JSWGAS Chapter 8

As Oikawa and Iwaizumi stood at the entrance, waiting for their friend to come out, they overheard the spectators’ continuous exclamations.

“Kokonoe… his technique is better than most high schoolers, isn’t it? And he’s only in his teens now. Looks like the tennis world is going to change.”

“This kid is a bit like that ‘Samurai Nanjirō,’ a genius.”

“I really want to know how his father trains him…”

An undeniable victory; that’s how the spectators who watched this match would describe it.

It was an overwhelming difference that even amateurs who didn’t understand tennis could see.

Oikawa Tōru overheard a few remarks and said idly, “Eh? Is Taka being praised that highly?”

Iwaizumi Hajime was looking at his phone, not even bothering to look up, “He did win last year’s tournament, after all.”

Oikawa had a sudden inspiration, “Then why don’t we get Taka to sign a hundred autographs for us? We can make a fortune when he becomes a famous tennis player!”

Iwaizumi twitched the corner of his mouth, “Typical of you, Trash River.”

“…I’ve wanted to say this for a while, Koiwa, aren’t you getting more and more impolite to me?”

“I don’t see the need to be polite to an idiot.”

Iwaizumi put away his phone, “He’ll be out soon. Let’s go eat ramen later.”

“I want to eat sushi! And Wagyu beef!”

“I’m already being nice enough to take you out to eat! No conditions allowed!”

As the two were bickering, a man’s voice suddenly came from the side.

“Oikawa and… Iwaizumi?”

The two turned their heads in unison.

Tall stature, light brown hair, a handsome and upright face, and deep crimson eyes. Oikawa Tōru was taken aback, hesitatingly dredging up the other person’s name from his memory.

“Kokonoe… Uncle?”

Kokonoe Hikohito, the father of their friend Kokonoe Taka. He looked radiant, with a perpetual smile on his face, and his attitude was very friendly, “Hello there.”

Kokonoe Hikohito greeted them, holding a brand-new tennis bag in his hand, bulging with things. Perhaps because his son had won the match, he was in a good mood and concerned about the two.

Adults are concerned about nothing more than studies and family. Oikawa Tōru conversed in a humble yet confident manner, while Iwaizumi Hajime remained silent on the side: compared to him, Oikawa was more adept at handling similar situations.

Kokonoe Hikohito had once been angry because his son had skipped training to meet his new friend Iwaizumi with Oikawa next door. Since then, their meetings had always been a bit awkward. Fortunately, Kokonoe Hikohito rarely appeared in Kokonoe Taka’s life, which was bearable for both sides.

“Are you here to pick up Taka to go home, Mr. Kokonoe?” Oikawa Tōru blinked, “That guy promised to treat us to dinner if he won the match.”

Kokonoe Hikohito paused, smiled, and replied, “Well… no, I still have things to do at the team, I’m going back after seeing him.”

“If it’s about treating you guys to dinner, I’ll have him take you to a restaurant opened by a friend of mine later?” He decided, “It’s a Wagyu beef restaurant, you’ll definitely like it.”

Oikawa Tōru still maintained a smile, he politely agreed, but heard Kokonoe Hikohito continue, “Speaking of which, Oikawa, you’re quite tall now, and your muscles look good. Do you usually work out?”

“Um… I’m playing volleyball now.”

“Volleyball, huh…” Kokonoe Hikohito pondered for a moment, “Not bad. But I personally think tennis is more charming.”

He turned his head and smiled at Iwaizumi, receiving the same answer of ‘playing volleyball.’ The two sides quickly ran out of things to say. At this moment, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance.

Kokonoe Hikohito took a few steps forward, brushing past Oikawa Tōru.

‘Strange.’ Oikawa Tōru thought absentmindedly, ‘Do adult men wear perfume?’

He and Iwaizumi turned their heads together.

“Tōru, A-I…” Kokonoe Taka, who came out of the stadium in a hurry, focused his gaze on the third person. The starlight smile that appeared in his steel-grey eyes almost instantly turned into steely composure, “…Father.”

…

…………

After the match, Kokonoe Taka packed his equipment into his backpack and slightly adjusted his sports wristband. His coach Takeuchi came over after finishing his conversation with the referee and called him to stop.

He quickly pressed a few times on his phone, then threw the phone into his pocket. Takeuchi happened to stop in front of him at this time.

“Kokonoe, good job.”

“Thank you, Coach.”

“I noticed that you were consciously controlling your strength? Afraid of going out of bounds?”

——That kind of ball power is considered controlling strength? If a third person was here, they would definitely be surprised to the point of speechlessness. But Kokonoe and Takeuchi were both calm, as if this matter was not worth mentioning.

“Whether it goes out of bounds or not doesn’t matter.” Kokonoe Taka said, “That little round-glasses classmate’s limit is that kind of power.”

Takeuchi raised his eyebrows: “You observed his limit, and then controlled your strength to his limit?”

“Yeah. Figured it out in the second game.”

“I was wondering why your style of play became so erratic in the second game… Sometimes it doesn’t clear the net, and sometimes it goes out of bounds.”

“The stamina spent on his running, the distance of his arm extension and stride told me where his limit is.” Kokonoe Taka thought for a while, “But in the end, he was obviously exhausted but still tried hard to receive a few balls, which was remarkable.”

Takeuchi didn’t question his little hobby that was a bit like a cat toying with a mouse. Different players have different styles, and it’s normal for some geniuses to have little quirks. He skipped this topic and confirmed the next training direction with Kokonoe.

“Strength and control.” Kokonoe Taka said, “I want to try and see what extent I can achieve in this direction.”

——And his father, Kokonoe Hikohito, preferred him to practice more flamboyant techniques.

Takeuchi thought so and agreed.

This was an unspoken agreement between Takeuchi and Kokonoe Taka. Takeuchi was responsible for the details of his training plan, and Kokonoe Hikohito usually wouldn’t delve into the details. ——As long as he can win, keep winning.

However, Takeuchi couldn’t help but look at this kid who he had watched grow up to be this big: “Kokonoe, how was the feeling of this match?”

“…”

Takeuchi was sure that he understood his meaning, so he chose to remain silent now. He asked again, in the same tone as discussing the weather today: “How was the feeling? Did you find it interesting?”

“Do you want to hear the truth?”

“I hope you say what you really feel.”

A hint of helplessness rose between Kokonoe Taka’s eyebrows: “Well… very ordinary. Not very excited, not very annoying either. After playing so many matches, this feeling is more like a habit, right? Similar to that kind of easily achievable goal, so my mood won’t have any more waves.”

“So, you’re saying you feel bored?”

“When I’m standing on the court, the only thing I can trust is myself, and I’m sure I can win.” He tossed the tennis bag, “I already know the result, and I still need to experience the process again, I can’t help but feel bored.”

Takeuchi listened quietly, then raised his hand and patted his shoulder.

“I’ve seen genius players like you before.” He said easily, “Never tasted defeat in a hundred battles, so they will be especially unwilling after losing a game, and they will also like tennis even more because of it.”

Kokonoe Taka smiled, like a vivid mask: “I hope that time comes sooner.”

He said goodbye to Takeuchi and walked towards the aisle.

Should I go eat tonkotsu ramen in a while? Or treat A-I and Tōru to grilled meat?

He was already very familiar with A-I’s taste. In some ways, he was easygoing and easy to feed. But Tōru would definitely deliberately clamor to eat Wagyu sushi and the like, right? But although he always said that, it only stayed at the stage of saying it…

He seemed to have been beaten up by A-I during the match. This person often forgets the pain once the wound heals.

Kokonoe Taka thought of this, and some stiff facial muscles relaxed, turning into a shallow smile and joy. He couldn’t help but speed up his pace, wanting to see them sooner.

Turn a corner, walk past the bend, and he could already see his friends’ figures. But next to the two slightly shorter shadows, there was also a somewhat unfamiliar tall figure standing. At first, Kokonoe Taka thought it was a passerby.

“Tōru, A-I…”

His pace quickened, and his friends turned their heads to look over.

But the smile on Kokonoe Taka’s face quickly disappeared after seeing another familiar face.

“…Father.”

Familiar dizziness accompanied by the man’s voice became stronger and stronger. Kokonoe Taka almost instantly built a wall for himself with a hard shell. He felt his voice was stagnant and his consciousness was blank. But in reality, he was quite skilled in conducting a question-and-answer session with Kokonoe Hikohito that had no kinship.

“Won, right?”

“Won.”

“Not bad, there’s another match in a while, no problem, right?” Kokonoe Hikohito said kindly and approvingly, “There will be an exchange meeting next Friday, and the current coaches and supervisors of the National Youth Team will also participate at that time. You prepare for it then and show up with me.”

“I understand.”

After these, Kokonoe Hikohito began to care about his son’s studies.

“How are your grades in school?”

“Twelfth in the grade on the last quiz.”

“Very good.”

After the short conversation ended, the two paused awkwardly———according to the description of the two onlookers, they had never seen a father and son whose atmosphere was so stiff, like a superior and subordinate.

“When are you going home?”

Kokonoe Hikohito was speechless and perfunctorily said: “When I have time. I’ve been too busy recently and must work with the team.”

As if to change the subject, he hurriedly said: “Oh right, Taka, this is a gift.”

He handed over the brand-new tennis bag. Kokonoe Taka lowered his head and saw the conspicuous logo on the side of the tennis bag. His mind quickly showed the relevant brands and prices.

He looked up, and after a moment of silence, he said, “…My current one hasn’t broken yet.”

Kokonoe Hikohito waved his hand: “It’s okay, just use it as a spare. You can still use whichever one you’re comfortable with.”

There was really nothing to say next. Kokonoe Hikohito avoided Kokonoe Taka’s gaze and looked at Oikawa and Iwaizumi standing next to him.

He asked Kokonoe Taka: “Are you going to eat next?”

“Yes.”

“Coincidentally, let’s go to a restaurant opened by a friend of mine. The Wagyu beef cuisine there is very delicious.” He said a string of addresses and gave Kokonoe Taka a phone number, “You can just charge it to my account at that time.”

After finishing the explanation, he said to Oikawa and Iwaizumi: “Don’t be polite, Taka thanks you for taking care of him.”

“I have something to do, so I’ll go first. Have fun.”

The three watched silently as the adult left.

Iwaizumi looked at Kokonoe Taka with concern: “Are you okay?”

Kokonoe Taka took a deep breath and slowly exhaled: “I’m fine. What could be wrong with me?”

Oikawa Tōru came over and took the tennis bag from Kokonoe’s hand as if he hadn’t noticed: “Wow, Wilson?”

He muttered: “When will my mom be able to get me a new pair of branded shoes…”

“He’s very generous in this regard.” Kokonoe Taka simply threw the ball bag to Oikawa, letting him look at it slowly, “So, are we going to eat ramen or Wagyu beef? The quality of Wagyu beef won’t be bad, it’s a rare opportunity.”

Kokonoe Taka shrugged: “If it’s ramen, there’s only the restaurant we often eat at, it definitely won’t be as delicious as Wagyu beef.”

Iwaizumi Hajime didn’t care: “I still want to eat what you’re treating. Hey, Oikawa, stop looking, let’s go back!”

Oikawa Tōru shrugged, shouting: “Hmph———Oikawa-sama wants to eat soy sauce ramen and fried chicken——”

“Okay, order whatever you want.” Kokonoe Taka waved his hand, his eyebrows and eyes softened. He took a few steps and stood shoulder to shoulder with his friends, walking together on the way home.

“Speaking of which, Tōru, you were beaten up by A-I again during the match, right?”

“I was letting Koiwa win!”

“…A-I, thank you for your hard work.”

“Ah, Taka, don’t keep indulging this guy.”

“Okay.”

“Ko———iwa——”

“Annoying! You flashy jerk!”