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Chapter 10

Sawamura had the ovens going when Mei knocked at the door. He smiled as he let the blonde into the café before closing the door behind him.

"Good morning..." Sawamura stated sheepishly, fingers rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Are you trying to make my morning depressing? The sun isn't even up yet." Mei stated while rolling his eyes.

"I thought I heard an idiot." Miyuki drawled.

Mei snapped his head towards the counter to see Miyuki helping himself to some sugar before stirring his coffee.

"Kazuya…" Sawamura sighed.

"Ah, didn't get laid last night Kazuya?" Mei snided.

"I would worry about your own sex life before you worry about mine. Any cobwebs yet?"

Mei's cheeks darkened as Miyuki leant against the counter and sipped at his coffee, taunting gaze set on the blonde southpaw.

Sometimes I wonder if these two are even friends…

Sawamura sighed as he walked towards the counter.

Clara yawned as she walked out into the floor of the café, rubbing at her eyes.

"Good morning Angel." Miyuki stated as he bent down to Clara's level.

"Morning Mimi…"

Another yawn left the younger blonde's lips, causing the ex-catcher's eyebrow to quirk up.

"Didn't sleep well?" Sawamura asked.

"Mh. I don't remember what dream I was having, but it wasn't happy." Clara disclosed before looking up at Sawamura. "Why is Uncle Mei here so early?" The younger girl then asked.

"Because his goal in life is to ruin my happiness?" Miyuki offered with an innocent smile.

"Kazuya!" Sawamura huffed. "Daddy asked for help, so Uncle Mei is gonna help me."

"If Eijun's daddy, does that make you the woman of the relationship 'Mimi'?" Mei asked, his blue eyes taunting Miyuki.

"I'm sorry, was that a single boy asking me about a relationship?" Miyuki asked as he stood back up.

Mei jaw tensed before Miyuki's lips pulled back into a smirk.

"Why doesn't Mimi head up and get you ready for school?" Sawamura said before locking gazes with his ex-catcher.

"Dog house." Mei drawled.

"Not single." Miyuki sang back as he followed Clara up the stairs.

Sawamura let another sigh leave his lips as the door to the private living area closed behind Miyuki while Mei bristled beside him.

These two locked in a room for too long would cause world devastating catastrophes.

0_0_0_0

Haruichi found himself standing in front of the elevator in the law firm, muscles overly tensed as he scrutinized the elevator buttons before him.

"Haruichi?"

The ex-second baseman managed to hold a very embarrassing shriek back by the skin of his teeth, as he turned to get a look at the person behind him.

"Morning Cassy…" The pinklet offered, small smile in place.

Ryosuke's wife cocked her head as she walked towards him, pressing the button for her designated floor before stepping back and waiting for the elevator to show up.

"Here to see Miyuki?"

"Yea." Haruichi said, his smiling seemingly more and more forced.

"I see, he really wants everyone's side hm?" Cassy murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

"I… guess." Haruichi stated as the elevator went off, indicating its presence.

"Here." Cassy said as she pressed a button. "Miyuki's office is on the same floor as my own. I can walk you if you want."

"Um… I'll be ok with simple directions." The pinklet said softly.

"It's fine. I practically walk by it anyways." Cassy said before smiling.

The elevator ride basked in silence, this silence only breaking when the elevator went off at their designated floor. Cassy started walking with determination, Haruichi quickly following after her, not wanting to get lost.

Miyuki's office came into view after they turned a corner. The ex-catcher seemed hard at work, flipping through a couple files in front of him. At closer inspection, Haruichi could see the glare that Miyuki had, as if the papers before him had personally offended him.

"Good morning Miyuki. Your appointment's here." Cassy said after having knocked on his office door.

"My what?..." Miyuki asked, guiding his gaze over his bosses shoulder, eventually landing on the silent pinklet.

The ex-catcher rose a brow in silent questioning, to which Haruichi answered by turning away.

"I'll let you get back to work. I'm in my office if the world ends." Cassy stated before heading back down the hall.

"Well, you can come in and take a seat, also, close the door behind you." Miyuki said, as Haruichi awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Thanks…" The pinklet mumbled as he pulled the door closed and took a seat across from Miyuki's desk.

"I'm assuming this is about the case?" Miyuki asked as he pushed the files he had been examining aside.

"Genius." Haruichi huffed, earning a none too pleased glance from the ex-catcher.

"What can I do for you Kominato?" Miyuki asked as he leant back into his chair.

"This case, is there any way to keep it on the down low?"

Miyuki sighed, letting his eyes fall closed.

"I can't promise anything." The ex-catcher stated.

"I don't want to drag other people into our problems… Specifically your family." Haruichi refused to look in Miyuki's direction.

"Your case isn't exactly something that's easy to keep under wraps… You're with a professional baseball player… One that has more and more cameras in his face with each and every game that he plays… Whose agent is not exactly one to keep his opinion to himself." Miyuki divulged. "Whether you want to share with the world or not, this case is probably gonna be the news that the headlines scream…"

Haruichi felt sick as Miyuki continued to speak.

"I wish I could tell you there was a way to make this all go away as if it hadn't happened… but not only do we have a strong case of homophobia… Yoichi lashing out because of it has him in a tough spot with an assault charge." Miyuki said.

"Watari filed the charges…" Haruichi murmured.

"Watari filed his charges last night… I was made aware of them this morning." Miyuki explained.

I'm gonna be sick…

Miyuki rubbed at his temple, scaring the pinklet even further. It wasn't often that the pinklet saw Miyuki squirm, but in this particular circumstance, it couldn't be any worse.

0_0_0_0

"Vanilla ice coffee." Mei called out cheerfully.

A young girl stepped forward and shyly reached out for the cup.

"Thank you…" She murmured softly.

"You're welcome. Have a good day." Mei replied, showing a smile.

"Has anyone ever told you that you resemble a pitcher… I can't exactly remember his name right now…" The girl ventured.

"Narumiya Mei?" Mei asked with soft smile.

"Yea. I think that's it. He pitched a no hitter the other night." The girl stated with a bright smile.

"Mhm. So you're a baseball fan?" Mei ventured.

"Um… I don't really devote myself to any team. I watch a game every now and then when I stumble upon it on TV. I play softball if that helps any…" The girl said with a small smile.

"Oh? What position?" Mei asked, his eyes dancing with interest.

"First base." The girl stated shyly before bringing the drink to her lips.

"That's cool." Mei stated happily. "How's your team doing?"

"I don't like to brag… but we're undefeated in the season." The girl said before laughing softly.

"No way! So you're really good!" Mei exclaimed.

"Uh… I… Guess so." The girl answered, small blush consuming her face.

"What's your name?" Mei asked excitedly.

"E-Ericka." The girl answered.

"Do you come here often?" Mei asked with a smile.

"Good morning Ericka!" Sawamura called as he walked by with a new batch of cookies to put in the display case. "How's the season going?"

Ericka laughed softly.

"It's going well, thanks Eijun."

"Eijun!" Mei gasped before quickly making his way over to the energetic boy's side. "You gotta let me know when you're acquainted with cute girls!" Mei hissed. "And what is this 'Eijun' and 'Ericka' stuff?! You're on a first name basis?" Mei continued.

As fast as the scowl had come, a dark smirk replaced it.

"Does Kazuya know?"

Ericka giggled as the two bantered. She didn't miss Mei's comment about her either, which was why her cheeks were dusted pink.

"Mei, meet Ericka, one of our regulars. Ericka, meet Mei." Sawamura stated, indicating the two with his hands as he introduced them. "Happy?" He then asked, turning towards Mei. "Also, Kazuya knows that there's nothing between me and any customer that walks through that door." The ex-pitcher added before heading back to the kitchen to grab some more pastries.

Mei turned back towards Ericka, who had her brow raised in his direction.

"Something wrong?" He asked, cocking his head.

"I donno Mei. Are you perhaps a pitcher? One that pitched a no hitter a couple nights ago?" Ericka asked, brow raised in an unamused fashion.

"Hah… Busted…" The blonde southpaw murmured with a small smile.

0_0_0_0

Clara stared down at the blank paper in front of her, hoping against all hope that it'd get up and walk away.

"What's wrong Clara?" Yukio asked softly.

Clara didn't look up from her blank page as her friend spoke to her.

"Aren't you gonna draw your family? The teacher said she'd hang them up around the class!" Yukio exclaimed with a smile.

Clara reached for a crayon before starting to draw herself in the middle of the page.

"You draw yourself first? I usually put me in the middle, so I like to draw me right before I draw my puppy!" Yokio stated happily.

Clara watched as the crayon in her hand snapped because of how hard she had been pressing on her page. She let the pieces fall from her hand before she reached for another and started to draw Sawamura. On the opposite side of the sheet, she drew Miyuki, finishing the drawing with small grey clouds and rain drops.

The teacher, of which had been roaming the class room, stopped behind Clara, eyes scanning the table for the many drawings being produced.

"My puppy is jumping on me!" Yukio exclaimed as she showed the teacher her drawing excitedly.

"Very nice." The teacher said with a kind smile.

"My dad is making dinner while my mommy and I watch TV." One of the boys at her table explained.

"Oh, I like it." The teacher approved.

"My daddy and Mommy and me are walking the dog." Another one of the students at the table exclaimed with a smile.

"Do you walk as a family often?" Mrs. K asked.

"Yea! We go around the blocks outside my house!" The student answered happily.

"My brothers and I are playing tag with mommy and daddy." One of the boys said with a nod.

"You have two brothers?" Mrs. K asked.

"Yup. They're both older, and they can be mean… But sometimes they can be nice." The boy answered, nodding after he had finished speaking.

Clara's eyes traveled over each and every picture before looking up at the people that had drawn them. She listened as Mrs. K engaged each of them about their drawings, seemingly happy with them.

Why did she not like mine?...

Clara wondered.

I love drawing…

The younger blonde thought as her frown only grew larger.

I love my family.

Clara felt her eyes begin to sting.

I Love drawing my family.

The younger blonde's teeth dug into her lower lip as she lost herself in her head.

Didn't you say this was your daddy?

And this is your?...

That's not right…

Where's your mommy?

Who are these two?

I don't approve…

Mrs. K's words played in her head, bringing back the gut wrenching feeling she had yet to understand.

I wanna go home…

"What about you Clara? What are you doing in your picture?!" Yukio asked excitedly, not having picked up on her friend's mood.

"We're walking outside… In the rain… And we forgot our umbrellas…" The young blonde stated as she put the crayon down on the table.