Chapter 17 The Tragedy Continues: The Coach Takes All the Blame
After watching the coaches leave, Matsukawa Saki cautiously tiptoed to the door. Once he confirmed that the coaches had really left, he turned around, his sad expression completely gone. He ran to Akaashi, asked for some tissues, and wiped his face haphazardly until not a trace of tears remained.
Amidst the stunned expressions of the others, he laughed heartily, "Now the game console is safe!"
He turned to Kujo Ikeya, raising an eyebrow. "How should I put it? Haven't I been a good friend?"
Kujo Ike was still reeling from the other person's sudden change of expression. Hearing this, she looked at Matsukawa Saki's face suspiciously, as if there was some kind of button on it that could switch expressions with a single click.
He raised his hand and slowly clapped. The other three, along with Hinata Shoyo, whose face was still wet with tears, also clapped enthusiastically.
"Seriously, Saki-sama, you should go into acting. You'd definitely win an Oscar." Kujo sincerely suggested, using a respectful title out of admiration.
Hinata, with her beady eyes, wondered, "Could it be that just now was the legendary ability to draw the other actor into the scene because of their powerful acting skills?"
Matsukawa Saki was amused by his friends' expressions. "Why are you guys making such a big deal out of it, hahaha? Hurry up and put your game consoles away, or the coaches and the others might come back to kill you."
“Oh right!” Kujo Ike also climbed off the bed and crawled on the floor to get the game console.
Sawada Tsunayoshi picked up the books he and Hyuga had brought, brushing away non-existent dust, even though they had rolled around on the ground.
"Ah, even cleaner than Ikeya's face." Akaashi picked up Hinata's notebook, flipped through it, and made a simple comparison.
"Kyoji, what are you saying? It's so rude." Kujo Ike also stood up, carrying his game console.
Following Akaashi's words, Matsukawa pondered, "For a moment, I don't know whether to praise Ikeya's clean face or to criticize Shoyo."
Tsuna couldn't help but retort, "It's obvious they both insulted me!"
"Ah!" Kujo Ike screamed in agony.
"What's wrong?"
"The game console, the game console is broken, boohoo." The tall boy was truly heartbroken this time, his crying scene even more genuine than Matsukawa Saki's earlier one.
A few people gathered around and found that the game console was cracked in two. They guessed that the player had thrown it too hard when it was thrown to the ground, and the cheap console couldn't withstand the powerful smash from the attacker. Game over.
Sawada Tsunayoshi and the others secretly felt sorry for him and went to comfort Kujo Ikeya. Matsukawa Saki was clearly also a little upset that he had been busy for so long only to end up with nothing. He looked up at the sky.
"At least this tells us that you get what you pay for."
Kujo Ike thought it made sense, so they sorted out the wreckage of the game console, put it in a box, placed it on the desk, and propped it up with a few books.
With heavy hearts, Matsukawa led the mourners in picking up three pens to commemorate their beautiful but short-lived gaming time.
"Happy times are always fleeting," Kujo Ike also said.
Matsukawa Saki bowed slowly, "We will always remember you, my friend!"
They followed Akaashi Kyoji shakily as he placed the remains on top of the cabinet, because the others said they were too sad to lift the box, so they entrusted the task to Akaashi Kyoji.
With a sigh, Kyoji Akaashi stood on a chair, letting the group see the game console one last time before closing the cabinet door.
Matsukawa Saki, completely absorbed in his role, let out a sob.
"Hey, I told you guys to take a break early—" The coach, who had returned, opened the door, and his voice gradually faded away as the children moved.
"I said, what the hell are you guys doing!" Suzuki's tone became sharp, clearly frightened.
"What is this?" Kujou Hayate, who was outside the door and didn't know what was going on, peeked in and almost lost his balance and fell to the ground when he saw what was happening.
There was no way around it; the scene was too horrifying. Akaashi Kyoji stood expressionlessly on the chair, while the other four people stood around him in a circle, holding several pens and looking solemn and sorrowful, as if they had stumbled upon some kind of ritual.
"What the hell are you doing!" Kujou Hayate steadied himself against the door frame, utterly shocked by his disciple's bizarre behavior.
Several people hesitated, shoving their pens behind their backs. Matsukawa Saki racked his brains, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "We...we are praying for the upcoming training."
He nudged Kujo Ikeya with the pen he held behind his back, signaling the other to say something as well.
Kujo Ike immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, we can finally spike! We're having Kyōji set the ball for us!"
It was really strange that Sawada Tsunayoshi had already shrunk behind the only big guy, Ikeya, at the beginning of the conversation.
Faced with the hopeful gazes cast at him by the two dramatic figures, Akaashi Kyoji covered his face, feeling utterly embarrassed and unwilling to answer.
Suzuki took a deep breath, calming himself down. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, Akaashi, come down first. Aren't you afraid of falling from such a height?"
Then, Suzuki picked up Tsunayoshi and Hinata from behind and stuffed them back into their own dorm room next door. Finally, together with Kujou Hayate, he shooed Matsukawa Saki into the dorm room. Exhausted, he told Suzuki to get some sleep. Suzuki felt like he had experienced a tumultuous night.
"Now, it should be over, right?" As they returned to their room, Kujou Hayate asked Suzuki, who was equally unsettled, in a daze.
Thinking about this bizarre day, Suzuki said quietly, "Do you think our camp should recruit a psychologist?"
Kujou Hayate shook her head. "I think one might not be enough."
Or perhaps we should recruit another priestess.
The two of them shivered simultaneously. The swaying, dark green leaves outside the window seemed to grow wild and menacing. The bright corridor, which they hadn't noticed anything wrong with before, suddenly became eerie. Without realizing it, they quickened their pace and almost ran to their dormitory.
The next day, at the morning meeting, Suzuki proposed hiring two psychologists to ensure the physical and mental health of the trainees, one for the male trainees and the other for the female trainees.
Kujou Hayate, who always liked to disagree with Suzuki, also agreed. Actually, he was still not entirely satisfied. After all, coaches also need psychologists. We shouldn't ignore the mental health of coaches!
The five of them met up in the dormitory and couldn't help but burst into laughter. Matsukawa Saki laughed so hard he bent over, "Hahaha, did you see the coach's expression last night? Hahahaha!"
Kujo Ike laughed without holding back when talking about her father, "I've never seen my dad's eyes open that wide before, hahaha!"
"The way the coach looked at Kyōji yesterday was like he was possessed by some evil spirit." Sawada Tsunayoshi laughed while thinking that they might have gone too far.
"I felt like the coach was about to be scared to death by us."
As one of the victims, Akaashi Kyoji handed the two clean notebooks to Hinata, saying, "You forgot to bring these back last night."
Hinata took the homework with great disappointment. "I was thinking that if I forgot, I would have a good excuse to tell the teacher that I didn't do my summer homework!"
"Don't even think about that kind of thing." Akaashi dragged the four guys towards the restaurant, once again feeling that hanging out with them was a recipe for disaster.
Kojima's eyes lit up when he saw Sawada, and he walked over, intending to say something. He keenly sensed that the atmosphere between them was different.
It's as if they have their own little secret, and no one else can get into this little world.
But what does that have to do with me? Kojima thought to himself, and he continued to tell Tsuna what he wanted to say.
"The coach talked to me last night and told me to switch back to being an attacker as soon as possible. Hey, Sawada, can you still keep setting the ball for me?"
I don't know which big mouth let the news slip, but everyone at breakfast this morning knew that starting today, everyone would be back to their original positions. Kojima felt that he needed to find a suitable partner.
Sawada Tsunayoshi hesitated before answering, "Of course I can pass the ball to Kojima-kun, but,"
He smiled somewhat sheepishly, "I'm not a setter."
"ha!?"
Although he had been playing setter during this period, when he filled out the application form, he applied for the opposite hitter position because he had practiced receiving the ball more.
"...In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I should be the one providing backup today," he explained slowly.
Kojima nodded knowingly, then turned to face Akaashi Kyoji, bowing deeply in a deep bow.
"Akaashi-senpai, could you hold the ball for me?"
Such impressive social skills! Others glanced at the oblivious Hyuga, who was just as naive as him.
Kyoji Akaashi took a step back without changing his expression. "Okay, let's see what the coach's arrangements are for today."
Whether it was a misperception or not, Sawada Tsunayoshi felt that the two coaches' gazes were unusually sharp today, as if they would rush over with a cross and perform a purification ritual at the slightest sign of trouble.
As a result, the children didn't dare to talk to each other at first, fearing that any action might touch the coach's sensitive nerve. They only got together when they were free to form teams, and even their smiles became more restrained.
Little did they know that it was abnormal for the two coaches to see this concern. Sure enough, it was as if some kind of spirit had drained their energy, and their spirits were not as cheerful as before!
Fortunately, they returned to normal once the match started, dispelling Kujou Hayate's restless urge to find the shrine maiden. He could even watch their chaotic teamwork with a kind heart, his face radiating a benevolent light.
"Suzuki, let's do fewer training sessions for other positions next time."
Suzuki nodded. "That's fine. Don't let these kids get too frustrated."
Their mental state is not normal.
The female coach, who had come to watch the training just like a few days ago, was furious. "Are you out of your minds? It's just a few days of playing different positions, are you going to make the kids apathetic?"
Kujou Hayate shook her head, her face showing a detached acceptance of life and death. "You don't understand."
The kids aren't autistic yet, but they're almost turning them into autistic beings.
The female coach scratched her head and left the two strange guys, worried that she might have caught some germs, muttering to herself as she walked away.
"Two men with rather fragile minds are trying to figure this out."
A note from the author:
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Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
It feels like a group of kids together are like elements that are normally stable but react violently upon contact—a conclusion probably drawn from observing human infants.
The next chapter is chapter 18!
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