To Be Free! (Noragami Fan-Fic)

Yato Disappears

I sighed as I leaned back in my office chair. It has been days since I last met the others. Due to the recent amount of events, I have been stuck in my office and working my mind off on paperwork while Akai was training his group with the other six leaders just so that everyone remains prepared for any threats as a caution because of all the Phantoms that have been appearing as of late. Once we return to the Lower Realm, I was certain that the whole clan would receive a pile of homework as a substitute for missing out on so many days of school. Another exhausted sigh left my lips as I closed my eyes and tried to get a short rest.
However, it seemed as though nobody wanted me to rest as my office door suddenly burst open and the sudden wind blew my papers around the room. I felt my soul leave my body as I thought of how long it would take to sort out all the papers again.
"Crystal!" Akai greeted cheerfully as though he didn't notice what he just did, which is usually the case. "I'm all done with training the team! The next thing on the list is to check up on Bishamon. Let's go!" He said and jolted in fear when he noticed my harsh glare. But I reluctantly agreed and I dragged myself out of the room and told myself to lock the door next time I was in the middle of very important work.

"Bishamon, how's the work going?" I asked with a smile.
"Princess," she greeted standing up from her chair and bowed in greeting, Kazuma followed immediately. "Everything is going fine. I thank you for your support despite us continuously blighting you."
"It's fine," I said politely.
"What brings you here today, if you don't mind me asking?" Kazuma asked.
"We're just here to make sure everything is going alright and running smoothly," Akai answered for me. "Although I doubt my wound is going to heal anytime soon," he added referring to the cut he received when he defended me from Bishamon's attack.
"I humbly apologise," Bishamon said and bowed quickly.
"It's fine. Thanks to that, I became my beloved's first Blessed Vessel," He said and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I felt my face go warm when he said.
Bishamon and Kazuma had a confused look on their face. "Your beloved?"
"Didn't you know? Crystal and I are dating," Akai explained which caused them to have a face of shock and bewilderment.
"C-Congratulations..." they both replied while recovering from the shock.
"I think that is only something you say to a married couple, though," I said.
"You have a visitor, my lady," one of Bishamon's Regalia said and entered the room revealing Yukine.
"Eh? Akai-san, Crystal-san... Why are you here?" Yukine asked.
"Just stopping by," the both of us replied in unison.
"What do you want? Are you alone?!" Bishamon demanded.
"I-I've, umm, one to say hello for my loser of a master!" Yukine replied with a stiff voice and body. "We just moved to Takamagahara, you see! Actually... I've come with a personal request, too! For Kazuma-san. Could you please teach me how to use invocations?! I... want to grow stronger, as Yato's exemplar! Please!"
Kazuma looked at Bishamon for permission. She sighed and nodded.
"Then let's go find a more suitable place," Kazuma said.
"Yes! Thank you so much, Kazuma-san!" Yukine cheered.
I smiled at Bishamon. "Good luck with living here from now on," I told her. "It's going to get a lot more difficult to walk around now."
She merely huffed in annoyance.
"Since we have some spare time, I hope you don't mind that Akai and I try to teach you smothering as well," I said to Yukine.
"You can use invocations as well, Crystal-san?" He asked.
I smiled. "But, of course. I'm the Guardian of Guardians after all."

"For an invocation to work, it needs to be tied to a name," I explained.
"Hence Rule Number 1: know the name of your target," Kazuma continued.
"But your name's out in the open. Doesn't that put you at risk?" Yukine asked.
"Yes and that was rule number 2 comes in," he replied.
"Invocations won't work on someone of greater status," Akai explained. "An invocation is the same as imposing submission. It's actually a terrible act. As such, it could even harm your own master. So think carefully before using one."
"You're a Blessed Vessel just like everyone else here. Have confidence in what you do," I told him gently. "Not many regalias are able to achieve what you have achieved. Just use caution. You should always treat your target with contempt." Yukine made a weirded-out face. "Rule number 3: there is no 'practice'."
I picked up a gold coin and flipped up in the air and Akai, Yukine and Kazuma tensed and readied themselves. The second the coin touched the ground, they all tried to do invocations on the other two that they were facing. As a result, both Kazuma and Yukine were restrained by Akai. "You guys are too slow! You need to draw more quickly! Now you're stuck until you're called or the invocation wears off. However mine doesn't wear off so easily," Akai said as he grabbed the small jar of paint with a paintbrush in it and drew an 'X' on Yukine's cheek before walking up to Kazuma and drawing a moustache.
"Hey! What are you painting on me for?!" Kazuma demanded with a look of horror on his face.
"I just wondered how you would look with a moustache," Akai replied calmly.

After cleaning up my office and sorting everything up, we went straight to our connecting rooms and went to bed. However, when I was sleeping, a certain dreaded feeling filled my mind and I felt a sudden amount of pain all over my body. But when I woke up, it was all over as if I was imagining things. A headache hit my head big time as I began to properly wake up. It was the same feeling. The same dreaded feeling that something bad was going to happen.

On the way to school, I couldn't focus on anything. For the past few minutes, I had been bumping into people and nearly walked onto a busy street more than five times. It wasn't until I decided to just take the bridge to school that I accidentally stepped onto a stray can and lost my balance and began to fall backwards. A fall from this height, when I wasn't my usual self and would be able to heal myself easily, would result in probably a few broken bones. But I wasn't greeted with the hard cement, instead, I was caught by a boy in the same school uniform as me. Something about him seemed familiar.
"Be careful now," he said with a smile. "It would be a shame if a pretty girl like you were injured. Right, little goddess?"
I froze on the spot as I looked at the boy. "What did you just call me?" I asked in disbelief.
"Hmm? Little goddess. Why does it disturb you?"
"N-No. I'm sorry for taking up your time and thank you for helping me," I said with a bow as the boy smiled and walked towards the school. Little goddess... that was what Father would call me when we were younger. Exactly who was that boy?