At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

seven - "sympathy shot"

Opening the door, letting Nira off the lead and placing his shoes to the side, Haiji hangs his jacket up and takes the bag of groceries from Chiyo.

"You didn't have to take a bag for me, Chiyo." He chuckles.

She steps inside and pulls her shoes off, waving a hand. "Don't worry. Do you need any help in the kitchen?"

The two walk down the hallway and turn into the kitchen to see Nico, Yuki and Prince sat at the table. Laughing together, Nico and Yuki wave as Haiji and Chiyo walk in, while Prince briefly glances up from his manga.

"This is Prince, Chiyo." Haiji tells her.

Prince nods his head, returning to his manga and she shrugs.

"I didn't realise you went out together." Nico raises an eyebrow, sending Yuki a side-eye.

Chiyo laughs. "I went for a walk and Haiji had gone to get groceries."

"I see," Yuki smirks. "Are we going for our usual run tonight, Haiji? The rain is supposed to stop at 5 pm."

Nodding, Haiji begins unpacking the groceries from the two bags. "Of course we are. Oh, Chiyo bought some drinks for us to have later, so we'll eat in the twins' room."

Chiyo smiles, head tilted. "I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay this weekend."

"Ahh, so he convinced you?" Nico questions.

Yuki scoffs. "It was only a matter of time."

She laughs. "I was persuaded by him, but also by my sister too. Haiji can't take all the credit."

"You have a sister?" Nico asks, leaning back in his chair.

Nodding, Chiyo places her bag on the table. "She's only my half-sister and she's much older than me, but we get on really well."

Haiji looks up from the receipt. "She had another kid, didn't she?"

"Mhm, they're three and six," Chiyo tells them, walking over to Haiji and scanning her eyes along the three receipts. "Together they're about ¥5100.52, in case you were trying to work it out."

Eyebrows raised, Haiji looks at her, Nico and Yuki surprised by her calculation too. Unaware of their eyes, Chiyo pulls out the various bottles and cans from her bag, as well as the manga she bought.

Glancing up from his page, Prince does a double-take when his eyes land on the 'Case Closed' manga on the table. "What's this?"

Chiyo picks it up, laughing lightly. "I read this when I was younger to learn Japanese and I saw it earlier so thought I'd buy it."

"Chiyo's mother is French." Haiji explains to the three.

Prince's eyes widen and he closes his manga, placing it on his lap. "You like manga?"

She shrugs. "I haven't read many in the last few years but I was always a fan of 'Case Closed'."

"No way." Prince shakes his head. "What else have you read?"

"Um, let me think," She counts on her fingers. "Slam Dunk, Bleach--"

He slams his hands down on the table. "I love Bleach."

Chiyo laughs. "It's a great read, quite a few volumes to keep up with though and my dad didn't like buying them all for me."

"I can let you borrow the volumes!" Prince suggests, standing up from his seat. "I'll go grab one right now."

When he hurries off out of the room, the four grin as they hear his footsteps up the stairs.

Haiji shrugs. "I told you this would happen."