To Be Free! (Noragami Fan-Fic)

Emotional Day

     "In any other case, I'm just glad everything worked out and nobody got too badly injured," Bishamon said.
     It was a few days since the day that Ebisu died and his reincarnation had appeared a few hours after. I was stuck in bed with a wrapped up ankle that was drenched in blood and a bloody bandaged head. The feeling when he died still horrified me.
     "I couldn't save him..." I muttered sadly. A hand gripped mine and I looked up and saw Akai looking at me as cheerfully as possible but we both knew... this was our first time failing to protect someone who was right in front of our eyes.
     "It's fine to make mistakes, we just need to work harder to make sure it doesn't happen again," Akai said in hopes to cheer me up. I smiled back at him and nodded.
     "When we get back home..." I started. "...I will make Chairo fix us up a training regiment into our schedule and nobody is allowed to skip it or try to escape. Especially you, Akai!"
     The look of horror on his face was so hilarious that I ended up bursting out with giggles along with Bishamon. All of a sudden, the door to the infirmary burst open and Kazuma ran in with a distressed look on his face. "Yato...! Ebisu...! Not in the room...! Emergency...!" He said between breaths. At this, I got panicked and forced myself off the bed and opened the nearby wardrobe and pulled out a jacket and my shoes.
     "W-Wait! Crystal, you're supposed to be resting!" Bishamon interjected while I was putting my shoes on.
     "I won't allow anyone else to suffer when I can be there to stop it," I said and flinched in pain when I tied the strap too hard and hurt my already-injured leg. She sighed exhaustion and walked up to me and knelt down and helped me tie my laces. When she was done, she held out her hand.
     "Come on, we better find him before anything happens," she said with a gentle smile. I smiled back and took her hand.

     "Yukine! Hiyori!" I called when I saw them sitting on a bench.
     "Lady Bishamon! Kazuma-san! Akai-san! Crystal-san!" Yukine greeted when he saw us running up to them.
     "Have you seen Yato and Ebisu?" Akai quickly asked.
     "Huh?" They both say in confusion.
     "Ebisu came to visit Yato, but now they're gone and his recovery room is empty," Bishamon explained.
     "And my room was in shambles for some reason," Kazuma added. Then I began to put the pieces together and collapsed on the ground, feeling instantly relaxed. "Eh? Princess Crystal, what's the matter? Does your leg hurt-?"
     He was interrupted by my laughter. "Crystal, I think you need to go for another check-up to see if something's wrong with your brain," Akai said, rudely, in my opinion. "And exactly what is so funny?"
     "It's nothing. Don't worry about those two anymore," I said and got up from the ground and began walking away. "They'll come back soon enough. Don't disturb them. They need some time alone. It's a very personal conversation, I'm sure."

     "The heavens issued an official sanction. Along with my reincarnation, my overseer Iwami was expelled," Ebisu explained. "In exchange, they were willing to overlook the rest of the Mi clan. So I've chosen Kunimi to be my new overseer. But Iwami has been a close confidant for a very long time. Thanks to your help, the heavens yet to find him. If possible, I would like him to remain here... Would that be acceptable?"
     "Yes," Bishamon and I said with a smile.
     "Thank you, Ms Crazy Chick! Ms Goddess!" He said and both of us had a dark aura surrounding us.
     "Where did you hear that name, Ebisu?" Both of us asked with a voice that was strained from anger.
     Kunimi immediately bowed in apology. "I learned it from Mr Yato," Ebisu replied truthfully.
'Shame he doesn't know that he just exposed Yato and he's going to be chased for a while by Bishamon again,' Akai said telepathically. I nodded in reply. Before Bishamon could ask where Yato was, I quickly took Ebisu and pulled him away from the group so they could discuss things without him hearing.
     "Ebisu, look at those beautiful flowers and butterflies over there! Let's go have a look!" I said pushing him away and nodding at the others to continue the discussion while Akai got up from his seat and joined me in distracting Ebisu.
    When we were far enough that he couldn't hear the conversation, we sat on the ground and played around in the grass. While Akai was playing tag with Ebisu, I was making flower wreaths. Suddenly, I felt something on my back and saw Ebisu tripped and landed on me. He immediately apologized.
     "It's fine, Ebisu," I said and placed the wreath on his head and stared at him sadly. "I'm sorry..." I whispered softly as a small trail of tears fell from my eyes.
     "You don't need to apologize," Ebisu said. "I forgive you for whatever happened to my past life."
     Swiftly, I pulled him into a hug and held him tight like he was going to disappear. "I'm just happy to be able to see you again," I said.

     That night, I decided to go walking around the Lower Realm by myself after being so emotional the whole day. Akai was talking about the training regiment with Chairo and everyone else was already in bed, studying for school, or just talking with each other. When I reached my favourite park, I stopped in front of the cherry blossom tree where I first found Akai. I could almost imagine the little light he was on that day; just hovering on the branch. Before I did anything, I made my presence invincible and placed my hands on the stem of the tree. After a few seconds, a glowing white light wrapped around my hands and seeped into the very fibres of the tree and healed it completely. Although I think I healed too much as the flowers started to bloom and glow bright and colourful pink.
     "Just like that day..." I whispered and leaned my forehead against the tree. "Thank you for watching over my life," I said to the tree.
     Suddenly, I heard a splash and turned my head to the person beside me and saw Nora. She looked horrified as she stared at her fingers that gripped the soil tightly. I took a step forward and she turned to face me. It was only a few seconds before I felt her arms around me as she let out her frustrations. A small smile came up on my face as I pat her head gently like she used to do to me when we were younger. I looked at her collection of names and noticed the one that was given to her by Yato was gone.
     "He took my name..." she cried in frustration. "What does that boy have that I don't?"
     "Just let out your frustrations," I told her. "As a guardian and your childhood friend, I will listen to your troubles. It is my job to look after everything in this world after all."
     "No, it's fine," she said and pulled away. "I'm going back to Father. Thank you for being here when I needed you."
     I nodded and waved as she skipped across the river before disappearing in a mysterious mist that rolled in. After staring at the distance for a few minutes, I turned my attention back to the cherry blossom tree and saw the flowers were all scattered and the branches were now bare. I took this as a sign that I had been in the Lower Realm long enough and returned home.
   'I'm the guardian of guardians,' I reminded myself. 'To make sure I can look after everything in this world, whether it be the most sinister of Noras or the godliest of guardians, I will become stronger to protect them!'