( CLOSED )

[secare]

WHO: Anya, Yukine, & Yato
WHERE: Anya's house.
WHEN: 5/2 (backdated), almost evening.
WHAT: an exciting reunion a few years past due.
WARNINGS: violence, swearing, & yato.

[ continued from here ]

( it's funny how the sound of one person's name can make someone's blood run cold. it's probably a coincidence, just a weird happenstance of someone else sharing the same name as his aniki, but the possibility of it alone is enough to make yukine feel sick to his stomach. his feet feel like lead as he follows behind anya, breath caught in his throat as he fears for who might turn the corner to greet her, and he strongly considers running.

turning around and running in the opposite direction just because he might encounter the person he's wanted to see the most for the last few years.

what was he going to do if it were really him? would he even be happy to see him? he abandoned him. just like everyone else. )

A-anya. . .? Did you say "Yato"?

( maybe he just misheard. )

Comments

2/2

[goen]

[ Or he can get punched in the stomach. Far more than it would normally, the wind is indeed knocked out of him. A sharp and tender pain lances through him, enough to double him over, though he manages to keep his feet. His healing bruises are screaming to make themselves known again. His legs are starting to shake, but he fights to straighten. ]

I... wanted my name to stand out! I thought it was just a fun highlighter effect!

[ HE'S NOT VERY GOOD AT TECHNOLOGY, SUE HIM. ]

[secare]

( then a swift knee to the chest just on principle. )

It's not! That's not how it works! Not how any of it works!

[goen]

[ Well that... helps him back up in a way... he rears backward for a precarious moment before finding his balance again. ]

... I get it! I messed up.

[ Could he have tried harder to get back in touch with Yukine? Yes, definitely. But... ]

But there's more to it, isn't there? You wouldn't be so worked up otherwise.

/2

[secare]

I—

( the question catches him off guard. it's more than what he thought yato would ask. it's more than he was prepared to be asked. his throat feels tight.

against his will, tears are already welling up in the corners of his eyes, threatening to make themselves known. )

[secare]

—thought I mattered to you. . .

( there's a swipe at his face, trying to get rid of the tears before yato could even notice. it's too late though, no amount of swiping is going to hide the way that the tears slide down his face or the way his voice cracks. all he can think about is how devastated he was to know that yato was gone, how lonely he felt in being left behind, and the way the betrayal had felt like a sharp cut from a knife. )

I didn't. You just left without saying anything. Like I was nothing. Just like everyone else.

I always thought I could always at least count on my aniki.

[goen]

[ Yato watches Yukine's tears spill over, and he feels heavy. No matter what excuse he tries to offer, this is the consequence of his actions. A boy with a small voice and bloodied knuckles crying over loss. ]

Things got too hot overnight, so I left because I couldn't stay. I realize it's small consolation now.

... Believe it or not, to me, you were the best thing to come of that town. When I felt lonely, you always made it better. But I didn't think you needed me the way I needed you.

[ Because Yukine's parents were decent? Because he had a home? At the time, Yato couldn't have wished for more in the world than those two things. But he knows now that that was the wrong way of framing things.

He was simply too young back then. ]

I see that I was wrong. Your aniki is human like everyone else. And humans make mistakes. I'm sorry, Yuki.

1/2

[secare]

( trying to hide his face behind his sleeves. he doesn't want yato to keep looking at him. not right now, not like this. he hates this. he hates all of this. he just wanted to come out here and hit yato until he finally felt better.

instead he just feels worse.

it's impossible not to yell. )

I always needed you!! You were the most important person to me!!

[secare]

I still need you!

( it's a complete mistake to say that, but the words fall out of his mouth before he can stop them. in hopes of hitting yato hard enough to force him to forget, yukine swings out with his other hand to clock yato right in the jaw. )

[goen]

[ This time it's one hit too many. Yato barely has time to register what Yukine is saying before he's seeing stars again, and when he opens his eyes again he's looking up at Yukine from the ground.

What's there to say to that? "Still need", after all this time? Yato can't quite comprehend it. So he only stares up at Yukine with a slow turning of cogwheels, struggling to make sense of Yukine and his life until now.

I still need you... huh. ]

[secare]

Tell Anya I'm sorry. Cuz 'm going home.

( nudging yato in the stomach with his shoe like that might do something. )

And I hate your pajamas.

( an eloquent parting line before yukine walks off. )