Work Text:
Oboro stared at his textbook, wishing he could magically absorb the information. He had a math exam coming up, and he didn't think he would do well. He normally studied with his Hizashi and Shota, but they went too fast for him to actually learn anything. This led him to his current predicament: sitting in the library alone, with practice exams scattered all over his desk, containing wrong answers, and a headache. He put his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths before grabbing another practice exam and trying again. When he finished, he checked his answers, and they were all wrong, again. He felt frustration build up in his chest, and he crumpled the practice exam. Hizashi and Shota made it look so easy. Why couldn't he understand it? His vision got watery as he stared at all his failed practice exams. He was going to fail this test. He tried taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He couldn't cry now. He needed to keep studying. He went back through Chapter One again and tried again. He went through his answers again, and they were all still wrong. He ripped the test up in frustration and threw it away. He put his head against the table, just needing to take a mental break.
"Oboro?" He heard two voices simultaneously. He knew those voices anywhere; it was his boyfriends.
He froze and then suddenly sat up, displaying a smile. He saw a worried expression on both of their faces. He hated seeing it. "Hey!" Before he could say anything else, Shota had approached his table with Hizashi following.
"Are these all practice exams?" Shota mumbled, looking at them. Oboro felt his stomach drop, knowing they were looking at his failed attempts.
"I was just studying for our exam." Oboro tried to make his voice sound steady.
"Well, why didn't you study with us?" Hizashi grabbed two of the practice tests. "All these answers are wrong, too."
"I-"
"Wait, these two," Hizashi said, picking up a few more tests.
"Oboro, all these practice tests are wrong." Shota pointed out as he looked through them.
"I KNOW OKAY!" Oboro cried out. Everyone in the library turned to look at them, and he felt his face heat up. "I know they're all wrong," he whispered. He felt his vision get blurry. He started sniffling as a few tears fell down his cheek. He didn't want them to see him like this.
Shota and Hizashi stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to do. Their boyfriend had always been such a bundle of sunshine; it was jarring to see him so upset and hurt. It made it all the more painful to look at.
"Hey," Hizashi spoke up first. "Why don't you let us help you, okay?"
Shota pushed two chairs to the table and handed Oboro his water bottle. "Let us help you," he said while putting a hand on his shoulder. Oboro nodded as he drank from the water bottle. He went to wipe his eyes with his hands, but Hizashi handed him tissues. After he composed himself, he pulled out a new practice test.
"Okay, we want you to show us how you solve the problem so we can see why you're getting them wrong," Hizashi stated.
Oboro nodded, but this felt even more stressful. He had his boyfriend's eyes on him while he got this answer wrong. He started doing the equation, but felt it wasn't right, so he crossed it out and did it again. He felt it was wrong again, so he crossed it out and tried again. He felt it wasn't right, so he crossed it out and did it again. He was about to do it again before his boyfriends put their hands on top of his. He looked up, and they both had concerned looks on their faces.
"Oboro, what's going on?" Shota asked softly.
"I'm just trying to solve the problem," Oboro stated.
"Oboro," Hizashi chimed in, "you looked like you were about to cry again doing that problem. Is everything okay?"
Oboro didn't like this feeling. He was usually the one who checked up on people, not the other way around. "I'm fine, really."
"People who are fine don't cry over math problems, and don't lie to their boyfriends," Shota pointed out. Oboro felt shame wash over him, but tried to keep it together.
"Just a stressful class, nothing else!" Oboro kept trying to brush it off, hoping his boyfriends would drop it.
"Then why didn't you come to us for help?" Hizashi questioned. "And you said during the study sessions they helped a lot, were you lying about that?"
"I-," Oboro felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He looked away from both of them. "I was lying about that. I hated those study sessions. You guys would go way too fast, and it made me feel stupid. You guys make it look so easy that I felt there was something wrong with me because I couldn't understand it."
Shota and Hizashi looked heartbroken to hear they made their boyfriend feel stupid. Hizashi got up first and went to hug Oboro, and Shota followed immediately after.
"I'm sorry," both Hizashi and Shota said in unison.
"It's fine," Oboro mumbles, going back to his tests.
"It's not fine!" Hizashi shoots back.
Shota grabs Hizashi and sits him down at Oboro's table. "Guys, I said it's fine," Oboro tried arguing.
Shota grabbed a worksheet and pulled Oboro in close. "You used the wrong formula," Shota pointed out. "For these problems, you need to use the other one." He grabbed one of Oboro's pencils and wrote the correct formula. "Try it again."
Oboro grabbed his pencil and attempted the problem again. Hizashi moved closer so he could see and help. "Wait, you're forgetting the four," Hizashi pointed out before Oboro could continue solving it.
Oboro adjusted his formula and continued solving the problem. When he finished, he looked at Shota and Hizashi, waiting for them to tell him if he did it right.
"You got it right!" Hizashi exclaimed.
Shota nodded in agreement.
"REALLY!?" Oboro exclaimed. This was the first problem he got right after hours of studying.
Hizashi placed an arm around his shoulder. "Okay, let's try again. Which formula do you use for this one?" He pointed to another math problem.
"Ummm," Oboro said, trying to think.
"Is it similar to the last problem or different?" Shota asked him.
"Um, it's the same, so I use the same formula?" Oboro asked.
Shota nodded.
Oboro started solving the problem. He almost finished it before he realized he had forgotten a number again and went back to fix it. He finally solved the problem and looked at both his boyfriends to see if he did it right.
"It's right, Cloudy!" Hizashi said and kissed him on the forehead. Oboro couldn't help but smile widely. Shota gave him a quick peck on the cheek as well before pulling away with pink dusting his face.
Hizashi and Shota helped Oboro keep practicing and would occasionally give him kisses as encouragement. By the time the test came around, Oboro had scored a 79, which is a lot better than what he originally thought he'd get. Shota and Hizashi took him out to eat sushi.
When Oboro sat down, looking at his two boyfriends eating their sushi, he couldn't help but smile at how lucky he was.