"Yato-chan?"
The smell of cherry blossoms hung in the air. The child smiled, bunching her silken robe in his small fists and sniffing deeply.
The woman he was laying against tittered. "Yato-chan, stop that!" Gentle hands lifted him and sat him up on her lap. "You don't want to miss the lanterns, do you?"
At that, his eyes snapped open. "The lanterns!" He scrambled urgently off her, reaching for the too-high windowsill. "I want to see! I want to see!"
"Wait, wait, don't climb up there. You could fall." She scooped him up, wrapping her hands loosely around him. "You can see them from here. Be patient."
They were sitting cross-legged in front of the window, in Sakura's room, the topmost room of the tower. Father and Hiiro were nowhere to be seen, though Hiiro had promised him she'd think about coming.
Sakura's smooth black hair tickled his ear. He stared at the curling lock, forlorn, at the tiny pearls that had been braided into it.
"There they go! Look!"
Yaboku turned his gaze back to the indigo sky, squinted to see a faint dot of glowing yellow floating up like a sluggish shooting star.
"Oh, aren't they lovely? Like fireflies!"
He could hear the yearning in her voice, and felt an ache in his chest.
"Sakura?" He asked quietly, as more lanterns rose above the trees.
"Yes, Yato-chan?"
He snuggled closer to her, clutching the pearl in her hair. "Why doesn't Hiiro want to see the lanterns?"
"Hmm." Her grip on him tightened ever so slightly. A few minutes passed as she gently stroked his hair.
He pouted, tugging at the pearl. "Sakura, I asked you a question."
"Ouch!" She batted his hand away, scowling. "Don't pull my hair, Yato-chan!"
"But I asked you a question!"
"What did I tell you about bad manners? They're not going to get you anywhere."
"But Sakura, why doesn't Hiiro -"
"Oh, don't think too much of it." She mumbled. "Maybe she doesn't think it's as pretty as we do."
"But...it only happens once a year." He swallowed, staring up at the golden lights in the sky. "And they don't even care that they miss it."
There was a hollow pause. Sakura's arms snaked around him, pulling him into a hug. "You're a good kid, Yato-chan."
They sat still for a moment, eyes trained on the bejeweled sky, before she sighed and shifted to reach for something behind her. He glanced back to see her fiddling with a page of paper.
He grinned, distracted instantly from the lights. "What're you making this time? A lantern?" He asked hopefully. "We can fly it up if we hurry!"
"Not a lantern. You know we're not allowed to." She said shortly, folding the page in half. "I'm making something for you."
"For me?" He jumped up excitedly. "What is it? Are you going to make one for Hiiro next?"
"No." Her jaw was set, her brows drawn down. "This is just for you."
"Oh." He frowned thoughtfully. "But I don't mind if you make it for Hiiro too-"
"She won't get one."
Her words were stern, there was an edge to them that wasn't aimed at him. Still, he fell into silence, plopping down to watch her precise hands fold and rip fluidly.
When she finished, she presented it to him with a little smile, letting him eye it before she plopped it on his head.
"This is yours. It'll always be yours, no matter where you are." Her large brown eyes bored into him. "But hide it under your bed. Don't let Father see. Or Hiiro, either."
He plucked the paper crown off his head to stare at it, puzzled.
"But it'll get crushed under my bed..." He glanced up at her annoyed expression and cringed. "Okay, okay, I'll hide it."
"Good." She smiled, ruffling his hair. Her gaze was trained back at the sky, where lights floated lazily up into oblivion.
They were fading out, drifting apart until they were too tiny to pick apart from the stars.
"I'll make you a lantern next year, Yato-chan. Let's see how that old man stops us."
The air stank of vomit.
It was a drastic change from his pleasant, fragrant dream. Five more minutes, just five more minutes, he wrinkled his nose, grabbing at the slightest wisp of a memory, but it was too late.
He was awake, and it stank.
He groaned, burying his face in his pillow. Blood and vomit, it could only mean Father was conducting one of his gory experiments, which, in turn, meant Yato would have to spend the good part of an afternoon cleaning up after him-
His pillow was tough as a board.
Yato's eyes flew open in shock. This was not his bed. The mattress was lumpy, the air stagnant, not a hint of breeze from his window.
There was a door on the other side of the room, near invisible in the darkness but for a sliver of light at its base. If he focussed, he could hear muffled voices speaking on the other side, strangers' voices, neither Nora's nor Father's.
"The plain fact is, Mayu, he has no identification." A man's voice enunciated, excessively polite. "So, we would really appreciate it if you kept this visit between us."
"Don't worry. Tenjin-sama isn't interested in having you lot reported." A lady responded snidely.
"I owe him for this, thank you so much. Here, he'll show you to the room."
"Oh, hi- wait, where're you going? You're not going to stay?"
The man huffed. "...No. I don't- no. I have somewhere else to be-"
"Okay, no problem. I'll give the kid my diagnosis. Come on, kiddo."
"...yeah." A third, tired voice chimed. "This way, Mayu-san."
He heard the thud of a bag hitting a wooden floor, the squeaking of a distant hinge. Their footsteps resounded closer and closer until they stopped right behind the door.
Yato's breath seized. He didn't know what to do, it was too dark to find anything to fight with. His head throbbed, his body felt too weak. He wouldn't win this fight, but he couldn't… he couldn't succumb to them, could he?
He sifted through his disoriented thoughts, looking for any sort of explanation for his situation. What had he been doing before he fell asleep?
The doorknob turned. The door creaked slowly open, spilling yellow light into the room.
"Psst, Hiyori?"
Hiyori.
Yato shivered as he remembered. Hiyori, Yukine, Kazuma. He was outside, he'd left the tower. He was in their house, in the kingdom, a borderline between him and his father, he was free .
"Oi, Hiyori, are you awake?" A teenager stood at the door, lamp in hand lighting his golden hair like a halo. His amber eyes glowed as he squinted into the dark room.
Yukine , Yato recalled happily. He was so glad he hadn't tried to attack them again.
He'd nearly opened his mouth to greet them when the lump of clothes by his side shuddered to life, startling him.
"Y-yeah. Yeah!" It said, its blankets falling away. It was Hiyori, hoarse with sleep, sitting on a stool by his bedside with her head resting in her folded arms. "Mayu-san? Is it Mayu-san?"
"Yeah." Yukine replied, fidgeting with the lamp. "Come in, Mayu-san."
Hiyori sat up straight with a jerk, making a series of flustered noises as she adjusted her hair, which was a rat's nest. Her eyes were bloodshot, ringed with dark circles, her hands visibly shivering.
"Thank you for coming, Mayu-san! We're sorry to trouble you!" The girl babbled, her voice a shadow of its usual lilt. "What happened is, he, uh… you see, there was this Ayakashi , and Yato...Yato, he…"
"Kazuma told me." A woman entered the room, slipping past Yukine. She wore scarlet robes, her hair done up in a glossy bun. "He told me this was an unnatural ablution. You say he won't wake up?"
Yato opened his mouth again, alarmed, before Hiyori's shuddering hand shot towards him, sweeping off the overlong hair at his neck to press firmly against his jugular vein.
He went rigid, baffled. She was taking his pulse, unconsciously, without even looking at him.
"He won't." Hiyori confirmed to the woman, her voice thick. "It's been a whole day now, and..." To Yato's horror, he could see tear-tracks gleaming on her cheeks in the lamplight. "H-he's in a lot of pain. He spent an hour choking up blood, he only just stopped. The b-blight disappeared quickly, but then he got feverish and he kept...he kept going awfully still, like his breathing, he wasn't breathing..."
Mayu strode to the girl, her expression compassionate. "It's okay, Hiyori. Kazuma said he's a powerful sorcerer, they put their bodies through a lot of stress. It's rarely fatal. Is he stable now?" The woman smelled of jasmines, a stark contrast to the rest of the room.
At that, Hiyori's round, mirror-like eyes drifted to his face. "Yeah. Yeah, for the past hour, he's looked-" Her eyes locked onto his open gaze, and her words died on her lips. She turned sheet-white.
Under her stare, he found himself absolutely speechless. He decided his best course of action would be his go-to: a friendly grin. "Hi?"
"Y-Yato?" She mouthed, as if uncertain.
His smile wobbled. "The one and only?"
In answer, she leapt forward. He yelped, scrambling to get out of the way before her arms wrapped around him, squeezing him to pulp.
"Yato! You're awake, you're awake!" She shrieked, crushing him hard enough to drive his breath from his body. "You scared me, you scared me so badly, I thought- I thought-!"
"Sorry!" He gasped. "I didn't mean to make you think anything!"
"How are you feeling?" She demanded, clutching his upper arms and pressing him to the bed. "Are you okay? Can you breathe? Are you hurting? Yato, speak to me!"
"I don't know!" He choked out in a panic. "I-I mean, I'm fine! I'm okay!"
"Don't lie to me! Don't hide anything, everything's important! This-" She gestured to her side. "This is Mayu-san, she's a healer, she knows what to do, so tell us how you feel!"
Yato glanced warily at Mayu, who was studying him with piercing green eyes. She tilted her head to the side, her gaze judgemental.
"U-uh…" He gulped. "I am a bit hungry."
Hiyori blinked. "Huh?"
"And thirsty." He sat up, despite her iron grip, drawing his knees to his chest. "Also, I need to go to the bathroom."
The brunette frowned, placing a palm on his forehead to test his temperature. He fidgeted uncomfortably.
"I don't really know what you want from me, Hiyori. I'm fine, I promise."
"B-but how? How can you-?"
"Yato-san." Mayu cut in, gripping the bridge of her nose. "You owe them an explanation."
"I guess I do." Yato scratched the back of his ear, sheepish. "The fact is, uh, this is normal. It happens everytime I use too much magic. Sorry I scared you."
"What kind of shit explanation is that?" Yukine muttered. The blond boy was hiding his eyes under his fringe, gripping his lamp tight enough to turn his knuckles white.
Yato studied him, eyes flicking from Hiyori to the kid and back. "Well, I used too much strength at once, so my body broke down. No big deal." He sighed. "Father says my heart is too powerful for my body to withstand it, so I should only use little bits at a time."
"T-that sounds horrible." Hiyori breathed, her eyes boring into him. He flinched under her gaze.
"It's fine. I work with what I have." Yato shrugged. "Anyway, my point is, no harm done. I'm okay, see? All healed up." He smiled at the brunette. "Sorry for making a mess, though. I'll get your room smelling like roses in no time, I promise."
"Hiyori does have a point, Yato-san." Mayu's deep, sardonic voice drawled. "Your heart should not be treating your body this severely, it isn't natural."
He looked at her doubtfully. "But that's how it's always been. I'm healthy." His lips quirked up. "My heart is special, you know. Bounty hunters all over the world-"
"Thaaat's that." Yukine jumped in, the light of his lamp flickering. "Thank you for coming, Mayu-san! Sorry for this enormous waste of your time!"
"Oh, yes, yes, you're sorry. I'm the one who has to explain this to Tenjin-sama." Mayu shot a look at the blond. "Alright, well, if you're sure you're okay, I can't say any different."
"I'm sure I'm okay, yup!" Yato swung his legs off the bed, wiggling his toes.
"I'll tell Kazuma that, then." The healer reached out to pat Yukine's head as she swished out of the room. "The poor fool's been driving himself insane-"
"Wait!" The black-haired boy yelped, driven by a sudden burst of energy.
Everyone in the room stared blankly at him.
"Don't tell him anything." He said sagely. "I want to surprise him."
Mayu narrowed her eyes to slits. "Surprise him?"
"Yeah! I haven't seen him in ages, I have to." He smirked. "I bet he freaked out when I fainted."
Her lip curled. "That amuses you?"
Hiyori hurried to interject. "Don't worry, Mayu-san. We'll tell Kazuma-san everything, you don't have to bother yourself. I'm sure you're very busy."
Yukine sneered. "Yato's a little...beyond your help, Mayu-san. You should leave him to us."
Mayu sniffed scornfully. "I don't approve of this. Kazuma banged at Tenjin-sama's door for hours, begging for assistance. You should be more grateful, Yato-san." She paused. "But, of course, you're right. This is none of my business. Do as you please, I have to get back to the shrine."
"Good luck, Mayu-san!" Yato called after her, the buzz of a successful healing hitting him all at once. He jumped up to his feet, sure his expression was a bit too earnest. "Okay, so first of all, I'm sorry for everything. Give me ten minutes and I'll get this room better than before-"
"Yato." Hiyori raised a palm, stopping his words. Her eyes were lowered, her lip bitten in. "Wait, please. I have something to tell you."
He stared at her for a moment, before sitting back on the edge of the bed. "Okay."
"Okay." She mumbled nervously. "Look, I'm sure you're going to hear this a dozen times after this, especially from Kazuma-san, but...thank you." Her cheeks turned pink. "You saved Kazuma-san's life, even though we all tried to stop you, even though you had to endure all this pain. You're...you're…" She swallowed. "I want you to stay with us."
His eyebrows rose. "Wasn't I going to anyway? I don't know anyone else here."
"W-well, yeah , but..."
Behind them, Yukine piped up. "She's trying to say, you never have to go back to that shit father and shit sister. You have us now." He raised his lamp a bit as he gestured, shadows swaying on the walls. "We'll protect you for the rest of your life."
Yato opened his mouth, ready to protest the need for that, before Hiyori laced her fingers with his. She was wearing a strange half-smile, one that made him feel oddly warm inside.
"We're saying, if you want, you can consider us home."
The blue-eyed boy shifted uncomfortably, feeling his face redden. For some reason, though they'd told him these things while they were rescuing him, it had never felt as real as it did now.
He placed a hand on his chest, and froze.
"Anyway." Hiyori continued nonchalantly, pacing casually to the door. "Before we surprise Kazuma-san, we should probably get you dressed in something that smells a little less organic, eh?"
He didn't respond, his heart thudding as he tried to swallow his panic.
"Yato?" The brunette whispered, worried. "What-?"
He turned to her with wide blue eyes, his fingers probing his bare collarbone.
"Hiyori, where's my scarf?!"