\\\

Yato screamed. Suddenly everything was gone, the dank of the underground and the voices and shriek of metal. Instead there was only deafening silence. He was on the floor. Why? Oh. Kofuku's floor. Right. He looked around blearily as his brain tried to conform with reality. The pile of blankets next to him rustled.

"Was that you?" Yukine's voice croaked.

He winced. Shit. Had he actually yelled? At least Yukine was the only one he'd woken up.

"Yeah... sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

"...You wa'a halk abou' id?" Yukine managed barely through yawn-speak.

"No, that's okay," Yato whispered quickly. "Go back to sleep."

"'Kay."

Within seconds, Yukine had fallen back into deep, pre-snore breaths.

/

Thankfully, Yukine seemed to have forgotten the outburst by morning.

Yato could deal with snarky comments and the inevitable I'm-so-a-scurred-wehhh imitations that came packaged with Yukine, but if Hiyori heard, her eyebrows would do that furrowing thing and she'd pick at him in her concerned, subtle ways (like throwing things at his head or yelling, "Stop touching me!", because that was just Hiyori and that was how she showed she cared) until she'd practically forced him to tell her every detail.

That could be a problem.

"Ne, ne~ Yatty-chan, was that you yelling last night?"

Kofuku watched him attentively from across the table as Daikoku cleared their breakfast dishes.

"Ah- yeah," he glanced to confirm Yukine was outside raking the yard. "I thought I saw a bug," he explained lamely.

"Ehh? But you're not afraid of spiders!"

"Well, it wasn't a spider."

"What was it?"

"Like… a… ladybug?"

They both stared at him.

"...A ladybug?"

"Yes."

Kofuku opened her mouth, closed it again, and turned to Daikoku, uncertain how to approach such a terrible lie. The man cleared his throat.

"Ah. Well. …It's normal for children to be frightened at night-"

"Why are you so worried?" Yato cut him off. "You're not my mother! Or are you suddenly a woman?! WELL I WON'T DATE YOU, BECAUSE HIYORI'S BOOBS ARE BIGGER!"

"YOU COULDN'T AFFORD TO DATE ME ANYWAY, YOU MOOCHING BUM!"

"Daikokuuu~! Put the table down!"

/

When Yukine asked Yato to help him bag leaves, the young god conveniently remembered he had someplace to be and disappeared. It was nearly sunset by the time he returned, bursting through the door.

"Look, Yukine! I bought us a TV! They sold it to me real cheap!"

Yukine could see why. The thing was more box than screen, with one broken channel button and no remote.

"AND they threw in two free movies!" Yato was overjoyed.

Yukine wrinkled his nose. "Desperate Housewives?"

"Yeah, but you missed the point- FREE!" Yato beamed.

/

Late that night (or rather, much too early that morning) Yukine awoke to the sound of clattering in the kitchen. He crawled out of bed and saw a dim light on. Yato sat at on the floor, pencil in hand, notebooks full of doodles and nonsense coating the table.

"…Are you gonna be out here all night?" Yukine squinted at one drawing, which seemed to be some version of Hiyori as a sexy librarian.

Yato snatched the paper from his hands. "Night's when I get my best brainstorms for advertising!"

"Whatever. You're just gonna get drunk and watch that gay show you got."

"Geh!"

Yukine ignored Yato's indignant defense and shuffled back to bed.

/

"So, hey. I know something's been bothering you."

Yukine brushed his shoes against the ground from where he sat on the edge of the porch. Next to him, Yato flipped through the classified ads of a newspaper and pretended he hadn't hear him. The next round of leaves were floating down in their ceaseless way, covering the discarded rake that lay a few feet from them.

"…Are you worried you're not gonna be able to change? Because I told you, I'm not gonna let you kill-"

"It's not that." Yato folded the paper. "Not really." He frowned, trying to choose his words carefully. Yukine watched a squirrel dart up a nearby tree.

Yato sighed. "What do you think would happen if… would it be better for you to work for someone else? Like Tenjin?"

Yukine stared at him.

Yato looked nervous.

Then Yukine grabbed the rake.

"THIS AGAIN?! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU ARE GONNA SELL ME, AREN'T YOU?!"

"NOOO! I SWEAR THAT'S NOT IT! YOU'RE KILLING MY KIDNEY!"

"GOOD! MAYBE YOU'LL LEARN!"

When he had beaten the god to his satisfaction, Yukine exhaled forcefully. "Look, you're a project, I'm not gonna lie. But I'm not gonna give up just because you're a deadbeat who can't rub two cents together."

Yato coughed. "I think you broke my rib."

Yukine nudged him over with his foot.

"…I just…" guilt laced Yato's voice. "What if we come up against… something… and it's too strong?"

"So I'll protect your dumb ass. That's my job as a vessel."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Yukine raised an eyebrow.

"You're worried about me getting hurt? That's stupid." He poked the god in the side with the rake handle. "We're a team, and you're the one who's useless on your own."

Yato snorted. They sat in silence until it was too dark to see the leaves fall.

/

The television was still on at three in the morning when Yukine wandered into the living room. He stood awkwardly in front of Yato, fidgeting with his pajamas.

"…Bad dream?" Yato asked.

Yukine shrugged sheepishly. Yato handed him a pillow and they sat, staring wordlessly at the screen. Yato wondered if, deep down, Yukine was more aware of the threats on the horizon than he let on. He was a kid, but he'd been through enough to know when trouble was coming, which meant Yato wasn't the only one losing sleep. He didn't know whether he should take comfort in that or not.

"…So what happened to the rich lady?" Yukine asked him.

"She faked the paternity test and her husband went to jail."

"I knew it!"

\\\

Something bad is always just around the corner with this manga.

(」˃̣̣̣̣̣̣ᗣ˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ )

CONSTANTLY. GOING ON. A FEELS-TRIP.