#I love this LI so much ngrhhhhhhhhhh

[xcerizex]

"...this can't be happening"

Koharu and Yukimaro share a short conversation(?) before the appearance of an unexpected but familiar face renders them both speechless at the sight of them.

Safe to say, everybody's dealing with some pretty interesting new revelations today.

In all honesty, it's just Koharu.

(9RIP, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SECRET ROUTE AND HIS APPEARANCE, seriously do not read this if you haven't finished it, secret li x Misa, fluff, comedy, Koharu pov in the first half, shenanigans, Ayakashi shenanigans bcuz I love them, 2.1k+ words)

"...Hey, Koharu. If you're going to be such a worrywart, why don't you just go back and check up on them?"

"S-shut up!"

For 15 minutes straight, Koharu had anxiously paced around in circles while holding his hands behind in back in feverish stress, just like a grandpa. It's been a some time since they'd left Touka and Misa with the God of Death, and each minute that passes only seems to add gray hairs to Koharu's hair–that is–if Ayakashi could grow grey hair in the first place anyways.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. With all this pitter-pattering of yours, why leave them in the first place?"

"That was an affair between them, it's not like I could just- hey what are you doing?!"

Without Koharu's notice, Yukimaro had climbed over the fence belonging to Misa's house, and was walking on the top of it as if it were a circus tight rope.

Having gone back without them, Koharu had to drag Yukimaro away from the convenience store so that they could wait for Misa and Touka at her house but...

"Oi! Get down from there, this isn't a playground!"

As always, Yukimaro is playing a fool.

"I am not playing, Koharu! I am merely trying to keep an eye out for them when they get back!"

"YOU'RE FACING THE WRONG WAY!"

Despite the ruckus, no one hears the loud bunch of Ayakashi hanging around the front lawn yelling at each other as if it were some normal day at a children's school. At least that's what they thought.

"Hm? Is something over there?"

The both of them promptly freeze as they hear Tsubasa peek out through the front doorway staring straight at them.

'Crap, did she notice us somehow?'

"Hey, Yukimaro! Come down right-"

Before he could finish his own sentence, Koharu slaps a hand over his mouth and quickly swerves to the side as Tsubasa comes up walking to them while reaching her hand out and...

"Was it just my imagination?"

Pressing her fingers against the panel, the lamp on the gate switches off with a quick flicker.

"Haaaaah, this thing's been turning on and off as it pleases, can't even get a good night's sleep..."

Yawning, Tsubasa leaves the two Ayakashi alone and goes back into the house without so much as another word.

"...I wonder if Master will come back soon."

"Oh so now you're worried?"

"Well, duh! I'm hungry!"

"...Forget it, tch."

As of the moment, the only thing Yukimaro is worried about right now is food. Not that Yukimaro didn't care about Touka or Misa, it was probably just because he had a lot more confidence in them then Koharu did.

Sometimes, he wishes for that same frustratingly optimistic confidence of his.

Still, it's been a long while. With Tsubasa up and about, the chances that Misa gets caught for sneaking out in the middle of the night are much higher. The possible earful she might get from her mother is enough to frighten even Koharu.

Just as Koharu was about to storm off to go looking for them, they heard;

"Still hanging around, I see."

"!"

An unfamiliar voice greets them with disdain, and the sight before them renders Koharu speechless.

"Ohohohooo? The both of you are finally back! Hey master, did you get the snacks I asked for?"

"Yes but-"

"Here you go."

Aiming for Yukimaro's chest, Touka tosses a bag full of onigiri and Konpeito candy at him, catching him off guard and making him stumble backwards.

"Hagh! Touka-dono, I understand that strength of a figure the size of yours is difficult to control but can you not aim for my heart while you're tossing things at me?"

"Eheh, I don't know what you mean."

"Touka..."

Misa shakes her head exasperatedly, but she doesn't loosen her hold on the hand belonging to the man that now stands beside her.

"....There's no way."

Rubbing his eyes viciously, Koharu speculates that the imposter infront of him is nothing but a mere illusion. However, after once, and after five times still, no matter how matter times he pushes his palms up against his eyelids, the illusion doesn't go away.

A man in the image of Touka now stands before him in a form more regal than he had ever seen before.

"How rude, is the appearance of my most natural form that much of an oddity to you, Koharu?"

"!"

It's not a hallucination.

"Hahaha! Rather than awed, he seems rather shocked. Such an appearance probably does not fit his image of the young boy you looked once before!"

"And you are as much of a brute as ever despite the change. I wouldn't have expected any less from you, Yukimaro."

"What can else can I say that I have not told you prior? You know very well how unafraid I am of gods."

"Can the both of you not fight in front of my house, you're scaring the cat."

Pointing to a stray cat standing on all fours with its fur standing on end, Misa reprimands the two of them as if it were just another normal day between all of them.

"...This all feels so wrong."

Koharu tries to envision the man infront of him sitting on the couch while watching Tonodomaru as intently as he always did, and comes up blank.

"But it's real."

Amused by his reaction, Touka smiles at him. That same mysterious smile he wore whenever his aura as a god permeated the air. Only this time–along with his physical stature–that divine aura of his has only seemed to have gotten even stronger.

If not overbearingly heavy.

For the first time, Koharu sees Touka's true nature as a spirit with access to the high heavens.

It's not as if Koharu had never been afraid of him; he has. On occasions that golden gaze would coldly penetrate whatever he had set his eyes on, and recalls the feeling of cold ice prickling down his back when he was faced with Touka's unconcealed nature as a tengu for the very first time, on the day both Yukimaro and him came to Misa's rescue on that one day.

"Are you aware of the term...of being spirited away?"

He always found the disconnect between that... inexplicable fear he associated with Touka, and the young childish-looking tengu who watches Todonamaru in his free time to be extremely jarring.

Looking back, maybe it was something to be grateful about.

"Ah, my apologies Misa."

Quickly reverting back to his old personality, Touka switches back from the heavy aura he exuded to a sweet one.

"Rather than wasting our time like, how about we go back in together?"

"Hey, you callin' us annoying or something?"

Still, Koharu has no intention of treating Touka any differently.

"As if I hadn't made that obvious already. But the main reason would be because..."

"T-Touka!?"

Misa stammers in surprise as Touka pulls her closer to him.

"I'm going to spend the night with her!"

"Huh?! No fai-"

"HAH?!?!?!?!"

Bursting out in indignation, it takes a few extra seconds for Koharu to recall the words Misa said earlier.

"It's because Touka's love for me is boundless!"

...Okay, maybe he should've put the pieces together but still?!?!

"Oh, did I not say it out loud properly?"

"We heard you the first time!!!"

This time, both him and Misa shout in unison.

Minus his extremely suggestive wording, the revelation of Touka's feelings for Misa has left Koharu's mind in a frenzy. As if one intense revelation wasn't enough with him, fate had decided to deck him from the left with another.

"Well, I made my point clear didn't I? Come on, Misa."

Touka unwraps his arms around her waist, and instead opts to take her hand and pull her face closer to his.

"This will be the last time you get to see me in this form so..."

As if ignoring the world around them, he gives her an affectionate smile.

"I do hope you will allow me to stay by your side tonight."

"...When did you find out?"

Crouching down by the garden walls with his head in his hands, Koharu questions Yukimaro who had his mouth stuffed with teriyaki onigiri.

"Mmrhmmmmm!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Okay, got it, no need to say more."

Swallowing his food down his throat and puffing up his chest proudly, Yukimaro boasts, "Ohohoho! With my incredible ability to read people's auras, I-"

"Ughhh, at least let me give you the run down!"

"Don't need it."

He's had enough for today, even now he's still trying to process everything in one go.

Though regardless of Koharu's volition, Yukimaro plans on telling him everything, even if he doesn't want to hear it.

"I'm quite surprised you hadn't figured it out, Koharu. Touka-dono wasn't exactly all that discreet about it."

"I never thought those feelings were romantic, okay?!"

Sure, Touka often favoured Misa heavily as a tengu and cared for her a great deal, but he never thought it'd be like that! At all! Besides, is it okay for a god to fall in love with a human just like that?

Will everything work out fine between them?

"Still, it's a good thing all of this was resolved in time before the spell wore off."

"You mean the same one that the priest cast?"

"Mhmm! It was thanks to that she could see Touka in the first place and without it, she wouldn't have been able to talk with him at all! Unlike you or me, Touka doesn't have a real reason to keep in contact with her in the Mortal Realm."

"So you say, but now that I've finished my haunting, I'll have to get going soon."

As he says that, Koharu feels a pang of loneliness in his chest.

He tries to ignore it, the way that he hates goodbyes, the way this pain is at fault to no one else but his own.

"Oooo, that's right! Then don't you want to say goodbye to Misa tomorrow?"

"...Don't need to."

"Awwww, don't be shy! All of us know just how much you'll miss-"

"AGH! THAT'S ENOUGH!"

After endlessly pestering Koharu throughout the rest of the night, Yukimaro had finally managed to convince him to say his goodbyes the next time they saw Misa.

'This is goodbye to the mysterious times we've shared between us.'

But for Touka and Misa, it is only the beginning.

"Want a Konpeito candy?"

"...sure."

Koharu doesn't have it in him to fight anymore, and silently accepts the candy.

'Maybe I'll leave some for her before I leave.'

"Are you all tucked in?"

Smiling, Touka looms over Misa, an arm propping his figure up as he drapes a blanket over her.

"Uh, yes but..."

Fidgeting, Misa tries to distract herself by clutching the hems of the blanket as tightly as she can.

"Are you going to watch over me tonight too?"

"Of course."

He tilts his head in innocent confusion at her question.

"Just like always."

"..."

Misa wants to say something, and tries her best to find the right words until Touka finally catches on.

Laughing softly, he asks;

"Aha, are you bothered by it because you're more conscious of me as a man now?"

Having her true feelings being outed, Misa unconsciously clenches her fists harder on the sheets.

"I've always been conscious of you! Well, maybe not always..."

Misa tries to deny it, but Touka isn't bothered by it at all. If anything, the sight of her squirming around in embarrassment in an attempt to save face endears him.

It makes him adore her even more.

'How refreshing.'

It's not as if Misa had never taken his feelings seriously before. He still remembers the way her eyes widened in shock when he told her his feelings for the first time.

'I probably shouldn't tease her anymore than this, but it's so tempting!'

He must maintain his dignity, at least for this moment.

"It's best we be quiet now, I'm sure Tsubasa is still walking around the house half-asleep."

Brushing her bangs away, Touka presses his palm against Misa's forehead and gently slides it down lower to cover her eyes.

"You must be tired from today, please sleep well tonight for the last time."

'Before I leave and that demon takes over your dreams.'

It leaves him unsettled and aggravated–to pawn off Misa's peace of mind during her dreams to the foul thing–but this is a challenge he meant for Misa to overcome on her own from the very start.

And overcome it she will, he believes this truly.

"Touka..."

Grasping his hand, Misa holds on tight to him, wanting to stay closer to him in what she believes could be their last moments where they're allowed together.

She clearly wants to ask him something, from before and even now but...

'I want to keep it a surprise.'

"Hey, Misa. Do you want to hold hands as you sleep?"

"..."

Weighing between wanting to ask him more and accepting his offer, she;

"Yes, I would like that."

She decides to treasure the moment they have now instead.

"Hehe..."

He watches her as she dozes off, eyes blinking blearily at him in an attempt to keep her gaze on him, and refusing to fall asleep.

She truly believes this will be the last time she sees him.

"It won't be long now. Because soon..."

Much like the night he talked to Misa for the first time–the night before he spirited her away–he whispers to her;

"I'll be with you."