"I'm finally officially on the team!" Sawamura exclaimed in an excited tone. "I'm going to show the coach what the great Sawamura Eijun is made of. Hahahaha!"

Azusa rolled her eyes while adjusting the basket of baseball in her arms. They were walking alongside each other, making their way to the practice grounds. It was a nice day. Not only because it was sunny with comfortable warm breezes, but also because they somehow managed to not get into a fight for a whole ten minutes.

But that was about to change soon.

"About time, don't you think so?" the blonde manager asked.

Sawamura growled at her. "Shut up blondie!"

Azusa shot him a glare. "You know what?" she asked while she smirked to herself. "Maybe I should shut up."

The pitcher gave her a puzzled look. "Oh really?" Sawamura was surprised that she wasn't arguing with him.

"Yes, I shouldn't have said that considering that you're just heading down to a meeting," she explained while chuckling to herself.

Sawamura clenched his fists in annoyance. "A very important meeting!" the southpaw angrily clarified.

"Suuure," Azusa said in a mocking tone.

"I'm going to finally form a battery with Miyuki-senpai!"

Azusa snorted. "And how do you know that?" she asked.

Sawamura blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you tell me that you honestly think there is only one catcher on the team?" she deadpanned.

The brunet boy slowed down his pace as he sweatdropped. "Well..." he trailed off while nervously scratching his cheek.

'What a dumbass,' Azusa thought before an evil idea came to her head.

"And..." she began.

"And what?" Sawamura asked in curiosity.

Azusa let a childish but yet evil smirk grace her lips. "There is also Furuya-kun," she added in an oh so innocent tone.

Sawamura gasped as he let the mention of Furuya's name catch him by the surprise, but the shocked look on his face was quickly replaced with a scowl. "I'm not going to let him win. I'm going to be in a battery with Miyuki!"

"Why do you want to form a battery with him so bad?" she suddenly asked in a serious tone.

"What do you mean why? That's the reason why I came to this school!"he declared before his cheeks heated up in a blush when he realized that he revealed more than he intended to.

"So you came to Seido for Miyuki-senpai as well?" her question sounded more like a statement.

"As well?"

Azusa quickly shook her head. "Never mind," she said with a dismissive tone. Then she re-adjusted her grip on the basket. "Either way forming a battery and being in a battery with Miyuki-senpai as well won't be that easy."

Sawamura narrowed his eyes at her. "And how do you know that?"

Azusa froze on her spot as she nervously gulped a thick lump down her throat. She quickly looked around to say something to distract him. She suddenly noticed that Miyuki was by the dugout along with Rei-san, Furuya, and another catcher.

"Why don't you go and find out?" she asked, motioning towards the dugout.

Sawamura turned around to see what she was referring to and paled when he realized that everyone was waiting for him. "Crap! I'm late!" he exclaimed before running towards the dugout.

'That was close,' she thought in relief. Not only because of Sawamura's question but also because of how close by Miyuki was. Even though he was going to eventually find out that she was a manager for the team, she wanted to delay that for as long as possible.

Azusa walked towards the net so she could set down the baskets of baseballs alongside them ahead of practice. She was supposed to do that with multiple baskets. But curiosity got the best of her and she decided to stick around to see how the batteries were going to match up.

"WHAT?!" a loud voice startled her.

Azusa turned around to see what happened.

Although she didn't need to turn around to know that that voice belonged to the one and only Sawamura Eijun.

She assumed that things didn't go in his favor judging from the tone of his voice and mannerisms. It seemed to her that he was arguing with Rei-san and Miyuki.

"But I want to form a battery with Miyuki!" she heard him scream.

Azusa laughed to herself. 'I told you that forming a battery with Miyuki wouldn't be so easy,' she mused in amusement.

"Blondie-chan!"

Azusa stiffened at the mention of her name. She looked up and noticed that he turned around towards her direction and was staring at her.

What was he doing?

"Blondie-chan! Can you believe that this is happening to me?" he continued.

Azusa felt her heart beat race fast in her chest as she looked around. If he was looking at her then that meant that Miyuki was...

Azusa didn't say anything to him and decided to run towards the opposite side.

She wasn't ready to face Miyuki.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What are you doing here?" Sawamura asked in contempt. He stared down at Furuya who was sitting across the table from him.

"What are you doing here?" Furuya asked, matching his tone.

The two pitchers glared at each other.

Azusa groaned out in frustration. "More like what are you two doing here?" she deadpanned.

Kominato let out a nervous chuckle. "C'mon guys, stop that," he pleaded. He was sitting next to Sawamura, while facing Azusa.

"What did you say?!" Sawamura asked, annoyed at Azusa.

Furuya turned to her. "But he was the one who started it, manager-san," he said.

Azusa took a bite out of her sandwich while she averted her gaze. "I don't care. You're both annoying now," she said, irritation dripping in her tone.

The southpaw just growled at her.

"I thought having lunch together was going to be nice but perhaps I was wrong in suggesting it," Kominato said.

Both Sawamura and Furuya blushed in embarrassment and for once they were quiet. The only sound that you could hear was the idle chatter of the school cafeteria.

"Don't worry Kominato-kun," Azusa said sympathetically, "It's not your fault that these two are uncivilized," she added while sparing a side-glance towards the two pitchers.

Sawamura glared at her. "Look who's talking! I bet that you're the most uncivilized manager ever!"

Furuya just nodded in agreement. It was obvious that his feelings were hurt.

Azusa felt her eye twitch in annoyance but then an idea flashed through her mind. "You two do realize that as manager I'm in charge of preparing your drinks and snacks, right?" she asked with a devious smile.

Both Sawamura and Furuya froze on their spots as they turned more pale by the minute.

Azusa snickered to herself while turning to her right to see Furuya's expression and then turning to Sawamura.

'Serves them right!'

"Hopefully I'm not on your bad side, Narumiya-san," Kominato said in a teasing tone.

"You could never be on my bad side even if you try, Kominato-kun," Azusa replied with a giggle.

"That's not fair!" Sawamura protested.

The manager shrugged. "Life is not fair," she said with a toothy grin.

"You're evil, manager-san," Furuya said in quiet tone.

Both Kominato and Azusa burst out laughing. Messing with the pitchers was fun.

Despite getting annoyed and mentally drained with the pitchers (specially Sawamura) from time to time, she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed their company. Azusa doesn't have a lot of friends, so it felt nice to joke around and tease each other. So she was certainly glad that Kominato came up with the idea of having lunch and hoped that they would have more lunches in the future.

Having lunch with them reminded her of the past. Of a much more simple time. A time where she was more carefree and enjoyed spending time with her brother Mei and Miyuki. They also had a lot of fun with their shenanigans.

"I win again!" a young Mei declared in excitement. "But it's no fun if you two are always so slow," he added while snickering.

The trio would always hang out after games, no matter which team won or lost. They were friends on and off the field. They would usually go to a nearby park or by the river and just chat while eating snacks. But lately Mei always wanted to race them to the river since he was having more adrenaline than usual.

"I just didn't want to leave Azu-chan behind," Miyuki said with a shrug while turning to Azusa behind him.

"What?! Don't blame me, Kazuya!" Azusa angrily reprimanded him.

"But it's the true though," Miyuki continued with his teasing. "You're a very slow runner but I guess you can't help it since you have short legs."

"Short legs? But I'm taller than you!" Azusa reminded him with a cocky smirk.

Mei burst out laughing.

"By like an inch," the catcher said, rolling his eyes.

Mei kept laughing as he gripped his stomach. "S-she really got you good, Kazuya," the pitcher said through stifled laughter.

"And what are you laughing about?" Azusa asked, turning to Mei. "You're shorter than Kazuya which means that I'm way taller than you," Azusa boasted.

Then it was Miyuki's turn to burst out laughing. "Now who got who?" the catcher taunted.

"S-shut up!" Mei retorted lamely. "You two are always bullying me," he accused them. "So I demand some snacks to make up for the pain I'm through!"

Miyuki snorted. "Snacks?"

"But I offered you some earlier and you didn't want to," Azusa said while crossing her arms across her chest.

"Why would I want anything made by you?" Mei asked in an incredulous tone. "I love you but you're a terrible cook."

Azusa clenched her fists in anger. "Why you?"

Miyuki chuckled. "She would definitely poison you."

"You two are terrible!" Azusa complained.

It was not fun being on the receiving end of their teasing but she wouldn't change them for anything in the world.

"Narumiya-san, Narumiya-san," Azusa heard Kominato call out her name making her snap out of her trance.

"Yes?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Kominato asked in concern. "You got really quiet there for a minute."

"You shouldn't have asked her anything Haruichi," Sawamura said with a scoff. "It was better when she was quiet."

Azusa fumed at him. "Don't you have to follow the training menu that Chris-senpai gave you?" she asked with contempt in her tone.

"Don't even mention his name to me!" the southpaw said indignantly. "His training menus are a waste of time. I want to start pitching not exercises."

Azusa snorted. "You really are stupid, aren't you? Chris-senpai is not going to give you a training menu just to waste your time. There is a reason for everything."

"Of course he would!" Sawamura argued. "He doesn't like me so that's why he's not allowing me to pitch."

"I wonder why," she said in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.

"Besides, how am I supposed to take him seriously when he always leaves practice early?," the southpaw asked. "That is why I want to form a battery with Miyuki instead of him."

"If you really want to form a battery with Miyuki then I suggest you don't badmouth Chris-senpai around him," Azusa said. She didn't know Chris very well, but Miyuki had mentioned him to her in the past while they were in junior high. By the way Miyuki talked about Chris, she knew that he deeply respected the older catcher and wouldn't appreciate Sawamura's comments about him.

Sawamura narrowed his brown eyes at her. "And how do you know that?" he asked in suspicion.

Azusa's pulse quickened but she tried her best to keep her cool. "Well, Chris-senpai is older

than him. So wouldn't it be obvious?" she attempted to give him a convincing explanation.

Sawamura shook his head. "Miyuki's not like that."

"Now that I'm thinking about it," Furuya began all of the sudden. "You seem like you know a lot about Miyuki-senpai," he said while turning to her.

Azusa gulped loudly. "Oh really?" she squeaked.

Sawamura nodded in agreement. "And every time I mention his name you get nervous," he noted. "Not to mention that yesterday afternoon when I called out your name you started running away from me."

"I had things to do that day and I didn't want to seem like a slacker thanks to you," Azusa quickly replied in an accusing tone.

"You always evade the subject when I bring up the question, manager-san," Furuya continued with his suspicions.

Sweat started beading on the manager's forehead as she felt nervousness overcome her. "No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" Sawamura said in an accusing tone.

Furuya nodded.

'I'm screwed,' she thought.

"And I know why," Sawamura continued.

Azusa gasped.

'How does he know?'

"You, blondie-chan, are a member of the Miyuki fangirl club!" he declared loudly.

'Oh goodness no... Wait what?'

"What?" Azusa asked in disbelief.

"That's it right? He asked in a smug tone.

"No, it's not!" Azusa angrily replied.

But on the inside she was secretly relieved that Sawamura was dense beyond reason.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After the lunch fiasco, Azusa decided to limit her interactions with both Sawamura and Furuya. Not only were they a little too much to handle while they were together, they were also already suspicious of her actions. Despite Sawamura getting the wrong idea and thinking that she was a member of some Miyuki fangirl club (seriously why would he think that?). She knew that sooner or later he would come to the right conclusion.

He couldn't be that stupid.

Or perhaps he could? Regardless, that didn't matter now. She had other matters in mind. Like asking Rei for the scorebooks.The Kanto tournament already started and she wanted to analyze all the data so far. Specially from Furuya since he already made his grand debut and caught everyone's attention. Also, she was hoping that she would find another way of being helpful to the team.

Azusa walked towards Rei's office and slowly entered the building with a small knock. She knew that she wasn't going to get a response since her particular office was at the end of the corridor and slowly walked down the hall.

"Why do I have to partner off with Chris-senpai? He doesn't care about baseball since he always leaves practice early!" Azusa heard Sawamura exclaimed.

'Sawamura didn't I tell you to shut up?'

THUD!

Azusa heard a loud noise banging against the wall and she quickly went to Rei's office to see what happened. The door was ajar and she gasped at the sight before her eyes.

Miyuki was holding Sawamura against the wall with an expression that she had never seen before. He was angry. Well no. He wasn't angry. He was more than angry. He was furious. His usual brown eyes were now dark and dull with rage. The catcher looked as if he wanted to beat the younger boy up.

"Miyuki-kun!" Rei exclaimed, urging him to leave Sawamura alone.

Miyuki finally let go of Sawamura with disdain. Leaving a poor pitcher confused.

Azusa quickly went further down the hall as soon as she saw Miyuki leaving the office. Luckily for her he didn't turn around so he didn't see her. Even though she would be the last thing on his mind after just happened with Sawamura.

The manager shook her head. She couldn't be thinking about Miyuki at the moment. And went into Rei's office.

"Sawamura-kun what were you thinking?" she exclaimed, barging into the room.

"What's up with everyone today?" Rei asked while adjusting her glasses. She hadn't even bothered in getting up from her chair and crossed her arms across her chest, demanding for an explanation.

"Uhh... My apologies, Takashima-sensei," Azusa said in an unusual polite tone with a small bow. Then she turned to Sawamura. "Didn't I tell you not to say anything bad about Chris-senpai in Miyuki's presence?" she asked the pitcher in exasperation with her hands on her hips.

However, instead of getting a loud or angry reply back. The pitcher didn't answer and just blankly stared into space.

The manager blinked in confusion. "Huh? Sawamura?"

"I guess he's still in shock," Rei said, catching Azusa's attention. "Which I can't really blame him. Neither him or Miyuki-kun."

"Is there a special reason why Miyuki-senpai reacted like that?" Azusa asked.

Rei nodded. "Yes and I think it's about time that I show Sawamura-kun the reason why Miyuki-kun got so angry with him."

Azusa wanted to ask her to get into specifics but there was something about her tone that indicated her that wasn't going to happen. Feeling mildly concerned she looked back at the pitcher who still was in shock.

Hopefully he gets over it soon.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0

A few days had passed since the incident between Sawamura and Miyuki and things had turned into a strange direction. At first, she thought that it would take a while for Sawamura to get over the shock he went through with Miyuki. But she was wrong. After that day he looked completely revitalized. Which is where things got really weird. Sawamura, who refused to be Chris's battery partner since the first moment and refused to follow his instructions, just completely changed his tune. Not only was he doing his training menus as instructed without protesting, but he was actually following Chris around. Well, more like stalking him. He also referred to him in the most respectful way possible and wanted to earn his forgiveness.

Azusa didn't know what caused that change in the pitcher which was driving her crazy. She wanted to know but Sawamura didn't tell her what happened that night where he went out with Rei. She was planning on asking him tonight but she got stuck with organizing the equipment shed at the last minute and it was already nighttime.

She needed to go home soon before it got too late.

'And I certainly don't want to miss my bus,' Azusa thought as she was about to close the door of the equipment shed shut.

"Blondie-chan stop!" she heard Sawamura scream.

Azusa turned around and noticed that he was jogging towards her. He was out of his uniform and now it was a white t-shirt with grey sweatpants on.

The manager narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?" she asked in mild irritation. She was tired and wanted to go home already.

"Don't close the door yet," he pleaded.

"Why the hell not?" Azusa asked with a glare.

"Because I want to run with my tire," the pitcher explained before trying to go inside the shed.

"Absolutely not!" the manager exclaimed, extending her arms so she could stop him. "You're not going to take anything from here! I just spent so much time organizing this and I won't let you mess it up!"

Sawamura grimaced. "Oh c'mon! I need it," he begged. "I promise that I will put it back."

Azusa scoffed. "No, you won't," she said.

"Manager-san!" she heard another masculine voice called out.

Both Azusa and Sawamura turned to see who it was.

"What are you doing here, Furuya?" Sawamura angrily demanded.

Furuya was also jogging towards their direction. He was out of uniform as well and wearing his sweats. Once he catched up with them, he was visibly out of breath and rested his hands on his