Satellite

The morning after the show and his confrontation with Oikawa, Suga woke up to ten text messages from Yahaba and, consequently, a massive headache. Before checking his messages, he hopped out of bed to fortify himself with a glass of water and something for his head. He settled back into bed, sighed, and scrolled through the text messages. Yahaba had managed to both profusely apologize for violating Suga’s privacy and talk up Oikawa Tooru like he was the prized ham at a country fair and it made Suga’s head spin.

He wrote a quick message to Yahaba, not because he forgave him but so that he would stop sending messages, and then sent a message to Daichi to apologize for not responding the night before. He wrote out a second text, about missing him too, but deleted it. Suga closed his eyes and thought about his odd encounter the night before.

Oikawa Tooru was exceptionally good-looking and successful, had an equally handsome and successful best friend that at one point he might’ve been in love with, was in the habit of befriending, finding, or employing male sex workers, and had public relationships with women. It wasn’t all that unusual for publicly straight men to seek out male sex workers in private, but something seemed off. What happened between Iwaizumi and Oikawa? Was Iwaizumi not interested in men? Why did Yahaba think Oikawa needed someone that cared about him when it seemed like he had everything?

Suga looked at his phone again. No response from Daichi. He was a late sleeper and it was still the weekend and it made sense that he wouldn’t respond right away. They had plans for later in the afternoon, so Suga contented himself with that and swung his legs over the side of the bed to get ready for the day.

The morning sunshine came through his kitchen window and lit up plants on the window sill. His apartment was small and maybe a little grungy, but it was his. He paid for it with money he earned at the nonprofit, and he loved every square inch. There were posters hung up on the walls, photos of the band tacked up on cabinets, and a random mish-mash of furniture that Daichi, Asahi, Noya, and Tanaka helped him find. Suga turned on the coffee maker and watered his plants while he waited for the coffee to brew.

After his morning coffee, he sat down at his desk to write. He doodled in the margins of his notebook while he thought. The whole situation with Oikawa and Yahaba made him grateful that he wasn’t dependent on sex work anymore. He didn’t make even half of what he used to, but it was enough for his apartment, for food to take care of his friends, and for him to put a little money into savings each month. He did the math in his head and smiled. If everything continued as it was, he would have enough money by the fall to enroll in a class at the university. He would be able to finish the college degree that he abandoned all those years ago. He would get his life on track, find the courage to tell Daichi everything, and finally, finally move forward with the man he loved.

Suga stared at the doodles and put his notebooks away in favor of breakfast. He stood in front of the fridge and surveyed his meager supplies. It occurred to him that if Hinata spent any time in his apartment, like they had discussed the night before, he would want to make sure he was fed. He hurried to get dressed and made a mental list of all the groceries he might need to feed a hungry college student.

An hour later, Suga had barely unpacked his groceries before he heard fists banging on his door. He yelled that it was open and Noya, Tanaka, and Asahi barged into the apartment. Suga craned his neck to see if anyone else had followed them.

“Where’s Daichi?”

“Eh, some work thing. He said he was sorry to ditch us but had to take care of something before Monday,” Tanaka said as he flopped down on Suga’s couch.

Suga took his phone out of his pocket to see if Daichi had texted him, but found nothing. It wasn’t like Daichi to keep him out of the loop and it made him a little uneasy. He almost laughed aloud at his own hypocrisy, but stopped himself. He looked at Asahi, who shrugged back.

“Okay then. Do you guys have the address of the house you’re going to see?”

“Yup! It’s right on my phone. Daichi let us borrow the car so it’ll be easier!”

Asahi gulped. “I really prefer not to drive all the way there… I don’t know the way.”

Noya reached up, put his hands on Asahi’s cheeks, and smushed them together. “Asahi, you got this. You’ll be great! It’ll be awesome! We’ll get to live in our own place because of you!”

The corners of Asahi’s eyes crinkled as he tried to smile and he nodded. Suga noticed the blush on Asahi’s cheeks when Noya dropped his hands.

Suga put his hands on his hips and pointed to the door. “Now that’s settled, let’s get going. It’s about time you find a place and stop taking years of Daichi’s life.”

They all piled in to Daichi’s truck and Asahi took the wheel. Suga kept looking over from the passenger side like he expected Daichi to be in the driver’s seat.

When they arrived at the correct address, Noya and Tanaka hopped out of the car and raced to the front door. Suga and Asahi had decided to wait outside so that the other housemates wouldn’t feel pressured by the large group of people. It also gave them a chance to talk.

Suga nudged Asahi with his elbow. “You and Noya are getting a bit touchy,”

Asahi tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and looked out over the hood of the car. “Heh, maybe, though I think that’s just how Noya is.”

“Really? Because it seems pretty obvious that he likes you.”

“He likes everyone, Suga.”

Suga scrunched up his face. “You know what I mean, you big oaf.”

“I - I don’t know,” Asahi looked down into his lap. He turned to look at Suga. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Suga asked innocently.

“Daichi isn’t exactly subtle about his feelings for you.”

“Asahi, I just… can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Asahi said with a raised eyebrow.

“And people say I’m the sassy one,” Suga grumbled.

They shared a laugh and talked about their night at the café. Even Asahi was pretty confident that he sang well and that their performance had been received well by the crowd.

When the front door of the house opened again, the guys came out with big smiles and triumphant looks. Suga watched Noya and Tanaka shake hands with two guys that looked about their age before they ran back to the truck. On the return trip, Noya and Tanaka babbled non-stop about their awesome new roommates and their awesome new house. Kinoshita and Narita, their housemates, were graduate students at the local university and that Noya and Tanaka would be able to move their stuff into the house in two weeks. Suga texted Daichi to let him know that the boys had a successful day and that he would have his house back sooner rather than later. No response. He couldn't take it anymore.

“Was Daichi at home when you left?” Suga asked the group.

Noya peered up from his phone. “Yeah, he was pretty on edge. Some guy named Kuroo was there.”

“I don’t even think they heard us leave,” Tanaka added.

For once, Asahi seemed thankful to be driving so that he had a valid reason to not be involved in the conversation. Suga looked at him, but Asahi kept his eyes glued to the road.

“Kuroo works with us,” Suga said as he settled back into the seat. Uneasiness crept back into his gut.

“Must be a pretty big emergency if Daichi’s working on a Sunday,” Noya said.

Suga hummed. He wasn’t involved in much of the higher level stuff, so it wasn’t entirely unreasonable that Kuroo would be there. And that Daichi would be ignoring his texts. Right?

The rest of the ride was quiet, and Suga got back to his apartment without incident. He texted Daichi one last time that evening and eventually went to bed with a dull ache in his chest.

On Monday morning, Suga only saw Daichi once, when he entered the building. Suga remembered how he paused and rapped his fingers on the side of the desk before he went into the office. Suga tried to call after him but he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear.

He stapled the last of his papers together and glanced at the clock - 5:15pm. He turned to peek into the office and saw that the door to the conference room was still closed. A few of the assistants were still at their desks, so Suga got Ennoshita’s attention and pointed to his wrist as if he were wearing a watch. Ennoshita looked behind him at the closed doors and turned back to Suga and shook his head.

Suga faced his desk and cleared it. It was the last Monday of the month, at the end of a fiscal quarter, which meant that there was a board meeting early that morning and the staff was gathered to discuss the ramifications of any votes that had been taken. Suga hadn’t been around long enough for too many of these meetings, but it seemed like they were in that conference room for much longer than usual. Coupled with Daichi’s lack of communication and the eerie silence of the office, he didn't think his worry was unjustified.

When he couldn’t clear anything else off his desk, he watched the doors until the meeting was over and they opened. He stood up. His co-workers filed out. Bokuto stretched and yawned like he had been asleep the entire time. Akaashi walked with him in step and carried a neat pile of notes. That was normal. Yachi came out and looked like she was about to cry. That was less normal. Kuroo and Tsukishima looked serious. Daichi was the last one out and he followed the executive director into his office. He didn’t look Suga’s way. That was abnormal. Suga still stood by his desk and wrung his hands.

Kuroo came out into the lobby and perched on the side of Suga's desk. He stayed silent for a minute before he spoke.

“Daichi’s going to kick my ass for saying something, but, honestly? I think I could take him.”

A syllable was the only thing Suga managed. “Oh?”

“This morning, the board voted to amend the annual budget in favor of the development team so that they would have more resources for fundraising.”

“That sounds like good news,” Suga said warily.

“In a way, it’s great news, but that money has to come from somewhere.” Kuroo looked straight at Suga. “Sugawara, they cut your job. You can finish out the week, but that’s it.”

The words washed over Suga and he did his best to stay afloat. His stomach did an uncomfortable backflip and he suddenly found it hard to hold himself upright.

Kuroo rubbed his temples. “When we heard the rumors, we spent hours crunching numbers. Daichi didn’t want you to know until he had exhausted every last option. We really did try.”

Suga nodded, but had to stop. The room spun and every time he shook his head he was afraid the ground would fall out from under him. “Oh,” Suga said again. He braced himself on the desk.

Kuroo frowned. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to deal with that dickhead from the office supply store again.”

Suga tried to laugh. “Daishou isn’t all that bad.”

“Pfft. Dude just gets under my skin,” Kuroo gave Suga an appraising look. “You don’t look like it, but you’ve got a thick hide, Suga. You’ll do alright, but you’ll definitely be missed.”

Kuroo got up, gave him one last look, and went back into the office. Suga looked at his shaking hands and then up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop his tears from falling. Luckily, his muscle memory kicked in and his feet took him to the bus stop outside the warehouse.

Those same feet brought him to the bar at which he and Daichi had seen The Court all those months ago.

The place was practically empty, so Suga took a seat at the bar and waved to Ukai, the bartender. He had an unkempt look and could be terrifying when the situation called for it, but, for whatever reason, he had taken a liking to Suga, Daichi, and their group of friends.

“Suga, hey. How’re things?”

“I lost my job today.” Suga heard the words come out of his mouth as if someone else said them.

Ukai crossed his arms over his chest and glowered. “Don’t tell me you got yourself in trouble?”

Suga laughed even though Ukai didn’t mean to be funny. “Budget issues, I guess. May I get a whiskey? Neat?”

The bartender’s face softened. “I’ll make it a double. On the house.”

Music to Suga’s ears. “Thanks,” he said quietly.

Ukai snorted and walked off to grab the whiskey and a glass. Suga rested his elbows on the bar, folded his hands, and rested his head on his fingers. So that was what Daichi was doing on Sunday. He had tried to save Suga’s job. Kuroo had tried to save Suga’s job. Someone sat down next to him.

“Kuroo told you, huh?”

Daichi.

“How’d you know I was here?”

Daichi stared behind the bar. “This is sort of our place, Suga. We come here enough to know the bartender and manager by name.”

“True enough,” Suga agreed.

Ukai came over with Suga’s whiskey and nodded at Daichi, who just nodded back. Daichi only ever ordered one thing, so Ukai grabbed a pint glass and filled it with beer. Most days, Suga poked fun at his rigid adherence to habit, but, today, he just sipped his drink and let the alcohol burn his throat.

Daichi grit his teeth. “Suga, I, we - we’re going to get a petition started, and I have something drafted for the board. I’m going - ”

“It’s fine,” Suga interrupted. He tried his best to speak evenly, but his voice cracked and he winced.

“No! We need you! I’ll be damned if they take your job away! I’m not letting you go!” Daichi shouted.

Suga took a big sip of his drink and jabbed Daichi in the ribcage. He wouldn’t let Daichi shoulder the blame for this.

“This is not your fault, you big dummy,” Suga said with a shaky smile. “And stop shouting.”

Daichi rubbed his side and nodded. “But what will you do?”

“I'll just do what I did last time: hop on a random bus and run into someone I haven't seen in ages. They’ll get me a job, introduce me to their friends, let me join their band, and everything will be peachy. No problem right?”

Daichi frowned. “Please don’t leave us.”

“I’m kidding, Daichi. Now stop making ME comfort YOU and drink your beer.”

They drank in silence.

“I'm going to miss you,” Daichi said into his beer.

“You've been saying that a lot lately.”

“Because I mean it.”

“Don't tell me you’ve gone soft, Daichi. Last thing we need is another Asahi,” Suga tried to laugh. He figured he was still in shock, but joking around with Daichi felt right. His world was spinning, but Daichi kept him grounded.

“When Noya and Tanaka moved into my house, we spent less time together. Now I won't see you at work. I'm so used to having you around,” Daichi continued.

Suga faked shock. “You’re used to me? I'm offended and hurt.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Daichi exhaled and shook his head before giving Suga the warm smile that, in any other circumstance, would’ve sent him up into the sky. “Fine. I love being around you, I love what you bring to our insane group of friends, what you bring with you everywhere. It’s like you’re my magnet. Or gravity. Like everything’s in balance when we work together, like a planet and a moon, or, I don’t know. I can’t think of the word. I’m not the writer.”

Suga watched Daichi speak. His words took shape and spun in the whirlwind that had swept him up and refused to set him back down. Suga tried to reach out for them and use them to steady himself, but everything spun too quickly for him. Daichi stopped talking when he felt Suga loop his arm through the crook of his arm and lean against his shoulder.

They sat in silence for another hour before Daichi called a cab to take Suga back to his apartment. When Suga entered his apartment, he closed the door, leaned against it, and sunk to the floor. He put his head between his knees and allowed himself to cry.