okay yeah i'm thinking about shimada and takinoue and how they're just local dudes who still casually enjoy volleyball and go play this pickup game because their friend somehow got roped into this temporary coaching job and then all of a sudden they're inspired and nostalgic about the ridiculous passionate things these high schoolers are saying—"as long as i'm here you're invincible!"
and then one of the kids who didn't even play in that practice match shows up at shimada's store and asks him to teach him jump float serves—which shimada doesn't even remember doing, let alone remember yamaguchi. and then he does!! he just takes time out of his workdays every week to teach this kid how to serve, and for no real reason other than that yamaguchi asked so earnestly
and so shimada and takinoue go to watch the tournament bc hey i guess their friend ukai has committed to this coaching thing and shimada has been kinda working with this yamaguchi kid for like a week now so sure that's a way to spend a saturday. and then the passion is on full display on the court again, as well as the devastation and shame not only of karasuno's loss but at the brutal truth that their skills just aren't enough yet, and yeah shimada and takinoue know those feelings too
so takinoue finds himself looking up game footage of opposing teams and collecting them together for ukai and the team to study, and then splicing together clips with soundtracks of karasuno doing their coolest shit so that they can see and feel how awesome they are—we've even seen him take over practices for ukai if he cant be there
and then shimada just takes his training with yamaguchi so seriously. they have a schedule, he's set up a net in the back area behind his store, he goes through different processes yamaguchi can use to get better not only physically but mentally too. and then he's in the stands crying and calling yamaguchi "my boy"—he's running around an entire arena sweating his ass off and embarrassing himself to shove an ipad into a plastic bag and hold it over his head just so that yamaguchi hopefully sees it and doesnt get swept up by his nerves
like these guys do everything they can for the team and for those kids. they ask for donations in their shops, they take time off work to travel to tokyo, they recruit their employees and other friends to watch the matches, and they go to every game. every single game
they aren't family. they aren't relatives of anyone on the team or even anyone at the school. they didn't have to do any of that. they're just some of ukai's friends who got inspired and made a difference