Yato stood next to Tenjin, sweat beading and muscles aching, refusing to complain. Amaterasu had given him the knowledge of how to defeat Father, but the knowledge was meaningless without the skill to control his newly unlocked chi. Doodling in the air was one thing, but these were advanced and powerful techniques that took years to master and he needed to do it in weeks, maybe months.

Suffice to say Tenjin was pushing him very hard.

Not that it mattered, Yato was unable to so much as bloom a flower, much less muster enough chi to banish his father back to the Spirit Realm. But now that he was well enough to stand Tenjin had declared it time to begin his preparation since training in chi was mentally but not physically taxing, Hiyori had given her blessing.

"You need to focus on finding inner peace, Yato," Tenjin said again.

Yato bit his tongue again, though every time Tenjin said that it became harder not to scoff. Inner peace? Yeah, right.

He sighed. If Tenjin was to be believed, then the storm cloud of rage and grief that had been his constant companion as long as he had lived was the thing standing between him and defeating his father. Maybe that was another plot of his, he thought wryly. Still, whether or not his conscience was a part of Father's plan, he couldn't very well get rid of it. How could a man like him make peace with the emotions that tore him to shreds?

How had his father?

As soon as the thought occurred to him Yato laughed. His father didn't give a damn about the people he'd killed, that was how. Yato on the other hand? He was surrounded on all sides by an army of faceless bodies, each with their own ocean of guilt. He was far too haunted to ever find peace.

"Could you take this seriously?" Tenjin asked, annoyed.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how easily this must come to my dad. It must be a cinch to find peace when you don't regret a damn thing, huh?"

Tenjin fixed him with a look that told Yato he'd said more than he meant too. "You can't let your past rule your future. At some point, you've got to stop letting the guilt drown you and move forward, even if you feel like there are weights tied to your ankles."

"Easy for you to say, old man, how many massacres have you committed single-handedly?"

Tenjin paused, then sighed. "Everyone has things they regret, Yato. Even me, even your father. One person having more regrets doesn't mean the regrets of the person with fewer don't matter.

"I didn't say that," Yato pouted, kicking the dirt and pulling on his ear with one hand. Tenjin rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering why the universe had sent him a Dragon Warrior that could be such a child.

As he had the thought Yato perked up and turned in Hiyori's direction just before she entered the courtyard and Tenjin smiled. At the very least Yato's ability to sense auras had greatly improved. He took one look at Yato's expression and chuckled.

"It would seem our time is up for now."

"Thank God," Yato said, making a beeline for Hiyori without hesitation while she shot Tenjin an apologetic smile.

Yato took Hiyori with him to a secluded flower patch and collapsed gracelessly to the ground, dragging her down with him. She let out an alarmed squeak of protest and surprise but still managed to brace their fall enough that Yato's wounds weren't jarred too badly. She settled with her head in the crook of his shoulder, one hand resting casually on his chest. Yato enclosed that hand in his own, wrapping his other arm around her waist. Together they turned their eyes to the clouds, watching as the sea breeze ushered them overhead.

"Look! That one looks like a bunny!" Hiyori exclaimed. She lifted their entwined hands and pointed to the cloud in question.

"Uh…" Yato said, wondering if Hiyori had ever seen a bunny. "Sure."

"Why do you say it like that?"

"I'm not saying it like anything, it totally looks like a bunny!"

"No way! You sound like you're humoring a crazy person!" She lifted up slightly to turn eyes of amused indignation at him and he flashed a lopsided grin.

"I am!" He replied, booping the end of her nose with their clasped hands.

Hiyori sat up and punched him on his uninjured shoulder. "You're the crazy one!"

"Ow! Okay, okay! I'm sorry!" He laughed. She rolled her eyes then looked back down at him, gaze glowing with affection. He felt himself melting and decided to use the arm still around her waist to pull her closer before all his joints turned to jelly. "Come here, you." She settled back down without protest, snuggling a little closer. Yato hummed in contentment, resting his cheek against the top of her head.

Here, hidden in the swaying grass, with the sounds of the shore whispering in the distance and Hiyori's breath against his skin, it was easy for him to feel like a normal man spending time with a girl he was crazy about. The two of them didn't speak, content to enjoy one another's warmth for several minutes before they felt Yukine's approach. Hiyori sighed, pressing a soft kiss to Yato's jaw before scooting away so their embrace was less intimate and she lay on the grass, rather than on Yato.

"What are you two doing?" Yukine asked when he caught sight of them.

"Cloud watching," Yato replied, "join us!" He extended a hand to Yukine, who looked from their intertwined fingers to the clouds passing overhead in the sea breeze, then shrugged, apparently deciding they weren't being affectionate enough to warrant his disgust.

"That one looked like a turtle to me," Yukine pointed to a cloud and Yato narrowed his eyes at it, tilting his head.

"I don't know, I think it looks like a fish."

"I think it's a turtle," Hiyori put in.

"You're just mad about the bunny," Yato retorted.

"I will neither confirm nor deny that."

Yukine cast them a quizzical look but didn't bother asking. After a few minutes, he laid back, casually pillowing his head on Yato's stomach. Yato and Hiyori shared a glowing look as something warm blossomed and spread in his chest. He placed the hand that wasn't twined with Hiyori's on Yukine's shoulder, idly stroking with his thumb. Hiyori scooted closer and wrapped Yato's arm around her waist once more, returning her head to his shoulder where she apparently felt it belonged. Yukine looked over at the sound of rustling but didn't comment on their change of position, which Yato took to mean he didn't care.

I wish we could stay like this forever, Yato thought.

"How did training with Tenjin go?" Yukine asked eventually.

"Not well," Yato admitted. "He's saying I won't be able to do any more than my cool light doodling until I find inner peace," he spat the words out like they tasted bad. "Like that's even possible for someone like me."

"You seem pretty peaceful now," Hiyori pointed out, her hand resting over his heart. She looked up when he turned to her, so the tips of their noses were almost touching.

"I wonder why."

Yukine made a disgusted sound. "If you guys are gonna start being gross I'm going to leave!"

"Sorry, Yukine! But for the record, I meant you too! I love you both!" Yukine spluttered and turned his red face away, though he didn't throw Yato's hand off. Hiyori suppressed a giggle at his reaction, turning her face into his shoulder.

She's right, though, he thought. I do feel at peace now.

Yato glanced to the left and saw a morning glory there, unbloomed. Feeling the tug of temptation in the pit of his stomach, he reached out, then hesitated, biting his lip. He closed his eyes, breath catching in his throat as he focused his energy, reaching out for the flower. His fingertip brushed the soft petals and he opened his eyes, expelling his held breath when he saw the bloomed morning glory in front of him. Yukine and Hiyori were both smiling proudly at him.

"See?" Hiyori said proudly. "I knew it."

Yato turned his eyes back to the sky, a new kind of peace settled over him as he started to feel like maybe, everything was going to be okay.

Yato took several more hours off with Hiyori and Yukine, enjoying the casual comfort of their warmth beside him before he tracked Tenjin down again.

"Hey Tenjin, look what I can do!"

Yato cycled through the stances that Tenjin had shown him carefully and faced a half-second of apprehension where he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to replicate the effect and then would have to live with the emotional consequences of having declared 'hey look what I can do' only for nothing to happen before his chosen flower bloomed and he let out a silent sigh of relief.

Tenjin got to his feet, eyes glowing with surprise and pride.

"You finally did it!"

"I guess I did have room for a little bit of peace, after all," Yato said, unable to suppress his smile.

Tenjin smiled knowingly, "I had hoped that an afternoon with Hiyori might help you."

Tenjin and Yato retreated to a more secluded area where they could practice Yato's newfound ability without being interrupted, for as powerful as he was, Yato was still easily distracted.

The next week of training was the most successful (and exhausting) one Yato had had for as long as he could remember, which was potentially due to the fact that he could actually harness the ability he was training in. It turned out all the instruction that Kazuma had given him hadn't been for naught, and he'd absorbed a good bit of the information, leading to his fairly quick advancement through the beginner levels of chi training.

Of course, he wasn't sure if his improvement was really all that impressive or if he'd just set an abysmal standard for himself. Of course, the Six were floored when Yato managed to make a plant bloom with his chi, two weeks ago they'd thought he didn't have chi to begin with. Still, Yato didn't protest all the attention and praise that he was receiving as a result of his newfound talent.

Every day from dusk until dawn, breaking only for meals and for Hiyori to check Yato's wounds, Yato was hard at work training in chi, building up his ability to harness larger amounts of chi at one time. Despite doing nothing physically strenuous, Yato collapsed into bed every night physically exhausted and sore. After the sixth day of unending training Yato finally confided in Tenjin the strange tension he was starting to feel somewhere baseless inside of him.

"Ah, I was wondering when that would set in. I'm impressed, Yato, you lasted far longer than I expected you too."

"When what would set in? What? What's going on?"

"Chi exhaustion."

"That can happen?"

"Yes, when you use too much of your chi too often it can put a strain on your spirit, even cause irreparable damage. I'm glad you told me, Yato, we don't want to overwork you."

Yato, who had been considering 'just sucking it up' in the manner his father had taught him, was suddenly extremely glad that he had decided to complain.

"So… what now?"

"Now we take a few days off to be sure you're in the best shape you can be for your fight with your father. We'll start training again when You've had time to recover."

"Oh, okay." Yato wandered aimlessly around for a while before deciding that he was going to take a nap.

Despite his apparent chi exhaustion, Yato was recovering well from his blood loss and getting stronger every day. The morning after Tenjin had ordered him to take a few days off Yato deemed himself in possession of enough blood to plan and set up a seaside picnic for himself, Hiyori, and Yukine. He was practically vibrating with excitement; his condition had prevented him from visiting the beach yet.

Hiyori still didn't want Yato going into town and shopping on his own, though, and Yato wanted to surprise her and Yukine with the contents of their picnic, and none of the others were familiar with the town, so he ended up being escorted by the unwilling and grumpy Take and Kiun.

"You know we have a fully stocked kitchen at the Palace, I don't know why you had to come to the market," Take grumbled, trailing slowly behind Yato, begrudgingly carrying his shopping.

"You had better slow down, Yato, you don't want to overwork yourself," Kiun warned as Yato bounded excitedly from stall to stall, observing everything that was available and trying to improvise a full meal on the spot.

"Your kitchen cupboards are boring," he said, pacing himself only a little bit. It seemed he would not be slowed from his task. "What do you guys think? Desserts and sweets? Four-course meal? Light lunch?"

"You don't want anything too heavy, you'll have to carry it to the beach," Kiun suggested. Take refused to participate in the discussion out of spite.

"Alright, maybe a light lunch but something rich for dessert? It's a special occasion!"

"That sounds nice, but you don't want it to feel too much like a date if you're bringing Yukine along. He might feel awkward."

"Kiun, you're an expert!" Yato said jovially. He turned on the spot and immediately sank into deep deliberation, muttering to himself. "It needs to be something you could easily sit on the ground and eat."

"What about sandwiches?" Yato gave Kiun a scathing look that said his expert status was about to be revoked. "Fancy ones, on bread you'll make yourself. The picnic is tomorrow, you have time to make bread." Yato thought for a moment then decided this was a satisfactory idea.

"Oh, and fried dough while I'm at it! Coated in cinnamon and sugar! It's portable!" Yato said, the full meal taking shape in his mind.

Now with a solid plan of action, Yato began bustling around the market, only occasionally wincing from his injuries, and purchasing everything he would need, thrusting it all into Take and Kiun's arms.

"Can we kill him?" Take murmured to Kiun.

"No," Kiun replied firmly.

Several more minutes passed and Yato finally stopped moving, standing in the middle of the street, ignoring the annoyed look the laden down Take was giving him.

"Are you finally done?"

"No, there's one last thing," Yato said, looking around carefully, then lighting up when his eyes landed on the basket weavers stall. The elderly lady sat among her wares, methodically weaving her next basket in the shade of her awning. Yato eyed the baskets on display carefully as he approached.

"Hello, Ma'am, I'm looking for a basket for a very special occasion."

The woman peered up at Yato, eyes taking a moment to focus. He waited patiently, calmer than he'd been all morning, wearing a charming smile.

"What kind of occasion?"

"A family outing to the beach. It's our first, we're from out of town."

"How many?"

"Three, my g-girlfriend and the boy we take care of." The old woman smiled, but Take frowned, wondering about the way Yato had stumbled over the word 'girlfriend.' He remembered the palpable sadness in the air when he'd found him that night in the storm, and realized that even though he hadn't seen any more evidence of it, Yato must still be very upset, only taking great pains to hide it.

"Ah, young love," the old woman said, smiling, obviously not taking the same meaning from the stutter that Takemikazuchi had. Yato's cheeks tinged slightly pink and his smile became a touch more sheepish.

The image shook Take, bringing him back to the time he'd fought Yato as Yaboku, The Hollow. If someone had tried to tell him then, that there was this soft side to the man who had radiated cold and malice, he would have laughed in their face. Even now, with Yato leaning casually against the stall counter, for some reason turning on the charm for this old lady, Take could still hear the fearsome growl of the God of Calamity.

"So, you see," Yato said, snapping Take out of his memory, "it is critically important that I get the perfect basket for my family. After all, it's all about the presentation."

The old woman chuckled and shook her head, struggling slowly to her feet, and while Yato waited patiently Take couldn't help but compare his patient smile to the scowl he'd uncovered when he'd unmasked Yato.

"Congratulations, you're the first to ever unmask me," Yaboku had growled. "Too bad you won't live long enough to brag to your friend. Oh, wait," he half chuckled, glancing in the direction of the mutilated corpse he'd left in his wake, shooting Take a smug smile.

Take growled at the memory, feeling the fire of rage ignite once more in his belly. Kiun shot him a concerned look, though Yato hadn't seemed to notice, he was too busy doting on the basket the old woman had just handed him.

"This should be sturdy enough for food for three," she said.

Yato grinned and made a big show of inspecting the basket carefully, from everything from the hinges of the lid to the texture of the weave to the thickness and shape of the handle. The show forced Take out of his rage and into the increasingly familiar annoyance. It was a basket. It looked like a basket, why couldn't he just buy it? Why did everything he did have to be such a goddamn spectacle?

"I believe you're right. This basket is amazing, impeccably crafted, and it will serve me well."

He handed over the money she asked for and turned back to Take and Kiun, satisfied. They didn't share his satisfaction in his purchase but did experience a fair amount of relief that they would finally be going home. On the whole walk Yato chattered about the meal he was planning for Hiyori and Yukine and Take wondered how he'd ever made this mistake of believing that Yato was someone to be feared.

"You should let me carry it! I made it as a treat for you! You shouldn't have to carry it!"

"You are still in recovery. You planned and cooked all the food yourself, Yukine and I can carry the supplies."

Hiyori had the blanket thrown over one arm and was using the other to help Yato navigate the slight incline. Yukine walked slightly ahead of them, carrying the basket. He glanced back and rolled his eyes at the way Yato was craning his neck to get a better look at the ocean, not bothering to watch where he was walking and stumbling over every uneven place on the path. He definitely would have spilled their food all over the ground if he'd been allowed to carry the basket.

Yato took off running when they reached the beach, kicking sand up behind him and falling face-first when he tripped on the unfamiliar terrain. Hiyori would have found it funny if she weren't concerned for his last few stitches that had yet to come out. Seconds later, however, Yato popped back up and gave them a thumbs up. Hiyori smiled fondly.

"Come on, Yukine, let's set up while he gets this out of his system."

"You might not want to get into the water before we eat!" Yukine called as Yato made a beeline for the water. He halted in his tracks, considering the idea, then turned back to them.

Yukine helped Hiyori throw out the blanket as Yato sat down, opening the basket and passing plates around. Yato grinned proudly as he passed the food between them.

"We have sandwiches with homemade bread, fruit juice I squeezed by hand, and cinnamon bread!"

"I knew it!" Yukine exclaimed. "I knew you'd do cinnamon bread! Hiyori, that means that you have to take my dish duty next!" Hiyori looked put out but didn't argue.

Yato sat eagerly in between his two-favorite people, watching and waiting for Hiyori and Yukine to take a bite out of their sandwiches. Hiyori gave in first, deciding not to keep Yato waiting any longer.

"Wow, these are really good!" She said once she'd swallowed because she was a civilized human being.

"Yeah, I bet your cinnamon bread is great," Yukine said through his mouthful of food.

"Excuse you, everything that I make is great! Even my dad said so!"

"Wow, the one thing he was ever right about," Yukine said, swallowing his mouthful of food at last. Yato choked so hard on his hand squeezed juice it shot out of his nose.

"Oh gross!" Yukine laughed, leaning away and laughing uproariously as Hiyori squealed, swooping the food out of the splash zone of Yato's nose spray.

"Yato!"

"Oh my God!" Yato coughed, still laughing. He'd always shied away from making fun of his father, even now, but apparently Yukine had no such reservations. Hiyori passed Yato a napkin and he wiped his face and blew his nose, wincing against the burning sensation the juice had left.

"That wasn't very fun," Yato said, shaking his head.

"Not for you," Yukine replied. "It was a lot of fun for me to see it, though."

Hiyori laughed, mopping up the juice with a napkin then gesturing out to the beach around them. "Well, anyway, what's the verdict, Yato? It's your first ever beach trip!"

"I love it! It's so beautiful!" Yato gazed out over the water as the sun started to sink below the horizon. He'd made sure to schedule their picnic for this time of day for the full effect. He sighed happily, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "Rabo got to see the ocean once and he told me I'd love it. I always wanted to go with him, but we never got the chance."

"His thing about romantic gestures, huh?" Yukine asked, again not bothering to swallow his food first.

"No, we just never had jobs together out this way, and Gods of Calamity don't get vacation time."

"How rude of your victims to not live in scenic locations," Yukine said.

"I know right!"

Hiyori snorted. "Well, you're seeing it now, and that's all that matters."

"Out of curiosity, if you had been allowed vacation days would he have taken one with you?" Yukine asked.

"I think so, it was hard to get time alone at the compound," he shuddered and grimaced at some memory he didn't elaborate on.

"I have a feeling we'll all need a vacation after all this is over," Hiyori said wryly.

"You're telling me," Yato agreed, taking a cautious sip of his juice.

"Let's not talk about work, then," Yukine said.

"We could talk about your interest in gardening," Yato teased, smirking over the rim of his juice cup at Yukine as his face flushed red and he stuffed the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.

"Gardening?" Hiyori asked. Neither boy answered her.

"So, if we were to take a vacation where would you want to go?" Yukine asked, "Back to the beach? Or somewhere else?"

"I've always loved the mountains," Hiyori commented, "but swimming would be fun."

"We live on a mountain, Hiyori. How about the river? We could take afternoon boat rides and still get to play in the water. There's this really nice port town that we went to on a mission once, me and Rabo even got to go on a date in this really nice cafe with outdoor seating…" he trailed off, smiling fondly at the memory.

"What's the town called?"

"Ahh… The Port of Jade Waters, I think."

"I remember that!" Hiyori cried out. "We were just a few towns over when you guys hit there!"

"Oh, I know," Yato said mischievously. "You guys rode into town while Rabo and I were on our date. I specifically heard Kazuma say 'there's no way they're still in town'. It was hilarious. That may have been the hardest Rabo laughed ever, in his life."

Hiyori gave him an incredulous look. "You're kidding."

"Nope. You guys walked right by us."

"Unbelievable."

"Actually, I told that story to Father and he thought it was hilarious as well, but he did get very smug about the masks he always made us wear. 'See, kids, I told you the masks would protect you!' or something." Yato rolled his eyes. "But still, it was a good day."

The three of them settled into less murder-y topics while they passed out and enjoyed the cinnamon bread. It was, indeed, delicious, and Yukine requested to be taught to make it next. Yato agreed and they talked about baking for a while while Hiyori reclined and listened contentedly, most of the conversion going over her head. Having been raised in a well-off family then moving into the Jade Palace, she hadn't done any of her own cooking before.

After the meal when the sun was low and the tides were high Yato could be waylaid no longer and he sprinted off towards the water, grinning, kicking it up in all directions as he danced around. Eventually, after their leftovers were packed neatly away in the basket, he managed to drag Hiyori and Yukine out into the water with him. They ran and played, splashing and laughing in the fading light until every single one of them somehow managed to get soaked from head to toe.

Once they had exhausted themselves in the water, they concluded the evening by walking along the beach together. Yukine led the brigade with Yato and Hiyori not far behind, walking hand in hand.

"So how was this for our second date?" Hiyori asked, bumping his shoulder with hers.

"Perfect," he replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "A family outing for the three of us. One day I hope we can do it with Nora." Hiyori smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be able to save her, don't worry."

"What's she like?" Yukine called over his shoulder. "It'll be nice to have someone my age around."

"You mean someone other than your gardener friend?" Yukine shot him a dirty look.

"Yeah, what's Nora interested in? We want to make her feel welcome," Hiyori put in.

"She likes being mean to me," Yato scoffed. "And she likes fish. She thinks they're neat. She can be sweet when she's not under our dad's thumb, but she's also incredibly competitive so you and her will get along great," he shot Hiyori a lopsided grin. "But also, when she's uncomfortable she'll go all cold."

"Kinda like you?" Yukine asked.

Yato winced but couldn't argue. "I guess it runs in the family, huh? But she gets cruel and will lash out to hurt you, and she may take a while to warm up to you guys."

"Well you pretended to be an idiot for a month, so I think we'll get by," Yukine pointed out.

Yato laughed. "That's fair. She'll have me and some kids her age, so she'll probably be fine and I'm just worrying too much. She's tough."

"I'm sure she'll be alright," Hiyori agreed, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"We'll have to come up with a master name for her eventually," Yukine thought out loud.

"I'm not sure how she'll feel about being assigned an animal name, but we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

After about an hour they turned around and moseyed their way back to where they had left their picnic basket, all tired and happy and warm with each other's company, though Yato couldn't quite get past the little girl shaped hole in their possy.

You'll get her back, he told himself. No matter what.

The three of them returned to their rooms and collapsed in their beds, smiling, and had sweet dreams, even Yato, who dreamed his sister was with him, and finally happy.

Two mornings later Hiyori ripped the blankets off Yato and prodded the side of his face with her toe.

"It's time to get up, we need to take out your last stitches then start your new training. Tenjin wants to start with combat chi now."

"Gross, don't wanna," Yato muttered, trying to roll away.

"Uh-uh. You're going to get your ass up and train because no way am I watching you die because you walked into a fight with your father unprepared."

Yato groaned loudly and sat up, taking note of the lack of painful twinges. It seemed he really was healing. Part of him was relieved, it meant the other's would stop watching over him like a child and that he'd be able to move around without pain again, but it also meant his fight with his father was fast approaching and that thought still fed the little dread demon that had taken up residence in his stomach.

He would have to face the music soon, and not only face his father on equal ground as an opponent but also return to the house where he'd lived with Rabo. Both of those thoughts made him feel quite ill, but he didn't share these thoughts with Hiyori. By the look she was giving him she already knew what he was thinking.

"Come on, let's go to the infirmary so I can pull your stitches and we'll eat breakfast before the sparring session."

"That sounds good," Yato said, pushing himself to his feet and running his hands through his hair.

Despite having medics on duty in the infirmary, Yato refused to let any of them tend to him. With the depth and severity of his wounds, Hiyori had asked, once, if he wanted them to take care of them. They were fully trained medics, she said, and they had spent their lives focusing solely on medicine, not dividing their time unevenly between medicine and combat. Yato would have none of it, however.

Not only did his deep-seated emotional trust issues prevent him from being at ease at the mercy of another person, but he also just liked having Hiyori take care of him.

Yato lay on his stomach, arms crossed beneath his chin, watching the other medics bustle about their business while Hiyori took care of him. The feeling of her warm hands against his back made up for the uncomfortable sensation of little silk threads being pulled out of his body. By far the most severe of his wounds had been the deep slash across his back that Rabo had given him, and already he was imagining how it would look, a new, long slash against the patchwork of old scars.

A reminder, forever on his flesh, of the life he used to lead, and the sacrifices he'd had to make to start a new life.

"Yato," Hiyori said, jolting him out of his dark line of thought.

"Yeah?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to remove these stitches when they're frozen to your body," She said. Yato blinked in surprise, craning his neck around to see his back, and most of the bed beneath him, covered in a thin layer of frost.

"Oh," Yato said, ignoring the whispers of the other medical staff as he and Hiyori's breath fogged out in front of them. "Sorry." Yato exhaled, releasing power he hadn't meant to summon.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Hiyori asked as she brushed the frost away and used her warm fingertips to thaw the silk stitches in his skin.

"Rabo." Yato sighed, laying his head down. Hiyori didn't respond, but Yato imagined her nodding her head. She had to have known before she asked. Several minutes later she announced that the removal of his stitches was complete and she helped him shrug back into his shirt.

"Why don't we go and get some breakfast now? It's late so the kitchen staff will have already made it, you'll have to make do with their cooking."

Yato groaned like this was the worst news he'd ever gotten in his life and Hiyori chuckled.

"I think you'll survive."

"You don't know that for sure!"

Tenjin circled around Yato, palms glowing with chi. Yato followed his movements, rolling his eyes. Of course, the old bastard had to circle, probably because he knew Yato hated it. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he fended off Kazuma's constant barrage of mental attacks. At least he was starting to show staring as well, proving to Yato that he had improved and giving him a motivation boost.

They were trying to prepare him for an all-out fight with his father, who was adept at using mind control while still fighting with chi, and while Yato had improved drastically at both individually he was still struggling to combine the two. At least he'd trained as a killer for so long that the physical combat came as naturally to him as blinking. That part would be easy compared to the rest.

Don't get cocky. Your father taught you everything you know about fighting. He knows all of your tricks, Yato scolded himself. In this fight getting careless was as good as suicide.

The quiet whisper of steel caught his attention just in time to duck out of the way of a heavy blow from Hiyori's naginata. He hit the ground and rolled out of the way, nearly rolling straight into a chi blast from Tenjin. When he leaped out of the way, alarmed, he was caught off guard by Kazuma's mental battering ram. Yato cried out and hit the ground hard and without grace, focused now on shoving Kazuma out of his mind before he struggled to his feet, head pounding and out of breath.

"Not good, Yato. You can't let your guard down no matter what, that's going to be the first trick your father tries."

The group paused to allow Yato to compose himself. He was half glad that they were letting him catch his breath and half annoyed because his father wouldn't be giving him that same courtesy.

"Again," Yato gasped, straightening his spine.

If you're going to win you need to take them by surprise.

Hiyori leaped forward without further ado, slashing down his chest, face set in determination. Yato leaped forward, blocking her attack in one movement and ducking below Tenjin's energy blast in the next. He tried to sweep Hiyori's feet out from under her while Kazuma redoubled his efforts to break into Yato's mind, fairly splitting Yato's skull with the effort. Hiyori leapt over Yato's attack gracefully, then attempted to springboard off his back but he was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the ankle and spun on the spot, leveraging all his strength and weight to spin Hiyori around and fling her at Kazuma, who had his eyes closed in concentration. He didn't open them until it was too late, notified only by Hiyori's startled squeal before they collided.

While all of them, Tenjin included, were distracted by this wild turn of events Yato summoned his own ball of chi with a touch of difficulty and flung it at Tenjin, closely followed by his wakizashi. The chi attack fell laughably short, but Tenjin was surprised enough by the wakizashi that Yato was able to get into close range, where he had a definite advantage.

Tenjin may have been the greatest master of his time, and he was holding up well for his age, but time had still slowed him down. Still, he fended off several attacks from Yato before he was disarmed and forced to the ground by Yato, who was still bitter about the circling.

There were several seconds of surprised not-silence where Hiyori and Kazuma disentangled themselves from each other with much grumbling and wincing and Tenjin panted at the end of Yato's sword. Yato's own heavy breathing was breaking the silence, but he managed to wait until Hiyori and Kazuma's attention was back on him before he spoke.

"I win," he said, before collapsing onto the ground, panting.

"This round," Tenjin conceded, getting to his feet, "but you'll have to do it a few more times to convince me that it wasn't a fluke."

Yato screamed in frustration, even though he knew that Tenjin was right. He needed to do it again, then again, then again, until there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Yato could defeat his father. Fortunately, Yato was allowed a few minutes after his victory to catch his breath and drink what felt like a gallon of water.

"You need to stay hydrated," Hiyori reminded him, drinking from her own cup, "we don't want you passing out and missing valuable training time."

"How about overworking myself and being unable to get it up when the time comes?" Yato shot back, taking another long swig of water.

"Don't worry, we're all being careful, you're not starting to feel the chi exhaustion yet, are you?"

He shook his head. "Only the regular kind."

"Well good, you probably went a little soft during your long convalescence."

"Not likely," Yato snorted. "Gods of Calamity don't get rusty."

"Well you're not a God of Calamity anymore, are you?" Hiyori challenged.

Yato hesitated, wanting to say that the skills transferred, but he didn't. "Alright then, we'll give it as many more go's as you want. I'm not backing down."

"Well neither am I," Hiyori replied, her eyes taking on the gleam that told Yato he was in for a good fight now.

They managed to work in two more brawls before they broke for a late lunch. Yato lost the first when Hiyori slammed the but of her naginata into his diaphragm and winded him, which allowed Kazuma to finish disabling him with his mental attacks. Yato needed several minutes to recover from this spectacular loss and had a feeling that both Hiyori and Kazuma had put their all into it and were madder than they were letting on about how Yato had won the last fight.

The next brawl Yato actually managed to win, but only by a narrow margin where he mercilessly exploited the weaknesses of the people around them. He felt terrible about hitting Hiyori where he knew she was still recovering and then smashing into Tenjin's joints that ached with arthritis, but when the fight was over Tenjin had praised him, telling him that brutality- which he had worked so hard to be rid of- was unfortunately exactly what he'd need to defeat his father.

"I know they say you can't fight fire with fire, Yato, but you really can't defeat the Sorcerer by playing nice." Yato had nodded stiffly, then stormed off moodily to prepare lunch.

He felt bad about the way he'd barked at the kitchen staff, who were only trying to do their jobs, to get out of his way, so once he'd calmed down he'd also written them an apology note and left more than enough food for all of them. It wasn't their fault that he was angry with himself both for being so cruel and his hesitation to be cruel.

They fought another, very long, very dirty fight after lunch, in which Yato felt better about being unfair because they others had started playing dirty as well, perhaps having realized that Father wouldn't be playing fair after Tenjin's words in the garden before lunch. Yato won this fight as well, also only just, but after the number of cheap shots he'd taken during the course of the fight from all three of his opponents he felt less bad about it.

They'd all come away with a fair number of bruises and aches.

Later that night Yato soaked in the bathtub for a long time, massaging his sore muscles. He knew it was nearly time, his wounds were almost completely healed, and he seemed to have finally replenished all the blood he had lost, not to mention he was actually getting rather good with using chi.

He still wasn't sure he was ready, he wasn't sure he would ever be ready to face his father, emotionally or training wise because deep down, he knew he was still terrified of the man, and even deeper down he thought he might still love him.

He'd had any number of reactions to seeing his father again after long separations over the years: abject terror, indifference, defiance, defeat, and groveling, to name a few. He hoped this time he would land a little close to defiance, that the presence of his friends would lend him the strength he'd previously lacked, but those occasions when he'd been determined to spit in his father's face only to kneel at his feet stuck out nastily in his memory.

Yato rolled his shoulder, staring up at the ceiling. No matter what happened with this fight, he knew deep down in his bones that this was the end. He would either end this fight victorious or dead.