At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

twenty-one - "right behind you"

Wandering down the stairs, rubbing her eyes and tying half her shoulder-length hair up out of her face, Chiyo peers around the bannister and into the living room and kitchen of the lodge.

All the guys are sat at the table or lounging around on the sofa and armchairs.

"Morning, guys." She yawns.

From the head of the table, Haiji sends her a wave. "Morning, Chiyo. How did you sleep?"

She huffs, sliding her hands into the pocket of her jumper. "Not great, to be honest. Oh, I also didn't appreciate the 7 am wakeup call."

Yuki raises an eyebrow. "But you usually wake up at that time, don't you?"

"Haiji knocks on my door at 6 am and again at 7 am, but he doesn't normally leave an alarm clock ringing outside my room," Chiyo frowns. "I had to get up to switch it off and even then, he'd set an alarm for every 30 minutes."

"You've got issues, Haiji." Nico jokingly shakes his head.

Haiji shrugs. "It's called having a routine, Chiyo. Anyway, you're just in time."

"For what?" She asks, sitting on the arm of the sofa by Yuki.

"Hana-chan and her father are going to be here soon," He tells her. "We'll have a full engine in the van."

Chiyo nods. "That's great news. Does anyone need me to make a trip down the mountain to the store?"

The guys' glance between each other and Kakeru raises a hand.

"I could do with some hay fever medication," He asks. "I'm almost out."

"You have allergies?" Chiyo raises her eyebrows. "I didn't expect that. Sure, I'll make the trip once the van is fixed."

Jota grins. "I can't wait to see Hana-chan!"

Joji nods. "She's so cute!"

Chiyo leans forward and ruffles his hair. "What about me, hey? Am I old news now?"

Haiji stands up from the table. "We're going out for a run before lunch, want to take a look at the lake with Nira?"

"I'll grab some food and wait for Hana and her dad to come first," She raises an eyebrow. "Wait, didn't you run this morning?"

Yuki purses his lips. "Of course we did and we're running again."

Haiji stands with his hands on his hips. "It's a training camp, what else would we do? So, let's head out."

The guys inwardly groan, saying their goodbyes to Chiyo as they walk over to the door and pull their running shoes on.

Haiji turns back once they've walked out of the lodge and he smiles at her. "I'll see you later, Chiyo."

Taken aback by his comment, she waves him goodbye and once the door closes, she covers her reddening cheeks with her jumper sleeves.

-

Turning up the radio in the car, Chiyo flips her sunglasses down over her eyes, nodding her head to the music.

"That's right--" She raises a hand, singing to the song. Not knowing the rest of the words, she mumbles along to herself, perking up when the only other line she knows plays. "--yo Brand New Story!"

Curled up in the passenger seat, Nira looks up at Chiyo with her tongue hanging out her mouth.

"Sorry, Nira, I've not got the best singing voice, only dogs can hear me..." She glances at the dog, grimacing. "Which is probably why you're looking at me like that... Oh well."