How to fly with clipped wings (English ver.) HAIKYUU!! FAN FICTION

Chapter 9: The Practice

"Server up!" Oikawa called, grinning.

Mikaela grinned right back, jumped, and smacked the ball with all her might. Thankfully, it didn't hit the net and continued over. But she almost fell afterward- her thighs had started to cramp up.

Oikawa moved to receive it before calling, "out!" and retracting his arms, but as luck would have it, her serve hit the backline. "Ugh, no fair, Mika-chan!"

"Says you!" she shot back, inwardly cheering from her beautiful serve.

"C'mon, dumbass, that was totally in," Iwaizumi complained, punching Oikawa in the shoulder. "You totally could've gotten that, you just got lazy."

"Did not!" Oikawa retorted, sticking out his tongue. "That hurt, Iwa-chan!"

Mikaela would've laughed but her words got caught in her throat. This wasn't just a typical cramping- those, she just took a breather for a few seconds, stretched, and was good to go after a few minutes. No, this time her legs felt like they were burning. Like a fire was racing up and down her veins.

She grabbed another volleyball from the cart and turned towards Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who were still bickering. She tossed the ball up.

Mikaela tried to take a step and then collapsed.

She'd only felt this type of pain once- when she missed the time she was supposed to take her pills. Crap, how late was it?

The volleyball hit the floor with a thump, forgotten. The dark-haired girl heard distant shouting, but the ringing in her ears canceled it out. She slumped over, practically falling onto her back. This was worse than last time- the burning pain raced up and down both of her legs like wildfire.

"Mikaela!" Iwaizumi shouted urgently, and through her blurry vision, she saw him crouch next to her. Oikawa, despite his typical carefree demeanor, was actually looking very serious. "Is it your leg?" the ace asked, easing an arm under her back and bringing her up to a seated position, which helped a bit.

She nodded. "Bag," she managed, cringing as another wave of cramps seized up in her thighs.

Oikawa took off to the side of the gym where they had left their stuff and returned ten seconds later with her blue and black backpack, bending down. "What do you need?" the brunet demanded.

"Front," Mikaela croaked, wincing, trying to shift to a more comfortable position. Oikawa didn't understand at first but Iwaizumi did, and the ace reached for her bag and unzipped the front pouch, pulling out two clear cylinder containers with different color pills inside. He held them both out to her and she waved vaguely at the blue one.

Iwaizumi unscrewed the container as Oikawa took his turn to support her and keep her upright. "How many?" he asked, and she held up two fingers. Iwaizumi carefully emptied two tiny blue pills into her shaky hand, and Oikawa fished her water bottle out and handed it to her. Hands trembling, she took a sip of water, then tipped her head back and swallowed one and then the other, the procedure done by reflex.

"Three minutes," she rasped, leaning back heavily against Oikawa.

So they sat in silence and waited.

These pills were honestly incredible- they acted very quickly and were easy to swallow. Within a minute, she started breathing a little easier. Another minute, and she already felt the pain in her legs subside slightly.

Three minutes, and her leg cramps were becoming more manageable. "It's okay now," the black-haired girl mumbled, sitting up carefully. "What time is it?"

Oikawa fished around her bag for her phone and pulled it out. "5:43," he replied, handing her the phone. Mikaela cursed under her breath- she should've been keeping a better watch of the time. But that was weird...