Suga stirred awake sometime later, taking in his surroundings slowly. There was a blanket draped over him, that he didn't remember putting there or having in his room. It was almost unbearably warm underneath it, with something burning up beside him. He was sitting on the floor, leaning up against his bed frame and mattress. His face was warm and starting to sweat on one side, where he had been leaning into whatever was there. As his eyes slowly focused and adjusted to the dim light, he spotted a notebook opened up on top of the blanket to his right. A slender, but not exactly small, hand rested beside that, against his leg. He flinched, lurching upright, but settled down for two reasons. One, he didn't want to accidentally wake up his surprise roommate. Two, he caught a glimpse of something else that was a little more surprising.

There on the pages, were a few spots that wrinkled and warped. Spattered circles, teardrops that blurred the ink of the scrawled kanji. Glancing up, his eyes landed on her face. She was slouched backward, head slightly to the side, and fast asleep. Her lips were parted slightly, and her chest rose and fell with a steady rhythm. On her cheeks were fading trails, wet tracks from tears that fell before she fell asleep. Or maybe after, too. Her eyebrows moved a little bit now and then, and she would make a face before settling back down.

Suga caught himself reaching out to wipe away the tears that lingered on her eyelashes and froze up. His fingertips brushed her cheek when he hesitated like that, and she squirmed just a little bit. Her eyelids pressed tight, then she blinked a few times and slowly opened her eyes. Her brow cocked upward in the middle, then relaxed and a small smile flashed back at him before she conked back out.

"What was that?," he whispered, to himself mostly. He smiled back, and carefully removed himself from the blanket and tucked it around her shoulders more tightly. She was really warm, and he worried that she might have a fever. For now, letting her rest was probably best, so he carefully climbed onto his bed and burrowed under the covers to get some more sleep himself.

…

"Really?," Daichi gave Kitsuna a look the next week when she turned up to school with a mask and a bag full of medicine. She insisted on joining for practice, but was relegated to watching or helping with drills and that's it.

"Haha! You were worried about us gettin' sick, but then she did!," Tanaka laughed about something that happened over break, along with three others. Kitsuna glared at them, but didn't shout or anything this time.

"You really should go home and rest," Takeda tried one last persuasion and was heartily denied. He sighed and joined her on the bench, where he tried to review some more rules and basics for the sport he was in charge of. After practice wrapped up, Kitsuna headed home with the usual crew.

"You wouldn't get sick all the time if you dressed properly," Daichi chastised her a little bit. She kept the hat and scarf from the Ukais, but she decided that the gloves were just too annoying and avoided them at all costs.

"Shut up. I'll be fine before we leave next week," Kitsuna clapped back.

"How do you stay warm like that, though?," Asahi was curious. She didn't have a particularly large build, other than her height. And the volleyball jacket was nowhere near enough for him to stay warm with snow on the ground as it was now. Kitsuna pulled something out of her pocket and held it up.

"What's that?"

"Like a little heater, for your hands. I got a couple of them when the heat was out. Keep these in shorts pockets and stuff," she pulled out a throw-away hand warmer from the pocket in the shorts she wore under her skirt. She tucked them back away and stuffed her hands deep into her pockets as a gust of wind kicked up just then.

"That actually works?," Suga was somewhat surprised by that. The two said their parting words to the other pair, and split off.

"Depends on where you put 'em, really. Like the wrist, back of the neck, and anywhere that blood flow will help carry the heat.," Kitsuna shook her head in a futile attempt to get her hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, I think I've seen you do stuff like that before. Like during the summer camp, you kept pressing the water bottles to your wrists and stuff," Suga recalled. It was a detail she didn't think was that interesting, so was surprised that anyone noticed at all.

"Oh, yeah. Seems like I don't handle high heat very well, but cold is easier to deal with if you just stay on top of it."

"I see."

Suga got lost in thought for the rest of the way. Kitsuna left him at his stop and went the rest of the way by herself. She got sucked into her own mental space, thinking about the things she read in that mysterious notebook that was left in a spot only she would have found. It looked like it was pretty old, and well-used. There were two distinctive styles of writing, a sort of back and forth. Like letters, some of which were embarrassing to read second-hand. But at a certain point they took a turn, and got darker and harder to read. She forced herself to do it, and started keeping that notebook close. The reason it was left for her was unclear, and bothered her immensely. But something else was even more frustrating about it, making her deal with things she thought were long behind her.

"Stupid old man," Kitsuna cursed as she entered her solitary abode. The heat blasted her face as she pulled off her extra layers, and she suddenly recalled a small detail about the day of her return. Just before break ended, she had come down with a fever while at the Sugawara residence. There were a lot of details toward the evening that got real fuzzy, and the next morning was even worse. She remembered Suga disappearing for a while, then taking her home. When she arrived, the house was already warmed up and her bag was there by the door. Along with any other of her belongings that were collecting at his house.

Thoughts of that, and what was very clearly a notebook her parents shared in the earlier years of their relationship, continued to plague her mind while she soaked in the bath. She almost stayed in too long, feeling somewhat faint when she decided to get out and head to bed. She took some medicine again, and forced down some cup ramen, then went to bed somewhat early. Keishin had been going easy on her with work, and she was excused from morning practice, but those two things were also weighing heavy on her. Finals, the upcoming tournament, avoiding the questions that were bound to pop up if she got caught for an interview. The sting of the girls' team's loss and boundless support of the boys' team now that they were done for the year. And the little cherry on top, something that made her face shine in the same bright red as the little fruit. Too many things to think about, and consider, and figure out for herself. Too many things, and it felt like the timer was reaching its end on so many of them despite there being no clear catalyst for the pressure on her shoulders.