I. A New Beginning

*Words that are Bolded will be defined at the end of the chapter.*

Nanairō

After 8 years of work, it was now the time I had to find my highschool. But first, I had one last game before I graduated. If we were to win, we would go back to Kōshien, but if we lost it would end our season on a dull note. This was the game where we would know if we were ready for highschool baseball, or if we'd have to test into baseball schools and work to pay for the scholarship. Quite frankly, most of the top baseball schools were private owned schools, meaning it costed. A lot.

The deal I made with my family was that if I didn't get a highschool scholarship, I'd have to quit dressing as a boy and go to a Prestigious Highschool for the Religious. It was a school where all future Exorcists, Priests, Priestesses, Shrine Maidens, Laten Psychic, Pastors, Onmyōji and others would attend highschool. To be completely honest, I never intended to become an Onmyōji like my father and ancestors. But that would be "dishonoring" our family history, and frankly I was content with being disowned by a Prestigious family for Onmyōji. Shīki were never real anyways.

There were rumors that the scout from Seidō High would be making an appearance at our finals, but I never believed it true until I saw the full scouting section. It was over crowed by murmurs of both boredom and excitement. I ruefully looked at my sick teammate as he ran towards the bathroom. Poor Seīji... I shook my head and followed him to make sure he was alright. He had a bad case of stage freight. "Hey I'm going to check on Seīji. You all start warming up." The Boys all nodded with a chorus of "Hai!" as I went inside the locker rooms, which were connected to the bathrooms.

"Seīji-kun?" I heard a grunt. "Seīji-kun, come on, it'll all be fine. We'll all do our best, even if it means we lose, we still need to do all that is in our reach." I heard the door open. "Thank you Captain Satō-kun..."

I smiled as the tall boy left the room. I flipped open a small phone from my pocket and looked at a picture of an old friend of mine and me standing in front of the lantern festival releases. The picture was over three years old now. I closed my phone and put it in my locker. I made my way to the door and used it. It was time to seal my fate.

I grabbed my glove and began warming up throwing. "Satō-kun is excited?" Our short stop asked, seeing the look on my face as I threw, "This should be fun then! I heard we're playing Tokyo Central - they have this great Catcher!-" I zoned out and focused on warming up, throwing to Hikaru's glove with precision, but I made the throw too powerful. Hikaru's glove flopped off. "Sorry Hika-kun. I got to focused. I guess I should warm up pitching now?" He gulped and nodded but smiled to hide the scared expression twinging his face.

"Satō-kun is ready to be warmed up Zēro-kun!" The tall bleach blonde boy named Ji yūko walked out of the dugout. Why do we call him Zēro you ask? Well there are two reasons, the first being he's never let a ball pass. The second being the fact he's never said a word other than his name when he first arrived to any of the others. He corrected many people at first because they pronounced his name Jyko instead of Ji Yūko. He was Vietnamese, they have weird names compared to what we're used to.

I followed Zēro into the bullpen, realizing just how short I am. "Ne, Ji Yūko-kun is so tall." The tall quiet and usually stoic boy looks down at me and gives me a small smile. "Desuka? I know why you're shorter than everyone else." I smiled back up at him. You could say I'm his soft spot. We're good friends since we're constantly forming a battery. And we're roommates on top of that.

Flashback

I had finally convinced my Mom to let me go study Baseball in Kōbe, but I'd have to stay in the dorms. With a guy. I arrived at my room and opened the door to see a tall Vietnamese boy with bleached hair. He looked down at me but it wasn't exactly a violent or threatening look. It was more like a weak and vulnerable look. He was new to Japan, you could tell from his eyes alone. "I'm Nakatomi Satōshi. You are?" He looked at me. "...Ji Yūko... It's nice to meet you Satō-kun..." I smiled up at the boy and bowed respectfully. "I look forward to working with you."

End Flashback.

He caught my pitch easily. "Nice catch Ji YÅ«ko-kun!" An audible Bam! resonated throughout the stadium as YÅ«ko caught my second pitch. "...He gave me signals for continuous changeups so I wouldn't cause so much ruckus. Little did we know, we already caught the attention of a certain Catcher who was watching from the other dugout.

Miyuki

I glanced towards bullpen once again, causing Narumiya to go into jealousy overdrive while the coach that was lecturing us grew angry. "Hoi Miyuki! Am I really so boring that you zone out when I'm talking to you?!" I snapped my head towards my coach with an unapologetic smirk. "Sorry, I saw a cute girl and got interested." Mei and the others started cracking up to the point where the Coach was red with anger and started yelling. How did we ever get anything done?

After warming Narumiya up, it was time for the game to start. Since we were Visitors, we were Batting first. "Kazuya." I turned to look at the short blonde. "Let's score a few runs, don't back down." I smirked at the childish pitcher. "I should say the same to you. From what I hear, Kōbe East Middle has some intimidating players. That pitcher, he's a bucket of fire and he's just barely taller than you are, while his counterpart is around 188cm, dwarfing his pitcher in size. That catcher should be something to watch as well as the fireball left handed pitcher on the mound." Narumiya smirked as he put on his Batting gear since he was Batting third.

Our first batter walked out onto the field. I watched as the catcher examined the batter and turned to his pitcher to give a sign. He's the one making the calls? I turned and looked at the dugout to see their coach watching from his seat on the bench. He isnt even paying attention? I looked back towards the pitcher as he lifted his right leg. My eyes widened as the ball went flying towards home plate. "Strike!" I watched as our batter stepped out of the box with wide eyes.

"This pitcher... Mei, watch how he pitches." It wasn't too long until our leadoff was struck out by the third pitch. "Mei... That pitcher, his control and speed are well crafted and that catcher knows how to lead his pitcher. That catcher knows everything about his pitcher, meaning their battery is stronger than ours.-" I heard a loud slam confirming the fate of our second batter. "Strike three! Batter out!"

I nodded Mei on as he walked to the batters box. I stood in the warm up circle as the catcher turned his eyes to me. I let a smirk cover my face. To my surprise he turned and smiled at his pitcher. He gave his signal. Within seconds the first pitch was thrown, but it was faster than the other six that the pitcher had thrown before. Mei swung, but the pitch bottomed out before it crossed the plate, so it bounced up into the catcher's glove. "Strike!" I held my breath as Mei got frustrated and swung level at a slider. He hasn't called for any breaking balls until we reached our three hole batter, who is also our pitcher. That catcher is a genius, he's getting Mei all worked up by flaunting his pitcher in Mei's face. "Strike three! Batter out! Change!"

I walked back in the dugout and I put on my gear and grabbed my glove, patting Mei on the back as I walked out. I knew he would not be on the mound long because he was already frustrated at the other team's battery as they got a three up three down. I watched Mei all the way to the mound from behind the plate. I pulled my face mask on and waited on the first batter. It was a slimly built tall boy who was playing Second Base before. "First batter, Miyugi Azuya-kun." The boy got in the Left batter's box. "I'm just here to hold you off... Satō-kun will get to bat in this inning, prepare yourself, catcher." I smirked at his bold statement. I called for a Fastball to the inside.

Mei picked up his leg and threw, but to my dismay, the ball went soaring to the back of the Right field, on the first pitch much less. The boy safely slid into third before the right fielder even got it to the infield. I wondered why he didn't go home, he would have made it. "Shake it off, we'll get the next batter Mei!" I took my squatting position. The next batter neared.

"Batting next is Miyugi Hikaru-kun, Miyugi Hikaru-kun." I glanced at the batter as he neared. "So you're the Second Baseman's brother? I'm guessing you're here to hold us off for your cleanup crew as well?" The boy smirked. "So Azuya gave you that greeting then?" I laughed. "What's so special about your cleanup eh?" The boys smirk got bigger as he turned to look at Mei. I did too as I signalled for an outside fast pitch. He did as I asked, but that ball was hit to the same spot as the one before it. Something is going on here... The boy got to second, while the runner on third didn't budge an inch. I looked towards the dugout to see the coach asleep. They are all making their own calls!?

"Batting third, Mō Ji Yūko-kun, Mō Ji Yūko-kun." I looked up and saw the bleach blonde catcher approach the plate. He isn't their cleanup? He stepped into the left handed batter's box and watched Mei. I called for the same pitch as before. He drove it over center field and made it hit the fence, barely missing a home run as he ran to first. The other two runners stood still, meaning they weren't going for the immediate scores. The bases were now loaded. Ah I see... Loading bases for their cleanup?

"Batting fourth, Nakatomi Satōshi-kun, Nakatomi Satōshi-kun." Their tiny pitcher...? The shorter boy approached the plate. He stood in the Right batter's box. "A left handed pitcher Batting right handed?" The boy grinned at me. "Don't question things, catcher." The boy stood in the batters box. I called for a high inside pitch and got what I asked for, but it was just outside the strike zone. "Ball!" I could see that Mei was getting tired and frustrated, but it was still only the first inning. The batter didn't even flinch slightly.

Next I called for low outside pitch but I could tell when Mei picked up his leg, something was wrong. No! Not down the middle! This is a cleanup Mei! The batter stepped forward and sent the ball flying over the back fence with a Clank! "It's a Grandslam! Nakatomi-kun just hit the ball out of the park!" The smiling boy jogged the bases behind his respective catcher. The boy touched home and was immediately tackled in a huge group hug by his teammates. He got picked up piggy back style by his catcher and carried into the dugout. I watched with wide eyes as the team settled down.

After the first four it was smooth sailing until the seventh batter, where the second round of cleanup was coming through. We stopped their batters at the seventh batter, limiting them to four runs. "Strike Three! Batter out! Change!"

Nanairō

I stood on the mound. I was pitching for the cleanup and then I would be catching for the rest of the inning so Ji YÅ«ko could pitch. "Batting next is Miyuki Kazuya-kun, Miyuki Kazuya-kun." I looked up and saw the cocky catcher from before. I looked at Ji YÅ«ko and saw his signal. High inside. I picked up my leg and threw straight to Ji YÅ«ko's glove. "Strike one!" The opposing catcher leaned back slightly. I saw YÅ«ko give the sign for a forkball. I followed his lead and picked up my leg, throwing my arm down so fast my fingertips skimmed the ground. "Strike!" The batter swung.

YÅ«ko held his arms out as if to say, "show him your best pitch!" I nodded. Now it was my turn to give the signal. I gave him the signal for a standing squat lined up to the inside corner. YÅ«ko nodded, knowing what I was going to do. I picked my leg up as high as possible and I planted my leg facing the outside corner of the plate as I pulled my arm through, making the ball cross the plate diagonally. The ball was met with a bat. The stadium went silent as I caught the line drive heading towards me. "Out!" The stadium was filled with the cheering of my friends who also doubled as my former coaches.

"Time! Player change! Mō-kun as pitcher and Nakatomi-kun as catcher!" I ran over to Yūko and he quickly changed out of his gear and handed it over to me. I quickly put on the gear. This was due to be an interesting game.

- Time Skip -

The game was over and we unfortunately lost by one point in the end of the game because of the point scored by Miyuki's home run. I grabbed my bag and smiled ruefully at my teammates who were silently crying. "I'm sorry I couldn't lead you all to Kōshien this year. I'm sorry." I looked at Yūko, who's hand was in a makeshift splint because someone hit a line drive that hit him on his throwing hand, lightly spraining his wrist. I felt very guilty about it because I was the one who called for that pitch.

"Hey has anyone seen a Nakatomi Satōshi? There is a young woman here looking for him. She said something about highschool baseball? She'll be waiting in the coach's quarters, so I was instructed to lead Mr. Nakatomi there." I looked at my teammates who grinned at me. "Go Satō-kun, get yourself into a Prestigious Baseball Highschool before you have to go to that stupid Religious Prep school!" Yūko spoke up, surprising everyone. "Whoa! Zēro actually said something out loud in front of the team!" I smiled at the tall boy. "Thanks, Ji Yūko."

I followed the club advisor to the coach's quarters. There was a tall woman wearing a busty yet professional outfit that was making the drunk coach blush. I bowed respectfully and sat across from her. "I understand that you have come to speak with me about baseball?" The woman nodded and smiled as she slid a card across the table. "I'm Takashima Rei, I am the scouting recruiter for Seidō High Baseball team." I looked at her showing interest. "I'd like to offer you a position on our team. I saw your last game against Miyuki-kun yesterday. It was a valiant effort given by you and your teammates, more specifically you and your catcher. I looked into recruiting Mr. Jyko-"

I corrected her. "It's pronounced Ji Yūko." She smiled but nodded. "He must reapply for his exchange program because he's going into highschool now. So we'd like to know, as the last capable player on your team to be recruited for a Prestigious school, if you'd be willing to attend Seidō High." I deadpanned when she said the other members of my team weren't capable. "No. I won't attend Seidō if the representative is as rude as to call my teammates incapable." The woman adjusted her glasses. "So you'll be coming by tomorrow to check out our campus right?"

I stared at her like she was stupid. "At least give it some thought." I stood and walked out. As I walked out I saw a familiar Megane. I gave him a sharp look in the eyes. The boy grinned with a smirk. I pushed past him with out a care for what he was about to say. "Sorry about your catcher's hand. You should go to Seidō though. There will be better players than your cat-" I turned around and slammed him into the wall by his shirt. "Ji Yūko is the only one I will not let you talk about like he's below you. We have a Catcher, Pitcher mutuality. I catch for him, he catches for me. That's how that works. I don't have to take anything from you especially Miyuki Kazuya. So I suggest you go back to Tokyo City Boy before things get ugly." I dropped his shirt and stalked off, still being followed by the annoying boy. "You're like a lost puppy Miyuki."

I finally lost the bespectacled boy and escaped to my room. I locked the door and dove onto my bed. "Ah, Nana-san you're back." I smiled at YÅ«ko. "Yeah, I had to tell the recruiter and that cocky catcher from Tokyo off. He probably got recruited his first year of Junior High while we had to work hard for recognisation. He didn't know anything about you or our battery. " YÅ«ko smiled down at me and hugged me. "Thank you Nanai-san for making my Japanese Junior High experience great. I'll miss you back in Vietnam, let's keep in touch ok?" I clung to my Catcher, feeling myself beginning to cry.

We just stood there for a few minutes before he smoothed out my hair. "Go to Seidō. If not for me, for you, for Shunpeī. Please, go to that school. No matter how showy they are, go catch for people like Narumiya, go be caught by that snarky, cocky catcher. Do what is best for you. Don't give into your parents... Please." His embrace tightened. I hugged my best friend since first year of Junior High.

"Okay... I'll do it, for you and Shunpeī. On one condition, you have to come watch our Quarter, semi and final matches for the qualifiers. And I'll come watch yours." I looked at him to see he was crying too. "Okay... You have to introduce me to Shunpeī one day too. He's the only other person our age who knows your secret." I laughed slightly. "Deal."

• • •

I showed up at Seidō the next day, where Rei waited. "So you decided to come after all?" I nodded. "You have my 'incapable' teammates to thank for that. And Ji-Yūko-kun too, especially him." She nodded. "Follow me to the Baseball fields." I did as she suggested. I watched their practice boredly. "Sleepy Snappy-kun~?" I heard a mocking voice call. I looked at Rei with my eyebrow arched. "He insisted on coming along." I sighed. He threw something at me, which I caught. "Get changed. I want to show you something." I stared at him but stalked off to the bathroom. I quickly changed and walked back out. "Did you bring a glove?" I looked at the boy who was stalking outside of the bathrooms. "You're a real stalker, you realize that?" He grinned proudly. "Thanks!" I shook my head. "No I didn't." The boy threw his glove at me. "Use mine then. It's a catcher's glove, but it'll be fine." I slipped the oversized glove on and tightened it to my hand. "You must have tiny hands." He laughed at my hand size. He was right, the glove was still too big, but I'd manage.

He took me to a large bullpen where a tall boy with a partially shaved head threw to a squatting Brown haired catcher with beautiful greenish-brownish eyes. "Nice pitch Tanba-kun!" The two noticed our presence. "Aren't those the two players that were recognized baseball weekly?" The boy named Tanba-kun asked. The catcher nodded. "Chris-kun, can you catch Satōshi-kun's pitch?" I gave Miyuki I glare at his usage of my first name without my permission. "Sure Miyuki-kun, but why don't you catch him yourself?" The cunning catcher grinned. "I want him to experience a good Catcher other than his and me." I sighed.

I received a ball from Chris and caught it. "Does he know breaking balls Miyuki?" Miyuki broke out in a crap eating grin. "He does, he used them on me and Narumiya." I sighed at the lack of reference to my actual name. "Ok, throw a Fastball down the middle first then." Miyuki and Tanba were watching. "Watch his movements Tanba senpai."

I picked up my leg high. I wasn't used to pitching right, but since, it was the only glove I could get I had to live with it. I slammed my left foot down mirroring what I usually do with my right leg and left arm perfectly. "But wait isn't he a le-" Bam! "-fty?" The ball zoomed like a bullet straight to the Mitt. Miyuki grinned as I stared at my right hand. "As I suspected, not only is he a switch hitter, but he is ambidextrous, meaning he can pitch equally with both hands."

I stared at him next. "You're pretty mischievous." Chris and Tanba both snorted. "Thanks!" I shook my head and we all laughed. Miyuki tossed me a lefty glove. "I actually got your glove from Mō-kun, that's why I was at Kōbe East Middle. He talked to me after the Baseball match, he said Rei talked to him about his going to Seidō for his second and third years and said not to say something to you. He knew you were going to get recruited after him." I caught my glove.

"T-thanks" the boy hung his arm over my shoulders and leaned on me. "Does that mean you're coming to Seidō now?" He looked at me with a grin. I hesitantly nodded. His grin got bigger. "Good! Now show Chris Senpai how you throw lefty, oh and don't hold back this time, Satōshi." I blinked at him. So now it's my first name without honorifics? Man this guy is a handful, not to mention annoying!

I lifted my right leg without hesitation, it was higher than before. It was even higher than when I threw with Ji YÅ«ko with trust for the first time, because now I knew I had something to look forward to. I slammed my foot down hard and swung my arm forward, resulting in my fingertips skimming the mound. The ball zoomed faster than I've seen it go before. It smacked into Chris's glove without him budging. There was a loud resonating boom echoing the entire field.

"What was that?... I think it came from the bullpen. It has to be a pitching machine, no way it's a pitcher..." Murmurs along the lines of that came from the players on the surrounding fields. "165kph. You're a rare breed! Kyahaha!" A loud voice echoed from behind the bullpen door. That's when I realized someone used a speed gun to measure my speed exactly.

And with that, I went back to Kōbe to think on my decision.

____________________________________

Glossary:

Kōshien: The tournament in which high schools and middle schools from everywhere in Japan compete, Middle vs. Middle, High vs. High.

Laten Psychic: Extra-Sensory Perception, sensing the future in a limited fashion, sensing and interpreting psychic impressions, psychic interaction with the spirit world, sensing at a distance, mind-over-body powers

Onmyōji: A manipulator of the powers of Onmyōdo, a follower of the Onmyōdo culture.

Onmyōdo: a traditional Japanese Esoteric cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism. It is based on The Chinese philosophies of Wu Xiang (five elements) and Yin and Yang introduced into Japan at the beginning of the 6th century. It was accepted as a practical system of divination.

Shīki: enslaved spirits under the influence of Onmyōji (Onmyōdo)

Ruefully: with sorrow, regret or pity; done with a grimace of sorts

Lantern Festival Releases: done during festivals or to honor a day of death or a major event

Twinging: (of a part of the body) suffer a sudden, sharp localized pain.

Jyko: a Japanese company

Ne: Hey; used to get ones attention

Desuka?: I See; Oh really?; Used to express slight shock or disbelief

Bullpen: a cage commonly found in the outfield commonly used to warm up pitchers in Baseball

Baseball Weekly: a popular baseball magazine in which baseball news is featured in.

Breaking Balls: Balls used to give the battery an advantage over the batter; includes moving types of fastballs, curve balls, sliders, forkballs, sinkers, cutters, crossfires and more.

Switch Hitter: Someone who bats from either batter's box well

Ambidextrous: Someone with equal use of both hands and arms.