"And here's your iced latte."

"Great, thank you."

He nods to the waitress before she sets off, leaving second-year university student, Sugawara Koushi, alone at his table. He picks up the small glass of sugar syrup that came with his drink and pours almost all of it into his coffee. He proceeds to stir with the black straw he was given, ice clinking together and against the sides, before taking a sip. He takes out his phone and checks the time, trying not to pay any mind to the quickening of his pulse. He came early, he reassures himself, that's why the other isn't here yet-

"Suga!"

He looks up from his device, a drop of warmth slowly rippling through him starting in his chest before finishing at his cheeks. He gives a big smile and holds up his free hand.

"Glad you could make it Nishinoya."

He returns the notion, adjusting the bag on his shoulder as he makes his way to the table. Now that he's sitting, Sugawara notices he seems slightly ragged, a light sheen of sweat against his forehead under short spiky blond locks.

"Aw yeah! I wasn't late this time!"

He's suddenly within Suga's space, looking down at the lit screen's time display as he leans over the table.

It takes Suga a moment to collect himself before simply laughing, ignoring the flips his stomach is making.

"Well done Nishinoya."

He bows egregiously to emphasize his success, complimented with a smug grin, making Suga laugh even more. He doesn't care if he's being a bit louder than he felt comfortable within that public space; something about being with Nishinoya allowed him to let out the parts of his voice he may have been subconsciously holding back. Or maybe that came with the final year of high school they all spent together, screaming and cheering through the good and the bad.

Nishinoya orders, after spending 16 minutes trying to decide between some weird lemonade concoction and melon soda (and ended up getting neither), and they begin to talk; talk about what they've been up to since they last saw each other, how nursing school is going for Suga (or more accurately, how he's somehow still alive after his most recent midterm), and how Nishinoya is fairing with his volleyball scholarship (his biggest accomplishment by far hasn't been a single one of his plays, but the fact that he is no longer the shortest on the team, if only by a few centimeters). They talk about their families, Suga mentions something about Asahi and Daichi from the last time they met up, Nishinoya makes a funny remark and laments about missing the rest of the team.

At some point they were aiming to have a reunion, but with time constraints and different schedules, it was proving difficult to plan out. Eventually, they all decided it'd be best to wait until the summer when the chances were higher that everyone would have some free time- aside from possibly Asahi, but he said he'd look into taking a couple days off.

"Man, that guy is always causing trouble," Nishinoya complains in jest before taking another gulp of his drink. Suga's still not even sure what it is he ordered- he pointed to it instead of asking. But he seems to be enjoying it. It's a pale translucent blue colour, and from the bubbles, he can tell it's carbonated.

Suga smiles. That sort of thing had Nishinoya written all over it. He hadn't changed much since their days at Karasuno, albeit he had mellowed out a tad bit. But he was still the same ball of energy, always ready to dive into action if called upon- in a figurative and literal sense.

Suga recalls the memories of the games he watched from the sides, catching all of his best receives, screaming his name in pure and utter elation as he pulled off what could be deemed as a miracle. The way Nishinoya would shout as he prepared to receive the ball, his arms out wide, wiggling his fingers in anticipation, his balance forward onto the balls of his feet, ready to move the moment the whistle blew, his unshakable concentration and determination that emanated from him. It was almost terrifying but Suga could never look away. Never-

"Hey Suga, somethin' the matter?"

"Huh?"

"You've been staring off into who knows where for the past 5 minutes."

"O-oh, really? My bad. I'm probably just a bit tired."

Yeah. That was a good excuse. It was partially true.

"Hey, man don't strain yourself! If you wanna leave and get some sleep-"

"It's alright Nishinoya, I'll make sure I get a full 8 hours tonight. But thank you for worrying." The big toothy smile that came naturally to him graces his cheeks.

Nishinoya glares, unconvinced. "Alright, I trust ya. But if you end up passing out again I am legally obligated to kick your ass."

"Ahaha, I know Nishinoya."

He wasn't just being funny; they'd actually made a written agreement. Granted, it was on a loose sheet of paper from one of Suga's notebooks, but it was as official as they were gonna get, and neither was the type to back down on a promise. That's actually how this all started; how Nishinoya began to check up on Suga and make sure he was keeping himself healthy, and how Suga found himself crushing on the rolling ball of thunder.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, sipping at their drinks. Suga notices from the corner of his eye the glances Nishinoya takes at him every now and then. Their eyes meet and he can feel himself grow warmer in the air-conditioned cafe.

"Hey, Suga?"

"Mm? What's up?"

"Can you teach me how to drink coffee?"

He blinks once. Twice. The libero isn't budging. He's dead serious.

"Uh, I guess? What's with the sudden interest?"

As far as he can remember, Nishinoya hates the taste of coffee. Asahi had given him a sip of it once during winter exam week and the face he pulled was priceless. Suga holds back a laugh as he thinks about the scrunched up expression and absolute dread that painted Nishinoya's face during that morning practice.

"Well, everyone wants to keep going out for coffee and stuff, and like, I guess I feel kinda left out?

That had to be one of the cutest reasons Suga has ever heard. He holds back another smile.

"You still don't drink tea or anything?"

"Nah, I don't think I'm really a hot drinks kind of guy. I mean, I guess I could try, but, it just doesn't feel the same- if that makes any sense?"

Suga sort of knows what he's getting at.

"Well, if I'm being honest, the way I got used to it was a crap ton of sugar."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I was the same, hated the taste, but eventually, after pulling way too many all-nighters in first year- and obviously the "Midterm Disaster", I decided to give it another try. I started out with, I think at least 6 sugars per cup?"

"6?! Dude, that's nuts!"

He laughs. "I know, might as well have been drinking Red Bull- though I don't really like the taste of those either."

He stirs around his iced latte some more, less for mixing and more out of nerves. "The other trick is to get lattes. They use espresso, but it's mostly milk so it dilutes the flavour."

"Huh."

"And if you're really smart," he picks up his glass, motioning it to Nishinoya, "you mix 'em."

"Whoa. You're a real genius Suga, no wonder you got accepted into one of Tokyo's finest."

Suga smirks. "Very funny Nishinoya, but sarcasm will only get you so far in life."

Nishinoya lets out a short laugh. "Have you always been such a smartass?"

"Maybe, maybe not. There's a lot about me that you don't know Nishinoya."

"Then maybe I should get to know you better, eh Suga?"

He falters for a moment, forgetting what he wanted to say next to counter. It's like all the sense he had left just vanished at the mere thought of that statement. Was he serious? Or was he just going along with the flow of the conversation?

Unsure of the plateau in conversation, Nishinoya tilts his head.

"Suga-?"

"B-by the way, what did you get?" He points at the blue fizzy concoction that has begun to condensate, hoping to steer the conversation away from his current inability to think straight.

"Oh, this? It was their special drink of the month, a soda flavoured Gari Gari Kun soda!"

Of course. Suga doesn't bother holding back his laughter this time.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing nothing, it's just- that's so you Nishinoya."

"It is?"

He stops for a moment to look into Nishinoya's confused yet gorgeous brown eyes.

"To come to a cafe like this and order a drink after your favourite popsicle-"

He laughs again and shakes his head, preventing himself from talking any further because he knows he's going to say something embarrassing: "it's adorable, something I've always liked about you", that's sort of thing.

"How about this? I'll give you a sip of my latte if you let me try your soda? Sound good for you first step in your coffee journey?"

"Deal!"

Suga holds up his hand, about to wave down their waitress for some more straws, but Nishinoya goes right in for the kill.

He should really come with a warning because Nishinoya is not good for Suga's heart as Suga realizes the gravity of the situation: Nishinoya's lips around the straw he'd been drinking from like it was nothing.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, that is wicked sweet. Not bad!"

He puts his glass back and pushes his own towards his former upperclassman.

Alright. So this is how it ends. Suga is about to die of a heart attack and he's not even getting a real kiss. Imagine if it was the real deal. He remembers learning something about the possibility of dying from a broken heart, but was it also possible to die from an elated one? He's about to find out as he slowly picks up the soda.

There aren't any fireworks in his view or internal combustion, just... tingles. He feels tingly and floaty. He doesn't even register the flavour of the soda. He swears he can hear some sort of dull buzzing in his ears. Again, imagine if he'd gotten a real kiss.

"What'd ya think?"

Suga pushes the glass back, his arms feeling detached from his body.

"Interesting. I think I'd stick with the popsicle myself."

"Fair enough. More for me then!"

Suga applauds himself for being able to even sound remotely coherent after that spell.

He watches as Nishinoya happily sips from his own drink, smiling. Would this smiling rolling ball of thunder and sunshine ever know of his feelings? Maybe. Maybe not. But right now, this was more than he could have ever asked for. He lets out another laugh.

"What's so funny now?"

"It's nothing~"

"Oh come on, let me in on it!"

"Maybe one day Nishinoya," he teases as he picks up his drink and smiles.

Maybe one day.