Two weeks ago

"Captain, I have a request."

"What is it, Kanou?"

"I want to pitch a perfect game in this match. Will you guys help me?"

There was a pause…

Then arguments and disbelief ensued.

One week ago

"Sorry I wasn't here for practice yesterday," Ruri came bursting into the club room. "That meeting with the student council came out of nowhere."

"It's quite all right," the unofficial leader of the managers, Shina, said reassuringly. "We'd managed just fine."

When they headed outside with water for the baseball team, endless shouts and clangs from the baseball bats filled the field.

"They're training really hard, aren't they?" Ruri commented to the other managers.

"Yup," the ever-enthusiastic Fuka said energetically. "It's their last year of playing high school baseball, so they probably want to achieve something."

"Or someone," Shina said softly, sharing a knowing smile with Fuka.

"Eh? Did you say something, Shina-chan?" Ruri asked.

Shina contorted her face into a confused expression.

"Did I say something?"

"Hm… I must be imagining then," Ruri muttered.

She glanced at the team's main pitcher, spotted flaws, and immediately went on a shouting rampage.

"KANOU! YOUR LEGS! WORK ON YOUR BALANCE, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"

One day ago

It was the night before the first game of the summer.

Kanou was nervous… which was rare, because the Kanou Shugo everyone knew did not get nervous. He might have a meltdown in the MIDDLE of a game (which was the worst case scenario, but thankfully, that only happened once), but he was never nervous BEFORE anything major, be it tests, exams, or matches.

He had proposed the aim of playing a perfect game to not only help himself, but also try and improve the teamwork of the team. The pitcher could not be credited a perfect game if he allowed even one base-runner, which meant that even with a no-hit, there was a chance the opponent could steal a base, so teamwork was really important.

Of course, pitching a perfect game is the ultimate dream of any pitcher. It also meant Kanou could one-up Mihashi and Nishiura with the record of a perfect game. Mihashi had recorded seven shut-outs in official games, compared to Kanou's four. And Kanou hated to lose, especially with Ruri gloating about it often during practice when she was training with him.

Well, he had also told Oda the other reason why he wanted a perfect game, but he trusted the other boy to his secret, because he was the most reliable person in the team and because the latter asked. So far, he had been doing a rather good job of keeping quiet.

"Hey Kanou-…kun," Ruri called hesitantly, breaking his train of thoughts.

Kanou turned, an eyebrow raised at the use of the suffix. Ruri had reverted to the non-familiar "Kanou" ever since Ren left Mihoshi, indirectly telling the whole world her anger towards Kanou ever since she found out about the bullying of her cousin, which he did nothing much to stop. The upgrade in the form of the suffix meant Ruri was one step towards forgiving him.

"Here," Ruri said quickly, throwing him a small green object.

Kanou caught the object easily and stared at it. It was a hand-made charm, so badly done Kanou could not help but let out a chuckle.

"Don't you dare laugh," Ruri cried, clearly embarrassed. "Don't you know how much work I put into that thing?"

Kanou let his laughter die down before answering her.

"I was just thinking… it's obviously Ruri who made this," he said with a grin. "The stitches are so uneven and crooked. And with the holes all over, you probably gave up embroidering the characters onto the charm. You probably thought 'Thank goodness for fabric markers' too, didn't you?"

Ruri was glaring at him now, although the long years of friendship with the girl taught him to know which of Ruri's glares he should be afraid of. This was not one of them.

"Sorry," Kanou apologized nevertheless.

He raised the little charm and smiled at Ruri.

"Thanks for this."

Ruri's eyes softened.

"Do your best from now on," she said, uncharacteristically gently.

"Don't I always?" he stated. "I'm the second most hardworking person in Mihoshi. You know that."

"No, I've always thought you were the most hardworking one," Ruri said. "Who works harder than Kanou-kun on the team?"

Before Kanou could answer him, they heard Ryuu shouting excitedly at them.

"Onee-chan! Shuu-nii! Hurry up! Obaa-chan has whipped up a very grand dinner for you guys!"

"We're coming!" Ruri called back.

She turned back and grabbed his wrist.

"Come on!" she said with a grin.

Kanou stared at the hand holding his wrist and after a few steps of running towards the Mihashis' home, he smiled.

You.

Three hours ago

"Gambatte ne."

"Definitely."

"Remember what the charm said?"

"Of course."

"Go win the game."

"That's what I, no, WE plan to do."

"Good. Now go kick the other team's ass."

One hour ago

It was a good game, so far. They were in the bottom of the fifth inning, and they had scored two runs in the previous innings.

The best thing was, the battery hadn't allowed any hits at all. They were on track for their perfect game. And he wasn't tired. Of course, no one said anything, since it was a taboo to mention it, but Kanou could not help but think about it.

He was determined, and he was sure the rest too. This would be one hell of a glory for Mihoshi.

Thirty minutes ago

Kanou held the baseball in his hand.

This was the last pitch.

He could feel the overwhelming tension around. It was like the whole stadium had held it breath, and he was suffocating. He was nervous.

The other team had called for a time-out, and was having a small quick discussion.

He transferred the ball to his glove, and pressed into his pocket for the feel of the charm. He smiled. Remembering the words written on it calmed him.

Shuu-chan is number one!

He glanced at Ruri in the dug-out and caught her eye. She gave him a grin and threw a fist at him, the secret gesture they created when they were kids.

Throw a good one.

He grinned back and saluted her playfully. He then looked towards Hatake, and threw him a determined look. Hatake nodded in response.

"Play!" the umpire called.

He threw.

And it ended perfect.

Currently…

The euphoria had died down.

The players were settled, packed and ready to board the bus back to school.

"Come on, Kanou," Hatake nudged him. "Tell her."

Kanou's eyes narrowed.

"Tell her what?"

"Don't play with us… all of us know, you know?" Yoshi said suggestively.

Kanou's glare intensified as it settled on the asshole whose precious one was about to be kick if Kanou was allowed to.

"Well, my tongue kinda slipped…," Oda shrugged nonchalantly, although Kanou could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Why you—" Kanou started to stomp towards the taller boy.

"Shuu-chan! What do you think you're doing?" Ruri's voice rang from across the group.

Within seconds, she was next to him, a glare more intense than what he had directed at Oda.

Unfortunately, Kanou was too pissed to crumble under her glare, and soon, the two were locked in a glaring match.

The Mihoshi players kept their mouths shut, until a choke could be heard. Miyagawa started laughing and soon, the rest had erupted into peals of boisterous laughter.

"Shuu-chan? It's been ages since I heard that!"

"You're still being called that?" Yoshi continued.

Kanou blinked. It was only then he realized Ruri had called him by his childhood name; the name he was used to for more than half his life.

"Sorry," Ruri said loosely, not sounding the least bit as sorry as her apology. "Tongue slipped."

"Can't you at least call my proper name?" he grumbled.

"None can do," Ruri said, her tone back to her cheerful one. "I've never called you 'Shugo' in my life!"

"Sorry to break the moment," Oda said as he rested his arm over Kanou's. "But aren't you gonna ask her now?"

Instantly, Kanou's face turned beet red.

Ruri turned to Oda with questioning eyes.

"Ask me what?"

"Ask you OUT!" Miyagawa shouted playfully.

"Kanou said you'll go out with him when he pitched a perfect game," Hatake said with a smirk. "That's partly why we worked so hard for this game. It's probably the easiest to achieve the perfect game with."

"Huh? That thing from middle school? I only told him I'll go out with him if he pitches a no-hitter ga… Oh."

Suddenly, Ruri's face was as red as Kanou's. The Mihoshi team, players, managers and coaches watched in curiosity as their two red-faced members started fidgeting uncomfortable.

The awkward silence was broken when Ryuu came yelling towards them.

"Shuu-nii! Papa said you're still too young to marry Onee-chan!" he said teasingly. "You'll have to wait a few more years!"

Once again, chaos ensued.

Ten years ago

"When Ruri grows up, she will pitch at Koshien and she will marry a man who can pitch a perfect game!" Ruri declared enthusiastically in class.

"What about you, Kanou-kun? Fujimoto-sensei asked.

Kanou thought for a while before opening his mouth to answer.

"I want to pitch a perfect game."

Author's note: This story took a lot of courage to publish, because I honestly do not know whether I was writing the game right, which was why I did not describe the game too much. Forgive me for that part, because I come from a country where the only thing people know about baseball is homeruns. I did try my best to read up quite a bit when I was writing this.

I know a perfect game is EXTREMELY rare, but it's a story, isn't it? I'm letting my imagination run wild in this story.

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Reviews will be nice :D Plus I'd like to hear opinions of this story.