Diamond no Ace

I'm suppose to finishing up some prompts, but instead, I decided to work on this story instead. I don't know how many chapters this will have, but I will try my best to not abandon it halfway. I'm really liking this even though I'm not entirely sure where it's going yet.

Anyways, I would like to thank you for the support and for reading my stuff. It means quite a lot for I am not a perfect writer at all. So, like always please excuse my grammatical errors and I hope this chapter meets your expectations!

Down the Road

Chapter 2

He watched as she quietly stepped outside the classroom after the teacher had called out for her. She looked around nervously with her backpack still in her hands before she finally spotted him. Standing by the doorway, Eijun waved his hands to grab her attention even though she didn't seem to happy to see him. With a pout, she walked toward him and he happily extended his arms to embrace her. However, Mizuki completely ignored him and stood right next to him with a rather sad look in her face. Wondering what was wrong, Eijun kneeled down in front of her and took her backpack. He gave her a smile, but she sadly kept avoiding his eyes.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her that way, but lately she was looking more depressed than usual. He hadn't told Miyuki about it yet because he thought he could handle it, but of course, that wasn't the case. He was really starting to worry since it seemed like she was only capable of showing her sad little face to him. Then, when he tried to talk to her, she kept quiet. She hide her feelings and tried to convince him that everything was okay.

He didn't know how he could help her if she didn't tell him what was wrong. There was only so much he could to do as a parent after all. Still, since Miyuki wasn't really around much because of work, Eijun made sure to keep an eye out for her whenever he didn't know what kind of complex feelings a five year old was capable of having, but he always emphasized more than enough that he was there for her. Trying to ease of the unwanted tension, he gently pushed back her hair that he had so terribly messed up in the morning.

"How was school today, Mizu-chan?" He asked her, trying to cheer her up a bit. She lifted her head and Eijun was glad to see her eyes light up a little. Still, she remained silence and discreetly turned to look at her teacher. She was standing by the classroom door, staring at them with a concerned look in her face. With a gulp, Eijun began feeling unease. "Did you learn anything fun?"

"Why didn't Dad come?" She asked him, changing the topic completely. Eijun stood up with a sigh as he placed her backpack over his shoulder. He always knew that Miyuki was her favorite, but it was still kind of hard for him to accept since he would constantly brag about it. As his eyebrows twitched with irritation, Eijun tried to not think about her question much. "I drew a really cool picture. I wanted to show it to Dad."

"Well, you can always show it to me, too?" Eijun suggested with a smile even though she didn't seem to convinced. She pouted her lips again and turned away with an attitude. Aside from everything else, she was probably still upset that he completely messed up her hair. Then, adding to the fire, he didn't get her to school in time and she ended up getting a tardy because of him. While it wasn't much, she was pretty picky when it came to those sort of things.

"No, Daddy doesn't know anything about art." She commented and Eijun came close to losing it. Just like Miyuki, she really loved to make him mad. It was probably something she had learned from him. "Will Dad be home early today? I want to show him my drawing."

"I don't know." He said truthfully, scratching the back of his head as he thought about him. "He has been a bit busy lately and it's the start of the new season, too, so I'm not sure. Let's just hope he does, okay?"

Mizuki nodded happily and took his hand, but before they walked out the building, Mizuki's teacher called for him. He didn't realize she was still there and quickly apologized for ignoring her. "Umm, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I would like to speak to you about Mizuki-chan."

"Oh, no. It's fine." Even as he said this, he grew incredibly worried and his heart began to race faster than usual. He patted Mizuki's head before he leaned closer to her. He grabbed her hands to realize they were trembling. "It's okay, Mizu-chan. Why don't you wait by the door while I talk to your teacher really fast? It won't take long and if you like we can go to the nearby bakery after."

She didn't say anything to his request, but she did go stand by the door like she had been told. Eijun stared at her as he watched a frown appear in her face. Even though they didn't really get along sometimes, he really loved her and it hurt him to see her so down that way. It was sort of strange to believe since she seemed fine in the morning. He questioned why she only seemed unhappy whenever she came out from school and he wondered if Miyuki had seen her that way as well. Eijun turned to look back at the teacher with a long sigh. Maybe something was happening in school that Mizuki didn't want to mention.

"I've been noticing something odd in Mizuki-chan lately." The teacher began low enough so Mizuki wouldn't hear them. However, her words still alerted him enough. "Recently, I've noticed that she isn't really getting along with the other kids. When I tell them to get into groups, she always insists on being on her own. During playtime, she's always playing by herself as well and sometimes I feel like she doesn't want to associate with the other children. I don't know if this is something we should be concerned about, but it would be helpful if you spoke with her about it. She's a very sweet girl after all and I don't want her to have problems with the other children."

"Thank you for informing me." Eijun replied, feeling something dry stuck in his throat. The problem wasn't as bad as he imagined, thankfully, but there were still certain things he feared. "I will definitely have a small talk with her."

Saying his farewell, Eijun went to Mizuki and she surprisingly grabbed his hand again. They walked out in complete silence, but since he had promised, they started walking to the nearby bakery. It was strange that she wasn't saying anything even after getting a brief idea of what was going on. Unsure of how to start a conversation, he suddenly picked her up and sat her down over his shoulders. She squealed in return before she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hmm, I wonder what we should get? Maybe we should buy one those cakes your dad brought us the other day. They were really good, huh?" Eijun told her, trying to sound a bit more happy. Yet, he still got no response from her and it really bothered him. As her dad, he really wished she could trust him and tell him what was troubling her. "Mizu-chan," he said after a small pause. "Your teacher told me that you're not really getting along with the other kids. Is that true?"

"No, that's n-not true." Mizuki told him even though her voice was shaky, hugging him even tighter. "I have lots of friends and I play hide-and-seek with them too. Last time, they couldn't even find me. They said I was the best at hiding."

"Okay, that's good to hear then." Even he didn't exactly believe her, some of his uneasiness went away. "Hey, Mizu-chan, if anyone ever bothers you or picks on you for whatever reason, just tell me. I'll defend you and get them back for sure! Just you watch! They'll never bother you again after that!"

She laughed at the seriousness in his voice and he wished he could hear her like that all the time. He loved to hear laughter and see her smiling because it filled his chest with indescribable warmth. He loved her more than anything in world. She was his everything and just like he couldn't live without Miyuki, he couldn't live without her either. They were both important in his life.

He remembered when he had gotten scolded by his grandfather when he had turned down an offer from the MLB. Everyone called him an idiot and told him that he wasn't going to get such proposal ever again. They were all so disappointed in him, but Eijun didn't expect them to understand his decision. He had chosen Miyuki over everything because he loved the guy and because he wanted to spend the rest of his life by his side. Baseball was important to him, but he didn't have to go all the way to America to play it.

In the end, Miyuki gave up his professional career as well and became the new baseball coach for Seidou. Then, much to everyone's surprise, he also got a pretty good job as a personal trainer in a sports facility center. Then, Mizuki ended up appearing in their lives and he honestly couldn't have asked for more. They weren't anywhere near perfect, but he couldn't complain about the life he had chosen. He didn't regret it one bit.

"Ahh, Daddy, you can't do that!" She slapped her small hands on his cheeks, snapping him from his thoughts. "You'll get in trouble with Dad if you pick a fight with my classmates!"

"Yeah, well, he doesn't have to know about it!" He reassured her with a mischievous laugh. It was impossible to keep anything hidden from Miyuki. In fact, he couldn't even lie because he would easily be caught by him. "So you make sure to tell me, okay?! If anyone is messing with you, I'll get them for you!"

"Okay, okay, Daddy! I will!" She was laughing at his nonsense which brought a smile to his face. Then, a few seconds later, he suddenly felt her yanking his hair. His jaw dropped from all the pulling and he wondered what she was doing to him since he couldn't see. "There! You look really cute, so don't take them off!"

Lifting one of his hands, Eijun realized Mizuki had taken off her hair ties to use them on him. She had taken the chance and made him two pigtails on top of his head. Even though the people walking by would stare at him with laughter, Eijun made no effort to take them off. Instead, he showed them off proudly because they were made by his lovely daughter. "Okay, I won't take them off, but I can't let your dad see me like this!"

"Let's take a picture!"

Mizuki kept insisting for picture and it wasn't long before he gave in to her pleading. When they arrived at the bakery, they ended up arguing between a vanilla and chocolate cake dessert. However, not long before, Eijun had tried calling Miyuki. He wanted to ask him if he was coming home early or if he was coming home at all. He wanted to tell him that Mizuki wanted to see him and that she was having some minor problems at school. He wanted to tell him that Mizuki needed more support than ever.

But, like always, he didn't answer.

...