Hiyori held a cup of hot chocolate in one hand, sitting at the dining room table with her laptop in front of her. She didn't even realize how early it was until the sun rose, and her eyes felt dry and sore. Her brother passed by her on his way out of his bedroom in his pajamas. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, coming to an immediate halt when he noticed her. A sense of déjà vu swept over him as he approached her.
"Hiyori."
Hiyori jumped in her seat, her eyes darting up from the computer screen, to her brother standing in front of her. "O-Onii-chan!" She blurted out, embarrassed.
Masaomi removed his glasses, rubbing his tired eyes. He placed them back on, and just as he caught a glimpse of what was on Hiyori's computer screen, his sister quickly slammed the laptop shut. Masaomi nearly stumbled back in surprise.
"H-Hiyori, what-...?"
He glanced over at her, but she turned away from him. However, even from the angle she was now at, he could see her bloodshot eyes and pale skin.
"Have you been up all night?" He asked in shock. "Looking through Yato-san's Twitter page?"
It seemed harmless enough. She had originally only thought of checking his Twitter out of curiosity, trying to search for something that could be helpful in figuring out where and why he left. Eventually, Hiyori came up dry, and her investigation quickly turned into a mourning of the god's absence. Yato had barely posted much of anything since they'd started dating. She gave up and began scrolling through everything, reading his posts and longingly staring at any picture with him in it.
She'd also found multiple chains of messages and sets of photos where he'd apparently been stalking her. While she normally would have been enraged or disturbed by that behavior, Hiyori realized his clinginess was his special way of getting her attention. He went from taking pictures of her sleeping through her bedroom window to completely missing in action. This hit much deeper than she expected it to, and Hiyori spent an hour or two sobbing to herself throughout the night.
Hiyori didn't understand why, but she felt her blood boiling. Maybe it was over-exhaustion, or maybe she had an awful craving for ice cream they no longer had, but she couldn't hold herself back from the anger threatening to burst out.
"Oh, what?" She snapped, rolling her eyes at him rudely. "You're mad at me for not sleeping? I thought you'd be glad to see me be awake for once."
Her brother stepped back in slight shock, innocently blinking at her. Then, he cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. He straightened himself and fixed his expression.
"You have to stop this, Hiyori. I don't know how many times I have to tell you - it's not healthy!" Masaomi snapped back.
"'Stop' what? Trying to figure out where the father of my child is?!" Hiyori's hold on her mug tightened, and her eyebrows came together in frustration. "Name one good reason why I should!"
"Because when I realized that he left, I-"
Hiyori didn't hear anything he said after that. She focused on those words, then she suddenly sprang up from her seat, the chair pulling out from behind her.
"What!?" She exclaimed.
Masaomi immediately stopped mid-rant, staring at her with confusion. He didn't appear to understand his mistake.
"What?" He asked cluelessly. "What'd I say?"
"You told me that Yato told you he was coming back."
"Um," Masaomi's eyes shifted side-to-side nervously, "I-I did."
Hiyori caught his nervous twitch, and her skin caught flames. "But you just told me you didn't even see him leave!"
Sweat ran down his cheek, and he took a cautious step back. "I did…?" His voice squeaked.
"You lied to me?!" The girl cried.
That was when the guest bedroom door creaked open. It revealed to be Yukine, squinting and rubbing his eyes. "What's all the noise about? It's so early," he complained.
Hiyori threw an accusing hand at her brother beside her. "Masaomi lied to me! He never saw Yato leave - much less spoke to him!"
Masaomi cringed at the mention of his name. Usually, when Hiyori used his real name, he knew he really messed up.
Yukine blinked a few times, still processing what she was saying. Then he turned to Masaomi, shock written on his face.
"M-matte, you said Yato-"
"I know what I said!" Masaomi interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"So, he's not coming back?!" Hiyori demanded.
"I don't know, Hiyori!" He snapped. "Shouldn't you know? He's your boyfriend!"
"Well, I don't know anything anymore because you had to be dishonest about it."
Yukine helplessly watched from the sidelines. He wasn't sure if he should intervene or not.
"I wanted you to believe me! I wanted you to believe in him -... I wanted to believe in him…" Masaomi admitted, his shoulders slumping downward.
The room fell silent, but only for a moment before Hiyori spoke again. She still didn't seem pleased enough.
"We have to find him."
"What?! You can't be serious!" Masaomi cried in disbelief. "You're telling me you know where he is?"
"Of course not!" Hiyori crossed her arms. "If we knew where he was, don't you think we'd have done something by now?"
"Besides-" Yukine jumped in, "he usually stays there for long periods of time, anyway. If he was just wandering around, then-"
"He 'stays there?'" Masaomi interrupted, blinking at Yukine in confusion. "'Stays' where? What does that mean?"
Yukine and Hiyori both suddenly stiffened and shared nervous glances from across the room. Masaomi quickly caught onto them.
"You both know where he is," the young man said, glancing between them.
Yukine swallowed hard, and Hiyori bit her nail on her thumb and looked away shamefully.
Masaomi sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Alright, well? Where is he?"
The Regalia and half-Phantom both remained silent, sharing yet another secretive glance.
"You're kidding me? You can't tell me?" The man exclaimed.
"I-it's not our place to say," Yukine told him, nervously scratching the back of his neck and staring at his feet.
"Unbelievable!" He cried, throwing his hands in the air. Masaomi continued to pace around the dining room table until he paused in his tracks and turned to face his sister.
"I can't handle all these secrets anymore, Hiyori - I have no idea what's going on!"
Hiyori closed her eyes and reached her fingers up to her temple, rubbing the side of her head gently. "If you really need to know, you can ask Yato yourself, but I can't tell you right now."
"What the hell? I'm supposed to wait for an answer?!"
Hiyori's face contorted into that of pain. She pressed her fingers harder against her temple. "Please stop yelling," she mumbled.
Neither Masaomi nor Yukine heard her. They were both too focused on Masaomi's ranting to notice much of anything else.
"I really don't understand! What's going on with you?! Is Yato some kind of wanted criminal or something? Are you in danger?! Is he really even a god, or is he just delusional?!"
"Masaomi? Please." Hiyori's breathing became ragged, and she held the table in front of her for support. She went to step out towards the living room to sit on the couch, but when she did, Hiyori's head throbbed, and her eyes didn't focus. She lost her footing and tripped over herself, falling to her knees.
"Hiyori!" Yukine cried, rushing to her side.
"W-woah, hey!" Masaomi exclaimed. Any anger quickly faded from his voice and expression as he came to her aid.
"I don't... feel so well…" she mumbled, holding her head.
"O-okay, okay. Just-... deep breaths," her brother told her, his eyes sympathetic. "You need to rest."
Hiyori nodded, allowing her brother to pick her up and carry her to bed. Masaomi pulled the covers over her.
"Is it… bad?" Hiyori asked between her heavy breathing.
Masaomi knelt down and reached his hand up to her forehead. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever, which is good. You do look a little flushed, but that could just be your adrenaline."
Hiyori let out a deep sigh.
Masaomi stood up from the bedside, heading for the door. He looked down at his watch, and his eyes widened. "I'm running late! I'm sorry - just get some rest, and I'll have Yukine prepare you something to eat."
Hiyori gave him a small smile, but just as he was turning around to leave, she reached out and grabbed his wrist. He looked back at her in surprise.
"D-... do you think she's okay…?" She asked, worry in her voice and face.
Masaomi blinked curiously. It took him a second before he realized she was talking about her baby. His expression softened, and he turned to face her. Hiyori pulled her hand back to rest on her stomach.
"You're not in pain, are you?"
Hiyori bit her lip. "I don't know," she said quietly. "My head hurts, but how do I know if…-?" Her words trailed off, her mind wandering.
Masaomi smiled softly. "I'm sure you're both alright. If anything changes, call Mori-san. Okay?"
Hiyori sighed and nodded in response. "Thank you..."
Her brother gave her one last reassuring nod before he left the bedroom, keeping the door open a crack.
. . . .
"Hiyori. Hiyori?" Yukine whispered, shaking her gently.
Hiyori's pink eyes slowly opened, and she looked over to see the blonde boy standing above her with a plate of food in one hand.
"Hmm…?" She blinked a few times, observing her surroundings before her senses finally came back.
"How're you feeling...?" He asked, noticing her wake up.
"I-I think I'm okay…" she mumbled tiredly. "My headache is gone."
"That's good. Your brother asked me to make you breakfast, but I decided to just let you sleep for a few hours. You looked pretty tired," he laughed weakly, then nervously handed her the plate. "I-I don't actually know how to work his oven - or the stove. So, I made you some toast."
Hiyori sat up in bed and glanced down at the plate of buttery toast and some sliced bananas, then back to the blushing boy in front of her. She smiled at the boy.
"N-no. It's alright," she told him. "Thank you, Yukine-kun. For everything."
Yukine's blush darkened. "Y-yeah, of course," he answered, stumbling from embarrassment. Then, his demeanor suddenly became serious. "L-look, I-..."
"Hm?" Hiyori blinked and tilted her head curiously.
"I-... I'm sorry. About Yato leaving…" the boy mumbled, staring at the floor and nervously playing with his fingers. "It wasn't okay of him to do that. I thought after he released Nora, that bum master of mine would somehow just never go back to them again. I probably didn't help with all the times I fought with him either…"
Hiyori set her plate down on the bed beside her and turned to Yukine, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Yukine-kun. It wasn't your fault. Don't apologize for it. And don't apologize on Yato's behalf either."
Yukine innocently looked at her, watching the determination in her eyes grow.
"Yato can apologize for himself. Trust me - I'll make sure he apologizes."
This seemed to make Yukine to crack a small laugh. "He's really in for it."
The brunette chuckled along with him. "I guess so."
"Do you want some juice? Or water?"
"Juice is fine, thank you," she grinned.
The boy smiled back and went into the kitchen to get a glass of juice for her. While he was busy, Hiyori started eating. She heard her phone buzz and wondered why it was on vibrant when she knew she had muted it before she fell asleep. She reached over to grab her smartphone off the nightstand beside her, only to discover the noise hadn't been her phone.
That was when she remembered.
Yato's phone.
She recalled putting it in the drawer and hadn't touched it since. Until then, when she reached inside and pulled out the shiny, red flip phone from the drawer. Only, when Hiyori flipped it open, she realized it was a notification reporting the low battery.
And suddenly, an idea came to mind.
Check his messages.
Hiyori felt slightly guilty, and she didn't know why she hadn't thought of it until then, but she wasted no time in opening his message history. When she did, she noticed there were only three contacts on his phone; her, Kofuku, and an unnamed number.
It wasn't difficult to figure out who this mysterious number was, as the conversation contain lots of threats, and the person referred to Yato as "Yaboku." The last message was a strange, eerie text - a rather threatening one. Yato didn't respond to it.
It nearly chilled Hiyori to the bone, and it suddenly dawned on her why Yato must have been so panic-stricken for a long while. She hoped he was okay - if "okay" was the word for it.
She continued scrolling through the earlier messages of the conversation, trying to fill in some missing pieces.
