One of the aspects I really enjoy in the ever-interesting relationship dynamic between Chris and Miyuki is how Miyuki sort of knows from experience that Chris is actually like a feral kitten. At least when it comes to him.
We don't really get much exposition about Chris's actual inner thoughts about Miyuki, and his standoffishness is most likely protecting himself and his no doubt fragile mental health from getting too close to the boy who's living his dream - there must be a part of him (even if it's small, even if he hates it) that is genuinely, helplessly jealous that Miyuki is playing in 'his' place, after all.
There's also the year difference - we're shown little glimpses that the third years are actually much closer to Chris than we realise initially - through his closeness with Tanba and Tanba's lament that he wants to pitch to Chris at the 3rd year retirement game;
the fact all the 3rd year first string (sans Miyauchi) stop their own training to go and watch Chris's first match in a year; that the second string 3rd years support him and tell him to get out on the pitch when he's dithering when Kataoka gives him his last chance to play a HS ballgame; the get well soon card they sent when he was undergoing surgery (who was the one who offered Chris get well porn dvds and why do I think it was Isashiki?); the retirement match as a whole, the relationships are there, they're just not central to what is, in effect, Sawamura's story so they're subtle and left in background glimpses.
To mirror this, we're also shown that the underclassmen have no idea that Chris was out due to dealing with a serious injury,
and even the few 2nd years that might know (we're not counting Miyuki or Kuramochi here because they were already in the first string when Chris's injury came to light) aren't really aware he was the prodigy the coaches hoped were going to lead Seido to Koshien and victory,
so it's fair to think that there was still a bit of a division between senpai and kouhai, and first and second string in the club, even if it was overall more relaxed than normal school social norms.
Anyway, even though Miyuki is one of the few underclassmen who does know, there's still obviously distance between he and Chris. And it's fairly obvious the distance is by Chris's preference.
Miyuki might have come to Seido intending to steal everything he could from his talented senior, from skills to his starting position,
but because things happened the way they did, he had to abandon that pretty quickly. He never fought his personal demon that was Takigawa Chris Yuu, and instead ended up putting him on a pedestal. The only time we ever really see Miyuki getting physically violent is when Sawamura is running his mouth off about Chris without knowing anything (ily Eijun but read the room and do your homework!).
And it's really clear that he wants to be closer to Chris, 'hey Chris-senpai, what do you think about that quirky pitcher, only you and me could get the best out of him, amirite? Don't we have so much in common you and me? Let's talk about this. Let's get closer' - he's basically using the things he knows they have in common, the things Chris is interested in (baseball), to try and form a bond.
Except the first thing Chris does when Miyuki pushes is slam down the wall. Miyuki has approached the feral kitten, and the kitten has hissed and run off into the bushes again, frightened of the human pushing into his space...
and he does it with a swipe of his claws he knows is going to leave deep scratches on Miyuki. It's the elephant in their room - the starting catcher spot - the thing Miyuki only wanted to take by his own ability, and instead got handed without a single battle, because the person he most wanted to beat literally couldn't play anymore, maybe for the rest of his high school career.
Chris is going for inflicting maximum pain, probably to both of them; he's reminding himself why he can't get close to Miyuki, and pushing Miyuki away in a way he knows is going to hurt his kouhai, all to keep him at arms length - we can't forget that as good as Miyuki is at reading people, so is Chris; Chris was the one that could read Miyuki best after all, the only catcher in middle school to beat him.
They grow much closer over the spring and into summer while working together with the pitchers for the summer tournaments,
and obviously a lot of that is Sawamura helping Chris finally find his personal equillibrium again, after he's been struggling alone for so long with no end in sight, after still giving a lot of himself to the club he loves even while keeping them at a distance for his own sanity...and I just think the perfect way to end that initial arc of Chris and Miyuki's relationship growth and show the changed dynamics is with them coming full circle, and Chris once again referring to Miyuki as the number one / starting catcher, only this time it's not to keep him at a distance, it's almost like a benediction, passing his blessing on, and his kouhai's sun literally shines so brightly at the acknowledgement it's blinding.
Miyuki finally tamed the feral kitten by leaving him to grow used to him, teasing his interest and trust steadily, and letting Chris come to him when he was healed enough to do it.
I wish I could find the panel but thereās a scene where Miyuki talks about how lucky Eijun and Furuya are to have each other as rivals in the same yearā¦ I know he really wanted that for himself and Chris.
My favourite ChrisMiyu moment? ever was the period in which Kazuya was injured and spending time over at āChrisā placeā so much so that Kuramochi commented on it. It was like a true confirmation about how the wall between them had dropped.
Chris really was that feral untrusting cat that finally, finally curled up around Kazuyaās leg. And I know it means the world to Kazuya. Few people make Kazuya genuinely smile like a child, and these are the people he looks up to without overthinking. Chris, Tetsu and Miyuki Toku.
Sidenote on Chrisā potential jealousy; it mustāve been such a blessing and a curse, a compliment and a sick joke, to have hailed prodigious genius catcher miyuki kazuya name you as his rival and prop you on a pedestal all the while knowing you may never be able to throw a ball again the same way in High School
Misawa week continues with day 2 - Pro. Sawamura is a member of the social media team and has to get pics for posting. However, something about the handsome new rookie has caught his eyeā¦
miyuki asks furuya his thoughts about the future, career-wise, and eijun overhearing this conversation gets upset because it isnāt him miyuki chose to share these thoughts with.
eijun worries about how many more games he can play in a battery with miyuki, because naturally heād assume that their partnership would end in high school, with koshien if they made it.
what eijun doesnāt know is that for miyuki, eijunās future isnāt a question. because itās a given that eijun will follow after him, because eijun is his forever partner. the big āendlessā world after high school baseball is one they will navigate together.
miyuki asks furuya his thoughts about the future, career-wise, and eijun overhearing this conversation gets upset because it isnāt him miyuki chose to share these thoughts with.
eijun worries about how many more games he can play in a battery with miyuki, because naturally heād assume that their partnership would end in high school, with koshien if they made it.
what eijun doesnāt know is that for miyuki, eijunās future isnāt a question. because itās a given that eijun will follow after him, because eijun is his forever partner. the big āendlessā world after high school baseball is one they will navigate together.
trying to tell ono to hang in there whenever he says he can never be/replace miyuki but then you remember that that to āprioritise the victoryā kataoka felt it was better to keep an injured miyuki to defend the bottom of the last inning than play a healthy ono
years apart in real life writing, a year apart within the story itself, and these two are on the same wavelength. it was fun to watch their battery at the tokyo senbatsu but i know it could be even better when they have trust between them and no limitations (like them being opponents with a tournament around the corner).
the top catcher and pitcher of their generation. damn. i hope they put the rivalry down even for a term to play as a proper battery in a pro team. the baseball world needs to see more of them.
itās like they were made for each other and theyād have it easy by going with the flow and teaming up but kazuya likes a challenge so he said fuck you to fate and created the alternate timeline where he ends up with a menacing pitcher heās at the mercy of in the batters box and two diabolical pitchers he has little time to polish before retirement. oh and he has to manage all their egos while holding space for his own.
years apart in real life writing, a year apart within the story itself, and these two are on the same wavelength. it was fun to watch their battery at the tokyo senbatsu but i know it could be even better when they have trust between them and no limitations (like them being opponents with a tournament around the corner).
the top catcher and pitcher of their generation. damn. i hope they put the rivalry down even for a term to play as a proper battery in a pro team. the baseball world needs to see more of them.
itās like they were made for each other and theyād have it easy by going with the flow and teaming up but kazuya likes a challenge so he said fuck you to fate and created the alternate timeline where he ends up with a menacing pitcher heās at the mercy of in the batters box and two diabolical pitchers he has little time to polish before retirement. oh and he has to manage all their egos while holding space for his own.
years apart in real life writing, a year apart within the story itself, and these two are on the same wavelength. it was fun to watch their battery at the tokyo senbatsu but i know it could be even better when they have trust between them and no limitations (like them being opponents with a tournament around the corner).
the top catcher and pitcher of their generation. damn. i hope they put the rivalry down even for a term to play as a proper battery in a pro team. the baseball world needs to see more of them.
mei couldāve kept up the farce with his fake habit but he went ahead and revealed the entire ploy to kazuya. he had to go with this plan for the sake of the team, but kazuyaās honesty mustāve been an inspiration or a reminder of the type of bond they share.
it might not be that deep, and mei just wanted to return he favour as he was pleasantly surprised by kazuya. or it could absolutely be that deep and meiāinspired by kazuyaāwent with his guts and thought fuck it it wonāt be fun playing a blinded kazuya AND i could beat him even without a handicap!
iām sure these two would want to honour their relationship with a do-or-die match that is absolutely fair and square. that would be the best end to their middle to high school baseball rivalry.
shirakawa has probably been mad at kazuya ever since kazuya played his middle school team and while heād thought to himself āthis midget isnāt as shit as most other kidsā heād realised that kazuya hadnāt noticed anyone on his team besides chris.
this kid heād acknowledged didnāt even acknowledge him back!
and then when kazuya had a second chance to properly notice him after meiās avengers gathering, kazuya had still not been interested in teaming up ā it doesnāt matter that kazuya turned them down because he saw them as strong players he would love to rival, what really matters is that shirakawa wanted to play with kazuya and kazuya didnāt want to play with him! kazuya had unwittingly failed to reciprocate again!
so shirakawa decides he will make kazuya regret it, and tells him such.
and he keeps tabs on kazuya:
to make sure kazuya isnāt doing well without them
to convince himself kazuya isnāt all that so he can #GET_OVER_IT
because he canāt help himself
because kazuya appeared in a magazine as the āsaviour of seidoā not long after turning him down and it made him SICK TO HIS STOMACH. miyuki kazuya looks as great as heād recognised back in their first year of middle school, miyuki kazuya does not look the picture of regret in his first year of high school, miyuki kazuya does not have shirakawa katsuyuki on his mind even a hundredth as much as shirakawa katsuyuki has miyuki kazuya on his mind.
that shitty kazuya blew away the chance to be in the top HS baseball team with him to go and waste away the potential that shirakawa had begrudgingly recognised at a team that has fallen off. heād rather be in a has-been team than play alongside him. how insulting!
shirakawa has probably been mad at kazuya ever since kazuya played his middle school team and while heād thought to himself āthis midget isnāt as shit as most other kidsā heād realised that kazuya hadnāt noticed anyone on his team besides chris.
this kid heād acknowledged didnāt even acknowledge him back!
and then when kazuya had a second chance to properly notice him after meiās avengers gathering, kazuya had still not been interested in teaming up ā it doesnāt matter that kazuya turned them down because he saw them as strong players he would love to rival, what really matters is that shirakawa wanted to play with kazuya and kazuya didnāt want to play with him! kazuya had unwittingly failed to reciprocate again!
so shirakawa decides he will make kazuya regret it, and tells him such.
and he keeps tabs on kazuya:
to make sure kazuya isnāt doing well without them
to convince himself kazuya isnāt all that so he can #GET_OVER_IT
because he canāt help himself
because kazuya appeared in a magazine as the āsaviour of seidoā not long after turning him down and it made him SICK TO HIS STOMACH. miyuki kazuya looks as great as heād recognised back in their first year of middle school, miyuki kazuya does not look the picture of regret in his first year of high school, miyuki kazuya does not have shirakawa katsuyuki on his mind even a hundredth as much as shirakawa katsuyuki has miyuki kazuya on his mind.
that shitty kazuya blew away the chance to be in the top HS baseball team with him to go and waste away the potential that shirakawa had begrudgingly recognised at a team that has fallen off. heād rather be in a has-been team than play alongside him. how insulting!
shirakawa has probably been mad at kazuya ever since kazuya played his middle school team and while heād thought to himself āthis midget isnāt as shit as most other kidsā heād realised that kazuya hadnāt noticed anyone on his team besides chris.
this kid heād acknowledged didnāt even acknowledge him back!
and then when kazuya had a second chance to properly notice him after meiās avengers gathering, kazuya had still not been interested in teaming up ā it doesnāt matter that kazuya turned them down because he saw them as strong players he would love to rival, what really matters is that shirakawa wanted to play with kazuya and kazuya didnāt want to play with him! kazuya had unwittingly failed to reciprocate again!
so shirakawa decides he will make kazuya regret it, and tells him such.
and he keeps tabs on kazuya:
to make sure kazuya isnāt doing well without them
to convince himself kazuya isnāt all that so he can #GET_OVER_IT
because he canāt help himself
because kazuya appeared in a magazine as the āsaviour of seidoā not long after turning him down and it made him SICK TO HIS STOMACH. miyuki kazuya looks as great as heād recognised back in their first year of middle school, miyuki kazuya does not look the picture of regret in his first year of high school, miyuki kazuya does not have shirakawa katsuyuki on his mind even a hundredth as much as shirakawa katsuyuki has miyuki kazuya on his mind.
that shitty kazuya blew away the chance to be in the top HS baseball team with him to go and waste away the potential that shirakawa had begrudgingly recognised at a team that has fallen off. heād rather be in a has-been team than play alongside him. how insulting!
one day weāll talk about shirakawaās crush on miyuki that is so deep-rooted itās twisted into something he canāt recognise or acknowledge.
the way carlos has to call him out for his miyuki obsession
look at him staring at miyuki interacting with the americans š he actually canāt help himself! he puts his brain on overtime trying to come up with excuses to justify his "hatred" for miyuki but he doesnāt realise heās terrible at being a hater.
