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Suga's soul has not yet passed to the afterlife.
Instead, it remained in a house in Sendai, unable to leave the place of death.
For years now, he had been translucent. He could pass through furnitures and walls. Placing his body in front of something made it seem like he was looking through a filter just to see that something. He cannot even remember what he looked like because he cannot see himself in the mirror.
And because his soul remained here, it meant that he had some unfinished business. Either that or he lacked the acceptance of his death. Maybe both.
Regardless, it was up to Suga. He can't just accept it.
"You're staring at the wall again."
Suga was pulled out of his thoughts. Oikawa Tooru, the man who graciously moved into this home despite seeing a ghost, snapped his fingers in front of him.
"I'm thinking of where to go next," he lied.
"You just arrived from that wall. What, you missed it already?"
"Geez. Can't a dead man think? Don't you have chores to do?"
"Suit yourself." Oikawa rolled his eyes. He turned around to focus on whatever chore he was doing, the tight shirt exposing his back muscles. His undercut was on full display too. Gods, he shouldn't be focusing on this!
This was Suga's biggest struggle. Oikawa was more accepting and handsome that he should be; Suga was more attracted than he should have.
But you're dead, Suga reminded himself.
A few years after Suga's passing, Suga decided to make a rule for himself: never scare anyone. He had to be on his best behavior; never distracting, never creepy. His soul was not supposed to be here to begin with. In fact, Oikawa should have this place all to himself.
Yet it backfired. Kind of.
When Oikawa was checking this place out with an agent, Suga made himself known in their line of sight. He even gestured to the rooms that the agent talked about as if he were part of the ones selling the house!
Yet when Oikawa saw him, he chuckled.
Yes. Chuckled.
A few days later, he bought the house.
It was nice to stay with Oikawa. He befriended Suga on his own initiative.
"Hey, ghost!" He said back then. "I have a blind date to attend to. It's a sit down dinner. Should I wear a tie?"
Suga blinked. "Uh. . . Well, don't?"
"No? You don't think so?"
"Ties make you look stuffy. Go for something more elegant and comfortable. Like, I don't know, vests over button-ups. Then minimal accessories that would give you character."
Oikawa looked stunned. "Wow. You thought that through."
"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"
That was the beginning of their friendship.
"Alright! I'm done organizing the storage room!" Oikawa announced as he appeared in sight again. "Are you still staring off to space, Suga-chan?"
"Oh my gods, shut up."
Oikawa threw his head back in laughter. He then walked over to the table in the living room, close to where Suga was sitting.
(Suga ignored the way Oikawa tried to touch his shoulder. A touch as if to say "excuse me." There was no point of saying that when he can always walk past.)
Goodness, Oikawa, don't.
Oikawa prepared the notebook he had for volleyball. This was where he wrote down his plays and observations. He got this idea from Suga, who used to be a setter when he was alive.
"Wow, so busy," Suga teased.
"I'm productive, unlike my roommate over here."
"Bitch."
Oikawa smirked as he fished for his glasses. Oh no. . . The glasses. He put them on. Suga flushed and looked away.
"What? Can't even look at me, Suga-chan?"
"Shut up. Seriously."
Oikawa laughed again. "Alright. I won't tease you anymore. I'm going to work now."
"OK."
The two of them stayed in comfortable silence.
Suga almost fell asleep when Oikawa's loud cellphone rang like an alarm clock in the morning.
"Ah, it's the matchmaker," Oikawa announced in a whisper. "Shh, it's OK. Go back to sleep."
"No, you can take it here."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Unless you need privacy."
"No. You can stay." Oikawa answered the call. "Hello? This is Oikawa speaking."
There was silence as the other line kept on talking.
"Oh, they said yes?"
Suga looked at Oikawa.
He gave him a thumbs up. This was what he was looking for, right?
"Mm. Listen, I won't avail for your services anymore. I'll pay you back."
Suga gave Oikawa the nastiest glare ever.
"Ah, I can still take this date? Mm. Listen, can we take a rain check on that blind date?" Suddenly, Oikawa locked eyes with Suga. Suga felt electrified. "... I'm busy."
The call ended soon after that.
Suga watched Oikawa put his phone down. He was awfully calm about it. The only time Suga saw him like this was whenever he was. . . in court. Well, based on the game tapes the man played for Suga as an introduction.
"You said no to the blind date?" Suga asked carefully.
"You heard me loud and clear."
"Come on. You were seeking matchmakers and blind dates the moment you moved in here. I know you're being pressured to find a partner, too. What happened?"
There was an extended pause. Oikawa seemed too interested in whatever volleyball notes he was writing about.
"Oikawa-kun?"
"That's not my name," he whispered the complaint.
"Tooru," Suga corrected himself. "You doing good? It's a rare opportunity that someone found a suitable date for you. You should call your matchmaker back and say yes to the date. I know my knowledge of trends is extremely outdated, given that I'm dead for a while now, but I can help you prepare for the date if—"
"Suga-chan."
Suga gulped.
Oikawa looked up. The pleading in his voice matched the pleading in his eyes. "You know why."
"Let's drop this," Suga said weakly and floated away, ignoring Oikawa's calls for him to come back.
They can't go on like this.
-
13 months ago
Day One
Oikawa's house hunting
"This is the other option, Oikawa-san."
Standing before Oikawa is a humble, two-storey home.
A man stood in the corner. His eyebrows shot up to his forehead upon seeing Oikawa and the contractor.
"And this is the living room. It's very spacious, isn't it?"
The living room was spacious, but it was clearly the type to lose its space once the furniture arrived. Oikawa wanted to point out that she was exaggerating, but he bit his tongue. This was part of her job.
But – eh. He can figure out a way to maintain the feeling of spaciousness.
"It is."
"There's even a backyard," she said and pulled open the glass door. "If you want to maintain your privacy, you can always put some curtains up."
After a brief tour of the backyard, both Oikawa and the contractor went back inside the house proper.
This time, the man from the corner was in front of them. He had a smile on his face. Then, he bowed deeply.
Hello! he said once he stood back up.
Oikawa pretended not to see him.
The man followed the two of them as the contractor explained things. He stood next to the contractor, nodding along to things she said while holding a hand out as if presenting the home along with her.
Oikawa could not help but chuckle.