There was an air of anticipation bristling over the horsemen of the outer guard.

Kofuku grinned, folding her arms behind her back. It had been a week since she'd done anything this exciting. She had only Yato-chan to thank for fun like this, rescuing him had been the best decision ever!

"How long do they expect us to wait out here?!" Bisha grumbled, drumming her fingers on her elbow antsily. Unarmoured, swordless, Kofuku knew it was only a matter of time before her bloodthirsty friend snapped. "What was Kazuma thinking, leaving me behind to march in the front lines?!"

"It was the King who ordered that, Bishamon, not Kazuma." Daikoku admonished, looking exceedingly handsome with prison grime smeared over his cheeks. "They need strong hands guarding the exit, to make sure the sorcerer doesn't make a run for it."

"They have enough strong hands of their own." She eyed the horsemen waiting alongside them, longswords dangling from their waists. "I don't see why we had to split up. I don't understand Hiyori's plans."

"Aw, Bisha, I thought it was pretty obvious." Kofuku chirped, pink curls bobbing. "We're out here because we're the hostages!"

"Eh?" The blonde stared at her.

"Don't you think?" She mused innocently, a finger on her chin. "He must've asked Hiyorin to choose one partner out of us, and she picked Kazu because he's the one who's fought the sorcerer the most. The rest of us are only here to be killed if she disobeys the King!"

"Oi, Kofuku. This isn't the time for your troublemaking." Daikoku swatted her across the head. "The King wouldn't use underhanded techniques like that, he's an honourable man-"

Bisha narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying, Kofuku-san? Why would Hiyori need a partner? They're only there to show the King the way."

"You think so?" Kofuku smirked. "You don't think he'd rather send two assassins in than risk his men? That's what Hiyorin thinks, at least, I could see it written all over her face-"

Bisha's lilac eyes had only just widened in horror, her form tense as a wounded animal spotting a vulture, when a sudden rustling of leaves stole their attention. They glanced at the entrance into the sorcerer's meadow to see that it was changing colour, dim violet snaking through the thick leafy bush until it looked positively ridiculous in a forest setting.

The horsemen stationed around them drew their swords, breaths held as a leg popped out of the bush. A torso followed soon after, with the second leg, golden armour glowing conspicuously in the sunlight.

"At ease, gentlemen!" A booming voice commanded. Swords snicked instantly back into their sheaths, soldiers rising to pay respect to the Captain of the guard, Maximus, who stood before them in all his glory. "We have secured a magnificent victory for Takamagahara!"

Kofuku's sigh of relief whistled from her lips, her smirk unmarred. Hiyori had done it, she'd had no doubts!

"We have captured the sorcerer alive, as well as his shinki and more than a dozen magical artefacts! And, not to mention, rescued a noble from the clutches of the Evil Sorcerer Fujisaki. Our incursion has been an astounding success!" The captain continued, to a rousing cheer from his troops. He raised his palm to quell them, with a self-indulgent bow.

Bisha and Daikoku exchanged looks, the blonde's eyebrows drawn down tensely.

"And all with only one casualty, at that! Speaking of which…" Maximus raised both palms in a signal to the troops stationed furthest out into the forest.

"Medics! We need a stretcher, stat!"


Hiyori woke up to a hacking cough.

It went on for a minute, rattling and thick with phlegm, mixed with words unintelligible as the cougher tried desperately to convey a message to the room. The healer in her tried to pin down the disease (quality, quantity, duration, wasn't it? Oh, god, she was going to flunk) , but Hiyori herself screwed up her nose, turning over on her pillow. She was far too comfortable to wrench her eyes open, not while she was having the best sleep of her life.

The bed creaked. Footsteps pattered, a low voice murmured shyly, respectfully: they're asleep, your majesty, I-I promise I'll fetch you when they're up.

The cougher fell silent. A moment passed, a solid pat on a shoulder. A gravelly voice, stiff with illness: thank you.

Hiyori squeezed her eyes shut, her thoughts sleep-befuddled. She could remember a snatch of her dreams, blue eyes and sunsets, but the crisp, cold air had a bite to it, a gust of wind whisking the images away.

The mattress dipped to the side. Someone was sitting on her bed, climbing onto the creaking bed frame, tugging at her thick, fluffy quilt as they snuggled under it with her.

"Is she gone?" A sleepy voice mumbled into the pillow right beside her. She felt his presence, suddenly, the furnace of a person at her side, his even breaths warming the skin of her shoulder in soothing, rhythmic intervals.

A second voice responded, a younger boy, reserved and resentful. Yukine , she realised with a jolt. "Yeah. She's gone, but you're not making me do that again."

"Aw, but Yukine~" The first voice whined, carrying a playful note that had her heart fluttering in her chest. "I'm sore all over, I need you~"

"Look, that's not going to work again. You can't keep begging favours forever. Get off your ass and deal with your own problems."

"Ughhh." The quilt tugged up, as if he'd pulled it over his head.

"You know, it could be a hell of a lot worse." Yukine yanked the quilt back down. "She's only asking for a conversation. My mom used to ask me to pickpocket customers at the marketplace."

"Oh, sure, that's fair." Yato muttered, the mattress bobbing as he turned on his side. "I've already talked to them, Yukine. There's nothing more I need to hear."

"Seriously?" The blond snorted. "You know you're going to have to live here, right? You might as well get off on the right foot."

"I'm not going to live here."

"And where are you going to go, dumbass? You're not planning on squatting at the pub again, are you?"

"No." The older boy replied softly. "I'm leaving this place."

Yukine paused for a moment. "Uh, what?" He sounded absolutely bewildered. "Where? Why? Now?"

"As soon as I can." Yato's whisper blew on her shoulder, hot and gentle. "As soon as she wakes up. I want to go somewhere far away from here. Across the sea, maybe, or through the forest, start over someplace new."

"Start over?" Even with her eyes closed, Hiyori could see Yukine throwing out his arms. "The hell are you saying? You can't just leave . You...you're the dead prince! Heir to the throne!"

"They don't need me here." He scoffed. "They have their backup plans. I would be a terrible prince, anyway, don't you think? I'd do better putting some good into the world for once."

"So you'll leave? You'll abandon everything here, all your...friends and-"

"It's better that way, don't you think? I'm not really someone to be depended on-"

"Is it that easy?" Yukine spat, dripping with contempt. "I can't believe you. You're such a coward, you're just afraid of facing Hiyori, aren't you? You'd run away to another kingdom to avoid facing her-"

"Hey, that's not true! This is...I'd only leave after she's woken up!"

"Sure, so if you can screw up, there won't be any consequences, right? If she's mad at you, you can pretend she doesn't exist-"

"I would never do that!" Yato insisted, jerking the quilt as he sat up. "I'm not leaving to escape , I- I just- this is all my fault, so I can't be here anymore. She- she'll look at me and be reminded of- I don't want to put her through any more grief-"

She heard Yukine begin another searing tirade, something about responsibility and being immature, but enough was enough. She ripped her eyes open, wiping away the sand sticking her eyelashes together, and reached out to touch the inside of his elbow.

"I think you'd be a great prince, you know."

Her voice came out squeaky as a door hinge, catching at the end as if sleep had put her on the verge of tears, but it was enough. She cleared her throat, neatening the hair behind her head as she pushed herself drowsily up.

There was a delicious, stunned silence blanketing the other end of the bed. The brunette smiled, rubbing her heavy eyelids as she turned to face them.

"Hi-Hiyori?" Yukine choked, his honey-coloured eyes wide as brass coins. "Wh- how long- oi, were you eavesdropping?!"

She grinned cheekily. "Not on purpose."

"You better not have!" His cheeks turned candy-apple red, eyes flitting away. "A-are you okay? Do you feel...okay?"

She nodded, her gaze drifting to Yato. He was sitting farther away than she'd expected, a good five inches between them on their queen-sized mattress. His knees were drawn up to his chin, his back hunched, his silky black hair ruffled into a bird's nest. He was looking decisively away from her, studying the pearly white walls as if transfixed.

She felt her lips curl with wry affection. "I'm great actually." She laid her fingers on his quilt-covered lap, light as a moth's touch. "Not a scratch on me. I feel alive."

Yato winced. His face was unreadable, expressionless. "That's...good." He managed, biting in his lip hard enough to draw blood.

"No, really, I feel..." She stretched out her arms, splaying her fingers. "I feel awesome , like I've had ten cups of coffee or-" She cocked her head, studying him. "How'd you get me out of there, Yato?"

"Hmm?" His ocean eyes flicked to her, lips pressed in an unhappy line.

"I mean, past the sorcerer. What happened to Fujisaki? You, well." She probed her stomach once, just to be sure. As she'd expected, it was unbroken, no bandages, no scars, nothing but supple skin. "You obviously healed me. I was...counting on you not being able to do that anymore, after I, uh…" She made a quick, sheepish slash in the air. "I was counting on that to get him off your back."

"You shouldn't have done that."

His voice was brittle. His face was flushed, tired eyes flashing alive with something between annoyance and grief.

Hiyori swallowed, lacing her fingers together. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that. It was the only thing I could think of-"

"You shouldn't have done that." He repeated, carding his hands through his hair. "It wasn't fair of you. I-I couldn't do anything, y-you have no right to-"

"I'm sorry , Yato. I couldn't think of anything else." The brunette ducked her head, touching her forehead to her knees. "And you know what? You didn't leave me with any other option. You were talking about letting Fujisaki kill you-"

"It was the right thing to do!" He faced her, suddenly, blue eyes aflame. "It was the only thing to do, and it was my choice-"

"It was exactly the wrong thing, Yato!" Hiyori countered. "Sacrificing your life to kill an army of people-!"

"I-I wasn't going to let him do that! I wanted...to turn it on him-"

"Okay, but you'd still be dying, wouldn't you?!"

"And that was my choice!" He snapped. "I couldn't let you die. You had no right to choose for me."

"Well, that's fucking selfish of you." Hiyori clenched her jaw, picking at the stubby ovals of her nails. "You don't have the guts to let me be the martyr, but you'd happily force me to watch you do it instead."

"That's…" Yato nibbled at his lip, giving her a helpless look. "Hiyori-"

"But it all worked out, didn't it!" Yukine cut in, exasperated, clambering over the mattress to plop down in front of them. "You're okay, and you're okay, and nobody died!"

The two of them stared at him for a moment, and Hiyori cracked a smile. Yukine playing peacemaker, she never thought she'd see the day. A giggle squeezed her throat, she let it out with a snort.

"You're right." She dragged a hand over her face, trying to dim her smile. "Okay, you're right. It's over and done with. I'm sorry, Yato, for slashing your heart, and I promise I'll never do it again."

Yato was silent, his gaze boring a hole between his blanketed feet. She waited patiently for a few minutes, before she cleared her throat.

"Yato. You're supposed to say it back." She sighed. "Let's get this done with-"

"You won't be able to forgive me, Hiyori." He said quietly, as if speaking to himself.

She let out an impatient breath. "Of course I will. That's the deal, we're going to forgive each other."

"No, you…" He buried his face in his hands. "Look at yourself."

Her eyes widened. She glanced down, at the satin nightgown she'd been dressed in, patterned with navy-and-cream flowers like most handmaidens she'd seen patrol the palace hallways. "Huh?"

"Your chest , look at your-" He huffed, gritting his teeth as he whirled towards her, his finger snagging her neckline and yanking it down. "Look. Look what I did to you."

Her heart pounded with dread, a chill running down her spine as she took in the look he was giving her. Slowly, hesitantly, she glanced down at her pale, scrawny chest.

Her breath caught.

"What the hell?!" Right there, under her throat, centred beneath the hollow between her collarbones- "Wha- you- you- that's a heart!"

"It was the only way I could think of!" Yato was too frenzied to notice the irony of his choice of words. "You were dying, and I thought, if I can't heal you-!"

It was a puckered scar, shaping the letters for the word go . It was more delicately written than Yato's had been, the kanji and hiragana calligraphy drawn with a feminine flourish somehow conveyed through the lumpy, pink-red trappings of her skin. The writer seemed to have wielded their scalpel like an inkbrush, set to make a work of art.

Hiyori ran one finger down the straight line of the first word. Iki, meaning to go. A smile quirked her lip. "Where do you want me to go?"

"Huh?" Yato's eyes, clear as the open sky. "No, no, Hiyori, you don't have to go anywhere. I've worked it out, I swear, you'll be perfectly safe-!"

"I didn't mean that, Yato." Her finger traced up the scar again, following its grooves. "I was reading the kanji. Iki, why'd you choose-" She froze. "Wait a second. Is this how you think my name is spelled?

He blinked. He stared at her, quietly, for a long moment. "...isn't it?"

The guffaw came bursting out of her like bubbles from champagne. "This is a verb!" She laughed, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Why in the hell do you think my name is a verb?"

"I don't know, I didn't check!" He claimed defensively. "I didn't know your spelling and there was no time-"

"Wasn't Kazuma-san there? He knows the spelling!"

"I…" He groaned. "I wasn't paying attention, okay? Nora was writing it, and I was in a lot of pain-!"

"You're such an idiot!" She chortled. "What am I supposed to do now, wander around with the word go branded on me like some sort of signboard?"

"I'm sorry…" Yato hugged his knees, contracting until he'd taken the littlest space possible on the bed. The quilt fell off of him, goosebumps rising on his arms. "I'm so, so sorry."

Hiyori's heart melted. She understood now, her plan had worked after all. She'd slashed his heart, rendered him powerless, so he'd cut it out and given it to her. Yato had saved her life, healed her from within despite everything she'd done to ensure he couldn't. He'd found a way.

"Does this mean I'm the one with the world-famous super-powerful heart now?"

Yato glanced at her, startled, colour rushing to his cheeks. "U-uh-"

She smirked. "What was it you always say? Bounty hunters from all over the world come to hunt you down for this heart? Well, I'm glad to take the burden! Behold, the world's most powerful sorceress!"

Yukine, for one, cracked up. "Oh my god-"

"I'll heal anything you like! Injuries, blight, everything. I'll be a one-woman apothecary!" She found herself breathless as it abruptly hit her. "Oh. I...I could use this, couldn't I? I could actually…" Her dreams, to become a healer respected by the community despite her sullied name. With this heart, with Yato's powers, it was all in the palm of her hand. "I need to try this-"

"Hiyori-" Yato tried in vain to get her attention, but she was already lost.

"You know how to do it, don't you? Teach me! Teach me how to heal!"

"Wait a second-"

"Remember our plan, Yato? I can do it now. I can start from scratch, become an apothecary, cure blight, I can become a real healer…!" She leaned forward on her fists, eyes bright, dizzy with hope. "I can go back home, Yato! I can save my family name!"

There was a silence. Yato looked positively grey, his eyes shuttered as he counted his breaths. It took a long, thoughtful moment before he lifted his head again.

"I'm… I'm so glad to hear that, Hiyori. To be honest, I was hoping you'd say that." He gave her a wan smile. "I can make it happen…

"But there are a couple conditions you'll have to agree to."