God's Theories

So, this lovely chapter starts out showing Yukine, tailing Father. We’re not made to focus on it much longer, because we’re soon moved on to a meeting between the Gods. (Introduced by Ebisu, looking disheveled from trying to dress himself without the help of his shinki.) Tenjin is the one to bring the topic to attention, which is: deciding how to handle Yukine, who has been touched by the God’s greatest secret.

It seems as if most of the Gods are in favor, save for Takemikazuchi. Though, it appears that he wouldn’t be willing to do the job personally. It leads me to think that even he doesn’t really want Yukine dead, even though he’s talking negatively about him in the next couple of pages.

Kofuku goes absolutely feral on him, unleashing a ton of bad luck and promising him the death of his financial assets should anything happen to Yukine. Ebisu brings up a good point, though; to do nothing would mean that the covenant was essentially a pointless sacrifice. The majority of them reach a mutual decision: they have to eradicate the sorcerer themselves. Heaven won’t help them, so they have to act solo.

This reminds Ookuninushi about something Kagutsuchi told him; that Amaterasu is going on a personal hunt with a select few Gods, and no shinki are allowed to know. Soon, they come to the conclusion that it is Yato that Amaterasu wants to get rid of--or maybe all of them, with Yato being their main target. (Also I just want to note that I was REALLY confused as to how Ebisu was that tall in pages 13 and 15, but then I realized that he’s probably standing on one of the structure’s platforms to be more at eye-level.) We then get Take’s extremely inaccurate depiction of Yato, the war god only mildly upset that he couldn’t defeat Yato himself.

C’mon, my guy; whose side are you on?

Speaking of Yato! We’re switched over to him and Kazuma. Yato appears to be trying to avoid being seen by Yukine--with Kazuma, specifically. (Which, of course he denies when Kazuma confronts him about it.) Kazuma then feels the serpent move, literally dragging him in the opposite direction; signalling that Nora is close by. And wherever Nora is, Father is. After a short conversation about whether or not Yato’s ready to face his dad, he gives Kazuma a look that indicates nervousness, determination, and resignation wrapped up in a neat little package. Of course he isn’t okay with it; but he made a vow to Heaven, and he has to go through with it.

So! Off they go to follow the serpent that will lead them to Father; unbeknownst to them, they have already been seen by none other than Yukine. The pair find Father, sitting defenseless in the park. However, Yato is still feeling a bit reluctant. Even seeing his father defenseless like that, he can’t confidently aim an attack yet. He instead thinks about his friends and found family, and wonder what kind of faces they’d give him if they knew what he was doing. He decides to just do it, and takes aim. But the attack is blocked by a borderline, who they first suspect as being Nora.

They’re both wrong! It’s Yukine, who had followed them to their hiding spot. Honestly? They both seem shocked to see each other! Yukine guesses pretty quickly that Yato is using Kazuma. He’s definitely not in his right mind it seems, especially since he’s being tormented by the God’s secret. He’s bothered that Yato is lying, or what he perceives to be a lie. Knowing that Yato knows his past now, and hasn’t told him--it’s made him angry.

And this is where the desperation and panic starts to set in. Yukine stings Yato, and Yato tries to go after him and talk to him, but Yukine wants none of that. He draws a line between them, overwhelmed by the torment of his own past and struggling with who he is and who he was before. I think, at this point, he’s having a major identity crisis; as the boy who died.

The fact of Yukine’s death is more prevalent than ever. He feels like everything he’s lived for as ‘Yukine’ has been a lie, and coming to terms with that is enough to make even a regular person freak out--much less a child. Desperate to separate himself from it, he throws the hat Yato made him on the ground and starts scratching at his name; trying to get rid of it.

Meanwhile, this is having a profound impact on Yato’s health, and despite him trying to tell Yukine that he’s hurting him, the teenager is simply way too overwhelmed with his own grief and anger to listen. And then, he seems to recall something.

His name.

At the exact moment, Yato collapses. It’s hurting him both physically and mentally, no doubt. He’s spent almost a year with this kid, his pride and joy not only as a hafuri, but as his friend and, in a way, his son. It’d hurt to have your child denounce the name you’ve given them. To see them so desperate to separate themselves from you.

Seeing Yato on the ground seems to jar Yukine out of his mental state, just a little. You can see his gaze clear up, but he’s so devastated by what he’s done to him now. Feeling scared and not knowing what else to do, he runs away.

We see Father soon after, musing that Yato and Kazuma seem to be serious. He resolves to take Yukine then, and we also see Nora with him--kind of confirming her involvement in the plan. However, she looks none too happy to be doing this.

It’s a good time to remember that if a name breaks, or if a shinki is released, they cannot be named by the same God twice. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, in that case. Will Yukine’s name break? And if so, does that separate him from Yato forever? I feel like things will only get worse from here, before they get better.

I also definitely want to know Nora’s thoughts on the situation, and what route she’s going to take. To help Yukine reunite with Yato, or aid Father in convincing Yukine to fight against Yato? And if Yukine has truly remembered his name, will his past be sure to follow? And how will he deal with it?

The chapter starts out on a slightly confusing note, with Yukine talking to who I can only assume is Hiyori. He informs her that he wants to meet his family and friends, that it looks fun. She’s trying to discourage him from crossing a line where he shouldn’t go, by telling him that Yato was crying after he named him. She does her best to hint gently that his past might not be what he wants to see--that he’d be better off not knowing. He assures her that it’s fine, and directly after, jumps over the barrier.

The only thing I can guess is that this conversation didn’t actually happen. Maybe it was a thought process, or dream of Hiyori’s. Yukine’s dialogue here seems pretty innocent; almost childish. I suspect that it’s set up this way because of how Hiyori sees him. Because of his size, she initially thought him to be a quite a few years younger than herself. And I think that, even after learning that he was much closer to her in age than she thought, a part of her still believes Yukine to be young and in need of guidance.

This dream sequence is broken by her crashing into her door--she was most likely sleep walking. Her mother wakes Masaomi up to come help, who carries her back to bed. He checks her condition, and while doing so, inform her that he’s seeing the black ones coming closer. So much so, they are on the property. He suspects that their grandmother doesn’t have much time left.

There was some speculation that it could be for Hiyori, but I don’t think so. Hiyori’s grandmother was reading a rental catalog for home medical equipment, so I think her and Hiyori’s mother were discussing the need for one. It’s hinted then, that their grandmother’s health has deteriorated at least to a point where she’d need to go on bed rest.

Anyway, Hiyori then admits that even Yato said that there wasn’t much they could do about it.

Masaomi, confused, asks her who Yato is.

This of course, is a shocker to her. How could he forget, when he remembers everything else from the far shore, as she does? She gets worked up, but Masaomi has her lay back down. She has a fever, and has been sleeping all day. This is worrying, mostly because we know her cord is damaged, and her spiritual injuries are impacting her physical health. She tries to leave her body, but this proves to be unsuccessful.

It may seem worrying, but it actually looks like her injury is healing, at least. There’s less blood than there was originally, so perhaps she’ll be fine? At least, physically. I’m holding out hope. Although, I’m not sure if she’ll be able to leave her body again. I’m still wondering what Father meant when he said that he wanted Yato to experience unlivable despair. Like, why would it be if she’s going to live? Assuming that she eventually heals and is alright.

Hiyori recalls the face that she saw while fighting Father, and she comes to the conclusion that what she saw were his true features. No doubt, it was probably startling to her. I wonder if Father caused this to happen or not, for his true self to be revealed? It did give him the perfect opportunity to attack her while she was distracted.

But like Hiyori, once Masaomi is given details and reminders--by sneaking a peek through Hiyori’s diary in typical, insufferable sibling fashion--he recalls Yato. This leads me to hope that maybe Hiyori won’t actually ever forget Yato, completely. As long as she has something to remember him by, like documented events or people, she’ll be able to recall him. Masaomi acknowledges Hiyori’s prolonged interest in the guy, which leaves her absolutely mortified.

I want to make clear that I do think Hiyori will forget Yato and Yukine again, though. I don’t know how it will happen, but there are similarities in the textures Adachitoka has used to signify this occurrence. We saw it first in chapter 30, where Hiyori forgot them while spending time with ‘Fujisaki’ at Capypa Land:

And now, in this chapter:

In this situation, Hiyori is overwhelmed by everything she feels that she has to deal with. The longer she stays in her body, the further she gets from the far shore.

The scene shifts to Yato, with him wondering the specifics of how he’s going to defeat Father. He’s practicing his aim on an ayakashi, who looks none too pleased to be a part of it. It starts to chase him, and he seeks protection in the shrine where I suppose he left Kazuma when he went to visit Bishamon. Overhead, he sees Take flying by--and I think this gives him an idea!

We get a short, one-sided exchange between Kazuma and Bishamon, where we can see her shedding a tear as Kazuma leaves. I’m sure that she heard him some way or another--maybe she understands that he became a stray? In some cases, people who are comatose can still hear things around them. It’s not usually the case, but it does occur. She could also just be fading in and out of consciousness. Either way, Kazuma reports that she is healing well, so that gives me some hope that she’ll wake up soon.

Come on, Adachitoka! Give us some good news!

Yato informs him that they’ll be training on a person, instead of an ayakashi--and that person is none other than Take!

...Who is going around, warning the other deities of which regalia has fallen victim to the secret. He wants to get it dealt with, but he can’t find Yato anywhere. It doesn’t matter, though--it’s likely that all of heaven knows about Yukine, at this point. They’ll want to deal with him before it spreads. But Take doesn’t want to do it himself. As he’s complaining about this, he’s suddenly struck by an arrow.

Yato’s arrow, as we soon find out. Because we see Yato ‘cleverly’ disguised using a traffic cone with a face drawn on it. (The audience is not fooled.) While engaged in combat, we get to see that Kazuma actually has a decent array of skills--and they just seem to keep growing. He’s innovative, and works with what abilities he’s been assigned to make them even better. This is something that even Yukine hasn’t been seen doing, so Yato looks to have at least a fighting chance in defeating the sorcerer.

We are brought back to Yukine, who’s staring pensively at the gifts he received from Yato and Hiyori for his birthday. He’s pretty sure that he hit the nail on the head, because of how Nora reacted to his question. He resolves that if Yato is indeed going to target his Father, then he should wait for Yato to show up with him. But first, he’s still set on peeking in on his family. He thinks, as long as he has the charms that Yato and Hiyori made him, he won’t give in to the sorcerer.

Which, of course we know that it could go either way. It just depends on Yukine. However, seeing as his prime motivator is his past, I don’t think his resistance will be as strong as he thinks. Confidence is good, but it doesn’t guarantee a positive outcome. (See: The Heaven Arc)

Yukine heads to the park, where--by either mysterious or intentional purposes--he sees Father out jogging.

Now, as for what I think? Whether he went out to catch Father (perhaps Nora tipped him off where he could find him? Nora’s involvement is still a huge question mark at this point) or simply saw him out there by chance, I think he has an idea formulating. Father’s good at getting information.

So what do I speculate will happen? 1. Hiyori will forget Yato, soon. Or, at least to an extent. I think she’ll be okay, physically.

2. Yato will probably continue training with Kazuma a little more; I don’t see it being long now that he’ll confront Father.

3. Someone will arrive at Kofuku’s (Take?) to dispose of Yukine, but he will already be long gone. Possibly, Yato will be found and told, but even if he were, he still wouldn’t find him. Either way, I think Heaven will try to interfere.

4. There is a possibility that Father will tell Yukine that he would see all about his past, if he allows him to name him. That he’d be more than happy to tell him everything in exchange for giving him a name. Hey--he has to stick with him anyway to wait for Yato to show, right? So it works out. Father can be pretty persuasive, so I think we just might end up seeing Yukine agree to the terms and conditions. (Because who reads those, anyway?) And maybe, the name concealment business will come into play, as well.

I hope we get to see where Nora’s true feelings reside, in the near future. I’d like to think that, even if she is still following Father’s orders, she’s grown some fondness for Yukine, at the very least. I can’t wait to see if she has or not. I also hope that we get to learn more about Father, and what lead up to who he is now and what he believes in.