Hello there! Surprise... Double update to make up for lost time!

I hope you enjoy this chapter and because this is my favorite so far.

I apologize for any grammar mistakes beforehand.

As always, thank you for your support.

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

Enjoy and stay safe!

Chapter 10: Jealousy

Although it was not an easy feat, Seido managed to defeat Yakushi High School and advance to the semi-finals. Something like this would make Azusa very happy but she found it very difficult to enjoy considering how Todoroki managed to crush Sawamura's spirit when he scored a run home off of him. Sawamura tried to get back to his rhythm but he ultimately failed to do so and ended up being switched out.

The manager thought that he would get over it soon since one of his strengths was his unwavering and bright spirit. But it seemed as if it was affecting him more than she thought. He was acting strange. He was actually paying attention in class instead of dozing off. Not to mention that he wasn't making his usual ruckus. While Azusa always complained about him being a loudmouth she had to begrudgingly admit that she was missing his usual loud voice.

'Just go back to normal, Bakamura,' Azusa mentally told him, narrowing her cerulean eyes at him while he was eating a banana. The team was currently taking a break and everyone was drinking water and eating snacks prepared by the managers while the sun was setting down.

An idea suddenly came to the manager.

"Ne, Sawamura-Kun," she called out.

The southpaw looked up and turned to her. "Yes, blondie?"

"Do you want me to leave your tire outside of the shed tonight?" the manager asked in the sweetest tone that she could muster.

Sawamura raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you hated it when I took the tire out of the shed?" he asked, confused.

Azusa started laughing nervously. "I... Uh... That's only because you don't put it back and always leave it lying around so my senpai scold me," she explained. "But if you promise to put it back, then I'll trust you," the manager proposed.

The pitcher still gave her a weirded out look as if he was still not trusting her and expecting a trap.

"Manager-san, if I promise to put it back then will you let me take one too?" Furuya asked out of nowhere, interrupting them.

Azusa gulped a thick lump down her throat since she was not counting Furuya in her idea. "I have a name, y'know?" she tried to deflect.

"Don't interrupt Furuya! She was talking to me!" Sawamura stated angrily, his previous quiet demeanor nowhere to be found.

"And now I'm talking to her," Furuya calmly countered.

"It's fine you two, you don't have to fight," Azusa tried to calm them down. "You both can use the tires as long as you promise to put it back," she compromised. "Also, don't make a ruckus or I'll get in trouble with my senpai ," the manager added in a whisper.

"Arigatou!" both pitchers said while beaming at her.

Soon they both started racing towards the shed to see who got to run with the tires first. Azusa couldn't help but giggle to herself as she was watched with fondness.

'At least that seemed to cheer him up a bit and that can motivate Furuya,' she thought to herself.

"Someone is being nice," a mocking tone said behind.

Chills ran down Azusa's spine as she recognized the voice.

"What are you talking about Kominato-senpai?" the manager asked with a nervous laugh.

The elder Kominato flashed her a smirk. "Don't play dumb."

"Don't you think that we've noticed that you're being far too accommodating to Sawamura?" Jun said out of nowhere. "You were already spending too much time with him, but now? I think it's obvious what's going on," he said with a scowl.

Azusa blinked in confusion. "Now I really don't know what you're referring to, Isashiki-senpai," the manager said confused.

"Hyahaha. What is there to be confused about?" Kuramochi chimed in. "You and Bakamura spend too much time together and now you're doing favors for him? What can it mean?"

"It can only mean one thing!" Jun exclaimed. "And that's that you have a crush on Bakamura! Something that as your senpai I can't allow to happen since I'm supposed to look out for my kouhai. "

Azusa gasped. "Absolutely not!" she vehemently shook her head. "How can you say something like that?

'Not even close,' she wanted to say.

"Now, now, Narumiya-chan, don't be shy," Kominato said with a devious smile. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Crushes are perfectly normal."

"But. I. Don't. Have. A. Crush. On. Him," the manager said slowly while starting to fume in anger. "Stop teasing me with such ridiculous notions. If we follow your logic then that would mean that I also have a crush on Furuya and Kominato-Kun which would also be ridiculous!"

"So you like all of them? I didn't know that you were that kind of girl," Kuramochi snickered.

"Shut up Kuramochi-senpai!"

"Oh please that doesn't mean anything," Jun continued with the teasing.

"Exactly, we all know that Furuya just interrupted your conversation and you made a concession for him," Kominato said. "But Sawamura was the one you had in mind."

"I just wanted him to stop acting weird since we're in the middle of the tournament," the manager huffed.

"Sure, sure," Kuramochi mocked her.

Azusa gritted her teeth while clenching her fists. "What kind of senpai are you?"

"The ones who look out for you in the matter of love," Jun said with a cocky smile.

Azusa glared at him. "But none of you have experiences when it comes to love so how can you "lookout" for me?" She asked, making air quotes with her hands.

Kuramochi abruptly stopped laughing.

Now it was Jun's turn to glare. "Don't be disrespectful you little brat!"

"I thought you already learned your lesson about respecting your elders," Kominato said, trying to intimidate her.

The manager rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she said with a smirk. "You just can't stand that I'm right."

"Right about what?" she heard Miyuki ask while he was casually drinking a water bottle, interrupting their conversation.

"Right about her having a crush on Bakamura," the shortstop quickly replied before Azusa could, and both Jun and Kominato snickered along with him.

Azusa fumed while growling at Kuramochi who just flashed her a taunting look.

"What?" The catcher exclaimed, almost spilling his drink on the ground. "Why are you saying that?" he asked, trying to regain his composure.

"Haven't you noticed how they're always together?" Jun pointed out.

"Well... I... Uh," Miyuki stammered uncomfortably.

"Stop being so immature and cut it out already!" Azusa demanded, oblivious to Miyuki's sudden change in mood.

Her outburst just seemed to amuse her senpai even more and they kept laughing at her.

"Well I guess that you two would make the perfect match since you're both so dumb," the catcher said with his signature laugh at the end.

The others just joined in the laughter with him.

Azusa widened her eyes in surprise at the catcher, feeling betrayed and then glared at him.

"You're all the worst senpai ever!" She exclaimed before storming out.

After this, she didn't want anyone calling her immature.

O0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day Azusa was still angry that she had to endure the merciless teasing of her senpai . How dare they? What has she done for them to pick on her like that? There was nothing more that she wished to get back at them for making her blood boil like they did yesterday evening.

'No one better try to annoy me today because I'm definitely not in the mood,' she thought with a frown.

"Bzzz."

"Now what?" She exclaimed, feeling her cellphone vibrate in her pocket.

She took her cellphone out with an exasperated huff and rolled her eyes when she saw the name of the caller flashing on the screen.

Knowing that it was not going to do any good to ignore the call, she pressed the green icon and answered. " Moshi, moshi ," she greeted with an irritated tone.

"Is that how you greet your darling older brother?" a masculine voice replied in sarcasm from the other line.

"What do you want, Mei?" the manager asked, ignoring his question.

"What kind of manners are they teaching you over there at Seido?" Mei replies with a question of his own. "You don't even ask how I'm doing?"

Azusa gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Mei, I don't have time for your games. I don't know about you, but I'm really busy and I can't afford to waste my time with you."

Mei scoffed. "Do you actually think that you're the only one who is busy?" the pitcher asked. "If you weren't so self-centered you would know that I advanced to the semi-finals too!"

"You mean your team advanced to the semi-finals," the manager deadpanned.

"Same difference!" Mei said with a dismissive tone. "The point is that you didn't even call me to congratulate me. What kind of sister are you?"

Azusa quietly growled to herself. She realized that she couldn't really be that mad at her brother. He actually had a point. She hardly ever called him since she started going to Seido and she didn't even call him or text him to acknowledge that his team advanced to the semi-finals.

Oh, how she hated when he was actually right for a change.

"Congratulations, Mei," Azusa said in a serene and genuine tone. "Even though I'm not surprised that you've made it this far, I'm still proud of you and happy for you as well."

"See! That's more like it!" Mei said happily, which made Azusa's lips curve into a smile. "Was that so hard?"

"Your ego is already too big so I have to tread lightly with you," she teased.

"Now, now, I think you have me confused with Kazuya," he joked.

The manager chuckled. "Not at all. Even though he has a big ego too, it's nothing in comparison to yours."

She could hear Mei make a sound of disapproval. "I'm going to let this one slide just because I miss you," he said in a haughty tone.

Azusa smiled to herself. "I miss you too, Mei," she said. "We're going to see each other tomorrow at the semi-finals."

"Hai!" he exclaimed. "I hope your team doesn't even dare to lose."

"Right back at ya," she said with a smirk.

"You don't even have to mention it," he said. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," she said back before disconnecting the call.

'Now, why can't he be this pleasant more often?"

*Time Skip*

After Azusa's phone conversation with Mei, the day went by smoothly with an interesting practice session where the coach was the pitcher for a change. A couple of the third-year players came up with the idea of making a bigger mound to mimic the height of Maki, the ace of Sensen. The practice was going well and the overall morale was strong. Even Sawamura was doing better and he was back to his old self. Miyuki, however, was acting a bit weird and distant with her. It seemed as if he was avoiding her considering how he hadn't talked to her at all during practice. Which was strange because he always manages to tease her at least once per day. However, she decided not to think too much about it and chalked it up as to him being preoccupied with his own obligations. Aside from that, it was shaping to be an enjoyable day with the team.

'Maybe not so enjoyable,' Azusa thought while she picked a baseball from the ground and put it in the basket. Pitching practice was always fun to watch but it was not fun to gather all the baseballs after the players were done with practice.

"Man, what a pain," the manager groaned. She picked up another ball close to the catching net. Thankfully she had Haruno helping her or otherwise she was going to be at it for the whole evening.

"You missed one," she heard a certain catcher say which made her heart skip a beat.

Azusa turned around and she was met with Miyuki's signature teasing grin. He was holding up the baseball in between his fingers.

"Thank you," she said, extending the yellow basket closer to him so he could place it there. Not only was she grateful for his help, but also for him speaking to her for the first time all day. She really missed interacting with him.

"Oh? Now you're having me do your work for you," the catcher said teasingly, effortlessly throwing the ball into the basket.

The manager rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up," she said lamely. "I can't believe that even after the coach's pitching practice you still have energy left in you to be annoying."

"I can't let simple things like that affect me," he replied cockily. "I can't have people think that I'm going soft and lose my touch, y'know?"

Azusa snorted. "Now who is becoming dumb like Sawamura after spending so much time with him?" she teased. "I saw you babysitting him earlier."

Miyuki briefly stiffened at the mention of the loudmouth southpaw but then smirked at her. "That's still you," he said, teasing her.

The manager childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

"It also seems like you're becoming a stalker," he continued with his teasing but his smile was not reaching his eyes. "Are you keeping tabs on me now? Or is it on him?" the catcher asked with his brown eyes flickering in a darker shade. There were no traces of his previous joyful teasing tone in his voice.

Azusa unconsciously took a step back as she gulped a thick lump down her throat. She certainly wasn't expecting that. "I-I'm not stalking anyone," she stammered. "I just happened to see you guys together right before the coach called everyone for pitching practice," the manager explained.

Miyuki shoved his hands in his pockets while she noticed that he was clenching his jaw. "Is that so?" he replied while he averted his gaze from her.

'What is wrong with him?' Azusa thought. 'Did I say something to make him mad?'

"Ne , Kazuya?" she began timidly.

"It's getting late," he mused out loud, while he looked up at the sun setting down. "So I have to go now," Miyuki said abruptly and left with a turn of his heel.

"Okay..." she said awkwardly.

Seriously, what was wrong with him? Not only was his behavior just bizarre but he also didn't tell her that he was going to wait for her at the gate like he usually did.

"What the hell?" the manager exclaimed frustrated while she went back to her previous task.

Boys were so dumb.

0o0o0o0o

'Stupid catcher!' Azusa thought with a scowl. 'Why is he being such a jerk?' she wondered. Miyuki being cheeky, sarcastic, and a little too blunt was not out of the ordinary since everyone knew how he was. But his behavior earlier in the afternoon was worse than he usually was and that was saying something if she thought so. Did she do something to make him angry? Or was something else bothering him?

'It doesn't matter!' the manager shook her head. 'That doesn't give him an excuse. I've been nothing but nice to him and in exchange he gives me an attitude. He's just being moody and on top of that, he owes me a popsicle. It's been a while since she passed all of her exams. That damn catcher!'

Azusa growled to herself as she was fuming.

"What's up with you?" Sachiko asked, startling Azusa.

Blood rushed to the blonde manager's cheeks as she was feeling overwhelmed with embarrassment. "N-nothing, I'm fine," she said, trying to keep her tone even.

"You don't seem fine to me,' Yui chimed in while closing her bookbag. They were all in the locker room, getting ready to leave campus for the evening.

Sachiko nodded. "You're scowling and growling more than usual," the pig-tailed manager noted. "Which is strange because we're leaving and it's not like I'm asking you to do anything so you don't have to be mad."

Azusa gasped, offended. "I don't get mad when you ask me to do things."

Sachiko, Yui, and Takako collectively narrowed their eyes at Azusa.

"Now, now, Azusa-san, that's not exactly true," Haruno said with an awkward laugh.

The blonde manager felt a pang in her chest. "How dare you say that, Haruno? I thought we were friends," she asked, feeling betrayed.

Haruno widened her eyes in fear. "B-but we're friends!" she tried to appease Azusa.

"Stop the melodrama," Sachiko said to prevent Haruno from having a heart attack. "Since managerial work is out of the list, what made you so angry?" she asked, trying to get back to the topic at hand.

Azusa let out an exasperated sigh. "I already said it was nothing!"

"We don't believe you," the older managers said at the same time.

"Now, now, don't be shy," Sachiko said with a sly smirk. "We're your senpai and you can trust us. So tell us."

The blonde shook her head.

"Did you have a fight with Miyuki-Kun?" Haruno guessed while tapping her chin.

Azusa widened her blue eyes in shock at the mention of Miyuki's name. She technically did not fight with him, but their relationship was tense and awkward at the moment for reasons unexplained.

'Do you secretly hate me, Haruno?'

Sachiko gave Azusa a devious smile. "Is that so?" she asked in an oh so innocent tone. "What did Miyuki-Kun do this time?"

"N-nothing," she stammered while averting her gaze from their questioning glances.

Yui giggled. "You're a terrible liar y'know?"

"I didn't have a fight with him!" Azusa exclaimed.

"Everyone knows that he doesn't have the easiest personality so it wouldn't be strange if something did indeed happen between the two of you," Takako said in an understanding tone. But Azusa knew better. She knew that the oldest manager was only trying to coax the truth out of her.

"I've known him for a long time so I already know how to deal with him," Azusa replied casually.

"Is that why he always walks you home?" Haruno asked in curiosity. "I've seen you two walking out together."

Azusa felt her heart beat faster in her chest as she stood frozen, rooted on her spot.

'You truly hate me Haruno, don't you?'

"What?" Yui gasped.

"He walks you home?" Takako gasped in disbelief.

"Now this is some juicy stuff," Sachiko grinned while rubbing her hands in a mischievous way. "Why don't you tell us more about it?"

Azusa took a deep breath to ease her nerves. 'If they see me nervous then that just is going to make them more suspicious. Just keep calm Azusa. Just keep calm.'

"There is nothing juicy about it," she replied coolly. "Miyuki-senpai doesn't walk me home. He just walks me to the bus stop sometimes if he has time."

"Sometimes?" Yui asked in suspicion.

"Even if it's just sometimes I find it strange that Miyuki-Kun would do something so... Nice?" the oldest manager said surprised.

Azusa rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal," she said in the most nonchalant tone she could muster.

'It totally is a big deal,' the manager wanted to scream but refrained herself to do so.

"Still... I agree with Takako-senpai," Yui