Summary: Gods aren't fearless, and Yato is no exception. Yet perhaps Yato would come to realize his fears of being left behind and alone were unfounded after all…

Notes: Slight spoilers but nothing major.

Unbeta'd

Disclaimer: Adachi Toka owns Noragami.

Darkness. That was the only thing that he could see, no matter which way he turned or what direction he faced. He could barely make out his hands and feet in the dark and had no idea where he was, let alone which direction he was heading. Nonetheless, he walked endlessly, cupping his hands to project his voice farther into the never-ending darkness.

"Yukine! Hiyori! Oi! Where are you guys hiding?!" he called out, searching for someone, anyone, to help him and lead him out of the suffocating darkness. He didn't know how long he had been walking around in this dark abyss. All he knew was the heat gathered in his cheeks and the tightness in his lungs as he gasped and panted and heaved for the much needed air, as he pushed himself to take one step after another on this aimless trail. As time passed, he felt a tightening in his chest and his breathing quickened, almost to the point of being painful. He clenched his jersey, right in front of where his heart is as he broke into a run, panting heavily from the exertion and the amount of time he already spent walking. However, despite his determination, it wasn't long before he collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees, tears pricking at his eyes as he stared at the hard cold floor beneath him.

Alone.

Yato cringed as the word came to the forefront of his mind, dominating his thoughts and bringing with it a painfully familiar emptiness and memories that he had no intention of recollecting. The past was something that he left behind a long time ago; he wished to start anew and leave everything behind him. Every time he tried, he was abandoned, left alone and forgotten. Every time, he had to turn to the dark side, fulfilling any wish he could to remain alive. This time was different. This time… he had…

Squeezing his eyes shut, he roughly brushed away the tears that formed and moved to get up, when he noticed a small light in front of him. Quickly, he got to his feet and dashes as fast as he could toward the source, fearing it was just a figment of his imagination.

Instead of fading away like he feared, the light grew brighter as he approached it, until he could make out a familiar figure. He could barely breathe anymore, yet that small sliver of hope was just so bright, so desirous, that even as his lungs burned with the lack of air, he still used the last of his breath to call out–

"HIYORI!"

Said person turned toward the sound of his voice and Yato's expression turned into one of relief and joy as Hiyori began running in his direction, arms spread out wide as if to engulf him in a comforting hug. "Hi–"

And all hopes were dashed when Hiyori ran right past him, only to fade and disappear into the darkness behind him. He stared at the spot where Hiyori disappeared into the darkness in disbelief before turning back to see where the light originated from, only to find it gone, leaving him alone in the dark abyss again. Yato bit his lip in a futile effort to contain the tears that threatened to reappear as a single thought crossed his mind.

She promised to never forget.

He lowered his head and clenched his hands into tight fists, bangs covering his eyes and tears streaming silently down his face to fall onto the ground. Yato sniffled quietly, as the sheer realization of just how alone he was practically tore his heart apart. The pain was so overwhelming that he almost missed the clang ringing at his feet and out into the endless darkness, intent on drawing his attention. After wiping his eyes briefly with his jersey sleeve, he glanced down and found Sekki at his feet, with no idea how his Shinki got there. He briefly wondered what Yukine was doing in his Shinki form when he hadn't called the blond, but disregarded the thought as the sliver of hope resurfaced and the thought of being alone receded. "Y-Yukine?" he whispered as he crouched down and took up the bandaged blade in both hands gently. But the instant he did, a crack formed in the middle of the blade and before he could do anything more than gasp, Sekki shattered into numerous fragments and disappeared, leaving nothing except a shocked and abandoned Yato. This time, the Kami did nothing to get back up and search for an escape from the darkness. This time, he did nothing to stop the tears that resumed streaming down the sides of his face mere seconds after the disappearance of Sekki, arms still outstretched as if Sekki was still whole and in his hands.

This time, he knew that he was truly alone and abandoned.

In the back of his mind, he heard a voice. A voice that he hasn't heard in many, many long years, that haunted him every day no matter where he was or what he was doing. A voice that called out to him longingly.

I loved it when you called my name, Yato.

He sensed someone behind him but made no effort to move, all strength having left him with the disappearance of Sekki and Hiyori. The only thing he could do is stand numbly as arms covered in Kanji wound themselves around his neck affectionately and a voice whispered quietly into his ear.

I'm all you need.

Yukine jolted awake, quickly rising to a sitting position and placing a palm to his sweaty forehead. It wasn't the first time that he woke up in the middle of the night without warning. Each time it happened, Yato would wake up not long after and leave without a word while he feigned sleep and watched his Master's retreating back. The Kami wouldn't appear until late morning with dark bags under his eyes, as if he didn't get any rest after he left to wherever his destination was. Each time Yukine approached Yato about his disappearances, he was brushed off and ignored, being told that it was nothing of importance and that he shouldn't worry over such a minor thing. Yet, it kept happening, night after night. The blond thought that it was strange; for a Kami that barely got calls in the morning, why did he get so many at night? He turned to face said Kami, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully beside him. Yukine smiled as he watched his Master's sleeping figure, his thoughts drifting to a conversation that he had a few days before with Kofuku.

"What did you say?"

"… Yato-chan used to be a very scary Kami. Killing Bisha's shinki wasn't the only thing that Yato-chan did in the past. Being a Kami of War, he also killed humans. Rumors said that Yato-chan did whatever he could to stay alive, taking on any request and fulfilling it with … Nora. It didn't matter what the request was at the time; he fulfilled it without fail. After all, he is the Yatogami."

"W-what about now? Does he still take on those types of requests?"

"I don't know~"

"E-eh?!"

"It seems that Yato-chan is trying to make a name of his own now, and leave his past, including Nora, behind. But how do you think he feels?"

"W-what do you–"

"To live in fear of being forgotten, to be abandoned by everyone you know except for Nora, to possibly disappear when he is no longer needed… Have you ever thought about how Yato-chan felt about all this? Being a Kami is one thing, but minor Kami have it really rough…"

He… must have been really lonely… hasn't he?

A slight movement next to him caused Yukine to once again turn his attention to his Master. The Yatogami appeared to be the same, still sleeping peacefully; however, upon closer inspection, Yukine noticed his previously peaceful expression contort into one of fear, the hand moving to tightly clench the jersey right in front of the Kami's heart, the beads of sweat that were beginning to form on his forehead. The blond immediately grew concerned and reached to gently shake Yato awake when he heard a quiet, vulnerable voice.

"N-no… I have… that remember... No..." the Kami pleaded quietly, his voice trembling in fear and the hand clenching his jersey turning white from the effort. Yukine, startled by the sudden vulnerability of his usually dorky and happy-go-lucky Master, suddenly recalled flashback of another conversation he had with Kofuku.

"I... I don't understand. I heard from Mayu that Kami's usually revoke their Shinki's name and banish them the instant they stab their master. So… why didn't he? Why did Yato risk everything for me?"

"Yato-chan probably wanted to teach you what you really wanted. You didn't want money, you just wanted a friend that understood and would stand by you. You and him are actually really alike, and he probably saw that. He probably… wanted to be your friend."

"E-eh?! Is that true?" The blond turned away, his expression turning to one filled with guilt and sorrow. "A-and I did all that to him… I stabbed him…" Gentle hands reached forward to cradle his head and he looked up to face the Poverty Kami.

"Then you should work hard as his only Shinki. He cares for you a lot you know. The best you can do is repay him. Neh?" Quickly the blond wiped the just-forming tears on his jacket sleeve before facing Kofuku with a determined expression.

"Okay!"

Roughly, the blond shook his Master, obviously concerned over his sudden change in expression while sleeping. It only took a few shakes before Yato jolted awake as if he had been shocked, his bright-blue eyes opened wide in fear and his breathing ragged and shaky. "O-oh it's you Yukine," the Kami whispered quietly in relief, threading a hand through his drenched locks in an effort to regain his bearings. The blond watched as Yato took a few deep breaths to calm down before speaking.

"Y-Yato? Are you ok? You haven't been sleeping well and–"

"I'm fine," the Kami interrupted as he stood up and moved to leave. "I'll be going out, you can go ahead and–"

"NO!" The sudden shout caused Yato to freeze and turn around to face his Shinki, wondering what upset him so much. "Yato, you always leave in the middle of the night." Said Kami's expression contorted into one of denial and fear and he opened his mouth to retort, but Yukine refused to give him the opportunity. "You've been having nightmares lately, haven't you? Nightmares… about being alone." Seeing Yato's terror-struck expression only confirmed his suspicions about why Yato left every night.

He didn't want me to find out. He was afraid, and yet he went out by himself every night so that I wouldn't know.

"I-I… " No further words could be said as the Kami suddenly found himself engulfed in a tender hug, the blond having ran over and threw his arms around the Kami. Yato found himself too shocked to speak or even move, just standing there as Yukine continued talking.

"You know… you aren't alone anymore. Even if eventually Hiyori… does forget about us… You still have Kofuku and Daikoku… and me. You won't ever be alone again," the blond said, his voice slightly muffled from having his face buried in the Kami's jersey. Upon hearing those words, tears formed in Yato's eyes and flowed down his cheeks as his heart warmed to Yukine's words. All fear and doubt that remained from the nightmare disappeared as he returned the blond's hug. Yukine removed his face from Yato's jersey and tilted his head back to find drops of water falling onto his face. The blond's expression softened as he watched his Master finally release all the fears and doubts he had been harboring for the past few days.

It was going to be a peaceful night after all.

As long as they had each other.

A/N: Ok this ending was really cheesy… Ugh… Well what do you think! A new fandom! (courtesy of WaiiKitsune, of course) Don't worry, I will still finish my on-going fics (for those that follow) but I am hopelessly caught up in this fandom at the moment. Check my profile to see what I'm up to and when I will next update! I also have an art blog so if you are interested then check that out as well! Well… until next time~

Ciao Ciao~

Pikachu

Published 9 March 2014