"Yukine is missing?" Bishamon asked with worried eyes, turning to Kazuma as they walked down the corridor. "Are you sure?"
"He seemed so." Kazuma replied.
She had slipped into a black trenchcoat for such occasions. A pink-haired girl noticed them as they passed by.
"Is there trouble, my lady?" she asked.
"Aiha" Bishamon smiled. "No need for alarm. Could you round everyone up outside the front door in 10 minutes?"
"Right away." Aiha bowed, and ran off to get the tens of other shinki also under her custody. Aiha was another one of Bishamon's most loyal shinki. Like Kazuma, she had once betrayed her god, causing her great suffering. But Bishamon was a forgiving woman, and since Yato and Yukine helped expose her flaws, her kindness and forgiveness caused her shinki to have great respect for her. She owed everything to those two.
Kazuma opened the large double doors to the outside. Yato sat on the front steps, looking downtrodden. Seeing Bishamon, he immediately stood up to face her. They locked their eyes, tensely staring at each other.
Yato began to get a little creeped out by their cold reception. His instincts told him, "fight or flight". He mentally planned routes of escape or weapons to use.
Bishamon took a step forward and embraced Yato, for which Yato could only stand dumbfounded.
Duh, we're on good terms, he thought. Old habits die hard, especially considering how many countless years their feud lasted.
"Yato." She took a step back and warmly smiled at him. "I heard that you can't find Yukine."
Yato sighed, slumping to the ground. "That's right."
She looked at him with heartache. "I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how you must feel." She's surprisingly sympathetic, for a war god, Yato thought. "I wouldn't wish this on any god."
Oh right, she would know better than anyone, he thought.
"I.. I should probably leave you two to discuss this... I better go check on Aiha..." Kazuma said, hoping not to pry in their affairs.
Yato reached for his shoulder to stop him. "Yukine looked up to you, so you have every right to know. Besides, I'll need your help to find him."
"How did this happen?" she asked curiously, and sat down beside him.
"One second we were at the store, and I turned my back. When I turned around, he was gone."
"...And you're sure he didn't just run off?" Bishamon ashed suspiciously. "Did you two have some sort of fight...?"
"No, nothing like that..." Yato paused. "But there was one thing. He stung me before he disappeared."
Bishamon propped her chin on her fist in contemplation. "Yato... has something been troubling Yukine?"
Yato shrugged. "That kid's always got something troubling him. Freakin' puberty..." he said with frustration. Bishamon raised an eyebrow. "A few days ago, he wanted to know what happens to people that don't become shiryou... and then he asked about his family."
Bishamon and Kazuma gasped.
"Did he mention it again?" she interrogated.
"No, thankfully," and they relaxed. "But... I still don't know if I should have told him more."
"You did the right thing," she consoled him. "It's hard to know when to tell them and when to keep it from them. Just remember... all of a god's actions are just."
I believed that years ago, but I'm not so sure now... Yato thought. Bishamon didn't entirely believe it, either.
"So, he's not angry enough to run off," Kazuma reasoned. "Then he must have been attacked."
"By who?" Bishamon asked. "Ayakashi, or... the sorcerer?"
"The phantom's numbers are few. They wouldn't try to attack during daylight." Kazuma responded. "And we have the sorcerer's brushes. He wouldn't waste a surprise attack on Yukine, he would go after those."
"One thing I've learned is not to underestimate him." Yato rebutted.
Aiha walked through the door, leading a line of Bishamon's shinki behind her.
"It doesn't matter, we'll be ready for whatever's behind this." Bishamon stood up and stretched her hand to Kazuma. "Come, Choki." At his master's call, Kazuma transformed into a flower-shaped earring. She called the names of Kuraha and Kinuha, and the god looked remarkably terrifying wielding a whip and riding on a lion. "We regroup in an hour." Yato nodded, and they jumped off into the distance.
...
Yukine followed Ana out of the bus and down the sidewalk. The pavement was empty, except for them. Even though he was dead, he was a little worried that she'd still notice him. But then she popped in some earphones and, distracted in her music, relieved his worries.
The air was crisp and the streets were silent, except for their steps, and Ana humming along to her music. Dusk was almost upon them, and Yukine continuously looked over his shoulder, nervous there would be another attack.
Ana walked to the driveway of a large, extravagant house. Yukine gawked as he stared up 1, 2, then 3 stories. It's almost as big as Hiyori's! he thought. He got dizzy from looking up that much, so he closed his eyes. It didn't work. He was still dizzy, and getting even more so. The familiar feeling hit him again, accompanied by an acute pain in his eye...
In his mind he saw the same street, the same walkway, but from a higher angle. There was a young girl and an even younger boy walking up the driveway, and they had backpacks, so Yukine thought they must've just got done with school. To his endless frustration, their faces were blurry again, just like in the other visions.
The boy and girl stopped, wide-eyed as they heard shouting from the house. The girl turned to the boy. "They're fighting again," she said.
She grabbed his hand and led him out of the driveway, down the sidewalk. "Come on! Let's leave!"
The boy resisted. "But.. But I'm scared for..."
CRACK. The sound of broken glass echoed through the driveway, coming from the house. The boy and girl looked back in fear.
"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Yelled a female voice. "IT'S MY HOUSE, MY RULES, AND YOU SHOULD SHOW IT SOME RESPECT!"
"YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU MARRIED ME!" Retorted a male voice. "I'M PART OF THIS FAMILY TOO!"
The yelling escalated, although it was inaudible.
The girl continued to pull on the boy's arm, but he was entranced in the disturbing sounds coming from the house. Putting her hands on his cheeks, she turned his head around to look her straight in the eyes.
"Let's go find the black cat again. Okay?"
His lips quivered, and he slowly nodded his head. She pulled him away, and they ran off, through the nearby woods.
Yukine gulped for air as the vision ended. The unpleasant vision had left him breathless.
Why are so many of these visions so depressing... he thought. And what does this have to do with Ana?
Ana walked up the porch steps, opened the door, and walked in, leaving the door open. Yukine thought about going in, but it felt so... creepy. Following her home was weird enough, but going into her house?
A chilly wind ran through Yukine's thin jacket, and he shivered. The shadows from the houses around him had grown, as the sun set and the sky got dark. Looking up at the roof, his heart skipped a beat, as he thought he saw an ayakashi.
He cautiously crept up to the door, and checking the house for phantoms and finding none, he entered the house and closed the door. Ana looked back at the door, but figuring it was just the wind, shrugged and turned around.
Yukine's eyes sparkled as he surveyed the house. The interior was just as ritzy as the exterior, with a grand piano facing the window, a crystal chandelier hanging from a very spacious ceiling space, and the rug was a deep shade of maroon. Yukine melted as he smelled the sweet aroma of jasmine flowers.
Maybe just for tonight... he thought, settling into a cozy loveseat in the living room. I'll head back tomorrow.
