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RUN BOY RUN prologue.
the crowd roared louder than any other living being could as the small blonde pitcher took the mound for the last time that game. without giving up a singular run all game, he was the reason their team was winning by a landslide.
winding up his arm, he read the signs the catcher threw his way. it was a simple fastball he wanted, down the middle. that was all narumiya mei had thrown the entire game. though he wanted to refuse and show the other newer pitches he'd taken up he didn't because he trusted his catcher's decisions, and this would be the last game they'd play together in junior high. so he nodded.
the catcher crouched forward, placing his mitt in position once more. the batter looked down, glaring at the boy in the catcher's uniform. he clicked his tongue in distaste before turning back towards the pitcher. "we'll kill you." he whispered.
the catcher held in the giggle that desperately wanted to escape his mouth so he simply nodded, smiling, while his eyes stayed on narumiya mei. "sure." he said, "if you say so."
"are you mocking—"
"hey, pay attention now. you don't wanna die instead, do you?" they'd pretty much already won so of course he wouldn't sound worried but the way he voiced, he was far too laid back than one should be on the field.
that stupid nepo baby.
that was what everyone on the opposing team was thinking and everyone knew that even the person in the middle of it. but he didn't care, never had.
taking a step back and throwing his hand back, narumiya mei took position as he was ready to pitch. and then he did, with all the momentum he had in his arm, he threw the ball.
the batter's eyes widened because this wasn't like the last trillion other fastballs narumiya mei had thrown, this one was much faster, and in only a split second it had found itself exactly where the catcher had asked without moving a muscle.
"oops," he whispered, looking up, "guess that didn't go very well for you, huh?" standing up, he threw the ball back to its pitcher with not very much force at all.
the batter muttered something to himself as he took stance again to bat at the next pitches coming his way. he would lose that day and he would never step foot on a baseball field ever again because that was the day that he understood he would never become anything as long as people like narumiya mei and miwa ren existed. their battery would be featured in hundreds of baseball magazines, some even reaching overseas.
that was, however, the last game which the renowned battery would ever play on the same team.
takashima rei stood and watched as the schools congratulated each other and as the winners jumped up and down in happiness. the woman's eyes wandered over each and every player, carefully assessing each of their strengths and weaknesses. she hadn't come here to scout, she'd simply thought of taking a peek as she'd been walking by and frankly, she was glad she had.
she fiddles her glasses with her long frail fingers as her gaze pauses on someone for a bit longer than the others. yet surprisingly it wasn't the pitcher who'd stood out the most to her, no, instead, it was the boy who had caught every single one of the pitches thrown at him.
the boy who was still only a second year in junior high yet rivaled the power of high schoolers. the boy named miwa ren, whose new tale began the day he had decided would be his last day with baseball
in shodoshima miwa ren's story began and in tokyo it would finish.
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