I'm so glad I finally finished something for this lol. I've had this idea in my head for literally forever and I've changed around the idea for it so many times but this time it FINALLY stuck! I have no idea how many chapters this will turn out to be but I'm excited to do my first real multi-chapter Noragami fanfic!
Good Enough
There was no way it was him.
She hadn't seen him since she was six; in that playground in her old neighborhood, before her mother had pulled her away and tried to explain that she and him were too different to be friends. She hadn't really understood then, and even now, at nineteen, she still struggled with the ideologies her mother constantly threw at her. Though thankfully being enrolled at a university far away from home eliminated many of those problems; at least temporarily.
She had thought about him a few times in passing as she grew up, but she never lingered on it for long. It was such a brief part of her childhood and there were many other friends she'd ended up losing once she moved, but for some reason her mind went back to him and she could never figure out at why.
Not until she caught sight of his eyes for the first time in years. Those aquamarine eyes were unmistakable.
"Y-Yato-kun?" Her throat was extremely dry and she was sure he probably wouldn't even be able to hear her, but he looked up immediately from his laptop as she called his name.
He did a double take as well, scrunching up his eyebrows and looking over her with a confused look, "Hi…Hiyori-chan?"
She smiled brightly at the fact that he remembered her too, gaining a little bit of confidence, "What are you doing here?"
He blinked and glanced back down at his laptop for a moment with a laugh, "Well, I think that's kind of obvious."
"You know what I mean…" Hiyori rolled her eyes, but smiled again as she thought, 'He hasn't changed at all.'
"Majoring in computer science, but this is only my second semester. I tried to work straight out of high school and that was fine for a while but I've got more responsibilities now. So I'm trying to do something where I don't have to work four jobs to survive. The left over financial aid doesn't hurt, either." He shut his laptop and reached for his backpack, looking back up at her, "And you?"
She had been staring, taking in how much he'd grown up; both in terms of his voice as well as his physical appearance. It took her a moment for his question to sink and she flushed, answering quickly, "Pre-med. This is my sophomore year, I started last spring."
"So taking after your dad, then?" He didn't look up this time, stuffing his laptop and notebooks back into his backpack.
Hiyori gaped, "You remember that?"
"Kinda." Yato shrugged before he stood up and pulled one strap of his backpack over his shoulder, "I mean, I'm surprised you remember me at all."
"We used to play together all the time and…" She hesitated, looking down at her feet for a few seconds, "You were always really nice and didn't think my interest in wrestling was weird."
He laughed at that, pulling the other strap over his shoulder, "I wasn't exactly a normal kid myself, so… I definitely was in no position to judge. But hey, it was nice running into you. I've got a shift that starts pretty soon, so I need to get going."
He started to turn to leave before Hiyori called out, "Yato-kun!" Once he'd turned back around, she stuttered, "W-would you mind meeting up somewhere for lunch or dinner so we can have the chance to talk more?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" He angled himself towards her with an amused grin, his hand on his hip.
"No." She corrected him firmly, "I'd just really like to talk with you more and get to know you again."
Yato laughed again before reaching into his pocket and holding out his phone, "Here, trade with me." As Hiyori took his phone and gave him hers, he requested, "And can you do me a favor and just call me Yato? Hearing you say Yato-kun makes me feel like I'm still a little kid."
She finished typing and held out his phone as she nodded, "Alright. You can call me Hiyori, too, then."
"I look forward to a text from you, Hiyori." He gave her phone back and took his, sticking his tongue out before turning around and heading off.
And Hiyori was a happy mess for the rest of the night.
"Are you sure this wasn't like a childhood crush that you're reliving or something?" Her friend Yama asked from across the table as they ate dinner in their dorm kitchen.
She shook her head vehemently, "No! I'm just really happy I saw him again. It's just something you'd never expect, right?"
"I mean, it's not unheard of to bump into old childhood friends. Still, I would say you're definitely more excited than most people would be." Ami commented before taking a sip of her drink.
"I guess it's because we only stopped being friends because of my mom. And then I had to move shortly after that so I didn't get the chance to explain." Hiyori frowned, taping her fingers absentmindedly against the table.
Ami tilted her head, "Why did your mom make you stop being friends with him?"
"Mrs. Iki is very strict and is all about upholding the family image." Yama answered for her, heaving a sigh and sinking down on the table, "Honestly, I'm lucky I wasn't kicked the curb. I'm pretty sure she considered once or twice."
Hiyori gave a comforting smile and reached out to touch her arm, "Maybe. But I'm pretty sure she knew I'd never stop being friends with you no matter what, Yama-chan."
"Awww. Thanks, Hiyori!" She gripped her hand briefly before sitting back up.
"Wow. That's pretty intimidating. Now I'm nervous to meet her." Ami let out a small breath of air, "Still… you two were just kids at the time. It shouldn't have really mattered then."
Hiyori didn't say anything but gave a soft smile. Yama, on the other hand, let out a scoff. "Oh please, you've got nothing to worry about. You're like the epitome of the good girl image."
Ami gave a small glare, "Are you trying to say I'm boring?"
"Just a little bit! You just need to go out with us more. I mean, yeah, studying's important but you've gotta have fun too! This is college, after all; and next year we'll be twenty and able to drink whenever we want." Yama reminded her with a wide grin, "Then things will really start getting interesting!"
Ami rolled her eyes and Hiyori laughed. "How about you plan something for this weekend, Yama? It's the beginning of the semester so the workload's pretty light right now." She moved to the sink and started rinsing her things.
"Alright! But before I set anything up, figure out when your date is, Hiyori." Yama leaned back in her chair, watching her friends back.
She immediately whipped around, a blush taking over her cheeks as she defended, "It's not like that, I swear!"
"Didn't you say he asked if it was a date though?" Yama raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Well, yeah, but he was joking." Hiyori turned back around to continue working on her dishes, "He's just like that. Plus I told him no."
Ami looked to Yama and held out her hand, "Five hundred yen says that she'll start dating him eventually."
Yama let the chair legs fall back to the floor and reached out to shake Ami's hand, "Deal!"
Hiyori dropped her dishes with a loud clang, growing even more crimson as she looked back to them, "You guys, stop it! I don't even really know what he's like now. I only talked to him for maybe five minutes at the most…"
"We're just messing with you." Yama sighed and waved her hand, "It's just cute how excited you are. And with all the crap you've dealt with because of Fujisaki-san, I'd like to see you happy. You know?"
Hiyori turned back and gripped the edge of the sink tightly, "Y-yeah. Thanks." Finishing up her cleaning, she placed the dishes in a drying rack and turned around to leave with a small wave, "I'll see you two tomorrow!"
"Goodnight!" Ami waved back with a smile.
"Night! But yeah, just text me whenever you know when you're gonna meet up with this guy and then I'll make plans for us, 'kay?"
"Okay." Hiyori nodded with a small smile before making her way out into the hallway. Making a right and going up another flight of stairs, she made her way to her room and slipped off her shoes after shutting the door. Letting out a small breath of air, she stretched out across her bed and started to make a mental list of the homework she needed to accomplish for tomorrow's classes. 'But before that…' She reached for her phone, skimming her unread emails before moving to Yato's contact information and staring at it for a moment.
She felt the nervousness building up in her chest, but excused it as a side-effect of Yama and Ami teasing her earlier. It'd been quite a few hours since she saw him so more than likely his shift was done and she wouldn't be potentially interrupting him, but she still worried about that too.
Letting out a huff of air, she hit the message button and started to type.
Hi, it's Hiyori. If you're still at work you can ignore this but I was just wondering what day and time would be good for you to meet up?
She pressed the send button and immediately clutched onto her pillow and shut her eyes.
This whole situation was so awkward and so weird. Still, there was no way she could just leave their reunion as a five minute conversation and nothing else. After all, they were bound to bump into each other again at some point due to the fact they went to the same university. It was easier this way.
I guess Thursday night would be good I dont really have any suggestions for where to eat though so you pick
She started to type a new message before she got another text.
Uh preferably somewhere cheap if you dont mind
Of course! This is supposed to be casual after all. Thursday night at the ramen shop close to the corner of campus at 6 sound okay?
Actually can you do 5? I know its kinda early for dinner but id just like to get home sooner
Hiyori blinked curiously as she read the text, wondering why.
Sure, that's fine. See you then!
He didn't answer her after that, but she got the information she needed so that was all that mattered. Smiling, she moved to her messages from Yama and sent one to her.
Looks like we're meeting on Thursday night so I'm good for whenever!
Hiyori sat up and started to move for her desk when she heard her phone make a chirp. Looking down, she saw Yama's message.
Oooh, going out on a school night! What would Mrs. Iki say?
She rolled her eyes but let out a small laugh as she typed her reply.
Nothing because she's not going to know.
I'm liking this new rebellious Hiyori!
Hiyori let out another laugh and shook her head before moving over to her desk, pulling one of her textbooks from the shelving and laying it down in front of her. The workload was light, but she definitely needed to stay ahead if she was going to be out and about all weekend.