Mitsumi was trying to work double time on her competition piece. But she couldn't find the motivation to even sit in the booth. She stared at her music for a few minutes before slamming her hands down on the keys. She took a deep breath and began to play from the beginning. She needed to win against Oyami and get that piano concerto.

Two hours flew by. She was lucky that she hadn't gotten any accompanying job notifications. She worked through as many difficult passages as she could. A knock on the door caught her attention.

"Sorry to kick you out, but the other booths are taken and I need to warm up for my lesson." Reiko pulled the booth door open.

Mitsumi stood up and scrambled to get her things together. "Not a problem. Everyone is pretty determined to do their best this semester." She tossed everything in her bag and moved out of the booth.

Reiko nodded in agreement. "There's a big prize at stake. A huge career kickstarter. Don't think any of us will be going easy." Her grey eyes hardened into a glare as she stepped into the booth and shut the door.

It was well known that Reiko held a few major piano awards under her belt. Mitsumi's mother never put her in any major competitions. There would be an occasional small one here or there she would be entered into. But nothing to the scale of what her classmates have been in. Her mother claimed that it was because music is subjective. But, she just didn't want to expose her daughter to the relentless critics at a young age.

Mitsumi sighed heavily and trudged down the stairwell. Her head was hurting. She looked at the time with another sigh. If she had paced herself better, she would be doing homework. However, she had decided to plow through it. So, she decided that she would aimlessly wander around campus for a little bit. She sat inside the music building and decided to continue reading her book.

"Mitsumi, I thought you were supposed to be off campus today." Dr. Tanaguchi was walking out of the building when she spotted her pupil.

Mitsumi shook her head, "Nope. That's tomorrow. And practice is this evening. I got kicked out of the booth, so I'm killing time."

"I was about to see if you could meet with me now. I had something come up during our usual Friday spot." Dr. Tanaguchi slipped her phone back into her pocket. She knew there shouldn't be any conflicts, but she had to ask as a formality.

Mitsumi nodded with a smile, "Now works! I was going to tell you that I would have to move it anyways because I have an exam that I don't know how long it will take." She noticed the band room was empty and followed her professor there. She opened the lid to the piano and plopped on the bench.

"Do people ever act surprised when they see you open the piano lid?" The older woman pulled a chair and music stand over next to the piano bench. "It happened all the time when I was younger." The question was rather sporadic. Mitsumi's blank stare as she processed the words made the professor turn her head to the side slightly. It was a genuine question. 

Her pupil gave her professor her black binder and started to think. She shook her head slowly. "Not that I've noticed. I didn't have a grand piano at home growing up. My teacher had one, but the lid would be open from the student before me." Mitsumi had taken lessons in someone's living room her whole life. Her family couldn't afford to send her to a fancy studio.

"Must've just been me then." Dr. Tanaguchi chuckled, "I don't know if Kimi told you anything, but she made it into Tohoku Prep. She's been going to volleyball conditioning. According to Kaori-chan, she has been doing really well thanks to you and Mei."

"That's really good to hear." Mitsumi cracked her knuckles and rolled her wrists. "Oh, before I forget. Can you get me a list of local music festivals?" She needed to move forward musically somehow.

Her professor wrote her request down on a sticky note. "Of course! I just put together a list for Mei. I'll print a copy out for you." Dr. Tanaguchi looked down at her student's music. "Andante Spianato et Polonaise Brillante, I'm surprised this is your choice instead of the Beethoven."

"I can't connect with the Appassionata right now." Mitsumi admitted with a groan. "So, I thought memorizing this one for the competition and using the other for the recital would be better." Her professor gave her the go to begin playing.

Little did she know, Suga was in the music building looking for her. He had texted her and called her once wondering where she was. It was the only time he had to return her iPad charger to her since her device was almost dead.

"Suga! What brings you here?" Hironori spotted the familiar face from down the hallway. It was uncommon for non-music majors to be in the music building.  Suga was wandering the halls, looking through the windows of the various rooms and checking the room numbers. There wasn't anything there, and the WiFi connection was pretty crappy. Oh, and it was noisy all the time. Just because the rooms were well insulated didn't mean all of them were fully soundproof.

Suga waved at the piano major, "I was wondering if Chie was around here." He was totally lost in the building.

"I thought I saw her in the band room with Dr. Tanaguchi. It sounded like she was in a piano lesson." Hironori rested his thick stack of scores on his hip. He analyzed the setter's furrowed brows, "I can take you there. This building can be a bit confusing."

He smiled and followed the music major through the building. They passed several practice rooms, where different students practiced their different instruments. The jumble of sounds could be considered overwhelming to those passing by. This was a whole other world. Now he realized why Mitsumi said she was lucky to have her own practice space above the auditorium. This seemed like a headache to deal with.

Schedules were plastered on the door. Collaborative pianist ads were stapled to the bulletin boards. He even spotted one for his girlfriend which made him chuckle. And then he saw her non credit hour rates. She expects college students to pay her how much per hour?! His jaw was about to hit the floor when he saw some of the rates for her classmates.

Hironori took notice of this and chuckled. "We have to put food on the table somehow. Not all of us are lucky to make big bucks from sports." He casually jokes.

Suga scanned the boards, "Are you not taking bookings?" He didn't see one for the senior.

"Nah, I'm not an accompanist." Hironori rubbed the back of his head. "It's pretty difficult. I make money from teaching and writing music analytical papers for an online magazine." He much rather do that than play music that he hates.

"That's understandable." The silver-haired setter fell quiet as he heard the sound of a piano down the hallway. He was astounded by the sound of the delicate high notes trickling down elegantly. He had never heard this piece before. Hironori gave him a silent wave before walking off silently.

Mitsumi had that focused expression she had when playing on the court. Her eyebrows were all scrunched up and her lips were pursed together. She's so cute when she is focused like that. He couldn't restrain himself from the thought.

"The sound is still too weak, Mitsumi. Try using your third finger on this note instead. It should fix your emphasis." Dr. Tanaguchi had a magnificent set of ears. She corrected some of the mistakes and errors she heard on the spot.

Suga wasn't even aware there were any mistakes at all. To him, it was just pretty music. Well, it was more than just pretty music. It was pretty music played by his girlfriend. He tried to decode what the musicians were discussing. But, he didn't understand a single word of it.

Dr. Tanaguchi left the room first. Apparently there was another door that went to a different hallway. Mitsumi ran her hands through her hair. Her piece was officially memorized and approved. But, it wasn't performance ready despite all the work she had put in. The parts that seemed easy to play had proved to be difficult technically. She packed her things up and walked out.

"Ah!" She almost stumbled right into her boyfriend's chest. His hand was still on the door knob. "Oh! Um! Hey! What's bringing you here?" Mitsumi awkwardly took a step back so he could move out of the way.

He chuckled and stepped out of the way. "I have your tablet charger. I tried texting and calling you, but your phone was off." Suga pulled the item out of his backpack. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm headed to study with Mei for our Piano Lit test." Mitsumi led the way out of the building. "I just had a last minute piano lesson."

He smiled and rubbed her head. "You sounded really amazing for just a lesson. Is that your competition piece?" Suga watched her face turn red inch by inch.

"Yeah, it is. How much did you hear?" Mitsumi panicked a little bit. By her definition, today was a bad lesson day. 

He smiled and held her hand. "Just towards the end. Not too much." He watched her red face become even more red. It was comical. "I promise, Sparks. I didn't eavesdrop for a super long time. Hironori took me to the band room."

Mitsumi sighed heavily, "It's okay, really. I just had a bit of an experimental lesson. So, I probably didn't sound good." She was missing some critical goals that she had set. And it was getting annoying that she couldn't achieve her personal deadlines.

"Well, what I heard was beautiful." The male leaned down to her level. It was written all over her face that her internal dialogue was going off. "Can I hear the full piece tonight?"

"If I'm not sick of it by the end of the day, then maybe." Mitsumi quickly kissed his nose. She needed to hit the practice booth hard after such a rough lesson. Dr. Tanaguchi's handwriting had overtaken every single bar of music the student played today. Mitsumi let out a small sigh as she checked the time. "Don't you have class right now?"

He looked at his watch slowly. His eyes widened, "I have ten minutes to get to the Education building. Shoot." Suga had lost track of time. "I'll see you later!" He bolted for his classroom which was on the other side of the campus. How unfortunate it was that he didn't get to eavesdrop for a little bit longer.

...

Mei and Mitsumi finished their intense study session at the cafe on campus. They were far too lazy to go off campus today like usual. Mitsumi looked at the time and sighed. It was already 3:45 pm.

"Open tryouts are next week. Matsuki is leaving so we will have a reserve libero position open." Mitsumi handed Mei an application form. "Just think about it. You've been able to keep up with us crazy crack heads."

Mei took the form and smiled with a nod. She wasn't entirely sure what she would do. Her indecision was tearing her apart inside. She finally had the time in her class schedule to do something she loved that wasn't related to her degree. A major plus to trying out was that playing with Mitsumi and her friends kept her in shape. She wasn't going to completely die. But, she would consider trying out for the big shot team. 

"Off-topic, but when's your birthday, Mitsumi?" Mei's face remained neutral as she slipped her highlighter back into her pencil pouch. There were more important matters than the rainbow-colored music score sitting in front of her. 

...

Mitsumi headed off to the gym for practice. The other pianist waved before taking off in the other direction. She had just found out some very valuable information that she needed to relay to the other piano majors.

Mei made a group chat without Mitsumi in it telling everyone to meet her in the piano lounge if they could. She sprinted to the practice area to see that almost everyone was there already.

"Did you find out?" Reiko clicked the lock on her locker shut. Everyone stared at the girl intently.

She nodded enthusiastically, "Her birthday is on Sunday. It's her day off and she doesn't have plans for what it sounds like." Mei was a secret party planner. "Who is bringing what, and where? Hironori better be making his famous chocolate cake. Mitsumi is wanting to try it."

Hironori gave a two-fingered salute. "I'll run to the store tonight then."

"I've got the drinks!" Sakamoto was worse than a kitchen disaster.

Reiko looked at her current shopping list. "I have some decorations already we can use. I'll get paper plates and utensils." Cheap skate.

Hikari was the only one to not have said an item yet. "I'll order the pizza then. I have enough points saved up. Shouldn't you text Sugawara? Will the volleyball team be coming?"

Those were all good questions. Mei hadn't thought about all of those details yet. "I can text the numbers I do have and see who wants to come. Should I make another chat with everyone in it?"

"Do it!" Reiko gave Mei a thumbs up.

Operation Surprise Party was a go.

...

Suga had received Mei's text. To his surprise, Shimura, Kuroo, Bokuto, Takuma, Watanabe, and Yuki were in the chat as well. He noticed that Mitsumi hadn't stepped out of the locker room yet and ran his hand through his hair. Her birthday was a little too close for comfort to plan anything huge.

"Watanabe, did you see the text?" He said wanting to confirm the plan with the manager.

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! I honestly had no idea."

"I didn't either. Didn't you guys go to high school together? And Riza and the others are in the chat. Right?" He needed to make sure everyone on the women's team was added in before he sent his plan out.

The younger manager shook her head, "I'll do it while you guys warm up. And yeah we did, but she forced Kuroo and Saki into silence about it. So, we actually never knew when her birthday was. They know though."

Mitsumi was currently hanging over Nomiya's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. How she ended up like that was a total mystery. She was flailing around trying to get free. Everyone seemed to not pay attention to it. This was Nomiya's nature. The manager clicked her pen and shook her head. It was never a dull day in the gym. 

...

Practice started and luckily everyone had a lot of energy. It wasn't anything out of the usual. The gym was filled with the sounds of shoes squeaking and balls slamming all over the place. The two groups had combined together for a series of mixed games. There were two games going at the same time.

Mitsumi could sense a weird energy as she watched everyone talk with each other throughout and after practice. She said goodbye to everyone and went home with her boyfriend like always. "Are you doing anything tomorrow? Captain Matsuri is holding a potluck at the arena after practice. We can bring a plus one. Want to come?" She asked him as they walked down the dimming street.

He sighed a bit, "Sorry, Chie." He squeezed her hand gently. "I have to help Kaori with some errands." He caught sight of her disappointed face. Her eyes sulked downwards making him feel guilty. Suga leaned down to kiss her forehead apologetically. "What are you doing on Sunday?"

"Sleeping. It's my only day off, you know. And then our little volley group." Mitsumi pouted a bit. She didn't mention her birthday at all. All of the attention was unnecessary for her. It was just another day to prove she was unfortunately still alive. Her heart fluttered for a split second at the sound of her new pet name. She had become accustomed to hearing it, but nothing had come to mind for him yet.

"How about I take you out. We can do whatever you want in town." He opened the door to the house and looked around. Nobody was home yet, so he turned the lights on.

Mitsumi had been wanting to go to this new bookstore for a while. This was her chance to finally go. "Sure, we can go." She perked up at the idea. She slipped her shoes off and set her bag down. "Where are you running your errands?"

"Kaori has been begging to take me to this store in Harajuku. Apparently my current wallet is too old for her tastes." It was only a partial lie. Suga followed her inside. He found a note on the counter from his Aunt and sighed. "Kaori is spending the night at her friend's and my Aunt is staying with her parents in Nagoya. She took Ren. So, I guess I am cooking dinner." He thankfully didn't have any pressing assignments to do. He had some projects that he could push off and do later.

Mitsumi reached into her volleyball bag and pulled out her black binder of music. "I'll provide the background music." She had offered to help many times in the past, but he would refuse and send her to the piano. He had gotten used to listening to her messy practices and didn't mind them at all.

She had a habit of talking to herself as she worked. Suga's cousin never did that. So, he never quite understood what went into a piano session. To many, it was understood as a time to fix mistakes and learn new music. But, there was an underlying process that wasn't as obvious.

Mitsumi spent hours everyday listening to various recordings of her pieces. She had separate scores that were printed out that had colorful markings of what she heard. She played around with popular styles of playing and tried to turn them into her own. Practice was her time to experiment and create.

A loud knock on the door interrupted the music. She slid off the bench and cracked her knuckles. "I got it!" Mitsumi opened the door. "Kuroo? Bokuto? What are you doing here?"

They were holding large paper bags in their arms. Bokuto had anticipated their silver haired friend to answer. "Well what are you doing here?" He retorted.

"Practicing piano."

Kuroo could smell food cooking. "Smells more than just piano to me." He watched as Koushi scrambled to the front door, "I brought the goods! Where do you want them?"

"Chie, mind checking the chicken for me?" Suga was trying not to slide in his fuzzy socks. He took the bags from the other two. "You guys are fast. Did you text Mei?" The volume of his voice dropped as soon as Mitsumi was in the kitchen.

Kuroo nodded, "No worries. I didn't realize she was over."

"Where are you going to put all of that?" Bokuto was speaking a little too loud. "She can't know about that!"

"You're too noisy, Owl Boy!" Kuroo hissed at his obnoxious roommate.

"I'll put it in my room." Suga sheepishly sighed. "I'll text you guys about this okay?"

After the two unexpected guests left, he sighed and took the bags upstairs to his bedroom. The bags were filled with random decorations that he needed to sort through. Kuroo and Bokuto had been tasked by Mei to collect any items that anyone had. And they got it done pretty quickly.

He went back downstairs and into the kitchen. Mitsumi had finished making the curry. "So, what is this thing I'm not supposed to know about?" She had heard Bokuto over the sounds of the cooking food.

Suga panicked as he racked his brain for an answer. "Oh, um! We are planning a bros night!" He observed her curious expression. It was the best lie he could come up with.

"Didn't know you were the type to go to those." She seemed to buy the excuse which made him release his breath. Mitsumi snaked her hands around his middle and rested her head on his chest. The smell of curry was clinging to both of them to her dismay. "Dinner is ready. Go get Ryu and Kaori." She smacked his backside before letting him go. 

Suga flinched with a yelp. "So bossy." He grumbled like an old man as he trudged up the staircase.

"Old man!"