Yuki walks home with her, linking arms with Mitsuha as they pass the main town center. It's been an exceptionally busy day for the both of them, but Mitsuha can't begin to fathom how exhausting it must have been for her best friend, who's practically falling asleep as they trudge along.

They wait for the traffic to pass by as they stand at the sidewalk. Yuki's eyes are so heavy that she nearly stumbled in front of a delivery van, making Mitsuha pull her back in sheer terror. It didn't help that Yuki nearly dragged her to her own death too.

"You need to sleep," Mitsuha chides, after they've safely crossed the street. Mitsuha's decided to take a shortcut this time, if it meant that they would be faced with more death than usual.

"I need food," Yuki drawls, her head on Mitsuha's shoulder. "And sleep. And a girlfriend. And a-"

"You need a lot of things, I can tell," Mitsuha chuckles, patting her head. "But first, sleep."

Yuki murmurs an inaudible response as they come to Mitsuha's neighborhood, which is quiet at this time of the day. It's evening anyway, which means most people are home.

Most people, but not the volleyball team.

She practically drags Yuki by her feet in the last stretch to her house. It's a difficulty to shove the gate open when you have the weight of a sloth resting on your arm, but Mitsuha manages it regardless. The steps are easy enough to tackle, because she carefully places Yuki's drowsy body on them and walks inside.

"I'm home!" she calls out, as she places her bag down and slips off her shoes. Her aunt calls out to her from somewhere inside the house.

Mitsuha steps outside again, rolling up her sleeves. She squats slowly, and slowly takes Yuki's sleeping body into her arms, careful to not hit her head on the steps. Her feet stagger as the rest of her body struggles to cope with the additional weight in her arms, but she manages to find her balance and carry her into the house. Without a second's notice, she pulls off Yuki's shoes and throws them near her own pair.
Mitsuha decides to head for the living room and put Yuki on the couch there, after having a minute long conversation to either attempt the stairs and leave her in her room instead. Realizing she valued her spine more than Yuki, she goes for the easiest option, which is the living room.

She stumbles the whole way through, trying her best to not hit Yuki's head on the walls. The sigh of relief she lets out when she finally reaches the couch and lays Yuki's body on the couch must have been heard a continent away.

Her aunt comes out of the study, where she had been painting, by the looks of it. Her clothes are stained with stray strokes of different colors, and there are some green dots on her cheeks, like freckles.

"I brought home a Yuki," Mitsuha replies, very out of breath. She slumps against the wall, trying to remember what being a functional human felt like. Her aunt peers into the living room, and chuckles when she sees one of Yuki's arms stick out.

"It looks like she's heavily drunk," her aunt comments, hands at her hips. Mitsuha shrugs. She wouldn't put it past Yuki to drink in school and somehow get away with it.

Mitsuha decides to get up-a bad decision, really. Her back aches from carrying Yuki, and she's starting to feel like she doesn't need her arms. Still, she manages to get to her feet and her aunt pats her on the back supportively, as Mitsuha gives her a pained smile.

Slowly, she trudges to the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of chocolate milk from one of the shelves. Closing the fridge, she comes to sit near the kitchen counter and lazily opens the bottle.

Placing it to her lips, she's not ready for the feelings of bliss and pleasure that course through her when the liquid touches her tongue. It feels like a lazy day at the pool on a hot summer day.

She smiles to herself, her fingers idly drawing lines against the smooth marble of the counter. Two days have passed since White Day and all that's been running through her head is that moment when time seemed to have stopped when she curled up against Oikawa under the stars.

Her senses have been hyper-aware since then. She can't seem to shake off the feeling of his body against hers, the way his fingers fit nicely around her own, the warmth and comfort they shared even though it wasn't for very long. How the scent of the grass and evening dew mixed with his own scent of baby powder and musky cologne, which she didn't think was that bad of a combination. How she could hear his steady heartbeat when her head was against his neck, and feel the slow rises of his body as he breathed.

She's too deep in her thoughts that she doesn't hear the doorbell ring once, then twice, and then it's held for an arguably very long time.

Mitsuha scrambles to her feet, nearly dropping her bottle of chocolate milk. Scampering to the door, she opens it in a fit only to be greeted by a formally dressed woman, who looks too much like her.

Mitsuha's face of shock changes to one devoid of any expression. "Hi Mom," she mutters, stepping aside to let her mother enter.

Her mother raises her eyebrow at her, clicking her tongue softly. She steps in regardless, deftly taking off her heels and placing them near Mitsuha's beaten shoes. Thankfully for Mitsuha, her mother doesn't notice Yuki's hastily placed shoes.

"Is Hajime's mother home?" her mother asks, completely ignoring Mitsuha's greeting, but she's not surprised. This is how it's always been ever since her mother dropped off at her aunt's house when she was six years old.

"Yeah, I think she's painting," Mitsuha replies, following her as she heads for the living room. Angrily, she takes a swig from the chocolate milk bottle, scolding herself in her head because she's aware of how childish it is.

"Why is there a...body?" her mother asks, with obvious disgust. She points to the immovable mass on the couch, which has a blanket thrown across it.

"That's Yuki," Mitsuha deadpans, and crosses her arms. "She's sleeping."

"And she doesn't have a home of her own to sleep in?" her mother inquires, giving Mitsuha a disapproving look. Oh, how she hates that she can see herself in her mother's eyes.

"She lives on the other side of the mountain," Mitsuha replies, clearly not in the mood for this. "She's been up since four in the morning doing work-"

"She'll just have to get used to it!" her mother scoffs, fixing Mitsuha with a steely gaze. "It's not like I don't wake up at ungodly hours in the morning to go to work either."

All Mitsuha does is roll her eyes at her, and turns around to go into the study, not bothering to hear any more of her mother's complaints. She pokes her in, as her aunt waltzes around, headphones in and a brush in her hand, completely unaware of the commotion that was going on earlier.

Mitsuha waits until her aunt eventually notices her, and pulls out a headphone to give her an inquisitive look.
"Mom's here," Mitsuha says, pointing to the living room. "She wants to see you."

Her aunt gives her a knowing look, and places the paintbrush down before leaving the study. Mitsuha watches as her aunt goes into the living room and hears her greet her mother, which is cheerful despite how everyone felt at the sight of her mother.

Given normal circumstances, Mitsuha didn't hold much grudge against her mother when she left her here twelve years ago. If anything, she was happy she did, because if she had grown up in the toxic wasteland that used to be her home she wouldn't have liked the version of her that would have turned out. Sometimes, she still shudders at the thought of it.

She never really knew her parents all that well, which suited her enough. Iwaizumi's own parents had been more than enough to be the parental figures she needed in life. At least she wasn't ignored every single second of the day.

But the one thing she could hold against her mother was the fact that she never tried to show interest in Mitsuha's life, not even wishing her a happy birthday when it came to it. All Mitsuha got over the years were envelopes with money in it, and if she was lucky her mom popped in to spend a night at their house, before taking off in the morning. Which she suspected is what would happen today.

They're in the kitchen now, Mitsuha's mother chatting excessively as her aunt gives her a listening ear and nothing more. The kettle is boiling, and a tea cup has been set out, with a packet of biscuits near it. Her mother pays it no mind and continues to ramble about some work-related thing or another.

Mitsuha notices that Yuki has awoken and joined the other two women in the kitchen, her face groggy, no doubt woken up from her mother's loud rambling in the living room. Her face is filled with contempt, disgust, and other emotions Mitsuha can't find the words for at the moment. But it's clear that she doesn't approve of her mother's sudden appearance.

She decides to hang around by the stairs, not wanting to enter the kitchen for the fear of starting up another argument with her mother in front of everyone else. She's faced too much embarrassment from the countless times it's happened before whenever she came around.

She fiddles with her fingers when Hajime enters the house, sweaty and tired. He gives her a short greeting before taking off his shoes and placing his sports bag down, and pads into the kitchen. Her mother greets him with a pleasant cry, and Mitsuha rolls her eyes.

Bitch.

She can hear Hajime's hesitant greetings towards her, before he excuses himself and leaves the kitchen, coming to sit next to her on the stairs. "Go shower," Mitsuha mutters in disgust, swatting his arm away as he comes in for a one-sided hug. "You stink."

"You don't exactly smell like roses either, Mittsun," he chuckles, ruffling her hair with his palm as he stands up to go to the bathroom. He purposely pushes down on her head, making her cry in pain. She reaches to pull him down by the ankles but he dodges, his mocking laugh echoing as he clambers upstairs.

Dinner is a quiet yet tense affair. It's clear to everyone that Mitsuha's mother is put off by Yuki's presence, but her best friend doesn't seem to care as she's regained her usual chippy attitude. She's chatty, engaging everyone in conversation about the upcoming cultural festival and how she's really happy the preparations are going well.

"I can't wait for the volleyball club's stall," she quips, giving Hajime a side glance. He mutters something before burying his heads in his hands, and Mitsuha can see that the tips of his ears are burning up in shame or embarrassment. She can't tell.

"What have you got planned?" Mitsuha inquires, before taking a large helping of the curry before her, to spite her mother who's sitting next to her. She ignores the comments about proper table manners as she swallows down a large spoon of rice and curry.

"It's a secret!" Yuki interjects, before Hajime can say anything. Her voice is lined with mischief and she's doing her best not to laugh. "It's honestly gonna be the stand out in the festival, that's for sure." She nudges his shoulder, and he doesn't look up at anyone.

"What are you doing for the festival?" her mother asks pointedly, looking at Mitsuha in the corner of her eye. Mitsuha pays it no mind and continues to eat, only bothering to reply after she slurps down noodles.

"The band club's doing a jazz cafe," Mitsuha says dismissively, feeling sick pride build up in her chest as her mother's eyes widen in surprise. "It's honestly going to be nothing, just a couple of kids playing jazz and eating club sandwiches. So nothing fancy, I promise you."

Her mother's eyes are still carrying shock. "And who came up with that?"

"I did," Mitsuha replies, looking up at her now. "Why?"

Her mother's about to say something but decides against it, going back to her own plate of food. It's back to being quiet, and Mitsuha's glad because she doesn't have to answer any more of her mother's questions.

Plates are cleared away and glasses of water are passed around. The five of them sit there, engrossed in their own thoughts. Mitsuha's mind drifts back to Oikawa.

Just as she's getting to the memory of how warm he felt against her, her mother cuts through her train of thought. Mitsuha can't help but click her tongue in response, but apologizes immediately.

A slight moment of hurt passes through her mother's eyes which Mitsuha catches, but she's not going to entertain it. Her mother reaches for something in her briefcase, which is placed at her feet. After a few moments of ruffling through sheets, she finally pulls out a manila envelope.

"This came today," she says, handing it to Mitsuha. Her daughter takes it, and her eyes go to the address. Vienna, Austria is printed in a small box in the corner. "I decided to drop by and hand it to you before I went to Tokyo in the morning," she continues, watching Mitsuha carefully peel it open using her fingernail. Everyone's attention is now on Mitsuha and her envelope, and the former can hardly keep her breathing steady.

She reaches inside, and slowly pulls out a letter, the back facing her. Her mother can see the front, and Mitsuha can see tears build up in her eyes, something she hasn't seen in a while.

With a resigned sign she turns the letter around, reading slowly as her mother sniffles in the background. The tension has returned, but this time it's not because of Yuki.

Mitsuha can't register the words on the page. Too many things are being told to her in black letters, and they're mixing together. Her eyes are brimming with tears and it's making it even harder to read.

"Mittsun..." Yuki begins, her voice trailing off when Mitsuha puts the letter down and faces all of them with a wide smile.

"I'm going to Vienna!" she exclaims cheerfully, tears streaming down her cheeks, her arms in the air, the acceptance letter waving back and forth like a flag. "I got in!"