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[ one ]
It’s his first at-bat and it so happens that he’s the leadoff man for this inning. And so the first time he strikes out, he goes down swinging, chasing a low fast ball.
“Not a curveball this time, huh,” Miyuki says to himself as he recovers from the swing.
“Don’t mind, Miyuki!”
He grins wanly at the loud voice, that voice he unconsciously singles out despite the roar of the stands.
“We can’t help that you can’t hit when there’s no one on base!”
[ two ]
They’re only up by one run by the time Miyuki’s second at-bat comes around and he breathes out, rolling his shoulders.
“Keep your eye on the ball!”
Despite fighting with fouls on a full count, he goes to check his swing but ends up getting called on going around by the first base umpire.
The cheer squad is quite livid with the call though no one dares shout insults at the umpire.
“Don’t do things half-heartedly!” Sawamura chastises as he returns to the dugout, helmet in hand.
Miyuki tries to suppress a smile.
“What’s with that look?” A kick to the back of the knees from Kuramochi. “It’s weird!”
[ three ]
Their lead has increased to a 4 run gap, with no help from Miyuki to say the least. He reminds himself that he’s pulling his weight on defence, but honestly, who doesn’t want to score runs?
He steps into the batter’s box with two outs and a runner on second.
Scoring position.
It would be nice to increase their lead.
(Sawamura’s going in to pitch next inning.)
Two balls, one strike, not bad. He has plenty of breathing room so he swings at the next pitch, a fastball that’s a little to the outside and he gets jammed, but he casts off his bat, sprinting to first base where he’s thrown out.
He clicks his tongue as he turns his face to the sky, but there’s no time to lament and he jogs back to the dugout to get his gear on.
“I’ll help you!”
Miyuki doesn’t object, though he makes a comment to get a rise out of Sawamura but the pitcher still retrieves his mitt and straps on his leg guards for him.
[ four ]
They win, everyone’s jubilant, Miyuki included, though to a lesser extent. His 0 for 3 did not go unnoticed and he found himself to be the butt of the joke on the bus ride home - Kuramochi relentless, Zono snide. Getting called ’Captain Zero’ is honestly a pretty lame insult, even for them.
He lets them mock him, it’s all in good fun really.
Once they’ve calmed down with the verbal harassment, Miyuki decides he should have a turn. “Hey Sawamura, I’m not a total zero am I?” he throws an arm around the pitcher who immediately scowls.
“I agree with them,” Sawamura says, turning toward the window.
Miyuki rests his head on Sawamura’s shoulder, feeling him tense before relaxing again. “Liar.”
He braces himself to be pushed away, but it doesn’t happen so he closes his eyes. Honestly, he’s too tired to feel embarrassed and maybe Sawamura’s too tired to deal with him.
There’s the quickest peck, a rough press of lips at his hairline. “Catch my pitches when we get back?”
Miyuki smiles. “Of course.”
****