Ayyyy an update. And kinda a lot going on in this chapter so wooooo. Hope you enjoy!

"I don't know how you guys do it. This is more strenuous than at least three of my shifts put together." Yato collapsed into a chair at the Iki family's banquet table, dramatically draping himself across it, "So many people…"

Masaomi laughed and corrected, "Well, thankfully it's not too often anymore since we're no longer living at home."

"Yes, thank goodness." Hiyori gave her own little sigh, "We only have to deal with it during the holidays for the most part, now. And maybe once or twice during longer breaks, at least for me." She gave a side eye to her brother.

He threw up his hands, "Hey, I'm home as much as I can handle. But that is the pro of having an apartment versus a dorm while in college; you won't get kicked out between semesters and be forced to go home."

"Yeah, I know…" She trailed off as she realized her father and a few of his coworkers were heading their direction, putting on a polite smile as they gave their greetings.

"Masaomi, Yato-kun, I wanted to introduce you to a few people." Hiyori's father waved towards a room just off the side, where it seemed clear the group was well on their way to getting drunk as their loud and rambunctious voices echoed out into the main room.

Yato answered hesitantly, looking to her, "Ah…"

"I'm going to get something to eat, I'll be here whenever get back." She stood up and patted the chair and he mumbled a quick 'okay' in return as they were both herded off by her father.

The one thing she definitely couldn't complain about was the food. The buffet was large and full of variety, and everything was so well attended by the catering group that nothing was lukewarm or over cooked. Once she had a decent amount on her plate, she moved back towards the table and eagerly took her first bite.

After a minute or two of enjoying her food, she heard the sound of the chair next to her being pulled out and she looked up.

"Hello, Hiyori-chan."

A jolt shot through her and it took her a moment to remember to swallow. Hiding her face with the napkin, she answered coldly, "It's impolite to talk while you're eating. I would think that you know that."

He ignored her and nodded towards the other room, "So, I see you brought that person with you tonight. Guess he was more than just one a one-night stand, then."

She lowered the napkin involuntarily, her hands starting to shake out of anger as she glared at him.

Fujisaki crossed his arms, looking off in thought as he continued, "I understand the need to experiment, though. Still," He looked back to her, a sickening grin on his face, "You know I'll always be your first for most things."

"Pretty sure it doesn't count if you forced her into it."

Yato stepped between them and Hiyori's face lit up in relief, her body relaxing again as he touched her shoulder.

Fujisaki's nostrils flared and he stared harshly as he asked, "And you are? How childish to interrupt a conversation, especially without any sort of introduction."

"Harassment also doesn't count as a conversation. The concept of consent just seems to go right over your head, huh?" He paused for an answer, but only got an annoyed noise in response, "Anyway, I'm Yato. I don't need any introductions from you; I didn't even know what you looked like before now, but I could tell all the way from across the room who you were. My father was just like you, preying on others when he knows they can't fight back."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He huffed in response, standing up from his chair and starting to turn the other way.

"And slinking away when someone actually does take a stand, that's something he did too. Of course, I'm sure you'll think of some underhanded way of getting back at me later. But it won't be here, in this room full of people." Yato added and Fujisaki stopped in his tracks, "I know exactly how you work."

"Really." He turned back and took a step closer to Yato, trying to intimidate him, "Then I would think you know better than to antagonize me."

Hiyori finally got the strength to stand up, hovering just behind Yato and glaring just as harshly at Fujisaki.

Yato rolled his eyes and shook his head, answering, "You don't scare me."

He gave a loud laugh in response, "You really are a dumbass, threatening what little life you've built just for some girl."

"Hiyori's more than just 'some girl'. Considering you won't ever leave her the hell alone, I know you don't think that either." Yato answered automatically.

Fujisaki hummed in response, "Okay, so you're maybe not as dumb as I thought. But still, all it takes is one phone call regarding that boy you take care of and—"

Yato snapped. "Don't you dare fucking threaten my kid." He hissed as he grabbed the collar of Fujisaki's shirt.

As much as she wanted to do the same thing, Hiyori quickly started tugging on Yato's jacket as she felt several pairs of eyes turn towards them, "Yato! Yato, stop. He's trying to make a scene on purpose to make you look bad in front of everyone."

He let go of him harshly and Fujisaki gave a few overly dramatic coughs as the whispering began amongst the people close enough to witness what had happened.

Yato still seemed on the verge of lunging back at him, so Hiyori put herself in the middle. As Fujisaki looked up at her curiously, she commented, "You know… this is something I've wanted to do for a while." Without further warning, she slapped him across the face.

Turning around quickly and avoiding the stark silence in the room, she grabbed Yato's hand and pulled, "Let's go."

His eyes were wide in disbelief, sputtering, "You…"

"This way we're both in trouble and it's not just you." She gave a small smile, "But also… it was way overdue."

He laughed a few times before giving a small sigh, but the smile stayed on his face, "Ah, fuck, Hiyori. Isn't your mom really going to hate me now?"

She rushed him into the elevator, pressing the button to take them back into the lobby before leaning back on the wall. "I don't know. Maybe, for a while. Or maybe she just won't let me invite you to any more of these types of parties. No more public appearances with the Iki family, so to say."

"Pfft. That's fine with me." He laughed again before brushing off his jacket, "Still, I'm sorry for causing this chaos."

Hiyori shrugged, "Even without you, it was bound to happen eventually. At least this way I didn't have to use any of my wrestling moves on him and therefore I haven't completely and totally mortified my mom. Yet, anyway."

As the elevator doors opened, Yato answered, "Personally, I would like to see that."

"You and Yama-chan both." She gave her own small laugh as they exited.

Once they had took a few steps into the lobby, he looked to her with uncertainty, "So… what now?"

She waved towards a couch, "I guess we sit down here until someone comes to get us or the party ends, whichever comes first."

Sitting down and leaning back onto the couch, Yato mumbled, "I both can and can't believe he would even bring up Yukine…"

"Yeah, that was honestly one of my worst fears come true, but…" She gripped her knees after she had sat down beside him, "Between Yukine-kun, Kofuku-san, Daikoku-san, myself, and possibly professors and your co-workers, we have more than enough people to fight against any sort of false report he would make." He gave a soft hum in response, so she continued, "Well known family name or not, they need credible evidence to actually do anything."

"Right." Yato nodded, adding softly, "But they can definitely make our lives hell for a little bit while everything is getting figured out."

She reached over to grip his hand, "We'll handle it together if we have to. Hopefully it was just for theatrics."

"Still, it's a bit concerning he looked into personal details about me." He lightly held her hand in return as his eyes flickered over to meet hers.

Hiyori nodded, "That's his thing. He more than likely just did it so he could spurt some random things about you to me in hopes that would somehow make me change my feelings towards you. He did the same thing for Yama-chan and few other friends in high school." She gave a small laugh, causing Yato to give her a very confused look until she explained, "It's generally all really basic things. He just likes to think it's insider information, or whatever you want to call it. Everything he told me about Yama-chan was stuff that I knew for years. It's more than likely the same for you, as well."

He let out a bit of air, "At least that's somewhat of a relief."

"Still, it probably wouldn't hurt just to, um… talk to Yukine-kun a little bit. Just to let him know. I don't want to scare him but if Fujisaki-san followed us, then…" She lowered her voice and stared down at her lap.

"Yeah, I agree." He sat up a bit and gave her hand a tiny squeeze of reassurance, "At least he's a teenager and already somewhat knows the situation. Only thing that kind of worries me is if he does happen to get followed or whatever, he might do something stupid to protect you."

Hiyori's eyes widened in surprise, "You think he would do that?"

Yato raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Uh, hell yeah. I'd almost argue that he likes you more than he likes me."

"I don't know about that." She waved him off, but still a bright smile took over her face.

"It's pretty damn close." He laughed as well, "But I guess I can't blame him for getting so attached."

Hiyori kept smiling, but her brother's voice interrupted her before she could respond.

"There you are." He stepped out of the elevator and rushed towards them, "So what exactly happened? I don't particularly trust what I heard upstairs."

Her smile finally faltered and she sighed as she let go of Yato's hand, leaning forward as she asked, "And what was that?"

"Something about Yato-san getting jealous about the fact that you two had dated previously, but obviously I know that's not the case." He answered quickly, putting a hand on his hip as he waited for the real story.

Hiyori parted her lips but it was Yato who answered, "I basically called him out on his bullshit. That he was harassing Hiyori and basically said he was a coward for trying to always corner her in situations where she can't really react. That wasn't what set me off, though. He threatened to have Yukine taken away from me, essentially." He cleared his throat, "At least that's what it was starting to sound like, I didn't really let him finish."

"I don't blame you." Masaomi gave a deep frown and shook his head, "What a low life… Hiyori, I'm so glad you got yourself out of that situation. And Yato-san, if you need anything, let me know. Regardless of this whole thing, our dad would probably be willing to help as well but with mom factored in, you know…" He scratched his head as he trailed off.

He nodded and smiled appreciatively, "Yeah, I know. Thank you." Exhaling and stretching out his arms, he continued, "I guess worst case scenario he could stay at Kofuku's place and take the train to school if we do think that creep is starting to lurk around again."

"Hopefully not, but it's good to have a plan." Hiyori agreed. She looked back to her brother, her nervousness starting to show, "So, um… Did Mom or Dad say anything?"

"Dad was kinda confused and Mom… she didn't say much, but you could tell she was fuming." Masaomi stared off at another part of the room, avoiding eye contact.

She leaned forward and held her face in her hands for a moment, trailing off, "Great…" She let her hands fall back into her lap, "Can't say that we didn't expect it, though."

Yato frowned deeply but stayed quiet, causing Masaomi to eventually pipe in, "Like I said before, you at least get to duck out tomorrow. We unfortunately have to deal with her wrath for a few more days…"

He scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, which is good for me, but still… I'm sorry."

"It won't be anything I haven't heard from her before." Hiyori gave a small smile and touched his arm, "Don't worry about it too much."

"What she said." Her brother echoed, waving his hands towards the door, "It'll be a while before our parents are ready to go home and I don't really expect you guys to go back upstairs without making more of a scene, so how about we all take a cab home?"

Hiyori blinked in confusion, "But you're not in trouble yet, won't you get a lecture about leaving early?"

He shrugged, "Eh, believe it or not, I'd rather deal with that then try to fit in here for a few more hours."

"If you say so." She gave a laugh, "But sure… I'd much rather sit at home in comfortable clothes than wait here for a few more hours." She looked over at Yato for his confirmation.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely. Anywhere is much better than here." He nodded in agreement.

Masaomi pulled his phone from his pocket, "So it's settled then."

"Ending the night with watching a movie on the couch was definitely not what I expected, but definitely much preferred." Yato hovered by the door of Masaomi's room as he spoke to Hiyori.

She smiled, agreeing, "Same here."

"So, uh… I guess, goodnight?" He laughed sheepishly as he scratched his neck.

"Goodnight." She leaned in and kissed him gently, which he returned briefly before pulling away to slip into the bedroom.

Hiyori lingered for a moment before she took a few steps down the hall and went into her own bedroom. Smiling to herself, she switched off the light and quickly slipped underneath her covers. Her room was anything but cold, but the comfort of her blankets added to her giddiness from being around Yato felt like heaven.

Just as she was feeling herself starting to doze, she heard a light knock at her door. She squinted in confusion, asking, "Yeah?"

"It's me. Can I come in?"

It was her mother's voice and a shock of dread moved through her. "O-oh, sure."

She started to move up into a sitting position before her mom waved, "You don't have to get up, I just wanted to talk for a minute."

Hiyori blinked, feeling even more confused, but nodded as she lowered herself back down and her mom sat at the foot of her bed.

"He…" She trailed off, unsure of her wording or where to start, "He said something, didn't he? That's what happened, right?"

Hiyori nodded again, this time in disbelief, "Yes…"

"I think I saw a brief moment… of what you were talking about. That confrontation with Ametsuchi-san apparently got him very fired up." She avoided her daughter's eyes, smoothing out part of the blanket, "I can't say that I completely agree with how things were handled, but… I at least somewhat understand now. I straightened things out with the Fujisaki family for the most part for now, but maybe at least try to handle things a little more discreetly next time? If possible."

"We can try, but Fujisaki-san specifically tries to intimidate me as well as others during times where he knows that people can't react like they want to. Yato specifically pointed that out today." She leaned up on one elbow as she answered.

Hiyori's mom met her eyes and let out a small puff of air, clarifying, "Then just try your best, I suppose."

She nodded again before she asked quietly, "So you're not upset with Yato about what happened, then?"

"I wanted to be." Her mom answered automatically, pausing before she continued, "But, no. I'm not." She slid off the end of the bed and moved towards Hiyori, gently running a hand through her hair, "Goodnight, Hiyori."

"Goodnight." She echoed and gave a smile as her mom walked out of the room. Waiting a moment, she reached over for her phone.

If you're still awake, my mom just came to talk to me. She's not upset with you.

what…?

She held in a laugh, feeling much the same way.

I know right? I'll tell you more later but I thought it might help you sleep easier.

Uhhh yeah sure thanks

Wow that didn't sound very convincing.

Emotionally I might feel better but physically this bed is far too comfortable for what my poor back is used to you damn rich people and your fluffy mattresses id probably be better off on a cardboard box

Hah hah. Seriously try to get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning.