, meaning he’s roughly two years older than Hiyori. If Father is reborn in a new body each time, then Yato hasn’t seen him for 17-18 years now. And that Yato has never seen Fujisaki before his father made himself known when he and Yukine were walking down the street is apparent not just from their exchange in Fujisaki’s house

but also from the very first scene Father was in. Yato saw how Fujisaki caught Hiyori, and if he knew that the guy was his father, he definitely would have warned her to stay away. Granted, Yato probably didn’t see the guy’s face, but it doesn’t change the fact that Yato first saw what Father now looks like in the year the events of the manga currently take place – after 2010.

Except we see in the Volume 8 omake that Father collected articles about the “Yatogami miracle” from 2000′s, too – when Fujisaki was barely in primary school. (I don’t know if I need to explain this, but just in case it confuses you. I’m not talking about who and when was collecting the papers. What I mean is that Yato worked as a magatsukami in 2000′’s when Fujisaki was only a child).

Could Nora have been the one to make Yato go back to his work as a magatsukami all on her own on those occasions when Father couldn’t command him, being a grown man in the body of an infant or a child with all the restrictions that come with it (also, gross)?  She was able to deliver him to Father using the masks, but for the most part she was just following his orders. So I’m really curious what Father meant when he said that he “didn’t get to chose”. Does it mean he has to be reborn as a baby each time he dies?  Or maybe two souls are just too much for one body to handle, thus he has to switch them quite often and at the most inconvenient times, so he just uses whoever is available? He had to change schools to spy after Yato and Hiyori because Kouto didn’t live in Tokyo, and he seems to somewhat care about his “sister” and “nieces”. But his being out of Yato’s life for a solid decade after each rebirth (before he at least has some freedom of movement, being a child and all) is too good to be true.

And even though I’ve said we don’t know for sure if he had a body after his return from Yomi, I’ll just go out and say that he had – his own body, no less, the one we saw in Yato and Nora’s memories. He had to be human to have wished Yato into existence in the first place, and since his appearance back then matches his current looks, he could have initially returned into his own body.

After all, time flows differently on the Near shore and on the Far shore. Although so far we’ve only seen that the passage of time is slower both in Yomi and Takamagahara.

Is the opposite possible? Could it be that while Father was in Yomi, very little time has passed in Nakatsukuni, so instead of burying Father the girl tried calling him back and succeeded? It’s a wild guess, but if day and night don’t have a set length on the Far shore, then it means that one day in Yomi can also be shorter than one day on Earth.

In any case, if Father did come back to his own body, it lasted for a while – at least until Yato was a teen.

Another thing that bothers me is how come Yato didn’t know what Father looked like after an entire month of staying in that cottage. Did Yato never look at him during that whole time? Or would Father come to the cottage as himself? We know that his soul can separate itself from Fujisaki’s, but is it accidental or intentional?

Look at his latest encounter with Hiyori.

Father showed himself for a split second, distracting Hiyori and letting the ayakashi bite her. Did he accidentally “slip out” because of his strong emotions, or did he do it deliberately to make Hiyori lose focus and be an easy target for his doggies? The second one is a very Father thing to do, and if he can separate himself from Fujisaki from time to time, it explains why Yato didn’t know he looks like a student now. However, he was Fujisaki when he came to collect Nora after the whole ordeal with Ebisu.

Maybe Yato only saw Father that one time during his entire stay at the cottage – when Father ordered him to go to Yomi. This way it’s possible that Yato indeed never looked at his face. Except chapter 29 seemingly disproves that.

The background to Yato’s thoughts is Father putting down the bucket with purifying water in it. If this is just to remind us that this person is Father, I’m fine with it. But if this is Yato’s memory, something he saw with his own eyes, then it can only mean that Father did not look like Fujisaki then.

TLDR: I think that Father came back from Yomi because the pock-marked girl resurrected him via soul summoning and died in exchange, accidentally or voluntarily. I’m not overly attached to this theory and I won’t be surprised or disappointed if it’s never confirmed. It was just fun to dig into Father’s possible past once more.

P.S. while I was reading the soul summoning scene, the inconsistencies in Amaterasu’s actions and words (“call him like in a soul summoning” – “people can’t come back from Yomi”, “call him by his real name” – “are you the one called Yatogami?”) made me entertain the idea that the girl who helped the gang wasn’t Amaterasu, rather her lookalike. Like her twin sister Tsukuyomi? They weren’t twins according to the Japanese mythology as far as I know, but in other mythologies the sun and the moon are twins *cough  Greek cough*, and we’ve already seen that Adachitoka don’t exactly retell mythology but adapt it however they like. I did cast away the thought since there was too much focus on the sun during the scene, but it’s still a fun little idea.

[yatorihell]

In The Darkness Chapter 69 - Memory

Noragami x Harry Potter AU

Words: 2,482

Summary: N.E.W.T. exams start, and a new lead presents itself.

Also available on Yatorihell AO3

Yato thought about the box of chocolates for the rest of the week; the pink heart shape, the delicate red bow, the handwritten note which, when compared to Hiyori’s, didn’t match.

After Yato was released from the infirmary a few days later, a trip to Hogsmeade proved that they were shop-bought. Whilst such potions were banned in Hogwarts, it didn’t stop students from smuggling them in to get their crushes to notice them.

Nora came to mind as Yato looked at the innocent-looking parcels, but why would she give him a love potion? He dismissed the idea just as quickly as it came, but he still pondered who could’ve gone to such lengths to make him fall in love.

Yato had little time to dwell on it as the next match in the Quidditch cup – Slytherin vs Ravenclaw – arrived on a brisk, frosted Saturday morning. The captain gave Yato a look that probably meant that he should pay attention and catch the Snitch this time, but Yato was too busy fiddling with his leather gloves to care.

It must’ve shown as the announcer commentated on Yato’s lack of movement as he hung above the pitch, keeping an eye out for the Snitch. When the glimmer caught his eye it was too late. He was too slow for Kazuma, and the Snitch was caught within the first hour of the game, sealing Ravenclaws victory.

Hiyori and Yukine watched as Yato drifted down and hit the ground striding, his broom dragging a path through the frost. He ripped his aviator goggles from his face and they saw a short altercation between him and the sharp-nosed Slytherin captain. Yato waved his hand at him dismissively and kept walking.

They exchanged looks. They knew Yato wasn’t thinking straight, distracted by the ever-growing puzzle of horcruxes that refused to reveal themselves and the attempts on the headmaster’s life. Perhaps getting back into Quidditch wasn’t such a good idea when Yato practically had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Hiyori and Yukine found Yato in the library. His head was firmly planted on the desk when they took seats at the table, folding their arms and waiting in comforting silence.

After a moment Yato spoke. “How bad was it?”

“No worse than when Bishamon got the Snitch,” Yukine consoled. He earned a huff and Yato lifted his head, leaning back against the chair.

Yato’s face twisted as he looked up at the high ceiling. “I just… can’t concentrate. I can’t find the horcruxes. I can’t catch the Snitch. I can’t stop Nora from poisoning or cursing us.”

“It’s going to take time,” Hiyori said, but the sentiment was lost. Yato had been trying to find the horcruxes for months, and the only one he could see was a common necklace that had appeared in two different places.

“I know, I know,” Yato sighed. He dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s just, it feels like Nora is planning something.”

“We could start watching her?” Yukine offered. “Not stalking, we know she’ll figure that out right away, but if we just note where she goes…”

Yato shrugged. He couldn’t see a reason that it could backfire – until the idea of Nora cursing or hurting them again. He shook it from his head. She wouldn’t. Their own sufferings were intended for the headmaster, they just got in the way.

He would just have to hope that she wouldn’t get in the way when it came to finding the horcruxes.

~

Yato went to bed after dinner. Between his teammates giving him dirty looks as their victory in the Quidditch Cup now hung by a thread and the eyes staring at the back of his head, he felt it would be better to try and sleep.

The common room and the dormitories were empty, and though he had become used to the solitude it provided, he always expected Nora to emerge with some vague warning. She didn’t.

Yato threw himself on his bed, very aware of how alone he was. Not even Coo Phone was in the Owlery to pet, and no one was home to send a letter to except Ebisu. He doubted he could read or write anyway.

Yato buried his head under the pillow and, with these thoughts in mind, he fell asleep.

~

He was back in Grimmauld Place, but it wasn’t the one he was accustomed to.

The green wallpaper had pulled away from the walls, curling down like phantom fingers. The gas lamps that lined the hallway were extinguished, unlit, and hanging with spiderwebs like the chandelier above him. The hallway stretched out to the staircase, forebodingly ill-lit and shadow in the outlines of the house-elf heads that he hated.

He heard scuttling behind him as a rat passed into the dining room. A clack of plates in the kitchen galley under his feet told him that Ebisu was here, and the replying voices made his heart jump. Sakura. The idea of seeing her alone was nearly enough to break him from his trance, but still he found himself walking into the library, just like he dreamed every time before. He stopped in front of the shelves, gazing over the familiar books and trinkets and photographs that he’d pawed over for clues every time he dreamt of home.

The same three goblets sat atop the shelves: sapphire, ruby, emerald, all caked in webs.

Normally Yato would pick up the emerald-studded goblet and find the necklace that had taunted him mercilessly, but the feeling left once Professor Tenjin told him that it was nothing. A red herring in a sea of lies.

But this time, his fingers danced to the sapphire goblet. Yato watched, intrigued, as his hand brought it down to his level and he looked inside.

There was the gold ring he’d seen before but not in a dream. In real life.

Yato plucked it out and held it in his palm. To him, it looked like a signet ring carrying a family seal, the kind used for imprinting wax on letters, but an empty feeling washed over him. Not all-encompassing the way the locket had called out to him, but like a void of silence that blanketed the dead.

Something told him there should’ve been a call that was silenced long ago, leaving a hollowness in his chest where he felt a part of him was missing.

~

Spring rolled in and, while Professor Tenjin dismissed his most recent discovery as homesickness, the ring and the necklace continued to show up.

Yato didn’t know why the ring was coming up now. He knew it was in Grimmauld Place already, but it never factored in with horcruxes. He had never felt anything when he picked it up as he did with the necklace, but the wave of mourning that washed over him in his vision it was couldn’t be shaken, homesickness or not.

When the Easter holidays arrived Yato decided that he wouldn’t go look for it. He told himself that it wasn’t necessary, that Professor Tenjin and Madame Kofuku were right about tampered visions meant to lead him astray despite his feelings. But part of him wasn’t ready to go home yet.

Instead, he decided to stay at Hogwarts to study for his upcoming N.E.W.T.s exams. To this, Yukine and Hiyori also agreed to stay.

It seemed that the rest of the seventh years had the same idea as practically every table in the library was full. Parchments rolled across the floor and entire tables were laden with open and closed books on various topics. The librarian looked as if she would pass out from the amount of filing and book-hunting she was laden with.

Yato, Hiyori and Yukine plucked their way through, careful not to step or knock anything, as they made their way to the back of the library.

Bishamon and Kazuma had already snagged a table at six o’clock in the morning in a preferred, quiet corner. The April sunshine cast light onto Kazuma’s haggard face as he sipped coffee from a thermos Yukine had gifted him some years ago, whereas Bishamon looked as if she had just sat down. Only she raised her hand in greeting as Kazuma scribbled intelligibly into a notebook.

Hiyori and Yukine took seats in the window, acting as quiet moral support and becoming depressed at the thought that they would be in the same position in a years’ time.

Yato sat beside Kazuma and forlornly looked across the expanse of books they had robbed from one of the tables, all variations of potions guides. He debated leaving and privately studying Madame Kofuku’s textbook, but it would be hard to explain his success if he didn’t at least look like he was trying. He would have to study it in secret.

By midday, Yato was ready to leave, and no amount of study-shaming would change it.

“You really should study,” Bishamon frowned. “You’ve only been here two hours.”

“I’m great at Potions. Aren’t I, Yukine?” Yato asked over his shoulder.

Yukine grumbled something but Yato took it as an agreement. He stood up and tried not to look smug as he left, Hiyori and Yukine in his wake.

“Bishamon’s right, Yato,” Hiyori said once they’d left the peaceful sanctity of the library. “N.E.W.T.s are important. They qualify what jobs you can get, how well you did…”

“You know I have Potions covered,” Yato waved a hand as they walked aimlessly, ignoring the fact he’d been cheating in it. “Defence, well, we’ve had enough fights in the last year to know what we’re doing.”

That was true enough; they had trained students in the Order of the Phoenix and faced Deatheaters on multiple occasions. Yato had even fought the Sorcerer.

“Care of Magical Creatures is covered as you’ve seen I’m wonderful with animals: Buckbeak, Coo Phone, Thestrals, werewolves, dragons, merpeople,” Yato rattled off on his fingers.

The last two were in reference to the Triwizard Tournament, where Yato nearly died at least three times, but Hiyori and Yukine didn’t point that out.

“Charms and Transfiguration are just-,” Yato wiggled his hand in the air as if he were waving a wand. “A swish and flick.”

“It’s Levi-O-sa, not Levio-SAR,” Yukine mimicked in a poor attempt at Hiyori’s voice, some of the first words Hiyori had said to him in their first Charms class.

Hiyori pushed Yukine with a laugh, protesting ‘I don’t sound like that’ and ‘I was just trying to help’.

A smile pulled at Yato’s lips when he saw Hiyori smirk and roll her eyes, relenting her attack on Yukine. Her attention came back to Yato who was still smiling at her, eyes fixed.

“Just… don’t get cocky,” Hiyori said.

Yukine barked out a laughed as if the very request were absurd. For Yato, it probably was.

~

On the first day of the summer term, a cluster of pink envelopes descended over the Great Hall’s breakfast tables.

Hiyori plucked hers out of the air, noting that Bishamon also caught one in her hands. Curious, she gently peeled back the envelope flap and pulled out a firm piece of light pink card. Her eyes lit up at the first few lines.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Kofuku & Daikoku

Hiyori’s smile grew wider as she read the details. It seemed that the wedding would be held at their house on August 1st.

She scooted out of her seat as the bell rang signaling the first period and made her way over to Yato and Yukine. They too held pink envelopes.

“A wedding!” Hiyori exclaimed. They had never seen a ring on her finger; maybe because it would dissolve if she dropped it into the wrong potion. “I wonder why Madame Kofuku never told us they were getting married.”

“Probably wanted to keep it a secret,” Yukine shrugged. “Don’t want to advertise when and where to kill the Order, do they?”

With this Yukine nodded towards the teacher's table where she could see a smattering of identical envelopes. Professor Tenjin, Professor Tsuyu, even Kuraha, had pale pink invites in their hands. She caught a glimpse of pink on the Ravenclaw table as she turned back; Kazuma.

“Don’t be so morbid!” Hiyori exclaimed.

“He’s got a point,” Yato agreed. He pushed the invite into his satchel, and Hiyori felt the need to remark that he shouldn’t treat it like another crumpled piece of paper.

“Well, it’ll give us something to look forward to at least,” Hiyori said. She turned on her heel and started out of the Great Hall, leaving Yato and Yukine to follow.

Yato grimaced. He knew what she meant. With the new term brought a student’s worst nightmare: N.E.W.T.s. All his studying in the library with Kazuma and Bishamon seemed worthless when he thought of walking into the Great Hall to sit each exam, knowing that his performance would decide his future. Whoever thought of letting kids have this much responsibility was an idiot.

“We have our match to look forward to, remember?” Yukine nudged Yato playfully as they ascended the stairs in the wave of students. He had the same shit-eating grin he had picked up from Yato over the years plastered on his face.

Yato groaned. He’d almost forgotten the Hufflepuff vs Slytherin match that weekend. He was being pulled in so many directions that he could barely keep track of what he should be doing. Find the horcruxes, Yato. Catch the Snitch, Yato. Study for your exams, Yato. He would go mad before the summer even started.

“Yeah, well, at least it’s the last match for me.”

They turned a corner on the grand staircase, making their way to Charms, when Yato caught sight of shape out of the corner of his eye. Not so discreetly, he turned his head and found himself staring at Nora.

Yato stopped in the flow of students coursing around them, Hiyori and Yukine not noticing his absence. She stood on the opposite side of the moving staircases, hands planted on the stone banister and glaring down at him.

In a heartbeat she broke eye contact and continued up the stairs, vanishing from view in the tide of black robes.

“Yato?”

Yato turned and found Hiyori in front of him, having bashed her way back through the crowd. She had a searching look on her face. “What’s wrong, did you see something?”

‘See’ was the term they’d coined for asking whether Yato had a vision, but he shook his head.

“No, it was just Nora. Looked like she wanted to commit murder the way she was staring at me.”

Hiyori would’ve snorted if that wasn’t exactly what she had been trying to do. Hiyori grabbed his sleeve and tugged him away despite his backwards glances.

“Come on, we’ll be late for class.”