Words written in italics are thoughts.

Words written in "Italics with quotations" are memories taken directly from the anime/manga.

The Coaches

"Kawakami, I appreciate that you told me what's on your mind with so much honesty. As you know, I was a pitcher myself so I understand how you feel, painfully so. But at the same time as your mentor and coach, I cannot let you push yourself until we have the results of your extended examination. I know it must be very frustrating for you, but for now, just wait for the results of your check up."

After coach Kataoka's decision, Kawakami uttered a single, "Yes, sir," and excused himself.

No one in the room had missed the bitterness in the closing pitcher's voice, nor the intensity of it.

It immobilized Miyuki for a bit and he stood lost in his thoughts until Coach Kataoka broke the silence.

"Miyuki."

"Sir."

"The game against Ichidai Sanko, I'm counting on you to lead Sawamura and Furuya."

"Yes, sir," Miyuki replied firmly.

"It won't be easy, but you'll manage it," Coach Ochiai added, in an uncommonly encouraging tone.

"Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me."

The coach nodded, and the captain left.

"This is bad." Ochia delved into the crux of the matter as soon as the adults were left alone. "Kawakami feels bitter. He probably thinks you are being unfair, especially since the captain was once allowed to play with an injury."

"Now wait, a minute," Manager Ota argued, "I'm Kawakami's biggest fan, but allowing him to play is dangerous. Also, at the time, Miyuki's injury had been unknown to us."

"Manager Ota is right," Takashima Rei added. "When I called the doctor to check on Miyuki during that game, he never said that we shouldn't let Miyuki play, which is what was stated unequivocally here in Kawakami's case."

"However, in the end, Miyuki's injury turned out to be very similar to what Kawakami's will probably be," Ochiai pointed out, flatly.

Silence held the room.

"I understand what you are saying, Coach Ochiai."

It was Kataoka's voice who broke it.

"And I completely understand Kawakami's point of view," he continued, "But as a coach, I'm responsible for the safety of the players. They're still minors," he stated firmly.

And yet, the words somehow felt hollow, even to his ears.

"You are right, of course," the other coach concurred, "but none of that matters to the players. And we may now be facing an even bigger problem…"

"What do you mean?" Manager Ota asked.

"That game," Katoaka started, his clipped tone attracting everyone's attention. "The senbatsu qualifying final against Yakushi, the decision to allow Miyuki to continue playing, that was due to my incompetence as a coach. I couldn't imagine having him replaced without it giving our competitors leeway," he confessed, in a tense voice. "As coaches, I know we were upset with him for hiding the injury, but, from a pure strategist's point of view, which is what Miyuki has always been, he had made the right call to stay silent."

"Coach," Ota started in disbelief, glancing at a poker-faced Rei.

"I'm not condoning what he did," Kataoka continued, "but I understand the decision. Furuya, the ace, was already injured. Miyuki is captain, catcher and cleanup. Even when he under performed as a batter, that only served to motivate his teammates to step up their game, for his sake. And we couldn't do without his abilities as a catcher, without his game-calling. Simply put, without him, we wouldn't have won."

High praise, indeed, Ochiai, thought.

Well, it's true, however, Rei reasoned.

But to have the Coach actually say it…the manager was floored.

"However," the coach continued, his voice more strained than before, "it had been a risk. I put the team's win above my player's safety. Had Miyuki suffered because of it," he broke off, as if he couldn't bear the thought, "had he retained any permanent injury...it would have been unforgivable. I have since reflected on my actions. I continue to reflect on them."

You would, his colleagues thought collectively. That's just who you are.

"Is that why you took him off the roster for the Jingu tournament?" Rei asked. "I think that hurt him. He probably felt like it was a punishment."

"If anything, it was a punishment for me. And for the team. Miyuki needed to recover, and they, we, needed to learn to do without him. And they did."

"For the most part," Ochiai qualified, "if we are to continue being completely honest here, then the reason we lost the Jingu tournament was because Miyuki wasn't the catcher."

"Coach Ochia, that's-" Ota interjected.

"-I know what you're going to say, so I'll say it for you," Ochia stated as a matter of fact, "it is also true that Ono grew immensely because of the experience. After Miyuki, he is currently the best catcher on the team. Well, until he got injured, that is. My, Seido is as unlucky a team as I ever came across," he complained.

Rei laughed, remorsefully.

"We certainly have had a strain of unfortunate circumstances lately. But to counter that, we have two promising catchers. And they're all getting lessons from Miyuki."

Kataoka's eyes widened. He hadn't heard anything about that.

"Apparently, it started when Sawamura asked Miyuki about game calling," Rei explained, "The pitchers gathered in his room one evening to learn, but now most of the pitchers and catchers meet there several times a week."

"That should prove incredibly helpful in the future," Ochiai said, sounding impressed, "it probably already is, in fact."

"I think it was also his idea to his have the first-year catchers practice with Furuya and Sawamura," she continued. "I noticed that Miyuki seemed to be practicing swinging more, and Kuramochi joked that after shifting the burden of the pitchers to the first year catchers, the Captain now has more time to practice himself."

Moved, Kataoka turned to gaze out the window.

Speak of the devil.

He saw Miyuki walking, bat in tow, towards where he knew he liked to practice alone.

He keeps raising the bar...

"He's preparing the team, for when he retires," Kataoka stated.

"It would seem so," Rei agreed.

"Both Yui-kun and Okumura-kun have certainly been improving. Okumura can even handle Furuya and Sawamura's pitches, now. For the most part, anyway." Ochiai added

"That's right," Ota added happily, "So what's the problem that you mentioned, Coach Ochia?"

"We do not want this incident causing discord in the team. If Kawakami feels he's being treated unfairly..."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Rei said. "The players will set him straight. All the second years at the time were present when Miyuki was examined. They heard the doctor say it was a tough call to make."

"That's assuring," Ochia said, stroking his goatee as he looked at Kataoka's back. "But you don't seem very relieved. What's troubling you, coach?"

"He is still an indispensable player," Kataoka answered as Miyuki's figure disappeared into the shadows of the night.

"You're worried about him?" Rei concluded.

"Yes," Kataoka said, turning away from the window.

The distraught look on Miyuki's face and his distracted manner when he excused himself had left a bad taste in the head coach's mouth.

"He did seem disheartened. I mean, even I could tell. But I wouldn't worry about him. He's quite thick-skinned," the assistant Coach stated.

"Oh? What makes you think so," Rei asked, with interest.

"Err, well," Ochia coughed. He didn't want to get into his careless callous remarks to Miyuki the first month he came to Seido, and how quickly the new Captain had recovered from his harsh words. The memory made him uncomfortable, even if the result had ultimately been beneficial for the team. "Anyway, I think Miyuki will stay strong, both for the team and for Kawakami's sake. I'm more worried about how the rest of the team will take the news."

"They'll be fine," Ota said cheerfully.

"Only if the captain is fine," Kataoka pointed out, "I don't want Miyuki worrying about Kawakami's state of mind over everything else. He's got more than enough on his hands."

"Don't worry. The co-captains will support him," Rei soothed, confidently, "Kuramochi in particular. He always does."

"You can feel free to say a word to him as well, Takashima-san," Ochiai suggested.

"Me?"

Apparently, Kataoka's worry is contagious, the stocky assistant coach mused. Now I'm uneasy, too.

"Weren't you the one who scouted him? It might help, coming from you."

Rei smiled, inwardly. Men were so awkward.

"Understood."

"And I'll make sure to keep an eye on Kawakami as well," Ota chimed in.

"Please do," Kataoka said, gratefully.

Author's note:

Shout out to all Miyuki story takes place the night before the semifinals with Ichidai Sankou and will delve into how the team, mainly Miyuki, handles the aftermath of Kawakami's injury. I was annoyed that once again a member of the team suffered yet another injury, but the incident revealed a gold mine of emotional content. Terajimu Yuji is a genius. But we already knew that :)This is mostly finished, just putting the finishing touches. For now, it's seven chapters in total.