A/N: Hello readers! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! Reviews in particular give me a little life ^^

-For the beginning, I recommend listening to "My Imaginary Friend" from the Beyond Two Souls soundtrack. Pretty please? It's perfect for the scene ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Noragami, or any mentioned music.

Chapter 5: Blossom

The day began with a drizzle. It was light, subtle rain; the kind that gave an atmospheric, beautiful quality to the city, painting the windows with spotty mosaics and drowning the beeps of the cars below with its steady pitter-patter.

It was the beginning of the first weekend, when most students celebrated their well-earned break after a full week of school. That was not the case, however, for some people- including Hiyori. She began her day with a dismal trip to the hospital.

Masaomi's inability to respond to any of Hiyori's frantic calls or texts had prevented her from going to the hospital after school on Friday. Her empty wallet and silent neighbors didn't help out, either. When her brother had woken her up the next morning, shaking her awake on the couch where she had fallen asleep watching some sad movie, she'd nearly screamed at him in rage. She'd thrown multiple pillows at him, demanding him of where he had been. He'd apologized multiple times, but Hiyori eyed him skeptically. She insisted that he take her to the hospital immediately, deciding to ask for a proper explanation later.

So, that was where they went. The two were slightly damp from their cross-city excursion, despite Masaomi having driven them most of the way, as well as the protection provided by Hiyori's umbrella. They were waiting in the quiet hotel lobby.

Hiyori nervously twirled a lock of hair around her pointer finger, and bit her lip. "How much longer do you think we have to wait until we can see Mom, Masaomi?" Hiyori asked, breaking the silence that had engulfed them since they had left the apartment. She turned to him, observing his fidgeting hands and restless feet. It's rare to see him this nervous, Hiyori thought.

"I don't know- probably a few minutes," he answered, swallowing a thick lump in his throat. He met her eyes, trying to hold his gaze steady. With her frown and narrowed eyes, he knew she wasn't satisfied. "Okay, look- seriously, I'm sorry. I just couldn't leave the hospital yesterday."

"Why not?" Hiyori retorted, crossing her arms. "Don't you care about how I felt after finding out that you lied to me about Mom's health? For a whole week, to add on to it?"

Masaomi didn't look away. "Look-"

"Don't tell me to look!" Hiyori fumed, raising her voice. Masaomi scanned the looks of disapproval upon the faces of nearby guests, wincing. "I know what I'm talking about. You were telling me a lie for a full week, just so I could find out from a school teacher that Mom was dying! Do you know how sick I felt?" She stood up from her seat, unable to contain her anger inside. "Do you even care about my feelings at-"

"Of course I care about your feelings!" Masaomi rose from his seat, adjusting his glasses. "That's the whole reason I didn't tell you in the first place! It was my mistake; I thought that Mom would be fine, and so I didn't want to worry you and stress you out even more!" He took a step forward, making Hiyori take a step back. Her face was expressionless, save for her widened eyes. "That's the whole reason I didn't tell you, alright! Everyday, I felt terrible for lying to you, but I thought it was for the better; and guess what! Now, Mom's on her deathbed! And it's all my fault!" His head hung low, his shoulders falling in shame. After his outburst, he felt drained.

Hiyori stared at her brother in shock. I didn't know he was thinking ahead like that for me, she thought, ashamed. But, still, her brother had broken her trust- something irreparable. "Masaomi, but-"

"Excuse me? Are you two members of the Iki family?" a voice asked. The two siblings turned to find a hospital nurse, who stood straight, giving them a stoic stare. They both quickly paralleled her posture and cleared their throats.

"Yes, we are," Masaomi answered for the two of them.

The nurse glanced at the two of them, giving them a small smile. "I'm sorry for intruding on you two, but it would really be best if you could keep quiet in the waiting room." She allowed them a moment to apologize before continuing. "I'm here to show you to your mother."

"Is- is she okay?" Hiyori asked, walking beside the nurse hurriedly.

"Yes, her conditions are stable, though she has slipped between consciousness and unconsciousness for a while," the nurse replied, nodding. She led them to the elevators, pressing a button. They waited a moment before entering, and the nurse continued. "The other day, her blood pressure spiked and her blood sugar skyrocketed, which led to further deterioration of her condition. It worsened yesterday, hence why we alerted both your home and school phones to notify you of her critical condition." The elevators beeped, and the doors opened. The nurse began to lead them down the hall, her heels clacking against the surface of the floor. "She is looking much better now, though. We still believe she should rest here for another week until we can completely stabilize her levels."

Hiyori nodded, following along closely. "Yes, yes, please," she agreed. "Please, help my mother in any way you can."

Masaomi glared at the back of her head, sighing. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we can afford to keep her in the hospital like this-"

The nurse stopped in front of a door marked G-8. "That's no worry," the nurse shook her head. "The national healthcare plan covers 70%, while an insurance company can pay a majority of the rest of the payment. You do have an insurance company, do you not, Iki-san?"

Masaomi clenched his jaw. "Yes- yes, we do."

"Then it should be no problem," the nurse replied, opening the door. "Your mother is inside. I will wait outside until you are finished seeing her."

Masaomi shared a glance with Hiyori, giving a forced smile. "Let's go, Hiyori."

Without sparing a moment for Masaomi, Hiyori ran into the room, rushing to her mother's bedside. "Mother!" she cried, grasping her mother's shoulder- though it was to no avail. Her mother lay unconscious; unmoving.

Wrinkles weighed in on Masaomi's forehead as he came to a stop beside his sister. "This is how she was the entire day, yesterday," he admitted. "It seems like she's not going to wake up for quite a bit. They were saying that her body is still extremely weak."

Hiyori's shoulders fell as she leaned against the bed for support. For some reason, her chest hurt; a kind of aching that made her try and grasp at the source of the pain for a release. "Okay," she whispered, taking a step back. The edges of her eyes were beginning to burn, tears threatening to fall at any moment. Masaomi watched as she took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. "I- I have to go to work, now- so I can't stay."

Masaomi's eyes widened. "You got a job?"

"Yes," Hiyori answered, clearing her throat and throwing her head back to stop the tears from falling. She began to back away, slowly. "A tutoring job for a middle school boy. I'll walk there there- it's not that far from here." She turned around to leave, her head hanging low. "I have to leave, so I can't stay."

Masaomi watched as his sister walked away from him. "Wait, Hiyori, you can't just-"

"Please; don't tell me what to do anymore," Hiyori responded, not giving him a glance back. "I'm responsible, and I can take care of myself. Now that I know Mom is going to be fine, I'm going to leave the hospital for now."

With that, she pulled her umbrella out of her pocket and left the room, leaving her brother stunned by their mother's bedside.

"Yato!" Yukine yelled, thrusting his notebook into Yato's face. A detailed phallic drawing covered and entire page of math problems. "When the hell did you doodle all of this on my homework?"

Yato rolled over on the floor, yawning. He grinned as he recognized the drawing. "I don't know- probably a few days ago."

"Well, can you erase it?" Yukine demanded, shoving it farther onto Yato's face. "You know, 'cause I have tutoring today? With your classmate, Hiyori?"

Yato made a face at the mention of her name. "The girl, Iki?"

"Yes, 'the girl,'" Yukine mocked, imitating Yato's tone. "Didn't you remember she was coming today? Come on! We have to get ready!"

"Ready?" Yato repeated, eyeing Yukine warily. "Ready for what?"

"She's coming in less than thirty minutes, and my room's a mess!" Yukine yelled, gesturing to his messy excuse of a bedroom. "Mom's been yelling at me to clean this up the entire day!"

Yato glanced at the clock in the corner of the room, grimacing as he realized what time it was. He sighed, turning away from Yukine. "Sorry," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I have work right now. I can't."

Yukine threw a quick glance at the clock, then glared at his friend, forgetting what Yato had told him a few days before. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right now? How convenient." He took a step forward, patience waning. "You just want a free pass to leave because Hiyori's coming, right? Isn't that it? Just like yesterday, when you made me worry my ass off over where you were?"

Yato swiveled to Yukine, clenching his fist. "You think I'd lie to you about something like that?" he demanded, voice dropping. Yukine's eyes widened, and he took a step back from Yato's piercing glare. "It's none of your business about where I went after I left- and no, I'm not that shallow to just leave because of a girl," he hissed. "Also, I did tell you that I have work today, so I guess it's just your amnesia acting up, as usual."

Yukine winced. "Yeah- yeah, really?" he stammered, glaring at his friend. "Really? You're going to use that as an excuse to leave, when I just had a panic attack from my amnesia yesterday?" He scoffed at Yato's impassive expression, deciding to bait him further. "You're becoming like your brother, aren't-"

Yato felt something inside his chest snap. His eyes burned with a livid anger as his fist came flying down upon Yukine's left cheek-

The rainy weather had continued since the morning, worsening throughout the day. Hiyori held her umbrella closer to her body, glad for the precipitation that masked the tears that had been running from her eyes. She pulled out her phone with trembling hands, checking for any words of apology from her brother. Of course not. She closed out of her messages, returning to a picture she had taken of Yukine's drawing to make sure she was heading in the right direction. She'd needed Yukine to draw her a little map from the central square in Tokyo city to his house, which, to her great luck, happened to be on the other side of the city from her apartment. The instructions she had received were a little scrambled and messy, and for a second she thought she was lost.

Suddenly, her pocket began to vibrate. She read the notification that had appeared on her screen- it was a new message from Yama, asking her to call her immediately. Hiyori selected her contact name, and held her phone up to her ear as it began to ring. She sniffled, clearing her throat.

"Hiyori!" Yama's voice blared into Hiyori's ear, making her jump.

"What is it, Yama?" Hiyori asked, holding her phone away from her ear.

"Let's go over to the shopping center! Ami can't go, but I really need new clothes!"

Hiyori sighed, closing her eyes, though she smiled at hearing her friend's voice. "Yama, I'm busy, I can't-"

"Oh, come on! Please-"

"Yama-chan, I'd really love to, but I have to tutor the boy, Sagami Yukine-kun now," Hiyori said, satisfied with the quiet that settled over the line. "So, I'm sorry, but I have to go now."

"Well, watch out for him, alright, Hiyori? He's, like, a middle school fuckboy!"

"Yama-!"

Beep.

Yama had hung up on her. Hiyori glared at her phone in irritation, before shoving it into her pocket. Yukine isn't even like that!, she huffed, continuing to search for any familiar houses from yesterday. To her luck, after scanning a few more houses she passed by, she finally recognized Yukine's home. She hurried to the front gates, pushing them to the side, surprised to find that they opened with ease. She headed up the walkway, approaching the door. She paused. She held up her phone, staring at her reflection in the dark screen, wiping away the tears and redness from her eyes until she was satisfied. She pushed the doorbell.

Ring! A satisfying chime noise sounded from within the house. Hiyori could hear shuffling from within the house, and a blurry figure approached the splotchy glass panes that surrounded the door frame. The door opened, revealing a smiling, dark-haired, middle-aged woman.

"Ah, you must be Iki Hiyori-san! Please, come in." The lady stepped back to allow her to enter, and Hiyori smiled out of courtesy. "Oh, you're so much more lovelier in person that I could have ever imagined over the phone!"

Hiyori blushed, laughing politely. "Thank you, Sagami-san. It's such a pleasure to meet you." Setting her shoes off to the side, she slipped on a cute pair of red slippers that Yukine's mother had readied for her. "I'm sorry I couldn't introduce myself to you yesterday afternoon- I'm afraid I had to leave before it got too dark."

"It's alright!" Yukine's mother laughed, throwing her head back. "I'm glad you got to know him. Yukine has been excited to meet you again!" Hiyori narrowed her eyes. From her demeanor, it seemed as though his mother was clueless as to why Hiyori had actually visited. "He's upstairs on the first door on the left. Please excuse him though, I think Yato is here, too." Hiyori's eyes widened with recognition, remembering her confrontation with him yesterday. "He's Yukine's friend, but I love him as though he were my actual son. He's been staying here for a while now. I'll tell him to get to his own room later- but! I never got the chance to ask! What grade are you in, Hiyori-chan?"

"I'm a first-year in the high school," Hiyori said. "I know Kogami-san. He's in my homeroom and some of my classes."

Mrs. Sagami laughed. "Oh, that's wonderful! You two won't need an introduction, then!" She rolled her eyes, gesturing wildly. "Too bad they're always fighting, though. Teenage boys are always like that, I suppose."

Hiyori cocked her head to the side, remembering their altercation yesterday. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep them under control, together-"

"Oh, I'm sure they would listen to you, Hiyori-chan- being a beautiful young woman, and a smart one at that!" Mrs. Sagami laughed at the way Hiyori shook her head, blushing out of embarrassment. "Alright. Now, off you go- his room's the first door on the left when you go up the staircase. I'll bring you some snacks in a bit, for a break?" Mrs. Sagami suggested.

"That sounds great!" Hiyori nodded in appreciation, offering another round of thank-yous, and turned to walk up the stairs. She lightly swung her satchel back and forth, mulling over the worries in her head. As she approached the said 'first door on the left,' however, Hiyori heard something that made her pause.

"-while I was having a panic attack from my amnesia!" A muffled, yet distinctly younger boy's voice yelled from behind the door. Hiyori's eyes widened. Before she could stop herself, she twisted the doorknob and threw the door open as quickly as she could- to a sight that made her jaw drop.

Two boys, one leaning over the other, ready to punch the boy below him-

Yato turned around as soon as he heard the click of the doorknob, pausing right before his fist came in actual physical contact with Yukine's face. To his shock, it was Hiyori.

"Kogami-san!" Hiyori gasped in surprise, recognizing the boy immediately. "What- what are you doing to Yukine-kun!"

"Ow, it hurts, Yato! Ow!" Yukine feigned pain, clutching the side of his face with both hands, smirking behind the palm of his hand.

Yato glared at Yukine in his grasp, rolling his eyes. He let go of his friend.

Hiyori folded her arms over her chest, placing one foot forward to assert authority over the situation. "I can't believe you! How could you do that to this poor boy!" Hiyori stomped over towards him, though Yato didn't react outwardly. Yukine pretended to cry out in pain as he got up, and 'failed' miserably. Noticing this, Hiyori grabbed Yato by the front of his shirt with the intent to throw him out of the room- well, more so the house itself. Muttering to herself as she pushed him, despite some protest, out of the room, Yato was just able to see a glimpse of Yukine throwing a proud middle finger in the air before Hiyori stepped in the way.

"I never knew you were like this, beating up boys younger than you! It's hard to believe that this is what you're actually like!" Hiyori could barely contain her irritation, her face flaming up.

Despite her cross temper, he didn't make an attempt to fight back. Instead, Yato averted his eyes from her countenance. "Whatever," he muttered, turning around to leave.

Hiyori's eyes widened at his aloofness. Wearied from the day's events, she let out a breath. She stared at his back for not a second longer before she took a step back and slammed the door closed. She turned around, noticing Yukine staring at her in awe.

Snapping out of her reverie, she looked over his face and remembered his near-injury. "Oh! Yukine-kun, are you hurt? I'm so sorry!" Hiyori rushed over to where he was sitting, taking a seat on the extra futon next to Yukine on the floor, brushing her skirt underneath her in order to sit down. "I don't really have anything for injuries, but maybe you can use the ice pack from my water bottle? It doesn't hurt still, does it?"

Yukine watched Hiyori take her pink water bottle out of her satchel, unwinding the ice pack off of it and checking his face to see which side he was hurt on. He observed her countenance, eyeing the red tint around the edges of her eyes, narrowing his own as he watched her. What's up with her eyes? Was she...

"Which side- um, did he punch?" Hiyori questioned, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Yukine blushed at her close proximity to his face, feeling a whisper of her breath on his skin. His face burned red; it was difficult for him to muster words correctly. "I- uh- my left side. Left cheek on- m-my face," he stammered, mentally cursing himself at his inability to speak.

Noticing his discomfort, Hiyori smiled at him as she lightly pressed the ice pack to his face. Yukine jumped at the icy sensation that quickly spread across his face, numbing it. "Does that feel any better?" Hiyori asked.

Yukine noticed how he could feel her warm fingers on his cheek around the cold ice pack. He tore his eyes away from hers, before nodding, hoping it would suffice for an answer.

"Here," Hiyori said, grasping his wrist and replacing her hold on the ice pack with his hand. "Are you okay now? I think we should start studying," Hiyori said, pulling her textbooks out of her bag and placing them on the table. Each responded with a thud against the wooden desk. "You needed help with geometry, yesterday, right? Do you still need more help with that?"

"Y- Yeah." Yukine felt the tension in the air grow thick as he waited for her to organize her books. Without thinking, he blurted, "Were you crying?"

Hiyori stopped breathing for a moment. Then, she inhaled, as she slowly turned to him. "W- What?" she stuttered.

Gauging her reaction, Yukine rephrased his question. "Why were you crying?"

Her gaze fell to the floor as soon as she felt her eyes begin to water again. "I- I..." she trailed off. Why had it been so easy to tell Yato, yesterday, during school? With Yukine, it feels like something is stopping me from telling him the reason. "I'm sorry. It's personal."

Yukine stared at her for a moment, before saying, "I get it." He nodded, brushing off the tension in the air. "Let's start studying."

After getting kicked out of Yukine's room, Yato sighed. He'd deserved that; kind of. In a wearied daze, he headed down the stairs, walking over to the coat rack, picking up his backpack from the floor. He unzipped it, making sure the forms were inside. He zipped it closed, quickly slinging it over his shoulders. From the coat rack, he chose the long overcoat he always wore for his work, taking care to slip it over the back pack.

"Oh, Yato-kun, you're leaving now?" Mrs. Sagami asked from behind him, making him jump. Damn, I didn't even notice her presence, he thought. He turned to her, observing the snacks and steaming cups of tea that she was carrying on a tray. He glanced at her genuine, smiling expression, feeling a weight in his chest at her naiveté.

"Yeah, I have some- ah, business to do," he replied, looking away from her. He threw the hood of the jacket over his head.

"It must be busy, working all the time," she remarked. She gave him a gentle pat on his back. "Well, have a good night!"

Yato lost sight of her as she ascended the staircase. "A good night, huh?" he muttered, unlocking the door and taking a step to the rainy outside, catching a whiff of the thick, humid air. "Don't make me laugh."

A/N: Sorry guys. I had to split this chapter in half due to length, but I promise in the next chapter (which is almost done), there's a yatori scene, as well as insight into Yato's business.

-Next chapter should be posted in less than a week: I'm thinking by Wednesday-ish?

-School, friend & family problems are all pretty tiring, as well as my terrible anxiety-ridden mind not making things easy for me. Good thing is though, I have a whole week break next week, so it'll be prime time for me to get a break to pump out some writing:) (As well as getting some sleep like a normal human being.)

-Also: THE NEW chapter of noragami! Well, I was excited for it, but it was kind of meh-ish in my opinion. Nothing huge happened =( But then again, I read the raws and sometimes I have trouble with complex Japanese words, so important parts of the plot go right over my head (oops…)

-Question: Should I watch the anime "erased"? It keeps coming up on my dash and it looks pretty interesting. Or, if anyone has any anime recommendations, feel free to tell me... I don't have much to do this break.

-As always, I post updates on my tumblr, "writeyatori"! I really love talking to readers and other noragami/anime in general fans, so check it out =)

Thanks for reading everyone! Really, your reviews, favorites & follows are great motivation for me to write ^^

~exie/XZ (it reads the same!)