He cursed Yato and his laziness, really.

His master was the one squatting at Kofuku and Daikoku's house, but refused to do anything to help them. Hence Yukine proposed himself to go get something to have for dinner, after shooting a particularly angered look at his god. His situation was far from improving. Yato had even started to develop some strategies to avoid work and chores, such as coming home by the window so that Daikoku didn't know he was here. It worked for a moment, until Yukine got angry with his master and denounced him to Daikoku.

He had thought, upon watching his god being destroyed by Kofuku's shinki, that maybe Yato was going to be a little bit more reasonable now, but apparently not. The early job's time began just after that. Not being here during day left Yukine and sometimes Hiyori do his chores instead. But of course, he would come home in time for dinner, and would make sure to take a breakfast before leaving. What a lazy god.

He didn't like being outside, really. Not at night; it was too dark, too stressful. You never knew what was lurking in the dark. He gritted his teeth silently before speeding up his pace a little. The sooner he was home, the sooner he would be fine. And the sooner he could beat up Yato for this.

"Stupid Yato," muttered the shinki, tightening his grip on the grocery bag's handle. "I'm fed up with doing your chores. Next time you do something stupid I'm going to triple your Ayakashi quota."

He was passing by the sakura tree when a familiar silhouette facing it caught his attention, making him slow down before stopping. He stared at the person's back a moment with a faint frown.

Suzuha…? What is he doing here?

Someone rejoined his friend before he could call for him. Yukine was too far from them to hear their conversation, but judging by Suzuha's reaction when he turned towards him, he wasn't dangerous. Suzuha smiled at him and they both looked back at the sakura together.

His earlier conversation with him about Tomoko suddenly came back to his mind as he tried to find a reason to Suzuha's presence. The sadness in his voice when he mumbled that it had been thirty years since he had last seen her, the melancholy painted all over his face when he had caressed the inscription they had engraved together in the sakura's trunk with his fingertips. The corners of his mouth turned downwards as he felt a stab of sorrow for his friend. Maybe he was simply mourning for her with the stranger in this night.

Feeling out of place of what seemed to be a reunion in remembrance of Suzuha's female friend, he resumed his walk with a lump in his throat, more slowly this time. Despite all the promise of seeing each other again and all the moments they had spent together… Tomoko had still forgotten all the time she had spent with Suzuha.

Her memory normally returned each summer, when she passed by the flowerbed Suzuha loved to take care of. She would never remember him, but… She would still come back year after year, be amazed by the flowers' beauty, and have the pleasure of making Suzuha's acquaintance again.

This painful process of forgetting and learning came to an end one summer when she never came back. And… what had happened to her could as well be an alternate scenario of what could happen to Hiyori. Because of – or thanks to – Yato, she was half-Ayakashi, so she was tied more strongly to this world of gods and shinki than Tomoko, but still… He felt dangerously close to start crying. Hiyori was still half-human. And she could forget. And he didn't want to.

"It's so sad… Even your master has forgotten you."

Yukine stopped a second time at these words, wondering if he had heard them right. The stranger was walking away from a frozen Suzuha, and had spoken slightly louder this time. "You will never get close to anyone."

"What…" breathed Yukine, horrified, unwillingly letting go of the bag with a soft thump.

"There's nothing for you."

That's when Yukine snapped, his angered voice breaking through the silence and startling both Suzuha and the stranger. "That's not true!"

Forcefully brushing past the white-haired man, he rushed to Suzuha's side. Yato had been there to comfort him about this issue, and now it was his turn. An irrepressible sentiment of fear mixed with panic made him grip his friend's shoulders a little too tightly, and maybe speak a little too loud. "Hey Suzuha, you mustn't listen to him!"

"Y-Yukine…" Yukine winced at his broken voice, devoid of all Suzuha's usual cheeriness. There was no way Suzuha had been reduced to this wreck just because of a handful of words: no, he must have been really struggling emotionally recently to be this affected by simple words. Yukine lowered his head, ashamed not to have seen something was wrong earlier.

Time wasn't to regret, however. He quickly regained his composure and stared at his friend's eyes, hoping he was getting through him. "Suzuha, listen to me. None of what he said is true. You… You and I are friends, aren't we? You are close to me; you do mean something to me! You're… my dearest friend, Suzuha. The first friend I ever had. Don't listen to him and his nonsense! You're stronger than that! Stronger than him!"

Suzuha's eyes softened a little and his expression of shock transform into a wobbly smile upon hearing Yukine's lasts words. Hearing that his existence was treasured by someone; at least someone cared about him. Maybe he wasn't that useless in the end. "Y-Yukine…"

The stranger turned back to the two young shinki, looking mildly annoyed by this. "I don't want to be rude, but you're kind of interrupting our discussion. Say, why don't you go back to your god of calamity and leave us alone, hm?"

Yukine shifted so that his emotionally weakened friend wouldn't see the white-haired man. "First of all, never insult my god again. And there is no way I will let you verbally abuse him any longer. Who the hell are you, to talk to Suzuha like that?!"

"No need to get worked up," he answered with a polite smile. "I'm Kugaha. Pleased to meet you, kid."

"I'm absolutely not pleased to meet you, bastard." This mocking attitude was seriously getting on his nerves. "Be sure your goddess is going to learn what you have just done. You have no right to talk to Suzuha like that. Now leave him alone."

As if on purpose, the lights of the streetlamps, sole source of light in this night, flickered once, and twice, before finally staying on. Yukine felt himself tremble at these few seconds of total darkness, which had been more than enough to make him start panicking again. He had been so worried about Suzuha that he had almost forgotten his fear of the dark. Almost forgotten.

Kugaha smirked mockingly when he saw Yukine's legs start to tremble. "What, are you scared of the dark?"

He wanted to come home now. Right now, his phobia of the dark was acting up again and it was making him having difficulties to breathe and he knew he should be home already, but there was no way he could let Suzuha like that. He had made his choice. Suzuha wouldn't stay alone with this madman. He thought about it for a second, and guessed that Yato probably wouldn't be angry if Suzuha stayed at Kofuku's shrine just for this night. And neither would Daikoku and Kofuku be.

Yukine frowned when Kugaha suddenly burst out laughing and gripped Suzuha's hand from behind. Suzuha weakly squeezed it back. "What's so funny? Leave Suzuha and me alone. I-I won't let you-"

"Leave Suzuha alone, huh… Kid, stop acting all strong, you're shaking like a leaf. And in all honestly, it wouldn't be such a good idea to leave him alone, would it? Because if I do… Tell me Suzuha, who is going to be by your side then? Bishamon? She doesn't even know you exist."

Suzuha flinched as if he had been directly hit, and fury flooded Yukine, eclipsing his fear temporarily. How dared he say that?! "Bishamon is his goddess; of course she cares about him! She cares about all her shinki, and Suzuha too! The only shinki she should release already is you!"

"You really are an annoying kid," cut Kugaha with irritation. "Exactly the type of kid I can't support, thinking you know everything. Tell me, then. You're his friend, so you must know, right? A simple question. What's his weapon form?"

Yukine's anger evaporated as he stayed mouth slightly agape at the question. Suzuha's weapon form? "I-It's…" He closed and opened his mouth several times, rummaging through all his memories for an answer that didn't want to come. Suzuha must have had mentioned it. He must have. "O-One day, we were talking about the shinki Bishamon-sama used when she fought, and… you told me… um… it's…"

Suzuha released a pitiful sound from deep within his throat at Yukine's lack of response. He whispered something that Yukine couldn't hear, his head hung down, a fringe of dark brown hair hiding his lacklustre eyes. Yukine glanced at behind him, alarmed when he saw him start to tremble. "S-Suzuha, I-"

Kugaha's smirk widened. "You don't know his weapon form, do you? But don't worry, really. It was a trick question; you couldn't have found the answer. He couldn't have told you. After all, it has been so long that Suzuha's been called that even he has forgotten his weapon form."

"But Bishamon's not the only person who has forgotten about you, is she? Yeah, there's that human girl from the Near Shore too… Tomoko, was it? Say… what can you tell me about her? How old is she now? What's her family name? Has she contacted you recently? After all… You mattered so much for her. She couldn't have forgotten you like that, could she?"

Yukine's eyes darkened as he understood the true intentions of that man. He was destroying Suzuha's soul, overwhelming him with bad feelings and negative thoughts so that he would be an easy prey for Ayakashi. He would be damned if he didn't make that man shut up now. "That's enough," barked Yukine. His whole being was radiating with rancour when he stepped towards Kugaha. "I won't let you accomplish what you want to with Suzuha. Shut up now before I force you doing so."

"What a foul mouth you have. Teenagers, I swear... I have somewhere to go anyway, unlike him. Bishamon needs me, so I will let him alone. But before I leave, I'd like to have a little fight with you. You know, you're the shinki of a god of calamity… I'm just curious to see your strength. You don't mind that so much, do you?"

One quick look at Suzuha made Yukine's fists clench hard. He couldn't let Suzuha be destroyed, and the way he had said that he wanted a fight sounded more like an order than a demand. If being beaten in a fight would make him finally leave, then fine. "Fine," retorted darkly Yukine. "I'm going to make you regret what you have proposed. And don't ever speak about my god like that again, or I will make you regret it."

Something like a rapid gust of deadly wind passed close, very close to Yukine's throat. He took a step back in fear, and managed to dodge it just in time for the borderline to leave only a shallow cut on Yukine's throat as a proof of its passage. He didn't even have time to recover from his shock as he saw what the borderline had been originally aimed at.

He hurriedly swung his arm horizontally to annul the line which was meant to slash his friend's throat. "Borderline!" The two clashed with equal strength, to Kugaha's great surprise, and the shock wave sent Suzuha flying a few metres backwards. The shinki hit his head against the sakura with a too loud sound in Yukine's taste, and fell limp against it. Unconscious.

"Suzuha!"

Kugaha whistled. "Not bad at all…! I didn't think you would manage to destroy it. You're stronger than you look, that's for sure." He would have started to seriously worry if his enemy had been an adult with Yukine's strength. But now, he was facing a child. A young, scared and vulnerable child, and was determined to use this fact at his advantage. He knew he would win. "But you have no time to worry for him, kid; the fight has to get an issue first. And it's not like he is that important either…"

Yukine growled low in his throat before attacking him again. How dared he denigrate Suzuha's existence like that? Like he was no one important, not an existence worth worrying over or caring about? These thoughts fuelled an uncontrolled rage in him which strengthened his borderlines one after another as he threw them towards his opponent. Kugaha dodged them with a mocking ease, deciding the end would come soon. "Hey, I asked for a fight, not this farce. Do you even know how to aim? I'm right here. Maybe you need me to stop moving a moment so that you can touch me?"

Yukine's fingernails dug into his palms, leaving angry red marks on them. He didn't understand. He knew he was stronger than him, so why couldn't he touch him? "And I heard you're your god's only shinki… I would seriously worry if I were him. Thank goodness he still has his nora to rely on if he is in trouble, because just with you… He would have already disappeared."

Kugaha knew he had pushed one of Yukine's buttons when he saw his expression. "Stop fooling around!" yelled Yato's shinki. He knew Kugaha was trying to mess with his head and his emotions and making him doubt about his emotional pillars, and hated to admit that he had succeeded. "D-Do you know how to do anything else than escape, or are you too scared to fight?!"

"See, that's the problem with you. You don't sound scary, just because you're letting your emotions get the best of you. The fight is already over, kid. I won. Restraint."

All of a sudden, invisible chains clacked in Yukine's ears and prevented him from moving a single of his fingers. I'm letting my emotions… get the best of me? "Wh-What h-have y-you done…?"

"Relax, I just used a spell," answered Kugaha with a sickeningly sweet smile, approaching step from step to the unconscious Suzuha, enjoying Yukine's increasing cries and groans as he tried to undo the spell placed on him. "Nothing too advanced. I'm just a shinki, like you. But it's a pity, really. If only you were a hafuri… If you were a hafuri, then you would have been capable to beat me without problem, and save your friend. Hafuri are strong, unlike you."

"Or not even a hafuri; you know, the only reason I managed to beat you was because you are emotionally weak. A few taunts and provocations, and you get angry. Anger and sadness are the kind of negative emotions which can make me take the upper hand on you. If your god were here… You wouldn't have been able to protect him, that's for sure. I could definitely have killed him, and you wouldn't have been able to do anything, given how weak you are."

"I-I'm…" breathed Suzuha.

Kugaha crouched in front of him to whisper in his ear. "You see, Suzuha, I have been right all along. You mean nothing to anyone. Not to your only friend… Not to your goddess… And not to the one you love either. So really, what's the point of you being alive, hm?"

Kugaha studied Suzuha's face a second before caressing his cheek, walking away and sitting cross-legged next to the frozen Yukine. Once he was settled, he smiled brightly at him, looking like an excited child who was going to see his favourite spectacle. "Hey kid, I'm going to weaken the spell I placed on you. Not too much, because you would attack me again and I can see you're mad at me, but just enough so that you can yell your friend's name through the show. You will like it, you will see."

Mask-wearing wolves appeared after he snapped his fingers, taking a few seconds to localize their prey before savagely pouncing on their victim. Suzuha was slammed back against the tree and cried out in pain, however it was quickly silenced when the Ayakashi bit him in his throat. And no matter how loud Yukine yelled or cried through it, the wolves never stopped. Blood was spilled, flesh was ripped, and a few minutes later, an emaciated carcass leaning against a bloody cherry tree was all was left of Suzuha.

"Release."

Yukine fell to his knees the second the spell was undone and scrambled towards his friend's corpse, horrified by what had just happened. Suzuha's face wasn't even recognizable anymore, but he couldn't tell if it was because of the wolves' attack or the tears blurring his sight. He blindly shook his shoulders, called his name and checked his pulse, his emotions firmly refusing to cooperate with his brain. He couldn't accept it. Suzuha couldn't be dead; not because of him. Not because he had lost that stupid fight. Not because hadn't been strong enough to protect him. "Suzuha… Suzuha!"

Kugaha stood up with a wince and bent over the two children. "That's useless, kid. The wolves really did a number on him. I didn't really want them to be this violent, but I got what I wanted at the end. Suzuha is dead; and not just a little, Yukine. Some carrion animals should come to finish the job soon."

Kugaha left after a last emotionless glance at Suzuha's corpse. Everything was going smoothly. Sure, Yukine's arrival had been unexpected and had had him worried for a second, but he was glad that he hadn't changed anything to his plans in the end. Bishamon would feel his death, and then…

Yukine hadn't heard him move away over his own bawling voice. He embraced what was left of his friend's body tightly in his arms, ignoring the feeling of his fingers digging in bare flesh – he wouldn't be eating meat any time soon, that was for sure -, the smell of blood covering the corpse, the soft pads or wing flapping of wild animals gathering around the corpse, and the red everywhere. Here, alone in the night, he yelled until his throat was too painful to use his voice anymore and couldn't breathe.

It was almost three o'clock when Yukine finally came home. He didn't even know how he had come home. How he had found the way back. He didn't even know what he was feeling or thinking about right now.

All lights were off in Kofuku's shrine, so he supposed that they had all gone to sleep while he was outside. This was understandable, given how late it was. He turned the doorknob with trembling fingers, and lit the light on, noticing that except one person was here, arms folded and sat around Kofuku's low table. Yato's head snapped towards the door the very second it clicked. "There you were, Yukine! Seriously, where were you?! I was worried sick! Do you think it's normal for a kid to come home at three o'clock!?"

Yato opened his mouth to continue his worried rambling, but trailed off when he took time to observe Yukine. His head was hung low, and Yato could all too clearly see the dried tearstains under them. His face, as well as his clothes and his hands were covered in dried blood. Yato blanched with horror at this spectacle. "Y-Yukine…?"

Yukine didn't move. "…Yukine? Hey, kid. Yukine, talk to me." Yato was getting seriously worried by now, and saw with horror the pieces of flesh embedded under his fingernails; on his bloodied fingers. "Yukine. What happened to you?"

If your god were here… You wouldn't have been able to protect him, that's for sure. I could definitely have killed him, given how weak you are.

See, that's the problem with you. You're letting your emotions get the best of you. The fight is already over, kid. I won. Restraint.

Yukine stayed silent, no matter his god's words. He supposed he was still too in shock to answer to any of them. He didn't like worrying him, but… There was honestly nothing he could do to reassure him. After ten minutes of useless monologue, Yato reluctantly released his shoulders; Yukine only tightened his lips and weakly brushed past his god before going straight in his bedroom. Yato stayed dumbfounded a moment by his cold reaction, before fear settled in him. Something important had happened.

He grabbed a clean t-shirt from the pile of clothes Kofuku had washed earlier before rejoining his kid in the bedroom, determined at least make him speak a little bit. He was terrified, thinking that Yukine had almost been killed, or had killed someone, or something of the kind, and needed Yukine to speak.

The light wasn't even on when he arrived. His brows furrowed even more. "Yukine? You forgot to turn on the light."

Still no answer. Yato sighed before flipping the switch on and padding next to his shinki's futon. The blanket was covering Yukine's body to the exception of the top of his head. The god knelt and stared at him with concerned eyes. "Yukine, you can't sleep with bloodied clothes like that. Put that on, if you don't want to shower first."

Yato refused to give up despite Yukine's silence. "You don't want to talk to me? Do you want to talk to someone else, then? Or do you want to speak later? I can't go to sleep knowing you're in such a state, Yukine."

No answer. Yato started to run his fingers through his hair; Yukine didn't move at the contact, and Yato wondered if he had even felt it. "Can you at least tell me where did all that blood come from? Is it yours?"

The god felt his shinki's head move from side to side almost imperceptibly after an instant. He let out a silent sigh of relief. "Okay then. If you're not hurt then it's fine. I'm glad."

Yukine heard some muffled shuffling next to him as the god reluctantly covered himself with the covers of his futon, helplessness at Yukine's situation overwhelming him. "I'm willing to talk whenever you want to, Yukine. You can wake me up too. I'm always telling you not to bottle everything up, so… Try to get some sleep, alright? And we will talk tomorrow."

Warm tears that he didn't think he had left began to leak from his eyes, not seeming like they wanted to stop. He tried to sob as silently as he could so that he wouldn't disturb Yato, but he heard some movement from the god. Of course: even if he couldn't hear it, he could still feel it. "It's okay," reassured Yato, restarting to comb a hand in his hair. "It's okay, kid. I'm here. It's over now."

After a moment of hesitation, Yato muttered. "You're sure you don't want to talk now? Come on, talk to me… Hey kid, you're starting to really scare me."

Yukine didn't answer, not knowing how to even begin to tell what happened to his god. Suzuha was dead because of him, because he was weak, because he hadn't been able to protect him. His thoughts were starting to mix up and change in his head because of all the pain and stress and grief: one second he saw Suzuha's corpse, and the other it was Yato who leaning against the bloody cherry tree, eaten by animals while he watched it all. And after that it was Hiyori who was dead, and also Kofuku, and-

He felt horrible. This vision was horrible. He had already lost his only friend, and he was going to lose his god too because of he was too weak. Thinking that Yato, his friend, his god, the person he had sworn to protect on his name could die because of him and his mistakes made him feel sick to the core, and broken.

He didn't sleep the rest of this harrowing night.