The Deer & The Owl [Haikyuu x OC]

November - I

Oddly enough, it was a warm Sunday: the clear, pastel blue sky contrasted with the vibrant autumn colours of the many trees surrounding the municipal gymnasium in Sumida ward. Zipping up her sweatshirt and taking a deep breath, Nori returned to the building, ready to resume her duties as manager.

The first qualifying match for the Spring Tournament had just finished, and as soon as she had heard the referee's whistle at the end of the second set, she had taken the opportunity to get some fresh air and release all the tension that had built up in the stands.

By now she was almost used to suppressing the anxiety that gripped her during every official competition. But when Nekoma took the field against Fukurodani, it was a different matter: of all the schools in Tokyo, it was the team that made her most nervous, not only because her mother was the reference teacher, who had fortunately managed to avoid attending every match through the intercession of Coach Nekomata because of her sacred love for the weekend, but also because of the harmony and rivalry that had existed for years between Bokuto and Kuroo.

This strange but solid friendship had always intrigued her, and she had often wondered how two characters as strong as theirs could never completely clash, but manage to coexist in a relationship that was at times almost fraternal. Unlike the kohai-senpai relationship that Kotaro had with Akaashi, the friendship with Tetsuro was based on something different, but very close to respect and recognition of mutual value. She noticed it most during the matches when they were opponents: they loved to tease each other before the match, but what those jokes really hid was a silent encouragement to push the other to be the best he could be, to beat him honestly and fairly, without sparing himself.

And this unspoken agreement that had bound them together for years, pushing them to constantly improve and surpass themselves, was what fascinated her most every time she saw them together, and the only thing that allowed her to forgive the nonsense and idiocy they showed off the court.

"Nori-chan! I didn't see you in the stands, are you okay?" asked Yukie, leaning against the wall in front of the door to the men's locker room when she saw her coming

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just have a little headache. Have you seen Kaori? I left her my notes right after the second set ended..."

"I caught a glimpse of her talking to Coach Yamiji near the vending machines earlier, while as for your notebook, I put it in your bag" she said, then approached with a suspicious look "Isn't it a bit hot to have your sweatshirt all zipped up?"

"Um... I have a bit of a sore throat" Shikako replied, backing away from her

"Mmm, you've been using that excuse for a while now..." she said in a mischievous tone, reaching for her zip and barely holding back a grin

But at that moment, the locker room door behind them jerked open, causing them to turn around.

"Oya? Nori-chin! Where have you been? I couldn't see you very well from the court!" exclaimed Bokuto as he trotted over to her

"Maybe it's for the best! I can't imagine what other damage you could have done if you'd been more distracted..." she muttered back

"Hey, don't yell at me too! The boys just gave me a hard time, I was hoping you could at least comfort me!" he whimpered, collapsing on top of her disconsolately

"Baka, you're going to crush me! Why don't you explain to me how the hell you said you forgot how to dunk diagonally and then come up with a shot like that after a few minutes?" she exclaimed, trying to hold up his dead weight.

She still found it hard to believe that such a thing was really possible, but as Akaashi had explained to her before and as she had seen herself on several occasions, one of Kotaro's many weaknesses was to concentrate on the actions of the game that he was good at and forget everything else in the meantime.