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Walking the dog wasn't a chore, but it was still a hassle. He poked his nose around trash cans and cars, sniffing with impatience and following after cats. It slowed down their progress around the block, especially when he just sniffed along the floor and zigzagged. Suga felt bad tugging on the leash to steer him away, but if he didn't do it, they'd be stuck in the same spot for a while.
"Come on, Hibiki, time to go," Suga said with a short pull. Hibiki pawed at the ground, but after a few seconds he relented and skipped back to Suga.
This usually repeated until Hibiki got sick of walking, slowed his pace, and hung his head, guilting Suga into turning them around and heading back home. Today, Hibiki didn't slow down. He kept sniffing and wagging his tail in interest, raising his head and leaning forward to hurry after a few moments. Suga was rarely ever yanked along by force since Hibiki wasn't that big, Hibiki was still a young Shiba Inu, but the surprise alone left Suga stumbling after him.
Hibiki tugged and managed to guide Suga around a corner. Another dog came into sight, and immediately Hibiki leapt forward, straining against the leash more than before. His front paws lifted off the ground as he struggled. Suga didn't want to injure his neck, so he tried to lighten his grip, but Hibiki ended up pulling free and taking off.
Chasing him wasn't necessary, at least. Hibiki stopped right before the other dog to circle them, nudging their shoulder with his nose. Suga glanced up at the owner to apologize, but his mouth remained closed instead, eyes blinking and drifting up more, slowly.
"Sugawara?" Iwaizumi asked. "From Karasuno?"
Suga lowered his arms and rubbed at his elbows. "Iwaizumi…"
Iwaizumi's grasp on his leash went lax, too, although he didn't let go. He let his hand drop as his eyes flickered to the two dogs sniffing each other and barking happily. "It's nice to see you again, at least."
The last time they met was at inter high, but even then, they didn't actually talk. Suga shook his hand in passing and left with the rest of his team.
Suga bent to the floor to avoid Iwaizumi's eyes and pick up the leash. "Sorry for my dog. He gets excited sometimes."
"That's fine. I have the same problem now and then." Iwaizumi lifted his leash to gently tug on the collar, but his dog wasn't taking the hint. Iwaizumi sighed and crouched down.
Suga tried to guide Hibiki away, but he looked too bouncy and energetic being around another dog. Suga couldn't bring himself to tear them apart, so he stood with his leash limply hanging from his hand.
"…What's your dog's name?" Suga asked.
"Her name's Yuki." Iwaizumi was still crouched down, but now his mouth was twitching in the corners as he petted Yuki's head. Suga knew the feeling, he got exasperated with his dog too and still wanted to smile, and he could see Iwaizumi fighting it off.
Right now, especially, Suga was exasperated. Hibiki was shoving Iwaizumi's arm away to nudge his head in, and with Iwaizumi's surprise making him pause, Hibiki could investigate his hand with his nose.
"Okay, I think that's enough," Suga said. He gave a small pull on the leash, but it didn't dissuade him. Hibiki moved in front of Iwaizumi's face to sniff and blink before returning to the ground and wagging his tail. The tail movement ended up shaking Hibiki's whole body.
"Your dog's really friendly." Iwaizumi ruffled the fur before standing up.
"Yeah," Suga muttered, switching the leash to his other hand to pull again. He mumbled at Hibiki and tried to walk away to demonstrate that they were leaving, but it still didn't have an effect. Hibiki and Yuki lifted their heads to glance up at Iwaizumi.
Suga didn't know Iwaizumi that well, but Iwaizumi looked too smug for his own good. He tilted his head to the side to hide his brief flicker of a smile.
"Hibiki probably wants to finish the walk with you two," Suga said. He pressed his lips together and scratched the back of his head.
"Come along, then." Iwaizumi took a step, the leash following his hand. Yuki obeyed with a couple steps, and that prompted Hibiki to trot with them.
"Thank god," Suga mumbled at Hibiki's agreement. Suga walked forward, and they fell into a steady pace with Iwaizumi and Yuki. Both dogs were distracted by each other, so they weren't walking that fast, but Suga was glad that they didn't want to run.
"Troublesome dog?"
Suga snorted. "Sometimes he doesn't walk at all."
Iwaizumi brushed a hand through his hair in silence. Other than their dogs and volleyball, they didn't have much to talk about, and Suga didn't think bringing up volleyball was a good idea. That sounded a little desperate.
"Isn't this out of your neighborhood?" Iwaizumi asked after a minute.
"I'm visiting someone for the weekend, and I brought him along," Suga said, gesturing at Hibiki nosing along on the ground beside Yuki.
It was a pleasant coincidence, Suga had to admit. There weren't many reasons for bumping into someone outside of Karasuno. They didn't practice much with Seijou, so Suga didn't know what Iwaizumi was like, but he felt at ease with him and his dog.
Suga was wearing ordinary sweats, which he thought was okay attire for walking. Iwaizumi was wearing sweats too, but with a muscle shirt, and that made Suga squirm a little. Suga threw an old shirt on, so he was comfortable but sloppy. He could see Iwaizumi's bare arms shift with each movement, and the tops of his shoulders were framed by the fabric. It was very easy to notice the muscles in his arms, and it was very difficult for Suga keep his eyes from straying to them in curiosity.
"Sugawara? Is something wrong?"
"No, sorry, I just zoned out for a second," Suga said, his mouth twitching in a guilty smile. "What did you say?"
"Are you staying for just the weekend?"
"Yeah. I'm going back tomorrow night." Suga felt a tug on his leash, and he readjusted his arm to clasp it closer. "You don't have to call me Sugawara, you know. You can call me Suga. Everyone does."
"Well..." Iwaizumi lifted an arm to rub the back of his neck. "If you say so, Suga."
Suga tightened his grip on the leash. Hearing people call him by his nickname was a seal of friendship, but Iwaizumi saying it felt like hot air rushing by and into his throat. And it wasn't hot out, the only real heat Suga felt before was from the low momentum of exercise, so he had a horrible feeling that he knew what was going on.
"I-it's fine, to call me that, it sounds fine," Suga said.
Iwaizumi turned his head a bit, his eyebrow raising, but Yuki yanked and ran forward before he could say anything. As a husky, Yuki was a bigger problem when she pulled, so Iwaizumi faltered in surprise.
Suga saw a bag of spilled food on the floor. Hibiki was pawing at the ground, head raised to sniff the air and whine in its direction.
"Here, give me your dog's leash so you can throw that away somewhere," Suga said. He coiled the leash in his hand and extended the other hand for Iwaizumi's leash.
Iwaizumi tugged to give it to him. As soon as it was in Suga's hand, he could feel the strain on the leash, and he stumbled with a startled step before he could realize how strong she was. He heard Iwaizumi laughing as he walked away to throw out the trash, and he bit his lip and wrinkled his nose. His expression lasted for a moment, since the struggle made him grit his teeth and open his mouth to breathe in frustration.
Iwaizumi's hand slid against his as he reached back for the leash. Iwaizumi was warm, and the memory of the sensation lingered as he pulled away.
"She's a handful," Iwaizumi said, mouth quirked in a small slip of a smile. Suga liked that it was small, a corner of his mouth in a subtle twitch as if he couldn't help it.
"I'm glad this one's tiny." Suga nudged Hibiki with his foot.
Iwaizumi led them around the corner, and thankfully their dogs were calm enough for the next few minutes to pass without event.
"I live on this street," Iwaizumi said once they were further down the block. "Want to step in for some water?"
Suga glanced down at the dogs. "They do look thirsty..."
They were both panting with their tongues flopping out of their mouths, but they still wagged their tails. They slowly trudged after them up the steps to Iwaizumi's door, the leashes trailing behind.
"Let's leave them in the backyard," Iwaizumi said. He opened the back door after they walked through the house, and the dogs trotted out at a sluggish pace, plopping down a couple feet away on the grass. Hibiki rolled onto his side and dropped his head.
"I guess they're more tired than I thought." Suga bent down to pet Hibiki's head.
Iwaizumi gave them bowls of water first, and he returned on the next trip with a water bottle for Suga. The dogs craned their heads to lap at their water, straightening once they had their fill.
"Thanks," Suga said. He drank from the bottle in a hurry, one long drink that left him sighing and wiping his hand across his mouth afterward. He didn't think he was that thirsty, but his throat felt less dry now.
He lowered the bottle to talk, but Iwaizumi was still taking a drink. Suga fidgeted on his feet quietly, his head turning away but his eyes still skimming over Iwaizumi's neck and down to his arms.
"Do you want to sit?" Iwaizumi asked after a few moments. He bent his legs to sit on the steps, and Suga did the same beside him.
Suga kept side-eyeing him, shifting in his seat when he noticed Iwaizumi sweating and sighing.
Iwaizumi turned his head. "Is something wrong?"
Suga jerked his head away. "No, no, I'm fine."
He tried to collect his hands in his lap and stare at the dogs in front of him, but they weren't doing anything interesting. All that was on his mind now was Iwaizumi sitting next to him. He still tried to look at Iwaizumi out of the corner of his eyes.
Iwaizumi rubbed the side of his neck. "You know, I'm glad I bumped into you today," he said.
"You are?"
Iwaizumi coughed to clear his throat. "Well, yeah. You're probably better company than other people I know." Iwaizumi took another drink.
It sounded like there was some hesitance in Iwaizumi's voice, but Suga didn't know if he imagined it or not. As if Iwaizumi was going to say something else, but he changed his mind last second.
Suga nervously smiled. He wasn't aware of being nervous until now, but he felt that light bubble of urgency in his throat that he knew meant something. It made him want to fidget more.
"What makes you think that?" Suga finally asked.
Iwaizumi shrugged. "I've noticed you on the court. You get along with your team better than Kageyama can."
"You remember me that well?"
"Yeah. Do you remember me?"
Suga brushed his hair away from his forehead and glanced down at his fingertips. "A bit." A lot. Iwaizumi was Seijou's ace, after all. It's hard to forget admirable players like Iwaizumi and Oikawa.
"A bit? Hopefully you remember more than my name by now." Iwaizumi turned to give a brief smile, and Suga tried to do the same as he swallowed.
"Of course I do." Suga let his eyes drift over Iwaizumi. There was no doubt that Suga was going to remember him now.