Thanks for all the reviews, followings, and favoriting of this story! I must say you guys had a lot of interesting theories about Yukime's Yato, and some of your theories were really close, but this new chapter will clarify some things…or confuse you even more :3


He blinked at the scene before him, then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Nothing changed.

Yukine and Yukime really were sleeping in the exact same position. Both of them were lying on their left sides, faces obscured by their comforters. Perhaps it was his blurry eyesight -it was already daylight and he hadn't slept a wink- but he swore even their breathing was synchronized. Nope, it wasn't his imagination, they really were mirroring each other in every way because right now both of them were shifting until their left hands slid out onto the wooden floor and they shivered.

It seemed his kid -kids- needed a little help. He went to Yukine and crouched beside his shinki before tucking his regalia's hand back into the pocket of warmth he was burrowed in. He examined his regalia's face right after to make certain he hadn't disturbed his kid's sleep, but lingered longer than he intended because Yukine looked so different when he wasn't scowling at him. He appeared younger and smaller when the covers were swathed around him like this. He shook his head and snorted. If Yukine woke up and saw him staring, he would be smacked into a wall without question.

Deciding not to risk it, he hopped up, stepped over to Yukime, and proceeded to repeat his actions. However, as he adjusted the blankets around the shinki's hand, he noticed Yukime did not look like Yukine in his sleep. In fact, the kid's face was a little bit angular, the edges of his chin and cheeks were missing some of their baby fat roundness. Had Yukime been a little older than Yukine -fifteen maybe- when he passed? If so, this only further proved that Yukime had died in a different manner than his own shinki.

Yukime shifted again and his top cover dropped beneath his chin. A sky blue cloth peeked out. Was he still wearing that scarf? Yato couldn't help but think this was a choking hazard, so he gently eased the blanket down until the scarf was fully uncovered. He gave the garment a light tug.

Yukime jerked up, gasping, eyes wide. Yato dropped the scarf, anticipating the regalia to react as he had last night, but not for the way Yukime hunched into a ball and threw the covers over himself. Not the trembling or the whimpering that grew sharper and more potent the longer he remained frozen above the kid.

"Y-Yukime?" He didn't know what to do, what he could have done wrong, but he felt a thick wad of guilt pilling up his chest along with Yukime's terror.

"It's alright, it's just me." He lowered his voice and kneeled so his face was closer to where he assumed Yukime was hiding his. The whimpers sounded like outright wailing the closer his ear got to the blanket, and his heart faltered because this kid was in such pain -he felt it- and it was all his fault.

"W-Which 'me'?"

The muffled question surprised him, for he thought Yukime was no longer coherent. Yet he couldn't answer because he wasn't sure what the shinki meant. Was he asking which Yato he was? Or had he misheard the muffled speech?

"It's Yato, you know," An idea came to him and he forced a smile onto his face, knowing it would carry over into his voice. "Delivery god Yato! Soon to be god of fortune! One day going to have billions of worshippers, crowd of gorgeous women falling at my feet, all that and more Yato!" He crossed his arms and threw his head up high in a showy display of confidence.

Then he waited.

The blankets loosened and it was a struggle to keep smiling as he saw a lone orange eye stare at him from the darkness under the covers. They eyed each other for a second. Then a clammy hand sprang free and the shinki drew the blankets down to his waist. Yukime was still staring at him intently in the eyes, searching for something, but nodded to himself after a moment and looked away.

Mindful of the tension lingering in the room, Yato kept his volume near whisper levels. "Are you okay?"

Yukime nodded. "Sorry, I don't like people touching my scarf." The boy's hand reached up to finger the cloth. A distant look overtook the regalia's face while he rubbed the cotton garment between his thumb and index finger.

"Oh, my bad, I thought you might get tangled in it." He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. Yukime observed him, face unreadable, and it was disorienting to see him appear that way because it was Yukine's face too and he was used to anger or sadness or joy, but never such apathy on his kid's face.

"I'm going to clean up." Yukime rose without facing him, but Yato knew the kid meant he was going to wipe away the tear stains on his cheeks. Okay, now he reeeally felt bad about that.

A surge of jealousy struck him, and Yato looked over his shoulder. Yukine was sitting up, probably awoken by the commotion, but he wasn't looking at Yato. He was glaring into the hallway where Yukime had just left, and Yato idly wondered if this was going to be a problem.


"This is sooo amazing!" Kofuku gushed, clapping her hands together. "Stand next to each other, let me see!" She ushered Yukine until he and Yukime were standing shoulder-to-shoulder. They both were clearly embarrassed and their hunched shoulders revealed their reluctance to participate, but Kofuku was so excited it seemed they couldn't deny her.

"Huh?" Kofuku leaned in close to Yukime, and Yato frowned from his place in the doorway because the kid didn't flinch -unlike with him. "Yukki-Two is taller!"

"What?" Yukine seemed mildly outraged by this statement.

Kofuku bobbed her head. "He is! Look!" She raised a hand above each of the shinki, lowering it onto their heads before sliding the hands next to each other. However, the hand above Yukime ended up above the other. Yato took this as further proof that Yukime was older.

Yukine scowled, moving away from Kofuku and Yukime. "Can we please eat breakfast already?"

Yato smiled because Yukine never liked having his height pointed out since he wasn't exactly the tallest teenager around.

Kofuku bobbed her head in agreement, not at all fazed by his kid's mood. "Sure, we left you some in the fridge." She looked up to the ceiling and tapped a finger against her lips. "I wish I'd checked Yukki-Two's height earlier, now the matching clothes set I asked Daikoku to buy might be too small on him."

"Matching clothes?!" Yukime and Yukine's face twisted into identical expressions of exasperation. "We're not twins!" They waved their hands in denial before realizing they had both spoken and acted in the exact same manner. They slowly lowered their hands and shared a look. Yato wondered if some sort of kinship or understanding passed between them, but if so, it was fleeting. Yukine looked away, muttering something about reheating their breakfast prior to wandering into the kitchen area.

"So what am I like in your reality?" Kofuku leaned in to Yukime's face and the kid leaned back from the sudden attention. "Do I look the same? Are my clothes different? What is Daikoku like there?"

An overwhelmed look appeared on Yukime's face, so Yato took a step into the room to intervene.

"Uh, you're pretty much the same," Yukime managed to get out. "But your hair is red." He waved at her pink curls.

"Really?!" Kofuku clutched her hair and pouted, probably picturing herself with the darker hair tone.

"Do I get breakfast too?" Yato went up to the table they were standing around and he hated how Yukime flinched and paled, good mood evaporating once he laid eyes on Yato.

He didn't meet Yukime's eyes again, the kid seemed more relaxed when he wasn't staring at him, but he sensed the shinki examining him.

"Of course you do, Yato-chan! I'll get a plate for you!" She offered with a smile, spinning away after giving Yukime a pat on the head and muttering something he couldn't hear but left the kid blushing a bit.

He searched for something to say that wouldn't scare the regalia, but Yukine returned with a couple of plates of food and handed one to Yukime before he could scrounge up some words.

"Oooh," Yato leaned over his shinki's shoulder after they got seated at the table, reaching for the food on his kid's plate. "Anything for me, Yukine?"

"Back off, baka!" His regalia stabbed at his hand with a spoon, which hurt enough for him to pull back with a yelp. "You have your own food so stop being greedy!" His kid proceeded to chow down on his breakfast as if he expected Yato to try to steal again, which was justified he had to admit.

Then Yukine elbowed him in the chest until he moved away, sulking and petting his abused hand. "Fine! I'll just buy myself something really tasty when I go on my job!" He crossed his arms, soured because he was starving, until Kofuku reappeared to hand him a plate of food and his mouth watered as he got a whiff of it.

"You already got a job today? That's great!" Kofuku sat next to him at the table, inserting herself between him and Yukime, who was silently sipping his tea. He couldn't help but wonder if Kofuku had noticed the tension between them. If so, he appreciated her efforts while also despairing that Yukime's fear was so intense one could pick up on it simply by entering the room.

"What type of job are we doing today?" Yukine had already scarfed down his meal, and was holding his tea in the exact position as Yukime was -the mimicry was starting to weird him out.

"Well, I've got a housekeeping job, but I need you to do something else for me." He spoke in between bites, hoping he was understood but not caring about much else beside the warm food on his plate -so delicious! Maybe he could go for seconds today, Kofuku always let him get away with things Daikoku wouldn't.

"What do you mean?" His hafuri was frowning, no doubt suspicious he was going to be sent on an annoying errand. As if he ever did that!

...Okay, sometimes he did.

"Don't look at me like that!" He whined because this was actually important. "I need you to find out if Kazuma knows anything about alternate realities," he stopped munching, turning serious. "Scope out his private library if you can, a guy like him has to have one, and let me know whatever you find out."

Yukine set down his tea, realizing this task actually was important. "Well, I was planning to get some training in with Kazuma today," he glanced down at his arm. "But I'm going to have to put my arm in sling so Kazuma doesn't realize it wasn't me they treated last night."

"You're going to disguise yourself?" Kofuku shot up to her feet and pulled up Yukine a second later, startling his kid. "That sounds like fun! Let me help you get dressed up, I have costumes in my room!" She dragged Yukine away despite his protests that he only needed a sling, not a costume, but Kofuku was an unstoppable force when she wanted to be. His poor regalia.

The room went silent after the two left, and Yato knew it was because no one was there to be a buffer for him and the kid. He sighed when he noticed Yukime was quietly sipping at his tea, hunched into himself in an attempt to fade into the background.

He couldn't leave the kid like this. Maybe the shinki was afraid of him, for reasons he wouldn't consider yet, but Yato had the oddest feeling some part of Yukime actually wanted him around. To be frank, the kid wasn't always regarding him in a cautious manner, he was looking at him in expectation as if he was waiting to be told what to do. It likened the way a lost child searched for the nearest authority figure, which made sense considering Yukime was far from his reality.

Though maybe it was simply because he was technically the regalia's master, so he was used to Yato -a version of him anyway- telling him what to do, but whatever the reason, Yato felt obligated to watch over the shinki. After all, they were bonded so technically Yato did have an obligation to Yukime. Also he had pondered what it must feel like to be in Yukime's master place. If his kid had fallen into another reality, he would hope someone would take care of his kid, so shouldn't he do the same?

Decision made, he grinned widely and hoped it softened his appearance in Yukime's eyes. "Do you want to come with me on the job, Yukime?"

The kid's head jerked up and his orange faced blue. There was a bit of unease translated in this exchange.

Yet the answer was clear before Yukime opened his mouth.


On the job, Yato expected the snark about how he was a maid -plumber in this case- and an outright refusal to help him fix the leaky pipes under the kitchen sink. He did not anticipate for Yukime to join him on the tiled floor, or the way he handed him the tools -the right ones at that- before Yato could even ask. The kid didn't utter a single complainant, was mainly mute regardless of how much Yato tried to prompt him into conversation -and try he had!

Though the oddest thing about the shinki became evident when they finished the job a few hours later and Yukime actually seemed a bit put out. He sensed the disappointment rather than saw it because Yukime was putting in no effort to shelter him from his emotions, probably because he had never been taught how to in his reality.

However, he didn't want Yukime's contentment to fade into nothing. He didn't want the unspoken truce they had established to vanish. Not to say the kid was magically comfortable around him now, however, Yukime's fear had dwindled the longer they worked together until the regalia seemed to forget -at least for the moment- whatever had made him so afraid in the first place. That was why instead of teleporting them straight home, he led Yukime to a nearby ice cream shop.

"Pick whatever flavor you want!" He gestured to the spectrum of brightly-colored frozen treats behind the glass.

Yukime's eyes went wide, not with terror -thanks goodness- but in surprise. The shinki gaped as he regarded the variety of flavors behind the glass.

"You're getting me ice cream?" Yukime was somewhere between suspicious and excited, but he was disappointed when wariness won out and the regalia regarded Yato with narrowed eyes. It reminded him a lot of how Yukine used to regard him in the beginning, when he blighted him all the time. He idly wondered if Yukime had blighted his master too, or did blighting not happen in the kid's reality?

"Yukine told me you were broke."

"Gah!" Yato clutched at his heart and nearly swooned because his own hafuri had made him sound like some penniless bum -even if it had some truth to it. "That's why you're shocked I'm buying you ice cream?!" He was already pulling at his hair and shaking his head in denial. How could his kid be so cruel?!

Yukime bit his bottom lip like he was trying to figure out if he was supposed to laugh or actually help his temporary master.

He felt the kid getting anxious with indecision so straightened up, but couldn't stop himself from sounding dejected. "He must have told you when he leant you his clothes this morning." He sniffed for a second, but soon crossed his arms and put on his best display of arrogance. "Well, lucky for us, I found where Yukine was hiding his money stash and I borrowed some so who's the broke one now?"

He chuckled to himself because he had been so clever. This time he hadn't taken the money all at once, but so gradually over time that Yukine probably hadn't noticed and simply assumed he had misplaced a bill or two over the past month without questioning if Yato was behind it.

A soft series of exhales broke out behind him and his head whipped over to see Yukime was...

Was laughing?!

His eyes fluttered rapidly because he had actually done it. Yukime was really laughing, though it didn't last long and sounded rough like an old car starting up for the first time in years, but it was still laughter.

Yukime wasn't facing him as his chuckles faded, but he thought he spotted the corner of the kid's lips curving up. "My master used to steal from me all the time, wasting my hard earned money on useless charm-" His mouth snapped shut with a click of his teeth and the regalia slapped a hand over his lips as if he had uttered a dreadful thing.

He was worried by this sudden change, and would be disappointed that he couldn't keep the kid happy for even a minute, but was too focused on figuring out the reason behind Yukime's renewed terror to dwell on that. "Are you alright?"

Yukime, through what looked like a great act of will, dropped his hand from his mouth and smoothed out his expression until there was no discernible emotion on his face. The shinki was still breathing fast, but that too was regulating itself as he walked up to the ice cream bar and placed his hands on the glass to steady himself.

Yato kept his distance and his tone light. "Are you okay?"

Yukime nodded after a moment and he didn't really believe the shinki, but was at a lost for what to do. If this were Yukine, he would prod the teen until he admitted whatever was bothering him. However, this kid wasn't really his kid, and he doubted the teenager would admit anything when it seemed the very root of his problem stemmed from Yato.

He would have to be subtle then.

"How about you sit at the table and I get you some vanilla? I'm not that hungry myself, but you earned this for all the help you gave me." He herded the boy over to a small unoccupied table in the corner before Yukime could claim he didn't want ice cream. The shinki obeyed, though frowning, and he hurried to get through the paying process.

He went back to the table where Yukime held his chin in one hand and stared out the glass wall as people strolled by on the sidewalk.

"Here you go!" He dropped the cup of ice cream with a plastic spoon in it on the table and Yukime started before spotting the desert. "Eat it before it melts!"

Yukine would have pointed out that it was too cold inside and outside for it to melt, but this kid merely grabbed the spoon and scooped the treat into his mouth in perfect obedience, and Yato didn't like that. He actually preferred it when his kid gave him a hard time because when Yukime just followed orders, his gut screamed at him like he had committed a terrible sin. Perhaps it was because he himself knew that following a "master" -father- without question always led to bloodshed and guilt, and he never wanted to make anyone feel like that -especially not his kid.

That familiar tension was filling the air between them as Yukime munched on the sugary desert without a trace of a smile. Yup, time to implement Plan A.

"So feel free not to answer," he used a casual tone but saw Yukime's hand tighten on the spoon anyway. "But you've been feeling out of sorts since you got here, and I was wondering if I was doing anything wrong? This could be because you're from a different reality, but I can't help you unless you explain..."

Yukime released the spoon so it fell with a clank into the half-empty cup and his eyes went wide. "It's not..." The kid made a motion like he was going to wring his hands together, but the sling made that difficult so he aborted the motion. "I'm just worried about my master."

He expected to be blighted by that statement, so when he wasn't, and saw the downward tilt to the kid's eyes, he realized Yukime genuinely cared about the other him -Other Yato he now decided to call him.

"He doesn't have any shinki besides me and he can't do...jobs without me. I really need to get back soon or he might get in trouble."

Yato knew once again there were holes in Yukime's story, but didn't want to risk causing the kid to clam up by pointing this out. "So you're his hafuri like Yukine is mine?" Yukime nodded and he added this detail to the list of things the shinki had revealed about Other Yato. "In that case, you don't have to worry." He beamed an encouraging smile across the table. "If my kid went missing, I'd manage so I'm sure he's doing the same!"

The smile dropped from his face when Yukime narrowed his eyes and looked to the side. "But he's not you." The bitterness in the regalia's voice burned him like ice applied to bare skin.

Yato felt his brain go into overdrive because there was some part of that statement that screamed important, and the curiosity that stemmed from concern was killing him.

Yukime's gaze shot over to him and there was panic written all over his face. "W-Wait, you don't have my permission!"

Yato had no idea what the kid was going on about, but couldn't say a word before the world flashed white as if lightning had struck his soul and suddenly he was no longer in the shop.

He was no longer in his body.

He had no idea where he was.

Of course he was already panicking because he was conscious yet he felt disconnected from his body, as if he were floating in a dreamlike state. He raised his hands up to his eyes, but could barely make them out in the darkness encompassing the world surrounding him. He swiveled around and peered into the nothingness, however, the abyss gave him no answers.

He was preparing to call out because he needed help, when his ears picked up the faintest sound of someone crying. He instinctively rotated until he caught sight of a blond boy on his knees in the middle of a carpeted floor with his face in his hands.

"Yukine?!" He tried to run over to his crying child, but his body wouldn't allow him to do more than lift a limb and he was rooted in this spot far above the crying regalia. What was this? Where was he? Who had hurt his kid?!

An unseen door creaked open and Yukine raised his head in response, and suddenly Yato knew that wasn't his kid crying, it was Yukime down there!

A pair of brown boots entered the scene and he recognized the tracksuit covering that body as it stopped by Yukime. A shiver crawled down his spine because the resemblance was uncanny without him even seeing the god's face.

"There you are!" Other Yato's voice, identical to himself and thus eerie to him, rang cheerfully in the room in sharp contrast to Yukime's mournful sobs. The kid cringed as a tracksuit-covered arm curled around his shoulders and Yukime released his head to reveal tears cascading down his cheeks as he weakly struggled to pull away.

"Shhh," Other Yato leaned down so his mouth was near the shinki's ear, and Yato felt sick just watching because that was his body holding on to the clearly struggling regalia and he wanted so badly to help the kid, but there was nothing he could do.

"G-Get off!" Yukime's voice cracked and fell apart as his cries intensified. He was still squirming to get out of Other Yato's grip, but his struggling was feeble.

"Don't cry," Other Yato was facing Yukime, so he couldn't see his expression but he had this icky feeling his other self was smiling. "Nothing has really changed, you'll see."

"S-Shut..." Yukime's sobs clogged his throat and suddenly he became deadweight in the circle of Other Yato's arms, the fight leaving him entirely as he cried near hysterically in his master's arms. He could see the tears spilling over that tracksuit sleeve as Other Yato enveloped him and the shinki's hitched breathing became so sporadic Yato was worried the kid was going to stop breathing altogether.

Yet Other Yato simply shushed Yukime and and rocked him, but it wasn't comforting, it was wrong. It was wrong, wrong, wrong!

Yato and Yukime flung themselves up from the table, nearly knocking over their chairs in the process and causing the lone employee to flicker his eyes over to them before dismissing the commotion as less interesting than his phone.

Yato clutched at his chest, heart beating fast enough to rival a hummingbird's as he scanned the room rapidly to make sure he really was back in the ice cream shop.

"Why?" Yukime was staring at him, and for the first time ever, the kid was glaring at him without a hint of fear. "Why would you read my mind without my permission?!" He curled his lone free arm around his middle, a speck of hurt -betrayal- weaving into his angry tone.

Still reeling from whatever he had just went through, Yato shook his head. "What do you mean? I have no idea what just happened!" He latched on the chair and leaned on it because he needed something to ground himself and remind him what was real.

The anger melted from Yukime's face and his expression softened into confusion and surprise. "You didn't mean to read my mind?" There was a certainty to the question that made it more of a statement. "Do gods not do that here?" A thin thread of fledgling hope entered the kid's voice.

He shook his head with as much fervor he could muster without making himself dizzy. "No, we see into our shinki's hearts, sense their feelings, we do not go into their heads." He didn't feel so worked up anymore, but he was still disoriented so retook his seat to help his blood pressure go down.

Yukime followed suit and observed his recovery for a solid minute before saying, "I'm sorry, I assumed masters did that here too."

Yato stared back at him. "So that was your memory?" He saw the kid pulling into himself like a turtle that just sensed an incoming predator, so he hurried to change the topic. "What did you mean by permission?"

Yukime's shoulders lowered an inch and he opened up tentatively. "Oh, um, masters normally ask for permission before going into their shinki's head. It's common courtesy."

Yato wanted to hit himself because he had broken what was clearly an important rule in Yukime's reality and now the regalia actually had good reason to be wary of him. "I'm sorry, kid, I didn't mean to." He doubted that this meager apology would make up for what he had done. A mind was a private place and he had broken in without any regard to the poor kid's privacy.

Yukime blinked, then shook his head. "No, it didn't hurt me or anything, it was just unexpected. Just try not to focus on me so hard, that's how masters slip into our thoughts, they concentrate on us."

He nodded and forced himself to label this information as important in his head, so he wouldn't forget it.

"We should get back," The regalia was eyeing the wall, focusing on the clock that showed they had been in the shop for over half an hour. "I'm sure Yukine is back by now." He rose up and Yato didn't have the heart to stop him from leaving the half-eaten cup of ice cream. The mood had been ruined and it was his fault for concentrating too hard on the regalia. How odd it was to be in the shinki's role for once, like a regalia did their best to keep their emotions in check for their master's sake, he would have to do the same for Yukime lest he invade the kid's private thoughts again.

The shinki fiddled with his scarf as they entered the sidewalk and Yato wondered why he was so attached to the thing. Was it a gift from a friend? No, sad to say, he had a feeling Yukime had less friends than Yukine. Maybe from his master then?

He immediately recalled the memory he had witnessed and realized that was highly unlikely. Other Yato didn't seem like the giving type and he hoped he wasn't concentrating too hard on Yukime, but he needed to think about this.

From what he had seen, Yukime had a very unhealthy -to use a nicer term- relationship with his master. He was scared of Yato, and he knew he hadn't done anything to the kid, but after what he saw in that memory he was certain Other Yato was the source of the regalia's fear. Yet he couldn't outright declare Other Yato a monster because of one memory. Plus Yukime hadn't badmouthed his master once. The kid had even mentioned Other Yato buying charms and stealing his money, much like he did to his Yukine. Also, the shinki expressed concern for his master, and though he was scared of Yato, there was this hint of contentment or perhaps the beginnings of joy oozing from the kid whenever he got to be by Yato's side. Maybe he was being too hard on the Other Yato, maybe there was some cultural difference between the two realities he was missing.

The image of Yukime becoming hysterical while Other Yato shushed him shoved its way into his head and he shuddered because he didn't care how different the other reality was, there was something inherently wrong with that scene. So was he truly wrong to be concerned?

Or was he merely ignoring the facts because he didn't want to accept the ugly truth?

Yato felt torn because he didn't want to jump to conclusions when he didn't have much evidence, but if Other Yato wasn't all that nice, he was going to have to-

"Borderline!"

Yato skidded to a halt when Yukime leapt in front of him and tossed the borderline between them and the spider-like ayakashi. He gaped at the sheer enormity of the beast towering above them as well as the shop's lining the street while its pincer mouth snapped open.

The row of eyeballs that stared at him from above was downright surreal because he had been completely oblivious to the danger a second ago and could have been seriously hurt if not for the shinki's quick actions.

"Yato?" Yukime was eyeing him in concern, probably worried his lack of talking meant he was hurt.

"I'm okay," he hurried out, but there was no time for talking when the ayakashi suddenly hurled its body into the borderline, and to their horror, shattered it.

He grabbed Yukime by the collar and launched himself and the kid back a few yards, yet the creature was barreling towards them far too quickly.

"Come on!" He switched his grip to hold Yukime's good wrist and practically dragged the kid into a run because a borderline wouldn't work and this shinki was already down an arm so they had no choice except to flee.

"Yato!"

He shoved Yukime away and then flung himself back as a purple leg stabbed into the asphalt between them. He heard a shout break into the air and his heart jumped into his throat because one of the other legs might have gotten the kid -his kid!- but when he gazed across the empty parking lot, he saw Yukime was sitting on the ground with his eyes squeezed shut. His kid was clutching his injured arm tight and he figured he must have landed on the arm or jostled it and Yato silently promised to feel bad about that when there wasn't a razor-sharp spider leg diving at his head with deadly precision.

He flipped over the leg, grateful that being big also meant the ayakashi was fairly slow, and he weaved around the other legs to speed over to the downed regalia's side.

"What's wrong?" He bent over and tried to pull Yukime to his feet, but the regalia screamed when he had only risen an inch before snapping his mouth close to muffle the sound. Yato's eyes widened because there was blood trickling down the shinki's arm and dyeing the sling black in a random pattern around Yukime's wrist. He instantly let Yukime sit back on the ground.

This was bad, really bad.

He kept one eye on the ayakashi charging them from afar and another on his kid. "Don't worry, I can deal with this." He stood up, thoughts flying across his mind and half-baked plans forming because he didn't know what to do, had no idea what to do, this was bad! The monster was upon them and stretched open its grotesque mouth.

Yukime opened his eyes a sliver to reveal tears prickling the edges and forced out through clenched teeth, "Yato..." An edge of steely determination entered his kid's eyes right as the ayakashi dove at them. "Use me!"

He didn't have time to think it over.

"Sekki!"


Yeah, things are really moving now, huh? Next chapter should be up at latest in a week, but if I get hit by a bolt of inspiration like when I wrote this, it could be posted a little earlier. See ya then!