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“Sugawara-sensei!”
“Yes?”
“I got glue on my hands again!”
Suga looked down. Haru, one of his more ridiculous students, had glue not only on his hands, but also on his desk, his shirt, and his face. “You certainly did,” Suga said. He dug around in his desk at the front of the classroom for the elementary school teacher’s best friend — wet wipes. “Okay, Haru-kun, give me your hands.”
He had gotten most of the glue off when there was a knock at the door. Suga spun around to see a familiar face smiling through the window. He gave Haru the pack of wipes. “Here, you can do your face yourself.” He stood and went to the door. “Class, please take your seats. We’ll finish the artwork later.”
Suga stuck his head out the door, dropping his teacher-voice and grinning. “Daichi!”
“Hi Sensei!” Daichi winked. His hair was longer than when Suga had last seen him, but otherwise he looked the same as ever.
“Nice uniform,” Suga said, looking down at his vest and duty belt.
Daichi yanked on Suga’s tie. “You too.”
“You ready?”
“Yep!”
“Okay.”
He straightened up, becoming Sugawara-sensei again, and let Daichi in. “Class, I want to introduce you to a very special friend of mine. Everyone, say hello to Officer Sawamura.”
“Hi, Officer Sawamura,” the kids echoed. Daichi waved.
“Officer Sawamura is going to talk to you about keeping safe, which is very important. So pay attention and be respectful to him, okay?” Twenty tiny heads nodded their agreement. “Okay,” Suga said to Daichi. “All yours.”
“Thanks. So, kids,” he asked, “first of all, how many of you know how to ride a bike?”
Suga normally tuned out and graded homework when they had guest speakers, but today he watched the whole thing. Daichi talked to the kids for an hour, about bike helmets, strangers, and how to call the police if they needed help. He passed around his badge and hat. The kids loved it, and gave him a round of applause when he finished.
The bell for recess rang just as Suga was making them thank him for coming. “Okay, no running!” he called, as the kids ran for the door. Once it was just him and Daichi in the room, he sighed. “Someday, they’ll actually listen.”
He leaned against the desk, patting the spot next to him. Daichi joined him. “That was a good presentation,” Suga told him. “No one fell asleep this time, which, believe me, has happened with other speakers.”
Daichi laughed. “It should be good; I’ve given it about fifty times now, all over the prefecture.”
Suga lightly punched his shoulder. “And it took you this long to get to me?”
“We started in the north,” Daichi explained. “I’m glad I’m here now, though. It’s good to see you.”
“You too.”
“How long has it been?”
Suga counted. “Four months, I think? Since the last Black Jackals game.”
“Wow. Too long.”
“Mm. How are things with Makiko?”
Daichi grimaced, scraping a hand through his hair. “Oh, well. We broke up, actually.”
“Really?”
“Yeah… I’d say it was mutual, but I’d be lying. She dumped me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh, it’s okay,” Daichi said in a tone that suggested it wasn’t. “What about you? Anyone special?”
Suga laughed wryly. “No, same as always. Just me and my cat.”
“Ah.”
They sat in silence for a moment, children’s laughter carrying in on the breeze through the window.
“We should hang out more,” Suga said, at the same time Daichi said, “I’ve missed you.”
They both laughed. “Great minds,” Suga said.
“Yeah. We could definitely see each other more often. I took the train today, and it was only half an hour. That’s totally doable.”
“Oh, actually,” Suga said, “I forgot to tell you. I bought a car!”
“Really? A cool one?”
“No, a dependable one, with good gas mileage.”
“Very you.”
“But it’s still faster than the train.”
Daichi smiled. “Probably. Man, you haven’t even seen my new apartment yet. It’s not great, or anything, but there’s at least room for two people to sit down in it.”
“We could have a housewarming party! It’ll be great. We can video call Asahi and make him feel guilty for moving so far away.”
“Hey,” Daichi said, “no bullying.”
“Yes, Captain.”
They both smiled. Suga glanced up at the clock. “Recess is almost over.”
Daichi stood. “I guess I should be going, then.”
“Do you have to go back to work?”
“No, this is my last stop of the day.”
“Well, then— why don’t you stay?” Suga asked quickly. “There’s only an hour left, and we’re just doing art projects. Glueing stuff to other stuff. You can help, and then we can go get a drink after.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, if you want to. No pressure, though.”
“That sounds fun, actually. I’ll stay.”
“Cool.”
The bell rang, signalling the end of recess.
“Oh, you’ll want to move away from the door now,” Suga warned him.
Daichi was puzzled, but he managed to step aside just before the flood of children came in. Suga wrinkled his nose. “What did I say about running!?”