"Yato doesn't seem to want to touch on the Secret, either. Will they have to face it someday?
Even if they do, I want to protect the peace they have right now."
Peace is like glass.
Once it's broken, it will never be the same again.
Yukine sat on the bench outside Daikoku's shop, wearing the bobble hat Yato had made him, looking down at the charm and the note Yato had given him.
"Happy 1st year, Yukine.
I made you this charm.
Even if you think it's stupid, don't throw it away.
-Yato"
"One year old..." murmured Yukine, feeling a lump rise in his throat.
His face broke into a smile as he tried to stem the sudden flow of tears streaming down his face with his coat sleeve.
I get a birthday even though I'm dead, he thought. If Yato hadn't found me... if Hiyori hadn't scolded me... if I'd never met any of them, would I have been able to laugh like this one year later?
I'm glad Yato gave me a name.
"Yes, it was a very good thing," someone said in his ear. "You love Yato, don't you?"
"Yeah," Yukine said vaguely. He was still laughing. Ah, I can't get that silly dance out of my head.
"I also," said the voice, now so close it was tickling Yukine's eardrum, "love Yato."
Yukine felt a hand upon his. He looked up and saw that Nora was sitting beside him.
"The two of us are so alike," she said, her voice its usual dream-like tone.
Then, without any kind of warning, before Yukine could even grasp what was happening, Nora kissed him full on the lips.
They sat like that for a moment or so, Yukine frozen to the spot as though he had had a bind placed upon him. Eventually, Nora withdrew. She was smiling. Yukine felt like he had just had the lips of an Ayakashi upon his.
"I also," Nora murmured, "love you."