Upon arriving at Kofuku's house, the pink-haired goddess had immediately given Yato a giant hug, then ushered Mine in to take a soothing bath. She claimed that it was the best thing to do after a traumatic event like getting lost.

"Yato?" Yukine ascended the stairs to the loft, where Yato was sitting on Yukine's bed, staring absently out the window. "Yato." Yukine repeated, pulling the young god out of his thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh, Yukine. What do you need? Is Daikoku complaining about me again?" Yato sighed, and instead of showing his usual playful fighting spirit, he almost seemed melancholy.

Yukine found this to be a very odd sight, as he had never seen Yato show such an emotion, except for maybe a few times when thinking of the past. "No..." He responded, then continued, "I've been thinking about something. When Mine ran away, you know why it happened, right? You're always telling me that Regalia share mind and body, so you know what Mine was thinking when she ran away, right? What was it? Did something scare her?"

Yato sighed again, and then slowly, he nodded in affirmation. "I do. But I can't tell you, Yukine. I'm sorry." As he said those words, the young god did indeed look sorrowful, as if he couldn't bear what would be coming next.

"Why? I thought we weren't going to be keeping secrets anymore, unless it was related to...oh." Yukine's eyes went wide, and he covered his mouth in realization. "Yato I didn't realize..."

"It's alright Yukine. Just...don't ask again, OK? If there is anything that I'm able to tell you, I will."

Yukine nodded, and the two spent some time together in silence, each lost in his own thoughts.


Half an hour later, Mine and Hiyori were playing a game of cards, when Yato came downstairs from the loft and said he would be back in a while. Yukine was loudly protesting, but Yato gave him a glare that quickly silenced him. Hiyori stared in confusion as Yato stormed out the door.

"Hiyori, I couldn't stop him. He insisted he had to go." Yukine turned around to face Hiyori, and to her shock, Yukine had a tear in his eye.

Hiyori jumped to her feet and dropped her hand of cards, quickly running to embrace him. "Yukine-Kun?! What happened?"

"I can't tell you." Yukine whispered sadly, now feeling for the first time the pain that Yato had whilst keeping secrets. It was a horrible, heavy pain, that weighed on his heart like no other that the Regalia could remember.

Hiyori pulled back and looked Yukine in the eye, her gaze firm. "Yukine-Kun, I know that you wouldn't do anything to betray Yato, and he wouldn't do anything to hurt you. But if something that he is going to do is making you cry, then I want to know what's going on. Where is Yato going?"

Yukine shifted uncomfortably under Hiyori's stare, and he mumbled softly, "I don't know."

"Yukine-Kun?" Hiyori didn't relent, her eyes holding the gaze of the blonde-haired Regalia, and she could sense his discomfort. She hated having to put her friend through such a thing, but it would be for everyone's own good.

"He...he went to Tenjin's place..." Yukine mutter quietly at last, cracking under the pressure of Hiyori's silent question. "He just went to Tenjin's place."

Hiyori raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Then why were you crying? He goes over there all the time!"

"I don't want to talk about it. Not until Yato gets back. Please?" Yukine whispered, and his eyes were pleading in a way Hiyori had only seen a few times from him.

"Alright, when Yato gets back." Hiyori softened, lightening her grip on Yukine's shoulders. "But we will talk about it, understand?"

"I understand." Yukine sighed in relief, but he was also tense, not knowing what would happen when Yato inevitably came back.


It wasn't until several hours later that Yato came back, well after midnight. Mine was already asleep, and Yukine was watching over her. Hiyori and Kofuku were sitting at the table, drinking tea.

"Yato!" Hiyori jumped up and ran to meet him. "What happened? Yukine-Kun was crying when you left!"

Yato glanced quietly at Hiyori, pulling off his jersey before he spoke. "We just disagreed about something, so I went to go see Tenjin about it. Nothing you should worry about, Hiyori."

"As if! I don't care what it was, if one of my friends comes to me crying, it is most definitely something I should worry about!"

Yato started towards the stairs, and Hiyori followed. "Look, Hiyori, we really shouldn't talk about this right now. I don't have a definitive answer yet as to what I'm going to do."

Hiyori stopped, her hand gripping the rail. "Do? It's something you were going to do?"

"...Yes." Yato admitted, "It is. But if and when I do, it will be my choice, alright? Not yours, not Tenjins', not Kofukus', no-one else but me. So lets drop it for now, OK?"

"No! I still won't let go of this, Yato! Yukine-Kun was distraught, and you're supposed to just tell me to forget it? How horrible of a friend would I be if I ignored the fact that Yukine was in emotional pain!?"

"Hiyorin..." Kufoku reached out and grabbed Hiyori's hand, and whispered, "Yato-chan must be very stressed right now. Let him think things over, OK?"

"Alright...but I won't let this go. Whatever was going on, I will get to the bottom of it."


It wasn't until the next day that Hiyori saw everyone again. Yato was once again tired from lack of sleep, and Yukine was strangely silent. The two would barely even look in each other's direction.

"Good morning Kofuku, Mine." Hiyori greeted, smiling softly at the two females. "Yukine-Kun, Yato." She nodded politely, but noticed the icy expression in Yato's eyes, and the distance that Yukine kept from his god.

"Good morning Hiyori." Yukine mumbled, beating out a futon and barely even looking her way.

Mine smiled at Hiyori, but it was slightly sad, and she tugged on the sleeve of Hiyori's shirt and whispered, "Yuki-nii was crying after you left. Yato-sama didn't sleep again."

Hiyori frowned and pulled the young Regalia into a hug. "I know, Mine, I know. I can tell. We're going to fix things, I promise."

Kofuku looked nervously at the fence, and said to Yato, "Didn't you say we'd be getting a visitor soon?"

Yato nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah, should be here any minute."

Hiyori gave Kofuku a confused glance. As the goddess of poverty and bad luck, there were very few visitors that would make her nervous. And one that Yato would invite? "Who?" She asked, more to herself then anyone.

Kofuku took a breath and started to reply, "B-"

At that moment, the arrival of said visitor was made known by a strong voice announcing, "Thank you for calling me, Yato."


Welp, guess who decided to show up! Sorry this chapter took a while, had some writers block. But anyhoo, I'm hoping this chapter might help propel the storyline forward a little. Lemme know if y'all want more comedy, action, or drama, and I'll try to deliver as best I can!

A/N #2 I am editing all the chapters (I just happened to start with this one) because some of the honorifics and nicknames and such are wrong.