one step further // haikyuu x OC

the best a teacher can do // 26

~ Keishin Ukai ~

When you run a family owned store in a semi-small town, you begin to notice your regular customers. I've noticed the friendly old lady that comes in every week, the rowdy boys from the volleyball club that would rather eat curry buns than have a proper meal, and so on. Because of that it's easy to pick out someone who is new to the area, but it rarely ever happens. Except for this one day, a girl came into the store. She wandered aimlessly around the shelves picking up merchandise, turning it over in her hands, then putting back the certain snacks. It didn't even look like she was reading the packages, just simply looking at the pictures on them and deciding from there. The uniform told me she was a student at Karasuno. I didn't think much of it until I saw her in there every morning after that before school, choosing an assortment of snacks from the shelves and happily trotting off to the school with the plastic bag hanging off her fingers. She was just like the boys from the club, I was almost certain she was replacing a normal lunch with all that junk food. I never said much to her about it, until that teacher from the school managed to reel me into coaching the boys club with him. And wouldn't you know, that girl was apart of the volleyball club too.

Takeda could see I picked up on something as we were watching the boys and girls go through drills. He asked, "What are you thinking, coach?"

"Bah," I groaned, sounding more like my grandfather than I care to admit. "That girl over there, she new around here?"

"Ah, you mean Miss Toshiko?" I nodded. He let out a sigh, a slight gloom hanging over his head. "She's... kind of a special case. Not that she knows we think that."

"Eh? What's wrong with her?"

"Oh! Nothing with her!" He laughed nervously. "It's more of a... less than ideal family situation." Takeda pushed up his glasses and watched her with a sadness, maybe even a slight guilt in his eyes. Needless to say it piqued my interest. "She just transferred here from the United States into the first year class. Called the office to solidify her schedule on her own, and even sought me out to get connected with the captain of the girls volleyball club."

"Seems responsible." I answered, not exactly sure where this was going. She seemed like a fine athlete, and for a first year transfer to go all out like that was impressive.

"Well I don't think she had much of a choice other than to be responsible. Her dad is some big shot COO of a really big company that's expanding to international business."

"Is that so?" He nodded, still watching the court. However he motioned me to lean closer and lowered his voice to continue.

"As much as I hate to admit... I've been prying and gathering information. When I met her and talked to her on the phone, something seemed off to me."

"What are you getting at teach'?"

"I found out she is living all by herself..." he sighed again. That's when things started clicking for me. Even a small tug at my gut. So, she lives by herself and eats snacks all day in lieu of cooking? "And I don't think she lets her peers in on this. Rumor has it her dad polishes his public image, something tells me he's covering up scandals- but that's besides the point!" He pinched the bridge of his nose stressfully.

"I've been working hard to keep tabs on her well being since I found that out. Being in charge of both volleyball clubs has made this exceptionally difficult."

"Well, what do you plan to do? Report it?"

"I want to! But I think she cares about keeping her dad's image looking perfect. Even if she acts like she doesn't. I'm just a teacher, I don't have any power over this. The best I can do is make sure she keeps coming to school, keeps coming to practice... And besides-" As he continued ranting, we watched as she got a one up on some of the boys club members. Jeering and smiling at them with her teammates. She was beaming. "I think her peers here and this club keeps her steady. Her teachers have told me she gets good marks on her schoolwork, but isn't passionate about it by any means. It's clear to see volleyball is her true passion."

It was kind of incredible to see him in that way. A teacher who truly cared for his students, and believed in them. Speaking first hand I could tell you the man worked hard for them. Even convinced me to give the boys a chance. However, you could also see that it was beginning to wear him thin. Bags began to form under his eyes in a perpetual tiredness, despite how he put on a brave face for everyone. I began to feel bad. Like I had to help him out somehow.

"Well..." I began, breaking him from his disheartened thoughts. "I can help keep an eye on her. A little. She actually comes into my shop every morning to buy snacks."

"Really? You would do that??" He beamed, though I waved him off.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. I'd like to help out."

"That would mean so much! Thanks, Ukai!"

So, after that I tried to subtly keep her on a good path - paid close attention to her behavior. Then the opportunity to let her join for golden week happened, truth be told part of me was reluctant. But the thought of Takeda stressing out to make sure she's okay made me give in to Kageyama's request. After she and I got formally acquainted, I tried talking to her every morning when she came into the store, maybe lectured her a little more than necessary about eating only junk food. She laughed it off some days, apologized on others. Then she got hurt, and kept it a secret from everyone until the day before the girl's tournament. She was one of those athletes. Reckless. Thinking they're invincible. Taking themselves well beyond their physical limits for the sake of playing for their team. Sadly, I couldn't say I was surprised when I received a frantic call from Takeda from the gymnasium where the tournaments were being held.

I had a feeling things were about to take a bad turn.

xxx

~Ittetsu Takeda~

"Ukai, please get here quickly. I think we need to bring Toshiko to the hospital." My voice trembled slightly despite trying to keep calm. I acted without thinking, and called Ukai when I was still crouched in the middle of the court with the girls. He told me he would get there as soon as possible. Toshiko was barely holding herself together. Saying lowly, "I'm fine... I can still play. I just need some water... please don't take me out..."

Her captain was doing her best to calm her down, but she was on the edge. I swallowed my own anxiousness and began to speak to her myself.

"Toshiko... we need to move you off the court and to the infirmary. Can you stand at all?" She nodded silently. Defiantly. I knew that she was going to try and prove that she could get back in the game. She wobbled her way to her feet, immediately attempting to put weight on the hurt ankle. Right before she fell I caught her under the arms, I was beginning to feel as desperate as she was. However in the midst of my worrying in those few seconds, her weight was lifted from my hands. Kageyama and Yamaguchi came out of nowhere and flanked her sides, draping her arms over their shoulders and holding her up by the waist. They were just the right height to keep her hurt ankle off the ground and lift her off the court.

"Where do we go?" Kageyama asked seriously. His grim and serious expression contrasting heavily from the clearly anxious Yamaguchi. I gave them verbal directions to the infirmary, asking them to stay with her, try to keep her calm until I could get there. I still had to talk to referee's and scorekeepers. Doing my best to keep the rest of the girls calm, I put in a substitute for Toshiko and told them to do their best for her. They all had such disheartened and worried looks on their faces, despite my worry, I could not leave them in there. And just as I began to stress over what to do, a tap on my shoulder snapped me back to reality.

"Where's she at, teach'?"

"Ukai! Thank goodness. I had the boys take her to the infirmary, they should still be there. I.. I can't leave these girls behind. Please, I'm entrusting you to take care of her. She's not doing well."

"I'll do my best." He spoke as he turned, immediately setting out for the task at hand. I was grateful for him, because without realizing it, I had stacked up so many responsibilities onto my shoulders. And just to have him there to help was a great weight lifted.