Karasuno in amusement park

02 | Not one of the craziest rides

Takeda smiled at the youngsters in front of him. They had worked together so hard, exceeding all his expectations. He was proud of every single one of them, and knew they deserved this prize.

Seeing Nishinoya going on and off his tiptoes, Hinata doing little jumps in his spot and Yamaguchi literally shaking out of excitement, he decided to let them go.

"Alright, I hope you all remember to behave," the teacher reminded calmly, but the team members visibly tensed. Ukai chuckled as he admired the impact Takeda was able to make to the kids' behavior so easily.

With a lighter tone, Takeda continued: "We'll meet around here again for lunch. Everyone has my number, right?" The kids nodded, and Takeda gave them a toothy grin. "Then go and have fun!"

The two coaches watched as everyone sprinted to different directions. Hinata and Kageyama raced towards the rollercoasters with Tanaka and Nishinoya, the latter dragging resistant Asahi along with them. Yamaguchi was turning his head into every direction, Tsukishima waiting for him to pick where he wanted to go first. Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita were gathered around Yachi and Kiyoko, as the first year tried to find a house of mirrors from the map. Sugawara and Daichi seemed to be having an argument on why they should or shouldn't buy snacks and souvenirs instantly after arriving.

"S-should we go check the stores as well?" Takeda asked the other man next to him, wondering why was he suddenly feeling shy.

The teacher didn't notice Ukai slightly jumping at his sudden voice. He was also left unknown by the fact his question woke the other into the reality they were indeed alone, without the kids to coach.

"Sure."

As the men strolled into the nearest junk store, Ukai wanted to start a conversation. What do you talk about with your co-coach when you're outside the gym?

"So... Some wild kids we have, eh?"

The kids you coach, maybe? Though that question could have been formed better. Ukai found himself cringing at his actions again.

"Sure we do," Takeda chuckled, and Ukai regretted his quirky wording less. Turned out it's not only the team members the adorably nerdy teacher had under his control.

The two of them ended up going to a couple of stores, neither buying anything. Their inoperative small talk was starting to get awkward.

"Look, isn't this cute?" Takeda voiced his thoughts, showing Ukai a keychain he had found. It included a small, simple black bird and little angular pearls hanging from the main ring. Ukai agreed, it was indeed cute. It also suitably reminded him of...

"Karasuno..."

"Huh?" Takeda breathed, turning to Ukai. The latter was about to deny he said anything, but the teacher gave him one of his signature smiles. Suddenly Ukai was unable to say a word.

"I thought exactly the same," Takeda declared, looking back at the chain. "It's probably not even a crow, though."

Ukai hummed.

"Still cute."

He wasn't looking at the bird.

"Hey coach Ukai, Takeda-sensei!"

Takeda quickly set the keychain back where he took it from, turning to the voice. "Sugawara-kun? Sawamura-kun? Did something happen?"

Sugawara made a surprised face that lasted for a second. Then he smiled, waving his hand. "Oh, no, no. We just thought it would be fun to try the ferris wheel with you two."

The boy's smile turned mischievous. "Or are you too old for that?"

While Daichi whispered Sugawara something about not being rude to the coaches, Ukai's eyes lit into flame.