#do not try adachitoka

[jade-kyo]

Alright theory time!

My brain can finally compute something other than shitposting so here’s a still slightly incoherent collection of theories I’ve seen/come up with and my personal thoughts on them. I literally just woke up so expect this to be all over the place.

Shinki theory-

Hiyori becomes Yato’s shinki… personally I do not like this idea. There’s too many dangers with the gods secret. Too many people from the far shore know her living name and it would bring up too many thoughts amongst the other shinki about how they died. For me it just doesn’t make sense and feels like the worst case scenario

Soul call theory-

This is actually my own personal theory that I’ve had for months cause I suspected something like this might happen. Like Trashdad Hiyoris soul ends up in Yomi and she has to be soul called out. Trashdad returned to his physical body the first time he was soul called out of Yomi so we know it’s possible.

Down sides of this is 1. Only a human with ties can perform a soul call 2. Amaterasu would not approve

First ones pretty easy to fix, Yuka now has ties to Hiyori so she would probably be the closest person that could do it or if they wanted someone already aware of the far shore there’s Masaomi

As for Amaterasu the only way I see her being dealt with is with the trial by pledge which frankly I kinda see that being brought up again regardless of what happens with Hiyori. For me soul call theory is the second best case scenario.

Illusion theory-

This is the theory that I am choosing to believe and is the best case scenario for me. First pointed out by some folks over on discord and I’ve seen a few people in the tag’s talking about it.

It’s all part of Trashdads illusion. The same way Yato being a child and Yukine being a dog is an illusion. Trashdad just manifested an illusion of her dying to try and break Yato’s spirit.

Hiyori seemed way too helpless and damsel in distress like. She’s a fighter through and through and yeah I know she’s worn down and tired but it just didn’t feel like her. Plus she didn’t even question that Yato was a child. The vibes were off.

I also saw pointed out that when Trashdad grabbed Hiyoris tail it wasn’t torn until he ripped it

It’s possible he just grabbed it higher up than where the original tear was but it’s still worth noting. Also her tail was standing up on its own instead of hanging limp like it was before.

Once Yato kills Trashdad the illusion will be broken and Hiyori will be fine and they all will go and live happily ever after together forever and nothing bad will ever happen again :) :) :)

Anyway these are my vibing in denial theories cause I refuse to believe Adachitoka would do my girl dirty like that :)

Fr tho despite all my shitposting and memes I actually have full faith in Adachitoka to make whatever they’re planning work and I know that it’ll be a beautiful story.

[thedeliverygod]

So after a million years I have found an affordable bluray drive for my computer!

And I happen to own the elusive 2nd Noragami stage play and want to share with you all. Please know that there are no subtitles on this (as it was only released in Japan) and I only have the Japanese knowledge of a small child so I can’t really do much in terms of live translating it for you either lol.

Please also know ahead of time that while adachitoka was involved with the writing of the first stage play, they did not assist with this one. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched this myself but I do remember there being a particular moment of being like “wow that’s extremely out of character”. So yeah this is basically just for fun and not canon at all! Despite that warning, I also remember there being a lot of hilarious moments too!

Please let me know if you’d be interested in watching and I’ll try to get something together soon 💖

[yatorihell]

Noragami Reread Volume 7-10

One word: Hate!

Volume 7

24

Oh the art of the three of them I'm so sad

Oh look at Yato's face he's so sad I hope we see it again in the final chapter

'Don't cut our ties I want to be with you longer' I'm going to kill myself live at five

God Yato planning the wedding and holidays he's down bad

Oh that's so me calling someone whilst already lurking nearby

SEVERAL GUN EMOJIS FUJISAKI IS HERE

What if Hiyori and Fujisaki get together at the end lol (I will commit)

HE'S A GOOD BOY LOOK AT HIM

YATO SAYING SAKURA AND HE'S THINKING IF HIS DEAD SHINKI AND YUKINE'S REAL NAME AND WHERE HE BURIED HIM

Yukine not questioning Hiyori if they're gunna picnic again next year he believes her I'm so sad

AND YATO WILL KNOW YUKINE'S GRAVE IS FLOWERING RN

Hiyori forcing peace between Yato and Bishamon at the picnic

Oh the picnic I'm do sad Aiha is apologising to Hiyori

Oh yh make Yatobisha canon this is hot

Bubble era Yato fucks (hypothetically)

'Yato would become a raging spirit for you if he had to' I'm vomiting

I'm going to kms 'Because your life was in danger. Even if it meant plunging the heavens in to chaos, killing a god, rescuing you was their highest priority'

Tenjin telling Hiyori she has the power to make Yato like that's its been 24 chapters!!!!

Tbh Kofuku at the party is bad luck

YATO WHY DID YOU FAKE KISS HER getmarried I'm Aiha's reaction

'I ain't gunna help you a third time' lol sike

Hiyori annoyed blushing remembering the kiss

'You're yatos first' I hate life

Oh the little trio picnic

'He must have been lonely for such a long time'

Oh they're walking together their height is changed she's taller it's been 6 months

Divine possession for the plot let's gooo

25

Bishamon military outfit is a serve

Crafter plot begins

Ebisu's stupid little hat (affectionate)

This is such a dodgy chapter jahshs Yato please

Yato sabotaging Hiyori reputation

Yes beat the shit out of him Yukine this is not a good chapter

26

All theese horny kids looking for Hiyori's services Jesus

Argument about selling Yukine to Ebiau hshsh

'I'll build my own shrine without any help'

Yato in a money pile

My god did someone call whilst masturbating

'GO GET YOUR BACK DOOR SMASHED IN' the way I choked!!!

'You just can't commit'

No one would make him a shrine oh I'm so sad Adachitoka you make me so sad

Shrine!!!!!! She made him a shrine!!!!!!

Yukine go away it's a perfectly fine shrine

'ITS PROOF THAT PEOPLE CARE'

Ebisu is so ominous and turns out he's just like a guy who can't do shit

27

Yato forced them to approve the shrine he's a real god now

'Once people forget about them they fade away'

'Shrine helps people remember better' is it going to trigger Hiyori final chapter

Yato survival through the ages called into question foreshadowing

Foreshadowing of Kazuma binding Yukine

'Someone once told me I didn't need one of those things' yh your bitchass dad

'I'm gunna make Hiyori the happiest girl in the world' CAN YOU

Oh the lamp night light for Yukine I'm so sad

Oh Nora you little freak get him

Yato gets a pass for killing that guy because he was bad <3

Yato failing to break up with Nora 

Father get a haircut

'Do you think Hiyori and Yukine can really love you' YES!!!

Image of Father taking the shrine

I liked it more when Hiyori got kidnapped lol

Vol 8

28

He prefers Yukine as a shinki!!!!

How would Father know about Yato's shrine???

Father shaggy hair era

Hiyori knowing something wrong that Yato didn't appear for a while

Yato disappeared months or years leaving shinki behind, I wonder if any of them strayed

Father stop trying to smash your sons girl

Savage Hiyori doesn't like your musty ass

I like Okuninushi

Why does he can Ebisu baldy

Why is there a bunny on his bike

Kuraha questioning his purpose is me

Yato has a conscious of who he's killing if it's justice

Yato putting the kid in the cupboard to save him from seeing the murder

Wonder if its an old wish from the woman or her soul, and is she aware she was left to die up there

Tbf it's good work he does killing these people

Oh he's panicking about Hiyori forgetting him

Oh look at that crazy face girl gone wild

Oh he's so scared

Yomi arc let's go

29

Hhf Daikoku is a rip off version

'I need to get back' + Hiyori vision

I'm begging please stop the Hiyori sex thing

Capyperland trip incoming

Hiyori's starting to forget about them hate!!!

Takemikasuchi is such a snitch then it turns out he's just lame

Yukine became hafuri in 6 months daddy issues makes strong bonds

'Even if I do make it back in one piece it won't mean a damn thing' WHAT WILL HAPPEN FINAL CHAPTER!!!!!

30

Yato feeling sick about sharing shinki

HOME TO THEM

Yukine studying at Bishamons house

CAPYPERLAND

Oh I hate his bangs kill him look at all the bookmarks in his guide

Bitch is really at a theme park with Yato's girl whilst he's fighting for his life

Oh I'm so sad she's thinking of Yato and seeing him in bitch boy

SHE'S FORGETTINGGGG I'm ending it she can feel somethings wrong what will happen final chapter!!!!!!

Fujisaki stop fucking blushing

'I feel like someone is missing even though we were always together'

'MAYBE THAT PERSON NEVER EXISTED' MAYBE I'LL KILL MYSELF

I WANTED TO BE WITH HIM LONGER

The face I made looking at that kiss

31

Fujisaki die challenge

SHE CAN'T SEE HIMMMM Yukine stopped worrying about being forgotten and was forgotten

Oh I hope the scent triggers her memories I'm so sad maybe it'll be open ending

Daikoku bursting in crying about kofuku then embarrassed Hiyori is there

Hiyori's diary entey 'Yato is staring at me and not saying anything'

'Thought I would never forget but I'm not an exception' I hate this manga

I don't believe it's a joke that Yato knows bondage art

Heavens justice net foreshadowing

'Why do you exist yato'

'So I don't wanna disappear' vs latest chapter I'm so sad

'I just wanted to make someone happy'

A god that brings people happiness

Oshi is such a bitch strays aren't illegal you've just got purity culture

Kagome song is creepy look it up

Nora gets more emotional and expressive as the manga goes on, mainly because Father's always leaving her behind

Vol 9

32

Yato sees Hiyori in Izanami as persin he's comfortable with

'You love me too don't you' he combusting

Father pocked marked girl flashback

'I wonder if he ever got to see his loved one' HAAAAA

Lore starta alluding to another name for Yato

Daikoku and Yukine height difference kills me

'A human could never love like that'

I love the fight scenes you can actually tell what's happening

Yeah grab him by the neck wait what

Nora you duplicitous bitch

33

Hiyori pouts being told not to go to ayomu then does the opposite

It's a shame we don't get to see Okuninushi in action in the manga I wanna see the spider freak

'Someone who can make her proud'!!!

Yato helping Ebisu lice

Hiyori thinking of Yato for help when Kuguha grabs her

34

'You're Yato's pride and joy'

Yato tied up ohoho

Yato really trauma bonds with Ebisu and hauls ass out of there

35

Baby ebisu

'Don't you dare die on me' AHA

Ebisu wanting to live after meeting Yato

Oh Kiun yes

Bishamon’s armour is such a look it's a shame we don't see it more

'My blessed one' and people wonder why Kazuma is her bitch

Exploding child out of left field, that was such a confusing scene when I first read it

The chapter opening and ending with 'you will live again'

Ebisu really just blows up... reminds me of the Gamecube edit I made of that lol

Vol 10

36

God Yukine witnesses Ebisu's death, what if he thought that would happen to Yato in the recent chapter

Oh Bishamon’s so pissed let her pop

'Yato's blessed one'

Yukine is so small next to Hiyori and Daikoku

Yato knowing he wouldn't bring Yukine into Yomi because of the dark

'You're a god, who gave you your name?' technically it's Sakura regardless

If/when Yato returns final chapter, I wonder if his true name would be Yato not Yaboku

Hearing Yaboku then imagining Hiyori

Oh the shadow of his father haunting him the parallels

Yes tie him up Izanami

Bishamon has come to collect her twink

Yato's face getting rescued like how have we got this far

Amaterasu first appearance

'The heavens are always right they must never bow to another' are you sure about that

The imagery of Yomi is so pretty, all the line things I forget the name

'Bishamon won't be replaced' girl you had us worried for like 2 years you would be

Yato starts fighting knowing Hiyori and Yukine are waiting

Bishamon starting to be eaten by the women and Kazuma's reaction

'Father heard a voice calling his name' the Tamayobi lore in the notes is interesting to explain how he came back

Soul call oh I'm so sad Adachitoka you make me so sad I'm going to kms

Oh imagine getting to end of 37 for the first time and finding out who father is

38

Hiyori visiting Yato all the time that Yukine is like why are you here again

Yato calling Bsihamon skank even after all that, the misogynist

Oh he's gunna find Ebisu reincarnated

Oh he's so sad

Stealing Kazuma's clothes

Yato telling Ebisu that Bishamon’s real name is skank is dirty

'I fell in love with the world as soon as I saw it' he's too pure for this world

'Was I the kind of god who could make people happy' vs Yato deciding to be that

'You were always willing to give up your own life for others(...) a guy like me could never even compete' vs recent chapter I'm so sad I'm ending it

I WISH I COULD BE LIKE YOU

Kazuma panicking about his missing stuff and the phone

Iwami making Ebisu promise not to die again

Father getting Ebisu taken out because he wants brush good plan all in all

Yato releases Nora and now we have the whole picture of what they went through growing up it makes you hope Nora gets adopted

39

Yato keeping Kazuma's phone saying its his

Yukine stabbing Yato to death is valid

Bishamon starts her personal grudge against Father

Yato watching Hiyori and Hiyori dropping her body to follow, girl you gotta stop

Did Yato watch her then go to Yukine to ask how to be a god who makes people happy I hate it here

Yato past revealed

Yato saying he didn't want stop killing but basically it's OK because he always knew they were bad people

[rabbitsaxophone]

some of the bishamon vs heaven fight panels are visually incomprehensible because adachitoka is working wayyy too hard to make it a panty shot

yato really believes in this god of happiness thing to the extent that he really sees a way out of this thru changing peoples minds about bishamon committing treason (she is) because shes trying to kill his dad instead (which could kill him)

also him doing all this in flip flops is so in character

[its-hitsugaya-himself]

Noragami trending after murdering my soul

Sounds about right

[rapidhighway]

Spent the entire day reading Yukine & Yato fics and crying my eyes out

[hallucxnating]

Seeing all the shit that happened in the new chapter but then realizing Yato is no longer dying so he can finally kick trash dad's ass be like

[lychniis]

— MEMORY ( AS YOU SLIP AWAY )

↷ zhongli x reader ( minific ) . . . coming soon

❝ just remember, the storm doesn't last forever. it can scare you; it can shake you to your core. but it never lasts. the rain subsides, the thunder dies, and the winds calm to a soft whisper. and that moment after the storm clouds pass, when all is silent and still, you find peace. quiet, gentle peace. ❞

S. L JENNINGS , THE FEAR OF FALLING

DISCLAIMERS + NOTES

i. THIS WORK CONTAINS MENTIONS and some depictions of violence and gore, death and mass murdering *looks at the reader*, angst just lots of angst with a bittersweet ending, sad vibes all around, some humor, reader just trying to vibe and survive but also being a hot emotional mess.

ii. THE READER IS A GOD INSPIRED by the gods from noragami and uses feminine terms as a descriptor. the use of y/n is minimal at best and they are usually referred to by their godly name 'foras'. this work also contains smut, said chapter will be tagged appropriately.

iii. I DO NOT OWN THE characters mentioned save for any mentioned original characters. the above image was taken from picsart and the manga / anime ‘noragami’ belongs to adachitoka. however, i will not tolerate plagiarism of any kind of this work. please do not steal / repost / copy my work onto this or other websites and if you find it anywhere else ( save tumblr or ao3 ) then kindly let me know. thanks for choosing to read this book!

SUMMARY

EVEN THE DIVINE WERE NOT exempt from the misfortunes of fate. those who rule teyvat bear their burdens of loss and blood, of the times of peace they once lived sullied by the ugly scars of war. even the gods look upon their lands and wish for their respite away from their bleak reality and loneliness.

YOU WERE A YOUNG GOD, born in an age of a peace that stood upon foundations yet to be reinforced and solidified. the whispers of the dead long past meet your ears and mortal longing beats within your heart. but fate, as it is, dispassionate against the divine and the mortal lets your ascension be marred by three cruel curses.

PERHAPS YOU WERE DOOMED to be forgotten from the start, to be glanced over by the heavens till you fade away from history and it's writings. but you still keep walking, keep wandering, despite your fears and heartache, bearing the scars of a war upon your back and your final penance. a promise that you hope to keep for a friend and lover till the very memory of you slips away.

INDEX

masterlist || playlist || quotev ( sfw version. ) || author rambles

✧ CH. 00 — conception ; a story goes unspoken.

✧ CH. 01 — vasantha ; with the blooming flowers, comes you.

✧ CH. 02 — grishma ; the letters between friends remain uninked.

✧ CH. 03 — varsha ; trust not the words of an apsara.

✧ CH. 04 — sharada ; the flower fades but your breath stays warm.

✧ CH. 05 — hemanta ; in this dream, the scent of jasmine persists.

✧ CH. 06 — shishira ; your memory, as you slip away.

PLAYLIST

little talks ( of monsters and men ) — a soulmate who wasn't meant to be ( jess benko ) — je te laisserai des mots ( patrick watson ) — dream a little dream of me ( ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong ) — the night we met ( lord huron ) — wasteland, baby ( hozier ) — evermore ( dan stevens ) — merry go round of life ( joe hisaishi ) — lovers' oath ( yu-peng cheng ) — mountain sound ( of monsters and men ) — in this shirt ( the irrepressibles ) — hearing ( sleeping at last ) — saturn ( sleeping at last ) — my heart is buried in venice ( rick montgomery ) — happiness is a butterfly ( lana del ray ) — love like ghosts ( lord huron ) — sayonaragokko ( amazarashi ) — yamiyo ( eve ) — yumemiteta no atashi ( daoko )

AINE © 2023. do no plagiarize, repost or rework this piece.

[sinemoras09]

103-1 reaction

I dunno, he seems Dead For Real, guys :(

- Honestly? Even though they did kazubisha as a ship dirty, this is probably the best send off Kazuma could get. He’s finally at peace. He’s happy. That pure, baby smile at the end, when he realizes his real name, that he had people who loved him for /him/, not his abilities or what he could do for them...I mean, he was finally at peace. The whole crux and tension of Kazuma’s relationship with Bisha and others was “How can I best serve them?” In his mind, Kazuma was only worth something to Bisha because he was a hafuri (which is NOT true, but he never knew otherwise bc Bisha was crap at communicating or showing affection). The closest familial relationship he had on the Far Shore was with Yukine, which he screwed up royally, and Yato, who (again) needed him to sacrifice himself and serve as Yato’s shield.

Even though I, as a reader, really *really* wanted Kazuma and Bisha to reunite, wanted some angst and horrible-ness to get them together finally and have Bisha confess....Kazuma as a character deserved better than that. He deserved to be at peace. And if that means dying and returning as an untethered soul so that he can be reincarnated and re-enter the cycle of life and death, well, then I’m okay with that. He died without his karma destroying him, he died at peace with his past, he died happy he could reunite with his real family again.

And what will happen to Bisha? Bisha, who had been trying and struggling, all this time, to create a fake family? She’s gonna have to confront that she was never enough to make Kazuma truly happy. And *that* is going to be devastating.

(At the same time, selfishly, I hope I’m wrong, and that Kazuma just returned to Bisha again, and that this is a fake out. But narratively, Kazuma being at peace is the best ending Adachitoka could give him.)

(STRIKE THAT the best ending they could give him is him FINALLY hooking up with Bisha AND THEN being at peace but then this wouldn’t be a very good manga lololol *sobs*)

ETA: Also, way to go Adachitoka for subverting our expectations AGAIN! They were like, “Let’s set up this tragic unrequited arc...and HAHAHA GUESS WHAT IT’S FOREVER UNREQUITED lmao.” I bet they high fived each other in the studio orz (but seriously, his send off was beautiful and totally befitting of a character that suffered so much. Aggh my heart :( )

ETA: WAIT if this is a fake out then I demand that the first panel in 104-1 will be of Kazuma slumped in Bisha’s arms!!! Aggh I’m gonna be late for work *slams head on the table*

 jfc he’s at peace but I’m NOT at peace and Bisha sure as hell won’t be at peace. Now I’m definitely late for work thanks Adachitoka.

[fanimefreak]

Noragami is not graphic to me like I don’t consider it that gory or anything so maybe don’t go telling people that to stop them from reading the books

I????? What??? I’m not trying to stop people from reading the manga all I’m trying to do is make sure people are prepared that it has a list of things that could trigger someone. I’m trying to make this a safer space for people who can’t read or watch those things but still enjoy the characters. The anime is a lot less detailed when it comes to that stuff. Adachitoka puts incredible detail into their work so yes the manga is a lot more graphic and gory. I will make a list of all the things I find in the manga for anyone who needs it or wants it

[jade-kyo]

Damn this month is gonna be rough

I’m trying so hard not to just go all doom and gloom with how Noragami is going. Yesterday I was kinda just numb to it- now the reality of it has set in- this was THE worst case scenario from every single angle.

Literally what the fuck-

I want to have faith that adachitoka would not actually do this and there’s some crazy creative way to fix this that we just aren’t seeing but holy shit is it hard

This was the one fucking thing I did not want to happen for so many painfully obvious reasons

Listen y’all I’m trying desperately to keep faith but I don’t know how many more “it’s not over yet” I got left in me

[honestlynoragami]

Humanism & Acceptance of Past Mistakes (Part 2)

The God's Greatest Secret

Remember where we left off? The little God squirmed in agony and pain as his devastated Regalia unintentionally blighted him after exposing her to his usual play. Yato's character development began to show itself when he realized Sakura was hurt because of what he did, even though he was in a pitiful condition as the blight slowly consumed him as long as Sakura was still disconcerted by the incident.

Furthermore, even though the sorcerer had already told him that a Regalia would fully take responsibility for whatever happens to their God. Rather than blaming Sakura for his ailing state, he worried for her who was crying and in distress. He willingly listened to Sakura's advices and wished to help more of those who were in need. He began to hesitate slaughtering innocent lives with Nora but still, rightfully as a child, he sought for praises and approval from the sorcerer who he saw as his father figure.

The relationship between Yato and Sakura has not only proven how precious and important of an individual Sakura is to Yato but through their interactions, it further discloses how much and how long the sorcerer has been influencing them. It was fated for them to meet, a turning point life, but it was indeed tragic how they had to part ways in such an inevitably cruel way.

Whether it was out of genuine curiosity or the desire to severe Yato's ties with Sakura, Nora prompted Sakura's interest in her past and death in which Yato, as her master, knew the answers to and further encouraged him to do so as per the sorcerer's influence. This isn't a trivial matter as exposing a Regalia to their past could corrupt their soul and may eventually lead the God to have no choice but to slay them before they could cause further harm to themselves and others. Sakura was touched by the God's Greatest Secret.

When a god names a spirit, they will also acquire their past memories and they are often tragic (as seen with Yukine and Nora's pasts). Once a Regalia remembers their name, their past and the emotions harbored in them before they died, their soul would be consumed by the negative emotions, so much that they could potentially lose touch of their self.

Then, how did Sakura die?

It was disclosed that Sakura was one of the noble class when she was alive, she was seen wearing a grand garment and often taking an elegant posture befitting a noble. However, it was also revealed how she and her kin were attacked, tortured, raped and murdered. The rage, extreme fear and mortification she felt on that day took over Sakura and morphed her into some kind of Phantom. Before she completely lost touch with her self and her consciousness, she tearfully begged Yato to end her before she could inflict further harm to him.

Ever since that day until current events, Yato still cherishes her in his memories even though it seems like he has been trying to avoid the things she liked. Not only do they bring happy moments but also the tragic ones in which he fear to experience again. Usually a god would have a signature name to mark their Regalia as theirs and as for Yato, he currently uses 'ne' from Tamanone, Sakura's living name. Thus, he named his former Regalia as 'Tomone,' his current ones 'Yukine' and 'Kazune.' This acts as a "reminder" for his mistake as to never let that happened again, especially now that he has learned to cherish human lives more.

The way AdachiToka used the concept of the God's Greatest Secret to encourage people to accept the past and move forward as remaining in the past and being attached to our past failures and mistakes would do us no good. It could only do us nothing but harm us in the present, make us lose sight of it and our future.

Besides Yato, there is also one more god that I have in mind...

References:

https://noragami-mangaa.com/manga/noragami-chapter-47/

https://noragami-mangaa.com/manga/noragami-chapter-48/

[ohplagg]

The Yato-gami I know

Also read at AO3

Summary: 

“My name is Sakura,” she decides to try a much simpler approach “what’s yours?”

The man with his right hand still holding half of his face and with a skeptical look writes on the dirt.

夜卜

Ya…to?

AU where Tenjin never fired Tamanone.

NOTE: Adachitoka never bothered to come up with Tamanone's Tenjin given name so I'm following their example by also avoiding the issue and using Sakura instead

I want to once again give a big 'thank you' to @noragamibigbang for organizing this.

And an even bigger 'thank you' to my lovely partner (@mochakat) who came up with the idea and who also created a beautiful artwork that goes along with this!

It was a day like every other day; nothing new, nothing exiting, nothing special. Just everything really quiet and peaceful and boring.

Sakura, a beautiful young lady with long dark hair dressed in a miko, was starting to despise every second of it. Well not every second of it. Sakura couldn’t really complain much about her days being too peaceful, it definitely was an improvement from those days where her master had his rage moments and fired anyone who even dared to just breathe the wrong way in his presents.

She was lucky that Tsuyu was there that day to talk to master Tenjin out of the idea of firing her, she will forever owe her live to Tsuyu. Who knows what would have happened if she had been fired that day who knows how long ago? ...Was it a 1000 years ago? It’s been so long that Sakura had lost the track of time.

But peaceful days doesn’t mean they should also be boring and lately life had become extremely mundane. Ever since she was forbidden from working in the prayer altar she’s been sweeping fallen leaves from stone stairs that lead up to the tori, far enough that she can’t eavesdrop on the human prayers any more. According to Tenjin-sama “it’s his job to listen to the prayers, not hers” but Sakura knows there’s more to the reason even if he doesn’t say it.

“-hope Tenjin-sama grants that old lady’s prayer.” Sakura’s attention is caught by the gossiping some shrine maidens are having about some human prayer. Oh, how she misses listening to human prayers; learning about the near shore problems and how humans found solutions to their problems, the emotions they felt for one another, the human nature can be beautiful sometimes.

Sakura stops her sweeping as she listens carefully to the gossiping whispers “Yeah. Ever since that Yaboku god murdered that old lady’s son and his wife she comes here daily asking Tenjin-sama to bless her granddaughter academically since scholarships are the only way that child will have a way to pay her studies.”

How unfortunate, Sakura thinks to herself as she resumes her chore of sweeping leaves. If only that Yaboku god would cease to exist, the world would become a much happier place.

-

After an excruciating long and boring day Sakura is taking the last basket of fallen leaves to the trees and bushes at the back of the shrine for disposal. As she dumps it all in the pile of leaves she notice what looks like a head of dark hair among all the orange, gold and yellow autumn leaves.

A bear. Her heart drops and she’s suddenly hit with her fight and flight response. She knows in theory she shouldn’t be scared by things like this but survival instincts wait for no one when a bear is right there.

Without even a second thought she throws the hardest punch she can manage to where she’s guessing the nose would be.

“Ahrg!” someone replies to Sakura’s punch. Maybe she should have given it a second thought.

Sakura frantically apologizes as she tries to check the nose of the poor victim she just attacked. As she does so she notice that the person in front of her was a young looking man dressed in a yukata.

“Here, let me see.” She insists as she pushes the poor individual’s forehead back and tries to move his hands out of the way, but the man rejects her aid between whimpers and grunts as he tilts his head forward and hold the right side of his face with one hand

An awkward silence falls among the two as the young man attends to his bleeding nose, spitting blood from what seems to be a busted lip and probably a lost tooth all the while Sakura just stands there.

“That was a really hard hit, uh? I’m so sorry. I never do things like this, I don’t know what came over me. I really thought you were a bear, which is ridiculous because why would you be a bear? Bears are too busy right now seeking their shelter for winter, they wouldn’t be under a pile of leaves in the back of a shrine, of course not! But why were you under a pile of leaves in the back of the shrine? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just that it’s unusual- surprising! I meant surprising. Unusual sounds like it’s something bad- which is not! Totally not.” Sakura rants on in her best effort to strike a friendly conversation with the stranger. She sighs and stops her words as she notice that the young man isn’t appreciative of her effort.

“My name is Sakura,” she decides to try a much simpler approach “what’s yours?”

The man with his right hand still holding half of his face and with a skeptical look writes on the dirt.

夜卜

Ya…to?

-

Ever since the ‘I can’t believe it’s not a bear!’ incident Sakura had encountered Yato in several other occasions. Once he was hiding at the top of a tree, other times she found him sleeping in the garden shed and each and every time she tried her luck to befriend him.

He had made it clear several times to leave him alone, that he didn’t want anything to do with her or anyone for that matter, but she was bored out of her mind most of the time and he kept coming back so might as well enjoy the company right?

As the weeks passed by, Sakura found out that Yato was a shy curious individual that just hid behind a mean attitude. The first time she noticed this was when she was talking about her first days as Tenjin-sama’s shinki. As she was talking about it she could tell that she had Yato’s full attention even though he acted as he didn’t care.

Because of this she started to talk about anything and everything in an effort to bait him into participating in the conversation. Some topics were a dead ends but there were a few that she could tell had Yato curious to know more.

-

“But why flowers? Can’t they just say things straight as it is?” This wasn’t the first time that Yato had asked something that to many could be considered obvious.

“Sometimes words and actions aren’t enough to express one’s emotions and feelings. Flowers have different meanings that can help us express what we wouldn’t be able to with just words or actions.” Sakura explained.

“For example,” Sakura continued with her explination, “the emotion of love. You can tell someone you love them but there’s a big difference between the love you feel for a friend, the love you feel for a family member and the love you feel for your lover. Flowers help communicate what type of love you want to say.”

By now Yato had warmed up enough to the point that he was constantly asking questions about anything that she was talking about in the moment.

He asked her about human prayers, about dreams and wishes, about human festivals and ceremonies, about sports and game. He asked about the different types of human relationships, about human entertainment. If humans were involved, you could bet Yato would make a question. He kind of reminded her of a little kid that was just discovering the world for the first time.

“

“Okay, but what about-“ the conversation in the garden shed was interrupted by the sound of a firetruck siren.

“That’s the 3rd one this week.” Sakura sighs. “My master says that some gods have been causing suffering to humans to amuse themselves since the amount of dedicated believers have dropped and with it the amount of things for them to do, that’s why there has been an increase in tragedies in the last couple of years.” She explained.

“That’s awful.” Yato pointed out.

“I know! How heartless can one be to call the killing of humans a game? Those gods are horrible monsters. The world would be better without them.” Sakura expressed her frustration.

“Sorry,” Sakura apologized after a sour and tense pause, “I just-”

“It’s ok, you don’t have to explain” Yato suddenly interrupts as his voice crack in the process. “I feel the same way.”

-

“Anything interesting happened today, Mizuchi?” a young looking man with almond colored hair dressed in a dark Yukata asked as he cooked some miso soup.

“Nothing much, Father.” A little girl with short dark hair dressed in a white kimono sat by the table, waiting for said miso soup. “Bishamonten-sama has lost 2 more shinki to god’s greatest secret, Takemikazuchi-sama is still trying to get a blessed hafuri, and Ebisu-sama might reincarnate soon again.”

“What about our Yaboku dear?” the man asked over his shoulder.

“He’s been going to Tenjin-sama’s shrine quiet a lot lately. I think I’ve seen him talking to a shrine maiden a few times. She goes by the name of Sakura.”

“Is he now?” Father halts everything that he’s doing for a brief second.

Father has been aware for the longest time that his son spends his time in different shrines whenever he has free time. Even though Yaboku thinks his father doesn’t know, he knows but simply decides to turn a blind eye to it as long as his Yaboku stays obedient to him.

But it is quiet surprising that Yaboku has spent most of his time in Tenjin’s shrine, even more so now that its winter time. He usually spends winter time at Binbougami’s shrine.

“Mizuchi dear, could you tell Yaboku to come visit me next time you see him? I have something I need him to take care of.”

-

Yato visits Sakura. Sakura is busy setting up some extra lanterns and some other decorations in the stone stairway. Sakura explains that New Year’s is coming and along with it a lot of humans visit the shrine as well.

“Where are you going to be during all of this?” Yato asked sternly, something felt out of place for the child-like curious Yato that Sakura knew.

“Probably near Tenjin-sama, why?” Sakura wondered

“No reason.” Yato’s response was sharp in the tongue. “I have some business I have to attend to in Kyoto so I won’t be seeing you until after New Year’s, okay?” He asked but it felt like it didn’t matter what Sakura answered in returned.

Both Sakura and Yato briefly said their farewells and just like that Yato left. Sakura made a mental note to ask Yato once he returns and seems less on edge to ask him what happened that made him act so out of character.

-

It finally was New Year’s Eve. Everyone’s visiting the shrine. Families with their children and elderly. Some couples; young love, old love, friend groups, you name it. Sakura was loving every second. She loved being close by humans, there’s something about their joy that just feels amazing.

Sakura had been sent to the entrance on her master’s orders. And just when people were starting to pray. But she can’t complain much, at least now she is surrounded by humans and enjoying the happy chattering they have amongst themselves instead of being stuck next to her master hearing the same jokes he makes every year.

As she walked there was a sudden screams interrupts any and all gleeful chat. Everyone starts walking towards where the scream came from. On the road, just before entering the shrine perimeters. A man had fainted and looked like he had a seizure and judging by the reaction of his wife, it looked like she had just seen a ghost.

People gathered around the married couple trying to wonder what just had taken place, all the while some other called the emergency line.

As all of this was unfolding Sakura knew she had to rush to her master and tell him the incident that had just taken place, but as she was turning back she caught a glimpse of a familiar black hair head and a dark yukata.

Yato?

That didn’t make sense, he said he wouldn’t be in the city by this time around. Her curiosity got the best of her and she started following the man that had an extreme resemblance to the Yato-gami she knew.

“Stop!” Sakura yells as she’s lead to the back side of the shrine, where she met Yato the first time. She notice that she’s out of ear’s range of anyone so she decides to finally test out her theory.

“Yato, wait!” the male figure pauses. Frozen in place but with his back still facing her. “It’s you, isn’t it?” Sakura didn’t need an answer. The hesitation in that man’s actions told her enough.

Yato slowly turned around, looking like a kid full of guilt. Sakura noticed he was holding a katana-like weapon but this one looked odd, like it was made of water.

“I don’t understand. Why are you here? You said you wouldn’t be here!” She questioned him to no avail. Yato remained quiet, eyes glued to the floor unable to face her. “Why… why are you acting this way? And why do you have a weapon? Did you have something to do with that man?”

Sakura was furious and frustrated and upset. It didn’t help that Yato still wasn’t looking at her but rather was very focused on the dead and muddy grass under his sandals.

Sakura noticed Yato say something under his breath and as soon as he does his katana-like weapon transforms into a beautiful young girl with short dark hair.

‘He has a shinki’ Sakura realizes.

“Hello! So you are the famous Sakura!” the little girl gleefully greets Sakura, “I’m Hiiro! I’m sure Yaboku has told you all about me.”

“Ya…boku?” Sakura whispers in disbelief towards Yato as he looks like a deer in headlights, still unable to look at her. To say Sakura was confused was an understatement. With just one sentence she had more questions than what she could actually think of. “Yato. Who is this?” unable to put her thoughts into words, Sakura decided to focus on the first thing that confused her.

Yato tries to find his voice, tries to answer Sakura but the knot in his throat is too big that any time he opens his mouth to say something, anything, nothing comes out.

“Come on Yaboku, you didn’t tell her who I was? Some brother you are.” The girl that answers instead. “I’m Hiiro. I’m Yaboku’s shinki and sister!”

“Why does she keep calling you Yaboku?” Sakura carefully questions Yato, as if she’s walking on eggshells that could turn into glass shards any second. Sakura noticed that Yato looked beyond scared.

“He didn’t tell you? His name is Yaboku.” Hiiro once again answers in Yato’s stead. She turns to look at Yato, “don’t tell me you didn’t tell her.” Yato looks like he wants to run away even though he is frozen in place.

“You’re the yaboku?” Sakura seeks confirmation from the man himself even though she doesn’t need to hear anything else. “All this time I thought that- that you- and I thought that we-“ a rush of fury clouds Sakura’s thoughts leaving her speechless.

“I- I can explain!” Yato stumbles with his words, desperately trying to gain his voice back.

“So you used me to choose your victims? Did I lead you to your victims?” Sakura questions in disbelief.

“No!” Yato frantically tries to get a word in “Let me explain, I-“

“And you even lied to me about who you were! You deceived me!” by this time Sakura was yelling at the top of her lunges

“Yes- I mean no! Sakura you got to listen to me-“

“Don’t. Keep my name out of your filthy mouth. I can’t believe I ever considered you a friend.” Sakura emotionlessly says as she wraps her arms around herself and leaves.

Yato reaches a hand out towards the leaving figure of Sakura trying to call out to her but gives up shortly after seeing as there is nothing he could say to make her stay.

-

“Yaboku. You’ve been like this for months now. Its time you snap out of it.” Hiiro pushes Yato’s shoulder as he’s laying on his side looking out to the garden.

Hiiro would be lying if she said she wasn’t surprised at Yaboku’s unusual behavior. They had gone out several times now on Father’s command but whenever they did Yaboku looked so miserable that she actually felt bad for him.

“How about we go to play? That always cheered you up!” Still no answer from his brother. “Sigh. What can I do to cheer you up? Would me calling you Yato like that Sakura girl did do any good?”

Hiiro noticed that as soon as she suggested the idea Yaboku’s face had a hit of emotion for the first time since that night.

“I’ll call you that if you want me to but you have to tell me, otherwise I won’t know. Hiiro tried once again to get Yaboku to say something.

It was close, she could feel it. Yaboku looked like he really wanted to say something but just like it had happened so many times now he got caught up in so much hesitation that he gave up in whatever idea he was about to share.

But this time she almost had it and she wouldn’t let it slip away. “Look, it’s obvious you miss this Sakura girl and I could tell that she genuinely cared about you so she probably misses you too so why don’t you go talk to her?”

Hiiro was right, all that time spent with Sakura was something both of them enjoyed and if he was missing her this much it was very possible that she was missing him back. But did he had any right to go back to her? After he lied to her so much? Yato didn’t deserved her forgiveness, didn’t deserve her time or her kindness.

But she deserves an explanation and an apology. Yato thought to himself.

And with that he got up and left.

-

It was a day near the end of spring. Sakura couldn’t really tell what day it was, every day had felt the same since that night. The only thing that made the day different from other days is that now she was sweeping the Sakura blossoms instead of shoveling snow.

At first Sakura was furious. She felt angry and betrayed. After a few weeks she felt just upset and used. After that she simply felt sad and lonely. With all the time Sakura had to think she understood that she was in no position to judge a god and she also understood that it was unfair of her to cut all communication with Yaboku-gami as if they had never known each other ever. She wished she could talk to him.

As Sakura is taking the last basket of fallen sakura blossoms to the trees and bushes at the back of the shrine for disposal she sees Yato standing by the same place she first met him. That time she confused him for a bear.

“What are you doing here?” Sakura kept her voice firm and emotionless even though she felt otherwise.

“I just came here to apologize for everything I’ve put you through” Yato starts as he hands Sakura some purple hyacinths.

Sakura takes them with a shocked and hesitant but pleased expression.

“I asked the flower shop lady and she said that purple hyacinths mean deep sorrow and regret. That if I wanted to make it clear how sorry I was these were the ones to give.” Yato explains and then continues, “I’m sorry for lying to you. For not being honest about everything. For being a coward. But most importantly for being Yaboku.”

It’s not every day that someone apologizes for their existence so Sakura waited for Yato to explain further before she said anything in return.

“I know I’m the worst of the worst. I kill innocents and I don’t show regret. I destroy and taint all the beautiful things in the world for my own selfish reasons. But I promise you that the me you knew, the Yato you knew, wasn’t an act.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Yaboku. But please forgive Yato, he is a little stupid and naïve and new to all this being a good god thing but I promise that he means well and he’s trying his best.”

Sakura takes a moment to consider his words. “So what Im understanding is that you want to be the Yato-gami I know?”

Yato only nods.

“Then I suppose I’ll accept Yato’s apology” Sakura pauses as Yato’s face lights up, “but only if he promise me that he’ll give it his all to become the Yato I know he can be.”

“With your guidance I think I can do that”

[nyappytown]

What would y’all do if we learned Father and Sakura were modeled after the levels of sorrow Adachitoka felt trying to meander writing manga after losing their “guidepost”?

Cuz feels.

[echodrops]

I’m obviously late to the tumble party... but I stumbled across your Notagami Essays posts and they are absolutely Fabulous! Love your writing and the amount of detail you go into :)

So I figured you may be a good person to ask - if you just had to guess (bc as far as I know it’s never been officially confirmed?) but if you had to take a guess or give a rough estimate, how old do you think Yato was when he first met Sakura? We know he’s estimated to be at least a thousand years old, we know he’s - from the start of the series to present - estimated to be somewhere between 18 and his early 20s (physically)... but I can’t find a single thing/discussion/post/stickynote/whatever where it talks about how old he might have been when he first met Sakura - let alone the emotional/psychological effects of Sakura coming into his life and introducing healthy mindset/morals/maternal-influence etc. etc. (obviously no mom and Father’s neglect played a big role in him not knowing how inappropriate it was for him to ‘accidentally touch’ and yell “boobs!” but you can also just say he was so young he didn’t know how inappropriate that was?) My point is: how old do you think Yato was (physically anyway) at the time of their meeting? and Do you know of any discussions or care to share your opinion on how being the no more than the age of blank affected his mental/emotional understanding of Sakura teaching him a new narrative?

Sorry this is a random out of the blue ask 😅😓 if I rambled on and you don’t feel like answering, I get it, just figured it was worth asking :)

I fell down a serious rabbit hole trying to see if I could figure out the answer to this question about Yato’s age but unfortunately I’m mostly coming up empty-handed.

The answer to this question actually depends on two different pieces of information which--as far as I can remember--we’ve never actually been given for certain.

1) We would need to know when Yato was actually born.

The manga has kind of hinted at a total (not physical) age for Yato in the flashbacks which showed him as a young child during the Heian era (putting him somewhere in the vicinity of a little over 1000 years old) and Father not making masks before ~1100 years ago, but the problem is we still don’t know how many years might have passed between this scene (the youngest we’ve ever seen Yato):

And the next flashback scene, where Yato meets Nora:

If gods age normally when they are children, these two scenes might be only a handful of years apart. But if gods don’t age normally, then these two scenes could be decades or centuries apart, which leads to the other missing piece of information (under the read more to save people’s dashes):

2) We would need to know the aging process for gods who are just born/reincarnate.

Up to this point in the manga, we’ve only seen two gods reincarnate--Ebisu (who reincarnated too recently to really help answer this question) and Takemikazuchi. The implication of Takemikazuchi’s backstory is that his shinki forced him to reincarnate and then hid his reincarnation from all of Heaven. The only way they could have kept other gods from noticing that Takemikazuchi had reincarnated would have been by not allowing him to go out at all until he had grown enough to match his previous reincarnation in appearance. This seems to suggest that gods probably do age normally when they are children--hiding Takemikazuchi away for ~20 years seems a lot more likely than being able to hide him away for centuries, after all... (I also feel like I have very vague recollection of some scene in the manga where someone comments on Takemikazuchi not having been around for a “few years,” but it’s been so long since I reread I can’t recall if this is a real moment from the manga or just me misremembering.) 

Overall, however, based on what we’ve seen in the manga, my guess would be that when they’re young, after just being born or being reincarnated, gods age pretty normally. This would suggest that, for the first few years at least, the physical and mental ages of reincarnated/newly born gods actually overlap; baby Ebisu acts like a little kid because he is, in fact, both mentally and physically a little kid.

That would mean that, for all intents and purposes, Yato’s physical and mental ages lined up when he was young and meeting Sakura, and he acted like a little kid because he really was just a little kid, god or not.

(Detour for a second though: 

This line always struck me as interesting in that it might, just might, give us a more specific timeframe for Yato’s “birth”: although the constellations, of course, are visible in the sky every single year, this particular combination of concepts (kanoto-tori, yin metal rooster) is known much more commonly as one of the sixty years on the cyclical Chinese calendar, also used in Japan. Counting back on the calendar, 961 A.D. was a yin metal rooster year and would align just about right for what we know about the timeframe in which Yato later met Sakura (~970ish). Just referencing constellations doesn’t mean Adachitoka was pointing to a specific year, but it might have been another hint as to the timeframe of the flashbacks.

Okay, detour over.)

Anyway, without 100% confirmation on either of those pieces of information--when Yato was born and whether gods age at the same rate as humans after reincarnating--I don’t think it’s really possible to pin down Yato’s “real” age (physically or mentally) at the time he met Sakura. We mostly just have to estimate. 

Personally, based on his size and behavior at the time, I’d put him somewhere between seven and maybe up to ten, but the way Adachitoka draws characters kind of makes it impossible to judge their ages by appearance; Yato is about the same size as Nora when he meets Sakura, implying that he and Nora were around the same physical “age” at that time; meanwhile, Nora is later portrayed as being roughly the same age as Yukine, suggesting she was maybe 12-13ish years old when she died. So, despite being drawn tiny, it’s possible Yato was meant to be anywhere from a little kiddo (6-7) to all the way up to Nora’s age by the time he met Sakura.

But all that said, I think what you were really asking about was more the mental state Yato would have been in when he met Sakura and how his young age would have impacted his ability to change his world views, right? The answer to that is... complicated and could be approached a lot of ways. Coming from a background of working with and educating social work students, there are several common psychological theories of child development that might apply here, for example. 

I’d recommend checking out Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development, though. 

(Pulled from here.)

I don’t have time to explain the entire theory with the complexity it might deserve, but the basic idea is that, as children develop, they experience a series of crises or challenges that they must overcome. Successfully overcoming each challenge results in successful psychological and social development; failing to overcome a challenge in childhood will result in long-term negative impacts later in the child’s life. (There are plenty critiques of this theory too, so don’t take this as gospel or anything--just a theory worth thinking about!)  

Given Father’s lack of interest in teaching Yato basic concepts of humanity, I would put Yato at approximately the “Initiative vs. Guilt” stage when he met Sakura. At this level of Erikson’s theory, children struggle with asserting themselves and developing a healthy sense of how their personal desires might conflict with the expectations and rules set out by others. In this stage, giving a child positive feedback for their actions teaches the child that those actions are “right,” while giving negative feedback teaching the child that their actions are wrong. In order to overcome this particular challenge, children need to begin taking initiative and aligning their actions with social standards; the child acts, and the parental figure reacts--through this process, children learn “I can do X thing but I cannot do Y thing.” 

When you hear things like “Children are cruel,” most often what people are referring to is that it takes time for children to learn empathy and to experience guilt when they cause harm to others; children do not natively understand the repercussions of their actions. It’s only through a process of testing the boundaries, of receiving praise or punishment, that children define what is “right” versus “wrong,” and begin to feel bad when they do something deemed wrong.

And this is pretty much word-for-word what we see Sakura teaching Yato.

If they have healthy role models and caretakers during this phase, children develop successfully. Successful children in this phase get their first taste of personal responsibility; unsuccessful children are (supposedly) plagued for years afterward by a sense of guilt and shame when their actions produce disapproval from everyone around them.

Yato... doesn’t exactly make it through this development stage unscathed, because he receives conflicting definitions of right and wrong from his Father an Sakura:

Which ultimately results in, years later, the Yato we know and love who still does his Father’s bidding to kill humans even though it fills him with a horrific sense of guilt:

Through his time with Sakura, I think it could also be argued that Yato moves into the next stage of Erikson’s theory as well, getting into the “Industry versus Inferiority” crises. 

Meeting Sakura brings out Yato’s true, deep down desire as a god: to help people. (I think it’s important to note that this isn’t something Sakura teaches him--it’s a quality Yato already possessed; it was explicitly Yato’s desire to please people that led to him murdering in his father’s name.)

Once he learns what makes people happy, Yato immediately pursues that with intense focus:

The primary goal of this phase of psychosocial development is to experience a sense of confidence in one’s actions. When children practice their skills, pursue areas where they are praised, and gain new skills and aptitudes through mentoring from healthy role models, they gain confidence in their ability to excel, to fit in with peers their age, and to create meaningful things. By encouraging Yato to pursue positive behaviors--playing peacefully with other children, appreciating natural beauty, and creating useful things like boots for the needy--Sakura moved Yato toward successfully completing this phase and developing a sense of confidence in his actions and his ability to achieve positive things in the world. 

Of course, Father cannot have that (because confident children with a sense of self-worth are much more difficult to abuse), so he puts an immediate end to Sakura’s influence over Yato in the most insidious way possible: although he clearly manipulated the situation to achieve Sakura’s death, out loud, he blames Yato, implying that Sakura’s death was all Yato’s fault, the results of Yato taking unwanted action “industry” and yet failing--creating a sense of “inferiority” instead.

This, of course, haunts Yato all the way to the present, as he--again and again and again--blames himself for things outside his control or failing to live up to expectations that no one in his situation (still being manipulated) could possibly hope to get “right.” 

Finally, you could say that Sakura’s presence is Yato’s life is ultimately what sows the seeds of the manga’s main plot up to this point, with Yato’s quest to create an entirely new identity for himself as a god of fortune instead of a god of calamity. Personally, I would say that Yato is currently still in this phase of development, still working out how to define himself and who he will ultimately become once he is finally free to decide on his own path in life. It was Sakura’s gentle influence--his desire to become the kind of god who could make her smile--that eventually sparked his conflict and finally led Yato to the brink of catastrophe. If he wishes to become the god Sakura told him he could be, he can no longer suffer his father to live.

So, long story longer, I think it can be argued that Yato meeting Sakura at such a young age is EXACTLY what made it possible for him to change, and exactly what has led to his crisis in identifying himself and redefining his sense of right and wrong. 

Uhhhh... I hope that answers your question!

[givenanicatsomeanimecrack]

Told you guys Adachitoka will drag the letter revelation for another month(s). And...why did I cry for this panels??

ahh yess...that smile from a face that we've known for years. Yukine is(was) smiling. And to know what will he become if he were to stay with his father is making me cried more. Please...I just wanna see them smile again. :')))

I wonder what happened between Yukine and his father for him to be beaten and left to die alone?? Was he "losing" to anyone he againts it and that's why his already abusive father lost his final string? Or did Yukine stand for his right for once but the outcome is not pretty? Or did his father just beat him for fun after drinking but getting carried away and................he died?

Edit: After reading some chapters again and someone pointed it out...According to Yato's Father, Yukine was killed after Tajima (Haru's / Yukine's father) caught him been writing letters to Miya. (Chapter 88)

BUT THENN, from chapter 91...Miya seems overwhelmed over the letter she received from Nora.

So.....nope. If this didnt come from Yato's mouth. I wont believe anything from that old man.

Btw, I dont get the "Yukine hating" at all. Well, okay..he get carried away by his emotion and jealousy but please don't forget that all of this was because Yato's Father is manipulating him. He didnt do anything extraordinary bad right now (except for getting Yato's hurt WHICH he thought was his father for a moment). And for the time being, his righteous net is still bringing a positive feeling and give justice to its surrounding. So....why?

And how does Yukine's righteous net would benefit Yato's father? Is he trying to make Yukine's positive manipulation into negative one and start the chaos in human's world? Then, saying the supposedly God's righteous wrath is not absolute and all that?

I am glad adachitoka decides a comic relief by puting Kuraha and Bishamon together. Me too want a lion paw on my abdomen.

Look at that warm and big paws gently kneading on Bishamon's body. Im cryyyyiiinng. KURAHA BEST BOIII!!

Ah yes, I really need to read the manga from the beginning AGAIN. I've lost some plot here and there.