Southpaw

What Does It Mean To Form A Battery?

By the time Eijun had finished warming up with Kazuya, he was much more composed, even though he felt like he was drowning in his own nerves. And yet, Eijun had never felt more alive. He was about to step out on the pitch for his first high school game, with his dream partner, his big brother and his helpful, impressive senpais. Eijun couldn't have been more excited. So when the announcement came from the speakers, Eijun was practically thrumming with excitement.

"Subbing in for number 11 Kawakami Norifumi is number 19 Sawamura Eijun. Batting ninth, Sawamura Eijun!" 

Eijun took a deep breath in, grunting as Mochi-Nii slapped his back. As he exhaled, he smiled blindingly bright and ran onto the field with his teammates to defend. They were losing at the moment, but Eijun's job wasn't to think about that. Instead he would be focusing 100% on each and every pitch. This was the moment that he had been wishing for all spring, ever since he had fist pitched to Miyuki-Senpai and Eijun was literally vibrating in place, ready to play.

"Ready partner?" Miyuki grinned at him patting him on the chest with his glove.

"Of course!" Eijun replied grinning back. They stepped onto the field together, as one. Behind them, their teammates were also grinning, because even someone who was blind could see that Eijun and Kazuya had a special relationship forming.

When Eijun stepped onto the mound, he took a moment to absorb the atmosphere of the stadium around him. The opponents' side of the stadium was completely silent in shock. Seidou's side was also silent, although it seemed to be more from abject horror than shock. Eijun did feel a little hurt, because most of them hadn't seen him practice before, but he couldn't really blame them since he was only a first year. As Eijun tried to calm himself by looking at the Seidou side of the stands, he couldn't help but smile a little. Even though the upperclassmen didn't seem that happy about this new development, Eijun couldn't help but notice that Tojou and Kanemaru were cheering him on. There was also this tiny pinkette who looked suspiciously like Kominato-Senpai bashfully cheering and waving at him. Maybe the whole team wasn't cheering him on, but that was just because he had yet to prove himself. He had the support of those who mattered to him right now, and that was all he really needed.

Eijun and Kazuya tossed the ball back and forth from the mound to the catcher's box. According to Kazuya, since Eijun didn't have high school pitching experience, nor a great repertoire of pitches (yet). So it was a bad idea to show too much before they even started. But either way, when the first batter stepped up, Eijun and Miyuki grinned at each other excited. Kazuya's first call was a pitch to the inside chest level with the batter. The placement of the pitch would make it skim the zone and since the batter was standing so close to the plate, that the pitch would also skim close to the batter's chest. Taking a deep breath, Eijun started his windup and smoothly transitioned into his pitching motion. While the pitch he threw wasn't completely perfect perfect, but it still managed to reach Kazuya's  mitt unimpeded.

"Strike!" The umpire gestured, causing the Seidou side of the stands to cheer loudly in surprise. it was of course only the first strike, so they still had a long way to go, but it still gave them hope.

The next pitch Miyuki signaled was a two seam, low and to the outside, another strike. By now the batter was confused by Eijun's pitching style. To the batter it was as if the ball disappeared for a moment when Eijun had the ball behind him in the motion. To the spectators though Eijun's pitch looked like a slightly faster than a normal high schooler's pitch, but basically average at best.

Eijun bounced on his heels and grabbed the rosin bag resting on the mound. He tossed it making sure to coat his fingers before blowing on them to get rid of the excess. 

Eijun's eyes sharpened as he took in the third group of signs from Kazuya. His tongue poked out from his mouth as he went through his pitching motion. The course of the pitch took it right under the bat, skimming it as it landed in Kazuya's mitt.

"Strike three! You're out!" The umpire motioned. Tojou and Kanemaru went insane in the stands cheering while the others in the bleachers looked to be warming up to him. It wasn't anything special, just one out, and yet Eijun couldn't help but feel something warm erupt in his chest.

***

Kazuya couldn't stop grinning. It had only been a few months since Eijun and Kazuya had formed a battery and yet it had felt like years ago. Still the loud brunette was nothing if not surprising, and it was great to call a game for a pitcher who was unpredictable. In fact, Eijun was the closest he'd come to his idea of a dream pitcher. The only other one was Mei, but he was just too much to handle and way do much to deal with. So Eijun, who was a first-year, Eijun a brand new teammate, and someone who still had a long way too grow; maybe with a little nudge here and there Kazuya could realize his dream pitcher. Although that probably wouldn't be for quite a while yet. Kazuya shook his head patting his fist into his mitt to clear his head. This was only the first out. They still needed two more to end the inning. 

With that thought in his mind Kazuya started to sign for the next pitch, keeping in mind what he had studied about each of the batters as he planned out their next moves. He recalled that this particulare one likes inside pitches that were close to the middle of the zone. Therefore, Kazuya asked Eijun to start with an outside pitch that was near the bottom of the zone. And with that began their battle against the next batter.

***

 Hey guys! It's been a while, Cinnamon here :) For those of you who read Sheltering Fangs, you might already know this, but I had a bad allergic reaction, that I've been recovering from really slowly. I took the last week to rest and it did help a bit. I'm going to be a little slow while updating for a while though.

 On another note, I'm not someone very influential or anything but still I'd like to say that I support the Black Lives Matter movement. With everything going on in the U.S. and the world right now, I think it's more important than ever that we stay connected and respect each other. If anyone ever needs someone to talk to or listen, I'd be happy to message back and forth. I may not know any of you personally, but I do care.