A/N: I do realise that I am late to the Yato/Bishamon shipping party but here I am nonetheless. The pair sparked itself once more when I decided to continue reading the manga after its hiatus (I was in the middle of it when they said CH75 won't be dropping on its intended date). Anyways, please enjoy! Personally, I am a fan of Yato being Tsukuyomi so this ficlet plays with that idea, even if it's not totally significant. And if you do spot inaccuracies with regards to my characterisation of Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto, please forgive me as I really did take artistic liberties with the few things I could research about him. However, I am glad to be enlightened if there are some corrections/mistakes you need to let me know of. x
"—a futon in the hall tonight, Bakagami!"
"Oh, I thank you for your kindness, Nympho-sama! I'm only used to tables in Tenjin-jiji's shrine!"
The ferocity in the goddess of war's tone nor the biting sarcasm in the former god of calamity were not missed by the spectators nearby. The regalias merely sighed and then went on their merry way, carrying on with their duties for the evening before resigning themselves to sleep later.
It was no use dwelling in the arguments of the coupled dieties. Being the way that they were—with their long, tumultuous history to boot—the divine instruments have long accepted that this was just the dynamic of Bishamon and Yato's marriage. Changing it would rend the heavens more than Yato ever did singlehandedly.
Some of the shinki had fallen into despair after their first argument as married dieties, but one ablution after another, the arguments between the goddess of war and the now-revealed god of the moon were just really a defining feature in their relationship.
Neither of the two high-ranking dieties could properly fault their shinki (mostly just Bishamon's shinki as Yukine merely shrugs off such ordeals), as the gods themselves were the cause of their despair. It was a long process that they had to go through to get to this point but it was worth it.
While the scenario depicting an exalted god, who controls the tides and guides the fates, dragging his pillow from the bedroom he shared with his wife seemed like a surefire indication for a marriage dissolution, it was an ordinary Saturday in Bishamon's shrine. At least, it wasn't as alarming as the state of Yato's (or more officially known as Tsukuyomi) shrine when the last ordinary day happened.
(Seriously, numerous farand near shore trees were cut down that the people who had paid respects to Yato/Tsukuyomi the next day were deeply concerned at the state of his shrine.)
As dutifully as he would serve Bishamon, Kazuma rolled out the futon and cleaned it just in time for Yato to collapse in the bedding with his pillow. There was a storm clouding upon his face that the navigator regalia almost was worried that the smallest traces of an ayakasi would appear.
"Oyasuminasai, Tsukuyomi-sama," Kazuma saluted and bowed deeply in front of his goddess' beloved. "Please call on me if you need anything."
"I'm still Yato, Kazuma. And thank you for the offer, but she won't take too kindly if I utilised it. You may rest now," the god of the fates dejectedly replied.
Kazuma straightened on his knees and bowed his head slightly in an acceptance of words. They may clash as often as lighting would strike ground on stormy nights, but Tsuku—Yato would never disrespect Bishamon. He would always heed her words.
(If Bishamon had stated he sleep in the purification pond without as much as a blanket, Kazuma knew that Yato will.)
"M'lord, might I inquire as to what your argument is about?"
Yato opened his eyes slowly and shook his head, though his position on the futon only granted him minimal movement. "Nothing to worry about, Kazuma. Why don't you rest now?"
Kazuma adjusted his glasses upon the bridge of his nose and dared ask. "Is it about the upcoming Kamuhakari, M'lord?"
The god of the moon sighed at Kazuma's perception, deciding it was futile to hide such things from him once his interest was piqued. "Along those lines. She is overthinking things, especially since it will be our first time to attend the gathering with me as actually Tsukuyomi, rather than some stray god."
"Overthinking?" The regalia wondered, as such concept was a little foreign to him. Bishamon was the goddess of war, the strongest one according to the diety before him. She was naught but precise in her inferences, and accurate in her planning. Bishamon was strategic and calculating. Kazuma does not know her otherwise.
"Yes. So, if you could watch out for her in these coming weeks while you are going about your responsibilities, I'll treat you to some cold beer when we're back at my shrine. Deal?"
Kazuma lowered himself to the ground once more and held his place. There never would be another who would go so far for Bishamon like Yato would, even after he knew he would only bring her calamity (though that was now in the past). Even Kazuma thought of leaving Bishamon's side when he realised that he had hurt her. "I will fulfil my duties to Bishamon-sama to the fullest as to grant your request of me, Tsukuyo—"
"Yato."
"Yato-sama."
"Good. Turn the lights off when you go out, Kazuma."
"Hai."
Even when the lights haven't flickered off, Yato turned and grasped his pillow to get comfortable. His eyes shut closed almost immediately. The fight with his wife unexpectedly made him tired more than the usual, it seemed. Like clockwork, he pushed such tiresome thoughts out of his head and resolved to apologise to his wife first thing in the morning.
As he drifted off, he heard different paces of footsteps approaching the hall where he slept before they staggered to a halt then would retreat to a direction away from him. Yato couldn't blame them; Bishamon had placed him in such an open space where everybody walked.
He was long used to the scenario; the hall was the busiest place she had banished him to sleep for the night and probably her favourite. Still, he'd pick the freezing purification pond over the hallways of her estate any time. At least he didn't feel as exposed.
Without much difficulty, the god of the night sky submitted himself to slumber. Sleep came easy, after spending the day doing odd jobs for people. It was not a requirement of him to fulfill his responsibilities as Tsukuyomi, but old habits die hard and he got bored just controlling the fates and shifting tides to annoy his brother, Susanoo.
Besides, his name had been a little obscured during his absence so he determined he needed to go back to people's conscious as a welcoming god, rather than associate him with the darkness that came with his sovereignty. People needed to realise that he ruled over the moon, the sole bright light during the dark, and not the dark itself.
Peculiar as it was for the god of the moon to sleep during the evening, he knew his shrine maidens will take care of things, just as they would be when the time of kamuhakari comes. Besides, the shrine maidens have been doing it for the length of his absence.
Furthermore, the moon was a docile celestial body. It wasn't a grand fireball like the one his sister ruled over. He slept easy with the assurance that the world won't be burning to the ground when he wakes up.
As soon as the rays of Amaterasu's sun touched his skin, the male deity sighed a little at the realisation that it was already morning. Yato wasn't looking forward to that particular day, as it was filled to the brim in terms of tasks and responsibilities as a major kami, on top of the fact that he hasn't finished rebuilding his shrine after his and Bishamon's latest spar.
(Also, being busy meant seeing less of Bishamon that day, so it definitely wasn't a good thing.)
With his eyes remaining closed, the press of the futon on his side started to become stuffy so he tugged the blanket down to get himself some of that breezy morning air. He almost forgot where he was until he heard more of those halted footsteps making their way towards him before turning back to the way they came.
If this hall was busy during the night, it was busier during the day with all of Bishamon's regalia starting to make their rounds in the estate to their designated roles for the day. Vaguely, he started thinking that maybe Bishamon banishes him to the hall so that his place in her shrine was still defined as under her.
Bishamon may have been married to a god who turned out to be someone of higher ranking than her, but she has pointed it out to him time and again, she will run her shrine the way she wants to...not that he had any intention of dictating her otherwise. Yato had figured out that being blessed with a grand temple wasn't as carefree and luxurious as he had imagined it to be. One grand temple was hard work already; he wasn't going to take over Bishamon's shrine for any purpose whatsoever.
The guardian of the night pushed the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind and willed hinself to rise from his heap on the carpeted floor. It was then that he realised that the stuffiness on his back didn't disappear and that there was something holding him back down to the futon.
His initial thought was that Yukine had managed to blight him once more and that Kazuma was holding him down in a bind for whatever reason it was. Then, he realised that the heat his back felt was simply thick, dense air and not the stinging sensation of impurity. All the while, he realised that the thing holding him down to the mattress wasn't a something but a someone.
The god smiled and stifled a chuckle. Carefully, he shifted until he faced the entity that wasn't there when he went to sleep last night. Yato brushed several long strands of her golden tresses away from her face to reveal the peaceful expression on it while Bishamon slept.
Vaguely, he had to wonder how she hasn't end up being strangled by her own hair while sleeping...especially after certain activities that they do in which her hair basically ends up everywhere.
"Ava..." he murmured softly, making use of the nickname he had given her which was derived from the name Takamagahara had given her. (Vaisravana was a mouthful and he didn't exactly want to impose on Kazuma's Viina, even if it were cute.)
Slowly, her eyelids revealed the bright purple orbs that he had been enamoured by ever since he first laid his own cerulean eyes on her. Her eyes stopped their reveal when they reached halfway before Bishamon blinked the sleep away from them. It was then that Yato saw the slight sag of skin under her eyes.
"Ya know, if you're just going to end up beside me after hours of tossing and turning, you should stop banishing me from our bed."
The goddess of fortunate warriors hummed and then nuzzled her face into his chest. "Force of habit. I'll think about it."
"We need to get up," he said, but he circled his arms around her form nonetheless. Yato could somehow feel the pout shaping against his chest when he made the suggestion.
"Just a little longer, Tsuki."
True, he preferred to be called Yato majority of the time, but there was something that made his chest tickle whenever he hears the nickname she blessed him with when they all found out his identity. The male deity could only hope he gave her the same effect when he utters his own personal nickname for her.
His nose perked when it was tickled by her soft hair, and the scent of it made his insides warm. "Ava, mind where we are."
"I know where we are. I sent you here, remember?" she mumbled, the sleep in her voice making her seem like she had nary a care in the world. "Besides, they're all used to it."
"Well, I need to get going, at least," he stated, albeit a little forlornly. "My shrine maidens might give me a berating again."
"And to think not even a year ago, you were nameless and shrineless..."
"Hiyori built me a shrine!" Yato insisted with a huff. "It was recognised by Takamagahara!"
"It was a bird house," the female deity drawled, unable to help the smirk from forming on her lips.
"Now you're just making me want to leave earlier," he retorted, pulling away from his wife.
This left Bishamon in a state of slight panic and her arms tightened around his waist, as a leg wrapped around his form to keep him from leaving the futon. "No, I'm sorry! That was very rude. Don't...Please don't leave."
"I still need to go to my shrine, though."
"What will a few minutes cost, Tsuki? Besides, the moon is away at the moment. It's not like you have to tend to pressing matters."
"Thought you hated it when others don't follow rules?" he challenged, the usual teasing tone known as a Yato-signature back in his voice.
"I can tolerate a few injustices," Bishamon insisted softly.
Yato/Tsukuyomi chuckled and shook his head. "As long as it's for your convenience, right?"
"Hai."
The son of Izanagi allowed himself an endearing smile and placed a kiss upon the golden crown of his wife. "I'm sorry for saying I didn't want to attend the meeting."
"We'll talk about it some other time. I'm sorry for calling you Bakagami."
"It's fine. I'm also sorry for calling you Nympho."
"Not exactly untrue is it?" Bishamon murmured softly, far too softly that he almost missed it.
Yato took in a breath and pacified his mental states. "Saying things like that is inappropriate, Ava. Especially where we are."
"Gods can do no wrong."
"Doesn't mean what we are doing isn't potentially dangerous," Yato chided. He tightened their embrace a last time before he finally let her go to start his day.
"Won't I get to see you at all today?" he heard his wife ask, the child-like hope in her tone of voice making his chest quiver.
"I'll be busy. Maybe at twilight. One who gets to kill more ayakashi gets to have privileges."
Bishamon blinked her eyes up at the exalted once-absent moon god. "Privileges?"
"Could be anything," Yato shrugged as he stood from the futon. He offered Bishamon a hand and pulled her up to stand in front of him. His hands perched on her hips and the male deity brought his wife closer to him. "Anything at all. We'll work it out later."
Closing their distance, Yato seized her soft lips. He twined them together and conveyed all the emotion he had for her in a single act of adoration. His hands travelled from her hips to her back, until one of them wormed its fingers into her hair, caressing the base of her neck.
The seconds stretched into a minute, until it lengthened into several. For deities needing no air to breathe, kissing was one of the easiest acts of physical intimacy to do at extended periods of time. If it weren't for Yukine coughing from somewhere behind him, he wouldn't have ceased their union. His eyes were soft with unspoken apology and a silent promise to continue later.
"Hiyori's here. We can't keep her waiting," the young regalia informed his master before taking off to meet with their half-Ayakashi friend.
Yato nodded before taking Bishamon's hands and squeezing. "Maybe you can ask Kazuma to accompany you to my shrine if ever you have free time today. I'm sure he'll allow it. He's always nagging for you to take a break anyways."
"I take offence at that, my lord," the man in question uttered, making the deity of the fates jump slightly. "I simply remind; I don't nag."
The exalted major god turned to his wife's exemplar and smirked, crossing his hands. His outfit transformed from that of a yukata to his usual tracksuit and boots.
"Really?" Yato queried. "It's not what I heard."
Before either of the two could react, the god of the moon disappeared from the hallway, leaving an embarrassed goddess of war and her astonished regalia.
Kazuma frowned, his eyes hard. "Viina—"
"Ah, well. It's not always, but you do nag!" she defended, putting her hands slightly upwards in defence. "A-and it's not…exactly a… bad thing…"
The exemplar merely shook his head and turned serious. "In any case, we might be late for the opening of your shrine if we don't hurry, Ojou-sama."
Bishamon smiled, her cheeks tinging with a slight pink. "I can tolerate a few injustices."
A/N: I rushed the ending mainly because I didn't know how to end it. lol This fic started from an idea which I tried my best to make a fic of, then the words just ran away from me. I hope I didn't do too badly on my first Yato/Bisha fic. I do love them! They're my top ship in Noragami, though I do support KazuBisha and Yatori in my own little ways, too. haha Thank you for reading!