Author's Note: You guys have spoken. This chapter we have the group project. I just really love this trope so I decided to write about it.
Sawamura's POV:
"Good morning class." Our home economics teacher greets us at the start of the day. "Today we will be starting a new project. It's going to be a fun one." He tells us as starts handing out papers for the class to read.
"For this project, you will be working in teams of two. You can choose your partner." He says and immediately, people start giving their friends glances. "For this project, which relates to the family unit of class, you and a partner will be expected to take care of a doll like it's a baby for a week. You will also each be given a journal to keep track of your thoughts, observations, and reflections. Next Monday, you'll return the doll and then the following day, turn in your journal." He tells us. "Once you have your partner, report to me so I can write down who you're partnered with and which doll you have. You will lose points if you lose your doll or it gets damaged. When you come up to tell me your partner, you will be given the doll and journal. Please stop by the faculty office by the end of the day to tell me what you will be naming your child for the project. Don't forget to be sure to talk about your schedules and how that may affect who can watch your baby when. I know that a lot of you are in clubs and that some of you live in the dorms while others don't so be sure to communicate things clearly. Does anyone have any questions?" A few hands go up and the teacher starts answering them.
"If that's it for questions, I will give you the next 10 minutes to find a partner. Once you find someone, come to me for your child and journals." As soon as he finishes, people start getting up and looking for their friends, myself included.
"KANEMARU!" I yell to get his attention. He turns to me.
"No." He says.
"I didn't even ask you yet."
"You were going to ask if I wanted to be partners. And I already have a partner."
"What?! Already?! Who?!" I ask him.
"Yoshikawa." He says.
"Fine." I tell him.
I go off to find a partner, but most of the class already found people. I feel someone tap my shoulder and turn to face them. "Furuya! Do you want to be partners?" I ask him. He nods. "Great! Let's go!" We make our way to the front of the classroom to let our teacher know.
"Sawamura-kun and Furuya-kun, you two are pairing up?" He asks to confirm.
"Yep!" I tell him. "We're going to be the best parents and raise our child so well!" Furuya nods in agreement.
"I love the enthusiasm." Our teacher writes down that we're partners. "Here's your journals. Keep track of your experiences for the next week and turn them in next Tuesday." He hands us each our journals and he gives Furuya the doll. "Here is your child. Be sure to take good care of him." He tells us.
"Yes, Sensei." Furuya and I both tell him before going to our seats.
Our teacher spends the rest of class teaching us about how to care for small children. I look to Furuya to make sure he's actually staying awake. Shockingly he is and he's writing something down. A moment later he slides a piece of paper to be.
"Any ideas for the baby's name?" It says.
I write "I have some. Do you?" before sending the note back.
"Yes. Let's talk about them during lunch."
"Yeah." I spend the rest of class trying to pay attention. At some point when I'm really bored, I start making a list of names.
-Lunch-
"Did you guys come up with a name yet?" Kanemaru asks Furuya and I. He and Haruno joined us for lunch today."
"Not yet but we have a lot of names in mind! I made a list during our classes earlier!" I present them the full page of paper with names.
"If only you were as focused on learning as you are in doing this." Kanemaru says.
"Hey!"
"Did you guys come up with a name yet?" Furuya asks.
"Yeah. We're naming her Mirai." Haruno says, smiling.
"Furuya, do you have any name ideas?" I ask him.
He nods. "A few. Would you like to see?"
"Yeah." We swap papers and I start reading the names he came up with. After a few minutes, we give our papers back with notes on which ones we do and don't like.
"What's wrong with naming our baby Chris?" I ask him.
"Chris as in Chris-senpai?" Furuya asks me.
"Yeah!"
Furuya just shrugs. "He doesn't look like a Chris." Furuya decides. We spend another 5 minutes arguing about names before we decide on naming him Eiji.
-After Classes-
"Sawamura-senpai what is that?" Asada asks me.
"This is my son, Eiji." I tell him.
"Oh, you have that project? Miyuki and I partnered up for that last year. Good times." Kuramochi says.
"Can I ask you a question then? What did you do about practice? Like did you just leave it in the dorm during practice?" I ask him.
"Brought it with me, kept it in the dugout, wrapped it in a blanket." He says, while getting changed into practice clothes. "That's what most of the guys in my year did."
"Good to know." I say while taking out my phone. I decide to text my friends about this new information.
1st String Year 2: Electric Boogaloo:
Wamura: Furuya and I are bringing our son to practice
Furuya: we are?
Wamura: yah. Our senpai did it when they were our age
Wamura: they kept their babies wrapped in a blanket and let them nap in the dugout
Harucchi: the way you said that makes them sound so old
:-D Toujou: Thanks for the info!
Once I get changed, I grab my bat and make my way to practice. I take a stop by Furuya's dorm to walk with him.
Along the way, we run into Kanemaru, Toujou, and Harucchi.
"Where's your kid?" Harucchi asks Kanemaru.
"Yoshikawa has her." Kanemaru says.
"What'd you name your kid?" Kanemaru asks him.
"We named him Koushi." Toujou says.
"That's such a pretty name." Kanemaru says. As we make our way to practice, I find that quite a few of the other guys in our year have their dolls too. When we reach the dugouts, Harucchi and I set our dolls down gently on the bench near where Haruno's sitting.
-After Practice-
"Do you guys wanna make matching outfits?" Toujou asks, finally breaking the silence. Kanemaru, Haruno, Harucchi, Toujou, Furuya, and I decided to hang out and talk about our projects, which is why I am spending my Monday evening sitting in a circle around a pile of baby clothes with some of my friends instead of practicing my pitching with Miyuki. "Like we could do something baseball related."
"FUTURE ACE!" I announce. "And his onesie will have a one on the back, because he's going to grow up to be the ace!" Furuya nods enthusiastically.
"We can have ours say 'batter in training' or something along those lines." Haruichi suggests to Toujou.
"Future…" Haruichi trails off before shaking his head. "Batter in training sounds good."
Kanemaru spends a minute thinking in silence, his face will light up when he has an idea but when he opens his mouth to speak up, he'll immediately close it and shake his head, then the cycle repeats.
"How about future baseball star?" Haruno asks him.
"I like it." Kanemaru says.
We start working on our shirts. Furuya has the better handwriting of the two of us so he starts writing on the shirt and I decide to start on my journal.
Monday:
We started the project today. Furuya and I are working together and we named our son Eiji. We both play baseball so we weren't sure what to do about our baby during practice. One of my roommates is an upperclassman and he did this project last year so I asked him what he did since he also plays baseball and he said everyone brought their kids to practice then kept them in the dugout during the time. So that's what we did too. We spent quite a bit of lunch trying to figure out what to name our kid before agreeing on Eiji, which was Furuya's suggestion. We made a plan. Eiji will stay will Furuya on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I'll take care of Eiji today, on Wednesday, and Friday. On Sunday, we will both take care of him.
"There." Furuya says, holding up the shirt.
I smile at him. "It looks great.
-Tuesday-
"So, what's your plan for today?" I sit next to Furuya at breakfast. He looks back at me, puzzled. "With Eiji. Today's your day with him!"
He shrugs. "Same stuff I do every day, but this time Eiji will join."
"Really?" I ask him. "You put no thought into this. What about feeding him? He'll need naps? He has a bedtime. Are you going to do anything special?"
"Eijun-kun, calm down. It's too early." Harucchi mumbles.
"I just want to make sure that my son has a wonderful day today!" I tell him. "I'm going to write this in the journal so I'm holding you to it, Furuya!" I take out my journal and write Furuya's plan.
-Wednesday-
I make my way to Furuya's dorm and knock on the door. After a few minutes, he opens the door. He has a bad case of bed head and he's rubbing his eyes. He looks rather groggy. He sighs. "'Sup?" He mumbles.
"Good morning Furuya! It's Wednesday!" He stares blankly at me for a minute before I continue. "I am going for my pre-practice run and I want to bring Eiji with me!" He nods. He goes back in his room, gets Eiji, and hands him off.
"Can I go back to sleep now?" He asks.
"Yep! See you on the mound! I'll surpass you as the ace! We both will!" I tell him before running off with Eiji.
-Thursday-
"Furuya where's your umbrella?!" I ask him after the bell rings.
"My dorm." He says. "I didn't think it would rain today until after practice."
"That's why you need to be prepared! Check the weather and prepare for the worst-case scenario! If there's any sign of rain, bring an umbrella and some dry clothes for Eiji! We don't want the baby to catch a cold because he was out in the rain!" I tell him.
"Wow and for a moment I thought you were concerned about me." He says, dripping with sarcasm.
"You've dealt with worse during games!" I tell him as I dig through my bag for my umbrella.
We walk together in silence until we reach the main exit. "Come here." I say after I open my umbrella. "We should be able to both fit with Eiji." He moves closer to me and we all squeeze under. The two of us make our way to the dorms.
"Here." I hand him the umbrella. "You two need it more than me. Just give it back later on."
"Thank you, Eijun." He says.
"It's no problem, Furuya." I tell him. "See you at the field." I turn to go in my room and get ready for practice.
-Friday-
Room 105 Guys Burgers and Fries:
Asada: Sawamura-senpai, you have a visitor
Asada: It's Furuya
Kuramochi: I think it's about your project
Sawamura: I'll be right there!
I run to the dorm. When I enter, Furuya's there with Eiji.
"Good morning Furuya!" I tell him.
"Morning." He says. "For you." He hands an Uno reverse card and Eiji. I stare at the card for a minute. "It's your day."
"Right!" I tell him. I didn't realize he had such a sense of humor.
"See you at practice." He gets up to leave.
-Saturday-
Furuya:
Can you drop off Eiji when you get a chance?
Today's my day with him
We're going to watch some nature documentaries
Also you can take back your umbrella
Yeah!
We're just finishing up a run!
Can I watch with you?
I didn't know you liked nature documentaries
We're partners! I want to know more about what kinds of things you like
Oh
Sure
In that case can you bring some apple juice from the vending machine? I'll pay you back
Sure thing!
I just need to stop by my room and get changed first
Be there in 10
Okay
-10 minutes later-
"Pardon the intrusion!" I tell Furuya as I come in with Eiji. I set down the apple juice on Furuya's desk. "It was 200 yen." I tell him. He nods and hands over some coins. "So, what are we watching a documentary about?"
"Polar bears. It's all set up."
"Any reason why?" I ask him.
Furuya shrugs and pauses for a moment. "I just like polar bears." He says. A timer goes off and Furuya turns his head to the source of the noise. "Popcorn's done. Would you like some?"
"That'd be great!" I tell him. He pours the popcorn into a bowl and puts it between the two of us. He then sets Eiji down so he's comfortable and starts up the movie.
As we keep watching documentaries, I can understand why Furuya loves polar bears so much. They have so much in common: they're both from the northern hemisphere and from cold places. They aren't able to manage the heat very well and they both like fish.
The calming sounds of the ocean play while the television shows a polar bear swimming peacefully. A knock on the door pulls us out of the serenity of the documentary and we both jump in fear.
"You got scared by a knock!" I laugh at him.
"Shut up." He says while pausing the TV. "You got scared too."
"Yeah, yeah. Go get the door." I tell him. "You have a visitor probably." He goes to get it and I follow behind, curious of who's there.
"Hello, Miyuki-senpai." Furuya greets him when he opens the door.
"Furuya, glad I was able to find you. Oh, and Bakamura too!" Miyuki says when he notices I'm here. "I was actually looking for you guys. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"You weren't." Furuya says. "What is it?"
"I don't know if you guys are aware of the time, but we're well into lunch and nobody's seen either of you. Neither of you can expect to be the ace if you skip meals." Miyuki says. I open my phone and realize that it's already past noon.
"Furuya Satoru it's been nice spending time with you and I hope we can do this again, but I need to go get lunch! I need to eat enough to keep me energized throughout practices! I'M GOING TO BECOME THE ACE!" I declare and make my way out of the dorm, slipping past Furuya and Miyuki. A few seconds later, I hear footsteps gaining on me and I see Furuya by my side.
"Hey Furuya, where's Eiji?" I ask him and he stops in his track. "DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET YOUR OWN BABY?"
"You forgot your baby too!" Furuya says back. He's already turned around and started walking back to his dorm.
"It's Saturday. We decided on day one that Saturday is your day to keep an eye on him." I tell him while trailing behind.
We go back, get Eiji, and go to the cafeteria for lunch.
After lunch, we go back to Furuya's dorm and spend the rest of the day watching nature documentaries.
-Sunday-
"Can you believe today's the last day?" Harucchi asks at breakfast.
"That's today?" I ask him.
He nods. "Yeah. We got assigned the project last Monday and it's already Sunday. We return our dolls tomorrow. Then we just have to put our final thoughts in the journal and turn that in on Tuesday. You have been keeping your journal updated, right?" Harucchi asks me.
"Of course, I have!" I open my journal and start writing in it to prove my point.
Sunday:
Harucchi reminded me that the project is almost over. I'm not quite ready for it to end. Furuya and I may have to compete for the ace position on the team, but for once we're working together. This is the closest with ever been to working together! When we're pitching one of us does the work then the other switches in but now, we're side by side. I was able to grow closer to him. While we'll still have a common goal, getting to Koshien, it's going to be different competing against him to reach that goal instead of working together.
I shake my head to clear myself of these thoughts. I can spend the whole day with Furuya and Eiji and have fun. Best not to dwell on it now. I slam my journal shut and put my pen away.
"What do you want to do today?" Furuya asks.
I take a minute to think. We're spending the whole day together. "Well at some point I want to do some pitching." I decide. "YOU HEAR THAT, MIYUKI KAZUYA? BE PREPARED TO CATCH FOR ME!" I call to him across the dining hall.
"Not so loud and not so early." Miyuki calls back. Furuya doesn't say anything, but he stares in Miyuki's direction and gives off his fiery aura. I guess he wants to pitch for Miyuki too.
"Don't forget to study." Kanemaru says.
"That's a great idea! Let's all have a study session!" I say.
"I don't know how I got roped into this." Kanemaru says while rolling his eyes. "We'll all meet at my room after lunch. Okay?"
"Got it!" I tell him. What else to do? What else to do? "We could also just see what happens and what we feel like doing!" I suggest. "See where the wind takes us!" He nods in agreement to the plan.
After breakfast we go back to my room.
"What do you wanna do?" I ask him.
He shrugs. "What do you wanna do?" He asks back.
I take a minute to think. "We could play a board game." Furuya nods. I pull out a few games from under my bed so Furuya and I can choose one.
"Hmmm…." We both say after we realize how many of these games need or are better with at least 3 people.
"Wanna see if Harucchi can join?" I ask Furuya and he nods.
I take out my phone to call him. "Hello? Eijun-kun?" Harucchi asks after he picks up.
"HARUCCHI!" I greet him. "FURUYA AND I HAVE DECIDED TO PLAY SOME BOARD GAMES THIS MORNING! WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US?"
I hear a muffled conversation on the other end. "Kanemaru-kun, Toujou-kun, and I were actually going to play a game of Clue in my room. Would you guys like to join us?" Harucchi asks me after a minute.
"Hey Furuya, wanna go to play games at Harucchi's? I ask him." He nods. "We'll be there shortly!" I tell Harucchi.
"Great. Door's unlocked so just come in when you get here." He tells us.
Okay!" I tell him before I hang up. Furuya and I make our way to Harucchi's room with Eiji.
"We have arrived!" I announce when we enter the room.
"Come take a seat!" Kanemaru tells us. "We're just finishing setting up. Pick a character too."
I grab the white piece and the Toujou deals me some cards, tokens, and a piece of paper.
"What are the tokens for?" I ask him.
"It's the Harry Potter Clue version and it has HP. These are the health tokens." Toujou says.
"I've never actually played this game before." Furuya admits.
"Have you ever played the original version of Clue?" Harucchi asks.
"Nope. I don't have much experience with board games." Furuya says.
"WHAT?!" I ask him. "YOU'VE NEVER-?"
Harucchi cuts me off. "Eijun-kun. Remember what Furuya told us about his middle school team?" He asks softly. Now that I think about it, since his middle school teammates sucked, it makes sense that he wouldn't have had many opportunities to have fun with his teammates. I look over at Furuya and I notice a change in his energy.
"WORRY NOT, FURUYA! WE'LL TEACH YOU HOW TO PLAY BECAUSE WE'RE GREAT TEAMMATES AND WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS!" I declare to him. This seems to startle him out of his thoughts and while it may be my eyes fooling me, it looks like there's now a small smile on his face.
Harucchi takes out the rule page and opens it dramatically. "The premise of the original Clue is that you need to solve a murder mystery…" He starts diving into the explanation.
-Evening-
"Hey Furuya?" I ask him. "May I hold onto Eiji for the last night?"
"Sure." He decides after a moment. "You seemed to enjoy this project a lot."
"Yep! It's been great being partners with you!" I tell him.
He nods. "You as well." He hands me the doll and I hold it gently in my arms. "Good night, Eijun."
"Good night, Furuya." I tell him. We part ways and head to our respective dorms. I notice that the nights are off and the Asada is asleep. I go to my desk and use my flashlight to write one more entry before going to bed.
Sunday (Night):
Being a parent is a lot of work, but if you're friends with other parents, it's also fun. Some of the senpai gave me advice throughout the week from when they had to do this project. My teammates in my year are also finishing up this project so we talked about stuff together and it gave us more excuse to spend time together. It also gave me a chance to become closer with Furuya.
I close the journal and make sure that Eiji is set to sleep comfortably and safely. Then I climb into my own bed and drift into a peaceful sleep.
-Monday-
"This past week, you have all faced the challenges of parenthood with one of your classmates. Now it is time to return your dolls, but remember, when you reach the point of your life where you decide to raise a child, you can't just return it when you're done. A child is a long-term commitment so think about if you're ready to take care of another living being before you decide to have kids." Our teacher says. Guess I'll have to save raising a family for after my future successful baseball career. "Please bring your dolls to the front of the room and I'll check off that you've returned your doll. I know there were 15 dolls when this project started. If I do not have 15 dolls now, whoever did not return theirs will get a grade reduction. Also, if your doll has sustained any kind of noticeable damage, your grade may be affected. Journals are due tomorrow. I will try to give you all your grades by next week."
"Yes, sensei." Everyone says. We make our way to the front of the room and form a line.
"I'm not ready to say goodbye to Eiji." I admit to Furuya. "We've had so many good times!" Furuya nods in agreement, looking a bit glum.
"Would you two calm down?" Kanemaru asks. "It's just a project. If you miss it, you can get a baseball or something and take care of it together."
"Uhh, actually they can't." Haruno speaks up. "Remember, baseballs aren't allowed in the dorms anymore." She smirks seeing the look on Kanemaru's face. "But I know what you mean."
Before we know it, Furuya and I reach the front of the line and turn in our doll. "Thank you, boys. Remember to write your final thoughts tonight and turn in your journals tomorrow."
We both nod. "Thank you for this project! It was a lot of fun!" I tell him.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sawamura-kun." He writes that we've returned Eiji so Furuya and I return to our seats.
-Monday Evening-
I sit at my desk and stare at the blank journal page. I can't believe it's over and when I finish this entry, this project will be done. There's so much I have to say, but I'm not sure how to put it all in words.
"Oi, stop thinking and just write." Kuramochi says from across this room.
Monday:
We returned Eiji today. I'm going to miss him. I'm going to miss Furuya too. They've been by my side for the majority of the past week. Now it feels like there's something missing from my life. By having to take care of a doll together the past week, Furuya and I have learned a lot about each other, spent a lot of time together, and we've just grown closer. For once, we weren't rivals. We could work together to reach a common goal. I'm not sure how things between us will be during baseball now that we don't have an excuse to be close together anymore. I hope our rivalry isn't the only thing keeping us together now. I love our rivalry and it helps motivate me even more to grow stronger and beat him and become the ace. But I hope we're still able to have fun together. This week has been wonderful, but I'm going to miss it.
With those last words, I close the journal and put it away.
Author's Note: This chapter was long overdue but I hope you guys like it! I have several chapters planned, but as always, if you have something you'd like to see, comment and I'll try to write about it. Please drop a like or a comment if you've enjoyed this. It would be very much appreciated. Have a nice day.