WARNING: INCLUDES MANGA SPOILERS
A brown haired girl that continued to appear 18 even though 5 years had passed. A God that continued to look 20 even though 5 years had passed. And a child that looked five when five years had passed.
"So," Hiyori cleared her throat and folded her arms. "Let me get this straight." She took in a deep breath, gently massaging her left temple. "You lost a child."
"A-ah..."
"You lost our child... Again."
"I wouldn't say lost," Yato waved his hand in front of him as if he was trying to shoo away a fly – in this case, Hiyori. "More like lost sight of."
Her eye twitched. "Lost sight of, he says," she murmured to herself. "Call it whatever you want, but the point is that Aiko-chan is missing."
"Aiko's a smart kid, she'll be fine."
"You know that she's only 5, right?" Hiyori pressured, holding back the urge to kick Yato into a wall. Not like there were any walls at the park, though. "You know that she's ayakashi bait without a shinki, right?"
"I-It's still...day." He started to cower from the figure standing in front of him. She towered over his sitting body, which was comfortable under the large oak tree.
"Right?" she asked again, taking a step closer and forcing Yato to back up against the tree's trunk.
Yato nervously played with the ring on his left hand's finger. Hiyori, awaiting an answer that only came out as unintelligible blabbering, took her index finger and pressed it against Yato's forehead.
"Find her," she ordered before pulling her finger back. "I'll go looking as well." She swiftly dropped her body in front of Yato, exposing her violet tail. "I'll leave my body here for now," she said mostly to herself prior to bending her legs and leaping up to a nearby telephone pole.
Yato silently watched as Hiyori continued to hop from one cable to another, calling: 'Aiko-chan!'
"How far could that kid have gone?" He rubbed the back of his head, pushing himself up with his other hand and balancing himself on his two legs. "She's probably around here...somewhere..."
He gave a quick glance at Hiyori's sleeping body. "Might as well..." he muttered to himself, grabbing her from underneath her arms and pulling her against the tree.
He didn't worry about leaving her behind. Ever since Kokuzo had changed her, she became as unnoticeable as Yato and Yukine were. It was almost as if she were a Goddess herself – of course, excluding special abilities such as being able to wield a shinki or being allowed to have a shrine.
He paced forward – hands in his pockets and chin buried in his bandana. "If I was five, where would I go?" The corner of his eye caught sight of various moving figures. He instinctively turned his head towards them, his eyes locking on the children running around in the playground. He instantly shook it off. "No, Aiko wouldn't be satisfied with something like a playground." His lip curled upwards, letting out a faint chuckle. "Takes after her father."
Yato continued down the cement path, looking left and right and occasionally calling out: 'Aiko!'
One would assume that he didn't care much for his daughter, but really, he just trusted her. She was his daughter, after all. She'd ran off more than once, so this wasn't anything new. And most of the time, Yato had to admit, it was while she was under his care.
"Aiko!" he called out, cupping his mouth with his hands. As the name rolled off of his tongue, he began remembering the day that she was born. A smile tugged at his lips.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Hiyori asked, holding the baby close to her chest and happily caressing the newborn's cheeks.
"Just like her mother," Yato chimed, laying close to the futon where she'd given birth.
"What's going to be her name, Hiyorin?" a certain pink-haired Goddess inquired.
Hiyori shifted her feet under the blankets, blushing at the name she'd thought of.
"Aiko," she responded with red cheeks, averting her gaze from Kofuku and onto the baby.
"Aiko!" Yato shouted again. How far could this kid have gone?
Before he could yell out her name once more, he swore he heard her answer his call. Staying silent for a moment and tilting his head in all directions to find the voice he thought he heard, Yato prepared to call her again. "Aiko!"
"Papa!" Yato whipped his body around to find a familiar black-haired, blue-eyed toddler standing right behind him.
"Aiko!" Instead of running and hugging his daughter, Yato ran towards her, picked her up to his chest and ruffled her hair harshly. "Where have you been, you little..."
Aiko struggled in Yato's hold, giggling and kicking her feet.
"I was talking to the lady," she explained. Still laughing, she pointed her finger at a certain direction.
Yato instantly turned to where her finger told him to, but found no one there.
"Hey, what did we say about strangers?" he scolded, letting her onto the ground and scanning the area for any suspicious looking people. "I don't see any gloom, but..." he bit his bottom lip, muttering to himself.
Looking at his daughter again, he displayed an expression between worried, relieved, and angry. "Remember what Mama and Papa told you. Ayakashi like to pick on people – especially Gods. You're still a bit too young to sense these things, so that's why you need to be extra careful," he explained, bending down to her height with his forearms resting on his knees.
"She gave me this!" exclaimed the young Goddess, seemingly not paying attention to her father's words. She reached her hand into her boot and pulled out a piece of paper. "Look!"
Yato eyed the paper suspiciously before taking it from the small hand and holding it with his.
"Cute kid. -Kokuzo," he read out loud, giving the message a smile after finishing it.
He stuffed the paper in his jersey pocket and instantly changed his expression to that of an angry one.
"What did I just tell you?"
"To...To stay away from strangers, right?" the girl twiddled her fingers nervously at her father's tone.
"Ayakashi like to pick on Gods. If you take what they give you, you might get hurt or..." he gulped, thinking about what could happen to Aiko. "...Just be more careful next time. Don't go running on your own anymore. Your Mama was-"
"Really worried," a voice finished his sentence.
Yato turned his head to find Hiyori standing not too far from his left with a soft look in her eyes.
"Aiko where have you been?!"
"I...I was-"
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" Hiyori exclaimed, tears running down her cheeks. It was the first time Aiko had been lost – rather, the first time she wandered off.
"D-don't…" Hiyori's tears dripped down her chin. "D-don't do that again…"
But obviously, the kid was too adventurous to listen to her parents.
Yato couldn't judge either Hiyori nor Aiko.
Aiko was just a girl that wanted to explore the world and Hiyori was a worried mother. Though he did sympathize with Hiyori more. Especially since Aiko had been spirited away by Bishamon - or rather, Kugaha. She saw it as the worst experience of her life. Yato? He knew a God could take care of him/herself. He did worry about his daughter, but not as much as Hiyori did.
"Mama!" Aiko exclaimed happily, flashing a smile.
"Geez, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days…" she laughed half-heartedly.
She'd honestly grown used to Aiko disappearing, but she would still freak out every single time.
"It's already late. I'm sure they're waiting for us to eat dinner. We should head home," Yato suggested, starting to walk ahead.
"Don't think you'll go unpunished." One could swear that Hiyori had gone full ayakashi as she said that.
Feeling her cold stare and a shiver down his spine, Yato made a run for it. "Meet ya back at home love ya!" he sputtered as he jumped up onto a building and disappeared.
Hiyori sighed, relaxing her shoulders. "Come on, Aiko. I need to get my body back."
She took Aiko's hand and led her to the tree where her body rested. After recovering her solid form, she walked together with her daughter back home.
Unknown to any of them, someone was watching.
Someone was… giggling.
"Aiko, huh?"
Hello, everyone! It's been SO long! Sorry about that ^^' But now I am back :D The timeline right now is (obviously) the future, but I wanted to include more characters, so I added major plot points such as the Bishamon arc. There are other major plot points I'll be including later. If you have not read the manga, DO NOT READ THIS FIC. Thank you for your support!
To any that have read my one-shot, it is completely irrelevant to this story.
Also, Aiko means "child of love"
~Pinelle
