More Than A Shadow

Everything Is Falling Into Place

Everything is fine,' Miyuki typed out on his flip phone and sent the text to Narumiya Mei as he smirked to himself.

"Who would've thought that Narumiya Mei was actually a decent older brother?" the catcher mused to himself out loud.

"What the hell took you so long, Kazuya?" an angry Mei screamed at Miyuki from the other side of a phone line.

"It's three in the morning, Mei," Miyuki whispered into his cellphone while quietly stepping out of his dorm room. He didn't want to wake up his roommate because of a certain bratty pitcher.

"What's your point?" Mei asked perplexed.

"Some of us sleep," Miyuki deadpanned while tiredly rubbing his eyes. "Which I'm surprised you're not doing since you always go on about how important is for you to have your beauty sleep," he teased.

Mei snorted. "I can afford to miss out on one or two unlike others," he teased back.

Miyuki ignored his jab. "What do you want, Narumiya?" he asked in a curt tone, changing the subject. He was getting exasperated with the pitcher. Mei was not an easy person to handle, especially not at three in the morning. Miyuki desperately wanted to sleep since he couldn't afford to oversleep and arrive late to practice again. Besides, if someone managed to see him in this state of disarray; with his his black sleeping mask on top of his head and his hair sticking out in every single direction. The entire team would have a picnic at his expense.

Miyuki heard Mei loudly exhaled a frustrated sigh. "Azusa is at Seido," he said in a low tone.

"Ah yes, I saw her this morning," Miyuki said nonchalantly. "She is one of the new managers."

"And you're just saying it so casually?" Mei asked annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Don't you guys live together and are like- I don't know- actual siblings?" the catcher retorted.

"We are," Mei grumbled. "But she didn't tell me."

"I can't possibly think of any reason why she decided not to tell you," Miyuki replied, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Shut up you bastard," Mei half-heartedly chastised him. "I didn't call for you this."

"Then why did you call me for?" Miyuki asked. "Don't tell me you want me to convince her to leave Seido?"

"No, of course not," Mei scoffed. "I just...," he trailed off. "Just... Just take care of her, alright?" the pitcher asked in an uncharacteristically soft and pleading tone.

Miyuki widened his eyes in surprise. Not only was he surprised by Mei's tone but also at his request. Mei was not the type to ask for help. "What? Are you serious, Mei? You seriously want me to take care of your sister?"

"Who else?" Mei argued. "Besides, I... Trust you," he revealed.

The catcher raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Really?"

"For the most part," Mei conceded in a sheepish tone. "And I know that she trusts you. It's always been the two of us since our sisters are so much older than us. And then in junior high we met you and it was always the three of us after that. So now that you two are in the same school and I'm here at Inashiro. You're the only one I can trust with this task," Mei explained.

Miyuki softly smiled to himself, finding himself unable to bring up any teasing or sarcastic remark. How could he do that when Mei was being so honest with him?