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, Thank you!

Chapter 8

Eijun inhaled sharply as he saw the next batter step in. It was already one out, and this is the 7th batter, though for some reason he does not feel pressured, honestly he feel more relaxed and focus than normal. He watched as Tohru gave him another sign for his fastball, this time it was his moving fastball. He nodded as agreement, did his windup and threw the ball directly towards his catcher's mitt where the batter did a swing but still miss the ball. "Strike!" as he heard the umpire yelled, he smiled brightly. This kind of game is way different compared to when it was Itsuki who was doing the game calling. He looked at Tohru closely, and for some reason he feels confident that whatever pitched he ask he could throw it with complete accuracy. As he watched for the next sign, a low outside fastball, he nodded did his windup and threw the ball directly towards Tohru's mitt, making a loud impact sound and the batter was unable to swing. "Strike!" the umpired yelled again. The count was now 2 strikes no balls, they still have balls to use, yet from Tohru's expression, he does not intend to waste any pitches, and wants all his fastballs within the strike zone. He watched closely as Tohru asked for his sinking fastball, making him grin widely, this is going to be so fun he thought happily, as he nodded, fix his grip on the ball then inhaled for a breath. He did his windup and threw the ball directly towards Tohru, and as the batter tried to swing, the ball direction went down towards the plate where Tohru easily catch the pitch. "Strike!" as the umpire yelled he could see Tohru was smiling brightly behind the catcher's mask. "Two out!" Eijun said loudly, where the infielders answered as well.

Tohru watched as Eijun became more focus and concentrated on the next batter. They are on the 8th batter now, and for the first two batters, they have only used his in and out fastballs and his sinking fastball. Honestly speaking he wanted to test out his breaking balls and his new fastballs, but as he turn to look at the opposing dugout, he could clearly see that the first two batters were already informing the other players about Eijun's peculiar moving fastball and his form. When he turned his attention towards the current batter, he noticed he was closed to the outer region of the batter box, obviously targeting the moving fastball before it even move, making them fall into their trap. He sigh, as he watched Eijun's eyes and focus, he already knew deep inside that whatever pitch he asked, he would definitely deliver it, thus he does not intend to waste any pitches. He asked for a high outside pitch, as he positioned his mitt on the high portion of the plate still barely within the strike zone.

Eijun nodded the moment he saw the sign, he drop the rosin bag, as he fix his grip on the baseball on his pitching hand. He took a deep breath, did his windup and threw his fastball directly towards the outside corner of the plate, where the batter was unable to swing and just watched as the ball landed directly towards Tohru's mitt. "Strike!" as the umpire yelled, the crowd cheers started to get louder.

"Nice pitch Eijun!" Tohru informs as he threw the ball back to the pitcher.

Eijun easily catches the ball back easily giving his brightest smile. He was now obviously excited, two more strikes and that would be his third out. As he looked at Tohru asking for another outside however this time it needs to be a low pitch still within the strike zone. He nodded as agreement, as he did his windup and threw the ball directly towards the lower end of the plate landing in Tohru's mitt, the batter did a swing but miss since the bat was a bit high. "Strike!" the umpire yelled again. Now they only just need a single strike, and as he got the ball back from Tohru and the latter crouched down, he noticed he gave a sign for a low inside pitch again, which is considered a bit risky considering that the batter was standing quite close to the inside line. He took a deep breath in, as he nodded and again did his windup and threw his fastball directly through the inside, the batter flinched but was unable to swing as the ball pass him and landed directly towards Tohru's mitt. "Strike! Batter out! Change!" the umpire yelled and the audience cheered crazily. Eijun watched as he noticed the frustrated batter leave the mound, and yet for some reason, he still wanted to pitch a bit more, he noticed an arm surrounding his shoulders and pulling him off the mound towards the dugout.

"Nice performance kid!" Maki commented as he put his arm around the young pitcher. He noticed that Eijun did not want to leave the mound and it seems he was completely in the zone, thus he needed to push him a bit off the mound and towards there dugout.

"Yeah… the batters are fully surprised with your fastball…" Towa commented cheerfully.

"I kind of still wanted to pitch though…" Eijun commented quietly, but a few of the players heard him making them smile.

"We still have 4 innings left, I guess you can go all out and don't hold back…" Miro remarked as he move in the dugout.

"Ehhh…" Eijun was embarrassed and surprised that he was heard, or that he said his thoughts loudly.

"They are still leading you know… means we need to get some run back…" Mitobe commented as he was fixing his gloves, and took his bat. "You should focus on pitching today kid… let us handle the offense."

Eijun nodded absently, as he watched the lively atmosphere in there dugout. And then noticed on the back end of the dugout, Tohru was motioning him to come in. As he moves towards the catcher, he accepted a cup of water as it was being handed to him.

"Eijun since we use mostly fastballs for the three strikeouts, I want to mix a bit of your breaking balls, so I need to know which are you comfortable to use right now?" Tohru asked seriously.

Eijun thought for a bit, and then look at Torhu closely as he fisted his pitching hand. "Hero sempai, I want to use all of them. Honestly, I am not sure on what are the condition of my breaking balls today especially with how the game went yesterday, but I want to still use all of them."

"Owhh…" Tohru was curious, he did heard from his wife this morning before he left the house that Eijun lost the semifinal games thus was unable to play in today's final with Tadano. But what took him a step back was Eijun's expression and the determination in his eyes.

"I want to… I want to pull out all of my frustration from yesterday to today's game." Eijun remarked seriously, as he looked at Tohru straight on the eye. He did not notice that a few of the players including the coach was watching him closely.

Tohru smiled, of course it makes' sense that Eijun would want to throw all of his pitches in today's practice game. Since the young pitcher was unable to go to the spring finals, and most likely did not qualify for the Kanto tournament, then this practice game would be Eijun's spring final game. He patted Eijun's head as he commented "Then I guess we can go all out, we only have 4 innings left, so you don't need to hold back"

Eijun grin widely seeing Tohru's agreement with him in using all of his pitches. Since in his Seido games he needs to hold back and is unable to use his new fastball pitches, but this time he does not want to hold back on this particular practice game. Maybe because it was his selfishness or his frustration from yesterday, he do not know but one thing is for sure, he trusted the person in front of him that he could catch whatever he throw at him with full confidence. "Thank you Hero sempai…" Eijun remarked sincerely.

"Ahhh… so you can sometimes make that kind of face huh Sawamura" Daiki commented making Eijun flinched as he turned he noticed all the players in the dugout attention was towards them.

"Ehhh… What are you guys doing eavesdropping?" He retaliated as his expression turn into a fierce cat like hissing, making the other players snicker in his expression.

"Just so you know we are not eves dropping, you are in the dugout… its close quarters, we can hear you loud and clear" Maki commented grinning widely.

"Never knew our ace pitcher was actually polite too…" Sagato added.

"Hey! I am polite to everyone…" Eijun responded fiercely, earning shakes from the other players.

"I think he is polite to Tohru only…" Masato chimed in.

"Huh! That is not true!" retaliated Eijun, but then he noticed that the snickers were turning into laughter, and then it hit him, the team was teasing him. "Ehhhh… How could you guys!" He commented much calmer this time.

"That is because you have your mind in a different game" Shoji remarked seriously. He was the only one who was not snickering or laughing but was quite serious looking outside the field, as Tohru moved back towards the field.

"Huh… but I am focused on the game… and with Tohru sempai coach" Eijun informs still confused with the coach remark.

"You are focused and I am glad you are, however you are thinking of a previous game, not this current game." As Shoji looked at Eijun, he motioned the other players to get ready to go back to the field for a change since it would be the start of the next inning. He put his hands on Eijun's shoulders looking at his bright golden eyes. "I don't know what happened to your high school game, or why you are frustrated for that matter, however right now the moment you stood on that mound all the people's attention are towards you. Thus make sure to show them what they have missed in not letting you go to that finals. Show the people within one of the biggest dome in Japan, what kind of pitcher they are missing, and most importantly, always and never forget to enjoy the game Sawamura. That is your strongest suit; pull the team to a win but never forget to always have fun."

Eijun looked at coach Shoji seeing his serious expression and his expecting eyes looking directly at him. Ever since they first met he never had called there coach by his last name for a few reasons, but the primary reason is that he is more comfortable with coach Shoji compared to the boss. For some reason, looking and having coach Shoji around was more pleasant for him, since he knew deep inside there were no prejudice, favoritism or biases within the players. With the coach being around, he watches every players improvement, and he notice the dedication he had towards him especially in terms of his batting practice a few months back. Unlike the boss or coach Ochiai for that matter that was more focus on Furuya's improvement ever since they were first years. He fisted his pitching hand looking all serious and full of determination, "Yes coach, I will show them what BJ players can do"

The other players who were already getting ready to enter the field, smiled as they heard Eijun comment to their coach. Shoji smiled widely seeing Eijun seriousness and resolve "Then go out there and show them who is the owner of that mound". Eijun nodded as agreement, and then they heard the yell of the umpire for the final strike out and change, he slowly looked towards his teammates who were all smiling brightly showing full support to his resolve of showing what the Black Jaguars is actually capable off. He took a deep breath in and slowly moves toward the center mound of the diamond field.