Chapter 3: Recollection

A month passed with some semblance of normalcy for Yukine. It seemed his schedule was the opposite of Amaya's. And he was doing his best to stay out of her line of sight when they did cross each other's paths.

There was however, one situation at the Seven Eleven near their apartment building. Yukine was browsing the combini bentos when they happened to reach for the same one. Amaya had predictably stuck up a conversation that lasted the walk back. According to Amaya, she was in her last semester of university, studying Literature and English. She is aiming to be an editor for a young adult fiction publisher. She'd been studying abroad in America last year, so she'd been subleasing a friend's place until she could find one of her own, which she had now.

Go figure.

She'd probed about Yukine too. And he felt little bad for feeding her the usual cover story: that he was fifteen, starting his first year at a high school that was two hours from where his aunt and uncle who raised him lived. But it was much more believable than: I'm the immortal spirit weapon of your godfather who is actually a god.

Yukine couldn't tell if Amaya had changed a lot or not at all. Sure, she had grown up and handling all the responsibilities that came with adulthood. Only he couldn't help but see little girl that had woven tiny braids into Yato's overlong hair and soundly defeated Yukine in hopscotch.

He was working a stakeout tonight for Kazuma, but it didn't seem like the Masked Ones were going to show. Which gave Yukine plenty of time to think.

Perched on a high rooftop in Harajuku, Yukine yawned. A train clacked by, pausing briefly at the station before continuing. The forest park surrounding Meiji Shrine were completely dark. A wind whipped at Yukine's army green coat. In the distance, he spotted a whale-like Ayakashi coasting through the upper limits of Tokyo. Otherwise, it was quiet.

His life – or afterlife – seemed to be a series of cruel coincidences. His death was probably one, although he didn't remember it. Yato ceased to exist because Hiyori, his only believer, had died at the same moment Yukine had severed Yato's ties to Father.

If only he didn't remember it so clearly.

"It's not over, Kazuma. He's rallying again." Yato had bit out, "Heaven's a fool if they think the previous purge put an end to his plans. He's been plotting for centuries. Another few centuries won't change that."

"I know."

They'd met a Kofuku's place. They being Yato, Yukine, Bishamon, and Kazuma. Kofuku and Daikoku were there too, but it wasn't like there was much they could do in a battle against a man who could control phantoms.

"We'll keep watch, Yato." Bishamon had said, "We won't give him the free reign that Heaven's allowed him."

"That's not enough." Yato growled. His cerulean eyes burned like a demon's – the antipathy of everything Yato wanted to become.

"He's been disarmed. Again. Everything's been done short of killing him." Bishamon insisted.

Yato's response was so soft it took godly hearing to register, "Not every weapon."

Yukine's eyes went wide. Was Yato being serious?

It was as Daikoku had noted to Hiyori so long ago. How could a nameless god like Yato continue to survive for centuries? Yato had guarded the secret of his father for the sake of his continued survival. It had taken a lot for him to tell Yukine, his own blessed regalia. One hint was all it would take for anyone to connect the dots. And when they did, the key to Yato's own demise could be deduced.

"What do you mean?" Bishamon's voice was low and dangerous, "He has something else? Another stray? Some curse? Magic item?"

"Try a god." Yato muttered.

Yukine choked, unable to believe where this was going.

"What god?" Kazuma asked, all business.

"Me."

No one spoke. The silence begged an explanation.

"The Sorcerer – my father – wished me into existence. It's his belief that has kept me alive all this time. But it's conditional. Sometimes he calls me back to do his dirty work with Nora. I've tried…"

Yato broke off so Yukine picked up where he left off.

"He's not going back anymore." The steel in his voice was as hard as the edge of his blade.

"But…" Kazuma tentatively continued, "Wouldn't that be perilous for you? If the Sorcerer is your one guaranteed link to existing and you cut ties with him…" He didn't finish the thought.

"There's Hiyori." Yato mumbled. Over twenty years had passed since meeting her and Hiyori still believed. She never forgot them after that first time. They still played a very active part in her life. In fact, they babysat her eight year old daughter after school three times a week.

No one wanted to respond to Yato's defense, because they all understood reality. The Sorcerer was immortal for all intents and purposes. Hiyori had limited time. Hiyori knew that too, which was why she told her young daughter bedtime stories of a stray god and his genius weapon.

"We're willing to bet our lives on Hiyori." Yukine said. They'd had this conversation many times over – weighing their options – but ultimately, the choice was simple, "She's never let us down before."

Bishamon leveled the stray god and his regalia with a cold, calculating stare, "We'll strike tonight, before the Sorcerer can regroup and give Yato the chance to cut his ties."

They'd all agreed. It had seemed like such a solid plan at the time. But what they didn't know became their downfall.

Hiyori hasn't been old, even by human standards. She had gone to the hospital for a simple, outpatient surgery to fix one of her heart valves that had been causing an arrhythmia. But there were complications. And Hiyori… didn't make it.

It just so happened to take place minutes after Yato cut his ties with his father.

A cruel coincidence.

Yet, somehow, Yukine continued to exist even after his master did not. The fact became a source of confusion and guilt for him as a regalia. Why? Why was he still here? What purpose did he have without a master? Yukine still had a name, but the one who had given it to him was gone. The answers eluded him. Sometimes he believed that Yato's wish for him to live empowered him. But Yukine knew that Near Shore and Far Shore was governed by rules more strict than such heartfelt fantasies.

So here he was. In the present. Living on his own. Working for other gods. Haunted by the past both figuratively and literally.

The wind gusted over the rooftop, forcing Yukine to hold his hood in place by its furry lining. It brought him back to his surroundings. Yukine uttered a spell that would scan the surrounding nooks and crannies, but it revealed no notable Ayakashi. Since the Masked Ones didn't show at the predicted location, Yukine decided to make a clean sweep of the city.

With supernatural agility, Yukine leapt from rooftop to rooftop, hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He repeated the spell as needed and kept a sharp eye out for any abnormalities. He didn't usually do sweeps, since it could be dangerous if he ferreted out any large Ayakashi, but Yukine needed to feel useful.

Nights in Tokyo were never truly dark, but there was a definite change in the atmosphere as dawn broke. Deep indigo tinged by florescent orange gave way to bright cerulean and crystalline blue. Mornings were Yukine's favorite part of the day. They were quiet and calm. Sometimes he could simply close his eyes and whisk himself back to the days he and Yato wandered around waiting for work to fall into their laps.

Yukine settled into a bench at the station to wait for the first train. He typed up a quick synopsis of his uninteresting night on his phone so that he could report it back Kazuma more officially.

He didn't realize that he'd dozed off until the chime of the first train startled him awake. He boarded and decided to stand at the window so as not to fall victim to another cat nap. The trip to Kofuku's shop was longer than most, but it wasn't like Yukine didn't have all the time in the world.

A frown pulled at his lips despite his best efforts.

There was a definite borderline to living without a master. It meant that he had to tread carefully through his thoughts. Yukine could all too easily find something to fixate on until he spiraled into hopelessness where there would be no Yato to pick him up again.

He shook his head.

This is why he had a schedule. Work, work, sleep, and do it all over again. No, it wasn't the best solution and it certainly wasn't a permanent solution. But for now, it would do. Kofuku and Daikoku constantly checked on him like the doting aunt and uncle they pretended to be – that they may as well be. They were the best he could ask for.

And so the day whirled by like any other day.

It wasn't like any other day.

A soft knock sounded at Yukine's apartment door. Pulled from his sleep, Yukine groggily checked his phone. The screen blinded him for a second during which another set of knocks sounded.

6:45 pm.

He'd been asleep roughly four hours. Not nearly enough. But why was someone knocking on his door? The only one who ever did that was his landlord when he was late on rent and that hadn't happened in years.

Worried that it might be urgent, Yukine threw off his coverlet and answered his door wearing only his sleep shirt and shorts.

"Mmm, yeah?" He rubbed the gunk out of his eyes as he spoke.

"Um, hi!" Amaya chirped, "I'm really sorry to bother you, but I was making dinner and realized that I ran out of eggs. It's kind of urgent so I couldn't make it to the combini and back, but then I remembered that you lived across the hall. I thought 'what the heck, I'll just ask.' Do you happen to have a spare egg?'"

Amaya took Yukine's uncomprehending stare as a negative.

"But, if you don't, then I'll just be on my way…"

Amaya made a move to walk off, face heated with obvious embarrassment, but Yukine's hand shot out to grab the sleeve of her sweater. Amaya stopped and looked back at him.

"What is my name?"

Amaya's expression grew bewildered. She must have thought this exchange would follow a more simple 'yes' or 'no' pattern.

"It's Yukine-kun, right?" she asked.

Yukine's eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn't stare at her without it getting weird so he stared at his bare feet.

"Do you have an extra egg, Yukine-kun? Otherwise, I have to get going or my ramen is going to burn…"

"Yeah, just wait right there!"

He darted back into his apartment and grabbed the necessary ingredient from his tiny fridge. He shoved it into her hands without preamble and was about to shut the door when he saw her smile. Amaya's lips curled upwards into her rosy cheeks and her eyes got squinty and it was all so familiar it made Yukine's heart ache. She offered him a little bow, adding, "Thank you very much for the egg, Yukine-kun. You've single-handedly saved my ramen!"

Yukine nodded mutely and shut the door.

The inside of his room was dim, lit only but his nightlight. Yukine leaned his forehead against the cold metal of the door and closed his eyes.

"You've single-handedly saved my ice cream!" Amaya chirped. Yukine was pretty sure she'd heard that line on TV while watching cartoon. He laughed.

"I don't know how getting you a new one when you dropped the old one qualifies as 'saving,' Maya." He told her.

The six year old pouted, "It's the same ice cream! It doesn't matter if it's old or new. But if it did, then I like this version better."

Yukine took her hand that wasn't clutching the ice cream and tugged her in the direction he'd last seen Hiyori, "That's probably because this one isn't covered in dirt."

"Yeah! Thank you, Yukki-kun!" She smiled that big, squinty smile that always did Yukine in.

"Alright alright. Let's find your mom…"

Yukine smiled as the memory. It was one of those moments they'd kept a secret between the two of them because they didn't want Hiyori to find out and scold them. Now he was the only one that remembered. Or so he thought.

What just happened?

They'd lived in the same apartment for a month and Amaya had introduced herself countless times. What had happened to make the last time stick? Would it stick? Or would he be forgotten again? He almost wanted to check and see. If he crossed the hall now and knocked on her door, would she call him by his name?

"Whelp."

Yukine collapsed back onto his futon and pulled his coverlet snugly around him. He'd deal with that after four more hours of sleep. At least four. He might just need more.

I'm trying to get the plot moving, but the introduction got... seriously long :D There's a little more info here on the order of past events. I hope it all makes sense!

"Recollection" is also the title of my favorite soundtrack from the first season. It's so atmospheric! Also, *spoiler alert* but i'm so glad the box problem seems to be done and over with in the manga *cries myself to sleep*