As per usual on every meal time, Yukari helps the cafeteria auntie serve the players until the crowd dies down a little bit, then she takes her share of food and sits somewhere to eat. She finds Miyuki and Sawamura sitting right next to each other, but she doesn't want to sit next to Miyuki. So she casually sits on the seat behind Miyuki, not before stealing his hat.
"Oi, Yuka-chan… you still haven't returned my beanie and you're stealing my hat already," Miyuki protests as he watches Yukari putting her tray of food on the table. She then pulls her ponytail out of the hole of the hat before putting her hands together in thanks.
"But I like that beanie," Yukari says as she starts eating.
"I like that beanie too!" Miyuki says in irritation, "Man, you always steal my hats… I should stop wearing them around you."
"Yeah, you do that," Yukari says.
"The two of you are quite close, aren't you…?" Sawamura comments.
"You think so?" Miyuki asks.
"Anyway… everyone's so quiet," Sawamura says, "Did something happen?"
"Huh? You haven't heard? Tomorrow, the first years and the upperclassmen are having a game," Miyuki explains.
"WHAT?!" Sawamura shouts, "I haven't heard anything about that! Can I play?! Can I?!" Sawamura then proceeds to take Miyuki by his collar and shake him.
"Oi, as childish as he is, he's still your senpai," Yukari comments without looking at them, "Show some respect. How do you expect to survive here if you don't have manners? Don't you remember what happened when you disrespected Kantoku? You made a gigantic fool out of yourself."
Sawamura looks like he's been stabbed by multiple arrows from Yukari's words. He wordlessly lets Miyuki go and sits back down, "…so what about this game?"
"Usually, the first years only do basic strength training. They don't participate in the first string tryouts. But, after our last game, we're a little desperate," Miyuki explains.
"Excuse me…"
Yukari turns to look at the source of the new voice and sees the same first year who threw a fastball that made such a loud sound in the bullpen earlier standing beside the empty seat beside Miyuki. Furuya Satoru… wasn't it?
"Can I sit next to you?" Furuya asks.
"You!" Sawamura exclaims. The two pitchers look at each other, until all of a sudden Furuya moves and shoves Sawamura aside so he could take Sawamura's spot beside Miyuki.
"Excuse me," Furuya says.
"Why are you sitting there?! Sit on the other side!" Sawamura says as he points at the free seat beside Miyuki.
"Miyuki-senpai," Furuya says, "During tomorrow's scrimmage, I don't plan on letting anyone hit my pitch. If I manage, will you… catch my pitch?"
Yukari looks at the dark-haired pitcher from over her shoulder. She blatantly ignores the dark aura that emanates from the other players after hearing Furuya's words and continues to eat.
"Hey, rookie. You won't let anyone hit your pitch?Do you have any idea where you are?"
Before long, a lot of angry players have started to crowd Furuya, trying to intimidate him.
"You think you're so big even though you're still fresh out of junior high."
"If you want Miyuki to catch your pitch, you need to prove your strength."
"Stop ganging up on him," all of a sudden, from the other side of the room Tanba says.
"Tanba-san."
"The only way we fight is on the baseball field," Tanba says.
"Y-Yes, sir."
Having said that, Tanba's words don't hide his determination to prove that he deserves to be the ace and that he won't give the mound to anyone else. Yukari smirks.
I guess this is needed. The upperclassmen have been lacking in determination lately. Getting their butts kicked by the first years would be humiliating, so I'm sure they would give their all in the next scrimmage, Yukari thinks, "Thanks for the meal," she says under her breath. She then stands up and frowns when the crowd around Furuya seems to step back a little bit away from her.
"…what?" Yukari asks.
"N-Nothing!"
"…if you have time to waste, instead of wasting it to try and prove your superiority to your kouhai, why don't you use it to finish your meals and get some rest so you can prove your words with actions?" Yukari asks.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Yukari then walks towards the counter to put her dishes away. When she walks towards the door to go to her room, the crowd around Furuya has dispersed. As she walks past Miyuki, she takes his hat off her head and puts it on his head while walking away.
"Good night, Yuka-chan!" Yukari hears Miyuki say.
"Good night," Yukari says. As usual, she doesn't look back. She only gives him a wave above her shoulder before retiring to her room.
xXx
Since it is a Sunday, it's nothing out of the ordinary for Seidou High School to have a crowd outside of the baseball field. Usually, it's the usual alumni coming in to check the practices or the press. But this time, word seems to have gotten around that there will be a scrimmage, so the crowd extends to Seidou baseball team's devoted fans from around the school.
When Yukari arrives at the field, she takes her time to walk to the fence and greets everyone with a bow. She also exchanges some pleasantries with the older fans who have known her since she first became a part of Seidou's baseball team. After she's done with her greetings, she leaves for the dugout. She frowns a little when she sees Sawamura in the bullpen on the side of the field practicing with Miyuki, but something must've happened if the coach let him play. She's sure he has a good reason.
After the match starts, Yukari watches it in the dugout with the second string players while making notes for both the first years and the second string players. She's still acting as a trainer, so she has to go back and forth from the second string dugout to the first years' after they change their pitcher. Sometimes she wishes that she's not the only trainer around.
Yukari watches as the first years are being slaughtered by the second string. She's glad that the second string is being serious about this scrimmage, and wishes that the first years would do the same, even though they're clearly in a disadvantage. She can feel the amazed looks the second string players are giving her at the speed of her left hand as it writes down note after note for the players. She ignores the frowns she gets when they try to (but can't) read her chicken scratch handwriting.
Now… let's see just how long until they break, Yukari thinks.
Yukari has to say that she is disappointed. It's the top of fourth and losing by ten runs, the first years already look like they're about to die. She expected them to at least hold on until the bottom of fourth. Well, as long as they manage to pick themselves up from here, they'll be fine, she thinks. She then makes her way to their dugout with her messenger bag.
"I-Ichikawa-senpai!"
"After the game, I expect everyone to gather here for the feedback," Yukari says.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"What's wrong, guys?! What's with the gloomy faces?" Yukari turns to look at Sawamura, "We only just finished the third inning! We still have six innings to reverse the score! Let's not lose spirit!"
I don't know if he's overly optimistic or just a plain idiot… Yukari thinks as the first year players, instead of being fired up from Sawamura's words, look even more down than before. She ignores him and turns to one of the first years, "I'm leaving the shoulder wraps here. One of the managers is going to come with the ice box," Yukari says as she takes all the shoulder ice wraps she has from her messenger bag and hands it over. The first year player nods.
"If you're overwhelmed by the opponent before you even play, you can't play like you usually do," Sawamura says, "I want to test my strength against them! That's why I came to this school in the first place!"
Let's see if he's just a plain idiot or an idiot with a strong heart, Yukari thinks. After she's done, she returns to the second string dugout. The match continues. At the end of the fourth inning, as she said earlier, the first years switched out the outfielders and the pitcher. What Yukari doesn't expect is for the coach to let Sawamura play so early in the game.
"IT'S HERE!"
Yukari winces at the volume of his voice. He's even louder than Jun-san… I didn't think it was possible… she sighs in irritation when she sees Sawamura fielding. It almost physically hurts her eyes. She rubs the bridge of her nose when his throw to the third base hits the runner. Again, it curves naturally, but it means nothing if he can't use the pitch to help the team.
All of a sudden, the coach raises his hand.
"Pitcher change. Furuya Satoru. Come up to the mound."
Yukari straightens in her seat. She has seen what Furuya can do in the bullpen once, but now she wants to see how he fares in a game. Now… let's see what you've got.
Yukari watches as Furuya winds up. Her eyes widen at the speed of the ball flying towards home plate. She has always wanted to catch for amazing pitchers, but with Furuya, somehow she feels some kind of weight in her heart. The same weight she felt the first time she saw Sawamura's pitching form.
Yukari winces when the ball hits the umpire – the head coach – until his mask flies off. She sighs when the players around her start to panic. His control is horrible. He could be a hazard to other players. He's gonna need a good catcher to actually rein him in, Yukari thinks. Could it be that the reason why he came to Seidou is because of him?
"You pass, Furuya," the coach says from his spot. Yukari can hear the smirk on his face, "You can practice with the first string starting tomorrow. Pitcher change!"
Yukari smirks as the second string players protest at the change.
"There's no first year who can catch his pitch," Kataoka says. Yukari nods in agreement as she eyes Miyuki who's still sitting in the bullpen at the side of the field, "Tanba, you're done, too. If you can pitch without being overwhelmed, you can do well at Koshien. Be more confident."
"Yes, sir!"
xXx
After Furuya entered the game, the first years start to gain momentum as they manage to shut down the second string player. Yukari reads her notes, and she figures that the coach might have gotten the results he wanted. But if Yukari has to be honest, she still wants to see more. She's not satisfied yet.
"We still have four innings left!" Yukari hears Sawamura shout. She looks at the first year's dugout and sees him batting, "We're not going down without a fight! I'll lead the way! Let's start by taking a run back!"
Yukari watches as Sawamura makes his way to the batter box. He bows at the catcher and the umpire and glares at the new pitcher – Nori. Having guts is good, but we need to work on his manners, she thinks. Yukari massages the bridge of her nose in irritation when Sawamura fails to hit Nori's pitches. What the hell is that batting…?
But Yukari has to admit, he really does have guts. He steps towards the ball even when Nori pitches to the inside. Yukari nods in approval as Nori pitches his last ball. Again, Sawamura fails to hit it. She shakes her head. This kid… can he do anything besides pitching? Not like his pitching skills are any good yet…
"Don't give up! The catcher dropped the ball!"
Yukari frowns at the voice coming from the first year's dugout. She looks at the catcher – Miyauchi Keisuke, a third year – and sees that he really did drop the ball. Her eyes narrows even further when she sees a familiar colored head of hair. …Ryou-nii? But his voice is different… Yukari's eyes widen as she remembers that Ryousuke has a little brother who is coming to Seidou. So that's Ryou-nii's little brother, huh…?
Sawamura runs towards first base as Miyauchi chases the ball.
"Run through!" Ryousuke's little brother shouts.
Yukari nods in approval as Sawamura manages to reach the first base before the ball does.
"SAFE!"
"Well, even though it's just an uncaught third strike, he still reached the base," Yukari says under her breath with a shrug. She smirks as she watches Nori throw the ball towards the first base. Nori's focused today. Good.
After Sawamura gets on base, Yukari has to say that she is extremely disappointed that none of the first years are even trying to help Sawamura advance to next base. Yukari sighs in exasperation. What kind of play is this? So far, the only one who's playing to win is this idiot. If they're not gonna take this seriously, might as well get out of the team altogether.
All of a sudden, Furuya stands up and raises his hand low, "Excuse me. I don't have anything to do anymore. May I go train on my own?"
Yukari watches as Furuya ignores his fellow first years and leaves the dugout towards Miyuki in the bullpen. What a 'my pace' type of guy… he could be troublesome without nobody to rein him in and make him a team player… with skills like that, I'm sure he was having trouble with his teammates back home¸ Yukari thinks.
"Excuse me!"
Yukari looks towards the first year's dugout and sees Ryousuke's little brother.
"I'd like to call for a change of players!" the pink-haired kid says as he puts on his batting helmet, "I'm playing as the pinch hitter!"
Yukari frowns when she sees the first year walk towards the batter box with a wooden bat. For someone as small as him? She then smirks. Interesting. She then flips through the data list she has on every first year player and tries to find a Kominato. Oh, this is it. Kominato Haruichi, huh…? Her eyes widen. Batting average in junior high was .635? Nice, she thinks with a smirk.
In the batter box, Haruichi makes a sign towards Sawamura. Yukari frowns. When did they come up with that?
"Wait! What's that?! What sign was that?!" Sawamura asks.
Yukari rolls her eyes. They never did. That Sawamura kid's idiocy is on another level, I swear… she then looks at Haruichi. But… he's way different from the other kids. As expected from Ryou-nii's little brother, I guess. She has to bite down a smile when she sees the pink-haired first year blushing. …Cute. I wonder if Ryou-nii mind if I take him in as a little brother.
"I'll definitely get you back home! Let's score a run together!"
Yukari almost squealed when she sees Haruichi go even redder after his words, but she manages to hold herself back. She then smirks. Well then, otoutou-kun… let's see if you're not just all talk like that idiot on first base.
Before Nori pitches, Haruichi, who held his bat short earlier, changed his grip on the bat and manages to hit the outside pitch. Yukari can't hold back an excited grin this time. For the second string members who don't spend their time much with Yukari, the fact that she's smiling is a rare sight.
This is so exciting, Yukari thinks. She sees Sawamura running towards the second base as the ball Haruichi hit slides down the foul line, but doesn't cross it. Good. He ran when the pitcher threw, she thinks as Sawamura passes second and third base, straight back home.
"Go!" Haruichi yells.
Sawamura then jumps towards the plate where Miyauchi is waiting for him with the ball to tag him out. Yukari's eyes widen as she watches Sawamura dodging Miyauchi's mitt and twisting his body to put his hand on the plate. What flexibility…
"SAFE!" Kataoka declares.
"I MADE IT!" Sawamura yells. He then returns to the dugout and the game continues.
At the bottom of sixth, the coach announces.
"Both teams, line up!"
Yukari can feel the disappointment in the air, coming mostly from the second string players.
"Wrap it up," Kataoka says, "Even if we keep playing, the gap will only get wider," he then proceeds to look at the first year players, "However… if everyone on the first year team wants to continue, it's a different story. Well?"
Yukari waits until they make their decision, with Sawamura trying to convince his fellow first years to continue. From what she can tell, they don't need much convincing. She tunes everyone out by wearing her earphones. Everyone knows not to disturb her when she has them on. She then proceeds to read the data she got from Rei about the players and the data she wrote based on the game.
The only people I can see going into the first string would be Sawamura and Haruichi, but even then, they're not up to scratch just yet. They've still got a long way to go, but at least it's not as bad as the other guys.
"Please let us continue the match, Kantoku!"
Yukari looks up from her data and takes her earphones off when she hears the first year players asking the coach to continue the match.
"…why couldn't you play like that from the start?" Kataoka asks the first years, "In high school baseball, you don't get a second chance," his words seem to affect the first years negatively, as they look like they're about to keel over, "Kid," Kataoka calls out Sawamura, "Starting this inning, you're pitching. Get on the mound. I've already gone through all the first year pitchers. If you want to keep playing, then you need to pitch."
Thank you, Kantoku. I really need more data on his pitching, Yukari thinks. She needs to be able to give all the first years a feedback according to the position they want to be in. So far, the only data she has on Sawamura is on his (nonexistent) outfielding skills and batting skills.
"Oi, oi, what's going on here?! What's with this turnout against the first years?! You should be up by 200 runs!"
Yukari turns to look at the other side of the field to find Jun, Yuuki, Youichi, and Ryousuke. She sighs in irritation. The coach gave them a break for a reason; what's the point of having a break if they're just gonna use it to train? Training is good and all, but overtraining will make more work for me, she thinks as she stands up from her seat to walk towards them.
"Hyahahaha! Jun-san, that's impossible!" Youichi says.
"What an embarrassing game. Makes me sad," Ryousuke says simply, his smile never faltering.
"Switch with me! I'll play!" Jun says with Youichi holding him back.
"Jun-san, stop it! You just finished lifting! Ichikawa's gonna get mad at you!" Youichi says.
"I'm still gonna get mad at you," Yukari simply says as she reached the first string players. She holds back a smirk when she sees Jun and Youichi flinch in shock at her sudden entrance, "Why aren't any of you resting?" she asks.
"Huh?! How am I supposed to get better by resting?!" Jun asks as he practically gets in Yukari's face, separated only by the fence between them.
"Resting is also part of training. Overtraining will make all of you a pain for me. I explicitly told all of you to rest," Yukari then sighs, "But of course, none of you actually listens to me."
"You should know it by now, Yukari," Ryousuke says.
"That all of you are a bunch of workaholics? Yes, I know that already," Yukari says, "Well, don't get in the way of the game, Jun-san."
"WHO'S GETTING IN THE WAY, ICHIKAWA-TEME?!"
Yukari sighs, "Geez, Jun-san, you're so loud…" she says as she walks to sit beside Miyuki and Furuya in the bullpen – not without stealing the catcher's hat first. She slips her ponytailed red hair into the hat's hole. She can hear Miyuki sighing beside her, but she doesn't mind him.
"CHEEKY LITTLE–!"
"Jun-san, calm down!" Youichi says as he tightens his hold around Jun.
Yukari watches as the first year infielders crowd around Sawamura. By the time they're done with their meeting, the color of their faces doesn't look really good. She sighs. He must've showed his idiot. She frowns when she sees his pitching form. It really does look like hers… but there are some differences. He's definitely more flexible than her, that's why his pitches naturally move at the plate.
The first pitch gets hit quite far, but the left-fielder manages to catch it. But Yukari saw the course of the pitch, and shakes her head incredulously. Right in the middle? Is he looking down on his senpai or just plain dumb? She then takes a deep breath and exhales it harshly. Let's see if you're all Rei-san cracked you up to be.
Sawamura manages to shut the first two batters out. When the third batter jams his pitch, the ball goes towards center, only to be stopped by Haruichi, who then throws the ball straight into the first baseman. Yukari smirks. His play reminds me of Ryou-nii's. But… he might just be a little bit better than his older brother.
Thanks to Haruichi's save, the first year players manage to give up no runs to the second string in the inning.Yukari smirks as she sees the second string players flustered because of Sawamura's pitch. If it suddenly moves at the plate, of course it would throw the batter off. They'd think they had it, but because it moves, they won't be able to hit it as well as they'd like to.
"…a moving fastball that curves right at the plate, huh? That's gonna be tough."
Yukari eyes Yuuki from the corner of her eyes with a smirk still on her face. Of course he'd realize it. As expected from Tetsu-san.
"His pitch is only gonna get wilder from here," Miyuki says.
"What?" Jun growls.
Yukari watches as Sawamura seems to light up the first years. He's surprisingly level-headed… she thinks as she writes down in her notebook. She suddenly hears Miyuki snickering beside her, and she tilts her head slightly to look at him.
"…what?"
"Nothing. You seem to be taken with that kid," Miyuki says, "You've got just as much good things to say about him as the bad things."
"…he's interesting," Yukari says simply.
"…he is, isn't he?" Miyuki agrees. Yukari can tell that he's still curious about what happened six months ago when she suddenly left the practice after seeing Sawamura's pitch, but she doesn't say anything. She knows that he knows that she'll tell him when she wants to.
"Miyuki, you can read her chicken scratch?" Youichi asks incredulously. In return, Yukari grabs his leg and presses her sharp nails against it, waiting for him to yelp in pain before pulling her hand away. She ignores him when he says, "Ichikawa, you devil!"
The game continues, and now it's time for the second string players to be on the offense again. Yukari watches as Masuko comes to talk to Sawamura. Youichi laughs from beside her.
"This is gonna be good! A roommate battle!" Youichi says. He then turns to ask Yukari, "How's Masuko-san been doing this game, Ichikawa?"
"Really well," Yukari answers, "Three hits and six RBIs. He's doing his best to return to the first string."
"I'm sure he's noticed what Sawamura's pitch is," Miyuki says, "Should be a good match to really see Sawamura's ability."
Yukari watches as Sawamura winds up. Her eyes follow the ball, and she frowns a little when the catcher missed his pitch, but then nods in understanding. Sawamura's pitch seems to move a little bit more now. She watches as Masuko adjusts his grip on his bat and steps aside to stand at the front of the batter box. She smirks. As expected from Masuko-san. He's found out already about the moving ball, so he'll try to hit it before it moves.
Sawamura pitches and the ball is hit by Masuko, but it's a foul.
"As expected from a former fifth batter. He could destroy the fence like that," Jun says.
"He hits hard even when he holds the bat short," Ryousuke says.
Yukari watches as Sawamura gapes in shock. Now… what will you do? Masuko-san is smarter than Azuma-san; he won't hit everything you throw at him. Sawamura winds up again, and she can see the catcher panicking. Not only Furuya, but Sawamura also needs a good catcher who has authority and brains to rein him in, she thinks, as she silently eyes Miyuki from the corner of her eyes.
The ball is pitched, and Masuko lets out a growl as he hits the ball hard – Yukari swears his eyes are shining with determination. The ball flies until it hits the fence near the scoreboard; a home run. She knows that Masuko jammed the ball, but with his sheer strength, he still managed to hit it towards the fence.
"The pitcher completely lost the battle of power," Jun comments, "I bet he's taken quite a bit of damage from that."
…does he, though? Yukari wonders as she eyes Sawamura. She shakes her head with a small laugh when she sees him lifting his face with a bright smile on his face. He really is something else, she thinks as she underlines 'Surprisingly level-headed' twice in her notebook. Miyuki laughs in glee.
"Alright! Let's switch gears and do this again!" Sawamura shouts. Yukari smirks at him. Incredible. After being utterly defeated, instead of getting depressed, he gets more excited to pitch. He really is like a chick that just discovered the fun of baseball.