Chapter 2: Reset
"See you for dinner, Yukki!"
"Later, Yukine-kun."
It was just past noon when Yukine hung up his apron and slipped into his sneakers. He waved to the god and her regalia after closing the front gate. A huge sigh worked its way out of his lungs. Sleep tugged at his eyelids.
He'd been up all night tailing the Masked Ones through the city streets, doing his best to keep them in sight while also keeping his distance. Powerful and talented he may be, but a regalia still requires a god to wield them in order to banish evil. And every Far Shore denizen knew that Masked Ones were more intelligent than phantoms had any right to be.
His sigh turned into a growl at the thought.
Stupid Sorcerer and his stupid puppets.
There was nothing Yukine wanted more than to wipe them all out. The most quick and efficient way was to cut out the source: Yato's so-called father.
Yeah right. Some father. More like a good-for-nothing piece of shit.
Yukine scuffed his sneakers on the sidewalk, trying to manage his emotions in a non-destructive manner. It was hard without Yato around to listen to him vent. But he wouldn't fall completely prey to negative thoughts. He couldn't. Because without a master, he had no safety net.
Which was why he'd taken up contract work as a constructive outlet.
There was a small collection of gods spearheaded by Bishamon that tracked the Sorcerer's activity. Officially, their goal was to work proactively and thwart whatever plans the Sorcerer had for Heaven. Unofficially, it was Bishamon and Kazuma's revenge on the man that had abused Yato and precipitated the god of calamity's demise.
It was a huge risk for both the gods and the regalia involved. Far Shore denizens had learned that almost forty years ago when the Sorcerer was most active. Heaven had wiped out the Masked Ones in a purge when things had been at their worst before seemingly forgetting about the Sorcerer altogether. To Heaven, he was a mere human, nothing more.
Yukine realized that, in his distracted and sleep deprived state, he had already arrived in front of his apartment building. His hand was poised to type in the passcode to the door, but the numbers weren't coming to mind.
"I can't seem to remember the passcode either." A voice behind him teased, "but then again, I just moved in. What's your excuse?"
A pink scarf. That's all Yukine noticed before someone came alongside of him, pale fingers pressing the appropriate code to the apartment building's front door. He looked up and he wasn't sure whether to be surprised or unsurprised that he was meeting Hiyori's daughter's gaze for the second time that day.
Amaya suddenly hesitated.
"You do live here, right?"
Yukine's brain stalled.
"Um, kid? You okay?"
"Y-yeah… sorry about that." His hand rubbed the back of his head. Yukine was acutely aware of just how young he looked – stuttering and uncertain.
Amaya was staring at him hard. And just when Yukine thought she might be remembering their encounter earlier this morning, she said, "Shouldn't you be in school?"
"I'm… uh, a little sick today."
"If those bags under your eyes are anything to go by, I'd say you're telling the truth." Amaya smiled at him softly, seeming to swell into big sister mode. Although, he was far more accustomed to playing the role of big brother, "Is your mom taking care of you?"
"Sure, let's go with that." Yukine mumbled, squeezing through the door. He sensed that the conversation was straying into the 'aren't you too young to be living alone?' area. He'd heard that one far too many times.
But Amaya followed him through the door and up the stairs. "You should get plenty of rest. And water. Drink lots of water. Maybe also take a warm bath if you feel up to it. My mom was a doctor, so I have a pretty good idea of what to do when you get sick. If you need anything…"
Yukine was determined not to look back at her as she continued to offer a steady stream of advice. But she followed him onto the landing of the third floor. His floor.
He couldn't stop himself from whirling about and asking, "What are you doing?"
She pulled out a key and slid it into the lock of apartment 304 – the one right across the hall from his. Her apartment, he realized belatedly.
"I live here." Amaya gave him a strange look, "Are you running a fever?" She stretched out a hand, going to check the temperature of his forehead, but Yukine pulled back sharply. He turned around and started fumbling for his own key.
Seeing this, Amaya plowed ahead, "So we're neighbors. Well I can't keep calling you 'kid.' I'm Amaya Miyamoto. What's your name?"
No. Just no. He couldn't deal with this.
He knew he was panicking slightly, but how could this happen? Yeah, he remembered the couple who used to live across the hall. They'd been expecting their first baby. And these one-room apartments were quite small. Too small for a family. But he didn't remember them moving out. That must have happened while he was busy.
How in the good god of fortune's name did he end up with Hiyori's daughter as his neighbor?
She could see him. With no obvious effort it seemed. It wouldn't take long before she became majorly suspicious of his daily schedule – working overnight and coming back from the oden shop at noon – without a parent or guardian in sight. Then again, she'd already forgotten him since this morning.
Yukine finally got his key in the lock and turned it to the side. He slipped through the entryway and shut the door as quickly as possible, leaving Amaya to gape at the empty hallway. The locks slid shut noisily, but he didn't care. He kicked off his shoes, not even bothering to organize them amongst the others.
He dragged his futon out of the closet and collapsed onto it.
The crux of the matter was that Amaya would meet him over and over again for the first time. Yukine, meanwhile, would have to deal with the emotional fallout of said meetings. And there was no way that was going to be good for the borderlines he'd drawn for himself.
He remembered Amaya as a newborn. Her brown hair thick from day one. It stuck out of the blanket she'd been wrapped in by the Iki General Hospital nurses. Hiyori's smile was so proud when she'd held her daughter for the first time. Yato wouldn't shut up about how cute Amaya was.
He remembered Amaya as a toddler. She had this pair of overall's Hiyori would have her wear every time she went out with Yato and Yukine. Because both boys had no concept of cleanliness and the three of them would come back covered in chalk dust and dirt and whatever else struck their fancy.
He remembered Amaya as an eight years old. Standing straight and silent as people passed through her mother's funeral procession. She was only just old enough to understand the concept of death. Yukine hadn't been able to say anything to her. Without Yato, he'd felt like a lost child too.
Gods, this was bad!
Yukine yanked the coverlet tight around himself, felling his eyes grow hot and itchy – a tell-tale sign that he was about to start bawling. It really sucked to have an eternally pubescent body, unruly emotions included. He was technically around fifty years old, but no one cared about that. Humans wouldn't believe him and regalia weren't ranked according to age, only ability.
He sure as hell didn't feel like a blessed vessel.
But he couldn't curse his existence. It would go against everything Yato had wanted for him. To live. But could Yato have imagined Yukine living without him? Probably not. That dork always wanted Yukine around even if neither of them wasn't happy about it.
The tears finally spilled over. Yukine mopped them up with the corner of his coverlet. Ugly, watery sobs filled the empty silence of his tiny apartment. His nose started to run too, but he didn't have the energy to grab the Kleenexes he knew were only an arm's length away on the table. He felt pretty damn sorry for himself.
Cry. Then sleep.
Yukine didn't actually remember falling asleep. Just darkness.
He still didn't like the dark.
He felt much better when he woke, but his damp coverlet was a nagging reminder of his emotional upheaval. Yukine slid his window open and hung the coverlet out to dry. The air was cold, but the wind would do the job just fine. He took a shower and threw on a clean outfit before heading out for the night. His first stop was Kofuku and Daikoku's place for dinner.
Yukine waited until after they'd started eating to drop the proverbial bomb.
"So… Hiyori's daughter is my new neighbor."
Kofuku immediately spilled her miso soup and she remained frozen in shock even as it dribbled into her lap. Daikoku grumbled as he grabbed a rag to wipe up the mess before addressing Yukine.
"Amaya, right?"
Yukine nodded.
"I don't think even my luck's that bad." Kofuku whispered, a hint of awe in her tone.
"She doesn't remember me." Yukine mumbled, "But she sees me every time."
"You can stay here if you want." Daikoku offered.
"I won't lie and say I didn't think about it." Yukine said, spearing some food with his chopsticks instead of picking it up properly, "But I worked really hard to be independent and find a place to live that would work for me."
Kofuku cooed over how mature he was, but they all knew how hard he'd researched to find his apartment. It had been constructed right next to a small shrine and so the water running in the pipes was the same that fed the wells for the minor god's worshippers. Only an exceptionally large phantom would be able to force its way in. Yukine had lived unbothered there for years.
"Maybe it's fate." Kofuku said in one of her rare moments of seriousness.
Daikoku leaned to the side, resting his head on his hand, "Maybe." He agreed.
Yukine caught himself staring.
"What do you mean?"
Kofuku's violet eyes were half lidded, like she was reciting an auger, "Like the tides rolling back before a tsunami, perhaps Amaya's reintroduction into your life is a harbinger of something bigger to come. Will you follow the tide out and be caught in the devastation or will you save yourself, flee for the safety of higher ground, and abandon everything you've established?"
Yukine glared at his food.
"I don't know. They sound equally undesirable."
"Yukine-kun." Daikoku interjected. He was using that tone that meant he was speaking from one regalia to another, "I don't pretend to know what you've been through. I don't know any other regalia that would have the strength to do what you've done. But I know you will make the right decision. And we will support you however we can."
"Awww, Daikoku. You're such a softie!" Yukine couldn't help but smile as the god of poverty glomped her regalia. If anything was constant in his life, it was the two of them.
Daikoku endured Kofuku's adoration and continued to eat. "By the way, Yukine-kun," He said, "Do you have any work tonight?"
He shook his head, "Kazuma's unit has things covered for the next few days. And it's not like I'm much good beyond recon work."
"Not all of us can fight front lines." Kofuku's tone was demure as she went back to her food, "We all have different roles. You always fulfill yours splendidly, Yukki."
"We have no idea what they're after." Yukine reminded her, stuffing his mouth with rice.
"But we'll be ready. No matter what comes." Daikoku growled, "And we'll take out the Sorcerer. Permanently."
Yukine couldn't wait.
I don't have any sort of update schedule in mind. There are still some details I need to work out... but I thought you all might benefit from another chapter! XD Happy New Year!