Halfway through the long corridors, the doctor from earlier came. He looked like in a bit of a hurry.

"Oh, good that you're here! We'll have to remove blood from Yū now, but he needs someone with him. Just to keep him calm…" The doctor said.

"I'll do it. I kind of own him…" Asahi said. The doctor nodded and turned around.

"You're sure about this? You don't want me to do it?" Masako said.

"Well, you're his mother so if you want to it's okay for me. But I feel like I really do own him, so I want to do this. Please, just this once… Asahi said. Masako smiled at him.

"That's okay. After all, from what I've heard you're one of his closest friends. And because of that, what right do I have to push you away?" She said and turned to the doctor. "How is he doing now?"

"Well, he is still sleeping for now. But we can't wait any longer. The longer the wait, the faster the disease is going to recur. So we have to wake him up and start with the blood-transfer."

"Do you have the right amount of blood then? Last time I checked you still missed some deciliters…" Asahi said. The doctor just looked at him.

"I assume that you didn't meet them. There were a few more students from Nekoma who came in and gave more blood. They were also the ones who told me where you were. So now, we have the right amount."

"More Nekoma players?" Asahi asked in surprise. Sure, he had expected someone from the team to give blood. But he never expected more people to give after Kenma's visit. He had probably asked more people to drop by. When they reached Nishinoya's room, the doctor asked Masako to answer some questions while Asahi was with her son. It was just to get a 'clearer picture' of how he dealed with the disease in his childhood and possible reason for him having it. Masako nodded and was directed to another room.

"And for you who are staying with Nishinoya, you need to have him staying calm. Many times before, he have had lot's of mental break-downs while the process took place. I believe it's because it reminds him of his childhood or his own picture of himself as some kind of failure. Because we are removing so much blood, he will feel tired after a while and will maybe even faint. About the same as at the game. But it will be fine as long as he stays calm and collected. If he shows any signs of getting discomforted or breaking down, just calmly talk him out of it. Okay?" Asahi just nodded.

The doctor then opened the door and greeted the other nurses and doctors in the room. They had already connected different tubes and needles to his forearms, as well as connecting an ECG monitor, through amplifiers, to his left forefinger and chest under his shirt. He looked like a complete mess. The nurses and doctors looked up when the new people was noticed, quickly finished their task and left the room.

"We will have a nurse or doctor who comes and check on you every ten minutes. If something would happen during their absence, we have so you can call someone. And so you know, since you are such a close friend of his: just like any other surgery or anything alike, there is a risk of him dying. Since we are removing blood from his body without directly giving new, there is a risk of his body giving-up or shut down. So I would recommend you to spend every minute you can with him" The doctor said. The air in the room suddenly felt cold and hollow, like the breath of death itself was present during the doctor's speech. Even if he had come to the conclusion that the other might die, the thought once again came down on him with full force. . And it felt terrible and unimaginable. For the Karasuno team and the entire school, Nishinoya's smiles and hyper energy was pretty much eternal, something that just couldn't go out or disappear. But just like them he was human, he would die one day. Whenever they liked it or not, they had to deal with it.

"How... How big is the risk?" Asahi asked. The doctor sighed heavily.

"To be honest, we don't know. Not in his current state..."

"I understand..." Asahi said and sat down by the bed. With that, the doctor left the room and left an empty hollow and insecure feeling after him. He sat down on the chair by the bed, silently watching the other younger boy sleep peacefully. His black hair framed his small face, lightly falling over his cheeks and nose. His skin was ghostly white, and the white hospital clothes he wore didn't help the matter. It only made him look smaller, giving the impression that he hadn't eaten enough or stopped growing too soon. His face was for once relaxed and steady light breathes escaped through his nose, which helped Asahi relax knowing that the other wasn't in pain. At least not now…

Asahi tried to summer up everything he had learned these two days. One: Nishinoya have been mentally and maybe even physically abused by his own father, who he even had looked up to. Second: He likes to draw and paint during his childhood. Well, he has seen him sitting on the side of the court, when he have been sick, with some kind of paper. Maybe it can even be a sketchpad or something like that, anything works after all. Third: He has suffered through four years of an almost untreatable disease, and almost two years without telling anyone. Suffering for four years, all alone.

The smaller boy opened his eyes, but the former light in the golden brown irises seemed dim, like the dim feeling after a blown out candle. His stiff movements showed tiredness and exhaustion even after only begin asleep for a few minutes. It was clear since long that it was the fault of the medicines he had been given, not because of any lacking of sleep. He scanned the room, quickly noticing the new tools and tubes on his arms. He let out a heavy sigh, probably already knowing what s coming next. Only after turning his head to the right he noticed Asahi, who hadn't said anything yet.

"Asa… hi?" Nishinoya asked, his voice drained of all it's energy, leaving it weak and hoarse. Asahi tried his best to have a constant smile on.

"Yeah, I'm here. How are you feeling?"

"My head feels weird, and my... arm is sore on some spots... Must be the needles. Is it time already?" He asked, his face telling openly that he was scared. Asahi stroke his hand gently over Nishinoya's, hoping it would calm the other.

"Yeah, it's time. Don't worry, I will be here with you this time. So there is no need for worrying."

"Will you stay here... the entire time?" Nishinoya asked, almost sounding like a plea. The thought of going through another blood removal alone was something he rather avoided. So having comfort in the form of Asahi, it just couldn't be better. But he needed to stay strong, not showing any weakness. So he tried to keep his voice as neutral as he could, but he knew how hard it would be in this situation. He would have to give in, just for a little bit. Pretend it is because of the medicines and not his psyche.

"Yes, the entire time. I kind of own you one, after all the things you have done for me. Or do you rather want me to leave?" Asahi asked, grinning a bit afterwards. Even if the situation was serious, he couldn't help but tease the other.

"NO! No, please... Don't leave, stay here..." Nishinoya said, the thought of Asahi leaving him alone scared him more than the blood removal.

Asahi regretted his words at once after seeing Nishinoya's hurt expression. He would never hurt the other, and yet that was what he was doing right now. He had heard of the other breakdowns, but still he decided to play with them. And the result hurt him so much.

"Okay, I'll stay. Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you..." He quickly said. The other seemed to relax a bit.

"Thank you..." He said, his voice even weaker. Asahi turned his chair, so it face the bed fully. That was he would feel more present, and hopefully that would be better for the younger boy. A nurse came into the room. She checked on Nishinoya and told how the process of the removal went. She then activated a small machine by the bed, and soon the dark-red blood came rushing through the tubes. Nishinoya seemed tense, but didn' t resist. He knew that it had to be done. After doing a last check, the nurse left but not before telling them that she would be back in 30-45 minutes to check up on them. She then left, the room fell in silence once more.

"Hey, Noya?" Asahi asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why haven't you told anybody? About your disease, you living alone and your father?" He asked. Nishinoya flinched at the mention of his father, just saying it made his body grow cold. His eyes went wide, and for a moment it looked like he was about to break down.

"H... How did you find out?" He asked weakly.

"I got your mother to tell me. I was worried about you, and you always keep things to yourself. You don' t always have to carry the burden alone. If you had told us, we could have helped you sooner. Even if all we can do to help is to give blood and keep you company, we would do whatever we could to make you feel better..." Asahi stopped talking, realizing this was his first time talking to him like this.

Nishinoya sat quietly as the other talked. This was the first time Asahi has ever talked to him like this, with his voice filled with so much worry. He didn't like it, he didn't want Asahi to worry about him. He should be back with the others, not sitting in here with him. The disease was not to blame, HE was.