"Yo."

Yasumi blinked and double-checked that she'd input the phone number correctly.

"Er... hello," she said cautiously. "Is this uh... Yuki?"

There was a strange sound, like someone moving around hastily, and she distinctly heard someone shout, "Yato! I'm going to the store, don't burn anything while I'm out!" as well as an unintelligible response. Half a minute later the line cleared up and a familiar voice came through.

"It's Yukine, by the way," it said. "And yeah it's me. What d'ya want, Kobayashi Yasumi?"

"You knew it was me?!"

He sniggered.

"I don't get a lot of personal calls from unknown numbers, you know. Comes with being dead. I've got caller ID for everyone else."

"R-right," she said uncertainly. She fidgeted slightly at her desk. What was she even doing, calling a weird kid who had literally broken into her bedroom the other night? She had very little experience with boys, even self-proclaimed dead ones. No matter what he said, he was still extremely suspicious.

But I gotta know what the hell is going on, she reminded herself firmly.

"Uhm, so, are you busy right now or-"

"Why? Are you asking me out?"

"What?! NO! I meant if you had time to talk!"

To her mortification she heard him laugh on the other end.

"What a blunt rejection," he chuckled, and she could just picture the shit-eating grin on his face. "Well, that's fine too. Nora probably wouldn't like it anyway. Just keep it brief, I've gotta go back soonish or my master is gonna be unbearable later."

"Er, who's Nora?" she said.

"None of your business," he said, somewhat defensively. "Didn't you have something important to ask?"

"Er, right... Your... uh, your god, he's the person whose name is on this card, isn't he?"

"Yeah, though that's just his business name," Yukine said casually. "Delivery God Yato or whatever-the-fuck. It's no stupider than the rest of him, trust me."

"You're pretty rude for the supposed servant of a god," Yasumi said pointedly. "Aren't gods supposed to be all formal and majestic or whatever? Should you really be cursing or talking shit about your master behind his back?"

"I can say whatever the fuck I want about that deadbeat idiot," Yukine scoffed. "It's not like I signed up for the job. And anyway he's just as foul-mouthed as I am. Worse, actually. It ain't polite, but it's not a sin or anything. Gods are sinless anyway."

"Right..."

"Your voice is dripping with confidence," he said flatly. "Is there a point to this conversation, or can I go now? I've got better things to do than try to convince a non-believer. I'm not a missionary."

"... No, I believe you," Yasumi admitted. "Well, I dunno about the god part and all, but... if my mom can't see you, you're something I can't ignore. The Sight is supposed to let you see the dead, but it didn't work on you, and I wanna know why."

"Told you already, it's cause I'm a Regalia," he said. "There's a difference between unclaimed spirits and shinki."

"And that difference is?"

"What is this, Otherworld Science 101? Go do your own damned research."

"It's faster if you just tell me," Yasumi said. "You didn't want me to call the police, right? I won't if you properly tell me what's going on."

"... You do realize that the police wouldn't be able to see me, anyway, yeah? I just wanted to avoid a fuss in the middle of the night."

"I'll show you a fuss," she said in an undertone, but he seemed to hear her just fine.

"Girls are such a pain," he complained. "Fine, whatever. I don't care. If it will get you off my ass..."

There was a pause, and the distinct sound of a store chime.

"Ok, well, here's the quick highlights version. Regalia are dead spirits that have been called back from the Far Shore, the Otherworld. Gods bind us with a name to serve as their weapons and protectors. You saw mine yesterday."

"Saw what?"

"My name," he said, and the connection crackled with static for a moment. "Damn, forgot a basket," he grumbled. There were some clacking metallic noises and then the line cleared up again. "The name a god gives you is marked on your skin, like a collar. It's a declaration of ownership, you could say."

Yasumi had a flashback to the tattoo he'd shown her. Snow, that's right.

"So you're a dog," she said flatly.

He spluttered loudly.

"I am NOT a dog!" he protested. "I'm a human being! Just... not a living one."

"So you say."

"The fact that your mother couldn't see me proves I'm not a normal person, or an ayakashi, doesn't it?"

"Well, I guess... It definitely seems to mean that you're not part of this world, whatever that means. I'm still not convinced you're a dead spirit though, plenty of my cousins have seen the dead."

"What you call 'the dead' are usually corrupted spirits that haunt the Near Shore, the world of the living. They're closer to ayakashi than anything. Anyone on the Boundary, as well as those with the Sight, can sense them. Animals and kids can too."

"Kids can see ayakashi?!"

"Very young ones, yeah. That's 'cause children are new souls, still tied to the Far Shore. But by the time they're old enough to remember stuff, humans generally can't sense these things anymore. With some exceptions, of course."

Yasumi heard the sound of something being tossed into a metal basket, and guessed he was picking things off the shelves at a convenience store as he talked.

"Anyway, Regalia are a bit different. Ayakashi and corrupt souls feed on negative emotions and prey on living creatures, but they're still beings of the Far Shore. Gods and Regalia, and people who've been touched by death, we're what's called denizens of the Boundary. We're neither from the Far Shore or the Near Shore, but walk the line between both."

"The Boundary?"

"If you think of the world of the living as one dimension, and the world of the dead as another, then the Boundary is like the in-between. You can see into both worlds, and affect them both, but you're not part of either. In that sense, we're harder to notice, even if you do have the Sight."

A faint voice said something in the background, and Yukine fell silent for a moment.

"Man, I feel like such a dork explaining all this crap in public," he grumbled.

"Didn't you just say most people can't notice you?" she said, unable to hold back a grin.

"Ha ha. Funny, you have jokes," he scoffed. "It's the principle of the thing, ok? Just shut up."

"Fine, fine," she said, leaning back against her chair. Perhaps it was his casual aura or his dirty mouth, but Yukine didn't seem as unapproachable to her now. "So then, people with the Sight, like my Mom, can see ayakashi but they can't see you, is what you're saying."

"Yes and no," he said. "Only people with the Sight or those from the Boundary can really see ayakashi. But actually, anyone can see gods and Regalia. It's just that we leave such a weak impression on most humans that they almost immediately forget they've seen us."

"Huh? What do you mean they forget?"

"Exactly what I said. My master says it's like... you know how you pass people on the street but don't notice them? You pay so little attention to them that you can't even tell how many you've passed, unless they bring attention to themselves somehow. We're like that, but fainter. If I do something really loud and shocking in the middle of the street, everyone is gonna turn to look, but most of them will have already forgotten why they looked by the time they do. I'd just blend into the background again and be forgotten."

Yasumi frowned.

"This morning, I couldn't remember your name," she said cautiously. "And bits of our conversation felt all... fuzzy."

"Yeah, that's normal. If I hadn't left anything for you to remember me by, you'd have forgotten me fully by now."

"...My mom couldn't read your card either."

"You showed it to her? Well, I can't say I'm surprised," he said over a loud thud in the background. "I bet she said it was blank."

"Yeah, how did you-"

"It's part of our whole... thing. You won't see anything we write unless you need us or have a strong attachment to us. You're a customer, so you can read it for now. Once this job is settled, you'll probably see a blank card too."

The thought made Yasumi feel extremely unsettled, but she set it aside for the moment.

"Yesterday, when you were in my room..."

"Yeah?"

"The first time, I heard you say something weird."

"Er... I did?"

"Yeah, that I was 'new'. What did you mean by that?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well... I'm not... really supposed to talk about it," he muttered. "It's kinda like... uhm... well, you know how when you go to a store and one day it's a different clerk from usual? That kinda thing."

"What the heck does that mean?!"

"... It's nothing, forget it."

"What the hell?"

"I can't tell you what I can't tell you, so just drop it!" The connection went fuzzy again and she heard him speaking to someone else. "Hey, excuse me, I'd like to check out."

SIlence.

"Excuse me," he repeated louder.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. Of course," an unknown voice said.

There was another rustling sound and then several loud beeps.

"That's 908 yen," the voice said.

"Highway robbery," Yukine muttered under his breath, and a moment later there was the telltale sound of a plastic bag crinkling and the store chime going off again. "Look, you really shouldn't worry so much about the details, you're gonna forget 'em all eventually. It's not like they matter, as long as your job gets taken care of."

Yasumi bit down the retort on her tongue, her curiosity winning against her temper.

"But you still haven't even told me what that job is," she said, frustrated.

"Do you ever listen when people are talking to you?" he snapped. "Like I said yesterday, it's a protection gig. I'm supposed to keep an eye on you and make sure nothing bad happens to you."

"I know, but why? You said it was someone's wish, whose?"

"How many damn questions do you even have?! I haven't got all day, you know?!"

"This is the last one!" she insisted. For now, she added mentally.

"Fine, but that's it!" he said, clearly getting more impatient by the second. "I'm not allowed to tell you who made the wish, 'cause all that's pretty complicated on my end and... look I can't, end of story. But as to why... You never had the Sight before, right?"

"Right..."

"Sorry to tell you this, princess, but that's about to change. And it's gonna be rough."

Yasumi felt her breath catch.

"You mean... I'll be able to See... like my Mom?"

"That's right. And you'll be a sitting duck once ayakashi know you can sense them."

Her thoughts went to the lessons her mother had tried to instill in her as a child.

"I know a little, about how to protect myself," she said, sounding more assured than she felt.

"If it were just ayakashi extermination, the job would be way less annoying," he huffed, more to himself than anything. "Just do me a favor, yeah? Try not to go out too much for a while. If you have to go out for anything other than school, let me know in advance. I can't protect you if I don't know where you are. Try not to call me too much though, unless it's an emergency. If you have more questions, text me or something. Just don't put anything dangerous in writing, got it?"

"O-okay."

"Oh, and, if for whatever reason, you see a weird guy in a black tracksuit walking around, avoid him like the plague."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it, will you?!"

"Fine, I'll stay away from guys in tracksuits."

"Good. I'm almost home, so I'm gonna hang up. Later then."

"Later."

She snapped her phone shut and let out a long sigh.

I feel like i have a hundred more questions than I did before, and I'm still no closer to understanding what's going on...

She stared up at the ceiling aimlessly, lost in her thoughts.

I... I'll get the Sight, she thought, a strange mix of joy, relief, and apprehension churning in her stomach. Just like everyone else... I won't be an outsider after all!

Now if only she could figure out what else Yukine was keeping from her.

Yukine was looking after the plants in Kofuku's garden when he was suddenly tackled from behind and pulled into a tight embrace.

"What the-?!" he started, thinking Yato was being a clingy brat again, but then the familiar scent of Hiyori's shampoo hit him and he realized she was sobbing into his shoulder. "Hiyori?! What happened?!" he asked, dropping his clippers and tugging his gloves off hastily. She only cried harder, arms tight around his midriff.

His traitorous teenage thoughts focused for a second too long on her warmth and the feel of her body pressed against his back and he cursed to himself as he frantically tugged her off him.

"Hiyori, let go, for fuck's sake! Quick, before-!"

"YUKIIIINEEEEE...!"

He gave a small yelp as Yato jumped down from the second story window and landed neatly in front of him, hand pressed to the back of his neck and his eyes cold as ice.

"Just what do you think you're doing, you little perv?!" he snarled. "Stinging your master with lewd thoughts of your own mother?! I DON'T REMEMBER RAISING SUCH A TWISTED SON!"

"OH SHUT UP, YOU FUCKING MORON. I DIDN'T DO SHIT! Can't you see she's the one who won't let go?!"

Before he could say anything, Hiyori let Yukine go and threw herself into Yato's arms, where she proceeded to bury her face in his scarf and cry, if possible, even louder.

"Wha- What the hell did you do, Yukine?!" Yato asked, flustered.

"Nothing! I was just pulling out weeds when she came outta nowhere and glomped me!" Yukine seethed. "It's only normal to be caught off guard like that!"

Yato hesitated, not quite embracing her. "Hiyori? Hiyori, what happened? Are you hurt?" he asked, worried. She shook her head slightly but did not let go or stop crying.

"She must have dropped her body somewhere," Yukine noted suddenly. "Hiyori, is your body in trouble?"

Another shake. Yato gave him a panicked glance.

"Yukine, what do I do?!"

"Hah?! How the hell should I know?! She's your girlfriend!"

"B-but she won't stop crying!"

"So comfort her, already! Once she calms down, we can ask her what happened."

Yato glanced down at her nervously, face red. "R-right, okay, I'll just..." He put one hand on her back and another on her hair, gently stroking her head. "It's okay," he said quietly. "We're here, Hiyori. Whatever happened, we're here."

Yukine pointedly looked away, the heat of the second-hand embarrassment running through his veins.

"I'll finish up here and then go get her body," he said, clearing his throat. "You take her inside, I'll come check in on her later."

"Y-yeah, okay," Yato said, not taking his eyes off Hiyori's hair. "C'mon, Hiyori, let's go," he said gently. He steered her toward the house, glancing back once at Yukine and giving him a small nod.

Sorry, didn't mean to sting you, Yukine thought, a little guiltily. Guess I should make myself scarce for a bit to make up for it. At least Kofuku and Daikoku went out for the day, so I don't gotta worry about them.

He picked up his discarded clippers and gritted his teeth angrily. If someone hurt Hiyori, they'll pay. I swear it on my name, and on Yato's.

"Hiyori, please, don't cry..."

She wanted to say something, but her words turned into sobs no matter how hard she tried. She clung to Yato's jersey, burying her face into his shoulder as he half-carried her upstairs to Yukine's loft. Once there, he set her down on the futon but even then she refused to let go, and he was forced to sit down with her.

"Hiyori," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair as though it were silk. "Talk to me... did someone do something to you? Is your family okay? Your friends?"

"Y-Yato..." she cried, unable to formulate anything more coherent. "Yato..."

"I'm here," he repeated softly. "You're safe with me."

She had no idea how long she sat there, crying uncontrollably as he reassured her over and over again that she was okay.

I can't do it, she thought, her heart breaking. I can't leave him or Yukine-kun any more than I can tear off my own arms. They're my family...

"Yato... I..." she said again once her tears had subsided enough to speak.

"Yeah?"

She pulled away and looked up at his face. It was a face she knew better than her own, young and boyish, capable of ridiculous innocence and cold-blooded apathy both. His searing blue eyes seemed to glow no matter how little light there was. At the moment, his brow was knotted with worry, his face red, and Hiyori couldn't help but remember what Kazuma had said.

"They try their best to mimic our affections because they want to be loved and remembered, it's their instinct. It isn't real."

"Yato, is it true?" she asked, her voice rough and trembling. "Gods don't know how to love?"

"... Who the hell told you that?" he asked, frowning.

"Just... tell me if it's true or not. Please."

He opened his mouth, and hesitated. Hiyori suddenly felt sick.

"It's true, isn't it?" she whispered.

He closed his eyes, sighing tiredly.

"Hiyori, do you know what love is?" he asked, bypassing her question.

"Of course!" she said, hurt that he'd ask.

"Right, it's something that humans understand instinctively. Even if they have no name for it, no words, they know what it is. It's natural to you. Gods... we're different," he explained. "It's not just love, either. We're born from one wish, one desire, which becomes a fundamental part of our nature. Everything else, we're like blank slates. That's why we need guideposts, why we need humans to teach us. So, in a sense, it's true. I don't understand love.

"But... Hiyori, humans might understand what love is, but are they born knowing how to love? Do they come into the world already capable of feeling it?"

"I... I don't know," she admitted.

He gave her a small, somewhat bemused smile.

"Me neither," he said. "I've watched humans for centuries, and I still couldn't tell you. It's one of those things, y'know? Some scientist will tell you it's all learned behavior, and somewhere else a monk will say it's human nature. Everyone's got an opinion and nobody's got an answer." he pulled his sleeve over his knuckles and wiped the tears off her face as he spoke. "I have an opinion too. I think that humans have the instinct for love, but that doesn't mean that they understand it. They need to be shown love before they can feel it. Gods don't have the instinct for human love, but I believe it is possible to learn it. But even if I'm wrong, and it's true that we can't love the way humans do, it doesn't matter one bit to me."

"Then..." she began, fighting tears.

"Hold on, don't make that face," he chided. "I'm not done talking." He rubbed the top of her head as though she were a small child or a pet. "I can't speak for humans or for other gods, Hiyori. I can only speak for myself, and I have no idea what the truth is. But..." he took a strand of her hair and pressed it between his fingers. "What I do know, what no one else can say for me, is that right now, here, with you, something in my chest aches so much I feel like I might stop breathing. It makes me want to help you, to do whatever it takes to make the tears go away. When you're not here, I wish you were. When you're here, I'm so happy I could die and it wouldn't matter. Every human story I've ever heard or read says that means I'm in love with you. Can't that be enough?"

Hiyori trembled as he raised the lock of hair to his lips. He had never once told her he loved her directly, and suddenly it was all too much.

"You... you're lying," she said, her voice so low it almost didn't sound like herself.

"What?! No! Why would you think that?!"

"B-because!" she said, tugging her hair out of his grip. "You're just saying what I want to hear! Whatever will keep me from forgetting you... it really is an act, isn't it? You... you won't even kiss me, so how can you claim you love me?!"

"Hiyori... you..."

She shut her eyes, trying to guard her heart from the words she absolutely didn't want to hear.

"You're such... A COMPLETE IDIOT!" he shouted suddenly. She froze, shocked at his outburst.

"What the hell did I ever do to make you think I'd lie about this?" he said angrily. "Yeah, I haven't kissed you yet, but you really think that's cause I don't want to?! Why the hell would that mean anything about how I feel?! If you're angry at me for some reason, just come out and say it! Why are you trying to make me say something that isn't true?!"

"K-Kazuma-san said..."

"Oh, so it was that damned shitty four-eyes who put stupid ideas in your head!" he growled, cracking his knuckles. "I'm gonna hit that bastard so hard, he'll need a stronger prescription!"

"Wait! He... he told me about the taboo!" she yelled, grabbing him by the sleeve to prevent him from getting to his feet. Yato stopped, frowning.

"The taboo...? Uh... which one?" he asked nonplussed.

"H-How many are there?!" she asked, distracted. "Wait, no that's not important!" she said, shaking herself. "He said... he said that Heaven forbids gods and humans from being together... And also that gods can't love humans the way we love you."

"So?" he asked, completely unmoved.

"S-so! If it's true... If you really don't love me, then... then... you shouldn't put yourself and Yukine-kun in danger for my sake! I'm not worth-"

He took her hand suddenly and in one swift movement pressed it against his own chest. Under her palm, she could feel the unsteady drumming of his heart, beating much too fast to be normal.

"If I were lying," he said in a soft voice. "If I didn't love you, Hiyori, my heart wouldn't be a total mess because of you. I told you, I don't care if my feelings are different from human love. I'm not human, after all. But that doesn't mean that these feelings are any less real than yours. The label doesn't matter to me, as long as you understand what I mean. And I couldn't care less what Heaven thinks about it; if they want to pick a fight, I'll fight them. But I won't give you up just because they don't approve of you. If they try to take you from me, I will do whatever it takes to protect you. Yukine will too, don't doubt us for a second." His eyes glinted dangerously for a moment. "Besides, even if you were to cut ties with us, it wouldn't do a damn thing," he added, pulling her into an embrace even as a blush crept up the side of his neck. "I'm already way too far gone for it to make any difference anyway," he murmured into her shoulder.

His breath was hot in her ear, her heart pounding violently in her chest. She could feel the warmth of his body, hear his own heartbeat echoing hers, and she realized that this was different from usual, that something was about to change. She trembled, overcome by his presence, as he pulled away enough to look her in the eyes.

There it was again, that hesitation, a searching, frightened look buried in those familiar blue irises.

"Hiyori,," he breathed into the space between them, caressing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I've wanted to kiss you for years... I've just been afraid... afraid you might reject me," he admitted. "Afraid that my feelings... that I'm not good enough for you."

"Because... because you're a god?" she asked, lightheaded. He was so close, and he smelled so nice...

"Because you're you," he said, his thumb now brushing her bottom lip. "Because I want you to be happy, because I'm worried that loving me will hurt you. Because I know my desires are selfish, but I'm terrible enough to keep you with me anyway, even at the cost of your own safety. I'm not such a kind god that I can bury this ache and pretend I feel nothing. But if I kiss you... if I ask you to accept me, and someday, you regret choosing to stay by my side, I don't know that I could bear-"

Hiyori kissed him.

It was not her first kiss, because that had been taken from her against her will, but it didn't matter. As far as she was concerned, this was the first one that meant something to her. Back when she'd been kissed by Fujiwara, it had felt almost violent, and cold. It had made her feel sick to her stomach, violated.

This was nothing like that. It was warm, and Yato responded almost immediately, pulling her against him, hand pressed to the small of her back. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her breath catching as her lip caught against one of his teeth. His mouth tasted strange, something faintly herbal mixed in with his unique scent. Hiyori let it settle on her tongue, memorizing it, trying to sate a savage hunger she wasn't even aware she possessed.

They broke apart, gasping for breath.

"I've never once regretted staying with you," she said, taking his face in her hands. "Not once, Yato."

He looked like he might cry for a moment, and Hiyori kissed him again, a soft, reassuring touch of the lips.

"I kissed you, so now you have no excuse," she said, and he laughed despite himself, a gentle, breathy chuckle.

"You're right," he murmured, and his lips met hers once more.

Any doubts still lingering in Hiyori's heart melted away as they fell onto the futon together, each kiss a reaffirmation, every caress a reassurance that words were shallow descriptors of something far more important. How could anyone doubt that Yato understood love, when he so painstakingly wrote it out onto her skin? It had nothing to do with his touch, and everything to do with the gentleness with which he treated her, with the awkward but endearing questions and pauses, with their nervous shared laughter, with the stupid, playful grin when he nuzzled into her hair and told her she was never getting rid of him ever again.

"Mine," he said contentedly, hands clasped around her waist as though she might vanish at any moment. "Mine, mine, mine."

She giggled at the innocent gesture, feeling oddly giddy and unrestrained.

"Idiot," she said, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "You're such a child sometimes."

"Am not," he said, but it was with no weight whatsoever as he kissed her shoulder.

"That tickles!" she told him. He grinned cheekily and did it again.

"Oh, I know, I just like hearing you laugh," he teased as she gave an involuntary yelp.

"Jeez! You really are the worst," she scolded, but they both knew it was an empty rebuke.

"Call me whatever you like, Hiyori, but I'm not going anywhere," he said. "Even if you call me a pathetic, deadbeat, disgrace of a god-"

"You're channeling Yukine-kun, not me," she snorted, but then she remembered that they'd been in the loft for quite some time. "Yato," she said suddenly.

"What?"

"Yukine-kun," she said by way of explanation. "I have to go back to my body too." She flicked her Cord at him as a reminder that she should return soon.

He blinked.

"Oh. Oh. I totally forgot," he said, smacking himself in the forehead. A moment later he frowned, thinking hard.

"Hold on, if your body is downstairs... does that mean we're both..."

"Both...?"

"You know, both-"

She realized what he was going to say a split second before he did.

"No! Don't say it!" she shrieked in embarrassment.

"Still vir-"

"I SAID, DON'T!"

Downstairs at the table, Yukine rolled his eyes as a heavy thud echoed through the house.

"I'll give them five minutes to get decent before I drag them out," he told Hiyori's sleeping body as the sounds of a loud argument followed. He leaned his face into his hands and glanced at the clock on the mantle. "And to think he called me a perv earlier... Jeez. Hurry it up, I'm starving." he grumbled. "Stupid, idiot couple."

Notes: *laughs nervously* I uh... That got away from me REALLY fast. Like, waaaaay faster than I meant it to. *dies*