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There were exactly two kinds of people in the world - Miyuki used to think.
The ones belonging to the average; people without an aura, who therefore weren't sticking out, and usually didn't want to. Miyuki knew that most people belonged to this group - not by choice but by chance ,- and watching them for the past 16 years from afar (since he'd barely ever interacted with any of them besides his father), he'd learned none of them seemed to ever be frustrated by their fate or the sheer lack of peculiarity.
Peculiarity, he repeated in his head. Yes, that's all it's been about with the other kind, those who were always surrounded by an aura, some weaker and some stronger, but all of them easily distinguishable by their unique kind of mark that was impossible to miss. He'd met a lot until this point, and it made him come to the conclusion that any aura was usually focused on one sense; seeing - mostly in all shades of colors -, smelling, feeling - by heat and cold -, and Miyuki could even remember meeting someone who'd triggered his tasting senses (although he preferred not to think about the constant bitterness on his tongue that had gotten strong enough to almost make him vomit).
He might've been wrong though. So, so entirely wrong.
"Are you alright?"
Miyuki blinked, slowly realizing that he must've been staring at this guy. Again, like he always did for some reason.
"Yes", he quickly said, "Thanks for asking, Takigawa..."
"Chris", the younger one said. "You can call me Chris."
"Yeah." Of course, the special first-year catcher people were having high hopes for. Miyuki seriously tried not to think about how this would possibly endanger his own position as the current catcher, because he was pretty sure that it would've become quickly visible due to his own aura (and even if it was very tempting, he didn't want to terrify their new member already -, he'd get to that point eventually anyway).
Still, he had to admit that this guy was... outstanding. Not really by his physical features that looked average at the very best. Possibly not even by his skills related to baseball (at least he wanted to think that despite knowing better), but...
His aura. His aura was everywhere and it seriously confused Miyuki. He could see a bright shade of gold surrounding him, a shimmer that almost gave him something... royal. Even his bright brown eyes seemed to have the same tone, that caused an immediate shiver when Miyuki dared to look at them longer than a moment. At least it distracted him from the constant taste of sweetness on his tongue. He couldn't say what it was, and usually he hated sweets altogether, but this was terrifyingly delicious, and the short thought of tasting him shot through his mind that irritated him enough to shake his head. He probably got too used to Kominato's constant sweet smell of bubble gum, he decided, swallowing hard.
Speaking of others: why was he even alone with this guy?
"Well, I guess I'll see you around", Miyuki said, closing the door to his locker with more force than intended and turning around, expecting his underclassman to wince or step away to let him pass. Strangely enough, Takigawa was still looking at him with a calm expression.
Too calm, he thought.
"I actually was hoping you'd have time. I've got a few questions concerning Sawamura-senpai's and Furuya-senpai's pitching style. Since you've been primarily working with them, I assumed you'd know best when it comes to dealing with them."
Dealing with them? Yeah, he thought, probably exactly what he'd call it too. It was even harder to deal with their pitchers considering they were his upperclassmen. Sometimes Miyuki wondered how that was even possible when they were often acting like some first years.
"I was about to grab some score books." And he wasn't really in the mood of spending time with a first year, especially not one that everyone seemed to be so fond of, based on his talent and his personality that was basically the opposite of Miyuki's. Also---
Miyuki took a breath, shouldering his bag. He needed to get away from this aura, from this sweetness.
"That works for me."
"That's not what I..." Miyuki stopped when an invisible force seemed to take away his breath. His fingers gripped his bag tighter, and he could feel his senses sharpen even more by the sudden silence.
This wasn't the first time it happened; this feeling of being overwhelmed by the presence of the other, by his scent, a mixture of mint and grass, that shimmer that never failed to draw his eyes back to him. He was like a magnet, and Miyuki was the opposite pole, too close to get away and not able to repel.
Did Takigawa even notice his own aura? Was he doing this on purpose? And why is it that it always seemed like Miyuki was the one suffering from his presence that made him so hungry, so longing, so... irritated. Was he really the only one feeling this?
When he tried to ask Kuramochi, the shortstop had just given him a weird look as if he'd been asking something fairly obvious (which was no, he didn't feel anything unnatural emerging from Chris - at least nothing aside of the colorful aura everyone seemed to notice).
"Maybe it's your mate. Didn't they say that you'd feel something different about the aura of your mate once you meet them? You know... things others can't sense. I heard stories of people just feeling a strong pull towards the person too."
Miyuki's eyes widened at the realization.
"Shit."
He wasn't ready to actually bond with anyone. He knew he should want to, with everyone taking interest in other people, occasionally dating or just flirting, but this was something entirely different (and he wasn't even thinking about the fact that he'd never been interested in any kind of romantic relationship with anyone, let alone with someone he'd preferred to see as a threat).
"That's rude." Chris didn't even blink at the reaction, still looking at him with that calmness that only made Miyuki panic more. "But they told me that you'd be rude."
They...?
The younger averted his gaze and the pressure faded, leaving him with some space to take a breath. There were still no words leaving his lips, not when the other was so damn quiet and relaxed, looking like he was the older one to begin with.
"Kuramochi-senpai and Sawamura-senpai. When I found out that you're my mate, I asked them for their advice on how to approach you. It wasn't really easy since you've been constantly avoiding me since our first formal encounter. I apologize if you wanted to keep this a secret."
"Hah." Miyuki didn't notice how his knuckles had turned white nor the petty try of a fake smile on his face. "I think you're misjudging the situation. There's... there's no such thing as mates."
At least not for me.
"Oh”, he heard Chris say.
He really wasn't the best when it came to reading people outside of the field, but the way Chris' lips fell looked off, as if he was holding something in.
"So that's how it is."
Not really, Miyuki wanted to reply, but he decided not to speak, not to try and limit the damage, because Chris didn't look sad for too long, nor did he look particularly upset about this rather forceful rejection (or rather denial). It was almost as if he could read his mind.
But that was impossible.
Right...?
"Well, I assume I'll have to find someone else." Chris shouldered his bag.
"Yeah. I'm sure you'll find them." Someone who wasn't him. Someone who was going to give the first year what he was looking for. So not him. Anyone else but him. And until then, he'd have to learn to ignore his watering mouth and that constant feeling of wanting to be close to this guy. He’d managed up to this point already, keeping his distance as much as possible and only crossing paths when necessary. It would work again. It had to work again.
"I think you're misunderstanding, Miyuki-senpai."
It was that moment, when Chris looked at him again, catching him like he was a straight ball aimed right to the center - and Miyuki knew he was in deep trouble.
"I'm not going to give up on us being mates. I'll show you. That you belong to me."
The determination behind his words was too strong to ignore, and more than enough to make Miyuki believe that he'd stick to his words. Because after all, this guy's been under his skin since the first second. And that bastard knew damn well how to use it, leaving no doubt that Miyuki was bound to lose this fight. Perhaps not today or tomorrow, but he could feel that there’d be a day he’d give in to that gold, letting it emerge with his own aura Chris would call silver after Miyuki had always considered it being gray.