Kon'nichiwa Senpai! I have to warn you, it got a little bit dramatic this chapter... Although, I did my best, and I really hope you enjoy! If you would be so kind as to leave a review, I would very much appreciate it! ^.^ Thanks so much! Sayounara! ;3

Chapter 4

"Yukine! Hey, Yukine!" Yato called out. "Come on, where are you?!"

His hands resting comfortably in the pockets of his Jersey, Yato walked down an empty alleyway hoping Yukine would be somewhere on the other side. Yato felt a tingling sensation in his chest, and flung his hand over his heart, gripping his clothes tightly.

"What's on your mind right now, Yukine...?" Yato muttered to himself. He sighed, slipped his hand back into his pocket, and decided to keep advancing forward. "I really hope Hiyori's having more luck with finding that little punk than I am…"

...

"Yukine-kun?" Hiyori cried out to the young boy. She was speed-walking through the streets near her home, looking over, and under all kinds of things as she passed them.

"Geez, where is he?" she muttered to herself, still moving as fast as she could so she could find him. The only thing on the girl's mind right now was Yukine. She wanted to make sure he was safe, wherever he was.

"What if we don't find him before it gets dark…" she thought. "No, we WILL find you, Yukine-kun, I promise." she said with confidence. "I just have to stay optimistic."

…

Yato was now afoot on the wide, wooden walkway near the river: one of the first places he met Hiyori. He was examining any traces of Yukine in case he passed by.

Then it dawned on him. He stopped right where he was, eyes wide, and realized the most-likely place Yukine could be. Yato took off sprinting as fast as he could. Passing stop signs, houses, buildings, and bridges on the way, until he finally made it.

It was the Sakura tree that Suzuha used to always care for. There were no blossoms of the branches. It was a cold, empty tree, looking dead, and right on the bank of the river behind it, sat Yukine.

Still catching his breath, Yato staggered up to the boy, until he was right next to him, looking down on his frail, curled-up body. Yukine was sitting in the grass, with his knees up, his head resting upon them, and his arms tightly wrapped around his legs.

"Hey!" Yato shouted down to him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Do you realize how bad you stung me? I thought you were gonna stop doing tha-" "I saw you.." Yukine Interrupted in a very hushed tone.

"What?!" Yato shouted back, still aggravated.

Yukine promptly picked up his head to look at Yato's face. He was glassy-eyed from crying and had a cloudy-red nose.

"I SAW YOU!" He reiterated much louder, with rage.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING AB-" Yato stopped, and realized what it was that Yukine saw. He saw him Kiss Hiyori through the open doors. Yato's expression went blank, his arms fell loosely at his sides, and he stood completely still, not moving a muscle, and feeling ashamed for instantly yelling at him.

Yukine's eyes were welling up, so he dropped his head back on his knees. His shoulders were jerking along with the sounds of his soft whimpering, which soon transitioned into sobbing. Yato stood there, looking down at the boy, and let him weep his feelings out.

"It's painful for me to have him keep crying like this…" he thought to himself, "but I need to remember that he's in pain right now too.."

"I…. I'm s-sorry…" Yukine said, trying to wipe the tears off his face. "It.. it must h-hurt you…" he sniveled.

"Nah, just let it out.." Yato replied, sitting criss-cross in the grass next to him. "So… you must really like Hiyori, huh?" he asked softly.

Yukine sniffed a couple times before answering. "Well… I'm trying as hard as I can to get over her…" he said while wiping his eyes. "I sorta... already knew that…. we would never work out…"

Yato looked over to Yukine and opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, but he didn't.

There was a long moment of silence. No one said anything to the other. Only the sound of the water, and Yukine's occasional sniffling.

"I'm sorry." Yato said finally. Yukine swung his head around to look at him. "What?" he asked, confused. "I said.." Yato scratched the back of his head, then muttered quietly, "I said I'm sorry."

"You.. you don't have to be sorry!" he responded hastily. "I was just saying earlier that I knew it wouldn't work out anyway, so please don't feel sorry for me!"

Yato's eyes widened at Yukine's statement. "Yukine-"

"And, besides," he interrupted hurriedly, "you and Hiyori are great together!"

"Yukine-"

"Sure, I like her and all, but I really mean it!" Yukine stood up off the grass and quickly bowed his head to Yato. "Please, forgive my rough actions. I.. I knew that Hiyori actually liked you, and even though I knew that-"

"Yukine-"

"-I was only thinking about myself, and I promise I'll be super careful about keeping my feelings under control next time, okay? So please… forgive me!"

"Yukine…" Yato said, finally getting a chance to speak. He then stood up next to him. "I forgive you."

Yukine picked his head up surprised to see Yato grinning proudly at him.

Just then, Hiyori ran up to the two of them. "There…" she said, gasping for air. "There you guys are! I was looking everywhere!" she smiled brightly at them both. "Are you okay, Yukine?" She asked with a worried expression. "Yeah," he replied. "Sorry I scared you..."

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're all right." She responded. "Come on, the sun's going to start setting soon, let's get home." she stated.

"Yeah, let's go." Yato agreed, going up beside Hiyori. They both started walking and Hiyori turned and smiled at Yato as they started talking to each other. Yukine stood there, watching as they got along. He smiled at the thought that the two of them together.

Hiyori turned around and saw Yukine stationary instead of coming with them. "Are you coming or what?" she giggled, holding out her hand towards his direction. Yato stood ahead, looking back, smiling. "C'mon, Yukine." he invited.

Yukine beamed at the sight of the two most important people in his life that were right in front of him.

"Coming!"