Hello everyone! Thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter! And followed! And faved! Thank you!

And before moving on to the next chapter, I would like to say that I will not post anything for the next few weeks, as I have my examinations! So, most probably, my next update will be after Feb 16... Sorry bout that.. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Noragami. The truth really does hurt...

Ch 5: Shards of Truth:

"Are you sure this is the right place, Aiha?" Hiyori inquired as she frowned. "If not, say so right away. I would to hate to shout at the wrong person."

Aiha nodded her head. "I'm as sure as I'll ever be." She cast a sideways glance at Yato. She hadn't expected him to accompany them. "So, um, Yato-sama," she addressed him formally (and somewhat awkwardly), having heard from Hiyori that he was from the Japan Takamagahara. "Are you sure that you're going to stay with us?"

At this, even Hiyori turned to look at the black-haired man, who simply grinned at the two in return, not bothering to say anything.

Hiyori narrowed her eyes. She didn't understand this Yato person at all! At times I wonder what he is thinking, Hiyori mused as she stared at him. She had no idea why Bishamon-san hated him so much. She had briefly inquired Kazuma-san about it, because he knew Bishamon the best. But he had replied quite vaguely, saying that the two had an old enmity over some murder. Murder…

Yato was handsome, Hiyori would readily admit. But it was always the attractive men who turned out to be the most troublesome. And not to forget, he acted very immature for his age. Seems like Yukine-kun was right about this one. Hiyori mentally sighed. Why would Bishamon-san hate this dork so much?

Yato caught her stare and he arched an eyebrow at her. "Something on my face?"

"That scarf," Hiyori stated dryly. "Or fluffy-fluff, as you call it. Take it off. You look good with it, but you would look much better without it." She rolled her eyes. "It's even torn in places and looks so worn out."

Yato huffed. "Don't insult my fluffy-fluff. All of my fans are ready to die to have a scarf like this!"

Hiyori wanted to scoff, but Aiha decided to get back to the topic. "We're already at the desired place. What should we do now?"

Hiyori turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean by that? Obviously we go and ask him the questions we have in mind."

Aiha bit her lip. "Of course, but try to refrain yourself from punching him. You can do that after we interrogate him. We don't want him to land up in the hospital before we get the chance to ask him anything."

Yato laughed. "It would be amazing if he doesn't faint right at the sight of you two. You look like you're ready to assassinate."

The two girls glanced at each other and shrugged. Both of them were wearing hoodies. Hiyori had her hood on so that nobody would recognise her, which effectively hid half of her faces. Though Aiha didn't need it, she had it on as well, as she claimed that the cold wind would make her ears ache.

"I'll go first," Aiha muttered as she walked up to the store.

The pharmacist looked at her and blinked. After a few seconds, he smiled and seemed to have recognised her. "Hello Miss," he said in a cheerful way. "Are you here to take the tablets for your friend?" Just hearing that made Hiyori seethe.

"I'm afraid sir," Aiha held up The Packet. "Tsuguha died earlier this morning. And I'm sorry to say but her cause of death was none other than these tablets of yours." She set the packet on the counter, scowling furiously. "These are the wrong medicines. I'm surprised how you can make such a grave mistake, sir."

The pharmacist looked surprised. And Hiyori had no idea if his shock was fake or genuine. As he took the packet with wide eyes, he managed to choke out, "This is impossible! Such a mistake! I can't believe it!"

"It's true," Yato said sharply. Hiyori looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to say anything. "Belive it or not, it's true. Take a look for yourself, and then you won't have any problem believing it at all."

The pharmacist tensed as he took a careful sniff of one of the tablets. He shook his head. "Are you perfectly sure that you brought these from our store?"

"I have the receipt right here with me," Aiha held out the paper for him to take. "Just have a look. Tsuguha bought these tablets just a week ago."

The pharmacist frowned as he read the receipt. "A week ago?" he inquired. "I wasn't here a week ago."

"Bullshit!" Hiyori shouted. Everybody jumped. "Do you seriously expect us to believe that? Then just from exactly did Tsuguha take those medicines? Your ghost?"

The pharmacist narrowed his eyes. "Young miss, I'm speaking the truth. I was out of station last week. I only returned two days ago. I had appointed a girl to take care of the shop in my place. She must have been the one to sell your friend that medicine." He pointed at a CCTV camera on the wall. "I have footage, just in case you don't believe me."

Hiyori's jaw dropped and she stared at him for a long time. "So, the one behind all this is just some random girl," she demanded. "You just appointed some random girl to take over your place? Did you even check if she had the qualities to meet the criteria?"

"Of course I did!" The pharmacist looked offended. "She had all the necessary qualifications. I had checked all her reports thoroughly."

Aiha pressed her hand to her forehead. "This is messed up," she moaned. "This is seriously messed up. What should we do now?"

"Just a minute, sir," Yato interrupted. Again, Hiyori turned to look at him with a surprised look. He had been so quiet all this time that Hiyori had totally forgotten that he was standing there, until he spoke. "If you don't mind, may I know what this girl looked like?"

"Certainly," the pharmacist nodded his head and squeezed his eyes shut for some time, trying to remember. "She was quite short, and had short, straight black hair. She also had eyes as dark her hair."

"And," Yato urged. "Did she give you her name? She must have."

"If memory serves correct, she told me to call her Chiki."

Hiyori blinked. "Cheeky?"

"Chiki," Yato repeated, making a sour face, as if he had tasted something bad. "I see. Thank you, sir." He looked at the two girls. "We should leave. There's nothing more for us to do here. Let's go."

Hiyori wanted to shout at him. Just who gave you permission to decide when and where we have to go? But she realised that he was right. There was nothing they could do now. The pharmacist didn't sell Tsuguha the tablets, but some girl named Chiki did. In the end, Hiyori got to punch nobody (not that she minded).

"We're sorry for troubling you," Aiha said to the shopkeeper. "It's just that, we thought it was you."

"I get it," the pharmacist nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Hiyori closed her eyes. "Aiha, we should go." She looked up at the orange sky. One thing was sure for now. The person who sold the tablets was a girl named Chiki. But did she deliberately sell the wrong medicine? Did she want to murder Tsuguha? If yes, then for what reason? So many questions with no answer.

But for now, Hiyori only wanted to get back to the Academy without Bishmon noticing their absence. If Bishamon finds out that she took Yato along with them, well then, Tsuguha wouldn't be the only one to die that day.

'''''''''''

You..! It's your entire fault that she died!

It's your fault!

I'll never forgive you! Remember that!

"Veena? Are you paying attention to what I'm saying?"

Bishamon blinked and shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry Kazuma. What were you saying?"

Kazuma looked at her sceptically. "The more important thing is what you were thinking about. You look worried over something." He paused. "Is all this about, you know…" he trailed off.

"You can say his name, you know?" Bishamon rolled her eyes. "I am not going to jump on you and break your neck if you do that," she said playfully, but Kazuma could note the graveness in her eyes. "It's not easy to forget the past."

"But Veena," Kazuma started carefully. "The past is in the past. Is it really worth remembering it again and again? Is it worth it to be kept reminded of the pain? Can't you just let it go?"

The blonde woman gave him a sharp stare, her eyes clearly saying: Are you out of your mind? "Don't be silly Kazuma. Have you forgotten all that had happened in the past few years? You are seriously asking me to forget all that?" She closed her eyes. "Those scandals, those deaths, those conspiracies. One just cannot forget them. Especially if the one responsible for that is right in front of your eyes."

"Veena," Kazuma said worriedly. "We already know that Yato was not responsible for what had happened."

Bishamon nodded her head. "Maybe not directly," she listed. "But indirectly, it's quite possible."

"He couldn't have," the spectacled man muttered.

Bishamon could only smile ruefully in response.

'''''''''''

"And you just went along with her without even bothering to inform me?" Yukine fumed. "Just what were you thinking? Something bad could have happened!"

"I'm alright, Yukine," Yato rolled his eyes. "There's no need to fuss about this anymore. Besides, I wanted you to rest for some time. You shouldn't worry so much. Too much stress is bad for a kid of your age. You don't want grey hair to appear while you're still young, do you?"

"Don't change the topic!" the teenage boy snapped. "Are you going crazy Tracksuit? I know that we have watch over Iki Hiyori and all so that no harm comes to her, but you could've at least told me where you were going! If something had happened, you would've had at least some back-up! Idiot!"

Yato rolled his eyes before he turned serious and pursed his lips. "I was right. He was behind all this after all."

"Him?" Yukine raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"Yes. According to the man we questioned, the girl that sold the faulty medicine called herself Chiki."

"Chiki?" the blond blinked confusedly before his eyes widened in realisation. "You don't mean that girl, do you?" He shuddered. "She really gave me the creeps last time I saw her."

"Yes, I'm indeed talking about that girl," Yato said as he nodded gravely. "They are targeting Bishamon, just like I had suspected. But instead of attacking her directly, they are going so by targeting her students in her place."

"So that the pain she would feel would be even more devastating," Yukine made a face. "I see now. Tsuguha was one of Bishamon's personal and favourite students. He probably wanted to start off with an unimportant kill before moving on to the more popular ones. And right now, the person who is Bishamon's number one favourite is…" he trailed off.

Yato closed his eyes and said in a monotone. "None other than Iki Hiyori."

'''''''''''

Hiyori sighed as she walked, feeling the cool night air on her skin as she looked at the trees nearby. She had wanted to relax from all the anger she had been feeling and thus had asked Yato and Aiha to go back to the Academy while she took a leisurely stroll near the campus.

What a long day, she thought. Quite unforgettable, if you ask me. She smiled amusedly, though she didn't know why. They had no clues how Tsuguha had died. And now that Hiyori thought about it with a calm head, she wasn't really surprised. It had been less than twenty-four hours. Not everything can happen in a day. The secrets of the murder would unfold with time. Till then, they would have to wait.

"Ow!" Hiyori cried in surprise as she bumped with a stranger.

The man looked at her with the same amount of surprise in his eyes. Hiyori blinked. He had red eyes. Quite an unusual colour. Under normal circumstances, Hiyori would have panicked. But she was wearing contact lenses, and half of her face was covered by her hoodie. So she had no fear of getting recognised.

"I'm sorry," she muttered as she quickly looked down.

The man didn't reply, and when Hiyori looked at him curiously, he sent her a fleeting smile before walking away. Hiyori could only stare at his retreating figure in confusion. Had she been recognised? After standing still for a few moments, she shrugged her shoulders and resumed walking.

-o-o-o-

And this is the end! How was it? Please R&R! Until next time, then!

Kudos~!