Chapter Text
The stadium was filled with disappointed murmurs after the Seidou vs. Ichidai game was put to a close. Fans who came expecting a close game between the two West Tokyo powerhouses were brought to a halt within the first few innings, seeing the walks given by Seidou’s ace early in the game.
No one would have expected the game to turn out this way. While Amahisa Kousei was deemed as a genius at pitching, no one thought the gap between the scores could be this large, especially since Seidou had just come back from Spring Koshien.
One of the things that surprised fans the most was how long it took for Seidou’s coach to switch out their pitcher and bring a relief pitcher onto the field after the disappointing performance their ace showed. After giving up numerous walks from the start of the game and 5 runs in the fourth inning, everyone expected the coach to have subbed their pitcher out for a relief pitcher but was surprised as Seidou’s ace took the mound again in the fifth inning. With no outs and all bases loaded, the long-awaited substitution was made, and Seidou’s southpaw relief pitcher was finally called onto the field by the coach.
And what a shame that was.
1 out. All bases loaded. 5 runs in the last inning. Yet this relief pitcher was still able to do his best pitching in the middle of that pinch, successfully getting 3 consecutive outs and halting the Ichidai batters’ momentum. Not to mention that he didn’t concede any runs in the 3 innings he played after that, only to have his team lose from those 5 runs in the fifth inning.
If only they brought him out earlier, he might’ve been able to stop Ichidai’s momentum and turn things around, but it seemed like their coach had too much faith that their ace would bounce back which caused the team to lose.
A disappointing loss for all their spectators and reporters who wished to see Seidou’s performance after coming back from Koshien.
Amidst the murmurs, two men stood within Seidou’s side of the bleachers and watched the players head out of the dugout, heads hung low after their devastating loss.
“Those five runs they gave up in the fifth really hit them hard. That southpaw’s excellent pitching stopped Ichidai’s batters’ momentum but without anyone to earn back those runs, it was already a called game. If Seidou had changed pitchers earlier on like they usually do, the game may have turned out differently.”
“True. That southpaw has a really interesting form and from his performance against Ouya and Yakushi, anyone can see that he’s become a reliable pitcher. To think their coach waited that long to sub out Furuya for him… ”
“Not to mention his performance against Kasuga First. No one was expecting that change up in the second inning. Though, after this game, it seems that he’s got even more pitches under his belt. I’m not even sure if that pitch in the 6th inning was a cutter or a slider but it definitely spooked that batter.”
“Yes. It’s a shame that pitchers like him always get swept under the rug because of power pitchers. But even I have to admit that Furuya’s fastballs are similar to Komadai’s Hongo Masamune and are hard to ignore so it’s not surprising that Seidou’s coach is grooming him to be their ace.”
“I suppose so. Well, in any case, I was already interested after watching his previous games, but I think this game sealed the deal. If Coach Kataoka is too busy grooming Furuya then maybe we should try and play a hand in Sawamura’s growth ourselves.” The younger man said, raising a brow at his companion.
“Yes, I think so too.” His companion said, pinching his chin as he watched the brown-haired pitcher slowly walk off the field with his shoulders slumped. “Well then Sawamura Eijun, shall we see what you can do under proper coaching?”
It had been 2 days since their game against Ichidai and Sawamura had been repeating those words over and over again in his head ever since he was subbed in for Furuya.
"You saved me."
"Sorry."
"Good job shutting them down."
When would those words stop haunting him?
It was frustrating, to say the least. How could his coach apologise after putting him in that situation? Sure, he was a relief pitcher within his team, but couldn’t the coach have switched Furuya out of the game earlier before those runs? They all knew Furuya was having a bad day, but the coach decided to go with him and instead apologised to Sawamura after he made it through the fifth inning without any runs despite the situation he was put into.
Why was he only called in after that many runs?
He was sure that if he did as badly as Furuya, Coach Kataoka would have switched him out after 1 inning. But how is it that Furuya got that many chances before getting switched out just because he was the ace?
I guess that’s the difference between our jersey numbers, he thought with a sigh as he continued to walk towards the bullpen, too caught up in his thoughts to notice Kariba walking up from behind him.
“Sawamura. Sawamura. Sawamura!” He said, waving his hand in front of Sawamura’s face to break him out of his thoughts.
“Eh? Kariba!” Sawamura said with a jolt, turning his head to see Kariba’s worried expression as he took in the brown-haired pitcher.
“Everything okay, Sawamura?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine,” the pitcher waved off, noticing how Kariba’s voice was laced with worry. “Just going over my last games. I had a few balls here and there, so I have to work on that,” Sawamura went on, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Seeing his unease, Kariba offered a small smile and clapped Sawamura’s shoulder gently. “Hey, do you want me to catch for you today? I’m free right now.”
Hearing this, Sawamura raised his eyebrows and nodded excitedly at his friend. “Really? Yosh! Let’s do it!” He exclaimed, causing the 2nd year catcher to chuckle at his loud friend.
The second-string catcher was always there to help and support Sawamura, even when his team left him stranded when he got the yips and Sawamura couldn’t be more grateful. He didn’t know where he would be right now if Kariba and Chris-senpai hadn’t helped him out back then, especially since Kataoka told Sawamura to practice by himself without any catchers from the first-string offering to help.
Even after he overcame the yips, Miyuki was always busy with Furuya and would cancel their sessions after promising to perfect his numbers whenever their ace asked for him. It hurt but he supposed that those were the privileges that came with wearing the ace number, meaning that Sawamura couldn’t do anything but wait and be out on the back burner. And now that Chris-senpai had graduated, Kariba was the only one willing to catch for him at any time and had quickly become one of Sawamura’s closer friends and practice partners, with Kanemaru and Tojou agreeing to stand in as batter on the few days Sawamura asked him to.
At least I can count on them.
Shaking away his thoughts, Sawamura grinned and continued walking towards the bullpen with his friend while they go over his numbers just before hearing his name being called from behind him.
“Sawamura Eijun?”
“Yes?” He answered, turning his head to see a middle-aged man and an older-looking man approaching him.
Huh? Alumni?
“If you’re not busy, can we speak with you?” The middle-aged man asked, nodding politely at Kariba who stood silently by Sawamura’s side.
“Um, sure I guess.” He said hesitantly, telling Kariba to go on ahead, who nodded reluctantly and left the three to talk privately.
“My name is Maeshima Taro and this is Hotari Jun. We’re from the U-18 Japan National Baseball Team.” The younger man said, offering Sawamura a name card with Maeshima’s name and U-18 Japan National Baseball Team etched in big bold letters at the top of the card.
“Oh, if you’re looking for Furuya then he should be in the bullpen. I can lead you there if you want...” Sawamura mentioned nonchalantly, glancing over and pointing the two men towards the bullpen.
“Oh, we’re not here for Furuya. We’re actually here to talk to you.”
Hold on, what?
“EH? Me?” He shrieked, eyes widening in disbelief.
The older man chuckled and held out a brochure towards Sawamura, who hesitantly accepted it, eyeing them carefully. “We were really impressed with your performance during the Spring Tournament. Your pitching in your games against Kasuga First and Ichidai, in particular, were very good.”
Maeshima couldn’t help but notice Sawamura flinch when Hotari mentioned his last game and felt sorry for the young pitcher, which only served to fuel his determination to get Sawamura to join the team. “It was a shame that you weren’t brought into the game sooner, but you really held your own in those last innings. Anyone could see that you helped prevent your team from having a larger loss,” he chimed in after Hotari.
Sawamura offered Hotari and Maeshima a small smile, hiding his clenched fist behind his back as he remembered their last game, catching a flash of pity in the younger man’s eyes. “Ah, thank you for that. However, it was a team effort.”
Noticing his unease, Maeshima cleared his throat and glanced at his companion before continuing. “Sawamura, we recruit all sorts of players from across Japan who have all sorts of different playing styles and we believe that your unique pitching form has the potential to make you a very dangerous pitcher and a big asset to your team,” Maeshima explained. “To be frank, we’re interested to see how your talent can grow beyond what you have right now, and I think under proper coaching, you’ll be able to exceed everyone’s expectations.”
He didn’t miss the glint in the Maeshima’s eyes when he mentioned ‘proper coaching’ and clutched the brochure in his hand tighter.
So it wasn’t just him then. Even other people noticed how the team seemed to forget about Sawamura.
“As interesting as it sounds, I’m still on the first string of our team and I can’t afford to miss practices and our tournament games.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. We only train together once a week over the weekends and schedule around everyone’s games. We have players coming in from different schools so we try to adjust our schedule so that you can prioritise your games first. Of course, not all players come every week, since most players from outside of Tokyo can’t afford to come over every week but I think you’d find it interesting to train with other players from other schools within our region.” Maeshima explained, smiling softly at the younger boy.
Glancing between the brochure in his hand and the baseball field, Sawamura felt conflicted. This was a huge opportunity for him and a chance for him to improve his pitching and play more baseball, and with how things were in Seidou, he might not get this chance again.
But they were his team, and he shouldn’t abandon them, right?
Gritting his teeth, he turned away from the baseball field and faced the two men. “Can I have some time to think about it?”
“Of course, but it would help if you could give your answer by tomorrow. We’re having our first meeting this Saturday and we’d still have to fill out some forms before you come in.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure to give you a call by then,” Sawamura said, bowing respectfully to them. “Thank you for this opportunity, Maeshima and Hotari-san.”
“It’ll be a great chance for you to hone your abilities and meet other young players who are just as invested in baseball as you are. I hope you don’t give up this great opportunity.” Hotari said.
“I’ll be waiting for your call then, Sawamura. I hope we’ll see you this weekend.” Maeshima mentioned, smiling softly as they both walk away, leaving Sawamura alone again, speechless.
A minute passes.
Then two.
Then, did that really just happen?
He raised his hand and looked at Maeshima’s card and the U-18 Japan National Baseball Team brochure, still unable to wrap his head around it.
They came for him?
Sliding the brochure and card into his bag, Sawamura headed over to the bullpen, finding Kariba waiting for him in his gear with Miyuki and Furuya on the other side of the bullpen.
“Sawamura, is everything okay? I didn’t think you’d take that long,” Kariba said as he tightened his shin guard when the brown-haired boy placed his bag on the bench and started stretching.
“Ah, everything’s fine. Sorry about that,” he muttered, catching the ball Kariba threw.
Best to forget about it right now and focus.
“Can we practice my four-seam today? I wanna keep practicing my inside and outside pitches to make sure they’re not balls. The closer to the strike line, the better,” he hollered, internally wincing as he remembered hitting one of the batters during the Kasuga First game.
“Sure thing. But I’m sure your four seams are pretty controlled from what I’ve seen.”
“Ah, that’s alright. I need the practice anyway,” he said, throwing the ball over to Kariba for a few practice throws to warm up.
If I can throw the ball as close to the strike zone as possible, we can get a few outs easily.
Noticing a certain pair of amber eyes staring at him curiously, Sawamura bit the inside of his cheek and averted his gaze, ignoring the four-eyed catcher to focus on Kariba as he started to wind up for a pitch.
“Yosh! Here I go!”
“Nice ball! I think we should finish up, you’ve reached your limit today,” Kariba said as he removed his catcher's mask, earning a satisfied nod from the southpaw as he helped Kariba take off his gear, pleased with their session. “You did great Sawamura. Only 3 balls out of 50, especially those outside pitches. Your ball control is amazing!”
“Ah, thank you but some of them were shaky. Besides, my numbers have way less control,” Sawamura muttered, glancing at Miyuki who was finishing up with Furuya.
That reminds me, shouldn’t we start practicing them more? Golden Week is coming soon and I want to try them out in real games.
Throwing his glove in his bag, he turned towards the older catcher who had his mask off and was talking to the raven-haired boy. "Cap, can you catch for me tomorrow? My numbers are still shaky, so I want to practice throwing them,” he said, as Miyuki took off his sports glasses.
“Ah, sorry, Sawamura. I need to practice my batting tomorrow and Furuya still needs to get better control of his breaking ball. Can we do it on the weekend instead?”
Throb.
Right.
There it is again.
I know the ace number is important, but still….
Biting his tongue, Sawamura forced out a laugh and joked about how the captain shouldn’t show favouritism while bad-mouthing Miyuki jokingly to Kariba, who merely glanced at the pitcher in concern when he noticed Sawamura's obviously fake laugh. Thankfully for him, Miyuki wasn’t too adept at understanding anyone’s feelings and couldn’t see that Sawamura was, in fact, not joking and simply shrugged him off when Sawamura laughed. As Sawamura’s laughter died down, the brown-haired boy finally told their captain and Furuya that he was going to take a bath and left the bullpen with Kariba, who couldn’t stop glancing nervously at Sawamura after seeing the hurt that flashed briefly in his eyes when Miyuki rescheduled yet again.
How many times has it been since Miyuki-senpai rescheduled our sessions because Furuya asked him to catch for him?
Sawamura remembered Miyuki prioritising Furuya after promising to catch for him the day before. The same thing that happened before the Ichidai game, which resulted in his humiliation in front of the team as everyone saw Miyuki choosing to catch for Furuya after just agreeing to do so for Sawamura a few minutes before.
And now he wasn’t even going to at least try to make some time for Sawamura?
How long would it take for him to be taken seriously by his teammates? Especially from his supposed battery partner?
He knows he shouldn’t feel this way. He wanted to be a team player, but did that necessarily mean he’d have to let everything slide and be put on the back burner just because he wasn’t the ace?
How am I supposed to improve if I can’t even get proper practice in?
No offence to Kariba but even the second-year catcher himself admitted that he wasn’t able to help him out too much with his numbers, seeing how advanced Sawamura’s pitches were getting.
Damn it.
After saying his goodbyes to Kariba and entering his room, Sawamura dropped onto his bed and sighed.
Maybe this could be a chance for me to talk to other catchers and get their insight on his numbers. Without Chris-senpai around, I need a catcher who could catch my pitches properly and tell me how to perfect them.
If only Chris-senpai was here…
“Yosh. I’ve decided.” Sawamura said, grabbing the crumpled name card and brochure from his bag and started dialling Maeshima’s number, flipping through the brochure carefully.
This is my chance.
“Hello? Maeshima-san? This is Sawamura Eijun.”
“Sawamura! I’m glad to hear from you!” Maeshima answered. “So, should I get the forms in order then?” He asked teasingly.
“Yes, sir! Thank you for the opportunity,” Sawamura said loudly, eliciting a chuckle from the man.
“Alright, that’s great then! I’ll come over tomorrow to get you and your coach to sign some forms.”
“Eh? Boss?” Sawamura gasped in surprise, not realising that he had to get permission to actually go.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say that any coach would be panicked if they found out their player was missing,” Maeshima joked over the phone.
“Ha… I hadn’t thought of it that far yet,” he admitted.
Ah, what will boss say when I ask him?
“Don’t worry Sawamura. Most schools and coaches are generally happy when their players get scouted. It gives their school some recognition from the media and allows their players to get more training for tournaments. I assure you that your coach will be fine with you joining us.”
“Then, I’ll be in your care Maeshima-san.”