Yukine checked his phone again. Nothing. Not a single bar of service. He contemplated walking around the basement, looking for something, anything, but the concept of unfolding his limbs, getting up, and walking around in the dark made him want to vomit. Their phones' weak flashlights weren't enough. Teh darkness still crept closer, breathing down his neck.

The sound of water dripping from a pipe echoed. Plink. Plink. Plink. Like it was counting the seconds. Yukine checked the time. Surely Yato would have noticed he was missing by now.

What if the police found out? What if they took him away as a result of this? It would figure. It just would. The darkness was always taking him away from everything and everyone he wanted to hold onto. Yukine pressed his mouth against his knee. His teeth scraped the fabric, pressing into the skin underneath as he tried not to scream.

Why did the kids have to be like this? What did he even do? Hell, what did Nora even do? Did they hate her that much? If you're worried about her stealing your boyfriends maybe consider that they're asshats if they can't keep themselves faithful! She's not a witch! She can't put a spell on them!

The anger at least felt familiar. But it was tiring, like a heavy box he had to carry up the stairs, and he wasn't sure he had the energy to carry it anymore. Yato wasn't here to help him. Yukine squeezed his calves tight enough to leave bruises.

"What did happen?" Nora asked.

"Nothing."

Silence. Their breaths echoed, mirroring each other. The water, clinking. Yukine shivered. "What if they aren't coming?"

"Father will come. He has to. I know it." Nora sounded like a religious follower. Yukine cracked his eyes open. She leaned against a half-empty bookshelf, her phone and its flashlight aimed away from her, at him. "And Yato will come too. He cares, right? About you?"

"I—" Yukine's words caught in his throat.

Do you? What if he wouldn't anymore? What if he assumed he and Nora set this all up? What if he assumed Yukine was just being irresponsible? What if—what if— "He does," he eked out.

Please. He didn't want to doubt Yato.

"You love Yato," observed Nora.

"Huh?" He peered at her. At least the whie of her school uniform wasn't black, like everything around them. "Yeah. He's my nii-san."

"I love Yato too," said Nora. "He's my nii-san." Her voice trembled.

"And what, I took him away?" Yukine asked sarcastically. Now he had a target for that anger. "You know, Yato and I only met a few months ago. We—"

"I know." Nora leaned her head back against the bookshelf. She coughed, as if dust had filtered down or something. "Him and Father. I love them. I never knew what a family was until I had them."

Yukine said nothing. He bit down on his knuckles. Her words hit a little close to home.

"Don't you want—"

"Stop," Yukine said, voice ragged. "Just stop. I know what you're trying to do, okay? Do you ever take a break from trying to manipulate and—"

"What—"

"If they find out I'm gone, they could take me away from Yato," said Yukine. "They could—for the drinking as well—you knew that, didn't you? You want—"

"Just shut up," said Nora.

"Don't you worry about that at all?" he demanded. Tears stung his eyes. "Don't you? Or are you so confident in your fucking father that—"

"You know I do!"

"Then why did you—don't you have any empathy?"

"I didn't think—"

"Don't give me that! You thought it! You think, but only about you!"

"Well, someone's got to!" Nora glared at him. "Father—Father—" Her voice caught. "I hate you!"

"Well, good," said Yukine. "Because I hate you, too."

"Fine then!"

"Fine!"

Minutes ticked by. Yukine wanted to scream. Hot, cold-anger, despair—Yato—a cold box—earth—it all built up inside him. He felt sick, like all these contradictions were strangling him. Please come. Please come for me.

Yato—

The light went out. Or one of them. Yukine sucked in his breath, pulling his knees into his chest.

"My phone's dead," Nora said.

I don't even know if I can believe you! "You probably turned it off."

She threw her phone at him. It smacked the floor. He pressed the on button. It didn't work.

"You're no different than everyone else at this fucking school," said Nora. "Everyone else besides Father and Yato. You always think the worst of me." She sniffled.

"I'm the one locked down here with you," he pointed out. Her words stung. "Why do they hate you so much?"

"I know you heard the rumors," Nora said. "That I'm a slut. I sleep with all the teachers and all the people I can to get what I want from them. I'm basically a prostitute, but for attention and favors instead of money—most of the time." Her voice sounded dark.

Yukine cringed.

"None of it's true," she whispered.

He squinted at her, now just a shadowy figure huddled against a bookcase meters away from him.

"I'm not like that at all. Father—he's asked me to talk to people, and I do try to get favors from them, but not—I've never—I'm a virgin. I'm not like that at all. But no one cares about the truth. I only wanted people to—when I do things for them, they smile at me, and it's like they like me, and no one—they—it's still not enough. They don't like me. No one does. Everyone acted like they did at first until I realized they were faking it, but I still kept—I just want—" Nora's voice broke.

Yukine didn't know what to say.

"Still no one wants me." She slammed her fist against the concrete floor. "Father will come. He will. I know it." It sounded like a desperate prayer.

"I'm sorry," whispered Yukine.

"Huh?"

He rubbed his fingers through the grit on the floor. "I don't—I didn't know whether it was true or not—"

"You thought it might be true?" Nora sounded shocked. "And you still went to that party? Or did you think you would get lucky?" Now she was angry.

Well, he wasn't going to take this from her. "Can you accept that maybe I wanted to be your friend? Maybe I didn't want to use you, and maybe it didn't matter to me whether it was true or not so long as—as—maybe I didn't want anything but a friend!"

She was gaping. "You're a fool."

"Gee, thanks."

"But not how I thought you were." She gulped. "You mean—you would have wanted to be my friend even if I was a slut?"

"Isn't that—"

"I don't understand," said Nora.

"But then you tried to—you—" Yukine wiped at his eyes. "You hurt—"

"I'm sorry," Nora whispered.

Surprise hit him. "You are?"

"Wouldn't you try to do anything—anything—to protect someone you love?" asked Nora. "Like with Yato—he's all I have—he and Father—when Father asked me to invite you to that party, to make you see him kissing that girl, it was just to—-I wanted to because I wanted to be with them again."

"Yato's the first person I've known who loves me," Yukine said.

His phone went out.

Fuck. The darkness seized him, wrapping its arms in a chokehold around him. He gagged, struggling to breathe through the sludge that was the inky—

"It's okay," a voice said next to him. "I'm here." She placed a hand on his elbow.

Nora, my parents buried me alive. Or tried to. In a drug-fueled craze.

Nora, I'm always being thrown away.

"I almost drowned because I loved water," she told him. "I was fascinated by it. My family—I never had one, so—I got too close one day, but someone rescued me. I had to be resuscitated. And even though I have nightmares about it, I still—like it. Because at the very least it showed someone cared enough to save my life."

"I hate the dark," Yukine croaked out. He couldn't process what Nora was saying. "I just want to—escape."

"We will," Nora assured him.

"What if we're stuck here till tomorrow morning?"

"Then we'll get those bullies in trouble and you'll have to deal with a lot of rumors about me."

He scoffed. "I'll set them straight."

"Won't help. People believe what they want."

You are describing yourself.

"My parents hated me," Yukine said. "I was—a burden to them." His words clogged his throat. "I don't—want to talk about it."

"Okay," Nora agreed. "Wanna play Shiratori?"

Was she actually trying to help him? Yukine opened his mouth.

A crunch.

Outside the door. And a thud. A clap.

"Someone's coming!" yelped Nora.

"Hey!" Yukine bellowed. Nora grabbed him by his wrist, pulling him to his feet. She joined him in yelling. They tried to make their way towards the door, but crashed over a desk.

"Ow!" complained Nora.

"Sorry, I—"

A knock against the door.

"Let us out!" Yukine bellowed. The handle rattled. Yukine grappled for it. It had to be here somewhere—or not. Maybe it was an invisible handle. That'd be just his fucking luck.

"Please!" Nora cried. "Father—"

"I bet it's Yato," he hissed.

"I don't care!"

The door flung open and light, glorious light, flooded the room. Yukine gaped up. Nora's jaw dropped.

"Well," said Kazuma. "I thought this was a long shot, but it appears I've found you."

"Why do I need to help you again?" snapped Bishamon.

"Do you want them to take Yukine away from me, leave another kid lost and alone?" snapped Yato. The beautiful day was giving way into a stormy night. Thunder rumbled. Karuha hissed, but then spotted Hiyori and sauntered over to her, purring and wrapping around her ankles. Bishamon's face softened.

"I'll help, Bisha," said Kazuma quietly, appearing from his room.

"I'll help, too," Bishamon agreed.

"I'll go to Fujisaki's," said Hiyori.

"By yourself?" squawked Yato. "No. He'll be—"

"Someone's got to check out whether Yukine is with Nora, though. And I just punched him, so I think I can—"

"I should go with you." If Father had planned for this, he would—

"I'll look on campus," said Bishamon.

"High school," said Kazuma.

"Kofuku will watch the apartment," said Yato, texting her. "Everyone, call if you find him."

Clouds cloaked the sliver of moon, leaving him reliant on streetlights. Yato winced. "Sorry, Hiyori."

"Not a problem," she answered. "You're basically his dad, that's how this works. Kids first."

Kids first… "Yeah," he said. "I guess." He'd never experienced that. But that is what he was aiming for with Yukine, after all.

I want you to be a kid. I want you to grow up not a moment too soon and not a moment too late.

But he wouldn't be perfect, would he?

I still have to try.

They arrived outside of Fujisaki's residence, taking the bus and getting off, crossing a small walking bridge. "Not a word that he's missing," Yato ground out.

Hiyori nodded. She hesitated, and then darted across the lawn ahead of Yato. "Hey!"

She pounded on the door. Fujisaki opened it. His eye was blackened. No, both of his eyes were blackened.

"Professor Fujisaki!" gasped out Hiyori. She bowed her head. "I wanted to apologize. I should not have punched you, and I—"

"Wanted to beg me not to press assault charges?" Fujisaki snorted, though Yato recognized the slick satisfaction in his tone. People begging him was Fujisaki's aesthetic.

Hiyori swallowed. "I—"

"I don't think so," Fujisaki informed her, a smile playing with his lips. Yato lurked in the shadows, and his gaze found him. The smirk widened. "I hear your father's hospital isn't doing terribly well. I wonder how it would affect his work if it got out his beloved daughter was arrested for assault. I think that might push your grandmother's weak heart over the edge, wouldn't it? And not to mention your poor brother. The baby sister he—"

"Don't you dare threaten my family," Hiyori snapped.

"Why not? You're threatening mine." Fujisaki nodded at Yato. "Going to say hello, Yoboku?"

"Where's your daughter?" Hiyori asked.

"Where's your son, Yato?"

You—

"Fuck off," said Yato. "Don't you dare—"

"I will." Fujisaki slammed the door in Hiyori's face.

She turned to face Yato, face white. "Will he—"

He didn't know what to say.

"Help me," Hiyori managed. "Please, help me."

He couldn't imagine Hiyori with a criminal record. Not to mention having punched a professor. She'd be banned from campus. Panic coiled inside him. It was all because of him, because everything he touched was poisoned, because he was toxic, because Father had made each and every cell of him that way.

Escape was an illusion. But he still wanted it. He still—

Rain pattered his head. I don't know how to help you.

I just know that I do—I need to—

His phone buzzed. Kazuma.

FOUND THEM.

"Them?" Yato said icily.

Yato scrambled home, Hiyori on his heels. He burst into the apartment to see Yukine sitting on the couch, Kazuma behind him and Bishamon looking pleased.

"You're okay!" Yato burst out. He rushed towards Yukine, grabbing him in a hug. "I thought you were—geez." He pulled back. "What happened? You were at the school?"

Yukine looked shocked that Yato had given him that hug. He swallowed.

"I found him and Nora locked in the basement," said Kazuma.

Yato stiffened. Could she have set that up? "What?"

"There are bullies in our class," said Yukine. "I didn't—there was no service, and then our phones died. It was dark." He gritted his teeth.

"People have been bullying you?" Yato contemplated a few strategic punches. Or Hiyori.

"What happened?" asked Hiyori.

"Why is everyone here?" Yukine questioned. "I didn't—"

"We all wanted to find you," said Hiyori. "Yato was scared."

"Hey," he snapped. He stuffed his fists into the pockets of his jeans. Bishamon regarded Yukine with a solemn look on her face.

"Oh." Yukine swallowed. He huddled into himself. "And no, they're not bullying me exactly. Just Nora, calling her a slut. Someone told me they were gonna lock her in the basement 'cause it's where the art supplies are, and I went down to warn her, and they locked me in too."

Yukine couldn't have liked being trapped in a confined space like that. Yato dropped down next to him, slinging his arm around him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you came," said Yukine, exhaling. "Nora thought her father would come, and I didn't want to see him."

Yato exchanged a glance with Hiyori, who shook her head. Nora would probably tell him that they'd gone to see him, but they didn't need to get into it now. And of course, the prick hadn't left his house. Did he trust Nora to take care of herself or just not give a fuck? Or trust that she was working for his interests no matter what? "Did you take her home?" he asked Kazuma.

"I put her in a taxi."

Yato exhaled. He didn't like the idea of people calling Nora those names. She had enough to deal with. But he didn't know how to help her without getting dragged into whatever maelstrom Father was whipping up and drowning himself.

"'Kay," said Bishamon. "The least you could do now is invite us for dinner."

Hiyori laughed. "Sure."

"I'll go talk to Kofuku," said Yato, heading down the stairs. He paused on the staircase. Hiyori was laughing with Bishamon, and Yukine and Kazuma's voices echoed as if they were having fun talking, too. And his mind echoed with Father's threat. If he actually followed through and had Hiyori arrested.

He would. He totally and completely would, just to fuck with Yato. And Hiyori would pay the price.

Even when I'm not trying to hurt people anymore-even when I'm trying not to—they still get hurt.

He just wanted to purge this poison from himself. He wanted to be free, and he never would be.

Yato knocked on the door. Kofuku opened it and beamed when she saw him. "Yato! I heard you found him!"

He spotted tear tracks on her face, smeared makeup around her eyes. Yato's chest clenched. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, stepping back to let him in.

"Where's Daikoku?"

Kofuku adjusted a vase with orchids standing on a small table. "He's out picking up dinner."

"Well, tell him to come home. Everyone who helped gets to eat at our place today, providing it's edible."

Kofuku smiled. She pulled out her phone to text. "You don't look very happy despite having him back, Yato."

Yato let out his breath. "Don't change the subject."

"There's not much to talk about." Kofuku lifted her shoulders. "The doctors aren't sure it'll be possible for Daikoku and I to have a child."

Oh. Yato's face reddened. And still he thought how unfair, that people like—whoever gave birth to him, the monsters who tried to murder Yukine, the ones who threw Nora away—were able to have children, and people like Kofuku and Daikoku, good people, kind people, could not.

Nothing in this world is fair. "I'm sorry," Yato said.

Kofuku managed a small smile. "It's okay. We're looking to adopt; that's still an option."

Yato nodded. "You two would be great parents." If he had only been taken in by people like them instead of like Father… if only Nora had, too.

"So what's wrong with you?" asked Kofuku. "What did he say?"

She really was like a mom to him.

Maybe… maybe it isn't too late. Yato's heart leaped. Even though he was an adult, trying to raise Yukine on his own—maybe—if— "He threatened Hiyori."

"Not surprised." Kofuku let out her breath.

"I keep thinking about Kazuma," said Yato, wringing his hands behind his back so she couldn't see. "He would probably break up with Bishamon if they actually were dating if there was any danger to her—and I—I should probably do the same, don't you think? Not that Hiyori and I are dating, exactly. But I shouldn't let things go further. Even as friends."

Kofuku lifted out one of the orchids, holding it to her nose and breathing. The ivory matched her skin. "Can you tell me why you don't believe you deserve to be happy, Yato?"

His breath caught. Happiness?

What was—he—

He only wanted to be free. Maybe then, that would make him happy. At least he would be alive then, able to direct his own life. "I—can't let my happiness hurt anyone else."

I can't be like Father.

I won't be. He used me. He uses Nora to make himself happy, accomplish his own objectives. We are nothing more than tools to him.

I don't know what to do.