It was a silent, humid night and the Seido baseball team had turned in a little ago. One of the well-known pitchers of the team, Eijun Sawamura, was currently sleeping but tossing and turning.

He was breathing heavily, sweat moving down his face.

*Eijun's Pov*

It's dark… it hurts….. I can't breathe… help…

Darkness. That is what is surrounding me.

I feel like I'm underwater, I can't breathe, I'm gasping for air now.

….

Eijun shot up with a gasp and sweat heavily poured down his face.

He is struggling for air. Why can't he breathe?

He pounded his chest a couple times trying to make a better airway. He was now violently coughing, his face full of panic and eyes wide. He pounded harder…. Harder. It wouldn't surprise him if he bruised himself.

All the noises were getting louder, the gasping, the pounding. More rustling was heard in the bunk above Sawamura, as well as the one across the room.

Youichi started grumbling more, tossing and turning, similar to what Eijun was doing a minute ago. He finally sat up with an irritated expression across his face.

"OI! SAWAMURA! What are you doing!?"

He was greeted with coughs and pants and the pounding once again.

"Sawamura?" he continued. That horrifying sound. The sound of struggle….. The sound of help.

Youichi sat up real fast, throwing all his covers off, and jumping down the side of his bunk to Sawamura's. His face full of worry, anxiety and other emotions.

"Sawamura! OI!" He started pounding Eijun's back in hope to help but it wasn't working.

"Masuko, get up NOW!" Youichi said loud enough for the other man in the room to hear.

Then the sound of another pair of feet hitting the floor sounded and paused. Then thumping was coming closer to the two.

"Masuko get some water for him!"

Masuko went to the roommates' fridge and looked through it quickly. It took a minute but he was successful and ran back over to the group.

Youichi grabbed the full water bottle from his friend's hands and put it to Eijun's mouth and started rubbing circles over his back in hopes of calming him.

Slowly but surely it started to work and he was chugging the water down and once it was removed from his mouth, he let out a couple more coughs and started breathing again.

The two teenagers were looking down at the other in worry but slowly replaced the look with relief.

The usual Eijun they knew was always yelling, full of passion, energetic, and was full with excitement, but the one they were looking at now had fear in his eyes and was frightened.

"Sawamura-chan, what happened?" Masuko asked for the both of them.

Sawamura took a couple more breathes.

"I-I don't kn-know…." He said with wide eyes. "I don't know if it was a dream or what, but I couldn't breathe and it felt like I was suffocating and everything was black…."

"I-it was probably just the dream that caused it, well everything is okay now, right?" Youichi said casting a glance at Eijun.

"Y-Yeah.."

Masuko and Youichi started off to their beds once again and waited a moment until they knew he was asleep then fell asleep themselves.

….

Today was Saturday, and like any other Saturday morning, the Seido baseball team spent practicing.

It was also the morning after the incident with Sawamura and everything was normal, so far.

Eijun was heading towards the field with his baseball uniform on as usual. His roommates had already headed off a little bit ago and he had just finished his breakfast.

He felt oddly tired and was sluggish a bit. Yeah, he did wake up last night but, that ordeal only lasted for about twenty five minutes the rest of the night he got sleep.

*Eijun's POV*

'Ugh why do I feel so stiff' he scrunched up his face and started stretching his muscles while walking.

The back of my throat started to feel itchy and scratchy so I coughed into my hand, Who would want to spread germs anyway.

…..

*No ones POV*

When Eijun coughed into his hand and pulled it back, his hand was stained red now…..

Wait what?

He had to do a double take.

He had just coughed up blood and it was now sitting in his hand.

Okay that's not normal, no one should cough up blood randomly.

He took his hand to the ground and rubbed it to get rid of the ugly crimson color on his hand.

And he just kept walking, like nothing had ever happened, but he still had a worry in the back of his head so he decided he would head by his doctor today after practice.

….

Practice was now almost over and had been going on for four and a half hours and everyone noticed something was off about this practice. It had been quiet.

Usually the third years were always the loud ones that cheered everyone on, but on the other side of the field the first and second years were oddly quiet.

That was because Sawamura had been very quiet.

Now like stated before, Sawamura had always been the one to cheer everyone on and add more spirit to the first and second years but for some reason he was very quiet today.

The third years had noticed this and as well as the second years and they observed Sawamura closely.

He was growing a bit paler, and he seemed sluggish. He was breathing a little harder than usual and had a cold sweat again. It was almost like he got lazy one day and spent the next three years being lazy then all of a sudden ran marathon without stopping.

Before anyone could point anything out, Sawamura had gone to the locker room and changed, he was the first one out then he walked out of the school.

This was very odd.

*Youichi's POV*

My eyebrows are knitted together in confusion and I have been confused ever since practice had started. Sawada is breathing heavy like last night, and he was coughing from time to time into his hand. Then for some odd reason he would rub his hand on the dirt right after.

'Never knew he was such a germaphobe.'

I just shrugged it off as Sawamura being Sawamura, and started changing.

*Sawamura's POV*

I feel horrible.

Utterly horrible.

During the practice I could feel myself getting paler, and I was coughing up blood once again.

I also was breathing hard and felt like last night. I could hardly breathe.

I was thankful when practice was over because as soon as it was I started heading out.

I was going to the doctor to see what was wrong because I frankly have no idea right now. I don't want to ask Shades (His coach) because he might sit me out for games and practices. Then I don't want to ask my other teammates because they could go report to the coach.

I am so tired right now, it hurts sometimes to breathe.

Apparently I thought long enough to arrive at the doctors once I was kicked out of my thoughts.

….

*With the team at lunch*

Everyone was talking about something but a certain group of people were silent with frustration on their faces almost as if they were trying to figure something out.

They were all wondering what had happened to Sawada during practice because for some people he helped get them energized, but it was a bit different without hearing him cheer them on.

"Senpai," Furuya began.

All attention was turned towards him.

"Did you notice something off with Sawamura today?" He asked staring at nothing.

Miyuki looked a bit disturbed as well, he was the one who would shrug things off normally and start joking around, but today he just couldn't.

Everyone knew something was going on with Sawamura today, and they wanted to know so badly, but they just wouldn't pry.

Masuko and Youichi were spearing glances at each other almost as if they were communicating with their eyes.

Chris had noticed Sawamura acting strange and was very worried. He was the kids 'trainer' after all, why wouldn't he be?

….

Sawamura had checked in and was the only one in the waiting room currently. Thousands of thoughts were going through his head trying to figure out what was happening. His health had gone down in pretty much a night. He had been feeling a little sickly this week but he had thought he had gotten the flu or something but he just didn't know.

That was when he saw and old man with an oxygen mask had walked out and slightly waved at him, of course Sawamura waved back.

Not too long after Sawamura was greeted with someone calling his name and a nurse at the door with a clipboard.

He got up and walked with the woman having a slight chat with her as they walked.

As she was taking his height and weight she asked questions of his symptoms and so on.

"So, may I know what is going on, or you know what you are worried about." She had asked while writing measurements down.

"W-well, it started with the symptoms around three in the morning last night, I couldn't breathe, and I was sweating horribly. I had started hitting my chest, hoping for an airway or something to open up so I could breathe but, I just couldn't. My roommates had gotten me some water and let me drink it and I was fine."

She nodded, probably something to do with his asthma she had thought but the next part proved her wrong and got her worried.

"Though, today, as I was heading towards my baseball practice I started coughing and I looked down at my hand I had coughed in. There was blood on my hand. I have been coughing it up ever since then."

She stopped writing for a minute and started down at her paper with wide eyes. He couldn't have what she thought he had, could he?

"O-Okay well let me go get your doctor and we can get started."

He nodded as she stepped out of the room and returned in what seemed like five minutes.

"Hello Sawamura-san!" His doctor had greeted gleefully.

His doctor was a tall slender man. He didn't have much muscle, and he had hair that was flattened out but pointed in different directions nonetheless.

Sawamura's doctor was a very nice and entergetic man, much like Sawamura but, got calm when need be.

He knew Sawamura's father because they used to go to school together. So he as well knew of Sawamura's love for baseball.

"What seems to be the problem today," He grabbed the clipboard from the nurse and as he went over each thing he started to get more worried over it.

"So you have had trouble breathing, and your coughing up blood as well?" The doctor asked looking up at him.

Sawamura nodded and as soon as he was getting ready to talk he felt something in the back of his throat.

*Sawamura's POV*

I was listening intently on what the doctor was saying, asking if everything he was saying was correct. I nodded with each thing and when he looked up at me I was going to say that everything that was written there was correct, but I started to feel something at the back of my throat.

I brought my hand up to my mouth and started to cough. I felt the warm, thick, and red liquid leaking down the palm of my hand. The doctor and nurse looked up at me worriedly and the nurse went to one of the cabinets in the room and grabbed a handful of tissues and handed them to me.

Once my coughing fit ended I started breathing heavily trying to get some air into me and they were looking at me.

….

"Sawamura, let me listen to your breathing." His doctor got closer to him and pulled out his stethoscope.

He listened closely and intently at his breathing and Sawamura was trying to take the deepest breathes he could.

His doctor's eyebrows furrowed and he had a look on his face, you just couldn't read it, the emotions he had they were all mixed, but not one emotion of happiness crossed his face.

Finally without saying anything the doctor backed away and started typing on his computer.

And once he finished he turned to Sawamura with a grim face and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Sawamura, I hope to god I am not right, but I fear you may have lung cancer."

Sawamura froze trying to process what he was just told….. His doctor is joking with him right? His doctor always likes to joke around with that big smile on his face, but…. he dosen't have a smile on this joke.

"Y-Your jo-joking right?" he said with a nervous expression, showing that he really was scared.

"I'm afraid I'm not this time, though I wish I was." The doctor said with a shake of his head and a sad expression on his face.

Sawamura just froze instantly and looked down at his feet.

The nurse in the room had a melancholy expression on her face, feeling grief for the one before her.

"As soon as you leave this room I want you heading towards the hospital to get a PET Scan. I will make you a letter so you can get in there immediately."

Sawamura was silent not making a noise and just nodded, his bangs covering his eyes.

"I will call you a taxi to drive you there." And with that the doctor left and, once the door closed silent tears could be seen heading down his face.

"I definitely won't stop practice for this." Then he headed out of the room with a determined face.