Koushi Sugawara was sitting in class early in the morning, rummaging through his bag, when he heard a large thud beside him. Startled, Sugawara looked up. A girl had slumped heavily into the seat beside his. Her head was on the table and a mass of dark, curly hair fanned out. From underneath the mess of hair came a soft moan.

Sugawara smiled lightly at the figure. "Hikari-chan?" he called out. "Good morning."

Hikari let out another moan, and lifted her head slightly. Her curly hair parted to reveal her face; her big eyes were red and looked exhausted. She sighed and slumped against the table again, her forehead hitting the desk. "Tired," she croaked out feebly. "Sugawara-kun, I think I'm going to die."

Sugawara chuckled. The first few times Hikari had come to school looking half-dead, he'd panicked and worried. But time had taught him better. Hikari was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She just wasn't a morning person. Sugawara smiled and tilted his head so that he could see the side of her face. "Were you studying all night, Hikari-chan?"

"Yes," Hikari groaned, finally pushing herself up from the desk. Her curly hair was a tangled mess about her shoulders and she turned to glare at Sugawara. He was looking at her with his usual kind smile, sympathetically. "Don't look at me like that."

Sugawara blinked. "Like what?"

"With that sweet, happy smile of yours," Hikari complained, still sounding sleepy. She sighed as her head drooped. "It makes me feel even more miserable. You do just as much work as I do, and you have volleyball. How are you so energetic? What's your secret?" she whined.

Sugawara shrugged. "I don't know. Sleep well at night, maybe?"

"I can't stand this. Somebody just kill me now," she groaned.

"Do you really want to die? What about the History notes I compiled for you last night? The test is tomorrow," Sugawara pointed out, holding up a small bundle of neatly-written notes. He smiled at Hikari sweetly, while sliding the notes over onto her desk. She sighed happily, lifting the paper up to her face and kissing the first page.

"Ahhh. The wonderful smell of Suga's history notes. Sugawara-kun, you are the tiny ray of sunshine in my otherwise miserable existence," Hikari declared with a relieved sigh, as she flipped through the slightly clumsy, but otherwise perfect notes that Sugawara had compiled for her. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out a similar stack of notes from her own bag. The handwriting was slightly neater. "Here's English. I was up all night compiling them."

Sugawara smiled and took the notes from Hikari. They had started this arrangement during their second year, when both of them noticed just how… opposite they were. Hikari was always half asleep early in the morning, so she could never focus on subjects like History and Math, which were first in their timetable. Sugawara normally felt drowsy after lunch, which was when Hikari finally got her caffeine and sugar-rush and was alert. So they'd decided to help each other out.

Sugawara took notes during the morning classes, while Hikari dozed off in her seat, and Hikari would take notes for the afternoon classes while Suga drifted off. At the end of the week, they both compiled notes for each other and shared them. So far, it had been working great. They were both in the top 5 of their class, and they only put in half the effort everyone else did.

"Can I borrow your sweater?"

Sugawara, who had been flipping through Hikari's English notes, blinked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Your sweater," Hikari said, holding back a yawn. Her eyes were drooping shut, but she lazily pointed at the school sweater that was draped on the back of Sugawara's chair. "You're not wearing it, right? Can I borrow it?"

"S-sure," Sugawara said hesitantly, handing her the sweater. Hikari sighed and folded it up, putting it on a desk in a small lump before resting her head on it. Sugawara flushed. She was using his sweater as a pillow. Hikari smiled gently to herself as she nuzzled her face into the soft wool. It smelled like him.

"Soft," Hikari mumbled sleepily, as she closed her eyes.

Sugawara watched her, his face turning a light shade of pink. He looked at the adorable girl beside him, fast asleep with her cheek pressed into his sweater and her curly hair a mess about her face. He wondered what it would be like if she cuddled up to him that way, instead of his sweater.

Sugawara was sure that it would be the best feeling in the world.

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"Hikari-chan." Sugawara gently placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to shake the girl awake. She was still slumped on her desk, face buried in his sweater. She let out a feeble moan and then snuggled further into the garment. Sugawara smiled. She looked adorable. "Hikari-chan. It's lunch-time now. You need to get up. I got you a soda."

Hikari opened one eye and peeked at him. "Soda?" she croaked.

Sugawara smiled and pressed the cold soda can to her cheek. "Yup. Here you go. You need to be wide awake for the afternoon classes, because I want to take a nap before volleyball practice today. Take good notes, okay?"

"I take excellent notes, thank you very much," Hikari grumbled as she straightened up and took the cold soda can from him. She gave Sugawara a small smile. "Thanks, Sugawara-kun. I don't think I'd have been able to make it through the first two years of high school if you weren't taking care of me, like this."

Sugawara smiled gently and looked embarrassed. "I don't mind."

Hikari grinned and nodded, taking a deep swig of the soda can. Then she sighed and looked down. "Oh-here's your sweater. Thanks, Sugawara-kun! It was so comfortable! I had the best sleep ever in History! Waah- I feel so refreshed!" Hikari cried, stretching her arms out. She sighed and sipped the soda again. It was freezing cold. She smiled up at him gratefully. "So. Did we cover anything important in History?"

Sugawara smiled. "Not much."

"Hey- do you want to study together after school today?" Hikari asked eagerly. The caffeine from the soda was already getting to her and she was feeling much more awake. She turned and looked at Sugawara hopefully. He gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Hikari-chan. Like I said, I have volleyball practice today."

"Oh, right. Sorry. I heard you were made vice-captain. Congratulations!" Hikari said with a grin. "Damn. I sort of miss club activities. I decided to quit the Editorial Club this year because I didn't think I could manage it, academics and my college prep classes."

Sugawara blinked. "You're attending college prep classes?"

"Yup," Hikari replied cheerfully as she reached into her bag to pull out her lunch-box. She grinned at Sugawara. "You should join! We can implement our notes system there too, then I can sleep in half the classes at cram school as well! Wouldn't it be great?"

Sugawara smiled. "I think you'd be getting a lot more sleep than you need, Hikari-chan."

Hikari pouted. "Hmm. I guess."

"But I'm not going to quit volleyball club just yet. We might get some really interesting first years. Maybe Karasuno can start winning again," Sugawara said, rubbing the back of his neck. Hikari nodded and smiled. She had seen how upset Sugawara had been at the end of last year, when they lost against Date Tech. He'd barely spoken for days.

"Hey," Hikari said gently. "Is Asahi-san…?"

Sugawara blinked and his face fell. "No."

"Oh. Sorry." Hikari clacked her chopsticks together and held out her bento. "Do you want a taste of my excellent cooking? You won't regret it! I cook my best at 6:30 am when I'm running late for school and can barely keep my eyes open, you know!"

Sugawara chuckled at her adorable attempt to change the uncomfortable topic. "I'll pass."

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"Good morning."

Hikari glanced up and opened one eye to watch Sugawara settle into the seat beside her, opening his bag to take out his books for the morning class. She was slumped on the desk again. She lifted her head and blinked at him sleepily. "My brain hurts," she groaned. "Make it stop. Hey. Didn't I tell you not to smile at me first thing in the morning?"

Sugawara tried to put on a straight face. "Eh-sorry."

"You're like sugar, Sugawara-kun."

Sugawara blinked at her. "What?"

"Sugar," Hikari mumbled. Her voice was slightly distorted because her cheek was pressed against the wooden desk and her voice was sleepy. "You're like sugar. You're yummy and you taste good with everything, but you can't eat too much first thing in the morning or you'll feel nauseous for the rest of the day."

Sugawara blinked. To be honest, he didn't always understand everything that Hikari said. He looked at her, confused. "I don't feel nauseous when I eat sugar in the morning," he mused. He glanced at her. "Do you?"

"I don't know. Please don't make me speak," Hikari whined, pressing her face back onto the wooden desk. She closed her eyes and tried to stop the pounding in her head, but it wouldn't go away. Hikari let out another pained moan, when she felt a hand gently lift her head. Hikari blinked, as Sugawara carefully slid his bundled-up sweater between her face and the hard desk. Hikari lifted her head slightly to look up at him, and saw his big brown eyes inches away from hers.

"Sleep," Sugawara told her gently, stroking her hair once.

Hikari flushed a furious red and plopped her face into the sweater to hide it.

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Sugawara yawned loudly as he entered class the next morning, his shoulders slumped over. He'd been practicing with Tanaka and the two new first years all morning; not to mention trying to hide that very fact from Daichi. Now classes hadn't even started and he was already exhausted. Damn it. How was he going to stay awake in class now?

He slumped into his seat and sighed. Now he knew what Hikari felt like every morning. He glanced to his left and noticed Hikari already fast asleep in her seat. Sugawara smiled lightly at her, before pulling out his own books and waiting for the teacher to arrive.

"Sugawara-kun! Sugawara-kun! Suga!" Sugawara blinked drowsily as he felt someone rapidly shaking his shoulder. He flinched and looked up into the startled eyes of Hikari, who was still shaking him. He blinked as she cried, "Sugawara-kun get up!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake, stop shaking me," he mumbled. He blinked, confused. What was happening?

"It's lunch!" Hikari cried. "Why were you asleep? Morning classes are your duty!"

Sugawara's eyes shot open and he looked around. Rightly enough, most of their classmates had formed into small groups and were eating lunch. He felt a sudden panic as he looked down at his notebook and saw only one things scribbled on it; the date. Had he slept through all the morning classes without paying attention? He hadn't taken a single note! "Oh no…." he mumbled, hands rising to clutch his face. "H-hikari-chan, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I fell asleep and I didn't take any notes!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow at him. "I can see that."

"What are we going to do?" Sugawara cried. Most people in his class were unwilling to share their notes. Since third year had started, the competition was fierce. Who would be willing to share their work? Would Asahi-kun…? But they hadn't spoken in such a long time, it would be so weird to go ask him for notes now. Maybe If Hikari went and asked him? But it wasn't fair to make her do that, Sugawara was the one who'd fallen asleep…

Hikari silently watched the boy panic and argue with himself, before letting out a giggle. He turned and looked at her, startled. "Relax, baka. I woke up about ten minutes into History and I noticed you were fast asleep. So I took notes." Hikari held up her notebook. "See?"

Sugawara felt a sudden guilt wash over him. "Hikari-chan, I'm so sorry!"

Hikari smiled. She took a swig from her soda can, before placing an unopened one in front of Sugawara. "Yeah, yeah. You'd better drink up. You're going to be staying awake for the afternoon classes, now."

Sugawara nodded, still feeling a little ashamed. "I can't believe I did that. I woke up at 5 am to help the new first years practice volleyball, and I was just so exhausted once it was time for class. I never thought I would fall asleep like that, though! It's no excuse! Please forgive me!"

"Wow. Relax, Sugawara-kun. It was one mistake," Hikari said lightly. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by one of the girls in their class approaching her. Saki was one of the friendliest girls in their class, and she beamed at the two of them.

"Sugawara-kun, Hikari-chan!" Saki chirped. "How are you both?"

Hikari glanced at the miserable-looking Sugawara. He was adorable; he reminded her of a sad puppy that had just gotten scolded by his owner. She tore her eyes away from him and turned to Saki politely. "Hello, Saki-san. How are you?"

"I'm great! Actually, Hikari-chan, I need a favor from you," Saki said hesitantly.

"What is it, Saki-san?"

Saki smiled. "You see, I'm planning a group date tonight with a couple of people that I recently met. And there's this one guy I really like in the group! But he asked me to bring at least 5 other girls so that the numbers would be even, and I just can't find girls that are willing to come. Will you please come? I promise it'll be a lot of fun! The guys are from Date Tech, it's a powerhouse school!"

Hikari blinked. A group date? She'd never been on one of those before. She glanced sideways and noticed Sugawara staring at them with wide eyes. "Uh, I don't know, Saki-san. I've never been on a group date before…"

"It's okay, there's no pressure at all! It's just a fun evening, we'll probably go karaoke or something. Please, Hikari-chan? You'd really be helping my love life, here! And who knows, maybe you'll like one of them?"

Hikari laughed nervously. "Okay. I guess I can come."

"Great! Thanks so much, Hikari-chan! You're the best! I promise you'll find a guy you like!"

Sugawara was silent and his face dropped as he turned away from the exchange between the two girls. His heart thudded suddenly. What if Hikari did find a guy she liked? What would he do? Could he handle that?

Sugawara didn't think he could.

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The next morning, when Hikari entered the classroom, Sugawara stiffened. He had been a bundle of nerves the previous day, wondering how the date was going, and whether Hikari had fallen for any of the guys from Date Tech. He glanced nervously at the sleepy girl who slouched into the room and plopped into her seat.

"Good morning," she mumbled, holding back a yawn. She sighed and leaned back in her seat, eyes closed. "Wow, I'm so tired…"

"H-hikari-chan," Sugawara greeted nervously. Why were his palms so sweaty? Why was he feeling so nervous? He hurriedly distracted himself and pulled out his compiled history notes, sliding them over to her desk. "Uh, here are this weeks' notes. Well, except for yesterday, because, you know- I feel asleep. I'm really sorry about that."

"Hai, hai, it's okay already!" Hikari grumbled, taking the notes from him and stuffing them in her bag. She sighed and slumped forward onto the desk. "Can I have your sweater again? The desk is so hard... and my eyelids feel heavy."

Sugawara nervously handed her his sweater. "Here." He took a deep breath. "Um, Hikari-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"H-how was the group date?"

Although Hikari didn't lift her head, Sugawara could see the pink tinge that rose up onto her cheeks. If she was blushing, then it must have been good. Did she meet someone? Those Date Tech boys were all big and attractive, what if one of them had asked her out? Sugawara slumped back in his seat. Why hadn't he asked her out before? Now it was probably too late…

"The date was fine," Hikari mumbled, before turning her face away from him quickly.

Sugawara felt his heart drop.

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Hikari disappeared during lunch. Sugawara sighed as he grabbed his lunchbox and went to go find someone from the volleyball club to eat with. He'd been feeling miserable all morning. Why hadn't he said or done something before Hikari went on that group date? If he'd confessed to her, maybe she wouldn't have gone. Either way, it was too late now.

"Hey- Saki-san, what happened on that group date yesterday?" Sugawara heard one of the girls ask. He paused in his step to listen to their conversation. A couple of girls were sitting around the table and gossiping while they ate.

Saki laughed. "The group date? Oh- it was great! The highlight was Hikari-chan, though! You'll never believe what happened!"

"Really? Tell, tell!"

"She slept straight through the karaoke!" Saki said with a giggle. "I'm not kidding! She was fast asleep half-way into the first song! All the Date Tech guys were laughing at her. Then one of them woke her up and she got really startled, spilled a bowl of ramen all over herself. Then Hikari-chan got really upset and ran out. I felt a little bad for her, but really! Who falls asleep during a date?"

Sugawara froze, suddenly feeling terrible. Was that what had happened? He felt a sudden rush of sympathy for Hikari. He frowned and walked out of the classroom, stepping out of the door to see Hikari standing right there. Her curly hair was framed around her face and her cheeks were flushed red. She had clearly heard everything the girls were saying.

"Hikari-chan…" Sugawara said gently.

Hikari flushed and looked away from him, embarrassed. "I know, I know, I'm a complete mess. What kind of girl snoozes her way through a date?" she sighed and pressed her hands to her flushed cheeks, shaking her head. "Wow, I'm so embarrassed! I can't believe you heard that, Sugawara-kun!"

Sugawara looked at her intensely. He took a deep breath and bowed. "Hikari-chan, please forgive me!"

Hikari blinked, lowering her hands. "What?"

"It's my fault you fell asleep during your date! You had to stay awake in the morning classes yesterday because of me, so it's completely understandable that you were tired in the evening! I'm sorry for ruining your date!" Sugawara apologized. As relieved as he was that Hikari hadn't fallen for one of the guys, he couldn't help but feel terrible about ruining her evening.

Hikari smiled at him. "It was my own fault. You're too sweet, Sugawara-kun."

Sugawara flushed. "Hikari-chan…"

"Yup?"

"I'm not as sweet as you think. I… I didn't really want you to have a good time on the date."

"What?" Hikari stared at him. "Why not?"

"I was… I was afraid that you would start liking one of those Date Tech guys." Sugawara took a deep breath and looked up at her. His brown eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed. "Hikari-chan, I think you look adorable when you're sleeping and I wouldn't mind if you fell asleep during a date! So please go out with me?"

Hikari stared at Sugawara and her eyes widened. "Really?"

Sugawara nodded, his heart thumping as Hikari's mouth fell open slightly. She took a few deep breaths before nodding and giving him a small smile. "O-okay. I would really like that, Sugawara-kun." Hikari blushed a little and smiled at him. "But… if I'm on a date with you, then I promise I won't fall asleep!"

Sugawara beamed.

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Extra:

Daichi sighed as he noticed a familiar figure fast asleep in the stands of the volleyball gym. Sugawara was helping dismantle the net after practice, and the captain frowned, moving to tap his silver haired friend on the shoulder. "Suga. Here, I'll handle the net. You should go wake up your girlfriend, she fell asleep in the stands again."

Sugawara turned around and smiled, noticing Hikari curled up on one of the seats, fast asleep as she used his sweater as a pillow. He thanked Daichi, before moving over to kneel beside her. He gently stroked her curly hair. "Hey. Hikari-chan," he said gently. "Practice is over. Wake up."

Hikari's eyes fluttered open lazily. "Five more minutes," she mumbled.

Sugawara chuckled at how cute she was, before leaning closer and placing a gentle kiss on the corner of her lips. Hikari's eyes shot open. She stared at him, her cheeks flushed red. Sugawara took her hand and gently pulled her up. "Come on. Let's walk home together."

Hikari nodded and followed him silently, curling into his side as he wrapped an arm around her.

Hikari didn't need caffeine anymore. Sugawara's kisses were a much more pleasant way to wake up.

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A/N – This story came to me as I was drifting off in class one day and my sleep-addled mind thought that if I was classmates with Sugawara darling, he would totally lend me his notes. So guilty as charged- it's a bit of a self-insert. Hope you enjoyed it all the same. Leave a review!