Chapter Text
“Has anyone seen Ukai-san?” Takeda asked the gym at large.
Everyone seemed to pause and look around, as if they hadn’t even noticed their coach’s absence until it was remarked upon. No one replied in the affirmative.
“Well, that’s rather odd,” Takeda rubbed the back of his neck. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked it, but there were no missed calls or texts.
“Is everything okay, Sensei?” Kiyoko asked him quietly.
“I’m sure it’s a simple mix up, or he’s just running a little late,” Takeda smiled, “Would you please help Daichi get the net up and start warm-ups?”
She nodded and headed over to the storage closet. Takeda dialed Keishin’s number and stepped out of the gym to hear better. The call went straight to voicemail, no dial tones. Takeda left a quick message.
“I’m sure you’re already on your way here to Karasuno, but I wanted to call in case something had come up. Please let me know as soon as possible either way. Thank you.”
Ukai didn’t show up or call the entire practice. Everyone managed to do just fine, with Daichi and Suga leading the drills and scrimmages. Clean-up went smooth, and Takeda even managed to convince Tobio and Shouyou to leave with the rest of the team.
Takeda had just finished grabbing all of his take home work to grade and was heading towards his car when his phone chirped at him. He fished it out and saw that Suga had texted him.
8:45pm
Sugawara: Coach’s shop is closed. We saw it on our way home. There’s a sign on the door apologizing for the closure and saying it’ll be closed for the next few days. Is Coach okay?
Takeda felt worry welling up in his gut. He hurried to his car and shoved his work into the trunk.
8:49pm
To Sugawara: Thank you for letting me know. I’ll ask around. Don’t worry too much and make sure to get enough sleep tonight, okay?
8:50pm
Sugawara: Will do, Sensei. (^u^)
Takeda scrolled through his contacts and dialed Ukai Ikkei. The dial tone droned on and on and eventually went to voicemail.
“Ukai-san, this is Takeda. I’m calling about Keishin-san. He didn’t show up to practice today and hasn’t been answering his phone. I just found out the shop is closed and will be for a while. Please let me know if something’s happened. Thank you very much.”
Takeda hung up and went scrolling again through the numbers. He felt a sense of pride then about how pushy he normally was about networking and getting people’s phone numbers. He dialed Yūsuke Takinoue.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Takinoue-san, this is Takeda Ittetsu from Karasuno.”
“Oh, hey,” Yūsuke replied cheerfully, “Nice to hear from you. You guys did great in that last match.”
“Thank you,” Takeda chuckled, “I’m sorry to bother you this late, but have you heard from Ukai-san today? I haven’t been able to get ahold of him.”
“Mmm, no I haven’t spoken to him today. We all met up for drinks two nights ago, but I haven’t seen him since. Is everything okay?”
“I’m not quite sure,” Takeda sighed, “He hasn’t answered his phone and he missed practice today. And apparently his shop’s closed and will be for a few days.”
“That’s weird. Even if he’s taken off somewhere, his parents wouldn’t just close up. Might be something going on with his family.”
“I did try to call Ukai Ikkei-san, but he didn’t answer.”
“I’ll call his parents,” Yūsuke reassured, “And I’ll try their house. I can call you back once I know what’s up.”
“Thank you very much, Takinoue-san,” Takeda bowed his head, forgetting he was speaking through a phone.
“No problem. I’ll call you in a bit.” He hung up.
Takeda put his phone back in his pocket and got in his car. He was half-way back to his house when it rang. He pulled over and fished it out.
He saw it was Yūsuke and answered it, “Hello?”
“Takeda-san, where are you right now?” Yūsuke sounded tense.
“Huh? I’m in my car. I pulled over to answer my phone.”
“Good, okay, um,” Yūsuke took a few quick breathes, “This is going to be hard to hear. I kinda fell into a heap when I heard, so, like, make sure your car’s in park okay?”
“It is,” Takeda replied, his gut tightening with worry, “What happened, Takinoue-san?”
“Keishin’s in the hospital. He got struck by a car this morning.”