Kageyama glanced over at the clock that was sitting on his nightstand by his bed, the blue numbers glowing and hurting his eyes. It was now midnight and the words in his textbook were beginning to blur together every time he blinked, his head heavy in his hand as he rested it in his palm. He couldn't focus properly when he was tired, but he couldn't bring it in himself to put the book away and rest for the night.

He was determined. Yes, determined to study and pass his finals before it was too late. He had worked so hard up until now, but for the past week he was slacking in his studies to focus more on recreational activities that involved a gym and several volleyballs flying across the court. Maybe joining the team shouldn't have been the best idea compared to his academic lifestyle.

In the middle of questioning his own morality, Kageyama missed the sound of the door opening and closing with the arrival of his college roommate. He had continued blankly staring at the pages of his book until Oikawa's voice rang out with a laugh.

"Right, right. I know! ... Hey, I'll talk to you later, okay? I just got back. ... Yeah, alright. Bye!" Oikawa had hung up and tossed his phone onto his bed before he leisurely tugged on the shirt he was wearing and stripped himself of it. It was obvious by his behavior that he had a long day himself and wanted to unwind.

Now seemed like a perfect time to ask.

Turning around in his chair, Kageyama let his eyes focus on his roommate before he spoke up, wanting to make sure he was still functional enough to carry a conversation. "Are you..." He paused, not really sure how to phrase it without Oikawa getting mad. "I need your assistance, please."

The room was only lit with the bedside lamp they both shared between their beds, the single nightstand the only thing separating the space where they slept. The office Kageyama was seated at was only seven paces away from where Oikawa was, the student looking up from the laundry hamper to address him.

"What could you possibly need help with that's got you up this late?" Oikawa lifted a brow as his question, wondering if Kageyama actually needed help or was just pulling his leg to pass the time. The brat hardly ever asked for help, and when he needed it, he wouldn't even be nice about asking. He hated putting up with his aggressive attitude every day in such a small space. He would have transferred rooms if Iwaizumi's wasn't already full.

Kageyama's eyes shifted from Oikawa, to the bed, and back to Oikawa again, his mouth barely opening as he hesitated. "You maintain decent grades in your classes, right?"

Oikawa could have sneered at him.

"I... I need help for my finals. They're in the afternoon tomorrow-" he checked his clock again, "-later today and I really need notes or guidance or something or I'll never pass." Asking Oikawa for help was like asking someone to politely run you over. The only difference is that there wasn't a vehicle involved, just pointless arguing and a ruptured spleen. Okay, that was a bad analogy.

The student in question made a face and reached to open his closet, putting on a tanktop to replace his other shirt for the time being. It was usually what he slept in anyway, so the change wasn't exactly different. Taking a chance, he tested his options. "That freckled guy you know seems pretty smart."

"... He's asleep."

"And the telephone pole?"

"Told me to suck it up."

That seemed about right. Leave it up to the brat to dig his own grave when it came to something important. Perhaps if he spent more time focusing on his studies his academic record would be on par with his once and awhile.

With a click of his tongue, Oikawa moved across the room and pulled up the extra chair they kept folded against the desk when they had friends over, scooting himself beside Kageyama in an almost non-violent way. He didn't know why he was bothering with someone like Kageyama, but the guy really seemed like he was out of places to go and he would admit he wouldn't have passed a few tests without Iwaizumi's help throughout high school.

So maybe just this once he could lend a hand. Just this once.

He leaned over and took a peak at his book, wondering what he was tearing his hair out over enough to call him for help. "Interpersonal Communication? Wow, Tobio, you sure have it bad." He was thinking something along the lines of difficult trigonometry problems, but this? He always did have trouble with social interaction, so maybe it was hard for him.

"I can't focus right and the text hurts my eyes." He wasn't sure what he was asking for help with, but he needed help with something or he was going to pass out from stress. What was he going to do, read the words aloud for him? He couldn't study like that and the chapter is over twenty pages long.

"What does the test focus on?"

He opened his eyes and turned, looking over at Oikawa quietly. "Terminology, mostly." It should have been easy if Kageyama's attention wasn't so thrown off with the lull of sleep. He was never doing this again.

He felt Oikawa shift next to him and their arms pressed against each other, a sign for him to move. He inched away to give Oikawa the space he needed before his book was moved from under him.

"Then I'm going to make you some flashcards and we can go from there. Do you have any index cards on you?" If it was just simple vocabulary than he could help without having to read the whole chapter himself just to get the gist of the subject. He saw Kageyama duck and reach into his worn out backpack for their potential studying tool, pulling out a full set of blank cards. Did he ever use them at all for class?

Oikawa took the pen that was leaning against the inside of the pencil holder beside them, pulling the cap off and sticking it to the bottom of the pen for safe keeping. "We'll focus on the first fifteen and work our way up until you memorize all of your terms. Be prepared to pull an all-nighter if it gets to that point." He barely even got a nod out of his roommate before he sighed.

"Tobio."

"... Hm?" It was a delayed response and the man's eyes weren't even completely open, let alone focused.

He was already falling asleep on him. Dropping the pen and card, Oikawa stood from his seat and walked to their kitchenette, rummaging through their drawers to find the coffee pouches. After setting up the pot, he turned on the machine and made two cups of coffee for the both of them, returning to Kageyama with his mug in hand. "Here, you're going to need it." He all but shoved the hot cup into his face, hoping that the smell would at least rouse him.

It seemed to have worked a bit, Kageyama reaching for the coffee and taking a sip, grimacing at the bitter taste. He never liked coffee all too much, especially without the creamer. His roommate did, which probably explained his bitter attitude.

Oikawa had walked past him after giving him his caffeinated shit drink, moving to the entrance of their dorm room to flick on the light switch on the wall, the sudden brightness causing Kageyama to flinch and squeeze his eyes shut to avoid being blinded. He groaned, blinking and slowly opening his eyes to adjust. "Why?"

The chair creaked with Oikawa's added weight as he sat again, setting his drink down and getting back to work. "Because it's too dark to see clearly and the lights will help stimulate brain activity." He had answered without even batting an eye at him, the brunette already scribbling down definitions and terms on the cards provided. The sooner he could wake up, the sooner they could get some sleep.

Half an hour passed when Oikawa had finished the portion of vocabulary. In that time span, Kageyama had drank half of his cup and skimmed the chapter from an angle so as to not disrupt Oikawa's work. He was still tired, but the coffee had made him functional and able to focus better than before and he had his roommate to thank for pushing it on him.

"Okay, I'll read the definitions to you and try to match them with the right term. If you miss any, they get added to the next pile of vocab. This will continue until you get all of them correct and we run out of cards."

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm trying to help you, but that is always an option." If he could manage to make snide remarks, he could manage to answer some questions. He sorted out the flashcards and pulled out the first one, reading out the definition to him. "The active process of making meaning out of another person's spoken message."

Kageyama sat there, staring at Oikawa with a blank expression. "Um." He knew he read this somewhere in the book, and it was such a simple word.

"Are you listening?"

Kageyama's eyebrow twitched and he frowned, nearly raising his voice at his tone. "Of course I'm listening." The other was quiet and staring back at him with a knowing smirk. What did he have to be so cocky about-

Oh. "Oh. Right, listening. Listening is the answer."

"Very good, Tobio. See, you're not a dumb as people think you are."

He would have snapped at him if he hadn't already begun to read the next card.

"What is the halo effect?"

Kageyama sat up in his chair. "Hey, I thought you said you were reading definitions only?"

Oikawa smiled and waved him off, crossing his legs and leaning back to avoid possible contact via violence. "Yes, but I happen to like this word, so I thought maybe I could switch things up a bit every couple terms to keep you on your toes." If Kageyama didn't like his studying methods, he could always go back to practicing himself without his help.

Taking a breath in, the younger sighed and slumped back down into his chair again, attempting to cheat by glancing at his textbook. Only to find that Oikawa had his free arm conveniently placed over the pages to block out the text from view. "I don't know, give me a hint."

"I am often the subject of this action."

"Being a dick?"

Oikawa huffed. "Rude."

They weren't going to get anywhere at this point. Kageyama had reviewed lightly, yes, but he couldn't recall a complete definition to such a vague term. A halo usually meant something good, right? "Uh, someone saying something nice about something?" He winged it.

The guess had made a smile return to Oikawa's face and he flipped the card around in his hand to reveal the answer. "Close. It's the tendency to attribute positive qualities to physically attractive people."

"And how exactly are you an example of this? No one says positive things about you."

"I beg to differ, Tobio. You used to praise me all the time for my serves in junior high. Besides," the man dropped the card on the desk and dlipped to another one, his brown eyes meeting blue ones, "You didn't deny that I was physically attractive."

Kageyama sputtered, his face warming at the accusation. "Well, yeah, I mean, you are." He looked down at his mug and took another drink, hiding behind his coffee. "That doesn't mean anything, though."

Oikawa only nodded along, returning to the cards and sparing Kageyama any more possible embarrassment for the time being. He could be attractive too, if he kept his mouth shut most of the time, he thought. Refusing to stray from his focus, he read aloud another card and they had went back and forth with each other, sometimes bickering about the examples along with their conversation.

In the end, after nearly three hours they had completed the terms and Kageyama had achieved their goal of answering all of the vocabulary correctly. It took them longer than it should have but they were finally free of of the burden. Kageyama didn't want to see another flashcard for the rest of the semester or he was going to snap.

"Well, now that that's done, what else is on the test?" Oikawa was still going strong, being used to late night studying by now. He was finished with all of his finals and he didn't have any classes for a few days, so he could afford the lack of sleep for once. Kageyama better praise him once this is over or he's never lending him a hand again.

Said student had his head resting on the desk, facing away from Oikawa and staring at the wall. "I'm done for tonight. The diagrams can wait until tomorrow." He could always cram in the information last minute before he left for class, like he usually did, and he always managed to pass his classes that way for awhile.

"Diagrams, you say?"

Another groan answered him.

If the blinds of their dorm weren't already closed, the sunlight that tempted to seep in would have startled the younger man out of his concentration, but his attention remained firm on the paper he was currently filling out under the dominating watch of Oikawa.

His eyes didn't hurt anymore, not really. They were still dry but it no longer hurt to blink and his body was numb from the coffee he had chugged down at one point during the night. The bags under his eyes were darker than his self-loathing but he was past the stage of caring.

Just as the last blank line was filled out, Oikawa snatched the paper from him and looked it over, a satisfied grin plastered on his obviously less-tired face. "I think you have what it takes to pass your test today."

Waiting for the sarcastic remark that always followed, Kageyama sat still in his chair, ready to go off on him and prove that he was going to ace his exam, but it never came. Instead, he was rewarded with a pat on the head and a soft smile that seemed too genuine to be mistaken. "You deserve a rest after all this."

Kageyama opened his mouth to retort but couldn't find his voice, his throat having gave out some time ago. All he could muster was a broken and hoarse reply, if anything, but he spared himself the humiliation and nodded compliantly, thankful that his bed was only five steps away from the desk.

With all the grace of a college student, he tripped over the wheel caster of his chair and stumbled, hitting his mattress and accepting the position he landed in, sprawled out and face down into his sheets before he promptly passed out.

Oikawa had watched the whole thing from his seat, snorting at his blunder but finding it even funnier that Kageyama had just fallen asleep right after. Standing up and dropping the paper, Oikawa lifted Kageyama's legs and moved them onto the bed before sliding him up until his head was actually on his pillows. Reaching over, he stole the folded blanket on his bed and covered the other with it as a substitute sheet for the time being.

It was already six in the morning and he knew Kageyama's class started at noon. A five hour nap should have been enough to get him rested and prepared for the upcoming test.

Now the only trick was to wake him up in that time span.

"Your class starts in less than an hour, Tobio."

"Fuck off."

Oikawa's eyes narrowed and he leaned down, yanking off the blanket he had so caringly placed over him five hours prior and throwing it to the floor. "Up!" He locked his arms under Kageyama's armpits and pulled, the student now suddenly awake and aware and desperately clawing at his safehaven in an attempt to return to a blissful sleep.

"Just five more minutes, dammit!"

"You said that ten minutes ago! Don't give me your sass, young man!"

"You're not my mom!"

They squirmed and fought in a tangle of limbs until Oikawa had gotten the advantage and latched onto his midsection, gaining leverage on his feet and dragging the body towards their bathroom. "You need to shower and leave!"

Kageyama pushed at his arms and kicked his legs out, dragging his heels into the floor in an attempt to slow the other man down. I didn't work and he was now sliding against tile, the cold floor stinging the soles of his feet. He would shower in his own time and would leave at his own time, not on Oikawa's time. He still had thirty minutes to-

His eyes snapped open and he stopped resisting long enough to think. Maybe thirty minutes wasn't enough time as he originally thought. The realization hit him and while now he agreed that Oikawa's rough treatment was somewhat appreciated, it wasn't necessary anymore.

"Wait, Oikawa-" Kageyama struggled to even flail in his hold, trying his best to communicate over the hand that was now nearly covering this mouth. He could feel his shirt being lifted above his stomach and it sent shivers down his spine from the air hitting his exposed skin. "Hold on a second!"

"Nope!" Oikawa had succeeded in ditching his shirt and in Kageyama's moment of vulnerability he snatched onto the waistband of his sweatpants and pulled, Kageyama screeching as his boxers were uncovered and the print on his ass along with it.

He hurried to cover himself with his hands and scuttled away from him, the backs of his legs hitting the side of the tub. He watched as his roommate never moved from his spot, his eyes still looking down at his underwear absently.

"... Are those my alien boxers?"

It had been two days since Kageyama had taken his finals and he had been on edge since he left the classroom that day. He and Oikawa had passed each other in the hallway upon his return, neither of them speaking a word to each other as they went their respected ways. Oikawa was often absent from the dorm during the day, moving between his own classes or out with friends while Kageyama was left by himself in the comfort of his own bed.

Yamaguchi had stopped by that morning to share his test scores and Tsukishima's, Hinata having avoided the subject entirely when asked. They all passed, he figured, but he had yet to look at his own.

Which was his dilemma now. He was nervous and he wasn't sure if he wanted to even look at his score. They had studied so hard together, but what if he had failed? Would his humiliation be for nothing?

Gripping his hair, Kageyama furiously typed into his account with his other hand and scrolled down to check his grades. Hesitantly, his cursor hovered over the link before he clicked it, revealing his finals and his overall grade in the class. He blinked, pleasantly surprised.

He had scored a ninety-three out of one-hundred on the test and it even bumped his grade up. He had never scored that high on a test before in his life. "Holy shit."

A presence was behind him suddenly, a heavy one that leaned against the back of his chair and Kageyama didn't have to turn around to know who it was. How he made it into the dorm room without his notification was a bit alarming.

Oikawa whistled and leaned in to see the screen clearly. "That's impressive, Tobio. I wonder how you were able to get a score like that, maybe you should thank whoever tutored you for the help. I think they'd appreciate it."

Kageyama couldn't ignore the obvious nudge to his arm when he said it.

"You know, so they could take your gratitude as a way to look past all the brief arguments and maybe get to the bottom of things."

"Stop making unnecessary underwear puns."

"I could always assist you another time if you'd like."

"Stop."

He couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face, even when Oikawa was bothering him. Maybe this meant that they were over the awkwardness of him finding out he stole his boxers, he didn't know. What he did know was that he was glad Oikawa had helped him study for his exam and, for once, he had a nice time with him. They hardly bickered the entire night, outside of petty jokes and banters, and they got along when they weren't at each other's throats. That ready was something to be thankful about.

"Thanks for helping me out the other night, Oikawa. I couldn't have done it without you." It was a bit of a stretch, but he was lucky he got anything out of him in the first place. It was mostly true, he couldn't have gotten such a high score without him, but all that mattered was that the ordeal was over with and he had gotten a passing grade.

"I will value your praise for all eternity, Tobio." He heard a sigh and felt his chin rest on the top of his head. The world was at peace once more, it seemed.

"Would now be a good time to mention I'm wearing your volleyball briefs?"