Hearing Hiyori's voice snapped Yato's eyes wide open. After nearly drowning to death, Fujisaki had yanked Yato's head from the water. Yato had violently hacked up water, but his body was too tired for him to do anything else besides rest. He couldn't even move when he heard his phone ringing or to stop Fujisaki as he searched Yato's pockets to answer it.

Yato had wanted to tear the phone from Fujisaki's hands, especially after hearing him taunt Yukine, but his body had refused to budge. He imagined himself using the opportunity to punch out Fujisaki's lights and to reassure Yukine that he was fine and not to worry, but the truth was, he wasn't fine. He was trapped in a half-awake, half-asleep state. He had been afraid that Fujisaki would have taken advantage of this, but fortunately he remained true to his word.

When Yato had heard Kazuma's voice, though, his stupor had broken. Hacking up more water from his lungs, he opened his eyes enough to where he could barely see the events unfold before him. It had surprised him to see Kazuma strike first and fast, and even more surprising to see that Kazuma had formulated a plan in such a short amount of time. Yato had watched silently, hoping that Kazuma would break him free of the ropes, but all of his hope diminished the moment Fujisaki took out his knife.

Though, with Yukine and Hiyori appearing on the scene, Yato felt a sense of renewed hope. He did have some worry – Yukine and Hiyori had no experience in fighting, so if Fujisaki tried anything, they would have issues dealing with him - but all seemed safe for the moment, the two had Fujisaki's attention. Even Kugaha seemed to be paying close attention to the new arrivals, which gave Yato a chance.

Yato's eyes landed on Fujisaki's gun, the pistol lying only about five feet away. He knew it would be a risk, but if he got hold of the weapon, it could help him take control of the situation. Maybe then Fujisaki would give up and let everyone go home. So, listening to the conversation between Fujisaki and Hiyori, Yato slowly scooted closer to the weapon.

Hiyori stood next to Yukine with her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. "Fujisaki, you have a lot of explaining to do."

Fujisaki's eyes narrowed at Yukine, his voice guttural as he said, "I thought I told you to come alone. What the hell were you thinking bringing Hiyori here?"

"Fujisaki, I asked you a question," Hiyori said, raising her voice.

"Babe, I can explain," Fujisaki sputtered out, his eyes focusing back to Hiyori. He held up his hands in defense.

Hiyori remained unfazed, crossing her arms as she shifted her weight onto one leg, tapping her foot with the other. "You can explain? Why don't you start with why you have a knife to Kazuma's neck?"

"He tried to kill me with the baseball bat." Fujisaki jerked his chin next to Kazuma. "See? I had to defend myself. Kugaha and I were hanging around the bridge when Yato and Kazuma started attacking us out of nowhere. Right, Kugaha?"

Kugaha seemed startled at the question, blinking a few times before bobbing his head. "Yes, we were having a talk and someone swung a baseball bat at me and hit my nose." He gestured toward the dry blood on his face. "This is all the proof you need."

"Like Kazuma would do such a thing unprovoked," Yukine huffed.

Hiyori scoffed. "Fujisaki, I know you initiated Yukine. I'm done with the lies. I want the truth."

"Fine." Fujisaki shook his head, his eyes flickering to Yato. Yato froze, a couple of inches from the gun. "I was initiating Yukine last September with a couple friends of mine until Yato got in my way. For that, and for hitting on you, I decided to initiate Yato today with Kugaha's help. Kazuma walked by and decided to intervene, and that's where we are now."

"How could you do this to people?" Hiyori sounded disgusted, not that Yato blamed her in the slightest. "You told me you wanted those people committing this initiation expelled, and now I find out that you're the one behind them? Do you know what an idiot I feel like?"

"I do this because it's fun," Fujisaki replied in answer. "I never told you because I knew you would try to stop me." Fujisaki's voice was firm and harsh. "I won't let you stop me, Hiyori. No one can."

Hiyori shook her head in disgust. "I can't be with someone who enjoys holding knives up to people's throats."

Fujisaki laughed, shaking his head. "No, you aren't breaking up with me."

"Nothing you say will change how I feel now," Hiyori answered earnestly. "Now, please let Kazuma and Yato g-"

"I can't do that, Hiyori."

Yato scooted closer another inch, stretching his feet forward to grab the gun. Though before he could, Fujisaki's knife sailed at him, landing an inch away from Yato's foot, blocking the gun. Yato glanced up to see Fujisaki still holding a knife to Kazuma's throat, his other hand outstretched and empty.

"I know what you're trying to do, Yato, but I won't allow it." Chills crawled up Yato's spine as Fujisaki glared at him in rage. Fujisaki took a menacing step in Yato's direction, pulling Kazuma along with him. "First you stole Bishamon from me, and now you've taken Hiyori. I will not stand for it."

Yato's eyebrows knit together. "What does Bishamon have to do with this?" Yato asked, his blood chilling as Fujisaki took another step forward.

"I was about to ask her on a date when you accidentally dumped your lunch tray on me. You and her started talking and you asked her out right in front of me," Fujisaki answered vehemently.

Yato couldn't help but laugh. "That was so three years ago! You were pissed because of that? Newsflash: Bishamon never liked you. She was only being nice to you so she wouldn't hurt your feelings."

Fujisaki tossed Kazuma aside, storming over to Yato, twirling the knife in between his fingers as he approached. Yato rolled forward, snagging the knife on the ground with his hands. Once he stopped, he quickly shifted the knife and tried his best to cut the rope enough to where he could tear it off. His body throbbed in pain from his earlier beating, but Yato ignored it.

Fujisaki stopped to stare at Yato a moment before he picked up the gun from the ground. Cocking it, he aimed it at Yato. "Goodbye, Yato."

You won't get me that easily.

A chorus of, "No!" filled the air as Yukine and Hiyori screamed, both of them darting forward as Fujisaki pulled the trigger. Yato pulled the knife close to his back and rolled to the side, his hands slipping out of the rope as the bullet whizzed by. It grazed his leg, but it sailed into the bridge. As Fujisaki took aim at Yato again, Yato saw Kazuma pick up the baseball bat.

Fujisaki fired the gun at Yato, but nothing came out. He whacked on the gun's barrel furiously, desperation in his eyes. "Why won't this work?" While he fiddled with the weapon, Yato continued to cut the ropes at his feet.

"You ran out of bullets, miscreant." Kazuma swung the baseball bat at that moment, aiming for the back of Fujisaki's head.

Before the hit could connect, Kugaha darted forward, throwing his arms up in an "x" to block the hit for Fujisaki. "Fujisaki, I better be paid triple for this," he breathed out, hissing in pain.

Fujisaki said nothing but tossed the gun aside. He raised his knife towards Yato, declaring, "Kuga you take Kazuma, I'll take Yato. Let's go!"

Yato dove to the side as Fujisaki charged forward. He rolled to his feet, hissing at the pain in his leg, as Fujisaki slashed at him. Yato caught Fujisaki's wrist mid-slash, spinning him around until his arm was twisted behind his back. Yato pushed him into the bridge railing, twisting Fujisaki's arm enough to make him drop the knife. Using his foot, Yato kicked it in Yukine's direction.

"Fujisaki, this ends now," Yato snarled.

Fujisaki elbowed Yato with his free hand, breaking free of Yato's hold. Fujisaki pulled away, shaking his head. "No, I won't let it end like this."

"It's over, Fujisaki," spoke a new voice. "The police are on their way here, and I will make sure they punish you."

Yato glanced over to see Bishamon walking onto the scene, her stiletto heels clicking along the wooden bridge. Donning black leggings and a sparkling white top paired with a dark purple cardigan, Bishamon approached the group. Her long, blonde hair swayed beside her, her sharp, volatile violet eyes trained on Fujisaki with a look so cold that Yato thought it could produce snow.

"Bishamon," Fujisaki said through gritted teeth. "Why are you here?"

"I came here to find my boyfriend, and I found some garbage along with him," she replied curtly. She tossed back some of her hair. "We're supposed to be out on a date right now."

"Life must be so hard," Fujisaki replied.

Bishamon's lips curled into a devilish smile. "Wait a few more minutes and you'll see how hard life is going to get for you."

Knock knock!

"Mind if we come in?" Yukine asked, poking his head through the door to Yato's bedroom.

Yato set down his book – surprisingly it was a textbook, statistics to be exact – and glanced up at Yukine. Yato could see his body half in, half out the door, dressed in a dark green sweatshirt and blue jeans, his hair a fluffy mess atop his head. Yato cocked an eyebrow. "'We?'"

Yukine stepped inside, waving for someone to come inside. In stepped Kazuma, Bishamon, Hiyori, and even Ebisu, one after the other, various items in hand. "Everyone wanted to see how you were feeling."

It had only been four days after the incident with Fujisaki, and Yato had been assigned bed rest for the week. Yato had been whisked away to the hospital as soon as the police and ambulance arrived. The hospital had patched him up and cleaned his wounds, but with a sprained rib cage and bruises all over, the doctors had prescribed Yato pain meds and bedrest. The bedrest was suggested to last one to two weeks, and it was Yato's call to determine how long it would take for him to be well enough to move around again. As for Fujisaki and Kugaha, the two were charged with assault and are awaiting trial. Bishamon mentioned she had connections that would not allow Fujisaki to get away with anything this time around.

His parents had demanded he stay at home during the week of rest, so Yato had obliged. His first three days off had been quite dull. His parents had catered to him, buying him the food he wanted, bringing him his school supplies to not get behind on classes, etc., but Yato could only do homework, play video games, watch TV, and read for so long. He needed human interaction, and after the drama of the past few weeks, he had gotten used to days less mundane.

Yukine had called to check up on him every night, which had provided Yato some solace between watching junk TV and reading at night. Hearing Yato's complaints, Yukine had offered to visit him, claiming that he would figure out a ride as not to worry Yato. Yato had agreed, naturally, though he hadn't been expecting as much company.

"Hey guys," Yato said, fighting back a large grin. It was pleasant surprise to have familiar faces around. "Not that I don't want to see you, but what are you all doing here?" Yato's eyes flitted between each of their faces. "Don't you have classes?" His eyes settled on Ebisu. "Aren't you supposed to be on bedrest?"

"I already told you they wanted to see you," Yukine said with a shake of his head as he sat at the foot of Yato's bed. "You don't listen."

Kazuma nodded, stepping closer to the bed with a crockpot in hand. He wore black slacks and a long-sleeve, white button-down shirt, his hair tamed in its usual fashion, some of his bangs falling over his forehead. "My class today was cancelled, and as such, Yukine asked me to be his driver." Kazuma set the crockpot on the fold-out table Yato's mom had set beside his bed for his meals. He pushed up his glasses. "I wanted to apologize for not being of much help to you. I have prepared you some curry to show my gratitude."

Yato waved him off. "You don't have to apologize. You helped me out a lot, just being there." He flashed Kazuma a grin. "Without you, I don't know what I would've done. You're a hero, Kazuma. I appreciate it."

Kazuma matched his grin with one of his own. "If you need anything, please let me know."

Bishamon smiled at Kazuma, placing her hand on his shoulder. She wore a form-fitting teal dress that hit above her knees, sparkles dazzling in the fluorescent light. She turned her attention on Yato, a smile lighting up her face. "Yato, how are you?"

Yato shrugged. "I'm doing fine. Everything still hurts whenever I move, but the pain medication helps." He gestured towards his statistics book. "Though I could go without the boredom and homework."

Bishamon nodded with a small sigh. "I understand going without homework. To think you have a week or two off of classes but you can't get away from the homework. You have to love college, don't you?"

Yato chuckled. "They can't make anything easy, I tell you."

Stepping up next with a cough, a walking cane, and envelope was Ebisu. He donned a maroon t-shirt and black sweatpants, his face a bit pale.

"Are you an old man now?" Yato jested, pointing towards the cane.

Ebisu chuckled, leading him into a small coughing fit. He earned the attention of everyone in the room, but he shooed them away like a pack of pigeons. "I'll be fine," he said, smirking at Yato. "Who's the one lying in bed right now? I could smack you with this cane if I so wished."

"You could," Yato agreed. "But I'll hunt you down the second you do. I do know where you live."

"Oh I'm terrified now."

Yato laughed and shook his head. "But seriously, Ebisu, shouldn't you be home resting? I know your parents weren't even sure when you would feel good enough to return to school."

"We all tried telling him," Bishamon muttered.

Ebisu shrugged. "I am well enough to visit my injured roommate, and that is all there is to it. Bishamon called to fill me in on the details, and when she mentioned a visit, I had to take the opportunity." He handed Yato the envelope in his hands. "Open it, please."

Yato did as instructed and tore open the top of the envelope with his name on it. Pulling out the card, he tossed the envelope aside. On the card read "Get Well Soon" in cursive, the design of a baby blue colored flower on the cover. Opening it to the inside, he saw the signatures of his friends, each apologizing for the incident.

He smiled as he read through them all, looking up at his friends. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes – he loved small things like this, or even small visits – but he blinked them away. "Thank you, everyone."

"We figured you would like it," Yukine said, clearing his throat as he stood up. "But we're going to step out of the room for a moment. We'll be back."

Yato raised an eyebrow as Yukine, Kazuma, Bishamon, and Ebisu made their way to exit the room. "Where are you guys going?"

"I asked them ahead of time if I could talk to you alone," Hiyori explained, stepping closer to Yato. Her hair today was twisted up into a bun, some wisps of her bangs falling forward. She wore a white and navy-blue striped sweater with blue jeans and boots, a bouquet of pink and white roses in her hands. She set them in his arms, a nervous smile on her lips. "Those are for you. My mom always says flowers cheer people up, so I thought you might like them."

"Thank you," Yato replied, setting the flowers beside him, leaning them gently along his pillow. He pulled in his legs and gestured before him. "You can sit down. What'd you want to talk about?"

Hiyori bit her lip, debating sitting for a moment before complying. She kept her gaze steady with the ground, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "I-I wanted to apologize to you, Yato."

"For what?"

"For not believing you, for calling you a dirtbag, for-for everything." Hiyori sniffled, her voice sounding choked up. She took in a shaky breath. "I should have never believed a word Fujisaki said. I should have known he was no good, especially after that night you were kind enough to buy me pizza tacos and take me to the beach. I'm such an idiot."

Yato's face fell, his heart aching at how upset Hiyori was. No matter what she had said to him the last night they had talked, he could not harbor anger towards her. Yato leaned forward to take her hand in his, wincing as he did, his body disliking the idea. "Hiyori, you have nothing to apologize for."

Hiyori met his eyes, hers blurry with tears. She stared into his deep blue eyes with disbelief and sorrow, shaking her head. "What do you mean? I have everything to apologize for." She gestured toward him with her free hand. "You ended up getting hurt because of my relationship with Fujisaki."

"That's only because I was an idiot and decided to go after the beautiful girl he was dating," Yato said earnestly. He squeezed Hiyori's hand softly. "I'm not a saint, Hiyori, and you are not an idiot. Why do you think Fujisaki has gotten away with this for as long as he has?"

Hiyori softly chuckled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Yukine said something similar to me."

"Because it's true. You had every right to not believe me. Fujisaki was your boyfriend, and you knew him for much longer than you had known me. Please don't feel like an idiot. You are my genius tutor, after all." He flashed her a grin.

Hiyori smiled a bit at that last part. "I know you're right about having known Fuji longer, but still." She sighed glumly. "I feel like I should have known better than to trust him."

"We all feel that way," Yato said softly, thinking of all those times he had believed Nora's words as he rubbed his thumb along the back of Hiyori's hand. "It's hard because you keep thinking 'what if' and you forget that sometimes people are great at manipulating you. But it doesn't make you a bad person, Hiyori."

Hiyori placed a hand on Yato's cheek, his breath hitching in surprise at the sudden touch. His eyes flew to her soft magenta eyes as she said, "It doesn't make you a bad person, either, Yato. I shouldn't have gotten so jealous about Nora, but I did." Yato opened his mouth to say something, but Hiyori continued talking over him. "I don't care whatever you did with Nora in the past. And as far as I'm concerned, the past begins in this moment."

"Do you really mean that?" Yato asked, a bit hesitantly. This was almost too good to be true. Could they really drop all of the words exchanged, all of the mistakes, everything?

"Of course."

Yato breathed a sigh of relief, butterflies flittering through his stomach. His face broke out into a grin large enough to light his eyes. "I'm so glad. Hiyori, you have no idea how happy that makes me."

"Good."

Yato saw Hiyori's eyes land on his lips for a moment, her head leaning forward as her eyes began closing. Yato swallowed down some nerves and leaned forward, his eyes closing at their lips met in a soft exchange. Her lips tasted like cotton candy, soft and gentle and better than Yato could have ever imagined.

It didn't take long for Hiyori to pull, though. A blush crept up her face, her eyes averting to the ground. "S-sorry. I just thought-"

Yato chuckled, earning a shy, confused gaze from Hiyori. "That was absolutely perfect," he breathed, his lips pursing. "But are you sure? I mean, you just broke up with Fujisaki and-"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, her voice firm. "I like you, Yato." She interlocked her fingers with his, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "I started liking you the night we went to the beach and you showed me your home." She smiled. "It was fun, and I got to try those pizza tacos." Yato's heart had never skipped a beat as fast as it had at her words. "Even when I was mad and confused if I should trust you, those feelings didn't go away."

"For that, I'm glad," Yato said, leaning in for another kiss-

"I would say get a room, but you're already in one."

Yato pulled away, his cheeks burning red as Yukine poked his head back inside. "I'm going to kill you."

Yukine chuckled. "I guess you were right, Kazuma. These two did need more time." He stepped inside of the room, his gaze dancing between the two. "So, is it official or what?"

Yato could see the pink in Hiyori's cheeks as she turned to him. "After our talk, I would like to think it could be."

"It is now," Yato said, smiling uncontrollably like a fool.

"I can't believe it, Yato," Yukine said, "You actually got the girl. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

Yato shot Yukine a winning grin. "You should be! I told you not to doubt my capabilities!"

"Capabilities my ass," Yukine blanched, smirking. "And you still owe me five favors, I'll have you know."

"What? No!"

The madness ensued for the rest of their time at Yato's, the visit exactly what Yato had needed. And, at the end of the day, Yato sat back in his bed, Hiyori's flowers in a vase on his nightstand, the card he had received next to it. Earning bedrest after all the drama with Fujisaki had been worth it.

A/N: And here is the conclusion! I really hope that you guys have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for all of your support!

thefrostscoper - Aww, your comment made my day! Haha, if this was made into a TV show, I would be on board for that! I have considered doing a sequel to this, so that's still on the table! If people would like one, that is!

As always, please feel free to drop a review with your thoughts not only on this chapter, but on a potential sequel as well? In any case, thank you!

-LivingTheSPNLife