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Entry tags:
(recollé) application
CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Yukine
AGE: unknown, but physically around 14-15.
CANON: Noragami (mangaverse).
NAME: Yukine
AGE: unknown, but physically around 14-15.
CANON: Noragami (mangaverse).
CANON HISTORY: every dead man has his tale, but this wiki is a dirty betrayer that doesn't feature history.
( MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW )
( scroll for noragami manga overview )
Life, for Yukine, began after his death as a human and his subsequent acquisition by the first god to encounter his wandering spirit. That god, although the term "god" is used fairly loosely here, was Yato—a god of calamity desperately trying to rebrand himself as something friendlier in order to earn followers. As it turns out, not many modern people are eager to worship and follow a god known for murder and strife, which is a massive problem considering that gods are nothing without their followers. In fact, a god with no followers at all simply fades out of existence forever (i.e. dies) while a god with a large following earns their place in heaven, the ability to reincarnate should their body get destroyed, and several other perks.
One of the first steps to obtaining followers is acquiring an uncorrupted spirit to serve as both a personal retainer and as a tool to answer the prayers of humans with, otherwise known as a "shinki" (meaning "sacred treasure"). This, of course, was exactly why Yato bestowed the wandering spirit he encountered with the name "Yuki", the weapon name of "Sekki", and the human name of "Yukine". The weapon form of Yuki, Sekki, manifests as a massively long blade similar to an odachi (Japanese great sword) with bandages wrapped around the end to serve as a hilt and the human form, Yukine, takes on the appearance of a young teenage boy with blonde hair and orange eyes. Yato had lost his previous shinki not too long before this when she got so sick of his obnoxious behaviour and his poor treatment of her as a shinki that she demanded that he release her immediately. It's considered good form to provide the basics for your shinki, things such as clothes, an allowance, and a place to sleep. Yato is unable to offer any of those things, leading him to have to go through hundreds of shinki over the years, and his first meeting with Yukine was certainly no better. They start fighting immediately after Yato reveals he has nowhere for them to go in order to escape the cold, snowy night and Yukine insults him for it. The best Yato has to offer are some clothes from the charity bin at a shrine, which is exactly where they end up sleeping for the night. Yato further cements himself as a useless god by also being unable to feed either of them (shinki and gods don't truly need food, but they're better off with it) and relying on a teenage girl, Hiyori, to treat them to a meal at a diner. Hiyori made the mistake of getting mixed up with Yato after an unfortunate accident where she tried to push Yato out of the way of an on-coming bus without realising he wasn't a human. It's unclear why she was able to see Yato in that moment, but the accident caused a disconnect between her spirit and her body, allowing her to walk in the realm of spirits for shorts bursts of time.
Their opinion of Yato continues to worsen when Yato gets a request from another god, Sugawara no Michizane (aka Tenjin), and both Hiyori and Yukine meet what they describe as "the real thing". Awe-struck by the presence of a god with numerous shrines, followers, and an entire squad of shinki, both of them bow until Yukine was explicitly instructed not to. Shinki do not bow to other gods. They also meet Mayu, who was previously known as Tomone, Yato's last shinki. Mayu says in no uncertain terms that Yato was the very worst god out of all the gods she's ever served and suggests that Yukine quit immediately despite being a brand new shinki. The relationship between Yato and Yukine and Hiyori rapidly worsens after this with the both of them essentially writing him off as a useless vagabound who couldn't fulfil Hiyori's request of getting her body fixed or take care of Yukine properly.
It results in Hiyori opening her home to Yukine, who starts to lash out in sheer frustration of not only being dead but also being enslaved to Yato. He steals money from Hiyori's wallet, from the donation box at a convenience store, and from Yato's customers after insisting that Yato's rule of only accepting only 5 yen for any job wasn't enough for the work they did. His actions continue to escalate until his feelings finally reach a boiling point when Yato accepts a job that takes them to a school. Yukine splits from the group (that being Yato and Hiyori) and finds himself in a classroom where he tries on a uniform, completes a little bit of someone's school work, and immediately hides underneath a desk as soon as some students walk back into the classroom. He comes out from hiding as soon as he realises that they cannot see him and starts to get up close and personal while the other teenagers talk about hanging out, their family, video games, and schoolwork. That's when it hits him: he's dead, he'll never be like any of these students. The realisation breaks him. He cries, screams, and starts shattering the school's windows with a baseball bat in a fit of rage and his inability to cope with his situation.
As a result, he nearly kills Yato. Gods and their shinki are spiritually linked together, a connection so strong that it allows for the god to feel the weight of their sins as well as shinki's emotions whether good or bad. In short, it's a shinki's job to control their emotions, act in a manner befitting as a servant of a god, resist falling into the temptation of sin and uphold their master's wishes. A shinki who doesn't do these things may "sting" or hurt their god, allowing them to become susceptible to blight and a potential death. None of which Yukine had been aware of all this time, stinging Yato with every sin he committed. Hiyori picks up Yato and rushes him to the house of Kofuku and her shinki, Daikoku, who Yato previously insisted that she should turn to them should she ever need help. Yato is too far gone to be helped by normal means so Daikoku and Hiyori enlist the help of two other shinki (Mayu and Kazuma, the shinki of one of Yato's enemies). Kazuma insists that Yato should abandon Yukine, throw away his name, and let him turn into an ayakashi—a corrupted spirit. Yato declines, forcing the three shinki to imprison Yukine, who immediately becomes enraged and gives into all of his dark feelings. He begins turning into an ayakashi from the weight of his emotions and the shinki decide he's too far gone to be saved. They believe the only option left is to kill him. Unwilling to accept this, Hiyori starts screaming at him, telling him that Yato has been enduing everything for his sake and he spoke of Yukine like his child. Yato joins in immediately, screaming Yukine's name as well. He insists that he gave Yukine the name of a person, so he should live like one. Both of their words reach him, finally bringing him to his sense, and he screams out all of the sins he's committed until morning.
Yato and Yukine take up residence in Kofuku's attic after that, carrying out jobs and strengthening their bond as a team while Yukine endeavours to start living as a person. Hiyori starts to tutor Yukine, giving him all of her old textbooks and making worksheets for him after she deduces that he was in the grade below her before he died. Yukine also starts working for Kofuku and Daikoku's shop, learning how to cook and other basic domestic skills, and during this time to starts to vanish at random intervals to meet with another young shinki. He meets a boy, Suzuha, who dedicatedly cares for a cherry blossom tree near the river and they become fast friends. Suzuha teaches him both about gardening and the reality of the relationship between shinki and humans by telling him a story of a young girl he had watched grow up 30 years ago. She visited him regularly every summer, forgetting and remeeting him every year. However, eventually, Suzuha stops showing up or caring for the tree, but Yukine continues to keep looking for him. He doesn't realise that Suzuha had died until he finds Kazuma there, placing flowers and praying, and he chases after Kazuma in a panic. Unfortunately, his chase lands him right at the front door of Bishamonten, Kazuma's master and Yato's enemy, who reacts poorly. Pulling a weapon on him, she demands to know why he's here and Yukine screams at her that he'd come to see his friend, Suzuha. He then demands to know if it's true that Suzuha had died and asks why she hadn't protected him, accusing her of failing her shinki. Then, he says that he gets it, that Suzuha didn't protect himself in the end because living with a master like Bishamonten was true hell. Bishamonten lashes out in response, attacking Yukine, but Kazuma betrays his master and protects him. He insists that Yato has never been her enemy, but her ally and she exiles him without revoking his name.
Yukine cries for days out of grief and guilt while Kazuma also ends up living with Kofuku and Daikoku. While Yukine is incapacitated, two of Bishamonten's shinki ambush Yato and kidnap Hiyori. Beseeching Tenjin for help getting to Bishamonten's palace, Tenjin agrees only if Yato will keep his assistance a secret. He also requests for Yato cut ties with Hiyori after its all done because their relationship is only putting her in danger. Yato agrees and with Tenjin's help and Yukine at his side, leaps into action to storm the palace where he faces off with Bishamonten and her numerous shinki. A tough battle ensues which Yato nearly loses, but Yukine saves him by blocking a fatal attack and dies in his stead. Yato collapses in grief, snapping out of it only when Yukine revives as a stronger shinki (known as a hafuri) and becomes a set of two swords instead of one. The fight continues anew but doesn't stop until Kazuma eventually shows up and talks Bishamonten down out of her crazed state. Once things calm down, Bishamonten handles the traitorous shinki who orchestrated the kidnapping and eventual face-off between the two gods. As a result of her shinki's betrayal, Bishamonten releases the shinki's name to banish him from her employ. After this, she gives Yato permission kill him should he ever see that shinki again.
Once it's all over with, it becomes time for Yato to fulfil his other promise to Tenjin: cut ties with Hiyori. However, Hiyori pleads to remain in both Yato and Yukine's lives because she's terrified to forget them. Things return to status quo after that, although now without the threat of Bishamonten and her centuries-long grudge against Yato looming over their heads. Kazuma even begins to tutor Yukine regarding being a shinki and their unique abilities. Their briefly peaceful life is interrupted when the famous god, Ebisu, shows up with an offer to purchase Yukine for an absurd amount of money because he'd like a hafuri vessel in his employ. He's even willing to share him with Yato. It's an uncomfortable situation for the both of them, resulting in bickering over money. Fed up, Yato tells Yukine that he's free to go to Ebisu if money matters that much to him. The remark irritates Yukine who confronts Yato about the fact that he's so uncaring about his relationship with shinki because he's always had another shinki on the side. Whenever another shinki loses respect for Yato and his lifestyle, he's at least got the mysterious Hiiro to rely on. This conversation leads to Yukine finding his resolve in regards to sticking with Yato and putting Yato on the path of becoming a respectable god. Despite Yato's protests, he throws away all of Ebisu's money.
Yato falls into a small depression after that, upset over losing all the money that he wanted to put towards building a shrine, but he's quickly lifted out of it by Hiyori who made him a miniature shrine. Overjoyed, he immediately begins to harass the Heavens until they finally relent and accept him as a True God and allow him proper access to the Heavens. Soon afterwards, Yato vanishes completely after Hiiro forces him away to complete a few tasks assigned by a person Yato and Hiiro refer to as their Father, infamously known as the Sorcerer. The last of these tasks require him to enter the Underworld and save Ebisu, who is revealed to have been working closely with the Sorcerer for some time. Yukine blows off Yato's absence easily enough, accepting that he must have gone off with Hiiro, and lets over a month go by.
It isn't until Yukine hears that Yato has been spotted with Hiiro going into the underworld that he starts to search for him. He expressly forbids Hiyori from joining him, but she goes anyway and encounters Bishamonten's traitorous ex-shinki. Yukine steps in just in time to face him and battle it out with him. The shinki shakes his confidence through a lot of smack talking and reminding Yukine that he cannot use spells against him because he doesn't know his name, but Yukine holds his own until Tenjin arrives. Tenjin names the shinki "Saku" against his will, allowing him to take Saku into his custody and question him. While Hiyori and Yukine rush to find the entrance to the Underworld, Yato manages to successfully save Ebisu and get him out of the Underworld. The Heavens and its army of gods are waiting for Ebisu when he returns to execute him. Hiyori and Yukine arrive just to time to watch Ebisu die a gruesome death after being falsely accused of being the Sorcerer.
The Heavens and its army vanishes after their judgement on Ebisu had been cast, but Yato still remains in the Underworld. Bishamonten and Kofuku, who had been present for the execution, work together to send Bishamonten into the Underworld after Yato to rescue him. The plan has little success, but an unnamed god from the Heavens appears before them to tell them that a human has to call both Bishamonten and Yato's names in order to retrieve them from the underworld. Hiyori calls for Yato first, but he doesn't appear. She calls for Bishamonten next, immediately yanking her free of the Underworld. Hiyori keeps calling for Yato until she eventually figures out that Yato's true name is "Yaboku". She rescues him only after calling out that name instead.
A few days later, Yato finally wakes up in one of the guest rooms in Bishamonten's palace. Hiyori and Yukine are there to greet him when he wakes, but things quickly fall apart when Yukine confronts him about the fact that he hid his true name from him. Bishamonten enters the room, interrupting the situation before it can go further to introduce the latest reincarnation of Ebisu. Yato panics, but eventually regains his composure well enough to steal Kazuma's phone and clothes, kidnapping Ebisu to take him out for lunch. All while teaching Ebisu to call Bishamonten "Pervy Nympho" in the process. The two of them have a meaningful talk at lunch while Hiyori and Yukine watch from the window. Their spying continues into the night where Yato goes out to meet with Hiiro and releases her as his shinki after having found his resolve to dedicate himself to Yukine.
Of course, Yukine and Yato fight after this anyway because Yato throws away every chance given to him to finally be honest. It eventually comes to an end when Yato declares Yukine as his one and only shinki and asks him to light the way on his path to becoming a god who can bring people happiness. Their bond strengthens, Yato finally comes clean about his name and his past, confessing that he's been using Hiiro to kill humans all this time. Yukine tells him that he doesn't care about that because he won't let Yato kill anyone else and he'll always be there by Yato's side. After that, he immediately puts Yato hard at work killing ayakashi, advertising his services, and answering requests. The best part is that Yato does exactly what he's told to, leading Yukine to secretly confess to Hiyori that he's happy.
Things are peaceful for a while with regular shenanigans in between, until the Sorcerer finally decides to act. It starts with the Stray, the shinki previously known as Hiiro, appearing to ambush Yukine into a fight when he's all alone. She summons monsters to overwhelm him but ultimately loses when Yukine proves to be stronger. In her fury, she tells Yukine that she could kill him immediately any time if she let loose the Gods' Most Guarded Secret before she's forced to withdraw by the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer tells her that it'll be too difficult to win against Yukine and he would rather not let harm come to Yukine because the Sorcerer wants to take Yukine for himself. Afterwards, Yukine confronts Yato about the Gods' Most Guarded Secret, but he deflects and lies to Yukine about its meaning and makes him promise not to bring it up again. Knowing that the Sorcerer was definitely up to something, especially after he approaches Hiyori insisting that she should stop meddling with Yato, both Yato and Yukine start guarding Hiyori as much as they can.
One day, after school, Hiyori leaves to meet up with her mother at the hospital where she works with Yukine attending her as her bodyguard. They find the patients going absolutely nuts as a result of the Sorcerer hiding ayakashi within the people there. The Sorcerer, himself, also makes an appearance and faces off against Yato and Yukine with the Stray at his side. The fight results in the Stray hitting Yukine with her ability to reveal the Gods' Most Guarded Secret and cracking Yukine's name. To everyone's surprise, Yukine appears unaffected, but Yato proceeds to protect Yukine as much as he can during the rest of the fight to avoid letting him get struck a second time. The fight gets cut short when Bishamonten arrives on the scene, allowing the Sorcerer to flee undetected. Bishamonten confronts Yato about The Sorcerer, making it clear that she's aware that he's Yato's father, and accuses him of being a villain. Their fight doesn't last long, as the hospital is still overrun by ayakashi, and they set to work clearing them out. Yato and Yukine set off to regroup with Hiyori while the Sorcerer hunts down Bishamonten and hits one of her shinki with the Stray's ability. The incident at Hiyori's family's hospital has gone on long enough to destroy the reputation of Hiyori's parents. Her mother also gets injured by desperate patients eager to get out, and they find Hiyori at her mother's bedside. Yato tries to talk to Hiyori to tell her that it isn't her fault, but Hiyori smacks him away. She's been pushed too far, given into despair, and it starts to shape her spirit into the form of an ayakashi. The Sorcerer instructs Yato to kill Hiyori or sever their ties, but they choose to try to talk her down instead. Yato holds Hiyori off on his own, apologising to her the entire time. Yukine intercepts to hit her with a boundary line, stinging Yato in the process by his reluctance to fight Hiyori, but Yato eventually manages to talk her down and return her to normal.
While Hiyori is dealing with all the aftershocks of the hospital incident, Yato and Yukine visit Bishamonten's palace. Bishamonten's shinki is falling apart after getting struck by the Sorcerer's shinki and she demands answers out of Yato. He confesses everything, namely that Bishamonten's shinki is going to become an ayakashi. The Gods' Greatest Secret is the fact that they absorb the memories of their shinki's past when they name them and Hiiro's ability is to restore those memories, trapping the shinki within their memories until they break apart over their death as a human. In the meantime, Yukine goes somewhere secluded to talk to Kazuma who tells him that he should have drawn a line to separate Yato from his enemy and Yato should always be his top priority. Yukine finds it to be a bit extreme, especially assigning Hiyori as something like an enemy. Kazuma also demands information about the Sorcerer, but all Yukine tells him is that if the Sorcerer dies then so does Yato so it's not worth fighting him.
Yato and Yukine move out of Kofuku's house after that, putting a lot of distance between themselves and Hiyori. For two months, they live in the back of a coffee shop and carry out as many job offers as they're able until one of those clients turns out to be Hiyori's brother and brings them to one of their family homes. They help the Iki family cope with the oncoming death of Hiyori's grandmother, convincing them to move in with her to spend time with her until her passing. Back at Bishamonten's palace, her shinki finally remembers her human name and succumbs to her dark feelings, becoming a monstrous ayakashi. Kazuma is forced to kill her to save Bishamonten. After that event, Kazuma seeks Yukine out to use a spell on him to force him to confess further details about the Sorcerer. Yukine breaks the spell quickly, only spilling the information regarding the Sorcerer's location, and puts an end to their encounter before it becomes a fight. Kazuma's betrayal stings deep and Yukine can no longer trust him, marking him as an enemy.
As Yato had been recognised as a god, he gets an official invite to Kamuhakari (a meeting of the gods where they perform matchmaking). Yukine isn't eager to go, warning Yato against it and being anywhere near Kazuma. Yato doesn't take it to heart, telling Yukine that Bishamonten's shinki must have died so Kazuma came seeking further answers in hopes of protecting Bishamonten and her other shinki. Yato confronts him on his accused betrayal, settling the air between them to figure out what happened and make it clear how badly he had hurt Yukine. It's acknowledged after that that Yukine has been having trouble sleeping at night, plagued by bad dreams, but Yato lets Yukine dodge further conversation on the topic. However, Yato does try to clear up the situation with Kazuma, citing him as neither ally or enemy. It's even suggested that they try to talk at Kamuhakari, but Yukine isn't having any of it.
Of course, Yukine ends up coming anyway to Kamuhakari because they sneak Hiyori in under the guise of being another shinki. It's mostly uneventful past Yato trying to prevent Hiyori from getting matched with scummy guys as her soulmate. It results in a tiny scuffle with another god and his shinki, but it's quickly over when Yukine easily dissipates the other shinki's spell without a shield. It's a big enough display of power for them to back. No, the true events begin when Bishamonten retrieves a hafuri that had been sealed away in a cave and uses her to force The Sorcerer out of hiding. Seeing as the Heavens had imprisoned the hafuri until the end of time, they declare Bishamonten as having committed high treason against them. Considering the severity of the situation, Yato and Yukine get involved, helping rescue Bishamonten from certain death; although, Yukine is hesitant after the Stray appears, encouraging him to let Bishamonten get subjugated by the Heavens to protect Yato.
Yato rushes to Bishamonten, battling her as a pretence to figure out what's going on. As soon as she reveals that she was only after the Sorcerer, Yato turns to the Heavens to scream that it was all a misunderstanding. It's just too bad that his outburst only gains the attention of the god he'd scuffled with during the matchmaking ceremony, Takemikazuchi. Strictly interested in facing off against a hafuri in battle, Takemikazuchi charges Yato and forces him into a fight. Heavy damage is taken on both sides, but the battle is utlimately decided when all of Takemikazuchi's shinki refuse to continue fighting. They've sustained enough damage fighting against Yato and Yukine. Anything further will mean their destruction. Takemikazuchi reluctantly to joins Yato's cause after his loss, agreeing to help him petition against the Heavens to save Bishamonten.
The Heavens declare Bishamonten, Kazuma, Yato, and Yukine to be guilty of high treason despite protests from other gods. They order the death of Bishamonten and Yato as well as eternal imprisonment of Yukine and Kazuma. Yukine is imprisoned first and trapped within a dark tiny box. He panics immediately, terrified of the dark as he's since remembered the cause of his death to be as a result of being buried alive, and his fear is strong enough to incapacitate Yato. Tenjin intervenes after this, requesting to enter a covenant in an attempt to pardon the high treason. The Heavens allow it and through the process of the covenant they find their ruling to be in the wrong. Everyone is pardoned and Yukine is released from his imprisonment.
CANON PERSONALITY:
A spirit with nowhere to go and no way to pass on to a proper afterlife, new life was breathed into him when an errant god bestowed the name "Yukine" onto him and took him in as his servant, a being known as a "shinki" to carry out his will as both a devout follower and deadly weapon. It's actually a pretty raw deal if you think about it, what with being abruptly plucked out of a sort of purgatory to an abrupt servitude with little or possibly no consent at all. Whatever Yukine had been expecting to happen after his death—not that he can remember actually dying or the life he lived before that—it definitely wasn't getting chained to some two-bit god who couldn't even do something as simple as find a place for them to spend the night. Contempt festers deep within him as he's expected to tag along with some shady creep while said shady creep desperately tries to gain some recognition as a god, going so far to accept any request for a mere five yen. It's no surprise that Yukine takes every chance he can get to get away from him, often walking amongst the living and wishing that he could still be one of them. At first, it is this bitterness that largely defines him and sets him off on a spree of petty crimes. He starts off by swindling more money out of Yato's customers, insisting that the five yen fee is much too cheap for work performed by a god, and continues on until he starts outright stealing from stores because he knows that normal people can't see him anyway.
That's the thing. To anyone outside of Yato, other gods, the ayakashi they fight, and one mostly normal highschool girl, Yukine doesn't even exist. Anyone outside of that group can't see him, not until he actively makes himself known and it's incredibly painful as a young boy trying to cope with his mortality or lack thereof. He doesn't know why he's here, why he was the one to be found by Yato, or even what to do with himself outside of serving as a shinki and it leaves him searching for a purpose. A purpose that he temporarily believes can be found in money and nice things, but it's nothing but an illusion that's eventually shattered after Yukine falls further and further into his own despair. Realisation comes for him only after sneaking into a school, wearing a uniform, even answering question sheets left out on someone's desk, and later eavesdropping on the mundane conversations of the students attending class.
It's then that he realises that what he wanted wasn't a bunch of stuff, but to simply live. He wanted to make friends, make memories, a place where he belonged, and a bright future brimming with possibilities instead of the weird standstill that he had been thrust into. It's painful, difficult to come to terms with everything he lost and maybe even never had, and he lashes out. He takes a baseball bat to the windows of the school in a fit of rage and emotion, which leaks out to Yato who been withstanding the blight from all of Yukine's sins for weeks. It nearly kills Yato and nearly kills himself in the process as his body began to rapidly twist into an ayakashi from the heavy weight of his sins.
After all of that and Yato's desperate need to keep him alive when he could have just easily killed him and gotten a new shinki, Yukine finally learns to appreciate Yato and the new life he'd been given. It's definitely still a pretty crappy deal and Yato is still definitely a really crappy god, but he's the god that he serves. He's also the same person who kept him alive, so it gets a little easier to start overlooking all of the glaring flaws that make up Yato.
He starts taking his duty seriously after that and begins to soften around the edges. While he's still a sarcastic, rude, and opinionated brat, his bitterness has vanished entirely. He eventually comes to terms with his state of being and the circumstances around him and even finding enjoyment in it. Where he once thought he had a whole lot of nothing, he's at least got two people by his side and that's as much of a start as any. He takes on a part-time job to help support Yato and himself, asks Hiyori to tutor him with her old school books and even relies on another shinki to help teach him the finer details of his abilities. Mainly the part where he's supposed to control his emotions to keep them from affecting their master, which isn't something that Yukine is very good at. He's a fast learner and incredibly adept at what he can do, but he still suffers from outbursts and emotional tendencies.
It's hard being an [approximately] fourteen year old for eternity. He's so susceptible to sin, primarily things such as lust or envy, but his youth makes him an endless well of potential. His need to improve himself is insatiable, his bravery impressive, and quickness to put himself down frustrating. He's easy to shake, sometimes even receding into himself as he lets his feelings of self-doubt and questions of self-worth get the better of him. All he wants to be worthy, so it's hard to handle it when he feels like he's not living up to his own self-imposed standards.
He's just a kid who got a shit lot in life, but he's trying to make the best of it.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
[ SHINKI ]
Uncorrupted spirits who walk between the realm of the living and the dead, bound to a god through a bright red name emblazoned on their body, tend to pass by the untrained eye undetected. Normal humans don't notice their presence even if they're standing beside them, not until they purposely call attention to themselves. For example, speaking to or touching a person.
However, certain people/creatures/beings can see these beings without any difficulty at all. For example, children, animals, or other spirits. Basically anyone who is sensitive to spirits or supernatural things. For normal individuals, shinki as well as gods, are very easy to forget. Losing contact with someone for just a few days is enough for a person to forget the shinki or god even existed—that is, until they remind them.
Shinki retain no memories of their past lives, forcing them to begin their life anew after a god finds and names them. Unnamed spirits don't fare as well, becoming food for the evil spirits (ayakashi) roaming around. As spirits, they have no need for human functions. They can feel the change in temperature, but it means nothing to them past some physiological discomfort. Food and sleep aren't necessary either, but they're helpful for maintaining their strength.
While they do bleed when injured and can scar, they do not perform any other bodily function.
Additionally, shinki are all extensions of the god(s) they serve. They act as their guiding forces, conscience, and sometimes just their sense of reason. Gods have never been mortal while every shinki has been at some point. Shinki have forgotten their personal memories, but they clearly remember life as a human and the difference between right and wrong, which is integral to guiding gods onto the right path to best serve humans. A shinki who acts unfaithfully to their role causes pain to their god by "stinging" them resulting in a blight on both the shinki and the god that only worsens as the shinki's "sin" continues.
Almost all shinki who sting their god are deemed unfit for their position and immediately eliminated. On top of that, all Shinki are susceptible to becoming an ayakashi and going out of control should they ever hear their human (true) name. Their "true" name is the key to unlocking their human memories and shinki tend to lose their minds once they remember their human life and subsequent death.
[ SEKKI ]
All shinki have a secondary or "weapon" form. Yukine's weapon form is known as "Sekki", a ridiculously long raw blade with a hilt fashioned out of bandages that resembles an odachi, but only when Yato calls for him to do so. As a sword, he is extremely sharp, sharp enough to slice through anything including non-tangible things such as bonds between people or the heavens itself (earning Yato the nickname "one who rends the heavens"). That is, as long as Yukine agrees to allow his blade to slice. He'll phase through anything he decides not to cut.
[ HAFURI VESSEL ] (aka SEKKI LEVEL UP)
Through great sacrifice and dedication to their god, shinki are able to evolve into better forms of themselves. While their human form doesn't change, levelling up completely alters the shinki's weapon form and provides them with additional or stronger abilities.
For Yukine, he changes from one sword into a set of two: a katana and wakizashi.
[ SPELLS/SONGS ]
While the series has not provided detailed information regarding a shinki's spells, it is known that there are two types of spells available to shinki. The first are spells that are performed similar to the boundary line, that is with a hand gesture and its name called out. The second are "songs", which only two shinki have been shown to use (Yukine and Hiiro/Nora/Mizuchi/Etc). Songs are ill-defined and I cannot accurately list them, but they appear to be when shinki recite a set of verses to perform a spell (such as calling water to douse flames). Yukine is noted to be unique by composing his own songs as opposed to using a predetermined verse.
Songs are said to be stronger than spells as songs can only be countered with other songs, while spells are dispelled by calling the person's name. A spell's strength is also measured by the shinki's confidence, meaning the more confident the shinki is, the stronger their spells will be. Additionally, spells or songs do not work on gods themselves.
The extent of Yukine's knowledge on both spells and songs is unknown, but the following are some of spells he is shown to use:
❄ BOUNDARY LINE/SLICE
An ability that can be used as either a barrier to separate the shinki from an enemy or an energy slash used to cut enemies from a distance.
❄ BINDING RESTRAINT aka BIND
By using a particular hand gesture and calling out the name of the spell, he is capable of binding a target. It leaves them unable to move, rendering them unable to attack or use any abilities that require movement to work. The spell lasts until the user cancels it.
[ STRONG RESOLVE/WILLPOWER ]
Yukine has been afflicted with another shinki's ability that forced him to begin remembering his past life, most notably the horrifying way in which he died. However, unlike other shinki affected by this ability, Yukine has not begun to degenerate or fall apart from the unwanted memories of his life. His resolve is strong enough to withstand. Being Yato's shinki is far more important to him than the life he left behind.
[ MISCELLANEOUS SKILLS ]
Gardening, cooking, assorted domestic skills, light construction skills, and some hand-to-hand combat. Most of his knowledge comes from his ravenous approach to reading books as well as things learned underneath the tutelage of his mentor (a fellow hafuri vessel).
Like father, like son, Yukine is a budding jack of all trades.
( scroll for noragami manga overview )
Life, for Yukine, began after his death as a human and his subsequent acquisition by the first god to encounter his wandering spirit. That god, although the term "god" is used fairly loosely here, was Yato—a god of calamity desperately trying to rebrand himself as something friendlier in order to earn followers. As it turns out, not many modern people are eager to worship and follow a god known for murder and strife, which is a massive problem considering that gods are nothing without their followers. In fact, a god with no followers at all simply fades out of existence forever (i.e. dies) while a god with a large following earns their place in heaven, the ability to reincarnate should their body get destroyed, and several other perks.
One of the first steps to obtaining followers is acquiring an uncorrupted spirit to serve as both a personal retainer and as a tool to answer the prayers of humans with, otherwise known as a "shinki" (meaning "sacred treasure"). This, of course, was exactly why Yato bestowed the wandering spirit he encountered with the name "Yuki", the weapon name of "Sekki", and the human name of "Yukine". The weapon form of Yuki, Sekki, manifests as a massively long blade similar to an odachi (Japanese great sword) with bandages wrapped around the end to serve as a hilt and the human form, Yukine, takes on the appearance of a young teenage boy with blonde hair and orange eyes. Yato had lost his previous shinki not too long before this when she got so sick of his obnoxious behaviour and his poor treatment of her as a shinki that she demanded that he release her immediately. It's considered good form to provide the basics for your shinki, things such as clothes, an allowance, and a place to sleep. Yato is unable to offer any of those things, leading him to have to go through hundreds of shinki over the years, and his first meeting with Yukine was certainly no better. They start fighting immediately after Yato reveals he has nowhere for them to go in order to escape the cold, snowy night and Yukine insults him for it. The best Yato has to offer are some clothes from the charity bin at a shrine, which is exactly where they end up sleeping for the night. Yato further cements himself as a useless god by also being unable to feed either of them (shinki and gods don't truly need food, but they're better off with it) and relying on a teenage girl, Hiyori, to treat them to a meal at a diner. Hiyori made the mistake of getting mixed up with Yato after an unfortunate accident where she tried to push Yato out of the way of an on-coming bus without realising he wasn't a human. It's unclear why she was able to see Yato in that moment, but the accident caused a disconnect between her spirit and her body, allowing her to walk in the realm of spirits for shorts bursts of time.
Their opinion of Yato continues to worsen when Yato gets a request from another god, Sugawara no Michizane (aka Tenjin), and both Hiyori and Yukine meet what they describe as "the real thing". Awe-struck by the presence of a god with numerous shrines, followers, and an entire squad of shinki, both of them bow until Yukine was explicitly instructed not to. Shinki do not bow to other gods. They also meet Mayu, who was previously known as Tomone, Yato's last shinki. Mayu says in no uncertain terms that Yato was the very worst god out of all the gods she's ever served and suggests that Yukine quit immediately despite being a brand new shinki. The relationship between Yato and Yukine and Hiyori rapidly worsens after this with the both of them essentially writing him off as a useless vagabound who couldn't fulfil Hiyori's request of getting her body fixed or take care of Yukine properly.
It results in Hiyori opening her home to Yukine, who starts to lash out in sheer frustration of not only being dead but also being enslaved to Yato. He steals money from Hiyori's wallet, from the donation box at a convenience store, and from Yato's customers after insisting that Yato's rule of only accepting only 5 yen for any job wasn't enough for the work they did. His actions continue to escalate until his feelings finally reach a boiling point when Yato accepts a job that takes them to a school. Yukine splits from the group (that being Yato and Hiyori) and finds himself in a classroom where he tries on a uniform, completes a little bit of someone's school work, and immediately hides underneath a desk as soon as some students walk back into the classroom. He comes out from hiding as soon as he realises that they cannot see him and starts to get up close and personal while the other teenagers talk about hanging out, their family, video games, and schoolwork. That's when it hits him: he's dead, he'll never be like any of these students. The realisation breaks him. He cries, screams, and starts shattering the school's windows with a baseball bat in a fit of rage and his inability to cope with his situation.
As a result, he nearly kills Yato. Gods and their shinki are spiritually linked together, a connection so strong that it allows for the god to feel the weight of their sins as well as shinki's emotions whether good or bad. In short, it's a shinki's job to control their emotions, act in a manner befitting as a servant of a god, resist falling into the temptation of sin and uphold their master's wishes. A shinki who doesn't do these things may "sting" or hurt their god, allowing them to become susceptible to blight and a potential death. None of which Yukine had been aware of all this time, stinging Yato with every sin he committed. Hiyori picks up Yato and rushes him to the house of Kofuku and her shinki, Daikoku, who Yato previously insisted that she should turn to them should she ever need help. Yato is too far gone to be helped by normal means so Daikoku and Hiyori enlist the help of two other shinki (Mayu and Kazuma, the shinki of one of Yato's enemies). Kazuma insists that Yato should abandon Yukine, throw away his name, and let him turn into an ayakashi—a corrupted spirit. Yato declines, forcing the three shinki to imprison Yukine, who immediately becomes enraged and gives into all of his dark feelings. He begins turning into an ayakashi from the weight of his emotions and the shinki decide he's too far gone to be saved. They believe the only option left is to kill him. Unwilling to accept this, Hiyori starts screaming at him, telling him that Yato has been enduing everything for his sake and he spoke of Yukine like his child. Yato joins in immediately, screaming Yukine's name as well. He insists that he gave Yukine the name of a person, so he should live like one. Both of their words reach him, finally bringing him to his sense, and he screams out all of the sins he's committed until morning.
Yato and Yukine take up residence in Kofuku's attic after that, carrying out jobs and strengthening their bond as a team while Yukine endeavours to start living as a person. Hiyori starts to tutor Yukine, giving him all of her old textbooks and making worksheets for him after she deduces that he was in the grade below her before he died. Yukine also starts working for Kofuku and Daikoku's shop, learning how to cook and other basic domestic skills, and during this time to starts to vanish at random intervals to meet with another young shinki. He meets a boy, Suzuha, who dedicatedly cares for a cherry blossom tree near the river and they become fast friends. Suzuha teaches him both about gardening and the reality of the relationship between shinki and humans by telling him a story of a young girl he had watched grow up 30 years ago. She visited him regularly every summer, forgetting and remeeting him every year. However, eventually, Suzuha stops showing up or caring for the tree, but Yukine continues to keep looking for him. He doesn't realise that Suzuha had died until he finds Kazuma there, placing flowers and praying, and he chases after Kazuma in a panic. Unfortunately, his chase lands him right at the front door of Bishamonten, Kazuma's master and Yato's enemy, who reacts poorly. Pulling a weapon on him, she demands to know why he's here and Yukine screams at her that he'd come to see his friend, Suzuha. He then demands to know if it's true that Suzuha had died and asks why she hadn't protected him, accusing her of failing her shinki. Then, he says that he gets it, that Suzuha didn't protect himself in the end because living with a master like Bishamonten was true hell. Bishamonten lashes out in response, attacking Yukine, but Kazuma betrays his master and protects him. He insists that Yato has never been her enemy, but her ally and she exiles him without revoking his name.
Yukine cries for days out of grief and guilt while Kazuma also ends up living with Kofuku and Daikoku. While Yukine is incapacitated, two of Bishamonten's shinki ambush Yato and kidnap Hiyori. Beseeching Tenjin for help getting to Bishamonten's palace, Tenjin agrees only if Yato will keep his assistance a secret. He also requests for Yato cut ties with Hiyori after its all done because their relationship is only putting her in danger. Yato agrees and with Tenjin's help and Yukine at his side, leaps into action to storm the palace where he faces off with Bishamonten and her numerous shinki. A tough battle ensues which Yato nearly loses, but Yukine saves him by blocking a fatal attack and dies in his stead. Yato collapses in grief, snapping out of it only when Yukine revives as a stronger shinki (known as a hafuri) and becomes a set of two swords instead of one. The fight continues anew but doesn't stop until Kazuma eventually shows up and talks Bishamonten down out of her crazed state. Once things calm down, Bishamonten handles the traitorous shinki who orchestrated the kidnapping and eventual face-off between the two gods. As a result of her shinki's betrayal, Bishamonten releases the shinki's name to banish him from her employ. After this, she gives Yato permission kill him should he ever see that shinki again.
Once it's all over with, it becomes time for Yato to fulfil his other promise to Tenjin: cut ties with Hiyori. However, Hiyori pleads to remain in both Yato and Yukine's lives because she's terrified to forget them. Things return to status quo after that, although now without the threat of Bishamonten and her centuries-long grudge against Yato looming over their heads. Kazuma even begins to tutor Yukine regarding being a shinki and their unique abilities. Their briefly peaceful life is interrupted when the famous god, Ebisu, shows up with an offer to purchase Yukine for an absurd amount of money because he'd like a hafuri vessel in his employ. He's even willing to share him with Yato. It's an uncomfortable situation for the both of them, resulting in bickering over money. Fed up, Yato tells Yukine that he's free to go to Ebisu if money matters that much to him. The remark irritates Yukine who confronts Yato about the fact that he's so uncaring about his relationship with shinki because he's always had another shinki on the side. Whenever another shinki loses respect for Yato and his lifestyle, he's at least got the mysterious Hiiro to rely on. This conversation leads to Yukine finding his resolve in regards to sticking with Yato and putting Yato on the path of becoming a respectable god. Despite Yato's protests, he throws away all of Ebisu's money.
Yato falls into a small depression after that, upset over losing all the money that he wanted to put towards building a shrine, but he's quickly lifted out of it by Hiyori who made him a miniature shrine. Overjoyed, he immediately begins to harass the Heavens until they finally relent and accept him as a True God and allow him proper access to the Heavens. Soon afterwards, Yato vanishes completely after Hiiro forces him away to complete a few tasks assigned by a person Yato and Hiiro refer to as their Father, infamously known as the Sorcerer. The last of these tasks require him to enter the Underworld and save Ebisu, who is revealed to have been working closely with the Sorcerer for some time. Yukine blows off Yato's absence easily enough, accepting that he must have gone off with Hiiro, and lets over a month go by.
It isn't until Yukine hears that Yato has been spotted with Hiiro going into the underworld that he starts to search for him. He expressly forbids Hiyori from joining him, but she goes anyway and encounters Bishamonten's traitorous ex-shinki. Yukine steps in just in time to face him and battle it out with him. The shinki shakes his confidence through a lot of smack talking and reminding Yukine that he cannot use spells against him because he doesn't know his name, but Yukine holds his own until Tenjin arrives. Tenjin names the shinki "Saku" against his will, allowing him to take Saku into his custody and question him. While Hiyori and Yukine rush to find the entrance to the Underworld, Yato manages to successfully save Ebisu and get him out of the Underworld. The Heavens and its army of gods are waiting for Ebisu when he returns to execute him. Hiyori and Yukine arrive just to time to watch Ebisu die a gruesome death after being falsely accused of being the Sorcerer.
The Heavens and its army vanishes after their judgement on Ebisu had been cast, but Yato still remains in the Underworld. Bishamonten and Kofuku, who had been present for the execution, work together to send Bishamonten into the Underworld after Yato to rescue him. The plan has little success, but an unnamed god from the Heavens appears before them to tell them that a human has to call both Bishamonten and Yato's names in order to retrieve them from the underworld. Hiyori calls for Yato first, but he doesn't appear. She calls for Bishamonten next, immediately yanking her free of the Underworld. Hiyori keeps calling for Yato until she eventually figures out that Yato's true name is "Yaboku". She rescues him only after calling out that name instead.
A few days later, Yato finally wakes up in one of the guest rooms in Bishamonten's palace. Hiyori and Yukine are there to greet him when he wakes, but things quickly fall apart when Yukine confronts him about the fact that he hid his true name from him. Bishamonten enters the room, interrupting the situation before it can go further to introduce the latest reincarnation of Ebisu. Yato panics, but eventually regains his composure well enough to steal Kazuma's phone and clothes, kidnapping Ebisu to take him out for lunch. All while teaching Ebisu to call Bishamonten "Pervy Nympho" in the process. The two of them have a meaningful talk at lunch while Hiyori and Yukine watch from the window. Their spying continues into the night where Yato goes out to meet with Hiiro and releases her as his shinki after having found his resolve to dedicate himself to Yukine.
Of course, Yukine and Yato fight after this anyway because Yato throws away every chance given to him to finally be honest. It eventually comes to an end when Yato declares Yukine as his one and only shinki and asks him to light the way on his path to becoming a god who can bring people happiness. Their bond strengthens, Yato finally comes clean about his name and his past, confessing that he's been using Hiiro to kill humans all this time. Yukine tells him that he doesn't care about that because he won't let Yato kill anyone else and he'll always be there by Yato's side. After that, he immediately puts Yato hard at work killing ayakashi, advertising his services, and answering requests. The best part is that Yato does exactly what he's told to, leading Yukine to secretly confess to Hiyori that he's happy.
Things are peaceful for a while with regular shenanigans in between, until the Sorcerer finally decides to act. It starts with the Stray, the shinki previously known as Hiiro, appearing to ambush Yukine into a fight when he's all alone. She summons monsters to overwhelm him but ultimately loses when Yukine proves to be stronger. In her fury, she tells Yukine that she could kill him immediately any time if she let loose the Gods' Most Guarded Secret before she's forced to withdraw by the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer tells her that it'll be too difficult to win against Yukine and he would rather not let harm come to Yukine because the Sorcerer wants to take Yukine for himself. Afterwards, Yukine confronts Yato about the Gods' Most Guarded Secret, but he deflects and lies to Yukine about its meaning and makes him promise not to bring it up again. Knowing that the Sorcerer was definitely up to something, especially after he approaches Hiyori insisting that she should stop meddling with Yato, both Yato and Yukine start guarding Hiyori as much as they can.
One day, after school, Hiyori leaves to meet up with her mother at the hospital where she works with Yukine attending her as her bodyguard. They find the patients going absolutely nuts as a result of the Sorcerer hiding ayakashi within the people there. The Sorcerer, himself, also makes an appearance and faces off against Yato and Yukine with the Stray at his side. The fight results in the Stray hitting Yukine with her ability to reveal the Gods' Most Guarded Secret and cracking Yukine's name. To everyone's surprise, Yukine appears unaffected, but Yato proceeds to protect Yukine as much as he can during the rest of the fight to avoid letting him get struck a second time. The fight gets cut short when Bishamonten arrives on the scene, allowing the Sorcerer to flee undetected. Bishamonten confronts Yato about The Sorcerer, making it clear that she's aware that he's Yato's father, and accuses him of being a villain. Their fight doesn't last long, as the hospital is still overrun by ayakashi, and they set to work clearing them out. Yato and Yukine set off to regroup with Hiyori while the Sorcerer hunts down Bishamonten and hits one of her shinki with the Stray's ability. The incident at Hiyori's family's hospital has gone on long enough to destroy the reputation of Hiyori's parents. Her mother also gets injured by desperate patients eager to get out, and they find Hiyori at her mother's bedside. Yato tries to talk to Hiyori to tell her that it isn't her fault, but Hiyori smacks him away. She's been pushed too far, given into despair, and it starts to shape her spirit into the form of an ayakashi. The Sorcerer instructs Yato to kill Hiyori or sever their ties, but they choose to try to talk her down instead. Yato holds Hiyori off on his own, apologising to her the entire time. Yukine intercepts to hit her with a boundary line, stinging Yato in the process by his reluctance to fight Hiyori, but Yato eventually manages to talk her down and return her to normal.
While Hiyori is dealing with all the aftershocks of the hospital incident, Yato and Yukine visit Bishamonten's palace. Bishamonten's shinki is falling apart after getting struck by the Sorcerer's shinki and she demands answers out of Yato. He confesses everything, namely that Bishamonten's shinki is going to become an ayakashi. The Gods' Greatest Secret is the fact that they absorb the memories of their shinki's past when they name them and Hiiro's ability is to restore those memories, trapping the shinki within their memories until they break apart over their death as a human. In the meantime, Yukine goes somewhere secluded to talk to Kazuma who tells him that he should have drawn a line to separate Yato from his enemy and Yato should always be his top priority. Yukine finds it to be a bit extreme, especially assigning Hiyori as something like an enemy. Kazuma also demands information about the Sorcerer, but all Yukine tells him is that if the Sorcerer dies then so does Yato so it's not worth fighting him.
Yato and Yukine move out of Kofuku's house after that, putting a lot of distance between themselves and Hiyori. For two months, they live in the back of a coffee shop and carry out as many job offers as they're able until one of those clients turns out to be Hiyori's brother and brings them to one of their family homes. They help the Iki family cope with the oncoming death of Hiyori's grandmother, convincing them to move in with her to spend time with her until her passing. Back at Bishamonten's palace, her shinki finally remembers her human name and succumbs to her dark feelings, becoming a monstrous ayakashi. Kazuma is forced to kill her to save Bishamonten. After that event, Kazuma seeks Yukine out to use a spell on him to force him to confess further details about the Sorcerer. Yukine breaks the spell quickly, only spilling the information regarding the Sorcerer's location, and puts an end to their encounter before it becomes a fight. Kazuma's betrayal stings deep and Yukine can no longer trust him, marking him as an enemy.
As Yato had been recognised as a god, he gets an official invite to Kamuhakari (a meeting of the gods where they perform matchmaking). Yukine isn't eager to go, warning Yato against it and being anywhere near Kazuma. Yato doesn't take it to heart, telling Yukine that Bishamonten's shinki must have died so Kazuma came seeking further answers in hopes of protecting Bishamonten and her other shinki. Yato confronts him on his accused betrayal, settling the air between them to figure out what happened and make it clear how badly he had hurt Yukine. It's acknowledged after that that Yukine has been having trouble sleeping at night, plagued by bad dreams, but Yato lets Yukine dodge further conversation on the topic. However, Yato does try to clear up the situation with Kazuma, citing him as neither ally or enemy. It's even suggested that they try to talk at Kamuhakari, but Yukine isn't having any of it.
Of course, Yukine ends up coming anyway to Kamuhakari because they sneak Hiyori in under the guise of being another shinki. It's mostly uneventful past Yato trying to prevent Hiyori from getting matched with scummy guys as her soulmate. It results in a tiny scuffle with another god and his shinki, but it's quickly over when Yukine easily dissipates the other shinki's spell without a shield. It's a big enough display of power for them to back. No, the true events begin when Bishamonten retrieves a hafuri that had been sealed away in a cave and uses her to force The Sorcerer out of hiding. Seeing as the Heavens had imprisoned the hafuri until the end of time, they declare Bishamonten as having committed high treason against them. Considering the severity of the situation, Yato and Yukine get involved, helping rescue Bishamonten from certain death; although, Yukine is hesitant after the Stray appears, encouraging him to let Bishamonten get subjugated by the Heavens to protect Yato.
Yato rushes to Bishamonten, battling her as a pretence to figure out what's going on. As soon as she reveals that she was only after the Sorcerer, Yato turns to the Heavens to scream that it was all a misunderstanding. It's just too bad that his outburst only gains the attention of the god he'd scuffled with during the matchmaking ceremony, Takemikazuchi. Strictly interested in facing off against a hafuri in battle, Takemikazuchi charges Yato and forces him into a fight. Heavy damage is taken on both sides, but the battle is utlimately decided when all of Takemikazuchi's shinki refuse to continue fighting. They've sustained enough damage fighting against Yato and Yukine. Anything further will mean their destruction. Takemikazuchi reluctantly to joins Yato's cause after his loss, agreeing to help him petition against the Heavens to save Bishamonten.
The Heavens declare Bishamonten, Kazuma, Yato, and Yukine to be guilty of high treason despite protests from other gods. They order the death of Bishamonten and Yato as well as eternal imprisonment of Yukine and Kazuma. Yukine is imprisoned first and trapped within a dark tiny box. He panics immediately, terrified of the dark as he's since remembered the cause of his death to be as a result of being buried alive, and his fear is strong enough to incapacitate Yato. Tenjin intervenes after this, requesting to enter a covenant in an attempt to pardon the high treason. The Heavens allow it and through the process of the covenant they find their ruling to be in the wrong. Everyone is pardoned and Yukine is released from his imprisonment.
CANON PERSONALITY:
A spirit with nowhere to go and no way to pass on to a proper afterlife, new life was breathed into him when an errant god bestowed the name "Yukine" onto him and took him in as his servant, a being known as a "shinki" to carry out his will as both a devout follower and deadly weapon. It's actually a pretty raw deal if you think about it, what with being abruptly plucked out of a sort of purgatory to an abrupt servitude with little or possibly no consent at all. Whatever Yukine had been expecting to happen after his death—not that he can remember actually dying or the life he lived before that—it definitely wasn't getting chained to some two-bit god who couldn't even do something as simple as find a place for them to spend the night. Contempt festers deep within him as he's expected to tag along with some shady creep while said shady creep desperately tries to gain some recognition as a god, going so far to accept any request for a mere five yen. It's no surprise that Yukine takes every chance he can get to get away from him, often walking amongst the living and wishing that he could still be one of them. At first, it is this bitterness that largely defines him and sets him off on a spree of petty crimes. He starts off by swindling more money out of Yato's customers, insisting that the five yen fee is much too cheap for work performed by a god, and continues on until he starts outright stealing from stores because he knows that normal people can't see him anyway.
That's the thing. To anyone outside of Yato, other gods, the ayakashi they fight, and one mostly normal highschool girl, Yukine doesn't even exist. Anyone outside of that group can't see him, not until he actively makes himself known and it's incredibly painful as a young boy trying to cope with his mortality or lack thereof. He doesn't know why he's here, why he was the one to be found by Yato, or even what to do with himself outside of serving as a shinki and it leaves him searching for a purpose. A purpose that he temporarily believes can be found in money and nice things, but it's nothing but an illusion that's eventually shattered after Yukine falls further and further into his own despair. Realisation comes for him only after sneaking into a school, wearing a uniform, even answering question sheets left out on someone's desk, and later eavesdropping on the mundane conversations of the students attending class.
It's then that he realises that what he wanted wasn't a bunch of stuff, but to simply live. He wanted to make friends, make memories, a place where he belonged, and a bright future brimming with possibilities instead of the weird standstill that he had been thrust into. It's painful, difficult to come to terms with everything he lost and maybe even never had, and he lashes out. He takes a baseball bat to the windows of the school in a fit of rage and emotion, which leaks out to Yato who been withstanding the blight from all of Yukine's sins for weeks. It nearly kills Yato and nearly kills himself in the process as his body began to rapidly twist into an ayakashi from the heavy weight of his sins.
After all of that and Yato's desperate need to keep him alive when he could have just easily killed him and gotten a new shinki, Yukine finally learns to appreciate Yato and the new life he'd been given. It's definitely still a pretty crappy deal and Yato is still definitely a really crappy god, but he's the god that he serves. He's also the same person who kept him alive, so it gets a little easier to start overlooking all of the glaring flaws that make up Yato.
He starts taking his duty seriously after that and begins to soften around the edges. While he's still a sarcastic, rude, and opinionated brat, his bitterness has vanished entirely. He eventually comes to terms with his state of being and the circumstances around him and even finding enjoyment in it. Where he once thought he had a whole lot of nothing, he's at least got two people by his side and that's as much of a start as any. He takes on a part-time job to help support Yato and himself, asks Hiyori to tutor him with her old school books and even relies on another shinki to help teach him the finer details of his abilities. Mainly the part where he's supposed to control his emotions to keep them from affecting their master, which isn't something that Yukine is very good at. He's a fast learner and incredibly adept at what he can do, but he still suffers from outbursts and emotional tendencies.
It's hard being an [approximately] fourteen year old for eternity. He's so susceptible to sin, primarily things such as lust or envy, but his youth makes him an endless well of potential. His need to improve himself is insatiable, his bravery impressive, and quickness to put himself down frustrating. He's easy to shake, sometimes even receding into himself as he lets his feelings of self-doubt and questions of self-worth get the better of him. All he wants to be worthy, so it's hard to handle it when he feels like he's not living up to his own self-imposed standards.
He's just a kid who got a shit lot in life, but he's trying to make the best of it.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
[ SHINKI ]
Uncorrupted spirits who walk between the realm of the living and the dead, bound to a god through a bright red name emblazoned on their body, tend to pass by the untrained eye undetected. Normal humans don't notice their presence even if they're standing beside them, not until they purposely call attention to themselves. For example, speaking to or touching a person.
However, certain people/creatures/beings can see these beings without any difficulty at all. For example, children, animals, or other spirits. Basically anyone who is sensitive to spirits or supernatural things. For normal individuals, shinki as well as gods, are very easy to forget. Losing contact with someone for just a few days is enough for a person to forget the shinki or god even existed—that is, until they remind them.
Shinki retain no memories of their past lives, forcing them to begin their life anew after a god finds and names them. Unnamed spirits don't fare as well, becoming food for the evil spirits (ayakashi) roaming around. As spirits, they have no need for human functions. They can feel the change in temperature, but it means nothing to them past some physiological discomfort. Food and sleep aren't necessary either, but they're helpful for maintaining their strength.
While they do bleed when injured and can scar, they do not perform any other bodily function.
Additionally, shinki are all extensions of the god(s) they serve. They act as their guiding forces, conscience, and sometimes just their sense of reason. Gods have never been mortal while every shinki has been at some point. Shinki have forgotten their personal memories, but they clearly remember life as a human and the difference between right and wrong, which is integral to guiding gods onto the right path to best serve humans. A shinki who acts unfaithfully to their role causes pain to their god by "stinging" them resulting in a blight on both the shinki and the god that only worsens as the shinki's "sin" continues.
Almost all shinki who sting their god are deemed unfit for their position and immediately eliminated. On top of that, all Shinki are susceptible to becoming an ayakashi and going out of control should they ever hear their human (true) name. Their "true" name is the key to unlocking their human memories and shinki tend to lose their minds once they remember their human life and subsequent death.
[ SEKKI ]
All shinki have a secondary or "weapon" form. Yukine's weapon form is known as "Sekki", a ridiculously long raw blade with a hilt fashioned out of bandages that resembles an odachi, but only when Yato calls for him to do so. As a sword, he is extremely sharp, sharp enough to slice through anything including non-tangible things such as bonds between people or the heavens itself (earning Yato the nickname "one who rends the heavens"). That is, as long as Yukine agrees to allow his blade to slice. He'll phase through anything he decides not to cut.
[ HAFURI VESSEL ] (aka SEKKI LEVEL UP)
Through great sacrifice and dedication to their god, shinki are able to evolve into better forms of themselves. While their human form doesn't change, levelling up completely alters the shinki's weapon form and provides them with additional or stronger abilities.
For Yukine, he changes from one sword into a set of two: a katana and wakizashi.
[ SPELLS/SONGS ]
While the series has not provided detailed information regarding a shinki's spells, it is known that there are two types of spells available to shinki. The first are spells that are performed similar to the boundary line, that is with a hand gesture and its name called out. The second are "songs", which only two shinki have been shown to use (Yukine and Hiiro/Nora/Mizuchi/Etc). Songs are ill-defined and I cannot accurately list them, but they appear to be when shinki recite a set of verses to perform a spell (such as calling water to douse flames). Yukine is noted to be unique by composing his own songs as opposed to using a predetermined verse.
Songs are said to be stronger than spells as songs can only be countered with other songs, while spells are dispelled by calling the person's name. A spell's strength is also measured by the shinki's confidence, meaning the more confident the shinki is, the stronger their spells will be. Additionally, spells or songs do not work on gods themselves.
The extent of Yukine's knowledge on both spells and songs is unknown, but the following are some of spells he is shown to use:
❄ BOUNDARY LINE/SLICE
An ability that can be used as either a barrier to separate the shinki from an enemy or an energy slash used to cut enemies from a distance.
❄ BINDING RESTRAINT aka BIND
By using a particular hand gesture and calling out the name of the spell, he is capable of binding a target. It leaves them unable to move, rendering them unable to attack or use any abilities that require movement to work. The spell lasts until the user cancels it.
[ STRONG RESOLVE/WILLPOWER ]
Yukine has been afflicted with another shinki's ability that forced him to begin remembering his past life, most notably the horrifying way in which he died. However, unlike other shinki affected by this ability, Yukine has not begun to degenerate or fall apart from the unwanted memories of his life. His resolve is strong enough to withstand. Being Yato's shinki is far more important to him than the life he left behind.
[ MISCELLANEOUS SKILLS ]
Gardening, cooking, assorted domestic skills, light construction skills, and some hand-to-hand combat. Most of his knowledge comes from his ravenous approach to reading books as well as things learned underneath the tutelage of his mentor (a fellow hafuri vessel).
Like father, like son, Yukine is a budding jack of all trades.
CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Yukine Matsuoka.
AU AGE: 15.
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES:
For the most part, Yukine doesn't look too different from his original self. There are a couple of key differences, however, most notably his bright orange eyes will be deep green and he will be missing his iconic tattoo. In canon, Yukine has a tattoo of his name above his collarbone because gods claim their spirits by physically marking, but seeing as he isn't a spirit here, there's no reason for him to have it.
On the bright side, not being a spirit means that he'll be visible to everyone, not just the spiritually sensitive. He'll also be able to enjoy very human things such as having a heartbeat/pulse, feeling full after eating, needing to breathe, and etc.
Additionally, his right ear has a couple piercings.
His right ear has a couple piercings, but he's otherwise unmarked.
AU NAME: Yukine Matsuoka.
AU AGE: 15.
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES:
For the most part, Yukine doesn't look too different from his original self. There are a couple of key differences, however, most notably his bright orange eyes will be deep green and he will be missing his iconic tattoo. In canon, Yukine has a tattoo of his name above his collarbone because gods claim their spirits by physically marking, but seeing as he isn't a spirit here, there's no reason for him to have it.
On the bright side, not being a spirit means that he'll be visible to everyone, not just the spiritually sensitive. He'll also be able to enjoy very human things such as having a heartbeat/pulse, feeling full after eating, needing to breathe, and etc.
Additionally, his right ear has a couple piercings.
His right ear has a couple piercings, but he's otherwise unmarked.
AU HISTORY:
❄ Young high-school freshman with terrible grades who moved to Recollé just before the start of the school semester to live with his wine-loving aunt.
❄ Half-English, half-Japanese with his mother being the foreigner. So, yes, the blonde is natural.
❄ Parents divorced at a young age, but his father remarried into a much happier and stable marriage with a family friend.
❄ Began calling his new parent "mom" pretty early on after getting bribed to do it by his aunt, then continued to do because he found it funny. Now, he can't stop.
❄ Maintains a positive relationship with his family, especially his father and cousins.
❄ Has no siblings, but usually feels like an outsider with his father and his partner. They're permanently stuck in the honeymoon phase and Yukine feels like he's in the way.
❄ Having difficulty maintaining friendships on top of feeling unwanted and bothersome, he easily fell into a bad crowd. Namely, a street gang of young upstarts who fashioned themselves as future yakuza.
❄ Met Yato, who was a part of this gang, when he showed up to save him from getting beaten up by some rival gangsters from another part of the city.
❄ Quickly fell into deep admiration of Yato, who became his "aniki". Yato took him underneath his wing, showed him the ropes of the thug life and how to be an efficient criminal.
❄ Yato vanished somewhere after a year of their friendship without a trace or even a word goodbye.
❄ Yukine sunk into a depression that resulted him in acting out further. Fist-fighting his schoolmates, recklessly committing crimes, causing general chaos around his school for the sake of being a nuisance.
❄ He continued to downswing until he finally blew up, breaking several of the windows of his middle school with a baseball bat and nearly getting expelled.
❄ Managed not to get expelled entirely because of a concerned teacher who decided to take responsibility of him. Thus decided to call the window breaking "a freak baseball accident".
❄ Nasty rumours of Yukine being a violent monster spread all across school, but Yukine couldn't do anything about it because he was supposed to be on his "best behaviour" at all times.
❄ Learned just to keep all of his ugly activities away from the school.
❄ His parents decided to move after all of this in hopes that the change of location would help calm him down, sending him him off to live with his aunt in Recollé until the two of them could move there properly.
❄ A few months later, both his parents arrive in Recollé, but he still chooses to live with his aunt.
AU PERSONALITY:
Rough around the edges with pieces sharp enough to cut, Yukine in Recollé is a reflection of himself during the early days of his (un)life before he was forced to deal with the terrible consequences that shinki face for getting consumed by the things that they do not have and cannot have. As a regular human, Yukine will have never known these limitations or restrictions, so his streaks of bad behaviour doesn't stem from his initial inability to cope with being dead or being separated from humans. Instead, it all sparks from feeling like there is no where that he truly belongs and always being a burden on the people around him. He barely knew his mother who always absent to chase her dreams of betterment, leaving his father to struggle to care for the both of them until his mother eventually exited his life full stop. His father has never been unkind, constantly trying his best, but Yukine has always felt like he struggles because he was born. His dad would have had a better life without him, right?
To add onto his feelings, he's never managed to find his niche at school, always lingering on the outside of the other children, and when he does finally find someone that makes him like he belongs, that person up and vanishes. Yukine couldn't capture the interest of his mother, couldn't truly make connections with his peers, and Yato couldn't even be bothered to stick around, so Yukine starts to feel like it's all because of some personal flaw. He can't stand it. It causes him to lash out, further alienating people and thus making even feel even worse about himself.
It gets exponentially worse when his father remarries. They're so sickeningly happy and loving that Yukine feels like his presence in their life is just interrupting their newlywed life. He starts to take to staying out of the house as much as he can and if he is in at home, he chooses to hole himself up in his room where he's sure his presence can go ignored.
None of these are feelings that he discusses, feeling like he's weak and ungrateful for even having them in the first place, so he bottles them up inside. Instead, he chooses to deal with them through petty crimes (primarily shoplifting), graffiti with the local gang of bad kids that he runs with, destruction of property, and sometimes even violence. Much like his original self, it doesn't take much to incite his anger, but unlike his original self, Yukine tries to often solve the issue with his fists. He picks fights with the gang of kids he hangs with, strangers, and even his classmates. The bad reputation he earns is certainly well deserved. His original self had been known for a whole slew of positive traits (loyal, dedicated, and strong to name a few), but this Yukine is known for the worst parts of himself.
With no clear goal to motivate him, such as dedicating to the role of Yato's shinki, this Yukine is directionless, full of emotions he doesn't know how to deal with yet because he doesn't have anyone to force him to, and trapped in a loop of feeling like there's no where that he's supposed to fit in. It had been easy for him to find his way in canon, he had been tasked with a role from the very beginning. Even though he had rejected it, it was still a purpose and one that he learned to fully embrace. There's no such thing for this Yukine. He's yet to find his purpose or even a sense of belonging.
He's just here.
Of course, that is not to say that he doesn't emulate many of the positive traits that his original self possesses. Although, the reasoning is, naturally, a little different. He's still just as loyal, dedicated to anyone who makes a strong enough on impact on him to be called friend or his family. Regardless of how he might feel, he'll stubbornly stick by the people who matter him and defend them with everything he's got. He also still tries hard and applies himself, but only to the things that he feels like is worth it to him. Unfortunately, that means video games and photography.
❄ Young high-school freshman with terrible grades who moved to Recollé just before the start of the school semester to live with his wine-loving aunt.
❄ Half-English, half-Japanese with his mother being the foreigner. So, yes, the blonde is natural.
❄ Parents divorced at a young age, but his father remarried into a much happier and stable marriage with a family friend.
❄ Began calling his new parent "mom" pretty early on after getting bribed to do it by his aunt, then continued to do because he found it funny. Now, he can't stop.
❄ Maintains a positive relationship with his family, especially his father and cousins.
❄ Has no siblings, but usually feels like an outsider with his father and his partner. They're permanently stuck in the honeymoon phase and Yukine feels like he's in the way.
❄ Having difficulty maintaining friendships on top of feeling unwanted and bothersome, he easily fell into a bad crowd. Namely, a street gang of young upstarts who fashioned themselves as future yakuza.
❄ Met Yato, who was a part of this gang, when he showed up to save him from getting beaten up by some rival gangsters from another part of the city.
❄ Quickly fell into deep admiration of Yato, who became his "aniki". Yato took him underneath his wing, showed him the ropes of the thug life and how to be an efficient criminal.
❄ Yato vanished somewhere after a year of their friendship without a trace or even a word goodbye.
❄ Yukine sunk into a depression that resulted him in acting out further. Fist-fighting his schoolmates, recklessly committing crimes, causing general chaos around his school for the sake of being a nuisance.
❄ He continued to downswing until he finally blew up, breaking several of the windows of his middle school with a baseball bat and nearly getting expelled.
❄ Managed not to get expelled entirely because of a concerned teacher who decided to take responsibility of him. Thus decided to call the window breaking "a freak baseball accident".
❄ Nasty rumours of Yukine being a violent monster spread all across school, but Yukine couldn't do anything about it because he was supposed to be on his "best behaviour" at all times.
❄ Learned just to keep all of his ugly activities away from the school.
❄ His parents decided to move after all of this in hopes that the change of location would help calm him down, sending him him off to live with his aunt in Recollé until the two of them could move there properly.
❄ A few months later, both his parents arrive in Recollé, but he still chooses to live with his aunt.
AU PERSONALITY:
Rough around the edges with pieces sharp enough to cut, Yukine in Recollé is a reflection of himself during the early days of his (un)life before he was forced to deal with the terrible consequences that shinki face for getting consumed by the things that they do not have and cannot have. As a regular human, Yukine will have never known these limitations or restrictions, so his streaks of bad behaviour doesn't stem from his initial inability to cope with being dead or being separated from humans. Instead, it all sparks from feeling like there is no where that he truly belongs and always being a burden on the people around him. He barely knew his mother who always absent to chase her dreams of betterment, leaving his father to struggle to care for the both of them until his mother eventually exited his life full stop. His father has never been unkind, constantly trying his best, but Yukine has always felt like he struggles because he was born. His dad would have had a better life without him, right?
To add onto his feelings, he's never managed to find his niche at school, always lingering on the outside of the other children, and when he does finally find someone that makes him like he belongs, that person up and vanishes. Yukine couldn't capture the interest of his mother, couldn't truly make connections with his peers, and Yato couldn't even be bothered to stick around, so Yukine starts to feel like it's all because of some personal flaw. He can't stand it. It causes him to lash out, further alienating people and thus making even feel even worse about himself.
It gets exponentially worse when his father remarries. They're so sickeningly happy and loving that Yukine feels like his presence in their life is just interrupting their newlywed life. He starts to take to staying out of the house as much as he can and if he is in at home, he chooses to hole himself up in his room where he's sure his presence can go ignored.
None of these are feelings that he discusses, feeling like he's weak and ungrateful for even having them in the first place, so he bottles them up inside. Instead, he chooses to deal with them through petty crimes (primarily shoplifting), graffiti with the local gang of bad kids that he runs with, destruction of property, and sometimes even violence. Much like his original self, it doesn't take much to incite his anger, but unlike his original self, Yukine tries to often solve the issue with his fists. He picks fights with the gang of kids he hangs with, strangers, and even his classmates. The bad reputation he earns is certainly well deserved. His original self had been known for a whole slew of positive traits (loyal, dedicated, and strong to name a few), but this Yukine is known for the worst parts of himself.
With no clear goal to motivate him, such as dedicating to the role of Yato's shinki, this Yukine is directionless, full of emotions he doesn't know how to deal with yet because he doesn't have anyone to force him to, and trapped in a loop of feeling like there's no where that he's supposed to fit in. It had been easy for him to find his way in canon, he had been tasked with a role from the very beginning. Even though he had rejected it, it was still a purpose and one that he learned to fully embrace. There's no such thing for this Yukine. He's yet to find his purpose or even a sense of belonging.
He's just here.
Of course, that is not to say that he doesn't emulate many of the positive traits that his original self possesses. Although, the reasoning is, naturally, a little different. He's still just as loyal, dedicated to anyone who makes a strong enough on impact on him to be called friend or his family. Regardless of how he might feel, he'll stubbornly stick by the people who matter him and defend them with everything he's got. He also still tries hard and applies himself, but only to the things that he feels like is worth it to him. Unfortunately, that means video games and photography.