****The Rest of the Team****

The team filed into the dugout at Mr. Shiga took the battery on a hike through the woods in back of the field, glad to be given a rest. As they lounged on the benches, hot and tired, Coach Momoe came up and clapped her hands once to get attention.

"Listen up, guys. Here's the thing. Raise your hand if you've noticed our battery's…closeness?"

Tajima raised both hands, a rice ball in his mouth, while Hanai guiltily raised his, as did Izumi and Hamada. The rest shot her confused looks. Sakaeguchi gulped loudly and said, "What are you talking about, coach? They're supposed to be close, right?"

She nodded.

"Exactly so, but…they are much more than that."

Looking at Tajima, Hanai, Izumi, and Hamada, she gestured to the front of the dugout and smiled, "Anyone wanna explain?"

Tajima had raced up there before anyone could blink, and as he perched himself on the railings, everyone exchanged looks of confusion. What was going on here? The battery was supposed to be close; their team had a strong core battery and by virtue they were a strong team. So what exactly was coach asking? Unless, she meant…Tajima beamed at everyone and stood on the railing, his feet spread wide and his hand pointing into the air.

"Abe and Mihashi like each other!"

"What?"

As the rest of the team who didn't know looked at the other three for confirmation, all of them slowly nodded their heads, embarrassed. Coach Momoe put on foot on the bench and leaned forward, her eyes sparkling.

"Very good, Tajima. Now, listen up guys, we're going to need to help them al—"

"Hold up! Wait a second, just wait," said Mizutani, crossing his hands in a T for timeout. "Now, what you're saying is…Abe and Mihashi have, what, like, crushes on each other? And because Mihashi is…Mihashi, and Abe is so stubborn, we have to help them get together? Is that what you're saying right now?"

Mizutani looked around wildly as the coach shook her head yes.

"Did anyone else see this? Am I the only one who missed this?"

Suyama came over and patted Mizutani on the back soothingly as the rest of the team nodded thoughtfully. Sakaeguchi, for one, was grinning hugely, collecting money from Oki and Nishihiro.

"I told you it'd be them first, Oki; you should listen to me more often, huh?"

Oki shook his head, face palming, while Nishihiro grumbled over the loss and ran a hand through his hair, giving Oki a glare, muttering, "I can't believe I agreed with you."

Oki whined plaintively, "It's just, they're always all over each other (well, he's always all over him, but that's not new), so I was sure it would've been them first."

Coach quirked an eyebrow at the exchange of money (and Sakaeguchi's grin) and asked, " Not Abe and Mihashi? So who?"

The three fielders looked away in embarrassment.

"Um, ah, no one, Coach."

She smiled and then looked over at Tajima and Hanai, who was currently trying to get said batter off of him, then nodded.

"I'd agree with you, Oki, if I hadn't seen Abe and Mihashi get so close in such a short period of time."

She laughed at his disgruntled expression and surveyed her dugout's reactions.

Mizutani was still sitting a corner of the dugout, distraught at how obvious it was and how he could have missed it, and Suyama was sitting next to him, explaining how when you thought about it right, it was perfectly clear. Shino'oka was in a fan girl induced shock, and could only sit there with her hat clutched in her hands and her eyes glazed, giggling. Oki and Nishihiro were debating with Sakaeguchi, and Tajima and Hanai were…being themselves, but when Coach looked to see how Izumi and Hamada were taking the news, she found nothing. They were nowhere to be found. Momoe was baffled until she thought about it and then wondered how she had missed that one, too. No matter.

"Okay guys, listen up. We need to…to…Shino'oka? Yes?"

The girl had raised her hand and was now grinning innocently, even though her words were not so innocuous.

"I have an idea…"

At her tone, all of the boys shuddered, and Momoe laughed inwardly, thinking, fear the power of the fangirl, boys. Fear her.