The Deer & The Owl [Haikyuu x OC]

July - I

That morning the air in the gym was heavy and muggy, unbreathable. Kaori opened all the windows to air out the place while the boys warmed up. The ventilation system had been having some problems over the past few weeks, and that, combined with the humidity typical of the rainy season, had contributed greatly to making those days of practice more tiring and stressful than usual.

They all needed to unplug and get a change of scenery for a while, but the team's annual summer camp still seemed far away.

"I still can't believe you're not going to be there, Nori-chan!" Yukie said, approaching the girl who was lining up the freshly filled water bottles on the bench in front of her.

"Yes, I really wanted to come. But my father is free the last week of July and the first week of August, and I didn't want to turn him down after all my mother's attempts to meet him." Shikako replied, thinking about how strange it would be to go back to Canada, even for a short time.

Since her parents' divorce, she had heard from her father only a few times, but she had made it a point to keep him informed about her school life, and now the fateful time had come to see him again.

She wasn't sure how she felt about it, she had never been a person to hold a grudge; she had never really come to hate him for what had happened, but she had simply distanced herself from him after she had quit the volleyball team. That's why the decision to put an ocean between them had seemed like the best solution to leave him behind, along with her past and everything else she was determined to forget.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the small lake she had created at her feet as she was busy filling the last of the water bottles for the team.

"Nori-chan, you're being more careless than usual lately!" exclaimed Yukie, handing her a towel "What are you thinking about? Or rather, who are you thinking about?" she added mischievously.

Shikako ignored her, just as she had ignored all the comments and jokes she had thrown at her since she had returned from her trip to Kyoto. She really didn't understand where she was going with this.

The boys' voices made her turn around: they had returned from their warm-up laps, already panting from the sweltering heat.

"Bokuto said he wants to run some more, he'll join us in a few minutes." Akaashi said and grabbed the water bottle Nori handed him.

They exchanged a quick look of understanding: they both knew why he was acting like this.

"Between the heat and the humidity, I don't think I'll have the strength to tolerate that idiot's whims today!" Yukie sighed, expressing what everyone else was thinking.

Keiji wiped his hot, sweaty face with the fresh towel, and after grabbing another one, he headed for Kotaro, determined to sacrifice himself for the good of the team as always.

He found him by the drinking fountains, his head bowed under the icy jet of water, which he raised with a sudden jerk, flooding him with droplets.

"We're waiting for you so we can start practicing serves, are you coming?"

"Hm..." Bokuto sighed and caught the towel Keiji threw him.

"I'm warning you, you're not the only one who's nervous today, everyone's tired and tense in this heat."

"I'm not nervous!" he said, trying to keep himself from sulking like his usual self.

It wasn't his fault that he felt that way, he was sorry that he always came across as the annoying, needy child, but he just wasn't able to pretend to keep what was going through his head inside.