So I didn't get into the JET Program/I'm not going to Japan, but being kinda bummed out helped push me to write this chapter. I took a break from writing this story for a few weeks so I could get started on my project for the Noragami Big Bang but now that I have, I was free to return lol. It's a little bit short (as has been the case for the past few chapters, I believe) so I apologize for that but being in the right mood to write and having the energy to do it is a rare occasion indeed, so I make the most of what I can. Thank you for your continued support!
"So how did you meet this boy you're tutoring, Hiyori?" Her dad asked from the living room as she and her mom continued to wash the dishes.
Hiyori swallowed and continued to look down, answering, "My friend told me that they knew someone who needed tutoring in English and Japanese and I told them that I had done tutoring in high school, so it just worked out from there." She avoided using male pronouns, knowing this would immediately spark a conversation regarding her 'friend', a conversation she wasn't ready to have quite yet.
"Do you think you'll continue your tutoring after this semester?" Her mother looked up at her from her side.
Nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she nodded, "I think I'll definitely continue for the rest of the school semester, after that it depends on how he's doing, I suppose."
Her mom frowned at that answer, "I just really don't want to you to get distracted from your studies. Isn't there someone closer to his grade level that could tutor him?"
"Not at the moment, he just moved to the area and doesn't have many friends his age." Hiyori shook her head, "And if he decides to go that route later, that's okay and I'll step back. But I'm doing fine, Mom, you don't have to worry." Clearing her throat and changing the subject, she questioned, "So when is Oniichan supposed to be getting here?"
Hearing the crinkle of newspaper first, she heard her dad answer, "I believe he said tomorrow afternoon."
Nodding cheerfully as she looked up, she replied, "It'll be great to see him, I feel like it's been forever."
"I can say the same." Her dad smiled back before the phone ringing caused both of them to turn their heads.
Hiyori nodded towards her mom, suggesting, "I can finish up the dishes if you want to answer that." Her mother was the one who used the house phone the most after all, so the call was more than likely directed towards her.
"Thank you." She flashed a quick smile before sneaking out of the kitchen.
After she had put the last dish onto the drying rack, Hiyori moved into the living room and sat down on the couch to the side of the armchair that her dad was resting in. "So how are you liking school this semester?"
"It's a bit difficult sometimes, but there's a lot of interesting things that I'm learning. My professors are all pretty great and I do really like the city I'm living in. It's not too often I go out, but it's nice to do something different with Yama-chan and Ami-chan when we do manage to go somewhere."
"Good, I'm glad." He smiled widely before admitting, "I do wish you were a little closer, but I understand wanting to get away to be able to spread your own wings."
"Y-yeah." She smiled back sheepishly, thinking to herself that was putting it a bit lightly.
"Would it be alright if I used the bath first, dear? I'm feeling really tired so I'm going to sleep early." Her mom popped her head into the living room area from the hallway.
"Of course!" He answered automatically.
Hiyori looked up to watch her and noticed that for some reason she seemed to be avoiding eye contact, feigning a light hearted voice as she headed towards the stairs, "Goodnight!"
"Goodnight!" They both answered, though she kept staring after her and wondered what sort of phone conversation she had possibly had that had drained her that much.
Truthfully, Hiyori was still pretty exhausted after the long train ride the day before as well so it wasn't that long before she decided to head upstairs as well, her father joking, "It's a pretty rare occasion when I'm the last person awake."
"I should hopefully be back to normal by tomorrow." She smiled back before turning around, slipping upstairs. As she made her way to her bedroom, she noticed her parents' bedroom door was closed. 'I guess she's already asleep.' She mused to herself before returning her focus to grabbing towels.
By the time she was in the tub, she was really exhausted; the warmth and comfort of the water practically lulling her to sleep. She hardly even bothered to dry her hair, changing into pajamas and slipping into bed as quickly as possible. Before shutting her eyes, she sent a quick text message to Yato.
I hope work is going okay. I'm really tired again so I'm going to go to bed early. Goodnight!
She wasn't exactly sure when she fell asleep, but she noticed it was a few hours later on the clock when her phone woke her up.
It was alright I guess. Not terrible not amazing either. Goodnight hiyori talk to you tomorrow.
She smiled and flipped her phone over onto its front, letting herself drift back to sleep.
"Hiyori. …HIYORI!" She felt her shoulders being shaken and peeked her eyes open to find that sunlight was beaming into her room and her mom was staring at her intently from her bedside.
"What?" She reached up to rub her eyes but her mom wouldn't release her arm from her grasp.
Her mom seemed to trip over her words a few times before Hiyori finally made out the question, "Is it true?"
Blinking in confusion and her eyes still heavy with sleep, she repeated again, "What are you talking about?"
"That," She swallowed, a bit over dramatically, "That you went home with some strange man." Hiyori continued to stare at her as if she were losing her mind until she added, "Kouto-san was going to accompany you home but he couldn't find you. He was ready to get on the train before he saw you getting off late at night. And he was worried, so he followed you and saw—and saw you go into an apartment building with someone. Hiyori, what were you thinking?" Her voice sounded as if she were close to crying, "And imagine how Kouto-san felt seeing you in that situation as well."
Anger swept through Hiyori's body in a way she had never felt before and she ripped her arm backwards out of her mom's grasp, "Truthfully, I don't care; not in the slightest." Her mom's eyes widened and the tears started to flow, but she was far beyond feeling guilty. "It's none of his business, and the fact that he keeps showing up out of nowhere is so immensely disrespectful, as well as possessive and creepy from the way that he follows me around, but you don't seem to care. Not to mention that you didn't even ask or even give me the chance to explain the situation. You just automatically agreed with what he said, like you always do. You never listen to my side of things!"
"What could you possibly explain that would make this situation better?" She fired back just as angrily, getting close enough to make Hiyori feel like she was being cornered, "I raised you better than this!"
"It doesn't matter because you're not going to listen." She muttered before grabbing her phone and pushing past her mom, turning around once she had reached the doorway, "But for your information, Fujisaki-san made me miserable in high school and that's why I don't talk or associate with him. He pushed me away from my friends, he belittled me, and he sexually assaulted me. He's mostly the reason why I moved so far away from home, but you continue to allow him back into my life without my permission." She was seething, her grip tight on the door as she spoke. "I'll be back later." She muttered before she released the doorframe from her grasp and stomped down the stairs.
She hastily looked behind her back to make sure she wasn't being followed and let out a small breath of relief when she realized she wasn't. Snatching her coat and zipping it up, she slipped on her shoes and out the door as quickly as possible. 'I'm glad that Dad's already at work too.' She thought to herself as she turned down the street, or else she probably wouldn't have had the resolve to storm out the way she did.
Hiyori gave herself a few more breaths before she slowed down enough to look down at her phone, immediately searching for Yama's name. The phone only rang twice before she heard her voice, "Hey, Hiyori, what's up!"
"Can I come over? It's an emergency." Thankfully Yama's house was only a few streets over, so she didn't have to worry about asking for a ride or anything like that. Still, with just her pajamas and her coat, it was a bit cold.
"You don't have to ask. I'll be waiting outside for you, okay?"
"Thanks." She forced a smile to herself before hanging up. Next up was her brother.
"…Hiyori? You're up early." He answered in a surprised tone, "I'll be there in a few—"
She interrupted him, "Hey, so… Mom and I kind of got into it. Like, more than ever before. About Fujisaki-kun." All the emotions were finally catching up to her and her voice cracked.
"Oh." He answered quietly, "Are you okay?"
"I guess." She sniffled a bit, "I'm heading to Yama-chan's houses currently—I walked out after yelling at mom. But I couldn't take it anymore, she never listens—!"
"I know. I know exactly how you feel." Masaomi replied consolingly, "Just stay at your friend's house for a bit, relax, and we can meet for dinner or something so we can talk before going back home."
Hiyori nodded and reached up to wipe a tear that had started to drip down across her face, "O-okay. Just… let me know when you're getting close."
"I will. Stay strong, Hiyori. You didn't do anything wrong by sticking up for yourself."
"I know. Thank you." She sniffled again, "Talk to you in a little while."
"Okay. Bye for now." He answered.
"Bye." She hung up and stuck the phone into her coat pocket, her tears starting to fall at a more consistent pace. She was hardly paying attention to where she was going, but thankfully she had a good muscle memory of the route to Yama's since had gone there for so many years.
On top of that, she didn't even make it to the front of Yama's house before she saw and felt her friend colliding with her. "Hiyori!" She hugged her tightly before letting her go and pulling her into the house quickly, "C'mon, it's cold out. Let's get you inside."
"Thanks." She squeaked out as her friend practically dragged her in.
Yama stayed quiet until they had gotten to her room, despite the fact no one else was home. "Sit down and get comfy." She waved towards her bed.
Hiyori didn't need to be told twice. And rather than sitting, she crumpled down into the bed and curled into a ball, Yama gently taking a seat beside her and rubbing her back.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice just above a whisper.
"Fujisaki-san apparently followed me on Christmas night and saw that I stayed at Yato's apartment and told my mom about it. He must have called her last night, she suddenly said she was tired and went to sleep but then I guess she couldn't hold it in anymore and started yelling at me this morning before I was even awake." She hid her face in the blanket.
"That bastard seriously has no life." Yama responded, her anger immediately flaring up, "Seriously, just say the word and I will go right to his front door."
Hiyori lifted her head to answer, "I don't want you getting in trouble. But yeah, I was so mad at my mom… I literally just let everything out. I told her what happened in high school. Whether or not she'll actually believe me or not, I don't know." She pressed her face against the bed again, "And of course, I still haven't said anything about Yato. I feel like Fujisaki-san telling her I've spent the night at his apartment is just going to cement that she'll hate him no matter what now."
"I know it's hard being in a situation like that, but you and Yato are great together. So honestly screw your mom if she has any problems with him. Especially if it's based on anything that jerk said." Yama huffed harshly. Rubbing her back again, she questioned, "Have you told him what happened yet?"
Hiyori shook her head, "No." She paused to think before continuing, "He's at work, so I don't want to distract him."
"Just as long as you don't keep him in the dark about what's going on."
"I know, I won't. He'll either text or tweet me when he gets off work, so I'll let him know then. But I did talk to my big brother on the way over here. He's getting into town today, so we're going to meet up somewhere and talk about everything." She parted her lips in a sudden realization, "Which, I guess, I might need to borrow some clothes from you, seeing as I don't really have any…"
Yama gave a wave of dismissal, "Of course. Don't worry about that."
"I have another favor." Hiyori turned her head to look up at Yama.
"Anything." She answered immediately.
"I think I want to go back to sleep for a while. My head hurts, I'm not sure if it's from the crying or being woken up so suddenly." She gave a small laugh, though Yama just frowned in response, "But yeah, I just need some more rest, I think. If you could catch Ami-chan up in the meantime…"
Yama nodded, "Yeah, I can do that." She slipped off the bed and moved to her window, pulling the curtain closed so that the sunlight in the room was at least somewhat blocked out.
"Thank you." Hiyori sat up only to lay her head back down onto Yama's pillow, closing her eyes, "Wake me up if I'm not up after two hours, though."
"Will do." She heard her answer before she heard the creak of the door, "Let me know if you need anything." Hiyori hummed an answer and she heard the door shut with a click.
She let out a long breath of air, thinking it was really hard to not text Yato. But she really didn't want him to get upset over something that really couldn't be fixed immediately. Not to mention that he would probably blame himself in some way, even though it was absolutely her idea to stay the night in the first place. 'Not that either of us would have ever guessed that we were being followed.' She thought bitterly.
Remembering the details of walking home that night with the detail that he had been just a few steps behind him was enough for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up and for her stomach to churn. She really couldn't let her guard down.
'If he ever did something to hurt Yato or Yukine-kun…' She clenched her teeth as well as her fists, not able to finish the thought. Her eyes flying open, she confirmed to herself, 'This is the last time. I'm not going to be intimidated by him anymore.'