"Summer vacation, Hiyorin!" Kofuku chirped eagerly from the other side of the table, "I'm so jealous. It always sounds so nice." She held her hands against her cheeks and stared into space with a dreamy expression.

"Isn't every day for you like summer vacation?" Yato looked up at her from behind his bangs, "I mean, Daikoku is the one who does all the work around here."

"Wow, you actually admitted it." Yukine commented from his side, taking another bite of food.

The god looked over with his mouth wide in disbelief, "That's not what I meant!"

"Milady does what she can. Can't say the same about you, though." Daikoku grumbled in agreement with Yukine.

"T-this isn't about me anyway, it's about Hiyori!" Yato deflected the conversation back to the brunette girl at his other side and she rolled her eyes as she finished taking a sip of water. "Aren't you excited to spend more time with us?" He put on his best puppy face.

"I mean, sure." She looked away, a light blush dusting her cheeks and her voice rising as she defended, "But I need to do some normal human things this summer too, you know."

"Normal?" Kofuku tilted her head and put a finger against her lips in curiosity.

Yato propped his elbow on the table and looked at her more intently, "Yeah, what exactly do you mean?"

"You know, like… going to the beach, sleepovers with friends, seeing fireworks, that sort of thing." Her eyes flickered away from his once again as she defended her definition, "And that starts this weekend. I'll be leaving to spend five days at our beach house with my parents."

Kofuku repeated in a whine, "Leaving!? You mean we won't see you for nearly a week?" She jumped up from her spot and practically fell into Hiyori's lap, clinging to her as she wept dramatically, "You can't leave us without us, Hiyorin!"

"She's going with her family, Kofuku-san…" Yukine awkwardly tried to comfort her from behind Yato.

She just whined in response as Hiyori continued to console her, patting her back, "Noooo."

Yato sighed and shook his head into his palm, "Jeez."

Daikoku also sighed, getting up and carefully pulling Kofuku off of the younger girl, "Maybe it'd be best if you headed home for the day, Hiyori-chan."

As the other god continued to loudly whine and thrash around in Daikoku's arms, Hiyori nodded and stood up from the table, "Agreed. Thank you for the meal."

"I'll walk home with you." Yukine volunteered, standing up as well and following her out towards the genkan.

"Same here." Yato called after them.

Yukine turned around with an annoyed glare, "Maybe you weren't invited."

As his god gave him a look of betrayal, Hiyori waved him off, answering, "It's fine. You can come."

Once she had turned around, Yato stuck his tongue out at Yukine in victory.

"How old are you again?" The blonde shook his head as he slipped his shoes on and followed after Hiyori.

"That's for me to know and you to always wonder." He answered smugly, quickly getting his boots on and catching up with the other two.

Ignoring Yato, Yukine looked up curiously, "So are you excited to go to the beach, Hiyori?"

She hummed in response, "Yeah, it's been a while since I've gone last. Do you like the ocean, Yukine-kun?"

"Uh, I think so. I haven't really been since becoming a shinki, so…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh." She gave a slight apologetic bow, "I'm sorry I didn't really think about it… Hopefully we can go some time together soon." Hiyori noticed Yato deep in thought after her suggestion, causing her to ask, "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing." He waved her off in a sing-song voice, "Don't worry about it."

She narrowed her eyes, staring at him suspiciously, "I don't know, you make me nervous when you say things like that."

"Oh, come on. I thought I was supposed to be your god of fortune." He blocked her path, his face very close to hers.

"Y-you are." She ducked away to continue walking, "But you also have a habit of doing over the top things."

"No arguing there. My birthday party was a prime example." Yukine echoed from her side.

"It was your very first one!" Yato defended, immediately starting to swarm Yukine instead, "What was I supposed to do, just give you a cake and call it a day? No! It had to be more special than that!"

Yukine crossed his arms and asked, "But a flash mob of all our friends? And entirely original lyrics?"

Yato shrugged and grinned, "What can I say? Only the best for my Yukine." He reached out to tousle his hair.

The younger boy tolerated it for a few seconds before he reached up to push him away, "Okay, okay, cut it out."

"I hate to say it, but I was also part of that, Yukine." Hiyori admitted with a small laugh, "Though doing a flash mob wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"Huh? What do you mean?" He tilted his head.

"I also wanted to make sure it was special." She clarified with a smile.

Yukine immediately flushed and shoved his hands in his pockets, "You guys are embarrassing. But I guess that explains why you went along with it, even though you looked kinda uncomfortable."

Hiyori smiled again, although this time more sheepishly, "Ah, so you noticed? Well, I wasn't entirely sure that you were going to like it. But it makes sense that Yato knows you best."

"Of course. I know you two are close and all, but nothing beats the connection of a god and their hafuri." Yato pointed at himself with his thumb, grinning.

The younger boy gave him a blank stare in return, "Uh, sure."

Catching sight of the front gates of her house, Hiyori dashed ahead of them and turned around, "Well, you two. I'm not sure if I'll see you before we leave for the beach, but I'll make sure I call!"

"Okay. Have fun, Hiyori." Yukine gave a small wave.

Yato gave a wave as well, turning around and pulling Yukine with him, "We'll see you soon!"

"Bye!" She called out and they both turned to flash quick smiles.

Hiyori wheeled her small rolling suitcase to the foot of the bed before collapsing backwards onto it. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she looked around at the familiar room's light blue walls which were decorated with a few nautical objects. Rolling over a bit, she noted that this mattress wasn't nearly as comfortable as the one that she had at home but it would do for a few days.

"Hiyori! Are you alright with ordering in for tonight for dinner?" Her dad called from the bottom of the staircase.

Sitting up a bit, she answered, "Yes, that sounds fine!" Laying back down, she took another minute or two to relax.

"Alright, I need to get to work." She pulled herself upward and moved towards her suitcase. Picking it up, she lifted it up onto the bed, unzipping it and flipping it open to reveal her belongings. Since her family owned the house, she thankfully had a few light jackets and other things she kept here so her suitcase wasn't overflowing.

She started with her dresses, hanging them in the closet before moving to put shorts and some underwear in the drawer next to her bed. While she folded the last pair, her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. "Yato." She commented without looking, and the caller ID revealed her guess to be accurate as she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Hey, I just got here, would you—" Hiyori started before she was blinded by a bright flash of light.

"Hey, Hiyori!" Yato greeted with a wide grin, a towel draped over his shoulder and an inflatable tube around his arm while Yukine had enough bags in his arms that he was nearly about to fall over.

"…What… are you doing?" She asked in a blank stare.

Yato unceremoniously tossed the towel and floaty to another corner of the room, answering, "We're here to spend time with you, of course!"

"I swear I had nothing to do with this." Yukine managed to squeak out before he dropped a bag to the floor. Making a loud thud on the wooden floor, he looked up to his god, "What the hell did you pack?"

"Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that." He shrugged playfully.

"Hiyori, are you okay?" Her mom called up the stairs and she heard her take a few steps upward.

Immediately going into panic mode, Hiyori dashed into the doorway and waved her off, "Oh, sorry, I just accidentally knocked my suitcase off my bed while I was unpacking."

"Okay, just let me know if you need help with anything." Her mom took her answer with a smile, turning back around.

Hiyori quickly closed the door behind her and stormed over towards the boys. "You. Aren't. Supposed. To. Be. Here."

"That's what I said." The blonde sighed.

"But you were talking about how Yukine hadn't been to the beach and things you needed to do this summer. So what kind of god of fortune would I be if I didn't try to grant those wishes?" He put a hand on his hip and stared at her intently.

"Yato, this is so not what I meant." She held her face in her hands, letting out a small groan. "I'm here with my parents. Can't you see why this is a bad idea?"

He shrugged, "It's not the first time I've had to sneak around them."

"You are completely missing the point."

"C'mon, Hiyori, it'll be fun! If we cause too much trouble, I promise we'll go home." He reached forward to pull her hand from her face and gave her a pout, "Please?"

She only managed to meet his eyes for a few seconds before she gave in, "Fine! Okay. You can stay. For now." She answered hesitantly. Ignoring his noises of rejoice, she moved back to her suitcase and blushed as she realized the only things she had left to unpack were her underwear and bras. "So, um. I guess you guys can put all your stuff in my brother's room right across the hall."

"He didn't come?" Yukine tilted his head curiously as Yato went ahead without him.

"No, he stayed at the hospital so that Dad could come instead and get a little bit of a break." She gave a soft smile.

He smiled as well, "Wow, that was really nice of him."

"Mhm." She nodded and watched him as he moved out of the room. Quickly grabbing as many things as she can, she rushed to throw them in the drawer but Yato's voice rings out again before she gets there.

"Hey about the—"

Hearing a thud, Hiyori realizes that this time the noise is from her body falling to the floor and now all her clothes are strewn everywhere. Her face burning red, she turned, "YATO!"

"Wha—Er…" He looked down and realized the situation she was in, flushing as well, "S-sorry?!"

"Get out!" She threw a throw pillow at the door and he shut it gently behind him as he scurried out. "Oh my god…" She clutched her face in her hands again and sighed heavily before working up the emotional and physical strength to slip back into her body.

Shoving her things into her drawer and not caring in the least how it was organized, she shut it tightly. Her face stern, she moved towards the door and opened it to find Yato and Yukine waiting.

"Uh, um, is it safe?" The god mumbled as he peeked in.

"Yes." She answered tonelessly, "I'm going to go downstairs and see what my parents are getting for dinner. You wait up here." She didn't wait for an answer and made her way for the stairs, though she heard Yukine on her way down.

"Jeez, what'd you do to piss her off this time?"

"Got everything settled upstairs?" Her mom asked as she rounded the bottom of the stairs.

Hiyori nodded, "For the most part, yeah. I just need to put a few things in the bathroom. Did you happen to already have the menu out for the place we're getting dinner from?"

"Oh, yes. It's laying on the breakfast bar. Just let your father know what you want to order, we're both all set." She waved her further into the kitchen.

Hiyori grabbed a piece of paper from the note pad on the refrigerator and flipped through the menu quietly. She knew Yato and Yukine weren't exactly picky, but she still tried to make sure that she got a few things that she knew they liked. When she was finished writing everything down, she made her way over to where her father was resting on the couch and flipping through the TV channels. "I've got everything all written down whenever you're ready to call it in, Dad."

"Thank you, Hiyori." He took the slip of paper before briefly looking over it and giving a laugh, "Did the trip here make you that hungry?"

Flushing and twisting her hands together, she answered sheepishly, "Well, I thought it'd be good to have some leftovers…"

"You're right," He reached up to gently pat her head, "Good thinking."

She gave a nervous smile in return before pointing towards the stairs, "Um, well. I'm going to go finish up. Let me know whenever dinner's here."

"Will do!" He answered cheerfully and she fled back up the stairs.

She found Yato sitting on her bed and Yukine standing in the middle of the room, both looking unsure as to what they should be doing.

Closing the door behind her, she sighed, "I ordered food for you two. Since it's nice outside I'll try to get my parents to eat out on the deck so you guys can eat in the kitchen while the food's still fresh."

Yukine waved his hands, "You don't have to do all that for us."

"Well it's easier than her sneaking food up to us or microwaves inexplicably going off later in the night." Yato pointed out as he looked up in thought.

"What I meant is, we're putting her in a tough situation so we should be thankful she even got us food at all and eating it cold is still better than nothing." The younger boy glared at his god.

Hiyori put her hands between them to dispel the oncoming argument, "Look. You're already here and I agreed you could stay so… Let's just make the best of it, alright?"

"Okay…" Yukine mumbled in response, looking down at his feet.

Yato, on the other hand, was practically sparkling. He reached out to grab her hand in both of his and excitedly answered, "Thank you, Hiyori! You won't regret it!"

She quickly yanked her hand back to her side, her cheeks burning, but his expression still didn't falter.

"So, um." Yukine's voice brought her back to reality, even though he spoke quietly, "When are we gonna go down to the actual beach?" His small blush betrayed his excitement.

Hiyori smiled brightly, "First thing tomorrow! And this may or may not be a stupid question because I have no clue if gods or shinki even need it, but did you pack sunscreen in one of those bags of yours?" She looked over to Yato.

"While it heals relatively quickly compared to your average human, sunburn does still cause a problem for gods and shinki. So, yep. I packed it." He pointed to himself proudly.

"So what else did you bring? Your bags were so heavy it almost sounded like they were going to make a hole in my floor." Hiyori wandered closer and sat down on the bed next to Yato.

"Secret." He winked, "But you'll find out."

She looked breathlessly to Yukine who also shrugged.

"I didn't see what he packed, I was just told to carry the bags."

She ran her hands through her hair, "This is definitely going to be an interesting couple of days…"

Putting her hand to her mouth as she yawned, she asked, "Are you two getting ready for bed soon?"

"I guess we can go ahead and change at least." Yato shrugged, motioning for Yukine to follow him.

As they retreated to her brother's room, she quickly made the decision to get changed in the bathroom so that she didn't have a repeat incident of earlier that day. As she grabbed her pajamas and headed out the door, she called downstairs to her parents, "Good night!"

They both wandered into the hallway and gave small waves, "Goodnight, Hiyori. We'll see you tomorrow morning."

She waved back and continued towards the bathroom. Switching into her pajama pants and t-shirt and thoroughly brushing her teeth, she gave herself a smile in the mirror as she realized the two boys hadn't made a peep since she left her room.

"Got any futons to lay out?" Yato asked as soon as she walked into the room.

"Yeah, I—" She started to turn back out of the room before she blinked and looked back at him, "Wait, why can't you two just share the bed in my brother's room?"

Yukine eyed his master and crossed his arms, "Told you."

"But it isn't a sleepover if we don't sleep in here!" Yato cried loudly, hurrying over to her and putting his hands together as he begged, "That was one of the things you said you wanted to do this summer, right?"

She ground her teeth together as she looked away to ignore his best attempt at puppy eyes, "I was talking about with Ami-chan and Yama-chan!"

"But we're your friends too!" He bent his neck to put himself in her view again and she growled.

"You are, but—!"

He finally backed up, tilting his head as he questioned innocently, "But what?"

"I shouldn't have to explain why this is completely inappropriate." Her eyes flickered between him and Yukine and Yato looked back at him as well.

"Oh, Hiyori. Yukine's long over his teenage rebellion. He won't try anything with you again."

"That wasn't what I meant!"

"Why are you dragging me into this!"

Exasperated, Hiyori clung to the frame of her doorway and admitted defeat, "Okay. Fine. But honestly I only have one spare futon."

"That's fine. We'll make it work." Yato gave her a thumbs up and Yukine looked at him with a death glare.

She quietly retrieved the futon from the hallway closet and unrolled it onto the bedroom floor. Closing her door and making her way to her bed, she sat down and tiredly asked, "Are you ready to go to sleep now, then?"

Yato sat down on the futon and Yukine followed after him as he announced, "I actually had another idea."

"And what's that?" She asked nervously, the dread already moving through her body.

His lips moved into a smirk, "Truth or dare."

Yukine practically fell backwards, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah! It's the perfect sleepover game, right?" He asked the other boy excitedly and Yukine grimaced in response.

"You've watched too many movies." Hiyori ran a hand through her hair sheepishly, "Hardly anyone actually plays that."

"Aw, come on." Yato pleaded to both of them, "It's not like I'm gonna make you bare your soul to me or anything."

"Whatever." Yukine sighed and Yato looked to Hiyori expectantly.

She smiled reluctantly, agreeing, "Okay, I guess…"

"Alright, I'll go first and askkk… Yukine." He pointed a finger at him, "Truth or dare."

Yukine swallowed, "I don't know what's worse with you asking. Uh… Truth?"

"Do you like me or Hiyori better?" Yato wiggled his eyebrows and the younger boy let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, that's easy. Hiyori, obviously."

"It wasn't supposed to be an easy question!" Yato fired back, annoyed, before he corrected, "I mean… It was, but you were supposed to say me!"

Yukine shook his head, "I'd be lying."

Yato ground his teeth together in annoyance but muttered, "Fine, it's your turn."

"Is there any sort of order to this?" He tilted his head in confusion, "Like do I have to ask you in return or do I ask Hiyori?"

"You can ask either one of us. Whoever answers goes next." The god answered, suddenly seeming uninterested.

"Then, Hiyori." Yukine looked upward, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." She answered automatically.

He hummed in thought, "Umm… What's the subject you struggle with the most with school work?"

Hiyori tapped her lip for a moment before she answered, "I think history; sometimes I get dates confused and things like that."

"Makes sense." Yukine answered with a small laugh.

"Wow you guys are boring." Yato gave an overdramatic yawn.

Her eyebrow twitching in annoyance, Hiyori asked, "Fine, then. Truth or dare, Yato?"

"Dare." He leaned towards her, "Gotta spice it up a little."

"I dare you to…" She paused before giving him a smug look, "Actually do all of your chores around Kofuku's house for one day when we get back."

He gave an annoyed sigh and dropped his head, "Still pretty boring. Truth or dare, Yukine?"

"Dare this time, I guess." He shrugged.

"I dare you to call me dad, papa, or any sort of similar name." He grinned profusely.

Without a word, Yukine stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Where are you going? You gotta do your dare." Yato attempted to grab the fabric of Yukine's pajama pants but the younger boy immediately jerked himself away.

"I'm going to go sleep in the other room, grandpa." With that, he slipped out the door and shut it.

Yato growled as he repeated, "Grandpa!?"

"Hey, you said any similar name would do." Hiyori laughed uncontrollably, trying her best to keep her volume down.

"Alright, wise guy. Truth or dare?" He turned back to her.

She wiped her eyes from her laughter and answered, "I guess I'll do dare too."

"You can call me Yato-sama to make up for all this disrespect." He jammed a finger in her face which she shoved away.

"Oh, please." She answered sarcastically.

"I mean it." He sat back down and crossed his legs, "Yato-sama."

Letting out a huff of air, she stuttered, "Yato-sa…"

He held up a hand to his ear, "What was that?"

"Yato-sa…" She repeated, a blush growing across her face before she groaned, "Ugh, forget it! Let's just go to bed, please! I'm tired and I just want to sleep." She moved to the top of her bed and buried herself under her blankets, hiding her face.

"Alright, alright. I'll get the lights." He didn't argue with her and she saw the room go dark through the white cover of her blankets.

As she heard him slip into the futon, she pulled back the covers from her face and muttered, "Thank you."

"Mm." He mumbled in response, rolling onto his side.

She followed suit, rolling over to face the wall. Shutting her eyes tightly, she tried her best to empty her mind so that she could fall asleep. Instead she came to a sudden realization: she and Yato were alone in her room.

Her eyes flew open and she curled her legs closer to herself as she bit her lip. 'It doesn't matter, it's not like he'd do anything to make me uncomfortable.' She reminded herself, but she couldn't help but feel hypersensitive to his presence now that she had become self-aware of the situation. Even worse, his scent was faintly drifting over towards her. It was only once she could hear his breath come out in small, short increments that she could finally relax and fall asleep herself.

When she woke up the next morning, she noticed Yukine sitting on the floor near the edge of the bed. Letting out a small yawn as she let herself wake up, she greeted, "Good morning, Yukine-kun."

He whipped his head in her direction and answered sheepishly, "Good morning, Hiyori. H-hey, I apologize. I didn't mean to leave you alone with him."

"It's fine, we just both went to sleep right away." She gave a small shrug.

They both turned their heads as they heard Yato let out a loud yawn from the floor, his arms stretched out over his head. "You guys ready for the beach today?"

"I mean, I guess." Yukine shrugged and crossed his arms.

"Of course." She gave a smile before sitting up in her bed, "So here's the deal for today. We'll head down at the same time as my parents, I'll set up some stuff where they do but you guys absolutely do not."

"What, why?" Yato immediately interrupted.

She rolled her eyes, "I don't want you to bug them! So I'll give you guys some of my stuff to put in your bags and we'll set up farther down the beach once my parents are all settled in."

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Yukine agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, okay." The god answered as he sat up as well, "So when are we leaving?"

"…How am I supposed to know? I just woke up, I have to go downstairs and talk to my parents." She slipped out of the blankets and onto the floor.

Yato flushed slightly and looked away, "Oh, right."

"I'll try to get you some breakfast while I'm down there." Hiyori glanced back at both of them before making her way out the door.

"Are you excited Yukine? Do you hear the waves?" Yato reached over to ruffle his hair and the blonde quickly shoved him away as they crossed the wooden bridge across the sand dunes.

Muttering, he answered, "Yeah, I hear them." Finally, they reached a point at the bridge where the ocean came into view and Yukine's mouth parted in awe as he stared out at the water glittering in the sun, "Oh, wow. It is really pretty."

Hiyori smiled at their commentary, but kept her eyes forward as to not concern her parents.

"It's definitely been too long since we've been here, dear. We need to come more often. Right, Hiyori?" Her mom looked back to her with a grin.

"Yeah, definitely." She nodded eagerly.

Her dad scratched the back of his head and laughed, "We can certainly try... It just depends on how things are going at the hospital, of course."

She noticed Yato slightly stiffen out of the corner of her eye at the mention of the state of the hospital. In order to try to brighten his spirits, Hiyori pried her parents farther, "Things have definitely been doing a lot better lately, right?"

"Yes, of course. Having your brother back has been a big help and we've gotten help from many of my friends too. Of course, it might take a while for the situation to totally be in the past but…" Her dad's expression softened and he gave a small wave, "We're on vacation so we shouldn't be talking about this sort of thing anyway."

"Yeah, you're right." She nodded and she heard Yato give a small sigh of relief.

As they stepped down onto the sand, Hiyori's parents stopped about halfway between the shore and the dunes to set up their umbrella and chairs. Helping them get everything settled, Hiyori laid out a towel and scattered a few of her own things around as well.

As soon as it seemed like everything was set up and after she had applied her sunscreen, she pointed to their left and up the beach, "I'm going to go for a walk and maybe look for shells, I think."

"Have fun!"

"Bring us back something nice!"

Her dad waved while her mom put her sunglasses on and leaned back in her chair, opening up her book.

After Hiyori had taken a few steps away, Yato asked, "So the coast is clear?"

She nodded, though she still answered quietly, "I think so. We just have to get far enough to where they can't see us. Well, me."

"I forgot how soft sand is." Yukine mumbled as his feet kept sinking deeper.

"It's a bit firmer once you get closer to the water." Hiyori gave a little laugh, continuing to lead them forward. Looking to Yato, she asked, "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"What do you mean? It's your trip." He looked off to the dunes, flushing.

Squinting in confusion, she answered, "Yeah, but you're the one who brought several bags full of stuff down here… so I figured you brought stuff to do or things you wanted to show Yukine, at least."

"I did." He nodded and looked down at the bags on his arms, "I mean most of it is just the necessities, but I did bring some fishing stuff for some father and son bonding time."

Yukine stuck his tongue out in disgust and made a gagging noise.

Yato rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on, it'll be fun! Besides, fishing in the ocean is a lot more interesting than fishing in a pond. There's a lot more going on."

"Yeah, like you probably trying to get Hiyori's bikini top off by snagging it with the hook or something gross like that."

Hiyori wrapped her arms around herself defensively despite the fact she was still wearing her cover up and Yato flushed even deeper.

"The hell, Yukine!? No, we wouldn't fish if Hiyori's anywhere near the water cuz those hooks hurt like a bitch. Believe me, I know."

"Of course you do." Yukine sighed in response.

Hurrying her pace and ignoring the current topic, Hiyori found a spot still a little ways off from tourists farther down the beach but far enough out of sight from her parents as well, "I think right here will work."

"Yeah, seems good." Yato murmured in response, dropping all the bags into a large pile, "Who's ready to get in the water?"

"We still need to set up." She immediately scolded, "I know you had to wait for my parents and then we had to make an extra trip, so I'm sorry about that, but our towels aren't going to help much if we're already soaked and sandy when we're pulling them out for the first time."

He threw his hands up in defeat and moved towards his bag, "Yeah, yeah."

"He knows these things, he just likes to pretend he can get away with not doing them." Yukine gave a heavy stare as he flung out his towel, whipping it through the air a few times before letting it fall down onto the sand.

"Oh? Do I need to enact that dare about doing chores early?" Hiyori looked over as she laid down her towel as well.

Working on putting the umbrella together and putting the stake into the ground, Yato looked up, "It doesn't work like that, you can't edit dares. Also you specifically said Kofuku's house. I do believe we are at your parent's house, Hiyori."

She puffed out her cheeks in response, "W-well, you should be a better role model for Yukine, then."

Yukine immediately raised his hand to his face, "I don't need any role models, thanks."

"Let's just get finished up so we can go play." He groaned, struggling to get the umbrella. As it finally gave way, he gave a big grin and the other two gave him a thumbs up in response. Once everything was done, Yato rubbed sunscreen into his shoulders as he called over the younger boy, "Hey, Yukine. Help with my back."

"Why should I?" He asked, turning his head as he was struggling to apply his own.

Hiyori shook her head and made her way over to Yukine first, "I'll do it for both of you."

He surrendered the bottle to her as he mumbled, "Thanks."

After she had made sure that she had sufficiently covered his back as well as his neck, she handed him the bottle back and got up again, "Alright, Yato. You're next."

"Mm." He acknowledged quietly with a nod, holding up the bottle of sunscreen above his head from where he sat.

She went through the motions automatically until her fingers came into contact with his skin. Freezing a bit in realization, she jerked back for a moment before immediately returning to rubbing the lotion into his skin so that he wouldn't realize her reaction.

"Uh, everything okay back there?"

She winced; he did notice. "Y-yeah, I just had to swat a bug away." She lied, trying to keep her mind blank and ignoring the flush growing on her cheeks. After what felt like forever, she finished at his neck and pulled her hands back, "There, done." She was tempted to fall backwards onto her towel and take a breather, but she knew it'd be a while before she'd be able to relax.

"Then it's time to get in the water!" Yato announced cheerfully as he jumped up. Grabbing the floaty, he asked, "You want this, Yukine?"

"No, I'm not a baby." He fumed, walking ahead towards the water.

Hiyori gently took it from Yato's grasp, "I'll take it."

"Okay."

Yukine walked into the water, the waves up to his ankles, "Brr, it's a little cold."

"You gotta go in all at once, that's the easiest way to get used to it." The god commented from his side before rushing into the deeper water and dunking himself underneath, coming back up with a loud gasp of air. "Ahh, refreshing…" He said through chattering teeth.

She shook her head and when she was sure both of the boys were busy with their own antics, she put down the floaty and slid her cover up over her head, laying it down on top of her bag. Grabbing the floaty again, she waded out into the water. "Definitely a little chilly." She commented as she slipped the ring over her head and tucked her legs in towards herself as she floated.

"But, since the water's colder the good thing is we don't have to worry about jellyfish as much." Yato pointed out, waving his hand through the water.

"Jellyfish?" Yukine repeated curiously.

"Yeah, you know. They come closer to shore in warm water or after a big storm." Putting a hand up to his chin in thought, he continued, "You know, it would be a little interesting if you got stung though."

Hiyori squinted her eyes in disbelief, "Yato!"

He threw up his hands in defense, "I'm just saying, he'd know how it feels when he stings me!"

"Wow, just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower." The younger boy laid back, floating on top of the water.

"I was just joking. You know I'd be a mess if you actually got hurt." He sent a small splash in the direction of his hafuri.

Yukine fell back to his feet, "Hey!" He sent a splash back in Yato's direction in retaliation.

"Water fight!" Yato immediately sent splashes in both his and Hiyori's directions.

Though she was laughing, as she sent her own splashes back Hiyori questioned, "Why'd I get dragged into it? I didn't do anything!"

"Cuz it's fun!" He answered automatically, sending another large splash her way.

Once Hiyori was thoroughly soaked, her hair plastered to her face, she called a ceasefire, "Alright, I'm out. I'm gonna go lay out and dry off for a bit."

Getting in one last splash at Yato, Yukine answered loudly, "Okay."

"Well since Hiyori's taking a break, what do you say to trying out fishing?" The god put his hands on his hips and looked down at Yukine.

He hummed and shrugged, "Sure, I guess."

Yato threw up his hands in victory, "Alright! Let's go!"

"This should definitely be interesting." Hiyori commented to herself as she walked up the shore, setting the floaty aside and pulling her hair back so it wouldn't stick to her cheeks.

"By the way, Hiyori, I meant to say earlier… that color looks nice on you." Yato commented quietly, motioning to her burgundy bikini as she laid across her town.

Reflexively, she curled her legs and arms closer to her body again to hide as she answered, "I-I… thanks…"

"Get the stuff before you embarrass yourself anymore." Yukine pushed against Yato's back to shove him forward.

"What? Your red swim trunks look nice on you too, Yukine." He quickly defended, immediately digging through their bags to pull out a tackle box and fishing poles.

"Shut up." The blonde turned around, looking back out towards the ocean.

"Oh, can't forget the bait." He moved over towards the cooler.

Yukine turned back to give him a disgusted look, "You put it in with our food?"

"What? It's shrimp."

The younger boy gave a sigh of relief before he came to a realization, "Wait, how did you afford to get shrimp for bait?"

"I may have borrowed some from the shop…" Yato gave a sheepish laugh as he peeked backward.

"Ugh, you're horrible!" Yukine huffed and crossed his arms.

"All will be forgiven when I say that it was for you." He grabbed the container of shrimp and handed it to Yukine with a grin.

He rolled his eyes, "How lucky for you."

"Right?" Yato winked before handing Yukine the shorter fishing pole and grabbing the other for himself along with the tackle box, "Alright, back towards the shoreline we go."

Hiyori watched them in amusement as they trudged their way back to the water, Yukine moving extra slowly.

"So the first thing you've got to know about fishing on the beach versus a pond…"

She heard Yato begin a speech and watched as Yukine unenthusiastically listened, already working on putting the bait on the end of his line and soon after, letting it fly out into the ocean as Yato kept talking.

"I wasn't finished yet!" The god fumed before moving towards Yukine's elbows and pushing them up, "And to feel bites here, you need to have your line a lot straighter, like this."

He gave an impressed nod, "Wow, I guess you do actually know something."

"If you would listen, maybe you would actually learn a thing or two." Yato groaned before he cast his own line into the ocean as well.

She closed her eyes to the sound of their bickering and the comforting warmth of the sun, soon dozing off. When she woke up a little later, she yawned and asked, "Any luck yet?"

"Not a single bite." Yato turned and pouted in response.

"It doesn't surprise me with all of that yelling going on; you probably scared all the fish off." She got up and walked over to the two boys.

Yukine sighed but still questioned, "That far out in the ocean?"

"Well, you did make one other mistake." Hiyori pointed out simply and they both looked at her in curiosity.

"What?"

"Your sunscreen." She pointed out, "You should have either used gloves to handle the bait or had me do the sunscreen for both of you. My dad will never touch it when he plans on going fishing because he says the chemicals get on the bait and it scares fish away."

Yato's mouth dropped open, "Why didn't you tell us that from the beginning!?"

"Sorry, I didn't think of it until just now." She apologized with a sheepish smile, "Besides, I thought you would have known something like that, being a god and all."

He threw his head back and groaned, "Ebisu's the one who's got a specialty with fish, not me."

"Well it's about time we head back towards where my parents are anyway. Yukine-kun, can you help me look for nice shells on the way back? Since that was my excuse for being gone and all." Hiyori waved them back towards their things as a signal to start packing up.

"Uh, yeah, sure." He answered with a scratch of the back of his head, following after her.

Yato stayed behind to take apart the fishing rods and put everything back where it belonged in the tackle box. "What should we do with the rest of the shrimp?"

Hiyori made a face, "Probably toss it in the ocean, I don't think it's any good after sitting out for a while in the sun."

"It's not like we'll die from eating it though." He pointed between himself and Yukine.

While the younger boy sent him a glare, she sighed, "Yato, while you're staying here with me I will make sure you have fresh food. Please don't eat spoiled shrimp. Even if you won't die, I don't want to hear you whine all night because you have an upset stomach."

"I second that." Yukine added as he shoved his towel back into a bag.

"Alright, alright." Yato waved them off before taking a handful of shrimp and tossing it into the ocean, "Enjoy all the free food, fish. Even if you don't deserve it."

Hiyori shook her head and laughed, "Are you seriously going to hold a grudge against the fish because you didn't catch any?"

"Yes. Yes I am." He answered in a serious tone before flashing a grin as he made his way over to her and Yukine, "By the way, I have one more thing I'd like to do with you guys tonight."

"Hope you planned it out better." Yukine muttered and Yato brushed him off.

"Really, what is it?" Hiyori tilted her head curiously.

His smile growing wider, he announced, "Fireworks! It's one of the other things you said you wanted to do, right?"

"That works out great!" Hiyori beamed in response as well, "My parents were planning on going out for their anniversary dinner tonight so I'll just ask to stay home so they can have their alone time. And then we can come back down to the beach and set them off! And you know, I bet I even have some yukatas around the house that we can all wear."

"Wow, you're way more into this than I expected." Yato rubbed his neck sheepishly, letting out a small laugh.

She blushed and looked down, "I dunno. I guess because there's no festivals we can go to around here or anything, so I'm trying to make the most of it too. And I guess I can send you guys to the conbini with some money to get some snacks?" She looked back up as she came up with the suggestion.

"Sounds good to me. Yukine?" He looked at the younger boy.

He nodded with a small smile, "Yeah."

"Alright. Now I don't feel as bad about having to carry everything." Yato loaded up everything into his arms, struggling a bit.

"Sorry. I would offer to help, but it would be really confusing to my parents why I came back with a bunch of bags." Hiyori apologized with a small smile, folding her hands behind her back.

He shook his head, "It's really Yukine who's getting off. But it's fine; you gave him a job to do."

"Exactly, so stop whining." Yukine peeked back at him as he and Hiyori started walking slowly, both of their eyes focused on the sand.

Yato grumbled a bit as he followed the other two, but didn't give a coherent response.

By the time they made it back to Hiyori's parents, she and Yukine had collected quite a bit of shells. Hiyori's mom picked out a few of the white and purple shells to keep for herself while Hiyori kept the majority. As they started to make their way back to the house, she moved forward with their plans, "Mom, Dad. I was thinking I should just stay home and order delivery again tonight. It's your anniversary, so I really want it to be about you two. Plus I ran into some friends down the beach so I was thinking I might ask to spend time with them again later tonight."

They both looked at each other in surprise before her mother answered, "Are you sure, Hiyori? We appreciate the thought but we also love to have you there too."

"No, no. It's fine. I honestly meant to tell you last night because I've been thinking about it for a while, I just forgot." She fibbed, running a hand through her hair.

Her parents gave another shared look before her dad reached out to touch her shoulder, "Well, alright. Just give us a call if you need anything."

Hiyori nodded, "I will." As they walked into the house, she called out as she rushed towards the stairs, "I'm going to go ahead and take a bath."

"Okay. We'll let you know when we're leaving!" Her mom called after her.

Once she, Yato, and Yukine had made it into her bedroom, she let out a sigh of relief, "Phew." Opening her eyes wider in realization, she stuck her hand into her pocket, "Oh, Yukine-kun. I have something for you."

"Huh?" He pointed to himself in surprise.

She held out what he thought was a shell, but it was very smooth, "Here! Hold it up to the light."

Yukine gingerly took it from her palm and held it up, the light shining through and revealing the rock to be a light amber color, "Oh, wow!"

"It's sea glass! I thought you'd like it, but it also reminded me of your eye color a little bit." She explained with a smile as she took a seat at the foot of her bed.

"Thank you." He continued to tilt it into the sunlight, smiling.

Yato took a step closer and bent his knees to look at her at eye level, "What about me?"

"Well blue sea glass is the rarest kind, so… it'd be really hard to find something for you unless we go buy it from a shop." Her eyes flickered towards the window.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." He backed off, rubbing his nose sheepishly.

"Anyway…" Hiyori diverted her attention to her purse and pulled out a 2,000 yen bill before holding it out, "I think this should do it for snacks. I'm going to go ahead and take a bath like I said you guys can go ahead and go to the conbini. My parents have their own bathroom downstairs so you two can use the one up here when you get back."

Yato's eyes practically sparkled, "Two thousand? Wow, thanks Hiyori!" He eagerly made his way out the door and Hiyori gave a small laugh as she looked to Yukine.

"I can't believe that amount of money makes him feel like he's temporarily rich, it's pretty ridiculous." Yukine shook his head, but smiled too.

"In his defense, two thousand is kind of a lot for just snacks. Now, if I were sending you to go get dinner or clothing on the other hand…" She trailed off.

Yukine nodded, "Yeah, guess you're right. Well, see you in a bit." He gave a small wave as he went to catch up with Yato.

Once she was sure both boys were at the very least downstairs, she moved to her closet to make sure the yukata she had in mind for tonight was still there. Seeing the familiar pink fabric decorated with floral designs, she reached out to touch it before closing her closet again. "I'll wait till they get back before I start getting dressed for real." She decided out loud, moving to her dresser to pull out a tank top and shorts for now.

After taking her sweet time with her bath, she wasn't surprised when she heard the boys rustling around in her room as she made her way down the hallway. The rest of the house was quiet, her mom knocking on the door part way through her bath to let her know that they were on their way out.

As she walked in, she found them each already snacking on something.

"Sorry, we were both pretty hungry." Yukine was the first to apologize.

She shook her head and sat down on her bed, "No, I'm sorry I didn't really think to pack much of a lunch for us today. I'll order something for dinner while you two are taking baths and stuff. Oh." She snapped upward in realization, "I'll be right back."

Yato and Yukine gave each other confused looks as she rushed out of her bedroom and across the hall before they heard her going down the stairs.

Out of breath, she returned and laid out two yukatas on the bed, navy blue and green, "Here you go. The blue one is Masaomi's so I think it'll fit you, Yato. Yukine, this is one we just sort of kept around for my cousins so I don't know if it'll fit or not, but hopefully it will…"

He held it up and shrugged, "I think it'll be okay. Worst case scenario I'll just wear my own clothes. Thanks, Hiyori."

"You can go first for the bath, Yukine." Yato waved towards the door.

"Oh, thanks." Yukine hung the yukata over his shoulder and went to the other room to grab his things.

Once they were alone, Yato commented, "You seem a lot more comfortable now."

"Well, yeah. I don't have to worry about possibly having to explain why there's two guys in my room." She laughed, "I know it's hard for you two to be noticed, but the fact that my mom is extra sensitive to your presence doesn't help."

"I know, I know." He nodded along, crossing his arms and smiling, "Still, I'm just glad to finally see you having fun."

"Thanks." She mumbled sheepishly as she looked at the floor. After a moment, she moved around him and pushed against his back, "I gotta start getting ready so you need to go to the other room."

"But what am I gonna do until it's my turn for the bath?" He whined, looking back at her.

Hiyori groaned before she moved to her nightstand, grabbing her phone and unlocking it, "Here. You can order dinner and play games on my phone. Just make sure you don't go overboard with what you order, okay?"

He let out an excited squeak, taking it and moving quickly out of the room, "Thank you, Hiyori!"

"If only he was always that easy to amuse." She commented under her breath as she closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it as extra protection against unexpected intrusions.

The phone only managed to keep him occupied for a little while, both Yukine and him waiting at her door like puppies before she was even finished getting ready. "Just a few more minutes, I promise!" She shouted out as she worked on pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Hesitating about why she even felt the need to, she eventually decided to put on a little bit of lip gloss as well.

As she opened the door, she apologized, "Sorry for taking so long, I always have kind of a hard time with tying the obi."

Yato looked up at her from where he sat on the floor, his lips parting, "It's fine. You look really nice."

Thankfully, Hiyori was saved from having to respond directly as Yukine chimed in as well, "Yeah, you look really great Hiyori! And by the way, I think this fits okay." He did a sort of half spin to show off the fit of the green yukata to her.

Giving a small giggle, she nodded, "Yeah, it looks just about right. And thanks, both of you."

"Mine's maybe a little too big but eh, I don't mind things being kinda loose." Yato stood up and she turned to see what he meant, seeing the yukata poof out a bit around his chest and noticing how long it was on his legs.

"I guess Masaomi is a little taller than you. Sorry." She apologized again but he waved his hand.

"It's no big deal." He was interrupted by the sound of loud knocking on the door downstairs and his face lit up, "Ooh, guess our food's here."

Hiyori ducked back inside her room to grab her wallet before rushing down the stairs, warning, "It better not cost a fortune, Yato, or I'm never letting you order again."

When she opened the door, the delivery person looked at her in surprise and asked, "Oh, is there a festival tonight?"

She shook her head sheepishly, "No, no. Me and my friends just thought it would be fun to get dressed up and have our own little get together… thing." She stumbled on her words as she took the bags of food, "And how much do I owe you?"

"Three thousand five hundred yen, please."

She let out a breath, thinking that was reasonable for three people before handing over the payment as well as a tip, "Thank you, have a great night!"

"You as well!" They waved and Hiyori closed the door behind herself. "Okay guys, you can come downstairs." She spoke loudly as she moved into the dining room with the food.

"Freedom~" Yato announced loudly, skipping a few stairs and jumping onto the ground floor.

Yukine gave him a warning look, "Yato. Don't wreck Hiyori's house."

He waved him off, continuing towards the dining room, "It's fineee."

"I can't wait till the day you actually own something and Kofuku-san wrecks it." The younger boy mumbled in a huff.

Yato turned back and raised an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and passed him, taking a seat across from Hiyori at the dining room table.

Seeing Yato move towards the fridge, Hiyori cleared her throat, "I have a pitcher of barley tea on the table. No beer before we set off fireworks."

"Seriously?" He pouted, his hand hovering above the handle.

"Seriously." She stared him down until he finally retreated to the table. Letting out a sigh, she said, "You can have one later. One. Otherwise my dad will probably notice things going missing."

Yato leaned back against the chair and shrugged, "I guess it's better than nothing…"

"You spoil him, Hiyori." Yukine sighed as he went through the various boxes of food, scooping whatever looked good onto his plate.

Flushing, she defended, "Well, we are on vacation…"

"Exactly." Yato agreed wholeheartedly, sifting through whatever boxes Yukine wasn't busy with.

While both boys were busy with the food, she took the chance to pour herself some tea to avoid furthering the conversation. Thankfully that seemed to work, as they were now happily shoveling food into their mouth without much else being said.

Once she had gotten her own food and started to eat, it wasn't long till the food had been finished off by the god and his hafuri. Swallowing a bite of her own food, she commented, "I swear, you two always act like you haven't eaten in weeks."

"The pros and cons of not being able to feel full, I guess." Yato answered before standing up from his seat, "Hey, Yukine. Can you help Hiyori with the dishes? I'm going to go start setting up for the fireworks down on the beach."

Yukine blinked in surprise, "I guess, since you have a legitimate reason for once."

"Great." He swiftly left the dining room, leaving Hiyori and Yukine in silence.

"Do fireworks really need that much set up?" She asked in confusion. When Yato had mentioned fireworks, she was picturing sparklers, maybe bottle rockets, and one or two of the bigger ones that were set on the ground.

He sighed and scratched his head, "Normally, no… I don't know what he has planned. Anyway, take your time with your food but I'll go ahead and work on what's already empty."

"Thanks." She gave an appreciative smile before turning her attention back to her food.

By the time she had finished, Yukine was wrapping up with the dishes. Wordlessly, he reached out to take hers as well but she shook her head, "It's okay, you've done a lot already. You can go ahead and catch up with Yato if you want to."

Giving a glance towards the door, he made a grimace, "Like I said, I don't know what in the world he has planned so… I'd rather wait to leave with you."

Hiyori laughed nervously as she started rinsing her plate, "I guess that's fair." Putting her last glass on the drying wrack, she turned her head to him again, "Ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be." He shrugged before they both made their way to the back door, down the deck and down the path to the beach.

"About time!" Yato called out to them as soon as he could see them coming over the bridge, "I was beginning to think you were going to leave me out here by myself."

"Damn, I wish I would have thought of that." Yukine commented quietly and Hiyori laughed.

"No, I just take a normal amount of time to eat." She answered loudly as they continued forward.

As they got closer to Yato, both of their mouths dropped at the immense crate of fireworks that he had sitting on the beach. A few were already set to launch, but a large amount still remained in the box.

"…Yato, are some of those illegal?" Hiyori's voice squeaked as the question came out.

"Technically not illegal, you just need certification. Which I don't have, but I know how to use them! I've been setting these off long before there were any sort of laws and regulations about them." He waved his arms around excitedly, showing off all the fireworks.

"Just please don't get us into any trouble." She sighed as she turned around, grabbing towels out of her tote bag for them to sit on.

Helping her fold out the towels, Yukine answered, "I think getting in trouble might be the least of our worries. What if he sets us on fire?"

"I'm a god. I'm not going to mess up something so simple as fireworks." He turned up his nose at Yukine's comments, "But fine, out of your concern we'll only do one of the big fireworks… and we'll do it further down the beach so it's not near the house."

Hiyori let out a breath of relief, admitting, "That sounds better."

"So I guess that leaves us with these." He pulled a large box of smaller fireworks wrapped in cardboard and plastic packaging, much more like what she was used to.

"Those definitely look more appropriate." Yukine nodded in approval as he walked over, inspecting them more thoroughly just to make sure, "And you've got a bucket of water to put them out, right?"

Yato gaped in disbelief, "Of course, I'm not an amateur."

"Okay, okay." Yukine backed off and went back to go sit on the towels with Hiyori, "Get the show started, I guess."

"Hiyori gets first pick." He stepped forward and pushed to box towards her face, "Which one do you wanna see?"

She blinked in surprise and bit her lip in thought as her eyes scanned over the packing, "Umm… This one." She stopped on a set of neon colors.

"Coming right up!" He replied eagerly as he dug the individual fireworks out of the bigger packaging, before commenting, "Oh, looks like this is one of those ones that has multiple little ones inside of it." Sitting all of the little fireworks about a foot apart, he pulled out a lighter and lit them one by one before retreating backwards towards Hiyori and Yukine. Each one erupted in sequence with a high pitch scream, sending showers of sparks in green, red, yellow and blue.

Wincing, Hiyori commented, "Sorry, didn't know they'd be loud."

"Of course fireworks are loud." Yato shrugged with a quick glance to her.

"Yeah, but not like that."

Once all of the fireworks had sputtered out, he went to grab the box again and held it out to the younger boy, "Alright, Yukine, your turn."

Much quicker on the draw, he pointed out a bigger one that was black and gold, "This one."

With a grin, Yato commented, "See, I knew you were secretly into big and flashy things when I planned your birthday."

"What fireworks I think look interesting have nothing to do with that!" He groaned in response as the god worked on getting the firework out of the packaging.

Setting it farther back than he did the smaller fireworks, Yato lit the fuse and rushed back to them again. This time, the fireworks shot a little bit into the air with a shower of golden sparkles with the occasional flash of green.

"That one was pretty cool, Yukine-kun." Hiyori looked over to him and he shrugged.

"I guess."

"My turn, then." Yato hummed eagerly as he returned to the packaging, taking just a little bit longer than Hiyori had to pick out his choice. "Okay, here we go." He sat down a bigger firework again and rushed away after he had lit the fuse.

The firework glowed a bright blue for a moment before giving off a small shower of sparks, followed by a short burst of loud golden blasts. After what seemed like less than a minute, it had already gone out.

"Wait, that was it, really?"

"You picked a dud." Yukine snickered.

"That was just my warm up choice." He pouted in response before roughly shoving the box towards Hiyori again, "Your turn."

They switched off like that for a while until all that was left was sparklers. "Well that works out nicely, that's something we can all do together." Hiyori smiled as she peeked down into the box.

"Yeah, I guess. Then I can finally show you guys my real choice for fireworks since all of the little ones I picked sucked." Yato agreed grumpily.

She rolled her eyes as she took her hair out of the ponytail as the air began to cool, putting the hair band on her left wrist, "They weren't that bad, it just so happens that Yukine and I chose the better ones."

"That's because we have better taste." Yukine stood up, dusting off the sand from his yukata, "But we all knew that already based on how we dress."

Hiyori held a hand to her mouth to hide her laugh as Yato immediately fell into a tirade of explaining his choice of tracksuit and fluffy fluff for the thousandth time. Interrupting them, she handed them sparklers and said, "Alright, alright. Back to playing now. Fire, please?"

His shoulders fell, relaxing, "Okay." He took the sparkler from her before using the lighter to light hers.

The sparks taking off almost immediately, she let out a few giggles and started running around the beach. Yukine quickly followed suite and Yato joined in as soon as he got his own lit, laughing joyfully.

"Look what I can do!" The god called for their attention, writing out each of their names in the air with the sparks.

Yukine's mouth dropped in amazement before he tried it out himself, laughing, "Cool!"

Hiyori smiled fondly as she continued doing basic swirls and loops, mostly enjoying watching the other two's reactions.

Once all of the sparklers had fizzled out, Yato grabbed one of his bigger fireworks and smirked, "Now it's time for me to show off for real."

"Oh boy." Yukine put a palm up to his forehead.

"Just, um, give us a minute to get this at least somewhat cleaned up and put by the bridge back home so we can grab it quickly." She wanted to be out of there ASAP after that firework went off.

"Okay, but hurry up!" Yato went ahead and moved down the beach to set up while she and Yukine stayed behind to put the remainders of the fireworks into a bucket of water and her towels back into her tote bag.

Once they had all been collected, she left them right by the foot of the stairs leading up to the bridge before they walked down the beach to meet Yato. They stood tense, watching him finish up whatever preparations he had to make.

"Prepare to be amazed!" He winked before he reached out to them, "Oh, and you'll probably want these. At least definitely for Hiyori." He held out ear plugs.

She took them nervously, her face falling, "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Definitely." His smile didn't waver in the slightest.

Putting the ear plugs in, she agreed hesitantly, "Okay."

"Bomb's away." He lit the fuse and jumped back.

"Probably not the best choice of words…" Yukine commented distastefully before they heard the loud pop as the firework launched and he and Hiyori both held their breath.

There was a squeal as it flew through the sky and after what felt like forever, there was a large bang and the sky was filled with bright multicolored sparkles that then turned into a shower of golden fizzles as it faded out.

"That was really pretty, Yato!" Hiyori commented in awe, Yukine making a slight sound of agreement.

Beaming, he answered, "Glad you liked it. But, uh, time to run?" He held out his hand.

"Yes!" Hiyori grabbed it and Yukine took his other hand as they ran back to the bridge, bending down to snatch the bucket as they reached it and Yato running over to get his box of remaining fireworks. They all let go of each other so that they wouldn't trip over the stairs and continued running across the bridge until they finally reached the back deck of the house.

Setting the bucket down in the sand beneath the deck, she led them through the back door and let out a breath as she pulled the ear plugs out to hear them better, "We made it."

"Would the police even come unless one of their neighbors reported it?" Yukine questioned, slightly out of breath.

"Probably not, but you never know if there's one patrolling the beach for whatever reason." Yato shrugged, "We can't risk our sweet Hiyori going to prison."

Her eye twitched at his comment, "I think at worst they probably would have given me a fine. But I would definitely prefer not to get in trouble, for sure." Locking the back door, she then turned for the stairs and announced loudly, "I'm going to change in the bathroom, if you guys would just put your yukatas in my laundry basket whenever you're done. I'll take care of them."

"Okay." She heard them answer from behind her as she made her way up the stairs, popping into her bedroom to grab a t-shirt and pajama shorts. As she passed them in the hallway on the way to the bathroom, she gave an awkward smile before escaping into the doorway and shutting the door.

Thankfully, taking the yukata off was a lot easier than it was putting it on. She carefully untied the obi and slipped out of the yukata before slipping on her pajamas, her bare skin feeling a relief from the heat after all that running. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she scooped up her yukata into her arms and made her way back to her bedroom.

Yato and Yukine as usual were already done and waiting on her, smiling as she entered the room.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" She asked as she tossed her things into the laundry basket.

"Truth or dare round two?" The god gave a small smile, "I want to give it another try."

Yukine collapsed across the foot of Hiyori's bed in a groan, "Fine."

"Okay." She complied, though she was sure the worry was audible in her voice as she sat down at the other end of the bed.

"Yukine first." Yato pointed at the younger boy's feet from where they hung off the bed.

He made another groan, "Why me?"

"Cuz I said so." The other boy answered simply, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Would you ever dye your hair black for real? Granted I was horrified at the time, but I couldn't help but notice we actually looked related—"

Yukine snapped upward, glaring, "Absolutely not!"

"Fine, fine." Yato sighed.

"Hiyori, truth or dare?" Yukine continued the game, his tone even.

"Truth for me too." She answered quickly.

He stayed quiet for a moment before asking, "Uh, would you consider changing your hair color? Sorry for sort of a repeat question, I'm drawing a blank."

"I've always liked my brown hair, so probably not. If I had to, I'd probably do something like auburn? Like just adding a little more red to it, I guess." She looked up to the ceiling as she babbled out her thoughts.

"A red head Hiyori…" Yato's voice snapped her out of it and she rolled her eyes.

"Yato," She called his name to pull him out of his own thoughts, "Truth or dare?"

A smug expression taking over his face, he answered, "Dare."

"Uh, um. Sing something for us." She said the first thing that came to mind.

"Not a problem." He answered confidently before holding out his hand, "Your phone, please, Hiyori? I need some background music."

She held it out to him wearily, beginning to wonder if this was a mistake.

"Why do you need her phone?" Yukine grumbled and she paused, thinking that was a good question.

"It has better speakers, obviously." He answered as he worked on typing in the link he wanted.

Jazz piano music started to play lightly out of the phone before Yato hit the volume buttons on the side to turn it all the way up and she immediately flushed as he started singing, his voice far better than she imagined.

He only made it through a few bars before Yukine jumped up, "I can't watch anymore, it's too embarrassing." He raced out the door before slamming it shut behind him.

Hiyori wasn't faring much better from the combination of the sound of his voice and the romantic lyrics, added with the fact that Yato's eyes flickered back to her with a questioning look once Yukine had exited the room. "T-that's enough for now. But wow, Frank Sinatra of all things?"

He turned down the volume of the phone so that it was barely audible but kept it playing, answering, "Yeah, wanted to show off my skills at least a little bit. What did you think?"

"It was great, you did really well." She answered breathlessly, her face still on fire.

He gave a small smile, "Thanks. So, Hiyori. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." She definitely didn't want to take any chances right now.

His expression faltering, he asked, "Have you really been having fun the past two days or have you been pretending for my and Yukine's sake?"

She slipped down from the bed and knelt down on the futon next to him, "Of course I am! Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you didn't really invite us to begin with and I've noticed you've always been asking me what we should do next, so I feel like I've hijacked your vacation. Not to mention you've been tense a lot, too." He looked off to the side of the room.

"It's like I said before, I've just been worrying about my parents and them noticing anything. Not because of you two." She waved her hands in explanation.

"Even when we've been on our own though, there's been some times where you've kind of just seemed uncomfortable." Yato pointed out, his eyes flashing back towards her with an intent and questioning stare.

She remained silent for a moment, trying to think of the best way to word her response. Scooting forward so that she was a little bit closer to him, she let out a breath, "Look, that's just… my own problems. But I'm happy you two are here, I really am; even if I wasn't expecting it."

He tilted his head and his frown deepened, concerned, "What sort of problems?"

"You really don't need to worry about it." She gave a small laugh, waving him off.

"Of course I do." Yato answered so sincerely that it sent a pang through her chest, "Listen, maybe it's stupid and maybe it's something you don't even want, but… I made a promise to myself a while ago that I would make you the happiest girl in the world. So let me help."

Already tearing up, she couldn't help but ask, "Why would you promise something like that?"

His eyes met hers and he gave a sad smile, "I think you know."

A sob broke past her lips and she flew forward, enveloping Yato in her arms and pressing her lips against his desperately.

He responded hesitantly, almost as if he was going to push back until she reached up to run her hand through his hair affectionately. At that, he kissed her back more feverishly and held on to her so tightly that it almost hurt. When they finally broke apart, he immediately hid his face in the crook of her neck and apologized, "I'm sorry."

"…Sorry?" Hiyori repeated in disbelief, "For what?"

"Taking advantage of the situation. You didn't even say what was bothering you." He pulled away and looked down at the floor shamefully.

"Well, I thought that for the sake of our friendship I was going to have to ignore my romantic feelings towards you forever, but it seems like there's some new information to take into account…"

His head immediately snapped up, "What?"

"I didn't think there was any way you could love me." She answered honestly, wiping at the tears forming at her eyes again, "Since you're a god, after all. And both Kazuma-san and Tenjin-sama said that gods aren't really capable of love, or at least not in the same way that I felt. So I was trying really hard to let my feelings go, but I couldn't."

His lips were parted as she gave her explanation and only closed once she was done. Thinking over what she said, he closed his eyes and took a breath before he answered, "Maybe it's not in the same way. But of your parents or your friend Yama-chan and her boyfriend, they probably love each other in different ways too, right? Just think of it like that."

"I guess that's true." She nodded, sniffling, but continued with a small laugh, "Still, I would say our situation is a little more complicated."

"Just a little." He agreed with a grin of his own. "And we'll figure it out. But for now, since you're being more truthful with me, are you really okay with me and Yukine being here?"

"It's not that I don't want you around or that I haven't had fun…" She trailed off, unsure of her phrasing, "I guess it's just because this is a trip that I had planned with my parents, I also feel like I should be spending more time with them and I kind of feel guilty." She stared down into her lap.

Yato nodded quietly, "Ah, I see." His gaze left hers as he seemed to drift into his own thoughts.

"I want to spend time with you and with Yukine-kun too. Just… maybe we should actually plan it together this time?" Hiyori reached out to take his hand, lightly wrapping her own around his, "I don't want you to leave feeling like I'm trying to kick you out or something. I just want our time to be our own so that we can enjoy it to the fullest and to also respect the time my parents expect to spend with me too, okay?"

He nodded again, "You're right. I know you're right." He grasped her hand tighter and tugged her closer to him before wrapping his arms around her, "Aside from wanting to grant the wishes you mentioned, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just trying to spend more time with you for my own selfish reasons. But, since I know how you feel now…" He lifted her chin up with his index finger so that she was extremely close to his face, his breath warm against her lips, "I don't have to worry as much."

She couldn't resist, closing her eyes and leaning in towards him to kiss him again. "So you won't be nearly as clingy anymore?" She mumbled into the kiss.

"I didn't say anything like that." He answered breathlessly, nipping at her bottom lip before he continued, "I may actually get worse."

"Please don't." She put her hands on his chest and pulled away, smiling.

"No promises." He replied automatically before kissing her forehead, "But I'll try."

She ran a hand through his hair as he lingered close, "That's good enough for now." With another stroke of his hair, she pulled away and commented, "We should probably go to bed."

"What about us leaving?" Yato gave her a confused look as she stood up.

"I don't expect you to leave now, especially since Yukine-kun is probably almost asleep. Just take your time in the morning." She went to her door and switched off the lights, "And my parents should be home soon, so we shouldn't all be up and walking around anyway."

As she crawled into her bed, she heard him comment, "But how am I supposed to sleep when you're all the way over there?"

"You really are going to get worse, aren't you?" She turned over to give him an incredulous look.

His pout turned into a grin, "I warned you."

"You can scoot your futon right next to my bed but also know that you run the chance of me accidentally stepping on you in the morning." She sighed in defeat as he happily slid over towards her.

"Goodnight, Hiyori." He reached up for her hand which she dangled over the side of the bed to meet his.

"Goodnight, Yato."