Hello there! Long time no see. I didn't want to end the year without an update. I hope you're having a lovely holiday time so far and that you enjoyed reading the last chapter as well. Azusa, can never win with Miyuki, right? :P

This chapter is going to be a little intense as we're progressing to the first conflict of the second season. I think y'all know what I'm referring to. Intense but necessary.

I hope you like it!

As always, thank you for your support.

I apologize beforehand for any grammar mistakes and for being so unreliable when it comes to updating this fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Daiya No Ace, Yuji Terajima does. I only own my OC.

Enjoy and stay safe!

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Chapter 17

"You don't have to stay with me, y'know?" Miyuki spoke, looking up from the scorebook he was reviewing, propping up his chin with his left hand.

Azusa, who was sitting across from him, looked up from her own notebook as well with a surprised expression. They were both going over scorebooks and notes to prepare for the upcoming games in the Fall Tournament now that they have won the game against Teito. They were in complete silence in the meeting room until Miyuki broke it.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked in a quiet tone.

"No," the catcher replied immediately as he glanced away from her. "I just don't want you to feel forced to stay with me, especially when it's so quiet."

She gave him a small smile. "I like quiet time."

Miyuki raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Well, sometimes I like quiet time," Azusa conceded with a small blush.

'Quiet time with you,' she wanted to say. She had always enjoyed the comfortable silence that they fall into from time to time. Not only did it feel peaceful and let her concentrate on whatever task she needed to accomplish. But it also gave her time to steal glances of Miyuki when he wasn't looking. She would notice all the little things, the faintest of facial expressions like when he slightly furrows his eyebrows in concentration or purses his lips. She can admire his chiseled jawline and cheekbones, and his unfairly thick eyelashes and eyebrows. Why did boys always have nice pretty eyelashes?

Miyuki smiled to himself. "That's more like it."

Azusa playfully rolled her eyes. "You always know me so well."

"Of course," he said in a matter-of-fact tone as he went back to read his scorebook.

"Don't say it as if it was a given," she replied, annoyed. "Let a girl have a little mystery, will ya?"

Miyuki snorted. "You? A mystery? You're like an open book."

"That's not true," Azusa snorted while Miyuki gave her a knowing look. "Maybe a not so open book. Like some chapters are off-limits," she retracted a bit.

The catcher chuckled. "Do these chapters even exist?" he asked with a teasing smirk.

"Shut up!" she glared at him while she crossed her arms across his chest. "Not everyone is like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That no one knows what you're thinking. You can be pretty guarded," the manager pointed out.

Miyuki didn't say anything, considering what she had just said, and then let out a small laugh. "I guess so. That's fine by me."

"Really?"

The catcher nodded. "You know me and you're part of the team so that's fine by me."

Azusa felt her breath hitched in her throat as warmth spread across her cheeks. Her heartbeat was going a million beats per hour. His reply took her off guard. She certainly wasn't expecting that. Not knowing what to do with her blushing face, she immediately looked down to her notebook to pretend to read.

'Don't say things like that so casually, baka!'

"Are you alright?" Miyuki asked, oblivious to the turmoil that he was causing Azusa to have.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," she replied, managing to keep her tone steady. "So... Kazuya?" she called out his name trying to change the subject without really knowing what to ask. "So... So what did you tell Nori-senpai?" the manager finally managed to ask.

"Huh?"

"During the game," Azusa elaborated. "He looked very nervous but then after the timeout, his demeanor completely changed."

"Oh that," Miyuki casually said, mindlessly tapping his fingers on the desk. "I just pointed out the sky to him."

Azusa blinked in confusion. "The sky?"

Miyuki nodded. "Yes, the sky. It was pouring and we were all so focused on the game that we didn't even know how nature surrounding us had changed."

"And he calmed down with that?"

The catcher shrugged. "Mother Nature's power knows no bounds."

Azusa started laughing.

Miyuki narrowed his eyes on her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, calming herself down. "It's just that somehow that was very captain-like of you."

"You think so?" he asked in a skeptical tone.

Azusa nodded. "Yes, you're finding your footing and becoming more reliable. On and off the field."

Miyuki widened his eyes in surprise while a small blush spread across his cheeks. "A-arigatou," he said in a timid tone.

The manager just beamed at him while she looked around. The sky was yet again cloudy, and she was starting to hear the pitter-patter of the rain falling.

"Now, why can't the sky be clear again? I hate the rain," she complained with a pout.

"Don't whine and pout like that," the catcher teased. "It reminds me of Mei."

"How? I'm nothing like him!" Azusa exclaimed, offended.

Miyuki snickered. "Sure, sure. How dare I make that comparison? You're two are not bratty and whiny at all."

Azusa pouted again while glaring at him and then her lips curved into an evil smirk. "I guess you would know a thing or two about being whiny."

The catcher gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh? You don't remember getting upset whenever it rained as well?" she asked, feigning innocence."I remember your dad telling me that you were so obsessed with baseball even as a child that you'd get upset whenever it was raining. Especially during typhoon season and schools would close down. You were the only kid upset that they didn't have school."

Miyuki narrowed his brown eyes in suspicion at the manager. "Since when do you talk to my dad?"

Azusa returned his skepticism with a triumphant smile. "So does that mean that I'm right?"

"I'm neither denying nor confirming that," Miyuki swiftly replied.

"Uh-huh," the manager snickered.

"Even if that was true," Miyuki began tentatively. "I would've been a child back then in that hypothetical scenario which I no longer am."

"Of course. It's not as if you're still a baseball idiot."

"Regardless," Miyuki disregarded her last comment. "Stop talking to my father," he added in a stern tone.

"Aye aye captain," Azusa teased him. "Here are the notes that I finished by the way," she added, sliding the blue notebook towards him.

Miyuki grabbed it without saying a word and started reading her notes. They were not only on their pitchers but also the pitchers of the next game that they were going to have.

"Thank you," he finally said, looking up from the notebook. "Your notes are always great and detailed. Just like the way I like them."

Azusa broke into a small smile. "I'm glad that you like them," she said. "I wish I could get better though after seeing Nabe's notes about the Teito players. He is on another level. But what I wish I could improve on is keeping the scorebooks."

"Isn't Umemoto-san still keeping the scorebooks?"

"Yes, but it's kinda new for her too since Takako-senpai was the one who always was in charge of the scorebooks."

"Takako-senpai had good notes, and they were not difficult to read at all."

Azusa's eyes lit up. "Aren't her scorecards the best?" she gushed.

Miyuki nodded. "Yes, I definitely miss them."

"But you know who has good notes as well? Nabe-senpai!" Azusa exclaimed. "He's very observant and notices things that I never think of."

The catcher nodded again as his eyes lit up. "His notes were extremely helpful during our last time," he said. "Which is why I just thought of this..." he trailed off for dramatic effect.

The manager narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What?"

"How about you two go and observe Inashiro's match against Ugumori?" Miyuki proposed. "That way he can get even better notes than before since he would be at the stadium and you can learn from him. Not to mention that you would see your brother play so Mei would be very happy with us. It's a win-win-win."

Azusa scoffed at the last part. "I'm pretty sure there is an extra win in there," she quipped.

Miyuki rolled his brown eyes. "You know what I mean," he said with a dismissive wave. "So what do you think? You'll be helping Nabe too because you're already familiar with Mei's habits."

"I think it's a good idea," she flashed him a grin. "But we haven't asked Nabe-senpai yet," Azusa pointed out.

"Leave that to me," Miyuki said with a cocky smirk as he pointed to himself. "I can be quite convincing."

Azusa let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "Always up to no good," she teased as they burst out laughing together.

This was going to be exciting.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"This match is not going anything as I expected it to," Azusa said out loud, looking up from her notebook.

She was at Ota stadium with Nabe watching the match between Inashiro and Ugumori. True to his word, Miyuki had managed to convince Nabe to go to the stadium with her to take notes from the match for Seido's next match.

"Me neither," Nabe, who was sitting next to her, shyly agreed. "Ugumori is giving Inashiro a run for their money."

The manager grumbled. "Definitely," she nodded. The fourth inning just ended and they were heading towards the fifth inning. So far, Inashiro had only managed to score one run during the first inning while Ugumori had yet to score. Which was an unbelievable feat even if they were technically losing. But Azusa had to admit that momentum was on their side. They were a great team and it seemed like they were shaping up to be the dark horse of the tournament.

"Are you concerned about your brother?" Nabe suddenly asked, startling Azusa from her train of thought.

She widened her eyes in surprise. "C-concerned?"

A blush spread across Nabe's cheeks as he started to sputter around and turned away from her. "Forgive me for prying. J-just forget that I said anything."

Azusa blinked in confusion before letting out a sigh. It had been like this all day long. From the moment they got on the train together, walked to the stadium, and sat down on the bleachers. It was awkward since they both didn't know what to say considering it was the first time they had spoken or even hung out together. It also certainly didn't help that Nabe was a bit on the shy and socially awkward side.

"Ne, Nabe-senpai you're my senpai, remember?" the manager asked with a small grin. "No need to act timid around me. I'm not going to bite. I'm here to help you and learn from you as well."

Nabe scratched his cheek absentmindedly, turning to face her. "I'm sorry Narumiya-san," he said, embarrassed. "I'm not the best at meeting people for the first time."

"It's alright," the manager shrugged, watching the fifth inning unfold. Ugumori already had two outs. "And to answer your question, I'm not exactly concerned. It's just... This game is weird. Not only because I didn't expect Ugumori to play this well against Inashiro but also because Inashiro doesn't look like Inashiro. But most likely they're going to end up pulling a miracle"

Nabe nodded. "I understand what you mean," he said, the sheepishness vanishing from his tone and a serious one replacing it. "Every time that it seems like Inashiro is catching up to Ugumori; they fall short."

"And that pitcher..." Azusa trailed off as he got a foul. "He has an interesting slow curveball. It doesn't look like a hard pitch from here but it has to be different down there considering none of the batters have gotten the timing right."

"It's not only the slow curveball," Nabe said, narrowing his eyes. "His fastballs are also difficult to hit due to his slow curveball that makes his fastballs seem like they are going faster than they actually are."

Azusa lightly gasped. "I didn't think of that," she said, amazed by Nabe's deduction.

Inashiro once again was not able to score and they headed to the sixth inning starting on the top for Inashiro. Mei was playing as a fielder while the other pitcher, Hirano, was pitching.

If they didn't score here then, it would be a big problem for them because that just would be more momentum for Ugumori.

Ugumori's pitcher Umemiya tried to steal once again (something quite common with this team) as one last-ditch effort to score since Inashiro already got two outs. This time around he was lucky considering that he accomplished his goal. Right after, the next batter was able to get a hit and Umemiya took it as his chance to make a run for it. But it was all in vain since Inashiro's new catcher Itsuki managed to get the out before he touched the home plate.

"What a reckless player," Azusa exclaimed. "But I gotta say he has guts and he is such a fast runner. He's right up there with Carlos and Kuramochi-senpai."

"We're at the top of Inashiro's line-up with Carlos starting so we'll see," Nabe noted.

But they couldn't see anything since the second half of the sixth inning went by almost instantaneously with both Carlos and Shirakawa making contact. However, they were both unable to score once again.

They went to the seventh inning and Yamaoka successfully managed to get a hit, unlike his teammates. It was great that they were starting to make contact but...

"Their offense seems to be forced," Azusa whispered to herself and she knew that Nabe was thinking the same thing.

It was Mei's turn to bat next and she knew that he was feeling determined to score as the ace of the team. Especially since his track record in this match had been dismal due to him popping his two last at-bats. Just as Mei was gearing up to give it his all, Umemiya surprised everyone when he decided to use a brand new pitch instead of throwing his usual slow curveball. Which got Mei off his game. Resulting in him jamming the next fastball and getting an out.

"What was that pitch?" Nabe exclaimed.

"It seemed like a slider," Azusa replied, equally shocked as him, just like everyone at the stadium as well. "But it also kinda looked like a curveball."

'Either way, Mei is not a happy camper right now,' the manager mused. She knew that her older brother on top of being a diva he also had a huge pride. It was wounded now. And when Mei's pride gets wounded, it usually doesn't work in his favor since his judgment gets clouded.

Mei's test as the ace would be to get his pride under control. If he doesn't win here then the team would be in big trouble. Now that Hirano was being subbed out for Mei, after having two runners on first and second base.

Mei successfully got the first out of Ugumori's clean-up line-up and the ace Umemiya was next. Not only was he a great pitcher, but he was also a great batter who took risks. With the runners on base, anyone would try to bunt in that situation but he wouldn't do that. Mei was pitching well against him, even with the runner on second stealing the third base, and Umemiya stepping into plate confidently swinging his bat. He was still cool under pressure.

'Perhaps, I was worried over nothing?' the manager wondered.

After the time out that Inashiro requested ended, Mei still gave no indications that he was cracking under pressure. Azusa hoped that it was just confidence instead of cockiness. But who was she kidding? This was her dear older brother after all.

However, even if it was cockiness she didn't care as long as he was able to win this challenge.

As tension grew, people in the audience began murmuring when everything came at a standstill. It seemed as if Mei and Tadano were in disagreement over which pitch to use since Mei kept shaking his head at every one of Tadano's signs.

"I can't believe he is being a brat now," Azusa let out an exasperated sigh which garnered a chuckle from Nabe.

"Even though Inashiro has the advantage now in terms of count, Umemiya-kun is an unpredictable player so you have to choose your plays carefully, but..."

"This is not what's going on right now," Azusa completed Nabe's sentence. "They're not being cautious, they're in total disagreement on how to proceed next. Their battery is in trouble."

"Exactly but Narumiya-kun is an extraordinary pitcher so I'm sure they will overcome any surprises."

Ultimately, the Inashiro battery decided on a fastball which turned out to be the wrong decision, since Umemiya was waiting for it and flawlessly hit that pitch. Ugumori's runner on third not only made it to the home plate and tied the game, but the other runner was also able to make it to the home plate since Tadano was not able to tag him out.

Inashiro never recovered after that double RBI that Umemiya got off of Mei. Especially Mei. It was obvious that they were still shocked and hadn't managed to completely switch gears. Their plays continued to be forced and stiff and there was no light in Mei's eyes.

So the game once again stayed at a standstill. The only difference was that instead of Ugumori trying to catch up to Inashiro now it was the other way around.

"Mei..." Azusa whispered in concern, biting her thumb in nervousness.

"Don't worry Narumiya-san," Nabe said awkwardly, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure they will turn the game around and we are going to face off against them in the next match."

Azusa gave him a grim smile.

"Hopefully you're right, Nabe-senpai."

0o0o0o0o0o

"Wait for me here, Nabe-senpai!" Azusa told Nabe, leaving her bag with him as they were exiting the bleachers' section of Ota stadium.

"But where are you going?" Nabe asked bewildered, placing a hand on the manager's shoulder.

The blonde turned around slightly to face him. "I have to talk to him," she simply replied.

"Talk to him?" Nabe gasped before she turned and started running away. "But Narumiya-san!" Nabe yelled after her. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Azusa didn't listen as she ran towards the end of the stairs, doing her best not to bump with any other spectators that were also exiting the stadium. Which was a feat in itself. All she could see were the flashbacks of the ninth inning.

Mei switched out as a pitcher.

Two outs at the bottom of the ninth.

Yamoaka at his at-bat and Carlos on second base.

But those two, as amazing as they were, were not able to pull it off and Ugumori won.

Inashiro lost the second round of the tournament... Mei lost...

Azusa knew that he was feeling devastated at the moment and that this loss was probably the hardest pill to swallow so far.

Once Azusa reached the exit of the stadium, she looked around the sea of people to see if she saw anyone from the Inashiro team around to no avail. She then decided to go towards the parking lot where the team buses