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Who: Yoichi Kuramochi

basesteal & Various
When: Various dates... Throughout July
Where: Various
What: Kuramochi's out and about
Rating/Warning: PG-13 bc Kuramochi is a potty mouth

[ A; shop area ]
[ Kuramochi wasn't involved in whatever a handful of people went through, but with the weird elemental effect thingy going on, He's a little more moodier than usual. He needs distractions, so he decides he would go acquire a CYbuddy.

What specific animal he should get, though, was still up in the air as he's now at the shop, gazing at all the choices. He wants something cool-looking, but he keeps glancing at the tiny cheetah one sitting off to the side... ]

[ B; working ]
[ It's one of those days where the other person who was supposed to be working their shift doesn't show up. Kuramochi was supposed to take off early, but now he's stuck acting as the store mascot for the entire day. He's tired from not getting proper sleep, so this mishap is making him grouchier than usual.

Thankfully, no one needs to hear him talk or see his glaring face while wearing the mascot suit, but if he gets stuck with moronic customers trying to mess around with him, he'd end up giving them a kick or two from behind...

Feel free to call out on his rude behavior while he's on breaks. ]

[ C; baseball practice ]
[ It's been a month since he first ended up in Cerealia. And during that month he's gotten a chance to work up his own schedule for training even without a baseball team to have proper practice with. He's been having morning and afternoon runs, as well as swinging practice whenever he doesn't have anything going on aside from his various part-time jobs.

From time to time, his CYbuddy would be nearby distracting him from his practice as it attacks his leg. ]

...Hey! Watch it!

[ Closed to Zono sweated; apartments, early July ]
[ When Yoichi first ran into his teammate, he wasn't sure if he'd end up in the same place after the ViViD. For all he knew, the whole encounter might have been the virtual reality, just like with the senpai yelling at the fellow vice captain. So Yoichi was definitely surprised to see Zono still around even after the ViViD event ended. And naturally, he offered to share the apartment space. He didn't exactly go to contact Miyuki about it, but with how they ended up in this strange place, Yoichi figured the captain wouldn't disagree with this. Since he hasn't taken a look at the contacts list, he doesn't know Seido's captain no longer is around in Cerealia.

So now they're at their apartment, letting Zono in as he opens the door. ]

Here's where we're stayin'. The Cerevice kinda does everything with the layout shit, so if you got some specifics we can change around once Miyuki comes back from wherever the hell he's at.

[ Or Wildcard! ]

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[He's not expecting to have a glove pitched at him, but he lifts his hand to catch it effortlessly—and, to his deep embarrassment, feels a little thrill go through him at the feel of it in his hand.

This isn't his fault! Right? He's totally being pressured! He can't help it if some dude is roping him into this. It's not like he's doing this because he wants to play baseball or anything, so it's fine!]

—What, you want me to pitch you a few? What position d'you play anyway?

I play shortstop. But it ain't like I can play my position without a full team anyways. Plus it ain't lookin' like you're gonna leave any time soon.

[ At least form that line Kuramochi now knows this guy used to be a pitcher for whatever team he played. ]

I ain't catcher material so I ain't gonna do proper catching, alright, mister pitcher?

Hey, I'm totally only sticking around here 'cuz you're talking to me!

[It's all YOUR fault!! As if he has nothing to do with the fact that he's definitely getting ready to go through with this. Totally.]

You were practicing swinging anyway, right? I guess that just happens to work out!

So you'd just walk away if I stop talkin' to you?

[ Kuramochi sure doesn't believe that one bit.

...What a pain in the butt, dealing with stubborn guys... Then again apparently all pitchers are stubborn like that. ]

I ain't the best at battin' but sure. Hittin' against a machine ain't gonna be much if they're so one-pattern anyways.

[ With that said Kuramochi readies his swing. He's not completely looking down at Leon, but there is a part of himself who's underestimating Leon for how he was dissing about practice. ]

[He doesn't even acknowledge the question—mostly because he doesn't know what he'd say. Probably he'd have to own up to something embarrassing, and wouldn't it be great to just not do that? Sounds good, yeah.

Instead he can walk out to the mound with a ball, sparing a glance at the nearest batting cage as he passes it. They won't be needing that. Even the sight of the machine makes his stomach twist in a sick way—he doesn't want to acknowledge that, either. It's stupid and he knows it's stupid and therefore it's not real. That's how it works.]

So you want me to go easy on you?

[ Kuramochi has always been one of the more attentive members on his team consisting of close to a hundred members back in his world. But he also isn't the type of person who would go barging into other people's business either, so even when he notices Leon's glance towards the batting cage he doesn't say anything as he gives a couple swings. ]

Whatever works for you, Pitcher.

[ Thankfully, there's a net behind the batter box. That way, even if he misses there'd be something to catch the ball so it won't be bouncing off a wall and flying off to a different direction. ]

Ha ha! Yeah, whatever!

[This guy's being a jerk. He's being a jerk, and . . .

It feels kinda good. Something like competitive spirit rises in Leon's chest—something like nostalgia, too. He's used to people being assholes to him on the field. It's been so, so long. Longer than he remembers, he knows that. When was the last time he stood on the mound and faced a batter totally disrespecting him? It feels like around six months; he knows it's longer. A year and a half. Two and a half years. Maybe the last game he remembers pitching, when he was 17, is the last game he ever pitched in his life, and maybe it wasn't—he can't know. But even if it actually were six months . . . it's been so long.

To his body it feels like yesterday, just like it always has. He slips easily into position, grips the ball, winds up, and throws a cutter.

In a world where there were any justice, it wouldn't be a very good pitch. Wasn't he just reminiscing about how long it'd been since he did this? Not since he pitched, to be fair. He'd done that days before, in the ViViD level with all the sand, and that had been the first time he'd used his arm in a very long time. But throwing balls at a wall is a different thing from standing on the mound and aiming at the strike zone with a batter staring you down. It's not like he's practiced that since arriving in Cerealia. He hasn't been working on his skills on the down-low, sneaking out to the field when no one's around to witness his shame. That's not his style. As much as he's missed it, deep down where he doesn't want to admit, practice is practice, and he doesn't practice.

In a just world, the pitch would kinda suck.

But that isn't the world Leon inhabits. In his world, the good die young, children are made into tools of war, and most relevant in this moment, sometimes people have a truly ludicrous amount of talent without even trying. Leon is one of those people. The ball slices through the air in a breathtakingly perfect arc, like a force of nature, like the fucking sound of the wind made material, or something poetic like that.

It clocks about 90 miles per hour, because Leon did in fact go easy on him.]

[ With how he's been told there weren't a lot of sports people in this place, Kuramochi seriously wasn't expecting such a nice cutter being thrown his way. With a speed like that, as well. Yeah, sure, his underclassman Furuya back in his home world may have thrown something just as fast since speed was always his selling point for being the Ace of the team, but control was always something Furuya needed to work on.

So as the ball flies by to hit the net, Kuramochi's just struck with awe for a moment before darting his eyes over to the mound. ]

......Dude, what the hell! [ He's yelling and he might look angry with how intimidating his face might look, but it's the surprise doing the talking, really. ]

Did you just aim for that?!

[ There's a part of him wondering if there's even any point to ask that question, since any baseball fan knowing how pitches work could tell it's deliberate... But at least he could get a verbal confirmation this way. ]

[Oh shit. Oh damn. Fuck. Dammit. Leon tunes out the other guy's reaction for a good couple seconds, because he's distracted by a haunting realization: he's still in love with his ex.

And his ex is baseball.

It's like he just watched her walk into a room at a party looking so fine right when he thought he was over her, and got punched in the gut by her booty in that skirt. Except the booty in the skirt is the way a ball looks when it clips just right past a batter and hits the net and hovers there for a moment and then bites the dust with a thunk and sends up a little dirt cloud he can practically smell even from 60 feet out. That's the booty. Ohhh mmmmman is that embarrassing. His heart leaps in his chest with excitement just at throwing the pitch . . .

God, he's such a loser!! This is so uncool!

But then he comes back to Earth (or, Cerealia. Tellus. whatever) and catches the other guy's shock, parses what he's saying, and at least it's okay to be smug about looking like a badass, right? Of course it is! Leon was already grinning, stupidly, but it only gets wider.]

What, you never saw one o' those before? 'Course you have! If you think that was a fluke, how about another one?

[ Kuramochi will laugh his ass off if he ever learns you just compared baseball to an ex-girlfriend. While it would totally make sense of how you're acting, it just seems so absurd to be that stubborn about your feelings towards the sport. Seriously, if you like it then admit to your feelings!

Anyways, after the initial shock diminishes within him, a wary grin cracks open on Kuramochi's face. Because holy shit. He totally aimed for it. ]

Dude, I've seen nasty pitches and fast ones, I just wasn't expecting from a guy like you!

[ Which, in tern, serves Kuramochi right for underestimating like that. It's going to be good training for him to get better at batting, maybe, as long as this guy's willing to throw.

If this guy wasn't so negative towards practice, he'd be such a trustworthy teammate... or an adversary if on the opponent team. ]

Maybe I'll want another pitch from you... but that'll depend on whether you're willin' to throw some more!

[ He adds his trademark hyena "hyaha!" laugh. If provoking is going to get this guy to stop being so stubborn towards his favorite sport, then so be it. He'll keep prodding! ]

[HE WILL TAKE THIS SECRET TO HIS GRAVE. Or maybe not. He's not actually good at keeping secrets, being subtle, or not already being in his grave. His expression is definitely, obviously pretty pleased, and he's starting to forget to keep up the tsundere act. Good going, Kuramochi.

He holds his glove hand up to coax him to toss the ball back.]

Yeah? How 'bout this? I'll pitch you ten, and if you can hit a single one, I'll buy you lunch!

[ He gives a smirk as he picks up the ball and toss back at Leon. ]

That a bet? I'll take you on.

[ It doesn't like that this guy's so full of himself, but at the same time this guy's willing to stick around some more. Younger him would've have the patience for egoistic people like Leon, but he's not.

Kuramochi gets ready to bat, and then pauses as he looks up at the sky, almost thinking twice about it. ]

...You sure you wanna make that kinda bet? Any hit?

[ Like fouls? ]

Yeah, why not? Any hit!

[It's half being full of himself. Maybe two-thirds being full of himself. But some of it's also simply this: despite himself, he's in a good mood now because he's out on the diamond, and he doesn't mind the thought of treating someone to lunch after and hanging out. He figures his odds are around 50/50, anyway. Ten pitches in a row without even a foul would be outstanding, though not unheard of for him, and the guy had said he wasn't that great at batting. It could go either way. He's in such a good mood that he genuinely doesn't care, and the grin he offers Kuramochi in answer isn't entirely a smug smirk.

(However, it's not entirely not one, either.)]

What's your name anyway, Batter?

[Well that'll make things a little easier for him. After all, getting any kind of hit is necessary for him to get on base. Plus, a free meal's up for grabs... He definitely has to get a hit!]

You better keep your word, then. And the name's Kuramochi Yoichi.

[Come to think of it, he never asked for this guy's name either, huh?] And you?

[Just so he doesn't keep calling the dude "Pitcher" all the time.]

Kuwata Leon! And don't go thinking I'm just some pitcher, either! I'm way more than that!

[True in both a baseball sense and outside of that, he'd like to think, though things are a little complicated lately.

But there's always this to fall back on: he winds up again, and this time he throws a straight-up, no-frills, four-seam fastball. It's beautiful and pure and flawless and headed Kuramochi's way at around 98 mph. There are no tricks on this one; it's meant to get by him on pure speed alone.]

[If Kuramochi ever had any doubts about this guy, it's gone by the time the second pitch is thrown. He steps in to swing at the pitch, but is a tad too slow and misses by a hair. Damn...!]

Shit, you got some arm there! The hell's your top speed anyways?

[It's reminding him of Furuya's pitches... Although he rarely got to face against the monster pitcher's speed from the batter box. Maybe Furuya would've been fired up if he were to see this guy's pitching...

Not to mention the control from the first pitch. It's like Nori and Furuya thrown together into one pitcher... An ideal Ace Pitcher, really.]

Dude, if my teammates were here, they'd be fired up to take you on...!

[Not to mention himself, but he has more fun out while on defense, or when he's trying to steal bases.

He wonders if he can even touch the pitch.]

Yeah?!

[Shit, he's happy. Why's he so happy to hear that? Why's he happy to be praised for this? He's been praised for this all his life! It's easy! How stupid. It's like being praised for breathing or sleeping! But—dammit, it feels so good to hear! It's been so long . . .

His mood sure has soared, and not even in a smugly superior way this time. He's just stupidly glad to be playing.]

Ha ha! I'd take on the whole team by myself! Ah, well, guess I couldn't actually do that . . . but you know what I mean! So it's just you here, huh? Too bad! —And it's about 160 kph, since you asked! I could probably go over if I wasn't kinda rusty.

[It's a hell of an admission for him to even acknowledge the concept of "rusty" might exist in relationship to himself.]

[Spending a long time away from a thing can do that sort of effect on you when you get back to it, pretty much. But holy shit, 160...]

Well I got one of my teammates here, but he just showed up here recently and kinda busy gettin' used to the place. I'll introduce ya to him whenever.

[Unknowingly to him, that is probably not going to be achieved since Zono disappears after a little while...]

But holy shit, that's some speed you got. I dunno if I can get a hit from you like that...!

[That's not to say to go easy on him. If you do that he'll be pissed.

Anyways, he tosses another ball over to Kuwata before getting ready to bat again.]

Givin' up ain't my style anyways. Come at me, bro!

Getting used to this place sucks.

[Even though it was a few months ago now, his initial depression upon arriving is still pretty fresh in his mind, and he hates looking back on it . . .

He throws that out offhandedly, though. It's hard to dwell on shitty memories when you're having fun—which he is, even if he'd be an asshole about admitting it. (He doesn't need to anyway. He's an open book.)

This time . . .

He throws the same fastball as last time. He's not going easy on Kuramochi, per se—it's still a gorgeous fastball just like the last one—but he's curious if the same pitch will get by again.]

[Well, it's not like any of them's got a place (or life, in Leon's case) to go back to, right?

He feels bad, for both Leon and himself, for even bringing it up. They're playing ball right now, in a way, and he didn't mean to spoil the fun like that.

When the next pitch comes, Kuramochi tries to time it better. Which he does, but misses by a hair because he's not a genius batter like his infield defense parter, or the captain of his team.]

Damn... So close! [But that was one hell of a pitch though, he can't help but laugh. At least he's getting used to the pitches though, he'd probably be able to get a hit in the next pitch.

Granted the next pitch would be the same one again.

Honestly, if he'd just stop thinking about missing his teammates and focus solely on Kuwata's pitches, Kuramochi would have been able to hit it. It won't be a nice hit, but he'd at least make the mark.

There's also the part of having this guy pitch all 10 pitches and have him be less stubborn of wanting to play more baseball, but Kuramochi's not going to say that outright.]

Too close! I can't just let you win, y'know? You totally understand!

[This isn't a guy who's going to appreciate if Leon goes easy on him. He can respect that.

But he knows if he throws the same pitch a third time in a row, it'll probably get hit, which would be going easy on him. So how much does he change it up? He could throw a very similar pitch and probably get it by, because Kuramochi's muscle memory will be reading it as the same pitch as before, and just miss . . . or he could do something totally different.

Doing too much of the same thing is boring—so, this time, he goes for something that's way out there, and not exactly his specialty: a submarine pitch. It's not his favorite pitch or the best he's got, but it sure isn't going to be expected as far as pitches go. And it's been a while since he tried throwing one; he's curious to see how it comes off.]

Heh, you've got your money to worry about if you go easy on me.

[Kuramochi was expecting the third pitch to be different. No moron would throw the same pitch three times in a row. He knew of one, but that's a story for another time.

Not many high school pitchers (if there is any in the first place) in the Japan Yoichi's from uses that pitch Leon throws, though, and it definitely does catch him by surprise. And as the pitch quickly rises from low to high, he's unable to fully swing at the pitch. Kuwata's seriously a real deal here, and it's such a waste of his talent if he's so stubborn about playing ball.

Well that's 4 out of 10, almost getting to the halfway point.]

Geez, man, how many forms do you have down anyways?

[He gives another laugh as he readies for the next pitch.]

Heh, I barely use that one! But it's seriously not that hard. You just kinda, you do that, and then whoosh!

[OFFICIAL BASEBALL LINGO WITH KUWATA LEON]

Anyway, I wanted to see how it felt since it's been a while, but it just doesn't look as impressive to the crowd, y'know? No matter how good you are at it, it always looks kinda weak compared to a normal fastball. So I usually don't bother with it . . . but of course I know how to do it. I mentioned I was the Ultimate, right? I used to be the best around!

[Used to be. The past tense comes in for a lot of reasons, some pretty uninspiring and some outright horrifying.

He doesn't offer any of them right now; instead he offers up another pitch. It's another cutter, a little faster than the first pitch he threw now that he's warmed up, but still the same pitch.]

[Yoichi gives Leon a look for a moment. Are all pitchers like this?

But he gets you on that term, he did notice a few people sitting on the bleachers the last time they had a match where the female students were obviously there to see the better-looking players.]

"Use to be," huh. [With how he was so stubborn, Yoichi can take a guess of the reason why. He's not going to prod too much, it's not his business anyways. Instead, he focuses on the next pitch thrown; the form actually gives away that it would be the same pitch, albeit the speed's faster. It's about time Yoichi gets used to Leon's speeds as well, so he takes a better swing this time.

And manages to land on a hit! Not a great hit, it flies off to foul, but at least it's still a hit.] Aw, yeah! You said a hit, so I guess I'm gettin' free lunch now!

[He's happy he's able to get a hit alright, but that's still barely any better than his usual batting average. But this guy, though... Yoichi's going to try to get this guy to play ball with him more now.]

[He doesn't offer up any more information about what he used to be or why. He watches the ball fly off with a noisy sigh—but it's not that serious. In fact, he's only just barely not still smiling.]

Ah man, I thought it'd take you at least a couple more. But yeah, I promised, right? So whenever you want it, I owe you one! Not bad!

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leon... ;-;

=D

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