"Down there," Yukine said.

Yato peered over the edge of the building at the oversize, spiderlike ayakashi crawling along the street far below. "Ugh, not another one."

"Be careful," Yukine cautioned. "The vent must still be open. There's a bunch of them."

He could see nearly a dozen smaller ayakashi weaving between the crowd, and they tended to sense gods coming and converge on them all at once. Yato had let his guard down and been ambushed from behind only a couple weeks before, and Yukine still didn't quite trust him to be on his game.

"I see them," Yato grumbled.

"Well, we'd better go get them. You want to be a god of fortune, right? We might as well finish cleaning up this mess."

Yato heaved a sigh and tightened his grip on the swords clutched in his sweaty hands. "If you insist. Hold on."

"Hold on? How am I supposed to–? You could just take the elevator like a normal person!"

Yukine's stomach dropped out from under him as Yato took a flying leap off the edge of the building and plummeted through the air. He had never quite gotten used to the feeling of free fall, even though Yato's face was split with a wide grin.

Yato crashed into the phantom below boots first, and it screeched in an otherworldly howl as it was driven to the ground by the force. He slashed it into neat little ribbons with Yukine's help and leaped away before it exploded in its death throes, pivoting neatly to catch the next ayakashi on the tip of Yukine's sword.

"Behind you," Yukine warned.

A horde of ayakashi converged on them from all sides, crawling out of the woodwork until there must have been nearly two dozen of them. Yato moved like lightning, ducking and dodging and rending. Yukine stayed sharp and made a couple minor adjustments to the angles of his blows, but Yato was on point today and neatly dispatched the horde in a whirlwind of dancing swords.

"Do you ever think things through before you dive in headfirst?" Yukine grumbled as they finished mopping up and he materialized by Yato's side again. His stomach was still doing sickening little flip-flops. "There was no need to literally jump off a building right into the middle of everything. Can't you be more careful?"

Yato tilted his head. "That's pretty much always how I operate. It was just a few ayakashi. What are you getting all worked up about?"

"Yeah, this time it was fine. But one of these days, you're going to charge straight into a fight that's too much for you instead of going about it the smart way, and then what? Aren't you even the least bit worried about getting yourself into a situation you can't get yourself out of?"

"Not really. We always figure it out."

Yukine heaved another long-suffering sigh. "Is there anything you're afraid of?"

Yato grinned back. "Nope, not really."

Yukine shook his head and cast a glance at the dark clouds gathering over the city. "We should head back. It looks like there's going to be a storm. Of the rainy variety this time."

Yukine managed to sleep for an hour or two, but his dreams were haunted by shadows and an eerie moaning that set his hair standing on end. He started awake at a loud rumbling sound that it took his groggy mind a moment to identify as thunder. Sitting up, he looked out the window but saw little through the darkness aside from the suggestion of driving rain. Lightning flashed white-hot across the sky, searing his retinas and setting a swarm of gray shadows dancing through the room before fading. The wind shrieked mournfully, scraping icy fingernails down his spine, and the rain pounded insistently against the roof and windows.

No wonder his dreams were so unsettled, with the cacophony outside. The storm had started drizzling rain by dinnertime and the wind had picked up before he'd gone to bed, but nothing to this degree.

Another clap of thunder boomed overhead, and the lamp flickered before returning to full strength. Yukine eyed it in alarm.

"It's okay," Yato said, and Yukine nearly jumped out of his skin. The god sat up in his own futon with a yawn and massaged his chest absently. "It's more surprising you've slept through it this far. It got really loud a while ago. I'm sure it will blow over soon."

Yukine cast another look at the lamp. "Do you think we'll lose power?"

"Nah. It's flickered a couple times, but so far so good."

He might have said something else, but the words were lost under another rumble of thunder. Yukine squinted against the blinding flash of lightning that followed.

"Are you sure?" he asked doubtfully.

"Positive."

A particularly deafening crack of thunder boomed directly overhead. The lamp sputtered once and went out, plunging the room into pitch darkness. Yukine drew in a breath, but the scream caught in his throat like a lump he couldn't swallow down. His heart pounded against his ribcage, rattling his ribs like it wanted out, and he clutched the blanket to his chin as he stared out wide-eyed at the dark.

From across the room, he heard Yato spit out a string of curses. Lightning streaked across the sky and painted the room in lurid detail for a split second, and Yukine caught a glimpse of Yato scrambling out of bed.

"Hey, Yukine. It's okay. I've got you."

Yukine flinched as something brushed against his skin, but Yato pulled him close. Even over the wind and rain and low rumbles of thunder, Yukine's harsh breathing was loud in his own ears.

"Y-you said–"

"I know, I know. I was wrong. There are some candles downstairs. Will you be okay if I go get one?"

Yukine's heart shuddered to a stop, and panic constricted his lungs. "Don't–don't leave me!" he gasped.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Yato crooned, hugging Yukine tight. He rested a hand on the back of Yukine's head to push it gently into the crook of his neck, and carded his fingers through the shinki's hair. "You're okay. I'm here. I won't leave."

Yukine's breath shivered in the air, and he wound shaky fingers in Yato's shirt. He closed his eyes tight against the night. If his eyes were closed, it was almost like the dark didn't matter. He could pretend the light was still on. The dark behind his eyelids wasn't as scary as the dark pressing around when he opened his eyes.

He didn't open his eyes. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to know that there wasn't an escape from it.

He could feel it, though, like a physical thing. It was suffocating. He could feel eyes on him, sense something prowling in the shadows. It was stupid, but he had always been sure that darkness meant death.

He tried to calm his breathing and willed himself to stop shaking. He focused on the feel of Yato holding him tight instead, of the god's fingers in his hair and the whisper of his words in his ear.

Outside, the wind whistled and moaned, the rain drummed, and the thunder rolled, but Yukine did his best to ignore it. Yato kept murmuring sweet-nothings in his ear, and he tried to focus on those instead. They didn't quite drown out the storm, but they softened it somehow.

"You're gonna be okay. I've got you. The lights will be back on in a minute. Shh, it's okay."

"Okay," Yukine choked out finally. His heart still tap danced along his ribs and he was too afraid to open his eyes, but he didn't feel like he was about to pass out anymore.

"Okay?" Yato's hand disappeared from Yukine's hair, and the shinki made a small sound of protest. "Hush, it's okay. Here, open your eyes." Yukine did not want to open his eyes, but Yato persisted. "Come on, kiddo. Be brave. Trust me. I've got you."

Yukine cracked one eye open and tilted his head just a little, so that it was still resting against the crook of Yato's neck but wasn't buried there anymore. Yato's eyes glowed like sapphire stars in the dark, drowned out only by a flash of lightning that made Yukine squint against the searing light.

"Here you go," Yato said, pressing something small and plastic into Yukine's hands. Yukine blinked the spots out of his eyes and frowned at the phone in bemusement. "Open it up. That's good. Turn on the screen."

Yukine did as he was told, and the screen lit up in a bright blue square against the night. His lips trembled. It wasn't quite a proper nightlight, the night threatened to swallow it whole and he could still feel the darkness pressing all around him, but it was such a beautiful little light. He clutched it tight, like a lifeline. When the screen went dark, he turned it back on.

"See, isn't that better?" Yato asked. His voice was a funny little croon that Yukine hadn't quite noticed before.

Yukine fisted his other hand in the front of the god's shirt again. Thunder cracked overhead, and Yukine twisted his face back against Yato's neck and squeezed his eyes shut before being blinded by the lightning. A hand found its way back to work fingers through his hair, and he shifted to see the light of the screen again.

Yato held him until he'd calmed a little more and then said, "Can I get the candles now?"

Yukine nearly dropped the phone in his haste to grab Yato tighter and stop him from leaving. "Don't go!"

"Shh, it's okay. You can come with me. You have the phone, so you'll be able to see where you're going, right? You can walk with me the whole way, and then we can light this whole room up with a bunch of candles. Okay?"

Yukine cast a nervous look at the shadows cloaking the room. To be honest, he felt safer huddled here with Yato and wasn't sure he wanted to venture through the darkness. But the idea of getting some more light was appealing…

"Okay," he whispered.

Yato let him go and pushed him away gently, and Yukine flushed to realize he'd practically crawled into the god's lap.

"Come on, then," Yato said gently. He rose to his feet and reached down to take Yukine's free hand and draw him up. The phone cast his face in a sickly light and a dapple of gray shadow, but his eyes still shone that luminous blue. He didn't let go of Yukine's hand as he led him slowly towards the door. "That's it, come on. You're okay."

I'm not a child, Yukine wanted to say, but he felt like one right now. He consented to hold Yato's hand, even if it was a little sticky and damp like usual, and huddled close to the god's side as they crept across the room and pushed open the door.

"Okay, I'm going to need you to let go now," Yato said. "You're gonna want to keep a hand on the wall to make sure you don't fall down the stairs, yeah? And shine the phone on them so you can see where you're going."

Yukine reluctantly consented to this as well, and Yato started down the stairs ahead of him. Thunder rumbled again, nearly drowning out Yato's sudden yelp and a series of loud thuds, and a flash of lightning smeared spots across Yukine's vision.

"Yato?" Yukine asked, edging closer to the top step and shining the sparse light of the phone down the dark stairwell. "Are you okay?"

The paltry glow didn't go far, but it thinned out the darkness just enough that he could catch a glimpse of Yato's gray-smudged outline shifting about somewhere below.

"Yeah," Yato grumbled. "On second thought, why don't you stay there? It'll just take me a second, and those stairs are dangerous. Did you see how they just attacked me?"

"But…"

"Just a second. I'll be right there."

Yukine swallowed hard and clutched the phone tight, casting furtive glances around at the darkness pressing in. "I think you're just clumsy," he said in a thin voice.

"Everyone's a critic," Yato said cheerfully.

Over the pounding of the rain, Yukine heard him shuffling things around and banging open cabinets and drawers. He listened for any sign that Kofuku and Daikoku were disturbed by the racket, but heard nothing from their end of the shrine. Maybe they were sleeping through the storm or assumed Yato's noise was just wind and rain and thunder. Maybe they hadn't even realized the power went out since they didn't sleep with a nightlight.

Thunder rumbled again, and Yukine could almost swear that he heard a low growl buried underneath. He pressed his back to the wall and stared out at the dark with wide eyes. The phone went dark again, and he scrabbled to turn the screen back on. Lightning lit the room, making the gesture moot, but the darkness seemed blacker than ever when it faded and Yukine had to blink rapidly to help his vision adjust again.

"Yato?" he asked, voice pitching high.

"Coming!"

A little scrap of flickering fire blinked into life at the foot of the stairs and then began bobbing up towards the landing. The little flame cast Yato's face in mottled shadow, but Yukine could have cried that there was light again.

Thankfully, Yato made it up the stairs without incident this time, and didn't trip and set the whole shrine aflame.

He took Yukine by the elbow and steered him back into their room. The phone's screen went dark again, but Yukine pressed himself closer to Yato and the candle and let it be.

"Okay, sit down and wait there," Yato said, shooing Yukine to his futon.

Yukine sat obediently and watched Yato walk around the room putting candles on every surface and lighting them. There must have been a dozen of them, jammed into all manner of little dishes and stately holders. Everything from small tea lights to long tapers to squat jars.

"That's a lot of candles," Yukine said. The pressure in his chest eased a little with each new flame winking like stars in the darkness. They cast the room in a warm, flickering glow, and not even the dancing shadows they cast seemed so scary.

"Yup! I grabbed everything I could find." Yato settled beside Yukine on the futon. He brought two candles with him—in jars, presumably so that there was less of a risk of setting themselves on fire—and positioned them nearby. "Better?"

"Better," Yukine said. He swallowed hard. "It's good."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rain tapping against the window in sheets. Yukine's heart began to settle slowly. The motley collection of candles perched on every available surface brought just enough light to calm his nerves and lent the room an almost cozy atmosphere.

Yukine returned the phone to Yato. It seemed redundant when surrounded by the glow of a dozen candles. Yato accepted the phone and began fiddling around with it, occasionally casting sidelong glances Yukine's way. Gauging his mood, maybe, as the twinges in his chest subsided. Yukine appreciated the chance to collect himself in peace.

"How long do you think it will take the power to come back?" he asked finally.

"No idea," Yato mumbled absently. Then, remembering himself, he tore his gaze away from the phone and quickly added, "I mean, soon, though."

Yukine rolled his eyes, and felt better for it. "Yeah, that's real reassuring."

Yato winced. "Sorry. It can't really be that much longer, though."

Yukine looked away. "It's okay. I'm sure you're right." Yato had already done so much to comfort him, after all. It wasn't fair to make him feel bad now. Still, he couldn't resist adding, "Even if you were wrong last time."

"Yeah, yeah. At least you're feeling up to being a snarky brat again."

Yato went back to playing with his phone. Yukine stared across the room at the window and watched the rain lashing the panes. The candle beside him flickered just as more thunder—not quite as deafening now, and the lightning not following quite as quickly on its heels—growled outside. Yukine flinched.

"Hey, it's alright," Yato said, putting his phone aside to give Yukine a reassuring smile. "The storm can't get the candles in here. We're nice and safe."

Yukine could feel the heat creeping to his cheeks, and looked down at his hands twisting restlessly in the blanket. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" Yato asked, puzzled. "For what?"

"It's just…so stupid," Yukine mumbled to his knees.

Yato didn't say anything for a long moment, but the blankets rustled as he shifted closer. "It's not stupid," he said. The teasing was gone from his voice now. "Everyone is afraid of something. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're not," Yukine muttered.

"What?" Yato sounded puzzled again.

Yukine huffed out a frustrated breath. "You don't get scared. You're totally fine jumping off buildings or launching yourself straight into dangerous situations. You're not scared of stupid stuff like the dark. I mean, sometimes it's kind of dumb not to be more careful, but I want to be like…" You.

There was another long pause, and then all the air in Yato's body seemed to whoosh out of him all at once.

"Oh," he said. "Oh, Yukine. I'm always afraid."

"What?" That was enough to snap Yukine's head back up. "What do you mean? You're never scared of anything, even when you should be."

Yato pressed his hand to his face. "Of course I am," he said. "Everyone feels fear. Even gods. You should know better than to listen to everything I say."

Yukine regarded him in the flickering candlelight, searching for the answer that would put the world back to rights. Maybe it wasn't that he truly believed Yato never felt afraid, but somehow it still felt that way. He certainly had an aura of nonchalant fearlessness that eclipsed everything else.

"What are you scared of, then?"

Yato shrugged and dropped his hand. He looked tired, face drawn in tight lines, but it was hard to tell with the constantly shifting shadows.

"You know," he said. "Just stuff."

Yukine was not impressed with this non-answer. "What stuff?"

"Nothing much."

"Are you just making this up to make me feel better?"

"Of course not."

"I don't believe you."

"You never do."

"What stuff?"

Yato sighed, a long-suffering sound. "You're a smart kid. You know that fear is universal." Yukine kept his dead stare fixed on Yato until the god sighed again. "I'm scared of lots of things. I'm scared of dying—or worse, disappearing like I never existed at all. I'm scared that Hiyori will forget us or you'll wise up one of these days and decide to leave. I'm scared of my father and what he might do to you and Hiyori. I'm scared of–"

He paused, took a deep breath. "Everyone has their own demons, whether their darkness is on the inside or outside." His normally jewel-bright eyes were shadowed, and he had long since looked away to stare sightlessly at the far wall. "All things considered, I guess that being afraid of the dark isn't so bad, right?"

"Yato…" Yukine swallowed hard, knuckles white as he gripped the blankets tight in his fists. He didn't know what to say to that. He'd need time to process something so at odds with his normal view of Yato. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"

"It's okay." Yato's smile was tired. He still wasn't looking at Yukine. "Fear isn't a bad thing, you know. Not necessarily. It can be good too. In essence, it's there for your protection, anticipating dangers so that you can prepare for them. If you're scared of the dark, you're less likely to go wandering off alone at night to get eaten by an ayakashi or whacked by an ax-murderer. If I'm scared of my father, I'll be more careful around him and less likely to do something that will piss him off enough to make things a hundred times worse for me.

"It's just that fear is better at helping you avoid potentially dangerous things than take advantage of good ones. If you let fear get the best of you, you might end up huddled under the blankets all night, paralyzed to do anything unless the power is on. If I let fear get the best of me, I'll always be Father's puppet and never become a better god. The hard part is balancing that out. It's okay to get help, whether it's a lamp to give you some light or a guidepost to point the way. There's nothing wrong with being afraid, as long as you don't let your fear define you."

Yukine stared hard, wishing he could read Yato's mind and decipher all the hidden layers beneath his words. A lump had lodged in his throat. There was something moving at the thought of being someone else's nightlight, even if he didn't truly understand how he—a slightly rebellious child afraid of shadows in the night—might be of any comfort to someone as fearless—or at least unfailingly brave—as Yato.

"Crazy," Yukine mumbled past the lump in his throat.

That drew a sharp look from Yato. "Hey," he said defensively. "I was just trying to–"

"You sounded like a real god of fortune for a second there."

Yato blinked at Yukine for a solid five seconds before clearing his throat and looking away again. "Well," he said. "I've been around for a long time. Long enough for even the slowest learner to pick up a lesson or two. So there you have it: I'm just like you, and it's perfectly normal. Quit stressing."

But that didn't mean Yato was just like him. Because even if Yato was afraid, he wasn't curled up beneath the covers looking for a hand to hold until the lights came back on. If Yato wasn't actually as fearless as he seemed, wasn't it all the more impressive that Yukine still saw him that way?

"Sometimes," Yukine mumbled more to himself than anything, softly enough that his words were nearly lost beneath the patter of the rain, "I wish I was brave like you."

There was a beat of silence, and Yukine let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding when he realized Yato hadn't heard. Just as well. No reason to inflate the idiot's ego any bigger than it already was.

And then Yato said, "Huh?"

Yukine felt the heat creeping back to his face again. "Nothing," he mumbled.

"What are you still going on about?" Yato chuckled, but there was a strained note buried in the sound. Yukine supposed it couldn't be easy for him to open up either. "I just said I was scared too. And it's okay."

"Yeah, but…" Yukine frowned down at his hands, then at the candle burning merrily beside him. Lightning flickered through the window, but it wasn't as blinding as before. "Even if you're afraid, you don't show it. You still charge in anyway and don't let it stop you. Isn't that what bravery is? Being afraid but still doing the right thing anyway?"

Yato made a skeptical sound in the back of his throat. "I guess."

"You don't think so?"

"I mean, that's sort of the traditional definition. I guess I always just saw it a little differently. To me, bravery is being able to be yourself despite challenges or fears or any of that. It's knowing who you are and being that person no matter who tells you otherwise. Well, you know. I think it takes a lot of courage to figure out who you are and then just be yourself or become the person you want to be, even if sometimes the world tries to stop you."

Yukine considered that. "Like confidence?"

"Kind of. Confidence is a kind of bravery too, don't you think? Maybe there are a bunch of different kinds. But you're always yourself, aren't you? You aren't afraid to tell me what you think, and you don't play games or pretend to be something you're not. I think that's pretty brave."

Yukine regarded Yato, mind churning. He had never really thought of it that way before.

A low rumble of thunder growled in the distance. The rain was beginning to die down too, although it still tapped a light rhythm against the roof. The candles still burned bright, and Yato still sat beside him.

But the dark still lingered. Yukine was aware of it like a prickle across his skin. He could almost feel it slavering at his heels.

"I don't feel very brave," he said in a small voice. He wasn't panicked like before, was even calm enough to begin thinking about bed again, but he knew what would happen if the candles were snuffed out.

Yato leaned a little closer and settled his arm around Yukine's shoulders. "Neither do I, kiddo. But maybe bravery isn't always a feeling. Maybe sometimes it's a state of being or a way of life. I don't think you have to feel brave to be brave."

Yukine didn't know. He had always just accepted the idea of courage without ever truly questioning what it meant. And frankly, he was exhausted. It had been a long time since he and Yato had such a frank conversation, and he was starting to remember why they preferred avoiding it. It really took a lot out of them. He imagined it might be even worse for Yato. Yukine at least had a little experience when Yato bugged him to talk about whatever was bothering him. He didn't think Yato ever really opened up to anybody, if he could help it.

This seemed like something that should be examined more closely in the light of day, when there weren't any more shadows clouding his vision.

"I don't know," he said, jaws cracking open in a wide yawn. "Maybe you're right."

"I usually am," Yato said with a quick flash of a smile, and Yukine snorted loudly to show what he thought of that. "But don't think too hard now! You should go back to sleep. You can barely keep your eyes open, and you'll be all cranky in the morning if you don't get some shut-eye."

"But–"

"Don't worry! I'll sit here and make sure the dark doesn't get you!"

Yukine scowled. "I'm not a child. You can go back to bed too."

Yato scooted off the futon to sit cross-legged on the floor and began messing around with his phone again. "Someone's gotta stay up to put out the candles once the power comes back on. Daikoku would kick us out for sure if we burned down the shrine."

"Are you…being responsible?"

"Of course! I'm always responsible!"

"Uh-huh…" Yukine flopped over and faced away from Yato, pulling the covers up to his chin.

"Goodnight, Yukine."

"'Night." Yukine closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, letting his exhaustion wash over him. The thunder was only a low thrum in the distance now. He figured the power would come back soon, so there was no need to fuss and he let himself drift off.

He slid effortlessly into sleep, but the vague sense of something hunting him from the shadows pursued him even there. He was running through the forest in the dark, tripping over tree roots and panting like a dog, clutching at the stitch in his side as he pushed his burning muscles faster, faster. Something was crashing through the underbrush at his heels, and if it caught him, he knew it– He knew he couldn't let it catch him.

Something snagged on the sleeve of his jacket, and he started with a gasp.

A low, lilting hum filtered through the air, and something brushed gently at his hair. Yukine cracked one eye open and realized he was at least halfway awake again. The glow of candles still bathed the room. Yato was still sitting on the floor beside him, stroking his hair with one hand and humming absently as he scrolled through his phone.

"What's that?" Yukine mumbled around a yawn. His eyes were already dipping shut again. The rhythmic cadence of the lullaby smoothed away the remnants of nightmares clinging to him and lulled him back into a sleepy daze.

"Hm?" Yato glanced over, eyes flickering in the candlelight, and the humming stopped. "Nothing, really. Go back to sleep, Yukine. No more nightmares."

"Where'd you learn a lullaby from?" Yukine murmured, snuggling back down and giving up the fight to keep his eyes open. "Never heard that one."

"Ah… I guess I heard it from someone once, a long time ago," Yato said in a low, wistful voice. "It was before your time. Go back to sleep."

"Mm…" Yukine's brain was still fogged with sleep, and the remnants of his dreams were pulling him back under the still surface of a glassy sea. "It's nice."

Yato didn't say anything, but the humming started up again, filling Yukine's ears and gently pushing him back to his dreams. Yukine was floating away, the last knots of tension and fear easing as he drifted off.

"You know I'm not going to leave, right?" he breathed, the words heavy and awkward in his mouth. He wasn't entirely sure who he was saying them to, but he was sure someone needed to hear them. "You don't have to be scared of that."

He thought that maybe the humming paused for a moment, but he didn't have the chance to be sure before he fell back into a dreamless sleep.

Note: So cheesy, but they're so cute lol