This ended up going in a different direction than what I initially intended but I think I like the result. I also totally thought it was longer than this, but I guess that's because I wrote the last half of it last night by the light of a lantern (my power went out due to an ice storm and now I'm staying somewhere else).

Compensation

"Yato." Hiyori took a step closer to him, a determined expression on her face, "I've been thinking…"

"About?" He answered nervously, his fists clenching a little tighter inside of his jacket pockets.

"If the only way for me to stop losing my body is to cut ties with you, then…" She took a breath, "Can I change my wish?"

He wasn't sure what he expected her to say, but it wasn't that. His mouth fell open, but no words came out, so Hiyori kept talking.

"I mean, I already paid the five yen and I know you don't do refunds, so… I was just wondering."

"U-uh, yeah." Yato shook off his nervousness, "Yeah! I can do that."

She smiled widely, "Great."

He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, "So what do you want?"

"Huh?" Hiyori blinked and Yato squinted at her.

"Your new wish; what do you want?" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "You said you thought a lot about it, right?"

"Actually, no." She admitted with a small laugh, "I just meant that I thought a lot about my original wish and how I could maybe go back to having a normal life. But even without cutting our ties, being normal again would mean that I couldn't help everyone the way I can now. So really all I have to do is learn how to control it better." Hiyori held her hand against her chest, determined.

"Right…" Yato answered half-heartedly, turning his head.

She took a step forward, but hesitated reaching out to him. "Is there something wrong?"

"I know you've saved me quite a few times in that form but… I also wish you wouldn't use it so often." He let out a sigh before turning to her again, "Every time you're in that form, you have your cord exposed. All it takes is a split second for something to go wrong. When you're in that form," He hesitated, finishing in a low voice, "You're basically already half way dead."

"I-isn't that kind of the point?" Her voice had caught in her throat at first, unsure of how to answer, "That's how I can interact with beings of the far shore."

"Hiyori." He reached out to grasp her shoulders, "I want you to be more careful. To only slip out of your body if you really need to. And if it happens on accident, to try your best to wake yourself up. I could handle losing you if you wanted to willingly cut your ties, because I know you'd still be okay, but..."

His grip tightened on her shoulder and she nodded, but her confidence was fading underneath Yato's stare. "Did you really think that I was considering cutting ties with you? Even though I've already refused before?" She asked quietly.

He stiffened and averted his eyes to the ground, "I didn't want to make any assumptions, especially since you just got accepted into college. I knew it was a possibility that your wants may change. That they still might."

Hiyori shook her head adamantly, "They won't. I want to keep tutoring Yukine-kun for as long as he wants to keep learning. I want to keep going over to Kofuku-san's house for holidays, birthdays, and for every little excuse that she and Daikoku-san come up with as a reason to celebrate something. I want to keep spending time with you." He loosened his grip on her and she saw his jaw tighten, seemingly embarrassed by his doubt. "Yato, I'm not going to push you away." Hiyori closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him tightly, "I don't want to lose you either."

He swallowed as he considered her words, eventually letting his hands fall lower to return her embrace.

"I thought of a wish." She spoke lowly against his ear.

"Hm?" He pulled back and turned his head as much as he could, but Hiyori had no intention of letting him go.

She inhaled sharply before blurting out, "Kiss me."

"What?" If she hadn't have been supporting him, he surely would have fallen backwards.

"Kiss me. If you want to, that is." She closed her eyes, her nervousness returning once again. There was a moment of silence before she finally heard him answer.

"Save your wish, Hiyori." She furrowed her brows and blinked her eyes open again, thinking he was having another moment of self-doubt. Instead, she found his hand reaching up to cup her face. "Because you're granting one of mine." She noticed a slight blush across his face as well before she got distracted by the feeling of his chapped lips against hers. Her eyes fluttered closed again, parting her lips and returning his affection. It was awkward, but it was sweet and warm; absolutely nothing like her first kiss that was stolen by Fujisaki.

When Yato finally pulled away, he hid his face against her neck and in her hair, saying breathlessly, "Come to think of it, I think you've granted more wishes for me than I have for you."

She smiled, mumbling, "It's only fair. You spend so much time with me when most humans don't even get to interact with any of the gods that they pray to. So I should give you something in return, right?"

"Sure, if you want to see it that way." He laughed against her skin.

Hiyori let out a small laugh too, before humming in thought, "So what do we do now?"

Yato pulled away and straightened himself out, running a hand through his hair sheepishly, "That's up to you. We can just keep it at this, or…"

She intertwined her hand with his, tugging it so that he would turn back to look at her, "I know it doesn't really make any sense and it's totally crazy… But now that we've crossed over that line, I don't think I can go back to the way it was."

"So you'll marry me, then?" Yato beamed, gripping her hand tighter.

Hiyori's face instantly turned red, "NO! I'll date you."

"Hm… Okay. But that's so casual; no real commitment." He put his free hand on his hip, looking off as he mulled it over.

"I know I'm eighteen now, but I'm still in high school. And at least let me finish college first before proposing and then I'll consider it…" She sighed heavily.