"Yato!"

Yato stopped short his chat with Kofuku to look at the young high school student who had just irrupted in the main room with thudding footsteps. And the smile from his conversation with the goddess got wiped off his face when he understood that the discussion was serious. Hiyori's expression was closed, and something like faint fear or worry was inscribed in her usually cheerful eyes.

"Yato we need to talk," pressed the girl, out of breath.

"Sorry, Kofuku, I'll be right back," assured the god after having eyed the girl a few seconds more.

Kofuku nodded and watched curiously the duo climb the stairs without saying a word. Hiyori led the god in the spare room in which he lived with Yukine. The god leant on the wall next to the closed window and crossed his arms while the girl sat on the floor.

"We shouldn't be bothered here. Daikoku is outside, and Yukine is watering the garden. What's wrong…? You look pale."

Hiyori sighed. "I'm fine… It's… It's about Fujisaki-senpai. We need to talk about him."

Yato's fists tightened slightly, sensing where the discussion was going. All the discussions concerning his father only went in one direction anyway. "Did he do something to you, Hiyori?"

She was already shaking her head before he had finished speaking, and let her gaze return to her lap. "No… At least not yet. And it's not really to me that he is going to try something either…"

She started explaining before Yato parted his lips to ask explanations. "…Fujisaki-senpai wasn't at school today. When I noticed this, I asked Yama-chan and Ami-chan if they knew something about it, and they told me that they hadn't seen him the entire week."

"Hm… That's weird indeed. But you shouldn't worry about that. He probably had a problem or something like that… Maybe the psycho bitch attacked him or something."

"No, that's not it. I don't think Bishamon-san would attack him out of the blue. No… I know why he wasn't there this week… And I fear that it's linked to Yukine-kun."

Yato frowned at the mention of his kid. "Yukine? What does Yukine got to do in all this?"

"I found a note in my locker before leaving high-school today. It said… It would probably be better if you read it yourself. I… c-couldn't repeat it anyway."

Hiyori rummaged through her school bag, and extirpated a crumpled note from it which she offered to Yato with trembling fingers. Yato raised his brows at the uncharacteristicly shy behaviour of the young girl; he took the handwritten note from Hiyori and read it in his turn. The words were graved deep in the blank paper, in an almost aggressive way. He felt his stomach tie up in a knot as he understood the threat was real. And it was not a light one.

Father had come back, plotting a new scheme just as horrible as always. And Yato didn't appreciate it. Breaking him and and making him suffer until he was almost numb to the pain was a thing, but hurting his family, hurting his kid, was certainly another one.

"I'm sure that it is Fujisaki-senpai's writing. And only he could write something so horrible. Yato, I'm afraid for Yukine-kun. Really afraid…"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "He is going to… Yukine-kun…"

The god let out a dry laugh, still fixing the note. "Well, I would have loved to reassure you by saying that it's not a big deal, but I must admit I'm worried too. Father is crazy, and he would do anything to make me come back to him… I will have to keep a closer eye on Yukine then."

Hiyori could see the worry clouding his eyes, and the anxiety which was making his fingertips twitch in an almost imperceptible way. He was just as worried as she was, if not more. Not that she could blame him…

He sighed before shoving the note in his jacket's pocket and looking outside pensively. "Well, he should have finished by now…"

Hiyori finally looked at Yato. "Are you going to tell him, Yato?"

"Hmm… I will have to tell him, eventually, but I'd prefer not to do now. If I protect him properly, then he won't have to worry about that."

Like that situation wasn't really wrong to begin with. Yukine is in trouble because of me, again.

"But don't worry, Hiyori. Yukine will be fine," said Yato with a lot more assurance than he felt.

"Yes, of course he will… Sorry for freaking out like that," muttered Hiyori.

"No problem. It's not like your reaction was exaggerated anyway. Thanks for telling me."

She nodded, and they descended the stairs together with Yato leading the way. When she heard her friends' footsteps, Kofuku raised her head towards them, but frowned quickly at their expressions. She had been around Yato enough time to understand when something was wrong, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. "…What's wrong, Yato-chan?"

The goddess' words made him jump a little, and he quickly hid behind one of these smiles he was so used to show and not to feel. "Hm? Nothing's wrong, Kofuku. Don't worry."

He pursued before Kofuku could ask any more questions, and advanced towards the kitchen where Kofuku's shinki was. "Hey, Daikoku, why aren't you making food? It's going to be lunchtime soon."

Daikoku ran his hand in his hair, and tsked. "Like I didn't know that. I had bought something a moment ago to make for today, but it's not good anymore."

"It's not such a big deal… You could always prepare something else."

"With what, Yato? The things I asked you to buy yesterday and that you didn't buy, baka?!"

Yato fell to his knees, his hands on his stomach. "Gaaah! But Daikoku! I'm so hungry! Do you want me to starve?!"

A nerved popped on Daikoku's temple. "You're the one squatting here; you should be happy to have any food at all!"

Yukine poked his head out of the opened entrance door, stopping the argument between god and shinki. "You know, Daikoku, I can go to the store if you don't want to go."

Daikoku's frown disappeared as it let place to a relieved smile. "Yeah, that would help a lot. There is some money in the bag. Be careful outside, okay?"

"Yup! If it can make my stupid master shut up, then I will do it."

"Yukineeee, you meanie!"

Yukine put on his shoes in a flash, grabbed a big bag nearby and shouted that he wouldn't take too long before closing the entrance door. He didn't notice Yato's sombre face, but Kofuku, who had started paying a close attention to him as soon as he descended the stairs, did. "What's wrong, Yato-chan?"

The god's lie died on his lips the second he saw Kofuku's eyes. It was clear that she wanted the truth, and nothing else. Regretting the goddess's clairvoyance, he sighed. "…Just read this."

Hiyori felt uneasy when the god took out the crumpled note from his pocket to offer it to the pink-haired goddess. She took it curiously, clearly wondering why Yato was giving her a little paper. Daikoku left the kitchen to rejoin his goddess, and read the curious note in his turn. "What is it about, Kofuku?"

They read it once with slight curiousity, but it was definite horror which dominated their faces the second time they read it. Daikoku was having a hard time making his mouth move. "Yu-Yukine is…?"

New understanding appeared in Kofuku's eyes, and she raised sad eyes towards the too silent god. "So that's why you didn't want Daikoku to… Do you-Do you want me to accompany him? I think I can catch up with him if I leave now. We shouldn't leave him alone…"

The god let out a sigh as he hunched his shoulders. "No, it's fine. It should be fine… I hope so."

But she wasn't reassured. She, like every person in the house, knew how scared of his father Yato was. And it wasn't like Yato's fear was unfounded, after all. His father was crazy.

Each time one of his plans was put in action, a disaster happened. When he had attacked the hospital, Hiyori's social life had been nearly entirely ruined. If she had not been a strong girl, then things could have turned very differently for her.

When he had sent Yato to do that mission in the underworld, Ebisu had died. And even at the very beginning… His first plan of making Yato kill people had completely destroyed the god from the inside. Although they guessed Yato didn't care very much about that last one. Yato never really seemed to care about whatever happened to him, sadly.

A loud door slam startled them about fifteen minutes after Yato had shown them the note, and they all understood that Yukine had come back. As they went to the doorstep, they could faintly hear Yukine mumble under his breath. "Seriously… She is mad."

"Oh, you're back Yukki! We w-What happened to you?"

Yukine tilted his head in confusion at her before eyeing his body. Oh… She was probably mentioning his injuries. Yep, that seemed to be the most logical explanation. "Oh, that… It's nothing, Kofuku-san. It's just one of Nora's Ayakashi which attacked me on the way back. But I'm fine. It left."

Yato stared at him with a closed expression as he eyed his injuries. The injuries were indeed minor, but… He gritted his teeth. The first part of the note had realized itself, to his greatest displeasure. He had to tell him now before things got out of control. Yukine couldn't be in danger. "Come upstairs, Yukine."

Yukine entered in the house further and sat on the genkan to unlace his shoes. "Nah, it's fine… Don't worry. Just some scratches. I'll heal the blights myself."

"Come. We need to talk," insisted Yato, already halfway in the stairs.

Yukine stopped at something in Yato's voice, and turned around to see his god disappearing upstairs without pronouncing a word. He blinked twice before raising his head towards the other members of the house above him. "What's wrong with him…?"

None of his friends gave him the answer he needed. After a moment, Daikoku stopped looking at his feet to sigh. He picked the grocery bag up. "You shouldn't ask us. Talk to him, and maybe you will know the reason."

Yukine frowned at Kofuku's shinki during an instant as he disappeared in the kitchen, before doing as he had advised him to do and following his god upstairs. Daikoku wasn't making any sense either.

He sighed in discomfort, feeling that something important had happened to Yato. And as much as Yato annoyed him and was acting stupidly that he wanted to hit him half of the time, Yukine never liked to see his god unhappy; just like Yato hated to see his shinki upset or sad.

Yato was rummaging through a drawer and stopped short when he heard his shinki's familiar footsteps. "You're here. Hurry up and sit down," ordered Yato without turning back.

With an interrogation-filled look, he dropped next on his futon with a sigh. The injuries he sustained from the fight were making him slightly uncomfortable, but he had a bigger problem now. "What's wrong Yato?"

Startled by his kid's sudden voice in the silence, Yato almost let go of the first-aid kit he was holding but managed to catch it back before it hit the floor. He turned towards his concerned kid with a smile, but he knew neither of them was convinced by it. "…? Did you speak?"

"Yato?" Yukine's voice was more silent now. Yato felt that his kid was genuinely concerned about him, and his heart warmed up a little at his kid's feelings because it was sweet of Yukine to worry about him.

Yato fell to his knees behind Yukine with a sigh. "Take off your shirt… It's nothing you need to worry about."

"You told me it was important."

"…It's not that important, finally. Forget it."

Yukine faced the window and let out a sad laugh. "So you still don't trust me with your problems at the end, despite everything. Huh, who would have thought it? If something really bothers you, you could always go see Nora, you know. At least you can trust her."

Yato tsked. "It's not like that, Yukine… Stop saying this. You know that it's not true."

Yukine turned around angrily. "Then tell me what's wrong! I'm sure you weren't like that this morning. Did you learn something bad today? To make you look so sad…" Yukine's eyes widened while his voice became more silent. "Is it about your father?"

Yato's lips became a tight line. "…Something like that, yeah."

Yukine stayed silent, but he was actually deep in thought. He knew he had to make Yato speak, that the issue was serious, and that he had to choose his words carefully to speak about such a delicate subject. "What did he say to you, Yato? No matter what he said, don't listen to him. It's not true, you know."

"…Aw, you care about my wellbeing, Yukine? That's sweet of you."

"Stupid god… Stop beating about the bush and tell me! You promised to tell me about your problems, so do it, idiot. You're making me lose my time."

"In fact, I said that, but in the opposite order… Anyway, the shirt first, Yukine."

Yukine crossed his arms and made a sulky pout. "I will take off my shirt if you promise me to tell me what's wrong."

Yato sighed as he gave up. His kid could be stubborn if he put his head to it. "Okay, okay. The shirt first, and the info next."

"Bakagami," muttered the shinki.

While Yukine was unbuttoning his shirt, Yato scrambled in the first aid-kit, unable of saying this and face his shinki at the same time. "Hiyori found a note in her locker today. It was Father's handwriting. As for its contents… Let's just sum up by saying that you're going to have trouble with him."

Yukine stopped unbuttoning his shirt. "…Trouble? What trouble? I thought that he just wanted to name me because he wanted to have a hafuri for himself."

"Yeah well, he changed his mind."

Yukine finished to take off his shirt, folded it neatly before putting it on his desk. "So that's why you're acting weirdly? It's just another threat. I told you that I didn't want to become a nora. And I can defend myself just fine."

"Yukine… Nora already attacked you once before. And now she did it again. It was written on the note, you know. If you're injured when she attacks alone, I don't want to know what will happen to you Father gets started too…"

"…"

Yato's blue eyes widened a little, and his voice wavered slightly. "They… They might even kill you, at the end."

"Kill? You're overreact-"

"I'm not!" burst Yato. "I'm not overreacting. Yukine, I lived with Father and Nora. I know them a lot better than you do, and that's why I'm worried whereas you're not. I know their dirty tactics, and their violent methods of doing things. He just warned us with the note, but I know that he is serious. If he catches you, you won't get away with only minor injuries this time. That's for sure."

Yukine sighed and looked at the sun illuminating the sky outside. "…He would have to catch me first. You shouldn't worry too much about that note Yato, whatever's written on it. I'll be fine. I'm strong, and I'm just going to get stronger and stronger day after day so that they won't be able to hurt me next time. Relax."

"…Well, you're already super strong, my little Yukine. You will be fine." But he couldn't help but add in a whisper. "I hope."

"Of course I will be, stupid jersey. Stop doubting me for a second, okay?"

Yato sighed. "Okay. But I want you to tell me where you go, understood? And be careful outside."

"Yes, yes, mom."

Yato laughed and started to treat his injuries. They were indeed slightly blighted scrapes, but Yato didn't like to see wounds on his kid, no matter how small.

He grabbed a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit. He was almost sure that Yukine had not fully understood the weight of the threat; maybe he was still too young for this, but… A painful feeling burst in his chest. He had to protect him anyway. He didn't want to lose Yukine because of Father like he had lost Sakura.

He forced some cheerfulness in his voice; after all, there was no need to worry Yukine about this too. "So, what happened with you? It's Nora again?"

Yukine seemed taken aback by the sudden change of voice, but answered his god with some indignation in his voice. "Hm? Seriously, she is mad, Yato! I was just coming back from the store, and she just came out of nowhere and attacked me. With her strange dolls and her wolves and stuff. She really has a problem with wolves."

Yato laughed at this, with a half-genuine amusement in it. "Maybe. I don't remember her using them a lot when we were living together, though."

"Hmm… Anyway, she got started with her whole 'you stole my place as Yato's shinki so I'm going to kill you and replace you' stuff. After that… Well, we fought again. And then she- OWCH!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"You're trying to kill me too?! It's like a conspiracy with Nora!"

Yato chuckled at his kid's reaction. He was appreciating the fact that Yukine was make him smile. "Hey, I said I'm sorry. If you stopped complaining and just stayed still, it would be finished by now."

"Seriously… Hiyori would have been gentler. I wonder who's causing me to 'complain'," grouched Yukine before letting Yato treat him. And he didn't say anything more. He didn't need to. Yato wasn't sad anymore, and that was the most important thing for him. Not that he would ever admit that to him.

They were halfway through an uncomfortably silent and tense lunch when Yukine finally spoke. "Hey, Hiyori, could you give me a lesson today?"

Her face brightened up and all traces of gloom left immediately. "Yeah, of course, Yukine-kun. It's good to see you care so much about your lessons."

"Yeah, well… I wouldn't like to be as stupid as my master is, after all."

"Yukine!"

Yukine smirked while twisting his fork in the spaghetti in his plate absently. "Stop whining, stupid jersey. You should better thank Hiyori that I'm smart, otherwise your head would be quite empty, I'm afraid."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, thoughts and emotions and stuff go from shinki to gods, right? Then maybe the things I learn every day are starting to fill your empty head and are making you less sutpid."

Everybody laughed at Yukine's comment. "Hey, I'm not stupid!"

"You're as stupid as your hands are dry, I'm afraid, which means not at all…" said Yukine around a mouthful of food.

"Show some respect to your god, Yukine!" He blinked a few times before noticing the others were laughing too. "H-Hey, stop laughing all of you! Waaah! Even Hiyori is mocking me!"

Once the table was cleared and the adults had left the room, they sat in front of each other to start. Math was one of Yukine's favourite subjects among all the ones that Hiyori had proposed him until now, and would be today's subject too. Not only it interested him, but he was quite talented at it. Anyway, he thought he was. Until this particular lesson.

"It's wrong, Yukine-kun!"

"Ack, again?! But why?! I followed the method like you told me to…"

"You made a common mistake. Because look, if you develop this…" Hiyori scribbled a few remarks on Yukine's notebook. "It won't be equal to this at the end."

"Oh, right…"

"Start over."

Yukine scratched his head and retried to solve the equation. He didn't think the math lesson would be this hard today. Well, truth to be told, Hiyori's lessons were always hard, so he supposed he should have expected that.

Hiyori looked at the little boy struggling with the exercice with a tender smile on her face. She was really happy to have all these lessons with him. But the curve of her lips quickly turned downwards as she realized something. Yukine was a really young shinki, certainely not older than fifteen years old.

How could a young boy like him die at such a young age? It wasn't normal: people didn't usually die during secondary school. Could he have had an accident? And why was he so scared of the dark? This kind of phobia usually had disappeared at his age…

His death was definitely an event shrouded in a mystery. And with Fujisaki's threat still hovering above him…

"-i! Hey, Hiyori!"

Startled out of her thoughts, she tilted her head towards her student and smiled hesitantly. "Y-Yes, Yukine-kun? Have you finished?"

He raised an eyebrow, but decided to ask her what he wanted to instead of asking her what was wrong. "Is it good now?" asked Yukine showing his notebook.

She read the answer on his notebook with furrowed brows, compared it to hers and lighted up brightly. "It is better, Yukine-kun! You're doing a lot of progress. Keep training like that and you will be ready for the test I planned next week. You worked very well."

The hafuri blushed a little at the praise. "Thanks."

She reciprocated his sweet smile. A soft melody rang in the silent room. Hiyori reached for her phone in her schoolbag, before flipping it open. She frowned a second as she read the message she just received and sighed. "Oh… I'm sorry, Yukine-kun, but I must come back home... My parents just had an emergency apparently, and told me to come home now."

His smile disappeared as it let place to disappointment. He would have appreciated her staying a little bit more. "I see… An emergency, huh? I hope it's alright."

"Oh! Don't worry; it's very probably nothing serious, Yukine-kun. They would have told me otherwise. But I can pass tomorrow, if you want me to. I'll even bring you a little present for all your hard work," said Hiyori winking.

A voice irrupted in the room before Yukine could answer. "Hey hey, the little students! How is work going?" said Yato, coming closer from the duo, waving a sake-filled bottle around.

"Go away, we're working!" said Yukine angrily as he threw one of his books to his god.

"Hey, what have I done!? Don't be mean like that!"

"What do you want, bakagami."

Yato huddled in a corner of the room comically, wounded by his shinki's behaviour, and Hiyori laughed a little at his childish reaction. "I-I just wanted to help you understand your lesson, i-if you had not understood it already. I'm bored," mumbled Yato with exaggerated tears leaking from his eyes.

"...You wanted to help me with maths?"

Yato faced his shinki with a giant smile, and Yukine wondered where all the earlier sadness had gone to. "Yup! As Hiyori said, I could explain you the next math lesson. I have already studied that a long time ago."

"Tch. As if you were capable of understanding something."

"Yukine!"

"Well Yato, you could start to explain him the next lesson if you want to help him. I put a post-it on one of his manual's page, that's where the lesson and the exercices begin. I'm sure Yukine-kun will understand quickly," encouraged the girl with a gentle smile.

Yukine felt the corners of his mouth turn upwards at the praise. "Thanks Hiyori, I'll do my best. Be careful outside, okay? See you tomorrow!"

The girl nodded before quitting the house, her pink scarf swaying in the wind behind her, leaving the god and the shinki alone in the main room. "You're such a mean shinki, to treat your master like that. So, gimme the book so that I can see what it is about."

Yukine stayed hesitant, but finally explained his problem to Yato. "Oh, you're doing that? It's easy, you will see."

The god smiled softly, grabbed a pen from Yukine's pencil case, and started to explain his shinki the lesson. Yato liked to do that, all his worries were disappearing little by little as he focused solely on the equations written on the book. After a good ten minutes, Yukine's eyes widened. "Oh… So that's how you do it. It's easy, actually. You're a lot smarter than you look."

"Hey!"

And here came back the insults Yato was so used to. It felt right, and eased his worries. "That reminds me; I've found us a job, Yukine!"

The hafuri picked his pencil up, but didn't raise his nose from his mathematics exercises after that. "What will it be this time?"

"Ayakashi!"

He sighed. "We already killed some this morning. For a change, you killed enough, so why bother more? I'm tired. I wanted to eat and then go to sleep."

"Yukine... don't be like that. Honestly, it has been a while since you last came with me on a job, you know. Not just killing ayakashi every day, mecanically… A real job. Jobs... feel sad without you," cried Yato with puppy dog eyes.

Yukine released his pencil in frustration, which hit the table with a sharp noise. "Gah! Yato, stop whining! I can't concentrate when you keep doing that! Go bother someone else!"

"If you can't concentrate, then it's settled! Come with me, Yukine! I promise it will be funny!"

"Whose fault do you think it is if I can't focus on my homework, jackass?!"

Yato sat next to his hafuri and leant on him with pleading eyes, almost begging him. "No time to wonder about this! C'mon Yukine, come with me! Please please please please please..."

Yukine sighed after a moment and stood up, an undecipherable emotion passing in his eyes. "You're impossible. Okay, let's do this already."

"But you never want to come with m- Wait, did you say yes?"

"It's true that it has been a while since our last job... Not that it's my fault if everything you do is boring to death. But if I know that if you keep whining like you are doing right now, then I will have no choice but to murder you because you're really getting on my nerves right now, so let's go already. I have homework to do."

Yato smiled and stood up too. "Yup!"

The god headed for the door, but stopped before reaching it. Not knowing where she was precisely in the house, Yato decided to shout. "Hey Kofuku! Yukine and I are going on a job!"

A loud voice answered them, and Yukine grumbled as he put his hands on his ears. Kofuku was just in the kitchen; there was no need to shout. Yukine honestly wondered sometimes if Yato was doing certain things on purpose just to annoy him. "Okaay! Be careful, Yukki and Yato-chan! Try to come back before 7 or you're going to miss dinner!"

Yato opened his mouth to answer her back, but Yukine whacked him behind the head before he could shout again. "Y-Yes, Kofuku-san! Don't worry, we won't be late."

Pinching Yato's ear, Yukine dragged his god outside the house. "She was just in the kitchen, imbecile. There was no need to shout!"

"Ouch, ouch! I understood, so let my ear alone!"

The shinki let go of his god with a sigh, wondering how many times he had thought that Yato was stupid today. He was really tiring sometimes. "Ouch… You're such a mean shinki, Yukine. Take your blouson; it's going to be cold outside."

Yato zipped his usual tracksuit entirely as Yukine fetched his favourite khaki parka. Yukine frowned at his god when he was done. "Aren't you going to be cold, Yato?"

"Aw, Yukine… You worry for me that much? It's embarrassing, you know… Hee hee."

Yukine looked hurriedly at the ground with embarrassement and growled. "As if. Do what you want, I don't care."

Yato grinned. "Thanks though, Yukine. Take an umbrella too, it's raining."

Yukine obeyed without adding any further comment. Yato had embarrassed him enough. He grabbed a grey umbrella, and left the house alongside with Yato. He took a step, and then stopped. Now that he thought about it, it had been a moment since they last did a job together...

After opening their umbrellas, Yato started walking, Yukine a few steps behind him. The night streets were deathly silent, but the lamps were starting to light up, reassuring the shinki a little bit.

Without turning back, Yato spoke. "Are you afraid, Yukine?"

"Afraid? N-"

"No need to hide it from me, Yukine," cut Yato. "I can feel your fear anyway. Is it too dark for you? Do you want to come back home? We can always do another job."

Yukine shoved the hand which wasn't holding the umbrella in his pocket and stared at the ground. His voice was barely louder than the pouring rain around him. "No... It's fine. It's not that dark, the lamps are lit... And you won't be able to do the job without me anyway."

"Sure? You always have the choice, you know." Yato's voice sounded sadder this time, but he still didn't turn back. He absolutely didn't want to make Yukine relive the horrible experience he suffered when he was alive. Feeling trapped in the darkness, the feeling of suffocating…

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Plus, you're still inju-"

"Ugh, are you my mom or my master? Seriously. Stop treating me like a child; I'm fine, don't worry."

Yato smirked soudlessly. They continued to walk silently on the sidewalk until they arrived nearby a thick forest with a seemingly infinite number of trees. The more Yukine looked at the forest, the more it looked dark. Despite his earlier words and reassurances, Yukine felt unease start to rise in him. "…Must we really go in there?"

Yato caressed his nape with his fingertips as Yukine's fear hit him. "It will be fine, don't worry. We won't go that far in it. Unless you really want to come home…" murmured Yato.

"…No, it's fine… Focus on putting one foot in front of the other; that's all you're capable of anyway."

Yato let out a frosty sigh and entered the forest. Yukine gulped anxiously before following him. But to Yukine's greatest pleasure, the sound of Yato's footsteps in the rain didn't last very long. A dozen colourful Ayakashi surrounded them before they could advance further.

Yato flashed a confident grin to his shinki as he declared. "Well, it looks like the job directly came to us. You're ready to fight, Yukine?"

Yukine made a puzzled expression and muttered. "B-But you said that the job wouldn't be killing Ayakashi…"

Yato either didn't pay attention to what Yukine had said or didn't hear as he repeated. "Ready, Yukine?"

The shinki used a few more seconds to try to decipher his god's plan before giving up. He was being illogical as usual. "Okay, I give up. Let's do this, Yato!"

Yato smiled, and sprang forward. "Sekki!"

Yato passed a hand though his hair, and let the back of one of the swords rest on his shoulder. "Revert, Yuki."

The swords disappeared as Yukine returned to normal, and he let out a little relieved sigh. They had finished the job without much complication, and neither of them was injured.

Yato slid his shinki's head under his arm and ruffled his hafuri's hair. "You did great, Yukine! I'm so proud of you!"

Yukine's cheeks went redder than a tomato as he futilely tried to escape one of his master's exaggerated ways of expressing his pride. "Ack! S-Stop it, idiot god!"

The latter completely ignored his demand, and only tightened his grip and ruffled his hair more. "There were really a lot of Ayakashi, you know. Aah, I'm really proud of my kid! To handle them like that… You're really a genius!"

The hafuri escaped from his master's grip and rearranged his tousled hair. "Y-You already said this. And... Protecting my master is my main function, s-so there is no need to be proud or anything like that... You're rambling like an old man."

Yato's grinned widened. "You are happy."

Just when he thought his face couldn't be redder. Of course: he was Yato's hafuri, and all his emotions were transmitted to him. Yato thought the kick to the stomach he received was deserved. "Sh-Shut up! How do we come home anyway?! Kofuku-san told us to come back before 7!"

"Gaah! Yukine, it huuuuuurts!"

"Shut up, Yato! If you weren't annoying, like, 99% of the time then I wouldn't have needed to hit you!"

"99%? What about the last percent?"

"It's when you're sleeping. The only moment when you finally let your jaw rest a little." He seemed to think a moment. "Well no, given that even in your sleep you can't stop being noisy and talking and muttering and laughing like a psychopath, you're annoying 100% of the time. Congratulations."

"Ouch… So mean. W-We just have to backtrack. We should be home in something like fifteen minutes."

He turned hastily and mumbled lowly. "Then let's go home already. Kofuku-san will be worried."

Seriously, Yato didn't always need to make a big deal out of it... Protecting his master was his job; there was nothing to brag about. But, he didn't know how, Yato always managed to find something to be proud of; even in the simplest tasks he was given. He yawned, because Yato was tiring him with his silly actions and silly speeches, honestly.

Yato picked the muddy umbrellas from the ground before following his kid, injury forgotten.

"Is my little Yukine tired?" asked Yato playfully.

Yukine continued to walk without looking behind him, but halted when he saw that he had arrived on a little bridge. He was sure they had not passed by it while they came, plus this bridge looked awfully familiar.

But he felt like something was different… Like a sound had disappeared behind him… And…

The sound of a falling drop of water made itself heard.

"Hello, Yukine..." whispered a ghostly voice in his ear.

He squeaked and turned around. "N-Nora!"

Nora was sat on one of the bridge's barrier, amused by Yukine's surprised reaction. The girl started swinging her legs innocently. "Oh, Yukine... Tell me, why are you alone?"

"Ha! You're blind or something? Yato is-" his eyes widened when he saw her smile. He searched around him frantically. Yato was just with him a few seconds ago. "Yato?"

He threw her a look burning with fury. "What have you done with Yato, stray?!"

She forced herself not to react to the insult and to keep her smile. "Oh, Yato? Don't worry, he is fine. He is just following an illusion of you I created. He wouldn't be happy if he saw what is going to happen to you, anyway," a sick smile appeared on her face. "And I only want his happiness."

"…You're mad, Nora. Like, entirely mad."

She became more serious. "And without him… you are all alone. Without him to protect you, you're weak. That's why we will take care of you today."

"…We?"

An older man appeared next to the nora, so big that he was completely blocking the moonlight and that Yukine couldn't see his face. The only thing he could see of the man was his big shadow, contrasting with Nora's white clothes and completely recovering the scared hafuri. Not taking time to understand why she was here or what the older man wanted, he separated himself from them with the strongest borderline he could create, and rushed towards the forest in a hope to find Yato.

"It's useless to run, Yukine." said Nora as she snapped her fingers.

Five masked wolves-like Ayakashi appeared from some nearby bushes, making Yukine stop immediately in his attempt to go in the forest. They were growling with drool dripping from their mouths, and Yukine sensed the immediate danger emanating from them.

"You have nowhere to run."

Yukine clenched his fist. So he would have to fight, huh.

But Nora had miscalculated one thing. An important detail. Not only Yato was probably searching him now, but he was a hafuri. He was strong. And he was going to make Nora remember this.

The wolves all jumped on him faster than he thought and made him slam loudly on the ground. His skull throbbed something horrible when it made contact with the ground. They were a lot heavier than what they looked, because Yukine couldn't move any of his limbs as one of them crouched on him. Yukine only winced when one of their fangs went deep in his ankle, but yelled when he felt some flesh being torn from his arm.

The borderline separating Yukine from the danger weakened and weakened until it disappeared completely. The man advanced towards the trapped boy, looking supremely unfazed by his pain. "Yaboku's hafuri, you're going to accompany us now."

Yukine smiled with bloodied lips and struggled to move one of his blighted arms. He couldn't give up. Yato would come soon. He had always saved him when he needed to be saved. "BORDELINE!"

One of the Ayakashi was hit by the spell and disappeared, while the four others only stepped back from the menacing barrier. He wiped the blood on his lips and turned towards Nora with a mocking face, although he guessed he didn't look very mocking, wounded like he was. "You'll have to try harder if you want to hurt me, Nora-chan. You're underestimating me with these ayakashi. They're all as weak as kittens."

Her face hardened at the nickname for a second. He was really starting to get on her nerves with this attitude. She couldn't wait to finally kill him. "You've gotten stronger. But… I wonder who is underestimating who there, Yukine. You managed to kill one of them, true, but… My beloved Ayakashi aren't weak. Right?"

Yukine's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he turned his head towards what Nora was pointing with her finger. The four wolves became nine as soon as Nora finished speaking. "Let's see, how will you do now?"

Yukine laughed humourlessly. Well, now it's going to be fun… It's like the second level of her crazy game.

The wolves came back to the offensive and dashed into Yukine's borderline, shattering it into a millions of tiny shards. But Yukine refused to give up. He wouldn't disgrace his god like that. So he took a step back, and focused on the wolves, and solely on them. Not on the pain he felt on the back of his head, not on the sting which was burning him.

He had to kill the wolves before they killed him. He swung his arm horizontally, and threw a borderline. Two wolves disappeared. And a few borderlines later, the six remaining wolves had disappeared. Yukine almost allowed himself to fall on his knees and calm down a little, but a little detail struck him and made him frown.

Because he had killed eight wolves. Weren't they nine?

He felt a great strength push him to the ground and couldn't resist it. Once his body made contact with the ground, he gasped loudly because he was in so much pain-

The remaining wolf left the bush in which he was hiding, and ran towards him. Yukine felt his heart racing, and a feeling of fatality struck him. He closed his eyes. This time, it was over. He still tried to raise his blighted arm to kill it but…

Yato, I'm s-

He didn't even have time to finish that thought. The wolf bit him in the throat, he yelped, and everything went dark.