Tanaka woke up to his alarm blaring, he checked the time 05:00, for a while, Tanaka just laid there in his bed staring at the ceiling not being able to find the strength to get up, after what was about 10 minutes Tanaka got up and dressed into his school uniform and put his gym clothes into his sports bag together with his water bottle and protein bars. He exited his room as quietly as possible as not to wake his parents, he entered the kitchen and opened the fridge and took out his 3 pre-prepared bento boxes and put them in his bag as he put his shoes on and started out the door to the closest bus stop.

Tanaka walked slowly blasting one of his favorite SID songs from his playlist with a bunch of rock songs (mainly the ones he found out about through watching the OP and ED's of anime, and some Skillet and Linkin Park songs as well... and maybe he had a few Set It Off songs in there somewhere)

'One month' Tanaka thought. 'That's only four weeks which is about 30 days I-I can survive that long, right? RIGHT?'

None of Tanaka's teammates could have him over, so Tanaka was forced to stay at his parents' house, not his, his parents' because that was what it was, his parents' house, with the bare walls in "his" empty room that only had drawers and his closet with a bedside table. Because Tanaka's home was his sister's place. Yeah he had to stay with his parents and he had to wake up 30 minutes earlier to catch the bus, well not exactly, he woke up 30 minutes earlier to avoid his parents because they worked early in the morning and usually he woke up at 05:30 so that he could take it easy and not stress while walking to morning practice that started at 06:30 but now he woke up at 05:00 in the morning so that he could be out the house by 05:20. It was a 5 to 20-minute bus ride from his parents' house depending on the bus. If he took bus 7 he would be at the stop 2 stations down from Karasuno in 5 minutes and then have to walk for about 10-20 minutes depending on the weather and how tired he was. But if he took bus 11 it would take him to the stop right in front of the school but it would take 15 minutes, the only plus was that he had to walk less. So he had a lot of options, there is a total of 6 buses that stop at or close by Karasuno high excluding the reserve buses and every single one of them varying in time to get there and how close to the school the stop was, two of the buses stopped right in front of the school one stopped a station past and one a stopped a station down the last two stopped two stations down.

Tanaka sighed as he sat down in a seat by the window he had taken one of the reserve busses which was a 35-minute ride, 'maybe I should start biking like Hinata does it would be so much easier than taking the bus' Tanaka thought as he looked out the window. He looked at his reflection, the bruise on his left cheek was a tad bit darker than it had been last night but it was to be expected, his father had hit him after all... He had talked back at his father for not inviting Saeko to family dinner next weekend. His father had punched him without warning pretty hard, which didn't surprise Tanaka in the slightest but was unappreciated nonetheless. 'I could always say that I started a street fight by the grocery store again, I know my teammates will believe that. Or at least I hope that they will' Tanaka thought as he touched his cheek lightly.

It was currently 05:35 he would arrive at 06:10 so it wouldn't raise any suspicions and the others wouldn't ask questions, well they would but not for Tanaka's arrival time which they probably would ask some other day.

Tanaka was lost in thought, breakfast bento lay forgotten in his schoolbag and before he knew it

"Next stop, Karasuno High" Tanaka jumped before he pressed the STOP button and stood up. The doors opened and Tanaka stepped out of the bus he looked up and almost crashed into someone.

"OH! sorry sir I wasn't- Tanaka? Sorry... hehe, I was texting my mom so I wasn't looking where I was going" Ennoshita placed his hand behind his head rubbing his hand through brown locks, 'His hair has gotten longer' Tanaka notes as he looks at Ennoshita surprised. "I'm happy I didn't end up crashing into you and send you to the ground-OH GOD TANAKA WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?" Ennoshita had finally taken a good look at Tanaka and was now staring and pointing at the bruise on Tanaka's cheek.

"Oh!? That? Nothing really, fighting like always you know me don't you Ennoshita?" Tanaka said nervously looking at the ground hands in his winter jacket. He never liked lying to friends, Ennoshita in particular. Well, he has known Ennoshita since elementary school, so he isn't surprised there either.

"Really Tanaka? Again?" Ennoshita questioned as they started walking to the clubroom, they heard balls being slammed in the gym so they guessed there were already people practicing which honestly probably was Hinata and Kageyama.

Ennoshita and Tanaka walked into the clubroom and were met by sleepy second and third years which meant that Yamaguchi and Tsukishima either haven't arrived yet or were already in the gym. There was a bunch of 'hi & good morning's' from various people in the room. Suga turned to greet them when he spotted Tanaka's cheek, Tanaka caught on and immediately started waving his hand in dismissal. "Oh! don't worry about it Suga it's just from a fight by the grocery store! you know how I am haha?!" Tanaka went to his locker and began putting his stuff in it taking his bag opening it to get a water bottle and his arm & leg pads. He took his clothes and went to the bathroom to get changed, honestly, he needed to go to the bathroom too but it was mostly to avoid letting other bruises (if he had any) be seen. Once he was done and had washed his hands he stepped out of the bathroom and walked back to his locker. He then took everything he needed and went to the gym, Ennoshita quickly catching up to him.

They walked in seeing that all the first years were already practicing, it looked like Kageyama was teaching Yamaguchi to set while it looked like Tsukishima was practicing blocks with Hinata. Hinata!? Tanaka looked back to Tsukishima and Hinata and took a good look at him, 'is Hinata limping?!' Tanaka kept his gaze on Hinata. Ennoshita had noticed that Tanaka had frozen and sent him a questioning gaze that Tanaka saw from the corner of his eye and just whispered as to not let the first years hear "Take a good look at Hinata, do you see anything wired?" Ennoshita sent him an eyebrow before turning to look at the ginger first year.

"Hmm, it looks like he is limping?" Tanaka nodded as he sent Ennoshita a concerned look when he turned to look at him, they exchanged silent words and nodded to each other. They walked over to Tsukishima and Hinata who were by the net, Tsukishima was talking to Hinata, when they got close enough they caught a snippet of their conversation "Hinata you should take a break, if you overdo it you might worsen your injury" Hinata looked displeased as he answered Tsukishima "And I told you that the quicker I get back to practice the better it's for my injury, Saltyshima, I need to get it used to harsh practice again besides, it's not that bad!" Hinata was glaring at Tsukishima and Tsukishima was glaring right back at him "I'm telling you-"

"Oi! What's going on, what happened to Hinata?" Tanaka cut Tsukishima off as both he and Ennoshita stopped a bit in front of the two. "Oh!? Tanaka, Ennoshita, nothing happened I just slipped with my bike last Friday on my way back home" Hinata waved it off. "Slipped with your bike!? HINATA YOU FELL OFF THE FUCKING MOUNTAIN FOR GOD'S SAKE HOW THE HELL DID YOU COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT BIKING IN A FUCKING RAINSTORM WAS A GOOD IDEA YOU'RE LUCKY TO EVEN BE ALIVE! I MEAN HOW DO YOU SURVIVE A FALL LIKE THAT WITH SUCH MINOR INJURIES?! IT SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE!" Tsukishima was screaming and everybody was looking at the two first years. Coach Ukai wasn't as surprised and shocked at what Tsukishima had yelled his expression more surprised at the fact that he had yelled, Ukai chuckled 'The two of them are really growing close' He thought as the others went into a panic asking if Hinata was alright, Suga had almost fainted, Asahi did faint, Noya was looming over Asahi now concerned for both his Kōhai and Senpai while Suga was going all mother hen on Hinata, his hands hovering over the first year bombarding him with questions while he proceeded to conduct a physical exam on him.

"Hinata is fine, he suffered a light concussion and a twisted ankle other than that he is fine so there is nothing to worry about!" Coach Ukai had to raise his voice to be heard by everyone, the three first years unaware of the whole ordeal, or at least what actually happened; as well as all the second and third years who all were crowding the poor ginger, Tsukishima attempting to shield him. once he was sure that he had everybody's attention Ukai continued "He will take it easy though so he is going to be practicing his receives until I say he can return to more straining exercises" He sent Hinata a sharp look "Am I understood?" Hinata nodded three times quickly before stilling his head, having been hit by a dizzy spell.

"Alright then, I want you to start warming up, everybody 10 laps Hinata take 5 slower ones and GO!" Ukai clapped his hands once signaling for them to start. everybody started running Hinata jogging a bit after at a much slower pace straining himself not to sprint passed everybody. Even though he was jogging at a much slower pace than he usually did Hinata still manage to do 10 laps quicker than everybody else, having forgotten to count the laps until Ukai had stopped him.

Kageyama was behind everybody else surprisingly, he was lost in thought and motivation not being able to race Hinata at his best. Tanaka and Ennoshita were somewhere in-between a jog and a run so that they could talk.

"Was it just me or did Tsukishima act a little out of the ordinary?" Ennoshita asked eyeing Tsukishima who was jogging a bit behind them next to Yamaguchi.

"Yeah, it seems he and Hinata have gotten closer as of late I've even seen them walk home from school together" Tanaka's head was starting to spin, he had gotten up late and skipped breakfast, he hadn't even been able to take more than a bite of his dinner last night before being punched by his father and sent to his room without dinner. Now that he thought about it he didn't eat anything at all yesterday or the day before, his parents hadn't come back until dinner and there was nothing to eat in the fridge or freezer and Tanaka wasn't going to be paid from his part-time job until Friday so he was broke too and couldn't buy anything to eat.

"OI! Tanaka, dude are you ok?! You spaced out, I've been calling your name for a while!" Tanaka jumped at the sound of Ennoshita's voice "Ah sorry! I was just lost in thought!" Tanaka looked at Ennoshita smiling as they made it into their last lap.

"Tanaka, you sure? You do look pale Tanaka, are you really sure you're ok Tanaka?" Ennoshita looked worried as he grabbed his friend's arm, slowing them down and getting a better look at him. 'He is saying my name a lot', Tanaka noted as he sighed "I'm fine Ennoshita, you don't have to worry... Ok?" Tanaka and Ennoshita both stopped when they finished their last lap and were now looking at each other. Ennoshita studied Tanaka then reluctantly nodded with a huff. "Alright Tanaka, but if you don't feel well please tell me or someone else. Alright?" Ennoshita's eyes were really concerned and seemed to be begging Tanaka, his eyes softened and he smiled lightly at Ennoshita. "Yeah, that's a promise"

"Alright! All of you are done with the warm-up, Tsukishima you can help Hinata with his receives and the rest of you get into teams of 5 and start practicing. And go!" Yet again Ukai clapped his hands once and everybody started doing as told. Tsukishima and Hinata in a corner of the gym practicing receives, Tsukishima had a bored look on his face like always while Hinata was pouting the whole first set before Ukai told all of them to rest before getting back to it.

The team consisting of Daichi, Sugawara, Tanaka, Ennoshita, and Kinoshita won the firs set by two points against the team consisting of Asahi, Nishinoya, Narita, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi, which had Kageyama in an endless cycle of apologies which Asahi and Nishinoya tried to get an end to... they didn't have any luck.

"Tanaka! Are you alright?" Tanaka turned around to face Hinata, who was limping his way over to the others, water bottle in hand. "Oh?! Yeah Hinata, why?" He answered facing Hinata completely. "I don't know you just seemed to be really pale" Hinata put his finger on his chin looking sideways at the roof of the gym. Tanaka smiled as he answered him "Thanks for your concern but I'm fine, really" Hinata looked doubtful as he nodded, not really sure if he should believe Tanaka or not.

"Tanaka, should you really be continuing?" The boy whose name was called once again looked over at his best friend and sighed "Ennoshita please stop worrying I've told you I'm fine" Ennoshita once again looked concerned as his eyes squinted in worry, he was about to say something else but never got the chance "Ok breaktimes over get back to practice!" Ukai once again clapped his hands once and everybody moved.

Asahi got ready to serve and he threw the ball up as he started running and jumped then slammed the ball over the net. Ennoshita received it and Tanaka got ready to send it over to Sugawara with a "Ennoshita, nice receive" as he did so. Tanaka got ready to jump and spike the ball but saw Daichi on the right also ready to jump and Tanaka knows that one of them is a decoy, which one is still unknown. They both take off at the same time and they jump, Suga sets the ball and Tanaka sees Asahi, Narita, and Kageyama ready to block and he knows the set is going to Daichi, both their arms come down Tanaka falls down, hand hitting air as a slamming sound is heard followed by Noya's "Chance ball!" and Narita's "Nice receive" the ball falls down and Kageyma sets it, sending it to Asahi who jumps ready to spike it and Tanaka jumps to block it and-

"Nice block Tanaka!" Ennoshita's voice rang out as the ball slammed into the gym floor "Good job Tanaka" Daichi came over and slapped Tanaka lightly on the shoulder once and grinned at him "Thanks Daichi, it was nothing"

The match continued on for 15 minutes with both teams neck and neck both having 10 points each, Tanaka once again got ready to spike when he started to feel dizzy, thinking nothing of it he jumped and spiked, a slamming sound was heard as the ball hit the gym floor followed by a thump and "TANAKA!" Ennoshita ran to his friend's side as the sound of Ukai blowing the whistle followed by multiple steps that were echoing in the gym. Ennoshita slid onto his knees he took a breath trying to calm himself as he assessed his friend "Tanaka! Tanaka, answer me! TANAKA!" Ennoshita held Tanaka upright as he called his name shaking the other boy slightly. "ALRIGHT MOVE ASIDE AND GIVE HIM SOME SPACE!" Ukai's voice rang out as he brushed the others aside and kneeling down beside Ennoshita and putting his hand on his shoulder "I'll take it from here, alright?" Ukai's face was soft as he had a sympathetic look on his face Ennoshita nodded and handed Tanaka over to their coach, he stood up and moved a couple of steps back. The others came over to stand behind him as they looked worriedly at their energetic wing spiker.

"Ryu..." Ennoshita looked to his left to see Noya stricken and tense right hand crossing his chest and gripping at his white T-shirt eyes glued at his BFF, Ennoshita turned back to look at Tanaka as a memory flashing across both their minds... "Noya, Ennoshita?" the two addressed turned to look at Narita who had called their names, letting out a synchronized "Hm?" as they did so "Oh, eh, it's just that you both look mortified, why is that?" Narita put his hand behind his head looking ashamed at what he had asked, Noya and Ennoshita looked at each other in the eye as they nodded and Noya motioning forward with is head telling Ennoshita to explain. "As most of you know me, Noya and Tanaka all went to the same middle school, in our second year of junior high, during a tournament this happened" Ennoshita and Noya looked at Ukai slowly trying to get Tanaka conscious, they both looked down and Noya took over "Ryu fainted mid-air after spiking the ball and hit is head hard" Noya squeezed his eyes shut as tears prickled in them and he turned his head sideways in a downwards motion, Ennoshita once again took over "H-He-There-There was so much blood and the match ended up coming to a halt, Tanaka got rushed to the hospital and the match continued. We ended up doing pretty well and actually cutting it to the finals but what happened or how we won, none of us know... we ended up being so out of it our bodies worked on autopilot" Ennoshita looked at Noya and the shorter boy took over "Instead of celebrating and being happy we all went straight to the hospital, we were forced to wait 2 hours before we could see him..." Noya didn't know what more to say so he nodded at Ennoshita "The doctor said he had taken quite the hit when he fell and the reason for him fainting in the first place was dehydration as well as low blood sugar, he was out for a month... but when he did wake up- eha, hmm- the- the fall had caused him temporary blindness that lasted 3 weeks, he recovered obviously but it's still kind of fresh and I guess it scares us to see it happen again" Ennoshita looked to the side as he finished the explanation and Noya looked up gaze locking in on Tanaka once again "I'm starting to think that there is a curse where Tanaka is bound to faint mid-air once every time we're second years" it was solemn his eyes were glassy with unshed tears.