Umiko spent the next few days pondering on whether he would tell Yato about the encounter with Nora.

"Umi, please don't tell Papa!" Aiko had pleaded.

On one hand, if Yato found out, he might lose trust in him and, on the other hand, it was probably better to inform Yato so that he could have his guard up. Umiko was leaning more toward telling him. Yes, he would get his trust taken away, but if it were to keep Aiko safe…

"Yato-san, may I speak to you?"

"You're speaking to me now," he responded, promptly knitting a sweater for his daughter in the dining room.

"I-I mean in private," Umiko eyed Hiyori and Kofuku, who were sitting under the kotatsu and enjoying a cup of tea.

Yato set the half-knitted sweater on the kotatsu. "If ya wanna quit, Aiko's the one should you go to," he said with a smile trying to break through his poker face.

"Oh, no, sir. It's nothing of that nature!"

"Tch!"

"It's just… something I need to discuss."

"Yato, you're being rude, just go!" Hiyori hissed.

"Fine. Fine. Let's see what ocean boy wants," Yato declared, standing up and leading the way to the garden.

Umiko not so closely behind, as he was intimidated by Yato.

Yato did not particularly dislike Umiko, but he was just being protective over his daughter. Hiyori seemed to have complete trust in him, however. Since he had had that negative experience with Yukine, he was terrified that the same thing could happen to Aiko and Umiko. Yes, eventually she would get a shinki, but she was so young…

"So?"

"Remember when Aiko and I went for a walk in the park last week?"

Yato narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "What about it?"

"Well, I think someone might be targeting Aiko-sama."

Yato's eyes abruptly changed their expression. If there was someone out to get Aiko, there could only be one person.

"Why would you think that?"

"When we were walking in the park, a girl in a white kimono approached us and tried to take Aiko with her," he explained, purposefully leaving out the whole ayakashi-slaying part. "I drew a line and that seemed to spook her away." He might as well give credit to himself.

"I see... " Yato absorbed the information and tried his best to remain calm. "I think it's best if you and Aiko don't go out alone anymore."

Umiko slowly nodded. What would be the point of arguing? What did he expect? He knew Yato hadn't lost trust or faith in him, but he did feel worry building in his stomach. Even though Yato was doing this to keep Aiko safe, it still felt like he was doing it out of spite.

Yato was ready to turn his back to Umiko and continue knitting Aiko's sweater, but Umiko seemed to have more on his mind.

"She also said that Aiko-sama was her family… Do you know what that might mean?"

A chill ran cold down Yato's spine, shaking his being right to the core.

"Family?"

Umiko nodded shakily, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. A personal thing, perhaps?.

"I don't know," he lied, "we're the only family Aiko has," he half-lied. "Whatever that girl told you, you shouldn't listen. She was probably someone wanting to get her hands on a demi-god."

"She also had many tattoos on her - names. Why did she have so many? They couldn't be names, could they?" he urged, concerned with the unfamiliar sight.

"Yes, they're names. I mean… probably," he tried to make it clear that he didn't know the girl even though he did. "That would be a Nora, then."

"Nora?" Umiko did not know what that meant, but he did know that it made him even more sick to the stomach than he already was, butterflies fluttering wildly from his intestines and clogging up his throat, making it hard to swallow or even breathe.

"Shinki that belong to more than one god."

"That's possible?"

"Anything's possible, kid. Allowed? Yeah, technically, but it's not very praised."

"If it's a bad thing, why would someone-"

"Imagine a stray cat," Yato interrupted.

"Huh?"

"It does not have an owner, but it has many people that will feed it on occasion. Same concept with a stray. They are not obligated to stay with one master. They will benefit by being taken care of, while the master uses them for… acts that they wouldn't use their own shinki for."

"Acts?"

"I need to finish knitting that sweater."

"So, what did Umiko want?" Hiyori wondered as she got ready to go to bed. The others that shared the room: Aiko, Umiko, and Yukine were already fast asleep.

"Remember my father?" Yato asked from his futon, sitting in an upright position.

Hiyori's face instantly turned sour. She recalled that horrible person's face, or rather, the face he'd stolen - Fujisaki.

Father had engaged in battle with Yato a few times before he disappeared, but that had been years ago. They'd tried their best to conceal Aiko's existence from him, but the birth of a Japanese demi-god wasn't that common and word had probably gotten out.

Fujisaki hadn't caused much trouble in present-day, aside from the occasional fights when trying to get Yato back to him, but Yato had told Hiyori about his childhood. He explained how he was forced to kill, how he was beaten senseless when he wouldn't follow orders, and how he couldn't get rid of him because Father was the only thing keeping him from disappearing.

"But you have me! I remember you!" Hiyori had told him.

But Hiyori wasn't human anymore. Aiko's existence as a half-human half-god hybrid could possibly be enough to be Yato's lifeline, but it was a longshot they were not willing to risk.

"Of course…" she responded to Yato's question.

"Apparently Nora paid Aiko a visit while she was out with Umiko."

Hiyori's face turned at least 3 lighter shades, immediately twisting her expression from sour to complete terror. How did they find out about Aiko?

"W-what are we gonna do?"

Yato looked at his tiny shrine sitting beside him and scooped it up gently with both his hands.

"Takamagahara," he whispered softly.

"Eh?"

"We could move to the heavens."

"Yato… That plot you bought is not nearly enough for the 5 of us," Hiyori remembered the miniscule plot that Yato had purchased. It wasn't even being used, so she often questioned its usefulness.

"We'll buy a bigger one!"

Hiyori gave an exasperated sigh. "With what money?"

"We can borrow some from Kofuku!"

"I don't think that's a good idea." And she was right. Any money that came from the goddess of bad luck and poverty was sure to ensue chaos.

"Okay, what about borrowing from the psycho?"

"If you're still calling Bishamon-san that, why would you think she would lend you the money?"

"She acts all tough on the outside, but I think she secretly has a thing for me."

Hiyori rolled her eyes and gently massaged her temple. "I guess we could try Bishamon-san if you're polite, but do you know how long it'll take us to pay her back? We need at least 10 million yen to build a decent house."

"Time, my dear, is our biggest advantage," Yato said as he lie down on his futon.

Hiyori did the same, tucking herself nicely under the blankets.

Time was the most valuable possession they owned.