"Hime-sama, if you draw your bow like that, you'll snap your arms." Yato chuckled from the place where he was overlooking her archery practice. He was leaning on his glaive and not helping in any way whatsoever. Hiyori sighed and gently put her bow down. Yukine who was by the fire skinning a rabbit for their lunch shook his head.
"You're so dead." Yukine muttered. Hiyori squared her shoulders, turned and marched over to Yato, a dark look on her face.
"I don't see you trying to give me any tips. You just complain or make fun of me. For heaven's sake! Yukine's a better teacher than you are and he doesn't even use any weapons!" Hiyori snapped.
"That's because Yukine is creepily smart. He just sits there and watches you, recording all of your movements." Yato waved his hand dismissively.
"No lunch for Yato then," Yukine said under his breath.
"Spiteful much?" Yato shrieked at Yukine, still leaning in what he assumed was a cool manner on his glaive. "Hime-sama, you're just not meant for weapons." Yato said cooly. "You're a fragile girl who-" Hiyori had been glaring at him for a while now and now she felt the need to remind him that while she was weak when handling weapons and Yato was considered the strongest warrior in the land, she still defeated him in every wrestling match. Barely even betraying movement, Hiyori kicked the bottom of his glaive. Yato let out a cry and fell face forward, his face meeting the ground with a satisfying thud. Moving quicker so Yato wouldn't get up and retrieve his glaive, Hiyori sat on his back, restraining his arms with her legs, grabbed his head in a choke hold and pulled his upper body up.
"I might be a princess who was kicked out of her own castle but that doesn't mean I'm weak, you trashy bodyguard!" Hiyori yelled. Yukine simply hummed as he started to season the stew he was making. Yato tapped his hand against the ground repeatedly.
"I yield! I yield!" He sputtered out of his strangled throat. After listening to him choke for a little more, Hiyori let go of him and decided to try and help with Yukine with lunch. Not that she could do much since she grew up in a palace.
The capital city had joyfully celebrated Hiyori's sixteenth birthday. Hiyori had been happy, she had her best friend and cousin with her. The three of them were supposed to be inseparable. Yato, the general of the Wind Tribe, strongest warrior in the Kingdom of Kouka and her cousin. Until her cousin killed Hiyori's father in the middle of the night. Hiyori would have been killed too if Yato hadn't shown up at the right moment and saved her.
"We have three more days until we reached the place where the white dragon is supposed to be. But first, I would like it if I could at least get a weapon to protect myself. We need some supplies too. Do you think we can stop somewhere?" Yukine asked, once they were done with lunch.
"Hm, I would like a dagger too." Hiyori piped up.
"No you don't, I'm the only weapon and shield you'll ever need. Your father never wanted you to handle weapons and you should already consider it a miracle the Earth Tribe General, Kofuku, managed to teach you how to physically fight without your father finding out." Yato said seriously.
"I can't let you keep fighting for me, you're not even healed properly yet after falling from that cliff. If you try to protect me again, you'll die!" Hiyori argued.
"Don't kill me off so quickly. I'm the former General of the Wind Tribe, Amagiri no Mikoto. I won't go down so easily." Yato sounded dark for a moment before he brightened up and grinned. "You just have to put your trust in me since you can't even pull a bowstring, hime-sama." Yato laughed. He looked at her expectantly and stopped laughing when he saw her eyes dim and a frown show on her face.
"You don't understand anything, Yato." Hiyori muttered, getting up and grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows. She marched off into the trees, grumbling under her breath. Yato hurried to grab his glaive and go after her to at least keep an eye on her.
"You are so dumb, I don't even understand why…" Yukine rolled his eyes and put his cooking tools into his bag. "We're stopping at the next village."
"Wait, you understand what she was talking about?" Yato grabbed at Yukine's shoulders. "Yukine, tell me what she was talking about, please tell me." Yato shook the guardian of the priest around by his shoulders. Yukine lifted his upper lip in something close to disgust and he pushed Yato away and moved a little backwards.
"Your hands are sweaty, don't touch me. Also, I won't tell you what she was talking about. She wants you to find out on your own." Yukine got to his feet, patting his clothes smooth. "I'm gonna wash things in the stream. You stay here and guard the camp, oh great Amagiri no Mikoto." Yukine smirked, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Then he turned on his heel and walked towards the stream.
Yato bit his lip, his eyebrows furrowed.
-o-
"Wow! So this is what a lively village of the fire tribe is like!" Hiyori gushed as she looked around her, her eyes sparkling. Yato grabbed the edge of the hood on her cloak and pulled it down, yanking Hiyori's head down with it.
"Eyes down hime-sama. Lord Kagutsuchi's soldiers aren't dumb. Several have been to Hiryuu castle and have seen that you have magenta colored eyes. No one else in the entire of Kouka has eyes colored that way, so whatever you do, don't meet anyone's eyes." Yato whispered.
"Hm, I understand." Hiyori mumbled, pulling away from Yato and shifting closer to Yukine.
"Amagiri no Mikoto sama, don't forget that your eyes and glaive stand out too, so do us a favor and blend into the walls." Yukine pointed out. Yato glanced at Hiyori again. She hadn't been really talking to him ever since the whole 'you can't use a dagger' incident.
"Hai, hai, Yukine kun, I'll just go see if I can get any information. The two of you be careful. If anything happens, run for your lives." Yato ran his fingers through his hair, then pulled his cloak hood over his head and disappeared into a dark alley.
Hiyori straightened up, a pout clearly on her face.
"Cut him some slack, hime-sama, he's dumb, it comes with the package." Yukine shrugged. "Oh, let's stop here, I'll buy some spices with the money we have. Do you think we'll get supplies in the Hakuryuu's village?"
"If we ask for supplies, maybe they'll give us some. It really depends on whether the Hakuryuu will come with us or not." Hiyori looked around the little shop they had entered. There was an old lady at the end of the shop weaving together what looked like a reed basket. The shop was filled with spices and little plants. There were some piping hot buns on a little stand by the old lady and Hiyori could see a display of candy near the end of the shop.
"Ah, here to shop dearies, go ahead and see if there's anything that you'd like." The old lady looked and smiled at them, showing them a grin with holes.
"Well, I do suppose you lose teeth as you age." Hiyori told herself as she picked up a bundle of green stems and pressed them to her nose, surprised at how nice and exotic they smelled. Yukine was picking his way through the shop picking up various things and naming them so easily Hiyori was at loss for words. "But they all look the same. How do you know what's what?" Hiyori asked Yukine, stepping over a bag of flour to reach Yukine.
"I can tell by the smell and they all have some differences. See this one here? It has a single vein running through the leaf and this one which looks almost identical has a large vein and several other tiny ones." Yukine explained, holding the plants up to Hiyori's face.
"You're right." Hiyori said in surprise.
"Are you two siblings? Come, I'll give both of you some candy." The old lady beckoned for them to come closer, her wrinkled face splitting with another hole filled smile. Hiyori blinked.
"Oh we're no-" She began.
Yukine grabbed her hand.
"Yes we are, Obaachan!" Yukine said with what looked like an innocent smile, tugging Hiyori over to the old lady.
"Here, here, take some candy." The old lady put a handful of candy into Yukine's outstretched palm. Suddenly Hiyori noticed a bunch of necklaces hung up next to the buns. The pendants were made of shiny red stone that made Hiyori want to put against her cheek because they seemed that warm. She bent a little, brushing a finger against one of the stones. Surprisingly, they were cold to touch.
"Oh, those are necklaces for them couples today. Would like to buy one for your man, little lady?" The old lady inquired. Hiyori flinched and pulled away from the necklaces, his face painting bright red.
"I-I don't have a man!" Hiyori sputtered.
Booming laughter filled the little shop.
"And your face says otherwise. Go ahead, buy one, they're only available today. They'll be sold out by dusk. Don't miss the opportunity." The old lady pulled two necklaces off the hook and held them out to Hiyori. Hiyori eyed the necklace as if they would bite her if she touched them.
"But why only today?" Hiyori asked curiously.
"You don't know?" The eyes of the old lady - that seemed constantly closed in between the folds of her wrinkled skin - widened. "Have you lived inside the forest your entire life, little lady? This is the day for lovers throughout the entire of Kouka." Hiyori thought back a little. Now that she pondered about it, she seemed to recall Kofuku always heading back to Chi'Shin in excitement for a while every year around this time.
"Ah, that's right…" Hiyori said quietly to herself.
"So do you plan on taking it, little lady?" The old lady queried. Hiyori looked at the necklaces.
"Oh, I don't think so, I don't have the money to-" Hiyori started to reject the necklaces.
"We do." Yukine cut in. Hiyori and the old lady turned to look at him. "We do have the money to buy the necklaces." Hiyori's jaw almost dropped. Yukine who always nagged at the smallest things was suggesting that she bought the necklaces which she didn't think she'd have the guts to give?
"But-" Hiyori protested.
"How much are they, Obaachan?" Yukine asked, looking through his little pouch of money. Yukine handed the money over for the necklaces and the spices. "I want you to give one to him. Quit dilly-dallying. It's not healthy for the both of you."
Hiyori looked down at the necklaces in her hand before closing her fist around them.
"Yeah, I'll do that."
-o-
"It's better to get a short sword for Yukine...So maybe a seax. Ossan, pass me that seax. I want to get a good look at it." Yato examined the short sword in his calloused hands. It suited Yukine's image too. And if Yato remembered correctly, apprentices for priests usually carried around fancy daggers. It was a fitting sword for Yukine even if he had no plans of becoming a priest in the future.
"It's well crafted, isn't it?" The dark haired man at the counter asked, a roguish grin on his face.
"It is," Yato answered, testing the sharp edge of the blade with his thumb.
"Perfect length and weight for a girl too, in case you want to buy it for a girl, ya know." The man at the counter nonchalantly started to sharpen a hunter's knife. Yato looked up at the man sharply, but the man wasn't even looking at him, going about his own business. Yato chewed on the inside of his cheek.
"This is too rough for a girl, you wouldn't happen to have anything better for a girl, would you?" Yato asked. The man looked up at him.
"Now that you mention it, I have just the right thing." The man dug through the shelf underneath the counter and pulled out a dirk. It's silver colored blade glinted against the sunlight coming in through the entrance of the shop. The hilt was decorated with braided silver and there were ornate designs on the blade. Yato tested the sharpness of the blade just as he had with Yukine's seax. The metal was strong and yet light. Yato visualized it in Hiyori's hands and then felt a grin spreading across his face involuntarily.
"I'll buy these two." Yato looked up at the man.
"Alright then."
If I give this to Hiyori she'll stop being mad at me won't she? And I can just make sure that she won't have to actually use it in battle. Yato nodded to himself, internally grinning as he walked out of the shop feeling very pleased.
He started off with trying to find where Hiyori and Yukine could be. He briskly walked through the village, carrying his glaive with him like it was lighter than a feather. He didn't like letting Hiyori out of his sight. Although she could fight with hand to hand technique pretty well, there were several people who were more powerful physique wise and Yato never really fought back as if he was fighting for his life when she used hand to hand combat techniques on him. Yukine could fight decently, but he disliked violence and avoided it as much as possible. They had no weapons on the at the moment. If they were discovered by soldiers, they wouldn't stand a chance. That was why Yato decided to buy the dirk for Hiyori. He had thought long and hard about why she had been angry with him.
"Oh there they are. Hiyo-" Yato picked up his walking pace starting to call out to them, hand raised. He froze. Hiyori was dusting off the clothes of a crying little girl and smiling at her.
"There, do you feel better now? Do you think you can head home by yourself?" Hiyori asked. The little girl nodded but she was still bawling.
"Come on, hime-sama, we're attracting attention," Yukine hissed.
"Oh, quiet for a moment, Yukine. Hiyori dug into her pocket and pulled out candy. "Here, you can have this. It'll taste good. And look, you're not even bleeding." The little girl stopped crying and it turned into sniffles instead. Yato saw Hiyori's pretty white hands holding out the candy to the girl. He looked down at his hand which was holding his glaive. Calloused, tanned and scarred. Hands that had killed people. Hands that had been dyed in blood.
He would never let Hiyori's hands become like his. The hands that hurt others. Yato tucked the dirk into his clothes.
"Come on, we need to find that guy." Yukine pulled Hiyori up and started to tug her with him. "Ah, there he is, that baka Amagiri no Mikoto." Yukine and Hiyori hurried over to him. "We need to get my dagger." Yukine told Yato, looking up at him.
"I already got you yours." Yato said, holding out the seax to Yukine. "It should be useful."
"It looks perfect." Yukine grinned, unsheathing the blade and examining it.
"Um...Yato," Hiyori looked up at Yato with expectant and nervous eyes. "You know about-"
"We need to get out of here quickly. We've been here for too long. It'll only be a matter of time before someone recognizes one of us." Yato said curtly, turning away. "Let's go."
"Ah...right." Hiyori's dejected voice murmured.
-o-
"Ugh! That Yato is hateful! So hateful! I'm not giving him this necklace!" Hiyori growled, sitting down next to Yukine in a very aggravated manner.
"It didn't work this time either?" Yukine asked.
"It didn't!" Hiyori snarled. "I don't get why he's behaving this way. It's very annoying! Every single time I try to speak to him, he cuts me off and just leaves. He's never going to get this necklace! In fact, I'm gonna throw these away!" Hiyori raised her hand to pitch the necklaces as far as possible.
"Don't you dare, we bought that with valuable money. You can give them to him later when things have calmed down or you can give them to another guy later in your life. But don't you dare throw them." Yukine chided her sternly. Hiyori frowned and lowered her hand.
"Yeah, you're right." She tucked the necklaces into her pocket wondering if she's ever be able to give one to anyone. She didn't have the time for romance when she was busy trying to find a way to survive. Hiyori sighed and resigned herself to several years of keeping the necklaces in her pocket.
"Anyway, it's dinner time, so I'm gonna just serve you dinner and wait for that baka Amagiri no Mikoto to come and eat dinner." Yukine started to serve Hiyori dinner.
But I really wanted to give Yato the necklace while I still haven't started moving down the path where there is no time for these kind of things. Hiyori accepted her bowl from Yukine and ate, ignoring the dull throb of hurt in her heart.
-o-
Hiyori started awake, sitting up faster than she thought possible. Yukine, next to her grumbled in his sleep and turned over. Hiyori put a hand against her heaving chest and willed herself to calm down. She was covered in cold sweat and her clothes were almost drenched through. Hiyori fisted the front of her dress and felt her heart thump wildly in her ears.
It's alright. It's alright. It was only a nightmare. Hiyori told herself in a chant. Once her breathing had calmed down a little, she climbed out of the tent. The light of the sun which had just peeked out from the horizon warmed her chilled skin and calmed her down. She surveyed her sleeping companions and realized Yato was missing. It wasn't an unusual thing. Yato usually woke up at the crack of dawn and wandered off by himself. Hiyori picked her way through bed sheets. Uesama was sleeping curled up next to Ebisu. She finally found Yato sitting on a large outcropping of rock, his legs dangling down towards the river beneath.
"You're up early." Yato said before he even saw her.
"And so are you," Hiyori sat down next to Yato, bathing in the light of the rising sun.
"I was thinking," Yato put his glaive down on the ground. "It's been about a year since we met Kiun at the Hakuryuu's village."
Hiyori smiled softly.
"Exactly a year since we had that argument about me using weapons." She swung her feet forward. Yato sucked in a sharp breath and Hiyori felt a pang of guilt. "You know, Yato...I understand why you said what you said then. I just couldn't bring myself to-" Hiyori started when Yato reached forward and grabbed her hands and looked down at them. "Huh? What are you doing?"
"I'm just wondering how your hands have changed." Yato's gentle voice wondered out loud. Hiyori looked down at her own hands. They were hardened and darkened from having used weapons for the past one year. There was a scar that stretched across her right palm. Suddenly Hiyori felt very uncomfortable.
"Can you not? I-"
"I was wrong." Yato chuckled quietly to himself.
"Hm?" Hiyori questioned, a little startled.
"I didn't want to give you a weapon because I was scared I would turn these hands into the hands of someone who hurt others. But I was wrong. These aren't the hands of someone who hurts other. These are the hands of someone who helps others. These hands have helped so many people stand up. These hands are hands that have created countless miracles." Hiyori's face flamed, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Yato dug into his clothes and pulled out a beautiful short sword. "I bought this for you a year ago. I wasn't able to give this to you then, but I want to give this to you now." Yato put the sword into her hands.
Oh...oh...I really am in love with him. There's no going back now.
Hiyori put the sword down and scrambled to her feet. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the two necklaces she had bought a year ago. She picked the larger one and held it out to Yato.
"Here, for you. I bought this exactly a year ago and I couldn't give it to you then. But I want you to take it now." Hiyori stuttered, her face bright red. Yato blinked and then reached forward to take the necklace.
"Thank you...but why are you giving me this?" Yato asked in confusion.
Hiyori's jaw dropped and she turned redder than before.
"I have to give Uesama his food!" Hiyori shrieked before running off before Yato could say anything. Yato shrugged and put the necklace on.
"What's with her?" Yato voiced his thoughts.
"Are you an idiot? That's a necklace that couples wear. Hiyori chan is wearing the pair to that." Takemikazuchi snickered from his spot up in the branches of the tree nearby. Yato blinked at the Ryokuryuu for two second before he started to his feet and scrambled after the princess.
"Hiyori wait! You haven't even heard my answer yet!" Yato bellowed.
-o-