When you watch too much Elementary and Noragami in the span of a couple of weeks. Yeeeeeaaaaaaa….enjoy.

- Meeting -

Yuki couldn't believe the mess he put himself in. Not only had the court ordered him mandatory addicts anonymous meeting but had assigned him a sober companion for the next year. He walked out of the court house with his phone in his hand. He scrolled down his contacts to a name, a name he could hardly utter at this point. He swallowed and willed every cell in his body not to call.

It was out of habit really. But knowing that the number would never answer made him ache. The same ache that made him want to shoot up. My fault.

No.

No point in playing the blame game. He either had to accept this sentence to be babysat by another grown person or spend time in jail. His father would not like the latter. The choice was easy if not a minor nuisance of having someone be with him. The specifics were that he was to live with this 'sober companion' for an entire year, stay out of trouble and attend regular meetings. Only then would he get his freedom.

Yuki pocketed his phone and made his way to the street. He wanted to hail a cab but he didn't have enough money to get him across the city back home. And if his father wasn't home, he wouldn't be able to pay the driver. You'd think his father would come pick him up but his father made it very clear on Yuki's only phone call that talking to the judge would be the last favor he called in for him and he would have to find a way to take care of himself if he got in trouble again. No more rehab, no more funding his habit. Just Yuki and all of his destructive devices.

He groaned. There was nothing worse than being at his father's heel. He had some freedom but without money, Yuki wouldn't make it far. He knew people who worked to afford their habit, it wasn't a life he wanted.

There was a noise like a gun shot and Yuki was pushed to the ground by something hard. He hit the ground scrapping his hands in an attempt to save the rest of his body from falling across the asphalt. There was a screeching sound and a man's voice.

A man with dark hair and crystal blue eyes looked down at Yuki. His body hurt and his hands stung but he couldn't move. The man's eyes held him captive, frozen and helpless like and overturned statue.

"You okay?" the man asked, his voice half laced with concern and the other with something like annoyance.

Yuki clenched his fist and immediately regretted it. But the pain seemed to help him out of his trance. Yuki pushed away the outstretched hand. Standing up he dusted off his clothes but couldn't look the man in the eyes. What was he, some school girl in an afterschool special?

"You don't have to be so tough. Not everyone falls as gracefully as the gods" the man said.

Yuki growled and looked at him, "Maybe you shouldn't be driving your scooter on the sidewalk asshole."

The man in the track suit shrunk back and put his hands up in defeat. "No need to yell. It was only a joke. You came from nowhere, I'm sorry"

Yuki huffed, he didn't want to start any trouble either but his temper got the best of him. "It's fine, just…be careful."

"Those bruises look bad." Yuki looked down and the man in the track suit was holding his left hand inspecting the bloody bruises. His hand was soft and damp, probably from the scooter handles. He held his hand palm up and gently touched the vertical scrape marks. Yuki hissed but didn't pull away.

"Keep your sweaty paws to yourself! What are you gonna do to make up for nearly killing me?"

"You know I could heal these almost instantly", he said.

"Yea?"

The man stepped back and he seemed to pull an oversized sake bottle from nowhere filled with 5 yen coins. "For 5 yen, I could heal all of your wounds!" There was a glint in his eye as he held the bottle over his shoulder with his hand out.

Yuki slapped his hand away and growled, "Are you some kind of con artist? I'm not paying you to fix something that was your fault!"

"If you were looking where you were going, you wouldn't be bleeding on the side walk. Now I lend my services to you for a mere 5 yen and you're mad at me?!"

Yuki eyed the detectives at the top of the stairs of the court house. One was the detective who caught him buying and wanted to get him clean. He didn't need to give him another reason to put himself in Yuki's life again.

"Okay, I don't need your stupid 'healing' powers. We can make it even if you just drive me home".

Track suit man put his hand on his chin in mock thought. "Well, it isn't 5 yen but I guess that's fair." Yuki sighed, relieved the man wasn't causing any more of a ruckus. He needed to get as far away from there as he could. Home was a good start. He's supposed to meet his sober companion tomorrow and he wanted his last night of freedom outside of a jail cell.

The man led him to his motor scooter, which had just enough room for the both of them after Yuki gave him the address. The man gave him an extra helmet and told him to squeeze the scooter between his legs and hold on. "I'm not your date, track suit."

"Well if you fall off don't expect any sympathy."

The engine sputtured and jerked them forward before Yuki could retort. They swerved into traffic and Yuki held onto the man's shoulders for balance. Yuki thought he would hurl the way the man jumped in and out of traffic, on and off the sidewalk. No wonder he had ran into Yuki. They were in the residential part of Tokyo on the southeast when they glided down a curved hill. He knew this hill very well. He still has the bruise from going down it hands free on a dare. The rush of the wind and adrenaline was enough to make it worth while. It made his forearms ache with the sweet call of something numbing yet adrenaline pumping. He pressed himself against the man's back at the thought.

The hill led into a row of medium wealth houses, but it was Yuki's that had a traditional sloping roof as it was renovated from a shrine. His father had gutted it and filled it with things that made the house look unlived in since Yuki's mother died. Like a traditional sitting room with generic Japanese scrolls, a garden in the back with a koi fish that someone comes to tend to every day, and a tea room no one ever drunk tea in. It wasn't a place to be lived in but like a painting, something to be looked at with an approving nod. Maybe living with his sober companion for a while wouldn't be so bad. He only slept there on the chance he ever made it home.

The scooter stopped abruptly in front of the gate and Yuki was thrown against the strangers back. "And here I thought you weren't my date", he teased.

Yuki practically jumped off the scooter. "You can relax" the track suit man said, "It was only a joke." Yuki gave him the spare helmet, "Whatever."

"You can at least thank me for the ride, you ungrateful runt!"

"I don't have to thank you for anything. I could've easily went back inside and sued you for practically running me over."

"Don't be so dramatic. It's not like I left you there on the ground" He crossed his arms and blue eyes met gold ones. Yuki turned to the gate so that he wouldn't be sitting there staring at this strange man. Looking at his house, he felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness wash over him. "Not like it would be different from what anyone does to me", he whispered more to himself.

"The gods aren't as cruel as most people think, Yukine" the man said softly.

Yuki turned to watch the man in the track suit rush off on the scooter with a smoke trail behind him and the back fire of the engine echoing through the neighborhood.

How did he know my name?

Thanks for reading.