The mood on the bus the next day was significantly better than it was the last time they had travelled. The game against the Bugaboos was that evening, and they all felt prepared. The ride over was marked by the presence of a few members of the upper coaching staff. Some high level media representatives were riding on the staff bus, so naturally they would push them onto the player's bus. Itsuki noted that the other players were only mildly annoyed with this development. Itsuki turned to face forward. He wouldn't let anything make him lose focus. He could only hope that the others felt the same way.
Later that evening, they were a few innings in against the Bugaboos, and things were progressing nicely. Their pitchers had managed to fend them off reasonably well, and they had managed to stay a consistent five points ahead. Although Johnson was giving them trouble as expected, the others were remaining surprisingly calm. Itsuki glanced over to where Kawanaka was sitting. They had him to thank for fending off Johnson as much as they had. They just had to keep their lead, and they would do well.
After another round of at bats, Itsuki was feeling even more confident. Confident enough to sneak a few glances over at Tokuchi. He was wearing the typical high collared jacket that the other coaches were wearing due to the unseasonably cool chill in the air. Unfortunately, it hid the scratches Itsuki had come to be so proud of. That was probably Tokuchi's plan. Turning back to the field, he watched as Yamakawa struck out. Thankfully, nobody did anything about it. Maybe Tokuchi was making a difference after all. As he made his way out to third base, he observed Kawanaka as he took the mound. Using him against Johnson was a calculated choice on Imawano's behalf. As a lefty, Kawanaka was difficult for a normal batter to hit off of. Against a bunter like Johnson, he was practically invincible. Practically being the key word, as Johnson was able to bunt the first pitch that came his way, zipping over to first before anybody could do anything about it. Kawanaka only looked mildly disgruntled, and turned to face the next batter. His next pitch would likely be a fork ball.
True to Itsuki's prediction, Kawanaka struck out the next two batters with forks. Unfortunately, that meant Johnson still had time to get to third. Itsuki stood there a couple of feet away from him anticipating a possible pickoff attempt. One that didn't come. With the next pitch, Johnson darted over to home, and tapped the base without the catcher even coming close to getting him out. The consistency of his score was starting to get to Itsuki, and over the next few innings, it was apparently getting to the pitchers too.
After Kawanaka was traded out with Kira, Johnson still kept up his score. Before long, they were back and neck at the top of the ninth. As Itsuki stepped out onto the field, he braced himself. He really needed to score a point. It was the only thing he could do at that point. Unfortunately, he only hit the ball with enough distance for him to get to first. Thomas hit next, getting him to second, followed by Amami who struck out. Itsuki was getting restless. They only had two more outs, then Johnson would come out once more to grind them into the dust. Luckily, Brooklyn managed to hit out into the outfield far enough that he and Thomas both were able to round home. Itsuki headed back to the dugout to observe the rest of the inning. Unfortunately, they were struck out twice more, and the Bugaboos were at bat. They only had to score two more points and the game would go into extra innings. Three, and they would win. Itsuki didn't want to start losing that early in the season.
Mizuhashi was able to fend off the Bugaboos lineup relatively well, but not well enough that they weren't able to score one more point. With that, the game was set. They had won by a single point. That seemed to irk Imawano, as he tossed his clipboard onto the bench in a huff.
After he had showered and changed, he headed to the hotel with most of the team. A few others had decided to go out, but Itsuki wouldn't partake that night. Not when they had morning warm up with a midday game. After they reached the hotel, he spotted Tokuchi in the lobby. Tokuchi apparently noticed him as well, as he seemed to wrap up whatever conversation he was having with another assistant, and headed his way.
"That wasn't your best tonight," He said, not bothering to greet him. "What's going on?"
Itsuki did his best to not get irritated with Tokuchi. He was probably just trying to do his job. Probably.
"Not sure," he said. "I didn't think I was that bad. Around average for me".
Tokuchi cocked his head at him. "Shame," he replied. "I'm not used to you just being 'average'". Itsuki didn't know whether it was an insult or a compliment. Probably both. He decided to ignore it.
"So what are you up to for the rest of the night?" he asked, trying to keep things civil.
"I hadn't thought of it just yet," Tokuchi said. "I've done everything I needed to do".
"In that case," Itsuki said, "Feel perfectly welcome to come by later," he said quietly. "I'm in 308". "Only of you're interested though". Tokuchi gave him a small half smile.
"I'll think about it," he replied. With that, they both went their own separate ways.
After he got back to his hotel room, Itsuki flipped the TV on. He wanted to see how the Lycaons did against the Eagles earlier. After a few minutes of watching recaps, Itsuki could honestly say he was nervous. The Lycaons had been consistently at the top when it came to scores that season, and they had won the vast majority of their games so far. As the commentators showed a slow motion recap of one of Kurai's pitches, Itsuki couldn't help but shudder. He still didn't know how he could beat Kurai if he kept pitching the way he had been. It was honestly kind of scary having the ball come at him like that the last season. And he had never been afraid of the ball before.
When it came down to it, it would probably be either him or Amami to hit off of Kurai, but if he was pitching the same way he had been, then it may be another year before he gave up the record he had steadily been building. As the commentator went on, Itsuki saw Kojima in the dugout. It was a shame that he'd retired, but unsurprisingly enough, he was making waves as a coach. If it weren't for the fact that he now owned the Lycaons, he would most likely be scouted left and right. The rest of the players were also doing well at getting rid of whatever bad reputation that may have lingered from the previous season. He kind of expected them to be getting scouted as soon as some of their contracts expired. Before he could watch them dominate the Eagles more, he heard a knock at his door. Itsuki's heart just about skipped a beat. It was probably Tokuchi.
Itsuki made his way over without bothering to turn off the television. Tokuchi wasn't weak. He could take watching his old team. True to form, Tokuchi stepped in without greeting him.
"So," he started. "What did you have in mind?" Itsuki stood there dumbly for a second.
"Well, I was thinking that we could just. You know, hang out?" he asked, realizing that he didn't have anything planned.
Tokuchi sighed. "If that's what you call it" he muttered before closing the distance between them. Itsuki was thrown for a moment before he realized what was probably going on. Asking Tokuchi to come up to his hotel room had some less than innocent implications now that he thought about it. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this. Not that he was complaining. At that moment, complaining about kissing Tokuchi was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Tokuchi-" he started before he was interrupted.
"You know that you can call me by my first name now, right?" Tokuchi said. Itsuki stood there for a second before grabbing Toku- no, Toa and yanking him back to kiss him again. He had honestly never thought that they would get to a first name basis.
Things were progressing nicely until a commotion on the TV made Toa pull away. Glancing over at the TV, he pulled a face. Before Itsuki could turn it off, Toa moved away from him, and sat down on the end of his bed to reluctantly watch the recap of the game.
"We can turn that off, you know," Itsuki said, feeling the urgent need to get close to Toa again.
"Not in the mood anymore," Toa said, glancing sourly over at him. Goddamit, he had gotten really close, too. Itsuki sighed and sat down next to Tokuchi to watch the rest of the game.
"What do you think?" he asked, glancing over at Toa nervously. "Think we can beat them?" They would be playing them after they finished with the Bugaboos. If Toa had any insight, now was the time to hear it.
Tokuchi glanced back over at him before focusing his attention back on the TV. "I honestly don't know," he said. "They're doing better now than when I left them. Kojima's been teaching them well".
"Do you even know how to beat them?" Itsuki asked. He didn't expect Toa to tell him if he did, he just wanted to know.
"I have no idea how to beat them," Tokuchi stated plainly. "I wasn't thinking of playing against them when I was there, so I never thought of leaving them with a weakness". Tokuchi sighed. "At this point, I don't think we can beat them. They have all of my strengths, and none of my weaknesses. That combined with having Kojima as a coach leaves me wondering if they can be beaten as they are now". That sent shiver of dread down Itsuki's back. If Toa was being honest, and he believed he was, then the Lycaons were far more formidable than he had ever anticipated.
The next day, Itsuki zipped through his morning routine, hung out a bit with his teammates, and spent the afternoon going over strategies to deal with Johnson. So far, all of his ideas had been shot down. At this point, breaking legs was sounding pretty good.
Later that same day, Itsuki was seriously considering breaking at least one of Johnson's legs. Not that it was just him giving them a hard time. It was the fault of at least a third of the batting lineup that the Bugaboos had managed to pull six points ahead of them by the bottom of the seventh inning. With just two innings left to go, they needed to haul some serious ass to keep up, otherwise Imawano would probably murder them. They barely had been able to go through a rotation before they had been struck out. It seemed as though Itsuki was the only one capable of scoring that evening, and it began to grate him. Looking over at the coaches, Itsuki could almost see the palpable tension rising from Imawano. That was never good.
After another disastrous rotation thanks to the Bugaboos, they had one inning left, and Itsuki meant to make it count. After Kitaooji had unceremoniously struck out, Itsuki found himself on the plate. When the pitcher wound up and pitched, Itsuki followed the ball closely, made a guess, and was immediately rewarded when it sailed over the outfielders and went into the home run zone. Maybe he really was getting his groove back after all. His scored point must have injected some life back into the team, as both Amami and Brooklyn were able to score points. Finally, they were down by only three points when a pitching change was announced.
What Itsuki did not expect was for the more experienced relief pitcher to be replaced by a foreign rookie pitcher. He glanced over at Imawano, who seemed confused. Judging by the murmur that arose from the coaching staff, this rookie hadn't pitched in a game yet this season. Some guy named Sandro Velasquez. No matter, Itsuki was on a roll, and he wouldn't let some newbie knock him off his game.
When Thomas struck out swinging, Itsuki thought it may have been a fluke. When Brooklyn struck out swinging, Itsuki began to get nervous. When Amami struck out swinging, Itsuki felt a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. They had lost. He had honestly thought that they would have been able to pull ahead. Disappointment soon set in. God knows they would get it that night from Imawano. Their loss would probably totally overshadow their win from the night before. On the way back to the hotel, the mood was somber. With that loss, the Lycaons had pulled ahead of them in the rankings. That was unprecedented, but not unexpected at this point. The way they were, they would be lucky to make it to the end of the season.
The next day, the bus ride back to the stadium in Chiba was totally silent. Usually a loss like that wouldn't bring the team down so low. Toa was probably right. They had been doing damage to themselves. Probably to the point that a close loss like that was bringing the whole team down. They really needed to get past whatever was holding them back. Toa really needed to step up his game. After going their separate ways to prepare for the final game that evening, Itsuki decided to ask Amami to get some lunch with him. He really needed some guy talk.
After they got to a local sandwich shop and ordered, they sat down. The silence grew heavier by the second. "So," Itsuki began. "How do you think this'll go tonight?" he asked, trying to ignore the dead look his teammate sent his way.
"We'll have to see," Amami began. "This development with that Velasquez guy is troublesome. Did you see what he was doing?" Itsuki shook his head. He had been too caught up in trying to keep it together that he hadn't thought of trying to analyze his pitches.
"He was throwing knuckleballs," Amami continued. "The real deal". Well crap. That was bad. Amami must have read the look on Itsuki's face pretty accurately, as he sighed and went on. "It's not like we can't hit them though. Now that we know what he's pitching, It'll be easier to hit off of him. If anybody can do it, it's one of us". Itsuki nodded his head a bit at that. He wasn't wrong.
"That's not my main concern though," Itsuki stated. When Amami blinked over at him in confusion, he continued. "If we're having such a hard time with the Bugaboos, imagine how we'll do against the Lycaons in a couple of days".
"Oh," Amami responded. "I've actually been looking forward to that".
"Seriously?" Itsuki asked incredulously. "You think we're ready for that? As a team? I thought we were getting better, but it seems as if we're getting worse".
Amami leaned back in his chair before he responded. "As a team? No, I don't think we're ready," he said slowly. "But I think I am".
Itsuki narrowed his eyes at him. "You can't be serious," he muttered. "Are you really thinking of going up against Kurai and winning? Have you seen his stats lately?"
"You and I both know that stats aren't necessarily indicative of how someone will perform that day," Amami said. "Besides, if it isn't one of us, who will it be?"
"If he's pitching the same way he has been lately, nobody," Itsuki replied.
"If you're worried, that's fine," Amami said. "But this won't be a deciding game for us. We're allowed to have some fun with it". With that, he changed the subject.
That night, their fans had come out in full force to cheer them on. Itsuki could hardly hear Coach Imawano speak from the dugout over the chanting. That made him feel better. It was always nice to feel the energy from the crown wash over him. They were starting on defense, and he was dutifully manning third base as always. That night, Johnson wouldn't be his main concern. Instead, he would be focusing solely on Velasquez. Although, he didn't see him in the dugout. He might not even play that night. That would be both a relief and a disappointment.
Before he could ruminate any longer, the game started, and Tashiro threw his first pitch, striking out the first batter. He kept up the good work and struck out the two progressive betters, but only managed to get Johnson to foul the ball enough times to get out. Disappointing. He was hoping for something a bit more dramatic. The next few innings proceeded at a deadlock, with neither team scoring. Finally, at the top of the sixth, Thomas managed to get a lucky home run, and gained a point for the team. The general atmosphere on the bench improved after that, with the player all bracing themselves to earn more points and hopefully erase their shameful loss from the night before.
Over the next few innings, they racked up a few more points before a pitching change was announced at the bottom of the eighth. Velasquez would be coming out again. Itsuki looked over at Amami, who looked just about as excited as he ever did, but judging by the energy shift in the dugout, the entire clean-up crew were hyping themselves up to face this new opponent. After Kitaooji managed to hit far enough to get to first, followed by Thomas striking out, Itsuki found himself staring Velasquez down. He was going to hit tonight, no question about it. He let the first pitch go by to see if it had any weaknesses. He found none. No rotation, and a good sway. It would be nigh impossible to hit in this condition.
After the second pitch turned into a strike, Itsuki braced himself for massive success, only to bounce it off the end of his bat. The fact that he was a fast runner was the only thing that saved him from getting out. He wished he could have done better, but at least it was something. Thankfully, Amami also hit a low grounder, loading the bases. Itsuki could probably cut the tension in the air with a knife. It was all on Brooklyn now. Unfortunately, he struck out, getting Kitaooji out in the process. That double play would be hard to live down.
Finally, Tomioka, somehow managed to do what they had not, and got Itsuki to home, with Amami getting tagged in the process, ending their offense. They had one more shot to win this, and they couldn't waste it. Thankfully, the last half of the inning progressed nicely. It would appear as though Johnson was getting tired from running as much as he did the past few games. Itsuki had to smile to himself. They were finally seeing an end to this. When the top of the ninth rolled around, Itsuki let himself feel optimistic. They were up by a good number of points, and he was finally getting an eye for Velasquez's knuckleballs. He apparently couldn't throw any other breaking balls.
Thanks to him, Amami, and finally Brooklyn, The game was almost set. They just had to strike out three of the Bugaboos's batters, and they would be the victors of the three game series. With this in mind, Coach Imawano sent Kawanaka out to end things quickly. With each progressive batter, the lineup was less and less formidable. Kawanaka's forkballs were dipping lower than ever that evening. Apparently he had something to prove too. With that in mind, Kawanaka struck the last batter out swinging, earning a thunderous roar from the rest of the stadium. On the way back to the dugout, Itsuki saw the mood from the previous evening dissipate as the players allowed themselves to celebrate.
After the game, most of the team went to a local bar to decompress. Itsuki however satisfied he was that they had won, couldn't bring himself to go. On the way out to the car, he nearly bumped into Toa, who seemed a bit distracted.
"Where are you off to?" he asked almost hesitantly. He half hoped that Toa was at least a little impressed with his performance that evening.
"Looking for you, actually," Toa responded, grabbing him by the arm. "You were good out there tonight. I thought there was something we could do."
"Oh really?" Itsuki asked, a little tired. He really didn't know if he had it in him to celebrate.
Toa noticed Itsuki hanging back a bit. Impatient, he yanked him along. He had plans for him, and he wouldn't be deterred. "Come on," he said, yanking him along until they reached the now abandoned locker room. Before Itsuki could say anything, Toa slammed him into a locker, and rested his hands against the other man's chest. He didn't even bother to lock the door. Nobody was around, and this was a long time overdue. Toa kissed Itsuki once before he began to sink to his knees, sliding his hands down his chest as he went, smiling up at him the entire time. Itsuki's eyes got huge, but he didn't say anything, only nodding his assent.
Toa undid Itsuki's belt, and yanked his pants and underwear down around his hips. Toa admired the sight in front of him for a minute, ignoring the labored breathing from the man before him. This was one glorious piece of flesh. Half hard, he was just the right length, not too short, and not too long, with enough girth to make it impressive. Toa was positively delighted, and as an act of gratitude for this wonderful presentation, he put his lips over the head, just taking it into his mouth.
After a while, Itsuki slid down the locker to sit beside Toa. Toa looked over at Itsuki before snorting. He had just given him a blow job in a public locker room with the door unlocked. That was pretty impulsive, even for him. Takami didn't seem to be having the same thoughts though, as he was just gazing into Toa's eyes as if he was the only person on the planet. Before Toa could comment on what had just happened, Takami reached over and cupped Toa's face in his hand before kissing him sweetly on the lips. Toa let himself be kissed for a moment, then opened his mouth and spat what was left of the semen into Takami's mouth. Takami promptly made a face at Toa and wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand before wiping it on Toa's face.
"You're disgusting," Itsuki finally said weakly.
"Be that as it may, you can't say you didn't enjoy it," Toa said wiping his mouth off.
"I wasn't talking about, I mean when you-" Itsuki began before Toa cut him off.
"That really was impressive out there," he said. "I'm impressed you managed to keep your cool that long. You were the only one that showed that level of self-control for once". That seemed to throw Itsuki for a loop, as the sat there doing his best impression of a fish before speaking.
"Is that what brought that on?" the other man asked, still a bit breathless.
"It was a contributing factor," Toa stated. With that, he stood up, and offered Itsuki his hand; pulling him up when he grabbed it. "You should go home and rest," he said. "You have a hard few days ahead of you". He then walked out of the locker room, leaving Itsuki alone for once.
So let's just pretend I didn't get totally overwhelmed by school for like 5 months. Deal?
Sorry for not posting the entire scene here, I just wanted to be safe with the ratings. If you want to read the whole thing, I have an account on ao3.