The next day, there was an odd presence around Mikaela that crushed any hope of asking her about the magazine article.
She almost looked like she was in full defense mode. Sugawara had approached her to ask how she feeling from the previous day and she had flinched when he touched her shoulder and unintentionally glared at him before apologizing. She scuttled around and did her manager duties with Shimizu like she was supposed to, oddly quiet. Kageyama had a hushed conversation with her at the sideline and she looked like she may strangle someone.
Naturally, no one was overly keen to be on the receiving end of Mikaela's temper. They all valued their lives, thank you very much.
When night fell, Mikaela started collecting water bottles and towels. The boys were calming down, laughing about how they still hadn't won a single game that day. She sighed, glancing up as the silver-haired ace from Fukurodani approached. "Hey, Four-Eyes!" he called, his eyes bright with energy. "Wanna come help me practice spiking?"
He was talking to Tsukishima? Mikaela almost laughed. Yeah, right.
As she predicted, the blond ducked the question. "No thanks, I'll pass." Undeterred, the Fukurodani ace took off in pursuit of his next victim- which happened to be the Nekoma captain, Kuroo. Mikaela rolled her eyes.
Hinata nearly attacked the tall middle blocker. "Whoa, what the heck? When did you get to be friends with Fukurodani's ace? Why'd you say no? You could've practiced with him! What a waste!"
"We're not friends," Tsukishima corrected bitterly, avoiding eye contact. "Quit bugging me. I'm not a stupid bottomless well of energy."
Mikaela shook her head and sighed. "Not like he'd actually say yes to extra practice," she murmured. Yamaguchi overheard her and chuckled.
"Yeah," the boy said with a sigh. He glanced at his friend worriedly as the blond started packing up his stuff.
"Who put sand in Tsukishima's shorts?" Hinata complained loudly, stomping over towards the manager and the pinch server. "Fukurodani's ace personally asked him to practice and he said no! Can you believe that?"
"The president himself could ask Tsukishima to play and he'd say no," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes.
Hinata's eyes bugged out of his head. "The president?!"
"Hey, Hinata," Yamaguchi said, glancing at the orange-haired spiker. "What would you say to Tsukki about the way he's acting now?" Hinata cocked his head, confused and Yamaguchi tried to elaborate. "Like, uh, how you said those things to Kageyama those times?"
"I wouldn't say anything," Hinata confessed, scratching the back of his head. "I don't even know if Tsukishima even wants to play volleyball."
That was a good point. The blocker acted like he'd rather be anywhere else... But he kept showing up, didn't he? "I don't think he hates it," Mikaela added, causing both the boys to look at her. "I mean, he still shows up, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, that's what I was going to say," Yamaguchi said, lacing his fingers together. "He doesn't hate it." Hinata shrugged, no longer caring, and took off to go practice his new quick set with Kageyama.
"So why does he always show up?" the black-haired girl asked. She laughed. "That sounded bad. I mean, why does he keep coming out to practice? Does he have a family member that forces him to do it? Is it because you're here?" She thought of her mother and nearly laughed- her mother forcing her to play volleyball would be the day that hedgehogs flew.
The pinch server paused, shrugging. "His older brother played. I wonder..." he trailed off. Frowning, he turned to the manager. "Mikaela-san, what-"
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...