"Mei?" Miyuki blurted out as his eyebrows rose up. He stopped right in front of Sawamura, staring at both of them like they are two exhibition pieces on displayed on the front row.
"Kazuya. I was just catching up with an old friend here. Isn't that right, Eijun?" Narumiya wrapped his arm around Sawamura's shoulder like they had been best friends since the beginning of time and beamed warmly at him for the first time since the conversation started.
"What are you doing? Let me go already Mei." Sawamura smacked his arm away.
"Aww. You still get annoyed so easily. You are such a kid." Narumiya grinned ear to ear satisfied with himself at getting Sawamura riled up.
"Look who is talking" Sawamura sneered.
"Don't be cold toward me Ei-chan. My heart hurts when you are like that." Mei spoke sarcastically pretending to soothe his aching heart by placing his left hand hand over the spot where heart was caged by his ribs.
Sawamura rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. As you care about something like that."
"Woah. Would you look at that? It was you desperately wanted to be friends with me, don't you remember?" Narumiya kindly refreshed Sawamura's memories.
"I'm regretting my life decisions now." Sawamura sighed.
"Too late to take it back now, Eijun." Narumiya winked tauntingly.
"Lord give me patience." Sawamura prayed looking towards the ceiling.
Narumiya chuckled despite feeling the chilling glare Miyuki was sending his way.
Kuramochi and Miyuki gawked at them. It was like they were watching a comedy show live, free of cost. The only issue was: It was too real for them to laugh out loud when their friend is bickering like a temperamental brat with a rival team member right in front of them like it was no big deal whatsoever. It was in all essence, a sibling squabble.
Sawamura was definitely wearing his heart on his sleeve at the moment. But he never acted so carefree around them whom he had met barely a week ago. Not that they expected him to but they had felt like they were a close-knit bunch right from their first meeting so it was a bit disappointing.
Sure he was usually loud and stupid. But he never acts so freely like this. He was normally a open book but sometimes he feels like a closed-off encyclopaedia which was so heavy and tightly fit together that it was futile to even try the act of opening it.
Kuramochi at this point was trying make sense of what exactly is unfolding in front of him. The only way he could he think of to do that is to stare at their faces one at a time.
Miyuki was disturbed by this never-ending string of acquaintances who appear to be close with Sawamura whom kept popping out of nowhere. It certainly didn't sit well with a catcher for his pitcher be swarmed by his personal rival and an enemy pitcher who is dangerous enough to be concerned about in the same day.
"Eijun you know Mei?" Miyuki said testing the E-word himself.
"Yeah. He is the one I told you guys about last night." Sawamura confessed.
"Also why are you calling me Eijun all of a sudden?" A frown was etched into his face as he exhibited confusion as to why his first name is suddenly being used.
"What? He gets to call you Eijun and I cannot?" The way his eyes threw daggers at Narumiya didn't serve their purpose as Narumiya grinned like Cheshire cat in response. He was extremely pleased with himself for the trouble he is indirectly causing between a catcher he had wanted for himself and a pitcher whom he seemed worthy to be his rival. He looked forward to his fellow south-paw's response.
"It's not that. I just… I thought that people only call each other by their last names once they became high-school teammates. Like I was really close with my middle school friends. We call each other by our first names and they warned me that it won't be like that in high-school." Sawamura managed, laughing it off in the end.
"It doesn't matter. We are close right, Eijun?" Miyuki pressed.
"That's right Eijun. We should all call ourselves by our first names from now on." Kuramochi agreed fed up with being left out.
"Sure, Yoichi." Sawamura dazzled him with radiant sunshine smile.
Kuramochi's spirits were slightly lifted at that and a teeny tiny smile appeared on his face.
Miyuki stared at him expectantly.
"Ahh I….Ka-Kazuya." Sawamura succeeded in putting an end to the incoherent non-sense he was sprouting out of his mouth. He gave the same warm smile he had given to Kuramochi only this time it felt super awkward. Miyuki's entertained gaze did not help a single bit.
He was utterly confused as to why he found it ridiculously hard to address Miyuki by his first name. Like with all unknown things, Sawamura shrugged it off.
"That's right Eijun." Miyuki applauded with an amused smirk adorning his face.
"Your teammates are sure entertaining Eijun." Narumiya smirked back with mockery dripping in his voice.
"Yes they are." Sawamura agreed with Narumiya for once in the fifteen years of his life.
Narumiya was not expecting that. He blinked.
"So after everything both of you went to Seidou huh Kazuya?" Narumiya vocalised his contemplation looking serious for once.
The way Narumiya spoke reminded Miyuki of something Narumiya had uttered sometime in the distant past.
Beginning of Flashback
"Come to Inashiro" Narumiya invited with a smirk.
"I'm sorry but I have already decided on Seidou." Miyuki smirked back, expecting Narumiya to not to bulge.
"Oh I see. You are going there too huh?" Narumiya appeared to be seriously considering something in his mind palace.
Huh? Too?Miyuki frowned pondering over who Narumiya is referring to.
End of Flashback
Miyuki had always wondered who was the other person Mei had been talking about then. Only now did it occur to him that the person Mei was then refering to then was infact Sawamura.
"How do you know Eijun?" Miyuki interrogated not being able to hold himself back.
Kuramochi who was still being completely lost, tried to pay attention to this answer as it was something he was curious about too
"Hmm. Let me see. It was when Eijun came to-"
"What the hell are you doing here Mei?" Harada scolded from a distance.
"Masa-san" Narumiya breathed.
"What the hell were you thinking? The match already started. Akira is blasting us out of the water. The coach told you to go to the bull-"
Harada abruptly halted when he caught the sight of Sawamura barely glancing at the pair standing behind Sawamura.
"Sawamura." Harada acknowledged.
"Long time no see, Harada-senpai." Sawamura enthusiastically chirped.
Ah. Another one. Great. Miyuki thought not feeling great at the moment.
Harada scrunched up his face displeased.
"Yeah." Harada remarked not interested in conversing with the literal human sun which was staring back at him with warm earth-brown eyes of nostalgic affection.
Narumiya cackled being all to familiar with the way things were progressing.
"Let's go Mei. I hate this guy." Harada stated flashing his eyes which were infact not filled with hatred but a weird jumble of ever-present self-disappointment and a thirst for vengeance.
"Two years ago he struck out after all." Narumiya disclosed after a laughter or two.
Without any further ado, Harada turned to Narumiya and dragged him by his ears.
"Masa-san, it huurrrtts. Stooppp." Narumiya begged.
Harada did not oblige. He paid no heed to Narumiya's pleading words. He walked like a mountain solid and straight to his intended destination.
"Eiijun, see you in the summer tournament." Narumiya yelled despite the struggle it took him to face the other way.
"Be prepared to lose." Sawamura flung back.
"That's my line idiot." His voice echoed a few times like his figure disappeared into the corridor.
What did I just see?Miyuki and Kuramochi used their newly made telepathy as same thought was swirling in their minds all at once.
"Shall we get going?" Sawamura asked unmoved as if absolutely nothing had happened at all. Like the whole event was an hallucination written and directed by the pair's minds due to boredom.
Let's just say it did not work well for him to talk like that.
Kuramochi wrapped his arm around Sawamura's shoulder. Before Sawamura could do anything, he held his neck in a tight hold in a manner which was not forceful enough to interfere his breathing for more than the first few seconds which was evident when Sawamura pleaded in a shaky voice.
"What are you doing? Please let me go."
"No. This is punishment for hiding all these things."
"Please. I didn't want to hide anything. We just met a week ago. We really didn't have to time to-"
Kuramochi suddenly tightened his grip on Sawamura's neck.
Sawamura vigorously coughed and found Miyuki was just enjoying this whole spectacle with a grin on his face.
"Don't stop Yoichi." Miyuki trashed Sawamura's hard-earned progress.
Damn you Miyuki. I will take revenge for this.
"Please"
"No." Kuramochi didn't bend.
"Pretty pretty please."
"No."
"Please. It is the truth Yoichi. I wouldn't lie to you." Sawamura tried gazing at him with his puppy eyes which begged him to stop dearly.
It worked like magic as Kuramochi subconsciously removed his hands in a flash.
Miyuki's grin collapsed at the unexpected betrayal.
"Thanks Yoichi. I knew you were understanding." Sawamura gratefully praised.
"Let's go before it's too late." Kuramochi said in a final tone.
Miyuki and Sawamura followed him like what the great Kuramochi-sama had ordered.
It was already the bottom of the third inning when they returned to the stadium. Score was 3-0 in favour of Seidou.
Even more important than that there were no free seats in the Seidou side of the stands.
When the news reached their ears, Kuramochi and Miyuki stared at Sawamura as if they were screaming "It is all your fault."
Sawamura gulped anticipating some harsh comment but thankfully none came his way as the pair proceeded to search for seats on the other side.
Sawamura sighed in relief.
When they finally found their precious seats near the first row on the Inashiro's side of the dug-out from where they got premium view of the match. Some Ichidai students who remained to watch the match before their own quarterfinals later that day, were seated near them.
One of them instantly recognised Sawamura and began walking towards him.
"Sawamura Eijun" The tall bald boy announced.
Here comes another one.The pair looked at each other being all to familiar with what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry but who are you?" Sawamura queried rapidly blinking at this unknown student. Startled.
"I'm Amahisa Kousei." His eyes gleamed at him like that solved everything.
Miyuki recognised the name. The pitcher from Kyoto. There were talks of his slider being almost impossible to hit. That is if you can hit his 145 kmh fast-ball first.
Kuramochi once again had no idea what was happening.
"I'm sorry but do I know you?" Sawamura scratched his head trying make sure that he didn't have memory loss or something.
"No but I know you. I saw you in junior nationals against Rukawa. You were amazing. That cutter of yours is the sharpest I have seen in junior high level. Can you tell me what grip you used to make it break that hard? Your splitter is great too. Tell me the grip for that too." The boy rambled energetically with his eyes shining at the discovery of a rare gem.
Cutter and Splitter huh?
Miyuki felt a sudden itch catch Sawamura's cutter and other pitches. The only time he had caught Sawamura's pitches was during that strike-out. After that they had running and endurance exercises to no end leaving no opportunity for him to explore Sawamura's repteriore.
Sawamura flushed pink. He had never thought that someone who would appreciate this pitching this much. Amahisa's loving behaviour broke all of his shields, that is if he had any in the first place.
"You see the grip is-"
"Aghh kellk" Kuramochi covered Sawamura's mouth quick like the cheetah he was.
"Idiot. Don't tell your pitching secrets to a rival team member." Miyuki scolded flicking his forehead.
Amahisa's eyes dropped a little at that.
"Oh. Is that so? That's a bummer. I really wanted to get to know more about you." Amahisa frowned at the turn of events.
Kuramochi released Sawamura after seeing Amahisa give up.
"We can still be friends." Sawamura offered gracing Amahisa with his classic sunshine smile for the first time.
"Really?! Let's be friends Sawamura-kun." Amahisa offered his hand.
Sawamura shook his hand as enthusiastically as Amahisa did.
For the some time, Amahisa joined the trio taking part in the conversation which consisted of Miyuki drilling Amahisa about slider, Amahisa bombarding Sawamura questions about his junior high and Kuramochi yelling at everyone and threatening to drop kick a few times as they watched the match.
When the match went to the seventh inning the score was still 4-0. Akira yielding no runs to Inashiro.
This inning the top of the Inashiro-lineup will be up again.
Amahisa had left sometime in between to prepare for his own quarterfinals.
The trio seriously waited for the match to resume anticipating what was about to come. Every inning, a runner or two get on base but they would not even reach the third base let alone the home-plate.
So far Akira showed no signs of fatigue. He looked fresh as a cucumber, even smiled at few batters which unnerved them in ways they were not even aware of.
So when the lead-off batter took the batter box, audience held their breaths as this is was quite possibly the most crucial moment of the game.
You know what they say? The thrid time is the charm.
The first pitch was inside high which travelled in straight flash into Chris's mitt which was unmoving the whole time.
"Strike." The umpire declared.
Next was a well-placed slider on the outside corner. The batter swung at the ball, desperate to get on base anyhow.
Only again Chris's mitt did not move but the corners of his mouth quirked up a bit.
"Wow. Amazing control. Chris-senpai's mitt didn't even move." Sawamura blinked.
Miyuki nodded in agreement.
It was not normal for a high-school pitcher to have this much control. These high-control pitchers are few and far between in the world of high-school baseball.
"Pitchers like these make catchers feel like a wall you know." Miyuki smiled genuinely.
"Combined with Chris-senpai's lead, they are impenetrable for sure." Miyuki added fuelled by a need to race against Chris for the main catcher position.
"Is Chris-senpai really that great of a catcher?" Kuramochi questioned not really getting the hype.
"Yessss." Sawamura and Miyuki yelled in unison.
"He can catch any pitch at first glance, you know. He is amazing." Sawamura alleged with his nostrils flaring at Kuramochi's accusation.
"His game-calling is very aggressive and efficient. He tricks opponents like it is nobody's business." Miyuki asserted calmly with look that said "You-should-have-know"
"Okay okay. I get it. Don't get so worked up." Kuramochi tried to make Sawamura cool down.
"Strike. Batter out" The umpire proclaimed.
"Ah. I missed the third pitch." Sawamura complained.
"It was a slider on the outside again on the strike-zone. But the batter didn't swing." Miyuki revealed.
The second batter took the lead-off's place. He openly glared at Akira like he was going to explode any second now.
Akira winked at him grinning adding fuel to the fire.
He pitched a screwball on the inside corner almost hitting the batter. The batter skillfully dodged and glared more at Akira.
Akira smiled apologetically.
"Ball"
Chris signed for a slider out of the strike-zone to gauge the battery's reaction.
The battery swung, anger clouding his mind overwhelming rationality. Tetsu tried to lounge for the ball but it landed well past the foul-line.
"Foul"
The batter successfully bunted the outside fast-ball to the battery's surprise.
Akira laughed at the batter asking him, "You looked so scary like you were going to hit a home-run. What happened?"
"It doesn't matter as long as I get in base." The batter shouted back.
"That's so lame. To bunt when you have no runs." Kuramochi whined.
"Bunting is not lame okay?" Feeling indignified Sawamura yelled vouching for the art bunting was.
"I'm not talking about bunting. Inashiro doesn't have any runs. They shouldn't bunt at this situation even though it worked. It is kind of like saying they cannot hit off of Akira-senpai." Kuramochi consoled.
Sawamura begrudgingly agreed nodding.
It was one out with a runner in first base.
Next came Harada. Being labelled as clean-up in his second-year was a burdensome responsibility that he took very seriously.
All he knew about Akira was that he was a pitcher that everyone feared in his first year for his ridiculous control who later disappeared from the baseball scene due to a shoulder injury.
This was his first time standing before Akira, so he was ready to hit anything and everything. Although Inashiro had qualified for the Fall Invitational, they did not face this pitcher.
He took the batting pose looking straight ahead, his face stiff showing nothing but a fearsome concentration.
Akira winked at him momentarily disrupting his focus which he gained back quickly.
Soon Akira too wore a face much like Harada.
The air on the stadium was buzzing even for the audience. They felt this heavy tension who made them hold their breaths for the first pitch. But baseball players are creatures that thrive on conditions like these.
"Slam it over the fence Masa-san" Narumiya shouted some much needed encouragement from the dug-out.
Harada nodded firmly.
"Take him out Akira-senpai." Sawamura cheerfully yelled from the stands but his voice could be heard as he was sitting so close to the baseball field. Kuramochi tried to stop him but it was too late for his cheetah skills.
Akira turned his head towards the noise and winked at the sight of the trio. He mouthed "consider it done" before getting his head back on the game.
Upon hearing Sawamura's voice, Narumiya glared at him who dearly glared back.
Weirdly enough it seemed like everything was staked on the first pitch. The hearts of the audience suffered a terrible wave of excitement and anxiety all for the first pitch.
The screwball on the outside corner was beautifully hit by Harada. It flew over most of the ground only to fall into Azuma's glove.
Harada flinched at the sight as he went back to the dug-out.
"YOSH. That's how you do it Akira-senpai." Sawamura roared.
Sawamura smirked at Narumiya who turned his head away in annoyance.
Sawamura's yells were not ignored by Kataoka who instructed Miyaguchi to bring them to the dug-out if there were no seats instead of cheering from the opponent's side of the stadium.
When Miyaguchi made his way to the trio, Sawamura proceeded to ask like he had done nothing at all.
"Why are you here senpai?"
"Coach told you guys to sit in the dug-out." Miyaguchi huffed.
"Oh really? We get to watch the match that close-by. That is great isn't it?" He looked at Miyuki and Kuramochi for confirmation who stared back indifferently having enough of his idiocy.
It was bad manners to cheer from the opponent's side for your team.
The trio silently moved to the dug-out.
Kataoka gazed at Sawamura with a look which was not quite annoyance but more like awe at his capacity for stupidity.
"Boss. Thank you for calling this Sawamura Eijun." Sawamura greeted bowing, bending fully.
"Who are you calling boss?" Kataoka is getting pissed off for real now.
"You Boss." Sawamura answered without hesitation.
"Don't call me Boss." Kataoka ordered.
"Yes Boss." Sawamura obliged.
"I said don't call me Boss. Do you hear me?" Kataoka threatened.
"Yes Boss. Of course Boss." Sawamura was as fearless as a little child learning to walk for the first time.
Kuramochi and Miyuki managed to hold their chuckles in time not wanting Boss to think bad of the whole of the trio.
Kataoka sighed.
"Sit down."
"Yes Boss. Gladly."