Hey guys, sorry, updating a little later than I expected! Anyway, thank you for the continued support! And thanks for Sakura245 for all the reviews :)
One week later (30 months/4 months)
Yukine has helping Yato get dressed. He was a quick learner and now only stumbled over the knot on his hakama. Today was the day they were going to visit Tenjin's shrine. Yukine couldn't help an edge of nervousness.
"You're not too tired right?" He asked, looking the growing boy up and down. They had stayed up a little late finishing a Winnie the Pooh movie.
"I'm fine!" Yato whined, bouncing on the balls of his feet. From the sparkle in his eyes, he'd caught the air of excitement in the house during breakfast.
At the door, Daikoku gave Yato a big hug and promised to make bowtie pasta and have dango ready for their return, his most recent favorite foods.
Yukine and Yato walked down the road, noticing how tall his god was getting, then realizing that he himself would never get taller. Still, he couldn't bring himself to mind as every day, Yato became more and more like himself (although he did grab Yukine's hand whenever they crossed the street).
Finally, they reached the tori gates and climbed up to the shrine. Yato was oddly quiet and thoughtful as Yukine showed him the proper way to purify himself and led him to the main shrine. It was unusually empty at the shrine, perhaps because midterms had ended a few weeks before. Yukine and Yato had the shrine to themselves.
Instead of following the instructions on the donation box, Yukine crouched next to Yato. "Say your name, ask for Tenjin. Say "Is Tenjin there?" It was important for Yato to know how important he was. That he could summon a popular god just by requesting it. Still, Yukine had to worry about how a two-year-old would understand his own near immortality. Yukine's stomach sunk. Or that he was a god without a single human follower.
"I'm Yato. Is Tenjin—" Yato didn't need to finish the sentence. A gray haired man dressed in traditional Japanese clothes appeared in front of them.
"Yato?" Obviously, the older man had been waiting for this moment for a while. "I was wondering when you'd come and visit."
"T-Tenjin?" Yato squeaked.
"Come here, my boy."
Yato looked nervous, but his grip on Yukine's pants loosened and let go and he came to stand in front of Tenjin, enthralled. Tenjin crouched down and gave Yato a hug. Yato usually wriggled away, especially if it were someone he didn't know well, but in this one, he stayed still and relaxed.
Tenjin broke away after a moment. "Do you know who I am?"
"God." Yato said.
"Not the God, but I'm sure that's what you meant. I'm the god of learning." He inclined his head slightly. "Now, Yato. Do you know who you are?"
Yukine's heart beat faster. Yato was too young—and if Tenjin told Yato he was the god of calamity—! "Tenjin, please don't—"
"I'm Yatogami." Yukine whipped his head towards his charge while Tenjin's eyebrows rose in faint surprise.
"Yato, how long have you known?" Yukine demanded. Yato frowned, looking nervous, as if he had done something wrong.
"For long time." Yato thought again. "Always."
Tenjin blessed Yato's studies and told him to visit again soon so Mayu could play with him. He promised he would, keen to have more people he could tire out.
Yukine walked Yato back home hand and hand. "Yato, do you know who I am?" It had been shocking to find out that Yato had always known he'd been a god. It turned out the ever-shrinking language barrier between them had not been a problem. Maybe he'd been reborn knowing.
Yato frowned again and looked up at his friend. "Yukine." He looked puzzled.
"Yes but I'm more than that." Yukine herded him into the entrance of the park. "I'll show you. Say 'Sekki'."
"Sekki." Yato mimicked. Yukine felt the now unfamiliar shimmering feeling of transforming into twin swords and flying into Yato's hands. Yato jumped in surprise. Grasped in his fists were the two swords of Yukine's blessed form but much smaller, blade only about four inches in length and more rounded in appearance although they were still as sharp as ever.
"Yukine!" Yato yelped in shock and in a flash, Yukine reverted, crouching to touch Yato's shoulders. Yato looked at him with his bright blue, shocked eyes.
"I'm what's called a regalia. You named me Yukine." He showed Yato his name. "And I will take care of you and protect you for all my life."
One week later
Bishamon watched Yukine try to appeal to a particularly stubborn Yato who was sitting at the table, wriggling in annoyance. It was rare for Yato to throw a human-like toddler temper tantrum, but it seemed like today, nothing Yukine did was right.
Yukine had become much more patient the last four months so he asked, "Well what would you like for lunch?" He'd already vetoed grapes, carrots, oranges, and leftover chicken.
"I want onigiri!" Yato crossed his arms.
"We don't have any."
"No!"
He wished Yato would behave, at least in front a Bishamon, who had stopped in for the first time in a month—originally shocked by his growth but now not nearly as impressed.
"Yato—" Yukine tried again, reluctantly.
"No!" Yes, this was very unusual for Yato.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Yukine said, putting his hands up in placation, heading back to the kitchen while Yato went back to drawing.
While Yukine was trying to find dry rice in the cupboard, he was surprised to hear Bishamon enter the kitchen.
"What is it?" Yukine asked, appraising the war god's mood.
"Yukine, you're spoiling him."
"Spoiling him? What do you mean?" Yukine asked, taken aback. He'd been taking great care of Yato and other than today, he was a happy, healthy two-year-old.
"You're always giving him what he wants, when he wants it. Not that its always a bad thing however…" Bishamon trailed off, uncomfortably.
"What is it, Bishamon?" Yukine persisted. She was acting unusually too.
"Everything you do shapes the god Yato is going to be. The old Yato, whom you promised to protect, he was created from a much different situation. I just don't want you to be disappointed when this Yato is older and he's not the one you remember."
Yukine felt his words dry up in his throat. He'd thought that, without a doubt, Yato would return to his former self. But what Bishamon was saying made sense, nurture would change who he became. Bishamon was worried that without difficulties to shape him, he wouldn't become the strong, stubborn person he…used to be. Still, he couldn't help but feel a stir of anger. With a glance to make sure Yato was still coloring, Yukine lowered his voice.
"Yato grew up with his father, which must have been horrible. Then he wandered around Meiji Japan as a nameless god for centuries, killing to stay alive. I want him to be happy and have no worries for once. I'm going to give him the best childhood he could ask for." No unnecessary suffering. No spacing out, when Yukine knew he was reliving bad memories. No flinching at his father's name. This was the best way he knew to honor Yato's memory. Raise him happy.
Bishamon regarded him sadly. "Even at the cost of the old Yato?"
Yukine didn't hesitate. "At any cost."
What do you think? Does Bishamon have a point or does Yukine? Please review :) PS: Expect the next chapter to be a doozy!
