Diamond no Ace: Laugh, Love and Live

Mentor

The next day had arrived quickly than what Megumi had expected. There was a lot of commotion as there were spectators who dropped by just to see the in-team game between the first years and upperclassmen. As soon as she arrived along with the others, there were a few faces that she seemed to not see. The brunette wondered where the regular catcher that she had been talking to last night, was at.

'Oh, right. The regulars just competed yesterday so uncle must have ordered them to rest for today, although I reckon they're all in the weight room and training their asses off.'

Her eyes landed on Sawamura who was outside the dugout for the first years, silently crying out of joy at the corner. He was given the chance to participate in the practice match between the upperclassmen and the first years.

Also, it seemed like she was getting fond of the said rowdy, southpaw pitcher lately. He even went up to her earlier this morning to greet her and ask for some advice. To say that Megumi was delighted because of that, was an understatement actually.

As for Furuya, well... the two of them are currently not in good terms, especially after last night's ordeal. She had been so peeved about it that she didn't want to be anywhere near the kid for the time being. She was afraid she might do something foolish because of her temper.

'I wonder where he had gotten that baseless confidence from...'

Her dislike for the raven-haired boy wasn't unreasonable. Since long ago, Megumi had disliked people who are too arrogant for their own good. She believes in the saying, "all bark and no bite".

~~~

The practice game ended with the upperclassmen scoring a lot from the first years even without the regulars participating. Megumi was also given the chance to pitch after Nori since the game still continued even after the coach told Tanba that he'd better be on the right track from now on.

Megumi was able to hold off the lower years quite easily. But having only a fast-ball and a variety of it did not satisfy her at all. Megumi wanted to polish the suitable breaking ball for her soon. Still, the outcome was somewhat pleasing to her. She was able to prove herself to those people who are talking crap behind her back.

She knew all of it. She knew that many are still disbelieving of her skills as a manager. But she can't blame them for not knowing her family history at all. She had only told Miyuki after all. She had spotted Miyuki earlier, along with the regulars, by the side and watching intently. She had seen him laughing amusedly when she consecutively struck out the first years.

As for Furuya, he was promoted to the first string–much to her chagrin. There are also two more first years who got promoted. However, they were assigned in the second string. The players were Sawamura and another boy called Kominato Haruichi who is Ryousuke's younger brother–which Megumi realized a little later.

It was quite obvious due to their similar appearances. What astonished her more, was how his movements are quite identical to his brother. There was also the fact that he has great baseball sense and splendid control while using a wooden bat. It was rare to see someone using wooden bats especially when the current generation is fonder of metal bats which send the ball to the outfield, even when jammed.

Sawamura impressed her too despite lacking in a lot of ways. His indomitable spirit to continue forward even if their team was losing and were already down a few runs against the higher years, was the reason for it. Megumi sincerely commends him for that. She could tell that her uncle thought so too or else he wouldn't let the game to continue, even going so far as to have extra innings.

~~~

Playing a game after so long, really drained the hell out of her. She wanted to sleep in earlier and miss training. But she opted not to. The girl nearly walked right into the wall while she was making her way to her classroom after their morning training. Luckily, someone saved her from having a bruised forehead.