Nora had been making breakfast for a bit too long.
Yato was doing his best to keep sulking in his room, but his stomach had begun to growl. He definitely wasn't over his bout of angst yet, and he didn't want to give Nora the impression that he was, but he couldn't help but hope she would inch the door open and offer him an omelette.
That's what he did when she was throwing a tantrum. Couldn't he expect the same from her?
He'd seen a basket of eggs on the kitchen counter last night. He hoped they weren't for another of Father's experiments.
He rolled over, staring at his painted ceiling. His mouth watered. Mmm… if she made him an omelette, he would season it with salt and pepper, with a glob of honey fresh out of the jar for dessert...
Enough waiting. He jumped out of bed, spurred on by his fantasies, ready for his plate of eggs. If Nora wasn't going to make one, he sure was.
"Nora!" He yelled, whipping the door open. "What's taking you so-?"
He stopped dead, alarmed by the sounds echoing from the dining room.
Pots and pans clattered, there were wooden thuds like furniture thrown about, and above it all rose Nora's high tinkling voice: Yato! Yato! Yaboku!
"Oh shit." He cursed under his breath. "Oh, shit, Nora, I'm sorry! I'm coming!"
He tore down the stairs, feeling a stab of regret for barricading himself in his room.
Nora's tantrums were stuff of legend. They only happened once every two years and were explosive enough to tear down walls. Handling Nora's temper was one thing Yato excelled at even more than Father.
She needed him now, and where had he been? Mourning his useless life in his room? He wasn't worth being remembered.
He heard a shelf fall, plates crashing, and picked up his speed. "Nora!" He called. "I'm here, calm down!"
" No! Stay in your room! " Nora screeched back. "Stay, Yaboku!"
"No, come down!" Another voice called back, much to his surprise. "Come down, we're here to save you!"
Eh?
His footsteps slowed, his eyes widening. There were people here. They were attacking his sister.
"Don't come down!" Nora squealed again, her words disappearing into the shattering of glass.
He frowned, his heart thudding in his chest. Nora was unpredictable. He didn't know if she was trying to protect him or keep him out of the way while she tried to beat them down herself, but he couldn't risk it.
He wrapped his hand around the first weapon he could find: an empty candlestick bolted loosely to the wall.
Before he could set off again, he heard another sound that made him freeze: someone wearing a pair of boots was running up the stairs right below him.
Yato knelt, crouching to peer under the staircase into the level below. A quick smile split his face when he saw who it was.
Hiyori, the thief from two days ago, panted there, a determined look on her face. She raised a fist to mop up her forehead, her dark fringe spiky with sweat. There were necklaces in her belt, countless crystals sparkling yellow in the candlelight.
They must be here to burgle the tower. He'd expected better from Kazuma's friends, but, to be fair, he had known they were thieves from the start.
The brunette paused on a stair, resting a hand against the wall as she sucked in a deep breath. " Yato!" She yelled suddenly, making him jump. "Yato, it's me, Hiyori! Come out, please, I'm here to rescue you!"
He smirked. How stupid did she think he was?
Ducking under the stairs was easy. He evened out his breaths, focussed his aim and leapt.
The brunette shrieked when he landed right beside her, lithe and soundless as a cat. He allowed himself a moment to catch his balance.
"Yato!" The girl sounded delighted. "You scared me-"
He seized her by the collar and pressed her up against the wall, holding the sharp edge of his candlestick to her throat.
"What're you doing here?" He hissed, his eyes dark.
The brunette was indignant, two spots of pink appearing on her cheeks. "We're here to rescue you!" She exclaimed, locking her hands over his.
"What does that mean? What're you doing to my sister?" He demanded. "Give me a straight answer or I'll toss you down, I swear."
"We're not doing anything to your sister, she's attacking us!" She groaned, wriggling in his grasp. "I knew you'd do this. Why can't you be rational? Tying us to chairs, threatening me with a candlestick, we're your friends!"
He snorted, bemused. "Since when are you my friend?"
"You saved Kazuma and Bishamon-san, so you're my friend, okay?" She shot him an irritated look. "We're here to repay his debt by saving you from the evil sorcerer Fujisaki!"
He raised his eyebrows. That wording did sound like Kazuma's…
"I get it now. This is his idea." He loosened his grip on her. "Listen, tell him there's nothing to repay. What I did for him was nothing special, so stop risking your lives on my account. Really, I'm just glad he's alive and well."
"Just glad he's…" Her face turned plum-red. "Oh, for the love of- am I missing something? Do you not want to be rescued from Evil Sorcerer Fujisaki? Do you want to live as his soulless source of magic, is that it?"
"Who told you my father's evil?" He retorted. "He wants to look young forever, while also going on mysterious trips to the outside with Nora everyday. I think that's understandable, don't you?"
"Is this a joke to you?" Hiyori snapped. "Yato, you've been imprisoned in a tower for your entire life. You could have parents, a family, something waiting for you outside this place, don't you want to see?"
"Are you telling me my father isn't my real father? How do you even know that?" He glared at her, genuinely annoyed.
"How do I know that? Oh, what a mystery. Maybe it's because the great sorcerer Fujisaki is a thousand years old and doesn't have functioning parts down there anymore, that's why!"
Yato paused. He had never thought about that before.
He released her and stepped back.
"Phew." She leaned back against the wall, relieved. "Are you finally convinced you have to run- ahh!" She vaulted out of the way when he slashed his candlestick in her direction. "Yato, will you cut that out? Are you trying to kill me?"
"Why do you want me to run away with you so badly, huh? What could you possibly gain from it, unless you're a bounty hunter?" Yato sneered. "I can see your tricks coming a mile away-"
The breath whooshed out of him. He crashed hard against the stone wall and fell, only to hit his head on uneven steps. The girl had nailed him with a roundhouse kick to the chest.
"Again with the bounty hunters!" Hiyori shrieked. "You're such a stubborn idiot, Yaboku!"
Yato shivered at the name, his hand twitching as he searched for his candlestick. It was a fruitless search, the world was spinning way too fast. Hiyori crouched by him, her steady hand supporting the back of his head.
She hissed a quick breath through her teeth, pulling him onto her lap. "Yato? Yato, oh crap." She probed the crown of his head, and twinges of pain shot through with every touch. "Oh, Yato, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that, I didn't mean to, oh god. Are you alright?"
He tried to answer her, but it was easier to let his eyelids droop, to let his head fall back against her hand.
"Yato? Yato! Stay awake!" A slap stung his face, and he woke with a start. "Bishamon-san will know what to do, she'll take a look at your head… stay with me!"
He cringed, summoning the strength to place the flat of his hand against his cheek. "Ow, Hiyori, why-?!"
"I'm so so sorry!" Her eyes were glossy with tears. "P-please let me help you down-"
"Okay." He bent his head so it rested on her thigh. His eyes shuttered briefly. "But I can't leave the tower."
"Why not?" She asked softly. "I'm here to help you. Don't you want to see the lantern festival?"
"That was going to be a short trip." He looked away, into the candleless void circled by stairs. "Father won't let me leave for good."
"And you obey your lunatic father no matter what, is that it?"
He glanced at her. "I'm tied here, Hiyori."
"Don't be an idiot. He's an evil sorcerer, he's using your magic to execute some nasty schemes. You're not safe. Besides, you don't want to be trapped in a tower for the rest of your life."
Yato closed his eyes, retreating into the comfortable darkness of his eyelids. "It doesn't matter what I want. If I stay in this tower and let him borrow my magic without making a fuss, he won't use it to hurt people. I'm doing a good deed to the world."
There was a moment of silence, before the girl snorted. "Oh, so that's how it is. The great martyr, Yato. Giving up his life for the sake of the people."
He gaped, outraged. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am! What's so funny?"
"You're the most gullible person I've ever seen, that's what's funny." She snickered, shaking her head. "Fujisaki is an exiled sorcerer. He has no magic on his own. If you leave, he'll have no magic left to hurt anyone!"
"I know, Hiyori." He whispered quietly. He could hear an echo of her words in his head, from a different woman in a different time. "You're very kind. You're the only outsider who's ever tried to help me."
She smiled. "Thanks."
"But...that's why I can't let him hurt you." He said ruefully. "I can't have him find you. He doesn't need magic to make you pay."
She sighed. "Don't tell me. He'll hire goons, tip off the horsemen and summon Ayakashi."
"Uh, I was thinking more like kill you." He gave her an odd look. "You don't know my father. When he doesn't get his way, he's as destructive as Nora."
"Nora, that's your sister's name?" She cocked her head. "She seems young. Would you consider escaping with us for her sake?"
"She's only a year younger than me, actually. She's short. And she likes obeying Father. You'd have a tougher time convincing her than me."
"Well, then, how can I convince you?" She pondered on it for a moment. "What if I tell you the kingdom has a borderline around it that Fujisaki can never cross? You'll be safe there, and-"
"Why do you want to rescue me so badly?" Yato laughed, baffled. "He can't use magic far away from me. Since I've never left this tower, he can't possibly be bothering you with it, so-"
"Words won't work, will they?" The brunette rolled her eyes. "I thought not."
"Hiyori, look-"
She snapped her fingers. "I've got it!"
"Huh?!"
She grinned. "I don't have to convince you! You can barely sit up right now!"
"I'm- what?"
Hiyori hopped a step down, bending over him until they were nearly nose-to-nose, and her arms snaked under his knees and back. His cheeks heated up instantly. "U-uh, Hiyori-"
Suddenly, she lifted him bodily off the stairs, hefting him in her arms with a mighty wheeze. He cried out, grabbing at the front of her shirt with both hands. "Hiyori!"
"Hands...around...my...neck…" The brunette gasped.
"What the hell are you doing-?!"
"Put your goddamn hands around my neck, Yato!"
He put his hands around her, if only to keep from plummeting down the stairs to his doom. She adjusted her hold on him, carrying him close.
She smelled like honey. His face was red as a field of poppies.
"God, you're heavy." She muttered behind gritted teeth as she wobbled down the stairs, elbow pressed against the wall to keep her balance. "You're lucky I've done this before."
"Hiyori, put me down." He muttered, mortified. "You'll fall, I'd rather walk-"
"I'm sick of you and Kazuma-san being such cowards." The girl barked, cutting him off. "What, you think Fujisaki scares me? I'm a thief. I'm hunted down everyday. If I'm caught red-handed, I'll be sent to the gallows!"
His mind blanked. That had been the last thing on his mind. "Y-yeah."
"We've all signed up for the most dangerous, most selfish job in the kingdom, and that gives us the freedom to do the right thing when we can." Hiyori grumbled under her breath, her cheeks puffed out. A drop of sweat slid down her forehead. "I am not letting a good person be lost because I didn't do what I could for him."
He stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Uh, Hiyori… I'm Evil Sorcerer Fujisaki's son. I'm not exactly a good person-"
"Shut the hell up unless you have something useful to say." The girl shook her head. "You and your stupid martyr complex, went and delayed me for a good ten minutes."
He didn't have a useful response to that, so instead, he tucked his head into the crook of her neck. She smelled very strongly of honey, reminding him of his ruined breakfast plans. How ridiculous was it that he'd had breakfast plans at all with all the ruckus going on downstairs?
Sooner than he'd expected, he found himself relaxing into her arms. The gentle rocking as she trudged down step by step, it felt nice to be held, for once. He was usually the one doing the holding, demanding affection like a clingy leech.
It felt good to relax into her arms, to relax, drift away…
"Bishamon-san!" Hiyori screamed, breaking him out of his trance. "Bishamon-san, are you okay?!"
He opened his eyes to the shambles of his dining room.
The bottommost room of the tower, the area they'd spent the most time in as a family, was in chaos. Shattered crockery and splintered wood littered the floor. Most striking of all was the door, which was usually invisible, thrown wide open, propped by the one and only Yukine.
He looked like he'd been put through the wringer, his hat and jacket torn. Bishamon sat near him, her back to the wall. There was a large pink bump on her forehead, matching her swollen purple bottom lip.
Hiyori set Yato down, flying to her mentor's aid. "Bishamon-san! Bishamon-san, can you walk? How hurt are you? Can you-?"
"Yaboku!"
Yato's ears pricked up as he heard his name, the shrill voice muffled as if speaking through a door.
"Don't you dare touch him! Father will get you! Father! Yaboku!"
His eyes searched the maelstrom for Hiiro. "Nora?" He called, and both of Hiyori's companions tensed.
"Don't you try to free that demon child. I will pummel you to the ground." Bishamon spoke, her deep voice a growl in her throat.
A surge of embarrassment washed through him. "Sorry, she gets a little extra when she's trying to defend me. Where is she?"
"We don't have the time for this." The blonde muttered. "You're coming with us, aren't you?"
Hiyori gave him a meaningful look.
"Yes." He accepted defeat. If they wanted to incur Father's wrath, so be it. "Can I at least ask if Hiiro will come with me?"
The blonde warrior glowered at him, and he noticed she had a faint black eye forming over her left eye.
"Fine, but do not open it without my permission." She pointed at a cupboard in the corner, which had been locked shut with two knives jammed in the handle, a heavy crate pushed in front of it for good measure.
"You have five minutes. We leave the minute she agrees."