VI. I Quit. (Fighting Part Two)

Hey guys, sorry about me pushing this off for so long, schoolwork is a pain! 😿🙀 Anyways~ Enjoy this chapter!

Nanairō

... I stepped on home plate as the crowd loudly cheered for my first Homerun of the game and season. I was bombarded with praises from my teammates... I was finally making my epic debut in Highschool Baseball...

I walked back to the dugout only to change into my equipment and get ready to go. Unfortunately, our inning was cut short by the third out. "Come on! Let's go hold them down, Yeah?" I lightly smacked Tanba against the chest with my gloved hand as I ran out to the field. He was shaken by that pitcher's change in form after me batting, no doubt.

Tanba trudged out of the dugout behind me and found his way to the mound. Come on Tanba... Don't be like that...! Coach will pull you if you do... Everyone filled the fielding positions as the batter moved towards the plate from his dugout respectively.

The batter was tall and broad. He was well built and definitely had defined muscles. He looked like he shouldn't actually be in Highschool because he loomed over everyone on our team and theirs. He was probably a third year and he seemed to be a Third baseman as well.

"Third year, huh? I won't lie, I thought you were a man in your thirties, haha!" The boy got an irk mark at me. "So tell me, why is your number one if you're just a Second rate catcher? I bet you couldn't even catch one of Norakuri's pitches if you tried! You little squirt!" I smirked. "Is that so? I may be a Second rate Catcher, but I assure you, there's one better than me on my team. I may suck at every position I play, but I'll always give it my best, unlike cocky team captains like you who boast about their team all day but never actually get anything done. You could learn a thing or two from our team captain, Number 6-San." The boy shut up very quickly.

I called for a pitch on the outside corner, which cause Tanba to object with his expression. Not this again! Now I'm dealing with a cocky Cleanup, a discouraged Ace and a disobedient husband. (This refers to the saying that the Catcher is like the pitcher's wife by calling Tanba the husband.) I insisted again on the call. He refused to comply and instead decided to throw a curve ball to the inside. "Ball!"

I heard muttering from the dugout and I turned to look at the coach to see if he wanted him pulled the coach only nodded at me, meaning for us to continue, so I turned back to look at Tanba. I stood up and threw the ball back as hard as I could, knocking the glove off this hand with a loud bang. "Oh no... Tanba must not have done what Satōshi-kun wanted, his probability of being pulled just doubled..." Tanba winced and held his catching hand as he picked up the ball and his glove.

"Oi! Satōshi! What were you thinking!" I turned to the Ump and called time and signalled everyone to the mound. "Tanba, are you okay!? Satōshi! Why'd you do that!?" I sighed. "Tanba. When I give you a call, it's for a reason. You made a complete fool out of me and yourself and your team because you apparently can't follow directions. That batter is cocky and arrogant. I made that call for a head to head fight. But if you can't follow simple calls, go ahead and walk back to the dugout and chill out. That goes also to anyone who thinks I was wrong to respond with such a throwback. You all are a team, now act like it." I picked up the ball and shoved it into Tanba's glove before walking back to the mound.

I looked again at the Coach, who made no sign of switching me or Tanba out. Everyone returned to their positions with a variety of expressions. Tanba's expression was the only one that wasn't a certain degree of anger. His expression was one of understanding. "Sounds like you have quite the arm. Must be why your teammates made such a fuss over you getting angry about your pitcher not listening. How unfortunate to be on a team in such discord." I only sighed at the boy. I signalled Tanba for the same pitch, which he nervously delivered. "Strike One!"

I felt slightly relieved and so did Tanba by the look on his face. "Nice Pitch!" I threw the ball back lightly. "Oh? Now he'll listen to you! Hahaha your whole team is probably just afraid of your arm." I smirked at him as I got into position. "If they are, you should be too." I signalled Tanba for the same pitch but in the dirt and set myself up like he was going to pitch the same thing. "Same pitch again? Man you're pretty cocky to think I won't hit that out of here!" Tanba delivered the pitch and the boy swung easily, but the pitch bottomed out, making me switch positions quickly to insure I had the ball.

"That's strike Two isn't it?" The cleanup had a look of irritation. "Nice trick, I doubt it'll work again!" I grinned maliciously. I threw the ball back to Tanba. "Just what I asked for!" I signalled for a Forkball now, low and inside, just how the Batter wanted. "You're too easy to read! You signalled for this pitcher's signature didn't you? The Curve ball." I played along. "H-how-" He grinned. I internally smirked. To humor the Batter, I set up like I was going to catch a Curve. Tanba delivered his pitch, which led to me quickly moving and the batter to swing like he's going to hit a Curve ball, which just wasn't happening. "Out!" I threw the ball back. "Oops! I guess you were wrong. Like I'd let you know the call so easily." He growled. "You aren't a Second Rate Catcher at all..." I smiled. "Now, I wouldn't say that. I'm just not stupid."

Tanba ended up losing his Grove. He either threw way too low or way too high. I had to dive for the low and away ones and jump for the extremely high ones. He was tiring Me out by making me move around in the heavy equipment, but I didn't complain. Eventually Tanba had walked three batters. The bases were loaded and the boy on third was taking a risky lead. I called for a ball in the dirt, which he thankfully delivered. The ball bounced perfectly off the plate into my glove, which I fired to third. The runner took off, and third base threw it back. I caught it and was waiting on the runner. He showed no signs of slowing so I squared off. He collided with me, but I held a tag on him. "Out!"

"Time! I'd like to call for a change in Pitcher and in Catcher!" This caused us all to look towards the dugout. I saw the ever as cocky Miyuki smirking in the dugout exit wearing his gear. My smirk widened. "Why are they pulling both of you? You were doing fine. That Pitcher is the problem, making you jump around to catch his pitch." I looked at him. "I'm not being pulled." I quickly stripped off my gear and gave it to Tanba for when he returned to the dugout and traded off gloves with Miyuki, which sucked since I'd have to pitch right handed.

I grinned at Miyuki. "Took quite a blow from that slide? Sure you're okay to pitch?" I nodded. "You always seem to have a thing with timing eh?" I walked to the mound with the ball. I heard Miyuki snort as I turned to look at him from the mound. The batter rolled his eyes and was talking to Miyuki about God only knows what. "...You and the pitcher actually have such similar personalities it's scary. It was bad enough with him out here ruining our day, but now Miyuki Kazuya, the person tied with Satōshi Nakatomi for top catcher nation wide, is catching for the other contester for number one." I felt confused. So he knows who I am, but his teammates don't? Miyuki only grinned. "After all Satōshi has been through, I'm pretty sure you're giving him less credit than he deserves. You don't understand now, but after you see his pitch, you'll know what I mean. He really should be the one who scares you, not me." My heart skipped a beat after I heard Miyuki say such nice things.

Miyuki called for a change up to the inside corner. I nodded in compliance. I squared off and picked my arms up above my head. Of course, I had learned to pitch with my right hand more during the light training they called the Training of Death. Unfortunately, Miyuki's glove was too big, but I'd cope with it until I could switch into my own. I slammed my foot down and swung my arm down after performing my windup. The ball was just what he asked for. The batter shyed away from my pitch in shock of how fast and accurate it was. Miyuki didn't move his glove at all to catch the pitch. "So this is your ace...the catcher who has such a good arm, I shouldn't be so shocked at his speed, yet I am. But he looks uncomfortable? He usually pitches left right? I heard that Nakatomi-san pitched pretty fast... but this I never imagined." Miyuki grinned. "That was his change up." The batter's eyes widened. "T-that was a change up?!"

Miyuki called for a Fastball at full speed straight down the middle. I raised my arms above my head after squaring off. I performed my wind up as I stretched out my leg, slamming my foot down and swinging my arm down violently and scraping the ground with my fingers. My foot was touching the very bottom of the mound. The ball arrived in Miyuki's glove like a bullet. Miyuki's glove was smoking. Everyone in the stadium looked shocked that I, a really short person, could start at the top of the mound and end at the very bottom without crow hopping. The second shock was how fast that pitch was off of my weaker hand. Everyone but me and Miyuki were shocked. "Strike!" Again, Miyuki didn't even shift his glove when catching it. "No way... How is he such a fast pitcher even using his weaker hand...?" Miyuki grinned. "Didn't you notice? He's so flexible. I mean, what normal short baseball player could reach the bottom of the mound pitching without crow hopping? He's seriously just weird." I got a tic mark at Miyuki's rude way of saying I'm flexible.

Miyuki threw the ball back. "Now Satōshi, mind pitching like you know you can? Come on, if you want these people to respect you, then throw at 100%, not your crappy 90%, it's no fun. Even throwing at your top speed right handed isn't 100%." I cried out at Miyuki. "I'd like to see you pitch which your less dominant hand at 100% without warming the less dominant hand up." He snickered. "You're just a big baby." I sighed as he gave me the same call, emphasizing that he wants it a full speed. He's impossible... I delivered what he wanted, making the batter fall back due to the sheer force of the pitch. Miyuki caught the ball, but was pushed back by an inch from the sheer force of it. "Strike Three! Batter Out! Change!" We all returned to the dugout.

We won the game, it ending quickly at 5 innings because of our overwhelming victory. I pitched from the 2nd inning to the 5th. I hit 3 homeruns total out of the four times I was at bat, the fourth I was walked and ended up stealing home. The ending score came out to be 9 - 0. We were all loading up on the bus when I was approached by the team captain of the other team. "Nakatomi Satōshi, that's you right? I'm not sure if what you said about being second rate didn't matter to you is wrong or not, but you most definitely aren't second rate. Not only were you formidable as a Catcher, but as a pitcher, none of us could match you head to head." The boy walked off. I sighed. But now most of my team other than Miyuki, Miyauchi, Kuramochi, Kawakami, Azuma, and Tanba himself loathe me for throwing the ball back to Tanba so hard. Now I'll have to deal with an angry roommate.

I got on the bus and sat silently as I received glares from almost everyone on the bus. I slouched in my seat as Miyuki and Kuramochi made their way towards me and took up the rest of the seat. I was sitting where I always sat: the very back window seat on the right side. The bus ride was quick and silent. Neither Kuramochi nor Miyuki had a comment on how the others on the team were treating me. Every once in a while, I'd hear Azuma shouting at everyone to shut up, or defending me from their verbal attacks behind my back. When we got back, everyone made sure I was the last one to get off and kept shoving me and the people siding with me, other than Tanba, farther and farther back. Most of them shoved back and got their ways, while I on the other hand struggled due to my smaller build. Once I finally got off the bus, dinner was a repeat of the bus.

I went to my room while they all showered and then made my way to the showers after they all finished. I checked the showers to make sure no one was in there. When I was sure it was clear, I locked the door and took a five minute shower. Once I finished I rebandaged my chest and then got dressed in fresh clothes.

I walked out of the showers after unlocking the door. I made my way to my room and opened the door. I walked in and received a glare from Jun, who apparently didn't get the concept of: Catchers lead the Pitchers, not the other way around. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him so I just laid down on my bunk and turned off my light. Not like complaining about it not being a one sided fault will help. I flipped over and went to sleep.

Time skip a few weeks later: One day before Finals

I walked out of the showers after a refreshing bathe. I was drying my hair with a towel as I walked before I was suddenly shoved into a wall. I felt hands pin me to the wall. "You're going to regret what you did to Tanba, even if he forgave you, we still haven't." I got punched in the stomach first. I gasp for air as my lungs stung from the sudden loss of oxygen.

Next I got punched in the face. Who ever it was hit me on my right cheek first, then my left. The last place on my face that he punched me was my jaw, which was followed by a jab to the throat. I coughed and spit out a bit of blood on the boy's shoe. Always leave evidence if you want revenge. This made the boy furious, which led him to knee me in the stomach several times. The two boys pinning me to the wall threw me on the ground, which is where I curled up. Then the three proceeded to kick me in the back, sides, arms, chest, and face.

I saw someone just standing in the edge of my fading view just watching in utter shock. Miyuki...? The three boys finally stopped. "If you don't want this to happen again, you better not do something stupid like that again. Oh... That's... Oh. Jun, Ryosuke, and someone else... Doesn't matter. I'll know tomorrow since I spit blood all over their only baseball shoes.

I got up and limped back to the room with my head down and laid down on my bed not bothering to turn the lights off. On my way in, I noticed there wasn't one pair of bloody shoes. There was two. Huh I guess I know who the third person is... To think I was betrayed by the roommate who sided with me... I quickly plummeted into deep sleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling a taste for payback. I rolled out of bed and changed into clean clothes that weren't soiled with my own blood. I saw my traitorous teammates had left the room with their baseball shoes. I changed into my school shoes, since I was in too much pain all over to go to practice. My body was throbbing. When I looked in the mirror, I saw purple dominating my figure since they kicked me and punched me wherever they pleased. My face was the worst of it, though. My cheeks were swollen and purple and black while my jaw and throat weren't swollen but had discoloration due to bruising.

I limped out of my room and to the cafeteria. I pushed open the doors to see everyone eating. As I limped in people stopped eating to look at me, most in worry or concern until I stopped infront of Ryosuke, Azuma and Jun. I threw their shoes, which I found outside and crusted in blood, on the table infront of them along with a phone one of them dropped, a wallet, and a horror book. "Next time you jump somebody, make sure you cleanup after yourselves..." Everyone in the cafeteria was wide eyed and shocked at my response to being jumped. "You're despicable, you can't even vent your anger right? I spit my blood all over your shoes and everyone knows you jumped me now! But you're too pathetic and revenge obsessed that you don't even realize that you left traces of evidence that you did it?! I could go to the coach and the principal with this! You're so stupid to think that beating me in the middle of the night will do anything! Pathetic. That's the only word that truly describes you three, you especially, Azuma."

I limped back out of the cafeteria after venting on them. Now I was going to tell the Coach I would be taking a break from the team. I knocked on the door to said coach's office. "Come in." I pushed the door open and bowed. "Coach Kataoka, I'm here to request a temporary leave from the team, if I have to be moved down to Second or Third string to do so, I understand, and I will certainly earn my place back." I straightened and faced him, which caused his eyes to widen behind his sunglasses. "So... Would you like to tell me which of your teammates did this and why?" I shook my head. "Sir, I believe you should wait for them to confess. Or if they don't confess, check for three players with blood on their shoes." He nodded. "I'll permit it then... Only come back when you're ready, Nakatomi, you don't have to rush back in until you feel ready. You can also live in one of our empty dorms in the Seidō Spirit Dorm by yourself as well. If that's all, you may go." I bowed and limped away. I closed the door behind me and limped to my dorm.

I took all of my stuff out of my current dorm and transferred it to an empty dorm. I took my name off the hook and moved it to the hooks outside my dorm as well. I changed into clothes for class and limped to class pretty early. It was going to be a long day.

I managed to avoid everyone all day as the day neared its end. I was currently eating dinner before the boys got back, but it seems they got back early since they all filed into the cafeteria silently. That is a first, usually they're so loud and joyous and happy, but tonight it's just silent. I put 2 and 2 together to figure out they lost the game. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt and lost my appetite. I stood silently and left after throwing away my trash. I felt the eyes of everyone on me as I left. I limped to my dorm and crashed on my bed, deciding to go to bed early. I slept hard.

Time skip (Again🙀) to a month into  2nd year. (So about 4 months I guess)

Kazuya

"MIYUKI KAZUYA! I THINK I JUST SAW A GHOST!" I sighed at Sawamura's endless screaming. "Don't call me by my full name, Bakamura. And what do you mean you 'saw a ghost'?" He looked anxious. "I saw someone Spitz-senpai's height but thinner! He had black hair and brown eyes and he was going into a Dorm room! But he wouldn't live in our dorms if he wasn't a Baseball player, so he must be a Ghost!" I sighed at the dumber 1st year. Sounds like he's describing Satōshi... I only see him in class and we never talk these days... Haha, the Ghost theory is pretty funny though...

"Bakamura, that isn't a Ghost." He looked appalled. "Who is he then!?!" I frowned. "He's... His name is Nakatomi Satōshi. He's a 2nd year Catcher and Pitcher mainly. He doesn't play officially anymore because of an incident where Jun, Azuma, and Ryosuke beat him bloodied in the alleyway behind the showers. If you see him, don't bother him. We don't need you driving our true Ace further away." Sawamura gasped dramatically. "But I want to be Ace!!!" My frown deepened. "Sawamura, it may seem cruel, me saying this, but your pitching, fielding, running speed, Batting, and bunting will never touch his level. Satōshi played since he was 4, and he is strong in every aspect. If you don't believe me, go ask him to play Baseball with us later. If you can convince him to join us in the bullpen later, then you'll see a true Ace at work."

Sawamura grinned and took off running, eventually reaching Satō's door. I waited at the bottom of the stairs. I heard him knock. The door opened. "...Yes?" I felt relaxed by the sound of Satō's voice for some reason. "Nakatomi Satōshi-Senpai! I'm Sawamura Eijun! Please come out and show me what a true Ace looks like in the bullpen later Senpai!" I sweatdropped at Sawamura's directness. How come I don't get called senpai... "Hm... Who's the Catcher? If it's Snake-kun I'm in. If it's Miyauchi or someone else then no." Oho, miss my butt do you? Or are you trying to confuse Sawamura...? Probably the latter. "Eh..!? Who is Snake! You must mean Miyuki Kazuya! He's evil!" I sweatdropped. Well he isn't as stupid as I thought. "Alright, I'm in." Wait what!?... "I've been dying to show him my new pitch I've mastered."

Sawamura returned to me grinning. "He'll do it! But you have to be there! So don't ditch me Miyuki Kazuya!" There is no way I'm missing out on Catching for Satō again...! I grinned. "You be sure to bring Furuya with you. He needs to see that someone else can pitch harder and faster than him." Now I just had to wait.

As soon as afternoon practice came, I started feeling more and more nervous. I had already changed into my uniform and now I was heading to the Bullpen with my glove and my Catching gear. I don't know what the feeling in my stomach was, but it was making me feel more and more like I was in a life or death situation even though it wasn't. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, my throat was dry, it was unnerving.

I stepped into the bullpen to see the familiar figure of the former Ace. Something was different than before though, he was a bit taller, had more muscle now and his previously messy hair was now shaggy and messy. His hair covered his eyebrows and the top of his eyes. It was obvious he never stopped playing baseball... And that he didn't get a haircut. "Satō?" I stepped inside as he looked up. "Hello, Snake."