Chapter 2

The House Cat, The Stray God, and The Tail (とと, Ieneko to Noragami to Shippo) is the 2nd chapter of the ノラガミ Noragami manga series written by Adachitoka. It was released on January 6, 2011.

Short Summary
Hiyori Iki rescues Yato from being hit by a bus, and finds that her soul is now prone to slipping out of her body. All the while, Yato attempts to find both a shinki and a lost cat for his current client, Keiichi.

Extended Summary
Yato dreams of being a big shot god with many shrine maidens at his disposal and his own shrine; among these shrine maidens is Tomone who recently quit being his regalia. His dream turns into a nightmare when all the shrine maidens begin chanting how they can't stand it and a recreation of Tomone when she broke down before quitting is shown with all his worshipers and maidens; it's at this point that Yato wakes up on a park bench covered by a newspaper.

Yato goes about his business spraying his number on a wall and soon gets distressed that he's not getting any jobs to raise money for a shrine. Coincidentally he gets a call on his phone and answers it with a high amount of happiness then quickly teleports himself to his client; a small boy who has lost his cat; much to Yato's disappointment. Yato agrees to help the boy but warns him that he doesn't work for free, the boy then empties his piggy bank and offers Yato all the money in it but he only takes a 5 yen coin. Yato asks the boy's name who introduces himself as Keiichi.

Keiichi's mum enters the room telling him he's going to be late, by this time Yato is gone. His mum makes a comment on his messy room and takes him out of the house, she reassures Keiichi that they will find their cat. The name of the cat, Milord (Uesama) is posted up in the streets and is being scouted by three young girls, two of them mindlessly bicker about pet names and people they admire; to the point where they worship them as gods. They ask for the third girl's help, who's name is Hiyori. She replies that she cannot answer since her god is a martial artist known as Touno, Hiyori reminisces about watching a match between Touno and another boxer. In a bleak situation, Touno unleashes his special attack, Jungle Savate and wins the match. Hiyori's friends apologize and realize it was a bad decision to ask for her opinion. Hiyori imagines the horror of her parents finding out about her hobby, and thinks about her mother lecturing her about being a lady and finding a husband; to which she comments that there's nobody she likes.

Hiyori then passes and notices Yato in the street who's looking for the missing cat, he yells and calls out the cat's name in the street and complains that even though nobody notices him it's embarrassing to do. Yato wanders the streets looking for the lost cat and notices one with similar markings, luckily enough it is the cat he's looking for and he chases after it; following it in front of a moving bus.

Hiyori pushes Yato out of the way of the bus, she scolds him for running in front of the bus. Yato puts Hiyori's attention to a second Hiyori lying on the road in front of the bus, her friends are shaking and focusing on that Hiyori.

Hiyori wakes up to find herself in her family's hospital with her mother at her bedside along with her two friends. Hiyori's mum runs off to get her father while her friends bask in relief, her mother returns with her father who quickly inspects Hiyori to make sure she's alright. Hiyori's condition appears to be fine but the mother insists more tests are done, Hiyori wonders what happened to the boy who she pushed out of the way, her friend vaguely remembers him but the other says there was no such person; not even the bus driver mentioned him.

Hiyori's parents say she's sleepy and needs to rest, slowly Hiyori drifts into a deep sleep. Hiyori's mother converses shortly with her friends as Hiyori falls asleep; thanking them for contacting their hospital. Yato looms outside the window.

Hiyori is suddenly woken up by strange voices that echo around her, she sits up feeling surprised until hearing someone else's voice in the room; it's Yato, lying under the quilts of her bed. Hiyori freaks out and takes refuge on a nearby sofa before realizing it's the same person she saved this morning. Hiyori asks who the boy is and at first, he refuses to tell her, Yato tells Hiyori that some changes may occur with her body and he came to check to see if she was alright; Hiyori quickly falls back to sleep after.

The next day Hiyori is back at school, her friends swarm her in the hallway and kick up a small fuss. In the classroom, Hiyori's sitting at her desk when she suddenly drops down onto the table out of tiredness. The teacher tells her not to push herself but she insists that she's fine. She thinks back to the incident but doesn't remember it well, she remembers a cat and running in front of a bus but that's about it.

On the way home her friends notice that she's looking a bit weak, Hiyori says she's been really sleepy since the incident. She notices the poster with the cat on and remembers someone was chasing the cat, she calls out the cat's name and tells her friends that she must find it.

Hiyori searches the city for the cat hoping that she'll remember something once she finds it. An image of what looks like a tail quickly appears and vanishes on Hiyori and she notices a smell.

Yato is also out searching for the cat, attaching catnip to a piece of string. Yato points out that it's getting quite gloomy out and that he should find somewhere to go for the night, he quickly notices a cat down the street and to his surprise it's the cat he's looking for. The cat suddenly jumps in Yato's arms and notices a horde of floating eyes locked onto him. Yato pulls on the cat's cheeks in annoyance and flees the eyes that try to trap him, only to head towards a gigantic monster frog. Yato kicks the frog then calls Hanki, only to remember that his regalia, Tomone, quit.

A hand suddenly grabs him, it turns out to be Hiyori who pulls him to safety and the two quickly flee. The frog intercepts and jumps in front of them, Hiyori screams and the frog grabs her leg. She remembers what Touno did in his match and recreates his attack the Jungle Savate technique to defeat the frog. Hiyori quickly thanks Touno for "guiding" her.

Yato realizes that Hiyori saved him twice, and she quickly turns to talk to him now that she's found him. A tail coming from Hiyori sways left and right and Yato states that her soul has slipped out, he turns her attention to the fence where her body is slumped over. Hiyori begins to panic but Yato reassures her that her body is just sleeping, he explains that it's the accident is what caused it and Hiyori is now able to see and hear ayakashi because she's a half Phantom herself. Yato explains that Hiyori is able to fight other Phantoms because she's become one and that her conditions are good, he also says that he'd want her for a Shinki, ultimately he sums her up as someone who loses their body a lot. Hiyori asks if it's possible to cure her condition, Yato replies that she should just accept it but she refuses to do so but collapses mid-sentence.

Back at the boy's house, the doorbell rings and he answers it thinking his father is home, instead he sees his cat on the doorstep left there by Yato; who is nowhere to be seen. The boy thanks Yato for granting his wish and is left extremely relieved and happy.

Hiyori wakes up to find herself being carried by Yato, she quickly retaliates with hostility and calls him a pervert, even threatening to call the police. Yato replies that she asked for help and that he's a god. Hiyori actually calls the police, much to Yato's despair, he calls her name and she turns; seeming surprised that he knows it. Yato flips a 5 yen coin in the air and says that her wish has reached him. He introduces himself, and then returns her purse and ID, having swiped the 5 yen from her purse.