"Why the hell are there so many of them?" Mikaela scowled to Hiba from the back of the gym.
Hiba smiled wryly. "You can't blame anyone except yourself, Mikaela."
"Yeah, but..." She shook her head desperately and looked at the large group of girls stretching on the court. Taki was leading the stretching group enthusiastically, bending forwards to reach for her toes. "Twenty two girls?" Mikaela hissed under her breath. "Not including us. We need to pick ten. How the hell are we supposed to pick ten."
"Not we," Hiba said firmly. "I'll assist and advise, but it's your call."
Mikaela groaned, burying her head in her hands. "You're too good of a vice captain."
"Thanks."
"Well, we..." she exhaled. "We need a setter for sure. Aoki graduated. And we need a libero, but Shoko mentioned she was interested. But there's..." Mikaela sighed. "Alright, let's just get this started. You good to run the first drill so I can watch?"
"Sure, but only if you jump in for the second one," Hiba said.
"Okay. Sounds good." Mikaela cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "alright! Bring it in!"
Twenty two girls scrambled up from the ground and towards them, all appearing to be enthusiastic and ready to go. Mikaela swallowed nervously- she'd been excited to captain until she realized she'd have to make cuts. The idea of it made her anxiety spike, but she knew it had to be done. Besides, she had Hiba with her. It'd be fine. She'd make good choices. Right?
Show time. Mikaela grinned and waved. "Hey, girls. Thanks for coming! I'm Mikaela Kaisha, wing spiker, and I'll be your captain this year."
"Hiba Mozoni," Hiba added, sliding up next to Mikaela. "Wing spiker, vice captain. Nice to meet you all."
"So, if you haven't noticed, there's a lot of you," she said with a grin, trying to add some humor to the dreadful decision she'd have to make. "We're going to hold three tryouts, and we're going to pick a team of twelve. Which means that only half of us are still going to be around."
There was a nervous titter from the group. "That's the unfortunate truth of it," Mikaela said, glancing at Hiba. Her vice captain nodded at her to continue. "So just relax and give it your all. Last year, the Karasuno girls made it to the Spring Tournament for the first time in recorded history." Remembering nationals last year made her heart ache, but Mikaela continued. "We made it to the top sixteen in Japan. This year? We're aiming for number one. And we're looking for girls that are going to take us there."
She grinned. "Alright. Let's get started."
-------
"Tadashi, this is the worst," Mikaela complained, holding out a list with several scratched out names. "I have to cut this down by half!"
"Join the club," Yamaguchi muttered, showing her his own list. "Coach asked me to help cut this down and I have no idea. I feel so bad!" He groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "How am I supposed to cut any of these people off the team?"
Mikaela sighed, then perked up. "I have an idea."
"Please," her best friend said desperately. "Anything."
"Pick a number, one to twenty two."
Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow in confusion, then said, "Fourteen?"
Mikaela scanned down the list for number fourteen, then frowned. "No, I like her. We can't cut her. Do another one."
"Kaisha, we can't do it like that!"
YOU ARE READING
How to fly with clipped wings (English ver.) HAIKYUU!! FAN FICTION
Fanfiction"You can't play volleyball anymore." To which she replied, "Watch me." The accident that destroyed her dreams is what forces Kageyama's cousin to transfer to Karasuno. Between family, school, and health problems, she's got a lot on her plate- but sh...
