Not going to lie here, I kinda forgot about this fanfiction until I saw the drafts for this. Needless to say, I'm sorry for not uploading and will have chapter three up later as an apology.

She looked pale, too shy of her normal color to even be considered alive. But she was and she was breathing and that's what counted.

Right?

That's what he kept telling himself, day after day, week after week he kept reminding himself that.

That as long as she keeps breathing she would be okay. Yet he knew it would as straightforward as that thought sounded in his head, playing it out, in reality, will never be more than a simple notion.

Especially when it came to saving her.

Yato leaned forward and yawned, sleepily looking out the window as he watched the day's spring clouds gradually rolling in from the west. The smell of rain would soon be here, followed by the downpour of freshwater.

She hated the rain.

And he knew that by heart as she would rather abandon the all too common game of cat and mouse for another day than to get her long hair wet from rainwater. If only she knew how ridiculous it sounded coming from another person, especially from the one she had despised for so long.

Yato eyes glanced down when she suddenly moved, her pale face showing from beneath the blankets while she continued sleep on. Never once stirring from the eternal slumber that haunted her frail body.

She would be asleep for practically three weeks now, her uneven sluggish breaths prodding the white sheets that sheltered her from that today's breeze. Sometimes if they were lucky she would open her eyes ever so slightly, staring at nothing in particular despite the two beings that were always present.

One always leaving at the end of each long day with a hopeful feeling that she might awaken when he returned. And another staying by her side each second of the day, out of guilt.

Waiting for her to fully recovered so that the weight of constant worry will finally go down.

"Yato..." The deity glanced up at the low call, staring at the pale emerald green eyes of Kazuma. The sweat from his daily duties still drenched into his face, the exhaustion hiding the guilt they both come to share.

"You need to go home tonight, Yukine's starting to worry." The boy said, quietly coming in to sit next to the divinity. "He asked me when you're coming home, that is it something he said to make you stay away."

"Surely you must feel his worry."

"I know," Yato said, turning away to hide his exhausted expression. "It's been wearing me down all day." He grew quiet once more, staring down at the unraveling pieces of bandages that covered her chest. Purple showing from underneath the white patches.

Standing up to correct them, the deity gently positioned them back in the correct place, feeling her tense just like the day tried to help her.

She had cried when they had to hold her down, the dull white of her eyes revealing itself as they rolled back, toppled with the agonizing cries of distress. Her trembling fingers reached up to scratch at them as a feeble attempt to push them away, pleading with them to leave her be.

To allow her body to heal on her own to avoid the unbearable pain of being touched.

Yet they had to touch her to save her. She would have perished on her own, so they ignored her frantic screams, she eventually slipping into the slumber that held her still.

Yato smiled when she relaxed, the bittersweet of it all hitting him as he watched her sleep. She hated him and yet he was here dwelling there day by day for a sign of her awakening. Only to be pushed away again when her eyes finally opened up to him again.

It was sad, pathetic even but he didn't care. After all, he was used to be treated in such a cruel way. Such is the life of a calamity god like him.

"Hey, Yato." The divinity looked up at his, turning to see the boy staring at him. "Why are you here every day to see Veena?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"She's stubborn, and she's not going to forgive you even if you spend your time caring for her." Yato sighed, sitting down his chair with a smile.

"You worry too much Kazuma, I'm returning the favor of when she took me and Yukine in to heal after the deal with Ebisu and the heavens. I don't expect her to forgive me in exchange for doing this and I wouldn't say a word if she decides to cast me aside when she awakes."

"Besides" He muttered, the happy mask cracking as he stared down at his feet. "What can I possibly do to attain her forgiveness, especially when she hates me so?"