&Run

Eijun stepped off the train with Rei and stuck close to her side, not wanting to get separated in an unfamiliar city by the crowd of strangers bustling around the station. It was hard for Eijun to leave his family and friends back in Nagano, but he knew he needed to go to Tokyo. There was nothing for him left in his hometown. He couldn’t stand the stares of pity from their family friends or the whispers that followed him whenever he left the comfort and safety of his home to go into town with his grandpa. Eijun is grateful for his parents and friends for all they have done for him with his injury, but he needs a fresh start. 

Rei leads Eijun out of the station to the taxi waiting for them. She opens the trunk and takes his bags from him. Eijun thanks her with a bright smile and moves to get into the backseat. Rei soon follows after him, giving directions to Seido to the driver. He responds with a nod and off they are. The ride isn’t too long, passing quickly and painlessly. Eijun sits quietly looking awed at all the buildings and people. It’s so much different from Nagano he notes. His leg starts to bounce in impatience and excitement when the school comes into view. The entrance they take is right in front of the fields.

For a split second Eijun mourns. He mourns for what could have been his future playing baseball here and he mourns for his inability to take his friends to nationals. He’s interrupted from his inadvertent pity party by Rei thanking the driver. Eijun turns to bow in his seat to the man before climbing out of the cab into the moderate April air. He doesn’t realize that he got distracted staring at the fields again until Rei clears her throat and hands him his bag.

“While I may be a recruiter for the baseball team, I'm also here for you if you need anything Sawamura kun. Now that you’re here, you can call me Rei, but be sure to refer to me properly in class.” Eijun nods in understanding as Rei leads him through the entrance of the school. They chat quietly as they walk along the path to the dorms for the track team. Rei explains his class schedule and the layout of the school. “These are the spirit dorms, primarily used by the baseball team. Once the third years retire they move into the general dorms which are located closer to the school buildings,” Rei points out as they walk. “Down here are the bathhouses and the athletes' cafeteria is only a little farther down that path,” Eijun nodded along but knew it would be a miracle if he remembered all of this information, praying that his roommate would be nice enough to lead him along until he stopped getting lost. “The track and field team is relatively new to the school, only having been created a few years ago. Just this past summer, the dorms and other facilities were built, so it is all fairly new and up to date. You’ll have an upperclassman roommate who should be able to inform you of the team’s schedule and any other information.” Rei ended her spiel with a smile and stopped with Eijun in front of a door on the bottom level of a new dorm complex. 

“Thank you Rei sensei” Eijun enthusiastically yelled, performing a perfect 90-degree bow. Rei laughed and waved as she walked away leaving Eijun to enter the dorm on his own.

Still feeling slightly timid and out of his element from the morning’s events, Eijun knocks softly on the door before opening it and peering in.

“Pardon the intrusion” he called out a little too loudly. The room was larger than he expected it to be and cleaner, especially for a boy’s dorm, too. There were two full beds on either wall each with a desk and a closet. Eijun was surprised to see there was an ensuite bathroom, well they are brand new dorms, and on the far wall next to the window was a small fridge for drinks and a bookshelf.

On the bed to the right was a boy. He had curly dark hair and was wearing a navy Seido Track and Field sweatshirt and sweatpants. Eijun noticed he was working on science homework, something way too complicated for him to understand. The boy’s brows were furrowed, his icy blue eyes focused intently on his paper and his lips slightly pursed as he worked through a problem, occasionally flipping through his notes and a periodic table.

Eijun cleared his throat to alert the older boy of his presence but was unsurprised when he didn’t look up. Eijun didn’t exactly enter quietly, if the sound of the door closing and his own noises of surprise at the room didn’t gain the boy’s attention, Eijun clearing his throat was unlikely to. Eijun set his stuff down on the opposite bed and then walked over to the boy, slightly tapping his shoulder. 

“Oh shit!” the boy startled despite Eijun’s efforts not to scare him. The boy’s eyes widened as he looked up at Eijun standing in front of him, removing his headphones that were playing some sort of American rap music. “Hey, sorry, I was just doing some chemistry homework. You must be a new freshman.” Before Eijun could answer he shoved his work aside, an action that startled Eijun because the carelessness seemed so unlike the boy who kept the rest of the room in perfect order. “My name’s Yoshida Shiro, you can just call me Shiro though. I’m a second year and compete in the pole vault event!” he said cheerily while drumming his fingers on his thighs. 

“Hello Shiro senpai!” Eijun bowed, garnering a laugh from Shiro. “This Sawamura Eijun humbly introduces himself! I’m a first year but I don’t have an event yet” Eijun trailed off, feeling out of place as he fiddled with his fingers. 

“Hmmm,” Shiro looked the younger boy up and down with a calculating stare. “That’s fine, coach Nakamura will assess your strengths and find a place for you! Based on physical appearance alone I would say possibly long distance. The good news for you is that there are only fourteen of us on the team because it’s so new. We’re honestly more like a large group of siblings so you’re bound to find your place. We’ll all be here to support you!” Shiro added with a surprising amount of cheer, his personality having flipped completely from the single-minded focus he exuded when doing his chemistry homework.

“That’s reassuring!” Eijun said, his loud personality back with his confidence. “I’m so excited to see each of the events in person. I’ve only seen some in the videos that Rei Sensei sent me from Coach Nakamura.” Eijun said eagerly, already itching to go on a run to explore the fields and track. 

Shiro, as if sensing his need to run, got up and went over to the desk on Eijun’s side of the room. “Here is your practice uniform, meet uniforms, and warm-ups,” He held out two pairs of track shorts, a pair of track pants, and a pair of sweatpants, all in various combinations of Seido’s colors, blue, white, red, and gold. “We wear the practice uniform for official practices after school and on weekends. You can wear whatever you want for our morning runs and any extra practice you do.” Eijun nodded, holding the clothing items in awe having never been on a team with this kind of official clothing. “Anyway, I was gonna go for a run to take a break from my work, did you want to come?”

“Yes!” Eijun jumped at the chance, I can always unpack later. Eijun put the clothes on his bed and ruffled through his suitcase looking for a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt. It was only two pm and was plenty warm enough to run without long sleeves or pants. Shiro did the same, pulling on a Seido tee and shorts. They both pulled on their running shoes and headed out to the track fields, Shiro pointing out different buildings as they went. 

The two boys started their run by the track and slowly worked their way through a circuit around the fields. They got to know each other as they ran, Eijun telling Shiro about his hometown and friends and Shiro telling Eijun about growing up in the States and moving to Japan where most of his family lived when he was in primary school. 

They were getting to the end of the circuit, the dorms coming back into view when Eijun noticed a group of boys talking outside of the dugout of one of the baseball fields. It was a Sunday and not many students were out practicing on their off day, more preferring to stay in and complete their homework from the break before classes started back up tomorrow. As Shiro and Eijun got closer to the two boys Eijun’s eyes lit up in recognition of the taller boy. 

“CHRIS SENPAI!” Eijun yelled, flailing his arms as he sprinted up to Chris and the other two boys, Shiro following behind, confusion painting his expression. 

“Oh Eijun hello, I take it you moved into the dorms today?” Chris greeted with only a little bit of surprise. He had been exchanging messages through Line with the younger boy since he had gone with Takashima to recruit him. At first, he had thought the boy to be obnoxiously loud and found himself annoyed by his lack of awareness of others and their boundaries. But he slowly warmed up to Eijun, his sunny personality and eternal positivity both contagious. It was more than just that though. Chris sympathized with the younger boy, but what captivated him that day in Nagano was Eijun’s perseverance and attitude despite having baseball ripped from him by those hateful middle school boys. Eijun put it into perspective for Chris. Eijun wasn’t going to recover, but Chris still could. He lit a fire under Chris that made him want to work even harder for the former pitcher. Somewhere along the way in the couple of months they were exchanging messages and occasionally calling, Eijun had become like a little brother. When one of them was plagued by nightmares or couldn’t sleep they would call the other, who would pick up the phone every time, no matter how late. They would talk softly some nights, on others they would sit in silence, their thoughts loud enough that spoken words were unnecessary. They would update each other on their conditions and their training, call each other when they were nervous for updates with their doctors. Eijun had gained an ally who wouldn’t pity him and Chris got his hope back.

As the two boys caught up, their audience watched on in shock, the two baseball players awestruck by the smile on Chris’s face, noting that this boy must be the reason their friend had become so much happier these last few months. Shiro on the other hand shifted awkwardly on his feet in the presence of his senpai.

“Uhhh Eijun…” he interrupted when there seemed to be a lull in Chris and Eijun’s conversation.

“Oh! Chris senpai, this is my roommate Shiro senpai. Shiro senpai, this is Chris senpai!” Eijun introduced the two.

“Oh uh actually I already know Takigawa, I was just wondering how you knew each other?” Shiro questioned, still looking very confused as to how his first year roommate knew Takigawa Chris Yu, and how he got him to smile like that. Shiro noted, blushing slightly when those eyes and smile were directed at him.

“Hello Yoshida it’s nice to see you again,” Chris nodded his way. “I’m glad Eijun has you for his roommate.” Shiro could only stutter out a thank you before one of Chris’s friends cut him off, finally losing his patience.

“WHAT THE HELL CHRIS?!, WHO IS THIS BOY AND WHY ARE YOU SMILING LIKE THAT?!” the boy with the facial hair yelled with absolutely no tact. His now stoic companion elbowed him in the ribs and was about to chastise him when he was cut off by Chris’s laughter, a sound so foreign to most of the boys that they all went silent.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to my teammates, Jun and Tetsu?” Chris prompted Eijun after coughing, trying to get the attention off of himself.

“Hello I am Sawamura Eijun, I am a first year on the Track and Field team, although I don’t know what event I’ll be competing in, unlike Shiro who is so cool and competes in the pole vault.” Eijun concluded his speech only making the boys present more confused. Chris decided to take pity on them.

“Eijun and I met a couple of months ago after Takashima went to recruit him in place of Nakamura sensei. We’ve kept in contact since.” While this seemed like a sufficient enough response for the boys, Eijun, who in his own defense never claimed to be good with social cues, disclosed more information.

“Yeah! I used to play baseball but I got pretty banged up and now I can’t pitch anymore so Rei sensei introduced me to Chris and got me on the Track team!” He shouted excitedly. This last bit of information fully cleared up the confusion from Jun and Tetsu. If Eijun was also injured, even worse than Chris if what he said was true, then that would explain how close the two boys were and Chris’s subtle protectiveness of the younger boy.

“Hi Sawamura, I’m Tetsu, the captain of the baseball team. This is Jun, our centerfielder. It's nice to meet you.” Tetsu replied. Eijun bowed to the two boys, having heard snippets about the first baseman and center fielder from Chris. 

The boys talked for a little while longer before parting ways to clean up before dinner. Shiro still had quite a bit of work to do and Eijun still had to unpack all of his bags so the two decided to grab their dinner and then go back to their room to settle down for the night.

“Remember to set your alarm for five am, we have a morning run before school tomorrow.” Shiro reminded Eijun as he turned off his side lamp, plummeting the room into darkness.

“Oh! Thank you Shiro senpai, I almost forgot! This Sawamura Eijun will be up and ready for his first day on the team!” Shiro only laughed in response as the two drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long and exciting day and the two needed as much sleep as they could get.