This chapter is set in September, before the prologue (in October) and after Koushien in August.
For reference, the current manga chapter, 273, is in July.
(Yes, I know, this story is set in the near future. Every canon update is just too darn suspenseful. Haha! Can you blame me for inventing my own sequel?)
Summer and Summer
by fluxfiction
Chapter 1: Captain
The meeting took place at 7:30pm in the coach's office. It could be called a post-Koushien meetup: brackets from qualifiers and preliminaries tidied up; whiteboards refreshed for the new month after their longest summer under Coach Kataoka. A new souvenir gleamed from the collection of trophies made out to Seidou High School's heroics. But the doorway still smelled of newspapers and ash, as it always did, when Kuramochi announced his arrival to the room where students' hopes were decided from a comfortable black sofa.
Coach Kataoka was on the sofa, in his usual seat, surrounded by the regular staff. Coach Ochiai, Assistant Takashima, and Manager Oota were standing or seated in their own parts of the office. There was Captain Miyuki standing in full force by the round table, his hip cocked in that recognisable casual confidence he exuded on the baseball diamond, and Maezono dominating the space just inside the doorway, looking as if he'd walked in half a minute before Yohichi had. Coach Kataoka nodded, initiating a round of greetings between all the occupants. The two Vice-Captains took the space next to Miyuki without needing to be invited.
Once everyone was settled, the head coach turned to Miyuki and said, "As the Captain, who do you believe should be the next club Captain?"
Miyuki's answer, to Yohichi's ears, sounded stiff. "This year, we accomplished what might have been considered impossible. Next year, the expectations will be higher. The Captain will need to be someone who can carry on normally when placed under pressure."
"You mean Sawamura," said Oota.
"There is only one option," confirmed Miyuki.
"And you believe he can handle even the pressure of being Captain?" Coach Kataoka asked.
Miyuki's answer was immediate. "I believe Sawamura capable of succeeding where I succeeded, and succeeding where I was quick to fail."
"Zono?" prompted Coach Kataoka.
"If you ask me," Maezono began, a mulish tilt forming in the bottom line of his jaw, the one which appeared whenever he disagreed with whatever words which came from Miyuki's mouth, "It has to be Toujou."
"Toujou?" said Coach Ochiai.
"He's popular. Works hard. Everyone knows he's still aiming ta' be a pitcher—he hasn't given up on his dream, even with crazy competition like Sawamura." Maezono gave Miyuki a dark glance. "Sawamura's come a long way since his first year. We all respect his fight. Thing is, Toujou's worked just as hard and has the same kinda spark. Coach, between the player that meets 70% and 130%, and the one that's always running at 90%, ya' pick the former. Yer let me be in the batting lineup and took me out only after I never recovered from my slump. I'm thankful for that trust. However, we're talkin' about the Captain," he turned away from Miyuki and looked back at the rest of the room. "The captain has ta' be respected and he has ta' be reliable, constant... we can't take them out once they're chosen. Compared to Sawamura, Toujou's better bein' Captain."
Perhaps being shortstop to a catcher like Miyuki for two years had primed Yohichi for high situational awareness, because Yohichi found himself glancing over in time to see their captain discreetly taking his focus off of Assistant Takashima.
Something's going on, thought Yohichi.
The idea took root. Thinking back to Miyuki's answers, wasn't he well-prepared? He knew what question was coming, the same way he guessed opponents' pitch sequences. Preparing accordingly, Miyuki chose in advance what to target, and struck back with a deliberately vague answer. Yohichi didn't like the way Miyuki's glance flickered to the framed calligraphic maxims on one wall, the one which said to back up your teammates and never fight alone.
Miyuki's eyes landed on Yohichi. The way Miyuki raised his eyebrows was bold, obvious, and full of challenge.
Yohichi felt his chest tighten.
"Kuramochi," said Kataoka. "As Sawamura's roommate, what do you think of him as team Captain?"
"I like Sawamura," said Yohichi. "It's hard not to like that idiot. Whenever he's upset, he trains, and whenever he's happy, he's still training. As a mood maker you'd be tough to find someone else. He has all the qualities of an Ace."
"But not as Captain," said Kataoka perceptively.
"Just because he's a good Ace doesn't mean he'll be a good Captain," Yohichi answered. For some odd reason, he suddenly remembered the cool, misty morning when Sawamura slept through the start of introductions on his first day at Seidou, and how second-year Yoh had been content with the excuse that it was Sawamura's own fault for not waking up on time. "Sawamura lacks respect. We all see how he treats Miyuki. We know his quirks. With other schools, it could be a problem."
Strange that Coach asked me a different question, thought Yohichi the Vice-Captain.
Rei adjusted her glasses and inclined her head. "Sawamura used to be Captain of his middle school club. There was an incident."
"An incident?" Kataoka asked.
"Yes." Rei thought back. "The other team had caused offence to one of his players. In retaliation, Sawamura made them submit by demonstrating his strength."
"With his pitches?"
"With his fists."
Oota paled. Kataoka was silent.
The head coach turned to Yohichi. "Who would you choose as the best captain for Seidou?"
Yohichi thought it over, feeling Miyuki's gaze, pushing past a tightness binding half-digested food in his stomach. One year ago, Yoh had come here and faced something just like this: when he'd let himself imagine that Coach trusted him enough to make him Captain, and ended up giving his opinion on Miyuki as their Captain instead. Except something didn't feel right today. Everything. Miyuki was too weird. Even with that piece of dirt about Sawamura's past, nobody else said anything against the idea that Sawamura could lead their team. Not that Yohichi didn't understand beating someone up because your friends were wronged, but…
The feeling of Miyuki's eyes lingered.
Seriously, what a creep.
"Our baseball club is what it is because of our identity," began Yohichi. "Everyone in the first string, the second string, the people who turn up to practice, and the managers, we all make up our Seidou Soul. It makes us who we are. That's what makes us unique. Whoever becomes Captain next year has to be the person that represents everyone and the alumni and carry the club to another long summer. We can't give it to just anyone who wants it."
And Miyuki wanted Sawamura to have it.
The corner of Miyuki's mouth was tilted when Yohichi snapped back into his head. His rant lost steam and he grimaced, fighting down a blush and clammy embarrassment. 'The alumni'! Saying that like he'd already graduated and joined the people who had nothing to do on Sundays except visit their alma mater. What did they do anyway? Stand around, watch a few dozen schoolboys get covered in sweat and dirt? Reminisce about the pure and untouched desire of their youth, when they'd yell and scream out little lungs filled to bursting, forgetting how many days were a struggle to see through dried tears and mud-caked eyelashes, how much it hurt to pick themselves up because losing left them raw and they never wanted to feel so raw ever again?
"The best captain for next year is whoever you think will be the best man for the job, Coach," Yohichi said finally, knowing and hating that he'd let himself buckle to the pressure of Miyuki next to him.
Coach Kataoka had called the three students together for their opinion, just as the team had bestowed him with their belief. He knew no details of the locomotive carrying Kuramochi's words, driven by contradictions that the boy was beginning to perceive at the cusp of graduation.
It was as Tesshin said to Ochiai: Every year, the players taught him something. Miyuki's year had Maezono fighting for Watanabe, Furuya and Sawamura fighting themselves, and Miyuki himself. Miyuki had worked alone, fighting to keep Tesshin with the team. Single-handedly, he'd united all of the baseball club's members under his banner, and used the bitterness of losing to Inashiro Industrial as fuel for why the team couldn't then go on to lose Tesshin.
What Kuramochi fought for was clear to Tesshin if not the boy himself: Justice.
Tesshin accepted their feelings, saying, "Thank you." He didn't add, for reminding me how to fight. But Seidou's time to fight would end. Tesshin allowed himself one moment to rise. One more moment was used to take the necessary steps. In the third and last, he didn't dare turn around from where he faced the Seidou jersey hanging on the wall next to the window. He thought of what words he could say and the words he found could not accomplish what he wanted. "Do not limit yourselves to thinking you are either challengers or champions." Remember that and understand. "So long as you carry strength with you in your hearts, for as long as you can, victory will come."
The meaning was not perfect. But Tesshin would be the first to take responsibility over how he was not perfect.
"Miyuki, Kuramochi, please stay behind," Tesshin added. He gave a glance to all in the room save for Ochiai, indicating this would be about a new topic. Sure enough, the room emptied but for the four of them. The two boys came closer to their coaches. Ochiai dropped his hand from his chin, where it had perched over the conversation.
"The two of you have indicated you're interested in submitting your names to the draft," said Tesshin. "As you would be aware, the annual draft hosted by the Professional Baseball league is a combined pool of high school, university, industrial and independent league players who have registered their interest in playing baseball professionally. Next month, the twelve NPB clubs will gather and take turns choosing players with who they would like the right to negotiate a contract. While clubs select players on an individual basis, it is, ultimately, the player's decision whether or not to join."
The two boys nodded. Tesshin took in their clear eyes and firm stances and the acute sense of purpose radiated by their spirit. Tesshin could tell from their mannerisms that they had done their research, and even after their summer ended, they never broke the personal responsibility needed to maintain strong, physical conditioning.
Good. The right determination would get them started.
Tesshin overlooked the warmth and the pride in his chest, and asked:
"Have you thought about what you'll do if you don't succeed?"
As they left the Coach's office, Miyuki laughed. "You really told him, huh?"
"Shut up," Kuramochi muttered, kicking at an imaginary speck. In their leadership trio, it was his job to balance Miyuki's default douchebaggery and Zono's righteous verve by speaking how things were. Plain and simple. "If Sawamura does get Captain, I bet he'll be like you and need two vice-captains who have twice the work."
"Liar," Miyuki shot back. "I've never seen you doing twice as much work as Jun-san."
"Because you've been so busy with managing the bullpen and catching for the Sawamura Eijun experience."
"You're right. Maybe I'll go online and write a bad review about his hospitality before graduation."
Their feet took them down the staircase. Kuramochi stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around at the lines of doors on branching paths.
Kuramochi took a deep breath.
"Why Sawamura?" he asked.
"Huh?"
Kuramochi shot a look to Miyuki that said: be serious. "You know there's a lot of reasons a pitcher shouldn't be a captain, why Sawamura shouldn't be captain, and you fucking set that up." As shortstop, reading catchers' signs as much as pitchers did, he knew that Miyuki Kazuya always had a brilliantly disgusting way of calling pitches. "The fuck you had to take me down in there for? You know this shit about how the game works. You thought I wouldn't trust you if you'd only talked to me?"
Perhaps it was something which was said in that room after Maezono left. Or maybe Miyuki knew that Kuramochi was sharp and clever and respected his play enough that he would hear him fairly. It could have been something as simple as the promise of freedom. Ultimately, Miyuki wasn't clear on what it was, and his next decision could have been sparked by anything.
With a crown of gold shining onto his head by a yellow overhead light, Miyuki dropped the careful control he'd wrapped around his opinion over the last year.
Speaking freely his mind, the catcher laid out his game plan.
The rain was deafening against the eaves: a loud, churning downpour. All the first- and second-years were gathered inside the cafeteria, the first Monday morning after returning from Koushien. A burst of noise flared up at the shoe cubbies.
Sawamura Eijun stumbled through the open door, his hair wet and clothes dry.
"I found him on Field B," said Kuramochi, kicking Sawamura further inside.
"Sorry!" shouted Sawamura around his yelp, "I lost the time!"
Miyuki huffed from the side of the room. "Hey, what are they going to do if their captain gets sick?"
"Eh?" Sawamura finally seemed to register all of the people looking in his direction, and realised something was strange. Miyuki was at the side of the room. Haruichi was in the front. And they weren't staring at him like he was being a nuisance—they were staring at him like he was being an idiot. It was a small, crucial difference that Eijun had learned to discern while at Seidou High. For one, it made him less likely to stay on the mound. And two, if he was being an idiot, that meant he was missing something. Since he knew that much, he could go and turn to someone smarter than him.
So he went ahead and annoyed the smartest person in the room: Miyuki Kazuya.
"Why're you and Kuramochi here?" Eijun asked. "Aren't you meant to be retired? Why's Harucchi up in front?" Because he was looking at Haruichi again, he finally noticed something more obvious in the teaching lineup. "And where's Boss?"
"You're the new Captain, Sawamura," Miyuki replied. "Kominato is your Vice-Captain. Kuramochi and I have special permission to help the team. And Mr. Kataoka is no longer coaching at Seidou."
To Eijun's discredit, and representative of Miyuki's ability to time his answers, Eijun's first reaction was to think, Miyuki Kazuya had been expecting my questions! with no little triumph.
Silence twisted the rubber band of suspense. Patiently, the room waited for Miyuki's information to register.
Once the words snapped into place, it didn't take battery telepathy for Eijun to realise that while he'd been running in the rain, he'd missed something so important it would shake all of his assumptions.
"…What?"
Q. Why only one vice captain?
Clarity of leadership. Pitchers spend a significant amount of time training away from other position players. Having one vice captain with the rest of the fielders makes it easier for players to follow a single lead.
Originally, I planned for Haruichi and Kanemaru to do joint VC duties, but then… I realised that meant the leadership team was two infield basemen and the one player who spends 90% of his time looking away from his team during an inning's defensive half. Then, once I entertained the idea of freeing Kanemaru from VC obligations, his story became cooler—like VC was just a bad fit somehow. Finally, Haruichi deserves all the screentime! By getting him to share, it impacted the writing of Haruichi's potential!
Q. What about Toujou?
When looking at Tetsuya and Kazuya, previous Captains of Seidou, it becomes apparent that to be a leader under the team's philosophies of "not fighting alone" and "backing up your teammates" requires a player which has a good grasp of their personal playing style. In other words, they're close to character completion. For this fic, Zono's point on how Toujou hasn't given up being a pitcher is a sign that he isn't a good fit; given Seidou's playing philosophies (and this tiny sample size of previous captains), that lack of clarity is not one of their desired qualities when choosing a captain for their team.
That said, I do think Toujou could be a good choice for Captain in canon. But then he's not really a first choice as VC to balance out the Captain Eijun in this fanfic…
Q. What's Miyuki up to?
:))
Deleted content:
Kuramochi: "I wasn't gonna stand there after reviewing the Sawamura Eijun experience on TripAdvisor"
You can disagree with my decisions.
I'd appreciate hearing what you think about the update.
Thanks for reading!