Chapter Text
It was hot. Too hot. Unbearably hot. How could the principal think it was a good idea to make us wear blazers when it was this hot? Well, looking to my sides, maybe I was the only one that was uncomfortable by the temperature, but still. Making us stay in a room with little windows and a broken air conditioner could’ve never been a good idea. But, rules are rules and the principal didn’t stop to think for one second that this may not be a good idea. That we wouldn’t hear his speech about how far we’d come in those three year that would shape us for the rest of our lives. I looked a little bit to my sides and I noted that hardly anyone was paying attention to what he was saying. Parents were crying and taking pictures, but if you looked at the students, they were mostly looking to the front with blank eyes, probably thinking about the things they were gonna take to their college dorms.
Well, there was one student that was listening to every word the principal said as if he was revealing the secret of live itself. He was even crying a little bit. Who cries during high-school graduations, anyway? Maybe all that shoujo manga he read all the time had finally changed him and made him act as if he were part of one himself.
The principal finally stopped talking and everybody started clapping. After that, we started being called one by one to get our diplomas. It was nothing out of the ordinary, really. Everyone was silent, clapping when somebody got up the stage.
Well, until Sawamura was called, that is. Every first and second-year that was part of the baseball team stood up and started clapping way louder than before and yelling “Go, Captain!” or something of the sort. Sawamura blushed in a second and scratched the back of his head while giving one of those smiles of his that had earned him the trust from the entire team. He got on the stage, got the diploma from the principal, turned around to wave at the team (that started yelling and clapping louder at that) and got back to his seat. The principal had to wait for a while for the team to quiet down so that he could go on with the ceremony, but I don’t think he cared too much…Sawamura had this weird thing about him that no matter how much noise he caused, nobody seemed to be able to tell him off. The ceremony went on undisturbed and, eventually, it was my time to get on. Nobody clapped any louder than necessary and nobody started yelling, but that was expected – even if I had been the ace, I wasn’t too close with anybody in the team. Even Okumura seemed to like working with Sawamura more than with me.
After everybody had their diploma, Kanemaru got called to give us a speech and I just zoned out. I really couldn’t care less about what he had to say about those “wonderful three year of our lives” and I just started thinking and worrying about what would happen after that. My parents hadn’t been able to come take my bags before, so I had everything packed in my dorm so that I could just get in, take my bags and leave to my new apartment in downtown Tokyo. I should probably talk to Coach before I left…and maybe talk to Sawamura…I still didn’t know which team he was getting into and, frankly, I couldn’t wait for the season to get started so I could play against him – this time for real. I looked at him and he was staring intently at Kanemaru, listening to every word he said and with tears flowing down his cheeks as if he were the protagonist of one of those manga he kept reading. If I had to be honest, it was kinda disappointing when he stopped aiming for the ace title as soon as Coach accepted Miyuki-senpai’s nomination of Sawamura as captain. I thought I’d be relieved once I got the undisputable ace title, but as soon as he stopped yelling for everyone to hear that he’d steal it from me when I least expected, I felt like there was something missing. Maybe I had wanted to prove to everybody that I was better than everybody, but having no one challenging me was…weird…to say the least.
Everybody started clapping, and I came back and started doing the same thing. Kanemaru got back to his seat and the principal said a few words before congratulating us and closing the ceremony.
People started flowing out of the gym as fast as it was socially acceptable to get some fresh air. Maybe I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t handle the heat and everybody else was simply better at hiding it. I wasn’t too close to the back of the room and I was cursing my luck for giving me a last name that forced me to being closer to the front stage than to the back door. As soon as I was out, I took a deep breath and headed towards the meeting point I had set up to meet with my parents. As I waited, I looked around and saw everybody smiling at pictures with their family members and some even taking selfies with their classmates. Some part of me was disappointed that no one had even asked to take a picture with me, but a bigger part was relieved from not having to do it.
“Congratulations on your contract, Furuya-kun,” said a soft voice beside me, taking me out of my own thoughts and back to reality. I nodded my head and looked in his direction, almost let down that he was alone. “He’s with his family. I think I finally understand why he hardly complained about Kuramochi-senpai kicking him all the time – he seems to have grown up with bruises from his grandfather.”
I tried not to care about what he said, but I couldn’t help the surprised look on my face when Kominato saw right through me without having said a single word. “How did you…?”
I didn’t even need to finish my question. “You’re not easy to understand, but I’m pretty shy and quiet myself, so I guess it’s not too hard for me to understand what you think sometimes.”
I nodded again and cursed at my luck when I saw my parents talking to the coach, probably thanking him for everything he’d done during my high-school time. Mom had a handkerchief in her hand and I could bet my glove she had been crying the entire ceremony.
“You should talk to him.” I didn’t even look his way this time and didn’t even need asking who he was talking about.
“I was already planning on it.”
“Good,” he said, and I could almost see a smile from the corner of my eye. “I have to go with my family, but I wanted to wish you good luck. It’ll be hard to watch you from a TV, but I’ll be cheering you. Bye, Furuya-kun.”
I raised my hand, but he was gone by the time I finished waving and put it down. I sighed and leaned against a tree. I started looking around until I spotted him. It wasn’t too hard to do so – while everybody was with their family taking pictures, smiling, he was trying to get out of a headlock. It was entertaining to watch though…and it made me wonder what the hell his grandfather had done during his life to be able to pull that on Sawamura. He wasn’t small and he had grown some muscle during his time here at Seido, but he didn’t seem to be able to set himself free. Then, his mother told his grandfather to leave him alone and he complied with a sigh. Sawamura took a couple of deep breaths, before complaining and leaving their side. Well…it was now or never, so I took a deep breath and went his way.
He was looking for something or someone when I got near him. I had no idea what I was gonna say, really, but I knew I had to say something before I left. I raised my hand, and put it back down. What was I gonna say, really? We had barely held any conversation besides baseball in all those three years.
“Ah! Damnit, Furuya, you scared me!” I was pulled back to reality in a second. “You really should’ve said something, I almost had a heart attack just now…”
“Sorry,” was all I could say.
“Anyways, congrats! Coach told me the Giants scouted you.” He sighed. “Man, I’m so jealous. I wish I could go pro as soon as I left here…I’m stuck with college baseball, though, so enjoy these couple of years of fame, ‘cause I’ll be taking the world by surprise as soon as I graduate and nobody will even remember your name, then!”
He started laughing what I guess was supposed to be an evil laugh, but I couldn’t pay any attention to that. He wasn’t going pro. That was all I could think about. I would have to wait a couple of years to play against him. And that was considering he got any offers once he graduated and he still wanted to make a career out of baseball. He could always decide he wanted to have a desk job and play baseball as a hobby. Not that I could think of Sawamura sitting on a desk for eight hours, five days a week, but a lot could change during his time in university. He may find someone he wanted to settle down with and think a desk job was a better way to secure himself a future than making a living out of a sport, considering he could always get a fatal injury or get another yips or not get hired one season out of the blue. Hell, he could get a fatal injury while in university and never have a shot at getting an offer and having no choice but to get a desk job.
“Eh? Furuya? Are you okay?” No. No, I was definitely not okay. I wanted to scream, to shove him, to punch him, but, of course, I did nothing of the sort.
“You’re not going pro.” It wasn’t a question.
“Well…no. My mom and dad were really surprised, too, but I want to have a plan B, you know? I could always get yips again and I don’t wanna risk it. I know I could always go to the family farm and work there, but I thought I would go to university if I could get in any, and I’d go pro if I didn’t.” He laughed a bit as if he had remembered the funniest joke. “You should’ve heard their reactions on the phone, though. They couldn’t believe me when I told them I had gotten into Saitama. I wasn’t even on the waiting list. Kanemaru helped me a lot, but I managed to pass the exam, so I’m going there.”
It made sense, but I still couldn’t get over the fact that I wouldn’t fight him for a while, if ever. I had been looking forward to it for quite a while and to suddenly be told that it wasn’t gonna happen was kinda hard to swallow.
“Well…congratulation on getting in, then.” Even I felt I sounded a little bit too cold, but maybe he was used to me being cold and though nothing of it.
“Yeah…I guess. I mean, I will go pro…if I get scouted…which I will. From various teams. So don’t slack off until I get there, okay? The higher you are, the harder the fall to the great Sawamura Eijun will be!”
“Yes, I will.” I took a deep breath. It was do or die, go big or go home. “Sawa…”
“Ei-chan!” I heard someone shout and, before I knew it, Wakana was holding Sawamura by the arm smiling and he was smiling back. “Your parents are waiting. They want a picture of all the family before we go to Saitama.”
“‘We?’” I said aloud before I could stop myself.
“Eh? Oh, hi, Furuya-kun. Sorry, I didn’t see you there. Congratulations on finishing high-school.” She was smiling as brightly as Sawamura and she was still holding his arm and he made no move to change that.
“Yeah, Wakana got into Saitama as well. We didn’t even plan it, but it works out perfectly, less travelling time during the weekends to see her this way.” He scratched the back of his head before going on. “We even somehow convinced our parents to letting us room together over there.” Oh. Oh. Well, I should’ve seen that one coming. They texted all the time according to Kuramochi-senpai and he was always excited whenever his Nagano friends came over, but he was clearly more excited about seeing her than the rest of his friends.
“Well, congratulations to both of you.” There was a short awkward silence after that. “Well, then. I’ll go see my parents.” I bowed and turned to leave.
“Oh, yeah. Wait, Furuya! What did you want to say before?” I had almost forgotten all about it. There wasn’t anything for me to say now, anyway.
“It doesn’t matter. Congratulations, again,” was all I said before turning around and heading towards my parents. Of course he was going to move in with her. Of course he only saw me as his high-school rival. It shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did, but I couldn’t help it.
My mom had finally finished crying and my dad had a proud look on his face. We took a couple of pictures, thanks to my mom insisting we had to keep memories of this moment for the future, and then my dad came to my dorm to help me get my stuff in the car.
Nobody else from the team came to talk to me. Nobody from my class came, either, but that was to be expected. I hardly talked during class, limiting my exchanges to questions about homework or when the teacher asked me to read aloud. It was weird to leave Seido, but just the excitement of the idea of playing baseball for a living and not having to think about my grades to be allowed to go to a game or a practice camp overlapped the nervousness of leaving this place.