Hiding In The Stars.

Study Failure

You could call Kiyoko Shimizu a goddess. 

Or quiet. 

Or bitter. 

Or any other word you could think of, her point was that she had heard it all before, and she would hear it all again, but nobody had ever called Kiyoko Shimizu caring, even though she was. Caring was a word they used to describe Sugawara, or Daichi, or Michimiya, or any other member of the team, but not Kiyoko. "Kiyo?" Suga asked, waving his hand in front of her face to distract her from her mind. 

"Sorry, what?" She asked, and Suga stared back at her. "I'm going to go find Yachi." 

"Oh," Suga said, looking at her, blinking slightly, dumbfounded. "Alright. Here," He handed her a phone that was sat on the bench with a small charm in it. "Take this, and be back as quickly as possible." She turned over the phone (her phone) in her hands, put it in her tracksuit pocket, and set off, her feet pounding against the concert under her foot until she got to the school, where she calmly walked. 

To her, the most rational place to start would be Yachi's classroom, so she went along the corridor to the first-year classes, on the second floor, and knocked when she found it. The doors had a panel of glass on them, frosted but still very much see-through, so Kiyoko could see Yachi bent over her desk, and she could hear slight soft sobs coming from inside the room as well. 

She pushed open the door. "Yachi." She said, and the other girl looked up, her brown eyes wide with fear and pale face checked with patches of red and pink. "Are you alright?" Kiyoko started taking steady steps towards her friend and pulled out the chair of the desk opposite. Yachi sniffled. 

"Training, right?" She asked, and Kiyoko nodded. "I'm so sorry-" She launched into one of her rambles, "I thought I'd remember how to do it, how to be a good manager, and how to succeed on a test but I didn't so now I'm stuck here studying and I'm late to training because of it and I'm so sorry and-" She threw herself at Kiyoko, chest heaving and crying. Kiyoko took her in her arms, and patted the top of her blonde hair, trying to calm her down, when the door to the room opened again. Yachi was crying too hard to notice, but there, in the doorway, was the captain of the girl's team, Yui Michimiya. Michimiya took one look at Kiyoko and Yachi, and her face became even paler. 

"I'll get Daichi." She said, and Kiyoko nodded and said:

"And a teacher as well. Please." 

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Suga looked down at his phone, expecting a text or a call or something from Kiyoko. "Mr. Refreshing move it!" Coach Ukai yelled. Suga ran back to his position on the court, and tried to focus on the things he could control right now, such as his speed on the jog Coach was making them do, the sound of the twelve boys' feet on the wood, Michimiya coming through the door. Michimiya coming through the door? He paused where he was, and, along with Daichi, jogged over to where she was. 

She looked exhausted, which was unusual, given that she was an athlete who had to play games regularly, "Michimiya, you look exhausted." Suga said, earning him a light punch from Daichi. "Are you alright?" Michimiya nodded. 

"I'm fine. It's, you know that first year? Her. She's having a panic attack. In her classroom. Kiyo's comforting her right now but Kiyo can only do so much." Daichi raised a hand and called over Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda, who had been eyeing the trio suspiciously since Michimiya arrived at the scene wearing her school uniform. 

Suga looked at his team, who kept chatting and talking and whispering, and part of him thought it was about them, so he turned to them, and addressed them all by clapping his hands twice, so they all turned their heads towards him. "Alright, boys. Two laps." He said, and they did exactly that, and Suga turned back to Michimiya. "Is she in her classroom?" Michimiya nodded. 

"Can you lead practice?" Coach Ukai asked Michimiya, who spluttered slightly, Daichi answered for her, saying that 'Michi was perfectly capable' and throwing her into the fray. She complained and glared at Daichi, who glared right back, grinning. The teachers set off before the captain and vice-captain, with them jogging slightly behind the older pair. 

"She's going to kill us," Suga said, tossing his head over his shoulder to look at the door to the gym. Daichi just laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't you'll mess it up." He said, flattening it back down.

"She loves us. We love her. But maybe she'll kill us, hey, scary Yui is hot Yui." Suga laughed at his boyfriend's dumb antics and laughed when his face fell. "But yes, she will murder us. You know I love you more though." They laughed together, and when they saw Yachi being cradled by Kiyoko, rocked steadily back and forth by her, things being whispered into her hair, Yachi's back rising and falling with her breaths. 

Her head lolled off Kiyoko's shoulder, who caught with ease, and without having to think. Suga and Daichi went and sat on the desks around the two, looking at Kiyoko, concerned about her, because she looked sleepy and exhausted as she fainted counterpart. "Kiyoko, we should lie her down," Daichi said, placing his hand behind Yachi's head. "Her body probably needs time to reset. This has happened to me before." Kiyoko nodded again, and between the three third years, they were able to lie her down on the floor. 

Kiyoko lowered to her knees beside her friend, and put a piece of her hair behind her ear, to keep it out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," Kiyoko said. The four men just looked at each other, confused, before Suga sat down beside Kiyoko because he was good like that. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he stroked her hair as she cried, which sent chills down Daichi's spine. 

"What for, Kiyoko?" He said eventually, when she had gotten it all out. "Maybe explain it, see if you can verbalise it a bit more. Alright?" 

"I didn't notice. Yachi's not ok. She's- Um. Not doing so good mentally, it's like the pressure to be perfect is eating her away. It's why she's been late to practice lately." Daichi nodded, knowing that his friend was doing all she could to explain without giving too much away. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising, Mini-Spec's." Coach Ukai said. "This wasn't your fault, at all. You can't blame yourself for something tht had nothing to do with you, and if I catch you doing that again I'll make an intervention session with the school, understand?" Kiyoko nodded. "Second, after Yachi wakes up, we can't leave her alone at her house, is her Mum going to be home?" There was a knock at the door, and there stood Hinata. He shut the door behind him. 

"Yachan's Mum works late everyday." He said, and then bowed his head. "I'm sorry." Coach Ukai rolled his eyes as if to say 'These kids.' "I mean, I know where she lives, so I can take her home, but I can't cook."

"I can." Kiyoko said softly. "I'll come with you." 

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Text, TANAKA, incoming:
Is YaChan Alright? 

Text, NOYA, incoming:
Yo, Sho! Is Yachi good? 

Text, KAGEYAMA, incoming:
Let her know we're thinking of her. 

Text, KAGEYAMA, incoming:
Yamaguchi grabbed my phone. 

Text, THE CROWS GROUP CHAT, outgoing:
Yachi's alright, guys. Don't worry about her, ok?