Yuzuriha was accustomed to travelling for hours on end, without a break. Thankfully, Yato did not seem to mind the pace she set, and if he did he kept it blissfully to himself. Not that he kept quiet though. Yuzuriha was fairly certain he had her talking more in that one day than she had the whole past year combined.

She didn't mind it. In fact, while she had worried he would irritate her, Yuzuriha instead found herself enjoying Yato's company. The conversation was a refreshing break from her mundane ritual of observing everything and anything around her, trying to soak in all she could with her senses. There was no point in trying to pick up on all the minute sounds around her when much more interesting stories were being told by her companion. At times though, his conversation would steer into directions she was not prepared for.

The sun was high in the sky, past noon and their midday break for lunch. Yato had been quiet for the past few minutes, and Yuzuriha was just waiting for him to start on something again.

"Have you heard from Shion lately?"

Yuzuriha ducked her head, eyes closing. A long forgotten pang rose in her chest, a product of memories she'd been able to keep out of her mind for so long. When she replied she kept her words brief in the hopes of curbing further questions. "No, I haven't."

"Strange, I thought he would have tried to get in touch with you," Yato mused. "I always got the impression you two were close."

Eyes still directed toward the ground, Yuzuriha replied tersely. "I'm sure he's kept busy with his duties."

"I suppose." There was a beat of silence, a silence that was filled by only the gentle gurgling of a nearby stream. Funny how those pauses in conversation were once filled with so much more. The feelings and emotions that she could once capture as they emanated from a Cosmos. A way to give her an inkling of what Yato was thinking that he wasn't saying. To maybe understand why he had asked in the first place.

"Do you miss him?"

How was she supposed to answer that?

There were many things she missed in this world. The feeling of the world in her hands. Her mother's scarf draped around her neck, and calling it to life with only her will. Days spent defending Athena's justice. Her parents of course, and even Tokusa, her brother. Hakurei who had taught her the power of her blood. Tenma who'd done so much for them all. Sometimes, maybe even Yato himself, before he had barreled back into her life.

Shion she missed dearly. Shion, her sparring partner, sometimes mentor and long-time friend. He who was now leading the Sanctuary, a place she'd likely never see again. All she said was, "At times." She wasn't sure she could put into words how much she missed Shion, and she certainly wasn't going to try and find them to answer Yato.

"I miss Miss Sasha." Yuzuriha looked up then as Yato's words fell quietly. For the first time since she'd seen him, the grin on Yato's face had faltered. He was gazing up into the sky, but his eyes were distant, as if he were looking for more than the clouds that floated above them. It reminded her of how she was not the only one who had lost so much. The expression did not fit his face at all.

"Miss Sasha?" Yuzuriha forced some lightness she wasn't feeling into her voice. "I thought you were the one who insisted on calling her Lady Athena?" Yato's eyes slide back to her. Despite her struggles, Yuzuriha's words did have their desired effect as the corner of his mouth lifted a fraction. His eyes crinkled into a small smile, dispelling that unsettling distant look in his eye.

"What can I say?" Yato shrugged. "After all I've done, I reckon I have the right to call her Miss Sasha."

Yato was all smiles for the rest of the day, talking about anything and everything. Although his constant chatter may have been annoying at times, Yuzuriha much preferred him smiling and talkative, than with that far-away lost look in his eyes.

The sky was clear, and the air warm with the oncoming of summer, so Yuzuriha decided there was no need for an inn that night. The work of setting up camp went faster with two sets of hands. Yato even surprised her by demonstrating his skill at setting up snares.

The two of them soon found themselves sitting around a small but toasty fire, a spitted rabbit for each roasting over the flickering flames. Yato was leaning back on his travelling pack, while Yuzuriha sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the fire.

Yato rolled his shoulders, and let out a contended sigh. "You don't wear your scarf anymore," he observed conversationally over the crackling and spitting of the cooking meat.

Involuntarily Yuzuriha's hand went to her neck. Her fingers lingered on the bare skin there as her eyes settled on her pack lying beside her. "It's gotten old," she replied quietly. "And the travelling wears it thin. I keep it packed away now." None of that was a lie, she just left out some of the details. Details of how it felt so dead and lifeless to her now. How she had called on it so many times out of habit, and having it fail to obey her commands each time had become too disheartening to bear.

"It's just strange to see you without it," Yato said.

"You'll get used to it," Yuzuriha shrugged. She refused to acknowledge that she implied that he would be staying with her for a while. She wondered if the grin that appeared on his face was a sign of him noticing her words, or simply from his excitement to see that their dinner had finished cooking.

The two fell into a steady rhythm after that. When the sun rose Yuzuriha would kick Yato awake, and he would moan and grumble about the early hour. She'd shove him around until he'd help her break camp. They would then walk for hours, stopping only for lunch, and then walk some more. Yato would be sure to keep up a constant commentary all day long. Provided the weather held, when the sun began to descend they would search for a good place to set up camp, find themselves some dinner, and settle in for another night.

"Are you ever mad at them?" Yato asked one night as they were setting up their camp.

Yuzuriha, who had been busy at work building a suitable fire, sat back on her heels. Yato had his back to her, unwinding the cord he used to set up the snares that caught their dinner most nights. "Mad? At who?" She asked warily. It was a stupid question. She knew exactly who Yato was referring to, but the longer she could stave off answering the better.

Yato glanced over his shoulder at her. Though his voice was neutral when he responded, Yato's eyes told her he was well aware of her poor evasion tactics. "Miss Sasha. Tenma. Are you ever mad at them?"

Yuzuriha went back to work arranging the firewood. "Mad about what?" Yuzuriha wasn't really sure why she said it. Of course she knew exactly what he was talking about, just as she knew who she was supposed to be mad at without asking. Maybe she just wanted to see how Yato would react.

"I don't ever remember you being so dense, Yuzuriha," Yato said pointedly. He stopped what he was doing, and turned so he was fully facing her. He crossed his arms, the cord he had just unwound now crumpled in his fist. "If you really need me to be more clear, are you ever mad about them leaving us, and for leaving us like this. For leaving us normal?"

Yuzuriha's hands halted in their work once again. He'd worded it so that she had no outs, aside from stubbornly refusing to respond. She looked up at the sky, contemplating its vastness. She wondered briefly if Athena was up there somewhere, watching over them even now, with Tenma on one side, and Alone on the other.

'Mad' did not begin to describe her feelings on being down here without them, stripped of all the abilities that had come to make up who she was. It was because of them that she'd become this wanderer, searching for feeling in everything and purpose in anything. It was because of them that she would never again feel the soft silk of her mother's scarf wrapped around her neck, never return to the Sanctuary, never do so many things she once had.

"Why would I be mad? They did what they had to do." They did. It was important. The world was saved. She told herself that all the time. She suspected the words fell as hollow on Yato's ears, as they did on hers every time she tried to convince herself of them.

"Just because something's right doesn't mean you can't be angry about it," Yato said reasonably.

"When did you get so philosophical?" Yuzuriha had to cut back some of the venom in her voice. This was Yato. He wasn't intentionally antagonizing her. He probably didn't even realize how his intendedly innocent questions caused her such distress. She had to remember that even as her knuckles whitened around the branch she was holding.

"About the same time you got so cynical." Yuzuriha mentally flinched at that. If only he knew how cynical her thoughts really were.

She didn't have a response for his words that wouldn't just lead him to ask more questions, and she didn't waste the time trying to think of one. Instead she put all her focus on her task. A short time later she had a neat, serviceable fire built, which she lit so they could start cooking whatever Yato's snares would catch for their dinner.

Yuzuriha laid down that night, her stomach comfortably full, and her heavy eyes ready for sleep. The warm air that brushed her skin softly was a sure sign that spring was transitioning into summer, and the ground beneath her was hard, but not uncomfortably so.

"So, where are you headed anyway?" Yuzuriha sighed to hear Yato's sleepy voice drifting over from the other side of the camp. Most normal people would have asked this question before tagging along with someone on their travels, and they certainly would have done so before travelling with them for days. Not that Yuzuriha thought Yato to be a normal person.

She considered not answering. All she really wanted to do was sleep, and if she was being honest she'd had enough of his talking that day. Her irritation at him from earlier in the night still lingered. She could just pretend she had fallen asleep, and considering how tired she was it wouldn't be a lie for long.

"East," she found herself answering anyway. He'd just ask her later she reasoned with herself. "I want to see the ocean."

"East? There are oceans a lot closer to home, you know?" Yato replied, with a sleepy laugh.

"I don't have a home anymore," she said quietly into the dark, before she knew what she was saying. It took her only a split second to realize that she shouldn't have said anything. She knew he was going have something to say to that. She should have just pretended to be asleep in the first place.

There was the sound of shuffling on the other side of the dwindling campfire. Though he'd sounded close to sleep a moment ago, Yato had sat up. Yuzuriha raised her head just enough to look at him. The faint light of the moon was enough to outline the features of his face, which were intent on her.

"When are you going to cut this melodramatic bullshit, Yuzuriha?" He sounded truly annoyed finally, but it wasn't the crassness of his words that caught her so much as the frustration that was in his voice as he said her name.

"You don't have a home? You don't miss Shion? You aren't angry about anything that happened?" Yato challenged. "Don't pull this crap with me. It's okay to be angry about the things that happened. Jamir's there and waiting for you if you'd only go back to it. Shion would visit if he knew you'd be there. People care about you Yuzuriha," his voice softened on his last words. Not for the first time Yuzuriha found herself wondering if him running into her in that inn was solely by chance, or if he'd been actively seeking her out.

"I'd like to believe you Yato, but I just can't feel it," she whispered so quiet she doubted he would hear. Feeling, that was the problem with it all now. Without that extra sense she used to possess everything felt fake, as if it weren't really there. Jamir didn't feel real, not like the home she once knew, not when she could no longer feel its lifeblood thrum through the earth.

"Yuzuriha." Any edge in Yato's voice was completely lost now. It had gained some warmth and a softness she was surprised to feel. One she wasn't prepared to deal with. As false as Jamir now felt, it was nothing compared to how empty actual emotions were.

Yuzuriha lowered her head back to the ground, and rolled over to shut Yato and that prickling softness out. Brusquely, as if that could rid herself of the unease she was feeling, Yuzuriha said, "Either way, I'm going east to see the ocean."

She heard Yato blow out a loud sigh. Then there was the sound of scuffling as he too laid back down. A moment passed before his voice floated over to her once again. "East to see the ocean, huh? Gonna be a long walk." She could just imagine the resigned look that must have been in his eyes.

"Does that mean you don't want to come?" Yuzuriha wasn't sure if she asked it as a joke or an honest question. She also wasn't sure what response, if any, she was hoping for.

An offended grunt sounded at the other edge of their camp. "Didn't I just tell you you're not alone?"

That night, Yuzuriha drifted off to sleep with a faint smile on her lips.

A/N- I think this may be the first time ever that I actually stayed on schedule posting a fic, so yay for that! Hope y'all enjoyed, and as always con-crit is welcome.