Chapter Text
"Strike! Batter out!"
The sound of crowd's cheers as soon as the umpire cried out fell deaf on Masamune's ears as his eyes instantly flew on their left fielder. The latter had his left fist raised in the air with a wide grin on his face, looking at him.
Masamune felt Renji's approaching presence.
"We did it, Masamune!"
He nodded his head with a small smile on his lips. The catcher patted his shoulder as they watched their friend ran to them.
"YOSH! YOSH! YOSH! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Nice pitching there, Masamune!" His loud voice rang on the open field but nobody minded. Everyone was excited and full of adrenaline as they shouted their greetings from the stands, the outfield, and dugout.
Renji laughed at the lad and bumped his glove on his chest. "That was because you gave us the best opening, Eijun. Masamune could pitch his best without any worries after he replaced you."
He nodded timidly, agreeing with the catcher as he contented himself into watching Eijun bounce around them.
"Well, wasn't it because we have the best catcher here with us?"
"No," he butted in when the two started coaxing each other. "We did it because we can do it."
"Hey!" His friend reacted, scowling at him. "Give me some credits, man! I caught for this guy's unpredictable pitches and your bazooka pitches that nobody could do! I demand better treatment!"
He returned the dramatic input of the catcher with a frown which earned a laugh from the other pitcher.
"Aahh! Baseball is really fun especially when playing with you guys! I wish I could play more games with you but this is the championship. No more games..." Eijun's lowered sulkingly.
Masamune and Renji's eyes met, glinting with understanding as they both smirked at the southpaw. Renji put an arm around the guy as he pulled the two pitchers closer to himself.
"Then let's play more! Why don't we attend the same high school? What do you think about Komadai Fujimaki? It has the best baseball team in the nation! Although it will be hard to get on the roster, I'm sure both of you would want that challenge."
"Eijun and I can do it. I'm worried about you, though."
Renji made a face at him. The three then started walking back to the dugout after the coach called for them, still snuggling at each other despite the sweat and heat.
"Komadai, huh," Eijun dreamily sighed. "Why not? I really want to play! And I'm sure, I'll get to meet lots and lots stronger players. Stronger than me, than Masamune. Speaking of strong, it's really unfortunate that we didn't get to play against that Furu-guy, huh? Doesn't he pitch faster than Masamune?"
Masamune made a grunted noise, not really liking the abrupt mentioning of someone's name.
Their catcher, however, thought otherwise. "Yeah, Masamune could have a pitching battle with him. Too bad, really. It would be fun to see Masa lose his cool sometimes."
"As if! If he didn't make it to the finals, that's all of him then. Stop talking about some unimportant pest. I want to hit the showers already."
"Well, yeah, I do too. I'm sticky! It's cold today but I'm still sweating so bad."
"Then, let's go home. It won't be funny if one of us gets sick."
When they got back to their team, series of congratulations and pats on the back welcomed them. Despite not really liking the attention and touches, Masamune stayed with his friends with a little smile on his face. He could bear being with this team for as long as Renji and Eijun were happy and having fun with them.
»»———— ♔ ————««
"Hey, I brought snacks."
Masamune closed the door of his room behind him as he greeted his friends who were busy playing shogi.
Eijun and Renji did not bother looking up to him as their whole focus were on the board. He sighed at the sight and left his slippers on the door entrance before coming in.
He went near the two, placed the plastic bags on the floor and sat beside Renji.
"You're still not satisfied with your five losses?" He asked the catcher, amused by the concentration he's in.
Eijun snickered at his word and reached for the plastic bags.
"Do we have pudding?"
"Yeah, I bought five. All yours."
The little 'yay' that escaped Eijun's lips caused him to smirk. He went to get Renji's cold coffee and gave it to him.
The small mumble of thanks from his friend was soon followed by a loud sigh when he found himself losing for the sixth time that night.
"This is not fair!" The catcher groaned. "You said you only played shogi with your grandfather sometimes. You did not say you are this good!"
Eijun shrugged his shoulders at him, already eating one of his puddings. "I am not. Jii-chan and I would only play occasionally. And I rarely win against him." Then, he looked at him. "You're gonna pitch tomorrow?"
The casualness in his tone at the abrupt change of topic caught him off guard. Even Renji who started cleaning their mess halted for a moment.
Masamune stared at those golden brown eyes. Nothing he expected was presented. Just pure curiosity and it's frustrating him out.
Despite the gnawing feeling in his chest, Masamune nodded. "Yeah, you're gonna come and watch?"
"Aw, I want to! But, I am not allowed. The coach told me not to come!"
Both his and Renji's face darkened at the mention of the devil incarnate. Unwanted memories flashed in his mind and Masamune was forced to curse himself in his head.
"Don't worry." Surprisingly, it was Renji who spoke first. His eyes staring straight into Eijun's. "You'll get to play soon."
The pitcher smiled at them gleefully. "I'm not worried. I know that already. I wish you two a good luck for tomorrow! Please, let me have a copy of your game, all right?" He flailed his arms like a child, eyes sparkling and looking at them expectantly.
Renji chuckled and reached for his head, ruffling his hair. "All right, all right. I'll ask the managers about it."
Masamune scoffed and huffed on his seat, giving the lad a serious look. "The practice match tomorrow is not even the start of anything. It's just some past time. Once we got our jersey numbers, we will win everything. And you'll be able to stand on the mound again, Eijun."
The conviction in his tone made the southpaw drop his act immediately.
Masamune and Renji watched their friend play with the hem of his shirt, a ghost smile playing on his lips. His eyes never losing the light they thought just a few weeks ago they would never see again.
"Mn, I'll be waiting for it."
The sight before them strengthened his desire not to give their coach a single chance to berate him and his pitching. The next day, Masamune showed the whole team why he and Renji were among the only three first years to make the cut in the first string. Masamune pitched a shutout game against one of the powerhouses in Hokkaido, securing his spot as a regular along with Renji.
TBC.