"Yato!" She could hardly contain her excitement, though she did hold herself back from collapsing against him in a hug as her older brother watched from behind her.

"Hiyori," Yato grinned brightly before stopping to give a small bow to her brother, "Iki-san, nice to see you again. Thank you for giving me a ride."

Masaomi gave a small laugh, "We're all adults now and you're dating my sister, might as well just call me by first name."

Yato blinked in surprise, answering sheepishly, "Err, Masaomi-san, then."

He waved his hand, "It was no problem." Pointing towards the garment bag Yato had gripped between both of his hands, he asked, "Are those your clothes for tonight?"

"Yeah. Didn't want to risk wearing them on the train." He nodded as he glanced down to the bag.

"Probably a good idea. Anyway, shall we get going?" Masaomi angled his head towards the parking lot.

Yato took a breath, but answered, "Y-yeah, I suppose so." As they started walking, Hiyori stayed behind her brother to walk at Yato's side, giving him another small smile to help calm his nerves.

"I can tell you're nervous, and I definitely won't tell you that you shouldn't be. But, you can look at it this way: at least you only have to get through the next twenty-four hours or so. And technically a bit less than that, when you count the hours you'll be sleeping." Her brother tried his best to comfort him as they made their way to his car.

He nodded with a nervous smile, "Hah… That's true."

"There's also the fact that she won't really make a scene in public. So at the party, she's less likely to make any sort of comments; at least for the most part. So the worst is probably going to be over after the first introductions." Hiyori also chimed in and Yato gave another small nod before they both slid into the back seat of Masaomi's car.

"Right." He swallowed, sounding a bit unsure though he kept the smile on his lips.

Once Hiyori was sure that Masaomi was focused on his driving, she discreetly intertwined her fingers with Yato's. When he turned to give her a surprised look, she smiled sheepishly and looked back down into her lap as his hand gripped hers a little tighter.

After a few minutes of small talk and a lot of awkward silence, Masaomi pulled into the driveway and commented, "Well, home sweet home."

Yato let out a breath before he slid his hand out of Hiyori's and stepped out of the car behind her brother, leaving the door open for her and closing it after she had stepped out as well.

As the three of them walked into the foyer, Hiyori wasn't sure if she was more nervous a few days when she had to confront her mother herself or now, watching Yato introduce himself to both of her parents.

"I'm Ametsuchi Yato. It's very nice to meet you." He did a deep bow, but his voice wavered a bit and Hiyori clutched her skirt nervously as her parents echoed their own introductions.

It wasn't long until her mom had somewhat of an interrogating tone to her voice, "So Ametsuchi-san, I heard from Hiyori that you're taking care of a high school child. Where is he at the moment?"

Yato blinked and cleared his throat sheepishly, "Ah, Yukine is with my sister and her husband. I took him there early to spend a few days with family since I'm working so much overtime at the moment due to it being the busy season at my job. I'll be heading that way tomorrow to spend the holidays with them."

"Where was it that you work again?" Hiyori's father joined in, though in a much friendlier and curious manner.

"I-I'm an assistant manager at a grocery store at the moment." He answered, pausing before he quickly added in, "But I'm working on a computer science degree, aiming to be a software engineer."

Hiyori's mom hummed in thought while her dad commented back, "That sounds interesting, you'll have to tell me a bit more about it later on since I'm not too familiar with things like that." Waving further into the house, "But for now, we'll give you a breather before we leave for the party."

"Yes, you did come a long way to get here so you should relax. Masaomi can show you where you'll be staying tonight." Her mom agreed, looking up at him as she called his name.

He nodded and reached out to gently guide Yato towards the staircase, "This way."

"Thank you." He turned his head and gave another short bow before he was led upstairs.

Hiyori took a step forward to follow after them before her parents redirected her attention back towards them.

"Ametsuchi-san seems very nice, Hiyori." Her dad commented first and she gave a smile in response before her mom cut in.

She shrugged, answering, "A little quiet, in my opinion. And I'm glad he brought another set of clothes, I'd be really worried if that was what he was wearing tonight."

Hiyori let out a bit of a huff, though it was her dad who waved for her mom to cut it out instead. "Oh, come on, dear. He was obviously nervous. I'm sure he'll settle in more once we get to the party tonight."

"I suppose so." She answered a bit doubtingly before waving that it was okay for Hiyori to go upstairs, "Go ahead and start getting ready. We'll be leaving at six thirty."

"Okay!" Hiyori nodded before rushing upstairs. As Masaomi's door was still open, she didn't bother knocking and stepped into the room as both he and Yato looked to her for a report on whatever their parents had said.

A little out of breath, she gave a small smile, "Dad seems to like you just fine. Mom is… difficult, as usual. It'll take some time, but that's how she is with everyone and everything, so don't worry about it too much."

"Easier said than done." He answered back and rubbed the back of his neck, "But I guess I'll take the small win for now."

Masaomi gave a bit of a sarcastic laugh and lowered his voice, "She's my own mother and she doesn't even like me sometimes, so… like Hiyori said, there's only so much you can do."

"Mm." He made a noise of acknowledgement, not really sure what to say in response.

Hiyori stepped in between them, "Well, I guess I'm going to start getting ready. I'll see you both in a little bit; mom said we should be leaving by six thirty."

"Alright, thanks." Her brother answered loudly while Yato gave a bit of a shy wave as she left the room.

Her heart fluttered as she walked back to her room, both nervous and excited. Usually, she dreaded this party; a night full of forced conversations with the "friends" her mom had tried to set up for her and repetitive questions from her parents' coworkers. And of course, the inevitable run in with the Fujisaki family. But with Yato there, she was sure it was going to be a much different experience. Whether that was good or bad, she wasn't sure, but she knew they'd make it through it together.

She let out a breath as she opened her closet door, reaching in for her dress. It was a navy blue gown that came down just above her ankles with a lace overlay over her shoulders except for a small keyhole just below her neck. If it were up to her she wouldn't go out and buy a new dress every year as her mom insisted, but she had to admit she actually quite liked this one.

After she had slipped it on, she stood in front of her floor length mirror and admired how it framed her body. With a smile and a nod to herself, she moved to her vanity mirror to work on her makeup and hair. She wasn't really one for makeup, so a bit of mascara and a light colored lipstick would do. Her hair, however, was another story. She loved to get elaborate with it for special occasions, so that's where most of her time would be spent.

When she was finished, her hair had two small braids on either side, with much of it tucked into loose curls behind her head. Holding it all together was two flower clips, just a tad lighter in color than her dress. Happy with her look, she moved out into the hallway and lightly knocked on her brother's door.

"Done already?" Masaomi questioned teasingly as he cracked the door open, peeking through the small open space.

"Yeah, what about you two?" She retorted back just as playfully, her hand on her hips.

Masaomi tilted his head as he opened the door fully, "Eh, kind of. Yato-san's hair is a little impossible to fully tame. But it's as good as it can be."

Hiyori made a small laugh, stepping further into the room and spotted Yato standing in front of a mirror, pulling at his tie to loosen it.

He turned and gave a shy grin as he realized that she had entered the room, commenting to both of them, "I've always hated these things."

"You look nice, though." She answered quietly, a blush tinting her cheeks as she looked over him.

He gave a sheepish laugh, "So do you."

Clearing his throat, Masaomi turned towards the door again, "I'll give you two a minute."

"You-you don't have to do that." Hiyori blushed even deeper as she waved her hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just going to the bathroom." He faked a confused look before heading out of the room, closing the door most of the way on his way out.

She let out a breath and looked up at Yato, mumbling, "Sorry."

He shook his head, "If it was Kofuku, she'd stay and purposely make it more awkward so, eh. This isn't so bad." He stepped closer to her, cupping her chin and pressing a light kiss against her cheek, "But you do look really beautiful."

She smiled before lifting her head to give him a quick peck on the lips, answering back, "Thank you. But, you know…" She reached up to comb through his hair with his fingers, "I think I actually like your hair a little messier."

His eyes followed her hand upward in curiosity, "Really?"

"Mhmm." She hummed as she continued to push his hair forward, ruining the part in his hair and his bangs fell downward to cover his forehead again.

"Did you really just ruin all of my handiwork on purpose?" Her brother asked tiredly as he stepped back into the room.

Hiyori frowned, defending, "He looks better this way, more like himself."

Masaomi gave a sigh of defeat, "Alright, but if mom makes any comment about his hair not being neat, you know whose fault it is."

She gave a small noise of annoyance but shook it off, "It'll be fine."

"If you say so." He sounded doubting and scratched his head, "Well, ready to go downstairs?"

Hiyori looked back to Yato for a confirmation. He inhaled and nodded slowly, "Ready."

"Let's go, I guess." She took her own breath before they headed down the stairs.

As her dress wasn't floor length, she didn't think much about going down the stairs until she had gotten down the first two and noticed her dress starting to drag against the stair behind her. "Ugh." She groaned to herself as she looked down, trying to think of how to best maneuver.

"What's up?" Yato stopped and turned his head, causing Masaomi to stop and look as well.

"My dress." She pinched the side of it and lifted it up so that the end came up to just below her knees, "As tempting as it is to miss the party, I don't want to fall down the stairs." She murmured quietly so that their parents wouldn't hear and both boys gave a laugh.

Stepping back up towards her, Yato offered his arm, "Here."

"Thank you." She wrapped her arm around his tightly, focusing on her footing both in fear of losing her balance as well as avoiding her parents' eyes as they came down the stairs. As they made it past the last step and onto the floor, Yato let go but hovered near her to make sure she came to a steady stop.

"You look stunning, Hiyori!" She looked up bashfully at her father's comment, "That dress really suites you."

"Yes, you look absolutely beautiful, Hiyori." Her mother added in admiration.

She smiled softly, hiding her face again, "T-thank you."

"You boys look handsome as well." She heard him complement Masaomi and Yato, both of them immediately giving their thanks.

Her mom said nothing, but when Hiyori glanced up she seemed to give a nod of approval. "Everyone grab your coats, the driver should be here at any moment."

As her parents headed towards the front hallway, Hiyori and Yato both flashed each other successful smiles.


As always, I apologize for taking… forever. Writer's block has been rough. I was also going through drama with my own mom at one point which I think made this chapter even harder lol. But next chapter… the party! I'll try to speed up the process if I can but we'll have to see how it goes, especially since the holidays are coming up.