Kenma awoke with a jolt, his heart pounding against his ribcage, the boy gasped for breath. No air came to him. Unable to breath, Kenma panicked. His body convulsed, trying anything to catch even a bit of air. Nothing. Reaching for his help button felt like an impossible task. Groping the sheets, the blond tried his best to find it. Fear ran through his mind. Was this the end? No he couldn't die now, Kenma's mother would suffer terribly. Kenma's mind started to cloud. Fingers tingling, Kenma started to feel lightheaded. He continued to reach. Weakly, Knema found the button, fingers trying to press hard enough to alert someone, anyone.

Kenma awoke, woozy, his mother at his bedside. His face was now covered, oxygen mask. His eyelids heavy, Kenma looked around to see his mother, and to his surprise, Kuroo stood by the wall. His arms crossed over his chest, Kuroo watched Kenma. Their eyes locked only to make Kenma look away.

Internally scolding himself, Kenma desperately wanted to know why Kuroo was here. He didn't want him to feel like he had to be here, like he had to be there for Kenma. He didn't want Kuroo to have to live this. He was the sick kid. He didn't want to involve more people than he had to. He hated that Kuroo had to deal with this. They weren't even dating and he was here. He was right there standing against the wall.

"Oh Kenma, sweetheart, are you alright?" His mother exclaimed, he hands over her chest. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep since she'd settled in her bed, the night before. Leaving Kenma at the hospital had weighed on her nerves. Since her baby had gotten sick, her entire life was devoted to him.

"Yeah, I guess," Kenma's lungs burned as he spoke those words. He hated this. He hated every moment of this. Was it too much to want a normal life? Kenma looked at his mother, he hated himself for hurting her. He knew that this broke her. He knew that this was her worst fear. It broke her every time she had to rush him to the hospital.

Kenma didn't want to make a fuss, he didn't want to complain; all he wanted was to be okay. He wanted a normal life, maybe even a life with Kuroo. A life where he and Kuroo could enjoy it to the fullest.

Kenma's eyes scanned the room before allowing them to close. With a struggled breath, Kenma tried to shift in his bed. He knew that his lungs were getting worse, he knew that it was torturing his mother. He saw the look in her eyes. He saw Kuroo. Kenma just wanted to make everyone stop caring for him.

It broke his heart but his current wish was to have no one because if he had no one, his death wouldn't hurt them. This was the predicament: Kenma wanted Kuroo, he wanted to have a relationship with him and he wanted to have a life with his soulmate but the last thing he wanted was to hurt him and die. Kenma wanted to hold Kuroo's hand on the beach, he wanted to take those couple photos in the photo booths, he wanted to kiss him under the fireworks, Kenma wanted Kuroo. Maybe it was almost dying but Kenma knew that there was something about Kuroo that he wanted. There was something about him. Kuroo had a kind heart and a pure soul; something Kenma admired greatly.

Kenma woke, to his surprise, Shoyo and Akaashi were seated, peacefully waiting for him to awake. A smile tugged the corners of the blond's mouth. They were here. Kenma's friends were here.

"Kenma!" Hinata's cheery voice echoed through the room. It would be a lie for Kenma to say that he wasn't happy to see his friends.

"Hey, Shoyo," Kenma spoke, still groggy from his nap. His smile grew wider as Akaashi approached the bed.

"Hey," hands in his pockets, Akaashi spoke in a much quieter tone than Hinata had previously.

"Hey," Kenma's voice was weak. Over the past few days, talking had become significantly more painful. But he tried anyway. Right now, he was happy. He didn't want to focus on the pain or the fear of dying. Kenma wanted to enjoy time with his friends.

Without hesitation, Hinata jumped into bed, sitting next to Kenma. He'd grown to know no boundaries with Kenma. It was something that the redhead enjoyed. He was able to ask Kenma anything. Kenma on the other hand was a little uneasy with this comfort but he let it pass. Akaashi was like Kenma, he was quiet and reserved. He and Kenma grew to have a friendship based purely on volleyball and quietness.

"So how's Kegeyama?" Kenma asked as he propped himself up.

"He's good. He says he's sorry he couldn't be here," Hinata's eyes lit up when talking about his soulmate. It was rather nice to see. A glow dusted his face when talking about his raven-haired boyfriend.

"It's no trouble," Kenma gave him a smile before looking over at Akaashi, "So what's new with you?" Akaashi's face flushed. His heart thumped in his chest.

"Not much… I met my soulmate," Akaashi's eyes fixed the floor as he tried not to show embarrassment.

"That's great!" Kenma tried to exclaim as well as he could but it was difficult. His throat started to ache.

"What about you?" Hianta asked, "What's new with you?"

"Well… the cancer spread, I met my soulmate and other than that, Lev came to see me the other day." Both boys' eyes widened. Kenma has casually slipped that out.

"Soulmate huh?" Akaashi teased.

"Yeah, we met at the park. He was playing volley-ball with a friend. They got me to set for them."

"Well, that's nice! You haven't set for me in forever!" Hinata whined. Kenma simply glanced over and raised a brow.

"I've missed you guys," Kenma said in a struggled tone.

"We missed you too," the boys said in unison.