Yato's Capybara doll collection sat lined up in the corner next to Kofuku's sewing box. Hiyori and Yukine sat huddled together in the quiet attic, facing the corner of a growing army with knitted brows. Since no one really knew what to buy him for their occasional celebrations- and apologies- Yato had about nine dolls. Some were different sizes, some could move their limbs and others not so much. They were all various colors of yellow, from flax to golden, and were all kept in good condition. But the one thing that distinguished them from each other, were their hand-made outfits.
Yukine reached and carefully picked one up to hold it closer. Hiyori's eyes followed the action closely, looking at the toy with the same critical eye as Yukine. It was very well-made. The outfit fit the doll perfectly and each article of clothing was extremely detailed. Currently, the smaller Capybaras wore little things like ladybugs, butterflies, and rhino beetles. The medium ones were a mix: kimono, school girl, soldier, and a wizard. The largest two were dressed like him, one in a tracksuit and the other in his heaven outfit. Yato had even made them with small zippers and buttons so the Capybaras could be changed for special occasions. Setting it back down, the two looked utterly defeated. They didn't even have to open the sewing kit to know there were even more outfits like them.
"What were we thinking?" Hiyori sighed.
"We were thinking we wanted to do something to make Yato happy and take his mind off of things and prove that we lo- care. And Kofuku said I should dye my hair black again and straighten it so that I look like him but then you stepped in and said we should make him something and Daikoku suggested we try something he likes to do. So we decided to get him another doll or two and sew them outfits of us to go with the Yato-Capybara but now we see that's impossible," Yukine said in a monotone breath. Hiyori opened her mouth only to find nothing to say and let out a sigh.
"It wouldn't be impossible I think," Hiyori tried, "I figured Satsuki would help but- yeah I guess you're right- these are really detailed. I don't even know where he got this type of fabric."
"I think he cuts out the fabric from real clothes, mends it, and dyes it. If he can't find the fabric, or can't afford it, he makes it from scratch." Yukine replied. Hiyori bit her lip as Yukine sat back, shoulders slumped in defeat.
"W-well we can always make something else! I mean Yato likes to draw, what if we drew him something?" Hiyori smiled as Yukine seemed to consider it, "it doesn't have to be perfect, you know?"
"I know! I know," Yukine coughed with a blush, "that he'll like it no matter what but I still-. He still puts a lot of effort in his gifts and I want to get him something that will really make him happy. Not just happy cause I -we- gave it." He finished with a pout. She had to force down a coo as to not make it worse, but Hiyori still grinned. Her reasoning for doing this was similar- wanting Yato to genuinely enjoy something he was given and get out of his funk- but Yukine's feelings were deeper. She saw the temptation in Yukine's eyes when Kofuku offered to do his hair. He really wanted to give something special that would make Yato happy, and think of him when he looked at it.
Behind them the door opened and they both flinched. Panicked, their heads whipped towards the entrance in fear of the newcomer being a certain god. Instead the head of black hair was more than a foot shorter. Nora gave them a funny look- almost exactly how Yato would look- and Hiyori and Yukine sighed. Their relief was only a couple seconds as Nora's eyes looked between them huddled on the floor to the toys before them. Poor girl looked like she regretted ever joining their side.
"We were going to make a present for Yato!" Hiyori frantically waved her hands. Her explanation was met with Nora's unbreakable poker face and she joined Yukine in wanting to be swallowed up by the floor.
"I thought Yukine was going to dress like him?" Nora finally walked over, "do you want blue contacts?"
"I'm not!" Yukine insisted. His deep red face was starting to turn purple as Nora simply shrugged. Neither of them noticed Hiyori staring back at the dolls.
"What if we did do that?" Hiyori said.
"Huh? Hiyori, I promise you dying my hair black will not help Yato get over-"
"No not that," Hiyori picked up the Yato-Capybara, "but you know how Yato wanted us to dress like him? What if we surprised him and took a picture?" She smiled wider as Yukine seemed to consider it.
"We will have to buy it new," Yukine insisted. Hiyori frantically nodded.
"But we could make changes and sew in the crown ourselves." Yukine thought aloud. Hiyori nodded again. Pleased with the plan, she grinned wider at him and Yukine returned with a smaller smile. Together they looked to Nora, wanting to include her in everything.
"No." Nora said. It was understandable, but Hiyori and Yukine still sighed in disappointment.
"How long until Yato is done talking with Bishamon?" Hiyori asked.
"We got another hour," Yukine replied, the problem was clear but Nora spoked up.
"I can keep him busy while you sew, don't worry."
"Are you sure?" Yukine leaned forward, "we don't actually know how to sew. We might need a couple hours."
"That's fine, take all the time you need," Nora smiled, "I know how to handle Yato."
With that, the two found themselves in the more underprivileged part of town. The store Yato got his tracksuit from was surrounded by knick-knack sellers all claiming to give good luck. Staying on brand, Hiyori and Yukine each bought a little charm then walked in the store. It sold clothes of all types and the sport clothes were in the back corner. They found the men's ones easy enough, most of them a darker color.
"Are we getting the same color?" Yukine eyed a dark green tracksuit in the teen section. Humming in thought, Hiyori looked at a marron one worn by a feminene mannequin.
"I guess we should, though I doubt he would care," Hiyori laughed slightly.
"That's true. He's gonna cry either way." Yukine's back was to her, but Hiyori could hear the smile in his voice. Together they picked through tracksuit after tracksuit, Yukine finding a lighter navy one without stripes. He helped Hiyori look through the woman's section, looking carefully through the same racks over and over. The navy color did not have her size and Hiyori felt her chest grow a bit heavy. It wasn't a huge deal whether or not she was in the picture, this was mostly for Yukine's sake. Hiyori smiled sadly at the thought, pushing aside the disappointment.
"What if you just wore this?" Yukine pulled out a track jacket that was nearly identical to Yato's save for the femine cut.
"It won't look weird without pants?" Hiyori took it.
"Nah I don't think so, you can just wear shorts," Yukine grinned, "And if you're that worried you can always wear the boots to match him." He snickered while Hiyori's head snapped up.
"Are you going to wear boots too, Yukine?"
"Pfft no. No, I love the guy but I told him I wouldn't get caught dead- more than I am- with those boots on, and I mean it." Yukine scoffed. His words charged past that little confession and Hiyori chose not to comment on it. Instead she hummed with a smile, Yukine was the fashion-forward one of the group. If she had to guess, he would probably wear those sneakers with the thick tongue to put his own spin on the outfit. Hiyori's guess was correct when at check out Yukine disappeared and came back with a white and black cap. When he tossed it on the counter, Hiyori saw the white front had a yellow crown stitched on the corner. This time, Hiyori couldn't help but giggle as Yukine refused to look her in the eye.
The moment of truth came nearly three hours later. Satski was a wonderful help and with her both Hiyori and Yukine were able to put two little golden crowns on their jackets. For Hiyori, it was on her collar, while Yukine's occupied the left pocket. Yukine was also able to add the white stripes down his limbs to further match the god. Now they stood before Kofuku's front door, trying to look as nonchalant as their red faces would allow. With a final look at each other, Hiyori raised her hand to knock. Kofuku opened the door immediately and her jaw dropped. Just before Kofuku could let out a scream, or a squeal, or both, Daikoku popped up behind her and clapped a hand over her mouth. His eyes softened as he looked them over.
"You two look great. Yato and Nora are upstairs, she's been keeping him busy for you," Daikoku lifted Kofuku out of the way, "I'll have to learn how she does that one of these days." The two kids made their way to the stairs, steps slowed by anticipation. Quietly, Hiyori pushed open the door to the attic and peaked inside, Yukine poking his head in above her. Nora knelt in the middle of the floor, staring off to the side. Confused, Yukine pushed the door open further to reveal quite an odd sight. In Nora's hand was a timer and she looked away from Yato who was balancing upside down on his pointer fingers. The god was quivering as he held himself straight, his shrine set neatly on the bottom of his feet, a pool of sweat under his head.
"I decided to test his strength," Nora said simply, "I had a bunch of exercises planned but he's been in this position the entire time." She held up the stop watch and the two friends could barely stomach the idea.
"What is it?" Yato's voice was strained, "Who's here?" His breath sputtered and coughed. Nora got up and climbed a chair to pluck the shrine from his feet.
"Hiyori and Yukine are here and they have a surprise for you." Nora informed him. With a final grunt, Yato let his feet fall to the floor with a loud thump and a sigh. The room cringed at Yato's deep red face and strained eyes. Hiyori and Yukine fidget in their spots as they wait for Yato to wipe the sweat off his face.
"A surprise? For me? Why? What is it?" Yato spoke excitedly as he cleaned his vision, only for the words to taper off at the end. Embarrassment, hot and self conscious, filled Hiyori and Yukine as Yato's piercing eyes took them in from head to toe.
Yukine wore the cap he bought earlier today, the tracksuit coat open to reveal his gold sweatshirt underneath. Turns out, Yukine was half lying about never wearing Yato's boots; instead he decided to stuff the track pants into more fashionable white combat boots. It was Hiyori's outfit that was a bit more daring. The woman's version of Yato's tracksuit was much more form fitting, hugging her curves all the way down to her jean shorts, the size much shorter than what she normally wore. Self-consciously, Hiyori's fingers tugged the folded hem down more. She took up Yukine's playful suggestion at wearing Yato's boots, even going so far as to wear her black thigh-high socks. On top of that, Hiyori pulled the front pieces of her hair back to form a short ponytail over the rest of her hair, just like Yato had.
"What's," Yato quickly stood, "this?" He gestured to them, at a loss for words. His wide eyes blinked rapidly and he covered his mouth with a hand. They could see a face-splitting grin start to grow behind his palm.
"It's your surprise," Nora filled in for them. She took pity on the amount of steam coming out of her friends' heads, and the fact that they couldn't bring themselves to look at the god.
"Surprise," Yukine tried, his hands doing a quick jazz gesture before slapping back to his sides in fists. The god was starting to vibrate with excitement and happiness, light practically radiating off of his over-enjoyment of the outfits they wore.
"Just look at you! I love it! You two look great!" Yato opened his arms, "I knew you were lying when you said you wouldn't dress like me! You've finally come around to see how good it looks! Just like true followers!" As he gushed, Yato started to run forward, not noticing the way his friends paled at the action. They threw out their hands together and shouted in unison.
"Stop!" Hiyori and Yukine cried out. The god skidded to a stop and flinched back, looking betrayed; like it was too good to be true.
"You're way too sweaty! These are new!" Yukine asserted.
"Th-that's right Yato! You need to clean up for the picture!" Hiyori added. The sweaty god was too close and his smell was too much. It didn't help that his white t-shirt revealed arms capable of holding himself up for hours.
"A picture!" Yato parroted, impossibly more excited, "you'll let me take a picture of you like this?" He asked excitedly. Hiyori almost laughed as Yukine had to physically bite back a groan.
"Yeah, we're not going to wear this everyday," Yukine said. With that, Yato took off towards the shower, throwing his clothes on the floor behind him with a declaration of a family photo.
"He's like a little kid," Yukine grumbled, following after his god to pick up the clothes and throw them in the wash with a gag. They waited at the table while Yato took two quick showers, the first one being too fast so Yukine sent him back in. Then he came back in his as-clean-as-can-be signature tracksuit. They decided to take it outside, Kofuku rotating between hers, Yato's, and Hiyori's phone to take an infinite amount of pictures. They took an honest one, a silly one, a cool one, a family one, a team-building one, and any idea anyone would throw out. At one point, Yukine managed to insist he take photos with just Yato, something that nearly drove the god to tears. Like most things with Yato, Hiyori and Yukine got swept up in the fun, leaving their embarrassment behind.
"Oh wait! Let me get Daikoku's digital camera too!" Kofuku said and waved her hand.
"I'll help you find it," Nora followed after the goddess. She's been around long enough to know the goddess will only lose more things in the process.
"Ah, I could use a break anyway," Yukine said with a stretch.
"Me too," Hiyori clutched her cheeks, "my face will be sore tomorrow." Beside her Yato laughed, loud and strong in a way they haven't heard in forever.
"I don't think the smile will ever leave my face!" Yato sighed. He turned his beaming grin on the other two who smiled back at him. Gratitude softened his features at the sight.
"Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but," he paused, "why are you doing this?" Yato looked between them as they shared a look and tried to come up with a reason. Finally, Hiyori turned to regard him happily.
"We wanted to do something nice for you; to show you we care and we want you to be happy." Hiyori said simply. This time it was Yato who was at a loss for words, looking at her with surprise, hope, and something dangerously close to affection. Only when someone tugged at his jacket, was Yato able to pull his eyes away from hers. Yukine looked up at Yato from under his hat, his fist slowly uncurling from Yato's clothes.
"You always do these big, thoughtful things to take our minds off of things that bother us. Is it so hard to believe we want to do the same for you?" Yukine spoke to the floor, but Yato heard him all the same. It took Yato a moment to gather himself and bring his fingers to lift Yukine's head up, giving a soft smile to his kid wearing matching clothes.
"Thank you," Yato said to Yukine but spoke to the both of them. With that, Yato's grin was back on as he played with the rim of Yukine's cap. His kid struggled and tried batting his hand away as Kofuku came back.
"Well, I think you two look really good!" Yato announced. The other two groaned and mourned Yato's fashion sense only for the god to pull them to his side.
"Let's make this one count!" Yato decided. They laughed and smiled at the camera, only for the device to spark in Kofuku's hands. As Nora tried to help, only for Yukine to be called over, Yato took the opportunity to hold Hiyori by her hip and lean in close.
"You know, Hiyori," he spoke in her ear, "if you wanted to wear my clothes you could have just said so." The feeling of his grin so close to her had Hiyori shrieking; and if there was a picture or two of Yato being wrestled to the floor on his special day, it was cherished all the same.
