The next two games against the Eagles had gone well. They had managed to win with a few points to spare, no thanks to the starting pitchers. Now that they were done in Miyage, the team was on the bus back to Chiba. Thankfully, it was light out this time, which made it a more interesting ride in Itsuki's opinion.
Itsuki looked out the window for the remainder of the long drive. He had forgotten his music at home, so he did his best to ignore the cacophony of his celebrating teammates. He honestly wasn't feeling the mood, though. Their games had been a bit closer than he would have liked.
Once they arrived back at the stadium, he split up from the rest of the team and headed towards his car. He would probably crash at home early so he could be on time to practice the next day. The schedule could be downright exhausting at times, but the exhilaration of being on the field really made his hard work worth it.
The next day, Coach Imawano had gathered the first string players in the meeting room. Toa stood with the other coaches off to the side, out of the way of the projector. Their next opponents would be the Blue Mars. They would be starting off at the Mariners stadium, so they had a good shot at winning.
Toa had honestly debated giving subtle hints at the true nature of the Blue Mars' winning streak, but he had decided against it. He was here to help with teamwork, not winning. Plus, he wasn't too motivated to go that far above and beyond as of yet. Not for what they were paying him.
Besides, they may not even use the same tricks as before. They had probably gone one of two ways: get better at cheating and hiding their tactics, or get clean and play with honor. The latter was highly unlikely though. It really wasn't going to be an issue, however, as the first two games were home games.
Toa had other things to deal with. He was noticing the flaws of the previous season emerging. The outfielders were beginning to look down on the battery once more. The pitchers were starting to pull back from the team. They all were far too concerned with how the others were doing. Honestly, he just needed them to ignore each other, but not too much. He also needed them to stop being bastards to each other, but not to the point that they lose motivation to get better.
Toa crossed his arms, reading the eye of a couple of the other coaches before they turned back to Imawano.
"Really, all we need to do is focus on hitting off of Williams," Imawano said, glancing over at Toa as if acknowledging he hadn't been paying attention. "Outfielders, keep up the good work. Everybody else, try not to get hit off of too much. We've got a game to win." He finished, looking around the room.
The defense players looked satisfied, while the few pitchers who had been paying attention were giving each other subtle little sighs or eyerolls. After everybody had cleared out, Toa went back to his office, sat down, and leaned back in his chair as far as he could go. He was getting tired of everybody being willfully ignorant of their situation. It really wasn't just the players' attitudes he needed to fix. The staff were really just as bad.
While the coaches obviously tried to support the team, most of what they did was pretty damaging. Encouraging the rift between the pitchers and the fielders really wasn't helping them get along. He would probably have to have another meeting soon, and it would hopefully go better than the last couple he had had.
Two days later, Itsuki was lacing up his cleats in preparation for the game. He had gotten to the bench early to watch everything get set up. He really should have been warming up, stretching, or taking practice swings, but he was a bit distracted at the moment.
For the last few games, he had been far too focused on winning to think of much else. Now that he was in the swing of things however, he couldn't help but notice how Tokuchi was dressed. He was wearing the same partial uniform as the rest of the coaching staff. Grey pants, a team jersey with no number, and the coaching jacket. Nothing special. But the sight of the Mariners logo across his back made him feel a little funny.
It was probably because he was unused to seeing Tokuchi out of the garish yellow uniforms the Lycaons wore. No doubt about that! It did look good on him though. Those uniforms were meant to be flattering on older men, so of course it would look better on Tokuchi, who was far younger and better built than its intended wearer.
The increasing chatter of the growing crowd soon snapped him out of it. With one last glance over at Tokuchi, who seemed to be flipping through some charts, he made his way onto the field to hit some warm-up pitches. It probably wouldn't be too much of a hassle to win.
Two innings in, and they were struggling to keep up. Something had happened after the last season. The Blue Mars had always been weak at away games, so they should have been wiping the floor with them. But Williams was as nasty as ever. Despite his successes, he still wasn't pitching him any knuckleballs. He hadn't pitched any to Amami either. For some reason, they had both either gotten stupidly easy fastballs or had been walked.
Their batters had also been nasty, and their starting pitchers were struggling to keep up. Somehow, they had gotten much better at reading which pitches were going to be thrown since last season. Everybody was a little shaken, even Imawano, who tried his best to hide his anxiety. Before long, they were tied 9-9. They only had the rest of this inning and one more. They would be batting next, and he knew he had to break this tie.
While he waited for Mizuhashi to end this embarrassment, he made his way over to Tokuchi.
"What do you know so far?" he asked. "I haven't seen you tell the coaches anything. That means you're onto something."
Tokuchi looked over at him and narrowed his eyes. "I haven't really seen anything yet that deserves mentioning," he said, turning back to the field. Itsuki was having none of that. They needed to win this game and keep going strong. They couldn't lose their momentum. Even he could see the strain showing in the team.
"No idea." Tokuchi stated, not bothering to turn to look at him. "I do get the feeling though that Williams is coming out one more time."
That was surprising to Itsuki. Williams had already pitched for the first half of the game. He had to be wearing out. Nevertheless, Tokuchi could be right. If so, he would probably get another fastball or a walk, and since Amami was right behind him in the lineup, he could count on the same for him as well.
"Thanks for the heads up." Itsuki said, before heading back over to his spot on the bench.
"What was that about?" Amami asked, looking at him incredulously.
"Nothing really." Itsuki said. "Apparently Williams may be showing his face again next inning."
Amami looked over at him slowly, doubt written across his features. "Seriously?" He muttered. "Maybe he won't be pitching again for a few days."
"Maybe." Itsuki replied. "Just be ready for him if he does." At that Amami nodded at him just before they heard a third strike announced, giving them notice of the start of the next inning.
A few minutes later, Itsuki found himself at the plate, assuming the position. Tokuchi was right. Williams had come out for what they were no doubt hoping to be the last inning. Itsuki let the first pitch whizz by. Almost a ball. On the next pitch, he followed its trajectory, prepared to swing, and swiftly made contact with his bat. A fly ball to the outfield.
The fielder luckily missed the ball, giving him time to get to first. Next was Amami. Hopefully he would knock it out of the park. Itsuki wanted to end this disaster of a game now before the Blue Mars could embarrass them any more. With Amami on the plate, Williams threw another pitch that was likely supposed to be a ball, but Amami must have seen an opportunity, as he swung with everything he had, and sent it into the upper deck just past the home run zone. Takami flashed a smile at his teammate as he ran home, off the field. With that, they were 11-9. They would hopefully keep the lead.
With some luck, they did manage to keep it, ending the game on time. Takami's nerves were a bit frazzled. He wasn't expecting to have to work that hard. On his way out, he glanced up at the sky. The heavy clouds reflected his mood pretty well.
The next day, the rain began. It lasted well into the evening, and washed away any chance to play. As the team got the announcement in the club room, a groan arose from the gathered men. They all stood up and moved to change and pack their bags. Just when Itsuki was preparing to leave, he had a brilliant idea.
He caught Tokuchi right as he was about to leave. "Hey-" he called, stopping the other man. "Want to go celebrate now?" he asked.
Tokuchi looked at him like he was crazy. "Celebrate what?" he asked.
"Finishing the program" Itsuki said. "It's a bit belated, but we should still do it."
"Fine." Tokuchi said. "What were you thinking?"
"We could go to a casino or something. I hear you're into that sort of thing." Itsuki said. "Got any recommendations?"
Tokuchi snorted. "I don't think we should go to any place I would recommend. The people there would chew you up and spit you out. We could go to a more commercialized casino. There's one not too far from here."
With that, Itsuki found himself riding through the rain in Tokuchi's needlessly flashy car. Yellow wouldn't have been his first choice, but at least the car could be seen easily by others through the storm. The ride over was silent, occasionally punctuated by a clap of thunder. Eventually, they pulled under the canopy of a flashy casino, complete with dazzling neon lights. It must have been a nicer one, because Tokuchi passed of the keys to a valet without a word.
Once inside, Tokuchi crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well?" he asked.
"Well what?" Itsuki asked back.
"I'll follow you." Tokuchi said. "This was your idea, and I do this pretty often." He turned to face the main floor of the casino. "Plus, I kind of want to see this. I wonder how badly you can lose before you give up."
Itsuki knew he was intentionally riling him up, but he still let himself fall for the bait. "Fine," He replied, before going off in a random direction. Soon he found himself in front of a low stakes roulette table. That wouldn't be too hard. No work on his part. Just make a guess and see what happens.
Itsuki walked up to the dealer, and put about 1,500 yen on black, ignoring the snort of derision from behind him. He understood that 1,500 yen was chump change for some master gambler or whatever, but he didn't want to lose a ton of money, and he didn't want to leave early. Soon, Tokuchi walked up beside him and put 3,000 yen on red, flicking his eyes over him as he did.
Itsuki, of course, lost, with Tokuchi walking away with 1,500 yen more than he had come in with.
Takami really didn't feel confident enough to play any card games, so he avoided those tables. After a few more minutes of wandering around looking lost, Tokuchi finally sat him down at a 100 yen slot machine.
"This is embarrassing," he said. "Just do this. You don't have to be good at anything to win on this one." Normally Itsuki would have bristled at the barb, but Tokuchi was right. After a few rounds, he had made back some of what he had lost. He had even managed to strike up a little conversation with Tokuchi about the merits of the system they had used for the database. Tokuchi obviously didn't know as much about computers as he did, so it was a bit one sided. Despite that, he was having a pretty good time.
Their conversation was soon interrupted by a momentous clap of thunder, accompanied by almost every light in the casino shutting off. They sat there in the dark, silent for a moment before everybody in the casino started talking at once, a few of the drunker women contributing to the din with their screams. Within seconds however, the lights were back on, and the sound of the slot machines booting up drowned out any sign of terror. Managers had flooded the floor, telling the patrons that the power was back in, but unfortunately there had been power outages across the town. Additionally, the road to the casino had been blocked by some debris knocked down by the storm.
Toa looked over at Takami with disgust, only to have his look matched by the other. No way was he going to be trapped here overnight with Takami Itsuki. Just then, he got an idea.
"Hey," he started. "Wanna get out of here?"
Takami nodded, but looked at him like he was crazy. "They said the road was blocked by a tree or something. We can't get around it."
"I know a way," Toa simply stated, then stood up. "I'm leaving. You're welcome to come too." With that, the two men made their way outside, but not before Toa snagged his keys from an incredulous valet. On their way out to the car, they were pelted with fat drops of rain, each gust of wind making the onslaught more painful than the last. Once they got to his car, they sat still for a minute. Both their shirts were completely see through. Well then.
After he was able to collect himself, Toa started the car, enjoying the familiar rush of the powerful engine. He then pulled out and made his way down the road, where, lo and behold, a tree had fallen, blocking both lanes of traffic.
"What was your plan?" Takami asked, confused. Toa looked over at him, face illuminated by the streetlights, then steered the car and gunned the engine so they were driving over the small field on the wrong side of the road. Takami yelped, losing some of his dignity, but was soon laughing as he rode in a car that had cost six figures through a field and around the giant tree. Toa couldn't help but join him. It was kind of exhilarating, even if he would need a wash after this. Soon, they were back on the main road, making their way back towards the stadium. Once they got there, the lighthearted atmosphere dissolved. Once Toa pulled into the spot next to Takami's, he made a choice. Probably a stupid one.
"Hey," he said, causing Takami to look over at him with two twinkling blue eyes. "You might want to review Williams's pitches. You'll probably find something interesting."
Takami looked puzzled, but nodded. "I might just have to do that," He said, before ducking out of Toa's car and into his own, then pulling away. Toa sat there for a moment, letting himself be mesmerized by the start swish swish of his windshield wipers. He really did need to stop hanging out with Takami Itsuki.