Work Text:
Hiyori was having a strange dream.
She was sitting at her desk at school, with Yato and Yukine sitting next to her. She was surprised to see them, and demanded to know what they were doing there. Yato, however, just laughed at her, while Yukine gave her a strange look and said that they were just trying to study for their upcoming test. She opened her mouth to protest that they didn’t attend school, when she suddenly fell asleep on top of her desk. She felt her head hit the cool surface, and instantly left her body.
As soon as she did, the scene changed. Now she was falling off a building, with Yato and Yukine next to her. She looked around in a panic, but there was nothing to be seen except the building. It was impossibly tall, and she couldn’t even see the ground underneath her. All that was in her line of sight was the steep side of the building, with endless rows of windows rushing by, and her two friends. She screwed her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to reset the world.
When she opened her eyes, she found that she had succeeded. Now she was kneeling with Yukine at the edge of the opening to the underworld, reaching her hand down into the gaping darkness and screaming for Yato. She stretched her hand down, knowing that he would appear at any moment, but he didn’t come. She screamed again, and leaned farther into the opening. But she had leaned over too far, and then she was falling, tumbling down over and over into the endless black abyss. Only this time she was alone. Desperate, she cried out Yato’s name again and again, pleading to stop her fall.
Abruptly, she awoke, and in that half-daze between sleep and wakefulness, realized that she really was falling. She cried out, again yelling, “Yato!” Her hands scrabbled at the bed sheets, pulling them off on top of her as she landed.
But she hadn’t landed on the floor. Instead, she found herself resting, face-down, on something decidedly squishier than her carpet. Her nose was pressed flat into the something, and as she inhaled, she recognized the scent. Quickly, she tried to sit up, but was hindered by the sheets that had become a hopeless tangle around her. She flailed her arms for a moment before they were yanked off of her. She blinked, trying to focus her eyes from the combination of sleep and the darkness of the room, and stared in front of her.
As she had suspected, she was sitting on top of Yato’s lap. He was sitting up now too, looking at her with concern. “Hiyori, are you all right? I heard you calling for me, and then when I got here you were about to fall out of bed.” He frowned as he looked more closely at her face. “Were you crying?” he asked, reaching a hand up to swipe the tears away.
She didn’t answer, but instead threw herself forward onto his chest, flinging her arms around his neck. She began to shake, and realized that Yato was correct. She had been crying. Her tears continued to flow out onto Yato’s scarf, and she tried to pull herself together.
Eventually, her tears slowed, and she regained control of herself. Pulling herself off of Yato’s chest, she sniffled and scrubbed at her face with the back of her hand. Gently, Yato’s voice asked, “Hiyori, what’s all this about? Did you have a bad dream?”
She nodded, not looking up at him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Hiyori stared fixedly at her hands for a long moment, then mumbled, “I...I had a dream about when you were stuck in the underworld. Only...this time, I called you, and called you, but...you didn’t come…I fell in instead, and m-my voice wouldn’t reach you…” She sniffled again, repressing the urge to start crying again over the memory.
A hand gently cupped her cheek, and she looked up into Yato’s strong blue eyes. “Hiyori, I know that was scary for you. But I’m right here. Your voice did reach me, and I made it back to you. So you don’t need to be afraid.”
She smiled at him shakily. “You’re right, Yato. I’m sorry I made such a fuss. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I usually don’t have dreams like that.”
Suddenly, she was rising through the air, Yato’s hands supporting her and setting her softly onto her bed. He leaned over her, smiling. “Besides,” he said, settling the covers back over her, “I won’t let you fall. So you have nothing to worry about.”
Now that she was back in bed, and Yato’s reassuring presence was above her, Hiyori felt herself growing sleepy again. She gave a small nod, smiling up at the god. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Yato.” With that, she closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep.
Yato stood staring down at her for a long time, covering his mouth with his hand to hide the strange expression he was sure he was wearing. He had tried his best to be comforting, but he had said some pretty embarrassing things, hadn’t he? Well, if he was lucky, Hiyori would forget about the whole thing by the time she woke up, or would write it off as being just another part of her dream. He reached down with his free hand and brushed Hiyori’s hair off her face, enjoying her sleeping face. Although it had been embarrassing, he was glad that she had called for him, even in her sleep, and that she had been quickly reassured by him. It seemed she certainly trusted him a lot. His mouth curled up into a smile at that thought, and he sat down on the floor next to her bed. Since Hiyori was placing so much trust in him, he should probably stay and keep watch over her for just a little longer.