I got the idea for this from a text post I saw on Tumblr, except it was about Haikyuu! and not Diamond no Ace. This was supposed to be more Team Seidou-centric than anything, but closer to the end Haruichi took over because he is a precious angel who deserves all the happiness in the world and ok I'll be quiet now.
I don't own Diamond no Ace but if I did I'd make sure there were more fanfics on it to read.
It had been a hot day. The air in Tokyo was moist and Furuya could feel the sweat dripping off of him.
"Oi, Furuya, are you already worn out?" Miyuki teased, sending him a grin.
Furuya glanced at Sawamura, who was still pitching as if it wasn't so hot you could probably cook eggs on the sidewalk. He shook his head and threw his pitch. The sweat from his hand caused the baseball to waver slightly. Miyuki caught it and tossed it back.
"We've only been at this for half an hour," Miyuki stated. "Don't die on me now."
"I'm fine," Furuya replied, getting ready to pitch another ball when he was interrupted.
Chris walked into the bullpen. "The coach has called for all the players."
The pitchers and their catchers followed the tall male to the place where their coach was standing. When Kataoka saw them, he cleared his throat and said, "All practices are canceled until the temperature goes down. I can't risk any of you getting a heat stroke."
Sawamura and Furuya groaned, though Sawamura's the loudest and most obvious. He walked back to the bullpen. "I'm not gonna let some heat stop me!"
Kuramochi and Miyuki grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back roughly. Sawamura struggled and fought against them until Kuramochi tackled him down.
"How stupid are you?" asked Kuramochi. "Even the senpais are having trouble in this weather! The only reason your dumb ass doesn't feel exhausted is because you can't process it fast enough!"
"Maybe he wants to pass out so he won't be able to play the next game," Miyuki said. "Hey, Furuya, can you pitch for an entire game?"
When Seidou's Monster Rookie began to swing his arm as a means for confirmation, Sawamura shoved Kuramochi off. "I'm not letting you take my innings, Furuya!"
Your innings? repeated Jun, scoffing.
He does know there are two other pitchers, right? Kawakami thought.
Chris grabbed a water bottle and tossed it to Furuya. "You're not used to the heat yet, so it's only natural you'd be so tired."
"Thank you, Mom," Furuya replied, taking a sip.
The whole Seidou team went silent, processing what had happened.
3...
2...
1...
"Ha! You just called Chris-senpai 'Mom'!" Sawamura exclaimed with tears forming in his eyes.
Miyuki and Kuramochi fell to the floor, each clutching their chests that began to hurt due to their laughter. Masuko couldn't suppress the light snicker he let out, along with Kawakami and Tanba. Even Tetsu, their ever-so-mature captain was laughing, albeit it being soft and conserved.
"I didn't know you felt that way, Furuya," Chris said, causing more laughter to arise in the Seidou regulars.
"H-how cute, Furu-furuya!" Miyuki yelled.
Furuya turned to stone at his mistake and immediately fell to the ground. Nobody bothered to catch him.
Haruichi couldn't help but blush, feeling second-hand embarrassment for his fellow first year. "Poor Satoru-kun."
"To be fair, Chris is a lot like a mother to the team," Ryousuke mused.
"Then who's the father?" asked Sawamura, still wiping the tears from his eyes.
The answer came without hesitation. "Tetsu."
Tetsu hardened, his face revealing no emotion except for the light blush on his cheeks. "Tch."
"If Yuki-senpai is the father, does that make Tanba-senpai the mother too?" Haruichi thought, realizing too late that he had said that out loud.
Jun laughed and pat the younger Kominato on the back. "I like you, Kominato-kun!"
"So we have two mothers?" Sawamura asked. "Chris-senpai! Sorry, I mean Mama!"
Miyuki laughed. "If Chris-senpai, Tetsu-san and Tanba-san are the parents..."
"Then that makes the rest of the third years the uncles..." continued Kuramochi.
"...and the first and second years brothers!" Miyuki finished. "Oi, Sawamura, call me oniichan now!"
"Okay!" Sawamura replied, surprisingly not against it. "Uh, but I don't think Harucchi should be a brother."
"Oh?" Ryousuke said. "So then what should he be?"
"Harucchi is small, right?" Sawamura began. "So I think he's more like a baby."
The team went silent once again, save for Haruichi's sputters of embarrassment and the occasional kick to Furuya to see if he was still alive. Miyuki was the first one to react, falling to the floor once again with a loud burst of laughter. Kuramochi and Jun soon joined him, with Kawakami nearly doing the same.
Tetsu scratched his chin in thought. "That does work, however."
"He's tiny and he looks pretty young, even for a first year," agreed Chris.
"Then it's settled," Ryousuke said with a smirk. "Haruichi is the baby."
Said Kominato boy was hiding behind his older brother, his cheeks looking similar to the color of a tomato. His lips were curved in what should have been a frown, but due to his adorable appearance, it came off more like a childish pout.
Jun covered his nose in an attempt to cover the impending nosebleed. Damn, he's too cute.
The rest of the Seidou regulars seemed to have this issue as well. Sawamura was the only one not attempting to shield his nose, although a look of amazement was on his face and a light pink tint on his cheeks.
Ryousuke took note of the stares and opened his eyes, just enough for a little bit of burning pink to be seen. "Is something wrong?"
His fellow teammates shook their heads and backed off, knowing Ryousuke only showed his eyes when he meant business. (Ironically, the only times any of them had seen his eyes, albeit partially, was when it came to things concerning Haruichi.)
The day continued with the players opting to bathe and then relax in their rooms. Eventually, the treacherous heat wave passed by and practice returned to its usual schedule. Coach Kataoka briefly worried that his players wouldn't perform their usual way due to the lack of exercise for nearly two weeks, and was quite proud when he found out that the break had done nothing to hinder their capabilities. The only unusual thing he noticed was the way the team would refer to each other. Long gone were the yells of "Captain!" or "Beard-senpai!" Even the highly respected (though feared was a better term) Ryousuke was being called "oniisan", and it wasn't by his younger brother.
"Mama!" Sawamura yelled one day, walking over to Chris with Furuya in tow.
"Yes?"
"Furuya keeps on ignoring me!"
"Furuya..." Chris said sternly.
"..." The pitcher did not reply and stared at the ground.
"See?!" wailed Sawamura. "Stupid jerk..."
"You're the jerk," replied Furuya.
"No, you are!"
"You are."
"You are!"
"That's enough," Chris said in a tone that left no room for argument. "Sawamura, stop being so annoying, and Furuya, start being more social. We're more than a team, you know."
Coach Kataoka and Takashima stared at each other. Neither knew whether to be completely confused or to just laugh it off. Their heard a faint mutter of "snitch" from Furuya, followed by an indignant yell by Sawamura.
Takashima chose to speak up first. "Chris-kun?"
"Yes, Takashima-sensei?"
"Did...did Sawamura-kun just call you Mama?"
Chris smiled and nodded, his formerly dull eyes gleaming slightly. "Yes. It's something the team came up with. Me and Tanba are the mothers, while Tetsu is the father."
"And you're okay with that?"
"I think it shows how close we are as a team and nobody has objected to it, so I see no reason for it to cease," Chris replied.
That's true, the coach mused. It's still weird, though.
The baseball team had two practice games the next day. The first game had gone very well. Kawakami pitched for five innings before the game was called, leaving them was an outstanding score of 14-3. The next game didn't go by as smoothly. Though Seidou was leading by two points, the other team was quick to recover and could easily regain points. In the sixth inning, Haruichi switched in for Sakai.
"Let's go, Baby!" yelled Kuramochi.
"You can do it!" cheered Sawamura from the dugout. "Go Baby go!"
"First pitch, Baby," Furuya said, because even the silent and stoic pitcher couldn't resist Haruichi's rather cute familial name.
Haruichi blushed at his nickname, thankful the crowd wasn't big like it normally was. Several managers from other teams that had come to do research on Seidou scribbled down the word.
Is is a special move? they all thought. When Haruichi hit a home run, raising Seidou's score by four points, the managers assumed the "baby" move meant to hit the ball as far as one could. They saved it into their notes and added more information as the game went on. Apparently Seidou had more code words, as they also yelled things such as "Uncle" or "Otouto" for other players. When the game concluded in Seidou's favor, the managers relayed the information to their teams.
"The third years have two special plays, called the 'oniisan' and the 'uncle.' The first years also have a special play, called the 'otouto-kun.' "
"Their ace, Tanba, has a hidden pitch called the 'Mama.' It hasn't been used yet, but the Seidou players constantly call for it."
"The captain, Tetsuya Yuki-san, also has a specific hit, called the 'Papa.' "
"Their pinch hitter is Haruichi Kominato."
"He's only a first year but sports the best batting average on the team, even with their impressive players."
"He has something, too."
"It's called the 'Baby.' Judging from what happened at the game, the 'Baby' means to hit the ball as far as Kominato-san can."
One team had drilled the code words into their minds. Sure enough, when Haruichi came up to bat, his teammates roared the name of the special hit only he could seemingly do.
"You can do it, Baby!" yelled a third year with a beard.
"Have fuuuun, Baby!" cooed another player with glasses.
"Come on, Baby," said a short male with pink hair identical to that of Seidou's pitch hitter.
The other team's players made eye contact with their coach, who nodded. They moved back and waited for Haruichi's far hit.
Haruichi took note of this and spotted the ideal spot to hit the ball. He gripped the bat just above the knob, making it seem like he would hit it far.
He's gonna do it! thought one player with a smirk. Seidou really shouldn't use code words when they're so obvious about them. Hand gestures work better.
The corner's of Ryousuke's lips curved upward slightly when he saw what his little brother was trying to attempt. Every pitch the pitcher's thrown has been a curve ball that is barely in. You're telling him you're hitting it to the outside, making him want to pitch it to the inside and confirming the fielder's suspicions. But at the last moment, you're going to switch your grip and hit it right between the second baseman and right fielder.
When Haruichi did exactly that, Ryousuke chuckled to himself as he ran to third base. Had it been anyone else, that play would have been impossible. The second baseman could have caught it, you could have switched the grip too late, any number of things could have gone wrong.
Haruichi pumped his fist in the air at second base, the familiar shade of red taking over his cheeks.
But nothing did, because it was your play.
When the game was over and Seidou won, the other team reacted quite weirdly. Instead of crying or yelling at each other, they yelled at their manager.
"You said the 'Baby' meant to that Kominato-san would hit the ball as far as he could!"
"I knew you were wrong! He's too small to make that work!"
"And Yuki-san didn't even do the 'Papa!' "
The Seidou team stared at their opponents, wondering what they were blaming their manager for.
"Let's go," said Kataoka. "We have another game tomorrow."
The team nodded and went to go pick up their bags. Haruichi was ready to leave when a shoulder on his arm stopped him.
"WHAT'S THE 'BABY?' " yelled the opposing team's manager, having barely managed to escape his team's beating. "YOU'RE THE PINCH HITTER, RIGHT? WHAT'S THE 'BABY?' "
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Haruichi stuttered. "P-p-please, excuse me."
The manager's grip did not waver. He grabbed Haruichi's shoulder and began to shake the smaller boy. "TELL ME. MY TEAM WON'T STOP BLAMING ME FOR NOT KNOWING WHAT IT IS."
"There's no baby," said a voice behind them. "Haruichi is Seidou's baby."
"What?" said the manager.
"He's our baby," another voice added.
"So don't lay a finger on him," threatened yet another.
The manager felt something on his shoulder before his was pushed down to the ground. He stared up for his attacker and found three people glaring down at him.
"Tch, you fell down because of that?" scoffed Jun. "How pathetic."
"And he still tried to hurt Kominato-kun," added Kuramochi. "Right in front of us, too."
Ryousuke smiled at the male on the ground. His smile was terrifying; it was the kind of smile a serial killer made right before they were about to stab their victim. He leaned down and whispered into the manager's ear. "Never, ever, ever lay a hand on my brother ever again. If you so much as look at him the wrong way, I swear on my life I will..."
"MAMA! FURUYA IS IGNORING ME AGAIN!"
"PAPA! WHERE'S MAMA? NO, NOT CHRIS-SAN! I MEANT TANBA!"
"MIYUKI WE ARE IN THE SAME YEAR I AM NOT GOING TO CALL YOU ONIICHAN!"
"But I'm still older by five months..."
Damn kouhais, cursed Jun. We didn't even get to hear what Ryou-san said.
Ryousuke stood up and sent one last glare at the trembling manager before smiling at Haruichi. "Nice play today."
Haruichi blushed. "Thanks, aniki. What did you do to him?"
"Nothing," replied Ryousuke. "I just told him to stay away from Seidou's baby."
I feel like there was a little bit of OOC but I'm too lazy to care.