Name is Clau. 28. Spaniard. I am an extremely silly person who loves to babbler about whatever fandom I may be obsessed with at the moment. You have been warned.
I did not want open Tumblr because I’m still in shock. Now I’m in tears. I cannot believe this. Seriously. My soul is with all of you, from the other side of the ocean. You’re not alone.
Republicans have a new scam going. They have created memes, messages, etc. encouraging Hillary Clinton supporters to vote early by text. Avoid long lines it says..well this is a SCAM. You cannot vote by text. Republicans are just trying to disenfranchise voters. And oh look, they are targeting African American voters. Republicans never stop trying to prevent black people from voting.
Post: This is a really bad idea that will make it more likely for Trump to win.
Bernie Sanders: Please vote for Hillary instead of writing me in.
People: I’m gonna write Bernie in!
These people voting bernie prove they don’t actually care about him, since he has said not to vote for him and is not a registered third party voter. You literally can’t vote for him its not valid
ALSO TAKING A PICTURE OF YOUR BALLOT IS SUPER ILLEGAL YA DINGUS
This is untitled, and un-finished, and un-betaed but I wrote it in the spurt of the moment and I need to publish it and dedicate it to @miaoujones because she is the essence of Chris/Miyuki and an amazing friend, so this is for you <3 (This cannot be even qualified as a gift because the content is rather, well, not good. Sorry.)
****
It is Wednesday when Miyuki comes by.
Chris is crouched down, retrieving the crayons Akiko or Ren or perhaps Shino dropped and then forgot about them. The red one is stuck under his desk, and Chris is on his four, butt up into the air trying to reach for the damned thing, when he hears an awkward cough at his back.
He gets up so quickly that he rams his shoulder against the wood with such force it nearly pops out place. He hisses in pain and slight mortification, and looks the smile in Miyuki’s lips go away.
Miyuki is immediately beside him, hands hovering over his hurt shoulder but not touching it at all. That’s all very Miyuki-ish: always there, except not.
Or perhaps it is just Chris’ stupid crush exploding in his damn face.
“Are you alright?” Miyuki says and he sounds so ridiculously worried that Chris chokes down a chuckle. Instead, he smiles softly and replies, “Hello.”
Miyuki must realize then his lack of proper greeting and smiles back. “Um, hi,” he says and then, sheepishly adds, “Sorry about that.”
Chris stands up, rotating his shoulder gingerly. “It’s okay. You startled me.” Well, at least he had retrieved the damned crayon. Settling it in the glass jar along the others, he demands, “How did you find me?”
It elicits a small wince from Miyuki, and Chris cannot help but notice how the tips of his ears redden. “Er, I asked Kuramochi?”
“You don’t sound very sure.”
“I didn’t know if you’d approve it.”
Chris arcs an eyebrow in puzzlement. “Why I would not?”
“Dunno.” Miyuki brushes his hair away of his forehead with a small grimace. “You’ve always been so private about your life.”
“Not really” Chris points out with a small, teasing smile. “Sometimes I even chat with my neighbors.”
“Ah,” Miyuki utters. “That is, um... great?”
Chris chuckles and starts grouping the class drawings scattered over his table. “It’s a joke,” he says, then sighs in defeat at the lack of feedback. “One admirably bad, though.”
“Oh. Right.” Chris looks over his shoulder to see Miyuki staring at everywhere but him. He is fingering a loose thread on the right sleeve of his sports jacket when he says, somewhat rushed, “I think I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I probably should go.”
“What? No!” It gets past his mouth before his brain can register it, just like the unconscious grab he makes for Miyuki’s retreating arm.
Perhaps he uses more strength than necessary because Miyuki’s eyes widen at the sudden contact and Chris opens his mouth to apologize and –
“Oi, Chris!”
The voice startles them so much that Miyuki stumbles back and Chris instinctively pulls him against him.
The woman at the door must see some of their reaction because she clears her throat, nervously before pointing at her back with her thumb and say, “Er, the others and me are getting some drinks at that pub down the street.” She pauses, her gaze traveling from Miyuki to Chris to the grip he has on Miyuki’s arm as she adds, “But, um, I guess you have plans already so --”
“Perhaps next time,” Chris cuts her with a smile. “Thank you, Mai.”
Mai nods, clears her throat again. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Next time the—Wait a moment. Are you Miyuki Kazuya,The Catcher?”
Oh, shit.
There’s a polite smile, plastered in Miyuki’s face, bellying his discomfort. He pulls away from Chris and waves his hand to Mai. “Hi.”
The woman bows down with a sharpness that has Chris blinking in amazement.
“Chigusa Mai. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Miyuki’s smile widens and he dares a quick glance at Chris. “Ah, The pleasure is mine.”
With an excited giggle, Mai takes Miyuki’s hands on hers and Chris sees the back of Miyuki’s shoulders tense at the contact.
“Oh, God. I must to confess that I’m a Swallows fan,” Mai gushes and Chris blinks, mildly surprised because he never thought the woman were into baseball.
“But the talent you have!” she continues. “We are so thankful you got recruited for last year games. And you’re in the cover of Number this week! I read your interview just this morning. You really did well abandoning your family busin--”
And now would be as a good moment as any other of Chris to step in.
“Ah, Mai?” he says with the same voice he uses with the kids parents. “Miyuki and I are in a hurry and I’m sure the others are wondering where you are.”
She nods, reluctantly releasing Miyuki’s hands. “Yeah, you are right.” She turns to the door then turns back at them again. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
Miyuki’s chuckle comes out slightly strained. “Yeah, sure.”
Mai nods again and is her way out the classroom when, suddenly inspired, she whirls around. “How long are you staying here, Miyuki-san?”
Suddenly, Chris feels rather tempted to abandon any attempt of civility and pitch the jar of crayons to the woman’s face.
He is mentally listing cons of doing it when Miyuki looks up at him and says, “A couple of days or three, maybe.”
Chris forces out a firm nod as Mai claps enthusiastically. “Would you sign me a ball? Or a mitt! Yeah, a mitt is much better.”
If the petition bothers Miyuki his face never shows it. He smiles again and says, “I’d be delighted.”
“Great!”
She scurries away after that, letting a haven of awkward quietness on her wake.
Chris stands where he is, arm brushing against Miyuki’s with every breath. He doesn’t know very well what to say.
“Er,” he utters at the same time Miyuki mumbles, “So...”
Then Chris remembers Mai’s old enthusiasm when he first came to the school and nudges Miyuki’s shoulder.
“I cannot believe you stole her away from me,” he grumbles, mockingly and waits for Miyuki look at him, eyes shining with mirth. “Traitor.”
“You cannot compete with my charming ways, commoner.”
Chris has to laugh at the smugness in Miyuki’s voice. He, then, leans forward until he’s inches apart from Miyuki’s mouth, small puffs of warm air crashing against his lips.
“Is this where I kiss you, Monsieur Grand Player?” Chris asks.
“Perhaps,” Miyuki replies in a conspiratorial whisper. “But only if you plan to not get out from this classroom ever again.”
“Dunno.” Chris muses aloud. “I always wanted to do it over this desk.”
Still half-mockingly, Miyuki scrunches his nose in disgust. “Gross.”
Chris laughs.
----
(And that’s all. For now. It has a tiny prequel and a sequel, but knowing myself as I do, I cannot promise anything.)
- Eijun asks Miyuki if he can come over to his room later since he wants to ask him questions about the match today
- Ono and Kawakami “He’s so motivated. Maybe he seriously aims for the ace position?”
- Kuramochi wonders if Eijun’s still mad. Miyuki wonders what Eijun’s gonna ask him about.
- Nabe explains that Sawamura just wants to know more about Miyuki’s lead.
- Flashback: Eijun tells Nabe that he just pitched what Miyuki-senpai requested without thinking on his own today. But in order to get acknowledged by Miyuki, he needs to understand more about his lead. And that’s why Sawamura wanted to see the Inashiro-Teitou match alone. Everyone is surprised like “Sawamura? Really?”.
- Miyuki: “We can’t lose to Sawamura” [in the sense of “We need to keep up with him”]
- Miyuki (monologue): “He (Sawamura) always surpasses our expectations.” “Now it’s my turn to do my best to live up to (Sawamura’s) expectations”
- Zono: “We must go to Koushien!! We’ll win (the tournament)!!!!”
- Someone: “Zono, you sound like Sawamura”
- AoD will be on hiatus for 1 week after this chapter (so ch51 will be released in October)
- comic book vol.5 will be released on October 17th (Miyuki will be on its cover)
More random things this chapter brought up in a second reading because it is my free day and the babies are out with their father:
- ‘You’re hiding away to swing your bat again...’ Hmm. Miyuki, you’re in the top of some kind of hill behind the dorms. Everybody and their mothers can see you there. How the fuck are you hiding, you moron.
- Kuramochi looks for Miyuki. Kuramochi always looks for Miyuki. I can imagine him asking Shirasu or Nori or even Okumura where the idiot is.
- It is canon that Miyuki and Kuramochi shop together. Look at the shirt Kuramochi is wearing. Looks familiar? Hehehe.
If there is something which kills me in this last chapter it is Miyuki’s facial expressions.
Not only in this week chapter but during the last few months I’ve noticed how much sharpness his face has lost. And not in a bad way. His smiles are less forced, less strained. The way he dealt with the Okumura/Sawamura fallout was, to be honest, surprising for someone whose supposedly social skills are non-existent. I feel like Terajima-sensei has been trying to show us how much Miyuki has learnt from the Nabe Issue, how far he has come as a captain,-- and sadly, how close we are to the end. Because it is what this chapter feels like to me: The beginning of the end. I don’t know if Terajima-sensei plans to continue the manga once the third years leave the team, but hell just to think about it brings tears to my eyes.
Miyuki’s smile this chapter (You know what smile) is amazing. It’s nostalgic and determined and just a tinny bit bitter because it is only three months more and then it will be over for him and he loves playing for Seidou and loves catching for his pitchers and they have go to Koushien again for Tetsu and Chris-sempai and the old third years but also for themselves because they deserve it and they are going so to win this and--
And then what. I bet a part of him is excited to know what is expecting him behind Seidou’s fences: college, going pro, new team, new pitchers. But the other, bigger part of him is like ‘Nope. Not going anywhere. Staying here forever.’
He has been showing us small signs of this tiny grieving process of his for a time now. Like if he is trying to aclimate to ‘hey I have to leave this team, my team and I’m okay with it except I’m not haha.’
It is why this chapter smile feels so real, so close to home because he is alone and worried about his pitchers and suddenly he realizes he is not going to have to worry for much more time now.
Kuramochi breaking the moment is just as perfect as the rest of chapter. Because is what Kuramochi do: Kick Miyuki out of his bubble. And I love him for it. And Miyuki loves him for it, too. Look at that last fond, knowing smile if you don’t believe me.
(Also, I love Kuramochi with his bandana. It brings me back to the first chapters with the old boys and these two dorks doing batting practice by themselves.)
Summer Camp. Miyuki taking a break after some basic drill. He is slouched on a bench in the dugout, silently mulling about something. Kuramochi walks in. Chugs down a whole bottle of water. Miyuki calls him over his shoulder. Kuramochi goes, grudgingly but he goes. Miyuki starts telling him something about whatever. Kuramochi is exhausted so he bents over, leans a forearm on the bench back. He follows Miyuki’s hand to where he is pointing at. He nods absently, still trying to catch his breath after that last run. Suddenly Miyuki whips his head around.
‘Are you even listening me?’
No, Kuramochi thinks. No.
This close he can see the freckles littering Miyuki’s nose. The redness of his cheeks due to sun and effort. The green spots in his eyes. He realizes Miyuki’s eyes are not golden nor brown but something much fairer, clearer. Like wheat fields. Plus he has the longest eyelashes he has ever seen. They brush against his glasses, for fuck sake.
At the staring, Miyuki blinks. ‘What.’
Kuramochi blanches. ‘I hate your face. And I hate you.’
[I’m sorry. So sorry. I could not deal with this inside my head anymore]
yousharknotpass
titsay
kaledo-art
areudirty
andulkaphoto
ellievsbear
