Takeda knew how much Ukai worked between helping him out with the Volleyball club and working in the morning at the farm and the shop. Between everything that he had to do Takeda honestly had no idea when the man actually slept or if he slept at all. When he was at practice the poor coach was literally standing there and nearly yawning the entire time, causing Takeda honestly a little bit of worry for the man’s well being.
He couldn’t help it, he was a teacher, worrying was one of the things he was good at along with being persistent. Takeda was honestly grateful for the mans help but if he didn’t start getting help himself the teacher was sure that Ukai would end up overworking himself right into the hospital, and that was the last thing any of them wanted.
Just a little bit of help could go a long way; that was his idea anyway. If Ukai had just one more set of hands perhaps his day could go a little smoother and a bit less stressful. Of course his first thought was to run the idea by the Volleyball club and get them to go help their coach but with finales and everything else around the corner he didn’t want to bother them with something like that.
So the next idea—was of course to use himself. He had some spare time both during his breaks in school hours and on the weekends so when the first Saturday in the week rolled around Takeda dressed himself up in a pair of jeans, shirt, apron and made his way down to the store. The teacher had made it just as Ukai had opened the store, his arms tucked behind his back as he flashed the man a bright determined smile. “I’ve come to help. As much as you want to be wonder coach you can’t continue to do everything on your own. So since you help me, I’m going to help you. I’m not good at a whole lot but if you point me in the right direction I’m sure I can be of some use.”
Even if the man tried to shoo him away, even if he shoved him toward the door and demanded him to leave, Takeda was just going to keep coming back until Ukai agreed to let him help. He just wanted to be useful.
Ukai’s day had started around three o’clock that morning, and as he did every day -- when his alarm blared for him to wake up, once, twice, three times before he listened -- he got up to go take care of the crops. He wished his mother’s store could run like a lot of other convenience stores, ones where the fruits and vegetables were delivered. Instead, their family owned a farm where they home-grew most, if not all of their produce.
As usual, that had taken at least three hours until it’d been time for him to open up shop -- around this time, students were stopping by the store for snacks and bento boxes or last minute school supplies, anything available. It was truly a convenient store, from the products they sold down to the convenient location. And sure, he didn’t mind running the place, but this coupled with coaching and farming was often a little tough to deal with. Not to mention, he wasn’t responsible enough to turn down his friends when they asked to him to come and hang out on some nights so he often ended up starting the day with very little to no sleep at all. Neither doing him any good.
Still, he sparked up a cigarette as he settled in on Saturday morning for his shift. There was no official practice today -- though, he was well aware that that only meant the boys would take to the gym of their own accord and practice amongst themselves -- so he’d probably work until his mother or father took over and then he’d head to bed by the late afternoon. The previous night, he’d drank a little more than he should have and laughed a little too late into the night with Shimada and Takinoue.
When the bell over the shop door rung, Ukai’s reaction was that of the usual -- a dry greeting without looking up right away from the day’s manga. When his eyes finally dragged upward, he nearly dropped his cigarette through his fingers.
“Whaddya mean you came here to help?!” He stood, twisting the tip of his cigarette to put it out. He’d never liked smoking when talking to others. “I’ve got everything covered just fine... Shouldn’t you be, y’know.. restin’ too? You work a lot too, Sensei.” Crossing his arms, Ukai did his best to put on his sternest expression. “It’s fine -- you came all this way for nothin’. I don’t need any help. So go on... Get outta here.”
Though, even as he spoke the words, he had a feeling the other would be taking them with a grain of salt.
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