"It's like I'm in a fairytale!"
Hiyori exchanged glances with Yukine. She could guess exactly what he was thinking.
Yato could barely stand up straight in the tiny attic. Combined with his boundless jittery movement, the room felt full to bursting. To preserve their sanity, the other two stayed close to the trapdoor, trying to breathe in fresh non-dusty air from the floor below.
"Is this where I'm going to stay?" Yato scurried to the round window in the wall, looking over into the street. His fingers touched the windowpane and came back covered in grime.
Hiyori laced her fingers together. "Sure, if you want. I figured you'd want to sleep somewhere more..." She searched for a word that wouldn't offend Yukine. "Umm..."
The blond sniffed. "More made for human beings."
Yato blinked curious blue eyes at them. "But Yukine sleeps here, doesn't he?"
"Not by choice." He muttered.
The brunette rushed to explain. "When Yukine moved in, we didn't have room for another person, so he shared my room. But turns out he's afraid of the dark, so he keeps a candle on all night. I can't sleep with the light on, so…"
"So she got Daikoku-san to move my stuff up here while I was out on a mission." Yukine finished.
"I was going to tell you when you got back!" Hiyori exclaimed. "You were making such a fuss, and I hadn't slept in days- !"
"You could've told me before you moved my stuff!"
"I couldn't have, because you would've said no! You don't even realise how stubborn you are-"
"Well, why'd you let me stay in your room at all, then? Why'd you take me in? Why didn't you turn me away in the first place, if you didn't have room for me?" The boy snarled.
The brunette let out a loud, pained groan. "Yukine, you are such a pain- "
Yato interrupted their spat by plopping between them. He swung his legs out of the trapdoor, leaning casually back on his hands.
"I have a proposition for you." He grinned crookedly at Yukine. "Are you interested?"
Yukine gave him a suspicious look, hiding his wrath-flushed cheeks behind his knees. "Is it going to be something stupid?"
"It's going to be something you desire terribly, for a price." The black-haired boy winked. "This attic has a lot of potential. I'll clean it for you."
The blond stared at him for a solid minute, before he burst out laughing.
"I'm serious!" Yato gestured expressively at the walls. "Give me an hour, you'll see. Hiyori will beg you to switch places when I'm done."
"One hour?" Yukine choked on his laughter, slapping a hand against his forehead. "How much of a ditz are you? No wonder Fujisaki didn't let you into the real world-"
They were interrupted by an ear-splitting wail.
The three of them flinched, staring at each other with wide eyes as a dozen plates smashed onto the ground at once in the kitchen.
"Come on!" Hiyori swung herself onto the ladder. She felt the weight of the other two above her as they climbed swiftly down into Bishamon's bedroom. Hiyori's feet touched the floor running, turning the corner into the dining room.
She froze.
Kofuku was sobbing, hanging onto Bishamon, who looked, for once, like a wisp of air would knock her down. Behind both of them, only just coming up the stairs, was Daikoku-san, holding a bundle of white cloth in his arms.
It was in the wide berth they gave him, in the horror in their eyes, in the dark aura around the bundle, grey as a corpse.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her first thought was of the boys peeking out from behind her.
"Go back." She commanded, blocking out the doorway with her elbows. "Go back, both of you!"
"Wha-" Yato began, but she was firm.
"Go back! Stay out, go!"
Daikoku made his way to the dining table, his face sober. Kofuku rushed to his aid, clearing away plates and salt-shakers so that her husband could place his bundle gently on the tabletop. Bishamon hung back, her hands over her mouth.
"H-how? Where was he? W- why-?"
The tavern-owner stepped away from the body, examining his hands for telltale signs of blight. "The horsemen found him in the woods, about a mile away from where you'd gone. He'd been in this state for a few hours, it seems. They were going to burn him, but Maximus owes me a favour."
Kofuku let out another wail, burying her face in her hands. "Horrible, this is so horrible! What was he doing there, he said he wasn't going to come-"
"He was keeping us safe."
Bishamon's voice had been reduced to a murmur. She walked like a ghost unbound to the ground, her pale hand reaching for the blanket that covered the body.
Daikoku slapped it away, merciless. "Don't unwrap him. We can't risk an Ayakashi infestation."
"Fuck you!" The blonde shrieked, seizing the larger man by the collar. "You're worried about an infestation? You bastard!" She punched his cheek hard enough to knock his head to the side. "How...how could you...how could you say that?"
Her hand drew back again, ready to deliver another strike, but Kofuku clung onto it.
"Stop it!" She wept. "Stop it, Bisha!"
"But how could he…" The woman released him, crumpling to her knees. Her head was bowed, her long golden hair a curtain obscuring her face. "We should never have gone. We should never have left him behind. If...if we'd listened to him..."
"Hiyori, who is it?" Yato's breath on her ear made her jump. She whirled around immediately, shoving him back into the room.
"Yato, go back upstairs. I mean it. She's going to blame you for this, go to the attic and stay there."
"What?" His blue eyes widened, the blood draining from his face. "Blame me?"
"Yes, but it's not your fault, you understand? This has nothing to do with you. Go upstairs, I'll explain later-"
Yukine, still peering from the doorway, let out a strangled gasp. "No!" He rushed out immediately, crashing past the shoes and things they'd scattered on the way. "Kazuma-san!"
"Kazuma…?" Yato paled further. "That...that was…?"
The tip of Hiyori's nose tingled. She bit in her bottom lip to keep it from wobbling. "Please just go upstairs, Yato-"
He surged forward immediately, Hiyori had to move quickly to keep blocking his way.
"Let me through, Hiyori!" He hissed, attempting to push past her. She stayed stiff, hooking her arms to the doorway.
"You're going to make things worse." She gritted her teeth. "I know Bishamon-san. We left him behind to rescue you, so she's going to blame you for his death. That's how she is! So go back upstairs and let us grieve, alright?"
"Grieve?!" He gripped her arm, trying to shove through it. "You don't get it-"
"You can see the aura. He's been corrupted by the Ayakashi, he's dead. He's dead , okay? Now go away!" Tears stung her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. "You knew him for one day . He is not your family, he's ours, and we want our privacy!"
His eyes hardened, then, and he stepped away from her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that-"
She was interrupted by a sharp pain in the stomach. Her eyes flew open just as he caught her arm, his feet sweeping hers out from under her. She slipped off-balance, thudding heavily to the ground.
Yato was out like a shot.
She scrambled upright, barely sparing a second to wince as she rushed to the kitchen. Her family, her tiny family was gathered there, shocked gazes turned to the blue-eyed boy who fell at Kazuma-san's side.
"Oi!" Bishamon cried out, enraged. "You-!"
Yukine swiftly stood between her and Yato, arms raised. "No, Bishamon-san!"
"Don't you lay a finger on him!" The blonde shrieked. "Don't you put your black magic on him. Kazuma wanted nothing to do with you!"
Yato's fingers were long, delicate, moving deftly as they undid the folds keeping the infected corpse wrapped in his cloth.
Daikoku-san sprung to action with a bellow. "You'll be blighted, you idiot. He's been corrupted by Ayakashi!"
His hand had barely brushed Yato's arm when the boy turned to him, undaunted.
"I'll kill them when I'm done." He whispered icily. The tavern-owner faltered, drawing his hand back.
"Like hell you'll do anything!" Bishamon cried, slamming the table with a hand. "The last thing he told me was to stay away from you-!"
But even her voice shook when the cloth fell away, revealing Kazuma's purpled face.
"K-Kazuma…" The blonde woman fell to her knees, her eyes transfixed on the discoloured thing that had once been her lover. "Why...why…?"
The purpling travelled up from the stained body onto Yato's fingertips, spreading swiftly across his hands as he bowed his head over it, studying it as he muttered to himself.
Hiyori approached him hesitantly, ensuring she stayed a safe distance away. "Yato… Yato, he's dead. You can't heal him."
"Father…" Yato whispered to himself. She felt a lump in her throat.
"I'm sorry." She said, her tone gentle. "It's not your fault-"
He looked up at her with his big blue eyes. "You know, Father underestimated me too. He kept me locked away because he thought I can't handle the real world. He thinks I'm stupid, ridiculous, incompetent, just like you do."
His words jarred her, they were far too casual for the setting, too amused. But when his lips parted in a grin, she nearly squeaked.
"But he never…" His eyes were sharp, smile poisonous. " Never underestimated my healing."
He ripped the cloth from Kazuma's throat, revealing a puckering sore that oozed black tar. The entry point of the Ayakashi, it looked like the spirits had torn his throat out. Yato placed his hands on the wound, tar squelching, and closed his eyes, singing a spell under his breath.
Mutedly, she heard Yukine retch, hurry to the kitchen sink and empty his guts out into it. A strange smell came from the body, the putrid reek of decomposition in the sun. She felt the urge to do as Yukine had, to calm her swirling stomach, but she swallowed her nausea, watching as corruption spread across Yato's skin.
It crawled up his hands, appearing at the base of his neck, his chin, his lips, his eyes. It was only when it reached his eyes that she noticed he was stealing it from Kazuma.
The Ayakashi appeared then, billowing out of the wound at the body's neck. A wolf, a single spirit the colour of a fresh bruise, with lamplike eyes and a hungry grin that bared its teeth.
Bishamon worked fast, scooping up one of the carved daggers in the living room drawers and nailing it between the eyes. It dissipated before it gained form, and the knife smacked harmlessly onto Kazuma's chest.
Startled by the blow, the corpse sat up.
Hiyori screamed. Everyone in the kitchen screamed, even Yukine when he returned from the sink.
Kazuma wore a death mask, his skin pale and clammy. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish's until he spluttered a single intelligible word. "Veena…?"
Bishamon burst into tears. "Kazuma!"
"Ah, Kazuma." Yato, still on his knees, was smiling an ironic smile, sweat beading on his brow. He was dark as Kazuma had been before, but there was no aura, no greyness of death. "How many times do you owe me now, are you keeping track?"
His eyes rolled back into his head before the bewildered brunet could think to respond, and the boy crumpled to the ground.
Hiyori went to scoop him up, ready to brave the blight, but there was no need. When her fingers touched his purpled skin, nothing came off. The blight clung to him, nothing left to sting her.