Kuroo walked into chemistry with a neutral look on his face. He was doing very well in the class, passing with an A+ and 113%. The reason for his astronomically high average was his consistency with great grades on labs and tests, while also getting almost every extra credit question correct. He never showed any signs of stress when faced with a test, either, as if this class was naturally easy for him.

Unlike you.

You were barely passing chemistry with a D. How that’s possible? You don’t know. None of what the teacher says makes sense to you, making the labs and tests ten times harder to do well on. You’ve tried extra help, but breaking down the problems just makes them more confusing. The highest grade you’ve gotten on a test all year was 70% with one of the three extra credit questions correct. You thought less of yourself because the information just wouldn’t stick.

In Kuroo’s peripheral, he saw dried tears pasting on your face. Part of him didn’t know if he should approach and ask what happened, or if he should keep to himself on this one. He wasn’t great at comforting, but he still tried because it was the right thing to do. Mustering up courage, he placed his books down on his desk and approached yours slowly, hesitantly.

His neutral gaze softened by an imperceptible amount when he finally approached you. He could feel your stress from just one glance. “Hey,” he said, his voice gentle, “you alright? I’m here if you need to talk.” He gave a small, sincere smile. Tetsuro didn’t know how to comfort people, since it wasn’t his specialty. He still tried, which was what mattered, in his opinion.