Suga barely stopped himself from glaring at his handheld device in dismay. Inwardly, he cursed the three regular floor supervisors and their respective reasons for not being at work that day, and a special hellish fate awaited the manager who decided to deputize an unsuspecting Suga for the job.

He had three calls from cashiers to answer (toilet break, price check, customer complaint), and absolutely no backup to meet the company's ironclad customer service standards. Feeling the sweat beading on the back of his neck, as it always tended to do when he was nervous, Suga bolted first for the toilet break.

"Ishikawa-san," Suga gasped between heavy breaths, "if you could please help Hideki-san with his price check, it would be very helpful. Then you may use the toilet."

One of Mitzukoshi Department Store's newest food market cashiers, Ishikawa Keiko stared at Suga with her heavy eyelids, a slight frown tugging at her disinterested face. "I need to go now, Sugawara-san."

I'll bet you do, Suga thought uncharitably as he noticed the outline of a mobile phone in her trouser pocket. Steeling himself to use the 'manager mode' he had been informed he would need to cultivate, Suga shook his head. "First, price check, then toilet. I expect you back at your register in less than ten minutes, as well."

Ishikawa gave Suga a dirty look before stomping off to do as he had bid. She wasn't the first fellow cashier to begrudge him his temporary battlefield promotion, nor did he believe she would be the last for the day. He didn't think running around like a decapitated chicken was much of a desirable goal, so he shrugged off his coworkers' thinly veiled contempt and kept answering calls.

Fortunately for his good judgment, he knew better than to send a disgruntled cashier to handle a complaint. That, Suga would do himself.

However, the second he approached the register in question, he wanted to run in the opposite direction and send someone else to take care of this, as well. The customer at the front of the queue was a hunched over old woman who frequented the store and knew every member of management by name. He had checked her out as a cashier several times without incident and had even been told that he was her favorite. He felt confident he could reason with her adequately.

The next person in the queue, however, was who Suga desperately wanted to hide from.

After worrying his bottom lip until it almost bled, Suga approached the register with his best customer service face. "Good afternoon, Kajiyama-san," he said with a bow, recalling her name from countless credit card swipes. "How can I be of service?"

Kajiyama's expression lost some of its sourness as she noticed Suga. "Well, Suga-chan, you can begin by being less of an idiot than this one," she croaked in her stereotypical old lady voice, jerking her thumb in the direction of the cashier. "You are always such a dear, so please talk some sense into this stupid child, who is clearly brand new in order to be this inadequate."

Suga cringed at the sound of his own name, because as he suspected, the man behind Kajiyama looked up from the sports magazine he had been thumbing through while waiting and made direct eye contact. Recognition was instantaneous. Even when Suga gave a nervous little wave and turned his attention back to Kajiyama and her likely-inconsequential gripe, he could feel that ever-intense gaze boring into him. He didn't need to see it to know it was there.

"These soybeans are a disgrace!" Kajiyama stated, turning up her nose to the pile of produce in front of her, which seemed to be up to the same high standard as everything else in the store.

Lifting up a few of the beans, Suga inspected them and, as he suspected, found absolutely nothing amiss. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the queues were beginning to lengthen, due to the slowdown for the complaint and price check, respectively, as well as Ishikawa's currently closed register.

With that in mind, he let out an emphatic and completely feigned sigh. "They are rather peaked," he lied. "That just won't do. Would you like new beans, or would you accept a small discount and our humblest apologies?"

A sly smile crept across Kajiyama's face. "A discount would be fine, Suga-chan. I'm happy this company is finally starting to do something about its falling standards by promoting a nice boy like you."

Suga flushed at the compliment. "Always happy to help," he said as he keyed in the price adjustment personally. When the new cost showed on the monitor, he pointed at it. "Is that better?"

With a curt nod, Kajiyama both indicated her satisfaction and Suga's dismissal from her circle of attention. Relieved that the issue had not been a more strenuous one, Suga cast one last achingly brief glance at the man behind Kajiyama. As he flitted off to make sure Ishikawa didn't make a disaster of the price check, he left Sawamura Daichi behind him for a second time.

Eager to do something other than think about Daichi, Suga politely shepherded a few of the waiting customers to the customer service desk to be checked out until he was sure Daichi would be gone. The constant calls on his palm pilot also did well to distract him until the floor manager came to relieve him for a quick ten minute break.

Desperation to break out of the confinement of the store overtook Suga, and he bolted out the front door and around the side of the building, only stopping once he was out of sight so he could sag against the cold bricks. His breath froze in the chilly December air, and his skin steamed slightly as the sheen of sweat he had worked up turned icy. He knew it was stupid to be outside without his coat, but he didn't want to miss a single minute of being out of that place by walking back to the employee room to get something as stupid as a jacket.

"You can't even spare a 'hello' for an old friend, Suga?"

A shiver pulsed through Suga that had nothing to do with the temperature. "Daichi," he said flatly, not daring to look at the man he had not seen in ten years. "I thought you left."

"I wanted to talk to you, so I waited. Besides, I'm not the one who dropped off the face of the earth."

Daichi's words felt like a punch in the gut. Suga sank lower and lower against the wall until he was sitting on the ground. It made it easier not too look at Daichi, even if his butt was now as cold as the rest of him. "I know I did," he conceded with a sigh that bordered on exhaustion. And maybe he was exhausted. Life had a way of doing that when plans unravel.

"I take it med school wasn't in the cards for you, then," Daichi said simply.

With a wry smile, Suga harrumphed. "I made it a year. Some stuff happened. It didn't work out."

Suga was startled when he felt rather than saw Daichi sink down next to him. "Why not move back home, then? You could have taken a break and started over. There's no way you're happy in a job like this."

"I'm fine," Suga said more harshly than he had intended. "Working in a grocery store doesn't make me a lesser person, Daichi. It just makes me a person who works in a grocery store."

Out of the corner of his eye, Suga saw Daichi turn a magnificent shade of red. "That's not what I meant!" he blurted. "I meant, you always wanted to be doctor. With your resolve, I was pretty sure you'd find a way to cure cancer or something." When Suga looked at Daichi fully, the latter gave him a shy smile. "You were always one step ahead of everyone. Especially me."

Suga's mouth hung open for a minute before he hugged himself in a paltry effort to stave off the now-prominent chill on his skin. "I met someone at school and I thought he was what I wanted. I was wrong, my grades slipped, and then I dropped out. I could go back to college someday, but I'll never get back into Tohoku after the way I left."

Daichi blinked at him. "A — a guy? I didn't know you were, um, into guys."

Suga gave him a derisive look. "I kissed you. How could you not know?"

The other man had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I thought it was some sort of friend thing. Like how the French kiss cheeks and stuff. How many times do I have to tell you I'm dumb about things outside of volleyball before you actually believe me?"

Suga couldn't help but chuckle, sending a playful punch at Daichi's arm. "Not even Kageyama was that clueless."

"Yeah, he was," Daichi deadpanned before they both laughed.

Drawing a calming breath, Suga repeated, "Yeah, he was." With a sigh, he added, "I miss them, Daichi. The team. Beingon a team. It was so much fun. And God, I miss you the most."

Daichi didn't answer. Instead, he peeled off his jacket and draped it around Suga's shoulders, which was when Suga finally noticed it was emblazoned with the Karasuno Volleyball Club logo. "You still have that? Mine fell apart years ago."

"Oh, no," Daichi said, shaking his head. "This one is actually brand new. I'm the faculty advisor for the team, so I get one. Takeda-san is the vice-principal now, so he was happy to turn the team over to me."

Suga's brows shot up. "You teach at Karasuno?"

"Physical education. It's one of the changes Take-chan fought for when he became the new vice. He thinks kids are more well-rounded and socially adept when they have sports in their lives."

"And he's right. It was certainly true for me." Suga reeled at this information. "Keishin?"

With a snort, Daichi replied, "Still saying 'just one more year.' I wonder how much longer it will be before he gives up and admits that he wants to coach until he's his grandfather's age when he retired." It was hard to miss the note of pride in Daichi's voice. It was the same when he used to talk about their team. "We're actually in town for a few practice matches for the next couple of days. Datekou, Seijou, Shiratorizawa. I spent my morning seeing my boys paste Seijou."

"Your team must be top notch, then." Not wanting the conversation to steer any further into personal waters than it had already gone, Suga fell silent. He had a million questions. Did Daichi still talk to their old teammates? Did he have someone in his life? And, possibly on a more selfish tangent, how had he felt at the train station on that last day?

Daichi broke the stalemate. "I have a son."

Suga's head whipped to the side to stare at Daichi. "Y-you got married, then?"

Shaking his head, Daichi smiled wryly. "Not so much. My team at Aichi lost a big match, and I had played like shit. Hajime just told me to sleep it off, but that idiot Oikawa —"

"You're friends with Oikawa?" Suga couldn't even process the idea of Aobajousai's setter, whose entire goal in life seemed to be antagonizing anyone he doesn't consider an ally, being someone Daichi would ever willingly spend time with, let alone befriend. Oikawa would have to make great overtures to gain Daichi's trust, and Suga did not think Oikawa would make that sort of effort unless there was something in it for him.

"God, no," Daichi said quickly. "Iwaizumi Hajime — you know, he was Oikawa's vice at Seijou — was my roommate in college, and we both played on the volleyball team. He and Oikawa were kind of an, er, item, so Tooru was around a lot. He drove from Tokyo whenever he could to watch our games, so he knew us well. Hence why he thought it was an excellent idea to drag us to a club and get drunk off our asses. I ended up getting hammered and hooking up with some random girl. Nine months later, I was a daddy."

Even the knowledge that his break had been over for a few minutes already wasn't enough to shake off the leaden surprise at this bit of news. All thoughts of him being surrounded by Seijou alumni were drowned by these revelations. Daichi was a father, with a steady career that he had worked for. Suga was a college dropout cashier at a grocery store. He would have laughed at the disparity if the shame weren't pressing down on him so heavily.

"I . . . I have to go," Suga said finally. "It was nice to see you. It was really nice." He knew he was babbling, but Suga could not bear to say half of what lingered on his tongue. He ruefully shrugged off the black jacket, which smelled so much like Daichi that he was barely willing to part with its warmth. "Here. Thanks for that."

Daichi shook his head. "Keep it." He pushed it back towards Suga. "I can get another one. Keep it and remember that you're Karasuno. You're a crow, just like me. Remember our words, and maybe you'll find some peace in them." Then he patted Suga on the shoulder and left.

"Take to the skies," Suga murmured to himself as he mechanically trudged back into the building. It was only when he was already clocked out and ready to leave for the day that he noticed that there was a key to a room at a local hotel in the pocket, but Daichi was long gone.