"This is not that complicated. Stop getting distracted and concentrate!"An irritated Miyuki demanded.

"I'm not getting distracted!" Azusa exclaimed in frustration. "It's just that it's hard," she complained with a pout. To be honest she was distracted earlier on when they first started studying. And how could anyone blame her? Miyuki greeted her just as he was coming out of the showers with a towel draped over his shoulders which gave him a different air. A much more relaxed one and the smell of his aftershave was intoxicatingly delicious. Not to mention that his hair looked really good dripping with water.

How did he expect her to concentrate?

Miyuki let out an exasperated sigh as he pushed his rolling chair away from his desk that he was sharing with Azusa. "With that attitude you're going to fail," he chastised.

The manager continued to pout. "I'm sorry for being so stupid Miyuki-sensei," she mocked.

Azusa was sure she was going to either get a retort or a teasing remark but she didn't get either of those as Miyuki just gazed at her.

Miyuki inhaled a deep breath."You're not stupid," the catcher said. "You've mostly been doing well. Just because you're stuck on this, it doesn't mean that you're stupid."

Azusa's lips curved into a smile."Really?" she asked.

The catcher nodded. "Yes, you've improved a lot in the last two days."

Azusa grinned to herself as she looked down at her textbook and re-read the question. After a few moments where she pondered over the question, she looked up and turned to Miyuki.

"Is the answer B?"

The catcher gave her a small smile. "Yes, it is."

She clapped in excitement. "Yes! I guess I've improved a lot, right?"

Miyuki chuckled to himself. "You're just like Sawamura."

Azusa knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You both love getting compliments," he said while chuckling. "It was as if you two were puppies," Miyuki continued teasing.

"Puppies?" Azusa exclaimed in anger. "So that's what I'm to you? An ANIMAL?"

Miyuki burst out laughing. "Relax, Azu-chan. It was just a joke."

"It's not funny and besides it's not true!"

"You're going to get a heart attack if you keep that up," Miyuki said with a smirk. "I can't have you dying on me. Your mom will kill me if you don't go home tonight."

Azusa snorted. "I doubt it," she said. "My mom likes you more than she likes me. She is probably going to forgive you because I was with you," she joked. "She doesn't even care that I'm getting home late because I'm studying with her beloved Kazuya," Azusa said while rolling her eyes.

"What can I say? Moms adore me," the catcher said in a conceited tone.

Azusa narrowed her eyes at him. "You just have her bewitched somehow."

Miyuki let out a dramatic sigh. "You wound me Azu-chan," he said, feigning to be upset. "I don't think Narumiya-san would approve of your behavior."

The manager scoffed. "Shut up you idiot," she said while she started to fan herself with her hands. "It's starting to get too hot to deal with your Mei- like shenanigans since that is something that he would say."

"Complaining about the hot weather is another 'Mei-like' thing too," he teased. "I remember him driving us crazy with his whining back in junior high."

Azusa laughed as she reminisced. Memories of Mei complaining flashing back in her mind. "Do you remember him when we used to get popsicles after games?" she asked.

Miyuki smiled at the memories. "Yes, Mei would drag us to the nearest convenience store every single time during the summer."

"And he would make such a fuss about his favorite flavors," Azusa said as a scowl replaced her smile since she was remembering how much of a brat he was.

"Tell me about it," the catcher deadpanned.

"Oi Mei! Why do you always leave me the watermelon popsicles? You know that I don't like them that much!"she complained.

"Because raspberry is my favorite flavor," Mei replied with an eye roll while he unwrapped his popsicle. "And I'm not going to give you mine under any circumstances!"

Azusa puffed her cheeks. "And you couldn't at least buy a different flavor?"

Mei shrugged. "Those were the only ones left," he said nonchalantly as he licked his popsicle."Have you tried yours, Kazuya?" he asked, turning to Miyuki.

Miyuki looked at the wrapped raspberry popsicle that Mei gave him before responding and then looked at Azusa. "Actually," the catcher began. "Azu-chan can have this one."

"Really?" Azusa asked with a smile. "You don't mind?"

Miyuki nodded. "I happen to like watermelon popsicles," he explained while offering Azusa his popsicle.

"Thank you!" she said in excitement and then they exchanged popsicles.

"Really? Watermelon popsicles are the worst," Mei said while munching on his popsicle.

"What a selfish brat," the manager said while chuckling at the memory.

"And he never stopped doing that either," Miyuki added.

Azusa snorted. "What did you expect from him? He is so selfish that he never shared his popsicles with me!"she angrily exclaimed as more flashbacks came to her.

The catcher laughed at her reaction. "If you pass all your exams, then I'll buy you a popsicle."

Azusa's cerulean eyes widened in excitement. "Really?" she asked with a smile.

Miyuki snickered at her reaction as he shook his head. "You really are like a puppy."

Azusa's smile was quickly replaced by a scowl. "What did you just say?"

Miyuki just burst out laughing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azusa stared at her classroom's door in fear as she gulped a thick lump down her throat in nervousness. Today was the day that she would find out about her grades. She forgot the last time she had been so nervous to go inside her classroom since she usually did not stress too much about her grades. As long as they were average, she didn't have a problem. But this time around was different. This time around she promised Miyuki that she would do well on her exams and she didn't want to let him down. Specially after his grueling study sessions. She didn't want him to think that he just wasted his time with her.

The manager took a deep breath to calm down her nerves.

'Everything is going to be fine,' she told herself and then slowly stepped into the classroom. A lot of her classmates were already there so idle chatter was filling the room. She slowly walked towards her desk which was in the middle of the classroom, next to Sawamura's desk. He was already there and she could see that he was shaking.

" Ohayou," Azusa greeted in a low tone as she took her notebook and pencil for their first period of class.

"Ohayou," he greeted back in the same shaky low tone.

Azusa gave him a sheepish smile. "Nervous?"

The southpaw nodded.

"At least I'm not alone," she thought.

"Let's find out our grades together at the same time, blondie-chan," he proposed. "Promise?"

The manager nodded in agreement. "Promise."

Their homeroom teacher stepped into the classroom and told everyone to go to their seats. He was impeccable dressed as always in his brown suit and round thick glasses. He cleared his throat once everyone was in their seats in silence.

"I have your final exam grades ready," the teacher said as he surveyed the student. "I'll be distributing your exams back shortly, and I want silence while I do. We'll discuss them after everyone has their exams back. Understood?"

" Hai! " the class replied back obediently.

Azusa's hands started to get clammy while her heart was beating a thousand miles per hour in her chest. She spared a glance towards Sawamura, and he was sweating bullets which again made her feel relieved.

The teacher was placing the exams face down on each student's table in silence. It seemed as if he was taking his sweet time with the other students because either Sawamura or her hasn't received theirs yet.

'What is he waiting for?' Azusa thought impatiently. 'I just want to get over this.'

"Sawamura-kun," the teacher said in acknowledgement as he placed the pitcher's tests face down on his desk.

Sawamura put his hand on top of them before turning to his left to face Azusa who was giving him a nervous look.

She could see that his hands were trembling and knew that he wasn't going to be able to overcome his curiosity. Even if he was his idea to wait until they both had their results.

Azusa gritted her teeth in anger. ' C'mon you gotta be kidding me,' she said to herself angrily as the teacher skipped her and went to another student's desk.

'That old man gotta be doing this on purpose,' her irritation was growing exponentially. Not to mention that her classmates' reactions whether silent claps, sighs of relief or groans was driving her over the edge.

As if the teacher read her mind, he hovered over her desk while narrowing his eyes at her. Azusa's throat went dry as she started to shake again. Did he actually read her mind? No, impossible.

"Narumiya-san," he said before placing the tests on her desk.

The manager gave him a small nod, and let out a breath that she didn't even know that she was holding as soon as the teacher walked towards another row.

"Blondie-chan," Sawamura whispered.

Azusa gasped in surprise, startled by the pitcher. She was still shaken by the teacher's actions.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Azusa couldn't find the strength to say yes. She couldn't even find it in her to tease the pitcher and tell him that she was surprised that he knew how to whisper. Instead, she just nodded.

The manager placed her hand on tests and turned to Sawamura to wait for her cue.

"One, two, three," he counted.

At the count of three, they both flipped their tests over and looked at their results.

'90 for history, good start but who cares? I've always been good at history,' she mused while she put that test down. ' 80 for English which I owe to mother's lessons. What's next? 75 on the science exam? Mom won't be happy, but it's good enough for me,' Azusa quietly snickered to herself. She was glad that she was feeling more relaxed and all that tense energy was leaving her body. She was expecting decent grades for those three subjects, but she was pleasantly surprised that she scored a few points higher than usual nonetheless. She absolutely owed it to Miyuki's study sessions. However, the moment of truth will be revealed with her grades for Japanese Literature and Math. The first test that she took was the Japanese Literature one since Math was her worst nightmare.

She glanced at the test and sighed in relief.

'Thank the heavens,' she mused. ' I'm so glad that Kazuya grilled me with this. My highest grade for this subject had always been a 70.'

Azusa neatly put the four exams to the side of her desk and stared down at the final one. The math final exam. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for the outcome. She passed her first four exams so even if she failed this one then that would mean that she would only have to take one make-up exam for math. She could live with that. She was positive that overall Miyuki would be happy with her grades.

'Here goes nothing,' she said to herself before flipping the exam over.

The manager gasped. "Oh my goodness," she quietly exclaimed to herself. "I passed," she said in a whisper.

She blinked multiple times to make sure that she was not dreaming. She even shook her head before staring down at the number again.

It was an 80. Clear in a bright red marker. She couldn't believe. She did not just passed. She actually got a good grade on a math test.

Azusa giggled to herself. She couldn't wait to show Mei and brag about her grades since he bad mouthed her to Miyuki. And speaking about the catcher she couldn't wait to show him out of everyone else she knew. Would he be proud of her? Congratulate her? Or tease her by calling her a puppy like Sawamura again?

'Wait a minute... Speaking of Sawamura... How did he do?"

The manager turned towards the southpaw's desk in both excitement and curiosity. She was anxious to know how he did.

"I did well on all my finals," she whispered with a huge grin. "What about you?" she whisper-shouted.

Sawamura stared at her back with wide-eyed expression without saying anything.

Azusa blinked in confusion. "Sawamura-kun?"

" Osh! Osh! Osh!" he started screaming as he shot up from his seat.

"I told everyone to be silent, Sawamura-kun!" the teacher yelled in anger from the other side of the room.

Azusa tried to stifle her laughter, but she couldn't control herself and soon she started to laugh out loud.

Soon after the class also erupted in laughter.

"Silence! Silence! I demand silence!"the uptight teacher demanded to no avail.

Sawamura blushed in embarrassment and quietly sit down in his seat.

"So I'm guessing that you passed," she said with a teasing grin before continuing to laugh. "I hope that Furuya had the same luck."

'And I also hope Kazuya will be happy with my grades.'

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

'I have to show him! I have to show him!' Azusa thought, speeding through the stairs to reach the floor of the upperclassmen with her grades in hand. After reaching the top of the stairs, the manager made a sharp left turn down the corridor where class 2-B would be. Victory flashed across her eyes as she saw the classroom in the vicinity.

"Miyuki-senpai!" she exclaimed loudly, sliding the door wide open.

All the students that were in the classroom turned to her in confusion and just stared back at her. Forgetting about their previous conversations and lunches.

"He is over there," a meek girl with short black hair and brown eyes, who was next to Azusa told her while pointing towards the back of the classroom, next to the windows.

Azusa followed the girl's direction and once she saw the catcher, she turned to the older girl. "Thank you," she said respectfully.

The manager made a bee-line towards the desk of the catcher oblivious to the fact that Miyuki's classmates were giving her puzzled stares and were whispering among themselves.

"Who is that girl?" someone whispered.

"Is she one of their underclassmen?" a boy asked.

"If so, what a rude freshman," one girl huffed.

"Whoever she is, it seems like she is close to Miyuki-kun," another person concluded.

"What brings you here?" Miyuki asked with an amused grin once Azusa approached his desk.

"And why did you do such a spectacle?" Kuramochi, who was next to Miyuki asked in both irritation and mild embarrassment. "You're just like Sawamura."

"Never mind that Kuramochi-senpai!"Azusa said determinedly to Kuramochi. "I came here for a very important reason."

"Never mind? Never mind that?"the shortstop repeated angrily."So on top of disrespectful you're also daft?"

Miyuki cackled, getting more amused by the situation by the minute. "So tell me Azu-chan, what is your important reason?"

The manager smiled to herself before placing her exams on the catcher's desk. "Look! I just got my grades!" she exclaimed happily.

Miyuki looked down on his desk in curiosity.

"That's your important reason for barging in here like a maniac?" Kuramochi sputtered.

The catcher's eyes widened in surprise while he scanned over Azusa's final exams.

"I'm surprised Azu-chan," he said in awe. "These grades are better than I expected."

Azusa nodded giddily. "I thought the same thing Miyuki-senpai."

Kuramochi snarled. "So you two are just ignoring me?"

"I'm definitely impressed," the catcher continued, ignoring the shortstop. "Great job, Azusa!" Miyuki praised with a genuine smile.

"Thank you so much MIyuki-senpai!" she said with content. "This is all thanks to you. I couldn't have done it without you," she said gratefully as she beamed at him.

"What can I say?" Miyuki began conceitedly. "It seems like I can perform miracles every now and then," he teased but it didn't rattle Azusa at all since she was still smiling happily at him."I guess now I have to buy you some popsicles, right?"

Azusa nodded. "A promise is a promise," the manager replied.

"Popsicles? Popsicles?"Kuramochi repeated angrily. "All of this noise for popsicles?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I still can't believe that I passed everything with stellar grades!" Azusa exclaimed as she headed towards the field with the ichinen trio on tow.

"Same with me. It's a miracle! I've never had such good grades before,"Sawamura also exclaimed, rejoicing along with the manager.

"Congratulations Narumiya-san,"Kominato said with a genuine smile to Azusa. "And Eijun-kun you barely passed so you shouldn't be too happy," he then said to Sawamura.

The pitcher started fuming. "That's not fair Haruichi!" he said offended. "I passed and that's all that matters."

Furuya growled. "Can we stop talking about grades now?"Furuya muttered while his aura started to flare.

"I'm sorry Furuya-kun," the younger Kominato said with an apologetic tone.

On the other hand, both Azusa and Sawamura silently looked at each other and both their lips started to curve into a malicious grin before turning to Furuya.

"Jealous?" the duo taunted.

Furuya's eyes narrowed as he glared daggers towards them. "I'm not jealous," he claimed while his aura flared even stronger.

Both Sawamura and Azusa burst out laughing.

"Sure, sure," Azusa mocked.

"That's why you can't put your aura away," Sawamura continued.

" Oi, you guys are not being nice,"Kominato quietly chastised them. "And you Furuya-kun don't be such a bad liar."

Azusa tried to stifle her laughter."Kominato-kun you can be as brutal as your brother," she said.

"AZUSA!" a feminine voice called out from afar.

The manager gasped in surprise. "Who was that?" she asked alarmed.

"I think it's your senpai ," Kominato said pointing towards the entrance of the field.

Azusa turned around and her throat dried up when she realized that all of the managers were waiting for her.

"Stop wasting time and come here! The coach is about to announce the numbers for the new line-up!"Sachiko continued.

" H-hai! "Azusa said embarrassed and ran towards them, forgetting about Furuya and her teasing.

"Wait for us blondie!"Sawamura yelled behind her once he realized that as actual players they were more tardy than she was.

The ichinen trio trailed behind her and they quickly reached the field where the rest of the team was, awaiting for the coach.

"We barely made it,"Takako sighed in relief while her, Sachiko, Yui, and Azusa took their place by the dugout while the team was in the middle of the field.

The coach arrived with Rei-san and Ota-san trailing behind him.

"I'll be passing out your numbers!"the coach said loudly. "Come and get your numbers as I call your names!" he instructed.

"First, number one, Tanba Koichiro!" the coach