Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, the characters go with their respective creators of diamond no ace and I do not claim ownership of the characters or the world. English is not my first language so I do apologize for spelling/grammatical errors

Chapter 6

Eijun was staring at both his hands while inside the car with Tohru and they are returning back to Seido. The hospital experience was amazing. In all his life since he was a child, he had never thought he would get to experience being like a celebrity upon arriving in the hospital. They did a scan, x-rays and a couple of doctors' double check every part of his body, and the whole thing happened within an hour which was so surprising. He smiled, he cannot wait to inform sister Yukime about the experience he had to one of their hospitals. When he turned to look at Tohru he seems to be mad about something, though his expression was plain he could still sense the awkward tension inside the vehicle. He sighed as he fisted his pitching hand, "I wonder if anyone remember I hit a homerun today?" he silently asked, just to break the unbearable silent tension inside the car.

"I am sure it is pretty much engraved in everyone's memory that were present in the game Sawamura…" Tohru answered still looking ahead, still with a plain expression.

Eijun tensed, now he was sure Tohru was upset with him. If being all silent was not the first indicator, using his last name again pretty much sealed the deal. "Ahm… I am sorry… sempai…" Eijun apologize sincerely, as he looked down still fisting his pitching hand.

"Owhh… now you realize how reckless you are?" Tohru asked with a tone that is a bit bitter and angered too.

Eijun sighed, "I never thought I was reckless… I just thought that I can hit the pitch with full strength"

"Huh… you thought… that is what I call being reckless Eijun, you are a pitcher, your job is to make our defense is strong. Let the batters handle the offense, or do you not trust your batters?"

"No!" Eijun immediately answered, a bit louder than usual, "I totally trust Asano sempai and the others… it is just that… Daiki sempai said I can be an ace not just in the mound, but also in batting and the dugout… and ahm… Furuya is a good batter too so…"

Eijun was really trying hard to find words in his argument, and Tohru noticed it as well making him sigh. Now he totally understood why Yukime was very much mad on their second promotional game, considering Eijun's streak of rash decisions, there would need to be someone to regularly monitor his activities and at the same time call him out of it. "You are a different kind of pitcher and ace compared to your Seido ace Eijun, and I believe you are a different kind of ace when you are with us… you don't have to copy every person you are competing with. You should have more confidence with yourself, you are a strong pitcher Eijun, and I don't want you to loose such gifts" Tohru explained carefully, as he grip the steering wheel hard, since he knew firsthand what it felt like losing something you enjoy and is considered strong at.

"Yes I understand and I will double think whatever decision I make in the future… I will take it into heart Hero sempai…" Eijun answered quietly.

Tohru sighed deepen; honestly he was surprised with how fast Eijun's improvement was, making him feel scared and wary with the rate of his growth. The first time they met, Eijun could only do was bunt, now he was comfortable with slash bunting, and with this homerun in the game, indicates that he has improve drastically with his batting skills. "Anyways, I am not really that upset with what happened today, I got mad over the fact that you hit a pitch you are not sure what angle it would fall, what made you sure it was an outside fastball anyways?" Tohru asked curiously. Since the holiday break and Eijun's off season, their coach Shoji practically trained Eijun with pin-point batting where he would swing the bat as strong as he could in a certain angle regardless whatever pitch the pitcher would throw, though there are only a few of them who could actually accurately do it and inform Eijun what angle to swing to, that is why he was actually astonished when Eijun step in and swing the bat.

"Owh… ahm…" Eijun thought deeply, and then smiled sheepishly, "Itsuki mentioned that if the first pitch would be a slider, then the next pitch would most likely be an outside fastball…"

"Interesting… so he figure out the pitch sequence I was using with Sagato huh…" Tohru smiled, he was actually impressed with Itsuki's improvement as well. Back then when they first met, he always thought he was a passive catcher, but now he could actually determine good plays and advice his team.

"Pitch sequence?" Eijun asked confused.

Tohru laughed lightly, he would have explained what pitch sequence would be, however he could feel it is not his job to do so, but instead it would need to be his Seido catcher. Plus explaining something a bit complex to someone like Eijun would need to have a long patience, making him smile at the thought of their Seido catcher face. "Yeah, I am sure you would learn what those are anyways. That reminds me, how did you determine the angle of the pitch?" Tohru asked trying to go into a different direction of the talk.

"Owhhh… I was watching Sagato sempai's pitches with fastball since the first inning and for some reason they tend to fall on a certain angle just a bit between the 4 and 6 partition of the plate, though I was not sure and pretty much guessing… so I was just like going to swing at it and see" Eijun explained smiling while scratching his head. "But I was not prepared on seeing my hands all swelling after I remove by gloves, and the sudden sharp pain, it surprised me…"

Tohru sighed again, he had known since they first met that Sawamura was not a good batter, thus it would make sense why this is his first time he had experience such scenario when actually batting full strength and hitting the ball. "That kind of scenario is always common with batters, until they actually get use to the sharp pain. Though that only happened if you miss the sweet spot of the bat, but since that was your first time you doing such batting, I won't be surprised if you panic with the sudden pain. The time you swing the bat, the angle was a bit off for a few centimeters, most likely missing the sweet spot of the bat, thus it vibrated upon the impact. However, I do not want you letting it happen again, you are a pitcher; let the batters do their job." Tohru informs all serious, he still feel kind of irritated remembering Eijun teary and distressed expression.

Eijun wanted to rebuffed, however sensing Tohru's serious demeanor, decided to keep silent. He still however wanted to inform Yukime about his very first home run in his whole baseball career, despite it not being an official game, it still feels good to actually know that his hard work in batting was paying off.

Tohru noticed Eijun did not try to dispute his argument, which made him feel unsure for a bit. He was expecting that the young pitcher would actually try to defend his actions, however the latter just kept quiet, which was so weird. He smiled; he never thought Eijun would start being mature about things, especially in terms of arguments. "Your spring tournament would begin soon right?"

Eijun turn to look at Tohru smiling brightly, "Yes! And I would be pitching too… I hope… well since Furuya is still the ace of the team, I would still prepare in the bullpen"

"I see… our pre-season would be starting soon most probably during your spring tournament, so we cannot really watch you play your games" Tohru explained sadly

"Ehhhh… It is ok sempai…" Eijun answered, "Ahhhh… I think I could be able to use my new breaking balls to some of those games…"

"Owhhhh… so your captain would allow you to pitch them huh?"

"Yes… I mean I hope so… captain Miyuki tend's to be fickle minded sometimes" Eijun thought deeply, and then remembered how he and Miyuki has started developing his breaking balls.

"Hmmmm… Eijun…." Tohru used a soft tone, as he slowed his vehicle down close to the Seido dorm. "I don't really know what is going within your high school team, however I want you to know that you are a unique and strong pitcher. Don't ever forget that, if others does not acknowledge that, then remember that there is a team that accepts you for what kind of pitcher you are" Tohru said looking at Eijun seriously. "The thing that happened in the stadium a while back, that kind of quality pitching and that home run… there will come a time that you would be able to do those things normally like breathing, so I do not want you to rush things ok…"

Eijun looked at Tohru closely, and he noticed the worry on his expression. He felt bad, since it was his first time to actually not feel his hands and a sharp pain from batting thus he panicked but it seems that the people around him were more worried which made him feel a burning sensation of appreciation and love deep in his chest. "Thank you Hero sempai… I promise I will take this step by step and not rush things" he answered honestly as he opened the car door.

"Owhhh… and be sure to message me tomorrow… and be careful in sneaking back in your dorm, it is late…" Tohru added as he smiled at him.

Eijun gave a salute as a sign of agreement, as he slowly close the door and move back towards the dorms entrance. He watched as Tohru's vehicle backed out of the dorms drive way moving away. As he watched the vehicle grew smaller until it disappeared, he took a deep breath in and turn to look at his pitching hand. The sensation of pitching with the regulars, throwing those fastballs, and the pressure being on top of the mound, including the home run, was all extra ordinary for him. He smiled as he slowly walked back to his room avoiding his seniors who were still practicing late in the indoor practice area. The moment he got back in his room, he noticed Kuramochi sempai was not around, but the first year named Asada was already sleeping. He silently drops his bag in the corner of the room, and carefully changes his clothes. He was actually quite grateful that the hospital they arrive in a few hours ago have their own shower room, though he was not able to soaked in a warm bath, he was able to take a shower and a massage from professionals too. As he was about to climb up in his bed, he noticed his dorm room door opening and Kuramochi stepping in, that made him totally freeze on the spot.

As Kuramochi step in the dark room, he noticed Sawamura was looking all freshen up and was seemingly to climbing back in bed which made him wrinkle his forehead. He remembered not seeing Sawamura out the indoor practice gym, and it was way dark to try practicing outside. "Yo… Sawamura where were you?" he casually asked more under the curious side.

"Huh? What do you mean Kuramochi sempai… I just went out to get something to drink, I was sleeping here the whole time…" Eijun answered as casual as he could, then continued climbing up his bed, and pretending to go back to sleep.

"Owh… strange… before I left a while back, I only saw Asada here…" Kuramochi answered as he went in the room, totally passing Eijun as he move to get some fresh T-shirt.

"Ehhh… you might have not just noticed me sempai, since we would have our tournament soon, you might be pre occupied or something" Eijun was sweating cold of nervousness. Yukime was right about his senior roommate, if he was not careful enough he would definitely be found out about his extra practice sessions.

"Hmmmm" Kuramochi answered seemingly uninterested as he put the fresh shirt on, and threw his other shirt on the wash basket.

"Yeah… so I am going to say good night sempai… it is pretty much late and we have an early practice tomorrow…" Eijun informs as he immediately cover his head with his blanket.

"Yeah…" Kuramochi answered, but as he turned to look at Eijun covered in his own blanket, there was something about him that he again feels kind of off, like his maturity sometimes. He sighed and probably he thinks he is getting paranoid or either way over thinking stuff. He just decided to go to his bed, and sleep it out in preparation for tomorrow.

Amidst the conversation that happened, both people did not notice Asada was actually wide awake. As Kuramochi move towards his bed and pull his blanket up, Asada stared up, Why did Sawamura sempai need to lie… I am confused? He thought confused. He was awake the moment Eijun came back pretty late, and what surprised him is to see his senior that seems to have arrive from somewhere outside of the school with his baseball bag and he would guess all his mitt and baseball stuff were there, and yet he lied to Kuramochi sempai saying he was just out getting a drink. He wanted to voice out his thoughts, however remembering how the two seniors greeted him upon arriving in the dorms practically scared the living stuff out of him, thus he decided to keep quiet about the thing the saw with Sawamura sempai and pretended he was asleep, and most likely by tomorrow he would pretend he has no idea what was going on.