Chapter Text
The first string stood stock still as the beat-up looking bus pulled up next to them. As it came to a jolting stop, excited shouting could be heard inside. The door opened, and a short woman stepped out first, followed by a tall boy with a shaved head and white glasses. After those two, two people tried to exit the bus at the same time, a very short boy with freckles, and a slightly taller boy with messy orange hair. The freckled boy was shouting, and the orange haired boy was just trying to get off the bus. Eijun stood on his toes to get a look at them, nudging Haruichi’s side in glee. Those two seemed like they would be fun. As he opened his mouth to whisper something, a cacophonous shout broke the sort-of-calm of the morning. The freckled boy just laughed, and let the orange haired boy off first, following shortly behind. The next boy off the bus was stocky, and had a mean look on his face. He seemed to be the source of the shout, muttering under his breath.
As the rest of the boys streamed off the bus, lining up in order, Eijun was struck with how young they all were. They all seemed to be first years, most of them hadn’t even hit their growth spurts yet, and they were so scrawny. He glanced to his side, looking at the second and third years of the first string, and back to the boys of Nishiura. They were so small, in comparison. To his surprise, the shy orange haired boy took his place next to the captain of the team, the spot specifically reserved for the ace, the angry boy next to him in the catcher’s spot. Then, a girl holding a dog got off the bus, and stood next to the coach, the short woman who had been the first off the bus.
Kataoka nodded at the woman, who smiled widely. Her grin reminded Eijun of Miyuki’s, and he shivered. She may appear to be harmless, but she most certainly was a threat. She coughed a few times to clear her throat, and then began to speak.
“Thank you so much for having us!” she began, crossing her arms over her chest and laughing, before turning to her team.
“This is our captain. I’ll let him introduce everyone.” she grinned, and Hanai nodded, a blush dusting his cheeks and he spoke, “I’m Hanai Azusa, I play center and right field.”
He turned, and gave their ace a nervous grin, “This is Mihashi Ren, he’s our ace pitcher.” Mihashi chirped and nodded, his face bright red. Next to him, the catcher gave him a worried look. Eijun stared at the pitcher, curious about his style, how his battery functioned, how many breaking balls he could throw.
“This is Abe Takaya, our vice captain and catcher.”
Abe nodded, and gently bumped Mihashi with his shoulder. Hanai introduced the rest of the players. Haruichi stiffened at the introduction of Tajima Yuuichirou, and Eijun glanced down to give his friend a questioning look. After Hanai finished, he turned to look at Momoe, who grinned again. She, in turn, stared right at Kataoka, who grunted and turned to Yuki.
“I’m Yuki Tetsuya, I’m the first baseman and captain. This is Tanba Koichiro, our ace pitcher. This is Miyuki Kazuya, our catcher.” he introduced, and each player nodded as their name and position were named. When it got to Eijun, at the very end of the line, he greeted Nishiura with a loud, “OSU!”
He could hear Kataoka sigh all the way from the other side of the line.
As both teams bowed, Eijun noticed Mihashi tugging urgently on Abe’s sleeve, whispering something disjointedly. Abe looked like he was trying very, very hard not to yell, as Mihashi struggled to get his words out. Finally, Tajima interrupted them, and yelled very loudly.
“Abe!! He’s saying, wow, Seidou has a lot of pitchers!”
Abe turned to him and glared, and Tajima just laughed. Seidou startled at the shouting, and startled again as the coach of Nishiura did nothing to reprimand her team, but laughed loudly instead.
“They have over 90 members in the club, Mihashi,” she said, and Mihashi turned bright red again at being singled out, sputtering and blinking rapidly, opening and closing his mouth as he slowly tried to hide behind Abe, who was not having it. He grabbed the pitcher’s arm, and tugged him back into line. Mihashi teared up, but seemed to calm down a bit.
“Well, should we get this party started?” Momoe smiled slyly, turning to address Kataoka, who nodded stiffly. Momoe and Kataoka were complete opposites, Eijun noted, as Momoe slung an arm around Mihashi and Hanai, grinning wildly.
“This is going to be a joint practice that will end with a game,” Kataoka announced to Seidou, “make sure to work hard.”
Momoe was giving a similar pep talk to her team, the only difference was the team was actively cheering with her, rather than listening quietly and then responding with a shout. A man, who Eijun hadn’t noticed earlier, walked up to Momoe, and asked her something. She seemed surprised, and then grinned.
“Say, Coach Kataoka,” she said, turning again to face Seidou, “may I borrow your team for, ah, five minutes or so? I’d like to show them something.”
Kataoka stared, confused, but gave his consent. Momoe cackled, “Wonderful! Shiga-sensei, would you mind?”
Shiga, the man, Eijun noted, smiled and rubbed his hands together, before gesturing towards Seidou.
“Everyone make a circle, please, try to mix it up so you aren’t standing next to a teammate.” he directed, as Kataoka watched curiously. Momoe walked over to stand next to him, and grinned.
As soon as the teams were evenly distributed, Shiga instructed everyone to sit down. Mihashi and Abe ended up being separated, and the nervous energy flying off of the pitcher almost rivalled the aura Furuya managed to summon whenever pitching was mentioned. Eijun found himself sandwiched between Mihashi and Tajima, and with a grimace, he noticed that Miyuki Kazuya was in between Mihashi and Abe. The next thing Shiga said startled everyone in Seidou.
“Please take the hands of the people sitting next to you,” he said, and without hesitation, the members of Nishiura put their palms face up next to themselves, waiting patiently for the members of Seidou to comply. Eijun found he didn’t have much of a choice, as Tajima immediately grabbed his hand, twining their fingers together and resting their clasped hands on his knee. Next to him, Mihashi nervously reached for his hand, which Eijun took. As soon as everyone was holding hands, Shiga continued.
“Close your eyes. You should be able to feel your partner’s hands. They may be warm, or they may be cold.” he said, and Eijun’s eyes drifted closed. He tried to focus on the temperature of Tajima and Mihashi’s hands. Tajima’s were very warm, almost hot, while Mihashi’s were like ice. “Register that temperature in your minds, and breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out.” Slowly, Mihashi’s hands stopped trembling, though the temperature didn’t change. “Slowly, don’t rush, feel your own body temperature as it rises, and then share that warmth with your partner.” Eijun took a deep, even breath, and imagined his warmth flowing into Mihashi’s hands. “Make sure their hand is as warm as yours.”
Sure enough, Mihashi’s hands started to warm up.
Kataoka stared at the two teams, meditating in a circle, and next to him, Momoe laughed very quietly, almost fondly.
“Shiga-sensei came up with that after I showed Abe that holding Mihashi’s hands could help him to see if he was nervous or not.” she explained, “It really does wonders to help a team bond and become one.”
Kataoka nodded, and took note. He was doubtful that he would ever actually employ this tactic, but it would be useful to remember.
After a few more minutes had passed, Shiga clapped his hands, and the Nishiura boys opened their eyes and released their grasps on everyone’s hands. Seidou quickly followed suit, and they all stood. Mihashi seemed to have calmed down a lot, Eijun noticed, though he still seemed flushed and panicky.
“Thank you, Shiga-sensei,” Momoe said, and then nodded to Kataoka, “Your turn!” She laughed.
“Pitchers and catchers, come see me, everyone else, do three laps around the field, and then meet me for further instruction. Yuki, you lead.” Kataoka announced, and Seidou shouted their understanding. Abe almost had to drag Mihashi over to Kataoka, who was talking to a third year, who had appeared almost out of thin air. Eijun grinned, excited that he would probably get to pitch. Furuya, next to him, seemed to have the same idea. Miyuki laughed, as the people who had to run started, Yuki’s shouts being drowned out by the collective answering yells of Seidou and Nishiura.
“Coach Momoe, do you mind if we switch up the batteries?” Kataoka asked, and Mihashi chirped, grabbing onto the back of Abe’s jersey in fear. Momoe patted Mihashi hard on the back, “I don’t mind at all!”
Eijun groaned, but his expression took a complete 180 as he noticed Chris was standing with the catchers.
“Chris-senpai!” he shouted, and Chris looked up from his notebook, smiled, and then went back to work, scribbling away. Eijun grinned, and then turned back to the Nishiura battery.
“A-abe-kun! I! Pitching... you?” Mihashi stuttered, drawing in the air with his hands and Abe nodded, looking slightly confused.
“Mihashi... you have to use words or I can’t understand...” Abe said, with the patience of someone who had to go through this about a thousand times a day. Mihashi swallowed and nodded so hard his face became a blur.
“He means you’re going to catch for other pitchers!” Tajima shouted, and Abe turned to look at the short boy, who was still running.
“How did you even- Nevermind!” Abe began, but changed his mind, turning back to Mihashi, who nodded.
“Yes, and you’re going to pitch for other catchers.” Abe said, and Mihashi looked like he wanted to scream. As Mihashi began to speak again, a sharp tap on Eijun’s shoulder called his attention back to Seidou’s catchers, who were done speaking. Miyuki grinned, and cleared his throat, interrupting Mihashi and Abe, who were having a weird sort of conversation. Mihashi squeaked, and turned to face them, standing stock still, while Abe turned more fluidly.
“Let’s go to the bullpen.” Chris said, and began to lead the way. Mihashi grabbed tightly onto Abe’s sleeve, and continued to chirp and stutter. Eijun fell back a little, to try and join their conversation.
“Hi!” he said, smiling warmly at Mihashi, who squealed. Abe groaned in frustration, and shook Mihashi off of his arm, power walking to reach the catchers, abandoning Mihashi next to Eijun.
“H-hello!” Mihashi said, looking firmly at the dirt. Eijun whistled.
“That’s some catcher you’ve got,” he said, “he seems kind of mean?”
Mihashi’s head snapped towards him, the intensity in his eyes surprising.
“A-abe-kun isn’t mean!” Mihashi protested, and kept walking, “He’s very kind!”
Eijun smiled, and hopped to catch up, “So, you’re the only pitcher on the whole Nishiura team! That’s so cool!”
Mihashi squawked at the praise, going bright red, and nodding furiously, “I-I’m not... good! But! Abe-kun helps!”
Eijun nodded sagely, and then gave Mihashi a friendly pat on the back.
“I have pretty bad control, but Chris-senpai has been helping me get better!” Eijun grinned, and then grimaced, “That Miyuki Kazuya hasn’t been helpful at all! He just makes fun of me.”
Mihashi gave Eijun a sort of look that let on he knew exactly how that felt, and then stumbled over his own feet, squawking and waving his arms to regain his balance.
“Your pitcher seems to be quite the handful,” Miyuki said to Abe, who had fallen into stride next to him. Abe shrugged.
“He’s one of the best pitchers I’ve ever caught for,” Abe said, turning to look at Mihashi, who was talking animatedly with Eijun.
“Hey, really?” Miyuki said, taking the opportunity to needle Abe for information about Nishiura’s only battery, “Him? He doesn’t seem like he has very good control.”
Abe laughed, “You’d be surprised.”
Miyuki smirked, and analyzed the first year catcher. He was solid, and clearly had experience with terrible pitchers from the way he talked, and also...
“How do you even understand what he says?” Miyuki asked, genuinely curious. Even Eijun, with his own weird language of hollers and grunts, was having a hard time comprehending what the nervous pitcher was saying.
Abe looked at him blankly, and then appeared to not know how to answer.
“It’s not really that difficult,” Abe said, “He usually manages to get the essential parts of a sentence out.”
Miyuki nodded, and then grinned again, his curiosity only growing. This could get ugly, if he didn’t word his questions correctly.
“Why’s he keep hanging on to you?”
Abe stiffened, but didn’t snap at the other catcher, taking a deep breath before replying.
“Mihashi didn’t have a great middle school baseball experience. He’s convinced the only reason he’s doing good in high school is because I’m his catcher,” Abe explained, “Also... actually, it’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time,” Miyuki needled, and Abe’s eyebrows furrowed.
“I’d rather not think about it,” Abe avoided, and Miyuki shrugged, giving up.
As they reached the bullpen, Chris allowed the Seidou pitchers to warm up with Seidou catchers, and began to put on his own catcher’s gear. Tanba was forced to sit out, and observe, due to his injury. Eijun bounced on the balls of his feet, excitedly, as Chris spoke with Abe for a moment, before squatting and punching his glove, holding it up for Eijun to pitch into. After around 15 pitches from each pitcher, Chris stood again, and cleared his throat.
“Coach Kataoka asked me to have each of you pitch to Abe, and to have all of you to catch for Mihashi, because Nishiura only has one pitcher and catcher.” he explained, Abe nodding, and pushing up out of his crouch.
“Let’s do this,” Abe said, ignoring Mihashi’s panicked squawks.
Kawakami ended up being the first pitcher Abe caught for. They had a simple conversation, Abe asking Kawakami what he threw, and a few other simple questions, what his best pitch was, what he was most uncomfortable with.
Mihashi stood uncomfortably in front of Miyayuchi, responding as best he could to each of Miyayuchi’s questions. He threw eventually, and Miyayuchi snorted in surprise. Miyuki glanced to the left, curious about what all the snorting was about. He was quickly brought back to the pitcher in front of him, as Furuya wound up to throw another thunderous pitch.
Abe said something about each pitch Kawakami threw, “Nice ball,” echoed in the bullpen after each thud. Mihashi, on the other end of the bullpen, seemed to grow uncomfortable with each snort Miyayuchi gave. After 20 pitches, Chris called for a change in pitcher again, and they switched. The nervous ginger ended up in front of Miyuki, looking utterly terrified.
“Say, what do you throw?” Miyuki asked, and Mihashi jumped, before speaking, listing all four of his breaking balls, along with his normal pitch.
“Hoho, you hear that Bakamura?” Miyuki crowed, startling Eijun, who was currently explaining to Abe that he could only throw fastballs. Eijun glared at Miyuki, and was about to bark something back, but Abe caught his attention, and put up his glove for Eijun to throw. Eijun grinned, as Abe signaled for a fastball, high, on the inside corner. He wound up, clenching his right hand and making sure his foot pointed straight to the catcher, and threw, paying attention to when he released the ball. Abe caught it like it was no problem, but grimaced as he stood up to toss the ball back.
“Your control is awful.” he said, deadpan. Eijun choked, as he heard both Miyuki and Chris chuckle at the catcher’s words.
“Alrighty, Nishiura’s Ace, your turn.” Miyuki grinned, holding up his glove, and signaling for a fastball right down the center. Mihashi nodded, and threw. The ball seemed to float through the air. It landed squarely in the center of Miyuki’s mitt with a puff of dust. Miyuki stared at the first year pitcher with surprise.
“Nice pitch,” he shouted, and threw the ball back, signaling for one of Mihashi’s breaking balls, on the top inside corner. Again, the ball landed perfectly in Miyuki’s mitt, without him having to make any effort to move his hand. Miyuki grinned, laughing out loud, startling Mihashi and causing the poor boy to cover his face with his glove, his ears burning.
“You’re a lucky one, Abe,” Miyuki cackled, shaking his head. Mihashi peered curiously over the top of his glove, and Abe smiled, nodding.
“I know,” he said, and then his frown returned as Eijun tried to throw a low outside pitch, and failed.
“I commend your effort,” Abe said, throwing the ball back to Eijun, who flinched again. The 20 pitch limit came too soon, and Chris called for the pitcher change.
“Oi, Chris, is it really okay for Abe to catch for Furuya?” Miyuki asked, as the first year walked up to Abe’s lane. Chris nodded, “Coach Kataoka said every pitcher would pitch for Abe. If Abe can’t handle it, I’ll intervene.”
Abe snorted from where he crouched and punched his glove, “I can take anything,” he challenged, and Miyuki smiled.
“We’ll see.”
All eyes were on Abe as Furuya wound up, and threw with all his might. The ball made a sound like a bullet as it came to rest in Abe’s mitt, a cloud of dust flying off of the ball. Abe shrugged, and stood to throw it back to Furuya.
“Your control is almost worse than Sawamura-kun’s.” Abe remarked flatly, and Miyuki howled with laughter, wrenching his attention back to Kawakami almost reluctantly.
Mihashi stared at Abe almost reverently, Chris noted, as he caught another one of Furuya’s pitches like it was nothing. Chris cleared his throat, and Mihashi nearly jumped out of his spikes.
“Just give me your best pitch,” Chris said, smiling. Mihashi nodded furiously, and Chris almost worried the boy was going to give himself a concussion. Mihashi seemed to be debating what to throw, before looking at Abe, and nodding gently to himself. He glanced at the mitt Chris held in the middle of the strike zone, and threw a simple fastball. Chris was startled by how slow it was, and the lack of rotation as it sailed through the air. He was even more surprised when he didn’t have to move his mitt a millimeter to catch it. He whistled, and stood, throwing the ball back to Mihashi.
“That was excellent.” he said, and Mihashi turned bright red again, a wobbly smile working it’s way onto the first year’s face. Every pitch fell perfectly into Chris’s mitt, no matter the break of the ball, or where he placed the mitt in or out of the strike zone. Finally, with the 20th pitch, Chris stood, and called attention to himself.
“Now that all the pitchers and catchers have mixed, we should work on improvement. Abe, if you don’t mind, I’d like to watch Mihashi pitch to you a little closer.” Chris said, turning to the first year catcher, who looked at Mihashi, before agreeing. Mihashi stared nervously between Chris and Abe, before blinking several times and shaking his head.
Abe had Mihashi throw a fastball down the middle, and Chris held up his hand to stop Abe from throwing the ball back.
“Mihashi, do that again, but rotate your hips before your shoulders,” Chris said, taking note the steely look from Abe. Mihashi chirped anxiously, turning to stare at Abe, who shrugged.
“You might as well,” Abe said, hoping that the instruction from the more experienced catcher wouldn’t affect Mihashi’s control. If it did, he knew Mihashi would likely never try that again, so he didn’t worry too much. Mihashi nodded, surprised, and Abe tossed the ball back.
This time, Mihashi’s pitch seemed to move faster, thought it retained the same lazy course. As the ball came to rest in Abe’s mitt with a smack, Mihashi danced excitedly from foot to foot.
“Abe-kun!!” Mihashi said, a wide grin on his face, “The! It - ball...!”
Eijun marveled at the level of communication between the battery. Even with Mihashi mostly making excited sounding squawks, Abe still seemed to be understanding what he was saying.
“That was perfect, Mihashi!” Abe called, throwing the ball back. Mihashi nodded, his face flushed again at the praise. Chris hummed, thinking, and then cleared his throat.
“Mihashi, can you do a proper windup?” Chris asked, again taking note of Abe’s glare. Mihashi slowly shook his head, and then gestured to Abe to explain.
“Everything Mihashi does was self taught,” Abe said, “none of his coaches bothered to show him how to pitch properly.” Mihashi nodded.
“I can show him!” Eijun volunteered loudly, thrusting his gloved hand in the air, startling everyone. Miyuki burst into mocking laughter, already standing from his crouch, and actually dropped the ball from the force of his laughing.
“You can’t even do it properly, Sawamura!” he wheezed, slapping his thigh repeatedly, doubled over. Eijun glared at him, shouting wordlessly in offense.
“Sawamura certainly has a unique way of winding up, but since Mihashi has no experience, maybe Sawamura’s odd style may be helpful?” Chris offered, causing Eijun to grin goofily at him, and yell, “Chris-senpai!”
Mihashi gave Abe another nervous glance. Abe shook his head, and nodded towards Eijun and Chris. Mihashi whined, his face turning bright red again.
“I! That... nice?” he forced out, and then nodded furiously.
“Words, Mihashi,” Abe reminded, and Mihashi squeaked.
“Windup! Yes!” he tried again, and Eijun grinned. Abe stood from his crouch, and walked towards where Miyuki and Chris now stood, an odd look on his face.
“How much will this windup mess with his control?” Abe asked, quietly enough that Mihashi, who was chirping happily, couldn’t hear him. Chris touched his chin, deep in thought, and then replied with a shrug.
“We have no way of knowing until he pitches using the windup. Either nothing will change, or his control will be ruined temporarily, until he gets the hang of it.” Chris explained, which clearly wasn’t good enough for the first year catcher, who stared worriedly at his pitcher, who was now balancing on one leg as Eijun showed him how he wound up.
“Say,” Abe said suddenly, “do you have any advice for dealing with a delicate pitcher?”
Miyuki threw his hands up in a don’t-ask-me fashion, and turned to Chris, who looked equally baffled.
“You seem to be doing a good job of it on your own?” he tried, and Abe shrugged.
“I guess,” his expression softened, and a hint of red cropped up on his cheeks, as he looked back to his pitcher, “He doesn’t believe me when I tell him he’s incredible.”
Miyuki’s eyebrows shot up, and then he grinned, turning to give Chris a knowing look. Chris squinted at him, as if he were saying ‘don’t you dare,’ and for once, Miyuki didn’t say anything. Though he wanted to. Badly.
“Well, your turn,” Abe said, looking away, “what’s the drama in your bullpen?”
Miyuki laughed, and gestured towards Eijun and Furuya, who were now arguing over who had a better windup, while Mihashi was looking around for an escape route.
“Those two idiots are both convinced they’re going to be the ace,” Miyuki said, “which isn’t bad for motivation, but they won’t shut up about it.”
“I have the opposite problem,” Abe snorted, “Maybe Mihashi could learn something from them.”
“You gotta put your arms up like this,” Eijun instructed, ignoring the way Mihashi’s eyes kept flickering from him, to Abe, to the door.
“Like this,” Furuya echoed, holding his arms a different way, stepping in front of Eijun.
Mihashi looked between them both, his eyes wide, and then burst into overwhelmed tears.
“Shit! No, dude, don’t cry!” Eijun panicked, waving his arms and looking helplessly towards the catchers. Furuya, equally startled, stood still, unsure of what exactly to do.
Abe heaved a sigh, and dragged his free hand down his face. Chris and Miyuki shared another look, surprised to find this was a common occurrence. When Abe had said a delicate pitcher, they didn’t quite expect this. Mihashi scrubbed at his face, and Abe walked over to where he stood, shaking like a leaf.
“Why are you crying.” Abe said, coming to a stop and crossing his arms in front of Mihashi. He stood solidly, with his feet planted wide, and his shoulders squared. Mihashi chirped, jumping in surprise.
“I-I’m n-!” Mihashi protested, tears still rolling down his flushed cheeks. Abe’s eyebrow twitched.
“You’re crying right now.” he pointed out, and Mihashi shook his head, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Another tear fell. Abe ground his teeth, attempting to be patient.
“If you don’t say what’s wrong, no one can fix it,” Abe tried, his tone ruining the effect of the words. Mihashi squeaked, and ran to hide behind Eijun, who startled as Abe turned immediately, arms still crossed, and a frustrated look on his face. Eijun looked at Miyuki and Chris for help, who were watching curiously. Eijun mouthed, “help,” at Miyuki, who shrugged, grinning, holding up his hands.
“Mihashi.” Abe said, louder than intended, as Mihashi squeaked again, trying to make himself invisible behind Eijun, who was frozen in fear. The aura flowing off of Abe was seriously scary, he could completely understand why Mihashi wanted to hide. But why did it have to be behind him?
“Hey now,” Chris stepped, in, holding his hands up as both Abe and Mihashi’s heads snapped towards him. Chris almost wilted under the strength of the first year catcher’s glare, but continued, “Both of you need to calm down.”
“I-I’m...calm!” “I’M PERFECTLY CALM.”
Miyuki snorted with laughter as Chris grimaced, and Eijun jumped almost clear out of his spikes. Furuya had melted into the background, to avoid Abe’s wrath. Kawakami and Miyayuchi were both missing too, along with Tanba, wherever they had wandered off to.
“Be that as it may,” Chris said, “I think you need to take a few deep breaths.”
Abe huffed, and blew him off, turning back to Mihashi, who was breathing in and out very deeply and very rapidly.
“Oi! Idiot, you’re gonna pass out!” Abe shouted, his anger immediately turning to concern, and Mihashi held his breath. Abe slammed his face into his mitt.
“Listen,” Abe said, finally, and Mihashi let his breath out with an audible whoosh, “do you have any idea how to do a windup now?”
Mihashi nodded slowly, like he was thinking it through, and then nodded again, faster. Abe rubbed his face.
“Do you want to throw a pitch with a windup?”
Mihashi nodded again, a determined look on his face. Abe sighed, and looked around the bullpen.
“Do you have any chalk, and a net?” he asked, turning back to face Chris and Miyuki.
"Maybe, what for?" Miyuki asked, purposefully being unhelpful. Abe frowned, obviously annoyed.
"Actually, Miyuki-san, could you catch for Mihashi? I want to watch him as he pitches with a windup." Abe said, raising an eyebrow expectantly. Miyuki began to refuse, but then stopped. Abe had reasoning, if Mihashi's pitches went wild, Miyuki would be the most likely to catch it. And besides that, Mihashi pitching to a real person rather than a wooden plank with lines drawn on it led to more accurate results.
"Chris-san," Abe turned to the older catcher, "will you please help me observe Mihashi's pitch?"
Chris nodded, surprised at how polite the first year was suddenly being. Abe smiled, for the first time that day, Chris noted, and then bowed slightly at both of his upperclassmen.
"Thank you," he said, and then turned to Mihashi, waving him forward.
"Throw whatever Miyuki-san calls for, but do it with your windup. Chris-san and I will watch and correct your form." Abe said quietly, watching Mihashi's expression carefully. Mihashi nodded enthusiastically, and then spoke, “I think...after! Abe-kun? You should! Catch.”
Abe grinned at Mihashi, and grabbed his head with both hands, ruffling his hair aggressively. Mihashi squawked in fear, before realizing that Abe wasn’t angry, a wobbly smile working its way onto his face. Abe let go, and fist pumped internally, extremely satisfied with the success of their communication.
“Alright,” Miyuki’s voice cut Mihashi and Abe’s moment short, the pitcher and catcher turning to face the older boy, who had crouched at the opposite end of the bullpen, ready to catch.
Abe took a few steps back, until he was standing next to Chris again, and Mihashi rolled the ball in his hand a few times, before beginning his windup. Eijun fell into line next to Abe, watching curiously as the pitcher nervously raised his hands above his head, his left knee rising higher than usual as he picked his leg up, and threw it forwards, glancing at the group watching him, before proceeding to pitch. The ball went in its expected course, with Miyuki just barely having to move his mitt to catch it. As soon as the ball made contact, Mihashi turned to look at Abe excitedly.
“That was awesome!” Eijun shouted, startling Mihashi, who jumped, staring at Eijun with wide eyes. Abe smirked, and nodded his agreement, which had Mihashi blushing red. Miyuki snorted quietly, it seemed that all the boys on the Nishiura team made a habit of excessive blushing.
“T-th-thank you!” Mihashi stuttered, his excitement evident as he bounced on the balls of his feet.
“How did that feel? It was a little different from your usual pitch.” Abe asked, and Mihashi stopped bouncing, thinking hard.
“Fast!” he said, and then looked at Miyuki for confirmation.
“It was faster than the last pitches you threw,” Miyuki said, “the control is about the same, but if you want to pitch with more speed, then you’ll need to work on transferring the momentum from your windup into the ball, and you might want to consider working with weights, and maybe even a heavier ball to strengthen your arm.”
Mihashi’s head swam at all the advice Miyuki was giving, and he stared at Abe, who seemed to understand.
“Momokan had him do a drill where he stood on a wooden block and pitched normally from that.” Abe said, looking at Chris.
“To strengthen his trunk, I assume,” Chris said, and then took a notebook out of his back pocket, flipping through it, “a strong abdomen definitely helps with pitching. What kind of workout do you usually do?”
Abe and Mihashi shared a look, and Abe replied.
“Momokan just has us do running and fielding for exercise. We also play games like jungle gym freeze tag. Tajima and Hanai practice with weighted bats outside of that, and Mihashi pitches with his strike board,” he explained, and then turned a look on Mihashi, “Against Momokan’s orders, but he’s been getting stronger, so she hasn’t stopped him. And he won’t listen to me.”
Mihashi pretended like he didn’t hear that last part, and nodded.
Chris stared at them incredulously, and then shook his head, an unbelieving smile forcing itself onto his face.
“You don’t do any weight training outside of practice?”
“S-should?” Mihashi asked, looking guilty. Chris nodded.
“It would definitely give you an advantage.”
Abe hummed, and then scratched the side of his head, “I’ll ask Momokan if she can give us a menu.”
Abe instructed Mihashi to try pitching to Miyuki a few more times, to get the feel of his new form down, before trading places with Miyuki to catch for Mihashi for a few pitches.
As they walked out of the bullpen, towards the field, Miyayuchi, Furuya, Kawakami, and Tanba rejoined them. Chris and Miyuki made conversation, asking them where exactly they went, while Mihashi and Eijun chattered aimlessly, Abe walking closely next to Mihashi so that their shoulders bumped every other step. As they grew closer to where everyone else was practicing fielding, the third years split off, and headed over to find Kataoka. Abe called for Mihashi to follow him as he walked towards Momoe, who was currently hitting balls for the players on the field to catch and make plays with. Eijun and Furuya followed close behind, unsure of what else to do. Miyuki laughed at the view before him on the field, and then leisurely walked towards them.
“Momokan!” Mihashi chirped, excited to show off his new improved form. Momoe turned her head, and grinned at her ace and his catcher.
“Mihashi! Abe! You two ready to jump in?” she asked, and Mihashi nodded quickly, his hat flying off of his head in the light breeze. Momoe laughed as Mihashi turned in a circle, looking for where it fell. Snorting, Abe leaned down and picked it up, placing it back onto Mihashi’s head, who made one of his signature surprised noises. Momoe handed Mihashi the ball she was currently tossing up and down, and smiled at him.
“Make sure they’re all pitches I can hit,” she grinned, and Mihashi nodded, looking at Abe to make sure he heard.
“Mihashi’s pitch has gained a little speed, thanks to those two Seidou catchers,” Abe said proudly, as Mihashi ran awkwardly to the mound, crouching and punching his glove, signing for a fastball right down the middle, and holding out his glove. Mihashi raised his arms, and then his leg, and swung it forwards, trying his best to transfer the momentum, as Miyuki had advised, and then threw his arm down, the pitch flying directly towards Abe’s mitt. Momoe laughed in pleased surprise as she saw the improvement of Mihashi’s form, and swung, hitting the ball straight to the shortstop, who Abe quickly realized was not Suyama. The shortstop, Kuramochi, leapt into the air, catching the ball, and threw the ball straight to second base, where Sakaeguchi caught the ball, stepping on base to get the out, all before hitting the ground. The runner, a member of the Seidou team, returned to first base for the next play. Mihashi seemed to notice that not all of the players on the field were his teammates, and froze, nervously staring from Tajima to Kuramochi, and then back to Abe.
“Nice play!” Momoe laughed, as Sakaeguchi threw the ball back to Mihashi.
“Where’s Suyama?” Abe asked, curiosity getting the best of him as he signed for the same pitch, but this time inside and in the upper corner.
“He’ll be in again soon enough.” Momoe answered, slamming the ball somewhere between center and right field, “He’s the runner on third, right now.”
Abe looked over, and sure enough, there Suyama was, edging slowly but surely towards home plate. He wasn’t far enough away from third base that Mihashi could reasonably try to pick him off, but as he signaled for Mihashi to send him a curveball, low and in the outer edge of the strike zone, he realized what Momoe was playing for.
Her bat came down to bunt, and as soon as he heard the clink of the ball, he prepared to run forwards to grab the ball if it fell close enough. Mihashi beat him to it, for once, and held the ball, looking around in confusion.
“Back home!” Abe yelled, and Mihashi turned, seeing that Suyama was making a break for home, and threw. Abe caught it, and smiled at Suyama, who cursed under his breath, slowing down, and then grinned.
“I’m glad we’re on the same team,” Suyama laughed, and Abe smiled, nodding.
“Alright,” Momoe said, turning her head away from Mihashi to face the Seidou players, who were now standing behind her, “Sawamura-kun, do you play anywhere else besides pitcher?”
“No!” Eijun answered immediately, and Momoe laughed heartily.
“What about you, Furuya-kun?”
“Left field.” he said, and opened his mouth to continue, before being interrupted by Eijun, “He’s kinda awful at catching the ball, though!” Furuya ignored him, and Eijun huffed.
“Ok, Furuya-kun, would you go switch with Mizutani?” Momoe asked, “Tell him to switch with Suyama.”
Furuya nodded, and jogged out to Mizutani, who insisted on giving him a high five before switching.
“Miyuki-kun, after Mihashi pitches four more balls, I want you and Sawamura-kun to switch with Abe and Mihashi.” Momoe grinned, and Abe turned to look up at her, confused. The way she was looking at Eijun, though, told him all he needed to know.
“Ok, Abe, thanks for waiting.” she said, and pointed her bat at the boys on the field, “You’d all better be ready!”
The next four balls were all to difficult positions, between bases, just far enough that the outfielders had to run for it, just close enough that they weren’t completely sure if it was for them or the infielders. As soon as the last ball was returned to Mihashi, Abe stood up, and waved Mihashi off the field. Reluctantly, he complied, setting the ball down gently on the mound, and jogging awkwardly to where Abe had moved away from the batter’s box, as Eijun and Miyuki took the field.
“Give me something to hit,” Momoe requested, swinging her bat a few times to get the feel back, Miyuki replying with a, “Yes, yes.”
Miyuki signed for a regular old strike down the middle, and Eijun delivered. Momoe watched the pitch carefully, and let it pass, laughing as she noticed what made it special.
“Nice ball,” Miyuki said, throwing the ball back to Eijun, who grinned. Momoe tightened her grip on the bat, and waited for the next pitch.
As it came within the strike zone, Momoe’s bat connected with a crack, and the ball flew to left field, where Furuya was. He put up his glove, and it almost seemed like he would catch the pop fly, but the ball just barely missed. Furuya seemed surprised, and turned to pick up the ball, throwing it to first base on reflex.
Miyuki called for the same ball, this time high and inside, and to his surprise, Momoe hit it, no problem. The ball still flew exactly where she wanted it, Hanai being forced to dive to catch it, immediately throwing it to third base, trapping Mizutani between third base and home plate, where Miyuki waited, ready to catch the ball if Mizutani ran for it. Which he did, and Miyuki raised his mitt, but again, to his surprise, the third baseman, Tajima, ran after Mizutani, who squealed in fright, and tapped him with his glove, getting him out.
Tajima laughed, and then threw the ball back to Eijun. Miyuki shook his head. Nishiura was certainly full of surprises. Similar events occurred with the next few pitches, Nishiura members pulling odd but effective plays, and Momoe hitting every pitch Eijun threw with ease.
Momoe cackled, and straightened up as she saw Kataoka walking towards the pitch, and turned to call all the boys in off the field.