116 Welcome Back

"Shiina-san! See you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye!"

Two girls shifted their shoulders to adjust their bags and waved their hands towards a girl with golden hair holding a pile of papers..

She looked at the people who greeted her and a gentle smile grew on her face as she said a few words back to her classmates who were leaving for the day.

"Be sure to wrap yourself up before leaving since it's getting cold."

"Don't worry, this scarf will keep me warm just fine!"

"If you say so." 

Mahiru giggled as she looked at the scarf that wrapped around the girl's neck and saw that the material looked very comfy.

She said a few more words with her classmates before she reorganized the papers in her hands and walked away but the girls noted that she looked a bit more cheery than usual.

"Shiina-san looks like she's in a good mood. Do you think something good happened?"

"Do you seriously have no clue?"

The girl looked speechless as she looked at her friend and saw her confused look that showed that she genuinely had know clue.

"How about this, don't you think that our school is missing the appearance of a certain person who can make the Angel fall in love." 

"Certain person..? Oh!! I get what you mean now."

The girl nodded seeing that her friend had gotten what she meant and the two looked warmly at Mahiru who had traveled quite far from them.

"But doesn't it kinda feel like a wife waiting for her husband to come home after traveling overseas for a trip..?"

"I.. can kinda see what you mean…"

"..."

"Hahh, I wish I could get a boyfriend so that I don't feel lonely this coming Christmas.."

"Same."

The two girls let out a defeated sigh but their eyes shined with newfound vigor as they would try to accomplish their wishes aftering their imagination fueled their thoughts.

Mahiru who was in the blind to their conversation, walked through the open hallway that connected the school to some other buildings, saw a few pieces of snow on the ground.

A misty breath came out when she felt the cold wind brush against her cheek and hurried her steps towards the gymnasium which was her destination.

"Alright everyone! Do one last point and we'll finish off the practice with some serves!"

""YESS!!""

Mahiru opened the door and quickly closed it and saw how the players at Karasuno were in a scrimmage with the Neighbourhood Association. 

"Thanks for getting the records Mahiru."

"You don't need to worry about it. I was just doing my part as a manager."

Kiyoko received the pile of papers from Mahiru and shuffled through them quickly before she returned to writing down some notes for the team.

Mahiru briefly looked at the table after finishing her task and grabbed her clipboard to do her next task with Yachi.

"Has there been any improvement compared to a few days ago?"

"There actually was. I would say that about 65% of the newer serves have been consistent and if we continue at this pace our serves may be a force to reckon with!"

"Yeah I can totally see that. Our team has been pretty focused with their serves so there was bound to be improvements from us."

"Right!"

Yachi nodded her head furiously when she heard Mahiru's analysis and thought about the last few days they had practice.

Thinking about the last few days, a few people popped up in her head and realized that today was the end of the event they were at.

"It felt quieter than usual the past few days but it looks like things are about to get really lively once again."

Yachi swung her legs as she wrote a few more things on her paper but a voice spoke out beside her that carried along a slight laugh. 

"You might have forgotten about the fuss a certain person made even when they were not here with us."

"...Hinata.."

Yachi's face froze when he recalled that moment when Daichi got a certain message that a member of their team had invited themself into one of the training camps which caused a bit of commotion on both sides.

"It might be because Haruto, Kageyama and Tsukishima were sent invitations so I guess he felt the need to do something." Mahiru said as she expressed her thoughts on the topic.

"But inviting himself to a camp was something I never would have thought he would do."

"What's done is done but the head coach at Shiratorizawa sure was kind enough to have him stay. Usually people would get kicked out right away if something like this happens."

"I guess so."

Yachi agreed with Kiyoko's point of view and stopped her train of thought on the subject.

"You guys! You have five more minutes left and then we'll wrap up our practice. I want to eat some hot food so don't make me stay back for too long."

Ukai's voice echoed through the gym and the people who were serving on the court began to fit in as many serves as they could before the supposed time limit ended.

"Hot food… Mahiru! Do you want to come check out the oden stall I told you about at lunch?"

Mahiru turned to Yachi who invited her out and thought for a bit before she showed a wry smile.

"Sorry but I have some plans after school. I wanted to get some groceries and I don't want to be too late in getting them."

"Ahh that's a shame.."

"Don't worry we'll check it out next time."

Mahiru covered her lips and let out a giggle seeing the face Yachi was showing as she looked like a deflated balloon.

'I should try to get some more meat for tonight.' 

Thinking of the list she opted to buy, Mahiru folded the paper she had on her clipboard before she tried to get her tasks done before she leaves for the day.

***

"Hmm… these should be enough for today and even for the next few days…"

Mahiru saw the contents of her plastic bags and felt like she might have bought a few more things than she had planned.

"There was a sale so it's fine…"

She convinced herself as she thought about the coupons on top of the drop in prices for certain ingredients that this might as well be her usual haul.

Gripping the bags a bit more tightly, Mahiru walked along the sidewalk where she continued to stare at her surroundings where she saw a few people walking, letting out the same fog come out of their mouths.

The same cold breeze brushed upon her cheeks and the urge to go home faster was once brought to her mind.

"Excuse me young lady but you look like you might need a hand there."

"Hmm?"

Mahiru then heard a familiar voice appear from right behind her that caused her to suddenly turn her head to see who the owner of the voice was.

What she saw was a tall figure wearing a black jacket and a scarf but there was something odd with what she saw first.

The person held a medium sized black cat plushie that had bright golden eyes in front of their face.

The person lowered the plushie and what she saw was a carefree smile that made her face bloom into a radiant smile in return.

"Hey it's sure was a coincidence to se—"

"Haruto!!!"

"Ouuuf–"

Haruto suddenly felt the impact of a person rushing towards his body and his arms subconsciously wrapped around the person's waist to support them.

Mahiru rose onto her toes and gave Haruto a long kiss before she separated and looked at him with a happy expression. 

"When did you arrive?"

"I just got off the bus a couple of minutes ago."

Haruto looked down and saw the image of Mahiru looking back at him with a hint of rosy red cheeks. He felt a gust of cold air hit his face and noticed how Mahiru's golden locks scattered slightly.

'Hmm…'

He stared at her for a couple of seconds before holding the cat plushie he had under his arms and took off the dark scarf he had around his neck. 

He wrapped the scarf around Mahiru's neck and adjusted it to prevent her hair from messing up and to keep her neck warm.

"That's better."

Haruto nodded to himself in satisfaction seeing Mahiru's current appearance and began to walk alongside her. 

Mahiru felt the warm scarf that was suddenly placed around her neck and a happy feeling grew inside her after seeing his actions.

"You sure got a ton of ingredients. Are you really going to use all of this?"

"There was a sale so I just got some...extra. Plus I'm only going to use some of them so you don't need to worry."

Mahiru responded as she felt Haruto's hand slid into her palm to grab the plastic bag she was carrying where she gave him one while carrying the other one.

"I wanted to ask since it caught my eye but what's with the cat plush?"

"I saw it in an arcade when I left my training camp and felt like it resembled you so I got it."

"Resembled me?"

Mahiru scanned the plushie and felt like other than the golden eyes it didn't really look that much like her.

"Yeah, it looks pretty sly and mischievous and also very stubborn. Ah, it also looks cute too."

"Are you sure you're talking about the plush and not me?"

"My lovely Mahiru I don't know what you mean."

She narrowed her eyes hearing his sudden choice of words and knew what he was teasing at.

This however made the moment even more enjoyable as it felt like Haruto had really returned.

The two quickly engaged into a long conversation that they didn't notice they had already arrived in front of Haruto's apartment without any warning.

"Ah my glorious apartment!"

Haruto took in a deep breath as he walked through the door and started to fall into his normal routine he hadn't done in quite a while.

"Wait! Stay there for a second!"

Before he could move, Mahiru suddenly stopped him and took the plastic bags towards the kitchen leaving Haruto behind.

A few seconds began to pass and Haruto began to wonder what was happening.

But his question was suddenly answered when he saw Mahiru appear wearing her signature red apron with her long golden hair tied up into a neat ponytail.

"Welcome back."

She said these words with such a beautiful smile that made Haruto slightly dazed despite already seeing this quite a few times.

"I'm back."

A chuckle escaped his lips in return to Mahiru's odd persistence to this interaction and walked into his apartment to spend time with one of his most special people.

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.