the huff that he got in reply to his presence couldn’t have bothered him any less, shinkai had a bad habit of not being able to tell when his presence was wanted of not – either that, or he just didn’t care all that much. he was going to sit down & befriend his new teammate whether the man wanted him to or not. after all, they would be spending a lot of time together in the very near future. being on friendly terms before everyone else just gave him that step up. who would have expected it of him too? shinkai was known for being aloof & not strongly spoken … two traits that didn’t do much for making friends.
“you think?” he proceeded to shove a wad of food into his mouth before continuing. “i think that once you get outside, you’ll disagree with yourself. it’s so much different.” the rollers were certainly no fun, for anyone. though, hayato didn’t mind so much when there was scenery flying past him, the wind rustling in his hair. it make biking so much more fun than staring at the poorly decorated club room walls. he wasn’t entirely sure when juichi would stop being so harsh on the newbie & actually let him practice outside – or maybe, he was just sure that he could get the man to quit early if he couldn’t stand such discipline.
while he knew nothing of arakita’s grief, of course he had some of his own. he was still rather traumatized from accidentally killing an animal while biking – he loved animals more fondly than other people !! this lead him to having a bunny that he cared for on the side, leaving him spending most of his free time at the school. it was something that changed his style of biking since that point on and still gave him great anxiety with each turn of the pedal. though, despite having a handicap like that, he was still one of the strongest sprinters on the entire team. strong enough to be in the interhigh even.
“of course i do.” he answered blandly, not caring much for the insult at the rest of the team – it wasn’t as whole - hearted as he figured that arakita wanted it to sound. “but, you’re a new moron for me to hang out with. the old morons have gotten enough shinkai hayato in the past – they won’t die from withdrawal.” the redhead teased back, not missing a beat.
It really did not take a genius to understand that Shinkai was... either not the smartest or simply not really caring all too much about what others thought. Surely, he couldn’t make presumptions of others that quickly... he may have been a hot-head but he loved to create an image of people by letting them create it for him, by acting, talking and behaving in their own way, allowing it to become an image instead of making it up himself ahead. Whether or not Hayato was simply dumb or if he was looking past the man’s behaviour and simply being a decent human being, it was up on getting to know him better. And frankly, if it wasn’t for the redhead approaching him whenever he could, it would not even happen.
Now, that did not mean that Yasutomo did not want to befriend anyone. Frankly, he was thrilled to make teammates, becoming friends and such; he was a loner and had always been one, but team sports were team sports for a reason -- and even in baseball he learnt to get along with the boys as much as he could. Though, these guys had something oddly haughty about themselves... at first, he thought, they were all full of shit... but soon he realised, the could back up that behaviour with the results they offered, able to practice on the rollers with no biggie... the only one that rubbed him the wrong way this far had been the headband... though, as much as Arakita hated to say it, that guy was arrogant as fuck, but he really excelled at what he did. It was frustrating to be treated like a street rat and all he could do was actually take it, because he knew that he had nothing to back himself up with. That’s why Fukutomi kept him on the rollers -- to learn the discipline needed, yadda yadda... it was a punishment atop a punishment, really, but he would not blame Shinkai for what Juichi was doing... after all, Yasutomo prided himself in confronting people who deserved it.
It only stung to see them all get along so well and being buddy-buddy, while he had to suck it up and pass out after the rollers. There was no fun in that.
“If I get outside.” Making it clear to the redhead that he had no hopes set up for himself, placing his chopsticks down as he paused from eating; he lost his appetite again just thinking about going to the club room. It would’ve been different if he was able to take a bicycle and race through the slopes, the straight lines, the downhill roads, all by himself -- he’d enjoy freedom, a tailwind guiding him wherever his heart desired to be. But with the pressure of people’s acceptance and expectance, it had been cruel. The only thing worth-while for now had been the fact that Fukutomi actually believed enough in him in order to make him part of the team. Even if he was giving him a hard time for now -- that was more of a chance than he would’ve been given by anyone, considering he had been a capital yankee and spreading fear among fellow HakoGaku students.
As little as his counterpart knew of his own issues, he was just as unaware of the other’s; the only person he was more or less talkative with until now had been the blondhead of the team... and he was not really the talkative type (more like, stone-faced). Surely, these blue hues didn’t give away too much either -- that man was kind of a mystery... airhead-ish with that far-away-look on him... Arakita could only guess what it was that the other thought, but even so, he would not be pushy about it. People had their own pace, so did he as well.
With the man’s response, he slowly turned his head and looked at him more carefully, rather impressed with the fact that the man was going as far as to directly call him out as a moron; Yasutomo did not mind the rough-housing and insults, he had been used to it from his younger sisters. It was rather charming to have the other not be so butthurt about the man’s rough way of talking and more so adapting to it ever-so-slightly. An airy laugh emitted from his lips as he smirked down onto his own bento, unsure how to reply at first, but only because he was not prepared for the other to actually be en par with him.
“Maybe they fancy the withdrawal and go ‘Thank GOD that SHINKAI is off pestering that YANKEE now, sheesh!’... or something like that...” As much as he wanted to keep a distance to all of the members, it was really easy talking to the man, once the ice had been melted away. Certainly, Yasutomo was still on-guard with his team, but he could sense a little less hostility from the ace sprinter than from others. Leaning his head back against the tree they sat against, he closed his eyes and knew that he wouldn’t be able to finish his lunchbox anymore, instead, he enjoyed the draft of win caressing through his hair, inhaling deeply and trying to collect his thoughts; the days had been so, so exhausting, he hardly recovered from fainting the other day as he went all out and kept sweating, dehydrating himself and then picking a fight with Juichi. His limbs felt heavy, his body felt sore. It had been some time that he was involved in a sports thanks to his broken arm and all, but even so, thinking back -- the old Yasutomo wouldn’t have been able to deal with the rollers, either. They were just really taking it big time, a toll on his body like no other.
Lifting his bento over to the redhead, right under his nose, he merely peeked at him through small slits, being tired and wanting to rest himself as much as he could before school was over and the rollers called for him once again. “You’re a big eater, I heard. Want my leftovers?” That was by no means any disrespectful attitude. Yasutomo just thought it would’ve been a waste to toss his food away, when someone else would actually want it. Perhaps even an odd way of bonding with the other for now. He was not so talkative among new people -- instead, he showed his interest with small gestures such as this one.