A Special Group of Three: A Revue Starlight Fanfiction

Stress Relief

At first it was very subtle things that Michiru was noticing. The slight look of distress whenever asked to do something extra. Always looking down. Never seeming to be free.

A few days later, the signs became worse. Obvious stress on her face. Looking exhausted all the time. Easy to snap.

Basically everything that wasn't Shiori. And that made her worried.

"Shiori? Do you have a minute?" That was how Michiru found herself outside Shiori's door one day not too long after practice.

"S-sure." Shiori sounded startled by her presence.

Michiru let herself in. Shiori was on her bed, lots of different paper all over her bed. At a quick glance Michiru saw they were school assignments from all different classes.

"Um... that seems like a lot of papers." Michiru wasn't sure if asking her about it straight out would be a good idea, so she went the safe route.

Shiori sighed quietly, "Yeah..."

Michiru sat down beside her, "When is this all due?"

"The end of the week..."

Michiru frowned, "Did they assign all this this week?"

Shiori nodded. She had a lot of work to do as it was getting close to midterms. It was a lot to do in such a short amount of time. Especially with all the other things going on. Besides school she had her edel stuff and then she was the lead in the play they were doing. That required a lot of work as well.

"It's stressing you out, right? Too much to do and it feels like you don't have enough time to rest between it all." Michiru said.

"Yeah... I don't know what to do..."

Michiru wrapped an arm around her waist, "Take a break. Shiori. You need it right now."

"B-but-"

"No buts." Michiru pressed a finger to Shiori's lips, "You're stressing out right now. Take a break."

Shiori sighed and put down the paper she had been working on, "Fine..."

"Look, I get it. It's a lot to handle all at once. But if you keep this up you're going to burn out and be worse than you are now." Michiru stated, "So, take five. Let's think about how you can manage all of this a bit easier, okay?"

"This is my problem... you shouldn't bother yourself with it. I'll figure it out." Shiori wanted to be stronger about this. To prove she was capable.

"Don't give me that, Shiori." Michiru pouted, "I can't just sit back while my girlfriend is overwhelmed."

Shiori blushed a little, "I-if you say so, Michiru-senpai."

Michiru smiled, "Good. Now, let me think..."

Michiru pondered on what could be done to try and help Shiori with her workload. This couldn't keep going on as it was. So what exactly could she change?

"Well... you can't put off the school work... but I don't think it would be the end of the world if you didn't do all your student council stuff for a few days." Michiru was speaking out loud to herself more than anything, "And perhaps we could cut down a bit on practice."

"B-but... then I'll fall behind. And we need to get ready for the play!" Shiori protested.

Michiru sighed. This was tougher than she thought. Shiori did have every right to say those things, though. She had a right to worry.

"Whatever you can't get done, I'll do for you. Okay? And we haven't officially set a date for the play yet. We can hold off on it for a while if we need to." Michiru stated, "I can't have you overworking yourself, Shiori. It'll just cause more problems for us. You don't want to get sick again, do you?"