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Mikaela stayed the night at Kageyama's house, sleeping on the floor of his room. His parents were out- they typically were, for business trips and such- so she wasn't intruding nor did she have any problems sneaking into his house.

He didn't ask her anything, which she appreciated. Her cousin just took her inside, handed her a towel and steered her to the bathroom so she could shower, and threw her clothes in the dryer. Mikaela scrubbed at her face like no tomorrow when she showered, trying to erase any feeling of her mother's hand on her face. Her wrist received the same treatment- endless barrages of soap and such until her skin was scrubbed raw.

When she'd finished, she went to the small guest room in Kageyama's house and found her track pants and one of Kageyama's sweaters sitting on the bed. She'd kept her underwear, choosing to hang those up to dry in the bathroom while she showered. She smiled slightly, slipping the track pants on and tossing Kageyama's sweater over her head. He's the best.

Mikaela left her hair down so it would dry and left the guest room, navigating her cousin's house until she found his room. The door was swung open and she peered inside. To her surprise, Kageyama was laying down a mat, blanket, and a pillow on the floor.

He looked up. "Oh. I just didn't know if you'd, uh, rather sleep here or..." he trailed off.

"Here would be nice," she said softly, walking into his room. "Thank you."

Kageyama only nodded and moved back to sit on his own bed. Mikaela moved to the mat on the floor and sat down, cross-legged. "So, uh," Kageyama said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head, "do you... want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," she immediately quipped but her words were quickly followed by a sigh. "Yeah, that's a lie."

He smirked. "Yeah."

They both sat in silence for a few seconds. Mikaela had a miniature debate in her head as she tried to decide what she could tell Kageyama. Then again... he was her best friend. If she couldn't talk to him, then who could she talk to? "Um," she mumbled, her hand involuntarily rising to touch her cheek. "I uh, tried bringing up the training camp to my mom."

The setter had never really been one for private conversations, but he did his best: Kageyama sat quietly and listened to his cousin. "She didn't take it well," Mikaela continued, shaking her head. "She, uh, yelled. A lot. And I did too."

"Is that why you ran?" he asked quietly.

She didn't reply.

"You're not a runner," he said, watching her face for any signs of emotion. "You've never been a runner. Only a fighter. What did she say to make you run?"

Mikaela didn't know what to say. "It's not what she said," she mumbled when she got her voice back. "It's more... more like what she did."

Sure, Kageyama was pretty oblivious to most things. Mikaela was someone he understood; she was very similar to himself. Temperamental, prideful, stubborn, competitive. He'd learned to read her pretty well over their years spent together in middle school, and even now, he knew there was something she wasn't saying.

That, and she kept touching her cheek...

Not what she said, but what she did.

Kageyama's eyes widened in realization and fury. "Did she hit you?!"

She visibly flinched, and Kageyama went silent in shock. She suddenly looked so... small. This was not a Mikaela he was used to seeing. "You have no tact, honestly," she huffed quietly, tucking her knees up to her chest. She looked away. "...yeah. So I took off."

He didn't really know what to say, so instead he slid off his bed and knelt next to his cousin, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into him, not crying, but shivering. Kageyama tightened his grip, no words of comfort coming to mind.

"Sorry," she murmured.

Kageyama huffed. "Shut up, moron. Nothing to be sorry for."

He didn't have to look at her to know she was smiling- probably not a huge smile, but maybe a half smile. "Can we sleep?" she mumbled into his chest.

He nodded against her shoulder. "You going to be okay?"

"Sure."

Kageyama let go of the manager and moved back towards his own bed, laying down. Mikaela shifted onto her side, pulling the blanket he had given her around her shoulders. "G'night, Kai," he said quietly, his mind still buzzing.

"Good night," she said back, her eyes closing.

Kageyama didn't fall asleep for at least another hour.


Practice the next day continued as normal. Since it was summer break, the lack of classes should've been an incentive to relax, but nearly the entire team chose to use their time to train. Hell, even Tsukishima showed up every once in a while.

Sure, they had team practices- but the gym was often occupied long before and after the practice was.

The biggest surprise to Mikaela was Hinata. He took off right after practice was over and wasn't around until close to when practice started. Mikaela asked Coach Ukai, but he told her that Hinata was off practicing with someone else, so she let it go. He hadn't spoken to Kageyama at all since their fight, nor did her cousin seem overly inclined to talk to him.

Mikaela spent most of the day working with Kageyama- and when she wasn't, she was helping Shimizu with manager things or Coach Ukai with organizing plays. The team practice was just about finished- Hinata had already taken off, Nishinoya was working with Sugawara on setting, and Azumane was heading to the back of the court with a ball, presumably to work on serving.

Kageyama had already started setting up water bottles to use as target points, and she was about to grab a few volleyballs and go toss to him when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She jumped, then turned around and realized it was just Coach Ukai. "Oh, Coach," she said, relieved, "What's up?"

"Jumpy, aren't ya?" he mused, and she shrugged sheepishly. "Um, Takeda-sensei got an interesting call today."

"Okay," Mikaela said uncertainly.

He paused, shifting his posture. "It was... from your mother."

Mikaela's blood went cold. She already knew what this was about. "And?" she snapped, her voice sharp.

Ukai raised his eyebrows at the sudden ferocity in her voice. "Well, judging by how frazzled Takeda looked, your mother is a very terrifying woman. And from what he told me, you're to be kicked off the team immediately and you're forbidden from going to the training camp."

Mikaela felt pure loathing build up in her body, and her hands squeezed the volleyball so hard that she wouldn't have been surprised if it popped. "What did he tell her?" she managed, her voice low.

The coach shrugged. "He told her that he'd have to talk to me, and she threatened to have him fired and take the matter up with the principal."

Her heart sank in her chest. "Oh, god," she murmured, shaking her head. "She's serious."

"She could do that?" Ukai said, frowning. "How the hell does she have that sort of authority?"

"She..." Mikaela trailed off, shaking her head. Her mother has gone from zero to one hundred really quickly- and she never made a threat she hadn't followed through on. "She's a lawyer," she said eventually, "one of the best in Japan. She doesn't take many cases, but..." the black-haired girl sighed. "She could definitely dig up something against Takeda-sensei or the school or something and blow it up. Even if his record's clean. I've seen her do it."

Ukai looked like he wanted to curse, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he pursed his lips. "So she'll follow through on her threats."

"Yes," Mikaela said numbly. Her head buzzed- she should've known her mother would try something like this. Her pride had been wounded- and Kageyama Monomi never lost a battle. Especially not to her own daughter. "Are you... Are you going to kick me off the team?" she asked quietly, already dreading the answer.

"Do you want me to?" he asked.

"No," she mumbled.

"Then no way in hell," Ukai said firmly, making Mikaela's eyes widen in surprise. "It's clear that this isn't for your benefit, and you've got some good eyes and good ideas. If you want to be here, then I'm not making you leave."

Relief flooded her, and happy tears almost sparked in her eyes. She bowed quickly and said, "t- thank you, thank you. But Takeda-sensei..."

"He had some work to do, so he left early," Ukai said with a wave of his hand. "He doesn't want you off the team either."

"I'm so sorry I caused you trouble," Mikaela said with a long, shaky breath. "This is my fault."

Ukai was about to add something when Mikaela saw Kageyama heading towards them out of the corner of her eye. "Kaisha? You good?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mom's threatened Takeda-sensei," the dark-haired girl blurted out. "She wants me off the team."

"What?!"

Ukai huffed, crossing his arms. "Look, the last thing I want is for this to be a problem for your family. Can you get this sorted out or is there anything that I could do? Or Takeda? We want you at that training camp but I don't want him fired."

Mikaela frowned, already knowing what the answer had to be. "I'll talk to her. I can reason with her." Her coach cocked an eyebrow at her. Even Kageyama looked skeptical. "Okay, well, I'll try," she amended.

"I'm not letting you go back home," her cousin said immediately, and when Mikaela heavily glared at him, he added, "alone." She knew exactly what he was referring to, but Ukai didn't. No one else did. No one else could know.

"So you two can try to sort this out?" Ukai clarified, and they glanced at each other and nodded. "Okay. Kageyama, you have my number, you can let me know when everything works out. If it doesn't..." he exhaled slowly. "If you're sure that your mother would go through with this, then Takeda's in trouble."

"I'll try," she said, swallowing. "And if not... I guess you won't see me on that trip."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." The coach clapped her on the shoulder, nearly making her flinch. "Thanks, Mikaela. I don't know what exactly is going on, but I hope you work it out." She murmured her thanks to him and bowed slightly. Ukai rolled his eyes, told them to contact him as soon as they knew more, and walked away to go talk to Sugawara.

"So," Kageyama said, glancing at her. "What now?"

"You're going to practice some setting," she decided, "and I'm going to help. Then, we'll go to my place."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Have to blow off some steam?"

"You know it," the black-haired girl said with a laugh.

So they practiced. She tossed, he set. Mikaela just wanted to do something without thinking of her mom, at least for a little while. And Kageyama was one hundred percent willing to practice volleyball for hours on end, so it worked out for both of them. Granted, she never really did much- but Kageyama was nailing his set more and more often (which was only one in ten sets... come on, it used to be one in twenty) and that made her happy.

She was in a significantly better mood, ten minutes later, when Yamaguchi came to borrow one half of their court for serving. He served on the same side of the court that they were practicing on, some Mikaela watched his jump floater serves soar over her head and hit the court on the other side. Jump floaters were hard- kudos to Yamaguchi for doing so well with them.

Another fifteen minutes or so passed when Yamaguchi stopped serving. "I'm walking home with Tsukki," he explained breathlessly, tired from his serving. "Good practice today!"

"See you tomorrow," she said with a small wave, trying to smile. The kid was just so fricking nice that she couldn't help but try.

He smiled at her, and then his grin softened. "Mikaela-san, sorry for my bluntness, but... did you walk into something?"

She stiffened, temporarily forgetting to tell him to drop the honorifics. "What?"

"Bruising," Yamaguchi explained with a shrug. "On your cheek."

It felt like an ice cold hand had just grabbed her heart and squeezed. She dug her finger nails into her palm. "Oh, yeah," she said, forcing a casual chuckle of some sort. "Wasn't looking where I was going and walked into a cupboard."

"Klutz," Kageyama said in an effort to back up her lie. He nudged her softly, his eyes betraying his concern. She scowled at him and swatted his hand away. Yamaguchi smiled at them both and walked over to the bench.

Mikaela immediately turned to her cousin. "How bad?" she said quietly, swallowing.

He shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "Not bad," he said eventually.

"I never even thought to check-"

"Walked into a cupboard?" someone said aloud, and Mikaela whipped her head around to glare at Tsukishima, who was walking by with his volleyball stuff packed away in a bag and swung over his back. "Might've lost a few of those precious brain cells."

"Says the one who wouldn't get three feet without his glasses," Mikaela shot back immediately, rolling her eyes. Whatever had happened between them yesterday, Tsukishima had chosen to ignore. Which was fine with her.

He snorted, jamming his hands into his pockets and turning to glare at her. "You'd need a map to get out of your own closet."

"Well, you'd have a GPS to get you to the other side of your house and you'd still get lost."

"At least I'm smart enough to avoid walking into cupboards."

"But not smart enough to double knot your shoe laces," she retorted. Tsukishima glanced down to notice that she was right- his shoe lace was starting to unravel. She smirked at him and he scowled right back, but his pride kept him from bending down to tie his shoe. "Sorry, Tsukishima-san," Mikaela added sarcastically, smirking, "maybe you didn't make it past the 'learning to tie your shoes' bit as a kid."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Drop the 'san', it makes you sound respectful."

She almost lost all the playfulness in her eyes- that was what he said to her last night. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sugawara pause whatever he was doing and glance at the two of them. Sawamura was on the bench, gulping down water, and Tanaka was standing next to him, his eyes whipped back and forth between the two of them as their banter grew increasingly louder.

Fine, then. If this is his way of checking on me, so be it. "You wouldn't know respect if it hit you in the face," she said with a roll of her eyes. I can play along.

"You must be two people," the blond mused, watching the confusion flash across her face. "Because there's no way a single person could be that stupid."

(Nishinoya's jaw dropped. Sugawara dropped the volleyball he was holding and starting marching over to break up... whatever this was.)

Mikaela laughed. Maybe, some other time, she'd be hurt by what he was saying, but she could tell he didn't really mean it- he just wanted a rise out of her. She knew girls similar to him at Niiyama, and she knew exactly when they'd switch to hurtful instead of friendly banter. "If you were any dumber," she said with a wave of her hand, "someone would have to water you twice a week."

(Sawamura choked on his water, and Yamaguchi was there like lightning to smack him on the back)

"If there were any intelligent thoughts left in your head," he countered, smirking, "they would die from loneliness."

"You have the charm of a burning orphanage." She heard Kageyama cough behind her, muttering something under his breath, and she watched Tsukishima's eyebrows fly to the top of his head as he smirked at her.

Funny, it almost looked like he was grinning. "Says the one who has as much charm as a dead slug."

She almost laughed again. "You-"

"Oh my god, enough!"

Sugawara planted himself between them with a telltale you-two-are-driving-me-crazy expression on his face. The pout on his face nearly made Mikaela apologize right then and there. "Honestly, you two. What was that?"

She shrugged. "That was fun."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Of course, you-"

Sugawara turned so fast that he looked like he may have teleported and pointed a finger in Tsukishima's face. "Not another word," he warned, and the blond actually leaned backwards. "Go home. Both of you."

"Sorry, Sugawara-san," she apologized, ducking her head.

"Sorry, senpai," Tsukishima muttered.

The grey-haired boy sighed and waved his hands. "You two are crazy," he muttered as he walked away, going to consult the vice captain, shaking his head.

("There's two of them," their captain muttered, shaking his head and rocking back and worth on his heels. "There's two of them.")

Kageyama gave her a sideways look. She shrugged at him. "Ready to go?"

He opened his mouth to respond, and instead just shut it again and nodded. She grinned at him and made her way to the side of the gym, grabbed her bag, and headed towards the door. Kageyama trailed after her, shrugging apologetically to Sugawara, then turned to her. "What the hell was that?"

She rolled her eyes, nearly skipping as she made her way down the stairs. "That," she emphasized, grinning at her cousin, "was fun."

"But- how?" he asked, jogging to catch up with her. "I've never seen you do that."

Mikaela shrugged. "You know you were my only friend in middle school, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"That's because I wasn't exactly a saint, Tobio. I was pretty rude. With some of the girls at school, it was tough. If you weren't tough, you were eaten for breakfast. So I learned to be mean."

"But you were nice to the volleyball girls."

She paused. "That was different."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure." Mikaela glared at him playfully and he shoved her shoulder. "So did you mean what you said? To Tsukishima?"

Mikaela didn't even hesitate- she shook her head. "Nah. He didn't mean any of it either, I think." She half-smiled. "He's smart, actually. I think... I think that may have been his way to check if I was okay from yesterday without sacrificing his reputation as an uncaring, sarcastic asshole."

"You think?" Kageyama said slowly, scratching his head.

She shrugged. "Maybe-"

"Don't get your hopes up, 'Your Highness'."

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Go away, Cactus."

"We have to walk the same way to get home," Tsukishima countered, and she glanced over her shoulder to see him walking with Yamaguchi. The dark-haired boy smiled and waved at her and she smiled back, grateful for his friendliness. "And I don't care about your well being, frankly. You're imagining things. Are you delusional now?"

"Am I?" she mused, glancing back at him and cocking an eyebrow. "Am I really?"

To her surprise, Tsukishima didn't reply. He huffed, rolled his eyes, and then avoided her gaze, a tint of color on his cheeks. "Yes, you are," he eventually scowled.

"Sure then," the manager conceded, surprised. Yamaguchi shrugged at her apologetically and she shrugged back. Mikaela turned around again, glancing at her cousin, who had his usual scowl plastered on his face. She mustered up a smile.

When they hit the fork in the road, Kageyama turned right to walk with her- she'd nearly forgotten that she had to go talk to her mother. To her disgruntlement, Tsukishima turned as well. Yamaguchi waved and took off the other way.

"You following us, bean pole?" Kageyama grunted, glaring at the taller boy.

He snorted. "As if. I live this way, King. Don't you live the other way?"

"He's coming to my place," Mikaela put in, her eyes flitting between Tsukishima and Kageyama.

"Whatever," Tsukishima said, rolling his eyes and pulling his headphones over his ears, fiddling with his phone until he was satisfied with the song. He jammed his phone in his jacket pocket. "Just don't bother me."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking, Kageyama muttering under his breath as they walked. She almost laughed at him, but instead, the ex-volleyball player settled for a smile. The wind was light, but it tossed her long bangs in her face, so she was constantly brushing them behind her ear.

They made it to her house. Mikaela tossed a glance over her shoulder. Tsukishima hadn't even looked up, but he kept walking. "See ya, Cactus," she called.

He glanced up and frowned. "Hopefully not," he grumbled, turning back to the road.

Kageyama shook his head. "I don't know how you can put up with him. Everything he does is just to rile people up. It's so... stupid."

"He can bother me all he wants," she said with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"But you freaked out at him on the first day."

Mikaela's facial features pinched together, like she had tasted something sour. "He mocked me about volleyball," she said quietly, suddenly more conscious of the ache in her leg. "That's something I won't tolerate."

Kageyama, not a stranger to her feelings, just nodded solemnly. He understood.

After all, he'd felt the same.

"Alright," Mikaela said to herself, rubbing her hands together. "I can do this."

Kageyama nodded, and then, almost as an afterthought, added, "we can do this."

His words alone filled her with confidence, and she grinned. Kageyama had changed: he had gone from trying to do everything on the volleyball court himself to putting some trust in his team mates and allowing them to play their way. Now, it's almost like he was channeling that same mindset into her. She wasn't alone.

"We can do this," she echoed.

So Mikaela inhaled slowly and pushed open the door.

She tried to make the situation as normal as possible. She pushed open the door, swung her bag off her shoulder and settled it against the wall, and slipped her shoes off. Kageyama followed suit. She didn't know whether she should say something or not. But she didn't have to decide, because a familiar figure stepped out from the kitchen and frowned at her. She was dressed in a maroon blouse, black sleek pants, and had her hair pinned up on her head.

She must've had a work meeting earlier. "Hi, Mom," Mikaela said stiffly.

"Kaisha," her mother said in acknowledgement, her tone cold. She raised her eyebrows. "Hello, Tobio."

He just nodded at her. "Hey, Aunt Monomi."

There was an awkward pause, during which Mikaela and her mother glared at each other and Kageyama waited to see which bomb would explode first.

Mikaela spoke first. "I don't appreciate you calling the school to get me off the team and threatening to fire my teacher."

"I don't appreciate you running away, without a word to where you were going, and not returning until now," her mother returned icily. Kageyama wanted to interject- wasn't it obvious why she ran away?- but he knew better than to say anything. He touched his cousin's back gently, remind her silently that they had to be civil if they wanted to strike a deal.

Mikaela was grinding her teeth together, frustrated. Kageyama had never seen her so tense- not even before the volleyball finals in her junior years. "I want to make a deal," she said stiffly, her gaze never wavering as she glared down her mother.

Kageyama Monomi didn't speak, thinking. Eventually, her voice as cold as ice, she said, "I'm listening." Deals were something she understood.

"I'm not leaving the team," she said first. Kageyama knew that probably wasn't the right thing to say because her mother's eyes narrowed. "And I'm going to the training camp." And now she's adding salt to the wound. The setter almost laughed- she could be so blunt sometimes.

His aunt seemed less than pleased. "You already know how I feel about that."

"And," Mikaela forged on, undeterred, "if you allow me to continue with this club and all the activities that come with it, I'll stay home."

Kageyama paused, confused. Monomi seemed the same. "How is this supposed to help your argument?" her mother quipped, crossing her arms.

"Because," the black-haired manager said, a glint in her eyes, "I'll leave."

Her mother paused, effectively stumped.

"I will leave," Mikaela said, her voice low, "and I will go live with Dad. I won't come back here."

Kageyama nearly flinched from the sudden anger that flared up in his aunt. "How dare you even consider that!" she hissed, stepping forwards and jabbing a finger at her daughter. "You know what happened between your father and I."

"Yep," Mikaela agreed, "which is why I'll stay. As long as you let me continue being the manager for Tobio's volleyball team."

Her mother had nothing to say. Kageyama was proud of Mikaela- from what he knew, this was probably the first time she'd ever shut her down so effectively.

"I won't even mention any of this to Dad," the ex-volleyball player added.

"...Fine."

Kageyama's hand squeezed Mikaela's arm in a silent message. Yes!

"But," her mother continued, "I want you home every night by six, sharp. No excuses. You'll be able to study for a few hours. If you ever want to be out after that time, I need to know, or there will be severe consequences."

Mikaela bit her lip. Her mother's conditions were bothersome, but manageable. "Alright."

"There will be an increase in your grades," she forged on, "or else I can and I will pull you from the team."

"Alright," Mikaela repeated, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Her grades were already good- her mother just expected more. Ugh. "Anything else?"

Monomi paused, frowning. The silence was tense until she said, "not that I can think of."

"So I'll come home by six every night unless I have a very good excuse," the black-haired girl clarified. Her mother pursed her lips. "And I'll raise my grades. And in return, I can stay on the team and go to the training camps and you won't threaten to fire my teachers."

"We have a deal," her mother said, satisfied. "When's your training camp?"

"In six days. I'll be gone for a week."

"Acceptable." Her mother nodded to her, then to her cousin. "You'd best be getting home, Tobio," she warned. "Kaisha has some studying to do." With that, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

Mikaela sighed, rolling her eyes. "She always has to have the last word," she said with a shrug. She grinned. "We did it."

"Yeah," Kageyama agreed. He hadn't really done anything at all, and even though her mother's conditions were a bit over the top, Mikaela was still going to be the team's manager. And that was what mattered. "Good job."

"I'm surprised she agreed," the black-haired girl muttered, shaking her head. "I guess... I guess she really does hate Dad that much."

Kageyama felt a pang in his chest as he saw his cousin's face fall. He knew that she preferred her father over her mother, and the divorce hadn't been easy on her- he'd hung out with her multiple times when she was too nervous to go home, in case her parents were still fighting.

"See you tomorrow?" she said with a grin.

"Bright and early," he agreed. "I'll drop by and we can walk over."

"Six in the morning?"

"Six in the morning."

"Awesome," she breathed, sighing blissfully. "This curfew thing won't be easy, but it's better than nothing." Mikaela pulled Kageyama into a hug, and he hugged her back. "Text Coach for me, will you?"

"Okay," Kageyama agreed, putting his shoes back on. Taking his shoes off had been kind of pointless- he'd never made it past the front hall. "But if she..." his voice faltered, and his cousin knew exactly what he was talking about. "If she does anything," he said slowly, "tell me, and I'll get you out of the house. And we'll figure out a way for you to stay on the team."

"Okay," Mikaela said softly. She bit her lip. "Yeah, okay."

He nodded, satisfied, and opened the door to leave. He turned around one last time. "See ya, Kaisha," he said, waving at her before he shut the door.

She smiled back at him, and waved. "See you tomorrow."

This wasn't ideal- but she could work with it.

She'd have to.

It was the only way she'd get anywhere near being able to play volleyball again.


Kageyama Tobio (18:02): Mikaela worked it out with her mother. She can come to training camp.

Coach Ukai (18:05): Good.

Coach Ukai (18:05): And Takeda doesn't have to worry about getting fired?

Kageyama Tobio (18:06): No.

Coach Ukai (18:06): Good. See you tomorrow.


"My name's Mikaela Kaisha," she announced proudly, holding her head up high. "Class 1-6. I'm from Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High and I played wing spiker. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed, clenching her hands into fists out of nerves.

"Double-handed Demon?" one of the older girls asked, and Mikaela looked up. "That's your nickname, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Mikaela said, trying not to show how nervous she actually felt.

One girl crossed her arms and frowned. "So you're the one that was awarded Best Hitter. You're a lefty."

It was a statement, not a question. "Ambidextrous, actually," she clarified, nodding. The other girls nodded, seemingly impressed.

The Niiyama Girls' volleyball team were tall and intimidating- all of them were. They seemed... nice, she guessed, but it was mostly cold politeness. There were a lot of girls here; they were going to have to do try outs for the team.

"Kinomi Asui," the girl next to her announced, "Class 1-5, from Shiratorizawa Academy Junior High." Mikaela's head snapped up as the girl forged on. "I was awarded Best Server in Junior High and I played wing spiker!"

Mikaela knew her. She remembered her from her finals match. That award was well placed- she had a wicked jump serve that wasn't as extreme in control as Oikawa's, but it had enough power that made receiving it incredibly difficult. This girl had scored quite a few service aces against their team in that finals match.

And she was a wing spiker.

And from the way this girl was glaring at her, she'd already claimed her as her rival. Mikaela glared right back, unwilling to back down. Why did she have to have a rival already? What had she done?

"I remember watching that game," one of the girls said, tapping a finger to her chin. "You did have quite the serve."

"And I've worked on it since then," Kinomi declared, shooting a look of pure loathing Mikaela's way. "It's even better now."

"We'll have to see it," the tallest girl on the team said, and they moved on to the next person.

But Mikaela wasn't paying attention. All her attention was set on this blonde girl who would not stop glaring at her. "Can I help you?" she hissed through her teeth, turning to Kinomi. She tried to pay attention to the next few new girls, but she couldn't concentrate.

"I refuse to play with someone like you," she hissed back.

"Someone like me?!"

"You're my rival," Kinomi muttered, her glare as sharp as a viper's, "and you've been my rival since that finals match. I refuse to play with you until I can beat you."

Mikaela's mouth opened and closed as she was rendered speechless. She didn't even know what to say. "Well, we're on the same team now," she murmured, her eyes following the captain of the Niiyama team as she started her own introduction.

"Not yet we aren't," she replied.

Oh, it's on, Mikaela thought. She wanted a fight? She'd give her one.


Hello hello! Wow this chapter turned out way longer than I was expected. I told myself, two thousand to three thousand words a chapter. And here we are. But there was no place I could really... break this up, I guess. And I wanted to hurry myself up, anyways- I've got some stuff planned for the training camp.

And surprise!- next chapter's even longer. It's over seven thousand words, yikes.

Sayori1412: Oh good! I'm so glad you thought he was in character, it's so difficult XD For sure, more Tsukishima and Mikaela moments ;) Thank you for your review! :)

snowlikestardust: THANK YOU! I agree one hundred percent, I love friendship stories. I'm planning to focus primarily on friendships, and maybe if I feel energetic, I'll throw in a ship. But the ship isn't the main priority; my OC is. I'm so glad you liked that scene in the rain! It was a spur of the moment decision that I really liked. I bet you'll like next chapter ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

jungkookies: My BTS 'phase', as you've put it, is still ongoing, and it has been ongoing for the past year and a half XD And I feel ya there, my homework is getting shoved aside in favour of working on my fanfictions, uh oh. I actually do not have a beta, I edit the chapters myself! I still miss things here and there, but it happens, I guess :P Thank you so much for your review!

Over seventy followers- I'm crying, I love you all so much. Thank you so so much.

Have a wonderful day!