I Am A Shadow (DnA Fanfic)

25. Seidou v. Akikawa Part 1

A/n: A slightly longer chapter today, but only slightly...lol

The stands along Seidou's dugout were already loud. Each name of the regulars were called out with encouragement. Akikawa gaped at the applause. "Their stands are quite packed. They've got a brass band and cheerleaders too." Akikawa's members whispered between themselves. "Compared to our...." They paused in shame. Hardly anyone sat on Akikawa's side of the stands. "Well...They're busy with summer school.."

"Even my parents told me to quit baseball already." Akikawa's captain, Shiratori, clenched his jaw in annoyment.

"Haha, mine are the same." Center, Ninomiya, included with slight sarcasm. "They told me 'we didn't put you in Akikawa so that you could play baseball.'"

"Well..Nobody thought we would actually make in this far." Second and third baseman, Tsushima and Hashimoto, laughed.

"But we can't quite now that we came this far!!" First baseman, Kunimi, looked over his shoulder at the team's ace. "After meeting Shun, we came to know the joy of winning!"

Both Seidou and Akikawa lined up to run to the field. Miyuki glanced at the first year, who seemed to be doing well for now. "Good thing we're playing in the morning, when the heat is still bearable. With that, you should be able to pitch like always."

Furuya was silent for a moment. He didn't return Miyuki's side glance. "I plan to pitch until the end today."

"Uwah~" Esumi marveled from a little ways down the lineup. "Spoken like a true ace." She smirked, not bothering to look at either the catcher or the monster pitcher.

"LINE UP!" The umpire called from the middle of the diamond. Both teams let out a roar.

"Top of the first inning, Akikawa begins it's offensive." The announcer began. "Number 1, center, Ninomiya-kun."

"Keep your eye on the ball, Nino~!"

"He won't be faster than the machine~!!"

Akikawa's dugout was in high spirits. Ninomiya nodded back at his team, while walking out to the batter's box. The umpire declared for the game to start.

Esumi stood in her usual spot on right field. From her position, she could easily make out the batter, as well as any signs Miyuki might make. She glanced toward the opposing team's dugout. Their coach was speaking, but she couldn't hear it. Esumi noticed a figure sitting in the back of Akikawa's dugout. 'Is that You-san? I can't tell from here..' Esumi glanced back to the mound.

Miyuki got in position to catch the ball. Esumi saw the back of Furuya's head move. He had agreed to the play. Esumi watched in almost slow motion as the ball left Furuya's hand. The ball made a nice sound against Miyuki's mitt. And Akikawa was left speechless.

"OHHHH! Today again without mercy!"

"What a sound!"

"Is he really just a first year!?"

Esumi stood in the right field, boredly. Furuya was doing his best to hold down Akikawa so far. Though she couldn't complain, since that was a good thing. 'Hopefully the heat doesn't increase more than it already has...' Esumi thought, looking up at the sun. 'I don't think I'll even be able to hide the fact that I'm sick...'

"Ball four!"

Esumi looked back to the mound. Furuya was wiping his sweat away. The batter moved to first base, as the runner before him moved to second. The girl frowned. 'Was he already this effected by the heat?' The girl ignored all the pointless chatter from the stands. All they talked about was if Furuya was okay or not.