A/N: Remember that one silly fic I wrote featuring the Yatori twin babies. Remember how I said I had a huge file exploring how the hell that happened and what their reactions to it were. Welp. Here's the thing.

As I said, I don't think this is entirely possible in CANON, so you can consider it an AU sort of thing. I do want to write more Yatori family shenanigans though, and I do think exploring Yato and Hiyori's characters (and a bit of Yukine's, later on) when faced with something so unexpected would be fun. SO HERE WE ARE.

This idea was first prompted by ParadiseAvenger's M-rated one-shot on AO3, "Weight of a God". It's got some pretty cool headcanons (and porn, obv) and I recommend y'all check it out.

Warnings for this chapter: brief mentions of sex, abuse (talking about Yato's trash dad) and abortion. In case there's anything else I forgot, please let me know.

The topic was first approached soon after Hiyori and Yato had their first time together. She had been surprised to see him pulling a condom out of his pocket (if gods didn't have to shit as he once oh-so-interestingly pointed out, why would they worry about other bodily fluids/waste?), but she was obviously not going to interrupt that moment just to ask. If he, being the way he was, had bothered to carry some, it was only for the better. She made a mental note to ask him about it later, though.

She asked about it the day after – both because she had been too sleepy and sluggish after they were done, and because he was more clingy and cuddly than usual, just to that point it simultaneously annoyed her and gave her emotional diabetes.

"Hey, Yato," she asked as she sat on a stool in the corner of the kitchen and watched as he made breakfast. It was the housekeeper's day off and her parents were out for the weekend, so he had insisted on it. "Why did you use a condom last night?"

He turned away from the pot where he was making miso soup, his confused blue eyes meeting her inquiring brown ones. "Isn't that common sense, Hiyori?" he said, before a teasing expression she had seen way too many times dawned on his face. "Didn't your parents teach you about the birds and the bees? Or could it be that you want to have babies already?"

"Of course they did, you idiot! And I obviously don't; I'm just a college freshman!" She folded a paper napkin into a ball and jokingly threw it at him. He dodged it, though his snicker died when he saw the ball falling into the soup he was preparing with so much love. "But that's what got me about it. Can gods even have children with humans?" Her eyes widened in a (mock) shocked expression. This time, it was her turn to tease him. "Or maybe you have some sort of sexually transmitted blight?!"

"That's not how blights spread!" the god protested, putting the soaked napkin away. He had luckily managed to fish it out of the pot with a spoon. "Your first assumption is right, though. It's not very common here in Japan, but gods actually can impregnate humans."

"Here in Japan?" she repeated, blinking curiously at him. "Wait. So all those stories about Greek gods and demigods are real?!"

"Yep. Not just the Greeks, though. Gods exist all over the world, and many other pantheons have stories of deities having kids with humans. Many don't have specific stories like the Greeks, but it's been known to happen. It all depends on what they're born like."

"What do you mean?"

Yato sighed. This was going to be a long one. Talking Heavenly Sex Ed 101 and International God History wasn't really what he thought the morning after his first night with Hiyori would be like. He thought it would be all about the fluff and the afterglow and cuddles (he had been in an extra-lovey mood as of late, after all). But then again, if that's what she wanted to talk about, he was not going to object.

"The way gods are varies for each pantheon, even if there are many similarities. It's kind of like different species of the same animal." He turned off the stove and started fussing the drawers for dishes. This time, she got up to give him a hand. No way she'd just sit down and let him do absolutely everything. Besides, he barely remembered where her family kept their tableware. The doofus always nagged food straight from the fridge with his hands anyway. "It seems the same goes for demigods. In some pantheons, they're born as extraordinary humans, are regarded as heroes, and some even become gods when they die. In others, they just turn out to be very successful people, and royal families actually descend from gods in some countries." His face and voice turned serious all of a sudden. Hiyori stopped on her tracks and looked up at him as she noticed the change in his posture. "In others, they're born as monsters."

She felt her eyes widening and her grip loosening on the dishes she carried. She managed to recollect herself in time to save them from shattering to the ground.

"That's not the case with us, though!" he added, back to his lighthearted tone, as he scratched the back of his head. "Demigods are already pretty unusual here in Japan, probably because of those differences to other pantheons too, but the few ones I've heard about were born as normal humans." He pressed the side of his hand close to his mouth and lowered his voice, as if sharing top-secret information with her. "Even the first Japanese Emperor was a descendant of some pretty big figures up in the heavens, you know? Soooo there isn't much to worry about!" He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek affectionately. For the second time in a few seconds, she nearly dropped the dishes. "So we can still have cute babies if that's what Hiyori wants!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" she replied as she freed herself from his grasp, too flustered to respond to his affections. "Y-you'll have to wait for that, though! For at least six years! At least!"

"Hm-hmmmmmmmmmm", he hummed in agreement, smirking and winking in his usual giddy, almost childlike way. "As long as you want."

Although they didn't talk about it often, the topic would still resurface every now and then. Despite not having had much contact with them (she only had her older brother for a sibling, and seldom did she see her younger relatives), Hiyori liked children, and had some decent knowledge on how to deal with them. She was studying Medicine and had taken up a few part-time jobs as a babysitter during high school, after all. Although she had never given motherhood much thought, the idea wasn't bad. She wasn't the kind of girl that dreams of being a mother from a young age; she just thought she'd eventually find her special someone and they'd eventually plan on having children. It was only natural… although it would be okay if it never happened, too. She wouldn't complain if it did, but Hiyori had many things to look forward to in life than just getting married and having a kid. Nevertheless, the only condition she imposed on herself was that she would not do it until she had, at least, a stable job after graduating college. Whenever she did have a child, she wanted to be able to provide for them properly. Besides, having a baby to care for during college would probably mess too much with her studies.

Of course, given the disparities between her condition (as a human, therefore, a mortal) and Yato's (a god, therefore, a nearly immortal supernatural being), the thought never even crossed her mind… until that day. After their talk, she caught herself thinking of what being a mother to a demigod would be like. Even if her boyfriend did say Japanese demigods tended to be born as normal humans, was that really it? What about the pregnancy, was it like a normal human's? What about her "snooze attacks", as her friends called them – would they still happen if she were pregnant? Would they affect the baby somehow? Would the kid grow normally?

Even if she didn't completely push the idea of having a child away (she found the idea itself endearing, even), she was very iffy about it. There were too many questions her knowledge alone could not answer, considering the whole existence of the "Far Shore" defied human science itself. It seemed too risky, both for her and for the hypothetical baby. Besides, they still had that issue – you know, the one regarding the enormous gap in her lifespan and her boyfriend's. Hiyori didn't expect to live longer than 90 years, and she knew for a fact that Yato would never kill her just to turn her into a shinki (something she didn't even want anyway – she had seen all frustrations and hardships Yukine and Daikoku went through; how much they suffered for still being human, yet unable to do regular human things. It was not something to aim for - and that's not even taking the whole memory loss thing into account). And they had come to terms with that. Yato had accepted that, one day, she would get old and gray and wrinkly, and her eyes and ears and memory could fail her, and her legs might not be able to take her places anymore. He knew it, and he accepted it, and he swore he'd be by her side during all of that, until her last moment. He had also come to terms with the fact that, unless he got his name out there somehow, he would probably disappear with her. His father defeated, she was his only believer. And a god cannot exist without human believers.

And he was okay with that.

But what would things be like if they had a kid? Would said kid have the lifespan of a normal human? What would their life be like? Would they be vulnerable to diseases? Would their soul detach from their body like Hiyori's?

If they lived on while she didn't, would that mean that so would Yato? How would he feel about that?

And, if they turned out to be normal humans indeed, how would he feel about watching not only his beloved, but also his children grow and wither?

Things were way too complicated. Of course, she thought he'd be an adorable dad, despite the terrible experience he had had with his own. She'd seen him in jobs that involved entertaining or taking care of little kids, and it turned out he was pretty good with them. There was also the fact he often acted like an excited kid himself, and when he didn't, he posed as a quirky (and ridiculously proud) parent figure to Yukine. Even if he was chronically unemployed and the most he made in extremely lucky days was a few hundred yen, he was a good person (god?) who had grown a lot since she first met him. If they were to have children, he would do absolutely anything for them, she was sure of it. But their situation was far more complex than just "would we treat our kids right or not".

Although those ideas alone already pointed her towards a 'no', she still decided to talk to him about it. He had seemed a little enthusiastic about it, after all.

"That? Oh, I was joking with you," he said with a grin, before averting his gaze. Hiyori noticed his cheeks were faintly tainted pink. "Not gonna lie, though, the idea is kinda exciting. I guess spending time with you is getting me into these human lifestyle things, heh." Might have been just her mind, but she swore his voice sounded slightly… disappointed, at that? Sad, maybe? "But as you said, there's still too much left unclear. And if there's something you don't want, then neither do I." He held her closer, nuzzling her neck. Hiyori thought it was amazing how, despite the fact they'd been in a relationship for well over a year, little gestures like those still made her feel all funny inside. "And just the two of us is fine, right? We have Yukine, too. He is like our son, you know. We even had to go through his rebel stage, remember? Just skipped over the night-crying, diaper-changing part!"

Hiyori giggled. Yeah, he was right. She had always seen Yukine as a little brother of sorts, but as she grew older, she found her feelings turning more and more maternal towards him. And they were better off that way, right? She wouldn't have to go through nine months of extreme discomfort followed by hours of painful labor; she wouldn't have to go through sleepless nights and dirty diapers as Yato had mentioned; she wouldn't have to worry about her kids being bullied at school or getting sick or going through any sort of mundane human suffering. So it was all for the best, right?

Right?

The surprise itself came years later. Hiyori, at the age of 25, had already graduated and started her 2-year traineeship, the final requirement for becoming a doctor in Japan. After that, she'd be ready to dive straight into her career as a physician. Although the incident from years ago hadn't been completely forgotten and many people still gave her skeptical or judgmental looks at the mention of the name Iki, things had definitely cooled down and started improving little by little. Now that she was fully equipped with her degree and gaining much more knowledge and experience, she was determined to give the Iki General Hospital just the right kick it needed to go back to being as prosperous as it once had been.

They weren't really sure when it happened, though. It might have been during their Christmas celebration, when, after a gathering with her family, Hiyori went to Kofuku's place to party with her friends from the other side. She and Yato definitely drank a little too much and got rather frisky that night, so it could have happened. Or maybe it was in some other occasion at around the same timeframe and they didn't notice. Maybe something broke or slipped and they paid it no mind because she was on the pill anyway. But maybe, out of all minimal possibilities of failing, it chose that exact time to do so. Or could it be that human medicine just doesn't work against "godly" genetic material…?

Either way, when Hiyori first found her period was late in January, she didn't get that concerned. It had happened before, due to health issues or college-induced stress. It was probably nothing, right? Just a side effect to the pressure she was constantly going through. She had been feeling more tired lately, and her traineeship didn't make it any better. It would come eventually, right?

Wrong. And when she decided to stop ignoring the little voice raising the "pregnancy" possibility flag in the corner of her mind and bought some home tests just to be sure, she felt her heart skip a beat in shock. She was, indeed, pregnant.

The feelings she felt back then were strange. On one hand, her mind was filled with "what" and "how" and "it can't be". It had been a while since she had last talked, or even thought about that properly. She and Yato had pretty much settled they wouldn't try to have kids. In the past few years, she'd only mentioned the subject when approached by her family (Hiyori, isn't there anyone you like at all? Don't you want to give us grandchildren?), and even then she would only give vague, negative answers (Oh, who knows? I want to focus on my studies/job right now, but maybe in the future?). The thought would come back to her every once in a while, but merely as wishful thinking, and she would soon put it aside, considering the possibility scrapped already. The possibility of an unplanned pregnancy had never, not even once, crossed her mind.

But now, there she was. Pregnant. With some demigod baby. And the strangest thing was that, despite all those risks that had made her so worried in the past, she didn't feel scared. Maybe it was because she had just found out and it takes a while for such big news to sink in, but she felt... calm. Glad, even. Still confused - she couldn't wrap her head around how the hell that had happened - and definitely surprised, but not uneasy or scared.

But this is so unexpected, a tiny, anxious voice spoke up inside her head. How did it happen? And, more importantly, what will happen now? There's still so much you don't know. So many uncertainties. Why even consider taking this further? Just go and get an abortion already!

As those thoughts struck her head, though, fear and apprehension grew in her heart. All of those reactions caught her off guard – why had she felt so placid upon seeing she was pregnant, and why did the thought of an abortion cause her pain? Could it be she actually wanted this? Could it be all those moments she jokingly entertained the idea actually went much deeper than she thought?

But, the tiny voice insisted, what about all risks that made you resolutely decide against children years ago? If you do have that baby, what if it is born with some peculiar trait normal humans don't usually have? What if it faces different issues you're not prepared for due to Yato's "genetic" (do gods even have genes?!) influence? Speaking of which, how will he even feel about that, too?

Then, as that last question was raised, that one line he once dropped slowly came back to her: "the idea is kinda exciting. I guess spending time with you is getting me into these human lifestyle things"… or something like that. In an unexpected flashback, she compared the changes in his personality throughout the years, from when they first met (10 years ago… wow, it's been that long already?) to the current moment. She remembered how he used to be much more self-centered and vain, and how he thought of nothing but going with the flow, earning his 5 yen per request, changing shinki way more often than he changed that jersey of his, until the day would come when he'd have enough for a shrine. He used to dream of being a famous god who's idolized by people.

But he changed over the years. Eventually, what filled his dreams was no longer fame, but happiness. Having a huge shrine and thousands of followers was no longer his priority, as his goal was now to be a god of fortune. Of course, he still wanted a bigger shrine and more recognition, but he also wanted to make people happy. He eventually found and stuck with people that valued him – Yukine; Kofuku and Daikoku; Hiyori herself, obviously… He even made up with Bishamon and her "family". Not only that, he eventually learned how to treasure those people. His background didn't help much in that – he had spent hundreds of years in constant touch with no one but an unscrupulous, manipulative father and a dissimulated stray shinki. He had always been lonely and most signs of affection he'd received were either fake or twisted, sans Sakura. When he first realized just how precious these new people were to him, mainly Hiyori and Yukine, he didn't really know how to show it. She remembered feeling freaked out when, after their first visit to Capyper Land, he suddenly went full-on overly clingy boyfriend on her (and they weren't even dating!). But he learned. He grew up. His old personality still showed, obviously – he was still playful, dramatic and ambitious, even a bit greedy and conceited at times, and still held that strange childish innocence that made him so eager about amusement parks and fairy tales and Santa Claus. But he had grown a lot. He had changed a lot.

He had become much more human. Like a normal one, that is.

Could it be he had become so much like a human that his goals were now more like a human's, too? Could it be he wanted to start a family of his own? A real one, even if as a way to make up for his own terrible upbringing by his "father"?

Hiyori tried picturing it. She had done so in the past, when the possibility of pregnancy was first brought up, but she hadn't done it in so long. She imagined them living in their own house – her, Yato, Yukine, and a baby. She imagined the two boys taking care of the kid while she was at work: playing with dolls or toy cars or both at the same time, watching cartoons, telling silly stories and teaching about the world out there. She imagined the kid – a boy or a girl or neither or both; gender didn't matter to her – with shiny brown hair and dark eyes, and a wide smile akin to a certain god's.

Even if that tiny voice still tried to shake her, that image made her feel warm inside. Just like it had before, years ago.

Hiyori took a deep breath. Despite how calm she felt - almost numb, as if she'd heard some distant acquaintance was pregnant instead of her - that anxious bit of her brain had established a sort of latent conflict in her mind. She acknowledged the possibilities, but everything still felt so unreal that most of her thoughts and emotions hadn't quite caught up yet.

She put the tests away with a sigh and decided to go out for a bit - visit friends or have a bite to eat or simply take a stroll in the park, she wasn't sure. Anything to help her think more clearly and realistically.

She knew she wouldn't be able to decide on anything right away.

A/N: Weeelp. I've edited this chapter so many times, I'm still not fully satisfied with it. Hope things are somewhat consistent and there's not much ooc-ness going on, though. (In case there is, please point out! Constructive criticism and further discussion about the characters are always welcome.)

Yep, as you can probably tell, this is a mixture of headcanons and twisted-logic-in-order-to-make-this-scenario-possible-somehow. Not everything I wrote matches my personal opinions. And yes, while I do reference a bunch of actual info and events provided in the manga, there are many I just pulled out of my ass. Don't take my word for everything pft

Next chapter: Hiyori finally processes what's going on and breaks the news to the dad-to-be, and some character analysis thing on Yato. STAY TUNEDDDDD