[OPEN] A DIVINE POSSESSION

[goen]

WHO: Yato and you!
WHERE: Recolle High, the park, and more!
WHEN: December 15th
WHAT: Yato accidentally possesses Anya's body for a day.
WARNINGS: None.


[ THE POSSESSION. ]

[ Yato swings by Anya's house before she's left for school. He just needs her to look over some information for the upcoming live event. Quick stuff. When he climbs into her room through the window, he catches her dressed but asleep at her desk, probably tired from all the hard work that inevitably leads up to a big performance. Yato tries to gently shake her awake.

His hand goes right through her shoulder. Before he can process what's happening, he's falling straight into her...

He opens his eyes. Anya's desk is before him. His limbs feel heavy. For a moment, he wonders if he was just dreaming, if he was the one who took a nap at Anya's desk overnight. He looks around the empty room slowly until his eyes find a mirror -- and Anya is staring right back at him, her expression reflecting his own.

Confused, Yato touches his face. Anya touches her face too. When a faint gasp of surprise leaves his mouth, it comes out high and feminine. When he drops a hearty, enthusiastic "oh, fuck," it's Anya's voice that fills the room, distinctly unlike he's ever heard her voice before.

He's in Anya's body. Why?? How?? Is she in his body too? He scrambles to check her phone, sees no clues. Then there's a gentle knocking at the bedroom door, and Mrs. Vasilieva asking if everything is okay. Yato answers automatically in Anya's voice that everything is fine even though it's clearly not.

Before he knows it, he's being ushered off to school. ]


[ 1. THE SERVANT. (closed to Akinobu Taira) ]

[ As he walks to school in a minor haze of panic, it occurs to Yato to check under his -- Anya's -- sleeve for the bright red tattoo symbolizing his contract with Aki. There's nothing there, just Anya's arm as it always is. Yet he knows the connection is still there because he can feel it if he reaches, just like he could when he was in his own body. He calls out telepathically... ]

(Aki! Aki!!)


[ 2. THE SCHOOL DAY. ]

[ A: Around Recolle High...

It's nearing the end of the term. Anya can't afford to miss school.

Yato begins the school day awkward and offbeat. Students greet him (Anya) cheerfully and he has to remember that they're addressing him, unused to all this attention that is not only frequent but unreservedly friendly. A few of Anya's peers might even be described as adoring. Even when Yato was fully human, people didn't look at him the way they look at Anya now.

Yato is fully an impostor. Yet as the day goes on, he can't help being dazzled by the goodwill lavished upon him, the undivided attention. People look directly at him without prompting; they call out to him; there's recognition in their eyes. It's hardly anything to get worked up about, but Yato finds himself unexpectedly moved. Has it really been less than a year since he stopped being human? Confronted once again with the gap between his old life and the new, time feels unbearably slow.

Mired in his thoughts, Yato forgets to walk, leaving Anya at a standstill in the middle of a busy intersection with a faraway expression. Inevitably, someone jostles him and the textbook and binder under his arm go tumbling to the floor, papers flying everywhere. Yato shoots a look at the student who jostled him before stooping to pick everything up from under passing students' feet.

Help him out maybe? ]


[ B: English class...

So. Anya was supposed to read The Lord of the Flies. Yato did not read The Lord of the Flies.

When Anya is called on to report on a selected theme from the novel, Yato draws a massive blank. He stands slowly in Anya's body with the kind of ramrod straight posture reminiscent of a man with a knife to his throat. ]

The Lord of the Flies is about... the protagonist... who rules over a fly kingdom. This is ironic because the protagonist is a human. The major theme is the shortness of life, because flies only live for 24 hours. But you only live once, so you gotta make it count. The novel is all about that... and the power of love.

[ He sits his ass down. Fucking nailed it. Everyone can stop looking at him now. ]


[ C: After school...

Well, that was absolutely grueling. After six periods of bluffing his way through life and a few hairy quizzes, Yato can go back to figuring out why the hell he's in Anya's body. He doesn't even attempt to check if Anya has any after-school activities before trying to book it straight off campus. Hopefully none of her peers will attempt to stop him, because then he might have to shoot them down mercilessly. ]


[ 3. THE EXORCISM (ATTEMPT). ]

[ Thanks to an internet deep dive, Yato is armed with a number of potential ways to exorcise himself from Anya's body. He has no room to be skeptical of any of them; therefore, he will just have to employ all of them.

Witness: Anya sitting in the park next to a boombox playing a Hindu mantra on repeat, emptying a massive bag of salt over her head. An entire pack of incense burns nearby. She drinks an entire bottle of water before lying down in the salt, piling a bunch of it over herself for good measure, and reading aloud from an assortment of religious texts.

When she seems tired of reading, she just stops and stares up at the sky. Really letting that salt soak in. She even makes a salt angel. The exorcism can kick in aaany moment now. Yato will wait. ]


[ 4. THE KNOCKOUT. ]

[ Yato is being followed. He doesn't have the patience for it.

Anya is popular enough around town to have strangers for fans. This is okay. It's Yato's job to make sure she stays beloved in the public eye. But stalkers taking pictures from afar is more than he cares for at the moment. Or ever, really.

When he catches sight of a peeping camera from the bushes, Yato makes a beeline for it. He reaches into the bushes, grabs the man within by the collar, punches him in the face hard enough to knock him out, and takes the camera. His now.

Without a word, he continues on his way. Hopefully there was no one else around to witness idol girl Anya stealing some guy's camera?? ]


[ 5. THE MISTLETOE. ]

[ A single mistletoe bat flutters down gently from the heavens.

Yato tries to set it on fire with his eyes.

Unfortunately, that is not a power Anya possesses. It was not even a power he possessed in his own body. The bat flaps around too high for Yato to grab it, so all he can do is walk faster in the hopes that no one will see it. He will not give up Anya kisses without a fight. ]


[ 6. THE INKWELL. ]

[ The Inkwell has been running on a tight staff lately, so callouts are unacceptable! As the bar's patron god, it's Yato's duty to help it run in rain or shine, his body or Anya's. When it comes time for Yato's shift, he tosses an apron over Anya's outfit and gets to goddamn work prepping ingredients for the kitchen, moving inventory, and restocking the bar. It's more tiring than he remembered it being, but this will be a good workout for Anya...

... And he'll just keep on working until one of his coworkers stops him tbh. ]


[ 7. THE NETWORK. ]

[ Yato checks Anya's phone constantly. Not because he cares about responding to her friends, but because she might be out there somewhere, trying to contact him. It's a longshot; there's not much reason to think she might exist anywhere else but in the body he's so rudely taken over. But he's out of ideas, so this is all he has left.

He ignores the more mundane texts, leaving them for when (definitely when) Anya is in control again, but he'll answer anything more interesting or insistent.

Meanwhile, Yato has no where idea where his own phone is. It was in his pocket when he fell into Anya, so it's gone wherever his own body has -- into Anya's body, presumably. Calling it gets him no response. He can only hope no one really needed his attention today... ]


[ 8. HOME. (closed to Anya) ]

[ This might have been the longest day in Yato's life. When he arrives back at the dark, silent Vasilieva household and slumps back into Anya's room, he falls onto her bed and stares up at the star stickers on her ceiling.

After being given the chance to act as a normal human in society again, it's odd that he feels even lonelier than he did when the day began. For all the kindnesses Anya's friends and acquaintances and even strangers have showered on him, he can't say he's really felt happy today. Now that he's alone, that restless, yawning feeling is more evident than ever. He looks and sounds like Anya, but he isn't her. Looking into a mirror only reminds him that she isn't here.

Living as a human isn't worth being without Anya. He misses her dearly.

He sighs in her voice and sits up. When he stands, he feels lighter, taller. Like himself again. He looks down at his own body in surprise, and when he turns around, Anya is there on the bed as a blessedly separate entity. ]

Anya!

[ He's speaking with his own voice again. IT'S A MIRACLE!! ]


[ 9. WILDCARD. ]

[ Anything! Hit me. ]


(( OOC: While Yato is in Anya's body, there should be no apparent difference in her physiology except for an occasional backlit quality to her eyes. However, differences may be more obvious in her body language and manner of speech.

The original plotting post if you need it! Feel free to plot with me or ask questions there. ))

Comments

exorcism

[promisedyou]

... What exactly are you doing?

[ There are proverbial question marks over her head as she asks the question; she remembers seeing Anya when she came over to carol, even though she doesn't know what exactly is going on here. ]

[goen]

[ Oh hi. Yato has no idea who this is. If she doesn't know Anya well, all the better; it spares him the effort of trying to act like he knows who she is. ]

Trying to exorcise myself. You happen to know how to get rid of evil spirits?

[ He gives precisely no fucks about acting like Anya right now. Trying to appear sane in the middle of this would be way too much effort. ]

6 ofc!

[doublesmall]

Anya?! Look, I know you wanna help, kiddo, but you're not trained on this--

[annnd here's yato's boss to pull whatever he's carrying out of his hands, because what the fuck??

but okay, okay, he can't stay too mad because (he thinks) it's anya. so he just sighs and shakes his head, brushing his hair from his face.]

Did Yato talk you into helping...? Where the hell is he, anyway, he was supposed to be on shift. Can't get him to answer his phone.

[goen]

[ Wow?? This turn of events should not have been unexpected, but making up an excuse to work hasn't been on Yato's mind. He smiles sweetly at Chuuya and says the first thing that pops into his head. ]

Yato dropped his phone down a sewer. And broke both his legs. Occhan should let Anya help instead!

3...

[compendiem]

[ Oh, how the turntables, Anya.

Minato finds her lying on the ground, for a moment taking all that white to be snow and perhaps his turn to offer her a hand up, but he stops short when he's close enough to see that she's... pouring salt all over her torso. Hm. Inching slowly towards her until he stands almost right over her face, he looks down at her, his own bag of salt with the handles looped around his wrist, but for another reason entirely as he looks her over and thinks over what exactly is the right thing to say or do here. ]

...Missed a spot on your legs. Do you need to be buried completely?

[goen]

[ Oh my god. Yes. Maybe that was the problem: not enough salt.

Yato doesn't know Minato, but this very kind offer has put this good samaritan in a good light!! ]

Great idea! You have some to spare?

Mistletoe

[parodeity]

[ dave doesn’t see anya as often these days when he’s in college now and not high school, so when he does see her on the streets he usually goes over to her. now isn’t any different since he had some things to tell her anyway - though he doesn’t notice the bar as he jobs over to her side since he’s taken to ignoring them. ]

An, hey, wait up! Sorry, I meant to text you the other day...?

[goen]

Dave! ... -echka!

[ flawless

But Yato will slow down and attempt to not be rude for Dave, because Dave is a good guy. ]

Text me? About what?

4............

[stressweets]

[ tsukasa always perks up when he sees anya.

today is absolutely no exception, except anya definitely just punched someone and took their camera!? uwaaah, she did mention having self-defense training or something like that, but



but that was totally an offensive move, right!?! ooh, is she mad today or something...? fed up? ah, come to think of it, that guy was hiding, huh. how despicable, how abhorrent, how

oh damn anya's leaving, he's gonna give the guy a Look before he jogs after her. play it cool, tsukasa. just like always. even when you're embarrassing she likes you!! ]

Anya! I was hoping I'd see you today... [ ♪ ] I wanted to ask if you'd like to practice with me, since the live is next week..? Unless you're busy, of course!

[goen]

[ Yato recognizes this as one of Anya's friends. Tsukasa?? Yato should probably be nice, or something. Actually, Tsukasa can't have missed Yato punching that guy out, but he didn't even comment on it. Yato is slightly weirded out. Is this the power of Anya's charm...??

Anyway. Yato puts on his best Anya face and accent!! Smiling is easier after venting his frustration on that guy's face. Tsukasa is awfully cheery, but then again a lot of people are chipper around Anya... ]

Oh, hello! Anya has already practiced today. Позже? Maybe another day? I am going now on an errand.

6

[thesettingsun]

[Shuji, seeing Anya restocking the bar, assumes what anyone would assume in this situation: that Anya is trying to help with her beloved uncle's shop, and also that they could get arrested for this.

He's not wrong about the second part.]

Anya, I appreciate the help, but also I'm pretty sure this is several kinds of illegal?

[goen]

[ A pause.

Yato puts on his most winning smile. ]

It is only illegal if I am getting paid? There is nothing wrong with picking up boxes, yes?

[ sparkle sparkle

shut up and let him work shuji ]

exorcism

[frostythehitman]

[ Bus routes are garbage--James has to take a detour through the park after school today just to catch a ride home. But the bus is completely forgotten once he spots Anya in the park, sitting on the ground (in the middle of December???) with strange music playing and....making a snow angel? But there's no snow on the ground. James steps closer to her and realizes it's salt.

He closes the rest of the distance and stands at the edge of the salt angel and just. Watches her go for a second. When he finally addresses her, he speaks to her in Russian as usual. ]

Anya? What is this? You know salt gets used to melt snow, not replace it, right?

[goen]

[ Holy shit someone is talking to him in Russian. Yato looks up at James, recognizes him as the spandex guy, and stares for a hot moment as he tries to process what was just said to him. James seems like the type to be a pain in the butt about things, so better to try and play nice.

... There's really no great explanation for this situation though, so Yato settles on the wild truth. In mostly serviceable Russian, he replies: ]

That is a joke? So funny. This is a test. No need to worry.

[ Hearing Anya's voice speaking in stunted Russian is surreal even to Yato's ear. ]

4

[windeity]

[...lmfao what the fuck. The thing is that Anya (?) might not have noticed John at all given the fact that John's definitely not physically present when the girl punches the cameraman in the face and steals his goods. But he does reappear not long after that and there's a low, impressed whistle as he moves to fall into step with her.]

Not sure why Dave keeps looking for training partners when he should maybe be asking you. [Like damn, okay. There's a glance back to the unconscious guy though.] Think he'll be okay?

[goen]

[ Yato nearly drops the camera in surprise when John is suddenly walking beside him. Maybe this is how people feel when Yato randomly makes himself known... ]

John!

[ He blurts the name out automatically, whoops. He'll have to hope Anya doesn't have a cute Russian nickname for John... Okay, time to get back in character. ]

It is okay, yes? It was... защитить. Self-defense. Stalking is not okay.

[ Sometimes one simply cannot believe the words that come out of Yato's mouth. ]

3

[elevelvetor]

[ ...Elizabeth has made a usual habit of going to whatever park is closest to let her Persona have some fun in the snow, but before she can summon it, the... boombox catches her attention, and she tilts her head? Before she goes to investigate.

A good detective never lets their curiosity go unchecked, after all!!

She isn't sure what she was expecting but a girl reading religious texts while laying in salt was not it? ]

There are easier ways to stay warm, young miss.

[ if she had her god sensing powers she'd know this was yato BUT ALAS. ]

1/2

[goen]

[ That's okay. Really.

Because ]

Oh, hey, Elizabeth.

5, let's die

[covenantal]

Anya?

[ Seeing his friend attempt to powerwalk away from a mistletoe bat is pretty odd. It's not really the reaction he'd expect her to have. Did she have a bad experience...?

Yu will trot to catch up to her, looking at her with some concern. Also, he has three bats. Two sitting on one shoulder, and one sitting on his head. ]

Anya? Is everything alright?

[goen]

[ Oh hey it's... one of the twins being really nice and not weird so far, so Yato assumes it's Yu. Yato likes Yu so he'll stop for him, but an odd look crosses his face when he turns and sees all the bats sitting on Yu. ]

Um... Да. Everything is okay.

[ stares

stares

stares some more ]

You have a boyfriend, yes?

2c

[admiringly]

[ But takes the conch away from Yato in 2b......

Needless to say, Chiyo's heard some murmurs down the grapevine about Anya's strange behavior this day. They're in different grades, so their classes don't overlap as much, but she usually tries to catch Anya during passing periods sometimes. This didn't happen today for reasons, so Chiyo makes it a mission to check on Anya once school's out for th day.

It's not too difficult to spot Anya's silver hair in the distance—moving at such a fast pace. Odd? ]

Anya! Hey, Anya! Please, wait?

[ Don't shoot her down mercilessly. ]

[goen]

[ Oh... Yato can't shoot Chiyo down. She even said please. :(

Yato stops and remembers to smile before turning to face her. Yato is less afraid of difficult questions from Chiyo than most, but they are in the middle of a thick stream of students leaving for the day. He should keep in character, probably. ]

Chiyo! Hello, did you need something?

wildcard;

[lifleifthrasir]

Anya?

[The voice comes from this woman, dressed in casual workout clothes but still looking like she just stepped out of a photoshoot. Gwen pulls off her sunglasses and gives the girl a serious, slightly concerned look.]

I was just about to call you. I thought something might have happened when you didn't show up at the studio.

[goen]

[ Yato has only seen Gwen in passing, but he recognizes her as one of Anya's dance friends. The type of person he should probably attempt to play along with...

He knew Anya had dance practice today, but he blocked it out of his mind. What would be the point of him going to practice in her stead? He drills his brain for a plausible excuse. ]

Sorry to make you worry. My friend needed me for... крайняя необходимость. An emergency. Practice is already over?

2B

[devilsadvocato]

[Mr. Nelson is just as dumbfounded as the rest of the class is. In his eight years of teaching that was a new one. Normally students would hang their heads and admit they weren't done with the assignment. There were a few who tried to BS their way through papers or presentations using cliff notes but that was NOT the plot of Lord of the Flies even remotely.

He clears his throat.]

Well then! Uh. Anya let's have a chat after class okay? Who wants to go next?

[Don't make it any worse Yato. Stay in that seat after the other students leave.]

[goen]

[ He ignores the students giving each other looks and giggling before Foggy moves the discussion along. Ugh. Yato is too old to be having chats after class. His dumb high school days were supposed to be over...!!

But he will stay in his seat! Disobeying the teacher would result in disciplinary action, and Yato will at least attempt to leave Anya's life without that complication for when (surely when) Anya gets her body back.

Once the bell rings and the rest of the class rushes out the door, Yato slumps up to Foggy's desk. Anya does not normally slump, but Yato's punk teenage days are taking over. ]

Am I in trouble, Mr. Nelson?

wildcard!! lmk if this works my mans

[adoringpast]

[ okay how the fuck do you accidentally possess someone, first of all. stupid godboy... not that sena knows anything about this. it has been a while since he and anya talked after all, but after she'd called him up to help her in an upcoming live of hers, he reluctantly decides to help her out. after all he owes her so, so much.

it's another day at the modeling agency - one of those days where anya decides to come by for a shoot to promote a live that's a couple of weeks away. sena's generally free today, so after thinking it over whether it's okay to strike up some small talk with her, here he comes just after the makeup artists are done with her face. ]

You ready? [ ah, crap, of course she's ready as ever every time there's a photoshoot. duh. ] I mean for the Live thing.

all good!!!

[goen]

[ Yato has been able to shirk a lot of Anya's usual activities today, but he knows he can't shirk this. It's an important photoshoot, and obligations must be met for the sake of Anya's credibility.

But it's okay. Yato's gonna crush it!! Surprisingly, being in Anya's body has been physically comfortable. Maybe it's the muscle memory. Maybe it's the way everyone is nicer to him. But it's probably mostly Yato's absolute shamelessness that keeps him from feeling awkward. The makeup experience is more intense than he's used to, but all he has to do is sit there and literally look pretty.

Anyway, here's Sena. Dammit. Gotta smile... ]

Of course. It will be easy-breezy. Sena is getting chilly feet?

4

[wordcarvings]

[ Yeah he saw that. And had Yato looked like Yato he would have been less surprised or confused.

Koutarou pockets his shopping list - he had been adding a thing he remembered to it on his way to the grocery store, and approaches who he thinks is Anya. ]

....are you...alright....?

[goen]

[ Oh hey it's Koutarou. Yato's smile comes easy, even though it is probably not a great time to be pulling out genuine smiles after what he just did. ]

Mm-hm. He went down very easy.

[ ... ]

You will be my witness, yes? If he complains. Anya did nothing wrong?

3

[yakan]

[ Hestia, Kiyoshi's big bearded collie, sees the salt game before Kiyoshi does. And she's instantly interested and pulls Kiyoshi along. A 'boof!' is the warning and then there is a dog sniffing the stranger's face, tail going all over the place and there might be licking, too. She might be worried, she might just want to play too, it's hard to know with her (it's just that she's a lot like her owner in that regard...) ]

Hestia...! Stop that!

[goen]

[ Yato was actually very into this passage of the Quran until this dog came bounding in...!! At first, he recoils; not all of his memories with charging canines have been good ones. But when it becomes clear that Hestia is friendly, he relaxes and gives her a rough rub around the head. ]

Aww, look at you! You want salt? Is your sodium intake low, girl??

[ raises a handful of salt to see if she'll lick it tbh ]

[notbunaga]

(...I was wondering how long it'd be before you called me. You've been anxious all morning.)

[And it's been a pain in the ass to deal with, quite frankly.]

(What's wrong?)

[goen]

[ Oh, thank god. That's one worry down!! Relief courses across their connection.

Moving on... ]

(Okay... Promise you won't be mad.)

8

[constellates]

Yato!

[ - her answer is immediate? Because when she hears his voice calling for her, of course she'll respond? Then she's blinking as she looks around. She's on the bed? It's dark? But - ]

Ah? School? Did I miss it?

[DID SHE SLEEP THROUGH THE WHOLE DAY why does it feel like there's grains of things in her clothes]

[goen]

[ ha ha clearly anya's imagination. the soreness from fighting james and running around nonstop all day is also her imagination

Yato hits the ground to prostrate himself before her with the kind of rigid intensity that anticipates imminent beheading. If he were bowing any harder, he'd be planking. ]

I stole your body! Forgive me!!

3!

[alienated]

[You know, it's way too nice a day for this bullshit. Which is why, initially, he's only sparing this sordid scene a glance before walking right past it. Quickly. Then, slowly. Slower. And finally, he's stopping.

... He's then doubling right back because, okay. What is this. Does he have to call someone to pick this person up. This seems fine.]

Are you, uh, okay there?

[goen]

[ so like

sometimes you have to take a shot in the dark

Yato puts down his Bible or whatever and makes eye contact with Keith. ]

What do you know about demon possession?

2A

[unenvied]

[!!

When Bruno sees what happens, he doesn't hesitate to crouch down and help with gathering everything.]

Anya, are you all right? How rude of them—they should have at least apologized...

[goen]

[ Who the hell is this

... is a question that Yato has quickly learned to stop asking, because Anya has an infinite number of friends. A good-looking guy friend though, hmmm. Another subject to place on the "how much is he crushing on Anya" spectrum. I'm sorry for Yato

TIME TO GO FULL BLAST ANYA. Bruno gets a sunny smile as they scoop up papers. ]

It is no problem, because now you are here. Доброе утро, good morning! Ready for a new school day?

exorcism

[gudaguda]

[ Sakura's training in the park as usual, with Akita Souji by her side as always. As she's wrapping up for the day, she has noticed that Souji has started smelling something in the air. With her back on her back and her sword by her side, Sakura walks with her dog - letting it lead her to whatever she was smelling.

She was greeted with... this. Scene. The smell of burned incense sticks hangs heavily in the air and Souji barks as she tries to lick the salt mound, only for her to recoil and start barking. This was a weird scene. ]

Umm, hello? It isn't safe to do this kind of thing here...

[ began Sakura experimentally as she pokes the salt mound too. ]

[goen]

[ oh hey it's sakura and souji

Yato stays comfy in his salt blanket, though he sets his book of Shinto teachings down on the salt over his chest. First off, an important question: ]

Do you know who I am?

2a

[lifandi]

[Well that was ...interesting. Touji had just watched a girl, who he's pretty sure has always been friendly with people, not only react oddly when talked to in the hallway but just drift to a stop and stand there.

And as every highschool freshman usually learns quickly, just standing in a hallway doesn't end pleasantly.

Just like now, when the girl is bumped and her things go every which way.

Good thing he's a kind soul(??) and swoops in to help pick up some of the papers before they're ripped up from being walked on.]

You should probably pay more attention; hallways aren't the coziest places for sleep.

[he's totally sorta concerned--just mostly intrigued]

[goen]

[ Yato pauses to look at Touji. An unfamiliar face...

Well, nothing to do but smile. It's what Anya does best, so anything less might seem off. The morning has hardly begun, but Yato is already tired of smiling at strangers. ]

It is Anya's fault. I did not get much sleep last night. It is занятой -- busy, busy with practice.

[ Yato doesn't know if Anya knows this guy, but he'll err on the side of yes?? ]