So this is based off of eerna's (or JoKay on AO3 and fanfiction) art once again lol. Shout out to the floor squad for bringing the feels. Hope you enjoy the thing.

Also, I realized at the time I needed a name for this fic that "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain actually fits the theme of this story pretty well. So you can listen to that if you want to.

I'll be

After Hiyori had finally let slip she'd returned his feelings, everything had been perfect. At first, nothing really changed other they held hands sometimes and got an earful from an uncomfortable Yukine if they even so much looked at each other for too long in his presence. And the one night where things finally did change, he nearly messed everything up.

He'd walked her home after her tutoring session with Yukine, much like every other night of the week, but that night there was a sort of awkward silence between them as he was getting ready to leave. Neither of them really knew what to say and so he started to close his eyes and lean in, with her following suite, before he pulled away suddenly and cursed under his breath, "Shit."

Hiyori gave him a worried look, "What is it?"

"I wanted… to ask you first." He mumbled, sighing and looking down at his feet.

She didn't answer for a moment, but then he heard her say, "So ask."

When he looked back up again, she was smiling at him sweetly. His lips curving upward into as much of a smile as he could manage as his hands started to shake out of nervousness, he asked, "Can I kiss you, Hiyori?"

She took a step closer to him and nodded, reaching forward to rest her hand on his chest, "Yes."

Then everything changed & continued to change in the best of ways, or at least so he thought for a few weeks, until the realities of being romantically involved with a human came crashing down upon him all at once. Still, he tried his best to hide his worries. Unfortunately, Hiyori was much too good at seeing right through his white lies.

He was rambling about some recent job he had to do involving watching over a news stand when she asked him directly, "Yato, are you okay?"

He froze, looking over to where she was sitting on the edge of her bed, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Yukine-kun told me yesterday that you haven't been sleeping well." She looked up at him, chewing on her lip out of worry.

He sighed and folded his arms behind his head, "I mean, it's summer; it gets really damn hot up in that attic. Obviously Yukine isn't sleeping too good either if he's awake often enough to keep track of what I'm doing."

"Well, it's not just that…" Hiyori trailed off and her face fell, her eyes moving down to the floor, "You probably think I haven't noticed, but you've looked really down lately. I know you've been trying to hide it from me, but I've still caught a few glimpses."

He lowered his arms back to his side and he angled himself towards her window, staring off into the skyline of the city, "It-it's just me worrying about really dumb stuff, Hiyori. Don't worry about it."

She took a minute to respond and when she did, her voice sounded a bit weak, "Even if it's something you feel like you can't to me about, shouldn't you at least talk to Yukine-kun? He's worried too."

"Then both of you worry too much." He tried to force a smile, still staring out the window. Though now, his focus had switched to the reflection he could see of himself and of Hiyori, behind him.

"Yato…" She sighed heavily and he could see her shoulders slump, "It's pretty obvious you're trying to put up a wall and that just worries me even more. So just tell me, please."

He turned back around but only gave her a glance before diverting his eyes to the floor, "It'll ruin everything."

"Nothing's going to ruin anything, okay?" He looked up at her to see her grip the edge of her bed tightly as she continued, "But not talking about it… That just makes things worse."

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, groaning, before he took a seat on the bed next to her, "I don't know how to word it without hurting your feelings, Hiyori, but I feel like I'm wasting your time. Your time is limited and precious—you shouldn't be spending it with someone like me, who makes you look like you're out by yourself the few times we actually manage to go out on dates. Someone you can't even introduce your friends to because they'll probably forget." He took a breath, "And even your family—"

Her brows furrowed in frustration, "Yato, if I cared what people thought when I talk to you in public, I would have stopped talking to you over a year and a half ago. And we don't know for sure that they won't remember you, we just have to try. As for my family, Masaomi knows you, remembers you. My mom probably would too, if you introduced yourself properly. And my—"

He gave her a doubting stare, "Don't you remember how well it went when I tried to even be in the same room as your grandmother? If your mom's anything like her mother, then that's probably not the best idea." He tilted his head downward, lowering his voice, "Can't say I blame her, though. I appreciate everything that you and Yukine have done to help me become a god of fortune more than I can ever put into words, I really do. But no matter how much I change as a god, I can't take away the past. I've killed thousands of people." He held his hands out in front of him, staring into his palms, "Nothing can make that go away."

"I've known that. Even before I found out about everything that happened with your father and everything he made you do, Kofuku-san told me that you had killed people. Despite that, I never once thought about leaving your side. Why would that change now when I have a thousand more reasons to stay?" Her voice cracked a little bit as she finished and he felt her shift closer to him, though he still didn't look up.

He let out another sigh and he leaned forward until he could hide his face in his hands. He didn't really know what he expected; she always did this, she always fought back against all of his points. And she had already told him that she wanted to stay with him multiple times and yet here he was, trying to push her away.

Again.

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

"Hiyori, you—you're too kind, too dedicated, too… good. I feel like you've done everything for me and there's so little I can give in return." He lowered his hands, letting them fall back into his lap, "I honestly just don't deserve you, not in the slightest."

One of her hands moved to his and he finally looked up, locking his eyes with hers, "Yato, you don't have to do anything to deserve love. That's not how it works." Her expression looked hurt but as she massaged the back of his hand with her thumb and moved closer to him, he figured it was aimed towards him.

He forced another smile, "Yeah, well, I'd like to feel like I'm not a total burden, you know."

"You're not a burden, either." She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his shoulder, "You're just you and that's all I need. I don't need any wishes, or favors, or whatever it is you think you owe me."

"I'm kinda obligated to grant wishes if you don't want me to go poof, so, uh… Better think of some of those." He used his free hand to scratch the back of his neck.

She looked up with a glare, "That's not funny."

"It's true, though." Yato gave a shrug, his eyes flickering off to a corner of her room.

"Then I wish you would stop being so hard on yourself." She answered automatically and he looked back to her.

"Got five yen?" He raised his eyebrows and she huffed in response, withdrawing her hands from his lap and shoulder before sliding off the bed. Or at least she thought she did, though Yato found himself reaching out to catch Hiyori's snoozing body before she slid off the bed and onto the floor.

Her half-ayakashi form turned around at the sound and gaped before she looked back up and commented, "See what you did?"

"Sorry." He shrugged again, "How was I supposed to know?" She didn't answer him, so he cradled her body against his before standing up and making his way to the top of the bed. He made sure to lay her down so that her head would be resting against the pillow and brushed some of the hair out of her face gently before moving back to the foot of the bed.

Pulling his legs up onto it and moving farther back, he watched her hair bounce and sway as she walked. When she turned back around with an annoyed expression, her tail twitching angrily behind her, a real grin finally made its way across his face. She was cute when she was mad; at least when she wasn't threatening to use her martial arts moves on him.

She didn't even wait for him to extend his hand, shoving the coin into it forcefully, "There."

He flipped the coin for show before pocketing it, "Thus it is done, may our fates intertwine."

"I think they already have." She mumbled as she returned to her spot.

"Hiyori," He moved behind her and crossed his legs, reaching around to wrap one arm around her waist while the other moved under her shoulder and pulled her backwards, closer to him. He buried his head against her shoulder for a moment, just breathing, until she laid her arm on top of his and intertwined their fingers together tightly. He lifted his head, speaking against her skin in the spot just between her neck and shoulder, "Thank you." He pressed a kiss there just as he finished the words and he felt her hand grip his even tighter.

Her voice shook and though he could only see a little bit of the side of her face, he could tell it was growing red, "It's not really fair that I have to force you to do that through a wish." She angled her head more towards him and sure enough, a blush dusted her cheeks, "I want you to believe me." Absently, he felt her cord gently tap his side as it swayed back and forth.

"It's not like I don't want to." He kissed his way up to the side of her neck, "I just…I don't know. I've made so many mistakes that I guess I don't want you to make the wrong one by choosing to get involved with me." He tightened his hold on her and spoke against her ear, "There's never been anything I've wanted more than for this just to work out but—it feels selfish."

She took a breath and closed her eyes, leaning into the warmth of his touch, "Even though I've told you that's what I want too."

"Hiyori." He breathed against her and she nodded softly.

"Mm?"

"There's one thing you didn't comment on earlier." He blinked, a frown creeping its way back onto his lips despite his best efforts, "When I said I felt like I was wasting your time. I know this is what you want now, but what—"

She moved backward until she was completely in his lap and her upper back met against his chest. She used her free hand to reach up and cup his chin, angling his face towards till he had no choice but to stare into her fierce eyes, "It's my time, Yato. So I'll spend it exactly how I want to." He didn't have the chance to respond before her hand pulled him downward so she could capture his lips in a nervous but determined kiss.

As she let go of his other hand and moved both of hers behind her neck, he let go of her shoulder and reached under her leg and pulled him towards her so that she was sitting sideways and they faced each other more naturally. He kept his other hand around her lower back to support her, the other resting just at her hip. He mainly just held her and focused on kissing her, at least until her fingers started to move through his hair, but he found the perfect opportunity when her tail tapped against his arm once again. He moved his hand slightly from her back, reaching to find the base of her cord, and she immediately broke away from him and let out a gasp when he did.

"Ya—Yato." She narrowed her eyes at him and a blush started to take over her face once again.

He dropped his hands down, "I mean, you're free to go back in your body if you want to. But," He teased the hem of her shirt before her hand covered his with a small squeak, "That's not to say I can't find other spots that make you react in the same way."

"You're confident now." She turned her head away from him, still clearly embarrassed.

"You told me to be." He let out a small laugh before kissing her cheek.

Note: I did the tail thing. I had to. I'm sorry lmao.