The next day, at practice, me and Furuya were called to the first-string field.
When we got there, I saw Rei standing there with Miyuki and another person.
'I finally get to meet him. Hello, Chris-senpai.' I thought when I looked at the other person.
Chris Yu Takigawa.
He had slick-backed long hair with a couple of strands on either side of his fringe hanging done his forehead.
He had bushy eyebrows that rested on grey and clouded eyes.
'He must really hate being in this situation.' I thought. 'I'll need to try and make this worth his while. And maybe get him to feel a bit more alive.'
"Sawamura, Furuya." Rei said to us. "You two will be given a pitcher training menu starting today. You'll have twice as much work to do than everyone else, but good luck."
"Yes!" I replied instantly.
Furuya glanced at me at my quick reaction.
"Yes." He said as well.
"You both might be pitching in next week's Kanto tournament, so you will need to work extra hard during training. Furuya, you will be paired up with Miyuki to practice your accuracy with your pitches. You will also be practising your pick offs and sign as well."
"Yes!" Furuya replied.
Miyuki then gave Rei a big grin.
"Rei-chan. He has power, but his control is trash. Also, he'll have to throw a hundred pitches a day to build endurance." He said to her.
"Oh, you've already been catching his pitch?" She asked.
"Hmph!" Miyuki replied with a smirk.
"I will do everything Miyuki-senpai instructs me to." Furuya then said. "I look forward to working with you." He continued as he bowed.
"What's this? You're being obedient." Miyuki replied, slightly tilting his head.
"I figured I should start humble." Furuya said.
"Haha, this guy!" Miyuki laughed.
Chris, who was looking at the interaction, then turned towards me, only to see that I had been looking at him throughout the exchange.
I smiled at him.
He replied with absolutely no reaction at all.
'I'll need to break him down slowly.' I thought.
"As for Sawamura-kun, you'll be working with Chris, a third year. You're focus will be on strengthening your body and for you to refining your pitches." Rei said.
Chris held out his hand for a shake, he still had a very expressionable face.
I instantly grabbed his hand with a firm grip.
His eyes widened slightly when he felt my grip but went back to what they were before.
I gave him a big smile.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you Chris-senpai. Please take care of me in the future." I said to him, shaking his hand.
He looked at me with his clouded eyes for a moment before replying.
"Aren't you bitter?" He asked.
"Bitter? Why would I be bitter?" I replied with a confused look.
He then tightened his grip around my hand, making my face turn serious from the slight pain.
"That kid gets paired up Miyuki, whereas you get paired up with a second-string catcher like me. Doesn't that make you the loser pitcher?" He asked slightly towering over me with his big height.
I then gave him a playful smile and then gripped his hand back as hard as I could.
He flinched at the change of power in my hand, his eyes widened slightly, and flash of light appeared in them for a split second.
'He has a good grip. And it's not even his pitching arm.' He thought as he looked Sawamura's right hand clasped with his.
I finally let his hand go with a grin, my eyes were now glowing as I stared into his eyes.
When he saw my eyes, he felt like he was being seen through entirely, like I could see his whole life and knew everything about him.
"Chris-senpai, why would I be bitter about something like that?" I asked him.
I then put on a calm but serious face as I continued.
"I can understand if you're reluctant with being paired up with a rookie first-year out of the blue, but I'm happy with this arrangement. I get to form a battery with an experienced third-year catcher. Plus, Coach paired us up for a reason. He must have thought you were the best person for me to be paired up with right now as you must have better analytical skills for pitcher's bodies and their habits and help refine their pitches considering that's the training plan we've been assigned."
Everyone was looking at me by the end of this.
'Did I get too serious? I thought what I said was okay.' I thought, looking around at everyone.
"Hahah, Sawamura, you're awfully serious today." Miyuki said with a chuckle.
"Shut up, Miyuki! It's my first day training as a first-string pitcher, of course I'm taking this seriously." I replied.
"Miyuki? No senpai?" Rei asked with her eyebrows furrowed.
"Ah, Rei-sensei don't misunderstand. Me and Miyuki had a bet yesterday and if he lost, I could speak casually to him." I explained.
"Is this true, Miyuki?" Rei asked with a slight smirk.
"Yes, Rei-chan. The brat scammed me." Miyuki said through his teeth, staring daggers at me.
I gave him a cheeky grin in return.
I the turned to Chris who looked like he was thinking about something.
I waited until he had seemed to finally sort out his thoughts and a slight glint was found in his cloudy eyes.
"Let's see what you can do then." He said, looking at me before walking to the bullpen.
"Yes, Chris-senpai!" I replied.
I then turned around and looked at Miyuki.
"Just because we aren't paired up during training doesn't mean I don't want you to catch for me outside of training. You haven't caught my pitches in ages, and we need to be ready if I'm playing in the Kanto tournament. Be ready when training ends, Miyuki." I spoke.
"Yeah, yeah brat! Get going." Miyuki replied reluctantly.
Although, inwardly, Miyuki also wanted to catch Sawmaura's pitching since he had improved but he wouldn't admit it openly to the brat in front of him.
I nodded at that, then turned and jogged after Chris.
"Are they going to be alright?" Miyuki asked Rei in a low voice.
"I hope so. Coach wanted to see if Sawamura could influence Chris a little. Get him to be a bit more positive about things." She replied.
"Ah, I see." Miyuki said.
'True. If any pitcher was going to get help Chris out of his mindset after his injury, it would be Sawamura.' He thought.
***
When me and Chris arrived at the bullpen, he made for go through a 30-minute stretching session.
Throughout the session, he would take notes in a little notebook.
I heard him murmuring after the session finished when he was looking over his notes.
"Shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints are very flexible. His fingers are long and have many traits of a good pitcher." He mumbled to himself.
Hearing him, I felt a little happy, but I didn't say anything.
He then walked over to behind the Homeplate in the bullpen and crouched down.
"Throw a pitch." He said with his clouded eyes looking at me on the mound.
I didn't reply for a moment, looking back at him.
"Who's the batter?" I asked.
Christ flinched slightly at the question.
He then composed himself and answered, "Matsui."
"Ooh! A tough batter to start off with. Any runners?" I asked.
"2 runners, on second and third." He replied.
"What's the count?" I asked.
"Full count. 2 strikes, 3 balls." Chris said as he held out his mitt.
I looked at him again as if I was waiting for something.
"What is it? Why aren't you throwing?" He asked, a little annoyed.
"Aren't you going to make a call?" I asked him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Chris didn't reply and kept his mitt out.
I then frowned deeply at him, my eyes glowing their golden glow, staring daggers at Chris.
"Are you going to take this seriously, Christ-senpai?" I said in deep tone, my voice carrying a lot of weight.
"What do you mean?" Chris asked, his face unchanged.
"Are you that naïve that you don't know? Or are you deliberately trying to make me angry?" I asked, an aura building slightly around me.
"Explain." Chris said.
I snapped.
"Are you telling me that catchers are just targets for pitchers?" I asked in a cold voice.
Chris' eyes widened when he heard this.
"Pitching can only be completed when the pitcher AND the catcher work together to become one! That is how the work of art that is a battery becomes complete. Did you forget that? Or have you genuinely fallen that low after your injury?"
Chris flinched hard and stared at me after that.
"Yeah, that's right. I know about your injury. Did I think that made you any less of a catcher? Fuck no! If anything, I was even more excited to work with you, knowing that despite such an injury, you're still here, at training, every day. That showed me that you still hadn't given up and that maybe, you had the same love and drive for baseball as I do. However,… what you're doing right now. It's disrespectful to both me and you. So, get your act together and call the damn pitch!" My eyes were blazing at the end, my aura solid and dominant.
***
"So, get your act together and call the damn pitch!"
When Chris heard that, he got shivers down his spine.
He looked at the rookie first-year in front of him.
The glowing, golden eyes staring deep into him, the pressurising aura around him.
'What's with this kid?' He thought with his eyes shaking. 'Is he really a rookie?'
He then closed his eyes.
'How did he know about my injury? No! That doesn't matter! What he said was right! I was disrespectful to him and myself just now. I shouldn't have shunned him like this just because I was reluctant to pair with him. Crap! Have I really fallen so far that I'm getting lectured by a rookie. Fuck that! I'll show him what I'm made of.' Chris thought at a blitzing pace.
He then opened his eyes and the cloudiness had vanished, leaving a constant glint in his eyes as he looked at the rookie in front of him.
'Is this why Coach told me to pair with him? Did he know that Sawamura wasn't going to take any shit and call it out immediately? Damn you Coach! Why did you have to rile me up like this?'
***
Unknown to the two players in the bullpen, there was somebody watching the entire interaction from the beginning.
When Chris opened his eyes, showing that the cloudiness had vanished, Coach Kataoka made a devilish grin.
'Got you.' He said to Chris in his mind. 'I knew you still had that glint deep within you.'
He then turned to Sawamura whose eyes were still glowing with an aura around him.
'I knew the best pitcher to try and motivate Chris was Sawamura, but I didn't think it would be this quick. He hasn't even shown Chris his pitches yet, but he's already got Chris this riled up. This kid is different! Rei was right, she really found a diamond among pebbles.'
***
"What pitches do you have?" Chris said suddenly after letting out a sigh.
"Four-seam, Two-seam, Chang up, Cutter, Splitter." Sawamura replied.
"Okay, same situation and batter. Go with your splitter, inside." Chris said whilst holding his mitt for a splitter.
Sawamura nodded without hesitation and started my windup, planted his foot.
THUUUD
'Where's his throwi-'
WHOOOOOSH
SHUM
BAANG
The ball landed perfectly in Chris' mitt, steam slightly rising from within it.
'What's with this kid? Is this really a pitch from a rookie first-year? What was that power! His accuracy as well, I didn't move my mitt at all. And where was his arm? I couldn't see it.' Chris was again deeply thinking.
He almost started getting a headache as he hadn't thought this deeply and quickly for a while, not since before the injury.
He looked back up at Sawamura who had a calm expression on his face as if this was a daily routine.
His eyes were still blazing as well.
"Okay, now a four seam, high inside." Chris said as he threw the ball back.
Sawamura caught it and nodded, immediately going into his wind up.
WHOOOOOOSH
BAANG
"Okay, two-seam, low outside."
WHOOOOSH
BANG
"Cutter, low inside."
WHOOOOSH
SHWIIIPP
BAANG
"Change up."
Whoosh
Pah
'Holy shit!' Christ thought with his eyes wide.
'This is an insane pitcher! Where did he come from?'
Chris' eyes were now glowing considerably.
Unknown to him, Sawamura's pitching had brought out an instinct that he hadn't felt in over a year.
The instincts of a catcher, catching for an Ace.
'This might be a lot more fun than I thought.' Christ thought, smiling slightly.