A/N: Once again, thank you all for the reviews! And also, sorry for not mentioning this till now, I really appreciate all the favorites and followings for this story as well!

Thank you all so much for the support given! :)

Sorry and thanks for all the patience for waiting for this chapter.

And once again, sorry for all mistakes made. Feel free to let me know if you find one, especially for English spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Without further ado, enjoy~!

It's Okay

Chapter 7

The sound of a ball slammed into the mitt momentarily echoed in the bullpen, followed by sounds of panting from the pitcher.

"How's that now?" Suzuki couldn't help but ask with hope and expectations at the blonde catcher who just kept staring into his mitt and the ball inside, contemplating with a serious face.

As usual, he's got speed… but that's all he has.

"It's still too high," Koushuu replied, finally looking up at the disappointed pitcher. "If it's against strong and powerful hitters like our Seidou batting lineup, you would be totally wiped out very easily."

"It's that bad?" Suzuki whined in shock, and then turned quickly to his other training in charge. "Where do you think I've done wrong, Sawamura-senpai?"

However, silence was the only response he received, as he realized that his senior pitcher didn't seem to be putting his attention onto him. Instead, he seemed to be focused on the ground instead, eyes not blinking at all, indicating he was currently in a world of his own.

"Sawamura-senpai?" the first year pitcher called again, still receiving no response. "Sawamura-senpai!" It was only at the third call where Sawamura finally blinked once in surprise before looking up at his fellow pitcher while scratching his head with an apologetic expression.

"Ah, so sorry, Suzuki. What did you just said?"

"… Are you alright, senpai?" Suzuki asked when he realized that his senior was not concentrating or being himself. He then gasped softly when he realized something. "Is it because of what I've said to senpai just now? As expected, it was a bad idea to tell you those kind of things?"

"Ah, no! That's not it!" Sawamura quickly replied firmly, hoping to stop any misunderstanding from his junior. "I was just thinking about some stuffs; it's not your fault! Really! You don't have to worry about what you've said to me just now!"

"But-"

"In fact, I'm actually glad you told me about it," Sawamura said as he raised his hand to ruffle Suzuki's hair with a wide sincere smile on his face. "So thank you, and don't worry about it too much alright?"

And it was at that moment Suzuki blushed upon feeling the gentle caress on his hair and also upon looking at the smile from his senior, feeling embarrassed but glad to hear that his senior wasn't angry or feeling unwell because of him. Amazed by his senior's kindness, it was at that moment he promised to himself that from now on he would properly and sincerely respect his training in charge. Still, he couldn't help but lower his head slightly in embarrassment at the treatment he received. It totally felt like he was a child getting encouragement from his mother.

I totally feel like a kid now.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the bullpen, Koushuu could almost smile upon seeing the interaction between the two pitchers. If it was Suzuki on the day before yesterday, Suzuki would have criticize his training in charge for not concentrating on practice and probably would question if the senior pitcher really had the heart and resolve to teach him properly or not. But right now, things had changed. After the incident with Miyuki and learning the truth about Sawamura, the blonde catcher could really tell that the attitude in the first year pitcher had changed for the better, and the future between the two pitchers had finally brightened. Koushuu couldn't help but feel relieved as his main troubles at the moment seemed to be finally resolved.

Well, probably except for one…

Finally having the courage to raise his head, Suzuki was about to sincerely and determinedly thank his senior for the encouragement but failed to do so. Instead, he immediately shrieked and stepped back in shock and fear while his eyes were on something behind the second-year pitcher.

Sawamura, surprised by his junior's reaction, was about to ask what was wrong but stopped and stilled when he sensed an immense and menacing aura behind him, sending a chill down his spine. And after a few moments, Sawamura finally turned slowly behind, only to be faced with one of his worse nightmares. It seemed to be the same to Suzuki as well.

"M-M-Miyuki?" Sawamura nervously called out to his captain, who seemed to have just entered the bullpen together with Furuya and Ono. But the reason for him being nervous was the fact that Miyuki was smiling way too widely for anyone's comfort, especially since he was obviously giving out a menacing killing intent and aura that would scare anyone away.

"Hey there, Sa—wa—mu—ra—," said pitcher paled as he heard Miyuki calling his last name in the lengthy way. It promised nothing good.

Fearing for his life, Suzuki quickly hid himself behind his training in charge while Sawamura raised both hands in surrender. "Miyuki? M-May I ask why are you angry right now?"

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Miyuki said as his smile seemed to become even wider and more forced. "I am not angry at all~"

And it was at that moment every occupant in the bullpen gave their captain the skeptical faces, except for Koushuu whose face remained neutral. But their thoughts were all the same.

No, no, no. You're DEFINITELY angry.

Koushuu sighed as he watched the whole scene, being the only one who understood the situation. Ono, Furuya and Suzuki would probably catch on quick if they were aware of the relationship between the captain and the moving ball second-year pitcher.

"Where's Kawakami-senpai? I'm presuming he's coming too since you're here, Ono-senpai." Koushuu quickly asked as he looked towards said catcher, ignoring the current atmosphere influenced by Miyuki.

"Ah, he should be on his way from batting practice," Ono quickly replied, unable to withstand the silent tensed atmosphere, though he was still confused behind his captain's upset mood.

"…I see," Koushuu said as he turned towards the other pitcher who had just entered the bullpen. "Furuya-senpai, is it okay if Suzuki continued his training here in the bullpen?"

Shocked by those words, Sawamura and Suzuki immediately looked at the blonde in disbelief at his straightforwardness. Miyuki, on the other hand, dismissed his aura and killing intent before watching the first-year catcher with a frown, slightly confused by what he meant.

Furuya, upon being asked the question, silently kept staring into the calm and neutral eyes of the blonde catcher, who could clearly see the disagreement and discontent in those eyes of the rumored monster pitcher.

"W-Wait a minute, Koushuu," Sawamura quickly called out to his roommate, worried over the tensed atmosphere and staring contest he was currently having with his rival. He didn't expect Koushuu to be asking Furuya that question so bluntly especially in front of the first-year in concern as well. Sawamura had already heard from the first-year pitcher about what happened with Furuya several minutes ago in the bullpen, where Furuya unexpectedly left the bullpen in order to train his batting. Sawamura narrowed his eyes as he turned and looked at his rival. Such a course of action totally bewildered Sawamura.

Because, for someone who had been competing with him for the mound and for someone who had been urging to pitch for every second during the games and training, Furuya volunteering to leave the bullpen on his own accord was something he was sure that would stun anyone who knew the monster pitcher in the team. Sawamura continued to study Furuya, who seemed to realize the stares from his fellow pitcher and quickly hid his blue eyes from the pair of brown eyes staring at him by lowering his cap brim. It was then Furuya began to step forward, seemingly approaching the moving ball pitcher.

On the other hand, as he watched Furuya coming closer towards him, Sawamura couldn't help but feel that he was responsible for his rival pitcher's rejection to the bullpen, to the others, and also to the pitching that he loved the most. Before he heard the situation among the seniors from Suzuki, Sawamura was still oblivious to what was happening around him and would be very confused right now. After contemplating the situation before him, Sawamura clenched his fist in determination and looked up at his rival.

"Furuya, can we talk-"

However, his rival didn't seem to have any intention of acknowledging him, as seen by his actions where he just walked past Sawamura nonchalantly and stood in position at one of the pitcher's post in the bullpen. Furuya then picked up the rosin bag that was dumped somewhere on the ground near him, and began to toss the bag on his right hand as he silently waited for Miyuki to get into his position as well.

"…Oi, Furuya," Sawamura began to tremble slightly as he saw the current ace pitcher's actions and attitude towards him. "Don't ignore me, you jerk!" The currently injured pitcher exclaimed fiercely as he turned and pointed his finger at his rival, who still kept tossing the rosin bag, as if refusing to acknowledge Sawamura. This caused Sawamura to flap his arms in annoyance, cursing his rival loudly with words he could come out with at the moment.

As usual, he's just go ahead and ignore whatever he doesn't want to see or hear… Koushuu sighed as he saw the whole interaction between the two rivals. Miyuki, on the other hand, began to chuckle, seemingly enjoying the scene before him while Ono palmed his face. Suzuki seemed to be the only one in stun upon seeing the scene before him.

"Suzuki," said first-year looked up at the blonde in surprise when he was called, breaking him out of his trance. "I don't think you're going to get any better in your pitching just by practicing here in the bullpen. Why not do some conditionings by running first? Running helps to strengthen the lower part of your body, which I believe, is the foundation for a pitcher. Am I right, Sawamura-senpai?"

"Ah, yes!" Sawamura replied as he registered in the catcher's words and stopped getting all riled up thanks to Furuya. "Suzuki, you can use field B to run your laps. Koushuu and I will join you later over there."

"U-Understood…" And with that, the first year pitcher quickly made his way out of the bullpen, but not before turning and giving one last glance to everyone, who all had occupied themselves with their own activities.

Well, all except for one, who also had turned his blue eyes to stare at him, with the same eyes as the ones he gave before this when he left the bullpen.

**Line Break**

"One possible reason that the current training menu won't work well for Suzuki because Chris-senpai probably created this menu in consideration with your abnormal body flexibility last year."

"Ah! Is that so…"

"We should probably start right from the basics. We can still use these training menus as the basis, but we should probably review and change them according to Suzuki's needs. Right now Suzuki's foundations are pretty weak so we should start from there."

"I see… Then, where should we start?"

"Well, first, we could try…"

Miyuki tried hard to tune out the voices from the other side of the bullpen, although irritation still continued to grow inside of him. He couldn't help but turn to glance for a moment at the pair having a discussion at the other side of the bullpen after throwing the ball back to Furuya and crouched down again, getting ready to catch another forkball from the second-year pitcher. But still, despite knowing that he had to concentrate fully on Furuya right now, Miyuki still felt frustrated from being denied, especially from Sawamura himself.

"Well then, shall we get started on the review of his training menu, Sawamura-senpai?"

"Huh?"

"Hey wait a minute! I thought I'm the one who will be reviewing the menu with Sawamura today."

"…I had thought it will make more sense for me to review his training menu instead, since I'm the one who has been catching his pitches for the past few weeks."

"Ah, I see… now that you mention it, it does make more sense…"

"Sawamura?!"

"Sorry, Miyuki. I'll discuss Suzuki's training menu with Koushuu instead. Meanwhile, why don't you concentrate on Furuya and Nori-senpai's pitches and training?"

"Wait a minute, that's-"

"If you really want to help, we can have you check over the menu once we're done. That should be fine for you, shouldn't it, Miyuki-senpai?"

"…That's…"

"Now that's decided, shall we? Sawamura-senpai?"

"Sure~!"

Miyuki couldn't help but twitched in annoyance upon remembering those words from his boyfriend. That Bakamura. What's with that 'sure~!' It pisses me off! Seems like time for another punishment tonight, hmm? Miyuki smirked upon that thought, beginning to brainstorm different ways to punish his boyfriend later while being able to catch another ball from Furuya; the sound of the ball slamming into the mitt echoed through the bullpen. However, Miyuki frowned almost immediately after that as he realized something from the ball he had just caught.

"Oi, Furuya," Miyuki said as he stood up from his crouching position. "I asked for a low forkball, not a high fastball. How could you get the signs wrong? And also, I thought I told you before the importance of pacing yourself. Have you forgotten all these too?"

"…I'm sorry," Furuya apologized as he raised his glove, silently asking for the ball. "Please, let me try again."

Miyuki silently agreed, throwing the ball back to Furuya. However, he wasn't really prepared for the current ace to miss catching the easy ball that was thrown back to him; he had thought that he had already overcome that weakness of his already. "Oi, oi, Furuya. What's wrong with you?"

"…Sorry," Miyuki sighed as he watched Furuya walking towards the dropped ball to pick it up, wondering what was wrong with the monster pitcher. Today, he had been throwing him fastballs which he could tell that Furuya had made no attempts to control the strength he used; he was just throwing with nothing but raw power that would usually drain him a lot faster than he expected. Not only that, the course for his forkball and splitters seemed to be going out of control as well. All these were the mistakes that Furuya was supposed to resolve months ago since the start of the fall tournament. "…Do you want to stop here for today, Furuya?"

"Ah, no. Please let me continue pitching."

"I don't mind continuing, but you don't seem to be in form today."

"…"

He's ignoring me again…

"Miyuki!" said catcher blinked in surprise upon hearing the voice, immediately turning to face the source of the voice.

"Oh. What's wrong, Sawamura?" Miyuki replied the approaching moving ball pitcher and blonde catcher who were holding on to some old scrolls he recognized and a clipboard.

"It's about Suzuki's training menu," Sawamura said as he placed the old scrolls aside and then getting the clipboard from Koushuu. "Here's the reviewed training menu. Help me look through it, will you?"

"Hmm?" Miyuki responded as he began to slightly smirk. "Since you're asking for my help, shouldn't you be saying, 'please~'?"

"Oi, stop playing around-"

"Don't forget, I'm a senior, you know?"

"Urgh! Fine!" Sawamura finally surrendered, giving a glare to his irritating captain and boyfriend. "Can you help me look through and check everything in the reviewed training I have for Suzuki, PLEASE?"

"Haha! I was just joking, Ei—jun—." and Sawamura immediately blushed upon hearing his first name being called suggestively by Miyuki like this, especially in front of some of their team members who weren't aware of their relationship.

"Miyuki you bastar-"

"Okumura," Miyuki suddenly called for the blonde catcher as he walked towards Sawamura, holding on to the pitcher's arm suddenly while continued walking away. "Catch for Furuya while I check through this, will you?"

Koushuu silently watched his senior pitcher being pulled away by his fellow catcher, and then went and stood at the position Miyuki was at moments ago, facing Furuya with a serious expression. Furuya frowned and stared back as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead with his arm, watching the first-year catcher putting on his headgear. Although Furuya felt dissatisfied with Miyuki switching with Koushuu, he knew that he couldn't really protest to it, since Furuya made a shocking discovery this spring that other than Miyuki and the graduated Miyauchi, there was another catcher in Seidou who was able to catch his pitches. He could still remember that episode when Koushuu was able to catch his heavy and speedy fastball easily, just like how Miyuki was the first time the captain caught for him in his first year.

The pitcher soon set himself into position, getting ready to throw his pitch towards the catcher but unexpectedly, Koushuu still had not crouched down to position after putting on his headgear. Instead, he was just standing there with his throwing hand in his giant mitt, giving the impression that he had no intention to continue practicing with the current ace pitcher. Furuya blinked and continued to stare the blonde in confusion.

"Furuya-senpai," Koushuu unexpectedly called out to his senior, startling Furuya. "If I were to start catching for you right now, can you promise me to stop getting agitated every time Sawamura-senpai mention about Suzuki? Because I don't think you are able to concentrate and throw your best like this."

And it was at that moment every occupant in the bullpen turned to stare at the ace pitcher, shocked by the comments from the blonde catcher causing everyone to stop what they were doing. Kawakami had suddenly paused in his pitching and Sawamura and Miyuki had stopped their discussion. Suzuki? Is that the reason Furuya's not performing well today?

Furuya's eyes widened upon hearing that blunt comment from the first-year, as if he himself was surprised by his own behavior. "I'm not really-"

"I know you may still be angry with Suzuki due to yesterday's incident," Koushuu quickly interrupted, knowing that his senior may not be aware of his anger himself. "But I hope that you won't bring that anger to your training and interrupt your pacing. It's going to be bad for you and the team, especially since technically, you're still holding on to the ace number. I don't think anyone in the team will put their trust onto an ace who lets his emotions get in his way of play."

And upon hearing those words, Furuya jolted, eyes widening even more as he took in those words into his mind and heart, which began to keep replaying in his mind as he froze on the spot. As Sawamura watched Furuya's frozen state, he tried to approach him, but was stopped by Miyuki who shook his head to him, hoping he would understand his gesture.

Even if you go to him, there's nothing you can do.

To Miyuki's relief, the moving ball pitcher seemed to understand the need to leave Furuya alone. Even Ono and Kawakami who was also in the bullpen at the moment seemed to understand. Sawamura, who was tensed up due to worry for Furuya, managed to calm down as shown by his relaxed shoulders and posture, thus allowing Miyuki to loosen his hold he had on his boyfriend. However, that didn't mean he was not worried for his rival, so he could only continued to watch in silent at the battery between the blonde and the raven.

"…It's time for you to realize, Furuya-senpai," Koushuu finally said after several seconds of silence. "That you're standing on the mound as the team's representative. That number you bear on your back is not as light as you thought."

And Furuya jolted again, upon hearing those familiar words. He remembered hearing those kinds of words before; he remembered hearing similar words as these before, in a particular match* where he had let his stubbornness and emotions got in his way, causing him to ignore his catcher's instructions and play right into the opponents' hand… With a huge price to pay. He could now clearly remember his regrets from paying this huge price for learning an important lesson.

"…I understand," Furuya finally answered back to his current battery partner after some time. "I'm sorry. Please allow me to pitch some more."

And everyone was able to sigh in relief when they saw Koushuu finally putting on his catcher's helmet and crouched down, punching his fist into his mitt and stretching out both of his hand before positioning his mitt. Everyone in the bullpen still continued to watch the duo, anticipating patiently for Furuya's next pitch.

And within a few minutes, another echo of the ball slamming into the mitt was heard, and Miyuki was probably the only one who smiled upon seeing the smoke rising from Koushuu's mitt.

**Line Break**

"Do you mind if I ask something?" Suzuki asked as he looked through his new training menu.

"Sure, what is it?"

"What's MB over here?" Suzuki pointed to the said words on the list he had in his hand, giving the puzzled expression to his senior.

"Oh. MB stands for medicine ball," Sawamura said as he turned and head into the bench, bending down to retrieve a slightly large weighted brown-colored ball before turning to the first year pitcher who panicked slightly when he saw that his injured senior was trying to carry something that seemed too heavy for him.

"Ah, senpai! Let me get that!" Suzuki exclaimed as he quickly went over to grab the ball from Sawamura before he could take another step. "So this is a medicine ball?"

"Yeah. It's important for your basic strength training, which also included other equipment like the dumbbell and resistance tubes which I think can be found here…" Sawamura said as he turned again with the intention of going into the bench to retrieve more equipment, but was stopped by his junior.

"It's alright, senpai! I'll get Koushuu or the managers' help in getting the necessary equipment. Besides, isn't it time for you to leave now? If not you'll be late for your rehabilitation."

"Ah! You're right!" Sawamura agreed as he stood up and walked out of the bench to retrieve his sling bag and haul it over his shoulder. "Then, I guess I'll leave things to you here. Feel free to ask Koushuu or Miyuki anything that you don't understand in the menu."

"Ah, alright. I understand…" Though there's no way I'm asking Miyuki-senpai. "Good work for the day, senpai!"

"Yeah, work hard on your training!" exclaimed Sawamura as he began to walk towards the field gates with the intention to leave training for the day. He was then spotted by some of the players who were practicing in the field behind him.

"Eijun-kun!" said pitcher turned towards the source as he heard his name, spotting a wave from a familiar pinked-hair player. "Good work for the day!"

"Yeah! Harucchi Do your best!" Sawamura shouted as he waved back with a big smile that everyone was familiar with. "Everyone too! Sawamura shall humbly take his leave! Good luck and do your best for practice!"

"Urgh, just leave already, Sawamura!" came an unexpected loud reply from Kanemaru, which caused Sawamura to flinch in shock.

"Y-Yes!"

"Ah, Sawamura!" said pitcher turned to spot a smirk from his captain that was currently playing catcher in the fielding practice. "Don't get lost on the way back! Need me to pick you up again?"

"No, I refused!" Sawamura quickly replied back loudly, not making any attempt to hide his irritation. If Miyuki had not added that playful smirk he had on his face while asking the question, there was a chance that the pitcher would have consider his offer seriously. But right now, he definitely refused. "I'm fine enough to find my way there and back, thank you very much!"

"Sawamura," another voice called again, but this one somehow sent a chill down the pitcher's spine, prompting to freeze in place as he turned slowly to the source at the field entrance.

"Ah, boss-I mean coach!" Sawamura quickly saluted as he shouted. "W-What can I do for you?"

"…Good work for the day," replied Coach Kataoka as he walked towards the field. "President Oota will be giving you a ride instead, so follow him."

"Yes! Well then, if you excuse me, I shall take my leave!" Sawamura yelled as he bowed down before finally leaving the field together with President Oota and assistant manager Takashima with the usual smile on his face.

"…As usual, Sawamura sure is energetic even though he's injured huh?" came a random comment from one of the players.

"And he's still noisy as usual," came a comment from a slightly irritated Kanemaru.

"Well, he's our idiotic mood maker after all," Miyuki commented as he smiled widely at Kanemaru, who felt slightly uncomfortable at that smile.

"Tch. If you asked me, he's being way too lively for someone who still can't really play yet."

"That goes to show that nothing can bring down Eijun-kun, isn't it?"

"…I wonder about that," the smile that was on Miyuki's face quickly disappeared upon hearing those words, staring at the one who just made that comment. All other players in the infield were also staring at him.

"What do you mean by that, Kuramochi-senpai?" Haruichi asked, not missing the hint of sadness behind those words.

"…Nothing," the shortstop answered before hesitating for some time. "Just saying that he's so stupid to the point that he probably won't even realize that he's being taken down."

"Huh?" the pink-haired second baseman could only look at his defense partner in confusion, while Miyuki, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and studied his vice-captain in suspicion. For Kuramochi to be saying such things, it seemed that something about his boyfriend's mood and attitude was being implied from his roommate.

"Are you guys done talking?" a deep and firm voice from behind Miyuki immediately startled everyone on the field, prompting everyone to stop talking and look serious at the man who was holding on to a bat and a ball at the home base plate. "Training is still on, so make sure I can hear everyone of you calling out for the ball! You hear me?!"

"Yes, Coach!"

**Line Break**

"Well then, now that Harucchi's not here, what happened, Suzuki?"

"Well, that's…"

"Yeah?"

"I-I…I'm sorry! Sawamura-senpai!" Suzuki apologized loudly as he bowed down on his senior, who stepped in surprise and confusion. Sawamura glanced towards the blonde catcher, hoping he would give him some sort of answers but Koushuu only kept quiet, not intending to say anything.

"I'm so sorry for what I've said yesterday!" Suzuki exclaimed, still maintaining his bowed-down position. "What I've said yesterday was really rude; I've no excuses to use for this, but please at least hear me out!"

"Alright, alright, I understand," Sawamura quickly replied as he raised his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm the first year down. "I think it's not entirely your fault, since I'm quite an unreliable and undependable senior, and it's my first time trying to teach someone pitching too! So you don't have to really blame yourself."

"No, that's not true!" and it was at this point Suzuki finally stood up straight again, showing his determination again to his senior. "I'm really sorry for my rudeness yesterday, but I hope you can hear me out, for the sake of the team!"

"The team?" and this was where Sawamura gave his fullest attention into hearing his junior out.

"Well, I'm sorry if I am going to sound really rude again, but…" and at this point Suzuki hesitated in answering, worried about the consequences he could cause. He didn't want an incident like yesterday happened again.

"Sawamura."

"What is it, Suzuki? Just spill it!" Sawamura rushed the junior, unable to take the patience and suspense in the Suzuki's words.

"Sawamura?"

"I think that the team is suffering, because of me and you!"

"Sawamura?" said pitcher gasped and twitched in response to the calling and to the hand that was on his shoulder. It was then he realized he had been daydreaming into his own world while doing his last exercise. "Are you alright, Sawamura?"

"Ah, yes! I'm sorry!" Sawamura quickly turned and apologized to his therapist while continued pedaling on his stationary exercise bike. "What were you saying?"

"I'm saying, it's time for you to stop. Rehabilitation for today is finished. You may stopped and packed up for the day."

"Ah, alright," Sawamura immediately slowed down on his pedaling and stopped upon hearing those words while beginning to pant as he swung one of his legs to the other side of the exercise bike so that both legs would be on the same side. He then used the towel he had on his shoulders to wipe off his sweats on his face as he thanked his therapist. "Thank you for taking the time to monitor me in my rehabilitation again, Chris-senpai."

"It's not a problem, Sawamura, since I'm having my own sets of rehabilitation and physical workouts to complete here as well," Chris explained as he took out two bottles of water from his bag, one for the pitcher and one for himself. Sawamura thanked the former catcher again upon receiving the bottle. "In any case, what's wrong? You seem to be out of sorts today."

"Ah, well that's…" Sawamura, who was hesitating to reply, began to fidget with the bottle he had in his hand.

"Is it about the team?"

"Well, I guess it is…" and this time, Sawamura began to avoid any eye contact.

"Sawamura?"

"Yes! Chris-senpai?" replied Sawamura quickly this time as he suddenly straightened up rigidly to properly look at the former catcher, who just smiled as he looked at his former protégé.

"Do you need my help?"

Sawamura's eyes slightly widened as he heard those words, and began to think them through. After his retirement, Chris had decided to fully concentrate on his recovery of his torn shoulder by following a new set of training and workout menus created by his father before entering into college. After Sawamura's operation, the former catcher and manager of Seidou had volunteered to coach and monitor the injured pitcher in his rehabilitation, since he had to make his way frequently to the training center as well. Hence despite his retirement from Seidou, Sawamura was able to continue to keep a close contact with his former mentor, with Chris continuing to give advice and help Sawamura out with his baseball skills just like old times.

Sawamura could probably ask for some advice from Chris just like he always did this time, even when the latter had already just graduated from Seidou. But he didn't know if it was right for him to trouble his former mentor with problems from the current team that didn't really concern him anymore. Furthermore, as Sawamura contemplated his decision to talk to his mentor, he remembered.

"Don't become someone like me, Sawamura."

"Do you want to end up becoming someone like me?"

Chris-senpai was also there during the whole time at the fall tournament… How did he also feel when he saw me in that state…?

"…No," Sawamura finally answered as he concluded his thoughts with the question that he had wondered since his talk with his fellow moving ball pitcher. He then looked straight into his therapist's eyes, showing his determination. "No, I think I'm fine by my own, Chris-senpai. This is something I believe I have to settle on my own."

And that was where Chris noticed the tightening of Sawamura's hold on the bottle in the pitcher's hand.

Sawamura almost jumped and gave himself away under the constant studying stare he received from the former catcher, making him slightly nervous.

"…Then it's fine," Chris finally replied after studying Sawamura's expression for a few seconds. "I trust you after all, Sawamura. But don't forget, I'm always here if you need any help anytime."

And Sawamura's eyes widened again, surprised by the amount of trust he received from his former mentor, which he eventually and gladly took it also as a form of acknowledgement as well. "Yes! Thank you very much, Chris-senpai!"

"You're welcome," Chris said as he smiled and ruffled his former protégé's hair, where Sawamura also smiled back to his therapist widely, leading to a comfortable silence between the two former battery partners. But the silence was soon broken as Chris removed his hand. "By the way, Sawamura, did anything happen last night when I wasn't around?"

"Huh? Anything happened? Why did you ask that?" If there were anything that happened last night that probably needs to be mentioned, that would probably be…

"Because," Chris replied as he took out his mobile from his bag. "Miyuki had texted me last night, saying never to leave you alone again in the training center."

"Wha-"

"And also, to make sure you don't talk to any strangers as well."

"HUH?!" What the hell! That Miyuki! Who does he think I am? A kid?!

**Line Break**

Sounds of panting could be heard as he walked down the outside parameters of the baseball field. Sawamura turned in response, spotting one lone, tall raven running around the field.

"Furuya…" It had become a common habit for him and Furuya to be doing running after every practice at night, mainly to strengthen their lower body and train their stamina. Kawakami had also begun to join them everyday since last year's fall season as well, but Sawamura had begun to observe that the third-year pitcher seemed to stop coming for running for the past few months. I wonder where's Nori-senpai now…

After running for another three laps, Furuya finally slowed down and decided to stop, bending down and resting his hands on his knees as he panted heavily. He then used his arm to wipe away the sweat on his face, almost cursing himself for forgetting to bring along a towel for his running.

As if his prayers were answered, a towel suddenly appeared in front of his face, surprising him as he turned to see whose arm below the towel belonged to. His surprise didn't come to an end when he saw his rival pitcher giving his usual wide smile as he offered the towel.

"Good work for the day."

"…Ah. Thank you," Furuya said as he hesitantly accepted the towel offered, but instead of wiping on his face immediately, he stared hard at the towel instead, as if contemplating something. "…Did you just use this towel?"

"It's a clean one! I didn't use it at all!"

"Ah I see," Furuya said as he finally used the blue towel to wipe away the sweat on his face. "Did you just come back from rehabilitation?"

"Not really. I saw you running when I came back, so I went to take a new and clean towel for you; thought you might need it. Oh. And also, this." Sawamura then offered a bottle of water to Furuya when he saw the taller pitcher finished wiping off his sweat, with his head held slightly high as if giving the superior aura. "It's important to hydrate yourself after training, is what Chris-senpai always said."

"…Thank you," the ace pitcher said, taking the bottle and accepting the kindness from his rival.

"…Hey, Furuya."

"…What?" Furuya replied to Sawamura as he lowered his bottle, only to see the southpaw walk away for a short distance to bend down and retrieve something. It was then he saw something thrown towards him, which prompted him to drop the bottle that he was holding to catch the baseball glove.

"Wanna play catch?" Sawamura asked, once again giving the wide gleeful smile in hope with a glove on his right hand and a baseball on his left.

**Line Break**

"…Nasty."

"Huh?"

"As usual, the ball you throws really moves a lot, so it's hard to catch," Furuya commented as he threw the ball back to the southpaw.

"Well, I haven't really been practicing my pitching, so…" a throw back to the current ace. "But! Your balls are also getting too easy for our ace! You don't really have to go easy on me, you know!"

"…Is that so?" the ball right back to Sawamura.

"Yeah!" Sawamura shouted again as he caught the ball. It was then he twirled his left shoulder, alerting Furuya. "Well then, I think my shoulder is pretty warmed up, mind if I throw harder?"

"…I don't mind."

"Alright!" and with that, Sawamura unexpectedly winded up his leg. "Here I go!" And with a step landed hard on the ground and a twirl of his flexible hips and arms, a sudden four-seam fastball went straight towards Furuya, startling the right-handed pitcher before the ball entered his glove. "How's that?!"

Silence was the only response for a few seconds as Furuya looked at the glove and the ball in his left hand. "…You know, the seniors and coach are not going to be happy if they see you playing catch like this."

"Don't be so picky on the details!" Sawamura annoyingly barked at his rival at the comment, knowing what he said was true. Still under rehabilitation, Sawamura wasn't given the approval to do running and pitching yet with the fear that the injury on his knee would worsen and hence delay his recovery. However, Sawamura, being reckless as always, decided not to care about that it seemed. "Anyway, it's your turn!"

"Huh?"

"Since you allowed me to throw it hard here, it's your turn!" Sawamura exclaimed as he rose up his glove to position himself to get ready to catch. "C'mon! Give me your best shot!"

"…I don't think that's a good idea given your injury-"

"Like I said, don't be so picky on the details!" Sawamura yelled back as he moved his glove around to indicate his impatience. "C'mon! Throw it hard! Over here! Or what? Our ace can't even throw properly while playing catch? What a GREAT and RELIABLE ace you are!"

The taunting definitely worked, causing Furuya to twitch in agitation upon taking in those words and unconsciously and instinctively fired up. Without thinking, Furuya also winded up, landing his foot on the ground hard before swinging his arm for the ball to head straight for Sawamura.

Despite expecting the fastball from Furuya, Sawamura still couldn't react on time hence he failed to hold his ground as the ball reached him. As such, the impact from the heavy 140km/h fastball caused Sawamura to be pushed back and he fell onto the ground, with his butt landed first.

And the fall of Sawamura led Furuya to be aware of what he had done, and he quickly rushed towards the southpaw, heart beating in horror. What if Sawamura was injured, again? What if Sawamura's injuries were worsened, again? What if Sawamura couldn't play baseball, again?

"Miyuki-senpai. Would things have been different, if I wasn't injured or if I had insisted to play despite my sprained ankle?"

Fear immediately crept up into his heart as he quickly checked out Sawamura on the ground, panicking as he didn't know what he should or could do at this situation.

"A-Are you alright-"

A hand suddenly crept up to land on his shoulder, causing Furuya to flinch as he stared at the southpaw. The fear in his heart seemed to grow as he could feel trembling from Sawamura. Furuya flinched again as he remembered that something like this happened before.

He remembered where he had accidentally missed the bus to a match in the spring tournament last year, causing him to get stuck in school with an idiotic fellow pitcher. On that day, since there were only two of them, they were stuck with each other in playing catch, where Sawamura had the infortune to catch one of Furuya's heavy fastball which couldn't properly land in his glove. Instead, the ball and the glove flew off, leaving trembles of power and horror onto Sawamura's right hand. Furuya could still remember Sawamura's trembles right after he faced his throw. It was just like how the southpaw was trembling right now, again.

However, instead of seeing the look of appall, Sawamura failed to meet Furuya's expectation, because Furuya definitely didn't expect himself to hear a sound of snicker coming from the southpaw.

And he definitely didn't expect his rival to suddenly burst out laughing as he showed his glove to the monster pitcher.

"Hahahaha! Serves you right, Furuya! Guess what! I caught your ball!"

Furuya's eyes widened as he saw the baseball unmistakably and properly white and clear in the black and dirty glove of Sawamura's.

"Hahaha! You totally didn't expect that, didn't you! Was that a ball thrown by you seriously? Or don't tell me you went easy on me!"

I didn't, and that's probably the problem right now.

"Koushuu and Miyuki were right! You ARE getting soft! Don't tell me that's all you've got!"

I already gave it my all without thinking, and yet…

"Cause if that's really all you got, it's going to be troubling for ME!"

What?

"Hey, Furuya! You hear me?!" Sawamura yelled as he waved his hand in front of Furuya's face. "…Don't tell me… You're ignoring me again!"

"…What do you mean?"

"Huh?" Sawamura's expression changed to a confused one as Furuya finally answered him.

"What do you mean by you're the one that is going to be troubled?"

"Because!" Sawamura yelled again, despite Furuya just being right in front of him, without any sign of hesitation. "You're my target!"

"…Target?" Furuya could only gasp and freeze on the spot, still finding the words from Sawamura incredulous.

"Yeah! Have you forgotten?" and this time, the southpaw jabbed his finger onto Furuya firmly, eyes showing nothing but honesty and determination. "I've told you before that the ace of this team is me! That means, I'll have to fight it out and get stronger than you to win that title, hence it means my target to reach is YOU! I'll be the one chasing after you, fighting fair and square for that ace number! So if you're telling me that if the ball just now was your best, that's going to be a problem for me too because the power of Seidou's ace shouldn't be something like this!

"Which is why stop moping and stop thinking too much! Since boss had already entrusted you with the ace number, hold onto that number with pride and remain strong for the team! In fact, go ahead and get stronger if you need to, cause I'll recover, and then train hard and get even more stronger than you and then I'll have that number on MY back instead! Hahahaha…Oi! Stop ignoring me dammit!"

Ignoring him? Far from it. Sawamura probably had no idea how much those words of his had impacted on Furuya. Furuya, who was frozen on the spot, registered those words into his heart, finding himself unable to believe that he was hearing such words from his rival-

Wait a minute… Rival? And Furuya gasped as he realized something.

Rival. That was the word Furuya had not known during his baseball times in his middle school days.

Rival. That was the word Furuya had become foreign to back in his hometown in Hokkaido.

Rival. That was the word Furuya had to understand when he met Sawamura in Seidou.

Rival. That was the word Furuya had forgotten the meaning since that final match in the fall tournament.

Rival. That was the word Sawamura had considered Furuya.

Rival. That was the word Furuya had considered Sawamura.

Furuya, who was silent for several seconds, suddenly looked up and faced Sawamura straight on, causing the southpaw to flinch as he saw the blue eyes.

That's right, Furuya had totally forgotten. Ever since that match, when he saw Sawamura collapse on the mound, he had totally forgotten. Although he may have been considered the ace of the team, he had totally forgotten that there was someone in the team who would never give up and continue to chase after him, determined to win him and take the ace number away from him. He had totally forgotten the feeling of someone fiercely chasing after him. He had totally forgotten the feeling of someone other than him shining brightly and playing better than him when standing on the mound. He had totally forgotten the feeling of seeing the coach trusting the mound to someone else other than him despite giving him the ace number. He had totally forgotten the feeling of having someone behind to spur you on to keep getting stronger. He had totally forgotten the feeling of having a rival; he had thought that he had lost that right.

And for some reason, it annoyed him when he realized that the person who made him remembered these feelings of having a rival, was his rival himself.

That's right, if it's him… he can do it.

"…You pissed me off," Furuya suddenly whispered as he stood up. However, Sawamura seemed to manage to catch those words despite the softness in Furuya's voice.

"Huh?!"

If it's him, he'll definitely be able to reach me sooner or later… No matter how tough it's going to be.

"You pissed me off." Furuya said louder as he turned and lowered his head, as if making sure Sawamura couldn't see his face.

"What the-"

Even if he gets hurt along the way, he'll always push his body to his limits…for the sake of the team… Just like me.

"You pissed me off!"

"Don't repeat for the third time, dammit!" Sawamura barked as he saw Furuya began walking towards the field gate with the intention to finally call the day and go back to the dorm.

Which is why, instead of blaming myself for his injury, I need to stop thinking too much.

"Ah, I'm tired," Furuya said to no one in particular as he trudged across the field, wiping the sweat on his forehead with his right hand, still wearing the glove.

Because all I could do is to get stronger and always play at my best as well, for the team and also… for his sake.

"Oi, Furuya!" a call from the southpaw made him stop without thinking, which Furuya partially regretted. However, he still turned, decided to find out what Sawamura was up to this time.

And of course, Sawamura never failed to surprise him as he saw Sawamura standing in front of him, with the baseball in his raised right hand. Despite puzzled by such actions, Furuya still instinctively slightly raised his right hand that was still covered in glove. His surprises seemed to have not ended, when Sawamura placed the baseball into his glove.

Bewilderment changed to astonishment, when he looked up to see that usual gleeful wide smile back on Sawamura's face again with the words he would never expect.

"Until I'm back, I'll leave the team to you, ace!"

Furuya's eyes widened again, as he was reminded again of the feeling of his rival spurring him on behind him. He then remembered similar words that were said to him by the very same person when he could feel the despair in that match*…

"It means, those on the bench believe in the ace!"

Furuya clenched his glove as he remembered those words. Those words he had also totally forgotten when Sawamura wasn't around.

"Just you wait, Furuya," Sawamura declared as Furuya listened and watched the southpaw's eyes widened with resolve, the smile on the face not yet faded. "I'll definitely catch up to you soon!"

And for some reason, those smile and words were beginning to really annoy him too.

That's right, I'm the ace, and he's fighting for the same title. I cannot forget that.

"…You pissed me off."

"Urgh. Stop repeating the same words, dammit!"

Because he's probably the best rival I could ever get.

To Be Continued

*(SPOILER ALERT) If there's anyone curious about what match Furuya was thinking about, it's the match between Seidou and Ugomori in the fall tournament where thanks to Furuya, Ugomori managed to score 3 points in the very first inning where Furuya was the starting pitcher.

Apologies for the lack of MiSawa/MiyuSawa moments. But I did say before that I'm planning to explore the feelings of most of the regular members of Seidou, so do expect moments and snippets of AllXSawamura friendships here and there.

This chapter is partly dedicated to Furuya, whose birthday falls on the 1st July. Sorry that I'm late for 3 weeks, but nevertheless, Happy Birthday, Furuya!

In any case, please review. I'll love to know what do you think of this chapter and the story so far! Meanwhile, I'll start working on the next chapter! :)

Till next time,
Ink-chan