THE SANDLOT | m. kazuya

12.

THE SANDLOT !
CHAPTER TWELVE

the first-string members are called out to field a after practice. katsu settles in between eijun and furuya as his eyes fall on the upperclassmen up in front. their chins are raised high, backs straight and tense as they focus on coach kataoka. from here he can see miyuki taking his spot beside tanba in the front row, and it serves as a reminder how far apart they are from each other.

"i'll be passing out your numbers. if i call you, step up."

there's a brief pause of silence as they watch rei hand the coach a thin piece of fabric. katsu wonders if the flimsy cloth knows how much it's yearned for by seido's pitchers.

"first, the number one.... tanba kouichirou!" from beside him, eijun lets out a long breath that katsu ignores. there's a small twinge of sympathy for the brunet, but they both knew that number won't be his for a while.

"what's wrong? hurry up and come get it." a stupefied tanba steps out of the line and katsu's gaze meanders towards the afternoon sky. they'll be here for a while. as he studies the clouds, he can vaguely hear the coach call out the numbers of the usual starters. he briefly wonders what number will be printed on his back.

"number fifteen, higasa shouji."

"yes!"

perhaps number twenty? he wouldn't mind. in fact, he'd be happy receiving it. a double digit didn't mean anything if it meant finally being part of a real baseball team.

"number sixteen, higashi katsu!"

wait, what? his vision blurs from how fast he moves to focus back on the coach. eijun nudges him sharply once he realizes he hasn't moved to collect his due.

katsu's legs begin to work on their own, his spikes dragging on the loose dirt as he falters. "i expect great things from you." the man firmly states once they're face to face but katsu can only focus on the way his hands shake as he reaches out to grab his number. "yes, sir." in a daze, he stumbles back towards his spot as he traces the sharp curve of the number six.

there's a persistent gaze on the side of his face that almost goes by unnoticed.

"but maybe you'll get a higher number than the other first years, eh?"

when he looks up, miyuki is already looking at him with his signature smug smile. katsu responds in kind.

-----

the hot summer sun is relentless as it shines down on them. it had been a pleasant afternoon, with clear blue skies and a pleasant breeze that helped cool down the unbearable temperatures. but as the opening ceremony started they were soon crammed inside jingu stadium with hundreds of high schoolers to the point the air grew stifling.

katsu was a country boy through and through, but even the heat was getting to him.

he idly waved his warm face with his hand, blearily focused on haruichi's back as he talked with eijun. as much as he thoroughly enjoyed his first experience with such an event, he was grateful it was over. the speeches seemed to go on forever, and halfway through he was teetering dangerously on his feet.

"h-hey! what are you doing?! it's already cramped, so stand properly!" eijun yelled in aghast as furuya leaned most of his weight on the brunet. "somehow... all these people make me feel dizzy." the tall pitcher was out of it as he replied back softly but eijun was unrelenting. "just how low is your stamina?!"

katsu's vision swam as he stumbled into haruichi's back, forehead painfully knocking onto his shoulder. the pink haired boy began to flounder, stuttering out his name when he failed to raise his head. "h-higashi, are you alright?"

"huh?! not you too katsu!"

-----

haruichi hands him a cold bottle as they walk alongside eijun, who was the strongest of the four to lug around furuya's deadweight. "ah, that was the worst. i'm already planning ditching next year's ceremony." katsu says after taking a long swig of the water, relishing in the cool condensation. "me too." furuya pipes up which seems to only further irritate eijun.

"dammit furuya walk on your own!"

the loud volume garners the attention of both their teammates and their rival team. "ew! that's furuya?" the small blonde yelps out, causing eijun to level his attention on him. "AH! the blonde from inashiro. you're here to get info out of us again?" katsu furrows his eyebrows in confusion, tilting his head in thought. the brunet had never mentioned meeting said blonde. which was weird, considering he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut.

"eh, you're on the first-string?!"

"of course!" his friend puffs out his chest to look intimidating, but furuya slumped over his shoulder ruins the effect. "stop talking." miyuki clips sharply from beside kuramochi, who merely cackles like a hyena. eijun flushes in response.

"try not to lose until you play us." the sudden declaration made by inashiro's tall third year disperses the playful vibe of the situation.

"that's what we should be saying!" isashiki lunges forward with a fist raised high. the tension immediately rises as they stare down each other, and katsu could only observe the way they held themselves in high regard. he didn't know much about them, but he did know that it wasn't just a front they were putting up.

they truly believed they were the best of the two.

"then, at the finals."

katsu watches them go, stiffening slightly when their handsome dark-skinned player sends him a sleazy grin. "lets get going." miyuki remarks as he claps a hand on his shoulder, abruptly ending the weird interaction. "yeah, lets go." without a second glance back, the blonde follows after the catcher.

the summer tournament was finally starting.

_______________________________

tanaka shin,, i'm sorry for taking ur number.

i'm gonna put this out there, i don't know much about baseball other than what i've learned watching dna so if something is wrong pls let me know or best ignore it bc ill be so embarrassed lmfao.

on another note, looking back i noticed katsu's stats are really high but he isn't op and well you'll find out soon why ahahaha it won't be pretty :]