It was Thursday when she'd finally noticed. Three whole days before she sensed something was amiss.
The house was quieter. She slept more, in her own body, no misadventures into the Far Shore, and the food stock in her pantry was more plentiful than it'd been in weeks.
Something was definitely wrong, so here she found herself, braving the brisk afternoon winds to investigate Tenjin's shrine.
"Yato!" She checked all four sides, but their crates were bare and lonely. "Yaaaatooo? Yukiiiineeee?"
Where could they have gotten off to…? Snapping her fingers, Hiyori took off at full speed for Kofuku's place.
"Kofuku-San! Daikoku-San!"
"Hiyorin!" The perky pink-haired god leaped from the front steps and hugged the girl to the ground. "It's so good to see you, Hiyorin! Where have you been?"
"Have you seen Yato and Yukine?"
"Haven't seen Yukine. Yato's upstairs." Daikoku's voice rumbled from within. "Though Yato's acting real strange…dodgy and quiet, real depressed looking."
Concern creased her brows as Hiyori wiggled from Kofuku's grasp and entered the house. "Thank you, Daikoku-San."
When Hiyori reached the room at the top of the stairs, she her jaw immediately clenched, for she heard Yato groaning from what sounded like pain. Rounding the door frame, she gasped when she found him sprawled on a futon, grasping the nape of his neck, a pained grimace on his lips.
"Yato…" Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, but his eyes snapped open, relaxing a bit when he saw her.
"Hi-Hiyori…"
"Yato what's wrong? Has Yukine?…"
The god shook his head fiercely, motioning for her to come to him. Crossing the wooden floor, the girl knelt beside him, eyeing the speck of cloudy purple break out on his skin, about the size of a small freckle, and she implored, "Yato, please, don't defend him if he is wrong! Don't do this to yourself aga-"
"Someone died." He rasped. "I can feel it in the type of sting it is. Probably his playmate he runs off with all the time. He's mourning…" He trailed off, grinding his teeth as another onslaught came upon him. Sighing, Hiyori moved alongside Yato and made herself comfortable. Yato suddenly moved and placed his head in her lap, a shy blush forming on his cheeks. Smiling sadly at him, Hiyori shakily placed her hands on his back and head, ruffling his hair a bit as she rubbed his back.
"Hopefully it will be over, soon. " She soothed as she mused. "It's not easy, dealing with these kinds of things, but I'm sure he'll be alright…We're all bound, you know…" She trailed off for a moment. "Bound. Some by the red string of fate, some by a bond like yours and Yukine's, and others by physical or spiritual restraints. No matter what, though, we're all bound to life…and those we love."
She kept rubbing until his eyes slid closed, and even then she did not stop rubbing until his jaw was slack and his body had finally relaxed into an exhausted doze, her eyes gazing affectionately at his calm features.
"And I," she whispered. "Am bound to you as well, Yatogami."