The next week went by with little issue for Toa. The database was pretty much done, and the season opening was fast approaching. In less than a week, he would travel with the team and act as both an assistant coach and a consultant. He could say goodbye to the few meagre hours of free time he had managed to squeeze out since the start of his employment. While he wasn't exactly looking forward to it, traveling with the team sounded better than being trapped in his tiny office all day hunkered over his computer like a cubicle rat.

Later that night, Toa sat back and admired his program. He had no idea how he did it, but it was finally finished. Hopefully this last menial task would spell the end of his days as a glorified intern. With that, he shut his computer down and stood up, preparing to go home.

As if on cue, Takami opened the door and glanced over at the now dark monitor.

"Did you finish?" he asked, stepping closer.

"I believe so," Toa said before stepping around Takami to exit his office. Takami took the hint, and followed him outside. After Toa locked his door, he made his way out to the parking lot with Takami walking beside him.

"Did you want me to look over it one last time?" Takami asked, seemingly trying to make small talk.

"It's fine" Toa stated. "Thanks for your help figuring it out, though." Looking over, he was greeted by the sight of unusually huge blue eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Toa asked, narrowing his eyes and widening the distance between them.

"You've never thanked me before. I've actually never heard you thank anyone," Takami said, blinking at Toa.

"Ah. I guess I haven't, have I?" was Toa's only response.

Takami grunted and didn't say anything until they reached the parking lot. Before Toa could turn to leave, Takami spoke up, catching his attention. "We should celebrate sometime," he said. "We worked hard on that project. And you really should get out sometime. I hear you avoid pretty much every social gathering involving support staff."

Toa paused for a second, gazing over at Takami. He couldn't have finished that project without him, and he probably did owe him something for putting in all that time.

"Fine," Toa replied. "Let me know what you decide". With that, he turned and walked towards his car, leaving Takami where he stood.

"Sounds good," Takami said to nobody in particular, then continued toward his car, trying to ignore the small rush that had just hit him. He honestly hadn't expected Tokuchi to go along with his suggestion. He definitely wouldn't complain, though. He had to admit, for all his many faults, Toa could be good company.

The next week went by with little time for anything other than practice and preparation for the season opener. Itsuki hadn't had time to walk by Toa's office, let alone drop by. Knowing him, though, he probably wasn't offended. Probably relieved. Nevertheless, he wanted to see him. Just to make sure he was still there. Not that he would run off before he fulfilled his end of the bargain. It was more like the fact that they were in the same building right now still didn't feel real.

Now that the season opener was tonight, however, he would probably see a lot more of Toa on the road. From then on, he was supposed to take a more active role in the team. Not that many people were pleased about it, and Itsuki had to admit to himself that he probably wasn't the most popular person on the team at the moment. But everyone else would come around.

Just then, Itsuki glanced up at the clock from his position in the stadiums club house. The game against the Eagles would start in about an hour. The stadium would already be filling up fast. He smiled to himself, and stood up with a few of his teammates and made his way down to the locker room.

The energy in the locker room was so high; he could practically feel it reverberating off the walls. It was pretty evident that they were all hell bent on starting the season off with a bang. After changing, he went out into the dugout where the coaching staff was already getting set up.

Coach Imawano was already giving orders to the assistant staff, and had his colleagues finish getting ready. Toa, of course had apparently finished his chores, and looked like he was itching to sprawl out on the bench. Itsuki silently nodded over at him to acknowledge his self-control. Imawano definitely would have flat out murdered him if he had even tried to sit down.

A few of their opponents were already on the field warming up. Okabe was already doing practice swings by the dugout. Mizuhashi and Yoshida seemed more relaxed than they were when they played the Eagles last. Now that they had time to settle in, they didn't seem as antsy.

After a few rounds of practice swings and pitches, Itsuki sat in the dugout watching the coaches determine who would bat first. He couldn't hear anything, but by the look on Imawano's face, it would be the Mariners. What luck.

It looked like the Eagles would be using one of their new recruits as a starter. Itsuki narrowed his eyes at him. He hadn't heard anything about this new pitcher, or what he could throw. Scooting forward, he watched as Kitaooji made his way up to the plate.

Kitaooji wisely let the first pitch turn into a strike. Turns out the new kid could pitch a mean slider. It didn't matter much to Kitaooji apparently, as he managed to hit the next pitch and make it to first. Sighing, Itsuki stood up and made his way out of the dugout, skipping his warm-up swings.

After stepping up to the plate, he made eye contact with the pitcher, and embraced the small rush it gave him. He could feel the energy from the spectators wash over him as he prepared to swing. Itsuki honestly couldn't understand why people did drugs when they could feel this instead.

The pitcher went through a normal windup, and released the ball, throwing at least 80 miles per hour. To some, that would be formidable. But any hesitation was soon erased when his bat made contact, sending the ball into the outfield with a satisfying SMACK.

After getting over to first, he waited for Amami to take the plate. While he waited for him to either get a hit or strike out, he let himself glance over at the bench. Toa was standing right next to the assistant coach, eyes trained on Amami. For a brief moment, it looked like he was about to glance over in his direction, but he was quickly interrupted by the sound of a bat making contact with a ball.

Itsuki ran towards second with all he had while an outfielder caught the ball in his periphery. Amami may have gotten out, but at least he and Thomas had made it to the next base.

Back in the dugout, Toa watched the game intently. While they were doing alright to begin with, he needed to look out for any mistakes or errors that fell under his criteria. So far, so good though. As of yet, they hadn't messed up too badly. While he waited for Amami to hit, he glanced over at Takami, who was also looking at him. Though before he could even blink, Amami had struck out and Kitaooji and Takami proceeded to the next bases over. So far so good.

The rest of the game went as well as they could have hoped, with them leading the score 6-2 at the top of the 7th. They were at bat. Toa had begun to get a feel for what this year's version of the Chiba Mariners may be. They seemed a bit more solid than last year, but he could still see the cracks in the wall. He was finally getting to work with the coaching staff more actively, and thankfully they would occasionally listen to him, making a note or two.

While they started the batting rotation, Toa looked over at the Eagle's bench. They didn't seem to be as high in spirit as they started out in. Hopefully they would let the point difference get to them, but that was unlikely, especially at the start of the season.

The rest of the game passed quickly enough, with the Mariners winning 10-6. Itsuki had hoped to win with a bigger margin, but they had won. The coaching staff was happy, the fans were happy, so he would be happy. On the way out, an assistant ran over and handed him his bags.

They would be traveling over to the Eagles stadium for the next two games. He had to admit, the perks of being a pro were way too good to pass up. Nice busses, people to pack your bag for you, even snacks on the bus. He felt some pity for those in the farm leagues right then. They didn't know how good they could have it.

Soon, he was on the bus. Some players had already fallen asleep somehow. He honestly didn't know how they did it. Everything had to be just right before he could sleep. He settled into his seat, resigning himself to a few hours of boredom while they travelled.

Looking around, he took inventory of the people around him. Brooklyn, Kitaooji, and Thomas were sleeping. Amami and Kawanaka were talking quietly in the front of the bus. Most everyone else were either watching the movie that played quietly on a few screens throughout the bus, reading, or listening to their walkmans. In front of them was the bus carrying the coaches, support staff, and a few media reps. Overall, it was shaping up to be a quiet ride.

Once they got to their hotel, Itsuki made his way off the bus to collect his bag. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Toa doing the same. He quickly straightened up and walked over.

"So, what did you think of the game earlier?" he asked, trying to make small talk as they walked in.

"It was alright. You guys managed to not completely screw it up" Toa replied lowly quietly

"Thanks" Itsuki said in return. "Are you going to bed yet?" he asked.

"Probably not." Toa said. "I'll just wait until my roommates are asleep."

"There you go again not interacting." Itsuki shot back.

"Not so much that I don't want them to watch me sleep. I know a few of them probably would." Toa said. Itsuki honestly couldn't tell whether or not he was being sarcastic. He honestly wouldn't put it past a couple of them.

"Want to get something to drink, then?" Itsuki asked. "Coffee, that is," he added quickly. No way was he going to drink right before a game.

"Sure," Tokuchi said.

After getting a recommendation from the concierge, Itsuki found himself in a 24 hour cafe with Tokuchi. Right then, he realized he didn't know what to say. He honestly didn't even know why he invited him. He could have gone to bed and gotten a full night's sleep, but he was seated next to Tokuchi holding a mug of pure caffeine.

"What's going on?" Tokuchi asked.

"What do you mean?" Itsuki countered.

"You invited me out of nowhere. I figured something was going on that you needed to tell me about."

Itsuki was embarrassed. "It's not like that," he said. "I do have people to talk to about personal stuff. Nothing's going on with me that you need to know about."

Tokuchi blinked at him slowly. "I meant the game," he stated.

"Oh," Takami said. "Yeah." He raked through the barrage of thoughts that were running through his head. "What do you think of that new pitcher?" he asked. "The one who can throw that slider?"

"I'm not too impressed," Tokuchi said. "He can pitch well, but he's easily distracted."

Itsuki grunted in response. He had noticed him getting off his game every once in awhile at the start. "I agree," he finally said.

"Really, Okabe is the only one on that team with any promise at all after you guys managed to get Mizuhashi and Yoshida." Toa said, eyes glinting with mirth.

"I can't disagree with that," Itsuki said, sharing Toa's look. "I was honestly disappointed in us when they got so close. We should never have had to work that hard to win against those guys." Itsuki continued.

"It was honestly kind of pathetic." Toa agreed. "At least you managed to keep from totally embarrassing yourself out there."

"Thanks," Itsuki said with a snort that could have been a chuckle. He was enjoying this. Nobody on his team had been too into shit talking lately. It was nice to just let loose. Before he could continue with their discussion, Toa stood up.

"I should probably get going before they lock the door for the night," Toa said. "I don't have my key card yet."

"That's fine." Itsuki said. "Goodnight. See you tomorrow."

Toa then gave him a rare half smile that could almost be seen as genuine in the right light, then left.