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Part 9

(In which Yato receives a surprise gift.)

"Good morning, Yato," Yukine murmured the second Yato cracked his eyes open and stretched in bed.

"'Morning," Yato mumbled, sitting up.

Yukine sat cross-legged on his futon, tapping his pencil against a page of math problems. He had tentatively resumed the occasional school lesson with Hiyori, some kind of unspoken truce.

Ever since Yato had admitted the dream-fugue that had fueled his breakdown last week—under some duress, but in order to reassure the kids that it had been provoked by a specific incident and wasn't necessarily his normal everyday state—he had never woken alone again. Yukine always lingered in the room to greet him before heading downstairs. Someone was always in a rush to reassure him that he still existed when he woke every morning. And throughout the day, judging by how often they said his name and addressed him.

Yato rolled out of bed with another yawn and drifted past Yukine.

"Number sixteen is wrong," he said, glancing over the kid's shoulder at the neat rows of printed problems interspersed with his chicken scratch.

"What? But five and thirty-two are… Oh. Wait."

"Uh-huh."

Yato's phone chimed with a good morning text from Hiyori assuring him she'd be by after school. She texted him every morning too, and more frequently throughout the day to prove she remembered. Yato tapped out a response. He couldn't say he didn't appreciate the effort she and Yukine and the others put in. Even if it seemed silly, it went a long way towards reducing creeping moments of panic and lingering nightmare dread.

"Whatever," Yukine grumbled as he scratched out his work. "I hope you're properly awake, because we have a lot of work to do. We'll start with hunting ayakashi, and then I have plans for getting some promising customers."

"Have you been stalking people looking for trouble again?"

Yukine sniffed. "It's just casing out trouble areas and finding likely prospects we can offer to help. We need to be more proactive about getting you believers. Not everyone is going to find your number and dial you."

Yato crouched down on his haunches and pointed to number twenty-two. "This one too."

"Oh, come on!"

"Be grateful. Hiyori will think you're extra smart today."

"Whatever. I check my work after. Sometimes."

Yato watched as he scribbled out his work and started fresh. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. It's not a bad idea. Just… It's not your sole burden to keep me alive."

Yukine's pencil stilled. "It is if you aren't going to put in the work," he grumbled, but his heart wasn't in it. "You're too lazy to do it yourself."

"It's not your fault, Yukine. Any more than it was Hiyori's. You tried your best. We just didn't have enough time to make anything stick."

Yukine went very still and very quiet before letting out a breath. "I let you down."

"You didn't–"

"Hiyori forgot, but I forgot you first. I wasn't supposed to forget."

Yato opened his mouth, closed it again. This was not about his disappearance at all, not really. He could still see the feral light in Yukine's eyes, the utter lack of recognition. He remembered the punch to the gut when he realized Yukine didn't see him at all, but a shadow of his own half-remembered father.

"No, you forgot yourself," Yato said quietly. "It was Father's fault. Most things were. He was always a master of manipulation. Once he set his sights on you and messed with your head, you didn't stand a chance. Neither did I, for all those centuries. I would never hold that against you."

Yukine didn't say anything for a long time. Yato supposed there was still a lot to unpack there. He shouldn't have assumed Yukine would have worked through everything during his absence, but he had been self-absorbed and more focused on the aftermath of his disappearance. He barely had the energy or fortitude to worry about the kids when he was so caught up in his own problems, but he should. Time to get over himself and start paying more attention, at least a little.

"Yeah," Yukine said finally. "I guess." He pushed his homework aside and stood. "We should go down. It smells like breakfast is about ready."

Yato noticed the smell of food wafting through the room for the first time, although he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. His sense of taste had been improving, but smell still lagged behind in a confusing jumble.

"Yukine…"

"Come on," Yukine said without looking back as he made a beeline for the door. "Better eat so we can get started. We're going to have a busy day."

Yato caught him at the door and hugged him tight because he could. Yukine squirmed and grumbled protests.

"Thanks, Yukine," Yato said. "We'll figure it out. I wouldn't trust anyone to guide me more."

Yukine wriggled like a worm on a hook. "Gross. You're all sweaty. Let go."

Yato did, chuckling as Yukine fled down the stairs like a pack of wolves was snapping at his heels. Some things never changed.

"Good morning," Kofuku and Daikoku chorused as Yato strolled into the kitchen behind Yukine.

"Good morning," he echoed back.

"How are you, Yato-chan?" Kofuku asked.

"I'm good today."

Yukine had told them about Yato's grand revelation, of course. The look on Kofuku's face was nothing Yato had ever seen before, not even from his disappearance. Even Daikoku was suddenly treating him like glass. Yato appreciated everyone's consideration in trying to relieve his fears, although being constantly treated as something easily broken made him feel more fragile sometimes.

They had only made it a few bites into their meal when someone pounded on the door.

"I'll get it!" Kofuku said, jumping to her feet. "It's too early for Hiyorin—she has school today, doesn't she?"

"Sounds like Bishamon," Yukine said dryly.

Yato didn't think he'd be able to identify Bishamon from something as simple as a knock alone, but it was a very loud and aggressive knock.

Sure enough, Kofuku returned a moment later with Bishamon and Kazuma at her heels.

"Bisha is here!" she announced. "Do you want some food? Daikoku's food is great!"

Bishamon cast a dubious look over the table. "No, that's alright. But thank you."

Kofuku shrugged. "More for me!"

Yukine rose to his feet. "Bishamon. Kazuma. Good morning. What can we do for you? Is everything alright?"

Yato watched him overtop his glass of water, wondering if he realized how easily he slipped back into his role as Bishamon's shinki.

"Everything is fine," Bishamon said. "We just thought you might be able to take on a few small jobs for us that we're too busy to tackle at the moment. Unless it would interfere with your plans?"

She raised an eyebrow. Kazuma produced a sheaf of paper and stepped forward to hand it off to Yukine. He and Bishamon cast sidelong looks in Yato's direction.

Yato looked down and poked at his food. Bishamon was not one to pawn off her jobs, and she certainly wouldn't ask him for help if she did need to. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was trying to do him a favor by letting him take over a few small-time jobs associated with a powerful and widely worshipped god of fortune. In theory, he might be able to gain a believer or two more readily through an association with Bishamon.

Yukine shuffled through the pages. "Thank you," he said. "This is a good idea. I'll work them into the game plan."

"Great," Bishamon said, eager to hurry past it. "And everything is going well here?"

Yato glanced up and considered the sudden softness in her eyes as she regarded Yukine. Whatever her faults, she did genuinely care about her shinki. Even the ones who had left the fold. If, in the end, all their best-laid plans failed and Yato was doomed to disappear again, he would be glad to know he was at least leaving Yukine in good hands.

"Yeah," Yukine said, glancing at Yato. "We've been doing okay."

Yato gave them an obliging thumbs up. "We're great, thanks."

Bishamon nodded curtly. "Great. We're off, then. I trust you'll let us know if we can assist with anything."

Yato thought that might rankle Yukine's pride, but the kid only nodded. "Of course."

"I'm sure we'll see you out and about while we're doing our rounds," Kazuma said. "Do try to stay out of trouble."

He and Bishamon vanished from the room almost as quickly as they'd come. The outer door opened and closed with a click.

"Aw!" Kofuku cooed through a mouth full of food. "Isn't that sweet? Bishamon's looking out for you, Yato-chan."

"It's actually not a bad idea," Daikoku said thoughtfully. "She gets higher quality jobs and has more devoted believers. You might be able to piggyback off that and get a head start before going your own way."

Yato shrugged, past the point of being offended at the suggestion that he might need help. "Worth a shot," he said. "Dunno if it will actually help anything, but I guess it can't hurt to try."

Yukine sat back at the table, riffling through the pages Kazuma had given him. "Hmm… They picked requests that suit our style. We can work on these before tackling our ayakashi quota, and I'll move the rest to tomorrow."

"Whatever you think is best." Yato watched Yukine a moment longer before adding, "Maybe you should go with them sometimes. Be part of their team for a patrol or two every once in a while."

"Excuse me, what?" Yukine drew himself up to his full height and glowered. "I'm your guidepost. I'm not going to let you down again. We don't have time for–for side quests."

"You've never let me down," Yato said gently. "It's okay to take a break every once in a while."

"We have a lot of work to–"

"Yeah, we do. But don't forget to take some time to really live, either. Bishamon is your master too, and she's concerned about you. Why do you think she keeps popping in to check on you? And you've made friends over there. Family, maybe? That's okay. I'm not saying run off every day, but if you want to go over once a week or something to have dinner or join a patrol, maybe it would be a good idea for all of you."

Yukine didn't say anything for a long time, just shuffled around the papers some more and stared down at them sightlessly. "I'll think about it," he said finally.

Yato smiled. He thought he'd won the kid over, even if it might take a little more prodding to convince him to set aside his guilt-driven sense of duty day-of. It would be good for Yukine to take a break from the burden of trying to support Yato's existence every once in a while. He could use another support system, and if things did go wrong later, it would help if he'd maintained his relationships with his second master and team.

"I want to help too!" Kofuku said, wriggling with excitement. "What if we convince Daikoku to let me unleash my bad luck and then you sweep in to save the day? Humans remember heroes!"

"I can hear you, you know," Daikoku grumbled.

Yato perked up. "It's like resurrecting the disastrous duo…"

"Except only half is disastrous!" Kofuku cheered.

Yukine and Daikoku groaned in unison as Yato and Kofuku high-fived.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Daikoku asked dismally.

Yukine puffed out his cheeks. "I guess I'm willing to try anything at this point…but it sounds like unleashing pure chaos."

Yato smirked and texted a quick reply to Hiyori when his phone chimed again. "Chaos is fun."

"Not if you're the one who has to clean up the mess," Daikoku grumbled.

"We can discuss that later," Yukine said. "Hurry up and finish eating, Yato. We have work to do."

"Hey, guys!" Hiyori called.

Yato and Yukine looked up from their intense ayakashi quota negotiations—Yato maintained their quota should be halved since they spent half the day chasing Bishamon's charity jobs, while Yukine did not approve of extenuating circumstances for laziness—in front of the post office on the corner. Hiyori waved and jogged over.

"Hey, Hiyori," Yato said, sensing a potential ally. "Tell Yukine to give us a break so we can do something fun. We had a bunch of jobs, plus I already killed like thirty ayakashi today."

"Twenty-six," Yukine said irritably. "You can at least get to fifty."

"Geez, calm down. I was just rounding. Anyway, Hiyori is done with school. We should do something with her."

"Sounds like excuses to me."

"Yukine," Hiyori said innocently, "did you finish your math homework?"

Yukine went very still and very red. "Well…"

"Nope!" Yato said. "We should go finish that up. No excuses for laziness!"

Yukine glared but threw up his hands. Yato cackled and mouthed his thanks to Hiyori, who smiled back.

Kofuku and Daikoku appeared the second they opened the door to the shrine and greeted them by name, as they always did now. Kofuku waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Yato and mouthed, 'Mischief?' Yato eyed Yukine and Daikoku sidelong and mouthed, 'Later.' He winked at her, and she grinned.

They traipsed upstairs, and Yukine retrieved his math problems. Hiyori cleared her throat awkwardly and shuffled her feet.

"What's up?" Yato asked.

"Well…" Hiyori's gaze slid off to the side. Color had risen to her cheeks. "I… I actually have something for you."

"Ooh! Surprise gift? I love gifts."

"Um, yeah." Hiyori rummaged about in her book bag and pulled something out. "Yato," she said, making eye contact. A sure sign she wanted to touch him or the like without him flinching away.

"Yes?" he said. He threw a puzzled look Yukine's way, not sure what to make of Hiyori's uneasiness, but the kid only shrugged and looked just as bemused.

"Here." Hiyori handed him what looked like a small wooden building.

Yato took it. "This is…"

"Another shrine," Hiyori mumbled, looking away again.

"But you already made him a shrine." Yukine abandoned his math and circled around to get a better look.

"Yeah, but…" Hiyori let out a breath. "I thought I'd keep it in my room this time as a reminder, but I figured maybe I should let you know about it. I put Yukine's name on it too… I hope that's okay. I want to have something to remember you both by. Just in case."

Sure enough, Yukine's name was carved carefully beneath Yato's. The inside of the little box had been left open and empty behind the torii gate guarding the entrance. A picture of Yato and Yukine and Hiyori laughing into the camera had been pasted onto the back wall, on full display when he peered into the tiny shrine.

A lump stuck in Yato's throat. The first shrine Hiyori had gifted him had been a dream come true. A miracle of its own. In the end, though, it hadn't been enough. So Hiyori had tried again, enshrining her own memories in case they faded once more. She was trying to save Yato and Yukine the only way she knew how. Just like Yukine and Bishamon and Kazuma and Kofuku and Daikoku were all looking for little ways to save Yato. He loved them for it.

Yukine dodged around Yato and threw himself into Hiyori's arms. Yato caught the shine of tears on his face as he passed. A weight he hadn't realized he carried lifted from his chest. Despite the attempts at normalcy, Yukine had still kept Hiyori at an arm's length and carried a wariness with him. It felt good to see that finally breaking down. The three of them would be a happy little family again, for however long they could.

Yato put his arms around both Yukine and Hiyori and held them tight. Hope fluttered in his chest, tentative but there. They weren't safe yet, but for once he could set aside his bleak fears and just enjoy the moment.

Of all the feelings he had forgotten in his time as a shade, hope and family and love had been the most sorely missed. The joy of finally remembering them made him want to weep.