Because Yayuki needs more love~ Love them~

Yukine stood, panting for breath seconds after Yato released him from his form of Sekki. It was a tough battle with an Ara-Mitama, but they managed to not just defeat it but also removing all its influence on the environment around them.

When he finally can stand up straight, Yato immediately embraced him while laughing and praising him, making Yukine's face went red.

He tried without any succeed to push the other man away, despite all his hissing and struggling. All Yato did was looking amused and crush his spine even harder.

Without any warning, Yato kissed him. He can feel the excitement and happiness in that one kiss, and Yukine can still clearly remember how this all started, something roughly half a century ago.

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Unmelting Snowflakes

One Shot from Raven Rein

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The first time it happened, it was in the room Yukine claimed as his in Kofuku and Daikoku's house.

The two of them just got back from Bishamon's manor, bruised, scratched and bleeding. However, a light feeling has been settled in their hearts since they saw Hiyori woke up from her coma and was reunited with her crying parent. She can't remember them anymore now that Yato has cut all ties she has with them. Yukine felt sad, but understand that this should happen and tried to simply see the bright side of everything happened to them today.

Yukine flopped to the futon, exhausted from the battle he just fought but bursting with proud happiness of evolving into a Blessed Regalia, a proof of his loyalty for Yato. Although he was quite sure he won't act like the stray god is his master anytime soon, he have to admit that he wouldn't mind dying for the protection of the older male, not anymore.

Yato grumbled and annoyed him until he sat up with an irritated yell, changing his dirty clothes into pajamas out of the god's insistence and laid back beneath the sheet of the futon, intent on ignoring the older male and sleep.

He have to admit, it was quite hard to force himself to sleep when he was giddy with pride and excitement, especially when he remembered how Yato talked about bragging him, as if he was something to be proud of.

It was when he drifted to sleep with a satisfied smile on his lips that he felt his futon moved. He was already too far gone to do anything but mumbled sleepily, but he knew the silhouette he saw from the millimeter crack of his eyes. It was Yato, hovering above him.

He wanted to sit up and shout at him, possibly with a raging blush on his face. But sleep was dragging him down quickly. The last thing he felt was a pair of warm, slightly chapped lips with a tang of copper that pressed ever so gently to his.

The warmth stayed until the next day, and Yukine stared as Daikoku beat up his master, wondering if yesterday night was only an illusion conjured up by his forever teenager mind.

The second time it happened, it was when the weather has changed from spring to the smoldering heat of summer. Yukine, just like his namesake, can't stand heat for long. Mid-noon find him lying half-dead on the tatami floor with sparse clothes, an electric fan blowing hot air beside him and a bowl of ice cubes just on arm's reach.

He looks dead, and he felt like he was. He might have better affinity to cold than most shinki, but summer and its heat threatened to melt his brain like the ice cubes on the bowl that kept getting smaller the more he dug into it.

Between the cheerful singing of cicadas, he heard the muted footsteps coming closer to where he was lying down just beside the open door to the balcony that opened to the backyard of Kofuku's place. Lifting the arm he slung over his eyes weakly, he saw the familiar figure of his master looking down on what must be a pathetic sight of his favorite regalia.

Yato, to his eternal annoyance, seems like he wasn't affected by the heat. The only thing that sees off 6f him is his torn scarf and the fact that his jersey was unzipped to the middle of his abdomen, showing the white sweat-soaked shirt beneath it.

Yato sat beside him and began teasing him for his low affinity for heat and Yukine, despite his lack of stamina, managed to yell back at him. After a loud reprimand from Daikoku for waking his master from her nap, and Yato receiving a few new bruises, they settled into something like a companionable silence.

Yukine reached for his bowl of ice, just to feel that it is empty. He groaned loudly, feeling his muscles protest just by the thought of standing up and get more of them.

He did, however, remove his arm from his eyes. For the first time, he realized that Yato was staring at him, probably has been since some time ago. He felt his face heat up, although he wasn't sure it was from embarrassment or from anger.

He opened his mouth to yell, but Yato beat him to it, pressing their lips together in a familiar manner of gentle pressure. He was too shocked to do anything, even after Yato pulled back with a blush on his face Yukine was sure didn't come from the heat.

Yato mumbled something about taking more ice and lifted his bowl, disappearing from his sight in a flash of distorted blue light, leaving Yukine gaping at the spot where he just disappear.

When he managed to remove his eyes from that spot and look toward the sky, which took a good part of a half hour, he nearly fell asleep with that tingling sensation still present on his lips. He turned his head back and saw his bowl.

It's full of ice cubes.

The third time it happened, it was when the leaves has changed from the lively green into mellow brown, some of the older ones started their journey to meet earth. Yukine smiled as he watched another leaf falling to the ground. The repetitive motion of gentle brown is somehow soothing.

Yato was beside him, making a remark about how he once tried to eat one of the leaf in his worse days and ended up biting into a caterpillar that would later make him itchy from inside out for months. He couldn't help but feel sorry only for the caterpillar.

The two of them just got back from hunting an ayakashi that has been plaguing Hiyori's two friends, pulling them to suicide. They laughed as they recalled a few funny moment in that ayakashi hunt, which will always inevitable happen around the goofy god of misfortune.

Yato stopped him in front of a store, telling him to wait outside as he came in and greeted the keeper who looks shocked by his sudden appearance. A few minutes passed and he came back with a blue ice cream with two handles that he broke into two and shared with Yukine to celebrate their job well done. It was strange, eating ice cream in the cold air of autumn, but Yukine decided that he didn't mind.

They passed a busy roadside of Shinjuku, trying to locate a lost puppy that was Yato's current request. This time the god seems a bit more laid back than the time when he desperately searched for Uesama.

Yukine bumped into someone for what feels like the hundredth time, and said person apologized with a shocked look on her face, saying that she didn't see him. He just waved her off politely, fully understanding that he is pretty much invisible anyway.

He wondered if this is how it would be forever, wandering by the side of this god and serving as his sword while remaining unseen by the majority of human alive.

When they came upon a small plaza, Yato remarked about how the air has gotten colder. Yukine agreed with him, wondering if he has to look for the coat and hat he left in Hiyori's house this spring.

Yato offered him a pair of matching jersey, he vehemently refused.

As they decided to give in for today and went to a local abandoned shrine to sleep, Yukine noticed how Yato ate his ice cream by biting and crunching them. He winced, wondering if the older man's teeth is stinging like his whenever he bit into something cold.

Yukine himself ate his ice cream slowly, savoring the sweet taste of the blue-colored pack of creamy ice.

They were nearing the dirty torii gate of the shrine when Yukine finished his ice cream. Because of how slowly he ate, some of the ice ream has melted and dripped on his fingers. Throwing away the stick to a nearest trash bin, he began to suck on his sticky fingers, unaware of Yato's gaze on him.

When he returned to stand beside Yato, still sucking the sweetness from his fingers, he looks up and asked why haven't he gone up yet.

Yato didn't answer him, just gazing at him with that unusually intense eyes. Yukine shrugged, deciding to just go up there and sleep anyway when a hand grabbed his elbow and pulled him backward.

He cried in surprise, but that noise was quickly muffled when Yato kissed him. This kiss last longer than the brief butterfly touch of last summer or the kiss he can barely remember of last spring, and Yukine found his body melting to the heat and touch of the older male. This kiss is warm and wet although their lips are still closed, and somehow innocent.

Suddenly Yato pulled back, taking away his warmth with him. He turned back and said that he will be looking for the puppy again and that Yukine should just go ahead and rest.

Yukine's voice was stuck in his throat, he couldn't even call Yato's name as the blue-haired man disappear into thin air.

Numbly, he climbed the stairs and laid down on the altar of the shrine, willing his body to sleep. He have a feeling he wouldn't able to, anyway. His mind is racing just as his heart is.

That night, Yato didn't come back.

The fourth time it happened, it was when autumn slowly shed its mantle and left for winter. The air has become considerably colder, although no snow has been falling. The weather forecast said that it might snow in two and half a week.

But it still seems to not be cold enough, because Yato and Yukine found themselves running away with rain hot on their heels.

They passed a road side where a passing car splashed dirty water to Yato who stopped for a second to curse whoever was driving said car.

Yukine just ran ahead, rolling his eyes as he reminded the elder that the driver might have honesty didn't see them.

The two of them went into an alleyway, shielded from the heavy cold rain by a looming apartment. They stopped and panted for their breath there with their clothes thoroughly soaked.

The alleyway there were at is dark and damp, with a rhythmic sound of water droplets hitting the ground. When Yukine looks up, he can see a glimpse of dark cloud from the small slip of opening between the two roofs of the apartment.

Yato muttered about something as he unzipped his jersey and pull it off, leaving behind a white t-shirt that clung to his surprisingly muscled body. Yukine silently eyed the body of the older male, tracing eyes across the exposed collarbone following a droplet of water. Beneath the translucent shirt, he can see the ripple of Yato's muscle whenever he move and Yukine licked his lips slightly.

Suddenly he was overcame by the strange desire to touch that wet shirt and the warmth beneath it and kiss Yato like he did in front of the torii gate a month ago.

The golden-haired boy jumped when Yato flinched with a yelp, clamping his hand on the back of his neck.

A pair of deep blue eyes that was wide with shock found his figure and Yukine realized what must have made Yato reacted like that. He felt his face heated up and he glared toward the dirty concrete ground, cursing his uncontrollable hormones.

When he wasn't looking, Yato moved in front of him and grabbed the front of his coat. Yukine gasped, wondering for a split second if his master will slap or hit him.

Neither happened, but a pair of lips pressed against him insistently.

Yukine made a muffled noise of shock when Yato pressed him against the concrete wall. It was a surreal sensation, with the cold and hard concrete on his back and Yato's soft warmness pressed against his torso.

The younger male moaned softly, feeling a shiver went up the elder's spine in reaction. He felt his eyes slipped shut and he raised his hands to tangle them on Yato's wet hair.

Yukine gasped when something warm and wet move across his lips sensually. Yato took that chance to slip his tongue and twined it with his shinki's. He moved his hands to hold Yukine's waist and pressed the other to the wall beside the younger's head for balance as he delved deeper into the other's crisp and slightly minty taste, almost like winter.

Yukine whimpered from the sensation and opened his eyes to see Yato's blue eyes burning into his with an emotion he can't identify. The older man pressed him even further between the wall and him, and Yukine's eyes slipped shut with a small moan.

The two of them stayed like that for what seems like an eternity. When Yato's tongue retracted from his mouth, Yukine growled lowly and caught it again, sucking on it slightly and was awarded with the first moan he heard from the god.

Their faces parted only for a few millimeter, panting for breath. Yukine can feel the other's warm breath brushed across his face and he took in a shuddering breath, smelling of rain, concrete and Yato.

Their eyes met, and Yukine can feel his breath nearly stopped when he saw the look in that intense depth of blue. Yato didn't let their eyes break as he moved downward, pulling aside Yukine's shirt and kissed the tattoo that marked the boy as his.

Without any warning, Yato's cell suddenly ringed loudly, making the two jumped three feets into the air and away from each other. The god answered the call in his usual trademark line, but his voice is strangely sober while his eyes didn't even leave the form of his shinki even for a second.

Yato closed the phone and told him that they have a job. Nodding, he followed when Yato teleported to the place of his client with his heart refusing to calm down.

Cinnamon, copper and fresh dew was the taste that lingered in Yukine's mouth.

The fifth time it happened, it was at the first snowfall of that winter.

Ever since one and half a week ago when Yato kissed him like a starving man, Yukine couldn't even look into the older man's eyes properly without blushing or stuttering. Usually when that happen, he will just cover his nervousness by shouting and stomping away, but the way that Yato frequently flinched told him that the god is not unaware of the temptation he is for his shinki.

Yato himself reverted to his old self the moment they stepped into their client's presence, while Yukine can only watch with dry tongue as he interacted with the man.

The snow came a week faster than the weather forecast said, but Yukine only smiled as he caught one of the very first few snow flakes in his palm. He can feel it melting in his palm, and he wondered if he will melt by Yato's warmth like how his namesake melt against his skin.

Right now the god is dressing up as a Santa Claus, even though Christmas is two weeks away. The god waved cheerfully to the children and let anyone take a picture with him. The drawback is that he didn't give out any presents, just cheap candies from the sweets shop behind him.

Apparently, their client was the one who supposed to wear the costume and become the mascot for the sweets shop, but his girlfriend called him and said that she's pregnant. So now he's at her house, meeting her parents for the first time. Yukine didn't envy him. Big chances he will go home decapitated.

Yukine sighed loudly, rubbing the mark of his name tenderly. A phantom of warmth still remained there from the time when Yato kissed it.

The boy can feel warmth began to creep up his face, and he shook his head. Sending another longing glance to where the older companion is still entertaining children by bouncing the fake belly, he decided to just entertain himself and teleported away.

He ended up beside the lake where he first feel the burn of lava jealously, the place where he met Nora. Thankfully, he can't see the stray anywhere near the place.

Yukine sat down on the frozen ground, watching as frost very slowly crystallizing the lake. By mid-winter, he knew that he can stand in the middle of the lake without falling in.

He forgot to take his coat from Hiyori, and now he only wore thin jacket. Shivering, he curled into himself and stared at the lake.

He can feel more than hearing as Yato appeared behind him. Seeing his shinki shivering, he asked if the boy is cold, and Yukine answered sharply without even turning to his master.

Yato sighed and said he will go for a hotpot in a local restaurant from the bonus coupon he got from the owner of the sweet shop, asking if Yukine would want to come. Grudgingly, he obeyed and stood up. Immediately, cold air assaulted him and he shivered.

A sudden warmth surrounded him and his eyes snapped open to see a red knitted scarf being drapped around his neck by Yato, saying that he got it from a child that was worried if Santa Claus become too cold to deliver presents.

Thanking the older man softly, he stood still as Yato knotted the scarf lightly on his neck so that it wouldn't come off, chattering all the while.

Yukine was only half-listening what Yato is saying, more focused on the flutter of his eyelashes and the way that his lips move whenever he spoke.

Suddenly Yato jumped with a shocked noise, eyes snapping up to meet Yukine's. The boy blushed, but he can't turn his face away, because Yato is now pulling at both ends of the scarf, closing the distance between them.

Their lips met again, and Yukine wondered if this is what snowflakes felt when they were caught by human's hands. If only it fell to the ground, it will last longer, but it wouldn't this warm, this happy.

The kiss is chaste and sweet and Yukine find himself stumbling forward when Yato pulled away.

The god laughed at Yukine's crimson face and rubbed his head tenderly.

As he walked away, Yukine took a second to stand and took in a deep breath.

The scarf is still smelling of Yato.

He smiled contently.

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Unmelting Snowflakes

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Mid-winter found Yukine standing alone in front of a mail box with his mouth and nose submerged in his red scarf. The snow is now falling thickly, blanketing the ground with fine layer of white that show clearly the steps that he took.

He wondered if Yato remembered the day. This was, after all, the place where Yato first found and named him.

He can't remember the time before he was a shinki, but if he concentrate hard enough he can remember fear and coldness and the numb feeling of having no destination.

In front of his face, his breath fogged and became white.

The cold bothers him, but not as much as heat do. Remembering how he reacted to summer, he was sure he will never be used to summer or even like it.

He heard the soft crunching of snow behind him, and he turned to see Yato walking up to him with a wide grin. When they stood side-by-side, looking at the mailbox like it was a monument for both of them, Yato said how he thought he can find Yukine here.

The shinki glanced at his wristwatch to see that it was ten in the evening, the exact time when Yato found him floating behind this mailbox and took him in as a shinki.

Yato remarked that he never regretted that day even once, not even when Yukine repeatedly stabbed him and when the two of them have to suffer through the purification ceremony.

Yukine replied that he regretted being taken as Yato's shinki, the word clearly stabbed the god right on the chest, but after everything that happened, he felt like he can live with it.

He felt like he didn't quite hate it.

He knew his words caught Yato by surprise and he didn't even bother stifling his smile. This time, he stepped in front of the god of misfortune, looking up and bit back laughter from the elder's expression.

Yukine stood on his toes and grabbed Yato's shoulder, laughter finally spilling forward when the god yelped in shock. But the noises soon disappeared when they kissed.

This time, it was Yukine who pulled back from the kiss. Rather than stepping back, he stood his ground and buried his face in Yato's neck. After a second of hesitation, he felt arms embraced him warmly and he smiled into Yato's neck.

Yato smelled like sweat and general dishygiene, although Yukine was quite sure he can smell a tang of cinnamon. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the familiar scent of Yato that he has somehow unconsciously connected to comfort.

He can feel Yato burying his face in hid golden locks, nuzzling softly.

He grinned boyishly as he pulled back from Yato and, just as he expected, snow has piled atop of Yato's royal blue hair, it somehow looks like a crown of white. Reaching up and tugging Yato's jersey so that the taller man will bend a little, Yukine brushed away his namesake from his wielder's hair, enjoying the close proximity and the heat that he radiated.

When he was done, Yato grinned and thanked him. Reaching up, he grabbed Yukine's hand and and held it tenderly, making some goofy remark about how he still can feel cold despite his original form before he became a regalia.

All around them in the abandoned street, the snow fell thicker, there was nobody as they walked down the familiar path to anywhere.

"I knew there was a reason for me to fall in love in the first sight for you." Yato suddenly said with a lopsided grin.

Yukine startled to the elder man who only squeezed his hand reassuringly.

And then Yukine was suddenly sure that 'anywhere' and 'forever' is alright, as long as he can become the sword and shield to protect this one stray god that he loved.

As he smiled to himself and walked forward, the snow erased their footprints from the ground.