Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami or any of the characters
Nora remembered the first time she met Yukine a year ago. Her brother, Yato, had brought him home late one night. He was beaten and on the verge of death so Nora didn't think that he would survive. But, by some miracle, he did. When he woke, he had no memory of who he was so Yato offered him a job as a servant in the castle. He also gave him another, unofficial duty that irritated her to no bounds.
"Nora, where are you? It's time for you to return home." She grumbled to herself when she heard Yukine's voice. He was her unofficial bodyguard appointed by her brother. No matter how many times she insisted that she was strong enough to protect herself, Yato said that Yukine should watch over her. Who cares if she had the tendency to wonder off and cause mischief as long as she returned before the sun set.
She could hear his voice approaching her so she picked up her basket and ran deeper into the garden to evade him. She wasn't finish collecting roses but she knew that Yukine would drag her back no matter what she said. Nora loved her brother but Yukine couldn't irritate her more and she didn't understand why her brother insisted on keeping him.
"Where is that girl?" Yukine sighed heavily as he looked around the green house next to the castle. He was certain that he saw her enter but he couldn't find her now. A part of Yukine wanted to leave and not bother with her but Yato told him to protect her. He owed Yato his life and vowed to serve his family until his dying breath.
If only he knew that Yato had the most stubborn sister in existence when he made that vow. Nora might be a princess but she was far from the docile character found in fairy tales. He couldn't count the number of times they fought and argued. Sometimes, he wondered how she could be related to someone as kind and carefree as Yato.
Yukine found a cut rose on the ground and picked it up. He looked down the path and he saw that there was a trail of roses leading to a tree. As he walked to the tree, he picked up each rose. Like he expected, he found Nora hiding in the tree and he called up to her. "Hide and seek is over so get down here. Hiyori made dinner tonight and it's going to get cold."
"I'm not playing a game." Nora jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully next to him. The glare she gave him could've froze over hell but he didn't flinch away from it. He knew her for a year now and she didn't intimidate him anymore. "If you must know, I was collecting flowers for our guest. Brother said another suitor will be dining with us."
"What do you have planned?" Yukine's eyes narrowed and she merely gave him a small smile in return. He knew that only trouble followed that smile and he wondered what she had planned. Nora was a princess with tremendous spiritual power so many suitors tried to win her hand but failed. More often than not, they left with bruises. "When will you grow up?"
"You have no right to speak down on me!" Nora scoffed. They were the same age and her station was above his so she didn't know why he always spoke to her so casually. She was prepared to argue further but she stopped when he held out a bouquet of roses.
"You dropped these when you were running from me, didn't you? You were planning to give these to your suitor, weren't you?" Yukine bit his lip as she hesitantly took them from him. She never took an interest in a suitor so he wondered what was different about this man. He didn't know why he cared. Without thinking, he picked a leaf from her hair. "You're a princess but you act like a child."
"I do not act like a child!" Nora insisted and thrust her basket to him. She blushed at his simple touch and she quickly walked ahead of him. Behind her, she heard Yukine groan but quickly followed her. He fell into step beside her and they walked together silently. She watched Yukine from the corner of her eyes and wondered what he was thinking.
The dinner was tense as it always was whenever a suitor dined with the family. They were all waiting for Nora to do something to chase away her suitor. Yukine watched her carefully but she calmly sipped her soup. He didn't see the roses she picked earlier and his eyes narrowed.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, your highness." The man took Nora's hand and gave it a customary kiss. She was quick to take her hand back and wiped it with a napkin, not caring if the prince was offended. The man only cared about her spiritual power so she didn't see why she should care about him. Yukine had to chuckle at the man's expression and pity him slightly.
"Likewise." Nora said half-heartedly and he sat in the chair next to him. Almost immediately, he stood and screamed in pain. The only person that didn't react to his scream was Nora who continued to eat. Yukine ran to them and saw that there were thorns on his chair. It didn't take him long to guess that Nora was the one that placed them there.
"I was expecting you to have a more entertaining reaction." She used her powers to lift the thorns and twirl them in the air for the prince to see. "But you just screamed like a pathetic maid. You must think highly of yourself if you think that you can court me. A man that does not have a sense of his own surroundings is not worthy of me."
With a flick of her fingers, Nora used her powers to fling the small thorns at the man's feet. "I don't feel like playing with you anymore so you can leave now. Hiyori, please bring out the next course while Yukine escort this man away. So, Yato, tell me about your day."
"Don't look down on me and ignore me, bitch!" The man screamed and he raised his hand to strike her. Almost instinctively, Yukine stepped between them and he used his power to knock his hand away. He didn't need to do anything more but he felt rage bubble in him and he punched the man. His voice was as cold as ice as he glared down at the man.
"Leave." Luckily, the man didn't fight him and turned away with a huff. The room was silent after the man slammed the door behind him. Yato was the one that broke the silence when he burst out into laughter and Nora quickly joined him. Yukine could only sigh as he watched them and wonder how the two could be the most powerful family in the land.
"Did you see his face?" Yato tried to stifle his laughter but failed. "That was a pretty tame prank for you Nora but it was still fun. I guess it's best because the poor boy wouldn't be able to handle you. If he did try to fight you, he wouldn't be able to walk out. But you've really improved your control, Yukine."
"He just blocked a simple punch. What about me? My control is much better than his." Nora pouted and she used her powers to control the thorns again. Yato only smiled at the two and let them go about their little rivalry. Despite appearances, he knew that they liked each other more than they would admit. Why else would Nora continue to let Yukine protect her?
"I don't understand why you keep inviting those men." Nora huffed and crossed her arms. "I don't want to get married and I doubt I'd find a man that I'm willing to give myself to. They're all weak and marrying a person beneath me will reflect poorly on our family."
"I thought it would be good for you to interact with more people." Yato told her with a kind smile. She still didn't look convinced and returned to eating. Nora didn't have a single friend to her name but she never lamented that fact. Everyone she met were only interested in her power and only her family showed unconditional kindness to her.
"Pardon me," They looked up when a servant entered the room. "We just received a letter from your father."
"Father sent a letter!" Nora jumped to her feet excitedly and ran to take the letter from him. While she appeared happy, Yato frowned and worried over the letter. She was closer to their father than he was and blissfully ignorant of their father's nature. "I'm going to my room to read his letter. Have stationary sent to my room so I can write a reply right away."
Yato watched her leave before he turned to Yukine. "Can you keep an eye on Nora tomorrow and tell me if she acts weird?"
"Sure." Yukine said readily. His master had a concerned expression he never seen before and he wondered what caused it.
Yukine stood in front of Nora's door, debating if he should knock or not. His gut told him that something was wrong and it was most likely because of the letter. But he didn't know if it was his place to interfere. On the other hand, he was certain that Nora wouldn't accept his help. He ran his hand through his hair and groaned. "Why am I even worried about that girl?"
When Yukine would've left, he realized that he couldn't sense Nora's spiritual energy inside her room. He quickly used his power to unlock the door and walked into his room. It was empty and he swore softly to himself when he saw the open window. Why didn't he realize that she was gone sooner? It was his duty to protect her.
There was doubt in his mind that she would be on the roof. She would always escape to high places when something was bothering her and this time was no different. Yukine climbed to the roof and found her curled into a ball, looking up at the stars. Her shoulders were stiff and Yukine started to reach out to her but stopped himself.
"You're going to get a cold out here." Yukine said and she turned sharply at him. From her reaction, he knew that she hadn't sensed him and that worried him even more. He saw the letter crumpled in her hand and choose his words carefully. "Are you okay?"
"What do you care? Just leave me alone." Nora clicked her tongue at him and turned away from him. But she seemed so tense that he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Since they met, she had been nothing but stubborn and a general pain so the Nora before him confused him. He sat down next to her without a word and waited for her to feel comfortable enough to speak.
"I can't leave you alone out here where you can be attacked. Yato told me to protect you."
"You're weaker than me and you don't know half the spells I do. How does he expect you to protect me?" Nora shot the insult at him but it didn't chase Yukine away. Her pride wouldn't allow her to show weakness to anyone but Yukine's kind, amber eyes tempted her to. "What can you do for me?"
"Look, I know we never got along but something's bothering you. It's going to affect Yato. You might not think I can do much but the least I can do is listen." Yukine said softly and she finally faced him again. There was a vulnerability in her eyes that he never saw before.
"Have you ever thought, 'If only I was someone else'? That people don't look at you and only see a power they can use as a tool. Father sent for me. I want to go help him. But I don't at the same time." Nora admitted and knew that she must've sounded like a contradiction to him. He came to Yato's home a year ago so he didn't know about their complicated family.
"Father allowed me to live with Yato for the time being but he needs me again so I will have to return home. This is the first place my powers didn't matter and I don't want to leave. That's the reason I rejected all those suitors. If I get married, I would have to live in a new country and leave my family. But I will have to leave if Father demands it."
Yukine didn't know what to say in response but he still tried. "At least you know who you are. You don't go, 'If only I knew who I am'. Anyways, Yato's your brother so I'm sure he would help you. How about we talk to him tomorrow? Maybe he can convince your father to let you stay."
"Maybe." Nora said but knew that there was little chance of that. She felt a warm hand on her head and was surprised that it was Yukine's. The reassuring smile he gave her almost made her think that there was a chance that she could stay.
When there's no fanfic of your fav crack ship, you write one of your own xD I did want to write more after A Warm Hand but really couldn't think of anything. I decided to make an AU for them just so I have more to work with and not be constrained by the canon story line.