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Unlike last year, where they had so few members that they could cram into a single school van when need be, the Nishiura baseball club was now over twenty members strong. When they went to games, they took a travel bus, a single one big enough to fit the whole team and all their equipment.
Ren still remembered the first time they’d ridden in it; he managed to get carsick (bussick?) on their way to the stadium, and Takaya was once again put in charge of distracting him. It wasn’t very effective, and Ren was near vomiting when Takaya finally tossed the threat of “stay sick and you won’t be pitching today” at him. That sobered him up real quick, and he proceeded to hold back their opponent that day to a single run, desperate to prove himself still worthy of the ace’s number stitched onto his jersey.
But with time, Ren grew used to the large bus – and to seeing Horii on the mound on occasion, though even now it unsettled him to watch games from the dugout. Today was one such day; he’d slightly overexerted himself getting them out of a pickle yesterday after a fielding error, and was on orders to sit out of games for the next two days. Even so, with every new inning, he’d felt the urge to grab his glove and run out to the mound.
Nishiura still won without him playing, which was great for the tournament, but Ren couldn’t help sighing as he filed into the line for getting back on the bus. I want… to pitch. The day after tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.
“Ren, how’s your arm?” Yuu came up behind him and slapped his back, grinning.
He gave a wobbly half-smile in return. “Not hurting, but…”
“Yeah, that’s not enough. Let’s work hard on your stretches tomorrow, ‘kay?” Per the orders of Coach’s dad, Ren was doing the majority of his general routine while paying careful attention to his throwing arm. Yuu was set as his stretching partner during this time; according to Hanai, he would be best for noticing if something was off with Ren.
“O-okay!”
They got onto the bus and sat down together, their conversation spiraling off into the events of today’s game and what they’d eat once they were home. It was a long drive back to Nishiura, so even though the bus was loud with chatter when it took off, the noise slowly petered away with the setting of the sun. Even Ren, who hadn’t played in the game, felt his eyes beginning to droop – but before he could fall asleep, there was a sudden weight on his left shoulder.
Yuu, who’d dozed off not moments ago, had been shifted by the bus turning a corner, and was only stopped from flopping over by landing right up against Ren. The third baseman was out like a light though, and didn’t wake up, even when Ren straightened his back in surprise.
Ah, I should be careful… to not wake him up. With his friend there, he could no longer peer above the seats to check, but from the sounds of things most of the club was asleep; only their snores and sighs intermittently rose above the gentle hum of the bus. He didn’t want to move around too much, so Ren carefully let out the breath he’d sucked in and ever-so-slowly released the tension in his shoulders, nestling back into the bus seat. The sky was dark now, the moon tucked away behind clouds, but the lights of the cars and streetlamps from out the window flashed by in little pockets of brightness.
In that brief moment of peace, when Ren’s mind grew fuzzy as sleep took hold, the last of his awareness noticed his head falling to his side onto something soft and warm.
It’s… nice…
He drifted into dreams with a small smile on his face.
***
Just before they made it back to the school, Ren stirred and lifted his head from Yuu’s, resisting the urge to fix his friend’s now-ruffled hair. They’d slept next to each other more than once before – like when everyone squished futons together at training camp – but this was the first time they’d been so close, their body heat not separated by blankets. Even as Yuu woke up and stretched in his seat, commenting on the nice nap, Ren felt the ghost of that warmth and weight lingering on his shoulder.
It still clung to his thoughts by the time he crawled into his own bed that night, and Ren smiled to himself as he nestled among the loose baseballs in his sheets. It’s nice sleeping close to Yuu. I wonder if… we could do that again sometime. Of course, he wouldn’t if Yuu preferred not to, but the more he thought about it, the more he believed it would be enjoyable to rest his head against Yuu’s again. Maybe, if the opportunity came up, at least, then – there’s, there’s nothing wrong with that, if it happens.
But nothing happened for the rest of the tournament.
Or the rest of the summer.
Or the rest of the baseball season.
Months came and went, and not once over the next half a year did he manage to fall asleep at Yuu’s side on the bus again. Either they just weren’t tired, or Yuu sat down with someone else, or someone else sat by Yuu in the time it took Ren to build up his courage to try again. Once their games ended and they were no longer making the long bus trips to and from games, Ren shelved the idea. It was a one-and-done encounter, a rare moment of contentment like catching your first fly ball – something that isn’t replicated. He simply held the moment close in his heart and continued on as before.
Well, he occasionally found himself smiling for no reason when he saw Yuu, but besides that, things were basically the same. They practiced together, and hung out at each other’s houses, and generally enjoyed their second year of high school.
“Ahhh, it’s already so cold this year! I think I’m seeing my breath!” Yuu tugged his knit hat down over his ears and breathed into his hands, rubbing them together for added warmth. “Let’s remember to grab gloves before you go home after dinner.”
A cold front had blown in last night, and although the temperatures weren’t quite freezing, Ren agreed that bundling up for the evening walk sounded ideal; not grabbing a scarf that morning despite his mom’s reminder had been a poor decision. “And, maybe, also…”
“Ooh, yeah, scarves would be good too.”
Just as they entered through the front gate, someone called out, “Ren, is that you? You’re staying for dinner, right? Kanoko and I decided on curry, so I’m heading out for a moment to buy a few things. You two go inside and warm up.” Yuu’s mother smiled at them before heading out to her car.
“Th-thank you, Mrs. Tajima!”
They stopped and exchanged more greetings with a few others of Yuu’s family once inside – everyone was used to Ren stopping by at this point, so they didn’t all crowd around as often anymore, though he still liked to say hi – before heading into the living room and turning on the TV. This time of year, there weren’t any baseball games on, but Yuu’s brother had recently found a box of VHS tapes with some of Yuu’s games from middle school recorded on them. The quality varied, since they’d been taken on several parents’ camcorders, so the two of them were making a game out of trying to see who could spot Yuu first in the videos.
“You can use the blanket on the couch, Ren, I’ll grab another one.” Yuu began peeking through the cabinets on the back wall and frowned. “Or not, I think Sis might’ve grabbed them for the baby. Or maybe Grandpa needed some extra…”
“That’s okay, you can – we can – ah, uhm, here.” Ren unwrapped the blanket that he’d just begun burying himself into and lifted it up, gesturing for Yuu to sit beside him. “Share?”
“Sounds good to me.” Before Ren could even think to pull his outstretched arm back, Yuu immediately leapt over the back of the couch and slipped into the empty space available under the blanket, nestling into the crook of his arm. And then, just like that, he casually flopped over to let his head rest on Ren’s shoulder.
A spark of electricity flashed through Ren as he temporarily short-circuited, not quite sure how to react to an unexpected, intentional, stint as a headrest. It was plenty warm underneath the blanket, but somehow his ears felt like the warmest part of his body. Unsure of what to do, he sat still as Yuu turned on the TV and the video began playing. “Are you, are you comfortable?”
“Hm? Yeah.”
“When I was little and sat on my dad’s lap, he always said I had, uh, that I was all bony, so I could be… poke-y at times. Uncomfortable.”
“I dunno about back then, but your shoulders have definitely gotten a bit squishier since last year, at least. How about me – my head too ‘poke-y’ for you?”
“N-no! You’re okay!” Ren let out a sigh of relief that his scrawniness wasn’t causing any problems, his shoulders dropping ever so slightly as he relaxed. Yuu’s hair brushed against his cheek as it sank down with him; it was soft, not at all prickly like Ren might’ve expected from how stiff and spiky it looked at times. I didn’t notice that before. He leaned his head to the side, wondering if it was truly that soft and whether it would move or flatten when pressure was applied to it, only to blink in surprise when his head stopped moving. Because there was another head in the way. Because he was now resting his head on Yuu’s.
Immediately, part of him began yelling nope, this was a bad idea, he could feel his face warming up and surely Yuu would notice, he’d be better off just lifting his head back and pretending nothing had happened. But Yuu was already opening his mouth to speak, so he just squeezed his eyes closed.
“Oh! Looks like I’m coming up to bat now, hehe.”
Ren let one eye crack back open, realized that didn’t really help him see the TV much, and cautiously opened both eyes to take a look. There was indeed a boy on the shorter side with a confident stance squaring up at the plate. With a loud clack that even the camcorder had managed to pick up, Yuu made contact on the very first pitch and hit a double.
“Good swing…”
“I try.”
Each time Yuu spoke, Ren’s head moved fractions of centimeters in response to his slight movements, and the vibrations of his voice, Ren felt against his shoulder. Surely, if Ren could notice all this, then Yuu could too – but they continued as they were, for seconds, minutes, without commenting on it. Only when the video ended and Yuu needed to rewind it before putting it back in the box did they finally lift their heads; by then, the smell of curry was beginning to waft through the house (causing Ren’s stomach to growl), but Yuu held up another VHS.
“One more?”
“Okay.”
In the tape went, and Yuu returned to his place beneath the blankets, not even hesitating before resting back against Ren like it was his spot. This time, Ren purposefully – intentionally, gladly – let himself lean down against Yuu, and the two of them shifted into their comfortable equilibrium from earlier. Not just his ears but his whole body felt pleasantly warm now, even the tips of his fingers, and Ren couldn’t help smiling.
It was nice.