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Over fifty reviews last chapter?! Fifty?! T^T

The manga's ended, tearing my heart into tiny shreds, so here's a (hopefully) good chapter to take your mind off of it.

Mikaela woke up breathless.

Her head was pounding, and the remnants of her nightmare were still floating through her head. She took a moment to collect her surroundings: the hotel. Her single room. Comfy bed, desk across from the room, her volleyball bag on the floor, her boxed athletic prosthetic propped up against the side of the desk. Her phone on the desk beside her.

She reached for it and scrunched her face up at the bright screen. 5:30 am. Mikaela groaned- she wasn't supposed to be up for another hour.

She hadn't had a nightmare about her dad in a while.

Mikaela sighed and shut her phone off, letting it rest on the night table. She let her head fall back against the pillow and exhaled. Her mom had flown out... almost two months ago. As much as she hated her sometimes, she missed her. The lack of parental figures in her life was starting to catch up with her.

It had been over two years without her dad. She should be past this by now.

She sighed again. "Fuck," Mikaela said to the ceiling.

The ceiling didn't reply.

With a groan, she rolled herself out of bed. She wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep anyways.

"I bet Miya Atsumu's going to show up today."

Mikaela flinched slightly at the mention of her ex-boyfriend and turned to glare at Somi, who apparently couldn't keep her thoughts to herself. The crisp morning air blew her bangs into her eyes and she swiped them out of the way. "Somi," she said carefully, "we've got warm ups in twenty minutes and we're five minutes from the stadium. That shouldn't be a concern right now."

"So you think he's going to be there?" the setter pushed.

"Probably!" Taki piped up. "The volleyball gossip magazine said that you two were star-crossed lovers and bound to get together again."

She twisted to shoot Taki the most dumbfounded look she could imagine. "Gossip magazines don't know what they're talking about," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes. "I haven't talked to Atsumu in ages."

"So you think he won't show up?"

"Yes, Somi, I know he won't show," Mikaela retorted, trying her best not to snap. "Even if he does, he's got his juniors to watch, not our game."

Somi's eyes gleamed. "Let's make a bet, then."

"Somi, we're-"

"If Miya Atsumu shows up to watch one of our games, you have to go the entire evening without your prosthetic!" the setter called. The lack of hesitation and the firmness in voice showed that she'd planned it for a while.

Mikaela didn't break stride, but her jaw dropped open and she stared blankly at Somi. "That's your request. That's your request? Why?"

"I want to draw it!" Somi said enthusiastically. "For an art project!"

"And you can't draw it while it's on my leg?"

"Captain, the only time you ever wear shorts is during practice or games. And you wear a skirt at school, but it's not like I can just get you to pose for me during lunch hours." She shrugged, not even beginning to see the weirdness of her request. "Please? I'll only need it for the night. You can have it back in the morning. You don't need it to sleep, right?"

"No, but I kind of need it to walk."

"Ah, details. Please? Captain? And that's only if I win the bet."

Mikaela was still mildly floored by the sheer oddness of her junior's request. She wanted to draw her prosthetic. Sure, it was interesting, and trying to draw it would be quite the challenge (she hadn't been aware that Somi was a budding artist). And besides, this was only if she lost the bet. There was no way Atsumu would show up to watch her game. He'd been upset with her when they broke up, and they hadn't really spoken since.

Besides, the expecting looks from her teammates were making her feel guilty. If she said no, she risked crushing the spirit for today...

"Fine," she said with a sigh. The girls all perked up. "But if I win, we get to duct tape your mouth shut tonight and you're not allowed to speak for the entire evening."

"Deal!" Somi said happily, not even considering losing.

The girls started chattering, but Mikaela just sighed to herself. This was going to be a long day.

And who shows up?

"No way," Mikaela said in disbelief, glancing up from her spot at the bench.

The Karasuno girls were almost done their warm up. The boys had shown up ten minutes ago, finding themselves spots in the stands, and to Mikaela's absolute delight, Iwaizumi was there too. All she could do was wave frantically from the court, but just him being there meant the world to her. It had been a while since she'd seen him last. Kuroo was here too; he sat next to Iwaizumi in the stands. Apparently, the two remembered each other from that hospital visit a few years back. At least, that was what it looked like.

But Somi had been right.

There was Atsumu (and Osamu, for that matter), chilling near the top of the stands. She must've stared at them for a bit too long, because Atsumu finally caught her eye. Mikaela's anxiety spiked. They hadn't exactly ended on great terms, and they hadn't spoken in six months. Would he be upset still? Mad? Petty? Rude to her? Standoffish? Normal? Happy? What was it?

Mikaela was so busy trying to figure out what would happen that she barely registered what he actually did. Atsumu grinned and waved. Mikaela couldn't help but smile, and she waved back. It was only going to be awkward if she made it awkward, right?

"I win," Somi gloated.

She turned to her setter and rolled her eyes. "You win this one."

Warm ups finished up a few minutes later, and Mikaela called her team in as soon as her new prosthetic was properly attached. "Yesterday was the warm up," she said firmly. "Today, we show these people what we're made of. Got it? They're going to walk away knowing that Karasuno's going to win it all."

The girls nodded. "Remember," Hiba added, "keep it simple. Make the fundamentals perfect, and everything else will come along with it."

"Let's win this," Somi said confidently. "Like I won the bet!"

Everyone laughed, and Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Then let me enjoy my final moments with two legs," she joked, and the girls all grinned. "Hands in, girls. Karasuno, fight!"

Her team cheered and hustled to their spots on the court. Mikaela turned back up to the stands, her eyes landing on the Karasuno boys. They were crowded together in the stands, and Mikaela's eyes landed on Kageyama briefly before she turned back to the game. They had to keep winning; they had no choice but to keep winning. And Mikaela was determined to make that happen.

Today, they were set to play against Iyumi Girls' High. The Iyumi Girls were good and had several strong hitters, and their offense seemed to get them through most of their games. They had a left-handed hitter, which was pretty rare (nothing that Karasuno couldn't handle, of course), and their two other wing spikers were both powerful hitters. The 'Iyumi Trio' were known as one of the strongest offenses in the country: Rizai Yui, Akiko Mizuraki, and Shukani Sishu. As the stories went, you could contain one, but the other two would make up for it.

The 'Iyumi Trio' versus Mikaela Kaisha. She wondered what offense would come out on top.

"Server up!" one of the Iyumi girls called as the other team set up on their side of the court. Mikaela set up in the back corner of the court, in the service spot. This game was going to rely a lot on Taki and Yao: if they couldn't manage to contain the other team's offense, it would be nothing more than a shoot out between her and the other girls. And, honestly, Mikaela wasn't sure how well she'd handle it.

The whistle blew, and the Iyumi girl served. Jump floater. Mikaela brought her hands up and fell sideways, awkwardly volleying the ball. Hey, at least it's in the air. But she wasn't in any condition to go in for the attack. Somi moved up to set, and Mikaela laughed out loud when Somi spiked the ball straight over the net. Iyumi was caught entirely off guard, and Karasuno took the first point.

"Setter dump!" Taki cheered, high-fiving Somi. "You're awesome!"

"You're evil," Mikaela said, grinning. "That was perfect."

Somi beamed. "Thanks, Captain. If they're going to stop you from attacking, I'll just do it instead."

She laughed. "Works for me."

They rotated, and Taki was up to serve. Mikaela watched as Iyumi received and put the ball up for Rizai Yui. Rizai was their lefty, and she was ranked in the top five in Japan. Out of the three of them, she had the highest standing. Not like that in mattered on the court- those were just numbers. Mikaela studied her run up and lined herself up the best she could for the spike.

Rizai's form shifted, and Mikaela's body moved before her mind. Tip.

Sure enough, the ball dropped just over their blockers' fingertips, but Mikaela was already there to dig it straight up. She didn't even have to dive. The surprise in Rizai's eyes made her grin, and Mikaela stumbled backwards, giving herself space for the run up. "Here!" she yelled, dashing up from the back row.

Somi's eyes locked with hers, and Mikaela knew what she was going to do before she did it. Somi whipped the ball over her head in another unexpected, vicious setter dump, getting Karasuno their next point.

"I love you," Mikaela said breathlessly as the whistle blew, giving Karasuno another point.

"Great point," Hiba agreed, clapping Somi on the back.

Karasuno couldn't keep the lead throughout the first set, and they ended up dropping it, 25 - 22. Mikaela found herself surprisingly energetic by the end of the first set. She'd been playing hard defense most of the game, and although she'd thrown herself into the offense on several occasions, Somi had been neglecting her. It was part of their strategy: Mikaela was to lay low throughout the first set and only attack when needed. She'd act as a decoy more than anything else; Iyumi would be wary of her and it would give others the chance to attack.

"Well done, girls," Mikaela said with a clap of her hands as they got off of the court. "That's what we planned for. Great first set."

"So now we unleash the beast?" Taki joked, nudging their captain.

Hiba nodded. "You've had enough of a chance to analyze the offense?"

Mikaela grinned. "Oh, yeah. It's sort of weird, I expected Rizai Yui to be the hardest to analyze- she's a top five ace, after all- but combined with what we looked at last night, I've got her worked out."

"And the other two?" Yao asked.

She nodded. "Akiko's harder to read than I expected, but it's no problem. Here, this is what you guys need to know." Mikaela launched into a quick, watered-down explanation of the three girls that she'd been watching throughout the first set. She'd been picking up tells and quirks over the past few days in preparation for their game, but seeing them on the court made it so much easier.

This was their plan. This is what they'd discussed.

"We're not going to beat Iyumi by doing what we normally do," Mikaela said firmly, pointing at the television screen. "Their offensive power is too much to handle."

"You're better," Taki said stubbornly.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Maybe individually, but I can't go up against all three of them and expect to be enough to compensate for each of them. We need our full defense running at full speed the entire time." She frowned. "And that means I need to be on defense. More often than I'm not."

A lot of the time during their plays, Mikaela would hang out of the defense when she could help it. It gave her ample time to set up for offense, and typically, when she was on offense, they never needed much of a defense. For these girls? They couldn't afford the luxury of skimping back on their defense. And she was a former libero, after all- she was one of the best they had. She needed to help with receiving.

"Captain," Somi asked, jerking her hand into the air, "does this mean we'll have to change our whole strategy? You've never played defense for a full game. What's our offensive strategy?"

Mikaela glanced at Hiba, and she nodded. Here goes nothing. "We have a plan," she said carefully, "and odds are, we're going to drop the first set."

This caused the girls to pause. "Like, on purpose?" Taki asked.

"Not if we can help it," Hiba interjected. "But the plan is to have Mikaela lay low in set one. Leave the attacking to the rest of us. We know that they're going to be watching her, and they're going to be prepared for her to attack constantly."

"They're not, however," Mikaela continued, "going to be prepared for me to play defense the whole time."

"So we're going to get more opportunities while Mikaela lies in wait," Hiba finished.

Yao popped her hand up. "Wait? Wait for what?"

Mikaela grinned. "Wait until I know them inside and out."

The whistle blew to signal the start of the second set, and Mikaela was itching to get on with it. Working on her receiving and overall defense was good, yes, but she needed to hit some spikes soon or she'd go nuts. She'd gotten a few attacks in during the last set, but nothing spectacular.

Judging by the skeptical looks that the Iyumi girls were sending her way, they knew it too.

Mikaela was heading onto the court when she heard, "you know, when I heard we were up against Karasuno, I was expecting more."

"Yeah?" she said immediately, mildly disturbed that her retort was already at the tip of her tongue. She swung around to face Rizai Yui and grinned, making sure she kept the banter friendly- from her end, at least. "Expecting more? You want an autographed card?"

Rizai didn't look deterred. "I guess, from the number one ace in the country, I just expected more..." she shrugged. "You know, more of being an ace."

Mikaela smirked. "You can hardly call yourself an ace if you can't hold your own on defense."

"Yes, but there's a difference between being good at defense and being good at only defense." Akiko popped up next to Rizai, her lip curled. She leaned an arm onto her teammate's shoulder, cocking her head. "Do you know the difference? My guess would be no, considering how you played in that first set."

Mikaela's blood boiled, but she knew they were just trying to rile her up. "I guess we'll have to see," she said vaguely.

She turned herself away from the net, knowing that she needed to get herself under her control before her serve. It was supposed to be the other way around: she was supposed to be getting under their skin, making them doubt their plays and their moves. She needed to bide some time, let them second guess themselves, then wait until the perfect moment so she could slam one home and hold it over their heads for the rest of the game.

"Good serve," Taki said, beaming. "Blast it through, Captain!"

Mikaela grinned, and she did exactly that. Her serve hammered over the net and dove down, dropping onto the back line. The Iyumi girls had called it out, but the sudden dip had placed it in bounds. Karasuno cheered, but Mikaela's eyes were glued to Akiko Mizuraki. She held out her arm and pointed at her from her spot on the service line.

She could vaguely make out the announcers trying to decipher what she meant by pointing at the Iyumi player. Mikaela smirked, her finger trained on Akiko. The girl narrowed her eyes in silent acceptance to Mikaela's unspoken challenge.

Bring it on.

Mikaela served again, sending the volleyball rocketing at Akiko. She managed to get it up into the air, rolling backwards to contain the impact. Huh. Not bad. She watched as the ball went to Rizai, who spiked it around Taki's outstretched fingers. Hiba received, and although it was a bit messy, Somi got into position. Mikaela dashed up from the back row, and Somi put it up for her. She spiked it down the line, squeezing it past the Iyumi blocker, and grinned when it landed on the line and got them the point.

The points kept going on from there, but Mikaela was more excited for when she got into the front row again. Their defense was more solid than ever, and Mikaela was pleased to note that her observations had done the trick. It looked like her team were sharper than before, picking up stuff that they'd missed in the first set and reading their opponent ridiculously well. She wasn't needed anymore.

Well, not that she wasn't needed, but she had a lot more time for offense.

"Here!" Mikaela called as Somi jumped to set. She sent the ball her way, and Mikaela slammed it off the hand of the blocker in front of her, sending it spiraling out of bounds. Miraculously, an Iyumi girl managed to get under it and put the ball up. The setter put up a last ditch attempt to Rizai. When in doubt, send it to the ace. Mikaela smirked. Time to crush her.

Karasuno's triple block was ready. Mikaela dashed across the court next to Taki, giving herself ample run up for the block, and she leaped. When she was on this side of the court, Rizai tended to go for line shots more than cross shots, which was what Mikaela was guarding. She just had to read her- block out or spike?

Mikaela's adrenaline spiked when she saw the gleam in Rizai's eyes, and she pulled a leaf from Tsukishima's book. She pulled her hands down.

Rizai's attempt at a block out off of Mikaela's hands went high, untouched. "No!" Mikaela yelled, spinning her head around to Shoko, who was positioned for the line shot. "No touch!" Shoko got the message; she let the ball soar past her and land well out of bounds. Point for Karasuno.

The audience went nuts. It seemed like such a dumb mistake on the Iyumi ace's part, but it was so much more than that.

"You wanted more?" Mikaela said, her voice rising to a taunt. Rizai glared at her from the other side of the net. "Because I can give you more. I know how you like to hit and what spots you like. I know what you do when faced with certain blocks. I know how you serve, and I know how your form shifts when you go to tip. And best of all? The same goes for the other two. The Iyumi Trio isn't really all that now, is it?"

Her glare was absolutely murderous. "So that's all you're good at, then? Defense and riling people up?"

Mikaela clicked her tongue. "Not riling people up," she corrected, smirking. "Getting in their head. Because let's face it, one by one, you're not that intimidating. In fact, you're pretty predictable. I'd go as far as saying we've already won."

"There's no way you can guarantee a win now," Rizai snapped. "You're bluffing. You don't know anything."

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart," Mikaela said with a wink, channeling Atsumu's snark. "Just wait."

To make a long story short? She was one hundred percent right. The rest of the game went exactly as Mikaela and the rest of Karasuno had expected it to: the Iyumi girls, frustrated with Mikaela and upset that their shots were being dug, started to try and change it up. Mikaela had read so far into them that it was disturbing, and they went through great lengths trying to change up their styles in the span of the set. As she'd predicted, it didn't go well. You can't get rid of your subconscious habits unless you think about them, Mikaela mused, and as soon as you start thinking about them, we've already won.

Iyumi imploded on themselves, and the Karasuno girls walked away with set two, 25 - 23, and set three, 25 - 21. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Karasuno celebrated together and shook hands with several frustrated Iyumi girls. They could be pissed off as much as they wanted, but they had no one else to blame but themselves. Mikaela kept the smug smile off of her face as they shook hands and bowed, reminding herself to remain civil. Akiko squeezed her hand hard enough to bruise, but Mikaela just smirked and squeezed back.

"Pack up, ladies!" she called, starting to grin. They'd won, they'd won their next game and they were going to day three. They were caught up to the same point they were last year. They could only go up from here.

Everyone was chattering happily. Mikaela was trying to keep everyone organized, but it felt like a dozen different people were calling her name. She ignored as much as she could in favor of getting her team off the court- she wanted to go talk to Iwaizumi. She hadn't got to talk to him before the match and it had been ages since she'd seen him last.

"Mikaela Kaisha! Miss, please? A few questions?"

She turned to the reporter. A young girl, maybe a few years older than her, with such an innocently earnest face that she couldn't help but soften. "Sure," she agreed. Mikaela glanced at her team. "Go up to the stands with the boys," she ordered. "I'll be up soon."

"Roger that," Taki said brightly.

Hiba nodded to her and started escorting the girls up into the stands. Mikaela turned back to the reporter. "Hi," she said, forcing a smile. "What can I do for you?"

The reporter beamed. She started firing off questions, some of the standard things that Mikaela was mostly used to: what strategies they needed to win the match, highlights, her team. She was quick, bright, and her questions were well-worded and easy for Mikaela to answer. However, the reporter's last question made her pause.

"Last question," she said eagerly. "Who would you say you draw the most inspiration from in the volleyball world?"

Mikaela took a second to think. There were so many people, too many players that she'd watched and studied and learned from. She grinned as a memory popped into her head, from ages ago.

"I've learned from so many people," Mikaela said with a laugh, "but the most significant would have to be Iwaizumi Hajime. He was one of my senpai in Junior High, and he's the one who taught me how to spike."

The reporter's eyes widened. "So he's responsible for your power and your technique?"

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, he's the one who helped me realize I was ambidextrous." She grinned. "He came to see my game today, actually, so if you don't mind, I'd like to go see him."

"Of course!" The reporter reached out her hand, and Mikaela shook it. "Thank you for your time!"

She smiled and turned to the stands, sliding past a few people and waving to a few others that were trying to get her attention. She let her eyes wander until they landed on exactly who she wanted to see, and Mikaela's lips split into a wide smile.

"Hey!" Iwaizumi said with a grin. "Great game- ow!"

Mikaela tackled him around the chest, her arms squeezing his ribs tightly enough to bruise. He responded in kind, hugging her back, and Mikaela could feel his forearms digging into her ribs. They stayed like that for a minute, hugging, and Mikaela would've been content to stay there forever, but Iwaizumi pulled back. "You asshole, I missed you," Mikaela said desperately, laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too. This is it, eh? National stage?"

"Going to win it all," she said firmly, clenching her hand into a fist.

"That's the spirit. You've got reporters after you, right and left."

Mikaela grinned. "I actually told one of the reporters that I learned from you! Remember, back when you graduated? You told me to-"

Iwaizumi's grin widened. "Actually?"

"And no mention of me, Temper-san?" Kuroo added, butting into their reunion. "I taught you how to block."

Her jaw slipped open in surprise, and she snorted. "You absolutely did not. You teased me for how short I was."

Iwaizumi choked on a laugh, and Kuroo shrugged with a sigh. "Eh, I guess so, but ya know, you can just pretend you learned from me. You know, because I'm going to be your senpai next year, and you need all the help from me you can get."

"You're blackmailing me? That's what this has come to?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"I hate you."

"I'll add him to the list of people you hate," Iwaizumi said helpfully.

Kuroo snorted. "You can't tell me you're not on that list, Iwaizumi-kun."

"He's not," Mikaela said at the same time Iwaizumi said, "I'm not."

"How come he gets a pass?!"

"He's the only sane one out of all of my senpai," she confirmed, and Kuroo started choking out a protest but she shushed him. "You gave me a god-awful nickname, and even though you promised you'd drop it, you never did."

Kuroo paused. "Fair."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "So, did you say everything you learned was from me?"

"Sort of?" She shrugged. "You can probably watch it later."

"Put me down for who taught her how to block," Kuroo said, peering over Iwaizumi's shoulder. Her senpai had his phone out, and he was typing something down that she couldn't see.

"You'll be next to Matsukawa."

"Who's that?"

"Her uncle."

"...Her what, sorry?"

"He's cool. He makes fun of her."

"Huh. Sounds good. Put me down."

Mikaela couldn't contain her disbelief, and her tongue seemed to swell in her throat as she tried to force out the words. "You're- You actually- A list?" she stammered, trying to catch a glimpse of his phone. "Seriously?"

"I'll send it to you when we're done, so you can be prepped for the other dozen interviews you'll have while you're here." Iwaizumi looked up at her. "Do I really have to include Shittykawa on here?"

"Of course," she said, collecting herself. "Put him down for serving. He's still in Argentina, right?" Iwaizumi nodded.

Kuroo winced. "If you learned how to serve from him, I don't want to see his serves."

Iwaizumi smirked. "Anyone else?"

"Ushijima, for my left-handed hits."

"Do I have to? I want sole credit for your spiking."

"You get partial credit. I studied that man like a hawk for years, trying to figure out how to hit as a leftie."

"Fine. Setting?"

"I think I can take credit for that one."

The trio looked up, and Mikaela felt herself stiffen up. Atsumu was standing a few feet away from her, hands jammed into his jacket pockets, looking just as good as the last time she'd seen him. Osamu was standing next to him, and he nodded to her when she caught his eye.

"Atsumu," Mikaela forced out. She smiled. "Hey."

"Hey," he echoed. He glanced behind her to Iwaizumi and Kuroo. "No, but seriously? I taught her how to set, no matter how much Tobio-kun wants to say that it was him. You've seen her Inter High match? The one where she had to set because their setter got injured? I take full credit for that."

Mikaela felt herself laugh. "Yeah, I guess you do. I owe you for that." She looked back at her senpai and nearly groaned- they were both glaring at Atsumu. "Seriously, you two?"

"So it's true then?" Kuroo said lowly. "You dated this clown?"

Iwaizumi grunted. "Something we agree on."

"Yes, but that's not the point," Mikaela defended, her shoulders slumping. "We're fine! We're both doing great now. Right, Atsumu?" She turned back to him, praying he wouldn't say anything awful.

Atsumu, to her relief, nodded along and smirked. He reached his arm out and rested his elbow on her shoulder. In the past, he'd swing an entire arm over her, like a half-hug, but Mikaela found herself grateful that he wasn't doing that now. That would've made the situation significantly worse. Granted, no contact would've been better, but this was Atsumu she was talking about. "Oh, we're great," Atsumu said easily. "Princess and I have never been on better terms. Ain't that right?"

Iwaizumi and Kuroo both looked mildly murderous. Mikaela sighed. "Right," she agreed, not shaking Atsumu off. "How've you been, Atsumu?"

"Good as always," he said, his voice betraying nothing. "Great game, by the way, Princess."

The old nickname made something stir in her chest, but Mikaela ignored it. "Thanks, Atsumu. Didn't think you'd come and watched." She turned to Osamu, knocking her ex-boyfriend's elbow off of her shoulder. "How're you doing, Osamu?"

Osamu held up his hand for a fist bump, and she tapped her fist against his. "Fine. Good game."

"Thank you. I'm surprised you two came to watch."

"Well, Atsumu wanted to-"

Atsumu's fist sunk into his twin's rib cage before he could get all of the words out. He slung his other arm around his neck in a headlock. "Wanted to make sure you're still somewhat good," he said quickly, slipping easily into a teasing tone. "Didn't think you'd slack off, but it was worth checking out. You've been doing good?"

Mikaela nodded, her tongue thick in her throat. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

There was a bit of an awkward pause. She and Atsumu stared at each other. The tension between them was obvious, and it didn't go unnoticed by Iwaizumi and Kuroo. Osamu looked more awkward than anyone else there; he was still trapped under his brother's arm. Mikaela could feel Iwaizumi's glare piercing the back of her skull, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from Atsumu.

"Hey! You guys bothering our captain?"

"Somi," Mikaela scolded quickly, "no one's bothering me."

Somi ignored her, sliding around her to involve herself in the conversation. "Ah, you're Karasuno's setter," Iwaizumi recognized.

She beamed. "Somi Yoruzio, pleased to meet you. You're all Captain's senpai?" She didn't wait for a response; she turned towards Atsumu, and Mikaela braced herself for whatever her junior was going to say. "Thanks! You won me a bet!"

Atsumu blinked. "Bet?"

"Somi!" Mikaela hissed, grabbing the setter's shoulders. "Read the room!"

"Miya-san, Miya-san, Iwaizumi-senpai, Kuroo-san," someone said, and Mikaela felt her shoulders sag in relief as Kageyama stepped up next to her. He didn't look at her, but the silent message was there: she wasn't alone. Which was great, because despite being surrounded by close friends, she was feeling terribly isolated. "Nice to see you."

"Kageyama," Iwaizumi said curtly, nodding to him. "When do you play today?"

"We're on in an hour," he replied.

"Ey, Tobio-chan," Atsumu said swiftly, finally releasing his brother from his headlock. Mikaela was surprised Osamu hadn't struggled more. "Congrats on number one this year. And barely scraping through to get to nationals."

Kageyama scowled, but Mikaela cut in. "That means you watched his game?" she teased.

Atsumu paused, and she caught his cheeks tinging pink. "Yes, he did," Osamu said, and his brother squawked in betrayed surprise. "He's obsessed with Karasuno."

Somi grinned. "Well, you know, we bet that-"

"Somi!" Mikaela hissed, knowing exactly what was about to come out of her junior's mouth.

"Ah, Mikaela's getting harassed." Mikaela felt weight on her shoulders, and her eyes widened when she saw hands come down from behind her. Tsukishima was behind her with his arms hanging lazily over her shoulders, close enough to rest his chin on her head if he wanted to. "That's not something I like to miss," he added coyly, his triceps pushing into her jersey.

God, she could feel his chest press up against the back of her shoulder blades. Mikaela looked up and felt her face flush bright red. Tsukishima glanced down at her, and she nearly smacked her forehead off of his chin. "Oh," was all she could say, her voice caught in her throat.

"Nice game," he said casually, like he wasn't just somewhat hugging her and making her heart burst. "But your blocking sucked."

"Asshole," she retorted instinctively.

Mikaela glanced back down, trying to quell the heat in her cheeks, but it was hard when Tsukishima would not. Move. And worst of all, she didn't want him to. Despite being sweaty and feeling hot from exertion, the feel of Tsukishima's skin on hers was sending more pulsing waves of warmth through her body.

Oh, and the glares he was getting. She bet he was smirking.

"Tsukishima-kun," Iwaizumi said, nodding to him. Oddly enough, he looked the least surprised; he seemed more intrigued than anything. The cheesy smirk on Kuroo's face made her glare at him, but he didn't back down. Kageyama, to her confusion, didn't seem shocked at all. Was he... was he smirking? Mikaela frowned at him, but he just raised his eyebrows in return.

Meanwhile, Somi's eyes were as wide as a deer in headlights. "Somi, right?" Tsukishima asked. "One of the other girls was asking for you."

Somi nodded slowly, and Mikaela glared at her. "Yes, ma'am," she muttered, side-stepping around them and vanishing out of Mikaela's line of sight.

She took one look at Atsumu and instantly froze up. Atsumu looked downright murderous, like he was going to shoot lasers from his eyes and fry Tsukishima where he stood. He'd never really met Tsukishima, exactly: he'd seen him in passing, at least. Mikaela tipped her head up to look at the blond and was surprised to see that he was staring right back at Atsumu, smirking.

Oh, good lord.

"Well, so much for that, huh, Temper-san?" Kuroo said with a laugh.

"Princess," Atsumu said suddenly, and Mikaela didn't miss the way Tsukishima's arms seemed to press even more into her shoulders, "can I talk to you? Alone?"

"S... Sure." She didn't want to move, but it would probably be best for Tsukishima's safety if she moved away sooner rather than later. Tsukishima lifted his arms off of her and she stepped away from him, refusing to look behind her. She didn't want him to see how red she was. Mikaela glanced at Iwaizumi and Kuroo. "I'll catch you two later?" she asked, glaring at both of them. It was more of a statement than a question, and they both seemed to get it, because they nodded to her. Mikaela smiled weakly and glanced at her cousin. "Help me," she whispered.

Kageyama snorted. "Sucks to be you."

"I hate you."

Mikaela turned back to Atsumu and smiled weakly. Osamu patted his shoulder, then nodded to her. "I'll be back with the team, they play in half an hour," he said. Osamu squeezed his brother's shoulder hard enough to make him wince, then turned and vanished into the crowd.

"Where to?" she asked.

"I've got a place," he said, echoing one of their conversations from last year. Mikaela couldn't help but smile as she fell into step with him and they navigated through the crowd. She didn't look back at Tsukishima, but part of her wished she would've.

Mikaela kept up with Atsumu, and they walked side by side until they found themselves at a railing overlooking one of the many courts in the stadium. Mikaela was getting severe nostalgia and she wasn't sure how much she liked it. She leaned forwards onto one of the railings, avoiding Atsumu's eyes.

He leaned in next to her, propping himself up on the railing. There was still a foot separating them, but it felt like so much more than that. "So," Atsumu said awkwardly. "You're doing well?"

"Y- Yeah. You?"

"Mm. Yeah, season went well."

Mikaela perked up. "Yeah, I watched your area finals. Congrats on the win. Your tournament's in a few weeks, right?"

Atsumu smirked. "You've been watching my games?"

"You've been watching mine," she countered.

They stared at each other for a moment before Mikaela tore her eyes away, settling back on the game in front of them. "Your serves are good," Atsumu remarked, looking back to the court. "Best I'd ever seen 'em."

"Thank you. Yours too." She smirked. "I noticed you've changed up your stepping habit."

He smirked right back at her. "Well, if ya hadn't pointed it out, I never would've changed it. So you got yourself to thank for that one."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I created a monster."

He laughed, and Mikaela could feel his eyes on her. She kept her eyes focused on the game. A minute of silent passed, and Mikaela could feel the tension rising between them again. "So you're dating Robot-kun again," Atsumu said finally.

She stiffened. "I'm not."

"Really? Because that back there was a bit more than friendly, Princess."

"He was just doing it to piss you off," Mikaela said firmly, finally turning to look at him. "And it looks like it worked."

Atsumu looked frustrated, and she didn't blame him. "Oh, c'mon, Mikaela, you can't expect me to buy that crap," he said, shaking his head. "He's pissin' me off for a reason. Markin' his territory."

"Marking his... Atsumu, you sound ridiculous," she snapped. "There's nothing between me and him. Besides, it's none of your business anyways."

"Princess..." Atsumu's eyes were pleading with her, trying to get her to understand, but she didn't want to. This wasn't something she wanted to talk about. "I'm sorry," he admitted. "Crossed a line."

Mikaela glared at him. "Yeah, you did."

The apology helped tide over her anger. Yes, she missed him. She missed how easy it was to talk to him and how fun it was when they were together. But it wasn't worth his jealousy- was that even jealously? Or was it just a general protective instinct that Atsumu still had? Either would make sense.

"Let's just... not talk about this, okay?" She sighed. "I missed you. I really did."

He looked skeptical. "Honest?"

"Honest." Mikaela forced a smile. "I miss talking to you everyday, and I miss how easy everything used to be. I miss you being one of my best friends."

Atsumu studied her for a minute, probably trying to decide if she was genuine or just saying that to make him feel better. Eventually, he realized she was being genuine, and he sighed. "I missed you too," he said softly. "I miss chattin' with you, about volleyball, life, anything. You weren't half bad company."

She laughed. "I missed how dumb you could be sometimes."

He scowled. "I missed how mean you were."

"Says the one who kept making fun of my bubble tea choices."

"You chose the same thing every single time. Where's the variety?"

Mikaela stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed, letting his gaze fall back to the game. They were silent for a minute, watching the game unfold on the court below them. Mikaela's mind was buzzing, and she couldn't focus on the game. Too much to think about, things that she definitely did not need to be focused on during her last ever shot at a national title. Boys should've been the last thing on her mind. No question about it.

She twisted to face Atsumu. "Friends?" Mikaela offered, sticking out her hand.

He looked surprised at first, but then he smirked. "Friends," Atsumu agreed. Then, he winked. "You keep tellin' yourself that, Princess."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. She could tell he was joking, which only made her smile. "I've got to get back to my team," she said.

"Sure," he agreed, pushing off from the railing. "Can't detain ya too long."

"You sticking around for the rest of the week?"

"Of course. Can't miss my favorite ex-girlfriend's journey to winning nationals." He grinned. "If you're cool with me sticking around."

She laughed. "That didn't take you long."

"What?"

"Never mind. Yes, please, the support helps with my nerves." Mikaela grinned. "As long as you bring Osamu too. I miss him."

Atsumu rolled his eyes. "I swear, you liked him more than me."

"I'll never tell. Thanks, Atsumu."

"Anytime, Princess." He held out his arms, and Mikaela gave him a quick hug, careful not to hold on for too long. "You can always count on me. You know that, right? Anytime."

"Same here. Thank you, Atsumu."

"No prob. Go find your team."

Feeling a bit lighter, Mikaela waved to him and turned back in the direction of her team. She didn't know what she had expected going into that conversation, but it turned out all right in the end. Still a bit awkward, but that was to be expected.

It could've been worse. Mikaela exhaled slowly.

She wasn't sure which had been more nerve-wracking, their game or that conversation.

Mikaela was dead exhausted by the end of the day. The Karasuno boys won their game that day, which she watched with her team, Iwaizumi, and Kuroo. Iwaizumi and Kuroo were fun commentary partners, and she enjoyed the banter that went back and forth as the game progressed. They were actually getting along surprisingly well, which she hadn't expected.

They got back to the hotel and had settled down for dinner. The bet had completely slipped Mikaela's mind until Somi stood up from the table suddenly, drawing everyone's eyes to her. She marched towards Mikaela and stopped beside her, then stuck out her hand. "Our bet," she said firmly, smirking.

Mikaela sighed. "Fine."

She reached under the table and felt for the attachment through her sweats. With a click, she pulled it off and slid it out from her pants. She held it out to Somi. The setter grinned and carefully took it from her, her eyes wide like dinner plates. "Thanks, Captain, you're the best," she said gleefully. Several of the boys were staring at them like they were insane.

"Somi." She channeled her best glare. "You break it, you buy it. And trust me, you do not want to buy it."

Somi saluted her mockingly, then skipped off down the hallway, presumably to get to her room. Mikaela sighed and turned back to the table, then blinked in surprise when she realized everyone was staring at her. Her eyes landed on Kageyama and he raised his eyebrows.

Mikaela scowled. "I lost a bet."

The topic dropped and dinner continued on, and she was surprised at how weird it was to go around with one leg. Mikaela hadn't expected it to be as hard- or as humiliating- as it was to get from place to place. After dinner, she used Kageyama to help get her to the couch in the common room, and refused to move from there. Hopping on one foot was exhausting, and it was virtually impossible to carry anything at the same time. Kageyama helped her settle onto the couch, and Mikaela decided she wouldn't be moving until after everyone else had already gone to bed.

She busied herself by watching videos of their opponents for tomorrow, occasionally jotting down notes in her notepad that she left by the table. She watched as the numbers trickled down, one by one, and people started heading to their rooms. Hinata offered to help her but she waved him off; she'd wait until everyone else had gone to bed before she moved.

The problem was, Mikaela got pretty comfy. Maybe I can just sleep on the couch, she mused to herself as she flipped to another video of their next opponent. She waved to the last of her team as they left for their rooms, leaving her alone in the common room. She kicked her legs up on the couch so that she was laying down on it, the laptop set up on her lap.

Just one more game. Just one more.

Mikaela's eyes fluttered briefly, and she debated drinking coffee or something to keep herself awake. It was only 11 pm; they had to be up at seven. She wasn't even looking forward to sleeping, not after that god awful nightmare last night. God, why was she so tired? It must've been the game today. Yeah, that was it.

She yawned, skipping through the timeout in the game she was watching.

Come on, Kaisha. Just one more game.

It didn't matter how much she tried to convince herself; her eyes shut regardless and Mikaela found herself dozing off.

"Your mother literally buys a floor of a hotel for you, and you're going to sleep on the couch?"

Mikaela's eyes snapped open, and her heart smacked violently against her rib cage. "Tsukishima," she said, almost stammering when she saw him standing in the doorway to the common area. "What're you doing up?" She almost slammed her laptop, but instead she managed to get herself together and just pause the video instead.

"I should ask you the same thing," he said, crossing his arms. "Why're you out here?"

She rolled her eyes and flipped the blankets off of her leg, and watched Tsukishima's lips twitch into a smirk when he realized she didn't have her prosthetic. "Yeah, yeah, so I lost that bet to Somi," Mikaela said with a sigh. "And the captain's got to keep her word. I have no idea where my prosthetic is, but I'll get it back in the morning. She said she wanted to draw it for an art project or something."

"You lost your prosthetic," Tsukishima repeated, and her face reddened.

"I didn't lose it. I lost a bet," she clarified, frowning. "Besides, my sports one is in my volleyball bag in my room. I was debating crawling back to my room or hopping on one leg, but if someone caught me, that'd be much too humiliating. So I settled for sleeping here."

"You're an idiot."

"Thanks."

"What time do you have to be up tomorrow?"

Mikaela yawned. "Seven."

He fixed her a weird look, wandering closer to the couch that she was posted on. "Let me guess, you plan on staying up for another few hours to get the last few details that won't even matter during the match?" Tsukishima teased, sitting down on the arm of the couch, near her feet (well, foot).

She scowled, then sighed. "You know me too well. What time do you have to be up tomorrow?"

"Seven thirty, I think. We're coming down for your game, obviously."

"Wait- then what are you doing here?" Mikaela asked, looking up from her laptop to him. She frowned at him. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Tsukishima didn't reply. He still had his arms crossed, and he was staring off at the hallways like he was intentionally avoiding her gaze. Mikaela waited for his response patiently, and eventually, he sighed. "Came out looking for you, actually," he admitted, and Mikaela was surprised to note that his cheeks were red. "Some of the guys mentioned that you were still out here when they went to their rooms and that you didn't have your prosthetic. I thought there was no way you could be that dumb, but here we are."

She laughed. "The first years are a lot to handle, hm?"

He grumbled something under his breath that she didn't catch. "Thank god I'm not a captain," Tsukishima muttered.

"It's not all bad," Mikaela said, grinning. "It has its moments."

"Like how they stole your leg?"

"They didn't steal my leg! I... I lost a bet."

"What exactly was the bet?"

Now it was her turn for her face to go red, and she coughed awkwardly. "Well," she started slowly, cursing Somi under her breath, "uh, Somi bet that Atsumu would show up and watch one of our games. I thought there was no way. She won, so she got my leg for the night."

"That's a weird request," Tsukishima replied, his voice carefully neutral.

She swallowed the lump in throat, worried if bringing up Atsumu was a bad idea. "It's for an art project, apparently. Like you said, crazy first years," Mikaela joked weakly, her eyes drifting back to her laptop screen.

They both were silent for a moment, although it wasn't entirely awkward. Mikaela's heart felt like it was pounding hard enough to burst out of her chest, and she couldn't help but get her hopes up: he'd come out here to check on her? Sure, they'd gone back to being good friends in the past few months, but this was... different? Maybe? Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get herself to get rid of the optimistic thoughts. It had been well over a year since they broke up; there was no way he still had the same feelings she did. He was just being nice. Right? But then there was that hug today-

Wait. "Hey, Tsukishima," she asked, determined to get the question out before she lost her nerve. "What was that today?"

"Your Highness, I'm aware specificity isn't your strong suit, but that was just awful."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I mean, whatever that was, when we..." she trailed off. "After my game. I was talking to a few of the guys and you just..." She gestured vaguely with her arms.

Tsukishima smirked. "You're horrible at this."

"You know what I'm talking about, asshole."

"No, you'll have to elaborate."

She groaned. "I hate you. I mean, when you came up behind me and you, uh, you did the thing? Like, you sort of... hugged me?" Mikaela finished weakly, worried she was making too much out of it.

He shrugged. "It pissed off a lot of people. It was amusing."

"Mostly Atsumu," she joked, trying not to sound too disappointed by his answer. "Uh, okay. That's what I thought," she rambled, hating herself more and more with every word that came out of her mouth. "Just... Just checking." She pushed her lips together, willing herself to keep her mouth shut for once. God, this was embarrassing.

"Question."

She looked up again. "Sure."

He finally locked eyes with her. "Like, question question."

"Actually?" A laugh bubbled up from her chest. "It's been two years since you used the last one. I thought you'd forgotten."

"You've been keeping track?" he teased, and she flushed.

"N- No. I just... remember these things." Tsukishima rolled his eyes, clearly not believing her, and Mikaela smirked. Using one of their questions- that had to be a good sign, right? "One left after this. So what is it?"

The blond moved from sitting on the arm rest of the couch to sitting on the cushions, right next to her feet, which were still covered by the blanket. "Why'd you and Miya break up?" he asked quietly.

Mikaela stiffened up, surprised by the question. He cares?

Could he possibly?...

Mikaela banished the optimism from her head yet again. "We, uh..." She closed her laptop and set it on the table next to the couch, then tucked her knees up to her chest. "It was only supposed to be a casual thing to begin with," Mikaela murmured, trying to figure out how best to approach this without telling him the whole truth. "I liked him, but towards the end of it... I guess my heart wasn't in it. I broke it off because it wasn't fair to him."

"Wasn't fair to him?" Tsukishima repeated.

She nodded, wrapping her arms around her knees. "He deserved a lot more than what I was giving him. I didn't feel the same towards the end of it."

He didn't say anything after that. They just sat together on the couch in silence, and Mikaela was on edge the entire time. What was he thinking? She'd always found Tsukishima hard to read, and it was worse now than ever. Of course, she hadn't told him the whole truth- how could she? That she broke up with Atsumu because she was still in love with him?

Mikaela bit her lip, fidgeting with her fingers under the blanket. God, what was he even doing out here?

Eventually, Tsukishima sighed softly and turned to her. "You should get to bed."

"I am," she said with a snort, gesturing to her couch. "You're in my bed, actually."

Saying that made the blond's face flush, and Mikaela couldn't help but grin. "Idiot," he scoffed, standing up. "Seriously. You should get to bed- no, not this couch. Early game tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but I haven't been..." her voice caught in her throat. "I haven't been sleeping well lately," Mikaela said carefully, and when she noticed Tsukishima raising his eyebrows at her, she sighed and everything slipped out. "Had another nightmare about Dad last night," she grumbled, keeping her eyes down so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Haven't had one in a while. Don't really want to sleep."

"Let's get you to your room, at least."

Mikaela quirked an eyebrow. "Let's?"

"Well, you're useless on your own, aren't you?" he teased, bending down next to her.

She scowled, crossing her arms. "I'm not useless, dumbass, I'm missing a leg!"

Tsukishima smirked at her. "Yeah. Useless."

"Asshole."

"Fine, I'll just stay back and let you suffer." He stood up again and backed up, crossing his arms. "Get up."

"I really hate you sometimes." Mikaela's stubbornness kicked in and she flipped her legs off the couch, steadying her foot on the floor. With a shove, she pushed herself up until she was standing, balanced carefully on one foot. "Ta da," she said with a laugh, waving loosely with her hand. "See? I'm fine."

He smirked. "Really? Walk."

"You're hilarious."

"Well? I'm waiting."

Mikaela bit her lip, steeled herself, and lurched. Tsukishima lunged at the same time, ready to catch her, but she got a hold of herself and balanced. "See?" she said triumphantly as Tsukishima backed up, hands retracting to his sides. "Told you. I'll just hop my way back to my room."

Tsukishima snorted. "At the rate you're going, it'll be two in the morning by the time you get back to your room."

"Asshole. I'm fine. Just one step at a time."

"One hop, you mean."

"Oh, shut up." Mikaela inhaled and jumped again, but this time with much less success. She tumbled forwards, but Tsukishima was there to grab her. His hands on her arms felt like fire burning through her skin. "Thanks," she forced out.

He rolled his eyes. "You're just as bad at walking as you are at skating."

"I hate you."

"Arm up."

Mikaela paused. "What?"

Tsukishima groaned, his cheeks going red. "Put your arm up," he repeated, holding out his arms. "You can't get to your room on your own, can you? Do I need to say it again or has it finally gotten through your thick skull?" He rolled his eyes again. "You're too short for me to try and support you on one side. This is easiest."

Embarrassed, Mikaela lifted her arm up. Tsukishima leaned towards her and wrapped an arm around her back, then bent down and wrapped his other arm under her knees. Squeaking in surprise, Mikaela swung her other arm around his neck as he stood up, holding her bridal style. God, he's stronger than I thought he was. "Don't drop me," she threatened weakly, feeling like her chest was going to explode.

"Don't tempt me," Tsukishima muttered, turning around. "What's your room number?"

She told him, and he walked across the common room and down the hallway with her in his arms. It was almost bizarre- it was out of character for Tsukishima and it was driving Mikaela insane. She pulled herself as tightly into his chest as she could. "You're going to drop me," she whispered as he found the door to her room.

"You're twenty pounds lighter without that prosthetic. I'm not a toothpick, Mikaela. Key card?"

Mikaela managed to get it out of her pocket and swipe it clumsily, then push the door open. Tsukishima turned sideways to fit them through the doorway, and he knocked the door shut behind him. Mikaela half expected him to just dump her on her bed, but he sat her down carefully before he extracted his arms from her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, knowing she was probably more red than a tomato.

He shrugged. At least his face was red too. "As amusing as it would've been to watch you crawl through the hallway, your team needs you in top shape for tomorrow," Tsukishima said. "You should get some sleep."

His hands were resting on the bed, on either side of her, and Mikaela's heart was going to burst. He made no move to leave. He was staring at her, and Mikaela could see the gears turning in his head.

Do it. Just do it. Just...

Slowly, achingly slowly, Mikaela leaned in towards him and pressed her lips to his cheek. Innocent enough, but it still made her face flush. Tsukishima was frozen, not moving away but not moving closer either. "You should..." he trailed off, his gaze flickering from her lips to her eyes. "You should get some sleep," Tsukishima repeated, collecting himself.

"Kei," Mikaela whispered.

He froze. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, their lips close enough that they could kiss if she leaned forwards a few inches. They were close, so close- Mikaela couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She squeezed them shut, praying that this was real. It didn't feel like it; it was something right out of one of her dreams.

She couldn't stand it anymore. Mikaela leaned forwards and pressed her lips to his.

He responded almost immediately, kissing her back gently. This is real, this is real, Mikaela chanted to herself as her hand rose to touch his face. His lips were soft, softer than she remembered, but then again, it'd been over a year since she'd last kissed him. Her head was spinning like a top, the reality of the situation not quite sinking in. They were kissing, god, they were kissing-

Tsukishima pulled back so suddenly that she gasped. "We shouldn't," he said sharply, standing up straight.

Her lips were still tingling. "Kei-"

"Don't," he snapped, turning around.

Mikaela lunged forwards and grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. "Why?" she asked desperately.

He turned around to face her, and she nearly let go when she saw the conflicted expression on his face. He looked like he was torn. "We shouldn't," Tsukishima repeated quietly, his voice pained.

"Why?"

"Because we're just going to hurt each other!" he said, his voice rising. "I'm going to hurt you, and you're going to hurt me, and it's not good for either of us in the end."

"So?" Mikaela demanded. "I'm hurting now, what's the difference?"

To that, he didn't seem to have an answer. His sleeve fell from her hand and he took a step towards the door, then stopped. "We shouldn't," he repeated, his voice low. Tsukishima hesitated, and after what seemed like a huge internal battle, he forced out, "Why... Why would we? Why should we?"

There were so many reasons, so many things posed on her tongue, dozens of things she wanted to say. It would take her years to get all of it out, but in a weird way, it felt like it would be worth it. Tsukishima started to lean backwards, and Mikaela snapped up, knowing exactly what she had to say.

"Because I lied."

Tsukishima froze at the door, his hands posed to open it. "Mikaela," he said quietly.

She stood up from the bed, balancing carefully on her one foot. "You asked me why I broke it off with Atsumu," Mikaela said weakly, feeling the pressure building up behind her eyes. "I only told you part of the truth because I didn't know what you wanted to hear."

It felt like an eternity before Tsukishima acknowledged her words, his hand falling from the doorknob. "Sit down," he said quietly.

Mikaela shook her head and exhaled shakily, feeling tears spark in her eyes. "I started dating him to get over you," she said, surprised at how weird it sounded when she said it aloud, "and it... and I..." she trailed off, wiping at her eyes. Tsukishima still hadn't moved, but she was expecting him to leave as soon as she got the words out. "And I never did," Mikaela forced out.

"You never what?" Tsukishima said quietly, his voice strained.

Here goes nothing. She pressed a hand on the wall to steady herself. "I never got over you," Mikaela said, and as soon as the words left her mouth, the tears started falling from her eyes. "God, I tried so hard. I was still in love with you- I am still in love with you- and I tried so, so hard not to be. You- You wanted nothing- nothing to do with me, which was understandable, because I..." she sighed shakily, trying to calm herself down. "I messed up. I messed up, and it wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I..."

She gulped back her nerves, knowing that she was dangerously close to sobbing. "Everything was my fault. And I get that you can't trust me anymore, but just being friends with you is killing me. I'm sorry, I..." Something deflated in her chest, and suddenly the apology was the only thing she knew how to vocalize. "I'm sorry."

The silence that followed was broken only by Mikaela's heavy breathing in a desperate attempt to stop herself from crying. She rubbed her eyes, then looked back up at Tsukishima. She didn't recognize the emotion on his face, and she tipped her chin down, glaring at the floor.

She heard a sigh. "You're so stupid," he muttered, and her heart twisted in her chest. "So, so stupid. Why?" Mikaela looked up at him, confused. Her lips parted, ready to ask him what he meant, but the frustration in his eyes made her back down. "Why the hell would you do that? Break up with Miya for- for me? You two were-"

"Don't," she interrupted.

Tsukishima ignored her. "You two were good," he choked out, and it sounded like the words were causing him physical pain. "I'm not. We're not good for each other, Mikaela. I just hold you down, and I-"

"You don't get to decide what's good for me!" Mikaela snapped, about to step forward but catching herself at the last minute before she fell. "That's not your decision to make! You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me, and you don't get to go and decide that you're not." She inhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down. Part of what he said clicked in her head and she wilted. "Am I... Am I not good for you?" she whispered.

"That's not what I meant," he retorted.

Mikaela held her ground. "That's what you said. You said we weren't good for each other. What did I do?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me!"

"You scare me!" Tsukishima snapped, and Mikaela had to summon every nerve in her body to stop herself from flinching. Instead, she just shrunk back. "You- You make me feel things that I don't want to feel! You make me want to take stupid risks!"

"What's so bad about that?" she said desperately.

"Because I..." he trailed off, his teeth clenched together in frustration, and Mikaela felt her heart break. "I shouldn't have come," he said firmly. "I shouldn't have hugged you in front of Miya, I shouldn't have come out to check on you tonight. That was a mistake. This- This is a mistake."

"Why do you have to be so bipolar?" Mikaela demanded. "You- You come out, you flirt with me, you literally carried me to my room-"

"I shouldn't have!"

"So why did you?!"

"Because I'm still in love with you!"

Her heart stopped.

Mikaela's voice had completely escaped her throat. She stood there, on one leg, gaping at Tsukishima, who was showing more emotion than she'd ever seen before. She couldn't tell if he was upset, angry, frustrated, or a combination of all three. "I was rude to you," Tsukishima said flatly, getting his emotions back under control. "I held you down. I ignored you."

"I ignored you," she protested weakly. "I took you for granted. I didn't appreciate you as much as I should have." Mikaela exhaled slowly. "You didn't hold me down- you stabilized me, even when I didn't want you to. And I didn't appreciate you for that. You need to stop blaming yourself."

"We're bad for each other," Tsukishima said, but his voice sounded significantly weaker.

"You're not."

"What?"

"You're not bad for me," Mikaela repeated, tears sparking in the corners of her eyes. "Not at all." There was a heavy pause. The room was near silent, save for their heavy breathing. Mikaela was trying to keep her tears under control. "Am I bad for you?" she forced out, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

Tsukishima didn't answer right away. "No," he said quietly, "you're not."

Her chest was tight. "You're still in love with me?" Mikaela asked, her voice cracking.

"Yes," he replied, "for lack of better judgement."

Mikaela couldn't help it. She wheezed out a weak laugh, the adrenaline from the argument starting to fade away. "Then kiss me, dammit," she demanded, pushing her hand off of the wall.

So that's exactly what he did.

He closed the distance between them, and before she knew it, Tsukishima's hands were cupping her face and his lips were on hers. She kissed him back desperately, her arms going around his shoulders and pulling him closer to her. One of his hands dropped from her face and his arm curled around her back, pulling her closer to him. She could taste the salt from her tears, and his glasses were pressing against the bridge of her nose, but Mikaela ignored it.

She was with Tsukishima. He was kissing her.

They both pulled away for air and just stayed there, with their foreheads pressed together. Tsukishima still had a hand on her face and his other arm tucked around her waist, and she let her arms rest where they were on his shoulders.

She could feel his breath on her lips. Her head had gone fuzzy.

Carefully, Tsukishima leaned back in and kissed her again. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, swiping away some of her tears. The kiss before had been desperate and needy; now, he was careful and gentle. Mikaela didn't let herself think. She leaned into him again, enjoying how nicely their lips fit together. They were together. How long had it been? Too long.

Tsukishima pulled away, then tucked her into his chest. Mikaela shuddered, pulling herself into him and squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry," she murmured into his shirt. "I'm sorry for everything."

"I'm sorry too," he muttered, nuzzling his nose in her hair. "I should have-"

"Don't," she replied. Mikaela pulled back and took his face in her hands, shaking her head. "Not this one. Don't argue with me on this. You? You were..." she trailed off, stroking her thumb across his jaw. "Just don't. Okay?"

It was a jumble of words that made absolutely no sense when she said them out loud, but Tsukishima seemed to get it. His face softened. "Okay," he agreed quietly.

Mikaela smiled weakly and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt his lips touch her forehead, then a weight on top of her head. He was holding her, and she was holding him, and they were together again. She'd missed this. She'd never felt the same with Atsumu, and that was what she had been missing: the sense of comfort. Atsumu was easy and laid back, but she had never felt the same kind of comfort that she did with Tsukishima.

"Will you stay?" she mumbled into his chest.

"Of course," he murmured into her ear.

He was going to stay. They were together. Together. Mikaela felt like she was floating. She'd dreamed of this happening, and although she'd always hoped for it, she hadn't expected it to actually become a reality.

He loves me.

That thought alone would keep her smiling all night.

Wow. The chapter everyone was waiting for- I hope it didn't disappoint.

Sayori1412: I miss their banter! I originally didn't have the whole Yuka scene in the last chapter and I threw it in at the last minute, and I'm so glad I did! Their banter is so fun. I'm so glad you liked the chapter- Kageyama punching Tsukishima was the first scene I wrote, I'm glad you liked it!- and thank you so much for your review! :)

haikyuurarepairs: Aha sorry about that XD Nothing wrong with overloading, I'm glad you're relaxing and taking a break from this, sometimes it's a lot. I'm glad you liked it, thanks for your review! :D

KrystalCookies5: I'm so glad you liked it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, then. I'm glad you liked the classroom scene- that was a last minute addition to the chapter that I'm really happy I put it in. Thank you so much for your review! :)

RebelAshRunner: Ahhhhhh I'm so glad you liked it! I loved writing the same scenes from his perspective, it makes me so happy XD I hope this chapter made you happy! It certainly did that for me. Thank you so much for your review! :D

SoccerSarah01: It hurt when I started rereading it but getting towards the end felt so much better XD Him and Yamaguchi are such a great friendship and I feel like I haven't been able to expose their friendship as much, so it really was a lot of fun to write. And I'm starting to reaaaaaally like the Kageyama-Tsukishima interactions XD I'm so glad you liked the chapter, thank you so much for your review! :)

kyuppi: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked Tsukishima's POV, it was so much fun to write. The more I wrote Atsumu, the more I fell in love with him- believe me, for a minute I almost didn't want for her to get back with Tsukishima. Trust me, I have 100% considered an Atsumu spin-off, but I'm not sure if I want to pursue it. If I go through with it, I'm going to have trouble writing more Tsukishima XD Trust me, I'm definitely thinking about it, it's a good idea. Thank you so much for your review! :D

Averi-nova: Yamaguchi really got to shine last chapter- about time! Trust me, Atsumu's one hundred percent a bitch sometimes, but you already know that's something he would do. Atsumu likes to gloat XD I'm so glad you liked the live stream! Thank you so much for your kind words and for your review! :)

Guest ("oH my GOD..."): I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT AND IT GAVE YOU THE SEROTONIN YOU NEEDED! Thank you so much for your review! :D

Inola: Aww thank you! Tsukishima's a lonely person aha XD Atsumu likes to gloat, and I thought it wouldn't be out of character for him to try and rub it in Tsukishima's face. I'm surprised by the amount of people that hate him because of that, aha. I'm glad you liked the bit with Akiteru, that was a lot of fun to write and I thought it turned out really well. Tsukishima definitely deserved more attention to his feelings than he got- I feel like that's a bit of a common thing between girls and guys, girls get a lot more consideration for their emotions- but hopefully this chapter made up for it ;) Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :)

StarlighNALU: I hope this chapter was more than satisfactory then! XD Next chapter they have a much better talk, so just hang on to that. I hope you've got your emotions back under control, thank you so much for your review :D

luvielle: I'm still in denial of the manga ending XD once I finish writing this, it'll start sinking in. Oikawa didn't really know Tsukishima all that well- so I'm not sure it would be his place to harass Tsukishima about the break up- and I was kind of wondering if I could fit Kuroo in somewhere, but in the end I left him out. I feel like it would've been too forced otherwise. I'm so glad you liked the chapter, thank you so much for your review! :)

Monxu Aki: Motoya will make an appearance next chapter, don't worry! More Kuroo in this chapter and some Iwaizumi, and Iwaizumi helps out a bit next chapter ;) there's so many characters that it's hard to find logical ways to fit them all in. I'm doing my best! Thank you so much for your review! :D

channingayle02: Ahhh thank you! Yamaguchi really needs more time to shine and I'm so glad I could give him that time in the last chapter. I'm so happy I made you speechless a few times, that's such a compliment! Thank you so much for your review! :)

AkaMizu-chan: I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :D

milkywayheartcupcake: I'm glad you liked the prosthetic scene! :D Thank you so much for your review! :)

masoxrista: I'm sorry? XD I lot of people struggle with feelings in different ways and it's all circumstantial. I hope you liked this chapter at least! Thank you for your review! :D

jily shiper: I don't want this story to end because that's when it'll sink in and I'll cry XD That ice skating scene was all you, so thank you for that! PM me soon ;)

Choopi: HERE YOU GO! I hope this chapter was good! Thank you so much for your review! :D

TheHeckie09: I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER! I'm glad you liked the last one and I hope you enjoyed this one just as much! Thank you so much for your review! :)

werecutietate: I absolutely adore Kageyama and Yamaguchi and I'm glad i could let them shine last chapter! I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :D

Guest ("When this story ends..."): I'm going to cry too when this is done XD I want to write something else but I don't know what! I'm looking for ideas XD I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, I hope you liked this one too! Thank you so much for your review! :)

Guest ("If I were to assign..."): I love Hercules! One of my favorite Disney movies. I think that song fits the last chapter well XD I'm glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :D

sally. rose. 3979: Kageyama deserves the world XD Don't worry, there will be a bit of Oikawa next chapter! I love that dork too much to leave him out for long. Just hang on! Thank you so much for your reviews! :)

WhiteArcobaleno: Yamaguchi is so amazing and I'm so glad I could give him a chance to shine last chapter- and I'm even more glad that so many people appreciated it. Thank you so much for your compliments, I'm so glad you think I wrote him well! I had a bit of trouble with it sometimes XD Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :D

hatakehoe: I'm so glad you liked Yamaguchi in the last chapter, I'm really happy with how I wrote him. And Kageyama too! I'm so happy you liked the chapter, thank you so much for your review! :)

somberset: YOUR REVIEWS ALWAYS MAKE ME SO HAPPY AHHH Tsukishima is massively underrated and I loved writing him and I'm super happy with how the last chapter turned out! Yeah, Atsumu is the type that likes to gloat, and t be honest, that scene of him goading Tsukishima on is helping me get over how much I was in love with him XD The manga ending totally ruined me and I'm in denial, so as long as this story keeps going I'll be okay. Thank you so much for your review! :D

Aster Supping Waterfalls: AHH THANK YOU! Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked it! :)

Daffodil: Ahh thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked his portrayal, I had a lot of fun writing him and I'm so glad so many people liked the chapter. I'm thrilled you liked the Kageyama scene, I had a tough time keeping them in character XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

Heart: I love writing the "sorry, Tsukki" scenes XD Thank you so much for your review, I'm so glad you liked the chapter! :)

Taisa Ayase: Ahh thank you so much! I'm so glad you're liking this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for your review! :D

lemontarto: Wow. Thank you for all of your reviews! I've been struggling a bit with how to answer to you, so pardon me if something I say comes out wrong. I originally had no ship planned for this story, if you can believe it or not. I eventually decided to try going along with the idea and all the feedback I got was positive, so I went through with it! I figured that it couldn't be for everyone, though. In terms of her development, I think her relationships are a huge part of that! People (especially our generation) are shaped by how we feel for people and who we care for. So I think her relationship with Tsukishima (and her past one with Atsumu) is incredibly important to her character development! If you don't think he's in character, that's fine- I can't please everyone. Thank you so much for your review and I hope you continue to read! :)

myheartwentuwu: I'm so glad you liked it! I hope this one was okay :D Thank you so much for your review! :D

bbymojo: Ahh I'm so glad you liked it! I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm glad you liked it so much! Thank you so much for your review! :)

Kyion: I'm so thrilled you liked it! It's so much fun to reread XD I'm thinking about doing another live stream! Maybe in a few weeks, when the story's rounding down to its end. Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :D

YuYuJakushoObsesser: Ahh that makes me so happy! I'm so glad you picked this for one of your first haikyuu fanfics and I hope you continue to read more! Nishinoya is a great one to stan, I love him XD I'm so glad you're liking the relationships! Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :)

NaomiM: Just a change of pace ;) A bit of a change up, I'm glad you noticed. Thank you for your review! :D

Saki: Ah oh no XD Don't let it consume you aha, I'm glad you're enjoying it though! Thank you so much for your review! :)

Xielle Sky: Oh my goodness you're so kind T^T Thank you so much for your compliments! I'm so glad you've enjoyed this story so much, thank you for your review! :D

secretlifeofsam: That's the biggest mood XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

ILOVEYOU: Thank you so much! :D

I know you're all going to be focused on the last chunk of the chapter, but a lot of other stuff went down (the match, the bet, reunion with Iwaizumi, talk with Atsumu) and I'd love to hear your thoughts about all of the above XD

Thank you so much for your support! :)