Tiff

[Eijun's POV]

"My boyfriend, Miyuki Kazuya. He's smart, handsome, sexy, and cares about his teammates. Did I mention sexy? He can do no wrong. Does getting on my nerves because he won't catch my pitches count? No, I don't think so, but that's beside the point.

"It was love at first sight, in a way. Ever since I saw his photo in that magazine, I had to go to Seido to see him for myself. I wanted to see if he could bring out the best in me, but I got more than what I bargained for. We started dating in the first few months. That's crazy!

"I never thought we'd get that close, especially with his twisted attitude! But it was his eyes that pulled me in. Those honey-glazed irises, the way his long eyelashes flutter when he teases me, the way his tongue…wait, what do you mean I can't talk about that? Come on, the people need to know—ugh, fine! Let's move on!

"I genuinely love Kazuya and I don't think I'll ever stop loving him. I don't care what other people say about him because I know Kazuya for who he is. Sure, he can be a bit of a flirt, but who is he sleeping with at the end of the day? That's right, me!

"You guys can say whatever you want, but I'm actually smart! Smart enough to know that…Kazuya hasn't been himself lately. He's been spacing out a lot and he doesn't listen to me when I'm talking. Not that he normally listens anyway. It's like his mind is somewhere else when we're together, especially when we're having sex.

"He's not as focused, really. It's bugging me because I don't know what's wrong with him and he won't tell me anything! I'M GOING CRAZY! Sorry for screaming, but Kazuya's my boyfriend and I care about him and if I can't help him, I'll feel useless!

"What? No, no, no! I don't think he's cheating on me. It's Kazuya, duh! I would never, so he would never…right?"

--

[Furuya's POV]

"Is it strange that I have a crush on Miyuki-senpai? It should be had, right? I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have feelings for him after what he did to me, but at least I'm being honest with myself.

"Ever since he caught my pitch, I felt something in my heart. It was an intense pounding sensation that wouldn't stop. I didn't know what to do about it. Whenever I was around him, my chest would get tight and I would feel the need to be closer to him. Physically.

"I'll be honest again—I craved him. I usually never allow my emotions to overwhelm me, but when it came to Miyuki-senpai, I lost control. I wanted more of him, all of him. Being on the field together wasn't enough for me. Sorry if I'm being too passionate about this. I…

"I don't think I'll ever forgive Miyuki-senpai for what he did. I don't hold grudges, but this is going to change the course of my life. Forever. I'm going to give birth to a child that will always remind me of him and of how vulnerable I was to him.

"I feel bad for Sawamura. I want him to know the truth, but I don't want to hurt him. I guess I'll take it one step at a time."

--

The Same Day - 8:00 PM

Kataoka sat down at his desk. "We must prevent Furuya's pregnancy from getting leaked to the media."

Rei readjusted her glasses as she stood next to him. "Why is that?"

"The answer is clear. We have to protect the reputation of the team, the school, and Furuya himself. If the public finds out, we'll definitely be under fire."

"I understand that, but shouldn't we be supporting him as well? He's young and he's being brave by keeping the baby."

"I know, but him being young is what's the issue here. The school board isn't going to be pleased about this. Worst case scenario, he'll be expelled." 'How unfortunate. He had immense potential.'

"I do hope the board takes it easy on him," Rei said. "For now, we should focus on how we're going to tell the principal."

"What I'm more concerned about is the identity of his child's father. Is he on this team? Was this even consensual? Is Furuya safe? Is he okay?"

Rei placed a hand on the coach's shoulder and smiled warmly. "I've never seen you this worried before. Don't worry. Leave that to me while you inform the board."

Kataoka sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll contact them first thing tomorrow morning."

Rei nodded. "Good." 'I never thought this would happen again…'

--

8:13 PM - Cafeteria

"Just to make it fucking clear," Kuramochi announced, "I'm not the one that got Furuya pregnant. Miyuki was messing with me."

"My apologies," Miyuki said with a smirk. "You seemed so passionate about defending him that I couldn't help myself."

Kuramochi sucked his teeth as he plopped back down onto his seat.

The first string was sitting around in a circle, their eyes now locked on Furuya. They had questions and he had the answers.

Jun was the first to ask. "Alright, enough games. Who performed the hit and dip? The smash and dash? The ejaculate and evacuate?"

Furuya sweat-dropped. "That's a crude way to phrase it. I already said it before and I'm not saying it again. I'm not revealing who the father is."

"Why not? All you gotta do is give us a little hint and we'll beat his monkey ass because he's gonna pay for knocking you up!" Jun roared.

His blood was boiling with rage and he was out to kill. How dare someone defile his little gofer, his freshman companion that ate, breathed, and lived baseball. By his hands, they were going to pay.

'Harsh,' Miyuki thought. 'I can't have anyone beating on this beautiful face of mine.'

Tetsu grabbed Jun's hand. "Calm down. If he doesn't want to talk about it, we can't force him. It's our job to make him feel safe and wanted." He turned to the pitcher. "Let it be known that we don't think any different of you—"

"That's a lie," Furuya murmured. "The other teammates. They were calling me all those names earlier and saying that I should've closed my legs. It's not as if I planned for this to happen. It's not like I wanted to get pregnant and upset the team. It's not like I wanted to have sex with him in the first place!"

Miyuki frowned. 'Hey, hey, you're giving away too much information. I need to stop this.'

"Why did you decide to keep the baby?" Kawakami asked, shuffling in his seat. "Did the person force you to or something? Don't you want to keep playing baseball?"

Furuya shook his head. "No, that's not the case. Sorry if my reason sounds selfish, but I want to show the father that I can take care of myself and the baby. He was completely against me having it, saying that it would ruin our lives and that I was too weak to keep it. I didn't believe that so I'm going to prove him wrong."

Masuko's stomach growled. "Furuya-chan, you're so courageous. Please don't hurt yourself along the way. We all love you—"

"I fucking don't," Tanba interjected, a scowl plastered on his face. "I'm not having this shit. Why are you guys condoning his pregnancy? He's fifteen, remember? This is disgusting. Did you not use protection?"

"What is your problem?!" Maezono asked. "Showing ya true colors, aren't ya? I never thought I'd hear those words come outta your mouth, Tanba-san! If you ain't got nothin' nice to say, don't say nothin' at all!"

"I'm not letting that self-absorbed brat become the ace after I graduate. I guarantee I'm not letting that happen! Boys can't even get pregnant, so how the hell did you pull this off? I don't care if it's some rare scientific incident. I'm not accepting this."

Furuya swallowed. There it was again, that hollow feeling in his chest that was ailing him. It was the same feeling from when Miyuki rejected him. He clutched his chest.

"Tanba-san, what you're saying isn't going to deter me," he said. "I'm giving birth and that's final. I'm going to be frank—that hurt my feelings."

"You hurt my feelings, too! You had great potential and then you pull this on us? Are you trying to screw up our dream of reaching Koshien? Is that why you came to Seido?"

"Furuya isn't like that," Haruichi pitched in. "He would never do this on purpose! Why are you being so problematic?"

"Get the hell out!" Kuramochi shouted. "Get out! You obviously have nothing positive to say, so why stick around? What kind of ace are you to say that to your teammate? You wanna be like those other players who insulted him?

"I'll tell Coach to demote your ass to the lower strings! We're supposed to take care of him as his upperclassmen, but you're being a shitty human being right now! Get the hell out and think about what you said!"

Tetsu's eyes glinted with a faint hint of murderous intent.

"Tanba. Leave."

"I have the right to voice my opinion!" Tanba persisted.

"I don't care. You may be the ace, but I'm the captain. You have ten seconds to leave before you see a side of me that you'll regret bringing out. Ten. Nine."

Tanba snorted as he slapped his towel around his neck and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Eijun let out a deep breath. "Wow, that elevated quickly. Wait, it's escalated. Furuya, your child better find the cure to every disease on Earth, or else all this fighting would have been for nothing."

Furuya was on the verge of tears again. He predicted this outcome, but he didn't think it would play out like this. The team was rapidly falling apart before him and it was his fault. He couldn't do anything about it. The hollow feeling in his chest was growing more intense by the second and he knew that Miyuki was staring at him with a triumphant grin.

Why did it have to be him? Why was he feeling so assured of his anonymity? The answer everyone wanted was right in front of them, but he couldn't say it.

Just how afraid was he?

"I am terribly sorry for what happened," Takigawa Chris Yuu apologized. "He doesn't normally behave that way. I don't know what's gotten into him. He shouldn't have said those things."

Furuya stood up. "Whatever. I wasn't expecting everyone to accept my pregnancy in the first place. Is it okay if I go to bed now?"

Tetsu nodded. "Sure. We'll talk more during breakfast tomorrow morning. You guys are dismissed."

Miyuki patted Eijun on the shoulder. "Let's go, babe," he said.

"No!" Eijun retaliated. "I wanna know who the father is because he's stressing my rival out! I would never want to date that piece of scum who told him he couldn't raise a child! What a jackass! See, Furuya, get you a man like Kazuya!"

Haruichi blinked twice under his bangs. 'You're kidding me.'

Kuramochi face-palmed. 'This freaking idiot. If only he knew he was talking about the same exact person.'

A bead of sweat dripped down Miyuki's neck. "Eijun, that's a p-pretty hurtful thing to say," he said.

"How?!" Eijun turned to him. "Hurtful? You're acting like you're the one who got Furuya pregnant!"

Jun cocked his head.

That was the last straw for Kuramochi.

"THAT'S BECAUSE HE—"

He was interrupted by the sudden ringing of his phone. Walking outside, he disregarded the unknown number and pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Is everything okay?" the voice on the opposite line asked. "You sound agitated. I want to see you. I'm in front of the school."

Kuramochi's body went numb at the sound of the voice he thought he would never hear again. That soft, yet demanding tone. Everything was coming back to him, perhaps too quickly for him to register.

"Ryo-san…"