It's been a week since the visit at Koushi's parents. It was weekend and somehow I was preparing to go out again, but this time with my sister and Sana. I had no idea how those two came up with the idea that we should meet together, but I didn't question. I was in the middle of brushing my hair, getting more annoyed by the fact that it didn't cooperate at all when I heard the front door opening.
I peeked through the door and saw my best friend taking off her coat. "Make yourself at home, I guess." I chuckled.
"I was going to." She huffed, visibly glad to be out of the layers of clothing. "You're still not ready? Kaori will be pissed if we're late."
"As I remember correctly, you were always laughing at her punctuality." I pointed out before groaning audibly at the little tangle in my wet curls. "I swear I will cut those hair off!"
"Give me that." Sana took the brush out of my hand and directed me to sit on the bed while she gently brushed through every little tangle. Somehow it made my nerves settle down. "Why are you in such a bad mood? Is everything okay with you and the teacher?"
I took a deep breath before responding, trying not to take my frustration out on her. "Yeah, everything's great. We haven't seen each other much this week though. He has to prepare a show for his kids for Christmas. You know, the decorations, the whole scenario with rhymes and all. But at least I had a lot of time to draw after work." I said, feeling her fingers grabbing locks of my hair and making a small braid at the side of my head.
"Then why are you so nervous? It should calm you down." She said and I rolled my eyes.
"Hormones." I almost seethed, really hating my own body at the moment.
"Period?" She asked and I nodded lightly, making her grab my head. "Don't move or I will mess it up."
I waited patiently for her to finish and a minute later she moved away a little, admiring her work. I didn't see what exactly she did with my hair, but I felt her braiding the locks on both sides before connecting them at the back of my head. Knowing her, it looked pretty.
"Looks good. Now I want you to relax. It's a girls night, so I need you to smile and have fun." She stepped towards my closet and started looking through the clothes there.
"I'm already dressed." I said, making her look at my comfortable jeans and an oversized sweater. She looked like she wanted to say something, but one look at my slightly annoyed face was probably enough to make her let go.
"Okay, fine. I'll let it slide this time because you're bleeding. But you still have to dry your hair. It's freezing outside."
"You really start to act like a mother." I said jokingly, standing up to go to the bathroom.
"I have to practice on someone." She giggled before plopping down on my bed with a loud sigh.
It took me a couple of minutes to dry my hair and with already improved mood, I was finally ready to go out.
The drive to the restaurant was pretty fast. The biggest advantage of living in a small city was small traffic. At least when it weren't hours when everyone was rushing to or off work, but that wasn't a problem on a Saturday evening. While driving, I was trying hard not to speed despite Sana's rushing tone every time I had a free road ahead. I didn't want to risk of running into a certain policeman, who would surely make me remember how I was almost caught at the parking lot with my boyfriend last week.
"You drive like a grandma." She commented when we stopped in front of a small, cozy restaurant. The colorful lights outside made me think about Christmas despite it being only the middle of November.
"I didn't want you to give a birth on my seat from all that adrenaline." I bit back, it only resulting in Sana's clear laughter.
"Oh please, I would be really grateful. I want my little girl out as soon as possible, but I still need to wait a couple of weeks more." She stepped out of the car with a groan before I could even get to her and help. "Getting rid of that belly will be the best moment ever." She huffed and I frowned.
"My sister can tell you that it will not be the best moment ever. Believe me, I heard a lot about that." I interlocked my arm with her and together, we climbed a couple of stairs to the restaurant.
The interior was warm and inviting. It looked more like a big living room with lots of comfortable couches and tables. As I looked around, I spotted Kaori in one of the corner tables. It still felt weird to me that she started wearing something other than formal clothes and elegant pencil skirts, but at least she looked happier than while she was working at the bank.
When she spotted us, she waved slightly, and we marched to the table to greet her.
"Sana, you look great." Kaori smiled warmly to my friend, and I frowned jokingly.
"What about me?" I asked, hoping that she would say something nice, but she just clicked her tongue impatiently.
"You look the same as usual."
"Told you. You should wear something different." Sana commented while taking a seat on soft cushions of the couch.
"I have a feeling that you two getting along is a bad idea." I muttered, but they ignored my little comment.
"I actually wanted to meet to tell you something." Kaori looked at me, somehow managing to make me nervous. "But we should order first. I'm starving."
I let out the air out of my lungs. "Really? Can't you just tell me first and then we can eat?"
"Nope." Kaori said simply. "I want to build up some tension."
I plopped down next to Sana, trying to ignore her small smirk. I was curious, but even more than that, I was hungry. I didn't make anything to eat for almost whole day as I was feeling inspired to draw.
"I aspire to be this dramatic when I'm at her age." She said, gaining a disapproving look from my sister.
* * *
"Why didn't you bring Miyu with you?" Nishinoya whined.
"Right! We didn't invite you here for a boys-only night!" Tanaka nodded, taking a small cup with sake into his hands.
"You didn't say anything about girls either." Sugawara chuckled.
"Because you are the only one with a girlfriend!" Nishinoya yelled with accusation, pointing at the silver-haired man with his finger.
"Hey! What about Kiyoko?" Tanaka turned to Noya with a frown.
"She's your wife, not a girlfriend. And you didn't bring her either."
"Because she was tired and didn't want to come." Tanaka said grumpily. "But she will pick me up later. My goddess will drive me home after a night spent with friends. Isn't it great?" He said, wiping an invisible tear from his cheek."
"How much did he drink already?" Sugawara asked before taking a seat at the table.
They were in Nishinoya's apartment, which was small and looked like he had just moved in. The amount of furniture was reduced to necessary, which meant a couch, two chairs and a small table, now covered in old magazines and bottles of sake and small cups that he prepared for the evening. At the side of the room, there was an unmade futon that he used for sleep. There was no closet and most of his clothes seemed to be packed into a suitcase, while some of it was folded not so neatly on the floor next to the futon.
"Not much, he just got here." Nishinoya waved his hand, opening the bottle and pouring it for Sugawara.
"I'm driving." He raised his hand, making Noya look at him with a frown.
"Maybe Kiyoko can drive you home?" He looked at Tanaka hopefully.
The bald man smiled widely before nodding. "Of course she would! She's great. And kind and helps others. God, how did I end up with a woman like her?"
Nishinoya rolled his eyes before pouring him another cup. "I'm starting to regret inviting you. Are you going to talk about your wife all evening?" He asked, annoyed.
"I'm going to talk about her my whole life." Tanaka said proudly, taking the cup in his hands. Nishinoya grabbed it quickly before he could drink and set it on the table.
"Then no sake for you." He said before turning to Sugawara. He watched him for a moment thoughtfully before opening his mouth again. "Man, I can't believe that your girlfriend is Oikawa's cousin. I would hate it if I were you." He sighed.
Sugawara's brows furrowed as he watched his friend carefully. "She's not his cousin." He said slowly. Nishinoya's face seemed much paler than a moment before.
"But you said..." The shorter man looked at Tanaka, who's face suddenly became serious. "Over the phone you said that she was going to the cinema with her cousin." He finished, now watching Sugawara. "And she was there with Oikawa."
The room fell silent for a moment. Sugawara watched his two friends for any signs that they were joking, but their faces were stern. "Are you sure?" He finally asked. "She's Iwaizumi's cousin, so maybe they were all together?" He said, but both Tanaka and Nishinoya shook their heads.
"No, at least not when we saw them." The shorter man looked at his friend for a moment, mostly to assure himself that he saw everything right.
No one said anything more and the silence stretched over the room. After a moment Sugawara grabbed the cup and drank it whole in one long sip. Nishinoya poured him more and almost winced when his friend took another, long sip.
"Maybe they've just met there? By accident." Tanaka suggested quietly. It was weird to see him serious like this and that only made Sugawara chuckle darkly.
"I have no idea. But as soon as I see her, I will find out. Now tell me..." He leaned a little, looking at his friends with serious expression. "What exactly did you see?"
* * *
"You're pregnant!?" I yelled, making some of the people at other tables look at me. I sent them a quick, apologetic looks before looking at Kaori again. We managed to have a dinner, a dessert and now each of us had a cup of tea. And then, suddenly, Kaori just told us the revelation.
My sister drank her tea casually, not even looking at me. She looked calm and collected, as always, but this time she also looked really happy and proud of herself.
"I thought you said you would never have a baby again after giving birth once." I said, this time leaning a little over the table, so I didn't have to raise my voice.
I know that I overreacted a little, but I was shocked just like for the first time when she told me that she was pregnant.
"I know, but that was a long time ago. We always wanted to have at least two children and lately it just... happened." She admitted. It was the first time when I saw my sister blushing.
"Ooh, I sense something spicy happened. Please tell me all the details." Sana said, smirking over her tea as she leaned in closer.
"No! I don't want to hear any details." I raised my hand immediately. Sana chuckled, covering my ears with both her hands.
"You can tell me now. But quickly." She muttered, but I could hear every word she said.
"Nope, not working." I took her palms off my ears and looked at my sister with a huge smile. "Congratulations! To you both."
"Yeah, now I won't be the only one who can't drink. And when your baby is born, by daughter will have a little friend in her age." Sana chanted, already planning the future of both babies in her head.
It seemed like she had it all figured out already, making me laugh as I heard her talking. Kaori smiled widely as they chatted. When Sana offered that she could give her some baby clothes when her daughter grows out of them, I felt excluded.
Even though among my small circle of friends, I was the most childish of them all. I had a job as a waitress, only recently I found a boyfriend and my daily habits were a mess. And I was far away from having children myself. As I was thinking, Sana leaned a little towards me.
"You know you can get pregnant as well?" She asked, making me look at her with a deadpan.
"I wasn't thinking about that!" I said, sighing. "I was thinking about my job."
Kaori looked at me with a small smile as she sipped her tea. "What about it?" She asked, making me bite the inside of my cheek.
"I think I have to quit as well." I said, making both Sana and Kaori look at me with a surprised expressions.
"Wait, what?" My friend asked, watching my face carefully. Telling her seemed to be definite. "Why would you quit?" She asked, putting her teacup on the table, and moving a bit closer to me on the couch. Kaori watched me intently from the other side of the table and I felt like an animal in the zoo.
"I wanted to focus on drawing." I said, looking down at the table. "Koushi's brother has a wife that work for a magazine and from what I heard, she also knows some cartoonists. I thought I could ask her to set me up with some of her friends and I would start to work as one." I waited for them to say anything, but when the silence became too much, I looked up.
Sana had her mouth wide opened, and Kaori looked at me with a small smile on her lips. "You're kidding!" My friend yelled, pulling me in for a hug. At first I thought she was going to yell at me for being irresponsible, but she seemed really happy.
"You're not mad that I want to quit my job?" I asked, confused.
"No way I would be mad for you! You wanted to become a professional cartoonist for years. Now, when you decide that you will do something about it, I'll support you." Sana was still hugging me and when I looked at Kaori, I saw her smiling supportively as well.
Now, when I voiced my own opinions out loud, I felt like everything was going in a good direction.
Well I thought.