Monochromatic: Haikyuu Fanfic

Chapter 5: Karasuno

Her room, 7:49 PM.

Umeko sat near the edge of her seat with a pen in her left hand. A decorative piece of paper laid in front of her, waiting to be filled. It wasn't as intricate as Fujimoto's stationery, because the store sold out of those type. Besides, the receiver of this mail values simplicity - she hoped that the light patterns bordered around the edges would suit to her liking.

She writes the following with her best penmanship she could muster:

Dear Mom,
How's it there in Tokyo? I hope you're not pushing yourself too much. I'm sorry I can't do much to support you. I swear I'll pay my own bills once I hit eighteen - you don't have to worry about me anymore. By the way, you should tell your boss to start paying you more, because you've been working so hard... I hope you still take breaks from every now and then...

Miyagi wasn't that much eventful for the most part. School is alright. My grades are okay, and I guess I'm doing well with my drawings recently too. Since I'm just a third year that popped out of nowhere, it's really no surprise that I didn't belong in any cliques.I did recently make a friend though - or at least got to see him again. Remember Oikawa? You would always scold me for doing really reckless things with him and Iwaizumi back then- like that time we jumped in that huge pile of leaves and we got covered in milipedes? Yeah, and it happened that those were the type that gives off a bad smell when they're threatened. I remember having to take that four hour bath and Oikawa kept blaming everything on me afterwards... He's still a brat though. I wonder how Iwaizumi is putting up with him?

Anyways, I hope you're doing well over there, and I wish you the best of luck in your work! Just remember to rest, eat properly and pamper yourself sometimes. It's probably hard to raise me up all by yourself. Thank you for everything.

I miss you so much. Come visit over the holidays, maybe?

With love,
Umeko Fukui

She tapped the pen on the tip of her chin and mused. Something's missing... She thought, and so she added something at the bottom of the page:

Do you like the stationery I got? I got it for a good price a couple blocks down-

"Hey... Why do you write your question marks like that?"

A voice popped right behind her. She immediately tensed up, head sapping back Oikawa just peeking right over her shoulder. In response, his shoulders tensed up as well.

"You're always so jumpy!"

"I forgot you're here..." She placed a hand on her chest - she could've gotten a heart attack from that surprise. He was lucky, for she had reflexes to hit someone within her bubble within half a second. With great care, she folded up the paper in thirds and sealed it with a small sticker, grumbling to herself about how he should learn some manners, mind his own business, and other things out of Oikawa's hearing range.

After that, she stood up and pushed Oikawa's shoulders in the direction of the door.

"That's it. You're losing your room privileges."

"But my parents aren't home yet! They still need to duplicate my keys because I lost it...!" He reasoned again, and Fukui merely rolled her eyes. Even if she said that, she couldn't move Oikawa one inch as he stood his ground stubbornly. With a heavy sigh of defeat, she lets her arms drop.

***
The next fifteen minutes consisted of just plain silence, with the television open for the news and Fukui working on her calculus homework. Oikawa played sets with his volleyball he brought to school, his back laying on the floor - Fukui didn't want his germs on her bed.

As much as Fukui didn't feel as lonely before, she doesn't exactly appreciate Oikawa popping out of nowhere just to lounge at the house without prior notice.

Well, it's just only five more minutes, right?

"By the way, if you think I'm just here to bother you, then you're wrong. I have other things to do too." He remarked and got up from the floor to retrieve an object from his gym bag. It was a CD, encased inside a protective plastic. A piece of masking tape labeled the case, with the following words written in black marker:

Karasuno vs. Dateko

"I have to watch this all night, y'know! Think of it as an educational video... for volleyball."

Fukui remained quiet, her dark brown eyes squinted to a word - Karasuno. Her expression looked troubled, as if trying to recall a rusty memory.

"Karasuno... I think I've heard of that from someone else before..."

Oikawa's eyes lit up. "Oh! Really?! You must've heard of their beauty managers! Lucky for them, they got another one recently. Ah wait now that you've said it... Aya-chan is one of the ones who strategize for the team...! Seriously... It might be hard to find the signals for tonight..."

Oikawa glanced outside her window to see his house across the road, and he could spot the windows in the living room was brightly lit. Immediately, he grabbed his gym bag and ran out of the room, leaving a confused Fukui behind.

"See ya tomorrow, Ume-chan! Thanks for having me!" He yelled and then followed the slam of the door shut. Fukui sighed exasperatingly.

...
...
*Somewhere out there*

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Ayame all walked home - the inky black skies and the atmosphere only filled the their surroundings with comfortable, serene quietness. Until...

"Achoo!" Ayame sniffled. She halted from walking, and so did the two first years that walked in front of her.

"'Are you taking care of yourself lately, Ayame?" Yamaguchi turned around, digging in his bag and handed her a tissue.

She nodded. "That's weird... It's not yet even allergy season yet..."

"Maybe someone was talking about you...?" Yamaguchi suggested.

"...That's just a myth." She sniffed once more and Tsukishima looked at her in sheer disgust. Mouth twitching to a frown.

"You're gross."

"Yeah, your personality is gross as well, but you don't see me complaining about it." She retorted, and with that, she threw the tissue with her snot in his direction. He missed it by a good half a second, much to his relief.

"I'm going home now, if you'll excuse me." She said as she walked ahead of the two, and Tsukishima still wore that irritated expression, mouth pursed into a pout as Yamaguchi laughed weakly.

"She's so irritating..." Tsukishima said.

"Oh really?" Yamaguchi questioned. He's dealt with Tsukishima all his life, Ayame is actually nothing compared to him. Yamaguchi said the following with great caution:

"I personally think you two will get along."

"I highly doubt that."