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

Chapter 53: The Tryouts

Mikaela turned heads when she walked into the Karasuno girls' volleyball team tryouts on the first day of her second year.

Daichi had connected her with Michimiya Yui before the third years graduated, and Mikaela had wheedled as much information from the former Karasuno captain as she could. There were next to no videos of the Karasuno girls' team because they'd never done well enough to make it anywhere near the finals of the regional qualifiers. Michimiya was kind and very willing to open up about the club.

It was like Mikaela had suspected: the team wasn't great. They barely had any new people at tryouts and never did very well in games; the team was generally unmotivated and getting consistent practice was hard. The captain for next year was Sudou Rinko, and Mikaela was determined to make a good impression.

So, she was mildly surprised when she walked into the first tryout and saw ten girls lined up.

Mikaela frowned, craning her neck to see a small desk set up with one of the upper years taking people's names as they signed in. Ten people? Already? Michimiya had said that there were never more than four new people every year. What was this?

"Excuse me," she said quietly, tapping the shoulder of the girl in front of her. "Is this the tryout?"

The girl turned, and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, it's really you!"

The volume of her voice nearly made Mikaela wince. The rest of the line turned to face her, and even though Mikaela was taller than most of them (she grew an inch over the break!), she felt surprisingly intimidated. "Sure," she said, crossing her arms. "This is tryouts, right?"

The girl's mouth parted and she gaped at Mikaela like a fish.

"Alright then." With a sigh, Mikaela turned to the girl at the desk, who was smirking at her. "Do I sign in with you?"

"I think you're good," she said, leaning back in the chair. "We know who you are."

Of course.

Mikaela nodded to her and turned to the rest of the line, who were still staring at her. She channeled her inner Kageyama and glared at them, causing most of the girls to shrink back. Mikaela turned away and headed to the change room, ready to get this over with. She pulled on a loose black t-shirt and athletic shorts, leaving her prosthetic on full display. It didn't bother her anymore.

By the time all the potential players were signed in and changed, Mikaela had come to three conclusions.

One: she was the reason for the increase of people at tryouts.

Two: she was more famous than she'd realized.

Three: the captain didn't like her all that much.

"Welcome," Sudou Rinko, captain of the Karasuno Girls' Volleyball team and middle blocker, announced loudly to sixteen girls, "to the first tryouts for the Karasuno volleyball team. In previous years, we've accepted everyone who tried out, but we can't take all of you, so we'll hold three tryouts before we make the team. So players from last year need to try out too."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. Say something useful, please.

"I'm Sudou Rinko," she said, holding up a hand, "and I'm a third year middle blocker. I'll be captaining this year."

She gestured to the girl standing next to her. "I'm Kikuchi Moe," the other girl said with a large smile. "I'm vice captain, third year, wing spiker."

Sudou's smile tightened. "We won't be picking favorites or doing anything by preference. So even if you were on the team last year, there's no guarantees. It doesn't matter if you've been on the team before or if you're..." Sudou's eyes narrowed at Mikaela and she pursed her lips. "...famous."