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Everyone was warming up on the court when Mikaela jogged in, still feeling slightly overwhelmed from the sudden interview and Atsumu's appearance. Part of her couldn't believe that the Inarizaki team had been as chill as they were, but the other part of her wasn't surprised. They were as done with Atsumu's bullshit as she was.

"Miya Atsumu's stats were so high that they had to make another one of him," she heard Sugawara grumble as she walked by.

"That's not how twins work," Asahi said with a chuckle.

Mikaela rolled her eyes at her senpai's antics and headed to the volleyball cart, ready to pass them out to the team as they kept moving through warm ups. She accidentally made eye contact with Miya Atsumu and he waved. She scowled.

"Mikaela, you're friends with that guy?" Tanaka asked incredulously, his eyes narrowing in on one of the twins.

"No," she said with a scowl.

"Yep!" he called back.

"How is your hearing so good?" Mikaela snapped back, glaring at him.

Osamu nudged his twin. "Stop bothering her, moron."

"Yeah, leave her alone," Ojiro added, sliding up next to the twins and nodding to Mikaela. "She's dealt with enough of your crap today."

"Leave the other team's manager alone," Kita said as he walked by.

Hell, even Suna popped up. "Annoying as always."

"Guys! I'm your teammate! Stop attacking me!" Atsumu whined, sulking to himself as the tiny crowd around him all frowned at him. "She's the one who was bothering me! Look at her!"

Mikaela resisted the urge to flip him off.

"Sorry, Mikaela-chan," they all said, almost in unison.

She waved. "No problem."

"Hey!"

"Mikaela, stop fraternizing with the enemy and come help me with plays," Ukai called, beckoning her over. Mikaela rolled her eyes but quickly stepped out of conversation range with the Inarizaki team. Ukai sighed and showed her the play sheet. "It's almost a good thing you won't be our manager anymore, you're much too popular."

Mikaela flushed. "Ugh."

"Can you go check on the game on the third court? That's where we're playing. Let me know when they hit the middle of their second set."

She nodded. "Sure, Coach."

The game ended up being mildly interesting to watch, and Mikaela almost forgot what she went there for. The second set was at 15 - 12 with the lead going to the team who won the first set, so Mikaela jogged back to the warm up court to inform the team. Karasuno gathered their things and started heading to their court, half changing as they went.

"You know," Mikaela remarked, "I never thought I'd have to see you guys wear the orange uniforms."

Since Inarizaki was the favourite to win and their team wore black, Karasuno was forced to wear their alternate uniforms: bright orange. It was laughable, really; Hinata looked like a tangerine, head to toe in orange. Mikaela's eyes lingered on Tsukishima's back as he changed his shirt.

"Staring?"

She jerked up, then glared at Kageyama. "No."

"Is he nice to you?"

"Do we really need to talk about this here?"

"Yes. Is he nice to you?"

"Yes." Mikaela sighed, crossing her arms. "Yes, he is."

Kageyama shrugged. "Okay. Just..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "If you ever get fed up with him, let me know. I'll take care of him for you."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. "You'll take care of him? You'll date him?"

"That's not what I meant," he snapped, his cheeks tinging red, "and you know it."

She hugged him briefly, then sighed. "I know. Just making fun of you." She glanced up, looking to Tsukishima and Hinata, who were badgering Tanaka. From the sounds of it, they were bothering him about the girl from Niiyama he was acquainted with- Amanai. "Just like how they're making fun of him," Mikaela pointed out, gesturing to Tanaka.

"It was nothing!" she heard Tanaka squabble, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her. "Speaking of girls, Tsukishima, why don't you tell us about Mikaela?"

The blond ducked out of the conversation faster than Hinata could even move. Mikaela laughed at his sharp evasion as soon as the topic changed, and turned to Ukai. "Need anything else?"

His eyes were elsewhere. "What's this I keep hearing about you and Tsukishima?"

Mikaela coughed. "I didn't think you gossiped, Coach."

"When it concerns my players." He grinned at her, a shit-eating grin that made Mikaela scowl. "You finally sucked it up?"

"How did you... Ugh," she groaned. "Did everyone know?"

"Sugawara isn't exactly quiet."

Mikaela cursed her senpai under her breath. "I hate you all."

Ukai laughed. "I fail to see how that differs from the usual." With a clap of his hands, he summoned the team and started running through last minute details. The game on the court ended, and Karasuno started grabbing their stuff to head down to the court.

Mikaela sighed to herself- this was the part where she found a spot in the stands and waited for the game to be over. She hugged Kageyama, Hinata, and then Yamaguchi, wishing them all luck, and when she got to Tsukishima, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. "For luck," Mikaela stammered out, her eyes dropping to the ground. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Tsukishima replied, smiling softly, and a chorus of "Aww!"s came from the team. With a scowl, Tsukishima stormed off with the rest of the team, and Mikaela laughed as Tanaka and Nishinoya started hassling him.

God, I love this team.

The game started out rough. Inarizaki's cheer section was ridiculous: they had a full on band (with at least a dozen people on each instrument), banners, cheerleaders, and then they had more fans. Karasuno had a decent cheer section, but unless Saeko showed up soon, Karasuno wouldn't stand a chance. Luckily, Mikaela's prayers were answered when Saeko showed up a few points in with her drum crew, which made all the difference.

Mikaela watched as Kageyama set the ball up for Hinata, and the middle blocker jumped and forgot to swing. "Idiot," Mikaela said affectionately as Hinata cried to himself on the court for such a fantastic job and forgetting to spike the ball. How do you forget to spike? She laughed to herself. Only Hinata.

"Hey, Mikaela!"

She turned and grinned. "Motoya! Hey!"

"Karasuno's up?" He leaned over the railing next to her. "Ah, not yet. Inarizaki will be tough."

"Yeah, but you guys beat them in the Inter High, right?"

"Well, they got a set off of us, but yeah." Motoya dropped his bag off of his shoulder and settled his arms onto the railing. "Our game's not until later. Mind if we watch with you?"

"We?" Mikaela looked up to see Sakusa. "Oh. Hey, Sakusa-san."

He didn't even acknowledge her. Sakusa moved to stand next to Motoya, his eyes trained on the game. Motoya rolled his eyes. "This'll be a good game," he remarked as Hinata struck with a slide attack to get Karasuno's next point. The points gap grew in Inarizaki's favour, shifting to 7 - 4, but a few ridiculous attacks from Kageyama set them back up to six points, putting the game back within a one point gap.

Hinata slid into position for a receive, and the ball went straight through his arms and bounced off of his foot, rebounding into the air.

"What was that?" Motoya cried out in surprise.

Mikaela burst into laughter. "He's got the craziest luck! Yesterday he used his head to knock a ball over the net!"

"You're kidding," the libero said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sakusa narrowed his eyes. "He has luck on his side?"

"No," Motoya and Mikaela deadpanned in unison before sharing a grin.

The game forged on, with Inarizaki trying to keep a two point lead, but things went sideways when Atsumu and Osamu busted out a minus tempo quick set that looked an awful lot like Kageyama and Hinata's signature quick attack. Motoya seemed to notice it too, because he turned to her and asked, "hey, isn't that what the shrimpy kid on your team does?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah." Another point went by, and the twins managed to pull it off once again, proving it wasn't a fluke. "Watch. Tobio's going to use Hinata for this point, and my guess is that they're going to stuff him, because Atsumu seems to have a grasp on Tobio now." True to her word, Kageyama set it up for Hinata, and Inarizaki stuffed him with a triple block.

Motoya shook his head in disbelief. "You knew that would happen?"

"Well, kind of. Tobio's a very petty person by nature, and having his own play replicated like that would be frustrating enough, so it only makes sense that he'd want to shove it back in Inarizaki's face by doing it himself. He's done that an awful lot, the idiot." Mikaela tapped her chin. "Although, I think we have the advantage because we have Tsukishima."

"Who?"

"The tall blond one." Mikaela pointed to the bench, where he was currently waiting for when Nishinoya would come off. "He's the core of our blocking, and he's had to deal with that freak quick set more than anyone else. He's going to be able to anticipate it and block it, because he knows the little things about it. But Inarizaki isn't aware of that yet- more specifically, Atsumu just likes being a jerk to my cousin so he'll keep doing it so he can piss him off."

The libero sighed. "Wow."

She paused, sulking down slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to rant."

"It's not that, it's just..." Motoya shrugged. "You've got a really good eye for this. I half wish you were at Itachiyama instead."

"Wouldn't make a difference, I'm going to play next year."

Sakusa straightened up, turning towards her. "You're going to play?"

Mikaela nodded, beaming. "Yep."

"Hey, that's awesome." Motoya held out his hand for a fist bump, and Mikaela happily tapped her fist against his. "Good thing for us. Then you won't be there to dissect every single one of our plays."

"I will anyways," Mikaela promised as the score increased to 17 - 14 for Inarizaki. "C'mon, Tobio, get your shit together."

Atsumu served, and by pure luck, it hit the top of the net and tipped over. Mikaela nearly groaned at the bad luck, but Daichi lunged forwards and managed to save the ball, sending it back over the net. She steeled herself as Atsumu set up to set to his twin, as she expected, and she cheered out loud when Tsukishima completely shut him off, getting a kill block.

"Yes! Hell yes, that's what I'm talking about," she said proudly, leaning onto the railing. Her eyes followed Tsukishima as he was congratulated by his teammates, and he was smirking. "He's so good."

"He's the one who shut down Ushijima?" Sakusa said suspiciously, leaning forwards and narrowing his eyes at the blond.

Motoya nodded. "Yeah, that was well done." He glanced sideways at Mikaela, who was still leaning on the railing and watching Tsukishima with a dreamy look in her eyes. "He's a first year too, right?"

Mikaela shook herself, tearing her eyes away from the middle blocker to glance at the libero. "Yeah- yes. He's a first year."

"Hm." Motoya's brow furrowed, and he turned back to the court. They watched another point in relative silence until Motoya said, "he's tall."

"And mean," Mikaela added, making him chuckle. "No, seriously. He's an asshole."

"He blocked Ushijima," Sakusa muttered.

The points continued to tick by, and Karasuno was slowly making up the difference. They tied it up at 18 - 18, when Hinata managed to block Miya Osamu, but Inarizaki immediately snatched up two more points in the blink of an eye. Karasuno came straight back at them to tie it up again, and the score was 22 - 22 when Hinata was put into the serving position. He seemed excited to serve, but Ukai put in Yamaguchi instead.

"Say, didn't that kid whip out some crazy serve yesterday?"

Mikaela only heard half of what Motoya said. She turned towards him. "What?"

"The orange-haired kid." He pointed to Hinata, who was dejectedly shuffling off the court, handing the volleyball to Yamaguchi. "I didn't see it, but there were rumors that Karasuno's first year with the freak quick attacks also had a ridiculously freaky serve that he used yesterday. Got a four serve streak or something."

"True, but he only did that crazy serve for two of those," Mikaela corrected, watching Yamaguchi set up to serve. "It's really inconsistent, so the fact it even worked properly twice was pretty miraculous."

"You know about it?"

"I taught it to him."

Motoya raised his eyebrows. "Really? What kind of serve is it?"

She laughed. "Like I'd tell you."

Yamaguchi got a service ace, and Mikaela nearly squealed. He was so grown up, she could've cried. This was the first time Karasuno had taken the lead in this set, and they only needed two more points to win it. Inarizaki, however, scored the next point, resulting in Yamaguchi being subbed off and Nishinoya jumping in. Inarizaki's wicked serve was received by Daichi, but it went long- way long, over to the other side of the court and out of bounds.

To Mikaela's surprise, Kageyama took off after it, and managed to set it back to Asahi, who punched it though. "Damn," Mikaela said, shaking her head. "Every time I think he can't get any better, he comes back with stuff like that."

"Your cousin's wickedly good," Motoya agreed. "I don't know how he pulled off something like that."

Mikaela didn't know why, but her mind drifted to Oikawa. She missed him. Part of her wondered if he was watching the match and what he thought of how Kageyama was doing.

The points went back and forth, hitting 25 - 25. Tsukishima made a great emergency set for Asahi, who secured their next point. "If you lot could get a break point anytime now, that would be great," Mikaela grumbled to herself.

Almost like he heard her, Tanaka pulled off a ridiculous cut shot to make the score 27 - 25, winning the first set for Karasuno. Mikaela grinned to herself. Motoya laughed. "That was a good shot."

"What year is he in?" Sakusa asked.

"Second. He'll be our ace next year."

"I haven't heard of him before," the libero remarked.

Mikaela shrugged as she watched the celebration unfold on the court. "He's good, but he's only recently started getting better at serving and spiking. He's got a decent jump serve now, and I know he's been working on those cut shots for a long time now. He's got more energy on the court than anyone else."

Sakusa folded his arms. "Is he a threat?"

Mikaela shot him a funny look. "Isn't everyone a threat to you, Sakusa-san?"

Motoya laughed, and Sakusa narrowed his eyes. "No. You're not. But if he's going to be even better next year, we have to watch out for him-"

"Hold up, you don't think I'm a threat?"

The number one ace in the country shrugged. "No. Why would you be?"

"Even though I'm decently good at gathering information and analyzing players?"

"Well, you said you're playing next year. So, no."

"I never said I was playing for the girls' team."

The Itachiyama players both paused, regarding her with something akin to horror in their eyes. "You're going to play on the boys' team?" Motoya said slowly, eyes wide.

She laughed. "No. Just messing with you."

They both relaxed slightly. Mikaela laughed again- her ability to dissect players and pull apart all the positives and negatives of a team was that terrifying? She'd never considered playing on the boys' team, but now that she thought about it, could she? Nah- they had a team. They were happy and they were doing well. She'd throw off their whole rhythm.

The second set went badly. Atsumu was whipping out service ace after service ace, and to make matters worse, he was scoring them off of Nishinoya. His jump floaters were putting Nishinoya through a rough patch; she knew for a fact that the libero hated overhands. At one point, Kageyama pulled off two service aces in a row, which made Mikaela feel a bit better, but they were still behind by seven points, so the gap was almost too big to be filled.

Mikaela sighed, leaning against the rail and turning her head to the left to glance at the scoreboard. She'd picked the spot right next to the giant lit-up board; it was the closest place to the court. "This is rough," she mumbled, the score flashing 21 - 14 for Inarizaki.

Motoya nodded. "Yeah, I don't know if they'll be able to catch up."

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to say. Across the court, Osamu was readying himself to serve. Mikaela watched, almost in slow motion, as the serve flew much too high and rocketed at the score board.

"Holy crap!" Motoya yelled, ducking, but Mikaela didn't even flinch as it hit the score board, about two feet away from her head. Home run serve. Hey, at least that means it's our point.

Mikaela turned back to the court, where the players were turned and looking at the board- and by proxy, her. Mikaela locked eyes with Osamu and shot him the hardest glare she could muster.

Osamu actually winced and turned away, then proceeded to get hassled by his brother. "Damn," Motoya said with a shake of his head.

"What?"

"You didn't even flinch, and then you managed to glare down one of the Miya twins," he said, turning to Sakusa. "You didn't flinch either, you monster. That was so close to us! Mikaela, you're a monster too. You're picking fights with the Miya twins- do you even know what you're doing?"

She grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Yep. They should be scared." She cast a sideways glance at Sakusa. "Is that threatening enough for you, Sakusa-san?"

"You're annoying."

"Thank you."

Karasuno ended up losing the second set by nine points, which was worse than Mikaela would've liked. She had faith that they would take off for the third set, and from the looks of the discussion around the bench, Ukai had some plans. Not only did Kageyama manage to stuff Ojiro in the first few points, but Tsukishma's consistent blocking was making it harder and harder for Inarizaki to score. They had really upped their defense, and Mikaela was impressed- this was a strong rotation.

Kageyama whipped out another service ace, bringing the team up to 8 - 5. Karasuno had a decent lead right off the start, but Mikaela wasn't sure how long it would last. "Kageyama's on fire today," Motoya said with a laugh. "How many aces is that?"

"He's been practicing," Mikaela agreed, watching him set up for his next serve.

The score kept climbing, and Inarizaki started closing the gap. Then, after three ridiculously strong serves in a row from one of their pinch servers, Inarizaki pulled into the lead, 13 - 12. Mikaela gritted her teeth as the next point dragged on, and the twins pulled out another freak quick- but this time, it was Osamu setting to Atsumu.

"Dear lord," Mikaela groaned, sinking onto the rail. "What the hell was that?"

"That's ridiculous," the Inarizaki player agreed with a shake of his head. "How can they just pull that out of nowhere?"

The points continued to drag on, but Inarizaki had a few points of a lead. They were putting together some absolutely ridiculous plays and Mikaela would've strangled Atsumu if she was down there- he was so annoying to play against. Hinata went up to serve, and to Mikaela's delight, he set up for his knuckle serve.

Motoya tapped her shoulder. "Oh! This is that serve thing!"

"Just watch it," Mikaela said, her eyes never leaving the court.

It worked like a charm- the spin on the ball was ridiculous. Hinata, you've gotten so good at those. It went right to Atsumu, who struggled to get the ball up. Osamu set it for Ojiro, who punched it past the blockers and straight to Hinata, who received it perfectly.

"I'm going to cry," Mikaela said aloud as Inarizaki, by some miracle, wound up on top for the point.

Motoya nudged her. "Why's that?"

"That receive was damn near perfect- and trust me, this kid used to suck at receiving- and then Atsumu had the audacity to get the point. Karasuno deserved that one."

"I'll file your complaint for you, I'm sure he'll understand."

She laughed. "Thanks."

The score was 19 - 17 for Inarizaki when Kageyama set the ball for Tsukishima. With a combination of bad stamina and a set that was just a bit too high, Tsukishima missed the spike, and the ball hit the floor on Karasuno's court. Mikaela winced to herself- Inarizaki had hit the twenty point mark and was up by three. That wasn't good.

However, without flinching, Karasuno took three points in a row: one from a quick set with Tsukishima, another from Asahi's service ace, and then a third with a back attack from Daichi. 20 - 20.

"This isn't good for my heart," she muttered.

Motoya nodded. "This is a good game."

Sakusa shrugged. "Motoya, we have warm up in fifteen minutes."

"They better wrap this up in fifteen minutes," the libero said with a chuckle. "Or else we're going to be late for warm ups."

Mikaela was about to criticize him for risking being late to warm up, but a part of her understood. This was one of those games where you had to see the ending, especially if you'd been watching since the beginning.

Karasuno pulled ahead, but it didn't last long; Atsumu whipped out a setter dump and then a wicked serve that led to an drastic jump in points. Inarizaki was ahead, 24 - 22. Karasuno needed to get two points in a row to even have a prayer of a chance to win the set. Thankfully, Tanaka punched through the triple block with a laser-sharp line shot, and Kageyama nailed a service ace to bring the game to a tie.

"Five minutes," Sakusa pointed out.

Motoya waved him off. "Meh."

The score kept piling higher, hitting 30 - 30 with amazing play after amazing play. Kageyama stole their 31st point with a nasty setter dump, and Mikaela wanted to hug him- he was petty as hell and she loved it.

("Motoya, we're late."

"I texted Coach. We'll be fine.")

The point dragged on and on. Inarizaki received and set it up, and Daichi received and set it up. Karasuno was getting faster and faster, and they kept going and going, until Tanaka managed a smooth rebound and Hinata made a high receive, giving everyone time to breathe. Karasuno put together a synchronized attack and Kageyama sent the ball to Tanaka. Inarizaki was quick to block, but Kageyama managed to keep it in the air. Tsukishima lunged for the ball, knocking it just a little bit higher, and Daichi swooped in with the third hit to send it back over the net.

I never thought I'd see Tsukishima chase the ball like that.

The only problem was, Karasuno was in such disarray that if Inarizaki attacked straight away, they wouldn't be in any position to receive. And the twins knew that. Mikaela bit her lip as Osamu charged up from the back row, ready for a quick two-touch to put the point away for good.

Mikaela felt her eyes well up when Hinata and Kageyama jumped at Osamu and effectively blocked him, getting the point. Karasuno won, 32 - 30.

"We gotta go," Motoya said, pulling himself off of the railing. "Congratulate Kageyama for me."

She nodded, still feeling a bit too overwhelmed from the win to say anything. He waved, then he and Sakusa left, vanishing into the throng of people. Mikaela sank into the railing, the stress and anxiety of the game finally lifted from her shoulders.

They won.

Take that, Atsumu!

Mikaela shook herself out and started weaving through the crowd of people, eager to get down to the ground floor and find the team. They had just won an exhausting, exhilarating game; they were going to pass out within minutes of the adrenaline wearing off, guaranteed. "Excuse me," she said, pushing past a few more spectators that stood between her and her team. The one good thing about the orange uniforms was that they were easy to spot, and she found the Karasuno crowd relatively quickly.

As soon as she made eye contact with Kageyama, she sprang at him, ignoring how sweaty he was and hugging him tightly. "You did so good," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I think that's one of the best games I've ever seen you play."

He pulled back from her and frowned. "Kaisha, I'm sweaty."

"I don't care."

"Fine. Thank you." Kageyama smirked. "We won."

"I know!" With a laugh, Mikaela spun over to Yamaguchi, hugging him next. "Yams, you did great! Your serves were on point!"

He hugged her back, then pulled away, beaming. "Thanks, Kaela!"

"I'm literally so proud of you, that was such a good game for you!" Mikaela hugged him one last time, then cast her eyes among the sea of orange, looking for the same person she always found herself looking for lately. Her eyes finally landed on Tsukishima, and she was about to go to him when Hinata jumped on her back. "Hey! Shoyo!"

"Kaisha! We won! Did you see my receives? Did you see me block the twin?" Hinata clambered off of her back, bouncing around her. "Did you see my serve? Did you see that slide?"

"I saw all of it!" Mikaela confirmed with a laugh. "Your receives were fantastic!"

"Thank you!" Hinata jumped in excitement, nearly clearing her head. "I feel like I could go play another game right now!"

"That's not normal," she heard Tanaka mutter, shaking his head in exhaustion.

Mikaela rolled her eyes and laughed as Hinata pounced onto Kageyama. Free of the orange-haired ball of energy, Mikaela turned back to where she saw Tsukishima last and deflated- where did he go? The team was in disarray, packing up their stuff and throwing jackets on. The third years were already on their way up the stairs, Ukai was somewhere behind her... how hard was it to find a six foot three blond guy wearing orange?

Maybe he left already. Actually, that was highly likely. Mikaela started heading up the stairs, following the majority of the team, and stopped when she got to the top. Where was he? She couldn't see him.

She ducked around a corner and immediately regretted it, because she had just walked into the Inarizaki team.

Oops.

Ojiro noticed her first and nodded to her. "Ah. Mikaela-chan."

She bowed awkwardly as the rest of the team took notice of her. "Well played game."

"You're just saying that because you won," Atsumu scoffed.

Mikaela caught his eye and frowned at him. "No, I'm saying that because it was a well played game, dumbass." She turned to glare at Osamu. "Thanks for almost hitting me with your serve."

One of their players (a starter, Ginjama, strong serves and consistent attacks) laughed. "That look you gave him was priceless."

Osamu shrugged, rolling his eyes. "My bad."

"You can blame that one on Atsumu," Ojiro added. "He was trying to rile up Osamu all game."

"Hey!"

"Can't you just blame everything on Atsumu, though?" Mikaela asked, which earned her a few laughs.

Kita, their captain, beckoned to the team. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mikaela. I'm sure we'll see you again in the near future. Let's get going." The team started gathering their stuff, and Mikaela waved awkwardly and started to turn away.

"Hey, wait." Mikaela turned back to see Atsumu, who had his bag slung over his shoulder and his hands jammed in his pockets. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure?" She shrugged, glancing behind him to see the rest of Inarizaki heading the other way. "Shouldn't you be with your team?"

"This won't take long."

"Is it about the interview this morning?" Mikaela asked, frowning. "I didn't know she was going to drag you into-"

"It's not that, dumbass," Atsumu snapped, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Just shut up and listen for a second." She raised her eyebrows and mimed zipping her lips. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, smartass. Look, it's not a big deal, but can..." he huffed, turning away from her for a moment before turning back. "Could I get your number?"

Mikaela faltered, her lips parting in surprise. No sound came out of her mouth.

Atsumu scowled, flushing. "You don't have to act so surprised."

"Wait, seriously?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. When you're not being insufferably annoying, you're actually kind of cool. And funny. And pretty. And..." The setter trailed off, shifting. "Well, you know. Can I get your number or not?"

Mikaela finally collected herself and sighed. "I'm sorry, Atsumu, I'm actually, uh... I like someone."

"Really? Who?"

"Me."

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She'd been so absorbed in the sudden revelation that she hadn't noticed Tsukishima come up behind her. Mikaela glanced up at him, her lips forming his name, but he wasn't looking at her; Tsukishima was staring down Miya Atsumu, his mouth not quite set in a glare but in some sort of smirk. When she finally collected her voice, she managed, "I was looking for you."

"You didn't do a very good job," he said. Okay, now he really was smirking.

Mikaela scowled, crossing her arms. "I got held up."

"Apparently. And you neglected to mention that we're together," Tsukishima added, loud enough to ensure that Atsumu definitely heard him. Mikaela's heart did some sort of funky tap dance and her lips turned up into a smile. His lips twitched in return.

"Wait, actually?" Atsumu's jaw dropped, and his hands went slack. "Since when?"

"Last night, actually," Mikaela said, turning away from her boyfriend (oh my god he was her boyfriend!) and towards Atsumu. "Sorry. I really am."

"Damn," the Inarizaki setter said, straightening up. "Well, congrats, I guess."

"Thanks," she replied awkwardly. "Look, I'd still love to hang out and get coffee sometime or something. If you're ever in the area, let me know. Seriously." She held out her hand, smiling at him. "I'm glad it was you that I threw my prosthetic at."

To his credit, Atsumu took it surprisingly well. "Whatever, Princess," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. "When you're done with this robot, you know how to find me."

Mikaela smirked, her grip on his hand tightening. "Well, if you think I'm good looking, then I can refer you to Kageyama. I'm told we look alike."

Tsukishima laughed, which sent Mikaela's heart into a happy dance. Atsumu scowled, face flushed, and let go of her hand. "Good luck tomorrow," he said, rolling his eyes. He started walking backwards. "You'd better not cramp up on day three."

"We won't," she assured him.

Atsumu waved one last time, then turned around and started walking with the crowd. Mikaela waited until she couldn't see him anymore before she turned to Tsukishima, sighing in relief. "Your timing is perfect," the manager said, poking him in the side.

He shrugged. "Well, I saw him ask for your number, and I thought I'd wait."

"Really? And you didn't come save me from embarrassment?"

"It's fun watching you flounder."

"Asshole," Mikaela said affectionately, nudging him. Together, they started walking towards where the rest of the Karasuno team had went. "So.. We're official? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at her. "Wasn't that the point of your confession?"

She blushed. "I'm just checking, idiot. You're hard to read."

"So kissing you was hard to read?"

"No! No."

"Then what was?"

"Well, you just, well, never said anything, so I didn't know for sure..." Mikaela trailed off, shrugging helplessly. "For all I knew, it was a one time thing."

Tsukishima hummed in acknowledgement, and they ducked around a group of people and turned a corner, heading towards another set of stairs. Mikaela caught sight of Hinata's signature orange hair up ahead; at least they were headed the right way. She kept waiting for Tsukishima to say something, anything to diffuse her worries.

"When you punched Yuka in the face."

Mikaela nearly stopped in the middle of the crowd. "What?"

Tsukishima turned to her and shrugged. "That's when I knew for sure."

"That you liked me?"

He nodded.

Mikaela had to bite her lip to prevent herself from breaking into a ridiculously large grin. "You have a thing for pain, Tsukishima?" she teased, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder.

Tsukishima scowled. "You're disgusting. No."

"Then what was it?"

He shrugged as they turned another corner. "Since that whole thing with your mother went down and you started staying at my place, I thought you were..." he waved his hand ambiguously. "You know."

"No I don't, explain."

"You're a pain. I had you labelled as a carbon copy of Kageyama, but I saw..." Tsukishima trailed off, his voice lowering. "This is embarrassing." Mikaela kicked him lightly, shooting him a frown, and he sighed. "It was a different side of you. That's what drew me in. I'd been debating about it, and I was going to dismiss it as simple curiosity, which would've been easy enough to pass off. But the icing on the cake was walking back into that class and seeing you standing at your desk, and then you coming out of the office, and..."

Tsukishima shook his head, and Mikaela's heart melted in her chest when she saw the affectionate smirk on his face. "I thought it was the dumbest thing, you know. Punching her. Who cares what she said? Then Yamaguchi told me everything, and I still thought you were dumb for taking the bait, but you came out of the office and you acted like it never happened. Like it didn't matter. You weren't angry. You made your point and left it."

"And that's when you knew?" Mikaela repeated, still flabbergasted.

"Yes. Now shut up."

"Tsukishima, I don't think I've ever heard you talk that much, ever."

"Shut up."

She rolled her eyes, nudging him with her elbow to show she was teasing. "Thank you," Mikaela murmured, barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "For sharing. I know you don't open much so that means a lot to me."

He huffed, but when Mikaela glanced up at him, she saw that his cheeks were tinged red. "Whatever," Tsukishima grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Stop being such a sap."

She laughed. "Whatever you say."

When they finally caught up with the team, of course they were relentlessly teased ("No detours, you two!") before heading back on the bus. Mikaela sat next to Tsukishima on the way back, holding his hand under the safety of a jacket. She couldn't believe this was real.

If this is a dream, Mikaela thought to herself as Tsukishima's thumb traced circles on the back of her hand, I'm never waking up.

Hello my friends :) At this point this story has almost 450 followers. How. How in God's name do four hundred and fifty people follow this?! I'm blown away and so, so grateful. You guys really motivate me to write through the stress of midterms. Much appreciated.

Aaaand we're creeping up on 100, 000 views. That's insane. I'm so humbled, thank you guys. I wouldn't be here without you.

hannymae: Your reactions get me every time, I love how descriptive you are XD Yep, Mikaela's experience with media hasn't exactly been entirely positive and I don't know if I want to do anything with the interview... still debating. Anyways YES Akaashi with glasses is all I've ever needed in life and it makes me so happy but WHERE is Nishinoya I DEMAND to know! I'm so so glad you enjoyed the confession and thank you for reviewing! :)

ktbelle1313: Aw, thank you! I'm so happy you liked it, thank you for the review! :D

BlueSeraphos: The deadpan nature of your review made me laugh XD Thank you for your review! :)

Guest: I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much! :D

Anne Nonimus: I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for your review! :)

NaomiM2000: Oh my god I'm so glad you liked the last chapter so much! I was rereading the manga and really wanted to let Suga have a bit more time to shine so I threw in the 'threatening-to-go-to-bed' thing and the betting pool, so worth it XD I'm so glad you've fallen in love with Tsukishima like I have and I'm glad you loved the chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :D

SupMyDudez: I'm so glad you liked it and it wasn't a let down! Thank you so much for your review! :)

Sayori1412: Aha I'm so glad you liked it and that you think I kept the characters in character! It's so hard sometimes ;-; Thank you so much for your review! :D

Thundqh: The tattoo part was a spur of the moment thing, I'm glad you liked it! XD Thank you for your review! :)

bellamario: Thank you! Thank you for your review! :D

milkywayheartcupcake: Shh ;) Thank you for your review! :)

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

Averi-nova: ME TOOOOOOOOOOOO also practice! Just a lot of practice! Trust me if you read my old stuff it'd be pretty cringey XD I hope this chapter helped for that regard because I wanted to add a bit of that in there too ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

Kitty: Yup, Sumu and Kaisha are friends! This chapter kind of puts them in a rocky place but they're still friends. I'm so glad you liked the confession so much, thank you for your review! :D

Blue: I understand the 'Grammar Nazi' feelings, because you're totally right- it's kind of hard sometimes. I'm so glad you found my fanfic and I'm so glad you like it so much! Thank you so much for all the compliments and I'm so so so happy you're enjoying this. Thank you so much for your review! :)

Shadow Wolf 15846: Aw, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :D

Tribble. Chan: I'm so glad it didn't disappoint! And I'm glad you liked the tattoo ;) Yeah, I avoided the whole Kageyama-Dateko match drama because I do believe that Mikaela being around him helps to curb the more controlling side of his personality. That whole Dateko drama crap only happened because Miya Atsumu (frickin dumbass) called him a goody-two-shoes and Kageyama dwelled over that ages. So with all the Mikaela drama going on, that was just one more thing to throw on the table. Anywho, thank you so much for your review! Much appreciated! :)

Elsa: I've thought about it and maybe! But it'll all be time dependent- I'm a busy person XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

NocturnaMajora: Thank you for binge-ing! I'm so glad my story is binge worthy, thank you! Thank you so so much for your review! :)

komahinami: Aw, thank you for binge reading this! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and that you think I handled the confession well, I was so worried T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

Swaggishima: I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, it's hard to fit all the characters into a scene, so I made sure to give Hinata a bit of a chance to shine in this chapter. I'm going to continue this until the end of the manga with my own scenes interwoven in between due to the timeskip in the manga- depending on where the manga ends, I may go overboard or not. Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

I'm always blown away by the amount of feedback. Like, what the heck. Thank you so much. I can't say it enough.

Also: fun fact! I've met a guy in my program that I've become really good friends with, and he's a volleyball player! Like, on a professional level! He talks about volleyball and the only reason I can follow along with no problem is Haikyuu XD

Much love!~