Note: This is a side story to my ongoing fic Nightbound, set before chapter 18, but can be read independently as a one-shot. It does introduce characters and plotlines from that fic, but I've done my best to include context where possible.
I hope you will enjoy this little story, it made me really happy and warm while I was writing it, so it'd be nice if it took the edge off the current Suffering that is the manga. ^^;
Yato wasn't sure when he first realized that Hiyori was papering her bedroom walls with his pictures.
To any normal guy, that probably would have been an obvious sign that a girl was interested in him, but it was so much more complicated than that for Yato. Sure, there was a little voice in the very back of his mind that went, 'hey, you're not imagining this, I think Hiyori might be falling in love with you,' but he never paid attention to that voice; it was way too easy to fall into a trap of his own making, and frankly, Yato just didn't think anyone could really care about him in that way.
It was something else entirely that first made him take notice of her little habit; every time he visited her, a new picture went up, and after a while, he started seeing little captions added in permanent marker.
'God of Fortune, Yato-sama, and Yukine-kun,' read a selfie of him, Hiyori, and Yukine grinning mischievously at the camera. 'Yukine-kun, do your best!' read a picture of his prized Blessed Regalia working hard at his studies. 'Yato should wear his hair up more often...' another proclaimed, complete with a handwritten embarrassed emoticon. 'May we be blessed with good tidings again today,' said the photo Kofuku had once taken of the three of them sound asleep in her living room, Yato in the middle with Yukine's head on his stomach and Hiyori lying on his outstretched arm.
'I won't ever forget,' she'd written on several shots, mostly the ones Yukine had taken of the two of them when they didn't know he was watching. They were all very normal pictures, the two of them laughing while they talked on the porch with the sunset in the background, a time when Yato had been trying to steal Hiyori's snack and she'd smacked him, a different day where Hiyori hadn't seen them for a while and kept tugging at Yato's jacket as if to prevent him from leaving, even a photo of them at Capyper Land, arguing under the fireworks.
Every time Yato saw them, his heart would beat a little faster and warmth would spread to the tips of his toes and fingers. The photographs were proof, not just of how much Hiyori cared about him and Yukine, but of how badly she wanted to make sure she never forgot them. She was consciously training herself to become a devout believer, using whatever aides she needed to make Yato's memory remain firm in her thoughts. With each photo she pinned to the wall above her bed, Yato could feel her faith solidify, and that was a gift he couldn't possibly take for granted.
She's definitely in love with you, that little voice insisted, but it wasn't until she said it herself, until she showed him just how much she meant it with her words, her heart, and her entire being, that Yato could finally listen and accept that yes, Iki Hiyori loved him, as both her patron deity and as the other half of her soul.
So it came to be that three months after the fact, an entirely different picture went up on her wall, and it was all Yato could do not to sit on her bed and beam at it for hours at a time, the very picture of a love-struck idiot.
"You know, it's not gonna change no matter how many times you stare at it," Yukine told him one evening as he sat across from Hiyori at her little study table. She was checking his homework, muttering to herself as she wrote a note here or marked a check there, and Yukine was waiting for her to finish as he leaned on the table, cheek propped up on his open hand.
"Hmm?" Yato asked, not paying attention at all.
"Are you expecting it to move or something?" Yukine scoffed, watching his master with a raised eyebrow. "'Cause I hate to burst your bubble there, but you'd need a video for that."
"You say something?" Yato said, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the collage of pictures on the wall.
"Oh, let him daydream, Yukine-kun," Hiyori said, a small, amused grin on her face as she put her pen down. "It's sweet."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" Yukine asked flatly.
"Hey! I'm always sweet!" Yato snapped.
"Mm, are you though?" Hiyori asked innocently, and giggled at his outraged expression.
"You're in a good mood today," Yukine noted, unable to hold back a grin. "Feeling better?"
"I always feel worse in the morning," Hiyori admitted, passing his homework across the table. "You did very well on the science portion, but you should review the grammar on this part," she said, pointing at the section in question.
"You guys done?" Yato asked, all bright-eyed anticipation.
"I am," Hiyori said, stretching her arms over her head. "Yukine-kun just needs to go over the parts I marked and he should be done too."
Yato practically bounced as he moved to the edge of the bed and patted the space in front of him. "My turn, my turn!" he whined, and Yukine rolled his eyes as Hiyori blushed.
"You don't have to do this every goddamn night," Yukine complained. "It's not going anywhere."
"I don't care, it's my turn," Yato insisted, and practically yanked Hiyori down into his lap when she got up from the floor.
"Ow! Don't pull, Yato!" she complained.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly, moving back to give her a little more space. Once she was settled with her back to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. "Mm, missed you," he said, nuzzling into the crook of her shoulder.
"I've been here all day, idiot," she said, but Yato could see the pink on her cheeks that betrayed her real feelings.
"Still." He kissed the side of her throat gently, enjoying the tiny reflexive yelp as she shrank back against him in her ticklishness.
She's so cute, he sighed happily as she complained under her breath.
"You guys are so gross," Yukine groaned. "Could you at least wait until I'm not around to flirt?"
"You're always around," Yato noted.
"You asking me to leave?"
"No, of course not!" Hiyori immediately said, clearly alarmed that Yukine might think he was unwanted. "You're always welcome here, Yukine-kun."
"Yeah, s'long as you don't interrupt the good stuff," Yato teased. Hiyori glared at him.
"Ha! Too bad," Yukine scoffed, his face slightly red. He cleared his throat and soldiered on anyway. "Hiyori happens to be my best friend, and I know for a fact you're not getting any."
"You told him that?!"
"Not in those terms!" Hiyori flushed. "He was worried because... you know, so I told him you hadn't tried anything-"
"Way to kick a guy when he's down," Yato muttered. Yukine snorted at the look on his face.
"Can we please not talk about this?" Hiyori begged, so embarrassed her ears had turned red.
"Yeah, can we not? Like, ever?" Yukine agreed.
"You're the one who came out and said it," Yato huffed.
"Yeah well, I'm not five years old, it's not like I don't understand how this happened. I was downstairs the whole time anyway," he added under his breath, beet-red as he focused on his work.
Both Hiyori and Yato thought it was best not to poke that particular bear. They made a show of coughing and Yato instead decided to focus on the warmth of Hiyori's stomach under his hands.
"You think they can hear us?" he asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Who, my parents?" she asked, surprised.
Yato made a face. "Hell no. The kid."
"Oh. No, not yet," she sighed, relaxing against him as he rubbed his palm over her abdomen. "They're too small, you're not going to feel them kicking or anything either," she said.
"I know," he pouted. "I just wanna feel it."
"I don't even have a bump yet," she said, exasperated.
"What was it you said earlier, Hiyori?" Yukine asked nonchalantly as he reviewed his work. "'Let him daydream?'"
"It's not daydreaming! Even if we can't see it, the kid is still there," Yato snapped. "The ultrasound proves it!" he pointed at the picture on the wall, where a tiny, distorted lump showed the child growing in Hiyori's belly. True, it really wasn't shaped like much yet, but Yato was the last person who would ever deny someone else's existence.
"They don't even have brains yet, it's not like they can tell you're there," Yukine scoffed.
"Actually, they do have brain structures at about fourteen weeks," Hiyori said matter-of-factly, channeling her interest in medicine. She paused, thinking. "Has it really been fourteen weeks already?"
"Fourteen weeks and... five days," Yato said, counting on his fingers.
Yukine made a disgusted face. "You keep a count of the actual days?! That's gross, even for you."
"It's not gross! I'm just not about to forget the day that-"
"STOP, I TOLD YOU WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS!" Hiyori cried, hiding her reddened face in her hands.
"What're you so embarrassed about, Hiyori?" Yato laughed mischievously. "Who was it that said, 'shut up and kiss me,' before you- OW!"
"That was PRIVATE!" Hiyori shouted, elbowing him hard in the stomach as Yukine choked and accidentally broke his pencil.
There was a loud slam in the hallway outside, startling them all, and only Yukine thought fast enough to shut down his aura before the door was flung open and Hiyori's mother stood in the doorway, breathing hard.
"Hiyori, are you-?!" she froze as she noticed Yato sitting behind her daughter and her expression grew livid. "You again?! How did you get in here, you animal?!"
Yato scrambled to pull away from Hiyori even as she stood to throw an arm defensively in front of him.
"M-Mother, it's okay, I let him in-!" she said hastily.
"You had no right to do that, Hiyori!"
"Oi, I'm allowed to visit!" Yato said, hackles raised. Hiyori's parents had made no secret about how much they hated him, and they were still working out all the details of what was and wasn't allowed with regard to his presence in the Iki house now that they'd been forced to acknowledge Hiyori's choice to keep the baby. They kept forgetting he was a god, of course, but he seemed to be making good progress on getting them to notice him with very little effort on his part, if only because they wanted to kill him so badly.
"Visiting does not mean after dark and unsupervised!" Sayuri snapped furiously.
"Why the hell not?" Yato challenged, ignoring Hiyori's alarmed glance. "What's the hour got to do with anything?! And anyway, we already decided we're not getting an abortion, so what's wrong with me being here?!"
"It is inappropriate!" Sayuri snarled, her eyes glowering with hatred. "Hiyori is a young, unmarried woman-"
"Who happens to be pregnant with my child!" Yato snapped back. "You realize that didn't happen by staring at her, don't you?!"
"Yato!" Hiyori gasped, blanching at her mother's white-faced shock.
"It's true!" he doubled down stubbornly. "All this damned fuss about your honor, as if I forced you or took something from you! It's so stupid and fucking archaic, and that's saying something coming from me," he said scornfully. "We already decided we're having a kid together, so who the hell cares if I'm here after 8 pm or not?!"
"As long as Hiyori is underage and living in our house-" Sayuri began.
"I'm not underage!" Hiyori cut in, upset. "I may not be considered a full adult by the law, but I'm eighteen, Mother! That's two years past the age of consent! I could've gotten married ages ago!"
"NO ONE IS GETTING MARRIED!" Sayuri shouted.
"I NEVER SAID I WAS!" Hiyori cried.
"Yet," Yato coughed surreptitiously into his sleeve. Both Sayuri and Hiyori shot him angry looks.
"OUT!" Sayuri said, addressing Yato as she pointed at the door.
"It was a joke!" he lied, hiding behind Hiyori. Truthfully, he'd been asking her to marry him at least once a week since they'd found out she was pregnant, but she wouldn't take him seriously until after she finished college and Yato could offer some 'financial stability,' as she so coldly put it. Considering she still hadn't actually graduated high school, Yato kept hoping she'd change her mind; it made him a bit anxious that she kept rejecting him, even though he knew she had legitimate reasons to do so.
"I DON'T CARE, GET OUT!"
"Mother-"
"OUUUUT!" Sayuri howled, her eyes flashing dangerously, and both Hiyori and Yato cringed, knowing they'd lost.
"Fine," Yato said sullenly. He got to his feet and made a point of kissing Hiyori's cheek in front of her mother, knowing it would piss her off. "Leave your window open," he whispered as Sayuri swore. "Good night, Hiyori. I love you," he said aloud, just to spite her mother. Hiyori flushed but didn't get a chance to reply before Sayuri marched up, took hold of the back of his tracksuit, and proceeded to drag him out of the room and down the stairs.
"Well. That went well," Yukine noted drily as soon as they were out of earshot.
"... Just do your homework, Yukine-kun," Hiyori groaned as she walked over to her window and unlatched it. There was a loud slam as the front door closed and Sayuri reappeared shortly after in the hallway.
"Bed, now," she snapped at Hiyori.
"You can't force me to go to sleep this early!" Hiyori said indignantly.
"If you're going to defy me and carry that child to term, I absolutely will," Sayuri said darkly. "Pregnancy is not a game, you need plenty of rest to stay healthy. Do it for the child if you won't for me."
Hiyori bit her lip. Her mother had a point there, and she was getting frustratingly good at manipulating Hiyori's maternal instinct.
"Fine. Good night," she grumbled, though as soon as Sayuri had left, Hiyori pointedly closed the door and locked it behind her. "Yukine-kun, do you mind-"
"Nah, not at all," he said, getting up and pushing the window open. "Stay right there, she's changing," he called as he leaned out, arms crossed on the sill, waiting patiently for Hiyori to finish pulling her nightgown over her head.
"Now?" she heard Yato asked impatiently.
Hiyori heard a thud behind her just as she straightened her clothes and groaned.
"I'm done now, but I dropped my body again," she said tiredly as Yukine turned around and Yato appeared in the open window behind him.
"Every time," Yukine sighed, rolling up his sleeves.
"I've got it," Yato said hurriedly, picking her sleeping body up effortlessly. He tucked her into her bed and kissed her forehead, ignoring Hiyori and Yukine's complaints behind him as he dusted off his hands. "There. Now, what're we up to tonight, now that the old hag can't hear us?" he asked.
"That's my mother you're talking about, Yato!" Hiyori reprimanded.
"Your mother calls me way worse things!" he said, clearly affronted.
"That you deserve," said Yukine pointedly.
"That woman and her husband tried their damnedest to kill my unborn child!" Yato snapped angrily. "I'm not apologizing for being a bit rude after that!"
Hiyori pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. She'd been understandably upset that her parents had insisted so hard on an abortion, but Yato was beyond fury whenever it came up. He would have agreed to one if Hiyori had wanted it, but the thought of anyone else forcing it on her was quite frankly sacrilege in his book. He'd snapped and threatened her parents several times with the full force of his divine wrath until they finally wised up and realized there was no way they could make Hiyori do what they wanted. Not with a dangerous combat god firmly supporting her choice, though it rather amused Hiyori how quick they were to forget the truth about Yato and went back to treating him like an idiot.
"Enough already," Hiyori sighed. "She left, and she can't hear or sense us anymore now that we're all on the Far side of the Boundary; can't we just spend time together as a family now?"
Yato's expression softened. "Yeah, okay."
Once they'd bundled Hiyori up in the thickest sweater Yato could find and made her put on a pair of warm leggings ("You two are exhausting! I don't need this much protection, I don't get that cold in my spirit body!"), the three of them snuck out the window ("FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, I CAN JUMP DOWN MYSELF, YATO! I'M NOT DYING!") and huddled together on a park bench with warm cups of hot soup that Yukine bought for them at a late night ramen stall ("If you even think about blowing on this for me because it's 'too hot' for my delicate tongue, I'm never speaking to you again"). It was a beautiful clear winter night with a bright crescent moon, and even after he'd finished the soup, Yato felt all warm and fuzzy inside, listening to Hiyori and Yukine chat cheerfully at his side.
"Well, what about pancakes then?" Hiyori was asking, her eyes sparkling animatedly as her breath rose in a warm cloud.
"For Christmas?" Yukine said, wrinkling his nose. "We're better off with just the usual fried chicken if you ask me."
"But... I kind of want pancakes," Hiyori admitted wistfully, turning the soup cup in her hands.
"You heard the woman, Yukine, we're having pancakes," Yato cut in immediately.
"Are you only agreeing with me because I'm pregnant?" she accused in a low, hard to overhear voice.
"N-no! I just... really fucking love pancakes!" he lied, flinching at the look on her face.
"Smooth," Yukine laughed. "Yeah, just masterful work there, O Great Deity."
"Jeez, I know you're trying to be considerate, but it doesn't make me happy that you're only taking my side because you knocked me up," Hiyori frowning petulantly. It was such a cute gesture it made Yato's heart give a painful twinge.
"Hey, that's not the only reason," Yato said, leaning over to look up at her face. "I do like pancakes. And I'd make some for you on Christmas even if we weren't in this situation."
"You would?"
"'Course. I'm pretty good at making pancakes," Yato grinned.
"You've never made pancakes in your life, have you?" Yukine noted bluntly.
"I have so! Just cause I haven't made 'em for you doesn't mean I can't!"
"Five hundred yen says you can't."
"Five-fifty he can," Hiyori chimed in. Yukine gave her an incredulous look. "What?" she asked, confused. "He's a thousand year old god, and he's a pretty good cook when he wants to be; chances are he can probably put pancakes together, it's not a hard recipe."
"I ain't buying it," Yukine scoffed. "You can't be good at every domestic thing in the world."
"Well that's where you're wrong, kid," Yato insisted. "I am one-hundred percent domestic house-husband material and I can prove it!"
Hiyori snorted into her scarf. "I don't know that you should be saying that with such pride, Yato. You're supposed to be a combat god."
"I can be both!"
Yukine and Hiyori sniggered together, leaning against each other conspiratorially. Yato couldn't decide if he was annoyed or happy to see them in such good spirits at his expense.
"Yatogami, the Pancake Swordsman," Hiyori said with a giggle.
"The Patron God of All Things Pancake and Violence," Yukine added with a grin.
"The Almighty Pancake Slayer."
"He of the Kick-ass Domestic Pancakes."
"Alright, enough already," Yato snapped. "Unless you want me to change your name to 'Snow Cake,' Yukine."
"I dare you to try-"
"Ah!" Hiyori cried out suddenly, pointing at the sky. "Look! A shooting star!"
The other two immediately turned to look and only just managed to catch the streaking tail.
"Aw, damn it, missed my chance to make a wish," Yukine huffed.
"Wish on me then," Yato said, shrugging.
"Nah, I'm good," Yukine said in a deadpan tone.
"Smartass," Yato scowled.
They both looked at Hiyori sandwiched between them, her eyes closed and her hands pressed together in prayer. They waited for her in silence until she opened her eyes again.
"What'd you wish for, Hiyori?" Yato asked, picking the empty soup cup off her lap.
"If I told you, it wouldn't come true," she said seriously.
"I'm a god, it doesn't count with me," he insisted.
"For once, he's probably right," Yukine admitted grudgingly. "That's the point of gods, right? Wishes?"
Hiyori pondered that for a moment, her cheeks rosy in the cold night air.
"Well... okay," she said after a minute. "I wished that Heaven would leave us alone, so I could raise this child with its father and older brother in peace," she said, rubbing her belly with a soft, warm smile on her face.
Both boys flushed from head to toe for entirely different reasons.
"Oh, and I wished for the pancakes to come out extra fluffy," she added as an afterthought, completely oblivious to their reactions. "I like fluffy pancakes best... Hmm? What's wrong?" she asked, noting their expressions.
Yato and Yukine exchanged looks and burst into laughter.
"Nothing, Hiyori," Yato chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Nothing at all."
"Oh, we need a picture!" Yukine said suddenly, digging around in his jacket pocket for his phone. "We need proof of your promise before you find a way to flake out of it," he told Yato.
"Hey!"
"Good idea!" Hiyori said, ignoring Yato's indignation. She tugged Yato closer as Yukine held up the phone in selfie mode.
"You guys ready?"
"One sec," Yato said, wrapping his arm around Hiyori's shoulder instead. "Better," he said happily, kissing her temple.
"Yato!" she chided, her face reddening.
"Look at the camera, not me," he teased, nudging her to look just as the flash went off.
That photo went up next to the first ultrasound, and Yukine drew an arrow on Yato's bright, cheeky smile and wrote 'ALL HAIL YATOGAMI, THE DEADLY PANCAKE KING' under it. Pinned on top of that one was the photo they took on Christmas at Kofuku's house a week later, where several unnervingly high stacks of pancakes were caught in the act of toppling over onto Daikoku as everyone else ducked for cover.
'Pay up, Yukine-kun,' Hiyori had written in the corner, and Yato had drawn a little crown under it with the words 'told you I could do it.'
More ultrasounds followed the first, the little fuzzy blob becoming more and more defined with each new image. Then there were several shots of Hiyori's high school graduation in April, and one of Yukine crying while he held a handmade diploma written in beautiful old-fashioned kanji. Several pictures followed of Hiyori lying dramatically on the backs of sofas or slumped on tables, with the words 'I AM SO BORED, HELP!' written haphazardly over them.
'We gotchu, Hiyori~' read the photo taped over them, which showed Hiyori sitting on the floor, her belly much more pronounced under her maternity gown, hugging Yukine's cat, Dinger, with a blissful expression on her face as Yato cheerfully braided her hair and Yukine held out Dinger's brother, Schro, for her to fuss over next. Then there was one of Hiyori's brother, Masaomi, playing a video game against Yato, with Hiyori and Yukine eating snacks in the background, sporting identical meme-inspired expressions.
In June, a new photograph replaced the sonogram over Hiyori's bed, a picture of her fast asleep, her face ruddy with exhaustion and her hair a tangled mess, with a tiny, raven-haired infant curled up at her breast. 'Happy Birthday, Amane-chan!' Yukine had written, and under it, Yato had added 'MINE' with two arrows pointing at both mother and child.
It was that one Yato was now staring at, sitting cross-legged on Hiyori's bed with a chubby two-month old in his lap.
"Look, Amane," he said, hoisting the child up to look. "That's you! You were so little, I could carry you in one hand," he told her, looking down at her with a grin. The baby, an almost exact replica of himself, down to the lidded, fathomless blue eyes and slightly disheveled black hair, didn't seem particularly interested in her own visage, but she immediately recognized her mother's picture and laughed excitedly, reaching her little hands forward.
"Yeah, that's Mommy," he agreed. "Isn't she the prettiest girl in the whole world? Besides you of course," he corrected himself, pressing a kiss to her downy hair.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Hiyori warned from the table as she yawned and closed her textbook. She hadn't returned to school yet, but she was doing her best to catch up using all the notes Yukine had diligently taken for her over the spring semester before her maternity leave was over.
"It's not flattery if it's true," Yato sniffed. Amane made several burbling noises and Yato fought back a laugh.
"What did she say?" Yukine asked, glancing up from his notes.
"Mm, she's wondering if that mommy," he pointed at the wall, "will feed her, since this one," he nodded at Hiyori, "made her stop earlier."
Yukine snorted loudly as Hiyori spat out the water she'd been drinking.
"She fed for almost an hour!" Hiyori cried, ashen faced. "I'm only human, I need a break!"
"She's too young to understand that, even if I tell her," Yato grimaced apologetically.
Hiyori sighed and let herself fall back onto the floor, arms outstretched.
"This child is going to kill me," she groaned. "Who asked her to have a bottomless stomach?!"
"Sorry," Yato winced.
"It's not your fault," she admitted. "Not in this particular case, at least."
"I blame him anyway," Yukine scoffed. "She's only a god because Yato is."
"Yukine-kun," she chastised, holding her arms out toward Yato. "Give her here, but tell her I'm not feeding her yet."
"Way ahead of you," Yato assured her, gently passing over the baby. As his direct descendant and a god in her own right, Amane had the unusual ability to understand and communicate with her father, though she used no words or direct statements in doing so. It was a purely instinctual bond, one which he knew made Hiyori feel left out, so he tried not to overuse it too much.
"Amane!" Hiyori gasped playfully as she took the child and raised her up over her head. "Oh my goodness, you got even bigger when I wasn't looking, didn't you?!"
Amane squealed with excitement as her mother brought her down and nuzzled her tiny nose. Yato settled on his stomach, watching fondly from the mattress.
"Oh, no, I can't see!" Hiyori said dramatically as the child accidentally put one of her hands over her mother's eye. "I can't see my baby, where did she go?! Amaneeee!" She gently put the baby down next to her and rolled over onto her side. "Aha! There she is! There's my cute little god!" she said, softly blowing on Amane's tummy and laughing when the child wiggled with loud, ear-splitting shrieks of happiness. "Nom nom, Kaa-chan's gonna gobble you right up, yes I am," she teased, covering the child in kisses.
Yato chuckled, kicking his feet in bliss.
"Having a good time there, dad?" Yukine asked, almost seriously. The twitching of his right cheek gave away the teasing grin he was fighting so hard to hide.
"Yup, finished your homework, kid? You're overdue your own cuddle time," Yato told him.
"Touch me with those nasty, sweaty hands, and I'll kick your ass," Yukine warned, eyes narrowed.
"Aw, you love me," Yato smirked as Hiyori and Amane played loudly below.
"It's Stockholm Syndrome," Yukine said drily.
"Rude!"
The door slammed open, and everyone jumped.
"Where is my niece and why does she sound so goddamn happy without me?!" Masaomi demanded, his glasses slightly askew as he waved around the old-fashioned camera he'd bought specifically for taking photos of the baby.
"Onii-chan, you scared me!" Hiyori said accusingly. "I thought Okaa-san might have come to yell at Yato again."
"Don't jinx me, Hiyori!" Yato paled.
"Relax, we're allowed to stay over now, remember?" Yukine said, tossing Yato a snack from his school bag.
"I thought you guys were staying at Yato-san's place tonight," Masaomi frowned at his younger sister. She shook her head.
"No, Father said he wanted to see Amane since he was on that business trip until yesterday and made us change plans at the last second," she explained. "But he drank too much and fell asleep a while ago."
"You should have told me."
"You have a million pictures of her already, Masaomi-san!" Yukine said, aghast.
"You can never have too many pictures of Amane-chan," Masaomi said seriously.
"You are a wise man, big brother," Yato nodded sagely. "You'll go far in life."
"I really don't need to hear that from the deadbeat god freeloading off his girlfriend's family," Masaomi said flatly as he readied the camera.
"Fucking rude, all of you!" Yato snarled.
"Just get down here, idiot," Hiyori sighed before the two men started one of their pointless arguments. "We don't have enough pictures of her with all of us."
"Oh, of course we don't," Yukine snorted, gesturing at the walls of Hiyori's room. "This place is turning into a shrine for her, as if the family group chat wasn't already drowning in baby paraphernalia."
"Come on, Yukine-kun, don't be such a killjoy," Hiyori complained. "Get in here, Yuki-nii."
"... Fine, but only if I get to hold her."
A minute later, Masaomi waved the instant-print in the air and handed it to Yato. "You guys should come downstairs for a while, I got some new picture books-"
"You hear that, sis?!" Yukine gasped for Amane's entertainment. "More books for you to chew and drool on!"
"Go," Yato nudged them, smiling. "We're right behind you."
He helped Hiyori to her feet as Masaomi and Yukine disappeared into the hallway.
"It wasn't flattery," he said quietly as he brushed her hair back over her shoulder.
"Huh?"
"Earlier, when I said you were the prettiest."
She blinked up at him, confused. "... OH!" she realized suddenly. "You're flirting!"
He must have made a face because Hiyori burst into nervous giggles. "Sorry, I'm sorry, I was spacing out, Yato." She tried to straighten her face and failed miserably as she laughed again.
"Damn it, Hiyori, I'm trying something here!" he grumbled, his face warm.
"Oh, no, I'm not making fun of you, I'm really not!" she said hurriedly. "It's just, these last two months have just been all about Amane, and whenever you say something like that it's usually just a tease-"
"No, you just think it's a tease and I don't push it because I know you're exhausted," he said petulantly, taking her hands. "But sometimes I do want you to take me seriously, Hiyori."
She blushed hard, and this time Yato was the one to choke back a laugh.
"Not that seriously," he chortled, grinning evilly.
"Yato," she scolded.
"I mean if you really want to- OW! Every single one of you!" he whined childishly, as he freed his hand from the painful twist she'd given his wrist. "I just wanted to kiss you, for fuck's sake-"
"Then shut up and kiss me, Yato," she said with a pretty, mischievous smile, her brown eyes shining up at him as he flushed with the loaded memory of the last time she'd said that to him. He raised his hand to her face, letting his thumb brush her skin longingly.
"Is that a wish?" he asked in a soft voice, tugging her closer by the waist.
"Does it have to be?"
"For you, never."
"Then what are you waiting for?" she murmured. "Don't you know that I'm hopelessly in love with you, Yatogami?"
He leaned in, meeting her achingly soft lips with a sigh.
"Mm," he admitted when they broke apart. "The shrine of photos kind of gave it away," he said teasingly.
"Idiot," she said, but it was with a lovely, flustered smile. "Come on, they're gonna come looking for us if we don't go," she said, leading him toward the open door.
"Oh, yeah, just one second," Yato said. He went over to her desk and picked out a permanent marker and a tack. Holding the picture Masaomi had given him against the wall, he held the marker cap between his teeth and carefully wrote on the image until he was satisfied.
Hiyori nudged in to have a look as he pinned it up.
"Seriously?" she asked with a mildly amused look. "You're a grown man, you know. Older than most, even."
"Hey, I don't make fun of your captions."
They left the room, arguing good-naturedly with intertwined hands, leaving the wall of painstakingly devoted memory with its newest addition.
'The best household any god could ask for. Hands off, they're all mine,' it read.
At the very bottom, he'd signed his name.
Notes:
Me: I have writer's block
Also me: but here's a long, meandering fluff piece I had to get off my screaming fangirl chest
*these children are going to be the death of me*
Anyway, please like and review if you enjoyed this dumb little snippet! I really hope it was worth the diabetes I gave myself writing it. xD
