The Deer & The Owl [Haikyuu x OC]

April - II

The following days seemed brighter to Nori, as if a previously invisible veil was slowly lifting, revealing new and unexpected colors. She began to talk more with her classmates, and during lunch breaks she got into the habit of looking for Akaashi, who used to eat lunch with Bokuto, and so she began to spend more and more time with them.

During training, she often found herself chatting with Yukie and Kaori, and not only about technical matters related to the club. She wanted to get to know them better and discovered how different they were: Yukie had been dating a student from a nearby school for the past two years, although they had been fighting a lot lately, and she was also a big food lover. Kaori, on the other hand, had an older sister who lived overseas and two younger brothers for whom she would often babysit when she was free from school and club commitments, as her parents ran a small shop and were always busy. They were both very busy, but they managed to organize to see the last cherry trees in blossom and to have a picnic the following Saturday.

*

That Friday it was raining hard and windy, so much so that I had to drag myself to the entrance with one hand on my skirt and the other holding my umbrella, or what was left of it, trying not to get completely wet.

I got to class quite soaked, and as I put my hair into a braid, I noticed that the ends of my hair were dripping. I thought about the picnic planned for the next morning and huffed disconsolately, collapsing on my desk. I saw Akaashi nodding at me from the classroom door, obviously completely dry in contrast to me.

"Are you all right, Nori-san? Did you forget your umbrella?" he asked as he approached me.

"No, let's just say that the umbrella my grandmother lent me this morning has seen better days, and that I might have gotten less wet if I'd put a book over my head."

"I'm sorry. Just in case, to keep from catching a cold, you can use the showers in the club's locker room and put on your sweatpants until your uniform is completely dry." he suggested, pragmatic as always.

It wasn't a bad idea, but I was too lazy to even consider it.

"Don't worry, I endured worse downpours when I was in Canada. Let's just say I envy your pants now, which I would gladly trade for this useless skirt..." I replied with a sigh.

I saw him smile and blush slightly.

"I just hope the weather isn't so bad tomorrow!" I added to change the subject "I saw that the forecast said cloudy with some sunshine, but it was supposed to be sunny today too, so maybe they won't get it right tomorrow either. Too bad, who knows when we'll find another weekend where both Yukie and Kaori are free..." I said thoughtlessly.

"I see, so the picnic you talked about during training is set for this weekend?"

Only then did I realize the faux pas I had just committed: it was not very nice to talk about it in front of him, after all, I could have invited him, since he had always been helpful and kind to me, and we had been spending more and more time together in recent days.

"If you'd like, it would be great if you could join us! That is, if the weather improves..." I said, hoping he wouldn't take it as a forced invitation.

"All right, what should I bring?"

*

The next morning, fortunately, the sky had brightened and a few shy rays of sunlight peeked through the pile of clouds that hovered over the rooftops of Tokyo.

Nori left the house with a canvas tote bag filled with lots of onigiris, a thermos of green tea, some egg sandwiches, and even a box of mochi filled with peanut butter, her favorites. The subway was full of families and couples who, like her, seemed determined to take advantage of the beautiful day. She glanced carelessly at her cell phone and only then realized that she had left it on airplane mode from the night before so as not to drain the battery.