Toa was sitting in his office, wasting time. Yesterday, he hadn't had much interaction with the team, but today, contact would be unavoidable. He had already ordered all the supplies the coaching staff needed, and the team roster was finalized and submitted. He was supposed to be on the field in ten minutes to meet with the team and formally introduce himself as Assistant Coach Takahashi's new assistant. He would be present during training, drills, and practice games before they broke left for winter break, and after they came back for spring training. The team most likely knew what was coming, seeing as he'd been running around the stadium like a madman the previous day. Hopefully Coach Imawano and Takami had told them all the details so they didn't try to attack him out of shock. He would speak slowly, and avoid any sudden movements. As the minutes ticked by, he stood up and walked out of his office. He might as well stop trying to delay the inevitable.

As Toa made his way towards the field, he saw the team clustered around the coach. When he got closer, he caught the attention of several players. They didn't exactly look thrilled. Kawanaka, Amami, and Brooklyn he remembered, and judging by their looks, they apparently remembered him as well. No matter, as long as they didn't tear anyone to shreds, his job would be done. No need to get anyone to like him.

Toa stood by Coach Imawano, and waited for his formal introduction. While he stood there, he kept his head held high with a neutral expression, and his feet shoulder width apart. He decided it best to look confident, but not cocky.

"Anyway," Coach Imawano said "This is Tokuchi. You all remember him from last year. No need for introductions". At this, a few of the pitchers started to look a bit unsettled. "He will be Coach Takahashi's new assistant. He's been recruited to help us come together for the new season. Try to get along". Kira and Mizuhashi looked a bit relieved. With that, Imawano was finished with him, and moved on to discuss the regimen the different coaches would be going over with each group of players for the last half of their postseason practice schedule. Tokuchi would oversee the practice with a few other observers to get a feel for the team dynamic.

After watching for a while, Toa started to get an idea of what may be the team's biggest flaws. The first and foremost issue they would have to address would be communication. They would also have to work on basic teamwork. It would seem that there were still several players who would not interact with each other. They also needed to learn more basic teamwork. On an individual level, everyone had overwhelming skill, but as a whole, they had issues utilizing those skills when in action. Fair balls had dropped between Takami and Kira several times due to each thinking the other had it. Thomas missed an easy pitch because he had misread a sign. It was these little mistakes that could really add up to make the team brittle and uncertain.

After observing for a while, he made his observations known to Coach Imawano, who surprisingly took his word for it. He most likely had noticed it himself, but decided it best to delegate the issue.

When practice ended, Coach Imawano gathered the the outfielders, and ordered them to meet with Tokuchi to go over some suggested improvements. Brooklyn and Amami didn't look too pleased to hear that. When they had all settled down in one of the meeting rooms in the clubhouse, Tokuchi entered, and stood at the front of the room.

"When I observed your practice today, I noticed several issues in your teamwork" he said slowly. "What I noticed was that most of the mistakes you made lead back to miscommunication" he continued, looking over in Amami's direction. "If you intend to make it very far this season, then you will have to work on communicating effectively, and without letting yourselves be caught up in any outside distractions" he said, glancing over to Brooklyn. Takami tried not to cringe. Tokuchi was obviously trying to bait them. That might not go over well, especially with Brooklyn.

"Why are you lecturing us about teamwork when you're pretty much the base of the problem?" Yamakawa asked suddenly, drawing their attention.

Tokuchi was not fazed. "The issues were already there" he said, "I just happened to see them for what they were".

Yamakawa looked less than satisfied, but he kept quiet. He probably wanted to avoid making a scene.

Tokuchi sighed. "The only reason I was able to do what I did was because there seemed to be a disconnect between the players brought in by the trade and some of the players that were displaced" he said as he looked around the room. "My intention today was to inform, and not to argue. I will leave you with that information". With that, he turned and left.

The room erupted into a low hum of angry muttering and discontented murmurs. Amami and Brooklyn hadn't broken off into their own little segmented groups, but that was more likely to prove a point than to actually improve. Takami stood up and did his best to get their attention.

"I know it isn't great having him here" he said, and a few heads turned. "I know it might not have been right for me to bring him here" he continued, and with that, he had the room's attention. "I just think we should give him a chance to help fix what he did" Takami said, very aware that he was probably becoming less popular by the second. "If we don't, we might just finish what he started". After finishing, he swept out of the room, and ambled towards Tokuchi's glorified broom closet, hoping to catch him before he left.

Itsuki caught Tokuchi right as he was about to leave. "What the hell was that?" he asked loudly, catching Tokuchi by his elbow. "Why were you baiting them?" The blank look on Tokuchi's face only served to anger him more. "You're supposed to be bringing them together, not starting fights".

Tokuchi yanked his arm away, and got in his face. "I was proving a point" he said. "They obviously don't see how their ignorance is working against them".

Itsuki shook his head. "Still" he continued "There is absolutely no need for you to antagonize Brooklyn and Amami like that. We all know you saw a weakness and exploited it, but that doesn't mean you have to rub it in".

Tokuchi rolled his eyes at that. "Really" he said nonchalantly "You are being dramatic. They're grown men, and they can advocate for themselves".

"Whatever" Itsuki spat. "Just try not to be an asshole next time". After gauging Tokuchi's expressionless face, he turned on his heel and stormed away.

Toa stood there for a few moments, allowing himself to calm down a bit. He had honestly thought that Takami was going to escalate that spat to a physical altercation. Thankfully, he seemed to have more self-control than that. He locked up his office, and made his way out to his car. This would be a lot harder than he had previously anticipated.

The next day when he walked up to his office, Takami was already there, waiting for him. Toa stayed on guard, readying himself in case a punch came his way. But none did. Instead, Takami walked up to him, looking somber.

"Listen" the other man began "I'm sorry about going off on you yesterday". Now that was unexpected. Before Toa could say anything, Takami continued "I just want you to try and get along with the rest of the team. Brooklyn can be hotheaded, but he really is a great guy. And Amami is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. You just need to put in some effort, and stop antagonizing them. If you just show them you're invested, they'll be on your side".

Toa heaved a sigh. "So you came by to apologize and tell me to play nice". Takami gave a little half shrug, and stood there expectantly. Great, now he probably expected an apology. But none would come. "I will do my best to not antagonize anyone on purpose" Toa acquiesced. "But don't expect me to go out of my way to make friends".

Takami sighed. "I wouldn't expect anything more" he said, before walking away.

After that day's practice, Toa gathered the players that hadn't been at the previous day's meeting. He noticed that Kawanaka and Thomas were sitting front and center, eyes boring holes in his head. They must have heard how the previous day's meeting must have gone. It would be fine though, he would take Takami's advice to heart and try and antagonize them a bit less.

"I will keep this short" he said, standing up. "What you need to work on is communication. So far that has been your biggest issue, and the root of pretty much all of your problems". Before he could go on, Kawanaka interrupted him.

"From the way I see it you were the one that ruined everything last season" Kawanaka said, with a sharp edge to his voice. "In my opinion, you and your bullshit comments were the root of all our problems" he said loudly. Toa had a choice to make. He could engage, and feel good about himself, or take the high road in hopes of earning the team's respect.

"If you had communicated better, I wouldn't have been a problem for you" Toa said simply, making his choice. "Maybe if you had noticed the flaws in your infrastructure earlier, my comments wouldn't have made a difference one way or another." He would have gone on, but a sudden blunt force caught him on the left side of his face, slamming his head into the wall. He had not expected that. As he sat there a little dazed, he watched a few people file out of the room after Thomas. Toa could guess that the offending fist was attached to him. With all the dignity he could muster, he stood up, and dusted off his pants, ignoring the warm fluid trickling down his chin, and walked out of the room. As he continued down the hall, he let the gravity of the situation sink in. He had really fucked up this time.

Once he made it to his office, he sat down with a thud, and grabbed a rag out of his desk drawer. On his way down, he had caught his reflection in a window. He wasn't looking so hot. His nose was bleeding pretty bad, and he might have split his lip, but he couldn't tell with all the blood. He leaned forward, and pinched his nose with the rag to stave off the nosebleed. Good news was, his nose wasn't broken. The bad news was the pain. And embarrassment. He had been punched out in front of a room full of people, and hadn't done anything about it. All for running his mouth. He could see now that his usual tactics were not going to work here. Just as he was beginning to feel at the bump forming on the back of his head, his office door slammed open, and Takami rushed in, slamming it shut behind him.

"What the hell happened?" he yelled, ignoring the sour look Toa shot at him.

"I was trying to hold a meeting" Toa said, doing his best not to splutter blood everywhere as he spoke.

"Well you obviously didn't take my advice" Takami cried, growing more irate. "What the hell did you say to get Thomas to hit you like that?"

"I was just trying to hold a meeting" Toa said as calmly as possible. "That's the way I did it with the Lycaons, so forgive me for thinking it would work again".

Takami stood there for a minute with trepidation in his eyes. "Thomas is the most calm, levelheaded person I know" he said, finally beginning to calm down. (")He has the patience of a saint. Whenever there are brawls on the field, he pretty much never fights. You must have said something really awful".

Toa did his best to not roll his eyes at that. "Well the good news is, I learned my lesson early on before anybody could get hurt" he said with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

"Not quite, the other man said. "You did". At this, he pulled a folding chair out from behind the door, and sat down slumped over with his chin resting on his hand.

"Well no shit" was Toa's only reply before he went back to nursing his still bleeding nose.

They both sat quietly for the next few minutes. Toa managed to stop the bleeding, and began inspecting his lip and the back of his head. He had cut the inside of his lip on his teeth from the blow, and he would most likely have a good sized bump on his head for a few days. Takami was the first one to break the silence.

"Was I wrong to bring you here?" He asked, gazing over at Toa.

"I don't know yet" Toa answered slowly. After another few minutes, Takami stood up, and walked out of his office.