Chapter 41: Coach

They were called destined rivals, a title forged through years of competition between their legendary coaches during their prime—Yasufumi Nekomata of Nekoma High and Ikkei Ukai of Karasuno High.

"Nekoma High!"

Takeda's voice rang with excitement, "I finally got a reply from their coach! They'll be around for a training camp next week!"

Both schools had a long history of rivalry. Their teams even shared animal-inspired mascots: Karasuno as the crows and Nekoma as the cats.

And whenever they faced off, the match always earned the same nickname...

"The Battle at the Garbage Dump..."

Suga explained, and Tsuna nodded in response.

He'd heard about Coach Ukai here and there since his first year at Karasuno, though he'd never had the chance to meet him. Apparently, the training drills they had been doing as a routine were part of Ukai's teachings.

'Ukai, huh? That sounds somewhat familiar...'

Tsuna had heard the name often, especially from Kageyama, who had mentioned choosing Karasuno partly because of Ukai's reputation

The name seemed to have rang a bell in his mind, but Tsuna couldn't quite place it.

With a shake of his head, he let the thought go for now and turned to Suga, "Have you guys played against them before?"

"Uh, no," Suga admitted with a wry smile, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Things got... complicated after Coach Ukai retired."

"A lot of the connections Coach Ukai had built across the volleyball world were lost after that. Teams stopped seeing Karasuno as a threat. It got so bad that even arranging practice matches in our own prefecture became a struggle."

"Seems like his name means a lot in the volleyball world."

"It does. And as far as our rivalry goes with Nekoma..."

Suga frowned as he added, "We've never won a single game against them—not even when Karasuno was at its peak under Coach Ukai!"

"Oh?"

Tsuna raised his eyebrows at this.

He could understand if they were talking about the Karasuno of recent years, but the idea that even the legendary Coach Ukai's team had never bested Nekoma...

Tsuna couldn't help but feel intrigued as he thought, 'Would they be as strong as Aoba Johsai then?'

"Then, Captain, let's start preparing for this practice game!"

Hinata was clearly elated at the thought of playing against another strong team.

"Hoho! Aren't you a little too excited, my junior?" Nishinoya grinned as he clapped Hinata on the back, nearly knocking him off balance.

Tanaka puffed out his chest and said, "Hinata, my dear junior, sometimes you've got to learn to take things slow..."

"Ah? Really?"

"Of course," Tanaka replied, his tone serious—until he broke into a wide grin and added, "But not this time! Hahaha!"

"Whoaa!"

Hinata's delighted shout echoed through the gym.

"They're way too into this senior-junior thing..."

Yamaguchi felt speechless seeing them three literally filling the whole gym with their 'excitement'. Nearby, Tsukishima clicked his tongue and muttered, "Weirdos..."

"Ha! Tsukishima, you bastard—"

"Are you looking for a fight, huh?!"

The trio—Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Hinata—rounded on the tall first-year. Tsukishima merely crumpled his lips in disgust, his disdain clear.

"Childish," Kageyama muttered from the side.

He would never do foolish things like these three for sure. Definitely.

Shaking his head, Kageyama turned to Daichi and asked, "Uh, are we going to discuss the lineup too, Captain?"

"Ah, yeah..."

Daichi scratched his head awkwardly, recalling his "preparation" against Aoba Johsai that went awry because of their many mistakes.

He understood he was unfit for the role.

He looked over at Takeda, who seemed just as confused. Daichi asked, "Uhh, Takeda-sensei, what about the coach you tried to scout? Have we gotten an answer yet?"

'Coach?'

Tsuna quietly turned to look at Takeda, who shook his head in response.

The thought of having a coach intrigued Tsuna.

Having Nishinoya teach him how to receive had been anything but a disaster. Even with a "translator" for Nishinoya's alien-like explanations, it was clear that Nishinoya himself was unable to explain much.

The guy was just literally moved by instinct.

'Having a coach... that would be amazing.'

He recalled how Junichi had helped him switch his dominant hand. The idea of having someone to provide clear guidance sparked a flicker of hope within him.

The slight dissonance in his hand was improving the more he trained, but he still needed someone who knew exactly what they were doing. And a coach might finally help him solve his receiving issues. 

That even included his father sometimes, especially when it came to romance.

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about his awkward situation with Shimizu. 'I should talk to my dad about this... Maybe he'll have some advice.'

But that would have to wait. For now, the only thing he could do was keep training, even if he wasn't entirely sure it would be effective.

Bad training was better than no training after all!

The rest of the members just focused on their drills as usual, while Takeda left, saying he'd try to get in contact with the coach he had in mind again today.

And yet...

'I can't focus much...'

With so many thoughts coursing through his mind, Tsuna found himself unable to concentrate. Without realizing it, he had jogged the entire three-mile distance for his cooldown run and found himself standing at the edge of his neighborhood.

'Urgh... I'll fix what I can right now.'

Tsuna wanted to rush back and ask his dad for advice right away.

But then—

"Whoaa, you again!? What the fuck are you doing peeking like that? You almost gave me a heart attack, goddammit!"

The loud, exasperated voice stopped Tsuna in his tracks. Curious, he glanced toward a nearby shop.

"Ah-ahaha, sorry. I was just checking if you were talking to a customer or not..."

Standing in front of the small storefront was Keishin. He was gripping a broom like a weapon with annoyance.

Opposite him stood Takeda, wearing an apologetic expression.

Keishin groaned,"Urghh, didn't I tell you I don't want to be a coach?"

"Eh? Don't you like volleyball?"

"Sigh..." Keishin sighed and massaged his temple tiredly. "I still like to play. I even have a local team."

"Then—"

"But coaching?" Keishin interrupted, shaking his head firmly, "Coaching is stuffy, and I don't quite like it!"

Takeda deflated in response to these words as if his world was crumbling down.

'Ahh...'

Watching this exchange, Tsuna pieced things together. The name Ukai had been nagging at the back of his mind earlier, and now it finally clicked.

'So, this unemployed friend of my dad also plays volleyball, huh?'

Nodding in understanding, he raised his eyebrows in curiosity at Keishin.

"Besides, I don't want to go back to that gymnasium again..."

Takeda asked, "Eh? Why? Do you have a bad memory there?"

"No, it's the oppo—Huh, Tsuna?"

Keishin's words trailed off as his eyes landed on Tsuna, who was about to continue running. The shopowner didn't waste a second. He hurried over and grabbed Tsuna firmly by the shoulder, "Wait up!"

Takeda called out, "Ah, Tsuna-kun?"

"Hello, Itachi-sensei..."

"...!"

Takeda's entire expression immediately went blank at the name. It was as if someone had pressed a reset button on his existence as he stared at Tsuna in disbelief.

Keishin tilted his head. "Huh? Itachi? Isn't his name Ittetsu?"

"...I can be Itachi too, Ukai-kun."

Takeda replied in a lifeless tone, before mumbling under his breath, "Maybe I'd awaken the Sharingan too."

Keishin was baffled but decided it wasn't worth the effort to untangle. Instead, he turned back to Tsuna with a mix of excitement and nervousness as he hesitantly began, "Tsuna, uhh, anyway, about that uhh woman who came here last time..."

"Tsuna, uhh, anyway, about that uhh woman who came here last time..."

"You meant my guest from Tokyo last time?"

Tsuna seemed to understand where this was going.

Keishin winced as he felt his face went hot and stuttered, "Yeah. I mean, not for anything weird! I just need to... uh... ask her something about—uh, business!"

"So, you want me to do you a favor and give you her number?"

Tsuna cut straight to the point which made Keishin stiffen.

The shop owner looked away in embarrassment as his hand moved to scratch the back of his neck.

"Hmm, I see..."

Tsuna paused, considering his options. Then he turned to Takeda and asked, "Sensei, is this unemployed guy any good?"

Keishin roared, "Hey! I'm not unemployed, you brat! I have a job!" 

"Not a real job..."

"You brat!"

Tsuna ignored Keishin entirely and kept his gaze locked on Takeda, waiting patiently for an answer.

"Uhh, in coaching?"

Takeda asked, hesitating as he glanced at Keishin to which Tsuna nodded, "Yeah..." 

"Well... I don't know for sure. But considering his experience and his grandfather's legendary name, I'd bet he'd do a better job than most others..."

Takeda adjusted his glasses nervously.

"Hmm..."

Tsuna nodded thoughtfully before turning back to Keishin, who had crossed his arms in annoyance, "Keishin-san, that favor you asked me, I'll do it."

"Eh, really?!"

Keishin's eyes widened in disbelief before his face broke into a grin, "Haha, thank you, Tsuna! I knew you were a good kid! Your dad raised you well..."

"But," Tsuna interrupted, "you have to do me a favor too."

"Huh?"

Keishin's beaming expression froze. His eyebrow twitched as he stared at Tsuna, who was now smirking at him.

And somewhat, that smirk sent a chill down Keishin's spine as he suddenly felt wary of this brat as he stammered, "Wh-what do you want?"

"You don't need to be so on guard," Tsuna replied, "In fact, I'm just going to double down on the favor I offered you."

Keishin narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tsuna's grin widened further, "I'm gonna give you a real job."

"...Huh?"

Keishin... had no other choice.