and in the end, i'd do it all again

[koshien]

Who: narumiya mei (koshien) and miyuki kazuya (nerauichi)
What: A game from back home.
When: June 19th
Where: The Near Shore




[ if there is one thing that mei loves above all else--even his new godly status (which is amazing) and his throne (it's his true home)--it's still baseball. period. there's a reason why the three baseball crazed idiots in huitzipochtli's temple created a mound in one of the court yards, with a home plate not far away. still, there just hasn't been a lot of time to play together, and kazuya has been kazuya about it (read: "mei, maybe you should work on your slider before i catch for you", complete with shitty laughter that made mei want to strangle him) but.

today's the day.

mei's glove still fits him the way it did at home, the pocket leather lovingly cared for, his fingers sliding into the grips like they belong there. it's a good feeling, to be back doing what he loves, and though his control was already (close to) flawless, his new powers mean that he can focus on honing his pitch strength, courses and techniques.

working with itsuki has gotten...better, back home. he made a promise to stand up to mei's pitches, and recently, he's done just that. he's a good catcher, a pretty good kid (if a cheeky kohai.) but he's not kazuya. mei knew back in junior league that the two of them would make a flawless, impenetrable team, the stuff of senbatsu nightmares, and now he finally gets a chance to prove it.

kazuya makes a great rival.

he'd make a better teammate.

mei's rolling his shoulder when kazuya joins him outside, having stretched properly and mostly warmed up. he'll need to throw a few pitches before he's up to his top speed, but mei's feeling great, and the summer heat reminds him of koshien, the summer beating down onhis shoulders. how could he ask for much more than this?

he grins at miyuki when he arrives, all cocksure confidence. ] Took you long enough. Shouldn't you have mastered putting on that gear by now~?

Comments

[neraiuchi]

[ The only reason that Miyuki has his gear is because it was with him in the accident, his bag sitting on his feet in the vain hope that he could put it on at practice and not get an even stare from Kataoka or a disapproving frown from Rei. They'd been really on him to heal properly, after what had happened to Chris.

He doesn't remember any of that, as he walks out, having stretched before putting anything on. ]

You tell me. [ He fixes one of the straps of his chest plate, making sure it's snug as he taps the toe of one shoe into the dirt, then the other, to fix the fit of them as well. ] I'm assuming so, but what with the dead thing and all, I wouldn't know.

[ And it's... true, really, but he's being a little more blase about it than he actually feels. The instinct is there, and he really didn't have much trouble putting the gear on, could immediately swoop his hair back to put the helm on and get it right in just one try, no errant strand out of place. He has no contacts here, will probably have to get them replaced, so he's just wearing his typical glasses with the belief that Mei won't pelt him in the goddamn face with a fastball, but it doesn't feel out of place either.

What had really taken a while was schooling himself, keeping his emotions and thoughts in check, to make sure that sense of niggling dread didn't rear its head. A month in this place, and he's spent a lot of it trying not to follow the threads that his mind has tried to lure him in with, because thinking about the familiarity he has with Mei, the rapport, the comments that slip out of Mei when he's probably not thinking about it... the things that Kazuya, himself, does without even noticing that he's done them until afterwards. They all point to who he was, Before, and someone as analytical as him can't resist trying to figure it out.

But there are consequences to that. And despite his penchant for overthinking, he's trying so very, very hard to fight against who he is.

(And, you know, not talking about it. It's fine. If Mei feels a little sting at the back of his neck occasionally, it hasn't been enough to blight him yet, they don't have anything to worry about. Probably.) ]

[koshien]

[ of all the ways that mei has known kazuya--junior and senior league rival, current star catcher, still rival, and now, shinki--this is his favorite kazuya. even without any memories, he looks exactly like the kazuya that mei knows. he wears the catcher's gear with all the confidence he should, utterly and completely at ease. that's the kazuya mei competes against.

it was that very look on his face that made mei want to bring him onto inashiro.

though his heart beats a little faster, it's from adrenaline and excitement--the chance to finally pitch to kazuya--not from anything otherwise, and mei can't help the excited flicker in his bright blue eyes as he observes him and listens to his (naturally) shitty comment.

of course that makes him roll them, though. ] If you need me to strap you into that, there's more wrong with you than being dead.

[ he hops off the mound and walks up to him, looks him up and down. eventually, his excitement (we're gonna pitch right now i'm gonna pitch) takes over, and he bops his glove affectionately against his chest plate, unaware of his shinki's plight. ] Just follow your instincts.

[ it doesn't even occur to mei that kazuya might not be able to catch. he steps back to the mound and scoops up a ball from a bucket, getting a familiar grip on it--a two seamer fastball. ] Don't worry. I'll go easy on you if you follow my lead.~

[ his smirk widens a little, and he waits for kazuya to get into a position to catch. once he does, he winds up and throws.

it's not as fast as his normal one, considering he needs a warmup, but it sails right to the center of his glove, not at all slow--close to 90kph. ]

[neraiuchi]

[ The whole point of Kazuya keeping things contained, internalized, bottled up like it's actually healthy or something, is so that Mei doesn't have to concern himself with it. They've already dealt with him having a minor breakdown, internalized as it'd been due to being a systematic shutdown of everything that makes up his brain. Can't really say that he's particularly interested in exploring another one, or putting extra weight on Mei when he's sure he can get it tapped down.

His eyes drop down when Mei comes over to him, tracking the motion of his hand as he taps his glove against the front of his metaphorical armor. When they flick back up to his face, he goes quiet, contemplative. And then - well, they're both shitty. Of course Mei makes that egotistical comment. ]

Who's the catcher and shinki here? [ Miyuki drawls, punching his mitt, feeling the familiar weight and give of it. But that doesn't change the firmness of it, at the same time, something reliable and unyielding. It's something that helps ease some of the strain that sits behind his ribs. ] My instincts say that I'm supposed to be the one leading you, twofold.

[ But regardless, Miyuki doesn't hesitate to drop down at their makeshift home, years of experience making it a seamless movement, his crouch perfectly balanced as he pulls down his mask over his face (but, specifically, his probably expensive glasses). There aren't any memories to anything, of course, but even if his mind doesn't remember it, his body does. Like the muscle memory is still there.

And, really, it must be.

He catches the pitch, clocks it mentally, approximately, categorizes it, and assigns a signal to it all in a span of a few seconds. There's no question about him being able to catch it, because he adjusts without even thinking about it, nestled snugly in the fit of his glove. And then, easy as that, he takes it into his right hand and throws it back, easy, natural clockwork.

Then it's right back into position. ]

Walk through all of your pitches for the warmup. I need to see them all - warmup, not full force, don't show off.

[koshien]

[ mei skips right over the part where kazuya is supposed to lead him, because that would involve him acknowledging that kazuya is, technically, right. instead, he just waves it off with a hand, too busy focusing on his pitching.

mei never has any doubt that kazuya will catch his pitch, simply because it's kazuya (and not even because of his new superpowers.) the ball thumping into his mitt is satisfying and electric all at once, and even just at warmup, mei can tell it's going to give him goosebumps.

awesome. pitching is so fun. why would anyone ever want to do anything else?

his left hand snaps up to catch the ball, and mei rolls his eyes, snapping his glove open and closed in a "blah blah blah" motion. ] You fit into the wife role too well, Kazuya, it's almost disturbing.

[ but fine, he can throw all of his pitches. he decides to start with his favorite, right after the fastball--a flawless changeup, with a break and slow that's tripped up countless batters, including miyuki kazuya himself... not that he'd remember. ]

[neraiuchi]

[ Of course he gets waved off. Miyuki isn't shocked, but it's enough of an acquiescence that he doesn't comment further. Just prepares himself whatever the next pitch might be. Categorizing and understanding Mei's limits, as they are now, is an exciting thing. This feels half-natural, like the act itself is in his blood but the person standing opposite him isn't.

Seems right, though he doesn't know the extent of it. All he knows is that his thoughts are the same as Mei's - catching is fun, why would anyone ever want to do anything else?

Though he rolls his eyes at the nagging gesture, shifting where he's crouched, weight and balance completely on flat feet with all the poise of someone that's been a catcher all their life. ] You want me to catch for you, or not? I can just leave you to it, see if we can't find a way to set up a net out here in the courtyard, y'know.

[ No, there's no memory of this pitch. He catches it naturally, like it's familiar to him, but his only experience with it has been as a batter and he kept it that way in life. It has a heavy, satisfying weight when he catches it, just as satisfying as the snap of his glove, but he doesn't comment. Just rolls it between his fingers after, throwing it back. ]

[koshien]

You're my shinki, you gotta do what I say! [ though mei doesn't flinch or yell no like some other pitchers might, he does give kazuya a very deep scowl at the very idea of him leaving. he wouldn't say do you know how long i've waited for this because that requires him admitting he felt that way, but it's true. he's not about to let anything ruin this, especially not kazuya being finicky for some reason that mei definitely doesn't deserve.

he catches the ball back easily, snapping his glove around it as he changes up his grip. his second pitch is a slider, another one of his breaking balls. it shouldn't be totally unfamiliar, considering furuya can throw a vertical one, but mei is nothing if not a challenger at his heart, and so he takes it for what it is and throws a horizontal breaking slider, close to a cutter and still finding its way into kazuya's mitt.

(mei is petty, even when there are no memories involved.) ]

[neraiuchi]

We're partners, genius. [ Miyuki leaves it at that, for a moment, getting prepared for the next pitch. He can already tell that he's riled Mei up, even at a glance and from a distance, but he doesn't say more, just waits it out. For the most part, he's his usual, shitty self, just saying things in a certain way to push buttons. At the same time, though, there are things that are bothering him, and have been since he put the gear on. Since Mei told him he wanted to pitch, and wanted Kazuya to catch.

The pitch feels familiar, in a way, but just different enough that he marks it as such and doesn't let any thoughts of familiarity color it beyond that. He has enough to think about when it comes to familiar.

When he throws the ball back this time, he rises out of his crouch and puts his arm into it. It's not the same strength as one of his pickoffs, something that can easily shoot from home to second in one, clear shot and caused coaches in his youth to wonder if they should give him training as a pitcher, but there's oomph in it - to punctuate the very thing he's saying, and about to say. ]

You might know things about me that you aren't saying, at least directly, but I don't know your pitches. I'm good, and I don't need memories to figure that out, but I want to see them, first. I'm not nagging you for fun.

[koshien]

[ mei's instincts catch onto the intent in kazuya's throw the second he moves, the ball sails into his glove with a resounding thwack as he readjusts for the additional pressure. there it (almost) is, kazuya's famous white lightning of a throw. it's not the strength of that sends tingles down mei's spine.

he looks at kazuya as he speaks to him, feeling for a moment much like a scolded child, but any anger is missing from his expression. he looks at him seriously, mouth curling into a frown. pitching to kazuya is, after all, pitching to kazuya. he hasn't had to turn down his strength for itsuki in a long time either, but there's something about this that is different. it's the thing mei's wanted, and kazuya doesn't only ask for mei's respect as a catcher--he demands it.

he opens his mouth, closes it.

then, mei tilts his head up and gives a nod. the childish, pouty aura around him has more or less disappeared as he exhales, a soft 'fuhhh' of air, and standing on the mound is not narumiya mei, bratty spoiled prince of inashiro, but narumiya mei, the ace and king, the pillar of his team. he's not shaking him off by any means, or arguing. sometimes it's just easy for him to get carried away, and in this situation, the mania of an old dream coming true is helping to motivate that, but kazuya's words snap him back to reality. we're partners, genius.

he winds up and throws again--this time, a vertical slider. it's perfect, right into the sweet spot of his glove. ]

[neraiuchi]

[ There aren't any memories of scolding his Seido pitchers to back this up, but Kazuya is Kazuya regardless. It's in his heart to demand this, to make sure that his pitcher knows that he's a catcher that's known for a reason, no matter who they are. Here, it's a throwback to the reason why Mei wanted him at Inashiro in the first place, the skill and the strength of a catcher in everything he does. And even if he doesn't remember anything, his heart remembers how much fun it is to be a catcher, how good he is at it, how he'll guide a pitcher - sometimes by leading them by the nose, where needed - but they're regardless a battery. They're partners.

The same goes for gods and their shinki, he figures.

Watching him for a long moment, it's only when Mei gives him a nod that he hunkers back down into a crouch. Miyuki bounces on the balls of his feet a little as he gets positioned, and then presses his heels down, poised again.

He doesn't know about the dream. He doesn't know the high that Mei's worked himself up into. But he does know that he's enjoying himself, even with what little they've done so far, so he kind of gets it. But there's no way he's going to let Mei get carried away with it. Now's the best time to nip that in the bud, anyways, before they get serious - whether here in the courtyard or out on a prayer.

The pitch makes a good sound as it hits his glove, and he snaps it around the ball, satisfied. ]