Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs, they're a real motivation for me! :D
Also, kudos to reviewer shishi for being the only one to notice/mention how this story pays homage to the movie Taken! I was starting to worry the references were too subtle. ;)
The mirror shattered and the counter split in two. Masuta wasn't hit by Yukine's borderline, but that was because he hadn't aimed for him, knowing the god would anticipate an attack on his person. Yet Yukine was feeling more alive than he had in forever and the shame of being helpless for so long ebbed a little. Though rather than the electrical retaliation he expected, the command to "sleep" was shouted from behind.
He collapsed into thin pale arms and jade eyes took up his entire view. His final thought was how this was not the first time he had heard Masuta's shinki speak, for her voice had been there the night he was captured as well.
When Yukine crawled his way back to consciousness, he wondered if he was still sleeping because it felt like he was drifting through the air. Then the cold freezing his back altered him to the inflexible metal beneath him. He sighed unhappily when he figured out he was laying on another examination table, which felt like it was being wheeled up an incline. He peeked his eyes open to see that the shinki woman was wheeling him through an unfamiliar hallway. Her eyes were set straight ahead, but when Yukine twitched his fingers she already had a halberd formed and aimed at him as if it were a gun.
Yukine wasn't too impressed, knowing none of his captors would risk hurting him excessively. "You know," he shifted his head to get a better look at her china-doll figure and perfect composure. "You remind me of this nora I met."
Yukine witnessed a speck of emotion cross the woman's face for the first time, her forehead wrinkling and giving her an insulted expression. Or perhaps that was disgust, but the emotion melted into apathy within seconds so he was uncertain.
"Rise." She stepped away from him to stand near a bare, pastel blue wall.
He cautiously sat up and slid off the table so his bare feet slapped against the wooden ground. His gaze swept across the area and he was mildly awed because this place was drastically different from anything he'd seen in weeks -maybe an entirely new building.
The ceiling was far above him with a rich velvet curtain hanging down from it, which separated Yukine and the shinki from what he assumed was a stage.
Yukine's heart stuttered and then picked up at an alarmingly fast tempo because if there was a stage and he was behind a curtain, and it was auction day-
"You're awake, right on time."
Yukine jumped when Masuta walked in from the hallway.
Masuta laughed at his actions and his eyes twinkled a sunset purple. "Don't look so scared, little regalia." He took a step forward and Yukine took one back, but his collar buzzed so he stiffly remained in place as Masuta walked over to him. "It's not so bad if you do what you're doing now." The god looked so pleased while Yukine felt so sick as he forced himself to endure the rough ruffling of his hair.
However, his eyes widened when he recognized this sensation. Bile rose in the back of his throat because that had been Masuta who had given him water. He had allowed his captor to see him at his most lowly and pathetic.
Yukine struggled to swallow the shame and bile that almost overcame him while Masuta continued petting him. "Just keep your mouth shut,"
Yukine wanted to shout simply to spite him, but his mouth was dry as a well during the drought season, so he settled for baring his teeth.
Masuta either didn't find him threatening -highly likely- or ignored him -also likely- because he didn't change expression.
"Do as we say, and be a good little shinki." The last part was in that tone, the insulting baby-talk tone he had used on Yukine and this was no coincidence because Masuta was smiling as if he had shared an inside joke with him.
Yukine glared because he had been hurting so bad and Masuta -the sick bastard- had taken advantage of his moment of weakness, more than likely had maneuvered it to happen, and now had the nerve to lord it over him prior to trying to sell him as if he were his property.
Rage fueled by humiliation made Yukine's hands clench till nails dug into his palms and he did not care how the collar sparked in warning. He flew at Masuta, ready to strike him with his bare hands when the expected shock brought him down to his knees.
His throat was too swollen to release full-blown screams so all that came out was a keening wail while the shocks burned through his nerves and dug straight into his bones like acid. His limbs jerked even after the electricity died down and his muscles and ligaments were left tingling in an unnatural way. He felt disconnected from himself, like the wire connecting his brain to his body had been unplugged. His sight was blurred while his hearing was muffled to the point that if Masuta was talking right now Yukine's ears could only interrupt it as short hums of static. However, his body jump-started when Masuta lifted his arm as high as it could go and Yukine felt the unseen rope snake around his neck and lift him in a manner more vicious than ever before.
Masuta leaned his face towards Yukine's bulging eyes as he was left standing on the tips of his toes to relieve the pressure around his neck, only to find he still couldn't breathe. "That was the opposite of what you should do." The god's aurora magnified his displeasure, becoming a dangerous pollutant that billowed in the air he could not inhale.
Yukine was unable to look away from those glowing eyes, but his hands were actively clawing at his collar because he was suspended on nothing, and yet there was a noose around his neck and his toes were wobbling precariously under his full weight. Only Masuta's unwavering arm kept him from tipping over and being truly hung. Even so, the pressure was so intense Yukine felt his life slipping away and he wanted to scream and plead but he was mute as the invisible noose strangled his thoughts too.
Masuta sighed, shaking his head in false sympathy. "Let me tell you something that will make your situation clearer, really a nice piece of advice for you." His eyes were ultra-violet, and Yukine zeroed in on them to help fight off the black spots invading his vision. "What you want is not important,"
Yukine begged to differ as he wheezed with each breath, seeking precious oxygen, but never getting quite enough to feel safe.
"Because the moment you died, you became a thing," He weakly threw his hands out to grasp at Masuta's suit, but the god easily brushed them off. "And things are meant to be owned." Masuta was not smiling, neither was he frowning. No, he said it all as if he were simply stating a fact. Yukine could not argue how that was an opinion as his body went limp and his arms stopped grasping at his collar.
"You're not somebody in need of adoption like all those gods seem to think of their shinki, you're not a person anymore." Masuta made a derisive sound at the thought, and Yukine wanted to be offended, but he merely felt terror because he was being given the bare minimum amount of air to keep conscious and his lungs were working overtime to get even that.
"You are a shinki, a sacred treasure, but no matter how valuable a jewel is," His toes hovered above the ground and the noose completely constricted his neck as Masuta raised him higher. "It's still just an object."
The pressure abruptly loosened when Masuta opened his fist and Yukine dropped onto his hands and knees but the world was rocking side-to-side so he lost his balance and collapsed onto his side. He released hacking coughs as air whooshed into his depleted lungs, the black spots halting their invasion.
"Accept this fact and everything becomes a lot easier."
Yukine crawled up into an unstable crouch, body tipping left and right.
"I mean look at the shinki around you." Masuta gestured widely at the area around them.
Yukine did not look, though, since he was too busy trying to discern if the lights had gone out or if his vision was still clearing, but his collar hummed so he weakly lifted his head to stare at Masuta's regalia. She stared back at him, an ice statue.
Masuta went up behind her and she did not react when he patted her shoulders, posture never faltering under the pressure. "Does she look scared to you? In pain?" Masuta waited for Yukine to shake his head in the negative before hurrying on like a teacher helping a particularly slow student. "Well, humans hurt all the time, so if you want to stop hurting," His eyes were metal spikes that stabbed Yukine straight through the heart. "Stop pretending you're a person, shinki."
Yukine glared at the god. Then his lips trembled and his eyes became watery, and if he didn't expect to be shocked, he would have been crying an ocean. He had no more to say because his throat would only allow garbled speech out and he truly had no counter. For the longer he stared at the woman, her glass eyes boring into his, the more appealing Masuta's suggestion became.
Yes, she wore a collar, yet there was no sign of bruising on the milky skin of her neck. There was no indication her every move was under surveillance -she even left her master's sight on occasion. Her clothes got to be different, today being a pale pink dress, and perhaps she got to pick them out herself.
Yukine wanted that, he wanted the pain to go away with an all encompassing fervor. He was drained in every way at this point. His neck felt like a raw wound and every little move he made had the collar chaffing against it. It hurt so bad he wondered if it was bleeding despite knowing they would not have gone that far.
He couldn't recall the appearance of natural light and he had already forgotten the feeling of wind brushing though his hair. Did this shinki get to know these things? Was she allowed to roam as she pleased? And could he do the same if he became like her?
The fight seeped out of Yukine as he contemplated it all. He was about to be sold, and then undoubtedly taken some place far away. There was no escape. He had tried over and over just to fail, and he was out of time. This was his life now, so why not just let it go? Feel nothing, think empty thoughts. There would be no joy, sure, but no more pain or desire for things he could never have again either.
Objects didn't hurt, Yukine didn't want to hurt, so why not become a thing?
When the invisible rope tugged lightly on his neck, he rose promptly, and for the first time it did not hurt to move. Objects didn't feel thirst, bone-weary exhaustion, or bruises on their neck.
Masuta smiled, and his aurora sang with his triumphant. His lips moved but he did not hear, objects had no ears to hear. The woman approached him and wiped the dust off his kimono until it was pure white again, but he did not register the cold of her hands seeping through the cloth or the comb running through his hair as she fixed it.
He allowed Masuta to lead him to the stage and the spotlight was so intense he would have broken into a sweat if he could feel anything anymore. There was a girl around his age being led off the stage by the muscled man, but he did not care for her sorrow.
No, objects couldn't sympathize...but they could see.
His pale orange eyes saw the unshed tears shinning over her gray ones like a crystal film, and he must not have fully given in because he could still remember a time when he had been crying too.
"Live as a person!"
Yukine gasped and his eyes went wide. Masuta didn't notice as he spoke to the darkness in front of them where his potential buyers were.
Yato told me to live...as a person. Suddenly Yukine had an urge to cry stronger than he had in all his time here because how dare he forget something so dear to his identity. How dare he dishonor his master so terribly for even just a few minutes.
Yato had been dying from Yukine's sins, and rather than focus on his own pain, he had used the last of his strength to encourage him. He could have killed him back then, could have released him, but Yato decided to lay down his life to give Yukine another chance at one. His master would not have given his life for some object, a mere tool. He did it because to him Yukine was a person, his kid -baby as he had so teasingly put it- but a type of person none the less.
Yato... His master was not beside him, yet once again he had stopped Yukine from crossing that line and being lost to oblivion.
Yukine was moved so deeply his heart beat with a renewed passion. He was no object, he was a person, with a name and master he could never forsake. He would not give up again because Yato had not given up on him.
"-reasonable price," Masuta's voice echoed as he stared into the inky darkness. Yukine tried to peer through it, searching for anything that could aid him in his escape, but couldn't discern any chairs or people. He did however sense the gazes, a greedy lust for the blessed regalia that could boost their probably minor god status. Yukine hunched his shoulders, feeling as if hands were reaching out to him, and if let them touch him just a little bit, they'd grasp him and squeeze him dry.
Masuta patting his back brought him back to reality. "But this is a blessed regalia with an unprecedented strength." He lowered his voice and inclined it to his ear. "Use your borderline like you did earlier."
Yukine was bowled over by his luck. This was his chance. Masuta clearly expected him to aim at the target board on the right, which had been setup without his notice, but if he was fast enough and aimed at the lights above him... Maybe he could start a fire or ruin the stage. It wouldn't be enough to allow him to escape -he knew he'd be shocked first- but it might force Masuta to reschedule if his customers left once the area was too damaged for him to be properly examined. Regardless, it would give Yato time he needed to find him, and he knew Yato had to be searching because his master had not given up on him when he had every reason to so undoubtedly had not this time either.
Yukine smirked as he threw out a borderline with every ounce of his strength and the line flew up to the ceiling. Only for a borderline sent from the above to clash with his midair and his heart had begun sinking until he watched as his borderline tore right through the obstacle and continued on its course. The lights shattered and as the lights sparked on and off, he caught a glimpse of the falling glass and metal so jumped back into Masuta who grabbed his arms to hold him.
Then it was all dark.
He felt himself begin to panic but did not regret his decision as he heard metal groan and clack all over the stage.
Then it went silent and dark, but Yukine's elation trimmed down his fear.
A soft chuckling from behind him was the first sign something was wrong. The second were the emergency lights that came in from the sides of the stage, and Yukine was stunned to see Masuta was beaming at him in the dim lighting. Anxiety hastened his breathing as controlled applauds came from the unseen crowd and he realized he had made a terrible mistake when he spotted the private seating area across and above the stage. Shadowed faces of at least fifteen gods -shinki too since someone had thrown that borderline- stared him down as he was released.
"And all this power could be yours..." Masuta pulled out a tablet and touched the screen. "Starting now."
Yukine's horror intensified when he saw the screen fill with growing numbers, and he threw his head up to see the audience had tablets or phones and bowed heads as they typed rapidly.
He was being bid for, and there was nothing he could do. He had played right into Masuta's plan, had made his value rise in the eyes of the gods or goddesses bidding for him from behind the glass. He watched in mute horror as the numbers rose higher and higher in ways he had not anticipated -no wonder Masuta enjoyed his job.
He wrapped his arms around himself and took a step back, but stilled when Masuta's tablet sent out a brief, blaring alarm.
Masuta grinned and raised his chin to shout out, "Sold!"
Yukine wanted to run and run because someone had bought him.
He was truly out of time.
His collar was yanked in warning -he must have looked like he was going to run- and though Masuta was smirking at him, there was the clear order not to move.
Yet he couldn't help but fidget when he saw the audience shift and exit the glass room because he knew one of those people were coming down for him. However, he nearly leapt a foot when suddenly a man -no, god- appeared before him, having clearly teleported with a cellphone in his hand.
Masuta lowered his own phone from his ear as he went up to the shake the god's hands. "Miryoku, I'm pleasantly surprised to see you back so soon."
Miryoku smiled back, raven hair pinned up and dark brown eyes alit with excitement. "Ah, well, I lost my sole shinki recently and I'm in need of a replacement." His eyes bounced over to stare at Yukine, who stared back.
This god was actually not that intimidating, physique similar to Yato and about the same age. He was wearing a casual t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Despite his unassuming appearance, though, Yukine fidgeted when his eyes scanned him up and down. This Miryoku was clearly a god, his eyes holding an antiquity in their depths, but there was something wrong with him. He was smiling at Yukine but his eyes were frozen like a lake in the winter. Yukine felt like the naive child who had carelessly walked onto the ice simply to find it was thin and fracturing beneath him. The dark waters churned with a yearning to hold him and keep him captive below the icy surface.
Yukine flinched when Miryoku placed a heavy hand on his head. "Wow, you look so much younger up close, cuter too." He felt a chill run down his spine when Miryoku slid his hand down to cup his face. "Now what should I name you?" He gave the red kanji peeking above his kimono a cursory glance and made a tsking sound.
Yukine narrowed his eyes because this god had no right to be so dismissive. "My name is Yukine." He knocked the hand off his face with a scowl. Yet his collar remained silent while Miryoku's smiled brightened.
"Such spirit! I missed the fire my shinki used to have." The god grinned at Masuta. "But gotta make sure, that was the last of my yen, you know." Miryoku bent over to prod his sides with his fingers, and Yukine nearly batted him away but Masuta was eyeing him and his collar buzzed. He knew he would be forced one way or another, so reluctantly he allowed his ribs to be checked for any breaks and held in the tears when his bruised neck was fingered.
However, he gasped when Miryoku straightened and pulled his clothes open from his shoulders, exposing his upper torso. He felt unsettled when the god's hand was placed over his beating heart and he undoubtedly felt it pumping too fast. Yukine did not like how his gaze lingered on his exposed skin and was ready to tell him to back off when he was abruptly released.
"Everything seems to be in order." Miryoku nodded to Masuta but was grinning at Yukine, who glared at him despite how unnerved the god made him feel.
"I sell nothing but the best." Masuta smirked at Yukine before handing what appeared to be a silver bracelet to Miryoku, who slipped it around his wrist. "Would you like an escort?"
Miryoku was shaking his head before Masuta finished. "No, I'm sure I can handle him."
Yukine felt queasy while Masuta nodded and turned away to call out for his shinki because the transaction was done. It was over.
"I wonder if I should name you after a plant like my last regalia. Maybe after those weeping willows if you cry all the time like she did." Miryoku wrapped an arm around his shoulders, adding to his feeling of entrapment, and started leading him off the stage as Masuta's blessed regalia entered with a few other shinki that carried brooms in their hands while they approached the mess of metal and glass lying on the stage.
"I'll think about it on the way home. My phone's nearly dead, but there should be a payphone around the corner I can use." The way he said it implied it was Yukine's home as well and he was going to faint at this rate. This was more permanent than anything that had happened before, there would be no more chances after this because Miryoku was a god that could teleport him anywhere. Yet he couldn't let this happen, he couldn't let him take him!
"No!" Yukine forced the cry through his hoarse throat and refused to take another step down the hall they had entered.
Miryoku side-eyed him curiously but continued to smile that charming smile. "Don't fight your master." The collar gave him a brief shock, but Yukine endured it and launched himself out of the god's grasp.
"You're not my master." His voice came out as a rough yet clear hiss, and Miryoku's smile tightened at the edges like he was hammering it in so it wouldn't fall off during this altercation.
"That's what they all say at first."
That did not deter Yukine because if he let himself be taken out of here, he knew he would be whisked away and Yato might find him one day but it could take years and Yato needed him now. His father was always stirring up trouble for him and Hiyori, and Yato needed his hafuri to protect him. Yukine had a job to do, made a promise to Yato, and he would not fail.
Miryoku must have spotted the resolve in his eyes because he sighed and rubbed a weary hand down his now frowning face. Though he quickly recovered to smile a thin smile. "You're lucky you're so cute."
He made a fist and yanked forward so hard Yukine fell straight into the god's chest. Then his hand caught the front of his kimono and raised him so they were at eye level. "Because I killed the last regalia for disobeying me just once."
Yukine gasped sharply but horror did not have time to form before Miryoku dropped him and then trudged towards a concrete staircase that led to a door. At once he was dragged on the ground, bruises on his neck aggravated and lungs loosing air. He could hear the muffled sounds of honking cars and people chattering in the city outside, but no, he would not go out there!
He threw his hands out until he caught hold of the stairs' railing and he held on regardless of how the string was starting to crush his throat.
"You should give up." Miryoku's voice was honey, sweet and clingy as it clung to the part of Yukine that wanted to stop fighting. The voice in his head that had listened to Masuta and just wanted the pain to stop.
Yet he had to give Yato every second, fight for every moment he could because somewhere out there his master was doing the same for him.
However, his hands were starting to slip and he was getting dizzy from the lack of air. It wasn't long before his fingers slid off and he collapsed onto the stairs, body gaining new bruises. The line slackened and he wheezed in what he could before the rope tightened and his head thudded against the steps as he was dragged up them like a fish on a hook.
"Stop fighting," Miryoku reeled him in over another step and he felt skin break as his arm was scraped along a chipped edge. "You're my shinki and we have all eternity to get to know each other, so let's start on a good note." The brown of his eyes were either faintly glowing or Yukine was starting to hallucinate from lack of air. Yet he struggled and scraped his nails against the hard floor because he would not go down without a fight.
"You can't keep this up forever." Miryoku persisted, easily pulling him along with a smile. "You can't even sting me, or you'll sting your other master too. That's why I don't mind the noras, they tend to be too loyal to their old masters to blight me."
Yukine could not deny the truth of those words, but that would only apply if Miryoku got him up the last step, which Yukine had no intention of allowing.
"Kokki!"
And fate must have had the same idea because the building shook and startled cries broke out down the hall.
Miryoku released him in surprise and Yukine collapsed on the top step while taking in heaving breaths, but fell into a coughing fit after he took in too much for his deprived lungs to handle.
"Jungle savate!"
Yukine stopped breathing entirely as his head shot up because he recognized those voices.
Kofuku? Hiyori? Could it...
His round eyes became misty as he stared down the hall and spotted a flash of pink -Kofuku's vent?- and the sounds of chaotic fighting reached his ears.
"A raid?" Miryoku looked mildly concerned, but did not move as he assessed the situation.
On the other hand, Yukine wondered if he was dreaming while the shout for unfamiliar shinki names were called out and the earth rumbled again as he imagined Kofuku summed another vent with Daikoku.
Yukine had no proof Yato was amidst the chaos, but his soul was singing because he just knew his master had found him. Yato had to be here.
He parted his dry lips but his arm was grabbed and he was lugged up by Miryoku, who threw the door open before he could blink. Yukine felt his heart racing because he was taking him away, away from his friends and his master and his freedom.
No, not now, not when Yato had finally come, not when everyone was fighting for him, not now damn it!
He summoned all he had to release the call as he was yanked into the alleyway and the door was closing behind him. "YATOOO!" The name pierced through the air like a sonic boom, raspy and screechy as it was.
The door shut in his face, and he wondered if it closed on his freedom too, but then he heard the muffled sound of stomping footsteps charging his way.
"Yukineeeee!" The cry was a mix of desperation and rage, and it was the most pleasant noise Yukine had ever heard because that was Yato. Yato was here!
Miryoku's hand slapped over his mouth before he could respond and the god's lanky arm showed surprising strength as it wrapped around and lifted him before suddenly Miryoku had launched them onto several patios until they landed on the roof of a nearby building.
Yukine's stomach plummeted from the sudden altitude change and because he had been so close to escaping, but then a door slammed open and his master's voice rung out from below. "Yukine?! Yukine, where are you?!"
He rushed to bite the hand keeping him quiet but it was too firm against his lips and Miryoku would not budge no matter how he squirmed. This scene reminded him too much of how he was originally taken and adrenaline rushed into his veins because he would not allow the same thing to happen again. He was Yato's hafuri and it was his job to guide him to where he needed to go, and maybe he had been doing a poor job of that for the past few weeks, but he would make up for it now by guiding him to his blessed regalia!
"Shut up." Miryoku hissed at him, an edge of worry breaking through his eerie calm. Perhaps he too felt the air sizzling with the distinct aurora of a god on the warpath, more specifically, a god of calamity prepared to tear this city apart if he didn't get his kid back right now.
Yet Yato's calls were getting farther and farther away so Yukine's mind went into overdrive. His eyes darted around as he fought the grip crushing him until he spotted a dusty pile of clay lying about a foot away from them. He took a second to evaluate the distance and then went limp in Miryoku's arms.
"What?" Miryoku was taken aback by the sudden change from movement to stillness, and he took advantage of his shock to lunge so Miryoku tipped forward. "Stop!"
Yukine kicked out and sent some of the clay shards flying. His toes throbbed as they shattered below and then his entire being screamed bloody murder once he was dropped and electrified at a dangerously high voltage. He must have blacked out for a moment because he was suddenly at the feet of Miryoku, invisible line holding him up so he was on his knees. The god had them near the ledge as if he were about to leap when a black blur flipped onto the rooftop and landed across from them.
Yato!
Hope blossomed unbridled in his heart as he soaked in the image of his master because Yato had come. His master had really truly come for him.
Yato's eyes were steaming at temperatures hot enough to melt iron as they zeroed in on Miryoku. He was wearing his tracksuit minus the scarf and his dark hair was frizzled at the ends as if he had not brushed it in days. He was breathing heavily not from exertion so much as rage and his body thrummed with a manic energy. He held no weapon, but he didn't need to, for his body was a smoking gun, fired up and just waiting for a target. A target he found in Miryoku.
"Stay right there." The snarl escaped through Yato's bared teeth and Yukine felt a shiver go down his back as Yato's aurora both burned and froze the atmosphere with its intensity. "And release him."
Miryoku made a soft gasping noise the instant those blue eyes slammed into him like a hungry beast slammed into the bars of his cage. He looked like he wanted to move, maybe even obey the command, but he was too frightened to do anything when Yato started lumbering towards them.
"Release my kid now." His gait was predatory and dominating, but cautious too since he saw how close they were to the ledge and knew if Miryoku became too jumpy he could tumble over the side with Yukine being forced to plummet with him.
However, Miryoku's quivering caused his arm to shake the unseen rope and Yukine whined lowly when the invisible line scraped against his neck.
Yato's eyes darted down and they lost their intensity as he caught sight of the collar on his neck, but before Yukine could catch any signs of emotion, Yato's face went blank while his eyes shined from a brilliant inner inferno.
His gaze seemed to trail the invisible line -could he see it somehow?- to Miryoku's fisted hand and he took another step forward. "I said let him go." He took another step, aurora brimming with his dominance and bowing the earth to his will. "Or did you not hear me? Maybe I should remove your ears first since you don't know how to use them properly."
"W-Wait!" Miryoku must have known he was staring into the picture definition of death because he made a frantic waving down motion with his free hand. "I-I'm a minor god too, t-there's no need for us to fight. We could share the regalia-"
"Not a chance." Yato's voice was a growl that broke through the sound waves until they parted before him. He took another firm step forward, his pupils inhuman like those of a feral tiger readying his claws. "Release him now."
The air curled around Yato like the winds of a hurricane and Miryoku looked like he really was considering taking his chances with the pavement below, but then he eyed Yukine, and some of his courage returned because he had spent all he had on this shinki. "I-I could just use him a couple of days-"
Yato's stride was undettered like a man possessed by one single goal, expression eerily blank. "Give him back." He was almost close enough for Yukine to touch, and if he had the strength to, he would have reached out, yet he was only sitting up due to the invisible line. It seemed the punishments and escape attempts had caught up to him all at once, and Yukine was holding it together by a thin thread only because Yato was here and he had missed seeing him so very much.
Miryoku's fear faded as something dawned on him, and that easy-going smile crawled back onto his face. "Oh, I see," Suddenly, as if he had an ingenious idea, Miryoku placed his hand on Yukine's shoulder and Yato paused, eyes narrowing at the action as he warily waited for the god's next move because Yukine was still too close to the edge. "I like them young too." Miryoku slid his hand under his kimono and Yukine did not get a chance to register the violation before a blur of black and white leapt over him and he was knocked back by a familiar sweaty palm.
Yukine rolled a short distance away from the ledge and did not have the will to move his aching body from where it landed on its side. He heard the smacking of flesh and bone crunching prior to him catching sight of the scene near the ledge.
Yato released an enraged yell every time his bare fists pummeled into Miryoku's face. The god had a broken arm after trying to block the first hit and did not try to defend himself again after that.
Yukine was in a state of shock and numbly watched Yato destroy his fellow god, blood staining his knuckles as he beat him over and over like a machine trained to do one job.
But then Yukine realized this was his master -Yato was here- and he had not seen him for so so long, and he was so, so grateful he had to let him know.
He forced himself onto his shaking hands and knees. "Y-Yato..." He could not squeeze out more than a raspy whisper yet Yato froze instantaneously.
The bloodied fist he held over the now unconscious god lowered stiffly. Then almost robotically he turned to Yukine.
And those glowing blue eyes softened and his pupils rounded to their normal size and Yukine did not feel the tears dribbling down his neck until he felt the lump in his throat.
"Yukine." Yato's own eyes shimmered and he opened his arms while hurrying towards him because Yukine had already allowed himself to fall because Yato was there to catch him.
His face was cushioned by the stupid tracksuit that he had actually missed and his head fell gently onto his master's chest. He wanted to cling to Yato like the needy child he was, but he had absolutely no more to give. Yet Yato heard his silent plea and was already bundling him into his arms and encasing him in a strong but gentle embrace.
Yukine bawled unhindered for the first time in weeks and maybe that was why the tears streamed out like his eyes were faucets set to their highest level. Each sob wracked his sore body, but it felt so good to cry as toxic emotions poured out of him with every teardrop. Everything was alright now as Yato whispered soothing nothings into his hair while he stood up with him curled in his arms.
Yukine tried to tell him everything that happened through the sniffles and weeping but Yato merely shushed him and held him closer. He felt warm and safe and loved, but he didn't know how to express this while being a sobbing mess.
"It's okay, Yukine." Yato told him tenderly and Yukine did not realize how much he missed hearing someone call him by name, rather than his title as a shinki, until now. The joy this brought him only encouraged more tears to spill out.
"It's okay, I've got you, I've got you." Yato clung to him so fiercely it should have hurt but Yukine was so overwhelmed that his crushing grip was the only thing keeping him coherent.
Yato must have felt the same because he stayed this way with Yukine for hours or minutes or forever and a day because Yukine did not want to wake up from this beautiful dream.
Though movement from the corner of his eye made him stiffen and his tears ebbed as he became alert to the sound of someone groaning.
Yet he needed not worry because Yato whipped around and his eyes were blue matches waiting for the signal to set someone alight. "Don't try anything." The order blazed through the air and Miryoku blinked one eye open because the other was swollen shut and coated in the blood oozing from a head wound as he entered a sitting position. He started at the sight of Yato, so hurriedly slid his sole good eye away to Yukine and he was ashamed that he could not hold in the whimper that escaped him because it felt like those brown eyes were trying to pull him away from his master -no, no, no- and drown him in their depths.
Yato's hand flickered into view and flung a tattered sheet, which he recognized as his scarf, over his head. His panic receded the second he couldn't see Miryoku and he wondered why before recalling a book he read on animal rescues. The rescuers always had to blind the animals to keep them calm. It felt like an accurate comparison, though he hated comparing himself to an animal in need.
"You're not a person." Masuta's voice reminded him.
"It's okay, Yukine." Yato's whisper smoothed over the memory and Yukine nodded his head against his chest to let him know he was okay. With him taken care of, Yato's voice rose. "Don't look at him." His master demanded from above, but the hands holding him were sweaty and he knew they had to belong to his master so he was safe. He was finally safe.
"For what you've done," Lightning striking down a tall tree could not compare to the raw power in Yato's words. "I should pluck your eyeballs out of their sockets and peel the skin off your fingers layer by layer until I see bone. In fact, I'd do it now but I'm busy with more important things than crushing an ant like you."
He felt Yato's growl rumble against his head, but his ears rested right above his master's thudding heart and he found the beat to be rhythmic. His sniffling ended as the sound lulled him either because it calmed him or he was too exhausted to keep it up.
"Really though, I should just kill you," Yato's voice dripped venom. "I want to kill you..." His voice became a bitter hiss. "So much."
He was not sure what Yato looked like but he figured it had to be terrifying because he heard whimpering from somewhere ahead.
"Then again..." Yato strode forward and Miryoku made a sound that might have been a garbled plea coming through a broken jaw.
"Don't bother with him, Yato." Kazuma spoke from behind if Yato's slight turn of the head was any indication. Yukine tried to peer through the scarf but could only make out a smudge of brown nearby.
"He touched my kid." Yato's voice was quiet but weighed down by the animosity soaking each syllable.
"Bishamon will place him in custody with the others."
"Tell that swarmy-"
"A master has a responsibility to his shinki, that's all you've said these past weeks."
He felt Yato stiffen as it occurred to Yukine that Yato had been thinking about him as much as he had thought about his master. Though it wasn't like he could have forgotten him with how Yukine's emotions no doubt troubled him week after week. Guilt pricked his insides at the reminder.
"So get Yukine out of here. He is your priority, correct?" Kazuma was calm, though, there was a line of exasperation in his tone that made it sound as if he had needed to talk Yato down more than once recently. From what, Yukine had a good idea because Yato could be so reckless and without his hafuri to guide him all this time...
Yukine silently resolved to thank Kazuma for taking care of his master while he had been useless all these weeks.
Yato's head dipped down, returning him to the present, and he sensed the scrutiny. "Fine," Yato had to be facing him for his voice to sound this clear. "Just remember to keep him alive until I can...visit him." There was an unsaid threat, but Yukine could not dwell on it for in a flash he felt the familiar sensation of being teleported.
The scarf was removed and Yukine looked around from his place in Yato's arms to see they had entered a bedroom at what had to be Bishamon's place.
"I know you probably want to go home, but Kazuma insisted you'd recover better here." Yato was not looking at him, mind clearly on other things at the moment, but he collected himself quickly.
His master walked over to the bed and eased his limp body onto it so he slumped against the headboard. Yukine shivered when a chill seeped through his clothes and he missed those arms around him already, but Yato had been observing him and his eyes crinkled in sympathy.
"Let's get you changed." Yato reached over to open the kimono, probably since Yukine was obviously too exhausted to lift a finger, but the second there were hands tugging at his clothes all he could see were Miryoku's grabby hands coming towards him.
He flinched so violently his head spun as a blinding terror struck him. "Get off!" He screeched and it aggravated his throat before he realized his error.
Yato stared at him, eyes round and expression of shock morphing into guilt.
Yukine felt his own guilt fill his chest until he was waterlogged with it. "Y-Yato, I-"
"No, no," Yato had composed himself, arms falling as he backed away and his hair fell into his eyes to hide his expression. "I should have known better with what you've..." He could not finish and rushed to turn around to give his back to Yukine as he planted himself on the edge of the mattress.
"I'm sorry I took so long, I should have gotten there weeks ago. Hell, I shouldn't have let them take you in the first place!" He slammed a fist into the bed, jostling him and the pillows.
Yukine wanted to smack Yato for thinking such ridiculous thoughts -baka!- but his voice was shot and he had no energy for anything save laying on the cotton bed that was both an oddity and comfort with its softness. When was the last time he slept on something soft?
"I mean the whole reason they found you was because I blabbed to everyone about you being a blessed regalia."
Yukine actually secretly liked it when Yato prattled on about how proud he was of his blessed regalia, but the words were trapped by his muted mouth.
"If I had my own house in Takamagahara we wouldn't have to spend so much time down there! Plus they only target minor gods and who's more minor than me? I can't even protect my own shinki...my own kid..."
His voice faded until he was muttering to himself, but Yukine did not want to hear anymore.
Yato had saved him from spending years with Miryoku, kept his heart from giving in to Masuta, and even before today he had saved Yukine countless times no matter the personal cost.
Yukine opened his mouth so a soft exhale escaped and Yato turned to him with misty blue eyes. Yukine shook his head, though it made him a tad dizzy, and lifted a shaky hand out towards his idiot master. "You...save..." They were all he could manage, but slowly Yato's face shifted into something less guilt-ridden and maybe that was mainly because he could feel Yukine's pure happiness and bliss, which was no doubt a drastic change from what he had been feeling for weeks.
Yato rose, and after a second of deliberation, walked over to sit next to Yukine. He grasped his trembling hand. "Yukine..." He too was out of words to express his joy at seeing Yukine in the flesh, but then his eyes lowered to his neck and the merriment drained away. "You should rest, you must be tired." His tone became flat and his expression was shadowed. "I need to check on-"
The god managed to half-rise before Yukine's grip on his hand stopped him. It was weak as a newborn kitten's bite but when he turned to see Yukine's fearful expression, he got the picture.
"Don't worry, I'll be back by the time you wake up." Yato smiled a weak grin that was clearly for his shinki's benefit. However, when Yukine continued to stare at him with those big doe-eyes, Yato sighed.
He slowly raised his free hand, making sure Yukine could see where it was heading, and once he made contact, watched Yukine's reaction carefully for any sign the hair ruffling was scaring him. However, Yukine leaned into the touch and would have smiled if he hadn't been so tired.
"You want me to stay as you sleep?" Yato asked softly, but earnestly.
The teenager in Yukine was miffed by the question, but the louder side of him that was terrified none of this was real because it wasn't like he hadn't dreamed of being saved before only to wake up in an nightmare, beamed at the offer.
Yato seemed to sense his answer, loving compassion making his eyes shine. "Okay, Yukine."
He laid himself on the edge of the bed and stabilized himself before pulling Yukine into his arms. He paused when Yukine stiffened, but Yukine recovered fast and rubbed his head against Yato's chest to show him he was more than alright with this. Yato stretched an arm over his regalia to pull a light blanket over them and shifted Yukine in his arms so most of his body used the god as a pillow.
He released a content hum while he once again listened to Yato's steady heartbeat and savored the warmth blanketing him.
"I've got you, Yukine," Yato whispered -perhaps believing Yukine was already asleep since his eyes had drifted shut and his breathing was deepening.
"And I'm never letting you go."
There was no possessive or threatening note to that whisper, for it was a vow that broke down Yukine's final resolve to keep conscious.
He could rest easy now. He was safe.
Because Yato always kept his promises.
Don't worry there is another chapter and this is not the end! I was only planning for this to be a three-shot, but I had to split the ending into two because it was so long and we all want to see Masuta get his, right?
