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A sweltering summer sun beat down and cicadas called out a cheerful melody as a trio hiked up a rough forest path. The noisy sounds of Tokyo's Minato Ward were muffled by thick trees as they followed an overgrown footpath that curved lazily up a hill.
Sunlight spilled onto the path as the treeline ahead broke into a clearing. The leader of the group stopped, peered ahead, and let out a noise of triumph.
Yato threw out his arms and smiled widely as he spun to face his friends. "We're here!" he said.
"Are we?" Yukine said. Heavy beads of sweat rolled down his brow. "You could have warned me before sending us off on a hike up a mountain on what's gotta be the hottest day of the year."
Yato grabbed Yukine around the shoulders and pulled him in close in excitement. "But where would the fun in that be? You need to live in the moment; learn appreciate new adventures!"
Yukine squirmed to try and get out of Yato's grasp. "I'd rather new adventures not be dumped on me."
"So, this is where you were asked to go?" Hiyori said.
Yato loosened his grip on Yukine as he looked over at Hiyori. The teen broke loose from his grasp, and backed up a couple steps to try and avoid being caught again.
"Yes indeed!" Yato said with excitement. "The old monk who runs this shrine wants to build a proper walking trail up the hill, so that people can appreciate the torii gate at the top. Trouble is, the trees grow tight together, and there's a big rock blocking the path up. He just wants someone to move it out of the way so they can put in a nice trail. It shouldn't take much work with the three of us."
Yukine's gaze traveled up the path, and he scowled at something behind Yato. "You sure about that? Doesn't this whole thing seem kind of ominous to you?" he asked.
Yato turned to look back over his shoulder. The rock stood in the middle of an open area blocked off with construction barricades and warning tape, and a matching piece of thick braided shimenawa rope was tied around the stone itself. Multiple ofuda wards were plastered here and there around the rock, so faded and tattered from being out in the elements that it was hard to make out the sacred crest of Inari printed on them. Purple bell-shaped foxglove flowers grew all around the edges of the clearing.
"I'm sure it's fine," Yato said, waving the concern off as he walked closer to the imposing boulder. "The old monk who hired us said it was safe; just old and heavy."
He placed a hand on the barricade and used the fence to help vault himself over. "So," he said, "who's going to help me move this thing?"
Neither Yukine nor Hiyori moved.
Yato's mood fell a bit. "Aww, c'mon guys. Help me out."
He pushed the sleeves of his sweaty tracksuit up to his elbows and cracked his knuckles. "Well, *I'll* try to move it at least."
He reached out to give the rock a solid shove. The second his hands connected with the stone, there was a cracking noise as the old Inari wards burst into flame and fell off. Vile purple smoke started pouring out of the rock, and a wind with an unknown source whipped up around him.
Yato choked as the noxious gas poured out, filling his mouth and lungs. Pain racked his body as air-borne poison spread through him. This wasn't normal gas. This was magic. This was--
"Sessho-seki," he choked out as he lost his footing and collapsed backwards.
Yato heard Hiyori and Yukine calling out his name, and then darkness took him.
The trip back was a blur of images as Yato slipped in and out of consciousness. He could feel Yukine and Hiyori's hands pulling him up off the ground and putting his arms around his shoulders. They were shouting something at him -- loudly and with fear in their eyes -- but none of their words made any sense.
His lungs burned. His limbs felt heavy. His head throbbed with pain, and his eyes were too heavy to keep open for long. He didn't know how the three of them managed to stumble back down to the station at the bottom of the hill, but he found himself propped up on a train bench during one of his lucid moments.
Kofuku's house wasn't too far off the main Yamanote loop line. Hiyori held Yato up and gently helped him up the stairs to the second floor, while Yukine raced ahead to spread out a futon. They laid him down and covered him with soft futons.
They were talking to each other, but he couldn't make out anything they were saying. Kofuku appeared during one of his moments of lucidity, a look of worry on her normally energetic face, and then was gone the next time he came to.
There was fire in his veins, but also comfort as gentle hands tended to him. He couldn't wake up, but it was all right for now.
He fell deep into memories, thinking of a time long ago. He'd been so long then, for a god, and hadn't known enough of the world to understand the difference between right and wrong.
He'd been with Sakura one day, as she'd tried to teach him how to help people, when they'd come across a large stone. It was dark and imposing, and his child self had wanted to touch it.
"Careful, Yato-sama!" Sakura had said. "That's a sessho-seki. There's a spirit in there that kills people."
Yaboku had thought of the people he'd killed in the past, and had looked at her quizzically.
"It's… It's bad. Really bad." Sakura had knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. "One day when you get stronger, you can really help people by defeating the spirit inside. Promise me you'll protect people."
Yaboku had through about it. He didn't really understand Sakura's request, but he'd wanted to make her happy no matter what. He'd nodded. She'd smiled in response and he'd felt joy.
She'd taken his hand, and stood up to lead him away. "But for now, let's just leave it alone, hmm?"
The scene dissolved into blackness, and Yato let himself fade into sweet unconsciousness.
When Yato really woke up, mid-morning sunlight was streaming through the window of his room in Kofuku's attic.
He felt like death warmed over. The after-affects of the miasma still lingered in his body. His limbs felt heavy and his body ached with a pain he hadn't felt since coming back from the Underworld. Whatever he'd been hit with, it had been a real doozy of an attack.
He kicked himself for not taking things more seriously. That old monk probably had no idea what they were dealing with. As a god, he could take a whole lot of damage without getting too hurt, but if it had been Yukine or Hiyori...
He wouldn't think about that. Nothing would happen to either of them while he was around.
He noticed a light weight on his head. He reached up slowly -- oh, he was going to be feeling this for days -- and found a damp, drying cloth resting on his forehead. Had someone left a cold compress there?
A colour in the corner of his gaze caught his attention, and he turned to look to the other side of the room. He wasn't alone. Yukine had dragged a futon in and set it up nearby. Hiyori had curled up on some cushions, her back leaning against a dresser and a light blanket draped over her. Both of them were still caught up in sleep. Had they been up late last night looking after him?
Yato let his hand drop from the cold compress to the floor between the two futons. Yukine was still dressed in the same clothes from yesterday, and his futon was pulled up closer than usual. Had he been anxious?
"G'mornin'," Yato said groggily.
Yukine's amber eyes fluttered and then shot open. "Yato!" he said, quickly pushing himself up to his knees. "I thought you were... You just passed out yesterday."
"Were you worried?" Yato asked teasingly.
Yukine pouted. "About you? No way."
Yato could feel Yukine's relief through the shinki bond they had formed. Yukine really was a good kid, even if he still tried to hide it.
The noise from their conversation woke Hiyori. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, before focusing her attention on Yato. "You're awake! I'm so glad you're okay. You were pretty bad yesterday. We had to carry you all the way back here."
Yato smiled lightly. "Thanks for doing that. I really owe you one."
Hiyori scooted over to check on the compress, while Yukine threw off the futon blankets to sit next to Yato.
"You said something before you passed out," Yukine said tentatively.
"It was ... Sesshomaru, or something," Hiyori added.
"Sessho-seki," Yato said. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and a new wave of nausea passed through him. Hiyori reached out to ease him back down, but he waved her off.
"A sessho-seki is a killing stone. They're... pretty rare. I've only really seen one before. I'm surprised there's one been one hidden here in Tokyo for so long." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to get the nausea to subside slightly before continuing. "You know what a kitsune is, right?"
"A fox spirit," Yukine said. "They're supposed to be pretty tricksy and stuff."
Yato nodded. "They are. They use their powers to disguise themselves as people sometimes. Some of them are perfectly nice, but some are pretty awful and use their powers to cause massive chaos and even war. When it gets really bad, sometimes gods or heroes get tasked with slaying them.
"But the really powerful kitsune -- the ones with lots of tails and lots of power -- don't always stay dead. Even after death, the most powerful malevolent spirits can possess something like a rock or a tree to keep their spirits intact, and use the item as a way to channel their powers and keep on killing people."
He grinned softly. "Luckily for me, a god is real hard to kill."
The smile dropped, and his expression turned somber again. "But if there's a killing stone here, then we really need to take care of it as soon as possible."
"Can't it wait?" Yukine asked. "It's not like anyone's going up there. Isn't that why the old geezer hired us in the first place?"
"No," Yato said. "It's not good to leave something that dangerous out in the open like that. It'll kill anyone who wanders by there. I made a promise to someone once to get rid of a sessho-seki if I ever came across one again." He offered Yukine a weak thumbs up. "And what kind of god of fortune would I be if I didn't take care of it?"
Yukine still looked put out, but Hiyori wrapped an arm around Yato's shoulder to help him up. "If you're going, at least let us go with you. We'll give you support."
Yato wobblily got to his feet. "Of course. What would I do without you guys?"
The clearing in the woods was almost how they'd left it the day before: the construction barriers, the shimenawa rope, the singed remains of the ofuda wards littering the grounds. But this time Yato could feel the spiritual power emanating from the rock. A faint purple miasma -- the same colour as the foxglove flowers -- drifted out of the stone, giving off a warning of danger to anyone who dared approach it. There was a dark kitsune spirit here, no doubt, and he'd have to deal with it before anyone else got hurt. Or worse.
He was still in rough shape. He'd made it back up the hill fine, with Hiyori and Yukine's help, but he was nowhere near the top of his strength. If he took as strong a hit as the day before, who knows how long he'd be out.
Still, he had to push through the pain.
He squared his shoulders and faced the imposing stone. "I don't know what's keeping you here, but I have a job to fulfill." Yato reached out his hand. "Sekki!" he yelled.
There was a sharp burst of sound as Yukine's human form dissolved into light and shot into Yato's waiting palm. The comfortable grip of Sekki's hilt materialized in his grasp, and Yato wrapped his fingers tightly around it.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Hiyori asked. "You got messed up real bad yesterday, just from touching it."
Yato looked back over his shoulder to smile at her. "Trust in me."
He turned back towards the clearing and pushed his way through a hole in the construction barricades surrounding it. He hefted up Sekki and pointed the sword at the stone, determination filling his face.
"I know what you are now. I won't let you hurt anyone else."
The miasma flared up like a burst from a geyser, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes materialized in the poison cloud.
"I knew you were in there," he said. "Care to fight for real?"
The miasma solidified into a fox shape and lunged at Yato. He dodged, and swung at it with Sekki. The sword sliced off one of its ghostly tales, and the fox let out a howl of anger. It dove down and disappeared into the earth.
"Did we get it?" Yukine's voice said in Yato's head.
"No, too easy." He scanned the ground around the clearing, checking for any sign of the creature.
There was a rumble behind him. "Look out!" Hiyori yelled.
Yato spun to face the fox, but his foot caught on protruding root. He tumbled to the ground. The creature pounced on him, and buried him in a wave of magic smoke as everything went dark again.
Yato found himself standing alone in a dark void. It hit him immediately that his sword hand was empty. He reached out for Sekki's hilt, but nothing was there. "Yukine?" he called out.
No one answered. His voice echoed across the empty space.
There was a chuckle from behind him. Yato spun around, and stared in shock at the sight that faced him.
It was a woman in her early twenties or so. She wore red hakama pants and a white top, and her long black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. And that face...
"Sakura," Yato breathed.
The woman chuckled again. Seven fox tails swished behind her, matching the ghostly light that surrounded her form. "I could be," she said. "You certainly have a lot of regrets involving her, Yaboku. So kind, so compassionate to you, and you sentenced her to a fate far worse than being dead."
"You're not her," Yato said. He struggled to regain his composure as memories of Sakura and her tragic end filled his mind. "You're the kitsune."
The fox woman feigned shock. "Oh dear, you saw right through me," she said dryly. "I'm in real trouble now."
"I will stop you," Yato said. "You've been slain once. I will break your attachment to this world before you hurt anyone else."
The kitsune scoffed. "And who are you to lecture me, god of destruction? I might kill people here and there, but you-- You actively use and exploit the miserable deaths of others to accomplish your own goals."
She waved a hand at him, and a series of vivid images flashed through Yato's mind. An endless, watery black void. A noblewoman with dead retainers torn apart by a gang of bandits. A mother trapped in a burning house as the firebombing consumed her town. A young teenage boy begging for mercy as his own father killed him. A girl giving into despair as her family's legacy crumbled around her.
Yato dropped to his knees and pressed his hands against his temples, trying to force the memories from his mind. Bearing the God's Greatest Secret was a hard enough burden. Seeing everyone he loved suffering, all their tragic ends all at once was almost too much to bear.
"Pathetic godling," the kitsune whispered right next to his ear. "You use them, you use their pain and their misery, and they have no idea you're doing it." She ran a hand down his face, and sharp claws left a thin line of blood in their wake. "I think it's best you stay here in the darkness and think about your many sins."
With great effort, Yato moved his hand from his temple to grasp the kitsune's hand. "I know what I am," he said. "I know what I've done. I know that no amount of repentance can make up for all the blood I've drawn, all the lives I've taken."
He opened his eyes and stared straight into the kitsune's face with a piercing icy gaze. "But one thing I do know is that I deeply love my friends and companions and I'll do anything to keep them safe and happy."
He reached out with his mind along the bond with his shinki. He felt a dot of snowy light in the darkness, and focused his attention on drawing it in.
"And I won't let you defeat me here," Yato said. With a push of his divine power reformed Sekki in his hand and plunged the blade into the kitsune.
The fox woman screamed. Points of light formed cracks in her form before suddenly blasting her apart in a shower of light.
"I'm sorry, Sakura," Yato whispered to the air before the light filled his entire field of vision.
The void burst apart, and he was once again standing in the forest clearing. His heart pounded. His check throbbed where the fox had cut him. The aftereffects of the poison still ran through him. Visions of the last moments of shinki he had cared for then and now still lingered in his mind. But at last, the kitsune was slain for good and people would be safe again.
He released Sekki from its sword shape, and collapsed to his knees as Yukine reformed beside him.
"You disappeared, and then all the smoke just vanished. Did you... Did you beat it?" Hiyori asked.
Yato nodded. "I did. It was... It was rough in there, but there's nothing I can't do with Yukine's help."
Yukine's cheeks reddened, and he looked away with a mix of pride and embarrassment on his face.
"There's only one thing left to do," Yato said.
"Oh?" Hiyori said. "Find an exorcist? Get some ramen?"
"No. Well, yes, we should definitely get some ramen. But first." He motioned in front of him. "We need to move this dumb old rock out of the way."
Yukine's attention snapped back to Yato. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Nope!" Yato said. He wearily started to push himself up to his feet, and Hiyori helped him stand tall. "We still have a job to do. Besides, there's only a very small chance the stone will kill us this time."
Yukine's face paled. "How small."
Yato tapped a finger against his lips. "Oh, only about... nine percent, or so."
He let the words hang in the air a minute as Yukine and Hiyori stared at him in horror, before laughing. "I'm kidding. It's fine."
Yukine smacked him in the shoulder, setting off a ripple of pain across Yato's side. He deserved that one.
The three of them moved to push the rock together as a team as cicadas sang out to mark the closing of another summer day.