Wish
Yato was one hundred percent sure that Hiyori was hiding something from him.
It all started when they went to Tenjin's shrine to collect payment for a job he had once again delegated to Yato. Hiyori pulled Tenjin aside, claiming that she wanted to ask him a very important question about school. But when she went to catch up with them moments later, her face was a deep shade of red. Tenjin himself looked vaguely amused and as he walked them back to the gate, he looked at Hiyori and said, "Go on Thursdays. He's usually not as busy by then."
Yato pestered her about who "he" was the whole walk home but she would only respond to his questions with evasive replies or annoyed declarations about how nosy he was. He finally gave up, figuring that she had asked Tenjin for help in finding a tutor and he had given her a referral. She was probably just too proud to admit that she was struggling hard enough in a subject to need extra help.
That wasn't the end of her mysterious behavior. Since then, she began to act very strangely around him, often becoming flustered over the littlest things he would say. She also became distracted; her eyes having that far-away look that often came to people when they were consumed with a problem. That worried him greatly. He didn't ever want her to feel troubled or upset and if she was, he wanted to do everything he could to help. He told her this many times but she would merely smile at him and re-assure him that she was fine and that what concerned her was something that she could deal with on her own.
She became secretive too. Once, she locked herself in her room and wouldn't let him or Yukine in, no matter how hard pleaded. She claimed that she had a very important test coming up and she didn't want to be disturbed. But when he went to peek at her from the window, he could see her bent over her desk, completely absorbed in writing something. He tried to stealthily sneak in to see what it was but she noticed him before he could and wasted no time in slamming her foot against his chest.
She also kept trying to avoid him. Once, when he invited her to have snacks with him and Yukine, she refused saying that she had an important family dinner to attend and she needed to prepare. He immediately became suspicious—it was impossible for Hiyori's parents to schedule an outing that day. It was a Friday and her father worked long hours and generally had little time to spare outside the hospital. Yato decided to skip snacks in favor of following Hiyori around, curious to see what her real plan was. He got about as far as two train stops before Hiyori spotted him and tackled him into a German Suplex.
Then, there was that other time when Hiyori gave him a job request. One of her friends needed help sewing her costume up for a school play and Hiyori had recommended him. The job wasn't too difficult, given his background in loom-weaving and he and Yukine managed to finish it in record time. Hiyori however, wasn't too happy to see them.
"Done already?" she said, looking dismayed as Yato picked through her refrigerator.
"Yeah!" he brightly said. He grabbed one of her father's beers and popped it open. "She was going to play a caterpillar so the only hard part was getting the mask right—and wait. Hiyori? Were you about to go somewhere?"
His brows pinched together as he took stock of what she was wearing. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a loose shirt and some rubber shoes. Clearly, she planned on going somewhere that involved long travel.
She nervously looked away and said, "Ahh, no. Not really. I was just planning on hanging out with Ami and Yama today."
"Ooookay," he said, scrutinizing her. Her fingers were protectively curled around what looked like a small, flat piece of rectangular wood and he noticed that her eyes kept darting towards it. He raised a brow and said, "Hey, what's that?"
She quickly hid whatever she was holding behind her back. She mumbled, "N-Nothing."
He opened his mouth to ask her more but before he could, Yukine spoke up, asking if he could have those books she had promised him a week ago. Hiyori looked relieved and eagerly agreed to get them, prompting Yato to loudly groan and glare at Yukine for the interruption.
It wasn't even long before she was at it again. This time, she didn't even bother to try to distract Yato or come up with excuses to not meet up with him. The moment school ended, she immediately switched her phone off and rushed to the train station, occasionally shooting furtive glances at her sides and back. But by then, Yato's curiosity had already been piqued and he would not rest until he knew where she kept wanting to go and what she was adamantly keeping from him. He quietly followed her, careful not to alert her of his presence.
It didn't take long for her to find out and she responded swiftly, grabbing him by the elbow and flinging him into a nearby trash bin. That didn't deter him from poking his head out of the bin and obnoxiously asking her where she was going. He never got the answer he wanted, but he did manage to get a nice afternoon, alone with her. The two of them ended up getting off the train and exploring a part of the city that Hiyori had never been to before.
Still, Yato could not bring himself to relax until he knew for certain who she was planning to meet up with. And why she was so resolute with him not finding out about it.
"Why won't she just tell me where she's going?" he whined as he rolled on his futon, wailing and clutching his Capyper stuffed toy.
Yukine gave an irritated sigh and turned away from the Math problem he was trying to solve. He said, "Maybe because it's none of your business! Quit bothering her about it. It's annoying."
"But I wanna know who she's seeing! And why she doesn't wanna tell me!"
Yukine shrugged. "Maybe it's because she's meeting up with someone for a date and she doesn't want to upset you or something."
"WHAT?" Yato exploded, sitting up. Yukine just rolled his eyes and returned to his worksheet, ignoring Yato's increasingly disgruntled blabbering.
The idea certainly wasn't impossible and the whole thing did start when Hiyori had that conversation with Tenjin. Perhaps the "he" the two of them were talking about was not a tutor for Hiyori, but rather a suitor. He scowled into his pillow, beyond annoyed. If that was truly the case then he would be having words with Tenjin. But in the meantime, he just needed to pay closer attention to Hiyori.
The fourth time she tried to sneak away from him, she was more successful. Her parents were out and she invited him over to her house to watch his favorite show. He immediately accepted, dragging Yukine along. Kofuku monopolized the TV and Daikoku would always threatened him if he so much as suggested that they changed the channel, so he wasn't about to let the opportunity of watching his favorite drama go to waste.
It wasn't until he was halfway through the show that he realized that Hiyori had sneaked off. Before Yukine could say anything, Yato grabbed him by the wrist and rushed out the door. Tracking her wasn't too difficult. He remembered the line she got on the last time so all he really had to do was teleport himself to the train.
This time, he made sure to keep a good distance away from her (since she had an uncanny ability to detect his presence) and be as discreet as possible. It was a little difficult given Yukine's constant scolding and complaining but they did manage to follow her undetected as she got off the train and moved across the streets. She turned left to a corner that wasn't as busy, ducking past people and moving towards a bridge that lead to a—
"A shrine?" Yukine said.
"What? Who's shrine? Is it someone I know?" Yato demanded, grabbing Yukine's wrist and teleporting the two of them closer.
The shrine area was extremely busy and it seemed to be populated mostly by sad, anxious-looking teenagers and a few couples. Hiyori was walking past them, heading straight to the main shrine, wooden block tucked safely in her hand. With a start, he realized that it was an ema. Yato suddenly felt hurt. She was asking another god to grant her wish. Did that mean that she didn't trust him enough to ask him?
Yukine tugged at his sleeve and said as he squinted at the writing on the main gate. "It says here that it's the shrine of—''
"Musubi-no-kami?" he exploded, ignoring Yukine's motions for him to keep quiet. "No way! SHE'S ASKING FOR LOVE ADVICE?"
All at once, the bustle in the shrine stopped. Everyone turned to look at the two of them, including an extremely mortified Hiyori. From beside him, Yukine had stepped back, ducking his head and profusely muttering that he had no idea who the hell Yato was.
"Hiyori!" he said, stomping over towards her. Hiyori took a step back, flustered.
"Y-Yato! What are you doing here?" she spluttered.
"I could ask you the same thing! Is this what you were talking about with Tenjin? You wanted him to set you up on a meeting with Musubi!?" he demanded.
Hiyori avoided his gaze. "N-Not exactly—''
"Is it because you like someone?" he asked her. From where he was standing, he was dimly aware that everyone else was staring at them.
Hiyori anxiously tugged at her sleeves. "Yato, don't you think we should discuss this somewhere else—''
"No! I want to know now. Do you like somebody?"
Hiyori's cheeks reddened and she started spluttering, "W-What? No! Of course not!
"That has to be the only reason why you're here, right? Do you like somebody? It's okay! If you do, then I won't mind! I completely understand!" he said.
How did he not know about this person? And to think, he had prided himself in being very up to date with Hiyori's life.
"No! I don't like anyone!"
He gave her a suspicious look. "You're lying aren't you? Hiyoriiii. Stop lying. If you like someone just tell me—''
"For the millionth time Yato, no, I don't like anyone—and hey! What are you doing?"
She glared at him, incensed, as he plucked the ema from her hand. When he saw what was written on it, his stomach lurched.
"Is it wise for me to get together with him given our situation? I..." he thickly swallowed, finding it difficult to continue. He couldn't even bear to read it out loud. "I wish that there was a way for me to be with him forever."
"Y-Yato—''
"Who is it?" he demanded, voice solemn.
"Er...no one!"
"Is it Kazuma?"
"What? No—''
"Yukine?"
"No!"
"Hiyori! Tell me!" he insistently said.
Hiyori didn't answer him. Instead, she hastily started moving away, putting as much distance as she could between the two of them.
"Hiyori!"
"Ahh, I was only putting in a request for Yama. The ema wasn't for me," she mumbled.
"Hiyori! Teeelll meee!" Yato squealed as he lurched forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Yato! Get off me!"
"Tell me who he is first!"
"No!"
"Tell me!"
Hiyori's shoulder sagged in resignation, a tired sigh escaping from her lips. She turned to look at him, her face beet red. Yato bounced on his heels, anxious to find out who the person was. Was it someone from her school?
"He's um...he's um...he cares a lot about me and he's always interested in the things that I do and...and...we always have a lot of fun together..."
Before Hiyori had given him the description, Yato had been confident that no guy could top him. But after hearing what she had to say, he had to grudgingly accept that this mystery guy did sound like someone who cared a great deal for Hiyori. Still, she hadn't bothered to describe any of his physical characteristics and even though Yato looked sloppy at times, he was very confident of his looks.
"Is he taller than me?" he demanded.
Hiyori's face became an even deeper shade of red. She looked at the ground and stuttered, "N-No. He's...he's just about your height."
Yato furrowed his brows at her. "Who is this guy? Is he better looking than me?"
Hiyori closed her eyes and held her breath, looking mortally embarrassed.
"Hiyori?" Yato prodded.
She loudly exhaled and said, "He is you, stupid!"
Yato stared at her for several moments, hardly daring to believe it. When he had finally fully processed what she had said, he immediately tackled her into a hug, ignoring her flustered squeal.
"Well, why didn't you just say so? Of course we should be together!" he happily yelled. He pressed his cheek against hers, oblivious to all of the giddy "awww" and "how romantic" resounding from all around them. A few people clapped and started snapping pictures.
He then turned to Yukine, who had retreated to the corner, looking as if he desperately wanted to disappear. "YUKINE! Did you just hear that!? Hiyori likes me back! You're officially getting a mom!"
Hiyori squeaked in protest while Yukine looked away and yelled back, cheeks red, "S-Shut up! I don't know who you are!"
Author's Note: Hugs and sparkles for anyone who managed to get that Avatar The Last Airbender shout out (but if you don't watch the show and didn't get it, I'll still hug you anyway ^^). Anyway, I definitely think that when Hiyori starts realizing she likes Yato more than as a friend, she would worry about their situation and the fact that their relationship might not be permanent, before telling him how she feels. Fics that are long than 3000 words will be uploaded separately.
Thank you for reading and please give me reviews (and five yen hehehehe) if you have the time ^^