Long time no see! I love you guys so much. Oh my god. Ran out of writer juice for a little while but I'm always active here in February for my fanficiversary on the 6th (8 years! 250,000+ words!) So...um...sorry in advance.
2 weeks later
She brought a hand to her lips as she felt a phantom tingle. What was this a memory? It was someone she had really cared about, wasn't it? So why couldn't she remember? Every night she had woken up not remembering her dreams but except for flashes- sitting in the shade under a cherry tree next to someone too shadowed to make out, as they-he-drew in a sketchbook. It was a picture of her in her old middle school uniform.
She dreamt about a cat and that she was shrunk down and lived in a tiny little shrine, waiting, just waiting for someone to find her. That night, she had dreamt she was walking through a traditional garden, crossing a moon bridge, when she looked over- there, on the water, was a silhouette of a lanky man, in a relaxed posture, a hand behind his head. He was speaking, he sounded uncertain, maybe sad, but she couldn't make out the words. But then Yukine was next to her on the bridge, and clearly, he asked "-your father?"
And that's when Hiyori had woken up. And sitting up in bed, she knew it hadn't been the figure that she had kissed, it had been someone else. It had been something wrong. Someone wrong. She saw his blonde hair and fox-like eyes. They reminded her of someone else. That other figure, a voice said inside of her.
The Wrong man and the Figure were connected. And while the Figure made her very sad, the Wrong man filled her with anger and fear. And somehow, Yukine was connected to this. But if he knew something, why hadn't he told her?
Yato and Yukine were walking through their favorite park when an old man with small, watery eyes, lined skin, and two fluffy tufts of white hair, approached them.
"Excuse me, young men, have you seen my wife around? She was here just a moment ago, but I can't seem to find her," he said.
Yukine blinked in surprise. It wasn't often that people took notice of them. "Sure, where did you last see her?"
The old man led him to the park bench he last saw his wife and looked around helplessly before looking back at Yato and Yukine with a look of surprise on his face.
"Oh, I'm glad you're here, boys, would you help me find my wife?"
"We are helping you," Yato spoke up, unsure of himself.
"Oh? Are you, that's nice of you boys," he laughed slightly. They followed him around the park again until a short, older woman approached them, grabbing the old man's arm and giving it a pat.
"Oh, Albert. I had no idea where you'd gone," she said with a sad smile on her face. "Thank you two for looking out for him, I'd just gone to wash up."
"No problem, ma'am," Yukine said quietly.
"Suzanne," Albert told his wife and they wandered away. "Who were you just talking to?
Yato grabbed Yukine's hand for reassurance. "He didn't know where she went. It must be awful for her."
Yukine stopped. He turned around and bent down to met Yato's eye level. "No, Yato, she's lucky. She gets to remember all the good times she had with her husband. She gets to carry those precious moments that made him him, even if he can't. It's not something you should be sad about, carrying those moments," Yukine sniffed, "it's a privilege."
Hiyori had been avoiding them. Her two best friends. She went to class, talked to her friends there, went home, studied for her exams, and went to sleep. She thought if she could live as normally-boring-as she could, the unknown hurt that constantly pressed on her heart would disappear. It didn't. She didn't know what could cause this kind of ache, but it got stronger when she was around them.
She had never felt so...incomplete. But neither her parents nor school friends could understand. She was halfway home when she saw police lights ahead of her. Some sort of minor accident. She took a side street she usually didn't take and continued on her way home. She had walked just to the end of the street when she saw it. So out of place in her town, she didn't know how she couldn't have seen it before. It looked like it had been there for a while, too.
Sweeping black spray painted letters on an old brick garage.
DELIVERY GOD YATO
TEL 090-XXX-##3X
She stared at the writing, brushed her hand against the rough surface. She held her breath, pulling her phone from her coat, the capybara charm she'd been given swinging back and forth. She silently dialed the number and held it to her ear.
"Fast, reliable, and affordable delivery god, Yato, at your service! Anything you need for five yen. Leave a message, I'll get back to you in the blink of an eye!"
Hiyori's hand shook. The voice was still speaking, rambling on. "-make sure you're not calling from a girl's bathroom, because Hiyori gave me a lot of shit for that!" The voice laughed.
"Yato?"
"And before you ask, I accept five single yen coins too-"
Hiyori covered her mouth to stop a sob. She remembered that wry smile was his, and those sharp blue eyes that cried when she presented him with the little shrine, she remembered his laugh, his loneliness-
"Yato, it's me, it's Hiyori-"
"-Just remember, I'm the real god of fortune-"
"Please, you promised me-" Hiyori's knees gave and she dropped to the ground.
"so chose me over those over guys. Well-"
"No." Tears streamed down Hiyori's face.
"-Goodbye!"
'Everyone, your wishes have been heard loud and clear...'
