Work Text:
“A-awa, a-aa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
A splash of mud, followed by a (cute) grunt can be heard from across the field. It’s directly in front of her. Oh no.
“Kanade!” She would recognize that voice anywhere. Ena springs up from her crouched position, knees groaning from their prolonged strain. They creak in protest. Nonetheless, she shrugs off the pain and rushes towards the human-shaped blob currently crumpled on the ground.
“Are you okay!? Oh, who am I kidding, bullshit question.” She can barely see her in all this mud. Why is this pitcher spot so goddamn soggy? Is this a fucking swamp?? Kanade’s body is near submerged in it, with only her lovely blue cap (now ruined) and her ear tips sticking out of it.
She’s drowning! Panicking, Ena snatches the cap, only for it to slip out of her hands. She digs deeper, and grabbing onto Kanade’s poor, muck-stained silvery ponytail. “I’ve got you!”
She starts yanking her out of the mud, only to hear Kanade scream in pain. Ena lets go in an instant and dunks Kanade back into the mud, much like a human Yan Yan chocolate stick. Kanade groans.
Ena tries again, this time searching for a more proper, steady hold to get Kanade out of the mud in a more painless way. She flails her arms in the mud, grasping at the stupid squishy things. She grabs a slightly firmer, squishy thing, only to realize that she’s groping Kanade’s chest. Gosh, now is so not the time!
She manages to hook her arms under Kanade’s armpits. Hold secured; she finally lifts Kanade out of the mud.
"Hhhhhhhhhh..." Both of them heave a sigh of relief, panting to catch their breath. That was too much effort. Assorted splotches of mud are stuck all over their bodies. Gross. She does her best to scrap bits and pieces out of Kanade’s soiled baseball uniform. (She looks so handsome in it…)
Kanade tries to shake the mud off her body, but it stubbornly clings to her. How adorable. Her eyes turn to Ena's. She gives a wan smile. Oh my god. Kanade reaches out to try to pick dirt off Ena as well, but finds her arms too weighted down by mud to do so.
"Urk..." She gives up. Everything is so difficult. She flops down on the field, utterly defeated. Becoming one with the mud itself.
Ena frowns, peering down at Kanade, cupping her cheeks in concern. She looks at her with such tenderness, it makes Kanade feel bad. She doesn't want Ena to worry about her...
"I...I'm fine, Ena......" She trails off weakly, tracing her finger along Ena's arm. She had pulled her arm too far back and swung out of balance when pitching just now, that's all. She's gotten through worse before. She just needs a little break...
“Are you sure you are alright? You’re soaked all over.” Ena whispers, inspecting Kanade’s face for any bruises. Thankfully, her cute face is as pretty as ever. She traces the rest of her body, checking for any other injuries, and only finds surface scratches. Phew.
She hears footsteps shuffling up to them. It’s Mizuki and Mafuyu. Finally, took their asses long enough. She hears Mizuki giggling.
“Ehehe, Ena, you’re so loud. You wish Kanade is soaked in another way, right?”
Red shoots up Ena’s face. She doesn’t know whether she’s fuming more from embarrassment or anger. “S-shut up Mizuki! Who’s the pervert here!?” Ena yells.
“Anyway," She stands up and brushes mud off her pants. She helps Kanade up. "Let's get some water for you."
Mizuki continues to giggle, clutching their stomach. Looks like they're having a stroke. Serves them right. Ena ignores them. She lets Kanade rest on her right shoulder, slowly leading her towards the benches.
“You guys are noisy.” A hmph from Mafuyu. She aims a pointed side glance at Mizuki.
Ena decides to let the snide remark from the infuriating girl (both of them, really) slide. Kanade is much more worthy of her attention right now. She guides her to sit down on the mental bench, making sure she feels comfortable. She removes her catcher glove, flexing her fingers, sticky from being wrapped. Carefully, she ungloves Kanade’s hand from her pitcher glove as well, cradling it in her own. It too is soaked with sweat, but she doesn’t mind. Warm emanates from her hands, which are usually cold.
Kanade closes her eyes, savouring the moment. It’s so peaceful that Ena doesn’t want to let go at all. Still, she promised Kanade water. Parting one hand from Kanade, she grabs her backpack, left on the bench earlier. She tosses the gloves inside and rummages about for her water bottle.
Here it is! It’s still nice and cold. She unscrews the cap and brings the water bottle to Kanade’s lips.
Oh.
How… gentle of Ena. Kanade knows it’s special treatment. Her face turns red.
She accepts the bottle and mutters a grateful thanks. Sipping water from it, she quietly slips her hand back into Ena’s. Holds it. Ena blushes furiously. Her crush is holding her hand! That’s so gay. (She is literally dating Kanade.)
Mizuki lazily struts towards the duo, dragging their bat across the ground. They plop themself right next to Ena on the bench. Leaning close, they purse their lips, making kissy faces and sounds. Gah!! Enraged, Ena yanks their taller partner’s ears downwards, earning a yelp from the pink-haired enby.
“M-my poor, pretty ears!” Mizuki whines.
Ena sticks her tongue out.
“You deserved it.” A small murmur from Kanade, still taking small sips from Ena’s water bottle. Mizuki’s eyes boggle out of their skull. They fake cry. “Enanan made Kanade a meanie! ;-;”
The trio burst into laughter, and even Mafuyu, who had been standing silently off to the side, has a slight smile on her face. As an apology, Kanade reaches forward to kiss Mizuki on their cheek. They melt, dropping their bat to the ground.
Ena smirks. She wants to tease Mizuki, but she can hardly blame them. Kanade’s a total sweetheart. It takes a while for Mizuki to recover from the gayness of it all. Meanwhile, Mafuyu picks their bat off the ground, and begins packing up stuff.
“Ahaha…” Mizuki wraps around Mafuyu’s shoulders. “Good timing, my little fuyu~” Mafuyu glares at Mizuki, but does not brush off their arm. Mizuki pouts.
A moment.
“You want eat McDonald’s.” Mafuyu deadpans.
“Bingo! Aren’t you an attentive lover~” Mizuki finger guns at Mafuyu, and this time, Mafuyu actually grabs Mizuki’s fingers, threatening to twist them off. A shoulder tap from Kanade stops her from escalating into violence.
“Macdonald’s fine.” Kanade mumbles into Mafuyu’s baseball sleeve. It’s long and comfy. Mafuyu turns to look at her, eyes softening. Ah, Kanade and her power of turning everyone into a gooey gay mess strikes again. Ena shakes her head fondly.
Mizuki butts in, grabbing all their baseball stuff that Mafuyu had packed up in one go.
They holler. “MACDONALDS! MACDONALDS! MACDONALDS!”
Ena rolls her eyes. “I’m going to order a single black coffee and leave.”
“We all know you have too much of a sweet tooth for that, Ena!” Mizuki retorts.
Kanade laughs.
They reach MacDonald’s shortly. Mafuyu offers to order for all of them (earning her the title of “Sugar Daddy” from Mizuki) while the rest settle down onto one of the family seats. Even here, Ena still fusses over Kanade, concerned about their fall from just now.
“Awww Enanan, you’re so sweet, it makes me wanna gag a little. Well, I’m off to bother Mafuyu. Buh-bye!” Mizuki skips off towards the cashier. Meanwhile, Ena scrowls, face flushed from the comment Mizuki had made. Kanade laughs, a sing-song lilt. How adorable. Ena could melt just from Kanade’s voice alone.
Kanade hooks Ena’s pinky within hers, flustering Ena further, while the two wait patiently for the others to be done with their orders. Soon enough, they hear the loud giggles of a certain pink-haired enby, along with 4 set meals including 4 chicken burgers, hot, tasty fries, and coke.
Kanade sips on a little of her coke. “We had exceptionally great baseball chemistry today.”
She offers some fries to Ena. “Ena did great catching the balls I pitched today, your skills as a catcher has definitely improved tremendously. It’s due to our many years of practice and hard work, growing our bond as a pitcher and catcher.”
!!! If Kanade meant to kill Ena with sweet praise, then she would drop dead right now. To cope, she takes in a huge swig of her coke, hoping not to choke in the process. Mizuki tsks.
“Ahh, the lovebirds are at it again! Mafuyu, won’t you do something sweet with me as well? For example, let’s dip our fries into ketchup and ice-cream? Sounds good, no?”
Mafuyu shakes her head. Abruptly, she smashes her lips against Mizuki’s and steals their fry which was in their mouth.
“It tastes better from your mouth.” Her only explanation. Game over for Mizuki, who is blushing as red as a tomato.
Kanade chuckles. She’s glad Mafuyu seems to enjoy eating with them, since she’s still unable to taste much. Nervously, she offers a fry from her lips towards Mafuyu, who fully accepts it. Together, the four of them enjoyed their time at MacDonald’s.
Having nothing to do the next day, the four of them decide to crash at Kanade’s house. They snuggle with each other, turning into a niigo cuddle pile. They’re all about to sleep when Mizuki gets up suddenly.
They rush into the kitchen, returning with four bottles of water.
“HYDRATE OR DIE-DRATE!”
They aggressively throw the water bottles into the cuddle pile.
“Ugh, what’s up with them?” Ena hisses, annoyed that their sleep has been interrupted.
“They're trying to yell mental health and well-being into us.” Mafuyu explains.
“I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU!” Mizuki jumps into the cuddle pile.
Kanade sniffles. “It’s working.”