My entry for Waiting for the Adventure's prompt countdown on Tumblr. Enjoy some Jou/Yamato friendship!

Study Stress

Jou sat hunched over his desk, furiously writing up the last of his notes. His high school exams were only two days away he still had so much to revise. His plan had been to make a list of topics and tick them off as he went along in order to help keep himself motivated and calm; however, he had gotten behind so quickly that now it just felt like a waste of time.

His hand reached for the glass of water he kept on his table and he brought it to his lips. As he tipped it back, he remembered that he had yet to fill it again after finishing the glass over an hour ago. He sighed a little in disappointment, but quickly got back to his work. After all, it wasn't essential.

Jou was not sure how much time had passed before he finished the next section, but the important part was it was finished (even if it had taken too long). He was just about to set the notes aside when a hand by his shoulder reached past and placed a container on his desk. Jou, having not heard the intruder, was so surprised he jumped to the side, only to fall off his chair and onto the ground with a crash.

"I thought you weren't doing this anymore."

Jou repositioned his glasses and looked up to see Yamato standing over him, his hand still on the container and a bottle of water in his other hand. Jou let out a huff of annoyance and righted his chair, sitting back down to work.

"How did you even get in here?" he asked, failing to keep the surprise or annoyance from his voice.

Yamato shrugged before placing the water bottle next to the container. "Your brother let me in. He said you haven't left your room since this morning."

"I got a bit behind. I've only got a couple more days and then I'll start looking after myself properly again."

Jou tried to get back to work, but Yamato continued to stand over him in a way that made Jou nervous. It was a little distracting to say the least. He looked up at his friend out of the corner of his eye. Usually, Yamato would take the hint when Jou wanted to be alone.

"Anything else?" he grit out.

"You need to eat," Yamato replied unfazed, putting a hand on the container.

Jou glared at him, but Yamato just stared back blankly. The staring match continued for a while, but eventually, Yamato turned and walked away. Rather than leaving, though, he just settled himself on top of Jou's bed. Jou frowned at Yamato's behaviour, but the need to study overruled his annoyance and he turned back to resume his studies. Jou wrote out a few more points, but it wasn't long before his attention was drawn away again by the strong smell of food. His stomach growled. Yamato must have opened the lid just before moving to the bed. Jou grumbled under his breath.

Reluctantly, he lifted the lid and stared at all the food that was in front of him: rice, various cooked vegetables, a couple of different cooked meats and in one corner, eggs with salt and pepper sprinkled on top. Jou stared at the eggs and attempted to swallow past the lump in his throat.

"You made all this…"

Yamato pulled his legs up so that his feet were also resting on the bed. "Most of that is supposed to make your brain work better… or something." He paused, his voice becoming more subdued. "You hadn't replied to any of my messages for the past three days. I got worried."

Jou couldn't help the soft smile that spread across his face. He thanked Yamato for the food before grabbing the provided chopsticks and tucking in slowly. Yamato really was a surprisingly good cook. As Jou ate, Yamato leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his chin on his forearms.

"How far along are you?"

Jou chewed an asparagus piece and swallowed. "I'm not sure," he replied while picking up some of the egg. "I wanted to make a list of all the topics I covered and still needed to revise, but I ran out of time."

"Are those all your completed notes?" Yamato asked, gesturing to the haphazard piles on the ground.

Jou nodded. He really shouldn't be taking a break like this when he had so much to do still. Immediately, he felt guilty and turned back to his work, taking another bite of food every few minutes to keep Yamato happy.

Soft steps behind him alerted Jou that Yamato had stepped towards his notes. Jou watched him warily from the corner of his eye, but before he touched anything Yamato met Jou's gaze.

"Mind if I sort through these?"

Jou waved his hand dismissively. "Of course. I just threw them down when I was finished. Do what you like. Although," he added, "please don't damage them in any way."

Yamato chuckled while Jou went back to his work. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Yamato grabbed a pen, scrap paper and a book that currently wasn't being used, then settled himself back on Jou's bed with Jou's notes by his side. At first Jou thought Yamato's presence was a distraction, but as Yamato continued to silently sit and write, Jou found himself paying less mind to his friend and was able to turn his full attention back to his studies.

Jou was halfway through another topic when he finally stopped to take a short break, grabbing the water bottle Yamato had provided and taking a few swigs to rehydrate himself. It was then that Jou realised he'd forgotten about Yamato's presence completely. He turned around quickly in his chair, almost expecting Yamato to have gone home or to have fallen asleep, but instead, Yamato was continuing to write something while flicking through Jou's notes. To Yamato's right, there were several neat piles of stacked notes and only a few loose sheets of paper on his left. Jou frowned, leaning on his chair to watch Yamato as he finished whatever he was doing.

Yamato glanced up and their eyes met. "Sorry, I wasn't bothering you, was I?"

Jou chuckled. "Actually, I'd forgotten all about you until a minute ago. Sorry."

Yamato shook his head with a smile. Slowly, he unfolded his legs and stretched them over the side of the bed. He held out the piece of paper he had been writing on for Jou to take.

"I don't believe you're as behind as you think you are."

Jou read through the list of subjects, each divided into smaller topics, which Yamato had carefully written out. He glanced up and noticed the number of neat piles corresponded to the number of subjects Jou had studied. Jou held his breath.

"Is this…"

"It's everything you've covered in your notes so far. You've repeated a few sections, so I just stuck the notes together."

Jou looked through the list more carefully and noticed numbers by some of the topics, probably indicating how many times he had summarised the same information. No wonder he was behind, considering he had spent so long writing nearly identical notes for one topic. For what felt like the first time in a while, Jou calmly looked through his books to find any topics he had yet to cover.

Every topic was already on Yamato's list. In fact, the only ones missing were the notes he was halfway through writing and one small topic he had accidentally skipped. Jou flicked through his books and study aids again to confirm, but there was no other new material. These were the last topic he needed to summarise for his exams.

Jou felt his shoulders slump as the adrenaline wore off and fatigue slowly took over. He laughed, feeling a huge sense of relief. While he still needed to memorise a lot of the information, Jou knew now he could just read his notes rather than look everything up in books and schoolwork.

"Jou?"

He turned, smiling, to see Yamato frown in concern. Yamato was obviously worried about him if he'd put in so much effort to make sure Jou was a little less stressed.

"Looks like I've only got half a topic to go!" He considered the list again, his smile turning wistful. "I can't believe I rewrote the same notes so many times without noticing."

Yamato stood up slowly and grabbed the empty container from Jou's desk. He turned and made his way towards the door. "You should get some rest, then. It's already past midnight."

Jou flinched, surprised, and looked towards his clock, realising with a bit of shock that Yamato was correct. "Sorry for keeping you up so late."

Yamato glanced back at him over his shoulder, a soft smile on his face. "Not a problem. I'll bring you something for lunch tomorrow. Get some rest, Jou."

Just as Yamato reached the door, Jou called his name. "Thanks for helping me this evening."

Yamato waved his hand in acknowledgement and walked out of Jou's room.

Jou slumped back against his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Outside, he could hear his older brother talking with Yamato. The front door closed softly and Jou heard footsteps heading towards his room. Shin poked his head around the door, his expression grim.

"Yamato says I'm to tie you to the bed if you're not away from your desk in ten minutes."

Jou stood up and stretched his arms over his head, knowing his brother would probably take a great amount of joy carrying that out.

"Don't worry. I'm going to bed now. I can get up early and finish my notes tomorrow."

"What happened to that 'I must finish this topic as soon as possible because I'm too far behind' attitude?"

Jou took one last look at the list Yamato had written.

"Guess I wasn't as far behind as I thought."

Jou shut the door on Shin and carefully transferred all his ordered notes onto his desk with Yamato's list on top. It was nearly one in the morning by the time he settled down in bed, but as he switched the lights off, Jou knew he was going to sleep well that night.

Thank you for taking the time to read! I wasn't sure about posting this here because it felt a little rough around the edges, but please let me know what you think.