The Deer & The Owl [Haikyuu x OC]

June - II

The interior of the gym was saturated with the intense smell of freshly applied paint, strong enough to cover even the lingering scent of floor wax that coated the worn parquet floors of the court, I observed as I followed Kuroo into the building.

"I'm glad Shikako-sensei couldn't help us today, otherwise we wouldn't have had a chance to finally make your acquaintance, Nori-san" he said at one point, turning to me with a wry smile "Bokuto has been telling me about you for months, and I was honestly really curious to see the famous new manager of Fukurodani with my own eyes. I can't say that I don't envy him a bit, this team really lacks a female touch. It's a shame you didn't choose to sign up here... but we'll have a chance to prove it to you when we get on the court." he concluded, opening the locker room door with a decisive snap.

I looked at him slightly impressed: in terms of self-confidence and self-esteem, used to Bokuto's nonsense, I would have expected nothing less from the Nekoma captain.

"Kenmaaa, I told you that I would confiscate your console if you ran away again. Come on, give it to me and go back over there and help us, or we won't be able to reopen the club tomorrow morning."

I looked down to where a boy with blond hair was looking at us annoyed, crouched against the wall.

"I bet that was your target, right?" Kuroo added with a grin.

"That's not true."

"It is true."

"It is not."

"Forget it... come on, let's go, we're still missing the last wall, and we certainly can't let Nori-san do all the dirty work!"

Kenma sighed, stood up and reached for the console he had hidden in his pocket, then froze.

"Oh, wait. Let me at least save, I finally unlocked the secret ending and I'm almost out of battery."

I was able to catch a glimpse of the screen, which flashed a game I thought I knew.

"You mean you finished all the routes of the seven main characters and unlocked the hidden alternate ending too?" I exclaimed in genuine amazement, finally recognizing the title he was playing with and unable to contain my curiosity.

He looked at me, blinked for a few seconds, and then nodded imperceptibly.

"Nori-san, it seems like you speak the same language as Kenma! I didn't think you were a gamer as well!" Kuroo exclaimed, slightly impressed.

"Well, I only have a few titles in that series... I like RPGs, but I'm not very good at them, to be honest..." I said, leaving out the fact that I was mostly a total mess as a gamer, always getting stuck in the middle of a game and losing patience and the desire to continue after a few failed attempts.

After leaving my cell phone charged, we went back to the others to finish the last bit of work before dark.

The guys were still strangely energetic, while I couldn't wait to take a nice shower and wash off the pungent smell of paint that was now so strong it almost made me sick.

I was starving, too, and as I thought about it, I remembered that before I arrived at Nekoma, I had noticed a konbini not far away: I could have dropped in and grabbed a quick bite! Maybe even something for the team, since we were pretty much done.

*

Nori placed the bags of snacks and cans on the ground and turned to call to the boys, who, realizing what she had done for them, looked at her with a mixture of devotion, gratitude, and amazement that made her blush.

They really needed a manager, she thought.

"Nori-san bought this food for us, she really did!" exclaimed Yamamoto, his eyes shining with emotion.