A/N: despite wanting to update yesterday after getting home from the Cherryblossom festival, I decided to do whatever. Luckily, thanks to getting some fresh air, I was able to plan out this chapter a little better. I don't know if I said what season or month this fic was in, but as of now, it's spring.

Just to clear things up cuz I was actually a little confused while writing this: they met Hao on a Sunday, so chapter 11 was set on a Wednesday. This chapter is set on a Friday, two days later.

Unseal chapter 12: Taking a break

"I want to go outside."

Atobe turned to look at his younger teammate. It had been two days since they spoke, and that was the first thing he had to say? Though, it has been a while since he's been outside, and staying indoors would have gotten boring eventually. Still...

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" He asked. He could see the younger growing frustrated at his response.

"I want to go outside." Hiyoshi repeated, sending him a glare. "It's been days and I'm getting sick of staying inside." Atobe sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Hiyoshi, I don't think-"

"You have a backyard, don't you?" He asked, eyebrow raised. Atobe nodded, and something sparked in his friend's eyes. "That'll do then, I don't care where I go, as long as it's outside."

Atobe thought about it. Choutarou had told him that, under no circumstances, was Hiyoshi to leave the house. The backyard was technically in the house, so it was alright, right?

Right.

"Fine, change into something warm though, you know it's still pretty cold."

Hiyoshi ran over to the bag of clothes Choutarou brought over from his house, immediately saerching for the warmest pair he could find. Atobe sighed again, but smiled. It was good to see him so full of energy after sleeping for three days, then doing nothing for two. He watched as the younger boy ran into the bathroom to change and sighed, slipping a bookmark into the thick book.

His studies could wait. For now, he had to make someone happy.

xXxXxXx

"Dear lord, it's cold."

Atobe laughed, grabbing the shorter boy's arm when he tried to run back into the house.

"I warned you, didn't I? It's still spring, after all." He smirked when Hiyoshi glared at him. "Of course it's going to be cold."

"I dressed warm, and this is the thickest jacket I have." Hiyoshi said, lifting his arm up to show the sleeve of his blue denim jacket. The hood was furred, and he was wearing a black and white striped shirt that's sleeves just passed his fingertips. Atobe shook his head.

"Then you should have borrowed one of mine."

Hiyoshi huffed, looking around. It was the middle of spring, so he wasn't surprised to see the cherry trees in full bloom. He walked over to the closest one, staring as the pink petals floated down around him. He heard his captain approach, but didn't turn around. They stood on silence before Hiyoshi turned to look at him.

"Is there a corpse buried down there?" Atobe fixed him with a look that read 'what the hell?' before sighing.

"Do I really want to know what's going through your head this time?" He asked, closing his eyes. He heard Hiyoshi hum.

"No, no you don't."

He heard the younger boy walk around the yard, staring at the grass. His eyes shot open when there was a familiar bark, and he turned just in time to see Hiyoshi be tackled by Beat.

"Buchou." He said from the ground, attempting to push the friendly dog away. "Can you get your dog off me?"

Atobe laughed, clapping his hands. Beat stood up, running over to his master. Atobe crouched down to pet the fluffy dog. Hiyoshi walked over, sitting down next to him.

"Why does he always do that? The other dogs are so much more... tame." He said, putting him hand out to stop the dog from jumping on him again. Atobe laughed.

"He's just friendly, that's all. Besides, I thought you liked animals." Hiyoshi rolled his eyes.

"I can tolerate them. Remember? Shiraishi-san has me take care of his cat, and Choutarou has one too. It's a bit of an attention hog though. And Shishido-sempai has a dog too, so I'm used to it."

Atobe chuckled. "Well, you better get used to Beat if your going to be here a while."

Hiyoshi punched him.

xXxXxXx

Atobe flipped through the pages of another book, this time one about curses. Why he didn't have more of them, he didn't wonder. The owner of the shop he bought them from refused to let him know if there were anymore of it's kind, so he was stuck with a total of only around five. The books he had already read were in a pile on the floor, devided by whether they were useful, or if they were just a waste of his time.

Choutarou and the rest of the team had come by to visit, after learning that their teammate had woken up. Only Choutarou was told about the conversation two days ago, because Atobe promised to call him if his friend woke up. He was happy, but his reaction to what Hao had said seemed to have drained away any excitement.

Speaking of Hao, Atobe realized he hadn't heard from the white-haired demon since. Hiyoshi avoided all subjects concerning him, and Choutarou seemed to be uncomfortable with the subject. He hadn't been confronted by him for two days, and he had to wonder.

What was he up to?

He sighed, flipping the page of his book. His eyebrows slowly rose, the headline of the page catching his attention. He slowly rose from his slouched position to lean in, eyes scanning over the words and symbols. He stood up, slamming his hands on the desk.

"I found it!"

xXxXxXx

A/N: And that's it. Honestly, I don't know why I had trouble with this extremely short chapter. Perhaps it's because I kept getting distracted, or maybe I just didn't feel like writing it. Either way, it's finally done. Just one more chapter til arc 2.

Some people may recognize the jacket I descibed as the same one from Ano koro no Ouji-sama, from their baby pictures. Everytime i think of him in a jacket that always pops up. I figured that since it was huge on him then, that it should probably fit. And the dog in the middle is something I remembered from the anime version of the Rikkai arc. I also remember Atobe having a lot of pets, so this could only be one of his many dogs.