Bokuto and Sugawara were already aware of what was going on. They managed to notify their coaches to let them know that there was a slight probability that they wouldn't be at the practice that evening due to an emergency. Both of them were just as worried as their two friends were. Mitsumi met Kuroo at the train station. She was bundled up in a thick sweater and scarf. The cold autumn weather had finally arrived.

Kuroo had a serious expression on his face. This was a look she had never seen before in his life. Mitsumi craned her neck up to try and read his emotions. He looked empty on the inside. "Hey, Tetsu, the train is here." She said as she put a comforting hand on his arm. It had been a while since she had used his childhood nickname.

He only followed her onto the train and plopped into the seat next to her. His foot tapped anxiously against the floor the whole ride. Kuroo was oddly quiet the entire walk from the station to the Nerima City Hospital. Mitsumi walked up to the visitor check-in desk and handed him his visitor badge. She didn't know what was going on besides that his grandfather was hospitalized. By the way he was acting, it was something serious.

"Kuroo, you can go on ahead. I'm going to pick some flowers up at the gift shop." Mitsumi grabbed the end of his jacket sleeve to get his attention. She parted ways with him and made her way towards a cart of flowers. She decided to update Bokuto and Suga on the situation before going up to the room.

The long hallways were empty and oddly quiet. A nurse would pass by periodically, but there wasn't anyone else on the floor. Mitsumi could hear some laughter and then some coughing coming from one of the rooms. She sighed in relief and slid the door open. "Pardon the intrusion!" She noticed Kuroo sitting on a chair next to his grandfather. His grandmother was sitting on the other side of the bed with a welcoming smile.

"Chie is here." The Grandmother told her frail husband. "And it looks like she brought you something."

"Chie? I thought you were too busy to come all the way here." The bedridden man let out a small cackle. You wouldn't think he was sick by the way he acted. But, the sound of multiple monitors and an IV pump said otherwise.

Mitsumi clicked her tongue a little bit. "I brought some flowers." She set the vase down on the table before joining everyone. Now, she could see why Kuroo was extra concerned. His grandfather's bones were practically showing through his skin. His eye whites had a yellow tint to them and it seemed like he couldn't sit up. "How are you feeling?"

The old man let out a cough. "What do you kids say, like trash?"

Kuroo was a bit relieved to hear that his grandfather still had a sense of humor. He choked on his water and let out an ugly cackle. "Grandpa! That was unexpected."

"You want me to say that I'm okay while having kidney and liver failure?" He looked at who he considered to be his kids and smiled gently. "Look you two, Grams and I know that I don't have much time left." His tone went straight into business mode. There was no need to dance around the matter. "Do what you both do best and be sure you are happy with your life."

The grandmother watched her grandchildren's eyes well up with tears and grabbed the tissue box. "Now, Tetsuro, Mitsumi, it's a fact of life. There is no need to get all emotional over something that is a fact of life." She handed them a few tissues each before standing behind the both of them and putting her arms around them.

Kuroo's gaze locked onto the floor, "Gramps, you better pull through and at least make it to watch us play in the Collegiate Nationals." His fist crumpled the tissues in his hand into a ball. He had watched almost every major tournament they had played in.

Mitsumi wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement. The emotions she had chosen to suppress were finally starting to surface. She didn't know what she would do if she knew her honorary grandfather wasn't watching. "Gramps, just take care of yourself for now. We'll make sure we live a happy life for you."

"Live your life for yourself." The grandfather cleared his throat. "It pays to be a little selfish sometimes." 

...

The grim mood seemed to follow Mitsumi and Kuroo all the way to dinner time. Mitsumi's family had invited them over for a quick visit before they went back to school. Kenma had miraculously come over just so the old trio was complete.

"So, you visited your grandfather today?" Kenma stashed his phone into his hoodie. He had heard from both of his friends about what they had come out for. They all had already heard about what the situation was. "Are you guys okay after it?"

"Yeah, we will be fine." Kuroo nodded and forced himself to eat another massive spoonful of curry.

Noriko, Mitsumi's mother, observed the oddly quiet young adults. She had known about everything much longer than they had. It helped that the families were still really close. She would go over to Kuroo's grandparent's house to help with the garden every so often. So, she knew more than anyone in the room. "I'm sure he will turn around this time." She said with a bit of optimism in her voice.

Mitsumi knew her mother was just saying that to keep everyone's spirits up. "Yeah... Anyways... How's the team doing, Kenma?" She decided to change the topic before anyone melted into an emotional puddle.

"Oh, they are good." Kenma nodded simply, "The boys placed third at the prelims. The girls took second. But either way we still have to play in the next tournament." He let out an audible sigh. His practices had gotten much tougher lately. And he really didn't want to pour more energy into the sport than he absolutely needed too.

Kuroo smacked the pudding head's back with a smirk. "Come on, Kenma! You're supposed to be excited about tournaments!"

Megumi walked in the door. The sound of her tossing her backpack down in the front entryway could be heard from the dinner table. "I'm home! It smells like curry here!" She made her way to where everyone was. "Chie? Tetsu? Kenma? What are you doing here?" The first year student joined everyone at the table. She sensed a heavy tension in the air and mouth, "Oh." Even she knew what was going on, yet she had forgotten that her sister and her friends would be visiting.

"Thanks for the meal, Mom. Tell Dad I say hi when he gets home." Mitsumi looked at the time. She hugged her mother, sister, and Kenma. "I'll buy you a new game if you make it to Nationals again this year." She knew that would be enough to spike some motivation in the third year setter. "Oh, and Megumi, email me those pictures from the Nihon game!"

Kuroo stood up with a sigh. He gave a grateful smile before he and Mitsumi left with Kenma in tow. They walked down the quiet streets towards the train station. "So, you heard as well." He said as he threw a side glance at the gaming blonde.

"Mhmm. Chie's mom told me. She wanted me to come over in case something crazy happened." Kenma's skilled thumbs spammed the buttons on his portable gaming console. "I was sworn to secrecy because we all had tournaments going on when the news broke."

"What the heck, Kenma?! You hid something like Gramps DYING from us?!" Mitsumi felt the growing irk mark on her forehead pulse. Despite being absolutely pissed about it, she would forgive him later.

Kuroo shrugged it off. "I figured. He always does that." It wasn't the first time his guardian had gone to the hospital without telling him. "He knew it was for the best, but I'm worried that this really is the end." He could be open about his feelings with his two best friends.

Silence fell upon the group as they stopped in front of Kenma's house. Mitsumi gave a pained smile. "Kenma, don't stay up too late tonight."

"Yeah. You guys take care."

...

Suga and Mitsumi had both decided to stay over at Bokuto and Kuroo's apartment. They were drowning their sorrows in endless rounds of Mario Kart and chocolate chip cookies. Under normal circumstances, Kuroo would be on his feet yelling at his roommate for firing red shells at his car. Neither he nor Mitsumi was in the mood but it at least distracted them from the weight of their emotions.

It was well past 1 a.m at this point. Bokuto and Suga passed out on the sofa. Kuroo set his controller on the charger. The battery had died. "We should try and get some sleep. We still have training in the morning."

"I guess you're right." Mitsumi nodded and sighed. She still wasn't tired. But she knew she needed the sleep. "Tetsu, we both knew this would be coming. So, don't become bitter about it." Mitsumi stood up and placed her hand on his head gently messing with his already messy hair. She was just as worried, but she needed to hold it together.

Kuroo checked his phone for any updates. "He's gone." His eyes went completely dull at the message.

...

There wasn't much time before the Qualifying Tournament. The men were currently playing a practice match against Matsukawa Technical University on the center court. Mitsumi had let the piano majors into the observation deck so she could keep her promise and let them watch. Her and her teammates were currently on the right court holding their nightly practice. The Men's match had gone a bit longer than expected.

The bed-headed middle blocker was completely out of his normal self. He was moving slower and more sluggish. Mitsumi was worried that he wouldn't be able to pull himself together in time for the tournament. He had been like this ever since the funeral.

"Kuroo! You need to get a grip." Takuma glared over at his fellow team mate after the other team had left. They had barely managed to win the match because they were able to cover for their star middle blocker's mistakes. "You got lucky this time."

Coach Ueno pulled Kuroo to the sidelines. Bokuto, Suga, and Ichiyama stared at the scene while Matsuda calmed down the captain. "He'll probably have to sit the tournament out knowing his mental state and how Coach rolls." Ichiyama let out a heavy sigh.

Mitsumi could hear their conversation go down. Her stoic expression hardened a little bit. But, if the Coach deemed him unable to play then there was nothing she could do about it. She returned her focus to the setting drills she was doing and sighed.

"Someone is out of it." Yuki hummed, "Usually you celebrate such a great set." She said acknowledging Chie's last toss.

"Sorry, I'm a bit distracted by my thoughts." Mitsumi played with her fingers. She was practicing fake sets with Yuki. "Don't mind."

Makoto bendt backwards and raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Seriously? Don't mind? Geez, Mitsumi. Give the man some space to grieve a bit. Just because you got over it quickly doesn't mean he hasn't." Her words were like a knife to the gut. The spiker stood up straight and sighed. "I know Kuroo is like your brother-"

Nomiya's hand flew over Makoto's mouth. "We're moving to the center. Let's go."

...

Mitsumi decided to treat Kuroo to some boba after practice. Per Suga and Bokuto's suggestion. It had been a while since they had the time to just sit and talk. She watched him stir his tall cup of milk tea with his straw. He hadn't said anything.

"Coach Ueno must have laid into you for you to be like this." She let out a heavy sigh.

Kuroo tried to hide the bit of a pout on his face by taking a large sip of his drink. "Yeah. He won't let me play if I don't get over myself." It was unlike him to make so many rookie mistakes during a game. Let alone let something wreck his mental state.

The girl rested her elbow on the table as she crossed her legs. "Look Tetsu. Would Opa be happy if he knew you didn't get to play in the qualifiers and that you were slacking off from classes?" She really was the only one who could handle this. According to Kenma, he couldn't really say anything that would somewhat razzle the former captain.

"No-"

"Okay, then do something to make him proud." Mitsumi cut in before he could finish his thought. "I'm playing so I can say I made him proud. So you should do the same." She thought back to the days of their childhood when Gramps would teach them how to play their now favorite sport and take them for ice cream. He had always been incredibly supportive of them regardless of what they did. And when Kenma came into the picture, he just accepted him right in. "This is just as hard on me as it is on you, Tetsuro. But, life doesn't stop."

Her harsh words cut right through him. She never used his full name unless she was being serious. Kuroo gritted his teeth. "Okay, fine. I'll try harder."