Disclaimers: Disclaimer: I do not own Big Windup! /Okiku Furikabutte or Diamond no Ace, please the support the authors of both works. Also, due to commitments in my personal life I will try to adhere to a monthly update schedule to avoid becoming burn out with this story. So, with that out of the way, feel free to sit back and enjoy my cross over of Big Windup! and Diamond no Ace.

Hi": Speaking

'Hi': Thinking

"Hi": Yelling

"Hi": Flashback/ Messages

Chapter 3

There are many advantages in attending a school that's placed on the outskirts of any city, especially when the city in question was that of Saino City. One could manage to get the best of both worlds in terms of entertainment, as the cultural activities in the city itself were supplemented by additional access to Tokyo and Chiba City. There was also the fact that the unique placement of the city allowed people to be employed in either it, Tokyo, or Chiba city while getting affordable housing in a family friendly neighborhood, which extended to the atmosphere of Nishiura University. However, as Hanai Azusa sat at a table in the university's cafeteria, enjoying one of the two breaks that were scattered throughout the day between his classes and baseball practice, there was an entirely difficult topic on his mind. That of the unfortunate reality of the travel schedule he's had to adopt.

'It's going to kill me,' running through his mind as he sat with his head wearily pressed against the table.

'If I have to keep up this stupid train schedule, it's going to kill me'

That "stupid train schedule" was far from something to sniffle at in regard to its demands on the poor boy. In order to make it to school in time for his first class the poor boy had to get up at 7 am to take a local train on the Hachiko Line to Komagawa before transferring to the Kawagoe Line and then riding the train to Omiya to get to school before 9am. The hour and twenty-four-minute ride being repeated at the end of the day after his baseball club ended its practices at 6pm, as well as being repeated on Saturday afternoons and evenings, getting him home about 7:30 in time for a late dinner. The mere thought of the awaiting train journey causing him to let out a groan and miss the sound of his teammates nearing him until one called.

"Hey, Hanai" which he answered by sitting up and turning to face Spencer, Tajima, and Sakaeguchi standing above him; both Sakaeguchi and Tajima bosting a lunch tray in each of their hands. The lack of any pitchers amongst them causing a sigh to again escape him.

'At least a few more hours of peace before Abe or Haruichi' the thought of the stubborn black haired and meek pink haired boys, and the knowledge of the diplomatic coaxing that came with trying to get them to work with him, causing him to close his eyes in frustration.

"Something wrong?" making it clear that his frustration could, and maybe already had been, taken the wrong way.

"No, nothing at all," he answered before sitting up and stretching.

"Why do you ask?", the trio of his teammates silently looking amongst each other for a few moments before.

"Ah...no reason" hesitatingly came from Sakaeguchi and they turned their attention to Hanai.

"We were just checking, cause, you know, it's lunch" Spencer added, just as Tajima placed his lunch tray on the table beside Hanai.

"And we all thought we should eat together since out schedules aligned today" as he sat down right next to the short haired catcher. They boy's bright smile leaving Hanai no doubt that Tajima not only thought up the excursion, but that it wasn't open for discussion, a determination that Hanai could only met with a smile and a reply of.

"Thanks" as Spencer and Sakaeguchi also sat down next to him, albeit far less zealously. With Sakaeguchi's tray sporting a simple lunch of rice, grilled beef, carrots, and cucumbers while Sawamura had a dish that had chicken, rice, cucumbers, and pickled plums.

"Hey, nice meat" Tajima stated, his eyes getting starry as a but if drool began to form on his lips.

"Oh, thanks" cautiously coming from Sakaeguchi as Spencer pulled out his own lunch, revealing a pair of plastic wrapped sandwiches, that were obviously not from the university cafeteria, as well as a can of black tea; the first item causing Tajima to snap his attention over that way, just before he began licking his lips.

"Is that an omelette sandwich"

"Nope," Spencer casually replied before taking a satisfied bite of the sandwich, then wiped his mouth.

"Fried egg and cheese" coming as he opened the sandwich to reveal a piece of neatly melted cheese on top of a fried egg, as he promised.

"How's your mom does that?" coming from Hanai at the intriguing sight as Spencer closed his sandwich.

"She doesn't," earning Spencer the looks from all three boys, to which he clarified.

"My mom works the night shift at a hospital, so my sister and I make our own stuff the night before and heat it up the next morning when we make breakfast with my dad"

The words coming just before he gently sacked away the outstretched hand of Tajima, then focused back on Hanai.

"So, did you hear about the new pitching Coach the Coach Momoe brought in?", met with a raised eyebrow from Hanai.

"Really?"

"Yah, some guy who was part of the Seishu high school team that made a run at Koshien a few years back," Spencer clarified, before pausing briefly as he tried to recall the man's name.

"Mo Mokamura or something like that" before Tajima cut in.

"Kou Kitamura" making a point of nodding as he did so.

"Oh, I remember him," Sakaeguchi jumped in.

"He's our new pitching coach?" the question met with a shrug by Spencer.

"If the rumors are true" before Tajima added.

"Well, that'll make your job easier," and gave Hanai a friendly nudge on the shoulder.

"I mean, didn't you say that the biggest problem with pitchers was their egos?" making Hanai quickly cover Tajima's mouth, looking around to make sure that a particular black-haired pitcher wasn't in the room. Breathing a sigh of relief when he realized he wasn't and then removing his hand from Tajima's mouth when he realized that he wasn't there.

"I did not," finally coming from him as he did so, his statement causing Tahima to raise an eyebrow of his own.

"Well, not in those exact words"

"What words did you use then?" Sakaeguchi asked before popping a bit of beef into his mouth.

"I meant that every pitcher I worked with always had something to prove," Hanai began, gesturing with his hands as he did so.

"And they often took those concerns and frustrations out on their catchers"

"And a pitching coach would mitigate that?" Spencer asked, a question which Hanai met with an unusually emphatic nod.

"Yes, even if they're saying the same thing, it can give you an extra voice in your corner" a point that none of the boys around him could, or at least tried, to debate before going back to their own meals.

"Well, I don't think you'll have any big egos to deal with," Sakaeguchi countered, plucking a piece of rice from his plate as he did so.

"At this point, I'm just happy to keep playing baseball, even if it's not in some Tokyo Big 6 Baseball League or Premier 22 University League School" only to get a respectful, yet firm, shake of the head from Hanai.

"Trust me, almost every pitcher has something to prove, the question is what it is and what you have to do to help them get over it" his voice carrying a level of certainty that left no doubt amongst his peers that he was completely certain in his view.

Leaving it to be only a matter of time before he was ultimately proven right.

While the prospective trio may not have known it yet, their practice would reveal to them a pitcher, or a few pitchers to be more accurate, who would disprove Hanai's claim. However, as Kitamura Kou stood watching the Nishiura 13 doing their warmups, the need to prove something wasn't what was on his mind; but rather a group of six young men who were doing their stretches a few meters away from the rest of the group.

'So, those are her pitchers and catchers,' running through his head as he watched them, taking particular note of how one boy, Spencer if he recalled correctly, was particularly ginger in his mimicking of his teammates. Taking a series of instructions from one black haired boy, Sawamura if his notes were correct, as though they were absolute orthodoxy.

'All freshmen' mentally added as he watched them go about their business in relative ease. The reasons for Kitamura's interest in the boys' ages wasn't because he was a strict doctrinarian who firmly believed that age trumped, or should trump, all else when it came to the game of baseball. After all, he hadn't started pitching seriously until his last year of middle school but was instead interested because he was trying to gauge the type of reactions that he might get from the competition that the boys would be facing. It had been several years since he'd played in the amateur ranks and his experience hadn't taken him to the ranks of Japanese collegiate baseball, most players who were anything to write home about got drafted out of high school when he was a teen.

'Though it might have been better if more of us had gone the collegiate route' crossing his mind as he subconsciously lowered his hand to his shoulder, his finger coming across a familiar, aching tendon as it did so. His extensive contemplation being interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from his right and the familiar call of.

"So, how do they look?" that caused a smile to come over his face.

"I don't know, I wasn't watching" cheekily coming from him as he leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands behind his head; not at all surprised at the familiar feeling of a hand gently bopped on his back.

"Don't joke" the familiar speaker scolding him as she did so. Her words seeming to instantly cause a shift in Kitamura's demeanor as he returned his gaze, and his total focus, onto the field before him and gave a smarter answer of.

"Well, they all look green," cluing Aoba into his thoughts on the boys before him far more than his first answer had.

"They look like first years"

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, while raising an eyebrow.

"After all, that's what they are, there is no real point in disguising that"

"It can be," Kitamura answered, greeting his wife's inquiry with the usual cryptic answer that she, and all of his friends, had long since gotten used to.

"If they play like freshmen, if you get them to play, or at least think they can play, above that they'll challenge all the teams that face them and blow a few away" his emphasis on the word "play" particularly catching Aoba's attention. As one thing Kitamura had never lost since graduating high school was his overall pension for being blunt and never partaking in projects that he thought were pointless.

"So, you'll help Coach Momoe with the team?" naturally being Aoba's next question.

"Well, you did sign me up to help once a week for the whole year, so I might as well" he casually answered, once again looking at the group of pitchers and catchers, who'd now finished their stretches, and had gathered for Coach Momoe's personal version of a cardio exercise.

"Hey! I didn't sign you up, you said you'd help if Momoe could get a team organized and Momoe got a team organized" Aoba countered, her words being met by a wave from Kitamura.

"I said I'd help, not volunteer every Saturday of their pre-season along with weekends during the regular season", before the man let out an irritated sigh.

"What will I do for my day off now?"

"You'll still have Sunday off most weeks," finally coming from Aoba as she stepped forwards and threw her arms around Kitamura in a loving hug.

"And we can just adjust the schedule so that Azuma and Ichiyou do Mondays"

"Yeah, I guess that works" Kitamura added as a smile gently made its way over his face before he rose, gave Aoba a kiss, and left the small, makeshift score keepers hut for the field.

It was time for him to meet this Coach Momoe and the 13 boys who'd come under her care.

"Hey, Spencer" a voice called, causing the young, dark skinned, man to send his gaze to a freckle faced boy around his age, Abe if his memory was right, who was glancing off in the distance.

"Who's that?" coupled with the raising of Abe's arm, sending Spencer's gaze over to the edge of the field so he could see Coach Momoe and an unidentified, black-haired man walking towards them. Both Momoe and the man seeming to be conversing in a casual manner that carried a level of mutual respect, but was also clearly under the direction of Momoe; as she was doing most of the speaking which the young man was mostly nodding his head. The somewhat passive approach to the conversation failing to have any detrimental effect on the relaxed aura that the young man radiating, nodding as Momoe finally pointed towards the pitching group.

"I don't know" sheepishly coming from Spencer as the man returned his gaze to Momoe.

"Maybe he's the guy who's supposed to help coach us?" Haruichi asked, a suggestion that Hanai met with a raised eyebrow before the catcher countered.

"He doesn't look like much of a coach" right as the duo paused and then resumed walking towards them, reaching the group with relatively little pomp outside of Momoe's declaration of.

"And these are our pitchers and catchers" which Spencer could have sworn caused Hanai to almost choke on his breath before Abe stepped forward.

"Hello" and Haruichi quickly followed.

"Nice to meet you" both their greetings were initially met by a brief silence as the man looked the two of them over, then Spencer, before finally turning his gaze to the somewhat recovered Hanai.

"So, you're my second in command?" and the man removed his cap and offered a friendly bow.

"Good to meet you, I'm Kitamura Kou," before rising and then glancing over towards Spencer.

"I thought you only had two pitchers" instantly causing Spencer to shoot straight up.

"Oh, no," coming as he threw his hands out before him and began to sweat.

"I'm not a pitcher by a long shot" his explanation backed up by an affirmative nod from Hanai.

"Spencer here's our backup catcher and DH" which earned the two of them a nod from Kitamura.

"Well, that's one less person for me to train," who then looked back to Momoe"

"When's the first game?"

"Well," she began, placing a hand behind her head as she did so.

"The plan was that we would hold off playing any games until the Freshman and Sophomore Autumn Tournament so that we'd have more time to gel and might face less daunting competition," she began, before letting out a slightly uneasy laugh.

"But if the federation requires us to participate in the Autumn from the start, the first game would be on September 18th, in only two weeks" sending Kitamura's gaze over his shoulder towards the two pitchers before he nodded.

"I should be able to do something before then," his cryptic words causing a smile over Momoe's face before he added.

"But I'll need to set up a relief crew of at least two pitchers, possibly three, as the bare minimum, even for the Freshman and Sophomore Autumn Tournament", an addendum she met with a nod of her own.

"Definite," before turning to head back to the fielders warming up.

"Good luck" then walking off, leaving the two pitchers, two catchers, and confirmed coach behind her while Kitamura turned to face his crew.

"Well then, let's get started; Abe, you'll pair up with Spencer, and Haruichi, you'll pair up with Hanai," earning him nods from each of the boys before both the catchers busily moved to get their gear paired up so that they could meet with the pitchers to discuss their signs. A sight that caused a faint smile to subtly come onto Kitamura's face.

'Good, it looks like they're eager, that'll make training and coaching them a lot easier' as he prepared to start his first practice.

If you were to ask the average person who knew, or at least knew of, Mihashi Ren about his personality the common consensus that you would find would be that for all his stuttering and self-doubt he was a relatively good at explaining things. That was, of course, when he was given enough time give his explanation or if the person, he was speaking with could manage to make sense of the boy's seemingly incessant hesitating and back tracking. A seemingly Herculean feat that caused most people who tried to speak to the organette to give up on the conversation long before it had even begun, luckily the same couldn't be said for the boy's parents.

Like most students at Nishiura University, or at least those who had a residence in the prefecture, Mihashi didn't live in the dorms that were on the school's campus. But rather had elected to remain at home and simply make a commute to the campus based on the times and dates of the classes and practices that he had there; sparing his parents the expense of university housing and allowing Mihashi to enjoy the luxury of a home cooked breakfast and dinner and a familiar conversation every night of the week.

"So, Ren, how's the first two weeks of school?" reminding him of this as his mother asked the same question, she'd asked for the first 14 years of his life.

"G-g-good," being Mihashi's usual reply.

"I've been able to find a balance between my club and my studies, so there shouldn't be any p-problems" seeming to catch his mother's ear.

An unsurprising development considering that the young Mihashi had needed to quit his high school's baseball club in his second year due to middling grades that nearly torpedoed his attempts at college and his teammates desires to make it to the Koshien.

"By the way," showing his mother's interest in the topic.

"How's the basketball club treating you?" instantly causing the orangette to freeze.

"Uh, uh, uh" bubbling out of Mihashi as his mother continued.

"I heard that they're very intense because of all their championship appearances," only making the boy's sputtering worse, doing more to explain something was wrong to his mother than anything he might have said.

"Ren, is there something wrong?"

"We-well," Mihashi began, seeming to struggle to find a proper way to put all his feeling onto the table.

"Well, I, I kind of didn't join...the basketball club" eventually getting out of him as he stopped eating and instead began to hesitantly begin tapping his figures, earning him the attention of his father.

"Why? You seemed dead set on joining it, especially with how much fun you had last year" speaking more than enough for both parents, their combine gazes causing Mihashi to almost instinctively turn his gaze toward the center of the table to avoid any direct eye contact. As a brief silence drifted in over the trio so gently that it would have been easy to not notice it, as both parents of the Mihashi household awaited their son's answer.

"Well...I kind of missed the club's application deadline" eventually coming from him and causing his parents to exchange confused looks before his mother finally broke the second bout of silence that had fallen over them.

"So, what have you been all of these afternoons?"

"With the baseball club" Mihashi eagerly answered, the speed of his reply catching his parents sightly off guard.

"I didn't think Nishiura had a baseball team," his father stated putting his right hand under his chin as he did so.

"At least they didn't when we first moved here"

"The-they didn't, it only started this year" answering his father's question in a flash and earning Mihashi a supportive nod from his mother.

"Oh, dear, that's fantastic," coming in an exhale of relief.

"When we found out you wouldn't qualify for a dorm, I was so worried that you wouldn't make any friends, it's so nice to see that you've found a way to form your own group" her words of encouragement making Mihashi blush slightly as he went back to eating the fish that his mother had grilled for dinner.

'Yeah, I guess it is' crossing his mind as he did so.