Notes: Sassy!Yukine and Caring!Yato are bae. Just sayin'. Also, that music isn't for any certain part because it doesn't fit this chapter but I'm just sayin' it's hella pretty so ... listen to it

-=-=-=-=-=-

Summary: In which the word "seriously" is seriously used too often and Yato gets his lips salty.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Yato

Laying in this bed with Hiyori pressed up against my chest and her scent enveloping me feels so . . . warm -- so comforting -- that I never want to leave. But if there's one thing that I've learned from all my years of being a god, it's that everything has its due date. It's that all good and bad things end. Because of that, I try so hard not to get attached to places, to things . . . to people. I've tried so hard, but as I'm laying in this bed with Hiyori and Yukine, I can feel those hard walls loosen for a moment. I feel myself become so completely comfortable that I wish I'd never stop feeling that way.

Unfortunately, any sort of comfort I feel is always followed by this uneasiness. It's always followed by worry. Don't get too close to these people, Yato. They're gonna leave like the others soon, an all-knowing voice echoes in my head. Then I can feel my features droop in disappointment and the heavy weight of loneliness fall back hard down onto my chest before I shut my eyes, willing the tears to stay away.

That's right, Yato. Don't get too attached.

Hiyori shifts in her sleep beside me and all of a sudden I feel her pressed up against me harder this time. I could tell that she was scooting away from Yukine to make him feel more comfortable -- completely disregarding my needs for comfort by the way -- but had ended up getting a little bit too close to me.

Something about being around her was like drinking: I got so lightheaded sometimes and I felt like there was a deep heat in my stomach -- one that I often tried to play off as nausea -- of which I couldn't identify. Rarely have I ever felt that heat there that I've forgotten what to name it as. Sickness is the only thing that I can compare it with. Of course, I don't get sick -- or at least it's a very rare thing since I heal much faster than the normal human -- so I don't even know what it should feel like really; I've only ever heard humans speak of it as an unpleasant experience where they usually felt like throwing up. I'd known the feeling of wanting to throw up though when I'd drunk too many booze.

The scariest thing about that though was that the symptoms were caused by Hiyori. Did she somehow get me sick with some odd mortal-germ that was going around? Whatever the feeling was, I didn't like it being there; it made me almost stutter when I was around her which is really annoying. Why should I feel nervous about my best friend?

Unless of course, I felt more for her than that. I think you call that lo-- holy shit what the fuck. What the actual fuck right now.

My train of (rather depressing) thought dissipates as I feel two soft things pushed up against my chest. I knew what those two things were, I just didn't want to think about it especially when I knew the owner personally. Hiyori's breasts were pushed right up against my chest as she slept peacefully -- ignorant to the lewd action she'd just preformed in her sleep. Dammit. I could feel my face start to burn and even worse I felt myself getting slightly turned on by this turn of events. (You can't blame me really since her fucking boobs are on my chest.) Her touch my whole body begin to feel like it was on fire and she smelled so nice and she looked so nice and and and--

Yukine's staring -- no, glaring -- at me from the other side of the bed. He's already taken note of our current positions and his glare's only getting more intense the longer we sit there. His eyes are telling me to do the right thing, but my body is telling me to do almost the exact opposite, but then there's my heart that's reminding me of what Hiyori is to me and how much we appreciate and care about her -- so much so that we could never such a thing to her. She'd probably hate me anyways if I tried something because Yukine would give me the biggest beating I'd ever had in all of my godly life for doing such perverted things to such a nice person like Hiyori.

She was definitely nice -- that's for sure. I could tell from day one that she hated to see people cry and the mere sight made her almost cry (how empathetic she was). I almost felt bad for her. Girls seemed to have so many complicated emotions -- some I understood and others I didn't -- and unfortunately I'm bad at guessing them but I could guess how Hiyori's feeling almost all the time with a perfect score. She wears her heart out on her sleeve and let's people in so quickly (how dangerous she was). That's the only thing about Hiyori that I wish I could change -- she's so naive that I pity her slightly. Hiyori has never understood the true feelings of loneliness, abandonment, or even heartbreak despite the range of emotions that all girls have. Oblivious to the dangers around her, she waltzes around the world giving a helping hand to all who need it. She's so kind. She cares.

But don't let that innocent act fool you because I know for a fact that Hiyori can argue like there's no tomorrow. I've contrasted Hiyori's actions in public and when she's alone with Yukine or I and let me tell you there's a drastic difference. When we're out in public, she's kind and polite, but when she's around us, she acts much grungier and unlady-like yet not unkind and still retains her politeness. I liked to think that I made her feel more comfortable. I liked to think that perhaps I'm one of those people Hiyori can come to and act as weird as she wants without the worry of someone losing her. I know I would've appreciated the service so much if someone had done that for me when I was much younger. Also, I do this one for free of charge so consider it her birthday gift.

"Yato?!" Yukine whispers loudly at me. "Move her!" he whispered again, clearly referring to the Hiyori whose boobs were still pressed up my chest and fueling my growing boner. Shit. He's right. If things keep going the way they are I'm about to get really embarrassed here. Then again, she's not even awake, but also Yukine will never let me live it down if he sees.

"Right," I whisper back as I slowly start to sit up in the bed, doing my best not to wake her up. I think these blankets saved me.

"Ya . . . ," comes Hiyori's breathy, sleep-fogged voice. It almost sounded like she had begun to say my name, but then again I could always be deaf and she was actually starting to say Yukine's name in her sleep. Despite her true intentions, it was nice of her to be thinking of us anyways in her sleep. I wonder what she was dreaming about. Hopefully it was something nice; I'd hate for her to have nightmares. Then again . . . it'd be an awesome opportunity to comfort her and be the good guy for once. I mean, Yukine usually gets all this credit and it makes me feel like I'm such a dead-weight sometimes. Like, if I died, neither of them would be extremely upset and could totally live without me. Then again, that's sort of what I want since I'd hate for them to be barely living their lives if something awful happened to -- which I'm beginning to think is inevitable. The things going on with the sorcerer and the council are all very confusing and stressful. I know full well that I'm a dangerous god to be around -- you most certainly don't have to tell me twice -- but Hiyori needs to be told a couple thousand times because each time I've yelled at her to get away from me, she always comes back.

Why does she come back?

"Go sleep in her brother's room," Yukine hisses at me. Jeez, who pissed in his cheerios this morning.

"Why?" I whined -- softly of course as Hiyori was still sleeping.

"Because you obviously can't handle sleeping in the same bed as Hiyori!" he chided.

"It's not like I tried to sexually touch her like a certain hafuri vessel I know," I remarked snarkily. I knew immediately that I shouldn't have mentioned it when I felt Yukine's mood shift from sleepy and irritated to ashamed in a matter of seconds. He looked away from my face and straight ahead at the wall of her bedroom. The shame that filled his eyes and heart weighed down heavily on my existence. Yep, I really shouldn't have mentioned that.

"I said I was sorry," he whispered again. This time his voice sounded so hurt and ashamed that I wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him that I forgave him. If he kept this up I was going to get stung and the last time that happened it didn't end so well. "I'm so, so sorry, Hiyori for what I've done."

"Have you forgiven yourself yet?" I asked. Yukine's faced me again and curiosity was added to the hodgepodge of emotions contained within his pained eyes. His eyes as well as his silence and look told me to elaborate on my meaning.

"Part of forgiving is forgiving yourself, y'know. You may be so sorry for something, Yukine, but even if all has been forgiven, it's all shit if you don't forgive yourself. If somebody accepts my apology, then I wouldn't waste a second in forgiving myself. It'll make you feel much more free."

There was a silence between us for a moment where Hiyori still slept soundly between us as we both were sitting up and staring at each other in the middle of a very deep conversation. Yukine was one of my closest friends and I valued him dearly. Of course, if he felt bad then I felt bad, but that wasn't my only reason for helping him. After hanging out with these two dudes, I'd become a bit more empathetic and if not then only towards them did I even dare to empathize.

"What if I haven't forgiven myself, Yato?" he whispers much quietly after a long pause in the conversation.

"Then start forgiving. Yukine, you've already given back to us so much already. You came to save me when I was in the underworld, you became my hafuri, and you even started getting better just so you could protect me. If that isn't being a great shinki then I don't know what is. Forgive yourself."

There was more silence as my heavy words filled the air. For some reason, these feelings Yukine had been having hadn't made themselves known to me until this nights in this very room. If he was anything to me, he was my best friend first and foremost. He could actually stay with me forever if he really wanted to. It was a comforting feeling, sitting there next to him. Finally, Yukine slowly nodded, his eyes becoming more focused on the world around him.

"You're tired, Yukine. Go to sleep." With that, I stealthily slid from the bed and onto the cold, wooden floor.

Previously, Yukine had told me to go and sleep in her brother's room so that's what I intended to do, but apparently he'd forgotten in his momentary feelings of self-pity because he asked curiously, "Where you going? Hiyori will be upset if you decide to leave. She seemed rather eager to have us be next to her tonight."

"Have you already forgotten? You told me to sleep in her brother's room because I couldn't handle it. I have to trust my blessed vessel's decisions and if not then whose?" I smirked.

He sighed. "I was only saying that because I didn't have enough room on the bed."

I goggled at him. "You didn't have enough room? Me and Hiyori were squished onto one half of the bed while you got the whole other half! How do you feel you don't have enough room?!"

"Well, maybe it's because we're always sleeping underneath Lord Tenjin's shrine to piss him off and there's lots of room there. I'm not used to sleeping in small places anymore."

I almost glared at him. "Well alright, Mr. Fancy Pants. What're you saying?"

He exhaled again -- this time much louder and more exasperated-sounding. "I'm saying that you can stay here while I go sleep in her brother's room. I'm on the outside so it's easier that way anyways. And I've already stayed there before when I was living here. Just go back to sleep, Yato. You need your rest if you ever wanna make it big in the music career." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Were you serious about me being a good singer?" I asked and I hoped he couldn't hear the hopeful lilt in my voice that gave away the fact that I was fishing for compliments. I get compliments so rarely these days anyways so why can't I get at least one from my own blessed vessel?

"As serious as you are about being a god of fortune," he said -- quite seriously to be serious. (Okay I'll seriously stop now.)

My breath hitched. "Really?"

"Yato, of course. I just said so didn't I and why would I lie to you?"

"Um . . . because you--"

"That's right I wouldn't lie," he interrupted. "Now, I'll see you in the morning." Yukine extracted himself from the covers carefully so that Hiyori wouldn't wake up and I only watched carefully to see how far he'd actually go before he turned around and jumped right back into bed. Only when he was halfway out the door did it hit me that he was serious. I mean, why would he actually leave me and Hiyori alone in the same room.

"Wait, Yukine you're serious?"

"Yes, I am. I thought we discussed this already. You're a good singer so goodnight and I'll see you in the morning and there better not be anything weird happening while I'm gone."

"Wait, no, that's not what I was talking about this time Yukine!" My shouting fell upon deaf ears as he closed the door behind him with only a soft thud to indicate that he was done talking for the night. "Well, hopefully Mr. Iki allows him to keep his lights on," I sighed and fell back down onto the pillow with the sheets getting messed up all around me.

It felt very odd to be alone in the same room as Hiyori. We hadn't been alone in a while since Yukine becoming my regalia meant I had to put a lot of my time into training him. Sure, some gods would say that my training methods are awful but I beg to differ since Yukine's now a nice, loyal blessed vessel of mine. I couldn't have done it without Hiyori. She'd saved our lives.

My mind momentarily slipped back in time to Hiyori shouting out our names. Through all the pain and the burning I felt from Yukine being beaten back into reform, I could hear her voice clearly. It instilled a sense of hope just then and we ended up getting out alive because of her. Afterwards, I'd been so grateful but I'd never truly shown how appreciative I'd been -- I just don't know how. How do I express that? I have no way besides vowing to make her happy and while I'd been drunk off my ass when I'd promised it, I hadn't been lying. I really do wish to make her the happiest person in the world. It seems I'm sort of failing though, aren't I? She's gotten into a lot of shit because she met me.

I sighed. How could I ever be considered a god of fortune when I make such awful things happen to her? But there's always the future. I can always change. Being with Hiyori and Yukine has taught me at least that.

"Yu-- Yukine!"

My eyes burst open. Hiyori? She was calling for Yukine in her sleep? She didn't sound happy about it either. Was she having a nightmare?

"NO! No, no, no, no!"

I was in a full sitting position now as I stared down at her. She'd begun to sweat profusely and her eyes scrunched up in some uncomfortable emotions -- agony, disgust, or sadness. I was beginning to think that it'd be better if I woke her up instead of allowing her nightmares to play out, but she beat me to it. Her eyes burst open and she immediately sat up. Her eyes were blank as if seeing something that wasn't actually there.

"Wait. I didn't get to help--"

"Hiyori?!"

"Yato . . . ," she began to take in her surroundings better. She felt beside her and noticed that Yukine wasn't laying beside her peacefully anymore. "Where's Yukine?" Her voice sounded so broken -- like she'd been crying.

"Hiyori . . . are you crying?" I asked softly, not wanting to upset her. Gently, I reached up and took her by her chin to turn and face me. The tears falling softly from her eyes couldn't be mistaken for anything but sadness in the small lamplight that still hadn't been turned off. My face was grim with recognition.

I don't know what came over me, but I moved my fingers from her chin to her cheek and gently brushed away her tears as her breathing hitched and her face screwed up as she started crying again. My other arm wrapped around her back and pulled her towards me. I'd only meant to hug her but again it was as if I didn't control my own body and I placed a small kiss on her cheek. She didn't seem to mind at all when she put her face into my neck and hugged me. My body felt like it was on overdrive -- the feelings of calmness from her presence and the heat from kissing her on her cheek and just having her arms around me. It made me want to melt into her presence.

"Was it a nightmare?" I whispered into her ear. It came out like a promise -- a promise to comfort her if she needed it and to be a confidant so she wouldn't have to have any awful images she may have encountered burned into her mind.

"Y-Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

There was a moment of silence where she just sat there in my arms, but she soon answered, "No. I just want to sit here right now."

"Okay," I whispered again in her ear. "Whatever you want."

"Thank you," she cried again.

For a while only her soft sobs could be heard in the room and they pained me so much to hear. I hated hearing that. I wanted to have her loud laughter rustle past my ears like a fresh breeze on a sweltering day that was my life. I loved it when she laughed -- it made the world seem like it was still turning. But damn she made me so scared. I was so scared of what I felt for her. I fear I've gotten too attached and I'm only just now realizing it. It's too late to save myself from her, isn't it.

Slowly, she began to stop crying, but she didn't unwrap her arms from me and I quite honestly didn't want her to. I felt so comfortable and . . . needed in that moment it was wonderful. I never want Hiyori to leave my side again. I just want her to be happy and smiling for all eternity. I realized that it was still too early to get up and do anything with the day and we should get back to sleep before it's too late to do even that. Ever so slowly I started to lean backwards, taking Hiyori with me. I ended up on my back with Hiyori laying on top of me, her arms still wrapped around me and her face still buried in my neck with her soft and now even breathing calming us both down.

Just then, wanted to melt into her. I wanted to surround myself her entire presence by whatever means whether it be hugging her, kissing her, or simply just being there in her presence. She was so . . . nice. I didn't deserve her with all the shit I've done in my life.

"Goodnight, Yato," she breathed. "Thank you for being here." She seemed to have forgotten that she wanted to know where Yukine had gone, but I decided that answering her question now would only ruin the calm bubble we'd created around ourselves.

"You're welcome."

Soon, she rolled onto her side, but we kept our arms around each other. Subconsciously I thought to myself, Aha yep we're totally just friends, before I licked my lips -- salty.

-=-=-=-=-=-

End Notes: I hope that was done well enough. This was so pretty to write and I realized that I want to write this the most whenever I've just finished watching an episode or have listened to Noragami Arogoto's end theme xD

Also, did I say Wednesday? . . . I meant Sunday but now it's Saturday so consider this a day early! You might even get one of Wednesday because I'm just in the mood to write Noragami this weekend lol