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“Hello! Thank you for calling! Fast, affordable, and reliable! Delivery God Yato, at your service!”
“Hello… I… saw your number advertised, and I was… needing some help this morning,” an elderly man’s voice rattled on the other end of the phone line.
“Of course! No job is too tough to handle!”
Yukine looked up from his desk and raised an eyebrow at the tracksuit god for a moment, before returning to his homework. He finished scribbling down one last answer and then pulled on his shoes. He stood alongside Yato with a sigh, ready to leave for the apparent job call.
“There’s an animal. It’s probably making a nest… and I want it to leave,” the man described.
“Sure thing! We’ll be right over!”
While the caller was still connected, Yato threw his arm around Yukine’s shoulder and they disappeared in a burst of light, only to reappear inside an old house directly in front of the caller. He was an elderly man, relatively short in stature, who was balding and held onto a cane. He gasped at their sudden appearance, dropping the phone receiver and nearly falling back from unsteadiness.
“Y-you’re here so soon!” he sputtered.
“Yup! At your service!” Yato cheerfully replied.
The man motioned for the two to follow him outside. The grounds of his home were nestled into a small grove of trees on a slope, overlooking the edge of the city below. The sunlight streamed through the thinning treetops around the house. The man walked slowly with his cane along a well-worn stone path, showing Yato and Yukine to a small storehouse on the very edge of his property. He stopped short of the storehouse door and pointed at the building with his cane.
“Early this morning, I thought I heard some scratching sounds coming from the roof of the house.. but then when I went outside, I realized that the sounds were coming from the storehouse.” The man coughed, “I’m too slow to catch an animal, you see, but I would be grateful if you could catch it and remove it for me.”
Yato crossed his arms and smirked upon hearing the job assignment. He was quick to assure the man that he would have the job done in no time. All the while, Yukine glanced between the man and the storehouse with some uncertainty. He buried his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.
“I’m going inside to rest for now,” the old man said before heading inside the house. “Please be careful,” he added.
“Do you even know how to catch animals?” Yukine grumbled softly while Yato gave a quick wave to his client.
“Hmm, it shouldn’t be too hard.”
Yukine groaned.
“It’s probably just a cat or something,” Yato dismissed.
He opened the creaky storehouse door, revealing a dim interior within. From what little sunlight came through the door, both could see stacks of boxes and various other objects inside. There were so many things that it was difficult to see much past the door. Yukine couldn’t help but shiver a bit.
“I’m going to wait out here.”
“That’s fine!” Yato smiled.
Inside the storehouse, Yato had to move some of the stored objects around to make his way through the tightly packed storehouse. Most of the objects were boxes of various sizes and weights, but there were also large items such as mirrors, chairs, and other furniture. His eyes scanned the floor for the delinquent creature that was troubling his client.
“Oh, someone is here,” said a raspy sounding voice.
Yato looked back over his shoulder for a moment, thinking the customer had returned, but didn’t see him at all. He furrowed his brow and faced forward again, looking for the source of the voice. He pressed his shoulder against a tall chest of drawers and moved it to the side enough to look past. In the center of the room, a silhouette of an ill-lit and misshapen creature appeared to be standing in front of a not-quite-shut window. He had to squint to see more clearly. Once he squeezed past the dresser, he arrived in a small open area that had been thoroughly tidied. Getting closer allowed for a better look at the figure before him, which is when Yato finally realized that this creature wasn’t an animal or human after all—it was a kind of spirit. He sighed.
“What are you doing with this old man’s stuff, huh?”
“Please excuse my intrusion, I mean no harm. I became exhausted while on my journey and was planning to stay here for the night. Then tomorrow, I will leave to continue on my way.”
Yato crossed his arms. “This isn’t a good place to stay, ya know. There’s a better place down the road that has more room,” Yato motioned one hand before crossing his arms again. “This place is gonna be kinda dangerous for you if you stick around.”
“Oh? Is that true?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“I mustn’t linger here any longer then,” the polite spirit replied. “You are too kind to share that information with me.”
“Nah, it’s how it all worked out while I was here for something else anyways.”
“Please, I insist. Before I go, I’d like to pay you for your help.”
Yato uncrossed his arms and looked at the figure curiously. “Pay… me?”
Yukine was outside of the storeroom near the partly shut window, stretching to pull himself up and get a peek inside, but he was just a little too short to get a good look. He was tense not knowing who was talking to Yato, but if Yato really needed him, he would call his name, wouldn’t he? Yukine let go of the window frame, dropping down to the bare earth. He grumbled to himself and rubbed the toe of his shoe into the dry dust on the ground.
Without warning, there was a loud crash from inside the storehouse, enough to startle Yukine to jump away from the building. He stood back, frozen while watching the storehouse window. After several seconds he ran around the corner to the storehouse door. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open. He slowly peeked through the doorway, eyes slowly looking across the cluttered landscape. He squinted to see more clearly, but failed to see any sign of Yato.
“Y-Yato? Are you okay?” he shouted.
Yukine held his breath and waited for a reply. Before there was one though, he noticed a figure filling the dim interior, causing Yukine to jump back again in a panic. The creature lowered its head to exit through the doorway, its form taller than the door itself. As the creature stepped out into the light, it revealed itself to be a large spirit wearing a dark kimono over wooden looking skin and a knothole for a face. Upon noticing Yukine, it bowed quickly before continuing on its way, shuffling from the property and down the road.
Yukine’s heart was pounding, but once it was clear that the creature wasn’t going to return, Yukine rushed to the door and yelled inside, holding tightly to the door frame.
“Yato!! Hey! Yato!”
He carefully listened and after a few moments, was able to hear the faint sound of something sliding slowly along the rough floor.
“Yato!? Is that you? Are you okay?” Yukine called again.
Something shifted inside again and a stack of objects collapsed towards what looked like a chest of drawers.
“Owww,” a tiny voice whined.
Yukine gasped softly. He hurriedly grabbed a box from a stack just inside the door, nearly toppling the entire stack to the ground. He placed the box as best as he could against the door to hold it open, then rushed inside towards the voice. He could hear whimpering from nearby. Yukine grabbed one heavy box and pushed it to the side, and then another.
“Owww,” the tiny voice whined again, sounding like its owner was about to cry.
Yukine picked up a bag partly filled with clothing, when from under a large, empty canvas bag emerged a small person rubbing their eyes. The small person’s face looked up to reveal bright blue eyes.
“Y-Yato?!”
Yukine quickly reached out to pick up the child-sized version of Yato and get out, but the child jumped back from Yukine. They both stared at each other, sizing one another up. Yukine glanced around the area in disbelief.
That thing didn’t kill him, did it?! But wait…
Yukine noticed that this tiny Yato was wrapped up and tangled in Yato’s normal tracksuit and fluffy fluff. One of his boots lie on the ground immediately nearby.
“I-it’s okay!” Yukine tried to reassure, even though things were clearly not okay. He held up his hands to show he wasn’t going to harm Yato. “Let’s get going, and we can figure this out at home, okay?”
The child looked at him nervously and asked, “Who… are you?”
Yukine’s stomach twisted into what felt like no fewer than three knots. He started thinking of all the possible reasons for why and how this could have happened.
“What do you mean who am I?” Yukine panicked. “You’re Yato, aren’t you?”
Yukine leaned down to offer a hand to help tiny Yato to his feet, but the child refused, then promptly tripped backwards over what looked like a flowerpot. Yukine sighed and knelt down again, offering his hand.
“You can trust me, okay?” he said a little softer this time.
“How… do you know my name is Yato?” the child skeptically wondered out loud. “I don’t know your name.”
“I-I’m Yukine!” he affirmed, holding his hand to his chest.
Yato scooted back a little, still looking at Yukine suspiciously.
“You named me Yuki, and call me to you as Sekki. I’m a shinki that’s pledged my loyalty to you, and am now your hafuri. You’re the god, Yato. You always wear a tracksuit and a fluffy fluff all the time. We live in the attic at Kofuku’s house.”
“I… have a hafuri?”
Yato looked down at his own two hands in confusion, then quickly looked up again.
“That sounds nice, but… is that really true?”
Yukine grumbled to himself and ruffled his own hair while thinking in frustration.
“Okay, but just think for a minute. Do you know what day it is, Yato?” Yukine asked. Yato blinked, seeming to realize that he did not know. “Do you know where our house is? Do you know why we are here right now?”
Yato looked down again at his hands, then looked back up to meet Yukine’s gaze.
“I… don’t know any of that,” he said softly. “I should know that though… shouldn’t I? What happened to me?”
Yukine knelt down next to Yato and rolled up the legs of Yato’s sweatpants so he wouldn’t fall anymore. Yato had not reincarnated, but for some reason, he had turned into the size of a child and lost most of his memories. Yukine grabbed the track jacket and boots and stuffed them under his arm. Yato watched uncomfortably, but he allowed the help Yukine provided.
“That’s right, and it’s my job to protect you. So, let’s go home. Do you trust me?”
Yato looked at him cautiously, but slowly reached out his small hand and placed it in Yukine’s. Yukine pulled up him to his feet and Yato shuffled along behind. Yukine lead the way back through the door along a narrow path he had cleared to get inside.
“Can we really go to that house while I’m like… this?” Yato asked, watching has his rolled up pants drag the ground. “Why were we even here to begin with?”
Yukine hesitated. He was suddenly struck with the thought of what repercussions there might be if other—and less friendly—gods discovered Yato in this state. They could be in very real danger if they stayed out too long.
“For now, it’s probably the safest place to go until we can get this sorted out.”
Once the pair was outside the storehouse at last, Yukine knelt down one more time to ask for something critical. They had arrived by phone, but there was no guarantee yet if they could go back that way.
“Do you have your phone?”
Tiny Yato patted the pockets of his pants, easily finding the device in the right hand pocket.
“You mean this?”
“Yes! Now… do you know how to use it to get us out of here?”
Yato narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Yukine sighed. “This might seem strange, but we need to first be together. And, could you hand me that phone?”
Yato handed it over, then Yukine crouched down and pulled Yato close with one arm while dialing Kofuku’s number from the contact list. She quickly answered and Yukine begged her to please not hang up. He then handed the phone to Yato.
“You know what to do now, right?”
“Do what?”
“Travel through the phone connection.”
“I… what?” Yato squeaked.
Yukine mentally reviewed what exactly it was that Yato did when he was on the phone.
“Ahh… People call you a lot when they need help. And… when they call, you can go straight to them if you are talking to them on the phone.”
Yato took the phone in his small hands and looked at the screen, before holding it to his ear.
“H-hello?”
“Yato-chan?” Kofuku asked from the other end of the line. “Is that you?”
“I… Yukine says we are going to come over now,” Yato replied, squeezing his eyes shut.
Yukine squeezed his eyes shut too, hoping that the plan would work.
“Aughh! Yato-chan, what happened!?” Kofuku yelped.
Yukine’s eyes shot open and he realized that they were back at home again, somehow. Daikoku ran into the hall from the commotion, nearly dropping the cigarette from his mouth in shock when he saw the tiny god held in one of Yukine’s arms.
“We were on a job! And, there was this creature, this thing, and it somehow made him like this!” Yukine raced to explain. “He’s forgotten and confused his memories. W-we need to keep him here for now, until we can figure out what to do!”
Yato got one look at the new surroundings and clung onto Yukine’s hoodie, hiding his face partially in the fabric. Yukine slowly stood up and shut the flip phone, but Yato clung to his leg and partly hid behind him. Kofuku slowly approached with her hands behind her back, and then knelt down close to the clearly apprehensive god.
“Yato-chan, welcome home,” Kofuku cooed gently.
Daikoku leaned over near her in disbelief, looking at Yato. “You… really don’t remember this place? Or us?”
Yato looked uneasily to the side and stifled a response.
“I see,” sighed Daikoku. He took a thoughtful pause while focusing on his cigarette. “This place is our house, Kofuku’s and mine. There’s a shop on the other side,” he motioned. “Damn, it’s strange talking about this place like that. Just this morning you snagged some cookies when I wasn’t looking, too.”
“That’s right!” Kofuku confirmed with a clap. “There’s some cookies, if you’d like some. Daikoku was going to cook a yuuuuummy meal, but you can have a snack while we wait.”
Yato loosened his grip on Yukine and nodded. The group settled around the kotatsu, a plate of cookies already in the center of the table, as promised. Yato reached for one while Yukine set Yato’s boots near the door.
“I can have some, but then I have to go home,” Yato warned in his small voice.
“You are home…” Yukine told him quietly.
Yato looked briefly mortified and stopped eating mid-bite. He lowered his hands, cookie grasped in one of them. His expression grew somber.
“Is that true, though? I thought— Won’t… my dad be mad if I don’t come home?”
The room hushed.
“Hello, everyone,” Hiyori called happily from just outside the sliding door. “Yukine-kun, I brought— Oh no! Yato?! What happened?!”
Hiyori hopped a few times as she struggled to get her shoes off. Once off, she rushed over to where Yato and Yukine were seated .
“Hiyori, it’s not what you think!” Yukine jumped in, trying to explain everything all over again. “It’s some kind of weird— I don’t know. It’s a spell or something.”
Hiyori leaned her head to the side, kneeling to see Yato’s face.
“Yato?”
Yato gazed intently at her face as he nibbled on another cookie. She tried to relax her posture and pretend as if this was a normal thing to happen to a god such as Yato. Otherwise, she may have started to panic. There was simultaneously so much and so little she wanted to say and ask about what had happened to Yato. After several minutes, Yato squinted at Hiyori and twisted his own face in thought.
“Somehow… I should know you too, shouldn’t I?”
Hiyori nodded with a sorry smile.
“Hopefully we can get you back to normal soon,” she said, trying to soothe him. “I’m still not sure I understand how this happened though.”
Yato opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but then shut it again without saying anything. Yukine cleared his throat and explained everything that had happened up to that point, in more detail this time, including his worries about returning him to normal and keeping him safe. Hiyori took a deep breath and sighed, nodding. She understood and shared Yukine’s concerns.
“At least if you’re here, you’ll be safe for now,” she agreed, turning to Yato.
“Um,” Yato interrupted quietly. “What is your name?”
“Oh! Uh… my name is Hiyori,” Hiyori replied, fretting for a moment that she had left out such an important detail. “A while ago, you promised to help me but I think that at this point, you could say we’ve become friends.”
Daikoku coughed. Yato glanced around the table in confusion, before looking up again at Hiyori’s face. He then noticed her tail bobbing lightly behind her. Hiyori couldn’t help but think that he was thinking intensely about something. He then huffed and crossed his arms on the table, resting his head in them.
“I want my memory back,” he complained. “I don’t think I like this.”
Yukine grimaced a little.
“I’m still not quite sure what we should do,” he said quietly.
Hiyori sighed and forced a small smile.
“Yato? Can you think of any other kind of memory? Even if it’s one that has nothing to do with anyone sitting here.”
Yato closed his eyes to think for a moment, then opened them again to look down at his own hands.
“I don’t know,” he started. “When I try to think of anything, it’s like everything is blank white. Everything feels… lighter, somehow. It’s such a weird feeling. But... If I can’t remember why I’m here or why I exist… can anyone even call me a god?”
Kofuku looked down at the table with a frown.
“I never thought about it that way until now…” she murmured. “I guess that makes sense then why you didn’t know why you were off with Yukine this morning.”
“Where did you find that creature anyways?” Daikoku asked, crossed arms resting on the table.
“Up on the hillside, just outside of town,” Yukine replied. “There was an old man there and this… thing that sounded like an old man but looked like a weird piece of wood. It walked out of the storehouse Yato was in and just, walked away.”
“It paid me,” Yato suddenly shouted.
Everyone at the table looked at Yato in shock. Even Yato looked a little surprised at the size of his voice. He blushed a little and covered his face with his hands.
“W-with what?!” Yukine blurted out.
Yato looked down at his hands, a frown creeping across his face. Yukine tried to stifle his mild disgust.
“It thanked me for helping it, and insisted on paying me,” Yato defended himself. “I was— Hey! I just remembered that?!”
“Maybe you didn’t forget everything then,” Hiyori murmured. “There must be a way to get back everything else, too.”
“Hmm, isn’t there some kinda spirit like that with a knothole for a face?” Kofuku wondered out loud.
“Yes!” Yukine shouted as he jumped from his seat. “What is that thing?”
“A Days Eater?” Daikoku added, scratching his chin.
“A… what?” Yukine stammered.
“It’s this spirit, it lives between the realm of humans and the realm of gods. It wanders from place to place and stays in old buildings. As thanks to the owner, it renews something old before going to the next place. I had always heard it could do the same to humans, making them young again, but I didn’t know it also worked on gods.”
“Hmm… I remember that now,” Kofuku added thoughtfully. She folded her hands loosely and looked up toward the ceiling, as if she could recall her memories more clearly that way. “It was such a long time ago when I last heard about one around here.”
“Kofuku-san, is a spell like that reversible?” Hiyori asked. “If we find the creature, could it change him back?”
“Hmm,” Kofuku mused. “I heard it’s pretty polite, so I’m sure if you explained, you would have a chance.”
Hiyori felt a light tug on her sleeve as the others were discussing what to do.
“Hey, Hiyori-san?”
She felt a pang sadness come over her with the addition of “san” to her name.
“Y-you don’t need to call me with ‘san’ on my name, if you don’t want to,” she fretted.
“Hiyori-s—I mean, Hiyo… ri. I think I should go home now but… if what Yukine says is true, then I don’t have to worry about my dad getting mad at me for being late, right?”
Hiyori tried to force a smile. “That’s right, your memories are just mixed up right now. You live here now, with Kofuku and Daikoku.”
He nodded, but still seemed distressed.
“If you take this route, you should have plenty of time,” Daikoku explained.
Hiyori looked up from her conversation with Yato and noticed there was now a paper map on the table; Daikoku was leaning over to point a finger along a road. Yukine leaned forward on both hands as he intensely studied the map.
“I could drive you if you wanted,” Daikoku offered.
“I wanna go, too!” added Kofuku gleefully.
Yukine glanced at Yato and closed his eyes.
“I think it would be better if you stayed here. Keep him safe and out of trouble.”
Yato suddenly stood up and looked up at Yukine. “Shouldn’t I go, too? This involves me and I want to talk to this spirit for myself.”
“You talking to that thing caused all this,” Yukine snipped.
Yato shot out his tongue and blew a raspberry. Hiyori stifled a giggle. Even if he didn’t remember any of them, there still seemed to be bits and pieces that were still there.
“You can’t fight like this right now, Yato,” Hiyori pointed out. “There’s still so much you can’t remember yet... so please stay here with us.”
Yato was still glaring at Yukine, but slowly sat back down at the table, to everyone’s relief. Quietly, they left Yukine to put on his shoes and rush off towards the woods on the hill.
With Yukine gone and no one to tutor that afternoon, Hiyori found herself in the kitchen with Kofuku and Daikoku. Yato had finally warmed up enough to everyone to let Daikoku pick him up and hold him on his shoulders while he browsed what they had stored in the cupboards.
“I wonder why I got smaller… why I don’t remember things,” Yato wondered aloud.
“It’s very strange,” Hiyori agreed.
“Yato-chan, you can trust Yukki,” Kofuku replied happily. “He’s so smart, I’m sure he can get it figured out. But, ahhhh! In the meantime, you’re so cute!” She hopped a bit on her feet, following Daikoku around the room.
Yato suddenly took a mischievous notion from the attention and clapped both of his tiny hands over Daikoku’s eyes. Daikoku just laughed and gently pushed the tiny hands aside.
“You’re going to have to fight a lot harder to get the best of me, Yato-gami!” Daikoku playfully teased. He lowered Yato to the floor.
“Oh!” Yato exclaimed. “I just remembered, I wanted to show you something Hiyori-s— I mean, Hiyori!”
“Eh?” Hiyori wondered.
Yato started to happily trot towards the stairs to the attic, but then slowed his pace until he stopped entirely. He looked down the corridor sadly, then looked at Hiyori.
“There was something. Why did I know to go upstairs, but… I can’t even remember what it is?”
Hiyori hurried over and knelt down next to him.
“It’s okay! Maybe if we go upstairs together, you’ll remember a little bit, hm?”
“There’s still plenty of time before we eat, so feel free to head up for a while,” Daikoku added.
He nodded a little bit and Hiyori accompanied him up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Yato flung open the door and slowly entered the room, stopping in the middle to look around in wonder, as if he was seeing everything inside for the first time. Yukine’s unfinished assignment was on his desk and a new knickknack that must have been Yato’s was sitting on the windowsill. Hiyori spotted the shrine out of the corner of her eye, but resisted mentioning it to Yato. However, he spotted it on his own.
Yato walked over and slowly reached out both of his hands to take the shrine from where it sat. He turned it all around, examining every detail and imperfection. He then ran his finger over the crudely carved name on the front of it. Hiyori leaned down, trying to catch his gaze, noticing his eyes had become teary.
“My dad would never want me to have… this. But, if I have one anyways, if Yukine is my hafuri, if this is where I live…” He closed his eyes and sadly smiled, “Ahh… but I don’t want to wake up and find out this is all a dream. I really hope… really really hope that someone isn’t playing a trick on me, because I’d really like if all of this was all real.”
He slowly placed the shrine on the floor and crouched in front of it, head rested on crossed arms. His eyes carefully looked over from top to bottom, absorbing every detail. Hiyori sighed sadly, then jumped up remembering her bag for Yukine was still downstairs. She excused herself to retrieve it and when she returned, she rummaged around until she found what she was looking for.
Yato jumped when he saw her hand gently place a five yen coin in front of the shrine. He slowly turned to look at her smiling face.
“It’s okay if you can’t remember everything right now. I’ll leave this here as a reminder so that when you look at this shrine, you know you’re not alone.”
Yato looked back down at the shrine one more time, but this time, he faced it with a smile.
Yukine finally arrived at the house on the wooded hill where he had been that morning with Yato. The sun had already shifted so far in the sky that the trees’ shadows were in nearly the opposite direction from earlier that day. He looked around the area, still trying to catch his breath, while piecing together the order of events from that morning. Yato had been blabbering in the storehouse about there being a safer place to go, but he didn’t know where such a place would be.
The presence of the creature had clearly disturbed the old man, so was it possible that Yato simply directed the knot-faced being to a different house instead? Maybe one without anyone living there? Yukine breathed in deeply, held it for a moment, then let it go. He looked up and down the empty road before deciding to start walking in the direction the creature had gone. The road was narrow and winding, houses dotted along on either side. In front of one of the houses, an old woman was watering potted plants by her front gate.
“Um, excuse me!” Yukine called loudly and waved one hand, hoping to get the woman’s attention.
She looked up and nodded, acknowledging him. “Oh, hello!”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yes, child. What is it?”
“I’m not familiar with this area, but I’m supposed to be meeting someone at their house. They said it’s near the empty one. Do you know where that is?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied with assurance. She pointed down the street. “At the end of this street, turn right. Ohh! But please stay out of trouble!” she hastily added.
“Thank you!”
Yukine waved at the woman as he turned to continue down the street. His pace hastened to a trot and before long, he arrived upon the house on the corner of the next crossroad. The house looked like it had been abandoned for quite a while, as it was even more worn and weathered that the client’s house from earlier. He gingerly walked up to the gate and pushed it open, letting himself inside the grounds. The yard was mostly barren, accented only by a few weeds and a couple of trees, which were beginning to lose their leaves.
Next to the house and behind the trees was a small storehouse. Yukine cautiously proceeded to the small outbuilding, but noticed the door was already open a crack. He opened it a bit wider to peer inside.
“Hello?” he called.
A small rustle inside made him jump, but he held his ground, waiting to see if it was the creature he was hoping for. Indeed, the knot-faced being came forth in this much emptier storehouse.
“Ah, hello, young one,” it greeted. “I recall you from this morning.”
“Y-yes! I was hoping you could accept my request,” he asked, bowing deeply for several seconds. He then rose slowly, only to see the creature holding its branch-like hand to its strange face, curious.
“Oh? What is it, child?”
“Earlier today, you paid— turned a blue-eyed god named Yato into a child’s form. Please, I implore you, please change him back to how he was before,” he requested, bowing deeply again. This time he held his bow and didn’t rise until the creature began to speak.
“Yes, of course, but why? Gods in particular carry such heavy burdens and must do so for as long as they are alive. Did this gift not put him at peace?”
Yukine looked at the ground and fiddled with his sleeve cuff. For as disoriented as Yato was through all of this, he had strangely seemed less stressed than usual. He didn’t act in such weird and contrived ways, like he was hiding something from everyone. However, it was obvious that this “gift” bothered Yato. For not remembering so many things, Yato had even seemed very aware that this wasn’t normal.
“Different people want different things,” Yukine replied slowly. “Do the gods… really exist if they aren’t carrying the burdens of humans?”
The creature pondered for a moment.
“As you wish, I will make sure this god is restored to his previous form. As the sun sets, the spell will break.”
“T-thank you! Thank you so much!”
As the sun sank lower in the sky, Hiyori, Kofuku, and Daikoku took time to play with and entertain Yato. He had been completely fascinated with Hiyori’s tail throughout the late afternoon, even taking a chance to pull it. Hiyori didn’t condone this, but she tried to channel her frustration so as not to upset him. He hadn’t recalled anything about her “accident” and why she had the tail, but he seemed eager to hear about the incident, hoping it would remind him of everything else he had forgotten.
Daikoku had started preparing dinner, so Hiyori and Kofuku showed Yato the potted plants outside and the clouds in the sky overhead. However, he seemed most fascinated with the sky becoming more orange and the sun sinking low. He allowed Hiyori to pick him up so he could reach his small hand to the sky. Nothing in his grasp, he sighed and sank down to rest his head on Hiyori’s shoulder, letting out a large yawn.
“I’m… getting a little sleepy now,” he said, rubbing his large eyes with one of his hands.
“Hm? This is normally the time that you’re most awake,” Daikoku noted with surprise, as he poked his head out from the house. “Dinner’s about ready, so…”
Yato yawned again.
“Maybe you should go upstairs to sleep if you’re feeling tired. It is getting late for young people,” Kofuku added. The sun was sinking down towards the horizon.
Daikoku agreed and headed to the attic to pull down and fluff the futons for the evening. Hiyori carried Yato upstairs and waited holding him while Daikoku set up the room.
“Make sure… the lamp is on, for Yukine,” Yato yawned.
Daikoku smiled knowingly, “I sure will.” Daikoku then rose up from preparing the bedding. “Yukine-kun should be back soon, but you should lay down if you’re already sleepy. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
The last of Daikoku’s words were barely uttered as tiny Yato leaned into Hiyori and fell asleep on the spot. She carried him over to his bed and gently set him down, pulling the covers over him. She then hopped up and followed Daikoku as he quietly shut the door.
They had no sooner arrived at the bottom of the stairs when Yukine burst into the room from outside. He was panting heavily and fell to his hands and knees, sun beginning to set outside.
“I… I… did it,” Yukine huffed, trying to sit up. “Yato should… be fine… now.”
“Yukki!” Kofuku shouted, throwing both arms around Yukine’s neck. “I knew you could do it!”
Yukine’s head bobbed around from Kofuku’s jumping but he still noticed that Yato wasn’t there with everyone else.
“Where is he?”
“Upstairs,” Daikoku stated, arms crossed but face smiling. “He suddenly fell asleep—”
Yukine darted past without waiting to listen to the rest of the sentence. Hiyori followed close behind him as he rushed up the stairs and flung open the door. In the dim lamp light, they could see that Yato was still sleeping but, more importantly, had gone back to normal. Both of them let out a sigh of relief just as the last of the setting sun’s light disappeared from the attic window.
“Yukine-kun, you did it!” Hiyori whispered.
Yukine snorted but then softened his expression. Hiyori was right.
“Thank goodness…”