Chapter Text
Yato immediately stood up when he'd gotten the message, he hastily ran across the hall to find her, the other gods and shinkis were frowning and muttering at his weird behavior, but he didn't care, he needed to find her.
"Yato, calm down what are you doing?" Yukine stopped the god in his path, he turned to face his hafuri with a panicked expression.
"He got her... He... He got Hiyori..." Yato said breathlessly, he was shaking from fear and anger, the fear that he might lose her forever and the anger that his father had dared to touch his girl.
"He who? You mean Fujisaki?"
"Yes! C'mon, hurry!" Yato pulled on Yukine's sleeve and dragged him along until they'd bumped into Kazuma and Bishamon.
Yato tried running pass them but Bishamon blocked his way and asked him what was going on.
He explained the situation to them, everyone was quiet during the explanation, but then Bishamon finally spoke up, "Even though it was difficult, we had told Her Highness about it, she's considering about sending people there, so you don't have to worry-" She must have seen the cold and frustrated expression on Yato's face since she continued, "-But we should go there to rescue Hiyori ourselves first, I'll gather up my other shinkis, Kazuma please wait here"
Yato nodded as he holds back tears that were threatening to come out since Fujisaki had sent that message, "Thank you..."
Bishamon smiled in response before heading another way to get her shinkis.
"This is probably going to be war..." Kazuma murmured as he waited there with them.
"I'll make sure he stays dead this time... I won't let him cheat death again..." Yato said, he gripped his phone tight and it buzzed again with notification, he immediately turned it on.
I'm tired of waiting... I'll give you two hours... If you haven't made up your mind by then, she won't be existing any longer.
Yato would've smashed his phone to pieces if it wasn't for Yukine who took it to read the message himself, "That jerk... What's he going to do to Hiyori?"
"Kill her, obviously... But I'll stop that" Yato took his phone back and put it in his pocket as Bishamon and her other shinkis had arrived.
"I've told Takemikazuchi about everything, he said he would try and... 'Get Her Highness to consider things quicker' " She said, before calling her shinkis' vessel names.
Then they all suddenly disappeared from the hall, heading to the same destination as one another.
•••••
It was dark... Cold... Where was she? She couldn't remember much... It was all hazy to her...
'Wait, Fujisaki and Nora...'
Hiyori immediately sat up, she found herself in a dark room that was only lightened by an oil lamp at her feet and she was sitting on a futon.
"Yaboku slept there once you know?"
A familiar voice said, she turned her head and saw Fujisaki leaning on a door frame, she really wanted to punch that smug grin off of his face.
Before Hiyori said anything, she looked around the room, ayakashi wolves sat in the corners, they all eyed her hungrily, she thought that she should choose her words wisely if she doesn't want to get eaten, "What do you want from me..."
Fujisaki shifted from one leg to another, "I've already told you, I want my boy back"
"He's not yours"
"Well, he's not yours either" The male shot back immediately, his eyes gleaming with annoyance. "Oh wait? So you two... Aw, how sweet" His mouth changed from a frown to a mischievous grin in seconds.
Fujisaki glanced at his wristwatch before looking back at Hiyori, "Well... It's almost time... I better get you ready for the bargaining" He whistled, and the wolves stood up and slowly made their way to her, she immediately squirmed away as she felt fear rising up her throat, she was also starting to shake.
"Don't worry... It will only hurt for a moment..."
All she could her next was the sound of screaming... The sound of her screaming from pain.
•••••
They were on their way to the abandoned shrine Bishamon was talking about, the goddess was riding on Karuha who was a lion, and Yato was jumping from one rooftop to another.
Suddenly, Yato collapsed, he dropped Sekki to clutch the back of his neck as if in pain, Bishamon immediately turns to her friend. "Yato?" She knelt down next to him once she was down from her mount.
"H-Hiyori... She's..." Yato slowly rise, grabbing his hafuri tight, he then dashed forward and continued his journey, Bishamon was about to shout for him to stop, but she had no choice but to quickly follow and catch up.
The abandoned shrine was out somewhere in the woods, both gods jumped down and started cautiously walking towards it, Yato was still in pain from the sting earlier, but he ignored it and continued on.
SCREEEEEE!!!
A loud screech was heard from above, the gods instinctively jumped back as something dropped from the sky. An eagle ayakashi stood about as tall as the trees around them, it's gigantic wings spread out as if threatening its prey.
"I swear it was much smaller last time I've seen it..." Bishamon murmured as she readied her guns.
"Who knows if it's even the same ayakashi" Yato replied, holding out Sekki, ready to both attack and block.
They wouldn't even expected that it would or could happened, both Bishamon and Yato fighting together, but now here they were, standing side by side both eyeing the same target.
"Yato... Are you sure you're okay?" Yukine asked, he was worried for his master, even though he was slowly recovering from six months ago he couldn't be sure if the god was back to a hundred percent yet.
"I'm fine Yukine, focus on the target in front of us... Focus on saving Hiyori, alright?"
Yukine was quiet for a moment, "Alright..."
Bishamon made the first move, she opens fire at the eagle, and it didn't even try dodging, the bullets pierced its body and it didn't flinch one bit, it just stood there, blocking the shrine from sight.
Yato could feel the stinging again, it got stronger this time, but it didn't stop him from leaping forward and slash Sekki down on its hideous body, once again the ayakashi didn't move.
Now it was its turn to attack, the eagle screeched before slamming its wings down on Yato, he couldn't dodge due to the distance, he was sent flying back and down at Bishamon's feet, she gritted her teeth as her mind raced, Kazuma was also thinking too.
Yato stood up again, mumbling some curses, he charged at it again, slashing at the ayakashi at an inhumane speed, he stepped back once he thought it was enough, but it turned out it wasn't, the ayakashi stood there, cuts and wounds all over its body, it didn't faze a bit.
Bishamon holstered her guns before drawing her gigantic sword, Saiki, she charged in slashing the eagle once, but like every last attack the two gods had made before, it did nothing and the ayakashi still stood its guard.
"Why wouldn't it die?" Bishamon asked.
"The Brush... It couldn't have been that powerful..."
"What brush? You mean the brush that lets people control ayakashi?"
"Yes... It was why my wounds wouldn't heal..."
Bishamon went quiet, she eyed the ayakashi in front of her, it didn't try to attack them, it did only once when Yato got close and didn't retreat immediately. "How are we going to-"
Suddenly, the goddess of war was cut off by another voice speaking up.
"Hi there Yaboku, I know you would be here"
Fujisaki walked to them and stopped at the ayakashi's talons, his right hand was holding Chiki while his left was holding Hiyori by her shirt collar, she was knelt down, wounds and blights all over her body, and a messy pink tail was swaying behind her.
Yato's eyes widen. Walking forward, he gritted his teeth trying his best to suppress his anger, "Give her back..."
"Only if you would give yourself back to me"
"That's enough sorcerer, time to pay for your crimes!" Bishamon readied her sword before charging at Fujisaki, the eagle ayakashi immediately came in front of the goddess, separating Yato from her. Then they began fighting.
One of Fujisaki's wolves bit Hiyori on her shoulder, she cried in pain and Yato fell to his knees, clutching the back of his neck.
"Yato! Hang on there!" Yukine said and anger was the only thing auditable in his voice.
"Well? It's a pretty fair offer I would say... You in trade for her" Fujisaki said before letting go of the shinki-turned-ayakashi in his hand, the wolves immediately came to bite her.
"Stop... It... Revert Yuki" Yato rose up from the ground, he let go of Sekki and the weapon turned back into Yukine, the god walked forward towards Fujisaki, "Okay... Fine... Just let her go... Please"
Tears ran down Yato's cheeks, the pain and the emotions from both himself and Hiyori were topping on one another, he wasn't sure how he was still standing. Fujisaki seemed pleased with the results, he waved his hand and the wolves backed away. "Good choice... But I can't exactly say that I could revert her to her normal self, she might as well be an ayakashi serving me forever as well"
Yato collapsed, anger... Anger was all he felt, from himself... And from Hiyori.
"You... It's your fault..."
Hiyori growled and suddenly jumped up at Yato, knocking them down, then she bit down on his shoulder and he yelped in pain, he tried pushing her off of him but it only made her bit down harder.
"I met you... And I died because of it... It's your fault... Why... Why... Why do I have to meet you? You only take from others... You never give..."
Yato wanted to believe that those were Fujisaki's doing making his beloved Hiyori said all those things, but he couldn't... In the deepest part of his heart, he knew that those words were true if she hadn't met him... None of this would've happened.
"Easy you two, Hiyori get off-" Fujisaki was cut off by the sound of thunder, they all looked up at the sky and saw Takemikazuchi's shinki, Kiun, in weapon form striking down at Fujisaki, the wolves jumped up to block the attacks and were all evaporated, other ayakashis came to fight the other gods that were coming to join the battle, it was like all of heaven was there.
There were two fights going on if Yato's blurry sight was correct: One was heaven with Fujisaki and his army of ayakashis and the other was with him and Hiyori.
He laid there, letting his shinki bit him, she bit hard but didn't make any motion to tear.
"I wished I had never met you... You took me away from my family Yato... You killed me..."
"I wished you had never met me too Hiyori... I would rather want you to be happy without all of this..." He said, but his voice showed no emotion, it was cold... He himself couldn't understand why.
"How are you even still alive? You should've been dead long ago... I died... So why do you still live? Just die... Die... Die..." Hiyori bit down harder, Yato gasped, tears still streaming down his face, he wrapped his arms around her.
"Then... Kill me then... If that would make you feel at peace... I would be happy to die for you" He said still with the same tone, having said that, he didn't realize it earlier, how much he wanted this moment to come, how much he wanted to die.
"Am I suicidal? I hated suicide so why am I..." He was confused with his own feelings, did he wanted to die because he wanted to do it for Hiyori? Or was it the feeling of freedom and release that he was feeling right now? The feeling of the knowledge that he could finally leave all the pain and suffering behind fo find peace else where?
"Hiyori... Deep down I've always known you feel this way... But no matter how much you hate me or how much of the feelings of the time we had in the past were fake... I don't blame you... But I would always love you... No matter what" He hugged her tighter, one of his hand pushed down on her head, encouraging her to bite him more.
But she didn't, she pushed herself back up, and through his blurry visions, he saw... Butterflies? And suddenly, his beautiful Hiyori was sitting on top of him, her teary eyes were wide with shock and her mouth was slightly parted. She crashed back down on him again and pulled him into a hug. "Yato... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I hurt you... And I didn't mean anything I said so please forget it"
Yato smiled softly, he could feel that he was losing consciousness, but he fought the heaviness of his eyelids and hugged her back, "Please don't lie... I don't mind if I die you know? If you would be happy then I'm happy..."
"What's wrong with you? I would never be happy if you die! And... And you said you don't like suicide so why are you acting like this?"
"I... I don't know... I guess I just now understood why people wanted to die... The moment you bit me I felt... As if I was being released... It was kinda peaceful in a way..." He chuckled.
Hiyori pushed herself back up, she was frowning, and it wasn't from confusion, but it was from anger, "Yato, if you dared said you want to die again I will go kill you in the afterlife"
Yato winced as Hiyori helped him up, "I'm not even sure if gods have an afterlife... But you're scary when you're angry so okay... I promise I won't say... 'that' "
Hiyori smiled and she pressed her lips against his, he returned the kiss, taking in the scent and taste of his beloved, "Good... That's what I want to hear... I love you too Yato"
"Oh! You are back to normal that's great news" Bishamon said and the two looked up, she was smirking and Kazuma was avoiding their eyes, he was lightly blushing.
"YATO!!! HIYORI!!!" Yukine came and crushed them in a hug, he was sobbing uncontrollably, Hiyori pushed him away saying that he was hurting Yato. "Sorry... I'm just happy you both are alright"
"I can't move my left arm..." Yato murmured and Hiyori mumbled an apology.
"Fujisaki had been caught, the ayakashis are all dead and the Brush had been secured, your father would probably be locked up somewhere for an eternity, it's over," Bishamon said.
Yato nodded, "Yeah... It's... Over..." But he could no longer fight the heaviness of his eyes, and then everything went black.
•••••
Yato slowly opened his eyes, his left arm was numb, he glanced around the room, he was lying in a king-sized bed. Hiyori was sleeping peacefully beside him, some of her hair was in her face, but she was smiling, which made him smiled too. He pulled the blanket up and over her, and it caused her to stir in her sleep before she opened her eyes.
"Yato... You're awake..."
"Sorry I woke you up," He said as Hiyori snuggled closer to him.
"Mm, it's alright, how's your left arm?"
"I... Still can't move it..."
"Akiha said that it should heal in no time, just take plenty of rest and don't overexert yourself..." Hiyori mumbled into the fabric of his jacket.
"So... I assume we're at Bishamon's place?"
"Yep..."
Suddenly, the door opened up, Yukine walked through with a tray of food, "Oh, you're awake, you feeling alright?"
"I still can't move my arm but other than that I'm fine"
"No... Disturbing thoughts?"
"... No..."
"Alright... Here's some chicken soup" Yukine settled the tray down on Yato's lap as he shifted to a sitting position while Hiyori was still snuggled up to him.
"Thanks Yukine" Yato didn't know how hungry he was until the smell of chicken hit his nose, he quicky dig in on his food.
"Eat slowly, you'll choke" Hiyori warned, but Yato continued his pace.
When he was done, Yukine grabbed the tray, "Well... I'll leave you to rest up" He then walked out of the room, leaving him alone with Hiyori.
"So... It's over huh?" Yato murmured as he laid back down.
Hiyori rested on top of him and grabbed his hand, "Yes... It's finally over... Now we could spend the rest of eternity happy together right?"
He nodded as he smiled softly and she returned his smile, "Yeah... The rest of eternity with you sounds nice"
Hiyori reached up to give Yato a tender kiss, he putted his useful hand behind her head and returned the kiss with more passion. "I want to stay with you forever Yato.
"Me too Yori. Not even death do us part. I won't let it"