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

Chapter 57: The Date

"Seriously?!"

Mikaela winced and shrugged sheepishly. "...Yeah?"

"And I thought Tsukishima was bad," Kageyama grumbled, pressing his palms against his forehead. "You're going on a date with Miya Atsumu." Mikaela nodded. "Christ. Kaisha, I'd prefer Tsukishima over him- hell, almost anyone over him."

"That's why I'm doing it," she said softly, lacing her fingers together. "Tobio, I can't be hung up on him for the rest of my life."

"I know, I know, but..." he stared at her, his face slack. "Atsumu?"

She shrugged, smirking. "He's cute."

Kageyama made a face, and she laughed. "Okay, but if anything happens, I'm definitely beating the shit out of him," Kageyama said lowly, taking her hand and squeezing it briefly. "Keep me updated tomorrow."

"I will," she promised, smirking. "And on future dates, too."

"There's going to be more?!"

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Mikaela made sure to ice her wrist well that night. When anyone asked what was wrong, she said it was just a precaution. It was, really; the pain was manageable and her wrist was, truthfully, feeling better.

She went 'full manager' on her team that night. Mikaela pulled up videos and articles about the team they were playing tomorrow- not a seeded team, luckily, but still a good team nevertheless. She dove into any weaknesses she'd been able to pick up on the bus ride there and what she'd gotten on their breaks, and although she wasn't as in depth with her profiles as she was last year, she still had a lot of good information.

Bright and early the next morning, Mikaela packed her bag, making sure to throw in a change of clothing. Their game was at ten, as was Atsumu's- the plan was to go out for one thirty. Just thinking about it made butterflies burst in her stomach- she hadn't been on a date in so long.

God, I don't even know if I like him like that. She sighed, throwing her jean jacket into her bag. I guess I'll find out.

"Let's go!" Sudou whispered, ushering them out of the motel. The boys didn't have their game until noon, so they were trying to let them sleep in a bit. It was only eight thirty in the morning, but still plenty early enough to make waking up unreasonable.

The subway was crowded, and they almost lost Taki and Shoko at one point, but they made it there in one piece. Mikaela didn't even get the chance to see anyone she knew or say hi- the girls went straight to their warm up court. Sudou was fired up and prepared to win another game, and her determination was spreading to the rest of the team.

They were halfway through their warm up, and Mikaela was jogging a volleyball back to the cart when she heard someone call her name. She looked up and grinned when she saw Atsumu. "Good luck!" he called, waving to her.

She waved back. "You too!"

He smirked at her and left, presumably to get to his own game. Mikaela grinned to herself and turned back around, then groaned when she saw Taki shooting her a snarky grin. "Aw," she cooed, jutting out her lower lip. "How cute!"

"We're not dating," Mikaela said with a scowl, jogging to the back of the drill line.

"Yet!" Taki called out, and she rolled her eyes.

The team they were playing today was Takuyami Girls' Academy. The problem with Takuyami was their serving; all of their girls, from what the videos had shown, had either wicked jump serves or perfect jump floaters. It wasn't uncommon for a lot of teams to have a few strong servers, but from what Mikaela could see in the footage, all of them had strong serves. Which meant, by consequence, that they were all pretty damn good at receiving too. Not that their girls were slouches, but this wouldn't be easy.