Have you ever wondered why Nishinoya Yuu was fixated on not returning to the Karasuno Men's Volleyball Club?

Was it because of Azumane Asahi?

Well, there's that.

But that's more to that.

...

In the event that Asahi would return to the team,

In the seemingly possible event

He would be reminded.

That once in his life, he had a friend.

That he left to die.

"It's gotten worse, Naomi-chan."

Mishima Naomi almost flipped her office desk in complete shock as a college friend called her on her private line while in the middle of work. If it was an ordinary call, she'd just press the stress-relieving reject button and hope that the caller got the idea. But she knew the number. That one number that called her last time her son got admitted due to overfatigue, the one number that made her rush through traffic and leave her mountain of paperwork – the telephone number of the hospital her friend's working in.

Though that said, how could it immediately be bad news anyway? What if her husband just miraculously gave birth to their second child without her knowing that he was actually pregnant for the past 8-9 months?

Nah.

That's impossible.

How any woman can wish for such to be a reality.

But, alas.

She knew that it's as close as the possibility of her jumping over the moon.

Never.

Then that means...

…..

Unfortunately,

She was right.

As soon as she followed her college friend enter a certain hospital room, the first bed had her own son sleeping on it. Her doctor friend said that the child was just exhausted and was taking a well-deserved rest.

Beside her son was someone she knew quite well.

That energetic ball of sunshine that just went to school together with her son earlier that day; that one teen that would normally enter her son's room through the window on the second floor of the Mishima family's humble abode; that first-year student at Karasuno High School who currently sat on a stool beside her son, seemingly out of character as he had his head down – Nishinoya Yuu.

"Nishinoya-san." The doctor friend of Naomi spoke amidst the cold air.

The libero obviously flinched but still slowly turned around to see his friend's recently arrived mother.

She knew Mishima Naomi enough that it'll be suicide to even dare cross her path. But this was much worse than threading against the road she's walking on – her beloved [Male Name] just got his legs broken. Again.

And this time, he was supposed to prevent it from happening again.

He promised.

"M-Mishima-san"

Don't I dare look at her face.

Never.

"Yuu-kun."

There it was. Naomi-san's cold, nerve-wracking, monotonous voice. The voice that could freeze an entire lake with just one word. The voice that can turn lions to run away with their tails between their legs.

Oh, how he wished to have it not directed upon him.

But. No.

It was.

"Yuu-kun." The repeat of his name just made the hairs on his arms stand in fright.

Naomi's voice was just that scary.

"Y-Yes..." He can't look at her. He just can't.

With a soft 'I'll be outside' from the doctor, Naomi then began throwing questions.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Though it may be a mere question, Yuu found it to be outright horrifying. One or two lumps in his throat keep getting in his way. He just can't immediately answer without worrying that he'll end up wetting his pants.

"'[M-Male Name] jumped too high a-and..." He turned his face towards the wall beside him, completely avoiding the elder's eyes. "E-Ended up falling down the stairs."

He has to keep his tears inside of him.

He can't stop once he starts bawling, after all.

"All because he wanted to catch a volleyball, correct?"

"Y-Yes."

"That who threw?"

"I-I did."

Guilty.

Though not looking at her, Yuu could still feel the woman's stare, a stare full of sadness, of anger, of disappointment.

As Naomi released a deep sigh, she directed her stares to her slumbering child.

The kid's legs were currently wrapped in layers of bandages, same with his arms. Though a green sheet of blanket covered his body from the neck down, it wasn't long enough to hide the entire length of the male's legs. A slight bruise travelled around the teen's face, marking his once semi-flawless features. His neck was also wrapped with the white stuff.

Seeing the damage herself, she didn't know where to start.

"I-Im so sorry!" Yuu shifted towards the mother and yelled his apology, his head hanging down in shame. No other patients were in the ward – which was a good thing.

"I'm so sorry, Mishima-san! Because of my carelessness, my complete disregard to the area, that [Male Name]'s currently here again!"

He didn't stutter. Yet.

"I'm so sorry that you have to see your son lying here inside the hospital again less than a year after the first time! And even when I promised to make sure he won't get injured again... I... I..."

There's the stuttering.

From that point on, river of tears started flowing down the first year's face, every drop landing onto the marble flooring of the room. Naomi came to see Yuu's face getting overwhelmed by tears and snot. As the libero had his orbs opened slightly, the mother grabbed the opportunity to take a closer look at the neighbour.

He's been crying non-stop, hasn't he?She thought as her eyes landed on the puffy red pair of eyes in front of her.

Yuu's continuous sniffles filled the room. Every time he wanted to continue, he just can't form words quick enough and ends up bawling some more.

"Yuu-kun..." The male-in-question had his teeth and fists clenched in deep guilt.

"I-I'll accept any punishment you give me. I deserve it. B-But don't take [Male Name] away from here. P-Please..." The boy's fists were balled too tight, his nails were digging deeper into his skin.

"Why?"

"B-Because..." Yuu can't think of an answer.

Should he tell her that the Volleyball Club needs him?

That's being selfish.

Should he tell her that his friends will miss him?

Yuu's probably the only actual friend [Male Name] has, well, besides a certain raven-haired manager. The boy's too timid for his own good, and the fully charged libero's the only one who'd stay by him despite that thus far. Not only that, the slumbering teen has some trust issues. No one other than that one certain person, Noya, and their immediate family members can get past that. Even them, they barely crossed over the '[Male Name] Wall', truth be told.

So, what should he say to the waiting Mishima Naomi?

"I... I..."

Sensing the kid can't think straight at the moment due to fear and guilt, Naomi released another deep sigh. Closing in into the crying neighbour, she raised her right hand and ruffled the teen's mess of a hair.

"Don't worry. I won't think of doing that. Do you know how lively he gets every time he tells us about your practices and usual sleep-overs? It'll make him gloomier than he already is if I transfer him somewhere else."

"M-Mishima-san..." Yuu still had his head down, though the tears started slowing down, him getting composed and all.

"I'm sad to say this, but you know [Male Name] more than we do, Yuu-kun. And because of that, you're probably his only friend in school, not counting Kiyoko-chan."

Bull's eye.

"But you didn't leave him. You stayed with him. From elementary until now that you two are in Karasuno High. Even if you guys went to separate Middle Schools, you still got in touch with each other."

"I-I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"I'm sure you didn't do this on purpose. And I know [Male Name] knows that, too. But..." She turned her head towards the sleeping [Male Name].

"It's not me whom you should be apologising to. It's supposed to be [Male Name]. Isn't that right?"

"I-I suppose." The tears have finally stopped coming. All that's left is Yuu's sniffling.

"Well then, I'll take care of things from here. You better go home now. Don't you have volleyball practice to attend to?"

"Y-Yes."

With that, the libero stood up from his seat and picked his bag placed behind him. After quickly adjusting it to his small frame, he first uttered a soft 'Goodbye' to his friend before doing the same to the mother.

And thus, he left.

The moment he knew [Male Name] has woken up the day after his accident, Noya immediately rushed in and cried a waterfall of tears while apologising. As the usually active libero kept his head down, trying to muster the courage of accepting his friend's wrath, Yuu instead received a lively laughter as a reply.

"Wha, What's so funny?"

"Y-Your face! It's so funny! Do you think I cannot laugh seeing that ridiculous of a face you got there? There's snot all over you!"

"H-Hey! I'm being serious here, you know!"

"Sorry, sorry." [Male Name] tried to calm down, preventing himself to laugh some more despite directly seeing his neighbour's disaster of a face.

"A-Aren't you mad?" Yuu slightly bit his lip in fear.

"Why would I? Did you do it on purpose?"

"N-No! Why would I?"

"Then, it's all good."

Yuu can't believe his eyes. Despite the damage he caused, [Male Name] just smiled at him, a close-eyed one, as if nothing's wrong.

He can't take it.

Getting away with his sin that easily, he didn't feel good about it.

Not one bit.

Due to the damage, [Male Name]'s legs were placed in a cast. For eight to nine weeks, the teen with [Hair Colour] hair rested inside his hospital room. During those times, Yuu still visited him, sometimes along with the other Volleyball Club members. The soon-to-be Papa and Mama Crows always asked him if he were okay or if he got lonely. The injured one replied instantly with a 'Why would I be? You guys visit me, after all,' followed up with a toothy grin. Tanaka and Asahi asked the teammate what the latter wanted from the vending machine outside the room and later on bought it for him. Chikara told [Male Name] about the lessons he missed together with Kazuhito and Hisashi, considering Yuu's and Ryuunosuke's uselessness on the subject.

Those days continued, though some visited less and less, considering the upcoming competitions. In the end, only Yuu was left.

That is, until Karasuno lost to Dateko later that year.