𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙸𝙾'𝚂 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁

Chapter 21*

"What...?"

Y/N's eyes were wide. He almost resembled a deer in headlights. To say he was speechless was an understatement. He turned his head away from his brother, who tried to reach out to him.

Why...?

The (h/c)-ette could feel his eyes water. He got up from where he had been sitting, the back of his hand covering his mouth.

"Y/N-nii--"

"I-I'm... sorry. I... need to be alone for a bit..."

Tobio watched as his brother walked away. The (h/c)-ette headed to the one place where no one would be at the moment. As soon as Y/N was away from everyone, he let the tears spill. He sat down on the floor inside the storage room of their cabin.

Why now...? I just got Tobio back...

He hugged his legs against his chest, resting his head on his arms. He let the tears run, not bothering to wipe them away. 

After all, it would do nothing. Years worth of feelings he had suppressed came spilling out. Now, all he could think was how much he regretted not getting in touch more often.

--

Coach Goro looked up from his clipboard when he heard his phone ring. He reached out and picked it up. "Hello? This is Goro."

"Goro."

Ms. Kurokami arched an eyebrow when she saw Coach Goro make a puzzled face. "What's wrong?"

Coach Goro pulled the phone away from his ear. "Says they're looking for Kageyama."

Once he told the person on the other line to hold, he looked over at all his players. When he didn't see Y/N, he called F/N over.

"Yamaguchi."

At the sound of his name, F/N stopped what he was doing and walked over. "What's up, Coach?"

"Have you seen Kageyama?"

"Not for a while, actually."

Coach Goro thought for a second. "He's not the type to skip. Find him, would ya? I got someone wanting to get a hold of him."

F/N nodded and walked out of the gym in search of his friend. He had been worried for a while, wondering what had happened. He hadn't gone to check earlier as his teammates had kept him quite busy, running around.

He wandered about until he eventually stumbled upon Tobio. He quickly ran up to him. "Tobio!"

Hearing his name being called, Tobio turned around. "Yamaguchi...san?"

"Hey. Is everything alright? Where's Y/N?"

Tobio cast his gaze away. F/N noticed his silence, picking up on the idea that something bad might have happened. On the inside, F/N was freaking out. He wondered if maybe he shouldn't have left the two of them alone.

"You...-- You didn't fight, did you?"

"Slightly."

F/N's heart sank at that. "AH! I shouldn't have left you two alone--!"

"Yamaguchi-san."

F/N stopped and looked at Tobio, who held a serious but saddened look on his face. "Y/N-nii... said he wanted to be alone... after I told him that our grandfather..."

The third-year arched an eyebrow. "Did something...?"

"He passed away..."

F/N's eyes widened. "What?"