Diamond no Ace: Laugh, Love and Live

One Step Ahead

"Won't you have graduated by then?! Do you detest me that much?" Megumi heard Sawamura's shouting in the field as soon as she came to check how things are going with him. The girl rolled her eyes at his incurable idiocy.

"Ah, Chris-senpai!" She noticed the said male gathering his belongings, obviously preparing to leave while Sawamura ran around the field. The girl wanted to slap him to make him shut up. It was embarrassing to put up with his antics every single day.

"Good work, senpai!" Chris nodded at her, acknowledging her presence. It made her somewhat feel upbeat. It feels like he was slowly warming up to her. On the other hand, Sawamura still failed to realize how much Chris was doing for the both of them.

"Do your drills later. I asked Kominato to pass another regimen to the both of you." A wide smile threatened to rip her face apart, but she held back the excitement bubbling within her.

"Yes! Please do your best too, Chris-senpai!" Then, Chris completely left, quietly bidding her goodbye for today. A small smile that lingered on his lips, didn't pass by unnoticed by her sharp eyes. She nearly skipped to the dugout but she quickly took notice of the pink-haired boy with Sawamura, talking to him about something before the latter finally lost it.

Megumi saw him throwing something in the air and she quickly ran to see what he was making a ruckus out of. In the end, it seems like he threw in the air the new training regimen Chris had prepared for them.

"Sawamura, you idiot!" As soon as she said that, her fist connected on the top of his head, making him cry out in pain. She was slightly fuming. It was only a matter of time when she finally reprimands the kid for his continuous disrespect towards Chris.

"Fujimoto-senpai," the younger Kominato looked at her, impressed at her way of handling the southpaw pitcher. It really did the trick. Although, it was Haruichi's first time talking to Megumi, he had heard a mix of good and bad rumors about her but he seemed like that the former is true rather than the latter.

"H-Hime-sama!" He called out in a loud voice, catching the attention of the members nearby them. A blush spread her face, out of pure embarrassment. She didn't know how she did it, but she was able to control herself from wringing the kid's neck.

"Anyway, give me that. I'll be holding on to this as Chris-senpai entrusted you to me while he's away," a sigh escaped her lips upon being realizing she's being burdened of taking care of an idiotic, amateur player. Still, she clearly saw his potential to be an excellent pitcher, no doubt about that.

"Eijun-kun, the day after tomorrow is the Kantou tournament. What do you intend to do?" Megumi froze on the spot upon hearing Haruichi's words. The tournament completely left her mind the whole day and she nearly screamed in frustration.

Before she could speak up and butt in, the smaller first year continued, "You know, we only get to sit in the stands now so I know that feeling of dissatisfaction."

"But checking out the enemy isn't a bad plan, huh?" He continued. This statement seemed to pique Sawamura's interest and Megumi immediately picked up on what the younger Kominato was getting at.

'Oho, Haruichi-kun's quite good,' she thought as a mischievous smirk settled on her lips. She didn't know there was another way of handling Sawamura. But this sort of method wouldn't be effective for her though, in her opinion.

~~~

"Uwaah~ we're down by four points." Megumi clucked her tongue in disappointment upon taking a look at the scoreboard. The scores were slightly disappointing. They were definitely losing. Hopefully, they will be able to have chance for a comeback.