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It was a calm evening when Takeda received a panicked call from Suga.
Keishin was wrapping some things up in the store. Takeda accompanying him in the store after practice was getting more often than he would admit, but it wasn’t like he did anything much to fend off the teacher anyways—it also wasn’t like he necessarily didn’t want him there. It was a slow evening too. He was considering closing the store early when Takeda’s worried tone got to his ears.
“Run away? How?” the teacher asked to the call.
Frankly, the words should have alarmed him more. But it wasn’t until Takeda finally turned to him with a worried face that it slowly dawned on him.
“Suga’s calling,” Takeda explained. “He said Daichi-kun ran from home because of his dad.”
Keishin blinked.
“Wait, repeat. The kid ran away?” he asked, bewildered, because Sawamura didn’t seem like a kid who would run away from home.
“Suga, can you explain it to Ukai-kun?” Keishin assumed Suga gave an affirmative because the phone was passed to him and now he was faced with a very panicked teenager.
“Coach!” Suga rushed to an explanation. “Daichi called me a few minutes ago. He sounded like he was running and told me that he can’t come back home or something. I— I think he had a fight with his dad.”
The story was so bizzare to him that he couldn’t even manage to respond for a few seconds. Glancing to his side, he saw Takeda looking back at him, worry clear in his eyes.
“Does this happen often?” Keishin finally asked. “Had a fight then ran away?”
“The running away part, no. Fighting with his dad, yes,” Suga sounded sad telling the information. “His dad has always been kind of a dick. He always starts something when he’s home.”
Keishin would let out a chuckle in any other situation, but now it didn’t sound that funny.
“I’ve tried calling his phone a few times after, but he isn’t picking it up. I’ve sent a message to let the other guys on the team know, just in case. I know Daichi shouldn’t be that far from his neighbourhood so I thought I would let you know too, Coach. I’m worried something might happen to him. He— Daichi didn’t sound like he was in the best state,” Suga paused his explanation before sighing. “Sorry for bothering you this late, Coach. I just don’t know who else to—”
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. Not like I was asleep anyway,” Keishin interrupted before Suga could launch into a full rambling. “Me and your sensei will try to look for him. Just sit down and sleep or something, yeah? We don’t need you frantically running around either.”
“Yes, Coach,” Suga chuckled, though his voice was hoarse, finally letting out his exhaustion. Keishin’s chest felt tight hearing it, but he tried to brush it away. “Thank you, Coach, and Takeda-sensei too.”
“Anytime, Kid.”
When Suga hung up, Keishin passed the phone back to a worried Takeda. “I’ll try patrolling around the school area. Check if Captain is around or not,” he said before the sensei could say something.
“No, it’s okay! I can go!” Takeda interjected. “This is your store after all and besides, I know the field around the school better.”
Keishin hoped he could just let Takeda do the searching, but he didn’t feel like he would be calm just sitting around, not doing anything when one of his kids—wait, no, student—was out there, vulnerable.
Before he could argue further though, the door of the store opened audibly, making them both look up. Keishin was ready to tell whoever it was to come back another time, but his voice fell short when he saw who was standing there.
“Coach, Sensei,” Daichi mumbled out, eyes not quite meeting theirs. “Sorry for barging in.”
The kid was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts in the middle of the cold evening air. Keishin noticed that he was shivering a bit. At least he was wearing some slippers.
Takeda was quick to action while Keishin just stared, trying to process the information further when he should be consoling the poor kid, damnit.
“Daichi-kun! Are you okay?” Takeda blurted out, quickly crossing the distance between them and checking Daichi’s body for any injuries. Keishin couldn’t see any from here—thank god—, but the red puffy eyes of Daichi weren't exactly something relieving either.
“I, um, I’m okay, Sensei.” He shifted on his feet, looking a tad unsure. “I’m really sorry for intruding. I can go—”
“No, Kid. Kami,” Keishin sighed, finally standing up to get another chair for their new addition. Did Daichi really think they'd turn him away when he looked like that? No way in hell. “Stay. I’ll bring some tea.”
Daichi looked like he was about to reject the offer, but Takeda quickly ushered him to a seat, whispering some words in a calming tone before he could. Keishin let him do that while he ventured to the back of the shop, searching for some cups and hot water to make tea.
He remembered his ma left some tea she would usually drink back here. Didn’t know if it was good or not, he never tasted it himself, but any was better than nothing, probably.
Keishin also noticed the still tense shoulder and the fidgeting from Daichi. The hot tea should help him loosened up a bit. Probably.
Just for good measure, he also brought back a blanket, big enough to cover the kid’s torso comfortably. Yeah, that would do.
When he came back, hands full with the cup and blanket, he found Takeda talking to Daichi in a hush voice, sitting in a chair close to him, the kid nodding once here and there. Thank Kami, at least one of them knew what to do. Keishin draped the blanket around Daichi’s shoulder and before the kid could protest, he cut him by shoving the cup into his hands.
“Drink, Cap. You look exhausted,” he said as he sat back down on the chair in front of him. ‘Exhausted’ wasn’t quite the right word to describe Daichi now, but the kid started drinking anyway.
“Thank you, Coach,” Daichi mumbled after he gulped down half the cup. He put it down after, though his hands were both still holding it a little too tightly, the tip of his fingers whitening at the force he was putting. He also wasn’t meeting both of their eyes, rather staring intensely at the cup. Takeda saw this too apparently, because he started rubbing Daichi’s back gently.
“As I said before, you can talk to us if you want to, Daichi-kun,” he said, voicing what was on Keishin’s head. “If you don’t want to, that’s also fine. Just know that we are here for you.”
“No, it’s okay,” Daichi replied, voice shaky and meek, unlike the one Keishin was used to hearing in practice sessions, commanding yet calm. It hurt more to hear when he realized it. “I, um, I want to.”
“Whenever you’re ready, Kid,” Keishin chimed in, hoping it was enough to let him know that he could speak to them anytime and they would still hear it.
Daichi went silent after that, but Keishin could see the way he would occasionally open his mouth, ready to say something, and then closing it again, looking hesitant. Takeda was supportive throughout his fidgeting, his hand still rubbing on Daichi’s back and eyes emanating concern. Keishin didn’t want to overwhelm the poor kid so he tried not to stare at him intensely, hoping it would help to ease the tension.
“My dad came home drunk today,” Daichi started after a few minutes. “He didn’t use to drink so much, but these days it’s more often than not. He, um, wasn’t the best person when drunk.”
Yeah, figured, Keishin didn’t say out loud. He could tell that Takeda never heard of this story too, just like him, based on the worry that intensified in his eyes.
“And it’s not like he’s a good dad to begin with,” Daichi continued with an even smaller voice than before, shoulders unconsciously curling in on himself. He went silent again for a few seconds before continuing like before, “He would look for any reasons to yell at mom or my siblings or me. Even for the smallest reason. And, um, today, it was … bad.”
Daichi sniffled and Keishin’s heart broke even more at the sound. “He missed dinner tonight. Mom said he was out drinking again and I thought he’d come back home late night like usual. But today he came back before my smallest sibling’s bedtime and … got mad that we didn’t wait to eat dinner with him.” Daichi let out a sound that was almost a snort. “Not like he's ever eaten dinner with us before.”
When Daichi paused again, Takeda’s free hand went up to reach his knees, patting them. Keishin wanted to do that too. He kept telling himself it’d just overwhelm the kid.
“Yeah, so … he got very mad. He was blaming Mom for something, yelling in front of all of us. I, um. I tried to distract him so Mom can get some rest, but he wasn’t having it.” Daichi shifted in his seat. “I should’ve grabbed my siblings too before running out…”
The story was vague and clearly wasn’t complete, but it didn’t lessen the unsettling feelings Keishin was battling in his heart.
“It wasn’t your fault, Daichi-kun,” Takeda said and Keishin couldn’t agree more. “You were panicking.”
Daichi didn't say anything back, but the grip he had on his cup tightened and he hunched over it almost protectively. He still didn't look up at the sound of Takeda's words, trying to hide his face. But Keishin noticed the slowly building trembling that went through his body and he knew Daichi was crying.
Keishin reached for a tissue pack, opened it up, and offered one to Daichi silently, who took it after staring at it for a few seconds, as if wondering what he should do with it. At one point, Takeda started half-hugging him and the kid didn’t even react.
"Let it out, Kid," Keishin coaxed him. "It's okay."
As instructed, it took a while until Daichi was ready to compose himself again, still rubbing at the corner of his eyes with the tissue to wipe remaining tears.
“Sorry,” Daichi mumbled out again. “I was just so frustrated. He was saying some horrible things about the team out of nowhere. He never liked that I was in the team and always said that it would go nowhere, but I know everyone has improved so much this year.” His eyes started to well up with tears again. “I just want him to see us, me, for what we are.”
“Daichi,” Takeda cooed, brushing away the messy fringes that stuck into the kid’s sweaty forehead. He grabbed another tissue from the packet and handed it to him. “You want validation from your father figure about something you put so much effort into and that’s normal. But sometimes you can’t please everyone, even your father, no matter how much you try. It definitely hurts, but sometimes you just have to let it go. The team is going to be just fine.”
Takeda continued rubbing Daichi’s back while the kid tried to calm his sobbing, wiping away the tears with his hands. Keishin finally reached out to Daichi, rubbing the opposite side where Takeda was.
“Yeah. I thought so too,” Daichi replied when he wasn’t audibly sobbing again. “And he, um. He isn’t really my father figure.”
Both Takeda and Keishin met each other’s eyes in confusion. Seemingly feeling their silence, Daichi let out a laugh, hoarse because of the tears.
“That was random, sorry.”
This time, Keishin huffed at him. “What the shit are you apologizing for, Kid? You didn’t offend any of us.” The fact that Takeda didn’t correct his cursing showed how much the teacher agreed with him.
“Sorry,” Daichi apologized, again, for apologizing. “It’s just weird talking about my biological dad in front of you two, Sensei, Coach.”
Okay, now, that was more random. Even more so if you added the fact that Daichi looked progressively more embarrassed with the topic, realizing what he had just said out loud. He grimaced after he was finished talking and even blushed a bit, despite his eyes still glossy with remaining tears.
“Why?” Takeda asked what was in Keishin’s mind.
Daichi blushed even harder and muttered something under his breath. Keishin thought he knew what he said and judging by Takeda’s eyes also widening like his, the teacher knew too.
“What?” Keishin asked anyway because he needed the confirmation.
“I think of you two as my father figures,” Daichi mumbled again, this time a bit clearer. “Sorry. That’s probably too forward.”
Keishin’s jaw dropped, but Takeda recovered fast.
“Nonsense,” he said, putting up a finger in front of him to stop Daichi from apologizing even more. “We are honored to be thought of like that. Right, Ukai-kun?”
“Right,” Keishin agreed, although he was on the verge of tears next to them. Takeda turned to smile at him, letting him know that he also felt the same.
“Sorry,” Daichi apologized again despite all the warnings. “It’s just that I think you both genuinely care for me and the team. Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing for fuck’s sake,” Keishin interrupted once more, grabbing the thermos to pour more tea into Daichi’s cup because he needed something to do with his hands or he would spontaneously combust. “As your sensei said, we don’t mind. Don’t worry about it.”
Takeda looked like he was muffling his snickers, as if he saw how Keishin’s hands were shaking nervously. Daichi just looked scandalized at the end of it, but smiled a bit nonetheless, his hands reaching for the filled cup to drink more. Feeling the mood lightened in the room, Keishin couldn’t help but smile back, even resting an arm around Daichi's shoulder.
“Um,” Daichi said again after sipping from his cup, “you two aren’t … together?”
While Keishin choked out of thin air, Takeda’s face got redder than a tomato. The sudden question just surprised them, that’s all. There was nothing going on between them, never mind the fact that Takeda was visiting his shop more frequently when he was there.
Right?, Keishin thought as he glanced at Takeda, who was also doing the same, making them both look away from each other quickly. Daichi was looking at them alternately, a small smirk grew on his face.
“No, Kid,” Keishin grumbled because he knew the captain was consciously being a little shit. Also because Takeda wasn’t helping, sputtering out incomprehensible words.
Daichi chuckled at them, wiping away the last of his tears from his face, and sipped again from his cup. Keishin visibly relaxed, glad that the kid was laughing again, even if it was to his expense.
There was still a lot left to do. (Where Daichi would sleep, or if he wanted to go back to his house at all—Keishin didn’t like this option—, and if he didn’t want to go home, how would he go to school tomorrow, and many more.) But, that could wait.
Keishin opened up a topic for their practice tomorrow and watched as Daichi’s face lightened up. It wasn’t much, but at least the kid wasn’t crying anymore. Takeda turned his chair to fully face them, previous embarrassment forgotten, producing a notebook and a pen out of his pocket, ready to learn.
As he watched Daichi give a suggestion for practice and Takeda diligently writing it down in his notebook, Keishin let himself smile again, drawing the kid even closer in his arms, body moving forward to be closer to Takeda.
Other things could wait.