10.

After the loss against Sakitama, Nishihiro had fallen sick. Though he had been substituted in as a game-changer by the 6th inning in place of Mizutani, and he had redeemed himself for getting on base, he could not convince himself he had been able to give it his all. Getting sick right after the game doesn’t help much either. With nothing to do, and all the time in the world in his hands, he cannot stop himself from sinking further into negative thoughts. Like, maybe it would be alright to just… leave the club, especially when he’s this useless. Useless against Sakitama, who they once managed to beat in a called game. Even more so against Bijou-dai Sayama months ago.

He shakes his head violently to chase those thoughts away, the memory of that last at-bat making him shake to the bone.

No, he tells himself. I can contribute better to this team.

With his head pounding, and his eyes falling closed on their own, he lets sleep claim him.

***

Nishihiro feels as if he’s being pulled away from his dreams, he hears murmurs of a bunch of people. Though they’re mere buzz to his ears, he can tell they all sound familiar, and they feel so close, like home. He feels himself floating to the surface of his dreams, rising to be awake but his eyes refusing to open. The light blares even beneath his eyelids.

“Sssh, Tajima. Where in the world have you been?” says that kind, but firm tone of their shortstop. Sakitama wouldn’t have won if Nishihiro had caught the ball Suyama so accurately threw towards him. But it slipped through Nishihiro’s grip.

“There was so much manga in that room down the hallway. I even saw some about baseball. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Their fifth batter’s voice breaks from excitement.

“You shouldn’t walk around people’s houses so freely.”

Tajima laughs. “Suyama, you sound like Yuuto… But really, we’re talking manga here. Baseball manga!! It’s the coolest!”

Another pair of voices converse, muffled stomps of feet sounding against the floor of his room.

“O-O-O-Oki-kun, I g-got ice from Ni-Nishihiro-kun’s mom.”

“Thanks, Mihashi. Place them into the basin so we can change the towel on his head.”

Right as Nishihiro feels weight come off his forehead, he slowly opens his eyes. He hears a choir of gasps around the room. Silence passing them as he takes a look on each of his guests.

“Y-you guys…” Nishihiro speaks weakly, not so much because of how his body aches, but because of an energy that fills his bones and his chest. His eyes sting, heart feeling warm. He’s never been visited by friends while he was sick before. Before Nishihiro could ask them why they thought of coming, Suyama beats him to the punch.

“Sorry for waking you up.” Nishihiro watches Suyama walk closer to his bed and sits on floor upon his knees. “Everyone wanted to come check on you, but we were afraid of overcrowding your place, so it’s just us. How are you feeling?”

“Better than before I slept, I think.” Nishihiro manages to laugh weakly. He feels weight on his forehead. He looks up to see Oki has placed the cold towel there. They share a moment, smiling at each other like they do sometimes when they’re passing papers to the front in class after a test. A moment of shared relief. He looks sideways to see Mihashi, fidgeting like usua,l but with wide eyes filled with concern for him, and Tajima, looking at him with his wide, relaxed smile.

It feels good. His whole body suddenly feels good. Like he’s been given a power up because his teammates came to visit him. His whole team wanted to visit him.

“That’s good that you’re feeling better.” Suyama nods, dependable big brother smile on his face. “Rest well and drink lots of fluids so you get better faster.”

Nishihiro sees Tajima nudge Mihashi, turning his attention to them.

“Y-yea!” Mihashi chimes in, nodding his head. “Ni-Nishihiro-kun, p-please get better soon. We’re-- All-- We’re-- Everyone-- We’re waiting-- For you. So. Come back.” Mihashi swallows, then tries to catch his breath. “Quickly.”

“That’s right!” Tajima grins. “We’re not a complete team without you after all.”

Nishihiro widens his eyes, surprised at what their once cleanup has said. For Tajima of all people, of all their members to say that-- It weighs a lot in his heart, and further increases his happiness.

“Thank you, guys.” Nishihiro wipes his eye, preventing teardrops in their attempt to escape. “Thank you. After Sakitama’s game-- I-- I really thought...” I really thought you guys would never want me back.

“PLUS BEAM!” Oki shouts. The other four in the room look towards him, and see his arms in a plus sign. “You’re not allowed to say that, Nishihiro. P-PLUS BEAM!”

Nishihiro smiles, his heart beaming with renewed vigor. He feels like he can be 100% better tomorrow, even with the power of his mentality alone. He needs to go back to his team, after all. They’re all waiting for him. He puts his hands in a plus sign. “Plus!”

They’re all waiting for him.

******

9.

It’s funny how quickly days have turned to weeks, to months, to years. Though it just seems like just yesterday when he was tricked by Abe into a Three At-Bat challenge against Mihashi, here they stand, all ten of them, taking in the sights, the smells, the feel.

Koushien’s soil is soft, yet firm beneath his spiked shoes. This is it.

Finally. This is it.

They had placed top above everyone else in their prefecture, beat champion high schools, and finally they earned the chance to stand here, among the best of the best.

“I know,” he starts his speech to his teammates, the original ten. His second family. He has to shout when the chatter of more than 60,000 people in the stands can challenge the buzz of a bee right beside one’s ear. He can see the excitement and fear in all their faces, standing built with power in their arms, legs and torsos. “I know how you’re all feeling. We’ve come so far.”

The crowd cheers wildly, announcements starting. The vibe is immense, but they won’t crumble to this pressure.

“We’re thinking ‘This is it! This is the first of the last few steps towards our goal!’ But let us remember…” He pauses, closing his eyes, preparing the voice in his chest to shout out their ale. He can feel how tightly they cling onto each other, for this first team circle they have against other top teams.

How far will they go? How many more matches are left for them to cheer in this circle until this last year together comes to a close?

He breathes, taken back to the baseball field at home, the cool misty mornings, teammates’ hands warm within his own. He opens his eyes, observes each of his teammates, pride swelling warmly in his chest. They’ve all changed since they were younger. They’re all much stronger now. They’ve come so far. So far.

Then he yells, their usual spell for a good game. “Don’t focus on last time!”

“OH!”

“Don’t focus on the future!”

“OH!”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

“OH!”

“We will play with?”

“PLUS THINKING!”

“NISHIURAAAAAA! FIGHT!”

“OOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!!!”

******

8.

A slump. This has to be it. Like he’s sinking even though he can see with his two eyes that his feet are solidly planted onto the ground. This is definitely a slump.

It started with their first game for the summer competition of their second year, and continued on to their third game. The opponent teams have been on high guard for Nishiura’s lead-off hitter. He’s established the record of getting on base, and scoring runs far more often than any opponent would desire.

Then again, if it’s put that way, then it isn’t much of a slump at all, he realizes. The teams they play against--they’re all heavily guarded against him, meaning he’s that valuable of a player to his team. But-- But he shouldn’t let himself be caught by their trap, by their strategies, by their adjustments to limit where he can bat. He can’t keep losing to them. There’s got to be a loophole. There has to be. And he has to train his eyes harder to see it, and train his arms so he can swing the bat and take the ball farther than they can imagine.

It’s tough, being trusted to be good, yet not the best. It’s a comfortable space to be, that he has the freedom and flexibility to grow at the rate he wishes. But it’s tough. It’s tough. Seeing how the top two of their team are far from his own capabilities.

“Kou-chan!” Tajima grabs him, an arm hooking over both his shoulders as he pulls Izumi down. Izumi’s grown close to two inches the past year, Tajima’s height is pretty much the same as their first year.

“What?” Izumi asks, normally as he would. He closes his eyes when he sees Tajima’s finger going towards them, but instead of feeling the finger jab his eye, he feels it jab the in-between of his eyebrows.

“You’re thinking too much.” Tajima lets him go and slaps him hard on the butt. It makes Izumi yelp. “You’re losing your cool, Suke-kou~”

Izumi groans. He’s told him countless times to stop twisting his name that way. “Yuu, don’t you dare.”

“Suke-kou’s gonna stay Suke-kou until Suke-kou loosens up.”

“Yuu, I swear--” Izumi dashes off, his words lost to the speed of him running. His feet quickly go one in front of the other to chase Tajima who’s had a fraction of a second headstart. (It’s funny how scared Tajima looked before he started running.) They run, towards the right field, hearing Hanai call out after them but they don’t pay him any mind. Izumi feels this burning need pulsing in his veins to catch Tajima--number one skilled player, quickest feet, running effortlessly enough that he’s laughing while he’s running.

Izumi runs. He runs. He runs. He has to. He has to catch up, otherwise he feels like he’d stay in this slump forever. They run towards the center field, where Izumi manages to outrun him, aiming to trap Tajima rather than grab him, but Tajima manages to stop on his tracks. They reach a draw, Izumi blocking off Tajima’s path wherever he tries to move, but then Tajima manages to trick him with a sidestep, making him able to run towards the bases again.

“Hah, hah~ Can’t catch me, Suke-kou~” Tajima taunts as he runs away towards the third base now.

“You guys, come back here!” Izumi hears Sakaeguchi call out from the distance, but his focus stays on Tajima.

Then for a moment, Izumi feels like his feet feel lighter, and his legs feel smoother. Like he’s a tin man whose joints have been oiled. It’s easier to bring each foot forward, like he leaves fire in his wake at the speed he runs. He runs. He runs. He runs. And just before Tajima manages to step onto the home plate, Izumi grabs him by the back of his uniform, and pulls him back, preventing him from landing the base.

“No!! Let me go!”

“I will not. Just who are you calling Suke-kou, huh? HUH?” Izumi manages to grab the sides of Tajima’s head and noogie him the way Abe used to do to Mihashi.

“Ow, ow, ow, OW! OUCH!! Stop! Stop! Okay! I’ll stop!”

“Hey, you two. Stop horsing around.” Hanai walks over to them. “Tajima, I told you to stop running around so freely. You haven’t even properly warmed up yet.”

“But it was Kou-chan that threatened me. I was running for my dear life, you know! He’s got the intense aura of a monster when he’s angry.” Tajima walks off with Hanai, following him to the bench.

“Then why tick him off in the first place?”

Izumi stays in place, heaving with breath, internalizing what Tajima had just said. His aura? Does he mean his presence? A presence powerful enough that makes even the fearless Tajima cower and run away. It brings pleasing jitters across Izumi’s skin, and a smile on his face.

“Kou-chan,” Mihashi approaches him. Izumi looks to him to see he’s handing him a bottle of water, which he gratefully takes and drinks from. “You’re f-f-feeling better?”

“Ahhh,” Izumi heaves a deep, refreshed sigh as he finishes the contents of the bottle, topping it with a smile. “Yeah, Ren.” He chuckles as ruffles Mihashi’s hair. He walks to the bench where Hanai and Tajima are still (friendly) arguing to refill his bottle.

A presence immense enough to scare even Tajima. Izumi grins again as he refills his bottle with water (not knowing he’s made Tajima flinch, caught by surprise at the sudden intensity coming from him). Maybe he can work with that.

He’s not as tall and capable as Hanai, nor is he small and naturally-gifted with talent as Tajima, but he can have this. He can scare the fielders and pitcher alike with his presence, so they won’t even dare challenge him. Make them cower so that they’ll forget how to deal with him, and give him the loopholes in their defenses that Izumi had been so trained to do.

This could get very interesting.

******

7.

Mizutani stands at the batter’s box, the score at a comfortable 2-0 at the bottom of the third inning. Comfortable--that is, for him, because he thinks his team can totally win against the opponent, but for Momokan who’s looking pretty aggressive as she’s signing at him from the dugout, she’s extremely hungry for more points.

It kind of scares Mizutani, the way she’s glaring, granted Oki had batted an almost clean grounder before him, just that the opponent team’s pitcher was way too good and was able to throw to first faster than Oki could run. (Oki has been putting a bit more of muscle lately. Which makes Mizutani himself realize he should really gear up and take his own efforts to the next level.)

He’s lost in his own thoughts however, that by the time he looks away from Momokan to look at the pitcher and assume the proper batting position he should, his mind goes black.

Uhm.

Uhm.

Uhm.

What did Momokan sign to him again? Was he supposed to bunt? Was he supposed to hit? A grounder? Or let the ball fly? Wait, he’s supposed to look at positions of the batters-- Oh, no! The pitcher threw!!!!

‘I gotta hit it!!’ Mizutani thinks as he swings, his mind full of panic. He misses, of course. He could feel the ball swoosh way over where he swung his bat.

“Strike!”

Mizutani tries to breathe as he adjusts his position, swinging his bat. What is he so nervous for? This is their third game of the season. He’s gotta summon ‘Nice batting’ Mizutani. Come on. Come on.

He looks over at Momokan, her face in a more relaxed vibe, though the glint in her eyes shows: What are you doing? That wasn’t what I told you to do.

Momokan is scary. She always is. She’s terrifying, and it makes him respect her so much. He reads her signs. To wait for this pitch, and watch where the ball goes. Okay. He can manage that.

He does as told, and holds his stance, though he was extremely tempted to swing his bat. Surely enough, the pitch is a “Ball!”, towards the outside.

Alright. Moment of glory coming up. He’ll definitely get on base. He looks over at Momokan, determined to do what she tells him to.

***

“Ahhh, that tired me out, man.” Mizutani sighs when he gets to the dugout. He’d gotten on base during his at-bat, ran to second during Mihashi’s, and now he had just ran home after Izumi hit a double. The score at 3-0 now.

“Nice run!” Sakaeguchi pats him on the back as he changes his glove. The others remain by the railing, shouting out cheers towards Abe.

“Thank you.” Mizutani sighs again.

“What’s wrong?”

Mizutani moves closer to whisper. “Doesn’t it bother you sometimes how detailed Momokan’s signs are?”

“Eh? Not really?” Sakaeguchi replies, his eyebrow raising. “It helps a lot that she’s so specific with her strategies.”

“I agree.” Suyama chimes in, getting ready to go into the next-batter’s box. Mizutani looks at him while he grabs himself a drink. “What she tells me to do really helps me focus on what my role is for that at-bat.“

“Really? Hmmm,” Mizutani crosses his arms, leaning against the railing. “Well, that is true. But don’t you forget sometimes which signs mean what?”

Sakaeguchi laughs softly. “Are you serious?”

“Super serious.”

“Oh.”

“Well, more like I’m mixing some signs from last year with this year. I guess? I don’t know!” Mizutani sobs a little, wiping his face onto his arms. “I’m sorry! It’s really hard!”

”Ahahaha. It’s alright, Fumi.” Sakaeguchi pats him on the back. “Do you want me to go over the signs again with you?”

The sound of a ball hitting the bat clanks. Abe gets to first base. The team cheers together, “NICE BATTING!”

Mizutani takes another gulp of water as he watches Momokan sign to Suyama. “Yes, please. Teach me, Yuuto.”

“Of course.”

Reference: The batting order I thought they went with in this game: Izumi - Abe - Suyama - Hanai - Tajima - Sakaeguchi - Oki - Mizutani - Mihashi. Just in case it got confusing. XD

******

6. (ref)

Before the start of classes on their second year, while the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the Nishiura boys and Shinooka planned to get together to watch the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Suyama is on his way to their meeting place now, seated on the train, basket of food that he prepared on top of his lap. He hopes his teammates will really like all the food that he prepared. They’re on break from club activities that Saturday to give them rest until club activities start again the following Monday.

He watches the scenery on the other side of the train, barely changing as the train whips past farmlands and wide open areas. He closes his eyes, remembering how different it had been when they were on the train to Koushien, with buildings zooming by. Funny how long ago that already is. It’s been months since they went there as a team. Hopefully, this coming summer, they’ll get to go again. This time, as actual participants of the matches.

Suyama feels the train come to a stop. He doesn’t bother opening his eyes, knowing that his stop won’t be for another five stations.

A surprised “Hm? Suyama?” is what makes him opens his eyes. His eyes refocus for a moment, and after he blinks a few times, he realizes Nishihiro is standing in front of him.

“Nishihiro?”

His teammate nods his head in warm greeting. “May I sit beside you?”

“Of course!” Suyama pats the seat to his left, and lets Nishihiro sit down, watching him put his own basket--half the size Suyama carries--on his lap, too. A few moments pass in silence as the train starts to take up speed again. Suyama turns to Nishihiro to talk. “What a surprise to see you ride the train from there. You don’t live in that area, right? I don’t think we had to ride our bikes this far out when we came to visit you in November.”

“Ah, yeah.” Nishihiro laughs softly. “My mom had me drop off my little sister at our grandma’s.”

“Ooh,” Suyama nods his head. He snickers, teasing. “What a responsible older brother you are. Handling her alone all the way out here.”

“Tell me about it.” Nishihiro sighs, acting tired, but then a warm smile is on his face. “She kept going on and on about getting off at the park a few stations back.” “Right. The one with the big red slide you can see from the train.”

“Yeap. It was hard keeping her from crying. But I’m sure she’ll have fun with grandma. Grandma likes spoiling her.”

Suyama smiles. It’s nice getting to know about his teammates lives outside of baseball like this.

“But wow, Suyama. You sure have a big basket with you today.”

The shortstop smiles, toothy this time. “Sure do. I made a ton of dishes for you guys to eat, so I hope you’ve all got empty stomachs.”

“Whoa! What-- Wow. Really? You made all of that?” Nishihiro’s eyes widen, though when the light from the other side of the train flashes at his eyes he closes them for a moment, then shakes his head. “That’s amazing.”

“Well, my mom helped me out a lot once it was getting too late into the night.”

“But before that?”

Suyama laughs, a little embarrassed he has to admit how much effort he put into these dishes. “I made them by myself, since I got home from practice. That was around 9 o’clock, I guess. She didn’t help me until around 11:30.”

“WOW!” Nishihiro grins wide, like when he catches fly balls. Suyama appreciates the genuineness of it. “That’s seriously amazing. I definitely couldn’t handle cooking that late. And after practice, too!”

“It helps that I just really love cooking. I haven’t had much time to because of practice.”

“Yeah, I can tell from the food you sometimes bring to share with us that you really must love cooking.” Nishihiro nods his head, the compliment making Suyama feel really nice. Like a warm fluff in his chest. “I look forward to eating your food later, Suyama.”

“Good. You better stuff your face with ‘em.” “Of course!”

They laugh for a while, then Suyama points out the basket on Nishihiro’s lap. “Did you make this, too?”

“Oh! Oh, no. Actually, it’s from grandma. I picked it up when I dropped my sister off.”

“I see.”

“I’ll give you the biggest serving, Suyama. In return for always giving us such delicious food.” Nishihiro smiles at him.

“Oh, come on.”

The five stations seem to pass in just a few seconds, now that Suyama’s waiting with someone. When they get to Kawaracho station, where they all agreed to meet up at, most of the members were already there. Only Abe and Oki aren’t there yet. Tajima’s already being rowdy with Mihashi, laughing out loud, with Hanai trying to keep him quiet. It seems the brotherly duo had been driven there by Mihashi’s mom, and Tajima was talking about Mihashi’s funny antics then. Aside from Suyama and Nishihiro, Mihashi and Mizutani were carrying baskets, too. Though by the look of things, it seems that Mizutani’s only carrying the basket Shinooka had brought. The others have coolers, and Sakaeguchi had a huge shopping bag with the blue film they’ll be sitting on.

When the last two members arrive, they walk together towards the park. Though they decided to meet up as early as 8 o’clock, there were barely any spots left where they could sit near the station. They needed to walk a long way, perhaps more than three-quarters of the stretch of cherry blossom trees and rapeseed flowers--a long walk that none of them seemed to mind. They were all busy talking to each other on the way, filling the would-be silence with random stories, new things they learned, and asking for bat swinging tips. None of them could keep quiet, not even Mihashi--who talked excitedly between his stutters.

Once Tajima started running off to an area a few meters away, they realize he’s running to an empty area near the side of the road that should be big enough space for all of them. Half of them followed suit to hurriedly take claim of the area before anyone else could.

“It looks good!” The team says together once they’ve laid down the sheet, and set down the food. “Let’s eat!”

Suyama watches the pleasant smiles on his teammates’ faces as they eat the food he made. He told Nishihiro he was able to stick to cooking so late in the night before simply because he loved cooking, but maybe he had something pushing him a little more than that. Seeing his teammates’ faces--the sparkle in Mihashi’s eyes as he eats the bacon-wrapped vegetables, the loudness of Tajima’s “WOW” when he ate the eggplant stuffed with tomato, Izumi’s wide grin as he compliments Suyama’s take on teriyaki sauce. He could go on and on, noting every smile, every sparkle, and every seldom wince when they find something they don’t like eating in the food (and then the satisfaction that comes right after when they realize they like how Suyama seasoned that disliked food). Suyama’s cheeks dust a little pink when Shinooka tells him he’d make a great husband, knowing of course she doesn’t necessarily mean she wants him to be her husband. But it’s a great deal of a compliment.

With the cherry blossoms floating in the wind, their laughter riding the relaxing sounds of a nearby river, they spend a few hours there--simply enjoying each other’s company, sharing experiences besides baseball, and strengthening their bond to last them even way beyond their high school years.

******

5.

“HANAI!” Tajima shouts out to him on their way up the stairs. The entire team is currently heading to the table tennis room, since they have already rested a bit after dinner. It’ll be a good, light workout for their bodies, said Shigapo.

“What?” Hanai shifts his body to look back once he’s at the top of the stairs. Tajima rushes past his other teammates. (Sakaeguchi calls after him, “Tajima, don’t be too reckless!”) “Whoa, hey, be careful!”

Tajima arrives at the top of the stairs beside Hanai with a grin that goes from cheek to cheek. He grabs Hanai’s arm. “Let’s play together.”

“What? But-- Hey, wait!”

There’s nothing Hanai could say to argue as he’s pulled quickly towards the table tennis room.

“Come on, come on!” Tajima pushes the doors open and rushes to the container where the paddles and balls are kept.

Hanai, who’d been left at the door, holds the door frame to balance himself. It takes up so much energy to be whipped around by a storm like Tajima.

“Here you go.” Tajima hands him a paddle, then rushes over to the farthest table.

Hanai walks after him, taking the opposite side of the table. He watches Tajima practically bounce as he waits for Hanai to take his stance. “You know, Shinooka told Mizutani and me we should be free after dinner. I think she’s going to--”

“It’ll be okay, okay~? She’s still eating with the moms. Which means we should compete for the highest score before she comes up. Come on!” Tajima bounces the ball onto the table, getting ready to serve.

“I really don’t think I should--”

Whoosh. The ball whips past Hanai’s right side. Tajima had served, and it bounced on Hanai’s side of the table before he

Tajima laughs out loud, and grins, his chest puffed out in pride. “Hah, one point for me.”

Hanai looks at the ball that bounced off the wall, now rolling towards the bottom of the table. He should feel cheated that he’d lost a point right when he wasn’t ready, when he hasn’t even summoned his game spirit. However, he finds that he isn’t irritated at all. But there is this certain fire burning in him, that call to compete with Tajima that he can rarely back down from pumping in his veins. “Alright. Fine. You asked for this.”

Tajima watches Hanai’s face shift to a competitive smile, and it makes him grins even wider. That’s right. That’s how Tajima likes Hanai most. When Hanai doesn’t back down, and gives his all--that’s when they can have the most fun together.

“Here it comes.”

They get the ball to go back and forth for quite a few minutes after Hanai serves, and it ends as Tajima’s first point. When they’re tied at 9-9, their rally goes over four minutes.

“Wow, those two have been at it for a while.” Izumi says from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, they’re still on that rally even though Suyama and I have been on, hmm,” Sakaeguchi counts with his fingers. “Three? Rallies?” Suyama laughs light. “Yeah.”

The other pairs stop their own playing to watch the two’s rally. Another minute passes, and they’re still going. “Stay sharp, Hanai!” Izumi teases.

“G-Go, Tajima-kun! Ha-Hanai-kun!” Mihashi cheers.

The rest of the boys start cheering and teasing, and the room grows noisier.

“Hanai-kun? Mizutani-kun?” Shinooka peeks her head into the room before she walks inside and calls for them. She’d just finished eating dinner.

“Oh, Shinooka!” Mizutani waves at her to come closer. They’re all huddled around the table where Hanai and Tajima are still playing. The ball still hasn’t fallen.

At least, not until she’s halfway through the room. That’s when the boys started shouting “OOOOHHH!!!!!!!!” Tajima had Hanai in a corner, relentlessly assaulting him with fast, sharp returns. Hanai can barely keep up, but he’s staying on his toes. It isn’t until Tajima swipes the ball towards the opposite corner where Hanai is, letting it bounce off almost at the edge of the table, that Hanai’s knee makes him tumble to the floor. He was unable to return it. The rally had ended. Point to Tajima.

The rest of the team applauds them for that amazing rally.

“Good game?” Tajima heaves for breath, smiling that ear-to-ear grin of his as he holds out a hand to Hanai. He’s so content. He always has so much fun competing with their captain. He doesn’t even care that he won 10-9. Just the thrill of it makes him so happy.

“Good game.” Hanai takes his hand and shakes it, the other boys dispersing as they talk about their favorite moments from that intense rally. “Next time, I’ll definitely wipe the floor with you.”

Tajima laughs. “Gotta see you try.”

“Hanai-kun!” Shinooka calls out to him. She’s standing by the wall with Mizutani beside her.

“Alright, I’m coming. Let me just get a drink.”

“Okay!”

Tajima watches Hanai walk away, smiling. Still completely content. His attention veers away from Hanai when Sakaeguchi stands opposite to him.

“Had fun?” Sakaeguchi asks him as he picks up the ball from the floor.

Tajima grins at him. Yes, he’s had fun. Yes, he’s still feeling super giddy from that rally. He hopes he can play like that with Hanai again. “Had loads of fun! I won’t back down from you either, Sakaeguchi!”

******

4.

Amidst battling through small-time spring tournaments in their second year, his mother’s death anniversary passed without Sakaeguchi having time to visit her grave. That Friday, before they leave for their Golden Week training, Momokan announced they will end practice early on Saturday, supposedly to give them time for all the packing they need to do for the coming week. The corners of Sakaeguchi’s lips curve a bit upward, happy he can use the time to visit his dearest mother. He was supposed to go on the day they all arranged for a picnic together, but they ended up spending that whole day together, that he found it difficult to excuse himself.

This time, for sure. He’ll go to her.

***

Friday’s practice session ends, the stars shining high above them as they change clothes in the benches.

“Yuuto,” Suyama approaches him, already in his uniform.

Sakaeguchi is in the middle of buttoning up his shirt as he turns to Suyama. “Yeah?”

“Remember we were talking about shopping for new shoes? I was wondering if we could go do that tomorrow, since we’re ending practice early.”

“Ooh, new shoes?” Mizutani chimes in after he’d just pushed his head through his undershirt. He tucks it into his school slacks as he speaks. “I wanna come, too! Mine have been so worn out.”

Suyama smiles toward Mizutani. “It’ll be a nice start to the new year ahead of us. And the training camp will be a great chance to break it in.”

“That’s true. I’m in!!” Mizutani laughs.

“Alright.”

“Actually…” Sakaeguchi finally finds the right timing to cut between them. The two look towards him, a questioning look on their faces. “Sorry, guys. I’ll have to pass.”

A moment passes them. (A moment when Abe’s “Ren, have you eaten the extra onigiri I had Shinooka make? You need the energy to pedal home.” and Mihashi’s excited “Y-Yeah!” echoed loudly through the bench area.)

“Is something wrong?” Suyama asks, his voice laced with concern. “You look a little troubled.”

“Nothing’s wrong, Shouji.” Sakaeguchi smiles as he resumes changing. He places his arms through his school shirt and buttons it up. “I’m really happy you’re inviting me to shop, but tomorrow’s-- Well…” He pauses to breathe. “See, I’m going to visit my mom tomorrow.”

“Oh… Right.” Suyama nods his head, understanding immediately what he meant. Sakaeguchi had mentioned it to him in their first year, how he had lost his mom in spring of his 2nd year in middle school. How whenever the cherry blossoms bloom he remembers her warm smile, the echo of her ‘Welcome home, Yuuto’ no matter how late his practices got, and the delicious picnic food she used to make for them to watch its beautiful petals fall. Most of all, her unfaltering support for him and his love for baseball.

Mizutani looks from Suyama to Sakaeguchi, and back. “Is his mom not at home? Is she at the hospital?”

“No, Fumi. She’s--” He breathes, deep. Sometimes, it’s still hard for him to say it. Strange, when he’s gotten used to going home to just his siblings and his dad. How they’re already well accustomed to housework, taught well by their mother before she left. “She’s already passed away.”

“OH!” Mizutani shouts out loud, alarming the others in the bench. “Oh… S-Sorry. I--I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s alright.” Sakaeguchi smiles, finished dressing up. “It’s okay now. My family and I-- We’re all okay.”

She took care of them so well, they were able to adjust to her absence. It wasn’t easy. It still isn’t. But it’s nice to see that though she may be physically absent, she’s embedded in every chore, in every thought, in every conversation between the three of them. She’s still alive within them.

“But yeah, I wasn’t able to go visit her grave on her anniversary, so I thought I’d like to go tomorrow.”

“Why don’t we all go, then?” Suyama suggests, Mizutani smiles wide at him, then excitedly nods his head towards Sakaeguchi.

“Yeah! What do you say, guys?” Mizutani extends the invitation to the rest of the team, explaining to them when they reacted with “What?”s and “What’s happening?”s.

Sakaeguchi feels a pat on his shoulder, and when he looks over, he sees it’s Izumi. “Let’s meet at the gate after school, then we can all ride our bikes to the station, then ride the train from there. Right, Yuuto?”

“Eh? Eh? Really?” Sakaeguchi looks around his team, an overwhelming happiness coming over him. “Is it really alright with you guys? You don’t have to--”

“Of course, it’s alright.” Hanai nods his head. (Tajima yells to him teasingly, “What about your cram school, Azusa~?” “SHUT UP, TAJIMA!”) The captain clears his throat, calming himself from the sudden outburst at Tajima. “We’d all love to go with you and greet your mom. That is, of course, if it’s alright with you and your family.”

Sakaeguchi is left speechless, tears welling in his eyes. “Ye--Yeah. I’d be so honored. I’m sure she’d love to meet you all. Thank you, really. Thanks all of you.”

The team smile at each other, then disperse as they walk to their bikes, bags slung over their shoulders. Mihashi walks beside Sakaeguchi, asking about his mom.

“She must have b-b-been very kind.” Mihashi says, wide-eyed with wonder and his lips curved deep into a smile. “Because-- Yuuto-- You’re a-- a very nice person.”

Sakaeguchi laughs, warmth filling his heart as he ruffles Mihashi’s hair. “Thanks, Ren. That’s really sweet.”

“Uhehe.” Mihashi laughs, blushing deeply at being praised.

The following day, once they’re all at Sakaeguchi’s mother’s humble grave, they stack package over package of mochi before her, each of them having brought one to offer her. Sakaeguchi smiles at her, his hands and eyes closed in prayer.

Because you supported me playing baseball, I found these wonderful friends. Thank you, mom.

******

3.

Clang.

The sound of his bat hitting the ball. It’s clear, loud, and rings in his ears--delicious as success. He watches, mouth agape, as the ball keeps going, going, going and going. For a moment, everything is silent. His breath still. All he can feel is a warmth spreading throughout his body, a certain high incoming.

He can’t hear the cheers of the stands. The cheers of his teammates. If only he would look towards the dugout, he would see his coach looking at him with much pride.

The ball goes, and goes, and goes.

It falls, hits the metal of the scoreboard that’s right above center field.

A homerun.

A homerun.

It’s a homerun.

He remains standing there, in disbelief. Had he been the one to bat that? Is all this for real? Is this a dream?

“KAZU!!!” yells Tajima, who had stood at second base when Oki hit that homerun.

He hit a homerun.

Tajima hugs him tight from when he’s run past third base and came back home, where Oki remains standing, struck with shock.

“KA!!! ZU!!!!” Tajima yells again, shaking him. He slaps his buttocks to snap Oki awake. Oki looks down towards their fifth batter, who’s grinning widely, ear to ear. “Go run and have the crowd cheer for you, damn it!!! That was so cool!”

Tajima slaps his buttocks one more time before he starts running.

Oki jogs to the first base, seeing the Nishiura crowd on the stands doing a huge wave. He jogs to the second base, finally hearing all the loud cheers, “GREAT JOB, OKI!” from the stands and the “NICE BATTING!” from the dugout. He jogs to the third base, seeing the despaired look on the opposite team’s faces. He quickly looks away from them. He looks forward, towards home--he glances left to his team, all wide smiles and loud cheering.

That’s when it hits him.

He hit a homerun.

He helped turn the game around on the bottom of the eighth.

Him. Shy and not as outspoken as the others as he is. He’s built strength in his arms, and swung the bat hundreds of times each day for this.

For this.

When he gets to their dugout, everyone ruffles his hair. Everyone is so happy. Everyone has been filled with renewed hope. Oki mentally pats himself on the back, knowing he did good today.

No.

He did great.

******

2.

Too close.

Way too close.

Abe wonders how is it that the year previous, Mihashi and Kanou clearly knew each other but stayed at the distance of acquaintances, yet now they’re buddy-buddies? Look at Kanou, laughing with Mihashi, calling him “Ren” with his arm over his shoulder, laughing about things Abe is so damn curious to know, but he knows he can’t squeeze himself in and ask. Had those two been that close before things went down at Mihoshi? The mere thought makes Abe’s blood boil.

“Takaya,” Tajima calls out.

Abe immediately turns his head towards Tajima, fire in his eyes, unable to hide the embers of jealousy burning within. “WHAT.”

“You’ll scare Ren off.”

Abe tsks loudly to let off the steam, loud enough for Izumi and a few others a bench away from them to hear.

(“What’s with him?” Suyama asks.

“Ren problems.” Izumi replies.)

***

“100! Alright, that’s it. Nice pitching.” Abe says as he walks up to Mihashi from the bullpen. Mihashi giggles in that unique way of his whenever he gets praised, with his arms waving like jelly. He looks like a jellyfish about to float away, and though if Mihashi had done this in the past, Abe would’ve been irritated, now he finds it quite endearing. “Time to do your counter weight lifting.”

“O-okay!”

They make their way to the benches where they’d set up a similar weightlifting area to that at school. Mihashi positions himself to start lifting the weight with his left hand. ‘Slowly’ he seems to remind himself, as he starts a slow beat.

Abe watches him, making sure his body’s not awkwardly positioned anywhere. Once Mihashi’s around the 50 count, Abe’s thoughts start straying away. It’s quite unlike him to dare think of something else while observing Mihashi, but his mind cannot help wandering back to Mihashi and Kanou being so close. What makes Kanou so special? he wonders. He may have known Mihashi longer, but it’s Abe himself that helped bring out Mihashi’s potential.

The catcher’s eyes seem to burn with his rage, alerting Mihashi--who thought he must be doing something wrong to warrant himself that glare.

“It’s nothing! Don’t worry about it.” Abe says, harsher than he intended. “Keep going.”

“Oh! O-o-okay.” Mihashi nods, and continues on.

Abe groans. He tries to shift his focus back onto Mihashi lifting. 70. 71. 72. Kanou’s arm over Mihashi’s shoulders. 75. 76. 77. 7… How nice would it feel if Abe puts his arm over Mihashi’s shoulder?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Abe shouts out loud, utterly embarrassed by the image he created in his head. How utterly warm his chest felt, and how his stomach tossed and turned pleasantly. Mihashi yelps at the sudden noise, incredibly alarmed.

“Ah, s--sorry. Sorry, Ren.” Abe apologizes to Mihashi, but he keeps his eyes away from him.

“I-I-It’s okay.” Mihashi says, though his eyes seem to still be spinning in circles. “A-a-are you okay?”

Not really. “Yeah.”

“Okay!” Mihashi nods his head again, and continues. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85.

“Hey, Ren.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You still haven’t called me by my name.”

Mihashi stops his weight lifting with a shudder. And then silence follows.

Abe shifts his weight onto his other leg, bringing his hand up to his hip. He waits, and waits, and waits. He watches Mihashi struggle, mumbling to himself, seeming like he’s wondering if he should say his name now or not. And if Mihashi is about to say his name, Mihashi surely looks like he’s having a difficult time with it.

Why? When it’s so easy for him to call Kanou by his name?

The catcher tsks loudly before sighing. “Never mind. You’re at 85 lifts. Keep going. Slowly, alright?”

“O-okay…” Mihashi continues lifting. 86. 87. 88. And his mouth keeps flapping open as if to say “Ta”.

Abe tries to keep his excitement to himself. When Mihashi finishes 100 lifts, he doesn’t bring up the name topic again.

***

“Takaya,” rings in his ears, sweeter than any candy that’s ever melted in his mouth.

They’re at dinner now, and they’re seated next to each other. The chatter of the rest of the team fills the room, yet he heard it so clearly, as if Mihashi said it directly into his ear.

Mihashi had said, “Ta-Ta-Takaya, can you-- passmethesoysauce?” The latter of which softened to a mumble Abe couldn’t even hear.

All that registered in Abe’s mind was “Takaya”, and how clear he said it, even though it was after Mihashi stuttered. He’d never thought he could be so moved by someone saying his name.

“Say it again.” He requests, not realizing it’s quite an awkward thing to ask.

“S-Say? Ag--again. Uhm, uh,” Mihashi fumbles with his chopsticks. A bad habit, but Abe adores it nevertheless. “Ta-Takaya, can you pass me-- pass me the soy sauce?” Mihashi wheezes from the sheer effort of saying that without blushing too hard. “P-p-please?”

Abe grins wide, and passes him the soy sauce as requested. “Here you go. Ren.”

Mihashi takes the bottle from him, their fingers brushing a tad bit, and at that moment they both shiver, having felt an electric current run through their veins at the small contact. They both turn their heads away, and don’t look at each other for the rest of dinner, eating their meals silently as the room gets louder. Tajima joking around with Mizutani.

Takaya looks so happy. thinks Sakaeguchi, who sits across them and saw the whole thing happen. He eats his meal watching them, happy his teammates are taking forward steps, no matter how small.

******

1.

On the New Year of his first year in high school, Mihashi and his family drove to Gunma. It was a long drive, granted many other people were on their way home to their respective provinces, too. Mihashi had planned to be asleep for most of the time they were stuck in traffic, but he was greatly distracted by his phone, and the person on the other line, sending him replies quickly after he himself has responded.

His heart beats quickly with every vibration of his phone, a notification of yet another new message. Strange how he used to feel this quick heartbeat out of fear before, but now it is all good.

Sweet. Fuzzy. Ties his stomach in nice-feeling knots.

Very good.

He flips his phone open, clicking the right buttons to open the new mail that came in from “Abe Takaya”. He reads, not expecting his heart to sink.

/Sorry, Ren. Mom’s nagging me to help out. I’ll be back soon, I think. Let me know when you get to your relatives’. Ttyl./

Mihashi blinks at his phone, wondering if he should reply. He said talk to you later, which means… they’ll start the back and forth of messages again later. Later. Not now. If Mihashi sends a message now, will that mean Abe will assume he’s already at Gunma? If so, he shouldn’t send a text. But-- But Mihashi wants to reply. Mihashi wants Abe to know he’s read the message and he understands. Say “Okay. I got it. Talk to you later.”

He types that message in, and then his thumb hovers over the Send button as he mulls over it again. Should he send it? Not send it? He’s already typed the message, so he should send it. But what if he’s bothering Abe. No. No. He never bothers Abe. He knows Abe always has the best intentions for him--baseball or not. He knows Abe will understand his intention behind his reply, that he simply wants to clear up that he understood the message. But then again, Abe probably can’t read his reply because his hands are full.

But--

But--

So many buts. Mihashi still feels anxious. He wants to reply. He needs to reply. He still wants to talk to Abe. More and more and more and more and more.

The phone vibrates again.

/Ren. Just in case you’re freaking out, Which I hope you’re not, but just in case. It’s fine if you just reply later. I’ll leave my phone for a while, so I can’t check it anyway. I’ll text you when I’m back. But whether I’m back or not, text me when you’re at Gunma. Take care. Talk to you later./

Mihashi slams himself, face-first onto the free backseat space to his left, surprising both his parents who sit in front.

“Ren? Are you okay?” Mihashi’s mother asks him, concerned. She looks over her shoulder, as she’s seated in the passenger seat. She had driven in the first half of their trip, so now his father is driving. “What’s gotten into you? Are you feeling dizzy?”

“I--I’m okay…” Mihashi replies weakly, almost out of breath. He’s glad he dug his face into the seat, otherwise his mother would see how red his face is (granted he can feel how his cheeks are so warm), and would bombard him with questions.

“Are you sure? Do you need water? There’re a few bottles in the cooler at the back. Should we stop to get them out of the--”

“It’s okay, mom. I just-- I think I’ll go sleep.”

“Alright.”

“Sleep well, Ren.” His father says with laughter strewn into his voice. “We still have around an hour and a half to go.”

Mihashi nods, though his father doesn’t see. He keeps his face buried against the seat, still feeling his cheeks are warm. His chest feels so full. He feels like he’s going to explode from how happy he is. Abe really does know him, and Abe really does understand him so well now. He’s so happy.

He’s so happy. He’s so happy. He’s so happy he can’t quite explain it well.

Months later, when the two of them talk over these feelings that have continuously grew within them, Mihashi will understand. But for now, for now, he hums to the tunes on the radio. New love songs he’s never heard of before, but the rhythm jives with the movement of his heart so he hums.

He hums until he does fall asleep, waking up to a few texts from Abe that make him feel the full warmth in his chest all over again.

******

Bonus:

Kanou and Ruri, who sit on either side of Mihashi over dinner, exchange glances as they see Mihashi pick up his phone and happily type for at least the twentieth time since the first plate of food had been placed on the table.

‘Girlfriend?’ Kanou mouths to Ruri with an eyebrow raised in question.

Ruri overly shrugs her shoulders and winces. An exaggerated ‘I don’t know’. She’s not allowing her favorite cousin to have a girl in his life to have priority over her. Not just yet.

“Ren-ren,” she calls to him. For the fifth time since dessert has been served. No response.

Kanou snickers at her failed attempt, making Ruri huff.

“Ren-ren,” she attempts again, this time bumping her shoulder on his. This makes Mihashi look up, surprised, looking left then right and both ways again before quickly typing on his phone then putting it away.

“Y-yes, Ruri?”

She pouts at him. “Who is it that you’re texting?”

“EH!?” Mihashi almost shouts, but manages to keep his volume down low. “W-wa-w-wa-was-was it obvious?”

Kanou laughs a little louder this time, but not enough to go over the chatter of the adults. He wiggles his eyebrows when Mihashi looks over at him. “Was it obvious that you were texting someone special? Pretty much.”

“Spe!!!!!!!!!” Mihashi straightens his back, sitting up right now, looking alert. “Spe--special?? N--no. A-are they? It w-was just--”

“Just?” Ruri and Kanou say together, leaning forward to gaze at Mihashi from the front.

He looks away, shying from their gaze, with added attempt to raise his arms and hide his face. “Ta-Takaya… kun.”

A moment of silence passes the two of them. A moment to ponder “Who in the world is that?”

“A classmate?” Kanou asks.

Mihashi shakes his head violently as if to defend himself. “N-no! He’s the-- the catcher.”

“Ooh, so Nishiura’s catcher’s name is Takaya-kun.” Ruri nods her head. She’s smiling now, relieved she’s still her cousin’s #1 girl. “Wow, Ren-ren. I didn’t know your team’s already on first-name basis. Must be nice.”

“Yeah, you got us beat.” Kanou leans onto Mihashi, putting an arm over his shoulder. “We’ve already been together for more than three years, yet we all still call each other by surnames.”

“B-but you’re Shuu-chan.”

Kanou chuckles, happy to hear him call him that again. “Yeah, but remember? You were calling me ‘Kanou-kun’ for a while, Ren.”

“O-oh! R-right.” Mihashi nods his head. “I’m sorry…” “Oh, come on. You’ve got no reason to be.” Kanou pats his back twice. His attention gets stolen by his mother for a while, telling him they should be going home soon. “Hey, Ren. Can you walk me out?”

“S-sure!” Mihashi stands up with him and starts heading out of the dining room.

“What about me?” Ruri whines, trying to stand up, too.

Kanou looks over his shoulder, letting Mihashi pass first. “You stay, there, we got baseball stuff to talk about.”

“I play softball, you know!”

They make their way out of the dining room and into the hall where it’s more silent.

“Sh-Shuu-chan,” Mihashi starts the conversation first as they make their way to the front door. “Th-thank you for coming.”

“Of course. Not like my mom’s gonna go without dragging me along with her.” Kanou laughs, making Mihashi laugh softly, too. They stop at the entrance, giving time for Kanou to change from house slippers to his sneakers. “It’s really nice seeing you, Ren. You...” He stops, trying to find the words to say, trying to soften them enough so he himself won’t cry. It had been months since it last bothered him, but it really hurts to see Mihashi, his once best friend, move on with another team. But it’s the best for Mihashi, so he gathers up energy for a huge, wide smile and looks up at him. “You seem much happier now.”

Mihashi smiles back at him, wide, toothy, just like he used to. Before Mihoshi. No, even better and much happier than then. “I--I am happy.”

Kanou grits his teeth. The tears still threaten to push through his eyes, but no longer out of bitterness. He’s so, so happy for his dear friend. So happy. He stands up, finished tying his shoelaces. He slams his hand onto Mihashi’s shoulder. “Let’s both do our best, okay!? We gotta see each other at Koushien.”

Mihashi nods his head, that bright smile never leaving his lips. “Yeah!”

“But before then, see you at Golden Week camp!”

******

Bonus 2: (One extra surprise!)

The Nishiura boys are out swimming at the school’s pool for added training, the lifeguard listening to sports updates on the radio. Hanai wasn’t particularly listening in, but when the crowd suddenly cheered so loud from the radio, he had to stop midlength of the pool to hear what was happening.

“An incredible save from Karasuno’s Ennoshita! Did you see that? Running far out of bounds and returning it for their setter to reach, and then that glorious save by the new ace, Tanaka. Got to hand it to that Ennoshita. He’s really holding his ground as the team’s new captain.” says the commentator.

Hanai waves his arms in the pool to keep himself afloat in the water. It’s not just him, or fellow baseball captains out there that are trying to support their team with all their might. Even captains of other sports do, too. Doing splendid plays like that, to boost the team’s morale. It’s amazing how the word ‘captain’ can unify different sports together.

Hanai nods his head with renewed fervor. He’s going to help his team keep their spirits up this upcoming tournament, too.

******

End Notes: I hope you don’t mind (and that it isn’t too cheesy) that I added an Ennoshita mention. While stalking your tumblr, I realized how much you love him. So I thought it would be a treat to sneak him in.