AN: Just a quick mention, there's a part in this chapter that only those who have read the manga will probably get, although it doesn't change anything from my original story, so do not fret if you haven't read it. Enjoy!
Hiyori felt good to get out of the house. It was almost empowering to her, for some odd reason, to leave her responsibilities behind and just take off.
Rather than risking her mother finding her regular winter attire missing from the front hallway, Hiyori had nabbed an old pair of fall boots and a spring jacket from the closet in her room; which was really the best she had. She quickly threw them on, thanking her lucky stars that whatever clothing she put on became invisible to regular humans along with her spirit body, before leaping out the window and onto her house's sloped roof. She quietly shut the window behind her, making sure that the inside latch didn't fully click closed and lock her out. She stared through the frost on the window at her own body, sleeping peacefully among the various papers and textbooks. At least if her mom came up to check on her, nothing would look suspicious... Her vision shifted, now focusing on the image of herself and the end of a curling cat tail hovering above her shoulder that was faintly reflected in the glass pane. Hiyori sighed through her nose at her reflection, then turned around and leapt gracefully once more down to her driveway and onto the sidewalk after Yato.
"Well, I see that you made it out just fine, despite all those complaints. No severe injuries?" He joked, pushing his back off of the lamppost he had been casually leaning on.
"Shut up." Hiyori replied, shoving his arm once she got close enough to him. They started to aimlessly continue down the sidewalk, neither of them sure what their destination was going to be. "But just for a bit," Hiyori continued, "let's both forget about my work. You were right, I needed a break. I might as well get some actual relaxation out of it."
"Ha! Well if I am going to be a God of Fortune, then you should start taking my advice more often." Yato jeered at her.
"Something tells me that there'll be more calamity than fortune to your advice until you get some more practice." Hiyori lifted her hands above her head as she spoke, undoing the hair that was still held in a bun until it all fell loose around her shoulders. She looked sideways at Yato, who's gaze seemed to linger on her after she'd let down her hair. She dropped her hands to her sides again and turned her head slightly more to try and connect with his eyes, but as soon as he saw that she'd noticed his stare, he immediately looked away, his irises disappearing from her like a swipe of blue. Hiyori felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks. There must have been something behind her that he was looking at..."So are we going somewhere in particular?" Hiyori asked, making an effort to change the topic.
"No. Just walking." He answered after a few seconds.
The evening sky had transformed into an ombre of deep purple to bright magenta; Hiyori could just see the last of the day's sun rays below the horizon, hidden behind the crowds of bare trees on the opposite side of the road. Luckily the heavy snow they had received earlier that afternoon had quit, and only small puffy flakes had the nerve to keep falling. Neither of the two had spoken in a while, the only sounds being the crunch of their boots in the snow and the buzzing of the hydro wires looming above them. Hiyori looked down at her own feet; she should have worn better shoes, although she didn't really have a choice. Her toes were starting to feel numb already, but she couldn't do anything about that now. She let out a quiet sigh, then took a chance at looking back at Yato. He walked in equal pace to her despite his longer legs, with his lanky frame hunched forward at the shoulders and his chin and mouth stuffed into the folds of his scarf. The fringes of his uneven raven bangs swayed across the top half of his face, the longest ends touching the bottom of the bridge of his nose. Hiyori realized that she'd never really looked at him like this before. Obviously, she knew what he looked like, but she'd never gotten enough time at once to really study his features or the way he moved.
Yato had a small bounce in his step. Not a dramatic one, just a slight bounce that you could only identify by the way his shoulders fell and rose. It was almost as if he bent his knees a little bit too much every time he took a step, though he didn't seem to notice it. He also took few, but long breaths. That was easy for Hiyori to see just by watching the puffs of breath that spouted from his mouth under the scarf and into the cold. Suddenly, she felt a pang in her chest after she realized how long she'd been looking at him, though she just couldn't take her stare off of him. She casually continued to hold her side glance on him as they kept walking down the straight sidewalk, though she noticed his head never moved up and his eyes never shifted from the ground. As they passed under several streetlights, Hiyori watched his body re-illuminate in the flickering yellow light, then step back into the darkness of the quickly-approaching night, his dark hair and clothes almost fading into it. Although, she found that there was something off-putting about him. It was like he was giving off an aura of discomfort which left a strange tension hanging in the dry air between them.
"Hey." She found herself mumbling to Yato in a tone just above a whisper, though it was easy for him to hear in the stillness of the night.
"Hm?" His voice was low, although it was equally as quiet as hers. He slightly lifted an eyebrow, turning his head just as much to catch Hiyori in his peripheral vision. Hiyori paused her words for a moment, surprised that he responded so quickly, given the almost trance-like state he was in. It was almost like he was waiting for her to say something.
"Are you.. Okay?" She asked, the concern genuine in her voice. This time, Yato turned his face right toward Hiyori, his blue irises reappearing under the light of the streetlamp. His wide eyes flickered up and down once over her, his walking beginning to slow.
"Yeah. I was just in thought." Yato said firmly, shrugging as if to wave it off, then faced forward again and picked up his pace.
Hiyori finally broke her stare from him, blinking a few times to reset her brain. She wasn't sure if it'd be best to pry into his thoughts right now. Maybe something had happened over the time she hadn't seen him, and he just didn't want to talk about it. Something like that was pretty typical for Yato, so Hiyori decided that she should just not bother.
"Yato." She said suddenly, reaching ahead to grab a handful of fabric from the back of his jersey to halt him. He stopped walking, so she stopped as well and let go of her light hold on him so he could turn around. When he looked at her again, Hiyori lifted a hand and pointed upward toward the hydro lines. "Let's go up." She said shortly with the trace of a smile on her lips, before leaping straight up into the air to land perfectly on the thin wire.
AN: Hello again everyone! I apologize for the long wait for an update, I've just been really caught up in school and other commitments. Nonetheless, there it is! Thank you for both the story and author follows and favourites, I really do appreciate them! I would also like to send out a special thank you to those who have been leaving very positive reviews, it really makes me glad to know that you guys are enjoying reading Homework!
But in other news... have you all heard about the news of Noragami season two?! I was freaking out when I found out about a week ago! I'm not sure when it will be released, but I am so excited to see all of our characters back and animated (although after where they went with the first season, who knows how closely they will be following the manga..)!
Well that's it for me for now. I have already started writing chapter 5, so (hopefully) expect another update soon! Thank you again, and please review if you have any comments! Every one I receive helps me write more!