*out of breath* *Midnight Cut-off Door hits my ass as I slide in with this story at 4am*
MADE IT! (*definitely did not make it*)
Manga-based, T for language-ini with marinara sauce
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New game level! Come be player 2!
Yato had found the message on the floor just inside the window of Kofuku's attic, in what he recognized as his father's handwriting.
"What the hell…?"
He read the words over again as he walked down the hall to the bathroom, where he chucked the note into the toilet, flushing furiously until the handle came loose and ignoring what sounded like a very distant cry of Yaboku, you're breaking my heaaaaart!
"Hey."
The young god glanced up from his task to find a blond teenager leaning on the doorframe, eating a granola bar and balancing a basket of clothing against his side.
"D'you wanna go do something? Besides breaking toilets, I mean."
Yato eyed the basket of laundry suspiciously. "You trying to get out of work?"
Yukine sighed. "Well, these are your sweaty clothes that were stinking up the house. If anything, it should really be your work. So."
Yato considered this in a long moment of silence, broken only by the crunching of granola.
The young god fidgeted with the broken toilet handle. "…The creek behind the mall is supposed to be haunted. Wanna check it out?"
Yukine shrugged.
/
By that afternoon, the June sun had become a little more than bearable as it touched down on every sidewalk in Japan, pushing all living things to seek shade for the day. Humidity made the air sticky and oppressive as the two boys followed a creek away from the town center.
Yato tied his jacket around his waist. "How laaaame," he drawled, twirling an object around his finger. "From the rumors, I thought it would at least be an ayakashi or something, not just some homeless guy living under a bridge."
"But you still traded him our lunches for that stupid phone charm."
"It looks like an owl! Owls are lucky!"
"It looks like a foot."
"When we're rich, you'll-" Yato broke off, listening intently. Yukine ignored this.
"You don't even have a phone for that thing."
"Shhh."
"It's really ugly," Yukine whispered.
"SHHHH!"
They waited. The faint tinkling of a mechanical melody reached them: an ice cream truck was passing by a block away. Yato's head whipped around like he'd heard a gunshot instead of "Pop Goes the Weasel", his eyes zeroing in on the tiny vehicle.
"…Do you want to get ice cream?" Yukine prompted.
"No. Absolutely not. I have no money to be spending on things like that," was the firm reply, though his pupils continued to track the truck's every movement.
"Or at all," Yukine mumbled. "Here, I'll buy yours."
"With what-"
The young god watched in shock as the boy pulled a small stack of bills from his pocket and began counting.
"WHAAAAAA- WHY DO YOU HAVE SECRET MONEY?" he screeched. "Yukine, have you been selling dope on the side?! Or running street scams?! Tell me the truth; I won't use blood money for ice cream! Unless I get the small size!"
"If anyone's running street scams, it'd be you," the teen retorted. "I've been saving up from working, that's all."
"And not sharing?!"
"That's right."
/
After about ten minutes of holding up the line ("Should I get banana or strawberry? I want both, I can't decide. Guidepost, guide me!"), Yato finally decided on a character pop that looked vaguely like Hiyori and they began making their way back to Kofuku's house.
"Hey, Yukine, thanks for buying."
"Sure."
"I can't eat this, though… Hiyori is judging me with her wonky gumball eyes."
"…Are you serious?"
"Look at her!" Yato shoved the ice cream at the teen.
The colorful face had melted into a scowl, and one gumball had been put in sideways. Still, for some reason, Yukine was unable to meet ice cream Hiyori's stern, wall-eyed gaze. "N-no! I refuse!"
"Trade me!"
"NO! You've been drooling all over yours!"
"Hurry, Yukine! She's melting!"
"I swear to god I will draw a borderline on you. Why the hell did you pick the melon flavor?!"
"I don't know! It isn't as good as I thought it would be!"
"THAT'S CALLED BEING A FUCKING ADULT!"
/
The weather had cooled down substantially by the time Hiyori arrived at the tiny house to find Yato sitting on the porch by himself. He glanced up as soon as she touched down, once again twirling the phone charm.
"What is that?" she asked.
"It's a lucky phone charm!" Yato crowed. "Yukine and I got it off a hobo for some bento. Guy had no idea he was holding something so valuable!"
"I'm sure. Though, I'm surprised that Yukine agreed to get you this, um… what is it exactly, a foot?"
"An owl," Yato corrected. "Yeah, he's actually been wanting to hang out with me a lot today. Dunno why."
"Ah…" Hiyori's eyes softened. "It might be because he thinks of you as-"
"HEY, where've you been all day, anyway?" Yato interjected suddenly, shoving the charm into his pocket and giving Hiyori the stink-eye. "There's no school on Sundays. Are you avoiding me?"
"Not today!" said Hiyori cheerfully. "I went with my father to lunch, then we pulled weeds from the yard for he rest of the afternoon." She seemed positively delighted with this recount of events.
Yato made a face. "Er… not to be rude, but why the hell would you want to do that?"
"Because it was what he wanted to do. That's how it works." Hiyori cocked her head to the side. "…You know today is Father's Day, right?"
"It is?! Oh… wait a minute…"
Yato began to dig around in his jacket as Hiyori looked on hopefully, sure now that the young god understood-
"THAT explains all these stupid-ass notes I keep finding!"
A dozen crumpled slips of paper fell from his hands, all in the same slanted handwriting:
-Okay, fine, you can be Mario. For ten minutes only!
-Mizuchi refuses to do a hot dog eating contest with me T^T
-Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!
-I'm dying
-Let's go on a date with Hiyori-chan!
"No, uh- ignore that last one!" Yato hastily stuffed all the notes down his shirt, making a weird, crinkling lump.
Seemingly from nowhere, a familiar pigeon landed on Yato's head, softly placing another identical slip of paper in his hair.
"GET OUT OF HERE, TRAITOR BIRD!" Yato flung his arms about and the pigeon took off in noisy flight.
Hiyori looked nonplussed. "Right, well. I'd better go say hello to the others."
She slipped through the door, leaving Yato to mumble about weed-pulling and pigeons.
Pre-sunset clouds began to form as the young god mused over his new-found information. A few cicadas began their encompassing buzz, with more joining in as each peaceful minute passed. Yato's thumb brushed lazily over the charm in his pocket. The longer he sat in his reflective quiet, the happier he felt, if not a little embarrassed.
He chuckled to himself.
"Father's Day, huh…?"
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Sorry it's rushed, I was late posting this.
But you know what it's NEVER too late for?
Choosing your family.
*after-school special music* (」 ﾟᗜ ﾟ)
Happy Father's Day!