Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami.
A/N: My first Noragami fanfic, serves as an exercise for the real Noragami story I'm making.
Neighbors
It was rather odd, Hiyori decided as she took a gander at her garden from her bedroom all the way on the second floor. It was a week into spring but her blue tulips were not blooming. Wearing a sweatshirt over her shirt, she made her way to her garden and examined the soil with a critical eye.
"Why won't you grow?" She cooed to the plant. Then, filling her watering can with water, sang to her flowers as she watered them. Before long, a laugh caught her in surprise.
"You sing to your flowers?" A coy yet genuinely amused voice spoke from the other side of the fence, over from the next lot.
"Ah! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." Hiyori immediately yapped, almost spilling her watering can over. Her face was red from embarrassment. She wasn't exactly the best singer in town.
"No, no." The voice laughed more so. "I liked it. Wait, I want to join in. Let me get my guitar."
Hiyori then, was left to squat on the floor in dead silence as she waited for her new friend. Still, she was fazed by his sudden appearance. Back when she was in the city, her neighbors weren't exactly the warmest people she knew.
"I'm back!" The voice chirped.
"A-aren't you coming over?"
"Nah, you'll perfectly hear me from here!" He laughed. "Just don't mind me and continue your watering. I'll be the accompaniment." He finished, tapping on his acoustic guitar.
"O-ok." Hiyori answered choppily. After a while, she started watering her plants again. But as she did, she unconsciously kept her mouth shut.
"Are you singing yet?" The voice over the fence asked, jolting Hiyori back to embarrassment.
"I-"
Before she could even speak up, a soft and reminiscent tune flittered to her ears. It was lightly played at first. But as the song continued, the melody rang stronger. And it warmed Hiyori's chest. It had been a long time since she's heard that song. Before long, her voice with the pitterpattering of water accompanied the tune.
They went on playing, singing, tending to her garden for quite a while. Halfway through, Hiyori was content listening to the gentle strumming of her neighbor.
"Yato?!" A woman's shout suddenly came from the other side of the fence. Hiyori looked up in question.
"Crap! I have to go. Good luck with your plants!"
"Ah! Thank you!" With that, Hiyori was left standing over her drenched plants. Not knowing where the sudden weight came from, she turned back to her house with a heavy heart, thinking to herself, what was I supposed to do again?
Suddenly, a flash of blue caught her eyes.
"Bye, neighbor-chan!" Her new friend cheered, attempting to catch her attention but was already falling before he could. Without noticing, Hiyori instantly ran to the fence and tried to peer through the height of the fence separating them. She only managed to catch a glimpse of his back disappearing into the backdoor.
"Bye." Hiyori managed to whisper to the wind.
The following morning, she found blue tulips wrapped in brown paper on her doorstep. Taking the note attached to it, she read.
"Keep singing."
Before taking a sip from her morning coffee, she couldn't help but smile to herself. She then wondered when she'd be able to put a face to the voice.
Days came and gone, but she's never heard from her neighbor again. It was two months later when she moved back to the city to finish her studying that she was cajoled by her mother to attend an omiai.
That night, she wore an blue sundress and got into a quaint open mic cafe while she waited for her date to pick her up. As practice, said date would drive her to some five-star restaurant and try to win her over with expensive gifts. And as always, she would never fall ploy for such cheap tricks.
In the cafe, the sudden cheers tore her from her reveries. A new singer had gone up the stage.
"I'm sorry, but are you Hiyori Iki-san?" A gentle voice asked, coupled with a light tap on the shoulder. Hiyori looked up and found her date. She nodded instinctively in reply.
"Let's go?" He smiled. Hiyori nodded again. Before they reached the door, the musician's voice reached their ears. And just a single tone made Hiyori's eyes widen. Slowly, and gradually, with the music, she made her way to the stage, fully forgetting about her date. She was caught in a trance. And the moment it seemed as if it would end, she took a piece of scrap paper from the table nearest her and jotted down a song.
"Can you sing this for me?" She asked, approaching the stage with an outstretched arm, on its end was her tiny piece of paper. The young man in front of her was confused.
"Sorry, but I don't think this is how open mics are supposed to work." He told her, eventually giving her a smile that made her heart soar, a feeling she never thought was real.
"Just sing it for the pretty girl!" A random guy said from the shadows. Shrugging, the man on stage got the piece of paper, opened it, and raised a brow at the song requested. Finally, he played the notes on his guitar. And as he started singing it, he looked for the woman who gave him the request, wanting to make out who she was. His eyes remained on her, the beautiful lady in blue, as he sang. And slowly, it came to him.
He was nearly laughing when he finished the song. He adjusted the strap of his guitar over his shoulder before leaning next to the microphone, saying.
"This is dedicated to the lady in blue, hoping she'll let me buy her a cup of coffee after this song."
omiai - marriage meeting
End.