Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys :) Don't worry, I can't see Yato releasing Yukine that easily XD Let's be honest, it's a bad idea to mess with Yato's kid :3


When Yukine woke, he was alone. His eyes were sore and achy from crying, and he squinted them against the harsh influx of light pouring through the window. The other futon was empty, which meant that either Yato had gotten a job he'd decided to do on his own or it was later than Yukine usually got up.

Yukine swallowed and peeked beneath his sleeve, and his heart sank when he saw the name there mocking him. It was silly to hope it had disappeared overnight or been just a nightmare to start with.

Desperation welled in his chest again, but he reached up to touch the name on his collarbone. He could almost feel Yato's fingers tracing over it, burning it back into his heart and soul. "You are Yukine. And you are mine."

Yukine took a deep breath, let it out in a sigh, and stood up. He would trust that. He still didn't feel great about the whole situation, but he focused on Yato's touch and voice to soothe some of the worry and shame away.

He pulled on some clothes—long-sleeved, of course—and headed downstairs. Hiyori, Kofuku, and Yato were in the kitchen, the former trying to do homework while the latter two made it impossible. They chattered animatedly, and Yato was hovering over Hiyori's shoulder with a pencil, sneakily attacking her papers when she left them unguarded.

"Yato!" Hiyori complained, batting his hand away. "Stop drawing on my homework!"

"But it's fuuun!"

"Well, you aren't the one who's going to have to turn in homework covered with capypers," she said sourly. She shuffled through her stack of papers and handed him one, turning it over to expose the blank back. "Here, I don't need this one. Draw on that and leave my homework alone!"

Yato snatched it up and plopped down at the table beside her. "Fine, fine. 'Morning, Yukine!"

Well, at least someone was back to his normal self…

"Good morning," Yukine said, smothering a yawn behind his hand as he trudged over to sit down with his friends.

Hiyori smiled at him. "Look who's finally up! I thought we could have a lesson, but Yato told us to let you sleep in because you had a late night."

"O-oh…" Yukine cast an uncertain look at Yato, but the god was happily drawing away without a care in the world.

"How are you feeling today, Yukki?" Kofuku asked. She abandoned her fun harassing Hiyori to lunge for the fridge. "Daikoku made you breakfast! Let me just find it…"

"Oh, yeah." A more serious look pinched Hiyori's features. "Kofuku said you had a run-in with an ayakashi yesterday." She poked a finger at Yato. "Shouldn't you have been with him?"

"I was on a job!" Yato whined.

"It was my fault," Yukine muttered. "I didn't want to go on his job with him."

Kofuku bounced back over to set a plate of food in front of him. He didn't feel like eating but thanked her anyway.

Yato's lips tightened, but he didn't look up from his drawing. "Do you want to tell them what really happened, Yukine?"

Yukine froze and slowly pushed the food away. Of course he didn't want to tell them, but… But they were his friends, weren't they? They deserved to know. He had told Yato already, which was the hard part.

"Yukine?" Hiyori asked. She leaned across the table to eye him in concern. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, there is something else?" Kofuku's normally cheery eyes had turned serious. "We figured there must be, with how worried Yato-chan was. Just let me get Daikoku…"

She bustled out the door and returned a few moments later with Daikoku following behind, obviously torn away from watching the shop.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around the ring of solemn faces with a frown.

Yukine swallowed hard and looked to Yato for help. The god was still sketching absently, but he finally lifted his gaze to meet Yukine's eyes and nodded.

Yukine took a deep breath and looked down at his hands fiddling in his lap. "I stopped to hang out by the cherry tree before going to the store," he mumbled. "It was a nice day, and… Well, Takemikazuchi and Kiun cornered me down there." He pushed his sleeve back reluctantly, and the gesture was greeted by a chorus of gasps. "He wants to force Yato to release me at the colloquy tomorrow."

"He named you?" Hiyori cried. "That's…"

"Extremely poor taste," Kofuku said grimly. "It's a horrible thing to name a shinki against their will. No wonder you were so upset…"

Daikoku growled out a string of curses that had even Yato raising his eyebrows.

"Are you okay, Yukine?" Hiyori asked anxiously.

Yukine forced a smile. "I will be, once that jerk releases me."

"Yeah…" Hiyori turned on Yato. "What are you going to do?"

Yato grinned. "We're going to go to the colloquy, of course!"

"Wh-what? But–"

He just laughed. "You worry too much! Relax. I'll take care of it. Old Take won't know what hit him."

Hiyori stared in horror. "Yukine is doomed," she lamented.

"Have a little faith," Yato complained. He hopped to his feet, the pencil clattering forgotten on the table, and grinned at them all. "Alright, I'm heading out! I'll be back in a bit."

Yukine frowned. "Where are you going?"

"Out!"

"You're really going to leave when Yukine is so upset?" Hiyori asked in disbelief.

"Aw, he's alright." Yato flapped a dismissive hand. "He's got you guys." He winked at Yukine and headed for the door. "If anything happens, call me!"

"Call him," Hiyori muttered with a shake of her head as he disappeared.

"Yeah…" Yukine pulled the phone out of his pocket and ran his fingers over the cover to soothe himself. "He got me a phone yesterday, before I even told him what happened. For emergencies. I should get you my number."

"Oh. That's good. He means well, just… I wish he was taking it more seriously. Are you really okay, Yukine?"

"Yeah…"

"Yato-chan is taking it very seriously. I haven't seen him this furious in ages." Kofuku turned on Daikoku with shining eyes and a wide grin. "Daikoku! We have to go to the colloquy tomorrow!"

Daikoku's brows pinched together. "They don't really like it when we attend…"

"But there's going to be so much draaama! Did you see Yato-chan's face?"

"I don't know…"

"And we'll be there to support him and Yukki?" Kofuku wheedled.

Daikoku gave in. "Alright, alright."

"Yaaay!"

Hiyori was looking between them in bemusement. "Furious? He seemed like his normal happy-go-lucky self to me…"

Kofuku waved her hand in a dismissive fashion. "He's good at hiding things behind a smile, but did you see his eyes? Yato-chan is on the warpath!"

Come to think of it, Yato had had a strange look in his eyes last night… He had said he was furious, too. Perhaps, Yukine reflected, his reaction had been so strange because he was having a hard time balancing comforting his shinki and raging against Takemikazuchi.

"I didn't notice," Hiyori said with a frown. "I guess I should pay more attention…"

"I do wish he had some kind of plan, though," Yukine grumbled.

"Don't worry so much," Daikoku grunted. "He might act like an idiot, but he'll fight till the end. I haven't seen eyes like that on him for a hundred years. It probably doesn't help that it was Takemikazuchi—I'm pretty sure Yato's still holding a grudge over that whole thing with Ebisu. And I'm sure it's worse that it's Yukine."

"Me?" Yukine blinked at him in bewilderment. "Why me?"

"You're his shinki, aren't you? Hafuri, even."

"Yato-chan feels your pain," Kofuku explained. "That's why he was so worried yesterday, right? Some gods see shinki as tools and some forge really deep bonds with them, and it's dangerous to hurt the shinki of the latter. Like Bisha!"

"Oh… That's true," Yukine conceded. "It hurts Yato too."

"That's…actually not what I meant. It's like… You like Hiyorin and Yato-chan, right? If someone hurt them, you would be upset, right? Because you see that they're hurting."

Yukine frowned at her, not sure where this was going. "Well, yes. Of course."

"Now, imagine if you could feel how much they were hurting. Don't you think you would be that much more upset on their behalf?" Kofuku rounded the table and pinned down the page Yato had abandoned with one finger to drag it to the center. She smiled down at it a little sadly. "Yato-chan is so angry because he knows—feels—exactly how much pain you're in. He will definitely fight to fix that."

Yukine stared down at the paper, his heart jumping into his throat. There was a wispy sketch of a boy with blankets drawn over his head, face almost entirely hidden except for the tears dripping down his chin. Littered around the rest of the page were a dozen depictions of the name written on Yukine's collarbone: big and small, thick and thin, curling in slender lines and carved in angry strokes that bit down deep into the paper.

"O-oh…" Yukine touched one of the larger kanji tentatively and traced his finger over each curve and line.

"That Takemikazuchi messed up," Daikoku said bluntly. "Yato isn't a god you want to cross."

"Yato-chan is scarier than Bisha!" Kofuku agreed.

Yukine actually thought Bishamon could be pretty damn scary when she wanted to be and Yato was often just a hyperactive child, but he didn't protest. His throat still felt tight, anyway.

"Well, I'm sure he'll figure it out," Hiyori said confidently. She smiled brightly at Yukine. "Yato can be a bit hopeless sometimes, but he's always rescued us when we needed rescuing, right? You'll definitely be fine! Do you still want a lesson today, or would you rather wait?"

"Yeah." Yukine swallowed past the lump in his throat and neatly folded the page to slip it in his pocket beside the phone. "I'm ready. Better than sitting around and worrying, right?"

"I need to go man the shop, but let me know if you need anything." Daikoku ruffled Yukine's hair as he brushed past. "You'll be alright, kid."

Kofuku wandered off, probably to get into more trouble and leave Daikoku to bail her out, and Hiyori started in on today's math lesson. Yukine found it a bit difficult to concentrate at first, his mind still running a million miles an hour and definitely not preoccupied with math, but did his best to really throw himself into it. It helped to have something else to focus on, and it didn't hurt that Hiyori seemed gentler than usual today.

"Yukine? Are you alright?"

But apparently he was still zoning out a little too much. "Sorry," he said, shaking his head to refocus on the problem. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Is it…really bad?" Hiyori asked hesitantly.

His pencil slowed to a stop. "It's…like he's trying to take away who I am and make me someone that I don't want to be. Names are really important to us, you know? I don't want to be his pet just because he takes what he wants without caring about what I want. I don't want to be a nora."

Hiyori stayed quiet for a long moment before saying, "But you're still Yukine. You're still you. He can't take that away from you."

Yukine huffed out a quiet laugh. "That's what Yato said."

"Oh?" Hiyori smiled down at her homework. "He's a bit crazy, but he cares a lot. He never gave up on you, not even back in the beginning. There's no way he would give you up now. I believe that he'll stand by you no matter how things turn out."

Yukine's lips trembled and his fingers tightened around the pencil. Hiyori was right. He had been wrong to be so afraid of Yato's reaction. He wouldn't be happy until the unwanted name was gone, but it helped to know that Yato wouldn't give up on him either way.

And everyone else had been so kind too. No one treated him like a nora or like he had done something wrong or was somehow less than he had been. He said a silent thanks to Kofuku and Daikoku and Hiyori too, and threw himself back into his lesson with renewed vigor because he felt that he owed it to Hiyori to show her that he appreciated everything.

Yato reappeared right around lunchtime with a satisfied smirk plastered on his face, and Kofuku trailed after him as he strolled into the kitchen with a bounce in his step.

"How did it go?" Hiyori asked immediately. "Where did you go?"

"I went to grill that blonde bimbo for information," Yato said brightly, looking horribly pleased with himself.

A stab of panic flashed through Yukine. "Did you tell her–?"

"Pfft, of course not. I can keep secrets!"

Which was true enough. Actually, it might be one of the things Yato was best at, especially when it concerned his past. It had taken long enough for any of that to come to light.

"Did you learn anything useful?" Kofuku asked.

"Any information is useful! I've got a pretty good idea of how to handle him." Yato grinned at Yukine. "Also, great news, Yukine! We've got a job!"

"We…do? What kind of job?"

"The psycho bitch contracted us some work. A little storm popped up nearby, and she's busy preparing for the colloquy."

"Ohhh?" asked Kofuku. "Bisha doesn't usually delegate work to other gods…"

Yato shrugged. "I guess she's busy. Want to go cut up some ayakashi, Yukine?"

Yukine nodded. "Sure."

"I'll come too," Hiyori volunteered.

Yato considered her for a second before grinning again. "Good idea! Let's go!"

He was off like a shot, leaving Yukine and Hiyori to scramble after him and curse his boundless energy. A small storm had darkened the sky a few blocks behind Tenjin's shrine, and they proceeded to cut through a swarm of ayakashi haunting the streets.

Well, Yato and Yukine did. Hiyori just occasionally kicked any that came too close to snapping at her cord. Yato just laughed and said he was glad she'd come along to be bait and lure in the ayakashi so that they didn't have to run around as much. In actuality, it might be because he thought having Hiyori around would make Yukine feel better.

After one near miss and a stern warning from Yato to 'focus, Yukine', Yukine threw himself into the fighting and let it consume his focus until it crowded out everything else. There wasn't room for worries or shame or brooding when he was occupied with protecting his master.

So he was actually feeling pretty good when Yato called a halt. The bloody red and purple hues of the sunset were starting to darken into night, and Yukine wondered where all the time had gone.

"Good job, Yukine," Yato said, and Yukine materialized beside him. "And you were great bait, Hiyori! The ayakashi love you! We should do it again sometime."

Hiyori's tail flicked in annoyance. "I'm glad someone finds it amusing. Personally, I find it a bit of a pain to attract phantoms wherever I go."

"Only in your half-phantom form," Yato corrected cheerfully.

"Well, considering I'm in that form half the time…"

Yukine's stomach growled loudly, and both Yato and Hiyori turned to blink at him. He flushed.

"I guess it's time for dinner, huh, Yukine?" Yato said with a laugh.

"Sh-shut up!"

"You didn't eat much today," Hiyori said, her eyes softening. "Make sure you eat dinner, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Here!" Yato pulled a huge handful of chocolates and hard candies out of his pocket and held it out to Yukine and Hiyori. He looked terribly pleased with himself. "That psycho bitch had bowls of candy and stuff sitting out, so I swiped a bunch!"

"He's going to spoil his appetite with all that!" Hiyori cried. "You can't feed him a bunch of candy right before dinner!"

"Why not?"

"You–"

Yukine snatched up the candies to unwrap them and pop them into his mouth. He was too hungry to turn his nose up at them, even considering that they'd been sitting in the pocket of that nasty tracksuit all day.

"Ha!" Yato crowed in victory. "Don't say I never do anything for you, kid. But make sure you eat your dinner too, or Daikoku and Hiyori will kill me. Okay, Yukine?"

It seemed like every other sentence he directed his shinki's way had Yukine's name tacked on to the beginning or end. Yukine wondered suddenly if Yato was doing it on purpose, taking every chance to reaffirm Yukine's chosen name. He…hoped so. It made his heart feel a little warmer.

"I'm going to tell Daikoku that you fed me a bunch of candy," he said around a mouthful of chocolate.

"Yukineee!"

Hiyori huffed out a laugh and took one of the chocolates for herself. "Well, I need to head home before I worry my parents. And I'm starving too. I'm sorry I won't be able to go to the colloquy with you, but I'll definitely stop by to see how it went as soon as I can get away. Good luck! I'm sure it'll go fine, Yukine."

Yukine's newfound equanimity shattered at the reminder, but he plastered on a smile and choked down the last of the chocolate even though it suddenly tasted like cardboard.

"Yeah…" he mumbled. "Thanks. Goodnight, Hiyori."

"Goodnight!" She disappeared into the night, hopping home in great leaps and bounds.

"Um…" Yato scratched at his head and suddenly seemed uncertain. "More chocolate?"

"Nah, that's okay. I won't be hungry for dinner otherwise."

"Okay…"

They had walked almost right up to Kofuku's doorstep before it occurred to Yukine that Yato's sudden unease was probably because he could feel the return of Yukine's anxiety. He darted a sidelong look at his master, but Yato's eyes were distant and unfocused. He reached out, hesitated, and then tugged nervously at Yato's sleeve.

Yato's gaze snapped back to the present and he blinked down at Yukine with wide, puzzled eyes. "Yukine?"

Yukine released him, shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked away to hide his flush. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Huh? For what?"

"…The candy. Duh."

"Oh." Yato laughed and ruffled Yukine's hair as he shoved the door open and ushered him inside the shrine. "No problem, kiddo."

Yukine gave up on the fumbled attempt to convey his gratitude and followed Yato into the kitchen. Kofuku and Daikoku were already eating, and the latter waved a hand in the direction of a pot on the stove.

"We waited, but you're pretty late," he grunted.

Kofuku asked about their job, and she and Yato chatted cheerfully as everyone settled down at the table with food. Yukine didn't understand how those two always had so much energy. Or why their jaws hadn't dropped off from overuse yet.

Still, at least it saved him from having to make small talk. He appreciated the reprieve, but still stood up as soon as he'd finished eating.

"I'm going to head to bed," he said.

"You do have a big day tomorrow." Kofuku tilted her head and smiled. "Sleep well, Yukki!"

Yukine had no idea how he could sleep well when his heart was beating like a drum and his stomach churned in a fairly nauseating fashion, but he smiled and bade everyone goodnight. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but the hem of his pants snagged on something on the stairs halfway up, and he could still hear the voices in the kitchen as he bent down to free it.

"We're going to the colloquy too!" Kofuku chirped. "Isn't it exciting?"

"If you say so," Yato grunted. He had dropped his veneer of good cheer and sounded tired and grim.

That gave Yukine pause, and he sat down quietly on the step to listen.

"It'll be fine! Did you get the information you needed from Bisha?"

"Mm. Bits and pieces, but they're coming together. Anyway, it's just as useful to know about his personality to determine how to hit him so he breaks."

"Yato-chan is so cuuunning!"

Daikoku snorted. "That's a new one. Good to know you still have a brain buried somewhere, even if you rarely use it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sooo, Yato-chan, was Bisha really that busy? Or did you ask her for spare work? She isn't really the type to ask other gods to do things for her."

"Yeah, I asked. Smarmy bitch acted like she was doing me a grand favor or something. Practically made me beg for it."

"What did you expect? You two are always at each other's throats. At least you aren't actually trying to kill each other anymore. That was a pain. Maybe try being nicer and she'll overlook some of your obnoxiousness. You could start with dropping the insulting nicknames."

"Thanks for the advice, Mom."

"Why, you–"

"I thought it would give Yukine something to focus on to keep his mind off things and not worry so much. It worked for a while, anyway."

Yukine's fingers dug into his knees and he bit his lip.

"…Poor kid. Must be rough on him."

"You have no idea. He's a nervous wreck again."

"Can you blame him?"

"No, just… He didn't want to tell me what happened because he was afraid I'd be mad. As if… I don't know."

Yukine swallowed hard, shame pooling in his stomach. He hadn't really thought about it then, but it had been unfair to worry so much about Yato's reaction. He should have known better.

"Aw, don't worry so much, Yato-chan. Yukki adores you!"

"…You think so?"

"Mhm. He just can't show it because he's a teenager. Goodness knows how he can stand you, but he wouldn't have been so panicked if he wasn't desperate to be your hafuri and only your hafuri, right? Don't take it personally. He was in shock. Everything is exaggerated when you're panicking."

"Hm… I guess so. Anyway, I'm headed to bed too."

"Ehhh? Already? It's so early, Yato-chan!"

"Yeah, well, it's not like I slept last night. I'm beat."

"Awww, stayed up all night worrying about Yukki?"

"Tch. 'Night, Kofuku. Daikoku."

Crap! Yukine stood hurriedly and began creeping back up the stairs as quickly and quietly as he could. Yato might've gotten pricked by the eavesdropping, but hopefully he'd assume it was just from everything else going on. But if Yukine was caught on the stairs, the game was up.

"Goodnight, Yato-chan!"

"Do try to get some sleep, Yato. You aren't going to help the kid by running yourself ragged going in circles all night."

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight."

Yukine scrambled into their room, flipped on the lamp, and dove beneath the covers. And not a moment too soon, because the stairs creaked softly. He closed his eyes and waited, heart thumping much too loudly, as the footsteps ascended the stairs and the door opened and closed.

There was a pause as Yato hesitated by the door, but then the god sighed. "I know you're still awake. I can feel your worry all the way from here."

"S-sorry…"

"Quit apologizing for silly things." Yato crossed the room and crouched down in front of Yukine, who opened his eyes to watch him anxiously from the safety of his blanket cocoon. "You're not going to be able to sleep with nerves like that. Calm down, Yukine."

"Sor–" Yukine swallowed down the automatic apology and averted his gaze. "I can't help it. Anything could happen tomorrow and…"

"Untrue. There's only one possible outcome, and it doesn't involve that bastard winning." Yato's words were heavy with quiet certainty, like he knew something Yukine didn't. "Have a little faith, Yukine. I know I'm not always the most reliable god, but… Trust me just this once. It'll be okay."

Yukine nodded slightly and met Yato's gaze a little shyly. "Okay."

And it did make him feel a little better, because he did trust Yato.

Yato tilted his head to study Yukine and then sighed. "I should've been there," he murmured, the words almost swallowed up in the darkness.

Yukine's eyes widened and his heart pinched with guilt. "It's not–! I should've gone on the job, so…"

"It was just another dumb housemaid job," Yato said dismissively.

"Still, they're your jobs and you're my god, so…"

Yato watched him curiously for a moment and then huffed out a faint laugh. "Ah, well. It was just bad luck and inconvenient timing, really." He leaned over to lace his fingers through Yukine's. "But I'm here now, okay? You can go to sleep and stop worrying about everything. I'm not going to let anything happen. You're safe."

Yukine sniffled a little and clutched Yato's hand like a lifeline. And if it was maybe a little sweaty, he didn't complain.


Note: They're so cute lol Of course, Yato is a lot less squishy and sweet when you cross him, so Take had better watch out XD

Also, Kofuku cracks me up.