I Stumble, Then Fall

acquaintance

"Done! I'm finally...done..." Suga exhaled in relief, running his hand through his slightly dampened hair. He leaned back against his chair. Why did he decide to finish marking everyone's work today? Is he a masochist? No, he was planning on sleeping early and drinking some warm, delicious tea before going to bed. Oh, and maybe hogging the bathtub for himself.

His mind decided to make himself work instead.

Moniwa pats his back. "You should be really proud of yourself for assessing each and every one of those art-works. How many students do you have again?"

"Around thirty ..."

"Yeah, you deserve a break. Let's go to that ramen place nearby, they put extra seaweed on my ramen because I'm a regular!"

Moniwa pressed a cold drink against his cheek and Suga squawks at the sudden coldness. He took the drink from Moniwa. "Don't do that, it's freezing!"

The black-haired laughed by his side, opening his own drink. "That's the point."

Moniwa has been by Suga's side since they first met at the university. Both had realized that one was from Karasuno and the other one was from Datekou. They recognized each other's faces and sat right beside each other inside the classroom.

Suga was sitting alone that time (even though the whole room was packed and there were barely any seats left, he still considered himself a loner). Moniwa came late for his first class and decided to sneak in, and Sugawara decided to help him out by calling out for him while pointing at the available seat close to him.

Sugawara recognized someone from Johzenji (it's their manager, he thinks) but he chose to ignore her. She was already hanging out with her own group of friends, anyways.

It's been a couple of years since that happened, and the inner rivalry was buried deep in their minds. Well, with the exception of volleyball, of course.

"I was really looking forward to sleeping, you know." Suga complies, but he stands up anyways. He loves teaching and all. He loves seeing his students grow out of their shell, showing off their newfound talents under their skins. Though, when it comes to midterms where everyone is cramming their asses off, it could be hectic.

"But it's the weekend tomorrow and you can sleep in all you want~ and besides! It's my treat!" Moniwa exclaimed.

Suga raised his eyebrows and smirked with other intentions in mind. "You're awfully giddy today. Did something happen?"

Moniwa hummed, thinking. "Hm, nothing, really. You just really, really//, deserve a break after all// of this hard work."

Sugawara eyed him suspiciously, but doesn't pry. If Moniwa wanted to tell him whatever's happening, then he will. Suga can wait. "Okay, then. Let's go."

They arrived at their destination right away. It was really close by the school he teaches at (it feels weird saying that in his head when he's still a student-teacher) that they only had to walk a kilometer.

It looked more of a ramen place instead of a restaurant. It was a small place with four round tables and one long one attached to the wall that sits in front of the cook. They both sat down in front of the chef and ordered.

A phone started to ring. It's Moniwa's. "Hello? Yes, this is Kaname Moniwa speaking... No worries, sir, I understand. I'll come right away."

Moniwa hung up his phone call and looked at Suga, regret in his eyes. "Suga..."

"Don't look at me like that," Suga chuckled, shooing him away. "You stood me up, but that's fine. You'll just have to treat me next time."

Moniwa frowned, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. "Okay. I'll clean our apartment for a week, too. Sorry, Suga, I know that you could've used this time to sleep instead of—"