Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at a Noragami fanfic! If you are reading this, please keep in mind that this is also my first attempt at writing a fanfiction. Hence, I apologise if there are any sort of grammatical errors...

Also, the characters may seem a bit OOC (or perhaps a lot OOC), but I will try my best to pin down their personalities correctly. On with the story.

Chapter 1: Hellos and Goodbyes:

The young woman had her eyes closed as her bow swayed cross the strings softly and slowly, causing a gentle melody to fill the air. The audience, mesmerized by the music, had their eyes fixated on the brunette violinist on the stage. It was as if she was a magician, one who was capable of captivating people with her music. The audience watched in awe as her fingers moved from one string to another in perfect rhythm, the way the woman bobbed her head as she played. In fact, they were so much enthralled that they did not realize that the song was over until the host announced:

"And that was one of the brilliant masterpieces of yours truly, Miss Iki Hiyori!"

All the people stood up and the grand hall was filled with the sound of applause. Hiyori smiled widely at the positive reactions to her music and curtsied politely, before excusing herself off the stage.

As for the audience, the only thing on their minds was the beautiful composition. Of course, you could never expect anything less from a Takamagahara student. The Takamagahara Academy of Music was one of the best schools in the country, and its students were nothing less. A fine example was Iki Hiyori, a violinist who had already created seven compositions of her own, every one better than the previous.

Hiyori's smile dropped from her face the moment she entered backstage. She let out a sigh as she opened her violin case and placed her instrument inside it. Sure, she was extremely happy that people appreciated her works, but currently she was too tired to act cheerful or even smile. After all, she had woken up at five in the morning: practising, checking, re-checking, feeling anxious, thinking that she would soon experience a heart-fail, et cetera. That amount of stress was bound to make anyone tired.

Well, she guessed it was worth it. Music was her life, and the violin had been her favourite instrument ever since she was a child. Her parents had wanted her to follow in their footsteps and become a doctor, but it was her brother who encouraged her to be what she actually wanted. And now here she was: one of the top students of the Takamagahara Academy. Needless to say, her brother was number one on her Top-Ten-People-I-Love-The-Most list.

"Hiyori! There you are!"

The brunette jumped and almost dropped her violin case. Hiyori turned her head around in time to see her two friends, Ami and Yama, running towards her.

"Well done Hiyori," Ami said, panting a little due to the running, and she adjusted her glasses. "You were wonderful back there." She smiled. "It is such a wonder that your performance was scheduled on a Sunday. So, the Academy allowed us to visit you. If it was some other day, Miss Bishamon would have said no, or worse, she would have given us a lecture on attempting to bunk classes."

"Now there," Yama rolled her eyes. "Don't criticize that woman. She has done nothing but been kind to you. And Hiyori, congratulations! You managed to convince everyone that you were not behaving like a zombie this morning!"

"I was most certainly not behaving like a zombie, Yama-chan," Hiyori protested. "I was simply feeling sleepy because of waking up so early, and that was why I bumped into many things this morning."

"The girl is in denial," Ami muttered. "She apologised to the freaking refrigerator for colliding with it."

Hiyori pretended that she did not hear what the tomboyish girl said and decided to change the topic. "So, you both, how is that next project of yours going on? What are working on?"

Yama shrugged. "It's nothing much, actually. Kazuma-san did cut us some slack this time. It is just going to be a mash-up of some songs, preferably those of Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons, Nickelback, Adele, One Di-"

"No way!" Ami shrieked. "There is absolutely no way that you are going to include that in the goddamn list! Not gonna happen! Never!"

"But Ami, I like One Direction."

"But Yama," Ami imitated her. "I do not like One Direction."

"Would the first four not be enough, by the way?" Hiyori asked. "After all, with them, you would get tons and tons of songs to choose from. I think it will be better if you two concentrate on that much only, and stop adding more and more to the list." She paused for a while. "Imagine Dragons and Taylor Swift?" Hiyori mused. "That's an interesting combination you've got. What made you choose them?"

"Oh, we just put together the singers and bands the two of us liked," Ami said. "Also, I really wanted to add Backstreet Boys to the list, but all thanks to a certain someone standing right here, I couldn't. Can you believe it? Yama had no idea who the Backstreet Boys were! Heck, she even mispronounced it as 'Black Sheep Boys'! And she does not even know about the Beatles!"

Hiyori turned her head slowly towards the girl with spectacles. "Yama-chan, I don't think I want to be your friend anymore. Are you even from this world?" she asked incredulously.

"It is not my fault if I have never heard of some certain music bands!" Yama protested.

"But Yama-chan, those two bands are legendary! How have you never stumbled across their names before?" Hiyori shook her head. "Okay, never mind. I guess that you are going to do the singing, and Ami-chan's going to play the guitar."

"But of course," Yama said dryly. "And Ami's boyfriend will do the male parts. If Ami will sing, she will probably cause an earthquake, something which we do not really need at the moment."

"Right," Ami added sarcastically. "And if Yama suddenly decides to play the guitar, she would cause everyone to go deaf with those horrible sounds she would make. In simple words, every person who hears her would be doomed."

Hiyori laughed lightly. Those two made a prefect duo, be it about music or comedy. They were totally opposite in nature, yet so compatible with each other. They were so perfect, that Hiyori often felt like the awkward third wheel in their friendship. But that was only natural, she deducted, for those two had known each other longer than they had known her.

She still remembered the first time she entered her allotted room in the girls' dormitory; she was greeted with the sight of two girls having a massive pillow fight. Hiyori chuckled at the memory and watched the two bicker with each other, until:

"Miss Iki Hiyori?"

Hiyori turned around at the sound of her name. Even Yama and Ami stopped mid-fight and and tilted their heads to see a young blond staring at them. Hiyori guessed him to be in his early teen ages, his hair was messy and his face wore a smile that would make any person's heart melt into some weird jelly-like substance.

His eyes, though, were a different story altogether. They betrayed all the sereneness his face held. The yellow-amber irises were guarded as they watched the group, as if the boy half-expected the three girls to turn into monsters and attack him.

Hiyori waved her hand slightly. "That's me," she said, before she mentally face-palmed. Obviously he would know that she was Iki Hiyori, which would be reason why he called out her name. He smiled even wider at the response, causing Hiyori to blush slightly. "What can I do for you?" she managed to ask, instead of shouting something stupid like 'Kawaii overload!' like a maniac.

"Miss Iki Hiyori," the boy said again. "I am a huge fan of yours and I have been waiting for the opportunity to meet you for ages. I somehow managed to sneak into the backstage," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Hope you don't mind, because I really wanted to meet you." He took out a notepad and a pen from his jacket pocket, as well as a smart-phone. "Can I have an autograph and also a selfie with you?" he asked hopefully.

Hiyori nodded her head. How could she even say no to a tone like that? She took the notepad and pen from him. She flipped the cover and asked, "What is your name?"

The boy tensed and did not reply for a few seconds. "Sekki," he replied at last.

Hiyori tried to write in her best handwriting that was possible at that time: To my greatest fan, Sekki. And she added her signature under the message before handing it back to the teenager.

"Thanks a lot," he grinned, before holding out the smart-phone. "And for the selfie, your friends can join too. That is, if they want to," he glanced at the other two girls, who had been standing quietly all the time.

Yama shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not. By the way, I'm Yama," she winked. "And the baka right beside me is Ami."

"You're the baka here," Ami muttered, before snatching the phone and holding it up. "Okay, everyone gather close, and make sure you smile. I ain't gonna click a pic again and again."

Click! Flash!

Ami lowered her arm and handed the phone back to Sekki, who looked clearly satisfied with the photograph. "Now, as much as I hate to say this, we really need to get back, Hiyori. It has already been fifteen minutes since the end of your performance, and if we do not arrive at the Academy, who knows what Kazuma-san will do to us. He can be really scary when he's pissed."

Hiyori shuddered at the mental image of an angry Kazuma, but she raised an eyebrow. "Why would he be angry anyways? Didn't you take Bishamon-sama's permission before coming here?"

The duo exchanged nervous glances, before Yama laughed with embarrassment. "Well, we did not exactly inform her that we had a class with Kazuma-san today morning. So technically..."

"... We are bunking classes," Ami concluded. "And that's why we need to return, or else we will be dead before the sun sets."

Hiyori resisted the urge to smack the two of them. She looked at Sekki. "Sorry there, but thanks to those idiots, I have to get going. It was nice meeting you."

The blond smiled mysteriously, and Hiyori swore that his eyes looked cold for the fraction of a second. He nodded. "Ja ne, Miss. It was an honour to meet you." Hiyori waved her hand at him before following her friends who were already frantically running towards the exit, making sure that her violin case does not bump into other things.

He looked at the notepad and the phone in his hands. "What a foolish woman, falling for my act so easily," he scoffed. "Miss Iki Hiyori has yet to learn how the world works, and how giving your autograph to a random person who claims to be your fan can actually affect you, even if you are famous. But then again, there's no one who can resist my charms," he chuckled humourlessly and smirked. "Well,well, Tracksuit is going to be really pleased with me."

''''''''''''''

"Oh my gosh, did you see that kid? He was so damn kawaii! Ka-wa-ii!"

"Yes, yes, Yama," Ami grumbled as her grip on the steering wheel tightened. "We are not blind, you know. The boy was cute to look at, but I would really appreciate it if you stop screaming while I drive. It is very distracting, and I am already halfway to being deaf."

"But he was so adorable! And I would love to have kids who look like him in the future. Especially a girl! She would be so much cuter, and all boys would fawn over her, and then I would-"

"I hate to break it to you, Yama-chan," said Hiyori, whose eye was starting to twitch at the topic of conversation, from the passenger seat. "But you do not even have a boyfriend yet. And I would agree with Ami about being halfway to deaf."

"You do not have a boyfriend either!"

"At least I am not screaming about wanting to have kids who look like some random person I met for only a few minutes."

"He was your fan, not some random person!"

"Geez, that's not even the point. Besides, should you not be worrying about Kazuma-san at the moment?"

"What's wrong with-"

"Shut up!" Ami shouted. "Just shut up, for Heaven's sake, before I experience a freaking headache and make you two my punching-bags!"

Hiyori huffed slightly before leaning back into her seat. She closed her eyes and brooded. I did not even know that I have fans. Sure, there are tons of people who appreciate my music, but to think that one of them would sneak into backstage just for the trouble of getting my autograph. She smiled. It's nice to know that people like that exist. She remained in that position until:

"Well kids, we have officially arrived at kindergarten."

Hiyori opened her eyes and glanced at Ami. "Huh?"

"Obviously I mean the Academy, you moron," Ami glowered at her, her face pale. "And Kazuma-san is waiting for us at the gate. And he does not look as if he is happy."

''''''''''''''

Hiyori had no idea where Kazuma took her two friends as soon as they stepped out of the car. Those two are dead, she let out a sigh as she knocked on the door to Bishamon-sama's office.

"Come inside!"

Hiyori opened the door and stepped into the room. The blonde woman aged twenty-three looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. "Well Hiyori, I see that you are back. How are you?"

"I am fine, Bishamon-sama," Hiyori replied. "The performance went well enough, if that is what you are worried about."

"Bah, you are too modest," Bishamon chuckled as she closed her book, her purple eyes twinkling. "Knowing you, your performance must have gone marvellously. I believe that even your friends would agree with me if they were here."

"Are they still alive?" Hiyori asked warily.

Bishamon laughed. "I would think so. I still remember how Kazuma busted into my room not long ago. I believe that they were missing out on their classes." She leaned forward, her hands below her chin. "I have something important to tell you, Hiyori."

"What is it?" the brunette tightened her grip on the handle of her violin case.

"Oh, it is nothing to be worried about," Bishamon assured her. "It's just that, we are holding a grand function next month. During that function, the headmasters and few of their extremely talented students of the other Takamagahara branches would be visiting us. I, as a fellow headmaster, would like to show them how brilliant our students. You are a really gifted musician, Hiyori, and I am counting on you."

Hiyori gasped. "The other branches, you say?" There were currently six other countries where there was a Takamagahara Academy, and all those Academies had achieved the top position in their respective countries. "Bishamon-sama, are you really sure about this? I mean, I am not that-"

"You will be fine, Hiyori," the blonde said. "And you have got around an entire month to practice." She took in a deep breath. "Whatever you do, make sure you do not feel inferior to the members of the Japan branch."

"The Japan branch?" Hiyori asked. She knew that the Takamagahara Academy had originated in Japan (if it was not obvious due to the name), making Japan's branch the oldest one.

"Let's just say that the Japan branch is tough competition. Not to dishearten or offend you, but Japan's students are probably the best ones out there. So, be careful around them."

"I will," Hiyori nodded. "There's no need-"

"BISHAMON-SAN!"

Hiyori jumped at the sounds of the shout and the slamming door. Bishamon stood up from her seat so fast that it was a wonder it did not fall back. "Aiha?" she asked incredulously. "What is the matter?"

Hiyori recognised the girl with long curly hair with a light-pinkish taint to it as another one of Bishamon's fellow students. Aiha was kneeling down, panting heavily for air and her shoulders shaking. The girl looked up, and Hiyori froze at the sight of her bloodshot eyes and tear-stained face. "It's Tsuguha," Aiha choked out. "She's dead!"

-o-o-o-

And that was the first chapter. Like it? Hate it? It might seem a bit boring at first, but it will get interesting later on, I assure you.

Kudos!