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Polar Opposites
“You’re a monster.”
“There’s no way I can catch a pitch like that!”
“Sorry, but we just don’t think we can play baseball with you anymore.”
Nightmares were again occupying Furuya’s mind as he peacefully slept in preparation for the day’s early training sessions. Furuya’s eyes snapped open in horror, and much like his old hometown, the room’s temperature felt cold. Freezing him, chilling him to the bones until he felt like he was paralyzed.
The minute that he snapped out of the terrifying trance he was in, he reached for his cellphone to check the time.
5:30.
It was still much too early for him to go out and start a few warm up drills on his own but at this point he didn’t seem to mind it very much. He needed to find a way to get his mind off of things and to get himself away from those hellish nightmares. And what better way to take care of that than play a sport he so loved, now that he had the opportunity to.
He dressed himself in his usual plain black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Heading out the door, it occurred to him that running could be a good choice for a little mind-clearing activity.
He arrived at the Seido grounds and like always, the early morning skies cast a pleasant shadow over the baseball field he’d grown so familiar with. He looked up at the cold winter sky and thanked all the gods that he would be running while the sun was still hiding itself behind the clouds, with only a few of its rays peeking out. It gave the field a slightly holy atmosphere.
---
Shuffling could be heard a few feet from where Furuya was standing and while he approached, he only managed to come up with one person crazy enough to start training this early.
Sawamura Eijun, Seido’s wannabe ace.
Sawamura was, and always will be Furuya’s polar opposite. Sawamura’s energetic and overly friendly personality was to Furuya’s relaxed and conservative one (aside from the auras he seemed to cast when things weren’t going the way he imagined them to be). They were on such different wavelengths that everybody in the team bet that they would NEVER get along.
They proved them wrong.
Nevertheless, Sawamura was the person Furuya loved the most. He didn’t understand why and he never bothered to find out. He just had this incredible gut feeling that maybe this could work.
“What do you think you’re doing so early in the morning, Sawamura?” Furuya said calmly, leaning on a pole while the southpaw pitcher busied himself with a tire (“my partner”, as Sawamura liked to call it).
“Oh, Furuya! It’s so rare of you to be up this early in the morning!” Sawamura’s greeting was so loud it echoed across the quiet field. The upperclassmen certainly won’t let him off the hook for that.
Furuya eyed Sawamura instead of returning the greeting. Furuya opened his mouth to say something but Sawamura, who had a rope with the tire tied to it knotted at his waist, cut in and said, “Want to join me for a run, Furuya?” Just like that, it felt like Sawamura had taken the words exactly from Furuya’s mind.
Furuya nodded silently and the two of them broke into a run, circling the baseball field once…twice…thrice…and so on until they felt satisfied.
They both knelt on the ground, panting, soaking with sweat, and shivering a little bit from the cold since today was their last practice before winter break started. “Hyahahahaha!!!” a laugh erupted a few feet from where they were resting.
“Why the hell are you two making so much noise this early in the morning?” Kuramochi demanded, holding an exhausted Sawamura in a headlock. “We were running obviously, Kuramochi-senpai!” Sawamura defended while repeatedly slapping Kuramochi’s hand in an attempt to be released. (“Give! Give!”, Sawamura exclaimed).
Kuramochi finally let go of Sawamura when Miyuki arrived at the scene. “What’s this? You two secretly training together~” Miyuki teased as always. He was very much notorious for making fun of the first year pitchers whenever he had chances to.
“Is that bad, Miyuki Kazuya?!” Sawamura shouted at Miyuki who was snickering. “Haha, nothing really. But, aren’t you guys getting a little too close?” Miyuki teased again, effectively putting a blush on Furuya’s face. Furuya didn’t know how but he believed that Miyuki was aware of his little crush on Sawamura. That bastard was always good at reading people.
The rest of the team arrived and the two aspiring aces were sent to do their fielding practice, much to their dismay. (They just wanted to pitch so badly). “If you’ve got time to sit down and play around then get to practice already!!” Isashiki shouted in their direction.
When they were finally sent to the bullpen to start pitching, they wasted half their time trying to convince Miyuki to catch either one of their pitches. “Catch my pitches, Miyuki Kazuya!!” Sawamura practically chanted.
In the end, Sawamura was given to Chris (who had just arrived) and Furuya ended up with Miyuki.
---
Evening fell and practice was finally over. Tomorrow, everyone would be going home to spend time with their families during the holiday season and only those who decided to stay will be at the dorms for the next week until the end of winter break.
Furuya, of course, decided to stay. “What would I gain if I go home, anyway?” he repeated to himself. He’d just be exposing him to the sources of his nightmares, which was not something he was eager to do.
Other people who decided to stay included Sawamura (which was great news for Furuya), Kuramochi, and a few other senpai’s from the second and third strings. Haruichi, another good friend of his, decided to go home with his older brother Ryosuke to Kanagawa. It was definitely going to be lonely without Haruichi but at least Sawamura was still there. A light at the end of the tunnel, if you would call it.
---
Furuya lied still on his bed, enjoying the silence (thanks to his roommates who chose to go home for the next week). His eyes were closed and little did he realize that he was drifting off to sleep.
“Why don’t you just quit baseball?”
“I’m sorry Furuya, but I just can’t catch your pitches for you anymore.”
“Damn monster. ‘Catch for me’, my ass!”
Those nightmares again.
“No, stop. I don’t wanna hear it.”
Furuya tossed and turned in his sleep, mumbling occasionally words like ‘No’, and ‘Stop it’.
“…ya.”
“…ru…ya.”
“Fu…ru…ya.”
He could hear his name being called.
“Furuya! Wake up!”
Furuya’s eyes snap open and although it was freezing, he was soaked in sweat. Gasping for a few breaths to normalize his quick breathing, Furuya looked up and came face to face with Sawamura, whose pretty face, as Furuya often described, was outlined with worry.
“Sa…wamura?” he muttered. “Are you okay?” Sawamura asked, not even bothering in the slightest to hide the concern in his voice. “Yeah… I’m fine.” It was clearly a lie meant to not worry and cause trouble for his most precious person.
Sawamura, who was quite well-known for believing anything he heard, wasn’t taking Furuya’s obvious lies. “I don’t believe you. Tell me what’s wrong.” Sawamura offered. Despite his obnoxious demeanor, Sawamura was in fact a great listener.
Furuya wanted to just be left alone but after seeing the determination present in Sawamura’s golden eyes, he decided to give in. This strong resolve of Sawamura’s was at times annoying but it was also one of the things Furuya loved the most about him.
And so they sat in silence for a few minutes before Furuya opened his mouth to explain, in a detailed way, his nightmares. Without missing a beat, Furuya continued until there was nothing left to tell. It definitely felt a whole lot better than having to deal with it alone.
He looked at Sawamura to register a reaction. He expected a shout at least but, Sawamura, the never-running-out-of-energy Sawamura, was caught speechless for the first time.
Or so Furuya thought.
“Who cares what those stupid former teammates of yours think?” Sawamura said abruptly, taking Furuya by surprise. “You have us now. Captain, Mochi-senpai, Harucchi, even that bastard Miyuki Kazuya. The entire team of Seido is right behind you!” Sawamura continued, grabbing hold of Furuya’s shoulders causing creases in the smooth fabric of his t-shirt.
“You have me as well.” He said, shaking Furuya a little. “So please, don’t say you’re alone anymore.” Sawamura finished, his hands sliding down from Furuya’s shoulders, stopping once they reached Furuya’s hands.
Sawamura was trembling. Whether he was crying, Furuya couldn’t tell. He held onto Sawamura’s hands, lacing their fingers together. “Why the heck are you crying Sawamura?” Furuya whispered as he leaned in closer, giving Sawamura’s hands a little squeeze. “Idiot, this entire thing is all your fault. I’m crying because you never do even if you have to!” Sawamura erupted, desperately trying to hold back more tears.
A small smile had crept up on Furuya’s always deadpan face. A warm smile that was very much unlike him.
Polar opposites even when dealing with problems. What Furuya wasn’t able to express, Sawamura did so easily.
They sat again in silence with only the sounds of Sawamura’s sobbing breaking the silence. Sawamura placed his head on Furuya’s shoulder and whispered in a broken voice (probably due to all the crying), “Don’t ever say you’re alone again, got it?”
Furuya nodded lightly, his head movement causing Sawamura to shift a little. “That’s a promise.” Furuya caressed Sawamura’s hair and proceeded to make soothing circles on his back. He had wanted this moment to go on for a little while longer but Sawamura insisted that they go play video games with Kuramochi to get their minds off of things. Even if only for a little while their problems would go away.
They stood up and headed for the door with Sawamura pulling Furuya along.
Polar opposites. It wasn’t just the contrast present in their personalities. The place, in its entirety was the complete opposite of his dreadful hometown. Everything from personalities to places were total opposites.
But…
The baseball that he thought caused his loneliness was also the same thing that brought him to Sawamura and to a new chapter in his life.
Maybe things involved with Furuya weren’t just polar opposites after all.