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When Ukai announced that Inarizaki was their next opponent, Mikaela pumped her fist and hissed under her breath, evidently pleased. The team seemed to regard her questionably before she could explain herself.

"If you don't completely and totally decimate Inarizaki," she had announced, punching her fist into her palm, "I'll have to punch Miya Atsumu myself."

"And that's a lot of paperwork," Ukai has said quickly as he jumped in, shooting her a fleeting glare.

"It'd be funny," Tanaka had added, and Suga had slapped his shoulder.

They spent an hour dissecting Inarizaki's play style. Mikaela threw everything she had at them (which was more than she'd ever had on any team, ever) and went through each player, taking extra time to insist that Miya Atsumu was a jerk (Ukai told her to remain 'unbiased') and talking the team through their play style and what to watch out for.

The team started winding down and getting set up to go to sleep. Mikaela made post on the couch in their main common area, notepad on her lap and her laptop propped up on a pillow. She had headphones plugged in, and she was listening to one of Inarizaki's Inter High matches. Mikaela scowled to herself as Miya got a service ace.

"You gonna go to bed soon?" Kageyama asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

Mikaela shrugged, her eyes trained on the screen. "Maybe."

"Kaisha."

"Eventually." Kageyama raised his eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Kags, I'm no use to you during the game. I'm only good for prepping you guys. So if I can get even one more bit, it's worth staying up."

Her cousin frowned. "Of course you're important during the game, dumbass."

"Kags, I literally stand and watch."

"Yeah, but you glare occasionally and it whips us into shape."

The cousins looked up to see Daichi, who had his arms crossed. "Hey, Captain," Mikaela said as casually as she could, temporarily pausing the game. "I do?"

"Yep. And if you're not in your room in the next half hour, I will throw you in there personally."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. "Challenge accepted."

"It wasn't a..." Daichi huffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Suga, help. Mikaela's being difficult."

"What now?" the vice captain asked, sliding up next to Daichi and smiling pleasantly at the first years.

"Wants to stay up watching videos."

"Unless you plan to make me move by force, Suga-senpai, I'm afraid that I'll be staying firmly rooted in this spot," Mikaela said, cocking her head and gesturing to the screen. "Inarizaki won't wait."

Suga frowned. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Five hours."

"Kai," Kageyama said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"What? That's a good amount."

"Mikaela," Sugawara said carefully, his voice dipping from pleasant to deceptively suspicious, "what's the least amount of sleep you've gotten in a night from researching a team?"

She shrugged. "Who said I have to sleep?"

There was a collective sigh from the group. "If you're not in bed in fifteen minutes, I'll come get you," Kageyama said firmly.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Go to bed. You're worse than I am without sleep."

"Mikaela," the vice captain said, leaning towards her with a smile on his face. "Listen closely. If you are not in bed and fast asleep in about, oh, let's say fifteen minutes..." his smile switched from pleasant to sinister like the flick of a switch. "I will inform Tsukishima of whatever feelings you've been harboring," Sugawara threatened menacingly, smiling, "and I may, perhaps, exaggerate a bit."

Her jaw dropped. "How did you-"

He tapped the side of his head. "I just do. So?"

"I'll be in bed in fifteen," Mikaela affirmed, mildly terrified of their vice captain.

Sugawara straightened up, beaming to himself. Daichi shook his head. "You're terrifying," he muttered under his breath. The captains waved and bid good night to them before heading towards the boys' room.

"So, fifteen minutes?" Kageyama confirmed, and Mikaela sighed in assent. "Sugawara-senpai is..."

"Terrifying," Mikaela grumbled under her breath. "Yeah, I'll sleep."

He sighed, squeezing her hand. "Alright. Sleep well."

"You too."

Kageyama vanished into the guys' room, followed closely by Tanaka and Ennoshita, who were bantering about something. Shimizu had already taken off for their room, as had the coaches, which just left Mikaela alone in the common area. She sighed to herself- she'd half hoped that Tsukishima would've said good night.

One more game, she thought with a sigh. Then, I'll sleep.

One more game turned into two, and then three, and suddenly half an hour had passed and Mikaela was still skimming. She yawned, her fatigue starting to catch up to her, and clicked on another video. If I'm going to stay up, I've got find something. Anything, at least...

"You're still up?"

Mikaela jerked her head up, ready to be caught by Sugawara, and nearly laughed when she saw Tsukishima. "Yep. You too, apparently."

"I thought I heard Suga-san threatening you," the blond said, trudging towards the kitchen. His glasses were lodged sideways on his face, like he'd rolled out of bed and jammed them on as an afterthought. He was in a t-shirt and sweatpants, but Mikaela still felt butterflies in her stomach. "Something about fifteen minutes?"

I wouldn't be surprised if Sugawara sent him in here. Mikaela shook her head. "I don't listen well."

"You don't need to state the obvious, dumbass." Tsukishima changed directions, walking towards her, and Mikaela stiffened. He rested his hand on the top of her laptop, then pushed it shut. "Go to bed."

Mikaela scowled, taking out her earbuds. "Hypocrite."

"I'm getting water, dumbass."

"Grab me one too, then."

"Get it yourself, you're not useless."

"Asshole." Mikaela hauled herself up from the couch, putting her laptop on the table, and stumbled towards the kitchen. She grabbed her own glass and filled it up after Tsukishima filled his. She hadn't even realized how thirsty she was. Tsukishima shifted around the counter to give her room, standing at the far side. Mikaela straightened up.

This was it. This could be her chance. No one around, just her and Tsukishima, and if it didn't work, she could retreat to her room.

"Hey, Tsukishima," she said carefully.

"Now what?"

"I'm going to use my last question."

Tsukishima's eyebrows flew to the top of his forehead. "Really? Sure."

"And you have to answer honestly," Mikaela said quickly, trying to summon the courage to continue this conversation.

"I know, dumbass."

"You sure?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just ask your stupid question."

"It's not stupid," Mikaela muttered, turning away and crossing her arms. Part of her was stalling, hoping someone or something would interrupt them and that way she wouldn't have to say anything, but the other part of her was trying to force the words out of her throat.

Tsukishima shrugged, adjusting his glasses. "Is it what's-your-favourite-colour stupid or what's-the-meaning-of-life stupid?"

Mikaela scoffed, taking a sip from her glass. "Very funny."

"It's an honest question."

"So you'll be honest?"

"Wasn't that the point of this ridiculous game?"

She laughed. "You have to admit, you've enjoyed it."

Tsukishima huffed, bringing his glass to his lips. "I've enjoyed helping you with simple math problems because you're too dumb to figure it out on your own and you have to use one of your questions to force the answer out of me?"

Mikaela raised her eyebrows, taking another sip of water.

"Fine. Sort of," he admitted grudgingly, turning his head. Mikaela smirked to herself. He caught her look and smirked back at her. "Don't get all cocky, your Highness."

"Hey, the game was my idea," she pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So what was your question?"

Mikaela's mouth felt dry. The words were right there on her tongue, do you like me? But should she word it differently? What if he gave an ambiguous response and she was left with no questions? He could just go back to bed. If she asked, would he even answer? Maybe he'd just ignore her. Or he'd laugh at her. Honestly, she didn't know which one was worse. What if he...

"My question," Mikaela said finally, "is why haven't you confessed to me yet?"

Whatever Tsukishima had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that. He choked on his water, bringing the glass down to the table and giving her the most dumbfounded look she'd ever seen from him. "Excuse me?" he said slowly, his voice void of his usual snark.

"You're excused," she replied, taking another sip.

His jaw slipped open, and just when Mikaela thought she'd caught him stone cold, he collected himself. "I think that's the question I should be asking you," Tsukishima said carefully, crossing his arms and leaning onto the counter. "Considering how obvious it is."

"Well, if it's obvious, then I shouldn't need to confess, now should I?" Mikaela mused.

"See, now you're just making this unnecessarily difficult."

"That's my job."

"Was that your backwards way of confessing?" Tsukishima asked, his fingers tapping lightly against the counter.

"I should be asking you the same thing," she taunted, a smirk growing on her face.

The middle blocker stood up straight, draining the rest of his glass of water and plunking it down on the counter. "You're annoying," he announced, narrowing his eyes at her. "And the most stubborn person I know."

Mikaela laughed, her cheeks flushing pink. "Thank you?"

He stepped around the island counter so that he was on the same side as her. Tsukishima leaned her elbow onto the counter and adjusted his glasses with his other hand, smirking. He was only a few feet from her. "Your turn."

She straightened up, setting her glass down on the counter. "My turn? For what?"

"I did two, so technically, you have to do two." Mikaela shot him a confused look, and he groaned. "And here I thought you were smart. That's three now."

Mikaela had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing. Of course Tsukishima had the most backwards possible way to say 'nice things' about her, and now expected her to do the same; he would only be so vulnerable.

She cleared her throat. Maybe being a bit more honest and vulnerable would encourage him to open up too. "Three things," she repeated, and Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "You're the single most infuriating person I've met."

"Even over Miya Atsumu?"

She paused to consider that. "Well, I'd say he's worse, but he's been easier to deal with. He's not the one I..."

...have a crush on.

"He's not the one you what?" Tsukishima teased, leaning forwards. "Do continue."

Mikaela flamed red and shook her head frantically. "That's one. Two more, right? Well, you're also ridiculously smart, so I'll give you that." She turned away when she noticed he was grinning at her. "Stop laughing at me," she protested weakly.

"You're just too easy to make fun of," he said, smirking, "your Highness."

"Oh, I hate you," she said with a scowl, shifting. They were only a foot apart now.

Tsukishima's shit-eating grin widened. "If that botched confession is anything to go off of, I'm pretty sure you don't."

Mikaela could've melted. From embarrassment or relief, she didn't know which. "So you..." she rubbed the back of her head with her free hand, refusing to meet his eyes. "Yeah. Uh, you got that?"

"No, you'll have to say the whole thing."

She glared at him and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You want chocolates now too, idiot?"

"Wouldn't hurt," Tsukishima teased.

"Fine! Fine." Mikaela steeled herself and shut her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction- the fact he was only a foot away from her didn't help either, since when was he so close- and she sighed. "Tsukishima, you're one of the most annoying people I know, and sometimes I hate you more than I hate math, which is saying a lot, but..." she trailed off. "You've been there for me when I didn't expect you to, you've shown more kindness to me than I thought you were capable of, and you're... you're crazy. And you're amazing. And you care in such a subtle and sweet way and honestly, you're one of the reasons I'm staying at Karasuno."

She kept her eyes shut. "I don't know how long I've liked you for, but it's been a while- at least since the Shiratorizawa match- and if you don't accept my feelings, that's totally fine," Mikaela finished, her voice near cracking. "I never expected you to. But this has been eating away at me and if I never told you I was going to explode. So I..." she exhaled. "I like you more than I should."

A second of silence passed.

Then a second.

When the fifth second of excruciating silence passed, Mikaela couldn't take it anymore. "Tsukishima?" she whispered, keeping her eyes glued shut. She didn't want to see the look on his face, see the possibilities flying through his head and having to decipher them because holy shit what if Yamaguchi was wrong and he didn't actually like her-

"Question."

Mikaela opened her eyes. "Like, a question question?"

He nodded.

"Well, don't let me stop you."

His voice dropped to nearly a whisper, and Mikaela felt goosebumps crawl across her skin. He took her hand, and her heart leaped in her chest, and she was trying to stop herself from getting her hopes up but it was hard because his hands were cold but so nice and he was tracing circles on the backs of her hands with his thumbs and...

"Mikaela," Tsukishima said softly, so quietly she nearly missed it, "can I kiss you?"

She responded by pulling him down to her height.

In a way, it was everything the books said it would be but it also wasn't. It was warm and it was safe, and it was also timid and hesitant, but Mikaela didn't care because it was perfect. He kissed her softly, fitting their lips together like they'd done this one hundred times before, and she twisted her hands around the front of his jacket. His hands had moved to cup her face, and his thumb was tracing her jawline.

Tsukishima pulled back after a minute (or maybe five? Or an hour? Who knows) and Mikaela tipped her forehead against his, her head reeling. Her lips tingled. Before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned back in and kissed him again, and Tsukishima was more than happy to oblige. Their second kiss wasn't as slow but it wasn't fast, and it still held all the care of their first.

Mikaela pulled away, her breathing heavy, and finally met Tsukishima's eyes. He was staring at her, his lips pursed, but he was fighting a smile. Mikaela couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face, and she squeezed his hands.

"Daichi, if they're making out right now, you owe me one thousand yen."

"Suga, that was too loud, be quiet!"

"Oh my god," Mikaela said quietly, letting go of Tsukishima's hands.

The blond was flushed bright red, and it was clear that he was as surprised as she was. "The whole time," he echoed quietly, and Mikaela caught his meaning: they'd been listening for a while. How many of them? That was Daichi and Suga, for sure.

She hid her smile in her hand, trying to fight her laugh. They'd been listening. Of course they had.

Tsukishima pressed a finger to his lips and grinned at her. They both stalked towards the door to the boys' room, listening for any noise. "Mikaela," Tsukishima said, slightly louder than before, "isn't it a bit too soon to be taking your shirt off?"

Mikaela choked.

"What did he just say?!"

"I'm going to kill him-"

"Kageyama, no!"

"Shh!"

"Gee, Tsukishima," Mikaela said loudly, catching on, "I didn't know you had a tattoo on your ass."

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my god-"

"Oh, Tsukishima, you're dead-"

"Kageyama, wait-"

"What's going on in there?!"

"What's his tattoo?"

Tsukishima swung open the door, and Mikaela saw not one, not two, but all eleven remaining members of the Karasuno volleyball team huddled in front of them, piled up on top of each other in an effort to get as close as possible to the door. Frankly, Mikaela was just surprised she hadn't heard them sooner.

There was a heartbeat of silence, then Nishinoya, from the bottom of the heap of players, asked, "Tsukishima, can I see your tattoo?"

A beat.

"I'm going to kill each and every last one of you," Mikaela threatened, a fiercely cold aura building up around her, "if you don't go to bed right. Now."

That was all it took for the team to scramble up from their large pile up and take off for their mats, tucking themselves into blankets like they'd never been up. "You're all dead," Tsukishima grumbled under his breath, hand tightening around the door knob and he followed the last of them into the room. He glanced at Mikaela one last time, offering her a rare smile, and closed the door behind him.

The last thing Mikaela heard was Sugawara's smug, "pay up, suckers," before she went back to her room.

She slept with a weight off of her shoulders and a smile on her face.

Mikaela woke up to several texts on her phone, and nearly had a panic attack as she flashed back to the whole leg-throwing incident. She scrambled to her phone and opened it, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust to the brightness of the screen.

Sugawara Koushi (22:58): You're welcome. ;)

Sawamura Daichi (22:58): I'd congratulate you, but you cost me one thousand yen.

Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:01): I TOLD YOU

Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:01): DUMBASS

Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:02): I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU

Kageyama Tobio (23:02): As long as you're happy.

It took Mikaela a minute to register what they were talking about, but it hit her almost immediately. She squealed to herself, hugging her phone to her chest. It wasn't a dream. She'd confessed, and he liked her too. They kissed. Holy shit, they kissed.

She beamed to herself and shot Tsukishima a quick text.

Mikaela Kaisha (6:35): Hope the team didn't harass you too much last night.

The reply came in half an hour later, and Mikaela almost laughed out loud.

Tsukishima Kei (7:07): Thanks a lot.

Mikaela Kaisha (7:08): Sorry. Not really.

Mikaela Kaisha (7:09): Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Tsukishima Kei (7:09): At the expense of my humiliation? Of course you would.

Mikaela Kaisha (7:10): Well, if you don't want to, that's fine

Tsukishima Kei (7:10): I never said that.

They kept the morning relatively low-key. Mikaela was in a fantastic mood, and she couldn't help herself from taking Tsukishima's hand under the table while they were eating breakfast and squeezing it briefly before letting go. The faint smirk on his face afterwards told her that he didn't really mind.

The team, kindly enough, stayed focused on the upcoming game. Besides a quick, knowing look from Sugawara and a brief hug from Yamaguchi was all she needed to know that the boys were fully informed and happy for her.

The trip to the stadium was quick and tense. Mikaela's adrenaline high from the previous night was wearing off and giving way for anxiety. They were about to face Inarizaki, the number two in the tournament; as much as Mikaela hated to say it, they were good. Like, really good. Unfairly good. No matter how much Mikaela hunted and how much information she got, there was only so much they could do.

Karasuno got off the bus, and Mikaela fell into step next to Tsukishima. "Hey," she chirped, smiling at him. "How'd you sleep?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You're in a good mood."

"I guess so." Mikaela shrugged. "I've got a good feeling about this. Besides, I-"

"Excuse me? Are you Mikaela Kaisha?"

Mikaela was prepared for some random girl that had stumbled across the video online and had recognized her, and was now calling her out in front of the team on their way into the tournament. She sighed, preparing herself, and turned around. "Yeah, what-"

She paused.

This wasn't just some random high school kid, this was a reporter, who was carrying a microphone in her hand and had a video camera man following her around. The guy holding the video camera was squinting into the lens, which was trained on her face. The lady was standing far enough back to give her space, and was holding out the microphone to her.

"Wow," was all Mikaela could manage, worried she'd accidentally curse.

The lady smiled. "Don't worry, we're not rolling just yet. Can I ask you a few questions? I'll only take a few minutes of your time."

"That's Machino!" she heard Yamaguchi hiss from behind her, probably to Tsukishima. "She's famous!"

"Damn," she heard someone else mumble.

Mikaela didn't know what to say. She turned around to look at Daichi and Sugawara, who were both looking between Mikaela and the reporter. "You're the lady who talked to me yesterday," Daichi said, and Machino smiled.

"I interview a lot of people, but yes, I remember talking to the Karasuno captain." She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Now, we don't have all day, so we can postpone this if you'd like, but I think this is a prime time for a quick interview with the internet sensation over here."

She looked to Daichi again, and he shrugged. "She's a good one, Mikaela," he said carefully, but Mikaela caught on to the hidden message behind his words. She wasn't going to be annoying and press her unnecessarily- hopefully. "Take a few minutes."

"Alright," Mikaela agreed, turning back to the reporter. "As long as it's only a few minutes."

"Wonderful. Give me one second." Machino turned to her camera man and started whispering instructions into his ear, gesturing to the building behind her, and Mikaela turned to look over her shoulder and shot a helpless glance at Kageyama. He shrugged uselessly. She turned to Tsukishima, and he smirked at her. She scowled.

Alright. I can do this. "You guys go warm up, I'll be there soon," she promised, waving them off. "You can watch it later."

The Karasuno team waved. Ukai reminded her what court they were on, eyed the reporter warily, and then proceeded with the rest of the team. Mikaela watched them go, her eyes lingering on Tsukishima, then turned back to the camera. "Okay, I'm all good. What's this about?"

Machino smiled. "Nothing personal, don't worry. Just your thoughts about the viral video, your thoughts on volleyball, and maybe a bit of insight into the tournament."

Mikaela exhaled slowly. This won't be so bad. "Okay. Cool."

"Alright. We're rolling in three, two..." she turned to face the camera. Thankfully, the camera was only on Machino with the building in the background; it was most likely going to pan over to her in a second. Machino started her introduction, gesturing to the building behind her and to the teams walking around her, and Mikaela squirmed nervously in her spot. "I'm here now with the manager of the Karasuno volleyball team," Machino said with a smile, and Mikaela stiffened. "Although you may know her better from the video that went viral on the internet almost a month ago. Mikaela Kaisha."

The camera shifted until it was on both Machino and Mikaela, and she forced a weak smile onto her face. "Hi."

"Mikaela, you're in your first year of high school, correct?"

Mikaela started to relax. Maybe this wasn't so bad. "Yeah, I am."

"Karasuno had a solid win yesterday, but today you're up against Inarizaki, one of the favorites to win the whole tournament," Machino said smoothly. "How do you think the match today will go? Inarizaki's a strong team."

"We're strong too," Mikaela said immediately, not about to let Karasuno get talked down on live television. She smirked. "Actually, I'll think you'll be surprised by the things we can do."

Machino seemed to like her answer. She grinned. "Any hints on what we can expect?"

She hesitated. "You can expect a good game," Mikaela said carefully, grinning. "Inarizaki's going to have to stay on their toes."

"Strong words," the reporter said, pleased. "Do you believe your team can win this tournament and take home the national title?"

"Of course," Mikaela replied without hesitation.

"Your confidence in your team is admirable. Is it true that a relative of yours is on the team?"

"Yeah, that would be my cousin, Kageyama."

"Kageyama Tobio? The starting setter for Karasuno who went to the All-Japan Youth Camp?"

She laughed. "The very same."

Machino beamed, nodding encouragingly. "You both look very similar, despite only being cousins."

"Yeah, we've been mistaken for twins a lot," Mikaela agreed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Sometimes, it's just easier to go along with it."

The reporter laughed, but her eyes were elsewhere, somewhere behind the camera. Mikaela tensed up. "So, you're quite the internet sensation now," Machino continued. "What can you tell us about that video?"

Mikaela swallowed nervously. "Actually," she said with a nervous laugh, "that happened at the training camp."

Machino laughed. "Really? And is that actually Miya Atsumu, the starting setter for Inarizaki High, whom you hit with your prosthetic?"

"Yep."

"And-" Machino stopped abruptly in the middle of her question, and now Mikaela couldn't help but follow her eyes. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who the reporter was looking at; another team had arrived, clad in black. Unfortunately, Mikaela could read the names on their jacket.

"Inarizaki?" Mikaela said quietly.

Machino gestured to the camera man, then waved at the team. "Miya Atsumu?" she called, and Mikaela groaned inwardly. "Could you spare a minute?"

Mikaela was busy studying the team. She'd seen a lot of them in videos, so she could recognize most of them, but then her eyes landed on Miya Atsumu. He was standing next to his twin, and although they were strikingly similar, she picked out Atsumu immediately. He had a signature smirk on his face, and when he finally noticed her, his eyes lit up and his smirk grew.

God, I miss Tsukishima.

"Of course!" he said with a grin, breaking away from the team and sliding into the view of the camera. "Heya, Machino."

Mikaela shot him a glare that could've frozen water to ice, and his smirk only widened. "Hey, Miya-san," she said tiredly.

"Mikaela-chan," he greeted smoothly.

"I was just speaking with Mikaela about the viral video," Machino said, and Mikaela could see how excited she was by the way she was fidgety with the hem of her jacket with her free hand. "Could you shed some light on what happened in that video?"

Good lord, could this get any worse?

To her surprise, Atsumu didn't start complaining about her. Instead, he laughed and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Things got a little bit tense," he teased, his arm tightening around her shoulders. "I accidentally insulted her cousin-"

"Accidentally?" Mikaela muttered.

"-and poked a bit of fun at her, too," he admitted, and Mikaela tried to pretend she wasn't as surprised as she was. She had been expecting a white lie, but he was being surprisingly honest. "Trust me, her actions were totally warranted. Isn't that right, Mikaela-chan?" he gloated, poking her in the ribs with his free hand.

Oh. I see what he's doing. He was being honest, but he was playing it up for the camera that they were all buddy-buddy now. Fine, I can play. "It was a bit over the top," she admitted with a laugh, elbowing him hard enough to send a message. He did a very good job of hiding his wince. "Although Miya-san definitely has a skill of getting under people's skin, I shouldn't have thrown my prosthetic at him." She turned to look at him, smirking. "But it was a good shot."

"Unfortunately," Atsumu said with a laugh, stomping on her foot. Mikaela bit her lip to hide her grimace.

Machino looked thrilled. "So you two are on friendly terms?"

"The friendliest," the setter agreed, tightening his hold on her shoulders.

Mikaela scowled and shook his arm off. "Mostly," she agreed, rolling her eyes. "He's a bit too much to deal with sometimes."

"Preach!" someone yelled from over by the Inarizaki team.

Atsumu scowled, but eventually sighed. "Guilty."

"Unfortunately, it appears that this is all the time we have," Machino said, and Mikaela nearly collapsed in relief (she instead chose to kick Atsumu in the shins). "Your teams are matched up against each other today, so best of luck to you both."

"You're gonna need it," Atsumu teased, kicking her in the leg.

Mikaela could've laughed- he kicked her prosthetic leg, she didn't even feel a thing. "Says you," she said with a smirk.

Machino laughed. "Thank you very much, both of you." She signaled to the camera man, and he dropped the camera. Mikaela finally allowed herself to relax. "Good luck today to both of your teams," she said, bidding them both goodbye before she moved to interview the captain of the Inarizaki team.

As soon as Machino was gone, Mikaela scowled and punched Miya Atsumu lightly in the ribs. "Asshole."

"Nice to see you too," he said with a scowl, rubbing his rib cage. "Would it kill you to be a bit nicer?"

"Yes," she replied without missing a beat. She frowned. "What the hell was that?"

"What, me being nice? Not used to it?"

"No- well, yes, but..." Mikaela trailed off.

"You totally expected me to throw you under the bus," he deadpanned.

She shrugged. "Basically, yeah."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What, I can't just be a nice guy?" Mikaela glared at him and he shrunk back slightly, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, fine, fine, so you're a bit of an asshole and I totally could've ruined you on live television."

"Your point?"

"My point is that I didn't," Atsumu emphasized, raising an eyebrow at her. "You're an asshole but you don't deserve to be ruined on national television because of what some prick like me has to say. Besides, I was pretty mean to you, and you were mean to me, and we called it even! Right?"

Mikaela was oddly touched. "Thanks, Miya-san," she said quietly, crossing her arms.

He waved her off. "Call me Sumu, everyone does. Besides, maybe now people will believe me when I say the psycho leg throwing girl and I are on good terms."

She rolled her eyes. "No way."

"Hey! Are you really the one who threw that leg at Atsumu?"

Mikaela jerked her head up and immediately regretted even looking. Facing them was almost the entire Inarizaki team, minus their captain, who was still speaking with Machino. The one who had asked was a dark-skinned, tall man that she recognized from videos- Ojiro Aran, Inarizaki's ace. She also recognized Miya Osamu, Atsumu's twin, and even that freaky middle blocker that she had spent ages going through with Tsukishima- Suna? Yeah, Suna.

Oh shit, they're talking to me.

"Guilty," Mikaela said weakly, shrugging sheepishly.

"See, I told you we're friends," Atsumu said proudly, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

Mikaela immediately shoved his arm off. "You're pushing it."

"So you have a prosthetic leg," Ojiro repeated, and Mikaela felt her stomach twist in knots, "and you threw it at him and hit him in the head?"

"...Yes?"

The ace stuck out his hand, smiling at her. "Thank you for your service to this country."

"Hey!"

Mikaela tentatively shook his hand, but she felt a little bit more at ease knowing that these guys weren't going to kill her. "The pleasure was all mine," she said with a grin.

Osamu slid in next to Ojiro and also stuck out his hand, which she shook. "I only wish you had hit him harder," he said, and Mikaela laughed.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with him all the time," she replied, letting go of his hand. "I couldn't even handle five days, I can't imagine having to live with him."

"If I had a prosthetic leg, I'd throw it at him too," another one of their players agreed. Atsumu squawked in protest.

"Is this the girl you were talking about, Atsumu?" Mikaela turned to see Inarizaki's captain returning to the group. Machino was nowhere to be seen- probably off interviewing someone else. "She seems pleasant. Kita Shinsuke," he said, holding out his hand. "Thank you for providing our team with sufficient entertainment for the past month."

"Oi!"

"Anytime," Mikaela said, shaking his hand. These guys are so formal. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Although you probably already know who we are," Kita said smoothly, no hint of a smile on his face. "Atsumu says you're a professional stalker."

Mikaela whipped around to glare at the setter, and he grinned sheepishly. "Miya, you asshole," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "What else did you tell them?"

"All good things, Mika-chan, all good things-"

"Do not call me that."

"He's got a habit of making little nick names and such," Osamu said offhandedly, shrugging. "He's a bit immature like that."

Atsumu scowled and pointed an accusing finger at her. "She called me a dick straight to my face in our first conversation!"

There was a slight pause.

Osamu started digging into his bag. "Can I get your autograph?" he asked plainly, producing a slightly crumpled sheet of paper. "I want to hold this over his head as long as I possibly can."

"Hey!"

"Enough with the antics, we have a game," Kita instructed, bowing to Mikaela. "I apologize for bothering you."

"Don't worry about it," Mikaela said, a bit lost but willing to drop the conversation and get back to her own team. "Thanks. Um, for not killing me."

Ojiro snorted. "You thought we'd be mad at you for this? This was the best thing to happen to our team in weeks."

"I hate all of you," Atsumu grumbled.

"Game time," Kita said firmly, turning around. Several of the Inarizaki team members waved goodbye to her and Mikaela waved back slowly, still kind of surprised by the outcome of the events. Osamu actually hugged her briefly before he followed the rest of his team, and Ojiro gave her a fist bump. Atsumu ruffled her hair and she backhanded him in the rib cage (lightly, of course) before he joined his team. Mikaela shook her head in stupor; what the hell had just happened?

No time to think about it. They had a game to win.

BONUS:

Tsukishima groaned, sitting down on his mat and ignoring the persistence of questions that seemed to storm him like a hurricane. "Just let me go to sleep," he complained, swatting Nishinoya's hands away. The last five minutes had been the best he'd had in days, and he wasn't about to let these idiots ruin it.

Daichi clapped his hands. "Come on, guys, let the boy be. We'll be mad at him tomorrow."

Sugawara beamed, clapping Tsukishima on the shoulder. "Thanks to you, I'll be eating well for the next two weeks," he said pleasantly, squeezing Tsukishima's shoulder just a bit too tightly. "But, in all honest, I'm happy for you."

Tsukishima sighed, feeling heat behind his cheeks. "Thanks, Suga-san."

"And, if you ever do anything to hurt her-" Sugawara's hand tightened painfully on Tsukishima's shoulder- "you'll have worse to deal with than Kageyama."

"Why would I?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

Sugawara finally let go, smiling at the middle blocker before retiring to his own mat. Tsukishima sighed to himself, his lips quirking into a smirk as he remembered his moment with the manager. About time.

He felt eyes drilling into the back of his head and he turned. "What?" he said with scowl to a frowning Kageyama.

"I think you know," Kageyama said eventually, settling into his own bed.

The unsaid threat hung in the air, and Tsukishima sighed. "Believe me, I do," he grumbled, taking off his glasses and settling them next to his head. He shut his eyes, surprised at how exhausted he was.

God, the things he was going to put up with just so he could be with this girl.

Strangely, he didn't mind.

Hello my friends! I hope you're all well!

Averi-nova: I don't even know how to write the team's matches without Mikaela as a manager- I know she was always destined to go back to playing but it's still weird XD I'm so excited to write about the match, especially since Mikaela knows the opposing team at a more personal level. Thank you so much for your review! :)

hannymae: I wish I could tell you what I plan to do, but personally, I have no idea how I'm going to take this during the time skip. Honestly, I'm leaning towards writing chunks of it out- like, important points in the timeline and for Mikaela's story, but not the whole five years. We'll have to see. Please don't get arrested while trying to read my story XD Yeah, I always get bored with my writing when I just retell the manga, so any way that I can spin it, I'll try! Thank you so much for your review! :D

Kitty: I hope you were ready and that you enjoyed! Thank you so much! :)

Shadow Wolf 15846: I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you so much for your review! :D

Tribble. Chan: I'm just trying to play up both sides, I'm glad it's working XD I'm glad you caught the little jealousy bit! It was subtle but I thought it deserved to be in there. I NEED to throw in a chemistry reference for Kuroo but I'm so dumb so I'll have to look something up! Thanks for the idea with the betting pool ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

Sayori1412: Not too much of a spoiler at all in this chapter so I hope you enjoyed the read! Thank you for your lovely review! :D

Anne Nonimus: I hope this was as epic as you imagined! Happy New Year to you as well! :)

Yamamoto: Thank you! :D

bbymojo: I hope this was worth the extra chapter wait ;) Thank you for your review! :)

slyKat28: I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :D

Swaggishima: Don't worry! No manga spoilers in this chapter! Not really, at least... I'm so happy that you're enjoying it! I'm also very happy that you're enjoying the manga, it's such a good read. Thank you so so much for your lovely reviews! :)

RainbowMaze: I'm so glad I could renew your interest in such a wonderful fandom, and I'm so glad you're as invested in Tsukishima and Mikaela as I am! Thank you so much for your reviews! :D

Guest: Wow. Thank you so much for sharing! I'm so glad Mikaela could be an inspiration to you. Honestly, sometimes I tell myself I need to be a bit more like my characters too- I wish I had half of Mikaela's ferocity and wit. Don't worry, I'll keep updating until I'm caught up with the manga- my updates will be every two or three weeks. Thank you for reviewing! :)

This chapter was SO FUN! The confession and the interview were both so fun to write and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I wanted to end it after the confession, but I have to keep reminding myself that this story isn't supposed to be romance-focused and that I need to run this plot along XD

It is currently 1:24 am where I am and I have two midterms, an assignment, two problem sets, and a lab to do within the next three days... but here I am writing ! What fun !

Let me know what you thought! Thank you for your patience! :D