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.

A/N: I would greatly apologize for the big time-skip, I know a lot of readers don't want getting spoilers, so i just decided to skip that whole part of the story. Though their are still a bit of spoilers here and their but just a tiny bit, I promise. Anyways... hope you keep reading... Thank you so much!

Chapter 7

Eijun was standing inside the BJ facility, it was a bit quiet and only a few of the staff were actually present doing their regulars jobs around maintaining the grounds of the field. It was midday, and it was after the inter squad game between the first years and the second and thirds years of Seido, where he just decided to go to the BJ facility. He got to excited in the inter squad game making him totally forgot about the game that happened yesterday between Sankou Ichidai, but now that he finally calmed down, the fact that they lost in that game and was unable to play against Inashiro kind of made him feel frustrated and annoyed. The regulars were given a day off, and he already did his work out and his batting during the morning hassle before the inter squad. As he walked towards the mound on the BJ field, he remembered the frustration of watching Furuya give walks and pitch horribly in the game at the same time the meaning of their numbers in the back of their jerseys. The moment he stood in the center of the mound, he look at the catcher's position and the batter's box, he fisted his hands, as he remembered how their coach apologize and at the same time felt like that he depended solely on Miyuki in terms of throwing every pitch. That evening, he started learning from Miyuki Kazuya the difference of pitching sequence and game calling, the terms he often heard from Itsuki and Tohru when both catchers talk and have a thorough conversation . He wanted to be acknowledged as a pitcher that could be equal to or at least someone they can depend on, if that is the kind of pitcher he was, he would have been subbed earlier by the coaches and then they might have won that game and he might be going against Itsuki now. He was in that train of thought when he heard his name being called out, as he turn he saw one of the BJ coaching staff. "Ehhh… Masato san!" Eijun looked surprised as he jog towards the dug out where the latter was standing looking at him with a worried expression.

"What are you doing here Sawamura? The team is not here today, we are currently having the last practice game… and are your hands ok?" Masato asked nervously. It has been several days since the event of Eijun taking a homerun and his swelling hands, though they did hear from Tohru that everything was ok, it was still better to see the person in question if everything is good.

"Owhhh… I am totally fine!" as Eijun lifted both his hands in perfect condition showing no swelling or reddening for that matter. "And I have been able to pitch against Eigen and Kasuga Ichis with no problem"

"Well that is good… you did give us a scare back then…" Masato smiled seeing Eijun's bright smile.

"Hahaha… sorry about that… that was a first time for me…" Eijun answered as he scratches his head trying to fain innocence.

"Anyways what are you doing here? Don't you have the finals for your spring tournament?" Masato asked confused when he remembered Eijun was suppose to be with Seido in this time.

"Owhhh… ahm… that…. Well you see… we kind of lost yesterday… hahahaha… so we had a day off… and I got bored so I decided to take my run here… though I totally forgot about BJ last practice match was supposedly today" Eijun explained still showing his bright smile, though this time round it no longer reached his eyes and Masato noticed it.

"Ahh… so you don't have anything to do for today?" He inquired again, looking at Eijun closely.

"Yep… totally free well at least for the rest of the day…" Eijun answered cheerfully.

"Hmmm… then come with me now… we can still probably make it up until the mid inning, give me a moment" Masato informs as he suddenly look like he was rushing, and walk towards one of the staff in the sideline of the field.

Eijun saw Masato handed some papers and a clip file to the other staff and motioned him to follow. He was confused at first, however the moment he got in Masato's car and the latter drove it like a maniac where they arrived at Tokyo dome in a span of 20 minutes from the BJ facility without a accident is like a miracle. He slowly got out of the car, totally disoriented and turning to Masato looking panicked "Do people from BJ drive like that normally?" he asked while trying not to vomit as well.

Masato think deeply upon Eijun's question, as he immediately walk towards the back entrance of the stadium and showing the guard his id. "No… the most common and who regularly drives like that would be the doc, owh and probably Daiki… but for us we usually drive carefully" He answered as he move in the entrance. He clearly saw Eijun was following him though still with obvious confusion on his face and he looks kind of pale from the quick ride they had making him smile.

"Huh… then why don't you just drive the usual" Eijun asked as he immediately followed Masato who was obviously rushing, moving from one corridor to the other.

"Hmmm… that is because if I do that, then you could have missed the game, common get in…" Masato ordered as he opened a door.

Eijun could clearly hear the loud cheers from the stadium, this is his third time to be in that place, so he most likely memorize a few of the hallways of the Tokyo dome by now. As he moved inside the door that Masato opened, he was greeted by a bright light from the field, and at the same time a few of the BJ players all watching and looking out the field. He was astounded, he was now currently standing inside the dugout of the Black Jaguars, and he saw Coach Mihashi Shoji standing on the stairwell of the entrance of the dug out, while the other players were in the railings unaware of his entry.

"Here get change fast…" Masato ordered as he handed him a bag.

"Ehhh… what? But I left my stuff in Seido… I just took a run…" As Eijun held the bag that was suddenly shove on his chest.

"Yeah… I can guess that… however the doc made sure you would always have spares regardless if you are present in games or not. So we always have to carry your stuff around during our games. You have extra jersey, mitt, cleats, pants, well pretty much everything in that bag, so go get going…" Masato explained.

Eijun was shock, he was not aware that the team have spares of his stuff, plus it is kind of weird that they carry his stuff considering he was not even supposed to be present in that game. He was about to rebuff but it got chocked up in his throat the moment he heard coach Shoji's booming voice.

"You are late! Get change… and start warming up… I am putting you in at the next inning!" Shoji yelled as he noticed Eijun's entry and being handed one of his spare bags that they always carry around. The other players also turned towards his direction and was surprised seeing him actually standing there.

"Ehhhh…" Eijun was totally confused about what is going on, however when he turn to look at their coach he noticed his seriousness, and at the same time the relief of seeing him present. The other players who were also in the dugout suddenly look happy seeing his face. As he turn towards the field, he noticed Sagato sempai was sweating hard on the mound, and when he look up on the score board, they were down by 2 runs, the current score was 1-3 where the Hawks were leading and seems like about to score again as a runner was on a scoring position. He fisted his hand, as he move towards the railing of the dug out and took in as much air as he could "Sagato sempai!" He yelled making the pitcher on the mound flinch despite some cheers on the bleachers and turn to look at the dugout, however it is not only him that look towards the BJ dug out but also the other players on the field. "Just keep them on 5 runs, the cap and the others will find a way to score afterwards… I swear! I will turn this game around, so please… don't lose hope!" and then Eijun put a thumbs up sign however he was suddenly smacked in the head by Asano while the other of the players in the dugout were all trying to not laugh.

Tohru smiled as he noticed a referee in the game also move towards the BJ dugout most probably to give them a warning in terms of yelling, though seeing Eijun was a big breath of fresh air. He was already having difficulty in his game calling with Sagato since the pitcher had already lost 3 runs and there pitcher was obviously noticing the pressure, plus there is currently a runner that is on a scoring position, but for some reason seeing Eijun in the dugout being reprimanded and obviously being rushed to change and warm up was a relieve. As he look at Sagato he noticed that the pitcher was smiling and was relax this time round, but it was not only the pitcher, but he saw Daiki and other fielders were smiling and grinning widely upon noticing Eijun in the dugout. He is like a big ray of sunshine for this team, he have a different way of changing the atmosphere of the team he thought as he hit his mitt.

"Hmmm you seem to have a young kid lost in your dugout Tohru" the batter muttered, making Tohru smile even more.

"His not a kid lost, his actually our ace…" Tohru answered confidently.

"Huh… the loud brat is your ace?" as the batter turn to look at the loud person in the BJ dugout, he noticed he was already wearing a BJ uniform.

"You would be surprised what he can actually do…" Tohru warned.

"Owhhh… interesting" the batter grin as he raised his bat on a batting position.

It was the start of the 5th inning, and the current score was 3-4 still the Hawks leading. In the 4th inning, the opposing team were still able to get a run however on the offense, the BJ batters exploded, getting hit after hit and making 2 runs in that particular inning. Now it was only a single lead, and there was an announcement of change of players as Eijun step in the field. The moment before they made a switch with Sagato sempai in the dugout, the latter apologized greatly in giving up another run. He felt different compared the other day when he made a relieved with Furuya in the mound. He smiled and just laughed out the apology of his senior informing him that their captain and the other batters will handle the rest so it was actually fine to let them have many runs. The people in the dugout was dumbfounded with his comment and confidence, however Sagato thanked him for it, it seems the other pitcher feel relieved and grateful with Eijun's entrance in the game. Eijun was confident that there BJ captain can take back those runs because for some reason he trusted this team, he trusted the batters, which made him think for a bit, and remember the previous game with Ichidai Sankou, 'does he not trust there batters in Seido, the same way he trust the BJ batters', as he could clearly remember the batters being strike out one after the other with Amahisa's slider and fastballs. He shook his head as he tried to clear his mind, he realized as soon as the thought came in that he does trust his Seido teammates, because if he does not trust them, then he would have find a way to actually try to hit a homerun from Amahisa, though that might be wishful thinking because when he watched the latter pitcher, he find it hard to determine the angle of the drop of the ball of the pitcher. But now, it was time to actually play with no restraints he thought as he move and step in the center of the mound. In this game he does not need to be careful in what to pitch, he can go all out. Eijun inhaled in deeply making sure to fill his lungs with air "Balls will come flying, so I'm counting on all of you fielders to have my back!" he yelled out making his team smile, and the opposing players look confused. However the surprising thing is that the people watching the practice game all yelled and cheered for Eijun filling the whole stadium with loud noises. Eijun looked around the people on the bleachers, then turn to look at Tohru who was also smiling widely. This was a first time experience for him, having the crowd cheer for him loudly after his catchphrase.

"Ok… focus on the batter Sawamura!" Daiki yelled despite his voice being overshadowed by the loud cheers.

"Just one at a time kid!" Maki yelled out

"It is fine if you let them hit, one time but that is it…" Towa added

Eijun grin widely upon hearing the support of his teammates behind his back. As he focused towards Tohru who was now crouching down in his catching position and the next batter stepping in, he grin widely as he noticed the first sign for the game, and nodded as agreement. He looked around to his teammates, obviously all focus on the game now thus he stood up straight, did his windup and threw his pure spin fastball with all his strength directly on the middle of the plate landing exactly on Tohru's mitt, however the 6th batter of Hawks was unable to swing and seems surprised in regards to the ball thrown. "Strike!" as the umpire yelled.

Tohru smiled seeing the confusion in the batter's expression and upon feeling the strength and accuracy of the pitch landing in his mitt. Now it is time we introduce to you what our ace can actually do. He gladly thought as he threw the ball back to Sawamura, who was now totally focused on the beginning of the game. "Nice pitch Eijun!" he yelled as he crouched back to his position. He then gave a sign for his inside fastball where he could clearly see Eijun nodding in agreement as the latter did his windup and threw the ball with deadly accuracy towards his mitt. "Strike!" the umpire yelled yet again when the batter tried to swing but totally miss the ball. "The hell…" uttered the batter making Tohru grin widely. He again asked for another inside pitch but this time he requested for a low inside fastball. He saw Eijun nodding, then doing his windup raising his knees high, and throwing the ball directly towards Tohru's mitt making the batter do a swing and miss, "Strike!" the umpire yelled and then the stadium erupted with loud cheers.