Seido's Lovely Manager (Miyuki Kazuya x Female OC)

XIV. The Final Lesson

"One more!" Sawamura called out.

"Hey, wasn't that good?" Kariba asked as Sawamura continued trying to pitch an outside course that he had learned from Chris.

"Not even close! Another one!" Sawamura answered enthusiastically.

"He's has been loud during his personal practice, I see," Emi said quietly to no one in particular. She stood beside Chris and Miyuki watching Sawamura practice the new pitch Chris taught him two days ago.

"I'm sorry I had to ask you to help," Miyuki told Chris.

"It's fine. I wanted to tell him myself too," Chris dismissed Miyuki, "I hope this helps him get over the fear."

"Here I come!" Sawamura exclaimed as he tried to pitch the ball once again to Kariba with Kanemaru standing as a batter. Emi noticed how lively he was after Chris talked to him and couldn't help but feel happy for her friend. She really hoped that she could hear Sawamura's loud cheers and comments once again during a game.

"Now it's all up to how he overcomes it," Kataoka joined the trio also watching Sawamura pitch.

"I am sure it will be soon," Emi told them not being able to contain her smile watching Sawamura acting optimistic again when he tried to pitch an outside course again to Kariba.

===

The next day, Emi stood by the bullpen, normally with her notebook in had watching Sawamura and Furuya pitch.

"Keep it low, man!" Miyuki instructed Furuya as he pitched the ball a little too high. Furuya kept throwing strong and firm pitches to Miyuki and Emi watched how high his pitches were.

"Aren't his pitches way too high, Miyuki-senpai?"

"Yeah. But they are still fast and strong. Hopefully he doesn't pitch like this during today's game," Miyuki hoped as he received another high pitch.

"That's the one!" Sawamura roared in the bullpen.

"Nice pitch, Sawamura-kun!" Emi complimented

"Thanks Emi-chan!" Sawamura smiled up at her.

"Wasn't that good?" Sawamura asked Kariba, "Another one before I forget the feeling!"

"Shut up," Miyuki said annoyed at Sawamura's loudness, "No matter how loud you are, you're not pitching! Furuya is starting!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Sawamura shouted irked at Miyuki's comment, "EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT STARTING, CAN'T I JUST PITCH IN THE BULLPEN?! I'VE GOT TONS OF WORK TO DO OVER HERE!"

"I DON'T CARE! DON'T DO IT BEFORE THE GAME!" Miyuki shouted back annoyed at the first year pitcher.

"They are back to screaming at each other nonstop," Emi muttered to Kariba with her nonchalant face.

"At least this is the usual banter," Kariba told Emi.

"Yeah, I can't deny, it's refreshing to hear Sawmura shout," Emi said let out a soft laugh seeing how annoyed Sawamura was at Miyuki.

"Right?" Miyuki agreed with Emi but then called on to the other pitcher, "Furuya, last one!" Furuya pitched once again and the sound of the ball hitting Miyuki's mitt echoed loudly.

"Nice, we're done," Miyuki said and both him and Furuya walked away from the bullpen.

"Sawamura-kun! Stop glaring!" Emi scolded the boy after seeing how angry he looked.

===

It was Seido's last block games for the Fall Tournament and it was against Seisho Academy. The other school wasn't especifically strong nor weak, which was supposed to be easy to play against seeing that Seido was one of the strongest teams. However, the team seemed to be struggling to get one out already on the first inning.

"What are you doing, Furuya!" The visitors asked.

"That's the third walk in the first inning!" Someone else added.

"Furuya-kun seems to be giving out many walks," Haruno said.

"He looked ready today during his practice on the bullpen," Emi added confused to why Furuya wasn't pitching any strikes.

"Is he really going to be okay?" Yui asked as she also worried for the boy.

The game continued on, but Furuya couldn't seem to be pitching well. With that she saw how the members of the team were becoming antsy with Furuya not being able to pitch well and Ono calling Kawakami to warm up his shoulder.

Furuya tried pitching once again and the batter finally got to hit his pitch passing through the third baseman. The opposing team were able to score another free run due to the pitch. The managers watched worriedly as Furuya gave up another run even after a timeout. The game continued to go on horibbly for Seido until Kataoka decided to switch pitchers moving Furuya to the left side of the field and replacing the mound was Kawakami.

The team eventually was able to win against the team, but unfortunately, the atmosphere was way to tense despite the win. Many mistakes were made during the game, and of course, the coach was nothing but disappointed at the team for their poor performance today. The managers also stood in silence, sensing the coach's angry aura, they couldn't do anything but watch in worry for the team.

"Is this the game you wanted to play?" Kataoka asked the boys, "You pitch all-out even trying to pace yourselves. Out of frustration at being taken off the mound, you swing reacklessly and don't focus on defense," he said remebering how Furuya missed a hit, "You feel restless over a measly four-run deficit and you make easy mistakes," he continued as the players looked down in shame.

"You mistake aggressiveness for rashness and swing at a difficult pitch right of the bat," Kataoka said remebering how Miyuki hit the ball but itwnet straight to the pitcher, "Did you already forget the summer, Miyuki?" Miyuki's eyes widened as the coach reminded him about the frustration of losing, "Why do you train so hard every day? For this exact day! You don't truly understand the value of one run, and that's why you play like this. It's still the group stages? Did you think that you wouldn't lose because we had easy group? Don't get arrogant! If you can't play every game as one team, how do you think you'll get to Nationals?!" Kataoka shouted, "You guys are banned from training with balls. Go run until I tell you otherwise!"

Every player stared at the coach in shock as soon as he finished the speech.

"Is that clear?!"

"Yes sir!"

The managers watched as the players kept running until the end of the day. Advisor Oota then approached the managers.

"Managers, go turn the lights on, they're not gonna finish any time," he told Haruno.

"Y-yes, sir," Haruno said and the managers went to do what the older man told them to.

The following weeks Kataoka would out the team on their off-season training menu and none of the players were able to touch any ball during practice. The players however would practice alone with balls after practice during the night, and Emi would continue to help Miyuki during the night as always. But the players were still confused as to why the coach still put them on their off-season menu when the actual tournament was happening in a week.