title: reverse
pairings: yato ო hiyori.
notes: in reverse-chronological order :)
disclaimer: own nothing
10.
Iki Hiyori stares at the five-yen coin in her palm, and wonders.
9.
It's only when she moves to collect her fortune—good luck, good luck, she chants to herself—that she realizes that there is already something in her hand.
8.
The winter-air paints over them like water; Hiyori shivers, straightening out her yukata as she walks.
"Should we go to the shrine first?" Yama-chan asks. "For luck?"
Ami agrees, and Hiyori nods absently. From the corner of her eye, she sees something shift—a dark whisper weaving through the crowds of people.
She turns, and for a moment, the world—the sky, the stars, the watercolor festival—all fall away, and the only thing she sees is blue. Eyes as bright as sky-light, as the glimmer of sea-water.
"…Yato," she breathes.
There is a boy beside her. And only a boy.
Hiyori closes her eyes, and opens them again, and it all comes back to her at once: the festival-song, the loud clatter of footsteps, the murmurs of prayers.
The boy is gone.
And then comes Ami's voice, soft from right beside her:
"…asked what god you're going to pray to, Hiyori?"
Hiyori blanks, and for a moment, her mind is hollow, save for one, angled name:Yato.
And then it's gone, again.
"I'm not sure," Hiyori says, smiling sheepishly. "I don't really know any god's names."
7.
"You're not so sleepy anymore, huh, Hiyori?" her mom asks.
"Oh, now that you mention it," Hiyori says, "I guess not."
Her mom presses the rice into the china-bowl.
"It's funny. You would just fall asleep at the drop of a hat."
"I guess so…" Hiyori mutters, thinking back. But most of it only comes to her as a blur. "Ah, it's a good thing that I stopped then, isn't it?"
Her mother looks pensive, before she says, "Mm, I wouldn't say that."
"…Why?"
"You always looked peaceful, like you were dreaming."
6.
For some reason, whenever she catches her reflection in mirrors, Hiyori finds herself searching for a tail—no.
A cord.
5.
—before I let you go.
He pulls away, leaving her lips stinging and her eyes glassy as he murmurs: I'm going to grant your wish.
No, she says, desperate, I take it back, I take it back.
He grins, A god doesn't go back on his word.
Yato, she says, you may be a god, but to me—
His ocean-eyes are wet when he murmurs, Goodbye, Iki Hiyori.
4.
He only kisses her once, hard on the mouth.
He prefaces it with: "Hiyori, can I ask you for something?"
She says, "Yes?"
He nods. "Okay. I want to be selfish—"
3.
Yukine says, "He's a bastard, and he's not good enough for you, but…"
Hiyori stares, not sure where this is going, "Yukine, we need to finish the problem—"
He looks up at her, with his stellate-eyes, and says, quietly enough to make her heart break:
"Even if you forget me, please don't forget my master."
2.
"You look at Yatty-chan a lot these days."
"Ahh, Ms. Kofukuu, I do not."
"Aw, so cute. Your eyes go wide, like little moons. Hiyorin is adorable!"
"I'm not—"
"Hiyorin is in love!"
"WHAT? SAYS WHO? WITH WHO?"
"Mou, Yatty-chan, why'd you break my door?"
1.
She pretends not to hear when he says: "I wish I could believe that."
0.
"I'll never forget you," she says, "Never."
Yato looks away.