Chapter 3
Yahaba rushes to the gym at the university and he can already hear the squeak of sneakers, the sound of a ball being tossed, and some idle chatter. He walks into the gym and sees the faculty advisor, Izumi Yukitaka waiting for him. Izumi offers up his signature smile and a warm, friendly greeting. Shigeru is relieved to have Izumi as a faculty adviser, as the previous one had retired. Izumi didn't know much about volleyball but was very enthusiastic, and seemed to be a quick study. Shigeru smiled back at the man and greeted him back then called out to the captain to lead stretches. Meanwhile Izumi and Shigeru talked a bit about their next match against Tokage University. "What are they like?" Shigeru's nose scrunched up in distaste as he remembered the coach of the Tokage team, an ape of a man, with the manners to boot. "The team's strength relies on offense, their wing spikers are second to none. They are powerful for sure, but their strategy relies on aggressive game play that is about snagging as many points as quickly as possible. The strength of their team varies every year but I don't think I've ever seen them with a good Libero. Their team also doesn't seem to be close for whatever reason." "Wow, jeez, maybe you should write a book on them," Izumi chuckles.
"Knowing what a team's strengths and weaknesses is essential to winning." Shigeru knows he's parroting his old senpai, but at least he isn't imitating his overly theatrical, haughty, tone. Besides Izumi has no idea who Oikawa Tooru is, so it's fine. Once the girls finish stretching Shigeru has them doing flying falls, the girls grumble and drag their feet but go about doing them. Shigeru continues the brutal practice, and he knows that the girls will be exhausted but honestly his team will need to strengthen their endurance. Their team isn't very flashy and he has no genius's on his team, however they all are determined and patient. Shigeru likes this about his team and thinks that if they could focus on defense and bring Tokage in a choke-hold, they might be able to discourage them and wear them down. Shigeru focuses his attention on working on receives, blocks, and serving. Finally the girl's practice finishes up and the girls are groaning and stretching. Shigeru informs the girls of their positions for the match. Gives them a speech about stretching before bed, eating right, and resting. He knows that, that isn't realistic, it wasn't so long since he was a college student, surviving on a steady diet of abysmal sleeping patterns, junk food, and caffeine. Still, he hopes some of the girls will follow his advice. They all file out in groups, groaning about class, yawning, teasing, the typical thing university students do. Shigeru stretches his back popping.
Izumi makes an old man joke.
Shigeru kicks him. What a brat.
They begin cleaning up, Shigeru, tossing volleyballs into the basket while Izumi sweeps the floor. After their done with that they both wrap up the net and finish putting everything away. Normally he would have the girls do this but he knows that they trained hard today and honestly he does not need to worry about much until practice again later on tonight.
"Hey I don't know what you planned on doing after practice tonight but there's this new ramen shop I hear is really great."
Shigeru grins happily, "Sorry I can't tonight I'm bringing Mochi home."
Shigeru starts filling Izumi in on what happened, on the strange animal hospital with the birdlike receptionist, the sassy little girl, the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, and the gruff veterinarian. Izumi laughs amused as Shigeru drops him off to his classroom.
"Thanks for escorting me," Izumi smiles.
Shigeru shrugs and smiles ruffling his hair and is reminded of how everyone thinks Izumi looks like he could be Shigeru' s little brother. It feels that way too, at least, Shigeru thinks so, he's an only child so he's not one hundred percent sure.
Sure Izumi, I'll see you at practice."
"Later!" Izumi calls.
Shigeru begins walking away, raising his hand in acknowledgement. He leaves the school grounds and takes the bus back to his apartment. He looks out the window watching the passing scenery and trying not to make any eye contact with anyone. Suddenly an idea comes to mind, and he knows it's dumb. Honestly though, Shigeru has awhile to kill before he has to go back to the house and research on rival teams and finish up some of the work the telemarketing work he does on the side. So, he picks up his phone and goes to his most recent calls then hits redial and waits.
"Hello, Kyoutani Animal Hospital, Kunimi speaking."
Yahaba is momentarily disappointed by the flat voice, but he presses on his voice polite and cheerful, "Hello, my name is Yahaba Shigeru, I would like to speak with Kyoutani Kentarou?"
The line is silent for awhile, so much so that Shigeru pulls the phone away to check that the call didn't disconnect. However when he checks the screen, the phone call is still going, the time on the call still ticking away. Shigeru clears his voice to speak when the quiet voice interrupts.
"He has an appointment right now but he should be- oh- here he is."
Shigeru blinks his eyes in surprise, he hears an exchange in the background a barely audible voice and a rumbling one.
"What the hell Yahaba?"
"Are you really going to speak to a customer like that?" Yahaba knows his voice is too sweet and he can practically see Kyoutani's frown deepening.
The voice growls and Shigeru will deny it to his dying day, but a shiver rattles down his spine.
"How is my little Mochi doing? Are you taking care of her."
"Yeah she went on a walk recently and we actually had a supervised play date with one of the other dogs."
Shigeru smiles and hums pleased, then an idea strikes and he tries to keep from giggling. "Can I speak with her?"
"...What the fuck?" Shigeru than hears someone speaking to Kyoutani and hears some movement.
Shigeru can't really fight the grin and can tell the mischievous tone is leaking through. "Kyoutani I'm a customer, you should do what I say and I have asked to speak to Mochi."
"What the fuck?..."
Shigeru nearly misses his stop, but he gets through the bus quickly and makes his way out to the street. "Put me on speakerphone and let me talk to my baby."
Shigeru hears a string of curses and a growl before click and a quiet, "make it quick."
Shigeru blinks owlishly, he had never expected Kyoutani to give up so quickly. Shigeru's goal was just to tease him. Now that he's on speaker, and now that Kyoutani has taken him seriously he doesn't know what to say and strangely he's the one feeling harassed.
"Uh... Hi Mochi."
There is no answer, and now Yahaba's face is red and he officially wants to die. He crosses the street and prays a car will take him out. "Can she hear me?"
"Yeah... She's tilting her head and looking at the phone..."
Shigeru's heart melts at the mental image. "Daddy will come pick you up after work!"
Shigeru hears a tiny, squeak of a bark and starts to laugh softly. Suddenly there's more background noise and then a sudden bang that makes him drop his keys as he tries to unlock his front door.
"Kyoutani, my dog better be alright!"
"Your dog is fine. I'm gonna die though." Shigeru hears the gruff voice, and there's more edge than usual but he also sounds embarrassed and he chuckles.
"Asshole... I gotta get back to work."
"Thanks, tell Mochi I said bye!"
"Kay." Then he hears the click and a disconnect tone.
Shigeru picks up his keys and makes his way into his apartment, to his little kitchen. He makes himself a cup of instant noodles and pulls out his laptop. He goes through emails and goes on a conference call.
His regional distract manager has him speak to newer employees, encouraging them through cheesy inspirational words of "wisdom," they discuss things like "leadership," and "success" and though he knows what those things all are he feels like, in this context it's all corporate bullshit. Some part of him loves the farce, but another part wants to pull out his hair and call out everyone, including himself on the bullshit.
Of course he doesn't do that, and of course they get through the call just fine. He wonders of everyone else feels is miserable too,but he decides not to dwell and makes a few calls. He manages to sweet talk a few people into buying into his company's bullshit. After awhile he decides enough is enough and watches some matches of Tokage's relieved when he finds recent footage. He looks over the team and their plays. Unfortunately it seems the team does have a Libero now, a freshman who's admittedly, pretty impressive. However she can't make up for the whole team and doesn't have as much experience as their Libero. Their ace spells trouble for sure. The woman has a cannon for an arm and Shigeru knows their offense won't be able to compete. He takes a few notes and then checks the time. Hours have flown by and he has a half an hour before the girl's second practice. He gets up and throws away the noodle container, closes his laptop and rushes out the door. He rushes to the bus stop just in time, and grabs onto a bar.
He considers calling Kyoutani again but he has to admit the man is probably too busy. He doesn't exist to torture for Shigeru's amusement... So Shigeru behaves and waits patiently to arrive at the campus. When he hops out of the bus he makes his way to the gym and makes it before most of the girls.
It's just Shigeru, Izumi, and the captain of the team. Shigeru smiles at her and pats her back. The girl gives a small grin and a nod.
"You gave us quite the workout this morning."
Shigeru shrugs, "Tokage's a formidable foe."
The girls start flooding in after that. The starters are primarily made of third years, so soon all the starters are there and ready for practice. This half of practice consists of running, push-ups, and spiking practice. Some of the girls complain under their breathes but Shigeru isn't slowing down. This is the cost of victory. So Shigeru watches on, and smiles to himself as he sees how one of the first years is improving. Closing the gap in ability between herself and her senpais. He feels immense pride at all the girls and he knows they can do it. He knows his methods are harsh, knows that it's challenging, but he wants these girls to evolve and improve. You can only do that once you face adversity.
As practice winds down he calls the girls to sit in front of him. He tells them what he saw of the videos, he warns them of the new Libero and tells them they have tomorrow off. The girls clean up this time and he notices that some of them are whispering of having a party. He hopes the girls will be careful and safe, then tells the girls that. They laugh him off, saying he sounds like an old man. Shigeru knows what could happen and honestly he doesn't care if it's lame. These girls are all special, they all matter to him and he has made it known that they can call him whenever their in trouble.
"You excited to see Mochi?"
Shigeru smiles and turns to Izumi, "yeah the house is quiet without her."
Izumi gnaws on his bottom lip, a nervous habit, as he looks down on the floor. "You could always call me up if you're lonely."
Shigeru chuckles and claps Izumi's shoulder, "you don't wanna hang out with a guy like me. You should go and find yourself someone cool."
Izumi chews his lips more, and nods absentmindedly, "okay, goodnight Yahaba-San."
He waits for most of the younger girls to leave then gives the keys to the team captain and tells her to lock up after their done. He then heads out of the gym and into the cool night. He takes off the jersey and ties it around his waist a smile playing on his lips. He can't wait until he can bring Mochi home.
He goes onto the bus and gets off a few stops early. He steps out and looks up at Kyoutani animal hospital, and now that he is really looking he can see Kyoutani's little porch. Plants spilling out and over, almost too alive and remembering the charming little apartment brings a smile to his face. He then heads inside and goes up to the receptionists desk. There he sees a man, not much younger then himself. His eyes droop, as does his hair though in a way that Shigeru supposes could be considered stylish.
"Are you here for an appointment?"
The man looks and sounds completely apathetic and he realizes this was the man he had heard earlier.
"Sort of... I am supposed to pick up my dog. Mochi."
Kunimi nods and picks up the phone stifling a yawn, he dials and waits for an answer. He then informs the person on the other end that Shigeru is there. Then he hangs up and gestures for Shigeru to sit down and wait. So he does.
Suddenly someone opens the door from the back, and it's Kyoutani's daughter outfitted with a kitty backpack and a rather impressive scowl. She seats herself in the waiting area too, a few seats away from Shigeru. Shigeru at first decides to ignore her. However the girl is swinging her legs violently and glaring a hole in the wall, she then turns to glare at Shigeru.
"Where are you headed to?"
Shigeru hadnt really even intended to say that it just kind of slipped out. He wonders if what he said is the wrong thing because the girl just glares at him. Eventually he just awkwardly turns away wondering if he'd managed to upset the girl.
"My mommy's picking me up."
If Shigeru was smart he would've just kept his mouth shut, he would've left it alone, or at the very least changed the subject. But he didn't. "Isn't that a good thing."
The girl just shrugs, her feet seem more relaxed and now it seems like she's gone from glaring to sulking. So Shigeru counts it as a victory and goes back to the receptionists desk realizing he hadn't paid for his dogs stay.
Kunimi tells him the price and Shigeru pays. It's a quick transaction, and right on time he sees Kyoutani steps out with Mochi in his arms.
Shigeru finds it makes a strangely adorable picture. Kyoutani's scowl and Mochi's constant grin seemingly compliment each other suprisingly well. Either that or Mochi's really carrying them. Shigeru grins and scoops the excited puppy in his arms.
Shigeru's mostly occupied with that but then notices Kyoutani grabbing a pamphlet, "We are starting a new doggy day camp... Chow chows are one of the more aggressive dog breeds so I think it would be a wise idea to socialize her young."
Shigeru takes the pamphlet and shoves it in his pocket, "I'll consider it."
"Did you bring back my travel mug?"
Shigeru groans rubbing his head, "Aw crap, no, I'm sorry, I forgot."
"Bring it by tomorrow."
Shigeru nods and continues petting the wriggling puppy. "Yeah,no problem."
Kyoutani nods once, "Then I'll see you tomorrow." He looks over Shigeru's shoulder to his daughter and sighs rubbing his head before heading to the back door and out of the lobby.
Shigeru looks over at the little girl and then down at Mochi. Just then Mochi decides to look up and give him the most ridiculous begging eyes she can. Shigeru groans and sits down in the seat next to
Kyoutani's daughter.
"You can pet her."
The girl looks up, genuine surprise lighting up her maroon eyes. Then she reaches over and pets a happy Mochi who licks her affectionately. The girls features relax a bit and Shigeru notices that the girl is beautiful like this. So Shigeru stays there with the girl waiting. She doesn't really talk but Shigeru begins to relax too, and finds that it's refreshing to stay quiet, not out of awkwardness but just out of contentment.
Suddenly the door opens, letting in a cool breeze, carrying with it the breathtakingly beautiful woman from the other day. Her blue eyes lock onto the girl then on to Shigeru. "Are you ready Ima?"
Shigeru sees the girl next to him scratch Mochi's head before hopping down from the chair. She then turns to Shigeru and nods before running over to her mother's side.
The two turn and leave together, taking the chill with them. A few moments pass before it clicks. Kyoutani Kentarou. The asshole vet, knocked up the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. What. The. Hell.