Chapter Text
Eijun wasn’t sure what to think. Then again, he wasn’t sure of much of anything right now.
The new school was a fancy one, with one of the largest baseball departments he had ever seen. There were dorms for the baseball players, a cafeteria for the baseball players, showers for the baseball players, just so much for baseball. Which, honestly, made him pretty happy. He came from a family of baseball lovers and seeing a place that loved the sport nearly as much as they did was like a dream come true.
But he was still nervous.
Of course, if anyone asked he was just excited. After all, new is just another word for an adventure! Plus, his older brothers had plenty going on already without the added weight of his worries. Chris was settling into his new job and making a ton of arrangements that came with getting custody of three younger siblings and moving to another city. Youichi and Nori were both switching schools too, but in the middle of high school rather than the start. They didn’t need the added stress of calming him down.
A lot of the other players were staying in the dorms. That was more expensive, however, and after everything that had just happened Eijun didn’t think he could manage living away from his brothers, even if two would be just a few doors away. It seemed his brothers felt the same, as their discussion about the dorms lasted about two minutes tops and was given no further consideration.
So, school.
Eijun was really excited about the opportunity to play at such an important baseball school like Seido. He knew that Chris had pulled a lot of strings to get the scout to come look at taking not just one of them, but all three. The brothers had always been huge baseball fans and they all knew they wanted to continue on with the sport for many years beyond what they’d get in required schooling. Youichi’s and Nori’s old school was pretty great at baseball too, even if it wasn’t quite as amazing as Seido, so while getting the scout to come look at them was difficult, getting her approval for a funded baseball scholarship for the two to transfer wasn’t all too hard. Eijun, having worked with his eldest brother during his middle school years was improving steadily as a pitcher as well, meaning that his own scholarship offer followed not too far behind.
(But part of Eijun ached, right in his chest, at the realization that Chris wasn’t going to get the same opportunity because of them. He was getting better, probably would’ve been able to start playing again this year. Instead he was stuck in a stuffy office. Eijun felt a little selfish that he wanted to cry when he realized he would never get to be in an official battery with his eldest brother, something he had wished for the moment he first picked up a baseball and declared that he was going to be a pitcher. Chris had taught him so much, had shaped him into the person he was today and how did he repay him? By becoming a burden he had to give up his dreams for. It hurt.)
The school day had passed pretty easily, with no one really blinking twice at him other than the typical weird looks for a new transfer a week late into the school year. Chris had needed a little longer to get their paperwork handled and everything moved to their new home, so they were a bit behind in getting settled. Youichi and Nori were in the same class though, and not for the first time Eijun envied that they were in the same grade. New things were always a little less scary when he had his brothers there, but of course he wasn’t so lucky. Just that morning they had sent him off alone without hesitation. Rude.
Speaking of, they both had at least agreed to meet Eijun before practice so he wouldn’t be showing up alone. And, just as promised, they were waiting for him a little ways away from the field, in practice gear that matched what Eijun himself was wearing. Eijun supposed he could forgive them for shoving him off to class alone without a second glance.
“Idiot! Hurry up, we’re going to be late!” Youichi grumpily called from beside Nori, who shot him a small smile. The heaviness in his shoulders eased at the sight. As he got closer he could see that Youichi was smiling a bit too, though he tried to hide it. “I’d ask how classes went but I’m sure you slept through all of them, ay Eijun?”
Eijun bristled, teeth baring. “Of course not you jerk!” He glanced away from his brother’s dark eyes and muttered under his breath, “Only Japanese Lit.”
Truthfully, if it had been any other year before this one, he probably would have slept through all his classes. School had never interested him much and despite Youichi’s endearing nickname for him, Eijun wasn’t a complete idiot. He passed his classes at least. But not paying attention felt wrong under the circumstances his family was in. His brothers were dealing with a lot, and Eijun’s grades would be just another thing they had to stress about, especially with their scholarship requirements. He didn’t want to give them something else to worry about, so he had decided before classes even began that he would do better this year for his brothers.
“Ei, you realize that Japanese Lit is important too, right?” Nori’s voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he glanced back up to see Nori’s teasing, warm smile. Despite the obvious playfulness of the remark, Eijun felt guilt settle heavily into his stomach. He was already messing up. Still, he put a bright smile on his face.
“You don’t need literature for baseball, Nii-san! It’s a waste of my time,” Eijun boldly declared, squawking as he ducked to avoid Youichi’s playful swat at his head.
“This is why you’re still an idiot, idiot! You can’t just sleep through your classes if-“
Eijun’s brow furrowed as Youichi cut himself off. His brother tended to speak his mind over anyone or anything. Turning to see what surprised him so badly, Eijun felt his own steps stutter to a stop as he saw the sheer magnitude of players on the field before them. Nori’s startled gasp behind him reassured him that it wasn’t a mass hallucination. There were at least a hundred or so players before them, all going about getting ready for practice. The air was heavy, an almost physical sensation of pressure radiating off all the other guys. It was intimidating, to say the least.
A couple of the guys glanced over at them, probably wondering who they were though Eijun doubted they knew everyone regardless, but he could be wrong. (He was tempted to reach out for one of his brothers’ hands, but he knew that would be super childish and embarrassing for them so he restrained himself. Still, that didn’t make the urge go away).
From across the field, he saw a woman in a pencil skirt and blazer look up, her glasses glinting in the sun. Relieved at the familiar sight, he stood on his toes and waved. “TAKASHIMA-SAN!” He screamed at the top of his lungs in greeting, ducking once again instinctively to avoid Youichi’s swat and pointedly ignoring Nori’s frantic shushing from behind him. When more players turned to look their way at his noise, he forced himself to stand taller. There were a lot of players here, and as nervous as he was he didn’t have room to back down. Not if he wanted to be the best.
Takashima-san stopped on her way over to talk to an older man that Eijun hadn’t noticed before, who then followed alongside her. He looked a little like a yakuza leader and the way both his brothers went stiff by him wasn’t very reassuring. It even sounded like Nori cursed under his breath which was a really, really bad sign. There was no time to ask questions though before the two were upon them.
“Kantoku, these are the transfer students I mentioned, Takigawa Youichi, Takigawa Norifumi, and Takigawa Eijun. Boys, this is Coach Kataoka.”
There was a smirk on Takashima-san’s face as her glasses glinted in the sunlight, but that did little to reassure Eijun. Not when the coach’s intimidating face had remained stoic in the face of the three boys, seemingly assessing them without words. Eijun had a feeling had he been alone, he would have resorted to his usual coping mechanism in frightening situations: making himself taller than he was through loud words and rash actions. But he wasn’t alone. He had an older brother to each side of him, who despite all his bickering and general intentional annoying youngest sibling-ness he wouldn’t hesitate to follow into battle. Or, you know, a conversation with a scary new coach followed by the start of what was sure to be a grueling practice with a new team and new dynamics and new rules. Basically the same thing.
Nori, the wise, wonderful, all-knowing older brother he was, took the lead and stepped forward with his shoulders relaxed and his head tall. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir. I’m Norifumi, second year, and I’m a pitcher.” He offered a polite smile, every bit the image of a perfectly polite student.
Many looked at Nori and saw someone timid, which was true most of the time. Nori hated being the center of attention in conversation, being called on in class, talking to strangers, and numerous other things. However, a lot of people took Nori’s timidness to mean that he was cowardly. And that was so far from the truth that it made Eijun’s blood burn in his veins to think about. Because for all that Nori hated doing those things, the second any of his brothers showed the slightest bit of discomfort in a situation, Nori was there with his strong shoulders and calm presence, taking control of the situation with a grace and confidence that never failed to awe Eijun each time he saw it. His brother constantly faced his fears for the ones he loved, and Eijun honestly couldn’t understand how anyone looked at him and didn’t see how unbelievably brave he was.
Taking a cue from his slightly younger brother, Youichi also took a step forward. He was also polite enough in posture, but there was still that tightness he always held himself with that he had never been able to shake in the years Eijun had known him. Still, Youichi bowed and introduced himself as “Youichi, Kantoku. Second year as well, I’m a shortstop.” It took everything in Eijun to resist quipping ‘emphasis on the short’ as he normally did when given the chance in conversation. He had a feeling it would not be appreciated at the moment.
Youichi’s slight gruffness likely didn’t go unnoticed by the coach, but Eijun had a feeling he wasn’t going to be reprimanded for it. Something about the slight relaxing of the coach’s brow had Eijun thinking he might understand his brother’s wariness, at least to some extent. He didn’t think anyone could really understand the difficulties Youichi had faced early on in life, they were an amalgamation unique to him. Still, Eijun hoped he was right. Youichi deserved more understanding people in his life.
It was Eijun’s turn to introduce himself seeing as there was no one else left. His hands felt clammy and he quickly turned them to fists to stop their shaking. Youichi was to his left, Nori to his right. Nothing could go wrong with them there. Taking a deep inhale, Eijun breathed out his introduction before he could overthink it too much. “I’m Takigawa Eijun, first year, and I’m going to be the ace!”
He could tell from Youichi’s quietly hissed baka and Nori’s slight grimace that he had probably said that a little louder than he meant. Still, it was too late to back down. Eijun had to commit to his declaration, because if he couldn’t stick to it now in words then how would he ever stick to it in practice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a boy straighten at his yell before hunching over cackling loudly. Eijun felt his spine snap straight, eyes falling into the cat-like glare Youichi often mocked him for. Kataoka stared back stoically, giving no indication to his true thoughts.
“All three of you,” he finally began, “run four laps out of the field and stretch. Then I want the pitchers in the bullpen and the shortstop in the infield for drills. Understood?”
“Hai!” they replied in unison before setting their stuff down in the dugout and heading for the field. By now, most of the players had lost interest in the new guys. Running probably wasn’t very interesting to watch.
His nerves had yet to settle down, but Eijun figured the laps might help with that. The three brothers set off together, with Nori and Youichi used to running together and Eijun used to running in their footsteps. He still remembered when he was younger and excitedly following behind his brothers (three, there were always three ahead of him then) desperately trying to keep up but always too small to do so. It was frustrating, but it pushed him too. Plus, there were those rare days where one of them would stop, turn around and run back to him, grinning at him and defusing his anger with kind words. They would run beside him, more of a slow jog for whichever older boy decided to take pity on him that day, and tell him that one day he would be able to do the same. That day came around when he was about to leave middle school for good, a growth spurt giving him a height advantage over all but his eldest brother. Chris was still the tallest by a decent amount, but he seemed confident Eijun would probably get there too. Eijun was just happy to be able to tease Youichi and Nori as he ran side by side with them. It felt a little less like a victory, though, with the death of their father following shortly after.
Shooting a smug smirk at his brothers, Eijun increased his pace so that he was running slightly ahead of the both of them. He heard Nori breathe out a laugh, while Youichi let out a sharp “Idiot! We have two more laps after this one!” Still, both quickly joined him and the rest of their warm-up passed easily enough. After all, they knew that at this school, their best wouldn’t be enough. They needed to push themselves harder than ever.
When it came time to split up, Eijun found himself worrying about Youichi. He figured Nori felt the same, seeing as he had started chewing on his lip again (a habit all of them tried to break him of, to no avail). Youichi simply rolled his eyes at the two, shooing them off together to the bullpen. Kataoka nodded at them in the distance, but remained where he was by the infield. The pitchers still had to do their own warm-ups, so Eijun guessed it made sense that he would be evaluating Youichi first. Still, it was rough to be first up on the chopping block.
There were two other boys waiting for them at the bullpen. Eijun felt his eyes narrow as one grabbed Nori by the shoulder and pushed him ahead, but his attention as quickly taken by the other boy who remained in front of him. He had thick brows and spikey brown hair, but when he smiled Eijun decided that he was probably nice enough. “Wataru Kariba, first year,” he introduced, holding his right hand out. Eijun glanced down at his own right hand, currently covered in a glove, then looked back up at the boy with a sheepish smile. Quickly noticing the problem, Wataru let out a small laugh before running a hand through his hair. “Sorry about that. You’re Takigawa, right? Coach asked me to catch for you.”
“Yes!” Eijun shouted, before pausing. “Well, I’m Takigawa Eijun. My brother over there is Takigawa Norifumi. So we’re both Takigawa.”
Wataru nodded his head quickly. “Right, yeah, sorry I should’ve clarified. He told me to work with you. Let’s go get set up next to your brother so you can start.”
Feeling the rush of adrenaline and excitement that always came with getting an opportunity to pitch, Eijun barely restrained himself from running over. Nori was already on the mound, likely having already finished throwing to warm up. There was a tightness in his face that set Eijun on edge, but he forced himself to shrug it off and to focus on his own pitching. It’s what Nori would want him to do. Wataru took his place by the plate, but remained standing so they could do some regular tosses to start off. With each throw, Eijun could see his brow furrow a little, probably noticing the movement on his throws that he’d had ever since he was little. Many of his coaches tried to correct it with little success, but Chris had always smiled and said it would serve him well when he was older. Now, however, it was a little frustrating when he would lose control and the ball would go slightly too far off like it just had, bouncing off the edge of Wataru’s glove and rolling closer to Nori’s catcher. Feeling bad about the bad throw, Eijun waved Wataru off and ran to get it himself. At the same time, one of Nori’s pitches went too low, bouncing up over the boy’s shoulder before hitting the fence and rolling to a stop by Eijun’s ball.
He picked up both of them, figuring he could spare the other catcher a few steps since it could get tiring after a while, and walked the ball over to him. He rose to meet him, taking the ball back with a grin on his face that made something in Eijun uneasy. “Guess being a bad pitcher runs in the family, huh? I’m glad to see Tanba won’t have too much competition from any of the new players.”
Eijun felt himself tense. This boy had been catching for Nori? Sweet, non-confrontational Nori who pretended that words never bothered him but soaked them up like a sponge, good or bad had been dealing with this jerk on his first day? He thought back to the hand clasping his shoulder and pushing him ahead, the tightness on his face as he stood on the mound.
Rage quickly overtook him, blocking out the sounds of the other players in the bullpen around them. He blinked and the other boy was against the fence, his shirt collar bunched in his hand. “What the hell did you say to Nori?”
The other boy didn’t look even remotely nervous which Eijun found offensive. He’d slapped enough cocky players over the course of his life to develop flexible wrists, something Chris found exasperating and Youichi found amusing. Fighting was nothing new to him and though he didn’t seek them out he wouldn’t hesitate to start one for a good cause. Nori fit that criteria and more.
With a smug look, the other boy opened his stupid mouth. “I just told him some hard truths. Figured it would be kinder to let him get a head start on working somewhere else in the field. After all, he’s already wasted a year at some no name school. It just surprises me that you all managed to transfer here. Did daddy have some good connections or did they just need to hit a quota?”
And that was just not okay on so many levels. The easy dismissal of Nori, who Eijun adored with all his heart, was bad enough. But the blasé mention of his father, the one he had lost so recently, made any reservations he had fly out the window. With a hand pulled back, his anger pulsing through his veins and tensing his muscles, Eijun knew that this was going to be one of the best slaps he ever gave someone.
Or, it would have been, if Kataoka hadn’t decided to come evaluate the two new pitchers at that very moment. The second he heard his gruff voice bark out a quick “What is going on here?” a feeling of dread overtook him. He had promised himself he wasn’t going to give his brothers any extra difficulties or stress, but he was pretty sure he had failed already.