Hiyori Iki shut the front door of her house swiftly behind her, sighing as she became enveloped by warm air. Her skin still felt prickly from the dry winter air that tormented anyone that dared to step outside, but she shivered once as she began to warm up. Setting her school bag momentarily on the front hallway floor, Hiyori stripped off her dark wool coat and pink scarf, brushing off the fat flakes of snow that decided to stick around on her sleeves.

"Mom, I'm home!" She called out to nowhere in particular, but with the large size of the house, her voice was bound to echo to where her mother would hear it. Hiyori snagged her school bag off of the tile floor, leaving her coat neatly hung in the closet as she padded in sock feet into the rest of the house. She walked out of the hallway and around the corner into the kitchen, where she found her mother perched on a high stool at the counter, perusing through that day's newspaper with a cup of tea.

"Afternoon, sweetheart. How was your day?" She asked, bringing her gaze up from the paper to look at her daughter who was visibly exhausted.

Hiyori shrugged, her creme-coloured knitted sweater bunching up at the shoulders. "Nothing besides the ordinary. Except I have a lot of work to do tonight for my classes." She replied almost sombrely as she rounded the counter and retrieved an apple from the small basket on top of the fridge. "Anyway, I'm going upstairs to start my work. Call me back down if you need help with dinner, okay?"

Hiyori's mother nodded in agreement, "Don't work too hard, sweetie. Take your time."

"Don't worry, mom, I'll be fine."

Hiyori turned away, holding her snack and her bag as she quickly ascended the large staircase off the living room, leading to the 2nd floor landing.

Hiyori had just laid her school books out on her bedspread when she felt her phone buzz. She finished tying her brunette hair into a relaxed high bun before leaning forward enough to fish it from the back pocket of her black tights. She kept her legs crossed, but flopped backward onto her pillow as she held the pink phone above her face.

Text from Yato, 3:23 pm

Hey Hiyori, come to Kofuku's! Yukine needs some help with his book work, and he won't stop bitching about it! Get over here and help him!

Hiyori hadn't seen Yato or Yukine in at least a week. She'd just been so busy with her pre-exam assignments and such, that she hadn't been over to Kofuku and Daikoku's shop to visit. The idea of popping over to say hello and help out Yukine was tempting, but Hiyori turned her gaze from her phone to the frosted and snowy bedroom window, reminding herself of the terrible weather. She then moved her eyes back down to her school books and pouted. There was no way she could go over there today. If she even managed to get to the shop, she knew that she'd end up staying for much longer than she could afford to.

Text to Yato, 3:25 pm

Sorry Yato, I'd love to come over, but I have a lot of school work to get done for tomorrow. Apologize to Yukine for me please! I'll make it up to him soon.

Hiyori set her phone upside down on her lavender nightstand, then turned back to her work. She slipped a mechanical pencil out from one of her plastic binders, the small cat charm on the end swaying back and forth, and sighed heavily again. In front of her sat her math, biology, and psychology textbooks, each with lined pieces of paper sticking out between pages. Mentally, Hiyori began to go through a list of the work she needed to complete, including each subject's daily work and assignments for both her biology and psych classes. Just as she was about to open a textbook, her phone buzzed again, creating a loud and hollow vibration noise against the wooden table. Hiyori rolled her lightly-coloured eyes as she dropped her pencil and reached for the phone.

Text from Yato, 3:28 pm

Oh com'on, Hiyori! Who cares about school?! Just do it later

Text to Yato, 3:29 pm

I can't tonight. I've got really important assignments to finish. And don't let Tenjin hear you say that.

Text from Yato, 3:30 pm

Please? I'm pretty sure Yuki's gonna cry if you don't come

Text to Yato, 3:31 pm

No, Yato. He'll be fine. Talk to you later.

Hiyori tossed her phone to the end of her bed, bouncing off the fluffy pink comforter as it landed. She bit her lip, still staring at the black screen of her phone. Was he going to bother texting her back now? Knowing him, it was likely, but Hiyori decided to eliminate the distraction. She reached forward to grab her phone, which she then set on silent and put into the single drawer of her bedside table. She breathed in relief; out of sight, out of mind, she thought to herself.

After 15 minutes, Hiyori had her textbooks open and her pencil moving across the pages as she answered the reading questions, taking bites of her apple every now and then. She was surprised how quickly she was able to get focused, maybe she should put away her cell phone more often...

*tap tap tap*

Hiyori shot up from her work and looked around her room. Did she just hear something? She decided to ignore it, and turned her eyes back down to her textbook and continued to skim the pages. Whatever it was wasn't worth the distraction.

*tap tap tap*

The set of taps was a little more aggressive this time, almost like knocks. Hiyori's eyes flew from her reading again, and immediately went to her bedroom window, where a figure was perched on her window sill. She gasped, dropping the half-eaten apple as she threw herself into the corner of her bed, her back to the wall. Suddenly, the figure shifted against the dim winter sky and then pressed his face against the window, his breath starting to melt the thin ice on the glass. His raven bangs were stuck to the window by his forehead, and his cheeks and lips were contorted into a freaky expression along with his wide blue eyes. It took her a moment, but Hiyori recognized his familiar face, and sat up from leaning on the wall.

"Yato..." She whispered to herself, her heart still beating from being startled.