Amaranth

Chapter 20: Statice

After much waiting, it was finally Saturday. Usually, Saturdays are nothing special, but this Saturday was her first game since she hurt her leg. Additionally, it was against Trost, so she'd be able to have a rematch with the infamous number 4. She was also excited because the game was being held in Shiganshina, so they wouldn't have to drive to Trost.

As expected of Mikasa, she arrived early to her school to get some extra practice in. Her game was at 1, but she arrived at 10 practice since she hadn't played in weeks. When she arrived on the field, the first thing she did was dribble the ball, smiling to herself when she had no problems doing it.

After dribbling it a bit, she tried shooting. She was tentative at first, remembering the extreme pain in her leg the last time she took a shot on goal, but she knew it wouldn't be the same pain this time.

Again, the ball easily soared into the net, and she pumped her fist into the air excitedly. She thought she would've lost some skill during her time away from the sport, but for the most part, she was the same as before.

This kind of practice went on for a while until she was sweating from running back and forth, kicking and dribbling, and taking shots on goal. While it didn't sound like it took a lot of energy, she was starting to feel it by the time the rest of her team showed up at 12.

"Of course you're already here," Ymir teased as she came up beside the girl, putting an arm around her shoulders. She immediately regretted it and pulled her arm away. "Ew, you're sweaty."

"Yeah," Mikasa sighed as she wiped her forehead.

"The hell did you do? Run a marathon?" Ymir teased.

"It's not that bad," Mikasa assured her with an annoyed exhale.

"I think it is," Ymir said as she handed the girl one of the many water bottles she always brought with her.

"Thanks," Mikasa said as she drank it, making sure not to chug it. As much as she wanted to, she knew chugging it would only make her feel sick during the game.

"Sure you're not gonna pass out in the middle of the game or something?" Ymir teased as she pushed the girl back to where the others were changing and stretching.

"I've got more stamina than that," Mikasa huffed.

"Good," Ymir said as she clapped the girl on the back, "Glad to have you back."

"...Was that... a compliment?" Mikasa asked with a smirk.

"Just go get changed!" Ymir said, not wanting to confirm or deny Mikasa's suspicions.

"It was definitely a compliment!" Mikasa yelled back as she went into the locker room to change into her jersey.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," Annie said as she was about to leave the locker room, almost running into Mikasa on the way.

"I've been here," Mikasa told her.

"I don't know why I'm surprised," Annie sighed as she stepped out of the locker room, leaving Mikasa to her own devices.

The raven-haired girl quickly changed into the proper clothes before walking to the connected bathroom to look in the mirror. She attempted to collect her hair into a ponytail because she knew it'd get in her face otherwise.

Luckily, her hair was just long enough to get in a ponytail without it looking completely stupid. She then washed her face with water from the sink before shaking her hands dry, drying her face, and walking back to the field.

A few of her teammates greeted her, but most of them kept a safe distance from her. She huffed slightly, knowing it was because they thought poorly of her. She already had her suspicions that some of them had new opinions of her since everything about her past got out, but this only confirmed them.