Hello everyone! Long time no see. I apologise for the delay. Thanks to those who reviewed, followed and favourited.

Nipun Ankita02: Thank you, my friend! I see that you finally read my story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami and its characters. However, I truly wish I did…

Without much ado, we have the next chappie!

Ch 3: The Investigation Begins:

"This is a rather tough case indeed," Iki Takamasa muttered.

"I am afraid that I do not know what you mean, Iki-san," Bishamon said patiently, but Hiyori could notice her left eye beginning to twitch.

"Otou-san," she said quickly, and her father raised an eyebrow at her. "It's just that Bishamon-san doesn't appreciate people who talk in riddles. So, it you be better if you just, um, get to the point," she trailed off. Bishamon still had her nonchalant face on, but Hiyori could feel the waves of gratitude coming from her.

That's good, she mentally smirked. Perhaps now she would give me an even better grade. Nah. This is Bishamon-san we are talking about after all.

"You see," Takamasa shook his head. "There are many cases of haemoptysis where doctors are unable to find out the actual cause behind it. This is a fine example." He scratched his cheek. "She seems to be in a fine health, so some kind of an internal disease is out of the question. She might have been poisoned…" Bishamon gasped. "But again, that is impossible. The results would have been immediate if that were the case," Takamasa quickly said.

Silence ensued. Bishamon was stiff in her seat, Hiyori was biting her lip in anxiousness and her father was busy pondering over the cause.

Knock, knock!

Takamasa jumped, startled at the knocking sound which had broken him out of his reverie. Bishamon cleared her throat. "Enter," she said.

The door opened to reveal Kazuma-san, with Aiha trailing behind him. Hiyori immediately noticed that Aiha's eyes were red and puffy from the crying. The poor girl, losing her best friend in such a horrifying way. "Veena. Iki-san," Kazuma greeted. "Hiyori-chan," he shot a slight smile at her while he closed the door behind him.

Takamasa nodded at them. "Perfect time, both of you. Aiha-san, there is something I need to ask about the young miss, if that is fine with you?" he said carefully.

Aiha was still in disbelief, but now she had regained her senses. She nodded stiffly. "You may, and I will try my best to answer."

"Thank you. So tell me, did Tsuguha take some sort of medicine? Any tablets? I heard from Miss Bishamon that you two were dorm-mates, so I figured that you may know."

Aiha nodded. "Yes, she did take medicine. Tsuguha has… had bad eye-sight, so she took some tablets to improve that."

"I see. If you don't mind, may I have a look at those tablets? If they are still available, of course."

Aiha nodded once again. "Of course."

"I'll go get them," said Kazuma-san. "If I remember correctly, your dorm number is-"

"NO!" Aiha shouted. Kazuma jumped at her sudden outburst. The pinkette flushed. "I mean, I'll go get those tablets. There is no need for you to trouble yourself!" She smiled nervously. "So, um, later," she said as she ran out of Bishamon's office, most probably mortified to death.

Kazuma blinked. "What was that all about?"

"She is a young lady, Kazuma," Bishamon snorted. "Young ladies don't like random men barging into their rooms."

"I was not barging! Besides, I am not some random man either!"

"Uh, no offense Kazuma-san. But if I were in Aiha's position, I wouldn't have let you enter my dorm either," Hiyori said. Kazuma gawked at her.

"But Iki-san," Bishamon said. "What is the purpose for looking at her medicine?"

"Well, it could be possible that she might have taken the wrong tablets."

"Tsuguha's not so irresponsible," Hiyori said.

"It's not about being responsible or irresponsible, Hiyori. It's just that…" he trailed off. "Never mind."

Aiha barged into the room without knocking after two minutes. "Aiha!" Kazuma chided slightly. "You should have knocked."

"I'm sorry, I forgot that in my frenzy," she said, holding out the tablets. "Here, Iki-san. These are the ones she took regularly."

"I see," Takamasa said as he took the tablets and stared at them. "This might be-"

Bang! "BISHA!"

This time, everyone present in the room jumped. Hiyori felt as if her heart would break out of her ribs any moment. She shot a glare at Kofuku (who, of course, didn't notice it). "Geez," Kazuma huffed. "Why does nobody knock these days? I think I should start giving everyone compulsory mannerism classes." (Hiyori shuddered. Now that was a very, very bad idea.)

Kofuku slammed the door behind her. Kazuma winced at the noise. "Bisha, there is something you need to know."

"Kofuku," Bishamon stood up scowling. "What are you doing here? You should be guarding the gates with Daikoku!"

"Daikoku is doing just fine by himself. Then again, I also got Kuraha to assist him, just in case." Bishamon looked a bit relieved at this. After all, old man Kuraha could be really scary when he wanted to be (but most of the time, he was just a cinnamon roll). "Bisha," Kofuku said once again. "You have a guest."

Kofuku's voice was not cheerful like always. Bishamon sensed this. "Is it Tsuguha's parents?"

Kofuku shook her head.

Bishamon narrowed her eyes. "More reporters, then? Kofuku, they don't count as guests. They are demons. No demons are allowed inside the campus."

"Bisha," Kofuku said with an urgent look in her eyes. "It's him."

Hiyori had to raise an eyebrow at this. Maybe it was one of Bishamon-san's ex-boyfriends. No, if that were the case, he would have been too scared to confront Bishamon in such a tense situation.

"'Him' is a term that can be used in a very, very vast sense," Bishamon drawled. "I know many people of the male gender. Could you be a bit more precise, Kofuku?"

Kofuku bit her lip. "The representatives of the Japan branch," she finally said. "It seems that they have arrived."

'''''''''''

The atmosphere inside the room had gotten even worse. "They have arrived?!" Bishamon shouted. "What do you mean 'they have arrived'? Their visit was not due for a month!" She was breathing heavily.

"It appears that they have come here to give their condolences."

"Condolences?" Bishamon spat. "Condolences, my ass!"

"Veena," Kazuma put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't make such a fuss. Remember that there are also other people in this room."

Bishamon took a deep breath before calming herself. "Hiyori," she said.

Hiyori looked at her, startled. "Uh, yes?"

"Go and greet them. Kofuku will show you the way."

Hiyori's jaw dropped. "What? Me?"

"Yes, you," Bishamon snapped. "I am in no mood to confront them right now. But it would be rude of to just ignore them. So please Hiyori," she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry for creating such a scene everyone."

Hiyori nodded slowly. "Alright. If you want me to greet them, fine. I shall go right away."

"Well then, Hiyorin," Kofuku cheered, back to her playful mood. "Follow my lead," she laughed before skipping out of the room. Hiyori said goodbye to her father before following her.

"Um, Kofuku-san," she said once they were on the corridor. "I know where the gates are…" But the cheerful pinkette paid no attention to her and kept singing to herself.

"She can't hear you," a voice said near her ear.

"Eep!" Hiyori turned around. "Ami-chan," she breathed. "And Yama-chan, too. You startled me."

"She actually said 'eep'!" Yama was busy laughing.

Hiyori rolled her eyes. "Where did you two come from anyways?"

"We were eavesdropping on Bishamon-san's office for quite a few minutes," Ami said.

Hiyori's eye twitched. She said that so proudly… "From which point did you hear?"

Her two friends shared a look. Ami cleared her throat. "Condolences?" she said in a shrill voice. "Condolences, my ass!"

Hiyori had to laugh at that. "That was a horrible imitation you did there. Now, we should run. Or else we would have an angry Kofuku behind us."

"That's true. But hey, we heard about Tsuguha," Yama said.

"The entire Academy knows about it. You should see the piano room right now, it's so crowded and noisy," Ami shook her head.

Hiyori sighed before starting to run towards the gates, where she would meet the Japan branch's representatives. She could hear Ami and Yama following her. Well, Otou-san, she thought. I hope you find the cause soon enough.

'''''''''''

"So this is the Takamagahara Academy where Bishamonten teaches," Yukine said as he stared at the Academy's big red emblem engraved on the gates. "Do you think Bishamonten is going to deny us access and make us go away?"

"Not at all," Yao snickered. "Don't forget Yukine. We are here as representatives from a fellow Takamagahara Academy. Also, the media folks have already seen Ebisu and recognised him. Crazy Chick wouldn't dare to send us away. Of course, unless she wants a big commotion to be shown in the news."

"The Academy must be in a financial profit," Ebisu noted. "Just look at the fountains and garden. They look so attractive and are having well maintenance. Many people are handing out flyers outside the campus and I have heard that this Academy holds a music performance every weekend in which anybody can participate for free. And there they note the people which are musically talented and ask them to study in the Academy. They even offer discounts to the extremely talented ones."

"Ebisu," Yukine said. "You are very smart, but there are times when you need to stop acting like a grown-up man and behave as a kid."

"I know. Baby Ebi's even smarter than me! These kids grow up so fast!" Yato said.

"Yato," Yukine commented dryly. "Even a one-year-old baby is smarter than you."

"Yukine, you meanie!"

"Ahem."

The three males turned around. Yato raised an eyebrow. It had been three years since he had last seen Kofuku. She looked like her usual cheerful self, but that wasn't what surprised him. Behind her were trailing Iki Hiyori and her two best-friends. What were their names again? Ama and Yami? No: Yama and Ami.

"Bishamonten's not here?" he asked curiously.

"Bishamonten-san is currently exhausted and thus, would not be able to meet you and so she sent me in her place." Hiyori bowed. "Hajimemashite. I am Iki Hiyori."

"I know," Yato said. "The entire country knows who you are."

Hiyori tilted her head. "I see that Daikoku and Kuraha-san let you inside. That's quite an achievement."

"Well, we are the representatives of the Takamagahara Academy in Japan. They just couldn't keep us standing outside, could they?"

"Ah, about that-"

"It's the Kawaii Boy!" Ami shrieked.

"I believe he has a name. Sekki, right?" said Yama.

Beside Yato, Yukine paled. Yato turned to him with teary eyes. "Yukine, my baby boy! You honestly gave that as your name? You are so sweet!" he cried as he held him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Well, that was just because I couldn't think of any other name at that time," Yukine snapped. "Let go of me!"

"What's going on?" Ami whispered.

"How in the world am I supposed to know?" Yama whispered back.

Somebody needs a therapist, Hiyori thought.

"Well then, there you have them," Kofuku laughed. "The people from the Japan branch!"

"Hey, wait you two," Ami said. "You told us that your name was Sekki, but in reality you were from the Japan branch. So could it be that you were just observing Hiyori and making note of her talent? And you disguised yourself as a normal boy and snuck backstage to see how Hiyori would handle such a situation?"

Sekki – or Yukine – froze. "Well…" he wavered. "That is one way to put it…"

"You see," Ami huffed. "I had a feeling that they were surveying us."

"Getting back to the point," Hiyori cut in. "It's good to meet you, sir. I feel honoured to speak with the owner of the Takamagahara Academy of Japan."

Yato blinked at her. Behind him, Yukine snorted. "I'm not the owner," he said.

"Huh?"

"The owner is this boy right here," Yato pointed at Ebisu.

"NANI?!" Hiyori and her two friends exclaimed.

Yukine nodded his head. "That's true. This kid right here is the infamous Ebisu Jr. And by the way, I am Yukine and this idiot right here is Yato. It's nice to meet you too."

"This little kid is Ebisu?" Ami wondered.

"He is cute though," Yama commented.

Ebisu scowled. "Don't call me a little kid," he complained.

In the meantime, Hiyori narrowed her eyes at Yato. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Yato grinned. "Of course! You can ask me many things!"

"Just, what is that disgraceful thing around your neck?"

Yukine laughed out loud. Yato held his scarf protectively. "Hey, don't insult my fluffy-fluff scarf!"

Hiyori could just stare at him. Fluffy-fluff?

'''''''''''

"Iki-san, Kazuma said that you have the results ready."

"Indeed, Bishamon-san. I believe that I have found out the cause of Tsuguha's death."

-o-o-o-

And that is the end of the third chapter. So, what do you think? Please review everyone! It makes my day when someone reviews.

Kudos!