Hope ~Yato x Reader AU~

Chapter 46: Smoke in the Night

"Wow," Daikoku whistles, astonishment filling his tone.

"Pretty," Kofuku gushes, the light reflecting in her stare.

Tenjin chuckles, "My, would you look at that? Incredible."

Their reactions all occur simultaneously, their voices all filling with a mixture of excitement and surprise as they blend together, but I am not focused on them. Instead, my eyes are fixated on the thick veil of smoke being produced by the candle. The thick veil of smoke which hangs over us, its mass beginning to block the pale gleam of the moon. The thick veil of smoke that is, though faint, the prettiest shade of pink I've ever seen.

I've never been so happy to see the color in all my life but seeing it now...it overwhelms me with an array of emotions. Emotions I didn't think I'd feel, but given the situation, I couldn't be happier. I'm elated...relieved...grateful...and, to be honest, amazed.

After all these years on this earth, I never once in my wildest dreams ever thought I was anything but a human. Just a simple, human girl with a simple, normal life, but now I know the truth. Now, I know that all those things I've ever seen all my life...they weren't just in my head. I didn't make them up and my brain wasn't playing tricks on me. All this time, they've been real. They've been real and I've seen them because...because...

...I'm a demigod.

With the silence blanketing us, I glimpse up, my eyes landing on Yato. Much like the rest of us, he is just standing there, his stare trained on the pink mass of smoke as his mouth hangs slightly agape, astonishment bathing his features. I almost want to laugh at him. That is until I notice something that I didn't notice right away. Something that I have to take a second look at, but sure enough, it's there.

Tears.

Tears are glossing his aquatic orbs and that causes a twinge to pull at my chest. During all this time, never once did I take into account Yato's feelings about all this. I never once stepped back and evaluated what was going through his head, even though I'm pretty sure this could have been avoided had those terms not suddenly been thrown at me. Regardless, now I do know and now I can finally talk to him about all this.

"Yato...are you okay?" I ask, resting my hand on his shoulder.

I can feel a set of eyes studying us before Tenjin whispers, "Come. Let's give them some space. I feel they have much to discuss."

It takes a few moments, but one by one I listen as I hear each set of footsteps make their leave before it's just the two of us. Just him and me and nothing but the surrounding scenery encircling us. The cherry blossom trees all stand tall, their branches reaching for the sky as a few loose petals drift to the ground, the warm gale breezing past us. The smoke continues to climb, the light pink hue being illuminated by the twilight gleams and bronzy flames of the candles. However, despite how calming and nice it all is, my attention wanders right back to the only person now here. The God Yato.

"Yato, are you okay?" I repeat, circling around so that I'm standing in front of him.

I'm not sure what I'm expecting, but what I see causes my breath to hitch. Standing before me, with one of his hands cupping his mouth as the tears glide down his cheeks is a broken down Yato. A broken down Yato that is trembling and quivering as he collapses to his knees, myself following. Witnessing this sets me on alert, though another dive into his eyes allows for another discovery. Along with those tears is the undeniable expression of relief.

"I'm fine," he finally chuckles, wiping a tear away. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

Seeing him smile...hearing him laugh, it all warms my heart and causes me to smile in return as I giggle, "Yeah? I can't express how happy I am right now."