She chickened out.
Mikaela waited until who knows how long for Kageyama and Hinata to return from their run with their chaperone, Tsukishima. She stayed up watching volleyball footage of Inarizaki's matches, trying to figure out other small details about the twins and the other ridiculous players on their team. When the trio returned to the hotel, she took one look at the group and immediately went to her room.
"This is dumb," Mikaela grumbled to herself as she settled herself into her bed. "Why do I have to be the one to confess?"
The next day, the entire team was hyped up about the upcoming game. Mikaela couldn't help but get swept up in the enthusiasm. The trip to the stadium felt much longer than it needed to be, and Mikaela was constantly fidgeting.
"Stop it," Kageyama said with a sigh when he saw her flipping a pen around in her fingers.
"Stop what?"
"Fidgeting. It's ridiculous."
Mikaela sighed. "I can't help it! I'm nervous."
He shot her a weird look. "Why are you nervous? You're not even playing."
"This is nationals, Kags! This is all of Japan!"
"...And?"
She groaned, sliding down in her seat. "You're ridiculous."
The opening ceremonies were crowded. Even before they'd entered the building, they were shoulder to shoulder when walking. Karasuno ended up running into Nekoma, and Mikaela got a quick chance to catch up with Kuroo, which really wasn't more than him teasing her and her punching him in the shoulder.
("So, Temper-san, that video-"
"Can it or I'll kick you so hard you won't be able to walk."
"...Yes, ma'am.")
It was even more packed when they were inside; everyone was bumping into each other as they tried to force their way through the crowd. Mikaela twisted to get out of the way of a passing player and craned her neck to look around for the rest of the team. She was of average height for a girl (no matter how much Kuroo told her she was short) but this sea of tall volleyball players was really making her feel tiny.
"My, my. What's this? Don't tell me you're actually nervous, Sawamura-san." Mikaela turned around to see Kuroo, sweating buckets and poking fun at her captain.
Daichi didn't even flinch. "Me? Your chattiness makes me think you're the nervous one, Kuroo-san."
"Yeah, yeah." Kuroo rolled his eyes and pointed at someone in the crowd. "Your number ten looks like a middle schooler who got lost."
Mikaela turned to see Hinata, wandering through a throng of players, looking even more clueless than usual. With a sigh, Mikaela started pushing her way through to collect him. "Shoyo!" she called out as she got closer. "Hey, Shoyo!"
He saw her and turned towards her with a wave. "Kaisha! Hey-" Hinata accidentally bumped into another player. As he squeaked out his apologies, he backed up and bumped into Nishinoya, sending him stumbling into a girl. Thankfully, the girl caught him before he fell.
"Thank you," Mikaela said gratefully as she got through the rest of the crowd. "They can be a bit..."
She trailed off when she saw who had caught Nishinoya.
"Mikaela-chan?"
"Amanai-san," Mikaela choked out, remembering one of the only upper years that had treated her with any kindness back at Niiyama. "It's been a while."
Amanai Kanoka, a second-year on the Niiyama volleyball team, was exactly six feet tall and a wing spiker. Mikaela had analyzed her playing style while she was trying out for the Niiyama team because she had been one of the contenders for the open spot on the starting line. From what Mikaela had gathered, she'd gotten it. "How've you been?" Amanai said, offering her a small smile.
Mikaela couldn't even bring the words to her mouth. "Um- Ah- Good! You?" she stammered.
The Niiyama player was about to reply when Tanaka jumped into their conversation. "Hey! Kanoka! Dude, it's been forever!" Tanaka easily jumped into the conversation with Amanai- apparently he'd known her since he was a kid, from what Mikaela could gather- and eventually he sighed, pausing in his rant and staring at her. "You're..." he said slowly, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips.
Mikaela's eyes caught movement- specifically, a head of short blonde hair- and she desperately threw herself behind the closest person. I know who that is.
"Amanai. Time to line up," she heard the Niiyama captain say, and Mikaela shrunk down.
"Oh! Sorry, I was just talking to..." Amanai trailed off. "Never mind. Good luck, Ryu-chan."
Mikaela watched them walk away, and sighed with relief. Nothing to be scared of, just an old team. Why am I still so freaked out about them? Mikaela shook her head. I don't want to deal with that right now anyways.
"Um, you okay there, Mikaela?"
She jerked her head up. The person she'd ducked behind was none other than Motoya Komori, one of the players she'd met at the youth camp. "M- Motoya-san!" Mikaela exclaimed in surprise, backing up. "Sorry! Yeah, I'm okay."
"You seem a bit jumpy," he said with a small smirk. "Should I ask?"
"Definitely not," she replied immediately, rolling her eyes. "How've you been?"
"Good," Motoya said, shrugging casually. "How's the Internet fame?"
Mikaela groaned. "If I had one hundred yen every time someone mentioned that, I'd be rich." They both laughed, and Mikaela sighed. "It could be worse. The whole team's been pretty nice about it, and I haven't been approached yet since I've been here. It's only a matter of time, though."
Motoya crossed his arms. "Could be worse. You could've been humiliated."
"I basically was, Motoya-san. I-"
"Just Motoya's fine, we're friends here."
She scowled, but her scowl faded to a smirk. "Fine, Motoya, I essentially was humiliated. I literally exposed my prosthetic to the world. Guaranteed, if I showed it off right now, everyone would stare."
"Everyone would stare because it's a fake leg," Motoya said with roll of his eyes, "not because you're Internet famous. Don't go getting a big head on us here."
"I'm not," Mikaela protested, but she backed down. "Wait, who's us?"
He sighed. "I'd like to say it's me and Sakusa, but..." he gestured behind him, and Mikaela nearly laughed; the number one ace in all of Japan was hiding in the corner of the room, glaring at anyone who came remotely near. "He hates crowds," Motoya finished with a shrug.
Mikaela laughed. "Doesn't surprise me."
-------
"Who's Mikaela talking to?" Daichi asked, cocking his head.
Sugawara and Nishinoya both turned to look at their manager, who was talking with a volleyball player wearing an Itachiyama jersey. He was a bit taller than Mikaela (though not by much) and had light hair and broad shoulders. "I think that's Motoya Komori, the number one libero in Japan."
Nishinoya instantly stiffened up, turning to glare at him. "How do they know each other?" he asked.
"Probably that youth camp," Daichi guessed, shrugging.
Motoya and Mikaela both laughed, and she gestured with her hands as she talked. Sugawara sighed. "She made friends. I didn't think it was possible."
"She's a decent person when you get to know her, just a bit intimidating at first," the Karasuno captain said, watching as Motoya gestured to someone behind him and Mikaela laughed again. "It's good she's branching out a bit."
"Yeah," Sugawara echoed softly. "I guess it is."
-------
A voice came over the speaker system, announcing the start of the opening ceremonies. "I should go and collect Sakusa," he joked, and they both laughed.
"Don't let him hear you say that," she teased.
"I guess I'll see you around," Motoya said, starting to back away. "If you get a chance, come watch our games!"
"Sure! See you in the finals!"
They both waved, and Mikaela turned in a circle, trying to find someone from her team. She frowned- where were they? Mikaela let herself be swept with the crowd to the entrance, trying to seek out the Karasuno colors but with no luck. Where the hell is my team?
She sighed in relief when she spotted Tsukishima's signature blond hair poking up above the crowd. Mikaela pushed past a few people and ducked around another. "Tsukishima!" she called, grabbing his elbow.
He turned. "What?"
"Just looking for the team," Mikaela replied, dropping his arm. She started walking next to him. "I got caught up in conversation," she added, shrugging. "A guy I met at the youth camp."
"A guy?"
"I was the only girl there, Tsukishima, the only people I ever talked to were guys." She rolled her eyes. "Have you heard of Motoya Komori? He's Japan's number one libero."
Was it just her, or did Tsukishima seem stiff? "No."
"Really? He's-"
"We're starting, idiot."
Mikaela zipped her lips shut and they made their way over to where the Karasuno sign was. The opening ceremonies seemed to fly by: Karasuno was introduced, along with almost one hundred other teams, the announcements dragged on, then they were ushered by Takeda and Coach Ukai towards the train station, which would take them to the gym they'd been assigned for practice. The trains, however, weren't running, but Takeda managed to come up with an emergency route that got them to their gym in almost the same amount of time.
Practice was more tense than Mikaela had ever seen it- which was saying a lot, because she'd seen a lot of highly suspenseful practices and practice matches. The boys seemed to be in good form, at least, even if they were extremely nervous. The trains were running again when they headed back to the stadium for their first game, and just when Mikaela thought everything was running smoothly, they arrived at the gym and Hinata screamed that he'd lost his shoes.
It turned out, Hinata's bag had been accidentally swapped at the station. Shimizu volunteered to go fetch Hinata's swapped bag from the train station as Mikaela calmed Hinata down, assuring him that he'd get his shoes before the match. Mikaela tried to step in for her, but Shimizu insisted; she knew what she was doing.
Wait.
"Kiyoko!" Mikaela said aloud, turning to her senpai just as she was getting ready to leave. "You won't make it back in time for the match!"
"No, I won't," Shimizu said simply, "so you'll have to be the manager for this game."
Her jaw dropped, and Mikaela had trouble forming sentences. "But- but you have to- it can't be me, it's never been me... but you're the third year! And I- I- I can't! You-"
Shimizu placed her hands on Mikaela's shoulders. "Breathe, Kaisha-chan. It'll be fine. You'll do a great job."
"But this could be it," she protested quietly, her stomach sinking.
"It won't be," her senpai said firmly. "Because you'll win."
The finality in Shimizu's statement left no room for argument, so all Mikaela could bring herself to do was nod. Shimizu smiled at her and turned, letting go of her shoulders and heading for the gym's exit.
Mikaela bit her lip. Please be fast.
Warm ups seemed to drag on and on, and Mikaela was more fidgety now than ever. The stadium was crowded, but not quite packed; luckily, it seemed that Tsubakihara Academy didn't have a large following, which meant that there wasn't going to be a ridiculous cheering section. Mikaela had spoken with Saeko about it, because Saeko was planning on bringing a large squad down but couldn't make the first day. Mikaela had insisted that they make it for the second day at a bare minimum, because playing against Inarizaki was going to be hell.
Hinata bounced left and right with nothing on his feet, playing ball boy for the team as they warmed up. Mikaela's mind brushed over a couple warm up things that she could do with him that would be fine, but he seemed to enjoy being ball boy, so Mikaela left him be.
The whistle blew to end warm ups and Mikaela nearly snapped her pencil in half. Where are you, Kiyoko?
"Kaisha-chan!"
Mikaela turned around to look up into the stands, where the older Karasuno manager was standing at the railing, out of breath and clutching a bag in her hands. Without warning, she tossed it down, and Mikaela caught it. "Thank you!" she called up to her. Mikaela turned. "Shoyo!"
"What? Gah!" Hinata cried out as Mikaela tossed his bag at him. "Thanks!"
The middle blocker got his shoes on faster than she could report to the coach that he'd gotten his shoes. The team lined up at the edge of the court and bowed, and Mikaela felt her heart swell. She loved this team more than she'd ever thought herself capable of.
This was her first- and last- time standing on the court as Karasuno's official manager.
"Tobio's going to need to take a couple points of setting to get adjusted," Mikaela told Ukai as they went to sit down on the bench. The starting six players went out to the court. "It's one thing to warm up in a gym like this, but actually setting? That's different."
He nodded. "I figured. This is Tsubakihara's second time at nationals, with the first being just last year, so they're going to be accustomed to it."
Mikaela pursed her lips, wiping her palms on her pants. Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous.
The game started badly; there was no way around it. Passes went long, Kageyama botched a set with Hinata, serves got messed up. Hinata managed to save a bad set by accidentally hitting it with his head, which earned a few laughs from the crowd. Mikaela glared heavily at her cousin. Hurry it up and get your shit together.
Kageyama shivered, and turned to glare right back at her. He mumbled something that Mikaela couldn't catch from the noise in the stadium, and turned back to Hinata. "He'll be fine," Mikaela grumbled under her breath.
Ukai leaned towards her. "What do you think? Do I throw Yamaguchi in early?"
"Yes," she replied without hesitation, checking off another point for Tsubakihara on her sheet. "They're up by four. We need to-"
"Make up the difference," he finished, grabbing the card with Hinata's number on it. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."
Yamaguchi subbed in. His perfect float serve went right to the other team's ace, which led to a messed up pass and a block point for Karasuno. Yamaguchi's next serve was a service ace- Mikaela had to pinch her leg to stop herself from screaming in excitement. Yamaguchi was out here, getting service aces, on national-level teams? She covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her smirk.
The pinch server was taken off next point, and Hinata went back in, the frantic look in his eyes telling Mikaela that if he didn't hit a spike soon he'd go nuts. Mikaela grinned to herself as Kageyama's set perfectly put the volleyball right under Hinata's palm, and the short middle blocker nailed the quick set. The crowd hushed in surprise, and Hinata pumped his fist in elation.
The game seemed to zoom by from there. Karasuno was starting to catch up, but every time Mikaela thought they were going to tie it up, Tsubakihara pulled slightly ahead. It was infuriating, actually; it was clear that Karasuno was the superior team, even with an ace as strong as Tsubakihara's.
They were within one point when the opposing team's ace punched the ball through, making the crowd roar and putting them up 17 to 15. "Bet you a hundred yen that Kageyama's sending the next one to Asahi," Mikaela said to Ukai, knowing exactly how her cousin's mind worked.
Ukai raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that bet. He's got four eligible hitters."
Kageyama sent the ball to Asahi to make the score 16 to 17, and Ukai grumbled something under his breath as Mikaela pumped a fist to herself.
The rallies continued, and then Hinata went up to serve. Karasuno was only one point behind, at 17 to 18, but Yamaguchi had been subbed in already in this set, so Ukai couldn't send him in as a pinch server. Hinata glanced towards the bench, and he locked eyes with Mikaela: it was time.
"He's going to try it," she whispered to herself. She clenched her fists against her track pants. This was it.
A month of practice on a serve that Mikaela had actually never seen done in person.
Please work, please work, please!-
Hinata set himself up so that he was standing sideways, with his body facing towards the bench and his arm held out in front of him, the ball resting in his palm. Karasuno wasn't fazed, but the other team seemed confused; this wasn't something they had seen before. Granted, this wasn't even something that Mikaela had seen done before, besides in her practices with Hinata.
"Hinata Shoyo seems to be setting up for... a sideways serve?" she heard the announcers say, puzzled. The whistle blew, and Hinata pulled his arm back to swing.
Mikaela grabbed the end of her long ponytail and tugged, trying to relieve some of her anxiety. The serve she had taught Hinata was a side-arm serve, in between an underarm or an overhand serve. It wouldn't have as much downward momentum as an overhand, and not as much height as an overhand (if you were going for a ceiling serve or something similar) so it was typically disregarded.
However, what Mikaela had taught Hinata was called a knuckle serve.
(At least, that's what she called it.)
Instead of just striking the volleyball, the key was to hit it with your knuckles. The curve and spin of the ball that resulted from this was wickedly unpredictable and made for a great shit-disturber on the other side of the court. That was, if Hinata could pull it off. Brushing his knuckles against it would cause it to swerve- literally, Hinata would have next to no choice where it went- so landing out of bounds was almost as likely as landing in bounds. It was similar to a jump floater in that sense, but instead of dipping upwards or downwards, the ball tended to go left and right.
Mikaela had never been one for religion, but she found herself praying as the middle blocker readied himself.
Hinata swung, striking the ball with his knuckles and his fist, and the ball careened over the net with a wild spin that sent it spinning away from the receiver's arms. It struck his shoulder and tumbled out of bounds, making it a point for Karasuno.
"Yes!" Mikaela screamed, jumping up out of her chair. Hinata looked like he might faint. "Shoyo! You did it!"
"My first service ace!" Hinata cried out, his eyes wider than saucers. The team surrounded him to congratulate him on the great serve, and Hinata looked like he had died and gone to heaven.
"I don't recognize that type of serve," one of the announcers was saying, and Mikaela barely caught his words. "What did Hinata Shoyo just do?"
"That seemed to be a sidearm serve of sorts," the other announcer replied, sounding equally confused. "It seemed to swerve off of its course. I've never seen that kind of serve before."
"Kaisha!" The manager made eye contact with the middle blocker, who was smiling so hard it looked like his face hurt. "Thank you!"
She flashed him a thumbs up and sat herself back down, flushing.
"Well done," Ukai said quietly.
The rest of the match tipped into their favour. Hinata used the knuckle serve one more time, without too much spin, but the team still got the point after a ridiculously long rally. The next rally went just as long, and once again tipped in Karasuno's favor. Karasuno was up 20 to 18, and the point gap was never closed. They won the first set, 25 to 22, and then the second set, 25 to 23.
Mikaela was quick to congratulate the whole team, but after the team bowed and dispersed, Hinata jumped and tackled her in a hug, nearly knocking her to the ground. She wheezed. "Sh- Shoyo!"
Hinata didn't let her go. He clung onto her like a koala, and Mikaela hugged him as tightly as she could. Eventually, he pulled back from her, throwing his hands out in excitement. "I got," he said breathlessly, forcing all of the words out in a hurry, "my first service ace. Ever. And it's all thanks to you."
"It was all you, Shoyo," she said with a laugh. "You-"
"No, no, Kai!" he shook his head frantically. "I never would've been able to do that without you!"
Embarrassingly, Mikaela felt tears well up in her eyes. She grabbed him in a hug again. "Thanks, Sho," she mumbled into his shoulder before she let him go, blinking rapidly. Hinata beamed like the sun and bounded off. Don't cry, idiot. Don't cry-
Someone nudged her shoulder. "You gonna be okay there, your Highness?" Tsukishima said sarcastically.
She huffed, wiping her eyes. "Obviously."
"Then get it together, moron."
"I'm emotional, you idiot."
"I've noticed."
"Oh, go away." Mikaela sighed happily as the Karasuno team collectively moved through the stands, heading to the court where Nekoma was playing. "Congratulations, that was a well played game."
Tsukishima grunted in acknowledgement. "Yeah, sure."
"It was, you dork, and you know it." Mikaela bit her lip. "Uh, Tsukishima, can I talk to you?"
"You are," he said pointedly.
She rolled her eyes. "I mean, later."
"You'll have to set up an appointment with my secretary."
Mikaela's jaw dropped at how annoying his joke was. "Seriously? I can't even talk to one of my best friends without having to book some time?" His smirk grew, and Mikaela scowled. "Oh, I hate you."
"I can live with that."
The team settled down in the stands to watch Nekoma's game, which seemed to be going well for the cats so far. The second set was almost closed up in Nekoma's favor, and from the sound of it, they had won the first set. Mikaela smirked to herself as Nekoma kept pulling off fantastic saves, and the other team's ace looked like he was going to collapse from exhaustion.
Daichi clapped his hands to get their attention, then explained they had a bit of free time if they wanted to shop or watch another match. Mikaela turned to Tsukishima, about to ask what he was going to do, but he pulled out a mask and tucked it over his eyes, pulling up his jacket to cover his mouth and sinking into his seat. "You gonna nap?" she asked with a laugh.
"Go away," came the muffled reply, and Mikaela shook her head with a laugh.
"Kaela!" Yamaguchi tapped her on the shoulder, and Mikaela turned to face him. "Hinata and I are going to check out the shop. You wanna come?"
"Sure," she agreed, risking one last glance at Tsukishima before standing up.
"C'mon, Kaisha!" Hinata cheered, bouncing up and down in his spot. "I wanna get one of their ace shirts!"
She huffed out a laugh and followed them through the throng of people. Hinata was surprisingly nimble (it shouldn't have been that surprising, now that she thought about it) and zipped through the crowd easily. Mikaela and Yamaguchi had a bit of a harder time keeping up with him. When they got to the stand that was set up, Hinata didn't even hesitate: he pointed at the shirt he'd seen Bokuto wearing during a practice.
"Is that the one that Bokuto was wearing?" Yamaguchi asked, and Hinata nodded.
"Yep! He said he got it at nationals so I knew I had to get one too!"
"I think Fukurodani's playing on the court right there," Mikaela mused, pointing her hand to the nearby court. Hinata wasted no time bounding away from the shop and towards the court. After a shared shrug with Yamaguchi, Mikaela and the pinch server followed him.
They ended up watching half of the first set and the second set of Fukurodani's game (Mikaela texted Daichi just so he knew where they were) and Fukuordani won both. Bokuto seemed to be in top form, and the other team couldn't contain him properly.
"Fukurodani's really good," Yamaguchi said as they left their post and started heading back in the direction of the shop.
Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, they've got a really solid foundation."
"And Bokuto-san!" Hinata chirped, and they all laughed.
"You gonna get anything?" she asked Yamaguchi, nodding her head towards the stand.
He grinned, biting his lip. "Yeah, I think so! It'll be a great souvenir. But I don't know which one to get." He turned towards Hinata. "Hinata, which one should I get?"
But the middle blocker wasn't listening. He had locked eyes with someone ordering something from the stand- a short boy with spiky white hair and wide eyes, who was staring right back at him. Mikaela recognized him- Hoshiumi Korai, rumored in magazines to be the next Little Giant. He'd been at the youth camp along with Kageyama, but Mikaela had never talked to or interacted with him. He was a formidable player.
"What're you doing?" Yamaguchi hissed into Hinata's ear. "Do you know him?"
"Nope," Hinata said, refusing to break eye contact. Hoshiumi narrowed his eyes.
"Hoshiumi Korai, right?" Mikaela asked, finding it hard to be intimidated by someone who was two inches shorter than she was.
He turned to her, and his eyes widened with recognition. "Yeah. You're the girl from the camp, right? The one who hit Miya Atsumu?"
Mikaela sighed- that's all she was going to remembered as for the rest of her life, apparently. "The one and only," she said tiredly, shrugging. "How'd your first game go?"
"Haven't had it yet," Hoshiumi replied, turning back to look at Hinata. "Say, how tall are you?"
The manager sighed to herself as the boys started competing over height and running vertical. Her eyes drifted and landed on Kageyama, who was walking towards them with a bag on his arm. "Got a shirt?" she asked him as he came closer.
Kageyama nodded, holding up the bag. "Yep. Hey, Hoshiumi-san."
The wing spiker turned to Kageyama. "Yo, Kageyama. How'd the game go?"
"We won."
"Ah, congrats." He glanced from Mikaela to Kageyama. "People at camp mentioned that you're twins?"
"Cousins," they said in unison.
Hoshiumi raised his eyebrows. "Really? I-"
"Korai-kun, what're you doing? The game before ours is almost over." Mikaela turned to see a very tall player in a Kamomedai uniform- he was as tall as Tsukishima, at least- and he gestured to Hoshiumi. "C'mon."
"Fine." He turned back to Kageyama. "See ya, Kageyama." After one last glare at Hinata, he turned to his teammate and jogged after him, a shopping bag swinging on his arm. Mikaela watched him retreat through narrowed eyes.
"Well, he's pleasant," she grumbled under her breath, jamming her hands into her pockets.
"He's good," Kageyama said.
If Kageyama thinks so, then he really is. Mikaela had only seen a few clips and videos of him; Hoshiumi apparently hated being interviewed so she never caught much information from him. She'd ruled him as a strong contender for the youth camp after only a few videos. It was obvious that he was in a league of his own.
They ended up watching the Kamomedai game, in which Hoshiumi was essentially a one man army. The video recaps didn't do him justice; he was good at everything. He spiked, tipped, and served with as much power as Asahi, blocked as well as Tsukishima, and tooled any block in front of him with no difficulty. His receives were on par with Daichi's, and he even managed to put up an emergency set that was pretty good.
I hope he gets eliminated before we have to play him, Mikaela thought to herself as Hoshiumi got another service ace.
A chill down her spine told her that they wouldn't be that lucky.
-------
With the majority of the games done for the day, Karasuno headed back to their hotel. Mikaela nearly tripped over her own feet as she got off the bus, feeling drained. She hadn't even played today- she had no right to be as tired as she felt.
"Hey, check that out," she heard Daichi say. He pointed to the luxurious hotel beside their tiny motel that Mikaela had originally hoped they were staying in.
"The Niiyama girls' team is in the hotel next door," Asahi realized.
Sugawara pouted. "Talk about preferential treatment," he said, but Mikaela barely heard him. She was standing, frozen in place, staring as the Niiyama girls strolled off of their bus and headed towards the front door. They were a seeded team, which meant they didn't have to play today (but they had to be there for the opening ceremonies) so they were probably just getting back from practice.
The Niiyama captain looked over, and Mikaela immediately ducked behind Kageyama and started heading to the door of their hotel.
"Mikaela?"
She groaned, stifling a curse. Kinomi. Of course.
Mikaela turned towards the Niiyama team, and almost collapsed on the spot; Kinomi's exclamation had been enough to make them all pause and stare at the Karasuno team. Namely, her. Mikaela glared at the blonde, who glared right back at her in retaliation. "Hi," she said awkwardly, breaking eye contact with Kinomi only to survey the rest of the team.
"So the rumors were true," someone said aloud, and Mikaela's eyes drifted to who she recognized as Niiyama's vice captain. "You really are at Karasuno."
"Was it really you in that video?" another one asked. Mikaela felt her throat close, but she nodded. "Damn."
The captain of the Niiyama team turned to face Mikaela, drawing herself up to her full height, and the rest of the girls' team seemed to immediately stiffened up. Mikaela bit her lip. "Let's go, ladies," she said with an air of finality. "We have no business speaking with someone who doesn't feel the need to speak with us."
Something in her chest sank. She felt Kageyama's hand come to rest on her shoulder, but her eyes were too busy trailing after the team she should've been on as they turned away from Karasuno and headed towards the front door of their hotel.
There were so many things she wanted to say, but the words never made it out of her mouth. She couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Mikaela watched until the very last Niiyama girl had retreated into the building, then turned and marched into their own motel, not sure whether she was pissed off or upset. Maybe both. Maybe neither.
Suddenly, she was very happy she wasn't going to Niiyama.
Hey, guys!!
These two weeks were sooooooo long! I finished my final exams last week and have this week until next monday a little "vacations".
Well...I will update four chapters today! And maybe in this week I will be updating, too! I don't know when so be aware!
Thank you so much for your support! If you wanna talk to me about doing a fanart or want to do some collaboration, DM me and I will tell the author! But we are going to be so happy to see some artworks of this book!
Have a nice week!!
Love you!!