Author's Note

If you're wondering why I'm suddenly publishing a Noragami fic after a Madoka Magica spree then a long hiatus, it's cause this is my girlfriend's birthday present. I hope you enjoy this curious tale as much as she did!

"Don't give me that look, Hiyori. You're the one that asked to come," Yato called out to the violet eyed girl. He was sitting on the edge of the airplane hangar's roof, chewing nonchalantly on a pocky stick while his legs dangled over the steep drop to the solid concrete runway. Meanwhile, Hiyori and Yukine stared slack-jawed at the lumbering Phantom before them, which was innocently poking at a few dormant jumbo jets, almost its equal in size.

"You're telling me we're going to fight that thing? That gigantic spider is a Phantom?" she responded, pointing off into the distance at the eight legged monstrosity. It was as if someone had taken a photograph of a tarantula from a zoology textbook, magnified it by a factor of ten thousand, then pasted it into real life. Yet, by nature of its ethereal existence, it didn't make a sound when its massive legs took a step. Hiyori's tail frizzed up at the mere thought of it.

"Hey, a job's a job. If we don't fight it, someone else will, and that's just a tragedy. Besides, it's all for a good cause: if I'm to become a god of happiness, I can't leave giant spiders crawling all over the place, because those things have a tendency to make humans quite sad," Yato replied, his blue eyes gleaming in determination. His face split into a familiar grin, the one that appeared whenever he was about to get into an exciting fight. No matter how much he wished for the happiness of mankind, he still could not shake his inherent love of slicing things. "What do you think, Yukine? Ready to chop this thing to pieces?" he asked, addressing his Shinki.

The blond haired boy, on the other hand, was reacting to the sight of this particular Phantom in quite a different way from his master. His eyes were downcast as if he was suddenly very interested in the roof's shingles, his face as pale as a ghost while he did his best to hide behind Hiyori without anyone noticing. "P-please, can we not fight this one?" he whimpered, barely audible. "Don't make me touch that thing. Please."

Hiyori turned to face the younger boy, tilting her head in concern once she saw that he was trembling slightly. She reached her hand up his shoulder, drawing it back quickly when he flinched at her touch. "What's wrong, Yukine? Isn't it just another Phantom? Together with Yato, you've been slaughtering these things all week. I'm sure this one will be just as easy," she assured him in a comforting tone, trying but failing to reach through his overwhelming fear. It was as if a dam of terror had broken in the boy's mind, flooding all of his thoughts until there was nothing left. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his head, momentarily parting the seas of panic in his mind. He looked up to see Yato peering down at him in concern, his master's blue eyes seemingly piercing through his soul, once again reminding him of the unbreakable bond that they shared.

"Yukine, what's the matter? Are you feeling sick? This Phantom is going to cause a lot of people grief if we don't stop it, so let's rest later, okay? Or is something else wrong?" the god asked gently. Hiyori stepped back with a faint grin on her face. She was reminded of a father consoling his beloved son, patting his head to give him comfort.

"It's just that… I, ah… I'm afraid of spiders. I mean, really, really scared. I want to help everyone out there, and I want to defeat this Phantom, but I… I'm scared," the boy admitted, the fear in his eyes turning to shame. Am I a defective Shinki? Surely the weapons of gods should be afraid of nothing.

Yato nodded in understanding, although he really had no idea what to do. He was concerned for Yukine, but at the same time he really needed to take care of this Phantom, lest it hitch a ride on one of the airplanes and poison a pilot's mind, causing the death of dozens of innocent people. "We can do this, Yukine. Trust me on this. I know that you're afraid, but remember, that's not a real spider. It's just a huge mass of nasty thoughts and emotions taking the shape of something equally as nasty." His eyes flashed even bluer, his voice thick with a rare moment of absolute sincerity. "Just stay sharp and let me do the rest. You trust your master, right?"

Yukine just stood there unmoving, before finally giving a slight nod, not trusting his lips to hide the runon tangent of NO! I CAN'T DO THIS! coursing through his thoughts. He might as well get this over with, because sitting there and thinking even more of the situation was not going to help him be strong.

Yato nodded in satisfaction, extending his arm before him. "Then let's do this! Sekki!" Reacting to his summons, the 雪 marked on Yukine's collarbone projected itself in front of him, and with a final terrified shiver his body instantly disappeared in a flash of light, replaced by the familiar katana, gripped tightly by Yato. For a split second the katana's edge was as dull as a butter knife, before honing itself to a deadly state. Okay. I can do this. It's just a Phantom. Hiyori's watching. I trust Yato. I can do it, Yukine repeated to himself over and over again like a mantra.

The blue eyed god, on the other hand, was ready to fight from the get go, leaping down from the hangar roof and hitting the ground running, quickly closing the distance between himself and the gigantic arachnid. Hiyori trailed slightly behind, ready to render any backup necessary no matter how much Yato insisted otherwise.

The spider Phantom finally noticed its foes, which were sprinting across the concrete runway towards it. It quickly scuttled out from amongst the airplanes, its body lowering itself closer to the floor and the hairs on its legs bristling and standing on edge to intimidate the small creatures that continued to relentlessly advance.

Yukine desperately tried to maintain his focus, despite the constant chill running down his spine twisting his sanity into a crumpled mess. What do swords think at times like this? Stay sharp. Be strong. Stab it. Tear it apart. Trust Yato. He and his master quickly continued to approach. 20 meters. 10 meters. 5 meters. Striking distance. We're the heroes. We kill monsters. Fight your fears. Fight your f- The Phantom suddenly lifted up two enormous legs, tipped with sharp claws, and struck down at the god and his weapon as quick as lightning.

"Hah, too slow!" Yato exclaimed, raising Sekki to block the legs. The claws struck hard against the katana's blade, sparks flying off the metal. Yukine's mind suddenly inflamed with panic. I… I can't… Please stop touching me… He shrieked involuntarily as the spider added a third leg to the onslaught, finding no purchase against the strength of the jersey-clad god. Images started to flash through Yukine's mind. Scuttling. Spiders crawling around. Spiders on the wall, on the floor, falling from the sky, crawling all over me, covering me in webs, hovering over me, ready to-

"NO!" Yukine finally cried out to his master, his will shattered. "I CAN'T! YATO NO I CAN'T DO IT, I CAN'T, N-NO, GET IT AWAY, PLEASE YATO HELP ME!" Yukine begged, both his pride and his voice cracking. He was hysterical at this point, the images flooding his mind completely overwhelming him. The sword began to bend and rust, the metal weakening in an instant. The Shinki within was no longer able to fight.

Yato leapt backwards, nimbly dodging the spider's legs as they stabbed the ground near him. "Come on Yukine, we can fight! Let's destroy this enemy to the happiness of-" He cut himself short as he took a look at his weapon. Sekki was completely rusted over, as if the katana had just spent the last century at the bottom of a lake. The god instantly felt immensely guilty for putting his Shinki through this torture, disappointed in himself for having failed so miserably in putting the happiness of Yukine before that of others. "Okay. I'm sorry, Yukine. I shouldn't have pushed you to do this. You can change back."

The boy didn't need to be told twice; with another flash of light, he was in human form once more, kneeling on the ground, hyperventilating and trembling like a blade of grass in a hurricane. His eyes were frozen wide open, mental images of spiders dancing behind them unendingly. Yato quickly scooped him off the ground and into his arms, turning to face the arachnid, which was preparing to scuttle over and end this fight as quickly as it began. Yato was not entirely sure he was quick enough to dodge this monster with Yukine in tow.

"Don't look, Yukine," Yato commanded his Shinki, forcing him to cover his own eyes. "Don't look, I'll get you out of here, I swear." Even as he spoke, the spider charged towards the pair. He was left weaponless against a Phantom many times his size. Maybe he had finally gotten in over his head.

As if cued by Yato's feelings of despair, a bright yellow forklift came speeding out from behind an airplane, going much faster than a forklift should be able to. Upon closer inspection, Yato saw that the vehicle in question was piloted by none other than Hiyori. "Watch your step, Mr. Spider!" she cried out as she skidded the forklift to a stop right between the beast and her friends. The spider, unable to stop its momentum in time, crashed headfirst into the obstacle and sailed right over the three and landed in a heap quite a distance away, pausing for a moment as if in shock. Yato was just as shocked, staring blankly at the forklift-jacker before him.

"I've watched all of Tono's fights, including those silly staged wrestling matches. He stole a forklift to crush his foes in one of them!" Hiyori explained sensing the god's absolute confusion. "Hmph, and you didn't want to bring me along. If not for me, who'd be your deus ex machina, hmmm?" she gloated, her tail slightly wagging in satisfaction. Looking off into the distance, she saw the spider begin to right itself, its momentary surprise spent. "Leave this big bug to me. Take care of Yukine, Yato! Remember he's just a little kid!" Hiyori cried over her shoulder as she sped away in her surprisingly speedy forklift, aiming to draw the spider's attention.

"Wait, Hiyori, no! COME BACK!" Yato screamed in panic. It was too late; Hiyori was already many meters away, putting as much strain on the forklift's engine as possible while the giant arachnid quickly scuttled towards its assailant, obviously pissed at having been tripped. In the god's arms, Yukine continued to shake, albeit not as violently as before. "This is… damnit, what do I do?" Yato cried out to no one in particular, all options leading to a dead end. His most precious person was in mortal danger from a Phantom she could not possibly hope to defeat on her own, no matter how many martial arts matches she had watched. Indeed, the spider was much faster than the puny forklift, and it was closing the distance at a terrifying speed. His blessed Shinki was currently incapacitated with terror, and would surely snap in half if used in this situation. "WHAT DO I DO?" he repeated, his voice thick with desperation, shaking as if he was struggling to hold back angry tears. He could not bear to lose either of them. He would rather die.

Coming to terms with this fact, Yato's face tightened with resolve. He quickly set the blond haired boy on his feet. "Can you stand, Yukine?" he asked, drawing back his arms once he earned a quick nod from the Shinki. "I need you to stay here. I'm going to go get Hiyori, and together we're going to retreat, or at least you will retreat with her. Get ready to run, with or without me," the god instructed, this time not bothering to wait for an answer. He took off running at a speed that only a former god of calamity could boast, Hiyori's safety the only thing on his mind. Left behind, Yukine reached out a hand to his master. He tried to say something that a Shinki should say without thinking, such as "Take me with you!" or "We'll fight it together!". No matter how much he tried, the words would not come. I… I can't fight. Yukine's thoughts turned to self-loathing, tears springing forth from his amber eyes. What's the point of me if I can't fight?

Then again, Tono's forklift was used to crush human wrestlers, Hiyori realized in panic, staring over her shoulder in panic at the quickly advancing arachnid. Every leg pulled it drastically closer, which was unfortunate seeing as how the thing had way too many legs for comfort. I don't think he would've been able to use it to escape from a giant spider! "Okay, fight or flight, we learned about this in class," Hiyori thought aloud, firmly gripping both sides of the forklift's steering wheel. "Enough of flight, I choose fight!" She jerked the wheel sharply to the left, skidding the vehicle to a full stop as the scent of burnt tires filled the air. The half Phantom leapt out the side and onto the concrete runway to face the full Phantom, careful to keep her tail tight against her back. "If I get out of this alive, I want to go down in history as the girl who fought an airplane sized-spider in a school uniform," she whispered shakily to herself, trying to keep her cool and putting her fists up in a defensive pose as her foe quickly advanced upon her.

Watch every leg. This is the same as a martial arts match, except the enemy has 6 more legs than usual, she thought to herself, finding a sense of calm in the analogy. She was in her natural habitat, give or take a few supernatural variables. As the spider finally reached striking distance, her violet eyes darted all over the creature's body, tracking each leg for movement. Unaware of the girl's concentration, the Phantom slowly drew back one of its legs to stab her through the head. Quick as a flash, Hiyori sidestepped to the left with a quick "hup!" while the clawed leg came crashing down onto the concrete next to her. This was almost instantly followed by another leg coming up to swipe at her neck. Hiyori was so deep in her concentration that the leg seemed to move in slow motion, and she spun counterclockwise to meet the claw on the end with a vicious spinning kick. Although large beyond compare, the claw itself was brittle and weak, and the impact shattered it into tiny pieces.

The arachnid responded to this pain with a loud, resounding hissing as it limped forward with its now asymmetrical legs, a sound that would have immobilized even Tono with fear. Hiyori, however, was unaffected, reveling in the face of her small victory. "One down, seven to go. Hey, Mr. Spider, did you like that? That's called a Jungle Savate! Come get some more!" Hiyori called out at her aircraft sized foe, adrenaline pumping through her veins and giving her confidence.

"Hey Phantom! Over here!" All of a sudden, a voice rang out of nowhere, pulling both the spider's and Hiyori's attention towards it. There was Yato, the jersey clad god waving both arms around in the air at the beast to pull its aggression towards him. "Hiyori! Take Yukine and go, NOW!" he called out to the girl. Unbeknownst to him, the spider had fallen for the bait and now had two clawed legs hovering over him, poised to impale him.

Hiyori took off sprinting towards the aqua eyed god without a second thought. "Yato, YOU IDIOT! I HAD HIM TAKEN CARE OF! WATCH OUT!" She launched her whole body at him just as the spider's legs dove down towards its target. Yato felt her weight collide into him, and she landed on top of him as they skidded a short distance across the concrete. Thankfully, it seemed as if neither of them had been hit.

"Whew, that was a close one, ahahaha," Yato sighed in relief, adding his trademark lame chuckle to try and lighten the situation. "Okay, now you have a clear path to Yukine. Go now! I'll meet up with you later!" he instructed. There was no response from the half Phantom, who was still on top of him and now slightly trembling. "Hiyori?" he asked, now more than a little concerned. Still no answer. He gently took her by the shoulders and turned her around, only to see that her face was quickly being covered by the festering dark mess that was the Blight. Her breath came in slow, drawn out wheezes, the shock in her eyes growing along with the trembling of her body. "What? What is this?" he exclaimed in panic, instantly terrified for his most precious person. He quickly ran his eyes, wide in fearful concern, over her body to search for a clue to her affliction, and his stomach dropped with thick desperation as soon as he found it.

Hiyori's tail had been sliced across the middle by the spider's claws. Only a pitiful thread of hair remained to connect the two segments, and bind her to this life.

Yukine, out of sheer loyalty to Hiyori and Yato, had been slowly following his master to where Hiyori was fighting the spider, resisting the all-encompassing urge to turn tail and sprint away with every step. He at last had made it to Hiyori's forklift, which was only a short distance away from the beast itself. He hid behind the vehicle, desperately trying to hold his sanity together and praying for some god, somewhere, to grant him the courage that a Shinki should have. Suddenly, he heard a piercing, agonized wail, the sound of a man who had lost the person dearest to him. He peered over the forklift to see his master on his knees, holding Hiyori, who was clearly about to succumb to the Blight, visible even from this distance. Yato's face was screwed up in absolute pain, as if he himself had been sliced in half, his forehead pressed closely against the dying girl's, even as the Blight started crossing over to him. Another loud wail of grief echoed out across the runway from the stray god, this time choked back slightly by fat tears.

Hiyori! Hiyori, no, oh god no, HIYORI! Out of pure agonized instinct, Yukine immediately started to sprint towards the pair, struggling to hold back tears himself. He stopped dead in his tracks just as quickly. There, creeping up behind the two, was the gargantuan spider Phantom, ready to go in for the kill. The blond haired boy could feel himself start to panic again, taking a terrified step back. C-crawling… spiders everywhere, all over the walls and the floor and- Just as he was about to run back to his hiding spot, his mind cleared in a moment of lucidity. He looked back to the only two people in the world who cared about him, crumpled on the ground before the beast. He stepped forward again, uncertainty raging through his mind. I… I have to save them. I have to save Hiyori and Yato from the… big… crawling… sp- NO! Don't think about it! I am a Shinki! Yukine took another step forward, and then another, his confidence mounting in the face of his fears. I am a Shinki! I must protect my master! I… I have to be…

What's the point? A voice echoed, clear as a bell through Yato's mind as his frame was wracked with agonized sobs. If I let Hiyori die, what's the point of being a god of happiness? What's the point of being a god? He ignored the burning of the Blight creeping onto his face as he pressed his forehead against Hiyori's. I don't want to fight. I don't want to exist. If Hiyori's fate falls away from mine here, then let me disappear… Deaf to his own sobbing, Yato screwed his aqua eyes shut, wrapping his arms tightly around the half Phantom that he refused to live without, ready to enter whatever void gods go to when they disappear. He felt a gentle touch against his face. He opened his eyes to see Hiyori stroking his cheek with her blackened, festering hand, her eyes kind yet quickly going out of focus.

"Don't… cry… Yato…" she croaked out, struggling to form words.

"B-but… Hiyori this is all my fault… And… I couldn't keep my promise, because of my stupid decisions, I couldn't make you hap-" Yato babbled out his agony as tears streamed down his face, his eyes filled with self-loathing and regret, only to be cut midsentence by Hiyori's finger at his lips.

"You kept…. Your promise, Yato. Being around you made me happy… so, so happy…" the dying girl whispered, tears springing from her eyes as well, adding to Yato's tears which were falling on her festering face. "And we were together forever, just like how I wanted… or… at least… for my forever…" she quietly giggled at this, before succumbing to a coughing fit. When she finally recovered, her eyes were full of concern. "Please… keep another promise for me, God of Happiness," she whispered, the light fading from her violet eyes. "Keep living. Keep making people happy. Do that for me. Please."

Yato involuntarily started shaking his head before even processing her request, teardrops flying from his face. How can I keep living? Hiyori, you cruel human, how can you tell me to do such a thing? He looked up momentarily, seeing that the spider's legs were hovering above, ready to strike. No matter… it's not like I could survive this, even if I wanted to. He held Hiyori even closer to him, bracing himself for the end.

"NO! I WON'T LET YOU! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE! I DON'T CARE HOW MANY LEGS YOU HAVE! YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FAMILY!" A boyish cry of fury suddenly rang out, and a flash of light filled Yato's vision. He quickly turned around in shock. There stood Yukine, the young Shinki standing strong yet trembling violently at the same time, only meters away from the gigantic spider. His index finger and middle finger were extended in the shape of a halberd, and a mighty Borderline stood before him, even bigger than the arachnid. He was hyperventilating and wide eyed in panic, but he stood his ground nonetheless. The spider hissed in anger at this new development, unable to cross the wall of light. It drew back on its numerous hind legs and pounced fiercely at the Borderline, throwing its enormous body weight against it. Yukine shrieked involuntarily and flinched, almost drawing back, but he quickly remembered his purpose and swiped his fingers across the air once more, bolstering the strength of the Borderline. "I AM A SHINKI! I AM THE WEAPON OF A GOD! YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME! I'M STRONG! I'M BRAVE!" the boy bellowed, once more standing strong.

Yato sat there in shock, in disbelief that his weapon was able to overcome his fear with such intensity. He looked back towards Hiyori, who was breathing her last breaths, Yukine's words echoing in his ears. I'm strong. All three of them were strong. Their ties to eachother were unbreakable. Yukine had faced his fears for Yato and Hiyori. Yato was ready to die for Hiyori and Yukine. Hiyori had sacrificed herself for Yato and Yukine. Their ties transcended life and death.

Our ties… Yato found a thousand thoughts rushing through his mind. If I can cut people's ties, can I…? There was no time for thoughts, only actions. The god took Hiyori's hand in his own. "You who would depart from the land of the rising sun," he chanted, desperation clear in both his voice and his eyes. "I, the Yato God, pull thee back to this existence. Our ties are unbreakable and stronger than any metal on both the Near and Far Shore. Let them serve as your anchor to this life. Let them cause our fates to intertwine." Tears sprang once more from his aqua eyes, which were glowing with a pleading light. "Mend."

Time seemed to stop for everyone but Yato. Hiyori was caught as she was about to close her eyes for the last time. Yukine's face was frozen in an expression of panicked fury. It soon became apparent to the god that the ties between him and Hiyori were now visible. The white lines between them were thick as a chain, yet when he raised a finger to poke at one, it felt warm and soothing to the touch. With careful hands, he took one and detached it from the two of them before carefully wrapping one end of the thick line around the damaged section of Hiyori's tail like a bandage, and the other end around his index finger. As soon as the line connected them, it turned deep red, almost as if confirming that a promise had been made.

At that instant, time unfroze, and their ties disappeared, invisible once more. Hiyori's violet eyes fluttered open, her face instantly clear of the Blight. She touched a hand to her own cheek, in disbelief that she was alive and well. Is this… a dream? Am I a Phantom now? As if aware of Hiyori's doubts, Yato pulled her up to his chest and held her tight against him, in almost as much disbelief as the half Phantom.

"You're alright… It worked, it worked, I don't know how but it worked…" the god babbled in relief, happier tears replacing the tears of grief on his face. Hiyori had a thousand questions flooding her thoughts, but she felt Yato's relief and returned the embrace, something she would never dare to do in any other situation.

"Y-yeah… I'm here, Yato, don't worry. I'm okay now," she whispered, trying to reassure the aqua eyed god, her arms wrapped tightly around his midsection. "But… how? What did you do?"

He averted his eyes, unsure of how Hiyori would react. "I… uh… I realized how strong our ties were, so I used them to bandage your tail," he admitted, pointing at it. Her tail was indeed whole again, as if nothing had happened. "That means that now our fates really are intertwined. So, even if you ever wanted to sever our ties to become fully human again, it wouldn't be possible without killing you," he continued, his voice thick with shame. He had not intended to take that choice away from her. "…I'm sorry, Hiyori."

The violet eyed girl shook her head at his response. "Yato, when will you understand that I never wanted that to happen anyway? Forever means forever. I don't want to be separated from you. Ever. Please believe me when I say that," she stated, staring intently at the god. After a brief pause, her face flushed beet red with embarrassment. "I-I mean… you know… Unless you're not okay with th-"

Yato was overcome with emotion. Hiyori was alive. She was not rejecting the binding power of their ties. Flooded with a mixture of happiness, relief, and affection for the half Phantom, he spontaneously leaned down to kiss Hiyori on the lips, cutting her off midsentence. Had he left his eyes open, he would have seen her violet eyes bug out in surprise, then slowly calm down into an expression of acceptance, also closing as she raised a hand to his cheek once more.

It was at that moment that Yato remembered that a very big spider was trying to kill his arachnophobic Shinki. "Y-YOU STUPID BUG!" Yukine was bellowing in faltering rage at the Phantom. "I BET ALL THE FLIES LAUGH AT YOU CAUSE YOU'RE SO WEAK!" Despite his inflammatory words, he still whimpered and flinched when the beast launched itself at the Borderline once more, which weakened slightly along with Yukine's courage.

Yato quickly separated his lips from Hiyori's, earning a small grumble of protest from the girl. "We have to kill the Phantom. Yukine's not going to last much longer, and I don't know if he'll be able to hold up if I turn him into Sekki," he stated without missing a beat, pondering all options as if the kiss had not just happened.

Hiyori cleared her throat, slightly annoyed yet understanding of the situation. "Well let's see," she began. "If I'm now bound together with you tightly, and if Yukine is also bound together with you tightly, then let's see if…" Extracting herself out of Yato's arms, she jumped up to her feet and reached out her hand towards Yukine. "Sekki!" she called out.

Yukine turned towards the two, half overjoyed to hear Hiyori's voice and half confused at why she was calling him by his Shinki name, but before he could speak a word, the mark on his collarbone projected itself before him, and he lost his human form in a flash of light. There, held in Hiyori's right hand, was the katana Sekki.

Yato stared at the violet eyed girl in shock, partly in awe that it had worked and partly conflicted that someone else was holding his weapon.

"Wow, is it just me or are you longer than usual?" Hiyori asked, curiously turning the blade over in her hands. Sekki was indeed almost fifty percent larger than when Yato held him.

"S-SHUT UP! PLEASE! RIGHT NOW!" Yukine yelled, completely flustered that a girl was holding him. If katanas could blush, Sekki would be as red as a raspberry.

Unfortunately for the trio, Yukine's transformation into Sekki also caused his Borderline to disappear, and now the Phantom was furious. In its blind rage, it forgot about its missing claw, and slid down to the ground when it applied pressure to the asymmetrical leg, disabling it momentarily.

"Let's go, Yukine!" Hiyori chirped, eager to take advantage of the Phantom's weakness.

"Wait, wait, WAIT, I don't want to touch that thing, Hiyori I REALLY don't want to-"

"Look at this BIG STRONG SWORD that ME, Hiyori Iki, a GIRL, is holding!" Hiyori interrupted him with a commanding tone before he could panic. Meanwhile, Yato slapped his hand against his face in morbid amusement.

"Wow. Looks like horny teenage boy hormones can conquer even the deepest fears," he mumbled to himself in a dejected tone. "This is too funny for me to even complain about how his dirty thoughts are stinging me like a nest of angry hornets."

"Wow, I certainly think this Shinki is pretty MANLY, in my opinion!" Hiyori continued loudly. She hid her face from both the Shinki and the god, blushing furiously at the indecent things she was shouting at the top of her lungs.

"H-H-H-H-IYORI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?" Yukine stuttered, any flecks of rust on his blade disappearing as embarrassment overwhelmed fear. "THAT'S NOT OKAY! STOP IT, I'M, I'M JUST A LITTLE KID!"

While he was busy protesting, Hiyori took her chance and flipped forward onto the spider's back, deftly avoiding a stray claw that came her way. Before the Phantom could gain a chance to counter, she viciously plunged the Sekki into its back, dark liquid spurting all over her school uniform and dark hair. To Yukine's dismay, the spider did not explode like Phantoms usually did.

"W-WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

"SHUT UP, YOU SEXY KATANA!" Hiyori commanded loudly, frantically trying to pull the blade from the arachnid's back. "YATO, THE SPIDER ISN'T EXPLODING, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?" Meanwhile, the beast tried to lumber to a stand underneath her, its legs slipping and failing to gain purchase against the runway.

"You have to say something cool first!" Yato called up from the ground. He was just a jersey wearing speck from Hiyori's perspective on the spider's back.

"O-ok! I'll do my best!" Hiyori called back, trying to drown out the sounds of Yukine's persistent wailing as she'd finally pulled him free of the monster's insides. "Uh, you big bug who would try to screw up this nice airport! I, Hiyori Iki, half Phantom, half human, will blow you up with the Sekki!" As she paraphrased the words that she'd heard Yato utter so many times, she mimicked his movements, drawing a line down the blade with her finger, leaving a violet trail on the metal. Finally satisfied that she'd gotten it right, she plunged the katana into the spider once more, earning a final shudder from the dying Phantom. "REND!" she bellowed aggressively, pushing Sekki into the creature up to the edge of the gauze wrapped around her end of the blade.

This time, the beast reacted to the Shinki. With one final hiss, the gargantuan spider imploded into a mass of dark liquid, its legs all conjoining to a single point, as time froze and large, glowing kanji surrounded the defeated beast. As the world remained frozen, Hiyori looked down to see a look of pure relief on Yato's face at her victory. She smiled to herself, content in having done something that the god himself could not. Finally, time started back up, and the spider was no more. The half Phantom landed neatly on her feet, reminiscent of her catlike tail.

As Yato made his way over to her, she realized that her weapon had been awfully quiet. "Hey, Yukine, you can change back now," she coaxed him gently. There was a brief pause, and the Shinki obeyed, reverting to his human form with a flash of light. Hiyori could see the trauma in his downcast eyes, and she felt guilty even though her actions were necessary. "Yukine… Listen, I'm really so-"

The blond haired boy raised a finger, signaling her to be quiet. "It… it's okay. I'm okay now," he admitted shakily after a moment, with a sigh. "I'm okay," he repeated. "It never happened."

The violet eyed girl nodded in response. "It never happened," she gently confirmed.

"Well, I think we can all agree today could have gone better," Yato stated with an air of nonchalance, standing between the two and throwing his arms over both their shoulders. "For a god of happiness and his merry men, that was a very sad fight."

"Next time, don't go running off into a fight with only half a brain," Yukine muttered, looking off dejectedly to the side. He still had not completely forgiven his master for sending him straight into eight legged trauma with little to no preparation.

Yato looked down at his young Shinki, feeling the betrayal behind Yukine's disrespectful words. He pulled the two tightly towards him in a sort of odd group hug. "Yukine, I'm sorry," he began, a layer of regret in his voice. "I should have respected your feelings and withdrawn. A god should not force his Shinki into a fight he cannot or does not want to fight. Please forgive me."

Yukine's eyes softened at the sound of Yato's apology, though the god did not see this as his face was pressed up against his jersey due to the aforemented awkward group hug. "Mm." he responded, affirming his grudging forgiveness. "Also, your jersey reeks of sweat."

"DON'T TALK CRAP ABOUT THE JERSEY!" Yato exclaimed in a tone of mock offense.

"Come on Yato, I think you smell okay," Hiyori chirped in response, blushing slightly at her own boldness.

"W-well yes. Of course. See, Hiyori has a functioning nose, unlike YOU," he scolded towards Yukine, before planting a lightning fast quick on top of Hiyori's head. Earlier, this would have earned him a Jungle Savate to the groin, but now Hiyori simply smiled and drew closer to the god, blushing ever more slightly.

"Gross," Yukine grumbled, a response befitting a boy of his age.

"Look who's talking, Mr. Sexy Katana," Yato gloated, referencing Hiyori's words of "encouragement" during the fight.

"SH-SHUT UP!" the violet eyed girl and amber eyed boy yelled almost in unison, earning a sadistic cackle from the blue eyed god.

It was a scene befitting those whose fates were forever intertwined, never to diverge. As Yukine had called them in his moment of courage, they truly were a "family".