Ippo sighed, flopping on the floor of his room. Coach Kamogawa's words still rang clear in his mind.
"Kid, I told you to buy new fighting shoes two title defenses ago! Without good traction your punches are going to lose power!"
"H...hai..."
Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura all laughed. They understood that a boxer's first gloves were special tokens, but didn't feel the same way about the shoes. Drumming his fingers together shyly, Ippo murmured, "It's not because they were my first..."
"Ippo!" Hiroko called to her son, "There's a package delivery for you!"
"Coming!" Standing up and brushing himself off, Ippo shoved his new shoe worries to the back of his mind, casting a forlorn glance at his old pair in the corner. The soles were well worn and the latest pair of laces were fraying, but they still looked like the best shoes ever.
Taking the package from the delivery man, Ippo signed the receipt, and asked, "Do you know who this is from?"
"The return address is Dynamite Sports, maybe it's something you ordered from them?" the delivery man responded, tipping his hat as he left the house.
"Did you order something, Ippo?" Hiroko asked.
"No, I wonder what it could be." Ippo sat down in the living room excitedly, tearing the cardboard lid off. Inside was a smaller, rectangular box. Upon removing the lid, Ippo gasped.
"Sh...shoes..." he spluttered, picking them up and examining them. Did Coach get frustrated and just order new shoes for him? They were exactly like his current, worn out pair, right down to the same colors.
"Those are nice shoes, Ippo. Did Kumi send them?"
"I...I don't know, mom." Ippo replied, imagining Kumi ordering Mashiba to place the order. He grimaced; he never wanted to fight the current Japanese lightweight champion again, but he found it funny how easily Mashiba's sister handled the tall, brooding boxer.
"They are nice...and they're the same. That's good..." Ippo surmised. An envelope at the bottom of the box caught his eye. Opening it and taking the note out, Ippo read intently.
A loud bird told me your shoes were worn out.
Your straightforward style never changes, so I figured your shoes should stay the same.
Keep working hard; I haven't forgotten our promise.
Ippo grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. "Hey mom, do we have any cans of juice?"
"I think so, why?"
Ippo smiled impishly, remembering back to his days as a 16 year old who didn't know the first thing about what kind of shoes a boxer like him should wear. "I owe somebody a drink."