In the end, the second string players – unsurprisingly – won the match with a score of 20-1. Before giving the feedback to the players, Yukari reports her findings to Kataoka, Rei, and Oota. After that, she gives her feedback to the second string players. She gets the honor of telling Masuko that he's back on the starting roster. While giving feedback to the first years, she can see and feel glares coming from some of the prouder first year players, but as usual, she ignores them. After she's done, she retreats to her room.
After taking a long, hot bath, Yukari ties her hair up as she walks towards the cafeteria. Along the way, she sees Haruichi with his head down, and Ryousuke's retreating back. Ryou-nii must have said something to him… she silently approaches the younger Kominato, and pats his back. The pink-haired boy jumps a little, but gives her a small smile.
"I-Ichikawa-senpai, you've worked hard," Haruichi says.
"Great work today. Haruichi, right?" Yukari asks, even though she already knows it. Haruichi nods, "Mind if I call you Haru-kun?" To her amusement, Haruichi blushes, but he ultimately nods, "I'm actually pretty close to your brother."
"Y-Yeah… sometimes Aniki tells me stories about you," Haruichi says as he repositions the cans of drinks in his hands.
Yukari smirks, "Heeh? What did he tell you about me?"
"N-Nothing bad, I swear!"
"Well, whatever he said, it's probably the truth. He's not one to tell lies after all," Yukari says, "Earlier, Ryou-nii said something to you, didn't he?" when Haruichi doesn't answer her and avoids her eyes, she sighs, "…whatever he said, no matter how he said it, must be for your own good," she pats Haruichi's head, "If you have any trouble, you can come find me. I'm not trying to replace Ryou-nii, but he's not exactly the best person to ask an advice from."
Haruichi is still for a moment, until he nods, "Thank you, Ichikawa-senpai."
"Oh, right. You call Ryou-nii 'Aniki', don't you?" Yukari smirks teasingly when Haruichi nods, "You can call me Aneki, you know."
Haruichi jumps. It amuses Yukari to no end when she sees him blush so hard, "Eh?! There's no way I can–!"
"I insist. If you don't want to call me that, then don't talk to me. Simple as that," Yukari says with a smirk, "Hurry up and get those drinks to your senpai. Some of them can get a little bit annoying when their kouhai is too slow," she says as she ruffles Haruichi's hair and walks towards the cafeteria.
After dinner, Yukari makes her rounds around the indoor practice building to see if there's anyone who's still practicing. To her surprise, she finds Miyuki and Furuya.
"Both of you, have you eaten yet?" Yukari asks as she approaches Miyuki. When she reaches him, she nonchalantly takes his hat and puts it on her head, pulling her ponytail through the hat's hole.
Miyuki sighs, but doesn't protest, "Good evening, Yuka-chan," Miyuki says, "I have. Have you, Furuya?"
"…I have."
"Are you going to catch for him now?" Yukari asks Miyuki.
"Yeah, he insisted," Miyuki says as he smirks at Furuya.
"I… came to Seidou to find the place where I belong," Furuya says. Yukari and Miyuki eye Furuya.
"…if you don't mind, can I catch for you too, Furuya?" Yukari asks as she proceeds to go find a catching glove and mitt for her right hand. Not only Furuya, but Miyuki also looks shocked at Yukari's request. The catcher smirks.
"What's this? A catcher's curiosity?" Miyuki asks.
"You can say that," Yukari says as she puts her glove on and her mitt over it.
"…Ichikawa-senpai, are you a catcher too?" Furuya asks.
"I was. I haven't played in a long while, though," Yukari answers, "So? Do you mind if I catch for you?"
"N-No…"
"Good. Go ahead and start."
Furuya nods and he winds up, and then he says, "Please don't disappoint me… Miyuki-senpai."
Yukari and Miyuki's eyes widen at his words, but then she smirks and he laughs.
"Very funny! I like you!" Miyuki says as he crouches and extends his catching arm, ready to catch his pitch. Yukari then stands behind Miyuki to see his pitch.
xXx
During practice the next day, people can feel a colder aura emit from Yukari. It's no secret that she has never liked the principal and vice-principal. She doesn't like the fact that they doubted Kataoka's coaching and looked down on her the first time she came into the school as an assistant scout – simply because she was only a first year junior high school female student. Aside from giving her mandatory greetings, she keeps her distance from the principal and the vice-principal, as she's afraid of what she might do to them should she lose control.
Before going into practice, Yukari was informed by Rei about the coach's decision to debut Furuya in the Kanto tournament, and to leave Sawamura in Chris' hands. Her eyes widened at the mention of the third year catcher, but she nodded at her decision anyway. She knows that Miyuki might have his hands full with Furuya. If there's anyone else who can rein Sawamura in, third year Takigawa Chris Yuu is her biggest bet.
Yukari walks back and forth between Fields A and B and the bullpen. Field A is used by the first string for scrimmage practices, and Field B is used by the first years – even Furuya, who's already in the first string – for circuits and running, and the second string players.
When Yukari spots a certain third year catcher coming into the field, she smiles slightly. She approaches her upperclassman and bows at him.
"Good afternoon, Chris-senpai," Yukari says.
"Good afternoon, Ichikawa," Chris simply says.
"Ah, Chris-kun. Yukari-chan. Good timing," Rei says, "Yukari-chan, please call Furuya and Sawamura over."
"I understand," Yukari says as she goes to the viewer's box and uses the PA system to call Furuya and Sawamura to the Field A bench. She then joins Chris and Miyuki, who are already in catcher gear with Rei. Not long after, Furuya and Sawamura come.
"You two will be given the pitcher training menu starting today. You'll have twice as much work to do than everyone else, but good luck," Rei says. Furuya still has his poker face on, but Sawamura doesn't hold back in showing his excitement, "Furuya-kun, you might be pitching in next week's Kanto tournament, so practice your pickoff plays and signs with Miyuki-kun."
"Okay," Furuya answers, much to Sawamura's shock.
"Rei-chan, he has power, but his control is trash," Miyuki says, "Right, Yuka-chan?"
Yukari doesn't turn to look at Miyuki, but fixes her stare at Furuya, "…yeah," she ultimately says. She knows Miyuki is looking at her weirdly, but she ignores him and he continues.
"Also, he'll have to throw 100 pitches every day to build endurance."
"Oh, you've already been catching his pitch? Not only Miyuki-kun, but Yukari-chan as well?" Rei asks, looking a little bit taken aback. Miyuki smirks and Yukari nods. Sawamura looks like he has something to say, but his shock prevents him to do so.
"I… will do as Miyuki-senpai and Ichikawa-senpai instructs me to do."
Yukari remembers last night when she saw and caught Furuya's pitch.
Furuya winds up and throws his pitch. Miyuki easily catches the pitch, much to Furuya's shock. But Yukari can tell that he wasn't using his best pitch.
"What's wrong?" Miyuki asks, "You're the one who dragged me out here. Don't hold back. Throw with everything you've got!" he says as he throws the ball back to Furuya.
Again, Furuya winds up, and the ball hits Miyuki's mitt smoothly. Yukari's eyes widen at the sheer sound of the ball hitting Miyuki's mitt. She clicks her tongue.
Geez… what is wrong with this year's first year pitchers? Is the universe playing a joke on me? Yukari wonders with a frown.
"Yuka-chan, wanna trade?" Miyuki asks as he stands up. Yukari nods wordlessly. She crouches and hits her mitt with her left fist before extending her right hand. Furuya winds up again, and throws the ball. When the ball hits her mitt smoothly, Furuya seems to be even more shocked than when his ball was caught by Miyuki. Is he shocked because I – a girl – can catch his difficult pitch? If only he knew…
Yukari bites her lower lip as she feels the ball in her mitt; not out of pain, at least not physical. The feel and the sound of the ball hitting her mitt… everything reminds her of a bittersweet memory.
No, Yukari. This is different. He's not her. His fastball is faster than hers, and the ball is much harder than that time, Yukari thinks. She squeezes her eyes shut and throws the ball back at Furuya, "…I'm leaving after two more."
"…eh? But…"
"You can have your fun with him," Yukari motions towards Miyuki, "After all, he's the reason why you came to Seidou, right? For your pitches to be caught by the talented catcher, Miyuki Kazuya?"
Furuya's eyes widen. Bingo, Yukari thinks.
"Then I don't have to be here. Two more pitches, and I'm done. I'll get all the data that I need," Yukari says as she crouches again, "Don't hold back just because I'm a girl."
"…I understand," Furuya says before winding up again.
"Please take care of me," Furuya says as he bows not only towards Miyuki, but also Yukari.
"What's this? You're being so obedient," Miyuki says.
"I figure I should start being humble," Furuya says.
Miyuki laughs, "This guy!"
"Sawamura-kun, you'll be working with Chris-kun, a third year," Rei says, seemingly ignoring Sawamura who is still in shock at Furuya and Miyuki's closeness, "Have him teach you about how to act and lead on the field."
Chris extends his hand towards Sawamura for a handshake, but is ignored by Sawamura, "Wait! This isn't fair! I want to pair up with Miyuki-senpai, too!"
Yukari sees Chris narrowing his eyes before forcefully taking Sawamura's hand, "…what a coincidence," the third year says, "I don't want to pair with you either," Sawamura lifts his head to look at Chris, "I'm Takigawa Chris Yuu. Nice to meet you, loser pitcher."
Yukari can smell a swell relationship in the future. Ignore her sarcasm.
xXx
After practice has ended, Yukari goes to the viewer's box for her usual after-practice report with Kataoka, Rei, and Oota. After she's done, she helps the managers clean the field up and gets changed back to her school uniform. After getting changed, she frowns when she can still hear the sound of ball hitting a mitt from the indoor practice building. She sighs as she approaches the building.
"You're still here?" Yukari asks.
"Yuka-chan!" Miyuki says as he bounds up towards Yukari like a puppy dog, "Great work today!"
"Great work today," Yukari says, as she steals Miyuki's hat as per usual and puts it on her head, pulling her ponytail through the hat's hole.
"Yuka-chan, have you ever considered buying your own hat and wearing it?" Miyuki asks exasperatedly.
"Why would I, when you have an extensive collection already? That's just a waste of money," Yukari simply says.
"That's not the point," Miyuki sighs, "I wish you'd stop stealing my hats."
"It's your fault for buying hats that are up to my tastes," Yukari says.
"The two of you… seem pretty close," Furuya says.
"You think so?" Yukari asks, "Anyways, everyone's already done. Wrap this up soon," she says.
"Yuka-chan's right. Let's call it a day here. You're throwing too much. If you keep this pace up, you won't last until summer," Miyuki says, "And you'll be a burden to Yuka-chan."
"Can we continue a little bit longer?" Furuya requests, "Please?"
Yukari crosses her arms in front of her chest as she narrows her eyes at Furuya, "Fine. Five more and you're done."
"Ten."
"Seven. That's final."
"Okay. Thank you, Ichikawa-senpai."
Yukari sighs, "Don't push yourself too hard. You're just gonna make more work for me," she says as she leaves the building.
"Give me my hat back, Yuka-chan!" Miyuki shouts. Yukari pulls the hat off her head and throws it straight into Miyuki's face. She then turns back around and walks towards her room.
xXx
It's the day of the first match of Kanto Tournament. Seidou High School is up against Yokohama Academy from Kanagawa. So far, Seidou is behind by four runs, and Yukari can't help but frown. Up until the sixth inning, Tanba was pitching pretty well, until everything went downhill. Yokohama managed to get used to his pitches and cracked him by the seventh. It is now top of the eighth, and she silently watches as Furuya takes Tanba's place in the mound.
Yukari simply smirks when the batter couldn't hit Furuya's pitch. But then she frowns again at the course of his pitch. His pitch is so fast that it intimidates the batters, but his control is disgusting, she sighs. But I guess it's a good thing that his control is way off. The batters don't know where he's throwing.
"Furuya's pitching very freely today," Oota says. ("Too freely for my liking," Yukari says under her breath) "Those two will make a good battery."
Furuya then manages six strikeouts in a row, and as the players approach the dugout for the change, he gets pummeled by Ryousuke and Youichi.
"Let's turn this game around!" Tetsu shouts.
"YEAH!"
In the end, Seidou lost by one run, but not without putting up a fight. At the very least, the other schools now know that Seidou has a new first year pitcher and what he's capable of doing.
xXx
"Rei-san, you called for me?" Yukari asks as she enters the viewer's box, where Rei is sitting.
"Oh, Yukari-chan, you're here," Rei says as she motions Yukari to come closer, "I wanted your opinion on Sawamura-kun."
"Your golden boy, huh…?" Yukari asks under her breath, but in the silence of the viewer's box, Rei can hear her clearly, "…I understand why you picked him, but he's like a chick that just learned how to play baseball. He's got a lot to learn."
"I think that's precisely why he's paired up with Chris-kun," Rei says, "Not only because Chris-kun can teach him a lot of things, but I think Chris-kun also can learn a thing or two from Sawamura-kun's enthusiasm… to gain his spirit back."
Yukari nods.
"…and what do you think of his form?"
Yukari flinches at Rei's question, but doesn't answer.
"I need you to know that I didn't take him here to spite you, Yukari-chan. I knew I recognized his form, but there are small differences between his and…"
"I know, Rei-san. You don't have to defend yourself. I could tell that Sawamura and Kaori-nee are two different pitchers with similar forms. He's more flexible than her; that's his signature. Not to mention, his repertoire and ball control are far more inferior to hers," Yukari cuts Rei off. She turns to look at the scout, "And I'm not mad at you. I just wasn't expecting it," she says before sighing, "Is that all?"
"Wait," Rei says, a second before the door to the viewer's box is knocked, "Come in," she says. Sawamura enters the viewer's box, and then, for some reason, he sits seiza before Rei. The scout eyes Yukari, silently telling her not to leave yet, "How was it? You said you don't even watch professional baseball, but have you figured out that watching is a good way to learn? Baseball is a sport played by nine people. It's not just hitting, running, and defending. There are lots of things to do. I teamed you up with Chris-kun so you could figure that out sooner. Is he teaching you well?"
Sawamura's face blatantly shows his anger.
"In the next scrimmage, I want to let you play, but from what I'm seeing, that might not be possible. Right, Yukari-chan?" Rei asks Yukari, who nods.
"Not even close," Yukari says. She ignores Sawamura's glare at her.
"Rei-chan! I'd like to see the scorebook from yesterday's game…" Miyuki says as he enters the room, before he realizes where Sawamura is. Sawamura freezes and covers his face from Miyuki.
"Don't look! Don't look at me!" Sawamura yells. Miyuki laughs.
"You're the best!" Miyuki says as he laughs. Yukari silently hands him the scorebook and puts her hand on the bill of his baseball cap. She smirks when he flinches, but she only moves the bill so that it's turned to his right, making him sigh in relief. He sits on an empty chair and reads the scorebook, Yukari reading it from over his shoulder.
"Did I pick the wrong partner?" Rei wonders out loud, "He's not working well with Chris-kun."
"Well, he's not someone who opens his heart to others easily now," Miyuki says without looking away from the scorebook.
"Sawamura-kun, you may not know, but he's the most knowledgeable about baseball on our team. He also has a knack for discovering players' potentials," Rei explains.
"…even if you tell me that, he hardly has motivation!" Sawamura says angrily. Miyuki and Yukari take their eyes off the scorebook to look at Sawamura, "He left practice early today, too."
"Oi, oi. That's–"
"I!" Sawamura says, cutting Miyuki off, "I want to pair up with you!" Yukari frowns a little at the sudden confession, "I still can't forget that sound. That sound I heard the first time I came to this school. In that last game, I was trying to throw as close to that moment as I could."
Is that why he was only throwing his best pitch…? Yukari wonders. Miyuki stands up from his seat and kneels in front of Sawamura.
"Well, don't be so impatient. If you do as he says, you'll definitely be able to improve," Miyuki says.
"No way! I don't want to pair up with someone so unmotivated!" Yukari narrows her eyes at Sawamura's impertinence. This little bastard… what gives him the right to speak like that about Chris-senpai? He doesn't even know anything… Yukari thinks angrily, "Why is he still on the team? If he doesn't like to practice, he should just quit."
Yukari unconsciously takes one step forward, but before she could do or say anything to Sawamura, Miyuki already has the first year against the wall by the scruff of his neck.
"Everyone understands that you want to get better. Especially after the trials," Miyuki growls lowly in a rare display of anger, "But what you said just now… I can't let slide."
Rei gets up from her seat, "Miyuki-kun…"
Miyuki clicks his tongue, "Ruined my good mood," he then takes the scorebook from the table, "Rei-chan, I'm borrowing this."
"Sure…" Rei says.
"Yuka-chan, I'll see you later," Miyuki says.
"Yeah, sure," Yukari simply says as they all watch Miyuki leave the room. When the door closes behind him, she turns to look at Sawamura, who is still leaning against the wall with a shocked look on his face.
Yukari sighs as she pinches the bridge of her nose, "He beat me to it, huh…?" Sawamura then turns to look at her, "You need to keep your mouth in check, kid. Don't talk as if you know anything about Chris-senpai," she then kneels in front of Sawamura and looks at him straight in his eyes, "He is an irreplaceable member of the team. Do forgive him for wanting to make you into a better player," she says before she stands back up, "Rei-san, you don't need me anymore, right? I'm returning to the field."
"…yes, go ahead," Rei says before Yukari leaves the viewer's box.