HAIKYUU LEMONS!

Aone

"Want to go get dinner after this?" I jabbed at the report paper with my pen, leaving tiny blue dots all over it.

"Sure. Sushi?"

"Sounds good." I sighed. "This isn't getting anywhere."

"Maybe if you actually started working..." Emi, my co-worker and best friend in the cubicle next to me, dryly suggested.

"I hate the annual reports." I whined as I played with the lanyard around my neck, flipping my work ID back and forth. It was already six in the evening and people from advertising were already going home, leaving the finance department stuck with calculating the annual net income. I scowled at the sight of them strutting into the elevator and poked aggressively at my keyboard.

"You know what? I'll go home earlier than usual today. You'll see."

Emi snorted. "And when's that? 11 o'clock?"

"Shut up." I flipped the report to the first page and started keying in the numbers. After one straight hour of staring into a computer screen, I slumped back in my chair and opened my jaw in a satisfying yawn.

"How much did you get done?" Emi poked her head around the wall.

"A third."

"See, you could've done this in 3 hours, but you just had to procrastinate." She stood and started gathering her stuff. "I'm already done with mine. You'll have to come back after dinner to finish the rest."

"You're not coming back with me?" I shoved my stuff in my bag and threw my coat over my shoulders, rushing to catch up with her.

"Why would I? It's Friday."

I pouted. "Traitor."

Emi smiled and messed with my hair. "It's only two more hours. We'll eat fast."

And indeed, we did. By 8 o'clock, I was waving goodbye to Emi and heading back to the building, occasionally muttering under my breath about how I could be back in my apartment with a can of beer and a movie pulled up.

I shivered in my coat and jogged the rest of the way, panting by the time I was in the front lobby. I pressed the button 8 for my level in the elevator and dug in my pocket for my phone. 8:07. I can be home by around 10:00. I gave myself a miniature pep talk, telling myself to tough it out, and then I could be back home.

"Oh! Hey, uh, you in the grey coat!"

"Me?" I pointed to my chest and whipped around, looking for the speaker. "Oh, hey boss!" Wow. He doesn't even know my name. Maybe I should work a little bit harder.

"Yeah. I think you're the last one here, so could you clean up a bit after you're done?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, of course!"

"Great. Thanks!" He smiled and headed into the elevator, the doors closing not soon after.

Pffftt. Now I got cleanup work.

I sighed and slouched over to my desk, shedding off my coat and dropping into my chair.

The last one here, huh? Well, don't mind if I do.

I plucked a plastic cup out from a cabinet in the staff lounge, pulled up a song on my phone, and plopped it into the cup, using the cup as an amplifier.

I bopped my head along with the beats of the songs on my playlist, occasionally humming the chorus. Before I knew it, I was immersed in my work and tuned the outside world off.

Click.

Did I hear that right?

I shook my head and cracked my knuckles. Must be from the song. I looked at the time stamp on the bottom right of my computer. 9:30 p.m. About 30 more minutes and I can head home. I rolled my shoulders back and stretched my neck, settling my fingers back on the keyboard and resuming my typing.