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She should've seen it coming. She definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent should've expected the chaos that unfolded after that interview was televised.
"Excuse me? Are you Mikaela Kaisha?"
Ah, shit.
Mikaela inhaled, trying to suck in all of her frustration and bury it down into her body. She turned around, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah. What's up?"
"Oh my god, it's really you!" a girl squealed. She had faded red hair and was standing next to a boy with spiky brown hair- he'd been the one to call her out initially. She clasped her hands together and bowed. "It's nice to meet you!"
She exhaled through her nose and forced the smile to stay on her face. "Thanks. What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Suka," the girl said happily, tugging on the sleeve of her companion. "And this is Tsurio!" The boy grinned sheepishly and held up his hand in a wave.
"Nice to meet you both."
"Can we- can we get a picture with you?" the boy, Tsurio, asked, tentatively holding up his phone. "If that's okay with you?"
Mikaela shrugged. "Sure."
The pair exchanged a grin and pulled up next to her, one on either side. Tsurio held out his phone in selfie mode, and Suka squeezed in on the other side of Mikaela to fit into the picture. She forced a smile and held up a peace sign as the camera went off a few times, and she sighed in relief when he turned it off and tucked it in his pocket. They bowed to her and she waved good bye before they tore off into the crowd, giggling to each other.
She trudged back to the stands, where Tsukishima was curled up under his jacket. He'd been napping before, but he seemed to be awake now. "Another one?" he asked, amused.
Mikaela groaned, plopping herself down next to him. "That makes the fourth today."
"You asked for this when you reposted the video," Tsukishima reminded her. "Dumbass."
"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in."
Honestly? A part of Mikaela enjoyed the attention. People knew who she was (even if it wasn't for the reasons she had hoped) and for the most part, the people who worked up the nerve to talk to her were kind and respected her space. She'd seen Miya Atsumu here earlier, and from the looks of it, fans were recognizing him too.
She'd even been tagged in some of these posts online. The captions were typically something like "guess who we met!" or something like that. Mikaela sighed to herself and slumped into her seat, tipping her head to rest on Tsukishima's shoulder.
"Tired?"
"Yeah."
He scoffed. "You didn't just play one of the most exhausting games of your life. You're not allowed to be tired."
Mikaela laughed. "One down, one to go. And it's Kamomedai."
"This is going to be exhausting," Tsukishima said with a groan. "And we still have two more days of this? I'm going to need a week of sleep to recuperate."
She hummed in agreement, then something in his wording caused her to do a double take. "Hey, wait," she said, sitting up and pulling her head off of his shoulder. "You're already counting the next two days? You think we're going to finals?"
Tsukishima seemed to realize his mistake, because he scowled and turned away from her, pulling his jacket up over his chin. "Well, with this insane crowd, maybe," he grumbled.
"Aw, Tsukishima!" Mikaela said with a laugh, enjoying Tsukishima's embarrassment. "Look at how optimistic you are!"
"Absolutely not. Shut up."
"It's cute!"
"No, it's not."
She grinned devilishly, poking him in the ribs. "I'm loving the optimism. I'll make sure to report it to Daichi right away."
He groaned. "You're so annoying. Just let me sleep."
Mikaela hummed to herself and leaned in to kiss him briefly on the cheek. "I'll go bother some other people. Get some rest."
"I was trying, but someone felt the need to come bother me," Tsukishima retorted, his face darkening after her lips touched his cheek. He pulled up his jacket before reaching to his bag, probably to rummage around for an eye mask. "Idiot."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later."
He mumbled his response, sliding the mask over his eyes, and Mikaela got up from her seat. She turned to the stairs and started jogging up the steps, passing Daichi, Sugawara, and Asahi. She waved to them and they tiredly waved back. As soon as her eyes landed on him, she made a beeline for the coach, who was talking to Takeda.
He noticed her approaching and nodded to her. "How're the boys?"
"Tired, with the exception of Hinata and Kageyama," Mikaela reported with a laugh. "I swear, those two never run out of energy."
"Are they resting, at least?" Takeda asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.
She nodded. "As much as they're willing to, at least." Both of the adults sighed; she'd guessed that they were used to it by now. That would have to do for now. "When will we be regrouping for discussing Kamomedai?"
Ukai glanced at Takeda and shrugged. "Not for another hour, probably."
"So are you good if I go watch a game for a bit?"
"Have you given out all the lunch boxes? Checked on everyone?"
"Yep."
"Sure, I don't see why not. Just make sure you're back in an hour."
"Sure thing. Thanks Coach!" Mikaela bowed to both of them and spun on her heel, walking past another row of seats. She waved to Tanaka and Nishinoya as she walked by them, and paused when she went by Kageyama. He was writing in his journal, and part of her wanted to leave him be, but he glanced up when he noticed her. "Whatcha up to?"
He shrugged, holding up his book. "Journal. You?"
"I was going to watch the end of the Niiyama game. Want to come?"
"Yeah, sure." Kageyama tucked the book into his bag and shoved his bag under the seat with the rest of the Karasuno bags. "You going to talk to them?"
Mikaela bit her lip, waiting for him to stand before she started walking. He fell into step next to her. "I think so," she replied honestly. "If they'll listen. I feel like I have a lot of explaining to do."
He frowned. "You don't owe them anything."
"I know, but..." she huffed. "Still. I'd rather them hear it from me."
They stayed quiet until they reached the court where the Niiyama girls were playing. From the set count, it was the second set, but Niiyama had taken the first. They were up 18 to 17 right now, and they were up to serve. Mikaela found herself searching subconsciously for Kinomi, and felt a sick sense of satisfaction when she saw her on the bench. We're not rivals anymore. I shouldn't be petty.
Kageyama nudged her shoulder. "Doesn't look like there's many seats open."
Mikaela surveyed the crowd with her eyes. Her cousin was right- which wasn't a surprise. Niiyama was a popular team, so it wasn't a surprise that they had a popular following. "That's fine, I'm okay with standing."
"Want to walk near the front?"
"Sure."
Carefully, they shifted through the crowded seats and down the aisles until they were next to the court. Mikaela blinked as the red and white flash of the Niiyama uniform zipped across the court, performing a beautiful slide attack that the other team couldn't quite receive on time. She sighed wistfully. I can't wait to play.
Kageyama jerked his chin at the bench. "That's Kinomi, right?"
"Yeah," she confirmed, glancing at the blonde. Almost as if she'd heard them, Kinomi turned towards the side, where they were standing and watching. When her eyes landed on Mikaela, her face narrowed and pinched into a glare. Mikaela refused to allow herself to be intimidated; she glared right back. Kinomi tore her eyes away as Niiyama nailed a service ace, putting them up 20 to 18.
"You don't have to pick a fight with everyone."
"You're such a hypocrite."
They watched the rest of the set play out. Impressively, the other team caught up to tie the game at 21, but Niiyama still managed to secure the win, 26 - 24. Mikaela clapped along with the rest of the audience as the Niiyama girls celebrated, clapping each other on the back and hugging before they moved to shake hands. Her eyes remained fixated on the captain as she led the line, then took the team into a bow.
The audience started moving. Most people stood up from their seats, headed up the stairs- presumably to find another court with a different game to watch. Mikaela stayed at the side, with Kageyama next to her. The girls were gathering their stuff and clearing off the court as the next two teams ran on, ready to warm up.
"We should go," Mikaela said suddenly.
Kageyama frowned. "I thought you wanted to talk to them."
"They're busy. Besides-" she cut herself off as the Niiyama captain coincidentally turned their way. "Shit."
The tall, blonde woman turned from Mikaela to her coach, and Mikaela watched as the coach glanced her way, her eyebrows rising. "Too late," Kageyama said with a shrug, and Mikaela kicked him. The Niiyama coach nodded, and the captain turned back to Mikaela and started walking towards her. Shit, this was a bad idea. Mikaela swallowed nervously as she got closer. You can do this. You can do this.
She stopped. The only thing separating Mikaela from her old captain was a stupid three foot stand with a corny advertisement on it. "Mikaela-chan," she said formally, standing tall at over six feet.
God, she felt short all of a sudden. "Captain."
"Not anymore."
"I guess not."
The blonde woman crossed her arms, and in Mikaela's periphery, she saw the rest of the Niiyama team hovering close, some of them within earshot. "You left without warning, leaving nothing but a burning gym in your wake, and no explanation for your actions," the Niiyama captain said firmly, and Mikaela felt chills run down her spine. "Surely you can't expect immediate kindness."
Mikaela straightened up, trying to appear taller than she was. "I'm aware."
"Then you must be aware of the consequences of your actions." The manager frowned, confused, but she forged on. "I lent you those keys, trusting that you would act responsibly. I-"
"I'm sorry," Mikaela snapped immediately, eyes hardening, "next time I'll steer the truck away from the gym. Or move the gym a couple dozen feet away from the road. Or make sure the truck doesn't carry gasoline. Or make sure other drivers aren't on the road."
"Kaisha," Kageyama warned quietly.
She grimaced, regaining control of herself. "Sorry. I'm just still stuck on the part where you think the gym accident was my fault."
The captain glared at her. "I chose my wording poorly. I know there was nothing you could do about the..." Her eyes drifted to Mikaela's legs, covered by her track pants. "...unfortunate accident that occurred. However, we would have preferred some clarity of your intentions after the accident."
"I understand," she forced out, internally trying to stop herself from snapping that's none of your business. "I know I should've, at the very least, informed you of my status and my plans."
"But you didn't."
How observant of you.
"No. And that's on me."
"Obviously."
God, I've had enough. "I'm going to return to being a player next year," Mikaela announced firmly, loudly enough that the eavesdroppers could hear her. "But that won't be at Niiyama."
"Really?" the captain said, surprised. "I would've expected an attempt to return."
Mikaela gestured pathetically with her hands. "There you go. That's exactly why. Me coming back to Niiyama would be nothing more than an attempt to get back on the team. I don't gel very well with the team, and I think there are other teams that I would suit significantly more."
"So what's your plan?"
"My plan?" Mikaela crossed her arms and looked her ex-captain in the eye. "I'm going to play on the Karasuno team, and we're going to kick your ass."
Kageyama kicked the back of her heel, but Mikaela ignored him. She stared defiantly at the captain, and watched with surprise as her frown twisted into a smirk. "We accept your challenge," she said firmly, holding out her hand.
Mikaela shook it. No going back now.
"Good luck with the rest of your games," she added, letting go of the blonde woman's hand. "I'm sure you'll be in the finals."
"Thank you," the Captain replied. She nodded respectfully to her, then cast a long glance at Kageyama. She turned, heading back to her team. Mikaela didn't try to look at anyone else on the team; she turned on her heel and started weaving through the crowd, with Kageyama right behind her.
They navigated through the throng of people, passing several stands selling shirts and other merchandise. As soon as they managed to make more space in the crowd, Kageyama sidled up next to her. "That went well."
She shrugged. "It went as well as I thought it would. She's a reasonable person."
"She wasn't reasonable when she blamed the gym accident on you."
Mikaela snorted. "It wasn't so much that as it just backfired on her, because she's the one who lent me the keys in the first place. I can imagine how that looked on her part. The way she phrased it was just..." She shook her head. "Wrong."
Kageyama nodded, shifting past someone in order to stay side by side with her. "Fair."
They walked in silence for most of the way back, and just when the Karasuno team was in sight, Mikaela laughed dryly, the memory tumbling into her head. "I blamed myself for the accident once," she said, shaking her head.
"Why? There's nothing you could've done."
She shrugged. "I was in the hospital. I was upset, and then I was mad. I needed someone to blame, and sometimes, the easiest person is yourself, right? The blame lasted all of two minutes before Dad scraped that for me."
Kageyama slowed. "He did?"
"Yeah. I brought it up or something. Said it was karma, something dumb like that. Dad laughed, then said that to blame it on myself is to say that you're the only one that could've changed the outcome. It made me think."
"Your dad was a good guy."
"He was," Mikaela said, sighing wistfully. "Thanks, Tobio."
He shrugged. "I miss him."
"Me too."
"He'd be proud of you."
"You think so?"
"Yeah."
A beat.
Mikaela sighed softly and leaned towards Kageyama, pressing her cheek into his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. Kageyama brought his arms around her shoulders, keeping a loose hold. "Thank you," she mumbled.
He didn't reply. Kageyama waited for a moment before he let go, pulling away from her. Reluctantly, Mikaela pushed herself away. "Let's go," he said, staring her in the eye. "We have a game to win."
Mikaela swallowed. "Yeah. We do."
Kamomedai.
Let's bring it on.
Mikaela met up with Saeko and the other two adults when the game started- Takinoue and Shimada, if she remembered correctly. When she found them in the stands and moved up next to them, she noticed Akiteru approaching the group, along with another man by his side. The guy had shaggy dark hair and seemed like he was slouched over. From the looks of it, he was shorter than she was.
Before Mikaela could ask who he was, Saeko whipped off her coat to show her taiko uniform. "Alright, let's get fired up!" she yelled, and the crowd cheered from behind her. The older Tanaka turned back to Mikaela, grinning. "Ready?"
"Yep," she lied, leaning onto the railing. She nudged Saeko with her elbow and jerked her chin at the guy next to Akiteru. "Who's that?"
"An old classmate of mine," she replied. "He used to play. You know how Shoyo idolizes the Little Giant?"
Mikaela nodded, then her jaw dropped. "Wait, that's him?"
Saeko grinned. "Yep! He said he was in the area and that he wanted to swing by when he heard Karasuno was in the quarters."
Off the very first point, Hinata nailed a quick set over the heads of the three ridiculously tall blockers- one of them was over six and a half feet tall. Mikaela grinned as the ball hit the ground with a satisfying smack, giving Karasuno the first point. "Let's go, let's go, Shoyo! Shoyo!" Saeko called, and her group cheered along with her. Mikaela resisted the urge to plug her ears.
Hoshiumi hit them back with a ridiculously high spike that seemed to go over the blockers, and then Kamomedai got a block point to go up, 2 - 1. Tanaka got the next point, and Saeko's group went wild again. Mikaela flinched from the sudden noise.
"Hey, Kaisha!"
She barely caught the words over the noise, but she glanced to her right and saw Akiteru waving at her. He beckoned her over and she slipped past Saeko, moving toward Tsukishima's brother. "Hey!" she squeaked out over the noise.
He laughed. "Pretty loud, ain't it?"
"Just a bit!"
"Here, let's slide over a bit," his friend said, the one who Saeko called the Little Giant. The three of them shuffled over slightly, relieving Mikaela's ears but not distancing them from the group. "Hi! I'm Tenma Udai, I used to play for Karasuno," he introduced, holding out his hand.
"I know," Mikaela replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."
Tenma's eyebrows rose, and Akiteru laughed. "This is Mikaela, she's our second manager. She stalks people."
Mikaela scowled as Tanaka served the ball into the net, making it 3 - 2 for Kamomedai. "I do not. I collect information."
"Stalking," Akiteru confirmed, and Tenma laughed. "Seriously though, she's great. She's a player."
"You are?" the Little Giant asked, and Mikaela nodded. "Why're you a manager, then?"
"Injured," she replied as Hinata scored with another quick set. The Kamomedai blockers were ridiculously fast, and Mikaela had to tear her eyes away from the court to focus on the conversation. "Took a year off. I'm getting back into it now."
"Udai-kun, you know that she's the one in that viral video, eh?" Akiteru said with a laugh.
Tenma blinked, and Mikaela resisted the urge to smack her head off the railing. "What one?"
"The leg throw?"
"Holy, that was you?"
She scowled at Tsukishima's older brother. "Really? You just had to say it?"
Akiteru grinned sheepishly. "I just enjoy embarrassing my future sister-in-law, sorry."
Mikaela stopped short, and her jaw slipped open. She hadn't told Akiteru that she and Tsukishima were together (yet), and if he already knew, then... did Tsukishima tell him? He actually told his brother? Had he told his mom? She hadn't told her mom. Not that there was a problem with that, but she hadn't expected Tsukishima to tell his brother- he seemed like the type to keep it to himself. Did he actually-
"Wait, she's dating your little brother?" Tenma asked in disbelief.
"Nah, just joking around," he replied, wrapping an arm around Mikaela's shoulders. "She's over so often that she may as well be family. They're not dating though. Right, Kaisha?"
Her mouth was open, but no sound came up. Her cheeks were burning, and she was sure that she must've been cherry red. Tenma glanced from her to Akiteru and back again, his lips quirking into a smirk.
Akiteru noticed the awkward silence and glanced down at Mikaela. "...Right, Kaisha?" She pursed her lips together, which was enough of a response for him. "Wait, what?"
"We..." Mikaela cleared her throat, continuing as quietly as she could. "We're dating."
"What?!"
Both Mikaela and Tenma flinched from Akiteru's shriek, but his surprise was directed at them for no longer than a second before he swung towards the court, where Karasuno was moving into their rotation for the next point. "Don't do it," Mikaela mumbled under her breath.
"Kei!" Akiteru yelled, leaning so far over the railing that Tenma had to seize his jacket and pull him back. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Tsukishima glanced up at the stands, his face already displaying his disgust with the outburst. When he saw Mikaela shrinking into the railing and comprehended the context of the situation, he frowned and raised an eyebrow at her. Mikaela shrugged sheepishly and mouthed "sorry", but he just scoffed and turned back to the court. Mikaela sighed, sinking her chin into her chest. Was he mad? She'd have to explain afterwards.
"Akiteru-kun, calm down," Tenma urged, pulling him back. "It's-"
"This is a huge deal!" Akiteru squabbled, seizing Mikaela's shoulders. "When did this happen?!"
"Two days ago?"
"It's been that long and you didn't tell me?!"
"That's not that long, Akiteru-"
He cut Tenma off, letting go of Mikaela and dragging his hands down the sides of his face. "Oh my god," he moaned, his eyes sparkling. Is he going to cry? Oh, shit. "My little brother, dating someone," Akiteru said, choking back a sob. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Sorry?" Mikaela offered.
"No, this is great, this is great," he said, shaking himself. He seemed to be calming down, so Tenma released his jacket. "I'm sorry, I just... I'm so happy, oh my god. I never thought Kei would ever date anyone. He was always so lonely, I thought he'd die alone with his dinosaur collection-"
"Dinosaur collection?" she mumbled, glancing at Tenma. The old Little Giant just shrugged helplessly.
"And you're literally perfect for him," Akiteru continued, and Mikaela felt herself blush again. "I've been rooting for this since the day I met you. God, Kaisha..." he exhaled shakily and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you. I think this is the happiest day of my life."
She laughed shakily, surprised by the enthusiasm. "Thanks. I'm glad you think it's okay."
"Of course I do," he said, pulling back. "Did you confess?" The manager nodded, and he ruffled her hair. "Atta girl. My dumb little brother would-"
"Oi! What's with all the chit chat?"
The trio turned to look at Saeko, who had moved away from her position to frown at them. From a quick glance at the court, it looked like there was a time out. For Kamomedai or Karasuno, Mikaela couldn't tell. She was about to say something when Akiteru looped an arm back around her shoulders and called out, "Kaisha's dating Kei!"
Saeko's jaw dropped. "What?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
The next minute was spent with Mikaela apologizing frantically for not immediately alerting Saeko of her new relationship status and assuring her that this was very recent, followed by a dozen "I told you he liked you, dumbass!" and then a hug that squeezed most of the air out of her lungs. Mikaela was overwhelmed by the support from not just Saeko but Akiteru as well, but she was immensely grateful. Tsukishima was her first boyfriend, so she didn't have much experience with dating, but she knew that if her boyfriend's brother didn't approve, she would've been crushed.
The time out finished, and they finally managed to concentrate on the game. The points went back and forth like always, but Kamomedai seemed to be getting a lot of block points. Mikaela couldn't help but notice that Kageyama was making heavy use of Tsukishima going through the middle. Despite their best efforts, Karasuno still ended up dropping the first set by four points.
"This isn't good," Mikaela mumbled, resting her elbows on the railing.
Tenma nodded, then turned to Akiteru. "You were kind enough to say that Hoshiumi's playing style resembles mine, but he's much better than I ever was."
"How so?"
"Well, take that last hit where he aimed for the end line. If I'd been in his shoes, I would've hit that down instead of back," the former Little Giant elaborated, and Mikaela propped her chin up on her palm to listen. "Kei-kun would've blocked me. Hoshiumi has far better skill and decision making than I ever did."
Mikaela shrugged. "Maybe that's just because it's Tsukishima we're talking about."
"Yep!" Saeko called, chiming in. "He just saw Kei and said, hell no!"
Tenma laughed. "Good point."
The second set started up. Kamomedai had moved their rotation forward a few spots, but Ukai had swapped around Hinata and Tsukishima, so nothing was going according to plan for either team. Kageyama started with a rocket serve, but their goliath managed to get a block out. Karasuno's synchronized attack got them the next point, and from there, the points bobbled back and forth until Hinata hit them with a slide attack. It was 4 - 3 for Karasuno.
The crowd cheered, and Mikaela grinned to herself. "They broke the stack block."
"What now?" Akiteru asked, leaning towards her.
Mikaela pointed down at the court. "In the first set, they had those three-" she gestured vaguely to Hoshiumi and two of the other tallest guys on the team- "setting up on the left. Kageyama was set up front right, so the only attacks were either coming from Tsukishima in the middle or Asahi on the left. So they just stacked there and got a crap ton of block points."
Tenma straightened up. "Oh! So when Shoyo-kun and Kei-kun switched, and now that Shoyo-kun does those slide attacks-"
"They have to run around a lot more," Akiteru finished. "Nasty."
Kamomedai got the next point, but Kageyama pulled off a wickedly nasty setter dump to get their fifth point. Mikaela cackled to herself in the stands, resisting the urge to flip off the Kamomedai team. Not professional, dumbass.
"That was perfect timing!" Saeko said with a laugh.
"That was plain evil," Tenma agreed.
Mikaela hummed happily. "That's Tobio for you."
Kamomedai was gradually getting more and more block points, but it really caught up to Karasuno when they stuffed Asahi to get one point ahead, 11 - 10. Mikaela winced. I hope Asahi's doing okay, that wouldn't be good for anyone's self-confidence.
On the next point, Tanaka received a wicked serve, and although it looked like a crappy pass, Kageyama turned it into a lightning quick set that tied up the game again for Karasuno. "Holy crap!" Mikaela and Akiteru cried out in unison, high-fiving each other.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Tenma exclaimed, leaning onto the railing. "That's one incredible setter Karasuno has! And he's a rookie?"
Mikaela beamed, proud of her cousin. "Yep!"
"Wow, they must've been thrilled to have him come on board." He glanced at Mikaela. "Is he your brother?"
"Cousin," she corrected.
"Ah, cool. Must be nice to have someone you're related to on the guys' team. Gives you an excuse to come to all their games!" Tenma said with a laugh, watching as Asahi set up for his serve. "Well, if you're dating Kei-kun, then there's another."
She grinned. "Honestly? They're all family to me at this point. I don't need an excuse to go."
He sighed, a wistful smile growing on his face. "Family, eh? I miss it."
The next few points played out, with Kamomedai taking over the lead, and Mikaela turned to Tenma. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He nodded, so she continued. "Why'd you stop playing? From what I heard, you were a good player."
"Well..." Tenma trailed off, watching the game unfold on the court below them. "I needed to go to school," he said softly, shrugging. "Honestly, I wasn't good enough to make a career out of volleyball. If I wanted a decent job, I needed to go to university."
"You could've played on a university team."
"I know, I know. I told myself that a dozen times," he said, chuckling weakly. On the court below them, Tsukishima pulled off a quick attack and got Karasuno another point. "I don't know, really. I never tried out for the team in first year, which was fine. I told myself I just needed a year to adjust, and then I would. But I just never did. I guess... I guess I just wasn't as volleyball crazy as I thought I was."
Mikaela tried to understand, but she didn't really get it. If you were good at something and you loved doing it, why wouldn't you keep doing it? Or maybe...
"Sorry if I'm prying," she asked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm just guessing at something here."
"Go for it."
"Just a theory," the manager clarified again. "But did you start volleyball out of spite for being short or because you thought it might be fun, and you stayed because you were good, and not because you liked it?"
Tenma stiffened up, looking at her with wide eyes. On the court, Asahi pulled off a perfect tip to put Karasuno in the lead, 18 - 17. "Say that again?" he asked.
Mikaela shrugged, feeling herself blush. "Well, I don't know what it's like for you. But in my case, I've loved volleyball for a while. I can't imagine going without it, even though the universe has offered me plenty of opportunities to step away from it," she joked, thinking of her prosthetic and the arguments with her mother. "So it's natural for me to want to step back into it. It's like that for Tobio too, and same for Shoyo. They- We- are just really volleyball hungry.
"And it's always easier to enjoy something when you're good at it," she continued, watching the court. "Which is part of why I'm so obsessed with getting better. Because you always have more fun when you're better at something. So... Maybe it's the opposite for you. You're a bit like Tsukishima, who joined because it was kind of fun. Tsukishima's learned to love it, though. I get the feeling that you got good and kept playing through high school because you were good, not because you liked it. You just never had your moment."
"My moment," Tenma repeated, and they both watched as Asahi slammed the volleyball into the arms of the Kamomedai blockers, luckily getting a waterfall block. "You hit every point on the head, I think. I guess I just never liked it as much as I thought I did."
Mikaela pursed her lips, dropping the subject. Could she ever get sick of volleyball? After all the time and effort she'd put into it? Hopefully not.
In the next point, their goliath finally managed to steal a point for Kamomedai, allowing them to come within one point of Karasuno. It was still 19 - 18, and Karasuno called a time out. "Come on, guys, just hold on," Akiteru mumbled under his breath.
"Hey, why don't they just do to that Hoshiumi kid what they did to Ushiwaka?" Saeko asked, leaning towards them. "Like, stack up their tallest line?"
Tenma shook his head. "That's a good idea, but Hoshiumi specializes in tooling blocks and getting block outs. Doing that would only give him more of a target." He glanced sideways to Saeko. "Hey, for someone who never played, you sure know a lot about volleyball."
Saeko laughed. "Thanks! I have all of these old guys to teach me!"
"Young guys!" Akiteru, Shimada, and Takinoue all protested (she'd forgotten Shimada and Takinoue were here, yikes).
The two teams ended up tying it up at 20 - 20, but Karasuno pulled off three points in a row- a service ace from Asahi, and lightning quick set from Hinata in which he actually jumped higher than normal, and a slide attack right after. "God, Shoyo must be exhausted," she muttered to herself.
Kamomedai responded in kind: they got a service ace, and Hoshiumi scored off a back row set. However, Hinata scored Karasuno's next point with a great block out, putting them up 24 - 22. Karasuno was one point away from set point, and they needed this. They'd already dropped the first set, and they seemed to be dragging themselves around the court.
Yamaguchi went on to serve, and Mikaela bit the inside of her cheek. If they didn't get the point now, they'd be in a tough spot.
Come on, Yams, you've got this-
Yamaguchi's serve was near perfect. The pass was botched, and the ball got sent up in an emergency set to Hoshiumi. Mikaela held her breath as Tsukishima and Kageyama both jumped for the block.
Something seemed to click in Tsukishima's head, because he jerked his hand out of the way of the block. Hoshiumi, who had been aiming for the blond's hand, sent the ball straight over the net, through Tsukishima's arms, and out the back of the court. He'd been trying for a block out, but Tsukishima had caught him and managed to move. The point was theirs, and so was the set.
"Yes!" Mikaela screamed, grabbing onto Akiteru's arm. "He moved!"
Akiteru seemed to be at a loss for words, and they both watched as Tsukishima grinned evilly at Hoshiumi before heading off the court, high-fiving Yamaguchi as he went. He glanced up at the stands and he flashed a quick peace sign to his brother. Mikaela beamed, and when he caught her eye, he smiled back before quickly jogging off the court. Mikaela felt butterflies erupt in her chest.
"He's so grown up," Akiteru said, looking like he was holding back tears for the second time that day. "Oh my god, my baby brother, Kei... When did you get so old?"
"Don't let him hear you say that," Mikaela joked weakly, trying to calm the anxiety storm that was building up in her chest.
"Kaisha, he was smiling, this boy never smiles-"
"I know, I don't even think he was smiling when I confessed."
"Really?"
"Well, I had my eyes shut, so I don't really know."
Akiteru turned from the court to Mikaela, his eyes widening. "You had your eyes closed?"
She flushed. "Hey, I was nervous, cut me a break!"
"That reminds me!" Saeko zipped over to them at the speed of light, shoving Akiteru out of the way and grabbing Mikaela's shoulders. "Details, honey. Every single last one. I don't care if you don't think it's important, I want to know."
Mikaela tried her best to cram as much information in as she could in the time span of a time out. When she mentioned the prank that they'd pulled when she and Tsukishima had realized that the rest of the team was listening in, the adults all burst into laughter, cackling about the idea of them setting up a betting pool. Mikaela was about to mention the Nekoma team's betting pool when the whistle blew, signalling the start of the third set. After reiterating that if Mikaela had any more information that she should inform her immediately, Saeko headed back to her spot with her taiko crew.
"Set three!" Shimada said excitedly, grabbing onto the railing. "This is intense!"
"They've got this," Mikaela murmured to herself, clenching her hands into fists.
They did not, in fact, have it. It seemed to be going well, and Hinata did a lot of hiding with the other players that drove the other blockers into fits. But as soon as Tsukishima rotated to the front row, things started going bad. It was when Tsukishima tried to dodge the blockers and hit his spike out of bounds did Mikaela realize how tired he was.
She was about to speak up, but Akiteru beat her to it. "Kei's tired," he pointed out.
"It's to be expected," Mikaela said, defending him. "They had a match earlier, and it was against Nekoma. Nekoma is exhausting to play against."
Tenma hummed in agreement. "Six sets in one day is a lot."
"I feel bad for Azumane, Sawamura, and Tanaka," Takinoue piped up, nodding at the court. "They haven't got a rest all day."
True enough.
Kamomedai was up by three, and every time it looked like Karasuno would get a break point, Kamomedai found some miraculous way to pull through. Mikaela was clenching her fists so hard that she could feel her nails digging into her palms. The score started closing when Hinata pulled off a half slide, half huge jump to get a point, then jumped into a lightning fast quick set immediately after to put them within one point of Kamomedai.
Not only that, but in the very next point, Hinata decoyed another lightning set (Mikaela was having fun calling them lightning sets in her head) and she could've sworn that the blockers leaned more towards Hinata. Kageyama noticed- of course he did, god she loved him- and sent the ball to Tanaka.
"They broke their system," she said aloud, watching as the team celebrated tying the score at 12 all.
"Come again?" Akiteru asked, leaning towards her.
Mikaela pointed at the court, where Asahi was setting up for his fourth serve. "Just wait. I want to see if they're actually broken or if that was a fluke." Hoshiumi managed a tip, and the point went to Kamomedai. But it was the next point that immediately became one of Mikaela's favourite points of all time: Hinata moved to do a lightning fast set and jumped sideways, prompting all the blockers to jump at him and giving Tanaka a wide open shot. "There you go," she said proudly, gesturing to the court. "Broken."
Tenma laughed. "They've started biting on the fakes."
"Shoyo's been pulling out so many new moves and types of sets that he can hit, and the fact that Tobio can give him those sets put them on their toes," she elaborated, grinning at the court. "Earlier, they weren't even fazed, and their blocking crushed us. Now, they're more conscious of Shoyo, which is giving us an edge. Part of that comes from exhaustion, and part of it comes from Shoyo adding more weapons to his arsenal that no one knows what to do with."
Hinata moved to the back row, and Mikaela accidentally squealed out loud when she saw Hinata set up for his side arm serve. "What's he doing?" Tenma asked.
"Just wait, just wait," she hushed quickly, her eyes trailing to Tsukishima as he moved to his place in the front row. "If this works, I'm buying Shoyo enough gari gari pops to last him a lifetime."
His side arm serve hit the top of the net and tumbled over. Unfortunately, the goliath on Kamomedai managed to lunge forwards and knock the ball over. At least it's a free ball. Kageyama tried a setter dump but all three of Kamomedai's blockers jumped for it, shutting the ball down. By some miracle, the ball hit the top of Daichi's foot, sending it over the net. Kamomedai spiked it back, and Hinata received it perfectly, then jumped into a back minus for the point.
"They pulled ahead!" Shimada cheered, the volume of the crowd nearly drowning him out.
"What the hell kind of serve was that?" Akiteru said in surprise, turning to Mikaela.
She beamed, pride flooding her chest. "I taught him that. It's a knuckle serve." Mikaela launched into the the explanation of the serve, but Akiteru's eyes were elsewhere. "Hey! You asked, right?"
"Hinata," he said shakily, pointing at the court.
Mikaela turned, and her face paled. Hinata was crouched on the court, and he wasn't getting up. The orange-haired boy tried to stumble to his feet, but fell on his rear. Mikaela's head was reeling; what happened? Was he injured? Did he just slip? Tired? No, Hinata never got tired-
She watched Kageyama mouth the word, "fever".
It all collapsed in her head at once.
"I feel like I could go play another game right now!" Hinata cheered, and Tanaka had grumbled, "that's not normal."
"He's wired," Tsukishima complained. "It's annoying as hell."
"Still?"
"Still. It's not normal."
Not normal.
Tears blurred to her eyes as she pushed past Tenma and Akiteru, heading for the stairs. It wasn't 'not normal' because it was a Hinata thing, it wasn't normal because it legitimately wasn't normal. She should've noticed, she should've checked on him- how did she not realize? Mikaela tore down the stairs, desperately trying to map her way to the court floor. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she made it to the entrance to the court.
Mikaela swung open the door and blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears back into her eyes. Hinata was sitting on the bench, tears leaking from his eyes and his face narrowed in fury, listening to whatever Takeda was telling him. She watched the sensei shake his head, then help Hinata stand.
She moved forwards, and forced a smile on her face as Takeda handed Hinata off to her. "Get him changed out of his sweaty stuff," he instructed softly, "then catch a taxi and go to the hospital."
"O- Okay," the manager forced out, wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulders. "C'mon, Shoyo."
They made it to their bags, and Mikaela started rifling through Hinata's bag and throwing clothes at him. As he peeled off his sweaty jersey, Mikaela tossed it back in his bag, biting her lip the entire time. Tears were still welled in her eyes, because holy shit why hadn't she noticed earlier? She was the manager, for god's sake, she was supposed to be able to catch this stuff. Why hadn't she? Why-
"Hey."
Mikaela nearly flinched. She glanced up to see Kenma, but his words hadn't been directed at her. "Kenma," Hinata said hoarsely.
"Came to cheer up a friend," the setter said softly, and Hinata's drying eyes brimmed with tears once again. Mikaela exhaled shakily to herself and zipped up Hinata's bag, reaching for her own.
She flinched yet again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Oi, Temper-san."
Mikaela groaned, not surprised. Wherever Kenma was, Kuroo was bound to follow. "Kind of busy, Kuroo-senpai," she choked out, refusing to look up so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.
"Hey. Look at me."
"Absolutely not," she snapped, zipping up her own bag and sliding it over her shoulder. "I-"
"Oi. Not an option."
Mikaela paused, watching out of the corner of her eye as Kenma passed a tablet over to Hinata with the game playing on it. She stood up from her spot, still unwilling to look at Kuroo. "What?" she snapped, blinking.
Kuroo put a second hand on other shoulder and spun her around. "You've got to be stronger than this," he said firmly, his grip on her shoulders tightening. "For his sake."
"I'm trying."
"Try harder."
God, how she hated being patronized like this. Mikaela shut her eyes and forced all the air out of her lungs, trying to get her shoulders to relax. "I'm okay," she lied, opening up her eyes again. When Kuroo raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed. "I'll keep saying it until I believe it."
He nodded. "Okay. Good." There was an awkward pause. "I'm not going to hug you."
"Jesus, Kuroo," Mikaela grumbled, scrunching up her face. "That'd be awkward."
Kuroo laughed, letting go of her shoulders. "Get that kid to a hospital."
Mikaela nodded. "Thank you," she whispered genuinely before turning her back on the Nekoma captain and heading over to Hinata. She pulled a mask out of her pocket and he slipped it on. "Let's get going," Mikaela urged, nodding politely to Kenma before putting her own mask on as well.
"M'kay," Hinata mumbled, his eyes trained on the tablet.
Her eyes drifted to the gym, but she tore herself away. Shoyo is the priority. Shoyo is the priority. If I look back at the game, it'll distract me.
They headed through the main doors, and it was only when they made it out into the main pavilion did Mikaela start wondering how the hell she was supposed to call a cab. Thankfully, her savior arrived in the form of Shimada, who called a cab for them and told the cab driver where to go. Mikaela sat in the back seat with Hinata, half an eye on the game.
"How do you turn up the volume?" Hinata said suddenly.
"Button on the side," she murmured, reaching around and tapping it with her hand. Hinata hummed in thanks, and Mikaela glanced at the game score. 22 - 21 for Kamomedai. Tanaka nailed a brilliant cut shot to tie up the score.
When Tsukishima collapsed on the court from a leg cramp, Mikaela felt tears form again in her eyes. Not just Hinata, but not Tsukishima was down too- and worse, she wasn't even there for him. She watched the screen with watery eyes as Tsukishima called final instructions to his team mates as Shimizu dragged him off the court and Ukai subbed in Yamaguchi.
"We're here," Shimada said softly, and Mikaela helped Hinata out of the cab. She was in too much of a daze to properly thank the driver, so instead she just focused on walking through the sliding doors with Hinata and towards the waiting area. They sat down together, their eyes glued to the screen.
The score was 24 - 23 for Kamomedai, and Asahi pulled up to spike. His block out almost worked, but Kamomedai kept it alive. The dread built up in her stomach as Hoshiumi leaped, setting up for a spike, and hit it to the back corner of the court.
It was funny how slow the last play unfolded. The ball grazed Nishinoya's arms and went flying out of the court. The point went to Kamomedai. They won.
Karasuno lost.
The tablet kept streaming the feed of Kamomedai's celebration, and Mikaela watched through blurry eyes as Daichi collapsed on the court, staring up at the ceiling. Sugawara and Asahi moved to help him up, and she glanced up at Hinata, ready to suggest turning off the tablet.
Hinata wasn't even looking at the screen. He was glaring at the floor.
Mikaela silently reached over and pressed the power button on the device. The volleyball live cam gave way for a black screen. Hinata didn't give any indication that he noticed; he just kept glaring at the floor.
"It's not your fault," she said shakily.
He didn't look up, and Mikaela didn't know if he'd heard her.
Then, "it's not yours, either."
Mikaela blinked in surprise, then pursed her lips, thinking back to her conversation earlier with Kageyama. Just after her confrontation with the Niiyama team.
"Dad laughed, then said that to blame it on myself is to say that you're the only one that could've changed the outcome."
Her eyes dried. She leaned back into the seat, sighing.
Karasuno lost.
Not my fault.
Maybe if she repeated it often enough, she'd believe it.
You guys are much too nice to me holy heck why is this story legitimately THRIVING
Also this is the longest chapter I've written to date and believe me when I say I cried again running through the end of this in the manga... like I still can't get over it. Furudate, WHY
Padgent: Thank you so much! Rereading my stories and noticing the developmental bits that I can't remember writing is one of my favourite past times :D Thank you for your review! :)
Zoreux: I'm glad, I know jet lag sucks so at least there's some solace XD Thanks for your review! :D
luvielle: Do your research paper! ...I say as I procrastinate my chemistry lab report XD THANK YOU! Thank you so much for your review and kind words, much appreciated :D
Averi-nova: Aww thank you! Yes, I'm going to go through the next five years at my own pace- I see it as a perfect opportunity to totally focus on Mikaela! I'm going to go through second and third year (the important bits, at least) but it shouldn't take me more than three or four chapters. Still, it'll be fun! Thank you kindly for your review! :)
Sayori1412: Aw I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, I'm very excited to the Karasuno versus Nekoma match to be animated, it'll be so so good. Thank you so much for your review! :D
Kyion: Oh my goodness you're too kind, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I agree, I think one of my personal favourite moments is them cuddling on the couch XD Thank you so so much for your review! :)
Swaggishima: I LOVE HIM TOO! Tsukishima just grew on me and... UGH I love him! Heyo, we cried together then :') Thank you so much for your review! :D
jily shiper: Thank you! Yep, I'm going to go at my own pace for the next few chapters because the time skip after the Kamomedai match overwhelmed me while I was reading it and I can't handle trying to do that in my own writing XD Thanks for your review! :)
Uzutail: Aw, thank you so much! :D
Sadashi: I know! Hinata is literally one of the main characters of the whole story yet I feel like he's so underrated! Thank you so much for your review! :)
Shadow Wolf 15846: I'm glad! Sorry, not a whole lot of TsukiXMika stuff this chapter... but it gets better, I promise ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D
bbymojo: I'm so glad you thought that part was in character! Tsukishima is so so hard to get right and I wanted to get more explanation about his feelings for Mikaela but it's so hard to keep him in character so I struggled with that part a lot. Thank you! Thank you so so much for your kindness and your reviews! :)
ScarletSea: I'm so glad you binge read this! Thank you so much for your time and your review! :D
sndlr: I do understand that reference, yes XD That's also what I thought of as I wrote it! No, Mikaela will not be getting her old rival's phone number- she's simply not interested. Actually, I'm Canadian! Although I understand where you're coming from- I've met people who had no idea what a platypus was. I love platypuses! They're adorable! Anyways, thank you so so much for your review and for binge reading my story- it means so much! :)
Elsa: Absolutely! ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D
My classes at my university have been cancelled and moved online because of COVID-19, and due to this sudden change, I've relocated home. Hopefully, this means a lot more writing will be done! This story is closing on its end like how the manga is coming to an end, and I don't think I'm mentally or emotionally prepared yet.
(On another note, I hope everyone is staying home and safe from the virus! Please think of all the people at risk!)
In terms of the time skip, I'm going to slow it down. I'm going to focus on Mikaela's journey over the next few chapters through the five year time skip for two reasons. One, I have a lot of ideas that I'd love to express. Two, it means that the story will go on longer, and I'm not ready for this to end quite yet.
Thank you for your patience! I hope to hear from you! :) Stay healthy!
