Hello there! I hope you are having a wonderful summer so far!
I also hope that you enjoyed last chapter. I know that it was Miyuki-less but I have to build stuff up. Not to mention that I have to foster Azusa's relationships with other people other than Miyuki. This is one of the reasons why this fic is different from my other two because they will also focus on other characters. Not just Miyuki X Azusa.
But don't worry! As promised, Miyuki will make his formal appearance in this chapter.
As always, I'm open to suggestions so feel free to leave any comments.
Thanks for your support.
I apologize for any grammar errors beforehand.
Disclaimer: I don't own Daiya No Ace. Yuji Terajima does. I only own this OC.
Enjoy!
P.S.: Today is my birthday :)
Chapter three: The Cat Is Out of The Bag
"I'm finally officially on the team!" Sawamura exclaimed in an excited tone. "I'm going to show the coach what the great Sawamura Eijun is made of. Hahahaha!"
Azusa rolled her eyes while adjusting the basket of baseball in her arms. They were walking alongside each other, making their way to the practice grounds. It was a nice day. Not only because it was sunny with comfortable warm breezes, but also because they somehow managed to not get into a fight for a whole ten minutes.
But that was about to change soon.
"About time, don't you think so?" the blonde manager asked.
Sawamura growled at her. "Shut up blondie!"
Azusa shot him a glare. "You know what?" she asked while she smirked to herself. "Maybe I should shut up."
The pitcher gave her a puzzled look. "Oh really?" Sawamura was surprised that she wasn't arguing with him.
"Yes, I shouldn't have said that considering that you're just heading down to a meeting," she explained while chuckling to herself.
Sawamura clenched his fists in annoyance. "A very important meeting!" the southpaw angrily clarified.
"Suuure," Azusa said in a mocking tone.
"I'm going to finally form a battery with Miyuki-senpai!"
Azusa snorted. "And how do you know that?" she asked.
Sawamura blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Don't you tell me that you honestly think there is only one catcher on the team?" she deadpanned.
The brunet boy slowed down his pace as he sweatdropped. "Well…" he trailed off while nervously scratching his cheek.
'What a dumbass,' Azusa thought before an evil idea came to her head.
"And..." she began.
"And what?" Sawamura asked in curiosity.
Azusa let a childish but yet evil smirk grace her lips. "There is also Furuya-kun," she added in an oh so innocent tone.
Sawamura gasped as he let the mention of Furuya's name catch him by the surprise, but the shocked look on his face was quickly replaced with a scowl. "I'm not going to let him win. I'm going to be in a battery with Miyuki!"
"Why do you want to form a battery with him so bad?" she suddenly asked in a serious tone.
"What do you mean why? That's the reason why I came to this school!"he declared before his cheeks heated up in a blush when he realized that he revealed more than he intended to.
"So you came to Seido for Miyuki-senpai as well?" her question sounded more like a statement.
"As well?"
Azusa quickly shook her head. "Never mind," she said with a dismissive tone. Then she re-adjusted her grip on the basket. "Either way forming a battery and being in a battery with Miyuki-senpai as well won't be that easy."
Sawamura narrowed his eyes at her. "And how do you know that?"
Azusa froze on her spot as she nervously gulped a thick lump down her throat. She quickly looked around to say something to distract him. She suddenly noticed that Miyuki was by the dugout along with Rei-san, Furuya, and another catcher.
"Why don't you go and find out?" she asked, motioning towards the dugout.
Sawamura turned around to see what she was referring to and paled when he realized that everyone was waiting for him. "Crap! I'm late!" he exclaimed before running towards the dugout.
'That was close,' she thought in relief. Not only because of Sawamura's question but also because of how close by Miyuki was. Even though he was going to eventually find out that she was a manager for the team, she wanted to delay that for as long as possible.
Azusa walked towards the net so she could set down the baskets of baseballs alongside them ahead of practice. She was supposed to do that with multiple baskets. But curiosity got the best of her and she decided to stick around to see how the batteries were going to match up.
"WHAT?!" a loud voice startled her.
Azusa turned around to see what happened.
Although she didn't need to turn around to know that that voice belonged to the one and only Sawamura Eijun.
She assumed that things didn't go in his favor judging from the tone of his voice and mannerisms. It seemed to her that he was arguing with Rei-san and Miyuki.
"But I want to form a battery with Miyuki!" she heard him scream.
Azusa laughed to herself. 'I told you that forming a battery with Miyuki wouldn't be so easy,' she mused in amusement.
"Blondie-chan!"
Azusa stiffened at the mention of her name. She looked up and noticed that he turned around towards her direction and was staring at her.
What was he doing?
"Blondie-chan! Can you believe that this is happening to me?" he continued.
Azusa felt her heart beat race fast in her chest as she looked around. If he was looking at her then that meant that Miyuki was…
Azusa didn't say anything to him and decided to run towards the opposite side.
She wasn't ready to face Miyuki.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"What are you doing here?" Sawamura asked in contempt. He stared down at Furuya who was sitting across the table from him.
"What are you doing here?" Furuya asked, matching his tone.
The two pitchers glared at each other.
Azusa groaned out in frustration. "More like what are you two doing here?" she deadpanned.
Kominato let out a nervous chuckle. "C'mon guys, stop that," he pleaded. He was sitting next to Sawamura, while facing Azusa.
"What did you say?!" Sawamura asked, annoyed at Azusa.
Furuya turned to her. "But he was the one who started it, manager-san," he said.
Azusa took a bite out of her sandwich while she averted her gaze. "I don't care. You're both annoying now," she said, irritation dripping in her tone.
The southpaw just growled at her.
"I thought having lunch together was going to be nice but perhaps I was wrong in suggesting it," Kominato said.
Both Sawamura and Furuya blushed in embarrassment and for once they were quiet. The only sound that you could hear was the idle chatter of the school cafeteria.
"Don't worry Kominato-kun," Azusa said sympathetically, "It's not your fault that these two are uncivilized," she added while sparing a side-glance towards the two pitchers.
Sawamura glared at her. "Look who's talking! I bet that you're the most uncivilized manager ever!"
Furuya just nodded in agreement. It was obvious that his feelings were hurt.
Azusa felt her eye twitch in annoyance but then an idea flashed through her mind. "You two do realize that as manager I'm in charge of preparing your drinks and snacks, right?" she asked with a devious smile.
Both Sawamura and Furuya froze on their spots as they turned more pale by the minute.
Azusa snickered to herself while turning to her right to see Furuya's expression and then turning to Sawamura.
'Serves them right!'
"Hopefully I'm not on your bad side, Narumiya-san," Kominato said in a teasing tone.
"You could never be on my bad side even if you try, Kominato-kun," Azusa replied with a giggle.
"That's not fair!" Sawamura protested.
The manager shrugged. "Life is not fair," she said with a toothy grin.
"You're evil, manager-san," Furuya said in quiet tone.
Both Kominato and Azusa burst out laughing. Messing with the pitchers was fun.
Despite getting annoyed and mentally drained with the pitchers (specially Sawamura) from time to time, she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed their company. Azusa doesn't have a lot of friends, so it felt nice to joke around and tease each other. So she was certainly glad that Kominato came up with the idea of having lunch and hoped that they would have more lunches in the future.
Having lunch with them reminded her of the past. Of a much more simple time. A time where she was more carefree and enjoyed spending time with her brother Mei and Miyuki. They also had a lot of fun with their shenanigans.
"I win again!" a young Mei declared in excitement. "But it's no fun if you two are always so slow," he added while snickering.
The trio would always hang out after games, no matter which team won or lost. They were friends on and off the field. They would usually go to a nearby park or by the river and just chat while eating snacks. But lately Mei always wanted to race them to the river since he was having more adrenaline than usual.
"I just didn't want to leave Azu-chan behind," Miyuki said with a shrug while turning to Azusa behind him.
"What?! Don't blame me, Kazuya!" Azusa angrily reprimanded him.
"But it's the true though," Miyuki continued with his teasing. "You're a very slow runner but I guess you can't help it since you have short legs."
"Short legs? But I'm taller than you!" Azusa reminded him with a cocky smirk.
Mei burst out laughing.
"By like an inch," the catcher said, rolling his eyes.
Mei kept laughing as he gripped his stomach. "S-she really got you good, Kazuya," the pitcher said through stifled laughter.
"And what are you laughing about?" Azusa asked, turning to Mei. "You're shorter than Kazuya which means that I'm way taller than you," Azusa boasted.
Then it was Miyuki's turn to burst out laughing. "Now who got who?" the catcher taunted.
"S-shut up!" Mei retorted lamely. "You two are always bullying me," he accused them. "So I demand some snacks to make up for the pain I'm through!"
Miyuki snorted. "Snacks?"
"But I offered you some earlier and you didn't want to," Azusa said while crossing her arms across her chest.
"Why would I want anything made by you?" Mei asked in an incredulous tone. "I love you but you're a terrible cook."
Azusa clenched her fists in anger. "Why you?"
Miyuki chuckled. "She would definitely poison you."
"You two are terrible!" Azusa complained.
It was not fun being on the receiving end of their teasing but she wouldn't change them for anything in the world.
"Narumiya-san, Narumiya-san," Azusa heard Kominato call out her name making her snap out of her trance.
"Yes?" she asked in confusion.
"Are you okay?" Kominato asked in concern. "You got really quiet there for a minute."
"You shouldn't have asked her anything Haruichi," Sawamura said with a scoff. "It was better when she was quiet."
Azusa fumed at him. "Don't you have to follow the training menu that Chris-senpai gave you?" she asked with contempt in her tone.
"Don't even mention his name to me!" the southpaw said indignantly. "His training menus are a waste of time. I want to start pitching not exercises."
Azusa snorted. "You really are stupid, aren't you? Chris-senpai is not going to give you a training menu just to waste your time. There is a reason for everything."
"Of course he would!" Sawamura argued. "He doesn't like me so that's why he's not allowing me to pitch."
"I wonder why," she said in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.
"Besides, how am I supposed to take him seriously when he always leaves practice early?," the southpaw asked. "That is why I want to form a battery with Miyuki instead of him."
"If you really want to form a battery with Miyuki then I suggest you don't badmouth Chris-senpai around him," Azusa said. She didn't know Chris very well, but Miyuki had mentioned him to her in the past while they were in junior high. By the way Miyuki talked about Chris, she knew that he deeply respected the older catcher and wouldn't appreciate Sawamura's comments about him.
Sawamura narrowed his brown eyes at her. "And how do you know that?" he asked in suspicion.
Azusa's pulse quickened but she tried her best to keep her cool. "Well, Chris-senpai is older than him. So wouldn't it be obvious?" she attempted to give him a convincing explanation.
Sawamura shook his head. "Miyuki's not like that."
"Now that I'm thinking about it," Furuya began all of the sudden. "You seem like you know a lot about Miyuki-senpai," he said while turning to her.
Azusa gulped loudly. "Oh really?" she squeaked.
Sawamura nodded in agreement. "And every time I mention his name you get nervous," he noted. "Not to mention that yesterday afternoon when I called out your name you started running away from me."
"I had things to do that day and I didn't want to seem like a slacker thanks to you," Azusa quickly replied in an accusing tone.
"You always evade the subject when I bring up the question, manager-san," Furuya continued with his suspicions.
Sweat started beading on the manager's forehead as she felt nervousness overcome her. "No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!" Sawamura said in an accusing tone.
Furuya nodded.
'I'm screwed,' she thought.
"And I know why," Sawamura continued.
Azusa gasped.
'How does he know?'
"You, blondie-chan, are a member of the Miyuki fangirl club!" he declared loudly.
'Oh goodness no… Wait what?'
"What?" Azusa asked in disbelief.
"That's it right? He asked in a smug tone.
"No, it's not!" Azusa angrily replied.
But on the inside she was secretly relieved that Sawamura was dense beyond reason.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
After the lunch fiasco, Azusa decided to limit her interactions with both Sawamura and Furuya. Not only were they a little too much to handle while they were together, they were also already suspicious of her actions. Despite Sawamura getting the wrong idea and thinking that she was a member of some Miyuki fangirl club (seriously why would he think that?). She knew that sooner or later he would come to the right conclusion.
He couldn't be that stupid.
Or perhaps he could? Regardless, that didn't matter now. She had other matters in mind. Like asking Rei for the Kanto tournament already started and she wanted to analyze all the data so far. Specially from Furuya since he already made his grand debut and caught everyone's attention. Also, she was hoping that she would find another way of being helpful to the team.
Azusa walked towards Rei's office and slowly entered the building with a small knock. She knew that she wasn't going to get a response since her particular office was at the end of the corridor and slowly walked down the hall.
"Why do I have to partner off with Chris-senpai? He doesn't care about baseball since he always leaves practice early!" Azusa heard Sawamura exclaimed.
'Sawamura didn't I tell you to shut up?'
THUD!
Azusa heard a loud noise banging against the wall and she quickly went to Rei's office to see what happened. The door was ajar and she gasped at the sight before her eyes.
Miyuki was holding Sawamura against the wall with an expression that she had never seen before. He was angry. Well no. He wasn't angry. He was more than angry. He was furious. His usual brown eyes were now dark and dull with rage. The catcher looked as if he wanted to beat the younger boy up.
"Miyuki-kun!" Rei exclaimed, urging him to leave Sawamura alone.
Miyuki finally let go of Sawamura with disdain. Leaving a poor pitcher confused.
Azusa quickly went further down the hall as soon as she saw Miyuki leaving the office. Luckily for her he didn't turn around so he didn't see her. Even though she would be the last thing on his mind after just happened with Sawamura.
The manager shook her head. She couldn't be thinking about Miyuki at the moment. And went into Rei's office.
"Sawamura-kun what were you thinking?" she exclaimed, barging into the room.
"What's up with everyone today?" Rei asked while adjusting her glasses. She hadn't even bothered in getting up from her chair and crossed her arms across her chest, demanding for an explanation.
"Uhh… My apologies, Takashima-sensei," Azusa said in an unusual polite tone with a small bow. Then she turned to Sawamura. "Didn't I tell you not to say anything bad about Chris-senpai in Miyuki's presence?" she asked the pitcher in exasperation with her hands on her hips.
However, instead of getting a loud or angry reply back. The pitcher didn't answer and just blankly stared into space.
The manager blinked in confusion. "Huh? Sawamura?"
"I guess he's still in shock," Rei said, catching Azusa's attention. "Which I can't really blame him. Neither him or Miyuki-kun."
"Is there a special reason why Miyuki-senpai reacted like that?" Azusa asked.
Rei nodded. "Yes and I think it's about time that I show Sawamura-kun the reason why Miyuki-kun got so angry with him."
Azusa wanted to ask her to get into specifics but there was something about her tone that indicated her that wasn't going to happen. Feeling mildly concerned she looked back at the pitcher who still was in shock.
Hopefully he gets over it soon.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0
A few days had passed since the incident between Sawamura and Miyuki and things had turned into a strange direction. At first, she thought that it would take a while for Sawamura to get over the shock he went through with Miyuki. But she was wrong. After that day he looked completely revitalized. Which is where things got really weird. Sawamura, who refused to be Chris's battery partner since the first moment and refused to follow his instructions, just completely changed his tune. Not only was he doing his training menus as instructed without protesting, but he was actually following Chris around. Well, more like stalking him. He also referred to him in the most respectful way possible and wanted to earn his forgiveness.
Azusa didn't know what caused that change in the pitcher which was driving her crazy. She wanted to know but Sawamura didn't tell her what happened that night where he went out with Rei. She was planning on asking him tonight but she got stuck with organizing the equipment shed at the last minute and it was already nighttime.
She needed to go home soon before it got too late.
'And I certainly don't want to miss my bus,' Azusa thought as she was about to close the door of the equipment shed shut.
"Blondie-chan stop!" she heard Sawamura scream.
Azusa turned around and noticed that he was jogging towards her. He was out of his uniform and now it was a white t-shirt with grey sweatpants on.
Azusa narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?" she asked in mild irritation. She was tired and wanted to go home already.
"Don't close the door yet," he pleaded.
"Why the hell not?" Azusa asked with a glare.
"Because I want to run with my tire," the pitcher explained before trying to go inside the shed.
"Absolutely not!" the manager exclaimed, extending her arms so she could stop him. "You're not going to take anything from here! I just spent so much time organizing this and I won't let you mess it up!"
Sawamura grimaced. "Oh c'mon! I need it," he begged. "I promise that I will put it back."
Azusa scoffed. "No, you won't," she said.
"Manager-san!" she heard another masculine voice called out.
Both Azusa and Sawamura turned to see who it was.
"What are you doing here, Furuya?" Sawamura angrily demanded.
Furuya was also jogging towards their direction. He was out of uniform as well and wearing his sweats. Once he catched up with them, he was visibly out of breath and rested his hands on his knees. "Please, manager-san," he began taking gasps of air. "Don't close the shed… I want to use a tire," he managed to said in between breaths.
Azusa shook her head "No!"
Furuya shot up from his position. "What?" he asked in a deflated tone.
"I said that I wasn't going to let you use a tire," she reiterated. "Or you for that matter," she added, turning to the southpaw.
"Why not?" Furuya asked with a pout.
"I told you that I was going to put it back," Sawamura argued.
Azusa put her hands on her hips and glared at the two pitchers. "I won't let you because every time you say that you'll put it back, you don't! In fact, I always see the tires laying around on the field in the mornings when I arrive. And who gets scolded by the senpai ? Me!"
"But that was him not me, manager-san," Furuya said, pointing at Sawamura.
"What? Don't you lie you bastard! You also leave them lying around," the southpaw protested.
Furuya shook his head in denial.
"Both of you do! So don't waste your time, Furuya-kun," Azusa quipped.
"Just let me use one please!" Sawamura asked with a polite quick bow. "Forget about Furuya and just give me my tire. I bet it misses me."
Furuya narrowed his eyes at the shorter pitcher. "Mine misses me more," he said, trying to one up him.
Azusa groaned out in frustration. "Tires don't have feelings, baka!"
"My, my, look at what we have here; a couple of loudmouth first-years," a masculine voice interrupted them with a snicker.
Azusa widened her eyes in shock when she looked up and saw who it was. "M-m-m-mi," she stammered while taking in his figure. He was also out of his uniform and wearing a red baseball shirt, black sweatpants, and a green beanie.
Both Furuya and Sawamura turned around and paled when they noticed that a certain catcher had sneaked up on them.
"Miyuki Kazuya!" Sawamura exclaimed.
"What are you doing here, Miyuki-senpai?" Furuya asked.
"Is that a way to greet your senpai?" Miyuki asked in a cheeky tone.
Sawamura just stayed quiet instead of replying with his usual curt remarks. It seemed as if Sawamura was still feeling awkward around Miyuki.
Furuya pouted not pleased with his response.
"You two need to stop being so noisy," Miyuki chastised. "And you too, Azu-chan," the catcher added with a cheeky grin. "It seems like you're as loud as ever. No wonder you get along with Sawamura so well!"
Azusa's face heated up in embarrassment but that didn't stop her from scowling at him. "Shut up!" she yelled. "You haven't changed either. You're as insufferable as ever!"
Miyuki mockingly covered his ears. "See? This is what I'm talking about," he said in an innocent tone.
Azusa clenched her fists in anger and growled at him."You know what?" she asked in the calmest tone she could muster. "I was wrong. You've changed. I see that you're not a short little kid anymore," she spat.
Miyuki's eye twitched a little at her comment but she didn't wipe his smirk off his face. "I was not a short little kid you were just an abnormally tall little girl," he retorted.
"What did you just say?!"
"And you were just an inch taller than me so cool it," Miyuki added.
"Ano…" Furuya awkwardly interrupted them.
Miyuki raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
"Do you two know each other?" Sawamura asked in confusion.
The southpaw was also feeling awkward just like Furuya since they were literally between Miyuki and Azusa right in the middle.
Azusa gasped, realizing that they had an audience.
"Actually," Miyuki began.
"No!" Azusa interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. "I don't know him and I don't want to be in his presence or yours for that matter, so good night!" she exclaimed before running off, going past both pitchers and Miyuki. Leaving a confused trio behind.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As soon as Azusa left the three boys, she rushed to her locker and retrieved her bag. She wanted to leave Seido as soon as possible. How could've she been so stupid? So careless? First, she was stupid enough to let her guard down and not notice when Miyuki approached them. Second, she was stupid enough to get riled up by the catcher so easily. How could've she exposed herself like that in front of Sawamura and Furuya? The two pitchers were polar opposites, but they did share some similarities. One of them being that despite being so dumb, there was no way in hell that they didn't figure out that her and Miyuki know each other very well.
'Or maybe they are?' Azusa hopelessly pondered while she approached the school's exit.
At least she had until tomorrow to figure things out and talk to Miyuki.
"Oi! Stop spacing out and hurry!" Miyuki's voice made her jump out of her thoughts.
"M-Miyuki?" Azusa stammered, feeling confused. She looked to both to her right and left side only to be met with the concrete ground and trees sparsely spread out throughout the campus. Then she looked right ahead and gasped in surprise.
It was the one and only Miyuki Kazuya who was leaning against the wall of Seido's entrance.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"What does it look like?" he replied with a question of his own. "I'm here to walk you to the bus station."
Azusa gave him a quizzical look. "But why?"
Miyuki smirked at her. "Because a gentleman never lets a lady walk by herself late at night."
The manager snorted at his comment. "That may be true but I don't see a gentleman around here," she quipped. "So I still don't see the point in you being here."
Miyuki dramatically put his hand on his chest. "You wound me, Azu-chan."
Azusa rolled her eyes. "As if."
The catcher chuckled, amused with her reactions. "Joking aside," he began in a rather serious tone. "It is getting late and dark as well, so let's get going," Miyuki said in a firm tone, not allowing room for disagreement.
Azusa opened her mouth to protest but then decided against it when she spared a glance towards the evening sky. Miyuki was right. The dry summer night was dark and despite being a full moon, the clouds shrouded it along with the few stars that were visible in the Tokyo sky. It was better to go without putting up a fight.
"Fine," she said admitting defeat. However, deep down inside Azusa felt relieved because she didn't like walking to the bus stop by herself. It was very scary for her.
Miyuki took a step forward and started walking ahead of her at a slow pace so she could catch up with him rather quickly. As they were walking through the dimly lit streets, they fell into an uncomfortable/comfortable silence as weird as it sounded. It was comfortable because it reminded her of the times where she used to walk home with Miyuki, in silence, just like this. Which didn't bother her at all because she didn't need to talk to him in order for her to enjoy his company. But tonight it was also uncomfortable because this was the first time they had seen each other since he graduated junior high. Not to mention that they had been attending the same school for over a month now and she didn't even bother with talking to him.
Was he mad at her?
Was he hurt because she ignored him?
When did he find out that she was attending Seido?
So many questions and not enough answers. Well, she didn't even had answers.
What's a girl to do?
Azusa tentatively glanced towards Miyuki with the corner of her eye. He didn't look particular angry. He had a neutral expression. But that didn't tell her anything since Miyuki was good with masking his emotions. Despite her anxiety, she couldn't help but to check him out. He indeed was taller now compared to how he used to be. Now he was over a little three inches taller than her. Miyuki was more handsome with more defined cheekbones and sharp jawline, losing all the baby fat from junior high. His body looks more strong and toned. She peeked at his forearms to marvel over the definition of his muscles. He also smelled very good. Like-
"Why are you so quiet?" Miyuki suddenly asked, interrupting Azusa's musings about him.
Azusa slightly flinched at his question but did her best to recover quickly. "N-nothing," she said. "I'm just thinking."
"Don't strain yourself with too much thinking," he teased.
"Shut up!"
Miyuki burst out laughing. "I forgot how fun it was to tease you."
"And I forgot how annoying you were," she shot back with a glare.
"Now, now. Don't get mad," he tried to appease her in a mocking tone.
Azusa elbowed him. "You know that I don't like people telling me what to do."
"You're right," Miyuki said, nodding. "I also know that you want to ask me something," he added. "So why don't you just go ahead and ask?" the catcher proposed, turning to her.
The manager averted her gaze feeling mildly embarrassed. How did he know her so well?
"So?" he pushed.
Azusa turned to Miyuki, locking her azure eyes with his brown caramel ones. "Since when do you know that I've been attending Seido?" she finally asked.
"Since the first day of practice," Miyuki simply replied.
"What? The first day?" Azusa exclaimed in shock. "But how?"
"What do you mean how?" he asked while trying not to laugh. "It was so obvious. We only have five managers and you guys are around all the time."
"But no one pays attention to the managers!" Azusa argued.
"Just because we don't talk to you guys a lot doesn't mean that we're blind," Miyuki pointed out in amusement.
Azusa pouted. "I was hiding from you too," she continued.
Miyuki snickered. "I know," he said. "Which made it even funnier."
Azusa continued with her pouting. "You're mean."
"Not to mention how funny it was to watch Sawamura chasing you while screaming 'blondie-chan,'" the catcher kept going.
Azusa groaned. "Don't remind me," she said. "Unfortunately, that nickname has stuck."
"It seems like you two get along well."
"What about you guys?" she asked instead.
Miyuki blinked. "What about us?"
Azusa narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. She knew him well enough to know that he was playing dumb. "Are you getting along with him?"
Miyuki shrugged. "I guess so," he vaguely replied.
Azusa made a noncommittal sound. "Sawamura-kun is afraid of you, y'know?"
The catcher snickered. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, it seems like you did something to scare him," she said nonchalantly with a knowing smile.
Miyuki returned the smile without saying anything.
"Just so you know he is very sorry and now practically worships the ground that Chris-senpai walks on," she continued.
"That's nice to know," Miyuki said. "He doesn't need to be scared of me since I'm not mad at him or anything like that."
"That's nice to know too," Azusa replied.
"You know what would also be nice to know?" he asked.
"What?"
"Why did you come to Seido?" Miyuki asked, catching Azusa off-guard. "Mei must be furious."
Azusa scoffed. "I don't care about how Mei feels."
"I don't blame you but that still doesn't answer my question," the catcher pointed out while keeping his eyes straight ahead. He noticed that the bus stop was coming into view.
Azusa let out a loud sigh. "Mei might be my brother but that doesn't mean that it's not excruciating to be with him. He is too high maintenance," she said. "I'm just tired of always being with him and having everything to be about Mei. I wanted some space away from him to focus on me for a change."
Miyuki nodded. "Understandable."
"Thank you!" she said, feeling relieved that someone at least understood her. "At least you get it. Unlike Mei, who keeps on bothering me."
"Don't worry, he'll eventually come around," Miyuki said in a hopeful tone.
Azusa stared into his eyes again and gave him a small smile. "Kazuya?" she asked, finding herself using his first name like when she used to in the past.
He stared right back at her. "Yes?"
"I also came because-"
"Your bus is here," Miyuki cut her off and motioned to the bus who was approaching down the street.
Azusa turned around, feeling half relieved and half annoyed.
She was just getting to enjoy spending time talking to Miyuki.
"I have to go now," she said, turning to the catcher. "Thanks!" she added while turning back and walk towards the bus.
Miyuki merely waved back at her and stayed until she got on the bus and departed the station.
As soon as the bus disappeared from his view, the catcher pulled his phone from his pocket and started to type down a message.
From: Miyuki Kazuya
To: Narumiya Mei
'Everything is fine.'