The new semester was going swimmingly. Suga had officially moved into Mitsumi's spare bedroom. After taking care of her apartment while she was gone, his own mother had suggested the idea. Even after consulting with his Aunt, she said it made more sense. After all, he was barely ever home.

She was just returning from Russia. Apparently, something had happened to the venue and the game had to be postponed from its original date. And so she spent the weekend abroad. It wasn't a really big deal, but it was a pain having to get his belongings set up on his own. Plus, they would be celebrating her surprising victory that secured Japan a spot in the World Championships. Of course, he was going to go all out for it. Mitsumi was always really cranky when she got home from travelling. Kuroo didn't lie about the severity of it either. At first, the setter thought him and Bokuto were just being their overdramatic selves.

It was 9:00 p.m. Everyone was home from practice, so Mitsumi really had no excuse to stop by the gym. The sound of the door swinging open, luggage being dragged in, and shoes being kicked off came from the entryway. "I'm home!" Mitsumi huffed and tried to catch her breath. She dragged her bags inside, not even bothering to slip her house slippers on.

To her surprise, the apartment was decorated in a way she didn't remember at all. Fresh vases of flowers sat on the side tables at each end of the cream-colored sofa next to picture frames she didn't remember setting out. Some succulents and small potted plants sat on the windowsill in the front room. Some of the furniture had been rearranged, some of it replaced to match. The living room was themed to have cream, green, and woody brown colors.

"Don't tell me I walked into the wrong apartment," Mitsumi muttered under her breath.

Suga stepped out of the kitchen. He was just plating dinner up. "Welcome home, Sparks." He gave her the tight hug she had been looking forward to so much. "How was it?"

"Tiring. The flight was long, and Mom's driving skills are the absolute worst. Plus I ran into some fans who wanted photos." Mitsumi's mother had picked her up from the stadium since she was in the area. "Russia is an interesting place with interesting people. It makes me wonder how the heck Yaku is surviving." She returned his hug and snuggled into his embrace. He reeked of curry and spices. "Someone has been busy today."

"Plus, Aunt Nami's office was getting rid of surplus furniture. She came by to help me bring my stuff in and insisted that she make the space more homey." Suga pulled away but held her by the waist. His aunt was one of the best interior designers around Tokyo, so he figured it would be a nice surprise. "I hope you like it."

Mitsumi broke away and took another scan of the living area and nodded in approval. "It is very kind of her to generously give us all this furniture." She stood on her toes and pecked a kiss on his cheek. Her original plan was to shower and change first, but her stomach wasn't exactly the quietest thing. "What's cooking?"

"Curry and rice. It's already finished." Suga followed her to the dining table. "I already ate, so eat as much as you like. I'll package the leftovers for lunch tomorrow." He smiled and brought her a plate of hot food. It was a relief to see that she was devouring it. Sometimes, she would be too tired from travelling and then skip a meal.

The night was low-key. Suga was working on his homework as Mitsumi unpacked. The sound of the washing machine filled the silent apartment. Mitsumi knocked on his door, "Koushi, do mind helping me put this up?" She had a small Russian flag in her hand. She decided that she would get a small flag to hang up in her room from every country she played in. They were hung up on a piece of twine she could thread through a fold she'd make. The collection was mounted above her desk, so she needed some help to pull it down and put it back up.

His room was way more put together than hers was. And the credits probably belonged to Aunt Nami, again. Suga looked up from his computer screen and set his pen down. "Sure, are you putting that with your other ones?" She nodded with a tired smile.

After some maneuvering, he threaded the flag through the twine and put the banner back on the wall. Mitsumi smiled at his handy work, satisfied with the additional flag. "Oh, I have this for you." She handed him a boxed necktie. It was a dark purple color with small flowers all over it. "I remembered you said you wanted a new tie for school. I found this one in Moscow."

He looked at the tie with a smile. "It's perfect. I'll put it to good use!" Suga kissed her forehead. "You should get some rest if you're going to practice in the morning."

"Oh yeah, I guess I didn't tell you." Mitsumi's jet-lagged brain recalled some important information. "My classes are all in the middle of the day. So I'll be practicing at the stadium until eleven-ish. I'll be here for lunch and classes. And then I'll be doing evening practice here with the girls." She managed to make her schedule fit perfectly again. Luckily, her accompanying credits had all been satisfied. So, she no longer had to worry about accumulating more unless she was needed.

The moment he sat down on her bed, he realized his own demise. Mitsumi immediately laid across his lap as she babbled senselessly about the places she had been. Much of it was entirely nonsensical due to her exhaustion.

...

Mei and Mitsumi high-fived each other as they successfully got through a memorized run-through of Ravel's La Valse. They had selected that and two other four-handed arrangements for the upcoming competition. They had two weeks and were both feeling good about their pieces.

The two of them were taking a collaborative piano class together this semester to free their schedules of accompanying hours. And to get feedback on their duet playing skills. All because they wanted to do well in the competition.

"I think that sounded great, we just need to make the ending a bit more dramatic." Mitsumi really wanted to have that epic 'ending pose' on stage. "The piece has the perfect ending for it too."

"I was just thinking about that." Mei nodded in agreement. "Want to try from the top of the last page?" After a nod, they began to play again.

Once they were satisfied with their work, they checked the time on the clock. Mitsumi slipped her tablet back into her canvas bag and raised her arms up into the air. "It's kind of Dr. Tanaguchi to let us use her studio." She stretched and yawned. Her brain was tired from staring at all the music notes they had rehearsed.

"It is." Mei stood up and stretched as well. "I have a quick volleyball question for you."

"Shoot."

"So, Miyagi University is coming this weekend for that training camp. What's got everyone so riled up about it? I know you guys beat them in the Spring, but that's really it." Mei didn't realize how much of a history the two teams had with each other. She was too embarrassed to bring it up during practice the previous evening.

Mitsumi closed the lid to the piano she was using. "Shimura and Hanasaki, Miyagi's last captain, had a bit of a rivalry." She began to explain, "Actually, my best friend Saki is on their team. They're really intense and always give us a run for our money." The match they played in the Spring Nationals was super tight. Nobody knew who would win.

Mei nodded and hummed. She pulled the dust cover over her piano and coughed as she inhaled a little bit of the dust that went flying. "Saki as in the JNT outside hitter?"

"We played in high school together too." Mitsumi tossed her bag on her shoulder. "But she's the one. Why do you think Coach Yamata had been stressing solid receivers and pinpoint attacks so much?"

Mei thought about it for a moment. "Fair point." They walked out of the office and back into the hot Japanese heat. "Another question, how do you get all your practice hours in? Like seriously, I'm struggling!"

"I schedule it during the class time hours I'm on campus. If I'm not in a classroom, I'm practicing piano or eating." Mitsumi shrugged, "Volleyball is my job. So, I have to work around it." She reached into her skirt pocket for a protein bar. It was the only thing that would get her through for the rest of the day. "It's not much different from you working part-time in the office and then playing with us. You just make it work. The only difference is that I have a commute."

The fact that she could say all of these things in a laid-back tone shocked Mei. She glanced down at Mitsumi, taken aback. There was no difference between the two of them. So, she would figure things out for herself. Mei was grateful that she only had to worry about one volleyball team. She admired Mitsumi's ability to somehow balance her life and travels. But then again, this was an unusual period of time. Mitsumi used to rotate what days she spent with each team. Now, she had two practices a day and early morning conditioning with the personal trainer the JNT had brought to TokyoU. It seemed like too much for the wing spiker.

"You're insane." Mei sighed, "I'm a junior this year, and I still can't figure out the whole life thing."

"You're doing better than you think you are, Mei." Mitsumi gave an encouraging smile.

...

"It got approved! It got approved!" Mitsumi jumped onto Bokuto's shoulders in a handstand. The men and women's teams had a joint practice together to get ready for the Spring Qualifying Tournaments. Everyone stared at Mitsumi, baffled by what she meant.

Bokuto wobbled from side to side from the sudden weight. "Tsumi, heck yeah!" He had no idea what she was talking about. But, he celebrated anyway.

Makoto had never seen her so excited before. "What got approved?" She turned her head to the side a bit.

"The demon teacher signed off all of my competition pieces today!" Mitsumi had never been so relieved and excited in her life. She felt like she could take anything on for the time being. She hopped off of Bokuto and gave him a jumping high ten.

Mei was in an equally good mood for the same reason. She placed her hands on her hips triumphantly. "It'll be a-"

"Total Tokyo takeover!" She and Mitsumi practically had sparkles around them.

Matsuda blinked and leaned over to Yuki. "What is this all about?"

"They entered a piano duet competition that's in a couple of weeks," Suga explained to his captain. He was rather embarrassed by his girlfriend's actions.

Lucy clapped her hands. "You guys are going to be awesome! I didn't know you guys played."

"Lucy, they are classmates." Kizano even knew that much. She sighed and shook her head.

Coach Ueno was leading our practice for the evening. He blew his whistle to get everyone's attention. "A lot of energy tonight, I like it!" He chuckled a bit. "Today we will have a drill day since Yamata is out at a conference. We were originally going to play a full five-set match, however, the athletic department sent him as the University's representative. We will start with spiking drills and then go from there."

Everyone kept their composure on the outside. But on the inside, they were screaming. They all had been looking forward to playing against each other. Watanabe was the only person who was capable of changing Coach Ueno's mind. So, everyone snapped their heads in her direction.

The manager tried to hide behind her tablet. It wasn't working. Watanabe sighed in defeat. "Coach, can we do one set until 25 after drills?"

"The ladies do need to practice some new formations while we have Mitsumi here." Riza backed her up. "Miyagi will be here this weekend too. And the guys are our best shot at testing them bad boys out."

The fact that both managers had jumped right into the waters made everyone want to jump on with them. But, if they did, the coach would know they were up to something. So, the two teams just stared at Coach Ueno with sparkling puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, one set at the end." Coach Ueno caved in.

...

One set turned into several at the end. Kizano felt bad that Mitsumi's knee was bothering her and that she had to switch out because of it. But at the same time, she was glad she was getting the chance to play against the men.

Makoto and Lucy were queens at taunting the men. It seemed that Bokuto and Watari were their easiest targets. It was amusing, to say the least. Suga was starting to worry when Mitsumi sat with her leg stretched across the bench. She was massaging her bad knee out. It wasn't swollen, but she probably aggravated it a bit too much for comfort.

Riza handed her an instant ice pack just in case she needed it. "We should hit the onsen sometime." She smiled and stood next to the bench.

"I'm totally down for a girls' night out." Mitsumi had really opened up to everyone quite a bit. She would go out with her teammates and run errands with them. Or go out for food and a movie. Seldom did she attend karaoke night. It was too noisy.

The libero made a mental note to get a massage after her JNT practice the next day. Her athletic trainer was a miracle worker at getting her knee to not ache. Sure the pain of the massage always made her tear up, but it always felt amazing afterward.

"Alright! I got the knot out!" Mitsumi slipped her brace back on and hopped on her feet. Unfortunately, the last set ended. She joined everyone again and cooled down.

Coach Ueno glanced at her before ending the practice for the evening. "If you're staying for personal practice, be sure to clean up after yourselves."

...

Mitsumi stayed back to practice setting with Lucy. The blonde was the only person that struggled to get a good set from her. It was really getting on the libero's nerves because she needed everyone to be ready to spike if she sent an emergency set to them.

"Yuki's sets tend to taper off at the end." Lucy was getting more frustrated than Mitsumi. "Is there a way you can do that from the back row? It's too fast." She clenched onto the hem of her shirt. Lucy was trying her best to contain her irritation, but Mitsumi had already clued into it.

The libero had been trying hard. "I'm not a setter for a reason." She sighed angrily. "I'm short and I have to give the ball speed to get it up high enough for you from the back. But, I'll try to get it to you better."

Suga was getting tired of Mitsumi's stubbornness. She had said multiple times that she'd figure it out on her own with Lucy. It wasn't that her tosses were bad, her style was just incompatible. He was currently working on some spikes at the next net over. He was trying to hit better line shots.

"They remind me of Yaku and Lev back in high school a little too much." Kuroo chucked a ball into the cart. "They even have the height difference!"

Bokuto nodded in agreement. "Big vibes over there!" He followed Kuroo's awful example and chucked a ball towards the cart. The ball hit the wall and fell to the cart flawlessly. "Kubro, I bet I can get more in than you!" He pointed his finger as if his roommate was a challenger.

The two of them began to aggressively throw balls into the cart. Suga sighed and grabbed his towel and water bottle. "Chie, I'm headed out!" He called out to her.

Mitsumi looked over at him. "Alright, I'll meet you out front then." The two of them had plans to go out for dinner and study date. She had a bunch of music analysis assignments to complete for her final Music History class. She hated the fact that her history and theory classes were four semesters each. They worked heavily and had to be completed before she could take the more interesting classes.

She took a quick shower in the locker room and changed into jeans and a white button-up shirt with little ice cream cones embroidered into it. Suga met her in the courtyard. They had to stop by the apartment to drop their gym bags off in exchange for their backpacks. Oh, and get his wallet. He had accidentally left it when he was rushing to practice.

...

They were in no hurry to walk to the cafe. They were both spent from the day's events. Suga held the girl by her waist. "So, that new teammate of yours is interesting."

"If by interesting you mean loud, then yes." Mitsumi retorted in an instant. Her filter was lessening the more tired she became. "Lucy is such a pain. I don't know how Yuki deals with her." She grumbled and looked to the side. At first, Lucy seemed really promising. She wasn't over the top and bubbling with crackhead energy. And, usually, she wasn't. However, once Makoto had cracked her shell, all hope was lost.

He laughed a bit and rubbed her side. "Makoto got her to crack first." 

He held the door to the familiar cafe open. "What are you ordering?"

"The usual." Mitsumi took their bags. "I'll grab us a table." She found an open booth in the back and slid in. It seemed that the owners had put some new art up on the walls. The cafe was the hub for all of the university students. The art majors would display their art for sale, the music majors and other local musicians would sometimes provide live music (Mitsumi quite enjoyed performing there as well), and the shop even hosted bingo and trivia nights. No matter the occasson, the cafe was always comfortable. 

It was an average study date night. The two of them crunched away at their assignments with the ambiance of the 24/7 cafe in the background. Mitsumi's brain was slowly melting. She would have to get Reiko or Hironori to look over her assignment. She pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to redirect her focus.

Suga had long finished his reading. He was now scrolling through an online article Monthly Volleyball had published on the JNT teams. "You used to be in ballet until high school, right?" He said spontaneously.

"Yeah." She looked up from her papers. "Why do you ask?"

"You never talk about it. That's all." He shrugged and continued scrolling. "It's a big change to go from dance to volleyball."

Her emerald eyes dulled out at the mention of her past. Mitsumi subconsciously rubbed her left knee out of habit. "Kuroo taught me how to play when we were kids. So, I had a foundation and played casually with the neighborhood kids from time to time." She sucked up the remaining tapioca pearls at the bottom of her cup and chewed on them. "But, dance was my thing back then."

Suga could see how tense she was. "Can I ask why you switched?"

"My studio shut down." That was the answer she always gave. It was only a slight lie. After a slight pause, Mitsumi sighed. "Actually, I injured myself and then my studio shut down while I was in recovery. I dislocated my knee before a major performance that would have saved the studio. It tore through the tendons, ligaments, and everything. I had to have multiple major surgeries to have it repaired. I spent my entire third year of middle school and first year of high school recovering." It was the first time she had opened up to anyone outside of Kuroo, Saki, and Kenma about the matter.

He leaned across the table and placed a hand over her hand that was resting on the table. Suga gave it a gentle pat before lacing their fingers together. His thumb traced small shapes over the back of her hand as he showed he was paying attention to her. His actions urged her to continue speaking. "Anyways, I lost a major dance scholarship to a major dance school because of my knee. By the time I had fully recovered, the people I thought were my friends left me. I just about lost everything. So, when I got to high school, Kuroo and my parents pushed me to join a club where I could rebuild myself. I had lost control of my mental health at that time and things were really gnarly..." Her voice trailed out a bit as she tried to gather her thoughts. "Anyways, I got sucked into volleyball because it helped rebuild all the muscle I lost. But that's all in the past." She brushed it off as if it was nothing.

Suga hummed softly, "How did the injury happen?"

"I was en pointe and lost my balance during a pirouette. I fell just right and because my leg was turned out just right and-" Mitsumi made a popping sound with her lips. "I tripped over a stray prop someone had accidentally left in the middle of the floor. I didn't see it and I fell."

He ran his hands through her hair and softly ruffled her bangs. "I would have never guessed." Suga pinched her cheek gently. "But look at where you are because of it!"

"I sucked in the beginning. I couldn't receive properly, or serve at all!" Mitsumi snorted and crossed her arms at the memory. "Trust me, I had no idea things would end up like this."

Suga chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "We would have never met if volleyball never happened." He cleaned his study materials up. "Oh yeah, the kids were asking about you today."

Mitsumi raised an eyebrow. "Oh gosh, what were they saying?"

"They said they wanted to get to know you." He chuckled, "Mitsuhide-san was actually wondering if you wanted to come in for career day and talk about what you do." Suga was hoping she wasn't too busy. He was just asking out of courtesy since his lead teacher had asked him to extend the offer. "It's next Friday. I know you will be busy at the stadium, but I thought I'd check before I say anything."

Mitsumi opened up her phone calendar and looked at what she had going on. She smiled seeing that Friday was open because her classes had been canceled for a University professional development day. "Of course! Did you forget classes were canceled? I'll just swing by after work."

"Great! I'll let Mitsuhide-san know then." He was cheering on the inside.