Hiya!

I know I should probably be working on my other stories but I'm way too obsessed with Noragami.

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*Spoilers!*

Pain...

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Pain...

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Pain...

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That was all he felt.

Just a whole lot of pain.

Yato clutched his side, his skin burning as the purple blight continued to spread across his already frail body. His eyes were clenched shut from the intense pain.

Never before had he ever been hurt this badly. It was nothing like the cuts and bruises and broken bones he had acquired over the years. This was ten – no, one hundred – times worse. His insides burned as if he was burning from the inside out.

"I did nothing wrong!" Yato heard Yukine shout. "I'm not the one to blame!"

Yato coughed out more blood as a large hideous eyeball bloomed on Yuki's shoulder.

"It's because we're dead!" Yuki screamed "Why do they get to have everything!" Yato and the others knew Yuki was talking about the humans.

The god gave a strangled scream as Yuki continued to transition into a phantom, more eyeballs spreading like a virus. Yato managed to squeeze open one of his eyes. His vision, as blurry as it was, managed to capture Yuki's figure.

Dark wings had sprouted from his eyeball-covered back. His hands had morphed into large claws and were scratching desperately at the borderlines, unable to get past them. Those sparkling white teeth had turned into sharp, yellow fangs. And his skin had turned dry and flaky.

"Confess!" Daikoku shouted to Yuki.

Yukine growled and titled his head towards the ground, hiding his young face, and pressed his palms against the borderlines. "Everyone should be just like me…" Yato's heart almost stopped then and there when Yuki's head suddenly shot up to reveal a dark, phantom eye. He snarled, "And die!"

His wings grew larger and his claws grew sharper. His feet left the ground as his wings flapped up and down. A pained, strangled roar flew out of his throat. "Die! Die! Die!"

Dimly, the Yato god heard Kazuma order Daikoku to change into his Koki form and slay Yuki. He opened his mouth to yell "no" but couldn't gather the energy to do so. He was slightly relieved when Daikoku refused. But the relief quickly vanished when the blight spread under his shirt and across his chest.

He convulsed in pain and coughed out blood once again. He didn't have to see it to feel the blight taking over Yukine's red mark on the smaller boy's collarbone. I gave you that mark, Yuki, Yato thought, You want it gone that badly? As if he were underwater, Yato could barely hear Maya yell something about that same mark.

The young boy screamed and threw himself at the borderlines. "Die!"

Yato winced as Yuki's pain and misery increased, sending painful shocks down the back of the god's neck. He didn't have the strength to move anymore. He was in pain yet numb at the same time. The god just laid there like a rag doll. Blood trickled down his mouth and stained his sports jersey. Both of his eyes were looking straight at the ablution site but he wavered on the border between focused and unfocused. He could feel his shinki's fear as if it were his own.

Yato recognized the fear.

It was the fear of being alone. The fear of being forgotten and ignored, the fear of being there but not really there, the feelings of loneliness and the feelings of anger.

All of those things, Yato had felt before. All of those things had forced him to accept all the wishes and requests of the humans around him in order to survive and only get five yen in return. All of those things had encouraged him to kill, to do anything to survive. In fact, he still held that fear. He didn't want to disappear.

He was a minor god. Therefore, it was impossible for him to stay in people's memories. Those who managed to see him, would forget him after a day or two. If he hadn't done what he did all those years ago, he would've been forgotten and ceased to exist.

Now, he still relied on human wishes but he was only getting enough to barely survive. He wasn't as strong as he was in the past when he still killed others.

Personally, he thought Yukine was lucky. Yukine doesn't have to fear being forgotten, abandoned by the whole world for thousands and thousands of years. He doesn't have to fear possible being forgotten when he was no longer needed. He doesn't have to worry about disappearing. Yukine could still roam the earth or just become another god's shinki.

In reality, the only thing both Yato and Yukine really wanted was a friend. Yato knew this, which was one of the reasons why he fell for Yuki "at first sight." When Yuki started to sting him, he could've just killed the boy, but he didn't. Yato had grew to care for Yuki even though the stubborn boy may not see it.

A sharp pain in his neck brought Yato back into reality. His eyes focused on the mark he gave Yuki. The red symbol was disappearing. Fear clenched his heart. If he didn't do something now, Yukine would be gone forever in a world of torture. I need... I need to c-call... his name... I need to... before... before he d-disappears... Yato opened his mouth but no sound came out. Memories flashed through his mind. Memories showing how he grew to care for the blonde boy.

Yato could see his shinki walking away, away from him and down the path to becoming a full-fledged phantom. I... need to... call his name... before... h-he crosses to... to the other s-side... But his voice refused to listen to him. I need to call... his name! But he couldn't do it. He watched in horror as Yukine's mark faded until all you could see were faint lines.

His eyes began to flutter shut and he knew death was right around the corner. In his mind, he could still see his shinki walking down that horrid path. Call... his name... Just when Yato was about to give in to the pain, a female voice broke through his haze.

"Yukine-kun!"

It was Hiyori.

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