After staying in this dungeon for several days, Aomori had a firm grasp of the world's structure and the path to completing his mission.
Mieruko-chan, Natsume's Book of Friends, Noragami… one anime character after another appeared before him. Aomori concluded that this was a crossover world, perhaps the masterpiece of some obscure novelist who had crudely fused several universes together.
Given this foundation, it was entirely possible for familiar plots to take wild detours. Moreover, there was no telling how many other story characters were lurking in the shadows.
Aomori had already laid the groundwork for his two tasks: gathering followers and forging bonds. Now, he simply waited for those destined to cross his path to walk through his door.
Deep in thought, he stepped toward the window. The fading glow of the setting sun hit his face, painting him in shades of orange and red, lending him an air of eerie mystique.
Feeling a shift in the atmosphere, Aomori spoke in a low voice, "The hour of twilight… the time when spirits roam."
…
After leaving the detective agency, Hiyori voiced the doubt that had been nagging her.
"Yato, what exactly does 'God of Calamity' mean?"
Yato picked at his ear, looking away as he answered, "It's exactly what it sounds like. I'm the root cause of misfortune. Stay with me, and bad things are bound to happen."
"That makes sense," Hiyori nodded solemnly.
"Ugh, even Hiyori is starting to look down on me?" Yato pulled out a handkerchief and began fake-sobbing. "I guess the new guy is always better than the old one. You meet a new god and suddenly I'm forgotten."
The sight of a grown man acting like a pouting child gave Hiyori goosebumps. She shuddered in disgust. "If you could act more serious, I wouldn't have to look for help elsewhere. You promised to fix my problem, but you're always disappearing."
"I told you, I don't have a Regalia right now, so it's hard to help. Once I find a new one, I'll definitely fix your soul-slipping issue!"
"No need. Aosora-sama has already agreed to help me. You should just focus on working and making more money."
"He's helping you?" Yato snorted. "Tell me his method. I'll be the judge of whether it's legitimate or not."
Aosora-sama didn't say I couldn't tell others, so it should be fine, Hiyori thought.
After a moment's hesitation, she told him everything that had happened before his arrival. When she finished, she asked, "Is it true? If no one remembers you, you'll... disappear?"
"Yeah." Yato nodded slightly, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "That is the tether and the fate of all gods. Even Amaterasu Omikami of Takamagahara isn't exempt."
"So, Yato... how many followers do you have left?"
Yato held up his hand, forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger, and shouted with misplaced pride, "It's zero!"
"Well, I expected as much." Hiyori wasn't surprised at all. She couldn't help but jab at him, "You look awfully proud of yourself. Aren't you worried?"
"Things have a way of working themselves out. Don't worry, I won't die that easily." Yato gave a thumbs-up and beamed. "At least you still remember me, right?"
"Yeah. I'll try my best not to forget you."
Yato started to say something, but his face suddenly shifted as he looked toward the sky.
"What is it?" Hiyori asked, following his gaze. She saw a monster crawling out of a void that had appeared out of thin air.
The monster was massive and resembled a crow, but its wings and head were covered in countless, densely packed red eyeballs. It was a nauseating sight.
"What is that? That's disgusting."
"That's an Ayakashi. It's the twilight hour, the time of spirits. This is when monsters are most likely to appear, and we just happened to run into one."
"Hey, Yato, that thing... it's looking over here," Hiyori said, her voice trembling.
The crow monster flapped its wings, its hundreds of eyes locking onto them. With a cacophony of screeching sounds, it suddenly dove toward them.
"The Ayakashi is after me. I'll lead it away; you go home!" Yato shouted. Before the monster could reach them, he leaped onto a nearby rooftop and began a high-speed parkour escape.
The crow monster shrieked and, as expected, chased after him.
"Yato!" Hiyori cried out in worry. Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran back toward the detective agency. She had to get help from Aomori.
But before she could even get moving, a streak of light shot out from the direction of the agency, heading straight for Yato and the monster.
"Aosora-sama?" Hiyori recognized that familiar aura within the light. She immediately changed direction and ran toward Yato.
On the rooftops, Yato hopped around like a nimble rabbit, dodging attacks from the crow monster above.
"Damn it, it's only because I don't have a Regalia!"
A Regalia is a god's tool for combat, created when a god bestows a name upon a wandering soul. Only with a Regalia can a god truly eliminate an Ayakashi. Yato's previous Regalia had quit because she couldn't stand his sweaty palms or their homeless lifestyle.
Now weaponless, he could only flee. However, he wasn't running aimlessly; he had friends nearby and hoped to lead the monster to someone who could help. He also scanned his surroundings, hoping to find a newly deceased soul to use as a makeshift weapon.
But Yato had underestimated the crow monster.
As he made another jump, the monster suddenly accelerated. Purple tentacles erupted from its black feathers, snatching Yato mid-air.
"Crap!" Bound by the tentacles, Yato's crystal-blue eyes reflected the monster's gaping maw as it drew closer.
In the nick of time, a flash of light arrived, severing the tentacles instantly.
Freed from his binds, Yato landed steadily on a rooftop. He looked up at Aomori, who was floating in mid-air, having just saved his life. Yato pouted. "Hmph. If I had a Regalia, I wouldn't have given you the chance to show off."
Hearing his stubborn refusal to show gratitude, Aomori landed beside him and smiled. "Is that any way to talk to your savior?"
"Hmph, who asked you to save me?" Seeing the angry crow monster preparing for another pass, Yato prepared to run again.
"With me here, there's no need to run." Aomori looked at the eyes covering the monster, and the feeling of disgust he'd had while watching the show returned. Looking at it for too long made him feel like he was developing a severe case of trypophobia.
The art style of this thing was completely different from what he saw in Miko or Natsume's worlds. He wondered how they all fit into the same universe.
Not wanting to look at it a second longer, Aomori reached out with his telekinesis, grabbing the lunging crow monster and crushing it into a ball before purifying it with Holy Light.
"Eh? Your Regalia has a pretty unique effect." Yato scrutinized Aomori's person, trying to guess which item was the weapon. Aomori was shrouded in such a heavy divine aura that Yato couldn't distinguish his inherent skills from a weapon's effect.
Aomori didn't bother correcting him. Instead, he said plainly, "Yato, have you fallen so low that you don't even have a Regalia? How about I find a few for you? Since we're acquainted, I'll give you a 1% discount."
"1%? How is that even a discount?!" Yato barked at the "swindler." Hiyori was wrong; this guy is just a cunning, shameless minor god. "No thanks, I'll find my own Regalia."
"I hope you find a reliable one this time." Aomori really didn't like the kid Yato ends up with in the original story; bratty children were the worst. He himself had been much better behaved by age seven or eight.
However, he saw no need to waste time preventing their meeting. If Yato got stuck with a troublesome kid, it wasn't his problem. Or perhaps, because of his presence, they might never meet at all.
"You don't need to worry about me."
With that, Yato turned to leave. After a few steps, he stopped and muttered softly, "Uh... thanks for earlier."
"Heh, don't mention it. If you really want to thank me, I accept cash."
At those words, Yato bolted and quickly disappeared from sight. Aomori watched him go, deep in thought.
Yato had reminded him that the Noragami world had the concept of Regalia. He was a bit curious about the process of bestowing a name to turn a soul into a weapon; it might come in handy later. But for a "god" not to know how to bestow a name would look suspicious. He decided to observe Yato's process and mimic it.
With his talent, it should be easy enough to learn. Now the only question was how to be there when Yato found his next soul.
The next day, Hiyori arrived at the classroom early, yawning.
"Kudo-kun isn't here yet?"
Seeing the empty seat behind her, Hiyori slumped onto her desk in exhaustion. Last night, she had caught up enough to see that Yato was fine, likely thanks to Aosora-sama's help. But for some reason, Yato had been triggered. He'd shouted, "I'm going to find a Regalia!" and vanished, leaving her to go home alone.
Her parents had been busy with work and hadn't come home, so she'd cooked for herself while thinking about the deity's task. When it came time to sleep, she had been too excited about the promised martial arts to rest. She'd woken up early and headed straight for school.
How could she not be tired?
Resting her head on the desk, Hiyori drifted into a light doze. After a while, she woke up with a start to find class had begun. She quickly wiped her mouth and tried to focus on the lecture through her grogginess.
When the bell finally rang for a break, she couldn't wait to message the Ditto sitting behind her.
Hiyori: Kudo-kun, I went to your house last night. I assume you know?
Ditto: Yes.
Hiyori: Did Aosora-sama tell you about teaching me martial arts?
Ditto: He did.
Hiyori: Are you free during lunch? We can go to the woods behind the school after eating. You can teach me then.
Ditto: Okay.
Yes! Even though Kudo-kun was cold and only sent one-word replies, Hiyori was thrilled. A deity's martial arts... it must be incredibly strong! She imagined herself using those moves to elegantly take down one enemy after another. In her mind, Yato stood by, bowing down to her in absolute awe.
She spent the rest of the morning lost in these fantasies. When the lunch bell rang, she pulled out her bento and began eating rapidly.
"Hiyori, why are you eating so fast? Is someone chasing you?"
"Mm, I have things to do."
Five minutes later, she headed downstairs to the woods. She found Ditto already waiting for her. Hiyori's expression immediately became solemn. "Sensei, I am ready."
"Sensei? I'm not your Sensei."
"You are teaching me, so you are my Sensei." On this point, Hiyori was firm.
"Uh... whatever." Ditto was actually quite conflicted. Its own martial arts had been beaten into it by Aomori, one punch at a time. Should it mimic that method? That seemed a bit harsh, but it didn't know any other way to teach. Forget it, I'll just demonstrate it first.
Ditto coughed and addressed the eager Hiyori. "The style I am going to teach you is called the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. When mastered, it can easily shatter boulders."
"Whoa!" Hiyori's eyes sparkled. Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist... it sounds amazing! I have to learn it!
"I'll demonstrate it once."
"Wait, Sensei! Can I record it?" Hiyori was afraid she wouldn't catch it all and wanted to review the footage on her phone.
"Sure, I guess." Ditto didn't care about "secret techniques" or school tradition.
Hiyori quickly aimed her phone and started recording. "Ready! You can start."
"Alright."
Ditto took a deep breath and entered the stance of the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. Imagining an enemy before it, it launched into a rapid, fierce offensive. The air whistled as its fists blurred. Once the "enemy" was defeated, it pulled back into a neutral stance.
Hiyori stared blankly. She checked the recording time: only eight seconds had passed.
"That's... it's over?"
"Yes. Did you catch it?"
Hiyori shook her head honestly. She had only seen a blur. Even playing the video at the slowest speed, she couldn't make out the movements.
"Um, Sensei... could you hold back a bit? Slow down... way down."
"Fine."
Ditto pulled back 90% of its strength and moved as slowly as it could. Even so, through the lens of the phone, the movements still appeared incredibly fast and powerful. Hiyori was delighted with the style and immediately became absorbed in it. She began mimicking the movements bit by bit.
"The fist goes like this? The footwork goes like that?"
Seeing her start to teach herself without prompting, Ditto breathed a sigh of relief.
When the bell for the next class rang, Hiyori reluctantly put away her phone. "It's so hard and complex. It might take me a long time to learn."
"No rush. It took me a long time to get the hang of it, too," Ditto consoled her.
"Right!" Hiyori nodded repeatedly. What should I do once I learn it? Beat up Yato? That's too easy. Maybe I'll become a hero who hunts monsters!
Hiyori began to dream of her future.