It was the night after the game. And to be honest, Megumi was thrilled to see it up close although she was a bit disappointed at some aspects. Especially so, when the supposed ace, Tanba, walked off the mound with unsatisfactory performance which hadn't met her uncle's expectations.

The girl could understand though. Her uncle was a pitcher himself back when he was still a student at Seidou and he was also the one who brought the team to the Nationals once. Unfortunately, they were eliminated at the quarter-finals according, to him. It was a story that Megumi had repeatedly heard from him since she was a young girl.

But it was okay. He still has room for improvements. Everybody has room for improvements. If not, then everyone would be called perfect, don't they? It was a sign of being able to surpass one's self from yesterday.

Megumi, on the other hand, was inspired when she had seen an article of Yoshida Eri on a morning newspaper. She aspires to be a pitcher like her, who was the first woman to be drafted in Japan's All-Male Baseball League at the early age of sixteen. And she was reminded that she still has a chance to be able to play baseball, despite her gender. She had the need to work harder, all of a sudden.

A chance had already presented itself to her. All she needs now is a game plan on how to achieve the results she wanted and what she should do in case there will be some drawbacks to her plan. Time is short. A year and a half could pass by quickly without her being able to do something.

Megumi headed outside the dorms and into the pathway. She was wearing a pair of black batting gloves and her metal bat is placed in between her torso and arm. She was fixing the fitting of the glove on her right hand, when someone called out for her.

"Ah, Fujimoto-san..."

The girl immediately smiled at her fellow teammate upon seeing him. It was one of the third-years, Kusunoki Fumiya, who was currently smiling amiably at her. She bowed out of respect and he simply laughed it off.

"Excuse me, I'd like to swing my bat too."

"Go ahead."

The girl went to an empty corner, just enough for her to practice her swing after she had excused herself. She stretched a bit first, to avoid any complications and started swinging her bat. Her regular menu is five hundred, although depending on her condition, she may lessen it or do more than that.

"Out to practice, huh?"

A deep voice suddenly spoke behind her back, making her turn around to confirm who the person was. Indeed, it was also one of the third years, who she looked up to when it comes to batting: Yuki Tetsuya, Seidou's captain and clean-up batter.

"Good evening, senpai."

Megumi bowed politely, smiling a bit. Yuki nodded at her before proceeding to practice beside her. The girl could not believe her eyes. Before her is one of the people she admires. She could vaguely remember her uncle telling her something about how the current third years were entirely different, back from when they were still in their first year of high school.

Megumi remembered watching them back when she was still in junior high school. She was visiting her uncle just to check out the team that he had built. And in one of the games, Yuki was batting and had hit a magnificent home-run. That was the time when she had looked up to him when it comes to batting.

Yuki is calm and always poised. He lets the tricky pitches go but definitely hits the easy, out-of-the-course pitches, beautifully. He is someone who truly deserves the position of clean-up and captain. He simply leads the team with his encouraging plays.

"Oh, if it isn't Fujimoto..."

"Ryou-san," Megumi greeted and it earned her a closed-eye smile, like usual. She was surprised that one by one, the team's regulars are popping out of nowhere when they should be resting early tonight since they had a game.

"What are the regulars doing here? You just played today but you're practicing like usual, even though it's late." She could not hide the stupid grin on her face. Ryousuke raised a quizzical eyebrow, but chuckled afterwards. He was slightly amused at the girl's antics. She is a rare type–is what he thought.

"You just answered your own question, Fujimoto." The girl was flustered at her idiocy and muttered an apology afterwards. She just realized the dumbness of her question. It was the usual for them to practice even after an official match. It was their routine.

Despite that, the others who had heard the conversation between Ryousuke and her have laughed heartily. They were charmed by the cuteness of the girl, at the least. It was rare for a female manager to join them during practice after all.

The next morning, training is quite active than usual. It was probably due to Tanba's slip up in the game against Ichidai. Even though the results were positive and more than what they had expected, it did not assure the coach or even her, that they would be able to win a game like that again, unscathed.

Team members were already talking about the ace's performance and how there would or should be another ace in his place. Megumi rolled her eyes at that. She hated people who try to put others down just for their own sake. She knows that the environment in the team is survival of the fittest. Still, they could be a bit more supportive towards their ace instead of badmouthing him.

Her thoughts were cut off when they all heard a loud sound coming from the bullpen, surprising everyone who was nearby. The girl immediately fled from the field to look at what's happening. Her eyebrows were furrowed out of curiosity.

There, she saw a tall boy with jet black hair. He stood on the mound, probably just finished pitching. He was fired up, she could tell by the non-existent aura he was emitting. Her eyes wandered to the catcher whose mitt was blown away by the force of his pitch. The poor guy was cowering and sitting on his behind, not having enough strength to get up just yet because of the shock.

"Furuya Satoru from Tomakomai Junior High School in Hokkaido," Rei supplied to the coach, club president and Megumi, as she pushed up her glasses up on the way. The four of them were crowded near the area.

"It seems he took the normal entrance exams to enter Seidou," Megumi gaped. She had took the exams this year and it was definitely hard. Luckily, she was more than prepared and her intelligence is above average. She was just glad for that, or else she wouldn't be here.

"Also, among the first years, he's the only one who had been able to throw for 120 meters," Megumi could see how Coach Kataoka's eyes glinted with interest, behind his dark sunglasses. She still couldn't help but gape. On the other hand, President Oota was making quite a big fuss towards the Furuya kid.

"O-One hundred twenty meters?!" Rei nodded at the president. This sparked Megumi's competitiveness. She wasn't about to lose. As far as she had observed, the kid could only throw really fast fastballs. But there are no variations and he doesn't know any breaking balls either. She could hear the president laughing heartily from Rei's side.

"This kid came through normal admissions. And this is why high school baseball is so much fun."

"Assemble a team of first years. I'll see if there's anyone I could use in a real game."

'Damn. Even coach is mesmerized...'

Now, Megumi definitely needs to step up her game.

Evening came, and everyone had gathered at the cafeteria to eat dinner. It was quite tense because of the game between the first years against the second and third years. Megumi hoped that she would be able to join too. She wouldn't want to miss out the fun. But she'll probably the one recording their aptitude during the game.

"Oops!" The girl muttered sheepishly as she nearly ran into someone. Her hold on her tray wobbled slightly, but fortunately, nothing spilled. She didn't want to create a ruckus when everyone is out of sorts.

"Oh, it's only you." She sighed in relief, chuckling a bit, as she realized it was only Miyuki when she had looked up. He was wearing a cap tilted to the side, a loose shirt, a pair of jogging pants and slippers. Sitting on the bridge of his nose, was his trademark glasses. Not the one he used during practice and official matches.

"You're eating pretty much, huh."

Miyuki commented but Megumi just gave him a warning glare, earning a laugh from her classmate and teammate. The two of them quietly made their way through tables and people eating their own food quietly. Some requesting for their second or third bowls of rice.

"What's with you? You're eating a ton." Miyuki remarked at Sawamura who asked for a second serving of dinner. Megumi only pursed her lips, out of annoyance. He was obviously trying to instigate something.

"You were puking all over the place on your first day, too." Megumi lightly nudged the side of the chuckling, bespectacled guy. The female brunette went on the other side of the table, sitting in front of Miyuki who sat beside the blushing first year, southpaw pitcher.

"It's nice that kids grow up so quickly, huh?" This irritated Sawamura and Miyuki earned a nice and loud 'Shut up!' from him. The starting catcher only laughed it off, not paying heed to his threat.

"Eat a bit slower... That's not good for you."

Megumi sighed, finally starting to eat when the two settled down. Hanging out with Miyuki and Sawamura was giving her a migraine. She couldn't keep up with the two's antics. They were like a comedy duo. Sometimes funny and sometimes, a hell lot of annoying.

"Everyone's pretty quiet... Did something happen?" Sawamura chewed his food, thoughtfully. Both second years looked at him like he just grew two heads at once. Megumi cleared her throat, speaking up before Miyuki does.

"Haven't you heard? The first years are going to have a game against the second and third years." Sawamura nearly choked on his food out of surprise. Miyuki snickered beside him and Megumi threw a glare his way, which made him keep quiet... for the time being.

"Most of the times, first years are only supposed to focus on building up their strength or fundamentals," Megumi explained and trailed off, before continuing her explanation, "They're not usually promoted to the regular team."

"Except for me~" Miyuki piped in cheerfully, grinning widely, making the girl in front of him to roll her eyes. She didn't want to destroy his proud statement right there and then, but in her opinion, he only got to be a regular during his first year because of an incident with the past, starting catcher. She felt like, he also knows this because his eyes did not exactly looked too happy.

"I never heard anything about that! What about me? Do I get to play?" He frantically grabbed the collar of Miyuki's shirt, lifting him up comically, and shaking the guy.

"I'm only a student, not the coach..." The bespectacled male helplessly reasoned out as Megumi tried to pry Sawamura away from Miyuki but failing miserably. The three continued their antics, oblivious to the person approaching their table. Not until that person spoke up, towering over them slightly while holding a tray of his dinner.

"Hey... Is it okay if I sit here?"

Megumi remembered him from earlier at the bullpen. The first year pitcher who managed to throw one hundred twenty meters, Furuya Satoru from Hokkaido. Sawamura seemed to recognize him too when their eyes met. But he immediately sat in between the southpaw pitcher and the catcher, throwing Sawamura off of his seat and pissing him off.

"Why are you sitting over here?! There's an empty space over there!" Sawamura argued, pointing to Miyuki's left side, where there's an unoccupied chair. Miyuki was flabbergasted. Megumi, on the other hand, was slightly agitated and not pleased at all at the sudden appearance of one of her rivals that she had acknowledged.

This makes her chances slimmer than it should already be.

'I'm still wondering how Seidou haven't managed to go to the Nationals for years now, if they always have a player of different calibers...'

Megumi immediately paid attention to the words that had left Furuya's mouth next, "Miyuki-senpai, I don't feel like anyone would be able to hit my pitches tomorrow." Everybody stopped eating at his declaration.

'How dare he—'

"If I'm right, will you catch for me?" Furuya looked at the astounded second year catcher, who seemed to be thinking something. A smirk was ghosting over Miyuki's lips which really irritated Megumi more than it should have.

'This cocky little—'

Tension washed over the members, as everyone grew silent. They had heard the whole conversation that the raven-haired first year had started. At this point, Megumi was growing more infuriated as each second passed. She was starting to get emotional, which was bad. She was near her boiling point already and she didn't want to show this side of her to the team. It would be an unsightly scene!

"You don't have the right to assume that no one will be able to hit your pitch, you jerk!" Megumi finally exploded, her feelings bursting out of her. Many pair of eyes stared at her form which was trembling with anger.

"You're barely out of junior high school! Don't act so cocky just yet! This is Tokyo! This is Seidou! This is not your ordinary school where you'll be able to make it into a regular as if you're on a walk at a park!"

She was red from the face then neck-down. Miyuki was quite familiar with the way she looks right. Unfortunately, he was also the one who had first-hand experience of her wrath. It was not something one would wish for.

However, Furuya remained seated. His face was void of emotions as he seriously stared at his untouched, tray of food. Megumi was heaving because of the shouting she did. Her eyes were starting to sting and if she doesn't excuse herself soon, she bet the tears would start leaking.

"Enough with the bull! We'll work this out through baseball." Tanba stopped midway from eating his food as he caught Furuya's eyes. Sparks seemed to fly out of nowhere due to the intensity. Miyuki stared at the both of them. Megumi still stood on her spot, suddenly feeling remorseful because of what she did. Tanba was correct.

They should settle their disputes through baseball. However, in her case, it seemed to be impossible because she's only a manager. She was unsure if her uncle would even let her join even if he is the head coach of the team.

She looked down at her half-eaten food, feeling that she had already lost her appetite. Megumi momentarily debated with herself if she was going to just sit back as if nothing happened, or walk out to completely calm herself down. She decided on the latter. It would be better if should retire early for tonight.

"I'm sorry. Please excuse me," her head hang low, afraid to make any sort of eye contact with the other members. She felt beyond embarrassed for being riled up so easily. When it comes to baseball, she really easily gets too emotional.

The others could only watch from afar as the girl walked quickly as if she was escaping from something–or rather, from someone. Somehow, they also felt sorry for her. They didn't know why, but Megumi is kind and always cheerful whenever they met her. It was unusual to see her feeling so glum all of a sudden.

Miyuki stood up from his seat and chased after Megumi when he thought he saw her crying again. But this time, for an entirely different reason and it was not clearly his fault.

'Shit. Why did I have to see it?'

Author's Note:

Hey guys! TheWhimsicalNoirette is back. :)

I know it took so long to update, but yeah. It was kind of hard for me since I think I just had a writer's block? Anyway, I apologize.

Also, if you want to know more about Yoshida Eri whom I used as a reference, check out this link:

world/2008/nov/19/japan-baseball

I think it makes sense if Megumi admires her, no? ;)

The story's moving kind of slow, I know. But please. Kindly bear with it for a few more chapters. I'll make sure to not let you down. I don't really want to make it too fast, since Miyuki and Megumi just met not even a week ago, I guess? Now, that one would not make much sense.

Thank you to those who added this story to their reading lists, by the way. Also, to those who commented and voted for this story, you don't know how much I'm grateful to you guys.

Please continue to support and give this story lots of love!

Thank you so much! :)