Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was supposed to be a normal gathering in Miyuki’s room… or invasion if you’re Miyuki, of course.

All the usual suspects were gathered together…before it happened.

Suddenly, they weren’t in Miyuki’s room anymore…but somewhere else.

“What the-?!”

“Where are we?!”

“Huh?!”

Tetsu quickly yells, “Calm down!”

“Let’s do a roll call… see who’s here…” Jun takes charge, “LINE UP!”

They obey their Captain and Vice-Captain.

“Yuki Tetsuya!” Jun calls out his Captain’s name just because.

“Here.”

“Isashiki Jun,” Tetsu returns it.

“Here.”

“Kominato Ryosuke.”

“Here.”

“Kominato Haruichi.”

“Here!”

“Masuko Toru.”

“Uga!”

“Furuya Satoru.”

“…zzz.”

Harucchi shakes Furuya awake, “Here.”

“Kuramochi Yoichi.”

“Kyhaha! Here!”

“Miyuki Kazuya.”

“Here~!”

“Sawamura Eijun.”

“THIS SAWAMURA EIJUN IS HERE!”

“Shut up, Bakamura!”

“That’s everyone from Miyuki’s room though…guys?” Jun looks at the others who weren’t there before.

“We got dragged in too, I guess?” Tojo shrugs.

“OK then,” Tetsu nods, continuing with roll call.

“Tanba Koichiro.”

“Here!”

“Takigawa Chris Yu.”

“Here.”

“Kawakami Norifumi.”

“Here!”

“Kanemaru Shinji.”

“Here!”

“Tojo Hideaki.”

“Here!”

“Watanabe Hiashi.”

“Here.”

“Shirasu Kenjiro.”

“Here.”

“It seems like that’s everyone…” Tetsu sighs.

Looking around, it seems they were all transported into a large living room with a flat-screen TV, several couches and seats, and a large coffee table. There were connecting rooms that were well ventilated as well. Checking around the place, there were lots of futons, blankets and pillows, four bathrooms, a training room, and a fully stocked kitchen too.

However… there was no sign of whoever sent them here.

“OI! WHOEVER SENT US HERE! SHOW YOURSELF!” Sawamura yells at the top of his lungs.

“Shut up Sawamoron! Like that’s going to work!” Kuramochi yells back.

“NO!” a female voice appears from nowhere.

“Huh?!” everyone yelps in surprise since they didn’t think it’d actually work.

“Oi…who are you, and where are we?” Ryo-san asks.

“Just a fox~! A very bored one!” says the voice, “You may call me either Kitsune-san or Tsuki.”

“OK~ then. Tsuki-san, why are we here?” Kuramochi asks.

“You’re at my place~. It’s safe, and time here is one day equals a minute outside. Plus, no one can interfere unless invited.”

“So we’re stuck until you let us go?” Miyuki asks.

“Correct!” Tsuki cheers, “As for why…well~…”

They can practically hear her smirk, "We'll be watching Diamond no Ace. In my world, it's a baseball anime."

"Let me guess...all of us are characters," Jun sighs.

"Yup~! But... it mainly focuses on Sawamura's journey to being the Ace of Seido."

"Ah... Does that mean that we'll see our past and potential future?" Tojo asks.

"YUP!"

Sawamura...instead of being excited as one would expect, his eyebrow just twitches...before trying to run away and hide.

Most of their jaws drop, stunned at the unexpected reaction from the loudmouth pitcher...at least until Kuramochi yells, "Get back here Bakamura!" as he runs after him.

'Whatever past she's talking about us seeing... Sawamura probably wouldn't tell us otherwise,' thinks Miyuki, his eyes narrowing at the thought of Sawamura keeping secrets.

Eventually, Kuramochi drags him back. Now trapped in a blanket cocoon and dropped onto the couch, Sawamura pouts as he can't escape now.

“It’s a total of 183 episodes if you count OVAs, so sit tight boys! You’re in for the long haul!”

Everyone groans.

A stack of notebooks appears on the table as well as a bucket of pens.

"Nabe and Chris can take notes."

“Let’s just get this over with…” Kanemaru sighs, grabbing the remote as everyone sits down on the couches, pressing the power button to start it up.

Chapter Text

1st ep...

"That...explains SO MUCH ! DAMMIT !"

"We're gonna have to teach you baseball, huh?" they facepalm.

Sawamura sighs, shrugging, "I was going to do that anyway."

"Were you ever going to tell us?" Kanemaru asks.

"If you didn't ask...probably never ."

‘Still… Ace and Captain, huh…’ Tetsu and Tanba look at Sawamura, who doesn’t notice at all.

"Wakana?!" Kuramochi sees Wakana for the first time in person, on-screen , and is already smitten.

"She was on the team as a player , not as a manager," Sawamura clarifies.

“You were holding back?” Miyuki grits his teeth. Just the very thought of a pitcher holding back on him irritated him.

“…yeah. I was,” Sawamura quietly mutters, “They wouldn’t be able to catch for me otherwise.”

Sighing, Miyuki says, “No holding back on me, alright?”

“Un.”

"You...!" Everyone stares in shock.

"Hm? Problem?" Sawamura smiles, tilting his head, not sorry about what just happened on-screen at all .

“No…nothing,” some sweat-dropped.

More people face palm.

"...We're gonna have to watch out for that, huh...?"

"Well...at least it didn't end up a fistfight," Ryo-san comments, patting Sawamura's head, "Good job holding back."

"Thanks, Onii-san."

" That's how you got scouted?"

"Yup."

He…had no coach to tell him what to do. He just stepped up and did it because no one else would. The “adults” had failed him…they didn’t even try. So he led and motivated the team he created from scratch. Alone. For three years. A team that loved him but didn’t love baseball.

‘He’s mentally stronger than we thought,’ is what everyone thinks of Sawamura now.

"If you were so against it, why did you-..."

"Miyuki Kazuya," Sawamura sighs.

"Ah..." They all nod.

"So...it's Miyuki's fault?"

"Yup! It's all the damn tanuki's fault!"

Miyuki sighs, running a hand through his hair, ‘He came to Seido  for me ? And practically followed me to Tokyo? Seriously ?’

“It does look like bullying to outsiders…” Jun huffs.

“Well, I only interfered if only to follow my own code of conduct,” Sawamura shrugs.

“Even so, thanks,” Nori smiles.

“Pitcher’s instinct?”

Sawamura shrugs.

Mostly, they were surprised at what Miyuki, the emotionally stunted catcher, had said to a younger Sawamura to gain his trust.

Miyuki was also amazed at himself for saying such things . He flushes red, kind of embarrassed at his younger self.

He groans, face palming, “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Nope!” Sawamura, Kuramochi, and Ryo-san all smile.

"You still have that?" Miyuki asks, referring to the magazine.

He just gets a pillow thrown into his face.

"Shut up," Sawamura blushes, "Just shut up."

"So that's where you got that from..." Nori mutters.

Eventually, Sawamura wriggles his way out of the blanket cocoon, "If I didn't decide to go to Seido, I would've had to teach myself baseball since no one else was going to."

"You really think you could do it?" Kanemaru asks.

Sawamura smirks, an eyebrow raised at the challenge, "I taught myself how to bunt, what do you think?"

'He would actually do it too...'

*Growl*

They hear someone’s stomach growling…

“Ah…” Sawamura slightly blushes, a hand on his stomach.

Everyone chuckles as their stomachs also growl, hungry too.

Going to the kitchen, they check out the fridge.

"Miyuki Kazuya can cook?!"

"Oi..." Miyuki’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he dons an apron with a tanuki on it, getting his hands on a pot, “I don’t see any of you attempting to cook anything.”

“I can bake!” Sawamura huffs.

“While I don’t doubt that, I still don’t trust you with the stove,” Miyuki replies before waving them away, “Now, all of you, shoo ! Get out of my kitchen!”

“Hai hai,” everyone huffs, choosing to either sit on the couch with the note takers to talk, or go to the bathrooms.

When Miyuki finally came out, he yelled, “I made curry!”

Everyone brightens up, quickly going to the kitchen to get food.

“Delicious…” They all fall for Miyuki’s cooking.

“Thank you!” Miyuki genuinely smiles.

“Is anyone allergic to peanut butter or cinnamon?” Sawamura suddenly asks.

Everyone shakes their heads, “No…why?”

“No reason,” Sawamura shrugs, choosing not to talk about it anymore.

Everyone’s suspicious, but chooses not to push it.

Later…

Sawamura sneaks into the kitchen to bake chocolate chip cinnamon peanut butter cookies.

The smell attracted the whole team, so Kuramochi took a peek from a crack in the door.

“Huh…” Kuramochi blinks.

They were all surprised to see Sawamura attending to the cookies, wearing oven mitts, and carefully putting them on a cooling rack.

Fifteen minutes later…

“Here!” Sawamura served the cookies.

As everyone ate the cookies, they smiled at the pure deliciousness.

“So that’s why you asked if anyone was allergic to peanut butter or cinnamon…” Nabe comments, happily eating his cookie.

“So you can bake, huh… Sorry I doubted you,” Miyuki smiles, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sawamura rolls his eyes, getting another batch of cookies.

“Sawa-mm!” he shoves a cookie into Miyuki’s mouth.

“Just eat them before they get cold, tanuki.”

“Hai,” Miyuki mumbles as he eats the cookie, gulping it down, blinking at the taste, “Coffee?”

“Coffee flavored sugar cookies. I know you don’t like sweets, so I made them,” Sawamura answers. ‘For you’ is a fact he and Miyuki keep to themselves.

“They’re delicious. Thank you,” Miyuki smiles.

Slightly blushing, Sawamura mutters, “You’re welcome.”

ep 2...

"Guys..." The third-years shake their heads, a bit disappointed.

"What?! It's tradition!" Kuramochi retorts.

"You were going to apologize?"

"Why didn't you...?"

Then they see Miyuki on-screen and immediately understand, "Oh..."

" Miyuki Kazuya !"

"I'm sorry..." Miyuki says genuinely, "That we got caught."

"You damn bastard."

"Thank you!"

"That wasn't a compliment!"

“Why didn’t you just apologize and say you got lost?” Harucchi comments, “And that Miyuki-senpai was guiding you back… Coach would’ve bought that excuse.”

“…” Miyuki and Sawamura facepalm, “WHY didn’t we think of that?!”

Ryo-san’s very proud of his brother right now.

"You look like a lion on the mound..." Harucchi comments.

"Do I?" Sawamura asks.

"You do..." Everyone agrees.

"I've been meaning to ask... Why do you yell that out every game?"

"Oh. Well, it's my ritual. If I don't, I'll feel like I'm cursed," Sawamura explains, "Besides, the last time I didn't yell that out, I walked batters the whole game, so..."

"Oh..." everyone nods in understanding.

“Plus, it dispels the fielders’ nervousness as well. It’s become quite the habit.”

‘You actually notice that?’ as they learn something new about their pitcher.

Tsuki comments, “Well…that’s what happens when necessity becomes a habit.”

“Why won’t you call me senpai?” Miyuki asks, curious.

“Because I consider you my comrade . Why should I be formal with you? Besides, we’re not equals yet…but I’ll get there,” Sawamura answers.

‘Equals… he wants to be my equal ,’ Miyuki blinks at the unexpected answer, his heart warming at the thought, “Comrade?”

“ You’re the reason I came to Seido. Of course I consider you my comrade. Besides, you called me “partner” first,” Sawamura says like it’s no big deal, but in reality, it is . And everyone knows it.

“Me knowing that and you admitting it are two different things…” He mutters, shaking his head before admitting to himself that he’s actually OK with that. Smiling, he gasps out, “Huh…” his heart fluttering slightly, “Well, OK then.”

“By the way…” Tojo asks, “Why isn’t Zono here?”

“… I just don’t like him,” says Tsuki-san.

Everyone sweat drops, silently asking “why?” but not actually saying anything about it. Mostly for fear of her wrath.

“And there are no adults here…?” Tojo bravely asks.

“I don’t exactly trust most people, let alone most adults,” is Tsuki’s answer.

“OK…” Tojo mutters, not asking further.

“Insecurity induced over-training again?” Tsuki asks.

“Huh?” They blink.

“ You … you were just insecure the whole time?!” Mochi asks.

“Of course I was!” Sawamura wildly gestures before getting quiet, “Most of you guys are better and more knowledgeable than me, so I got…insecure about myself.”

No one knew what to say to comfort him, so Miyuki just ruffles his hair while Chris pats him on the shoulder.

“It’s OK Shibamura…you’re still such a good boy,” Miyuki comments.

Sawamura’s eyes lit up, turning slightly glassy, his face slightly red at the praise. It takes a second before Sawamura retorts, “I’m not a dog!”

Miyuki smirks at the reaction as well as Mochi and others, who probably plot to use this against their puppy pitcher.

"Kyahaha! So you do have a praise kink!"

"Shut up..." Sawamura mutters, embarrassed and his ears red, "If I have a praise kink, Miyuki Kazuya has a senpai fetishist!"

"Wh-where did you hear that from?" Miyuki stutters.

"Mochi-senpai."

Miyuki death glares at Mochi, who turns away, whistling quietly.

“You actually caught that?!” Everyone except Furuya and Sawamura are shocked. Furuya’s pitch is hard to catch for most catchers after all. And to catch it on the first try…

“Yeah… I did,” Sawamura shrugs it off.

“Eijun…catch for me,” Furuya demands.

“No! I told you, I’m a pitcher!” Sawamura refuses.

This gets Miyuki thinking about having Sawamura try out being a catcher for a bit. For a different perspective and…as an experiment.

Apparently, Chris had the same idea too as he notes it down.

“And yet you still caught it,” Miyuki comments.

“Furuya…what do you think about when batting anyway?” Harucchi asks.

“Hm…” Furuya takes a moment to answer, “Fishing.”

“…fishing, huh. Guess that makes sense,” Sawamura hums.

“What’re you thinking, Bakamura?” Miyuki asks.

“Just that… I tend to get impatient when batting and end up swinging too early. If I bat like I fish, waiting for the right moment to strike, then maybe I can get a good hit,” Sawamura muses.

Everyone’s now shocked that Sawamura could be so logical…but this ball of sunshine is full of surprises.

“Let’s try it out later?” Harucchi smiles.

“OK!” Sawamura smiles.

At Furuya’s past…

Sawamura hugs him, “They just didn’t know what to do with you…but giving up on you was not OK.”

“They at least should’ve given you a net to avoid property damage and make you get some control,” Harucchi adds.

Tsuki-san adds, “Going to Koshien, or a national tournament in general…is like going to a monsters’ ball. You’re not the only monster out there, but you’re ours. You should be proud of yourself for that much, at least.”

Furuya has a flowery background around him, “Thank you.”

“You…want my acknowledgement?” Miyuki asks, stunned in disbelief, “Just that?”

“…yes. Just that,” Sawamura mutters shyly, red up to his ears.

Both Miyuki and Sawamura look away from each other at the same time, groaning into pillows at this awkward situation they found themselves in.

‘So cute~!’ Tsuki secretly smiles.

Chris crosses his arms, a bit disappointed.

“I’m sorry… I should’ve handled that better…” Miyuki apologizes for scaring Sawamura like that.

“It’s…OK…” Sawamura forgives him easily.

"Pfffttt....ahahahahaha!" Everyone laughs at poor Tanba's shaved head...and later, at Masuko's shaved head.

Masuko notes to ALWAYS check his shaving tools from now on.

After hearing that Jun used to be an Ace pitcher…

"Spitz-senpai… I'll work with you, so let's prove them wrong?" Sawamura smirks, his eyes full of fury.

"You…really?"

"Yeah! Just cuz they gave up doesn't mean you should! I don't want you to just… give up like that. So, let's do it!"

Miyuki and Chris sigh.

"Well…you're going to need a catcher," Chris smirks.

"Chris!" Jun's eyes sparkle.

"...hm…." Tanba groans, upset…but not wanting to discourage his teammate, "I guess…you would be…a better Ace than me," he admits.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Jun yells.

At the many injuries Seido endures, they wince in pain.

"Are we cursed?"

"Maybe," Miyuki shrugs.

They remind themselves to be careful of stray balls and potential injuries from now on... and to ALWAYS inform the Coach if they don't feel well before or after a game.

"You damn polar bear!" Sawamura yells at Furuya, who shrugs.

"It's hot..."

At the trouble the first years get into just going to the bathrooms...

"Just how ?!" the senpai asked.

The first-years shrug, Sawamura representing them, "We don't know! It just sort of happens!"

Sighing, Tetsu and Miyuki establish, "New Rule: First-years must ALWAYS be escorted by upperclassmen at stadiums."

"Agreed!" everyone yells.

At Raichi and Sanada...

"Oh god, now there's two of them !" Jun shakes his head.

Sawamura protests, " Oi ! I at least have more common sense than he does!"

"Sure~ you do," Miyuki smirks, teasing again.

" I do tanuki !"

"Hai hai, now Shut Up !" Kuramochi interrupts.

“I want to make Narumiya throw a tantrum on the mound…” Sawamura smirks just thinking about it.

“Hahaha! Me too!” Miyuki laughs as he is just thinking the same thing!

Near the end of the Act I...

"Did he just...?"

"Get hit-by-pitch on purpose ?" they growl.

That damn Shirakawa dares to hurt their pitcher?!

"Why didn't I..." Miyuki mutters, hands clenched into fists, trembling, 'Call a timeout and check on Sawamura? Why didn't I notice something was wrong?'

Act II...

"I'm Captain?" Miyuki blinks, still in shock.

"Yes," Tetsu answers.

" WHY ?!"

"I've seen how you are with the pitchers... if you could extend that to the whole team, it would be good," Tetsu explains.

"But that's... that's just how I am as a catcher . I'm emotionally stunted off the field otherwise!" Miyuki argues since leading the team like he leads his pitchers is just ridiculous .

"You'll at least have Kuramochi and Zono as Vice-Captains. Rely on them, and I'm sure you'll be fine," Tetsu assures.

“Or just rely on Kuramochi,” Ryo-san adds.

Miyuki sighs, seeing as he has no choice in the matter again , "If you say so..."

"Yips?" they gulp.

"Why...isn't anyone doing anything? No support , no nothing ?!" Sawamura growls as the others sulk at themselves for not being supportive of their sunshine pitcher.

"I could do that for a week, but no more ," Sawamura glares, "I would rather not have a coach than be away from baseball."

Everyone knows he's serious about that, and that just makes them feel worse . It was the moment Sawamura lost some of his trust in the Coach.

Tsuki-san says, “Some studies have shown that while there’s no cure for the yips, you can heal. With a good support system.”

‘Support system…’ Miyuki, Tetsu, and Chris dwell on it on a bit, making a note of it.

"Thank you Chris... Seriously," Miyuki and Sawamura bow.

"It's no problem," Chris smiles, "I was just glad I was able to help."

Still, everyone agrees to NEVER let Sawamura get the yips this time.

"You pitched a crossfire on ACCIDENT ?!"

"Huh...I did," Sawamura blinks in amazement.

"Is it because your wrists are more flexible than average?" Nabe theorizes.

"Maybe...we should test that out," Chris says.

"Maybe it's the grip? I've never really paid attention to grips before," Sawamura suggests.

"Let's test it out!" Miyuki smiles, interested in what Sawamura can do once properly taught.

At Ochiai...

"WE HATE HIM ALREADY!" everyone yells.

"Let's not let him come here...and even if he does , we do everything we can to protect our team , right guys?" Miyuki glares, already in over-protective catcher mode.

"YEAH!" Everyone agrees.

“It’s the other way around…” Miyuki scoffs.

"You two are evil."

"Thank you!" Both Miyuki and Sawamura smile.

"..." Tsuki doesn't even want to dignify that with a response.

"The Numbers?"

"That's..." Miyuki smirks, just imagining what chaos they'll bring to the field.

"Awesome..." Sawamura's eyes sparkle with light.

"Let's try out more grips! As MANY as we can think of!" He demands.

"Of course, puppy!" Miyuki replies.

It takes a moment for Sawamura to process, "I'm not a puppy, tanuki!"

"Of course not...puppy," Miyuki teases.

"Tanuki."

"Puppy."

They go back-and-forth like this until Kuramochi yells, "Shut up, you damn couple!"

" WE'RE NOT A COUPLE !" both Miyuki and Sawamura yell at the same time.

Harucchi's haircut...

"Harucchi?!" Sawamura stares in shock.

"Scary!"

Even the third-years sweat-drop at how similar Harucchi is to his brother.

And Ryo-san... he just smiles, very proud of his lil bro.

Sawamura falling off the mound...

"Pffttt..." Everyone holds back their laughter.

"It's my first time at Koshien, OF COURSE I'd be nervous!" Sawamura retorts at their snickering.

"OK OK... Sorry," they apologize.

"This time, we'll convince Coach to let you try again," Miyuki smiles.

"..." Sawamura narrows his eyes at Miyuki, giving him cat-eyes in suspicion since Miyuki's usually not that nice, "Alright. If you say so... Captain Tanuki."

"Captain Tanuki?" Miyuki blinks, not at all upset about that.

"Problem?" Sawamura’s eyes narrow, but it’s not like his cat-eyes.

"No no. No problem," Miyuki shakes his head, raising his hands up in surrender.

Sawamura nods in acknowledgement, turning back to the screen.

Smirking, Miyuki mutters, "No problem at all...Puppy Ace."

Sawamura's head turns swiftly, " I heard that !"

" You were supposed to ~!"

Miyuki's past...

Sawamura hugs Miyuki, already crying for him, and keening. 

Miyuki sighs, patting the pitcher's back, "I'm fine... it's OK, Puppy."

"NO IT'S NOT! THEY HURT YOU!" Sawamura wails, "Teammates aren't supposed to hurt each other, let alone you !"

While Miyuki was calming Sawamura down, everyone else, Chris especially, were furious.

"If we find them, they're dead ," Ryo-san smiles evilly with everyone else agreeing.

"Sawamura, we're baseball players. We should settle our problems with baseball, OK?" Miyuki gently tells him.

"Mm~..." Sawamura whines, "OK..."

"That was one of the reasons why I didn't go to Inashiro," Miyuki smiles, "I wanted a challenge."

"And the other reason?" Kuramochi asks.

Miyuki shrugs, "Mei doesn't trust catchers, especially ones with strong minds. I don't have any interest in a pitcher that won't trust me."

"You came for me ?" Chris smirks, raising an eyebrow.

Miyuki's unusually shy, "Yeah..."

“ Don’t make decisions for me… I hate that,” Miyuki growls.

“That’s what you were thinking about…?” Everyone sadly smiles, very disappointed in their future selves for letting it get this far. Having Sawamura, who still had the yips at the time, save them like that…was certainly a wake-up call for everyone.

“What happened to no pitcher partiality?” Sawamura growls.

Miyuki getting injured...

"Tanuki..." Sawamura glares.

"Yes Puppy?" Miyuki teases.

"If you got hurt, and DIDN'T TELL ME-!" Sawamura snarls.

"What would you do if I did ?" Miyuki glares back.

"HUNT you down, tell Coach on you, and MAKE you go to the hospital!"

Miyuki nods, expecting that before asking, raising an eyebrow, "And what would you do to the other team? The one that hurt me ?"

" SLAUGHTER them on the field since you don't like violence ," Sawamura growls, a murderous glare on his face.

"Huh..." Miyuki blinks at this new side of the puppy but smiles, rubbing the puppy’s head, "OK then. I can accept that."

"Ogawa is so dead ..." Ryo-san growls, scaring everyone, even if they all agree with that statement.

"I figured out the real reason why we're here," Ryo-san sighs.

"Oh?"

"You want to prevent certain things from happening, and change the future."

"Good~!" Tsuki voices in amusement before sighing, "But honestly... I just want you guys to do better since you deserve better. All of you."

New first-years come...

"Did he just choose Seido just so he can catch for Sawamura?"

"He did!" Sawamura smiles.

"Hahaha!" Miyuki laughs as the cycle they started continues.

"Wolf-boy! He's a wolf-boy!" Sawamura yells excitedly.

"He sure is~!" Miyuki smiles.

“Tetsu-senpai’s brother is here?”

“Is he better than you at shogi?” Sawamura dares to ask.

Tetsu shrugs, “Maybe…”

‘Which means he probably is…or is even worse than Tetsu, if that’s even possible,’ Miyuki muses.

“I’ll challenge him to a game and see for myself then,” Sawamura shrugs.

Now it’s guaranteed that Miyuki’s room will probably be invaded again since everyone wants to know how the match ends.

Miyuki just sighs, shaking his head and accepting his fate.

Sawamura holding Miyuki by the collar and shaking him AGAIN...

"Again?" Miyuki raises an eyebrow.

"What?" Sawamura frowns.

"Oh, nothing," Miyuki shakes his head.

At room 5's new roommate...

"Poor Asada..."

Okumura's past...

"Dang..." everyone says, trying not to pity those two.

Sawamura glares in disgust at Wolf-boy and Seto's old coach, "Would it be better if they didn't have a coach at all?"

"I...don't know," Miyuki sighs.

"Either way, we'll support them, right Tanuki?" Sawamura smiles.

Miyuki returns that smile, "Of course Puppy."

“There’s a distinct difference between who you are on the field, and who you are off of it.”

At what Sawamura said to Okumura...

“Seriously? You said that to him?” Miyuki facepalms.

Sawamura shrugs, smiling sheepishly, “Just passing it on, senpai.”

Miyuki just sighs, shaking his head.

At Amahisa's ambition of getting Sawamura's LINE...

"He's SO PERSISTENT!" Sawamura yells, annoyed.

"Yet he still got it."

"If only to SHUT HIM UP!" Sawamura pouts.

At Mima's ambition of getting Miyuki's email...

"Seriously?"

Miyuki shrugs, smirking, "What can I say? I'm popular."

Kuramochi's past…

Miyuki and Sawamura’s eyes shine, one with mischief, the other with excitement at seeing Kuramochi’s yankee days. While Ryo-san just smiles at the potential blackmail.

Kuramochi just face palms, groaning.

At Nabe’s situation…

“…” Nabe’s speechless.

“Sorry…” Miyuki apologizes, “I shouldn’t have said that. I really didn’t mean it.”

“It’s OK! Really…it is,” Nabe sighs, shaking his head.

“Is this why you don’t like Zono?” Tojo sweat-drops.

“…yes,” Tsuki-san answers.

“He shouldn’t have tried to make decisions for Nabe-senpai… neither of you should have done that,” Sawamura growls.

“I know…” Miyuki sighs, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m the Ace? …” Sawamura’s speechless, wonder in his eyes.

“…finally!” Tsuki cheers.

“Huh?! It just ends there?!” they yell in complaint.

“Well…yeah. Any more than this, and I risk ruining things,” Tsuki shrugs, “Besides, whether you win Koshien or not, the future’s up to you guys now.”

"Is baseball fun?"

"Why-?"

"It seems you've forgotten that."

"Again...is baseball fun?"

"HAI!" Seido yells.

"Honestly... I want you guys to fall even deeper in love with baseball than you do right now. I don't want you to regret ever coming to Seido. Whether you decide to become a coach, go to college, become a pro, or try your luck overseas, I don't want you to regret a thing, no matter where you end up. This game is yours , not mine. I'll support you as best I can. That's all."

“Tsuki-san…!” some tear up.

“So do as you please, alright boys?”

“Hai!” they yell back before they leave.

Isashiki face palms, "It's one of those , isn't it?!"

"?"

"A sports genre that's secretly a love story!" he yells as the rest are speechless.

"Not telling~!" Tsuki-san teases, giggling.