"aren't you guys lucky! you have four managers in your club... our team is too scary; so scary that no one dares become a manager." a kiryu player exclaimed.
"and all your managers are cute, too.." another mumbled.
"and you guys have a girl on your team!"
"she was crazy good, and so cute!"
"she looks so squishy!" katsumi smiled from where she was standing with the other first years, looking away.
"hey!" they turned at the sound of a voice, looking up to the bus window to see tachi. "even though the two of you are just first years, your pitching is quite good! after seeing both of your performances... i was reminded of me from back then. this will provide me with motivation and affect me positively."
he looked down to katsumi. "and you, left fielder..." she looked up with wide eyes. "i'm sorry i underestimated you before seeing you in action. you're going to see that a lot on the road to koushien. all of you, continue to work hard..." katsumi nodded with a smile, eijun opting for yelling.
"y- yes! i'll do my best!" he shouted, bending his knees.
"don't think badly of him." they turned, seeing another kiryu player. "contrary to his looks, tachi is actually pretty introverted."
"hey, we are going to kanagawa tomorrow! let's keep our spirit high and move out!"
"yes!" in the end, kiryu had won the match against seidou, 7-14.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
"we have two matches tomorrow. the pitcher for the first will be kawakami." kataoka stood in the dining hall, holding a piece of paper.
"yes!" kawakami replied.
"tanba will be the starter for the second one."kataoka continued.
"yes!" tanba yelled.
"even though the two of you are probably feeling tired, i'll still have you pitch one match each!"
"yes!" katsumi sat down next to haruichi and across from furuya, smiling tiredly as she sat in the warm comfort of her friends.
haruichi looked to furuya and eijun, noticing them blanking out. he looked to katsumi, who was dead asleep on the table. "huh? why are the two of you eating so little today?"
"hm.. for some reason i feel really tired.." eijun mumbled. "so this is the kind of pressure a first string member has to deal with..."
haruichi smirked, "that's because you did your best today. the both of you did.. katsumi-chan, too, but she's asleep." he glanced at the girl, who was drooling on the table.
"who do you think performed better?! be honest!" eijun yelled suddenly, making katsumi jerk awake.
"huh?" katsumi hummed, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"tell us and give us real reasons!" haruichi just smiled at the boys in front of him, not noticing the girl next to him plop her head back down on the table.
"whatever it is... i really envy the three of you for being able to participate in a match... unlike me, who didn't even get the chance to play..." haruichi said softly. the two boys sweat dropped.
"s- sorry, haru-chii! i didn't do it on purpose! i'll give this to you! please forgive me!" eijun shoved his bowl of rice over to the pinkette.
"i'll give this to you too!" furuya pushed his tray over.
"you're just giving me your leftovers!" haruichi sweat dropped. the boys all went silent at the sound of a soft snore. they looked over at katsumi, who hadn't touched her food at all and was slumped over the table. "sh- should we... wake her up? she hasn't eaten yet.." haruichi mumbled. furuya frowned, thinking.
"should we get one of the senpai to hit her?"
"eijun, that's mean!"
"well she wouldn't get mad at us, now would she?!"
furuya ignored the two, standing and walking around the table to sit next to her. the other two watched silently as furuya shook her gently. the girl stirred, taupe eyes meeting navy blue. "you should eat." he stated quietly, the girl next to him slowly waking up. "you worked hard today."
she smiled sleepily. not as hard as you. she wrote in her notepad. furuya shook his head, smiling so slightly that eijun didn't catch it, but haruichi did. he smiled, turning back to his food.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
that night, katsumi lay in her bed quietly. 'so tired....' she thought as another cramp rippled through her. a knock came from her door and she stood, humming quietly. she opened the door to find furuya waiting outside.
"hi." she waved in response. "i was going to run around the field with the tire so i can improve my stamina. can you come with me? i know you have really good stamina." katsumi nodded with a smile, holding a finger up and quickly changing. the two of them walked towards the field, where furuya tied a tire around his waist.
katsumi smiled and shook her head as he started running, and took off after him. "aaaaaah!" the two turned, seeing eijun at the entrance. "you...! why are you secretly practicing here by yourself- eh?!" he caught sight of katsumi, who was previously being completely blocked by furuya's tall stature. "and having katsumi-chan help you?! that's too cunning!"
"you're just mad you didn't think to ask her for help first." furuya deadpanned, but eijun ignored him.
"and you actually were using my tire?! how can you just take someone else's things without permission?!"
"not like there's any harm done.. besides, if it's yours, you should write your name on it."
"i did! here!"
"huh? where?" furuya and katsumi bent down to peer at where eijun was pointing. "what... you used pencil to write it? and you only wrote the phonetic notations."
"shut up!" katsumi giggled quietly. furuya shrugged, pulling the tire away and putting it around his waist. "hey!" eijun grabbed the tire, trying to tug it. "you... you bastard!" katsumi laughed at the scene in front of her, pulling out her phone.
'mochi-senpai is going to love this!' she tried to contain her laughter, watching eijun and furuya push each other's feet as eijun continued pulling.
"hey, you three!" the trio looked up, seeing kazuya and kuramochi. "you still have to wake up early tomorrow morning! don't push yourselves too much!" kazuya yelled, smirking. "the two of you have lost a total of fifteen points... losing sleep is to be expected! and don't give sumi a hard time!" he turned away, leaving.
"hey! wait a minute, you bastard!" eijun yelled, pointing to where the catcher just was. "we lost fourteen points in total! don't just add one to it!"
"yeah, don't just add one in!" furuya pouted, making kazuya laugh.
"hey, sumi sumi! send me that video!" kuramochi yelled to the outfielder. katsumi held a thumbs up, and the two pitchers turned to face her.
"what video?!"
"video?"
katsumi smiled nervously, before taking off. "katsumi!! delete that video! damn you, furuya! and your horrible stamina!"
"like you can catch up to her."
"shut up!"
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
kawakami stood up on the pitcher's mound, panting softly as he stared down the batter. it was the last day of training camp, and seidou was playing inashiro. kawakami pitched, the batter hitting it with the top of his bat and sending a grounder past the fielders. "manager!" eijun yelled at kataoka, who remained unmoving. "kawakami's running on fumes! he's still exhausted from the training camp too!" katsumi sweat dropped, watching kuramochi and masuko walk towards him. "if you send me out there cold, i won't have any problems with it!"
"this ain't your problem... get outta here!" kataoka exclaimed, arms crossed.
"not my problem? isn't this a team?" eijun yelled.
masuko came forward, wrapping his arm around eijun's neck, "sawamura, come with me for a second."
"dumbass!" kuramochi yelled. katsumi watched the two drag eijun away, turning to her brother.
'he's an idiot.' she signed. kazuya laughed lightly. 'i think kawakami-senpai is doing just fine.' kazuya nodded, looking back to the game.
"he's got a lot of potential, maybe you two could learn something from each other in terms of pitching." he murmured, smirking at his sister. she hummed, watching miyauchi walk over to kawakami.
"hey..." he reached down, grabbing the area in between kawakami's legs. "wha.... miyauchi, the hell you touching!" the pitcher yelled. katsumi watched with wide eyes, before a hand covered them.
"you shouldn't be watching this, katsumi-chan." ryosuke said from beside her. she hummed in confusion, and kazuya laughed at the girl. soon, the girl could see again, and a new batter was up. kawakami smirked, winding up for a pitch. he threw to the outside of the box, the batter not even swinging.
"good pitch, kawakami! we can play country hardball if you want!
"kick some ass, kawakami! we're behind you!"
"just stay confident! we'll definitely give you run support!"
"do your best, kawakami! don't worry about it!" the pitcher smiled, tugging on the brim of his hat.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
"thank you!" both teams bowed to each other.
"hey, sawamura! hurry up and clean the dugout! inashiro and shuuhoku are playing next. we'll eat dinner and watch from the dugout; inashiro might use their starters in that game." kuramochi called out to the pitcher, katsumi following behind him. she clapped softly, gaining the shortstop's attention.
shouldn't we help him? she wrote on her notepad.
kuramochi laughed, "no, i'm sure he'll be fine." the two looked over to where sawamura was, seeing him talking to two players from inashiro. kuramochi scowled, storming over and kicking the boy in the butt. katsumi followed behind him, eyes widening at the inashiro players nearby.
'mei...' she scowled. the blonde caught sight of her, smiling brightly.
"ah, sumi sumi!" he called, smiling. a fiery aura surrounded the girl, and kazuya came over, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"don't give away information about the team! dumbass!" kuramochi yelled.
"then, he wasn't lying?! that was the truth?!" mei yelled.
"yeah.. it's true." kazuya replied, locking his arms around his sister's to keep her from running over to hit mei. "furuya didn't have his stuff that game."
"kazuya.." mei smiled. "i always think the opposite is true of whatever you say!"
"oh, right.. you're the pitcher today, aren't you?" kazuya handed his sister to kuramochi, who trapped the girl in a hug and picked her up.
"hell yeah!" mei exclaimed.
"i'll be keeping my eyes on you!" katsumi struggled in kuramochi's grip, kicking her legs to try and escape.
"kat- katsumi-chan! calm down!" eijun yelled, watching the second year struggle to contain the younger miyuki.
"ah, sumi sumi! i heard you can dish out some pretty nasty hits!" mei smiled at the girl, who glared at him. "hm, feisty as always, huh?" katsumi growled, and kuramochi sweat dropped.
"yeah, just you said until you play against her. then you'll really see 'feisty', mei." kazuya smirked.
"let's go, mei. i hate this guy!" the boy next to mei frowned.
"oh yeah.. kazuya played you like a fiddle last year!"
"up yours! we're leaving!"
"hahaha! see ya!" mei waved to the four seidou players. kuramochi finally let katsumi go, keeping his hand on the collar of her shirt as she glared after mei.
"god, you must really hate him, huh?" kuramochi laughed. katsumi whipped around to glare at the boy, and he jumped.
"sumi has her own personal vendetta against mei." kazuya said, staring after the blonde. "sawamura... he's a lefty, just like you. you better watch how he pitches!" eijun let out a quiet 'eh?', turning to face kazuya.
"in last year's summer qualifiers.. that guy... when he was put in relief halfway through the game.. he shut us down.." kuramochi frowned slightly.
"he's the roadblock... we'll have to beat him to make it to koushien!" kazuya turned away, kuramochi following him.
katsumi turned to eijun, "in sh- short, he's a dick with decent pitch- pitching." she whispered, following the second years.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi stood in between yuki and jun, tuning her upperclassmen out as she watched mei. 'a splitter where the bottom drops out.. a nasty slider...' she frowned. 'it'll be hard for even me to hit...' she watched mei throw a 4 seamer, and her eyes widened.
"breaking balls with horizontal and vertical movement... backed with a powerful fastball..." yuki muttered. "he's like the prototypical pitcher."
"hey, you two better be taking notes!" kazuya called to eijun and furuya, who were too busy watching mei.
"even those two... seem to realize that pitcher's class." chris smiled slightly.
"yeah? from an opponent's view..." kazuya mumbled. "he's the guy you least like to see on the mound." mei winded up another pitch, and katsumi bit her lip nervously.
'i've got a bad feeling about this one...' she watched mei throw the ball, heart dropping to her stomach as she watched the batter swing for the ball before it even crossed home plate.
"strike three! you're out!" katsumi hummed in discontent, tensing up.
"what was that kinda fast kinda not pitch?" eijun wondered aloud. he looked over to his upperclassmen, seeing them all tense. "huh? what's got everyone so down?"
"che.. after seeing that pitch, i know we're in trouble." jun scowled. "not only does he have a powerful fastball... breaking balls with changing horizontal and vertical movement... but now he can change velocity.. that punk... how much better is he going to get?" the seidou players watched mei cry to the catcher about being pulled from the game. a fiery aura speared around katsumi and yuki, and jun scowled. "i wanna kick their ass! that look on their faces is just begging for them to get smashed!"
"in these situations, only the opposing pitcher can swing the momentum." ryosuke smirked evilly.
"hehehe.. i can't wait!" kuramochi grinned. katsumi hummed, crossing her arms.
"hahaha! i won't lose!" eijun yelled. "even though i have no clue what's going on, i won't admit defeat."
"i have to work even harder." haruichi smiled.
"miyuki.. let's warm up!" kazuya turned to face tanba. "won't it be easier to see if i'm in good condition in the bullpen?" tanba turned away, determination swallowing him. "it'll be easier for you too, since you'll know what pitches to call!" katsumi smiled at the determination coming off of the pitcher.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
tanba struck out another batter, and the seidou players on the sidelines cheered. katsumi smiled from left field, the next batter coming up. he hit tanba's pitch to shortstop, where kuramochi tossed the ball to ryosuke, who sent it flying to yuki.
"hell yeah, double play!"
"attaboy, shortstop!"
"good pitch!"
"tanba, that was great!"
the fielders jogged back to the dugout, and katsumi narrowly avoided a karate chop from jun. "don't start slacking, katsumi!" he scolded the girl. "always be ready!" she rolled her eyes, earning more scolding from the third year. katsumi sat down on the bench, groaning internally at her stomach ache.
"tanba," kazuya walked over to the boy. "the opponents have probably started looking for a certain pitch... let's use the splitter this inning." kazuya smirked, shocking tanba and miyauchi. "a complete game performance is one of our goals today.. you haven't thrown many pitches, anyway. we control how the game goes from here. the final innings are the true key to victory."
"woah! he actually does catcher stuff!" eijun yelled, earning a glare from katsumi. "that's the same guy who always asks for pitches to the inside corner..." she threw her mitt at the pitcher, quickly looking away with a smirk when he turned to yell at her.
"hmpf.. i thought you didn't call the splitter because you didn't have confidence you could keep it in front of you..." tanba looked up at kazuya from his position on the bench. katsumi's eyes widened, and she turned slightly to watch the interaction. "if you think you can, try it!" kazuya just smirked in response.
katsumi turned back to the game, watching ryosuke make contact with the ball with his bat. jun was up next, and she grabbed her helmet, only to be stopped. "katsumi." she looked up at kataoka. "your position on the batting order has changed. you'll go after tanba, now." katsumi nodded, slightly disappointed she wouldn't be able to bat yet. soon enough, seidou was back in the field, and katsumi smiled happily as she ran to left field.
tanba winded up his pitch, the batter swinging as the ball dropped to the ground. katsumi smirked, looking over to where the inashiro players were and seeing shock on mei's face. tanba stuck out the next two batters, and katsumi practically sprinted back to the dugout. 'i get to bat i get to bat i get to bat i get to bat i get to-'
"katsumi, calm down!" haruichi sweat dropped, waving his hands. she ignored him, pulling her mitt off. katsumi listened to kazuya and tanba argue about what tanba should pitch, and she frowned.
'can't they just get along..?' she puffed her cheeks out, grabbing a cup of water and the pain killers takashima had given her.
"tanba.. the things you said just now." kataoka turned to face tanba. "were they spoken as a pitcher of the team... or was that just a stubborn player's opinion?" katsumi tensed up, quickly downing a pill and some water. "if that was your self-centered opinion... i won't let you become the ace!" katsumi choked on her water, and haruichi jumped, patting her back gently.
"c- coach! we're in the middle of a match!" oota yelled.
"i believe it's both." tanba replied, and kataoka perked up. "there are many times where i slow down and break down towards the end of matches.. and i know miyuki thinks of that before he decides on the kind of pitches he'll ask for." tanba clenched his fists. "but if i don't overcome this weakness on my own.. i won't be able to stand on the mound confidently! i'm saying this to become the real ace of the team! this is my truthful opinion." the first year boys gasped quietly, and katsumi smirked.
'spoken like a true ace..' she thought.
"i understand. if that's the case, i'll follow you along with your idea!" kazuya smirked. "it's not like i can confirm a pitcher's firm resolution, anyways."
"hmpf.. it's rare for you to say that kind of stuff." jun smirked. "if the opponents get hits off you like crazy, you'll have to take some responsibility!" he pushed his hair back. "you'll have to shave your head bald!"
"good idea!" ryosuke smiled.
"i agree!" yuki exclaimed.
"haha.. but growing long hair is fine too!" kuramochi grinned.
"hey... hey! you guys!" oota yelled, trying to get the players' attention.
"if he loses one point, he'll shave his head bald." chris wrote down in his notebook. "katsumi, what do you suggest for two points?" everyone looked to the girl. she ran her fingers over her eyebrows, and tanba jumped. "ah, of course. if it's two points, he'll shave his eyebrows too. i'll note it down."
"chris, katsumi! why are you guys joining in too?!" oota yelled.
"hahaha! that's awesome!" eijun yelled.
"and if it's three, he'll grow long hair..."
if it's four, i get to braid it! katsumi showed chris her notepad, and he nodded.
"sounds fair enough." he smiled. kataoka smirked slightly as he watched the players.
"batter up!"
"ah! the next batter is tanba! sorry, he'll be there immediately!" oota yelled to the umpire.
"woah! when did shirasu-senpai get to the base?!" eijun gaped.
"focus on the match..." the right fielder muttered from first base. tanba put his helmet on, smirking slightly.
"katsumi." tanba looked down at the small girl, who was holding her helmet in her arms. "you better hit it far and bring me home." the girl gasped quietly, and tanba smirked. "try to bring yourself home too, i know you're more than capable of it." katsumi grinned, nodding as tanba ruffled her head, walking out onto the field. she smiled softly, tightening her gloves and kneeling outside of the dugout.
"tanba, get a hit!"
"don't force yourself though! and don't let it affect your pitching!"
"wahahaha! tanba is going at it for real!" kuramochi laughed. the pitcher winded up, throwing the ball. katsumi noticed the ball prematurely slip from the pitcher's fingers, and gasped.
"ta- tanba-senpai!" she called out. she gasped at the sickening sound of the ball hitting tanba in the side of the head, along with the sound of his helmet cracking. tanba fell to the ground, lying still. katsumi froze, and kataoka shot up from the bench to run out to the boy. the players followed, but katsumi was frozen in place, still kneeling. her bat slid off of her shoulders, thudding against the dirt.
"we.. we are really sorry!" the coach from shuuhoku apologized to kataoka. "in this kind of critical moment, our pitcher injured your player.."
"these things happen in matches... we can't blame it on your pitcher." kataoka replied. "i am afraid we cannot continue with this match."
"yes! we fully understand! we are sorry you traveled all the way here for this kind of thing to happen..." shuuhoku's coach apologized. kazuya looked through the crowd of players to find his sister, frowning when he couldn't spot her.
"hey, kuramochi." the boy turned, shock still written on his face. "have you seen sumi?" kuramochi shook his head.
"she's by the dugout, still." eijun said from behind the two. kazuya turned towards the dugout, seeing the girl kneeling in the dirt, u moving. he jogged over, standing next to her.
"sumi." he called softly. the girl didn't look up, keeping her eyes trained on the gathering of players around tanba. "sumi." his tone slightly harder, he knelt down next to her. "he's going to be okay." he looked down at her, seeing the tears welled up in her eyes. 'she won't cry. not here.' he frowned, wrapping an arm around her. "come on, let's go." he gently pulled the girl up, leading her to the bus.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
that night, katsumi tossed and turned in her bed, frowning deeply as the memory of tanba getting hit replayed in her head. she sat up and swung her legs over her bed, picking her phone up. she dialed kazuya's number, her phone ringing three times before she heard a sleepy kazuya. "sumi..? are you okay?" he yawned.
"co- could i... could i come sl- sleep in your room t- tonight?" she whispered.
"what, are you five again?" he teased.
"kaz..." she whimpered. "please."
"of course you can, sumi." his voice turned serious and katsumi heard ruffling on the other end. "the door's unlocked, okay?" she hummed, hanging up and slipping her shoes on. the walk to kazuya's dorm only took a few minutes, but to katsumi's tired mind, it felt like hours. she opened the door slowly, eyes falling on her brother's sleepy figure sitting on his bed.
"hey." she murmured, sitting on his bed.
"hey, sumi." he hugged her tightly. "everything okay?" she nodded against his chest, pulling away to lie down. "thinking about tanba..?" she frowned, nodding. kazuya sighed, lying down next to her. "just try to get some rest, okay? i'm right here." he whispered softly, eyes closing. katsumi nodded, facing the wall and curling up into a ball, eventually drifting off to sleep.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
"we'll face inashiro in the finals.."
"woah! we'll meet ichidai in the semi-finals!"
"akushi high and sensen high are in the same block as us!"
furuya, eijun, katsumi, and haruichi were all leaning over each other, peering at the summer tournament schedule. "woah! there's so many schools participating!" eijun exclaimed.
"this is actually quite a relaxed grouping, since tokyo is split into the east and the west region." haruchi said, looking up at the boy. "there are probably stronger groups than ours around the country." katsumi hummed, skimming over the numerous teams. kataoka walked into the room, oota and takashima behind him.
"i believe everyone has heard about it." kataoka said to the group. "yesterday's dead ball has caused a crack in tanba's jaw... luckily, there was no bone fracture. and there seems to be no damage to the brain too. still, tanba might not be able to make it in time for preliminaries." katsumi frowned, looking down at the floor.
kataoka's fist clenched. "to be honest.. i feel hesitant about this. he finally became conscious of the behavior of the ace. he himself is probably feeling frustrated right now. this decision was made as the coach of the team, and definitely not as a lone individual. i intend to give tanba the position of the ace!"
katsumi smiled slightly, despite her sad mood. "before he comes back, i hope everyone will fight together as a united team! during this period, kawakami... furuya... and sawamura! their chances of participating in a match will increase greatly, especially so for the first years. i hope that everyone will do their best to help them. please do me this favor..."
'for tanba-senpai.' she nodded, humming in determination.
━━━━━━ ꒰⌗'͈ ᵕ ॣ'͈⌗꒱৩ ━━━━━━
a/n: thank you for 300 views!!<3
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