Her hands would not stop shaking all day. She thought for sure her boss would've noticed after the 3rd time she destroyed the pyramid of dog toys. Or when she counted money back to a customer. But he handed her the keys to lock up, just like always. Didn't he know that today was not just like always?
Hiyori clutched the keys to her chest, watching her boss drive away. She went about sweeping the floors, turning on the heat lamps for the reptiles, feeding the fish, until finally she was alone in the office with the register in front of her.
Cold sweat ran down her neck as she counted out the bills. Five hundred, she just needed five hundred. That would be all of the day's profit plus the balance...she had an idea. She would just take out double the balance money from the safe, make it look like everything evened out. Then she would work extra hard the next day and make it all back in outstanding sales! Her boss would never know.
He was such a nice guy, Hiyori hated to disappoint him...but she needed this money. She clumsily wrapped the bills up in a rubber band and shoved it in her pocket. Once everything was squared away, she closed the office.
Walking through the empty pet store still teeming with life, she realized all these little eyes had seen her take the money. Her guilt filled her eyes with tears and she scuttled to the front of the store, head down. She turned off the lights and locked up. Standing outside in the winter air made her reality seem so sharp. What had she done?
"Yato would you please stop picking your toenails at the table!" Yukine roared, slamming his book down. "You are single-handedly the most immature, centuries old man!"
"Uh! You take that back!" Yato feigned hurt innocence, "I am a God amongst men, you simply would not understand."
"What you don't understand is manners! When was the last time you even cleaned the room! And you said you were going to take care of the sakura tree! You haven't even been to visit!" Yukine huffed, but his expression changed when he noticed the look on Yato's face.
"I don't know why you even bother still," Yato said under his breath, slouching on a pillow and looking away.
Yukine's anger flared up, but he remembered how hard Hiyori's leaving has been on him too. He wasn't the only one suffering. Still, Yukine had hope, he just knew she would be there at that sakura tree by the river to watch the blooms with them again, some year. She couldn't forget for forever… "What if she's there one day and we aren't?"
"That's the way it should be," Yato sighed. After a long moment of silence, the demi-god got up and disappeared outside into the cold, with nothing but his jersey and fluffy fluff scarf to keep him warm.
She didn't usually take the path that followed the river to her apartment since she was worried about strangers at night. It got pretty dark and sometimes people liked to sleep there when it was warm. Tonight, however, with the fresh snow falling, everything seemed lit up, a fresh cover of pure whiteness to hide all the muck. Hiyori would've been enjoying this if it didn't feel so symbolic of her crime, and...eerily familiar.
"Yu...ki…," she breathed the syllables heavily into the frosty air, watching her breath melt the snowflakes in huge clouds.
When Hiyori looked out to the river, down the bank, she saw a great sakura tree glimmering in the orange and white glow of city lights and snow. She stopped to appreciate the majestic tree. She always loved cherry trees, especially when they bloomed in spring.
"Spring!" she yelped as if something had bit her, something like a memory, too intangible to hold onto for more than a brief second. She stomped her foot, it was that feeling again, that elusiveness...like she was forgetting something but she could never remember what it was. It had become less frequent over the years. She actually started to cherish it when it happened so rarely.
Letting the moment pass, Hiyori looked at the path and saw a figure on it, not too far away, in the shadows….was it coming towards her? She started walking again, fingering her key in between her knuckles just in case… As they drew closer, Hiyori started to notice a smell...a really good smell. Her body took over and she stopped dead in her tracks. That itch of a memory, what could it be?!
Just a few feet from each other, the figure had stopped too, he was now looking at Hiyori, who was looking at the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest, warmth spread into her cheeks, what was this feeling? This smell? Then he spoke.
"...Hiyori?"
Her head whipped up. Had he just said her name?!
She couldn't recognize him, his blue-ish black hair, track jersey and beat to hell scarf. He had an incredulous look on his face, however. As if he had seen a ghost.
"Do I….know you?" she asked, uncertain of the question as she asked it. At first, he seemed familiar, but now he just felt like a stranger. The kind she dreaded coming across on a dark, late night walk home.
The man shoved his hands in his pocket and turned his face to his feet. He started kicking rocks. "I don't think so… Anyways, have a safe night."
"Wait!" the word burst from her mouth, her hand shot out and grabbed his sleeve jacket to stop him from leaving. She was so confused, why did she do that? Why was her body acting without her permission? The stranger turned around and gave her a deep look like he was….hopeful?
A few moments passed in silence until, hesitantly, she released him. His eyes filled with some unnameable emotion...and then he left. She watched him go, hand in his pockets, shuffling off into the darkness. Strangely...she was finding it hard to remember what had just happened like it was a dream. She let it fade, and in minutes, she couldn't even recall seeing anyone that night. Fingering the money in her pocket, she walked back home, off into a darkness of her own.